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Anyone who is a regular reader of this page or member of the Rods & Reels Fishing Club based at La Marina will be well aware of the angling skills of their Competition Secretary Bill Reade. He has won the all the major events the club has held so far in its short but successful history. When I first met Bill one sunny morning at Hondon Trucha whilst covering a club competition I was very quick to realise that he was a man of vast angling knowledge and had a competitive spirit and skill very seldom seen. Bill Reade in my mind had a past and after a very long period of time I am able to detail some of his his illustrious angling past. He is without doubt a very unassuming man, private, modest and quiet. A man who does not suffer fools easily, rather walking away than get involved in the usual fisherman’s tales.
Back in the late seventies anyone who read the angling press would have seen many headlines featuring Bill along with his pals Ian Heaps, Kevin Ashurst and Tommy Pickering. Back then the Polynet Team was famous for their accomplishments in the Benson & Hedges Festival held on the River Erne in Enniskillen, Northern Ireland. This prestigious fishing festival was always a benchmark as to who were at the top of their game and a selection ground for the England Team manger. In 1978 Bill finished 3rd Overall with a weight of 259lb 71/2oz and was part of the winning England Polynets Team with team mates Ian Heaps, Tommy Pickering and Kevin Ashurst. In 1979 Bill went on to take overall honours and land himself in the angling hall of fame. He won the event with 214lb 31/2oz and when I looked over the results I noticed down in 7th place a certain R. Nudd, future three time world champion and pole fishing expert Bob Nudd.
Fishing the Irish rivers was where Bill had his greatest success and fishing the pole was certainly the way to land Irish fish. Later though in 1984 it nearly cost Bill and his fellow anglers their lives when fishing the Sealink Classic Competition in Enniskillen. Off duty soldiers had been allowed to take part in the competition and when everyone was packing away their gear a car bomb exploded killing two of the soldiers and injuring many others. Bill and his team mates were lucky to escape with their lives and the story became national news. Later the same month that year Bill had another lucky escape while angling and this time was badly injured. His 10 metre long fishing pole touched a 4,500 volt overhead electric cable, Bill was knocked unconscious for over five minutes and suffered severe burns to his hands, legs and feet. He lost part of a toe as a result of the electrocution. None of this stopped Bill fishing as part of the all conquering Stockport Federation National Team, The side boasted 1975 World Champion Ian Heaps, Engalnd’s Kevin Ashurst and B&H winner Bill.
Since those heady days Bill has continued to win countless competitions and indeed still does to this day as you all know. He decided to retire with his wife to the warmer climes of Spain from Stockport and was quickly drafted in to form the Rods & Reels Fishing Club who have gone from strength to strength over the last two years. I could fill pages with Bill’s achievements over the years. It has however, with the help of Peter Hampshire, taken a long time to convince him to let the public here know of his successful angling career amongst the worlds best, so maybe in the future I will write some more on Bill Reade and his angling adventures.
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