How much stuff?

fishplate42 · May 28, 2017

I was reading a post on Facebook by a guy who had his car broken into while he was attending the draw for a match. The car was parked outside the club house and it was just before the match - so in broad daylight. I feel for the guy, and I hope they catch the criminals that did it.

All that aside, I was staggered by the amount of kit he had with him in a few of holdalls. He says there was £10,000+ worth of gear stolen including 2x 16m poles, a dozen spare sections, 25x top kits 14x rods and reels, and a lot of 'accessories'. He also said it was not insured

I am not a matchman, but I do join in a few friendly matches. I though I took too much gear with me. Do you 'serious' match guys carry as much kit? If so, why?

Ralph

108831 · May 28, 2017

I used to be a 'serious' match angler back in the day,but today's guy's have poles worth many thousands and build up top kits,and let us be sure of one thing,if you tot up how much your gear is worth,you'd be stunned,I could go barbel fishing with one rod,reel,landing net pole etc and be carrying upwards £580,that is without scales and terminal tackle,it's all relative,you can fish with gear of far less value,that is a worry i've had for a while now,the thought of being robbed of my gear whilst on the bank as an old codger is a concern these days and i'm certainly not going to get younger,i've had EU's threaten me to get my fish once and the only way I deterred them was threaten them with a heavy bankstick,in years to come I may not be strong enough to swing it...

sam vimes · May 28, 2017

If a serious matchman doesn't know the venue, he's likely to take everything but the kitchen sink, just in case. As far as kit values are concerned, when you consider that a standard top end pole package and seat box could cost £3-4000 and £1000+ respectively, it doesn't take that much more top line kit to get to £10000.

fishplate42 · May 28, 2017

It was not so much the value that surprised me as to the amount of gear. Two whole 16m poles? 14 rods? I know you need to cover yourself for an unknown venue but even so. Is that 'normal'?

Please don't think I am being critical here, I did not know matchmen carried so much gear.

Ralph.

binka · May 28, 2017

The amount of gear I see matchman buying and ordering in at my local tackle shop, in the form of poles and top kits, is truly staggering.

I remember getting a bit carried away myself with top kits back in the days when I pole fished, I've got to say though that if I knew I had £10k's worth of kit in my car I wouldn't take my eye off it for a minute, not even for the draw.

fishing4luckies · May 28, 2017

fishplate42 said:
It was not so much the value that surprised me as to the amount of gear. Two whole 16m poles? 14 rods? I know you need to cover yourself for an unknown venue but even so. Is that 'normal'?

Please don't think I am being critical here, I did not know matchmen carried so much gear.

Ralph.

I also take a lot of gear with me when transporting it to and fro is not an issue. Not because I think I might need it all, but simply because my rods are all together in one holdall, my main carryall contains most of my gear and another bag has other useful bits in it - its just easier to chuck it all in the van. If going roving on the rivers it's a different issue - then I have a sort out and pare it right down.

sam vimes · May 28, 2017

fishplate42 said:
It was not so much the value that surprised me as to the amount of gear. Two whole 16m poles? 14 rods? I know you need to cover yourself for an unknown venue but even so. Is that 'normal'?

Please don't think I am being critical here, I did not know matchmen carried so much gear.

Ralph.

It's often a question of duplication to keep up speed and rhythm in the event of tangles and breakages. Seeing two or three (and occasionally more) identical rod and reel set ups isn't too uncommon. A high level matchman can't really afford to waste valuable time re-rigging.

steve2 · May 28, 2017

Although I never had a top range pole when I fished matches I wasn’t unusual for me to be sitting there with £3000 of gear. Add on a better pole and you are easily in £5000 range.
By the time I packed up fishing in them even at local league matches it was becoming the norm to see anglers with 2 or 3 rod holdalls, boxes the size of small houses and a pram to carry it all.
They then sat down at their swim and because they fished these carp ponds regularly got out their pole and a couple of rigs and that was it for the day.
So why carry all that gear? I would like to think it was just in case but I feel that they had just become the match fishing version of tackle tarts.

108831 · May 28, 2017

Tackle tarts is a wonderful term,the problem is I like many prefer to fish with what I/they think is the best gear available for the job that I/they can afford,or save for in their opinion,others won't agree with our choices,others want to go the other way and achieve good results on the cheapest tackle,you pays your money you makes your choice,whatever that may be I hope we all enjoy our fishing,me hopefully without too much tonnage of gear.

S-Kippy · May 28, 2017

There had been a match on last time i was down at Bury Hill and when I arrived there was a guy unloading his gear from his "barrow" which was loaded to at least head height. I was staggered by how much he had with him. All this went into a transit as no car exists that could take that lot. The transit was floor to ceiling with gear with custom made racking for rods/poles.

