In my opinion no, not at the top level. At club level you will be fine. I have come through this with 3 kids and only when my son was old enough to travel with me did pressure ease. My wife never worked when they were small, this is unusual, so if the wife has to work pressure will be more intense.
To compete at the top level you need the time to practice and prepare which family pressures will not allow.
Obviously if you have the family support around this helps.
Even concentrating on single commercials you will struggle against venue experts who seem to have loads of time to fish several times a week, not possible if you have a full time job outside of fishing.
My kids are now grown up but the pressure remains with work etc and now grandkids.

Ask it the other way round.

If you work all week and then fish one or two days at the weekend where do you find the time to take your children to football? Saturday afternoon at the pictures? Allow their mother a day off etc?

depends on what youre married to!

If you are asking the question, you already know the answer to this one………….

It was for me when my kids were young, but I worked shifts, two days, two nights, four off.

I used all my annual leave to get weekends off as required, and had loads of time at home aswell.

IF I had a regular 9-5 job i’m not sure id have time to fish at all tho’.

Worked for me when I was working. My wife didn’t work and I only fished Sundays but I seemed to have more time for preparation and thinking about how to approach the weekends match than I do now I have retired. I spend more time now looking after the grand children than I did my own kids and also being chivvied around the house by the missus. Not to mention swapping kit from about for commercial lake carp fishing then the river then back to commercials again.

I don’t seem to have the time that I used to after the kids went to bed or later out for the evening. I used to travel abroad a lot and worked in the City with an hour and a half train commute, but still managed to tie hooks on planes and trains. Good conversation opener that was!

I really feel sorry for those hen pecked blokes who have to go shopping with their wives 4 times a week …….

then redecorate each room every other week ……

then do the gardening everyday …..

then do the washing up every night …….

then arent allowed to go to the pub with there mates …..

then arent allowed to watch there local football team with there mates …..

then have to work every hour god sends so the wife can spend it all ……

etc etc etc etc etc

and then he isnt allowed to go fishing …….. sad **** ! :rolleyes: :rolleyes: 😀

I struggle, my wife dont moan too much but 50hrs a week working shifts sorts me out, I think I manage 1 match a fortnight.

There’s a reason the post office has loads of anglers – they can fish/prepare etc during the day without if affecting anything at home. I recall interviewing Bob Nudd and him admitting to me somewhat regretfully that he had been extremely selfish in pursuing his match career and that he hardly saw the kids as a result. I’ve taken the decision that I want to spend time with my family, and therefore match fishing has taken a back seat for me in more recent years as I see little point doing it half heartedly, which is what it would be. I do fish still fish matches (club not opens), but I make sure I enjoy them. The rest of the time I’d rather pleasure fish when I get time, and that’s what I do more of at the moment. And I take my daughter fishing. I think I have said this before but in France and Italy, match fishing takes much more account of family life. Matches are three hours long – bit like a round of golf then. So you can fish Sunday morning and do family things Sunday afternoon.

The short answer is no.

I am in a similar situation with a 1 year old son, and both parents working full-time career jobs. It is nearly impossible to make ends meet if 3 out of 4 weekends are spent on the road preparing for top end matches and then fishing them.

I can’t stand fishing matches without doing any preparation, so for the next few years I will only fish 3-4 matches a year, and then do the preparation I think is needed. Plus, I am not going to fish a match I don’t think I can win, which will leave out quite a few 😀

I’m 28 yr olds and fishing has been my life since I was 11, I’ve match fished virtually every weekend all these years but now my girlfriend is 4 weeks away from giving birth to our daughter. Up until now I haven’t done anything apart from fishing, I’ve got some good memories but have come to accept that there is more to life. Over the next couple of years my gear will be hung up in the shed, probably only to come out for fisho’s. There is no way when I work 6 days a week that I can justify spending a sunday fishing, it’s a once in a lifetime thing watching your kid grow up. Fishing will be there for me later in life. Don’t get me wrong, I’ll probably still think of it just as much and talk to all my fishing mates but I doubt I’ll miss it, afterall, it’s only fishing!

