A POSSIBLE DILEMMA

This forum belongs to Redmire Pool.
User avatar
Barbulus
Tench
Posts: 2508
Joined: Sun Aug 25, 2013 1:51 pm
10

A POSSIBLE DILEMMA

Post by Barbulus »

A possible dilemma......"Better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all".

So.....I invite you to imagine you are fishing a few days and nights at what, arguably perhaps, is the most famous and historic small pool that has spawned so very many carp fishing dreams over the years; both imagined and those occasionally realised. Expectation; the excitement at just being there; misty dawns and long, lazy evenings watching the sun slip behind the surrounding hills. Redmire in late Summer......

The dilemma is this. Putting to one side temporarily the excitement and good fortune to be sitting on those famed banks just soaking in the atmosphere and being "at one" with it's past, would it be better to hook, and to subsequently lose, one of Redmire's monsters or not to hook one at all..........and if it is the former....does anyone know the ballistic properties of a MK IV "launched" into the undergrowth in frustration.....

User avatar
Loop Erimder
Wild Carp
Posts: 9984
Joined: Wed Apr 04, 2012 11:33 pm
11
Location: Leicestershire

Re: A POSSIBLE DILEMMA

Post by Loop Erimder »

Dearest Barbulus when I arrived at Redmire last July at daft o clock in the morning it was still dark the others were still asleep. I parked up and made my way to the bench on the dam wall. Camera in hand and just sat for a while watching the pool, capturing the ripples from carp breaking surface and taking in deep breaths through my snout and smelling the fresh morning summer air. After introductions I set up a float rod about 6 am in the hope for a gudgeon or two. Imagine my delight when the float disappeared and I stuck into a world record gudgeon........ Not actually a gudgeon but my first Redmire carp only a mere 2lber but I was thrilled. So when I lost a bigger carp at the net some 14 hours later (upper double, or even possibly a low twenty) I was ok about it, and not totally devastated. That was my third visit to the sacred pool and knowing it wasn't my last visit I still had time to catch a whopper. When the time is right she will give you what you want. I had to wait until my 5th time to be blessed with a wonderful 24lber. Just being there is enough and when I'm back there at the end of September and I do or don't catch it will matter not
Chance is always powerful. Let your hook be always cast; in the pool where you least expect it, there will be a fish

User avatar
Trevor
Eel
Posts: 2271
Joined: Thu Mar 15, 2012 9:44 am
12
Location: Oxfordshire

Re: A POSSIBLE DILEMMA

Post by Trevor »

I've never been to Redmire but I'd love to go someday, and if I do I'd rather not catch anything than hook and lose one. I think I would rather settle for just being there and not have it spoiled a little by a 'what if' moment.

User avatar
ExiledSoutherner
Gudgeon
Posts: 99
Joined: Fri Nov 29, 2013 11:39 pm
10
Location: Manchester

Re: A POSSIBLE DILEMMA

Post by ExiledSoutherner »

Yes indeed, I have to agree with Trevor on this point. It would be devastating to lose a fish (particularly a large one). Better to have not loved at all, than to have loved and lost - in this context only.

User avatar
Julian
Salmon
Posts: 7463
Joined: Sun Jan 15, 2012 3:42 pm
12
Location: North Buckinghamshire

Re: A POSSIBLE DILEMMA

Post by Julian »

If I hook a very large fish and lose it , it does not really bother me- as my attitude is that at least it means I was fishing well to be able to hook it, and therefore the same would apply if i were ever to fish Redmire.
To hook and to have lost a monster is better than never to have hooked one - always. At least you will have the experience and the memory of hooking a giant.
There is no peace on earth like the peace of fishing in the early mornings

User avatar
Gary Bills
Rainbow Trout
Posts: 3070
Joined: Sun Sep 04, 2011 6:57 pm
12
Location: Herefordshire

Re: A POSSIBLE DILEMMA

Post by Gary Bills »

