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Now Why...

Damian Kimmins

Damian Kimmins

Senior Member
...would we want to lose the anticipation of this next week?

Putting lines on my reels this morning and sorting out my bag this afternoon.
Bait has been bought and strategy decided.

I can't wait!


Damian
 
Agreed, the anticipation, weekly 'stock ups' at tackle shop, sorting rigs, checking weather and water, counting down the days, hours and minutes, looking forward to the fishing, friendships and fish! Success and failure assured throughout the season!

Tight Lines
 
Damian Kimmins said:
...would we want to lose the anticipation of this next week?

Putting lines on my reels this morning and sorting out my bag this afternoon.
Bait has been bought and strategy decided.
Click to expand...

. . . only to arrive at your chosen venue to find every man and his dog has gone on the same day and most arrived before you, some having camped in the better swims for days to ensure they get the spot they want. You walk the banks looking for a spare peg to squeeze into only to realise the fish are still spawning. :(

Ah yes, the glorious 16th! :rolleyes:
 
I'm a happy man today - Spending most of it in the back garden, fishing gear laid out, sorting. What a pleasant way to spend a sunday...
 
16th

I really look forward to the midnight first cast, but this year I , through circumstances beyond my control, will be fishing for Spurdog, and Ray in Loch Etive, that being said, when I get back all the gear is ready for my first trip of the season,as said, gear sorted, newly spooled reels, rigs made, bait sorted , apart from hemp, which will be prepared in a flask the night before.
Just hope my rod licence arrives in time, ordered on line 3 days ago.

So, tight lines and good luck to all who manage the first day.

Dave
 
It clearly retains a certain magic that would be sadly lost if the close season were to be abandoned. The anticipation, the building excitement and the expectation would all just melt away.
 
I'm all excited too. Got the reels out for a service, there's a good UTube clip on how to do it. Managed to get a Shimano 5000XTEA from EBay and decided to give it a service. Unfortunately some of my screwdrivers didn't quite fit but managed to get the screws out in the end. The inside didn't look quite like the UTube clip and when greasing up the cogs some springs and other odd looking bits sprung out. Most bits have gone back in except some washers which seem to have no function. Got the case back on and off to B&Q to get some screws as some of the originals won't go back in. Next job, to service the Delkims. Apparently some of the connections can dry out over the close season and these need to be checked over and re-soldered where necessary. Some people have told me to get a life, but they don't live in the reel World. Top tip, don't rush to the riverside on the 16th, wait until the "crack of dawners" have become disillusioned and gone home. They will have slung in a barrow load of bait and that's when the shrewd barbeler moves in.
 
Andrew Boyne said:
. . . only to arrive at your chosen venue to find every man and his dog has gone on the same day and most arrived before you, some having camped in the better swims for days to ensure they get the spot they want. You walk the banks looking for a spare peg to squeeze into only to realise the fish are still spawning. :(

Ah yes, the glorious 16th! :rolleyes:
Click to expand...
your right andrew mate but i still cant bloomin wait for next week.
 
Jim Foxall said:
Top tip, don't rush to the riverside on the 16th, wait until the "crack of dawners" have become disillusioned and gone home. They will have slung in a barrow load of bait and that's when the shrewd barbeler moves in.
Click to expand...

Or on small rivers, the stupid barbeller moves in; the fish having had their fill and are no longer hungry.

Top tip; try a quieter stretch on the 16th. :)
 
Some people do take their time learning the truth, about the smaller rivers.

I had sorted all of my tackle for the new season within 2 weeks of the old season ending and I will be very selective in where I fish, hopefully finding the less popular swims empty - if I fish at all when the new season starts.
 
Been fishing for weeks now and not seen a soul................ thought it may have been my aftershave or something!

I have been eager anticipating the 16th for a while now, i have been on the still waters having fun but running water is my passion.
 
Richard Parsons said:
Or on small rivers, the stupid barbeller moves in; the fish having had their fill and are no longer hungry.

Top tip; try a quieter stretch on the 16th. :)
Click to expand...

Ok, let's take this reasoning a step further. During the Close Season the barbel and most other fish have not been stuffed to the gills with pellets, boilies, hemp etc. They've gone natural and that's where the crafty barbeler steps in. Baits to major in on the first few days or maybe weeks, worms, maggots, shrimps, muscles, newts, slugs, spam and most deadly of all minnows. A shed load of pellets etc will in all likelihood spook the barbel to the next swim. Over the next few weeks, the fish will become aclimatised to the easy pickings of non-natural bait. This is when the crafty barbeler changes tactics to artificial baits.
Already, I have bought maggots in advance for next week as there will be a massive run on maggot availability. Top Tip - order now. Secondly, I have been keeping some minnows in a bucket with an aerator ready. Very few anglers now use this old fashioned but wonderfully effective bait. If the flow is not too great on a smaller river, superglue two or three daddylonglegs to a hair and wait for that rod to whip around. And last but not least, don't forget the insect repellant.
 
