This Week's Angler's Mail

and specifically the article right in the back 'Tales from the riverbank' featuring one Phil Wakeford.

He doesn't come across very well at all in this article he's written. I wonder whether he's really like that or he's just misrepresented himself and will regret it when he reads it later. If it's the former, then he's not someone I would like to fish near me.

Right at the start of the article he complains in the style of a government chief whip addressing the police about the catastrophe of "plebs" being allowed to fish at Ardingley reservoir (which has apparently been exclusive and private previously).

Then he talks about losing a pike through a broken line (presumably one would infer that his setup was insufficient for the job) and then throwing his rod some 40 metres like a javelin, before boasting about being a javelin throwing champion.

Some people don't have much money and their tackle is precious to them. They certainly wouldn't abuse it and throw it in a little temper tantrum because they didn't land a fish.

He then goes on to detail another big fish dropping off a foot from the bank because "I must have torn the flesh around the hook hold" with his incompetent over striking. Nobody to blame but yourself mate.

Finally he goes on about photography and posing 'this way and that' for a camera with no film in it. From the rest of the article I can just imagine someone of his ilk posing 'this way and that' with a poor gasping fish.

Then he caps if off with a spiteful remark about checking your photo DVD from the developers to make sure it has your fishing photos on and not "some ugly woman's romantic holiday".

Well, the woman on holiday may have been ugly to you Phil, but she'd have to work very hard to have an uglier character and temper than you appear to have.

You should be ashamed.

That last bit mate was well said...
I don't really expect anything else but that sort of drivel from a rag like AM, the AT is going the same way too!

The modern angler.......and his attempt at fame!

Blame the AM for printing such dross.............if it had been on here, it would have been a wind-up, but it's not for the angling press.

Merv Harrison said:

Blame the AM for printing such dross.............if it had been on here, it would have been a wind-up, but it's not for the angling press.

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The "famous" always knock the internet, they know they would get ripped to pieces with the **** they put together nowadays.

There are a few exeptions, Marsden, Knowles, spring to mind.......they know they write fact and aint afraid to mix it.

I have to say that some of the articles 'written' by anglers in both the weekly rags and especially in some of the carp magazines are very poor.

Maybe that says something about the people that buy these publications - i.e. us.

Not me......i flick em in Tesco.

When i can be bothered! but i remember when they were the highlight of the week.

Berty said:

Not me......i flick em in Tesco.

When i can be bothered! but i remember when they were the highlight of the week.

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Don't even flick em these days but remember when Angling Times and Creel were something to look forward to.
Jerry

barbelboi said:

Don't even flick em these days but remember when Angling Times and Creel were something to look forward to.
Jerry

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Me neither.

Certainly agree though regarding the highlight of the week being the issue of the Angling Times; as a young angler it was like waiting for your birthday to arrive.

terry m said:

Maybe that says something about the people that buy these publications - i.e. us.

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Mark Barratt recently said on here...

..the Angling Times' new carp section sponsored by and written by Korda sponsored anglers. How is that ever going to be annything other than a glorified Korda advert along the lines of their TV programmes? Bottle Rocket you say that most of mine and other writers stuff is regurgitated, well I think thats somewhat harsh but also there are elements of truth to it, however you try and get anecdotal type material into press these days. its extremely difficult because editors want technical stuff only, why? because the vast majority of magazine readers these days are novices or beginners...

Perhaps we're past it?

Ive gone the same way as Peter these days. Where once I HAD to get my twice weekly 'fix' of the Times and Mail before setting off work, I cant even be bothered to flick through their pages in Tesco etc, I don't even take CAT anymore, sadly mostly regurgitated stuff but by ANO.

The only publication I read with any new innovative ideas is 'Chevin' the in-house magazine of the CSG. I'm sure the other SS group magazines are of equal quality, although the CSG has no advertising/sponsorship

The once excellent NAFAC and SAA magazines published every quarter have now been replaced by the twice yearly ATr newsletters and try as it may, will never reach or enthuse the readers the two aforementioned publications ever did. I still sit back in wonder at how those two magazines could be published with the very few resources both bodies had, resources that should have been utilised after 2009, but I digress.

I gave up on Waterlog many years ago.

Some of the articles on FM - by the likes of Simon K and the Chav Professor have been as good as anything that I've read. There are others on here who I imagine would be able to but a decent piece together (Sam Vimes / CG74).

The experience of online is not quite the same as picking up a magazine and reading it - not in my experience anyway.

