“THE MOST SPECIAL OF EVERYTHING I’VE WON”
So says Tommy Pickering, blown away by his lifetime achievement accolade...
TOMMY Pickering is one of very few living anglers who can genuinely be called a legend.
Several candidates were considered for the 2018 Editor’s Lifetime Achievement Award but ultimately this year’s decision was an easy one, the England team legend’s raft of honours and accolades making the Yorkshireman the perfect man to get the gong.
In a year when he finally pulled down the curtain on a glittering England career, Angling Times talked to Tommy to find out more about the man who has inspired thousands to take up the sport. Angling Times: How do you feel about being chosen for the 2018 Editor’s Lifetime Achievement Award? Tommy Pickering: I am absolutely thrilled to win this award and I can honestly say I never saw it coming. I have been fortunate enough to win a few awards in the past but this is the first one which has been chosen by my peers within the sport, and for that reason alone it is the most special of them all.
Only a handful of anglers have won it and I feel honoured to have my name alongside legends such as Dick Clegg.
AT: What are the biggest highlights from your career? TP: There are so many things that spring to mind, but if I am pushed there are four events that stand out vividly. The first was winning my first team gold with England in the 1985 World Championships in Italy, as that set the ball rolling for an incredibly successful period. Winning individual gold in the 1989 World Championships was also a real highlight, as was watching my daughter Emma do the same in the 2008 Ladies event. Last but not least was winning the first WorldFeeder Championships gold as team manager in Ireland in 2014.
AT: Have you always aspired to reach such high levels within angling or has it all come together gradually? TP: From when I was a teenager I always wanted to fish for England and I was deadly serious about achieving that. Denis White and I had known each other since we were young and pushed each other on, as we both had the same goal. Everything I did in fishing was geared towards getting that call up, and it finally happened in
1978 when Stan Smith put me in the team to fish in Austria. All that hard work had been worth it and it was one of the proudest moments of my life.
AT: What has been the biggest challenge in your career? TP: That came fairly recently before the 2014 World Feeder Championships. I had been fishing and managing the team but I felt I couldn’t do both any more.
I was desperate to fish, but at the same time I knew I wouldn’t be able to perform at the level required at that time and decided to step back and just manage.
It was so hard to accept it but I knew it was the right thing to do and so it proved, as we took home our first-ever gold in that tournament.
AT: Who are the most talented anglers you have fished with and
managed over the years? TP: When it comes to who I have managed it has to be Steve Ringer. He has the best angling brain I have ever seen, and his ability to work things out quickly is phenomenal. As for opponents, I would have to say Denis White. He was absolutely ruthless at his peak and still is if you draw next to him! His ability to make the most of a good peg was excellent and he was one person I never wanted to see next to me on the bank.
AT: How much does it mean to you to have a family that loves fishing just as much as you do? TP: I am so fortunate that my daughter Emma and granddaughter Cadie love fishing and it’s priceless spending time on the bank with them both. I love passing on my knowledge to help them get better and the best bit is, they do it because they really enjoy it, not because I have coaxed them into it.
AT: Do you still have any goals in angling that you want to achieve? TP: I’m still massively competitive and I have no intention of giving up match fishing. I still have my eyes on winning Fish O’Mania or Maver Match This. But just as important to me now is enjoying my personal fishing. Being involved with the England set-up is time-consuming but now that I have relinquished those duties, I can concentrate on myself more.