Angler_39_s_Mail_-_July_24_2018

Anglers FISH OF THE MAIL

CARP – 47 lb 2 oz 69.2% of British record

TIP OF THE WEEK

THE new Richworth Fish of the Week competition rewards a main Richworth winner each week, who will get a brilliant £100 box of quality bait.

Richworth are giving away their brilliant S-Core 2 baits, and a yearly winner will get a huge £1,000 haul of Richworth bait and a big trophy.

Carp Team England assistant manager Graham Mabey rates the Richworth range, as they catch time after time.

Graham said: “When it’s hot and the fish are feeding in the shallow margins, it can be easy to spook them when casting out your rig.

“My tip is to introduce a small amount of 10 mm baits via a small catapult, as the disturbance should cause the fish to move away from the spot for a few minutes, allowing you to position your rig in the swim, before they return to feed.”

Check out the full baits range at: www.richworth.com

■ MICHAEL JONES was rewarded with this PB 15 lb 15 oz barbel after deciding to fish a neglected swim on Staffordshire’s River Dove.

The 33-year-old tyre fitter said: “I targeted a stretch that’s rarely fished, as it’s about a mile from the nearest car park.

“I also caught a 12 lb 10 barbel from the swim two days earlier, dropping in a few handfuls of

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■ DAN ADAMS included this 47 lb 2 oz mirror carp in a fine hit of giants from Berkshire’s Horton Church Lake.

Huntworth, Somerset-based Dan added others of 38 lb 4 oz,

35 lb 10 oz and 31 lb 8 oz during a 48-hour trip.

All were caught on Sticky Baits Signature Squid pop-ups, presented over a large bed of whole and crushed The Krill boilies.

BARBEL – 15 lb 15 oz

75.3% of British record 8 mm and 14 mm halibut pellets at the end of the session, prepping it for my return.

“I used 14 mm Dynamite Marine Halibut boilies on the hook and Halibut Pellets and Frenzied Hempseed in a cage feeder,” added Uttoxeter-based Michael.

■ MIKE WHITE scaled down his tackle when he visited Neville Fickling’s Manton carp syndicate water, in Lincolnshire, and was rewarded with this fine 3 lb 3 oz rudd. The 47-year-old Hull, East Yorkshire, angler float fished corn on a size 14 hook to 4 lb line.

RUDD – 3 lb 3 oz

68.9% of British record

WEEK

In association with

INSIDE this July 24, 2018 issue.

CRUCIAN CARP – 3 lb 5 oz

£100 BAIT WINNER

71.6% of British record

'RECORD' GRASS CARP WINS OUR FISH OF THE WEEK

Weighing a massive 53 lb 12 oz, the grass carp on the front cover is the biggest ever caught in the UK. Sadly, there are no official records, as they were deemed a non-native species by the British Record Fish Committee back in the 1990s. Captor David Beagley is our Richworth Fish of the Week winner. Turn to p.4-5 for the full story.

News

4 Water companies blasted 6 Ban on barbel fishing 7 Big bream bonanza 8 Your Great Catches 9 Youngest Fish ‘O’ Mania winner 40 Big Carp Gallery

“Summer fishing at its best.”

D

UE to the rivers being sluggish in the recent heatwave, Dave Brice decided to fish a stillwater instead, catching a bumper haul of crucian carp and tench, adding a 20 lb carp for good measure.

The 53-year-old Coventry, West Midlands, angler caught 12 specimen crucians, including seven of over 3 lb, to a top weight of 3 lb 5 oz, and 20 tench to 6 lb 8 oz.

Dave said: “I haven’t been on the rivers lately, what with all this hot weather and the World Cup football, so I decided to head south for a couple of days, to target crucians.

“After doing a lap of the lake, I dropped into a swim, where I spodded out a pint of hemp and

casters, along with half a kilo of groundbait and a sprinkling of micro pellets.

“With the temperature rising into the 30s I toasting in the sun, but then I had my first bite, which turned out to be a tench.

After a few more tench, I caught my first crucian – a cracker weighing 2 lb 15 oz.

“At around 9pm I spodded out some more bait, in preparation for the morning.

