Previous Posts

Fishing in Wales: My top 5 Welsh urban rivers

Mere decades ago, these were waters that still ran black with coal dust and the toxic effluent of steel mills and other industries. Today, many Welsh urban rivers still suffer from litter, drainage misconnections and misbehaving sewage treatment works, but if you look carefully, you’ll find wild fish among the remaining shopping trolleys: trout (some of them very big indeed), grayling, barbel and even salmon… Some writing projects can be a slow […]

Mar 24 2021 No Responses yet

Trout in Dirty Places: All sold out!

A few days ago I heard from my publishers Merlin Unwin Books that they’ve finally sold out of all the printed copies of my first book, Trout in Dirty Places. I’m still working out exactly how I feel about this: on one hand, of course, books are supposed to sell out, but on the other, […]

Mar 07 2021 One Response so far

Trote in Posti Sporchi…

… means Trout in Dirty Places in Italian, and this week I’ve been surprised and thrilled to find out that I’ve featured in this article about urban street fishing as an antidote to lockdown and C-19, in the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera. For urban and rural dwellers alike, being able to #FishWhereYouLive, or anywhere […]

Feb 05 2021 2 Responses so far

The Flyfishers’ Journal: Winter 2020

Christmas is coming… and so is the Flyfishers’ Journal. This ‘lockdown edition’ reflects the fact that it’s surely been the strangest fishing season that any of us can remember. For most Members of the Flyfishers’ Club, and that includes me, the simple prospects of getting onto the water, or just contemplating the associations of time spent […]

Dec 20 2020 No Responses yet

The Fly Fisher returns!

Way back in 2016-17, I had the immense pleasure of taking part in a project to produce a beautiful coffee table book called The Fly Fisher: The Essence and Essentials of Fly Fishing. By all accounts, it’s been hugely successful – so much so, that its publishers Gestalten have just released an updated second edition. […]

Sep 26 2020 No Responses yet

Farlows LIVE: Reflecting on urban rivers

Throughout the Covid-19 lockdown and subsequent restrictions here in the UK, lots of brands have made a special effort to stay connected with their customers through digital channels – and fishing shops have been no exception to this trend. Early in the lockdown, Farlows’ Jonny Muir took the opportunity to start a series of in-depth […]

Jul 25 2020 No Responses yet

The Flyfishers’ Journal: Summer 2020

Needless to say, the Covid-19 pandemic has already caused vast disruption to all of our lives this spring and summer – and this includes the life of the Flyfishers’ Club in London, where I’m Editor of the twice-yearly Flyfishers’ Journal. I know I’m not the only Member of the Club who’s trying to take a […]

Jun 24 2020 No Responses yet

WTT’s Salmo Trutta 2020: Jet Lag and Brook Trout

During these strange days of lockdown (in the course of which I’ve been temporarily furloughed from my Wild Trout Trust urban river role), we’ve all started adapting to new ways of working. Formal meetings and family gatherings alike have moved onto digital platforms, where it’s likely that many of them will stay for the foreseeable […]

Apr 30 2020 No Responses yet

Fly Culture: Limestone Chemistry

Out now, in the Spring 2020 issue of Pete Tyjas’s excellent Fly Culture magazine, is an article I’ve written called Limestone Chemistry. As the title suggests, it’s a geological, post-industrial and piscatorial study of my years-long love for a little limestone stream, not too far from where I’m living now. A previous, shorter version of […]

Mar 14 2020 One Response so far

The Flyfishers’ Journal: Winter 2019

Thanks especially to the Norwegian contingent of the Flyfishers’ Club, the latest issue of the Flyfishers’ Journal has a strong Viking vibe. And that’s as it should be, to celebrate the International Year of the Salmon 2019, by drawing attention to the mortal perils that threaten the ‘king of fish’ in local, regional and global […]

Jan 15 2020 No Responses yet

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