Any fisherpersons on here?

Do you live near the sea?

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

OK I'll do it - is this a fishing thread?

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.

Where do you get the charter boat from Slippy?

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

I was asked to go fishing on a boat called "The Grand Piano" but I said no cos the captain wouldn't let me tuna

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.

You are floundering in this plaice 2easy!

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

Caught off the Devon coast.

One of the most memorable days in my entire life was landing a Blue Marlin off the coast of Hawaii, just an incredible experience.

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.

If you're near the sea, get some feather rigs and go mackeral fishing off the beach this summer.  Need to be fit 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.

Sea fishing is okay for show offs, but you can't beat proper fishing with luncheon meat and maggots for barbel on the middle Severn.
Or floating bread for carp on a pool.

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.

YOU HAVE TO CATCH THE PIKE FISH FIRST BEFORE YOU CAN FISH

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

May 12, 2018 -- 10:42PM, Dr Crippen wrote:

Sea fishing is okay for show offs, but you can't beat proper fishing with luncheon meat and maggots for barbel on the middle Severn.Or floating bread for carp on a pool.

Bit of an unnecessary snidey remark by you Dr Crippen, I love my fishing but I have to be on a boat out in deep sea, not a show off in the slightest, that's what I enjoy doing. Each to their own and all that.

Tasted like pike.

Carp fishing on a lake literally bores me to tears.

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.

I saw a bloke with a sea fly rod fishing a carp pool.
Instead of a fly he'd got a piece of cork on the hook.

He baited up with mixer and got them feeding on the top. Every cast he'd get a carp mostly around 8-10 lbs.
He was casting exactly as you would with with a fly-line. He had a take very time the cork landed on the water with a plop. 

He told me he'd been barred from one pool by the owner because he was catching too many fish.

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

I can see it now/////"hello everybody,im new here,my name is THE PIKE"

Bit gypsy

Never been a serious fisherman myself, but my dad was.  Two of his stories to make the sea fishers drool.  He took up seafishing in the late sixties with my Uncle Len. First time out off Eastbourne he caught a 23lb cod (you could get your foot in its mouth!!), second or third time out feathering for mackerel for bait on the way out to the "wrecks" he hooked and boated three bass on the same line - all much the same size but the smallest weighed 10.5lbs.   Those were the days.

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 forgot , you will need a selection of silicone tubing which is available at all tackle shops . The tubing hold the line to the stem .

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!

Sounds best to get over to the canal and ask the guys to inspect your tackle.

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.

You will also need a rod licence.

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.

I have a share in a private lake in buckinghamshire ive been down 5 times this year.
I never fish it just love the peace and quiet.

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

Thanks guys, for thoughtful advice, and will check all suggested options....

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.

If u are going down the canal..go to a tackle dealer and get a cheap 3 or 4 metre whip...he ll know what u mean..u dont need a reel...ask for some ready made rigs for a learner..cost prob 20 quid..you ll need a licence to fish...bait...and learn how to use a disgorger as some fish will wolf a maggot down their gobs...ask the tackle dealer to show u how to attach rig to whip..instant fishing...if u like it then fishing knowledge and enjoyment will be a lifetimes journey and one lifetime isnt even close to long enough

How do they enforce the license?

Do they have people, that appear to be just walking their dog, for mile upon mile?

Basically yes thats exactly how they enforce it...someone pops up out of the blue and asks to see your license..done a million hours fishing been asked 2 or 3 times..canals will probably be patrolled more than some of the recluses i used to get myself tucked away in

Lady,

Just a tip, always remember to carry a packet of Fisherman's Friends with you.

If you want to make acquaintances with other anglers, the modus operandi is to wink and say 'Would you like
to suck on a Fisherman's Friend.'

Its a bit like the masons.

I've caught the bug during the last year. I'd never fancied the game but after a trip to a lode where fishing was included I was totally hooked lol.  As some have already alluded to, it's a game that you can spend unlimited money on but can also do relatively cheaply as well. I started off buying a cheap pair of rods.  One geared to what they call pellet waggler fishing and the other a quiver tip feeder rod. Both were about a score each. I bought two reels that were already lined for a tenner a piece.  I spent another 30/40 on a rod bag and a plastic seat box to carry the tackle plus a chap landing net and unhooking mat. This gear was sufficient to go fishing and I still use the two rods now.

Someone mentioned a whip. Really good advise. I picked one up for a fiver online which came with a rig. I kid you not I got bored catching it was that effective. I just had a maggot on the hook and literally every cast seems to get a bite. I learnt more that two hour session that I did in the weeks before. I got used to unhooking and handling fish which was something I was a tad sceptical about prior to this day.  Most of the catches were very small roach and bream but it was an eye opener and I'd certainly advise a cheap four metre whip for a debut fish.

grenade, net, bucket full of cod, job done.

or a mk10 mortar, whaler over the side      don't drop the mortar bomb  too close to the shoal!!!

ps  I also very much fishing very very light when conditions and tides etc allowed

How do they enforce the license?

Depends how big you are.

A bailiff approach me while I was fishing many moons ago. He spotted a luncheon meat tin on the bank by the side of me.
He said that's illegal, showed me his ID and told me I had to pay a ten pounds fine on the spot.

I told him to go and F off. Which he did.

Never saw him again.

Went to the canal today to catch some rays (of sun, not Manta) and to do a rece of places to site my new folding low chair, which I bought in anticipation!

Should have checked before as the water is some six feet down from the path.

There are timber decks just above the water and a 45 degre slope to get down.

I have no chance whatsoever of doing that, and whilst I could slide down, there is no way I could get back up, even without all the tackle!

I'll have a wander down the opposite direction tomorrow, to see if it's constant.

Hopefully it could be better, as there is a pronounced downward slope into the car park, so fingers crossed.

I sat on a bench, which happened to be behind a man with, presumably, his wife, and he had a telescopic rod, and no reel as suggested by black shuck earlier.

Re "unhooking", I'm a bit of a whimp, so don't know how I'll get on with that!
He caught five pitiful little things (don't know what they were) and whilst I couldn't see properly, he seemed to be taking some time, presumably unhooking!

As dodgepot stated...handling the fish is very much part of it..and it takes a certain amount of care and skill..a watching brief is very educational

Used to be really excited about catching a 1/4 lb roach when I was a kid.  Nowadays just seems boring.  I seen Carp Lakes that you could literally scoop 20lb fish out with a net and people pay good money to pull out the buggers that literally queue up to jump into your keep net.