It’s easy to knock the weekly angling press or the ‘comics’ as some refer to them, but I think they do a pretty good job coming up with some decent and varied articles and features every week. Okay, the how to catch a 100lb of F1’s type article isn’t necessarily the type of thing some would choose to read, but the Anglers Mail where to fish section has proved invaluable to me over the years; Gary Newman’s weekly diary is always worth a read and John Bailey is a superb writer.

The Tales from the Riverbank section can be hit and miss, but again, just getting something for publication every week must be a challenge.

I agree that John Bailey, and one or two others are beacons in a sea of sludge.

Barrett's remark, quoted earlier on this thread regarding the Korda crew, is valid. However, in my humble opinion, Mr Barretts literary efforts drop slightly short of average.

bottle rocket said:

Some of the articles on FM - by the likes of Simon K and the Chav Professor have been as good as anything that I've read. There are others on here who I imagine would be able to but a decent piece together (Sam Vimes / CG74).

The experience of online is not quite the same as picking up a magazine and reading it - not in my experience anyway.

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Thanks.

I think the difference is that Christian, myself and various others who do their bit for sites like this are writing when we want to, not when we have to.
We have the luxury of time to put (what we hope will be) an interesting piece together.

We're also not saddled with the pressures of "product" so we can write about what interests us and still be an "everyman" angler that all readers can relate to.

What I also like about the online article is that people can comment on it and interact with the author (well, most of the time). That's something you don't get with the papers.

I don't think it will be too long before the paper publications will be a distant memory, with everything going online.

bottle rocket said:

There are others on here who I imagine would be able to but a decent piece together (Sam Vimes / CG74).

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I'll take that as a compliment but I suspect that you've backed the wrong horse and I'm not entirely sure where you get the idea from anyway. I tend not to write about catches on forums after learning a harsh lesson a few years ago. I rarely have an original angling thought and, if and when I did/do, I'd be far too embarrassed to try to claim any credit. I always work on the assumption that it's all been done before. The other major stumbling block is that, frankly, I don't consider myself remotely qualified to write authoritatively about angling. I've barely won a match in my life and I'll never trouble the record fish lists as long as I live. Unfortunately, I doubt that angling publications would want anecdotal ramblings of a decidely average angler. Even more unfortuantely, when this particular dog actually has his day, and within the limits of my wallet and a range of around a hundred miles, I do have the odd one or two, I've no inclination to get photographic evidence and write about it.

Imminent unemployment might make me reappraise that inclination. The prospect of earning a few quid to suppliment a pension without actually having to get a real job does sound good, but don't hold your breath.

sam vimes said:

I'll take that as a compliment...

Imminent unemployment might make me reappraise that inclination. The prospect of earning a few quid to suppliment a pension without actually having to get a real job does sound good, but don't hold your breath.

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Sam - just accept the compliment. I find that you are generally one of the first to write honest appraisals of tackle or offer advice, further to this - I suspect (if you were inclined to do so) you could put together a 'feature piece' on some aspect of your angling whether you do or not is another thing..

Sorry to hear about the redundancy - I don't care how people 'spin it' its not nice.

bottle rocket said:

Sorry to hear about the redundancy - I don't care how people 'spin it' its not nice.

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Don't worry, it's not redundancy as such. Something that's been expected since the first day of employment nearly twenty two years ago.

Sam - Cameron's bloody Britain eh? Shall I save you a seat down at the Job Centre Plus? It gets pretty crowded down there nowdays.

Seriously though, sorry to hear about it and I hope that, like me, you at least made 'em pay properly to get shot of you!

On the subject of articles in the angling press, some of them are good its true, although for my type of fishing they seem to come up more in the AT than the Mail. Seems to me they're a littler more rivers orientated than the Mail too.

Still, I'd agree that I'd rather read some of the fascinating posts on here from an assortment of different people, than the foolish nonsense, polemic and vitriol that spills forth from Keith bloody Arthur each week.

maceo said:

Sam - Cameron's bloody Britain eh? Shall I save you a seat down at the Job Centre Plus? It gets pretty crowded down there nowdays.

Seriously though, sorry to hear about it and I hope that, like me, you at least made 'em pay properly to get shot of you!

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Honest, I've not been done away with. I signed up for X years, I've done X years and now it's time to go. Nothing sinister and, unusually, nothing to blame any particular government or politician for, regardless of their political colour.

As for the Job Centre, kind offer, but one that I don't think I'll need, even if the worst comes to pass and i can't find a job. Living on baked beans by candle light can't be that bad as long as you have a roof over your head!