Wychwood has added to it's line-up of anglers by signing a multi-species guru - Matthew Fernández!
He started angling when he was just six years old and his first ever fishing trip was for Mackerel, off a boat with his late grandfather.
After that trip, he was well and truly hooked on angling and from there on he fished local rivers and still waters with his late grandparents. He is very fortunate to have grown up where he did.
He spent the summer months fishing overgrown estate lakes, steeped in angling history, watching a float while catching finicky Crucians and Tench. During the colder months he’d then focus on the beautiful River Itchen, which was only a stone's throw away from his parent's house and this is where he really cut his teeth in angling. Trotting a float is an art and catching his first ever Grayling at a very young age is his fondest angling memory.
When he turned thirteen, he got into the social side of angling and concentrated on Carp fishing with friends. This was until he was old enough to fish alone and then started fishing a handful of the big gravel pits in the Ringwood area for Carp. When Carp fishing became popular and his wife fell pregnant with their first child, limiting his available time, he returned to fishing for all species.
Each year he set himself a personal target, choosing the species he angled for, based on what best suited the seasons and conditions. For example, during the cold months he’d be on the rivers fishing for Grayling, Roach, Dace, Barbel and Chub. Through the rest of the year, he would fish for Crucians, Tench, Bream, Carp, Eels and Perch. When targeting various species and fishing different venues, constantly changing tactics to suit the venue is the key. Matthew finds this keeps his angling fresh and challenging and judging by his results he's had some success to say the least!
Being married with three children means his fishing must be effective and efficient. The short time available to him means he has to pick the right species at the right time, maximising his chances to improve on last year’s tally. Fishing isn’t just a hobby or a pastime to Matt, it’s part of his life.
He went on to tell us how very honoured he feels to have been asked to join the Wychwood/MAP family and to share his angling adventures with us. His main goal and one we want to promote is that his future content will encourage our followers to just enjoy fishing no matter what they target.
Matthew’s greatest achievement in his thirty years of angling was getting his name on the prestigious Drennan Cup in the 2020/21 season. There, he won five different weekly Drennan Cup awards. The captures were impressive; Tench 11lb 4oz, a river roach at 2lb 12oz, a 4lb 3oz crucian and two different 3lb+ grayling from two different rivers..jpg)
He said that after winning several Drennan weekly awards over the years it was great to finally see his name in the running for the cup and then finally get his name on the prestigious trophy.
He also feels honoured to have been asked to write chapters for hardback fishing books such as 'Red Eye', 'Crucian Renaissance' and 'Willow Pitch V - Chasing Chevin'. Other proud moments include watching his kids fishing and catching, passing his knowledge down to them from a very young age, hopefully instilling the same passion he was given by his late grandfather.
Matthew’s personal bests
PB UK common: 32lb 8oz
PB UK mirror: 33lb 8oz
PB Barbel: 15lb 8oz
PB Tench: 12lb 8oz
PB Rudd: 3lb
PB Roach: 2lb 12oz (river)
PB Perch: 4lb 2oz
PB Bream: 16lb 12oz
PB Crucian: 4lb 4oz P
B Chub: 7lb 1oz
PB Grayling: 3lb 3oz
PB Dace: 15oz
PB Eel: 3lb 8oz
PB Catfish: 25lb
