IAN KILLBY

My name is Ian Killby and my angling journey began around 35 years ago, as a young boy I was introduced to fishing by my father whilst living near St Ives in Cambridgeshire. With The Great Ouse and Bedford levels right on our doorstep I was duly handed a small fibreglass rod and reel and a tackle box full of colourful things that were fascinating in their own way, we caught fish and the fire was instantly lit! It was easy to become lost in the obsession of what might lurk beneath that sheet of glass. I spent most of my free time after school and during holidays on the river bank, Roach, Perch, Eels and plenty of Pike were the makeup of my first few years in angling, I’d never seen a carp or a carp angler in fact until the early 1990’s.

People and places change as we grow and it was my stepfather who introduced me to carp fishing. First trip out was a successful one and I finally landed my first carp! As many of you now know, once you taste the wine there’s no going back and soon enough I transitioned into an obsession with carp.

We began to venture across to France fishing small intimate venues, usually on an exclusive basis as family holidays. We started to catch colossal sized fish that we could only dream of catching back here in the UK. Fast forward to today and whilst most of my fishing is UK based, I’m still dragging my family across the channel for the odd carp fishing holiday! Over the years I’ve been lucky enough to visit some beautiful venues across France and Italy, I’ve even managed to wet a line over in New York for some uncaught grass carp.

Today’s carp fishing world is wholly different with the explosion of social media and there is an infinite amount of information available in the form of films, documented adventures of like minded individuals. While it is begrudged by some, I find it utterly inspiring and it has sparked a desire to learn new photography and filming skills so that I might be able to create some magic myself one day for others to enjoy.