Modern life is full of hustle and bustle, and we spend a lot of the time indoors or surrounded by buildings. There are many studies that have proven that this can have a detrimental effect on us. Directly on our physical health from the lack of sunlight, but also psychologically because of our lack of connection with nature - the thing we evolved to live in.

 

Being alongside nature can be very therapeutic and calming and can be a great place to reflect in solitude or in partnership about any number of things. This can be achieved by simply going for a walk around your local park. But parks can often be full of people and not so full of nature. A great accessible hub of nature though are our river and canal ways.


As you know from previous blogs Ben and his dad are avid nature lovers so when they mentioned wanting to take up fishing again I was very excited to see what we would get up to. One thing I learnt is fishing takes a lot of organising and equipment. The first thing we needed to organise is important for any fishing - we neededto get a license for Ben. Not only did he need one for himself but he also needed one for his rod, this also meant if he wanted to fish with two rods at the same time he would have had to pay for another license.

 

 

Next we went to the angling shop to buy equipment and bait which was an eye opening experience. I never knew there were so many different baits, everything from sweet corn and corn beef, to hemp seed and these little bait balls flavoured in chocolate, raspberry, beef you name it. We bought the old reliable maggots, now I know you’re thinking ‘ewwwwwwww’, but actually they’re quite pretty things especially when they have been dyed three different colours.

We also bought a landing net and a type of rod called a whip, this is a rod without a reel that is whipped out into the water hence the name.

So then we were ready and I could sense the excitement in the air with Ben practically jumping up and down as we got to the car. We set off to the canal to all old spot where Ben’s dad used to fish with his father many years ago, and where they had both fished many times. On the way they both recounted tales of interesting fish and other random objects they had caught or fished out from the canal.

When we got there we set ourselves up opposite a reed bank with a lovely view into the fields beyond. It was such a lovely view that I did a little sketch of it in my ever handy portable sketchbook, and we talked about bringing down a sketch book the next time as additional thing to do. Ben was very excited to be fishing and we all really enjoyed the quiet and calm, as well as the few encounters when canal boats went past, or dog walkers.

 

 

The fishing was super successful! Ben caught about ten fish in about an hour and a half which he was super proud of. First we had to put the maggots on the hook and then Ben whipped the line into the water. After this me and his dad would throw in more maggots and something called ground bait which I think was just a paste of bread crumbs.

The first few fish we caught were called roach, little silver fish with big eyes. These fish were then released back into the canal after we managed to de-hook them. We also managed to catch one perch and one gudgeon, both beautiful and interesting fish. The gudgeon we unfortunately didn’t get to picture as we struggled removing its hook so prioritised getting it back in the water. The perch you can see however is a much bigger fish and there was a real sense of triumph when Ben caught it.

The trip was so enjoyable and felt very fulfilling even in the small amount of time we had. Both Ben and his father seemed really relaxed after the experience, and spent the journey home reminiscing more tales of joy and hilarity.

So if you’re feeling the need to reconnect with nature or just to find a place to reflect, then perhaps fishing is for you. If not you could just go for a nice walk down the canal or river, or join your local wildlife watchers, perhaps get an allotment or get in your garden more. There are many options to reconnect with nature and there are so many benefits, try it - you might be surprised what you find!

Until next time,

Brendan