A Thread about Fishing

steph mckenzie · Nov 23, 2013

I thought it might be interesting to hear your views on your Fishing Experiences.

Is it really true about the good old days, or do we just view it through Rose Tinted glasses?

For me the good old days was Sea Fishing or Loch and River Fishing in and around the West Coast of Scotland. I didn't really know anything about catch and Release up until i moved to England and by then i was a teenager.

I look back and remember being cold, wet, hungry fishing in the middle of nowhere hardly dressed correctly for it, but not caring as i was out fishing with my Dad and my Uncle (who are both sadly no longer with me).

I do however love my fishing now also, so for me although there are many many memories, and a lot of changes, my fishing is still as rosie as it was back then.

Do the good old days really exist or are they just the same but in a different aspect of your fishing. Perhaps we just expect far more now than what we did back then.

It would be good to see your thoughts.

Steph.

mick b · Nov 23, 2013

.
My Father, an ex WWII vetran of the Royal Navy is slowly comeing to the end of his life.
Fortunately his brain is as sharp as ever and what he enjoys the most is reminiscing about the times we fished together, especially the places, what we caught (or didnt), the changes we made in our tackle that gave especially good results and looking at some of our old photographs we took during those days.

Such memoriies are priceless and all of us should treasure them.

Paul Boote · Nov 23, 2013

Something someone cooked up to end something twenty-one years ago and which I still find myself in complete agreement with, and, er, myself....

"I suspected then, and I believe now, that memories are the key. They should not be made in a casual absence of mind, then left abandoned in time, like a youthful record collection - all the golden ones before, and leaden thereafter - but be actively pursued and cultivated. Untold experiences await us all, around the next bend; we only have to be there to meet them."

jasonbean1 · Nov 23, 2013

being still relatively young in fishing terms...early 40's it's hard to imagine what my life would have been like if i hadnt caught that first minnow on the rothley brook in leicester over 30 years ago. how time flies, but the fishing memories are priceless.

despite trying my best to be a solitary specimen hunter over the last few years with out a great deal of success i still love the local club match scene. the vast majority who i fish with are well past there fifties and some well into there seventies. when we go out on the matches it's like we're all kids again. age means for nothing.

the sad thing is that in years to come as i get older these guys wont be around, they're literally a dying breed, which is a real shame. in 30 years time i wonder who i will be fishing with and what for. it's a shame this side of angling on the local rivers and canals is slowly drifting away.

pauls post sums it up!

john step · Nov 23, 2013

In my youth if only I hadn't been fixated on using maggots and also had the patience that age brings, I just imagine what I could have caught.

geoffmaynard · Nov 23, 2013

john step said:
In my youth if only I hadn't been fixated on using maggots and also had the patience that age brings, I just imagine what I could have caught.

We couldn't afford maggots

So we used bread and worms. I didn't start catching specimen fish till I had got sex-drugs-rock,n'roll out of my blood, mostly out anyway

But when I was a kid in the 50's the rivers were alive with fish. One a chuck on Lea, Roding and Thames on the crudest of tackle. We'd get there via bus, train or bike or on the club coach trips, in all weathers and I cherish those memories. So yes, for me they were the good old days.

john step · Nov 23, 2013

Geoff, I may just have bumped into as a youngster in the 50s. I used to catch the 175 from Romford to fish the Roding(lots of chub). The Lea was a long bike ride away and the Chelmer even longer. We used to fish Southend Pier for flounders in the close season(mostly blanked). I lived near the Chase at Dagenham which was my 2nd home. During the summer holidays it was difficult to find space to fish amongst the hoards of other kids at Raphaels park Romford. The Collier Row club ran coach outings every fortnight which now and again was just about affordable for a junior.
I used to be able to buy 6d worth of maggots in my aluminium bait box.
Now I understand that Romford is no longer Essex. Its been swallowed by London.

tiinker · Nov 23, 2013

john step said:
Geoff, I may just have bumped into as a youngster in the 50s. I used to catch the 175 from Romford to fish the Roding(lots of chub). The Lea was a long bike ride away and the Chelmer even longer. We used to fish Southend Pier for flounders in the close season(mostly blanked). I lived near the Chase at Dagenham which was my 2nd home. During the summer holidays it was difficult to find space to fish amongst the hoards of other kids at Raphaels park Romford. The Collier Row club ran coach outings every fortnight which now and again was just about affordable for a junior.
I used to be able to buy 6d worth of maggots in my aluminium bait box.
Now I understand that Romford is no longer Essex. Its been swallowed by London.

