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5% of carp anglers catch 95%.
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In reply to Post #56
Spot on.....I think even Steve Alcott only fishes one night a week, and he has caught one or two!
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In reply to Post #56
Gotta agree with you mate, the lads who I doff my cap too catch way more carp in a weekend than most of the time bandits I see and only share pics when asked to do so. Fair play to them I say. So much jealousy in Angling it’s pathetic
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In reply to Post #56
What utter ***** 😂😂😂
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In reply to Post #56
Have we met? 
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In reply to Post #56
Saying you know some of the best anglers in the country is a very opinionated statement. Angling is too diverse for any angler to be best.
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In reply to Post #55
i know some of the best anglers in the uk, they dont all want publicity and not many of them are time bandits anymore preferring 24 or 48 hours two or three times a month. They still catch way more than 95 percent of lads around them and that makes them unpopular. Being jealous of their time is one thing but being jealous of the fish they catch is another
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Wow looks like a little bit of late spawning happening a bit further down there...
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In reply to Post #52
Oh FFS. I was added to the list. Read the thread dudes.
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In reply to Post #50
Think we've just found out why you haven't been invited to that syndicate.
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| | | mal | | Posts: 8910 |  | |
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In reply to Post #48
rather than responding with an insult, why not try just accepting that's it's in poor taste, apologising and then drawing a line?
you might get more replies from syndicates that way... 
as for the OP and 'named anglers' - I've worked with a lot of young people who are studying acting and often have the conversation about it as a career path. My question is always, 'do you want to be famous, or do you want to be a good actor?' - I guess it's applicable across this too.
I've met some brilliant anglers who you've likely never heard of. I've also read books and watched video of famous anglers who have got that status by being brilliant fishermen rather than brilliant self promoters...
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In reply to Post #49
Lol. Thanks for the support 
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| | | noj | | Posts: 11459 | | | Social photographer... | |
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In reply to Post #48
Tw*t??
For taking offence to an inconsiderate little **** like you thinking you’re entertaining joking about something that kills healthy adults and children at will?
You’re a vile little piece of **** and though you think you’re funny, reality check, you come across as a bull**** merchant that really needs ****ing euthanising
**** 🖕🏼
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In reply to Post #47
Oh don't be a tw*t. It was obviously said in jest. But to answer your question that had nothing to do with someone I don't know... Yes, yes I have.
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| | | noj | | Posts: 11459 | | | Social photographer... | |
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In reply to Post #46
Harsh even for a joke..
Watched any of your loved ones die with cancer?
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In reply to Post #45
"I don't think any average anglers likes having full timers on their water. I know I don't. It's not jealousy more "f*ck me he's in that swim again" everytime you go fishing."
Lol, I know that feeling all too well. A pucka SW blowing right into a top spot, no-one in the car park...winning. drag all your gear for a mile plus through insane amounts of mud, rocks and bolders, full of beans buzzin as you get closer to the spot and even spy one nut out right on the money, turn the last corner... ...and c**ty bo**oxs is in the swim (not a peg noddy's) - he parked at another car park, all sly like. Man, I wouldn't wish cancer on someone, but...
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I can't really think of any activity or sport or pastime that doesn't require time to become successful at professionally.
Snooker players practise for 8 hours everyday. Tennis players train 7 days a week. and so on and so on. Golf players will be on the tee everyday.
But they are only known for their tournament wins, they spend years prepping for that moment. The time when the photos are taken and they get the 10 mins of elation as they lift their trophy. They won't ever get accused of "boring out" a win though....
The full time angler is doing the same in a roundabout way, putting in countless hours for that 10 mins of the cloud 9 feeling and a trophy shot.
I don't think any average anglers likes having full timers on their water. I know I don't. It's not jealousy more "f*ck me he's in that swim again" everytime you go fishing.
