The Fishing Gurus Podcast #041 – Sean Ashby

On this episode of the Guru podcast, we have long-time England international angler and former world champion matchman Sean Ashby!

Sean will share an in-depth insight into his impressive and extensive angling career and the challenges and triumphs of fishing at the top level. The pair also discussed tips and tactics for various fishing situations, which could prove valuable for your next session on the bank!

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realized that I’d made the mistake of my life really it’s a really severe mistake isn’t it yes I still a bit upset about it all really Johan Ashby ladies and gents his angling credentials are unprecedented he’s been representing England at world and European level for nearly 30 years so so you won the World Champ how did it feel failing the drugs test really just get it away Cut That B his face look at him look looko he’s looking behind him look that’s such a good prank what he 78 79 cracking on so he’s going to kill us he is got some Secrets out of you in this last 15 minutes exclusive that is it well that went well didn’t it perfect I just chucked all the poles in the van and said that’s it Mark I’m not fixing again I said I would had enough yeah yeah just how did you do in that match the fishing gurus podcast [Music] right I’m going to come in bit of a different non-fishing topic I’ve got a sneaky feeling I know what you’re going to say to this because I’ve spent a bit of time with you but aside from fishing Sean Ashby what what other Hobbies have you got what other interests what do you do a quite like what do you believe cooking do you I do oh um I didn’t know you were going to say cooking what’s your what’s your me of choit if you were on um what is it Ramsey’s kitchen not kitchen Master Chef no hell’s kchen that’s it you get some more to make a signature dish what would yours be it would probably be what I made yesterday like a a proper full roast dinner yeah you make make your own York she as well yeah gra the old old shooting mat you know like slow cooked pork or something like that do you do more cooking than Sally at home honestly she’s going to listen to this you know yes I do more cooking yeah she’d admit that yeah I think so yeah fair enough hey I don’t know why I enjoy I just I just I’ve just got into it more and more got loads of cookbooks magazines and we watch Master Chef and all sorts of stuff like that when do you get time to do it properly short cuz youve got a busy old schedule yeah well I’m a sales rep on I can finish early car I oh right no but I don’t have many weekends but obviously I I don’t go fishing usually the end of March I finish I go to Ireland in April or May and I probably won I wouldn’t start actual proper fishing until like June the 16th probably or that thereabouts got yeah so then we tend to do all the family stuff then a family every other every other Sunday that sort of thing and tend to cook like it that sort of thing we should have like a podcast meal around your out me you to yeah why not what do you like at cooking toes you know what I um I made a curry the other day but from scratch I was really proud of this like I made the sauce and marinade and everything like that and it was amazing it’s one of them but you’ll probably know you be you absolutely be a better cook than me it’s time and effort it is time and effort I didn’t eat it till like quarter to 10 because I and I was like you got to make it and then Blitz up the sauce and all this and then s it was just it took forever so it is time and effort but it was better than any other curan it’s not difficult if you follow follow a recipe well that’s the thing anybody anybody can follow a recipe it is it’s about having the time it’s his time yeah that’s about a million different spices as well yeah you have to yeah you have to get all the products obviously I’m quite good at following recipes generally I find a bag of gross Gard on bag of lake and some t s that is the best recipe yeah yeah but in know serious man what are you like a I think I’ve ever seen or do you cook I I’m not good not naturally good at cooking I can cook yeah but it’s more of a conveniency thing for me I just don’t have a lot of time in an evening I actually think a roast is a good leveler so if you were to make a roast what would you do badly do badly mess’s yeah my M does a my m is cracking cook she don’t cook anywhere near enough cuz she’s a lazy little bugger sometimes but she she’s cracking cook they probably started when when I got the kids obviously so one of us have cooked te for them yeah you know and then as they get old you cooking it then then one of them wants to go vegetarian don’t it so you have to cook them somewhere else for about 3 weeks till they smell the bacon or something like that it’s always bacon as well brings them back yeah so we just developed from that really prob they liked it and then we started and then the kids have gone now so we can just just cook for ourselves what should before we move on what should go to k uh gel frezy oh nice that’s quite hot in it spice yeah don’t mind some a bit spicy no do like it I like a hot c yeah i’ had a dance act me recently that’s been my car too oh good job we doing this show before lunch boys is it um Sean Ashby welcome to the fishing gurus podcast than you much thank you for coming on Sir pleas really appreciate it um for people that don’t know give us a little bit of background about yourself where where did you originate from and and when did fishing become a part of your life uh well I’ve I’ve always lived in Derby or surrounding areas fishing um is not a fisherman but not a fisherman particularly yeah um but but we we used to go on holidays in a caravan we always go to the coach go to Scotland or um went to iron year or Cornwell or Wales or whatever and and we’d always want to go fishing off the beach uh and and it just it just went from there but the funny thing is when I was a kid we used to used to eat cereals like Kelloggs cor flakes was about the only one you could get but they used do competitions on the back so if you at so many corn flake packets or packets of cornflakes he collect all these little tokens yeah and he could he could like send off for a fishing rod that’s a great idea that so so I got a little I it must be probably a six foot white spinning rod through the Kelloggs through the Kelloggs that that then that’s what I started fishing with and spinning for mackerel and that sort of thing I don’t then would eat him yeah they’re brilliant and then we progressed we dad my dad got into it then sea fishing so he built himself a mirror dingy right what’s a mirror dingy was like a dingy I don’t know why it’s called a mirror dingy it’s just like a wooden boat but it’s like I don’t know 10 foot long decent giant decent size yeah he get a motor on the back and then we go out fishing in the sea then catch even more it was brilliant I loved it and how old are you at this point really young or uh probably sevenish had I thought we’d start then six seven and then so that was that so then still obviously I quite like the idea of fishing what do all the time and then obviously I lived where I lived Derby which is like surrounded by canals and the Trent and uh um I think uh my mate Mark Warren was waser his dad was his dad was a fisherman waser was a bit of a fisherman and so then we’ sort of we’d sort of go then on the on the river mostly fishing I know like cheese paste or something like that for job just pleasure fishing just pleasure fishing yeah and um I don’t what happened after that really just progressed just just did that and then end up meeting people like Nathan and Nathan newes Nathan newes yeah John Kylie Darren bickerton we sort of all knock about out and um go fishing for the day how how long have you known them gang obviously I know Nathan and Darren was he’s the same age as me well slightly older let get that in 32 is uh probably was about we went to school together so we about seven six or six or sevenish should have thought and then uh I don’t know about Nathan’s younger than me two years younger I think he went to the same school somehow we got we got p with him I don’t know how it happened and his mother used to take make us fish in the car which is a bonus compared to going on the bike nice drop us off but you know you’d go fishing for the day you’d go out of your house at 6 o’ in the morning with your with your Rod TI to your frame your bike and your basket on a little bit of a carrier thing out at 6:00 in the morning come back at like 600 at night no mobile phones no nothing just disappeared it’s great yeah brilliant was it yeah really good different to kids now isn’t it you couldn’t do that now you can’t do it anyway get run over within about 100 yards on is it weird we we had this conversation a few times on podcast like your generation growing up fishing is so different to someone who’s just starting nowadays yeah it’s a shame in it because um I still I can still almost remember the first fish I caught of goodin you know and it’s like these people that go to these commercials nothing wrong with commercials they probably saved our sport but the first thing they catch is probably you know a carp or or an F1 or something and like they don’t want to go down to a good you overa roach do they they’ve almost they gone in too big too soon aren’t they I think so yeah I think so interesting but you you go all day and catch like seven good and had a great day out you know but yeah it’s different about the competitive side of it obviously you’re really young at this point and you’re already mixing with a little team of lads when when did it start to get competitive for you I think the only thing I can remember is fishing an inter schools match I’d be about 14 or 15 and and I can’t remember when schools was there was a lot of schools that had that put a a four or five Man team in there’s I’m sure there’s over 200 fish in this first match wow it’s on The Canal at Willington and that area and and I caught 9 o and and I come joint second that sort in the match in the match yeah 9 o in a 200 peger yeah yeah so you can imagine that most people caught nothing did they that’s ridiculous I thought I heard that wrong for a second I don’t know what the night s pound must been a few Gooding I suppose might have caught a roach and been really lucky wow and that s that sort of set me off I remember fishing like the odd little day Club match and things like that what’s that Darby and angland Association they’re not about now but that was the big one in the area them days right and then uh what happened next um well my my mother used to work with with with another woman uh and and they were just talking about about the sons I think and he said oh my son goes fishing he’s in a he’s in a fishing club and OB my mom said oh my lad likes fishing I’ll ask him to take him lived maybe probably mile apart from each other he a bit older than me Andrew bacon biffer bacon is he still fishing now yeah a little bit yeah right um yeah do you know what to call him biffer go on do you remember the viz Toby what’s that the viz magazine no was wasting me time then all is it what is it fishing magazine no it was it’s like a comic right but it was like a it was like comedy comic for adults okay what was it called again the what is it like adults in boobies and stuff or not really just just like um swearing and and just generally stuff you wouldn’t normally say in the street bit like Nuts magazine nor no no no it’s cartoonish all right oh look at that is it’s still going is it I don’t know these are just Google anyway there’s a character called Biff biffer bacon he around beating people up and that’s what he used to do no he’s tiny we called him biffer anyway it’s a good nickname to be fair still call it a 62 I think is still calling biffer right wow these these remind me like they’re like beo aren’t they yeah yeah it’s the adult version of the beo yeah yeah it’s quite quite amusing then yeah things like that just ridiculous like question and answer things just funny my my sort of humor anyway awesome what were you like at school Sean were you a clever lad were you did you knuckle down what were you goto subjects there um was a clever I don’t know actually um I wasn’t brilliant MH I didn’t get many uh qualific I got three two or three a levels three or four a levels mostly English math was terrible English was quite good geography was good but no I’d rather have been fishing I think I used to you know bunk off the other day to go fishing or yeah lost interest towards the end right I think right um it was you know at that time it was difficult to get a job because there wasn’t any it was in um obviously in the in the 80s so you leave so school at 16 and actually on a what they called a yts a youth training scheme which was where the government would pay you 225 a week and they’d place you in a um I don’t know a job well you didn’t have a choice it was more of a I think you had to put down what your preference I wanted to be a technical drawer M I was I was quite like got I quite like art and drawing and that I was like quiet as I told you before so ended up in the drawing office the electricity board tracing like um well electricity cables on new housing States that’s so dead boring nobody said a word in it was dead quiet te lady coming oppos a cup of tea have a quick chat back to it dinner back to it just like total silence did you enjoy it yeah I think I probably did so it did six months he had six months course so it did six months and the like we said they took me for another six months but the deal was that you had to go for job interviews for proper jobs real jobs you know so I went for an interviewer at to a Builders Merchants and the SES office I didn’t have any choice I had to go to it and then so and I got that job what was that doing then um ringing up um like Builders would ring you and say I want I don’t know 20 ton of sand to alist and then have to ring up about three quarries and get the best price put in a put in a bit for the Builders Merchants and then ring them back getting the price and protect the order hopefully ah uh you know for for for a shy boy that was quite difficult to start with right when you say shy how shy are you cuz obviously I’ve got you sat in front of me today I’m like got you on a podcast and no not as bad as it used to be but I was terrible really when I was younger yeah You’ never done this sort no I couldn’t speak to people and that sort of thing so so that’s what it did me good being thrown into a job like I’ve never even considered yeah so I did that for a few years and then I ended up uh getting a job with one of the suppliers that I spoke to um which like was like like double the money is like £6,000 a year he like I’m rich you know mean I was on 25 c a week about two years previous right um so I did that worked in the office there same sort of thing but they were ringing you know the builders were just ringing me for a price now so I’d give them a price for I don’t know um block Paving or curbs or some boring like concrete or whatever so did that way up that ended up being office supervisor and eventually ended up being a rep which is what I wanted to do really get out on the road yeah get a car nice and that’s what I did for a few years which is interesting because it’s kind of what you’ve ended up doing which is what I’ve ended up doing yeah been in sales then yeah ah interesting interesting how did you um how did you get from the non angling trade world into the angling trade where did that come about because I know you’ve done a few different things within fishing jobwise haven’t you I um was approached by I can’t think who did it before me anyway I was approached I think I think Mar DS might have had something to do with it to be the editor of match fishing right so I went for the interview with David Hall um and and we agreed that I’d go and do that so we had to travel to daventry every day which was about an hour and a bit depending on the traffic on the air one I walked in the office the first day and realized that I’d made the mistake in my life really not good no why I don’t know I think it’s perhaps because I’ve been a rep for six or seven years pretty much doing what you want get up you know get out whenever you want long as you do your job it’s up to you really have to speak to anybody in the car there’s no car phones until very later on and um yeah I just didn’t enjoy it really I’m not saying I was msold the job um but it wasn’t quite what I expected it to be um how did you get out of here oh sack me oh did they really we come to an agreement they were they were going to sack me so we come to an agreement and I left so they paid me up for I don’t know two or three months or whatever it was and and I was unemployed then for a couple of weeks MH went back to went back to Charon the concrete company they had me back I was national sales manager then so quite a big job M you all the big boys all around the country and then um I got a phone call from buo Paul boothby oh yeah do want a job at maver and I knew that he was earning a lot of money and he was self-employed agent so I said yeah I’m go and see Phil and uh Phil Brisco Phil Brisco yeah and um he just from the job there and then fantastic so I did that for a bit what’s that repping for AA reping for a in the north yeah no nice yes that there so obviously starting to meet obviously just going in tackle shops and talking about fishing and try and sell them what era were that what sort of years were that I reckon it was [Music] about 80 98 99 I reckon wow so before sort of big internet years and that kind of thing no might a bit later than that actually because I had ask him for um three weeks off to go to Finland for the world Champs in 2002 been around about that sort of time yeah Millennium time yeah just after year there thereabouts right uh and I reckon I worked there for about 18 months and I was it you enjoy the shop side of things yeah definitely yeah yeah yeah enjoyed it yeah going just just going talk about you know it’s like talk about fishing and you know then show them some products and just generally get to know it’s just a nice nice occupation isn’t it really love that um but I’d always wanted you know I’ve known marown since I probably about 21 probably 2021 and and I’ve seen him do his job uh or not doing his job whichever way you want to call it he will probably listen to this careful I have thought that’s the job for me but you know anyway I asked him a couple of times no too busy doing this but you wanted his job yeah so I asked him and he said no not yet no no no and then one day he just ran me out the blue and said right do you want this business I’ve gone uh so it’s exactly what did Mark do for people listening oh sorry yeah he was um so he he distributed census ground census ground bait mostly products Yeah so basically You’ buy it off census right keep it in a warehouse and then you you’d have a round of shops he did the West Midlands and that area you ring them up every week or every two weeks and say right I’m coming over your way what do you want sensus was massive in them days obviously because it was then yours or venine that was the only two grand baits about um so we just Ram out the blue one day and said right do you want this business I’ve gone um yeah I think so yeah it’s like right this much i’ I’ve gone where we going to get that from we I need to know today not like Downy no so it’s like wow but you know it was different from from being a self-employed rapid maver to to running actually running your own business so I needed a warehouse I needed a forlift I need to do my own accounts how how old are you at this time to make these sort of um I reckon I’m about 37 38 which is a big decision to make I’ve got two young kids mortgage um Sally was working I was obviously um at mava um but yeah I had to do it and how did you manage it how did you get into it because that’s that’s a massive to REM morage the the house for starter so that that that put obviously quite a bit of money even more money we needs to pay back um found a warehouse bought a secondhand white van and got a little unit down in little Eaton down where Nathan lives M uh and did it there for about about 9 months and then outgrew that immediately senses I started getting into everything else by that point you know luggage and uh poles and rods and everything so I needed a bigger place so I just so I just rented a a big unit that had just been built well we was the first ones in there uh and went from there bought to forlift and everything wow and how did it go for you brilliant really Lo loved it you know um it was hard work 15 hour days in the middle of the summer you know you get up at 6 deliver get back to the unit at 4 Take You 3 hours to it back up for the next day back up at 6 again I loved it yeah really enjoyed kept you fit Sean yeah I did yeah we had to put Meine flooring in so it was up and down the stairs all the time ni s been redundant which was which was good really in one way so