For me the fishing season runs from June to May and I usually like to take a few weeks off during April & May, simply because the fishing during this time, particularly May can be a bit dodgy with spawning fish.
On a personal level the last 12 months has been hard. Back in June my parent company made a decision to sell off the company I worked for. I had to make a decision about either continue working for my existing company or move to the parent company. In the end I moved to the parent company in August with a mandate to set up a new service, however progress has been painfully slow and it is only recently that all my hard work is starting to bear fruit.
As for Sue, I have never known someone to have such a bad run of luck, but I think (& hope) she has settled on what she wants to do for the future. Having given up trying to find a full time job, she now wants to run her own business selling AVON and Ann Summers. Sue's problem has been the 2 fold, firstly she spent 20 years in the motor trade and secondly she was a manager. Unfortunately, with so many people looking for work, it appears potential employers are seeing 20 years motor industry and immediately discounting her managerial skills. So Sue has decided to set up her own business, building a sales team for AVON and Ann Summers. There is some serious money to made if she can grow the team large enough and I have told her if it gets to the point where she needs to employ someone to deal with admin etc, I will be her man. That way I will have more time to go fishing! Unfortunately, that will be a few years away.
With such a tight financial year, it has meant I haven't been able to go fishing as often as I would like and that's one of reasons why I focused much of my time at Lands End during the winter. Ironically being on a tight budget and seen me have one of my best seasons. Having to limit what bait I take has allowed me to focus on how I approached a match. Previously I have been guilty of taking too much and confusing myself, but by looking at how other anglers approach their matches, such as Tony Rixon and Rod Wootton has allowed me to be more confident that what I am doing is right and I shouldn't keep chopping and changing.
Fishing has certainly kept me sane these last 12 months, although there has been some lows, as well as some highs.
The lows – Being dropped by Maver Veals wasn't unexpected and on reflection I should have dropped myself months ago, however I honestly thought I would back straight financially sooner and able to commit the necessary time.
The big low for me however was the Lands End Winter League. After the 6th round I was lying 3rd overall, but the last 2 rounds weren't kind. A draw on peg 55 Johns, although normally a decent peg, on the day the weather was getting milder and there was a real strong westerly blowing. So whilst everyone had some sort of ripple, my swim was flat calm and the fish simply didn't want to be there. The last round saw me draw the wrong end of Sydneys lake and as a consequence I dropped out of the top 7 and no money – gutted.
On the positive side, I had some seriously big weights in the last 12 months, 5 tons, 4 double tons and a personal best 335lb. I also managed a personal best match weight of 218lb, which was a club match record, well up to last month anyway. Whilst that was a memorable match, probably my best result was at Rood Ashton, fishing against 18 locals, who normally approach the lake with the method feeder and pole/paste. According to the locals my pellet waggler approach wouldn't work because the lake was too shallow! 45 carp for 133lb and a convincing match win proved otherwise.
Of the 37 matches fished, I've picked up in 24, which has been very helpful, collecting more money than I have paid out and during December to February I picked up 10 times from 11, its just shame that during March a run of poor draws halted that little run.
So what about the future? Being a glass half full type person, I am hopefully that the next 12 months will see Sue and I back on a even keel. Both our jobs are showing signs of going in the right direction, so hopefully in the not to distant future I can commit to more fishing.
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