I arrived down the lake early this week, as I wanted to have a good look round the far end. I had not been down there for sometime and it did look rather nice in deed. However, with the way the wind was pushing, I fancied a swim on the big part as the wind would be behind me. I could get a rod out to the island, where I had seen plenty of fish before and also there is a fantastic margin. It has a nice bush overhanging the lake, I have always liked the look of.
Nice margin bush
Small island where I have seen fish before
It’s a bit of a cast, but with the wind behind me I can make it.
At 0100 the bush rod was off and attached to a very unhappy carp.
It was only about 12 lb, but I love them all the same.
I was up at 0530 watching the lake as a strong wind and rain was pushing through, the conditions looked great, unfortunately I needed to get home.
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 