now she was helping me all the time right she was making the orders up while I was out delivering and doing the accounts doing the invoices so it worked perfect so we worked together for the best part of nine years wow and what’s happened from there cuz obviously I now you’re still census related now yeah they made decision that um they wanted to go direct to the shops so they cut out the Distributors and now all shops have got direct accounts with um well most shops got direct accounts now with census so I go around the shops Tech the orders send them to France and they fire them over on on a on a courier awesome good company to work for yes strikes me as fantastic very laid-back yeah uh no hassle whatsoever uh yeah brilliant yeah yeah awes great people John desk obviously superb Alex has taken over brilliant so Alex cordan Alex cordan yeah so yeah great fun be nice to get a few of them on definitely yeah well you you he going to come over a you and see you he’s coming over in June and we can you know that’ be good young French International angler and basic he basically run census now don’t he Al it’s the uh is the export manager so he does all the countries in Europe except France and I think probably Spain so my boss really crazy have to get him on yeah that’ be a good one get good you good at French to no Nei am you not no what when you say they laid back what’s different about them compared to I mean it D been mad sometimes but they’ve probably got it right so so they’ll start work at normal time 9:00 M uh but when it gets to as 12: everything stops and they go to the restaurant for an hour and a half without fail an hour and a half hour and a half to rest you can’t get in the restaurants since I’ve got a table booked at this restaurant you know 360 days a year so all the go to the restaurant R 12 an hour and a half to do what three course dinner every day yep never I think it’s part of the contract I think it’s paid for part of the contract as well yeah well they’re mad on food aren’t the French yeah they yeah we’re missing a trick here we should be going to Nando every day half 12 an hour and a half hour and a half so they’re in the restaurant maybe a glass of red or something and have three course and I’m I’m tearing up the M1 with a sandwich in one hand listening to the phone who’s got it right it’s true it that’s true and then at night time they go out for another dinner absolutely it yeah you are right I figured it out so that’s what I’m mean laid back it stops at half 12 there’s no that’s it everything stops the fact the fact it shots they’ve got a message on their um on their answer phone sorry we are closed that’s it if you ring them up at hour 12 till 2:00 they probably go right In fairness have have a word we Dan that should be in our contract as well Dan just to let you know we’re going to start knocking off for an hour and a half Nando break you’re paying by the way in our contract as wellone is going to have a couple of pounds or a s yeah yeah oh go there you want to be here not really they got another seven hours to do yeah not um let’s get back on to some um more serious fishing chat um but it’s I didn’t know your career progression like that but it’s dead interesting starting out the trade getting into it a few different things and then settling into something that’s been yeah a right flourish really yeah it’s good been great life really wor life anyway um match fishing when did it start to get serious for you you’ve ended up fishing for England winning a world championship I want to know what happened at the start of that Journey so we got to really where I was just knocking out with mates fishing the odd maybe CL not like Association not a club match but an association da would have maybe four matches a year so fish a few of them um and then obviously biffer had got me into this club called the moreways which was a which was there was loads of fishing clubs in them days hundreds just in der I think Royce has had I don’t know double figures of clubs just in Rolls Royce you know wow so we had the moreways and I think we ago the pub the British lead in every Monday night for a meeting was obviously a good excuse for the bles for the married BLS to get out every Monday there’ be about 30 in the club but some good good open Match Anglers and a few youngsters it was brilliant you just fish maybe 12 matches a year you’d have two or three away days where you get a coach go out for the day stop at the pub on the way home and you know but how you know you couldn’t do it now could how could you afford to hire a coach and a driver for a day for a club but what a great way of in that’s lost from match fishing our appealing that yeah yeah you don’t you you’re like an actual Club you know yeah so so not like it anymore we must have paid we must have paid you know a monthly um whatever you call subscription or something to the club but it it would been nothing you know nothing I was going to say do you know how much that would have been know and I know to hire a coach and and like you know and you’d have to have a driver because it was all going the going the PB on the way but just the appeal of like let’s all get together together you have a right oh yeah brilliant a right left on Monday nights uh and then you go on these coaches you just it just be funny would there always they’ve always got characters in the club all the you know but there good angl as well taught me a lot about fishing especially the river love the river matches all on the Trent most them sure most on the trend yeah because it it was local so we’ have some on the trend have the other one on the canal and then we’d have the away day he’d go to the Wither maybe or maybe the Welland or something like that right and and just book 25 or 30 pegs and of course it was all an aggregate thing for for the club Shield or whatever it was in all sorts of silly things like that but it was really good grounding I reckon for for like a young angler and how did you do obviously well yeah got better I suppose yeah used still yeah I remember um like winning a match at cutter Brook on the Trent with like 36 pound of barble on like a wackler and things like that small ones and um yeah it was really good really loads off the off the Anglers some real good Anglers there who were were there anyone in the club who R now or we no no just just good local you know you imagine the Trent opens they’ be so they’ be sold out before before the season even open 200 pegs so all the all the good club angers in fish fish him plus everybody would come from everywhere to fish the Trent because that was the the place to fish so yeah they were just good club stroke open Match Anglers and what happened after that what happened after your Club fishing club fishing got joins another club called the dry net similar um same thing um won quite a lot of those and then um some must some must have must have spotted us or mentioned start finish the Derby has to finish the Derby AA right um so joined them I just went off from there really fishing you know winter leagues yeah and and any other sort of knock there’s quite a lot of knockout all sorts of things in them days but winter league was the big thing and then you’d fish all you the match matches you like the day have a summer league on the Trent to be a winter league on the canal just fishes D it strikes me a lot of the fishing you did them were natural like I’m listening to you a lot of natural venue fishing Canal there wasn’t any commercials I remember I remember fishing a match at Willington on the canal somebody caught a carp and half the field went to have a look at it because they’ve never seen one that’s mad is it a it mad that I’d never seen a carp to this bloke c one in a match and it’s like wow wow look at that yeah so and how long did you sorry how long have you been fishing there before you see your first car oh I’d be um I’d be 18 or 19 it’s mad it how mad is that how that’s changed totally different was they not commercials then Sean no no I mean when were the first time you visited a commercial can you remember no I can’t remember no not a clue it’ be it would be something like um probably be Woodland’s view probably don’t know when I was should to start it be mid 20s early to mid 20s m just started was catching small carp things like there weren’t any great Biggers like there is now there just the stockies they put in so different ridiculously different yeah wow yeah ridiculous so so all you had to do was like H your skills on the Trent so You’ be good at stick floting wagler fish no pole stick to wagler you go on the on the canal and you’d fish a short Whip or you’d fish a wagler across to start with right before poles came in not a bad ground in there oh good is it yeah and what about match turnouts then were they different to to now are they big match yeah massive wer yeah yeah 200 you know 150 200 pegs a lot of them well that’s a normal say normal but it it wasn’t irregular you know it’s quite common to have a 200 peger in a month you know and then it progress and and then you You’ you know you’d look in the paper then because the the week before you you see what matches are on and you could probably choose from two or three 80 Peg matches on various canals in the area CRA massive and the weights were terrible really yeah two pound would have win a match three pound would have win a match hundreds of pegs matches to yeah be mind you’ve only got a whip and a wagler to start with so you didn’t catch many roades cuz you IM the conditions on a canal con trying to fish a little wagler for a roach crazy did you um did you ever fish any Nationals or anything like that with Darby yeah yeah fished one on the TS definitely um I think I fished two or three for Derby I can’t remember him I definitely fished one on the 10 or fish on the o canel right I drew next to the winner did you go on what happened there so I drew um I drew a bed I think there was three of us on it I can’t think who the other two were but anyway this this other guy called Mark Stabler he was just off the Reed bed but it was it was a better peg in the end because he could cast to the back of the Reed bed into the shallow water where the boats would Clow through hours anyway I caught a car about a pound I don’t know why elastic have had six was a strong one in them days weren’t it that’s a surprising National C on the readed on the had a little carp tiny one probably probably the first one we ever caught probably and um and then this guy he fished a wagler and he caught a car a chub and something he won it with 8 pound anyway a national 8 pound Division One National 85 teams of 12 incredible 8 pound odd absolutely incredible and that was just the norm now that was just the norm then I come third in section brilliant result for me third in section with I know three pound maybe I don’t know what I call right right so that’s the I remember offish on the 10s did all right on the TS and I can’t remember any more of than that really got you and where what where from Darby where did you go after Darby so we fished um so we had a big winter league on hour water 15 teams of 12 and starlets somehow got into our league yeah um so we started fishing against starlets and another team called Isaac Walton which were very good so star or Isaac Walton won it every year um and so we started fishing against them you know like I said it was me Nathan waser Nathan new Mark Warren B Darren called Dave Smith L called John Kylie um all all great little canalang you know good canalang gby or Starlet this was Derby ah so you got a little gang at Derby yeah and then and then Mark came in as Mark does split Derby we was getting a bit too good we was like beating them on canals and stuff like that occasionally ah so he thought he’d perhaps break the team up so he invited me and Nathan and wza to join starlets Mark DS this is well you can’t say no can you and how young are you at the time now I reckon I was 22 very young I was the oldest one out the well M was the oldest one but right so I was 22 I was the captain of Derby by this point so I was 22 and so we left and join Starlet I remember somebody said I won’t say it is oh he says you’ll never fish for him you know they just want you just to break Dar you’ll never fish for starets who said that somebody a well you’ve not done bad out of it you fished an odd match for him haven’t you done the odd match for starets now yeah yeah an early sty picture look I mean who’s there short look at that for a picture on the left hand side you got Nathan Hughes yeah look at nice the teeth Dave Von behind him me with hair with hair and a bottle of beer obviously ruddles you get free bottle of beer Peter Plant next to Nathan we’re go across the front so Nathan used Peter Plant Dave Howell yeah Paul DS that was Barry griffi Barry fford Bob Green and to the top on the right is John Chambers Nigel ball that’s a young Brian rugby in the middle no yeah Paul Turner Neil Turner me and Dave Von what a team and D’s gone home because he think we he thought we’d done no good never has he always done a bit of that oh he never goes yeah unless unless his Stonewall certainty with one he will never go back why I don’t know I don’t know ask him I have to get him on and ask have to get him on yeah why I go home though don’t know I don’t he just can’t handle failure can he he’s just not interest unless it’s like I suppose it’s brutal Sports it’s probably what’s made him so good is it brutal Sports attitude of I’ve not won some going home yeah I love the beer after the match you I quite like it yeah couldn’t it um so what what was the young starlets days like I look at that team and you Nathan waser like all going there like what were it like well before before that happened obviously we were fishing against them but them it was like say like 15 teams or 12 and to go back to um Burton Mutual was was another club like daa who owned a lot of water around Burton obviously they had their own club so You’ go back to the club at the end of the winter league and then you sit around the table in the end you’re sitting around the table you got Dave Howell Dave harl John K Mar no he’d gone home um Dave inton Nigel bu Eddie CO’s and like he’s just like he’s just like a 21 year old kid with like sat there with all heroes in you you know what I mean incredible till like God till God knows what time they kicked his out and then somebody want to drove I presume but only want me most night so like it was like it like being with your hero in them days really and then when we joined starlets yeah we fished we fished a lot of you know put us in straight away really Mark did I think the first one we fish at roow in on the canal and stuff like that interesting yeah used to have lots of Team watches them days Shields and into West Midland Shields that sort of thing so there’s loads to fish in them days teams of fours everywhere what would you say at your younger Starlet stage what were the most memorable matches and times any stick out in your mind um things like um when when you when you qualify for things like Denmark you’d never been to Denmark you’ve always wanted to go to Denmark as a kid and never been so we qualifi for that what was that what event was that that was the um I think it was a Hardy bitter and we fished on um I think it was on the it was on our own Canal uh on the Trenton Mercy Canal yeah so we fished I don’t know how many teams again but there’d be a lot you know be like probably 200 pegs yeah and we fish there and we and we qualified I remember going back to to the club there and and like I’m going to Denmark you know what I mean it’s like ridiculous great is that one of the first times you’d like qualifi for something abroad prob the first time i’ qualifi won abroad yeah I’ve been to Ireland but I’ve never been to Denmark obviously brilliant what would that like you don’t hear a Denmark now no I don’t think the fish anymore do they skanderberg Lake yeah I’ve heard of that yeah it’s was just fantastic when they just like just five or six like under 21 year old boy lad’s like you know going to Denmark it was just what’s Denmark like as a country what’s it like as a country I’ve never been beautiful is it yeah yeah stunning Place yeah there’s not that many people Liv there there wasn’t in them days so it’s Lo the skanderberg Lake’s just just stunning what kind of fishing were Sean what did you used to catch there um mostly bream yeah few roach mostly bre for a big weight so you get there and you’d fish maybe they had a practice match so everybody end up chucking like 80 yards and maybe getting a bite after about 2 and a half hours and by the end of two days they all catch them to hand on the pole bream bream roach mostly bream why why haven’t we got any events there now say that’s why I asked because I never Associated Denmark with fishing I know that was so we went there and fish them sort of M then Billy not started running his own matches there do you remember them read reading about them now at all before my I’ve heard you lot talk about it when we’ve been really big scene for a bit he used R he used to run two or three events biling up matches over in Denmark did you ever do any good no I never went to them never went to him now but we we got through to that F we I don’t think we did any good I think Highfield and barley dominated it because they they’d been there quite a lot um but yeah what an experience that was then I wanted to go back then to Denmark and I’ve been back a few times since you know what else have you been on there Emy peirs mostly yeah you do that so I qualified the first time with Nigel ball Well they um I think that was skanderberg I can’t think what we caught but we ended up I think we coming the money I think it was about want say I want to say sixth but it might be ninth I’ve got it there that’s the right one no that’s not no that’s later on um look at the Nets of bream now look at them so uh so we did all right that year and then a couple years later I paired up with Nathan right um and we went to skanderberg again which is not there I don’t think anyway skanderberg and we come fourth or third third I think we might have been me and Nathan I think we qualified on the Oxford Canal I think we did right um yeah we come third and then I think the year later we qualified the Gloucester Canal went back and that’s that one that was at a place I think it was silab Borg that wow look at it and um we didn’t Nathan did well both days he did really well first day I think he had 82 kilo first day Nathan in five hours forish year five hours yeah on a on a on a um like a but indicator lead Straight Lead what did you do throw your ground bait in and then CH a bomb on it catapult loads of ball just chug your bomb out set it all up fire two or three balls and the indicator will go up and you got one on go car rods C reels proper bagging yeah so I think first day I think I was about I can’t think where I was in the section but it it was a good section and a bad section and like um I drew the bad bit the bad half of the of the section right and and I come about I don’t know may might have been sixth or eighth I can’t remember the section of 20 uh and then next day uh I drew the peg that i’ won the day before with 109 kilo wow and there was a prize of £5,000 extra for the biggest weight of the two days five grand yeah right so I drew it and I had 95 bream in the first four hours and then never had another bik I missed out by about 2 kilo no had 107 kilo no and the should just drifted off and that was it got 95 bream 95 is bream yeah that’s that picture at the B botom there oh got that’s a massive it say 236 yeah 107 kilo or something like that that is ridiculous what I mean Embassy we talk about Embassy Pairs and what have you Sean I’m assuming that’s the Tobacco Company Embassy well that’s that’s where the money used to come from you’ve got Embassy pairs you got Hardy County which was a beer uh um manufactur ruddles County made beer if you know those were the those were the people that sponsored fishing events I wonder why we can’t get any external sponsors like that now we’ve had this conversation like it fascinates me that as a sport there is no you used to have it that’s that’s the strange thing is look at The Branding toe caps and t-shirt everyone used to get luggage didn’t you luggage but it makes it credible to to to people outside the sport doesn’t it as well you see we were talking about football before we started and they’re all sponsored but you know they’re sponsored by Nike Adidas or or or it’s funny though because the guy who who on the embassy the actual managing director came with us wow of Embassy Peter manay came with us for the trip was he a fisherman or no just come for a jolly honestly how good’s that that’s like the owner of Nik just coming along coming along yeah I can’t watch the game don’t watch football did did he just love it you love the he loved it it was a real it was one BL had talk to everybody like to drink obiously like to smoke obviously and yeah we just got him with everybody was brilliant yeah really good yeah I still see