BIG-MONEY MATCHES BUT WHERE’S THE MAGIC?
IN 1953 open matches were unheard of: there were club contests, river championships and the National – just the one.
Nowadays team fishing has all-but gone out the window and there are at least five events on the calendar where the winner could get between £10,000 and up to £70,000.
I recall my first £10 a ticket match – it seemed a fortune in the 1980s and the amount put some anglers off.
Now plenty are prepared to pay £70 and some don’t even go to their peg if they don’t fancy it. The first open match I fished, in 1969, cost £1!