Over recent months the Portsmouth and District Angling Society (PDAS) has been subject to quite a few issues on Social Media. Quite a few of the people making these posts are not members or have been members in the past and have been subject to disciplinary procedures, for breaking rules and have subsequently been banned or refused membership.
Recently, there has been an increase in abuse and negative comments towards PDAS, all stemming from a select group who feel hard done by and aggrieved.
They feel the waters are not managed in the way they want, the people in charge of the waters are not to their liking and generally think they can do better – with no prior experience.
PDAS as a club try to cater for all angling abilities, with not one method being emphasised more than another. You can see this by just looking at our waters. PDAS are not Anti Carp angler, we are not Anti Match angler – we are a general angling club, with many mixed fisheries and a few specimen waters.
Recently PDAS have found ourselves having to find ways to deal with these individuals, and the decision was made with legal advice was to exercise our constitutional rights and refuse their memberships, and this is what PDAS have done. As you can imagine this has gone down like a lead balloon and made them feel even more hard done by, as they soon forget all the bad things they have said and abuse they have thrown at PDAS.
Well, you will see for yourself, when fishing any of our waters how we work, how we manage and how hard the Committee, Pond Wardens, Bailiffs and Fisheries Team work to keep the club running in the best possible way for our members. We have hundreds and hundreds of satisfied members new and old, and only a small select few who have a problem.
If you have an issue, let us know – in the proper manner – we can then investigate, resolve it, if it is feasible.
If you see any comments, please try, and overlook them and give us a try anyway – PDAS are not the club they are trying to portray it to be, and gain a following for in order to discredit. It is a shame it has come to this, with PDAS having to refuse memberships but unfortunately, we cannot allow it to carry on. Remember, we are not a dedicated carp club, nor match club – no syndicates here – we are a general angling club. All waters are available to ALL members, if you want to post a picture of a catch – DO IT. We have no publicity rules, and we want members to show their catches.
If you have a genuine concern, let us know – we are human like you – the difference is PDAS do not start by slagging or bad-mouthing people; we try and do it properly first time.
Make sure you follow our official social media page, group and website/forum for news and updates any other sources are not official and may be subject to not being quite correct.
PDAS thank everyone for your support, and tight lines for the 2021/22 season.