• You need to be a registered member of Barbel Fishing World to post on these forums. Some of the forums are hidden from non-members. Please refer to the instructions on the ‘Register’ page for details of how to join the new incarnation of BFW...

Common Courtesy and the half way rule

Adrian Williams said:
I am in no way trying to be provocative, I stand by everything I have said. The op was in the wrong and if we are talking etiquette should have held his hands up and moved out of the swim when it was clear the other angler wanted to fish it.
However, we all know that reality is not the same as sitting in front of the telly with the laptop by your side, in reality if I were the second angler I would wander off and find another swim. However (and this is crucial to the difference between someone with real manners and a sense of fair play not to mention regard for the law and the majority of those who think the OP was right) If I had been in the OPs position and it was obvious the other guy wanted to fish the swim I would have offered to move as that would be the right thing to do, I would not feel comfortable remaining there knowing I was poaching a swim a paid up member wanted to fish.

As an extension to this, how do we all feel about the teams of carpers who turn up on a smallish lake and effectively stitch the thing up by casting to far bank margin swims?

I have lost count of the amount of times I have started to set up in a swim only to hear a shout from 100yds across the lake, "Oy mate, I'm fishing there", I find it bloody irritating and normally play deaf.
Click to expand...

I'm afraid your carp comparison would only be relevant if the guy didn't have a mile of prime Ribble water to go at. In fact he probably had several miles of good fishing because his club has a small number of members and a lot of good water on that bank. My club/side is the busy one.

You also need to remember that I did move. I didn't stand my ground. I packed my stuff up and left. But I felt angry with him and told him so.

But carry on playing the moral trump card of the law if you want. Those who know, know.
 
Alex Gowney said:
At the risk of going off topic I once had my license checked by a BAA bailiff late afternoon who then started fishing two pegs above me. I thought he would say pack up at dusk but he didn't so I carried on. I left by moonlight and he was still fishing.
I guess he also put etiquette above rules :D
Click to expand...

And of course you checked the name on his bailiff card and then reported him Alex.........? Yes No?:rolleyes:
 
I think the point the naysayers are making is being missed entirely. You aren't being castigated in any way. The other bloke in this scenario is undoubtedly a complete inconsiderate tool. I certainly don't agree with what he's done, even if he does have the "right". I wouldn't plonk myself opposite anyone in the same scenario. However, in the same situation, as much as I'd grumble merrrily to myself as I disappeared in a huff, I'd say nowt to him and wouldn't have a moan on a forum after the event because I know that, despite him being a tool, I wouldn't have a leg to stand on if I was fishing beyond half way.
 
Chris Jones said:
I think the point the naysayers are making is being missed entirely. You aren't being castigated in any way. The other bloke in this scenario is undoubtedly a complete inconsiderate tool. I certainly don't agree with what he's done, even if he does have the "right". I wouldn't plonk myself opposite anyone in the same scenario. However, in the same situation, as much as I'd grumble merrrily to myself as I disappeared in a huff, I'd say nowt to him and wouldn't have a moan on a forum after the event because I know that, despite him being a tool, I wouldn't have a leg to stand on if I was fishing beyond half way.
Click to expand...

Best post yet!!!

I dont agree with a lot of stuff, the fact im a white rastafarian fisherman/hunter :eek: with normal hair and issues about taking life!
 
Last edited:
Chris Jones said:
I think the point the naysayers are making is being missed entirely. You aren't being castigated in any way. The other bloke in this scenario is undoubtedly a complete inconsiderate tool. I certainly don't agree with what he's done, even if he does have the "right". I wouldn't plonk myself opposite anyone in the same scenario. However, in the same situation, as much as I'd grumble merrrily to myself as I disappeared in a huff, I'd say nowt to him and wouldn't have a moan on a forum after the event because I know that, despite him being a tool, I wouldn't have a leg to stand on if I was fishing beyond half way.
Click to expand...

That is exactly what I have been trying to say.
 
Chris Jones said:
I think the point the naysayers are making is being missed entirely. You aren't being castigated in any way. The other bloke in this scenario is undoubtedly a complete inconsiderate tool. I certainly don't agree with what he's done, even if he does have the "right". I wouldn't plonk myself opposite anyone in the same scenario. However, in the same situation, as much as I'd grumble merrrily to myself as I disappeared in a huff, I'd say nowt to him and wouldn't have a moan on a forum after the event because I know that, despite him being a tool, I wouldn't have a leg to stand on if I was fishing beyond half way.
Click to expand...

There appear to be an element on the thread who have now retreated to a grumbling and accusatory "well you were in the right morally but you shouldn't have had a moan on the forum".

