Giving up?

[steve2]

About to it give up?
After fishing for the best part of 60 years I finding that the actual fishing part no longer play much of a part in my life. I read about it write about it but I haven’t been since November and yesterday I was all set to go than I thought no I would take my cameras and go for a walk instead.
When I got back I went to the tackle shed made some traces but I can’t see me using them.
Even my wife said why don’t you go fishing but I just can’t be bothered any more.
Have I fished for the last time or will a break make me return refreshed?

 

[Keith M]

Steve, once the weather really starts to warm up in the spring and you see those Tench bubbles moving along on the surface of a beautiful Lilly strewn lake or pond the urge to fish will comeback to you I’m sure.

I have a couple of beautiful and peaceful Lilly strewn lakes that I can go to whenever I start to lose my interest a bit; and on a warm spring morning it works wonders for me.

I sometimes leave my rods at home at this time of year and take long strolls along the river away from built up areas; looking for and noting promising swims with plenty of features in them that I’ve not fished before; and which look like they have not seen many anglers; and this works for me too.

Keith

 

[john step]

After 60 odd years fishing perhaps we get in a rut? Is it the thought of dragging the tackle down the bank? I must admit to baulking at one place I fish on the river due to the long awkward walk . Is it the thought of fishing the same old waters?

Perhaps the old saying that a change is good as a rest applies.

Maybe a bit of feather chucking in the spring? A new discipline might be good.

Just this morning I have re elasticated an old pole to do a bit of pole fishing which I have not done in years. It may be with a pole I can start hitting those bites on the tare again?

Last year I actually bought a bivvy for the first time to have a relaxing trip away camping...sorry meant to say carping!!
It was great being outside for a couple of days. The peace and solitude was very therapeutic.

From memory you may not be far from the coast. If thats right some plaice and chips this spring might go down a treat.

Best of luck with whatever.

 

[tigger]

No wonder you fed up after doin' it for 60yrs!
Nearly all my friends who used to be very keen anglers either go once a year or not at all, they just can't be @rsed to go fishing. I do get spells like that myself and even when I go and I catch some really good fish I just haven't had any buzz out of it.
If going out with the camera gives you more enjoyment then that's the thing to do.

 

[peterjg]

Don't give up, join a new club, fish new waters. Fish for roach, they are absolutely fascinating!

 

[flightliner]

I deliberately fish with most all methods and approaches.Nice bags of roach, a few big ones , big and little of all other species keeps it all fresh every time I get by the waterside. It keeps me away from the downers that can pervade any regime that begins to smack of the same old same old.
Maybe worth trying a completely differant tack, say, a big fish of a choosen kind-- a mission if you like.

 

[steve2]

Don't give up, join a new club, fish new waters. Fish for roach, they are absolutely fascinating!

Tried a new club last year but haven't fished or seen their waters this season.
Fishing for roach brings back memories of my Hampshire Avon days at Britford,Burgate and Bat and Bull at Downton, never did catch my 2lb roach but good days.

Looks like a break until the spring is on the cards unless someone comes and drags me
out.

Change of direction.
Looks like the next few weeks are now going to be taken up with Jury Service. After a session of that I might be pleased to get on the bank.

 

[mikench]

It's hardly surprising after 60 years that you would become, say less enthusiastic, about fishing! It must have changed in that time but nothing like as much as photography in general and cameras in particular! As PC said, the hardest part is opening the front door and stepping out! Go for it, sit on the bank and have a fish!

 

[no-one in particular]

If you do pack it in best advice I can give is just hang on to one set of basic gear. That morning will come one day when you wake up and you just say to yourself; you know what, I fancy a bit of fishing today.

 

[Tee-Cee]

I've been fishing somewhat longer than 60 years and over that time I've walked away from it several times, but never because I was actually bored with it. Family, work, travel etc etc meant I couldn't dedicate the amount of time to my passion so I left it be..

