New look Sea Angler mag

[FearTheHands]

*Takes deep breath*

 

Firstly, I am very much a novice when it comes to any form of fishing. I have lived in the Midlands all my life & the ONLY exposure to fishing I have ever had was a mackerel boat my dad took me on in 1978.

The nearest coastline to me is almost 100 miles away.

 

I am now 34 years old & have taken up sea fishing, mainly because I want to eat what I catch.

 

I knew I wanted to start fishing but was extremely nervous about dipping my toe in the water.

I spent a week driving around Dorset, Devon & Cornwall, June this year & took particular note at what all the anglers were doing. I knew I wanted to fish from the beach as a starting point & did a bit of research on the internet about the basics. This was ALOT harder than I anticipated. Basically - if you don't know what you are looking for, you ain't gonna find it. Assumption of basics is prevalent.

 

I finally took the plunge on my next trip & asked the advice from *A shop at West Bay*. They sold me a 10ft Ron Thompson Beachcaster, which I was chuffed to bits with. They did however assume a certain basic knowledge, which I didn't have. I repeatedly told them I had NO experience at fishing at ANY level, but they assured me what they had sold me would be easy to "figure out"

 

We then moved on to Padstow. As I said, I have had NO exposure to fishing whatsoever, so even the extreme basics were a minefield to me.

 

I had been sold a "Flattie" rig & a set of mackerel feathers (I only know that now).

I spent an hour on the beach at Padstow trying to figure out my new rod & the feathers (no-one around to ask). Needless to say I tied the rig to my line & on my second cast my line snapped & I lost the lot.

 

I bought a book called "Sea Fishing Encyclopaedia" from a shop in Padstow & stayed up most of the night reading it.

 

Even this book assumed a certain amount of knowledge which I just didn't have.

It assumed that I knew that ledgering was fishing on the bottom, it assumed that I knew how to tie a basic know, it assumed that I knew what feathers were - I had no clue. I just needed pointing in the right direction.

 

The following morning I went into the tackle shop in Padstow & asked the female assistant if she could help me with the basics.

She was extremely obliging & not patronising in the least & put me right on the extreme basics of fishing. This allowed me to start spinning for fish (the most basic method I could grasp) & gave me a good feel for fishing.

 

Since then I have had a few trips to Dorset, talked to lots of anglers, read lots of books, watched a s****load of TV programmes & am just beginning to get the basics of sea fishing.

 

My point is to all of the experienced anglers out there:

 

Don't take the p***s out of basic questions - we all have to start somewhere.

The 1st port of call for a novice like me is such things like Sea Angler magazine & their "basic" guides like how to tie knots & "what is Ledgering" questions, along with forums like this one.

I now know the answers to these type of questions but at the time it is a HUGE learning curve, if, like me you have had no exposure to ANY type of fishing before.

I have been asked a couple of time for advice from holiday anglers who assume I am a local whilst on holiday & it has been a great pleasure to pass on the valid advice I have been given.

 

I have become an expert on many things in my short life mostly thanks to help from experts who didn't think themselves too big to help out novices like me & I have been happy to pass on this information to others knowing that "We all have to start somewhere"

 

There appears to be a lot of snobbery (by some) when it comes to fishing which very much puts off novice anglers from asking "stupid questions" & potentially loses an angler who could be "hooked for life"

 

I have posted a couple of questions on this forum so far & have received differing replies.

Amongst those replies, thankfully I have had replies from people who have really helped me out & have helped me move on to the next stage of my angling career.

 

All I would say is - Please don't treat EVERYONE like an idiot - an idiot is :

 

quote:

---

A person of profound mental retardation having a mental age below three years and generally being unable to learn connected speech or guard against common dangers.

---

Most of us just want to learn how to do things without being mocked & ridiculed by "The Experts"

 

Don't put someone off fishing, for life simply because they don't know what ledgering is ....!!

 

Thanks to all the people who have put me right on my 1st steps towards becoming a sea angler, I REALLY appreciate your help - shame on you who take the p**s

 

*Exhales*

 

[ 30. September 2004, 12:30 AM: Message edited by: FearTheHands ]

[Newt]

Very valid points and something we should try to remember when dealing with folks having questions.