I'm not "having a moan". If I was that way inclined I could have easily not mentioned the fact that I intended to fish over half way, as I didn't cast once he didn't know that. I'm simply using the forum for what it should be for; to discuss fishing and the importance of consideration for others. The response to the thread seems to indicate that this is a valid discussion.
 
Paul Cahill said:
There appear to be an element on the thread who have now retreated to a grumbling and accusatory "well you were in the right morally but you shouldn't have had a moan on the forum".

I'm not "having a moan". If I was that way inclined I could have easily not mentioned the fact that I intended to fish over half way, as I didn't cast once he didn't know that. I'm simply using the forum for what it should be for; to discuss fishing and the importance of consideration for others. The response to the thread seems to indicate that this is a valid discussion.
Click to expand...

My position has not changed one iota. There has been no retreat. I'm sorry, as I see it, you are trying desperately to instigate an argument with anyone that doesn't agree with you 100%. You are the only one trying to make it personal with your accusations of pomposity and now backtracking. I'll leave you to it, good luck.
 
Chris Jones said:
I'm sorry, as I see it, you are trying desperately to instigate an argument with anyone that doesn't agree with you 100%.
Click to expand...

I'm not sure that fighting my corner in a debate translates to "deperately trying to start an argument". I could quite easily throw the same accusation at you.
 
Paul, when you started the thread, you provided a clear account of what happened, gave your opinion as to what the appropriate outcome should have been and then posed a question on this forum. When someone asks a question, usually its because there is something they don't know or are unsure about. Clearly, and as I have said before, because you have chosen to use this forum (presumably full of folk you literally don't know, never met) to ask the question rather than, say, a trusted friend, you are going to get a variety of responses. Perhaps you were hoping/expecting that you would have received universal support and agreement to the position you had taken.

What seems to have unfolded here is a situation in which whenever someone answered your question in a way that didn't match that expectation you took a bit of umbrage and sought to argue with each and everyone of those posters, with the hope perhaps of persuading them to agree with your point of view.

What you have displayed is a great deal of resilience and resolve that suggests great confidence and certainty of your position.

In which case, why ask the question in the first place?

Rather than get caught up in the granular details of all this, why not accept that the majority of the replies concur with your conclusion that this other angler was a total knob and let's all be united in that fact and love each other all the more for it.

There can't be anything left of that bone now anyway.

Did I tell you about my recent fishing trip to the Wye...
 
With out rules then where would we be ? So are you saying Paul that because it suited you at the time to break the half way rule and because there was no one else around at the time that makes it ok ?
Just like the rest of us in life .
If you break the rules and get caught . How ever trivel those rules may be to you or some people .Then expect the consequences of your actions .
 
Paul. I think if you asked a question like.

Is it bad form to set up directly opposite someone already fishing when there is plenty of river space available? then I hope 90pc would have said yes.

If that isn't the general rule of good manners, heaven help us brothers of the angle...........

Graham
 
Graham Elliott said:
Paul. I think if you asked a question like.

Is it bad form to set up directly opposite someone already fishing when there is plenty of river space available? then I hope 90pc would have said yes.

If that isn't the general rule of good manners, heaven help us brothers of the angle...........

Graham
Click to expand...

^^ A sane voice in the wilderness :D
 
Last edited:
Hi men,

Graham , I think you will find that's the general feeling in the posts anyway , just that some people have different ways of expressing it , but you see how wording a question set the tone ?, well put fella .

Hatter
 
What about:

"Would you intentionally go out and pre-bait a swim and start to fish in water which you have no right to fish in the knowledge that someone could turn up and legitimately wish to fish their own water, also knowing that you could pre-bait and set up in plenty of water which you do have the right to fish?"

I should hope most people would also say no to that one!!
 
Perhaps it's about the size and width of it? i.e. the river in question. If the water is say the middle/lower Thames, Trent or lower Severn and it's 50/60... yards wide then fair enough fish opposite if owned by different clubs even if it is a bit naff staring at someone else all day. If it's narrow say like the upper St.Pat's or Kennet then it has to be a no-no cos the river simply isn't wide enough to take two at opposite sides of the bank.

Have we had enough of this yet?
 
I reckon we can get to 150 posts Nick, no problem. I was thinking that this is a bit similar to the time I found a girlfriend of mine playing naked twister with a "mate". In many respects no laws were being broken (except the laws of physics perhaps-he was a gymnast) and, as adults, they had every right to do what they were doing. But I recall reflecting on all this, and not wanting to diminish or invalidate their rights and so on, I did start to consider that it wasn't terribly courteous or polite of them both.

I mean, the Twister game was a gift from my gran.
 
Unbelievable this thread, and as a bloke that's been round the block a few times, the only conclusion is that the angler opposite that came after the OP was in the wrong no if's and butts, not a case of legally who's right and wrong, halfway or otherwise, just a classic example of bad manners.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top