Casting at the sun: an observation

[Carp Artist]

Enjoy fishing for what it is , your next fish is the best, don't forget to smell the roses along the way, don't play the numbers game, don't get burnt out.......................JUST ENJOY

[Julian]

My other half, as understanding as she can be, would do her ends if she woke up and I'd just vanished and returned (before mobile phones) a week later. I suppose in Chris' situation it payed the mortgage, where as I'd get the sack and the boot.
I used to think I was obsessive, right up until the moment he states that he had nothing to eat so started eating his stale potatoes. At that moment my life felt quite balanced.

I don't think Chris Yates was making any money out of his angling back in the 1970's when he used to be almost a full-time angler. From all his writings he indicates he made some money from his photography - he took landscape photos for a company that used them in producing album covers for classical music.

[Nigel Rainton]

Having read Casting at the Sun many times and some of his other books, I never gained the impression that he was obsessed, quite the opposite. Seeking inner peace perhaps ?

[Mushy]

Whatever your view on full time angling, obsessive behaviour etc. the result was some of the most wonderful evocative angling literature ever produced

[Trevor]

My other half, as understanding as she can be, would do her ends if she woke up and I'd just vanished and returned (before mobile phones) a week later. I suppose in Chris' situation it payed the mortgage, where as I'd get the sack and the boot.
I used to think I was obsessive, right up until the moment he states that he had nothing to eat so started eating his stale potatoes. At that moment my life felt quite balanced.

I don't think Chris Yates was making any money out of his angling back in the 1970's when he used to be almost a full-time angler. From all his writings he indicates he made some money from his photography - he took landscape photos for a company that used them in producing album covers for classical music.

Didn't he also get paid a ridiculous sum for taking pictures of toy soldiers for a brandy ad?
Nice work, if you can get it (bit like SK's job )

[Marc]

It does say in the book that he did his work whilst out fishing. Being in beautiful landscapes and having to take beautiful landscape pictures must have proved a real challenge.

And I have to respectfully disagree sofasurfer, I think he oppitamised obsession in his redmire years. In fact the first chapter of the Deeping pool is spent talking of his obsession with carp giving way to an obsession with Barbel, and I quote " I am an angler obsessed; the river has got into my veins"

[Gary Bills]

Good observation PoD. Some of our favourite authors have a way of selling a life style through 'creative' writing whilst others genuinely do spend most of their life by the waterside. These people are living an unnatural lifestyle that few of us could dedicate ourselves to and even less of us could afford to survive on. One must always consider the background that they come from and despite some of the claims of poverty, I always feel that they may have had a little in reserve at any given time.

I used to ask Trefor West how on earth he managed to guide on the river for 7 to 10 days at a stretch, fish when the punter had gone home and then, after a couple of days at home, comeback and do it all again and again. But to him it was just 'what he did'. He gave his wife two weeks a year when they holidayed but spent the rest of the time fishing.

For me, its just too much and I'd burn out in no time. Its almost like a mild autism and its usually a negative character trait as opposed to one that we should envy.

I must admit, I'm taking a bit of a "breather" - limiting my fishing. I have a creative projects I want to polish up, and I'm doing more as a journo, because I need the cash. I think your last paragraph is spot on, Dave - I love my fishing, but since childhood I've had a tendency to slip into obsessions of varying kinds - a bit like Mr Toad in Wind in the Willows..
Poop-poop!
Interests are fine, I think, but not if they start to seriously hit the bank balance and interfere with "real life".

[GregF]

I’ve suffered the consequences of (carp) angling obsession and have read this thread with much interest and recognition (particularly RBT’s post). I rediscovered carp about 14 years ago following a long break and quickly became addicted to fishing for them to the exclusion of almost everything else. I would spend as much time as possible carp fishing, reading about carp fishing, writing about carp fishing, making bait etc, and started spending silly amounts of money on tackle and too much time away from home. In the end this put a strain on my home life and eventually played a part in destroying my relationship with my partner (It wasn’t just the fishing that caused her to leave but it was a big factor). It also resulted in losing my home. I didn’t stop there however and proceeded to give up a great career in education to turn my hobby into a job. This job didn’t involve going fishing all the time, but writing about carp fishing and tackle, interviewing ‘top’ carp anglers and taking angling related photographs. At first it was great but it drove me nuts in the end, partly because so much of what I had to produce was at odds with my personal beliefs about fishing, partly because of some of the ‘characters’ I worked with, but mainly because there was no release from the subject. I lived alone, and when I wasn’t working on fishing magazines, I was going fishing, and when I wasn’t doing that, I was reading about it, thinking or talking about it. In the end it distorted my perspective on everything including my working and social relationships and got to a point where I completely burnt out. Eventually I realised I couldn’t stand anything related to angling.

I no longer work in that field, and in recent years have been able to enjoy fishing with a more balanced outlook. I don’t go more than once a week (ok, twice sometimes), I don’t put myself under any pressure, I often fish for species other than carp and most of the time I don’t really care if I catch anything or not, I’m just enjoying a relaxing time in the countryside. When I look back at what I threw away in pursuit of this stupid and unsustainable lifestyle I have many regrets. I have not been able to re-start my career and I now do a job which pays the bills but involves very unsociable hours and is not exactly fulfilling or much fun either. I still live alone and to be completely frank, find life a little empty these days. I am slowly making efforts to change things for the better but when I consider how much I had going for me, and how bright a future I was facing before I let my obsession get the better of me, I kick myself. So my advice to anybody who feels their hobby is getting a little out of hand is stop before it’s too late and get things into a proper perspective!

All that said, I agree with Mushy and I’m glad CY maintained his obsessive quest, or we would never have had such wonderful literature to enjoy.

[Dave Burr]

Had you not tried to make carp fishing your whole life you may well now be feeling empty and unfulfilled at the loss of an opportunity to 'live the dream'. You tried but failed - no biggie, its all part of life's rich tapestry and there is no way of knowing how life would turn out had you not taken that course.

I hope the future is kind to you and look forward to you getting back into the writing

[GregF]

I’ll try to remember that! You’re a wise and kind man Dave. Thankyou