Inexpensive matches , would it work, would people fish these

[TF_AnthonywatersParticipant]

Simple here goes, local commercial fishery charges 7 quid for open match entry, 1 pound of which goes to buy 3 trophies for the prizes. Would this straight forward match generate an audience ?

[TF_sillysod]

why not,sounds fine to me

[TF_AnthonywatersParticipant]

I would fish such a match, reduced costs and the main element is still there the competitiveness.

[TF_sillysod]

do you know somewhere thats thinking of this?

[TF_AnthonywatersParticipant]

@sillysod wrote:

do you know somewhere thats thinking of this?

No I dont know anyone thats planning this, probably someone on here has already thought of this and maybe even done it I dont know. But I think there has to be a niche in the market for this kind of match, lets face it the commercial fishery owner gets the same amount of money for his peg fee and anglers on a budget get to fish a match when normally they might be thinking ” I dont fancy 20 quid pools this Sun I will just go and pleasure fish somewhere”

[TF_Cutnut]

such a match would not attract enough people to sustain it..the one pound towards trophies would not buy decent pots or medals imho. You might be better trying to get a sponsor to put up some prizes, but you would have to get their name plastered all over the place and do it consistently. The fishery could offer free day tickets.
Yes it would be nice to fish matches where there is no money prize, it might be better for the fish too as the win at all cost merchants wouldn’t show up.

[TF_wildinguk]

Read craig butterfields blog on, i think, match fishing mags site. Loved his idea of county matches with low entry fees. Such a great idea IMO, just trophies, maybe some tackle sponsorship for a grand final for all the county winners. Might be just what is needed to give match fishing a push. Might not attract big names, but should attact club anglers and grass roots and it’s surely at this level that match fishing needs a boost.

[TF_AnthonywatersParticipant]

I think it would motive people, the dayticket anglers the Ones with bums on deck chairs / carp chairs would have ago, people would develop a taste for match fishing and progress.

[TF_baitchefParticipant]

I think its a good idea, the only thing that concerns me is, and i have to be honest, is that i do like the money side of it. Although i hardly win anything, when i do i like the idea that it goes towards the costs, ie bait, terminal tackle, petrol etc. Perhaps a way around this would to fish for vouchers as well as the trophy, something you could spend in a local tackle shop. The shop could even sponsor it a bit so it would be a two way thing.

[TF_sharky]

This is the Holy Grail of match fishing. If someone/somewhere can come up with a formula for getting regular and well attended matches it would be momentus!
In my opinion matches are far too expensive for a lot of people. On the small water i regularly fish, matches are held every Sunday and Wednesday, with pools of £20 and £6 respectively, with a greater attendance on the midweek match than on the weekend!
However, I think the real decline in match fishing attendance is not specifically down to the cost of pools money, my view is the ‘other’ distractions in life outside fishing and less people fishing compared to years ago along with the rise in commercial fisheries which caters perfectly for ‘pleasure’ angling.

[Anonymous]

We at Collingham AA, run matches most Sundays either on the Tidal Trent or on our commercial standard lakes. In the summer we get between 30 and 40 anglers, and in the winter around 20 to 25. We charge £5.00 pools, no pegging fee as we own the lakes. I pay £10 every 5 or 6 pegs and the first 3 or 4 depending on numbers. Winner usually goes home with £25 to £30, ie 5 or 6 times their stake. Has been like this for the last 5 years, no complaints!!

[TF_Broken SectionParticipant]

This sounds a brilliant idea to me. I have a few friends that used to enter matches on a regular basis purely for the enjoyment and banter. They very rarely picked any money up and eventually stopped entering the matches because the cost just got too much with no return.

I am sure events like this would reignite the match fishing flame in them.

[TF_Selfey]

Our club Eastleigh and District AC run a series of 5 matches through the summer one a month. There are no pools. No peg fee as we own the lakes( Stoneham )
The four sections are worth £20 takle voucher = £100 sponsership per match by local shops.
We pay top three £75 £50 £25 = £150 X 5 = £750 Paid by the club
We pay top 3 in series £300 £200 £100 = £600 paid by the club

We get 60 – 70 anglers turn up regular say average 65 anglers X 5 matches = 325

The cost per angler is around £4 to the club.
We now do not have a social/presentation evening that used to work out at a lot more.

Its seems to work for us been going on for over 5 years
On the other club matches that have pools we now regularly have 40 turn up.

