Category: The Archives
The Archives – Part 11 – Pairs And Shares! (1996)
It was a few weeks into the year before I had a match worth talking about here, it was a Chard AC fixture on February 18th and I pulled out peg 37 at Donyatt where Scotty Russell had the big weight last year (see Part 10 – 1995). I got there and it looked lovely with the odd fish topping, I only set …
The Archives – Part 10 – Anyone Seen My Stan Bennetts? (1995)
I’d fished Ilminster’s stretches of the Isle since I’d first picked up a rod in 1980 so knew that part of the river really well but I’d only been fishing Chard’s waters for a couple of years so there were loads of swims I hadn’t fished. There was the Horlicks stretch with 23 pegs which covered three fields and meant some long walks if …
The Archives – Part 9 – It’s Carp Fishing But Not As We Know It! (1994)
It was around this time that fishing was starting to change beyond all recognition, carp venues were springing up all over the place, although the massive weights you see these days were still a long way off. Poles were improving all the time and I bought a new one from Les’s, it was a 14 metre Silstar that cost me £900 which was …
The Archives – Part 8 – More Adventures (1993)
1993 I was by now fishing a lot of Chard matches and we used to fish the reservoir regularly where there had been an explosion of three to the pound skimmers and it was fantastic fishing with some big weights caught, Les Braunton broke the match record with 76lb 14oz on six metres of pole to hand. I managed fourth place that day with …
The Archives – Part 7 – The Journey Continues (1989-1992)
1989 The first match of the year was on the Isle and I drew a peg at Ilford, a fairly non descript straight just up from peg 55 (The Xmas Peg), as I was setting up, Scotty Russell walked by (he used to fish the river a lot back then) and said there was a shoal of big roach in my swim …
The Archives – Part 6 – The Wilderness Years (1986-88)
Firstly, I have to say a massive thanks for all the great feedback and comments I’ve received regarding this series looking back at the years before the blog existed, it seems people are enjoying my little trips down memory lane!I’ve called this instalment ‘The Wilderness Years’ for a variety of reasons, the main one being that, although I still loved my fishing, …
The Archives – Part 5 – Exciting times (1985)
The start of the 1985 season saw a sixteen year old me fish my first match as a ‘senior’ (although I use the term very loosely!). These were exciting times, two of my angling mentors, Adrian Green and Barney Crockett had opened a fishing shop in Ilminster called A and R Tackle and I helped out at weekends which meant when my name appeared …
The Archives – Part 4 – More pastures new and growing up (1984)
My last trip down memory lane documented me winning a couple more matches and I started visiting some new venues and catching some nice fish, the start of the 1984 season saw me still as keen as ever and down the canal the night before ‘The Glorious 16th’ with base camp established ready for my first ever night fishing session. 1984 My diary …
The Archives – Part 3 – New venues and a big goldfish! (1983)
So at the end of Part 2, I’d won my first match and thanks to mum and dad at Xmas I was the proud owner of my first carbon fibre rod. I was still super keen and getting on the bank as often as possible, if I wasn’t fishing myself, I was watching other anglers and asking questions. I was also buying all the …
The Archives – Part 2 – Influences and my first match win (1981-82)
So Part 1 detailed my introduction into fishing and my first tentative steps onto the junior match scene in 1980, Part 2 takes up the story on June 17th 1981. There was still a close season in place and I can only describe the countdown to June 16th as something akin to the excitement of waiting for Xmas day. I can’t remember why I didn’t …