Whats Going On?

[excarper]

Hi all, fishing tackle and bait manufacturers are producing so many weird and wonderful new fishing gadgets and baits to catch fish (catch the angler more like).
What items have you bought that were an absoloute waste of money? Just look at baits nowdays. In the past a tin of corn was a tin of corn, now it has to be purple in colour or have scopex flavour, hemp was hemp now its chilli flavoured. Whats next i ask, kebab flavoured maggots? There are hundreds of flavoured boilies and meats etc etc. If you read the improve your coarse fishing mag for instance. The "experts" all tell you how to catch fish then advise you to use the pellet cone or hooks or leads from the manufacturer they work for. Ian russell carp expert says use this use that and by the way use these boilies. Fact is he runs heathrow bait services and the boilies are made by him. Its getting a joke now. I had the misfortune of watching carp acadamy on sky sports last night. I love carp fishing but to see a load of young kids being taught by danny fairbrass (of yeah he owns korda, funny that) how to spod ten tons of crap into the horizon for four days and nights to catch one thirty pounder made my blood boil. No skill at all fish hang themselves on a chod rig big deal. We will have a whole generation of anglers thinking thats the only way to do it. Why not teach them how to use a pole, then how to use a waggler rod, then a feeder then some freelining, then some surface fishing so the kids learn to fish properly?
Sorry rambling on i know, perhaps its just me eh? God i'm sounding like my dad!

[JustMark]

By the time you realise your Dad was right, you already have a son telling you you're wrong

[asp383]

have to agree with you, there does seem to be too much choice now, that it's hard to know what to get, what works & what is a waste of time
when i used to fish the local rivers '80-97, i only ever used maggott, worm or bread (if my mum let me take a few slices) with a free running basic ledger set up, or float with a bog standard rod + a spinner rod with wire trace, mepps black fury 2 (my spinner of choice) & a couple of lures.
even my local sports centre shop only had about 6 different types of float, but loads of different sizes of each type, didn't sell anything fancy at all.
carp anglers/commercial fishery anglers were the odd ones out
roll on to 2007 when i took fishing up again ...
to a degree, the ordinary pleasure angler is the odd 1 out now, it's all carp & match ... or so it seems.
had to get new rods, still had my old tackle (got fresh line, weights & hooks) & was ready to go. got some carp rods, free runner/bait runner reels, feeder rod (using my old reel) & off i went (now living where there are only lakes nearby) my basic ledger set up with maggott was good enough to land me a 4+lbs tench, when using the maggott feeder, i was still setting it up as i had on the river, but still caught.
it was only with reading the magazines & this forum, i've been trying different tacticts, only started using pellets & groundbait last spring, got a pellet feeder & a method feeder, shortened my hook lengths & hey presto, started catching more fish in a session & bigger. only used a boilie for the 1st time last autumn & caught my 1st carp, only a 2lb common, but still a carp.
i've been teaching my brother in law to fish, but as i still regard myself a novice, i'm only able to help him with what i know & letting him go at his own pace, he doesn't feel comfortable using a maggot or method feeder just yet, but is catching with a basic free running ledger & float set ups. i'll get him onto other methods as he gets more confidence.
i'm not 1 for having the latest gadget on the market or from a particular manufacturer (especially if there are different makes of the same design ie method feeders), but instead, i read the reports in the magazines & posts on here & look at what is needed, then go to my local tackle shop & get the kit together & try the method i've just read about. good example is in this months improve your course fishing, there is a report on a guy that's made his own mini inline pellet feeders ... i thought that's a good idea, so with a 3 month old baby, we're going through lots of baby food, each tub has a 1oz scoop, so save a few £ & try making my own mini inline pellet feeder, if it doesn't work, then i've only wasted a little of my time & no money
i agree with trying new tacticts, but you don't have to buy the latest releases, especially as a lot of rigs & methods can be made with what you've already got, or slight variations from what i've observed

[spirit42]

Originally Posted by excarper

Hi all, fishing tackle and bait manufacturers are producing so many weird and wonderful new fishing gadgets and baits to catch fish (catch the angler more like).
What items have you bought that were an absoloute waste of money? Just look at baits nowdays. In the past a tin of corn was a tin of corn, now it has to be purple in colour or have scopex flavour, hemp was hemp now its chilli flavoured. Whats next i ask, kebab flavoured maggots? There are hundreds of flavoured boilies and meats etc etc. If you read the improve your coarse fishing mag for instance. The "experts" all tell you how to catch fish then advise you to use the pellet cone or hooks or leads from the manufacturer they work for. Ian russell carp expert says use this use that and by the way use these boilies. Fact is he runs heathrow bait services and the boilies are made by him. Its getting a joke now. I had the misfortune of watching carp acadamy on sky sports last night. I love carp fishing but to see a load of young kids being taught by danny fairbrass (of yeah he owns korda, funny that) how to spod ten tons of crap into the horizon for four days and nights to catch one thirty pounder made my blood boil. No skill at all fish hang themselves on a chod rig big deal. We will have a whole generation of anglers thinking thats the only way to do it. Why not teach them how to use a pole, then how to use a waggler rod, then a feeder then some freelining, then some surface fishing so the kids learn to fish properly?
Sorry rambling on i know, perhaps its just me eh? God i'm sounding like my dad!

