A look back at my 2016. It’s been a strange year for me and i think most have been in the same boat pardon the pun as most plans had to either be put off and changed due to personal circumstances which have now improved thank god but it didn’t stop the fishing side of it just a lack of time in catching up with business like blogs and club work but like I said that’s long gone and now looking forward to a better 2017.

Not much happened up until March due to weather and other stuff but the first event of the year was Llangorse which I run as chairman of of SWKA and a few others. Llangorse is a European kayak fishing championship predator hunt and held in a stunning part of the world.  Weather was cold and wet but a good turnout yet again for the event, no fishing for me though as way to much had to be done on shore and make sure everything went smoothly and problem free. £1,106 raised for Heroes on the Water.

Next up was Swanage in May, love this event. Reminds me of the one that we run in Oxwich but without the stress and being able to enter it and fish. Weather wasn’t brill. Blowing a gale to be honest and quite uncomfortable out there, fishing wasn’t the best this year either but a trip away and a good catch up with friends which is always worth the effort to travel away I forgot the beer. That’s a good part of the trip aswell.

June was a writeoff for me and managed one trip and had a few more booked but due to a serious backlog with work I simply had to call off two events but managed one which was Plymouth. First time I had been and will definitely be doing it again. Lovely venue and some nice fishing. I placed eigth at this one and also one a special prize for a rare catch which was a tadpole fish.

End of June into middle of July is family Time and the annual trip to Cornwall and relax before the big event Oxwich. Weather was starting to show a pattern here, wind again and only managed the one trip again but a nice refreshing trip away with battery’s fully charged. July is the Big One. 

Oxwich 2016

Oxwich 2016 European kayak fishing championships. This event takes around eight months to put together and my god is it worth it, the largest of its kind and attracts people from all over the UK and Ireland. A new section for the juniors was taking off to this year as it had twelve on the water hopefully this will grow after all they are the future to our sport. Fantastic turnout, fantastic weather and fantastic support from Palm and the many others that support this event. I have said thankyou personally and will say yhankyou again. The Hog roast went down a storm and is here to stay at this event. Amount raised was £1,000 for the local RNLI. We have raised over £10,000 for them to date with this one event.

August was me time and way behind on stuff that should have been done months ago so it was catch up time so only managed the one trip down to Penzance and guess what … wind! We did manage one launch though but not the designated launch spot, fishing was poor at this venue but we caught so it wasn’t an expensive ice cream trip!

September. No time to breath this month. First off was Kettering on the pike. Lovely venue resulting pike being caught and also a treble hook in my arm. We had a week away in Ladrum down Exmouth. Few launches were had not a huge amount caught but we caught and had a good catchup with friends again along with the good old beer.

October was Cornwall again with no launch due to. I will leave you guess. Also Scotland. Love this trip and venue. Hell of a paddle up and down Loch Ken but the scenery that you see when you paddle the loch is breath taking along with the Ospreys gliding over head. Outstanding. Fairly new to freshwater fishing means I am still learning the ropes but I caught and caught plenty which is a good result and also mr pike came out to play which made my trip.

2017 is already looking promising with the calendar filling up with events and my diary being marked with the ones I will be attending. Better start working to get the money to go I think!

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