Stick or twist?

Lord Paul of Sheffield · Oct 18, 2010

Do you learn more when not catching than by catching?

If you fish a swim you know and use bait you have confidence in and are catching well are you learning anything?

Are you willing to try a different bait or fish a new swim or method?

I was thinking today that I may be learn more when I'm struggling to catch then when I'm catching well because once on the fish I'm reluctant to change tactics or swims and therefore do not increase my angling knowledge.

And that in future I should make more of an effort to fish swim I don't normally or try a new tactic

Wobbly Face (As Per Ed) · Oct 18, 2010

If I find a swim and I'm catching fish on a regular basis then I try tweeking things. Longer or shorter hook lengths, larger or smaller hooks, different shotting, different make of hooks or hook length material. Alter the depth that I am fishing at and even change the bait, flavour etc. I do the same if feeder fishing, try different feeders etc and again alter hooks and hook lengths. I will also try a different area of the swim. If I am not catchng or getting bites and I've tried a few alterations, then I will move.

Paul Morley · Oct 18, 2010

We don't learn from blanking. You wouldn't know if you were doing anything wrong or right unless it had a consequence. Clearly pommelling fish isn't the greatest learning process either but I like a happy medium....!

Lord Paul of Sheffield · Oct 18, 2010

Paul Morley said:
We don't learn from blanking. You wouldn't know if you were doing anything wrong or right unless it had a consequence. Clearly pommelling fish isn't the greatest learning process either but I like a happy medium....!

Paul - what I was tryin to say was - if you are catching and keep to the same bait, method ect do you learn more but NOT catching and then changing tactics and catching

John Spilsbury · Oct 18, 2010

Paul Morley said:
We don't learn from blanking. You wouldn't know if you were doing anything wrong or right unless it had a consequence. Clearly pommelling fish isn't the greatest learning process either but I like a happy medium....!

I think we can learn from blanking. Get sufficient blanks in similar circumstances, similar weather conditions and we might learn to stay home and watch the telly, or maybe try a different target species or type of venue.

But as with all learning by experience, we need to ensure we are not dealing with one offs or two offs. It may not be necessary to invoke the more complex of statistical analyses, but you need enough of the experience to inspire confidence in your conclusions.

Stick or twist?

Lord Paul of Sheffield

Well-known member

Wobbly Face (As Per Ed)

Well-known member

Paul Morley

Well-known member

Lord Paul of Sheffield

Well-known member

John Spilsbury

Well-known member