My name is Charles Nelson, and I’ve been passionate about fishing for as long as I can remember. Some of my earliest memories involve a stick, a piece of string, kitchen scraps trying to catch crayfish, alongside family holidays to Anglesey, where I caught the sea-fishing bug.

When I was 11, my parents bought a small fishery in Sussex. In our back garden, I had access to carp, tench and rudd, as well as the fishery’s stocked brown and rainbow trout. This was also where I began making my own tackle, starting with flies tied from whatever materials I could find among our pets and livestock. Catching a trout on my first rather scruffy buzzer was hugely satisfying and sparked a lasting interest in making tackle as well as fishing with it.

Over the years, I’ve fished for many species at home and abroad. I’m now fortunate to live with my family in Pembrokeshire, where bass fishing offers plenty of opportunities to learn and experiment.

My interest in needlefish lures grew after reading about the Jersey Bass Guides and their adaptation of American striped-bass needlefish techniques for fishing on this side of the Atlantic. I began making my own needlefish, partly to explore a different approach to bass fishing and partly to keep experimenting when bass weren’t around.

After reading a blog post by Henry Gilbey discussing the need for a hard-bodied lure with a slightly longer-casting, Wave Worm-sized profile, I settled on the design principles for my first needlefish.

Since then, I’ve made and tested many variations. I’ve shared lures with fishing friends, listened to their feedback and learned from my own time on the water. That combination of practical testing, experience and feedback has helped shape the CWOLF range I now offer for sale.