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| | | noj | | Posts: 11459 | | | Social photographer... | |
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We’re all just blokes who go fishing. Some for the relaxation, some for glory and some just hate the wife 
There are people with a better understanding of fish behaviour, those who can cast to the next postcode, have the energy to spend all day and night looking for an opportunity, can afford higher priced tickets that offer better rewards and have more spare time on their hands.
Very few are actually ‘better’ than anybody else, but some make big sacrifices in life for the sake of fishing and deserve at least some recognition for going without a lot that we take for granted.
A good album won’t comfort you on your death bed
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There are some named anglers who are using time as a 'substitute' for skill, and others who have that natural skill and don't need to use time.
However as has been said through this thread, by published results it is difficult to tell who is who, unless you know one on your water.
There are other factors, like whether the water is 'overstocked'. I'm sure it is easier to catch most fish from an overstocked lake than a water full of naturals. I don't agree that free bait is not an advantage. If you got free bait, and piled it in, to the extent that the carp were eating it because there was so much, and it was more than the natural food, or other baits, then I reckon it is definitely an advantage.
Most of us can't afford say £150 a week to put in as freebies! Our bait limit is probably £10.
That approach might well work on a natural water or an overstocked venue, the fish are able to eat a decent food without getting caught by others than the person who can afford to pile it in.
I think there are two names who are head and shoulders above most other anglers, still, after all these years; Messrs Hearn and Lane. I have seen Dave Lane at work, I thought I could walk a water looking for fish, he makes my efforts look puny. Up and down trees, plotting routes, watching the fish move from one end of the lake to the other, then getting his gear in place for when they arrive.
Then we have the 'quiet' names who aren't so interested in being high profile, some who are possibly on the edge of publicity, but not quite catching enough, and then some into self-publicity.
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Just because you’ve been doing something for a long time doesn’t automatically make you good at it.
Anyone can turn up to a lake and camp if they have the time and money. Eventually they’ll be in the right place at the right time.
Lots of people spend years on the bank so they can have a photo album and be in their eyes well known in the carp fishing world, Sad really.
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In reply to Post #24
Well said!
I have always said i'm envious of people's time, not their captures...
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In reply to Post #39
**** off **** 
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In reply to Post #35
Got to be a pain in the ass taking your sister with you though 🤓
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In reply to Post #28
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In reply to Post #36
Brilliant 
Real life, not fantasy
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In reply to Post #35
The thing is I fished a local club match lake in the mid 80’s, beautiful little place maybe 8 carp to upper double, chock full of weed etc, it’s was left alone by the club so we ran it as we wanted to.... 3 rods instead of two, nights on a no night water, you get the jist. We loved the place and even though the carp were small they were tricky to put on the bank. Now I’m not saying we invented the method but we started bombing rigs into holes in the weed and started losing fish with the lead snagging, so we started leaving the tag end long on the hooklength swivel (reel side) and put the lead on the tag end and gently nipped on a lead shot and voila a drop off lead system.
Same water again bearing in mind there was only 6 or 7 of us fishing it, one guy Big Nige or Elmo as was his nickname came up with the idea of thick mono hooklinks to push the bait away from the lead, skip forward to last year Lewis Read’s cypography interview and lewlew mentioned the inspiration they gained ....Northern Nige (Elmo) when he and Terry were coming up with the HSR.... Nige was the only northerner on the Car park at the time and caught Heather at 46 plus.
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In reply to Post #33
Great post
You are putting your head on the block here mate
Next you will be telling us that Bill Cotham drove down all the way down from Scotland to photograph Mary
That’s how big things were, exceptional and they meant something, real!!!
When things REALLY happened, incredible
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In reply to Post #30
Great post
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In reply to Post #1
I’ve lived and fished ‘oop north most of my life....I have ventured south on occasion, and believe me most of the named southern anglers get themselves a name by being able to fish venues that actually contain newsworthy fish... every dog as it’s day and all that... Even going back to the late 80’s the likes of the Rotherham dirty dozen ruled wraysbury etc
Sure nowadays having the social media persona helps greatly but I’d put a lot of northerners well above names down south but they have to stay under the radar and away from the press as the waters that contain anything of note need to kept secret from the crowds etc.
