“The Magic of Martin Hooper"

By Derek Lewis​

The magic of Martin Hooper – tuition – first session.

Martin Hooper, now there’s a name that a lot of barbel anglers will have heard of. You only had to buy the weekly fishing papers and you would see Martin in there holding up some big fish or particually barbel and won the Drennan cup at least twice.

I first met him at Bounds Farm on the Stour one winter. I was sitting there waiting for a bite on a very cold day and I recognised him before he even got to me by the hat and big bait bucket carrying two made up rods. As he got to me he said “This was my first choice swim today, but I’ll move in the next one to you"

So I said {like the decent chap that I am} “You can fish this one if you want Martin and I’ll move down a bit" but Martin replied “thats alright I’ll fish the next one down. Martin fished his swim for an hour or so and then decided to move and came back passed me when I said to him “Do you still do barbel tuition?" to which he replied “Yes I do". I said how much is it, he replied “£90pounds a day and you use my rods and my bait. All I do is watch you as it is your day". So I told him that I had been having a lot of blanks that season and I booked a day for the end of June the folowing season.

I couldn’t wait for the end of June to come and the first session.

The end of June came (1995 I think) and I had to meet Martin at Ringwood Tackle at 8am. The weather was nice and warm all I had with me was flask/sandwiches. I was driving from Crawley in Sussex at the time so left home at 6.30am normally took one and half hours to get there as I was well used to this trip once a week.

When I arrived Martin said “follow me in your car" which I did and by the route he was taking I knew exactly where he was going as I had been here many times before – CAC water, as this was 10 years or so ago I hope I don’t upset any one by saying Manor Farm stretch. Martin carried the rods and I carried the bait bucket. Martin then said the waters a bit cloudy so we might not stay here {as it turned out we did} we started to look for fish in varous swims but there was nothing showing.

Martin then baited up three swims, one at the bottom end of the stretch and two more in the middle, in the bait bucket was corn and hemp. We then walked to the middle of the field (which I thought was strange) where Martin laid down his tackle, so I said just for a laugh “you won’t catch much here Martin there’s no water" he almost laughed at that and replied “I’m going to be the one laughing at you soon"!

I was soon to find that out.

The next thing Martin did was to {wait for it} cast into the field about 20yds away the lead and everything was on the line exept the hook.Martin then tied something white like paper onto the end of the line and he said “when I pick this white paper up in my fingers or you think I’ve picked it up strike."

Martin then moved his hand all around this paper includng hiding the paper from my view as though looking like he had picked the paper up in his fingers. I struck several times when I thought he had picked it up but in fact he was just making it look that way. I could now see where he was coming from as this is what the barbel would be doing for real. This is what you would call sight fishing and you have to be exeptionally quick to hit them. Martin did say that if you can see the barbel {sight fishing} and you use a running ledger and strike when the barbel takes the bait into his lips {this is what all the little taps on the rod tip are most of the time}. He also said when you cannot see the fish use a bolt rig.

I was to now see this in the water actually happen to me. We went back to the first swim we baited and the swim was now alive with barbel {not big} and chub and bream, but Martin said were not going to fish this one as there is bream in there.So we walked back to the second swim downstream from a cobble weir. The river splits here by a massive bed of bullrushes {i just love bullrushes}.

Right in the nearbank channel was one barbel that looked to me to be about 8lbs but Martin said it was a low double (who was I to argue). We then waited until the barbel swam off into the main river where Martin lowered the the baited hook into the channel, two grains of sweetcorn on one and a half inch hair and one and a half oz free running ledger.

He then handed me the rod {we where both standing up behind some rushes for cover} after about ten minutes the same barbel came back into the swim picking up the freebies that Martin had thrown in by hand. He then swam up to the hookbait and I couldn’t see the bait then so I struck into thin air. First mistake – this, can you believe happened 4 times before I eventially hooked it, but alas the hook pulled out. Another barbel did come into the swim a lot bigger than the regular one that was coming in but he wasn’t going to play ball so that was it for that swim.

We then moved to the 3rd and last swim which also had barbel in there but because it was dificult to see the fish in this swim Martin changed to a bolt rig setup, and this is where I was going to make my second mistake {centerpin reels} never used one in my life until this day with Martin hooper.

Both rods where put into rests and within an hour the ratchet went off and I was at last playing a barbel but it was short lived as the barbel pulled to take line and my right hand was on the centerpin as you do with a fixed spool reel so the barbel couldn’t take any line and the enevitable happened and the barbel won. I gave the rod to Martin and walked away to try and fathem out my mistakes (calling myself a few things at the same time!)

I then walked back to Martin and said “sorry its all my fault, you put me on the fish and I cocked it up" he said, “don’t worry Derek your not the first one".

Next minute an elderly chap came along looked to be in his sixties and started to talk to Martin and I heard Martin say to him that I had lost two barbel today. So this man said to me “your a bit of a pratt aren’t you?"so I said “who the blo..dy hell are you?",he said “I’m the bailiff Fred Cleere", so I then laughed and said “hello mate how are you?", shaking his hand, cheered me up a bit after that.

I still keep in touch with Fred (very nice gentleman) and still bailiff for CAC.

