What a difference just a few days, and degrees, make. It feels like we’ve finally turned the corner to brighter times and “proper spring”. This is never a strict calendar date but more of a transitional phase or gut feeling. It’s also my favourite time of year of all, I have to say. Even if… Read more
“Within the depths of winter I found there was, within me, an invincible appetite for fatty food, alcohol and fishing”. I think it was Albert Camus who said these immortal lines? Or was it Ken Dodd? Actually, scrub all of that, because it’s nearly Christmas and in spite of the silly cost of living and… Read more
If life already seemed rather like a weird, not entirely pleasant hallucination after a diet of covid, war, fuel hikes and even England winning a bloody football tournament, summer has had its own drama on the water. Fresh from reporting on the Thames drying up at source for the Angling Times, I now hear that… Read more
One of the joys of every season as an angler is that, without fail, something completely new or unexpected will happen. Whether it’s the realisation of a long-held dream, a random twist or a stroke of pure luck, fishing keeps us guessing. Just when you think a pattern is emerging or we’re in a spell… Read more
Ever fancied packing the fly rod for species like roach, rudd, perch and carp on a regular coarse fishing lake? There are countless “commercial” fisheries these days. This in itself is a bit of a lazy blanket term, I must say. There is quite a wide variety of such stillwaters, with the common denominators being… Read more
This time of year can feel a bit ominous at the best of times. Just as you pine for one last weekend of t-shirt weather that never comes, you inevitably finish summer with so many dreams unrealised. In my own little world, though, things have been very finely balanced. My switch of jobs to the… Read more