It was probably my Headmaster, Mr. Bleasdale’s constant exhortations that we should be charitable that caused my conversion to Zealot. I was a zealous champion of the misunderstood, and of the underdog, and there were quite a few underdogs at Bartholomews, cheapest of all cheap preps that fed its poor charges into schools that were…

I fish mainly as a team with two friends, Adam and Sam. Fishing in this way, with three pairs of eyes looking at the lakes and three brains (well two and a bit) thinking about the fishes moods and movements has been so useful. I can’t stand the way some carp anglers are so ‘cliquey’…

Let’s start with the sums. While fishing plays a very minor part of the EA’s overall responsibilities, the amounts involved still look staggering. During the 99/2000 financial year, the Agency’s accounts show it spent £23 million on fisheries management. You could be forgiven for wondering where it all went.Two-thirds of this – we’re talking nearly…

At 2pm I received a phone call – we had to board by 4.30. I hurriedly phoned my friend at work to see if he could leave straight away. It was difficult, but he managed it, and soon we were racing down the M4 hoping there would be no traffic jams. We made the ferry…

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…

These fleets include Pangas. These are smaller 18 to 20-feet open craft, usually US designed centre console boats, with big V4 outboards that cruise down to the inshore grounds at high speed. They are ideal for two guys to fish from and have tarp covers if needed to shield you from the sun if the…

The super Braids are one third the diameter of monofilament and consequently need far less sinker weight to nail your bait to the bottom, making life a lot easier all round. No more moans and groans about pulling up a 2lb sinker every time the bait gets washed out or the Skipper wants to re-position…

You see, on some waters tench can become incredibly easy to catch, whilst on others they can really make you tear your hair out. There are a few factors which tend to give rise to easy tench fishing. A good head of fish is obviously important, but not always enough to make them feed on…

The fishing tackle business (in which I play an active part) really does talk some crap at times. Most of the marketing hype is just a little bit of showmanship but every so often a trend develops which can damage angling. The trend that particularly worries me at the moment actually has more to do…

There is a school of thought that says this is a shame, especially for youngsters, but I will sit on the fence and accept the fact that carp angling is big business and throughout January I will describe some of the essentials needed to move down the carp fishing road. I will cover Tackle, Baits,…