Tag Archives: fishing

Hi, this is not a proper blog post – I intend to post one of those very soon – it’s just a test to see how my profile’s looking. A lovely Barbel I caught last-cast on the simplest of methods; touch-legering luncheon meat under a near-bank tree Once properly up and running this is going to be a blog about fishing in the UK and abroad, updated whenever I’ve got something to say in between writing my Fishing Articles. If you like to fish for specimen Barbel, Pike, Perch, Zander, Chub, Roach, Rudd, Grayling and occasionally Carp, then head over to my website to check out some of my instructional articles & videos, then check back here soon for new blog posts. Thanks for checking my stuff out!

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As we are now well into the Winter months and the pike season is in full swing, the pike at your favourite venue will – like it or not – have received a bit of angling pressure by now and may also be a bit lethargic in cold winter conditions. So it’s time to think about giving yourself an edge over fellow anglers and give the pike just a little more persuasion to be interested in your deadbaits. Over the years I’ve experimented with various ways of enticing pike into the swim and pricking up the senses of any fish already in the vicinity. Pike, as with all underwater predators, have an extremely complex range of senses and it’s these we need to appeal to. There are various ways of improving the looks of your deadbaits nowadays, with things such as bait flags and “paint-on” additives, which are great in clearer water, but the senses a pike must rely on in all conditions are smell and taste. Whether the water is clear or murky, whether it’s sunny or dark, a pike always has these senses as means of locating food; these two senses are also – very conveniently – closely …

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Smallmouth bass, catfish, snakes & canoes! In 2003 I went over to America for the wedding of one of my oldest friends.  Gaz had met an American girl and was moving “across the pond” permanently.  I’ve since heard stories of the kind of lifestyle he lives over there and I must say that at times, I’m jealous!  Despite living in the “city” of Fairfax – just outside Washington DC – within half-an-hour’s drive he has access to several large National Parks and recreation areas (not like a “rec” over here; just a piece of grass and a swing!) which either contain well-stocked lakes or free-to-access rivers. I used to fish a lot with Gaz when we were kids, but in recent years he hadn’t really fished much.  The distance between us means that we don’t get chance to meet up often, so when I saw Gaz at Christmas and he told me he’d got the fishing bug again, I was delighted!  He and his current girlfriend (now wife! – Ed), Liana, had both bought fishing rods and they’d even invested in a canoe!  I’d had an open invitation to go back and visit since I was last there, and upon …

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With National Fishing Month (which has now replaced National Fishing Week) upon us in late July, it is a perfect time to plan introducing someone new to our sport. Whether it’s a friend, relative or partner; showing a non-angler just why you love fishing so much has loads of advantages, both personal and for the sport as a whole. For angling to remain as the largest participation sport in the UK, it is important that new blood is recruited on a regular basis. The fishery and tackle industries rely on income generated by anglers, as do angling clubs. So, more newcomers introduced to angling means a stronger UK angling economy, which is of benefit to us all. Plus, expanding the general public’s awareness and understanding of fishing can only be a good thing. As anglers, we positively contribute so much towards many conservation and environmental issues and I think this needs to be better publicised, to show that we do more than just sit around wasting time, watching an orange blob all day (well, not quite all day!). I have taken several non-anglers fishing over the years, including cousins, girlfriends and friends. Whilst some of them have since taken up …

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Boycott Extreme Fishing with Robson Green Andrew agrees with the Angling Trust and also urges all anglers to refuse to watch Robson Green’s “angling” programmes It is very rare I would discourage any programme showing fishing on the TV, but having watched certain episodes of Robson Green’s programme – now inexplicably into its second series – Extreme Fishing, I feel that I really must. Personally I was horrified by some of the methods depicted as “Fishing” to an unsuspecting UK TV audience (and a surprisingly large one at that!), and also by Robson’s attitude throughout. I do not recognise Robson as an angler; indeed I never knew he fished until his first series came out. From what I’ve seen of his skills, he’s not even a very good angler, and certainly not of the calibre I’d expect to see presenting an angling show on prime-time terrestrial TV. There is nothing wrong with some of the methods he uses – when they are taken in the context of being successful methods for catching fish as FOOD, by cultures which have practised these methods for centuries – but all of this should be properly explained in the programme, rather than Mr Green …