him now but I suppose like it all links to what we’ve already spoken about Monday night meetings getting together at the club the local pub the working men’s club it’s all that having a drink having a smoke I know we’ve had brief conversations about it but I’d like to hear your in why do you why do you think fishing as a sport lost that over time I don’t know that’s your opinion yeah that’s the bit I like the best not like the best but that that is all part of it for me there’s no point just like waiting in and going out I have to go back to the pub and have a couple of PS have a laugh with whoever and with you know yeah I always have we always have good fun in the PO you’ll see in Ireland just you just never stop laughing you know what I mean I don’t know whether whether it’s a commercial thing or a young a youngster thing I don’t younger person’s thing not to do that so much now I don’t really know to be honest it’s a mystery it’s tough I I almost feel cornered into accepting that it’s changed and culture and societ like there’s no working menal you drive through the little Villages where I live now there us when I were a kid there used to be four five working Men’s Clubs open there’s one now and like it’s gone a it that whole that would have had a fishing team possibly every single one of them did Sean everyone but I think you know like I say I don’t want to I don’t that’s what it is is Ang’s not necessarily younger but as a sport they turn up they fish and they’re weigh and then they go home so there was no I just think atmosphere I don’t want to say I don’t want to do commercials down because they’ve done so much for fishing but yeah most commercials certainly in the early days wouldn’t have had a bar so you just go back you get your envelope and they didn’t I just got the feeling they didn’t really make a big scene about it either just like yeah Sean you’ve you’ve you know you won your section or whatever it wasn’t like a prize giving almost like there is when you go to the pub so I think that’s where it that’s maybe where it lost it you think the sponsors on the whole then then start to fade away off the off the back of that um well that’s just that’s just normal that’s just normal everyday fishing that that is I don’t know about the actual big matches I’m not really sure but it was always very dominated by either tobacco or or alcohol maybe because it was a Working Men Sport and they were the people that smoked and drank the most I don’t know really yeah I suppose what you’ve got to say is or the question you’ve got to ask is Big fishing events in the UK now what’s in it for an external sponsor like who you know we’ve got betting companies that sponsor things like Fisher only really Fisher Mania fish Mania yeah the others haven’t really it’s all it’s all within the industry support isn’t it keeping it up yeah it is really what is in it what’s going to make a rebok come and sponsor a fishing match or I don’t know maybe they never been a probably heard a fishing rebok and people that you know I often thought like maybe yeah maybe maybe it’s just never really we’ve never really sort of tapped into that and asked them because we didn’t maybe just we think they’re too big to even bother with it you know the numbers are there of course yeah absolutely people that massive it’s not like the exposure yeah that’s that was the word I was looking for I mean we should have probably p as an industry we should have probably pushed for it more off the back of Co yeah like because there was a sudden increasing about it yeah it was all over TV as well fishing yeah maybe then was the time to go listen Nike this is massive you need to get involved in this but it’s all you know even the thing about mental health is is fishing’s massive in that isn’t it yeah so you should be able to get something on the back of you know something back of that perhaps but yeah I don’t know whether whether we we’re not you know good enough at getting SP that’s interesting what you said it’s almost like we weren’t brave enough to go they you know they’re not too big yeah too big or they won’t you know they won’t want it or they can pay a basketball play a 32 million pound a year they can Chuck under a grand in a ficient match can’t they to a big participation thing big participation all over Facebook yeah social media full stop isn’t it yeah you never know who’s listening talk about it yeah Sean Ashby says tell me a little bit about um commercials and when they did come to the Forefront and have you done a lot of it Sean I mean I hope you don’t mind me saying but I think a lot of people associate you with your International career your natural venues and I certainly would because I know that you’ve done a lot of it but talk to me about your time on commercials have you done much of it yeah I had a little spell yeah obviously um I qualified for Fisher Mania that year I did I caught a big CP on the canal funly enough to qualify for Fisher Mania Where’s this I was at rowington right no Grand Union right Birmingham Way um anyway so I drew this Peg and it was like an old broken down stag in and a weed bed NE in front of it I thought this is rubbish maybe maybe a bream or two but it’s going to be no good year and then I looked up and I seen a carp s around the back of this stanson and then a bit later I saw another one I thought ah hold on there so I got the poll out I got polls by this point but you imagine what elastic we got in then probably like eights at the most so he up two lost them both obviously in the weed bed oh no and then so I CH a Straight Lead behind this weed bed and I think it’s about 20 minutes ago started packing some stuff up I not got rodr got me old all across the canal there and me Rod me Rod fell in I thought P Rod was like I’ve got one on no on the bomb on the bomb and it swam around this weed bed and down the middle of the canal about three pegs just red it back in and played it and played it and played it netted it 5 kilo no won the match ftic interviewed by Sky Sports you know the woman who does um Jackie her name was Jackie Levy it’s Jackie somebody else now but anyway she’s still on Sky now she came to the pub garden and interviewed me oh wow what did you catch it on what did you have on the B weet call incredible and obviously then Fisher Mania qualifiers they used to have from on canals and stuff like that they did yeah yeah they did yeah so callif for that went practicing thought i’ sort a few things out it it was never going to be a big weight they reckon like 20 pound where were the final all right so I fished for skimmers um and I caught two carpers I end up Bing 27 pound and come second o what was 40 OD 43 pound massive you know never didn’t know they’ have a cash anything like that um one nothing not a bean we got a nice trophy for the biggest fish that’s all right um and then thinking about you know maybe going on commercials hcra wasn’t it got carp in it obviously not loads wasn’t why are now I mean what year were that 95 I think long time ago that long time ago um and then I think yeah commercial just stting then so there was um there wasn’t many though in them days was like Morland and Woodlands were vertically next to each other M they were the they were the biggest ones so um I never thought I’d been to Morland but I looked in me Scrap Box and I’ve got a couple of things in there where I’ve caught some Fisher Morland can’t even remember going which go to Woodlands quite a bit at drit witch at drit witch M yeah and how did it compare then how did comp commercial fishing there compare to now it’s it was obviously the weights were lower I did catch 100 pound in in the super league and that was you know 100 pound was quite a big weight in them days they weren’t one with 100 pound very often 60 50 60 70 was a good weight um so so I remember winning 107 then and then so I did that for quite enjoyed Woodlands fishing with worms and casters mostly mostly on the bottom M uh there’s no didn’t seem to be any Edge fish and stuff like that in them days didn’t seem to be I think they just weren’t stock in a fish don’t think there was no don’t think there was no like I say 60 70 pound would win it and maybe 20 30 pound or 30 pound be you know in the frame so it wasn’t massive weights totally different any totally different it’s not one every truck in now like it like it is now and then i’ been other plac I went to um they quite well at codmore for for a couple of years lunch and meat that’s quite local to me relatively local Stoke in it yeah enjoyed that there for a bit um was was on super leagues you go down to Colman’s Cottage and around here it yeah just up R colan just enjoy that did quite well there I did that for know four or five years probably I don’t know why I went off it I just did did you ever dabble at White Acres obviously so many people come on this show talk about white AC yeah I went to yeah I went to YK probably about five or six years I reckon from about 95 to 2001 and I actually won the Milo in 200 won I think it was awesome won the festival the festival um I don’t know what the prize was £3,000 I think then it was is it now same still same I think it’s still same three grand yeah and the same year I fished um the first UK carp Champs which was I can’t think the V one was making definitely I think one was maybe Gold Valley or Willer Park and there’s definitely one at Hayfield and i’ just been selected for England and I come second in that and I got beat on weight oh for winning that one who won it I think it was Rob Jones right right it didn’t be buy a lot ridiculous like two or three pound oh I think it was so you could have won white acers festival and the UK tramps all and Fisher Mania so come second so come second in two out of three sure you basically nearly completed commercial fishing just having a few years at it yeah it’s close was it yeah yeah so um I think the commercial thing really finished as soon as start as soon as got pick for England in 2001 I reckon that must have been the end of it virtually apart from maybe a Super League or two I can remember you having um a good runner tunnel Barn I always remember read tunel yeah reading reading magazines yeah tunnel Barn yeah beautiful yeah great place yeah one that one that sticks out of your mind you did a feature I’m sure you did one on bloodworm fishing at tunel and it was when the water levels were really low and you were fishing bloodworm and feeding it in leam Catching f1s catching f1s on bloodworm yeah we got got it sorted for for a coup you know for quite for a year at least maybe two years and the Really L I don’t know if there’s a certain size of of F1 yeah that liked it because they can’t catching it now so I know they keep trying but yeah it was perfect so you’d put two or three balls in catch one put another ball and catch another one and just so was quite technical you know you had to keep feeding all the time but yeah I loved it yeah really good fun you have a you’ve got a bit of a story about tunnel for us not a very good one go on tell us about this so yeah the water levels really low um so we’re sitting uh was sitting on the bank instead of the platform and um it was an open m Dage on maybe 40 or 50 people on it and and um I’d caught really well I remember balling it in so I was B it that time so I bow it in I was catching really I thought I got I’ve got I’ve got nearly 50 pound here maybe more yeah and they come around to me said what’s best said 45 I thought got that so as I’ve got my net out I usually shuffle them down to the bottom of the net and I got the top ring in my hand i’ had to climb with this steep bank and as I’ve clim I’ve slipped the Rings hit the bank and bounced it out my hand the next turn around all the fish are gone back in and then the wayers are in the water like trying to catch all these fish got got like 15 pound I said what’s the point just put them back did you say any other words at that point I don’t think so Dam blasted perhaps have you have you ever had any weighing in or net you ever had an hole in your net or anything like that I have I have dreams about stuff thaten man has go not about Cameron no go on tell me about so so obviously in we’re obviously like maybe I know six years ago now so we fished this match ma Scott Memorial yeah he’s desperate to win it we’ve all won it we’ve all got his names on the trophy those that want to win it Bob’s got it Rod’s got it I’ve got it Nathan’s got it you’ve all won Paul Bo’s got it it’s Rod’s dad’s match is it Rod Scott’s dad’s match and so uh C’s doing really well and he’s the desperate to win it really desperate so he’s drawn a place called b island which is can be brilliant or can be rubbish but okay so he’s drawn there’s only three of us there or four of us there I’m on the other side of the bridge he’s on this bit the best Peg pack five Cam’s on the best pack yeah I know it’s hard is it I know first time ever and um I’ve got the scales so I’ve gone to them at the end of the mat I’ve weighed Tony Green in first she’s got 21 kilo I’ve looked at Cam and even Cam’s gone I’ve got this I’ll never forget he’s got his net out like this and halfway back he’s like look to me like a bit strange said all right I said yeah he’s got one bream and and a perch left he said he’s got at least 30 kilo he lost a lot just a hole in it just big massive hole in his net yeah oh my God cost him the festival cost us a load of money no I’m getting his name on the trophy and it’s quite a long way it’s the furthest trip out from men Skilling so have to drive him back is about I don’t know 35 minutes it is total silence what did he what did he do he’s not really that emotional cam is he was what did he borderline yeah really always upset yeah gutted yeah absolutely gutted yeah yeah and I suppose you guys didn’t give him any sort of we never really mentioned it just got louder and louder as the more Guinness got sunk in that night he was all right at the end cuz he could hardly walk could he I know he won it a few he won it about two years ago so he’s got his name got his name on it now yeah he happy but yeah no it was funnyish have you never had it yourself or have you ever seen it cost in your time fishing big matches you ever seen any disasters like holes in Nets or we no only only that one really I think with Cameron yeah because it was so you know close to close to horri yeah it was horrible to see it cuz he knew halfway back but not have you not seen the video what Adam waking did to him the other week incredible cuz that was all based on the fact that he hold N I don’t know if you could find it on Facebook I a is it on Cam’s Facebook uh ad W’s Adam wling Simon Jones I can’t remember both of them probably I think it’s on wos but if do you know where it is you can send me a link let me have a quick look on my phone excuse me excuse me this sounds like it’s warranting the the time to you want need a bleeper on it yeah yeah it’s absolute to it’s absolute gold I watched it I reckon 30 times this is all based on the fact that everybody knows he had a hold in his net in Ireland you see or wo certainly knew because we’ve chatted about it in the past we not watch it now we set the story up so nicely I’m just trying to look now I can’t think when it was it was about six weeks ago weren’t it I’m surprised again I’m surprised that doesn’t happen more often I think certainly me and Cameron now check out next before I put them in every match yeah not necessarily maybe the like I maybe maybe this is just me being clumsy but like not I’ve been to a few matches now when I’m watching the way um the wein and that it’s like yeah just sometimes it just happens like you said the when we you slipped and dropped it and they all went back I am surprised it doesn’t happen more often especially if you’re fishing out perhaps in the water perh how do I send you a link to um if you go on cam Hughes fishing it’s on there is it on cam yeah it’s on Camp it’s absolute gold you lot who are listening need to stop if you’re sat in your car listening when you pull out stop and watch this at this point it’s absolutely fantastic so he’s got a reputation about his holding his net yeah he’s sponsored by a d with the same as Adam and he always wants to weigh in Cameron because he wants to get to the pub as soon as he can so he’s got so so he’s run off with the scales he’s got to weigh all the pegs in or 20 okay so Adam’s now got a spare net so he’s pulled his net out and took it Four Pegs down the bank and put his empty net in Cam’s Peg it’s that’s genius Absol funny way stuff like that have you got it no I haven’t to Facebook yeah he’s funny he is hilarious is he’s nuts he is absolutely nuts look at him are you on see if we can get it on maybe do after I do what we could do if we um if we do if we have a little teab break might be a to get it there we’ll have a te bre now should we do we’ll do it yeah yeah yeah excuse me folks right we’ve got a brew we found the clip hit the big button to let’s have a little watch of this CU it’s gold honestly is the sound on or I don’t know if I don’t think it’s got sound probably oh it has oh has it it should have it might be it might get away with it I think he yeah Play Play It Again Play it again just watching watch watch watch he’s got his net he’s waiting for them pull back in he look look all [Laughter] now he’s looking behind him look that’s such a good prank still looking oh God so what what had they what what had they done so they moved his net right about three he EG so the mov he’s going to get his net now look so Waker has got the same net so he’s just got a spare net put it in I see W absolutely fantastic now he’s going to get his fish sh that’s so good that is so funny um have you ever SE any more disasters have you ever seen anything like that think of anything like that really to be honest I remember um it wasn’t a disaster it was just a funny thing was in Ireland fully enough and um on on the mouse Scott match just been talking about and and I’d won it um and so Rod come down to pick me up what happened no he’d borrowed some rods off me Rod had borrowed some slider rods off me yeah so I got so I gave him two rods anyway we’ve come down and and um he’s obviously in the van with somebody else so we’ve got his tackle out put it in my van and um we’re going we off to back down to the pubn for the results and I’m following the van down I’ve suddenly realized that my wagler rods are still on top of his van no going through like the housing estate in corner gra so like I can’t get on the phone quick enough like to say do not go around the corner it’s about a Grand’s worth of rod and reels there so to stop him in the middle of Skilling to get these rods never fell off incredible crackers crackers um I want to talk about um your England career Sean because it it’s been long one and you’ve done so so much in it when did that start and how did you go from your you know successful UK domestic fishing to getting selected to represent the country um well obvious had been doing well um you know various obviously started on canals progressed to Rivers did the commercial side for a bit um so so I was doing quite well um and then again I can’t think he must have been mid90s 96 97 something like that um I got a phone call from from dick CLE wanted me to go home International at Cardiff docks um obviously I said yes so we went to went there uh it was it was it was small fish fishing mostly I think I woman section first day with about six or seven pound nice and second day I won the match not bad debut is it all right um I ruined with Will raisin would you believe he was about six no B what would he be I’d be 27 he’d be like 18 wouldn’t he I think something like that so he roomed together then even then did you know him about it I think i’ met him once before he gave me some pizza on a canal match really it was the Browning pole final some um is it sly or church eting yeah I was one side bu he was he got his TT and hat on you were famous for that one yeah he come wondering through he said a bit Pizza been but yeah so i r well yeah was got on really well and and obviously I come second by a few ounces um and and he went from there so so so I did um Cardiff docks then I think we went to Scotland on kill Bernie Lake MH um did I right there that was just wagler fishing what’s that where were that i’ never heard of I’m not sure where it was I went with Dave Harold funly enough yeah picked him up we went to to kill Bernie I think he fished um Stu Conroy Tommy Pickin Dave harl uh Mark Lucas not sure what some others and this is what a home International Home International so just 40 England England Island Scotland Wales as was Cardiff DS we won that quite easily I think I think we won I think everybody won the section second day I think something like that Stu comro won it I think I was about fourth or third fourth or fifth I can’t remember um so that’s two I went to Ireland fish at Port Glen on the ban um home perer point we went to and then we ended up um it must have been 2001 went to Port Talbert docks um by this point it was um it was six it was Six Nations so got it got France and Belgium