On the Yare its £18. Sections are £30. The frame payout depends on turnout.

At Barford its £16 with an optional £5 golden peg on a saturday. Payout depends on turnout. Sometimes there are sections and sometimes just a frame.

I guess the problem is that with everything else going on in the world, if you fish two matches a week at £15 a go just for pools, and don’t pick up, thats a significant outlay over a month.

Barford at £16 cannot leave much in the pools after the pegging fee (I heard that it was £8 but I don’t know, maybe that is wrong?). Cross Drove is £20 to enter a day ticket is £7 and I presume the pegging fee for matches is the same, £30 sections and pay top 3 no matter how many fish but the amount varies of course. I think that Suffolk Water Park is £15 now although it was £20 when I ran the matches.

When I ran matches I had a matrix on the notice board that showed what the pegging fee was and the what the sections and payout would be based upon the numbers entering the pools on the match. The section numbers were the same but the payouts varied dependent upon the total numbers entered. Doing it that way kept the winners amounts down. Surely some account should be shown for match. They put up an account of how the monies are distributed on the results board at the end of the match on the Yare. Something like that should be available for view at all matches. Having a matrix to view also meant that I had a quick reference to work out the money each match instead of doing a quick calculation on the back of envelope.

You’re right Richard. £8 pegging fee at Barford.

Nobodys ever going to be able to give up work on the strength of their winnings there lol

Fishery owners are walking a tightrope between pitching pools too low and thus deterring anglers fishing and also pitching too high. They want maximum turnouts as their take is pegging fees, Any angler who aspires to maximise his earnings if he/she thinks they are good enough has few choices really, Maver match this, Fisho, Parkdean etc is where the major money is. However significant cost are involved travelling overnight stays etc.
On the local circuit, if entry fees are too high you attract experts and attendances will fall away IMO as anglers need to feel they have a chance. In summary I think things are not going to change, we have to accept payouts will remain at or around your costs for the foreseeable future.

@Kagger TNB wrote:

You’re right Richard. £8 pegging fee at Barford.

Nobodys ever going to be able to give up work on the strength of their winnings there lol

Not even Warren Martin with all the matches he wins there Karl 🙂 🙂

I think the pegging fee on the R Yare is only £3 but it may be £4. Not bad for the quality of fishing on a river. I know that suggestions have been made to Andy W-S by one or two to put the entry up to £20 with a fiver taken out for pegging. I don’t know how he views it, we will have to wait until next summer I suppose. It wouldn’t stop me going but I suppose some may not like it.

A recession and some wanting an open increase from £15 to £30 entry -plus increased travel/fuel and bait-adding another £20-30 so what friggin planet are u living on?

Well said wightangler …….. “some” folk must have money to burn or must be earning at least 35k plus a year ! :rolleyes: 🙂

Now then …….. canal leagues i haved fished this year are £12 ……. Top six paid out plus £20 section money every 5 pegs . Err they have been very popular to say the least. 🙂

I am sorry to say wightangler that I don’t understand your post. I cannot see that anyone has suggested increasing entries to £30.

Natural venues are always going to be cheaper than commercials which generally are the owners only/main source of income. Compared with a premier league football match £20 for a match where you stand the chance of a pick up is cheap in my opinion. Agreed you don’t need bait for football but certainly travelling costs are probably greater than for a match and if you have a couple of beers and a pie at half time that makes up for it.

Entry fees for matches do not seem to have kept up with the cost of living and haven’t increased much at all over the last 10 years.

Yeah yeah premier league football is costing me a fortune aswell plus im drinking more than ever …….. well worth it though , you only live once ! 😀 😀 😀

I suppose pool entries havent gone up much but pegging fees have,I remember a bloke who was going to take me on a match on the Newark dyke in 1988 he said its 12 quid entry but you can win hundreds of pounds, day tickets were probably £2 quid, so in comparison if a dayticket is £ 8 now the pools need to be £ 48 quid ? Thats inflation, thats why many people choose to fish club matches me included.

@Waveney One wrote:

@Kagger TNB wrote:

You’re right Richard. £8 pegging fee at Barford.

Nobodys ever going to be able to give up work on the strength of their winnings there lol

Not even Warren Martin with all the matches he wins there Karl 🙂 🙂

Even Warren. When he gets a bit skint he has to travel to a matches out of county 🙂

To suggest that pools should perhaps go up because the cost of living is higher than it was is daft, pure and simple! People have less and less disposable income now – the fact that fishing is still at a more sensible price is what keeps many still going!

