The anglers net regulars....

[Ian_87]

To answer the first topic. In this thread about forum regulars, as a relatively novice anglers personally I feel I don't have enough experience to comment on a level that would be helpful but can gain a lot from the answers given which is why I tend not to answer questions on the coarse thread but would more than happily answer questions in the technical help forum or shopping ones when it comes to some of the electrical items on there.

 

Also in the second theme running through this topic about the same old questions coming up, I think it can be down heartening reading about people's excellent catches in the paper or indeed on this forum and it could be reassuring to know your doing the basics right and not that the angling gods are against you

[Phone]

Ian87,

 

Thought provoking questions most often come from anglers who are not "set in their ways". By accident, they think "outside the box". There is a lot of truth in the old saying "from the mouths of babes". The one execption. Don't talk about "fish handling" skills until you are pretty sure of your grounds. You can always say, well, what about doing - - - - - ??? would that work. Don't be offended by the answers. There will be nothing personal in those answers unless you make it personal.

 

As for the fish caught. What?? you want me to tell you about the 100 cheesy arce 5lb carp I caught chasing a nice 30? Of course not. It is often understood (by experienced readers) that a specimen is special because of either luck or because of the number of hours required. Both luck and experience usually require an unbelievable amount of dedication.

 

Phone

(Ohh and if it is an American - subtract at least 20% from all fish. Most of us lie. It is a part of the American fishing tradition (part the lying and part the getting caught).

[Newt]

Lie - not me Phone. I have perfected the LRR (long range release) you taught me so I can speak freely about the weight of any fish I hook since it never got near the bank to be weighed.

[jedibond]

(Ohh and if it is an American - subtract at least 20% from all fish. Most of us lie. It is a part of the American fishing tradition (part the lying and part the getting caught).

 

Phone, I think you'll find that particular tradition isn't uniquely American !

[AddictedToScopex]

The thing is that whilever people post really basic forum questions rather than research their query on the web or ask a real rather than a virtual angler, forums tend to become boring and repetetive. This results in regular members becoming disinterested and leaving,

Well maybe the old hats should be putting forward more threads of their own too. Just as some may become bored of the new questions there will also be many members who get fed up with centrepin 'porn' or talk of Wingham (incidentally I am not one of them) but they dont complain that they have heard all about wingham before or that they arent interested in centrepins. It is a very mixed bag of anglers in here and as such who are we to complain of the same old thread. Is there really that much original in angling that we could have 20 new threads a day without any repetition?

 

I am all one for newbies posting as they always get a nice welcome and help with their problem. Thats why I like this forum. I felt comfortable posting on here after my first thread as I am sure many did.

[Anderoo]

I am all one for newbies posting as they always get a nice welcome and help with their problem. Thats why I like this forum. I felt comfortable posting on here after my first thread as I am sure many did.

 

Absolutely right ATS, it's great to see new members (and especially new anglers) posting topics and getting involved in other topics. I do find it a shame though that the 'deeper' discussions seem to have died away, although the odd one does occasionally still take off - but only if there is more than one person able to offer any real insight. I tend not to post many of these types of topics now (where I'm looking for answers) unless I know there are at least a couple of people with the experience to properly answer them. E.g. the roach rig question I posted in the winter - I knew there were people active on the forum that could nail it for me, otherwise I wouldn't have asked. I don't mean any disrespect to the rest of the members. Otherwise I now usually talk to people in real life instead (an odd concept I know!).

[AddictedToScopex]

Otherwise I now usually talk to people in real life instead (an odd concept I know!).

What is this 'real life'?

 

Absolutely right ATS, it's great to see new members (and especially new anglers) posting topics and getting involved in other topics. I do find it a shame though that the 'deeper' discussions seem to have died away, although the odd one does occasionally still take off - but only if there is more than one person able to offer any real insight.

 

I get what you mean there. There arent many deep discussions, with the expection of otters , but I think that there have been one or two opportunities for them to appear but threads seem to get knocked sideways more often these days. I guess thats just the way it is though. There are bound to be periods where not much of real interest comes up.

 

I tend not to post many of these types of topics now (where I'm looking for answers) unless I know there are at least a couple of people with the experience to properly answer them. E.g. the roach rig question I posted in the winter - I knew there were people active on the forum that could nail it for me, otherwise I wouldn't have asked. I don't mean any disrespect to the rest of the members.