You’ve got to be good up here to catch as the waters are frozen 10 months if the year....😉
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In reply to Post #30
You've only got to look at some of the bivvies and the kitchen sinks that are brought with them. The vast majority on the vast majority of waters are there for a good time, not for a good result. Their expectations should reflect that.
The exact reason I try to avoid busy waters like the plague. You can never fish where you want to. It’s like buying a ticket and dropping in an open hole, it’s a lottery 
To be fair, when camping on these waters, like you say, I can understand the comfort thing, why not, it’s about enjoying yourself at the end of the day
A fish or two MAY just come your way 
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In reply to Post #1
I think watercraft is something that a huge percentage of anglers still have not grasped. Adaptability and Mobility is something that a higher percentage have not grapsed. An even higher percentage don't have the drive to achieve all of the above....at 3am when it's pissing down.
You've only got to look at some of the bivvies and the kitchen sinks that are brought with them. The vast majority on the vast majority of waters are there for a good time, not for a good result. Their expectations should reflect that.
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In reply to Post #28
In a nutshell
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Hi All
Best anglers I know are very private people and do nothing to promote themselves their venues, tactics or catches.
So called "named anglers" appear to know more about how to promote themselves on social media and advertising than they do carp fishing.
Possible eulogy for Ali Hamidi " Cheers for the advertising and thanks for f*cking it all up",
Best
Jon
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In reply to Post #1
I met a named angler many years ago.
Me and a mate of mine were fishing a water we'd fished a fair few times, this chap rocked up and as it was a treble peg we were on would we mind if he sat and fished between us both...we recognized him so said yes go on then in a heartbeat.
We'd been there for a full day and didn't have a touch between us however this chap literally couldn't get 2 rods in !
It was carnage.
Then he showed us both his rig and his hand made baits ( and gave us the recipe ) and we started catching too.
That was back in the 1980s before all this cloak and dagger and so called fame bollox.
A lot of top of the range match men I've met have this kind of attitude too...giving away top tips etc...because they just know they're better than you any way.
As for the carp tramp no job chong heads who just stay on somewhere 7 days a week till they've punished them all out....they are no better than me or you
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In reply to Post #24
Good summary. Well said
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In reply to Post #24
Fair points there James
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In reply to Post #21
If people really knew the time these full timers put in, its quite staggering. Most rock up Sunday evening and then pull off Thursday Morning = 208 days a year, approx 7 months a year.
Having been doing this fishing lark since being a nipper and fished the top syndicates throughout the SE, it's plain as day to see that time is the biggest advantage bar none. Yes you have the watercraft e.t.c. but let's be honest, if your a competent angler it ain't rocket science.
You simply cannot compare a guy that fishes weekends to a guy spending over half a year on the bank.
Each to their own though but I will always respect a person that has a full job and commitments and manages to winkle out a few decent fish over the season rather than someone sat on a bank playing the waiting game for months on end.
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It’s more of an honest observation than a criticism.
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| | | BRB | | Posts: 1377 |  | |
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In reply to Post #21
We have no right to be critical of someone else's life choice as they don't ours. As long as we all play by the rules then c'est la vie.
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Such articles by named anglers don’t always mention the blanks, lack of bank balance or any form of life or interests outside of fishing.
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In reply to Post #1
Free bait is nice but has no influence on how good an angler is imo.
Time is a major advantage for anyone, especially someone that knows what they're doing. I don't begrudge anyone that makes time for angling as we all have the choice to do that if we want. It is a life choice.
Are known/named anglers really all that? Imo that's such a broad question it cannot be answered effectively. There are better and worse anglers and I'm sure there are examples of both that are known/named. Not all known/named anglers have as much time as people think.
