The national angling survey (EA, 2012) reported that of the 27000 anglers who participated in the survey ~95% would like to fish more and that work and family commitments were the biggest barrier to doing so (~60% of respondents). So take heart that you are not alone in this regard, I know that I was certainly one of those respondents who gave this answer and was heartened to see that it wasn’t just me. In addition, just under a quarter felt that local fishing provision was the most important thing to increase participation as it reduced time inputs. A similar proportion felt that cheaper access was also important to increase participation. So just how does one change this status quo? Firstly considering your local fishing options is the first thing and I have joined a coarse fishing club on my local canal with a view to fly fishing these waters (See the Waterways Wanderer article for more information). Based on the reaction of the owner when I joined I suspect that I am the first fly fisher to join his club. He certainly didn’t seem unhappy about me joining, in fact quite the opposite and set about telling me the best places to achieve some early success. This included telling me where I could catch trout in the local canal! While I own a copy of Theo Pikes “Trout in Dirty Places” I had never imagined in my wildest dreams that I was driving within casting distance of them several times a week! OK, maybe I need to work on my dreams as they are a bit dull 🙂 However, I would go as far as to say that I was made to feel more welcome than I have at many a trout fishery, so give it a try.
So, back to the question at hand …. how do you change the status quo? Why not simply aim to fish 52 times in a year. Why 52 times? The number 52 is linked to the aim of fishing at least once per week. This might seem overly ambitious for someone who probably only fishes 10 times per year, but logically, it seems crazy to suggest that fishing once a week for an hour at a venue 5 minutes from your home is not possible. So with that in mind I have set myself the challenge of fishing 52 times in 2019, #Fish52. The rules are quite simple and are as follows:
- A session needs to be at least an hour to count, i.e. actual time fishing not including travel time, setup time and walking to/from the spot where you fish;
- A session separated by more than 4 hours from another session counts as a separate session provided you have left the water to go and do something else in the interim, i.e. if you fish in the morning and the evening of the same day by leaving the water it still counts as 2 sessions;
Sounds simple enough, now to deliver on the aspiration. That requires a plan. I will publish my plan in my post next week.
Tight lines
Greg
