Recent content by Steve Lewis

Hi Tim I know and speak to a lot of people who fish Chew, and many of them have done so for decades and a fair few of them have been doing the pike trials ever since they started (although many of them are finding it harder and harder to get tickets as each year comes around) - my best mate and...

Oh it's definitely a good thing, I just know what it means for cost and ability of the average person to get tickets. Apologies for the negativity, but Bristol Water have pulled this before with some of their other waters (now mostly sold on) when big fish (trout) have been caught they've made...

I don't Gerry. I only "keep tabs" on notable Chew captures from friends and acquaintances and the local fishing grapevine. I haven't kept myself in the loop with anything else as I've been out of the loop for a while and will be for the foreseeable future (not through choice I hasten to add).

Fantastic catch, and what a quality looking specimen! Living locally (it's about 15mins drive) I know several people who have been fishing Chew - for both trout and pike - for years and there have been lots of reliable reports of fish being spotted at well over 50lb, rumours of several fish...

Could do with losing a stone or three myself Neil, although perhaps not the way you did it eh ;)

Hi all A couple of you have messaged me offline - presumably spurred on by my post in the big cats thread - to enquire as to my whereabouts and ask about my wellbeing. It's much appreciated, thank you. I promise I'm fine, and you'll see I still post (very) occasionally, and also browse the...

Big soppy giants.

Never seen one myself, but absolutely there are big cats roaming the wilds - and not so wilds - of the UK. Add together known escapes from zoos, circuses and early wildlife parks, the fascination with "owning" big wild cats the land and gentry had in the first half of the 20th century, plus the...

Paul - if you feel you have to apologise for what was obviously a personal subjective opinion expressing little more than general disappointment and your own observations of the day, then I probably need to hand myself into the 5-0 for some of the stuff I've unashamedly written guilt-free on...

It started in earnest when I went back to fishing after a long break (of 15-odd years - life and its shenanigans got in the way) in 2016 when I was determined to improve my river fishing, having spent most of my formative fishing years on lakes. However, my first actual barbel was in the...

I'm still really enjoying it and the show has become a reliable relaxation tool for me. Leaves me with a big dumb smile on my face every week. I'd seriously be happy for this to carry on until they're physically unable to do it (as long as they're still enjoying themselves of course). RE the...

I think the "answer" to this, and what everyone - even those who are arguing discussing the point - is saying is that too much of ANY non-natural bait is "a bad thing". As I said earlier in the thread, I've always only ever used a single piece of meat on the hook and only change it when it's...

I THINK they are rebadged/made by Daiwa. I've got a Crivit freespool which came in a joblot of tackle I got on eBay and it's exactly the same as a Daiwa freespool I've got (can't remember exactly which model, but one of the cheaper ones obvs).

I've never used pellets and don't intend to (a single meat hookbait all the way for me), and I'm not going to get involved with the ethical argument about their use but, just generally, does no one bother with the Hinders pellets anymore? I know they changed (and perhaps have changed again?)...

Is there a particular reason he's selling them? Both the kevlar and kevlex versions are excellent rods and still better than many premium ones coming out now in my opinion. I have iterations of both and was VERY lucky to win those auctions for not very much money. I got the kevlex (Extreme...