You’re all in denial 😉

Being bitten by the fishing bug you are infected for life, no matter how many excuses you give yourself for temporaily stopping you will always sneak a peak at any water you pass by or over. You’ll find yourself craning your neck to see if someones wetting a line whilst you meander across the bridge swerving oncoming traffic and your wife and kids will be pleading with you to stop. But will you?….nah!

Family life is important, your kids are important, your WAGS are important and so are you. If you don’t give yourself an outlet away from them you will only find yourself a potting shed, a little hobby in the garage, a dog to walk, a car to wash, a mower to push, a toilet to block….Face the facts guys you are infected and no matter how long you go on the wagon you will be back.

If you earn all the money you can and she spends it all for you that’s your choice..but remember you started life with a pair and if she gets them off you more fool you…today’s emancipated metrosexual is an emaciated shell of a man imho…and if you think for one minute I mean all this stuff then you’re not wrong. 😮 😀 :p

as some of you guys know..i’ve got a young family and love spending as much time as i can with them..they’re only young the once enjoy it whilst it lasts..but saying that i try and get out fishing as much as i can…but i tend to spend more time fishing in the cooler months when you can’t get the kids down the beech/park etc and theres no holidays…basically what i’m try to say is..you’ve got to find the right balance and what works for you’re household.. 😎

well said cutnut

I fish at top level and have to say to do so i have to be very selfish and sometimes it does seem like your putting the family 2nd, i,m lucky in 2 ways that i,m self employed and the weather dictates when i work so when its bad i,m fishing and every sat and sun i fish opens, secondly i have a very understanding mrs that lets me do what i enjoy doing.
Years ago i used to be a long distance driver and fishing was just impossible then, so i do sympathise with people who work long hours and are away from the family then on there free time want to go fishing, its not easy .

I’m in my late 40’s, fished 1-3 matches a week, week in and week out, between 15 years old and 36, I’ve had 2 marriages with no kids all because of match fishing………….well almost!
I do regret not having the kids but not losing the wives and I have a partner now that doesn’t like me fishing on Sundays! I’d say unless you have a very understanding and loyal spouse you cannot have a family life.

It is all about striking a balance.

I fish most weekends (sundays) apart from when I’m on family holiday (we’re lucky to have sometimes two a year) or when a weekend has a bank holiday and the kids (I have two boys) are off. I also manage at least once a month, sometimes a fortnight a midweeker, either a match or a pleasure/ practice session for the forth coming weekend match.

I also work for myself running my own business and I live in the Fens where I have more drains, rivers and lakes on my door step than I care to count.

I set up business on my own in 2003 (i’ve been in the same trade since 16) with a view to having more time for both family and fishing (myself) in the future. Moved to the Fens in 2006 to be nearer my fishing and to relocate the family and business and bring my boys up in the countryside.

I have the best wife in the world, she allows me my sundays but on conditions which is where you can find a balance. I have an office at home so I can walk my two to school pick them up etc… I spend the whole evening with the kids and usually saturdays, normally dragging them round tackle shops to get me baits in the morning and the afternoon I’ll take them out for cinema or something, by the evening their knackered and so I can then prepare for the sunday match.

ok she has more pairs of shoes than imelda marcos and more handbags than those tarts off sex and the city and drives a brand new Merc, she goes out 3 times a week to keep fit class, and she splashes out on a couple of holidays a year, but she knows that sundays are my day on the bank and that is the trade off.

Also I have taken a leaf out of my dads’ book and gotten my two fishing this summer. again with a view to fishing with them more in the future.

ok fishing at the top is going to take up plenty of time, but i fish to my level a Div 1 is the highlight of the match year and I compete on the both local club and open match circuit.

main thing is I really enjoy my fishing and I don’t get grief from her in doors.

another interestring fact is I fish more now since my two nippers were born that I did in the years prior?

everyone will have a different work, life, family, my own time balance. i’m lucky to have found mine and it works for me and the missus.