U.C.A.P.A. Cash Cow Being Fattened Again

We have spoken to 10 bone-fide anglers (all holding U.C.A.P.A. Ltd Salmon permits) and not one of them agree to the price rise.

All of them are disgusted at the fact that there are no concessions for junior or O.A.P's

8 of then asked why day tickets are not available

6 of them asked if the decision to raise the permit prices was made at an A.G.M.

8 Asked what the money is being spent on as none of them have encountered a bailiff this year

4 Expressed concern at the lack of control there is over the number of fish any one angler can take in a season 1 person informed us that he knew of one bone-fide angler who had killed 15 fish so far this year.

One would have thought that with the current financial situation world wide it would have been more pertinent to freeze the price of permits. We also feel that by imposing the £20.00p fine for non returns will do more harm than good. Many anglers forget to send in returns which sadly is the nature of the beast. By imposing exorbitant penalties anglers will simply not buy a permit and take their chances like a lot of people fishing the Clyde for salmon. It is a well known fact that the U.C.A.P.A. Ltd bailiffs are ineffective.

Check out the U.C.A.P.A. web site and compare their comments on migratory fish and non migratory fish. It appears from reading it all they are interested in as far as Salmon go is the Main Stem. Should they not be developing all of the tributaries down stream of Stonebyres? All they seem to care about is how much money can be made.
The people who are paid gratuities should only be paid on results. Would we expect to pay our police not to detect crime? The bailiffs should only be paid on results and proof of patrols. We wonder how many prosecutions there have been in relation to Salmon poaching on the water controlled by U.C.A.P.A. over the last 10 years?

We say this to senior citizens ask yourself this how much money does Mr Quigley get paid in honorarium and does he get a free permit? UCAPA seem to be the only angling association or club that does not offer concessions perhaps after all the honorariums are dished out to those in favour there simply isn't enough left in the kitty to allow for concessions. Bet they change the rules when they get older to suit themselves as they seem to do in everything. UCAPA is a closed shop and if you are not a pal of old Joe's then you have no chance of becoming an elitists amongst anglers as they seem to think they are

New Group and A TIME for CHANGE

For all those paranoid schizophrenics out there beware we hear that a new organisation is being formed to take the River Clyde from the dark ages into the new era. We know of at least 5 organisations with fishing interests who have already agreed to join the new Association of Clyde Anglers. They are the pro-active clubs and organisations within the Clyde catchment. We also hear that any club, association or Still Water fishery can become involved. Apparently a new web site is under construction and will soon be posted giving details of membership etc.
The new group will not be sitting on their backsides raking in money from anglers and paying inflated expenses and honorariums to committee members and bailiffs. They will be campaigning to have all the barriers removed or fish passes constructed. The main aims of the new association are the protection of the fish and promotion of angling for the benefit of all.
Grass Carp wish the new organisation good luck for the future and we are sure that there are many out there who will support such an organisation.

Do the Idiots at Scottish Executive think Clyde Bailiffs are geniuses!

Apparently the Scottish Executive think that the new bailiffs on the Clyde are some kind of geniuses. Some of the lads were issued with their warrants around the 28th of February 2008 given the standard booklet issued by Executive and expected to pass an exam a couple of weeks later. Should these lads not have been issued with the Institute of Fishery Management training manual? The executive have now withdrawn these warrants saying that the guys never sat the exam. Does it not say on letter from Ian Robertson that bailiffs are required to attend and pass the IFM training course at first available opportunity.

Apparently Mr Robertson feels that these bailiffs have powers of arrest and should have passed the exam. The police have powers of arrest when the first join the job but are not expected to sit and pass their final exams within a couple of weeks. We bet Robertson could not pass the exam.

We have also heard that 80% of the bailiffs that did sit the exam failed it! Does that mean that they are thick or that the exam is set by academics who don;t have a clue what bailiffing is all about. Or that the Course run by the IFM was so vague that the guys did not learn anything. Not a good advert for the ability of the IFM as a training body.

