HELP NEEDED A/T WINTER LEAGUE FINAL

joffmiester · #1

this weekend see's the Angling times winter league final for the last time and what a crying shame that ken wade has to post on websites for help to steward and weigh in.its no wonder team angling is in the position its in
if anyone would like to help please get in touch with him
i'l be there so watchout

#2

Before I have my little say on this it is only fair to be honest and admit that many match anglers have helped to end this long standing great event !
The moaning that Ken Wade and Angling Times have had to endure, no wonder it happened !!!
Let start with the main facts over the demise,
Commercials, revival of club circuits (AT clubman etc), less kids coming into the sport, top team domination and cost.
No doubt most of us has seen this coming for years but now the sport is too fragmented and the news from Angling Trust how the competition is to be run in it's first year will cause a big upset ! I hope it will not finish team fishing !!!
Most of the Angling times winter leagues want to fish natural venues as that is the majority that take part in the league.
I know partridge are sponsoring it this year and it is a nice place but should things have been done this way !
If team fishing is to continue then it might be a good idea for the Angling Trust to talk / have a meeting with team delegates and discuss National venues and how best to run a winter league.
The best way I can describe how it is currently run, and thats keep receiving a present that you don't really want but will go along with it !
Everything could be so much better if a good communication was struck !!
Things need to change soon or we might aswell kiss it !!

joffmiester · #3

a good point mate

i wonder how many commercials are actual members of the Angling trust

in the past i won't of said any of them would of given the A/Tr the time of day ,where as most of the clubs on natural venues are members and members support the trust
as choppy said its nice that a sponsor has come into take on the winter league [our own fault the angling times has pulled out]but the bigger picture that i can see is
1 partridge lakes is a commercial [or business]so what better way to fill your pegs up at a time of year were the pleasure anglers doesn't bother much and the die hard match angler will fish right through the winter
2 the competition might now create more leagues on commercials knowing that the final is on a commercial
3 how much is the sponsorship worth and over how long if its a one off that will be the end of the competition as i can see natural venue leagues not bothering this year as it is
4 team size's will be decreased for a commercial final so again less anglers on the bank
team fishing has to change but i'm not sure if this change is too hasty

perhaps its time we looked at teams themselves as we all know the top teams pull the best anglers perhaps teams should be regional and anglers fishing within that team should only come from that region creating a A,B,C,D teams so the A team would fish against Ateams of other regions and so on going down the line on a dedicated league format
one thing is for sure unless we do something soon we can all kiss team fishing bye bye

#4

Choppie is so right; dialogue is the only way forward with this but it must be selfless, that is so important. Look at the whole picture not what your team want

Top team domination could have been avoided with a geographical allocation of teams per League; i think that would be a step forward too as it should benefit any League tem wise but it may take a while.

National Championships are so, so different. Before an even remote suggestion of a venue you have to firstly consider an adequate HQ (not the Drome!) and it has to in a fairly quiet area where traffic can keep moving, - that probably rules out more than half the country in one sweep. There also needs to be plenty of decent accomodation in the area too.

Owing to the size sometimes these match take in more than one club, that also has to be considered re different rules they have.

Some places, for whatever reason, just do not want Nationals of that size.

When you put all these together the choice is very limited.

Anyway, well said Choppie and Joff; I get the impression that loads couldn't care less on this though. I don't fish these anymore but I would like to see match fishing going the right way and done correctly there is no reason why they should not succeed. ::)

joffmiester · #5

what does surprise me are the anglers competing at the top level seam to be very quite on this subject for saying they want to carry on competing at the top level surely they too can see the state team fishing in and the need for fresh ideas .its easy to egnor the problem
evsham festivals are few and far between perhaps one competition a month instead of all theses fragmented matches on the same weekends pool all the anglers to one competition a month
choppy said it!! talk !!

#6

what does surprise me are the anglers competing at the top level seam to be very quite on this subject for saying they want to carry on competing at the top level surely they too can see the state team fishing in and the need for fresh ideas

We all know most of the top anglers and anglers who are involved with the monthly magazines etc etc are tied to deals with tackle manufacters ..... they all p!ss in the same pot and wont rock the boat ! Harsh but very true and we are now left with this mess we are all in now!

It could have been all so preventable but sadly the greed of a few have ruined it for many !

The day (not too far off) i fish 20 peggers on my local puddle i will pack the game in.

PS Thank fcuk for football !

joffmiester · #7

correct dodge

i never used to see it like that one or two do like to plant a seed or two though

if i could fish as much as i wanted too i'd be looking to sport to provide some proper events
i hate going back to the good old days but john dean made a fortune most weekends with out very little sponsorship just by winning and the same went for a lot of anglers
the likes of our younger generation really need to speak out as the Europeans are catching up very quickly belgium,holland,italy and hungry were all practicing 3 weeks before the world champs and you only need to look at the results to see how that paid off
perhaps employing someone from outside the sport like a marketing expert could come up with a fresh view on match fishing ::) ::) ::)

joffmiester · #8

i was talking to tony marshall at the weekend, as we all know tony is a brilliant natural angler and his results show that .he was telling me that there aren't many weekends that he doesn't fish a river match both days last weekend he fished the Newark advertiser and 8th place received £100
where was this match advertised i didn't see it anywhere yet sponsorship money was put into the event
i would think twice about sponsoring a event if it had'nt got the coverage i needed

joffmiester · #9

KEN HAS HAD A FEW STEWARDS DROP OUT OF THIS WEEKENDS FINAL ALL HE NEEDS IS A FEW PEOPLE TO WEIGH IN

come on you might see some big weights