Dangers of fishing line

[Ukwildlifeo]

I was enjoying a walk through Gloucester Park when I spotted what looked like a bird bobbing up and down on a thin branch. I was a way off so I took a photo with my bridge camera and zoomed in and it appeared the bird had its wing up.

It wasn't until I took a second image that I realised it was hanging and not on a branch. Looks like the fieldfare has got caught in some fishing line anging from the tree and died.


Kind of ruined my walk

[Simples]

Well done for posting this. Far too many people are ignorant about the dangers of plastic and similar products.

Fishing line and nets, garden netting, plastic fencing, plastic nets on bird food, bottle tops, balloons, chinese lanterns - the list of dangerous products goes on an on. People throw things away without a thought for the effect on wildlife.

Most people would turn away or bury their head in the sand rather than face the truth, so it's good to bring this to the attention of others.

[Dogghound]

What a shame. I know I used to do alot of fishing and the amount of line on trees around the lake where people have cast to far and got caught on a tree is large. They often leave baited hooks hanging there which are attractive to birds. Often without a boat it is impossible to get to this sort of thing. However at a local lake you find it within feet of the bank where people are just to lazy to deal with it. I often collect it and put it in a bin.

[The Woodman]

It's not only birds that get caught up in line. Last autumn I waded out to a bat impaled on a fishing fly hanging from line caught in an Alder branch over the River Swale. It was raining and the bat was soaked. I managed to pull the line from the tree with a long stick and found the fly had pierced the wing membrane without any further damage. The Daubenton's bat looked dead but there was slight movement. After removing the fly, I dried it carefully with my handkerchief and it became quite lively. I left it in a rotten knot hole in one of the riverside trees to fend for itself and have no doubt that it'd be fine.

Oveer the years I've cut down a few dead bats hanging from hooks baited with maggot but never a live one.

[Ukwildlifeo]

Originally Posted by Dogghound

What a shame. I know I used to do alot of fishing and the amount of line on trees around the lake where people have cast to far and got caught on a tree is large. They often leave baited hooks hanging there which are attractive to birds. Often without a boat it is impossible to get to this sort of thing. However at a local lake you find it within feet of the bank where people are just to lazy to deal with it. I often collect it and put it in a bin.

There is plenty of fishing line hanging from the trees in my local park, the most annoying thing is this is the 'no fishing' area of the lake!
In my other local park I stood and watched as a group of fisherman as they unwound the fishing line, stood up, kicked a couple of carrier bags into the water and left the rest of their rubbish on the bank. I had been waiting at a safe distance as I knew it was going to happen (I've tripped over fishing line there before) and I tidied up after them as after they left. What is really bad is the fact there was a bin less than 6 feet from them! I've seen folks at this lake in the evenings and they give you vicious looks if you even go near the lake on the other side, as well as leaving fishing line and hooks everywhere nice scorch marks where they have used a fire to cook the fish...

Such a shame because I've had some very pleasant and informative chats with some of the good anglers

[shenk1]

A local fishing club was set up recently and did a great job tidying an area of the canal of weeds dead / dangerous trees and litter ,and when they have competitions always clear up after themselves.Its the people who just go for a couple of hours after work or at the weekend that leave all the rubbish(and they don't have permission).
When I used to go as a nipper any spare line was wound round your hand ,chopped into small pieces the burnt.

[Kleftiwallah]

Being a confirmed Kleftiwallah, when we have a holiday on the canals I am always on the lookout for fishing line hanging from trees/shrubs on the opposite side of the canal to the towpath.

There is always quite a bit and quite a few floats as well. We remove the line as best we can and collect the floats to hand over to the youngest lad fishing on the side of the canal with the least ammount of 'furniture'!

Thinking pocket money maybe short. Cheers, Tony.

[pammosley]

Last year while walking along the Severn by Arley we saw a Mallard that had got tangled in line & tied itself to an overhanging branch. My hubby & his mate managed to get to the bird & get it to the bank where they untangled it, & let it go. Happy ending I`m glad to say, they didn`t even get wet even though I though Dave was going for a swim at one stage

[Tracey.A]

When me and my siblings were children our parents were mad keen on fly fishing. If a hook became entangled on a tree branch one of us would scale up the tree and retrieve it and often we would find many more hooks there. My mum and dad never left anything behind and would often pick up other peoples abandoned lines. My dad always had a plentiful supply of hooks thanks to us My parents always made sure we understood the dangers to wildlife.

Before they became addicted to fly fishing they use to enjoy course fishing. While my parents filled the boot with all the bits and pieces needed, us kids were ensconced in the back seat of the car. My little brother was entrusted with holding the container of maggots and decided to have a look at them, but got a bit of a fright when he took the lid off and dropped them all over me and my sister - we screamed our heads off and leapt out of the car.

Horrible experience!! I didn't follow in my parents footsteps re fishing!

My children don't fish either, but if they come across fishing line or hooks they pick them up. Most anglers do take everything away with them, it's just a very few that don't.

Tracey

[tcvarlh]

Folks that leave their junk on a waterside should be treated as were supposed Witches in the 15th thru 17th century and bloody dunked! I remember the palaver and commotion when we all swapped lead shot for Synthetic-Lead and the relief it produced in wildlife. At the same time the problems arising from discarded line were broached and Anglers were reactant and started to take their garbage home. So why have we become recidivist? I suppose a TV campaign would drive the idea into the heads of the less intelligent and remind the absent-minded.
h