01/17/16

Welcome to my Web site!

What can I say about myself, apart from the obvious that is!

I love everything about angling, I first caught the bug in 1960 whilst on holiday with my parents and brother in Torquay Devon at the age of 7. I worried my Dad into buying me a fishing rod and reel to catch some fish from the pier, he wanted me to have just a handline, but I got my own way and he bought me a short solid fibreglass rod and reel. While I was getting into all sorts of tangles around the lights on the pier my dad was catching fish with his handline by dropping down between the pier supports. During the same holiday we caught some mackeral from a rocky point called Hopes nose, this was great fun I was hooked.

We then went on to catch Bream, Perch and Roach from various rivers in the area. On my return home I discovered my mate Richard Haynes used to go fishing with his father and brother, he asked if I could go with them sometimes, which is where I started to really get into it.

By the age of about 10 we were catching trains most weekends from our home in south east London to gravel pits and rivers in Kent and Surrey, catching mostly small fish but on occasions a pike or tench, these fish really pulled back.

At the age of 16 the fishing took a bit of a back seat, I had a Lambretta scooter and girls became the order of the day, although I did still fish on occasions, once a serious girlfriend came around I was back to some serious fishing, if you know what I mean!!

I got married at the age of 21 and had a son at 22, carp fishing came at about the same time, I was invited to join a club in Tonbridge by my mate Ted Purdy, they had a lake that contained carp, we caught these carp by all of the old methods, the carp bug bit deep. We fished this lake during the mid 70's caught plenty of carp on traditional baits like bread, worms, luncheon meat and early paste baits. Bait started to become the big challenge, all manor of ingredients were added to our baits, some seemed to work better than others. Equivite which was a horse feed additive was included along with PYM, phillips yeast mixture, these two were super secret at the time. Boiled baits had started to become known, being in Kent we heard about these pretty early on. Particles also became the big secret with sweetcorn being the ultimate bait, chic peas, flovoured and coloured also were great, luncheon meat although now hardly used became a great bait again by chopping up into very small cubes and using as a particle. I can remember chopping up over a pounds worth of LM into 1/4'' cubes.

June 16th always held that special place in the anglers heart, a weeks holiday from work was booked for 'the off' for at least two weeks prior the preparations were in full swing, mixing and rolling baits, boiling and preparing particles, it would be round Ted's place or he would be round mine, the place stunk!!! Umbrellas with overwraps were now needed as we were fishing for two to four day's at a time food had to be cooked at the bank, bedchairs were needed for sleeping. Bite alarms became an absolute necessity along with all the other stuff we take for granted now. 

2003 was a big change for my wife and I, we decided to move to Spain, although it was agreed we would still come back to the UK to see everyone at least two or three times per year. Spain was to become a new challenge not only in lifestyle but of course in the type of carp fishing that was open to me. Gone was those misty, damp early mornings on a small secluded lake somewhere, it was now blazing sun on a fast flowing River Ebro, where not only carp pulled your arms off but big fat catfish too.   

After carp fishing for over 35yrs I still get that buzz when the indicator shows a bite and the strike meets with a sold resistance.

That's enough for now, enjoy the site!