One of our latest additions to the team is Dave Shires. A fantastic all round match angler who is going from strength to strength. Dave lives in West Yorkshire and is married with two lovely children. He has been fishing now for over 30 years and like many of us it was a skill passed down through the family. It all started on a family holiday in Lowestoft when his Dad introduced him to our beloved sport and after catching an Eel and a Perch he was hooked! Excuse the pun!
Dave began his journey in match fishing when he fished junior matches with Wakefield AC and that’s where the match bug really started! He spent his 20’s fishing with Ossett Central Club, then progressed to the open match scene in his early 30’s. His main target venue was Lindholme Lakes among other places.
He qualified for his first final in 2016 where he finished 5th in the Maver Match This Final. He then went on to win the Commercial National team final individually in 2020. After that the success continued and Dave went onto qualify for numerous Fishomania finals in 2018, 2022, 2023 and then in the 2024 final took the honours and finished Fish O Mania Champion. A very close match, which if you’ve not seen yet had plenty of drama! As well as many, many more Open matches and commercial team medals Dave also qualified for the Fish North semifinal in 2024 but sadly didn’t progress to the final.
2024 Fish O Mania Champiuon
4 Times Fish O Mania Finalist 2018, 2020, 2022 & 2024
2020 Commercial National Individual Champion
2 Commercial National Team Champion Medals
3 Commercial 3rd place Team Medals
2016 Maver Match This Finalist
Numerous Open Match wins
1. Always go to your peg, even if you don’t fancy the draw, you never know, as they say “fish have fins!”
2. Ask questions of other anglers, there’s always something to learn whether it be pleasure fishing or after a match. We all get beaten off the next peg at some point, it’s what you learn from the experience that counts.
3. If your just starting out match fishing, keep it simple, stick to one or two venues until your results pick up and you can take those skills elsewhere, it’s amazing how the same tactics work all over the country.
4. Local knowledge, if your travelling on qualifiers or to a new venue do your research, ring the fishery or onsite tackle shop, they’ve always got some good advice to give on bait choice or tactics
5. Trust your instincts, if your fishing and you feel you need to change something whether that be bait, feeding patterns or rigs, it’s usually worth a try, being stubborn or lazy simply won’t help you get the most from your peg.