AnglerPaulM

Evening, Due to the disastrous weather this weekend my ideas of fishing were scuppered, so I walked my local river and found some pegs (which now the weeds have died away) look like amazing virgin fishing ground and could be fished both on the fly and using good old conventional coarse tactics. In my last session I caught a nice trout (even though I was after Chub) and lost something even bigger (Have a read here - http://coarsefishingpaul.blogspot.com/ ) When the weather finally calms down I’m going to give the new pegs a good go for Chub. Anyone have advice on baits for picking up the more specimen fish? Most people around here who I see fishing the river recommend worm, but I’m after the daddies (and I rarely see them catching). Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

Morning all, Just wondered if any of you are from up near my neck of the woods. I fished my first of the Leeds club waters yesterday, despite having ice covering most of the lake, and although it was a toughy, I managed to catch a few roach in the end for a few pounds. (Full details can be found on my blog at - ( http://coarsefishingpaul.blogspot.com/ ). I wondered if any of you guys are members and could advise me on which venue to fish next. If not, is there anywhere up north which you would recommend? This year I would really like to fish the Oaks complex near York and have a good go at fishing some of the rivers for nice barbel and chub, but all other ideas are welcome. Thanks Paul

Well, just under a fortnight ago here in Yorkshire we had heavy frosts which at time made me think! Woohoo! Time to break out the cheese paste! (also, one of my fishing friends wanted to know how to make a cheap and easy paste which has some fish pulling power so I put all the instructions up on my blog - http://coarsefishingpaul.blogspot.com/ ). However it got me thinking, do any of you guys use any home made pastes etc in the winter months? and, if so what are they? I have been told shrimp paste works, but I can also imagine it stinks to high heaven! Also bread paste, but I always thought why not just use bread... Anyway, let me know your thoughts! Cheers!

How do, I have recently come back from a walk at my local nature reserve (its so small it shouldn't really be called that but still) and I couldn't believe the amount of junk and old dead tree the recent flooding has pushed through and up on to the river bank! I've tried speaking to the EA but I don't think it fall with in their remit, also Yorkshire Wildlife Trust haven't really responded to me either (which is quite frustrating). For full details check out my recent blog post at - http://coarsefishingpaul.blogspot.com But if anyone could suggest who I would need to speak to, to maybe move things along. my concern is that when the school kids start going back there all those logs are going to find thier way into the river and mess up swims further down. Anyway, any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks Paul

I have been generally unimpressed with many of the fishing programs I have seen of late. Spending Christmas at home I was watching a lot of re-runs of Total Fishing, The Great Rod Race and Lake Escapes (with Matt Hayes), Thinking Tackle (With whoever Korda employ) and the first series of Fishing Guru’s. Aside from the Great Rod Race where they aim to catch any type of fish to gain miles to travel, the type of program went from bad to worse. Being a match fisherman, Thinking Tackle was probably the most informative, with relatively good information on Knots and Rigs, but there the rest of the were Carp-tastic and frankly a bit of a bore. Being a pleasure/match angler I found that the other programs contained very little content and proceeded more along the lines of being adverts for fisheries. Fishing Guru’s in particular was a disappointed as people rave about this “fantastic” show. Pellets and Boilies were used throughout the series and only once did I see meat, (caster and worm were also shown on the additional material) all of which are standard match and pleasure fishing baits. Perhaps I am alone in thinking this but what ever happened to programs which were informative and useful to the pleasure angler? Things like; A Passion for Angling, and, Bod Nudd’s Guide to…. (Pole Fishing, Feeder Fishing, Fishing Canals etc) There is definitely a niche market for this, it’s just a shame that there is nothing modern out there that can fill the gap. With that in mind, any suggestions?

Some more i've thought of; How do I tie a loop? How to I tie a hair rig? How do I tie a knotless knot?

I have been thinking recently about some basic issues which I learnt early on because my grand father was a keen coarse angler. But as more and more of my friends take up angling and are obsessed with catching "the big one!" and are buying ready made rigs, with ready tied hooks etc, they seem to leap frog the basics and wade straight into being specimen hunters... Subsequently I have been asked the following questions; How do I use a plummet? How do I tie a spade end hook? How do I use a clip on Plummet? What is the best knot to attach elastic to a connector? What is the purpose of a line clip? (When fishing at a set distance) What knot do I use to attach a swivel? (Grinner or Half Blood) How do I use a disgorger? So I want to ask, is there anything else that you guys have been asked while fishing, or, about fishing which you would normally consider second nature when on the bank?

Any advice on feeding off the pesky minnows?

I've been told that there are some big Chub (and Pike) in the River Aire. I've seen some big fish very close to snags on early morning walks, and someone has recommended I use slithers of steak. But as yet I havn't caught one. Anyone managed to get some Chub out of the river recently??