Trip #47 – Last of the Autumn Carp.

Recent weeks have brought the onset of winter. It won’t be long before I start dusting off the wire traces and treble hooks for a few wary winter Pike. Still, as the sun was shining (at least for the moment anyway) and the air temperature didn't feel that cold, I asked my brother if he fancied catching a few carp from our local fishery, Riverside. This would be a form of redemption for Mathew, who also blanked on our last outing together to Acorn fishery near Clevedon. Today we would be fishing light, searching out the last few feeding summer carp on good old dog biscuits. A bait which is hugely underrated and amazingly cheap!

River Sirhowy Site Visit

After recently meeting with and receiving an invite from Project Officer Hywel Abbott from the charity Groundwork Caerphilly, I was keen to get to the site along the Sirhowy river to see the work that was being carried out. The site visited was Fairoaks Farm in Argoed, and this virgin unfished section of River had me intrigued. The Groundwork team, along with the landowner were in the process of removing an enormous concrete wall that had previously been constructed along the riverbank and was originally intended to protect the nearby football field.

River Sirhowy Rejuvenation and Groundwork Caerphilly.

As anglers, we’re always keen to hear about projects promoting our local waterways and working towards improving the health of these environments and the fish that live in them. After viewing some recent press coverage on the Healthy Rivers programme and visiting the following website (http://www.wefundthevalleys.com/opportunities/healthy-rivers-sirhowy), I have become increasingly interested in the work that the National Charity Groundwork is currently undertaking along the Sirhowy River. Local to the area, I decided to contact them to see if there was anything in the way of voluntary work I could do to help. I was invited to the local Groundwork’s offices in Blackwood to discuss the Healthy Rivers Campaign with project officer Hywel Abbott and also to talk about the on-going river clean up plans for the river Sirhowy.

Tackle Store Review – Tony’s Tackle

After a flurry of recent fishing trips I found that I was running quite low on two of my favourite types of hooks. So with a trip to Caerphilly planned, I thought I would nip into Tony’s Tackle to replenish my diminished hook supply as well as top up a few other essentials which I would undoubtedly convince myself I needed before leaving the store.