The lateral line is also extremely well developed.Pike can pick up vibrations from tens of meters awayand home in to the source with great accuracy. The one sense which is often not appreciated in pikeis their acute sense of smell. All pike, butespecially those which grow large, feed to a largeextent on dead fish. If…

Although common around the coast of northern Europe, the smelt is rarely seen by anglers. For most anglers, the first time they are likely to encounter this fish is in the freezer cabinet at their local tackle shop! In fact, one of the main areas where this fish is found in the UK is in…

Imagine a place where you can stalk twenty pound plus carp off the surface in January. Where the sun always seems to shine and where life is easy. Too good to be true? Well believe it or not, such a place does exist and is only a four hour flight from the UK. More and…

There are now several paste baits, specifically designed for barbel, on the market and these baits really come into their own once the water temperature begins to fall. John Baker and Action Baits produce a range of baits which can be relied upon to produce the goods. Most carp baits can also be used in…

When the first ghostly shadow appears from the depths you catch your breath. Then another and another fish casually ambles along, not more than a rod length from the bank. You cannot believe your luck, baits are lowered into the margins and you retire back into the undergrowth. As the sun rises higher in the…

We were on a package arranged and guided by Paul Hunt, a UK angler whose knowledge of the fishing on the Canadian side of the river is exceptional, and I was so impressed that I wrote an article about the trip for the magazine of the British Carp Study Group, a Society whose President, a…

We like to catch a few carp each year, but rather than go to some overstocked water where the fish are hungry, or spend days and days waiting for a run from some well known monster that likes to get its picture in the angling journals occasionally, we pop over to Canada for a week…

This verdant area is where a spring bubbles up from the rocky ground. Not a particularly unusual occurrence you may feel – except that, in this case, the spring is the source of a mighty river. A river which is the largest in Scotland, an important navigational asset, hugely consequential in tourism-related terms but perhaps…

No sooner have we latched on to the latest line of kit when a newer shinier model appears, leaving our past purchase looking little more than a poor second. All too often we find ourselves flitting like mayflies from one goody to the next, ever anxious to find that wonder gizmo capable of bringing us…

How many times have you seen anglers pile into the bar afterwards muttering things like “Oh it was far too – bright – windy – calm – hot – cold” (insert appropriate words and others unprintable!)Of course this may be a deliberate ploy to cover up shortcomings, after all what goes on above our heads…