I have got to agree with you there, and all banter to one side for a change. The skill in angling in general is going out of the window. I had a mate back in Oxfordshire (Hi there butts just in case) that swore by the pole. This rig this elastic this bait up to the bag the damn thing came in. I went against him on a one to one with.rod and reel. I didn't win hands down, but I caught more due tothe fact that I could cast out beyond his 11 meters underneath a tree when he was naffed. The bait boat that he spent a weeks beer money on that was banned from most of the local waters was another one.
The crack came when we went after bream. I started to bag some slabs and butts asked what baitI was using. Worms I said. CanI borrow some . The tackle shop had sold out. I said theres a forlk on the boat. go and did some and he had to ASK HOW.

[excarper]

its got so bad now even matt hayes is disillusioned with it all and goes fly fishing instead. THe problem is most top anglers want to fish for a living and not do a day job. They get involved with bait companies and tackle makers and endorse this and that and before you know it they become part of the problem. It would be nice to see danny fairbrass do a tv program without plugging the korda this or the korda that or matt and mick do a new series on tv without mentioning the tfg this or the tfg that. These programs are fast becoming adverts and not fishing shows at all. As for the monthly magazines do a feature fine but let the reader know what type of gear he or she needs without mentioning specific brands. Keep the adverts on the advert pages dont treat us like idiots!

[JustMark]

Where do you think the money comes from to make these shows? It certainly isn't Sky or the BBC.

Angling was identified in the late 70's as the largest participant sport in the UK. From that moment on it's fate was sealed.

Tiny specks of scrap metal were suddenly packaged 'sexy' and where it was a few pence before, it suddenly shot up to a few quid.

I was gutted last weekend as I dropped a brand new lure down to a wreck. I had been caught by the angler anglers, paid a fiver for the miracle lure that would catch when nothing else would etc etc. Needless to say I lost the damn lot first drop and had to resort to a bag of jelly worms which actually DID catch. (10p each)

Don't feel sorry for Matt Hayes, or any one of the other spokesmodels. He amongst others have been getting very nice free fishing trips at our expense for a long time.

[spirit42]

Remember Ivan Marks, or Ian Heeps. They would do some cracking impartial edditorials that were well worth the read. They also endorsed tackle but very rarley plugged it the way it is done today.
Like most things the money boys have found a niche and greed has done the rest. they never plug brands such as Kingfisher. Cheap good gear for the novice to learn with. Bring back Mr Crabtree.

[NICK R]

Originally Posted by spirit42

Remember Ivan Marks, or Ian Heeps. They would do some cracking impartial edditorials that were well worth the read. They also endorsed tackle but very rarley plugged it the way it is done today.
Like most things the money boys have found a niche and greed has done the rest. they never plug brands such as Kingfisher. Cheap good gear for the novice to learn with. Bring back Mr Crabtree.

I remember Billy lane mate doing the match circuits ,never mind marks and heaps ,


angling is at its worst now than ever before ,
the biggest culprit is Korda , Thinking tackle my ass , they have taken the thinking out of angling ,!!

[Bazz]

Originally Posted by spirit42

Remember Ivan Marks, or Ian Heeps. They would do some cracking impartial edditorials that were well worth the read. They also endorsed tackle but very rarley plugged it the way it is done today.
Like most things the money boys have found a niche and greed has done the rest. they never plug brands such as Kingfisher. Cheap good gear for the novice to learn with. Bring back Mr Crabtree.

I remember Ivan Marks & Ian Heaps well. As a teenager I watched them fish The Gladding Masters on the Rowing Course at National Watersports Centre Holme Pierrepont here in Nottingham (about 1976/7). Pike were the match winning fish, believe it or not!

I quite enjoy Mick Brown (being a Pike man myself) and John Wilson, find Matt Hayes rather smarmy but he's ok I suppose.. Gord Burton the Piking Pirate I have met, also John Watson & Mark Barrett.
They all seem to be heavily sponsored eg..Dynamite Baits, Fox, Baitbox etc.. & are to me professional anglers, pretty well.

[philipn]

someones gotta start a new self help group on here called tackle tarts anonymous with weekly meets god help you guys