Marmite man!

Practise three days before BLAC

It's hard sometimes when all of your practise, your hard work and your determination and your will to win is assassinated by one or two individuals that could never apply that level of willingness to their own game.

Ive never before let this tittle tattle get to me, but this week it has for some reason, maybe because I have finally realised at the age of 42 that punching people in the throat is a criminal offence.

I heard a phrase the other day by Robbie Savage, he was the marmite man, people loved to hate him, I hated him, the long hair'd gypo tit! He thrived on it, had a successful career, and has a beautiful family, turning hate into an advantage. 

The hate I have been hearing about the past few weeks has come about me winning, Something I do a lot of! ( bighead ) But I win through my own hard work and practise, and more practise, and again more practise, something that is probably not seen by these green eyed individuals.

I guarantee I practise more than any other competitor, it pays off.

They don't see the dedicated Wednesday evenings I put aside to check every hook is sharp as it can be, every jig head is absolutely perfect, and every rig has a duplicate.

They don't see the amount of times I have blanked, not moaned, and learnt from it, analysed it, and tried hard not to blank again, I speak to everyone at the venue, the old boy, the 'Noddy' everyone If I have had a blank, I want to know why. 

They don't see the records i meticulously keep, and the timers I put on myself to ensure every fish is measured photographed and returned in seconds, whilst they look around for a camera boat, to gain a few minutes of fame, by the time that's arrived, I have probably turned that lack of fame into two metres of fish, they might have gained 2 minutes of fame? but for what? 

European competition practise

They don't see the hours that I put into on the canals, catching measuring and returning in sometimes less than ten seconds, yes ten seconds a 14cm perch is hooked measured and recorded, then returned, there is sixty of these precious seconds in our earth time, and if everything runs smoothly they can turn those sixty seconds into a near metre score 84cm, I have achieved this whilst a man who shall remain nameless is quickly posting to Facebook that he has caught a fish, by the time said fish was returned, I had caught 71cm. 

I'm writing this on my blog, not because I want to be loved, but more as a tip for these people, these people who proclaim to be knowledgeable, sponsored people who are the face of a brand, the facebook hero's, but competition zeros, you know the type, telling people this, dictating that, what brand, yet have a look, they have not won a raffle. 

You see they strive for coverage, they need it, a bit like a cat bringing back a mouse to its owner, but its owner doesn't really care, he cant eat it? 

Another emphatic BLAC win! 

They strive for coverage, they strive to win, and when they don't catch or win, they have to vent their spleen, usually via private messages on facebook, or by petty tactical liking and not liking posts, they have to comment on everything, they have to feed their pretend knowledge to the unknowing. 

The tip is, every time they hate, or put all of their energy into hating and backstabbing, Ive won, I have already beaten them. 

This is something I have come across in all sports, boxing, fishing, golf, its a lot to do with mind games, and the odd tactical post the night before about a venue you have practised on can kill the weak competitor off, and in my book, and game plan, that's one less to beat.

First BLAC first win.

All of the time they have spent on belittling and character assassinating could have been spent on asking, how, why when, like I did when I was a lad. 

In the Midlands we had an angler called Peter Plant, an out and out expert on the canals especially at catching gudgeon in numbers. 

I could never get anywhere near this man, he was a machine, an out and out catching machine, and not once did I slag him off, talk derogatory about him, or try and character assassinate him, I did something a lot more productive, I tried to learn from him. 

I found out when is next match was and cycled the 8 or so miles to Wombourne to try and glean something from this man, I literally got on my bike. 

I watched him as he drew a peg in Wombourne, this was the moment that sticks with me, he had won on that car park, before he had even lifted a rod bag he had won, his reputation had a lot of guys crumbling at the draw bag. 

Come the match I would watch him take an early lead, I would also watch his neighbours in pegs either side, they were defeated, an hour in and they had gone, trying desperately to do something else, and to use the excuse they fished the caster or something, just to numb the pain of being battered by a far Superior angler. 

He won the match, with six pounds odd of Gudgeon, hundreds of them, miles ahead of the pack.

What they didn't see at the time, was the practise and preparation this Peter plant put in, they way he treated his bait, the way he sussed a venue, they didn't see any of this. 

To this day that man remains a legend, he may have slowed down on the results, but he still commands respect, on any venue. 

His fellow competitors that slagged the gudgeon method off, have gone, no one remembers them, they have taken up golf, or many sports, and given up those realising they are not very good at it. 

The point Im trying to get at is some people are not very good at it, and some people are not very good at competitive lure fishing, but they have put themselves on such a social media pedestal that they have to try and win at something, usually and the most common being Facebook likes, or friends.

