This Is Guernsey

By Len Le Page

FOR the fifth time in the event’s 23-year history Mike Weysom has won the top award in the open mullet competition organised by the Guernsey Mullet Club and sponsored by Mick’s Fishing Supplies.

His 5-8-11 fish caught on the second and last leg of the contest gave him a rod, reel and £30 tackle voucher.

He was closely followed by Sam Robins, who caught a 5-3-11 specimen to win a rod and £25.

Third was Peter Frise, 5-0-3 who had a reel and £20.

Anglers in the fourth and fifth positions had similar prizes, yours truly with a 4-0-12 fish and Paul Carre one of 3-12-3.

Competitors could not win more than one main prize.

In addition to these prizes, the top five in each weekend all received £20 of cash and vouchers.

Weysom and Gary Le Poidevin also took home reels for finishing top in the pairs competition with an aggregate weight of 8-11-2.

All the awards were presented to the winners by Rob Houilbecq from Mick’s Fishing Supplies.

The evening event, held at La Villette Hotel, was compered by Weysom, who thanked the sponsors for their continuing support for the event and Paul Rowe for allowing use of the Brock Road Youth Centre for registration purposes.

It was confirmed that as from next year the winner of the event will be taking home a new perpetual trophy. The cup will be in memory of Bill Dowinton who died earlier this year. Bill was a keen mullet angler and had in fact won this event on two occasions.

Besides fishing in the open, club members found time to catch a total of 18 fish during March.

The runaway leader of the catch list was Carre, who landed nine for 35-10-0. His catches included the heaviest of the month, a 5-10-0 fish.

Frise had three for 13-5-3, Weysom, two for 8-12-0, Gary Le Poidevin, two for 7-2-15, Glen Cortez, one 4-11-2 and myself, one 4-0-12.

The current leader of the club championship is Carre, whose top fish from each of the three months totals 14-4-3.

THE vast majority of Bailiwick anglers are very contented with their sport.

With few exceptions they can fish where and when they wish without any problems or restrictions.

Tackle is plentiful and reasonably priced but easy to obtain and they have no need to travel great distances to enjoy their fishing.

There would appear to be no end to this halcyon situation, which is the envy of many anglers in the UK and elsewhere.

The fact that it is all so easy is possibly the main reason for the apathy and complacency that blights the local angling scene.

Anglers who work hard organising competitions such as the Fish of the Month or the Phoenix Fish get very dispirited due to the lack of support from anglers who cannot be bothered or interested to enter their specimen fish. It has got to the point where some are questioning whether it is worth carrying on.

Some clubs are even finding it difficult to fill all the posts on their committees.

An interesting course on fish identification, which should have been a must for all anglers, was almost completely ignored.

Facilities such as an angling headquarters have been thought about for years but a complete lack of effort means that they remain a distant dream.

However, as bad as all this is, it could soon pale into insignificance because anglers may be forced into taking a much more active role as regards the future of their sport.

In order to preserve fish and crab stocks, a government bill has been passed in the UK to introduce marine protection areas (MPAs), where fishing activity could be severely restricted or even banned.

There is already an agreement that a number of these areas should be up and running by the end of 2012.

There are similar proposals throughout Europe and already in France the programme is well advanced.

Representatives from the Marine Conservation Society and the Find Sanctuary Organisation came over last week to explain the purpose of the MPAs and the possible effect on stakeholders, such as anglers and commercial fisherman.

Sadly there was the usual apathetic response from anglers, who missed the golden opportunity to learn about the proposals firsthand.

The UK government bill does not apply to our Bailiwick, but already there is interest and early discussion on setting up similar areas locally.

If MPAs become widespread throughout the UK and Europe, can you really see the Bailiwick not following suit when conservation is so high an ideal in people’s minds?

Obviously, before they could be introduced here, there would be the need for lengthy consultations with commercial fishermen, divers, States Sea Fisheries and other stakeholders, including anglers, before any conclusions are reached.

As things stand now, who would speak and negotiate on behalf of anglers? We have no control organisation to undertake such a role, no one voice to conduct the consultation on our behalf.

Can you imagine to be informed at some time in the future that fishing in and around Herm was banned, or you were not allowed to fish the north coast, or the Great Banks was off limits?

Unless anglers finally get their act together and get ready to take part in future negotiations, such scenarios are not out of the question.

A DELIGHTED Brian Montgomery entered an 11-6-0 bass in the Guernsey Bass Anglers Sportfishing Society’s championship competition in March. It was the society’s president’s first double-figure specimen. He also landed a 4-9-0 fish. His combined weight of 15-15-0 helped him to consolidate his lead at the top of the society’s championship list.

Not surprisingly his superb catch gave him the Mick’s Fishing Supplies heaviest bass of the month award.

During the month three members weighed in a total of seven bass. Although this was an improvement on the previous month’s catches, it compared unfavourably with the equivalent month in 2008 when 17 were entered by members.

Andy Hockey landed four for a total of 14-6-0, fish of 4-12-0, 3-8-0, 3-2-0 and 3-0-0.

Sam Robins completed the catch list with one of 4-8-0.

To date six members have entered bass for the championship, Montgomery three for 23-4-8, Hockey four for 14-6-0, Robins two, 8-9-0, Mark P. Fletcher one, 3-13-7, Jamie Gallienne one, 3-12-0 and Andy Marquis one, 3-9-0.

Article posted on 16th April, 2009 - 2.29pm