Is Match Fishing At An All Time Low ?

#61

I am going to stafford tmoz and the way i see it is that the week i have had at work i dont give a flying monkeys if a catch or not. Folks keep saying about moaning but please just stop moaning about folks moaning cus that makes you a ??????????? I hope i draw next to you mr crappity smacker and that we both go dry(only joking)

darkhorse · #62

having more cohesion between organisers to try and organised 50+ peggers on natural venues is probably only way forward, i remember having an interesting chat with a kammy champ, he agreed that more cohesion is needed and more matches on natural venues so real talented anglers shine not just venue experts, even suggested kamasan getting involved holding kammy regional matches every week on different venues ie canal/commie/river/natural lake(bream) to sort out real matchmen.

#63

I am going to stafford tmoz and the way i see it is that the week i have had at work i dont give a flying monkeys if a catch or not. Folks keep saying about moaning but please just stop moaning about folks moaning cus that makes you a ??????????? I hope i draw next to you mr crappity smacker and that we both go dry(only joking)

Anybody understand this crap or was my education was my education wasted?

chavey · #64

There are still the anglers about who want to fish natural venues down in the south west, Our super league has 6 matches on those type of venues. This year we had 1 round on the kennet and avon canal 2 on the river Huntspill and 3 on the bristol avon All 56 peggers, p[lus practice matches before each round. The same for the upper Thames winter league with one on the Thames 3 on the K and A and 2 on the Avon. These are70 anglers on the Winter League rounds with as many as 80 on the practices! I know its not the big matches of yesteryear but they are still fairly big by modern standards. Today as well as our 70 pegger on the Bristol Avon there was also a 120 peg open down below Bath! Choppie you need to look this way for the river matches! For the next 2 weeks there will be opens on the K and A at Marlborough, which I'm sure will both be 50+ PM me for details if you want to fish

#65

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.

Arch, I well remember Cardiac Hill; I am sure the river used to come up with the amount I sweated getting up that bank!

Great day, great fishing; was it Mick Lees that used to run the matches?

Arch · #66

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.

Arch, I well remember Cardiac Hill; I am sure the river used to come up with the amount I sweated getting up that bank!

Great day, great fishing; was it Mick Lees that used to run the matches?[/quote]

Yes Bill, it was not seen him for years. Draw at the Tennis courts on Solney Rd IIRC. I caught my best ever Barbel from "Cardiac" 7lb 3oz (Not big by todays standards) on a 22 to 1 1/2 bottom. Landed it, re-bent the hook back, next put in hooked another only for it to snap me.

Proper fishing and good memories too.

joffmiester · #67

I REMEMBER IT TOO

there was a bridge down there somewhere
i can remember one of our lads [Steve jenkins] drawing where the two rivers meet or a brook coming in he'd lost 5 barbel when we got to him we found some strong line of one of the other lads .he went on to win the match you could never tell where the winner would come from one week it would be roach next chub and the next could of been barbel again good memories

#68

It was pre-barbel days when I went.

Last I heard of Mick Lees he had gone over to the 'dark side'

Arch · #69

It was pre-barbel days when I went.

Last I heard of Mick Lees he had gone over to the 'dark side'

Umm, i gave that ago in June, 4 days at Bluebell, no bites, no fish, lots of Tea. Never again.

#70

just going back to bills views on people running venues down, and moaning, you will find that most anglers who moan and run venues down, dont do very well on that venue. I lived in warrington for 27 years where there was good canal fishing around the areas, then moved to halesowen, were there is more canal fishing around the midlands and staffs area you would not believe, yet people still moan about venues, pegging and then moan that theres no matches on any more!! REASON people can not be arsed any more running them, I ran one on the loop this sat gone and really wanted anglers to have a days fishin, fished hard, would of not been bothered if i had gone dry,as long as the rest had 4-5 pound each, but people still moan and run the place down and moan, I had 7-9-0 and won 50 sheets, so i spent it on a weeks worth of tenner lady for my other half joan lol!!! moan over tight lines

joffmiester · #71

bonanza you are doing a great job ,Ive seen your match results in the past .the biggest problem out your way is the fact for all the good waters you have there isn't the number of anglers and if there is one match a few mile up the road it starts to fragment-ate
B/J anglers are getting less and less take the sensas cips match at the weekend 60 traveled for all parts of the country a lot of those 60 headed up north on the sunday to the stainy which had 100 B/J anglers on it .so to keep that going its no good running these sort of matches by splitting them .say running one at barston at the same time as the is a match on the stainy will half the attendance planning a match calender is the key i'm sure

