Live Love Laugh with @gotmehook.ed

Live Love Laugh with @gotmehook.ed

5 questions for @gotmehooked! Here we go! We invited her to the MC syndicate so it some point we will be doing a bigger interview!

1) In issue 19 of Monkey Climber Flanx surprised friend and foe with their advert showing only pics of @gotmehook.ed on Insta, one of its team anglers. Surely, you got a lot of us immediately hooked :-) Can you present yourself briefly please?

"The pun hits the nail on the head as we say over here in Germany ;) My name is Kassandra, I'm 24 years old, I currently live in Germany in my caravan (on my parents' land) and somehow I've made it my mission to learn to love life every day and to motivate people to do something. I do this through Instagram and social media mainly but also with my work in residential youth care. Simply to put a smile on these kids faces despite everyday life and difficult situations they have."

 

2) When and how did you start angling? Do you angle for carp only or multiple species?

"I can still remember when my father taught me to drive a motorboat in Greece. I steered the boat 'towards the body, away from the body', I didn't know right and left yet. Meanwhile, he put out the nets to supply the small village where we lived back then with fish. Of course, the hand fishing rod was not to be missed. I think the villagers were happy that they didn't have to wait for me and my hand fishing rod to put food on the table, haha. Still, giving up is never an option. And so my fishing evolved from hand fishing to carp and fly rods... Every kind of fishing has its charm. I like to fish for carp, because the flair of this kind of fishing completely takes me away. Sleeping in a tent, being on the water for a long time. Here you set up in nature and live off what you have available. I also like to go out with the spinning rod. Especially in the streets of Amsterdam. Street fishing appeals to me a lot. The hustle and bustle of the city and me in the middle of it, drifting perch and zander. I could write a love letter about fly fishing by now. Of course, I haven't even mastered the basics yet and there is still so much to know. But that moment when you see your fly floating on the water and a fish shows itself underneath... The adrenaline running through your veins, the thoughts, the moment when the fish takes your bait in front of your eyes... All that in the middle of the rushing water. Surrounded by birds and the scent of brook mint. But in fact, to this day I prefer fishing the sea... somehow the smell, the salt and the colourful fish remind me of "home'. Still, I wouldn't want to commit to any fishing... it's just so diverse and I think it's very difficult to be an intelligent angler if you limit yourself to one way of fishing. From every fishing you gain experience, which you can in turn use in another subject area, but that's just my idea of fishing."

3) From your IG account we can tell you travel a lot. Where have you already been too, for fishing and just travel. What is your dream location?

"Yes, I agree with you. I travel a lot. I get bored quickly and that's why I'm always looking for something new... which can be really exhausting sometimes!? I've seen a lot, but the world is sooo big... so for example the Scandinavian countries, the United Arab Emirates or different countries in Europe might have only been a fraction after all, who knows. But I can say that I no longer distinguish between travelling and fishing."

"By now I always have a rod with me or I get into fishing through strange circumstances whilst travelling, whether it's with local gentlemen who catch their dinner at the jetty or the professional fisherman who goes out to sea with his cutter at dawn and you can accompany him full of enthusiasm. Somehow anglers always find each other... My dream place? I often hear this question, unfortunately I don't have an answer, I believe that it doesn't really matter where you are. The main thing is to be happy, enjoying the moment... Only then probably any place can be wonderful."

4) What is it like for a girl in this predominantly male carp scene?

"When you skim through the questions, they sound totally easy but now I'm sitting here thinking... and I realise it's damn difficult to find an answer. I'd like to say that it's totally easy to go fishing as a woman, but it's not... I think it all depends on you and how you do your thing. The bottom line is that I can write at length here about what the pros and cons are, what bothers me and what I think is good. In fact, it's just important to me that I can get to the water. This feeling of fly fishing in the middle of the mountains in a small riverbed, carp fishing in the summer without a tent and only with a lounger, drinking your coffee in the morning with the sun rising, catching your first black bass while spin fishing... It doesn't matter if you are a woman or a man. What is important is the passion and that feeling of losing oneself in it. I find happiness in fishing and I so often feel infinitely free and untouchable and realise how great and indescribably beautiful this freedom is. Maybe a short situation: recently I was fly fishing in Denmark. I drove around and looked for beautiful waters, asked about maps, regulations and everything that goes with it. In the end, I was on my own. But no one can ever take away the moment when I held my first small trout in my hands, which I caught on a fly. The tears of joy, the euphoria and that indescribable feeling of bliss and gratitude. What is important is not your gender, whether you are young or old, tall or short. What is important is that you think about it yourself and catch your own fish, so that at the end you know what a hard way you had to go to hold that fish in your hands."

"Here in Germany I also get a lot of support from my good friend and companion Maurice and his small but fine company Flanx/Bait42. So many times I have wanted to throw in the towel because of discriminatory statements, envy, injustice and gallons of tears. Maurice (even if you don't believe it sometimes?) is a very emphatic person. He notices when I'm not doing well and he has my back. I have learned a lot from him. Most of all, how important it is to get up after a difficult situation, not to get down and to fight for what is close to your heart. He himself is the best example of what it means to be strong and to build something wonderful out of stones that are put in your way. I have been with Maurice through thick and thin and, Mashalloah!, I am so grateful for him!! That's why I just stand behind him. He does his own thinking. He doesn't follow any mainstream and he doesn't get his mouth shut. He doesn't care what others say about him. He just cares that his contribution to the angling scene makes people happy through his knowledge and products. And that is what my heart beats for. Honesty and sincerity, appreciation, empathy and congruence. I feel so well taken care of with him and in his little empire."

 

5) What other interests do you have (pole swinging we saw) and what ambitions do you hold for the future? Both in fishing and in life?

"I have so many interests and I get excited about things quickly. But what often accompanies me in everyday life is dancing. I have loved dancing ever since I was very young. Whether alone whilst making coffee, or at the Bavarian Show Dance Championships with a group. This is often reflected in my Instagram stories. I also like taking photos. Preferably of strangers. Often the beauty of a person lies in small detail. I ride motorbikes, like to go hiking, spend a lot of time in nature, indulge in the sounds of electronic music at raves. My enthusiasm for things increases immeasurably. I could probably list a thousand things I like to do here. To develop further and to get to know and love new things. Being open and not giving up straight away. That's what I like to do most. Ambitions? I'm already happy when I know what month and what year it is, that I put on my trousers when I get up and can remember where my car keys are after hours of searching. I have no goals, no ambitions and no good advice... From the moment I got your questions, I thought about those last two lines. Maybe this seems haphazard, unstructured and totally stupid and like something out of a bad quotes page, but my favourite movie says: "It's only after we've lost everything, that we're free to do anything!" Maybe you have to free yourself from all goals, ambitions and good advice to be free. To be "hooked" on life... Then life is perfect, isn't it?"

Love & Kisses,

Gotmehook.ed


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