Puddle power

DAIWA'S own Hywel Morgan is this week heading up here for the Angling Centre Open weekend on March 6 and he’s got some tips for getting some fish in, no matter the weather.

- BY LOUIS FEROX

What a winter it’s been. Every time I've circled a date in the diary for a river session, the weather has intervened.

Flooded banks, torrents, rain and just when you think it can't get any worse, snow.

But here in the UK, we have asaving grace scattered all over - the small stillwater.

Too often dismissed as “easy” or little more than puddles stocked with obliging fish, these venues are widely misunderstood.

Intruth, they can be some of the most technical and challenging fisheries you'll encounter — particularly the catch-and-release waters where fish have seen every fly in the catalogue.

I've had winter sessions where the only way to draw a take was to scale down to small buzzers on long, fished with precision and patience.

No chuck-and-chance. No hero tactics, just careful thought, subtle presentation, and attention to detail.