Simple Match Fishing Forum

is match fishing up and down the country at its lowest point well team fishing especially
i know its a new season for most [a lot still like a break] but this year it seams that no one can be bothered and some have not even been out fishing yet ,is the world cup ,is the fact we all have to tighten our budgets or is it we are running the wrong sort of matches
take the erewash canal 60 to 70 anglers turning up for national practice brilliant and i would think the same will happen on the Trent later this year is it time we looked at the match calendar and said why not have one big team match a month or one every two months so that give anglers more spare time to do what they want to do whether its commercial fishing or river fishing something needs to be done
i fished TKs site match and i can understand why the club seen is growing good banter and nobody minded whether they caught or not a couple of beers after and home what more do you want
i thought last year the way forward was team fishing in leagues where its up to the captains to sort out the team rather than me getting endless phone calls ,"put me down ,can make it now" then the one that don't turn up on the morning
i still want to fish big matches and we all know that 30 peggers nowadays are about as big as they get
my local paper has a fishing report every Friday night and i have a little input in the way its done the problem now is that there are that many club matches/20 peg open matches that the paper needs half a page for the results alone
and allot of theses matches are closed shop to most anglers
i'm getting older and don't really want the running around organising matches and running a team where half can't pick the phone up once a week yet expect me to phone them so I've been thinking
what would be my ideal answer for my way of fishing
where i still don't want to fish 10 or 20 peg matches and the hassle of running team matches
so what about if i ran member only matches
so each angler signs up for the season and pays £20 for membership say i limit it to 60 pegs so i now have 60 anglers [members] i then bring out a match calendar for the season whether its lakes,canals,rivers or commercials a good mix of venues and hopefully please most anglers
then if the member cant fish and he doesn't inform me he for-fits the signing on fee that way pegging can be covered and if i have a waiting list the next angler takes his place that way i have more of a idea who coming and anglers should be guaranteed 60 pegs matches this could 10 or 20 matches over the season or it could be less
i know this would only happen in the midland area but here in the Leicester area i could quiet easily get this sort of number
venues would have to be voted on and all venues considered
could it be a goer what do you think

Interesting that joff. We are all guilty of saying we'll do this, do that, do the crappity smack other and nowt ever materialises.
As you say there is certainly a big interest in National practises, 62 Saturday and 94 Sunday on the Erwash. Last year I had three turnouts of over 200 for practise matches and some of the others wer not too far off.
To me these figures indicate (we can't hide them) that the interest is there (or they wouldn't come) it just needs harnessing but I 'm unsure how you do that.
We all know about the smaller commies attracting the same 15 or so every week. If that is what they want to do, so be it. This is however, whether we like it or not where some have gone, the point is though, they are still out there.
One thing, as an organiser, that really worries me is these big money jobs that wil 'split' fishing to the point of saturation, - that is my view anyway. It hasn't come yet but mark my words, it will. There is room for the FishO but that should be it, full stop.
As you know I spent most of my winter fishing oop north and regardless what anybody says the turnouts were excellent. They were very cheap matches to fish and maybe this is the way to go.
Match fishing was all about Joe Bloggs having the chance of drawing next to Bob Nudd. With the way it is going that will be a thing of the past soon.
Match/team fishing does need harnessing, how on Earth can we do that though? Any ideas, the anglers are definitely out there.

I should of stated a little travel would be involved as i'd like to fish different areas ie perhaps the shroppie perhaps the glebe some different venues to spice it up knowing that your fishing against the same opposition ie members not anglers that just fish the venue all the time

You pinched my blueprint for Cashmores Joffie       - but one twice the size....

We have a membership of 27 anglers (24 'full and 3 lifers), plus a waiting list of 6 at the moment.

We pay #30 membership per annum for 15 matches across rivers pools and canals. That membership fee 'guarantees' you a peg......but obviously doesnt meet the full cost of pegs which tend to range between 2.50 and 6 quid - the rest of the peg fee costs is met by the pools taken on the day. We also have a fixed payout, irrespective of turnout, whether that be a dozen or all 27 anglers out.

A couple of things to consider....is your #20 'joining' fee suffice or does it need to be a bit more just incase attendances should tail off as the season progresses?