 

Speaking of questions, I have one. I read on this thread how silly a large number of posters think that particular magazine is - not only the one issue but in general so ...

 

Why are you still reading it?

[*Ant*]

Good post FearTheHands. One thing that does bother me though.....it would seem I am officially an idiot.

[John E Ashford]

FearTheHands:

*Takes deep breath*

 

Firstly, I am very much a novice when it comes to any form of fishing. I have lived in the Midlands all my life & the ONLY exposure to fishing I have ever had was a mackerel boat my dad took me on in 1978.

The nearest coastline to me is almost 100 miles away.

 

I am now 34 years old & have taken up sea fishing, mainly because I want to eat what I catch.

 

*Exhales*

FearTheHands, please get in touch and I will help in what ever way I can.

 

desfordsas@aol.com

[Pugs]

FearTheHands and moderators:

 

Great post.

 

moderators:

Maybe we ought to have a dedicated 'beginner' section with topics on such things as basic knots, rigs, methods, types of rods/reels...the list goes on.

 

New people starting up need to be helped along the way and after all they are going to strenghten our cause and be the future for our sport.

 

Pugs

[Socksy Squirrel]

People buy Sea Angler for one or more of the following reasons;

 

1) They are beginners and it is a goodish source of info. Don't take too much notice of what they are catching though as it will be two months out of date.

 

2) To look at the latest gear, fantasise about bone fishing etc.

 

3) They print pictures of people with big fish so their is always a chance of spotting a mate in there with the fish of a lifetime.

 

4) Something to talk about down the pier / tackle shop.

"Seen the latest Sea Angler, it was rubbish"

"Yeah, nothing in there that I didn't know already"

Bond established, you are both good anglers and can move on to catch reports, moaning about the weather.

[A Norfolk Boy]

Luckily I hadn't taken the **** out of Sea Angler given FeartheHands humbling response.

 

I will however knock it for poor editorial control; grammar, quality of articles (some seem as if they were written in a style of 20-30 years ago), inaccurate directing to articles (ie, page numbers), conflicting tackle reviews by the same person (such as on Penn Viper), articles not appearing that were promoted in the previous article, articles not including detail on the billing etc. In other words, not professional enough.

 

As for the 'form' reports the magazine is distributed well in advance of its cover date, and any content would be with the editor some time before that, so they do not provide a current form guide as may be thought. It might be what was caught some weeks back, or I would hope, a guide to what visitors might hope to catch.

 

I once had a letter printed and the response was the opposite to anything that had previously been advised(!?). Anyway, if you fancy some free tackle its worth a punt, just study the type of letters that win. My suspicion is that the letters section is really just an area to explain the basics to newcomers, rather then having dedicated articles to it.

 

On repeated articles, there is only so much that can be written about fishing and given the downbeat responses, I wouldn't think there are too many people who would buy enough magazines to read the same article twice.

 

I did subscribe for the free kit, and now buy for a bit of fun and to check on prices/ kit. I might give the other mag a look, is it 'Total Sea Fishing'?

[tack4]

well said pugs

as a newbie i appreciate all the help i can get

first few times out i clipped pulley rig on upside down and didn't know that the arrow poinitng right meant a westerly

Have picked up plenty info from hear tackle shops and much from sea angler

I for one would welcome a beginner section

[Guest gus angus]

for anyone starting out boat fishing then Boat Fishing Monthly by Jim Whippy easily out does the other two for content and good old common sense.

[phil dean]

Well hello new posters one and all, great post fear the hands, and fair, I'm an experienced angler but sea fishing is not my main forum, so I often spend time talking to and watching other anglers, from this I not only learnt a lot, but also came to realise that alot of anglers don't know "the basics", eg they still don't use a shock leader when casting out 5oz weights, and wonder why they snap off..

 

From my point of view, keep asking the basic questions, even old hands can pick things up and learn as they go on.

 

When I manage to go out sea fishing with some of the people from here I will be begging every scrap of advice and information as I do with every branch of the sport.