Baits/Methods/Technology

[Craig T]

Im amazed at the amount of baits etc on the marketplace and some of the rigs as well. I have seen angling start to become pretty complicated. I saw the cocktail pike bait and thought WHY buy this - whats the difference to a good old dead bait, lure of spinner. Do they really (these creations -now frozen packed and sold at extreme prices) give the edge. I actually think not.

 

Surely understanding water is the best method of catching fish? I fish, always, conventional methods and what I beleive to be the most basic of set ups.

 

I beleive a good old selection of table baits, worms of maggots and some fresh fishmonger sardines/mackeral or herring is the most effective mathods one needs. Of course -not being a dedictaed carp fisher I wont really get into the boilie story etc but I do think that the market place is flooded with two much of the same that business is overtaking the true craft? Theres so much money in the sport these days

[Newt]

Surely understanding water is the best method of catching fish?

Ah yes but fancy rigs and exotic baits are the best method of catching lots of money from anglers.

 

In all my years of fishing I've only had one fish tell me he was ashamed of getting caught by such a basic rig as I was using and I'm not positive I understood him so he may have been saying something totally different.

[Moggy]

Ah yes but fancy rigs and exotic baits are the best method of catching lots of money from anglers.

 

In all my years of fishing I've only had one fish tell me he was ashamed of getting caught by such a basic rig as I was using and I'm not positive I understood him so he may have been saying something totally different.

 

So very true...some tackle, baits, accessories etc. are designed to catch fishes, and others to catch fishers. I came back to coarse fishing after 20 years absence, and on examining my rigs, floats etc. after reading this thread, I realise that I still use the same terminal tackle for this discipline as I did way back then. Comes under the heading; "If it ain't broken, don't fix it. I don't fish competitions any longer, so maximising my catch is never the object of the excercise.

 

Got a impulse-buy in the form of "Gulp Nightcrawlers" in my rucksack..."just in case I run out of bait" (I never do) but I'm not convinced that it was a good investment, though I have heard good reports of many species being caught on same. I wish I could say this was the only time I allowed advertising blurb to part me from my hard earned cash....but it's not!

 

Come on guys....hands up! We've all done it...what was yours

 

Moggy

[Anderoo]

Im amazed at the amount of baits etc on the marketplace and some of the rigs as well. I have seen angling start to become pretty complicated. I saw the cocktail pike bait and thought WHY buy this - whats the difference to a good old dead bait, lure of spinner. Do they really (these creations -now frozen packed and sold at extreme prices) give the edge. I actually think not.

 

Surely understanding water is the best method of catching fish? I fish, always, conventional methods and what I beleive to be the most basic of set ups.

 

I beleive a good old selection of table baits, worms of maggots and some fresh fishmonger sardines/mackeral or herring is the most effective mathods one needs. Of course -not being a dedictaed carp fisher I wont really get into the boilie story etc but I do think that the market place is flooded with two much of the same that business is overtaking the true craft? Theres so much money in the sport these days

 

Agreed

 

If I was 'limited' to maggots, bread and worms for the rest of my fishing days I'd be quite content. If I wanted to pike fish I could use the maggots to catch a roach

 

After a brief 'hi-tech' period a season or so ago (using carpy tactics for tench) I'm settling back into fishing much more traditionally, and my catches have remained consistent and in some cases improved. Plus it's just so much more relaxing and enjoyable.

 

The 'understanding water' comment is a nice one, but I think only relates to natural (or naturalised) waters. On heavily stocked lakes (particularly purpose dug ones), watercraft get demoted rather significantly.

[Craig T]

Moggy

 

Yes - I too have been devourded by the odd extreme loures but with regards to terminal tackle I have really kept to the basics. I have tried paternostering for pike with poly balls years and years ago. It looked pretty good in the books but was a real pain in the ar*e for casting etc. I didnt have much confidence in it.

 

The tried and tested ways have always worked. From float fishing to ledgering. Having fly fished for many years the nearest I got to extravagance was the ledendary pond pellet fly which my cousing invented (21 years ago). (He probably wasnt the first!!) But we used to fish a particular trout fishery in Scotland which had tiger trout in it and he used to get cork, fashioned by a razor blade to pellet size, coloured in with a brown permanent marker, slit in the middle and superglued to a hook. As soon as it hit the water - kaboom!

 

It was legendary and we'd pass it on as a snail (Deer hair fly) to all thos who enquired

 

I'll never forget it.