Fishing during the Coronavirus lock down

“Don’t be a Kn*b, just do as you are asked for a while!” These are the words tweeted by Johnny Mercer,  Conservative MP for Plymouth Moor View and Undersecretary for State of Defence. On this rare occasion, I couldn’t agree more with him. I make absolutely no apologies for what I am about to say, “If you think that its ok to go out fishing and this is all some sort of conspiracy theory, or you think that fishing is self isolating and won’t affect anyone else, then you are nothing more than an arrogant, ignorant and selfish c*nt! I am not prepared to get into an argument about how dog walkers shouldn’t be out and its not fair etc, etc…. The guidance is very simple even for dog walkers and exercisers. You should not be driving anywhere to exercise or walk your dog. Do it within walking distance of your home, then return to your abode. Its not difficult people! Even the thickest of you out there must be able to understand that. Stay at home and support the hard work being done by our NHS staff who are putting themselves at high risk. Why should they die because you are a twat? If you’re bored then volunteer to help the NHS. If anyone does see anglers out there feel free to send me their picture and I am happy to name and shame. Rant Over! Lets get on and talk about fishing.

It seems that fate has conspired against me recently. I have just finished a year long contract that kept me very much involved with fishing at a government level. I have been involved in helping shape the new fisheries bill and part of that is how recreational anglers will have a greater say in the quota allocations. This is pretty much why I haven’t done anywhere near as much fishing as I would have liked and absolutely nothing on the website due to conflict of interest issues. So you can imagine how dismayed I was this morning, when on the first day out of my old job, I was unable to get out with my rods and a camera, to commence my fishing reports once again.

I had hoped to maybe take a trip down to Cogden or West Bexington on Chesil, where I had seen reports from friends such as Ben Stockley, that the Plaice had finally arrived in the past few weeks. But alas its not to be for a few weeks or maybe even months, but we can admire and dream about getting out and catching fish like this again. I just want to point out that these pictures are from before the lock down.

A late season Codling and a lovely Plaice.

Obviously as we are not going to be able to get out and about much I will spend some of that time writing about rigs, techniques and the latest tackle. I am happy to do a “this day in history” feature for your catches from the past. Please feel free to send me ideas and articles so we can get this site back up to its former glory.