Trout fisheries, it seems, have finally woken up to the fact that pike anglers are prepared to pay big money for good quality pike fishing and more and more of them are taking advantage of it. Sure, some of these places have a rather one sided view of the situation and only use pike anglers…

Although I do not believe that we did much harm to the pike, having occasionally caught the same fishes at a later date with the gaff mark healing up, it did occur to me how, as anglers, our general attitude to our quarry has changed. I doubt if there is a single pike angler in…

Why is it that no one ever stalks pike in the same way as carp? It’s a very neglected branch of the sport. Pike anglers seem to be becoming as lazy as some carp anglers are. Buzzers, deadbaits and bedchairs seem to have become the standard pike kit. Location and observation are massive components of…

I have just finished dinner and sit at my desk with a glass of red wine. I have spent the morning chub fishing on the river Wye. It was real winters day with a leadened grey sky, falling rain mixed with sleet and hail was punched into my face by the strong upstream wind, which…

Just recently the footpath to my favourite shore marks were re-opened after Foot and Mouth restrictions had closed them due to the farmer grazing his sheep over and along the cliff path. I have got to say these closures have made me growl just a bit.I was still in a growling frame of mind, when…

Gary had done one day during the week on the same stretch and had caught a leash of pike, two doubles to over 16lb, and a jack. We arrived in the pre-dawn gloom and set off across the field, it was noticeably muddy as we trudged across and slowly the light strip of the river…

It felt really mild when I arrived late afternoon and took the gear round to the island. On my way around I noticed that the daffodils were coming up and a lot of the trees were budding, the blossom on some trees was even beginning to show; ridiculous! I just hoped the carp were responding….

Day 1: Like the rest of you, December and January had seen me catch very little and I was more than happy to try something a little bit different. Jeff Kennett had invited me to have a day out on the Thames in his boat and so at the crack of dawn I helped him…

Roger Baker and I were doing a lot of spinning for big perch and pike in snaggy water. As we were loosing rather a lot of spinners, we decided to make our own to save money. To this end we bought a lure making kit from Harris Angling Company to make our own spinners.We were…

Now, for most of us, this is only a couple of hours before work, but often this can be the best time of the day for piking on many waters. So, with a little bit of effort, short morning sessions of little more than a couple of hours, can be well worth all the effort….