Fishing aint what it used to be

Some days it all catches up on me and I realise I am getting old and turning in to the kind of person I used to laugh at as a young man. I find myself saying things like "look at that young lad - all that tackle and matching equipment and if he doesn't catch in 10 minutes he gets bored - kids are spoilt these days" - then I find myself mumbling things like "we had nowt - an old rod and a drum reel" etc etc

Just because children are more fortunate these days is no reason for me to turn into a Monty Python sketch. It is true though that fishing used to be a lot quieter when I was a kid. If you even spoke above a quiet murmur some fisherman on the bank used to shush you and give you a severe look - Lord spare you if you dared bring along a transistor radio - they would have tarred and feathered you I reckon.

With the advent of commercial fisheries you can pay a little more and avoid the idiot brigade to a large extent, but even on some of these fisheries I have heard radios being played - sad really that they feel the need to intrude on others quiet time.

The canal bank has also become something of a hazardous place with dirt bikers screaming up and down the track. Fortunately most waterways now have barriers to try and curb the menace.

I suppose all I am saying is that people should be more considerate to others - a case of "do unto others" and all that.

Fishing is different things to different people. For some it is the thrill of the hunt, with the hope of that specimen catch at the end of it all, for some it is the match and prize money, for me it is the quiet contemplation - not only the catching of fish but a place where everything makes sense. I have sorted out more problems in my head whilst watching a float than in any church or library.