My first experience of fish and angling…

Growing up in Somerset, as a young lad I would feed the ducks on the river Tone and see large chub beneath the surface, stealing the bread! These fish captivated me; they seemed monstrous and not at all catchable by hand! There had to be a way!

 Although I had tried fishing once or twice as a boy it wasn’t until a year after the bread feeding incident that I properly found angling through a friend. We loaded up with the cheapest of kit and were sent off to the river.

 Those days were magical, I remember them so well. We didn’t have a clue! It was a proper boy’s adventure, rods tried to bikes, cheap tackle, no real plans and a floppy used copy of “learn to fish”.

It didn’t take long and on the first trip to French Weir Park in Taunton on the river Tone, I connected to and landed a lovely small chub, which was my first fish. I sure this was more luck than skill but something about that fish ignited the fire for angling. I had seen those fish below the surface, laid awake at night reliving the scene, preparing the tackle and then finally caught one.

I still live and love angling and all it offers me and others, I owe it a lot and will always be a custodian of fisheries.