An Interview, with Tom Forman.
Where I have been a student at
Shuttleworth College for 3 years now, through my tutors I have got to know some
names of people that have moved onto good career paths, one of them being Nash
Tackles very own Tom Forman. I have read a lot of his work in the magazines and
other bits and pieces and he’s a good lad. I’d just like to take this
opportunity to thank him for taking part in this short interview and I hope it
benefits a lot of people into how to get into the industry and what’s the best
route to getting a job along with how to adapt your angling and to take on
different methods and how its beneficial for you.
What lead you into going into
Shuttleworth College to do fishery management and how did you manage to get
yourself into Nash Tackle?
Well I left school at 16 not really
knowing which direction to take. I initially enrolled in a 2 year countryside
management course at Moulton College in Northamptonshire but soon realised it
wasn’t the course for me. At the time good friend Alan Blair was teaching at
Shuttleworth and told me about the Fishery management course. I didn’t need
telling twice and had soon switched college’s and courses and literally a few
days later I met up with the main man Mr Chris Vaughan. ( I owe this man a
great deal ).
I first got involved with Nash through my
work experience. Our fisheries class spent a week at Lac Cavagnac in France
which was Kevin’s fishery at the time conducting a work party. After working
hard for a week I decided this was a bit of me so quickly got in touch with
Kevin and asked if I could get back out there during the summer holidays, which
he thankfully obliged. As you will know, in the second year of the course you
have to complete a 7 week period of work experience which again I done out at
Cavagnac. Again I worked my n*tz off , which paid off as I ended up working out
for 3 seasons after completing my diploma at Shuttleworth.
I’m sure you may be aware of how many
people ask this very similar question, how do you recommend people try to get
into the industry; I recommend through colleges and shows what do you think is
the best route to take?
For sure if I hadn’t decided to go to college and complete
my diploma I wouldn’t have got the links into the industry, Nash being a prime
example. When I started college I told
myself to make of the most of these two years and make it worth my while. Don’t
get me wrong we had a good laugh at college, probably my most memorable two
years to date in fact. We had a great time socially meeting a lot of new
friends along the way, however when it comes down to it I got my head down, grafted and was
eventually rewarded. That would be my best piece of advice. A bit of brown
nosing goes along way as well…. Ha.
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| A 26lb Church Pool Stunner |
I understand that you enjoy the job
that you do, what sort of things does your job include from a day to day basis?
Since working for Nash ( almost 7 years now ) I have had a
few different job titles you could say. Like I’ve already mentioned I spent 3
incredible years out in France working at Nash Resort’s Lac Chateau Cavagnac. I
was only 18 when I started so it was incredibly daunting at first, however it
definitely changed me for the good and the friends and contacts I made along
the way steadied me for the coming years. When I returned to the UK I move down
to Essex and started working at Nash HQ. Im now part of the marketing and media
team at Nash and loving every minute. I looked after the media side of things,
website , facebook etc as well as the majority of the in house photography.
Onto the angling side of things, I
have seen numerous questions people asking like, how do I get sponsored? How
can I become a field tester? What sort of things do you think people should be
doing to get them noticed?
Again, just get you name out there. It sounds incredibly
big headed, but you simply have to promote yourself as much as possible,
Promote everything !! With facebook and twitter alike being at the forefront of
most things these days, it makes things so much easier and is the easiest form
of free promotion out there. Again, a bit of brown nosing goes a long way and
catching a few fish also helps obviously !
During the fishing seasons is there
any sort of fishing you like to do? Going to get a few bites on a weekly basis
or sitting on the bank in hunt for something bigger?
Believe it or not my time on the bank is very limited. I’m
one of these people who struggle to sit behind static rods for days on end
awaiting a bite, I struggle to keep still so much prefer fishing for a fair few
bites whereby I’m kept busy and always doing something.
hat is your favourite tactic in fishing from standard safety
bolt bead setups, zigs and floater fishing and why is this affective in your
fishing?
My favourite method by far is floater fishing, I just love
it! The stalking element, the buzz and the mobile style of approach for me
cannot be beaten. Like I said, I struggle to sit behind static rods for days on
end so any approach that allows me to keep on the move I will always favour.
