Just had this email from a local fisherman. It relates to an incident with some surfers last night at the Golf Course Car park end of the beach, but it serves as a reminder to all of us that there are lots of different people trying to enjoy the beach and a little consideration between all of us goes a long way. It's much more fun out there if we can all get along.

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There was a bit of a potential problem at the Golf Course Crossing at Borth tonight between anglers and surfers. No harsh words were said, the anglers packing up and going, but some I spoke to were between very and extremely annoyed.

Basically what happened was that several of us (3 in my group and 3 independent people) started fishing off the S end of the car-park at about 4pm. A lone surfer turned up at about 5 and walked a good 200m to our south before going in - I was pleased to see this consideration. Later. another 7 or so appeared and joined him, but slightly further north. I moved north myself, going the other side of my mates in order to have clear water ahead of me, as they were getting a little close.

Where the problem arose was that the 7 then drifted up with the flood-tide, so that progressively they became in front of each angler in turn. I moved again, going to the N of the last lot, and when I packed in the session they had drifted north again so that when they packed in they were wading ashore towards me. At several times, they had ridden waves towards, if not over, where people had lines and baited hooks.

Several things strike me as relevant here. Firstly, it was inconsiderate, and anglers and surfers have for a long time co-existed happily here. The disturbance of that many people bombing about in the surf in the immediate vicinity of where people are fishing will drive the fish off. At one time, we anglers went south from the car-park whilst the surfers went north, and the arrangement seemed to work very well for years. If the surfers prefer the sandbanks to the south now, please let me know - I'll happily let them have the best breaks and walk/fish to the north instead - and spread the word!

Secondly, it creates unecessary hazards. Although they were between 75-200m off, modern beach-fishing often involves sending a 180g weight well past that distance by long casting. I'm not sure that all surfers understand this. The UK casting record's way in excess of that distance. Now, I would not suggest that any sane angler would deliberately hurl a lead at anyone, but in a steepish sea, a surfer lying on his board may be invisible for a lot of the time in troughs, so that an apparently clear sea, at a glance, may turn out to have a person there! I am not sure that the people there today realised how far some of these guys do cast. Also, riding waves into areas where there are baited lines holds the obvious risk of tangling into them.

I was saddened by this experience as I can readily understand the pleasures of being in the waves. I didn't talk to the people involved as I was a bit pissed-off with them and didn't want to seem rude. But all I ask for personally is simply, please to the guys out there this evening, if you see someone already there chilling out and catching their tea (which are the only reasons why I fish - the macho "LOOK AT MY FISH" stuff is totally uninteresting to me) - please give them about 150m either way north and south and don't drift the tide knowing you will be surfing in front of them - please start downtide of them instead, and as I said earlier, if the best breaks are now south of the car-park, we will happily move to the north and give you folk as much space as you want!

I, for one, would NEVER head to a patch of surf that already has people riding/waiting for waves and set up in front of them and start banging sinkers/hooks out there. It's an appalling idea that I would never entertain. I'd look for an alternative section of the beach if they were there first. So, can I ask that if we are there first, some consideration may be given to us folks too?

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i've seen fishermen set up just downwind of kiters quite a few times without much consideration for others.....i've also see one cast into a mass of feeding sea birds that were eating fry.....needless to say he caught one....(a sea bird that is). i watched with disbelief as he reeled it in and then tried to get it off his hook.....

maybe he should just have had a word and explained thet he was there first.

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Originally posted by nick-r
i've seen fishermen set up just downwind of kiters quite a few times without much consideration for others.....i've also see one cast into a mass of feeding sea birds that were eating fry.....needless to say he caught one....(a sea bird that is). i watched with disbelief as he reeled it in and then tried to get it off his hook.....

maybe he should just have had a word and explained thet he was there first.

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not everyody can be painted with the same brush, it's true.
it does'nt matter if you're a surfer, kitesurfer, fisherman, windsurfer or just a paddler or whatever..if you were there first, then you get the right of way ( i think thats how it works.unless you're doing something illeagal)....i see so many people acting with anti-social behaviour all the time...all you can do is either have a word and maybe be prepared to take it a bit further, or just walk away.
the guys obstructing you were not part of this group though as we are mainly kitesurfers posting here with the odd windsurfer.(sorry all.)...and all of the guys that i know that use ynyslas show lots of respect to the beach and other beach users and setting up downwind of any obstructions, (including people) is practically the law for us.......unless you speak with them you won't know if it was just a bit of ignorance on their part...or just the usual "i don't give a *$"!**^$ attitude."

i hope this experience has'nt fueled any hatred.
good luck and i hope it does'nt happen again.

