the ideal league

joffmiester · #1

what would make everyone happy
what sort of leagues do anglers want
what sort money do they want to pay
what sort of fishing makes a good league
what sized teams 4,6,8 or 10
answer all of theses and you should get some idea myself i think 8 men teams are the way forward and allowing spare anglers to fish in a seprate team i think the league should be over 6 rounds 2 canal,2 river and either 2 commercials or lakes its fare better to keep anglers interested in fishing if one or two teams don't run away with it .i'm sure and i have seen plenty of ideas on team fishing ,but yet to see anyone grab them by the balls and organise them
my biggest bug bear is the fact i can't fish most saturdays or i would be running something by now
you only have to look at the barston series because its a individual league carpcrunchers getting 80 anglers on a saturday fisho's 130 anglers it seams to me its the way fishing is going

#2

Teams of 4 and 6 are ideal in this day and age joff

Preecys Middlewich spring league and Crewe LOCAL summer league are brilliant ...... good cheap fishing , competitive , well thought out payouts

Imho cost is going to have a massive effect on open match fishing in the awfull uncertain economic situation the country is in for the foreseable future. Teams of 10 is on its last legs without a doubt

, the big teams with big squads and big sponsorship continually "pinching" other "lesser" teams better anglers has took its toll so the "lesser" teams have all thrown in the towel like most of us predicted years ago ...... it was always going to happen !

You have to take your hat off to the wigan lads , very healthy situation up there year in year out even though the wigan canal is crap !

Commercial venues going to take a very big hit this year imo ..... there are simply TOO MANY OF THEM !

#3

Dodge, I think you are spot on with everything you say there. The writing was on the wall for 10 or 12 a side teams a good few years back.
I think the only one that has a chance of being there in twenty years time is the National, it has been going for over 100 years, and is purely a one-off.

Anyone can make stats talk in their favour. However, it is fact that that 116 teams fished the 1971 national (widely recognised as the peak in match fishing times). This year, 40 years on should see a slightly larger number than that, around 120.
I can't forward any ATWL figures but they would not make for very good reading over that time span. Most Leagues had twelve teams of twelve then, some had fifteen and some had even more; there wer even queues of teams trying to get in some Leagues because they were over subscribed. If my memory serves me right, (perhaps someone will confirm or not confirm) I think you were placed in a League, you couldn't pick and choose like today

#4

I must admit I haven't fished the Middlewich Spring League. This is quite simply because our lads, me included, want a short break, nothing more nothing less.

All but the League I have mentioned I have fished the Crewe and Wirral winter leagues for the past two years, winter and summer.

They are bang on and the banter and company is second to none; for those that seem to thrive on moaning and complaining in matches it is not for them though! In some ways the fishing is unimportant but in reality I have seen it improve even over that short space of time I have been going.

joffmiester · #5

Teams of 4 and 6 are ideal in this day and age joff

Preecys Middlewich spring league and Crewe LOCAL summer league are brilliant ...... good cheap fishing , competitive , well thought out payouts

Imho cost is going to have a massive effect on open match fishing in the awfull uncertain economic situation the country is in for the foreseable future. Teams of 10 is on its last legs without a doubt , the big teams with big squads and big sponsorship continually "pinching" other "lesser" teams better anglers has took its toll so the "lesser" teams have all thrown in the towel like most of us predicted years ago ...... it was always going to happen !

You have to take your hat off to the wigan lads , very healthy situation up there year in year out even though the wigan canal is crap !

Commercial venues going to take a very big hit this year imo ..... there are simply TOO MANY OF THEM !

very good dodge
ithink your spot on

but as for commercials have you seen the amount of matches taking place at barston

:Dat £20 a ticket saturday sunday peg fee £7 and between 60 and 80 anglers .boy the place is taking some hammer i can't see the skimmers liking this much hammer .perhaps its because we can't fish rivers at the moment and anglers turn to commercials

:-/and i would think even less will return to canals and rivers this year

i'm very unsure where my angling is going at the minute !! do i stick with the team only to get kick back after kick back ,phone calls and more phone calls and then throw money after money at it

or do i just say enough is enough and go 100% into commercial fishing where i can enter endless amounts of competitions nearly every weekend !i have to make my mind up pretty soon or it will be a point of no return

samsman · #6

You have to take your hat off to the wigan lads , very healthy situation up there year in year out even though the wigan canal is crap !

it's not crap

it's challenging

if you want somewhere that's a little bit easier may i suggest trying one of the many commercial fisheries available, it might be just what your looking for

the wigan circuit is popular not because of the fishing,but because it's a cheap affordable match where eveyone (well almost) has the crack.

#7

You know i dont mean it dave

Wigan aint for me tho !

#8

There's crappity smack all wrong with the Wigan Cut.

Proper fishing

When is the next National on it?

joffmiester · #9

There's crappity smack all wrong with the Wigan Cut.

Proper fishing

When is the next National on it?

can't afford any new wheels bill

#10

Some three years or so back I was fishing a match up on Wigan Cut. When I was packing up I emptied my carryall out and packed it from empty. I left a short 'bar' behind that I used a fair bit and at the time they were hard to come by. It was presented to me next time I went up there, - top guys, lovely bit of cut.
I know places no too far from here you dare not even empty your carryall

joffmiester · #11

too right bill even when we fished the leeds/liverpool canal back in the days of the riots everyone told you to back your cars up dead tight to each other or it would be gone

we never found any of that it was a brilliant national and a overstay to remember with liverpool lads

#12

a overstay to remember with liverpool lads

Yes brill but I would'nt go that far

joffmiester · #13

a overstay to remember with liverpool lads

Yes brill but I would'nt go that far

sounds bad

and it was