These days, having promised myself I would fish when I wanted to once retired, I think I have it about right in how much time I spend on the bank and how much time I spend doing other things. I walk a lot, I spend time making floats, I'm out with my wife for lunch or trips to NT properties, and then we have the housework....
What I don't do is spend every waking moment fishing and this is what keeps it fresh for me. I might go on consecutive days once in a while, but generally speaking I will a have a break between trips and then enjoy the feeling of 'looking forward' to going again.
Like you, I'm still trying to catch my first 2lb roach and I still have the dream of seeing such a fish laying in my landing net, BUT it isn't the 'be all and end all' if it doesn't happen. What I enjoy doing is fishing my heart out to try and make it happen!

Of course, the fishing flame may well've dimmed forever or perhaps you do need to move on so something new, but I would suggest you have a short break for a while and see how it goes. Don't make a decision now and have another look at it in a month or so as we move toward spring...

As KeithM says, a drive to old waters like the Hants Avon for a walk along the bank often stirs the enthusiasm - which might include a nice lunch and a pint in a local pub. It might just work!

Good luck to you, in whatever you end up doing........................

 

[bullet]

As said, try something you don't do, maybe fly or sea fishing, if possible.
I would have given up years ago if I just stuck to one area of angling....keeps it fresh and different.

 

[108831]

Well I thoroughly enjoyed jury service,in fact I'd have liked to do it for a living...take up fly fishing for a while perhaps might invigorate your interest....

 

[markcw]

Go into your tackle shed, sort yourself a couple of rods n reels out and basic essentials, none of this "I may use it so I will take it" business, something to sit on,and landing net, Have it accessible for when you want to go. Sometimes the idea of sorting a ruck of tackle out a day before going can put you off. I used to take a couple of rods, reels in a ready rod holdall, seatbox, A holdall for pole and topkits,a couple of pole rollers plus a few other things, I then had to unload it all when I arrived at the venue, set it all up, then load it back in car to be unloaded again when got home, There would be times I would have 6 topkits for pole set up and end up fishing bomb rod all day, Now the only time all that lot goes with me is in a match. I have a couple of grab n go holdalls and seatboxes depending on venue. I find I enjoy it more, and if I have not got something I may need, I don't fret about it. Another idea would to become a club bailiff, you are out and about, talking to members, finding out where is fishing good for when you decide to go, Or throw a few bits in the car and have a few hours fishing when you have checked a couple of waters.

 

[The bad one]

About to it give up?
After fishing for the best part of 60 years I finding that the actual fishing part no longer play much of a part in my life. I read about it write about it but I haven’t been since November and yesterday I was all set to go than I thought no I would take my cameras and go for a walk instead.
When I got back I went to the tackle shed made some traces but I can’t see me using them.
Even my wife said why don’t you go fishing but I just can’t be bothered any more.
Have I fished for the last time or will a break make me return refreshed?

I'm a lot like you, I've fished for just short of 60 years 59 to be correct. Three years ago I had a very serious illness that curtailed my fishing for 6 months or so.
I did go a little bit, but it was a struggle getting to near the car park swims due to breathlessness. I also found I wasn't enjoying it when I was there due to loss of interest.
I got to a point where I stopped going entirely. I recognised that if I didn't do "something" about it I would stop, may be forever.

I bought myself a second-hand fly outfit knowing nothing about how to fish with it other than what I picked up talking to fluffers and watching Youtube videos. I took the view I wasn't going to ask for advice I was going to learn and do it my way, warts and all.
I learnt how to cast in my local park, practicing every chance I got, until I felt competent that I could cast a line 20 yards landing it straight and lightly. Accuracy came very easily for some reason, which I'm baffled by, but it did.

Then when on holiday in the Lakes, the day came for me to cast a fly in anger on the fabulous River Eden. Fluke of flukes I caught a few small brown trout. I found the afternoon passed really quickly, as I was totally absorbed in what I was doing.

