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After work short session on the Charente. First barbel of the year and heard a cuckoo.

Yes I meant the Trent Collingham. But Collingham on the Wharfe is where I first fished for barbel in the 70s. I have many happy memories of fishing the Collingham stretch for chub, grayling and barbel.

If you get a 15lb barbel Steve Arnold and I will be bivvied up there in our camper vans quicker than you can say Collingham Circus!

The Douane chappies are a bit hit and miss. Most of my customers who have travelled to Blighty and back have had no problem smuggling my mole traps and auction win vintage reels over, but they seem to give anglers a hard time. To be fair there is nothing that you need that you cannot buy here...

Graham, you will require a CdP to fish any river even if the banks are private. Only lakes that are not connected to a river system can be exempt from the requirement. Also, all departmental fishing rules apply, i.e. night fishing. The photos on google are inconclusive. I am sure that there...

Hi Graham, 15lbs is some French barbel. The unofficial record is only just over that and that was caught over 30 years ago. The gaves are more renown for salmon and trout rather than coarse fish. I have not fished the one you mention, but further west most of the mountain rivers are classed as...

The composting toilets don't need emptying. But someone has to clean them on a daily basis and that cost would be prohibitive for most clubs. And, as has been said; many will not leave their pegs to go to the toilet. Perhaps if Korum marketed portaloos everybody would want one 😂

It is a sign of the times Jon. Even over here and in Cyprus where there is no night fishing allowed. You also see it in canoeists on no navigation waters and motorcyclists with their tiny reg plates and ultra loud exhausts. But in angling there seems to be a trend of lawlessness associated with...

My spools and reels are kept in a cupboard in the basement. Cool, dry and dark. Some of the Ultima and GR60 lines are now over 10 years old. I'll examine the line before use and cut off any damaged sections, but all in all it is as good as new. I stopped doing bs tests years ago as there was no...

I find small wasp nests in my winter coats that hang just inside the basement door. While I am not using them the wasps make little 6 or 7 cell nests. I discover them around November.

An old police inspector many years ago was asked why the police hadn't raided a certain pub that was frequented by criminals and undesirables. He said that he preferred to keep all the rotten eggs in one basket where he knew where they all were. There might be something in what he said ;)

Out for a walk and lunch today. The restaurant has an outside terrace overlooking the River Vincou that is mainly a trout river with a few barbel lower down. This view is of a landscaped part of the river that was formerly a chateau garden. Apparently yesterday someone hooked a large carp from...

I used to fish many urban waters in Yorkshire. It never failed to amaze me what there was in these free and forgotten waters. The old canal at Barnsley is mostly derelict. In some of the parts that still held water you could see ghost carp, koi carp and goldfish. I caught a rainbow trout in the...

The River Charente. If you imagine the locks and weirs of the Thames, but with the water quality of the Hampshire Avon you are getting close. With hardly any anglers on the banks and truly wild fish. As for the swim? You'll have to find that yourself. There are plenty to choose from between...

It happens over here too Gerry. Anglers night fishing for carp where night fishing isn't permitted and nibht fishing for catfish and other predators using baits that are not cereal based. They don't speak Polish though. English is their Mother tongue. In Cyprus there were lots of evidence of...

The French will eat anything. They put Lancastrians to shame.

You can adapt many floats into sliders by attaching micro swivels using float rubbers top and bottom. The line flows better through the eyes of the swivels than some of the tiny eyes on dedicated sliders.

Stephen, what you say is true for your situation. You pick the pellets that maintain the health of the fish over time. Same with the analogy of layer's pellets. Halibut pellets were never designed for the use that anglers put them to. They are designed for young fish that have no other means of...

Aren't those cages situated in the mouth of the bay north of Ullapool? It seems to be the farms situated in lochs where there aren't sufficient tidal currents to disperse the waste. WWF and other reputable organisations have flagged concerns for this situation.

I think that many anglers don' t understand that pellets were designed for fish farming, not angling. The ingredients of the pellet is purely to achieve maximum growth quickly at the cheapest price AND for fish that have no other food supply. The 35% protein content is way above what fish...