February was not a good month for fishing in more ways than one. Three storms hit the UK, and here in Derby, the River Derwent burst its banks and roads were closed. I did, however, manage one session early in the month before the storms arrived. I went back to the Trent & Mersey Canal at Shardlow, where I'd fished towards the end of last year. This session, I float-fished maggots with a Match 13 rod and Mitchell 300 reel. Temperatures were around 8 degrees, with some cloud,

Fishing in 2022 began at BJ's Fishery, where I'd fished my final session last year. It was a chilly, cloudy afternoon with a few light showers, and with some maggots from the freezer, I set up my Match 13 rod and Mitchell 410 reel on peg 3. After a while trying to find the fish, the only other angler fishing told me he hadn't caught anything on the bottom, and he'd started to catch a few inches up in the water. The lake is only three feet deep where I was, and I moved my fl

Although I didn’t get the opportunity to fish in December as I was busy and then not well over Christmas. This time gave me a chance to look back at my blogs from 2021 and look forward to 2022. A book I read over Christmas was Blood Knots by Luke Jennings. A great read about childhood fishing and those long summer holidays. Last Christmas I spent some time setting up an Instagram account. I’ve enjoyed sharing images with others who appreciate vintage tackle, and I’m amazed ju

Do you ever have one of those days when you go fishing and everything goes wrong? Well, that's how my first session this month started. Tangles, a broken float, the wrong float, then my line got wrapped round the back of the spool on my Ambidex No2. I ended up using a Columbian No62 reel I recently bought in a job lot. On the bright side, once everything was sorted out, I did actually start to catch some fish. I haven't been to BJ's Fishery since earlier in the year. It's a

October's fishing began similarly to September's, with a distinct lack of fish. The weather was similar, with warm temperatures continuing from September into October. I fished at Willington on the Trent & Mersey Canal with a Billy Lane Swing-tip rod and Mitchell 300 reel. Session number two was back on the Trent & Mersey canal, again with Billy Lane and Mr Mitchell, this time at Swakestone... , My third session this month was again with Billy Lane, but this time I took a Mit

September started at Woodrow's on the Earl of Harrington ticket, with a 9½', Billy Lane swing-tip rod, a Mitchell 300 reel, and sweetcorn and luncheon meat for bait. It was a lovely sunny day, one of those hazy, late summer days. I baited up and cast just off a lily bed to my right, and waited. Fish were topping and jumping all over the lake, and I had fish in my swim. The angler on the next peg showed me pictures of fish he'd caught the week before. Today, he was catching Ro

August saw me camping again. And a few sessions with my nephew. And his PB Carp! My nephew, Harrison, is currently on summer holidays, and as I don't work Mondays, we went to Birch House Lakes and fished the Horseshoe Lake. It was really quiet, and we found a peg big enough for two, with some lilies, reeds and a small island to fish to. We both float-fished red maggots, and I fished my 12' cane rod and Mitchell Match reel. When Harrison goes fishing with his friends, they use

While on holiday in Shropshire I fished the Ellesmere Canal... This next video was filmed a few days after I got back from Shropshire. It was a lovely sunny July day. My tackle was still in the car, so I decided to go to the Trent & Mersey and try and catch a few at Swakestone.

June’s blog had a real treat in store for me. Not just fishing, but three days camping. I love camping; it reminds me of being a Cub Scout, camping at Drum Hill near Derby. Of summer nights in the back garden, a small white canvas tent, no groundsheet like these modern tents. Anyway, I headed back to Springwood Fisheries where I’d camped two years ago, but due to the pandemic, I hadn’t had the chance to go last year. I chose a quiet pitch near the woods, and after setting up

Recently I bought a job lot of five old reels. One in particular really caught my eye. The Le "Omnia" Super. Although the reel has a French-sounding name, it is, in fact, British. Manufactured by T J Harrington & Son Ltd, Walton-on-Thames, Surrey, and even more specifically, in a factory on the corner of Mosely Road and Lyon Road. T.J. Harrington & Son manufactured other reels with names ending with the letter 'A', including the Regina, Gemima, Maxima and Little Kraka. Probab