Fishing UK Specialist Angler & Angling Writer, Andrew Kennedy | Pike Perch Barbel Carp Lure Coarse British angler writing about fishing and specialist angling

Just for a bit of fun (but inspired 100% by arguments I've witnessed on social media), I asked AI to create me an image of the "mat police" / "unhooking mat police" / "carp police". Feel free to use the picture....

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If you’re looking for cheap days out to entertain children & families, during the school summer holidays, in Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and the East Midlands – why not let them learn to fish! On this page I’ve compiled links to organisations – such as the Angling Trust and Canal & River Trust – who host free-to-attend fishing events such as taster sessions, where children can have a go at fishing, under the guidance and supervision of qualified angling coaches & instructors. I believe strongly that learning to fish gives youngsters a great range of skills, with many, wide-ranging benefits. If you’re taught properly how to fish, those skills stay with you for life. If you’re a parent or grandparent of a child over the age of three (some kids try fishing younger, but it does take a little patience & attention span!), looking for a safe activity for your kids to try over the school holidays, this could be just what you’re looking for. It may be something they dabble in for the odd day to keep them occupied; it may even become an obsession which makes them a lifelong angler… Or somewhere in between! Whatever the outcome, the vast majority …

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I grew up in Tibshelf and I learned to fish at Tibshelf Ponds, so I still have a vast amount of affection for the place. I spent many a day there with friends, trying between us to catch something. Then, as I got older I learned how to fish the whip and pole here, then how to target carp (mainly fishing on the surface, which is no longer allowed, for the benefit of the waterfowl). I would spend many a spring evening up at the ponds, feeding and watching fish, anticipating and plotting my attack for the beginning of the season (in those days Tibshelf Ponds were closed from March 14th until June 16th). When the Glorious 16th came around I would have my tackle packed and ready, and would run out of the school gates so I could get to the ponds as early as possible – hopefully before anyone else from school, so I could have a better choice of peg. From mid-June until the end of the school term, throughout the 1990s, I’d spend as many evenings as possible fishing the Ponds. The way I maximised this was to load up my mountain bike – rucksack of …

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If you’re a new visitor, welcome! If you’re a returning visitor, you may notice a few changes to the looks, layout and functionality. I’ve upgraded to a new theme for the site, so the fourth incarnation of www.Just-Fish.co.uk is now live. I have retained the overall looks and colour scheme of the old site, but this new theme has brought with it some improved functionality, speed and better responsive elements. There may be the odd bug or missing element here and there, that I’m not aware of, so if you spot any issues please let me know. Thanks, and enjoy the site! Andrew.

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The 2021/22 season hasn’t been my best! I haven’t fished as much as I’d like or for the range of species I would have liked, and my results have generally been poor. Far more blanks than usual and a lost Derwent barbel, which still haunts me, that felt huge and snapped me off due to my own stupidity. The one redeeming feature of the season so far has been my relative success with a very unlikely species – one which has probably given me more blank hours than any other – the zander. For whatever reason I’ve been on a bit of a roll with them. As I’ve stated in the past, I love zander but it’s often a one-way relationship – they don’t reciprocate. When I target zander it’s in the hope of a bite. I don’t expect to catch one so it always gives me a boost when I do, even small ones. There are some exceptions, of course – for example: Predator Hat-trick and Zander Saves September – but my blank rate is usually quite high. I think I had only ever caught zander on consecutive sessions once, but I’ve now had a zander in four consecutive …

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I should have written a review for Leatherman multi-tools many years ago! I’ve owned numerous ones over the years, from my first Super Tool in the mid-nineties to the Crunch, Wave and Charge models. The only time I’ve needed to buy a new one is when I’ve lost one (such as when I threw one into the River Don, with a handful of maggots!) or if I quite fancy the features on a new or upgraded model (when they updated the Wave to include interchangeable driver bits, this was a gamechanger I couldn’t miss out on!). Perhaps because a multi-tool isn’t fishing tackle per-se – it’s something that’s just really useful to have with you on fishing trips – I hadn’t thought to review them. Needless to say, after the years of service they’ve given me I’m perhaps a little biased towards Leatherman tools. Just as I am toward Snap-On when it comes to ratchets, spanners & screwdrivers. I can rely on them, so I value them dearly. At work I’m a bit of a Jack of all trades, I’m a glutton for DIY and in general I’m a tinkerer! If something breaks my instinct is to fix it and …