as well great event brilliant you know it’s all about money in it but desperately need something like that now to to to you know try and get people to who ran that then Sean the home International I think just the home team had to you know you took it in turns I suppose I never went to Belgium and France for some reason maybe i’ already got in the main team by then I can’t remember but whoever was hosting it ran it they organized the hotels and whatever I presume we paid for I presume like you know the federations must have paid for the teams I don’t maybe it was adren maybe it was yeah it was we were drenon then yeah so it must have been and did they use it as a bit of a testing ground for angl yeah me I remember that day um or that weekend I’m sure I fished Dez fished sure Steve I’m sure I went with Steve eing gr and um Darren Davis fished I think Allan fished will fished not sure after that so it’s like a nice mixture of experienced members and then a few it was out six side or E side I can’t remember right um uh and we fish dock it was real deep that that was a bit of a learning that was when I suddenly started thinking about things like baits because I think me and Steve I got feel I was with de but I wasn’t because I live near Steve relatively near Steve so Mr me and Steve must have gone we fished we must have gone a day early we fished and it was like 20 odd foot deep really deep straight off this um pontoon or Harbor really um we catch a few skimmers of fish on the bottom and Allan turned up the next day and we obviously we making ground as hard as we can to get to the bottom and he turned up and he got a real leamy mix threw it in it all sort of splattered on the top they just caught loads just off bottom and that sort of thought hell well Alan Scot is I then then remember thinking back to when he when he went to Ireland he used to go on the band sometimes the band Bonanza in September September October place called um oh it’s in Porter down on the on the river Blackwater at verner’s bridge that was deep Bob was brilliant there Kevin was brilliant there and it was like that was like 11 MERS to and it was deep I remember fishing there they was tring soft ground baiting at times just Bob nen and Kevin Kevin yeah tooking soft ground baiting and just like fetching everybody else’s fish off him that sort of opened me eyes a little bit to things like that really but anyway back to Port tber so we fished um a woman section first day brilliant I think we did quite well and something happened it rained all night I remember and we I remember driving out to the venue there was like a like a um I don’t know a channel concrete Channel it was overflowing water coming into the Docks but the docks were dropping they dropped about six foot while we fished it massive expans of water must been letting out to the Sea wow so all this rain water could go somewhere and get the impression and the French one they fished off depth and caught all sort roach I think caught some little bass and all sorts of things you know crazy but afterwards was a bit disbond we didn’t win it I think either France or Belgium won it I can’t remember but anyway uh both marks come over to me and wanted to chat with me and they said listen um Kim Wilson’s resigned for the England team nobody knew nobody knew anybody apart from them two and Kim he said listen Kim’s resigned uh we are talking to him but if um if he doesn’t go will you will you come to Paris for the world Champs wow as part of the team he said he won’t fish first day but you know see how it goes and that was how it started and that’s Mark DS and Mark Addy who were in management I was still working where was I working then I had to I had to have um no no I was all right I was working for myself then yeah right so I had to um go to Paris yeah quite short notice but maybe two months notice perhaps something like that obviously you accepted you couldn’t turn that off down no absolutely not no was it always um was it always a bit of a dream of yours or or an ambition to fish for England did did did you think you’d be able to do it not always no mean it’s very difficult in them it’s difficult now is it but it was it was difficult in a different way in them days because there’s so many people that that were good enough to do it loads of people my age think about Darren Davis Chris Vander Fleet them sort of people you know was we was all of an age then I got Steve igra and Dez and all that lot as well so yeah he was fancing it but you couldn’t see the team was just starting to win so you couldn’t see anything you couldn’t see really see there’s going to be a gap because I mean who was the old Bob would be the oldest but it’d only be in his 50s then perhaps the maybe late 40s so he was 50s mid-50s probably so he you couldn’t see a gap see a way in really and then obviously Kim just dropped his bumb shot that he didn’t want to go I don’t know what it was all about I still don’t know till this day but anyway I got in that’s it and how was it how did you do in France what happened tell me about your first trip away with it was on the river scene and it’s like having a it’s like having a a championship in on the river temps in the middle of London can you imagine it no Paris is a massively busy City the same as London so it just getting to the venue every day was a nightmare really oh just well first of all first of all I had to go with I went with Bob nod so I knew Allan I knew uh quite a few of the England team yeah I didn’t know Bob but Bob was like was up there and he still is really but he was up there my hero but i’ never met him right he said yeah yeah come over to our house stop the night we’ll go in the morning so I went to his house he lived in the Essex at the time I don’t know where about somewhere around here probably went to his house stopped the night loaded this a normal car state car can you imagine that now World Championships in an state car no in his in his Mercedes right he said uh have you ever drove an automatic car I’ve gone no he says you want to do you want to go so he gave me the keys and then never got in the driver’s seat again all all fortnite said I’ve always wanted a chauffer so there I was with Bob n yeah and um it was different we went for two weeks like we always do um and it was just just an eye opener to me things like flat FL i’ not done hardly any of I was people like will and Stevie G fishing these flat floats like ining them through like I’ve never seen anything in my life what what were the venue like cuz when you say the middle of Paris the San and it’s like London it is it literally fishing off like the city walls of Paris sitting outside notra Dam one section no yeah yeah mad literally is like the temps is that exactly same so so you got roads both sides of it big parit going down to it of parit a big wall let me find how did you get how did you get gear there there little ramps and we had to lower it over lower it down sometimes over walls or walk down the ramps it was was crazy you couldn’t do it now it’s impossible did you catch out no there was a few I’m trying to think what we callau he catch odd roach M odd bream um and then we didn’t we just messed about the first week caught some Bleak um half depth which was like 10 foot deep which was you know which proved quite instrumental to winning really okay um and then obviously main practice uh but it was just yeah there was a little bit that had got um like a wall on it so we had to fish off top of the wall which was like probably 10 foot above the pavement there you go that gives you sorry Sean that will give you an idea of of how built up Paris is and you can see the river how it just runs in literally right through the middle of Paris it’s impossible oh my God it’s impossible to do it now there’s a section opposite the Lou oh y up there yeah there’s a section there Alan that little split arm off there Alan was up there that nraam somewhere around somewhere around there there Cathedral notra there you go yeah yeah there’s a section there that bit there yeah that bit sticks out there Alan was on them arms there second day right um what a crazy world championship oh Madness that’s mad isn’t absolutely it took us it took us we stopped about I don’t know not very far outside of Paris and it took us like an hour to get in an hour to get out imagine Rush Hour about times isn’t it um it was real difficult fishing really difficult fishing anyway so there this there’s this big wall all this building prop not a wall but a walkway fish off the top of that but every so sudden there was a little step down and a bit of a gap and they built scaffolding so everybody’s at the same height but you imagine sitting on scaffolding 12 off the water no no Stevie G couldn’t swim bless him he went he went and ordered an inflatable suit no what in case he fell in he fell in honestly cuz if you got if you went in you would there’s no way out wait was but you’d have to swim for a bit it was dangerous really it’s crazy it you need a four meter net to get to the water and all this Capers part of me thinks I’d love to be a part of that and fishing go it would you yeah I didn’t fish obviously but right well how did going tell us a little bit about that obviously you they said you weren’t going to fish W going to fish first dat obviously um and then obviously the team fished um I can’t think exactly who caught what but will and Steve both did well they caught um I think they call eels um and maybe a bream I think Bob caught some Bleak uh stew caught some Stu definitely caught Bleak and Allan was on the end Peg um I can’t think exactly where and he was struggling and he caught he caught one roach in the end yeah he never saw the bite he just lifted up at the end he’s got roach on massive point he got about ninth or 10th in the section but B was like 38 maybe fishing 40 teams one section so so they said listen you can’t you know if you want to if you want to fish you can take Alan’s place and it’s like it’s hard this is I’m not that good at flat flat fishing at the time man I thought new by in the team new boy in the team I thought no I’ll I’ll I’ll let them carry on as it happened Allan Drew in that little armor just said and had to fish for bleak right so I would have probably been all right um I can’t he did he did well he caught some bleach shallow I know Bob caught I think Bob caught nine ble second day caught about sixth in his section something like that rock rubbish yeah some dry Nets and all sorts yeah obviously we won I think we was two points behind him after day one and then we beat him by a point or two I’m assuming you mean France France yeah they were nailed on to win weren’t they the crowds were massive it’s just yeah so yeah that was the start of it and you so you so although you didn’t actually fish in the team on the match stage you were part of the Paris winning team yes still got the medal first trip first trip away with England yeah incredible I mean look at that there you go gives you a better idea that’s exactly how it was yeah yeah so this is what fish on here so you had to get those little walkways every so often here to get onto the onto the topad sub thing well to give you an idea so why you say walkways if so often I’ve had to scroll quite a way to find that’s a narrow bit that is that’s one of the arms that is the rest of it is twice as wide as brid before the one I’ve just thrown up there was um like scaffolding everywhere you could you could have got past it with some fishing gear no wow you see the walkway at the back there can’t you look steps what a place what a venue and um did it not put you off not fishing short I mean obviously it didn’t do your career any arm what happened from then um it didn’t do any arm obviously I did I did it all right in practice caugh quite a lot of these Bleak and whatever and um I think I think we all Dy at least one one day in the week practicing it was ridiculously hard eels won it in the end for us I think I think it was 11 heels caught in two days we had nine of them or something like that you have a tactic s big flat floats yeah big big massive 30 grand flat floats ah worms obviously which nobody never they’ never even heard of worms in them days the Continentals really no certainly not chopping them up right and then after that uh I got selected for the Europeans in Belgium um I think I was sixth first day with a very again a very low weight a kilo uh and then second day W be section with three kilow and was off from ring then where were that in Belgium leage on a canal on a canal yeah one of them big canals yeah right right so went on from there and and when did you really sort of get a taste for it what what sort of got you into the world’s Team every year after year after year because I mean how long have you done it before now well 20 odd years yeah 20 odd years yeah I mean you have good days and bad days don’t you nearly it’s team fishing isn’t it um and yeah you have good days and bad days you have good days in practice and bad days in practice but yeah just don’t know just learn more and more the more you go different venues you’ve been to sometimes you go to them again don’t you Slovenia and places like that and you just get more exper sort of experience I think to a degree what um which particular World Championship stick out in your mind having fished so many which ones if I sort I said tell me about a few of them would you be a goto and spinco was special William won that one individually and we won the team we won in Italy which is like onard in France unheard of and what was that like tell me a little bit that was that was like that was another Canal type Channel type Affair um just concrete Banks redot just concrete Bank sloping in both sides and there was carcio in there there was some skimmers there was some carp uh and there’s a fish called an asp which like a predator but it eats maggots big silver things aren’t yeah yeah so I think Stevie had heard that you know this sometimes catch a fish Down The Edge from his Italian contacts cuz sponsor by Milo wasn’t he yeah and they all knew you have spent a lot of time in Italy I think so they all knew him so try down the edge in this in the end we s out that he could possibly catch an asp or even a carp or a bream down the edge put a bit of ground ba some dead maggots right a certain depth and try and get somewhere on on the on the concrete slope about six meters down your peg or wherever and and gone because when you walked to ASP it was on the other bank before he realized big fish and Powerful real powerful yeah cuz the Predators are you know like a fast Pike the same shape as P but real quick and um I caught one first day um I think Allan and Steve both caught down the edge carp and bream and stuff like that and that was a I think in them days it seemed like we’d always found a bit of an edge we had an edge in in Spades with down the edge Down The Edge Edge um we fished in valent uh on a big lake in Hungary and that’s an iconic venue I’ve heard about that Alan won there didn’t he ah and then I wasn’t there when Allan won it but that that was like um uh it was probably about 6 to8 foot to about 13 to 50 met when it dropped over a ledge and the carple swam over the ledge so in the end we was fishing with long lines if you couldn’t quite reach with a probably would have been 14 M Po in them days you’d like fish along and swing every and catch carb like that nobody else seemed to really realize that either L feeling maggots a lot of maggots but spino was good because will won the team won in Italy which like I say is virtually impossible to do and I always remember the ceremony I think Dez was Dez fished Stevie fished will fish I think Stevie was third individual individual so had first and third and team and we got to this place for the presentation we’d had a couple and Steve Steve got a bottle of something off his Steward was all of that and there’s this pool I any now Des is going to jump in that pool and he fully clothed I can see it cuz he was drinking some of it and he’s a bit B me in he wild he had a drink anyway so all the teams got called in it was like an open air banquet it was brilliant and then they left left us to the end we walked in and like everybody stood up and clapped and it’s like made the air stand up back of your neck that was the best presentation ever brilliant that was magical magical yeah fishing was good we’d won and the presentation was was the best probably yeah yeah um valent was good susing that out catching carp um I can’t think what I I caught 9 kilo first there come second I think then maybe six and got some Bleak and a couple of cars second day um Poland was good yeah I came to watch you in Poland I think just using all my all the experience of the stainy fishing double Joker and that was such an interesting venue I mean tactically I remember halfway through the week you you guys were confused well we was told it was a bleak and maybe a skim event but mostly Bleak so we spent all the first week just fishing whips trying to catch his ble and then when he got into the actual actual match L itself became apparent that it was getting less and less these Bleak and I don’t know maybe Stevie again maybe he realized there was some roaching there so we started fishing but it if you fish for ble you couldn’t catch the roach because you thrown all this cloudy ground bait in trying to catch his Bleak and it’ bring the roach off the bottom but you couldn’t really catch him so you had to not fish for bleak which a bit you know we tried it in practice and those that just F roach like just cing in ground bait seem to catch these roads big roach but was nice like stainy small stainy roach really but you catch him at like four MERS a bit of weed maybe catch some there catch them at six catch them at nine and catch them at 13 so we’ put four lines in like that the only problem was is if he was next to obler they could ruin your peg with a cloud drifting into your peg that’s happened to me second day so first they won me section um in fact all four of us won a sections there’s one SE there was one section above the bridge that was different some bigger fish There features next it was featureless four sections we all won a sections first day below the bridge ridiculous result and Dez was third so we got seven points like absolutely would say it’s all over but it is really especially that sort of fishing so then second day I think will Drew in the not in in the strange bit uh Allan and Steve won their sections again they were second and third individual and they had this bloke above me fishing for ble for two hours it ruined it for me really ended up second so probably I was probably sixth overall probably right and then the next the the next one is like last year Spain what what what venue probably the best venue well it is the best venue I’ve ever been to yeah without a shadow it out 20 odd years of fishing you’re saying that River EO in Spain yeah when you can catch two when you catch five can do no good with 20 you know 18 kilo you need to catch 20 it’s like absolutely Nots Madness um I want to ask you a couple of questions about Poland before we talk about Spain why why was the throwing the Bleak stuff in so detrimental it’s a big canal to put people in perspective it’s big Canal it’s a big is Canal um but it’s quite shallow only about 8 foot deep yeah I think there’s a bit of a drift on it and I think it put it you the next person’s Cloud would drift into your peg a little bit but the roach would come off the bottom and you couldn’t catch them so well you have to get nail them on the bottom with some leam and we use some um like Pete almost yeah yeah a mixture of Pete and normal leam and a bit of ground bait and but you need to catch them on the bottom or just off the bottom you couldn’t catch them this far off you get ODed but it wasn’t right needed them all concentrated yeah they would just be like what’s that cloud they just start nipping up in the water and just they just pull them at your peg but they they didn’t catch them fish they fish B that deep yeah roach po this deep so they didn’t even know they were there them roach and did most of the other teams fish for the bleed throwing slopping so you kind of add it to yourselves yeah oh we had it to ourselves yeah absolutely that was the last time we had something to ourselves I think yeah like a tactical yeah genius move yeah and bear in mind that a lot of us like was me and and Allan fish the stainy for years fishing double Joker Stevie Gard had fished double Joker with will a lot on some of their venues so we’re really how significant is that or was that in in winning World Championships like you did in Poland like fishing places like the stainy massive is it you know I mean I think um L was next to me quite a famous angler from Switzerland Jackie Bellard he come to me afterwards after the second day he said uh you fish with Joker I said yeah he said what 24 hook I’ve gone no no 18 and he got me riger and and he just like shaking his he couldn’t believe that he could catch on an 18 o with a single or a double Joker on he just