The weather was wet and windy and the reservoir was much fuller than the last time I fished it. I have good memories of the place as, on my previous visit, I fished there with the Bristol Reservoirs Association in the Welsh Water Team Event and my team had easily won. I had had a…

Here, over two days, a range of anglers with varying experience competed against each other in order to win a place in the final in September – to be held on the very same water!On Friday those anglers fishing had the better of the two days weather-wise, for although it was blustery, it was not…

Let me explain: Tony thrives on competition, whilst I am there by accident, if the truth be known, as I am the antithesis of the ardent competitor! Tony loves to fish in amongst lots of boats – in fact he seems to be one of the modern breed of angler who positively seeks the security…

Of all times to get so many bookings one would have imagined that May and early June would have presented me with the cream of top-of-the-water sport, but for a variety of reasons that has just not occurred.April and the first half of May was brilliant! The fishing was as easy as I can ever…

First of all they were hit by the Foot and Mouth crisis, then they had early algal blooms (which fortunately didn’t last too long), this was followed by incredibly hot weather which put the fish off feeding and so culminated in rapidly diminished catch returns. Finally, the waters have dirtied up again and there is…

We all know that the major reservoirs are stocking more fish these days as they struggle to compete with the small stillwaters. However, in spite of the large numbers of trout in lakes like Chew and Bewl, the fishing has become increasingly difficult. The “dog days” of July are certainly with us!I had a trip…

You are about to read, for the first time, all about the BIG new competition for trout anglers, which is about to be launched. My good friend John Horsey has designed a new event starting in April 2001, to replace the old Peregrine/Nomad competition. The event is being backed by “Trout Fisherman” magazine, and sponsored…

I think I have mentioned in earlier articles about the heavier stocking that has been going on at Chew and Blagdon; recently the effort by the fisheries staff has begun to bear fruit. I had a couple of trips to Chew Valley Lake this week for teaching/guiding sessions and the amount of trout seen there…

My plan was to get a couple of days doing the family things and then take a few short fishing trips. On my family holidays I generally get to fish when the weather is not too suitable for much else; fortunately the occasional shower is not too rare in Ireland, hence I get to the…

With the Foot and Mouth problem still in the news, the Irish team opted out of the event leaving just three others: England, Scotland and Wales. On their home water England were hot favourites, especially as there were several of the local Midlands trout anglers on representative duty. Graham Pearson, Martin Introna, Iain Barr and…