“I LOVE THE CHALLENGE OF FISHING”
Former professional footballer and star of I’m A Celebrity, Jimmy Bullard has a new fishing podcast coming out. We caught up with him to talk about all things angling
ASIDE from his silky skills on the pitch, former professional footballer Jimmy Bullard was perhaps best-known for his dressing room pranks and lively sense of humour – but what many people might not realise is that he’s also held a lifelong passion for fishing.
The one-time Wigan, Fulham and Hull City midfielder caught the angling bug as a child, and after hanging up his football boots in 2012, all his focus and competitive desire switched to match angling.
The 42-year-old has broken into Daiwa’s highly-decorated Dorking squad and regularly competes on his local match circuit. Now, in his latest venture, Jimmy is teaming up with Skybet to bring football and fishing fans a new podcast experience called ‘Off the Hook with Jimmy Bullard’. We caught up with Jimmy – who was in the garage sorting through his fishing tackle when we called – to pick his brains on what we can expect from the show, and delve a little deeper into his angling career.
AT: Where did the idea for the new podcast come from and what can the audience expect? Jimmy: “With podcasts being the ‘in thing’ at the moment and having been brought up watching A Passion for Angling and Go Fishing, I’ve always wanted to have my own fishing programme of some sort. So, the Skybet team and I got our heads together and came up with the idea of getting famous footballers on the bank to talk about their greatest achievements in the sport, and to see how they react in a fishing environment. The end product is fantastic. I’ve been told to keep the names of those appearing close to my chest, but I can confirm Bobby Zamora and Robbie Keane will be in the first couple of episodes.”
AT: Were you surprised by how the footballers reacted to fishing? Jimmy: “I was surprised by how competitive they all were – straight away they wanted to turn it into a competition! On one occasion Robbie Keane, who’s never fished before, made a random cast out to his right and had a fish straight away. I mean, that’s just the luck of the Irish for you, but he made sure to rub it in!
Normally in interviews or podcasts, players are looking to get out of there as quickly as possible, but you couldn’t get the fishing rod out of their hands and they were always wanting one last cast – which was fantastic to see.”
AT: Where did it all begin for you then, fishing-wise? Jimmy: “My dad took me to a boot sale when I was about eight and bought me an old cane rod and a few bits of tackle. There was a lake nearby so we took my kit there and I ended up banking a roach. It was only around 3oz but it captivated me. During the school holidays I would spend most days fishing the river at the bottom of our hill and when I turned 15, dad and I joined a match fishing club and competition angling quickly became my love.”
AT: Are there any transferrable skills between being an elite sportsman and a top match angler?
Jimmy: “Excellent hand-eye coordination and quick reflexes
definitely help, but I’ve found it’s the willingness to absorb information and learn that’s the biggest cross-over. In football you’re always trying to adapt your game and learn from the player you’re trying to beat, and it’s exactly the same in fishing. If you can read your opponent well and understand why they’ve used a particular rig or bait, then you’ll stand yourself in good stead.”
AT: Why match fishing and not pleasure or specimen angling? Jimmy: “Living in Surrey, I have the Rivers Mole and Wey on my doorstep, so I love the odd pleasure fishing session. Being competitive is in my nature though, and I don’t think I could last a whole year without fishing a match. I love having to work out what bait the fish want on the day, where they’re going to feed and so on. It’s that sort of challenge that attracts me.”
AT: Do you have any angling ambitions, such as taking part in