Sleeping whilst fishing

[Vagabond]

Couldn't answer the poll, because I don't use bite alarms, and when night fishing I neither reel in permanently nor sleep.

 

The only use I have for a sleeping bag is not for sleeping, but to lie in it (unzipped) when beach fishing on winter nights - so that I can keep my hands warm, rest my back, keep out of the wind, but can still watch a rod-tip against the sky. Keeping hands warm whilst fishing on a January night is essential, else after landing and unhooking a cold fish or so, your hands get too numb to reel in!

 

Last time I mentioned sleeping bags for beach fishing one or two of our more quarrelsome members ignored the context, fastened on the word "sleeping" and read me the type of lecture this thread is bound to generate.

 

I have never owned a bedchair - I only use an upright folding chair.

 

I have never owned a bivvie until last year, when I bought one, not to sleep in, but to use as a rain shelter for longer sessions, (short sessions, up to about four hours, I just stick it out in my waterproofs and leave the bivvie at home) . Having got thoroughly p1ssed off with a succession of brollies, I find the bivvie almost as quick to erect, and it doesn't (so far) go mechanically wrong/come adrift when you need it most, nor blow into the lake, and is roomy enough to keep your gear dry.

 

If nightfishing freshwater, I only use one rod, and hold it - and if there is a decent moon I might even float fish ! - but then, I don't fish for the "one bite a week if you're lucky" type of fish. It will be chub/roach in the river or tench/roach in the lake.

[Anderoo]

Oh my God, are we really having this discussion

 

Next poll will be 'is it OK to fish at night for sea trout while wading'.

 

I will vote a vehement 'NO', I have never done it but I can think of lots of reasons against it, and it makes my blood boil to think that it might be harmless and that other people might enjoy it My main objection is that if people can't catch sea trout properly, they shouldn't fish for them at all

[John Weddup]

Actually maybe not everything banned we could still use a split cane rod with a centrepin to trot a float in a southern drought hit river with no water, no otters and no fish.

 

we should be able to do that safely. Without offending anyone. And not harming anything.

 

John

[Anderoo]

If nightfishing freshwater, I only use one rod, and hold it - and if there is a decent moon I might even float fish ! - but then, I don't fish for the "one bite a week if you're lucky" type of fish. It will be chub/roach in the river or tench/roach in the lake.

 

When I fish at night for chub or roach I do the same as you, I don't sleep, use one rod, and concentrate.

[AddictedToScopex]

I very rarely(almost never) sleep when nightfishing as generally I am fishing a river at night and so dont fancy waking up to see my rod ripping off upstream with an angry barbel on the other end or for the level to rise and me not be awake to realise. Plus the night is by far the best time to catch the big lumps on the stretch I fish.

 

I always find it almost impossible to sleep while night fishing. The excitement keeps me up. The only exception to this was at Wingham last year when I was so exhausted I had no choice but to fall asleep. I had had 2 hours sleep followed by a 7 hour drive and then a whole day of setting up and eating bbq etc (people could probably tell I was tired by my lack of social interaction). By the time night came I was absolutely running on fumes. I set the alarms up and fell asleep but as JB said it was a very light sleep and the slightest beep saw me sat up staring out at the alarms in the hope they would scream off with a tench on the other end.

 

I will openly admit that such was my desire to catch a large wingham tench that I did not even consider reelnig in while I slept. This was most likely due to the fact that I was only there for one day and wanted to make the most of my chances to catch a good fish. As most have said had I been fishing for pike I would not have slept or would have reeled in as the circumstances of how they hook themselves is different and a deep hooking with two sets of trebles could easily prove dangerous to angler and fish.

 

Ironically I actually caught a pike that night on the worms that were left out for the tench.

 

I understand the concern that people have regarding tha dangers of running past rods etc but I always make sure to set up some kind of light that acts as a 'stop here' indicator to avoid this exact situation and it surprises me that others don't. In the case of wingham I had isotopes on my indicators as well as lights that switch on on my alarms to indicate they are on in the dark. Safety is always a paramount concern of mine.

[Mat Hillman]

yes I sleep while night fishing, Sometimes I doze off by the rods during the day too! As a sufferer of Pernicious Anaemia I don't always have full control over when I fall asleep

 

OTOH I would only fish while fully awake for pike, too much risk of deep hooking!

 

Mat

[Now there's a right un.]

In all the years of night fishing I have never slept with baits in the water.

It is dangerous as the fish can take the bait down too far in the time it would take you to awaken and strike.

 

If I am on session I sleep from about 8am-1pm and then re-cast.

 

Caught my best fish ever at 2am using touch method with a nightlight attached to my rod tip.

The bite was deceptively gentle but what a result.

I landed a 42lb Common Carp on a stretch of the river trent in Newark on Luncheon meat in 1994.

I missed out on a £1,000 prize because in my excitement I mistakenly re-loaded a used 35mm film into my camera.

No digital for me in those days....

As a result I had 2 sets of pictures on each print and some that were cut in half. Still have the pics somewhere.

[Mat Hillman]

In all the years of night fishing I have never slept with baits in the water.

It is dangerous as the fish can take the bait down too far in the time it would take you to awaken and strike.

 

 

Personally I've never had a problem with deep hooking, using a decent self hooking rig means the fish are always neatly hooked in the lip, in fact the fish is hooked as soon as you hear the first beep on the alarm, makes no difference if you are awake or asleep!

 

 

Sleeping while fishing is not an issue as long as some thought is applied by the angler. and an unthinking crappy angler is just as much a danger to the fish whether awake or asleep

 

Mat

Edited January 19, 2012 by Mat Hillman

[Anderoo]

It is dangerous as the fish can take the bait down too far in the time it would take you to awaken and strike.

 

That's easily solved by using different rigs though.

[Dales]

I am genuinely stunned that any one who knows 0.0001% about fishing can think that night fishing with the correct rigs for certain species is in any way unsafe.

 

Even the worst nobbies in the world would struggle to get it wrong and deep hook a fish, it's almost like dark magic and unreal the way you hook fish in the correct spot. Depending on what rig you use, I could forcast with some accuracy which part of the lip the fish will even be hooked in.

 

What larks, it's such great fun to try to impose our own fishing views on everyone else's style of fishing I love it