mikench
Well-known member
I don’t have an FAC but reckon I could take a few out. They are very quiet though.
The good ol' days of fishing
- Thread starter theartist
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John Keane
Well-known member
We were kitting up in front of the fishing lodge on the Spey last April and we noticed a goosander gliding sedately down the current by the far bank. Few quick steps by the ghillie to his land rover and out came a silenced 0.17 to be steadied against the verandah rail. A quick pop and the goosander was no more. They don’t get many problems with cormorants but goosanders are a plague on the parr and the smolts.
rayner
Well-known member
Apart from the odd snippet of things I can remember most of my memories have got lost since an aneurism burst in my bonce. If my memory is jogged then things slowly come back, Quite a number of memories have been kick-started whilst I've been a member of Fishing Magic.
Strange that I can remember club matches because nothing else seems to stick, I suppose I used to enjoy match fishing more.
If it wasn't for the odd club match I doubt I would keep every second Saturday free. I can't remember fishing when I was a child but I certainly did, I've been told by family.
The good old days I can remember started in the 70s. I have photos taken in the 50s and yes I was fishing, can't have been anything much or I would I'm sure remember.
I can't believe my first attempt at fishing was match fishing.
Strange that I can remember club matches because nothing else seems to stick, I suppose I used to enjoy match fishing more.
If it wasn't for the odd club match I doubt I would keep every second Saturday free. I can't remember fishing when I was a child but I certainly did, I've been told by family.
The good old days I can remember started in the 70s. I have photos taken in the 50s and yes I was fishing, can't have been anything much or I would I'm sure remember.
I can't believe my first attempt at fishing was match fishing.
wistful nostalgia eh?
i enjoy looking back, looking forward and the here and now - angling isn't an obsession for me but it has been a constant since 1980.
One of the venues that I've fished ever since then is the great ouse at Radwell, although only irregularly since 2001.
I took a rare day off yesterday to fish, so with the Warks Avon too high for the match I was booked in for i went to Radwell (as the EA guage was hinting as fishable) for last knockings of the river season.
Sadly that wasn't the case - the river was about 10cm too high and a horrible colour.
To cut a long story short, I sat one peg above a famous peg from the old days on the, "Lichelli's", and two fellow anglers came past and asked about chub pegs.
I couldn't help them out as I haven't caught a chub on there since 2001 - the fish are large and few these days.
But i couldn't help myself in recounting the first match I won on the venue (1983 or 84) from two pegs above where I was sat yesterday, with 3 chub.
basically I'm just a show-off!
:w
i enjoy looking back, looking forward and the here and now - angling isn't an obsession for me but it has been a constant since 1980.
One of the venues that I've fished ever since then is the great ouse at Radwell, although only irregularly since 2001.
I took a rare day off yesterday to fish, so with the Warks Avon too high for the match I was booked in for i went to Radwell (as the EA guage was hinting as fishable) for last knockings of the river season.
Sadly that wasn't the case - the river was about 10cm too high and a horrible colour.
To cut a long story short, I sat one peg above a famous peg from the old days on the, "Lichelli's", and two fellow anglers came past and asked about chub pegs.
I couldn't help them out as I haven't caught a chub on there since 2001 - the fish are large and few these days.
But i couldn't help myself in recounting the first match I won on the venue (1983 or 84) from two pegs above where I was sat yesterday, with 3 chub.
basically I'm just a show-off!
:w
One thing I have learnt when I think back to opportunities missed or times gone past is to make the most of the here and now. The advantage as well is that we will also have the benefit of more experience to understand and appreciate when an opportunity arises and know we need to make the most of it before the inevitable decline sets in.
I try nowadays to make the most of the chances that come my way. I try to do what I can to avoid having to say oh I wish I had done this or that in another decade or two.
I try nowadays to make the most of the chances that come my way. I try to do what I can to avoid having to say oh I wish I had done this or that in another decade or two.
Keith M
Well-known member
My fondest memories from years ago were getting up at 4am on a mild summers morning with my dad, and journeying down to the Thames stopping at the Bob Freestone bakers on the way for a bag of fresh crumb and arriving just as the sun started to come up over the horizon, and trying to see my float through the mist coming off the water occasionally dipping as another nice roach took hold of my gentile, and the sounds of the dawn chorus and cuckoo and cooing sounds around us; and in the distance you could hear the sounds of the local milk float making its way through distant streets, and the early workers making their way to work.
Then as the sun started to lift off of the horizon the sound of the world started to come alive and the church bells all started to ring together.
That used to be a magic time in my youth and something that will always be in my memories of going fishing with my dad back in the early 60s
Keith
Then as the sun started to lift off of the horizon the sound of the world started to come alive and the church bells all started to ring together.
