Knowing what’s on the bottom of the venue you’re fishing makes catching its residents a lot easier, says Martin Bowler. Here he breaks out the strange Aquascope to investigate. Maybe what makes angling so intoxicating is the mystery that lies under the water. Like a door firmly locked, water is our barrier to entry and this fuels the imagination, reinforcing ...
Barbel have emerged as one of the nation’s most popular species, but what is the best way to catch them? Martin Bowler joins species expert Steve Pope to find out Are barbel the new carp? For certain their popularity has grown massively over the last few years, with membership of the Barbel Society standing at well over 1,000. Stretches ...
My legs spun as fast as they could, propelling my bike along as I desperately tried to keep up with a gang of older lads that included my brother. I was being taken fishing for the first time and, at last, I could ditch the net that I used to prod into every brook or stream that crossed my path. ...
Few rivers can match the Wye for barbel action, and although their ultimate size may not peak at the same level as other venues, a rod-wrenching time can be banked on. Strangely, though, the presence of a couple of television cameras would make even the simplest of tasks tricky, so we certainly weren’t counting our chickens! To aid our quest ...
Few rivers in the UK can match the River Wye for its sheer beauty and sense of wilderness. Here, John Wilson joins Martin Bowler on the upper reaches to fish for big chub Streaming through the gorge, an unrelenting flow tumbles down over huge slabs of bedrock, while overhead a buzzard hangs motionless. Hidden within its depth, vast shoals ...
Is it possible to go back in time to the 1960s and follow in the footsteps of Mr Crabtree and Peter? Martin Bowler turns his hand to dapping for chub and, with not a boilie in sight, turns to the traditional baits that inspired a generation... Now here’s the place to find river chub on a hot day - they lie under ...
Why is our perception of a good barbel fishing river somewhat different to reality? Clear, chalk-filtered water with wafting streamer weed and long gravel runs sounds perfect, but while rivers like the Hampshire Avon and Dorset Stour do hold heads of barbel, I don’t know if you could use the word ‘prolific’ to describe them. On the other hand a ...
The Royalty on the Hampshire Avon is one of the UK’s most popular river fishing venues, and the scene of countless big-fish catches. Martin Bowler joins Ray Walton to discover all there is to know.... Behind Ray Walton and me stood an ever-growing queue, all eager for Davis Tackle to open at 7.30am so we could purchase a ticket ...
He might boast a big-fish CV that’s second to none, and added his name to the British record fish list, but Martin Bowler is always willing to learn. Here he joins actor Bernard Cribbins and film-maker Hugh Miles for a few lessons in catching tench and crucian carp… Perhaps it’s an indictment of how poor our sport is at recruiting ...
It would appear that the Garden of England is the place to be for tench enthusiasts at the moment – apples and pears are not the only fruit to be found in the county of Kent, writes Martin Bowler. With the vast majority of waters available on an open ticket, it’s not surprising that Angling Times has been full of ...
