2018 has been a heck of a kayak fishing year, with some really memorable highlights. A new personal best chub of a lifetime on a lure, as well as a new personal best plaice, some spectacular wrasse and bass fishing. But perhaps the highlight of the year, and possibly my life so far, was captaining the Hobie European team at the 7th Hobie Kayak Fishing Worlds event in Amal, Sweden. Not only a great honour, but it produced a European World Champion for the first time ever in the history of the event. New Hobie World Kayak Fishing Champion Salah Eddibe is a worthy winner, and a super nice guy. Then there was the massive London International Kayak fishing festival which went as well as I could have hoped. Also, Lots of shows, including EFTTEX (European Fishing Tackle Trade Exhibition) at Amsterdam, The Big One, Southampton Boat show and The European Sportfishing show. What a year!
January
The year started with a visit to the London Boat Show. We didn’t know at the time, but this was to be the last London Boat Show ever held. It’s a shame, but we had alot of fun, and the Hobie stand looked great.
Then the first trip of the year, to one of my favourite locations, Combe Martin in North Devon. Huss and conger were caught.
February
Back to North Devon for more kayak fishing adventures. Sharing the kayak with a conger eel is always entertaining!
Then for something completely different. An ice fishing trip to Sweden with David to visit our good friend Lars Lundberg. The Crazy Viking looked after us, and we had a fantastic laugh, and caught a few fish. What a stunning place.
March
Next up, the freshwater competition at Llangorse in Wales. I love attending this competition, its always a great social event, and a great chance to catch up with friends and have a laugh. This year, the snow added an interesting dimension!
Some mild weather saw me visit another one of my favourite venues – Salcombe. I paddled around looking for a spot I had been recommended by Steve Ace, but ended up heading out out the estuary and spinning for pollack. Then on the way back, I stopped for 10 minutes plaice fishing at a likely looking spot… I’m so glad I did, as this door mat plaice of 3lb 4ozs came my way! It was huge, but spent, and I’m sure it would have been 4, maybe even 5lbs if it had been in better condition. I was still over the moon.
Then on to The Big One show at Farnborough, great to meet up with the Hobie team and Eddie and Ollie from Lowrance, as well as Lance and the team from Navionics and Andrew and Gary from Reuben Heaton.
April
I went on holiday to California where I hoped to meet up with Keeton, Morgan and the crew at Hobie, but in the end, I simply ran out of time. I was only there a few days before jetting off to Hawaii…
I had a great time, but despite trying to get afloat on the kayak with several Hawaiian kayak fishing guides, it never happened. I did however manage to catch the Hawaiian state fish with the longest name the
humuhumunukunukuapuaa otherwise known as the reef trigger fish, is pronounced “who moo who moo new coo new coo ah poo ah ah”…
The fish with the longest name humuhumunukunukuapuaa
Then an early visit to Swanage, on account of me missing the Swanage classic due to the Hobie Worlds. I was also joined by Ben and Kyle. A trip to remember. I caught garfish, pollack, bream, smoothound, 3 species of ray… all decent fish too. I love it when a plan comes together.
May
The first fly fishing trip of the year to the stunning Wimbleball lake on the edge of Exmoor. The new owner, Mark Underhill has transformed what was a good fishery, into a brilliant fishery, with some really hard fighting trout. My trip with Charlie, Alistair and his son Harry, was great fun, and the weather was fantastic, and we caught some beautifully marked trout which fought well above their weight. We both lost good fish, and I am still haunted by one of them, which I am convinced was a decent brown.
June
June was definitely the busiest fishing month of 2018 for me.
First up, there was my London International Kayak fishing festival. This was the second time the competition had been held. This year, it was the biggest freshwater kayak fishing competition in Europe. We had competitors from all over the world, including China, Sweden, Netherlands, France and more. This year we fished a total of 4 exclusive lakes in the stunning Wraysbury complex. Some huge pike were caught, and alot of fun was had, and the prizes were simply incredible. Added to that, we raised over £1000 for the Rainbow Trust children’s charity. I have to thank everyone for their support, especially those who travelled oversea to be with us – we love you all. And huge congratulations and the very best of luck to Lars Lundberg the Crazy Viking, who won the competition, and will travel to Australia to represent Hobie Team Europe in the 2019 Hobie Fishing Worlds competition.
