Gareth Boycott

I suppose I’d best start by telling you a bit about myself and how I got into the world of fishing.My name is Gareth Boycott and I’m 23 years old. I first started fishing at the age of 13 when a few of my mates convincedme to go along to the local ‘Morgans Pond’ in Newport, South Wales. I somehow managed to catch two perch and a small tench fishing against a tiny set of pads on peg 23- no idea how I remember that! I cringe thinking of the tackle we used but it served its purpose and I was absolutely hooked on a sport that would change my life. Over the next two years my thirst for knowledge was all-consuming and I spent all my time either fishing, reading about fishing or thinking about it. When I was 15 I went to White Acres with my parents and my mate and fished my first real junior match- winning the Thursday Junior Rover match from Python lake.

I’ve always been a very competitive person and everything about match-fishing appealed to me. At the age of 16 I heard about ‘The Browning Young Masters’ that had just been formed. It was the competitions first year (2002) and I decided to give it a go, applying for a qualifier at Docklow Pools in Leominster. I had only been match fishing for a couple of months but was quietly confident in my ability and managed to win the day with a relatively small weight- around 20lb caught shallow on worm.

Nonetheless I had qualified for the final at The Glebe and spent the next few weeks preparing and finding out everything I could on the place. Come the big day and we arrived late as we got lost somewhere around Birmingham and upon arrival there were only two pegs in the hat. I pulled out the better one (according to Roy Marlow)- Uglies 62. I ended up coming second overall beaten by around 8lb by the lad opposite. It was a great day out and I won some good prizes but most importantly I was noticed by a few of the top local anglers who soon made their interest known. I was soon fishing for The Cardiff Nomads on a wide range of venues in competitions such as the Drennan Super League and I learned a lot along the way. I then fished for Welsh Wizards a few times and started regularly travelling with Lee Edwards (World Bronze medallist). During this time my fishing developed dramatically as I was regularly fishing at Docklow Pools and Hill View among other places, mixing with good anglers and more than holding my own.

When I was 18 I went off to University and unfortunately my fishing took a big back-seat for three years. I had ‘other’ priorities on my mind, as beer and women took over. I still thought about fishing a lot and regularly read magazines and surfed the rapidly growing number of online angling sites but my fishing was primarily restricted to holidays. I graduated with a degree in English Language Studies in 2007 and a few weeks later moved to Hampshire to work. I started fishing regularly again and soon found a few local venues to focus on. The nearest one is ‘Whinwhistle Fishery’ in Wellow, near Romsey,around 10 minutes away. It consists of three lakes and regularly holds matches although I would class them as being quite small, usually around 15-20 pegs. The regulars are a great bunch of blokes and the matches are fished in a friendly environment although the standard of angler is pretty good. It is by no-means a bagging water and is more of a ‘natural’ lake than a commercial, with 10-20lb usually needed to win. I fished the summer league last year and came 3^rd (due to missing a round for holiday!) and also came 3^rd in the winter league after leading for a while before two bum-draws (same peg twice in a row) saw me slip away. I am currently fishing the summer league and I’m top with 3 matches to go (watch this space).

I also fish Witherington Farm near Salisbury through the winter, and will be fishing the pairs this year with my good mate and top angler Nick White. We will also be fishing at The Viaduct through the winter and I must admit I’m looking forward to it.

My girlfriend is from Northern Ireland, studying at University in Belfast. This makes things a little different to most as I tend to fish two matches one weekend, and then have a weekend off to spend time with her. This hasn’t been the case through the summer as she is living here with me but through the winter my blogs will tend to be double headers followed by a two-week break. It’s not ideal but needs must until she moves here permanently next spring.

I currently live in Romsey, Hampshire and work as an agent and promoter in the entertainment industry.

In December 2008 I decided to start an online ‘blog’ to combine my love of match-fishing with my passion for writing. It has been very well received on the online forums and I’m delighted to become a member of the Fishing4Fun team.

So now you know a little more about me, I just hope you enjoy reading my blog.