I was so staggered I stopped for a chat.He said it took him about 45 mins to an hour "on average" to load/unload his "barrow". I dread to think how long it took for him to set up bankside. I would have thought that van contained easily £12-15 K worth of gear.He had 3 top of the range poles alone

Seemed an awful lot of trouble,money & effort to catch a few bream!

nottskev · May 28, 2017

I get the point about covering options and saving match-time. And I like to use decent gear - it's part of the pleasure. But surely there is something else going on with the sheer quantity of gear you see being portered around? I used to go and watch top anglers fish, and the Marks's and Ashurst's of the day carried a rod bag, a carryall and a box, and plundered waters with a couple of float rods and a tip rod. There does seem to be a fetishising of gear these days, and angling seems to be increasingly defined as about the stuff you use. Apparently some people get nervous these days if they haven't seen the news every couple of hours - they suffer "information deprivation". Are some anglers nervous if they're not in touch with a bankside personal tackle shop? No offence to anyone - I just marvel at some of the things I see.

sam vimes · May 28, 2017

nottskev said:
I get the point about covering options and saving match-time. And I like to use decent gear - it's part of the pleasure. But surely there is something else going on with the sheer quantity of gear you see being portered around? I used to go and watch top anglers fish, and the Marks's and Ashurst's of the day carried a rod bag, a carryall and a box, and plundered waters with a couple of float rods and a tip rod. There does seem to be a fetishising of gear these days, and angling seems to be increasingly defined as about the stuff you use. Apparently some people get nervous these days if they haven't seen the news every couple of hours - they suffer "information deprivation". Are some anglers nervous if they're not in touch with a bankside personal tackle shop? No offence to anyone - I just marvel at some of the things I see.

In whatever sport or pastime you care to mention, regardless of the level, there will always be an element of "keeping up with the Jones's". From pub footballers with £200 boots to rubbish golfers with top line clubs, it's all part of the same thing. I've seen pretty inept competitors in a few sports spend many thousands of pounds on gear and not improve one jot. Ultimately, as long as people are happy, and not getting into financial difficulties doing it, it's no one's business but their own.

Such outlooks have always existed, but the amounts of disposable income (or (very likely) credit) that people had to throw about wasn't anything like as high as it is now. I've been average to fair at many of the things I have taken up and enjoy. However, I feel absolutely no need to buy fair to middling gear commensurate with that ability. I love trying new kit and appreciate the better (not to be confused with more expensive) stuff immensely. I have quite an, almost, embarrassingly large selection of gear. However, you'd rarely know it if you saw me on the bank. I rarely take more than two rods and reels with me. Frequently it's only one of each.

nottskev · May 28, 2017

sam vimes said:
However, you'd rarely know it if you saw me on the bank.

Your secret's safe with me

sam vimes · May 28, 2017

nottskev said:
Your secret's safe with me

It's no big secret. I love having the "best" tools for a particular job. I just don't like lugging it all around. Whilst I love fishing new venues, I much prefer having a good idea of what gear might be necessary before visiting. I do get brassed off if I find I've got it wrong and left something ideal at home. This plays a large part in why I don't match fish any more. The prospect of dragging all the "just in case" or "you never know" kit around leaves me cold.

Peter Jacobs · May 28, 2017

Having fished many matches over many years at home here and abroad the only thing I find surprising in the original post is that the chap says he "wasn't insured"

The need for duplication, particularly rods and reels stems from not wasting time in a 3 or 4 hours match with hook changes, tangles and rig changes, the same thing goes for top 3's and 4' sections.

A top of the range pole these days is around £4,000 and by the time you have added in more top 4's then you can easily exceed £5,500 . . . . .

To have such an "investment" taken to and from matches, and left unattended in cars without insurance is at best careless and at worst bloody stupid.

I feel sorry for the chap concerned but I hope he can afford to replace everything, and next time . . . . get proper insurance

108831 · May 28, 2017

Or bleak...:wh

fishplate42 · May 28, 2017

Thanks guys, I had no idea matchmen took so much stuff with them. I can see why, in the mind of dedicated sportsman it is important to cover all eventualities but for me I think the worrying about it would take all the fun out of it. Maybe that is why I am not a matchman!

On the insurance point, getting cover for that amount of gear, left in full site in the back of a car must be ridiculously expensive if it is even possible. Seems to me that if you are going to port that amount of gear around it would be wise to invest in a more secure vehicle. I hear that second hand security vans can be had fairly cheaply... Just make sure you don't lock yourself out

Ralph

Mark Wintle · May 28, 2017

I more or less quit match fishing in 2010 but the last couple of matches I fished were 16 peg friendlies against a neighbouring club on a 20 peg pond where a 4m whip and waggler rod were enough to catch all day, or one feeder rod. I was staggered by those pushing over-loaded carp barrows with several long poles in over-sized rod holdalls, and even more staggered by by how little most of them actually caught at the end of the match. The last match and close to the last straw for me was putting 900 fish on the scales for 25lbs - you could hardly put a bait in the water without getting a bite - and finding that a team mate two pegs away had managed to blank...

Back in my serious match days there was always the odd angler with all the gear but no idea but now seems to be the majority.

Like Chris (Sam Vines) I now manage with two rods regardless of venue, either two float rods or a float rod and tip rod, need to try the pole again sometime but likely to continue with a minimal of gear for a while yet.

robcourt82 · May 28, 2017

I saw the same post and the only thing I can imagine is that the guy was away for a weekend and fishing a couple of different venues.
Tackle theft seems to be on the up at the moment. I've heard rumours of it happening at more than one festival venue. I'm not sure what you can do to beat it, just take as many precautions as possible.

108831 · May 28, 2017

I only carry one or two rods normally,i've already chosen my main style of fishing and if I can't catch on that,then i'll have to wait till the next session.As for leaving tackle in the car,i'm afraid I wouldn't leave it for more than a couple of minutes,too many thieving g*ts out there i'm afraid.

How much stuff?

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