Neil G

Nice fish, looks like a lovely location too

What if your wading though, would that class as fishing multiple swims?

Done 2 sessions this year, first was too early in March and was way to cold to catch, second I managed to catch my first ever cat, even at 15lb it put a hell of a bend in my 3lb pike rod and went well Going to book a couple more sessions this yearto see if I can bag something a bit more sizable before it starts cooling down and the cats go to sleep for the winter

Was something on the news this mornign regarding algae and it being toxic...not sure on the location though. Definately brought on by this hot/sunny spell of weather

I really wish I only had dogwalkers to contend with! I moaned about the winter & the lack of sport on the rivers but at least it did keep the part timers/bad anglers at bay lol

Nail on the head I do think that on my free stretch fishing is something you do whilst getting hosed and littering the place up. Last night there were scrotes everywhere boozing it up including the customary bunch who couldn't handle it and were getting chopsy as I walked past with my fishing gear Slowly loosing my patience....actually wishing the weather would turn so it would keep some of these a-holes at home on their PS3s/Wii's!

I , like many anglers enjoy a good moan about river conditions/weather or other anglers so here comes another! Just need to sound off on the usual Went down the river last night for a spot of lure fishing, had two jacks out on surface poppers and they certainly weren't shy...really nailed the lure! Anyway, this exciting fishing was slightly spoiled by the usual carnage that follows June 16th. Arrived at the first swim to find a spiders web of line everywhere..pulled it to find a cheap (broken) lure in the tree...no trace and with what must have been 5lb line...looked round to see fishing tackle packets and the de rigeur empty drink bottles. Moved to another swim only to be pestered by the classic 'caught anything yet' scenario. Moved on to find even more rubbish, a broken landing net and more flippin' line. I know this if a free stretch of water and it does produce good fish but I'm just sick and tired of seeing this on a regular basis. I also feel rather sorry for the pike (if there are any left)...it's pretty obvious there's some VERY clueless people out there Now thinking of paying to fish somewhere a bit more exclusive

Went down the river for the first time this season on Saturday Got to one of my fave swims then realised I'd forgotten my landing net handle! Contemplated going back for it but thought I'd blank anyway so carried on. Put some loose feed in and balled in some groundbait with 4mm pellet mixed in then just chilled for a bit...thought I'd try what a lot of barbel fishermen reccomend (leaving swim to let fish get confident) Cast in using 14mm mussel boilie topped with a halibit pelllet and an open ended feeder filled with pellets plugged up with groundbait. Had quite a few twitches/rattles in the first hour or so then after casting close in to the far margin the baitrunner goes off then stops....this wa then followed by a good run. Anyway, after a long fight with the fish refusing to budge I finally managed to get it in the net which was no mean feat considering I was handle-less! Weighed twice to be sure...10.8oz barbel!!!! First fish of the season and I couldn't believe it! Downhill from here.....I hope not lol

I'm looking for something to 'save' my year as it's shaping up to be my worst years fishing ever so far (apart from my Catfish). Not sure on best tactics for the weekend...river looks very low & clear and a lot of weed since I last fished it

Seen more t**ts fishing in the close season this year than ever before....I suspect if I actually walked some of the banks I would have found even more. Saw some muppet fishing off a 20/30ft high bridge on Sunday for chub....he said his line was 12lb so that made everything okay (not thinking about the damage it would do to the fish hauling it out)

I'n in no rush to get out on the rivers again but it sure is going to be nice stepping out of teh dooer and walking to a fishing spot rather than loading up a car etc. Best of luck, hope the season turns out well for all

All too true, have found a lot of 'anglers' this year fishing out of the close season. No doubt the rivers have been decimated again...the signs will be evident when I get out on the river again

Done a couple of sessions now and spoken to some seasoned cat fisherman. I think the best advice really is to cover all bases i.e take a good selection of baits and fish multiple rods (if allowed). I fished pellets all the time on one rod whilst alternating between lives and worm on another....cats eventually took the worm. Also I don't really think it matters about the hookbait so much, if you get a good bed/heap of pellets etc down catfish having such big mouths find the freebies and hoover the whole lot up! Good hooks/end tackle also needed as I can say from experience that a cat fights very hard (small as well) so if there are any big ones you don't want to loose it due to hooks straightening out etc. Good luck with it

Totally agree on the anticipation outweighing the reality....give it a few weeks and I'll be moaning about lure/bait packets and litter on the river bank lol

I fish mainly free waters which TBH are s**tholes....no picture postcard scenes here. Good barbel resident though if you know where to find them

Pike for me....especially when using lures/fly as that can be explosive fishing and is the antithesis of match & carp fishing Think barbel could be a close second though, after catching a few of these I think I could get seriously addicted to fishing for them this year

Not excited but relieved really to have the luxury of being able to walk from my house to the river to fish (less time wasted driving to spots). River will be barren/devoid of fish though as usual

Really looking forward to it as I'm bored/tired of having to drive all over the place to stillwaters to fish when I know that I'm within 15mins walk of rivers (hopefully) containing big barbel lol Stillwater fishing hasn't been too bad though this year I suppose as I managed to bag my first catfish and fishing Chew is always an event. This year it's off with the blinkers for me and time to target other species which I know inhabit the river in far greater numbers/size than pike which have pretty much all gone now.

Used some for the first time catting at the weekend and ended up loosing one lol

Experienced this before and not only from carp anglers. At Chew in the winter people seem to like putting baits everywhere and moaning at anyone that comes within half a mile of them!

Cheap barbel rod good as well, I use a single 1.75tc wychwood barbel rod for a lot of carp fishing where fish aren't massive sans bite alarm of course

I've been fly fishing for Carp a lot recently and I can strongly reccomend it as it's the most fun I've had fishing so far this year. Basically I've been using a 10wt rod with dog biscuits either hair rigged or glued on or Enterprise imitation dog biscuits which are good as they're weighted so the hook stays on the top out of the fishes sight. All you've got to do it find a water with a good head of carp and get them feeding on the top with confidence by chucking in some freebies....all you have to do then is be very stealthy and get your fly on their noses or as close as possible to it. Watching a feeding fish close in on your fly is great, even better when they slurp it down! TBH you could get away with a lighter rod (7/8wt) if the fish don't go too big but playing fish on a fly rod is always going to be good fun....no gears etc and it's a beautifully simple method that requires little in the way of kit/baggage

I really, really hope things are better come June as the Avon was just dire at the beginning of the year. Hate to say it but I've seen plenty of 'anglers' about during the close season and I'm in no doubt our eastern european friends have been bagging up on BBQ fodder while the rest of us walk up and down the river in anticipation!

It's just plain, simple angling made for TV which, atthe end of the day is supposed to be entertaining to average Joe as well as anglers like ourselves. There's obviously a lot more behind that programme i.e lots of hard work/waiting on the part of locals and guides to get the fish....like a lot of angling programmes, makes it look quite easy lol

Been around a month now Like I said, if they can't get something that simple right then they're just going to have to make do with a reciept as I've paid so I'm fishing