20 Years!
Wow – 20 years! Yes that’s a double decade the blog has been going, Against Men and Fish started in 2006 and is still going strong (admittedly there have been a few little wobbles along the way where it almost felt like a bit of a bind and if you’re a regular reader, you can’t have failed to notice the current rather …
Acorn Fishery – Open – 20th June 2026
Acorn on Saturday and Foxy asked me to draw for him (was he mad!) and I pulled out 19 which he didn’t look overly impressed with but there are worse pegs so I only earned a yellow card instead of a straight red. I drew 31 which is a great silvers peg, on the whistle I fed all my lines before starting …
Private Pond – Ruthie’s Cup – 14th June 2026
Round three and my group were at a little syndicate lake that we’ve kindly been allowed to fish again. Last year I drew the far end and had a cracking day winning the section with 31lb which included some lovely tench and crucians although in the previous two matches the near end has been the place to be with some big bream …
Todber Manor – Silvers Open – 13th June 2026
Todber Manor was the destination on Saturday but my stuttering drawing arm seems to keep avoiding the middle pegs and the once reliable and patented ‘Hanging Back’ technique isn’t working anymore. After a cracking breakfast it was time for the ‘Bucket of Doom’ and to be honest I wasn’t surprised when I opened my ticket to see 64 staring back at me! …
Andy Akehurst Interview
I haven’t done an interview on the blog for ages (mainly due to the backlog of match reports!) but I thought it would be really interesting to chat to Andy Akehurst who has been recording some massive weights of bream at the Viaduct, breaking the match record twice in quick succession. Hi Andy, thank you so much for agreeing to do an …
Summerhayes – Open – 7th June 2026
The following day at Summerhayes there was a decent turnout and when it was time to draw I had lots of pegs on my wish list but pulled out 21 which wasn’t one of them! To be fair it’s produced some decent silvers weights in recent matches but it’s an area I really don’t like and can’t seem to get on with. …
Acorn Fishery – Open – 6th June 2026
Back up to Acorn for one of their opens and drew bridge peg 21 which is normally a good area. As per the norm it was windy which would make fishing long tricky so I set up rigs for 10 metres and top four. It was a slow start and took quite a while to get my first bite, I had a …
Stoke Pond – Ruthie’s Cup – 31st May 2026
For round two of Ruthie’s Cup, my group was supposed to be at Dillington but IAA had closed the lake due to the carp spawning so we were back on Stoke Pond but different pegs this time. After breakfast at Cartgate, it was time for the draw and I pulled out 14 on the far bank. I had a rig set up …
Summerhayes – Silvers Open – 30th May 2026
Saturday silvers on Sellicks and I drew 16 yet again, it used to be my favourite peg but as I can’t seem to catch much on it anymore, it’s now teetering on slipping down the rankings! When I got there and started setting up there were quite a few roach topping so hopefully a few bites would be on the agenda today. …
Revels Fishery – Open – 26th May 2026
I took a day’s leave to extend the long weekend and have another trip down to Revels although it was looking like we were in for another uncomfortably hot day. 18 anglers fishing today and after Dean had done me proud with great silvers pegs on my last three visits, surely it couldn’t be fourth time lucky! Parker ‘The Pole’ got 53 …