Reflecting back on August’s angling, it was a brilliant month with six guide days and mine and Julie’s anniversary session with everyone catching lots of Barbel! I really got the bug for float fishing for Barbel with around 30 fish to 13-02, and will be doing a lot more of that next season as it’s a great way to catch them 😊

With autumn approaching the fish start to fatten up so it’s back to my own fishing and as I started writing this piece on 3 Oct I landed a Trent monster (more on that next month) 😊

I started my summer guide trips in July and didn’t get much time for my own fishing with a crazy month at work. August was looking even worse at work with the summer leave period kicking in but I did have a number of guide trips arranged and a session or too for my own fishing.

You’re not going to break many records in the UK summer (July & Aug), and I always think it’s more about getting out and enjoying what we love doing most….fishing!

June was a mixed month targeting Tench on Rosewater and one river session for Barbel to start the new season. It was a tale of two poor sessions and one very good one for Tench and a brilliant start to my Barbel fishing with a June 16-00.

July was busy with work and my first guide trip of the month so disappointingly I wouldn’t get out much for my own fishing.

May was a mixed month targeting various waters for different species where I caught good fish on all of them but no special ones, so return trips will be planned throughout the year.

The highlights of the month had to be my fourth place in the Drennan Cup, and the Arsenal trophy parade in North London which was an epic day.

My plans for June were Tench and maybe be a river trip to see in the new season.

As many of us do I now term the start of the fishing year as 1 April and really look forward to my Spring fishing, this year has started very well with a 4-03 Crucian on my second session in April and a first visit to Highbridge looking for a big Roach.

May had rolled round quickly and Julie and I were off on a planned trip on the hunt for a record Crucian 😊and I was really looking forward to that.

March was a much better month than most of the winter with some good barbel fishing with fish to 14-02 to finish the river season, Swan wrestling on Johnsons and a good start to Spring at Walthamstow with Bream to 12-05, with the highlight of the month picking up my new VW Transporter 😊

February was another month with not much to report other than a Feb Crucian to start my spring fishing early, the highlight of the month was paying a deposit on my new VW Transporter. I’ve always wanted one and it will be the first stage of my retirement plan, once I’ve done all the upgrades it will be perfect for fishing and all the walking and camping plans Julie and I want to make 😊

2026 had started very poorly for me with only two trips and both were blanks to start the year, I did some planning for spring and two venue recce trips so it still felt a productive month.

I hoped February would be better but with constant rain and flooding it wasn’t looking good.

December was a tough one, where despite a lot of effort I pretty much blanked all month with a last gasp 12-05 Barbel saving the day…

Xmas and new year came and went and unfortunately this year it was filled with illness and a lot of sadness with Julie’s dear mum passing away at home with her family on 7 Jan.

Fishing understandably took a big back seat, and Julie and I had some nice walks and reflective time together. I did get out a couple of times later in the month.

November was a month of 60th birthday surprises and celebrations with a lovely trip to Sicily. My annual trip to Spain was sadly cancelled due to the big drop in water temp on the Rio Segre so I went back to work for a week of my planned leave. I did do little fishing in the UK which was mainly a struggle with a 15-10 Barbel at the end of the month to give me something notable.

I was nominated for the AT Specimen Angler of the Year, which was a surprise and very pleasing, that also got me thinking about the Drennan Cup and could I be in the conversation…….

October was a month of mainly very enjoyable guiding, and tough trips to Kings Weir and Bream fishing.

This year being my 60th birthday I had plans for November which included a surprise trip away with Julie and my annual trip to Spain for Catfish, so lots to look forward too.

September started really well with a massive 19-08 Barbel , another huge fish from an excellent well run fishery in Kings Weir, the rest of the month was a struggle as I continued with my 16+ Bream quest.

I had a lot of guiding planned for October and another Kings Weir trip to look forward to at the end of the month.

August was a brilliant month after a frustrating start on Walthamstow with the Tufties absolutely murdering me. Julie and I had a lovely anniversary week with a camping / walking trip to the Peak District and a night on Gunthorpe with Julie getting her PB Barbel at 12-10.

I finished the month with an epic trip to Kings Weir with three Barbel to 17-15 and bonus 29-11 Mirror Carp.

I completed three guide trips and had one session fishing on my own in July; I met some nice people and enjoyed sharing my tactics, knowledge and thoughts on Barbel fishing.

Last month I wrote briefly about snagged Barbel and getting them out, and that generated quite a discussion on social media and direct messages so I will cover it in more detail here.

With the river season now up and running I was looking forward to some summer Barbel fishing, I’d carried on Tench fishing well into June and did one trip to the Trent to see in the new season later in the month, so with a three guide trips planned in July I had plenty to of time to enjoy being out on the rivers again.

My Tench fishing in May couldn’t have started better with success at two lakes with 9’s from both and a stunning first double at 10-14 caught on 30 May 2025. I planned to carry on fishing for Tench well into June until I felt the chance of a monster fish north of 12 pound was gone, and then I’d move back onto my beloved Barbel for a while.

My April fishing was mostly about Bream and I really enjoyed it with a few blanks and some very successful trips with Bream to 15-00. With spring being so warm I knew it wouldn’t be long before they spawned so carried on fishing for them into May hoping for one big female before they spawned.

My plans would then turn to Tench.

I finished the season on the middle Trent with a mega Barbel haul with a 15 and two 17’s to finish a great season on the rivers. I started my Bream campaign at Walthamstow and after three blank sessions I finally found some feeding fish with Bream to 14-09.

My plans for April were mostly about Bream and trying to catch a big haul of Bream Walthamstow is famous for.

Last month was more about my dear mum than the fishing but I did get out a couple of times which certainly helped manage the stress and upset, I simply love being outside whatever the weather, it just makes you feel so alive and long may that continue.

My mum’s funeral was arranged for 4 March, but I had planned some fishing and taken leave for the last few days of the river season and was looking forward to that.

Last month was all about one huge fish, a Kings Weir monster Barbel at 19-14, a PB I’ll struggle to beat but with three fish in the section bigger than that I’ve got a chance if I fish it regularly enough in the right conditions.

With the weather changing constantly with warm wet periods with lots of flooding, and then cold snaps with temps into the minus I had to get out when I could around work and family life and then life took another twist and turn in early Feb….