On Saturday we spent the better part of the day running errands in Erlangen. It was a nice day, so it was nice to walk around and pick up some things that we needed. I've been sewing some outfits for Luna and I needed to pick up some notions, and we had to stop and pick up the bike tire we were having fixed so that we can return to one of our favorite family past times - riding bikes together! So anyway, I digress, but we were out enjoying the walking area in Erlangen, and once we finished up, Bas decided that it would be nice if he could stop somewhere and find a fishing pole. We always hear huge fish jumping in the lake behind our house, and we have the intention of cleaning up all of the brush in the area that connects our yard with the lake shore - and hopefully getting a little rowboat to dock out there - but Bas figured in the meantime he could pick up a fishing pole and enjoy some quiet time down by the lake.
Now of course, Bas didn't want to do anything more than catch and release fish. I think the only big fish that are out there are carp anyway - and I can tell you neither of us wants to eat any of those! I had heard that getting a license to fish here was (of course) quite a process, but we figured that since he just wanted to spend and hour or so on a Saturday afternoon - in our own backyard - that it would be fine.
So we found a fishing shop in Erlangen, that was just about to close, around 2, on Saturday. So Bas indulged and bought a rod, some line and lures and a little bait. While he was there he spoke to the shopkeeper about fishing without a license, and explained that it would be in our backyard, and the shopkeeper wholeheartedly agreed that Bas should be fine.
You can probably see where this is going... Well, Bas spent a couple hours clearing the lake shore area, so that he had adequate access to the shore and since we were doing "Come Dine with Me" again this weekend (more on that later) I was inside cooking. I'd been cooking about 20 minutes when Bas came in, very excited that he'd just a caught a huge carp, and wished I had seen it, and he needed a bucket just in case he caught another so that he could get the hook out more easily. I sent him back out to the backyard beaming. I thought - "How nice, that he can enjoy some relaxing time out in our backyard doing this!"
Then not more than 10 MINUTES later, the doorbell rang. I almost didn't answer it. I thought "Who the heck could be at our door at dinner time on Saturday?" But then I thought - well, maybe we've done something wrong again, and it's our nice next door neighbor coming over to let us know... so I'd better get it.
There were two men standing at our side gate (not our front gate - I seriously think they were considering entering the property when I opened the door), looking into the backyard, in shorts and well, - plain clothes. I figured at first that they were neighbors, but then they started talking excitedly to me about fishing and scheins (licenses), and the one guy told me that he was Control and pulled out a badge and showed me. So I told them my German wasn't very good, and went and got Bas. The jig was up.
To make a long story short, Bas came in and then told me that someone on the other side of the lake had seen him catch the fish and then called control. It seems that not only do you have to get a fishing license (which involves 55 HOURS of training and classes,) but then you would have to join a fishing association, and of course pay a fee, in order to fish in the lake behind our house. We can boat out there - no problem, as long as we don't fish. And then - even if Bas did sit through 5 full weekend of classes, and join the association - he still wouldn't be able to fish in our backyard - because, you see that wouldn't be FAIR to the members of the association who don't have access to this side of the lake (which has houses on it) and he would have to go to the other side of the lake if he wanted to fish anyway. After all - the folks who spent hundreds of thousands of Euros on their lakeside houses would have an advantage, then...
Fortunately, we escaped any fines (they can be seriously steep and include a fine for animal cruelty...) but it sure did leave a sour taste in the mouth! Not to mention a brand new fishing pole with nowhere to fish! We finally decided that we would start feeding the safe little fish over here on our side of the lake... maybe those fishermen will appreciate us "fattening them up" wink, wink. (thereby keeping them on our side of the lake...)
Just kidding - afterall, if I had to go through that whole process in order to be able to fish, I'd probably be pretty upset if someone else was breaking the rules, too. But what crazy rules, huh?
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