Any fisherpersons on here?

Yep, if you are near the sea that's the way to go.....and you can eat your catch!

I absolutely love fishing but I only go deep sea and a few of us charter a boat a few times a year with all the gear and bait supplied by the skipper.
It's not that expensive, £65 each for a full day and we get to keep all we catch which in the last couple of times has easily surpassed the cost of the charter. The thought of just plotted up on a river bank or a lake all day just doesn't do it for me personally.

Littlehampton in Sussex usually, plenty of mackerel and plaice mainly along with assorted others, it's a great day out.

Ok Slippy, Ive got to know quiet a few of the south coast skippers and boats over the years, used to operate a water taxi bringing them ashore. Used to waive the fares for fish. A few years ago the wrecks were inundated with cod and I managed to get about half a chest freezer of the stuff.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zlFARAqIhIw

Caught off the Devon coast.

Mines was my first cod caught in the Minch Slippy.
Maybe not a Marlin and definitely not Hawaii but what a thrill I got.
I agree with you on the banks fishing, nothing like a day out on the sea though.

Or a little boat and a trout rod and fish for mackerel just of harbour ,you might get mullet ,but mackerel on a pound and a half line is superb they fight like buggery.

You can spend as much as you like on tackle, but you won't catch any more fish than with the cheapest gear within reason if you're coarse fishing.

First thing you'll need is a stove to cook your sausages on, and something to make your tea in.

Then a good sun bed to get comfortable on for the hard day's fishing in front of you.

I caught a pike once - I took it home and ate it.

Tasted like pike.

No offence intended SlippyBlue, you should have seen me showing off when I used to go fly fishing.
Fly fishing is for proper show offs.

yes,the pike chases all the other fish away,i think its called a walleyed pike.
if a pike ever appeared on the forum we would not learn much ,once the pike was on the forum the fishing has to stop until the pike is caught.
what a great forum name =THE PIKE

Bit gypsy

If it is canal fishing you are interested in then buy Encyclopaedia of Pole Fishing - Kevin Ashurst and Colin Graham . £2.80 delivered from abebooks uk . An old book but still valid . His gudgeon floats you make at home . You will need peacock feathers for the bodies , eyed hooks for the side rings , needles for the stems , glue , black and a coloured paint . The top of the float sits in the surface tension and the bites are never missed .
Don't buy cheap poles as they are too uncomfortable . A good quality whip will be fine for near side fishing .
Good luck and tight lines .

I'm only looking at this as something more interesting than looking at the ducks, and the occasional barge or boat, passing while relaxing by the canal.

I only fished once before and all I had was a line, hook, and weight, on the wooden contraption bought at Bridlington,when I would have been about eleven.

I got just one fish, and don't know what it was, but it had swallowed the hook, and a guy next to me ripped it open at the gill!

Maybe I will get more involved with it, but I only want the basics at this time.

The starter kits I've seen are so ridiculously cheap, that they are obviously cr@p but, having said that, I don't want to spend much at the moment!

I don't know what will be in the canal, but I saw a guy the other day who caught a couple of small somethings, in just a few minutes!

Also there is a stretch where there are always a fair number of guys, and I don't know why they choose this position, though it may simply because
they can park right beside!

Go to a fishing tackle shop.   They will no doubt explain the basics for your desire type of fishing and sort you out with beginners kit.

Those starter kits are ideal.
When you go, get talking to other anglers they'll put you right on the best way to fish the waters.

And after giving it a go, if you enjoy fishing that's the time to tackle up with decent gear.

Knowledge about the game will catch you far more fish that expensive gear ever will.

First off it's anglers not fisherperson seriously as regards starter starts, Korum would probably be the best pick out of a bad bunch. Better off buying the individual items. Shakespeare do some good quality rods for a modest price about £35. Two bits of advice I would give you, spend some time on youtube. Plenty of how to fish videos also for anywhere from £80 To £100 join a fishing club. This will usually give you some varied waters to fish, lakes, rivers and if local to you no doubt a stretch of canal. If your fit enough volunteer to do some work parties for the club. This way you can pick the brains of other members, best swims, tactics etc. If you do take up fishing tight lines

If you want to look Alpha Male, tie 2 feather rigs together and then if you happen upon a shoal you could reel in up to a dozen fish at once.