Canal Roach — Heads or Tails

So tired I've become of not getting bites that the other night on the Avon where not getting bites was the order of the evening for me and Martin both till last knockings when I finally did get a savage bite only to pick up the rod and find fish absent at the other end, I decided that if I'm going to have to wait so long between one and the other that I might as well fish a method and at a place where waiting hours and hours is actually worthwhile.

Old Ooks

There's a movement in angling towards using really old gear, ancient cane rods, antiquated reels, sitting on wicker creels and generally turning the back on the modern and efficient. Well, for all you traditional anglers out there, ere's something you don't ave in your Ogden's 'Redbreast' Flake tin and probably never will unless you buy them from me...

Canal Zander — I Want my Money Back!

I've got the Coventry Canal blues. Since the beginning of the year it hasn't been a matter of counting the fish caught but the bites got and I can count them on both hands without taking them out of my pockets. The number is zero. Not one bite since Christmas and that's unusual even for a canal renowned as a hard place at the best of times.

No More Heroes Any More?

In this month's Total Coarse Fishing, Ian Welch, one of my colleagues in the opinion piece section of the mag, bemoans the parlous state of recruitment to the ranks. Ian argues that youngsters are not coming through in the droves that the sport needs to survive into the near future and in the main I do agree with his points.