Summerhayes – Open – 1st January 2026
Summerhayes was the destination for my first match of 2026 and after a hard frost there was quite a bit of ice on Sellicks. With only eight of us fishing Pete said we could have a rover and choose where …
The Archives – Part 2 – Influences and my first match win (1981-82)
So Part 1 detailed my introduction into fishing and my first tentative steps onto the junior match scene in 1980, Part 2 takes up the story on June 17th 1981. There was still a close season in place and I can only describe the countdown to June 16th as something akin to the excitement of waiting for Xmas day. I can’t remember why I didn’t …
The Archives – Part 1 – Where It All Began (1980)
A few people have said they’d be interested in reading some stuff from the memory banks and I’ve been meaning to do something for a while now, so with my recent incapacitation due to doing my back in and in a bid to stave off boredom, here is the first instalment. As ever, I’d love to hear your thoughts and any constructive …
River Isle – IBC Winter League 2 – 15th October 2017
After struggling in the first two Isle matches, I was praying for rain (which was looking unlikely) but failing that, a draw at Isle Brewers would do me as that’s where the top weights have been coming from. As ever I was really looking forward to my next fishing fix but during the week, I had to go out and about on site …
ThermoNet Buff Review
If you’ve followed the blog for a while, you’ll know I’m a big fan of Buff products from when they contacted me back in early 2015 to ask if I’d like to review one of their Polar Buff’s from the new angler range. To be honest I didn’t really know too much about the firm at that time, so some research was required. Looking …
River Isle – V.E.S. Precision League 1 – 8th October 2017
I always look forward to the V.E.S. Precision league and although I’ve got a pretty good record in it, I’ve only actually ever won it once, with more anglers fishing the river it’s a tough league to win and Adie did brilliantly to win it on his first attempt last year! We were back at the Bowling Club for the draw this week …
A Masterclass By The Master – Billy Makin
My latest guest blog is something a little different, Billy Makin has been posting some brilliant stories on Facebook from the golden age of match fishing, I contacted him and asked if I could publish them on the blog and he said yes, so for those of you that don’t use Facebook or haven’t seen this yet, sit back, read and enjoy! …
Kayleigh Smith Interview
My latest interview is with England and Matrix star, Kayleigh Smith. Hi Kayleigh, thank so much for agreeing to answer my questions; Firstly, wow, what a year you’re having, Ladies Fish O Mania champion, Division 2 National Winner and represented England – phew! What’s next? Kayleigh – Yes it’s definitely been a good year for me. Next up is the Winter …
River Isle – IBC Winter League 1 – 1st October 2017
I was really looking forward to getting back on the river and all the signs were good after some of the guys had been down swim clearing and reported seeing loads of fish. Some other good news in the week as well when the blog went past 600,000 hits, thank you so much for all your support and great feedback, I really …
Simon Fry Interview
My latest interview is with Garbolino star, Simon Fry. Hi Simon, thank you very much for agreeing to do an interview; You’ve been a consultant with Garbolino for a long time now which is quite a rarity in this fickle sport of ours and I have to say I find such loyalty refreshing, can you tell us a bit about your relationship with …
Summerhayes – Open – 24th September 2017
After last week’s struggle I was looking forward to fishing Longs this Sunday but feared the worst when I saw on an angling clubs blog that they had it booked for a match and sure enough Pete phoned in the week to say we’d be on Sellicks again. I met Hurf at the Little Chef for breakfast as he was off to fish the …