Having observed crucians in clear water, I believe that this is due to the way they sometimes take the bait. In clear water I could see the crucians come up to the bait and take it without moving off. They appeared to stop to eat the bait on the spot. Obviously this would give very…

BOILED BAITSBy far the easiest way of taking them over to the continent is in the form of ready-mades. These probably account for the downfall of more big French carp than any other type of bait. They are convenient, smell and taste good, and are relatively cheap if purchased in bulk. However, always buy good…

That one was caught by accident from the Royalty fishery of the Hampshire Avon. I was trotting bread-flake for roach at the time, amassing a good bag and almost got caught unawares by the rising of the river as the tide came in, a phenomenon quite new to me when coarse fishing. The sea-trout weighed…

I was born not 200 yards from the banks of this river and spent over forty years of my life living close to its banks. As a youngster I remember it as a venue that was often covered in a film of oil. Oil spillages were a problem and we used to catch only gudgeon…

Directions: From Richmond follow the A305 to Twickenham. Just after the traffic lights where the London Road joins, take the first turning on your left down Water Lane to the river. There is ample pay and display parking near the river but keep an eye open as the tide comes in because the whole area…

When it really is that cold, and I do mean Siberian, only a couple of species of coarse fish can be relied upon to feed with gusto, that’s grayling and pike. I left home at 4am, headed north and east, aimed in the direction of the top of the East Anglian ‘bump’ as I think…

In the early nineties, the zander’s profile seemed to be higher than it is at present. There seemed to be a lot more anglers fishing for them. There have been many trends in angling over the years and this was probably one of them. Soon, the popularity of zander seemed to be on the wain,…

The Right Rod, The Right Reel Playing a fish demands a slightly different approach when you are fishing from a boat. There is one fundamental difference in that it is possible for the fish to literally get right under your feet – a situation which rarely applies when bank fishing. This means that in general,…

I think she reasoned that it was preferable to me hanging around street corners getting into trouble with ‘unsavoury types’. Thus overlooking the fact that for a time there was quite a gang of us that would go fishing after school – though for most the novelty of this soon wore off! At no time…

The trout has an IQ of around six. It’s not an intelligent animal. What we must do is treat it as a wild animal. In the introduction to his book ‘Fishing the Dry Fly’, that great angler and gentleman Dermot Wilson writes:”Dry-fly fishing takes less time to learn than most other sports, Trout – let…