Isn’t it great when the things you love best come full circle? In a world lurching around like a drunk who’s lost his car keys, there’s something comforting about an old favourite fishing spot. Angling, after all, is so often that doorway back to a more innocent world. It’s a portal where grown-ups can feel… Read more
“Hope for the best, but prepare to get filthy” probably sums up recent angling best. I’d have loved a final crack at grayling or river pike on the fly before the season ended, but it has been mud soup everywhere. Such is angling in the early 21st century- not only do we get more concentrated… Read more
I’ve said it before that die-hard anglers thrive on adversity, but this January I mean it more than ever. Conditions have been yo-yoing dramatically, with hard frosts one week, gales and temperatures into the mid-teens the next. This can make it much harder to catch, but let’s face it, if we were to sit tight… Read more
Angling might be a good way to slow down time- but the seasons seem to fly past ever faster for me these days. At least for 2023 I don’t have any lingering feeling of what could or should have been, because the finale to the river fly fishing season (which runs to 30th Sept for… Read more
At this stage of a decidedly cool, wet British summer I must be one of a small minority thanking the weather gods. “British summer? What is that?” was the summary of the bloke who cut my hair yesterday. But boy did we need some rain after a freakishly dry spring. The other happy fact for… Read more
Spring has been so late and cool this year, it should be little surprise that the fishing has been unpredictable. The fly sport, especially, has been either a write-off or rather tepid, while I’ve rekindled some love for some other forms of fishing, including carp. Indeed, one of the benefits of getting older is that… Read more