LIVES: Surrey
OCCUPATION: Electrician
TOP ACHIEVEMENTS:
BIGGEST FISH:
- Barbel - 15lb 12oz
- Bream - 14lb 6oz
- Carp - 35lb 8oz
- Chub - 7lb 4oz
- Dace - 1lb 4oz
- Eel - 5lb 11oz
- Grayling - 2lb 11oz
- Perch - 3lb 6oz
- Pike - 22lb 13oz
- Roach -2lb 15oz
- Rudd - 3lb 13oz
- Tench - 8lb 3oz
- Zander - 11lb 9oz
- Crucian - 3lb 7oz
BEST CATCH:
Trio of fish off the R.Derwent last season 2x chub (7.4 new PB and 6.5) and a 13.13 Barbel all on rolling meat.
R.Don Barbel record of 15.4 taken in September 2022 on my first ever visit to the river, braced that fish with another double at 10.5.
Hat trick of 2lb Roach caught on a small Thames tributary back in 2011 (2.7/2.3/2.2) later that season went on to catch another 4 over 2lbs.
Recently beating my personal best Bream on my first trip on a Bream campaign in spring 2022, 14lbs 6oz. Went on to blank a handful of times after that.
FAVOURITE METHODS:
For me on rivers it’s sight fishing either using rolling/free lining or float fishing tactics to successfully achieve my targets.
On stillwaters I prefer to use helicopter rigs with sweetcorn being my go to bait with hemp and dark ground bait to keep the area occupied by my quarry.
FAVOURITE VENUES:
The Wessex Trio are probably my favourite venues, The Dorset Stour and Hampshire Avon for Pike/Roach/Barbel and Chub and then the Dorset Frome for the enigmatic Grayling when the winter season is upon us.
ANGLING AMBITIONS:
Just to enjoy every minute I spend on the banks and indeed in the planning stages of trips, a lot of effort goes into the usually so when I do get on the bank I want to enjoy every last moment.
FAVOURITE ITEM OF TACKLE:
Drennan speaking the twistlock handles were a game changer for me in my angling!
But non-Drennan tackle my Mark IV Avon spilt cane rod (my pride and joy) and it get used very well too, not stuck at home to look at.
ABOUT:
I grew up carp fishing with my Dad in South London where we would catch them using various methods, stalking them off the top on bread crust, or setting out our stall for a 24hr trip, I got into river fishing around 11 years old where I would target my then local River Wandle for Chub, Dace and Roach. Barbel were present but in small numbers and would occasionally come across them.
The occasional scrap with a Barbel became more of a staple of my angling in my mid teens as I gained more freedom from my parents and quickly found my feet with fish in excess of 11lbs coming to my rod with some regularity, big Roach and Dace also featured all the way through my teens and into my 20’s where I managed to catch Roach to 2lb 15oz off the Thames, Rudd to nearly 4lbs and Dace to just off the British Record 1lb 4oz.
Since then I have managed 7 Dace over 1lbs, 28 Roach over 2lbs from 3 different rivers and 1lb 15oz Roach off of 3 other rivers too.
Now I tend to break up angling into mini seasons. Canals and the odd reservoir visits over the spring, summer is spent hunting down Carp and Rudd, then as Autumn settles in the Barbel gear is well and truly dusted down and with the mild winters I chop and change between pike and Grayling when it’s cold and Barbel and Chub when it’s mild and favourable.