Pat Pritchard

Known as Pat, I’m Patrick Pritchard, 36 years old, and born and bred in Wrexham, North Wales.  For my sins, I am a staunch Wrexham fan - not that is much for me to shout about as we languish in the Blue Square Premier League. Fishing is my other passion, and this means you will usually find me on the bankside at least 3-4 times a week. In between, I run my own outside catering business with my better half which often means I don’t get to fish many Saturdays during our busy summer season

I was first introduced to fishing by my Dad at the age of 7. He was a keen trout and salmon fisherman and I would spend hours watching him, mainly on the rivers Dee and Ceriog. Eventually, I got my own rod and I was in heaven! This meant I had a rod to myself, and I would stand by his side in the river, occasionally catching the odd wild brown trout. Gradually, as I got older, I gained more of an interest in coarse fishing, as we had a lake locally which was full of tench, skimmers, roach, carp and perch. When they had open matches on here every Friday night, I would go up and watch the anglers fish, trying to pick up information. From here, I was asked to fish for one of the clubs in the North Wales Summer League on a variety of venues such as the Shropshire Union Canal, River Dee, Bala Lake and a venue called Monks. Joining this league fuelled my appetite for fishing and consequently I would spend each day of my school holidays trying to perfect tactics for the forthcoming matches. This stood me in good stead, as I finished as the joint top junior, which, overall, I was very pleased with.  Some of the anglers I fished against then either still fish for Wales’ senior team, or, in Eric’s case, manage the team. The highlight of my junior career was fishing Monks pool which has depths of over 18ft down the edge and finishing 3rd overall out of 50 senior anglers, proof that practice pays off.

This was pretty much the pattern for the next few years until I joined the Royal Navy. This more or less knocked my fishing career on the head for the seven years in service, and consequently once I left, I took some persuasion to start it up again.  When I did, I was more or less starting from scratch as the baits used to catch fish were all new to me.  I wasn’t familiar with pellets or paste, plus I was now living in the south of England, just outside London, so the venues were also unfamiliar to me. I decided to join a local fishing club called South Reading and their match programme of 21 matches over the season meant I would gain some experience of fishing different venues locally plus the chance to fish methods alien to me as well. Gradually, I built up a few wins and now felt confident enough to fish the local open circuit.

Most of my fishing now is done on the open circuit mainly on Theale Pits, but also includes Oakfield Fishery, Rolfs, Bowsaw and Billhook, Kennet and Avon Canal, Greenridge Farm and wherever I think I might get a few bites!  Occasionally, I guest for a few local clubs.

Hopefully I will be able to share a few match wins whilst I write this blog