That used to be a magic time in my youth and something that will always be in my memories of going fishing with my dad back in the early 60s
Keith
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My nostalgic memories from my angling past are stored in my limited brain space,and wrangles,fish catching tricks and methods to be pulled out and used,as and when needed,the catches from these acting as a trigger,long my memory hold...
Alex,i take it that was the small willow on the far bank,one directly downstream on your own bank,chub under both back in the day?
Alex,i take it that was the small willow on the far bank,one directly downstream on your own bank,chub under both back in the day?
Steve Arnold
Well-known member
Sea angling is now an exercise in nostalgia for me! It's definitely a case of "the good old days" as I look back fifty years to when I was a teenager in Suffolk.
At that time sea angling was going through a revolution. Guys like Ian Gillespie, Nigel Forest, John Holden were some of the names showing how new ideas and materials could make the sport so much more enjoyable - and sometimes productive!
Out went the clumsy, arm aching, burma poles to be replaced by hollow fibreglass "bare bones" beachcasters. The little ABU 6000 multipliers proved well up to the job of surfcasting, once it was realised that 15lb line was up to the job as long as you used a heavy leader.
Fortunately, there were still enough decent fish inshore to test our new tackle!
I was in my teens and had bought my first car. So I was fishing before work, after work and weekends. Saturday I would dig lugworm at Mersea, sell the surplus to Bickers (to become Breakaway) tackle shop. Sunday I would often skipper my friends 2nd charter boat at Shotley.
The fish I caught!!!! Two double figure cod off Felixstowe pier, a double figure bass at Southwold, 14lb thornback at Shingle street, 14lb smoothound and spurdog from the boat near the Rough Towers.
My fishing buddy and myself had little dinghies on three beaches and estuaries. Great adventures and fishing with them!
During that period I had a couple of trips to Dingle and Cork. What a fishing life, all before I made 20 years of age!
Well, I am 67 now and do not have quite the same energy. But I am not bathing in nostalgia as I have moved near the wonderful river Lot in France.
Still some memories to be made, plenty of fishing adventures to explore
......and still plenty of big fish to catch!!!!
At that time sea angling was going through a revolution. Guys like Ian Gillespie, Nigel Forest, John Holden were some of the names showing how new ideas and materials could make the sport so much more enjoyable - and sometimes productive!
Out went the clumsy, arm aching, burma poles to be replaced by hollow fibreglass "bare bones" beachcasters. The little ABU 6000 multipliers proved well up to the job of surfcasting, once it was realised that 15lb line was up to the job as long as you used a heavy leader.
Fortunately, there were still enough decent fish inshore to test our new tackle!
I was in my teens and had bought my first car. So I was fishing before work, after work and weekends. Saturday I would dig lugworm at Mersea, sell the surplus to Bickers (to become Breakaway) tackle shop. Sunday I would often skipper my friends 2nd charter boat at Shotley.
The fish I caught!!!! Two double figure cod off Felixstowe pier, a double figure bass at Southwold, 14lb thornback at Shingle street, 14lb smoothound and spurdog from the boat near the Rough Towers.
My fishing buddy and myself had little dinghies on three beaches and estuaries. Great adventures and fishing with them!
During that period I had a couple of trips to Dingle and Cork. What a fishing life, all before I made 20 years of age!
Well, I am 67 now and do not have quite the same energy. But I am not bathing in nostalgia as I have moved near the wonderful river Lot in France.
Still some memories to be made, plenty of fishing adventures to explore
......and still plenty of big fish to catch!!!!
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steve2
Well-known member
I find that when looking at old photos of fish and places I have fished over the years I still have a clear memory of the day. Even if some are now 60 years ago.
I often wonder what these places look like now but I won't be going back to find out not always a good idea.
I often wonder what these places look like now but I won't be going back to find out not always a good idea.
Keith M
Well-known member
I still remember catching my very first Barbel as clearly as if it were yesterday and that was 45 years ago.
Keith
no-one in particular
Well-known member
Just picked this up for 3 quid, "The World of Angling" 1969. Contributors:- Derek Fletcher, John Goddard, Billy Lane, Peter Wheat, Winston Hall, Jack Hilton, John Ingram, Bill Keal, John Neville, John Piper, Peter Tombleson, Gwyn Williams, Tome Williams, Collin Wilcock.
All black and white photographs, bit of a snapshot of the past, funny how simple the rigs and baits etc were back then. I only recognized about three of the names but everything covered, fly, sea and coarse from barbel to pier fishing..
