Joining us in a new role at the Angling Trust this month, Dominic Garnett brings his skills as writer, blogger and photographer to the team. Here, we catch some of his thoughts on the new job and current aims.

“First of all, it’s an honour to join the Angling Trust in a professional role. As a keen supporter, I’m excited to play a deeper part in the organisation and the excellent work it does. Taking on this p/t role will give me the opportunity to help answer one of the questions that get asked a lot by anglers “what is it exactly that the Angling Trust do ?” In truth, a huge amount of what AT does goes un-noticed by anglers and there is a enormous amount of good news that never get’s told.

In fact, I don’t think we celebrate the positives enough at times, because while complaining is probably the only UK participation sport bigger than fishing, we so often overlook the better news. Whether it’s our growing army of coaches and volunteer bailiffs, AT’s Fishery Management Advisors working with clubs and fisheries around the country to help alleviate predation issues or the many hundreds of projects improving our waters and investing your license money in grass roots angling, there are many reasons to be optimistic.  Are there issues like predation, poaching and declining angler numbers effecting our sport ? Yes there are. Is anyone actually doing something positive to address those issues. Well it will be my role to find out.

My job will be to help keep you better informed and connected. It’ll be working across the Angling Trust’s online and social media presence to bring you the latest on the Trust’s work, particularly where it is funded by rod licence money, current issues and the many projects funded by the AIF (Angling Improvement Fund).

Above all, I want to bring you those important stories of people making a difference and great reasons to get involved yourself. Because if there is an antidote to the undercurrent of apathy and online negativity in angling, it is making people feel more connected and empowered to act.

My own background, as some of you will already know, is spread across over a decade of articles, books and blogs. As much as writing about how to catch fish, I have been equally interested in the wider sport, its characters and issues. Not fitting neatly into one box has definitely helped me get a broader perspective and meet with lots of different kinds of angler. If there’s a story to find I’m quickly drawn in, whether it’s catching coarse fish on the fly or investigating gritty, urban fisheries.

The huge breadth and diversity of fishing can make us seem quite fragmented as a sport, but is also a strength. From working with fishery owners and EA staff to local teenage terrors, I have seen first hand the good that the sport can do when we act together.

So, in the coming months I want to bring home better news and ways we can all make a difference. Hence I’ll be hitting the road and reporting on projects and campaigns going on right across the country. Should you have an interesting story or some news to share, you would be more than welcome to drop me a line, of course (dominic.garnett@anglingtrust.net).

I look forward to meeting and hearing from as many of you as possible in the coming months. Watch this space on the Freshwater blog and your regional Angling Trust Facebook page for forthcoming news, articles and updates.