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...

I’ll be brief. You’ve had four blogs already this month. Five’s just showing off! Back in my Trent match days August was frequently a dour month with very little getting caught unless you were a wasp grub man. The grubbers bagged up whatever the weather or river conditions were. C...

  During the programme some footage from the next Barbel Days and Ways DVD was shown and before anyone goes, ‘Oh, hello. He’s plugging the new release…’ let me say that it isn’t going to be available for quite a while yet, certainly not this side of Christmas and probably not before ...

Folks - the wait is over…!   Barbel Days and Ways Volume Two is now on sale. To purchase a copy simply click the link below: BARBEL DAYS & WAYS VOLUME TWO Country UK £14.99Outside UK £15.99 Those who prefer to pay by cheque or other means can email Kat...

Release Date: 25th April, 2009 Existing customers can pre-order from 15th March, 2009, and be the first to watch it. More details will follow soon. TO PURCHASE BARBEL DAYS & WAYS VOLUME TWO: Country UK £14.99Outside UK £15.99 OR… TO PURCHASE BARBEL DAYS &am...

Cor, time flies when you’re having fun, eh? I must have had loads of fun in the first three weeks of the new season because the time has literally flown by. I mentioned in my last blog that I was making a series of DVDs with Stu Walker and this has taken up every spare moment of our time so far. ...

As you will see from the free DVD clips, Barbel Days and Ways provides a unique insight into the life and feeding habits of the barbel. Using state of the art technology, the cameras get closer than ever before to barbel as they feed, and then bolt as they feel the steel. Add to this an informative...

Earlier this summer Matt Brown and I agreed we really fancied spending a few hours on the Dove. We only had about half a day to spare as I needed to be home by early evening. That meant we would miss both key feeding times – dawn and dusk – but that didn’t bother us in the slightest. It’s j...

The truth is that the headlines are dominated by a relatively small number of fish from the Stour, Ouse and recently the Thames. For the rest of us the reality is very different. Last winter I had a six from the Derbyshire Derwent. Previous to this I had one from the Swale, but these were exception...