Landmark
Kevin Parr fishes a favourite swim for roach, dace, chub and perch, under the scrutiny of a ravenous pike, and is distracted from his task by the tea-making genius of Chris Yates.
Roach
stories about roach
La rivière des secrets (The river of secrets)
A river in the south of France leaves a lasting impression on Garrett Fallon. After weeks of lockdown, my fishing season is drifting slowly into focus as a punt might emerge from the mist, gently nudged along by a benevolent breeze. With relief, I’ll soon be casting a line again, but regardless of this enthusiasm, …
NEW FILM – From the Gloaming
From the Gloaming – Fishing the Test for dace, roach and perch For our latest film, we join Kev Parr on the banks of the River Test on a dank, grey late-autumn day, as he fishes for dace, roach and perch. Created by Nick Fallowfield-Cooper, the film offers a lyrical look at a landscape that …
Parr’s Diary – Finding the Right Level
There is a healthy sprinkle of salt in my father’s bones. He wasn’t born beside the sea, but his family moved to Swanage after the Second World War and he spent his formative years exploring the cliffs and coves of the Purbeck coast. It made for quite a contrast to the shell-shocked suburb of north-west …
Parrs Diary – February 2017
I’m not entirely sure where February went. One moment January was dragging its feet and a couple of blinks later the blackbirds are singing and March is upon us. The thin end of the coarse season always seems to rattle by, but I did manage to make it out three times over the past month, …
Fishing on Christmas Day
Now that the New Year is well and truly upon us, Fishpool can look back on the festive season with a tinge of regret that he or she didn’t manage to cast a line on Christmas day. Back when Fishpool was still little more than a sprat, he or she woke one Christmas morning to …
Christmas Eve
Christmas Eve always meant a midday finish, and though there were a few loose ends to tie, the bulk of the morning would be spent nattering and clockwatching. I’d turn my computer on, and probably check my emails, but even my games of solitaire would be half hearted. In years past I would have clocked …
Avon Roach Project
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 …
A first trip to the Test
The River Test perks the ear of any angler. My late father would often talk about it in exalted tones, referring to its glorious brown trout. In later years, I learned of its grayling, and as my circle of angling interests widened, its big roach and dace. To have the chance to fish it was …
Twin piques
I have twin seven year old nephews, Tom and Fred. They are energetic dynamos, indefatigable creatures of havoc, as entertaining with their ludicrous antics as their devilish double act is testing to the patience of the most tolerant of adults. A day with the prankish pair requires deep reserves of many attributes, most of which …