Checking the records, the first match of the year was supposed to be on the Isle but was cancelled due to the river being flooded (sound familiar?). The next few matches were nothing to write home about either (also sounding …
In these unprecedented times, if you’re missing fishing already (I certainly am, especially with it being a gorgeous day outside), there are plenty of things you can do to keep you busy and stave off boredom while you are housebound. …
The final V.E.S. Precision league match arrived and I was starting to think we’d never reach this point! If it wasn’t Storm Dennis and strong winds, it was heavy rain and flooded rivers and then just when we thought we …
I always look forward to this league as the fishing is normally really good, the breakfasts are superb and the banter even better! In the week leading up to the first match, the world went mad as the Corona Virus …
I had hoped we might get on the river for the last Sunday of the season but more rain scuppered any chance of that so we would head out the pond which has been hard but fair in recent matches. We met at the bowling club for breakfast and decided to use the Aplin bank plus pegs 2 and 4 and to …
Barney’s Pairs is always one of my favourite matches although I can never seem to keep hold of a partner and I’m getting concerned I may need to change my deodorant! This trend continued with Andy Saunders my latest partner for this match, we’ve also used several venues in various combinations over the years. Ideally we’d have fished the Isle (Barney’s favourite …
I’d wanted to fish some of these silvers matches after seeing them advertised last year but for one reason or another it didn’t happen then, so I was determined to put that right this year. I booked into two but with the horrendous weather we’ve been having, the first of them two weeks ago was called off. Typically the weather was gorgeous …
Before I get on to this weeks match, I had some very sad news on Saturday when Martin Heard phoned me to say that Malcolm Levy had passed away last Wednesday aged 84. I’ve known Malcolm or ‘The Old Fossil’ as he was affectionately known for getting on for twenty years, he used to travel with Martin and they made for a …
Well, this weekend was supposed to be a double header of matches I was really looking forward to, a silvers match at Todber sponsored by Drennan and then round five of the V.E.S. Precision league on the Sunday. With Storm Ciara causing chaos the previous weekend I was hoping we’d get lucky with the weather but oh no, the Met Office gave …
I’m getting fed up with this now! The weather is perfect all week and then as we approach the weekend, it either chucks it down with rain or the temperature plummets, well for this Sunday we had Storm Ciara heading our way with 60 mph winds predicted – lovely! We only had a few booked in and when I decided to move …
The final match of the Warehouse League arrived and Andy had one hand on the title with a three point cushion although with ten anglers booked in, mathematically he could be caught but would need to blow out big time. I was lying in second spot but with only two points between me and third, I could be overhauled as well, so …
I was really looking forward to this one, I’d only ever fished the fabled ‘Fast Stretch’ once and that was a short pleasure session after grayling a few years back. Match weights regularly top 30lb of chub but like any small river you need to draw the right areas. It’s also nearly all stick float fishing and I haven’t wielded one of …
With loads of rain in the week and the river flooded yet again, I was mentally preparing myself for a bit of a grueller on the pond, especially after we’d had a couple of hard frosts. As the weekend approached, the rain stopped and with hardly any on Friday and none forecast for Saturday and Sunday, it was looking like we might …
Once again the weather was kind to us and after being high in the week, the river looked spot on Saturday when I popped down to have a look and I have to say a massive thanks to Rob Cox who cut out the pegs at Hambridge. Sunday morning arrived and there was a decent turnout of 13 for this one including …
