The good ol' days of fishing

[theartist]

It seems it's almost taboo nowadays to say such a thing after all it's still pretty darn good but do you ever get together with old friends and reminisce big time? Will you reminisce about another great season this year or encompass many seasons as the topic meanders through the mind like a gin clear stream?

What about days when you discovered huge shoals of fish in untouched waters, learned new methods not thinking they would work and when they did you couldn't wait to do it again, no doubt get bought back down to earth, or those times where it worked again and again yet still you never took anything for granted. What about all that wildlife that seemed to come to you on the bank when you were quiet, all the stories, the many adventures, so many you could fill a weighty tome and have some to spare.

Reading about other anglers, learning about those who were true trailblazers of their time and not the ones who spout crocks of shyte every five seconds online

Days when things were less political our eyes were less open and were we better for it?

When fishing was less opinionated before we all swallowed dictionaries and it was just fishing, just stupid bonkers fun, or are these your halcyon days, is it right here right now?

What's your opinion and don't hold back, the bugle is playing?




I'm off to do all the above with my dad
Take care guys

 

[tigger]

I think you must be bored shytless

I didn't hold back as you asked mg:

 

[108831]

I think sometimes we dont use the adage 'when one door closes another opens',especially as we get older,sometimes cycles and nature dictate venues change,therefore we must move on,not fish a place purely for the nostalgic side,trying to locate good venues today is more difficult,not match fishing and having less angling friends left means information isnt available,so has to to dug out yourself,my season has been fair to middling,the latter part has been excellent and very pleasurable,especially the days trotting,there is always a buzz when fish are caught on a river on the float,that is all but over and tench,bream and roach are now the target,bring it on...

 

[Paste paul]

Hi
I love this post as it resonates with me...
I’ve had many years of angling and some great memories chasing those elusive fish...... I’m not an anti commercial guy as I believe they helped save the sport in many ways but they do have a negative effect on certain aspects of the sport......
I’ve fished next to people who have packed up halfway through the day because they only have 50 pound in the net !!!!!!!!!

I remember my dad taking us to bardney on the witham in the school holidays circa 1980 and we bagged up ?????? ok we caught a few ?????? but they are priceless memories.... magical.....
Tripping to Ireland in the mid eighties and catching 30lb of roach on the Camlin river ...... awesome.....
Winning my
First match on the Trent at Carlton with a whopping 20lb of roach...
I could go on for hours ......
My ledger rod was a 9ft cane rod and I was lucky I got a Daiwa ivan Marks float rod for Christmas.... everything was second hand even my line and reel.....
Interestingly my mother broke the bail arm of my reel so my dad sourced one from my uncle which was a right handed reel (I’m a lefty) so i had to learn how to fish right handed which I have done ever since......
it makes me smile when I hear some guys bragging about 300 pound catches I don’t think they will ever have the magic I’ve had from fishing ??????????????????

 

[steve2]

I do find that when I get together with other of my age we do talk about the past fishing days.
Our first doubles, big bags of fish, new venues, guesting on waters, being turfed off some.
The tackle we used, 'new' baits we used for the first time. Baits that worked some that failed.
All part of what were my good old days.
Wonder if today’s good days will be the good old days in 50 years.

 

[108831]

No doubt....

 

[mikench]

Rob I've only been at it about 4 years and things haven't changed in that time; I'm still useless. I have caught most species though now apart from eels and cats which I'm most happy about. I've said before it's not just the catching that I enjoy but the company sometimes, the solitude on others, the fresh air, the wildlife and scenery, the decency of most on here and those who I now count as friends. It all adds to the Angling experience and long may it continue.

 

[rayner]

I used to enjoy club matches on the Saturdays I had off work, didn't get too much time off in the seventies. A shame now that matches are on the whole just a handful of anglers. One club I fished with had 46 members and most of them would turn up on match days. Not classed a big match in the seventies but vast against the meagre turnouts of today.
I'm nowhere near fit enough these days. It wouldn't be my choice to fish a match now with the very low turnouts, not much of a challenge, less than 10 anglers would be pointless to me.
Can't say I really enjoy anything I get from my fishing now, I think I only go because I can't stop. I wouldn't call it an addiction just a habit. :doh:

 

[nottskev]

The fishing landscape changes. As Whitty said, you have to keep moving to access fishing with the vibe that you enjoy.

I don't know if I'd call it nostalgia, but I can recall some early scenes that nailed the allure of fishing even if I've forgotten thousands of sessions. One was coming out of the bushes on to the bank at a beautiful tench lake at dawn, aged about 12, and finding 3 blokes already there, sat on big baskets, looking silently confident, keepnets already in, white-tipped floats in the dark shadows. Another, the same year, was watching 2 blokes fishing waggler _- I used to stop on the way home from school to watch people fish - in the deep steady water of the beautiful Dee by the suspension bridge in Chester. Those scenes told me what I wanted to do, if only I knew how, and defined some kind of ideal of being absorbed and plugged into the waterside magic.

Even though I still love fishing, the pleasure changes. Maybe something is lost. I read great books, but I'm not sure I still get the simple kicks I got from reading The Mystery of Dr Fu Manchu when I was 10. But then again, maybe something is gained, and you can get to appreciate your fishing more, even if it is a less wide-eyed and innocent business after 50 years or so.

"Remember when..." stories can be great. But I've known anglers who, if you say for instance, I wonder why we're not seeing any chub here these days, will launch into endless reminiscences that start "Chub? When we used to go on the (fill in venue of choice) in the 70's, we used to catch.....". At this point I make my excuses - I think that swan's heading for my bait - and flee.

