Hello, everyone. I'm in my sixties and newly returned about a year ago to coarse fishing following massive Anginas and resuscitation the year before.
But, as they say, always look for the silver lining and when she said, 'You - fishing rod,' I couldn't find it in me to argue really.
So, here I am a year on, feeling relatively great again and fishing like a fiend.
So far I've found that I've regained my old skill from 30 years ago very quickly, although tying hooks with senile DTs can be a bit problematic on anything under 8 lb BS.
I've found newly developed methods, hair-rigging being a particular favourite, but I'm not so sure about the entire 'bait revolution'. I'm sure it's more to do with the commercialisation of angling than improving catches. I say this because since returning I've outfished anglers alongside me at over-stocked commercial fisheries using plain old worms, maggots and bread when they've been hurling kilo after kilo of brazenly named, weird and wonderful boilies, pellets and other muck in.
The whole catch-return overstocked phenomenon just leaves me cold and I'd rather blank on a little-fished, unknown water than go 50 lb of bathtub carp or overstuffed bream and roach. I need more of a challenge or they'll be resussing me again after a bout of terminal boredom.
So far this year I've had rudd to 2 lb, perch the same, roach to 1 1/2, eel to c. 2 lb, chub to 3 lb, carp to 14 lb (although by far the most enjoyable was a little 5 lb wildie that thought it was a bird at one stage), pike to 4 lb.
I'm currently sussing out a small lake with perch, reputedly over 3 lb, and need advice on the best detailed terminal gear to use.
I get a great kick out of making up my own gear and catching good fish on it.
But, as they say, always look for the silver lining and when she said, 'You - fishing rod,' I couldn't find it in me to argue really.
So, here I am a year on, feeling relatively great again and fishing like a fiend.
So far I've found that I've regained my old skill from 30 years ago very quickly, although tying hooks with senile DTs can be a bit problematic on anything under 8 lb BS.
I've found newly developed methods, hair-rigging being a particular favourite, but I'm not so sure about the entire 'bait revolution'. I'm sure it's more to do with the commercialisation of angling than improving catches. I say this because since returning I've outfished anglers alongside me at over-stocked commercial fisheries using plain old worms, maggots and bread when they've been hurling kilo after kilo of brazenly named, weird and wonderful boilies, pellets and other muck in.
The whole catch-return overstocked phenomenon just leaves me cold and I'd rather blank on a little-fished, unknown water than go 50 lb of bathtub carp or overstuffed bream and roach. I need more of a challenge or they'll be resussing me again after a bout of terminal boredom.
So far this year I've had rudd to 2 lb, perch the same, roach to 1 1/2, eel to c. 2 lb, chub to 3 lb, carp to 14 lb (although by far the most enjoyable was a little 5 lb wildie that thought it was a bird at one stage), pike to 4 lb.
I'm currently sussing out a small lake with perch, reputedly over 3 lb, and need advice on the best detailed terminal gear to use.
I get a great kick out of making up my own gear and catching good fish on it.
