Hobbynewyear
BY LOUIS FEROX WHEN you’ve got a passion or a hobby, Christmas and birthday gifts become a doddle.
Dropping hints and throwing tags in on Facebook for that bit of kit you’ve had your eye on all year can guarantee a treat under the tree.
The other side of it, though, is that with all the wee bits and bobs you receive, there is a fine line between collections and hoarding.
I’ve had all manner of fishing socks and themed gifts over the years, some for comedy value and other weird wee things that became essentials in my tackle box.
It’s nice knowing that someone’s picked out something special for you or spotted an ugly fishing jumper in a shop and had a laugh knowing you’d wear it with joy at dinner.
Every year I’ll head out on a New Year’s Day trip to test out new fishing gear.
We might be fully grown but we’re still just big weans at heart, calling to pick up your friends to go outside and play with new toys on your holidays.
I’d say the trip is to catch fish but it’s as much to blow away the cobwebs and get the year off to a good start in the fresh air.
In 2018, we managed just a single crab between us but, armed with the toastie maker I’d got from Santa the previous year, I was set up to cook for a platoon at Ardrossan while the lads were spooling up a new reel and using a new multitool for anything and everything.
My gran passed away a few months before and it was the first time in decades I didn’t have a chocolate fish and a fishing card from her in my stocking.
Like sprouts at dinner, there are traditions that are built up over time and things you miss when they’re not there.
I’d spent that Christmas morning happily playing a magnetic fishing game with the youngest niece in the family. Well, I happily played a competitive contest with her dad while the wee lass had declared fishing boring and was setting up a different game.
The passion for angling isn’t strong with that one yet but we’ll keep working on it.
SOME salmon beats have returned a zero catch this year, the dry weather and effects of farmed salmon and low angler turnout were felt in lots of Scottish rivers.
It’s not all downbeat though, rivers like the Ness have video streams where you can watch fish returning to spawn.
Fishery management highlights the importance of proper legislation and lobbying to preserve our fishing stocks for the future.