I started fishing way back in 1979 at the tender age of 8. My late grandfather emerged form his loft with a dusty split cane rod, an old Intrepid reel filled with coarse nylon line and a bag of bits and bobs which included a few porcupine quills, some split shot and a few packets of hooks. I acquired an old margarine tub, punched a few holes in it and went digging in the garden for worms.

 

Those early days saw me catching plenty of roach and perch from my local mere on what now seems very crude tackle. As my fishing skills improved, so did the tackle. The rod was exchanged for a state of the art fibreglass one and the reel was swapped for the latest Shakespeare model that didn’t squeak with every turn. The fish also improved, with bream and tench becoming regular catches as well as the odd carp. I encountered my first pike when reeling in a small roach. It was grabbed by a jack of about a foot in length.

 

As I hit my teenage years, I turned my attention to targeting specific species. Summer saw me carp fishing and when the winter arrived with the frosts, the boilies and hair-rigs were swapped for dead-baits and wire traces. I also caught many good pike on lures such as jointed plugs, spinners and spoons. A move to Cornwall in 2000 saw me swap freshwater for salt and I became predominately a lure angler.

 

I now fish specifically LRF style around the many harbours, piers, beaches and rock marks in Cornwall and Devon, trying to catch the many mini species that inhabit our coastline with flimsy rods, really light line and tiny hooks.

 

I also spend time each year fishing abroad. One of my favourite destinations is Tenerife, where I’ll fish predominately LRF style for species such as wrasse, damsels, rockfish, pufferfish and bream from the local marinas, rockmarks and even rock pools. Another of my favourite holiday destinations is Aruba, a Dutch Island in the Southern Caribbean. You never quite know what you’ll catch from a place like this, but bonefish, snapper, grunt, grouper, mojarra, permit and jacks are the most common species that I encounter whilst fishing from the beach or rocks over rough ground. Another popular destination that I enjoy visiting is Orlando, Central Florida. Whilst here I spend many hours targeting the largemouth bass, probably the most popular species in the United States.

 

No matter where I am in the world, the one thing that you can guarantee is that I’ll have a fishing rod with me.

 

Favourites and PB

Occupation: Company Director

 

Favourite species: Scorpion fish

 

PB: Pike 21lb 2oz

 

Fav venue: Mevagissey Harbour or The Butler Chain of Lakes, Central Florida

 

Most memorable session: Catching 13 Largemouth Bass upto 6lb 6oz on topwater lures, Lake Butler, Central Florida

 

Fav rod and reel: Gunki Reinbo 1-4g rod paired with the Gunki THG FV 1000 reel, which gives me an ultra light and extremely sensitive setup.

 

Fav Lure: I have more than one, depending on species sought and methods used. I find the Gunki LS Whiz and Gunki LS Kiddy perfect being rigged on a jig head when fishing at various depths for fish such as pollock, mackerel, garfish and wrasse. When targeting predominately bottom feeding species such as flatfish, goby, blenny and scorpions I’ve caught the majority of my fish on the 2.5” Molix Sator Worm.

 

Fav Method: I’m equally happy using a jig head, split shot rig or employing the drop shot method. Conditions, venues and species sought dictate which method I’ll employ on a certain day.