Newbie in the South East

[BMJA87]

Hello everyone,

I'm 34, and live down in Brighton - any HDAS members here?!

I used to fish a float on holiday as a kid. Bought a float rod in my mid-twenties and went to the local commercial a few times for carp, but never really knew what I was doing. Used to go spinning for bass at Shoreham canal, but not been in ages. No-one else in my family or any of my friends were interested in fishing, so can see why I never carried it on.

At the start of the pandemic decided I'd always enjoyed fishing but never really knew what I was doing, and I wanted to learn and become a proper angler, even if I had to do it on my own. So I went back to the beginning, did a load of homework, taught myself new knots, new rigs, how to ledger, how to fish with a bite alarm, how to use a quivertip rod, etc. - and then I went out and bought some new tackle - a Drennan Twin Tip Specialist Duo 11ft 1.25lb tc, some Sonik Vader X 12ft 3.5lb tc carp rods, size 10000 baitrunner reels, braid mainline, strong clips and swivels, wire trace, forceps, bite alarms; all with the intention of spending the summer pleasure fishing and carp fishing, and the winter pike fishing, with the same kit. When I felt I was ready, I joined a club and have been fishing the (fairly rock hard!) club stillwaters all year, had some lovely fish; carp, tench, perch, bream, roach and rudd so far. Really pleased with how my fishing has come on this year, and hoping to take it to the next level during the winter (or blank a lot. Probably blank a lot).

I'm brand new to both piking and fishing rivers - I understand roving works quite well. I've blanked 4 times in a row so far on the same stretch with a float ledgered deadbait, but last time I went out I did see a chap catch a double figure pike on the stretch, so they are definitely in there... Going back this weekend with the same bait he was using.

Thanks for having me as a member of the forum! Nice to meet you, tight lines, hopefully see some of you out on the bank :)

[John Milford]

Welcome to the Pit from a former South Easterner (but not quite as South or East as you).

Nice intro. and a great start in fishing by the sound of it. It is refreshing to hear someone wanting to learn the craft in stages, rather than pitching straight in to specialised fishing!

Plenty of good advice and tips on here - and we'll worth searching the topics for help on river tactics.

[Mike J]

Welcome aboard

Plenty of good fishing in your/our region

.

[BMJA87]

Cheers both!

[Happy Hayes]

Nice introduction
Welcome to the pit
Regards
Tom