The bream certainly think so, and if you know of a water containing some big fish, now is probably the best chance you have of catching them. A few years ago the close season precluded fishing at this time of year for most of the country, but I can well remember tales of huge catches…

They were made very popular by Bristol match ace “Topper” Haskins who has used these floats to dominate matches on the Bristol Avon. However, Topper has moved on to using polystyrene bodies with his crow quill avons whilst I have stuck to the more traditional balsa wood bodies. Unlike Topper I have not yet mastered…

Well no, although I might not actually start my winter river fishing for a couple of months yet, it is time to get out and get re-aquainted with the rivers. Believe me, do it now before the floods come along and the river is twice as wide, full of colour and bombing through. You will…

After running around on numerous wild goose chases over the years the dream of finding a magnificent unfished spot is slowly diminishing. I know that such places do exist and have found a few, but they are rarely quite what they seem. As for the stories of uncaught monsters, well I tend to switch off…

Take the current trend amongst certain groups of anglers for using huge amounts of bait. A new technique? No, the professional barbel anglers of the Thames half a century and more ago habitually baited with many stones of groundbait and thousands of worms to keep the best lays filled with fish. The old pro’s were…

Thanks for the question Edward. Although it is not the main argument put forward in favour of a close season, the issue of catching fish in spawn is one of the main tenets. To my mind other arguments, such as the disturbance of other wildlife, and damage to the bankside vegetation comes higher on my…

A six-hour match on the Severn at Shrewsbury saw me pull out peg 99 at the bottom end of the match length and I had a really interesting and rewarding match. Peg 99 is a swim with around thirteen feet of water directly in front of you shallowing up dramatically as you go down the…

Chub and big roach in particular have been putting a regular bend in the rod and a lot of these fish wouldn’t have been captured without the new floats, I am sure. So what’s so good about the new designs? Well, quite simply these designs take over where more traditional peacock, sarcandas reed or plastic…

One of the most asked questions in my e-mail bag is “where can I get my favourite reel repaired??” and it is often evident from some of the mail that the cost of repair is an almost secondary consideration. The reel has become a familiar “friend”, a part of the day out.Most reel manufacturers have…

Almost all charter boats today have stainless steel rails around the gunnels to comply with the DTI safety regulations. Initially many of us thought these rails were a nuisance and were too high for comfort, but experience has shown that they do make sense and are a real aid to safety and comfort in rough…