[TF_geepsterParticipant]

Matches should be three hours long, period. Five hour matches are living in the past not enough people have the time these days. However, fishing in the morning back for 2pm – now that makes sense.

[TF_badgerParticipant]

No I don’t reckon it would work,not for open matches anyway, as folk have said on here there’s plenty of clubs that fish for minimal amounts of cash plus trophy’s etc.People might have a go at the concept but I don’t think it would be long before someone wanted a quid winner take all,or a pound for a section etc.Don’t get me wrong I,m all for affordable matches,I just think any frame or section place should at least cover match entry.Anyway if I just took trophy’s home the wife would moan that its just something else for her to clean.

[TF_One Out of the Frame]

Personally, I think that people not only stopped fishing matches, they also stopped fishing to a greater or lesser degree.

As I have said in the past, if you are fishing for a large sum of money then at least it gives people some justification for shelling out £3k on a pole as you ‘could,’ theoretically at least, more than clear the cost of entry.

I was reasonably successful when I was a junior angler fishing on the senior open and club circuit and winning or at least picking up gave me the opportunity to buy key items of tackle.

If what you are winning doesn’t even cover the cost of going, how can you justify that to the family or significant other?

With regards to matches being shorter: I can to a degree see the attraction as you aren’t investing a whole day away from other commitments but turn the clock back say 25 years and matches in the Summer took place with draws at 0400hrs to beat the boats. Pub and payout by 1100 and back home to the family for lunch!

Lastly, if you hook a match winning fish and there is even £200 on it then that is a real buzz and sense of relief when it goes in the keepnet! If there is nothing on it then the feeling is rather muted, imho.

Match fishing is dying for a number of reasons and the current economic climate is merely accelerating the process but it is also being driven by the fishing business too.

[TF_sillysod]

@chrismoorhead wrote:

matches in general NEEDS badly to re invent its self the obession with fish o mania
now the maver 100k
the tackle we use is worth thousands of pounds the technology used is so far advanced but our matches still stay the same the same old format same old pools
now i know you guys here can come up with some good ideas lets have them
and maybe joe or alex could promote them i personally would like to see a region challenge
for this forum i.e yorkshire v south yorkshire based on all 2 venues canals and commercials not just a commercial venue this is only my thought tho get maybe 6 members per team
bigger if its demanded we all talk about and write about it so lets do something about it
lets see whos the best of total fishing guys and gals

well who would be up for a total fishing.com yorkshire challenge i:e 2/3 matches different venues,team or individual,trophy for winner and title of total fishing.com yorkshire champion

[TF_AnthonywatersParticipant]

Thanks for everybodies replies its making quite an interesting read this thread, nice to have a discussion thats not reviewng a piece of tackle.I like everyones ideas, I do personally think match fishing is too expensive, thats why I go fishing with a club through the summer and we all put 3 quid in, you dont win much I think you get 15 quid average for winning but thats 5 times your entry costs. You win your section in some opens and your only winning your entry money back,but thats the anglers themselves that want it that way they want the money well spreadout, they want 14 peg matches and want to pay 2 sections of 7 thats the norm everywhere now.But I would be interested to see if it would be a success if a commercial left a lake free on a Sun and ran a cheap match, I think there would be a niche in the market, anglers love using their keepnets and competition but not everyone is in a position to shell out 20 quid open entry.

[TF_sillysod]

@chrismoorhead wrote:

when i say 2 venues its not ment to be 2 commercials or 2 ponds its 1 of each
for example 1 match at the stainey 1 match at lindholme etc
this would prove to be fair
even if you had a venue expert on a commercial that wiped the deck with everyone the canal would level things out just because they are un predictable you have to have a level of fairness in any competition hence the drennan knockout cup fished by the superstars of angling maybe that format and the exposure from the match fishing magazine could help lift an ordinary angler into a lifetime dream of being sponosered you never know
but unless some one steps up to the plate and does something then we are still gonna be talking about this until the cows come home and it also doesnt have to be expensive
to do this deals can be brokered i know fishery owners love to have there venues in the match fishing mag

thats what i meant, but who would be willing to put the work in to get something going,most of the time everyone wants something doing but tey aint gonna step forward and do something do make it happen

[TF_Vince8]

A local costcutter runs round locally twice a week. Apart from the peg fee the pools cost £6 and is paid out in £18 3 man sections. They are very popular. But don’t most people go fishing to enjoy the day out and have a bit of competition. This is usually what club fishing brings to most. The best club anglers will also enter the big opens and Fisho etc. There will always be those not so good anglers who enter everything but they are happy. The rest either cannot be bothered or realise their limited capabilities. That’s life.