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It's definitely time but more specifically what you do with that time. For me personally I have a fairly high pressure job which I put 50 to 60 hours a week in to (as 'm sure plenty of people on here do!) so when I go fishing I need to treat it as down time and get some relaxation out of it. If I was putting the same 50 to 60 hours that I did with work in to fishing, and more importantly giving it the same amount of effort (both physical and mental) I would be a much much better angler than I am today. Reality is that will never happen for me! The closest I'll ever get is if I ever switch jobs and get gardening leave but there's a lot of if's involved with that!
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In reply to Post #8
He said 50% of his captures are about being able to fish when conditions are the best.
Spot on
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In reply to Post #8
That's the same Adam Penning that blanked for a whole season on a certain Ringwood Pit, then went into a no-fishing reserve on the pit and caught one. Then was caught himself by bailiffs. Unfortunately not that clever. Or good, from my observations.
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In reply to Post #14
Top Rod on my main water has done 6 nights all year! An unbelievably talented, mobile angler.
He would be the first to admit that it’s his limited time that gives him the drive. Long stay anglers that I’ve seen over the years seem to get very mixed, often poor results.....and lives.
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In reply to Post #1
We often talk about confidence and how if we are confident we will catch more. I’m not sure how and why this works but it does seem to hold true for a lot of people.
There are people who have great belief and confidence in themselves and those people often crave the attention to go with it, talk a lot of bollox to perpetuate it all and there you have the making of a ‘named’ angler
Of course not all named anglers have built their reputations solely on the above the elite would also be able to demonstrate natural ability, real character and charisma, intelligence, skills and results
BTW when I say intelligence I mean angling intelligence, you don't necessarily need qualifications in rocket science.
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In reply to Post #1
Carp angling is the only ‘sport’ I know of where the amount of disposable time available becomes a substitute for any inherent skill / aptitude. That’s not to detract from anyone putting in the time btw, just an observation and maybe a bit of a generalisation. The thing is, I don’t think we should get hung up by other people’s results. Just go fishing for the love of it and set your own goals and targets whatever they may be.
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In reply to Post #10
Knowledge and experience comes with time and effort, either done yourself, online, punishing people Face to face for information, or by working with, or off of, other anglers. The real tricky waters are the ones with no previous history, nothing to go on.
What is the old saying... 5% of anglers caught 95% of the fish.
We all know someone that falls in that rare 5%. A natural talent that just has that special something.
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In reply to Post #1
Don’t confuse time with experience. You can spend days on a lake but if you’re not working hard you’re not learning anything, and working hard is tiring and cannot be sustained for days at a time. For me the best anglers use whatever time they do have to their advantage, and by using their time efficiently, they instinctively learn quickly how to fish, where to fish, how much bait to apply etc. Often these are people with a lot less rod hours, but they work to make it count.
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In reply to Post #10
There's a twist... Inside intel.
People like Shelly get info passed on which makes things quite a lot easier. There's that to add to the mix to the top guns armoury.
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In reply to Post #9
As much about effort i think as knowledge, maybe one brings the other. Jim shelley on waveney c lake, quite hard at the time, just know where to put the hookbaits, becomes so much easier. I personally think having the knowledge of exactly where the fish feed is key, really is that simple. The big boys rock up to a swim, know exactly where they need to be and start catching. They only fish known areas. Look at the boys who fish linear and catch 20 fish a session..not a fluke or coincidence they just know exactly where to fish.
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I think it quite dismissive to say *bore them out*. Take Wrasbury back in the day with its carp population of 25 max, rocking up on a weekend after a hard weeks collar and catching even a tiddler let alone Mary would have raised a few eyebrows, then again, anything is possible. I understand to a degree in respect to *boring them out* all the same.
There are bods out there that have highly attuned hunting instincts that can plot up for a morning or afternoon, have a few and do the off without even ever walking around the place beforehand. You get the types that have to tune into a water, and when they do they tear it apart, however long that running in takes.
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In reply to Post #7
My thoughts exactly ! I was watching Adam pennings latest video and bigging up known anglers. Didn’t mention time at all. I was talking to a big bream angler who has a string of huge bream to his name. He said 50% of his captures are about being able to fish when conditions are the best.
