Five minutes with... match ace Jamie Hughes: “You can fish too much...”
This year laid-back Jamie Hughes will be in his sixth consecutive Fish O’Mania final. How does he do it?
TO MOST serious match anglers, getting into one Fish O’Mania Final would be a fine achievement.
To appear in six is the stuff of dreams, while to get through six times in a row is well nigh impossible – right? Not if you are Jamie Hughes.
Winning at Lakeview Fishery last week saw the MAP-backed Wirral match star book his sixth consecutive final appearance in an event he’s won twice already. Some might say he’s lucky when it comes to drawing a peg but, as any good match angler will tell you, that’s only half the battle – the fish won’t jump into your net.
So how does he do it, and what are his chances of making it a hattrick of titles in July at Cudmore Fisheries? Angling Times got the lowdown in a five-minute chat… Q: Six finals in a row is incredible. What’s been the key? A: Persistence! It’s as simple as that. I don’t mind travelling and I don’t mind catching nothing. Obvously, the more you fish qualifiers, the more chance you have of winning one.
Trying to qualify from just one or two chances a year is impossible unless you have a golden day when it all goes right for you.
Q: You’ve had plenty of near misses in 2017 – did you think it wasn’t going to happen? A: Not really. I’ve fished qualifiers for so long that I know the score and I try not to have that sort of attitude. Every match is different and someone has to come second – I just go hoping it won’t be me but if it is, so be it. There’s always the next time.
Q: Lakeview is not a venue you know. How do you prepare for a big match on an unknown water? A: I do a bit of homework in terms of finding out which species I will be fishing for and which methods tend to work. At Lakeview it was all-out carp and F1 fishing, which made things simple.
They’re snake lakes too, which I am comfortable fishing, so my approach was sorted in that I was going to fish hard pellet and nothing else. Experience of what works at that time of year on these venues plays as big a part as anything else.
Q: How do you decide which qualifiers to go for? A: I go for anything, to be frank, but given a choice I will always pick a match that involves the least amount of travelling just to make life easier. If there’s nothing else on, though, I’ll put in the miles. I pick a venue based on travelling as the fishing is what it is, whether I live 10 miles or 100 miles away.
Q: You’re a full-time angler. Is this a big advantage? A: People think it is, but I have
“Over-practising can pose too many questions that you never really answer”
no time to practise because I am so busy with coaching and then fishing matches!
I guess the advantage of being full-time is that I am out on the bank a lot. That means I am in tune with any changes that are taking place, such as fish spawning times, or when in the year certain baits begin to work.
Q: Is practising worthwhile? A: I’ve done this in a lot of qualifiers and finals and I think that the worst thing you can do is practise too much – it can put too many questions into your head that you never really solve.
I’m happy to know which fish are present, how deep the venue is and which baits and methods are working, and that’s enough for me to develop a plan before I begin the match.
Q: How will this year’s final with its big changes match up to previous ones? A: I’m expecting a hard match as Arena Pool at Cudmore will have more pressure on it than it’s ever seen, what with the crowds and more anglers fishing. I am hoping that there won’t be areas that dominate, and I think anywhere from permanent pegs 10 to 30 could give me a chance of winning. I also reckon that the harder the lake fishes, the better the chance there is of more pegs chucking up a weight. I hope no one swim will run away with it.
Q: It’s a golden age for big-money matches. Are there now too many? A: I think we’re about full now, as there aren’t enough weekends to fit everything in and you have to pick and choose.
Possibly a big-money event in the winter might be of interest – otherwise, unless you team fish, this is a quiet time of year.
Q: What’s the best bit of advice you can give to someone fishing a big match for the first time? A: I’ve got a few tips. Keep it simple, choose two tactics and hope that one works, and take your time – a qualifier is rarely won in the first hour. Feel your way in to begin with and make the right decisions. It’s easy to say that, I know, but too often people don’t catch well early on and force things, ruining the peg in the process. If you do it right, everything will fall into place.
Q: What’s next on the agenda – presumably trying to make the Match This Final? A: I’d love to get into the Maver Match This and Golden Reel finals so that will be my priority in the coming months, nothing else. I’ve had some near misses so far this year, so fingers crossed.