I am a firm believer that everyone, and I do mean EVERYONE, is an ‘inventor’ of sorts – even children!
This is especially so with young anglers because those who have ever fished and enjoyed it are usually the ones that are motivated to learn and experiment, to devise methods and systems of their own that, hopefully, will help them in later years to catch bigger and better fish.
The motivation might be for self-improvement, personal satisfaction, praise and acknowledgement from others or in the spirit of sport and competitiveness, but devise they will and it’s all very natural for them to do so. It’s what we anglers do.
I think it’s also very natural to make one’s own mistakes too, not just in fishing but in all sports and disciplines of life and learn from them rather than to have everything explained and follow exactly what is taught. Granted, once the basics are taught we can call ourselves anglers and experience will, in most cases, improve us but I know of not one single person that has ever followed the rules to the letter as was taught to them. Instead they will make mistakes and want to do it for themselves…their way!
In this regard we are all individuals and inventors, and it’s inevitable that we will each have our own ways and methods of fishing. Making mistakes is a part of growing up and as adults we sometimes forget that, and instead are all too quick to criticise children for not listening – but are they learning still? Of course they are, maybe they just don’t want to be dictated to, or maybe they’re subjectively analysing what’s being taught, kids are cleverer than we give them credit for sometimes.
My individualism as a child was seen as rebellious, non-conformist, wayward and indeed many other terms not suited to print!
My motivation for self-improvement was no stronger than when I was young, which stemmed from trying to impress my otherwise unimpressed parents, but improve I did nonetheless. Now none of that matters anymore, and at 52 my motivation is purely for personal fulfilment of learning and the satisfaction gained from creating and experimentation, but also a desire to share what I have learned too. But if everyone’s an individual as I say, who might listen or want to know?
Well perhaps nobody if what I have said to be true, but we as anglers are all still eager to learn from each other and to share our experiences, but mostly we are all – and always will be – interested in new methods, baits and systems that will help us catch fish. If all else fails we can still analyse and improve upon it (whatever it might be) for the good of oneself if nothing else, or to discuss it and to share our thoughts on forums such as FishingMagic. It’s how things are solved and how they evolve into the things we sometimes, eventually, take for granted. Either way, a new product, method or system should have a single common purpose, and that is to make it easier for anglers to catch fish!
So what do I mean by an inventor?
An inventor needn’t devise revolutionary methods and systems to call him/herself an inventor. On the contrary, it’s often subtle changes that may improve upon an existing product or method and it doesn’t have to be ground-breaking or over complicated either.
The best inventor is the one who doesn’t know how to do something and would rather find out for themselves, risk ridicule and experiment than to ask directly or follow advice.
This isn’t necessarily true in all cases, asking: “What did you catch that on mister?” is not copying if he/she then uses the same bait, but the method of presentation might be different, better, or improved upon using some new end tackle for example which has been developed at home in their parent’s garage (I believe that’s how Preston started out?). “What bait did you catch that on mister?” is merely a conversation opener and a valid question of how to best fish a new venue etc. But, for the most part, inventing is all about thinking for oneself rather than having it all on a plate; angling is all of that and more and a never ending array of methods and systems to try at all ages.
Making mistakes may sound silly but unless you make your own mistakes how are you to learn the lesson proper? Once the basics are taught to you, you will be left to your own devices anyway at some point. Finding a solution to a common problem needn’t be unique but if it works and it improves your fishing (or it gives you confidence), then you will have succeeded. It’s either that or you go home fish-less (again) and how many of us have had days like that? And learned from it too no doubt!
I’ve had some of my best ideas sat waiting for a bite I’ll have you know!
An inventor is someone who can think for him/herself and devises novel ways and means of finding a solution to a problem or achieve a certain goal. I haven’t looked that up the Oxford English but basically that definition does seem to hold some merit. The act of inventing could equally be interpreted as finding a solution to a problem (large, small or insignificant) that saves a blank day.
This needn’t be original or unique but if you have thought of it, and it works, then you have invented (or co-invented it) it’s as simple as that, and you never know it could even turn out to have some commercial value? All things are created by someone, somewhere so why not you?
Whatever kind of angler you are, and whatever level or age you have reached, it’s human nature to continually improve and to think for oneself, but there’s nothing wrong with being inspired by a blank day or, with the help from the odd pointer or two, to steer you in the right direction!
The legalities of inventing.
Legally and professionally speaking, an invention should be kept secret (not disclosed to a third party without a signed non-disclosure or confidentiality agreement) if your intention is to commercialise it.
If you’ve got a good idea, the best and cheapest way to do this is to brand protect it. That is, to protect it legally by using the copyright and designright laws available to you. Anyone who copies or attempts to copy your intellectual property will be breaking the law, whereas to infringe your patent is NOT illegal (it is a civil matter) and is very expensive to defend and the onus will be on you to prove it.
That’s just my advice (which I wish I knew 20 years ago could have saved me £500,000 in lost revenue) but of course if you are looking for investors or angels for your ‘next big idea’ they may insist upon you having one in place before they will take you seriously, even provisionally.
Our Brand Protection Manager used to work for a very well-known hair-straightener company (the very famous one with a stupid name) who have an annual turnover in excess of £100M. How many patents do you suppose a big company like that have?
This was the question put to me and the answer was astounding!
Considering that they outsource the majority of their production abroad and operate in more than 30 countries worldwide (copied by every Tom, Dick and Harry), you would think they had many patents – perhaps at least one to cover each individual component in all of those countries?
The truth is, they make more money from copyright and designright infringements than they do in sales…
They have no patents whatsoever – not a single one!
Me? Luckily I only have one pending but that was before I knew better.
