NAME: Steve Briggs
BOB: December 1960
STARSIGN: Sagittarius
FAMILY SITUATION: Live with long-time partner, Joan. No children.
YEARS CARPING: It’s 34 years since I caught my first carp, although I was trying for a year or two before that.
PERSONAL BEST MIRROR: 68lb 4oz from Rainbow Lake in 2005.
PERSONAL BEST COMMON: 55lb 10oz from Forest Lake, Austria in 2006
MOST MEMORABLE CAPTURE: It’s always hard to single any capture out but my first 40 from Cassien in 1986 will always be special and also catching Cluster from Wraysbury 1 on my second night of fishing there.
MOST MEMORABLE ANGLING MOMENT: Without a doubt it was my first trip to Cassien in 1986. I was totally blown away by the beauty and expanse of the place – and of course the fish! It’s fair to say that it changed my life and I’ve been back virtually every year since. It was the first water that became known to carp anglers outside the UK and it was just a very special time that will never be repeated.
FAVOURITE VENUE: It would have to be Cassien abroad and the Mere in England.
VENUES YOU’D LIKE TO FISH: There’s not many that I’ve wanted to fish and not done so. I do want to spend more time on the Orient and I’m very excited by the prospect of visiting a large lake that’s been discovered in Morocco, but otherwise I just like to try and fish two or three new waters each year.
FAVOURITE VENTURE PRODUCT: All of them! There are so many great items in the Venture range that we’ve all worked on to get just right that the whole range just gets me excited every time I look at the products.
WHO ARE YOUR ANGLING ICONS: Being an old veteran my angling icons go back years, from the days of Jack Hilton. Rod Hutchinson was the man for so long and a big influence for my early years abroad. Dave Lane and Terry Hearn have lead the way in the UK, whilst people such as Phil Cottenier and Alijn Danau are on a similar par in Europe.
ANGLING CV: I’ve still not written my own book yet but have come close a few times – one day! I’ve written chapters in several books including Carp! and Memories of Carp by Tim Paisley as well as several other smaller books. I’ve written or do write for nearly all the main carp mags around the world in countries such as England, Czech Republic, Croatia, USA, France, Bulgaria, Romania and Poland. I was editor of International Carper for around two years, which was exciting to begin with. I’ve written regularly for Carp-Talk now since 1998 which I enjoy very much.
I’ve been on TV a few times, mainly on Sky Sports where I’ve featured in many of the Carp Show series created by Rob Hughes and the new Extreme Carp show also from Rob. I think my first time on TV was during the Masters event held at Great Linford which I lead for much of the time.
I’ve also been the co-winner of two very big carp angling events, the World Carp Cup 2000 at Fishabil in France and the World Carp Cup on the St Lawrence river, USA, in 2005.
FAVOURITE TV PROGRAMMES: I don’t watch TV so much as in the past but I like sport and quiz programmes mainly – or good films. Boxing and cricket or any good sport really. Science fiction films such as Star Wars, Matrix, Alien and Predator are close to the top of the list. Nature programmes too. After making several DVD’s and TV programmes I can appreciate how difficult it is to get some of that stuff on film.
FAVOURITE MUSIC: Pink Floyd, Oasis, Red Hot Chilly Peppers, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Guns & Roses.
WHAT MAGAZINES AND PAPERS DO YOU READ: I’m not a great reader really, just the Sun newspaper and whatever’s about at the time.
DO YOU LIKE SPORT: I love sport, although I don’t take part myself much these days. Boxing seemed to be much better in the 1970’s and 80’s with people like Ali and Hagler, Leonard, Hearns etc. But Amir Kahn is certainly heading for great things. England regaining the Ashes from the Aussies in 2005 was just brilliant. The World Cup 2006 was a bit of a let down I thought. Footballers = overpaid prima donnas! I enjoy swimming myself – especially down at Cassien in the summer and I do a fair bit of bike riding too – mainly to get to a lake or river though!
ALL TIME DREAM GIRL: Joan really – the only woman who’s ever actually encouraged me to go fishing and likes Cassien as much as I do. Mind you she does catch a few too many big fish for my liking!
PEOPLE YOU ADMIRE: I admire anyone who’s good at what they do and I like winners – I don’t like the normal British way of liking a good loser – no wonder we struggle to win at anything. Muhammed Ali really was the greatest; he had the courage to go against the grain and was proved to be right on most counts, he was a fabulous entertainer and of course a brilliant boxer. He has real charisma, even all these years later when he’s just a shadow of the man he was, he can go to any country in the world and people will flock to see him.
LIKES OUTSIDE OF ANGLING: There’s not much time for anything outside of angling! I like good quality wines and have quite an interest in drinking a good bottle of red or two – or three!
DISLIKES: I cant stand jealousy and there is a fair bit in carp fishing. In England we like nothing better than to knock someone down when they are doing well and I don’t know why really?
HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOURSELF: I would say that I’m laid back and easy-going but have an inner determination to do well at things I enjoy. I’m just someone who goes fishing because I love it and it’s in my blood.
