Fishing gone by, long gone!

Normally I would be writing about a lovely day in April sat in the sun with a lovely Southerly breeze and shed loads of carp, well I can dream. I would also normally be writing following on from 2001 but a few things on Facebook have made me thought about digging up some old stuff. By the way if you are on Facebook you should look up Bill Knott, he is putting on some really great old articles from years ago, fascinating stuff.

As I recently moved house I had to pack and unpack a few things, and in doing this I came across some old photos, and documents which I thought I would share.

I don't possess any photo's of me as a real young un with a fish but I have found some from when I was about 16 years old.

This photo was taken by Andy Britt and it shows me holding my one and only tench caught from Jack Whites on the Bristol Avon. I think I would have been 16 years old. I remember walking down to the river from my house (when I used to live on a farm close by) and I walked up from the mouth of the brook and all the way up to the steps and every peg was taken. I was gutted. Luckily the guy on the steps said I could get in just down below him as he was packing up soon. I chucked a feeder across and remember having a few chub in a couple of hours, and then this tench which lead me a merry dance. I was astonished when I landed it, Andy who was walking the bank reckoned it was 5lb+. Not long after I hooked another decent fish, but this disappeared upstream snapping me in the process. For a very long time this was without doubt my favourite fish caught on the river.

My first ever fishing related photo in the local Evening Post was taken I think in the same season as above but the last week of the season. I had decided to fish Chequers Straight for one last time and set up a waggler which I really enjoyed. After 20 minutes I hadn't had a bite, and was getting worried as the river was going a little fast. However, when the float finally went under it was a solid resistance, but halfway back it came off. Another 15 minutes and another  decent fish and I lost it again, but this time I saw that it was a bream. I quickly set up a feeder and chucked it out and proceeded to catch a few bream. Two guys came walking along with cameras, and started asking me questions and wanted to take a photo if I caught a bream. Well I did hook one, but the feeder was snagged, so they got a picture of the rod bending lol. Later in life I realised those two guys were Ray Bazeley and Dave Haines. However, when the article was printed they got my picture and Mike Kent's name, and vice versa lol. I cut out the two things and kept as my first sort of claim to fame!

In the close season we found some small ponds called Upham Farm, well found it via Paul Dicks who organised some coach trips there. I then went there on and off for a few years, and got to know the owner, a the farmer James Wilcox, quite well and he even let me and my wife stay in a spare room for a few quid. This place was genuinely my first real taste of small carp fishing, and before I had a pole it was all waggler fishing. I found you could catch in close and I would fish a short clear plastic waggler by the bank and feed maggots. Always lots of fun, and caught literally hundreds of carp. Think this was one of my earliest photos of a carp at Upham.

Just up the road from Upham was another venue called Hogsbrook Lake, quite different, this was two much bigger lakes and they were spring fed and bright red in colour. Much harder fishing generally but the carp were bigger. The upper lake was fished mostly, but the lower lake had plenty of fish in it, and I once found carp in the shallows feeding in the inlet from the upper lake. We used to take a day trip down to here and I caught my biggest carp back in the day at 7lb here.

When I was 16 I had a holiday with some school mates and an older chap that took us every where for a couple of years, we went to a place in Cornwall called Shillamill Lakes. It was hard fishing for us most of the time, and I caught 100 roach and some very small carp on the first day on wag and mag, then I had 17 tench on straight lead an meat on the next day. After this it was rock hard. But by going for walks round the lakes I found odd carp feeding in close, I adopted a free line bread flake approach so the bread would sink to the bottom. Depending where the carp was feeding I could either watch the carp take the bait or just watch the line on the surface. Although not my normal style it was certainly exciting.

Well I think that is enough pictures of a young me, lol. Hopefully they give you a few minutes distraction and a chuckle, stay safe everyone.