Hello
fellow catfish anglers My name is Ross Woodward and I am 15 years of age.
I was born to be an angler, well that is what my Dad tells me.
This prediction was made on the actual day that I was born.
The
story behind this prediction is as follows:-
It
was the 14th July 1986 and my dad was Carp fishing at Cuttle Mill (this was
before he discovered Catfish) and it was one of his usual haunt's in those
days. A couple of pegs away
from him was an angler whom he knew very well.
The man who is never stuck for words, Mr. Angling Times, Des Taylor.
My dad had caught a couple of fish off the top when
Tony
Higgins, the owner of Cuttle Mill came walking up the path.
Tony
informed my dad that he had to go home as my mom (Lynn) had just gone into
labour. He reeled in
immediately, jumped in the car and sped off home.
Once there, he collected my mom ( with me fighting to get out ) and drove
us to Good Hope Hospital. Three
or four hours later, I popped out at 7lbs.6oz. (not quite a doublet ).
Once my dad had made sure that everything was O.K. with my mom and me, he
promptly returned to the Mill to carry on fishing!!
He returned to the Hospital at 2.p.m. and again at 5p.m. to visit us,
returning to the lake after each visit to carry on fishing.
After
he returned from the 5p.m. visit, Des approached my dad and said “Ron, why do
you keep disappearing from the lake?”
Dad told Des what had happened and Des told Dad that I would, without
doubt, grow up to be an angler. Obviously
this was not straight away, as I had to spend a couple of years getting out of
nappies and learning to walk!!! Eventually,
by the time I had reached the ripe old age of 4, I started on my first serious
attempt's at fishing. my first
one took place whilst on a family holiday on Gran Canaria at Embalse de Chira.
My dad put out extra rods for my older brother Lee and myself and we
accounted for several double figure carp.
The next family holiday saw us in France and once again Lee and I both
caught carp and lots of those spiny little catfish ( posh on chats ).
Because of my dad, I suppose me and my brother have been spoiled a bit,
when it comes to fishing, as there can’t be many young anglers who have had
the chance to catch carp over 40 pounds and also had the pleasure of several big
cats as well. Both Lee and I
have had the pleasure of doing this and we feel very fortunate.
On
the catfishing side, we have been very lucky over the last couple of years, as
both of us having caught our first ever catfish from France and also from Spain.
My
first ever fishing exploit for catfish, was in France on Abby Lake's, both me
and Lee were lucky enough to be over there fishing with my dad as he had gone
over there to try out the cat lake for a friend of he's
Rob
Hughes, although me and my brother was actually on the carp lake over there,
because my dad had a 108.00 cat on his first night ( Job done ) He's lucky that
way!!, this meant me and my brother Lee could work on him to take us on the
cat lake, as we had never caught one before.
We
had already had several carp of the carp lake on the complex and really wanted
ago a Catfish.
Well
to cut the story short, that is what happened, Lee spent the second night on the
cat lake with my dad and had his first ever cat at 85.00 lds, he also lost one,
which my dad said was much bigger, (well that’s fishing for you) Ha Ha,
shouldn't laugh should I, (its just a bit of sibling rivalry!!). The big cat had
actually bit through the 60.00 ld grease weasel trace, and my dad has never ever
used a Mono traces again from that day ( a lesson learned I think ).
As
Lee had had a fish that second night, I
was then able to fish the third night and it was a night to change my fishing
for the rest of my life, I had seen the fish that my dad and Lee had had and Lee
had not stopped talking about the 85.00 lb monster he had landed and also the
fight of the one that had bust him put up…so as you can appreciate my
expectations were of, being pulled into the lake by one of the monsters that
were swimming around in the mercy depths of the Cat lake. Well that third night
as I sat there with my dad, in the pitch darkness as there were no lights about
anywhere and also no moon, I had my first run just after midnight, I hit in to
the fish and started to play it in, I could feel little resistance on the end of
the rod and wondered what was going on??, well after playing the fish for a bit
and bringing it in to the bank, I found out why there had been little risistance,
as my dad lifted up a 16.00lb Pike out of the waters edge, no wonder I had not
had the colossal fight I had been looking forward to, as it had been a Pike not
Catfish that had taken my small carp popped up live bait. We took a couple of
pictures and returned it back in to the lake.
I
then helped my dad put a fresh bait back out to the spot the other cats had
taken from and settled down back on the bed chair, was that to be it for the
rest of the night I wondered ?, my dad said don’t worry as we are due a run
about 5.00 am, this seamed to be a good feeding time, on the previous two
nights, so I jumped in to my sleeping bag and dropped off to sleep. Only to
woken at 5.10 am by one of the buzzers sounding off, was this the what I had
been dreaming about, was I about to hook into my first monster from the deep ?,
I run to the rod and struck in to the fish, that was running away from the spot
we had dropped the bait earlier, as soon as I made contact with the fish, I
could tell it was defiantly not a pike this time, it felt as though I had just
hooked it to a runaway train as the line rushed of clutch…the fish was just
taken line when it felt like it, while I was trying my hardest to get some back,
this went on for some twenty minutes and I had not even seen the fish, My dad
kept encouraging me as I was starting to get quite tired and physically drained,
after about 30 minutes the fish finally surfaced, It had put my 31/2 pound test
curve Carp rod to the test and also me in the process, I steered it towards my
dad at the waters edge and he wallow griped it out, at 65.00 lds it was a real
monster to me at that time and had been the hardest fight I had ever had from a
fish. Well that was it, I was well and truly hooked… and was already telling
my dad, I wanted to go with him on his next catfishing trip. Although over the
last several years, I have landed many big carp including personal bests of
33lb. Common( P.B ), 31.08. leather( P.B ) and mirrors over 40 at 42.00. and
43.08. ( P.B ), I new that this particular trip to France fishing with my Dad
and brother Lee and my first attempt at catfishing (what a fight) was about to
change my fishing for ever.
And
that is what has happened, as soon as we returned I was on to my dad, when can
we go again?? Well as it happens my next trip out with him was to Spain and if
France had blown me away totally, Spain was about to put me in to orbit….we
was on a family holiday with my Mom in Salou and my dad took us to visit his
friend Colin Bunn (Mr Catmaster), his apartments are only about one hours drive
from the resort.
While
Colin had taken his son and mother off to visit some of the local sites, I was
lucky enough to have three days fishing, my dad did not fish himself, as he had
been out there a few weeks earlier, with my brother Lee and
Tony
Davies Patrick and they had an excellent trip, all catching fish over the 150
barrier, my jammy brother Lee having fish to 155.00 on his first ever trip to
Spain (errrrrrrrrr I hate him) sound like that sibling rivalry is getting to me
again .
Well back to the fishing, as I said my dad just helped me and my mom…
and well what can I say, 10 fish in three days 4 over 100.00 lbs, my first fish
120.00 lbs….it was like I was dreaming, even my mom had them up to 98.00 lbs,
what more can I say….I am hooked well and truly, I cant wait to get back there
and I am counting down the days to our next visit, so as you can see from my
slightly cynical look at my fishing, it has definitely paid off for me being the
one of the son's of a fishing crazy dad.
Hope you keep catching them and good luck till next time.
Ross Woodward
