No, not a driver to me when riding my bike, but a fish botherer as I kayaked past. Even more funny in a way:

a) I do pay to paddle there, through my Canoe England membership, which costs almost twice what a rod licence appears to.
b) He doesn’t pay to fish there, because he was in a no fishing zone – his comment prompted by me saying quite politely that he wasn’t allowed to fish there, as shown on the large sign about 20m away.

Of course my polite response that I do pay, and the following exchange resulted in him getting all angry, and when I’d landed 100m past him at the canoe club I spotted him walking towards me – I presume he changed his mind when he realised I was surrounded by lots of rowers rather bigger than me or him who were likely to be on my side (I just put my boat away – he’d gone back by the time I looked). 😆

Not a rant at all in case anybody tries to mark it. Is it just an anger response for some people having their behaviour challenged when they’re in the wrong and they know they’re in the wrong?

One day an STW premium member well use that line during an argument on here…

Not a rant at all in case anybody tries to mark it. Is it just an anger response for some people having their behaviour challenged when they’re in the wrong and they know they’re in the wrong?

Yep, even more so when people owe money. Working next to our accounts department is an eye opener about just how rude and nasty people can be when they’re asked to settle their statement or pay for goods delivered as a COD customer.

We had a fisherman get very shouty at us. I don’t in any way begrudge his right to fish there but we were on a canal in a canal boat. Not sure what he was expecting.

Are you Ron Pickering?

The difference was noticeable between old money and new money on the Royal Dee last week… Nicely played by the more mature lady, fishing while leaning on shepherds crook who raised a laugh from us all…

One day an STW premium member well use that line during an argument on here…

Nope. Us members of The P Elite just press our secret little P button to have you logged out and spammed with pop ups.

There’s a fine line between fishing and just sitting on the bank being bored.

TurnerGuy – Member
One day an STW premium member well use that line during an argument on here…

😆

b) He doesn’t pay to fish there, because he was in a no fishing zone

Maybe he was just going for a cheeky fish cf cheeky trail

where was this aracer?

There’s a fine line between fishing and just sitting on the bank being bored contemplating their dull,hateful marriage ,and how long they can stay out the house.

Carbon poles,excellent for bunny hop practice 🙂

The first rule of Cheeky Fishing Club….

where was this aracer?

Please let it be Hull.

Are you Ron Pickering?

That’s already tagged as my standard response to all future driver/rambler whinges.

Standard for paddling isn’t it. When I used to kayak regularly I was followed, threatened by gun carrying Welshman, had things thrown at me and saw cars damaged.

Mostly maintained a polite disposition however, on occasions I did wish I could just beat them to death with a paddle and hang them in a tree with a note around their neck as a warning.

Some people are just miserable bastards, they get up in the morning waiting to be annoyed by something. Very little you can do to reason with them so best just to move on and leave them stewing.

Had one or two similar retorts when paddleboarding up River..

And these guys are fishing from boats..

And the Rivers free to fish on..

And paddleboard on….

Are you Ron Pickering?

I’m Ron Pickering and so is my wife.

Very little you can do to reason with them so best just to move on and leave them stewing mock them cruelly from a distance and watch their head explode.

It is the Englishman’s inalienable right [oh, and englishwomen too ] to criticise everybody else regardless of the crassness/illegality of their own behaviour. I was road cycling the other day chatting to someone next to me when an old couple in full ‘I am a serious walker’ kit started shouting ‘ SINGLE FILE, GET IN SINGLE FILE!’ at us! Now I have been tooted by car drivers when riding two abreast but too be bellowed at by 2 OAPs from the pavement was a new experience.

Carbon poles, excellent for bunny hop practice

I mistimed it once. 😳

Bloke was not best pleased, but he was determined not to move. I think it was a good job he didn’t catch me, one of us would have ended up in the canal or worse. (I was young and impetuous, I wouldn’t do it now)

On busy canal towpaths it’s easier for me to get off and walk than it is for the fishermen to take down their kit.
So I walk.

It’s a shared resource, we don’t take precedence.
Better one person is inconvenienced than many, surely?

However, some of us and them don’t always see that….

Why the ‘us & them’?

You do sorts of various outdoor stuff, don’t you?

Mostly maintained a polite disposition however, on occasions I did wish I could just beat them to death with a paddle and hang them in a tree with a note around their neck as a warning.

Is this your favourite film clip by any chance?

“Give a man a fish and feed him for a day.

Teach a man to fish and feed him for a lifetime.

Teach a man to cycle and he will realize fishing is stupid and boring.”

– Desmond Tutu

It’s a shared resource, we don’t take precedence.

Yeah, but it’s also a Right Of Way – they don’t get free reign to place obstacles across it and then moan at people who want to use it.

Yonks ago a friend was riding on a canal bank. He reached a fishing competition, so spoke with the organisers at the check-in, control or whatever. He was thinking he’d go round, and so wanted to ask how far the competition extended along the bank.