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In reply to Post #1
Don’t believe everything you see or read about names.
Free bait is not a great asset to a time bandit, especially if it is crap and the fish are not keen on eating it. Blank away.
The biggest edge to a camper is the ability to watch, look and listen to the lakes inhabitants, and get on them, then do the norm, put out bait company A, catch a fish on Tigers or bait company B hook bait, hype up bait company A, and the Pre capture plan.
When really you just bored them out 
The drive of a working & family man makes them better anglers, time is against them
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Having the time and commitment to be on the water either fishing or baiting or just looking for fish is surely the key. The best anglers however will use what they learn to adapt their angling and improve their chances in future. Lessons learned can be used to your advantage much quicker if your on the water several times a week.
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I have my own opinion but just wondered what other people’s are. The angler in question has loads of big fish to his name but any half decent angler could catch some of those with time on there side.
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In reply to Post #1
I think you've already sussed it out yourself...
The more time you spend fishing the more you become attuned to your water as to what works and what does not but if your there long enough with reasonable tactics you'll eventually get your quarry.
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In reply to Post #1
A picture of a fish does not tell the true story behind its capture 
It’s a simple as this for me. Top quality bait is available for all these days (the thing the fish eats to be caught) and 90% anglers are ledgering 3 x boiled baits. Now people can tell you whatever stories they like but are people really that gullible that they think others are doing something very special? I seriously think some are!!!
The small number of proper successful carp anglers that I know have one thing in common, they are adaptable and consistent, and good on fish. The rest are punishers 
You see, until they put a clock card system on a lake gate you will never know who the best anglers are for me. You want to be on the water, catching the fish and off elsewhere unless you are happy doing what you doing of course. If your a working man doing the weekend thing these full timers are probably putting in 5 years equivalent to 1 year of your fishing!
Now bring in the desire for fame and free bag of bait and you can camp at the side of a lake for weeks, catch a fish and tell any kind of crazy story that you like. If only peole really knew the truth behind the catches and how many hours they had put in for it 
Say one thing in respect to them though, it’s the dedication to continually make the effort that makes ALL the difference
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In reply to Post #1
Just like any other sport/hobby. Some people have a natural talent, some work hard to get results and others just get lucky.
You can’t judge someone’s ability by simply if they catch a load of big fish or if they bore them out. And you can’t judge them on just one water. For me consistency is the measure of angling ability. For me the best anglers if you can call them that are the guys who catch whilst still having full time jobs. The likes of Julian Cundiff who caught for magazine features for absolutely years whilst never being full time. Sure he might not have caught 50x50lbs but he fishes up north. Frank Warwick is another angler I admire.
I’m not convinced that free bait makes that much of a difference. I don’t think I’ve ever been in a situation where I thought that I only blanked cos I didn’t have 50kg of bait with me.
Time though is a massive help. Even if that’s just the ability to walk the venue every day.
When you sign up to be sponsored I’m fairly sure you don’t get a magic wand. If a lakes fishing **** for everyone else then I’m pretty sure it will fish **** for them as well. I fish with some absolutely brilliant anglers on my waters, catching machines who are technically brilliant at every aspect. As far as I’m aware not a single one has any type of sponsorship on one of my waters but I’m confident they’d give any named anglers a run for their money, whilst still working as plumbers, taxi drivers etc.
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Just seen a video about to be released Filmed on a lake I currently fish. The angler is question is in your B list of “names” . He has done 20 nights/days for one fish.some sessions 6 days and nights in a row. Only 9 fish caught so far this year so it’s not easy at all .It has been ultra busy due to lockdown etc which hasn’t helped The fishing at all. So when I see the amount of time he has done in actual fact his results are pretty grim. Baring in mind he seems to be able to fish whenever he wants so can choose the best conditions and times. Are known anglers really all that ? How bigger advantage is free/cheap bait ? Time ?
Thankfully he has another lake to fish so has not been seen for a few weeks.
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General Carp Discussion