The Traditional Fisherman's Forum

NorfolkTinca wrote: ↑Sat May 30, 2020 3:01 pm

NorfolkTinca wrote: ↑Fri May 29, 2020 6:33 pm I'll have a cast for him tomorrow as I begin my summer season (a bit earlier than he might have expected) and remember one of the greatest.

Well that will teach me to have a cast in Dick Walker's name before the 16th! Tried to cast a float set at about 9ft, with brand new and very twisted (how?) 8lb line, and ended up with a bird's nest of monumental proportions. The members here should approve, I thought, as few things are more traditional than a massive tangle.

It would appear that Izaak, Walker, Venables, Sherringham et al... were looking down upon you and shaking their heads with distain...I’d wait a couple of weeks (16th) until venturing out again if I were you.....

RBTraditional wrote: ↑Sat May 30, 2020 3:33 pm Izaak, Walker, Venables, Sherringham et al... were looking down upon you and shaking their heads with distain...I’d wait a couple of weeks (16th) until venturing out again if I were you.....

An interesting, if lighthearted point! I went many years without fishing in "the close season", and I'm still far from a 12-months-a-year angler. Some years I fish in the Spring, some years I don't, but I never feel like the season is properly open until I've had my Opening Day. However, in recent years, the effort of planning for the one big day has so often detracted from the enjoyment of it, to the extent that I'd decided that last year was to have been my last "Sixteenth". The fact that I'm primarily a stillwater angler has also made it much harder even to find somewhere where I can have a proper Opening Day.

This year, though, I just decided I wanted to go fishing, so I asked the owner's permission, chucked some gear together, went out and fished for four hours, saw a huge tench roll, caught nothing, came home and had a sleep. No fixed time to start or finish, no complex logistics, didn't matter that I blanked or came home early, or even whether I went at all, and it honestly felt like a weight off my mind. Mind you, I'm still suffering that head-spinning afternoon daze that tells me I got up in the middle of the night and I can't do that like I used to!

Of course these days it’s perfectly legal to fish still waters during the old closed season, whether it’s right depends on your point of view...I did try it once, it really didn’t feel good and I’ve not even thought about it since, I enjoy the closed season for what it is, look forward to the glorious 16th and like you by the sounds of it have my tench head on all summer.....I love tench....enjoy your season

RBTraditional wrote: ↑Sat May 30, 2020 5:59 pm ... and like you by the sounds of it have my tench head on all summer.....I love tench....enjoy your season

Thank you - likewise to you.