Expert Anglers

[Ron (Rontroversial) Clay]

There are many truly great anglers around that you hardly here of. One of the greatest of this ilk is Derek Gibson of Sheffield - master pike angler and one of the true pioneers of modern style lure fishing in England.

Derek, by his own choice maintains a low profile in all he does, but catch pike, I doubt if there has been anyone better than him with lures.

I have one of his little Shimano Baitcasters he let me have for a small sum some time ago. Each time I use it I imagine the numbers and size of pike that that reel has tamed.

Derek, if you read this I hope that all is well with you.

 

[Chris Hammond]

All of the great names mentioned were experts at catching fish; in my opinion.

I think an expert angler is someone who enjoys theirself on every session.

Angling, as a sport, is unique I don't think it can be measured the way a cricketer is measured by his batting average, or a footballer by the goals he's scored. I think it trancends that. It's more about what an individual can take from the passtime spiritually.

That's not to say that anglers like Walker didn't enjoy theirselves, just that I don't think fishing prowess should be deemed to be centred entirely around the ability to catch fish.

If I were to pick a recurrent theme from those anglers that have most impressed me, I would say that they've all had an affinity with the natural world.

Regards Chris

 

[Budgie Burgess]

Yes I definately think there is a difference between an expert angler and an angling expert.I do not follow the match angling scene as closely as I used too.However I have noticed that some "expert" matchmen who win week in and week out on there local carp pond dont ever seem to frame in any matchs fished on cannals or rivers? These are then surely specialists in their given field not experts? some of the older names mentioned in this thread could win on any venue using a wide variety of methods.There are some very sucsessfull carp anglers who would have more chance of breaking the record than catching a half decent net of fish from a winter cannal!Surely although very sucssesful in their specialist fields cannot be described as expert anglers? I honestly believe that you could take a complete novice and put him on the right water with the right bait and gear and he would eventualy cach a big fish of the targeted species.(at this point I would like to remind you that despite being an allrounder I would if pushed have to describe myself as a specimen hunter)I dont think that if you did the same in a match scenario think you would ever see the same guy winning.I have seen anglers who catch a lot of fish but cannot cast far,on the other hand Ive seen others who can cast to the moon but catch nothing.Who is the expert? How do you meassure it? Matchs won?big fish caught? years of experience?,experience gained? I dont know.What I do know is that all of the names so far put up on this thread for expert status had a certain amount of all of these charecteristics.Maybe that is the answer.

 

[Dave Rothery]

here we go again, slag carp anglers! i think you'll find their are quite a few carp anglers that used to be successful match anglers. terry hearns probably caught more 4lb+perch than most of the predator anglers. dont forget that the vast majority of "pleasure" anglers also wouldn't have a hope of being in the frame in a match. some match anglers would struggle to catch on "specimen" waters - its a different mindset

ivan marks, lesley moncrief, charles jardine, albert romp, hugh falkus. all "thinking anglers" and "expert" in their fields.

 

[Ron (Rontroversial) Clay]

Budgie, regarding SOME carp anglers, you have a point.

It's like saying if you give a number of chimps each a typewriter, given enough time they will write the complete works of Shakespeare.

**** Walker once said that it wasn't the number or size of fish that made an enjoyable outing, it was the company he kept.

 

[Budgie Burgess]

Yes Dave being a carp angler (amongst many other things) I merely coment on what I see.I do not tar all with the same brush.Most "pleasure" anglers I see are far more competent fish catchers than most carp anglers I see.
Ron,another old saying I like is that there are three stages of angling-first you want to catch the most fish,then you want to catch the most biggest and finaly you want to catch the most difficult.Cant remember who said it.

 

[GrahamM]

Dave, console yourself with the fact that carp anglers, from **** walker to Terry Hearn, have been responsible for more progress and innovation in coarse fishing than all the other species anglers put together.

Unfortunately, due to carp being the most popular species, it attracts a lot of ****heads as well as eggheads, and critics of carp fishing would be wise to bear that in mind.

You don't get many ****head big bream anglers, for instance, because there are not many big bream anglers (in comparison) to start with.

 

[Ron (Rontroversial) Clay]

Budgie, it was an American angler and I've forgot who. Maybe I should email Lefty Kreh, he would know, but a more true statement has never been said.

Graham, you are spot on as usual.

However due to the innovations that have taken place, it's been possible for the **** heads to follow a discreet set of instructions and aquire a catalogued set of gear that will in time make them able to catch big carp.

All that they need is time, hence the term : Time Bandit.

 

[Les Clark]

Ron, I think your right in a sense,i.e. buy the gear,top bait,in the end they will catch,but dispite that,thankfully a lot give up becouse they think they should be catching all the time,and they get bored.
Most of us have done the tiddler bashing as kid`s,gone on to roach,bream,tench and learnt from it,some stay with bream or tench,or whatever,nothing wrong with that,but we have watercraft,which a lot/most of the "****head" band don`t have,and it`s not allway`s the youngster`s who I find ,want to learn.
One young lad,Lee Buchan,who I had the privelidge to fish with at selby(15yr`s old),if not a expert now,will be in a few year`s time,he work`s at it,read`s the water,and think`s like a carp.
He will be as good as Hern,yate`s,and the rest in 10year`s time,if he dosen`t get sidetracked by girl`s.
Sorry Lee,but I would put money on it.

 

[Wolfman Woody]

I think that one of the best "big bream experts" we have had in the past 50 years is Graham himself. I know that my little fishing gang used to troll around all the Cheshire lakes and meres in the 60's looking for places he might have fished in the hope of also landing a double figure bream. Okay, we never made it, but we enjoyed a lot of different fishing along the way if only because he enthused us.

By the way, does anyone remember Frank Guttfield? I hope so, because I fish with him fairly regularly, but even he struggles like me at times on our water. He asked me the other week what bait I was using for barbel and when I mentioned boilies he confessed that the word didn't appear in his dictionary. But just because he doesn't use the latest developments, does this mean he is no longer an "expert angler"? I don't think so.

"Expert" merely means that a person has acquired great knowledge on a particluar subject, be that weapons or fishing. It doesn't necessarily mean that he is experienced at practising the subject particularly well, but that also helps. Experience is also a way of saying you have made mistakes and learned from them, whereas mistakes are what you make when you lack experience.

If this doesn't make much sense, let me say that I don't believe in experts. I believe there are people who are good at practising various talents, either as a gift or buy acquiring the skills needed. Even then, they must be seen to be passing them on to others, otherwise you will never know who they are or how experienced they have become.

Angling is lucky to have so many well-known personalities who are such lovely people as well. Names like the late Peter Stone, Ivan Marks, Keith Arthur, Bob Nudd, Alan Sotthorne, Steve Gardener, Ian Heaps, Bob James, Dave Vincent and many others. There are others though who wouldn't give you the time of day, but thankfully these will never be remembered either as a expert or even as a good bloke to know.

 

[Dave Slater]

Les,
No need for me to say anything. I think you have put the right points across in your last posting.