In this article, I aim to produce a simple step by step guide that readers can follow to service their reel.Back in 1990, I was given a Ryobi Protarget fixed spool reel marketed by Masterline to review. It was the first reel I ever reviewed and I have used it regularly every since. In this…

Rods and ReelsMost of us, when we first start lure fishing, use the same rods and reels that we use for bait fishing. Nothing wrong with that. A twelve foot, three pound test curve pike rod and fixed spool reel will happily throw most small to medium size lures. It is only when we start…

I’ve heard them talking. ‘Has it got it’s full label: is the varnish all original: is the rod-bag as new: that doesn’t look like the original rod-stopper’. Rods made to be used, are instead leaned into mahogany showcases, and spotlights trained to show off their regimented order to best advantage: to whom, I wonder? The…

But I do have several photo’ albums, and occasionally I glance through them and remember much of my lifetime of angling. Just one picture can bring back so many memories, as the brain’s ability to wander from thought to thought multiplies that one picture into many others. Flashbacks!For example, I found a picture of my…

RodsThere is now available a vast array of rods suitable for pike fishing. You can walk into almost any decent tackle shop and find rods that will fit the bill. As a general purpose pike rod I would recommend a rod of twelve foot with a test curve of around three pounds. This would be…

Yet the old favourite monofilament still reigns supreme for most of our fishing, in spite of all the bells and whistles at the time about how the days of monofilament were well and truly numbered because of this new kid on the block!It is true to say that the Superbraid-Spectra-Dyneema lines, call them what you…

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…

I will concentrate on carp in this piece but may stray to other species if space allows. Right, where do we start? Well, the many articles written in the weekly and monthly angling magazines about winter carp fishing are correct, with respects to the basics, so I will start with them. First of all do…

Location: From Exeter take the A30 to Okehampton. In the centre of Okehampton turn right at the lights on to the A386 to Hatherleigh. At Hatherleigh turn left on to the A3072 Holsworthy/Bude road. Travel for 7 miles then turn left at the sign “Chilla 2 miles”. Kingslake is 3/4 of a mile along this…

| In the first of the series, I thought it appropriate to start on John Burrett’s local stretch that runs from the “London Apprentice” upstream to the half lock at Richmond. Although the book was exceptionally accurate for the year, forty years have now passed and many factors have changed to alter both the dominant…