Can you be a keen angler but not go fishing ?

[Philip]

I quite frequently read posters saying they have not been for months sometimes just a couple of times a year but they still have the enthusiasm to come to a fishing website to read and post and clearly appear still very interested in the sport. Sometimes their lack of angling is due to other commitments in life, sometimes it might be phyiscal limitations or sometimes they just seem to have lost the enthusiasm to actually go through the motions.

It made me think, can you consider yourself a keen angler if you dont actually go fishing ?

....for my own part I have probably fished less this year due to other commitments than many previous years but I still consider myself as keen as ever and chomping at the bit to wet a line.

 

[mikench]

I still do despite life’s adversities getting in the way.

 

[bennygesserit]

I quite frequently read posters saying they have not been for months sometimes just maybe couple of times a year but they still have the enthusiasm to come to a fishing website to read and post and are clearly still appear very interested in the sport. Sometimes their lack of angling is due to other commitments in life, sometimes it might be phyiscal limitations or sometimes they just seem to have lost the enthusiasm to actually go through the motions.

It made me think, can you consider yourself a keen angler if you dont actually go fishing ?

....for my own part I have probably fished less this year due to other commitments than many previous years but I still consider myself as keen as ever and chomping at the bit to wet a line.

fits me to a tee that description
Waiting to be referred to a hip surgeon (waiting 12 months + ) so can now longer cycle to local venues
My lads have kids of their own and careers to take care of so dont want to impose on them
In order to maintain my fitness I swim 6 times a week and do some resistance training so I have to stick to that whereas previously the ten mile cycle to a venue carrying a load of kit counted as a workout

bought a lot of kit this year - a new whip and associated gear , new tackle box hook lengths etc but havent used it

Am I a keen angler , obviously not , am I interested in angling absolutely , probably doing it vicariously via you tube at the moment

Am i interested in this forum ? Very , I still read it every day , not just HDYGO and bait box but a lot of the other more technical stuff

As I am semi retired and work only 4 days a week the plan was to fish much more but circumstances overtook me

 

[John Aston]

Generally speaking, no. Health and wealth can affect one's ability to go fishing , but that apart , if you're keen then you fish. At various AGMs etc I often encounter folk who admit to 'only being able to have got out twice this year , because of other commitments '. Fine , if those include running a business , looing after sick family etc but I can't take anybody seriously as a keen angler (which may or may not mean a good or successful angler) if they don't fish much . Too busy in the garden - let the grass grow; captain of the golf team this year, you know how it is - I don't actually. Worst of all folks who are convinced a once favoured venue is not as good as it used to be , despite not having been near it for a decade...

Must dash - off fishing , only the third time this week...

 

[@Clive]

You are opening a legal can of worms here Philip. First the question of what is angling? The common answer is fishing with the use of an 'angle' or hook in common terms. That would include commercial long liners and poacher's night lines. The latter was appealed after a Magistrate's conviction of two poachers. Both sides quoted Walton in their cases and the Appeal Judges upheld the conviction despite none of them being able to define what was and what wasn't 'angling'. One however did state that he believed that human presence should be involved. That however does not adequately exclude the long liner who is still attached to the hooks via the line tied to his boat. And what about the carp angler asleep in his bivvy? Is he any more involved than the poacher asleep in his bed?

We can loosely define anglers as those who fish in the manner that we commonly accept or have fished and intend to do so again. Then you have the question of defining 'keen'. I learned yesterday from his wife that Wilf was keen to go fishing, but still hadn't actually been despite holding a carte de peche for several months and has time on his hands. He is an angler in that he has periodically fished for over 60 years, but not recently. And he is keen to go, so the week after next I will be taking him fishing for the first time in years.

So, for me the answer is Yes he is an angler if there is genuine intent to continue angling at some time in the future. But Keen

 

[Peter Jacobs]

“Keen” Very interested in wanting (to do) something.

Even though ill health prevents me from fishing anything more than an hour or two at a time, usually with a fly rod these days, my “keenness has not diminished.

There can be many reasons that prevent a keen angler from getting out on the banks.

 

[nottskev]

I haven't come across many people who profess to be "keen" but don't fish, and there can be obvious reasons why keen anglers who do fish sometimes can't or don't, and just occasionally I detect (not in this thread thread, let me say) a whiff of "man up!" from presenteeists (is that a word?) who don't always seem to grasp how lucky they are.

