like so may other things in life its a case of the greed of the few spoiling it for the many. I\'ve had the odd bit of hassle over the years from so called \'professionals\', with their \"this is my patch\" malarkey, which is a laugh really, remember asking one if this what he did for a living is it safe to assume he declares his income to the dole/revenue, for some strange reason he got quite irate at this question.
if I need bait, and I\'m at a beach where there are no legal restrictions, I\'ll dig/collect bait. End Of.
If you ever saw one of these \'professionals\' fishing and told him sorry you can\'t fish here cos all the fish in this bit of sea are mine, I\'m sure they\'d understand and quietly move on elsewhere - not!
If all else fails, if you\'re hassled when digging, I find the application of a Garden fork to the throat of the offending 3rd party, is a great way of clarifying the situation with any head the balls that believe they have a devine right to take anything they want.
I did tell one once that I worked for DEFRA and we were taking samples as there had been reports of a massive decline in crucial parts of the food chain in this area, and could I have his name and address, and see his licence. Daft get said he\'d left it home and legged it!
that said, it is nearly an 800 mile round trip to where I get nearly all of my bait!