I haven’t done an interview on the blog for ages (mainly due to the backlog of match reports!) but I thought it would be really interesting to chat to Andy Akehurst who has been recording some massive weights of bream at the Viaduct, breaking the match record twice in quick succession.
Hi Andy, thank you so much for agreeing to do an interview;
Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and how you first got into fishing and the first fish you caught?
I am married with 4 children, semi-retired at 57, live in Bournemouth but born and brought up in Finchley, North London.
It all started at Jack’s Lake in Barnet, a small lake containing carp, skimmers and odd roach. I was fairly young, 11 or 12 I think and at that age it was just great fun to be out, a bus ride followed by a long walk, we all did it back then. Next I started fishing matches on the same lake with a new club called HAPS, this helped me learn the basics of fishing. At this point pole fishing was all new so the waggler was always first choice. My first pole was 8 metres and I won my first match as a junior at Jack’s with around 4lb of skimmers on bread.
What’s your favourite style of fishing?
Pole fishing, long or short, for me it’s a method/style that I can work, happy fishing for a couple of pounds in the winter to record breaking weights in the summer. If I had an all time favourite style it would be caster and chopped worm for skimmers and bream.
Your favourite venue?
Willow Park, that’s where I learnt the most, fishing opens there in the early 90’s was the place to be, rubbing shoulders with the best in the business, the England team, Dam Dorking (as it was then), an endless list of the who’s who of match fishing at the time. When you framed there it was an achievement against a class field of anglers, it took me years just to frame but I was learning all the time.
Favourite species?
Everyones favourite I think, the tench.
Our paths first crossed at Todber Manor on Ash lake a couple of years ago so where had you been fishing before it became a silvers only lake?
Up until that point I had put my match fishing on hold for a few years due to family commitments as you can never get those years back. Before that I was living up in Hertfordshire before moving down South, that’s where my main match fishing really got going, fishing for Oakwood Angling in the Drennan Superleague and Winter Leagues. Back then it was all team fishing, the London canals were my mainstay, again fishing against some of the very best canal anglers of that time. Once the team fishing started to slow down that’s when I started to look into commercials, there were only a few of them about then and you had to travel a distance to them. Trust me, after a Winter League on the London canals all you wanted to do was catch some fish and commercials gave us that!
Talking of Ash lake, you had an incredible record there until, rumour has it, you drew a bad peg for the first time and then started fishing the Viaduct. You’ve enjoyed incredible success on Campbell catching numerous 100lb+ bags of bream and breaking the match record twice in quick succession which now stands at a massive 156lb. Could you tell the readers a little about your methods, bait and tackle and is your approach similar on both venues?
As you say I did well on there but my plan this summer was to fish the Viaduct and see how close I could get to the record, “drew a bad peg” that was just a blip and unlike me as you know, funny question!
The Viaduct method, it took me a few weeks of fishing it three times a week to start to put a plan together, early spring it was all about caster on the long pole, late spring again it changed as many places do, went through a few matches still fishing caster and very little groundbait then I tried chopped worm on the short 6 metre line which was the ‘light bulb’ moment. I increased the amount of groundbait and started trying different ways of mixing it, by far overwetted and full of worm was all they wanted. I always fish positive and this suited my style, 8 elastic, size 14 hooks to 0.13mm hook length and float choice is dependent on where you draw, it could be a 4×12 up to 4×16 bulked down.
On the day I had 139lb 15oz I started and finished at 6 metres ending up with five nets in thinking I had maxed it out only for two days later to top that with six nets in the water and 156lb 15oz, again all at 6 metres.
Ash methods, for me it was all about getting those skimmers in its early days with worm being the most consistent bait, then the introduction of ide changed the whole lake, loads of maggot fishing whilst still having a skimmer line. For ages the bonus fish used to sit at 16 metres and I think I was the only one fishing at that length so for a period of time I had it all to myself. Rigs on Ash are mainly 4×12’s, size 16 hooks going down to an 18 in the winter with 0.10mm hook lengths, quite different to Viaduct.
Six nets of silvers!
Andy with part of his record breaking catch at the Viaduct
On the back of your successes you’ve fairly recently been sponsored by Sensas, now you’ve had time to use some of their kit and bait, any that stand out for you and why?
The Sensas Commercial Pro 295 16m pole is by far the best I’ve used and it’s given me greater confidence fishing at longer lengths and also the pole rollers are second to none, both these products are standouts for me.
Another winning net of skimmers at Todber
Have you any angling heroes or anyone who has inspired you?
In the early days it was Billy Makin, what he did with a waggler on canals was unheard of at that time.
Bob Nudd – still going strong today.
James Dent – he is relentless on the bank but also the most humble angler you could meet.
Will Raison – I remember him from his younger years at Willow Park, the best of the best and still number 1.
Other then that the true heroes are the guys and girls who turn up every week as without them we wouldn’t have a match scene in the South West.
The average age of anglers these days seems to be a little on the high side, how do we get more youngsters into fishing or do we just accept our numbers are dwindling?
That’s a tough question, I know that if you look deeper there are people out there trying to do all they can to bring and promote young anglers. Mark Harper has been fantastic at doing this in the South while the Midlands and North are doing all they can as well but I feel there is a massive divide between the South and the rest of the country with more anglers going into carp fishing in the South. Will the up-coming social media ban help to bring more anglers to the bank, who knows?
If you had a time machine is there one moment in fishing you wish you could go back and change? i.e. a dream fish coming off at the net or a decision in a match that’s cost you a title?
I remember when Fish O Mania first started, I was on the Grand Union Canal in Northampton and drew a flyer (nothing new there then I hear you say!), you have to remember these matches was 300 peggers with the top two going into the final. Starting on caster across I began catching skimmers then an odd small bream, at this point I knew I was doing well as when I turned around there was the biggest Sky camera I had ever seen. With that I remember shipping back out, had a bite, struck, bream on, now at that point it would of got me second place and a route to the final, to cut a long story short my arms went and I lost the bream, I can only put it down to the pressure of the cameras behind me.
Similarly, you have a long list of match wins to your name, are there are any big competitions you would dearly love to win?
As for big matches it has to be the Fish South and Angling Trust silvers, been chasing them now for a couple of years and have just missed out by one place to get into the final on both. I always treat every match I enter as important as the rest and have a target of winning/framing in as many as I can, so far this year I have framed 49 times up to the start of July.
Todber Winter League winners
Have you got one piece of advice that will help the readers put more fish in their nets?
Ask more questions! I see more and more people turn to social media/Youtube for that winning method, any good angler on the bank will always share what works and what doesn’t. Don’t worry about getting off your box to go and sit behind someone who is doing well, it might not help you that day but could help you in the future.
Well thank you for giving up your time but before I let you go, here’s a few more quick-fire questions,
What’s your favourite drink?
Coffee
Favourite meal?
Roast pork
Favourite film?
Star Wars, A New Hope
TV show?
Anything really!
What music do you listen to?
80’s
What’s your idea of a perfect day?
Slight wind, no rain, not too hot or cold and draw a flyer!
Also a special mention to my best friend, my wife Sue who fully supports me fishing three times a week.
Many thanks again Andy, from Against Men and Fish
*Photos courtesy of Andy Akehurst
