| Archive for Downsizer For an ethical approach to consumption |
| bodger |
Ever tried Fishing with your Hands ?Or tickling as its called ?You should, as it can be great fun and rewarding to get you feet and hands wet on a warm summers day. Its an art, not an art in the true sense of angling but definately an art. I've done it since I was a boy and stll get in and have a go at it at least once every summer . Perfectly illegal but perfectly permissable for a downsizer as there are no carbon emissions associated with the manufacture of your tackle 
A very basic run down of what you do is that you basically grope under the stones and in bank holes with your hands untill you locate your fish and then you gently stroke your fish rather than tickle your fish under the belly and ease it out and upto the surface . Then as the actress said to the bishop its all in the wrist as you deftly flick it up out of the water and onto the bank and into your pocket.. Great fun.You must have a go and once perfected you'll never starve |
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| spanky |
Louth in lincolnshire us old ones call it coddeling a trout used to go early morning to the stream at hubbards hills and take a brace or 2 , strange things is my feet went very cold as if i was back in that freezing water when i started reading the topic , guilty consience i wonder / | ||
| bodger |
Keep the art alive Spanky | ||
| spanky |
if i was able mate the olny thing i would find in my local river is the sparkling trolley fish , not a trout to be seen in these parts except in private lakes ,plenty sea fish but they play the game | ||
| bluebell |
I have caught Salmon with my hands...but only 'cause they were cream crackered after going up stream. What really made me laugh whilst all these fish that we could catch with our hands were the serious fishermen casting their lines in earnest and not catching a thing:lol: | ||
| spanky |
fishand the little lad with a safety pin and butchers twine gets the whopper while your £1000 tackle gets nothingalways remember poaching a trout river ( when i was a kid ) and the bigggest lad in the village had a daisy airgun and he made us stand down river while he walked the bank and spotted a big fish then he would slide the barrel of his air rifle in the water and shoot the fish in the head at that it would float down an we had the task of catching it as it went by needless to say he never in all the times he took it did he ever come close to hitting one . it took him till he was 16 to realise that what he aimed at in the water was not what he was seeing on the land due to tha refracton angle ,we just carried on coddling ours and taking home the spoils ,isnt it strange how some folks can get loads of fish when nobody is about to see them do it haha |
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| bodger |
Day time for trout tickling and night time for salmon knobbling
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| bluebell |
We we used to go fishing of the end the Pier, usually at Dover, I caught more fish with my hand made bamboo rod than my grandfather or mother did with their shop bought rods, much to my grandfathers annoyance! | ||
| Bernie66 |
Isn't it supposed to be thought of as "bad form" by those in angling circles?
I am not saying its not effective, just not well thought of. |
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| bodger |
Bad form Bernie but really good fun. I just can't help myself. I need therapy. I was known as the poaching policeman !  But they could never prove it.
The stories I could tell ! The s**t I could get myself into ! 
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| Bernie66 |
As it appears to be illegal
http://www.fisheries.nsw.gov.au/recreational/freshwater/freshwater/general_information_-_notified_trout_waters At least in some places anyway, its not the type of thing we want to be seen to be promoting on DS. If my sources are incorrect, and it is in fact perfectly legal feel free to discuss it. I am ready to be corrected if I am wrong? |
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| jocorless |
I thought "Tickling" was illegal although I've just looked at the fishing byelaws for North West England and can't find anything specific on it | ||
| bodger |
It most certainly is
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| sean |
The lads in the village my Dad lived in favoured cricket-bats or golf-clubs, but that was for salmon. | ||
| dpack |
lots ,various types , a mesh net around one hand helps the slithery grab but slows things down so use it as an "anvil".
heron form can work ie a fast grab ,so pelican form ie drive them into a corner . or grab at low tide/ flow in pools 
more fun than putting froglets in a bucket (i bred amphs for a while ) paitience and a grab that curves the fishy will work . my dad showed my in a tiny moorland stream when i was very small . the only fish i caught in greece was by hand while swimming . bait helps 
reaching under the bank is a good tactic |
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| dpack |
allegedly ,
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| bodger |
A person without scruples would go for a walk by a trout stream in the evening with some small pegs in his pocket with a baited hook and line and knock the pegs in and drop the worms into likely spots.
The following morning he would go for another walk and collect his booty and would be home before you could say Jack Robinson enjoying a nice grilled trout or even an eel for breakfast ! 
