Name: Chris Aldred
Where Based: Bolton, Lancashire
Tuition offered: Single Handed and Double Handed, tuition ranging from buying your first outfit to setting up a nice balanced outfit, and all things in between, knots, leaders flies.
Guiding Offered: If it swims I can guide for it! Mermaids excluded, salmon, sea trout, trout, grayling, pike, reservoir trout, saltwater, coarse fish (rudd on the surface are great fun on a 4#) and I can help plan your destination holidays.
Target Species: Again, anything that swims, I am really enjoying my wild brown trout fishing, aiming for a 4lb fish this year, I'm really happy to be sat on a riverbank anywhere, waiting for the rise to start, something magical, especially in the summer evening to be sat on a river bank and seeing what looks like an empty pool come to life over a couple of hours, and on the other end of the scale, waiting for darkness to fall and to hear that splash of the sea trout, then having the patience to wait just a little while longer.
Tell us about yourself: I’m 45 years old and work full time for HP (the IT company and not the sauce manufacturer!) as well as working a lot of my spare time as an instructor and guide, most months I am teaching for three full days as well as a number of evening sessions, and I try to fit in the family life and the odd fishing trip around this. Although I did take my little boy fishing recently and I think he is hooked after catching 20 fish, commercial fisheries are good to get the kids hooked.
I am the GAIA Membership secretary and am a very active member of GAIA, as well as being a mentor and assessor, I am APGAI qualified in single and double handed disciplines and GAIC qualified fly dressing instructor, I am also a member of the IFFF and hold the MCI and THCI qualifications as well as being a mentor and part qualified assessor for them.
I am also part of the G.Loomis Pro Guide team in the UK, and the Ballistic Spey lines Pro team worldwide, I work alongside some very talented anglers and people I can call on for advice, this allows me to use the G.Loomis rods and equipment as well as giving feedback and advice to people looking to buy.
This has been a busy year, I have been to the Corrib, the Clyde and I am off to Northern Ireland in late June to fish and work, as well as having a nice trip to Weymouth and the south coast in August to hopefully do some bass fishing and then to finish my year a few days in Scotland, salmon fishing, prior to starting the winter grayling guiding season and pike fishing.
What is your angling ethos: To help others, I love teaching and guiding, I remember Woz’s (a good friend with no taste in football teams) face when I helped him catch his first gayling, and this has happened many times since with other clients and with my children. I haven’t managed to get my wife to try yet though!
Your angling influences: Here we go, Ivan Marks, a hero of mine growing up, I started coarse fishing on the flashes and canals of Wigan and Ivan at that time was the best, then on from Ivan it was Peter Shaw, he took me out a lot and taught me how to fly fish, course fish, pike fish, then Colin Pickup, and Southern bloke that I have sadly lost contact with, he refined a lot of my techniques in my teenage years, introduced me to tench fishing and bream fishing as the beauty of big roach.
Fly fishing I have to start with Louis Noble, he gave me my first casting and fishing lesson and fly dressing lesson, then after 20 years of doing this myself I returned to Louis who helped my start along the road to getting qualifications, he was aided and abetted by Mike Roden, then Leslie and Willie Holmes, Philip Maher, Brian McGlashan, Mark Roberts, last and by no means least Alun Rees, another G.Loomis pro guide based in South Wales, I have done a lot of work with Alun and his laidback style is very relaxing after a manic week at work, and is probably one of the best sea trout anglers and guides that there is.
I also have to thanks the people I have mentored and guided, they have kept me on my toes and pushed me and questioned me, helping me improve as an instructor and guide.
Finally to my lovely wife, for allowing me the time to do this, even though teaching and fishing count as the same thing, if I have missed anyone then I am sorry, but everyone I have met has been a great help in some way.
If you would like to contact Chris visit his website for more details on tuition and guiding