Staff Profiles

Here’s just a little bit about some of our staff. To start with, we’re highlighting our Pro-Fishing team. Years of experience and many tales to tell!

Name: James Norris

  • From: Penrith
  • Job Description: Senior Manager
  • Likes: Fishing is my thing but I also love shooting and working my gundogs.
  • Dislikes: VEG 
  • Describe a typical day for you?: I only wish there was a typical day as it’s none stop in the family business.
  • What age did you start fishing? At age 5
  • What is your first fishing memory? Landing a 5lb rainbow first time out
  • What do you love most about the Sport? Travelling abroad armed with my fly rod and being lucky enough to fish in some of the best places on Earth
  • Describe your casting style? Aggressive
  • What is your most memorable fishing experience? Sharing a rod with my good friend in Iceland and landing 17 Salmon in a just under 2 hours
  • What piece of kit could you not live without? Simms Fall Run Jacket, it’s the warmest and lightest jacket ever made and I use it for both Fishing and shooting
  • What do you still want to tick off your fishing bucket list? It took me 20 years to catch a Salmon over 20lb so the next target is 30lb COME ON!
  • Any funny fishing tales you would like to share? One day you might get to see a movie of me releasing a salmon in Iceland and funny doesn’t quit give it justice, but for now it can stay under wraps
  • Your perfect day would be consist of? Wake at 6am go down to the River Eden catch a couple of salmon then head home for breakfast, Full English get the wife and dogs and head to Whinfell Park which is only 2 minutes from my front door for a day’s Partridge shooting. Finish shooting at around 3pm drop off the wife and dogs and head back to the river, catch a few Grayling and trout on the Dries and finish off with a Salmon or two from my favourite pool on the Eden (Park Broom Steam) head back home collect the wife and have an evening in the Pub drinking far too much. HEAVEN!!!!
  • What are you most proud of/greatest achievement? Fishing – Landing 88 Salmon in a Week. Shooting – My two cocker spaniels
  • Who or what inspires you? Fishing – I’ve been lucky to have been salmon and sea trout fishing all over the world with two of the greatest in this area and watching them both in action would inspire anybody that loves the sport. Shooting – My Dad and in my opinion a perfect gentleman on the shooting field and one of the best shots you will ever see.  
  • How did you get a career start the fishing industry? I was lucky to be born into the industry and have been working in the family business since a small boy and loved every minute (well nearly all)
  • Any advice for fellow anglers that would like a career in the fishing world? This goes for any career if you want something enough you will get it. And remember you only get in life what you put in.
  • What is the big thing for your brand this year? John Norris P3 rods have been a top seller and next year watch this space because it’s going to be BIG and Special.
  • Can you give us any advice or useful tips? Before you enter a pool THINK, before you pull the trigger THINK you will hit more birds and land more fish.

Name: Julian F Shaw

  • From: Penrith
  • Job Description: Brand Ambassador
  • Likes: Fishing, shooting, spaniels and Labradors, family and Toyota Land Rovers.
  • Dislikes: Drivers who don’t indicate!
  • Describe a typical day for you. Wake with the dawn, exercise and train my dogs, take Sue to the gym, have breakfast and go to work. When I finish work I walk my dogs, have dinner and finish the day with a glass of wine before going to bed!
  • What age did you start fishing? Age four.
  • What is your first fishing memory? Catching minnows Tenkara style.
  • What do you love most about the sport? Never knowing what the next cast will bring!
  • Describe your casting style? Self-taught, and regularly adjusted to suit new tackle.
  • What is your most memorable fishing experience? 13th February 1977 – while playing a salmon I fell through the ice in the Potarch Bridge Pool on the Aberdeenshire Dee, but continued to play the fish and eventually landed it on the ice. It was a cock fish weighing 29.5lb.
  • What piece of kit could you not live without? My wading staff.
  • What do you still want to tick off your fishing bucket list? I’m really looking forward to fishing for tarpon and bonefish in Cuba in March 2017.
  • Any funny fishing tales you would like to share? I once hooked a bat one evening while fly fishing for rainbows. I managed to release it without getting bitten but it flew twelve feet from the boat and dropped on to the surface where a large rainbow trout took it! Not funny for the bat, but it certainly sticks in my mind!
  • What would your perfect day consist of? A picnic on the beach with my human and canine family.
  • What are you most proud of/greatest achievement? My wife, children and grandchildren, followed closely by my brilliant retrievers, both past and present.
  • Who or what inspires you? Life.
  • How did you get a career started in the fishing industry? I was offered a job here at John Norris, by John Norris himself.
  • Any advice for fellow anglers that would like a career in the fishing world? No career has no pitfalls, but this one has fewer than most.
  • Can you give us any advice or useful tips? Call the John Norris team and ask for advice!

    Name: Ben Tinnion

    • From: Keswick, Cumbria
    • Job: Store Manager
    • Likes: Fishing, shooting and Liverpool FC
    • Dislikes: Missing fish on the take
    • Describe a typical day for you. Helping our customers catch as many fish as possible!
    • What age did you start fishing? Four
    • What is your first fishing memory? Playing a salmon on the Derwent
    • What do you love most about the sport? The mix between relaxation and pure adrenalin
    • Describe your casting style. Unorthodox, yet efficient.
    • What is your most memorable fishing experience? Fishing for barramundi in Australia.
    • What piece of kit could you not live without? Simms sling pack – amazing gear!
    • What do you still want to tick off your fishing bucket list? Huge fish on the fly – tarpon, tuna or huge brownies in New Zealand.
    • Any funny fishing tales you would like to share? When I saw first-hand how scared my colleague and fellow fly fisherman Alex Ward is of flies!
    • What would your perfect day consist of? Waking up river side and chasing huge brownies on the dry all day.
    • What are you most proud of/greatest achievement? Still working on it!
    • Who or what inspires you? My dad – he fished at the top level for years
    • How did you get a career started in the fishing industry? Here at John Norris!
    • Any advice for fellow anglers that would like a career in the fishing world? Practise, practise, practise!
    • What is the big brand this year? Guideline
    • Can you give us any advice or useful tips? Mend that line