Here’s another one of our popular interviews that gives an insight into the hearts and minds of some of the key figures behind the UK fishing industry.
Meet Mike O’Neill, owner of Pallatrax and Lone Angler, an out and out ‘Crabtree Kid’, and a proud grandad who’s mentoring his own next generation Crabtree kid…
Q: Most anglers would love to be able to call themselves ‘professional’. How did you manage it?
I love to do things you can’t do! As a lifelong on-and-off angler I have always had a feeling throughout my business career that one day I would own a tackle shop. Thanks to Trefor West for retiring from tutoring on the river and allowing me to take his bespoke British made products to a wider market through Lone Angler which also led to the purchase of Pallatrax; so professional in that sense I guess I am, in the Angling sense still a way to go but hey … “give me something I can’t do!”
Q: How often do you fish and what do you fish for?
3-4 times a week and sometimes more, more often for short sessions especially in the summer when I can tell my staff that I have a very important meeting this afternoon with a certain Mr Kennet, Mr Loddon, Mr Thames or a Royalty visit! Pretty exclusively Barbel and Pike with Trout fishing on the fly in the closed coarse season.
Q: What do you think are the most pressing issues in angling today?
An imbalance of predation, water abstraction, the clearing of river banks in the name of river management, and now fracking! … and keep the closed season on our Rivers … please!
Q: Give us some PB stats – what are you most proud of and why?
I reach my PB every time I go to the River or even think about it, just getting there and enjoying the whole thing! The changing scenery and wild life never cease to amaze me and I just love those high winter levels … PB does stand for Proper Balance doesn’t it?
Q: What are your earliest fishing memories? Who taught you?
The Grand Union Canal in Slough after those Perch under the bridges and the Thames at Maidenhead catching hundreds of Bleak on float fished single maggot and for sure my only teacher was Mr. Crabtree … fact!
Q: How influential has Mr. Crabtree been in your angling life?
As a ‘fifty’s’ kid very influential, I read that book from cover to cover, over and over and just about wore the thing out, it was a first edition and I think it got cleared out with a load of other old books some years ago … apparently it would be worth a few bob now!
Q: Is there anything in fishing that you haven’t done? What are your ambitions?
I want to catch a Salmon and me and Westy are going to Ireland or Scotland in the near future so that I can do just that; I have already ordered a 15ft Salmon rod from Harrisons with my name on it!
Q: Do you have any angling heroes? What do you most admire about them?
Trefor West above all others … he says what others are thinking but are too afraid to say or ask! … and can he angle? Do bears poo in the woods?
Q: What lessons would you pass on to today’s young anglers?
I took my 10 year old granddaughter Anais fishing on the Kennet from dawn to dusk just me and her … no phones, no computers, we talked about all and everything it was a very special day for both of us so that’s the lesson … go fishing with your Grandads! (Oh I forgot she caught a Barbel!)
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