All black and white photographs, bit of a snapshot of the past, funny how simple the rigs and baits etc were back then. I only recognized about three of the names but everything covered, fly, sea and coarse from barbel to pier fishing..
steve2
Well-known member
That's one of the old books I have in a pile waiting to go to the charity shop.
no-one in particular
Well-known member
ha there you go, this was actually in an old book shop run by a french bloke, he has quite a pile of old fishing books but usually they are expensive, this was actually £6 but he made a mistake on the price, he did not have a price ticket in it so he said make an offer so i offered £1 and he said £3 and I agreed. then he found the ticket of £6 in it but he let me for £3 as the deal was done even though I am sure he thought I had hidden the ticket deliberately.
I have only flicked through it so far but I will have a proper read some time. The pictures and diagrams remind me of 1969 very succinctly, very simple fishing back then. Only 3 floats on display, quill, quill with balsa body and balsa and about 3 types of ledger, if only it was still so simple
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steve2
Well-known member
Those old black and white pics and the tackle bring back memories, The record list at the back makes interesting reading, the weights have certainly move on.
The other books I am getting rid of include 2nd and 3rd angling times year books from the early 60's. Similar sort of reading.
The other books I am getting rid of include 2nd and 3rd angling times year books from the early 60's. Similar sort of reading.
rayner
Well-known member
Never mind the old tackle, what makes me smile is the old photos of me fishing in wellies and overcoats. The old clothing I used to wear didn't keep me warm or dry. I don't remember it doing.
Rayner's right - winter clothing was rudimentary. Cycling to the water, your hands would be freezing when you got there.
Til I was 18, transport was a bicycle. From 18 - 30, when I added a car, it was motorbikes. For the smaller ones, 175 or 250cc, I put the seatbox over my shoulder and the rod "holdall" - home -made from a heated and flattened plastic pipe - strapped in place alongside the tank and seat. You just had to cock one knee out to the side.
As the bikes got bigger, 650 then 750 Kawasaki four's, my dad made me a seatbox with the lower part cut out and contoured to the shape of the seat. It slotted over the seat behind me; stable and kept the centre of gravity down. The net bag - we were all carrying more and more gear - was bungee'ed on the little rack at the back. The rod holdall wouldn't fit down the side - both it and the tanks were now wider, so that went over my shoulder. This was ok but not very aerodynamic and you had to remember it was there or it would scrape the ground a bit on roundabouts.
I wouldn't do it if you paid me now - and I reckon the first police to see me would have me off the road - but it opened up a world of fishing beyond the local cut. So what if you got there cold and wet with flies in your teeth.
In 1987 I passed my car test and bought a VW Derby - like a Polo with a boot - and started turning up at the water warm and dry.
Til I was 18, transport was a bicycle. From 18 - 30, when I added a car, it was motorbikes. For the smaller ones, 175 or 250cc, I put the seatbox over my shoulder and the rod "holdall" - home -made from a heated and flattened plastic pipe - strapped in place alongside the tank and seat. You just had to cock one knee out to the side.
As the bikes got bigger, 650 then 750 Kawasaki four's, my dad made me a seatbox with the lower part cut out and contoured to the shape of the seat. It slotted over the seat behind me; stable and kept the centre of gravity down. The net bag - we were all carrying more and more gear - was bungee'ed on the little rack at the back. The rod holdall wouldn't fit down the side - both it and the tanks were now wider, so that went over my shoulder. This was ok but not very aerodynamic and you had to remember it was there or it would scrape the ground a bit on roundabouts.
I wouldn't do it if you paid me now - and I reckon the first police to see me would have me off the road - but it opened up a world of fishing beyond the local cut. So what if you got there cold and wet with flies in your teeth.
In 1987 I passed my car test and bought a VW Derby - like a Polo with a boot - and started turning up at the water warm and dry.
rayner
Well-known member
Early fishing sorties to the Tidal Trent were sat on the back of my mate's cycle combination, the tackle was jammed into the sidecar. Good times to remember.
Neil Maidment
Moderator
This is my late uncle Tony in 1962. He was a specialist in the Army Intelligence Corps and always dressed very smartly. Even after he left the Army and became a gardener, he only "dressed down" at work. He was a lure angler concentrating on shore and harbour fishing for bass and mullet. But if the salmon were running he would happily venture upstream with them!
no-one in particular
Well-known member
Funny you saying that, I was also fascinated by that old record list, Richard Walker's carp still there and a bloke in the carp section saying a 30lb+ carp was a sort of panacea and very rare. And all these were open to claims, barbel, chub, bream, crucian, dace, pike, grayling, gudgeon, perch, sea trout and silver bream. Unbelievable when you think about it. Also the sections on rivers where you could still fish for 2 shillings. I know, all history but it is funny in a nice way being reminded of those times.