Simple Match Fishing Forum

Well me and Gem went. We got there about 12.30 and found the sign posts the organisers had put out to be very helpful. I knew where the fishery was but there was that many different parking area's it could have been confusing.
There was an army of people directing you to your parking space, the guy directing us made us park millimetre perfect in a massive field 

We walked across the field and I was excited as I had never been to anything like this before. 
There were security guys everywhere by the entrance and 6 ticket booths to which we went to one.
"2 tickets please" I says. She says "£25 please"  I nearly fell on the floor. At least Dick Turpin wore a mask sprang to my mind.

After the shock of the price... (I thought it was £7 each you see) we went through and first thing we saw was the go fishing show. The Preston stand was first. Gem works in a tackle shop and see's fishing tackle all week and I simply dont care about looking around it, I just wanted to watch the fisho final.

Gem had a go on the Preston stands catty comp. 4 balls for a quid, you have to knock a prize off the shelf which consisted of bait dye and bags of 4mm s-pellets(prob cause they aint selling many of that size  ) She proceeded to put the guys to shame by winning on every shot

So I paid a lot of money for something I did not want to see really as for the go fishing show.
Another thing about been ripped off I didnt like... £3 for a farty burger that looked like it had been sat on. Then £3.50 for the same but with a piece of processed cheese on it  UTTER RIPOFF!!!

Now on to the fisho itself. We walk down the track towards the Arena pool and I was quite excited. We walked round the corner and the first thing we saw was the Stand with the weights on and where they do the final presentation. I had only seen this on the tv before so I was loving it.

I turned round to see the main arena lake and I was impressed. Camera's everywhere, I could see the presenters that I normally see on the tv. We walked round to peg 6 and 7 where Ed and Vandershady were and sat down.

It was great to see people cheering and clapping when someone caught a fish  From the moment we sat down it was clear to see Matt Hall was winning as he had a massive crowd behind him which got bigger as the day went on.

The claxton went which signalled a weigh in. What I saw next surprised me a little. One Marshall getting Eds net out which had 3 fish in it.... He puts the weigh sling on the mat and gets each fish out individually from the keep net whilst trying to hold the weigh sling at the same time.
They can have 500 people to help you park your car in a massive field but they cant supply enough staff to properly weigh the fish. 

Watching Ed and Chris was very good although they were not catching as much. The side of the lake was crap to be fair and no one was catching really. These boys can cast a method feeder very well  

Gem took her camera but the batteries died  ::) I took some pictures with my phone but they are not the best. Will post them at the end

I'm glad I went and it was certainly an eye opening experience for many reasons, good and bad. But for that price I will not be going again. I just wanted to watch the fishing match and not pay to look round a large tackle shop.
I think they should have the show in a fenced off area and give people wrist bands and charge them extra if they want to go round it.

Pictures....

[highlight]Gem Watching Ed and Chris[/highlight]



[highlight]The camera Crane[/highlight]





















[highlight]Chris with a bigun[/highlight]



[highlight]Chris getting the cameraman excited[/highlight]

Si i used to go to the go fishin show every year at the NEC except the last 2 they had there. When it first started it was a good, cheap enjoyable day out were the manufactures would show off what was going to be coming out in the coming year and there was no retail stalls just manufactures giving demonstrations ect. The idea was you'd see something you liked/ wanted at the show then go home and order it through your local tackle shop (ie supporting your local tackle shop). The problem came as the show got bigger, the entrance cost went up(£13 last time i went), the retailers got more ( more like a flea market selling the crap that they couldn't sell off in the shops) the manufactures got less (companies like preston, shakespear, shimano ect stopped going) ect so i stopped going.
By joining fisho and Go Fishin show was ment to give the show a boost to try and get the people back visiting the show but by looking at your pics i'd of thought there would of been more people there than that looks like in your pics so maybe the show as had its day. When fisho was at Hayfeild you could get FREE tickets for it through your local tackle shop if the owners talked to the reps.

Gems Pictures. Click to enlarge

There were loads of people there, they were all behind Matt Hall.
The Show was fairly busy too.

Gem couldn't get any free tickets 

I just felt £12.50 to sit on a grass bank and watch people fish was a bit too much. Because at the end of the day thats all I wanted to do. Fair enough others may want to go round the show. Each to their own

It was a good day, same opinions as Si re the costs. and i done my old trick of winning on the game ..... shame i cant get the catapulting right whilst fishing!!!