I like fishing as much as the next man, but reading some of these angling books I quite often come across things that I can't help but think - "very nice, but it's taking it a bit too far". People who aren't into fishing would not think it was normal behaviour.
I'm reading a book at the moment from 1963 by an amiable old schoolmaster called Bill Taylor who used to fish around Oxford. So far I've come across two prime examples of taking a hobby a bit too far....
1) He reports 'fortunately' having a week's holiday from work and therefore being able to be on the river each and every morning, before it's light, to pre-bait a swim. Ready for fishing it at the weekend, you see.
2) He also advises having as precise a mental model as possible of the layout of the swim and suggests that an ideal way of getting this info is with a snorkel and flippers! He thinks you should jump in and have a look around under the water.
I know angling can be a bit OCD and I wondered whether any others here have examples of fishermen who take things a little bit beyond what Joe Public would call normal behaviour?
Funny you should sat that Maceo.........This could have been classed as the 'norm' not too many years ago, especially asking the local scuba club to 'map out' the underwater terrain. The pre-baiting was VERY definitely the 'norm' for specimen hunters.
Normal behaviour ??, I remember when I were nowtburalad, a local celebrity angler getting his mate to swim down a river attached to the 'celebs' line, all to prove that the 'celeb' could play and tire the biggest fish, unbelievably he did, after a few minutes his mate was well and truly 'knacked'.
__________________ "It's better to forgive and forget and to smile, than to always remember and be sad"
1) He reports 'fortunately' having a week's holiday from work and therefore being able to be on the river each and every morning, before it's light, to pre-bait a swim. Ready for fishing it at the weekend, you see.
2) He also advises having as precise a mental model as possible of the layout of the swim and suggests that an ideal way of getting this info is with a snorkel and flippers! He thinks you should jump in and have a look around under the water.
Sounds like a good angler to me. So he takes his fishing seriously, what's wrong with that?
Doesn't everybody pre bait when they have the opportunity?
And yes, my missus thinks (knows!) I'm off my rocker
I remember when I was working on the T5 terminal construction. I was staying near Heathrow monday to thursday whilst working. I am a keen catfish angler and whilst there managed to get on the Horton Boat Pool syndicate, the lake is a few minutes away from Heathrow. I started fishing thursday nights after work , packing up my bivvy at 5.00 am then going to work .I'd usually go via my digs and pick up my stuff as we worked half day fridays before returning home for the weekend.
The lads I worked with thought I was mad...one friday after a night on the Boat Pool I gave a couple of Geordies a lift into work , my wet weigh sling covered in catfish slime was in the boot , it stunk , and they were almost green by the time we got to the job!!
Taking It A Bit Far.......
Of all the liars among mankind, the fisherman is the most trustworthy. William Sherwood Fox
Linear Mode
