Baitcasters: Why I Switched and What I Wish I’d Known Starting Out
The backlashes, the learning curve, and why I persisted with baitcasting reels for lure fishing anyway.
Sea Fishing Rods: Matching the Rod to the Mark, Not the Magazine Review
Twenty years on the Welsh coast taught me rod choice is about the specific mark you’re fishing, not chasing the latest reviewed model.
Coarse Rods: What Actually Gets Used vs What’s in Everyone’s Shed
An honest look at which coarse rods earn their place in a regular kit, and which ones sit gathering dust after one impulse purchase.
What I Actually Look For in a Carp Rod (After Twenty Years of Getting It Wrong)
Test curve obsession, wasted money on extra rods I never used, and what I’d tell my younger self about buying carp rods.
The Trout Rods I’d Actually Recommend (Not Just What’s Popular)
Ten trout rods I’ve genuinely fished with or watched clients use, ranked by what they’re actually good for rather than brand hype.
Talybont Reservoir Trout Fishing Guide: Wild Brown Trout in a Wooded Valley
Talybont Reservoir in the Brecon Beacons is a fly-only, bank-fishing-only wild brown trout water set in a steep, heavily wooded valley – one of the most atmospheric trout fisheries in South Wales.
Usk Reservoir Trout Fishing Guide: Brecon Beacons Upland Water
Usk Reservoir near Trecastle is a 280-acre upland Brecon Beacons water regarded as one of the best stillwater trout fisheries in Wales, with fly, spinning, and worm fishing permitted on much of the water.
Llandegfedd Lake Trout Fishing Guide: South Wales’ Most Accessible Reservoir
Just twenty miles from Cardiff on the Monmouthshire/Torfaen border, Llandegfedd is a Welsh Water reservoir stocked regularly with rainbow trout and holding wild browns too.
Trout Fishing in South Wales: The Best Lakes and Reservoirs
A guide to South Wales’ best trout fishing lakes and reservoirs, from the accessible Llandegfedd Lake near Cardiff to the wild Brecon Beacons waters of Usk and Talybont.
Lake Vyrnwy Trout Fishing Guide: Loch-Style Boat Fishing on the Powys Border
Lake Vyrnwy on the Powys/Shropshire border is known for its abundant wild brown trout, fished loch-style from a fleet of boats rather than from the bank.