I think the difference in fee’s between commercials and natural venues is levelled by the actual bait cost to fish the cheaper natural venues – it cost me £25 in bait to fish the Div 2 National, that’ll keep you in bait for a month on most commy’s, unless you like using that Jap stuff :rolleyes:

@Waveney One wrote:

Entry fees for matches do not seem to have kept up with the cost of living and haven’t increased much at all over the last 10 years.

wages havent kept up with the cost of living,i am on about the same an hour now as i was 20 years ago.

@Gavin wrote:

To suggest that pools should perhaps go up because the cost of living is higher than it was is daft, pure and simple! People have less and less disposable income now – the fact that fishing is still at a more sensible price is what keeps many still going!

I think the difference in fee’s between commercials and natural venues is levelled by the actual bait cost to fish the cheaper natural venues – it cost me £25 in bait to fish the Div 2 National, that’ll keep you in bait for a month on most commy’s, unless you like using that Jap stuff :rolleyes:

Your right with the bait bill for natural venues,I remember Hadrian Whittles bait list ( Wye match) in match fishing mag once,the list looked like what id take to Ireland for a weeks fishing !

I think if you take your natural venues seriously then its possible to reduce your bait bill substantially. Basic brown crumb can be bought for a little over £1.00kg and Vitalin dog food when processed is also very cheap. Hemp in bulk is peanuts and casters can be turned yourself. The cost of worms can be shared and if you know the right people you can get then for as little as £14.00kg 😀
You just have to buy stuff in bulk so the initial outlay is high.
Its just not as convenient as opening a bag of pellets or a tin of meat.

followed thread with interest tho fish very few opens couple of points if price kept low maybe more likley to attract club anglers[part timers] like me and the other around our way day ticket prices have not gone up that much

Fish a canal with bread punch and the bait bill could be just the price of a cheap own band loaf of bread. Two slices for punching and liquidize the rest.

I don’t know what opens cost now, but I do know that I can’t be bothered to fish 15 peg opens. They just don’t give the buzz of 50+ size matches. As you may guess I don’t fish many matches anymore. I am however looking forward to the WL starting.

Dont think the pools have moved with inflation much , not much different to 15 yrs ago , with peg fees being higher nowadays not much left for payout as well .

White acres charge £15 to fish the gold or silvers match. Typical payouts, obviously depending on how many fish, are £70,£80, £90 top 1,2 and 3 with sections of about £50.
In the days of super pools and large fields professional anglers camped there and fished every match, attendances fell off. I like the system Clint uses as it gives everyone a chance of picking up when sections can vary hugely.
On club matches we use a matrix system for payouts so there can be do arguments as its all pre printed and available for all to see, it amazes me how many matches are run when competitors are completely in the dark regarding the payout structure.
It leaves organisers vulnerable to being accused of cheating/fixing payouts to suit themselves.

In the Broads Open that will take place on Saturday, there are Sections, Zones (as different rivers and sections of rivers will be in the match) and then the overall payout. Each payout will vary depending upon the numbers entered but there are no defaults so if you win the win the match, you win first, the Zone and your section. Well worth winning, but there will be a reasonable amount returned if you win or are second in a section.

In the matches I ran at Suffolk Water Park, juniors and newcomers were not obliged to enter the pools at all, just paying the pegging fee that itself was discounted by a pound from the normal day ticket price for all entrants.

90 peg summer canal league , 15 teams of 6 …….. could have easily had 20 plus teams of 6 but parking / logistics etc etc makes life much easier for organisers.

£12 per man per match , top 6 individuals paid out , £20 section every 5 pegs .

Bait bill for typical summer canal match contary to belief is minimal …..

2 bags of groundbait will easily last 2 matches even with good weights of lots of small fish ie 6lb to double figures.

2 bags of g/b say standard mix of Sensas lake x 1 @ £3.60 and Sensas canal extra x1 @ £3.60

1 pint of squatts @ £2.60

1/2 pint casters @ £1.25

1/4 pint (yes a quarter 😀 ) pinkies @ 60p

1/4 pint Red maggots @ 60p

Total bait bill around £8 !!! . Worms bought every month or so , half a kilo usually lasts me 2 months with the pegs i draw ! 😮 😀 😉

The first open I fished cost £10 to enter, that was 35 years ago. If they had kept pace with inflation I would guess they would be over a £100 if not nearer £200. An open used to be an exciting event that was looked forward to, and wining could change you life, not just about cover your costs. Mind you there was a lot less professional aproach, and given the peggy natural venues, more people not only thought they could win but actually probably could win.

