Tribal fishing

The thing that always amazes me is how tribal fishermen have become. Here's some typical quotes I hear not on here but in general around fisherman's company.

'I'm a carper, your a noddy'

'I fish proper gear, your just a camper'

'No skill in pole fishing for sprats, we use proper kit for proper fish'

'no skill in sitting watching TV waiting for an alarm, we use proper kit not tow rope.'

It goes on and on, funny to listen too sometimes.



Then there the bashing of poor quality fish in commercial fisheries, your old enough to remember in the supposed good old days. then you will remember polluted foam covered rivers full of ugly looking roach. Yes granted there was loads of pale fraggle looking roach, but fraggle roach they were - they was not the beautiful coloured river roach you catch in the clean rivers of today. Well that's hoping Mr otter does not kill too many but that's another topic.



Reading another thread on another forum, I read Pleasure fisherman do most of the damage to fish then others shouting carp guys do, I didn't read it in that thread but I've heard the argument that match anglers are the main culprits. I don't know how this is helping fishing, it's so tribal and pointless in my opinion



This thread is just a casual reminder too us all, we are all pleasure fishermen, after all there's not a great deal of money in match fishing, even the big guys have to top up their winning with jobs. So why do they do it, for pleasure. I've said a million times before, fisherman will have to unite not divide if fishing is to have any future at all.

Perhaps Daniel many on FM are of a certain age and can remember better etiquette,these things you mention actually get said by people in angling,not by all,but by some,it doesn't pay to be an ostrich,burying our heads in the sand,or singing loudly with our fingers in our ears hoping it will go away,I went fishing yesterday and had a catfish on 4lbs b.s. of 18lbs,a carp angler helped me net it and said I was lucky to hook it,well it's the third I've had whilst roach and bream fishing on the float,losing one which straightened the hook due to dragging through a clump of soft weed which put extra pressure on,each cat I've hooked I've felt in a fair amount of control,many anglers feel they're form of fishing is 'the' way to go,I these days fish the way I enjoy and try to make it work,happy days,society these days is less acceptant of others says and it passes through to our sport,sadly...

Far to many anglers have a downer on the way other anglers fish, derogatory names for other fish (mostly carp) and other anglers (mostly carp anglers) lets get this straight, however an angler chooses to fish is their business no one else's no fish is better or worse than any other although obviously some anglers have a favourite species but that doesn't mean that species is better than others.

There are comments about how a big whatever is more difficult to catch than other whatever's when in reality all fish can be ridiculously easy to catch as well as difficult at times if they were not no one would ever have a blank.

As angling has become more diverse so have the gaps in anglers just being anglers become bigger, I fished for larger fish for many years but it never bothered me that the bloke down the bank was fishing for what came along or that his rod was better than mine I fished how I wanted to angling is angling period do your own thing and allow others the same privilege because no matter what tackle is being used or what is being fished for unless you know an angler you never know what they have caught in the past or even if they care about catching.

I notice one thing in the OP that I cannot agree with and that is that our rivers are clean, only 19% of our rivers are considered as clean a number that is continually falling.

I have come to hate the term "personal Best" in its shortened form of pb. If I talk to another angler and he asks me what my pb is, it is a short conversation. It's the mine's bigger than yours syndrome and the look of pity irritates me. When it is followed by a long list of his own massive captures I start to walk away. Occasionally I have managed to catch a fish that would be termed a specimen, but I delight in catching fish of all sizes. All fishes great and small! There is also the sheer delight of being out in the countryside and watching all the wildlife, which is a privilege that many cannot enjoy and some fail to appreciate.

lambert1 said:

I have come to hate the term "personal Best" in its shortened form of pb.

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I can only recall 3 largest weights of the species that I have caught and one of those I only remember the pounds probably because they were either part of a rare red letter day or because I tried something different, to be honest I get as much pleasure from seeing friends catch their largest as my own, I feel it is a privilege to be there at the time.

I have a pb list(sorry couldn't resist),for my reference,I don't physically go chasing bigger examples,but wouldn't half like it if I caught bigger,especially of certain species,but I love catching them all,even the odd eel,yesterday I saw a hare,heard a cuckoo,then saw two at the same time,swifts,swallows,red kites,buzzards,jays,reed warblers and buntings and heard two male song thrushes trying to out sing each other,to top all that I caught a few fish in good company in beautiful surroundings,could have died and gone to heaven(if there were such a thing:wh).

thecrow said:

I notice one thing in the OP that I cannot agree with and that is that our rivers are clean, only 19% of our rivers are considered as clean a number that is continually falling.

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Well I meant clean in comparison to how they once were, the trent, derwent and soar around my neck of the woods are much much cleaner than they was in the 80s, I remember the 60s when I had to use thick topped float 'flat top match' so you could see it through the foam.

lambert1 said:

I have come to hate the term "personal Best" in its shortened form of pb. If I talk to another angler and he asks me what my pb is, it is a short conversation. It's the mine's bigger than yours syndrome and the look of pity irritates me. When it is followed by a long list of his own massive captures I start to walk away. Occasionally I have managed to catch a fish that would be termed a specimen, but I delight in catching fish of all sizes. All fishes great and small! There is also the sheer delight of being out in the countryside and watching all the wildlife, which is a privilege that many cannot enjoy and some fail to appreciate.

