JUST LOVED MY DAY’S SHARKING!
...and the bird life you see is spectacular
NOW that was a busy week, to say the least! Here’s what happened…
MONDAY
Took Chris Binnington for a guide day on the Severn, but the river really was in a bad state with a brown algal bloom in the water and as low as I have seen it for many a year.
Anyway, after baiting up for an hour we cast out into the swim. Straight away we had barbel and chub, but as soon as the sun came up things were slow.
Chris finished with a personal best barbel of 8lb 2oz, chub close to 5lb and a few nice roach to a pound, all on boilies.
The best thing about this trip came a few days later when Chris sent photos of an 11lb-plus barbel he had caught using my tactics on his local Warwickshire Avon.
My aim on my guide days is for the customer to leave a better angler than when they arrived – seems like it worked with Chris!
TUESDAY
Another guide day, this time with Doctor Alan Cordley for carp. Conditions were far from perfect and I suggested we put a couple of bottom rods out and then a third for fishing at the surface.
After 10 hours’ fishing we had one take on the bottom rods and 13 fish off the surface, which was not surprising considering all the fish were swimming near the top!
Until today Alan’s best carp was 13lb but most of his fish were bigger than that and he went away with a personal best of 20lb 13oz. I felt chuffed for him and on the way home I stopped at a pub for a quick pint of ice-cold cider. It hardly touched the sides.
FRIDAY
Another live show on Facebook in the evening, with more than 8,000 views. It takes a hell of a commitment to do an hour every week, especially when you have a hectic family life and go fishing as much as I do!
But I love it, drinking a pint and talking to my mates through the computer. As the months go by I will be adding little things to make it more interesting without losing that ‘rawness’ that people like about the show.
I make mistakes – everyone does – but it all washes over my head. I’m not an actor, I’m just a fisherman trying my best.
SATURDAY
Joined the committee of the Rowley club and members of the Barbel Society, the Environment Agency and the Angling Trust to introduce nine young anglers to river fishing. The weather was sunny and the kids all caught fish – although the barbel didn’t show up – and everyone had a great day.
We sat in the sun afterwards eating hot dogs and hamburgers, just talking fishing and entertaining the kids. If only one kid continues to river fish but the rest can see why we go fishing then the day has been a success.
A special thanks to Max Taylor of the Rowley club for doing a lot of the work to make this a great event – but next time try to arrange it on a day when England are not playing in the quarter finals of the World Cup!
SUNDAY
Today I made a DVD about catching blue sharks off the west of Wales. Me and cameraman Ross Bernie went with Andy Truelove of Broadside Charters, fishing 35 miles off shore to try and catch a few of these beasts.
I won’t say too much as I don’t want to give away the content of
the DVD, but let’s just say we had a great day with sharks.
The wildlife was out of this world. We saw gannets, puffins, hundreds of shearwaters, storm petrels dancing above the surface taking bits of fish from the rubby-dubby trail and a real treat – dolphins that nearly hit the camera as we filmed them underwater.
These days I want to catch fish as much as ever, but with age comes an understanding of how precious life is. Seeing nature like this in its raw natural form really strikes a chord with me. It was blowing a force five so a bit ‘lumpy’ at times, and by the time we got back on shore we were all very tired, but we both made the decision to go home that evening.
Ross is 29, and after five hours he made it back to his home in Essex. Me? At midnight I stopped in a lay-by just outside Ross on Wye and woke up at 4.30am! A rub of the eyes and I was away again and back home at 6am after 400-mile round trip. Now that’s what you call a long fishing session!
I’ll end by urging anyone who fancies some easy fishing with lots of 50lb-plus sharks to give this a go. All the gear can be supplied and even if you’ve never sea fished before you’ll come home thinking you are master of the ocean! Tip – if you suffer with sea sickness, eat a jar of strawberry jam before you go out. It won’t stop you being sick but it tastes nice on the way up…