| MARK HODSON | |
An angler since he can remember, Mark Hodson almost literally lives, eats and breathes fishing. A match angler in his youth, fishing for the junior Starlets, he turned to the dark side and joined the ‘floppy hat’ brigade in his college years. He worked in the tackle trade for ten years, on a part time or full time basis at Chaplains, one of Birmingham’s busiest tackle shops and managed the specialist department there for two years. He now fishes just for fun, although the ‘floppy specialist hat’ still dominates his angling, his writing concentrates on getting the maximum enjoyment from your angling and trying something different from the norm. |
Enlightened Ways and Enlightened Days – Part 1
Have you ever reached a point in angling where you think, “Where do I go from here?” Have you exhausted all your local angling possibilities and found yourself wanting more? Have you reached the top of your personal angling tree, and whilst sitting in the upper branches surveying your fishing legacy, frown, and think “Its not what I expected it to be”. Everyone who has at some point taken their angling seriously has found themselves driving into this angling cul-de-sac. Your cruise down your angling path only to reach your desired destination one day, when you have caught all the big catches, or all the big fish your chosen venues have to offer, and that’s when you find your road was a cul-de-sac, and you’re left to drive around the little turning circle endlessly targeting the same venues knowing that the road is going nowhere else, and the chances of a dramatically bigger catch or personal best are most unlikely. You may not have reached the end of your fishing cul-de-sac yet, but are increasingly irritated by the masses of camouflaged ‘boy racers’ that overtake you, getting to the end of the fishing cul-de-sac first, but fear not, for they only experience the boredom of the cul-de-sac earlier than most, and prolong its inevitable agony. Escape from the cul-de-sac can only be found in a couple of ways. They both cost a large amount of money and entail a large amount of personal time. The first is to buy a package holiday and escape the cul-de-sac for a couple of weeks. This will bring intense pleasure for a short period but will increase the long term dissatisfaction with your angling cul-de-sac, as on your return you will realise the two week experience of better catches has only heightened your desire for a new angling journey. The second is to buy a helicopter and escape the cul-de-sac, going looking for the mystical motorway that will take you to your angling ‘Nirvana’; in other words, go fishing further afield. But be warned, on the motorway you will find more camouflaged ‘boy racers’ than in your cul-de-sac and there is of course the new hazard of ‘lane hoggers’, that come in the form of those who live in the best swims, on the best waters, surviving on free boilies and benefits with no family or work commitments to worry them or to trip them on their angling journey. The motorway is an expensive place as well, you drive faster, wanting to reach the next service station, faster to quench your angling thirst, but the service stations are costly, the expense of bait, memberships, tickets, time and the tackle needed will be at least double what it cost you to fish in your cul-de-sac. And remember, even the motorway ends somewhere, and in today’s instant results angling society more are reaching the end of their motorway journey quicker than ever, still only to find the same dissatisfaction as the angler trapped in his cul-de-sac. What is the answer you ask. Will I one day find myself trapped in my own angling cul-de-sac, slowly losing the will to carry on my own personal angling journey and in the end bail out of my fishing car, selling all my gear, and end up going to play bridge with the couple at number 22 or play golf with Dave at number 3? Fear not, for I have the answer. The answer is to escape the inevitable journey into the fishing cul-de-sac or onto the fishing motorway, by getting out of the car with your gear and realizing that by abstaining from the journey and standing alone you will reach your angling ‘Nirvana’ almost immediately. By opting out of the hunger for the ‘bigger or more is better’ angling culture that dominates the modern day angling society and press you will find true pleasure in your angling. By enjoying everything that most fail to enjoy whilst fishing, such as the wonders of nature and the companionship of angling friends you will not be interested in the angling journey, as you will be satisfied with the place you have found. By realising that bigger or more fish will not in the long run prolong your angling happiness, you will not fall into the inevitable downward spiral that the journey guarantees. Even if after reading this you realise that you have reached the end of the angling cul-de-sac you can still reinvigorate your angling by throwing away your route map, abandoning the journey and exploring the cul-de-sac in full, going back to enjoy the parts you missed out on, or bypassed in your eagerness to get to the dizzy heights of the journey’s end. Compete with no-one or nothing but your own pleasure and enjoyment, and before long you will find yourself sitting in a comfortable chair, happily enjoying your fishing life, smiling at those who race by, trapped within their mis-guided angling journey, missing out on the true pleasures that angling has to offer. Well the good news is that for those that are now truly confused, the philosophy part is over, next time I will look at ways to keep your angling pleasurable and interesting without you feeling the need to start the journey to displeasure and despair. |
