Going through the motions,

I am supposed to be going on a commercial tomorrow for a few hours, two of us are going, mainly to see what works and what doesn't for a forthcoming match on Saturday, I have had my gear ready since last Thursday, not even taking my pole, only float and feeder rod, The point is if I go I will be just going through the motions, Basically I cant be bothered to go, It not the company, we have fished together for years, the venue is pretty good, there are better pools on there, The match is on the main match lake. I don't even think I will fish the match, Even though all I would have to do in the morning is put my stuff in the car, am travelling light as well so would only be taking the basics, and 2 baits, bread and pellets, I cant generate any interest in going, Sometimes I think I am getting bored with fishing, other times I am looking forward to my days out.

this winter has "dampened" everybody's enthusiasm
make the effort

John it was last year as well, I have gone when not felt up to it and enjoyed it, and also gone when looked forward to it and packed up early, One thing I am going to do is sort through my rods and poles, and what
I don't use much or haven't used for the last 12 months can go, I have a fair few, not as many as some on here, but I think that could be part of the problem, which rod do I use for where I am going, even though all my match and feeder rods will cross over to cover the venues I fish,

markcw said:

Sometimes I think I am getting bored with fishing, other times I am looking forward to my days out.

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It sounds to me like it's time to step outside of your usual box Mark, do you wonder if you're getting bored with fishing or just getting bored of your regular fishing?

Why not go anyway and set yourself a new challenge such as a specimen Roach or Perch, forget numbers and combined weight and think in terms of satisfaction whilst enjoying the company.

markcw said:

One thing I am going to do is sort through my rods and poles, and what
I don't use much or haven't used for the last 12 months can go, I have a fair few, not as many as some on here, but I think that could be part of the problem, which rod do I use for where I am going, even though all my match and feeder rods will cross over to cover the venues I fish,

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That rang a bell, Mark. I really enjoy owning and using all the many and various rods etc I've accumulated - but sometimes even the sight of it all filling a small room, not to mention sifting through for the right rods, reel and poles for a given day, is enough to make me feel cheesed off rather than excited at the prospect. I had a series of dentist appointments near an Angling Direct, and I thought I'd enjoy a look around. In fact, I called in twice and then stopped - the endless aisles of gear felt irrelevant to what I enjoy about fishing these days. It crystallised the idea that what I actually want is some good fishing - not more kit. Why not have a good sort out, put what you don't want just now to one side (you can regret selling stuff on or getting rid), pick out some kit that you fancy using and go and do exactly what you please, with no matches you're not interested in? My fishing had a similar dip before Christmas. I put three items in a holdall - a pole, a wand and a float rod - and settled on three good places to fish, and I've been enjoying my fishing since, despite all the lousy weather. I've ended up fishing a couple of times week, and if I'm not in the mood, I don't bother.

I went through a similar phase around 10 years ago now. I was an out and out carp angler for 20 years but spent maybe the last two years just going through the motions, I'd struggle to find the motivation to actually go fishing and then when I did often I wouldn't enjoy myself. At first I put it down to the inconvenience of lugging vast quantities of tackle and then sorting it all out when back at home, but short surface fishing sessions and stalking carp brought no joy either. I started to worry I'd had enough of fishing as fishing to me then was carp fishing. So I decided to have a wee break from fishing and see if I could get my mojo back. After a few months boredom set in and I decided to go pleasure fishing on a river, something I hadn't done for so long I couldn't remember when I last went pleasure fishing, I had a ball!

I spent the next few years bouncing around trying different things and came to realise that I liked traveling light, loved river fishing and that catching fish brought me less pleasure than how I catch them. When I used to carp fish a successful day or season would be decided upon numbers, the total weight of fish caught or the size of individual fish, and now it isn't. A good day or season is now decided upon how much pleasure I have had and that's the whole point of fishing to me. Now I spend 80% of my time fly fishing with the rest split between some trotting with a centrepin and lure fishing, techniques I love and that thrill me but rarely the most efficient way to catch fish.

So my advice is to take a break from match fishing, don't sell your tackle just yet as you might come back to it, and go do some pleasure fishing with a technique you enjoy in some beautiful surrounding and it'll do you the world of good

binka said:

It sounds to me like it's time to step outside of your usual box Mark, do you wonder if you're getting bored with fishing or just getting bored of your regular fishing?

Why not go anyway and set yourself a new challenge such as a specimen Roach or Perch, forget numbers and combined weight and think in terms of satisfaction whilst enjoying the company.

