Self-isolating in the hills

Looking at legislation concerning coronavirus lockdown in Shetland I am wondering if trout fishermen in Shetland could be considered a special case.

We belong to a certain sector of society whose mental health is considered by many to be in serious doubt.

Anyone who has seen us at the start of the trout season, up to our oxters in the middle of a freezing loch, with hailstones bouncing off our heads, will bear witness to this.

Some of us are already teetering on the edge of insanity here and an outright ban on this obsessive pursuit could tip those over that edge.

Now, in the middle of a pandemic the last thing we need is further pressure on our wonderful and overloaded NHS.

We can’t, at this time, have our doctors, nurses, paramedics, and ambulances tied up rounding up rabid, foaming at the mouth anglers, fitting them with canvas blazers with wraparound arms, and shipping them away to the screw factory to get rethreaded.

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Wouldn’t it make sense to allow us to self-isolate in the hills where there are no gates to contaminate and where we can guarantee a lot more than two metres distancing between us.

Even without the virus any angler fishing anywhere in another’s proximity leaves him open to a colourful volley of abuse.

John Laurenson
Toft