Opinion

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 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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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 …

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I haven’t posted a “true” blog post for a while now, I seem to have been abusing this blog and using it mainly as an interactive advertising board for other things I’ve been up to. My own fishing has been very disappointing lately (more on that later), and I turn 30 in a couple of weeks, so I’m in quite a reflective mood and thought this was an opportune time to fill in on how 2011 was for me in fishing… 2011 started off very slowly for me. A multitude of reasons have left me spending far less hours on the bank than I would have liked to, but thankfully most sessions I’ve made the most of the time I had and caught some reasonable fish. I only had chance to fit in one session before March, but then managed a couple more river sessions before the season ended.  The only fish I landed during this period were a few pike, topped off by an 18lb 13oz beauty, which I blogged about here. Once the rivers closed, my fishing mainly went on a self-induced hiatus. Buying my first home became the priority and despite ours being a relatively straight-forward purchase (so we were assured by the estate agents!), …

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Firstly big apologies, I have a post about a brilliant fishing trip in April which I’ve been struggling time-wise to finish, but it’ll be on here ASAP. For now though, I think it’s important to bring to your attention the fact that the “Fish Fight Early Day Motion” (yes, that of Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s TV programme fame) is going to be debated in the House of Commons THIS THURSDAY AFTERNOON!  So, to ensure the issue gets the amount of attention and thought it deserves, we all need to make sure our MPs know that their constituents consider it to be a very important issue.  Click on the link below, which will take you to the Fish Fight website.  Follow the instructions and within 2 minutes you will have emailed your MP with a basic message, urging them to give the issue their support: http://fishfightnews.net/interface/external_view_email.php?P898860083645777142114542318&utm_campaign=Fish%2BFight%2BNewsletter%2B-%2BMay%2B2011&utm_source=emailCampaign&utm_medium=email Personally, I think that overfishing in general has/is raping our sea fish stocks, so over-quota discard is only a small part of the overall problem, but this motion getting seen in the Commons is a start.  If it grabs the nation’s attention and can start to change attitudes of both politicians and the fish-buying public then our seas might just …

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Real life has been getting in the way of fishing recently.  Since my last post I’ve spent a single, fruitless evening sat behind a pair of motionless barbel rods.  I arrived on the river after dark, the air temperature was hovering around a balmy 3 to 4 degrees Celsius!  I knew it was futile before I started, but I gave it a go anyway, wrapped up in plenty of layers.  I stuck it out until about 23.30 and as I started to pack my gear away I noticed all of my bags were covered in frost!  That’s very often happened when I’ve been piking before but never when I fish for barbel! Since then I’ve been up to Blackpool illuminations for a couple of days with my girlfriend and family, and also helped her move house.  This left me with plenty of manly things to do, such as constructing beds & wardrobes, lugging boxes around in a Maun Motors Transit van, covering the bathroom (and probably a few bits of carpet) in silicone sealant and hacking various parts of the garden to bits with a machete (’twas a tad overgrown!), a strimmer and a long-reach petrol hedge trimmer; but left no time for fishing. My …

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Since my last post I’ve fished a few times but it’s been pretty slow going.  Just last night I went Zander fishing and ended up with an 8lb pike and lost a good fish, which may well have been a zed, but I’ll never know… This follows an all-day barbel session last week with friends Craig and Kev.  I fished all day on a prolific stretch of the Trent and despite trying all sorts of baits, fining down, stepping up to a 6 foot hooklength and even trying single maggot hookbaits, I didn’t even get a sniff of a barbel.  I caught a couple of dace when fishing maggot (on a 2.25lb TC barbel rod, size 16 hook and 14lb mainline!), which is a species I haven’t caught since I don’t know when. I even spotted a pike swim towards a plastic bag which was fluttering downstream.  It then proceeded to follow it downstream, deciding whether or not to strike at it!  Interesting to see such behaviour, but it was a stark reminder just what harm our rubbish can potentially do to our wildlife and with the pike season just around the corner (come on frosts!), please take care with your …

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Are there people you know who have not yet seen The End of the Line yet but you think they should? Well they’ve come up with a clever way of helping you spread the word this weekend.  If you pick up a copy of The Sunday Times this Sunday (11th April) you will find a clever little voucher for The End of the Line DVD. All you need to do is take that voucher to a Waitrose store and you will be given the DVD in exchange. Nice and simple! You can either keep it or give it to someone you think should see the film. The End of the Line was seen as quite a groundbreaking documentary. A film which highlighted the human threats to wild fish stocks, and brought them mainstream attention. As The Guardian puts it, The End of the Line “changed the way we eat fish”. Since its release other documentaries about harmful fishing practices and overfishing, such as Seaspiracy, have come along – furthering the cause. You can find out more about the award-winning The End of the Line documentary movie on the official website for the film. If you missed the free DVD above, or have not purchased a …

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It’s been another lean few weeks, angling-wise, for me.  I haven’t fished for over a month now, but not out of choice.  I’ve been a little short on time, the weather’s not been great (not that I’m a fine weather fisherman – not in the slightest – but during one of the warmest worldwide Januaries on record, we had one of the coldest on record!), etc. and I’ve also just returned from a week snowboarding at Les Arcs in the French Alps.  Plenty of snow, plenty of raclette cheese, plenty of overpriced beer and this year no injuries!  Unlike last years trip which left me with a permanently dislocated clavicle (collar bone) on my left shoulder, which (still) looks like this: I also saw one of the best skiing/snowboarding shirts I’ve ever seen, which simply said on the front “Snow, Sex and Tartiflette”! Back to fishing, I’ve been sent a few tackle bits & bobs to review, so expect to see those appearing on the website soon, and possibly on here too. I’ve also just received a Korum latex spoon net which, on first impressions, is absolutely brilliant for everything from bream, tench & carp fishing, right through to a roving …

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