No need to lie Richard Walker

Richard Walker published a book in 1964 the year of my birth.  It was called "No need to lie".  Yet I have seen car stickers that say, "I fish therefore I lie"  So what is it about fishing that leads us all at some point to exaggerate.  I don't believe we are all cheats yet 50 years after that book; I would voice a personal opinion.  There is no need to lie.

I have a theory that time spent alone thinking on the bank leads fisherman to become philosophical; and my favourite philosophical quote Scholars have long known that fishing eventually turns men into philosophers. 

Unfortunately, it is almost impossible to buy decent tackle on a philosopher's salary. ~

Patrick F. McManus

So do we Lie?

Well its just not cricket, or gentlemanly to gain advantage by being deceptive.  Before you howl in disgust and say I knew it all along; Williams is a bloody cheat. Yes I have been accused. Nothing ever proven but I have been accused.  My view is you will have to know that KARMA will pay you back ten fold.

Personally I struggle with "its a white lie" or "its for the greater good"  Clean or not, the guilt (even from incidents (in other walks of life) years past) sits and festers on my conscious mind.  It is tempered these days by knowing if I do well it has been a win fair and square.

As for other anglers.

One of the odd things is I, like many others have witnessed a cheat and said nothing.  Why?

Do we sacrifice saying things for fear of upsetting friends "Least said soon is mended?"

Are they really friends if they are willing to commit a falsehood against us ?  Or is it that we want the adoration or acceptance of our peers ?  Nobody likes to be a loner everyone wants to fit in and be accepted.  So why rock the boat? Be honest it will win the day, if only in a moral way.

If so, how do we Lie and why?

Are we trying to gain advantage by cheating because we lack the skill or will to improve.  Clearly I cant speak for others but I think that is partially true.

For me, I don't lack the will to improve, but I do lack some skill; and the road to gaining that skill seems so long that it is an impossible distance.

In recent times two people that I like and respect have suggested perhaps in jest; have suggested I have been less then truthful when weighing in.  Suggesting that I have called a weight that would be to my advantage and their loss. Perhaps I should be thicker skinned and less sensitive, but I am mortified, to think people might think of me as a cheat.

So much so I will happily record results in future but I will never call a weight again without the angler himself witnessing.

Of course the devil (Claudius)  pours poison in (King Hamlets) my minds ear.  And says " try this Gary no one is looking, it will shorten the road.  But be assured I have silenced Claudius, and the hebenon will never dilute or infect my pretty wholesome blood.

Despite the oft quoted "its not the winning, its the taking part" the biggest driver is the embarrassment of coming last.  A powerful driver indeed and for me embarrassment would be the main driver.

Embarrassed to lose out in a match or let my friends down in a team event*.  I am sure I witness other anglers embarrassment these days with them blaming bad draws, too many crayfish, bloody Pike etc etc.  That is why I take so many photos of Pike, Crayfish and am at pains to describe my peg, the camera never lies.

*But as I mention team events, honesty here is even more important.  I would be mortified if I even for the best reasons, I er'd and had my whole team disqualified.  I would rather suffer the ignominy and abuse of a blank net then get my friends booted out of a competition.

So what have you seen or heard?  I have heard some outlandish stories so much so, that they must be a wind up. The biggest was widely reported in the angling press when an angler, emptied fish from his dolly butt section into his keep net.  He was caught by a steward, challenged and disqualified.

 People having more than one baited hook in the water at one time. Catching before or after the whistle.  Faking photographs to make fish seem bigger than they actually are.  Drawing your peg and swapping it for another by slight of hand.

 Using banned baits (blood worm) or joker, barbed hooks instead of barbless.  Fixed instead of running rigs.  Bringing in "ringer anglers". One story told to me was; at Cudmore, it wasn't unusual for many anglers to put ground bait in the keep net so the edge was being fed even before the start of the match!!!  The list can go on and I am sure you have witnessed worse.

Nobody believes the truth or at least refuse to accept it.

One of the biggest ironies is even if you are straight and above board.  Opposition teams or opponents will convince themselves through paranoia that you can't be that successful, that there has to be a cheat involved. Certainly lady luck has a lot to do with it. And there are many anglers who have the word lucky attached all too often to their name.  Whatever you draw you still have to have the skill to catch em.

So do I pack in Match fishing? Or live with it.

It is a truly philosophical question to which at this stage of my life, I have no truthful answer. I can only say I endeavor to be as pure and above board as is possible.  Sometimes I wish I didn't find so much enjoyment in competition and could leave the accusation and counter accusation behind and pack in match fishing and just go pleasure fishing.

Would that be the perfect answer? Or would the urge to tell a fisherman's tall story still be there? like Hemingway - The old man and the Sea.  Who will believe the fish was that big?

So give up?  I think not (suck it up Princess, and dry your eyes).   The current group of Anglers I fish with and against both at Club level and with the Army are gentlemen and I feel in my gut they would never cheat.

I am sorry to finish on a couple of quotes (I can confirm I do have original thoughts of my own, but sometimes other more learned people say it better).

But H.T. Sheringham (Open Creel 1911) sums up my enjoyment of the canal and river scene " minnows are not despised, gudgeon are greeted with rapture, and the occasional triumph of a Roach, with gorgeous red eyes was beyond words"

I hope when the day comes when I hang up my waders, I will remember Richard Walker " I will leave only footprints and take only memories"

Good memories of gentlemen who understand the value of winning fair and square.