Went for a walk along the canal on bank holiday monday - took my mates dog out & had a few waterside drinks in the beer garden of one of the dog friendly pubs. Seemed plenty of other people were doing the same - plenty of walkers and cyclists using the tow path & plenty of people in canal boats cruising past. also a few people fishing who looked grumpy at the fact lots of people were walking past.

Ive got nothing against fishing in principle - I think shark fishing would be pretty cool to try - as would most forms of deep sea fishing - but fishing on a canal?? - it seems they just sit there & stare at the bank in the vain hope of catching a tiny little excuse for a fish that they are not even going to eat anyway.

People walking past does get a little irritating, but its not that were trying to concentrate or that theyre worried youll scare the minnows off or anything.

- We used to go fishing down the canal, wed always catch a few things and thered be people stop to talk to you, cool. People down the local canal or lakes usually had something interesting to say, and there are loads of conversations I still remember from years back.

Cuppa tea or a can of beer, kick back and watch the world float by. A small part of the fishing thing is always pretending youre taking it seriously when people walk past or talk to you. Man Vs Nature & all that. But really you want the people to move on so that you can dive behind a bush for a pee in peace, construct a fresh magworm (maggots+superglue), or just carry on the chat you were having with your dad or mates.

Pike, carp, tench - there are some monsters live in canals. This one time I was down with a light match rod, running 3lb line straight through. I hooked a 15lb common carp, took half an hour to land, it had me running up n down the bank, tearing line off the reel. I got soaked that day wading in to net it safely

Fun, yet relaxing