The exploring angler.

By this I mean the angler who travels light with the minimum of gear. And as a consequence willing to search out swims in order to develop a knowledge of swims along a stretch of river for example.

Nowadays I have noted that many seem to take everything but the kitchen sink along, arguing that they can cope with any situation that may arise. Always assuming they have made the right selection of swim that is. Nothing wrong with that of course, each to their own. But I often wonder how many of those ''choices'' are based on the results other's have achieved.

From my own standpoint I have always obtained more satisfaction from finding my own fish, which has entailed being mobile.

I am willing to confess that I find minimalism very hard to achieve if not impossible! I once started out by putting in the car, a rod with reel attached, some bait( maggots) a couple of hook packets( I don't do hook tying Derek) and my landing net. I then added a small deck chair type seat with blue and red stripes just in case, then another rod just in case, then on the same Boy Scout principle, some weights and feeders, another reel, a larger net a brolly and finally the bags to put it all in! I had failed miserably and I was only going to a Stillwater!

I am hopeless I'm afraid and freely admit it! Mind you Derek, if you came across me on the bank and enquired if I had a certain item, and not necessarily fishing related, I'm willing to bet I would have it in copious quantities and it would be my pleasure to give it to you

My whole methodology (?) of my tackle set up in the garage is based on an easy picking process and taking the bare minimum to cover any range of sessions, whether trekking distances to remote swims or parking the car behind me.

Everything is laid out ready to be picked, upon returning everything goes back again and nothing is ever in a general state of collective readiness until just before a session.

I've said before that it sometimes catches me out with something I've not got but it's rare, much rarer I suspect than the amount of unused gear I would otherwise cart around on the off chance I might need something and by not carting it around I'm not limiting distance and exploration in any way.

On the exploring side of things I like it and the effort is usually well worthwhile.

I often need a prompt though as it could mean walking away from some good fishing but this has usually been impacted anyway by the time that prompt comes in the form of a favoured spot becoming busy, sometimes the fishing is still good and relatively undiscovered but I just need a change of scenery.

In terms of exploration and the amount of gear, less is definitely more for me but a fold away solution for steeply sloping banks and six foot high nettles would be a must have, should one ever become available

I have always been a more exploring type of angler than a stay put one.
I have always wanted to see what is round the next bend. My chub fish as always revolved around this style. This is why I now do more and more lure fishing it is just so mobile. A rod, a reel, a net and a bag of lures then off you go.

I remember reading two books many years ago when still at school one called the Exploring Angler the other Small Stream Fishing. I think these are what set me off down this path of go out and find your fish. Both books are on my bookshelf and still read.

There are many factors that an individual angler takes into consideration when choosing a location or swim.

Personally, I prefer to be comfortable but the I know my local swims quite well and am happy to not have to travel too far to fish these days, so typically I will have enough tackle to suit the conditions and target species.

Maybe I am fortunate living where I do as the choices available cover most of the types of fishing I am interested in pursuing.

In my younger years I would wander near and far along rivers and lakes but these days am content with what I have close by.

I think chub fishing lends itself to this style. But barbel can come after several hours of constant baiting, so I'm in two minds about it.

If I know it's a good swim I'll stay all day into dark. If it's a new to me swim, I may move. Nowadays however I take two rods minimum when barbel fishing. A float rod and a ledger rod, along with bait, chair, net and long rod rests, lunch and a drink, it's not easy to move? You could also add an umbrella and waterproof gear? Thats a lot of stuff.

Horses for courses. Some days I travel very light and wander miles of river, though I may sit tight if things go especially well in a particular swim. Other days I go with a certain peg in mind and sit it out, even if I travel light to do it.

I'm becoming less and less of a fan of long term bait and wait tactics though. It's just not the fun that I once found it. Though I suspect my results, especially with big fish, have suffered for it, the prospect of sitting behind multiple rods is not one I find appealing at the moment.

I think that a big test is looming in the not too distant future. I'm planning to fish float and tip on a water where many play the bait and wait game. I know that I'll end up wading through hordes of tiddlers for the vague chance of the prized specimens that inhabit the water, but it appeals more than the bait and wait that I tried last time to little effect.

My fishing echo's my home life, typically I'm a home bird. I have a strong dislike of places new.
Since my circumstances change health wise I pick one venue and never think of other places locally. I am still stuck in my ways regarding how I fish and the amount of gear I take, IE everything. It's easy these days with parking close to pegs to unload the car and just fish.
I can't say I was a wanderer when I was more capable of walking, I was always happy to pick a swim and stay for the session.
My seat box holds most of what I need to cover all aspects. All I change is rods or pole, even still I carry all the terminal bits and bobs for each method. Emptying the drawers of my box of what I won't need would be far too much trouble.

River fishing i take a rucksack that's also a chair acts as a table top too. Rod and reel made up. Landing pole with the net attached and then a good old 5p shopping bag to hold my maggot box. If am at a still water which is very rare I take a proper fishing chair and 2 rod holder poles. No need for anything else.

On rivers like the Thames,I would take a notepad,and draw sketches,casting leads all over swims depth finding and then put where stronger flows were,latterly I used a smartcast as trotting it down was much quicker,I would work several pegs a day and within a relatively short period I knew what I needed to know,on my local rivers it is clear enough during summer to get a thorough picture,in my I case I cannot fish properly without a seat,so what starts off being light,weighs a ton...

