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

[Dick Dastardly]

Well done Chris.There is nothing wrong with palm sized fish mate! I still enjoy catching fish of that size even though Ive had a few a bit bigger.For me it is the bite itself that is the best part as you never know for sure what its going to be or how big!

[argyll]

I'm more pleased that you had an enjoyable day out. Its possible to have a good day by the water and catch nothing but small stuff or even 'blank'. Believe it or not, the so called 'experts' do that from time to time.

Its also gratifying to hear that you used the advice about tackle and tactics wisely and made it work for you. Too often from a position of experience, you give advice to someone about what to buy, where to go, how to do it.. only to find that they go away and do something completely different .. and find that it doesnt work. Good luck with the fishing.

[Steve Randles]

Chris,

 

All good advice you have received here and good words from Chevin about learning for yourself, which your already displaying.

 

Re the Feeder: I'm taking it for granted that you have a quiver tip rod for this, which simply means just that...and the 12 inches or so of the tip will be painted different colours from the rest of the rod.

 

To set up the feeder rig, thread your feeder onto the mainline first then tie on your hook, then between your hook and feeder pinch on a large shot, this will stop your feeder a distance away fom your hook, use distances of anywhere from 1ft to 4ft. When you have cast out, dont have the rod sit directly in front of you pointing at the bait have it at an angle to the bait of anywhere between 0 and 90 degrees. Once your rig is in the water, reel in your line until there is a slight bend at the tip of the rod, watch that tip now and strike at any movement forward or backward untill your more aware of what bites are or are not. One more tip is to cast very accurately and gently, as this is essential to successfull feeder fishing.

 

This is a very basic simple guide to get you going with the feeder.

 

One more thing that may well help in the early days is if you keep a diary, noting such things as weather, water conditions, peg No, bait used fish caught on what method etc etc...even to the extent of what others caught on the venue. It will help you down the line in deciding what way to approach various conditions and help improve your "watercraft"

 

Good luck and welcome to the fold!!

[j_s]

Indeed, do not be embarrassed at all at handsized fish, I do not care what I catch generally. I only get dejected if I go for a session and come back with nothing, not even a bite.

[Jonah13]

Well done Chris, you might be helping me more when we go out fishing than me helping you mate

[Newt]

The absolute best way of getting larger fish is one I use. Needs rod & reel though and not normally possible with a pole. Just fish your prefered tackle and tactic but add in the LRR. It has accounted for almost all my bigger fish since I learned about it.

 

LRR (Long Range Release) is simple enough. Just make sure the fish gets off at least 20 yards away from the bank and before it ever surfaces.

[Pete Elleray]

Well done Chris. And your attitude to the small fish is dead right, not wanting them is the way you progress.

 

Pete

[Dick Dastardly]

Pete Elleray:

Well done Chris. And your attitude to the small fish is dead right, not wanting them is the way you progress.

 

Pete

But in due course! Dont run before you can walk Chris.

 

Im just one of the many guys who just go out week in week out and Im by no means an expert.I have however been fortunate enough to have fished with/fish with some very good and in some cases well known anglers.Some are match anglers but the majority of them are big fish men.They have each been sucsessfull through different reasons in their different fields.One thing they all have in common though is they all learned their trade ,serving their "aprenticeship" by catching small fish first! Allthough most of these top anglers are known as big fish men most could hold their own in club level matchs.

 

All the knowledge they gained catching small fish certainly helps them catch the bigger ones they now concentrate on.More than can be said for guys who come straight in trying for specimens.

 

Also if you want angling to be a life long interest why rush it! As mentioned by Chevin the learning process is all part of the fun.Nothing spurs me on more to catch a fish than if I cant!

 

A great shame if people rush things as they not only miss out on a lot of valuable lessons but also a lot of fun.After being at this game for nearly 40 years now I feel fun is surely what it is all about?

[tommo666]

Don't worry Craynerd. spent 8 hours fishing yesterday for 1no. 3lb chub. Nice fish and a good fight. But in a way I would have prefered your bag! Would post a picture but don't know how.

 

edit note: picture posting on AN explained so we should see a fish or two or three any time now. Newt

 

[ 28. February 2005, 06:10 AM: Message edited by: Newt ]

[craynerd]

Look forward to seeing the pic, that a point, i should take my camera with me in future!

 

There should be a thread or forum for weekend pictures! !!