However for now there are indeed implications for our sport

I am sure you will read elsewhere today of the manifestations of the Foot and Mouth outbreak, but for anglers the country over it will really come to mean something when they try to get to the river, lake or reservoir. We are still in the early stages of the outbreak, and maybe we should all cross our fingers that the new cases reported are linked back to the same farm. However for now there are indeed implications for our sport.In the world of trout fishing this is how things stand at present: firstly, all Welsh waters are closed. The importance of sheep farming in Wales is far too great to let anglers stroll around with the risk they carry of spreading infection! Next, Anglian Water did not open for trout fishing at the start of their season – April 1st. Furthermore, some waters are surrounded by farmland, hence the need to keep away. More significantly, at the time that the major reservoirs were due to stock their trout for the opening, a movement order was placed on all livestock – and that includes trout! So where does that leave other fisheries throughout the country?Here in Bristol there have been several meetings at high level. We are due to commence fishing on April 22nd, trout have already been stocked, and most of our access points are not across farmland. However parts of Chew Valley have been closed – notably Nunnery and the visitor trail, whilst the Barrow Tanks will not open at the start of the programmed season due to the fact that sheep graze the banks. I would guess that any waters not already stocked will not be able to open on time, and those waters surrounded by farmland will obviously have to remain closed. In the great scheme of things I suppose that this is a small price to pay if it means that we get the infection cleared up!The poor staff at all of the waters throughout the country now have a mountain of problems to resolve. If the normal opening day is put back – say for one month, then all of the anglers who have booked for the official opening will have to be refunded. But of course opening day is a traditional one for many anglers and they will want to transfer to the “new” opening day. What then happens to the different anglers who have booked boats for those days? As you can imagine there is no simple solution. You cannot help but feel sorry for the managers though. Moving along down that process, what happens to the booked competitions? My friend John Horsey pays his mortgage from the proceeds of his competition; hence if it’s cancelled then he will struggle financially! Let us hope that it will not come to such extremes, but it certainly is another sharp reminder of the delicate balance that exists in the countryside. We ended last season with all of that trouble at Hanningfield and now we start the new one with this problem!

Oh well, it will give us all time to have those fly boxes fully stocked for when we do get going.