Latest Content

Tag Archives: video

Fishing Firestarter!

My last barbel of the 2019-2020 river fishing season - a barbel of 11lb 10oz from the Derbyshire Derwent

Just before the end of the river season (and before the COVID-19 lockdown), I fished a very swollen Derbyshire Derwent for barbel. It was a slow day, but the river was visibly dropping as I was there. I stuck with it, dropping The Hook Bait Co’s Garlic Nimrod & Big Squid boilies behind trees and submerged bushes, and eventually my persistence paid off in the form of an 11lb 10oz barbel – a fine finish to my river campaing. I had an issue with my camera flash when I first attempted to take some sef-take photos of the fish (I ended up resting the fish again in the margins, whilst I sorted the camera out), and when I went through the images at home I had several blurry, reject photos. As I flicked through them it looked like I was dancing. It reminded me of the iconic Firestarter video by The Prodigy, so I decided to have a play with making a stop-motion parody of Firestarter by editing together the still photos. The above video from my YouTube channel is the result! It’s just a bit of fun. Enjoy!

Read More »

Caught In The Act Review – Parts 3 & 4 – Autumn & Winter

Caught In The Act Parts 3 & 4 DVD

By reading this review, chances are you’re already familiar in some way with the Caught In The Act project, you’ve either watched parts 1 & 2 or read my previous review.  I think it was clear that I really enjoyed the first two films and I must say that the Autumn & Winter instalments in parts 3 & 4 do not disappoint. Just in case you’re not familiar with the format, each of the two DVDs is split into five ‘acts’ of around 15 minutes each.  Stu Walker and Bob Roberts film all of the footage themselves besides presenting the films, taking turns to be behind the camera or behind the rods.  They are also joined in a couple of the Autumn & Winter acts by friend James Gould, who manages to more-than-justify his appearance with the capture of some fine specimens for the cameras.   There’s also a short sketch of what I believe is the first fully animated version of the “Jack’s Pike” cartoon strip by Brian Roberts, which Bob regularly features in his blog. The fishing in CITA is never complicated, just simple rigs and techniques done extremely well.  No angler should feel out of their depth when …

Read More »

Caught In The Act Review – Parts 1 & 2 – Spring & Summer

Caught In The Act Parts 1 & 2 DVD - Spring & Summer

Caught In The Act is the ambitious latest project from Bob Roberts and Stuart Walker; the duo behind the successful and enlightening (it certainly taught me plenty about how barbel and rigs behave underwater) “Barbel Days and Ways” series, which features some terrific underwater footage.  I am a fan of that series of DVDs and when I heard that this new series was in the making, which dramatically expanded the range of species targeted, I had high hopes for it. The complete films are the result of over 3 years of angling trips to day ticket & open-access club waters, after a variety of species over all four seasons.  Each session is chronicled as a short “act” and there are ten acts in this 2 DVD set, which covers Spring & Summer fishing (Autumn & Winter will follow later in the year as a separate double-disc set).  Stu and Bob don’t have the benefit of an on-hand professional cameraman to film their sessions but instead call upon their own filming experience from making “Barbel Days…” and film each other.  When one is fishing, the other does the filming and vice-versa.  Both Bob and Stu are extremely accomplished anglers, which means that when …

Read More »

Underwater River Ebro Catfish Video

Wels catfish underwater close up battle fight

Footage of wels catfish being caught whilst fishing on the River Ebro at Riba Roja d’Ebre in Spain, including underwater footage shot with a waterproof camera. Read all about the exploits of me, Shane Calton and Dave Newby-Thornley in my articles: Alternative Ebro Part 1 – Zander, Roach, Barbel & Carp and Alternative Ebro Part 2 – Catfish, and also take a look at the River Ebro catfish video Shane shot during our trip.

Read More »

Riverfly Monitoring – A Multimedia CD-ROM Turorial – Review

Aquascience Riverfly Monitoring DVD

Riverfly Monitoring – A Multimedia CD-ROM Tutorial – Review Please note: this article is now a few years old and I cannot guarantee the accuracy of the contact information below. I only continue to host the review for archival purposes. This DVD was released by Aquascience consultancy Limited. More info can be found on their website. A Guide to Riverfly Monitoring, by Dr Nick Everall and Doctor Cyril Bennett is a well thought-out, step-by-step guide to sampling invertebrate life in rivers. This may sound an extremely specialist subject, but with a few basic pieces of equipment and an understanding gained from using this tutorial, I think many groups of people would see a benefit from being able to examine and monitor the natural food sources present in their waters. The most obvious groups of people who would benefit are serious fly anglers, fishery managers/owners and anyone involved with aquatic ecology or conservation. For the fly angler, knowing what insects feature in a particular river and knowing what they look like up-close can be invaluable when choosing or tying flies. Whereas fishery managers and aquatic ecologists will learn which species will only inhabit the cleanest water, allowing water quality and pollution …

Read More »