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It may be a combination of getting bored with regular fishing, which at the moment is visiting venues to practice for a match,
I had a day out last week with Mikench, it was a brilliant day, it was on a venue I had fished a few times, I stayed a lot longer than I normally do, must have been the company, the only mistake I made was taking my pole, on setting up the rushes on the far side were swaying with fish in them, got some bait over there as setting up, time to fish and the wind arrived, difficult presentation, Mike stuck to feeder rod and had a good catch, the other part is like Kev said, sorting through rods etc to take with you and like stillwaterblue taking loads of stuff and then having to unload again when get home, Its going to be more canals, small farm ponds, and taking Mike and Gordon to venues they haven't fished before, and pick and choose the matches from the series I have entered this year, Thanks for all your input, much appreciated, I thought it was just me getting bored/disillusioned with it all.

Eloquently put SB.

My previous angling incarnation died with carp fishing too. Looking back, a lot of it it is to do with the fact i wasn't very successful, but then that comes back to the key point - success isn't always measured by who gets the biggest fish. In fairness sometimes it is, but at other times it's simply being able to use your wits get to see some amazing looking creatures close up.

It wasn't as if I couldn't catch Dave,sometimes I would try something different in a match and it worked, such as method feeder on the pole on a 10 metre wide snake lake, was windy and drizzle but the fish were there, for the first 3 hours I had around 2llb of bits in the net, I caught 50lb in the last 2 hours on the method/pole and lost a few on the way. another time was ignore the smaller carp and F1's and fish for anything that swims approach on another water, I won twice doing that,
last year even if I was pleasure fishing I would treat the session like a match,and sometimetimes I came home thinking "what if I had tried that", After reading the comments on here a pleasure session is going to be just that, unless I take the Grandson then its a mini match, if only to stop the sarcastic comments from a 12 year old when he catches the most,but in a fun way. Also taking on more of the wildlife when having a quiet spell, Buzzards soaring in the air, kingfishers darting about, feeding the robins, watching rabbits in the fields hopping about. So yes this year should hopefully see a more laid approach from me.

binka said:

It sounds to me like it's time to step outside of your usual box Mark, do you wonder if you're getting bored with fishing or just getting bored of your regular fishing?

Why not go anyway and set yourself a new challenge such as a specimen Roach or Perch, forget numbers and combined weight and think in terms of satisfaction whilst enjoying the company.

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Funnily enough Steve one of my goals I made at the start of the year for the new season was to fish a couple of waters
that reputedly had some big perch in them, being a club bailiff I check the catch returns to see what has been caught, no large perch yet, but as soon as one shows on a catch return, I will be on the water. As for roach I have had a few over the 2lb mark from a canal I used to fish,that was over 25 years ago, I have been back since but nothing showing of that size.
So maybe the perch incentive will also get me out more, the wife says I can go every day if I want to, but I know if I did that I would really get bored of going.

I know the feeling I have been there; in my case I put it down to I couldn't be bothered with taking all that gear. So lure fishing was the way I went. Unfortunately most of the waters near don’t allow summer Pike fishing but there are plenty of other fish to aim for.
Still have days of tench and bream fishing even to odd carp session planned in my head but will I do it I doubt it.
Even on lovely sunny days like today I just can’t get the enthusiasm to go fishing. Hopefully the start of the river season may renew it.

I think its something that lots of anglers that have fished for a long time can go through, a number of years ago I was obsessed with catching a double figure Barbel (they were a lot rarer then) anything I caught that wasn't what I was fishing for was just another fish that had taken a bait intended for something else. I was doing what the title of this thread is.

I had stopped enjoying my fishing it had become a chore but one that I couldn't stop it was mad, I mentioned this to another angler at a Barbel Catchers meeting and his advice was to just go and do something different fish differently, fish other places and just catch whatever came along, I followed that advice and the enjoyment came back.

Why not come the 16th June have more time on rivers, something completely different you may not catch as much or as big but for me now a river trip is something I really look forward to.

Mark. Some sound advice already offered. My only comment is that I pinch myself every morning to confirm that I am still alive and able to "Just go through the motions" once again and thank the Gods for it. One thing is for sure you'll not be doing much bagging up in Boot Hill. Pete.

I understand your comments Mark and i too often feel i cannot be bothered but when i make the effort it is usually worthwhile like last wednesday.

How about we fix up a few trips to a canal for a specific species and method. We could try float fishing for roach, dropshotting or lure fishing for perch anything but feeder fishing for bream!!!:wh Life is so much easier when you just take a rod and reel, hooks and limited bait! I admit i have never ever achieved this but there is hope! If we tried the dropshotting we wouldnt need a chair and could just rove the banks! I have loads and loads of lures!

I regularly suffer from bouts of "I can't be bothered" and sometimes it is simply that....I really cannot be bothered as I've never,ever absolutely needed to fish. More often its the thought of getting my gear ready, getting up early and humping it along to wherever I have in mind to fish. All of which have become harder and harder to do as I've got older. I really do have to think long and hard about what & where now as my days of lugging 50lb of gear 3/4 of a mile are over. Likewise length of session. Very,very rarely will I be out all day.

