Saturday 5 April 2014

I think I've lost it

There are many obsessive and compulsive orders in fishing and most anglers have one or two and some have umpteen. Whether it be noting moon phases, temperatures and the rest or just simply hoarding thousands of lures with most never touching the water. I started this blog a couple of years ago to act as a kind of diary if only for myself but I feel it's grown a little from that initial idea. That diary thing is often something anglers do, make a note of as much information as possible in order too pinpoint good things in fishing so that you can replicate it and predict the good fishing. For me the diary was a way of keeping a tally of fish caught and the first year I put my results up for all to see.


The second year in fishing and blogging I decided to not post the stats as I felt I would always feel like I was trying to beat the previous year, and for me fishing isn't so much targets it's just catching fish, and mostly in the style I love most. Despite not publishing the stats, my obsession had me still keeping a running tally behind curtains and it even went a step further with me noting which lures caught most fish. If you're interested Squirrelly Burts caught most pike, Kopytos and rapala shad raps most perch, With the Burt I know that is because of two things, it's a great lure and I like to use it so two reasons why that lead the captures. For the perch, kopytos for jigging and getting to deep water and shad raps for trolling or coloured canals. Fish wise I did end up catching more pike than the first blogging year and perch wise I smashed it as I got in to light lure fishing more and more and the perch were no longer a bonus capture but a fish of target.

So this year do I keep a tally, try to beat my previous years achievements or what? We're in April and I have no idea the numbers of fish I have caught. I've not kept any record except a few photos or the bigger fish. I now go out and fish and have big trouble even remembering how many fish I had and a week later I have no idea what I had exactly. Have I finally shook the stato habit? I think I have you know.



The other day I went fishing, caught some perch and some chub. The only stats I can remember were the chub which I had to weigh as it was a lump and went five pounds, and that I had two chub in total also loosing another one off. Perch, well I had some. No lumps or I would have weighed them, though if this fellow below had stuck I would have been weighing it.



Enjoyment in fishing is the reason I go. I love being outside and the constant battle to try and tempt a fish with the reward of the capture what I like, but I can also take great joy out of missing a big fish as in the little video above. If I can pass on anything to anglers out there it's don't get caught up in big fish chasing, targets and silly competitions just go out and enjoy what you love.

5 comments:

  1. Jesus Paul the one above looked big buddy! Unlucky, but you know where it lives now. ;)

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    1. Probably missed my chance. Until next time perch. Mwahahaaa!

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  2. I know what you mean about the tallys etc ive stopped being bothered about how many i catch and just gauge my session on how happy i feel when its time to go home.
    For me its always about the photos its like hunting i suppose but without shooting anything. If i get a few really good photos i feel like thats a good result and my little reward to take home and look at and enjoy. I very rarely weigh fish i think i only weigh fish now if there possible pbs. Much prefer a good photo to knowing how much its eaten that day lol.
    Its good to get that numbers thing out ya system and not have the pressure on yourself to feel like you need to compete with it.

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    1. Yeah mate, much better to just enjoy. I do like to know how big a fish is as often you can be weigh off with a guess but I'm not out now to beat any scores (pbs are nice though). If I get out the target is to find some fish and with lures much of my fun is from the follows, hits and misses. Often I come home after pike fishing totally fulfilled at missing or losing a nice hit. The perch clip above, I came home with a great "aww, but what if? How big?" feeling and it's got to be what makes you want to go back again.

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    2. Yeah definaterly, and the misses and follows add to a day, i often come away thinking ive caught more than i had becuase of those bits of interest. If your getting the interest its as good as catching. Its the days when nothing at all happens that can be soul destroying, when you put allot of effort in, concentrate and do allot of walking and lugging gear and don't get a return for it is when i go home most unsatisfied. Plus i then think of the fuel cost it it took me to get there and what else i could have done instead but we are yorkshiremen after all lol

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