If you happen to find yourself reading this, then it is likely that you fall into one of two categories. The first would mean that you are a long suffering family member or friend, who feels somewhat obliged to follow the course which I have taken and share in the trials and tribulations through association. To these people I can only thank them for their commitment and continued devotion and support to my pursuit of what is good and great.

The second, and in time I hope the much larger category, would be that you are to some lesser or greater extent obsessed with fishing, in any and all of its many wondrous forms. This hobby is not new or novel, and there are as many as 3 million anglers in the UK that partake each year, with the global figure estimated to be as high as 700 million. What is it about this past time that encourages so many people to get out of their bed and get out and try their luck? The answer, as any fisherman will tell you, is far from simple and ever changing, and likely the answer will change for each person you ask and on any given day. But the wide array of answers given to you by each individual would point in some way to what it is that is so fabulous about the sport, and why it becomes an obsession for so many of the people who partake in it.

Fishing has always been a part of my life; I was lucky enough to be introduced to it at an extremely young age by my father, who, like many of us, is a fanatical fisherman when time allows him to be. These early childhood exploits on the shingle beaches of Kent were not always pleasant, in fact they were quite the opposite: being on the point at Dungeness during a gale of wind and freezing cold temperatures, with rain being driven at you and stinging your face no matter what shelter you tried to take, could really be quite abominable. But the anticipation of watching the rods, waiting for the tell tale pull down and slack line, soon to be followed by a cod washing in on a foaming surge of water, was enough to keep us coming back time and time again, and these earliest forays have stayed with me and will always be looked back on with a fond remembrance.

I am fortunate enough to have come to the realisation, as my introductory quote suggests, that the act of catching fish is not what keeps me coming back. Of course, catching fish is an integral part of fishing, but it is not this simple part of it that is so alluring. What keeps me coming back is the hope, optimism and excitement that fills your head before a trip, the incessant planning that goes into every little aspect and the constant reminders that when you think you have it cracked you’ll have a blank day that humbles you and makes you change the way you approach your target. The determination to keep trying, to allow yourself to admit that you made mistakes. The time for reflection and mindfulness that takes place when you find yourself on a beach or 15 miles out to sea on your own, with nothing to interrupt your thought process or mindfulness. The resilience to put up with the cold and dark mornings, the long uneventful nights. The sense of accomplishment when you do catch your target species, when all the planning and thought, all the time and energy and effort expended becomes a physical success. The great outdoors, and the incredible shows that nature will put on for you the more time you spend in it, the gratitude that this allows space for, and the realisation of how small a part of this world we as individuals are. The people. 

I have fished in many beautiful places in the world and have met some incredible people while doing so, and most of these people remain friends for life because we share the passion and desire to get out there and try, and keep trying no matter what. The memories that are made, experienced and shared from these many adventures are among the happiest that I have. 

As with many people, life has had a tendency to get in the way all too often, and the amount of time I have been able to devote to fishing has ebbed and flowed, and at times has been far less frequent than my body and soul have desired. When taken to its limit it is an extremely time consuming hobby, it can be very expensive and all too often can be mind bogglingly infuriating, and priorities have to be placed elsewhere. However that is all set to change!

I am entering into a new phase of my relationship with fishing, and that is boat ownership. My intention from this point on is to spend as much time as is reasonably practicable, and as much as my long suffering partner will allow, out on my boat, First Priority, fishing both in a commercial application with rods and lines and also running a small charter operation for, among other things, Bluefin Tuna. In doing so I hope to be able to share my experiences with a new cast of characters, and I will endeavour to keep some kind of written journal/blog of these escapades throughout the year!