-
Posted 05:11, 8 June 2011
- I personally think that there are plenty of really good fishing magazines that cater to all manner of different anglers, but there are a few that to me rise above the rest due mainly to the consistent quality of the photography. And the Australian fishing magazine “Fishing Wild” is in my opinion just about the best that I have ever come across, and you can’t imagine how proud it makes me feel to have them actually publishing some of my material. I get a real thrill when an editor picks up on the photographs of mine that I am always hoping will jump off the screen more than others if that makes sense, and the people at Fishing Wild always pick the images of mine that I would have chosen myself to illustrate my words. Does that make sense ?
- Fishing Wild is edited and published four times a year by Col and Karen Roberts in Australia, and I have heard this publication likened almost to a kind of “fishing National Geographic”. It does not matter what kind of fishing you are in to, or indeed where you actually do your fishing – just do all you can to get hold of a copy and then drool at how good fishing can look. We all know that our sport can look simply amazing, but how often do you find a fishing magazine that can actually translate this “awesomeness” onto the page ? Col Roberts himself is one of the world’s top fishing photographers, so I guess it’s pretty damned cool that he is at the head of this magazine.
- The hard part for angler is to read a magazine like this four times a year and not then jump on a plane and move over to Australia. I am fortunate to travel with my work to some very cool places, but as yet I have never been to Oz, and every single thing I hear about the country and its fishing makes the publishing of such a strong magazine as Fishing Wild such perfect sense. Everybody I speak to who has experience of fishing or travelling in Australia raves about the place, and although we might currently hold the Ashes (had to get that one in, sorry), it strikes me that Oz has some of the finest fishing on this planet. One day……….in the meantime, get hold of this magazine and immerse yourself in a world of outrageously good looking fishing.
-
Posted 05:57, 6 April 2011
D64181.jpg)
- I was recently sent this pair of the 6’’ long Ross Worldwide Pescador pliers for a long term test and review (check here for the full details and specs etc.). If you think that spending over the £100 mark on a pair of fishing pliers is complete and utter madness then I guess it’s not worth reading any further, but personally I am fed up with my more recent pliers that I bought ending up covered in rust, their cutters not cutting anything remotely meaningful, and the actual pliers bit not meeting close enough to properly crush the barbs on all my lure hooks (yes, all trebles and singles for me, but best not go there for now in case it becomes another in my series of rants).
D64186(1).jpg)
- These Ross Pescador pliers are not actually a new product to me, in that a fly fishing friend of mine began using a pair a few years ago now and therefore I got to see them in action so to speak on various trips overseas. Delve around in the fly fishing world especially and you will soon find how perfectly possible it is to go and spend some very serious dosh on a pair of pliers, so please understand when I say that to some anglers these Ross Pescador pliers are in fact extremely good value for money. My fly fishing friend hasn’t got a bad word to say about his, and neither have the other anglers I have met and spent time around who use the same model of pliers. OK, so perhaps I start this long term test/review with a slight degree of already having a fair idea about how good these Pescador pliers actually are, but there is nothing like using and generally abusing a product oneself over a decent length of time to form an opinion………….
D64199.jpg)
- It’s far too easy to dismiss the idea of ever spending over £100 on a proper pair of fishing pliers, when in the end it’s merely a matter of personal choice. If I add up what I have personally spent in the last few years on different pairs of pliers that have not stood up to spending time in and out of saltwater then I bet you I could have bought a proper pair straight off. There is always this argument in life to buy properly and just buy the once. I broke two garden forks the other weekend for example when I was digging over a patch of earth for planting spuds (honestly, it’s turning into the Good Life around here, caught myself reading Gardener’s World magazine at lunch the other day), and now I have bitten the bullet and bought two more proper ones that I am hoping might last the course a little better.
D64179.jpg)
- Do I use pliers all the time when I am fishing ? No, but then when I don’t have them I feel kind of lost these days. The fact that I can do things like crush down the barbs, unhook fish, tighten knots, and also cut mono, fluoro, wire and braid with one implement makes a good pair of pliers way more useful than I had ever previously thought. I am going to use these pliers for my own fishing, and I will treat them as I would any other pair that I have used in the past – a quick rinse in freshwater after fishing and then leave them to dry. First off I like the fact that they come with a holder and springy, coiled lanyard that all sits on a wading belt together with my Boga grip. Do I look like a bit of an “all the gear no idea” kind of person when I strap up and head out fishing ? Probably, but then I have never worried what people think about me. I think my wife might agree with me here, because as much as she loves me, I know that she never fell for me because of my dress sense. Looking “sophisticated” ain’t one of my strong points, but perhaps these nice shiny Ross pliers will make up for my sartorial failings ? Or perhaps not……..
D64190.jpg)
-
Posted 11:20, 28 March 2011
D318224.jpg)
- I went out last week to photograph some fly and lure fishing for pike with Nick Hart, Danny Parkins and Lewis Hendrie, and once again it hit home to me how I should really be getting back into some freshwater fishing myself. I used to do it years ago, but talking with Nick and Danny about some of the fishing they have had recently for species such as pike, perch, chub etc. really fires me up. Whatever the case with me and my own fishing, it was just a blast to get out with these guys on a canal near to Tiverton.
D318241.jpg)
- It’s often the case that the conditions that I would like for my photography are in fact pretty useless for the actual fishing, and our day last week was a very good example of this. A big blue sky and a bright sun on the water is for most fishing the kiss of death, and the guys did well to get a few smallish pike out. But I could not believe how many fish we could see milling around, and Danny has had some big 20lb plus pike from this canal on surface lures. Bet that is a serious blast. I love seeing fish swimming around, and we saw plenty of pike, perch (they look so cool in clear water, those stripes and red fins just jump out at you), roach etc.
- The actual fishing aside, the main aim for Nick and I was to get some photos of the new Greys Carnivore fly rod and GX700 fly reel in action. Much as I am proud to be attached to the Hardy Greys company, I don’t feel it is that biased of me to state that Greys continuously put out some seriously good fly gear – because they do. There are a few brands out there that really seem to have a good grip on making decent gear for the right money, and of course we are seeing that more and more in the saltwater lure market. Choice is a good thing.
D318252.jpg)
- I did see a few items in Nick’s shop (right next to Exe Valley trout fishery, check here) that I am really interested to see if they might have some applications in “my” world. Do any of you for example use a trout-style landing net for your bass fishing ? I don’t, but I should be looking into it for certain situations, and especially for when I am wading out to land fish that friends of mine have hooked. Some of these trout-style nets are just so lightweight that you would not even know you were carrying them, and plenty of them cost very little. We shall see…….more to come on that one.