The upshot is, I'm buzzing and can't wait for the brown trout season to start in April. I'm also fortunate that I'm in a club that has quite a few good trout waters both running and still. I've also found my coarse fishing head starting to click back into gear as well and will get out a few times before the river season finishes.
That's how I've tackled the loss of interest and it seems to be working for me. I'm even thinking of having a go at fly tying, so I have the confidence in the hooks I'm using, as many of bought flies seem to me a little weak or poor quality.

 

[nottskev]

It's hard for anyone else to say whether a change or a rest might see your enthusiasm return. I've fished for about 50 years now, and a few times I've had lay-offs from fishing for various reasons. The longer ones - as much as a year - usually associated with starting a new relationship or seeing out the aftermath of one that has finished; the shorter ones, of a few weeks or months, generally due to ill health. I've had breaks where I struggled to see why I ever bothered so much, and ones where I knew I'd get back into it given the right circumstances. The physical outdoors nature of the sport is something that makes it both wonderful and a challenge that's sometimes too much. A big back operation at 20, the onset of a kind of rheumatoid arthritis, heart disease related to that......I've had to accept periods when fishing is not on, and I've had to often do the fishing I can rather than the fishing I'd prefer, and that can make it a bit more likely that I'll occasionally think I can't be bothered.

Sometimes I've just found that a bit of time passes, and I'm ready to get back into it. And sometimes a conscious change of approach has done the trick. Laid up for a couple of months earlier this year - nothing deadly, thankfully, but debilitating - I eventually felt like going fishing again, but I couldn't be bothered with the sheer hassle of sorting out all the gear for all the various styles, the bait, the clothes, the paraphernalia of it all (and I'm far from a kitchen-sink angler). In the end, with a bit of inspiration from another FM member, I picked a beautiful river stretch with car access, sorted out a rod, reel, net, stool and small bag, and spent a few days freelining natural baits around the bankside features. Catching a few chub and barbel like this made the difference between feeling I couldn't be bothered and thinking, right, what shall I do next?

For all that, if you do find that you've really lost interest and going fishing really doesn't appeal, you don't need anyone's permission to give it a miss and spend time on things you prefer.

 

[mikench]

Well I thoroughly enjoyed jury service,in fact I'd have liked to do it for a living...take up fly fishing for a while perhaps might invigorate your interest....

You're a wag Alan! I'll bet it was a juicy criminal trial lasting months! Go fishing With Alan! You'll enjoy it and learn a lot! Come fishing with me and you'll have a laugh and realise that Angling needs you!!

 

[108831]

Mike,I did two lots of jury service,I found it interesting and enlightening how our legal system works,also how God awful some criminals are,it would be a great day compared to real work,I will stick to fishing now and leave my decision making to hook and float sizes...:wink-new:

When I was fishing yesterday at Bedford,there was a circus set up behind me(bloody noisy)and a young Romanian guy from said circus kept coming over and telling me how I should shallow up,try three maggots on the hook etc,he was gobsmacked when he saw my twenty hook,lol...

I'm slightly confused,I've been called lots of names in my time,most naughty words,but a wag...

 

[Philip]

Sounds like you need a change of track. Sea, Centerpin, fly, boat, try something new and it might get your interest back.

Sometimes just walking along a new venue can get your interest up as can watching some of the you tubers.

Shorter sessions can also help rather than struggling through blanking boredom for a whole day.

 

[mikench]

'm slightly confused,I've been called lots of names in my time,most naughty words,but a wag...

It's a term of endearment Alan and has nothing to do with the England World Cup football team! It's someone who is a character, has a sense of humour and can be amusing!! I doubt any of the football team or their wags would qualify!

 

[john step]

It's a term of endearment Alan and has nothing to do with the England World Cup football team! It's someone who is a character, has a sense of humour and can be amusing!! I doubt any of the football team or their wags would qualify!

I have not heard that used for some time since the term was hijacked by the footballing fraternity. Many old fashioned words have be appropriated I guess.