Experiences that change your angling.

[108831]

If I was forced to think hard,I would be able to remember things that caused me to use certain tactics in my fishing,now barbel have a reputation of not being too difficult to catch,I can remember however fishing on the Severn back in the day on maggot feeder and did what i'd been doing for a few years,double and treble maggot on a 14 to 5lb hooklink,I'd even caught on single maggot on a 10 at times,then it happened,,you didn't get a fish,now I farted about trying several things,nothing,then I tried single maggot on a 16,bingo,I caught steadily and in spite trying bigger hooks at times during that session didnt get a single fish on anything other than that 16 hook,that worked like that for at least four years before I stopped going up to the Severn,during that time I had many,many catches of more than 50 barbel,the biggest 88,all on that 16 hook.Then on the Trent I was in a match and had drawn a good barbel peg,now this was when 6-7lb fish were big,now I started with a 5-6lb hooklink and struggled,and after a couple of difficult hours dropped to a 3.6lb hooklink,hoping for a few chub but it didn't work like that I had a barbel,then another,then I lost one so stepped up again,nothing,not a sausage,went down again and bang,into another,I lost an odd one and kept trying heivier ,with smaller hooks but to no avail,you just sat waiting and waiting with no response,I went on to win the match,but scratching my head a little. I've had many such experiences within fishing for all species,that formulate my thinking today,how about you???

 

[no-one in particular]

The very first time I went to the H Avon for the weekend with my Dad a long time ago we did not catch a fish; we were proper greenhorns!. On the way home we stopped somewhere for a fish and a bloke came up to me and started chatting. I told him our story of fishing the H Avon and not catching a fish and he asked what we were using and I said double maggot on a float and leger, he said you wont catch anything unless you use a single maggot on the H Avon, double maggots looks too unnatural on the clear waters of the Avon.

 

[mikench]

That was some hook Alan!! What make was it

Seriously I am still learning but lately when fishing for roach I have noticed, for posterity, that a smaller hook( a size 18) and just a caster or single maggot got bites when 2 or 3 maggots didn't! I also observed that it was always the tiddlers which went for the biggest bait on the largest hook with the complete opposite on small hooks and bait!

Fishing is full of oddities surprises and the eschewing of standard methods and tactics on occasions; a bit like me!

 

[wetthrough]

Where I've been fishing recently, fishing bread in one form or another has surprised me just how successful it can be. That and if you're loose feeding maggots the tiddlers by and large seem to ignore the bread.

The 10'6" Greys rod I have was largely reserved for confined spaces and rarely saw the light of day. Of late I've been fishing shallower stillwaters/commercials. The action is described as progressive whearas the 13' is described as fast progressive. The action of the 10'6" is so forgiving it allows me to fish lighter and I'm still more likely to land a bigger fish than with the 13' which is what I'd describe as more aggressive.

 

[Philip]

Good subject for a thread.

Its very easy in angling to follow the anecdotal advice in books, videos, mags or the internet and of course there is often some very good advice given there and its a good way to learn. However I think a big step for any angler is the moment they start to look at a situation in front of them question what they are doing and then act on it for themselves rather than what the text book tells them to do.

One experience that comes to mind for me was while fishing for Carp on the rivers. My standard tactic was to pre-bait for a few days in advance with several kilos of bait each day & fish short sessions of about 2 or 3 hours. On the day of the fishing I would put out just a little feed under the assumption that the fish would already be coming to the swim & as I would not be there for long I wanted my hook bait to be picked up and not lost in all the free bait ….because that’s what all the anecdotal advice tells us.

It worked very well and I caught allot of fish like that. However one day I turned up and for some reason I decided I would feed it heavily at the start…I threw out all my bait which was again several kilos and then sat back thinking I had blown it. However within 30mins I had 2 rods go off simultaneously and landed a brace of Carp. It was next to impossible to imagine that BOTH fish had been unlucky enough to pick up the hook baits amongst all the free feed so I had to conclude that what was actually happening was the fish were moving in large shoals onto the bait & clearing me out in a short space of time. It was quite an eye opener for me and once I started to bait heavily at the start I began to get multiple catches when usually 1 fish would be what could be expected in each short session. Of course it wont work everywhere but its something I have always kept in mind since then.

Possibly THE most Important thing I have learnt however is that if you can find the fish you have already taken a huge step towards catching them. Spend more time looking and less time fishing and your results will improve as a result.

 

[steve2]

About 50 years ago when I realised that you don’t to take all your tackle when you go fishing. If you take a lot less you won’t get stuck in the same swim all day.
Another one was that you could catch fish on lures and not just pike and perch.

 

[bullet]

The biggest eye opener for me was when I started short line nymphing for trout and grayling, also caught a few good chub like this.
Water I would normally have not even bothered to fish was producing numbers and quality, from right under my feet!

 

[john step]

Not sure if this qualifies but getting caught out in adverse weather when ignoring the forecast to find the venue and method anticipated are just out of the question and the day wasted.

For instance I am going fishing tomorrow. The forecast is for high winds and rain. Until this forecast I had intended float fishing on a rather exposed reservoir.

My intention is now to return to a club lake where I can hide beneath steep banks and chuck a deadbait or two out.
Not the fastest method of fishing but definitely better than sitting at home looking out the window or watching TV.

 

[mikench]

I plan to adopt the same philosophy if I feel ok( man flu since last Saturday) and have a plan using a worm kebab!!!!!!!

It must be better than staying home and coughing!

