About

Philip Herron

Life-long angler and all-round carp fanatic

The year was 1989 and we were moored outside the Red Lion Pub in Scarisbrick Ormskirk, Dad and Grandad went to the pub for a pint and my cousin, and I set up an evening session next to the boat. We were generally fooling around seeing who can cast the furthest and putting maggots in each other’s pockets, but when the light had faded and our night lights were attached to the floats, it all got a little more exciting. I remember as if it was yesterday, my float shot under and the fish dragged me under the boat. It was the biggest Tench I had ever seen, possibly the first Tench I had ever seen but it was certainly the biggest fish I have ever caught and from that day until today I’ve been angling.

I remember many school summer holidays being dropped at 7am and collected at 6pm by my friend’s dad on his way to and from work, fishing sweetcorn tight against the stick-ups on a waggler float waiting for the sudden and dramatic Tench-bite. I remember emptying my Diawa box, half filling it with water and taking a Tench home to put in dad’s pond which was full over reasonable sized koi-carp. I also remember the punishment when he realised what I had done, once all the Koi had died off of course and all was left was the red-eyed Tench that never-ever did show itself.

I started fishing club & commercial waters through my teenage years and that was when I found myself targeting carp only so by the time I reached driving-age I was ready to travel the country and very much began my quest for a UK 30. Linear Fisheries was the UK’s premier carp water and in the early 2000’s was a completely different prospect than it is today. We had a number of sessions on St Johns / Hardwick / Manor and Oxlease and to be honest it was really difficult. Marking and spod work was all new to us and on many occasions, we found ourselves ‘filling it in’ and sitting on the bait for the weekend, often without any indication of a bite, it was quite frustrating and disheartening. Although after a number of visits we slowly began to work the venue out and then began to catch the fish. One memorable summer weekend the fish turned up in ‘Summer Bay’ on St Johns and we caught a number stunning 20’s but not that elusive 30. Finally on one October Sunday morning, around an hour before we were due to make the 4 hour journey home, my left hand rod registered a bit and it turned to be a 36lb Mirror and a new Oxlease Lake record, to say I was chuffed with myself is an understatement but I had achieved what I set out to do and I was ready for a new challenge

Years passed and so did many many fishing trips, each creating it’s own memories both good and bad. I’d been to France a number of times and managed fish up to 45lb but never surpassed the 36lb from Oxlease in the UK and was starting to think how I might be able to catch a UK 40, realised that to do so I would need to move away from day ticket fishing and focus on a syndicate, that I did and spent a couple of years tearing Little Irchester Syndicate apart catching over 30 30’s and managed to beat my PB with a 41lb common named ‘The Immaculate’. During this time I realised carp fishing had changed, in my opinion not for the better either. While not wanting to go too much into detail I started to enjoy my fishing less. It seemed like because I was doing really well on what was regarded a tricky (southern) water I started to experience some negativity and begun to realise that those who I considered friends really weren’t. My days of fishing the UK carp circuit were coming to an end and I started seeking a new challenge

My days of travelling 4hour round trips were taking it’s toll on both my job / my family and my stress levels and I had always knew of a few fish in the local canal so I decided I would have a try for them and spent a couple of years baiting local stretches of the Leeds Liverpool canal quite near to where my grandad used to moor his boat all those years ago. Canal fishing was really hard, lugging all the gear round and being exposed on a public footpath brought it’s own risks but gladly we never found ourselves in too much trouble and  it was about 3 months after we started a baiting campaign that I caught my first ever canal carp, and I remember it almost as vividly as the red-eyed tench from all those years ago. By this time, I had no targets or expectations and I had achieved all the targets I had set out to achieve so this was all about a bit of piece and quiet away from all the hustle and bustle of carp circuit life, and it really appealed.

In 2017 I managed to buy myself a small fibreglass boat with the intention of rather than baiting up a specific spot I could travel and visit a number of areas fishing them at different times throughout the year, I had set myself the most difficult challenge of them all….’to crack the canal carp puzzle’ and I am still trying to solve that one today. Covid realigned all my work / life priorities, without my boat during those times I am not sure if I would have got through it, but once we did I had made my decision which was to buy a narrowboat and eventually live permanently on the canal fishing every single day – living the dream. 2021 saw me take the big step of buying my narrowboat and whilst still living at home I started to spend more and more time on the water to the point where I actually only visited my home 10 times during 2025, so in Dember of 2025 I knew it was my time to move permanently onto Liverbird and have not looked back since…..

Scroll down to see some of my most memorable captures…………