Do you have to fly for ever, seemingly, to find waters unexploited? Do you have to pump yourself full of injections and malaria tablets before you can travel to a country that gives you a marvellous sense of freedom and space? Of course not. In fact, for £80 or so and slightly more minutes you…

In this example, I have used a single legged carp rod ring to illustrate the process.1. File down the foot of the ring to give a smooth taper. This is not always necessary but should be carried out if required.2. Make a nylon loop. In this example I have used yellow Stren 15lb b.s. line…

In fact, it had a devastating effect – I was unable to visit any of the rivers that I normally fish for roach, as the various authorities forbade access, whether or not there was any livestock in the area. I can understand a need for caution but I have to say that in some cases…

If I were to talk of a water holding 3lb grayling and 2lb roach, where do you suppose I’d be referring to? Some expensive beat on the Test, Itchen or Dorset Frome maybe? Or perhaps further afield of my southern stomping grounds to somewhere like the River Teviot? Well none of these and if the…

Whilst Foot and Mouth restrictions might come into play in a few areas, most of us will have access to at least some of our river fisheries, though I am willing to bet that most anglers will not have their dreams of the last few months realised. The trouble is, it can take the fish…

Perhaps first we should clarify what we mean by the term groundbaiting. Groundbaiting means literally what the word says, ‘baiting the ground’ to attract fish to an area. This can be done before fishing or during fishing. I will cover both positions although of course it could be said that groundbaiting before fishing is in…

It is a time when our own little bit of the world is warming to acceptably tolerable temperatures in which to live; it is a time when colour is coming to the land, and when even the predominant greens of our island are at their brightest and most varied, before the leaves have discoloured with…

Well, in my opinion, although it has to be said the river is not as good as it was, say fifteen or twenty years ago, there are still plenty of fish to be caught. Over the past twelve months the river has been subjected to a lot of high water. So much in fact that…

I was really looking forward to the first match of the season at Bewdley on Saturday but five hours fishing saw me take just three barbel, two chub and an eel for a thirteen pound total and no prize. I did however lose one good barbel that shed the hook that would have won me…

First of all I will look at the centrepin reel and the techniques and uses we can use one for. The centrepin reel, or Nottingham Reel, so-called due to the fact that its modern coarse fishing design was invented in Nottingham for use on the Trent, has a variety of uses not just in rivers…