Nash offer a good range of hook
patterns, my favourite patterns to date are the Fang Twisters for bottom bait
presentations and also the Fang Gapers for my Zig rig fishing, what is your
favourite hook pattern(s) plus what sort of situations do you tend to use them?
I’m very similar to be fair, I love the twister. Its
aggressive nature and versatility for me cannot be beaten. Floater fishing I
will use a Fang Uni and for my zigs I will again opt for a Uni with a little
kicker.
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| Toms Preferred Method of Floater Fishing. |
Many anglers have the favourite
venues across the country, what are your favourite venues be it syndicate or
day ticket also how highly do you rate them to anglers spread across the
country?
I have a couple of of syndicate waters in Essex , however
Essex is full of carp anglers meaning most syndicates are generally always
rammed out, and that’s not for me. I love visiting day ticket waters for the
first time, the challenge of trying to get a bite from an unknown water on a
limited time is something that gets me going. This will be me for the up and
coming winter anyway, however come March I will get my syndicate fishing head
back on.
As other anglers have said to me that the best approach when
getting to a lake is to walk around, look for bubblers or anything showing or
some sort of disturbance, do you agree with this and is there anything else you
do when you arrive at a lake?
I follow the same rules mate to be honest. However I also
do my homework prior to my session. Websites, facebook, and the forums offer a
world of information on most venue’s these days so doing your homework with
regards to favoured swims, favoured baits, and general tactics prior to your
session will save you an incredible amount of time when your actually on the
bank.
I understand you sometimes get to Chestnut Pool in Langford
in the early stages of the winter, something that I can adopt into my own fishing
and to benefit others, how do you make the most out of a session on high
stocked venues like Chestnut Pool?
As I just mentioned above, doing your homework prior to
your session is key. Chestnut pool is a prime example, I know Pete Wilson quite
well so a few phone calls to him prior to your session to see where’s fishing
and what’s working will give you a plan of attack for your session. In winter I
only really fish short sessions, e.g -
day sessions. This means I’m only really getting 8 hours of fishing time
meaning you have to be prepared and equipped ready to fish. Chestnut is frantic
at times so it’s vital to have plenty of rigs, bait, and PVA bags ready to go.
Doing this on the bank will cost you time and fish, so being prepared as well
as organised in winter is vital. Also
you have to fish hard, for example I recently done a 24 hour session on
Chestnut for Maximum carp magazine. If I remembered right I had 25 fish but
during that session I think I made 88 casts and went through nearly 10 metres
of PVA mesh. Basically what I’m saying is you have to fish hard and make the
most of the small amount of time you have.
Onto memorable captures, taking a
step out of carp fishing tactics for the moment, which is your most memorable
capture throughout your years of carp fishing?
It would have to be finally banking the famous Single
scale from Lac Cavagnac in France. I witnessed and photographed the fish on the
bank several times during my time there and always wanted to catch her. I
finally did 2 years down the line at 59lb 6oz, It was a great moment that will
stay with me forever.
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| A 37lb 12oz Two Tone Mirror, Beauty! |
I enjoy fishing for Roach on the quiver just as much as carp
fishing especially when the conditions are right, what is your next favourite
species to hunt for?
Hands down it would be Perch, I just love them. I think
there an awesome fish to look at and a true predator. Growing up in Milton
Keynes I had the great Ouse quite literally on my doorstep and spent much of my
childhood down there fishing for them. That will be me this winter as well,
catching a 4lb + plus stripey is the target……. I’ll let you know ;)
What are your plans for the New Year
in terms of carp angling and what venues will you be targeting?
To be honest Im not entirely sure just yet. I have my name
down for a few tickets close to Nash HQ so if one of them were to come through
I would be a happy man. Im also keen to
continue to improve my match carp fishing skills so will no doubt be spending
some time on a variety of day ticket waters up and down the county, hopefully
bagging up !
Tom, I hope you have a good Christmas and a good new year, I
hope to read some articles and features in the future, as always Tom it’s a
pleasure to have you taking part in this interview. Hope to do another one
again soon, all the best mate.
Follow myself and Tom on twitter - @Rosst93 & @forman_tom
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