The small boy sat on his haunches watching his father and uncle plaiting and twisting the line. It took very many hours of work and had to be checked at regular intervals for strength. They had been at it since morning and the line was now nearing completion. The Ugly One, the man with the…

The seasons turned and the years swept past. Lots of years. Over a period of centuries, the oak had witnessed the footpath become a trail, then a cart track and more recently a road. It had seen the travellers on the route, first strangely dressed soldiers then friars and monks, later farm labourers and villagers….

At the grand old age of 96 he died and went to the gates of heaven. He was greeted by St Peter. Mr Castwell shook his hand rather warmly and asked how the old chap was. St Peter thought his handshake was rather too jovial.”Well Mr Castwell, we have a problem, your record isn’t too…

The atmosphere about the place was difficult to describe. The motley bunch of carp anglers who gathered there at weekends all interpreted the strange feel of the lake in a different way. Sometimes it seemed to resent you; at others it was happy to see you, and on some occasions showed its sense of humour…

The telephone shrilled loudly across the darkened room. I struggled to pull myself from the living room chair that had been my bed for the night in the attempt answer it. Another figure lay slumped half on, half off the sofa, male by the look of it. I breathed in stale tobacco ridden air as…

I turned to my left and gazed in awe at the beauty lying beside me. It must be said that even though I have never been to bed with an ugly woman I have woken up with a few. This was different. She looked up to me and smiled sweetly. This naked goddess lit a…

It started with a traffic jam which delayed us from getting to the river much before noon. I half expected there to be no swims available and was pleasantly surprised that only one other car was in the car park. Ah, but that was on this side of the river. The far bank was littered…

Saturday was a little frustrating. I competed in the Earlswood Lakes Windmill Lake open, drew peg 23 and was a little dismayed upon arrival at the peg to find my old mate Bob Marklew sat at the next peg. Now anyone who knows Bob will tell you that to draw next to him is the…

Despite an optimistic start, with several local boats and Stewart Campbell’s Chunda catching some marlin in late May and throughout June, the fish disappeared almost totally on the eve of the tournament and not much has happened since. This is marlin fishing, and everyone who is still here knows it. It just happens to be…

We chose a misty day in late summer, arriving at the boat moorings just as the early morning sun rose in the sky, causing the cloud to dissipate in wraith-like fingers around Ben Vorlich and its satellite hills, illuminating the little village of Lochearnhead on the far shore. A ray of sunlight glanced off the…