''How much''

Derek Gibson · Nov 8, 2015

How much do angling reports influence your fishing or decisions on venues. I find it odd that some anglers will base their future outings on such reports, given that often such reports are several weeks old. And that several thousand others have also read them.

Always seems to me, shutting the stable door after the horse has bolted.

binka · Nov 8, 2015

None at all in my case Derek, i'm not a "circuit" angler and tend to stick to a few year books which offer me a wide variety of fishing.

The fewer the number of anglers on the bank the better imo as far as my own personal enjoyment goes, I think many waters are capable of being "in waters" if those that talk openly were to fish them.

A big part of the fun for me is finding out for myself, especially on waters that typically get overlooked.

Keith M · Nov 8, 2015

I don't bother reading any of these reports; which are usually out of date anyway.

I remember a few years ago; when a bailif on Throop told me that someone on an angling weekly who wrote fishing reports would occasionally phone him up and ask him how it was fishing; but if they wanted to sell more day tickets on a fishery there's nothing to stop them saying anything they wanted.

I wouldn't trust them further than I could throw them LOL.

Keith

sam vimes · Nov 8, 2015

If I waited for reports from the waters I fish, I doubt I'd actually go fishing.
I'll happily read any relevant reports, if available, but I don't place any great store in them. I don't tend to listen to a fair number of anglers on the banks either. There's a fair bit of exaggeration goes on and a fair few that couldn't catch with the help of hand grenades.

I firmly believe that poor anglers telling all and sundry that rivers are dead has played a part in the decline in numbers of river anglers.

barbelboi · Nov 8, 2015

None whatsoever. After 67 years in the Colne Valley, then moving to the Nene Valley a few months ago, in between extensive decorating and generally sorting the house/garden out I have only fished twice. That was in organised group fishin's with friends. During the few breaks I have been yomping along my new clubs stretches of the Great Ouse, Nene, Ise and various backwaters getting the feel of place, the topography and generally preparing for (what will probably now be) an after Christmas start. I believe this preparation, especially the topography knowledge gained when the water was low and clear, will be most helpful when the water is high and coloured. Much better than any report whether acurate or otherwise.............

Bob Hornegold · Nov 8, 2015

Derek

It does not effect me at all, I fish the Lea Valley, there are always reports of large fish being caught.

But there is a lot of fishing in the Lea Valley and plenty to go round, knowing where a Big Fish lives and catching it are two completely different things !!

Bob

theartist · Nov 8, 2015

Not at all for me either, like has been said they are always out of date or inaccurate. Sometimes reports come from places I know well and you think hmmm really?

Love it though when they get the name of the river completely wrong that always makes me chuckle.

john step · Nov 8, 2015

I am in the not at all camp. Like Barbleboi I have been yomping today to re visit a small river not fished by me for a few years.
It is looking completely deserted and un fished." Thats the way to do it"

terry m · Nov 8, 2015

I do not pay heed to those reports either.

Now feedback or information from reliable local tackle shops, that is a different story......

binka · Nov 8, 2015

Thinking about this further and going back a fair number of years to when I took the weeklies the one thing I did do was take note of the regional match reports for my local river which would often detail what pegs and what fish were making up the winning weights.

Great for identifying where the pike will be, especially where silvers were making up a good proportion of the weights.

Ray Daywalker Clarke · Nov 8, 2015

The Circus love these reports, and you will find them on the bank after the big fish, they don't do any of the ground work, thats done by the local anglers who fish the venues week in week out, an angler getting a fish of a life time lets the cat out the bag of the venue and all its details. The circus move in and thats that.

The best thing for me is fishing a venue and doing all the ground work, catching the fish then means so much more IMO. I have fished some venues for years, and still find something new out about them.

There is so much fishing in the Lee Valley, i don't need to go anywhere else, but i do, for the challenge, you can't beat it.

Derek Gibson · Nov 9, 2015

Many of the posts reinforce what I have long believed, that angling press reports should be taken with a pinch of salt. There ''is'' no substitute for finding your own fish and staying ''shtum''.

Some may regard this as very selfish and mean, but if one has spent time, money and effort to track down a few good fish, it would be folly to reveal locations to Joe public. All that can result from this is the arrival of the proverbial parasites, with the inevitable consequences.

theartist · Nov 9, 2015

Derek Gibson said:
Many of the posts reinforce what I have long believed, that angling press reports should be taken with a pinch of salt. There ''is'' no substitute for finding your own fish and staying ''shtum''.

Some may regard this as very selfish and mean, but if one has spent time, money and effort to track down a few good fish, it would be folly to reveal locations to Joe public. All that can result from this is the arrival of the proverbial parasites, with the inevitable consequences.

Or just say it's from a Thames tributary and imagine them trying to narrow it down from three dozen

Peter Jacobs · Nov 9, 2015

I don't read the "comics" at all thee days and haven't for the past 15 years.

So, I am not at all influenced by whatever they publish, which by definition will be days out of date anyway.

I would far rather have a 5 minutes chin-wag with my local tackle shop owners to get the absolute latest SP on one of my local venues.

robtherake · Nov 9, 2015

As a carer for wife and son I don't have the luxury of fishing when I like and building up my own picture, so I rely not so much on individual reports, but the general fishery information such as you'd find in the weekly papers. I take a lot of it with a pinch of salt, as you do, but most of them are reasonably accurate.

What does make me laugh are the misleading pictures of the venue accompanying an article. I've arrived at some places - most recently Blue Bell pond at Withernsea - to find that a decent long jumper could've crossed it in a single bound. Not that I mind small, intimate waters - quite like them, really - but it would be nice to arrive with the right equipment for the conditions!

''How much''

Derek Gibson

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binka

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Keith M

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sam vimes

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barbelboi

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Bob Hornegold

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theartist

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binka

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Derek Gibson

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