My First Successful Day Fishing........hurraa!

[craynerd]

Thank you all very much for those who helped me in my tackle selection and hints and tips in my recent posts this week! I have caught a fish, or should i say 14 !!! All very good after Wednesdays disaster!

 

Went to Bradshaw fisheries, commercial lodge so i suppose it would have been difficult not to catch one as i was there 7 -4:30 but i`m pleased, at least my tackle works ! hehe

 

Now for the embarassing bit....the mojority where no damn bigger than the palm of my hand lol, still was good to learn! And to confess further i went on the practice lodge - lodge 7, so even less skill required! BUT i`m glad it did, i was getting so many bites that i wasn`t worried about missing fish, so it ment i could practice and try out different things! My casting has improved for sure, but i still need to go out with someone experienced to learn the little tricks and hints to bag those extra missed bites! So i can`t wait to go with Jonah this Wednesday, hopefully should be a good day! :-P

 

I now have a feeder rod! However i used the float all day today as i was unsure of the rig setup needed for the feeder or ledger. I imagine i would have netted some bigger fish that way tho!

 

A couple of points i wanted to make:

 

1) You guys said use little free feed/free bait in this weather, however i noticed a guy sittin near me and he was hammering the maggots to them, about 10-20 every 5-10 minutes! I started doing this and got my bigger fish this way! Is that because i was almost "feeding off" the smaller fish ?

 

2) Also is float fishing the bottom of the lodge always practicle when the lodge is deep. To hit the bottom i needed to be just under a rods length, i couldnt cast and couldnt manipulte the rod as well with such a length line!? should i have moved to ledger there ? Or do i not need to fish as deep, however i thought u guys said fish off the bottom ?

 

3) Why the hell is EVERYONE who looks like they know what they are doing fishing a pole ???????

 

4) I moved from the practice lodge and into lodge 4 mid way through, yet still hit tiddlers, how do you target the bigger fish ?

 

So there you go.....i would class it as a very successful day for me, i have certainly learnt a lot and got even more excited for the bigger fish in summer! Just need to learn a bit more how to use my ledger rod and i will be much happier!

 

Chris

[jedibond]

Well done Chris, glad to see your first experience didn't put you off !

[poledark]

quote:

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Why the hell is EVERYONE who looks like they know what they are doing fishing a pole ???????

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cos' they have reached that pinnacle of the art of angling...

 

Den

[John S]

Well done on a good days' fishing cray

 

Picking up a couple of your points....

 

1. Putting 10-20 in every 5-10 minutes isn't really 'hammering', I would be putting about that many in if it was bringing the fish into my swim (and keeping them once they were there). Generally speaking, larger fish will hang around the outside of a shoal of smaller fish, and once they see them feeding will move in on the food themselves. Don't always think that someone else knows what they are doing, by all means observe other anglers, but remember (s)he could be making a pig's ear of it

 

3. Pole fishing allows you to position your bait precisely where you want it, but imo there are very few situations where using a pole will get you more fish than by using rod and line. Learn to cast accurately and you will not be disappointed. If you have a large garden or a grassy area nearby, practice your casting there

[j_s]

Chris, generally in the winter smaller amounts of feed is the way to go but on some days the fish go on a binge and scoff a lot of food, you can then generally chuck tons in and have a brilliant fish a chuck day of fishing.

If you put the effort in you are generally rewarded

[rob.i]

good stuff Chris stick at it the big uns will come

[craynerd]

Thanks guys!! Gonna go out tomorow, but just for the morning. got a few maggots left so might as well use them on a local lodge than chuck them away!

 

I`ll let you know how it goes...

 

With regards to the pole comment, there was a comp on one of the lakes, and out of the 15-20 anglers there i would say approx 12-17 !! were using pole!

 

Anyways as you say, lets learn to use a rod and reel first ey!

 

Chris

Chris

[chevin]

craynerd:

Now for the embarassing bit....the mojority where no damn bigger than the palm of my hand lol, still was good to learn!

 

Chris

That shouldn't be embarrassing, those fish will be the ones you will remember long after you have forgotten much better fish. It is sad that these days so many anglers expect so much more from their fishing than their experience warrants. So much of the fun in fishing was learning at the water. Learning what the fish are doing and why they are doing it. Learning how to go about beating them, why some things worked and why others didn't. To learn from books; you had to search out the books you needed and you learned from others while you did that.

