A confession

[john step]

I confess I am a hopeless fishing enthusiast. I like all sorts of fishing. I like variety.

From time to time a discouraging remark pops up about a certain couple of fish species.

I don't really get it. I occasionally fish a couple of waters and target small carp (8lb max) on match type gear. They fight well and put a healthy bend in the rod.
I often have a couple of 48 hour sessions for their much bigger and lower stocked kin. Very relaxing. Very enjoyable being in a quiet remote place at one with the environment.

I also have a few sessions on a large pit for bream. Yes they tend to be slimy but lets not be big girls about a bit of muck?
The bream on the Tidal Trent by the way are not nearly so slimy.

So much to do and only one life to do it. Its all good as long as the variety is there. Fish is fish??

And you?

 

[flightliner]

Love em all John, big or small they all have their own unique attractions.

 

[terry m]

Your philosophy fits in with my way of thinking John.

Constantly berating this species or that says more about the detractors than the actual species in my opinion.

 

[sam vimes]

There are species I have little interest in targeting. Pike, zander, eels and catfish all fit that bill. However, I never turn my nose up at any species. Minnows can test my patience at times though.

 

[Keith M]

I love fishing for Tench, Barbel, Carp and Pike whether they are big or small (but preferably big) as even the smaller ones can put a nice bend in my rod and can give me a bit of excitement.

I thoroughly enjoy targeting the larger specimens of Roach, Rudd, Dace, Chub and Perch too; anything that can present me with a bit of a challenge; however I would usually prefer watching paint dry than catching hundreds of 1, 2 or 3oz stunted silvers or gudgeon (unless I’m in a match when every one of them could mean points; or it’s mid winter where catching anything is often going to be a bonus).

The same goes for bream, especially the smaller ones up to around couple of pounds, I have a strong dislike of them unless I’m fishing in a match; however I don’t mind fishing for them if they are likely to be over 6 or 7lb or even bigger; I’ve caught bream up to around 7 or 8lb and I did enjoy catching those, but I’ve never caught a really big one, but I’d still prefer to be catching Tench, Barbel and Carp than catch bream.

I haven’t always been like this and when I was younger I enjoyed catching fish of any size and any type, but as I grow older my ‘likes’ and ‘dislikes’ seem to have changed quite a bit.

Keith

 

[mikench]

I just like going fishing particularly when, to my mind, I am doing it correctly like yesterday!

My day is made by a surprise fish like a nice tench or two, a gudgeon, rudd or a barbel! Throw in a bit of chat with a fellow angler , a flask of good coffee and a tasty sandwich and I'm happy!

Fortunately for me there are still a few species I have yet to catch!

 

[S-Kippy]

Pike dont interest me in the slightest and bream are always a disappointment as they have invariably picked up a bait intended for tench,barbel or carp. I'm a bit like that about run of the mill carp though I dont mind the odd session after their bigger brothers.

I very quickly get fed up with small fish crawling up the rod but that's just the way it is on some waters/days.

 

[tigger]

I have my favourite species to fish for as most people will have.
Roach bore me to death, well the fish of under a pound do, same goes for rudd.
Bream in stocked pools are pretty boring ( and slimey) but bream on the river when float fishing are a different thing altogether....they really do fight and arn't such slimers as the commmercial pool type.

 

[nottskev]

I like all kinds of fishing, and I fish all kinds of places, from farm ponds to big reservoirs, and little brooks to big rivers.

When it comes to likes and dislikes, I try to make it clear that it's about the fishing experience rather than the species. For example, I like to catch carp sometimes - big, fighting fish and all that - but I dislike what's often offered in the beefed-up fishing-on-steroids world of many instant fisheries and older fisheries transformed by stockings. We've had this discussion, I know. But, as I would say to any carp with hurt feelings, it's not you, it's us.

I'm usually puzzled by people who despise bream. I spent the first decade of my fishing in an area where even the best anglers would only catch a few pounds of fish, and a bream of 2 or 3lb would be a stand-out fish. I think they only struck anglers as a nuisance if they were lucky enough to be on fisheries with far more to catch. Even these days, I usually find good size skimmers and bream less than a walk-over on "natural" waters ( it may be different in places where they've stocked a million) and it takes a bit of skill and delicacy to keep them lined up and feeding without scaring them off.

I basically like catching all kinds of fish, (although I should admit I'm averse to things with teeth, and have only fished for pike when cheesed off with them chasing off my target fish) but I suppose I'm a bit fussy about where I do it.

 

[markcw]

I don't mind what I catch, I don't set my stall out to go for a certain species, even if the fishing is slow,the surroundings can be good, Kingfishers darting about, Buzzards circling on air currents in the sky, Rabbits in the fields, and like Mikench says a good chat with a fellow angler and a flask of coffee and tasty sandwich and we are happy. What other sport/pastime is there were you can relax, take in the surroundings and be in good company having a cuppa and something to eat.

 

[Tee-Cee]

I don't fish for bream or pike simply because the waters I 'choose' to fish don't contain them. What I do fish for are roach of a decent size, perch up to 3lbs (but rarely seen) and crucians, also rarely seen. I enjoy light tackle fishing, but will step up if necessary.
What I don't enjoy is hooking carp of any size on light tackle, BUT as has happened over recent weeks it is the only species that has picked up my bait, and to be honest I was quite pleased to hook one - a case of something is better than nothing at all! The downer of this is that in hooking something close to double figures I will spend some 10/20 mins trying to land it (if I'm lucky) but in the majority of cases the fish will make off with my hook length and I will be left with a trashed swim. I don't , like anybody else, enjoy leaving hook lengths in a fish..................

Over my many years of fishing I have done all I need to do, including chasing around the country after big fish, weekends under canvas etc. etc. so these days I'm more than happy to sit by a quiet, safe pool (or river) undisturbed by others and, in the main, on my own. I search for solitude, but on the odd occasion I meet up with a pal or take up an invite to fish a private water for a day.
The days of chasing very big tench, chub and barbel and being organised to do so are long gone generally speaking, BUT if the opportunity arises for a few sessions after them I will make the effort.........

This week I'm off for three lone session after decent roach, but if a 2lb+ perch snaffles the bait I will be more than pleased!!

Beggars can't be choosers, so to speak..................

 

[shane99]

Enjoy the simplicity of Perch fishing these days on the bobber with Worm. On my own, short session, 1 rod, small flask & a sandwich

Any Tench or large Eel would be more than welcome if they fancy my worm. No offence would be taken.

 

[Clodhopper]

I can see how I might be labelled 'wrong' or even 'immoral' but I cannot help it - the sight of a lesser spotted dogfish approaching my station in a chartered vessel lowers me into a profound well of despondency.

It's not just their lack of fight on even quite light sea-fishing tackle. Nor even the way they coil around the arm that holds them firm while you try to release them, painfully stripping away several layers of epidermis in the process with a hide once used for sandpapering wooden boats.

No, the worst thing about them is the way they screw their eyes tight as you attempt to disgorge them, as if to say "I know you are a cack-handed kn..head and this is certain to be a tortuous tale of rank incompetance lasting several minutes agonising for both of us ". And the way they are always right.

And if there's one thing worse than catching a a lesser-spotted dogfish, it's catching a procession of them, interspersed only by the occasional six-ounce, goggle-eyed pout.

Rant over.



Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk