The Retro Angler
Born in England in 1971, I fished from my teenage years until my mid-twenties, enjoying the outdoors, fishing, and catching silvers. In my early thirties, I began fishing again and continued where I’d left off, catching anything that would take my bait and enjoying the outdoors. Fast forward a few years and a chance visit to a car boot sale in 2014 led me to buy an Olympic Match13 fishing rod. I've used fairly modern tackle since I began fishing or as modern as I could afford, but the Olympic rod reminded me of seeing anglers when I was a youngster and getting interested in fishing. I bought the Olympic rod for a fiver and looked for more nostalgia, searching the internet for a vintage reel to use with my new, old rod and I began fishing the 'retro' way. My next purchase was a Mitchell 300 reel and I loved the unique look, sound, and smooth action of this classic reel. My journey continued, collecting and using vintage rods, reels, and terminal tackle and being taken back in time, enjoying my piscatorial hobby in a new way.
The first time I ever fished was on holiday in a Welsh stream after buying a two section metal rod with my hard saved holiday money when I was about eight years old. The rod was about 3ft long with plastic ferrules, line guides and handle with a small baitrunner type reel, all in yellow and red. The reel had some mono line and a small spinner and although I didn't catch anything I was, as they say, hooked for life! My first experience of sea fishing was as a teenager on a boat trip on holiday in north Devon, again paid for with holiday money. I caught several Dogfish which I took back to the hotel to proudly show my parents and was photographed with my catch.
As a wheelchair user, unable to walk I am sometimes restricted as to where I can fish. I'm pretty agile and I can sometimes get out of my wheelchair. Most of the time I prefer to sit on the ground as I can balance better when casting and landing fish. My main criteria for a fishing venue is the shortest distance possible between parking the car and where I fish and having fairly flat ground, so I travel light and carry as little tackle as needed.
I've wanted to create a website for a long time but I could never decide on a subject. As I collected vintage fishing tackle I had the idea of sharing my collection on a website. This site is very much a work in progress, another journey of exploration and subject to change, so please drop by from time to time and feel free to contact me, tight lines.