Match Fishing in the North West

#1

Been thinking of putting this thread up for a while ;) be interesting to gauge anglers and guests input

The North West used to have a thriving match circuit with big matches nearly every weekend on a variety of venues, Sadly those days seem long gone :( Anglers have to travel long distances to find some decent sport and decent competetive matches (50 plus pegs) it is certainly crying out for a couple of large commercial complex`s like lindholme or larford maybe, the natural venues like the river weaver, rudyard lake and the bridgewater canal can it seem only attract 25-40 anglers.There is however a small commercial circuit with 2 or 3 venues regularly attracting 30- 40 anglers. As a match angler living in the north west which option would you choose to fish regularly ?
Has the north west been left behind ? all the remaining top teams are struggling it seems ........ is it due to a lack of a big competetive circuit ??

#2

Look how many anglers got 20 kammy's last year Dodge, it aint just the north west struggling, i think the midlands circuit aint that bad because anglers travel from other areas to fish because the fishing is good, There are lots of commies round here and when top anglers go and start winning the locals either move on to another venue or get the method thats winning the money banned. I went on a midweeker last summer at TBF as it was fishing well, there were only four anglers there i couldn't believe it

#3

What you are saying Dodge is happening everywhere.
Open match fishing is very deep in the doldrums (turnout wise) and this incudes commercials too.
I don't think there is a single reason for this but several reasons and we all have our own opinions on this.
Cost and the lack of forward thinking organisers are two obvious reasons but there are more.
As someone that has been involved in various sports (still involved in some others) this problem will only get worse before it gets better; personally I think it may get a lot worse.

#4

this problem will only get worse before it gets better; personally I think it may get a lot worse.

Totally agree Bill, i think we have a chance in the midlands on the canal circuit if we can get the organisers to pull together

#5

There are a lot of reasons why this is happening

Amount of matches., cost, anglers wanting to fish against there own levels, etc etc etc.

How can you fix it?....you cant.

A couple of years ago a couple of match organisers round here decided to swap venues to make better matches, one group of lads went on the others venue to make them 40 peggers, the next week the favour wasn't returned, they had a 10 peg knockup on their venue!

#6

you cant.

You calling me names you tw@t.

#7

A couple of years ago a couple of match organisers round here decided to swap venues to make better matches, one group of lads went on the others venue to make them 40 peggers, the next week the favour wasn't returned, they had a 10 peg knockup on their venue!

I find it very sad, if you rotate the matches on different venues you get bigger matches and each venue has a rest so generally fish better. I fished a match last Sunday that took 20 mins to get to and anglers were moaning about the travelling, unbelievable

#8

Lloydy,
Yeah you have hit another nail on the head there, TRAVELLING.
We have to bear in mind that anglers from the north have an extra *£20 to pay out just to get here.
*Ball park figure.
It may not be so noticeable in the summer but if you add b&j fees on in the winter it is costly for the day

#9

Travelling is a massive problem with cost plus the time factor, we are very lucky round here, i reacon you could fish a fifty pegger every sat and sun and only need to fish the same pegs 2 or 3 times a year and only a max of 30 mins travelling

#10

Good stuff fellas

Keep em coming ;)

When i mentioned all the top teams in the north west are struggling , think there are only 2 left

#11

I was never too sure about this at first but paying £30 every five ANGLERS has to be the way to go today on the cuts.

That is based on £13-£15 all in.

#12

I read some thoughts on team fishing in MF and i'm not sure i agree with team sizes, i think things got worse when teams were limited because anglers were then forced to go to places they didn't want to go. When i first joined tipton they had a carp, canal and river team with a few that did everything and there were a few teams like this. This allowed you to compete with the top teams like starlets as you had good anglers at all aspects and not anglers turning up because they have to. In an ideal world i prefer smaller squads with anglers fishing different venues as it makes you a better angler, but most now just want to fish venues that suit them and you aint gonna change that.

#13

Smaller squads = More squads

But will it ever happen?

#14

I agree lloydy

Do you and others think team fishing and competetive team fishing in general has or had become too elitest alienating lots of anglers who used to fish the circuits but now feel they cannot compete ? When i read certain angling publications all you see and read about is the star / professional anglers ::) . Is this right ? is it putting out the right image of our sport ? should it be given back to the working man like it used to be ? or should match angling in general move radically forward ?

Think i need a lie down ::) ::)

#15

PRIME EXAMPLE of what happens to squads.

Our team, Eclipse, have not enough interested to fish in this years Winter League; in fact we had to draft a few in last year to fish it.

This means that other teams will probably go for some our better guys. Hopefully this will happen after after the Div One and not before.

End result, - one more SQUAD less

more match anglers disappear off the scene.

SQUADS SHOULD BE SMALLER, It then encourages all rounders.

#16

Smaller squads = More squads

But will it ever happen?

Aint sure about that Bill, when Tipton was trimmed down due to smaller squads of the anglers that left i can't name one that is now at another team, even scarier is the amount that packed in fishing. When squads were made smaller the best teams chose the best allrounders which over a league made them unbeatable

#17

I agree lloydy

Do you and others think team fishing and competetive team fishing in general has or had become too elitest alienating lots of anglers who used to fish the circuits but now feel they cannot compete ? When i read certain angling publications all you see and read about is the star / professional anglers ::) . Is this right ? is it putting out the right image of our sport ? should it be given back to the working man like it used to be ? or should match angling in general move radically forward ?

Think i need a lie down ::) ::)

At Sensas NW we are operating with only 6 anglers at present, there are a few leagues where this number of anglers works at present

with no 10 man A/T leagues worth fishing in our area at present we are going to carry on like this until things change or a 10 man league evolves in our area that is worth fishing

#18

Yeah, you are probably right there Lloydy, that is what I meant really, they don't form other squads they just pack up match fishing altogether.

This brings another thing into it, who wants all the ball acher of running teams?

Maybe this is another reason why all the squads are disappearing. I have noticed that teams at the 'wrong' end of the league do not seem to have as much say as them at the top, - they simply are not listened to nowadays.

joffmiester · #19

This brings another thing into it, who wants all the ball acher of running teams?

your right there bill its bl##dy hard work and often it effects your own fishing chasing anglers around and having so many negative phone calls about the state of fishing this year is pretty good i think no one has left

personally i feel for teams like dorking a top class outfit professional in every way and right at the top of the game
we would all love to have a team of anglers like dorking
but instead a lot of teams have given up the ghost if dorking are fishing it seams every teams shoulders drop half the squad can't see the point of practicing or having time off to practice.this is why big team fishing is going through its worst times ever
there is talk of a new premier team league thats all well and good but if a team like dorking takes the lead after a couple of rounds i guarantee heads will drop.if this premier league takes off it will need good venues up and down the country and different venues
canals,lakes,commercials and rivers and perhaps a team sheet where you can only change one or two anglers
at the moment i still enjoy running matches [must be thick skinned] yet i won't run small matches 10 or 20 peg matches are no good to anyone if that was the case I'd rather fish TKs matches and have a right laugh with them all
anglers are asking when am i going to run a midland league on the same grounds of the summer league and the answer is simple i would [with help] but i could only run them on Sundays as with the present climate my business has to come first plus i would still want to fish it and the problems with Sundays is there is far too much going on now-er days somewhere something has to give in the current match calendar and either anglers fish individually or 100% team fish we are all fragmented going off fishing everywhere

#20

It's a shame as there no better feeling than coming off the bank maybe finishing 3rd or 4th in a section knowing you couldn't have done any better off the peg and your team jobs done, some anglers don't even go to their pegs on open matches if 3rd in section is the best they could do