blew his mind so they got they they’ve got no idea that to even putting on the orc incredible it’s mad isn’t it and do you not think it makes a difference using a big O with Y you think they just eat it anyway I eat it anyway what just 18s on the stainy single single Joker yeah 18 o yeah do you almost think the Hook’s an attractor I don’t know if it is or it might be I used to use green gamers in them days probably yeah yeah you know it blows my mind that you can have a million Jokers on the bot I know I know I don’t get it either one Joker in on a every Chu I know I still can’t understand it now crazy in yeah yeah and I’ve watched Jo I tried to watch jok and you still get one or two bouncing up all the time especially the obviously the good Joker the Polish Joker but I suppose if there’s 10 jump up 10 roach have it and yours is one of them I suppose so Lo roach in the stain weren’t in them days yeah absolutely so yeah wow but last year was something special on it yeah tell talk about last year tell us about that to justes to make the statement of best venue you’ve ever been to I think it’s the fact that you could fish it various ways I mean I love fishing for bleak people that pull of funny F that I do like I’ve always been fascinated by catching lots and lots of fish why I don’t know something do with the French maybe I don’t know you know but you even used to do it on the canals in England yeah used to count fish and stuff like that and just you almost to an obsession where you’ve got to you know set yourself a target of 300 or something like that and then obviously when I won in in in what they call fish for bleak there but anyway so yeah we got to Spain it was like well you know we just concentrated on these fish long didn’t practice made a bit of a dab off ble it was a few here remember the sun coming out just seeing a ball of Bleak in Cloudy mix it’s like they were massive at all they yeah but never thought probably not going to play a part but anyway they did obviously to a degree certainly two sections but yeah now we just we just fish from for two hours and catch like 10 kilo in two hours in Kil in we fished it I think we fished it wrong in practice as well because we fished shallow whereas you should have been fishing this deep throw maggots in definitely caught bigger ones bigger easier to catch didn’t miss any bites that’s what I did first day want to drewing um wherever it was C or E was it c yeah started fishing a bleak shallow you could see him couldn’t you they’re cruising about W they caught all right but missing a few bites bumping a few throwing maggots in and the I can’t get B can’t understand why I can’t catch any more Bleak I’ll go on the bottom catch some skimmers or towards the bottom like Willard done Bleak Bleak but he just never missed a bite and those bigger and like well they had to they had to force me to come off the Bleak didn’t they yeah tactically though it just shows how unique and different and venues are oh you know you could see the bleck it was ridiculous was it you know if the sun come out and you could just see a ball of it’s actually proper ball of Bleak that’s why he missed him I think because there’s just too many it’s in your line yeah so down there’s a bit few less you’ll stuck when every truck it’s funny because like I got C behind me and he says you going have to go long and I’m going you sure I’m catching loads here no you have to go you have to go so I shipped out and uh my float stuck up a bit like that and I’ve gone there a level gone and he’s gone and I think it’s all right I’ve lifted up there one on a bream the skimmer Jesus Christ there a few here they just went from there they caught a load of skimmers caught some carass one every truck in them the end I mean to put people in distractive we went to the river Ebro which is associated with specimen catfish at Mecca enzza it it were crazy were like a moonscape where we were fishing weren’t it it’s like a desert desert was it yeah yeah there’s a that that were a catfish on a whip never know will you no no um think you’re out your yeah yeah oh he has even broke you why did then po not break I don’t know Sean I don’t know but like that that venue you can see there you could literally pull up at any place in this huge Valley drop a rigging and and you’d catch a fish every single truck wouldn’t you within seconds you’re catching a fish yeah yeah yeah wonder how many venues there are that at sh across the world that are just not match fished Spain though isn’t it yeah you know I’ve been talking to um I’ve been talking to Waco about the feeder champ the fishing yeah they’re going this week fully enough it’s like they’re doing no good with like 30 kilo of um carcio and that on a feeda at marid yeah yeah yeah that’s what was fishing for mostly weren it pomes yeah pom they’re bigger than that one but a lot of them like that weren’t they oh donkeys absolute donkeys and tell us about your tell us about your two match days there cuz I know we did great as a team so yeah Drew C-section obviously like I just said I fish for bleak um surface wise and then I dropped I was catching really well I was really happy with it and um I think I don’t think I’d drew the best end I think they catching more fish whether it’s the Anglers or or the or the venue the section but they definitely catching more fish earlier bigger fish earlier I say C Nathan had to sort of force me I think Mark was on the radio catch him on that long Pole to get him off them leak so I come off him eventually ship to Al like say it’s like lost a shot and it’s like old was going on here and then it just had a bite a Chuck on corn it like brilliant it’s so easy to fish one he just like shipped out put it in it went under you make it s really if you didn’t have a bite in like 30 seconds best put another ball in yet only thing I regret was at the end was I looked to CIO with like 10 seconds to go and instead I don’t know what happened I thought I could do it by shipping back and shipping it in I couldn’t I shouldn’t have just just held on to it scored it in really should yeah anyway it didn’t count it didn’t that affect me because I got 23 kilo I think yeah the world championship 23 key left four hours four hours have any fish I don’t know but and did you win this action second second on first day and then and then obviously you know we’re sitting there wondering where we’re going to go next day aren’t we doing a few rigs but you can’t do two many rigs because A and B section were just all small fish and then CD and he were probably going to have to fish for big fish I mean tell them about the variation between the two lots of sections well you got a and b in in mecan enza town itself and it was like what was it 3 foot deep maximum on it three foot three foot and then you go to the other bit I mean in practice I think you drew their first it’s the tower it’s like well was like a top eight deep weren’t it 11 M deep 11 M deep yeah so so the Manta rigs youve got you got like tiny Bleak whips and there some on the bottom whips and then some like gram rigs or8 for fishing a bit further out in the shall a bit and then you got up to 10 gram or whatever for fishing out there yeah so you know got a box full of rigs for isand that is a fact so second day I I did fancy join a or b section for AR rest really and the whole team were going please let sha be there please let anyway so yeah Sean has going to be on a I thought yes brilliant and then A2 I thought even better then looked at it I thought you weren’t so good at that end I don’t know why but anyway so I started off and it’s it’s one you think you’re going to get a B first chalk but you’re never quite sure are you I said about 20 whips of ridiculous pick one up all day ched his like hey and they’re like it’s like just ridiculous one every single Chuck in what a mixture of ble trying to catch was trying to avoid the ble so we didn’t feed any maggot so we’re trying to catch these little skimmers you might C the OD like that but mostly like that and never SW the shoulder ble could come you catch some Bleak I’ve never I’ve never anything like it Haven every time you looked up somebody was swinging one in somewhere crackers and the pegging was super tight tight there a picture on Facebook the other day and people say oh that’s ridiculous look at them they’re going like how much is the pegging for you there yeah oh it’s will Champs hold on it’s about 15 meter pegs were the 15 met yeah it’s but when you take that aerial photograph and that it’s ridiculous looks cool don’t it everyone together so yeah just plowing through and really Darren B say yeah you’re doing well you’re winning section but you never know because somebody could catch slightly bigger they’ only got to be like 10 grams bigger than the beat aren they so just kept plowing through them and what did you end up with 644 644 fish in four hours 20 kilo Jesus Christ Sean put that it’s just ridiculous isn’t it 20 kilo o bleaking baby skimmers winner yeah section win three points and individual bronze third yeah just be DTI nice yeah D he was second he beat by kilo I think yeah brilliant R the age of 57 there you go I think we can we can let him have that one you’ve won enough you’ve won enough we can let him yeah but it was a great fishing venue on it really was and team wise it were good to we got a silver didn’t we yeah where were we first day seventh sixth can’t remember it probably the biggest comeback we certainly while I’ve been involved that we’ve ever had I think we was almost winning at one stage but the Vue I mean I think I think in will section first day the Hungarian had something like 13 kilo and he beat two people ridiculous 30 pound of fish and beat two yeah absolutely ridiculous so what you know you can’t get any better than that can you no everything was great everything about it were great as you going up to get your brother medal there he is how many individual medals you won Sean three so that’s one of them tell me about the other one that you want 2006 Portugal on the montimore uh is it montimore yeah montimore uh rowing course that was normal way had an edge tell us a bit about that that sounds like interesting it was completely different to when we went last time so it was just um it was just mullet I think mullet mullet there SE fish yeah was on the coast in a course in a rowing course mullet there’s nothing else I don’t think there’s any other fish we caught maybe a few um Sun per yeah can’t think of any other fish we caught I really can’t we practiced all week and and night it was it was hard fishing um and I got in the team and we’re fishing for like a few but we get loads of indications but hardly any bites cuz his mullet just flashing through your peg all the time and I think we we we’ sort of worked out the ground but it made it worse I presume anything that come off the ground bait then the moit off the bottom and they’re diving into it and digging it up and like little bits of that fast feeders like they’re just running into your lines you get loads of indications but no bite so we fed it in soil we boiled it with soil and then just cuted in soil was funny because we mixed about bowl of ground bait up a bucket of ground bait up both days on the match right so the other teams thought it was putting ground bait in very interesting little tactical tactical cheeky in it yeah so first day um I don’t know where I towards the end of a section and the kid on the end had a massive mullet and beat me and I had five uh three mullet there was other fish in there little um there’s the odd borer which like a little bble type of there I I caught one of them and two a three mullet only weighed about a kilo of 400 and then a bit further down some I think Jamie Mason remember Jamie Mason yeah fish was Scotland didn’t he Jam he beat me by either 100 grams or just under 100 grams per second so I was third and the second day I don’t know I dsection I think and and a w the section with like five or six mullet um so a tide with three with two other people on Four Points what to win to win lost on weight third oh no Thomas Walter win it first time he won it yeah nothing is it did he catch mullet yeah I think he did yeah I think that’s all there was in there really so 100 grams I would have won again must sound so crazy for people listening though that you’ve got on a World Champs on a rowing course in Portugal catching a seafish feeding soil and blood workm I know crackers is it it’s so different to what UK match fishing is isn’t it it was uh it was different yeah but we had again we had it sort of sorted really I know we had I think we had a couple of slip UPS both days but we won quite easily I think yeah team wise team wise won quite easily yeah so another team goal and an individual bronze yeah wow yeah very interesting um I talk about you winning the World Championships but obviously before you actually won won um you had a bit of an incident didn’t you well we fish in um the Europeans in Merida and obviously uh in World Championships there certain um there certain rules obviously you can’t fish more than 13 merss MH uh and there’s obviously bait limits uh and ground bait limits now when we mix Grand B it mix it in the morning we it together yeah and uh whoever you’re traveling with or whoever measures your ground measures your grand you measure theirs just a double check because you want to set the ma maximum was a c then you need as much Bas getting you in obviously got buckets with all the measures on and we measured it I don’t know what the limit was 17 or 20 Le just can’t remember yeah so we’ve all checked it’s perfect so we’re tackling up and they come down to do the bait check yeah Joker maggots whatever oh your ground bait you got too much ground bait strange but I’d already seen him throwing granday at somebody else’s bucket the stward he’ already he already yellow carded several people and he continued to Yellow Card several people down he took a handful out threw it away literally just yeah just an handful out two hand just he said yeah that’s okay I thought nothing else of it never never even knew anything just carried on tackling up and then laughing now um I was laughing at the time and um then then I seen him coming down with a tape measure and apparently we nobody knew but um they randomly picked out one peg per section to measure the pole and um 30 m limit 13 M limit now I was fishing with a new newish pole and they’ve got all these Sor just introduced all these short fives and long six whatever so anyway they measured it and it was about 4 Ines too long and again they’ve gone I’ve G oh yeah this took the mini section out and put the butt on it was like look on yet no problem never gave it another thought thought but previous to that the funny thing is at Maria there you’re all fishing on concrete slabs and some of them got marks on which indicates that there’s a boulder or or something in your peg it they all said that’s terrible that when he can’t fish very far out in practice I drew this in practice and had to Plum up with a pole I couldn’t find any [Music] Boulder CU you’re 4 in past it absolutely won the session quite easily CAU a couple of bar and some carpet like going on about it here was too long in practice but with hadam measure sort of had to measure me and Dez he said yeah that’s perfect got perfect thank you anyway so offway through the M down just come down he said what’s going off he says uh You’ got two yellow cards I’m going what he says yeah in a European champ through the match no he say you’ve been done for too much ground ba I said you P too long said I don’t know about the ground but I said yeah the pole was just a it was just a natural error he says oh stormed off again and at the end he’s come there he says whatever we do get all your top kits out and we’ll take them to uh whatever it is the the referee’s tent tent or whatever it was yeah yeah never I’ve never been in that situation in my life you know were you’re stressed oh stress well you know I’m getting there’s a chance of getting disqualified right we’ve been there for two weeks we spent all this money okay we we were sponsored at the time but it’s still people’s time and and we’ve done all right I’m likely to get disqualified now just ruin the whole European Championship it’s a lot on your shoulders that but but kind of if you had got Mar ground Bay and your poll was too long you can’t really do a lot you’re not no no no um I can’t I can’t I can’t there’s no way I too much ground bait not a cat’s chance but Mya was too long I can’t it was for for just an error on my part as simple as that it was just unlucky that I’ve never seen a tap measure since never saw one before they didn’t even do it anymore neither have I I’ve never seen one and so I’m paranoid that that bit stresses me out every match now yeah yeah for the ground Bay check especially you know and what came of it you’ve gone to this 10 well you’ve been accused of yeah two well they just left me angry for about 45 minutes so I’m getting more stressed by the second and then Eric I think Eric Eric was on the committee says the well he says we’re not going to disqualify anybody in this match no and that was it fair play but I just chucked all the poles in the van and said that’s it Mark I’m not fishing again that’s I’m want to go home now really I i’ had enough yeah yeah just the how did you do in that match I don’t think I did any good actually I broke me pole anyway I remember breaking me pole on a car trying to get it in at the end I didn’t fish second day anyway which I wouldn’t have done it either way even if it even if it the woman section I would have uh it might been if the one section I might have been different anyway we ended I think we ended up second anyway we must have done all right the rest of it anyway I didn’t fish that day second day walked about still a bit upset about it all really still determined never to fish again just go home and get get everything done with really what it really affected oh yeah massively yeah just because you know I’ve I’ve always been a team person whether hat to play football a little bit I really mention that but play a bit of football and it always a team thing he always you know one for one one for all sort of thing and so I thought you know the fact of you know for got disqualified letting them down what you know what are they going to say to me sort of thing you know so when I got home I said that’s it to my Ms and that and then I spoke to dares and I spoke to Will and we had a chat about it and decided that you know I probably just see how I feeling and get pck and I got picked for the for the world Champs which was what another four months later or three months later how how did the other Lads um take was very good really were you know once the realiz w’t going disqualified it was it was all right yeah yeah very brilliant really yeah but you ain’t got any maliciousness or there’s no intent why would you why would you the World Champ you’re never going to get away with it are you that’s what I mean it’s it’s just a little it’s a mistake it was a shock to me I couldn’t show you but yeah yeah yeah yeah it’s a really severe mistake isn’t it I know people have had yellow cards before I’m not B about getting a yellow card but when you get two like I said the ground bait one was ridiculous I think I think yellow card seven or eight people in the section that day it was just one of those over officious he’s got a be in his Bonnet AR he maybe it was a Spanish blow maybe he was I don’t know what was going on but anyway um so I got over that somehow went to Czech Republic same year four months four months later three months on um another river that was not a lot of fish in it not a lot of other fish in it in fact it was real difficult fishing generally in practice what was it like tell us a little bit about the venue it was um the river can’t think of the name of it now what was a river don’t know um it flowed a little bit that it slowed it was quite it was quite slow when we first got there we caught we did catch on roach we caught uh and we catch a look little carcio the odd skimmer didn’t really catch any Bleak I don’t think he practiced the first couple of days I remember the weather being horrific one day and OD team’s going in practicing one day we went sat in this wind and this rain and caught a few good it was terrible it’s getting worse by the day and then on the Friday I remember we fished and um it started to come up because of all the rain it had been horrific weather start to come up and color up I know catch was a few Bleak M and um a few ble not many 30 40 50 Bleak maybe in our little session um and so you know went to the venue thinking we’d probably have to fish for bleak and put a long line in for anything that swam really and I drew D4 the first day started for bleak m i remember Lee kry was running my section um and he called to me after about two hours I said what what you know how how am I doing he says like you’re 100 Bleak influence of anybody else in the section nice good position to be in WoW ended up with 570 odd uh six kilos I won the