Little time to spare

Hello all.

Lady of the stream!

It's been over 3 months since i put words to the screen of my laptop or pen to paper. It's also been 3 months since I last fished too! Possibly the longest period of time in many many years! There are numerous reasons for my not setting foot on the bank but chiefly the starting of a new line of work has drastically eaten into any free time I once had.

The job is very long hours and I'm away from home 6 days of the week and even 7 at times! In fact I worked out that I had done nearly 90 days work with just 6 days off. None of those spent fishing either! If i'm totally truthful with you though, I've lost heart in it a bit. Not something I ever thought I would say but it's true. I have finally had a skinful of many aspects of angling.

The weekly magazines have been publishing utter crap about fish captures, the internet is smothered with people treating a few anglers like total celebrities just because they've caught a couple of fish....outside of angling these people are nobodies. The constant jumping ship from one company to the next and then telling the consumer they shouldn't use any other product etc. Really all has got on my nerves of recent.

Itchen beauty!

To top it off Facebook, Twitter etc is littered with hatred and jealousy, people who always know better or who've caught bigger and better. Time for a massive deletion of said persons from these sites and surround myself with just the one's I regularly converse with. I've already deleted many dickheads and will continue to do so as they appear on my news feeds.

Angling has become fashionable and so many of these people think that they can make a good living from sitting on the bank fishing day in day out. More fool them..... My only angling from now on is going to be for me and me only i'm afraid. I don't have the time for the guiding any more and the bait business is just full of idiots wanting the best bait money can buy for £5 a kilo. It really is a waste of time dealing with it all.

Great way to see out the 2015 season

My last fishing trip was with the lovely SHUK lads i'm involved with. A very interesting and varied group of 30 lads and lasses who are very good at what they do. Not only that but they actually treat each other with respect and look after one another. Not something I have seen in recent 'club' years. We had a trip down to fish the amazing River Itchen in early March and to say it was a great day was an understatement. Mathew and I joined the usual suspects and roved the river with pin and float tactics. The grayling fishing was second to none and I ended the day with so many fish that I honestly lost count! Lots of ones and a few two pounders too! I even lost the mother of all huge chib right at the net! We had a great day out and I have to say that I thoroughly enjoyed the company of the guys as ever!

Prior to that trip I had a few hours one evening on the River Wye. Just to try and get one last barbel out before seasons end. I sat for a few hours with motionless tips but finally after a couple of small chub I got a cracking 8lb plus fish to end the year with!

I've been struggling to get motivated to go back out since....whether this is down to my new work and lack of me time or the fact that I have lost interest??? I'm not 100% sure at present....I have been nursing a very painful trapped nerve in my shoulder blades that has required regular treatment and it also appears I have a problematic bicep tendon which may require surgery. It's certainly very very painful and has put pay to my new found love for down hill mountain biking!

Enjoying new hobbies!

I'm sure things will improve and I will get some sort of bug for fishing back but until then I'm going to just do a little bit of canal fishing for silvers etc and maybe the odd evening on the River when the season comes around. Until then it's all work and no play.

I hope your all in good health and I look forward to catching up with some of you soon!

Keith

Return of the noddy!

Made at home and ready to rock!

Evening friends and followers! It's been almost a month since I last wrote anything on here and to be honest it's only due to being very busy and the fact that it's also been 6 weeks since I first contracted the deathflumanebola virus that I am finally starting to come out the other side of!

What a horrid bug it's been too....cannot honestly remember the last time I felt so unwell for such a long time?

I've tried to keep myself up and going but at times it's really knocked me for six. Anyway, with the weather being less than amicable at times, it's really put the stoppers on my intended fishing sessions going into the last few weeks of the official coarse season for the rivers. I had intended on getting up to the Wye or Severn but they've either been bank high or just fishing generally crap!

All the gear and no idea!

Drenched but happy!

With this in mind I've hoiked out the old match kit and upgraded many bits of it in the last few weeks. I got myself a new margin pole, a few match reels and some other bits and bobs that were either worn out, broken or just looking a tad tired.

Of course, all this new stuff came with a price....the considerable need to GO FISHING!

My first mini session was a trip out to Viaduct Fishery near Somerton with Mathew. First impressions were that it looked a really nice venue. Platforms were well laid out and there were pretty good facilities too.

