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A Season on the Thames....... By Jon Callan This year I have decided to make a few changes to my fishing, gone is the endless pursuit of numbers and bigger and bigger fish. Where I was fishing was to become the important factor. Not only for aesthetics, but also to get back to a few...

My Short Story by Darren George Darkness. Pitch-black darkness: an all-enveloping void. Deep in the silky nothingness a snake of glass slithers through the undergrowth, pimpled with beads of dew. The un-seen river meanders past ancient oaks, crooked and wrinkled with wisdom. Around...

UnfinishedBbusiness –" My first double" By Chris Netto (Felix333) I work about 23 miles from where I live which means by the time I get home, I can’t fish locally much before 19:30. Yesterday (7.9.04), however, I had a dental check up which meant I would be home a little earlier...

Barbel Blanks By Mark Walker Around the beginning of 2001 I realized that my fishing was becoming very stale and repetitive. Arrive at commercial type fishery, hold long carbon pole or hurl huge method feeder all day, pull out a few stockie carp with the odd tench and bream, pack up at...

"New? Food For Thought" By John Milne I’ve fished for in excess of 30 years. Starting with seven years course fishing, including Barbel on the Swale and Wharf. In those days a fish of 5lbs was considered a good fish and I don’t recall...

"My Swim" By Mark Street “My swim†and The Perfect Script. I have fished my local stretch of Mole now for some ten years. It is a small but varied stretch of river meandering through the Surrey countryside, pretty as a picture in all seasons .Of all the miles of river I am lucky...

"The Fear Factor" By Paul Hayes It's taken me a little while to decide if I should write this article or not, but as I found it fascinating and was something I'd never seen before, I thought some, if not all of you may be interested in how I caught my first Hants. Avon barbel and the...

"The Seven P's" By Dave Middlemore Strange title? Let me explain.... When I was undergoing my training in the Royal Air Force, my flight sergeant instructor had a saying: 'Remember the 7 P's ?' 'Errrrr - what's that, flight?' said us, wet-behind-the-ears, 18 year old's...

2 Cold Days On The Kennet. By BARBULE Day 1 Arriving at Grahams, a welcome cuppa in his hand as he opened the door, we sat in the garden talking of past trips together and of what might happen in the next 2 days. He was not too hopeful, as the weather had not been kind to us. A...

Debut On The Dove By Stewart Bloor A beautiful summers day, it's the start of the 2000 river season and I'm heading up the A38 for a first visit to the River Dove. It was a good job I gave myself plenty of time, because once off the main road I got a bit lost... A thirty five mile journey...

River Peace By Graham Elliot The single rose dropped from the bridge and settled on the water, it caught in an eddy momentarily, then resurfaced, continuing its journey along the river. Through favoured shallow runs and then mysterious, deeper slacks on its continued path towards the...

Christmas Spirit By Lee Fletcher The night sky was greyish white as the snow fell lightly on the frost bitten ground. The wind, blowing in from the East, rattled the dead stems of common reed that bent and swayed in bunches once warm green, but now the cold lifeless shells that would soon...

A Memorable Session, Amid the Storm By Lee Fletcher Storm Clouds at Dusk. Photographed by Lee Fletcher I came down the wooded hill into my village, turning the sharp corner at the bottom of the hill illuminating the stone church with my cars bright headlights. As I drove up the...

Watchmen By Dick Dowing I am so lucky, having seen so many natural things. Hundreds of memories, something special on every fishing trip, whether that bullet flash of blue passing, a wren at close quarters, tree creepers, fox, deer, badgers and many other creatures. I have also sought...

Teaching an Old Dog New Tricks By Keith Truscott Having never written an article before and looking at some of the illustrious names that have gone before me it is a somewhat humbling task, but as they say if you don't have a go then you will never know and the Editor has the final say so...

The Darkening By Graham Elliott The crash of thunder made me cower involuntarily, as if a hand from the skies had pushed me downwards. Knee length boots jagged hard against the sun-baked track heading toward the river. Seemingly minutes before, at home and resting, feet up watching the...

Seasons First Night By Dick Dowing Here is a story , hopefully to wet the appetite for first night. Not maybe the initial dream of a long awaited session. There is a romance to that lone assault to the river. Here though I try to encompass some of the camaraderie and feeling generated...

A Good Night By Jon Callan My Beloved: The River Kennet A good night was called for, the season was fast running out and there was still so much to do and dreams to be met! Having so little time left a trip to familiar haunts was called for, the river was rising fast and an...

A Tale Of Two Rivers By Pete Falloon It must have been around 1985, when would have been about 12, that I first saw them. I’d been roaming the banks of the Upper Medway at Fordcombe with a school friend, Paul Tomlin in the summer holidays, trying our luck with the chub that could be seen...

River Kennet - Lucky for some By Graham Elliott I returned to the Kennet after an absence of over 30 years. As a youngster I had fished for it’s glorious roach and it had also rewarded me with a first barbel. When my river mentor, Roy, moved to other parts, the fascination waned and I got...