Following on from the very well subscribed thread on the Bank International, I would like to debate which is more “skilful” or “demanding” - competition bank or boat fishing, as there is definitely an implication from some of the contributors that the Bank International is “devaluing an international cap”.

I actually enjoy both aspects of competitive fly fishing myself, tending to focus on small waters in winter and the boats during the reservoir season. I have fished the Airflo, Lexus and English National finals in the last couple of years, although I am a relative newcomer to fly fishing. As a coarse match fisherman, I captained a team to National victory (that’s a 1,000+ angler, 80 team one off event) and in most of the well known leagues in the UK – suffice to say I have put a lot of thought into what makes a top competition angler in any discipline of the sport and my analysis boiled it down to four attributes :

Knowledge – experience, venue, methods, information

Practice – whatever discipline of the sport is undertaken, there is no question that “the more you practice, the luckier you get”

Decision making – this is the immeasurable capability that the very best anglers have to change, stick, adjust in the heat of competition

Physical/technical skill – casting, presentation and other physical skills


Here is my view on how competitive boat and bank fishing stack up, in each of these categories :

Knowledge – Boat fishing certainly requires more venue knowledge, location is a large part of the game, plus there are more different depths to explore on larger waters than small. The bank angler needs expertise in his methods and the fish on C&R venues are often warier than on big waters where they get less pressure, so innovative methods are more important but, overall, I think the boat competition angling is more demanding in this aspect

Practice – as I said above practice is all important in any competitive fishing discipline, but I think again it is more vital for the boat angler where location is so important. The bank angler gets his allotted pegs and just needs to work out what methods are most effective in what conditions on the day. In this respect, by the way, I do feel that boat competition angling overly favours those who have more spare time, but ir is more demanding in this respect, in my view.

Decision making – I always feel this is the “X factor” in fishing, some anglers do not even realise it, but every cast you are making decisions and, while the boat angler has a wider range of decisions to make, he has help in the form of a boat partner and also is less pressured time wise. Bank anglers only get a small spell in each spot (typically 40 or 45 minutes) and making the most of your pegs definitely requires fast and well thought through decisions to be made in a very compressed time. I feel decision making is more critical for the bank angler as he has to make the most of his good opportunities in a very limited time.

Physical/technical skill – Boat fishing is tiring but requires little physical skill in my opinion, covering moving fish perhaps being the exception to this. Bank angling, however, is very demanding in casting terms – because of peg rotation, normally at least 50% of a match is fished in adverse wind conditions, meaning you have to be able to cast into a gale, with a wind into the casting shoulder, with high banks or trees on the back cast, etc. In addition, there is no question that distance is very important as a bank match progresses and the fish push out due to pressure. I would go so far as to say that, on some venues, unless you can cast thirty yards you will not compete effectively, so physical skill is more vital to the bank angler.

So………………………….I apologise for the long post but where does that leave us ? As I said at the start, I love both so maybe it is no surprise that on this analysis it’s a two-all draw. The truth is BOTH are very demanding at any sort of seriously competitive level and it really pains me to hear one group of anglers believing that another discipline is trivial or “Mickey Mouse”

Charlie

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Charlie, after discovering you have a fine ghillie in the form of a youthful Mr James Britten carrying your bags around Elinor Trout Fishery..........you certainly cant claim bank fishing is strenuous in any shape or form


Ben

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I don't think a bank international should be of less status than a boat match.
i would say bank fishing is much more of a challenge on most if not all fisheries.
a good catch off the bank is worth 3 off a boat, but i do like to drift on a large water....good fun.
match wise, boat fishing should level the playing field a bit. it gives people more chance to cover a fish. where on the bank it can be down to what areas fish the best.
cheers , dave

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I think both are as demanding as each other. I agree smaller waters have their known hotspots but in the competitions i have fished you're restricted to 5 fish per peg anyway. The problem comes when you hit the harder pegs where people claim there are no fish, the fish are there, maybe not in the same numbers and maybe they require different tactics to find them.

Prime example of this is the airflo classic, there's no way the Maran Kingfishers have just had lucky peg draws, or the Cortland Cats either. Its down to putting the groundwork in and finding how to make the most of each and every peg.

Bri.

I enjoy both but you are more restricted to smaller waters bank fishing
Its to hard to bank fish massive lakes like corrib
Bank fishing is more for smaller waters so its a hard question to answer

I definately prefer boat fishing , especially for wild trout on places like Melvin & Erne. Connemara is one of the best places to be adrift in a boat.

Brenig is also special to me and Rutland is fantastic but can sometimes be a tough nut to crack.

I think the challenge with boat fishing, especially on the wild loughs is that you have to hunt / locate your quarry as well as catch Definately much more rewarding for me.

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From the last 3 years results in our local club comps
The rod average from boats has been consistently higher than the banks from the same waters, with largely the same anglers fishing the comps. Smaller waters are peggy but slight changes in rules evens this out on the day.
I enjoy both aspects, equally but do find the mobility of the boat allowing more water to be covered faster less of a challenge than working from a fixed area of the bank trying to weedle out a few, before having to move on.

Can't beat boats for the same reasons as buzzerman has pointed out.
One thing that really f...s me of though is when you find fish in a bay near to a bank lets say 30 yards out,then bank anglers think they have the right to walk over wade out and take over your swim so to speak as you mortor round for the next drift through the bows.
All i can say to the bank boys who do this to me in future is (my prop will bust your fly line.

No mate that where the 15 hp come s into play,

its surf board time then for them wading anglers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hi There,

An excellent opening post.

You have obviously fished at a very high level and have approached the Bank versus Boat argument/discussion with an open mind.

I think a 2 all score line just about sums it up. Both have their merits and skill sets. Some are overlapping and some are different.

As someone who fishes Bank, Boat and River I would put that score at 2-2-2.

I have been lucky enough to fish in the National Finals in all three disciplines and my one cap came in Loch Style.

I would say that this is probaly the easiest discipline to get a cap in.

After all I managed one despite still having a lot to learn.......

Seriously though not because of skills. It is to a certain extent a numbers game with only 5 in the Rivers 6 in the Bank and 28 in the Loch Style although it was only 20 when I did it.

What also makes the other two harder are the superstars in Rivers like John Tyzack and Simon Robinson and on the Bank the likes of Chris Micallef and our own Fred. There are superstars in Loch Style as well but the numbers give you more of a chance.

I think I know what I mean...... :-)

Best Regards

robbie

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