Martin and I walked back to the cars and on the way Martin said “I’ll tell you what I’ll do, I like all my guests to catch one so if you want another session I’ll let you have it at half price", I said “if you dont mind taking a plonker with you again!", he said “your not a plonker and you will get it right next time". “great" I said, “I’ll give you another ring in a couple of months", then we said our goodbyes.

I had a lot to learn {as I do now}

Derek

The magic of Martin Hooper-tuition-second session.

Once again I was on my way to Ringwood and my second session with Martin Hooper. I was now September and the weather was overcast and raining and as I was driving down there I wondered where he was going to take me this time. I could see him now telling Richard in Ringwood Tackle, “I’ve got that nutcase Derek again today."

Like last time I followed Martin in his van towards the Stour again, this time at Parly Rd a c.

Walking downstream I said to Martin “I’ll try and not mess it up this time."

Martin assured me that I would catch and he also told me to put my right hand behind my back {as I hold the rod in my left hand and reel in with my right} cack handed.

We arrived at the swim and Martin put in 3 droppers of hemp and corn to the left of the swim and just half a rod length out. The water was cloudy so no chance of seeing anything today. Not many features in this swim but bullrushes on the far bank and again 2 grains of sweetcorn on a hair rig/bolt setup, a small piece of green tubing from lead clip to hooklink {silkworm}.

Martin then set the brolly up and we both sat under it. Not long after dropping the tackle in the swim an elderly man with a grey beard and wearing a cap with all badges on it appeared from behind us. He reminded me of Captain Birdseye in the tv adverts and then I realised who this angler was Alan Wilson, another famous angler well known for his exploits on the Tring complex and suprised to see him fishing at Parly.

Alan then asked Martin if he had found a mud foot that he had lost on the bank after fishing there all night but we searched around but no sign of it. Alan said goodbye and went back to his camper van which I had noticed when we parked up but had no idea that it was Alan Wilson;s. It had now got 11.o,clock and a most strange thing happened, and you are all going to find this hard to believe.

Martin for no apparrent reason got out of his chair went to the rod, rubbed the rod and said “Martin Hooper", sat back down in his chair and the reel started screeching.I sat there looking at him saying “I dont believe what you just did you must be some sort of magician". Martin said “are you going to pick the rod up then?". Still in shock I did just that and there was no mistake this time as I was attatched to an angry barbel and promptly landed a barbel of 7lbs. Martin cast back in for me in the same spot and sat back in the chair. I’m sure that it was more luck than judgement but he must have known what time they would be feeding. I couldn’t believe what happened next either. About half an hour after that fish he did exactly the same thing again got up rubbed the rod said Martin Hooper and sat down in the chair but he was slightly out with his timing this time 2 minutes and I was straight to the rod and connected with another barbel, this time a bit bigger 7and a half pounds.

Sadly there where no more bites for that day. If you find this hard to believe I swear this is exactly how it happened. We said our goodbyes and I thanked him for taking me and the last thing he said to me was “all my pupals always take me down the pub for a drink", to which I replied “out of luck there Martin I dont drink or go in pubs not since I was 18 years old, but you did have half my sandwiches/cake/smoked some of my fags", so he laughed and said “well call it quits then".

What ever poeple thought of Martin, maybe a bit loud,contraversial and had a few problems, you cant take away from him that he was an exceptional angler.

It’s such a shame that he dissapeared from the angling scene. I saw him again after that second session. I was fishing at Ibsley Bridge just twenty yds downstream from the bridge, hadnt been there long when someone appeard behind me. Yes it was Martin. He said “ok if I fish between you and the bridge?" so I said “if you want".Anybody else don’t think I would have done as we where a bit close to each other but I thought Martin might catch a barbel if I don’t.

With that he dropped his tackle next to me and walked up onto the bridge leaned over and started to drop maggots down by hand into the small slack by the buttress of the bridge for about 5minutes. He then came back into the swim next to me between me and the bridge and cast out with a swimfeeder to the slack bit of water right to the bridge. Within half an hour he hooked a barbel and brought it in with no splash or disturbance and straight into the net and you would never know that he had caught a fish if you hadn’t seen it yourself. Amazing. The weight 9lbs.

I saw Martin several times after those sessions fishing on the middle Avon but not to talk to as I didnt want to disturb his fishing. I did though make a note of all the swims that I saw him in, well wouldnt you?!

Oh yes my barbel fishing did improve after that and I started catching again including a few doubles but alas the last eighteen months for me has been dificult, having caught one fish 7lbs.6ozs chub from that first session water.

So its all back to square one now. Never had any problems with other species like big carp two over thirty/tench/chub{not meaning to sound bigheaded (im far from that),and yes did have the odd blank sessions but nothing like an 18 month period that im going through now. Most of this time I’ve been fishing where I’ve seen the fish (Hampshire Avon) but there will never be a time where I’ll give up and fish for something else. It’s a case of putting your wits against theirs but at the moment their winning. Its almost like the barbel saying you can look at me on my terms but if you put your line into my home I’m off!!

So I’ll put up with the long walks, the rain and the cold until I can’t physically do it anymore.

Thats how it gets to you, but I love em!

Thanks Derek.