But the OP mentioned anglers who read and write about fishing while rarely going. That's a puzzle in some ways - how can they not want to get out and do it? - but understandable in others, since fishing clearly involves, for many people, not only going fishing but also thinking about fishing, reading and watching fishing material, talking about fishing, reminiscing about fishing, writing fishing notes and diaries, making, cleaning, polishing and re-organising fishing tackle, browsing new and used tackle for sale, committing old fishing tackle catalogues to memory ........... Maybe those who rarely get on the bank just find the balance of all this has tilted to the peripheral stuff as their lives unfold? And when it comes to forums, I'd guess people use them in different ways. Some post fairly narrowly about fishing - that would be me, I suppose - and others like to talk about their lives more generally, whether they've been fishing lately or not.

I've been fishing 3 or 4 times a week this season, sometimes visiting two waters in a day, but couldn't get out at all through the close season. I'm used to this type of thing, and I can imagine how being prevented from going can drift on into inertia over re-starting even when you are able. I find that when I fish regularly, I'm thinking on the way home about where I fancy going next. But stop for a few weeks and you lose your sense of knowing how the various places you go are fishing, lose touch with all the collections of gear that were at your fingertips, have a number of chores to do to get organised again all while the feeling of how much you enjoy it eludes you temporarily.

 

[The bad one]

In my head I'm a KEEN angler. In my body I'm not. I'd be out now if my body would let me. It's that simple!

 

[stevejay]

I have fished since I was about 7, so over 50 years now, and still consider myself to be keen, albeit in a different way.

In my younger years I was match fishing every week, team events, team meetings, nationals, winter leagues, and then fished fewer matches but have dabbled in carp fishing and now tend to focus mostly on barbel fishing and more specialist angling.

Currently fish at least once a week. However, over the years, due to moving around the country with work, I have gone through periods of maybe a few years when I went only a handful of times. Still think once you are bitten by the bug you have it forever.

 

[sam vimes]

I encounter quite a few older blokes who will claim to have been an angler for umpteen years. When you get down to the nitty-gritty, it often turns out that plenty of them have fished a day session once or twice a year for the entirety of all those years. Some might even admit to having not fished for approaching twenty years or so due to having kids. Don't get me wrong, there's nothing wrong with that, but no matter what they might think, such folks are not keen anglers. I've known fifteen year old kids with more angling experience than that.

As far as I'm concerned, the bare minimum to be considered keen would be getting out on average once a month over a lifetime. That should be enough leeway to allow for real life to get in the way, as it inevitably does from time to time.

 

[Mark Wintle]

I try to get out twice a week but caring for my wife takes up a lot of time, and my elderly parents need some time as well, all of which means short sessions of 2 to 3 hours on the bank plus travelling. As I'm trying to add to my fishing but using video cameras I don't bother if it's raining. A lot of work on our house this year (all done by June - alright, October) hasn't helped but I'm hoping things are finally settling down.

It seems my long term average over about 55 years ( I did fish before this but only a handful of times) is 100 sessions a year.

 

[Aknib]

In my own case i've been fortunate enough to have practically lived on the riverbank for several years whilst integrating my former career and livelihood and, whilst that has changed and i'm not getting out as much as i'd like, i'm enjoying a life 'balance' and the rewards that it brings.

That said i'm endlessly envisaging life at 60 when I fully intend to retire and whilst it's still six years away my enthusiasm hasn't and I have no doubt ever will, wain... I just hope that in the onset of dementia I don't forget everything i've learned

Joking aside and for those who remember Graham aka The Crow, he was sidelined for health issues and he and I would argue black and blue here on the forum until one day he pm'd me to say that he'd been suffering health issues getting out on the bank for some time but it never detracted from his enthusiasm for angling.

The posts are still here somewhere but the end result was that I ended up offering to collect, deliver said person and carry his tackle to his swim which I never had to do but it reignited a spark within someone who I in turn learned was a very knowledgeable and accomplished angler and with whom I enjoyed many a river session with.

It was a real shock the morning Graham's wife telephoned me to inform me of his passing but by God I knew for sure he'd enjoyed an extension of his passion which, by the most bizarre of circumstances, would never have otherwise have come about.

So...

Yes, absolutely yes, I know that someone can be a passionate angler and shouting the cause of fellow anglers without going fishing and this fella found a second wind.

And all credit to him.

 

[Mark Wintle]

I speak to Leicester Likely Lad legend Dave Rossi every week. He can no longer drive and wouldn't be safe on the bank, and he regrets no longer being able to get out fishing. Consequently the 4th fish I catch each week is for him. His younger lifelong friend, also a Likely Lad, Brian Envis, is still winning matches. albeit small ones - he's 87 soon.

