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If You Could Offer One Tip...

Robert West said:
Check and check again that you’ve got everything before you set off. Meeting my son on the d/stour a few months ago i forgot my landing net. he got me one from the tackle shop on his way.
Also I left my reading glasses behind the other week couldn’t see any thing with in arms reach😂
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My first trip to the Wasing estate on the Kennet, I forgot the spreader block for the landing net. Managed to make one from a forked branch with a penknife. I never got to find out if it did the job as that was the first of many blanks on that river.
 
If using a work van to go fishing, make sure your work tools are secure before putting your beloved tackle alongside.
On a bumpy track down to the river I heard a dull thump combined with the distinct crack thinking I know what's happened there. On opening the bank of the van my fears were proved right - a folded ladder had fallen from the racking smashing the top of a recently hand-built jobbie. 😂
Improved my catch rate learning that lesson, well least had a rod to fish with. 😄
 
Mike Hodgkiss said:
Make sure your lid is firmly on your bait tin full of maggots , I failed to do this on a trip to the Wye one summer . It took me hours to try and find them all in the crevices of my van . A week later I still had a biblical plague of bluebottles to deal with . Lesson learn't .....
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Mike, I had a similar thing happen in the 1970's. I was running a mini OEG 167 if my memory serves. My mate was a right untidy begger and I used to pick him up every Sunday to go fishing. Mid week on a hot day I left work and walked to my car. The Windows were all black, thousands of blue bottles had hatched. It was like it for days, I was driving everywhere with the Windows open. In the end I stripped everything I could out of the car to get rid of them. My mate thought it was a great laugh, my girlfriend didn't.
 
Damian Kimmins said:
If using a work van to go fishing, make sure your work tools are secure before putting your beloved tackle alongside.
On a bumpy track down to the river I heard a dull thump combined with the distinct crack thinking I know what's happened there. On opening the bank of the van my fears were proved right - a folded ladder had fallen from the racking smashing the top of a recently hand-built jobbie. 😂
Improved my catch rate learning that lesson, well least had a rod to fish with. 😄
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You could do what my mate did and take all the work stuff out and just have your fishing gear in there ready to go straight from work and end up with the gaffers coming out to do van checks lol. They weren’t best pleased
 
Mike Hodgkiss said:
Dick Walkers mantra still holds weight '' first find your fish then, don't do anything to scare them off '' [ this is a paraphrasing but captures the essence of what he was meaning ]
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Indeed, an acquaintance is a very keen and successful carp angler but not exclusively. A few years ago he was fishing a lightly stocked barbel river which contains some real whoppers. Several captures over 15lb up to nearly 20lb.
He armed himself with a powerful torch and when it was dark he went looking for them. He found a group of about 5 fish, probably the only fish in the stretch. With the location knowledge, he had a couple out easily on the first attempt, both over 15lb.
That's the way to do it!
 
IF your fish has had a long battle and /or you have had it out of the water for weighing and/or photos
PLEASE REST IT FOR A DECENT AMOUNT OF TIME dont treat it like a Carp !!!!
if you do it will stand a good chance of going belly up 10 yards down stream

I fish a stretch below Collingham weir
and almost every time I have fished it dead barbel have floated by belly up on the surface some big fish too its heart breaking
 
Alex Dalton said:
Don't set up to close to the angler on the tidal trent that has a car parked at a angle that turns the main beam on each time to photo a fish. Similar how do the stoners stop themselves crashing down the bank when they get a run watching netflicks a la bivie at least 20 yards away from rods .
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I’ve never understood that, when I night fish, I literally sleep on top of my rods. I see plenty of pictures on other platforms of people set up 15/20 yards away. Where I fish you might catch 1 in 5 sessions, you don’t want to miss that opportunity or have a frank spencer moment
 
If the weather in winter is bobbins,freezing and river too high try something else fish wise maybe a bit of sea fishing makes a change and who knows what you can catch , I am old enough to remember when Angling times included sea species, and does stop the can't be arsed cabin fever setting in.
 
Graham Tremble said:
Agreed Mark, but just occasionally that ‘sixth’ sense won’t allow you to move. A few years ago I was fishing the Warks. Avon in late Autumn. It had been a sunny cloudless day and as I arrived at the river the temperature was plummeting. Even a brisk walk did not warm me and I considered going home and not wasting my time. I tackled up and cast in. Four hours later my teeth were chattering and my fingers were frozen solid but I could not leave….I just ‘knew’ I would catch a special fish. At 12.10 my rod tip barely flickered but I struck and was rewarded with a beautifully conditioned 12+.
Like others have mentioned, that sixth sense is rarely wrong, don’t ignore it.
G.T.
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I totally agree. I may be new to the sport, but having started with lure fishing, I have got into the habit of never staying too long in any one spot, no matter how good it looks.

Several months back, I arrived at a spot where three anglers were packing up. They looked miserable and stated that they had been fishing the spot for a week straight with no success beyond the odd Bream.

Having walked a fair bit, I thought I would take a look. I had been there before, but for some reason it just felt fishy. I was convinced for whatever reason something lurked in those depths.

For a couple of hours I stayed, trying my luck for some carp (something I do rarely). Some nibbles, I assumed some bream but apart from that, dead.
Still convinced something was out there, I replaced the carp rod with my KUYING SUPERLITE Ajing solid tip Perch rod (rated 0.6g to 10g) on an ultra light running rig; I often use it for streams or canals as a lighter alternative to a quiver tip.

Several minutes went by, and multiple shy bites then the tip displayed the promising “triple” bites. I thought it was likely something small considering how subtle the bites were, but struck nonetheless. I caught my Central London PB common

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followed by my PB scaly just 30 minutes later.

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The battle with both fish was electric, I could hardly exert any pressure and the area was very snaggy and I only had a size 16 hook. One of my most memorable fishing experiences to date. It still makes me smile when revisiting the memory.

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If it had not been for that "sixth" sense I would never have insisted and tried such a subtle approach.

It was also the first time I had taken a drop net with me. I had only ever lure fished the spot and knew something more substancial was needed but never imagined it would have been baptised on it's first journey.

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For an extended session, take extra batteries…. 🤣🤣🤣🤣


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