THE BEST FISHING CAN BE RIGHT UNDER OUR FEET
CHRIS Yates enjoys using what some call ‘classic’ tackle, while others decry it. For sure, we all enjoy using modern, feather-light rods, and reels with exquisite drags, and for sure we catch more and bigger fish with them.
The key word there is ‘enjoy’, though. You aren’t going to catch much using cane rods and centrepin reels if you need to cast 60m to do it, so what you do is not go to those places and concentrate where your kit does work.
Most of us cast over more fish than we cast to. I see anglers (I’ve been guilty of it myself) trying to look good by fishing at extreme range when there was more on offer under, or even closer than, the end of our rods.
I learned early on that the key to all styles of fishing is feeding (or sometimes even not feeding) and watercraft. Make no mistake about it, Mr Yates is a master of both, and you don’t need carbon rods or high-tech drags for either.