James' Angling Adventures.

 Since I started to venture out on the Thames in the boat ( SS Essess ) I have dreamt of getting big fish in it and having been unlucky on a few occasions my luck was finally in, but it was hard work. My arrival at the slipway that I frequently use greeted me with brown water which was thundering through, so much so that a glance further up river revealed very little of navigable water, my boat partner for the day was my Dutch friend Yannick and having talked up our chances of a good afternoon afloat we couldn't really turn back. Some serious flood water coming through.  So I decided to get the boat rigged up and off we went, the challenge was to find the slacks amongst the turbulent waters of the Thames in flood, with the slight drop in air temp the steam rose of the river tantalisingly, the sort of conditions I really enjoy fishing. Problem was our roving baits would need to be bang on the money if we were to catch and that proved to be the hardest conundrum.  As we m

 For a few days back in October a friend of mine, Yannick, made the journey over from the Netherlands to taste a little of what England has to offer in regards to angling. Funnily enough, Holland has pretty much every species that we do, however, certain species such as the Barbel and Grayling are not as widespread as they are here in the UK and makes targeting them back home a real challenge, so the plan was to target a different species every day that Yannick was here.  As time drew closer to his arrival I was watching the weather and river levels intently, this single aspect would make or break certain waterways and their targets, Barbel love a bit of coloured water, on the flip side the Grayling aren't so keen, finding feeding Grayling in the coloured water often proves fruitless unless you as the angler is comfortable with a maggot feeder approach and await the enquiries, I am not so comfortable with it. Not a purists approach in my honest opinion.  Thankfully as Yannick

 With the temperatures beginning to drop slightly in late October the thought of targeting some predators was crossing my mind more and more, knowing how little they have featured in my angling over the years I certainly fancied getting out in my boat more often to attempt in catching a few. Pike of course are my main target with one eye on a twenty pounder, for me on the tidal it would be a great achievement, I believe they are present but without fishing it pretty seriously I'm only ever going to come across one by pure chance.  Luck is a massive factor in any anglers life, there are times when it abandons you, equally however there are times when you question, how? how did i just land that? it's a question I've asked myself on numerous occasions over the years. Now this may not be pertinent to this particular post, but when I do finally catch up with my scribblings all will become clear!  On this fine, dry, late October day myself and Brian "the vice captain&q

 It has been a fair while since I revisited my blog, even though I haven't been on here much I have managed to get a little fishing done! Not easy mind you, but any time out is welcome as the early rigours of fatherhood aren't easy.  I have targeted a few different species over the Autumn with predators featuring mainly. However, smaller species such a Roach, Grayling, Perch, Gudgeon and a rogue Tench!. All of which represents a fantastic bit of sport and something I could never tire of, here is a little gallery of fish taken over a months period before I got my predator head on. A chalkstream beauty. Freelined bread in the margins fooled this 6lb 6oz Tinca. For me, I could only manage modest Grayling on that occasion. Then once the weather started to turn slightly cooler and the clocks went forward my predator head was firmly screwed on, stayed tuned. Follow me on instagram @james_denison_angling See you there hopefully. 

 I am thoroughly enjoying my beginning days of fatherhood and what an experience it is too, nobody really tells you what to really expect, for those who read this and aren't parents yet, be prepared for the sense of selfishness to disappear pretty quickly, those who already are parents will probably just sympathise and nod to themselves, it is the best birthday present I could have ever asked for, myself and the good lady are besotted but equally as tired. I missed these views!  As the 7th of October approached the missus suggested I have a morning out fishing and before baby a days fishing wasn't even spoken about, I'd let her know what my plans were and I'd just go, none of that anymore !. I thought as I hadn't been in a few weeks that it would be lovely to get out, but for what? I had numerous targets drifting in and out of favour for a couple of days prior to my escape, in the end I decided to take my 15ft float rod out for a dusting off, Chub were my

 No it's not fishing tackle, no it's not a new boat, SHE is something far more precious. My lack of fishing recently is owing to the birth of our first child, a little daughter named Heidi. Lucie and I couldn't be happier and the journey of fatherhood has begun.  She will one day be my partner in crime and hopefully show me how to fish, not that she knows it yet, there will be no say in the matter!  6lb 3oz of pure love and elation!

 My carp pursuits this season have meant that most other species faced neglect, something at times I've struggled with as a varied season is always great fun, with the changing of seasons the quarry changes too, to be setting out my stall to target just carp will take a herculean effort, thats before I have even factored in the very challenge a forty pound carp represents, it hasn't been easy.  Nevertheless at times whilst sat behind a couple of rods, awaiting that magical moment one of the rods goes off that I do need to keep my mind ticking and over, I have debated on what ways to do this and the only way I feel I can target the carp successfully is by having an occasional break, whether it be for carp elsewhere or a quick trip elsewhere for a different species. For roughly a week the thought of a Barbel session circled around my fishy brain and in the end I caved in, a few hours spare last week was just the ticket.  Time to dust off the old cane and pin, it was Barb

 My summer carp fishing was fantastic and would have been even better to get out more than I did. However, since that glut my fishing has slowly descended into a run of staring at motionless rods and lifeless Delkim's with the occasional revival as a carp finds my hook bait. I guess with all the exciting times there must be the lulls too as I continue to learn the water I am targeting where a number of large carp reside and a couple over the magical milestone of forty pounds, these fish are the ones I desire.  As the past 2 months have ambled by I have crossed paths with various anglers who have, collectively, managed to catch all of the target fish I currently find myself pursuing. As you, my readers will know I struggle to remain seated and always angling for a move, since I began fishing this lake I have had to adopt a bait and wait approach as I lay my traps, baited generously and hope some silly customers visit my dining table....that hasn't happened as often as I woul

