As well as doing a bit of sea fishing we went to visit my parents up in Chipping, Lancashire, over the Easter bank holiday where I gave my new camera a proper try out. The results speak for themselves and considering that the lenses are the ‘cheap’ ones I’m very pleased with how the pictures have turned out. The moorhen above shows that the autofocus picked the wrong spot and couldn’t quite get in the gap where the Moorhen is [... read rest of post]
We’ve always wanted to have a go at Fly Fishing but it’s always seemed out of reach for some reason, maybe because up here in Lancashire you always hear tell of the best streams being ‘down south’ or the famous rivers being in Scotland but there’s a growing community out there of people who are applying this method of angling to our local salt water species of which one of the main sources of information is the website of UK [... read rest of post]
Don’t know how I managed to miss this while I was ‘fishing’ the internet on Monday but John Holden, well known for advancing beach casting techniques, teaching beach and competition casting and all round angler, angling writer and photographer has his own blog which is well worth a read. You can find the blog at lets go beach fishing (nice name), with his main website at www.johnholden.co.uk which has information on the books and teaching videos John has produced.
Well it looks like the weather has finally got round to remembering that Spring should be arriving soon. During my lunchtime walk today I saw so many different bird species in the center of Bolton it was like walking into an aviary – I know they haven’t just arrived but it does make you wonder where they’ve been hiding all this time. The spring flowers are just starting to show and the buds are beginning to swell on the trees [... read rest of post]
As I hadn’t been fishing for a long time I decided to join a few guys on the beach at Cleveleys. They were holding a match and although I wouldn’t be participating I needed to get out fishing. The forcast was cold with maybe a touch of snow. You can just make out two of the lads walking to the sea, waterproofs and warm clothes clearly evident, and boy was it needed. As I got down to the water after [... read rest of post]
In the interest of fairness, and because the pictures are so damn good, here is a link to my other brother’s website which showcases some of the stunning photographs taken during his many dive trips, both here in the UK and abroad. Phil’s Personal Website – Great underwater imagery. I Know how hard it is to take a good photo on land so how he managed these and remembered to breath is beyond me. Amazing to see the ocean from [... read rest of post]
With the forecast for a very warm day for this time of the year we decided to go and have a look round the RSPB reserve at Leighton Moss, Lancashire, just north of Carnforth. As promised it was a fantastic day and we spent the morning wandering in and out of the hides watching the many species of wetland birds that visit the reserve in the Autumn and Winter. The reserve is famous for having the most northerly breeding Bitterns [... read rest of post]
This week we’ve not been sea fishing or walking at all as we’ve been replenishing our supplies of gear that has either been used up or lost over the past few months. We did manage to get out to Southport yesterday where we bought a new pair of binoculars from Waddington Photographic small enough to stuff into a rucksack so that we can take them wherever we go. As the weather has been so grim over the past week I’ve [... read rest of post]
The weather forecast was great with occasional showers and a light wind blowing onto the beaches we intended to fish as we arrived for our final sea fishing trip to Anglesey this year. We were staying at Ty Cristion again and after unloading the car and settling in I made a quick phone call to Gareth of fishing4u.co.uk and we set off for a secret mark well known to the local lads for big Bass. Unfortunately it must have been [... read rest of post]
It’s been a long time since we went for a walk and we both needed to get out of the house for a breath of fresh air. We elected to go to Wycoller, after I’d seen the photographs of it on the ‘Images of Lancashire’ blog by Paul Brookfield (see below). Wycoller and the surrounding area is designated a country park and no cars are allowed in the village except for residents and disabled visitors although there is ample car [... read rest of post]