Sir, – I’m from South Yorkshire so am a stranger to your good paper, but did read the recent comment from Ms Tricker, of Bedale, which raised my hackles (no pun intended).

I find it outrageous that she so easily talks nonsense about angling (which does indeed have therapeutic benefits), and links it negatively to our heroes fighting in foreign lands!

For her information, 99 per cent or so of anglers these days observe “catch and release”, which in simple terms means that the majority of fish caught in the UK, be they coarse (multispecies) or game fish (ie. trout and salmon) are returned, unharmed, to fight another day.

Yes, we do use fish for our entertainment, but we use barbless hooks and to imply that we kill fish wholesale is untrue, although I have nothing against anyone taking the odd trout for the table. Ignorance is bliss I’m afraid, and if any armchair critic has never seen an angler at work then he/she cannot make a qualified judgment.

Let’s get it right, for any soldier who wants to unwind in peaceful, natural surroundings and cool the heat of the front line, for real physical or mental therapy, he could do no finer than spend a day with a keen angler, in any discipline, catching chub on the River Swale or Tees for example. He would not want to return to the front in a hurry, I’ll tell you.

The fact that angling is our most popular participant sport should tell Ms Tricker something.

JIM BAXTER Angling Star magazine, Sheffield.