Hampshire Avon with Andy and two 6lb plus chub
I hadn't fished with Andy for a couple of weeks due to other commitments on my part. Andy though had been catching some stunning chub to just short of 7lbs, well 6lbs 15oz is quite close. For a change I was sorted out for the weekend as Mrs.P was off to the Lake District with Mum and others so it was →
Ron and 3 barbel over 9lbs from the Wye
I'm just looking back for a while and it seems like just last week that I completed my 300th blog and here we are looking at 310th. The blog does take me a long time to complete however I can look back through the years and see what super people I've fished with. Which leads me onto the latest one now. →
Chew Valley and three perch over 3lbs
Well the seasons really fly by. Andy had asked me to share a boat on Chew for the second day of pike fishing. He had fished it the day before and caught some perch and pike. His boat partner had caught some well over 3lbs and another boat had a 4lbs 6oz perch. So we talked on the phone the →
Think about fishing different rivers when conditions allow
There I was struggling on the river Wye guiding Jamie and Mick earlier. The river rising rapidly with all sorts of rubbish coming down making fishing very difficult to almost impossible. However on the other side if I hadn't been guiding I was going to fish with my mate Andy (you should have been here yesterday) and Martin on the H.Avon. The →
Fishing with Rod and more great chub from the H.Avon
I was introduced to Rod by Rob whom I guided last week on the Wye. Rod is primarily a carp fisherman who lives in Ringwood on the Hampshire Avon. Since he had lived there he hadn't cast a line in the river. Now with it being such a close distance I just couldn't imagine this. So Rod wanted to catch some →
On the Wye with Mick and Jamie
I do like sleeping in the back of the car it all adds to the excitement. However after you get soaked to the skin the day before it takes the edge of a little. Still after a good night rest it's up and off to meet Mick and Jamie. Both these guys have fished the Wye on numerous occasions for barbel →
River Wye with Rob and Stew
I had guided these two gentlemen before on the river Stour earlier in the year. They had caught a few chub but none of the larger fish. We saw some really larger chub however with the low water conditions they were difficult to tempt. This time we were on the Wye fishing for barbel. The river had been really low for →
Hampshire Avon and more big chub
The Avon and Stour are two rivers that produce some lovely chub and the average size is really good. As most of you know I been chasing a 7lb chub from the Avon for years. Getting close a few times and the largest going 6lbs 13oz. So after my previous blog where I saw that 7lb chub it was to this →
Great holiday and another trip on the H.Avon
I'm still way behind with my blogs so I'm putting these all on in one day so please read the others. Well after a holiday I can't wait to return to the fishing saddle again, so to speak. The weather had continued to be hot and sunny back in the UK with temps around the 22c mark for Oct is almost →
Hampshire Avon with Andy (should have been here yesterday Andy)
I'm so far behind with my blog's as I've been on holiday for two weeks to Gran Canaria which was excellent. I was pushing the boat out by fishing Blagdon on the Thursday and then fishing with Andy on the H.Avon the day before flying out. The Blagdon trip went well and I was hoping this trip would too. I arrived →
A little fly fishing on Blagdon Lake
I don't normally fish for trout that often however a friend Roger had a spare place on a boat fishing Blagdon lake. Well never having dipped a line in one of the best original trout reservoirs in the UK how could I refuse. The day was still with bright sun early in the morning with cloud coming over during the afternoon. →
Epic barbel session on the Wye with Geoff, Jeff and Paul
Day 1 Paul had phoned me to say about fishing the river Wye with two of his mates, Jeff and Geoff. He arranged to be guided for two days on two beats and then for them to give it a go on their own. So we met on the Monday morning at 6.30 just as it was getting light. The weather had →
Blog post 300 and something special.
This is my 300th blog post. Sometimes it's been very difficult to write this whilst having 101 jobs to do. However it's great to recall adventures fishing with others and recapturing the special moments. Sometimes I'm a week or so away from the adventure however I try and keep it all fresh in my mind and jot it down in →
Christmas Day 2 for Shaun.
Dawn knows how to give Shaun a great time.......steady!!!!! I'm talking here about getting him a days guiding as a Christmas present. This is the second year she has bought him a voucher. Last year if I remember he caught a 8lbs 15oz barbel and a 5lbs 4oz chub on his guiding day. So Dawn phoned me again in December asking →
Well another day on the river Wye for Jake and Tim
This is the 4th time I've guided Tim and Jake and the second time on the river Wye. The river had dropped by another 8" since I had fished on Sunday. The colour had gone too. I'm not too worried about that. The temperatures though had dropped to 14c during the day and 6c at night so the temperature of the →
Big barbel on the Wye for big brother Alan and great Nephew Charlie
Well for some time now I had promised Charlie and Alan a day on the Wye fishing for barbel. Well not to let them down we decided to fish a great beat. I won't go on about how it fished other to say they both had never caught a barbel before. Charlie was the first to catch after 10 minutes he had →
A short session on the H.Avon and a good chub and heart ache.
I had been wanting to visit the H.Avon again however finding a window of opportunity was difficult. However today I had some financial business to deal with in the morning so it was possible that I could be fishing by 3pm. The drive down is always a pleasure at this time of year. I arrived to find the river lower than before →
Geoff and Matt go barbel fishing on the Wye
Matt had wanted to give his Dad a birthday present. A day barbel fishing on the river Wye. Both of the guy’s are very good match anglers however the agricultural nature of fishing the wild river Wye was something else to them. 36hrs previous there had been some much welcomed rain. This was pushing the river up only by a couple of →
Dog difficult day on the H.Avon but success on the Bristol Avon
Since the last guiding session with Mark having that fantastic catch I’ve been busy doing plenty of fishing and guiding. First I travelled to the H.Avon in search of some large chub. Again I walked and walked the fishery looking for large chub. I wasn’t on the fishery early as I had a few jobs to complete at home first. As →
Great session for 17 tench and 6 carp for Mark
Mark has just returned to tench fishing and wanted to spend some time understanding rigs and feature finding. He is already an experienced big fish man having some huge barbel to his credit. So no pressure on me then! We agreed to meet at a lake which I had fished just weeks before. It’s about 20 acres in size with a →
Karen’s first session barbel fishing on the Wye
Steve and Karen have a pilgrimage to the river Wye each year for a weeks holiday. Steve fishes during the day with Karen looking on and they enjoy the experience. Steve though asked me sometime ago whether I would coach Karen in casting, playing and landing barbel so that she could experience this powerful fish and it's fighting qualities. He did →
Another great day on the Wye
John and Phil had booked a day fishing on the Wye ages ago however time moves on and it was time to meet them both. They are both members of a small syndicated stretch of the Bristol Avon I fish. They have both caught barbel before however not from the Wye. Our syndicated stretch has also been hammered by the otters →
Great start on the H.Avon 6lb 7oz chub
It's been a bit of a quiet week guiding so it's given me an opportunity to cut the grass and tidy up around the lake I look after. I was going to fish it for carp using floaters, however something told me to fish the river. So after I had done all the chores and check tickets etc it was time →
Early July double figure barbel and 6lb chub
Well it’s been an exciting week. Double figure barbel and a 6lb chub from the river Wye and a session on the H.Avon catching some large chub. I’ve been looking forward to starting the campaign on the H.Avon for some time. The chub and barbel have been late in spawning on the river and at last they were ready to feed. I →