 

[Alan Whitty]

Sadly individual circumstances and inner strength controls if you are able to fish, mentally you can be pushed to the edge where you want to go, but when it comes to actually leaving home you simply can't be arsed, if you don't make the effort to go you could leave the sport, but rekindling interest brings you back, it's your keeness that drives you to that, so yes you can, but there probably is a timescale involved but I'm buggered if I could give you that....I've felt pretty rough for a few weeks, I'm now on holiday and was in a lot of discomfort yesterday, it took a lot of effort to go fishing in the evening and I felt pretty sorry for myself, but I went, blanked, but fished, keen, on last nights showing I'm not so sure....

 

[The bad one]

Here's keenness for you, a friend of mine (Millsy), a once bailiff for a local club that had quite a few miles of canal, passed on his bike an old guy he knew. He didn't stop as he himself was going fishing, said hello but got no answer from the old guy and thought nothing of it when he didn't answer. On his way back the old guy was still there, so he stopped to talk to him and got no answer again. The old guy had died at some point in the day he was fishing.
As the police station was about 400 yards away, Millsy went to reported it, offering to show the police where the old guy was. They sent a young copper with him to see the site of the dying. CID turned up and established there was nothing untoward and told the young PC he could collect his possessions as there was nothing to indicate anything untoward had happened.
As he tipped his keepnet out there was two quality roach around a pound each in it.
Now that is keenness dying for you fishing!

 

[steve2]

Just before Covid I was taken ill and that stopped me from going. Up until then I had fish at least once a week for over 60 years. With the Covid shut down and travel restriction I just lost interest in going with the only local waters being overstocked puddles.
In fact I gave a big lump of my tackle rods, reels, poles, away to charity I now rarely go if I do it's a few hours lure fishing, but still read forums and books about angling.
Once I am in my new home I have every intention of starting again but my golf clubs also need more use and at the moment they are winning.

 

[mikench]

I have a distinct feeling of déjà vu reading this thread and discern an allusion evoking almost contempt for someone who calls himself a keen angler but who isn’t fishing thrice a week. The same can be said about golfers, joggers, or football fans who are keen to the point of being selfish and self centred. I only started fishing aged 61 and at a time when retirement was imminent and kids were grown up. I had elderly parents too who needed help and as is often the case with the elderly only wanted me or my sisters and not the carers we had arranged. I could never say to my father when he asked me to come and see him when he was 90 and infirm “ sorry Dad I can’t ; I’m going fishing” . Let’s face it catching fish on a rod and line and then putting them back is, in essence, a pointless activity. Why do we do it! It’s thereapeutic, healthy and enjoyable.
For reasons I won’t go into again (and the merits of spade end hooks, grinner knots and the best bait additive are not involved), my ability to go fishing is often curtailed by events and the fact that I have other diversions which occupy my time. Yet I’m still a keen angler and will still refer to myself so regardless of the OP’ comments. I am not aware that my club memberships,of which I have 3, stipulate, among many a silly rule, that my attendance on the bank at least once a week is compulsory. I wouldn’t comply if they did.
If posters on this forum could only post if they fished at least once a week, it would be a very exclusive band indeed. There are few enough as it is.

 

[@Clive]

I have found that in France amongst the ex-pats there is a reluctance to fish purely because of a lack of self-confidence in a foreign environment. I come across a lot of Brits who fished regularly up to coming here and then have never continued. Not just naturally insecure people either. Some are confident blokes who just seem frightened of going fishing alone. Some profess to be keen anglers, but I can't agree with that. If they were keen they would find a way to fish.

 

[S-Kippy]

Health reasons have kept me away from the bank more than I’d have liked over the past few years….add to that the age related physical challenge of loading/moving gear, travel issues and my dislike of the commercial and it’s little wonder I don’t get out as often as I’d like. I’m still keen to fish but not so keen to get up early and fight the M25. Those of you fortunate enough to have good mixed fishing do not know how lucky you are. I live in a nice area but fishing wise it’s carp,carp or carp. The tench waters of my youth are gone and the rivers full of crayfish. No wonder I don’t get out as much as I’d like but I resent the inference that if I don’t go x many times a week/month I’m neither keen nor a real angler.

 

[Philip]

Quite a mixed bag of responses. The post about contempt 3 above this one this puzzeled me as it drew reference to my OP.
Note quite sure what to make of it so just in case the contempt comment was aimed at me & for the record, there was no contempt intended or otherwise when I started the thread & it was just a subject for discussion.

I even made the point I am fishing less than for a long time but still consider myself mad keen.