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Guest blogger, Craig Butterfield, reckons it's only a matter of time before the traditional Full English is replaced by protein shakes...

Reading Jon Arthur’s latest blog on Pole Fishing's website has really got me thinking about big-money matches and their impact on our sport.

Fish 'O' Mania obviously started the ball rolling but now we are seeing the introduction of more and more matches with big prize money. Even relatively small fisheries are now holding matches with £3,000 to £10,000 prizes just to attract anglers. Is this a bad thing? No! In my opinion it’s fantastic! I think large prizes such as the possible £100,000 prize in the Maver Match This Final transforms fishing from a hobby to a sport. Money creates competition, tension and forces anglers to take a more professional approach to our fishing.

My only concern is where it will all end? Will we see prizes grow and grow until we are fishing for ridiculous amounts of money? How far are we away from a match with a top prize of £250,000? That’s quarter of a million pounds! A crazy amount of money. Life changing!
 
The increase in prize money, that I’m sure will one day happen, will bring with it an increase in competition. This will mean anglers will have to raise their standards and improve way beyond anything we’ve experienced before to win.

But where will this end? Is it only a matter of time that competition at the top is so fierce that anglers need to search areas never before explored in angling to gain an edge? Will the top anglers soon be hiring personal trainers and nutritionists to find this edge to push them to the top? Will the traditional fry up be replaced by a high-protein, high-carbohydrate shake and a rub down by the physiotherapist before the draw?

This may seem ludicrous but you only have to look at other sports to see the changes have already happened. I think the best example is darts! A nutritionist and a personal trainer to throw some spiky things at a round board? Sounds crazy but it is happening as players strive to reach the pinnacle of their sport and the lucrative spoils that come with it.

I’m not saying it will happen, as the one thing us anglers will always have to rely on is an element of luck, but personally I’m not taking any chances. Now where’s that gym membership form?


Craig Butterfield is a Middy consultant from Boston, Lincolnshire, and a regular columnist for Match Fishing.