With the weather all over the place from midweek onwards, I found myself juggling gardening jobs and studying forecasts more than I’d like. The plan had been to head to the lake on Wednesday morning, but after a closer look at the charts, Tuesday afternoon was clearly the better choice. Rain was due to sweep in around 5 p.m., and I needed to be set up well before then.
I hit the deadline perfectly, rods out and camp sorted, only for the weather to delay its entrance until much later that night. For once, the timing worked in my favour. With just six weeks left before Airfield Lake closes for the winter, I’ve committed myself to focus here. Time has flown this year, and while I’m not exactly looking forward to the coming cold, a recent change in medication will hopefully help with my perennial issue of frozen hands.
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 