What match anglers do in their Autumn Years

[Lasher Larraman]

Hi All you Old Timers out there and all who hanker after the matchfishing of yesteryear , I'm John Larraman , old school and possessor of a million " T " shirts ! I don't know whether you feel like me but now I'm 70 years old I don't enjoy travelling to matches further afield than a 50 mile radius of my home in Royal Tunbridge Wells , rather a step up thanks to a late in life marriage to my wife Pauline , and a tad more salubrious than my home town Chatham , but you know " You can take the man out of Chatham but you can't take Chatham out the man " ! This is just making an excuse in case my prose strays into the vernacular so to speak ! Apart from being wheeled out rarely to fish for my team , Preston Innovations Delcac , my fishing is restricted to those venues with easy access and an odd trip to my home river the Medway in Kent , my electric trolley the first item to be loaded into the car ! Enough of the intro , I've never been one for trumpet blowing but banter and genial yellow stream take is what makes matchfishing the fun that it is ! I cannot compete with the youngsters on the carp venues in the summer , 300lbs and the like , they've got bladders like black sacks , I get up for a yellow stream and I'm 2 fish behind ! How they can feed , hook and land a carp , whilst constantly holding a phone conversation , phone tucked under their chins is a world apart to me ! I prefer to fish with my peers , joke about old times and go to occasional big event if I can get a ticket ! I enjoy new venues and overhearing " Who was that old cnut next to me ? Cut my wobbly cheeks good and proper ! " It doesn't get better than that ! For those that are interested I run a bi annual festival in Holland on the mighty River Issle , May and September ! It's classic big river fishing on heavy feeder gear catching big bream , can be up to 10lbs , Ide to 6lbs , Roach to 3lbs , Barbel to 10lbs , " Gustas " to 3lbs and all sorts of other species , it's like being a kid again , a rattle at the rod top , another mystery unfolds ! Those that might be interested check out my Facebook page Anglo Dutch Classic Community and I've recently negotiated with my sponsors and renamed my event " Preston Innovations Anglo Dutch Classic " Look me up ! Best Regards Lash.