Originally Posted by JayZS
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Have patience! That's the trouble with anglers these days: they want it all, and they want it now.
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Hi John - thanks for the really interesting points you make.....and your enthusiasm is, as always, infectious. My only contrary view is that what if you'd hooked a 14lb fish (and I'm pretty certain there are one or two in the river)? I've no doubt your fish-playing prowess would have enabled you to land it, but others?
I had a similar (perhaps 25 year) hiatus away from angling, though I was only a boy of 15 when I gave it up. With that it mind, my skills with bigger fish never really developed and are only doing so now. I remember an observation you rightly made a couple of years ago when I caught a bream from the Goyt. Remember? In light of that, and despite my fishing have improved significantly, I still don't reckon I'd land a 14lb barbel on 5lb bs line. Further, some of the swims are very snaggy - just one more reason to step up.
I read another thread about (on another forum) about rod test curves, and it was in a similar vein to this; namely that we could all use lighter, more-balanced tackle and still land a significant majority of the fish we catch.
I think the answer lies in these forums and the angling press; being told that there's a chance we could catch the fish of a lifetime every time we hit the bank. Another aspect is the so-called 'barbel police' effect; that we shouldn't use any tackle that give a chance (however remotely) of the fish being lost, with a hook and line left in it's gob. These are merely observations, and I don't hold with either - apart from the fact I've lost two 'fish of a lifetime' in the last 12 months on heavier tackle (hook pull and snag, however
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I use a nice soft rod nowadays, so I might give it go.