# Getting back into it



## TheDarkLordChinChin (Jan 22, 2020)

I really want to get back into my freshwater fishing this year.
I used to do a lot of it 5 years ago or so but then sea fishing kind of took over.

What always put me off freshwater fishing was the "coarse" aspect of it. I dont like fishing in stocked lakes or popular marks and setting up a camp with loads of groundbait, electric bite alarms, keep nets, 3 rods out at once, 50 different kinds of bait and loads of expensive tackle.

I think if I stick to the methods I learnt early on I will enjoy it more again. I bought myself a shimano sienna 2500 fixed spool reel today for €39.50 so thats a start. Almost all my best gear is for sea fishing. I want to get back into pike fishing my local rivers and lakes as well as trying to beat my PB European perch which stands at 3lb.

I never managed to break into double figures regards pike fishing with my biggest fish only being 5lb. My local waters suffered a bit from fishing becoming hugely popular in Ireland. In the 80's and 90's there were always loads of English lads coming over and coarse fishing which changed the game a bit and convinced the government to bring in more regulations and keep a better eye on fish stocks. Now every waterway feels overpopulated by roach and small perch with waaaay too many jack pike and not hardly enough bream of any size. Also the eels seem to be gone from everywhere and rudd are a rarity now. Loads of hybrids though but all small.

I recently watched some videos on youtube of a guy in Ontario canoeing through the most remote waterways imaginable and catching loads of pike and walley. This really reminded me of why I first started fishing: the wild aspect. I know of so many little streams and tiny 1 acre lakes near me that no one fishes, its crazy that I dont get the rods out more.


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