Maybe six or seven years ago, for that one year, most of my attention had been aimed at carp and pike, temporarily relieving several waters of over 50 reasonably big carp to almost 30lb, and roughly the same number of double figure pike, including several over 20lb.
Compare the fight of even the most sluggish of those fish, to the feeble flapping of a 6oz dace (which is not a bad sized dace) and you have a better parable than David and Goliath. So how is it I can still enjoy fishing for dace and other small species like roach as much, sometimes more, than those huge - in comparison - carp and pike?
The simple truth is that I do, and just as I have great difficulty sleeping the night before a fishing session for carp and pike, my insomnia is no less the night before a visit to the Dane or Dove for a few hours after the dace. To me, fishing is fishing, and I'm as addicted to watching a stick float steal through a smooth glide on a little river, as I am to watching a pike float bob across the heaving waves of a big lake.
Image by Graham Marsden via FlickrOf course, there is a different kind of thrill to seeing the menacing jaws of a big pike slide over the edge of your landing net, to the thrill of slipping the net under the glistening body of a dainty dace. Where pike and carp provide a raw, macho kind of excitement, more related to the 'Ramboesque' angler, dace, and their ilk, provide the gentle, 'Morse' kind of thrill. The amount of enjoyment derived from each, however, can very well be equal.
All of which probably sounds like a load of rubbish to those carp and pike anglers who have never fished for anything else, or rate their success in no other terms but that of hard fights and heavy weights of individual fish.
One can make a fair comparison only if you indulge in all aspects of the sport, from slinging out a boilie on a hefty bolt rig, to side-casting a single caster on a 4 No. 4 stick, otherwise it is extremely difficult to understand what the 'other half' sees in their particular poison. Fortunately, I do enjoy all aspects of coarse and fly fishing.
I'm lucky, really, in that I can indulge in, and enjoy, the kind of fishing that suits my mood at the time. If I'm feeling lazy, and don't fancy any great activity, even to the point of not wanting to mix any groundbait, or prepare bait of any description, I can elect to grab a bag of shelf-life boilies and fish for carp. I need do no more than take a pair of made-up rods (which can include boilies already hung on the hair rigs) set up a rod-pod with bite alarms, hang on a couple of stringers of boilies, and I'm fishing. With no more to do than lie back on my bedchair and relax. Take off the boilies and substitute the end rigs for snap tackles baited with deadbaits straight from the freezer, and I'm piking in the same lazy way.
Two very handy methods of fishing for those who don't want anything very demanding, or who want to catch up on some reading. Pick a very difficult water where you are not likely to get many bites to disturb either your sleep or your reading and you can have a really idle time. And, of course, always with a chance of picking up that huge fish from such a difficult water, which you can enter in all the competitions, possibly showering you with cash and tackle, and headlines that describe you as a brilliant angler. You can chuckle all the way to the bank and tackle shed.
Two very handy methods of fishing for those who don't want anything very demanding, or who want to catch up on some reading. Pick a very difficult water where you are not likely to get many bites to disturb either your sleep or your reading and you can have a really idle time. And, of course, always with a chance of picking up that huge fish from such a difficult water, which you can enter in all the competitions, possibly showering you with cash and tackle, and headlines that describe you as a brilliant angler. You can chuckle all the way to the bank and tackle shed.
Image by Graham Marsden via FlickrWhile I've got my cynic's hat on: Generally speaking, the less I do, and the more time I have to spend at the waterside doing nothing but casting occasionally, and lazing around a hell of a lot, the more chance I have of catching a fish that would attract the attention I've just described. It's a sad fact that the angler who fishes a river with float and light tackle, and makes a good catch as a result of a hell of a lot of skill and hard work, may never receive any recognition all his life. Right, off with the cynic's hat.
So, in a lazy mood I can spend time at the waterside doing little more than occasionally baiting and casting, possibly catching a few fish, getting a nice tan in the right weather, doing a little reading, and probably a lot of resting. I enjoy that as much as anything when I'm in that frame of mind. And I'm quite prepared to put up with the long periods of inactivity when I'm fishing a water that demands that kind of approach and holds fish that make the wait worthwhile. My problem, if that is the right way of describing it, is that I can take only so much of the type of fishing that involves a lot of doing nothing. Perhaps it's a fault of mine.
So when I've had enough of the sitting and waiting I may decide to go for a spell of feeder fishing for barbel, which, if you do it properly, involves a lot of casting to keep bait going through the swim, and keeping your hand on, or at least near to, the rod, ready to react to that sudden lunge of the rod tip when a barbel takes off with the bait.
An even more active kind of fishing is one I've already mentioned; float fishing on a river, for this involves constantly feeding, casting and retrieving. And even the bit between casting and retrieving demands constant control of the float through mending the line, holding back when necessary, and all the while being ready to react to the smallest bite.
Many times I will choose to fish in a way that is somewhere between the two extremes I've described, which depends of course on the water rather than the species. For instance, I may elect to fish for tench or bream, not on a fishery as difficult as, say, Queenford Lagoon appears to be, but where the fish are reasonably big, though not in the potential record-breaking class, and where bites can be logged by the session rather than by the season.
These sessions could involve bite alarms and bedchairs, but demand more activity as far as feeding the swim is concerned, which may be on the little and often principle (relatively speaking) and frequent casting, particularly if swimfeeders are being used.
Another variation is float fishing from a boat for quality fish. Constant feeding, and casting (when the fish are taking on-the-drop) makes this type of fishing very active at times, and a great change from land-based fishing. Although it can be pain when you fancy a brief walk to stretch your legs and your name isn't Jesus Christ. And relieving yourself can be a work of art.
Image by Graham Marsden via FlickrEqually, if you normally only fish for nets of smaller fish, you should try to catch big fish with the attitude that it need not be all about sitting and waiting an age for a bite, but can reflect how much effort you put into swim choice (location) prebaiting (possibly) water craft in general, and good bait presentation.
Don't take the stance, as so many do, that your type of fishing is the only type of fishing worth doing. At least not until you've tried it. With the right attitude of course.
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