Summerhayes – Open – 25th August 2025
Bank Holiday Monday saw me headed to Summerhayes for the match on Longs which has been fishing really well for silvers. Only ten of us today and I drew peg 30 which was right where I wanted to be although …
River Isle – V.E.S. Precision League 6 – 22nd January 2017
After some wicked cold frosts in the week and the river back to being very low and clear, it was always going to be difficult for the penultimate V.E.S. Precision match. Going into this match I was lying in joint fourth place with ten points, three off the lead and nothing but a section win would do if I was to stand …
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First Guest Blog
I’m always saying that I would love to feature guest blogs here at Against Men and Fish and I recently received my first one from Yorkshire Game Angling, a great little post on ‘Getting Started in Fly Fishing’. Getting Started in Fly Fishing Starting ‘fly’ fishing is nothing like as difficult or expensive as many people think. Neither is it confined to …
Bob Roberts Interview
My latest interview is with Bob Roberts, top angler and journalist who isn’t afraid to tell it like it is, some great answers and he certainly gives lots of food for thought (all images courtesy of Bob Roberts) Hi Bob, I realise you are an extremely busy man, so thank you so much for taking the time to answer my questions; You’ve …
River Isle – Royal Oak Winter League 7 – 15th January 2017
It was all change with the weather again as the temperatures plummeted during the week, we avoided the snow but had a lot of rain although the river was pretty much back to normal level by Sunday. A few of us went to the Little Chef for breakfast again before heading to Upper Coxes to meet the others and do the draw. Rob …
River Isle – V.E.S. Precision League 5 – 8th January 2017
Before I get on to this weeks match I had some lovely feedback from the blogs Facebook page and also via the contact form, thank you so much, it really does make my day when I know people enjoy my ramblings. This was from John on Facebook ‘Others have tried and failed yours is different what I call straight from the bank to the …
River Isle – Royal Oak Winter League 6 – 1st January 2017
Firstly I’d just like to wish everyone a Happy New Year and I hope your hangovers aren’t too bad. Before I get onto the days fishing, I just wanted to say a massive thanks for all your support as the blog continues to go from strength to strength and is breaking new ground all the time. December saw the blog exceed 20,000 …
2016 Yearly Review
As the year draws to a close, here’s my look back over the previous twelve months, January 2016 To kick off the New Year, we visited a new venue, Hebditch’s Pond and the weather was hideous with strong winds and driving rain. I tried to catch short and it just didn’t happen, after two hours I was the only person still blanking! I …
Dillington Pond – 28th December 2016
With Xmas Day falling on a Sunday this year and the next scheduled match not until New Year’s Day, I thought I’d put it out there to see if anybody fancied a knock up midweek. I suggested the Weds or Thurs and asked people to let me know their preference, it was a close run thing but in the end Weds just …
Steve Gardener on… A Life in Match Fishing – A Review
Obviously I love my fishing and I hope that comes across when I write about it but the next best thing to actually going fishing is reading about going fishing! I read a lot of angling magazines and there are some excellent blogs out there but when it comes to books, despite there being loads about carp fishing on the shelves of bookstores …
River Isle – V.E.S. Precision League 4 – 18th December 2016
The weather stayed really mild all week and we had a fair bit of rain which put some colour in the river but it didn’t last long. It was a very foggy morning as I headed to the Oak for the draw and all the normal faces were there. Looking at the section boards, I didn’t really mind where I drew with the …