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

Part 1 - Tidal Trent Sutton My two weeks leave from work were off to a flyer with a birthday weekend PB of 12lb 8oz from the river Dove at 6am on the Sunday morning. I travelled home the next day to restock the tackle and food and headed off to the tidal Trent on the Barbel Societies beat at Sutton. The Sutton stretch is further downstream from the famous Collingham stretch and I thought turning up at 6pm on a school night would have seen the place devoid of all life forms ap

Hook Bait Co. owner Darren McCann has recently tweaked the mix on the already successful Spicy Fish Pro range which has already helped put a significant number of specimen fish on the bank so far this season. Darren said “I have added Atlantic Salmon to it plus a couple of inducers as well but that’s not to say the original Spicy Fish Pro won’t do the business because it’s still a top quality bait” I’ve had a great start to my season and used no other bait apart from the Spic

Bank holiday, Friday evening on the M6? No not for me I've been stuck in stationary traffic too many times previously so I decided to stay home and head down to the Dove the next day. A fortuitous decision as it turned out and after a leisurely hour and fifteen minutes drive I arrived at a section of river that I hadn't caught from before. The levels had risen sharply Friday evening, the river was up and very coloured and reports started coming in on social media that a few l

I settled into a spot that looked quite promising when we first had a look a couple of weeks ago, it was basically a cattle drink and I fancied it as my best chance given the still, low and clear conditions. I cast out both rods around 10:30pm and got the tea on, a very tasty'peppered steak with new potatoes and mushrooms in an onion gravy sauce, I wasn't expecting much from the fishing but the food was second to none. The night came and went without as much as a chub pluck s

This week I met up with a fine group of barbel catchers in a Derbyshire village pub for a spot of lunch followed by an afternoon into evening session on the river Dove. I traveled down after work on the Friday to find my intended peg taken which was a shame as I'd planned to setup for the night around 50 yards from the car and walk to an area where I'd spotted two fish with Bruce last week. I loaded the barrow on the other side of the stile and headed off across the field try

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