He was assured that all competitors were required not to obstruct the towpath as part of The Rules, and to carry on.

This may or may not still apply.

They HAVE to moan, human nature, innit?

Seriously though, if it’s really busy, why bother?
It’s not that hard to walk for a bit.

Some people are just miserable bastards, they get up in the morning waiting to be annoyed by something.

Nail / head. If four decades on this little planet has taught me anything, it’s that some people are just That Way Out. You can’t reason with them, you can’t “win,” in their mind they’re right and you’re wrong and they lack the part of the brain that deals with things like reasoning and critical thinking.

Reasoned arguments are only useful with people who are capable of being reasonable; the ones that aren’t compensate with shouting a lot and will try to bully you into submission because that’s the only tool they have to win an argument. This is why it’s futile to try and tell road warriors that Road Tax was abolished in 1937; they simply aren’t capable of processing that information, of having a reasonable discussion and realising that their world view is incorrect.

Take meme-du-jour I’m Ronnie Pickering. Do we think he was captain of his school debating team? Memeber of MENSA perhaps, or the Sceptics Society? Or just a big man with a big temper in a small car with matching penis? I know where my money would be.

was road cycling the other day chatting to someone next to me when an old couple in full ‘I am a serious walker’ kit started shouting ‘ SINGLE FILE, GET IN SINGLE FILE!’ at us!

I bet they were two abreast too, weren’t they. Old Age People In GoreTex, mincing along taking up all the pavement so that regular pavement users can’t get past. And I bet they don’t pay pavement tax either the sponging bastards, I hope someone knocks them off their Nordic walking poles.

Why the ‘us & them’?

😳

“Give a man a fish and feed him for a day.

Teach a man to fish and feed him for a lifetime.

Teach a man to cycle and he will realize fishing is stupid and boring.”

– Desmond Tutu

Give a man a fish and he’ll eat for a day.

Teach a man to fish and he’ll sit next to the canal for 14 hours straight, drinking beer and shouting at everyone who isn’t fishing.

some people are just That Way Out. You can’t reason with them, you can’t “win,” in their mind they’re right and you’re wrong and they lack the part of the brain that deals with things like reasoning and critical thinking.

The weird thing is how most of them seem to be drawn to this place so regularly…

It’s not that hard to walk for a bit.

Well I’d prefer to wait for a bit while they moved their kit out of the way, rather than lifting my bike over. There’s still a risk of stumbling and standing on a pole or dropping you bike on it, but I entirely agree about a bit of give and take on a shared path. It has to work both ways though.

Interesting. I know there is (has been historically) a lot of conflict on rivers.

Putting river specific access agreements to one side, is there any general rule re kayak seasons and fishing seasons? I do try to be considerate to anglers, but have been challenged in some odd locations, eg, River Taff in Cardiff…

Walker questioned whether I had right of navigation. I was polite, but privately considering rights of paddle access along the alimentary canal 😈

Rarely get walkered these days.

The older anti bike types (in our outdoors club at least) are being replaced by people who’ve grown up with mtb’s.

Of course, the newer generation will invent a load of new prejudices which will ensure future confrontations come alive.

E-bikes, anyone?

Worcester, sorry.

I’m not sure it’s a terribly good analogy.

a) there’s a good reason for the no fishing zone – I think he was in the bit which is a “swan sanctuary” where the swans avoid the risk of digesting lead. Though just upstream from that is the riversports centre I was approaching, where there are lots of boat movements next to the bank – I was just coming in and he was fishing where I wanted to paddle.
b) the other side of the riversports centre a couple of hundred metres upstream is perfectly legal to fish. If somebody is fishing there I’ll avoid them because it’s not that big an issue to do so and they have a right to be there (though the friendly ones tend to pull their lines in anyway – they’re in the majority who I’ll exchange friendly nods with, we’re talking river rather than canal which does normally seem to attract the less grumpy ones). I suspect that was just too far for him to walk – I did think about going back and suggesting he’d have a better time up there (it’s a nicer bit of river anyway) but thought better of it.

Is it just an anger response for some people having their behaviour challenged when they’re in the wrong and they know they’re in the wrong?

nail and head, I think. Which is why I take a deep breath when a car driver does something stupid rather than flick them the bird and get confrontational. It’s human nature to be defensive when confronted, and to deny being in the wrong, so no good comes of challenging them as during that reflex they (usually) won’t admit it.

On the roads I tend to ignore the idiots, and go for positive re-enforcement for the good ones; e.g. if it’s obvious someone has sat and waited for me to pass rather than pull out in front of me I’ll give them a wave/thumbs up, it might just encourage them to do the same again.

colp – Member

There’s a fine line between fishing and just sitting on the bank being bored.

Yup. Basically it’s the terrible moment when, against all the odds, you actually catch a ****ing fish and you need to deal with the consequences. Can ruin a nice day of staring at the water, that.

colp – Member

There’s a fine line between fishing and just sitting on the bank being bored.
That’s good.