"Wild - A Natural State Or Uncultivated, Uninhabited Regions"
In this blog post I would like to share my views on how I feel the modern carp scene and modern technology is effecting "us" the angler in terms of mastering our art, angling is an art after all. Along with this I would like to share with you my views on the wild waters. There's something about fishing a place that's very much undisturbed that stokes the angling fire, no preconceived ideas just the mysterious prospect of unearthing a hidden jewel. There are no comparisons between waters that are wild and those that have been made by man, commercialised and modernised.
"This Entry Isn't A Moan, it's an observation and in no way am I knocking the angling press and the tackle firms, as we know developments within the industry has been pretty incredible over recent years and there are a lot of hard working people that make the carp fishing scene what it is, I am just trying to hold on to the romance of it all"
"This Entry Isn't A Moan, it's an observation and in no way am I knocking the angling press and the tackle firms, as we know developments within the industry has been pretty incredible over recent years and there are a lot of hard working people that make the carp fishing scene what it is, I am just trying to hold on to the romance of it all"
Existing in a world where every action is scrutinised and observed, where we have constraints in the system both mentally and physically, I have this continuous desire to find a place that's wild, untouched. A place so removed from the 'everyday', where you can simply get lost in the feeling of 'being'. The worlds population is contorting, the heaving of the masses are pushing and pulling and all too often do I get the sense of drowning amid the rush of it all. Angling use to be an escape but now I feel the modern carp scene falls into the description above, it's all become so commercial, so overrun with the crowds I feel it has lost its way and the industry is systematically tearing us away from the essence of what angling really is.
I have touched on this point before, it's all so focused on everything that is external, we are amidst the "Look At Me" generation, the "My Dad's Bigger Than Yours" outlook, Who's caught the biggest fish, who's got the best tackle, who can cast the furthest, this perplexing need to be a field-tester or consultant, the list goes on and to me "the ego" is well and truly to blame, fuelled by the mags and DVD's. Carp Angling is now sold to us in such a way that it's stifling and with the rise of social networks the problem has magnified somewhat. Don't get me wrong, if all the above makes you happy and is exactly what you want from your angling then 'fair play' to you. The sport is there for all of us and we all have the right to take from it what we feel we need.
Now with the Internet there is so much information at our finger tips, this is all well and good for learning 'the theory' but I feel the practical side of 'thinking and doing' has taken a back seat. When I first started carp angling I had nothing to really go on, if I wanted to know about a water I would go and put the hours in and still do to this day, very rarely will I look for information on my chosen venue prior to going. I'll admit that a little local knowledge can be helpful but I certainly don't change my approach in accordance to what I have been told.
Nowadays through media such as youtube, you can pretty much get all the information that you need before stepping foot on the bank, but why be a carbon copy of someone else?. This seems a shame to me because the process of your natural learning can suffer. The only way you truly learn is by doing, to mould a true opinion about something, after learning the basics, you have to climb the path by yourself from the ground upwards. Is technology making us lazy? I personally think it is. And is technology depriving you of personal experiences? Are you just mimicking what you watch and read?
A Possible Anaesthetic To The Brain
I can equate this to university graduates that can recite every Shakespeare poem off by heart or rattle off someone else's viewpoints on a specific subject. To me these people are just mixed up fragments of someone else's efforts and opinions. To truly understand Shakespeare you must be able to connect emotionally with what is being said, having maybe walked in similar shoes. Try to feel deep within your heart what love truly is, what pain really contains, the only way you can do this is if you've experienced those emotions first hand, you don't learn by regurgitating, you don't learn about love by reading a book about it. Both love and pain are two emotions that can walk hand in hand when chasing that dream fish.
The only way you can have your own honest opinion on anything 'including carp lakes' is if you've embarked on the journey unaided and grown through your own personal experiences that you have learnt along the way. Surly it's more satisfying going to a new water and finding your own way into it rather than mimicking someone else's approach. Within my blogs I share my views, opinions, tactics and approaches but by no means are they "the law". This blog is simply allowing you to hitch a ride on my journey, take from it what you will but whatever you do take please include a bit of yourself within it.
My point is, before you next jump on youtube or other social media sites to find out other peoples views and approaches on a specific carp water or venue, take time to understand everything you might be depriving yourself of by not getting out there and experiencing it first hand for yourself. There's nothing like bagging a beauty when you know the journey was walked by you and you alone.
The Wild
If you have come into carp fishing via modern doorways the subject of 'the wild' might be uncharted territory for you, those of you that grew up watching 'A Passion For Angling', using fairy liquid bottle tops as bobbins will get where I am coming from with this. The wild doesn't contain named fish, going swims, shower blocks and puddles over stocked with large pressured carp. For all we know the wild contains nothing at all and that's the beauty of it.
