Simple Match Fishing Forum

Exciting new dimension to popular TV angling contest.
The 2013 Preston Innovations UK Angling Championships is set to get underway soon, and. to spice up the sport a little this year, a new angler rankings system has been created by the organisers.

This grades the anglers based on their performance in the last three years of the championships.

Well known angler and event promoter Rob Hughes has plans for even bigger things with the aim of increasing awareness of angling, encouraging new blood into the sport, and opening the door for “young pretenders” to step up to the oche and take on the big fellas of the game.

“The UK Champs are great” announced Hughes, “but the problem is, from the outside, angling appears boring. Canals, beards and wet Sunday mornings spring to mind. I’d like to lift the profile of the sport by “sexing it up” to quote the former government. It’s worked with carp fishing which has grabbed national headlines in the mainstream press with the likes of Benson and the “my carps as big as Kylie” stories, and it will hopefully do the same with match angling”.

The formation of a ranking system adds a new competitive element. Full computerised records only stretch back 3 years but just like the 1st Division turned into the Premier League, the same will happen with UK Champs. All records are currently being formulated into a ranking system that will show who is at the top of the tree and focus will be placed upon these in the top 10 at the start of each season.

This will add another edge of competition to the tournament as competitors aim to reach the higher echelons of the top slots.

This personalisation of the lead players in the competition is high on Rob’s agenda. The TV coverage will include angler profiles so the viewer gets to know a little more about the competitors.

“Formula 1 is as much about the drivers skill and personality as the cars and I would like to bring the anglers forward a bit. Characteristics, achievements, and even controversy, which in the past has been avoided, will add jeopardy and rivalry to the coverage.”

Marc Rodger, who was crowned 2012 champion, commented: “I think a ranking system is a great idea. Anything that brings more excitement to the competition can only be a good thing.

As long as it is done fairly – which I am sure it will be, I can only see this being a really positive move.”

Former UK Champion, Jon Arthur, added: “This is a brilliant idea by Rob and the team, and sure to add an interesting extra dimension to the contest. The only slight disappointment is that they haven’t gone back further to make the rankings more comprehensive, but I’m not sure how the system works, or whether this would be possible.

All in all, it’s a great move though – and other competitions should follow the example. Things like this can only be good for promoting fishing in the public eye.”

good little talking point will this work or not
or is it closing the doors on what is already a selective competition
i know the competition is based around commercial fishing but is this right or wrong should it include natural anglers and venues

is it closing the doors on what is already a selective competition
i know the competition is based around commercial fishing but is this right or wrong should it include natural anglers and venues

From what I've read, this would appear to be yet another attempt at marginalising competitive angling on canals & rivers.

During a conversation on the bank on Monday, the angler at the next peg to me said "Give it another 5 years and we won't have any matches left to fish on the canal".  He was referring to the state of the weather and the constant (& apparently uncontrollable) predation from Cormorants, but along with all the other moves towards commercial angling look like hastening the day when his fears & those of a lot of others become reality.

Another sad move as far as I can see.

Well that's SKY TV for ya

I'll have to go to Specsavers

I read Ranking System wrong

we we will ranking crap bill !!!

sounds like making match fishing more elitist to me.

who cares where anyone is ranked, I know i dont, it makes no difference to me or the vast majority of open match anglers in this country and isn't the uk champs open to anyone who qualifies not for bringing on youngsters and the benefit of the top anglers.

as for the statement " the 1st division turned into the premier league" well look at that now, a shambles where the rich get richer and full of overpaid prima donas.

pity more couldn't be done for the grass roots or the ordinary open match angler who just wants to go fishing every week, catch some fish and if they win a few quid great.

another great point there taff

i wonder what ranking lee has after last year fancy turning up on the wrong day

sounds like making match fishing more elitist to me.

who cares where anyone is ranked, I know i dont, it makes no difference to me or the vast majority of open match anglers in this country and isn't the uk champs open to anyone who qualifies not for bringing on youngsters and the benefit of the top anglers.

as for the statement " the 1st division turned into the premier league" well look at that now, a shambles where  the rich get richer and full of overpaid prima donas.

pity more couldn't be done for the grass roots or the ordinary open match angler who just wants to go fishing every week, catch some fish and if they win a few quid great.

Spot on Crafty  I like the quote also about bringing match fishing into the future like Formula 1........another bunch of overpaid prima donners made into the so called "elite" of sport by TV and sponsorship. To me the word sport is misused in the Formula 1 context, its just a bunch of boy racers going round and round in circles (sounds like my job lol).

