DES Taylor’s plans to expose the hypocrisy of the river close season by running a ‘legal’ match on the River Severn in May have taken a bit of a knock, as the Environment Agency has suddenly moved the goalposts.
Des was to run the match under the auspices of fishing for salmon with worm, a method which is legal between March 15th and June 16th. Any coarse fish caught ‘accidentally’ were to be weighed and returned, and a winner declared at the end.
The idea was to expose the loopholes in a law he and many others see as antiquated and to generally bring the issue of whether or not a three-month break is justified into the public eye.
However, the EA, having learnt of Des’s cunning plan, has suddenly changed the rules so that you can no longer fish with worm for salmon. As a result they have branded Des’s match as illegal, and said that he will be prosecuted if he runs it.
That remains to be seen, but Des is not one to back down from a challenge and the Bewdley specialist says he will now run the event as an eel hunt (you can fish for eels with worms provided your hook is above a certain size).
“I suspect we haven’t heard the last of this one, although you could argue that Des and those that are backing the event, including leading lights in the Birmingham Anglers Association, have already partly achieved their goal by highlighting the issue,” commented Total-Fishing’s Gareth Purnell.