[TF_AnthonywatersParticipant]

In essence you guys are right in what you are saying a match with cheap pools would be just a club match, but to fish club matches you have to join a club then be prepared to go fish matches at different venues and you have to manage those dates with shift patterns etc. im on about a commercial running regular cheap matches week in week out.

[TF_Gary]

Making matches shorter would put me off. The last thing I want is all of the time and expense of travelling, getting bait, organising tackle, tying rigs, sorting out methods / tactics…. and it’s all over in 3 hours! Most of our club matches are 6 hours and I reckon people would want 8 hour matches if the fisheries would let us!

[TF_One Out of the Frame]

Exactly Gary!

Five hours is right. You can sit it out on a no hoper in the forelorn hope of a framing lump with five hours whereas there is less chance to get that one bite in a shorter session!

I also like Summer evening matches too even though they are between 2-3 hours but that is more to do with having an extra outing than the length of time fishing tbh.

[TF_AnthonywatersParticipant]

Have to agree I like 5 & 6 hour matches when you work alot and fishing time is precious, 3 hr matches are just not long enough, not for me.

[TF_AdzTParticipant]

It’s the £20-£25 pools that i simply cant afford

If a fishery would charge £10 and take £7 for their peg fee, the £3 goes in the pot for anglers to fish for i would happily fish.
I run matches for my mates and we do exactly this, and it’s much more enjoyable, 10-15 anglers and i usually pay out the top 3.

[TF_Gavin]

I think it could work, but you need enough angler local to do it. You’re not going to attract people from miles around if they can’t cover their costs from the pools. I do believe though, that there are enough anglers who would fish matches like that.

As for the length of matches… 3hr’s doesn’t do it for me (unless I’ve sneaked a summer mid-week open, and again, only as I’ve snuck an extra one in) – many commercial fishery’s now run 6hr matches, don’t they? I personally think that’s plenty long enough, but less than 5hr’s it begins to seem like much more time preparing than fishing! It would get dis-proportionate as in a sprint (3hr) you’d need more gear ready to cover tangles/method changes quick.

[TF_sillysod]

@chrismoorhead wrote:

i would be willing to step up to the plate and organise any match on a canal of pond
but personally i would rather it be a league to keep interest
if your interested mail me
i will also try to get sponsors to keep the cost down but first all those interested mail
geepster lets get him on board first
and by the way im looking at lindholme and blue marina canal for the first sessions

if it was a league and spread around a few different venues then put my name down

[TF_andy cranes mateParticipant]

Can I ask who fishes matches for money or for the thrill of winning?

[TF_AnthonywatersParticipant]

Andy the thrill of winning for me mate, not that I win much 😀

[TF_marginmauler]

just read a few of replys on this subject, and to have a match as geepster says3hours is a load of whatever in my book, it would be a waste of time loadin the car up, 6 hour matches as far as ime concerned, and for the enjoyment simple as, with todays fuel cost it seems a great idea to have low peg/ cost matches, dont forget people are losin their jobs, and like to match fish, so a inexpensive match would be spot on, MONEY IS’NT GROWIN ON TREE’S ANYMORE.

[TF_Slider]

A few points from reading this thread.

Match Length- 5 or 6 hours. I wouldnt bother for 3 unless its an evening.

Price of Pools- £20 is enough for a weekend open with a cheaper costcutter in the week.

Prizes – all well and good but I cant put trophies in my fuel tank to get me to the next match and I honestly dont see the value of winning a trophy against 15 or 20 other anglers, if it was 100 peg matches then maybe its nice to have a momento of your success.

And to be controversial, the only people in my experience who moan about the cost of matches are those who dont tend to win any money and therfore they will always moan because even if the match cost half as much they still wouldnt win any money !

[TF_AnthonywatersParticipant]

@Slider wrote:

A few points from reading this thread.

Match Length- 5 or 6 hours. I wouldnt bother for 3 unless its an evening.

Price of Pools- £20 is enough for a weekend open with a cheaper costcutter in the week.

