Topical @ the moment.... Please give your reason for or against...

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Before you cast the fly, make sure you can handle the fish! Vuoi imbrogliare? Poi Non competere! (If you want to cheat, then dont compete)

Hi Martin Iv'e won comps with the time bonus and ive lost out with the time bonus its my opinion that if the comp is 8 hours then you should fish 8 hours.

I take it that the time bonus is in place because the waters limit is reached in record time?
Is it also because so many participants reach their limits within the time of the comp?
The fish being typical, peas in a pod stockies, so no real differance in weight.
Right so far?
This leaves me to think that there is no real value in the comp'. If it is only about catching X amount of stockies as quickly as possible.

Perhaps the stocking policy of the water is flawed, ie to many fish dumped in before hand.
Perhaps once the limit is reached then a C+R policy should be adopted and a set weight (2lbs) for every fish returned.

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It is in truth not glory,nor riches, nor honours that we are fighting,but for freedom - for that alone, which no honest man gives up but with his life.(Declaration of Arbroath, 1320)

I think both formats are valid.

Obviously, unlimited time but limited fish gives more people a chance of winning and makes for a more "relaxed" event but probably makes it less easy for the most competent anglers to win CONSISTENTLY.

The format that I would actually vote for is C&R if it could be policed properly, which is why I prefer bank comps really.

I also prefer a pegged down event than a "rover", where you can go wherever you like. Rovers always favour the guy who doesn't have a real job and can practise for three days before the match.

Charlie

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Sonik Sports Team Pitsford Pirates

Doesn't happen to me that often as one or two fish in a comp on a wild lough in Ireland can be a good day.

But im heading over to the Rutland in October for the Airflo Anglian Water International final which i presume will be 8 fish & time bonus. If i am fortunate enough to catch 8 fish, i would prefer to continue to fish as that will be what ive travelled over from Ireland to do.... fish.

In saying that, i would have a lot more respect for someone who fishes dries for the bigger resident fish, in somewhere like Rutlands North Arm, more that someone stuck on a ball of freshly stocked fish. So its a difficult one.

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Lasciate ogne speranza, voi ch'intrate
YOU DONT NEED EYES TO SEE YOU NEED VISION

I honestly dont think I have ever won a comp by added time bonus??... The whole object of this thread is to argue (constructively) wether or not time bonus/speed fishing is responsable for dwindling numbers... and if you favour it?..

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Before you cast the fly, make sure you can handle the fish! Vuoi imbrogliare? Poi Non competere! (If you want to cheat, then dont compete)

A simple yes or no then!


NO

ATB
Graham

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It is in truth not glory,nor riches, nor honours that we are fighting,but for freedom - for that alone, which no honest man gives up but with his life.(Declaration of Arbroath, 1320)

This has been banded around before, I hope it can stay a sensible thread I think regardless of having time bonus or not the real competitors will adapt their game to suit the rules and be in a position to compete.

I would not dis-advantage myself or my team by ruling out fishing dry fly for better fish if I thought that it would compete against or indeed beat a quick limit from the basin.

The Anglian water individual this year I practiced with the bewl geordie and we found an area that produced good fish but was time sensitive (switched on about 1300hrs) most people would have been well finished by then on the smaller fish. Anyway a tough decision Simon went to the better fish I went to the small stockies.

The up shot then was only a few ounces seperated us even though there was six hours between us. I know who had the better days fishing

It's a tough one to answer my thoughts are whatever and I will adapt with the rules.

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http://www.iflyfish.info

Does anybody have the number of entries for this years CEFF Qualifiers? I suspect that, from this thread, it is down again. Not, I think due to C&R/Time bonus but more to do with the way the CEFF qualifiers are structured and the cost of them. Fisihing a one off qualifier with travel and practice can cost the best part of £200 and several days. In the Southern Region we fish Chew and find that the South West Chew experts hedge their bets and split themselves bertween our Qualifier and the South West qualifier (its within the CEFF rules). That way more of them can qualify and the regular Southern Guys are dropping by the wayside due to the Competition from the South West guys. I think this caused a bit of a ruckus withing the South West this year.

Also some regions have a one qualifier process whilst others have a heat and a final before they get through (what is the idea of 'odd'n sods qualifiers).

To get people back why not have a simple qualification system of a 1 qualifier round, held on all the Resevoirs on the same day. Thend there is no Region hopping etc.

As most resevoirs operate a form of C&R (Chew does) why not fish to an 8 fish limit and allow Anglers to choose tehir fish, fish Barbless and return the unwanted ones. That adds a bit of skill in deciding when the 8th and final fish is kept. Do you keep on hoping to get the 8th fish or risk not completing the bag!

Egnot.

If competition anglers were going to be completely honest about this I believe the majority would agree that they don't enjoy having to speed fish to catch a quick limit and then claim a big time bonus.

To glamorise these so called achievements, usually involving very fresh stock fish, in my opinion does not help the competition anglers' cause and perhaps puts off fellow fishers from participating.

The stocking policy prior to big competitions has to be questioned if this is a common occurrence on some waters.

The whole idea of competition should be that it is a level playing field and that the most adaptable anglers are the most successful at the end of the day.

Having fished competitions for many years under various local and national rules, I believe the 'ideal', if there is such a thing, would be total catch and release with each fish measured (I am fully aware this is not always possible). This allows the specimen hunters to be rewarded for targeting bigger fish and it also allows the thinking angler a chance catch up in the afternoon once the suicidal stockies have been well and truly bashed!