section here quite easily really um never give it a thought team would done average leor not brilliantly I don’t think I think we got a picture of his cat shot from that day to um and you know it’s like you’re in the car part he mixing around bait up and you’re waiting for your for your section number second day usually comes on text nowadays don’t it yeah um and it pinged up Shan Ashby a37 I’ve gone a37 Allan goes uh oh beeg them was’t it a seex MPEG Upstream mine not Downstream but it’s still an MPEG uh in a bit that was like not very good so it was going to be a bleak match really so I just thought well I’ll just crack on Just Fish a whip and do all right yeah couldn’t catch on the whip at all then tried to throw balls ground about 11 meters and couldn’t really catch many there so I’d caught nothing 30 after the first hour um and they put some grab I think it was N9 meters on the bottom we could catch some bake on the bottom they were bigger and just caught like that all m s the rest of them I caught 250 fish had a little roach and a little Chub and maybe a little Cassio at the end last half an hour uh 250 fish and then the scales come up I said what’s best he said the Polish K have got four kilo and I knew then i’ got more than I got more than four kilo so one section it’s case of waiting to see if there’s any double section winners isn’t there and there wasn’t I would won it two section wins two section wins world championship yeah yeah how was that how did that feel I don’t know I don’t know I walk back to the to the to the draw bit you know going back somebody got me a pine to beer and then I took one sip out of it and I said right you got to go for a drugs test now oh no so it was red up and I drank a liter of water join the match and i’ been for a p just after the match so I was dehydrated by this point so I had one super be have took me to this and you’ve got to pee in a bottle then about an hour and a half I drank about 2 liters of water had to sit in this room on my own an hour and half waiting to go to the toilet missed all the celebrations all the beer drinking competition and everything they wanted to throw me in they couldn’t throw me in because I weren’t there oh no which was a bit of a bonus right and then uh so passed the obviously passed the drugs test that was it mhm well if I three drugs test would you believe no yeah well when I when I come third in Portugal one yeah me and will got picked out randomly somewhere can’t think I think it might have been C Republic at we got picked out we had to go one evening to go and have a have a um have a test and then obviously want to want it what are the what’s the reason for testing for drugs I mean really know what enhancement and you might know to what enhancement of drugs could you have in a fishing match well well they testing for steroids and stuff or it’s to do I assumed it wasn’t anything illegal it’s more per yeah yeah it’s to do with them wanting to get on the Olympic selection type thing so they have to conform to certain rules rules regulations yeah yeah suppose so it could be yeah anything performance enhancing I don’t know steroids are necessarily yeah um I suppose you can hold the pole a bit you know full length pole maybe better maybe I don’t know I don’t enough about concentration drug or something yeah yeah there’ll be um yeah cuz it’s not it’s not physically taxing like cycling or something like that so um yeah maybe maybe a concentration thing or something so so you won the World Champ how did it feel failing the drugs test that’s just for the trailer Yeah well yeah well how it fa that know really it’s just hard to put it’s hard to say what I felt like it’s a bit you know I don’t know still still now it’s a bit unbelievable isn’t it did you ever think though I’m going to win a world championship no somebody said uh you want to write a book about being the best anger in the world I said I’m not even the best anger in the team do you know what I mean that’s how I felt really still feel like that now you know why why hasn’t will won more than one you you you’re probably a really qualified person to answer that question I mean why hasn’t will ra him one more than one I don’t know because every time we go and practice and whether with Dez or with Cameron we go this is one M will have win this he’ll absolutely murder this and and for some reason something goes wrong or he doesn’t draw very well or well just doesn’t draw well enough does he simple as that he can’t do because you know he’s the best there is so many people sit in that seat you’re in and and say will raisin is the best it a shadow it doubt at everything he one one you’ve won one now he’s won one yeah but he’s had first second and third in both events he that seconds and thirds multiple times I think and he but he just I he’s just unlucky is he I think he is unlucky not not to not to have got that extra point or the extra few grams or whatever you know in these various matches yeah yeah you know so um but I’m sure he will and what was the response like to you winning from like your friends and family and all that I mean Sal were there weren’t you s is yeah she goes on most of them yeah I don’t know I don’t know what they think about fishing really they still don’t know what anybody thinks about what I do fishing or what anybody does fishing but it’s uh it’s strange isn’t it yeah yeah yeah not I’m not an excitable person really Matt but I don’t know you’re quite relaxed about yeah Wonder a world CHS God I’m really well you never expect to it doesn’t really are you a patriotic person Sean you are massive so that must have felt powerful you know winning that with the England Badge of your heart yeah but it’s it’s even more so as a team still I think to win as a team you know is is even is even better than individual um but yeah well I don’t know he names on the trophy now is it forever I suppose yeah that’s the way I look at it you know the chance of winning it again you know not as big as they’re not big I’m not going to be you know had a chance last year perhaps didn’t really have a chance last year cuz I could to woman section both days think the kid I think the kid who won it won my section first day just absolutely murdered it didn’t he both days he had a silly 30 OD kilo both days I think didn’t he he had 20 I had 23 I think he had 27 first day my section 30 second a yeah yeah yeah um but yeah you know you know you go to all these matches you never think you’re even going to you just want to do the best for the team don’t you you know you know what it’s like how did the team do the year that you won not so good that’s the only that’s the only bit that you know that would have completed it perfectly wouldn’t it yeah yeah so um suppose a team win and an individual win on the same like Wills like yeah that’s right yeah absolutely yeah even you said that sticks out your mind stick in in mind yeah but yeah it was great was it but yeah well well done mate that’s like something you should be really really proud of well obviously you know but it’s uh it still doesn’t seem real I was a long time ago now 2012 is it you know incredible I want to ask you Sean having talked about all the international side of it um like very seriously what what does it take to fish internationally you’ve done it for so long at such a high level you’ve got the credentials to back it up what what’s your mindset like going into an international match and preparing for it um well looky nowadays don’t we get a lot of information from all all around Europe don’t we so it’s it’s a case of of of getting the information and no stone on turned I suppose I think well you know we came on stock a little bit in Croatia a couple of years ago we never took things like ball over us why would you on a still water but they were the they were the thing to fish and you know we’ve come to the conclusion now even this later stage in in in my sort of international career if you want to call it you got to take everything I mean we’re going to a canal in Holland in whenever it is June and they say it’s impossible fish slider but you’ve got to put them in because you just never know what’s going to happen I think it’s just being prepared for every eventuality and you know like you say I fish for a long time now so some venues I’ve been to before and and you just just you’re just over pre probably almost certainly over pre we how how much does it take over your year of fishing internationally well it does do it that is you know the world you know the world championship is is the thing that you it’s the first thing in the calendar the minute you get picked that’s the first thing you write down and then what whatever you doing I’m driving around working or sat at home or whatever in the bath or at some point you will think about W what I’ve got to do for the world Champs what B do this what floats do I need do I need to get some more rocks it just flips into it flips into my life every day thinking about what I might need for for everything Islands I’m thinking about Ireland all the time now I get back from Ireland we’re going to Holland so I’m thinking about Holland already you know I did on my Island gear last week and this weekend I went through my flat floats found some flat floats I want some sharks and some pavels so it just flits in and then the closer you get to the to the to the time then it starts to overate your life do it Sean s sorry mate M to be fair you can get involved in this as well well you get did you get nervous at all cuz you you are an incredibly experienced International angler you’ve been doing it for a long long time um but there are certain parts of fishing you just said obviously leave no stoned unturned but there are going to be times where because it’s affected by external factors isn’t it a lot of the time so there going to be times where you get there and it’s there’ll be something that you weren’t prepared for so does that ever how does that affect your mindset going into these well like I said we had this we had this um this issue we went to Croatia we was fishing I’ve been to the finished that creation venue before funny enough in a world club Champs and I knew it was it was a Still Water yeah um as it happened they did they did like move the goalpost a little bit because they had a second venue so he had it was a split venue in the end but um you know we don’t fish like Bard A’s rods which are telescopic rods we don’t we’ never fish with them on Still Waters and and like we needed them in croaa and there was in the garage in Derby everybody Dre it home and we ended up borrowing one or two I think from from the Scottish Lads and so so it’s got to be stressful that though you’re already in a mindset that you don’t want to be in it it was pretty stressful on the Friday night when when we deciding right we all going to fish ballos what floats have we got that we can use how we wait how do we even set them up this is Friday night the day before the match wow and you know it did cost it certainly cost me cost Steve the first day Matt and D did brilliant second day it weren’t even the Friday night Sean it was a Saturday night CU you went to that section right came back and that Saturday night you were like listen I know were only you and Steve sat me and denty down because we were going there the next day and you went I know you’ve not done this all week but this is what you’ve got to do tomorrow and it’s like that that even then that was only two years ago three years ago that taught me a lesson that you’ve got to take even more than we’re already taken everything really she’s still learning this far AB fish is you learn every day every time you go fishing incredible that really isn’t it because You’ be considered to be like incredible you learn every time you go fishing every single like like was on about in Spain Bleak fishing I’ve never thrown maggots in and caught them at three and four foot deep and it was better than fishing from on the surface and I’d never experienced that you just you know got try and remember it haven’t you you know and what about when you get to when when the match starts because I’ve had conversations with Matt as well and he says you just you’re so prepared and you’re so you you’ve done all the practice and whatnot so you you talk less about the being nerves and more you you’re just ready for it is that the same for you or or you perhaps a bit more nervous uh I’m a good sleeper I don’t very often wake up and think about it I was a little bit nervous in Spain I don’t know why I don’t know why I was nervous in Spain or not nervous but thinking about it more yeah I do sleep well um and then and then it’s all a bit of a rush in the morning up at whatever time 6 o’cl offit try try to eat something and then we get we obviously we’re loading the van up um and then you get to your section and you can’t go in 8:00 so you get there if you dropped off you get there at half 7 and sort of nervous is looking at there trying to be fair Matt said about that didn’t he about waiting to get into your body trying to find somebody you can talk to you know just take your mind off it that’s the moment you feel it a bit a it when you’re waiting to go when you’re waiting to go in if you if you got off an hour it’s like that’s a long time that where’s the Welsh BL where’s the Scottish BL where where’s the French BL I might know it might be Alex or it might be somebody who speaks and you wander up and down having a bit of a chat and whatever just to try and you don’t know what to do with yourself really um and then you get in the zone get in your section your Zone uh and then it’s just Madness and to tackle up but but I seem to tackle up quicker this these these days I don’t know why I remember like being a real panic in some years and you know not setting any more gear up just seem to be SL must be getting better at it getting it getting it already quickly and then yeah then the nerves are gone they just want to get in they just want to get started really but yeah I said to DTI afterwards um uh this year last year I was definitely nervous first day I don’t know why I think it because we’d fished we’d fished that section second day I think we had and it was a section on its own W it c section a bit different to to d& and no we didn’t we we weren’t really sure what had been caught in those three days so was just a bit Yeah bit bit apprehensive as to what how is it going to go what are there any Bleak there are there what is it there you know I think Spain was I I felt it a bit in Spain as well I think it’s because we knew it was such a good venue there was so many fish to catch and it we going to go down in history as one of the best ones and I think we felt like we were going to do well and it were like we can win this we can and and I think you know we we still never got it right did we until the F we didn’t get it right anyway because we we we wanted to fish we sort of we sort of fed long every day and caught but not enough and then and then obviously we had we had the situation in um in dsection where will had caught with them fishing that whip so we thought that’s going to be the same for every section in this bit and it wasn’t just a oneoff but whatever I threw us way down the wrong path well really we just wanted PR fishing corns five or six meters didn’t we after The Bleak after The Bleak bashing so yeah yeah just a bit nervous that morning really I don’t know why I was really confident second morning in a section that’s where I wanted to be so yeah but yeah you get nervous still get nervous how much have you based your domestic fishing around International fishing since you’ve been selected have you have you specifically targeted UK venues and styles that’ll enhance your International yeah I think so like say that you know we spoke about commercials and and I reckon that was about the last time I went commercial fishing was was you know just before I got picked for it or before I went to Paris and and then in them days I mean I don’t always fish Europeans now um but in those days I was fishing Europeans and worlds and um yeah you you just got to concentrate on it uh uh obviously was fishing blood matches probably in the 2000 early 2000s so there’s quite a few blood matches still going on trying to hone that sort of because that that was the skill really in in in in Europe at the time was to try and fish blood and Joker so I was fishing them all the time you know I don’t fish blood we don’t fish it now I remember you know years and years for years and years from October the 1st to 31st of March we just I just had Joker and bloodworm in the fridge and and you you go out riddling it in the snow Christmas you’d riddle it off and just have a fridge full of bait but don’t do that now so so much easier and cleaner now but yeah no everything is focused around fishing internationally yeah interesting everything what um what do you think is do you think international fishing I mean you’ve done it for so long now and I’ve had a few different England Internationals sat where you are but I’d like your opinion is it any different now in these events to what it was when you first started back in 2000 2001 it’s harder to win without a shadow of doubt that’s interesting um I think why because before I got in the team it was it was really England France and Italy they were the they were the majorly dominant teams they very rarely didn’t come in the top three various orders you get the odd one where Belgium would win or somebody had win but generally it was if you look at the records it’s England and France and and Italy and then round about yeah round about just after Paris probably sort of the sort of teams like Hungary and um Serbia and and Czech Republic I don’t know what happened whether they suddenly got access to all the tackle census certainly expanded into your into Eastern Europe other companies would have done Meo and whether the son they got access to it I don’t really know and then because we’re we’re the only we’re the only country that doesn’t fish to Sips rules so if you if you live in France or Czech Republic or Serbia you probably fish four our matches 303 M pole limits blood of him and Joker to a degree and um they’re doing it all the time so for us to compete is ridiculously hard it’s still surprising now that we do so well really even on bloodwell matches we do well and um so yeah just more and more teams you know there’s probably 10 or 12 teams that can win the world Champs now as opposed to three or four when I first started so you’re up against you know 12 other great Anglers plus then you got the peg in this where another another not so good angle to still beat you because he’s he’s on a better Peg so it’s getting harder and harder by the by by the year it’s a quite a consistent answer that Tobe as well is it like so many people you know say now it that the other teams have got better and it is really difficult to do well in them yeah it is really difficult yeah I always say if you can drive home from an international event with a medal on the dashboard it’s I think that’s job done so I think that’s everybody’s opin now we all want to be gold don’t we but I think if you get a medal you’ve done well and I think you know we probably are the most consistent team possibly I don’t know I’ve not really looked at it but we got be far off can we why has the England team not got a sponsor Sean it’s a good question um it’s a great question do you know why no we we we need one and we should we should have one we should get people should be falling over themselves sponsor the England team we’re representing the country we’re one of the best in in our field if not the best I I don’t know about the rankings but anyway you know why would they not you know we’re representing England for starters that’s massive in in in a massively participant sport uh that’s that’s all over social media all the time I don’t know I don’t know why we’re not you know having to vet people to see whether we want them or not I suppose spinning it on its head and the other angle into this question is what would be the benefit for a potential sponsor in committing to sponsoring the England team what would they get out of it massive exposure for starters and they’re sponsoring a national team which is which is massive um I think it’s down and then it’s down to the media to be able to to say we’re going to put it out on this put it out on that you’ll reach so many hundreds of thousands of people with your products depending on the product but like we said earlier you know why why aren’t some of these Sports um clothing people interested I don’t understand they could have us all out in Adidas or Nike or whatever you want couldn’t they yeah or that it wouldn’t cost them anything would it really in this grand scheme of their budgets all I think I think we’ve had this before we I think it does it must be down to recognition because it’s not covered in a sense of if your boys go out and compete I can’t watch on TV no that’s a big problem yeah so it’s really difficult because I’m with you guys in a sense I I think it’s baffling that you’re