A Good Read ?

A Good Read ? Blogs have been shutting down faster than video rental stores.

When I started writing the Fishing Fiend Blog back in January 2008 blogging was a fashionable activity. Dozens of anglers were sharing their fishy activity with an eager readership, and popular blogs were getting over a quarter a million hits a year.

Inevitably, over time many blogs have fallen by the wayside as anglers have just got bored and moved on from writing their fishy ramblings for others to read. Blogging anglers (we are often a secretive bunch) also got fed up of being accused of sharing secret locations, baits, rigs etc in the hunt for online recognition. I always understood the roots of this criticism — but with me fishing the urban waters of Greater Manchester, there are not many secret venues in my neighbourhood to share.

When I do fish a venue that I think won’t benefit from being brought to the public attention in a blog post, I try to keep the location to myself, and am careful with photo backgrounds to ensure I don’t give too much away and put unnecessary pressure on a particular location. However, most of the time I’m not fishing sensitive locations so I am happy to share. Sadly though the vast majority of blogs have been either taken down, or not updated for years.

The particular blog that inspired me to start this one was called North Country Angler, whose author Matt stopped blogging a few years ago, much to my disappointment and of many others as it was a fantastic read. Lots of others have stopped updating their blogs too, and I was talking to an ex blogger the other day who took pleasure informing me that “blogs are a thing of the past” — and it got me thinking.

If blogs are a thing of the past – how come I still get tens of thousands of visits to this site per year. How come over the past 12 years I’ve had way way way more than a million page views. It’s got me thinking, scratching my head and questioning myself is my blogging just a habit and is it still relevant in a more modern sort of digital world. Is blogging just something that was a fad in 2008 and a few of us have clung onto in ever dwindling numbers as years go by? Are there better ways of sharing my fishing exploits ?

A great example of a blog that has transitioned with the times is Dannys Angling Blog – which started off in the old blogger written word format, but has now been complimented with a You Tube channel – Danny has now had over a million views on his video channel since it started 4 years ago. A brilliant achievement.

I must admit to you, that I now spend far more time watching angling on Youtube – than I do reading about it on other peoples blogs. And I suppose that this realisation has made me reconsider the way I blog, and the direction I want to take things in the future

There are great video blogs (Vlogs) around such as Totally Awesome Fishing Show, and The Fish Locker and then theres a vlog that has morphed into a fishing tackle brand, who use demonstrations of their tackle on video to promote their brand and drive tackle sales Cadence Tackle – it sort of makes me think that the Fishing Fiend blog that I’ve been writing for the past 12 years is becoming something of an irrelevant dinosaur.

To me — the Fishing Fiend Blog has just been nothing more than a great way of making new friends by sharing my fishy exploits, and various successful  (species hunts) and unsuccessful challenges (Irwell Barbel Quests).  I know that to some its a regular read, and to some a way of learning how to fish – and I’ve always been free with help and advice with those who have made the effort to contact me. However, — the most important thing is that I still really enjoy sharing my fishing experiences, and engaging with the feedback generated.

So…. whats the upshot of all this blog waffle…..

I’ve recently had a play around with a friends GoPro camera – and now I feel comfortable using it, and editing to an amateurishly reasonable level — I’m going to start sharing video alongside my writings – and I’m also going to be adding an online shop to the blog — so that people (especially new anglers) can buy the exact same kit that I use and catch fish on.

Tide and time waits for no man (or blog).

A page has been turned and a new chapter begins. A good read will soon be turning into a good watch and read.

The videos start next week, the online shop will be arriving soon.