Is Match Fishing At An All Time Low ?

joffmiester · #41

dodge around here whether its commercial fishing or natural venues anglers seam to be hard to come by
makins used to be the biggest winter league in the country
now its half the size yet still the big boys fish it the fin steve ringer and loads more the other half that left the league are all fishing at the glebe now so will it be yet another cycle when theses anglers get fed up at the glebe remember you are only fishing a ten peg match and now they are beginning to squeeze the pegs up,and we all know what that means LOADS OF MOANERS something the glebe has never had !!

good point dodge about the county champs

again all for the individual angler and like you said specially towards the anglers that fish one venue three or four times a week
the clubman competition on the other hand doesn't get the same financial back and nor did the ATWL

Gorrell80 · #42

I qualified for the county champs final to represent Lancashire along with Paul Mossman, Stu Kenny, Andy Davies and Danny Martin - all top anglers in their own right!

We held no expectations of success in this event - merely a day out in good company as we did not put any time into practice!

To cut a long story short we ended up second team overall, a superb achievement in my opinion!

The winning team won £10,000!

We won ABSOLUTELY NOTHING! Not a medal, photograph or anything!

When you consider that this was a "TEAM EVENT" surely the top five teams should have got some recognition?

Especially when you consider that "collectively" more anglers than ever before entered the competition from the outset!

joffmiester · #43

:( :( :( :(that ain't very good mate and i'm sure somewhere in the AT they put £20.000 a side for this competition :-/might be wrong
it won't belong before you see some well known faces in the clubman me thinks

Ian_Morrison · #44

All this winner takes all business is going to kill off high level match fishing as the average bloke will feel there isn't any point in entering a tournament with the 'superstars' as there is virtually no chance of any return!

Then there is the opposite end were at standard opens on commercials every five anglers compete for £40 with the winner of the match taking home £100 from an 80 peg match!!! When its £20 a match plus bait and fuel etc there should be a sensibly structured payout that makes it worth while winning!!

#45

Until the masses realise that they ain't gonna win fisho or match this then the ego and greed will prevail.

#46

Who cares just go fishing catch a few fish have a few too many in the pub after and spend half an hour begging the misses to let me back in the house. If anybody wants to make money out of fishing then maybe they should just go to work. give us a smile Mr Yards you know you want to.

#47

You're a yellow stream head mr Dover

joffmiester · #48

Who cares just go fishing catch a few fish have a few too many in the pub after and spend half an hour begging the misses to let me back in the house. If anybody wants to make money out of fishing then maybe they should just go to work. give us a smile Mr Yards you know you want to.

did it for years mate even fell a sleep on the lawn once

joffmiester · #49

All this winner takes all business is going to kill off high level match fishing as the average bloke will feel there isn't any point in entering a tournament with the 'superstars' as there is virtually no chance of any return!

Then there is the opposite end were at standard opens on commercials every five anglers compete for £40 with the winner of the match taking home £100 from an 80 peg match!!! When its £20 a match plus bait and fuel etc there should be a sensibly structured payout that makes it worth while winning!!

Until the masses realise that they ain't gonna win fisho or match this then the ego and greed will prevail.

this is how divided our competitive sport is take the glebe i know quite a few of lloydys old team now fish it week in week out £250 a year [itis the best commercial fishery by far] this winter the winter league Had's 50 anglers if not more .you pay £25 for a six hour competition .BUT you are only fishing against 5 anglers in each section i think they pay two in each section £70 £50 something like that and that's the most you can win .now to the angler that can't be a bad days fishing if you like commercials ,but now that quite a few have moved from makins to the glebe the moaning has started there but you will never get these anglers away from the fishery it seams a dumping ground for has been anglers and they fade away into the abyss

#50

Big opens on natural venues provide angling clubs with much needed revenue , angling clubs then flourish (like they used to do) nowadays the some big tackle firms have got into bed with several commercials venues and most of the big prize money is channeled there hence the state we are in today.
Surely it is better for angling in general if the "prize" money and sponsorship was speard more evenly between commies and natural venues ? the "big hitters" would follow the money if a big money event was held on a natural , we ALL know that

Surely this would address a lot of issues within our sport and give the natural venue circuit a boost ? Most lads on this site know the natural match anglers are out there but the "big" hitters would say who wants to walk miles and walk in dog sh!t and catch nowt etc etc etc

darkhorse · #51

i came away from canals some 10 yrs ago cos my local canal scene just faded, turning up to matches with less than 10 anglers just didnt interest me, my area got saturated with commies, now i'm getting bit bored with commies and want a change but i'll have to travel to find any decent canal matches which with fuel prices has to be taken into consideration, regardless i'll be making the effort. as for win at all costs, i'm competitive, i'm a match angler, but 1st and foremost i enjoy my days fishing and fish my peg best i can, after working all week i want to enjoy my days fishing and ignore monkeys complaining, if a top angler expects to win near me, i wont make it easy and he can pull his face if he wants

, as for fishing the same venue 4 times a week 52 wks a yr boring, no skill there, guys winning matchman of year sitting on same lake all year and be called matchman of year?? it all gone lady lumps up yeh

. av i waffled oh

Smithy · #52

Well Wigan DAA have 3 canal matches a week, on different stretches as they have a 26 mile stretch. from Chorley to Saracens Head. Only rule everyone fishing must have a members card. Numbers alter from 25ish in Summer to 50 in winter, with Ticket matches 80+ due to teams practising for winter league

