The Pleasure Angle – Winter Fishing

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.

When Jack comes calling enjoy your winter fishing

“a covering of snow brings a true delight to the eyes”

This nocturnal merry dance of Jack Frost’s has an effect indoors as well; it turns angler’s beds into psychological prisons, in which they lie staring at recently awakened alarm clocks that scream that it’s time to be on the bank. A toe pops out of the covers to test the ambient temperature of the bedroom and recoils with displeasure.

“If it’s that cold in here, it must be terrible out there, it will just be a wasted day.” The voice of angling doubt rings out. With a grunt, growl, and the roll of an awakened hibernating bear, the angler turns his back on the alarm clock, and returns to dreaming of the monsters that got away in the summer, dreams that seem all too far away now the trees have shed their leaves and the migrating birds have left for warmer shores.

Mark, in silly hat and holding a winter pike

Winter can be hard work for anglers, some give up completely, and like the hibernating bears they are, do not venture out until the smell of spring once again fills the air. The short days, with sometimes as little as eight hours of daylight and harsh conditions form the most impenetrable of mental barriers for some, and they can’t even start to get motivated to wet a line in any circumstance. They are though, missing out on some of the most memorable moments angling and nature can offer. Such experiences should not be missed. What follows is a selection of paths the winter angler can follow to make the angling journey through the harshest of seasons a pleasant one.

Real life Christmas cards

The freezing air may bite at your lungs as you trudge across frozen fields, your breath condensing before your eyes, the only sound that permeates the strangely quiet festive landscape is the crunch of snow and of crisp frozen grass beneath your feet. Ice covered margins await you as you struggle to negotiate ice covered stiles that are impossible to stand on, let alone get over, but the sights that a hard frost or a covering of snow brings are a true delight to the eyes and worth every ounce of effort to be just part of the picture.

“the crunch of snow and of crisp frozen grass beneath your feet”

There’s something about the light on a sunny day that follows a covering of snow that just makes a day’s fishing worthwhile even if the results don’t match. The reflecting sun’s rays off a completely white landscape apply an almost ‘holy’ aura to everything present. From frozen spiders webs to the undisturbed blanket of snow peppered only by the tracks of foxes and birds, the true artists of winter, snow, ice and frost, exhibit only for a limited time on the bank and should not be missed.

Days spent fishing in such a scene are days you will cherish and remember long after the memories of personal bests have faded. Get out there and be a part of nature’s Christmas card, Robins will bob up beside you, awaiting a free meal of your nearly dormant maggots, be generous, and the experiences will pay you in kind twice over.

Real ale and open fire de-briefings

De-briefing sessions are an important aspect of angling, the post event analysis and the inevitable improvement in tactics and strategies are an invaluable part of the modern angler’s armoury. More important however is the setting for the de-briefing session, conducted on the return journey, which during the winter months should only be conducted in a pub beside an open fire.

“Get out there and be a part of nature’s Christmas card”

Refreshments should consist of real ale, pork pie with a little mustard and maybe even a small port. Whilst warming your frozen limbs you and your angling companions can all rejoice in the insanity of fishing on a freezing day, and plan to indulge in more insanity the week after, and of course another de-brief. Moments like this are nearly as important as being out on the bank itself, enjoying the camaraderie and friendships of winter fishing.

Winter trotting

Roach, dace, chub and grayling are the most obliging fish cometh the ‘Ice Queen’. All feed throughout the bleakest of winters and there is no more enjoyable way of catching these jewels of winter than watching the red domed top of a float make its way gently down river, standing proud against the white wintery background and the water that gives an appearance of oily blackness in comparison. Half an hour in a few pegs will find the fish. Travel light, one rod, a net, a small stool and rucksack are all that’s needed. The constant activity of exploration and trotting will push warmth to all the extremities of the limbs, leaving you forgetting all about the nip of the chill air, and engrossed in this the most skilled of winter angling techniques.

Warmth, comfort and a hot toddy

Comfort is paramount to enjoying a day’s angling in natures most unforgiving of seasons. There is nothing pleasurable in being cold or wet, so invest in good winter clothing and footwear.

“Silly hats are the order of the day”

Buy right and it will last for years. Whether your preference is for camouflage, a brand name or just practicality it matters not, as long as it keeps you dry and warm on the coldest of winter days is all that matters. Silly hats are the order of the day though, the dafter the better, a good ‘pom pom’ always raises a smile on a cold winter’s day.

Refreshments are very important, a small nip of something warming is most welcome on a cold winter’s day. For those not driving, a small hip flask is a welcome addition to the winter angler’s array of necessary angling items, as is a warm flask of tea or coffee with a dash of Scotland’s finest added to flavour. Your body needs energy to keep warm, a selection of the finest sugary snacks provide comfort and the calories needed to heat the body’s inner furnace.

Nice day for a walk

Winter is the season of the wanderer; if any of the seasons ever suited the roving pro-active angler then winter is the one. Not only does such an angling style keep you active and the blood flowing but it also gives you the opportunity to explore all that nature has to offer over what you will find are miles of deserted bank.

“Miles of deserted bank”

A day’s fishing without water and fish?!

Despite all the great experiences that can be had by the winter angler some days beat even the boldest of fishing adventurers. Gale force winds, days of driving rain, sleet, snow blizzards and temperatures that used to freeze diesel in fuel tanks, can be unpleasant and verging on dangerous to say the least.

Such experiences can dent the most hardened of angling psyche’s and really should be avoided if at all possible. Such days are best spent fishing without water or fish. Spend the day in the warmth of your home, sorting tackle, tying rigs, making baits, researching new venues, planning spring and summer campaigns.

“Snowy days spent at the riverside”

If the scientists are to be believed experiences like those I have described are on the wane. Global warming has already had a noticeable effect on our winters and it seems unfortunate that our future generations will not enjoy the pleasures of true winter angling. If nothing else compels you to get out fishing this winter this should.

Get out there, enjoy the pleasures and record them for posterity, for all too soon tales of snowy days spent at the riverside and stories of frozen reservoirs will be the thing of angling legend, talked about during one of the real ale and pork pie de-briefings.

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