Simple Match Fishing Forum

when you pass your driving test you are aloud to drive a car fine
yet if you buy a boat you are just passed the keys and off you go,i have thought about this since the semi final on our canal.we must of had thirty boats on the final practice match,and i bet half didn't know what the speed limit was
surely they should have some sort test or governing body behind them to teach them the rights and wrongs
it makes me laugh with the amount of health and safety issues we have to deal with around the shop that are OTT yet boaters can do what they like
and here is another question i was walking the dogs early evening by the river and came across 5 anglers all fishing [properly with poles and rods] so i just said to them"didn't you know its close season for rivers"they shrugged there shoulders and said"so what everyone doe's it"at that i walked off thinking to myself who do you phone and would it be a waste of time like most things now-er days its all going belly up out there  :-[

There is a boater on the forums Joff
I'm sure he will answer your question

if you buy a boat you are just passed the keys and off you go

If you buy a car who asks for your license? id hate to think how many unlicensed drivers there on our roads

i bet half didn't know what the speed limit was

most car drivers dont bother with the speed limits

it makes me laugh with the amount of health and safety issues we have to deal with around the shop

see how many H&S rules and courses you have do do to work on a building site (well non poles have to do them)

thinking to myself who do you phone

the police &/or EA

would it be a waste of time like

Yes as the police would be to busy doing paper work or stuck in the canteen and the EA it would be to much hassel for them to come out

when you pass your driving test you are aloud to drive a car fine
yet if you buy a boat you are just passed the keys and off you go,i have thought about this since the semi final on our canal.we must of had thirty boats on the final practice match,and i bet half didn't know what the speed limit was
surely they should have some sort test or governing body behind them to teach them the rights and wrongs
it makes me laugh with the amount of health and safety issues we have to deal with around the shop that are OTT yet boaters can do what they like  

Hi Joffmiester
As an angler & boater of many years, it seems that the conflict between the two, will, just like the “Battle of the Sexes,” go on forever! But I will try to answer your points from a boater’s point of view.
First, a driving test for boaters? Why? Its hardly rocket science. One of the joys of boating is to escape from the world of  such  beauracratic  nonsense.
Most boat owners are well aware of the speed limit, which is 4 mph on canals. This can be very deceptive and difficult to judge [no Speedos on boats] but it is actually normal walking pace. If boats went through at the legal 4mph, most anglers would be up in arms, as from their perspective it is too fast [and I agree] but there is no legal requirement for them to slow down. Most considerate boaters will slow to about 2mph when passing anglers but as in all walks of life, there will be those who wont.
The worst offenders are of course the hirers who are very often given very little guidance on canal etiquette or boat handling and I would be the first to agree that better tuition for them would benefit all canal users!
As for Health & Safety, boaters are no more immune than the rest of society, with our boats having to go through periodic [and costly] safety surveys, and we are bound by the same drink/drive laws as motorists.
The main problem for anglers on canals today is that boating has become so popular that there are  more boats now than there was at the height of the working boat era and it can be very frustrating to have a boat pass by every few minutes, especially as we are all into pole fishing! But, that’s the way it is, canals were built for boats, fishing in them is a bonus and I’m sure with a bit more understanding from both sides, we can all go on using our wonderful heritage without too much hostility.  
MGB [Retired]

MGB,
Thoroughly agree with everything you say; you have have probably passed me loads of times on the local cuts and we have exchanged pleasantries.

I have to say there are bad boaters and bad anglers as you are hinting at. My biggest grouse has always been when the steering mechanism is handed over to a youngster, some as young as ten.
As you are probably aware this is not that uncommon. At Stafford I have seen boats plough into bridges, bank sides and worst of all go straight through reed beds when they are holding young wildlife.
I have unfortunately seen young ducks disappear, presumably killed; heaven only knows what it is doing to fish spawning.

Is there some sort of age restricting on driving a boat on the canals; if not there should be?

I well remember going to a boat users meeting at Acton Trussell a few years ago; I never signed in so nobody knew who I was. On the agenda was the Closed Season. The room was virtually unanimous against opening the 'closed season' up to anglers on the canals. When asked why nobody could give any real reason. After much chuntering the reason given was that anglers could easily poke their poles into birds nests in the hedges behind them!

Like you we all have to use the canals; I have strong views on bikes though!!

cheers MGB and bill good answers i agree with bad anglers and bad boaters i will always say hello to a passing boater yet some just slag them off and your right about canals were built for boats but i feel that a massive gap appeared where boats all most dissapeared and it was only the angling clubs that saved a lot of canals from over growing and not maintained.hire boats are the worest by far and must upset proper boaters just like some anglers do. two years ago we had a bloke drown who fell of a hire boat and to this day that hire company is still going the boat in question had a brick barbecue on the back plus most of them get pis#ed up
we will never work out
i've had some signs made and will put them at each end of the match and they just say there is a competition on today please keep down the middle and hopefully the bikes will take notice as well

Is there some sort of age restricting on driving a boat on the canals; if not there should be?

I'm not sure if there is but there bloody well should be! A 40 to 70 foot narrowboat takes a lot of stopping and can do a lot of damage in the wrong hands. The idiot parents who let their kids take over are of the same mentality as the ones who buy their kids these mini motor bikes and think its right to send em tearing off along the towpath. Yet another menace on our canals which is fast becoming a real nuisance to us all.
MGB