I've been busy this month restoring a 10' Millwards Whole Cane Rod. My brother bought the rod from an antiques dealer at a local garden centre for £10. The rod was in a very sorry state when I got it, with most of the line guides missing and the remaining guides very rusty and unusable. I cleaned up the brass fittings and sanded the rod with fine sandpaper, before whipping new line guides, staining the handle and applying yacht varnish to the whole cane and hard wood tip-sect

Here I’m fishing at Derwent Valley Fishery on Woodrow’s Pond, with a 10’ Army & Navy rod with a Mitchell 300 on a tiger nut boilie, and a 10’ R Chapman MkIV 550 Carp rod with a Mitchell 410 with a sweetcorn hook bait, both on the bottom, although I went on to the float with the MkIV rod later. While fishing, I listened to a cricket match from the 1980s and read an Angling Times from November 1985, which they were giving away with other old angling magazines at my local tackle

At the beginning of the month, I headed to the Trent & Mersey Canal at Stenson Bubble to a nice, quiet spot below the lock and had a really nice session. I got chatting to a boater moored nearby who also fished, and he gave me a float he'd made. I made a video which you can see below. A few weeks later I went to Woodrows Pond on the Earl of Harrington ticket, where I hadn't been for a long while. It was my day off during the week, so I expected to have the place to myself. Ho

At the end of May/beginning of June, we went on my annual fishing holiday, and this time we went somewhere different. A little village called Madley, near Hereford, at Canon Bridge Fishery. The lake had some good-sized carp, so I took a 10’ split cane Army & Navy rod along with a fibreglass Golden Green rod, paired with a Mitchell 300 and a 410. I also took a 10’6 Milbro rod and a Strike Right centre-pin reel for float fishing. There were plenty of small carp on the float rod

Back at Robin Wood for the third time this year. A sunny 18 April, on Lake 3 again. This time with my Match 13 rod and Mitchell 300. The first items in my vintage fishing journey. After several Roach taking the float-fished maggots, I landed a chunky Carp—a nice start to Spring.

Well, it's been a while since I wet a line, and it felt good to be back on the bank on 9 March, even though I blanked! Oh well, things can only get better. On 22 March, I was back at Robin Wood to have another go. This time, the weather had improved, and I was wearing my new EFGEECO, lucky t-shirt. I caught plenty of Roach on maggots with a Shakespeare Omni rod and Omni 040 reel. At the end of the month, on 30 March, I ventured to Birchhouse Fishery, where I had another blank

We're into February, and I haven't been able to go fishing yet this year. I have, however, spent some time in my shed. I was lucky to be given an Amidex No. 1, which was in a bit of a mess when I received it last year. I wasn't sure what to do with the reel at first, so I spent some time stripping the old paint off and cleaning the inside. At first, I was going to hand paint it, as I'm not good at spraying. Then I decided to clean up the metal and leave it as it was. I'm plea

Happy New Year, piscators. I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and New Year, and you've recovered from any overindulgence. I had a quiet, cosy Christmas and spent some time planning my fishing for 2026, which I'll write about over the coming months. I treated myself to something nostalgic and retro for Christmas, an Action Man! I had several as a youngster, along with lots of accessories, all of which were sold at a local jumble sale when I got "too old". After buying an

I thought I'd end this year's blogging with a good news story. A few months ago, I sold this 6'5 split-cane rod online after a few messages about what type of rod it could be. After posting the rod, I didn't expect to hear any more. Then, out of the blue, I got a message along with the image below of the rod after being restored. Bought as part of a job lot, I didn't intend to keep it; however, if I had, I couldn't have done a higher standard of restoration. So I'm glad it we

November 2023 was the last time I went to the National Vintage Fishing Tackle Fair, so it was good to be back. I wasn't looking for specific tackle, so after a look round, I had a closer look and bought a few books. I've been thinking about replacing my Mitchell 410, and spotted a few nice-looking ones, and bought a nice one. After a cuppa, another look, money burning a hole in my pocket. I saw some Mitchell reels for £5 each. Rummaging in the box resulted in two 300As, one o