Is instant better or worse

I started fishing in an age when information was to say the least, limited. None of my family fished, so i learned slowly. Most of my information would come from being a pain to some "old" bloke on the bank and usually would start any questions with "got any spare maggots Mr". My tackle was Winfield and I took years before i started to get things right. It took nearly 20 years before i caught my first Carp!
So, are the younger anglers who have information at there finger tips, ready made carp lakes and tackle which is so comparitively cheap, going to end up better fishermen or, because they haven't had to learn the hard way going to fail later or worse still, give up when they find situations where they have to work things out for themselves.

I think that the generation of Todays Anglers have an easier introduction into Fishing if they chose to look for and use it.

The fact that some Anglers want a Specimen on their first cast is a Personal choice, but i should imagine that 99% of them go away disappointed.

I wouldn't say that Fishing is any Cheaper, you just have more cheaper options available to us these days, and people will spend more than what they earn (Credit Cards) etc

Better fishermen, no one can truly know the answer to that question, some will inevitably give up, they won't be the first or the last to try and give up.

I understand where you are coming from but fishing know how has become more available in todays world than it was thirty years ago and before that. 'How to' style magazines combined with websites such as this has taken some of the mystery out of fishing. What was once a massive learning curve can now be condensed into a couple of years but the angler concerned has to be keen enough to want to learn and practice to feel the benefit of it.

I have always maintained that an angler will learn more about angling and how to catch fish if he joins a club and engages in match fishing even at local pub level. Match anglers in the main are very helpful if you bother to take the time to ask them and their 'how to' is based on experience for which there is no substitute.

Yeah I guess that's the point re cheaper. All my gear was bought with my pocket money. If memory serves it took me almost a year to save for a new Mitchel,
at the time that included doing a paper round.
I agree about the match fishing ( although I never did myself). The match guys I know seem to have some good ways of dealing with different speacies/situations.

Instant fishing is available... at a price. But there are still plenty of young anglers working their way up the ladder fishing their local ponds and rivers. The difference today, as stated earlier, is the amount of information available to them at the turn of a page or click of a button.

I'm afraid that this information seems to often lead to laziness. How often have we seen posts asking if such and such a bait works or which rig for which situation. I would like to see a little more initiative and experimentation. Working it out for yourself and getting a result is one of the greatest thrill in angling.

I also believe that angling instruction for juniors and first time adults should be done on a still water full of fish. Get them able to handle the gear in an easy water with plenty of bites. The idea of sitting youngsters on a river or lake waiting hours for a solitary big 'un will not bring them back again and again.

I'd love to have had the opportunity to use modern gear and gain knowledge from a tutor when I started out in the 60's, but I know that all those years of working it out and struggling have made me a life long angler.

I don´t know about "cheap", either.

Even when i started fishing for carp there wasn´t much information to be gathered except through magazines and books. I was very lucky to meet two guys who were into carp fishing the Rhine river and who were very open with the methods they used and how to tie rigs, baiting, etc.
This helped me to catching my first big carp and from then on i gathered the most important thing: Experience (and confidence)

There is so much information out there now that it is difficult to concentrate on what is essential. The range of methods and bait (and bait companies) has increased that much, that for a "newcomer" it is really hard to choose one that suits the circumstances. How can you gain confidence in your own method and bait when you can change it every day of fishing without giving it a thorough test ?

The right spot in the right conditions with a favourable weather is still most essential. Without that you can have the best bait available and still only wet your line. (Right behavior on the bank !)

And a specialist rod and reel have still failed to catch one fish. I do like the range of rods and reels myself but i know that these are just luxury items. They don´t make you a better angler instantly.

Every development has it´s pros´and cons´and some are Waltz style (one step forward, two steps back).

Enough said (for now)

I suppose you could argue that, there is more pressure now to Succeed in Fishing than before as it is set up to be easier or at least more convenient.

There is more info avaliable, so how could you possible fail to succeed ??

It's not as easy as some would think, yes, there are more pools with more fish in but Specimen Fishing must be getting harder, fish are getting biger and bigger, therefore, specimen levels must be getting higher and higher.

For example, is a 20lb Carp still classed as a Specimen fish or is it now a 40lb Carp.

Is a 6lb Tench still a Specimen or is it now a 8lb Tench.

10lb Barbel or is it now a 15lb Barbel

You get my drift.

I read an article about a guy who had well over 100 x 2lb+ Roach, still a good fish but now he was getting a thrill out of Catching 3lb Roach.

So in some aspects, i guess modern fishing could be seen as a lot harder than 30 years ago. (Perhaps)

"There is more pressure to succeed"

Eh! and just how do you work that out Stealph? Thats almost on a par with schoolchildren saying they are under pressure because they have to do schoolwork. Cobblers in my opinion.

Graham,

I wouldn't expect anything else from you, in my opinion.

You have your opinion, i have mine.