The fishing was bloody diabolical though and despite a handful of roach and skimmers each, Mat and I both had little to talk about. I was rather disappointed with the tackle shop on site....

They had a fairly good selection of kit and I chose a nice new pole roller and some other kit totaling about £75. I then stood in a cue of around 15 match anglers waiting at the till. I stood with my debit card in hand and waited around 10 minutes with 2 members of staff just serving teas up.

The one bloke could see I was waiting and couldn't be bothered to serve me. I finally got past the scavs to be told that they didn't take cards and that i'd have to travel into town to get cash out! Why on earth he waited 10 minutes to tell me that when he saw the card in my hand i'll never know. Needless to say I walked out and didn't buy a thing.

Mathew had a few from Springs

The match that was going on behind me was bloody awful too. I had a scummy woman sat right behind my peg who's mouth needed a wash out with soap! There were children walking around and all that could be heard was her swearing every few minutes. Disgusting behavior. I don't think we'll be going back there in a hurry!

Next outing was a day with my old mate Lewis to Cefn Mably lakes near Cardiff. Much better shop, much better fishing and to be honest, a lot closer to home! The fishing started a little slow but progressed nicely and I finished the day with about 35lbs of carp, f1s and a few skimmers. Lewis had about 25lb of the same.

Mathew and I then decided a tip over to fish the Bridge Pool at Mably the following Sunday and to say it was horrific weather was an understatement! Horizontal rain and winds made the fishing a little uncomfortable! But we made the most of it and between us we had over 350lb of carp!!! Bloody great fishing it was too. All the fish came from the margins on meat and pole and it was one after another!

The following week saw us venture over to White Springs and a day on the Canals. The fishing was no less than diabolical and despite every effort we made, we had very little worth talking about. Mathew sat for 5 hours without a bite and Lewis packed up on a blank. I managed a small handful of roach , skimmers and a carp and Mathew managed a few more just before we packed up.

Andy did well on a tough day!

Again we felt it was a poor day out as there was a kid racing around the venue on a motorbike for the best part of 3 hours! Very annoying!

Andy and I ventured out to Mably last Wednesday only to find a mid week match on the Bridge. We were a little gutted as we then had to fish a very cold and wind match lake. The fishing was sporadic to say the least and despite our best efforts we struggled to put anything decent on the bank. Andy finished with about 19lb 4oz and I had 18lb 2oz. Very tough!

Sunday past, Mathew and I went over to an old haunt of mine, Emerald Pool in Somerset. A great little venue to be honest and apart from another annoying match lot that decided to do their draw behind our pegs, we actually had a great day with me finally giving Mathew a good old arse whooping! Plenty of carp, roach, skimmers and F1's found the bank.

Part of a 140lb plus bag!

Finally, today I went back up for another crack at the Bridge Pool. The morning was incredibly slow to start and despite a few skimmers, by 2pm I was all bar fishless. I kept baiting the inside line and eventually around 2.15pm I got what I had waited for. A proper bite from the margin. This followed up with another few fine chunks and when my buddy Dave arrived at 3pm I had had around 50lb of fish in a short spell!

Dave sat with me watching as I started to rack up a few pounds in the nets at last! The fishing was almost frantic at times and I had one after another queuing up for my luncheon meat hook bait! I finally weighed in around 4.30pm with no less than 140lbs of carp and a few extra silvers I didn't weigh! A great day out yet again!

Well that's about it from me for the present....Just to add that it's now been almost 2 months since I wrote my email to my club and still I haven't received a reply.....pretty disgusting. Just goes to show the type of people they are if they haven't even got the decency to reply to an email.

Anyway, I hope your all in fine health and I look forward to seeing some of you really soon.

Tight lines
Keith x

Credits where they're due!

Hi all.

Thanks Bob!!!!!

I write this with a heavy head full of nasty cold yet again! This is the second horrid bug I've had this year already, or is it the same one just come back? Who knows??? What I do know is that i'm incredibly under the weather and suffering from not only a very tight chesty cough but sore throat and aching from head to toe.

To top things off I've developed a hell of a nasty dose of conjunctivitis as well. This has made the last few days very tiring with a large work load that I have had come in.

