I’m 41 now and every day and in everyway I’m getting better. A bream can’t even fart in front of me at the moment without me hooking it~sick

~clap ~clap ~naughty

To compete at the real top level is a young man’s game. Well, young to me is 30’s maybe early 40’s. By then you will still have the enthusiasm and the competitive edge and should have acquired sufficient knowledge to get the most from your peg.

By the time you get to mid forties and beyond you have lost some of that competitive edge imo. Like lots of things, you still have the ambition but acknowledge that you have lost some of the where withal ~sick.

By the time you get to your sixties, you are just happy to wake up in the morning and get out on the bank!!!

There are very few anglers under 25 who are competing at the top level and winning regularly in the bigger opens around the country. The few that are doing very well are being coached and fishing for some of the bigger teams in the country and being coached by some of the very top match anglers. Im not sure many can compete without help and loads of advice on new venues. They do have one advantage over many of the better match anglers in the country. They have the time and money to practice because in most cases they dont have families like the vast majority of the rest of the better match anglers. Personally, i believe that match anglers reach there peak in there late 30s to early 50s. maybe 10 to 15 years at the top of there game at most. However, there will always be a few who peak earlier or later as top match anglers!

Time wise fishing is very selfish. Not only is there the fishing, there’s the prep time and the thinking and talking about it. As you get older priorities change ie careers and families. So yes I believe it’s essentialy a young mans game at top level unless you are very fortunate or selfish. Just my opinion though.

Well I am 61 and been open match fishing since I was 16. I am still extremely competitive but have learned to disguise it better with age. I think that as you get older you realise that you cannot win every match you enter and start to enjoy the whole day out rather than just the winning. Having this laid back attitude does not stop you from cutting it with the best but it prevents you getting frustrated when the draw bag is being unkind. Remember that fishing is one of the few sports where age is not a barrier to doing well as long as you are physicaly capable of competing. I fished my first UK Champs this year at 61 and certainly did not feel phased by the competition and will be back for more next year.

The youngsters are very good but they have had good teachers! There is still plenty of older anglers that can take them on. Steve Gardener is still at the top as is Harry Billing, Tommy Pickering and a load of others that are well over 50.

When I am no longer competing in coarse fish matches I’ll take up golf~shh