#53

i came away from canals some 10 yrs ago cos my local canal scene just faded, turning up to matches with less than 10 anglers just didnt interest me, my area got saturated with commies, now i'm getting bit bored with commies and want a change but i'll have to travel to find any decent canal matches which with fuel prices has to be taken into consideration, regardless i'll be making the effort. as for win at all costs, i'm competitive, i'm a match angler, but 1st and foremost i enjoy my days fishing and fish my peg best i can, after working all week i want to enjoy my days fishing and ignore monkeys complaining, if a top angler expects to win near me, i wont make it easy and he can pull his face if he wants , as for fishing the same venue 4 times a week 52 wks a yr boring, no skill there, guys winning matchman of year sitting on same lake all year and be called matchman of year?? it all gone lady lumps up yeh . av i waffled oh

#54

Well here's my two pence !
I think for a start the main reason for match angling decline is the culture of today, anyone who has kids must know there is so much more on offer, mainly the computer etc., a lot more activities and I am afraid that's life. This in turn will effect natural venues as it is obvious that the younger generation are on commercials. In 20 years it will be all but gone, looking at the ages of the anglers on these river and canal circuits (For the record I turned 47 a fortnight ago and still on some match's feel young !).
Just of late I have had spare weekends with nowhere to fish and have been to the Ouse at York,Partridge lakes and Barston. No local river matches, none on the Trent, Avon, Shrewsbury's gone !, You have to kill somebody to get on the Wye (I phoned for Wye Champs ticket the day after they came out and declined a 25th place on the reserve !).
At this time of year only river matches are up North or old nene at March and they are only once a month. Why the deteriation ? main reason for this was turnouts on the venues declined, matches stopped, water relinquished.
The reason for area's still having these river matches is largely due to few commercials in the region and a high head count of anglers brought up on the rivers, Calder and Ouse scene is very good but the average age must be 55 to 60.
Out of the 3 venues I mentioned I enjoyed Barston the most which I suppose is a commercial but with alot more roach and skimmers in.
Writing is on the wall ! get ready for a commercial world

#55

OK the truth does hurt but here are a few facts and basics.

In the Midlands we have a very decent canal scene turnout wise.
Yet a small percent of anglers fall out, rubbish other peoples venues, moan like crappity smack, you name it, belive me I have run more matches than any of you and seen it week in, week out.

Unless these guys get their act together this will diminish as sure as eggs are eggs.

Sponsorship is mentioned yet in this area, West Midlands/ Staffordshire/Cheshire it only needs more cohesion and more planning to run Kamasans week in week out, maybe two a week.

Kamasan put £20,000 or thereabouts into sponsorship every year; the slice of the cake is there for the taking. It also costs crappity smack all to enter it.

Sounds simple don't it?

joffmiester · #56

can i say this topic has been one of the most interesting topic we have had .the points of view from all taking part are really top draw and its nice to see we all agree.
but I'd like to see some more input from some of the other members it seams the same old faces [we are not moaning]trying to see if there is a answer
some really good points have been made by top anglers that don't want this decline to carry on
i think the next move is to try and get anglers to a open debate or a questionnaire once the ball starts rolling it will only pick up speed,and its not only for the anglers tackle shops would benefit from it as well
lets be about right would you rather sell maggots and casters or a bag of pellets that could last a couple of weeks

bring sponsorship to natural venues is a very good idea as money oriented anglers would follow
come on chrisV and diddy you've been there and done that whats your outlook on competitive fishing

Arch · #57

Ok then here goes,

I think the Commercials have made fishing to easy (As most things in life are nowadays IMO). No long walks, cafe on site, nice flat pegs, safe car parking so on, so on. Before i stopped match fishing we'd think nothing of walking to the Old Stretch of the Trent at Newton Solney just for a practise, or down and back up "Cardiac hill" Times me and my fishing partner would travel over to the Witham, to get some knowledge in for the coming Superleague. Now instead of trotting a stick down a river hoping for a nice Barbel, you can catch a stillwater one, not the same to me, but if youv'e never fished a river for one before, you won't know the difference. It's all to do with the easy way.

I have a friend who Carp fishes, his PB 42lb 8oz, couldn't shot a waggler up, wouldn't even know what one looked like. He's read it all from a book.

Same with alot of Commercials, bait from the local pet shop, doesn't go off, no bait fridge required. Easy life. I'm afraid i don't think it will ever go back either. Big matches are gone i think, people want an easy life and easy fishing, and it's also cheaper. I think anglers learn to fish on a Commie and then just stay on there. Fishing the matches on them too and not venturing elsewhere coz they don't know anything about other places (Naturals ETC)

One thing i don't see mentiond alot is water clarity. Whenever we work near a river it's always clear. Even after rain the water is gin clear after 2/3 days. I don't think that helps. If the rivers were better fishing wise, do you think people would fish them ?? I don't.

Slightly off topic but that my take on it.

#58

Bills spot on with his last comment, it really gets my goat "I ain't fishing his match cus he don't fish mine" and all that sh!t. We could have a fifty pegged (50 being conservative) round here every week without fishing same stretch of water for 2 or 3 months which = big matches and better matches cus venues rested, no less revenue because 3 x more anglers on your match

Mancunian · #59

Anglers in general are a moaning lot, we all like to have a whinge from time to time regardless. As you say Lloydy there are too many that spit their dummies out rather than accepting it for what it is at the end of the day, a days fishing good or bad.

#60

I moan a bit if I ay drew a good peg for a bit and moan on purpose if I'm on a good run just to wind a couple of people up but it's all on banter and never personal. Through team fishing you go to venues you like and some you don't, that's the way it is but a bad days fishing is better than a good days work