Some things that confuse me

[TrevBoy]

As still a bit of a beginner at the malarky, i frequently find myself confused by this sport. I could make a long list, but I'll give you a few to start off - I'd be pleased to hear some of your own, if you find yourself similarly confused:

 

We are told to keep distrubance to a minimum to avoid scaring fish, but pole fishers seem to succeed despite waving the rod right over the noses of the fish

 

Carp crew dress in camo gear (I even saw one with a camouflaged kettle last week) in an effort to blend in with their surroundings, yet they the park their huge white vans right behind their peg

 

Hooks studiously avoid hooking the fleshy mouths of greedy fish, yet still manage to snag every blade of grass, welly inner, seed head and strand of weed anywhere to be found.

 

Little and often is the way to go, except when it isn't.

[chesters1]

youve discovered the joys of fishing ,its very impracticability to follow rules

catching very quiet to catch tench or chucking in a rake a score of times to attract tench ,logic! not in fishing

Edited June 14, 2008 by chesters1

[Mark Crame]

Camo is ****s. I sit in a 5 metre yellow kayak and catch loads. Mind you, I did nearly get myself shot once...

[Neil G]

Same old story

 

I'm sure people will add to these as well lol I'm going to start by mentioning people smashing in bivvy/brolly pegs on the bank and probably giving the fish a headache

[Steve Burke]

I've found it's much easier to approach fish by boat than on land, especially if you're sitting down and not moving your head or arms. Both afloat and on the bank it seems that movement in particular scares fish, as do vibrations

 

Having said that, it does vary from species to species. At Wingham I've never got anywhere near a big perch despite perch being the predominant species, and only a couple of times have we spotted bream from the boat.

 

On the other hand we've been able to approach much nearer to carp, tench and pike. Indeed, many of the carp have been quite curious!

 

On land it's usually a different matter altogether. Most anglers have no idea just how many fish they scare! They point to the fact that they do catch fish. Of course you can catch fish when you're in full view of them. But I firmly believe you'll catch far more if you're stealthy, especially the specimens.

 

David Carl Forbes wrote how on a small river he witnessed a host of agitated fish swimming past him. He assumed there was a predator on the prowl.

 

There was - a human! A little later another angler walked along the bank taking less care than he had!

Edited June 22, 2008 by Steve Burke