gilbertron

i'm not interested in putting down people who post on here, or analyzing every word of their posts to spot mistakes. that seems to be the preserve of you and your cronies. if it makes you feel good to point out every error i make then please do. i'm not perfect and never claimed to be. and as for putting deliberate mistakes to see if i'm intelligent enough to spot them, well done thats very clever indeed (oh and i can do it as well, or didnt you spot it, gosh that makes me feel so big and clever) i wish i'd never bothered contributing to this thread, i've never criticised any of the contributors, just offered my opinions and in return i've been picked apart, pilloried and had my professionality called into question. i really cant be bothered with this cliquey atmosphere anymore, goodbye anglersnet.

and your point is chevin?

jesus this one is going to run and run, the writers i mentioned are examples of the fact that good writing and angling writing are not mutually exclusive. and anyone intending to start writing could do a lot worse than to read some of these works to get some ideas and inspiration. but dont get so hung up on the punctuation etc, good copy is easily edited, both for length and punctuation corrections, bad copy, regardless of how well it is punctuated or how good the grammar is, is a nightmare to edit and no publisher will touch it with a barge pole

my comments were intended on a far more fundamental level, i never critised anyones use of punctuation or grammar, as i believe these are irrelavent to the argument, what i dont like is the way most angling journalism seems to be written to appeal to the lowest common denominator, theres no imaginationn, no spark, certainly no risk taking, its just dull repetition of the same old themes. read the book jeremy paxman edited (i think its called fish, fishing and the meaning of life, but i may be mistaken) and you'll see some fantastic angling writing, also read any john geirach book, or george mellies memoires, all make fantastic reading, indeed the first book i mentioned evoked such magical scenes in my head that i started fly fishing because of it, i'd never been interested before, but i wanted to experience some of that which was being written about. i find it amusing to be called a semi illiterate the irony of that is almost too much to take. i only claim to be a professional journalist because thats exactly what i am, and the fact i've got where i am with such a cavalier attitude to all that crap i was taught at school only shows that you should write what and how you feel, not what and how other people say. subject matter and style are everything, punctuation and correct use of capital letters when using the first person singular are nothing. and on that note hopefully this thread will wither up and fade away unless anyone else wants to insult me, slag me off, tell me i shouldnt be doing what i do, etc etc

as i write for a living, its nice to not have to bother worrying about all the grammatical niceties etc when i'm not writing for work. i'm amazed my lack of punctuation etc has caused such a stir when all i was doing was agreeing with the previous post by peter sharpe that much of the writing in magazines today is not up to scratch. there are a wealth of good angling writers about, its a shame that the magazines dont seem to be able to attract them. but i'm not convinced that the quality of writing is foremost in the editors mind, price and deadlines are far more pressing matters. and sorry chevin, but if i make a statement about the way i live my life, and you say that statement is sad, then as far as i can see you are calling me sad

all i was saying elton was that i dont like matts writing style, i'm sure he is a nice guy, and i know he's a fantastic fisherman who does a lot of good things for fishing, but i dont rate him as a writer. thats not an attack, just a point of view, now if i'd said he was sad, then that would be a different matter. i intended my comments to make barnese think that there were openings for new writers, and if you're reading this barnese and then go for it, angling needs some decent new writers

when writing on here, as when writing emails etc, punctuation, capital letters etc go out the window, and no, things arent worth doing to the best of your ability all the time, things are worth doing as well as they need to be done, most of the time. surely when expressing opinions, swapping stories, giving advice etc, as is mostly done on here, its the content that matters not the finer points of punctuation, grammar etc. or should i get my editor to check all copy before i post it on here i didnt expect personal attacks when i posted my comments and, and to be called sad because of my comments is outrageous. if this is the kind of treatment i can expect when i post on here, i probably wont bother again, no great loss you're probably thinking, and for you, you would be right, but i enjoyed coming on this forum

i dont write for any publication, thats why my punctuation is non existent! i wasnt aware of any grammatical errors, but it wouldnt surprise me if there were a few i'm a broadcast journalist, and no i dont appear on screen but i tell the people who do what to say. and in my defense, i'm off duty here, so can be excused the errors, if i'm getting paid for it i'm a lot more thorough

i agree wordbender, what i meant to say was that if you work on a motor magazine, computer magazine, or similar, you are expected to be a writer with an interest in the subject, with fishing magazines and other 'enthusiast' type publications (including the land rover magazines i buy as an example) the form seems to be that the writers are fishermen with an interest in writing. this doesnt seem to apply to some of the fly fishing magazines though, notably trout fisherman and todays fly fisherman. maybe they have bigger budgets, i dont know.

i have to say that as a journalist, i find the standard of writing in most fishing publications pretty poor. yes its usually factually correct and informative but most things seem to be written by people who are fishermen first and journalists second, nothing wrong with that you might think, but surely theses people are supposed to be professional journalists. i like the way andy little writes, but matt hayes should stick to doing the voice overs for video games

i had exactly that problem floater, i think it was something to do with my old pc, cos since i bought a new laptop it hasnt happened. still not sure what it was though

dog fish is delicious, rick stein does a great dogfish curry. pollack is ok, but not as nice as cod or haddock

which stretch of the trent are you fishing?

i've got a couple of 2 1/2 lb shimano hyperloop carp rods and i think they're great, only about 35 quid each too, check out http://www.billy-clarke.co.uk

i'm interested in the shelter, is it still available?

i read a thing about the people who work in these new call centres in india, they get updates on their pc's of whats happening in the soaps and what the weather is like in the uk, so they can chat to you while they deal with you. international telecoms must be really cheap now to make this economically viable, wonder why we dont get similar cheap deals on our international calls

prestons do an eyed barbless, which may or may not be called the PR27, its the sharpest strongest hook of its kind i've found. i'll try and find an empty pack to confirm the model number, i wouldnt have to do that if i hadnt put all my hooks in a hook box

not being funny chesters, but its irrelavant where the call centre was, the information still has to be relayed to the local officers, its not a question of you ringing the local nick and them knowing exactly where your camper is parked

the best deet based repellant i've used goes under the name 'bushman', i assume its australian (both because of the name and because i was given a load by an ozzy, on a boat on the amazon, but thats a different story) i've tried all sorts, up to and including 100% deet of most of the leading brands and bushman is by far the best of the lot, dont know why, maybe its the free hat with corks dangling from it that you get with each tube

i've got a '98 jeep cherokee which is a good fishing wagon, albeit very thirsty (its the 4 litre petrol) but since i moved out to the wild peaks of derbyshire i've been hankering after an old land rover, so if anyone has one for sale, or knows some one who has, get in touch

hi everyone, i've just moved house and the new place has a nice pond, water level seems a bit low, and theres an awful lot of plants, not sure if fish have ever been kept in it. where do i start, stoopid question i know, but any ideas what i should be looking out for? maybe if i take a couple of pics and put them on here then you good fish keeping types will have more of an idea what i'm talking about

i've been pike fishing for a few years and i usually go with my mate who got me into it in the first place, he's been doing it for 30 odd years, and every time i go with him i learn something new, usually something i felt i should know anyway! its always best to go with someone who knows what they're doing, that way, when you hook that 30 pounder, you'll know just what to do!

if koi carp isnt interested in the mitchell reels, i may be, what models are they?

i've got 2 of the 2 1/2 pound test curve ones, they're great, and for the price unbeatable

i've got a regal i bought off a mate for 15 quid, i hate it, check out the okuma or badger reels of a similar price, i saw a badger big pit reel in a shop in sheffield for 30 quid today, looked very good, much better than the regal