Next up, it was the start of the river fishing season, so out with the lures, and off in search of those wily chub. Opening day didn’t disappoint.
Next, up was one of the moments in my life that I will look back on in years to come with an immense amount of proudness. I have been lucky enough to represent my county in 4 Hobie Worlds Kayak fishing finals, coming 5th in China and winning the first Hobie Sportsman award in Holland. I have fished alongside the best kayak fishermen (and women) in the world, and many of them have become close friends. In truth, I am pretty ordinary compared to these guys when it comes to fishing skills, but being around them has taught me a great deal. This year the Hobie Kayak Fishing Worlds final was held in Europe for the second time in the competitions history. Amal in Sweden was to be the venue – Lake Vanern, Europe’s third biggest lake. I had previous experience of this lake, having caught a 10kg pike there in 2017.
Whether it was this, or my previous Worlds experience I don’t know, but I was asked if I would captain the Hobie Europe team. I was so proud, I would not be fishing the competition, just there to advise and hopefully steer the team to their first ever victory in the World’s. At the time, Europe was the only host of the event never to have won the competition in its 7 year history – no pressure then!!
The Hobie Fishing Worlds is a unique event, and the atmosphere is incredible. 5 continents, 20 countires, 48 anglers. The worlds best kayak fishermen all in one place. I made the trip over with Ian Pickering from the UK who qualified for the final due to his win in the 2017 London International kayak fishing festival. Ian is a great bloke, and a top fisherman. On the plane, I met up with the Australian team, most of whom I knew from previous tournaments. They are also a great bunch of lads, and good friends – the banter is always top drawer! Soon we we had arrived, and it was time to meet the rest of the European team. Some of them I knew, some I did not. All of them were great fishermen, and we would soon become the best of friends.
We needed a cunning plan! The competition is 5 days – 2 practice days and 3 competition days. Longest length of 3 biggest perch and Pike count. Practice I split everyone into groups and they explored different areas of the lake with different lures and tactics. At the end of each day we got together over a beer and pooled our knowledge. There is an old saying in my profession “No plan survives first contact with the enemy”. And so this proved to be the case. On the first day of the competition proper Finland’s Janne Koivisto smashed it with his homemade jerkbaits and was leading the pack, then everything changed on the second day. So we changed and adapted the plan, and slowly the collective knowledge of the team came together, and everyone helped each other out. Easy to say, but not so easy to do. Its an individual event, not a team event. But like cycling, no one person can win without the help of others. If everyone goes out for themselves then nobody wins. By the final day, it was clear that Ian Pickering and Salah Eddibe were the two European team members who were in with a shout of possibily winning the World title. At this point, the rest of the team had to forget their own agendas, and concentrate solely on protecting and helping those two. If you have spent the last year training for this one moment, then that is not an easy thing to do. But every one of the European team pulled together and supported Ian and Eddibe. On the final day, locals Albin and Felix took Salah under their wing, and together with Edi and some others they found some fish. I was lucky enough to be in the media boat with Rusty the cameraman, and we came across them in a shallow bay. Salah had caught a few pike, but he knew he needed a monster to win the title. And then he shouted, and screamed. He was into a fish. It was clear it was a big pike. Eventually he landed the 100cm+ fish, and the rest as they say is history.
Not only is Salah a great fisherman, but also he is a great sportsman. After he had captured the pike, he went over to Edi, who had been struggling, and gave him the lure he had caught the pike on. Edi then caught a fish. Thats a true friend. Ian Pickering also did supremely well – finishing in 4th place. That’s an incredible result for your 1st worlds.
I was proud of all of the team, they all rallied round and helped each other out when it mattered most. At last we has a European Hobie Fishing Worlds title. Not a bad day at the office!
The Hobie fishing World kayak fishing event is unique, and it would not be possible without the drive and effort invested by the organisers and sponsors. In particular Keeton Eoff and Steve Fields, but also Gero Priebe, Tim Strijbosch, Morgan Promnitz, and Kevin Nakada, not to mention a whole bunch of crew and sponsors who help make it the greatest kayak fishing show on the planet.
