Ali Hamidi: Tackle Company Owner & TV Presenter

When it comes to angling mentors, I’d have to say that you never stop learning. In the old days, I met and fished with top anglers like Frank Warwick, Gaz Fareham and Ian Russell. More latterly, there have obviously been Danny Fairbrass, Damian Clarke, Tom Dove and Neil Spooner, all extremely gifted and talented anglers. I think it’s a case now, of having a lot of knowledge, gained over several decades and after fishing so many different places. I just try to learn from every experience, on every trip, and I try to continue to hone my skills.

The greatest asset an angler can have is to go with your gut. There have been times when I’ve been in a situation and have had an initial feeling, but have then countered that by overthinking everything. If I’d have gone with my initial thoughts, I’d have probably started the session better. Take on board information, but don’t take on too much. Sometimes, when you visit a new venue, your own experiences will help you. You don’t have to replicate how others fish.

A fishing-related item that I don’t currently own but would like to possess would be a boat. I had a nice Bayliner on the Thames, but then I moved it to Walton-on-the-Naze for sea fishing. It was a carp boat, but in seawater it became nothing but aggro. If money was no object, I’d love to have a boat, moored up next to a condo in the Florida Keys. It’s a distant dream, but I love fishing in the Keys—it’s something that’s so different to carp fishing.

The last thing I acquired and loved were my Fox RX+ Bite Alarms. They’re absolutely brilliant! I have a Frontier Bivvy as well, which I love and it’s so easy
to put up.

With time on my hands… well, our first baby’s due, and God willing, it could have been born healthy and well by the time this goes to print. With a new company, a wife, a new baby and a dog, I’ll have even less time at my disposal. All those notwithstanding, from an angling perspective, I’d love to go on fishing expeditions around the world. I wouldn’t go all the time, because I love a balance and I love working. I like fishing for different species in different places. I’ve filmed in the Amazon, and I loved that… the rest of South America, perhaps, or fishing for carp in the South of France or in Eastern Europe. I’d like to go back to Lake Balaton, for instance, and I’ve mentioned the Florida Keys. Then there are golden mahseer in India, and black carp in China. These make up my bucket list of the types of fishing I’d like to do, or haven’t yet done. If I did have time on my hands, then I’d enjoy some crazy, whacky fishing experiences.

Rewinding time, I was probably happiest fishing when we filmed at Lake Balaton in Hungary, during the first season of Monster Carp. Tom, Neil and I absolutely love it! Also, back in May, we finished filming an episode of the Grand Fishing Adventure, at Grenville Lake. That was just awesome. It’s an amazing lake, with amazing fish. I’d love to relive that, given the number of fish we caught. If I have a top three, I’d also go back to Carcès, to the swim where I caught the 70lb common. I’d had a difficult week and had fished an area without many carp. I moved to a swim opposite Dovey that had a large area of open water. The level was down and I knew there were big fish out there, but I’d left it until the very last minute. I hadn’t expected to catch something of that size—I’d have been happy with another forty, but I managed to catch a seventy-pound, wild-water common! I knew something was going to happen, and it was exhilarating being in that swim. Weed was coming in, it was hard and it was rocky, but it was also exciting. That moment will remain with me forever… that’s pinnacle stuff!

In my bait bag you’ll always find Gooed-up hookbaits. I get asked why, having left Korda, I still use Goo. Goo isn’t made by Korda, it’s actually made by Kiana Carp and Korda distributes it. I love the stuff and I have a whole variety of hookbaits that I’d never go carp fishing without. I know from experience that they’ve led to much quicker bites in pretty much any situation I’ve been in, unless I’ve been using worms or other natural baits. Boilie-wise, I usually have two or three Mainline baits on, and they’ll usually be Cell and ISO Sweet—which isn’t out yet. Recently, and rolling back the years a bit, I had a delivery of Activ-8. I also always have pellets in the van—I love Mainline’s Response Pellets and Hinders Elips Pellets and some of Hinders Barbel Bomb Groundbait.

The game-changing moment which altered everything for me was probably starting One More Cast! That really has altered everything. From a tactical perspective, fishing-wise, we have a product that someone came to me with, and we’ve developed the prototype of, and I’d say that has the potential to be game changing. 

Following the advent of the Hair Rig, the next thing that had a fundamental impact on my own fishing was the effect that Goo had on my hookbaits. If you watch episodes 7 and 8 of Underwater, you’ll see how incredibly fast the fish found them. It was nowhere near as effective to use a high-attract hookbait without it—you’re talking between a twentieth to a tenth of the level of attention without the Goo. That was a significant breakthrough for me, as it was for Dovey and Spooner. When we film for the Grand Fishing Adventure, Bobby (Zamora) always has it on. It’s amazing, as will be what I now have in my possession as far as rig breakthroughs go—there, that’s a little exclusive for you!

As far as angling heroes go, for me, it was always those who’ve been on the television in the past. John Wilson was a legend of a man, and of the sport. Nowadays, though, I’d love to spend some time with Chris Yates, just for the vibe and because we’re probably polar opposites. You’ve got me, the guy who loves tech and using a bait boat, and loves casting as well, but I think we’d bounce off each other really well. I have every respect for him, his ethos and what he’s done for the sport. I love all that close-quarter stuff and I still float-fish. Whilst my spectrum of tactics is so diverse, people sometimes see only certain elements of it on the television and in the media, so yes, Chris Yates is an angler I’d love to go fishing with.

What I find most irritating about other anglers—not all of them, mind, just some—is the element of bitterness. Some of the stuff you see on social media, for instance, is so aggressive. It’s the fish-at-all-costs brigade, the fighting and arguing over swims, all that kind of thing. I know we’ve had a few disagreements and debates shown on television, but they’ve all been in jest. It’s the aggression towards other anglers and how the fun’s then taken out of it that I find irritating and hard to accept. We should all be out there enjoying each other’s company and having a
good time. 

Trying to think of something I’ve lost but wish I still had is quite hard, because I’m a bit of a hoarder. It, or they, perhaps, might include some of my early fishing rods, the ones that might’ve snapped. I’m sure Mum and Dad still have my very first one, unless I gave it away to a relative when they started fishing. My first rod and reel would be nice to still have. I could frame them, possibly, to commemorate the start of my addiction!

If I wasn’t working in the angling industry, as my career has been marketing- and media-led, I’d be in a different industry, but would hopefully still be involved in something marketing- or media-related. I’d like to think I’d be in a senior position, and perhaps owner of my own company, but I wouldn’t change things for the world. I certainly wouldn’t have been a professional boxer or footballer, even though I love watching these two sports. I’m sure I’d be doing something similar to what I do know, just in a different industry.