oh dear! got to admit i am sick and f3king tired of all this Henry bashing personally! for those that actually read his blog on a regular basis, will know how many times he will say " i am no expert", " i am on a massive learning curve", " i was lucky enough to fish with X
and y", two very talented anglers who i learned so much from..." etc etc etc etc!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
i have fished with him a couple of times, and have to say he is one of the nicest blokes i have ever met, and certainly the most humble by far!! he has faaaaar more experience than i do, but is never patronizing, and always hears me out and is happy to discuss and listen to ideas etc, not once has he "corrected" me.
As for his videos....well those that criticize him obviously don't read his blog! he often has said how little he knew when he started and how much the way he fishes has changed as a result, and those vids were all made when he was learning himself! and if you ask him he is the first to admit that he gets too excited and often retrieves too fast as a result.
then we come to the criticism of the tackle he "promotes"-aka forces you at gunpoint to buy!
look at it this way, he is a self confessed tackle tart and loves tackle, and he is very lucky in that he has some friends in the trade that let him play with various bits of kit. if you had a blog-essential given his line of work i am sure you would agree?- and a friend of yours lent you new rod x or reel y, and you loved it, whats the harm in blogging and saying which shop let you review it? some of this stuff is only available in 3 or 4 shops in the uk-wheres the harm in saying which shop let him try it? he never says "go buy this" or you have to get this"- merely offers his opinion on tackle that most/all of us dont get to just try out without buying-maybe see it as a positive and take what you can from a review! think his reviews on rods are pretty comprehensive everything from a humble shinjin to the crazy graphiteleader super argento.
when i first started to read his blog i would find it really strange and a bit annoying how much he would defend his views and apologize for his opinion in advance-ie before/while he is composing a blog post that nobody has read yet?! but now i see why!!! dont you think its f3cking sickening that someone with their own blog must defend their opinions befor they even make them public! its his blog ffs! if you dont like it, FO and read someone elses you *****! dont sit on your arse getting your little online friends onside because you have misinterpreted what you have read and create ridiculous conspiracy theories against some one u actually no jack **** about, but your mate said that he heard that someone read once that he gets paid to review and promote x y or z, when infact he turns away pple who are looking to get on his blog to promote themselves!
sorry but this character assassination pi$$es me right off!
back to original question-by all means follow his blog and any others you can find, and pick out the bits that you think may work in your area, and try meet up with someone in your area if you can, you will learn more in a day or two fishing along side someone experienced than you will fishing on your own for months! just treat blogs for what they are(just like forums!) they are opinions, take from them what you can/want to, none are to be considered the "fishing gospel!" Certainly read through the stickies they are very helpful when you start out, and the pples names that have been put forward,mark 333, graham hill etc etc, all very experinced and talented chaps, even if you feel you havent learned a new "fact", you will start to get an overview as to when where/ types of ground etc to help you on your way, best of luck mate ...its very addictive : )
WOW ,,, Great post ...
Poor Henry does seem to be chalk and cheese with a few ..
To be fair , everyone gets there knockers , par for the course im afraid ..
I have tons , Graham hill has his , Kieth white , etc etc , im pretty sure Henry knows its part of the game .
People that think everyone on forums or in life can all be friends and all agree and the whole world is pink fluffy and safe really need to wakey wakey .
Thats what forums are for , DIFFERENCES OF OPINIONS .If you own a blog your bound to get it worse at times ..
Good press or bad press , its all news and it shows that all different type of people that may knock him , still cant help them selfs but look at his blog .
I said on his blog that if his mates give him bits to try and test who bizz is it any way but theres ...
Times are hard in England , if i could help my own mates make a quid or two i would ... Its his blog can do what ever the heck he wants ..
I have to put IMHO , on my posts to remind people its just MY opinion , its not right by any means , but it whats right TO ME .
No way is Henry right or Graham Hill in all they say , but its right to them and there opinion as well as ANY ONE elses counts ..
Pack up and go home if you all want every one to agree on every thing , it aint NEVER going to happen .
Biggest thing i ever learnt is that what works in my areas , really does not in others , and Colours , colours that work some places dont at others ..
We all need to open our collective minds and see this ... Henry and i have had our run ins , i still think bogas are not needed , he now always puts about swinging bass around his head on one LMFAO , i dont cry about it , but love his sense of humour . Barbless , i myself dont think that tiny barb on plugs like zonks and feed shallows etc
Do fish any more harm at all , 3trebles might pin one up , so use 2 , but he recomends barbless , its all opinions , no big shakes ....
I see enough people beat the barbless drum , say yes Henry i agree , barbless only way , then i fish with them , new plugs come out , never EVER seen a barb crushed
or trebles changed by them , but hey ho , some people think its great to TALK about doing the right thing , but in real life its to much like hard work to get the pliers out .
Henry is harmless and does the bass world no harm at all , in fact does ALL , the tackle industry a hell of a lot of good .
I love his blog , its by FAR , the best out there , and i like it because it keeps me up to date with all the NEW , stuff thats out there .
He has his finger on the pulse of all things fishy , and its a huge bonus to us all that he is testing it and then giving HIS honest review on it .
He is not going to knock stuff , even if HE maybe feels it is cr@p , thats just not his way , and would look bad for him i believe .
He has to sit on the fence , i bet he dont want to at times , but thats the way it is ..
I have fished with him and near him a fair few times , to judge him on those old videos is just plain wrong , there dated and times have moved on .
But do you really think he has not moved on with the times ...
He is a very good lure angler , plays it down and stays humble , but if you have fished all round the world with top anglers in top locations and not picked up a trick or two , you probably should not be doing what he does .. .
Bass angling owes Mike Ladle , Graham hill , Henry , etc etc , a lot for bringing a huge amount of info to the masses
Trouble is with the internet , you get over night experts , people that catch a few good fish in there first years and think they now no it all ..
No one will ever know it all ... All always learning ..
My fav is a group on a forum that had him as a star catch , What better chap to have on board where you could talk to him , send him pms and get great up to the min info .. What do they do , run a thread to bash him , then worry about it AFTER the horse has bolted ,,,Then take the said thread down . so funny , but i would expect nothing else from a ...closed to the public invite only bunch of illitist know it all nobodys .Maybe now a type of rod or two is dated and not talked about, it was time to move out people that dont help with sells :marinheir A lot of people are WAKING up to sells being the reason it was set up , so wares could not be knocked .
Lots of Top top anglers seeing the light :marinheir
Green eyed monsters are every where , on football forums, utube vids , even cooking forums my mrs goes on has massive kick offs about who is right or wrong about cooking for goodness sake :help:
So people in all walks of life will never all get on , if people are not strong enough to grasp that , then dont have a blog or go on forums ,,,
Carry on doing what you do Henry its very inspiring and helps a lot of people . . .
PS Who would not love to have a job like his ,, fish in all corners of the globe , im sure its hard work but must be so rewarding .
His photos on angling are second to none ...
As i said , A LOT , of green eyed monsters out there :marinheir