How easy is it to book 60 peg venues - spose I'm thinking of commercials here - I've had the odd match split across two pools and it does attract the moans 'I've drawn the wrong pool'

Would some anglers pick and choose the matches they wanted to fish - rather than prove their worth as 'allrounders'? I'm fighting a bit of a battle myself with our club to keep matches on 'natural' venues - there are some that will not fish our river venues, there are some that dont want to fish the canals.......and there are some that only want commercials in the fixture list

After the membership fee, do you make the matches 'more affordable' to attract the base membership. perhaps we are a different breed being 'club' rather than 'open' anglers, but it does surprise me when someone wants to join our club that I have to 'warn' them that we dont fish for megga pools (really in our case its only an average of a couple of quid per member per match) that it doesnt 'put them off'. Quite often their response is I dont fish for the pot, I want the day out at a variety of venues, with the 'competition',  but also the banter.

Our club is run on approx 26 matches a year roughly half on pools half on canals
The payout is decided on the day simply by the number that turn up as £3 is put away for payouts the other money goes towards the cost of the pools as we have free canals as we are an affiliated club to WAA
So on a good day you can win up to around £30 plus a chance of drawing a golden peg worth £100 and we never have anyone moan about the payouts as these guys like there fishing and the banter.
The main problem nowadays is the silly cost of some carp puddles they up the price but they don't up the facilities i'd like a job like that

For me there is always better banter between anglers on the canal circuit than on the commie circiut where a lot of win at all costs goes on imo! I for one have deffo lost my appetite over recent months .....maybe when i find a new team that will change .

new team

Dunno about memberships on the open match scene.

It worked very well with the Alpha but that was many years ago.

TK i think if you use two pools on a commercial the payout has to be split
i have this coming up at lakeview and the payout well be done on sections so for that match if you win your section you win the most money same as every pool ie pool one 1st 2nd 3rd and so on,no individual money
so if you win your lake with150lb and the next lake is won with50lb they will both win the same amount as its a team match

only 10 matches a year (approx 1 per month) in ours so this does leave plenty of time for people to fish elsewhere if they so wish,as i do occasionally dippin into tk,s matches plus the odd open.
any new members have to pay a joining fee plus ALL pegs fees have to be paid before the season starts,then on match days just the pools & golden peg has to be paid,we bought this in because after the first season the club nearly bust cos of members saying they were coming and then not turning up leaving the club to foot the bill for pegs not used or the ones who bothered to turn up having to foot the extra cost,
the onus is then on every body to turn up or lose their peg fee...we all know the rules so no arguments

do you become a select club then  :-/will anglers be interested in that
still if angling is going through the mill at the moment i would rather be guaranteed a big match most weeks

uk champs is a select group though you can't just get in week in week out

Think fishing is crying out for a super league, only problem is somebody to run it and run it properly

Sadly the way fishing is going we will all.........well not me :( end up on commercials.You only have to face facts- if you take average ages of the blokes fishing say canals-where is the future? I go to Stirrup most weeks-Earwash allowing and yes the pike have done a lot of damage-and you have a good craic but apart from a very few "youngsters" the average age is 50+...........me included-What happens in a few years?

Take Rentman for instance years of nicking anglers here and there and now what? they have all moved on/retired/awol and what are we left with-ANOTHER TEAM LESS...possibly....and you are talking about what we need ?

I think we need a reality check-we are all gonna end up 20 peg merchants? :(

The fact is we are all yellow stream in the same pot here. We all want the same thing, well run open matches with decent turnouts and decent fishing, - as simple as that. Personally I couldn't give a monkey's toss if they were team or individual matches.
A lot of teams, and individual anglers have shot themselves over the past few year, to the extent that nobody sees them any more.
In a way you are all right and do have the well being of match fishing at heart but until the very first problem is solved there will always be one piece of the jigsaw missing, the most important one. You maybe be wondering what this is but when you get 1% of your 'regulars' persistently moaning and groaning about anything and everything you loose matches altogether, leagues and everything else that goes with it; how many have gone recently? As an organiser nobody wants to turn anybody away, we aren't like that, but where are these guys now, them that know it all? It is them that have all the answers if you could only listen to them.
I don't want to go out organising matches when guys don't turn up. I don't want to organise matches when they moan about the payout, after spending hours doing a balance sheet, I don't want to organise mathes when they moan about the pegging, moan about the sections, moan about the venue; I have even had one stupid Woman's wetter (I hope he is reading this) block booked some in, two of his list never turned up and as it happened they were in his section of five, - he would have won his five but for that and he even said I should have put my own money in to make up for it. In reality the sections were altered prior to the match to accommodate this, it was on the map and balance sheet for all to see. How the crappity smack can you win? In all the years I have run matches I have never taken any money out, - there are times I have put some in, that was and is my prerogative; believe me some have moaned about that.
The message is here before anybody, as good meaning as 99% of you are, suggests this that and the other, we need guys to run these matches. We probably have three chaps that have run loads over the years, Joff, Woodhouse and myself. We all speak within ourselves about this.

