How To fish in The city
From gudgeon to peacock bass, Tom Humphreys reflects on the urban angling adventures he’s enjopyed over the last 12 months
AS ANY true angler knows, the joy of fishing comes from being out there. It’s the magic and mystery that compels us to venture out in sometimes horrendous conditions, no matter what barriers we may face. To explore the unknown is what drives me – indeed that’s what drove me to setting off with my camera in one hand, and my seatbox in the other, pretty much each month for this past year!
So, here’s a look back at 10 of my favourite images and moments from the past 12 months of compiling How to Fish in the City…
10 Meeting the public in Cambridge
For me, one of the best parts about fishing in built-up and urban environments is the banter with passers-by. While fishing on the River Cam in the centre of Cambridge, I met the lovely John and Kath. They were enjoying a city break and when John, a seasoned River Trent matchman, said that he’d never taken Kath fishing, that was it! We spent a thoroughly enjoyable 20 minutes or so trying to sight fish for some lovely roach that were playing quite hard to get. Kath ended up catching three fish and John blanked!
9 London city
The home of Big Ben, the Tower of London, Buckingham Palace and some excellent urban fishing. At first, I was a little daunted by the prospect of venturing into the Big Smoke in search of fish. With a tight schedule, ULEZ and crazy parking fees it had huge potential to be a tricky day. Thankfully though, the fish turned up and it left me gagging to get back to explore more of the capital’s coarse fishing treasures in the future.
6 Basildon & the ‘Essex Angling Don’
Through my work for the Angling Trust I’ve met more than my fair share of angling’s unsung legends. The wonderful Angling Coaching Initiative is a fantastic project covering a large proportion of Essex and it is ran totally by volunteers under the very capable stewardship of Chris Burt. While I’ve met and spoken to Chris many times, we’d never fished together. It was a complete joy then, to be able to take him away from his usual choice of chalk streams and vast open gravel pits to fish an urban park lake in Basildon. Despite the conditions being vastly unfavourable, Chris put his 60-plus years of angling experience into full flow and bagged a few lovely young bream for the camera. The future of angling is bright with people like Chris in the world.
