Without knowing it, the beginning of my angling apprenticeship was undertaken on the banks of a small clear stream and the oil covered pond that sat in nearby woodland in a place we as kids had affectionately named the ‘Cemo’. Here, hunting the sticklebacks that could be found in small shoals within the masses of billowing submerged weed of the stream in its slow-running clear water, it also held a lesson within, unbeknown to myself at that time that was to stay with me forever.

Another one was held amongst the dumped oil drums and the submerged logs within the pile of floating rubbish within the Cemo where fish, unbelievably, still haunted. I remember clearly that those little fish took just about anything that we could ever present to them when it came to bait, but we still had to learn their moods.

Fast forwarding a little to my early teens, I realised that I’d developed a little envy within me on finding out that my new secondary school friends had what, I perceived, an advantage over me as a fisherman. Given their fathers being anglers, they’d been kitted out completely, and to me, this had put me well out of the game. Or so I thought.

READ MORE: Storm Darragh can't keep anglers away from Carr Mill Dam

Now it's a thought that's come to mind after joining up with some friends over coffee this week, where we discussed that everyone's angling success is very much based on our whole understanding of fish behaviour in general and not just a case of having all the tackle. After also speaking to young enthusiasts recently, I'd also shared with them that for an angler who wishes to catch fish, it's absolutely essential to understand and observe fish at close quarters and then learn how to actually tempt them secondary.

It was that point that on reflection, that the hours spent on simply watching those colourful sticklebacks in our early days where we’d prided ourselves upon catching them as youngsters, we’d actually learnt a clear understanding of their behaviour without knowing it at that time and that ultimately had led to our success on naturally catching them. As larger rivers, lakes and ponds will always offer us more room and a greater scope to fish upon, for me none of them can have offered me an experience as it did during those days of innocent youthfulness on our stream.

Closely peering into those very first venues without knowing it, again those actual close studies within those early days have been responsible for having played a massive part on my understanding of fish behaviour and of course playing a huge part on my own angling ability. Catching fish is always an exciting and rewarding experience at every level, but the whole experience can also be enhanced by the satisfaction of understanding the significance of having a sound value of the fish we are pursuing, and of course its habits and habitats.

Luck will always see an angler catching lots of fish at times, particularly when the fish are in a frenzy. But for me, rounding off with that as an example, the experience of fishing without any sound knowledge of what we are targeting, we will have no direction, no understanding and certainly only a limited measure of enjoyment.

Like they say upon the circuit, every day’s a school day.

READ MORE: John Easton claims the top spot near Burscough

READ MORE: Maghull’s Mark Worthington nets a 170lb catfish in Spain