Mystery is an essential element in virtually all the fishing I now do, it’s absolutely key for me....its keeps me going back for more….however wet or cold you are the next few seconds could bring a bite that could be the ONE....
However Mystry comes in many forms and I don’t really agree when I hear people saying the mystry is gone….its not gone its still there if your willing to look for it....
Take a small commercial hole in the ground…every Carp stocked has a name and a photo of each flank, every capture is logged and everyone knows the last time each fish came out... in a word – awful ! …I would not fish it for Carp if you paid me….however what about fishing there for the Perch or for the Roach…maybe there is a big Eel in there somewere…MYSTRY…its still alive and kicking…
Phillip, we seem to be in agreement on the aspect of mystery/ magic on a personal level. And we are most certainly not at odds with regards to commercial fisheries. There are exceptions however and I'm thinking here of the disabled or handicapped. Many of the commercial fisheries offer the only option in these cases, the byword being '' at least there is the oppotunity to pursue the sport in safety''and as you so rightly point out at least have the oppotunity to try for something other than those little mud suckers, should they choose. But at least do so in safety and comfort.
Hi Derek, of course you are right and the commercials do fill a needed niche for many people not least the disabled as you mention. I would also recommend to any disabled anglers looking for that all important mystery element to check out the canals. Nice flat tow paths and often easy access with miles of often un-pressured fishing and some cracking fish …many without names…
As a side issue to this, there is a canal near me which I often cycle down. Most weekends I see a guy in a wheel chair fishing down there….he brings his car right to the waters edge and uses the boot as his tackle tray with the wheel chair next to it…he does very well too ! …catching some fantastic fish and using some very novel techniques. They say necessity is the mother of invention and this guy is forced to come up with ways to overcome problems and bring the fish to him as he simply cant go to them. I have taken some of the things I have seen him do into my own fishing…I have a lot of respect for guys like that.
A very interesting thread. Looking at the angling press and websites you would think its all baggin’ up, what’s your personal best?, buy this expensive bit of tackle, wear this ‘carp’ gear, visit this commercial and fishing seems to be just another branch of the leisure ‘industry’. I’m not one of these spiritual types wandering down the river with a split cane rod and a tweed hat to wax lyrical on the joys of catching nothing, but in my view fishing is losing something. Each to their own, but for me it’s the mystery, the excitement and just sitting and watching the float. Relaxing, chilling out, and forgetting about work, worries, relationships, bills and reality in general. Even on urban canals and park lakes there is always plenty of wildlife to watch and I’m as happy fishing in the centre of town as I am in the sticks. Just to watch the float twitch and slide away and for a millisecond thinking it might, just might, be a rod bending monster rather than a two ounce roach. Nor do I want to know exactly what is in the water, how much the fish weigh or what the carps’ names are. There is old Buddhist proverb, less is more, and that is very true of fishing. Cut down on the gear you take, try local waters rather than sitting in a car for hours and simply enjoy.
To be fair i think even some of the commericals can offer a bit of mystery. Earlier in the year I visited a quiet commercial lake with the girlfriend & at the end of the day I was amazed when she called me over and she'd landed a beautiful looking tench. They're not even meant to be in there yet she some how manged to catch one! There are usually a few decent perch in these kind of venues as well. I think the mystery of fishing is only limited by the anglers imagination.
Nathan, I think you nailed it when you describe a "quiet'' commercial lake. I know of one or two ''quiet'' commercials that are very pleasant fisheries, and are not bagging up waters.
My old mate Ron is fishing one such place, ancient trees, lily pads it has it all. And more significant the fish do not have ready made hook holes!I can however see the point that others make with regards to mud holes and production line catch rates. Obviously the byword surely has to be to find one that suits your needs and requirements, and hopefully still retains a degree of mystery.
Our innocence has been lost in the 'must have' 'instant' world in which we now live. I remember well the late 60s and the dozens of coaches that used to stop off in Sleaford for a bacon butty and cup of tea for the scores of industrial workers from the cities who were on their Sunday coach trip to fish the Lincolnshire drains and the Witham or Welland. My mum used to manage the cafe and a space was always found for me and my 9ft bamboo rod with it's fibre glass tip. These guys were hard workers and just out to enjoy their sport. I remember they had a quaint custom of bowing to the water if they got water-licked. I bowed many times but remember those days with quiet affection.
You never knew what would take your maggot, worm or stewed wheat bait next. Bream were mainly the target but tench and roach were always on the cards. Perch I remember were just coming out of a period of decline due to a nationwide disease. It was the 'not knowing what might be next' that excited, but actually it didn't matter. Just being there was enough. These gentlemen (they were rough and ready but that didn't stop them being gentlemen) passed on their knowledge with patience and grace and, for that, I will be eternally grateful. They blessed my formative years and seeded my great passion for my sport.
Today? Secrecy of tactics, named fish, jeallousy, cheating and the desire for instant results not only reflects modern attitudes to fishing, it reflects modern attitudes to the way lives are lead. Was it better in "t'good old days"? You bet it was.
Phil, your post brought back many happy memories for me. I too remember those very things you describe, and in all probability I was amongst those anglers you describe. Don't you find it a trifle odd that some of those big strapping steel workers/miners and assorted manual workers from northern towns, displayed a totally different image than one might have expected. Judging the book by its cover springs to mind!!
If the old ''Cheerio Cafe'' car park was full of cars, then the next port of call would be the cafe in Sleaford. Yes, bowing to the river or drain I have witnessed the same ritual many times, even back to the time of my grandfather.
Those old anglers were a quaint bunch and paved the way for many with their tales and superstitious. Yes Phil, a gentle innocent time, and a great learning experience.