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One of the best posts I've read in ages, nail on the head mate :thumbs:

Yeah cracking post that, really summed up the spirit of FM for me.

One of my clubs have an open day every year on a well known river and a superbly organised day it is! All members and their family are invited and in the various marquees talks and demonstrations are given! There is the opportunity to buy Tackle donated to the club or being sold by members .It is truly a wonderful day out ! There is something for everybody and members help other members. One such even gave me a lesson in Wallace casting!
At 1.30 a brave individual will be giving a demonstration about french nymphing techniques!:wh I cannot wait!

mikench said:

At 1.30 a brave individual will be giving a demonstration about french nymphing techniques! I cannot wait!

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I assume you will be taking pictures that will appear on here

I don't often hear the derogatory terms mentioned. Many of the anglers of my acquaintance are multi discipline types. Carp,tench eels,barbel,pike etc. You name it they have a go for them at various times. I think this approach keeps enthusiasm up.

I tend to follow this line also. I mentioned in HDYGO recently that I had crossed to the dark side. A flippant throw away to something of this attitude as I went carp fishing.

Well to complete the crossing, tomorrow I am going away for a break with my new BIVVY to a COMMY CARP water and divide my time between CARP and attempting to catch a large BREAM (horror)that reside there.

Please pray for my soul.:wh

thecrow said:

I assume you will be taking pictures that will appear on here

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It deserves pics Graham!!!!!

I found a couple of these left up our reservoir a few years ago - also had to work them out. Work on the same principle as yours.
Mechanical Fisher YoYo Automatic Fishing Reel | Survival Accessories | EDCgear.co.uk

If you are struggling to catch I'll post them to you..........:wh

Not sure how my post ended up on this thread, I was on Crows "is this legal" thread! So please ignore, my tablet is playing up.

Molehill said:

If you are struggling to catch I'll post them to you

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No thanks had around 40 roach today on hemp and tares, thanks for the offer though

Molehill said:

Not sure how my post ended up on this thread, I was on Crows "is this legal" thread! So please ignore, my tablet is playing up.

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You and me both...

Reading this post makes me very happy to be a member of the club I belong to - where it seems possible for members to have a "tribe" (carp, match, pleasure - for want of better descriptions) - but also co-exist and be happy to be around one another. Probably helps that the specimen and match waters are very close together, so some rubbing of shoulders is inevitable. Even so, I've always been welcomed by other club members who are always happy to chat about not just their own fishing exploits but also take an interest in yours (even though they might be quite different). Also blessed with some very sensible bailiffs - who go out of their way to help members get what they want from their fishing, rather than treating the fishing complex as their own personal fiefdom where they will hand out the law from on high.

Also, another observation I'd have on this... if you want to see an end to the barriers between the different tribes, then be prepared to walk a mile in the other guys shoes. It might just open up a different perspective on what their doing that would lead to a greater understanding and massively increased tolerance.

And on a similar note, it keeps you smiling to keep trying new things. In the last couple of years I've taken up a little bit of lure fishing (which I'm **** at!! ) and also an even smaller bit of shore fishing/ LRFing (which I'm even more **** at! ). But the thing is, being such a huge novice at these aspects of the sport makes any success - however insignificant to others - seem like a massive achievement... and that somehow reconnects me to that 10 year old kid in 1980 (me!) looking in wonder at that first gudgeon that was silly enough to take my maggots which is what started it all off in the first place....

Jim Crosskey 2 said:

Also, another observation I'd have on this... if you want to see an end to the barriers between the different tribes, then be prepared to walk a mile in the other guys shoes. It might just open up a different perspective on what their doing that would lead to a greater understanding and massively increased tolerance.

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Spot on imo, some groups of anglers are far to insular.

I'm all for trying new methods and just a small improvement gives pleasure and satisfaction! Next time out I might try the swing tip again! I still smile at the comment by an angler walking past me saying look at that bloke fishing with a broken tip!!!!!

Outside of forums, I just don't see this tribalism. However, I do go out of my way to avoid fishing the places where idiots of any stripe congregate. As someone that does a bit of everything, the prospect of being despised by almost everyone, depending on which angling mode they see me in, actually amuses me no end. If someone is really bad for this kind of nonsense, it gives me an excellent warning to steer well clear of them.

As for PBs, for me, they are exactly that, personal. I feel absolutely no need to regale anyone else with what my personal bests are and I don't expect anyone to care one jot. I care just as little about other folks PBs. The mistake some folks make is thinking that PBs give some measure of how good an angler they are. In a sport where competence, outside of match fishing, is rather difficult to quantify, it's a fairly obvious way to go. Sadly, I find that PBs are often a better indicator of how wealthy or obsessive people are. I've encountered plenty of terrible anglers with seemingly impressive PB lists.