Opinion Piece – A Sad Reflection of Angling

Opinion Piece – A Sad Reflection of Angling

Every day since the lake opened I had come down to see if anyone was fishing and as yet seen nobody. Certainly it has been cold, bloody freezing even, but surely someone would want to have a go on a brand new recently stocked lake?

A check of this years member’s list to date revealed a lot of new members in the vicinity of the lake and a high proportion were juniors. The future of any club relies on a good base of younger anglers and juniors coming through, so does this mean our club at least is healthy and vibrant, able to carry on growing producing good anglers ready to carry the club into the future? Will getting youngsters in the club really safeguard our sport?

I am not altogether sure it will; the problem as I see it, is twofold. Attracting anglers into the sport and also encouraging them to learn the watercraft and tackle skills they need to be good all round fishers. In my experience at least, the drop out rate of instant fishermen who buy their way into the sport is very high. Today’s fishing scene is a thing far removed from the days of Walker, Venables and Stone and as such it is hard to compare like for like. More disposable income means the ability to try other more exotic and exciting things; leisure pursuits have changed.

Those that do come into the sport are in the main, just throwing money at it, even the youngsters. Not all of course, some are still coming into the sport via their parents, and these tend to use some of dads old tackle, initially at least. Kids these days are a lot more independent financially than there parents were and are more likely to start fishing with one of their peers. In my club we have a group of young lads who all fish together. All of them have three rod set-ups; buzzers, pods, bivvies etc. They all came into the sport as “instant carpers” they all follow the doctrine according to ” magazine carp man” and already they all despise and ridicule all other forms of fishing. What hope is there?

I can still remember the first time I went coarse fishing and how easy I found the transition from sea angling, which I had learned from my dad and a well run junior section of the local sea angling club. I was in the club quiz team and we used to go all over the region taking on other junior sections, that alone taught me so much. As it happens I was at my happiest mullet and mackerel fishing using a home made “match rod”.

First time I went fresh water fishing I caught a few roach and perch on this hotchpotch of a rod and at the same time I had a ledger rod out in case there were any carp about. This was in fact a light spinning rod complete with spinning reel and 10lb line. Bait was my brother in-law’s secret paste wrapped around a size 10 hook. I was with him and also his brother in-law Lee who was what I would later come to know as a tackle tart. You name it he had it, he “only fished for carp” he said, as he looked disdainfully at my mismatch of gear and he sat regaling me of his past captures. I sat back watching my float and the ledger had the bale arm open and a loop of line in an elastic band as bite indication.

As I said, I caught a few bits on the float but no one landed a carp that day, I did hook one though and the minute or so I had it on before the hook pulled was enough to hook me also. A few days later I returned alone and caught three carp to 7lb, chuffed wasn’t the word. A couple of months later we three fished together again, a small wager was struck for the biggest fish caught and also for the most fish caught, I had by this time purchased a cheap kingfisher match rod from Argos but was still using the spinning rod. I won both bets by catching the only fish of the day, a lovely common of just over 11lb. My first double ! This was met with a muted well done from my brother in law and complete silence from Lee. Neither of them paid up on the wager and I was never asked to fish with them again. This was my first experience of the bad side of carping but not by any means my last.

A large percentage of modern carpers seem top suffer from what I call the three S’s: Secretive, Sullen and Selfish. Creeping around in combat fatigues being hostile to anyone not in their clique seems to be vogue these days. How sad !!Now 15 years on I seem to be in something of a wilderness where my own fishing is concerned, pressure of work and the break up of my marriage leaving me to bring up 3 kids on my own have seriously effected my energy levels. Last year I fished only about 8 times and this year to date, once. I could have gone on the last two Sundays but could not find the energy or the motivation to go. I buy tackle all the time and never use it. I work out new strategies in my mind and never put them to the test. I think fishing, read fishing and am still the secretary of the club but I worry that the urge to actually fish is leaving me. Why? Am I becoming a victim of the three S’s? Well I’m not sullen, and I’m far from secretive. Selfish? Well I have just paid out to join a syndicate water, something I would never have considered three years ago.

I hate the way carping is going and I increasingly feel alienated at my club waters, sneered at by some just for wanting to enjoy my fishing and be sociable. This syndicate is also refuge to a few of my closest fishing pals, which I hope will give me the motivation to fish regularly once more. It is a sad reflection of how it’s getting when not only myself but also several of my friends feel this is the only option now open to us.