Before I start let me just say this blog may differ a little from my regular blog, more of a travelogue perhaps, but things will probably be back to normal next time. I made my first trip to the Derbyshire Derwent in two years and it was easy to recall why I like this river so much. Small enough t...

What a hectic time of year this is! Since returning from Cyprus I’ve appeared on Tight Lines, spent five days in the Wye Valley, miraculously met five magazine and newspaper article deadlines, dealt with a mountain of visitor emails to the site and as I write I’m making arrangements to v...

This may be a rushed blog - depends how I feel as it progresses but now the river season’s open my opportunities to sit down and write are being restricted for all the right reasons - and the desire to sit here bashing away at a keyboard when I could be fishing rapidly diminishes. I’ll ...

New Season News Well the long wait is finally over. As June 16th approached I was buzzing to get out on the rivers and start fishing again. Quite what made me so excited this year I haven’t a clue but I was straining at the leash as the big day approached. The river looked amazing. Sunday&#...

Get Out There And Give It A Go! Many commercial fisheries will have smashed the ice on their lakes and although it won’t be the most exciting days fishing you’ll ever have these heavily stocked waters will still produce - especially if you find where the fish are shoaled because fish d...

Can it really be Christmas again? Well, considering the local shopping centre has been piping the sounds of Slade, Mud and Greg Lake into the ether for at least two months it must be getting pretty close! Anyway, please allow me to wish all you regular blog visitors a truly memorable Christmas. ...

Life Through A Lens   Oh My Gurd The video cassette had a little boom back in the early nineties, not that they ever sold a lot in their original format. Those who were involved at the very beginning soon realised there were much richer pickings to be had by shooting other subjects. In truth the n...

So, You Want To Be A Writer?   Life’s A Box Of Chocolates It’s a fair bet that my old English teacher would be gobsmacked to learn that since turning my back on the Percy Jackson Grammar School I’ve somehow risen to the heady heights of becoming a published author. I hated school. It’s not ...

In four trips based around match hours I’ve bagged up. Not once have I started fishing before 10am and most days I’m home for tea yet 46 barbel have graced my net. Sometimes it’s been hard to keep two rods in the water. Take last week. I decided to fish an afternoon session, just ...

I haven’t fished a match, as such, for more than a decade but a competition that did grab my attention was the UK Angling Masters Championships. What an event this was and how sad that it didn’t become a permanent fixture in the angling calendar.     The invitees included the winner of each o...