“Everyone thinks fishing’s about old men and sweetcorn!”
Star of The Big Fish Off and The Only Way is Essex Ricky Rayment reckons angling’s image needs a polish
IF YOU’RE one of the combined million-plus followers Ricky Rayment has on social media you’ll be well aware of his love of carp fishing.
The 26-year-old is a hugely popular former star of ITV’s The Only Way is Essex (Towie). He also appeared alongside Ali Hamidi and Dean Macey in arguably The Big Fish Off’s most explosive episode, the finale of series two in Thailand.
We joined Ricky at his favourite local haunt, Crowsheath Fishery near Billericay, for a chat about his love of carping…
Q: When did you start fishing? A: When I was 14 or 15. I used to go every week with my pals until I was about 17, then everyone started doing other things, so I drifted away from it because no-one else was doing it and there were other things to do.
I go to Florida four times a year because my parents lived there, so from 18 until about two years ago all I did was sea fish.
Then Ali Hamidi got in touch about The Big Fish Off and I said “yeah, let’s do it, I can fish!” forgetting how different sea fishing is to carp fishing!
Then after that I didn’t stop. I just needed to be reminded of it, I suppose. I had slipped into that comfort of sea fishing where you chuck out, you eat your catch and you go home, whereas there’s more to it when you’re carp fishing, which I like.
Q: How exactly did you get back into carping? A: About this time last year it was getting sunny and I said to my pals “let’s go fishing” and one of them said “try Crowsheath, it’s really nice down there”.
I had a great time, I caught my two pbs on the first day – a 22lb and a 25lb something. Me and [venue boss] Nick hit it off and now I come down here all the time.
Q: Do you have any great fishing ambitions? A: I spoke to Ali today about doing an internet series. Because I fish all the time, I might as well do something with it and film it, because there’s a big market for it. So he’s going to speak to Danny [Fairbrass, Korda boss] and their marketing team and see what we can do.
Q: Does fishing have an image problem? A: Yeah it has, it’s major. Korda is doing the right thing by bringing people like Tom Dove in. He’s young, he’s got good charisma about him. He appeals to younger guys, and maybe even girls if they like to fish. I think that helps the image. I was saying to Ali that if I was to do something it would bring a different image to fishing because I suppose everybody just associates fishing with old men and sweetcorn! You have to open people’s eyes to it.
Obviously it can be a little bit boring when you’re sitting and waiting, but there are other things to fishing. You enjoy the company and the socialising. And if you’re not catching you can go to a smaller lake and try for the smaller fish for a bit of fun.
Q: Do your mates who aren’t into fishing take the mick? A: Nah. I’ll get them saying “are you going out fishing again? How many days have you been there? Aren’t you bored?”
But I don’t get bored with it, because I know any second that rod could scream off and it could be something massive, or a fish that someone’s been looking for, so I don’t care. I blanked for eight days here once and I don’t care.
Q: What sort of reaction do you
get from Towie fans? A: The girls seem to get quite involved in it. I think people like Korda have helped to raise awareness of fishing with their shows.
Social media is a funny thing – there are so many different people from all walks of life on there, so people who watch Towie might still fish, so I still have a lot of followers who like fish and fishing. Every time I put something up it gets a good reaction.
Q: What was it like to film The Big Fish Off? A: It was brilliant, surreal to be honest. It was different to the other TV stuff I’ve done, but I go into everything with an open mind. It was wicked, laid back, there wasn’t too much
pressure. You could get involved as much as you wanted to. It was probably one of my favourite-ever experiences.
Q: What do you do other than fishing at the moment? A: I’ve got a vaping company and I can do all that from the bank because everything’s online.
I’d stopped smoking and then
I came fishing and started again, then I quit about three or four months ago and haven’t touched one since.
I went to the Carpin’ On show in Colchester and a lot of fishermen were vaping, a hell of a lot. There’s a crossover with fishermen and vaping, with all the kit and the flavours. We’ve spoken about releasing boilie-flavoured juices.
Q: You’ve brought a speaker along today, but you’re playing music (quietly) that most people wouldn’t associate with you… A: I love to listen to opera when I’m fishing – Paul Potts, Bocelli, Nessun Dorma.
When we were in France I had a double take when Paul Potts was playing. The fish can feel the good vibrations!