It absolutely fascinates me how fishing gets hold of some people and becomes a lifelong passion, and then from there how certain kinds of fishing can become such an all consuming obsession. I have got any number of theories as to why lure fishing grabs certain anglers like it does, and I for one just could never have foreseen how my own addiction to it just gets worse and worse. What amazes me though is how many other anglers there are out there who are in the same boat as me - and quite possibly many of you reading this - and it just does it for me in such a big way when I receive feedback, emails, comments etc. from anglers who lay it out for me how badly lure fishing has got them. A recent email asking for some advice on fishing tackle started with the words below, and I absolutely love it.
“Hi Henry, I have been an avid follower for a while now. I only found lure fishing in the last three years but have ended up totally addicted and can be found most weekends on the Llyn peninsula in North Wales. I don’t know what it is about lure fishing that attracts me but it’s probably checking out new areas the fantastic scenery and of course the thrill of the chase. Bait fishing from a beach with the rod sat in a stand just doesn’t inspire me at all and as an ex sports diver I have had enough of boats and being weathered off to last me a lifetime (now 63 years old). But walk along some deserted coastal path for a couple of miles and clambering down some very suspect cliffs to find that perfect spot well it doesn’t come much better for me.”
How cool is that? I want to say a big thanks to the angler concerned for letting me publish his words on this blog post, because he’s laid it all out right there if you ask me. Some lure anglers have been lure fishing since before they were born, but for many of us we have come to a serious lure fishing addiction well into our fishing obsessed lives. I never for one second imagined that I would obsess so much about a sort of fishing that didn’t revolve around bait, but with the amount of lure related addiction stuff I read and hear about, it does seem that this particular branch of the sport fishing world appeals to an increasing number of anglers in a very serious way. Damn good stuff if you ask me, and long may it continue.
The photos here are from the other evening when conditions looked pretty damn perfect, but it wasn’t until we put lures out there that we realised how choked up with weed it was. Bloody annoying, but the light went off for a little while and I managed to shoot a bunch of pix that I was rather happy with. Lure fishing, photographing lure fishing, thinking about going lure fishing, where does the addiction end? Never I hope.