As we breach the 21st century the numbers of youngsters coming into the sport are steadily falling. We can of course blame our media obsessed society for this, the gentle art does not exactly sit easily with a culture obsessed with satellite communications, mobile phones, computer games and all action Playstations. But it goes deeper…

If it hadn’t been such a sad and serious subject, I’d have had a good laugh over the sorry way that our Minister responsible for Britain’s fisheries, the Rt Honourable Elliott Morley , floundered when questioned on BBC 2 the other day about the North Sea cod problem and the new, limited, restrictions that have…

Salmon are scarce (aren’t they always?) the best of grayling is almost over and the brown trout season has not yet begun. Happily in my neck of the highland woods, it can still be classed as a good fishing month for February 12th sees the start of the sea trout season. On Orkney and Shetland,…

Now I wouldn’t go as far as that these days – not in Scotland anyway. But whenever I’ve been lucky enough to fish the Varzuga or the Ponoi in Russia’s Kola and hit one of those spells when I’m hooking 20 fish a day, I’ve felt that those old aristos had a point. Because the…

Knots are quite important to fishermen of course – except to those for whom they fail in such a continuous manner so as to lead a person to believe it is normal for fish to be lost in this way, and darn it, why the hell are they so unlucky ?! Personally, and thankfully (or…

For the roving angler this is the time when brochures are scanned, costs calculated and future adventures planned. A wild trout angling holiday in Scotland will be number one choice for many of the more discerning and though this may entail slightly more thought, the rewards of spanking golden trout amongst majestic hills are usually…

It was late afternoon, and the fishing had slowed somewhat. Some giant trevallies, the odd green jobfish and a solitary amberjack had paid us a visit, together with an ever-present and rather annoying pack of small reef sharks. A typical Midway afternoon just outside the reef. The two clients, a couple of Italians called Pepe…

With the end of the season upon us it’s good to look back upon past events for though I live amongst some of the finest trout angling in the UK this does not give immunity from drama, far from it. Learning as much from mistakes as from observation is the key to long term successful…

A supreme predatorApart from being so majestic to look at, the bass is a real predator that relies on its inbuilt senses to home in on available food sources; the shore angler may have visions of a large solitary bass moving up a gully to search for crustaceans, whereas a boat angler perhaps chases the…

The Uists are a chain of islands off the north west coast of Scotland comprising North Uist, Benbecula and South Uist. They lie to the south of the bigger, more populated isles of Lewis and Harris and you can reach them by island hopping with your own car from the north via the ferry from…