Richard Parsons said:
Or on small rivers, the stupid barbeller moves in; the fish having had their fill and are no longer hungry.

Top tip; try a quieter stretch on the 16th. :)
Click to expand...

Exactly....and sit in your peg just trickling some feed in for 2/3 hours, and then go home, do the same the next four days before introducing a baited hook, never fails.:)
 
Andrew Boyne said:
. . . only to arrive at your chosen venue to find every man and his dog has gone on the same day and most arrived before you, some having camped in the better swims for days to ensure they get the spot they want. You walk the banks looking for a spare peg to squeeze into only to realise the fish are still spawning. :(

Ah yes, the glorious 16th! :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

Many more than me purchase their lottery ticket, Andrew, but it doesn't stop me picturing in my mind what I might do with the money.


Regards

Damian
 
I get just as excited as you Damien, but like the many lottery tickets that have gone before i find the 16th somewhat of an anti-climax! ( usually )
 
I try to make the point that largely, anticipation is followed by anti-climax.
Anticipation is nothing if not to be followed by not having.
We deny ourselves this anticipation and thus the contrast of this wonderful relationship when we are rid of the 16th June.
Dreaming of winning the lottery, if followed by the nightmare of actually winning it, for me would be wholly more enjoyable.
It's what it all means to me anyway.

Regards

Damian
 
I,m glad the 16th is on a Saturday, i don,t fish at weekends. Looking forward to getting out in the week. As Andrew says, 16th is usually an anti-climax. But good luck to all. :)
 
Damian Kimmins said:
I try to make the point that largely, anticipation is followed by anti-climax.
Anticipation is nothing if not to be followed by not having.
We deny ourselves this anticipation and thus the contrast of this wonderful relationship when we are rid of the 16th June.
Dreaming of winning the lottery, if followed by the nightmare of actually winning it, for me would be wholly more enjoyable.
It's what it all means to me anyway.

Regards

Damian
Click to expand...

I'll make a point of not buying a lottery ticket for the next 3 months - to see if it gets anymore exciting come the end of September!

Back in the day when all coarse angling had a 'closed season' most would target stillwaters at the start. Tench, Carp, Rudd and Crucians were the traditional early season targets for the allrounder - the river species were left alone until later in the season, Barbel in the autumn and Chub in winter.
I just feel that the enforced break on rivers creates an un-healthy desire to get back on flowing water which would otherwise not occur.

The often quoted reasons for the break, i.e. to allow the fish to spawn, the banks to recover etc is hard pill for me to swallow. Infact i think it's absolute nonsense - fish in canals and lakes spawn don't they? Of coarse they do - so why not close them? Because Salmon don't run through lakes and canals that's why! Further more - while we are all sat at home waiting for the glorious 16th allowing the fish to do their thing the Salmon Anglers are trampling the bankside vegatation and wading all over the spawning beds. :rolleyes:
 
Don't really see what all the fuss is about!! I am carp fishing at the moment, have been since I stopped piking at the end of March and will be for most of the summer, don't really like targeting Barbel in the warmer months (although this year is not very warm so far!), will leave it till the autumn when you lot have fed them up for me! :) I will do a few social sessions of course and then October I will be in a constant quandary as to whether to target Barbel or Pike, hopefully the weather will help with that decision.

Good luck for the coming season everyone
 
Andrew Boyne said:
I'll make a point of not buying a lottery ticket for the next 3 months - to see if it gets anymore exciting come the end of September!

Back in the day when all coarse angling had a 'closed season' most would target stillwaters at the start. Tench, Carp, Rudd and Crucians were the traditional early season targets for the allrounder - the river species were left alone until later in the season, Barbel in the autumn and Chub in winter.
I just feel that the enforced break on rivers creates an un-healthy desire to get back on flowing water which would otherwise not occur.

The often quoted reasons for the break, i.e. to allow the fish to spawn, the banks to recover etc is hard pill for me to swallow. Infact i think it's absolute nonsense - fish in canals and lakes spawn don't they? Of coarse they do - so why not close them? Because Salmon don't run through lakes and canals that's why! Further more - while we are all sat at home waiting for the glorious 16th allowing the fish to do their thing the Salmon Anglers are trampling the bankside vegatation and wading all over the spawning beds. :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

Don't you think that's quite the defeatist attitude?
I have seen a fair few salmon anglers on the river since the middle of March, but could by no stretch of the imagination, through my travels, describe the banks as being trampled.
It reminds me of the the foreign anglers argument - I haven't turfed off one this close season, but yet the notion still encourages some to relinquish the importance to them that the close season affords.

Regards


Damian
 
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