The guys on the Clyde System are all volunteers dealing with some nasty people at times when doing their duty on the river. Do you think the poacher cares if the bailiff has passed some poxy exam or not. Look at the Biologist for the Clyde River Foundation he passed all his exams to get where he is but he seemingly doesn't understand the terms and conditions of licences as we have heard that some of his staff were found taking illegal samples on the River Nethan. What is Mr 'Goes By The Book' Robertson going to do about that ? We would like to challenge Robertson to accept a Manual written by us, study it for three weeks and see if he can pass the exam we set him.

To our knowledge there has never been a case where a Clyde bailiff has made a false arrest or had a complaint registered against him. Thing is Mr Robertson the Clyde bailiffs have what you do not and that is commonsense and know what their powers are without sitting exams. Their are people in high places who have sat and passed many exams but who don't have one ounce of common sense which is apparent in this case.

We could not believe the information that was sent to us. it appears that a lot of bailiffs from the Clyde catchment have had their warrants revoked because they have not sat the exam. The Scottish Executive have in effect stripped some association of 80% of their bailiff force and declared open season for poachers on the Clyde. We hope Mr Robertson is prepared to sit and pass the bailiffs exam and instead of sitting on his fat arse go out and assists the other bailiffs who have warrants and who work for free. probably not we don't think he has the bottle to do the job these guys do.

Why are the IFM training courses held in some obscure places which are difficult to reach by public transport? Not everyone is as affluent as Mr Robertson and cannot afford a car. Given that the Scottish Government are always harking on about cutting down our carbon footprint they should ensure that the IFM set their sights on place that can be easily reached by everyone. The Clyde Clubs do not have the cash that District Boards have to book accomodation for their bailiffs to attend the IFM course and the IFM rake in a fortune from this set up. Do they think that some of the pricey hotels they pick would allow the poorer bailiffs to pitch a tent within their grounds. It becomes more and more apparent every day that those who are in control of fishing's are not interested in protecting the fish but are more interested in the fact that a bailiff can answer a question in some exam. We are becoming a nation of over qualified under experienced academics. It takes balls to do a bailiffs job not some scrap of useless paper, which will not protect the bailiff if he is attacked.

Institute of Fishery Management should change the name to Institute of Flipping Muppet's.

Avon's brand new shiney just out of the box bailiffs

Well done on passing your exams lads and hope that you can live up to the warning posted on your clubs web page. POACHERS BEWARE.
What everyone would like to know is why has it taken so long for the AAC to get their act together to protect the river. Where on the river have the poachers to BEWARE???? as it has been a free for all from Birkenshaw to the Clyde. Salmon have been getting removed wholesale from below Ferniegair to the confluence in the past and nothing has been done about it apart from outside bailiffs visiting. Or does the AVON stop at Stonehouse!!!!!!! and suddenly evaporate into thin air. We are not taking away anything from the brave souls who have passed their exams they are to be commended, as bailiffing is a thankless task and these guys will be putting their lives on the line in some cases. We will monitor their progress and wait and see if the warning is like a lot of other stuff issued by those who profess to be the stalwarts of the club simply a load of HOT AIR. Its convictions that will be the measure of the new bailiffs success not idle threats by some pompous committee member. They now have the papers to do the job lets see if the have the balls that is required for the job! Good luck lads!!!!

Are Permit Outlets now taking sides???