I had a bit of a hammering from one or two on one site when I told them about me using the perfectly legal method of using long nets on the beach to catch bass, mullet and eh hem ! cough cough ! I'll be at it again this winter when the holiday makers have departed and as long as people don't mind too much , I would be quite happy to give a running commentary of how to do it and what I catch along with some nice photographs. Bodge |
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| Bernie66 |
Re tickling v) No person shall take or attempt to take or kill any salmon, trout, freshwater fish or eels by any of the following methods, that is to say, by tickling or groping the fish or by removing the water from any river, lake or pond by ladling, baling, draining or pumping. Feel free to talk about long nets on the beach if you so desire
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| dpack |
jack hargreaves has a lot to answer for
or we need to preserve these skills or they will go until the "wheel"is reinvented and legal is not the same as ethical and i only hunt or forage ethically (alledgedly) legal hunting laws are designed to enforce the enclosure acts and dont apply to old men (alledgedly ) respect for the world ,respect for dinner ,by any(kind) means sustainable . |
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| spanky |
You and me both bodger i lay longlines ( long lenths line with hook on smaller lines at right angles six feet apart with a bait on) .. tide covers them and i pick the cod / whiting of them at low tide .also lay legal long / trammel nets all beach net fishing is legal unless there are by laws restricting it , but you can only do it below the low water line at the mean tide , i shoot longlines from my strikeliner and herring nets now as i managed to get some from one the old boys retiring. no fishing is illegal unless stated by law , you can take fish from the sea for your own consumption without licences other than fish which come under a specific licencing like salmon ....defra answer to my request on aquiring my nets
as with all local laws check with your governing bodies first oh and there is still in place APPARANTLY a common law that states a man may take food from the land or sea which is made to sustain him in a manner made legal on that day by the crown officers |
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| dpack |
maybe everyone would be happy with a "rod"licence that included by bow or hand or splash net (dam and poison is not sustainable round here ),but still stating season and size .
sometimes my licence would not cover the best way to get dinner and i resent that . what is the legal thing about fixed multi hook lines ,fixed at low tide and collected next tide ? |
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| bodger |
Re tickling v) No person shall take or attempt to take or kill any salmon, trout, freshwater fish or eels by any of the following methods, that is to say, by tickling or groping the fish or by removing the water from any river, lake or pond by ladling, baling, draining or pumping. Thats tickled me Bernie. Part of the fun in doing it is that you shouldn't be .
The beach nets are only 30 to 50 yards long and whilst you can get big catches, the most I had in a setting was six. Its great to get out on the beach before its light early in the morning and all that tosh, never knowing what you're going to catch. I'll enjoy recounting this Autumn and winters exploits ! |
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| spanky |
Well commonsence says that you dont put them where folks swim etc . but i have never had any trouble with any laws doing my longlines on the beach .it was and is a long established practice on the river humber where i did my homework and i have had the same result on my beaches down here in suffolk no trouble from my buddies in the coast guard when i give them a free feed if you check with defra as i did then they didnt say i needed any permits ecxept in the case of local bylaws and didnt sell the fish i caught | ||
| spanky |
and i think bodger that unscrupulous chap may even sink a fyke net under a road bridge on a night time wearing waders and come back the next night to remove the eels and other goodies he may find
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| bodger |
I have to put a name and telephone number on my floating marker, there are mesh size regs and there are areas that are prohibited. These are obviously areas around estruaries and the such.
Inspite of this, I still catch sea trout and salmon which by law and under the threat of a humungus fine and castration in the local papers I'm forced to throw back even though they are dead. Spanky I love eels ,where I live seems to be one of the few places where there isn't a shortage. |
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| spanky |
might be worth applying for a licence to fish for the mate ,,fkye nets are easy to set and look after . the water authority give you tags for your nets | ||
| bodger |
A few years ago I went to a friends place where they'd dug a small pond about 30 yards from a stream.It had only been in existance for two or three years. I put 6 hooks in over night and had 5 eels.
I've even caught them with the same method in ditches. d pack I'm sorry , I've only just noticed your question about th legality of longlines on beaches. Thats perfectly legal and at times very productive. One November in the late 70s I treated myself to a holiday in Penzance. I went on the train with my beachcasters etc and when I got there the weather was so bad that I couldn't fish. For any of you who know the area I set a baited longline on Green Beach . I caught 17 fish on a line containing 21 hooks . Not bad eh? and the catches stayed at that sort of level all week. As a matter of interest I stayed at a guest house called the Tarburt and I shared the residence with a then young group called Sham 69. The members of the group came down to the beach to see what I'd caught. |
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| dpack |
y'old punk
glad my night line stuff is legal cos it works |
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| bodger |
Mr Percy wasn't with us then and I suppose he's out of sight now
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