Fishing and Reading

At last, a weekend that was just about fishable. Salar has been back in the water waiting patiently for a sea trial, so I combined the two and headed for a sheltered corner of the Solent for an hour or two. You don't have to go too far offshore for cod at the moment, there has been a string of reports coming into my boat angling in-box from anglers reporting cod catches about a mile from the shore along the eastern side of the Solent. The cod didn't oblige for me this time though, but I had plenty of whiting and they are just as tasty if a bit more fiddly to prepare. A tip from the cod-catchers: don't go all traditional with huge baits - try small ones alongside, you may be surprised which one old bucket-mouth goes for.

It was my birthday recently, and with all that windy weather I had used up my store of reading matter, so I spent my birthday tokens on a few books. If you are wondering what to put on the Christmas pressie list, here are a few I can recommend. If you have been fishing for 40 plus years like me, you may remember Mr. Crabtree Goes Fishing - and if you lost the copy I'm sure you once had, you can buy a reprint. All coarse fishing, but it brings back happy memories. Another find is 1001 Top Angling Tips by John Wilson. About a third is devoted to sea fishing but there are plenty of useful ideas in the coarse section too. Finally, Chris Yates goes back to sea fishing with Out of the Blue: On Fishing at Sea . This is more of a read than a reference book, but it's a nice one to lose yourself in as you nestle in your favourite comfy armchair while the wind howls outside.

PS If you like Peter Gander's drawing above, you can get it on a t-shirt or mug from FishPrint.

Boat Angling Web Site Survey

As if to prove a point from my previous blog - that if anglers aren't fishing they are probably thinking about fishing - the recent spate of windy weekends has resulted in a lot more activity on fishing forums and web sites, including my own http://www.boat-angling.co.uk/. Although it is not a commercial site (apart from my t-shirts and mugs!) I want to keep it useful for local anglers, and judging from the high visitor statistics I must be doing something right. Things can always be improved, so I have introduced a short survey on the home page using Polldaddy to find out what people want (great name, no wonder the young guys that set it up sold it recently for £millions).

When it has run its course I'll publish the results but already the first flurry of responses has been very interesting. For example, I never realised another local site has introduced subscription charges for those that don't send in catch reports! Rest assured, http://www.boat-angling.co.uk/ will always be free. We have also had opposing views on a forum. Although the idea of a contact exchange forum is a great idea, there are already a lot of sea angling discussion forums available and they take a lot of volunteer work to keep any troublemakers under control. A club meet maybe? Fishing buddy exchange? Summer beach bash after a fish-in? Charter boat reports? All great ideas - please keep them coming in, 2009 could have a lot more action!

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PS Do you think that if I changed the name to Fishingdaddy I could sell it for £millions too?

Why do we do it?

This bad weather is dangerous because when you can't go fishing you start thinking, and we all know thinking leads to trouble. I was reading a forum post recently about charter skippers having to limit the amount of clobber anglers bring with them on board, and I started pondering why we need to buy so much fishing stuff. The only bit of tackle that really matters is the last few inches of line, the hook and the bait. If that is the right sort in the right place at the right time, you'll catch something even if the rest of it is attached to string.

So why do we spend so much on different rods, reels, lines, weights (OK, pass on that one, we keep loosing them!) and every new-fangled thingmy that is a must-have? I have a theory, well two actually. The second theory is that we like to extend our fishing pleasure far beyond the act of dangling line in water, and we do that by browsing shops, magazine averts, mail order catalogues and the Web. We fish for tackle and when we start unwrapping our purchase we get the same little rush of excitement as landing a fish. That is all pretty obvious, and no different from any other sport surrounded by clever merchandising. My first theory is more significant and it is to do with attitude, and attitude creates (or is derived from) confidence. Sorry if this is getting deep, I did warn you. So this is how.

If you have lashed out a wad of money on the best tackle and bait money can buy, you know that it is down to you and the fish. So nothing distracts you, you concentrate, you persevere, you guessed it, you catch fish. On the other hand, with a hook that might be too shiny, a line that you think might be too thick and spook the fish, or with a rod that is just a bit too long/short, you mentally almost give up before you start. You don't believe you will catch, you inwardly blame the gear, you flip about from one mark to the next and go home early, fishless. Your attitude translates into behaviour, and it is that behaviour that catches (or doesn't catch) fish.

If you can buy confidence in the form of £100-worth of black carbon with rings on, sure why not. But if you saved yourself the money and instead convinced yourself that your bait was well presented and in the right place, (and assuming it was) I bet you'd catch something good. Even with a crummy rod.