What makes your favourite type of fishing so special to you?

[BoldBear]

I was just talking to a mate at work who has been a sea angler for most of his life and when I inquired as to how his fishing was going this year he looked a bit fed up and replied "alright I suppose".
He said that although he had caught a few good fish he was losing his enthusiasm a little as he lives about an hour from the nearest coast and he was getting a tad fed up with having to travel all that way for just a few fish (when he was lucky).

I started telling him about a recent trip to a local stream where I witnessed a Barbel of around 11bs and a similar sized Carp that had teamed up together, which every 20 minutes or so would arrive at my feet in crystal clear water and feed on loose pellets that I had thrown in but would totally ignore anything on my hook no matter how I had presented it, and how frustating but enjoying it had been trying to devise a way to fool one of them into taking my bait (although unsuccessfull); and this was all in clear view at my feet.

His eyes started to light up and he said that he might have to take up course fishing next season so that he could go fishing in the evenings during the summer; especially as we coarse anglers were aways talking about the clear streams where we fished together with the tales of large Barbel & Chub that we had caught, or fishing on our clubs estate lake where we could sit and fish in tranquil surroundings catching Tench, Crucians & Carp, plus the fact that we could get completely out of the wind even on really windy days.

I said that I would be more than happy to take him with me in the Spring if he joined our club and I saw his eyes light up; so I think I have seen the birth of yet another coarse angler.

I remember when I was in the Royal Navy and I took a couple of my shipmates (who were committed sea anglers) night fishing on the river Kennet and who also didn't realise what they were missing until they latched into a Kennet Barbel on a warm summers night; with the moon shimmering on the water and the sounds of the river and the wildlife all around them.

I know it isn't always true and having been a sea angler myself for several years when in the Royal Navy I can see what a sea angler sees in his sea fishing but for me it's the fishing in close vicinity and sight of the fish on a clear stream plus the fight of a good fish on our relatively light coarse fishing tackle together with the sounds and sights of the wildife all around us on warm summers evenings that makes freshwater fishing so special to me.

What makes your angling so special to you?

[pingu]

lovely idea there keith

my prefered is sea angling, more so as i get more opportunity as live 5 mins from beach, also most of my free time is late evenings/night so course is harder, I also find sea angling has more of a social side whilst fishing

but for course fishing i do like the rivers but find very little time with work and being dads taxi to a teenage daughter to get there as often as i'd like, the rivers are always quiet and calming unlike the rod pod and buzzer filled lakes arround here

the canal also gets me as i know there are pike( my favourite course fish) and i may be stupid but i love being by the canal on a reaally really frosty morning , with everthing glistening white and a big red float just bobbing in the margins awaiting its victim, and being 7 miles long you can always find a quiet spot somewhere

dave

[blackwater]

Good Topic this.

My favourite by a long stretch is coarse angling but to be honest i will fish anywhere given the chance!

The cold winter mornings heading down to the lake in the dark with the roads glistening with ice under the tractors headlights and the snow flakes freezing your face really make the winter piking experience a whole lot more real and make it my favourite for the sheer sense of adventure! So winter piking would be my favourite form of course fishing. Closely followed by a days fishing for anything i can catch, be it roach, rudd..... sticklebacks , no matter how old i get and how small the fish seem to be its just the catching fish that keeps me happy! This is also not far infront of a day sitting on my tube! The most relaxing way of fishing although can be hard work at times... It makes fishing a whole lot more personal with the fish, especially when a pike is heading straight for between your legs in the middle of a lough . However the latter i am guessing is more of a summer thing, i havent yet been on it during the winter but i am going to guess it would be bl**dy freezing!

Now sea fishing, my favourite way to do this is probably to find the most remote rocks in all of the country and just have a go for whatever takes the fancy to my bait! Its what i like about it, you never really know what you are going to hit into... well atleast i dont cause i'm not specifically targeting a certain species.

Game fishing, Have done a bit but not a great deal. I have to say its small streams that do it for me rather than the pellet fed commercial waters, the trout are always a lot nice looking and fight a lot harder too!

All in all i'm a coarse fisherman but will dapple in all areas of fishing!

Justin

[Maddison_Twatter]

I was brought up fishing the Stainforth and keadby canal.
I used to love the anticipation before an early morning fishing session, the walk to the canal through the silent streets, the calmness of the water as you arrived and the expectations of the day ahead.
Now fast-forward 13 years when I was introduced to barbel and carp fishing. I love most large waters but mostly the Trent ,its so quiet and rural even though Im only a short distance from the towns. But the best thing is that unlike some places, you never know what your going to get from one day to the next. Ive never really dabbled in sea fishing apart from the odd boat trip off Scarborough but I can understand why some people love it, especially beach casting.