Bring back the days of Match fishing when the weekend matches were fished by hard working lads who were lucky to get a shilling off their bait bill from the local tackle dealer (or farthings or groats in Bill's case  ) Win or lose, have a booze seemed to be most peoples attitudes then. Its strange, but back then, you didn't get the moaning and whingeing we get now......if only.....oops sorry, must have been dreaming   

your right mrV we fished the sensas challenge a few weeks ago Derby juniors fished all the qualifiers even traveling down to gold valley on a Saturday the young lad harryW fishes for Leicester sensas but for the experience he fished with the derby juniors
no this is not a cheap weekend and although they might of had there pools reduced and i think bait given to them i didn't see any of the top elite anglers go up and talk to these lads who are the future of our sport
i know from our team harryW only has to ask and he gets all the help he needs

Don't know what your on about joff?? to be fair I didn't actually turn up... I was at work when lance rang me and asked if I'd gotten there yet! I thought he was winding me up so I told him to do one and then 10min later Nigel rang and asked where I was.... Hmmm strange, I thought to myself could have swore it said Thursday on the letter... Err no you thick cu*t it's Wednesday !!!!! Doh!!!!!! Have to start all over again this year....

i didn't see any of the top elite anglers go up and talk to these lads who are the future of our sport

I actually had one of the competitors ring me to tell me just that.

With reference to a previous thread on a similar vein
could anyone even imagine Ivan Marks not going straight to those Juniors to give them encouragement and any help they wanted. That is the first thing he would have done without any hesitation

there's a few top anglers who cud take a leaf out of Ivans' book ( although some are approachable)
( i remember sitting behind ivan on sandy bank at attenborough when i was 16, he told me allsorts and after the match gave me 4 pints of casters plus a load of gbait)

To be honest my only gripe is that it should be called the Commercial UK Champs for obvious reasons. I would love to fish a mixture of river, canal, drain, commy, maybe a round on each one for a true uk champs. It wont happen, because there is nobody interested in running one, including me!
Apart from a few it would be a different field as that is how its gone ! Ya pays ya money !!
The trouble with me is I think all the other people are wrong and should fish more natural venues ! and the reality is I am in the minority like many on this site !!!!
I do not have a crystal ball but will go with the facts.
Most anglers fishing fishing natural venues are an older generation. Most anglers now fish commercials and take their kids to commercials so therefore most kids come through these venues.
Industry/venues have been onto this for years and hence big prize money events, festivals,media coverage, in some cases a quick rise to fame blah, blah. Whether we like it or not this will be all that for most ! will be on offer.
Where's me crystal ball !!!!!!
I will guess at 10 / 15 years andf you are still fishing natural's then your pleasure fishing !!!!!!!!!!!!
I would also like to add that some commercials are really nice places and I have enjoyed some great days but just prefere naturals.
The end.

The sport seems to be going further and further down separate routes (commercial or natural) with it being almost impossible to combine the two. There seems to be very little interest in any matches which try to appeal to both types of angler now - the loss of fisho rounds on natural waters and separate nationals demonstrate this. I'm as guilty as anyone and after several years of fishing for carp in the summer and canals in winter, I now just stick to canals. There are no commies in my area that interest me.

The sad thing is that 20 years ago I was the youngest angler on most of the canal mathes I fished, although there were a few of us at Dams and Lock (me, darren lewis, fred bedford, darren bolton) and the Tipton in our late teens. But 20 years on I often find I'm still the youngest on the bank at 35!! My generation needs to step up and start running some matches and I hope to run an individual league later this year on the south mids canals with a final and decent payout. I think there is still a lot of interEst in canal matches, we just need to run more and appeal to more anglers.

Just read the matchfishing article, can't believe that canal fishing is considered to be unsexy - I'm sure there was an decent feature in pole fishing last year with a couple of well known Leicester sensas anglers on the Loughborough Canal that would completely dispel that myth!! I also hear that it has been known to rain on a commercial and note the current uk champ has a beard!!!

colly i have received a email from Dave Harrell yesterday afternoon about the RIVER-MANIA competition at the moment its at the blue print stage but we are sure it will get the go-a-head with the angling trust
i will print all the details when i know for sure but it will stand at £10,000 for the winner
this can only work if natural venue anglers take it on and that means putting themselves forward
yes i have told Dave i will run one or two if he needs it
i'm sure if we can get TV coverage and make it appealing to viewers it will take off

on the down side more houses are planned a long the loughborough canal at the factory wall and scrapyard no fishing club has been informed but i suppose this will have a knock on affect to the fishing and parking

Joff, I hear due to the houses being built that the canal will be converted to a road, the upside is the road will go up to barrow so it will be easy access to the river

nothing wrong with that kiddo if we could any better access for the river it would improve the turn out for sure choppy
also we might be loosing the brinks but possible gaining the top ponds back with parking lots of work is taking place on the navigable parts of the river yet nothing has been done on the unnavigable parts and with all the floods its changed the banks in quite steep drops now

we sponsor the junior football and cricket team here in rothley last weekend the cricket team sent a flyers around asking for volunteers to help tidy up the ground and playing fields 50 people turned up
if only angling could do this