Captivation...

I was really looking forward to today's session. There was no fishing last weekend and a clear, bright crisp winters day was forecast. Lakeside was my chosen venue, the big roach there have shunned me for a good while now, but with most other species present, if the right spot is chosen it can provide a tremendous day's sport. 

I never got there until after 10, a few things to see to beforehand and a visit from my brother delayed things. As you would guess, most of the pitches I had in mind were taken. I pulled over to check out a couple of other spots and was taken aback at just how clear the water was. Really clear, and for a long way out too. I didn't see much in the way of fish, but some really peachy fishy looking areas to remember and try once the warmer weather comes. 

A New Horizon

Already I'm looking forward to what this year has in store. Such exciting times lay ahead, some still in the pipeline, some coming to fruition, but I can tell you that it'll be one of the most interesting years for a while, that's for sure.


Along with my usual piscatorial jollies, the annual pilgrimage to the hills of Wales in search of wildies, etc.. There will be a search for that 2lb roach that still evades me, a 3lb crucian, as well as stalking stunning carp on my local waters, and at venues not so local. And those summer days spent following carp around various pools will be done so with something very exciting indeed......I'll explain.

 

I was recently approached by my friend Andrew Davis. Andrew is among the best rod makers of our time, with his many his works of art up there with the best I've seen and handled. And let me tell you how humbled I was to be asked to help out with designing and testing the Ultimate Split Cane Carp rod. Between us we've bounced ideas off each other, length, tapers, strengths, aesthetics, the works. And I think, without divulging too much, now there is enough for Andrew to work his magic and, all going well and alongside his busy schedule, we should have the finished article by June 16th for me to begin the testing process.

 

This testing process, putting Excalibur through its paces, will be well documented here so keep a look out come the summer. For more info on this project and the other exquisite works of art Andrew produces, check out Andrew's website....

 

http://www.ajdsplitcanerods.com/



 

2014 - A Review

So I thought I’d do a little round up of what I caught last year.

Started off early January catching some carp whilst float fishing with Sweetcorn from Lakeside…





Went back a few days later and caught some more. It was great fun.

Winter on the Avon...

I’d been looking forward to fishing with Chris for a long while. We’d conversed for a while, but that fishing trip was proving elusive for some reason. That was until he invited me to fish as a guest on his club’s stretch of the Hampshire Avon at Somerley. I’d only ever fished the Avon once, and drew a blank, but thought it was the most seductive river I’d ever cast into, so the decision was a very easy one.

The trip was planned for New Year’s Eve, and we were to be accompanied by mutual friend Steve Frapwell and Chris’s good friend Neil. The forecast was for a frosty one with temperatures of below zero the night previous. Some friends of mine fished the day before on a more local river, and experienced temps of minus 4 on arrival, but the photos they captured were outstanding.