04/06/2026
🛑The Andy Neal Diaries🛑
Italy… it was work… honest!
So, where do you start when you’ve just come back from a trip that you regard as one of the best you’ve ever been on?
Firstly, apologies for the poor coverage. It was me, myself and I, with a phone in one hand and a fishing rod in the other… probably not getting an Oscar, I know.
Milo… one of the greats of angling. If match fishing was like the mafia, he would be head of the table! What an honour to work and fish alongside him.
His event, Red Tetragon, is highly prized. Anyone who’s anyone in Italian angling was there to try and lift the trophy. A big deal, for sure.
It’s a busy time when you’re Milo. Never a quiet moment and constantly being pulled in different directions. Not that he’d have it any other way, but it’s frantic. People come to see him from all over and, knowing his generosity and nature, it’s fully understandable. I can never speak highly enough of him. I feel like I owe him a lot, such is his kindness. It’s something that’s certainly not lost on me.
Being invited to fish with him was wonderful. Then being told I’d have use of Andrea’s tackle was quite special. Imagine prepping for a big event and then having some foreigner come over and use your kit to fish it! I was a little embarrassed, if I’m honest, and keen to make sure I caught a few and chipped in to compensate.
After a bit of practice and drawing on past knowledge, I was soon getting to grips with things. What a venue this is. Get it wrong and you can easily catch very little, but do things right and bites appear from nowhere. Bream, catfish — American cats with the odd wels mixed in — the very odd carassio and carp. All the time trying to avoid the colossal silure that made the odd appearance. 😳
Everything pulls hard. A 2kg cat pulls so hard it’s difficult to explain. They are intent on destroying you, your kit and everything associated with you. 😂 Angry bloody things.
With bait limits and pole length limits standard in Europe, it’s very much a game of tactics. It’s this I love about it. It’s a very special feeling when you do well in this environment, as it’s rarely down to the peg. It’s much more about good decision-making and application. A real buzz for me when competing at such a level.
We went into day one with a confident approach and caught well. It was a tight section and we knew it.
I hooked a big fish and played it for an age, knowing how valuable it would be. As it tired, I saw a massive carassio close to the net, foul-hooked. It had been on ages and I’d pulled hard, so this was never coming off as long as I was careful…
Wrong.
It hit the surface and the hook pulled.
Wounded.
That said, I can live with it knowing it was fouled.
Ten minutes to go and I knew I needed one big fish. I’d set my short line up for a cat and, within a minute of the float settling, it buried and I was attached to a beast. Taking no risks, I shipped out long to get it away from the snags and held on.
There was a minute left now and finally it tired. You have to play these things hard, and I felt this was the all-important fish we needed. I shipped back and threw my landing net out ready. The fish rose up and, as it hit the top, the hook pulled from its lip…
As if you lose a sodding cat. You never, ever lose sodding catfish.
I was left with the top six in one hand and an empty landing net in the other… Milo, head in hands.
We ended up losing a point by less than a kilo.
I’d had 5kg come off…
I needed a beer! 🍺🍕😪😪😪😪😪
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Line drawn… day two!
Having discussed things with Milo, we thought we’d done okay. I felt we were nearly there with the tactics, but thought we needed to change a few bits to help elevate our weight. Most of the field were catching 10–12kg. The boys in the know, however, were catching 20kg-plus. A massive difference.
With nothing to lose, a subtle change in feeding was made.
Just like that… the switch was flicked.
I changed my lines slightly, feeding differently in different areas, and what a day we had.
The difference was clear. I’d not caught a bream close in all trip, but on day two I caught eight! Along with some cats and a 5kg carp, we had a red-letter day, powering to a section win and second in the match with 27kg. 29kg won from the end peg. Ends win more in Europe than at Larford! 😂
I think I caught 18–20kg myself, which, if it had been an individual event, would have won the day outright.
If there’s a buzz in angling… that was it. Epic.
It’s rare to feel like you’ve cracked it, but we definitely did.
And could it have been any more special doing it with your hero as your partner? He even netted my carp for me!
This win got us back in the mix as a pair… agonisingly finishing 11th from 50. One of the losses cost us 4th spot! 😫😫
Boy, oh boy, was there some talent on show.
I could keep rambling on, but I’ll leave it at that and just say… get ready for next year!
Lastly, some mentions to the people who made this trip.
Brad Titmus… what a guy. My roomie for the trip. Always brilliant company. Makes me laugh just thinking about him.
Andrea Montovani — what a special person. Not only did he look after my every need, but he ran the whole event for Milo too. I will repay the favour for him at my earliest convenience.
Francesco Tannino, the mighty Franko… such a gem. Nothing is ever too much trouble.
And of course, Milo. Thanks will never be enough. All the years I’ve known him, he’s always the same.
Grande!
Until next time…
Bodge… out!
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