Prizes – all well and good but I cant put trophies in my fuel tank to get me to the next match and I honestly dont see the value of winning a trophy against 15 or 20 other anglers, if it was 100 peg matches then maybe its nice to have a momento of your success.

And to be controversial, the only people in my experience who moan about the cost of matches are those who dont tend to win any money and therfore they will always moan because even if the match cost half as much they still wouldnt win any money !

You only feel like that because you fish open matches there are some anglers who attempt open matches get a showing up and moan about the costs etc But on the other hand there are some chaps who dont have the “win at all cost bloody mindedness and attitude” they just simply enjoy fishing, people who love a bit of competition and dont fancy throwing a Twenty spot in the direction of some pot hunter who has fine tuned himself on some venue matches im on about would cater for these people.

[TF_geepsterParticipant]

Money doesn’t grow on trees and neither does time. As you know I have fished all over Europe and it’s only really in the UK that we insist on five hour matches (hence the world champs matches are three hours long). The root of this is doing something at the weekend for yourself, that fits in with the family… If we want bigger attendances in matches, that is a factor that needs some serious consideration…..
Q: What are the best attended regular open matches at the big commercials?
A: Vets matches.
Q; Why
A: Time

[TF_AnthonywatersParticipant]

I know what your saying Geeps, I fish 1 match per month at present, why because I work alot. I do imagine your spot on with your assumption that vets matches are the best attended commercial matches at the moment. Why do vets matches all stipulate 50 or 55 plus though, I know many a 55 year old who would wipe the floor with anyone on the commercial scene, or it it just to deter the riff raff, the opportunists ?

[TF_Slider]

Anthony why are you derogatory about Match Anglers who like to win money ?

Lets be very honest here, Match Fishing is about competition and that entails winning money, it always has ! . Trophies are great if the match is big enough, there is really no point in winning a trophy for an average 15-30 peg knock up on a commercial fishery. Trophies dont help pay for the next match and I can be certain that plenty of anglers tuck that 60 quid away they win on a sunday and pull it out next sunday to go fishing again !!

Prizes, yes prizes would be nice but it would be the same people winning the prizes that win the money so you would be sat behind your keyboard slating them in a years time as being opportunist pot hunters !

There are 2 options for those who dont want the excitement of a bigger match against better anglers ( I say that you would probably say they dont want to fish against the win at all costs brigade )

Firstly if you dont back yourself to win in a bigger match then go club match fishing, nothing at all wrong with that, generally pools are lower and the banter is good, also the level of competition should be more suitable.

Secondly, just go fishing for pleasure with a mate and fish for bragging rights, if you honestly only do it for competitions sake then this should be a good solution.

I hate this slating of decent match anglers ( And I dont class myself in that league ) who go out and pick up in opens etc, they have probably prepared more, practiced harder and generally put more effort in, why vilify them ?

[TF_Gavin]

I don’t think he’s vilifying them Mark, just pointing out that there are plenty who like to spend ten minutes the night before sorting their gear, then going fishing on Sunday and chucking a tenner in and hoping that they MAY just have a chance of winning it back.

It’s each to their own, and like Geeps pointed out there are time (and money) constraints on peoples lives. Who’s to say those people can’t match fish as they don’t want to pay £25 pools and have a two hour drive to a venue after spending three hours the previous evening making rigs?

The whole point of this thread was to ask if there is an audience for cheaper matches, not to create a “them and us” between your average clubby and decent open match anglers!

[TF_sillysod]

spot on gavin.i would love to fish more matches but at the mo the big problem is the cost,
i do think that something needs doing to encourage more people into match fishing at the grass roots level as attendances are plummeting and keeping the cost down has to be a major factor.

[TF_AnthonywatersParticipant]

Slider, im not being derogotary about people that win money, and to be honest this thread does not reflect my trends and tastes its about anglers as a whole,Im not trying to degrade open match anglers. I fish club matches and open matches, I dont do particulary well at open matches I have the odd section win here and there and im very rarely in the main money. This has never bothered me I always weigh in unless theres blantantly no point! and I always come away from a match with a smile on my face after all its a day away from the office. I never personally moan about the cost of opens,If I had time I could easily fish Sat & Sun opens every week.My post is about is there a niche in the market for a cheaper match and its spiralled into ” you only want to fish for less money because you cant compete ” Lets get back to the objective 🙂

[Author]

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