Merry Christmas/Happy Holidays!

Christmastime is just one of the times I usually don't think about fishing. This time I won't make an exception. Have a good time, all of you, and take care of the ones close to you!

I didn't send any x-mas cards this year. I targeted the card money to a project that restores spawning areas for trout.

Morning mist on a Finnish lake. Also you can find my current setup in the picture (PL Fastwater 9'6", Okuma Trio BF 55, Prologic Senzora 13 bite alarms+snag bars, Prologic Hangers and Prologic Tripod). 

The Learning Curve - And The Happiness of Not Learning a ****!

Hi all. It's been a while since my last blog entry. Nonetheless, the season is over here and it's time for some reflection on my doings.

When I started carping, I got off to a flying start. I think in no less than 15 minutes I had hooked my first carp. It was more than easy, as were my following catches. I hardly knew the meaning of word "blanking". Luckily, years have taught me better.

In every form of fishing, you get better by doing it more and more. This is true no matter if we are talking about match angling, fly fishing, etc. I remember my first time tench angling. I was struggling just to get one, and this went on for a few trips. Two years spent entirely on tench fishing on the pole taught me a trick or two. If I remember correctly, one of my last trips was when I caught 25 tench in a five hour session. The catch in total was like 40 kg+. At that point I knew tench angling quite well (at least the pole techniques). I knew if I wanted to catch tench, I would. Some part of me just loves the effort of trying to catch and learn. The way of becoming an angler. At the same time, I love the things I don't know. They truly are the reason why I return to the bank every time. Casting for the mystery.

Luckily, carp fishing has still remained quite mysterious to me. And I think I want to keep it that way. Some things are clearer to me now, and some not. I am a biologist, so the nature around me hardly has any mystical or magical essence, as from my point of view, it's just genes and evolution. Spruce = genes (and it's fenotype), birch = genes (-..-), carp = genes (-..-).

So yes, carp fishing is an action where a monkey (Homo sapiens) uses a lot of time and absurdly expensive and elaborate tackle (made of carbon, plastic and metals) just to see a fish (Cyprinus carpio). So where's the magic then? The "magic" is just a product of our own imagination and our want to make things meaningful. Life itself, possibly has no bigger meaning, so fishing might be as important as anything. From this perspective, I find carp and fish in general, as magical creatures capable of possessing my mind. It's a way better story than the monkey-version!

Yes! It's a monkey (Homo sapiens) ALMOST kissing a member of the Cyprinidae-family (Barbus barbus).