It’s been a week since my last trip. Which you all know is a life time for me but family comes first.
With the first of many night time set ups looming ever closer, it was nice to arrive just before dusk. However, the wind and rain was pouring down, swim selection was very easy as this swim was free. I know the area very well, the brolly was set up and I got the rods out in the dark. I have a feeling it’s going to be a very rough night, I was hoping for less rain as these fish don’t appear to be fans of heavy rain but certainly love the wind.
Now, that was a very rough stormy night out, without a single bleep, amazing.
With a nice early morning pack up, I was off 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
