Around 60 years ago, gravel extracted from a seam on the border between the Essex villages of Fobbing and Corringham was transported, first by pony and cart to Canvey Island, then by barge up the River Thames to east London. Twenty years later, with the extraction site flooded, the lake began to produce rudd, perch…

Articles by Dr Paul Garner Dr Paul Garner Despite being born in central London, Paul Garner comes from a family who’s history has been intertwined with angling for generations. During his teens Paul spent most of his time match fishing with local clubs, travelling to such exotic venues as the Hampshire Avon and Great Ouse…

Articles by Dr Paul Garner Dr Paul Garner Despite being born in central London, Paul Garner comes from a family who’s history has been intertwined with angling for generations. During his teens Paul spent most of his time match fishing with local clubs, travelling to such exotic venues as the Hampshire Avon and Great Ouse…

Fishing’s just as bad as foxhunting and hare coursing, it’s hunting fish. Such is the mantra of the world’s biggest animal rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, which at present spearheads the campaign against us.While more moderate campaign groups like the RSPCA and International Fund for Animal Welfare are unlikely to fall…

The one advantage that we have is that not many people fish for the carp over here; the people here have that old buffalo mentality ‘well, if it’s not good to eat why fish for it’. Now that’s to our advantage. Trouble is when they do catch one they invariably kill it and throw the…

“Pet Rescue presenter Wendy Turner Webster is appealing to Boy Scouts to stop fishing. The animal lover has written to the Duke of Kent in his capacity of President of the Scout Association, asking him to ‘retire the Scouts’ Angler Proficiency badge’ on the grounds of cruelty. Writing on behalf of the organisation People for…

The heaviest fish on opening day was taken by Steve Payne of Bedford from a boat in the bowl of the dam on a black and green Cats Whisker. Steve‚s prize winner weighed in at 6lb 8oz to take the New Lodge Trophy and £70 in tackle vouchers. Steve‚s bag of 7 fish weighed a…

At the end of 1999 they appealed for anglers to join a shark tagging program to be known as 2000 UK Shark Tagging Programme. Now, as we enter 2001, the preliminary results of the first years tagging have become known.A staggering 1000 sharks of various species have been tagged.The 1000th tag was attached to a…

For those of you who are keen ‘pleasure’ anglers the next step could be to try your hand at match fishing. Initially I would suggest fishing club competitions as opposed to jumping in at the deep end and entering highly competitive open competitions. I’ll now give you a few tips on how to get started.The…

It doesn’t seem that long ago that my old Blue Match rod had to double for roach-pole, pike rod or anything else that came along, or instead of my huge rucksack, my fishing bag was just an old golf bag. One thing that hasn’t changed however is my love for angling and the constant quest…