Steve Roberts of River Days - River fishing and guiding service

Introduction

 

River Days is the unique year round river fishing and guiding service run by Steve Roberts, an Angling Trust qualified fishing coach and associate member of the Game Angling Instructors Association.

 

Based in West Berkshire life long river angler Steve Roberts has developed a series of angling packages for those wishing to have a great day out on the river, whether it’s using vintage tackle, learning how to cast a fly or float, or just plain catching fish!

 

Covering a wide range of fishing locations and species Steve will provide you with a dedicated and inclusive service, and always strives to give his clients the very best of times out and about by, or on, the river.

 

Steve owns two boats from which to explore the delightful river Thames from vantage points that simply cannot be accessed from the bank, and can also take you to private weirpools and quiet reaches of famous rivers such as the Kennet, Loddon, Stour and Wye.

 

Providing fishing throughout the entire year Steve will share his life long passion for coarse fish such as barbel, chub, pike, perch and roach, or have you casting a fly for trout or salmon, all in delightful locations. Such varied aspects of the art of angling require particular tackle and techniques, and Steve’s speciality is to not only provide top class tackle with which to fish for them, but also to instruct all levels from complete beginners onwards in the ways to find success and enjoyment doing so.

 

If you want to use a delicate silk line for trout, cast a long and beautiful line for salmon, trot a quill float down the stream for red finned roach, or feel a barbel take the line from your fingertips in the dark Steve will coach you from the basic theory to a fish in the net!

 

And no River Day would be complete without a jolly good lunch, freshly made with produce from his organic kitchen garden. On the Thames this can be enjoyed on a private island, or under the willows in the fishing punt, but imagine a sumptuous hamper on the banks of a chalkstream or the majestic river Wye... Steve’s access to the Kennet includes pleasant private lawns, or more remote riverside picnics are in store in the quieter reaches he’ll take you to.

 

 

Guided fishing

 

Travel overseas and you will often have a choice of guides to take you fishing. In some parts of the world it’s quite normal, the way things are done, and as a consequence the visitor catches fish. But here in the UK guidance beyond the tackle shop counter is much rarer. We might think of the old fashioned gillie who would point out a fresh salmon to the wealthy gentleman, or maybe nowadays see a guide that will take a client trout fishing, but guidance for more widespread coarse fishing is far less usual.

 

So what are the advantages of “guided fishing”? Firstly it’s local knowledge. Your guide will know the water well through fishing it himself. He will know where the fish are likely to be, what they feed on and when the best times are to catch them are, and it is this essential knowledge that he willingly passes on so that the newcomer has an easy and successful day.

 

The service that Steve Roberts provides is unique in that his River Days guide experienced anglers, and newcomers alike, to success in the three disciplines of freshwater fishing : trout, salmon and coarse fishing, the latter including fishing from a boat and fishing after dark.

 

Alone that help is simply not there, and in the case of the traditional Thames punt fishing in the weir pools that sport would be utterly out of reach, even with the longest cast!