Mrs S says "You'll be alright when you get there" and [as usual] she is nearly always right but I never have and never will just go for the sake of it.....especially not now when I have the luxury of going pretty well whenever I like. When I do go though its usually full on.

I sometimes feel a bit of a lightweight but not for very long. I don't have to justify how often I go or dont go to anybody other than myself and sometimes I simply dont fancy it.

I've not read all the replies but I like to assure you your not on your own, the truth is just about every person reading this thread can identify with how your feeling.

My advice is quite the opposite of the most common, it's this don't go, tell ya mate your giving fishing a break and leave it. Maybe pop down for the weigh in and a pint after the match (if you fancy it, and if its a friendly club type match) short of the feeling to go not returning, try country walks later on you just might get a urge to try something different.

Fishing should be fun, keep it fun mate but ultimately its like a relationship you need to work at it sometimes to reap the rewards.

Hope your back to speed soon

The only thing I cant do is country walks or walk along a canal bank spinning due to nerve damage in my leg, I have been fishing 56 years and I used to love grabbing a box of spinners and walking mile down a towpath, I still like fishing canals but now it is sat on a seatbox, Mike I know a good stretch of canal about 30 minutes from warrington, ideal place to catch, and if its quiet there is a pub on the opposite bank, I don't know if Gordon likes canals but there are a couple of commercials not to far for all 3 of us, I would go to the weigh in as was suggested if I didn't fish the match, trouble is the matches are normally half hour drive away and no one hangs around for a pint, Went through my stuff today like Kev mentioned, paired up a float nd feeder rod for venues where larger fish on the cards,assuming I catch any , and a float rod and canal wand for smaller fish venues, my pole will cover both types of venue, same with seatboxes, in as much as feeders and floats etc, I am not going to give up fishing so no tackle will be sold, the stuff for charity shop will be excess reels and luggage.

Mark, you mention pools poles and feeder rods and matches.
I have always thought variety is the way to go. Are you in a rut with the same stuff time and time again?

I keep enthusiasm fresh by having different styles according to season and varying venues.

Spring tench and a bit of carp. The odd roach and perch session.
Summer barbel and rivers and a bit of carp and roach hemping and tares.
Autumn perch and river trotting.
Winter pike and perch.
I still have to find time for a bit of spring feather chucking for rainbows. I keep meaning to do a bit of beach casting. Time, time time, if only there was more of it!

Sometimes its fun to go out with a minimum of tackle, like schoolboy days just to see if you can catch something

OK so I never will be "an expert" at all of the disciplines but its my fishing enjoyment and thats what matters.

john step said:

Mark, you mention pools poles and feeder rods and matches.
I have always thought variety is the way to go. Are you in a rut with the same stuff time and time again?

I keep enthusiasm fresh by having different styles according to season and varying venues.

Spring tench and a bit of carp. The odd roach and perch session.
Summer barbel and rivers and a bit of carp and roach hemping and tares.
Autumn perch and river trotting.
Winter pike and perch.
I still have to find time for a bit of spring feather chucking for rainbows. I keep meaning to do a bit of beach casting. Time, time time, if only there was more of it!

Sometimes its fun to go out with a minimum of tackle, like schoolboy days just to see if you can catch something

OK so I never will be "an expert" at all of the disciplines but its my fishing enjoyment and thats what matters.

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John I have had a look at the venues for the matches of a small club I am in, it is a club that just books commercials, the venues have more or less been the same for the past 4 years, unless unable to book on one then its book on a different one,
I know that on some if I don't draw in a certain area I and whoever else draws there will not win, I now its a chance you take
with any match, I and a couple of others have convinced the lad who books the venues to try different ones next year, The past few times prior to going out with mike has been travel light, float rod and feeder rod, and maggots, no other bait, it has been more enjoyable than taking lots of gear, quicker to set up so more time fishing, I was getting stuck in a rut with venues, so this year it will be the more smaller type of venue that needs minimum of tackle,and bait, I mentioned to Mike after seeing the variety of bait he takes that sometimes less is more , cut down the variety so you don't chop and change all the time,reading all the comments on here makes you realize we have all got fed up in on way or another and dealt with it in different ways, Mine is choose the tackle to suit the venue and don't automatically take my pole like I used to,. My wife saw me loading my car once, seatbox, PI spaceshuttle, large net bag, carryall, bags for 2 pole rollers, bait bag, pole holdall and a 2 rod ready holdall, bag for pole roosts and spray bar,and that was just going pleasure fishing for the day. She asked how did I go on when I was a kid, My reply was 2 rods and landing net handle on the crossbar of my bike, and basket on my back, and I seemed to catch well in those days, Tackle may have progressed but look how much we may end up taking these days.

markcw said:

2 rods and landing net handle on the crossbar of my bike

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You must have very affluent to have 2 rods and a landing net, or was it just the handle you had