However, it is neither inappropriate grammar nor the lack of an emoticon that betrays the true characters of this excellent fishing-website’s wreckers: they are – by any measure – rude, damaging and patently inadequate individuals just itching to see their often anonymous venom on a global platform – sometimes at two in the morning: fame at last! A sad state of affairs…
Fishing is key to the happiness and spiritual well-being of millions and for reasons we all understand, but for us at least it is not a matter of life and death: it is, in the main, a hobby. But for a great many it’s a way of life that permits wonderful recreation away from it all and with few constraints and worries.
These people are, I believe, the mainstay of angling magazines and websites; when they’re not actually fishing they enjoy reading about their way of life and debating its finer points. Disagreements arise from time to time and occasionally they become heated but downright maliciousness was never a feature of our pastime before the miracle of the internet. How shallow, how cowardly, how utterly contemptible it is that some choose to exploit this miraculous medium with non-stop nastiness? Would they have the ability and the genuine will to sit and articulate their feelings with a pen and paper? Does it not occur to these people that their target may have a bravery award or a commendation for charitable fund-raising? Or that the author whose work they denigrate might have certificated proof of its worthiness? What if their intended victim was battling cancer? Would they know? Would they care?
I have retold many of my unforgettable times with a fishing rod, free, gratis and for nothing, to entertain other anglers – including the insulting, pseudonymous ‘Titus’ and a handful of similarly disposed characters.
For the record: I have only ever had two 10 minute riverside chats with Steve Pope; I have no allegiance to him or the Barbel Society.
Also, an apology was given to all FM readers for my 3-line religious reference; it technically breached FM’s own terms and conditions so it was pulled.
So, to ‘the few’ whose raison detre appears to be the ruination of something good and the cowardly vilification of people they know nothing about, I say – on behalf of FM – be nice. Give readers – both new and established – the confidence to tell us their stories without fear of ridicule. Disagree with them. Respond to them. Start a thread and cause a stink! But don’t set out to vilify anyone who, very likely, has led an honourable life, likes to go fishing, wants to share his experience with the rest of us and has the ‘guts’ to identify their self.
FM Editor.
