New Season New Hopes and a Busy Time Ahead

June 16th 2007 will see me starting my 66th season of this great sport or pastime having started on Monday June 16th 1941; it was a different story in those war torn days. I didn’t have a rod, just a ball of red wool some eel hooks and some nuts from bolts as weight. I caught 7 stunted rudd from the Alpha cement works clay pit. My fishing that afternoon was disturbed by an overhead dog fight as Hurricanes and Spitfires tried to destroy the invading German air force. A few months later I had my first fishing rod; it was three pieces cane butt and middle joint with a lance wood top. Looking back to that first rod, I reckon I have seen better garden canes. That rod eventually got broken by a German V1 rocket known as a doodle bug, not only did I lose my fishing rod, we lost our house which was totally destroyed.

Fishing has given me everything I have wanted from life, most of all it taught me to become a more caring person and one with nature, my parents, grandparents and various uncles discussed ways of trying to improve the environment, they also encouraging me to be a naturalist. All this long before it becomes fashionable. Later in life Rachel Carson author of The Silent Spring, The Sea Around Us and The Edge of the Sea was without doubt the heroine of the day. Her books become compulsory reading, some people read the bible I read and studied Rachel Carson. She was writing about the real world full of chemicals, not writing fairy stories.

I have been privileged to fish many countries around the world where I have made many friends. Fishing in fresh or saltwater I’ve enjoy it all, from the cold waters of the Arctic circle to the Caribbean and South America. Casting a waking lure in the pitch black of night for a sea trout, watching a float in the dawn mist laying at a drunken angle then slowing moving away submerging as it does so, chucking a popping plug at dawn on a wilderness stretch of coastline for bass. Watching a red tipped float going down the swim on an autumn day in search of roach or being hooked up to a big bull dorado as it skips across the ocean in its bid for freedom. I find every single moment exciting. Many people have said to me “Don’t you get bored” How could someone get bored taking part in such a great pastime. I love taking the newcomer to the waterside and teaching them to cast a fly or float. Then seeing a big pair of shining eyes and a grin a mile wide as they catch their first fish. Yes, fishing is fun and full of surprises

From June 16th it will be all action, as I travel the length and breadth of the country fishing in the ocean for bass and mullet, on the lakes and rivers for barbel, chub, perch, tench, roach and rudd, even bream will be on my list, perhaps a carp from the margins without a bivvy or bed chair. Sea trout and brown will be on the agenda, no doubt there will be days when I will be fishing for tench at dawn, then after breakfast guiding someone to their first chub. Come teatime I might be giving someone fly casting lesson followed then at dusk chucking a fly for a brown or sea trout. Dawn the next morning I could be on the coast for a session chasing bass. Some weeks I will fish a full seven days, it’s great being retired.

During the past month in between doing habitat work on my river, gardening, teaching and guiding I have checked all my rods to make sure there are no broken guides, cork handles have been cleaned, new line put on my fixed spool and centre pin reels. Again I will be using Gamma line as I have done for the past three years; I see no reason to change. Bait boxes have been washed out, landing net mesh checked to make sure it’s not rotted. I would be terrible to have a fish of a lifetime in the net, then as I lifted it from the water to see it disappear through some rotten mesh. Bivvy, lightweight roving chair and bed chair have been cleaned. Electric bite alarms and headlamps fitted with new batteries. Gas stove serviced.

Grauvell Specialist Series Rods are for Everyone

One question I am most asked is what type of rod do I recommend for general coarse fishing. That’s a tough question. Choosing a rod that will cover all aspects of coarse angling is a tough one. Lets leaving out the carp and pike from the equation. For the other species of coarse fish I suggest a rod between 11 and 12 feet in length, a rod which will handle lines between 5 and 10lb breaking strain. Yes, it’s a bit heavy for roach rudd and perch but in choosing just one rod you will need to compromise. Many of the commercially produced rods I have seen are rather stiff, what I would call poker like in there action. Steer clear of his type of rod. You want a rod with a progressive or Avon action. For the last three years I have looked around for a rod to replace my Chevin’s.

One morning I called in at Tadley Angling in Padworth Common near Reading to record an interview for my At the Waters Edge programme on BBC Radio Lancashire. As I looked around the shop I spotted a row of nice looking rods, I suppose it was some well crafted handle that caught my attention. I picked up the Specialist LT. It was just the type of rod I’ve been looking for, marketed under the Grauvell banner a Spanish company. Apart from the LT they have a full range of rods in the Specialist series. The 11’ 6”rod with a test curve of 1.2lbs known as the Specialist LT designed for lines between 3 and 7lbs its perfect in my book for roach rudd perch tench chub bream and barbel up to about 7lbs when fishing still waters or snag free rivers. I don’t reckon it’s suitable for the river Teme. On this river I fish with a minimum breaking strain line of 12lbs. The Specialist LT is a delight to use. When I first looked at this rod I thought it would have a price tag of about £140-£150 it cost’s less than £70-00.

