Is the all-round matchman gone forever?

Match angling has never been more specialised than it is now. From the days of having to be a jack of all trades, you can now focus on one type of angling and find plenty of events to take part in, whether that’s on a canal or commercial using a feeder rod or pole.

That’s not a bad thing, as it cuts down on the kit needed and allows you to focus on your chosen discipline and become very successful at it. The negative is that the all-round match angler, the sort that can win fishing for carp shallow one day and then use the feeder for bream on a tidal river the next, is dwindling.

We asked four top names in match angling: is the all-round match angler becoming a thing of the past?

“They aren’t needed” - Tommy Pickering

“There are two types of match angler – the silverfish river angler and the commercial angler. We’ve definitely seen the decline of the all-rounder and the rise of the specialist, people who have learned that they can’t compete on that venue or that venue, so I’ll stick to this venue. They fish a style at a fishery that they enjoy, understand and can do well on, and now there’s so much choice in terms of matches to fish that who can blame them?
“The actual true all-rounder who can do anything anywhere are few, and those who are about tend to be team anglers, who need all of the skills to tackle a range of waters. What we’re seeing now, certainly in my area in Yorkshire, is a development of specific ‘scenes’ based around types of fishery. The Mirfield AC club runs opens on the River Calder and Aire & Calder Canal and gets 70-odd on them, and then there’s Southfield Reservoirs, bream fishing on the feeder, where you can’t get a ticket for an open! That’s before we even get to the commercial fisheries. The all-rounder is still out there, but the reality is, you don’t need to turn your hand to everything any more.”

**“The all-rounder is still out there, but the reality is, you don’t need to turn your hand to everything any more.”**

”It’s all about the money” - Dave Roberts

“I’ve had success on commercials and rivers at a high level, but certainly I do feel that what I do is a bit different. On my local River Wye match circuit, the crossover of anglers who do both is minimal and I think a lot of this is to do with prize money. Even in river fishing, there are more and more events offering £4,000 here or £6,000 there, which is enough of a carrot dangling to mean you don’t have to bother fishing commercials or canals to try and win a good few quid.
“That’s why the number of all-round match anglers is quite low.
“That’s not to say that many of the people I fish against couldn’t compete on a range of venues. Too many people see the young lads who fish F1-dominated venues and say: ‘I’d like to see them catch on my river’. They’re brilliant anglers and they would empty the place, but they don’t need to because there’s enough to keep them happy doing what they’re most comfortable with.
“Why make the effort to slog a mountain of kit across muddy fields on the river when they can fish almost out of the back of the car on a commercial? I don’t mind the muddy walks, but I can understand why so many are turned off by rivers.”

**“Why make the effort to slog a mountain of kit across muddy fields on the river when they can fish almost out of the back of the car on a commercial?”**

“It’s too tricky” - Steve Hemingray

“If you are not a professional angler, then it’s hard to do everything. Only a select few can do this and, even for me, work and family come before fishing, so I can’t fish every event that I want to!
“You have to pick the type of matches that suit you, which in my case are based around natural waters. For other people that will be commercial carping.
“The problem with fishing the Thames one day and Larford Lakes the next is the changing over of kit, baits and practice time, especially if you’re fishing venues you’re not familiar with.
“It’d be great to have a crack at the lot, but you have to be realistic and fish to your strengths. There are still some great all-round anglers out there, but they will always struggle to compete against the people who have picked one type of fishing and stuck with it.”

**“If you are not a professional angler, then it’s hard to do everything.”**

“They’re back!” - Darren Cox

“The all-rounder was a dying breed, but they’ve had a renaissance in recent years owing to the increase in events to fish.
“Take a feeder angler on commercials – they can now fish things like FeederMasters knowing they have the skills to compete and it’s the same with floats. If you can catch roach on the waggler on a river, then you can catch carp on it on a commercial. The only difference is heavier tackle!
“Having an all-round skill set makes you a better angler and many of the people we see as the best started their match fishing doing very different things – William Raison, Andy Bennett and Steve Ringer are a few that spring to mind. They began on rivers and canals and still have those skills learned on natural waters. You never forget them.
“It’s still very difficult to flit between the types of fishing and be successful at it but, if you have experience under your belt, I think you can compete. Years ago, we used to have a National Superleague with rounds on rivers, natural lakes and big canals and that demanded that you had the skills to do the lot. That type of event has gone now, hence why people see so many successful anglers as ‘one trick ponies’, when the truth is that they’re actually not. Perhaps we need more of this type of event?”

**“The all-rounder was a dying breed, but they’ve had a renaissance in recent years owing to the increase in events to fish.”**