I fished all the inter county police matches in my younger teens but then got the real buzz when our family moved near a lake called Whirley Mere in Cheshire. The lake was full of decent size crucian carp up to about four pound and I regularly used to pick up large bags on the float but just before dark every night the float would dive under and I would strike to an almost instant snapping of the line from ‘the one that got away!

I’ve been fishing ever since my old man brought me a Woolworths starter kit one Christmas. It has been in my blood since and i grew up fishing rivers, canals and ponds around Doncaster. I became dissatisfied with the silver fish on my local canal and spent a time just fishing for the Chub on there. Also the Tench on a local pond where i saw a Carp angler. He was using a 3 rod set-up, monkey climbers and optic bite alarms. I was that annoying kid but he was helpful, answered my questions and was the first carp to make me a brew!