Is it just me, or is angling ettiquete almost completely gone from our sport? The way some (sadly most) people act these days I am sure it is a totally alien concept to many modern day anglers.

I do not know if it is a reflection of modern day society, the apparent emphasis on bashing a lead to the horizon or indeed both. Whatever the reason I am sick to death of people marching into my swim bolt upright and demanding at the top of their voices “caught owt mate?” That is of course after they have spent the obligatory 10 minutes standing in the skyline wearing a white shirt trying to spot the fish you are trying to catch. What makes it worse is the fact that they are totally oblivious to what they have done and are clearly thinking that I am just a miserable old anti social git.

Some of the things I have experienced lately have left me shaking my head in disbelief. How about the guy who turns up in my neighbours swim when the lake is fairly busy on a recent Friday evening. After squeezing past his bivvy (that had been strategically positioned to discourage entry to the swim because he is fishing the margin) the guy strikes up a conversation explaining that he has come for a walk to bait up a spot. After the guy has gone my mate hears some crashing in the trees at the back of the tiny bay he is fishing followed by the plop plop plop of bait going in. Yep the spot the idiot wanted to bait up was about 10 ft from the baited area my mate was actually fishing. Worse than that, when challenged the guy even tried to argue the toss arguing that my mate could not cast to where he was baiting due to a tree being in the way, so it was ok for him to bait the spot.

Or how about the guy who walks along the cliff on my far margin watching the fish I am trying to catch pops his head out of the trees a few feet above the fish and shouts at the top of his voice “CAUGHT OWT MATE?” Now come on even if we allow for the minimum brain power, the fact that I was crouched behind a bush almost going blue because I dared not breath should have given matey some sort of clue?

Or the guy who stomps into my swim Sunday morning and spooks 6 feeding fish from the margin spot I have been trying to get them to feed on since Friday evening?

That’s just the tip of the iceberg this sort of thing happens on a regular basis. Don’t get me wrong if approached correctly I am as sociable as anyone. For example I have to take 15litres of water for a weekend trip just to keep the supply of tea going. Many people fishing the lake drift into my peg at some point for a brew but they do so in a considerate and thoughtful way.

The thing that is most worrying is the fact that many of the worst offenders are not even young people. They are certainly old enough and If you believe what they say, they have been around the sport long enough to know better.

Sign of the times I'm afraid Andy!

The main reason why I'm always looking for a relativley unfished venue regardless of fish sizes these days

Think the lack of replies says it all really Andy....

Pretty much the norm these days on most waters. I just tend to expect it really. The only observation I would make is that the retards are better disguised these days. They used to give themselves away wearing those dayglo council waterproofs and fishing a gazette bung on a beachcaster. More often than not they've got all the gear now though.
If your lucky enough to spot them out of their bivvy, observe them closely for a few minutes and they'll usually give themselves up by monging a spod about for a bit or doing a massive running back strike when they get tufftied out!
Once they've been bubbled like this I just tend to mark them down in my little book of 'special' carpers and mindfully remember to avoid any contact with them whilst I'm at the lake.

Hope this helps....

Pot Noodle springs to mind !! they are not anglers they are just playing at a game they have no knowledge of what to do ,young kids you can forgive and hopefully educate its the 25 plusses that may have caught a few gudgeon when they were 10 that think they are the dogs ballcocks that are the problem, rather than admit they have just gone to the tackle shop spent a wadd on gear and strut around like they are Hutchy or something!!! cant educate ignorant fookers like that because they will never admit it and hence can't learn anything!!

I keep saying it but carp fishing is now the sport of the waster who see it as no more than a way to get off their face whilst camping out and not getting hassled by the local constabulary/other half, and catch a couple of fish in the process.

Up here in Northumberland we don't have it too bad but the numbers of biff boffs with carp set ups (usually stocky water fluff chuckers or clueless pier danglers) has grown a fair bit in the last few years, which has put me off fishing local waters (the public were bad enough). Fortunately I joined a syndicate in the grounds of a private estate a couple of years ago so the odd time i do manage to get out these days I can fish in peace, otherwise I'd probably lose my rag and stove someone's face in with a powerspike.

After a good 20+ years fishing for carp I very nearly threw the towel in last year due entirely to these people, no other reason.
Joined a club with a lot of stretches of river, and after picking the ones with the longest walks just to get some peace and quiet I almost feel ready to get the carp rods back out.
Sadly, the conversation that keeps cropping up with the long term barbel lads is their unease at the number of carp lads turning up on the rivers. One guy said "Most of you are alright at the moment, but it wont be long until the d*cks turn up." Sad but true.

is carp angling now the chaviest hobby on earth?

Sadly, it is

i`ve see some sights in my time and usually drift off in a nomadic state to search myself about how to find my own piece of heaven..again!..and i`ll state clearly now even those places have em.
suppose it just creeps up on you..you tolerate it at first then your head explodes..thats where i`m at again..where next!!!

then i hope by the time i finish my next project karma will have dug in..waters thats filled with foriegn carp will die off thru diseases..those carpers jack in cos they can no longer reach their adrenalin fueled goals..local waters get too hard for em..cos the anglers are improving in watercraft and tactics..yes i presume..all will fall back in place soon..an theres plenny of decent gear going cheap..i`ve now exceded my goals on quality tackle..yip..reckon theres gonna be a crash in the tackle market in the next few years.. if not already!!

The water I fish still has a high standard of angling etiqette. Its a place where everyone is friendly and its a beautiful place.
I count my blessings for angling at such a wonderful water. Sorry,, got carried away then.. Paul , you fished there in the 80s