Avoiding familiarity - why I keep pushing?

I mentioned, yesterday, about the local pike fishing being "mediocre", yet what is my measure? I have already taken four (small) doubles from a very limited number, and single type, of venues yet I find myself able to bemoan the situation and my results. Crazy, I only landed one double during the entire winter of 2014/15! I have to admit, to myself, that it's all relative to experience and expectations. When young Tom Spence came along, with Benno and I, and captured his first pike (around 6 or 7 lbs) he was over the moon - it was a new species and an exciting event for a guy with an enviable list of big carp to his name. This being the same type of reaction as when I landed the 3 lbs 1 oz eel, it was a new and very enjoyable experience.

Bread and butter to a Scottish loch angler - magic for a guy from Kent?
 

So, to my way of thinking, it is the desire to seek new challenges which drives me to push the boundaries of my personal knowledge and encounters. I know what I know, but it's the realisation of how much more there is to see and do that keeps me seeking new avenues of exploration. I've probably ticked as many boxes on my UK & Kent bird lists as I am likely to do. Today my birding revolves around a small area of Thanet - my Newland's patch, what I see whilst I am fishing and what I can find when I am away on holiday - wherever that may be. Moths are very much the same, although the recent flirtation with "micros" has led to a whole new arena of discovery becoming available -without me having to do anything different in terms of effort. I simply look at everything in the MV instead of the obvious "macros".

Swammerdamia caesiella - a common and abundant species across the entire UK.
 How many residents of the UK have ever taken the trouble and  looked at one?
I'd never seen one until 24.08.2015 - although it was November before I had any idea what it was called!
 

My fishing exploits have now to be, very much, governed by how I did it, rather than "how big?". I cannot deny my desire to chase that dream moment, but it will happen (if the angling gods decree) on my terms. There are only so many species available to me, as a resident of Kent, it is how I go about my angling, my targeting of specific fish, which will ensure I gain the maximum from any successful encounters. As a youngster, the grass was always greener somewhere else, today, I have to conclude, it is not about the colour of the grass but, instead, the realisation that realistic challenges can be found in the most unexpected places, the majority of them very close to home.