Its a fascinating life, I can tell you. What I can say is that down the hill, at the bottom of what I euphemistically call my garden is a lake of unparalleled beauty. Each morning I have my curtains drawn to reveal my wake-up-tea, and beyond, a glistening expanse of jewel-like water. If the lady…

It may have started in earnest for me when I saw early photographs of Dick Walker wearing a battered Trilby hat that looked as though it might have suffered from the previous ownership of several generations of seaside donkeys; so decrepit and misshapen was it. Clearly, I was easily impressed, because I took to wearing…

The only consolation is that this is without doubt one of the best times of the year to go seeking a specimen fish as they begin packing on protein in preparation for the seasonal migration to warmer climes or maybe just the drift down the channel to stay within the embracing warmth of the Gulf…

I just returned from a trip to the USA, this time it was Florida. And bearing in mind the subject of Clive Gammons article this month, I have to get in quickly and tell you that every penny for that trip came out of my own pocket! I’m sure that’s dispelled a few illusions! Anyway,…

This is summer in Australia. I was really worried in advance of coming that I would need to pack plenty of sun cream and keep myself covered up all of the time. The second part of my concerns has materialised, but only in the form of keeping warm. Two Tuesdays ago, the temperature here was…

News and Fishery reports First barbel 60 year old Stephen Ainscow of Ramsbottom Lancashire, a very experienced game angler for over thirty years and a member of Bowland Games Anglers Association wanted to catch a barbel so I invited him to join me for a couple of days on the river Teme. The first day…

They are very competent people and we can manage without a deckhand. Beyond the drop-off I slow the Margarita, put the spread out and relax. The weather is hazy with a slow, long, oily swell from the west ; water 72.6. Jonno is inshore with Angullla, unhappily day-tripping for barracudas along the coast. At 10.55am…

John Cooper is in Sweden sampling the guided fishing, Martin James is at the 4th Lapland World Cup, and I’m in Finland running around in circles, but more of that in the Last Cast piece. Also abroad was Roger Linn, who has finally managed to find time to write us another piece about his annual…

I virtually gave up coarse fishing altogether, which surprised me even though I was told this would happen by a casting instructor, Albert Whillock from Hayes, a lovely old chap who tried to teach me to cast a shooting head that was badly matched with my cheap fly-rod. I hadn’t paid a penny for the…

This experimentation gives me a lot of fun and adds a fascination to my fishing, but for all that, when it comes to catching fish, the right bait(lure), in the right place, at the right time, is the only sure way to consistently catch fish. And the only way you are going to learn this…