The Cheerio cafe was just outside the town proper near Holdingham village and eventually turned in to a Little Chef or something like that selling botulism buns and salmonella sarnies. The cafe in the main town square was called the Matador for some inexplicable reason.
I'm glad I'm not the only one with these memories. In these fast lane times we live in where patience and a kind word are no longer seen as virtues, I was beginning to think I'd imagined it all!
Phil, imagined it? not on your life mate. There are a few of us older anglers who have not forgotten what it was that shaped our future, and gave us a base from which to work.''Priceless''. When we become so blase and cynical about the passion of angling,we have lost forever that spirit, that indefineable magic that makes grown men become childlike in the wonder of it all.
Embrace progress, certainly, forget or reject the past never, keep the faith phil. My old mate Ron and me are often ridiculed for embracing both the past and the future, there must be more out there?
Yes Derek but who thinks about this when you are busy bagging up!!
I am often shocked by the way the modern young angler has no interest whatsoever in the history of our obsession. And even worse is that some of the angling luminaries of today have no knowledge of angling history either.
I am often drawn into the comment Richard Walker made to someone in a letter. It may have been Peter Stone.
He told the certain someone to read all that they could lay their hands on in terms of angling literature.
Personally I have read many many angling books in my time, some of them have been good, a few quite terrible. But by reading them I hopefully have learned to keep the faith, as Derek says.
"He told the certain someone to read all that they could lay their hands on in terms of angling literature."
That's exactly right Ron. AT and AM were avidly read every week together with books from the library by Colin Willock, Richard Walker and the rest. I remember also carrying my pocket book of British Fish - can't remember the publisher.
There was also a weekly publication that came out in the mid 70s called the Marshall Cavendish Guide to Fishing (or something like that!) Small A5 size booklet in 52 weekly parts. I was so determined to not to miss an issue I had mine sent to the BFPO address when I was posted to a NATO job in Naples. I don't think these books made me a better angler but I enjoyed reading them. I even have an original copy of Graham's Stillwater Fishing from 1982.
Just looking at the older books on the sport brings back memories of old gear and tactics. Stret pegging, laying on, drilled bullets, coffin leads, bamboo and heavy fibreglass rods and the infamous Intrepid Black Prince reels! Makes you wonder how we caught fish in those days - but WE DID. Our best gear was cherished and looked after because it cost a lot of money which we had saved up for. Abu Ferrulite rod, Mitchell Match and 300 reels, Bayer Perlon and Maxima lines - the list goes on. Today we live in a consumer society where ownership of good gear is instantly assumed rather than progressed to. I think that old world gear we had made us better anglers simply because we had to FISH better to catch.
Phil, an old wooden Nottingham reel complete with silk line, Spanish reed rod with lancewood top, and an old biscuit tin of assorted floats, snap tackle and spinners were my introduction to fishing via my grandfather.
I remember vividly thinking I was the luckiest lad alive. A few years later it was ''Accles and Pollock'' taperflex rod and Omnia fixed spool reel.
Then came Walker, wow, talk about revolution, fabulous times, and a fantastic journey that spans over fifty years. And the journey still continues, more magic to discover, more mystery to explain, never ending, never want it too.
i can remember as a lad reading in awe of large fish the like i had never seen and the different species of fish that dwelled in the depths of our islands waters ,my imagination ran riot rying to envisage what was perhaps within inches of my of my bait and perhaps this day i would catch a fish worthy of my so far unused landing net. usually a few bites missed and the odd roach was the order of the day......then i saw it under a canal bridge in gin clear early morning water a perch ..the first i had ever seen and another, not big fish but followed by a fish that had me shaking .it was a huge perch i offered it a worm and before i could even react the little rod in my hands came alive i did use my landing net on that fish which i suppose was around 10 oz my first big fish ,if only we could retain that awe and mystery that some how fades and is replaced with ungratfulness if our expertese catches only modest fish.
I have really enjoyed reading the posts on this thread. It is possible to re-capture the old magic. By way of some personal history several years ago a combination of redundancy, divorce, pricey lawyers and a vengeful ex wife (who when I was at work took all my tackle to a local charity shop!), saw me flat broke, without a car and worst of all, with no fishing gear. Thanks to an angling friend’s generosity and a boot fair I soon acquired a few bits and pieces albeit second hand and not the quality (as a former tackle tart) I was used to. Without a car it was the bus, shanks’ pony or the pushbike to get to (free) local waters, and due to living on a budget, bait and groundbait was a sliced white, a tin of corn and worms from the garden. Two things happened. First, despite the tatty, second hand tackle my catch rate did not materially alter. But second and most importantly, perhaps due to the simplicity of the gear (one rod, one reel, net, rest, stool,) I managed to get back the old excitement I once knew as a kid nearly forty years before. Its hard to put into words, but simply by waking up early in the morning or getting home from work and thinking, “hey, lets go fishing” slinging a few bits in the rucksack and heading off, you got back that old sense of freedom. And when at the water, again, this may sound daft, but when I fished the commercials with my three top of the range rods, bivvy, buzzers etc, not only did I know what I might catch, but the session had been planned like a quasi military operation and the spontaneity just wasn’t there. Now, its back to basic float fishing or ledgering on rivers, park lakes and club waters and the gut feeling that you next bite, (if it comes at all), might, just might be the fish of your dreams. It’s been said before but its true, less is often more.
These were grand responces from S.M & Mike as it was from many others. I take great comfort from the fact that no matter how far we progress in this sport of angling, those first exploritary steps are remembered with such clarity.
It serves to illustrate the significance of those early days, and has anyone noticed the role of the Perch? Surely the lead player on those fertile fields of learning!! As I said very comforting......and not just for me as your posts confirm!!!
