The British Association for Shooting and Conservation (BASC) and the Angling Trust are working together to lobby on the upcoming Animal Welfare (Sentience) Bill and the potential impacts the law could have on sustainable shooting and angling.

BASC and the Angling Trust – representing over three million people who shoot and fish – have created a joint brief prior to the Second Reading in the House of Lords on 16 June. The brief was discussed in detail at a joint meeting of the All-Party Parliamentary Groups for Shooting and Angling.

The Animal Welfare (Sentience) Bill creates an animal sentience committee which will scrutinise all government policy and make recommendations on whether or not the government has due regard to animal sentience.

Questions on the necessity of the Bill, especially seeing that the Animal Welfare Act 2006 was described as sufficient during Brexit...

Several people have suggested I look to rivers to introduce more variety into my fishing. Sounds like a plan. Problem is, I haven't really got a clue where to start putting tackle together for it.

Other than obvious stuff like disgorgers, landing net and so forth, what sort of tackle would I need to give it a go?

I have much of the tackle you'd expect a stillwater fisher to have. Rods are 2.5/3oz 11ft feeder and an 11ft pellet waggler, probably a bit short for rivers? Reels are shimano stradic in 2500 and 3000 size.

Would appreciate any advice. Not looking to target barbel or anything specialist, just mixed fishing.

Thanks

I have noticed that the commercials near here (Derby) have decided to close early as opposed to allowing fishing till dusk. With working I find it impossible to go in the week and I used to find the hour up till dusk productive especially for perch. I imagine this is countrywide and assume with the rise in popularity of fishing they can make enough during the day to not bother staying open till dusk. Anybody else have this problem?

Today I caught a 12lb carp but snapped the top section of the pole in doing so - thankfully a nearby angler netted the fish otherwise not sure how I'd have got it in holding what was about as useful as a broken twig!

Is this likely to be just amateurish playing of fish on my part, which would be unsurprising as I'm not used to fish of this size and have recently returned to fishing after a 20 year gap? I thought the set up was well balanced - it's a Middy White Knuckle Thriller pole which is meanto to be a "bagging/margin" style pole, Matrix Slik 14-16 and 6lb mainline to 5lb hooklength which is pretty much what's recommended for the elastic.

I was only maybe using 3 or 4 sections as was fishing very close in, had gone down to the top 2 (maybe too early) and the fish was making another run and the top section just snapped where it joins the no 2 section. It didn;t seem that the...

Been away fishing for a week at multiple venues. Weather has been mixed but mostly fishable, even if I was a little too cocksure with the margin pole in 15mph wind. Almost broke it, but no, my pole is perfectly in tact despite the rough handling.

I'm just so tired of catching carp. I made a thread last year asking how to avoid it. Not because I don't like the species or the amazing fight, but just because I like variety. I get specialist carp fishing, I do. I get the careful long term pursuit of a 40lb monster. I get the endless weekends, the hasty justifications to the husband or wife, the sacrifices made to bag the ultimate beast. I really do and I never understood why anyone would dislike a particular species of fish for any reason.

This week though, one day in particular, my catches were, 3oz perch, 1/2lb skimmer, carp, carp, carp, carp, carp, bacon sandwich, carp...