No sooner had I returned from Sweden, then it was time to go to the European Fishing Tackle Trade Exhibition in Amsterdam. I helped out on the Hobie stand. This is a trade show, so its not really for consumers, you cannot really buy anything, but for a lure magpie like me, its like being a kid in a sweet shop. I saw loads of interesting tackle, and the best thing was that I got to meet my good friend Bone – he is the poster boy of Singapore fishing and specialises in high end lure fishing tackle. His range of Bone rods and lures is simply incredible. I also got to meet old friends Sam Fu and Li from Lurefans. Their new lure the Double Kill is going to acount for alot of pike… you heard it here first!
And still had time for a quick trip to another favourite haunt Swanage, for this unusual capture. And yes, it tasted great!
July
We had a great summer this year in the UK (About time!), the calm conditions allowed me to fish one of my favourite spots, and it didn’t disappoint. North Devon is such a stunning location.
Lots more chub, pike and perch from the river and a couple of trips to Salcombe where I learned alot. This was to hold me in good stead for August…
August
Salcombe was on fire, with bass and wrasse on live sandeels and weedless lures. Myself and Alistair Cole had a few trips which were just so much fun. We lost count of the number of wrasse we caught. We also lost a few monsters.
Back to the river, and a red letter day lure fishing with light tackle. Lure fishing for chub, is so addictive, its unbelievable. Especially when you can sight cast to the fish. This was to be a special day. The chub just kept getting bigger. First 4lb, then 5lb, then a new personal best of 6lb1oz.
September
The Southampton Boat show is always something I look forward to. The weather was not the best, but the Hobie stand brightened things up with the display of the new Hobie Outback 2019. I have taken delivery of one, and in the coming few months, you will see me decking her out for fishing. My first impressions are very positive, especially the Hobie Guardian retractable transducer housing.
My role as a Lowrance ambassador also gets me access to some great marine technology, and I have just taken delivery of a fantastic new Lowrance HDS live unit, following a long chat with Craig and the crew at the show.
More river lure perch, pike and chub action, and then another trip to Salcombe for more wrasse and bass.
Next a trip to Scotland with Martin, Mark, Stu, Ben, Liam, John and Steve. I had turned down the chance to go to China for this one, and expectations were high. It didn’t disappoint, I had such a good time, with loads of banter. In truth, the weather wasn’t great, and I fished like an absolute numpty which didn’t help matters. But the highlight was definitely watching Liam catch his first common skate. Watching him go through the pain barrier and back several times over, will stay in my mind for long time. An epic battle, and a fantastic result.
October
A late trip to Salcombe for more bass and wrasse on the lures.
Another 5lb chub on the lures.
November
Something a bit different on a squid fishing trip to Weymouth wit Steve in his new rib. Lovely weather, and nabbed a few in the end.
The European Sportfishing show in Bristol, is one of my favourite shows. There are always a load of interesting lure related exhibitors there as well as loads of fly fishing related gear. This year, I had been asked to provide a presentation on kayak fishing. I am not great at these sorts of things, but nobody fell asleep, and people seemed to enjoy my presentation.
December
The flounder competition took place at Poole, but nobody caught a flounder. Not the best tide or time to be honest, but it was good to meet up with those that showed up and we raised a load for charity. It was also the time to pick up my new ride, the Hobie Outback 2019 and fit it out with a Lowrance HDS Live. Still plenty of tinkering to do, so watch this space for details.
The year ended with a sneaky trip to Lynmouth. The weather was spot on, and despite my less than high expectations, it ended up being a really fun trip with some weighty specimens. I had tried to catch spurdogs from the kayak on several occasions and failed, they were the last species I expected on this trip.
It was a fitting way to round off an exciting year of kayak fishing. Next year is going to be epic, so stay tuned. I must say thank you to everyone who has helped me. It takes alot of effort and support in order to keep enjoying what can be quite an expensive hobby. Without this kind of support, it would be very difficult indeed. So, many thanks to my sponsors for their continued support, in particular Hobie fishing kayaks, The Hobie Center at Poole, Lowrance, Navionics UK, Reuben Heaton, American Tackle company, Costa sunglasses, and The lure Box.
All that remains is for me to wish you all the best for 2019. Stay tuned to my Facebook pages and Groups, and YouTube Channels for new kayak fishing adventures.