not sponsored on some level M um and that you boys have to pay for so much of it you know whether it’s the travel or or or so on um but yes as you rightly said it is at the end of the day it’s a national team at the at the top level of quite a widely participated sport I don’t know if it’s perception as well of of fishing I don’t know but um you know it would do somebody a lot of good to to sponsor the without a shadow doubt he’s here’s a kind of a follow on question from said what would be the step the next step in you your opinion you guys are are the best to answer this what would be the next step for the England team or um the sport or whatever to to take towards a big company let’s just use Eddie Des for an example to go actually right we’re going to go for that what what what do you think you’re missing to get to that next point I I can answer yeah if you want yeah I’d like both you to answer yeah I think personally and and i’ I’d like to I’d happily have a hand in doing this it’s difficult when you’re fishing part of me I mean I’ve got a full-time rooll it’s in fishing can’t call it a proper job can I your I’ve seen your hours your part time yeah all jokes aside though I got a full-time job and I try and fish for England which is ridiculously intense so it’s hard for the actual Anglers themselves to follow up chasing a sponsorship for the team however our governing body angland trust the management of the England team I think it’s fair to put a little bit of responsibility their way don’t think I’m out of place no absolutely not however my case is the fact that an international event that a fishing team like England goes on is such an amazing package to cover for a sponsor it gives a long period of exposure so you are Toby Clark you’ve got Toby Clark company and you come on board with the England fishing team to sponsor it you can get involved in things like the team selection process you could come up the angling TRS could put a package together that says right Toby clap we’re going to name the England team this week so we’re going to have a media day where we get them all at Bon Lakes come along with all your branding yeah we’ll do your big exposure on all the angland trust Pages we’ll do a film with the team meeting the team the management are going to speak on social media about the selection and the venues that we’re going to this year you can come and do whatever media you want on top of that as well that’s just selecting the team next up we’re going to keep in touch about what the team are up to they’re preparing they’re getting all the clothing the luggage with Toby Clark on um and we’re going to keep doing media about them getting prepped to go to Holland European Champs is in June in Holland in fact they go for a practice early so get them fully kitted up for it they’re going to have all your luggage they’re going to have all your clothing on what we’ll do is we’ll send updates back and regular pictures and videos and media so you can promote the fact that they’re out there doing it then if you want to come by the way come and cover it as well come and do it but we’ll make sure you’ve got everything you need to see what this team you’re supporting is doing and it’ll create lots of attaction and get back from the practice right the main EV this is the European Championship same again lots and lots of coverage building up to it the whole journey process out there if it was a company within fishing I think drenan have done it fantastically well with the feeder team yeah they they get together they talk about the prep video sorry to they did a video I remember we watched it was brilliant yeah massive credit to them the Journey of getting out there traveling to Holland on the tunnel on the ferry whatever it is the intenseness of that practice week as a team all working together coming up with the tactics the journey all that prep and hard work builds up to them two days of the match and then it’s like the big event well this is it folks day one this is our Toby Clark team England’s done boom lots of coverage lots of patriotism supporting it the result after it day two this is where We’ve Ended up we’ve won we European Champions yeah like I think the whole journey of following is very attractive and offers a prolonged period I mean we’re only up to June yeah then we go on the world Champs in September so that key time between sort of March and October you’ve got some really cool international fishing trips that you can cover and put your name to but the think the media side of it so important it needs to be managed right an almost priority really that look we need to be getting as much as we can and feeding it back to yeah I think I think you know as as a team and as a as a team and as a management we’ve got to do more certainly I think we’ve sort of not pushed it if you know what I mean do you’re doing a great job but you do it a little bit but you’re part of the team you shouldn’t have to do it because well that’s my argument sorry SE that’s that’s that’s my argument in a case of this this T we we’ve had a big chat about football today you’re not going to see Harry Kane isn’t out there in between matches is pushing pushing England team or Bayern Munich for example or that’s not his job his job is to go and do do the job on the day that that and that where I think should come back to your your governing bodies and stuff that that responsibility surely should lie with them tell me if I’m wrong yeah to yeah to to a big degree yeah yeah but it’s difficult yeah it is it’s a shame as well really because well I think it would had credibility cred credibility to sport I think if you then had a a a sponsor whether it was in or out the industry but I always with Matt I said you could have Rolex coming you could have some nice Rolexes as you’re all timing your bites on on the bank yeah yeah yeah but great idea that to Ping a l yeah should I get in touch always want I’ve got to be honest but it is and I think it would and I personally I think if one came the rest would follow and I think if it starts to filter down from the top level which is international I think the rest of the sport would benefit I think it’s definitely got to be from outside I think it’s got be from outside the the sport you know from outside the market the from yeah it’s got to be you can’t be from a from a fishing company I think so but like I say may maybe we’ve been not we’ve not asked the big enough companies I don’t know I don’t know how it all who does it or anything if you are watching yeah please get in touch it’s um it almost becomes someone’s responsibility within the management within the governing body to actively I know that they are they do a great job and of course they’re looking but you know like putting a proper case together really going out there to the you know periphery companies on the edge of angling like I don’t know go Outdoors kind of Vibes camping you know companies that maybe can benefit from angling are just on that periphery yeah yeah rim of of the sport to make maybe something like that would be a good opportunity for them we promote the England fishing team this is the biggest participation sport in the UK well that’s right yeah that’s that’s what you got to push on is the amount of people that actually still do it or go out and do it whether it’s one day a year or or every day it’s massive amount of exposure from whatever is it yeah so yeah hopefully going forward what does the future of the England team show you’ve seen some changes recently younger people coming in mixing the team up a little bit how’s that gone how’s it affected it well it’s brilliant is it it’s a great mix now you know it’s is it is a joy to to go away with with with the people that’s in the team we all seem to get on very well it’s all gels very well um and you know you can’t stop time you got we’ve got to try and um you know get a get a team for when the old boys are finished Steve’s in his 70s now is he Ling gray what is he 78 79 cracking on so he’s got kill I he is and but no seriously I mean you know Ste Steve’s the same age as me or just a little bit older than me press I’m 58 um so you know we can’t keep going and and I did think you know maybe five years ago you know that’ll be the end of it really know you know I I’ll pack up Steve will pack up um Stevie Gard will pack up um you know Dez’s packed up and whatever Allan Allan’s packed up you know so um and I thought does any like there any there any handful there’s will and then there’s Matt there’s maybe D there’s maybe Cameron and like those two flourish massively they are unbelievable Anglers now ENT and Cameron MH you and you and Willard obviously brilliant like you’ve got four there all of a sudden you want two more now but you just got to find them twoo are the others in line I mean you’re wise you fish all over the UK all the time there not loow it’s not like when I was young there’s not who Springs to mind am I allowed to ask you that who’s next in line you can’t you canot ignore Frankie you can’t ignore Frankie you know he’s fish that sens he’s come first and two seconds in the last three years on the only probably the only bloodwind match we fish into International rules so he’s got to be in line it can only be a matter of you know well he should be you know should be anytime now really um after that you know You’ got Josh Newman who’s fished for the Young The Young England still in the young England now I think isn’t he only 21 Josh only 21 but whether there’s anybody in between 21 and a Frankie 33 that’s the Gap that’s the bit that there must be some there must be some people out there but nobody nobody smacked between the eyes there’s a few but not nobody stands out if you know what I mean what would you say to a young angler or any age angler for that matter um who might have some aspiration to fish fingland what can they do to make sure they’re recognized and make sure the right matches they’ve got they’ve got to be involved in a team a good team like a Barnsley or a starlets or a Dawkin or or one of these one two of these other up up and coming teams you know there’s still a few teams out there that are got a great H got team Lester are rebuilding I think um uh there’s one down south that’s doing well um o of fantastic bordon I was thinking of yeah dren and bordon um so yeah they’ve got and they’ve got the fish there’s any one mat fish that sensus challenge I’m afraid so they’ve got to really really try and improve you know really try got to try and do well in that as a team and individuals it’s very difficult because you know we’ve been B B up on blood and Joker a lot of these other teams haven’t been b b up on it at all we’ve just you’ve caught the tail end of it probably I was right in the middle of it luckily and it’s just gone now mostly um but yeah they’ve got to fish for a good team they’ and they’ve got to stand out and fish the right matches they you know I don’t know you know it’s hard to say but not go on commercials I supposed to a degree do you think you can do both that’s the sort of the next question that’s bring do you think you could do a be a success super successful commercial angle and fish for England and be good on the international scene you think it’s manageable to fit both in depends on what you call a successful commercial there’s that many commercial matches now with big money MH that you’d have to say I’m not fishing I don’t know when Fisher Mania you can’t fish Fisher Mania you can’t fish you know the golden reel because you’re going to be away on England Duty and it’s like depends what the Ang wants to do in it but you know they’re certainly good enough ringer should fish England float team but he’s obviously float feed of fishing now mostly you know you got you got to look at Andy Bennetts and Jamie uzes and Christian Jones and whoever else is out there winning all these um commercial matches every every week I think just about any any uh Festival you know one of them wins it but you know do they want to just keep winning those do they want to they’ve got sponsors to keep happy uh and and that’s their income perhaps I don’t know how the situation is with any of them you know obviously they’re sponsored but that won’t be enough I wouldn’t imagine so they’ve got to win these matches to to not go to work if you know what I mean why why do you choose the international route when there’s all this money to be won domestically on big matches on commercials um because I’m old because um I don’t know really I sometimes think uh possibly two too far behind the game but but it wouldn’t take very long to get into it without a Shadow of Doubt I like I like the I like the natural fishing that’s what I want to do I want to fish rivers in the summer I want to fish commercials for Silvers in the winter and I think that’s good for international fishing as well really because you know we’re fishing floats stick Floats or ballos or waglers or whatever and I think that’s more pertinent to international fishing the money’s never appeal to you for winning a fania it been nice wouldn’t it it would be nice you know but it’s not everything is it it’s not the money you want it’s a title is it surely I think money is just secondary it soon spend that world champion sounds great as well oh I don’t have to spend it all mat um what is your domestic match fishing circuit got in store for the next few years I mean you’ve mentioned the commercial silverfish side of things you’ve witnessed that really coming to the Forefront I think uh I think we had a chat before we started fishing has never been better on leral venues well for for for silverfish like the trend is is better than it’s ever been in my opinion is it is that true is it I I don’t know what it was like it it was good but it was if if you have not got anything in there but you if you went back and uh looked at the weights it would be it wouldn’t be you’d be surprised how low the weights were a lot of the time have a 30 or 40 pound of job you would be catching like 20 pound of roach very often you know you go to Burton Joyce for instance you catch 20 pound of days on lots of pegs or if you don’t catch 20 pound of days on that you might catch 25 pound of roach on that Peg or you might catch 20 pound of eels and perch on that one or you might go and catch bre catch barble the fishing is just phenomenal Burton Jo especially but I’m sure there’s loads of places on the Trent that are good we got Burton on Trent itself which is just down the road from where I live that fishing is good there we’ve just opened up the old stretches where we used to fish on um willby bar roadside cutle Brook yeah yeah access for parking fishing’s very it’s not brilliant but it’s there’s a lot of fish there it’s only going to get better with feed going I’m sure um what about the drains as well in the winter oh yeah the drains yeah I stopped going on the drains it went a little bit iffing for one year and we said oh it’s too far to go it’s two hours for us to get there so we’d leave in the dark and we get back in the dark and Cam said it’s from bit too far so we gave it a miss and then they start catching leg so we’re gone again it’s like well why we missed it it’s just ridiculously good isn’t it why is there so many fish all of a sudden in our rivers and natural venue show why I think well I mean Wayne touched on it didn’t in this podcast about the power stations and and the fish were used to the warm water especially in Winter and chub loved it roach loved it and then it went cold because the switch power station’s off and I think it took this long for the fish to get a not a climatized because they’ll all be dead those who were there but but you know what Nature’s like it just takes time to rearrange itself really and now the they’ve realized it’s cold water maybe it’s cleaner I don’t know um and and they’re re climatized and they now the breeding again you go to Burton Joyce or Burton on Tren and you know in June it’s just fry everywhere so obviously breeding well again um I don’t know about the drains I don’t know what to say about the drains it’s just ridiculous how many fish are in there now it is um so we do all that summer I just want to go on the Trent in summer or Riverfest matches on rivers just want to do river fishing really um and then come October November it’s all commercial fishing when did the commercial silverfish comes the I mean you’ve had a phenomenal winter aren’t you you brilliant every time I look on cam or your yeah like it’s just you and next Falls and you had like 360 p in the last few weeks y roft yeah it um where did it all start I don’t know when it all started really I suppose um it sort of started when we started we fished um um like a like a um sips ruls match at Boston and we start with fish bloodworm then long that was a long time ago 15 years at least 15 years and we was catching skimmers and roach on bloodworm and I don’t know what happened then but I can’t think the first time we went a proper like casters and maggots match I can’t think to rcraft they didn’t like it really they didn’t catch anything no good went home and then yeah it just seemed to have just appeared I go to roft I go to medin I’ve been to Mak and now you got them everywhere RDS riddings hcraft hcraft yeah yeah yeah yeah I suppose we used to go Hayfield remember the I was about to say Hayfield and um went Ro bloodworm fish Woodland’s view was bloodworm matches there they’ve sort of ran the co bloodworm but we don’t need it now you just need maggots and cast and worms you catch more and and the weights are getting bigger every year it’s almost like ridiculous the commercial scene the carp and the F1 fishing has triggered a whole new winter sport hasn’t it Something’s Happened yeah it has uh they’ve always been in there we just tried to avoid them c fishing I suppose what’s the key to catching a lad of winter silver Sean worms is it I think so really yeah I think it’s worms you’ve just getting it away aren’t you worms you cut that bit out too do you think what’s your Edge what’s your Edge on commercials in Winter you catch loads of fish tell me what you think’s important presentation’s important what’s good presentation strong out rigs massively important why I think they’re getting a bit wise these fish now clattered them for a few years and now they’re realizing that they’re fair game and uh the roach are getting hard to catch definitely skimmers are still a bit Dopey a he but the roach definitely getting odds to catch so like you’ve got to you’ve got to you’ve got to feed them nicely got to feed them constantly casters not too many but got going that’s the that’s the most important thing is you know it’s easy to for you to understand but just feeding all the time is so important to get them fish confident and feeding and then you got a strong out rig that looks like a cter fall in off you go um but yeah strong out Rigs and and regular feeding I think is why are we not dwelling on worms no we’ gone right off worms um what do you think to worm why are worms so important you got you mentioned that straight away and then it were all well it’s fun we have a laugh every time because I say to C you bring me a bag of worms he says he had a bag last week and he had a big bag a week before that and I use a bag a weekend what like a kilo yeah in two matches kilo in two matches even when it’s freezing not so much when it’s freezing but when you’re fishing for 30 pound plus you need half kilo of worms a match right I think roach love them bream obviously love them and he gets to the point where you know it’s so difficult to say in it but sometimes I stop feeding Cs and just feed little balls of worms with ground bait and if it’s skimmers that might be better than feeding casters like really rich with wor yeah so it almost Falls to Pieces they stopped feeding casters so the roaches drift off and they’ve just got skimmers now because they’re heavier and so it’s just working it that way really um but even when I’m catching 60 pound of Brean you generally catch them you catch a big weights at like close 6 M even then it’s like a you know a three in like 4 and half 5 foot of water and it just all settles up and then you get a couple of indications and it go under and it’s a bream big bream you won’t catch them I don’t think you catch them money on on a on a bolt rig i’ convinced you wouldn’t almost like they watch it for yeah they’ve been caught as well aren’t the same as the roach so they’ve all been you know we’ve been fishing rra now for I don’t know 10 12 years have you got any favorite ground baits at you CU I know obviously you’re you’ve worked with census for such a long time and you’ve spent a lot of time with a friend what’s your what are your go-to ground bait mixes I’m dwelling on your work experience International experience tell me fish meal mix and a and a non-fish meal quite um what’s the word I don’t I’m quite setting my ways so if I’m fishing in the summer in rivers or Island I’m taking the same mix to one I’ll fish with gross G on and a and a and a and a Gramm called Canal find the W which is like a just a French gr but we sell