Rolling bait is tiring work at the best of times but with a very bruised and battered body and a high temperature it's neigh on impossible! Still managed to crack out 60 kilos in just over 2 days though which albeit well below my normal capabilities, still not bad for an old fart like me with a full on dose of the man-lurgy!

Talking of work, my good old mate Bob gave me some beautiful home made perch bob floats he'd made at home to use. Very pretty little works of art that I certainly will enjoy at some point. He really went to town on making them to perfection! Thanks bro x

Maver S4 Z Frame!!! Very nice spec.

My new seat box turned up last week....wow! What a piece of kit that is! The colour is a little OTT maybe but who cares, I like it! The whole system is very neatly designed and I have to take my hat off to Maver and say that they have truly built a very practical and ingenious piece of reliable kit. The best part of it though was that after looking at the box hinges I spotted that the makers of these were Miki of Italy.

Brilliant fittings!

The same company that had built the box draws etc for my old Colmic box. Surely they couldn't be the same and interchangeable? YEP! They bloody were! What a result! I now have a seat box with 4 front draws, 3 winder trays, a shallow top section and a deep box section and of course underneath the whole thing is a 3 section winder/tackle box!

Fully loaded

Serious space for lots of kit, albeit the weight then becomes a bit of an issue. I guess i'll just have to make sure that I use a trolley or get the wheel and trolley kit that is available for the box for about £60.

I've also found out that the majority of my existing Preston Seat box fittings, ie: rod rests, trays etc with the adapter inserts removed, fit the 30mm Maver arms perfectly too! Another huge result. The only other option I required for the box was a descent feeder arm.

I purchased a double arm system from Prestons which will extend up to about 7 or 8 feet. I deal for those sessions when I fish the rivers for the chub and barbel on the feeder and I want the tip up high off the water. Having the double arm system means the whole thing is extremely stable too!

Preston feeder arm

Well pleased with these

I bought a couple of other bits too this week. A few new Shimano Exage Reels in 2500 and 3000 size front drag. What a cracking reel for the price too! I even got a little bit off at my local tackle dealers who I have to say has been very good to me and deserves credit for his great service. I've been going to him for a fair few years now and I have to say he's always done his best to supply me with the best kit at the best price he can.

With his limited space it's always going to be difficult to stock a town center shop with everything for every aspect of the sport but he does a pretty dam good job of looking after most aspects of the sport. I've had a few items that have failed due to manufacturing issues in the past and he's been straight down the line with me and insured i'm not left needing or out of pocket.

Great service all round. So if your in the local Bridgend area and are after a bit of bait, new rod or just a wander round....pop in and see Keith, Calvin and the rest of the gang at Reel Fishing. You might even get a free cup of tea!!!! I've included a link below to their great website too!

www.reelfishing.co.uk

Ewenny Angling, great shop!

I grabbed a new rod this last week as well....A very sexy looking Drennan 11ft Puddle Chucker Carp Waggler. Stunning cosmetics and cork handle. Very nicely whipped and high quality guides. They even give you a superb graphic enhanced, padded holdall with velvet velcro rod straps too! Very classy. Again, something I look forward to using when I get to go next!

Talking of going fishing next....I'm hoping that providing i'm well enough, this Sunday I am venturing out with the 'Brumder' over to Somerset and the very pretty Viaduct Fishery for the day. Bit of a drive but the pair of us fancy trying our luck out for a few nice carp on some mixed methods like pole, feeder and bomb etc. Mat reckons he's going to whoop my arse but I've got a few little tricks up my sleeve to grab his £1 off him at the end of the day! What's even better is that he's picking me up again and driving! How delightful! I spend so many god awful hours driving during the summer months that it really is lovely to have someone else take over for a bit.

Barbel Fisher Magazine and a bit more of my ink! Happy days

Another mention this week is to the new Editor of the wonderful publication that is Barbel Fisher. Dan Whitelock. It's his first edition of the publication as the new Ed in charge and I have to say what a cracking job he's done at the helm. Very impressive....There were lots of great contributors as usual and I had another piece published on my trials and tribulations of fishing the awe inspiring River Wye. So there we go....another week gone and unfortunately no fish for me to talk about but the build up to going on Sunday is killing me! If that doesn't then this god awful bloody bug may do!

Hope to see you all on the flip side of my ebola flu crisis soon.

