some info

how do you go about entering a fishing contest,do you have to be an experence fishing man or what,and how much is it to enter.love to give it a go.i would love the experence to fish with some top anglers

It will cost you dearly my friend. With respect you will be what is known as pools fodder. Don't fall for the glib tounged thieves when they tell you that you will learn plenty if you fish with them.
Try and find a small club that only charges a couple of pounds and no more than a fiver to get you started. There is a lot to learn appart from the actual fishing.
Watch the antics of the regulars at the draw bag. And the higher up the match scale you go. The more cunning they get with their antics.

I second what Baz say's.
We have a club of 30 members, we have a monthly match,no cash, no gambling and the winner get's a trophy.
There's plenty of competition and interest.
?10 a year membership!
Learn from there, and see how it goes,if you do well,you can move up a scale or so.

thank you baz just thought id ask,but how much to enter my son in law is interested,but i will take your advice

I don't know what the bigger open matches will cost mate. It would be best to go and watch a couple of matches. Weigh up how much bait you will need also. Other things to take into consideration are distances and travelling time. Some of the top anglers used to get a mate to draw for them. If they didn't fancy their peg number they wouldn't turn up and go elsewhere. They knew every peg on the water. That is only part of what you would be up against.
Freds club sounds like what you should be looking for to get you started.

ok thanks for your info,will stick to my small club of19

Tony,

It's worth remembering a couple of things about fishing in matches.

Firstly, catching fish under match conditions is often much harder than the way you do when pleasure fishing. I've come across people a few times who are used to catching plenty of fish from a water, looked at the match weights and thought "I can beat that easily", and then found that their special method simply doesn't work at all in a match. It's complex why some methods do, and some methods don't work in matches but the extra disturbance has a lot to do with it.

Secondly, fishing matches is all about catching fish and enjoying yourself. You can't catch pounds, kilos, only fish. So experiment constantly, persevere, recognise what works and what doesn't. At first you may find yourself a long way short of the winning weights but hang around after the match and talk to those that did well. Many match anglers are happy to explain what they did especially when bouyed with success but they will expect to hear from you what you did and found out. As Baz rightly says watch some matches but if you do, keep quiet and well back only approaching anglers if it's OK with them. For some it spoils their chances and concentration to have someone blundering around behind them, or giving them earache with a barrage of questions.

Good luck, even if you only enter a few club matches you'll get a few tips.

Tony, dont even consider open matches at this stage, you will just be lining the pockets of the few who know the score at that particular venue. All you will learn by trying to watch the bloke on the next peg is how much better and simpler, he does everything compared to you. It can be quite demoralising. Trust me I've been there! There's nothing worse than getting battered by the bloke on the next peg when you think you are doing it right. Match fishing is full of blokes who content themselves with enjoying the craic, but in truth have little or no chance of winning. Over the year they will tell you about their hard luck stories, the day they got placed and maybe even won one, but the harsh reality is they have spent ?5000 annually on gear, travel, bait and entrance fees and earned maybe ?400 in return. Those who really know what they are doing, like Harry Billing and Keiron Rich, turn pro and earn their living from fishing open matches.
Stick to club matches where its a bit of fun and the man on the next peg might just talk to you during the contest and tell you why he's catching more than you.