Two threads riase the question for me about the type of angler we have now to the type of angler we had say 10 years ago.

Boat etiquette and the catch and release subjects made me think about 10 years ago we went fishing and if we caught a couple of fish we went home happy,even if we blanked we still were happy or at least I was,Boats never charged about cutting others up when they saw someone catch a fish.So what has changed?Big fish were not as important as it was a bonus and there wasnt many monsters about years ago and a fish of 4lbs was a specimen..

Is it that there was less choice of waters available to what it is now where every bit of water there is fish are been thrown into it and opened as a fishery breeding the fish mongering attitude of some, where as before less choice of venue meant a more pleasing day and the norm of a couple of fish was acceptable .

I can see a change,for the better ,not really but we are all responsible in some way and we should all be responsible to educate aswell.

This forum is by way a great place to learn and I for one welcome all new anglers to it so as they can learn from each person here and hopefully help them become better anglers.

__________________
Kevin

I think there are two things going on here.

Firstly, you're getting older, and we tend to look at the behavior of others with a more negative attitude as we turn into grumpy old men. It's a fact of life, we all do it.

Secondly, because of the Forum, you tend to get more of an insight into the attitude of others towards fishing, and probably notice the fishmongers as there perspective on the sport differs so much from yours. I'm sure there were just as many fishmongers about when I first started 25 years ago, I just didn't have to listen to their opinions on anything. I certainly remember being cut up back then on a semi-regular basis.

If it makes you feel better, there are plenty of people (myself included) who are just happy to be out on the water, and any fish caught are just a bonus.

Graham

Getting older ,I agree,some truths in your post aswell.The forum shows views from many and all ages which makes it all the more interesting.
I only posed some observations and from what you say maybe there has been no change from say 10 years ago to now.
Maybe I see it from a different angle doing what I do,I certainly wont label any angler for the sake of a few who dont care about the sport itself as most are very responsible anglers.
The views on the forum is what heklps to see what is happening elsewhere and to hear each others thoughts which helps better ourselves and the sport itself.
maybe my point of less waters around then we didnt come into contact with as many anglers then as we do now.
Im not against anyone who catches lots of fish far from it the angler is happy thats the important thing and why we do it.If an angler keeps blanking they would soon give it up.

__________________
Kevin

It's a sign of the times, self-gratification is now the be-all and end-all.

__________________
*
How poor a thing, sometimes I find,
Will captivate a greedy mind - Isaac Walton.

~~*~~~~~
*****©(

I dont think true fly fishermen have changed,i am now talking from my own personnel experience as an angler,when i first started fishing which is quite a few years ago i just wanted to catch that very first fish its the one you never forget when it eventually it did happen i just wanted more,this was fine then i started reading about the really big fish you could go and catch for a price that is and i thought i want some of that this was really great catching all these big fish.Then the urge to tie my own flies was brought into the equation and we all know about that urge,now all i want out of my fishing is to be out on some water any water pitting my skills against the trout if i catch thats great but if i dont that is still okay.What i am trying to say is my fly fishing has now gone full circle back on the little river catching the wee wild brown trout,its a funny old world

sounds strangely familiar, perhaps we all go through the same fish, big fish, lots of fish, happy just to fish, stages.
young people coming to fishing nowadays have a lot less walking to do, more likely to get dropped off at the rainbow fishery, they might find it a bit strange to hike into the hills for fish half the size.

I started fly fishing in 1972 and there were plenty of fishmongers about then.

Trailing a keepnet behind your boat on Blagdon, catching well over the limit for the 2 rods, putting them all alive in the keepnet, selecting the biggest to make up the double limit bag and releasing the rest.

Public fist fights on the bank at Chew over access to a hot spot.

Cheating on small stillwaters - carrying a flask of mixed maggots and water, pretending to take a drink and chucking the "dregs" - really loaded with maggots - into the water to attract fish. Or similarly, a dummy cigar used as a blowpipe to fire pellets into the lake. Unilaterally declaring a catch and kill water only to be catch and release in order to extend your fishing day when the fish were well on the bite.

I either witnessed these with my own eyes or they were definitively reported by fishery managers. All in my first decade in fly fishing. So the basic attitude has been around for a long while.

What does seem new is this extremely aggressive behaviour by boat fishers, but we can only speculate about that as a development. I am not going to trash the reputation of competition fishing because it's chicken and egg - which came first ? - but I will say that when I started, boat fishing was done more by older anglers, and that perhaps some of the younger guns who now boat fish have a "take no prisoners" attitude whether or not they have a match fishing background.

__________________
"In wine there is wisdom. In beer there is strength. In water there is bacteria." - German proverb
JH based near Southampton

As Zoomer says we go through stages,I call it a circle and when we complete it that circle we seem to enjoy our fishing more having done the big fish,more fish etc.

What I cant understand, is what JohnH has described,what do these folk who do this actually get out of it? There cant be any enjoyment from it surely.

__________________
Kevin

Firstly, you're getting older, and we tend to look at the behavior of others with a more negative attitude as we turn into grumpy old men. It's a fact of life, we all do it.

Quite a apt comment; and one which I agree with !...god even I do it.....aaaarrrgh ....

But society has changed, It seems that many of us now want so see a better return from everything that we do, no longer content with a couple of fish we now want a bag limit......then no longer content with a limit we want a limit of bigger fish !

I feel we live in a "Quick Fix Society" .... we want everything now - Fisheries have simply catered for the demand, in order to maximize profits, but are we any happier as anglers catching 8 fish instead of 3 ?? - i don't know !

I think that human attitude and behaviour has and will continue to change; this is reflected in everything we do,progression and change are inevitable.

I better stop now....this could get very boring.....

__________________
Mock me, vilify me, but don’t ignore me!

Steady on with the getting old lol

Maybe it is part of it as we have over the years seen all the changes to where we are now and with so many fisheries catch rates will be higher than a few years ago,along with far more bigger fish than there was then aswell.

I like to catch fish myself or I wouldnt do it but I dont get desperate to catch and I do consider other anglers when fishing.

If theres a friendly bet on the day,now thats another thing, desperate, sweating, speed is everything. Im only joking.blood pressure being old.

Thankfully Its not a thing that is rife and I dont see it much but it appears every now and then, but years ago as I said, with not so many waters years ago, you never saw many other anglers when you were out fishing but its different now when your on small stillwaters.

__________________
Kevin