People look to fishing for different things. Personally, if I bump into people who look like they're out for stupid bonkers fun, I'll set up as far away as possible.

 

[Peter Jacobs]

I'm not sure who is credited with the saying that, "nostalgia ain't what it used to be" but personally, I think he or she, was wrong.

While the fishing landscape is constantly changing it doesn't really affect the history, either personal or on the wider topic of fishing in general.

I used to love the get togethers with folk such as, Graham Marsden, Ed Bibby, Dave Chilton and many others who were often found here on these pages to reminisce of adventures past.

 

[Neil Maidment]

MMmmm!

It seems nostalgia is alive and well!

We're expecting a sell out audience for the third instalment of the monthly chats hosted by the Avon & Stour Angling Forum.

I'm the warm up act for Kevin Grozier





If you can't get a ticket or be there, it will be streamed live on Facebook!

 

[mikench]

Good luck with that; I suspect coronavirus will be a participant in your plans.

 

[tigger]

Good luck with that; I suspect coronavirus will be a participant in your plans.

Maybe it's an online chat? Just hold the pad or computer at arms length to be on the safe side .

 

[bracket]

The good old days? Well for me, old or new, they are all good. Like Rayner, I enjoyed the match fishing scene during the 1960,70 and 80s. These were the Golden Years. I didn't realise that at the time, for me, it was just the Norm. I fished regularly, during that period, with Nottingham Royal Ordnance Factory (Notts ROF) and every week there was always a turn out of forty. Fifty if it was a coach trip. Competition was fierce, the normal pools pay out was for 1st, 2nd and third, with two section winners. There was also a novelty payout for the angler weighting in the nearest to a third of the 3rd winning weight. It was known as "Winning the Elbow" I don't know how the term originated, but calculations for this award were always scrutinised and contested, going down to drams to find the correct result, as "nearest" was open to much interpretation. It all made for a good bit of banter on the coach trip back, passing the time before the mandatory stop at the Pub, which would round the day off nicely. I don't particularly miss those days, much as I enjoyed them, because I still go out on a regular basis. If I miss anything, it would be having to work hard now, doing the simple things that were second nature back then. That of course is all down to old age and poverty. There are times, those dark dank unyielding days when I ask myself " What the hell am I doing here ?" The answer is simple: It's what I do. Rayner, rather harshly I thought, describes it as a habit. Me? I prefer to call it a Way of Life. So yes " The Good Old Days" were good and future days will be equally as good. What has and will constantly change, is my ability to continue and the perception of what I do.

 

[sam vimes]

It sounds more like some folks could do with a break from forums and social media more than anything else. Fishing has always been whatever you make of it. If you want it to be total isolationist escapism, it can be. If you want to do little but talk about it, you can do that too. Most will fall somewhere between the two stools. If one side starts to dominate to your dissatisfaction, it's probably time to shift the balance.

It's very easy to get far too involved in a hobby until it eventually spoils your enjoyment of it. Whether that's because you get drawn into too much participation in the activity or caught up in the politics of it (clubs/syndicates/AT/forums etc) is largely immaterial. The negative results can be the same. Ultimately, no matter how much we might get wrapped up in it, it's a rather silly past time that matters very little in the overall scheme of things.

 

[steve2]

It sounds more like some folks could do with a break from forums and social media more than anything else. Fishing has always been whatever you make of it. If you want it to be total isolationist escapism, it can be. If you want to do little but talk about it, you can do that too. Most will fall somewhere between the two stools. If one side starts to dominate to your dissatisfaction, it's probably time to shift the balance.

It's very easy to get far too involved in a hobby until it eventually spoils your enjoyment of it. Whether that's because you get drawn into too much participation in the activity or caught up in the politics of it (clubs/syndicates/AT/forums etc) is largely immaterial. The negative results can be the same. Ultimately, no matter how much we might get wrapped up in it, it's a rather silly past time that matters very little in the overall scheme of things.

Agree, that is the one reason I now rarely go I stopped enjoying it, but still enjoy talking and reading about it.

 

[bullet]

Ultimately, no matter how much we might get wrapped up in it, it's a rather silly past time that matters very little in the overall scheme of things.

True, but arguably the whole " human condition" is no different, so we might as well go angling as do anything else.
Just my take :w

 

[no-one in particular]

Nostalgia must play a part in all facets of life, especially the older you get. The enjoyment of it lessens in time as well, maybe too much been there done that etc. One thing stays the same I think though, that exhilaration of having a good fish on, after all that’s what all the effort is about, all the traveling, the gear bought, the bait, clubs etc; its aimed at one purpose well, more or less. The trouble is the older you get the more all that effort becomes a chore so we think and talk more about past days.
I also keep my interest going by looking out for old fishing paraphernalia, anything really, books, rods, floats, prints which is another way of indulging; I am still fishing in a way, just another way of enjoying it.

 

[mikench]

Ultimately, no matter how much we might get wrapped up in it, it's a rather silly past time that matters very little in the overall scheme of things.

Very true. If only i could take my Daystate or Steyr with me( I know I take far too much already) and remove a few cormorants whilst fishing, it would be the perfect hobby.

 

[bullet]

Very true. If only i could take my Daystate or Steyr with me( I know I take far too much already) and remove a few cormorants whilst fishing, it would be the perfect hobby.

.17 HMR would be ideal, although perhaps a little loud for the other anglers!