Two other rods in the series are the Specialist MT with a test curve of 1lb 8 ounces 12 feet in length, this rod will be perfect for most species, though a bit on the heavy side for roach rudd and perch. But if you’re fishing at long range for perch then it will be OK as no doubt you will be using 6lb line. The Specialist MT want break the bank it sells for just over £70 finally the 12 foot HT with a 1lb 12 ounce test curve is a powerful rod ideally suited for big barbel, it will make a good carp rod. If you’re a bass fisher this model will be ideal for fishing crab baits in the surf matched with a small multiplier reel and 12 - 15lb line, again it’s in the £70-00 plus price bracket. All three rods come with full cork handle, nice size guides and fitted with a keeper ring. I feel all rods should be fitted with this little but very useful accessory. I would like to see his rod in three pieces and six inches taken off the length of the cork handle. for further details visit or call Kevin at Tadley Angling Tel 0118-9701533 Gerry’s of Morecambe call 01254 422146 or e-mail [email protected] Let me say now, these rods are not just for the beginner, they want look out of place being used by the top anglers. I am more than impressed. No one can say they cannot afford a good rod with a nice progressive or Avon action. Never has good quality rod been so cheap, yet so good. Well done Grauvell

Desperate for Rain

What does worry me is the lack of rain in the north of England; most of our rivers and streams are bare bones. If we don’t get some rain in the next week, I will cease trout fishing. I want even bother with any of our northern rivers for coarse fishing come June 16th and I would advise other angles to do the same. It’s a pity the EA don’t have the right to close our rivers in time of low water. Thankfully the Kennet, Avon, Thames and Stour all have good water levels. The water levels in the gravel pits in the south and midlands are better than last year. Thankfully we had that very wet winter in 2006/7 and hopefully we will get another wet mild winter again this year. I do get annoyed when the weathermen or woman Say “It’s another lovely sunny day” don’t these people realise we cannot survive without regular rainfall. It’s not only the aquatic life that suffers, the wild animals, birds and tree suffer from lack of rainfall. Even our food chain suffers the next thing we will be told is the price of vegetables will be going up through the lack of rain. I reckon in the north of England we need two full days of rain a week.

Now is the Time to Target the Tench

Summer is the proper time to write about tench fishing, sitting at the lakeside watching a red tipped float or a bite indicator is one of the joys of fishing and the tench is the perfect fish of summer dawns. Tench, Tinca tinca is the Latin name, it’s a fish of still waters, canals and slow flowing southern and midland rivers. It’s a powerful fish, which cannot be confused with any other species. With is large paddle like tail, red eyes and two small barbules, its colour varies from water to water, from a beautiful golden olive green, to dark olive or nearly black in colour with tiny scales, its truly a fish of summer dawns. In the south and midlands there are many tench water where you have a good chance of 8lb plus tench, even in the north of England its possible to catch good tench, perhaps even a double figure fish. Two waters spring to mind Tewitfields fishery near Carnforth and the River Crossens in Southport.


When I choose to fish for tench I try and choose area where I have a depth of water between six and ten feet. Even better if I can see tench rooting about over the gravel and silt bottom. I then rake the area and bait with a mix of red crumb, hempseed, sweet corn, chopped worms and red gentles (maggots) hopefully the fish will then investigate this area and stay around. Nothing beats float fishing, I would choose a rod about 12 feet, probably the Specialist LT from Grauvell matched with a centre pin reel and 8lb pound Gamma line, an antenna float and a size 10 eyed hook tied on the line with a five turn tucked blood knot would probably complete the outfit. The lift method, known by many anglers as shot legering is a good way to go. Having plumbed the depth I would set the float, so the bait would be just on the bottom, with a swan shot pinched on the line two inches from the hook. When the fish picks up the bait, the weight is taken off the float causing it to lift, hence the name.

Having raked and baited the swim you should soon see a mass of pinhead bubbles, possibly some tench cruising or feeding. Having sorted out the tackle and method to use, the next choice is bait. I reckon bread flake or lobworms are my top two baits. Though in the past three or four years I have had some good success using green lipped mussel and Pallatrax jungle paste, sweet corn and mini boilies are both useful baits to have. I am told luncheon meat is also good bait on some waters. If I could afford a few pints of casters then they would certainly be one of my top choice baits. Now go out and enjoy your fishing, if you’re not enjoying the day go home. It’s not a job of work; it’s supposed to be a pleasure.