Keith

Banter and bits!

Evening friends.

One of 7 cracking fish for Mat!

I hate to say it again but....bloody weather! What the heck is going on with our climate? Wet, wet and wet for weeks on end. Then we have a nasty cold spell, then it's mild and almost Spring'ish and now we're back to torrential rain and high winds??? To say the wildlife and plants are confused is an understatement! There's daffs springing up, flowers blooming and trees in blossom??? In January? Nuts!

The fishing has been all over the shop too with some great catches coming from waters that would normally have shut up shop in November. One of my field testers Mathew, had 7 carp including 2 over twenty pounds from a tough Bedfordshire pit in just a short weekend session! One of the other testers 'Shaggy' had a 29lb Grassy and a nice 20lb + mirror as well. Some great angling chaps, well done!

My week has so far been rather quiet....not much bait going out at present as many have decided to call it a day until the weather stabilizes a bit i think. Despite the conditions, myself, Mathew O'neill, Bob Willcockson, Lewis Seaborne and Dougie Hull ventured up to the Sharpness Canal near Gloucester on Sunday. Just for the day, in search of the elusive Zander.

A belting 29lb Grassy for Shaggy! Awesome!

The fishing I have to say was rather tough going and despite us throwing every lure we owned at the fish, we struggled to get so much as a few nibbles and Mathew got bitten off on the Drop shot by a jack.

The only way we could seem to get any interest was by using real baits for the fish, with roach seeming to be the going option! The other problem we had was the amount of boat traffic....our worst nightmare, rowers!!!

Just can't seem to get away from them! And these were almost as bad as the one's on the Wye at Monmouth! 'I know, I'll come as close to you as I can' .....retards! Bob got wiped out more times than any of us I think but one of them almost snapped both of my rods when they came through quickly. There's just no thought involved.

Anyway, I was first off the mark for the day and my roach bait was taken mid channel around 10am. I had a few bleeps on the alarm and went to investigate. The rod tip twitched a few times and I picked it up and waited. The line started to slowly pull from the spool of my reel and I struck into a solid resistance immediately.

A nice little jack for me

The fight was quite fun on my 2lb test curve rods and I have to say much more enjoyable than on my heavy 3.25lb tc rods of usual pike use. After a few minutes Bob netted a nice little colourful Jack for me of about 6 or 7 pounds. A good start to the day. After that it was just bloody hard work and despite 3 or 4 swim moves it wasn't much before 4pm that the next bite came.

Mathew was next in and finally we had target species Zander on the bank! Albeit the fish was about the size of his bait! He didn't care though as it was his first of the species and I have to say it was great to see him with a smile on his chops. Well done bro.

Bob's rod was next to go just a few minutes later and his fish was a little better. Also being a Zander virgin, it was great to see that he was also finally connected to a new fish species for him. He's had a few go's at trying to catch one and racked up a fair few miles in the process too. At about 3 and a half pounds it was a bit better. Well done matey! Great to see a couple of the target fish come out. That was unfortunately it for the day though and despite staying well into darkness, nothing else occurred.

Well done to the brumder! First ever Zed!

Lewis, Mat and I headed back to the van and by the time we got there we were all worn out...too much tackle taken as usual! We loaded up and stood next to Mathews van to chat for a moment or two. Mathew pulled out a new 2ltr bottle of spring water and went to put it up to his mouth. Being the good friend that I am, I felt he looked rather warm and needed cooling down a little...this caused a sudden urge in my arms to run forward and squeeze the bottle with some vigorous intent!

This caused about two thirds of the bottle of water to race out at breakneck pace covering his face! Mat in turn panicked and turned to face Lewis and in turn sprayed water all over Lewis from the waist down!

I made a run for it as I knew what was coming next, Mathew came over for round two, which of course ended up all over my chops! The three of us were soaked through to the skin but laughing so hard that we were almost crying! We must have looked totally nuts to any onlookers but who cares, we had great fun and all enjoyed themselves hugely! That's what it's all about though in my opinion....I know that the banter side isn't everyone's cup of tea but the day was kept alive with jokes, laughter and smiles. I hope my friends and I have many more days like this to treasure.

Well done Bob! First ever Zed for him too!

