Like you, Simon, I think fishing has been 'in' me since childhood. I used to go pond-dipping with a friend when I lived in Stockport, catching newts, toads etc. Natural history has always fascinated me for as long as I can remember, and continues to do so.
Proper 'fishing' seemed to be a natural extension of the exploring done as a youngster, but again like you, there were no mentors; none of my family or other friends were in the least bit interested. My friend and I sort of muddled our way along, and I can remember virtually all of one long summer break from school focused on just catching 'something'. I can still remember the day I finally managed to catch a fish, and the awful gear used: solid glass 'spinning' rod of just five foot long, Intrepid Black Prince, 4.4lb Bayer Perlon, a white celluloid 'night float' with a luminous tip (not sure why - it was a hot sunny day!), a bulk of No4 shot and a heavy forged eyed size 16 hook tied direct. Bait was double yellow maggot, with an assortment of colours kept in a tobacco tin. Looking back, I reckon I could have used those maggots to rub out pencil they were that rubbery.
There were no established commercial fisheries as such, although I remember 'Roman Lakes' in nearby Marple was rumoured to be a place where anyone could catch. However, at £1 a day to fish, it was beyond my pocket, and quite a distance to travel by bus. In the piscatorial desert that was the north west at that time (late seveties), my fishing was restricted to Poynton Pool, a large reservoir (Combs), and the Macclesfield Canal at High Lane and elsewhere. Travel by bus was the only way we could get there without resorting to pestering our parents for a lift in the car.
My first fish was a quarter pound perch taken on the gear mentioned at Poynton Pool. I knew from that point on, having felt the electrifying pulse of a real fish on the end of the line, I would always be an angler. I followed it up with a 1lb 2oz roach (weighed on Little Samsons) later in the same day, having changed float to a yellow-topped porcupine quill that I could barely make out in the sunset glare and evening ripple facing me.
I always enjoyed reading fishing books, and I devoured everything I could get my hands on at the local library. Much of it was not really applicable to the sort of fishing available to me, and was about the Hampshire Avon etc. The 'breakthrough' came when I read Ivan Marks' book on matchfishing. Although I had been improving steadily, the information in that book was a proper turbo-boost in terms of my improvement; I still think that it is one of the best books written on angling. Whilst the venues were still alien to me (Witham, Trent, Nene, Welland etc), the techniques covered were much more relevant. With a better sense of direction, I went about acquiring some more suitable gear...
However, a change in my dad's job meant a move to Nottinghamshire in the summer of 1980. As a 15 year old, I struggled with this - living in a different area, and deteriorating academically at a new school. I did try the Trent on one occasion, but it was in flood at the time (I was completely out of my depth on such a venue, and did not even realise that rivers flooded - I thought it was like this all the time
). Salvaging what I could of my education, the distraction of girls, and then getting a job sidelined the fishing. A developing interest in motorbikes delayed any return to angling for some considerable time as well.
A change of job in 1989 saw me sharing an office with a lad who invited me to fish the Trent at Fiskerton with him that same year. I bought my first carbon rod in anticipation, and did some reading in preparation. I added a set of stick floats and other items to supplement what I still had of my fishing gear. This outing, and a further two with the same lad in the summer, saw me getting a total of three 'fishing lessons' on the Trent. Whilst weights were low (he caught roughly 7 pounds of fish on each session after work, to my 3 - 5 pounds in short afternoon/evening sessions), he clearly outclassed me in terms of skill and expertise. That was hard for me to take. I have read somewhere about Izaak Walton being envious not of people living better than him, but catching more fish; I can relate to that, and it was exactly how I felt.
The experience that summer aggravated a competitiveness in me I was not aware of, and I resolved to 'correct' the state of affairs without delay! All annual leave was given over to practise and more practise. This led to an improvement in ability on a par with the turbo-charging experience mentioned above. The drive to fish was all-consuming. The downside was that during this time, club and open matches dominated weekends - to the point that it became virtually impossible to get a peg on the river. It was this, and the awakened competitive streak in me that led to me fishing my first club match at Burton Joyce. This happy state of affairs started to sour in the season of 1991/2 when the Trent deteriorated suddenly and inexplicably. I still fished club matches right up until the 1996/7 season (when the river seemed to recover considerably), with the odd open, and I also fished for another club in their Nationals. I also met a good friend during the 1990s, a man who was ace at catching roach on the float. He became my mentor. Jim Terry, I'll thank you again now! However in 1997, redundancy meant re-skilling, with a spell at college in the autumn of 1997 and then uni, followed by getting a new job (I abstained from all fishing during college/uni - it would have been too distracting, and there was too much at stake). Family followed in 2003 (and 2006!). I did not realise how this would affect my anticipated return to the banks!
Sadly, match fishing seems to have died on the river, and my mentor moved back up to Yorkshire. I had hoped to pick up where I had left off, but the lack of matches, and a shift in my local club's emphasis from river to carp venues led to a lack of interest in their matches on my part. I still pleasure fish the Trent, but the intensity of before is not there without the matches (or even a bit of peg-to-peg competition)
.
My attentions now are focused perhaps more on variety - fishing for perch on the Trent and the Erewash Canal, winters spent chubbing, float fishing for roach in the summer/autumn etc. There is a new lad at work who has started to take an interest in the 'angle'. This has given a bit more purpose to my angling, as well as some much-missed comany. I am finding it rewarding to act as a mentor, and my enthusiasm is returning. It is satisfying to be able to put something back. Anyway, enough about me; over to you lot..!