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Catfish are amongst the most difficult fish to target in the UK. Certainly in the East Midlands, not many fisheries are licensed to stock them and they can be sporadic feeders with a tendency to feed primarily after dark, and predominantly when the water is warm . Add to this the species’ abrasive pads lining the mouth and throat, along with a reputation as a strong fighter, and you have a highly prized and very worthy adversary. My previous two outings targeting catfish – both night sessions at Willowbank Fishery and Shatterford Lakes – had yielded me nothing. So when I saw a report on the Anglers Today website – detailing an unbelievable capture of 810lb of catfish and carp in a 48 hour session from Willowcroft Fisheries, near Wisbech in Cambridgeshire – I was more than a little intrigued! Upon contacting the fishery, I was pleasantly surprised by the friendliness of the staff, who duly answered my (many!) questions about the fishery, its fish, its recent form, etc. As luck had it, the cats were feeding well following a recent warm spell, so a date was arranged. Accompanied by Craig Croft-Rayner I made the trek down to Wisbech for …

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Each May marks another year since the demise of Chatsworth Angling Fair; a show which in my eyes was much more than an event. It was an angling institution. Its omission from the year’s angling calendar is a sad loss for our sport. Very rarely are so many angling disciplines showcased in one place together; with Coarse, Match, Sea, Fly, Carp and Predator fishing all strongly represented. I have many fond memories of the Angling Fair, stretching back to when I first attended, aged twelve. Two of us were dropped off nearby, and made our way to the main entrance, where we realised children were only allowed free entry when accompanied by a paying adult. Having saved pocket money for a few months, we didn’t want to “waste” part of it on the entry fee. So, being a bit slimmer in those days, we found an area of fence we could slither beneath, and headed towards the tented village that made up the majority of the fair. What a revelation it was to find row upon row of tackle dealers plying their wares, with bargains to be found wherever you looked! We spent hours perusing the stalls, testing out tackle, …

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Every now and again, a simple but truly innovative product falls through the letterbox for me to review. The concept is such a perfect solution to a recurring problem that it begs the question “Why didn’t I think of that?”! One such product is the SteadyRig, from Essex-based company, Rig Innovations. So what is the SteadyRig? Believe it or not, it’s a product designed for safe and easy positioning of a camp stove or lantern! How I wish this product had been around a few years ago, when I was spending regular night sessions on the drains fishing for zander. So many times I set up my Coleman stove on a frozen, lumpy bankside and managed to partially boil a kettle, only for it to topple and spill my much-needed hot water! The SteadyRig has been designed to fit all popular brands of portable stove. There are ridges machined into the base plate, into which the lip on the base of a stove will locate to prevent it from slipping. Attached to the lightweight base are three adjustable legs, with removable mud feet for use on soft ground. The locking screws the leg adjustment have large-diameter knurled heads, making adjustment …

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I’m sure that if I told another angler that I knew of 2,000 miles of mature, hardly-fished water; much of it with specimen potential – they would either think I was lying or be eager to hear more! Well it’s true. Right here in Britain we have a huge network of unexploited angling waters, which aside from a few matches, rarely see any angling pressure at all. They are easily accessible, with comfortable banks suitable for disabled anglers and chances are that wherever you live in this country – even in the centre of a city, you live just a matter of minutes away from one of these waters. If you’re still wondering where on earth I could be describing, I’ll spell it out to you… CANALS. Whilst canals have long been regarded by many as sparsely populated, infertile waters, where you might be lucky to catch on a pinkie and size 24 hook; there are a number of species which have managed to thrive on neglect and grow in both size and numbers, virtually unnoticed. I’m talking about species such as carp, tench, chub, bream, perch, pike and even zander. You only need to read a few canal match …

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Late Spring, into Summer is the perfect time of year to target tench, carp, crucians and bream in stillwaters. This gives me an excuse to use one of my favourite techniques – the humble “Lift Method”. Forget fancy anti-eject combi-rigs and the like; the lift method is simplicity itself. All the terminal tackle you need is a float, a hook, a swivel and some swan shot. The principle of the lift method is to over-shot your float and fish with all of the weight laid on the bottom. The float is set slightly over depth, so that when the rod is set up on rests, the float can be made to sit upright by simply tightening the line, so you can finely adjust how much float tip is visible. When a fish takes your bait, the shot is often lifted from the lake bed, which causes your float to lift out of the water, sometimes even laying horizontal on the surface! It is this action from where the method derives its name. Very often, however, you’ll notice knocks on the float tip before it disappears, just as you would with a waggler. Either of these bite indications are positive enough …

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