GRAZY ROBERTS - PISCATOR

By the end of my first week back in work I was ready for some fishing again. During my 2 weeks leave from work I’d had something like 12 nights on the bank at three different venues and although it was enjoyable and I’d caught my fair share of big fish I must say I admire anyone who has to do that for a living. By the end of the fortnight I was ready for a rest, I suppose I’d had my ‘fix’ and was quite content not to fish the last weekend instead choosing to watch my son keep

I'd arranged to meet Bruce on the beat I'd been doing well on however after pulling into the car park I met a very despondent Bruce who'd walked most of the stretch. It had been raining and he came back to load his barrow sporting two very soggy feet, topped off by a flat tyre the thought of pushing it any further didn't appeal. I always carry spare socks and fortunately for Bruce also had my Muckmaster wellies with me so he was soon admiring the new found comfort for his fee

You may recall that back in March a group of us took part in the Lee Swords charity fish-in on the Trent and that due to extremely poor conditions (or angling ability) no fish of any worth were caught however we did manage to raise over £12K which helped towards sending a young leukemia patient called Iwan to the United States for a life saving operation. For my part I offered an auction prize 'A Day on the Dove with Grazy' and this weekend the winner David Gough traveled all

This weekend started with a very pleasant evening on a private beat of the Teme fishing for one bite in a swim that I'd had a fish from before, it didn't take long before the ratchet on the Rapidex was singing and I was being led a merry dance out in the main flow. Unable to resist Spicy Fish Pro and weighing in at 6lb 11oz it was an average sized Teme Tiger but what it lacked in pounds and ounces it certainly made up for in courage and determination putting up and excellent

Difficult couple of days on the river Dove but managed to winkle two immaculate barbel out, the first at 9lb 1oz taking me by surprise in mid afternoon on Saturday then at 5am this morning the alarm screamed off on a very swollen tea coloured Dove but after a couple of minutes and a shaking of the head it was off and I'd lost it. I dropped a fresh bait in under the rod tip the extra water giving me about 5 foot of murky cover, no freebies just a single 14mm dumbell holding wi

I don't usually do stats on my fishing apart from my Chub Study Group returns which require anything 4lb or bigger to be photographed, weighed and measured by length and girth or if it's a new PB for me of any species but this season I started keeping a log of each fish caught on my phone. Now I've started I'm almost obliged to maintain them. One things certain I'll recall the stats at every opportunity in the bragging stakes!! In two trips to the River Dove I've caught 9 bar

After a very successful opening session the week before I let the rush hour traffic subside on the M6 and headed south arriving just as darkness fell. This was my second visit to the venue and I’d conceded and brought my barrow after making multiple trips back and forth with all the long session paraphernalia last week I thought it made sense to do it in one go. With the barrow loaded I headed off across the farm yard not intending to fish the same swim as last week but as I

The eagerly awaited eve of the new river season was here at last and as I wandered across the familiar field I couldn't help pondering what lay ahead. It was 7pm on Wednesday 15th June as I settled in my chosen spot, I scanned the opposite bank and was pleased to see I had the place to myself. The spate of torrential downpours had found their way downstream and I surveyed a swollen and rather coloured river Dove. I'd packed the tidal Trent gear just in case and a quick cast a

Test title. This year the autumn gathering of the Chub Study Group was on the river Trent. Some said that heavy leads and powerful rods had no place in chub fishing but as Lee had not one but two 7lb chub from the Trent this year I didn't need asking twice!! An early start on the Friday morning for the 130 mile journey meant we were at Kelham Hall for 6:30am and as we peered over the bridge the river looked in good form considering the relatively dry weather we'd had. We'd bo