 

[john step]

I plan to adopt the same philosophy if I feel ok( man flu since last Saturday) and have a plan using a worm kebab!!!!!!!

It must be better than staying home and coughing!

Worm kebab. Does your plan involve a quickstop? Several pieces on the hair can be good for sergeants. Or did you mean you are barbecuing on the bank:wh

 

[silvers]

the more i learn the less I know!

I've often found that the fish don't read text books and trying different things can suddnely switch a seemingly dead swim on.

And like whitty - lighter line and smaller hooks really does work to get more bites in most circumstances

 

[108831]

Alex,these days I wouldn't advise fishing lighter with hooks or lines when fishing for barbel,they are just too big to risk these days,wouldn't care on the float hook wise,very often the best way to sort barbel out on maggot or caster is to put 4-6 on an 8 or 10 hook,but it didn't work back then,every day is different and memories need using to unlock the code...

 

[Mark Wintle]

Over many years a few pennies have dropped. In the mid 70s a gradual realisation that antenna/waggler floats could be used, initially on stillwaters but also on rivers. At first on rivers it seemed wrong but with a lot of practice and experience it came together and I still enjoy waggler fishing.

In the early 80s I realised that although from a match fishing point of view I enjoyed fishing a stick or waggler that in order to gain an edge I would need to get much better on the tip and pole, this at a time when few anglers on the matches I fished used either at all.

Finally a more recent view that what you catch generally means virtually nothing to anyone else unless you're in a competition. Maybe I'm tired of the constant 'willy-waving' 'look-at-me' 'photograph every fish' scenario of modern social m[ne]edia but at the end of the day it doesn't matter if you catch big fish, little fish, no fish, fish over a certain 'barrier' but just enjoy being out in the fresh air and possibly just for an hour or two at one with nature.

 

[bracket]

I have never had a pivotal experience, most things have been a gradual progression. The one that sticks in my mind was when I bought my first fixed spool reel in the late 1950s. Up to that point I was an out and out centre pin man. I tried for weeks on the river to master it but each time, after twenty minutes, off it came and on went the pin. Finally in a desperate effort to get the hang of it I left the pin at home and that proved to be the solution. So much so that now I only use the pin when I get sentimental and maudlin. Pete.

 

[108831]

I have never had a pivotal experience, most things have been a gradual progression. The one that sticks in my mind was when I bought my first fixed spool reel in the late 1950s. Up to that point I was an out and out centre pin man. I tried for weeks on the river to master it but each time, after twenty minutes, off it came and on went the pin. Finally in a desperate effort to get the hang of it I left the pin at home and that proved to be the solution. So much so that now I only use the pin when I get sentiment and maudlin. Pete.

Really Pete,for what seemed like donkeys years I had a match aerial pin and caught barbel and odd chub on it,always sticking to the trusted mitchell matches and 300's,obviously progressing to better reels as they came out,but these days I fish pin a hell of a lot through the winter and having taught myself to go Wallis cast(of a sort)I do quite well,plus I find that if I put a fixed spool on with the same floats I don't catch,the pin allowing a continuous trot at the same speed(slightly slower than current)is difficult to achieve,I think the only way is to use the John Allerton method of backwinding the float down...

 

[no-one in particular]

Sweetcorn, the only thing that's different from when I first started fishing, always have a tin in my bag. Sorry, not an experience as such and not whats being sought but I was racking my brains and this all that I could come up with.

 

[bracket]

Really Pete,for what seemed like donkeys years I had a match aerial pin and caught barbel and odd chub on it,always sticking to the trusted mitchell matches and 300's,obviously progressing to better reels as they came out,but these days I fish pin a hell of a lot through the winter and having taught myself to go Wallis cast(of a sort)I do quite well,plus I find that if I put a fixed spool on with the same floats I don't catch,the pin allowing a continuous trot at the same speed(slightly slower than current)is difficult to achieve,I think the only way is to use the John Allerton method of backwinding the float down...

Whitty
While not wanting to resurrect the pin/fixed spool debate, interesting as it was, it's really down to personal preference. I am comfortable with both centre pin and fixed spool reels but my first choice nowadays is the fixed spool reel. To each his own. Pete.

 

[Keith M]

The main thing that has changed with my fishing is that I can now sometimes get as much enjoyment from just putting my rods down after I’ve caught a couple of decent fish and just sitting quietly watching the fish and wild life go about their lives; instead of trying to catch as much as I can, which is what I always used to do before.

Another conscious change that I’ve made over the last five to ten years is that I now fish nearly all of my time in the evenings when most anglers are packing up and going home for their evening meals, and in the early mornings before most have got out of bed. and the only times that you might find me fishing right through the day is during mid winter when the days are very short, or the very occasional time that I’ve been roped in to fish a club match.

Keith

 

[Molehill]

This season I have taken to some perch fishing, with jigs specifically and mainly in the Severn. Only a few outings but it is nice to start learning something from scratch after a lifetime of angling, each session can produce a big leap forward in knowledge - like being a kid again!

This week I spent one morning jigging and jigging and jigging up the river in all the traditional "perchy looking" spots, I covered damn near a mile of river for not a bite. Despondent and approaching the top of the stretch I had a chuck in a featureless bit of water, a small perch, followed by more all from a small area. Then moved and a couple of hundred yards away found more (all small) perch in a typical perch hole.

To cut a story short, about 50 perch and a brace of 2lbs later I packed up.
Big lesson learnt - they shoal up tight, they take some finding (if you don't know the river or have the knowledge), stick at it relentlessly till you find them and don't despair.