10 New Year’s Resolutions For 2019

1. Fish fewer rods

Just because you can fish three rods, doesn’t mean you should. Try starting a session with just a pair of rods and only put the third out if it’s all kicking off. It could really focus your angling. After all, Terry Hearn only needed a single rod in his swim to catch The Burghfield Common.

2. Introduce a friend

Not now, not in freezing January. Fishing’s a terrible hobby to an outsider right now. But in spring or summer, invite a non-angling mate out for a night at the lake. Pick an easy venue and pack plenty of patience - you’ll realise just how much ‘assumed knowledge’ you have accumulated in your time as an angler! They’ll probably think you wind in ‘backwards’ and they’ll definitely hold the rod incorrectly, but give it time, you might just ignite something in them.

3. Learn to spell

Pedantry isn’t cool, but we’ve got a bee in our bonnet and we just have to vent. It is SCALY, not scaley. Remember that when you’re hashtagging your next mirror, or ‘bad man’, to give the approved Instagram suffix. And it’s WINTRY, not wintery. Remember that when you’re describing dawn on your last session of the year in early October…

4. Recycle your line

This is an absolute no-brainer. The brilliant Anglers’ National Line Recycling Scheme means there are now recycling bins just for line at plenty of tackle shops, lakes and fishing shows. It doesn’t cost a penny to dump your old line in these containers and it all gets recycled. If you just binned your typical carp mono it could take 600 years to decompose in landfill.

5. Sit on the fence

Chill out in 2019. When you see an online debate about an item of tackle, a certain fish, a certain fisherman or a venue, count to 10 and remind yourself that not everything has to be polarised. Tackle, fish, venues and people can be ‘okay’, neither good nor bad. Not everything has to be ‘worse than Hitler’ or ‘the best product I’ve ever used’. You don’t have to have an opinion at one end of the spectrum, you can sit quite comfortably in the shades of grey between black and white.

6. Fish your own way

Few sports are as individualistic as ours. Even sports that are solo pursuits generally have a scoring or judging system, but not angling. In 2019, let your fishing be yours and yours alone. If you would rather hear your alarms sing then go to your local runs water. If you want to catch your first river carp, go and do it. Set your own goals, take pleasure in your own angling and do it because you want to.

7. Take a break

On a similar note, if you’re not feeling that urge to go fishing, don’t. Don’t go through the motions because you feel you have to. Even the best anglers in the business go through periods in which they lack motivation. If that’s the case with you, take a step back and let the buzz return naturally. It’s a great feeling when it kicks in again.

8. Use your local tackle shop

Like pubs, use them or lose them. If you’re part of the generation that has grown up shopping almost exclusively online then make it a resolution to visit your local tackle shop once a month in 2019. You don’t have to buy anything super expensive, but go in, say hello, listen to the regulars chatting at the counter and soak up the knowledge of the staff. Even in an age of Twitter and Facebook, local tackle shops are often the best way to find out what’s really going on at your nearest venues.

9. Fish in France, on a public venue

Many of you will have fished at a commercial venue in France, but if you haven’t experienced this great country’s public venues then you’ve only just scratched the surface. The Carte de Peche website (where you buy your - cheap, printable - tickets) can be viewed in English and there are hundreds of lakes and river spots to have a go at. Don’t know where to start? Pick the nearest town to where you last went in France and just explore its rivers and lakes.

10. Don’t listen to anyone else

We’ve just given you a list of nine prescriptions, so we’re testing our irony test curve to its limits here, but feel free to ignore everyone who tries to tell you what to do in 2019. Sod ‘em, sod us, do what you want to do.