Coombe Farm – Ruthie’s Cup – 28th June 2026
For the final round we were at Coombe Farm, it’s a cracking silvers venue but for the last few years you’ve needed to catch carp to win and the corner pegs (1, 7 and 10) tend to dominate. In our group we had two contenders for the title, Nick Veale on 4 points and Nick Payne with 5, as for me, my …
River Parrett – Evening Cup – 27th June 2026
I know I say it every year but I really look forward to the Stoke matches on the Parrett, on paper it doesn’t sound particularly inspiring with 3lb being a good weight but I can’t get enough of it. The first match of the new season is always the Evening Cup which means I get to have a lie before meeting for …
Revels Fishery – Open – 23rd June 2026
On Tuesday it was my first trip of the month to Revels and I just wish I could fish every Tuesday (although it wouldn’t help with the backlog!). After meeting ‘The Pole’ for breakfast, we soon arrived and whereas my drawing arm has been somewhat misfiring, Dean was having no such problems on my behalf and in my last four visits he’d …
Summerhayes – Open – 21st June 2026
On Sunday we were on Sellicks at Summerhayes, I was near the top of the list and actually managed to avoid my ex-favourite peg 16 but pulling out 2 didn’t fill me with joy either. I must have looked a little glum as Pete decided to serenade me with the world’s smallest violin! It’s one of the narrowest pegs on the lake …
Bob Gullick Interview
Hi Bob, thank you so much for agreeing to do my latest interview; Can you tell us a little bit about yourself, how you first got into fishing and the first fish you caught? I am born and bred Somerset, so very much a country lad really. Presently retired after 35yrs in the print industry and left my factory manager role at …
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 …