have carp ruined match fishing

[RUDD]

No - match fishing is the same as it always was, it has changed very little - the idea is to amass the biggest weight possible to win the match regardless.

Before Carp became the in species Match anglers dream't of drawing the noted Chub, Barbel or Bream Peg regardless of venue and needed to be able to adapt tactics to suit the peg and targeted species regardles of venue.

Most anglers had to target smaller silver species for the whole match whilst those on pegs with bigger species usually won.

 

What has changed match fishing is the Commercial fishery.

On site facilities, tackle shops, toilets, cafes and easy access.

 

Here the angler still needs to be able to adapt tactics to drawn peg and overstocked target species.

Even when the carp are feeding the matches are still peggy and most matches are won from the same old pegs. The difference on commercials is the better anglers know how to catch the other smaller species present when the carp are not feeding to win a match.

 

The essence of match fishing and the match fishermans outlook / attitude have not changed a bit.

[Phone]

All,

 

If "match fishing" is like "paylaking" what Rudd says is true. I tend to believe they have the same ulerioUr motives. Since before WWII we have had paylaking. Since I've only witnessed a UK match once and it was on a small stream I cannot speak to the UK motives. Over here it started as a bragging rights competition for type "A" personalities. After the war it turned into a gambling enterprise. For the most part, paylakes are 100% carp lakes.

 

I have to tell you, the top 5% of the paylakers still win 80% of the money. That's even taking into consideration the "good peg bad peg" issue. There are always going to be good and bad pegs. The good paylakers know how to overcome adversity. What I don't understand, and I've tried, is why the 80% keep coming back?

 

Phone

[arbocop]

No - match fishing is the same as it always was, it has changed very little - the idea is to amass the biggest weight possible to win the match regardless.

Before Carp became the in species Match anglers dream't of drawing the noted Chub, Barbel or Bream Peg regardless of venue and needed to be able to adapt tactics to suit the peg and targeted species regardles of venue.

Most anglers had to target smaller silver species for the whole match whilst those on pegs with bigger species usually won.

 

What has changed match fishing is the Commercial fishery.

On site facilities, tackle shops, toilets, cafes and easy access.

 

Here the angler still needs to be able to adapt tactics to drawn peg and overstocked target species.

Even when the carp are feeding the matches are still peggy and most matches are won from the same old pegs. The difference on commercials is the better anglers know how to catch the other smaller species present when the carp are not feeding to win a match.

 

The essence of match fishing and the match fishermans outlook / attitude have not changed a bit.

 

 

I sort of agree, but suggest that it is a stocking issue rather than a carp one, but one led to the other. The popularity of carp fishing gave rise to commercials, and match fishing responded to the availability of both. However, the suggestion that modern match anglers go for other fish when the carp are off seems to hit the nail on the head. A match on a natural or low stocking mixed fishery would be a challenge - peg, species, everything. A match is still peg based, but then fishing is, which is why we attach so much to our peg selection when pleasure fishing. However, when you can catch a massive net of the same species using the same tactics as the next man - just less of them - it does take something away.

 

In my match fishing days (qualifiers for youth National) one carp would be remarkable. A net of bream and roach would be the main objective -because they were species in shoals. The challenge was finding and holding those shoals. River matches would include chub and other species, but the challenge was limited because there was someone else 15 metres away doing similar things and fish like barbel and chub might be in threes or fives, but not shoals, so you would need to get a few chub then resort to something else to keep topping up your bag weights or just catch all those chub and hope it was enough. I remember Tom Pickering winning a match with bleak using a whip, as he drew a peg which he thought wouldn't provide the winning weight with any other species. He adapted, but not because there weren't the target species available, he knew that if he fished as fast as he could, he would bag up on a massive shoal of one species. The tactics he usec could be compared with those of commercials, but in commercials the fish are predominantly one species and they are over stocked and in competition with one another. It's not the same.

 

I'm not sure I've made any more points than have already been raised, but I do think that the popularity of carp have done the damage.

 

However, there's something - why do there seem to be less bleak about now?

[Phone]

All,

 

How much would be available and how expensive would match fishing gear be without carp gear carrying the "overhead" load of the manufacturers and retailers? Does every match fisherman use "custom" gear?

 

Phone

[kirisute]

All,

 

How much would be available and how expensive would match fishing gear be without carp gear carrying the "overhead" load of the manufacturers and retailers? Does every match fisherman use "custom" gear?

 

Phone

no reason at all to use "custom" gear!

most match anglers I know just have a box seat, pole and maybe a quiver tip or waggler rod. match fishing really has to be no different than pleasure fishing when it comes to equipment.

[Anderoo]

However, there's something - why do there seem to be less bleak about now?

 

There are still plenty in the upper Thames - in the warmer months you can almost walk across the river there are so many!

[gozzer]

In answer to the OPs question. No I don't think that carp have ruined match fishing, the idiots who have continued this inane stocking policy, for commercial gain, and personal ego, have ruined angling though.

Match angling covered about 90% of my angling from my mid teens until my early 30s. The idea then (as it still is) was to catch more than the other competitors. If this took 30lb of fish, or 1lb of fish, that's what you had to catch. Now if the fishery produces a winning weight of less than around 20lb, you hear, "this fishery is crap, we won't come here again", so the owner stocks some more carp, and the mad cycle continues. I have no problem with this, as long as the water is 'contained', and not liable to 'bleed' stock into a river. Sadly, this isn't the case, and the EA should be held accountable for allowing this to happen. It's failure to control this leakage, makes a mockery of any legislation they have to try and support natural stock, or control the movement of fish.

 

These overstocked waters were built with the stupid idea that it would provide a 'level playing field'for the match angler, and then spread into 'commercial' 'pleasure waters. Any angler with half a brain knows that doesn't happen. Weather, temp', surroundings, cover, etc will always have an effect on stock distribution.

 

John.

[Worms]

Worms and Gozzer like match fishing. It is suited for dinks.

 

Phone

I don't match fish Phone, I like the solitude and freedom of wandering where I like.

[gozzer]

I don't match fish Phone, I like the solitude and freedom of wandering where I like.

 

And I've fished about 3 matches in the last 25yrs!

 

John.

[Peter M]

My own view is that carp and carp fishing is not to blame for overstocked commercial fisheries and it was match fisherman that demanded these type of waters. I suppose toughing it out on a canal in winter for a few very small gudgeon and perch these type of venues seemed ideal. As many have put it they have their own problems. The trend in carp fishing is to go for bigger fish, and for fish to get big they need less competition so the trend is for lower stocking where the session carp angler is the customer. This leads to some fantastic waters where flora and fauna flourish. Too often carp anglers are said to be to blame for the rise of the carp puddle when actually its the fault of match anglers.