@ally wrote:

The first open I fished cost £10 to enter, that was 35 years ago. If they had kept pace with inflation I would guess they would be over a £100 if not nearer £200. An open used to be an exciting event that was looked forward to, and wining could change you life, not just about cover your costs. Mind you there was a lot less professional aproach, and given the peggy natural venues, more people not only thought they could win but actually probably could win.

Well said that man. Winning a match could lead to you winning enough for a big deposit on a house. Now there are only about 3 matches where you could win that type of money.

They were EVENTS and people travelled for miles to fish them. It was a proper circuit with people travelling on trains and/or coaches from miles away. 300 – 500 peggers a lot of them some of the river championships over 1,000. People didn’t fish the same pond 3 times a week with 15 to 25 of their ‘mates’.

Slight exageration here IMO, Ivan won loads of matches but was far from being a millionaire when he passed away.
We used to travel 4 to a car as we only had a basket, holdall and a single keepnet to fish venues like the Welland on 400 peggers. Entry was usually about £10 and the winner would pick up £500 or so which I accept was more than a months wages. As the winning weights were bream it was pot luck if you drew them or not. Bait bills were high as the pellet had yet to make an appearance. On the big matches a bookie would turn up so the winner could pick up large payouts from him if he had bet on himself, I suspect this is what people remember in terms of house deposits. I cannot remember the last match I fished when a bookie turned up.
Travel costs became prohibitive together with a fall off in catches.
Thinking back it was only the fact that most rivers close to large population areas were devoid of fish that we had to travel, the commercial venue had yet to be started.
Everyone else was in the same boat hence big turnouts on few venues.
This has all changed now and I do not forsee a return to the old days anytime soon.

I know what you mean, no one made a fortune but nor do they now and nor will they ever imo. The point is the matches were not cheap to enter, pay was generally low with an average just above £2,500 and there was a recession from 73 to 75 with yet another banking crisis.

£500 after tax was a huge amount then though. In the early seventies you could buy a semi detached house for £15,000 in London and I expect a lot less in some parts of the country though we are a little off topic now.

peg fee plus basic all in top three payout as current (peg fee plus £5-10), then optional pools – sections(2) another fiver (tenner if a big enough field to warrant more than 2 sections), superpool another £5-15 that could be tailored to small teams or individual winner.
You then set the optional superpool at a limit that those that want a few extra quid to want to bet- rather than raise basic entry cost to prohibit entry numbers and those who cant afford or want to enter a high cost superpool – the ‘market’ will then decide the entrants and amount).

that you don’t see any bookies at big events or that – given modern online facilities and pretty fixed regional matches most weekends as a calendar – suggests that most probably someone, somewhere has looked into this and decided it’s not viable.

£15-£20 around my way and the payouts vary.

Better ones are top 3 and £40 for 6/7 man sections but can be top 3 or 4 only depending on turnouts particularly mid week.

Over 55’s and cost cutters £10-£12 are apparently popular but pay out less, obviously!

With the number of venues around there is a market for a wide variety…….the easiest solution have an optional super pool……..but it has to be truely ‘optional’

Sadly its only going one way im afraid . 20 peg knockups in a farmers field leaves at best only £280 in the payout pot after peg fees taken out , with inevitable peg fee price rises payouts will surely dwindle even further , Increasing pools money will also hit attendences even further imho.

Fuel prices are without doubt also having a major effect , match anglers in general are staying closer to home , i know my travelling has been cut back dramatically over the last 18 months or so . If you have a decent circuit near to you or a couple of commercial venues you like or suit you i think it makes economic sense to enjoy your fishing there whilst times are grim and set to get grimmer im afraid for most of us !

Around our way, local venues charge £16 all in,(£6 ticket), that suits me fine. Twenty anglers is a good turn out. Twelve mile round trip,bait bill is never more than a fiver. I still look forward to the matches as much as I did when fishing 80+ pegs opens every week.My only concern is for the future of “open” match fishing as the average age of the anglers I compete against must be 50+(myself included).This is in West Yorkshire and we’re known to be a bit tight.

Let’s face it things move on, and not only times but where and the way people fish have changed drastically in the last 30 years or so. But I still find it amazing the amount of anglers with the £500+ seat box and £2000 poles pleading poverty when it comes to pools money.
I also feel that time is a factor, to fish a match takes all day, modern life does not always allow that time to be availiable. A round of golf will only take half a day, and there is bar at the end of it,