Says he stamping his foot.

I must have missed my target then .............

There are too many anglers looking at the numbers on the scales and not enough who just like to catch reasonable fish,so when an exceptional fish comes along it is that,exceptional.The day i tire of catching a 12oz roach,a 2lb chub or a 4lb barbel(and smaller,just putting a number down) will be the day i pack it all up and those on e-bay will have a birthday.

alan whittington said:

There are too many anglers looking at the numbers on the scales and not enough who just like to catch reasonable fish

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That was the point i was trying to make, about the Pressure for Instant Success.

The Bigger the Better and the quickest way possible.

Then again, what would i know about fishing anyway, i'm just a West Ham Fan ............ Right :wh

Stealph Viper said:

I suppose you could argue that, there is more pressure now to Succeed in Fishing than before as it is set up to be easier or at least more convenient.

Click to expand...

Like Graham W I don't understand that remark either. Who is applying the pressure? It can't be peer pressure as one's peers are also enjoying the same 'convenience'.

Back to the original question, which is best, slow learning or fast learning? The answer is that it isn't the speed at which you learn but the quality of the learning. An angler who is taken under the wing of an experienced angler for 5 years will probably have a better angling education than an angler who is self-learnt over a period of 10 years.

Dave Burr said:

I also believe that angling instruction for juniors and first time adults should be done on a still water full of fish. Get them able to handle the gear in an easy water with plenty of bites. The idea of sitting youngsters on a river or lake waiting hours for a solitary big 'un will not bring them back again and again.

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Hi Dave

I couldn't agree more.

Jack,

It is personal Pressures sometimes, the i have got to go out and have the biggest fish that swims in the lake.

Look at how many new Anglers today have to have all the Gear but have got no Idea ................ The pressures of having the best they can afford the pressures of catching the biggest fish swimming etc etc etc

It isn't difficult to see, whether you chose to see it, or chose to agree with me on it, really doesn't matter.

The main problem for youngsters is that they have nowhere FREE to fish, and kids don't have money. Just about all waters are now taken by clubs and a free water will probably be a fair distance away which will cost money in fares.

I think people create pressure for themselves......and some do thrive on it...nothing wrong with that!

I put pressure on myself on occasion(by driving myself on to catch better fish)and many times I have to call a halt as I find I am not enjoying myself anymore.Its then that I go sit by a lake for a couple of days which holds medium size fish and just enjoy the time.

Yes, with the info/gear available today it seems fishing has never been easier and surely everyone should catch but it never seems to work out that way.........take the lad with his 25lb fish next to me who makes so much noise on the bank but still manages to land the thing BY HAND!!...........me?I blanked and helped him land the 2nd one....(he looked as if he enjoyed it though!!)

Good new gear never means great fish-look at Yates who fishes with gear 50years old......

Yes,I do look at some youngsters and feel some pity that they have got the best far too young without having to save up for it etc BUT they live it the present and not the early 60's when I had to save every penny for months...so things cannot be the same!

I agree with Graham Whatmore that club fishing gives a really good grounding(when I could watch the old 'uns fill a net in 3 hours)and what I learnt from them cannot be found easily today......BUT then,as I got older and found myself competing with the top boys in the club of the day I found the'pressure'to beat others week in and week out became unbearable in the end.....watching people cheat to win the money etc etc......so I left the club and never went back.
I became a'specialist'angler which also has its pressures BUT which I can control most of thr time......

Its a funny thing though....I never get any young lads these days coming up to me to ask MY opinion or advice when I'm catching which I find rather sad really but perhaps thats how the world is now...................(??)
How I would love to help them but maybe they think I would tell them to p**s off.......perhaps its other reasons.....

I spoke to a youngster the other day, he had been fishing for about 6 months and told me in all seriousness that he was a "specimen hunter". I didn't laugh (not out load anyway). I caught fish as a youngster and an 8oz roach was worthy of note. I was self taught and yes it took much longer than if I were tutored, however I learned by my mistakes.
The above example of the yougster to me is perhaps the "pressure" being talked about. He felt he had to be in an angling slot, as if a pleasure angler is something to look down on. If he fails he almost definately will give up fishing.
I believe the yougsters are missing out on the fun of fishing. Well the one's I've spoken to anyway. Once the fun goes what's the point.

Thats not pressure Mark thats a kid being a kid, copying, bragging, thinking he is the greatest, its what kids do, I know because I have taught them. Some of the most intense matches I have ever witnessed has been kids matches, trying to beat their mates and the better anglers amongst them, they don't fret about it if they lose they just wait for the next match and try again, kids are still kids at heart and pressure is a word they hear on the tele, they say it but they don't know what it is.

The difference for young lads and beginners these days compared to when any forty year old was a kid is the availability of carp fisheries, even town lakes have carp in them these days and a carp was something I never even dreamed of when I was a kid because there were no carp, not available ones anyway.