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I’ve used Ultima Power Steel for 12+ years. In short, I think it’s absolutely fantastic stuff for all legering & feeder fishing, from carp & barbel to predators; by far the best mainline I’ve ever used. It’s clear, very abrasion resistant, has low memory and a very low stretch for nylon line. Power Steel used to be marketed as a coarse & carp mainline but it’s now sold as a sea and predator line. It’s still the same stuff on the spool though! I can’t fathom why it’s no longer pushed towards specimen anglers. With the properties it has, it’s ideal. For the first few years I used Power Steel purely for hooklinks – predominantly for barbel and perch – I was really impressed with how tough it was. I had previously experienced many breakages of mono, braid and fluorocarbon hooklinks when fishing for barbel – especially around snags. It was the part of my set up I had least faith in so I chopped and changed regularly, hoping I’d find something I could trust. After reading good things about Power Steel (back when it was still marketed towards coarse & specimen anglers) and, being familiar with the Ultima brand …

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If you were fishing in the 1980s and 1990s, John Wilson’s name was synonymous with angling; due to his various books, but predominantly due to his TV series. Go Fishing with John Wilson was the first of his TV shows, and his unique mixture of knowledge, enthusiasm and infectious laugh proved a hit with viewers – anglers and non-anglers alike! A YouTube user, Andy Creigh, has uploaded all of the original four Anglia Television series of Go Fishing – which he’s recorded from original VHS tapes – so those of us who can remember over three decades ago can relive JW’s on-screen charisma. Hopefully some younger anglers will now also see the earliest TV forays of this angling legend for the first time too. My own personal favourite episodes mainly revolve around the ones I had on VHS myself. These included: crucian and tench fishing at Diss Mere, small river barbel fishing on the Teme, fly fishing for mullet on a tributary of the Ebro, fishing for tench (but catching perch) from the dam of an old estate lake and then eventually catching tench whilst fishing in chest waders (Series 3, Episode 1 – Fishing Summer Lakes), and my all-time …

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I’ve been a paid-up member of the Angling Trust since it formed (by default at first, having had an Anglers Conservation Association membership before it became part of the AT). I’ve never really shouted about it but I’ve always felt it’s valuable to be a part of something which gives anglers a voice in parliament, stands up for conservation efforts & anglers’ interests and takes action against pollution. Events over the past year have affected how I feel about the organisation as a whole and it’s inspired me to be more vocal in my overall support; to do what I can to highlight the good work done by the Trust – in the name of all anglers, whether members or not. Over the years I’ve seen a lot of comments about the AT on social media. This is far from scientific, but I would say a majority of them were derogatory (I’ve also seen plenty of comments which appear to confuse the responsibilities of the AT with those of the EA, and several where the poster appears to think they’re one and the same organisation!). Opinions vary but, as is often the case in life, people are more likely to …

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Isotopes (also known as betalites, betalights and Starlites/starlights) are an essential item of tackle for night fishing when watching the rod tip for bite indication is required. To attach these to the tips of your rods you’ll need some kind of adapter, or something to attach them to. There are a few products on the market which offer a temporary, removable solution – such as the Korum Starlight & Isotope Holder Kit, Enterprise Tackle’s Avon/Barbel Rod Tip Nightlight Adapter & Quivertip Nightlight Adapter and the Drennan Isotope Kit – but if, like me, you do a lot of fishing in the dark, a permanent holder is a far superior option. If you have the money for a custom-built rod, several rod builders allow you to specify a night light adapter. But if, like most of us, you’re using off-the-shelf rods or if you’d like to retrofit an adapter to your older rods, you can achieve the same thing with a little bit of DIY. I’ve come up with a solution, which I’ve added to several of my barbel rods, zander rods and quivertip rods over the past couple of seasons (they will work for any rods where you may need …

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