Is there new?

New Fishing Books and magazines are still being published. When I look through them none of them offer anything new and many just rehash what as gone before. I suppose having fished for over 50 years there is nothing in fishing that I haven’t read about before or is it just that you can’t teach an old dog new tricks.
Apart from tackle, is there anything new in angling?

No not much at all Steve, as you say most of it re-hashed with the odd tweek here and there, and I'm being generous. I suppose if you're planning to write a book and make a name for yourself you would need to offer something that appears to be new. But in my experience such is not the case despite what may be suggested, but that's just my opinion sadly.

Goo ........................

thecrow said:

Goo ........................

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Wasn't it used in Sarf Afrika for at least 200 years..........

Probably concentrated mongoose urine or something like it: simples:wh

Dropping the lead on the take a brilliant idea................................... if you sell leads

thecrow said:

Goo ........................

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Can we stop discussing the contents of my wellies now please?

The weekly and monthly comics are pretty much a dying breed.

These days I far prefer to keep an eye open for the tackle manufacturers videos, and while they are trying to sell you something, there are always some novel ideas.

I particularly like the Guru pages and found them informative on a host of topics.

My biggest problem with any of the magazines is the need they have to sell tackle. They exist more it seems for advertising revenue than the money made from the sales/ subscriptions... (and I can understand how that must be the case). However, what it does then mean is that all of the tackle reviews you ever read are totally glowing, which just doesn't seem right to me. I'm sure that on a number of occasions, the guy in charge of tackle reviews has taken a reel or rod for a test and thought "how on earth can I polish this turd...." because ultimately that's what he'll have to do (to keep the manufacturer sweet and the advertising revenue flowing....)

Also, when you think about fishing in itself, it's a pretty straightforward kind of activity. The "amazing new developments" in any discipline are there to drive tackle sales rather than catch rates. A couple of bits of sweetcorn on a size 8 fished under a waggler with 10lb line straight through will still catch you a massive carp (if you do it right) but that won't put a penny in the Korda pension pot will it?

Having said all of that - for most anglers - there will always be something "new to them" which the mags might lead you to. I've never caught a pike with a surface lure; I've never caught anything on a fly; I've never caught a zander; I've never fishing in a "proper" match; I've never caught a salmon; I've never used a marker float/ spod set-up; I've never "bivvied-up" for a session; so despite over 30 years of multi-discipline angling, there's still some new things for me to try!

If you want a good read about diverse angling topics get a copy of Fallon's Angler. No instructions just good tales and stories.
I get it quarterly by subscription.