 

With regard to your comment about not asking unless you know there are a few people who can answer. I would say that it is not only the people that you know can answer that can offer insight. Even someone with only a little experience on something may have found something that works very effectively very quickly. I think it is always worth posting even if it is just to get a different slant on things. The way you may think about something may actually lead you to write something off before giving it a go when actually it could be devastating and you may be made to think twice by someone elses take on it.

Edited April 5, 2012 by AddictedToScopex

[Dales]

I am all for new members and if they post basic questions thats fine but I don't have much to offer on there questions for a few reasons.

 

1, Most newbies don't want alternative advice, they want confirmation that the method/bait they have already picked is the correct one and so all they want to hear is from those who agree with the sponsored TV program or Magazine article. Why suggest something different, they don't want to know.

 

2, I just can't be bothered to defend my angling by answering a newbie question. A simple question on say Perch fishing can become a mine field, advice them to try a small Minnow or Gudgeon on a single hook and all of a sudden you are having to defend fishing small lives for Perch/Chub because you dont use wire. Suggest jigging for Zander or Drop Shoting and the 28lb wire trace brigade jump on you. Is it worth the hassle of suggesting inline leads or helicopter rigs when you will be told you are doing it wrong as your set up does not dump the lead

 

3, I am also not qualified enough to answer there questions, why would they want to hear Pike tips from me, I have never caught a twenty. Most will have never seen a Pike close up but in there "first season" they are already expecting a few 20lb fish. So how could I offer any advice that meets there expectations. Same goes for most species there expectations are already set to high. Even if they are not yet obssessed with Carp yet, and have an interest in other species they all seem to want double figure Zander, Bream, Tench and do seem to think fish of this calibre are well within there capability straight off.

 

4, Very few questions get follow ups from the original poster, you never find out whether they tried any ones suggestions or how they got on. You soon start to wonder why did you bother posting.

 

5, Just can't be bothered as the fishing they are likely to be doing bores me.

 

And for the reasons above, I tend to avoid most newbie style posts. I get more pleasure from reading and taking part in threads about fishing I do myself or fishing that I don't do which tend to be from some of the longer term members. Not that it makes any difference whether you are a new member or long termer from the start of AN. It's just that in general more experienced anglers tend to post topics that interest me and that I can learn from.

 

I have read to many newbie threads that start post 1 How do you tie a hair rig? and by post 20 3 weeks later they want to know how to catch a 20lb Carp and now require swim location etc even though they can't tie a rig I just have nothing in the locker to offer on that sort of thing. I would rather wait until Sportman starts fishing for those French Cats and posts about his adventures, or reading about those Chub boys catching whoppers or John Weddups sessions and Zander fishing with Headless thats the sort of stuff that interests me. Newbie style fishing which is most likely to be fishing for natives on commercials is of little interest to me. Is that wrong to say that?

 

 

EDIT: what a grump I am

Edited April 5, 2012 by Dales

[Anderoo]

With regard to your comment about not asking unless you know there are a few people who can answer. I would say that it is not only the people that you know can answer that can offer insight. Even someone with only a little experience on something may have found something that works very effectively very quickly. I think it is always worth posting even if it is just to get a different slant on things. The way you may think about something may actually lead you to write something off before giving it a go when actually it could be devastating and you may be made to think twice by someone elses take on it.

 

Yes that is true, and I do still sometimes do that, but usually they just quickly drop off the page. It's fair enough, not all topics are interesting to other people, but I think that's one of the reasons why many people don't often start new topics.

[davedave]

Well maybe the old hats should be putting forward more threads of their own too. Just as some may become bored of the new questions there will also be many members who get fed up with centrepin 'porn' or talk of Wingham (incidentally I am not one of them) but they dont complain that they have heard all about wingham before or that they arent interested in centrepins. It is a very mixed bag of anglers in here and as such who are we to complain of the same old thread. Is there really that much original in angling that we could have 20 new threads a day without any repetition?

 

I am all one for newbies posting as they always get a nice welcome and help with their problem. Thats why I like this forum. I felt comfortable posting on here after my first thread as I am sure many did.

 

Brilliant mate. Although Wingham sounds like a great place it's too far away for me to ever fish, and centrepins just do nothing for me. And although it can be boring to hear newbies asking how to plumb the depth if you dont ask you dont learn.

 

I just try to answer a question when I can. Thats all you can do really.

 

Dave