 All-round fisherman
I'm often pigeon holed as being either a Barbel
angler or a Carper and to be honest, I'm both and a lot
more. I'm a real all-rounder. I love almost all the
various styles and types of angling. Happy with a waggler
rod snatching Roach on a stillwater one day and the next
hitting a 5oz pulley rig down Chesil beach hoping for a
Cod or two; laying flat a stretpegged lobworm in a slow
eddy, or sitting on my MatchBox shipping my pole... and
everything else. I love it all!
How I started fishing?
My father, Clive, took me at the young age of 6
( in 1971) to a lake known as ‘White Lake’ due
to its milky colouration. Many years later, while
bailiffing with the then ‘Leisure Sport
Angling,’ I rediscovered the lake... now known as
Theale 1. The milky colour had gone but it was still a
blast from the past. The early memories of float-caught
Roach flooded back, as I walked the banks again for the
first time in some 20 years.
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What 'Harrison' has
to say about Mark:
"Mark Tunley stands out as an
innovative rod builder with great fishing knowledge and
achieves the highest standard of build. He is fast
emerging as an expert in big fish especially barbel,
though he knows a lot about carp as well."
What 'Century' have to say
about Mark:
"Mark Tunley operates from the New Forest,
in Hampshire, near Southampton and has a long and
distinguished background in custom building fine fishing
rods. Mark makes beautifully crafted carp rods from
'Century' blanks and also has a programme running, based
on the original AK47 single tip rods." "We
recommend a visit to Mark's website."
A Brief history.
I started building rods seriously while working
as the general dogsbody of the 'Chalk Stream Angler' in
Salisbury, Wiltshire. There my duties varied from guiding
and teaching on some of the best chalk streams in
England, to chopping wood for the retail shop's
wood-burning stoves. I also restored classic bamboos and
built ultra-custom 'Sage' fly rods for the highest end of
the market.
I moved on from the 'Chalk Stream Angler' to join forces
with the Master, Tom Moran. Tom, in my
opinion and the opinion of many in the know, was the
finest maker of Bamboo fly rods in the world. I had
become known, at the high end of rod building, in a
relatively short time and being that the rod world is
quite a small one, I was approached by Tom to join
forces, which I did. Our rods retailed at $2,500 USD each
( about £1,750 at the time ) with a 6-9 month waiting
list.
Due to my love of all types of fishing, it was only
natural to develop a custom rod-building service for all
markets and in November 2002, I left Tom Moran to
concentrate on my own thing.
What I like most about
fishing?
Setting oneself what seems to be realistic goals
for the forthcoming season and failing miserably. It just
confirms, with such simple clarity, that despite all the
skill and experience in the world, you always need a big
old helping of luck. How many time have you seen or heard
of novices catching big and plenty. The fish don't know,
or care who is at the other end of the bait. That's what
I love about fishing!
My favourite bit of tackle?
My current favourite bit of tackle is my
'Harrison Torrix' 12ft. 2.50 TC rods. It is just
fantastic for pond, surface and light lead work.
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