Doing Good Deeds... Lifetime Patron of The Wye

Dear readers,

I FINALLY had the chance of repaying the hospitality of the Wye & Usk Foundation, Mr. Martin Bowler for giving a day of his time and Mr. Peter Drennan for letting us fish on his private waters.

I recently had my barbel fishing article published in a Finnish fishing magazine Metsästys & Kalastus (issue 6/2012). The magazine has around 40 000 subscribers and 400 000 readers. The article itself was 5 pages, with a full double page trophy shot of a barbel and me. :)

Anyhow, I donated the money from the article to Wye & Usk foundation. The sum was 500 GBP, which makes me Lifetime Patron of The Wye. Now send me the crown and I'll wear it every time I go fishing :) Don't get me wrong, I am not rich. I just wanted to do something to repay the hospitality.

Mr. Martin Bowler guided us to several barbel on the Wye. He is a true ambassador for fishing.

Bait Masters and Masterbaiters...

Dear Readers,

If I got an euro for every "Master Baiter"-related joke, I think I wouldn't have to work anymore. Carp angling related jokes aside, the season for me is really about to start. I have been way too busy with other matters to go angling. I think that's a lame excuse, but it's an excuse anyway!

My article just appeared on a Finnish magazine called "Metsästys & Kalastus" (Issue 6/2012). The magazine itself has around 40 000 subscribers and about 400 000 readers. So it's really nice to have a bigger public once in a while. My article was about barbel fishing with Martin Bowler on the Wye. Even being critical to my own work, I liked the article. Hopefully I will get to write more articles... 

Barbel fishing is something I wish to do also in the future. It's such a beautiful fish, and the rivers are really enchanting. I have seen the laid-back approach for barbel (see my earlier Waterlog Weekend blog entry), so I must reveal you my best kept secret - the floodwater rod rest...

The utterly cunning idea of a floodwater rod rest! Behold! I caught a 10 cm dace from that swim!

Anyway, I will keep this blog entry short (and quite pointless), because I am too busy going carp fishing. I just air dried another 2,5 kg of boilies... Does all that fiddling with bait make me a Bait Master or a Masterbaiter?

Going abroad

During the last year, I have visited the UK twice with fishing in mind (The second visit is mentioned in this blog, Waterlog Weekend). The first visit was also prestigious as I had the honor of fishing with fishing celebrities. First I (and my brother) had a day of barbel fishing with angling superstar Martin Bowler. Then some fishing of our own (catching barbel). Later we headed towards South-East England for some gravel pit carping with a carp ace Tony Smeets.

Oh the things you learn from these kind of angling aces! It's like I'm not a beginner in angling, but these kind of guys know their stuff. Like with Bowlers advice, catching barbel is... well... not too difficult anymore. And carping with a 100% carper gives you an insight and perspective on your own angling. Tony taught me some good tactics, and I have definitely been catching better this year. But what I really envied in Tony's abilities was his curry cooking! I have a fear that I will never have such a lovely meal while carp fishing! The following night Tony caught 3 carp. I also had a 12 kg (26½ lbs) carp.

Tony is cooking his famous curry. It is really, really good.

But in conclusion, you benefit a lot from fishing with anglers from different countries. I don't want to go fishing abroad on my own. Why? - Because I like meeting new people. And meeting new people who have a passion for angling is a joy!