I've been a tad naughty this week and ordered myself a new seat box! I've needed one for some time now and in fact avoided going pole fishing due to the fact that my 2 current one's are at a point where they are a little tired and in all honesty I feel ashamed to take them with me as they're getting on a bit. I felt I needed a new fancy one, so I ordered a new Maver S4 Z-frame one in mango colour! Very techno! Can't wait for it to arrive now so I can get out and use it!

This coming year should be fantastic as I have lots of new waters to try and a ton of new challenges too. I'm going to try and not only beat my Crucian PB, but see if I can't get somewhere near to the British Record if possible. I have a water in mind and a few different ideas on how to approach it. I also want to get myself a new PB barbel from the Kennet and I'm going to do a bit more carping this year too. It involves the inevitable driving a bit further but with the lack of quality fishing in South Wales, that's nothing new!

Right, that's it for this week....off to fill out my tax return! My favourite bloody job! NOT!

See you all soon.
Tight lines
K x

GRAYLING!!!!!!!!!!!!

The beautiful River Test

Hi all....

What a sudden change in our weather pattern again! All of a sudden we've gone from hearing all about the poor souls who've lost everything in the last few weeks to floods all over the country, to now hearing that temperatures have been down to -10C and heavy snow in areas!

What a change! The weather here in the valleys of South Wales has been reasonable in comparison and for a change we've been far less affected by the weather than usual. Albeit we've had a couple of very hard frosts this week so far.

Fishing this year so far has been between little and no trips out and last Sunday was in fact only my second day out of the New Year so far! With the cold snap in tow it looked like we may struggle on our trip down south but all went according to plan, as I will discuss in a moment. Before I start with my fishing antics though, I'd like to take just a few lines up about the current issue with my local club which is now becoming a bit of a long standing joke between myself and my friends.

A wonderful start to proceedings!

It appears that the clubs committee pay attention to what's written on this blog with a fine toothed comb. This in itself is a miracle as the majority of them are anti-internet types. So i'm amazed they evening knew about these pages I write. It also appears that they find it very difficult to allow someone to have an opinion that doesn't match that of their little group. Since writing my last post, in which I published my feelings on the clubs demolition of a picturesque water.

I have received a letter from the club committee asking me to hand back my club key and permit and that I was now banned from the club for a life term!!!! The letter was worded very critically of my writings and went so much as to call me ignorant and that I had a personal vendetta against them. They also expressed that the club welcomes criticism despite the letter saying otherwise.

I would suggest to those involved that you should really have a think about what you've written in said letter as it not only very contradictory but also doesn't really give any reasons for giving me a life ban? Other than that I have criticized the running of the club and it's committee! Doesn't really feel that the crime fits the punishment....I have furthermore never received any warnings from the club asking me to not write about my feelings on club matters.

Unlike the behavior of 2 club committee members that feel it's okay to threaten paid up members with violence...Needless to say that this has been swept under the carpet and no further action taken!   I have also been informed by another club member of a recent incident in a local tackle shop, where by the Membership Secretary was spouting endless obscenities in front of customers, including ladies, about the clubs members! I cannot honestly believe that this is all allowed to go on....It really does show these particular persons up in a new light! Absolutely disgusting and they should be the one's with a life time ban!I have emailed the Club Secretary but as yet received any form of reply. I will also not be surrendering my licence until I receive a written reply with good reasons for the ban and also a full written apology from the two committee members that threatened me with acts of violence. I wait with baited breath!

Anyway, on to much more interesting and important stuff like fishing!!!!!! I have been lucky enough to be invited into a small group of like minded chaps who run a tidy group called SHUK. The Specimen Hunters UK. They're a very tight nit group of like minded fellas that just love fishing, great banter and generally having a good time on the bank side. The group is some 30 strong maximum and I already knew a few of the members from previous meet ups. The facebook group is just a riot at the best of times so I knew exactly what to expect at a social,

Last Sunday was set in the diary for a day out social on the wonderful River Test, Timsbury Fishery in Hampshire. I set the alarm clock for 4.20am and the wife and kids made the journey with me down to Salisbury first to drop them off at the mother in laws for the day while i fished. I eventually got to the river at 7.50am. The chaps all started to roll n about the same time and we had a brief quarter of an hour chin wag in the car park. The weather was cloudy, slightly chilly but at least not raining! Yet!