Personally, I, Joff and Woodhouse would have a go at running anything you suggest and I know we would get a turnout.
You have all talked about matches being run more professional over the past few years. You have had that. If you 99% crappity smack the 1% off it would at least be a start and don't insult our intelligence by saying you don't know who they are.
I must admit doing the National last year was a pleasure. 1,700 fished the practises and I had just one complaint; I can handle that but what the crappity smack gets into some people in the other matches?

The fact is we are all p1ssing in the same pot here. We all want the same thing, well run open matches with decent turnouts and decent fishing, - as simple as that. Personally I couldn't give a monkey's toss if they were team or individual matches.
A lot of teams, and individual anglers have shot themselves over the past few year, to the extent that nobody sees them any more.
In a way you are all right and do have the well being of match fishing at heart but until the very first problem is solved there will always be one piece of the jigsaw missing, the most important one. You maybe be wondering what this is but when you get 1% of your 'regulars' persistently moaning and groaning about anything and everything you loose matches altogether, leagues and everything else that goes with it; how many have gone recently? As an organiser nobody wants to turn anybody away, we aren't like that, but where are these guys now, them that know it all? It is them that have all the answers if you could only listen to them.
I don't want to go out organising matches when guys don't turn up. I don't want to organise matches when they moan about the payout, after spending hours doing a balance sheet, I don't want to organise mathes when they moan about the pegging, moan about the sections, moan about the venue; I have even had one stupid lady thingy (I hope he is reading this) block booked some in, two of his list never turned up and as it happened they were in his section of five, - he would have won his five but for that and he even said I should have put my own money in to make up for it. In reality the sections were altered prior to the match to accommodate this, it was on the map and balance sheet for all to see. How the crappity smack can you win? In all the years I have run matches I have never taken any money out, - there are times I have put some in, that was and is my prerogative; believe me some have moaned about that.
The message is here before anybody, as good meaning as 99% of you are, suggests this that and the other, we need guys to run these matches. We probably have three chaps that have run loads over the years, Joff, Woodhouse and myself. We all speak within ourselves about this.

Personally, I, Joff and Woodhouse would have a go at running anything you suggest and I know we would get a turnout.
You have all talked about matches being run more professional over the past few years. You have had that. If you 99% crappity smacked the 1% off it would at least be a start and don't insult our intelligence by saying you don't know who they are.
I must admit doing the National last year was a pleasure. 1,700 fished the practises and I had just one complaint; I can handle that but what the crappity smack gets into some people in the other matches?Smiley

  The three of you guys are all Defo top guys
with other peoples enjoyment at heart, BUT Human Beings ....... or should i say Human Nature sometimes stinks........I only ran the west midlands Drennan League for one season and really enjoyed doing so other than the points raised in Tonys piece, Human nature really did my head in and now thats another league gone to the Team Fishing graveyard..
And i know they say Talk is cheap but there are still some really great guys out there grub Dangling who we catch up with up and down the country doing the sport we all love 
saying and doing are miles apart ....So lets not let the Haters get us down ........ So on a Positive IF we can get something of the ground maybe not immeadiatly but in the future my services are free and i would be more than happy to help out

well said bill i've just finished telling everyone about the changes 37 text messages and 17 phone calls just to put the football first
if we hadn't done it anglers wouldn't of turned up
i see the trent league has had some pull out who'd be a match organiser

We'll see where angling's true colours are if England reach the World Cup Final, IF

It is the same day as the Division 2 National

Chuffed to bits, I am fishing Div 2 now

that will be a nightmare it must be the only time you'd want dropping

I would sooner fish the National any time

blurrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr surely not if ENGLAND get there