Fishing Gimp
Active member
I 've been around the block a few times and over the years have noticed that the vitriolic arguments concernig various aspects of Barbel fishing that appear on this site are just like the vitriolic nastiness that used to occur between various self proclaimed primadonas in the late 60's and 70's in the Carp world.
Some of the arguments went on for years with the animosity between individuals (no names, no pack drill) getting to the violent stage more than once. Silly really as all the anglers concerned cared passionately about carp in their different ways. But they had become so blinkered with their animosity they could not see any other point of view apart from the one they were espousing. At meetings it used to be embarassing to witness the silly goings on, so much so I walked away from the scene for a while and went fly fishing. The good news is that now most of the protagonists have either moved on or grown more tolerant with age.
I remember going to one of the inaugural meetings of the Barbel society, the one in the pub at Walton, with a lot of the big names at the time in the specimen world in attendence. And low and behold there was animosity right from the start, not only from the floor but between the newly installed committee.
I had seen this all before; in fact a lot of the arguments were the same old recycled crap from twenty plus years before but applied to a different new 'in species.' I concluded as I drove hurriedly away not to get involved this time.
My question is how much longer can this vitriol between Barbel anglers carry on or will it eventaully dry up, as it did in the Carp world as the protagonists age and become more tolerant of anothers valid argument. Let's hope so. Or will the circus move on to the next new 'in species.'
It would seem we have learned very little about presenting a united front to more serious opposition over the years!
Some of the arguments went on for years with the animosity between individuals (no names, no pack drill) getting to the violent stage more than once. Silly really as all the anglers concerned cared passionately about carp in their different ways. But they had become so blinkered with their animosity they could not see any other point of view apart from the one they were espousing. At meetings it used to be embarassing to witness the silly goings on, so much so I walked away from the scene for a while and went fly fishing. The good news is that now most of the protagonists have either moved on or grown more tolerant with age.
I remember going to one of the inaugural meetings of the Barbel society, the one in the pub at Walton, with a lot of the big names at the time in the specimen world in attendence. And low and behold there was animosity right from the start, not only from the floor but between the newly installed committee.
I had seen this all before; in fact a lot of the arguments were the same old recycled crap from twenty plus years before but applied to a different new 'in species.' I concluded as I drove hurriedly away not to get involved this time.
My question is how much longer can this vitriol between Barbel anglers carry on or will it eventaully dry up, as it did in the Carp world as the protagonists age and become more tolerant of anothers valid argument. Let's hope so. Or will the circus move on to the next new 'in species.'
It would seem we have learned very little about presenting a united front to more serious opposition over the years!