How many times have you seen anglers pile into the bar afterwards muttering things like “Oh it was far too – bright – windy – calm – hot – cold” (insert appropriate words and others unprintable!)Of course this may be a deliberate ploy to cover up shortcomings, after all what goes on above our heads…

Some may disagree, but my concept of life is that it is a collection of memories; some wonderful, some painful, and some best forgotten. That is why I think that life gets faster as one ages, for when one is young a year is full of hundreds of recollections. New people, new experiences, and relived…

Due to the declining stocks in most salmon rivers of the North Atlantic, many people feared that the last stocks of big salmon could have gone forever. It seems that we always have to come to that point before the politicians react. Looking back at the “millennium” season in 2000 those problems seemed to lead…

One of the many angling related presents I received for my 40th birthday back in January was a couple of days fishing on The Royalty. My Mum had booked the Top Weir Compound for my exclusive use at the end of February and Jacqui had booked us into one of the numerous B&B’s in Christchurch…

No sooner did the rivers begin to settle than we got even more rain, and in my area the levels of the Thames held up very high even after seven dry(ish) days. The river was extremely coloured too. Whether this was caused by the Thames barrier being closed to prevent the high tides accompanying the…

Time for a rant. I’m sure that not everyone would agree with the implication in the title that fishing is so poor in these Isles. And before you start flaming those emails at me, I do know that there are several places here where the fishing is very good. Those places are however quite rare…

Czech nymphing was introduced to the UK in the 1990 World Championships, when the Czech team thrashed the UK International teams on the Welsh Dee. The Czechs caught grayling in numbers from places that were previously thought impossibly fast or deep and sent shockwaves through the world of competition angling.Following the inevitable further development, the…

Unless we’ve been given a super-duper new trout rod for Christmas it’s likely most of us will be using a tackle set up similar to previous years. There’s something almost comforting about handling that familiar rod and line again, it’s rather like meeting up with old friends from whom you have been separated and are…

In reality the political scene, whether related to angling or any other topic, has not changed. Politicians and their lackeys promise everything to everyone, but very little ever gets done and so nothing really changes when anglers want improved fisheries and the environmental necessities that would guarantee those improvements.This was brought home to me recently…

Location: From Sunbury Cross at the end of the A316 follow the A308 towards Staines. After passing the Queen Mary Reservoir on your left hand side you will come into a roundabout. Turn left at this roundabout and left again at the next roundabout that is about 200 yards away. This is Ashford Road. Follow…