The exploring I did do when younger mostly involved long walks down places like the relief or middle level and then hopping rods over each other on the way back (Pike fishing) it worked on these featureless waters and some fish holding places could be found that lasted for ages as long as no one saw you catching.


Don't do it all now, haven't got the inclination for it sooner fish swims that I can access and I know, it results in catching less on some days but I don't mind that now being comfortable makes up for it.

One thing i have learnt is if you can present a bait to a fish in a spot its not expecting an angler to be even very difficult fish can become easy to catch.

I am not a fan of fishing swims with a bare patch of earth and i generally keep on walking. I often tuck myself into places and a pair of sacateurs is permenantly in the car.

Due to this and the fact i have suffered from a bad back means i am forced to rationalize kit which makes being mobile easier.

Many a blank day has been saved with a short move.

I was a bit cluttered on this day - I took the X-lite with me..........................

In my head I have an image of myself clothed a la Chris Yates and toting a wicker creel, single split cane rod and centrepin, wandering purposely through waist high grass and undergrowth from swim to swim, nicking a specimen chub here and a lump of a barbel there.....

In reality if you spotted me out fishing you'd see an overweight bloke puffing and wheezing as he pushes a MKII Carp Porter loaded up like a Filipino farmers moped on market day. I'd finally decide enough was enough and plonk down at the swim which could best accommodate my mountain of gear and proceed to 'make myself at home', setting up at least two rods, dithering over the possibility of a touch of lure fishing (thus ruining any chance of catching anything else from the swim) and trying to find the best bit of level ground to park the barrow so I could set up the stove on it. I'd then spend at least an hour friggin around with my gear, decide on both float and tip, randomly bait up various patches of river, make a cup of tea to wash down the recently cooked sausages and then fall asleep. I'd stay far beyond what any sane person would do, mainly to prolong the point at which I'd have to go through the whole palaver in reverse. I may or may not catch some fish.

But I love it. Abso-******-lutely love it. I honestly can't think of anything I'd rather be doing once I'm out there.

This season though I've joined the Tunbridge Wells club, and with the exception of a few spots the fishing requires reasonable hikes to fairly unkempt bits of the upper Medway and Eden. Barbel well into double figures regularly put in an appearance so if I want to make the most of my membership I'll have to change my ways.

In fact I'm in the man cave as we speak trying to slim down the gear for an inaugural visit to one of the aforementioned stretches of the Medway near Fordcombe. As usual I'm procrastinating by checking out FM and writing this nonsense..

Back to it.....

Its always the bare minimum for me, about 6 floats and terminal tackle all in one small box, one reel, one rod, landing net, one rod rest and camping chair. If the circumstances aren't prepared for my set up, I have to improvise. However, usually I would find circumstances that suited my set up.

I am not trying to be clever or recommending it but I just got tired many years ago of lugging spares for everything in case something broke, it never did. And lugging gear around to meet every circumstance which I never came across. It used to just plumb wear me out sometimes and 75% of that stuff never got used.
I can pretty much have a bait in the water in 5 mins and pick it up and move within about 1 min.

Sea fishing now and I basically do the same although I have to think about what one type of fishing I am going to do for the day and pretty much keep to the bare minimum for that.

An update on my attempts to 'lighten up' and get myself more mobile for the forays up and down the rivers:

Today I dug out a three rod quiver that I'd been given but never used. It's a Korum one and actually looks as though it'll do the job.

I'm off tomorrow to the Chafford stretch of the Upper Medway near Fordcombe after the Barbel & Chub.

I'm taking a pair of Drennan Series 7 Specialist Avon Quivers in 1 3/4 TC. One will be used for trotting with the normal tip section on and a small float reel loaded with 6lb line. The other has a 4 oz glass tip and will be used to fish a maggot feeder filled with reds and some worm chop. All the terminal tackle has been sorted into a pair of Korum ITM tackle boxes - one for the float gear and one for the feeders and bits (beads, booms, hooks, etc).

A folding Leeda landing net, a few banksticks and the lightest chair I've got (a Fox compact Warrior) complete the outfit.

I've just collected it all together and it's a world away from the amount of clobber I usually lug about. The rucksack has plenty of room for a flask and a few sarnies (no Sausages tomorrow....PAH!!) and the whole kit and caboodle feels remarkably light and easy to carry. The quiver especially seems very well designed.

I'm off for a few hours kip now to get an early start tomorrow at about 04:30.

I'll post on the HDYGO thread later to let you know how it went.

Fingers crossed for Mr Whiskers........

Back in the days of my exploring angling I couldn’t pass a pond or a stream without giving it a try. Small farm ponds all seemed to hold a head of Crucian carp and Rudd, how got there is any ones guess. I even set baited lines, no hooks, on some ponds to see if any thing was in them. If the bait went I would give it a try. Just how do fish get into ponds?

I came across small overgrown streams in Essex and Sussex held some beautiful wild brown trout which are now appear to long gone. These streams no longer flow apart from when it rains. There is still one in Essex, which I am told still as small wild brown trout.

I can’t imagine anyone still goes out in search of their own fishing. Fishing now seems so different and so managed.

barbelboi said:

I was a bit cluttered on this day - I took the X-lite with me..........................

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Chair or rod?

Doesindicate an answer in the affirmative or negative?