Is Match Fishing At An All Time Low ?

[Dodge]

What do people think and experiencing right now ? ......

[two shakes]

I gave up fishing in 94,and started fishing again 2 years ago.I was shocked at how few river and canal matches there were,compared to the early 90's,but i just assumed a lot of these anglers were fishing puddles now.
Some people have suggested it may be down to the deterioration in river and canal fishing due to cormorant predation etc,but the Halcyon days these people speak of i don't remember.If anything,i'd say the quality of fishing on my local canals,is as good if not better than its ever been,and the fishing on the Warks Avon for example,doesn't seem to be any worse than it was when i gave up fishing.
Are attendances down on natural venues due to the rise of commercial fisheries,or are numbers down across the board?

[joffmiester]

well can't see where commercial angling is at a all time low with the amount of big money matches that are going on .but this only breeds selfish anglers that win at all cost is the only thing on there minds its the otherside of angling and i'm sure if the big money came across to natural venues they would follow
i have every respect for commercial top anglers they have turned there way of fishing into a art. but it also shutting out a lot of anglers now and becoming a very big exclusive club and nowhere for the average angler to go although do they want to fish against these top anglers anymore
is becoming a two tear sport them and us
still that's my view and at the minute i ain't bothered it's sh!t at the moment 

[craftytafty]

I agree with Joff about the big money matches, it does breed the win at all costs attitude.
My own experiences recently on the silver fish matches I leave me baffled to be honest.
I run some wednesday matches at Rycroft. Now I know there's work commitments etc but I know there's enough reasonably local anglers for a decent match.
The fishing is brilliant, tight matches, you can get plenty of bites off every peg, roach, skimmers and perch, no walking, cafe right by the lake and they'll bring drinks etc to your peg, yet it's a nightmare getting people to fish. There are some that just want to fish for carp ( fair enough, each to their own, but on the same fishery recently I fished the carp match, 16 anglers, 9 packed up before the end after catching nowt and watching 2 or 3 anglers sack up)
I know also that some won't fish anymore cos they don't believe they can win or they've fished, not caught and blamed the pegs etc instead of themselves. personally i'd want to keep going to sort it out.
Is it that people don't want a fair match and they'd rather go where it's peggy cos they might draw that flyer and win with a mega weight? I don't know, i just want bites, catch a few fish, if I win great, if not, i've still had a days fishing.

[lloydy]

Lots of 1 venue 1 method anglers around these days, someone said to me a couple of weeks ago that we needed a frost as a venue was fishing too well, what's all that about.

[joffmiester]

taffy keep going it will come right for you and i know how hard it is getting the anglers  :Dwhat do they want the only way to get a 50 pegger is the anglers to be interested and the only way for this to happen is the angler  you tell me what the perfect match is because i'm sure anglers don't thick there is one from all the moaning they do .
taff your matches are good let me tell you and thats from the tackle shops around here mate
if could i would mate i know i'd love them  i given up getting staff in to cover me for a days fishing just not worth it anymore

[craftytafty]

Cheers Joff, that's nice to know.
I'm going to keep them going. I shall keep going on a wednesday how ever many turn up.
The saturday ones are a bit easier apart from when they clash with another league, but I'm governed by availability, I'm working on it tho.

I don't blame you for not paying for staff to cover for a days fishing. If you ever get chance, just let me know.

[lloydy]

Joffie running out of white fivers to pay his staff

[joffmiester]

Joffie running out of white fivers to pay his staff

your joking good staff are worth paying in my eye's lloydy its the fishing at the minute thats not worth it mate  :-/the white fivers are for the pools

[leeben1]

andy,keep running them mate,i think (hope!)the tide will turn and anglers will once again want to win matches fair,or at least feel they have fished a fair even match as pos. where a bit of luck plus skill an watercraft can play a part,you know it baffles me why anglers want to pay money on a lotto style match where 1 or 2 pegs can only win???

[old_trentman]

Mate your matches are great plenty of fish all round but some anglers donot wont to catch fish or get bites just what to wait for the water rats to come its a joke . Has you no i have only been back into it for 6 months and love it but it changed so much its all money money and how much they can win .I love your matches just sorry canot get every week .Keep them up mate see you at week end silvers here wee come i hope

[leeben1]

and its great to see you back tony

[craftytafty]

thanks lads. I will keep them going, i'll be there every wednesday too.
I've already booked 10 matches on the Carp Lake for the league next winter.

It is money orientated now Tony, so many ( not all tho) have to win or it's a bad day.
( forgot to tell you, I went on the shallow roadside for a couple of hours sunday, fished the wag with maggot bout 25 yards out, had maybe 40 fish, roach/ skimmers and a massive perch!)

[old_trentman]

thanks mate love it still learning

[leeben1]

its great fishing andy,i cant do weds now as work gets in the way,but ive got the buzz already for sat,donno is an unknown entity for me silver fish wise,the great thing about these matches is you cant predict where the winners coming from and right till the last half hour its anyones match,great!!

[Ben]

Fishing aint at an all time low at all i do agree there are anglers and carp catchers but there are matches by me every week on the canal and it aint very often there aint 50 peggers. And some of the matches have been fantastic with matches where folks aint winning a penny with 10lb plus.

[Dodge]

Having been brought up learning the hard way on the once fantastic North West circuit around 30 years ago , incredibly talented anglers everywhere even world champions , international anglers , legendary tip anglers , river anglers ( no one thought 2 seconds about jumping in a car or coach to travel to the trent matches) etc etc , incredible buzz every weekend and everyone just managed and got on with things for the craic ! A lot of anglers moved onto the commercial scene 10 / 12 years ago but most still did both (commercial and natural venues) i had a decent 5 or 6 years on 4 or 5 different commercial venues winning a few bob aswell but noticed how anglers were turning up to win at all costs with a total different mentality ..... if they didnt pick up dummies everywhere etc , team fishing a totally different approach , more relaxed , nice banter good craic etc etc. I turned my back on the commercial scene after seeing what it was turning into ..... now the last few years "anglers" are fishing the same venue 3 or 4 times a week and not working , even finding money for festivals 2 or 3 times a year , cant get my head around what has happened . The natural venue circuit is all but finished up here (wigan still going ok) never known the scene so static as it is now ...... i have 2 options now , get back into the commercial scene , 2 venues 20 mins from my house which i couldnt fish all the time as i would get bored out of my head and also i am not in it to win brown envelopes everytime i go out as that is not what motivates me , decent competitive fishing plus a laff does ! or do i pack in ?

Been taking my lad to watch City home and away and really enjoyed the craic and not even missed going fishing or all the travelling and getting up early etc etc

Lastly i think match angling has become too commercialised and is a major factor of the current state most of us are experiencing ...... i know it has all been said before but ive never known things this bad ..... just my thoughts and opinion

[lloydy]

Fished 3 canal leagues this year with 70 plus on each, great craic, no moaning, no win at all costs.

[Woodhouse]

Lloydy, the three leagues your on about have got it dead right.

Doesn't cost a lot to fish.

The pegging means that any angler is capable of winning money given a good draw.

No moaning so it is always an enjoyable day.

[kev p]

as lloydy said in the midlands our canal leagues am great not to much moaning not at a low wat i can see ov it and as a team we get about a bit. Not the big river matches i was used to but times and folk change