Late Dec 2013 and lots of news in the AT and CAT
So that was Christmas over for 2013. The fishing weather was fine however the height of the rivers was really high in fact the D.Stour set another record for it's highest level ever recorded. Here are a few river height's for Boxing Day this year. Here is a photo of Jim in the Angling Times and his very large barbel he caught just →
Perching fishing in a hooligan wind Weds 18th Dec.
Recently we had some expected rain which increased the levels of the rivers. I'm still concentrating on the H.Avon and wanted to focus my efforts over the winter of a 7lb chub from there. However a quick comment from John was telling me not to bother as it's up and coloured plus there was plenty of debris to go with →
Another 6lb chub from a low and clear H.Avon
The weather had continued to be steady with high pressure hanging over the UK. Not too conducive to good fishing but as anglers we still need our fix. The perch fishing had been slow earlier in the week and I wanted to get back to the chub fishing as the conditions looked promising, with the river being clear. For me it's →
Perching with Tim and Jake
Both these guys have fished with me before and caught some good fish. They had been trying for some big perch. Tim had caught a couple of large ones in a fantastic session I think they went 2lbs 14oz and 3lbs 2oz so he was he is no stranger to big perch. They had talked about perching and so I took them →
Harry had a great day trotting for chub
Harry had contacted me regarding my trotting exploits for chub. He had read this from John Levell Avon Diary which as I said in a previous blog is worthwhile looking at and keeping in touch with. http://www.avondiary.net/index.html Harry had wanted to fill in the breaks between his regular visits fishing for Salmon in Scotland. He wanted to brush up on his →
River Wye chubbing
Last week I fished twice on the Bristol Avon this time trotting bread flake on one stretch. The results were very good however the size of the chub didn't exceed 3lbs. All in all I landed about 15 so very good fun. I then had another day this time using some cheese paste ledgered. In every swim I fished I caught →
Winter has arrived so do the chub.
Having had a great week on the H.Avon it was time to fish my local Bristol Avon. Now although there are a few good chub to over 8lbs they are very few and far between. A mate of mine (Andy you should have been here yesterday) had one over 7lbs last year but it was hooked outside the mouth and →
Four 6lb plus chub so a marathon read Nov
Each year I spend a week’s holiday in the New Forest close to the river H.Avon and the D.Stour around the autumn. Well the truth is that I’ve been doing this since 1978. Barbel were the quarry in the first place and many were caught to 13lbs 4oz. I used to fish with the Barbel Catchers from London way, one →
Perch and more perch November 6th
After my first session angling for perch, I was disappointed on the condition of the perch in this particular fishery. Having said that I believe that the perch are late this year coming into condition and the fishery is still one to watch for the future and I'll be fishing it later in the winter or early spring. So after a →
A little bit of everything carp, barbel and chub
Took Tyler fishing as I normally do over the holiday period. We fished a commercial close by for countless roach (small ones) and some bigger carp. Tyler did very well fishing the waggler and his casting is getting much better. Sunday I decided on a short session on the Kennet. I arrived to find a blustery wind and some rain. However once it got the →
77lb carp and a catfish that bottomed out 230lb scales, oh and perch.
First though I take you through my last session after perch. I know it's a little early in the perch fishing calendar but I just wanted to find out if they were hungry. So a day session took place on one of the commercial fisheries. The bait was to be the trusted king prawn. The carp don't seem to like →
Chew lake after the big pike 25thOct
This was the first time this year that I've been able to fish Chew. My mate Andy Cowley had fished it the day before and caught some good pike and his boat partner had a couple of 20lbers and came second in the match. So after a full cooked breakfast it was 8.45 as we boarded our boat. Most of the →
Kennet double in the Thunder and rain Oct 22nd
Having just returned from two weeks in Tenerife it was time to get fishing again. The holiday though was perfect great company and friends were met. We even travelled to see some friends from Bristol staying at a resort close by. Can't say I did much other than drink beer and wine, lots of wonderful food. The Mrs. went to keep →
Throop 12lb 3oz barbel for Jim (Oct 2nd).
Jim's wife had given him a day’s guiding with me for a Christmas present last year and with one thing and another we couldn't fit in a session together until the beginning of October. We had talked earlier in the year and Jim wanted to fish for barbel and hopefully catch a double figure fish. Now this is a huge →
Dans 21st birthday and a trip to the Ebro river in Spain.
Last November Vince contacted me regarding celebrating his son Dan's 21st birthday in Spain cat fishing on the Ebro in Sept 2013. It would have been rude to refuse! Arrangements were made and 6 of us had our names down to go. Vince booked a really good angling guide called Paul Fagan http://www.ebrofishingdreams.com/ for our session. I had previously fished for cat →
Tim and Jake barbel fishing on the river Wye 9th Sept
After our last trip on the Bristol Avon looking for barbel and not seeing a single one I suggested that Tim and Jake book a session on the river Wye. Jake had never caught a barbel before and he wanted to break his duck on the Bristol Avon. Alas it was not to be. So we arranged to fish a beat that I guide →
Dominic and Richard barbelling on the Wye 28th and 29th August
I had guided Richard last year on the river where he caught 32 barbel on another beat. I also had another day with him on this beat where he caught some good barbel to just under 8lbs. So earlier in the year he asked if I could guide him and his lad Dominic and see if we could catch Dom's first →
Steve and Nick on the river Wye 24th August and a rare 10lb barbel
I had guided both these guy's last year on the Bristol Avon and they went on to catch some good barbel to double figures. They had been following my blog and asked if I could help them out on the Wye. So we set a date where I would guide them for the first day to show them the swims and tactics →
Fishing with brother Alan and Great Nephew Charlie
At my birthday party on Saturday my brother and I arranged to take young Charlie fishing. Both my brother and I had travelled and worked abroad for the last 15-20 years and seldom seen each other so we jumped at the chance to fish together. We both used to cycle all over the place to wet our lines. Even on holiday →
Jake and Tim fishing the Bristol Avon
Both Jake and Tim are very busy people with work etc and fishing time is very limited, they had been fishing for barbel over the last few months and had drawn a blank. They ask me to show them a few swims on the Bristol Avon where they might find some barbel. To be fair I said the conditions were not →
Monday 19th August river Wye with Shaun and his Merry Xmas party
Shaun's partner had bough him a guiding day as a Xmas present. His goal was to catch a barbel as he had never caught one before. We met at 6am and travelled to the beat arriving at 7am. I had looked at the EA level for the Wye before setting off as they had some rain during the previous few days →
The bite on the H.Avon that caused me so much pain.
Andy had been fishing the H.Avon a little over the last few weeks and we agreed that I would speed up his learning process by showing him a few swims that I've had some success. We arrived not early as we wanted to walk a few stretches and feed a few swims to see what fish were at home. The river →
Chub and more chub fishing
First some really good news. Archie Newman and his Dad fished with me on the Wye during July and they both caught some really good barbel and chub. Archie caught the largest barbel of just over 9lbs. Here is the photo of the barbel. With this photo he sent it off and won the Sky TV young angler of the month →
James and Thomas barbel fishing on the river Wye
James and Thomas had booked a session on the Wye with me for early August and soon enough the time came around. The river though had been fishing really hard over the last couple of weeks because of the low flow and high temperatures. We were hoping that the recent rain and cooler temperatures might just do the trick and →