Village Tackle Shop

Doh! Frustration! You see, I just spent the best part of two hours (alright, ten minutes) writing this piece only to lose it in a hard disk crash. And no, actually, cleverdick, I had not yet gotten around to saving it, let alone backing it up. Besides, as everybody knows very well, back-ups are for…

In late December 1999, armed with a couple of telescopic rods and various lures, I travelled with a friend from Goa through to Kathmandu then back to Delhi overland for 7 weeks. It was only while I was sitting on the bank of the Babai river in western Nepal, surrounded by rhino dung and young…

What’s coming.. The fabulous Loop Evotec reel Mike Alcock in action with his Sage XLT rod and Hardy reel. Stephen Foster puts his Sage into a good curve. The Orvis Trident with the “fruits” of its labour! It seems that every tackle manufacturer is competing to bring out new gear for the next season. This…

To re-cap, there were three pairs of anglers fishing for what was hailed as sports smallest trophy – the Golden Maggot. Points were awarded for the number of different species you caught in a more or less sleepless 72 hours. And, to add to the fun, dirty tricks were allowed.I was partnered with Gareth Edwards,…

The first, and most significant change was to move to another area on the Ribble. You may recall I described a swim which I nicknamed the “suicide swim” a couple of months back. This is a place on the river where a big snag, in the shape of an old tree, forms a holding spot…

To keep a low profile we knelt down in the soft white sand, a good bone was slowly making its way up the tide looking for food. It was a good fish. I could feel my heart beating, my mouth was dry, perspiration had run off my brow causing a stinging sensation in my eyes….