 

I think that the net is a wonderful thing in the way it helps potential anglers on how to select the tackle they need, but I am afraid that I don't see it as doing those same people any favours when it is putting fish into their nets and almost eliminating one of the most enjoyable learning processes in angling.

 

I guess that I will be termed old-fashined these days, but I know that I remember, with great pleasure, those magical days spent at the waterside, both salt and fresh, when I worked out so many of the ways of catching my fish through my own initiative.

 

I have caught a lot of good fish since then and although I have forgotten a lot of those, I have never forgotten the very first fish I caught on hook and line - even though it was only about two inches long - or the pleasure and excitment I derived from its capture.

 

[ 27. February 2005, 04:28 AM: Message edited by: chevin ]

[craynerd]

Nice comment chevin, and i understand where you are coming from. My only response would be to say that, as a "complete" beginner i would rather someone show me the basics and i improve. Yesterday in a post above, somebody said that bigger fish sometimes stay to the edge of the shoals, and i was pleased that i actually found this out myself! A wayward cast actually got me a bigger fish, and i noticed this and started fishing the edges of my feed.

 

Another thing i learnt myself was a better casting technique. Occasionally when i cast in i noticed my hook got tangled with my float, ultimately cutting out and lot of its length and tangling. I found a good way to combat this and get a better cast was to cast in but just the as line was about to hit the water, just tap my finger on the line. This had the effect of jolting the line, every so very very slightly, but just enough to cause the hook end to fly out further, straightening the line and causing a better cast. Is this a common method? It was definitely working for me, even had a few bites immediately as the line sunk in a nicer arc!

 

However, when it comes to things like feeders and ledger rigs, and other intricacies like such, it is hard to just learn those yourself! For example, I’m unsure even how to start using a feeder!!!

 

But i guess you are right, these probably will be the fish i remember the longest! I just thought it would be embarrassing talking about my palm size fish when you guys start chatting about you 10lb+ . lol

 

Chris

[chevin]

You will probably find that anyone who sneers at your "Palm sized" fish only talk about 10lb+ fish. It is more than likely that they don't catch many of them. I think it took me about 15 years to get my first double and I think that it was an 11lb carp. It seemed to be important at the time, but the years have proved that my first fish was far more important to me. I couldn't tell you how many fish over 100lbs that I have caught - or what they all were. But I still remember that first fish.

 

Take no notice of what others say or claim. During a recent visit to the UK I saw two "Carp" anglers fishing a pay and catch water and one of them caught a carp. After a lot of high fives and whooping they began to estimate it's weight. One said 11 - 12lbs, the other said 14 - 15lbs. I was astonished because I estimated it at 7 - 8lbs. I suggested they weighed it which eventually they did. It was 7lbs 8ozs. If it hadn't been weighed they would probably have agreed on 13lbs., and talked of "another double". Believe me, a lot of those who blithly talk of doubles or "Chub from 4lbs to 6lbs" etc etc. are simply talking!

 

The method you are using to straighten your line is a good one. In some situations you can put lead closer to your hook and that will have a similar effect. I don't know what kind of float you use, but a very light one such as a piece of peacock quill will often help as well.

 

I can understand your desire to learn quickly from the net and to a degree it is a good idea. But to be a good angler ie. an angler who can go to any water, read the conditions and catch a particular species of fish is an ability that has to be developed at the waterside. It is important to learn about the fish themselves and only observation will help you there. A good angler will probably out fish successful anglers on pay and catch waters, but it is most unlikely that an angler who is only successful on that type of water would ever come close to a good angler on a natural fishery.

 

As an aside, I will relate an event in which I was involved just recently. My brother and his wife have bought a home close to the ocean and have said that they will take up fishing. As they were staying with me while house hunting, I said that I would take them to my favourite fishing place about 1300kms up the road. They are absolute novices rather like you. Anyway, we got to the venue and went out on my boat and before they could even handle tackle properly they were hooking fish the like of which they hadn't dreamt of catching! They were broken time and time again and they caught fish for which a lot of anglers would give their eye teeth. At the end of the trip they told me that they had enjoyed it immensely but I sat back and just wondered if I had really done them any favours. They can move into their new home, walk down to the beach, start fishing and they will probably be hoping to catch fish like they caught on that trip - but they wont! I have probably spoiled their real start to angling. What they did was rather like a kid starting boxing saying. "OK, for my first fight I'll have a crack at Tyson and then see where to go from there". It would probably have been far better if I had taken them down to the beach, let them do everything themselves and catch a few blow fish. They would have got far more personal satisfaction and pleasure from them in the long run.