THE BIG ONE
Day 1

I look forward to this show every year as its the only one I really go to as moat are far to far away.

A lot of people say its just a big fishing jumble sale, which some parts of it are, but there are some real genuine bargains to be had on either low budget gear or top the range. I couldn't wait.

We arrived a little early as usual and parked near the front thanks to the VIP tickets. As we started walking towards the entrance we saw a massive queue, gutted, until a man on the other side was shouting for VIP ticket holders, where the queue was in the warm, that alone was worth the extra money as it was FREEZING outside.

Once in we decided the best thing we could do was spend our food voucher which came with the ticket on a bacon roll and inspect out freebie bucket, which this year was very good.

We then set about having a good look around and seeing who had the best bargains.

I always go to the show with a wish list and as much cash as I can, this year I had decided to upgrade my luggage and buy a new barrow along with a few other bits.

As I had already began upgrading some of my luggage to the Trakker NXG range I decided to look for more of the same.

We soon came across a stand selling a whole lot of Trakker products so I checked there prices to online prices which they beat with ease. So after being at the show only about half an hour I had already brought a shed load of gear and saved in excess of £100, bonus. This required both me and Steve to carry back to the car where we also met up with Richard Pilchard. One of the other things we love about the show is being able to buy pellet in bulk with no postage costs, normally 5-10kg each would be fine but his year we was shocked to find there was none, not happy.

Still with other things on the list we carried on. We stopped on the Guru stand for a chat and picture with gold medalist and great angler Dean Macey, top bloke, sadly the camera was in the hands of Richard and although my camera was in intelligent auto (Noddy proof) still blurred the picture.

One of the other things on my list was a Barrow, I had two in mind either a Carp porter fatboy or Daiwa infinity freeloader, turns out I couldn’t find any Daiwa Barrows but got a cracking deal on the Carp porter with around £30 off the retail and had a water carrying kit thrown in, nice.

We stopped in the Browning stand for a chat and a picture with the very modest Bob Nudd.

Then headed to he Anglers Mail stand for a chat and a picture with John Bailey, who really is one of anglings greatest, a truly nice bloke with plenty of time for his fans.

With a few other bits and bobs brought we decided to call it a day, well the show anyway, and headed back towards Basingstoke for a couple of hours at Ashmoor, it was supposed to be the River Wey in Farnham but as the car had a lot of kit in it I decided it best not to leave it parked in a random car park.

So armed with trotting gear and very light hooklinks meant for dace we started to fish at Ashmoor, as usual it didn’t take long to catch, first fish was a Chub, the second ever I have caught from here so was delighted. The next was a Carp, which on a 2.6lb hooklink was a bit hairy but great fun, the fish was a real little cracker, only about 4lb but nice all the same. I then moved over the other side and had another Carp a little smaller. Then we decided we was out of our minds, it was freezing cold and headed back.

A special thanks to Experience Fishing in Newbury for bringing a Disney Princess rod to the show for me to give to my Daughter on her birthday, a great tackle shop and some cracking guys.

THE BIG ONE

Day 2

Today was more of a 'Meeting the stars' day for us and indeed for my son who really wanted to meet the star of River Monsters Jeremy Wade, which after a short wait in the queue was were we headed.

My son armed with his birthday money brought his DVD's and book, all signed and a picture, never seen him so happy, and luckily although only 10 he is fairly good with a camera so took a couple of pictures of us with Jeremy to.

Next was to meet the man in red but now Camo Jan Porter, a true gent, and although recovering from illness still braved the show, and had time for a good chat and a picture. Still on the Shimano stand was Mick Brown, who we have met many times and he even recognized us, which was nice, after a long chat about fishing and editing software for the computer randomly we had a couple of pictures and carried on.

Although I am not a hardcore Carper and couldn’t have the time to be I do understand the obsession, and many have made a great carrier out of it, chasing monsters, one of the greats is Terry Hearn, so we had to have a chat and a picture. As I watch fishing programmes at home all the time most of the family do get board of them very quickly, but there are a couple of shows that me and my son watch together, one is River Monsters, the other is the recent Mr.Crabtree, and although we had some pictures yesterday my some was eager to meet John as well.

A few pictures were taken with Liam holding Koi Hodgson and John Baily next to him, then we decided to call it day, I was knackered.

Call the Big one what you like but I believe it is a cracking show which seems to be getting better every year, and you can save a fortune if you no what your looking for, and I highly recommend the VIP tickets, not only do you park allot closer, you queue inside, get a bucket of really good freebies, a food voucher and 2 day pass for £25, well worth it and already looking forward to next year.