Aknib
Well-known member
Are we really catching more or bigger fish?
Statistically, for the bigger fish at least then yes but, overall, and all things considered…
Me says no!
Why?
Because, if the circumstances were the same for our Angling predecessors I still reckon the fish would get caught just as big as a result of experience and a good Angling mind.
OK a fine rod will lessen the chance of the occasional hook pull but by and large I reckon that our forefathers would do just as good today on relative gear as many of us do now given the odd exception such as extreme range.
Or have we already done that on Arlesey Lake?
Let’s face it, the sheer volume of HNV baits that enter our waters today is massive compared to the days of say Walker etc. and on a level playing field would our forefathers have done as well?
On this one, me says yes.
Maybe the question should really be did our forefathers put in more effort?
It’s now and has for many years become standard practice within Carp fishing to sit or lay in a tent until the alarm goes off but what about the days and achievements before alarms?
Would you stay up all night, night after night, without electronic assistance (c'mon it's a bloody fish for God's sake) manually detecting what might be the one that hits the headlines before packing up the gear and carting yourself off to work for the day?
And on a non-Carpy vein many of us will remember the early 80’s hay days of the rivers Bann & Shannon where 100lb+ nets of Roach barely made the headlines and if the Bream turned up… Well?
And those blokes knew how to and the effects of feed.
These were not commercials, these were rivers and what price would the same headlines demand in today’s commercially spun, sponsored driven market?
Nope, for me it’s all in the marketing and I don’t subscribe.
I appreciate there will be other and very valid points of view which I may not have even considered but I reckon Angling’s all gone a bit SkyHD and when you cut through the Carp (anagram) I reckon very little has changed from the days when those who pioneered make-shift bolt and heli rigs were netting fish on the equivalents of the readily available, off the shelf offerings of today.
We buy it, go out and catch it, then pat ourselves on the back because we did what the marketeers said it would do but do you ever step outside the box and consider that you could have arrived there at the same point without them?
If you have and do, what’s your greatest achievement for doing so?
It’s rather modest for me, I go out with what is usually the bare minimum of gear and catch fish whilst admiring my hand woven wicker basket which was produced by using 100% natural materials and replaced the numerous precision moulded plastic and fibreglass predecessors which were all the rage at the time.
And to which I would hurridly beat a path to my local tackle shop to buy!
Nowadays, for me…
I've kind of gone full circle, I've tasted everything on the menu and I feel that I’ve finally arrived where I began except that I'm equipped to go out and do what I want to achieve but in a more mental and knowledgable, rather than equipment driven, state of mind and with equipment which pleases me rather than beckons me to 'keep up'.
But I appreciate I’m not necessarily correct in all this, I’m just pedalling my own ideals.
It's a lot to take in and fully consider and I just wondered what others thought about where Angling in general is heading and what your thoughts were on some of the comments made and questions raised?
Statistically, for the bigger fish at least then yes but, overall, and all things considered…
Me says no!
Why?
Because, if the circumstances were the same for our Angling predecessors I still reckon the fish would get caught just as big as a result of experience and a good Angling mind.
OK a fine rod will lessen the chance of the occasional hook pull but by and large I reckon that our forefathers would do just as good today on relative gear as many of us do now given the odd exception such as extreme range.
Or have we already done that on Arlesey Lake?
Let’s face it, the sheer volume of HNV baits that enter our waters today is massive compared to the days of say Walker etc. and on a level playing field would our forefathers have done as well?
On this one, me says yes.
Maybe the question should really be did our forefathers put in more effort?
It’s now and has for many years become standard practice within Carp fishing to sit or lay in a tent until the alarm goes off but what about the days and achievements before alarms?
Would you stay up all night, night after night, without electronic assistance (c'mon it's a bloody fish for God's sake) manually detecting what might be the one that hits the headlines before packing up the gear and carting yourself off to work for the day?
And on a non-Carpy vein many of us will remember the early 80’s hay days of the rivers Bann & Shannon where 100lb+ nets of Roach barely made the headlines and if the Bream turned up… Well?
And those blokes knew how to and the effects of feed.
These were not commercials, these were rivers and what price would the same headlines demand in today’s commercially spun, sponsored driven market?
Nope, for me it’s all in the marketing and I don’t subscribe.
I appreciate there will be other and very valid points of view which I may not have even considered but I reckon Angling’s all gone a bit SkyHD and when you cut through the Carp (anagram) I reckon very little has changed from the days when those who pioneered make-shift bolt and heli rigs were netting fish on the equivalents of the readily available, off the shelf offerings of today.
We buy it, go out and catch it, then pat ourselves on the back because we did what the marketeers said it would do but do you ever step outside the box and consider that you could have arrived there at the same point without them?
If you have and do, what’s your greatest achievement for doing so?
It’s rather modest for me, I go out with what is usually the bare minimum of gear and catch fish whilst admiring my hand woven wicker basket which was produced by using 100% natural materials and replaced the numerous precision moulded plastic and fibreglass predecessors which were all the rage at the time.
And to which I would hurridly beat a path to my local tackle shop to buy!
Nowadays, for me…
I've kind of gone full circle, I've tasted everything on the menu and I feel that I’ve finally arrived where I began except that I'm equipped to go out and do what I want to achieve but in a more mental and knowledgable, rather than equipment driven, state of mind and with equipment which pleases me rather than beckons me to 'keep up'.
But I appreciate I’m not necessarily correct in all this, I’m just pedalling my own ideals.
It's a lot to take in and fully consider and I just wondered what others thought about where Angling in general is heading and what your thoughts were on some of the comments made and questions raised?
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