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

After our fairly successful session at Higham Farm last year, Shane and I decided on a return trip this Spring, again for 24 hours and again targeting the resident tench. Shane had hatched a plan of attack and I liked it.  I really liked it.  This time we would fish on the Specimen Lake, which can only be fished on a 24 hour ticket.  Because of this, it tends to only attract carp anglers so the numerous other species resident in the lake only ever see the bank when they pick up a disgruntled carper’s bait!  Specimen tench and bream were definitely on the cards, plus who knows what large roach and perch could lurk in there. Besides fishing this lake, our approach was a little unorthodox too.  Rather than simply using scaled-back carp tactics, we would go armed with a couple of gallons of maggots each and fish positively by feeding aggresively – by introducing a large bed of maggots via a spomb, then topping the swims up when necessary. I chose to hair rig a mixture of buoyant Drennan imitation maggots and live maggots to create a balanced Medusa bait designed to hover just above the lake bed, …

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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 …

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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 …

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