Summerhayes – Open – 25th January 2026
Only nine of us fishing today and when Pete announced the draw, I was fourth on the list and well happy when I pulled out 32 which is an absolute bunghole. For company I had Steve Collins and Oscar on …
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 …
River Isle – Royal Oak Winter League 5 – 11th December 2016
After the Baltic temperatures of last Sunday, it was all change again in the week as the weather turned really mild and some rain on Saturday was very welcome too. All the signs were there for a very good match, we just needed the fish to play ball now. I got to the pub nice and early and it was lovely to …
River Isle – Xmas Fayre – 4th December 2016
It had been cold all week and when I woke up this morning to the hardest frost of the year so far, I knew it was going to be hard going today. I got to the pub in good time and there was a great turn out of twenty anglers as the numbers were swelled by the likes of Andy Welch, Paul …
River Isle – Royal Oak Winter League 4 – 27th November 2016
The river was still flooded at the start of the week but by Wednesday it was fishable again and looked lovely although the temperature has dropped a few degrees and we would be in for a chilly one today! I got to the pub in plenty of time for one of Steve’s sausage sarnies before having a look at the pegs being used today and …
Dillington Pond – 20th November 2016
With Rob away playing darts, organising this weeks match fell to me, towards the end of the week, the temperature dropped and we even had some brief flurries of snow! There was also a lot of rain forecast for the weekend but with landlord Steve off chucking arrows as well, we were meeting down the river, so would be able to see …
River Isle – Royal Oak Winter League 3 – 13th November 2016
After a disappointing match last Sunday, I was hoping my drawing arm would be back on form this week. I got to the pub nice and early and although Rob was there he wouldn’t be fishing today as he’d done his back in, hope it’s better soon mate. After a nice sausage sarnie, I had a quick look at the pegs in …
The PrintBiz/Bait-Tech Hoodie Review
Now that the blog is associated with Bait-Tech I thought it was high time I treated myself to a new hoodie. In the past I’ve always used a local shop to get the blogs name embroidered on hoodies, sweatshirts and polo shirts etc but as Bait-Tech have a shop on The PrintBiz website (www.theprintbiz.com), I thought I’d take a look. Once on …
River Isle – V.E.S. Precision League 3 – 6th November 2016
With the forecast for the weekend decidedly chilly and the river still very low and clear, it was going to be hard today and a good draw would be essential. I got to the pub and we were down a few anglers this week with some of the regulars on holiday or working. Rob had pegged Redbridge, Isle Brewers and above Hambridge …
Hebditch’s Pond – 30th October 2016
With no scheduled matches this week, Harry was keen to hold another charity match on the pond, it hadn’t been fished since August when the level was right down and the weights were a lot lower than normal so with the level back up, hopefully it would fish better today. For todays charity, Harry decided to donate the money to the fund to help rebuild …