A resident from Watford has spoken of his journey from fishing in Cassiobury Park when he was a child, to representing his country in international competitions.
Simon Willsmore first began fishing at the age of 12. Now 55, he has fished for England seven times. He has also twice represented his country with his domestic team, Daiwa Dorking, at the Club World Championships and earned an array of medals, including three golds.
As a child, Simon travelled from London to Watford and Croxley Common Moor to fish, and he went on to join the Watford Pisactors Club.
He explained: “When I started fishing, there was no internet, so as kids we would spend our time doing outdoor hobbies.”
Simon regularly competes in competitions where each entrant is given a spot in a lake, river or canal and has a certain amount of time to catch the largest weight in fish. At one five-hour event, Simon caught a massive 1,036 fish, weighing 39lbs.
Simon’s most recent competition was at this year’s FIPSed 28th Coarse Angling European Championship in the Netherlands, where Simon and his team, which is run by the Angling Trust, took the third spot and are now ranked number one in Europe.
Simon said: “Watford is a great area for fishing and being able to gain experience practising regularly on the wide variety of local venues has really helped me achieve my ambition of fishing for England, something I could only dream of while I was fishing in Cassiobury as a kid with my mates.”
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