Born in 1844, Frederic Halford’s first forays into angling were made in the parks of London where his family moved while he was a young boy. When in his early twenties, Halford was offered a chance to fish the River Wandle in South London, and here he began to learn the art of fly fishing. He …
Back in the early 1970’s, despite the success of anglers such as Dick Walker and Maurice Ingham, the King carp (see Fish we Like) was still widely considered to be an enigma not worth trifling with. To single out and catch these great fish required skill, patience and improvisation – as it transpired, Rod Hutchinson …
The carp (Cyprinus carpio) comes in many different guises. The wildie (see Bits and Pieces Issue 12), the leather, the mirror and the common carp are all taxonomically the same species, yet they vary as much as people in size, shape and appearance. ‘King’ is a label that essentially encompasses all carp that differ from …
Though often regarded as a single species, the ‘grey’ mullet found in British waters is either thick-lipped (Chelon labrosus) or thin-lipped (Liza ramada). To add to the confusion, there is also the golden grey mullet (Liza aurata) which is related closer, taxonomically speaking at least, to the thin-lipped than the thin-lipped is to the thick-lipped, …
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Fishpool is going to be honest from the outset. He or she does not like using sweetcorn as a bait and has struggled when using it. Yes, I’ve caught plenty of fish with the stuff, but not enough to convince me that it will ever catch more than bread, maggots, top secret pastes or elderberries. …
Much has been made about the poor state of many of our rivers, with chalk streams especially in decline. It seems that the aquifers that for millennia have purified the water of rivers such as the Kennet and Itchen, can no longer cope. Government research suggests that the levels of agricultural fertilizers within our water …
Rising in Germany’s Black Forest, the Danube is one of the world’s great rivers. At 1,189 miles it is Europe’s second longest to the Volga, and flows through ten countries before emptying into the Black Sea. Once the long standing frontier of the Roman Empire, the Danube flows through four modern day Capital Cities – …
Dating back to the early 10th Century, the south Devon town of Totnes is a noted centre for the arts – a Market Town with a modern day, Bohemian feel. It sits at the top of the tidal reaches of the Dart, the river that flows from deep within the Moor which takes its name. …
As it entered its final day, the 2012 Bailiwick Bass Club Open competition looked to have been won with a cracking fish of 10lb 3oz. But then, from nowhere, Guernsey angler Matt Clark arrived at the weigh-in with a whopper. A 13lb 13oz bass – a monster of a fish that won Clark a rather …
Back in July, Neil Bridges was fishing for barbel on the River Severn at Ripple. It was dark when he hooked into something rather larger than he was expecting. For 75 minutes he battled a fish that turned out to be far too big for his landing net, and ultimately he had to drag it …
