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Yes they are Steve. The last time I bought them (from a local engineering supplies company) they cost £5.76 for a hundred. Their reference number was BS020. I spray the hair rollers with black 'stone chip' - the stuff used to protect car sills. The rollers cost £1.99 for a pack of 18 - I chuck...

Making your own gear is the trademark of a serious angler - I've been making my own feeders since the seventies. Nowadays the cost in angling shops is horrendous and as we all know, it's possible to lose a serious amount during the course of a season - especially in floodwater conditions!

I only tend to weigh the biggies - it's also nice to get a few photos as well. Talking of which - I really wish digital cameras had been about forty years ago, I've got so many great fishing memories and very few pictures to back them up.

As Steve Bond says, it's all dependent on the bait you are using. A 2" cube of meat would look pretty stupid on a size 16! Back in the seventies when I started doing a lot of match fishing for barbel on the Severn with casters and maggots it was pretty near impossible to get strong, reliable...

If you want to repair wellingtons, waders or moon boots, the best stuff on the planet is Aquasure - it's brilliant stuff!

Hello Lee. Unfortunately, you and I seem to be of like mind and I agree with all you have to say. There are many issues affecting angling (particularly river angling) and the negatives seem to outweigh the positives!

What about goosanders? They are just as much of a threat to fish population. Cormorants take mature breeding sized fish, whilst goosanders clean up the snack sized juvenile fish!

Hello Kevin - actually I did see barbel then. I caught my first in 1963 and it weighed about 8ozs. The Severn was a totally different river then - it was alive and healthy. I do however remember a lot of people were against the introduction of barbel though. Salmon anglers were against them as...

As a kid I regularly caught minnows using a modified wine bottle - the kind with the dimpled base. Ledgered minnows used to produce lots of big chub from the Severn and of course they were free - which was a big plus. I'm sure barbel will scavenge on the bottom, overturning stones and eating...

Like it or not, if you haven't already got them, otters are coming your way. I've fished all my life and am the wrong side of sixty now. Back in the sixties my local river Severn abounded with massive shoals of chub, roach and dace and I never saw an otter anywhere. Comments from others rightly...

I remember an elderly angler coming into a local tackle shop after a couple of hours on the riverbank - 'Any good?' I asked. 'No, absolutely **** - and I hope I'm still saying the same thing next year!' he replied. Remember, we're all mortal. Life is precious!

We are just 2 weeks into the new season and I've already seen seven barbel with mutilated tails on my local river Severn. I personally caught 4 damaged fish last year and have had 1 so far. Remember, these fish are the 'lucky ones' because they are still alive - for the time being! Where will it...

My trusty, no frills, Wychwood aluminium chair has just given up the ghost and I've replaced it with a JRC X-Lite which is also aluminium. Lightness and comfort don't necessarily go together but I'm Happy with it. In a past life I was a serious match angler and have recently started to use my...

When I was a lad in the 1950's I was introduced to fishing on the river Severn by my old dad. For many other people like me, this introduction to fishing became a lifelong passion. Over the years I've spent countless hours lounging about on riverbanks and enjoying all that nature had to offer...

If we were living in the 17th century you could send a query to Sir Isaac Newton - being a very clever chap (probably because he wasn't an angler) he'd probably provide you with a whole new law of motion relating to fishing rods. If you were really lucky he might also have provided you with an...

I've just returned from the river and whilst it was not really a problem my feeder was regularly draped with silkweed. I've fished the Severn for over 50 years and this stuff usually appears in shallow water after a sustained sunny period. I don't know why we're seeing it so early in the season...

I would like to believe the report, however, over the last ten years the numbers of goosanders on our waterways have increased astronomically. There's barely a water that hasn't felt their impact! The river Severn's silver fish population in the Shrewsbury area (where I live) has been...