a lot in England now I just we them 250 50 on the Trent at Burton Joyce or on the drains or in Ireland and that seems to work perfectly for me just that one mix just that one mix yeah you might add some soil on the river that’s about it really wow and then for commercials so you’re natural fishing one mix yeah yeah yeah yeah that must blow some people’s mind abely yeah right so one mix for that you can make you can with gross God on you can get fine if you want I might use fine on the drains and gross God on big bits in the river but but it’s the same essentially and then on the um commercials well what happened was we had a grit called a sweet fish meal magic and he used that and did all right with it one one day they’ not got any in stock so I’d got another one that I thought was the same a sweet sweet fish meal and a power green thought yeah Green people catch a lot of fish on green don’t I’ll try that so I had a box of each went to medland’s and open the green bag and it’s like stinks it’s garlic garlic ER strong garlic right but I’ve got nothing else so I mix the two together you didn’t know it were garlic no I didn’t know it was garlic just mentions it said power green on the bag thought i’ try that mix it with sweet magic but it’s all got bits of pellets in it it stinks and it’s like that’s all I’ve got and C had got any Grand bait with him either so I said he have off of this and he’s gone they fancy that much first and second we were no yeah not just bream but roach and per as well as skimmers and I’ve not used anything else since honestly and I’ve caught all these loads of fish loads of fish on this mix and it stings so it’s garlic yeah have you got any left no I’ve got about three bags do they still make it yeah you’re going to let us know when some comes back in so I can try it might as long as you don’t come medin yeah right what is that what you use at medalin yeah got some Secrets out of you in this last 15 minutes exclusive content that isn’t it so yeah it’s but it’s funny because I I went to a shop in uh in Nottingham Way and and the guy’s a proper specimen Hunter lfish do his specimen on and I remember years ago he said what do you do garlic I said we got aramix garlic we got some spray garlics spray with garlic in it he says I love all he says garlic is the best by far natural fish attractor for all species it’s not a commonly used thing though is it no and I thought a whatever and then and then open this back it was all garlic and I’ve caught well I’ve never caught so many fish really on these commercials especially right yeah it’s incredible big breams little bream big roach perch you’d think they wouldn’t like it would you roach and perch no they love it so literally that’s the only thing you use now in Winter yeah even if you come to say all CR with blood especially oh don’t know about that I not really thought about fishing blood worm with it to be honest sounds that bluming good you don’t need any blood worm anyway well wonder they just make you wonder about using blood wor with it I don’t know i’ never had the opportunity really cuz there’s no blood worm matches anymore is it on these commercials don’t need it anymore do we the fishing is too good you know he was going to Hall coft and making he was only winning with like I don’t know8 to1 pound maybe1 was a massive weight of roach and been the skimmers in them days did is just roach weren’t it HW Croft and Hayfield yeah yeah 14 16 would win a lot of matches yeah yeah makes you wonder if garlic could be good in a natural ground bait I’ve as I’ve asked Alex to make one he just laughs at me when I ask him honestly make me a gross Gard with garlic he says no you won’t do it you have to get great in a it in there AR you making another Curry sh NOP just doing me ground bait Sally just make you wonder don’t it yeah so but yeah that was a revelation to me that was what um what does domestic fishing hold for you in the future what do you want to keep doing what what what’s the next 10 years got in store for sha Ash well um I’d love to I’d love to win at Riverfest that’s on my list definitely although obviously we can’t fish this year because the date clashes with the world Champs what so appealing about riverfish to you um well Rivers was where I started fishing and that’s still what I want to do mostly I don’t think you can beat a moving float catching da and roach and CH or whatever and I’ve come I’ve been close to winning it have you been second and third oh fourth and fifth maybe six or seventh you framed pretty much every time well I framed up in five or six yeah um but could you have won one have you ever had a chance to win no why um because I’ve never um I don’t think I’ve really ever drawn the pegs to do it from really like you know the trouble is is the way that I fish is that I’m always trying to catch a weight of fish small small fish not small fish but you know on the Y you might catch like 35 D and roach but you still can’t beat a big fish weight and I’m not I don’t I’ve ever drawn any pegs good enough to do that like you know Burton Joyce there’s like a barble Peg and some Breen pegs yeah if you don’t draw them you ain’t going to win Riverfest the way it stands at a minute so 225 pounds of roach and Dace isn’t enough to beat the bble and the bream that’s the problem but on the pegs that you’re drawing you’re not going to catch £5 else that’s the beauty of Burton Joyce you what you can’t just think I’m going to fish for barble all day anyway cuz you won’t catching anywhere else no so that’s the good thing about it so you know we come on the same really we’ll go to Burton Joy on Riverfest final and if we don’t draw which we never have drawn them two or three pegs we just fish to come fourth or fifth or sixth or seventh CU that’s what else there’s no point sitting there for fish that aren’t there must have a nice day fish don’t you and a lot of people do just Chuck it with a pet on yeah was wasting the time really in the scheme of things might catch one or two but they ain’t going to but I think that’s why you and cam are so consistent because that’s the way we fish yeah yeah um but we’re never going to win it fishing like that that’s the sad thing it might be a year one year when 50 pound wins it and the bar will shut up shop and the bream don’t feed but who knows we’ll see but yeah i’ come second on the Y I’ve come third on the Y as well I think might come fourth on the Y actually as well wow I really like the why yeah always seem to catch some fish there yeah for some reason awesome throwing loads of bait in again I suppose I’d love to see you win rivest not going to do it this year are you not this year mate going win win Ireland instead win oh yeah classic would you like to win the classic River feston classic yeah tell me a little bit about the classic why do you want to win the classic in Ireland well cuz two of two of mates have won it before Nigel B and Rod Scott have both won it they they give me a bit of grief about it um and it just Down’s won it as well Down’s won it as well yeah two of your M and Downy have won it and um it’s one of them isn’t it I mean Steve igra has been going for as long as maybe 30 years and he’s never even framed up he says I’ve never framed up either really no um what your class is framing top 10 top five top five right okay it’s funny because we have there’s are teams of four you all have a team of four won’t you so they have a little team of four match okay over the three days it’s a 10 Each truck in and just a bit of fun really there trophies for it so there’s me r Scott he’s won it m d he’s won it and Steve emigra who’s been tent all his life and we we’re on the we’re on the back page every year we catch nothing absolutely nothing well as as we’re doing this podcast I’m going to Ireland tomorrow night I realized that yeah so you’re not selling it here is it good it’s unbelievable you could you go to and blankin still have a great time just s just sitting in the countryside it’s just nice and it’s quiet the scenery is fantastic and if you get about it’s going to pull you in mostly really wild wild hybrids they’re like C B just pull your rod in brilliant fishing and if and if we can get in the town and the rivers flowing and some roaches there it’s just ridiculous you know even if you only catch I don’t know 15 or 20 kilo they’re massive you don’t want to put them you keep just want to stare at them all day when you catch one beautiful fish beautiful fish yeah I can’t wait to get out there I can’t wait to get there either well when this podcast does come out you might have won the classic you might as well how good that’s that’d be perfect scenario wouldn’t it it’ be nice wouldn’t it just one of them things just just an iconic match in it’s just an iconic match I think yeah stranger things have happened we um we filmed the guru’s underwater at Ferry meadas this year and then the week after it came out ringa went and fished a big match at fah filming a live match and Drew the same Peg that we filmed underwater on did he win no he come third thirdd yes yeah yeah great match as well yeah yeah so I’ve got a feeling you’re going to win the classic and we can promote the podcast by going Sean Ashby wins the classic here his podcast telling us he’s never framed in it well I hope you’re right because that would be one to win that would be awesome oh yeah I’ve got one more thing I want to ask you about you’ve mentioned a few people in this um two common names that have been brought up in your show Nathan newes and Cameron new you spent a lot of time with Nathan in my youth yeah yeah amazing angler i’ fished against Nathan been battered by him loads of times I think he’s one of most natural Anglers 100% yeah and cam is Nathan’s son who you now travel with everywhere I think it’s fair to say that Cam’s a bit of a pro prot pro what’s it called pro prot pro of yours I’d like to think of help along the way a little bit Yeah tell me a little because because like you’ve traveled with his dad then Nathan’s obviously drifted out of fishing gone into business a little bit more I know he’s been doing a lot more recently what’s it been like traveling with Cam and and well I travel with his dad for obviously like you put some we got some pictures of like Denmark I did really well with his dad in Denmark um his D was great because when we was when we was really young like 18 to 20 he’d got a girlfriend who who lived in a town called belper which and it was quite a good night life there so um well he’s his wife now anyway so we can talk about it oh that’s useful but he used to have a little um car or van type thing and so what you’d do on a Friday night he’d pick up like three or four of us me um Paul boo became I think wer one or two others he take us to developer drop us off we’d go out in the town he’d go and see his girlfriend and then he’ come and pick us up and take us home how us that he didn’t drink in them days never he never drank unbelievable I know so so he doesn’t drink now does he h Christmas I think um so yeah so for Fast Forward on yeah he go fishing with a little bit obviously we paired up um and we fish quite we travel quite a lot together at one point me and Nathan and then then he bought then he bought a tackle shop or got a tackle shop and then sort of business took over he’s very successful at what he does his Shop’s one of the best in the country um and I think he worked hard at that and then obviously Cameron um started fishing started to obviously show some of his dad’s talents obviously as a young age and I think Nathan’s got more involved since since cam sort of blossomed if you know what I mean and so and now he fishes you know quite a lot he fishes the rof matches with us obviously he’s always gone to Ireland think he go white takers and he loves it does he Nathan he just goes fishing and wins when he goes and all you don’t want to be next to him I hate being next to him because he’s you know I’d rather be next to Cameron well he comes away with Eng land toam and he’s like not only does he make his lovely coffees but he always contributes massively pasta dishes in Spain oh prone past so he’s got many talents he has um but yeah Cameron yeah I don’t know I don’t know how long we’ve been traving long again longer than than than than I think it is I don’t know how it all started he just appeared one day on the passenger seat MH and um yeah we get on well he’s obviously very very good who’s contributed more to the sharing part over the years you are Cameron jaen well I’d like to say me um but um I don’t know well he can maybe give his opinion on his show he can when he comes On’s yeah he’ love it wouldn’t he Nathan would do a good podcast he as talk about tle shop and everything yeah so um yeah probably just ahead of him but not much now SN past him this winter I think yeah think so yeah it’s that garlic ground in it so um yeah he’s just brilliant is he you know he’s he’s a real quick learner I don’t know been next to him either um so yeah he’s just one of them and like no matter what he’s caught he’s caught nothing when he’s talks you on the phone do he so he ring me constantly drawing the match and uh it’ll caught nothing everybody’s hammered him all around him yeah what’s the worst you’ve ever had what’s the worst Cameron new story tell me well it’s it’s not he’s not even a worse one he’ll just he’ll just be on the phone and he’ll go I I’ve not had a b it for 10 minutes and then he go what say I just c a roach and they like carry on he’ll be on the phone for half an hour moaning about he’s not catching anything okay and then he’ll go how many we’ve been on I’ve gone a two got that about you nine you ain’t catching anything I’m not and then like you need to lift out with his net bit like you well that time you come to on the stain did you don’t remember that I can remember that day yeah me you and Allan in a row I own some nickers on Allan’s roller that morning I did I remember seeing Allan thinking he’s not catching it in between us this little kid here Allan got to be Al’s got to beat Allan and Alan way I think Alan way then you come down after the mat and said oh you’ve you’ve done brilliant there let’s have look at your Rigs and I’ve gone yeah yeah kid have look at them like and then like Alan’s weighed 12 pound I’ve weigh 13 tips 15 on I sat there scratching me and he looked at me rigs told me and just damed me the camera’s a bit like that I was next to him on the last match at medland and what happened there EG W he so Shar yeah and like he C he said he can’t catch but he’s catching but his moan is he’s he’s lost the plot at one point thrashing his tockus in the water and like he’s weighing £ 39 I’ve just done him right so you beat him I beat him not I thought even I thought I’d beat him by about six or 7 beat by3 just sneaks him in he talks it down all the time 12 O that one it’s 2 pound I don’t know I don’t know what goes on and then he has a little spell where he’s quite good and then he’ll say I’ve only got six pound go no you’ve not no you’ve not and he weighs about eight i’ go it’s not bad for you that and then the next time it would just be ridiculous again but yeah we have a laugh about it and uh crack on for the next one he gives me off his winners and we’re happy aren’t we it’s a two-way thing I’m sure yeah yeah no it’s it’s a good it’s good to travel we get on we do get on it’s good yeah good good um quick fire questions for you an item in your seat box shown after that you couldn’t live without what is it not picker do you get in a few Tangles I do like a tangle and do you get out of them with you not picker quite often spaty stronger at Rigs when you’re trying to swing one in and it comes off and pings all up sometimes it drops out but sometimes have to get the not pucker in right right that helps me out a lot okay I’ll give you that one um if you could only fish one venue for the rest of your life where would it be and why that is a tricky question it’s awkward for a quick Fire w that one there’s a million is there I’d love to go b island in Ireland when we get there Bo island is something special because you never know what what’s going to happen you could catch 30 kilo you could blank you just don’t know you get their Fisher topping you got a chance Burton voice I like obviously cuz it’s again varied fishing and obviously places like medland well you’ve had three there I’m GNA the guest’s taken the mick a little bit with this recently I’m going to make you pick one out of them three out of all of them Bo Island there you go that’s the one solid solid answer who’s the best angler that you have ever fished with um I think it is William raisen however um massive massive respect for bought Stevie Gardner M I’ve fished with him for a long time and he’s one of them he just thinks about it so deeply and he’s just everything’s perfect I Wills is perfect I’m not perfect with my tackle but will is but I think he got that from Steve I think to some degree he’s just very he’s just he’s just a great thinking angler Steve do you see a lot of Steve in will um Will’s got his own style an he he’s so aggressive in he will wise and I think I think Steve probably that Steve did it without showing it if you know what I mean but he always he always put a lot of bait in Steve so probably yeah but it was just sad I don’t know what the word is really but you know you know it’s like when we’re practicing in England for England he next to Steve you just knew that he was never going to give it until the last second of that practice and you know you felt like he’d achiev something if you’d caught more than him interesting um if there was one thing about fishing that you could change what would it be yeah it’s a tricky one that one I love fishing I love every as aspect of it and there’s not a lot I want to change really maybe maybe bait bands I’d like to have carried on the bloodworm thing a bit longer I think that would have made us more rounded Anglers but just bait bands really everybody don’t think about banning Casters in this business I don’t understand that really I understand from a financial point of view but not Banning it maybe maybe limiting it but not Banning it so bait banss really is the only thing I get rid of them yeah get rid of bait BS and if you had to give someone who’s never been fishing before some encouragement to go and give it a go or motivation to give it a go what would you say to him well it is just giving it a go but but don’t just concentrate on the fishing side look at look at where you are look at hopefully in the countryside and you know quite a big nature person still you know I’m still happy to see a king fisher fly by or wonder what that bird is and you know I mean just just enjoy the surrounding it’s not all about catching fish it’s about enjoying the day in it really that’s why I’d say get some advice and go and try and catch them but but yeah go a natural venue and try and have a look around the wildlife great answer that’s I like to do yeah all over the world in your situation as well my ADD not yeah pretty much so yeah good um have you got a gift that you can leave with us I have not got a clue what this is sometimes the guest like oh look what I’ve brought before get too excited sometimes didn’t they I’ve got given this on after World Champs okay somewhere and I can’t remember but it is a wooden box made specially oh now then yes now we don’t use wood box anymore do I’ve never used that one stash it’s a team England oh I still got the original pins and everything yep yep well that’ll do me for Holland this year SE thank you very much going to ET his name into there can you sign it for us as well before you go can you if you really want me to on the back on the back the podcast cast best wishes Shan ashb your Ben’s running out is it yeah just ran out by looks of it we’ll get a fresh one well get you a fresh pen absolutely well that went well didn’t it perfect I’ll go get you a fresh pen um on a serious note though thank you very much for coming on mate I’ve enjoyed it it’s been good have you yeah good what there’s so much that we haven’t touched I mean we didn’t dwell on starlets and there’s so much you’ve won with them if we’ have named everything that you’ve won domestically in the UK would be till next week but um I know you’ve got so much fishing ahead of you are you going to come back on if there’s a chance to come back and have another n if we uh if we think of enough stuff to talk about or one something or whatever why not yeah enjoyed it yeah it’s been good good thank you mate for coming on I’ve got a lot so much respect for your fishing how consistent you are and your results what you’ve done internationally from me personally like massive massive respect and when I were growing up I said this when you walked in eight nine 10 years old you was in the magazines doing it to the highest level then 25 years on and you’re still there now so like it’s a bit surreal for me to sit down and enjoy an experience like this with you I just wanted you to know I appreciate it personally a lot okay mate brilliant thank you much foring on thank you cheers to thank you