Quick Questions

This time Solar Tackle angler and fishery manager Dave Wood sits in the interview chair.

Three words to describe yourself?
Energetic, lunatic, misunderstood

Who have been your biggest influences in carp fishing?
My dad would have to be my main influence. Also doing a Troubleshooter feature with Derek Ritchie during the early days of Total Carp! Finally it would have to be Terry Hearn.

How long have you been carp fishing?
I started carp fishing when I was four, so that's 26 years…

Strangest place you've caught a carp?
We came back from a party once and set up our rods on bite alarms, catching the koi out of my garden pond!

What is the strangest bait you've ever used?
I recently caught one on a jighead while perch fishing.

Scariest moment on the bank?
Probably falling out of a tree at 20 feet, hitting every branch on the way down. Somehow I managed to wrap my leg around the last branch to break my fall.

How did you start carp fishing?
I started with my dad, heading to Henfold Lakes. It was towards the end of the weekend and I hooked a fish that immediately snapped me up. I managed to hook another one and this time after 15 minutes coached an eight-pounder into the net. The battle and the strength of the fish was what did it for me.

Other sporting interests?
I used to – I tried golf and cricket, and hurt myself doing both. I've always had a very physical job doing landscaping and fishery management, so the last thing I want to do at a weekend is over-exert myself playing sport, running around like a lunatic!

One day left to go fishing, where would you go?
Probably Papercourt, where I've made a lot of good mates over the years, and have a good social.

Worst fishing-related injury?
A barbed hook in the finger – it had gone right through to the eye! A local angler tried to remove the barb with a rusty pair of scissors, which just made it so much more painful. In the end we got a proper pair of pliers to get it out.

Best three anglers you've ever fished with?
Jack Funnell, Jake Anderson and Martin Locke.

Your favourite moment/capture in your carp angling career?
Catching Polo from Silvermere. I was 12 feet up a tree dangling a piece of bread so that it was just touching the surface without any line on the surface. After a good half-hour Polo came up and slurped down the bait, so I hooked it before jumping out of the tree into the lake. To this day, my Reebok Classics are still stuck in the silt in Silvermere!

Three things you'd never go fishing without (other than the obvious rod/reel/line/hook)?
Polarised sunglasses, tiger nuts, my vape!

If you could wind back the clocks, what would you change?
I would have taken certain job opportunities that I hesitated to take! I would have also fished a few more waters when I had the chance.

Biggest character you have met through fishing?
Got to be Derek the Don!

What are your favourite bits about carping?
The relaxation and getting away, out in nature. I also like to think it helps with relationships – once I've had my fishing fix I come back all soppy and loving again having spent a bit of time away!

Your least favourite bits?
Winter and being out in the worst weather when you know the odds are stacked against you. However, it's these hard times that help you appreciate the good times more!

Tell us a secret?
My pop-ups have got Almond Goo on them!

Tea or coffee?
Coffee in the morning, tea later on.

Favourite biscuit?
Chocolate Hobnob – the king of biscuits.

Favourite take away?
Chinese on the bank, Indian at home.

Funniest moment on the bank?
It was my first ever French trip, with my mates from Papercourt who I met years ago. My friend Ian had run out of wet wipes to go to the toilet and Mark gave him some to use. As it turned out Mark had already used to clean certain areas of his body already – Ian was not impressed!

One fish you would have loved to have caught, past or present?
I would have loved to have caught the Kingsmead Fish out of Ellis, or Cut-Tail from Sheepwalk.

The get the whole picture on Dave Wood, watch the video below.