THEY DON'T HAVE TO BE BIG....
.... and they don't have to fill three keepnets and weigh in at a hundred pounds. All they have to do is bite and all you have to do is catch a few in pleasant surroundings for a day's fishing to be truly enjoyable. It is not just the tackle that I use that is Vintage but increasingly my whole approach to fishing has gone that way as well. In fact I would argue that an old fashioned approach is all it takes to add value to one's day by the water even if the rods are a miserable, monotone, black colour. It has certainly increased the number of good days that I have had.
This hopefully, not too moralising, piece is really just my way of publicly validating a week's fishing that some of my angling friends just cannot get to grips with. One of them once told me that catching a five pound Bream would ruin his day so answering his enquiries about my catches by getting all excited over a couple of dozen Bream between 8 oz and a pound and half is pointless but that is where my angling takes me.
Fortunately I don't need to validate them to myself so let me tell you why a dozen or more Crucians to 14 oz, several Tench to just under 3lbs and that busy day on the feeder have made this last few days such a pleasure. For a start the weather was nice; not too hot, not too cold and that makes a huge difference but the sheer number of fish feeding in front of me contributed the most. Sitting behind an empty swim guarding motionless rods is dead time which as I get older has become a lot more valuable; not that any time out of doors in beautiful surroundings can ever be wasted but only opportunities to catch ever really enable one to learn or perfect technique and both are important assets as we try to reduce the number of those blanks.
For example, I have found or rather rediscovered the pleasure of fishing feeders on the tip. You might think that catching an endless succession of skimmers offers little enjoyment outside of the match circuit but I beg to differ. I am learning restraint at the moment and restraint is right at the top of my list of attributes when feeder fishing. I have learned that striking 'bites' is almost always pointless. Waiting until the tip pulls round and stays round or until the tip is rattling continuously will catch a fish every time; easier said than done but I am getting better at it. Length of the tail and hook size appear to be the main tackle alterations that increase the number of fish caught, while pellets survive repeated attacks by smaller fish without becoming dislodged. Bread, maggots, worms and casters are fine when bites are few and far between but if tiny fish are present they are destroyed too quickly.
Busy days have taught me a lesson or two about groundbait as well. While I remain to be convinced about whether the ingredients are as important in fish attracting terms as many make out, I do feel that consistency is. Drier mixes will burst from the feeder at the surface which can be ideal in shallower pegs while in deeper water, wetter ones will stay inside until the feeder is close to or on the bottom and to that end, ingredients which add stickiness are a big help.
And the positives around Bream and skimmers? Well they are shoal fish so a busy day is always possible. I love that sensation when the tip drags round and the strike is met with solid resistence. They are one of, if not the only, substantial fish that can safely be fished for with light tackle and fishing with light tackle is inherently more enjoyable; to me anyway. I know everybody thinks I'm mad but I'd rather catch a five pound bream than a five pound Tench any day and if I can catch those skimmers all day long then I know I can catch bigger ones if ever I get to fish waters that contain them.
I feel the same way about Crucians. Those I caught this time were small but the lessons learned aren't. Getting to understand the way they bite is a study in itself and I am convinced that I have missed many opportunities in the past without realising it. While small Bream cannot be considered attractive even by anglers that like catching them, bigger specimens are impressive. All Crucians are attractive; pretty as a picture every one of them and it's a sad man who can take them for granted.
This hopefully, not too moralising, piece is really just my way of publicly validating a week's fishing that some of my angling friends just cannot get to grips with. One of them once told me that catching a five pound Bream would ruin his day so answering his enquiries about my catches by getting all excited over a couple of dozen Bream between 8 oz and a pound and half is pointless but that is where my angling takes me.
Fortunately I don't need to validate them to myself so let me tell you why a dozen or more Crucians to 14 oz, several Tench to just under 3lbs and that busy day on the feeder have made this last few days such a pleasure. For a start the weather was nice; not too hot, not too cold and that makes a huge difference but the sheer number of fish feeding in front of me contributed the most. Sitting behind an empty swim guarding motionless rods is dead time which as I get older has become a lot more valuable; not that any time out of doors in beautiful surroundings can ever be wasted but only opportunities to catch ever really enable one to learn or perfect technique and both are important assets as we try to reduce the number of those blanks.
For example, I have found or rather rediscovered the pleasure of fishing feeders on the tip. You might think that catching an endless succession of skimmers offers little enjoyment outside of the match circuit but I beg to differ. I am learning restraint at the moment and restraint is right at the top of my list of attributes when feeder fishing. I have learned that striking 'bites' is almost always pointless. Waiting until the tip pulls round and stays round or until the tip is rattling continuously will catch a fish every time; easier said than done but I am getting better at it. Length of the tail and hook size appear to be the main tackle alterations that increase the number of fish caught, while pellets survive repeated attacks by smaller fish without becoming dislodged. Bread, maggots, worms and casters are fine when bites are few and far between but if tiny fish are present they are destroyed too quickly.
Busy days have taught me a lesson or two about groundbait as well. While I remain to be convinced about whether the ingredients are as important in fish attracting terms as many make out, I do feel that consistency is. Drier mixes will burst from the feeder at the surface which can be ideal in shallower pegs while in deeper water, wetter ones will stay inside until the feeder is close to or on the bottom and to that end, ingredients which add stickiness are a big help.
And the positives around Bream and skimmers? Well they are shoal fish so a busy day is always possible. I love that sensation when the tip drags round and the strike is met with solid resistence. They are one of, if not the only, substantial fish that can safely be fished for with light tackle and fishing with light tackle is inherently more enjoyable; to me anyway. I know everybody thinks I'm mad but I'd rather catch a five pound bream than a five pound Tench any day and if I can catch those skimmers all day long then I know I can catch bigger ones if ever I get to fish waters that contain them.
I feel the same way about Crucians. Those I caught this time were small but the lessons learned aren't. Getting to understand the way they bite is a study in itself and I am convinced that I have missed many opportunities in the past without realising it. While small Bream cannot be considered attractive even by anglers that like catching them, bigger specimens are impressive. All Crucians are attractive; pretty as a picture every one of them and it's a sad man who can take them for granted.
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