ABOUT ME

Hello and welcome to Hampshire Angling Adventures!

My name is Thomas Aldous and as the name of this blog suggests, I am based in heart of Hampshire. This part of the country has some absolutely stunning stillwaters, but it is fair to say that what is closest to my heart is the crystal clear chalkstreams and small waterways that meander close to home. My objective here is to encapsulate my adventures in and around my home county, and describe all the highs and lows which are encountered in the pastime which I have loved for so many years! (Be it whether people want to read them, or an account stashed away for dips in my enthusiasm and morale).

One of my first attempts on a river!

I started fishing when I was 7 with my father at a local lake. On these trips, we spent many an enjoyable day catching small roach and perch, coupled with the odd bonus carp, tench and bream. We  then started enjoying fishing a few local day ticket waters which gave us the chance to enjoy catching some more carp on light tackle which certainly helped us both become more confident with what we were doing. When I was 13, I started to become independent with my fishing, taking myself down the local river for perch, pike, roach, grayling and trout. I started off catching perch on free-lined minnows and at the same time used to pick up some baby pike - a bonus which had me buzzing for weeks! On one particular summer my brother came to join me on a fair few trips, which was certainly enjoyable as he was breaking personal bests by the day on a spinning rod that we bought for him on holiday!

One of my many perch sessions!

This little perch session certainly started my brother's craze this certain summer!

On the same summer, I also tried fishing for the carp on my local club lake and learnt lots of interesting, cunning tricks for weary specimen carp. After learning to tie a rig, I tried to catch a bigger carp from some of my favourite local day ticket waters. On my first attempt, I caught my first ever fish into double figures which is a memory which sticks to me to this day!

First fish into double figures

The problem I felt, though, after a while of fishing my local club lake in search of a big carp, was that sitting behind buzzers and guzzling unhealthy snacks (which happened to me) was really not for me. Don't get me wrong though, I do enjoy the odd carp session here and there and I plan to dedicate some time for the in the near future to try and trip up one of those larger residents. After my brief carp phase, I made a few good friends locally, and enjoyed sharing some sessions on the local river with them. I think this was the point when I realised that what I enjoyed most was fishing the rivers. What I found the most attractive about flowing water, was the fact that every bend brings a sense of mystery and inevitability with the inhabitants on a whole being cunning, wild fish.

Also from watching other people, I suddenly had an urge to learn some basic fly fishing. After finding an old fly rod and reel in my garage and 'borrowing' some of my dad's flies, I caught a nice trout on my first attempt. After this, I found myself regularly going to familiar hunting grounds to try and outwit these wild trout on various imitations. With this developing interest, I then found myself with a nice fly rod (kindly bought by dad) and with a few pointers from a local bailiff, Keith Dipper (Urban Ways Fly Casting Lessons), I became slightly more competent using a fly rod.

A lovely wild brown trout on dry fly

The largest part of my journey in angling was in my early teens, where I was lucky to rub shoulders with fellow YouTube 'bloggers'. The first of these being Carl and Alex Smith who are now a huge icon on the angling scene and extremely talented filmmakers. The Smith brothers were a huge part of what inspired me to create some of my own content and I owe them a great deal of thanks for being a big part of opening this door for me in angling.

Some inevitable trout when you go in search of grayling!

After fishing my local river on a regular basis and learning about the species that inhabited it, I suddenly had a past recollection of fishing a small tributary and catching a small chub. I suddenly felt a desperation to go and catch another. After finding a lovely river, I spent a few sessions trying to catch a personal best chub. Over time, I gained a little more understanding about the rivercraft that was required to tempt them. Following a couple of fish over the 3lb mark, this certainly triggered an obsession with the species as they can be so unpredictable - very skitty some days, but others, very gluttunous. This fascination in the species led to some very enjoyable collaborative trips with like-minded anglers. One of these like-minded anglers was another river avid, Mark Erdwin, who creates very therapeutic videos of his ventures on his local waterways. Through watching Mark fish on a few enjoyable trips, this helped me understand techniques and rivers as a whole a great deal more. I also owe him a lot of thanks for opening this door for me which still never fails to excite me.

A capture that will be with me for years to come from a small waterway! (6-1)

Current PBs:

Barbel: 10lbs 4oz
Bream: 5lbs 9oz
Carp: 25lbs 6oz (Common) 16lbs 9oz (Mirror)
Crucian Carp: 2lbs 8oz
Chub: 6lbs 3oz
Dace: 13oz
Eel: 1lb+
Golden Orfe: 4lbs 10oz
Grayling: 3lbs
Perch: 3lbs
Pike: 18lbs 8oz
Roach: 1lb 13oz
Rudd: 2lbs 4oz
Tench: 5lbs 12oz
Zander: 5lbs 8oz

I hope you enjoy tuning into my angling adventures,

Tight Lines,

Tom