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| mum and dad mid 60's |
His father was a well paid salesman for an Import/Export company and a bass guitarist in a 70's pop band, he passed away in 2007.
His mother worked as a PA to a solicitors and then in Council Planning for many years.
She is still alive and resides in North Devon with her husband. Keith attended Durlston Court School for many years and progressed well in academics and sport.
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He loved athletics and went on to become a medal winning high jumper and long distance runner.
After leaving school Keith met Marianne in a pub in 1994 and they have been together ever since.
Their first child 'Thomas' was born in 1999 and the pair married in 2004.
They later moved from the New Forest to the Valleys of South Wales in 2005.
They purchased a 4 bed end terraced house and later on 7 acres of grazing land. In 2006 'Natasha' was born and the family still live in the same place today.
They have a quiet lifestyle based around rural living and enjoy the peace and quiet that comes with that. Marianne works for a large supermarket, Thomas has an apprenticeship working for a large motor dealership and Natasha is currently in her last year of school. Keith has his own business as a contract courier and spends many hours on the road.
Keith's angling career started in the late 70's when the family went on holiday to France. They rented a holiday villa for a week that came with its own farm pond full of small fish. Keith's father purchased a couple of rods for the two of them and that's how it all started.
On their return home to the UK the fishing trips became a regular weekend thing for the two of them and also yearly holidays to Somerset fishing were part and parcel of the boys time together. As time progressed, so did Keith's angling skills. This was due to many things including meeting a lovely old gentleman called John Walker.
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| The late John Walker |
John was at the time a Bailiff at Throop Fisheries on the Dorset Stour. John spent many hours teaching Keith his skills and how to catch river fish on float and leger tactics.
The pair were inseparable for the best part of 4 summer holidays until John was too ill to continue his love of fishing.
Throughout his teens Keith enjoyed many weekly trips out with good friends to local club and day ticket waters and started to catch numerous species on his own using the many skills he had picked up along the way.
He enjoyed reading books and magazines on fishing and absorbed as much as he could.
Later in his teens he started to match fish regularly and took many top spots in club matches and opens on both still and moving water.
His love for big carp started to show through from his late teens and he started chasing dark shadows that lurked around his local gravel pits and secluded estate ponds. After a while the urge to catch bigger fish drew him to make his first trip to France after a monster carp!
His life long friends Stuart and Joe Andrews and Mark Pearce all went together on their first trip which proved very successful for them all. The 4 friends still meet up to fish with each other numerous times a year.
The industry became part of his life when he attended a Fishery Management course at Sparsholt College and later he went on to run his own Bait and Tackle business which ran for many years.
Keith has also worked for a fly fishing company, numerous tackle shops and even learned the finer arts of rod building.
He has worked at a Salmon Farm in Scotland and a carp and ornamentals farm in the Test Valley.
Keith continues to work within the industry today as a team member of Rod Hutchinson UK and also guides anglers on rivers in his spare time too.
He still has a passion for the southern chalk streams, chasing big roach and chub in the Hants Avon and Dorset Stour and he also enjoys the fruits of the wonderful river Wye as well. Apart from fishing he enjoys writing, reading novels and angling material, filming and photography with his DSLR and Drone. He loves English Cricket, walking, cars and out door life.
(Europe)
Mirror Carp 51lb 8oz
Common 43lb 3oz
Wels Catfish 65lb 8oz
Grass Carp 38lb 2oz
Bream 9lb 8oz
(UK)
Mirror Carp 38lb 2oz
Common 28lb 12oz
Wels Catfish 74lb 4oz
Perch 3lb 8oz
Pike 27lb 11oz
Zander 6lb 3oz
Tench 9lb 5oz
Bream 12lb 6oz
Roach 3lb 1oz
Dace 1lb 1oz
Grayling 2lb 15oz
Crucian Carp 3lb 2oz
Barbel 12lb 7oz
Chub 7lb 3oz
Grass Carp 23lb 6oz
Eel 5lb 10oz
Salmon 8lb 9oz
Sea Trout 14lb 13oz
Brown Trout 8lb 12oz
Rainbow Trout 12lb 10oz
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