Winter mojo

binka · Jan 23, 2017

I've read of and spoken to a couple of people just lately who have mentioned that their mojo is on the wane a little, hardly surprising really considering the weather is now probably the worst for fishing that we'll see throughout the year.

I tend to peg back a bit in winter anyway but work, not mojo, is currently the thing which is getting in my way.

So do you suffer from seasonal angling mojo disorder and what if anything is the way around it?

Maybe just doing three or four hour sessions during the afternoons until dusk with the minimum of gear and bait to keep the preparation to a minimum or a walk along the river or lake with an ultralight lure kit, flicking in here and there?

Or abstaining altogether until the weather turns for the better maybe?

Either way it shouldn't be long until we see signs of improvement, in another nine days we'll be able to say that the clocks go forward next month

Peter Jacobs · Jan 23, 2017

I tend to withdraw a fair bit in the real winter months ad there are no prizes for being the coldest, wettest or most uncomfortable angler on the bank.

Even kitted out with good thermals, excellent waterproofs I still gind these days that after an hour or two I am beginning to feel the cold and cease to enjoy the fishing experience.

steve2 · Jan 23, 2017

I think it's an age thing, the average age of the people I fish with is now over70 and we all now struggle. I can’t be bothered now with carrying all the gear so now it just lure fishing. But even that now depends what I see when I look out of the window. If it’s cold, wet or windy I can’t get the enthusiasm to go. Roll on the spring.

sagalout · Jan 23, 2017

I fish for my own enjoyment and I get no enjoyment froom being wet and cold, so I declare the lout a fair weather fisherman.

PS Graham has induced me to venture out on Thursday to try this new Wye ticket, so if I don't post after Thursday you know I have succumbed to pneumonia or frost bite.

mikench · Jan 23, 2017

As an angler, and i use the term loosely, of a little over 12 months experience, i have tried to fish when this time last year I would not have bothered. My willingness to do so is born out of madness, enthusiasm and having the right kit.

I do pack up early sometimes when i am perished and not catching. The trouble is if you discount the close season and the winter months then there is only 6 months left. My impending membership of PAAS will give me far too many waters to fish and not enough time( in every sense of that word) to do so.

My ambitions are conservative, namely to try river fishing and some new venues.

My problem is i have lost my mojo for work!

....... and it will never come back!

Lord Paul of Sheffield · Jan 23, 2017

At one time I would go for a day or 6 hours , sit in the cold on a frozen river side knowing that the ½ hour walk back home would be the only warmth I'd get, to catch a few fish

Nowadays in winter I'll drive to a commercial , park behind the peg and have an hour or 2 - I'm definitely getting old

ian g · Jan 23, 2017

Not to sure why but I enjoying fishing this time of year . I mainly fish the Severn and local canals for perch . I just feel my week isn't complete unless I've wet a line and had some me time . Summer fishing is usually easier but it just doesn't give me the same sense of satisfaction . I regret not having fished much in the winter when I was younger , I enjoy the fact I can fish the hour or so into dark and still get home for tea. Mike if you fancy fishing the P.A stretches of the Severn when your membership starts give me a shout

mikench · Jan 23, 2017

I will need all the help i can get Ian. I will have all the gear but no idea!!

I am looking forward to reading the club book!

sagalout · Jan 23, 2017

mikench said:
all the gear but no idea

I've got all the kit and I'm still sh1t!

barbelboi · Jan 23, 2017

Gone are the days where I’d happily break the ice to get to gravel pit roach, or trudge heavily frosted riverbanks. I can fish any time I want so I tend to chose the more favourable winter days – nothing about mojos, just retaining some sanity...........................

PS Three or four hour session are the norm anyway Steve..............

mikench · Jan 23, 2017

We are both a poet but didn't know it!

robtherake · Jan 23, 2017

Athough I've hibernated through the cold months in previous years, this time, with a season ticket on a deep local water, I was determined to fish through the winter. Ironically, a "frozen" shoulder has effectively grounded me for the last couple of months and shows no sign of letting up just yet.

The best laid plans of mice and men...

mikench · Jan 23, 2017

Sorry to hear that Rob! have you considered saline injection called, i think, hydroscopic dilitation or something like that

I tried cortizone injections, manipulation but nothing worked except the above. Nearly right, it is called Arthrographic Distension / Hydrodilatation!!!

robtherake · Jan 23, 2017

mikench said:
Sorry to hear that Rob! have you considered saline injection called, i think, hydroscopic dilitation or something like that

I tried cortizone injections, manipulation but nothing worked except the above. Nearly right, it is called Arthrographic Distension / Hydrodilatation!!!

My second hydrocortisone injection was also a failure, so I suspect that you're describing what comes next. Currently waiting for scan results, Mike.

mikench · Jan 23, 2017

I had mine done privately but whilst the procedure was painful it workd immediately and, touch wood, I have had no problems since! It was probably 4 years ago now.

Graham Elliott 1 · Jan 23, 2017

Ive really enjoyed this winter so far.

The Wye can be a bit easy in summer for barbel so enjoyed the winter challenge. But the key is to be flexible...mind not body....thats suffering.

Been grayling fishing, chub trotting, piking, perching. Might even go out for some silvers later in the week if the nearby lake is not frozen. Keep challenging self and not taking the easy usual option keeps the mojo working.

The only time i really won't go unless arranged with pals is when it heavyish rain forecast. I hate fishing under a brolly.

The Aldi jacket and bib i bought in summer is great for keeping warm with 2 piece wychwood sleeper suit underneath.

steve2 · Jan 23, 2017

Looking back over the years at some of the conditions I fished in it makes me wonder why I am still alive. Like most I have had some very near misses the worst getting near hypothermia while fishing the Great Ouse Relief Channel in a blizzard. It was only because of the people that I was fishing with that I am still here. They had to wake me up and get me moving and keep me warm. This was the days before all the clothing we have now.
I always think now is a fish worth going out in this?

ian g · Jan 23, 2017

Agree completely Graham , I hate brollies and funnily enough I suspect they hate me. I always feel claustrophobic sitting under a brolly.

seth49 · Jan 23, 2017

I was talking to the owner of the fishery I joined two years ago, I mentioned that not many members fished in winter, yes he says, they'll be back with the daffodils. Same every year, just a few fish wintertime.

I don't mind the odd day if it's mild, but now I'm retired, I can pick the best days and give the rest a miss.
I am going on the river trotting tomorrow, but it's mainly because I'm giving up the membership of this club after eighteen years, me and my mate have both agreed it's not worth paying over two hundred pounds for the bit of salmon fishing we do now, we never even fished for them last season.

I'm enjoying the coarse fishing nowadays, and with the odd day reservoir trouting that will do us, but it will be nice to have a few hours on the hodder tomorrow,my favourite river I lived by it for twenty years, lot of happy memories.

S-Kippy · Jan 23, 2017

I like winter fishing. I actually prefer it to summer fishing because you can wrap up if it's cold but when it's blistering hot there's not much you can do. BUT as I've got older I feel the cold more and when it's proper cold like it is down here atm I just don't have the slightest inclination to go out. The results are (for me) just not worth the effort. I've never ever felt the need to go just because I can.

Winter mojo

binka

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