Latest Content

Tag Archives: river

What river fishing means to me

River fishing - rods out on a summer river

This a short article I wrote for www.fishingmagic.com, expressing the magic and allure of river fishing, along with my hopes & thoughts about the upcoming river season. The magic & allure of river fishing I grew up in an area where there were plenty of ponds within cycling distance, but the nearest rivers that were fishable were just a bit too far away. No-one in my family fished, so I had nobody to introduce me to river fishing, which meant that my early angling years were spent primarily beside stillwater, rather than flowing. This gave rivers a certain mystery, as I would catch glimpses of them on school trips (Monsal Dale and Dovedale), family days out (Matlock Bath, Newark, Tissington, Bakewell) or a fleeting vision from a car (the powerful Sawley weir, from the M1). Often I would see people fishing, or spot fish in the crystal clear waters and I felt drawn to these tranquil, serpentine venues that were – for the most part – out of my reach. On the few occasions I was taken to fish a river something always seemed to happen (the ‘something’ was usually in the shape of an eel…). Whether it was catching …

Read More »

The Lure of the Personal Best

7lb 13oz barbel from the River Dove set me a new PB

A new personal best Since the start of the river season, I have focused mainly on barbel – trying to ‘up’ my personal best – and on my second session I managed a new PB with a barbel of 7lb 13oz – beating my old best by five ounces. Obviously I’m thrilled by this, but I’m still hoping for a double-figure barbel before the end of the season. A new personal best barbel for me, at 7lb 13oz Variety Most of my summer fishing sessions are restricted to weekdays after work, so when I got a day off, I decided it was time for a little variety and visit a new venue, noted for its tench stocks. Tackling up for tench I also took along my light spinning tackle and a barbel rod just in case I fancied a change later on. Arriving at the lake there was a large tent erected near the water, with recent campfires, disposable barbecues, a bow saw, a rubber mallet and loads of litter nearby. It literally looked as if someone had taken up residence. But there was no-one around! Very odd. Then when I looked into the crystal clear water, which was only …

Read More »

Magic mahseer! Fishing India’s Ramganga river in the Himalayan foothills

Masheer fishing in India Himalayan foothills Ramganga river fish

Delhi, India; is the most relentless attack on the senses imaginable. The capital of the world’s largest democracy is a bustling, noisy, overwhelming place. It’s a fitting introduction. to this most remarkable country, and the place which saw the start of my quest to catch a Himalayan mahseer. After 5 hours of queuing, rejection and plain confusion, I finally purchased a ticket – along with my travelling companion, Titch – for the sleeper train from Delhi to Ramnagar. Next morning we awoke in seemingly another world compared to the hubbub of Delhi. We were now in the lush green foothills of the Himalayas. Where wild tigers still roam and even wilder rivers carve their way through the rocky landscape. This is mahseer fishing country! Although we had planned to fish for mahseer during this trip we had little in the way of concrete plans. With little more than some basic information found on the internet, a Rough Guide to India and a copy of Paul Boote & Jeremy Wade’s excellent Somewhere Down the Crazy River for inspiration, our “plans” were pretty haphazard! The Rough Guide mentioned the Govind Guesthouse (which, I believe, might now be Garhwal Sweets And Hotel Garhwal Residency) …

Read More »

A Warm Welcome to Andrew – my first article for Anglers Today

Andrew's First Fish

This article was first published on the now-defunct “AnglersToday” website, in 2005 Warm welcome to Andrew By Andrew Kennedy Since this is my first article for AnglersToday.co.uk, I thought I’d better introduce myself – I’m Andrew Kennedy, I’ve lived in Derbyshire for the majority of my life, except for a year in Australia and another in Sheffield.  I have fished for the past 18 years of my life (as of 2005), considering myself to be a bit of an ‘all-rounder.’ Specimen angling in freshwater is my main interest, but I regularly fish a variety of methods for an array of species and my captures in Britain alone include species as diverse as pike, salmon, ruffe, grayling, golden orfe, carp, zander and bleak, to name but a few.  I am by no means an expert on catching huge fish, but at the moment that’s what I’m working on.  My personal best list is very varied, with many fish I’m proud of – but there are no real “monsters” on there ….yet!  I’m still young though, at 23 – so hopefully the next few seasons will see some vast improvements in my catches. What fishing means to me Most of the fishing …

Read More »