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Rods . Testimony . Articles © 2006 Mark Tunley. |
 Mark Tunley Due
to IT issues and moving workshops, email is not working
well currently. Thanks. About Tunley ! I build
most types of rod, be that coarse, beach, boat, or game
rods. I started
my interest in building rods whilst working as the
general dogs body of the Chalk Stream Angler in
Salisbury, Wiltshire. There my duties varied from guiding
and teaching on some of the best chalk streams in
England, to chopping wood for the retail shops wood
burning stoves. I also restored classic bamboos and built
ultra custom Sage fly rods for the highest end of the
market. My father
Clive took me at the young age of 6, in 1971, to a lake I
called ‘White Lake’ due to its milky
colouration. Many years later whilst bailiffing with the
then ‘Leisure Sport Angling,’ I rediscover the
lake now known as Theale 1. The milk colour had gone and
It was quite a blast from the past and the early memories
of float caught roach flooded back as I walked the banks
again for the first time in some 20 years. My favourite species changes all the time, it's usually the one I'm fishing for at the time, being an 'all-rounder' and all that. Interesting captures ? 26/05/06 - I turned up at a lake to see a mate of mine called Adam for a quick chat. He'd been bite less for some 20 hours and was rather peeved, as he'd just bought new alarms and wanted to hear one scream. Well I was invited to drop in to the next swim and have a go for the Carp whilst we chatted. I cast the first bait out and I forgot to put on a backlead, so into the bag quickly and as I'm attempting to put on the backlead, the line is pulled out of my hand. The bait was in the water 10 seconds, small but nice 13lbs 9oz Mirror on the bank in 5 mins and Adam pissed off in an instant. Well that's fishing for you. 18/06/06 - I drove into the carpark of a lovely part of the Kennet that I have a ticket for, to find it empty. It was 4pm on a sunday afternoon and I have some 1000 yds of prime Kennet to myself. Straight to the top weir and on the second cast I had a strong pull round. The next thing I new was the Barbel went from the race to the basin in seconds and straight into a snag. I pulled hard but it was solid. 30 second later I released the bail and hoped for the best. A minute passed before the line pulled slowly from my hand and I tightened back up free of the snag. 8 lbs. Barbel on the bank with a very damaged mono hooklink. Lucky me. I moved on down water after that and dropped into a very inviting swim. First cast and the rod was almost ripped from my hand. It just took off. 5 mins later and I had a very nice fat 9 lbs. 5 oz Kennet Barbel in my net. Off home for tea more than happy. My favourite bit of tackle ? My favourite bit of tackle currently is my Torrix Specialist rod. This is the perfect Barbel rod. Have and haven’t fished with ? I had the
great honour to fish with ( for Brown Trout ) the
godfather himself Bernard Venables. Bernard was in his
nineties and the whole thing lasted all of 20 minutes.
The smell of the barbecue was calling us back to the
barn. What I most like about fishing? Setting oneself what seams to be realistic goals for the forthcoming season and failing miserably. It just confirms to you with such simple clarity that with all the skill and experience in the world you always need a big old helping of luck. How many time have you seen or heard of novices catch big and plenty. The fish don't know, or care who is at the other end of the bait, that's what I love about fishing. |