In hard rock areas where through the warmer months fish such as pollack and bass can be caught, where the fingers of rock jut out into deeper waters, by putting the spinning gear away too soon you will often miss some unexpectedly good sport. It is a fact that during October and November, sometimes even…

I once had an evening on a Southern chalk stream at the end of June. There were still the odd mayfly hatching but the legendary ‘duffers fortnight’ was over leaving the fish fairly full. However, some fish could still be seen taking the odd mayfly.As I walked around before setting up, I could not fail…

With the end of the season upon us it’s good to look back upon past events for though I live amongst some of the finest trout angling in the UK this does not give immunity from drama, far from it. Learning as much from mistakes as from observation is the key to long term successful…

I know from many years of fishing with these wooden or plastic imitations what a thrilling method of catching predatory fish this can be, but this upsurge of interest in plug fishing has taken me and many others by surprise.It is something very special when in the days first warm rays of sunshine you see…

Those precious moments of solitude are becoming increasingly rare, even if you are an insomniac. But it is no secret amongst those who know that there is a way that you can find solitude and what is more to the point, because there is not so much human activity, there is frequently some good fishing…

I am often asked what on Earth possessed an ever busy mother of two to pursue fishing with such vigorous determination. Normally I reply that an all consuming passion from around the age of 8 is hard to ignore and that marriage, motherhood, various house moves and authorship of two major Scottish trout fishing books…

As I drove through the gate the rain was falling again but I could see something was wrong. All round the edges of the lake there were white areas of ice showing. The water level was still falling and what had happened was that the ice was still there but as the water level fell…

Disinfectants Can Kill As I look back over the past few months, my thoughts go back to previous seasons when I would have had three or four sessions a week on the rivers and streams casting a fly or nymph to a brown trout, especially during May and June. This year it didn’t happen. I…

Replacing trebles on plugs can cause all sorts of problems if you do not replace them with virtually the same style and weight of hook. The manufacturer of the lure will have finely balanced and tuned the plug to ensure that it “swims” correctly with the original hooks. So it makes a lot of sense…

Anglers who use mackerel or Sandeel feathers on a regular basis know without telling that the dang things have a life of their own. Sorting out a set of tangled feathers is an experience best avoided, especially when the boat is heaving and tossing and you are in a hurry to get your feathers over…