''How do you''

Derek Gibson · Oct 3, 2015

Measure your success in angling.

Is it based on Press reports, or the track record of a venue, or comparisons with mates, or do you aspire to be a name. Or is it to simply enjoy a day by the waterside.

Come on guys, let's be honest.

Peter Jacobs · Oct 3, 2015

I simply enjoy the day on the river bank or at the lakeside to be honest, but if it has been a really good day then I will measure the results against other decent days at the same venue.

I did the name bit during my decade of Carp Fishing and then another decade of Match fishing and basically just stopped as I was losing the enjoyment factor.

I still fish the odd social club match and there it is great to compare with some of my fishing friends, many of them having been members here on FM some years ago.

So, I will admit to a certain satisfaction when beating any of them off of the next peg . . . . .

steve2 · Oct 3, 2015

Having fished for nearly 60 years and been through the specimen hunting, match fishing, driving 100's miles to catch a fish, I now just go fishing.
Was going to say "pleasure" fishing but I cant stand that word when associated with fishing.
Tried a match recently, now know why I gave up.

thecrow · Oct 3, 2015

When I was younger I enjoyed catching anything that came along, around the age of 16 when a friend got a car my enjoyment was catching the biggest I could ( or not) that went on for many years but got to the stage where if I wasn't catching the size of fish I was after I didn't enjoy the session but became more determined (obsessed?) to the extent that it was affecting my relationships with others (wife included)

It was at a Barbel Catchers meeting in the 70s I spoke about this with another member as I was getting ready to pack it all in, his advice was to go and just fish for different species using different methods, in fact go back to what I did as a kid, I followed that advice and began to enjoy my fishing again, no targets, no putting pressure on myself to achieve targets, although I did go back to looking for big fish it was not to the exclusion of enjoying smaller fish and that's where I am today, just going fishing and enjoying the day whatever it produces big small or even nothing.

flightliner · Oct 3, 2015

Depending on the time of year just being able to look out of the window or check the weather forecast and make a choice of specie, venue and method -- absolutely any will do-- then come home with that nice feeling of having enjoyed a good days fishing

sam vimes · Oct 3, 2015

Against the venues I'm fishing and those anglers fishing the venues.
Measuring against the press, distant venues or media anglers just leads to frustration, dissatifaction and/or great expense.

I came to terms with my angling lot a few years back and I'm happier for it. I rarely travel further than twenty five miles to fish, usually no more than ten miles and most often no more than five. I find that my very occasional trips to better, more distant, venues usually leave me with a little bit of an angling malaise.

greenie62 · Oct 3, 2015

Derek Gibson said:
Measure your success in angling...

By having some success in gaining confidence in a method/technique that has previously been a failure.

Years ago this started with free-lining - first decent-sized (takeable) trout - having been shown how easy it was by a 'senior' angler,
then Tench with the 'Lift Method' - after failing to get any hittable bites on numerous trips - eventually success having had a really good 'think' about it & by experiment got the shotting distance/balance right,
etc.

I get a buzz from the 'I just love it when a plan comes together' type of success - it just shows that with thought, experiment and practice you can get better at something you were previously poor at - and gives a good excuse to go fishing more often!

trotter2 · Oct 3, 2015

It boils down to one single thing IMO

"Learning something new"

steve2 · Oct 3, 2015

Funny thing about fishing, some of my best days fishing recently have been blanks. Just being out and about again after 5 months of illness make me realise what fishing to me is all about. It's not just catching fish.

wanderer · Oct 3, 2015

greenie62 said:
By having some success in gaining confidence in a method/technique that has previously been a failure.

Years ago this started with free-lining - first decent-sized (takeable) trout - having been shown how easy it was by a 'senior' angler,
then Tench with the 'Lift Method' - after failing to get any hittable bites on numerous trips - eventually success having had a really good 'think' about it & by experiment got the shotting distance/balance right,
etc.

I get a buzz from the 'I just love it when a plan comes together' type of success - it just shows that with thought, experiment and practice you can get better at something you were previously poor at - and gives a good excuse to go fishing more often!

