Call me an old romantic but I do believe in fate and destiny. Events happen in our lives and when they do we don’t always appreciate their full significance until a bit further down the line; it could be days, months, or even years and my muse has been particularly active since I last wrote a diary.
If one or two things hadn’t fallen into place I would probably have been out in Australia once again, that had certainly been the plan, but events outside of my control unfolded to keep me here and I’m pleased they did.
I then, completely out of the blue, found myself volunteering to put together the next issue of’ Barbel Fisher’, the magazine produced by the Barbel Society for its members. Basically Rob, our editor, needed to take some time out and, as we weren’t looking for someone else to do the job, I stepped up to help out as I have done it a couple of times before.
So, I was in the process of working out the structure of the magazine when I called Fred Crouch’s wife, Pat, to see how he was. I knew the situation was not good but was hoping that Fred’s health had not deteriorated any further. Pat gave me an update which filled me with sadness and I had this awful feeling that really sad news was not too far away… and it wasn’t.
As I knew I would probably never see him again, the following morning I decided to write Fred a long letter but I needed a little more information so I made another call. Pat answered the phone and she just said, “Fred has gone.” It is very difficult to articulate my immediate thoughts on hearing the news, even though part of me knew it was inevitable, my eyes welled up and tears flowed; Fred was a great friend of mine and he had just passed away.
Four strong winds blew and the good times were all gone, the following weeks were to be filled with much reflection before I could feel anything like moving on. I found myself immersed in the work that I needed to do, I owed this to my pal and it was a way I suppose of dealing with my own grief. The decision was made that the magazine would now become a commemorative issue to honour one of the most influential characters the barbel world has ever known and I was asked to deliver a eulogy at the funeral.
When it was all done I just couldn’t find the enthusiasm to sit out the last couple of days of the season for a few fish up to my knees in mud, it seemed far more important to get the work on the magazine finished, there would be plenty of time in the months to come to catch some barbel. So I really knuckled down as I had the best part of ten thousand words to write as well as the other twenty five thousand that needed to be edited. It’s pretty much finished now, twenty five articles, one hundred and fifty photos and many wonderful stories covering Fred’s remarkable life. Barbel Society members will receive the magazine by the end of April and there will be copies available at the Barbel Show on 04 May.
In the middle of the month I found myself in Bewdley, along with Des Taylor, giving a talk for the Midshires Region of the Barbel Society. The room was full and a good time was had by all; I’ve given plenty of presentations on my own but always preferred it when Fred was alongside as it was just a lot of fun! This particular evening found me thinking about Fred in just about everything I spoke about, his influence upon me has been profound and will stay with me as long as I breathe.
I also found myself thinking back to the last time I was in the same room, with Paul Garner, Lol Breakspear, Dave Harrell and Des. I remembered feeling quite alone staunchly defending the close season to an audience that was very much in favour of some kind of change. I stood my ground but couldn’t help but think that the audience were making valid points.
This time around the subject was touched upon again in view of the fact that the weather had reduced the fishing on the river that was flowing perilously close to the top of the flood barriers just outside, to little more than six months. Hearing the devastating effect this had on the local tackle shops made me think about it a bit more. I responded to a discussion that was taking place on Facebook, expressing my views and how my personal stance had softened from my thoughts fifteen years ago.
This response was picked up by the Angling Times and I received a call and I was happy to give, which again I stress was my personal opinion, on the close season as it stands today. I have now read many more hundreds of words on this topic as anglers everywhere have eloquently expressed their opinions but I have to say I stand by what I said to the paper.
And I would go further still…I have yet to be convinced that there is such a huge difference between fish residing in a canal or stillwater, to those that live in a river that necessitates a three month shut down for one and not for the other.
Once the door, perhaps to Pandora’s Box, was opened, the argument that anglers as a group can use the close season as a statement of care flew out the window. Taken to its logical conclusion what that actually says is some care, but the majority don’t. Now I don’t know about you, but that does not sit comfortably with me anymore. And the general public, if indeed they are that concerned, will not look at what a minority say, they will only see the bigger picture.
Now I know some will say two wrongs never make one right, and I understand that, but of course that makes the assumption that losing the close season on stillwaters and canals was actually wrong.
Well was it?
If it was then by now we should be facing some kind of ‘Angling Armageddon’ on those venues and unless I’ve missed something then I don’t think we are. We can’t have it both ways.
However, I am still in favour of a close season, I’m not entirely sure why other than the fact that I’m old school, and I won’t be campaigning hard for change, but I do believe a change will come and it needs to if river fishing is to be enjoyed by our grandkids – sometimes us baby boomers, the Crabtree generation, can appear to be a selfish lot.
It’s a bit like the song, I look at life from both sides now (I never had you down as a Joni fan Steve, respect! Ed) and there is also a political analogy. Back in the eighties I was a staunch Maggie supporter – and why not? – I lived near London, had a thriving business and the coalmines were a long way away. Fifteen years or so later and having met up with many friends from the Midlands and North I saw the other side of the coin and it changed my outlook, this man is for changing and so should any sensible person.
And that’s where I’m at I suppose, my view is that some sort of change to the river close season is inevitable, when it happens – perhaps not for many years but who knows? – I don’t expect there to be an Armageddon on the river systems in our country, that just seems to be too farfetched.
To finish on a light note, my birthday is 16 June, born to fish as I’m prone to say, and over the years it’s caused me all sorts of problems! As a youngster I have vivid memories of sitting on the bank playing with a new present while my dad was extracting tench from a Lea Valley pit, but as I grew older my own kids were most upset if I had disappeared to go fishing on my birthday and rightly so, these days I exercise a degree of restraint and don’t venture out seriously until the end of that month. If the season was changed it would certainly not impact on me in a commercial sense, but it might help a few beleaguered clubs and shops, it would not be a panacea, but every little bit surely helps…
