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Specialist Videos

I watched a little bit of Martin Bowlers Fishflix channel earlier in the year which was quite good, and will occasionally tune into some the really watchable content that Kenny Parsons puts on YouTube. But other than that BFW is the only medium for which I digest any specialist fishing content. I haven't read any of the angling weekly/monthly publications for years.

I have learnt that ignorance is bliss.
 
I think we have to acknowledge the mixed blessing of the internet, and YouTube in particular. Unfortunately, the ease with which you can post “content” means that there is a superfluity of videos that are really glorified adverts for tackle or bait, and the same goes for “Jonny come lately” anglers who may or may not have a clue what they’re on about but fancy themselves as the new big name.

As an angler and a parent I both love and despise YouTube: my son has been inspired by some of the anglers like Carl Smith and during lockdown we must have watched “Catching the Impossible” in its entirety about once a week! The downside is when 144hrs of fishing is whittled down to a 30min (or less) video. My son forgets that the exciting and impressive captures took hours, days, weeks or even months or years to achieve. Consequently, no bites in a couple of hours and he’s bored and distracted. I guess that’s a combination of his age and the “dishonesty” of YouTube (in the sense that it doesn’t give you the whole picture).

For me, I return to a handful of favourites that scratch a different kind of angling itch. I’m in no way a traditionalist (you won’t find me using cane rods), but my heart is in that kind of place. If specimen videos had more of a quietness about them then I’d watch more. Watching a bunch of lad-babies whooping and hollering like they’re on a bender in Magaluf is definitely off the agenda (especially when they feature average ex-sports persons!)

@Christian Tyroll I am on the grumpy scale with you mate 😆
 
Each to their own, I say, provided anglers have respect for the fish, venues and anglers who fish there regularly. Naming stretches or making it obvious where fish have been caught is a no, no for me. It shows a lack of respect for the fish, other anglers and encourages poachers and glory hunters.
 
Few random bits relating to points covered on this thread:

  • Fishflix is worth a month subscription of any anglers money, there's some good stuff on there IMHO; really enjoyed it and I'll subscribe again in a few months to see what else is new. The Chub videos are ace 👍
  • Re vloggers, they can be a pain in the arse and have a defensive I have the right to do it and dont care if I p*ss anyone off attitude. I moderate on a large angling club forum and I can think of 2 vloggers who seriously annoyed other club members, with what they revealed in their videos. Even ended up with threats of violence. I also personally don't like it, when its just obvious, I'm a sponsored angler and here's my over the top product and bait company placement.
  • Re Carbelling, I've seen one angler on my local river Dane, with a bivvy, 2 rods and the largest bait buckets, I've ever seen, each one full of pellets, boillies and cooked particles. For those of you not familiar, the Dane is a very small river and I could not believe what I was seeing, including that the swim he was fishing was around 18" deep! 😯 Re the club forum where I moderate, I also run working parties on some river lengths and I post my catch reports, in an attempt to encourage people to fish the river lengths we've opened up. As a result I get mithered, which I dont mind and occasionally it comes from a carp angler who has fished for nothing else in their angling career. They want to know where they can get a bivvy in and why we don't build bivvy pegs during the WP's. I then have to explain that river levels rise and fall :) When I explain that the best option on many lengths is to simply fish until you've had enough and retire for the evening, its a total conversation killer! The whole concept of fishing with anything else other than boillie, pellets and very short hook links, can also be an alien one! On a personal note, I'm yet to fish a river where I needed a rod pod, instead of bank sticks!
 
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Few random bits relating to points covered on this thread:

  • Fishflix is worth a month subscription of any anglers money, there's some good stuff on there IMHO; really enjoyed it and I'll subscribe again in a few months to see what else is new. The Chub videos are ace 👍
  • Re vloggers, they can be a pain in the arse and have a defensive I have the right to do it and dont care if I p*ss anyone off attitude. I moderate on a large angling club forum and I can think of 2 vloggers who seriously annoyed other club members, with what they revealed in their videos. Even ended up with threats of violence. I also personally don't like it, when its just obvious, I'm a sponsored angler and here's my over the top product and bait company placement.
  • Re Carbelling, I've seen one angler on my local river Dane, with a bivvy, 2 rods and the largest bait buckets, I've ever seen, each one full of pellets, boillies and cooked particles. For those of you not familiar, the Dane is a very small river and I could not believe what I was seeing, including that the swim he was fishing was around 18" deep! 😯 On the club forum where I moderate, I also run working parties on some rivers and as a result I post my catch reports and in an attempt to encourage people to fish the river lengths we've opened up. As a result I get mithered and a lot of it comes from carp anglers who have fished for nothing else in their angling careers. They want to know where they can get a bivvy in and why we don't build bivvy pegs during the WP's. I then have to explain that river levels rise and fall 😆 When I explain that the best option on many lengths is to simply fish until you've had enough and retire for the evening, its a total conversation killer! The whole concept of fishing with anything else other that boillie, pellets and very short hook links, can also be an alien one!
The chub video in Oxford is the only filmed I watched, simply because it was filmed at the stretch 20mins walking from my home, I really enjoyed it, maybe I will subscribe to it for a month when there are more contents.
 
Hi all.My wife was out last night and I settled down on the settee to watch some "specialist videos" on the U tube.Found one on there with a guy fishing one of the rivers I fish.It felt odd watching him and a bit strange when he set up in one of my favourite swims.I felt as though he was violating my privacy somehow.It made it worse when he set up "Trent style".2 rods,tripod,buzzers,5oz feeders and bowstring tight line to the feeder.Please do not take this as a criticism of anyone's methods or styles of fishing but it just seemed a bit O.T.T to me.He came across as a decent guy but do we really need to go down the carp fishing route or is it just me?
Best thing to do Adrian is to just get on with what you do and enjoy it and try not to worry too much. It's the Carp fishing mentality and all some know. I do worry about how that sort gear affects the health of the Barbel. Torn mouths are normal on many Carp fisheries caused by over powerful rods, sometimes braided lines, heavy leads and big hooks. I'd hate to see that on Barbel fisheries.
I often fish a centrepin and one rod on the middle Severn. It's not common to see people doing it but I like doing it when not fishing too far out. 🙂
 
You may want give 'Barbel Banx' on Fish flix a miss then.

Tbh I thought most Barbel fishing was pods and alarms these days, nearly every Barbel rod on the market is 1.75 minimum, aimed at this style of fishing. I recently sold my new Drennan Barbel rod cause it just felt far too heavy for my little stretch of the W.Avon. Here I'm using my 1.5 twin tip duo with the quiver section. I've even seen the 2 rod set ups being fished on my local section.

Things change.
 
You may want give 'Barbel Banx' on Fish flix a miss then.

Tbh I thought most Barbel fishing was pods and alarms these days, nearly every Barbel rod on the market is 1.75 minimum, aimed at this style of fishing. I recently sold my new Drennan Barbel rod cause it just felt far too heavy for my little stretch of the W.Avon. Here I'm using my 1.5 twin tip duo with the quiver section. I've even seen the 2 rod set ups being fished on my local section.

Things change.
From the trailer, seems barbel banx was filmed near a weir with strong current? I think it’s completely fine to use heavy gear in this condition.
 
From the trailer, seems barbel banx was filmed near a weir with strong current? I think it’s completely fine to use heavy gear in this condition.
Lots of over excitement though and behind the scenes there would have been the biggest bivvys loaded with all the latest Nash products. Probably not everyone's cup of tea.

Title of the film is probably enough 😂
 
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