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Sky Sports Article
Harry Potter mania had more or less passed me by until Andy Storey, the Tight Lines producer, called me to ask if I could go fishing with Tom Felton, the actor who played Draco Malfoy, one of HP's enemies in The Philosopher's Stone. Far from being a baddie, as he is portrayed in the film, it turns out that young Tom is really a good guy - he's a fanatical fisherman! A carp angler, in fact. And a very good one, too.
Andy had biked me over a DVD of the Philosopher's Stone for a crash course in Hogwarts, and I have to say that I thoroughly enjoyed it. I also enjoyed my overnight session fishing with Tom and his elder brother Chris at Old Bury Hill Lake in Dorking - even though it did pour with rain all night.
Tom had already caught three carp when I arrived, and I could tell straight away, looking at his set-up and talking to him, that he was a more than competent carp angler. Forget the pretend magic on screen, I am glad to report that Tom, now 15, is hooked for life by the magic spell of fishing.
Chamber of Secrets, the sequel to The Philosopher's Stone, is now out "It's better than the first film," promises Tom, and he's due to start filming a third version of the JK Rowling classic in March. He's also working hard on his GCSEs, but Tom still goes fishing as often as he can.
He's certainly more interested in angling than show-biz, and showed no signs of becoming a "luvvie" as he sat in his bivvy surveying the lake, not in the least bit bothered by the rain. His biggest English carp is a 27lb mirror, which he ranks above a 37lb common caught from the St Lawrence river during a transatlantic fishing holiday. "That was great fun, and it was a fantastic fishing, but I'd rather fish for English carp," says Tom, who has been invited back to the States next year to compete in a 48-hour international carp fishing match.
Fame doen't seem to have affected Tom in any way, and he was more interested in the fishing than the cameras on our trip. After bagging a chunky 18lb mirror in the night, he flicked two Scopex Squid boilies next to an overhanging bush down the left-hand margin, which roared off within an hour. It turned out to be a small, but very pretty scattered mirror. Forget the size, it was a good piece on angling which could have just as easily tricked a much bigger fish.
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İMalfoy Online 2003-2004
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