Beneath British Waters

07/01/2026

Sunday 15th March I will be in Stratford Upon Avon showing my new film "Waters Of Life" as well as a previous film alongside a Q&A afterwards. More details will follow.

04/01/2026

Absolutely baltic in the Wharfe today, 2°C with an air temp of -2. But for the first time ever in Winter i managed to locate a small shoal of barbel. Maybe 10 to 15 in total. Could only manage 1 hour underwater as the cold was biting through the drysuit. More interesting is I have found where they roughly migrate to in the winter. Was interesting to see that these barbel are feeding alot slower and certainly did not move around as much. Having said, it was too cold for me to be moving around too much.

02/01/2026

This time of year is always hard for filming in rivers, those window's of opportunity are always brief for low flow and clear water, but filming in the faster clearer water for grayling when the river is low is always a treat and the colour's on these fish always astound me. Just how stunning do they look. Filming in faster water poses many challenges with the hardest being keeping the camera steady, while i fight against the flow, the grayling make it look effortless.
The Grayling Society

02/01/2026

Week tomorrow you can catch up with me as I present our rivers on film and not only cover some of the species that live in freshwater but the pressure's they face from pollution. Some amazing names will be there. Hans Van Klinken,, Feargal Sharkey, Grayling society and many many more. Free to attend at Selby Abbey 10th January 2026.

Start your new year right and join us on Saturday 10th January for our Yorkshire roadshow!

We have a great line up of speakers including Hans Van Klinken, Fergal Sharkey & Beneath British Waters. We've also got a team of Semperfli pro team and guest tyers! Not only that but we will be joined by some fantastic trade stands and organisations!

Entry is free and you can register via this link https://www.semperfli.net/blog/yorkshire-pop-up-roadshow-january-10th-2026.html

31/12/2025

As the year comes to an end here we have river Wharfe perch, just a short clip of some of the perch on offer at Wetherby & District Angling Club Proper specimen perch that love to hide below the willows. Would like to wish each and everyone of you all the best for the coming new year and 2026 as a whole. Thankyou as ever for your continued support.

29/12/2025

Very rarely get out fishing, but yesterday finally managed to get out with the stick float, Dave Harrell Angling stick float (one of new ones I'd had bought at xmas) along with a new rod that had not seen the light of day since buying it. Went to Wetherby & District Angling Club Waters on the river wharfe and had some beautiful grayling out in fast water, my target species. The run went dead all of a sudden and the 2nd run through after this with the stick float the rod bent round, thinking possibly a chub I was very surprised to see the tail of the pike break the surface. After probably 5 minutes the pike slid over the top of the net after taking a treble maggot on 5lb bottom line and thankfully hooked in the bottom lip. After resting it well it moved away strong, quick flick of the tail and back into the depths.The commotion of catching grayling had obviously brought it in. Was a superb day which resulted in 8 grayling, quite a few chublets and the pike. Beautiful markings on it, it is safer filming them 😅

26/12/2025

Another exceptional episode from Matt & Micks Ultimate Rod Race, with this episode at Homersfield, which is a magnificent gravel pit in the heart of a Suffolk village. You can watch the episode here by clicking the link to Matt's Youtube channel.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0KUBnGxo7jM

Episode 4 Ultimate Rod Race - "High Emotion"
PREMIERES TONIGHT AT 6.00pm
https://youtu.be/0KUBnGxo7jM
This is a very special episode of Ultimate Rod Race for me. Possibly the most special rod race episode in its long history.
In many ways it’s the perfect episode - a long struggle followed by a chance at success. Like all of the episodes in Ultimate we have increased the length to a slower burn and this one just keeps cranking up the emotion until it bursts out...
When we drove away from Homersfield I felt drained. I knew that we now had a series in the bag. The relief is evident when you watch the show.
That’s not to say the challenge was complete - it wasn’t but I felt that even if we made a complete mess of episodes 5 and 6 it would still be a good series and that I had fulfilled my promise to you, our supporters.
The responsibility of managing the fundraiser, the team and everyone’s expectations fell away from me at that point and we never looked back.
Ultimate rod race is not like other fishing series.Its low key, slow build start is out of kilter with most angling shows which amp everything up. We amp down and our style is relaxed but when we hit it hard, we hit it very hard because we can. We have been best friends for over 30 years.
And by now viewers are realising that this is a story of friendship as much as it is an angling series...
It’s not clickbait and maybe there is no room anymore for stuff like this but the figures and the reactions suggest otherwise! What do you reckon?💪🎣

26/12/2025

Wetherby & District Angling Club
I am extremely fortunate to have the opportunity to film on the section of the River Wharfe managed by Wetherby & District Angling Club. This particular stretch of the river is regarded as one of our top five filming locations in the UK for capturing fish behaviour.

The following short film offers a brief insight into what this remarkable waterway has to offer. For further information, please visit Wetherby & District Angling Club page.

17/12/2025

Today is the day of the launch of Matt & Micks Ultimate Rod Race. I grew up watching the original rod races. Who would of thought that back then a lad jumping in a river with a camera would see his name in credits on the final series, wow. Ultimate Rod Race is a testament to how respected Matt Hayes and Mick Brown are in angling. So many of us have grown up watching these two and the friendship they have shines through in this new series. Quite certain you will love the series, as I think it is phenomenal. On a personal level I want to wish Matt every success in his new ventures come the new year and a huge thankyou from me for putting your faith in my underwater filming.

20 YEAR WAIT IS FINALLY OVER!
ULTIMATE ROD RACE EPISODE 1 PREMIERES OFFICIAL ROD RACE CHANNEL TONIGHT!
https://youtu.be/-jRtHan82hw
Photo: Tom Balaam
🥳Today is a huge day for myself and the Duke. After an eternity of waiting the day is finally here when we air the latest in the Rod Race Series.
👉Its genuinely one of the biggest days of my life and I really hope that the show gets big viewing figures to😎night.
😎I’ll be going Youtube live about an hour before launch just to celebrate with the viewer and hope to drag a few more people in.
I’ll ring the Duke a bit later and see how he’s feeling and then I’ll be on the live chat while the video is premiering.
🙏If you have not already, please subscribe to the channel. It’s free and the videos are free to view!💪🎣

16/12/2025

Real honour to be asked to attend and present on film my work from filming fish to pollution. Hope to see some of you there. It is free to attend as well.

The countdown is on for our Yorkshire roadshow!

Join us on Saturday, January 10th at the stunning Selby Abbey for an unmissable day packed full of all things fly tying & fly fishing! Entry is free & you can register for this event here👉 https://www.semperfli.net/blog/yorkshire-pop-up-roadshow-january-10th-2026.html.

What’s in store?
🔸Inspiring talks featuring Feargal Sharkey, Hans Van Klinken, and Beneath British Waters
🔸Semperfli Pro Team and guest tyers demonstrating expert techniques
🔸The Grayling Society
🔸Learn to tie flies with the Fly Dressers Guild
🔸Trade stands including Snowbee, Barbless Flies, Northern Fishing School, Yellowbelly Fly Tying, Allt Fishing, and of course, Semperfli!
🔸Team England

We can’t wait to see you there!