On the way to a 2nd BLAC win 

This is where the nastiness comes from. Sooner or later these guys become to realise that their car does not run on Facebook likes, and the bank manager does not see a small piece in the Angling press as collateral, nor can you swap a bag of soft plastics from your sponsor for food in Marks and sparks,  It then dawns on them. 

Shit, I have not really enjoyed my fishing, my hobby has been consumed by my need to feed Mark Zuckerberg, I have wasted my years, gained a few almost imaginary friends, and lost some real ones.

And then the anger flows, why cant I be like him, how does he do that, he must be cheating, he must be doing something untoward, and so on and so on. 

This week I have heard it all, from the gossip that I paid my boat partner off, used undersized lures, used worms, had the guys from Bristol water pre bait, and gained an advantage by “knowing reporters and keeping them away from my boat” 

This kind of gossip has been strengthened by the somewhat poor coverage the event received due to me either working for another media house, or the character assassination getting to the sponsors of the event, who pettily didn't even report it on there own social media pages! 

Why probably because of something they have been told by the malicious forked tongue of a few. 

I like FOX gear, I use a lot of it, I have no axe to grind, they seeming do, shame on them, they have paid me a £1000 for absolutely fuck all coverage, and only a few negative comments about the brand, some one in marketing either needs to grow up, or up their game, it was a great opportunity to gain coverage, a bit of credibility, instead, all people ask is why didn't they promote it? 

Any way in the run up to chew I had my own practise sessions, with boat partners where we would go to a venue, fish the times alloted, and use the same rules, finishing at lunchtime, and so on. 

I did this six times, at Rutland, Grafham, and Pitsford, and learnt every single time I went, how to eek out those extra Cm,s, how to quickly record and return catches, how to have duplicates when a trace kinked, allowing myself only 15-20 seconds for “pit stops” and tyre (or jig) changes, I went from 8M to 14M to 29M in a matter of weeks, each time my little time management system working better and better. 

Arranging luggage, arranging boxes, a used lure box, a used jig box, a sharp jig box, traces ready to be clipped on, I practised it all, and went from trace tying in 37 seconds, to a massive time saving 14.5 seconds. 

I fan cast, using my swim, wisely, making sure I target the end of shoals, rather than cast in the middle, not many people do this as religiously as I do, that's a fact, Ive seen them all.

I play fish very quickly with soft small rods, based on pellet wag fishing where I can subdue 20’s quickly. 

I have ten of each lure ready to go, with jigs attached and sharpened. 

I have a pen and paper ready to go. 

I also have, unashamedly a bit of water craft and boat knowledge, and most of all I am more than aware that pike don't shoal up, perch do. 

All of these factors when you break them down add to metres, and metres count. 

People don't see this, instead they chose to use all of their energy on character assassination, its a shame, as they will never beat me, that may sound big headed, but they wont while they hate so much. 

When they do beat me, its their cup final, yes I beat Collett, again that may sound big headed, but its what is said. 

If they beat me then its very well done, I will be the first to congratulate them, but hopefully what you wont see is a boat partner beat me, or someone beat me from the next peg, that's when I worry, if they have won down the other end of the river, fair play, if they have won standing right next me then I need to up my game, I need to learn about what they have done to beat me, and modify it.

Another win, down to practice!

Enjoy your fishing, I do, I like piss taking, I like to wind people up on purpose, and I enjoy a good bit of banter, but most of all I love going, you will never see me at a venue not having a giggle, and if you do, twat me. 

Fishing is a hobby, no matter how much we sprinkle it in glitter, and travelling a lot this year, and totting up winnings I have probably netted £13,000, that's £13,000 net, not taking into account the practising, the fuel, the gear, the international travel, I'm probably in a minus, and I'm the top earner! 

That kind of loot is not a lot, so don't think for one minute you are going to get rich, and famous, I should know, I'm in every magazine in Europe, and Ive only been stopped once, and he was a bit of a fruit bat who nudged me in a supermarket! Throw that fantasy out of the window, and don't think you are going to get rich from sponsors, as some of the media managers you pander too, probably stretch to OTE of £18k, you can get that in Argos, get into the enjoy it ethos.

And don't think by slagging folks off that they will not get to hear, the fishing circle is very small, and some folks can open a corkscrew with their tongues, beware of these, beware of every one, one organiser has more faces than a town hall clock!

Everyone wants to catch a bigger fish than you, don't let them kid ya!

Every one wants to win, don't let them tell you any different.

I couldn't give a shit what lure I'm using, as long as it catches!