This trip is the start of my campaign to catch a nice big lump out of the Hampshire Avon. With this in mind, I headed to the area where I have seen them before and have tried this area a few times before (without a great deal of success), location appears not to be the issue for me, it’s finding their feeding spots and their everyday patrol route. This is time consuming and I clearly need to put more effort into that part of the challenge. The section I found them in regularly is about 200 meters long and consists of many features; form pads, reed, wide open areas and plenty of weed.It’s certainly going to be a challenge and I also can’t ignore other stretches of the river. As it’s the 16th June, it would be rude not to wet a line today.
I tried a couple of likely spots on the way back down river. I had put some bait out on the way up stream, other than one Carp, load of face and a couple of Chub that’s all I spotted. However, I did find some very interesting areas that need further investigation.
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
The section I found them in regularly is about 200 meters long and consists of many features; form pads, reed, wide open areas and plenty of weed.
It’s certainly going to be a challenge and I also can’t ignore other stretches of the river. As it’s the 16th June, it would be rude not to wet a line today.
