fishplate42
Well-known member
I was reading the thread about celebrity anglers and it prompted me to post this thread. When I first came into fishing, just about four years ago, I had no idea who was or wasn't a celebrity. I had heard of and watched some fishing programmes in the past as entertainment rather than with any wish to fish, so I knew of John Wilson, Jack Hargreaves and Matt Hayes. But all the people in the magazines were new to me.
I did take 'advice' from several of them over the first year or so until I discovered that they seem to say the same thing over and over again. What always surprises me is the reverence that some of these guys are held in. How many times do we read "If it is good enough for X (named angler) it is good enough for me" or "...it must be good if X is using it" At first I was taken in by all this. I watched the videos and was in awe of the way some of these guys seemed to catch fish one after the other, every time. I even thought it must be down to the gear they were using.
I then came to my senses and realised the videos had all the boring bits cut out (I know, obvious now but as a complete novice...) and that they were being paid/supported to flog a particular brand. I have no doubt that most of these guys are good at what they do, but they also have the time to fish almost constantly. Practice makes perfect, well, if not perfect, a lot better!
Now, I think I am confident enough to fish to my own level and enjoy every outing, whether it be to our local river (Did I mention I caught a reasonable sized chub there?
), fishing in one or the bigger rivers or at a commercial. I now look at the 'celebrities' in a different light and take most of what they say with a big pinch of salt. Yes, I am sure they know far more than be, but I now feel I can see what is useful and what is just trying to sell product.
I now just fish for me, and that makes me happy. My main concern is that I don't mishandle the fish and that I have the correct gear to deal with whatever comes along, correctly. If I want to know something, I will usually as a question on this or another forum. I know I will usually get a lot of different answers, but then with the limited knowledge I have, I can evaluate what I have been told and then try it out. For me that is the fun of angling.
Ralph.
I did take 'advice' from several of them over the first year or so until I discovered that they seem to say the same thing over and over again. What always surprises me is the reverence that some of these guys are held in. How many times do we read "If it is good enough for X (named angler) it is good enough for me" or "...it must be good if X is using it" At first I was taken in by all this. I watched the videos and was in awe of the way some of these guys seemed to catch fish one after the other, every time. I even thought it must be down to the gear they were using.
I then came to my senses and realised the videos had all the boring bits cut out (I know, obvious now but as a complete novice...) and that they were being paid/supported to flog a particular brand. I have no doubt that most of these guys are good at what they do, but they also have the time to fish almost constantly. Practice makes perfect, well, if not perfect, a lot better!
Now, I think I am confident enough to fish to my own level and enjoy every outing, whether it be to our local river (Did I mention I caught a reasonable sized chub there?
), fishing in one or the bigger rivers or at a commercial. I now look at the 'celebrities' in a different light and take most of what they say with a big pinch of salt. Yes, I am sure they know far more than be, but I now feel I can see what is useful and what is just trying to sell product. I now just fish for me, and that makes me happy. My main concern is that I don't mishandle the fish and that I have the correct gear to deal with whatever comes along, correctly. If I want to know something, I will usually as a question on this or another forum. I know I will usually get a lot of different answers, but then with the limited knowledge I have, I can evaluate what I have been told and then try it out. For me that is the fun of angling.
Ralph.