It has come to our attention that certain permit outlets seem to be taking sides in what is becoming a war between angling associations in the Clyde catchment. We have been assured that a member of the Upper Avon Angling Association had approached the owner of the Anglers Emporium in Hamilton a few months ago with a view to them selling permits on behalf of the association, at the time the owner agreed. When the permits were taken in he had for some reason changed his mind. We could not believe this so we had someone telephone the shop to ask for a permit for both the Avon Angling Club and Upper Avon A A controlled waters only to be told by the women who answered that they did not sell U.A.A.A. permits. When asked why she replied no-one from the U.A.A.A. had been in to give them permits.
The next offender seems to be Gibson's the Ironmonger in Larkhall, when he was approached to sell U.A.A.A. permits he politely declined saying that he did not wish to fall out with the Avon Angling Club ????? Why would the Avon Angling Club want to fall out with him???? and do they create that much business for him??? it looks like both these shops have been approached by a certain club and dissuaded from selling U.A.A.A. permits.
We say this these shops have the right to sell whatever they want, but anglers also have the choice of shopping where they want. Simply by choosing not to sell U.A.A.A. permits these shops are causing a great inconvenience to their customers if those customers want to obtain permits for both sections of the Avon. It means that anglers will have to go to 2 different outlets to get permits or travel to somewhere that both can be obtained.
We respectfully request that any angler out there with any sense of fair play withdraw their financial support from both of these outlets and we say SHAME on both of them.
We have also heard that other dirty tactics have been adopted in attempt to stop the excellent work done by the lads of the U.A.A.A. but we will save that for later.
If support for these two establishmnets is withdrawn do you think the custom from the Avon Angling Club will keep them open? We think not! and say this to them be BE CAREFUL GENTLEMEN your future is in our hands now!!! we are ready to go to the press with this information can you handle the adverse publicity?????

Just who the hell does Mr Limmerick think he is??

It has just come to our attention that John Limmerick of the Avon Angling Club wants to remove some photographs and other historical artifact from the walls of the Avon Angling Club hut. Shame on you sir! these photographs depict the hard work done by former members of the club in past years and form an important part of the clubs history. Mr Limmerick could not lace the boots of these past members and we would like to remind him the photographs and other memorabilia are on long term loan to the Avon Angling Club by those who supplied them. If he does decide to try to wipe out some of the clubs successful past then the photographs and other artifacts will need to be returned to their rightful owners. Removal and destruction of said items will be construed as theft and malicious mischief and as such, any such action will be reported to his former employers namely Strathclyde Police. If the man wishes to remove all traces of the work done in the past he has a mighty task ahead of him. Is he also going to remove the club hut, hatchery and fish pass at Craig Dam? as these are all monuments to those who built them long before he was ever heard of. We strongly advise Mr Limmerick to tread very carefully here, we would hate to see him falling foul of the law. He is doing the good name of the Avon Angling Club no good and what exactly are his credentials???? Another would be Dictator !!!!!!! full of his own importance. John the 'Clyde' Limmerick as he is known on the Avon web page should bugger off to the Clyde beside his U.C.A.P.A. buddies and leave the Avon to those who genuinely care about it. We also heard that he met with some opposition to his childish carry on and we salute those who stood up to him. His ego must be in tatters!!!!

How Wrong They Are

It has just come to our attention that many people out there reading our blog page think that James Delaney is behind it. We can assure you that James only supplies us with the odd snippet of true information and anything he has sent he has signed his name to it. We have known James for many years and he has actively been involved with the Avon A C, Mid Clyde AA and N.V.A.A. over many years. He works tirelessly for the benefit of the river and all wildlife at his own expense and gives up hundreds of hours of his own time each year. Unlike some who are involved in angling he does not claim massive expenses and anything he does claim is donated straight back to the club or association.
It would come as a great surprise to many to find out the true identity of Grass Carp indeed the multiple identities but that would spoil the fun in keeping all the paranoid people out there guessing. We will however throw one clue into the melting pot one of us is from within the ranks of a certain large association and privileged to certain information. That being said he wishes to remain anonymous for the time being but will expose his true identity in the future. Exposure at this current time would mean a lot of information would not be forthcoming. This member is so sickened by the tactics of that association that he feels the need to let everyone know what goes on behind closed doors. So we say to that organisation look within!!!!! Apparently some allegatiuons were made at the recent R.C.F.M.T. ltd A.G.M. Leave James out of it and look elsewhere!!!!!