Author: Andy Grenfell

Fishing for me has long been more than a hobby, but more of an obsession. Since as far back as I can remember, I’ve been fascinated by water, and all that which lives below the surface, and subsequently, as soon as I was old enough to hold a fishing rod, my angling journey started.

I started out by catching small minnows and roach on my local weir pool, with a basic whip set up. I steadily then moved up to a rod and line set up for coarse fishing with my brother at weekends between school and summer holidays. We fished for everything and anything that swam in the lakes and rivers surrounding our home.

Like most, it didn't take long and I was bitten by the carp fishing bug shortly after, and slowly but surely, every trip through the warmer months was spent in pursuit of carp, or consuming carp fishing literature.

Winters were left for other species, such as pike, chub and perch on my local river, but eventually, the desire to chase carp won over, and the winters were soon often spent behind bite alarms, hoping for that fish of my dreams.

Fast forward 35 years and the enthusiasm to go fishing grew stronger than ever, and it wasn't showing any signs of slowing down! I still get the same buzz fishing for big scaley 40lbers on my syndicate as I do venturing down to a local runs water in winter to get the bobbins moving! So, not much has changed but I'd like to think I am far more experienced in my angling.

I’ve been fortunate enough to target some truly special carp in the UK, from waters varying from small intimate pools and large gravel pits, right through to 400 acre public reservoirs abroad and French holiday venues. I've also been able to fill my photo album with some amazing captures along the way!

I often find myself with limited time so my angling availability varies from one or two overnighters a week after work, or sometimes an extended weekend. However, things do tend to come full circle and subsequently, when conditions look shocking and I've been sitting behind bite alarms for a while, I do find myself targeting other species back where it all started on the local lakes and rivers close to home.

In addition, I have been able to successfully forge a career in the angling industry working here at Total Fishing Tackle for the last 7 years, handling everything from sales, customer enquiries regarding products, writing blog posts, and even some occasional media work for certain brands in the hope to pass on some of my experience to help others with their own angling journey.