went for a couple of days camping up the coast,ended up next to tourness,had a look at the outlet for mullet and there must have been 20 people fishing in the space of your average garage forecourt.these people were pulling bass out every cast but very few were over the limit.one guy had a postie bag full of bass,none over 2lb.speaking to a local and this is like this every day of the summer,24 hrs a day.according to this bloke alot of them sell the bass to places in edinburgh,.i asked the bloke with the postie bag full why are you taking undersize bass,his reply was who is going to stop him,.not only would you have to deal with him but also the other 15 anglers that were there,sorry they werent anglers they were a disgrace.anyone got a number for reporting these people,cheers
bass cull
- Thread starter raptorman
- Start date
BAZACODBASHA
Well-known member
Hi,
I've stopped fishing at Torness for the very reason you "highlight". A couple of years ago I contacted the Ministry of fisheries and agriculture at Eyemouth about the problem of people keeping undersize bass at Torness. Their response was "luke warm" to say the least ! To cut a long story short I was more or less told that targeting anglers was at the bottom of their list of priorities, even though they were aware of what is going on at Torness. Their priority was making sure commercial boats were sticking to their catch quotas.
When I questioned the officer about why, if there was supposed to be a law in place about taking undersize bass; do they allow such a practice to continue, his response to this question was : "Well you know we don't have enough staff to constantly patrol Torness, and even then we have to catch the offender in the act" To which I sugested they send a couple of officers down to Torness on ANY summers morning day or night. The worst offenders are our oriental cousins and immigrants from eastern europe.
I could tell by this stage he was starting to get a little stressed about my constant questions, but to my last one his answer was : "Look even if we catch a foreigner taking small bass, because most don't or claim they don't speak English, it is not within the public interest to take them to court, what with interperator costs etc etc"
Totally perplexed I said "thanks for your time", and put the phone down.
Sorry folks but this is what your up against !
I've stopped fishing at Torness for the very reason you "highlight". A couple of years ago I contacted the Ministry of fisheries and agriculture at Eyemouth about the problem of people keeping undersize bass at Torness. Their response was "luke warm" to say the least ! To cut a long story short I was more or less told that targeting anglers was at the bottom of their list of priorities, even though they were aware of what is going on at Torness. Their priority was making sure commercial boats were sticking to their catch quotas.
When I questioned the officer about why, if there was supposed to be a law in place about taking undersize bass; do they allow such a practice to continue, his response to this question was : "Well you know we don't have enough staff to constantly patrol Torness, and even then we have to catch the offender in the act" To which I sugested they send a couple of officers down to Torness on ANY summers morning day or night. The worst offenders are our oriental cousins and immigrants from eastern europe.
I could tell by this stage he was starting to get a little stressed about my constant questions, but to my last one his answer was : "Look even if we catch a foreigner taking small bass, because most don't or claim they don't speak English, it is not within the public interest to take them to court, what with interperator costs etc etc"
Totally perplexed I said "thanks for your time", and put the phone down.
Sorry folks but this is what your up against !
unreal,well im going to have a go anyway, ive got a number so will try tomorow although i do belive i will end up with the same outcome,its amazing there have been 138 peoplke look at this thread and only 4 replys,mmm maybe there not bothered.its a shame, funny you mention the police not having time, we camped at a site maybe 300 yrd from the outlet,in three days i saw thie police 4 times come into our field in there car ,turn round and **** off,and yes many chinese people there,raping the place,
aye prob,the law is a great thing eh,
Cannot agree more, i fished torness every october since i was 10 or 11, yes the chinese are always there taking undersize fish however it is not just them that are taking them, in dunbar (small town not to far from the powerstation) 2 locals told me whilst fishing to move so they could put a net in... i was shocked to see a 200 yrd net come out of there tetty bag and they shot it around the rocks at low water, Alot of anglers who were there packed up and left with nearly evry 1 unhappy but 1 of the locals had said that they had a license to put it there, since then i have never fished at that mark due to this.
