I am out on the river again doing a night with one of my friends. He is fishing for Carp & I am after the Barbel. We arrived about 4pm in the car park and set off for a good look around. With only sightings of Chub, we opted to fish the opposite end of a big bend with plenty of options.
All set up with my trusty Fox Ultra 50 brolly. Well, the night pasted with no signs of Barbel or Carp, just plenty of 5lb+ Chub. After a very non eventful day with plenty of walking around fish spotting, my friend spotted a Barbel. So it was time for as quick swim move and after about an hour the rods were back out again.
One by the tree and the other in the clear run that the barbel was spotted.
We ended up with 12 x 5 lb+ Chub between us both. However, with no sign of the Barbel spotted earlier on, we stayed until 10pm .
I would like to give a brief snap shot of my life and introduce myself;
My name is Richard Handel and was born in 1965 in Suffolk. I have worked as a UK Operation & Intermodule Manager for a shipping company. I live in Hampshire now and am married with 2 young children, both girls so I am a bit outnumbered even the cat is a girl!
I have been fishing since I was about 7 years old. I started on small local rivers in Suffolk, then moved onto gravel pits and then carp fishing. My personal best is a 39.08 mirror, over recent years I have started river fishing again, on the Hampshire Avon, this is a nice break from the carp lakes.
My life has turned a big corner this year, the company I was working for relocated their Operation centre to Estonia. I was offered a job at the head office in London. This would have meant a 5 day commute and working in Stratford. As a family, we did not fancy this, as I would hardly spend any time with the children (and the Mrs). So after 22.5 years, I was given a nice redundancy package and with my wife is working full time. I became the house husband.
This has meant a complete turn around in my fishing, as I can pick and choose when I go. I have found a splendid new syndicate to fish this year, which includes 5 lakes and some 8 miles of river with only 150 members. It's an amazing change to the way I am able to fish.
I am now trying to start my own tackle business and make a bit of a name for myself in the world of fishing, as I have retired from real work.
Richard
UK Carp & Coarse Fishing 