How do you explain?

richiekelly · Oct 20, 2010

the other day while visiting my dad in hospital a nurse asked me why i hadnt visited on friday,i told her i had been fishing to which she replied oh i think that is the most boring hobby there is,i tried to explain to her what i get from fishing,i asked her when she had last seen a woodpecker as i had sat less than 30 feet from one on friday, i had also seen a pair of kingfishers flash down the river,she remained unimpressed,i asked her what she did in her spare time she replied "i like to go to bingo" i gave up at that point,but how do you explain to none anglers what fishing means to you,how can you hope to explain the rush that you get when the tip slams round or a buzzer sounds i find it very difficult to explain, i suppose angling is a very personal way of life not a hobby.

quickcedo · Oct 20, 2010

Gave up trying a long time ago.
Sorry that's no help.

peter crabtree · Oct 20, 2010

I suppose I go into a haze when they start talking about golf for instance, which club , tee etc.
I think the general publics impression of anglers is the garden gnome fishing directly under the rod tip with a big red float hopelessly undershotted .......

mikewilson · Oct 20, 2010

.......and Peter you can have a meaningful and intelligent conversation with another unknown angler as though you have known him for years [whilst he lands a small tench!].
Hope you were in the frame Sunday

Mike

Harvey · Oct 20, 2010

..........

Alan Tyler · Oct 20, 2010

I see the Viking spirit hasn't died, it's just put smarter clothes on...

matthew barter · Oct 20, 2010

A lot of people think that we just sit there waiting. When I tell them that only a bad angler does nothing when they're not catching they find it hard to believe. At the very least you have to think but usually I'm a bag of energy trying different things, moving swims etc. If I'm still not catching out come the binos and camera. I never just sit.

Neil Maidment · Oct 20, 2010

peter crabtree said:
.............
I think the general publics impression of anglers is the garden gnome fishing directly under the rod tip with a big red float hopelessly undershotted .......

Many years ago, I placed several SSG on the line of one of my neighbours fishing gnomes, just to make sure at least the float looked the part...!

Harvey · Oct 20, 2010

..........

Windy · Oct 20, 2010

Neil Maidment said:
Many years ago, I placed several SSG on the line of one of my neighbours fishing gnomes, just to make sure at least the float looked the part...!

....bet the bug-ger went on to catch more than you and all.... :wh

dezza · Oct 21, 2010

Harvey said:
And just close your eyes and imagine the scene: Spanking a middle-aged and bingocrazed nurse, screaming and kicking on your lap, in the corridor of a public hospital. If that won't bring a broad grin to your face, nothing ever will.

You should come to Rotherham, in fact any town in Yorkshire for that matter and this sort of thing happens all the time.

Mind you, the vast majority of Yorkshire people have Viking blood; where do you think the accent comes from?

Alan Tyler · Oct 21, 2010

I didn't say I didn't admire the Viking spirit... sort of.
The proposed spanking works just as well in its conceptual form as it would in practice, with far fewer feeding opportunities for lawyers...

If you give a kid with a "butterfly mind" and a "round bottom" - both childhood attributes of mine, according to my Father - a fishing rod, and he sits motionless and focussed for hours, you've found an angler. And, if you're smart enough, a whole new route through which to educate him.
And the diagnosis is that simple.
My son, taking a made up rod and sitting down, said "It's quite boring when you're not actually playing a fish, isn't it?".
Not an angler, and no amount of explaining will change that.

Ray Roberts · Oct 21, 2010

Ron The Hat Clay said:
Mind you, the vast majority of Yorkshire people have Viking blood; where do you think the accent comes from?

Is that why when someone who is not from those parts is in conversation with someone who is, you often hear them say; "What the viking hell are you talking about"?

jimmy crackedcorn · Oct 21, 2010

I seldom talk about fishing to non-anglers. Before you know it you sound like that bloke with yellow teeth off the fast show . ("hardest game in world"). Tried to find it youtube but couldnt for some reason

Ray Roberts · Oct 21, 2010

I usually ask them what hobbies they have. This is almost never; hang gliding, mountaineering or even reading books.

Nine times out of ten they reply; "watching telly".

"So you haven't got any hobbies then? Do you just sit in front of the goggle box? you get up in the morning, go to work, come home, eat and watch the telly? How about weekends? Oh, the same but without the work. And you really think that we're boring"?

I don't expect most of the condescending sods take it on board, but it makes me feel better.

Harvey · Oct 21, 2010

..........

Mark Wintle · Oct 21, 2010

Hobbies

About 15 months ago when fellow members of the escape committee at work were discussing what we'd do when we were released in the coming months due to redundancy we all, except one, had many plans and ideas. For me more fishing and writing, others would chase their own dreams. But the exception, coming up to 60 and able to retire, reckoned he had no interests! The rest of us could not believe you could get to 60 and have no hobbies or interests. We tested him; golf? fishing? football? travel? reading? photography? anything? NOTHING!

How do you explain?

richiekelly

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quickcedo

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peter crabtree

AKA Simon, 1953 - 2022 (RIP)

mikewilson

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Harvey

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Alan Tyler

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matthew barter

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Neil Maidment

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Harvey

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Windy

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dezza

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Alan Tyler

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Ray Roberts

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jimmy crackedcorn

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Ray Roberts

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Harvey

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Mark Wintle

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