good session must = catching fish?

[Phone]

All,

 

I'll ramble a bit. Are there to many threads that equate catching and quality fishing as the same thing.??

 

Is it not acceptable to set a goal - say - to catch a perch on a pink frog - and then stick with it. Often, in fact, mostly toward the end of my "specialist" years I set parameters (sp?) that were not necessarily conducive to catching "lots" of fish (or often any fish).

 

What should the standard be? At some point catching has to be the primary goal (depending on station in life I suppose) and yet it surely isn't the only thing.

 

BTW - what goes around comes around. Now, since I don't get to go often I've once again become a "catch anything" angler.

 

Phone

 

[corydoras]

Not for me Phone. I only fish for thick lipped mullet and they can be a challenge to catch so blanking is the norm. Just having a nice day out of doors is the main thing. If I catch a mullet then so much the better.

[Worms]

Pretty much as Cory says. Two days stand out for me in my fishing "career" One was sea fishing. We were going for a summer trip on tope (shark) but took some spinning gear just in case we came across bass.....we did, the gannets were hitting the baitfish hard, we drifted past and lobbed spinners at the bass for an hour or so. We had a couple of dozen fish on light gear before seals became a problem snaffling fish off our hooks so, we steamed off for a relaxed few hours on the tope....we had 25 between four of us including my first (35lb) on a split cane rod and pin! Great stuff.

 

The other one was whilst upstream nymph fishing for grayling using a split cane rod and silk line. I had my first sea-trout that took me down to the backing in seconds (3wt rod and line)....I've never run so fast in waders in my life! it was only 1 1/2lb as well!

 

As for blanking? A relaxing day on a riverbank watching and listening to the wildlife is the best office I've ever had!

Edited October 31, 2014 by Worms

[corydoras]

Reminds me a bit of the very first time my dad took me sea fishing. It was of the rocks at Coulport back in the days when you could still fish there.

 

I had an old spinning rod with an open faced reel and a lump of lead with a ragworm for bait.

 

I got bored after the first half hour or so, then my dad put a new rag worm on and lobbed my line out as far as he could. 10 minutes later I had my first fish, 12lb of winter cod. Never looked back.

 

When I was in the Merchant Navy I always used to take a boat rod and reel with me. One day we broke down for a few hours in the afternoon and so I go the rod out and started pirking off the poop deck. I managed to get into a dolphin fish. I didn't have a hope of getting it on board but it was ten minutes of pure excitement until it eventually but inevitably got the hook out.

[barry luxton]

 

Wot about the tope trip off the north welsh coast you took me on Nick that was a fun day, you was a right blanker that day?

 

I weren't much better, only had one.

 

Your fish pie made up for it though.

[BobH]

^{For me it's the it's being by the waterside, the weather, the flora and fauna, the expectancy, the challenge ; they are all just as important to me as the catching of a certain fish or the size of the fish.}

 

^{Blanking is an excuse to be at the venue, whether you catch or not, if it was all about catching I would use a Net ?}

 

^Bob

Edited November 1, 2014 by BobH

[ayjay]

Is it not acceptable to set a goal - say - to catch a perch on a pink frog - and then stick with it. Often, in fact, mostly toward the end of my "specialist" years I set parameters (sp?) that were not necessarily conducive to catching "lots" of fish (or often any fish).

 

I don't do it any more (situations change) but when I used to fish the Lea regularly, (Saturday Sunday and a couple of evenings per week) I used to use Saturday to experiment, I'd take something different as bait, something not commonly used as bait and no "proper" baits so I couldn't cheat, I rarely caught much on those sessions and never discovered any new bait phenomenons but I was fishing.

[Sportsman]

If I go fishing with a baited hook then obviously I want to catch, otherwise I wouldn't bother with the baited hook.

This doesn't mean that I don/t sometimes blank. It also doesn't mean that I can't, or don't, enjoy all of the other aspects of a days fishing.

If I just want a day in the country, or to commune with nature, then I don't take the fishing gear.

[Tigger]

If I go fishing i'd much rather catch a fish and the more the merrier for me. Ok it's nice to be out and about in the countyside but if that's all I wanted i'd go for a walk with the dogs instead, infact the dogs are giving me the look right now (they're desperate to catch one of the hundreds of tree rats in the woods behind us) so i'm just about to do that .

[Dales]

Both Sportman and Tigger sum it up for me nicely. I go fishing to catch fish and while I enjoy the whole being out doors experience of going fishing, I enjoy that by just being out and about anyway. If I pack a rod and tackle to go out with then if I don't catch then I will always have at least a little sense of disappointment and failure.

 

It does not matter what other enjoyable sights or experiences I had that day, not catching sucks. Saying that, fishing does put you in the right place at the right time to see some great stuff but can't think that not catching a big fish on the same day would not make the trip a hell of a lot better.