Reputations - true or false

[robbosoul]

Has anybody noticed if you read the match mags/papers that the same people seem to win or frame in most open matches? If this is true then what happens to all the other guys fishing these matches and why do they keep turning up?
Why do the winners all wear sponsers clothes,socks,underpants etc. and all use their sponsers hooks,line,poles,floats,flasks etc? I,m getting sick of reading and hearing about venue experts so why don,t these guys move on and take on a bigger challenge? I know it,s about money but get a life or what, or am i the only one who thinks this way?
robbo

[polepot]

If you found a venue and a method that worked, would you keep going back and picking the prize money up? I think so, and so would anyone. The clever anglers are the ones that find a method that works, milk it then find a new one before everyone catches on, that way they are always one step ahead. Wish I was a clever angler

[Stiffy75]

There's nothing wrong with beeing a venue expert, Alot of them lads could fish anywere and still win, for the sort ov money they are winning doing somthing they love i say good look to em. i wish to be that good myself one day

[painy]

Whatever floats your boat is what I say.

The Lindholme lads, the Cudmore boys, the Hallcroft maffia,.......they are all top anglers and obviously enjoy what they are doing. Also, when they turn their hands to other venues in the UK champs, they do pretty well. (Masson was a shining example).

Personally, if I was fishing several times a week I would hate to fish the same venue every time. Id get bored too easily. Mind you, if I was spending a fortune and winning nothing then I might be a bit peeved as well.

[woodhouse]

Personally i dont think its good for a venue to have experts who win most of the matches.

1. The anglers who fish against venue experts get to the stage where they have had enough of giving the same people the money all the time and attendances drop.

2.New anglers are detered from going to fish a match against anglers who know the water inside out.

On some waters round the midlands some venue experts are phoning up the clubs that have weekend booking asking to fish when they know full well that it's going to be like taking candy off kids...it's a legal form of robbery.

Obviously there are venues like Cuddy and heronbrook where they have good turnouts of quality anglers week in week out, but in parts of the midlands now you have a lot of smaller breakaway closed shop matches that just want a day out against anglers off the same standard.

[robbosoul]

Well done lads it seems i,ve struck a nerve. I take the point Polepot but I personally don,t have three lifetimes or no proper job to get that good and dwindling attendances are rife here in the northwest caused by the win at all cost brigade who seem to fish 7 days a week. What about matches for lads who don,t win every week and let the professionals fish against each other so they can also feel the pain of throwing money away on a regular basis. After all if they think they are good enough !!!! Remember Golf and Snooker etc have handicaps to make it even and give everyone a chance. It needs sorting out !!!!

[Dave]

well yes the same people to pop up but it wont happen forever the likes of me and danny will improve and get better and take money more regular and people fish these matches to improve my mate

[davebrittain]

robbo.

We all start off on the same playing field, little knowledge, crap tackle and not a clue what we are doing.

As you learn and improve you want to keep on improving. The only way to do this is to fish against better anglers and find out where you need to improve.

Contrary to belief many good anglers don't mind helping other anglers and will offer information and advice freely.

One thing good anglers don't like however is people who don't appreciate the hard work and effort that they put in getting to where they are. Although some anglers are fortunate enough to fish three or more times a week, the majority of us work five days a week and some of us only get to go fishing once a week or twice if we’re lucky. We generally fish venues that suit us, where we know we have a good chance of catching a few fish and doing well. We don't go there to mug the competition, we simply go to have a good days fishing and to enjoy the banter. Winning money for most of us is a bonus although one thing in angling will never change and that is that the better anglers will always come out on top in the long run.

If you're unhappy about the venue experts taking money off you try to find a good club who run regular matches. You may still encounter the same problems however this will give you a better chance of doing well although you may not learn as much or as quickly.

Open matches are called open matches because they're open invitation and my advice is only fish opens once you've progressed through the club scene and you feel that you're ready for it.

[carpmagic]

On a personal note i much prefer to travel, by visiting loads of different venues you tend to learn a little bit off each one. Then when you amalgamate what you have learnt, you will find you are a much better angler as a result of it. If you only fish one venue day in and day out its my belief that you are limiting just how good you could be. Just to clear up a point, when i say travel i dont mean one visit to each venue, i will normally go just long enough to hopefully suss the water out. When i feel i have and i've won a few times i'll move on. If i'm honest i would get bored if i went to the same venue 3 or 4 days a week.

[painy]

One thing that you do notice is that when there is a big team match coming up on a certain venue, the likes of Barnsley, Dorking, Essex, Starlets,....etc send their anglers to practise and then you look at the frame, quite often the venue experts are pushed out by top quality all round anglers. They seem to suss things out very quickly.

I remember Jamie Masson being labelled a one venue angler when he first started taking Hallcroft to pieces but at that time he had no job and no sponsorship from Maver. But then when he entered the UK champs he won it at his first attempt IIRC.

I agree with the point from carpmagic though. You wonder just how good Jamie could have been if he had more venues and earlier on in his fishing 'career'.