Thanks folks - I agree the beach is vast (that's a big reason I like being there!) and yes, there's room for us all, especially at this time of year. I don't tend to fish there in high summer, what with the number of swimmers - and get back fishing in September when there are less visitors around. Hopefully this year July and August will see some decent weather and I can get out on the boat!

Cheers - John

Hey folks,

Hate to have to bring this up again - I'd really prefer it if it was never necessary!

Today I fished a fundraising competition for the RNLI, with ~40 other anglers, from as far away as Merseyside & South Wales. It was a pegged comp - which means that you draw your peg and you're stuck with it. The frustration felt by the guys at the south end of the line of pegs was quite understandable: four surfers, with a slight chop at best, chose to wade out between the anglers and kept coming in over their lines. The lads who were fishing at their pegs asked if the surfers could move south again - there was LITERALLY a mile of free beach there - and were told "no, and if you hit any of us with your leads there will be trouble". Given that there were some Welsh Internationals there, who can wang a 6oz lead at bullet speed for 200m from the shoreline, this immediately concerned me.

As I've said before, I'm all for space for everyone: however, why such provocative behaviour from surfers? In my original comments above, I suggested we could peaceably co-exist by agreeing to use seperate sections of this bit of beach - it's long enough after all. Can we perhaps get together and agree a code of conduct between us, so that we don't keep ending up with silly conflicts? Please - keep us posted as to what section of beach you want - and we'll keep away! There is nearly two miles available from that beach carpark - you don't need the lot, and neither do we. Let us therefore share, for heavens' sake!

Al, I'm very willing to pop over and have a chat about that if you are up for it - I just want everyone to be able to enjoy the beach!

Email me please if you want a chat about it!

Cheers - John

Hi John,
I too am sorry to hear about this again... Obviously I don't know who the surfers concerned were, or even if they are locals, regulars or just holidaymakers, but as you say there is plenty of room out there for all of us so there's no excuse for them doing that.

It is difficult to police such things and as always it is the odd few inconsiderate people that ruin it for everyone. Most of us are quite happy to share the beach with everyone else and are polite and courteous and keep out of each others way, but there's always one or two (from both sides) that have to ruin it.

We could come to some agreement as to which bits of beach each type of beach-user uses, but it would only be a verbal agreement between people here and there would still be plenty of people who wouldn't adhere to it so I'm not sure how exactly something like that would work, except that over time maybe it would become accepted practice.

There shouldn't really be any need for such things though as it is easy enough to see where someone is fishing, surfing etc. when you arrive at the beach and give them plenty of space. Afterall, doing so then means that you have more space yourself to enjoy whatever you are doing... What is it with people that they all have to fight over the same bit of the planet.

Feel free to pop over any time John, I'm not sure what can be done about the beach territory issues, but if you have any ideas and there's anything I can do via this forum to help then I'm always willing to do so. It'll be a good chance for a coffee and a chat as well!

Hopefully some of the perpetrators will read this and realise the errors of their ways.
Al.

Thanks Al - as I said it's more of a problem with pegged matches, which are extremely infrequent. When pleasure fishing (i.e. catching my supper) I can choose exactly where I will fish and I'll always walk well away from areas being used by surfers or swimmers, and I hope other anglers will, too. It makes sense as there will be more fish where there's no disturbance going on.

The matches are for a good cause - the RNLI - so perhaps it might be worth announcing them here too - they are open to all. Yesterday's raised ninety quid for the cause, one which all of us - fishers or surfers - hope we'll never have to call out for help but are glad they are there, in case!

Cheers - John

Shame to hear about surfers wading out next to fisherman. The only reason I can see is that the waves were better in that particular area, but it's still no excuse to paddle out over lines. A bit of communication wouldn't go amiss. If the waves were that great in that area why not chat to the fisherman and come up with a compromise? Its not that difficult.

As for surfers drifting over lines when they are out back. There are often rips that run parallel to the beach that could send surfers over lines unless they constantly paddle against the current. However then picking up a wave and surfing over lines certainly isn't very clever and can definitely be avoided with a little care.