BAZACODBASHA
Well-known member
Hi raptorman,
The police regularly patrol the outskirts of the power station for security purposes. They aren't interested in anglers fishing from the rocks as long as they aren't trespassing on the power station land. Like I say my rant was about the fishery "protection" officers seemingly turning a blind eye to what amounts to people breaking the law.
Cheers.
The police regularly patrol the outskirts of the power station for security purposes. They aren't interested in anglers fishing from the rocks as long as they aren't trespassing on the power station land. Like I say my rant was about the fishery "protection" officers seemingly turning a blind eye to what amounts to people breaking the law.
Cheers.
The only way...
The only way...
The only way I think this would be resolved is if a large group of "proper" anglers went along and either crowded out these people or better still prevented them from fishing in some manner. It seems these days the only way to get something done is to do it yourself.
The only way...
The only way I think this would be resolved is if a large group of "proper" anglers went along and either crowded out these people or better still prevented them from fishing in some manner. It seems these days the only way to get something done is to do it yourself.
cockenzie power stations the same mate 
we were catching schoolies and the locals (drinking special brew )where telling us to give them the undersize bass so they could sell them to the restaurants
we just packed up and left before it kicked off ! never been back since they want strung up !
we were catching schoolies and the locals (drinking special brew )where telling us to give them the undersize bass so they could sell them to the restaurantswe just packed up and left before it kicked off ! never been back since they want strung up !ii had the same there aswell mate, cockenzie was the last place i fished for them and was gonna get thrown in after the locals had nothing all day "apart from superstrength larger" and i had over 30 in 2 hours, had to ring my dad to pick me up after they started comming around to me and checking out my gear, bait etc, started gettin annoyed even more when i walked past them and had a cheeky flick inbetween them and nailed one... then i knew it was time to leave.
But yeah its just as bad but without the chinese.
But yeah its just as bad but without the chinese.
That would never work, are you going to patrol the place everyday?
There is a large percent of the population that couldn't give a **** and have no respect for nothing. So this type of behaviour is here to stay I'm afraid.
bigroppa
Well-known member
Its been like that for a while now up Torness, saw 3 chinese blokes fill a shopping trolley once when i was there. Have actually seen fights break out and cars damaged aswell. As for the foreigners, its not just undersize bass they are taking, its all fish. They are longlining ponds and lakes for carp and pike. Taking eels out the rivers, keeping every fish they catch on the piers. Clearing rockends off all shellfish, regardless of size. They are even starting to kill swans and other protected birds and the law does nothing to stop them. If it was you or me caught doing that we would be facing heavy fines but they just get let off, because they dont speak english. Boils my **** but its the way this **** country has gone now.
paulthespark
Well-known member
It's a non starter mate and it ain't going to happen and as far as the police are concerned, does anyone honestly believe they know what size an undersize bass is, I don't think so , the fisheries officers really do have bigger fish to fry, so what happens, absolutely f.all, just like the sea fishing licence you can't police it an we just have to accept it, personally I don't like it but that's the way it is.
av been up 2day, with lucky chris, (chris 72), the same chinese bloke was there with his large newspaper bag, a local told us he`s living in his car, anyway we fished a bit, but when we were moving, he was packing freezer boxes in the back of his car, when a asked about undersized fish, he could`nt understand english........!
we moved down to eyemouth and had a cracking day.
but torness needs looking into.
we moved down to eyemouth and had a cracking day.
but torness needs looking into.
Police (apart from the nesa ones like
) wouldn't know what a bass was never mind an undersize one.I personaly think that the legal system in the UK is a total joke, in all aspects, not just chucking.
kayos
Well-known member
"bigger fish to fry"........... I love it Paul ! Sorry we didn't get to meet up a few weeks ago. Spent the Saturday shopping with Lynn! Be back down 12 Oct for a week. We really must get a shore session organised.
Mark
