This session is a reflection of many of the things that I see as currently being wrong with fishing in Lithuania. I will remember this trip to Lake Ekete for many years to come, but not because of the fish I caught or the beautiful surroundings, but alas because some of the people the lake attracts do not understand such basic human qualities such as respecting others, taking care of their surroundings and showing some common sense.

I arrived at the lake at around 5.30am in perfect conditions, the air was still and a mist glided over the lake shrouding it in mystery that filled me with hope and excitement but my enthusiasm for this session was to be short lived. Within minutes a group of teenagers awoke nearby and decided to resume their party from the night before with the swim next to me being the dance floor.

Try to imagine the most perfect fishing conditions imaginable with the Venga boys screaming at 1000 decibels next door.

But sadly it doesn’t end there, as soon after empty bottles were being hurled into the water, one narrowly missing my float and then as the sun came up it was time for a swim which would have been OK had they have not have been swimming right next to where I was fishing.

I don’t know if it was listening to the same Venga boys song for the 50^th time or a series of loud bangs from somewhere behind me that triggered me to move but what ever it was, I decided not to hang around, packed my tackle and made my way to the opposite end of the lake.

By this time nearly every swim was taken, although most were actually occupied by campers rather than anglers. At the far end of the lake, an area I had never before visited, I finally discovered a swim with a sandy bottom strewn with boulders and boasting around 6 to 7 feet of water at just a rod length out and quickly settled into trying to catch some fish.

The silence didn’t last long though, after little more than an hour some campers from nearby awoke and with the temperature already in the 30s they made their way to the only close point of access to the water, my swim. Now you could say they were at least polite in asking if I minded if they jumped into the lake exactly where I was fishing, but I am sure had I have said no they would have done so anyway.

When leaving the lake soon after I saw another group of campers emptying their weekend’s rubbish (mainly empty bottles) into a reed bed and I started to wonder if perhaps I had been beamed to some kind of camp for the mentally insane. Is it easier to dump rubbish from a bag into the reeds than it is to put the bag in the car and take it home?

I am not easily intimidated but it may be a long time before I return to this venue, it has left a sour taste I just don’t seem to be able to shake and has left me wondering if perhaps the people that the lakes and rivers of Lithuania attracts are beyond seeing a better way? I know I am in another country but this is not about disrespecting the traditions of a people it is about hating all that is abhorrent in human nature.

Who wants to go camping in a rubbish tip or fishing next to drunks with guns? Consider the beauty of Lithuania, the wonderful summer climate and the big bucks made by countries such as Spain and France in fishing tourism and you have to start to wonder if the country isn’t some how missing the boat. More than this though, surely the people visiting these waters regularly want to feel safe and enjoy their leisure time in an environment unblemished by rubbish?

For the record, and it really makes little difference to me, I managed 94 fish in the little quality bank time I managed but this some how just doesn’t seem to matter!