Watching Fish

[TrevBoy]

wow thanks for the feedback. I haven't been able to get out since then as my van is sick, but am looking forward to it!

 

Regarding the question about the positioning relative to the dropper shot, yeah I guess you have to be crafty to get the bait into the danger zone while the float would be some way off.

 

I've often wondered if I should just take bait, not the rod, but yeah it'd be sooooo frustrating to see the fish feeding in that situation!

[bingo]

Great post. I love watching fish in clear water. Always have done, always will!

 

I don't mind blanking as long as I've seen something special.

 

My polarisng sunglasses are the most important 'extra' I have. In fact, they're not an 'extra', they're essential. i feel blind fishing without them.

[Unimexsol]

On the subject of watching fish, I was walking along a local canal this afternoon with a non-fishing friend, he got quite excited to see so many fish in the crystal clear water. I was lovely to be able to tell him that they were roach, and could be told by the lovely red fins. As we walked along a bit further, I motioned for him to come over and look. There was a small pike sitting and waiting, it couldn't have been longer than about 30 cms. He was more than impressed when it suddenly lunged at a small fry that was swimming past. No more than 10ft further along there were two more pike, both about 15cm long and a mere 2ft from each other but both out of sight of each other due to a small strip of weed. All in all it was lovely to see all these fish, both for me and for my non-fishing friend.

[TrevBoy]

On the subject of watching fish, I was walking along a local canal this afternoon with a non-fishing friend, he got quite excited to see so many fish in the crystal clear water. I was lovely to be able to tell him that they were roach, and could be told by the lovely red fins. As we walked along a bit further, I motioned for him to come over and look. There was a small pike sitting and waiting, it couldn't have been longer than about 30 cms. He was more than impressed when it suddenly lunged at a small fry that was swimming past. No more than 10ft further along there were two more pike, both about 15cm long and a mere 2ft from each other but both out of sight of each other due to a small strip of weed. All in all it was lovely to see all these fish, both for me and for my non-fishing friend.

Yeah - I love seeing them too. Got some new polarising glasses from that ad at the top of the forum - good deal, too. The other day I saw the tiniest pike I think you could ever see. It was no more than 2-3", I kid you not. But it had already "learnt" the lesson of hanging motionless in mid water waiting for summt tasty to go past. Didn't see him catch anything but the shape was unmistakable.

[Dunk Fairley]

I spend most of the closed season fish watching (in lakes as well as rivers). It can get very frustrating at times, but very often when I start to fish at midnight on the 15th of June, I will have a fish within minutes.

 

I reckon it's fair to say that I've caught more fish all in all, after locating them by sight in advance, than I have by sitting it out. My "Long" carp sessions often resulted in more fish being caught by stalking methods (where you seek out individual fish) than long distance, casting to a feature where fish "should" be, typs of angling.

 

The same applies to Chub and Barbel really.

 

Excellent post, well done.

[Steve Burke]

What a really excellent post, Trevor!

 

It's always worth giving up fishing time to observe the fish. It's something I did when I was a youngster, but something I got out of the habit of as I grew up.

 

Then when I moved to the country in the late 70s that all changed. I remember spending much of the close season lying on an old cattle bridge over a small stream, beneath which was a weir. Watching the fish and their reaction to various baits and feeding patterns literally changed my angling - and my results!

 

Indeed, I was once asked during an interview what the turning point in my angling career was. I immediately referred to that old cattle bridge. Up to then, with the odd exception, I'd largely just followed what the old books and the magazines said. What I learnt from watching the fish made me doubt some of this advice, and so I started thinking for myself.

 

Now the worm has turned full circle and I have to qualify my own writing by telling readers not to take my ideas as gospel but go and find out for themselves!