trypewriter · #72

I think one of the problems that commercials brought to match angling was the 'local hero', by that I mean guys who almost live on the venue, fish it day in, day out, and know exactly, almost to the hour, what the going method and bait are going to be. Unlike more natural venues, it is very difficult to make things happen on commercials, you are either on the winning method or you are off it. Ivan's old adage of doing something different seldom bears fruit on them. Anglers soon realise this and attendances drop. On river matches you accepted that anglers of the calibre of Dean, Allerton, Barlow, Swinno etc. etc. would be very tough to beat, but they had built up a wealth of ability through years of experience on quite diverse venues (there's all sorts of different swims on the Trent for example, and lots of ways of tackling them). This is very different to sitting on the same few ponds day after day - also remember that the above named actually went to work for a living, and their fishing time was more limited. Right or wrong, you did feel that you were in with a bit of a chance given a decent draw. On a lot of the commercials I don't think you can really say that if you just turn up on spec.

#73

I think one of the problems that commercials brought to match angling was the 'local hero', by that I mean guys who almost live on the venue, fish it day in, day out, and know exactly, almost to the hour, what the going method and bait are going to be. Unlike more natural venues, it is very difficult to make things happen on commercials, you are either on the winning method or you are off it. Ivan's old adage of doing something different seldom bears fruit on them. Anglers soon realise this and attendances drop. On river matches you accepted that anglers of the calibre of Dean, Allerton, Barlow, Swinno etc. etc. would be very tough to beat, but they had built up a wealth of ability through years of experience on quite diverse venues (there's all sorts of different swims on the Trent for example, and lots of ways of tackling them). This is very different to sitting on the same few ponds day after day - also remember that the above named actually went to work for a living, and their fishing time was more limited. Right or wrong, you did feel that you were in with a bit of a chance given a decent draw. On a lot of the commercials I don't think you can really say that if you just turn up on spec.

Very well put

Sums it up in a nutshell for me

MarkV · #74

(there's all sorts of different swims on the Trent for example, and lots of ways of tackling them).

So true... makes despair a bit when people post on forums asking , whats 'the method', or 'how to fish' a particular river venue, as if it's all the same.

joffmiester · #75

access access access thats the bee all and end all to natural venues,its a shame the roadside has been taken by a club as i'm sure you'd of got a few to go there cliffton another venue that started to get a few on it until they stopped you parking
if you could park behind your peg you would get a lot more anglers interested whether you caught 3lb or 20lb newark dyke another with good access and if they ever did something with holme pierrepont

:othat could be really good

#76

Access is definitely a factor, why walk a mile to catch 2lb and come back to your car broke into when you can park behind peg and catch 100lb. I prefer natural venues but can see why people dont

#77

We regularly had 300 plus at our open matches at Stafford. Long walks and very limited access were part of the game.
Nowadays there are loads more accesses, not far to walk, car parking and the like is much better.
Breaking in cars for fishing kit is unheard of at Stafford, still is (famous last words)

Nowadays upwards to 20 lb wins, yesteryear 2 lb might get 'in'.

Just a few comparisons.

#78

Fishing on all canals is better than its ever been and I've only ever known about 5 cars broken into in 20 years of canal fishing, those were reasons most give. I couldnt fish the same venue every week, I'd get bored but it's the way it's going. Nearly all the tunnel barn regulars were top class river and canal anglers

#79

Really interesting point bill, very few young anglers, want to fish canals any more, lots of older angler are batting on the other side now because, then can have a days fishing and catch a 100lb, where on a canal they think catchin 3pound is racked off!!! you will never change the way it is i am afraid. If your on a bank fishin a canal, drain, river, puddle, your a angler, and all anglers should stick together like mud, Goes to show how much canal fishing has improved,but puddle fishing is the main venues for most,i am afraid,must say i have really enjoyed fishing the shroppie winter league, love fishing venues that i have never fished before, fingers crossed the weather holds off!!!! ::)

Arch · #80

Heres a slightly different angle (No pun intended) There has been mention of catching 100lb on this topic twice i think. Iv'e never caught 100lbs of fish, i'd have liked to off a river maybe, but not anymore. But 100lbs on a commie could quite easily be only 10 fish, in a five hour match, 2 fish an hour. If thats match fishing today, no thanks. Put me on a canal for double figures of silvers please, something to work at. I'm not knocking those who fish Commercials, each to there own but give me "wild" fish over tame goldfish any day.

One other thing, why has the BWB never heavily stocked the canals with Carp ?? That might get people fishing them more often.