I can seriously sympathise with this point of view, I love prebaiting campaigns on a river or a pit and that first take, hours spent spotting fish on remote stretches of the Nene or GUC, prebait and then fish, for me its man trying to outwit nature and everytime I win, I feel good, and when I lose, I try to work out why but still enjoy the experience, I hate match fishing and overstocked commercials, and the term TOP ROD, used on some syndicates, top prats in my book.

ciprinus · Oct 3, 2015

i fish for the inner peace it brings me.
if i catch then bonus.
consequently, i measure my success by how relaxed i feel upon returning home to the wife and kids

kenpm · Oct 3, 2015

Been through the Carp fishing and the Match fishing and the Pike fishing and the lure fishing plus the fly fishing and sea fishing both boat and shore and I suppose I just enjoy catching something.

I now measure the success of a session by the enjoyment it provides me whatever the quarry or style of fishing but I still enjoy competing against other anglers as well as the fish from time to time.

arthur2sheds · Oct 3, 2015

I carp, match, general, lure and whatever takes me fancy.... I measure my success by how relaxed I am when I go home... If I've caught what I set out to catch, then I'm happy... if not, so what... I'm still happy because I've been out in the countryside, by some water, doing what I love....

Tomorrow, it'll be a Marco Test with a centre-pin reel some mashed bread and corn and a few pellets... I'll sit and watch the world rush by for about 6 hours and go home to a cracking roast pork dinner and possibly a beer or three... does a day get any better than that....???

Don't take it too seriously, enjoy your day

:w

Alan Tyler · Oct 3, 2015

If I measured my success, I'd give up.
If I were urged to try, it would feel so much like the dreaded annual appraisal at work that I'd do what I did to work - retire ASAP!

I think it was **** Walker who was asked who he thought was the best angler in the club, and said "Old Bert, over there."
"But he never catches much!"
"No, but he has more fun doing it than any of the others."

binka · Oct 3, 2015

My measure is pure enjoyment, I'm not particularly target driven and my good fish generally tend to come along as much by chance as anything else.

However...

I occasionally get dangerously close to obsession and very much so at the moment with a big perch, I know it will be worth it in the end but I sometimes ponder on what I'm being distracted from with my regular fishing.

The best part of it all for me is being able to satisfy any particular whim that comes along be it big river pike, zander and barbel fishing to trotting for roach and dace or chucking a maggot baited hook into a dark eddy on an otherwise fishless looking stream in the hope of a few gudgeon.

Just fishing really, in whatever form it takes on the day.

arthur2sheds · Oct 3, 2015

Binka... I know what you mean... I started to get obsessed with carp and it cost a lot.... physically/mentally/emotionally/financially.. I took a step back a few years back and learned to enjoy my fishing once more

The Sogster · Oct 3, 2015

Personally I measure my succes by the amount of end tackle I manage not to lose

Seriously though, for me it is the experience of the whole day. The anticipation, the sights of the riverbank and a few fish. Even better if they are my target species.

I have tackle to cover virtually any species/ condition and am just as happy to set out with blade roach and gudgeon in mind as I am with fishing for specimens of any species.

Every type of fishing brings its own contemplation which if done wholeheartedly leaves no room for the intrusion of the everyday.

terry m · Oct 3, 2015

I must bee an oddball because what I catch is a significant (but not the only part) of how I measure success.

Sure, a day out in the fresh air on the bank alone can be great, even when I blank. But that same day is judged a whole lot better if I have caught, and even better if the capture is a specimen, and super duper if the capture is a result of a plan coming together.

sam vimes · Oct 3, 2015

terry m said:
I must bee an oddball because what I catch is a significant (but not the only part) of how I measure success.

I doubt that. I'm no different other than downgrading my expectations in line with local realities. If going fishing wasn't about catching fish, I'd dispense with expensive gear, bait and licences/permits in favour of sitting quietly by water for free.

Harvey · Oct 4, 2015

For some reason, my lack of sucess seems a lot easier to measure. I try to blank gracefully, but days catching are a lot better. As mentioned above, it's absolutely smashing when I do well because of a plan coming together, or I have solved a particular problem using good reasoning. Then I feel like a real expert.

I have a mate that is very analytical in his approach to fishing. If things doesn't work out as planned, he changes bait or tackle, or move to a different swim. I just sit there, and enjoy beeing on the bankside. Obviously, he catches more and bigger fish than me. That does not bother me. Not at all.

''How do you''

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