 Since mid March when the 2017/18 season ended my angling has as many of my consistent readers will know has mainly comprised of carp fishing, not something that I have done a great deal of in the last 15 years or so, or at least with any conviction. A few hours spare in the early afternoon on Tuesday last week meant I could do a bit of fishing, however I hadn't packed much and carp weren't really on the agenda truth be told.  I left the house with my MKIV and match aerial combination with a mid summer barbel in mind. A tin of luncheon meat and my polaroids was all that was required, well other than the obvious fact that I had to find a feeding barbel, having not fished for them for nearly six months I was quite excited by the prospects and yes the carp fishing has been great fun and a challenge as I knew it would but to break it up with a short session targeting something else was welcome.  Having parked up after negotiating the already building rush hour traffic a fe

 With very little change in the weather over the last 8-9 weeks my tactics have varied slightly when it comes to stillwater angling, it is either bread crust or flake, its not rocket science but as the summer has wore on I have found carp less obliging to feed on the surface, so slow sinking flake has been the winner on most occasions as the further down the water column my bait has gone freely the more confident the fish have been, plus one of the waters I am currently on the Rudd populations have exploded and fishing crust has proved to be a battle of whits.  Often leaving at 4-5am to get to my chosen waters for dawn and a full day of work ahead my sessions of late have often been just 1-3hours long, no pressure to catch, just enjoying the time out as coming across a forty plusser in a couple of these waters isn't going to happen, where as on the other two of my ticket lakes the possibility is not distinct but hopefully an eventuality! thats self confidence right there for yo

 River heartache is an experience I never wanted to endure, especially when it was possibly the very carp I wanted, big, old dark common. I have had a few broken sleeps because of it, so naturally I had to put my mind at ease and switch onto the still waters to break it up. 315am 530am, just beautiful.  A couple of late afternoon/evenings and a couple of mornings of stalking gave me even more to ponder over. Ten weeks ago most of the lakes I frequent had scores of carp spawning, three days ago there was still plenty of reproducing going on, countless erupting weed beds as carp stormed their way through gave way to calm waters where the remaining population which would have finished were feeding quite confidentially, knowing some of these were only recently finished I opted to leave them be and probably answered the questions as to why I struggled to tempt anything in the early hours of dawn.  Change of scenery was called for and finally a water where the activity was en

 Angling is full of highs and lows, some of the highs are so high you feel nothing can ruin your vibe, then the polar opposite of that is experiencing those moments in angling when you question everything as it seems someone or something is conspiring against you, of late, I have felt like that. My pace out of the traps at the beginning of this challenge was pretty quick, however I currently find myself struggling to get out as little time has been available as readily as I'm used to.  The highs have been enjoyed as much as I can, knowing full well that these are usually punctuated by a stroke of mis-fortune or user error, the lows tend to happen when I least want it to. Last weekend I had a free shot at whatever I wanted, wherever I wanted, so I chose to head on to a river in search of that elusive thirty pounder that I'm sure exists. My journey north was rather quick and before I knew it I was trickling in a couple of handfuls Nash Scopex Squid to hopefully get some fish

 My fishing over the last 4 weeks has become rather sparse owing to my work schedule packing out with lots of lovely clients happy to splash their hard earned money ( most of them, some born with silver spoons with their mouths ), however, I don't ask where it comes from, just that it's used to top up my funds!. Finding little snippets of time hasn't been easy, yesterday morning I made the effort to get up before the post-dusk disappearing act commenced on the carp front which seems to happen every day since the heat and strong sunlight has dominated.  In truth I haven't had the urge to really get after the carp in the last couple of weeks as dissolved oxygen levels are undoubtedly decreasing everyday as we now enter the fourth week without as much as a drop of rain. The added disadvantage of tired targets due to spawning has wiped out the urge to get on the banks more often as I wait for conditions to become slightly more favourable, hopefully my patience will be r

 After a little break from fishing I got a short session in last Sunday and visited an old haunt of mine. Back in those days I donned Adidas tracksuits and a pair of snazzy fairly expensive trainers, armed with a 12ft Tamar 2.25tc rod from what I can remember and targeted monster carp with not a lot of success. Opportunities were often fleeting, not that a 12, 13 year old cared an awful lot. Wide expanses of water were virtually untouched and enormous carp ( usually from the wildest depths of my dreams ), here they really did exist but my angling prowess was not what it is now and only now having got back into the groove as far as carp fishing goes have I decided to revisit this particular river.  Having arrived on the bank I was greeted by a cool rising mist as the sun only just began to lighten up the horizon, as the sun swiftly gained height the light shone through the mist to create an enchanting glow and could arguably have been one of the most picturesque moments I've had

 June the 16th for me always comes around with a sense of anticipation and my mind works overtime at the thought of endless possibilities for my river campaigns. This year however proceedings will take on a slightly different feel as I look to maintain my current pursuit of Carp. So far I am thoroughly enjoying it and the challenge ahead is shaping up quite nicely as my targets certainly don't feel any easier to achieve than they did before I began in early April, the opening of the river season would add another dimension to enable me to now target all three of my challenges.  This year there was to be no midnight start, no early season chub or barbel session, no 250 mile round trip. To mix it up I stayed closer to home and afforded myself something of a lye in, 5am the alarm sounded, forty minutes later I was in the car and on my way to my destination. I hadn't managed much time on this particular river to find out feeding areas or to pre-bait so going blind was the only