I still get a 175 from the princess at Dagenham to Romford Station then get the 375 to Passingford bridge. The route follows the Roding as far as Debdon. I have never driven and these day's it is all on the freedom pass.

john step · Nov 23, 2013

tiinker said:
I still get a 175 from the princess at Dagenham to Romford Station then get the 375 to Passingford bridge. The route follows the Roding as far as Debdon. I have never driven and these day's it is all on the freedom pass.

Small world Tinker. The 175 used to go all the way to ongar and we used to fish the Roding behind the White Bear which I think is now a private house. It was a paradise of a small river with all the twists, turns and features that Mr. Crabtree would have been proud of. You must know the Chase then? Now called Bardag? That too was very crowded and I must say the litter was awfull.

slaphead · Nov 23, 2013

The thing I remember most, is getting on a train and fishing canals and rivers in nearby towns. That stopped following the Beecham cuts when we lost our railway.

Keith M · Nov 23, 2013

The things that I remember most are the early mornings when my dad and I would make our way to the Thames at 04:00 in the morning; stopping off on the way at the local bakery to pickup some freshly baked bread and a bag of breadcrumbs; while the rest of the world around us was still fast asleep in their beds, and casting our floats while the early morning mist was still rising off the water and listening to the early morning bird chorus start up around us; and watching that float sink out of sight as the first Roach of the day took our gentles (that's what we called maggots in those days LOL). It was pure magic.

Keith

andreagrispi · Nov 24, 2013

Paul Boote said:
Something someone cooked up to end something twenty-one years ago and which I still find myself in complete agreement with, and, er, myself....

"I suspected then, and I believe now, that memories are the key. They should not be made in a casual absence of mind, then left abandoned in time, like a youthful record collection - all the golden ones before, and leaden thereafter - but be actively pursued and cultivated. Untold experiences await us all, around the next bend; we only have to be there to meet them."

What a superb way of describing your angling journey. I keep a log book and have done since 1980. It's great to reflect back, looking at what I caught, the venues I fished and the methods used. Equally, it's good to reflect on what I caught 2-5 years ago. I especially use recent information to help plot what my future targets are going to be. There is nothing more satisfying than setting a target at the start of a year and achieving it beyond your dreams.

This is what keeps me going - I am currently going through a really lean period, but prior to that I had 9 months of absolute superb fishing; with catches hitting 300lb, tench to just short of double figures, chub near to 6lb, 8 bream over 13lb and perch over 4lb. During the lean times I reflect on the good times. I know a purple patch is just round the corner!!!!

tiinker · Nov 24, 2013

john step said:
Small world Tinker. The 175 used to go all the way to ongar and we used to fish the Roding behind the White Bear which I think is now a private house. It was a paradise of a small river with all the twists, turns and features that Mr. Crabtree would have been proud of. You must know the Chase then? Now called Bardag? That too was very crowded and I must say the litter was awfull.

I do not know how long you have been out of the area. The White Bear is a private house and has been since the mid 90s I think the stretch of the Roding there is still a Collier row fishery. The White Hart let the chase go about 2000 I think and the Bardag club who had the pits behind the Farmhouse pub on the chase bends took over the fishery . The chase has been two lakes the old lake and members pool and what they call the front lake dug out in the late 70s west of the old lake towards the main road between the bends. I you have a look on google earth you will see a totally different lay out to the old days.

lee fletcher 4 · Nov 24, 2013

I read that Geoff Maynard is living with an old mac. Please give a thought for old Geoff when leaving black bags of perfectly good coats outside your local Oxfam shop.

Regards,

Lee.

chav professor · Nov 24, 2013

Another article I wrote for Fishing magic a few years back...

Tales of a Suffolk angler.

My view of angling through rose tinted glasses...

A Thread about Fishing

steph mckenzie

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mick b

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Paul Boote

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jasonbean1

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john step

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geoffmaynard

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john step

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tiinker

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john step

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slaphead

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Keith M

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andreagrispi

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tiinker

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lee fletcher 4

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chav professor

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