There were a couple of deeper parts, including the one where Harry (the monster) was hiding. There was a bit of a hollow, where years ago, I believe they dug, or dredged it out to make the island. There was also a deeper bit down the bottom end. Although it was shallow and clear, it was extremely difficult to see the fish.” tending our large wildlife garden. It’s a lot of work but we love it and the digging certainly keeps us fit. Also managed a few days fishing with friends in the summer. Our computer guru Chris Wild landed a PB roach of 1lb 15oz. Mahseer Magic pal Steve Darby joined me in some mullet madness, Gary Newman too. Martin Bowler joined me for some Avon barbelling and we had the rare treat of a get-together with Bernard Cribbins for a "Catching the Impossible" 'fluff-fling' on the River Test with friend John Slader. We caught lots of brown trout too. It’s difficult to believe, but our series ‘A Passion for Angling’ was first shown on BBC 2 in 1993,

We also filmed a gudgeon match ‘to the death’, the pair reluctantly punting out into the hallowed waters through the mist as the sun was rising. Chris doesn’t do early mornings so it was a struggle, even if we did capture the most evocative summer sequence in the whole series. Equally satisfying, it’s finding new audiences too and if it attracts anglers to a more varied and ‘naturalistic’ form of fishing on rivers and wild lakes then we’ll be pleased. There’s a whole world of wildlife out there to enjoy and our fish life is a vital part of our ecosystems too. fulfil my need to be creative. It also partially replaces the loss of my travels round the world making

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A Passion for Angling’ and ‘Catching the Impossible’ are still capturing big audiences, for they describe the magic of being by the waterside with a rod and line like no others. The Avon Roach Project led by friends Trevor Harrop and Budgie Price released hundreds and hundreds of three year old roach into the Hampshire Avon in December in an attempt to re-establish self-sustaining populations of this iconic species. The river was once famous for its' roach fishing and this is the best chance we'll ever have to see those glorious days returning. It might take ten years work, but we're up for the challenge. More details of this inspiring project can be seen on: HUGH MILES:“Sixty-odd, on the basis of those measurements. Chris had a picture of his record fish from Redmire and Harry took one look at it and said, without any hesitation, “Oh no, it’s bigger than that,” so yes, it would easily have been a record at the time.” A Passion for Angling (with Rodger McPhail), BBC Books/Merlin Unwin Books 1993 ( ISBN 978-0563367413)

Just two weeks ago I was fishing with Chris on the River Wye and he caught his first ever Wye barbel … only 7+lbs but a beautiful fish in a glorious corner of our countryside.last five years, anglers are once again beginning to catch these silver beauties … so congratulations and Some also claim‘Impossible’ to be better even than ‘Passion’, others disagree ; you’ll have to decide yourselves. Incidentally, we planned to catch a 3lb rudd for the series but that did prove impossible!

Anyway, Happy New Year to you all, even if the turn of the year seems a long way off already. May this year be better than the last for you … dryer and sunnier too hopefully. Mr James, 47, said yesterday he was saddened by the episode, after eight years working with the ACA, and that he had fallen foul of a wider jealousy in the world of angling. Fishing yesterday with his close friend Mr Tarrant, he said: "Both my wife and I are very sad that it came to this. We absolutely deny that we did anything wrong. But there are lots of people out there who have become green-eyed monsters. CARPOLOGY: I know you can’t say where the lake is, but could you paint a picture of what it looked like… the size and shape etc?

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HUGH MILES: “We knew there was a monster fish in there, so it was very exciting, more so perhaps than Redmire. Redmire was a known quantity, if you like. There might’ve been a huge fish in there, but there didn’t seem to be any record of anyone having seen any big ones. When Chris was there with Rod Hutchinson though, they did see some really big fish and of course, some were caught that later became records.” keen to join the readers of my ramblings on gardening, angling, wildlife and conservation then please

Sue and I have a big garden … it seems too big on some days … so that keeps us fit and healthy. Then she has lots of friends and hobbies and I have fishing and birding … so there are never enough days in the week. As mentioned above, 2013 is our 20th Anniversary and by any standards, that’s some kind of a record for a TV programme. We all hope it continues, for though it will never make us rich, it helps to eke out the meagre pensions of Bob, Chris and ourselves …‘every little helps’. Four and a half years in the making, we all took a lot of trouble to make the six films as well as we could and we are constantly grateful, even surprised that you think we made some good decisions. Casting at the Sun, Medlar Press limited edition 1986, Classics edition 2006 ( ISBN 978-1899600366) We felt that the ‘Passion’ films had to include the famous record carp water, Redmire. In fact, my initial plan was to only make one film but our time at that magical pool was so idyllic and so successful that I convinced Bob and Chris that we ought to make a series of six films. After a further four years of hard graft, they were both wishing that they hadn’t agreed!My favourite roach received some attention in March and a memorable trip to Oxfordshire working on a feature for the Anglers Mail with Gary Newman produced several three pounders and big twos. What a great two days they were. Following that up with Martin Bowler’s ‘Catching the Impossible’, I wanted Bernard to be Martin’s angling companion and because he is such a good angler, he never failed us when required to catch a particular fish. The very cold weather was hard for everyone out there, especially our wildlife, and I was very sad when this lovely buzzard that had adopted us in the garden finally succumbed to starvation. We had kept it alive for weeks with scraps of squirrel and rabbit but the weather cut off our supplies and with a foot of snow and ice covering the ground, there was nothing for it to eat. However, we still have twelve long-tailed tits though, thanks to the RSPB's fat-filled coconut treats .... they love 'em