There’s Nowt So Funny As Fishermen

THERE’S NOWT SO FUNNY AS FISHERMEN
(Published with kind permission from Coarse Fisherman magazine)

One of the things that was brought home to me over the past 12 months (I was tempted to say ‘last season’, but that implies I mean only river anglers) was just how blinkered anglers can be. It’s something I’ve known for a long time, but the knowledge was reinforced in no uncertain terms on a number of occasions. It’s a subject that John Bailey touched on in the February issue and what he said I fully endorse. But here I’d like to dig a little deeper into this “I’m a (pick your slot) angler.”

Graham on the Dove

We anglers acquire disciplines, becoming either sea, game or coarse anglers, with a few who enjoy more than one of those. Okay, that’s logical enough, there are dictates such as how close we live to a coast and other important considerations that influence our choice. But what makes us different to most other anglers across the world is that we then sub-divide the divisions. In coarse fishing alone we have pleasure, match and specialist anglers; indeed, most of us make a conscious decision to become a certain type of angler just as though it is mandatory to find yourself a slot.

As if that wasn’t enough there are yet more anglers who have to find a slot within that slot and fish for just the one species. Deeper still, we then have single species anglers who fish only the one method; lure angling for instance. Now I’m not saying there is anything wrong with that, not at all, but what does puzzle me is that, one, many anglers are so set in their ways they steadfastly refuse to budge from a favourite method, approach, whatever, even when they can see that a change would bring them much richer rewards. And two, the sheer hostility of many anglers towards an approach that differs from their own personal choice, just as though any other way but theirs is a personal affront.

At no time was it more noticeable than on the Dove early last season, once when Stu Dexter was with me, when anglers would walk by and comment about how poor the Dove was fishing, particularly the swim I was in. The comment was prompted in most instances by the absence of a keepnet, the assumption made that I couldn’t have been catching if there was no keepnet in the water. The truth was that I was bagging up regularly with chub and barbel, both on the feeder and float. In fact, on the day that Stu was with me I had 20-odd chub, many of them over 4lb, and a handful of barbel up to a little over 7lb.

Graham with a lovely common

I can live with that, that’s their choice just as much as my approach is mine. But when these people fall into ‘barbel police’ mode, or some other mode that suggests that only their way is the right way, then that aggravates me, to say the least. I don’t mind anyone suggesting that there is another way to fish. Indeed, I welcome the suggestion that another way is better than mine, and will try a new way if I think it will catch me more or bigger fish, and if I think I’ll enjoy it. If I decide not to, that’s fine – and I expect it to be okay with them too.

Internet Forums

We’re a funny lot though, we anglers. I’ve fished for a long time, and a great deal of that time I’ve been involved with the angling media in one way or another, mainly article writing. And believe me, when you get into this business you’ve got to expect to get slagged off every now and again. And this happens a lot on angling forums. Occasionally it’s deserved; we write something that is controversial or a bit off-beam and the postings to the forum come thick and fast. Those angling writers who set themselves up to be regularly controversial and outspoken have no one but themselves to blame when they regularly get verbally battered. Surely they realise that it’s a case of if you can’t take it don’t write it.

Regular readers will know that I edit the FISHINGmagic.com website. I thoroughly enjoy it too, for we’ve got a smashing community of anglers that interact every day on the forum. As good as the news, articles, reviews and other aspects of the site may be it is the trade in information and the banter on the forum that give the website heart and soul. Whatever anyone thinks of angling website forums, good, bad or indifferent, there is no doubt whatsoever that they have given every angler a chance to have a say, to give or receive advice and voice an immediate opinion. Of course, the negative side to this is that it also gives the odd dickhead a chance to satisfy his craving for attention and to vent his spleen on whichever well known angler he’s decided he doesn’t like. Some can get very personal (and usually about someone they have never met) and often resort to abusive language. More often than not the worst ones are those who hide behind an assumed name.

But this is where the editor has to do his job. It is the editor who sets the whole tone of the website, having a quiet, off-line word at times, just to cool things down, editing or even deleting some posts, and, as a last resort, getting rid of persistent offenders. It isn’t an easy job, for you have to balance hot but meaningful debate with hot-under-the-collar, abusive and meaningless debate. Sometimes you have to forgive, when you realise that a regular has just lost his temper and fired off a quick salvo that even he must regret later when he’s calmed down. And sometimes you recognise when somebody has slid onto the forum just to cause trouble. But they don’t last long, for myself and the regulars soon put him in his place and it isn’t long before he slopes off to another forum where they’ll be more likely to tolerate his kind.

The forum is especially useful to me because it gives me a great insight into how anglers think, about what they really enjoy or totally dislike. It’s so easy to fall into the trap of thinking that every angler thinks like I do and enjoys the same things I enjoy, when all the time there are many who have a different idea altogether. When you are used to only seeing in print the thoughts of well known anglers it is refreshing to read the thoughts of all anglers, anglers who, in many cases, are far more skilled than the ‘celebrities’.

It is truly fascinating to read through a thread where someone has asked what everybody thinks of a piece of kit, a certain line maybe (a recent one was about fluorocarbon lines) just to see how diverse opinion is. Then we had a good one about lightweight chairs for river roving. Believe me, if anyone who was thinking of buying such a chair had read through this thread they would have found it an invaluable source of information – and from anglers who had actually bought chairs, carried them for miles, and parked their bums on them while they fished. That’s what you call informed opinion, the best there is.

And that’s what the forum is all about really. It’s a place where you can have your say right at the time you want to say it, in as many words as you want to use, from a one-liner to several hundred words (although it must be said that the best posts are the one or two paragraph ones). Where else can you go, right now, and post an opinion, or ask for help, that will be read by thousands of anglers? Where else can you go, right now, and begin a campaign against a wrong or an injustice in angling, or to mount an attack against an anti-angling organisation? We’ve seen all this happen on forums. I reckon the few idiots who populate the forums are a small price to pay for an opportunity like that.

So the next time you hear anyone saying that internet forums are all abusive and populated by weirdos, just remind them that not all of them are, and a few are well worth tolerating anyway compared with all the good that comes from them.