Internet and fishing

It wasn't until a few years ago that i realised the true value of the Internet as a tool to my already bursting angling arsenal, up until then id only thought of the Internet as something people used to find funny videos and free porn. but whilst researching new venues to fish i began to find small snippets that led me to a whole new world of information about who was doing what,where and when. soon i discovered a few blogs of other anglers who fished in my area and i began to follow there highs and lows throughout the year. now convinced by the Internet and blogging i feel that i myself want to share my own experiences and hope that some of the things i post about may be of some use to other anglers.

As a angler i do not dedicate myself to any one aspect or species, instead i prefer to fish with the seasons, targeting particular fish at what i believe to be appropriate times, that's not say i don't occasionally take a punt here or there and fish away from traditional times, but there is always some kind of theory behind this madness and they have paid of in the past.

At the start of each new year i always try and set myself some goals to aim for over the coming year and this year is no different.

1, Canal Carp

The potential of canal carp fishing on the ignored canal network was truly opened up to me last year with the capture of several sizable fish from a couple of spots on one local canal, having seen much larger fish amongst them, i intend to return to this stretch and a few other potential swims on other canals that i have earmarked for investigation with the hope that my refined methods and better understanding of there behavior will enable me to get into some serious uncaught monsters.


2, Barbel

The fish i have had the worst luck with of all the fish that swim in freshwater, for years now i have tried to catch a decent fish, but! every time i come with a whisker of one something conspires to naff it up for me, be that a raging heard of cows or a panic stricken fishing companion trying to fend off a swarm of hornets, but for now i will just hope that this year i will get the opportunity to get somewhere near my first double.

3, Tench

Last year i began fishing on a lake near to my home that is very well stocked with this the species i have the most love for, i caught fish up to 7lbs and know that they must get bigger, once again i believe i have figured out how to sort the bigger fish from the small (though there is no such thing as a unwanted tench i my eyes) I have heard rumors of possible 10lb fish from this lake, which i hope will turn out to be true.

4, The specimen weight challenge

After a night of boisterous drinking and passionate discussions about angling with Keith, Jeff and Pete where the two participants of last years rod race style challenge declared at the beginning of the night that they would not undertake a new challenge this year we found ourselves eleventeen pints later standing outside a closed pub on a freezing night discussing this years challenge ten minutes later a rough idea was on the table. following a few emails it is now set and underway.

catch the weight of the current UK record of one species in one session. one point for each species completed, starting the 1st of Jan and finishing on the 31st Dec (it sounds simple doesn't it, well i will comment on that in December)

But for now i will look forward to making my first post about my first fishing session of the new year....