Nice perch too.

We all walked off towards the river and got tackled up for the day ahead. There were a few faces I recognized and some I didn't but all were extremely welcoming and I was really made to feel like one of the team! There was a good mixture of age groups from 30 upwards to about 70 and most were around my age 40-45.

This meant we were all of similar likes in most aspects and there was plenty to talk about whether fishing related or not. Some of the guys made a swim up for the day and others like myself went off roving. I took a couple of rods with me armed with center pins and a small fixed spool set up to a ledger rod.

I started the day just up from Baz Fisher who was having a dabble for a pike and his dad joined him in search of a grayling. I found a nice spot at the back of a corner. The current just changed slightly as it swept around the left hand bend. I started to introduce a few maggots by hand and after about 10 minutes I started to run a 10 x 4 wire stem stick float through the swim at around 3 ft depth. It wasn't too long before the action started. I started to get bite but mainly when I introduced less loose feed. My first grayling was about an inch long! The second about 3 inches. I was hoping for something a little bit bigger when the float pulled under and sped off down stream! The fight in the strong current on a 13ft float rod was amazing! Especially as I had fined right down to a size 20 hook and 2lb 12oz hook length!

The fish eventually found the net and I was the proud captor of my first 'proper' Test grayling of a pound. They then started to come like buses and after about an hour I had taken 9 grayling and 3 large brown trout to just under 4lbs! The trout were great fun but signaled an end to the grayling sport in my swim. Time for a move down stream. I tried numerous little hot spots on my way down. Eventually ending up near the tail end of the fishery where I found a stunning run under an overhanging tree.

A wonderful end to the day! Great fishing at Timsbury on the Test

First run through resulted in a cracking grayling around 1lb 8oz. Then I had another around 1lb. The fish seemed to be held up under the tree and for the next 40 minutes I made the most of the action and bagged about 10 more fish. I felt I needed a change of fish so I then headed for a sarny, coffee and a walk over to one of the carrier streams behind the main river.

I dropped a small 1/8oz lead into a spot behind a bridge with a size 10 hook and a small lobworm impaled on it. It didn't take long before the tip wrenched around and I was hooked into a nice pound perch! 5 more followed but all in a much smaller guise! I swapped over to the float and ran that through a few more likely spots on the carrier for 2 small roach and a minnow.

Lure boxes all ready to fly into action on Sunday!

Eventually I went back over to the main river and after doing battle with a bonkers brown trout in the carrier weir pool, I got back to the grayling fishing. I bagged another 12 before the light took away our fishing for the day. I ended up on 31 grayling for the day and to say I was well happy with the results was an understatement! Great fishing, great venue, great company! Thanks for arranging it Mike Lyddon! Top bloke....I look forward to next years event!

I've spent this week dusting off my spinning and drop shotting gear, as we have a lads day out planned for Sunday on the Gloucester and Sharpness Canal. We've got Pike, Perch and Zander in our eyes and hopefully between the group of us, someone may catch something????The banter will be worth going for if nothing else!

Tight lines all and stay well
x

Welcome 2016!

Happy New Year everyone!

Happy New Year everyone!!!!

I hope your all recovering from a great week or so of festivities? It was a very quiet affair in my house hold....Just the way we like it. Turkey roast late afternoon, with wine and all the family sat around the table laughing and merry. The kids are what it's all about in our house and they had a wonderful day.

I on the other hand lasted just a few hours before passing out as I usually do!
The wife worked the majority of the build up to crimbo, so we were all a bit tired out from strange hours etc. I cannot thank her enough for all her hard work and what she does for our family...the woman is a trooper. A one of a kind lady that we are so lucky to be blessed with.

What it's all about....time with my awesome family! Love you guys so much xxxx

It appears that my 'friends' in the fishing club have been busy again trying to upset the applecart. They got some spotty little crater faced mong to write a horrible message to my wife just before Christmas.....Well, I won't go into details but needless to say it was a message full of inaccuracies and totally made up lies. Almost laughable to be honest....we know who you are and those involved. The names of those have been forwarded to the police and all I would say to you is get a grip you childish saddos.

A lovely end to 2015!

Anyway, enough of that crap...life's too short to be worried about 'Dicks' and their friends. My last chance of wetting a line this year was a little delayed due to the inclement very wet weather.

