Jimmy Sallis

And another season has gone by…

The 2014/2015 season has come to an end & I have loved every minute of it. My local rivers, The Warwickshire Avon & The River Arrow have been kind to me and especially to my fishing partner Tom.

This season was his first full season on the rivers and he has landed some beautiful fish, including his first ever Barbel on his birthday in August (pictured). Since then he has managed many stunning Barbel and some cracking Chub and now fishes with confidence. Still water fishing is next for him and I know the same results will follow. […]

A Sport for All Seasons

After watching the first episode of Fishing In The Footsteps of Mr Crabtree, where James and John target Tench and Bream on a gravel pit, I had a longing for the warm spring and summer days to return. In the next breath I’m telling my fishing pal Tom that I can’t wait for the temperature to drop so we can have a real good go at the Pike. […]

Plan B

So the river season is well and truly in full swing, and wonderful specimen fish […]

Canals Are Cracking Fun!

During the whole of the river closed season I am constantly looking to get my fishing fix. I love floater fishing for carp, spending an afternoon by a lake in the summer after work is hard to beat. It’s also a perfect time to get all of my fishing tackle in some kind of order.  I do like to try and keep my fishing varied during the closed season, purely because when the rivers open I seem to get sucked into fishing for my favourite species, the Chub. […]

Float fishing for Carp

Floater fishing and stalking Carp on a hot summers day is, in my opinion, the best way to catch them.

Spotting them is the first step. Watercraft is the most valuable skill an angler can posses, and part of that is understanding fish behaviour. As any angler knows, the first thing to do is find the fish. If the fish are cruising the top and upper levels, then fish for them there. After all, we all go fishing to catch fish! I always travel light so I can wander the banks finding any signs of fishy activity. A pack of hooks, two sizes of floating pellets, some zigs, one rod & reel, a mat and a net is all you need. […]

Riverwatch – Week 2

The one thing I don’t like this time of the year, the same as everyone else, is the rain. Not for the same reasons as most people though – I don’t like it because it causes the rivers to colour up and I can no longer have a watchful eye on the fish in my river.

Myself and John both harp on about the importance of watching the rivers in our blogs and there’s a very good reason for it. Quiet simply, the amount of knowledge that can be gained from simply watching is priceless. This is obvious in other sports, such as football, snooker etc, and exactly the same applies to fishing, in all its forms. […]

Early Spring River Watch

In short I’m going to echo what John Bailey wrote in his blog post last week on ‘The Springtime River.’ Whenever you have any spare time get down to your local river and see what’s happening. I’m not fortunate enough to have much trout water on my doorstep and, with work commitments, traveling for short sessions is not an option. […]

Do we really need a closed season?

With no closed season on still waters and canals then why should it still apply to the rivers? Most angles will argue that, due to unpredictable and uncharacteristic seasons, fish like Barbel and Chub will often begin spawning early or even late, which will fall into the end of a season or the beginning of the new one.

I myself have witnessed fish in spawn as late as July, a great sight to see but certainly not a time to drop a bait in the water. […]