How I started

My first memory of going fishing is a very blurred now as it was 45 years ago , my dad took me as he was a keen angler and a reasonable matchman . Cant remember venue but think it was the Sheffield Canal and spent the day catching gudgeon and small roach . My dad didn't drive at the time and so we relied on his friends for lifts , which wasn't a problem as they were all anglers . It stemmed from my dad been a member of The Fellowship of Ex-servicemen , who all helped each other out whenever and however they could . For the first 6 or 7 years I would go fishing every Sunday with my dad and whoever was available to take us and fish with us or we would catch a bus to either Underbank reservoir at Stocksbridge or Worsborough reservoir . I had mates who lived in the same block of maisonettes who would come with us on the bus .When I think of the tackle and bait we had makes me wonder how we managed to catch and why we take so much now .

My dad became match secretary for the local Fellowship club , the Companions club at Fir Vale and suddenly I was fishing matches .Starting by fishing junior matches and the odd club match .At the same time was allowed to go on bus with my mates without adult supervision , no danger of been grabbed by some pervert at that time . The 6 weeks holidays were great , we would take ourselves off 3 or 4 times a week . We didn't catch massive fish bream to 2 or 3lb been about the limit .

Things changed again when I was about 13 years old my dad started running a coach for Law Brothers of Hillsborough everyone on the coach was given a vote as to where they wanted to fish , during the river season most of the time the vote was for trips all the way to Lincolnshire to places on the Witham and also the Fens to fish places like the forty foot and sixteen foot drains , alot of the time we either caught eels or the odd roach and bream , come the close season you either stopped fishing or went up Yorkshire and fished worm for trout !!!! Had some good trips up to fish rivers like the Swale , Ure and Ouse we didn't see many trout but caught loads of chub , roach and perch .When the river re-opened for the first month or so until the regulars started coming back on the coach we had trips up to Yorkshire and could fish any method and bait , in fact on one trip when I was 14 I caught a chub that would be my biggest for another 20 years at 4lb 10oz !!!!!

Every year in August my dad would have his annual 2 weeks holiday and for one of them we would go and stay at a Cafe next the Witham at Langrick bridge . we usually fished the same swim for the week and invariably fished hemp and tares for the roach that were at that time numerous , it usually took an hour or so for the roach to arrive and in the meantime we would catch the odd tench as our first job was to rake the swim we intended to fish and then put a bed of hemp down the roach of tare usually ran from 8oz to 1lb 12oz but on one of our trips I caught what is still my pb roach and the saddest thing is that at that time had no camera , it weigh 2lb 12oz and was an absolute monster and my only 2lb fish from the river . My dad did have 2 or 3 from other sessions his last one from the Witham at Kirkstead bridge where we eventually got a caravan on the Railway hotel site .

Around 2 years later we stopped going to Langrick as the cafe changed hands and was never the same. We decided to try the hemp , tare and caster approach at Underbank and spent a week fishing the same swims but totally different to how we caught on the Witham the swims were too deep for the float so we fished straight lead on a swingtip , due to the fact that one we didnt have the gear and that night fishing wasnt allowed we had to travel home every night and back the following morning . The first 3 days or so we caught roach but only in the 8oz bracket and bream to 3lb on caster , on the 4th day the fish sizes started going up as we caught roach all over 1lb and the bream seemed to disappear on our last day we were catching 1lb 8oz fish regularly then as the light started to fade we had decided to stay a little later and were rewarded with fish over 2lb , /I had 5 between 2lb 1oz and 2lb 6oz .

I didn't fish Underbank much after that as couldn't dedicate enough time to it as was also playing Ice Hockey , I continued to match fish  with some success .My fishing began to suffer as I had now left school and started work so while I had the money I didn't have the time or energy , when I did get out it would be either on the local canal or as my dad now drove we ventured onto the Trent , fishing mainly the tidal at Fledborough and catching good nets of roach to a lb .

Then my fishing was to suffer the ultimate blow , I got married and that curtailed my time even more and it was just the odd canal trip . This is how it stayed for the next 10 years as both my kids arrived and then I had the blow of a divorce . I did what anybody would do and quit my job and buggered off to Croydon in Surrey for a year .When I ventured back up north my parents had moved to Woodhall Spa as they had both suffered strokes and retired there , I went to stay with them while I got sorted and started fishing again with my dad some of the local pits . Around 6 months after I moved I met my current wife Louise who has been great she has supported me through some bad times and when the company I work for changed my hours and caused me to have to quit playing Ice Hockey after 30 years she supported my decision to start fishing properly again .That was 5 years ago , since then I have fished more than I have for years doing nights on various lakes and for the last 2 years regular nights and after work sessions on the Trent . I have been lucky enough to meet some great guys both on the bank and on various forums and Facebook groups and even more lucky not to have met many idiots .

That's me so far and am looking forward to this continuing as I meet more people who give advice and encouragement , I would name some of them but wouldn't want to embarrass them.

Hope you enjoyed this and tight lines

Bob