I had hoped to get out on either the Severn or Wye but the huge influx of rainfall scuppered that idea and I was forced onto one of my local bolt hole club waters.

I arrived early hours of New Years eve and got set up in a windy rain storm. I put a Fireball pop up out over a small bed of hemp and corn and the other rod had a small coverage of Euphasia boilies put over it.

This was first to go and a cracking common of 15lb 5oz found the net. In great condition too! The fish put up a really good scrap too. It was absolutely hauling it down outside and I sat under the flap of the bivvy door whilst playing the fish in my jumper! I tried to stay dry but it was apparent that I was going to have to get wet at some point in the fight! And so I did!

Lewis and Craig joined me about an hour later and as the day progressed so did the weather! The conditions slowly got worse and the wind became gale force at times. The lads managed a couple of bream, tench and a small mirror carp before succumbing to the horrid conditions.

I sat it out for the night then and had the lake to myself for New Years celebrations....It's the first time I've seen the New Year in on the bankside and it was rather interesting to say the least!

The fireworks were absolutely deafening as the bangs echoed through the forest and bounced back to make a sound that would have made a great soundtrack to the end of the world!

I managed to bag 3 carp and a bream before midnight and then around 2am I had my first fish of 2016 in the form of a nice low double common.

All the fish were in fantastic condition and despite the horrific weather I really enjoyed another nice little session. I hope your all well and that 2016 is a great year for you all.


Lots of love
Keith
x

2015 Review

Hi all....

My biggest highlight of 2015! Well done Natasha x

Just a short and sweet one for this week as it's neigh on Crimbo. I thought i'd piece together a few words and some nice pics featuring my favourite highlights of the year 2015 and what I honestly feel has been the best river season of my whole angling career. In fact i'd go as far as to say my best year ever in angling!

This year has seen many new developments for myself within angling. Parting company with Ian last year and saying goodbye to C.B.S was a little bit of a kick in the bollocks, but in all honesty it's been by far the best move I've made. Now I am free to run my business as I see fit and it's gone from strength to strength without the huge investment I feared it would need.

She did it again! 10lb 12oz PB

I started the guiding service up and that has taken off really well this year with almost every angler catching a new PB, most over double figures! A great example of what's available to those booking up a days guided with myself.

Dave Brooks with a stunner

I've met some wonderful guys and girls and some lifelong friends along the way this year and I've also found out who some of the rogues and back stabbers are too. Unfortunate but there's always one or two amongst the groups of people involved in our hobbies. Each has an agenda of some kind and I always seem to find them out at some point along the way.

Among the highlights of this year the most memorable had to be when Natasha grabbed runner up spot in the Dave Mason Trophy for the best barbel capture of the year at the 20th Barbel Society Conference.

The kid was a total star for the day and it's something that will stay with both her and myself till the day I die. Watching my little girl up on that stage was one of the greatest moments in my life and I think she'd agree that she was very excited too.

Mat with his first ever double

The obvious outcome of the show was that she then wanted to go out and beat the PB barbel of 10lb 4oz and a few weeks later she did just that with another corking fish of 10lb 12oz! The girl's an unstoppable fish magnet!

I guided a couple of right old characters this year and I enjoyed the company of every single one. Dave Brooks caught his first ever barbel whilst out with me and caught no less than 2 over 10lbs in one short evening! Incredible.....His lovely partner Emma Dyer fished on a very tough evening and had her first ever barbel which went exactly 10lbs.

Dan Jones caught his first ever barbel after numerous blank guided trips out with others. He managed 3 on his first session out with me. Andy and Lewis both had doubles and so did Chris Tupper! He'd had 6 fish all season and managed to catch 7 in an evening with me including a new PB and first ever double! Gary Brooks had a double and a couple more to boot.

Another proud daddy moment for me...Thomas with his first ever double at 10lb 5oz

The Brumder Mathew Oneill has had an excellent season fishing with me and he's caught 30 plus barbel in just 10 trips out. Hes had numerous cracking fish including his first ever double on June 16th of all days too!

Lewis had his first ever barbel and a double as well!

Ian Oxley has been out with me a few times and is slowly wading his way through the coarse fish species list...He caught numerous barbel on his first ever session fishing for them and took a cracking one of over 11lbs!