Through the recent angling years it has be somewhat obscured, it's very rarely written about. When you cast into such waters you aren't battling to beat a PB, you are very simply trying to unearth the unknown. The beauty of the wild is that it can be perched right under our noses, unrecognised or hidden deep within the valleys, yet to be christened with a line. The best part of it is there's no documented way into any of these waters, it's all based on your own judgement. To follow through on your judgements you must first feel confident in your own views and opinions, these are built up through your own experiences, this can be a struggle when your only source of material is feeding you with mixed messages. There is no wonder rig or magic bait, the only thing that is real to me is watercraft and you learn this by "doing". I look upon it as a sense and like all senses they have to be developed with independent thinking.
The Untouched
There is one water that I can associate with all the above and I plan to share with you my exploits within my next blog entry. It's not totally untouched but at the moment it is as wilder water as I can get close enough to. It's been left, very rarely fished, overgrown and buried deep within the Medway valley. It's not clear exactly how many carp are hidden in it's depths but I have managed to bring a few to the bank, they may not be the biggest fish I have caught but each one of them represents something that I am eager to explore further. The sessions I will be accounting for are a series of two hour stints from late afternoon to early evening, this time of day seemed to be the most productive. I am looking forward to sharing my journey with you.
Now with the Internet there is so much information at our finger tips, this is all well and good for learning 'the theory' but I feel the practical side of 'thinking and doing' has taken a back seat. When I first started carp angling I had nothing to really go on, if I wanted to know about a water I would go and put the hours in and still do to this day, very rarely will I look for information on my chosen venue prior to going. I'll admit that a little local knowledge can be helpful but I certainly don't change my approach in accordance to what I have been told.
Nowadays through media such as youtube, you can pretty much get all the information that you need before stepping foot on the bank, but why be a carbon copy of someone else?. This seems a shame to me because the process of your natural learning can suffer. The only way you truly learn is by doing, to mould a true opinion about something, after learning the basics, you have to climb the path by yourself from the ground upwards. Is technology making us lazy? I personally think it is. And is technology depriving you of personal experiences? Are you just mimicking what you watch and read?
A Possible Anaesthetic To The Brain
I can equate this to university graduates that can recite every Shakespeare poem off by heart or rattle off someone else's viewpoints on a specific subject. To me these people are just mixed up fragments of someone else's efforts and opinions. To truly understand Shakespeare you must be able to connect emotionally with what is being said, having maybe walked in similar shoes. Try to feel deep within your heart what love truly is, what pain really contains, the only way you can do this is if you've experienced those emotions first hand, you don't learn by regurgitating, you don't learn about love by reading a book about it. Both love and pain are two emotions that can walk hand in hand when chasing that dream fish.
The only way you can have your own honest opinion on anything 'including carp lakes' is if you've embarked on the journey unaided and grown through your own personal experiences that you have learnt along the way. Surly it's more satisfying going to a new water and finding your own way into it rather than mimicking someone else's approach. Within my blogs I share my views, opinions, tactics and approaches but by no means are they "the law". This blog is simply allowing you to hitch a ride on my journey, take from it what you will but whatever you do take please include a bit of yourself within it.
My point is, before you next jump on youtube or other social media sites to find out other peoples views and approaches on a specific carp water or venue, take time to understand everything you might be depriving yourself of by not getting out there and experiencing it first hand for yourself. There's nothing like bagging a beauty when you know the journey was walked by you and you alone.
The Wild
If you have come into carp fishing via modern doorways the subject of 'the wild' might be uncharted territory for you, those of you that grew up watching 'A Passion For Angling', using fairy liquid bottle tops as bobbins will get where I am coming from with this. The wild doesn't contain named fish, going swims, shower blocks and puddles over stocked with large pressured carp. For all we know the wild contains nothing at all and that's the beauty of it.
Through the recent angling years it has be somewhat obscured, it's very rarely written about. When you cast into such waters you aren't battling to beat a PB, you are very simply trying to unearth the unknown. The beauty of the wild is that it can be perched right under our noses, unrecognised or hidden deep within the valleys, yet to be christened with a line. The best part of it is there's no documented way into any of these waters, it's all based on your own judgement. To follow through on your judgements you must first feel confident in your own views and opinions, these are built up through your own experiences, this can be a struggle when your only source of material is feeding you with mixed messages. There is no wonder rig or magic bait, the only thing that is real to me is watercraft and you learn this by "doing". I look upon it as a sense and like all senses they have to be developed with independent thinking.
The Untouched
There is one water that I can associate with all the above and I plan to share with you my exploits within my next blog entry. It's not totally untouched but at the moment it is as wilder water as I can get close enough to. It's been left, very rarely fished, overgrown and buried deep within the Medway valley. It's not clear exactly how many carp are hidden in it's depths but I have managed to bring a few to the bank, they may not be the biggest fish I have caught but each one of them represents something that I am eager to explore further. The sessions I will be accounting for are a series of two hour stints from late afternoon to early evening, this time of day seemed to be the most productive. I am looking forward to sharing my journey with you.
Pure
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