Four-time world match angling champion Bob Nudd provides local anglers with a masterclass

I caught up with local angler Andy Hardy last week to hear about his recent fishing day with four-time world match angling champion Bob Nudd.

Andy explained: “This was a charity day with Bob Nudd on Decoy Lakes, near Whittlesey, as I was the highest bidder on the Angling Trust auction site earlier in the year.

“We fished on Elm Lake which is one of the strip lakes at Decoy and I was allowed to bring a friend for the day. So I brought Peter Slade, a retired detective superintendent from my policing days in London.

“Peter and I have been fishing together for the Met for years and we both have entered the PSUK individual national which just happens to be on Decoy Lakes, so it was good practice for the both of us under the tuition of the master.”

The day was warm and humid but there was a strong gusting wind which never relented so fishing the long pole was out for the day.

Andy recalled: “I fished at 8m slightly over depth with banded 4mil pellets, and feeding 4mil by hand. I caught both mirrors and common carp between 5 and 11lbs plus barbel up to 5lb and some bream to 4lb. Peter caught the same stamp of fish but without the bream. We both had well over 100lb”.

It was a superb day of fishing for Andy and Peter, guided by possibly the best pole angler in Europe, if not the world.

Bob is a professional match angler with a long standing sponsorship with fishing tackle company Browning. Following him on Facebook, it is clear he has a very busy schedule of angling related activities, despite being in his late 70s.

He regularly posts live podcasts on Facebook and instructional videos on YouTube, which are watched by hundreds of fellow anglers.

He also has a very busy match schedule where he still competes at the highest level.

My eldest son James enjoyed a day’s masterclass with Bob at Cross Drove Fishery 12 years ago (see photo).

Bob’s popularity and following is such that in 1991 he received by far the highest number of votes in the BBC Sports Personality of the Year competition.

However, he was disqualified by the BBC who argued that a campaign by the national weekly fishing newspaper, Angling Times, was not permitted by the competition rules.

The BBC now nominates a shortlist from which the public can vote for the winner so victory via the type of popular vote that sportsmen like Bob can command is now impossible to achieve anyway.

In 1991 angling was generally regarded as the UK’s most popular participant sport. I believe it is now third behind swimming and running (depends on the vested interest of the publishers of the numbers!) but numbers are definitely growing since Covid restrictions gave people more leisure time to return to and take up angling.

The Environment Agency issued information on the numbers of rod licence sales for the period April 1, 2021 to March 31, 2022, last week. In excess of one million licences were sold during this period generating over £24m in income.

Andy Hardy also fished the Bury St Edmunds Angling Association Veterans’ match at Middle Reservoir last week, coming third from peg 4 with 13lb 4oz.

Dave Tobin weighed in 17lb 8oz from peg 10 for second with Grant Humphreys winning the match with 20lb 110oz (including an 8lb carp) on peg 5.

That’s three consecutive Bury AA veterans’ match wins for Grant on three different venues (Barrow Lake, Badwell Ash Lake and Middle Reservoir) since the end of July.

What was particularly pleasing for the Bury club was that the roach and perch turned up in anglers’ catches for the first time in a match this year at Middle Reservoir.

Grant very nearly made it four consecutive Bury AA match wins but fell short by just 1lb, finishing second, from peg 9, in the prestigious Grange Cup at Badwell Ash last Sunday.

The winner was club treasurer Steve Bull, who weighed in 61lb from peg 7 in temperatures exceeding 30C. Sitting between Grant and Steve, at peg 8, Rob Parnell came 3rd with 39lb. Smallish carp dominated the catches.

To take part in their veterans’ and club matches contact the match secretary Keith Smith on 07804 101067. A full list of match dates and venues can be found on their website: www.burystedmundsangling.org

Bury AA currently have three waters (Barrow, Badwell and Middle) that are fishing really well for their members to enjoy plus one (Water Lane) that recent reports suggest is starting to respond again too. Membership can be purchased from Tackle Up in St John’s Street in Bury St Edmunds.