What is Traditional Angling?

[S-Kippy]

Tilley hats aren’t meant to be jammed on your loaf, the Tilley recommendation is that you should be able to fit 2 fingers between hat and head for a relaxed fit. If the wind really gets up you can use the chinstrap cord but I never have and never had one blow off.

I have yet to meet the hat that I can get a single finger between bonce and brim let alone two. In medical terms I am above the 97th quartile which, in laymans terms, means big head. What can I tell you ?

[sam vimes]

I have yet to meet the hat that I can get a single finger between bonce and brim let alone two. In medical terms I am above the 97th quartile which, in laymans terms, means big head. What can I tell you ?

Tilley do hats above size 8. I suspect that yoou'd have to have encephalitis to fail to get one to fit.

[David Rogers 3]

I never realised until it was pointed out recently that they rotated in the wrong direction. I never had a problem using them and they were my go to work horse for over 30 years. It was only recently that I sold the last ones. I do still have a small Mitchell 308 in prefect working order.

I could never see what the problem was, as I thought all reels were like that. It was only quite recently I realised that was because, being left-handed, I'd only ever used a 301!

I quite happily mix vintage and modern tackle, baits and methods, depending on what I feel like. For example, yesterday I was hurling solid PVA bags of chopped boilies with an early 1960s Rudge split cane salmon spinning rod and a Mitchell 307. Now the bale arm on that DOES go the wrong way...

[Philip]

Of course there are no hard & fast rules but I think its fair to say traditional angling is generally less succsessful than modern angling. Traditional anglers also tend to spend allot of time complaining about other methods.

[steve2]

I suppose what I did today was more Vintage, a rod 20 plus years old , a centrepin 50years old , and modern pole float set up. Couldn't find any quill floats in my collection.

[S-Kippy]

Tilley do hats above size 8. I suspect that yoou'd have to have encephalitis to fail to get one to fit.

I know I could almost certainly get a Tilley to fit me....but I'm just far too tight to pay that sort of money for a titfer.

[puffer_]

I finally buckled and bought one the other week. Got to say.... It's brilliant. My noggin is fairly large, 7 & 5/8

As for traditional angling, I just take it to be general float fishing or ledgering on maggots/corn/bread/hemp etc with no new fangled gear or baits. I suppose a 20+ year old rod and reel would make it somewhat more traditional.

[Aknib]

I think the idea of the 'traditional' angler is very much like beauty and that it exists mainly in the eye of those who consider themselves the beholder.

Not least because tradition can't be linked to single, identifiable period in time.

I get many an odd glance these days but what most probably fail to realise is that I've done the years of waving fourteen metres of carbon around on an aluminium platform and a seat that resembles a chest of drawers and, though it's taken some thought and a lot of time, my fishing has never been in a more content place than now.

I will go out of my way to buy what I want to use and what I like but, as these images demonstrate, despite them having an undertone of 'tradition' the tackle used is decades apart in origin and that's my happy medium.

I don't for one minute consider myself a 'traditional' angler and I have nothing against anyone who does if it makes them happy but I do smile to myself on the occasions that I get labelled as one...

[bracket]

Just googled the definition of "traditional" one of which is "long established". I have been fishing now for 70 odd years, doing basically the same thing with the tackle that was available at any given time. Dispite never owning any hat other than a flat cap. I think I qualify as a traditional angler without needing to justify it. Pete.7

[john step]

Yup, traditionally I have always used a hook.