I just think you have to try, and trying anything difficult always involves the strong possibility of failure, doesn't it? I'm really looking forward to being there in November; but if I fail, i fail - and it won't be for the want of trying. To lose a big fish is hard - and I've lost several big fish, mainly carp, and one genuinely monstrous pike, and I suppose I'm more or less over them all. But it's an odd feeling, isn't it? -that line going slack...
These days, there's hardly a session when I don't stare the possibility of failure in the face; but I suppose I've matured enough now to think my way around the fishless hours, and figure out a way to catch.
The loss of the pike I mentioned still does bother me - I've caught pike to over 20lbs, but that was really something - and what bothered me was not so much the one point I had in the fish virtually pulling straight, but the fact I was glad it came off, because it had me scared .. my knees were almost knocking, and I'm not proud to say that, obviously. Afterwards, standing on the bank of a small Irish loch, I remember thinking "six years of serious pike fishing, and what's the point..?" I realised I'd been found wanting.
No, I don't want to feel like that again. To lose a big carp at Redmire? That would be hard, but I think and hope I've matured enough to deal with it, should it happen. I really hope it doesn't!

User avatar
RBTraditional
Catfish
Posts: 5653
Joined: Thu Nov 10, 2011 1:10 pm
12
Location: Rural Kent
Contact:

Re: A POSSIBLE DILEMMA

Post by RBTraditional »

Forget about the carp...........fish for the big eels......they are on the red list, endangered species, there time will come a time when they are not around sadly and are a much more worthy quarry than a non native species anyway........... :Wink:
" Angling is not an escape from life, but often a deeper immersion into it..."

https://thepiscatorialraconteurs.co.uk/

User avatar
Chris Bettis
Crucian Carp
Posts: 950
Joined: Thu Nov 28, 2013 6:13 am
10

Re: A POSSIBLE DILEMMA

Post by Chris Bettis »

My friend, please DO NOT fish for the big eels at Redmire. Leave them alone. It is very easy to kill one by deep hooking - all their vitals are very close to their throats and killing one is all to easy.

User avatar
Barbulus
Tench
Posts: 2508
Joined: Sun Aug 25, 2013 1:51 pm
10

Re: A POSSIBLE DILEMMA

Post by Barbulus »

Well I can't say I slept too well last night but that was mainly due to a leaking, dripping, sound from the en suite shower, an air lock in a radiator and the b***** rescue cat who can't decide whether to stay in at night or go out and who insists on waking the black labrador asleep guarding the food store in the kitchen downstairs overnight......the good news though is that it allowed some quite reflective time on this dilemma.....some really interesting comments gentlemen too for which I am grateful as it has helped me in reaching a conclusion.

So. The conclusion I think for me is it is a definate carp fishing trip. No question there ! Cane rods; also no question there ! Of perhaps more relevance though is that I am settled on the "Better to have loved" element of the dilemma. Of course soaking in the atmosphere and reflection and experience but without drawing too many parallels, I think over the years of past other "loves"....and I think it fair to state that you never forget your first love even though for most (?)....that first love will not be your last...........the floats and rods are all ready......

User avatar
Kingfisher
Catfish
Posts: 5772
Joined: Sat Apr 07, 2012 4:14 am
11
Location: Llandrindod Wells (Mid Wales)

Re: A POSSIBLE DILEMMA

Post by Kingfisher »

I think the not hooking I'd prefer. Just the chance to sit on the famous pool's banks or indeed to be able to afford do so would do me.

Of course, watching the sun going down behind the surrounding hills of a lazy summer evening, would mean that it's falling on my head whilst I fish my river here 37 miles away behind the hills.

As much as I'd love to fish Redmire, I'm happy to keep it a fantasy and just read about it. I'm sure there are also other (Maybe still unfound) pools that are just as mysticle?

God never did make a more calm, quiet, innocent recreation than angling.

Izaak Walton

Post Reply

Return to “Redmire Pool”