To top the guided trips off my lad Thomas managed to bag his first ever double too at 10lb 5oz. And finally my beloved wife Marianne even had her first ever barbel at over 8lbs as well....What a year it has been for friends, relatives and clients on the barbel front!

My personal year has been just incredible....It's the first time I have pretty much set my stall out all season for just barbel and I have fished 7 different rivers this year for barbel and caught from 4 of them.

The wife with her first ever Barbel!

I have amassed no less than exactly 120 barbel captures and featured 16 doubles in that haul. I've had a double from The Wye, The Severn and The Kennet this year and realized a life long ambition in catching my first Kennet barbel and of course at over 11lb too!

I have so so enjoyed my club stretch of the Wye this year as the fish have been relatively easy to locate and as easy to catch. They've fed well all year up until the floods arrived. The Severn at Pixham has also been extremely kind to me and also incredible enjoyable too.

Despite the bastard of a walk with all my kit across the field to my favourite swim, it has supplied my need for rod bending action on every single trip up there to date.

Dan Jones first ever Barbel

The Kennet is a totally different river to all the above and with it's beautiful overhanging trees, meandering path, shallows, deep holes, tight bends and stunning scenery. It has me hooked in a way I didn't think was possible. I just can't wait to get back there to wet my lines in search of something really special....roll on 2016!

The carping this year has been poor on many fronts and that's probably down to my complete and almost non-existent interest in it at present. The club waters have provided very little interest to me with anything of any size already seeing my net....

This included the capture of the Treoes Grass carp which I had at 22lb 4oz one week and Natasha had it the next! Another amazing moment for the pair of us.....Apart from that fish I haven't seen much else on the carp front all year. If i'm truthful, I've not really missed it either.

Natasha with the big grassy!

I had planned to do a bit more Perching and Piking this winter but as yet it still feels far too mild out for me to want to get out chasing predators. I know the season for them is here and there's nothing wrong in going for them at any point after 1st October but I just can't get excited about them this year.

I'm still so very focused on the Barbel. This year I have had yet more written work published in magazines including the wonderful Barbel Fisher. It's been a true pleasure to write for the magazine and it's always put together beautifully.

Bob, a true friend and great angler.

I must at this point thank all those that have put their faith in me this year and booked days out. I must also say a huge thanks to those of you that have gone out of your way to help myself out too. You know who you are.....There's three particular blokes who stand out from the crown though. First up I must mention my awesome mate Bob.

Bob and I have spent many sessions fishing together this year and I must admit despite the abuse he gives me I've grown rather fond of the old git! He's spent many hours guiding me along the banks of his rivers and lakes and I've done the same on my waters. Our friendship has blossomed and I look forward to spending many more sessions with him next year.

Next up I must mention my best pal on the planet. Stuey....Stu and I have been mates for 30 years nearly now and we have both celebrated our 40th this year. Neither of us were greatly enamored with turning middle aged but we go on with it and went fishing. As ever we enjoyed the trip thoroughly and I always hate saying goodbye to him when I have to leave. I hope one day we'll be able to retire nearer to each other and see out our final years on the bankside.

My best friend Stuart...x

Finally I must mention a new friend of mine that has become a rather big asset. Lewis and I have only known each other for about 12 months or so but he's been a great friend, supporter and he's just finished building the new Nuts website for me. And what a wonderful job the fella has done too! Outstanding work that I could never have done myself. To top it off he's also a rather likeable bloke too! I find myself drawn to his company and I look forward to many more good angling and banter sessions with him the coming year! Thanks for your hard work buddy! x

I plan to try a lot of new waters in 2016...this will be split into 3 river formats. The Wye will continue to be high on the agenda but I will be getting 2 new tickets to provide my angling with some variety. Then the Severn which I will remain fishing at Pixham. My other venue with probably the highest priority will be that of The Kennet. I have penciled in as much time as I can muster up to fish this stunning river and I am adamant that I can beat my PB from the little venue.

Far from the biggest this season but almost certainly the most treasured. 11lb 4oz from the Kennet!

Well, that really is it for me for now so have a wonderful Crimbo and New Year...Remember to stay safe if your going out as the bank sides are very wet and slippery at present.

Love to you all

Keith x