After several successful outings on his own home waters earlier in 2011, during which I’m almost certain I mentioned a little river in South London once or twice…

… it was pretty much inevitable that my West Country fishing partner in crime Dominic Garnett would eventually take the bait and visit the Wandle for the first time to investigate the results of our river cleanups and restoration work.

So he did, at the end of November last year. And he seemed to enjoy urban fishing so much that he’s written it up for this week’s edition of the Angling Times (as I’ve just announced over on the Wandle Piscators’ blog).

For a couple of hours, halfway through that chilly late-autumn day, I had to put my Wandle Trust Chairman’s hat on and leave Dominic to his own devices whilst I attended a reception celebrating a long-overdue award of section 106 funding to Merton Abbey’s Chapter House.

Solo angling in the edgelands didn’t faze him in the least, however, and by the time I rejoined him somewhere below Connolly’s Mill, he’d just released a real trophy, a rare Wandle perch…

… and was deep in conversation with a couple of local kids about favoured baits for barbel and the river’s plethora of silver fish.

As I’ve probably also mentioned before, Dominic’s own book, Flyfishing for Coarse Fish, will be published in April 2012 by Merlin Unwin alongside my own Trout in Dirty Places, and we may even organise one or two joint signings.

Stay tuned for more as it happens… and go grab that copy of AT in the meantime!

(All photos: Dominic Garnett)