Just as I was thinking of bringing the rods in and getting my head down for the night, I had a jittery bite and netted another crucian, a stunner of 3 lb.

“Daybreak couldn’t come soon enough. I didn’t need the 4am alarm, as I was already up and ready, spodding some

more bait out. The action was fast and furious from the off, as I hooked into crucians at the same time, one of which was a 3 lb 5 oz PB. “I kept the feed going in, and lots more tench and crucians followed. For the first few hours it was almost impossible to get two rods in the water.

“I even had a 20 lb carp that was too big for my weigh sling, landed on 5 lb line and a size 16 hook.

“Most of the fish were caught on sweetcorn, in conjunction with a Method feeder.

“By 11am I was hot and out of bait, so I decided to pack up and head for home. This was summer fishing at its best,” concluded Dave.

Features

12 Lee Kerry – his World Feeder Champs debut pride 14 Back in Time – looking back at what made the news years ago.

15 Letters – swipe at Angling Trust 16 Steve Collett – small stream surprises and a lost ‘lump’ 20 New series! Bill Rushmer’s Top 10 starts with favourite floats 24 John Bailey – his angling greats 28 Mark Price – big canal bream 32 Dave Coster – the tackle and skills for shallow fishing success 34 Dr Ian Welch – how fish communicate with one another 36 Andy Browne – fish care tips 38 Colin Davidson – how to tweak you surface fishing for success 41 Billy Flowers – carp from snags 42 Mike Salisbury – more fish on the Method with distance sticks 44 New Gear 46 Where To Fish This Week 63 The Informant

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News

DO YOU HAVE A STORY?

Contact our news editor: Thomas Petch telephone: 01252 555051 email: anglersmail@ti-media.com

✍

EDITOR’S LETTER

Million anglers and non-anglers hooked THIS Wednesday (July 25), the final TV episode of Mortimer & Whitehouse: Gone Fishing is on BBC2… on the eve of National Fishing Month.

What a warm up act! I am not alone in enjoying this refreshing series with two favourite comics, Paul ‘Fast Show’ Whitehouse and Bob ‘Vic ‘n’ Bob’ Mortimer.

It’s not just been anglers who have made a point of watching. My non-fishing friends have raved about the series, as Gone Fishing found an appealing formula; a hybrid of TV styles but one that 'keeps it real'.

A BBC insider told me: “With iPlayer, the gentle, brilliant charm of following these two comedy giants fishing is regularly pulling in over one million viewers a week. We’re thrilled that viewers are thoroughly enjoying and embracing Bob and Paul’s exploits.”

I hope we soon see more quality TV ventures, showing the pastime and waterside we enjoy, in such an accessible, realistic way.

As to the future, producer Nicky Waltham told me: “No news on a Series Two. As you can imagine, we’d all love to return to the riverbank at the earliest opportunity. Our fingers are crossed!”

With the popular Monster Carp, currently on ITV4 every Thursday, offering a different approach, we cannot moan about a lack of TV interest as we enter 2018’s Fishing Month (starting Friday, July 27).

ENJOY this issue of the lowest priced and most interesting fishing magazine… and join us again next Tuesday.

TIM KNIGHT EDITOR

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■ Mass death of fish on the River Witham earlier this year.

■ This was the River Irwell in a serious 2017 case.

Water firms blasted

■ Yet another bag of dead fish from a killer pollution.

● 1,827 pollution incidents ● SW Water company worst

A

DAMNING Environment Agency report on our water companies has found that the industry is “not doing enough to reduce serious pollution incidents.”

The number of the most serious pollution incidents rose to 11 in 2017, and there were a staggering 1,827 pollutions in total. In 2015 there were just four Category One incidents.

By far the worst water company was South West Water, who were to blame for 109 Category 1-3 pollutions, with Yorkshire Water next on 43.

This comes in the face of record fines for the sector – £21million issued as a result of 16 successful prosecutions by the EA in 2017.

And the EA have set a more ambitious programme of environmental improvements, which water companies will have to make between 2020 and 2025 – totalling £5 billion of investment.

Toby Willison, executive

director of operations for the EA, said: “The leading companies in this report show that reducing their environmental impact can be done, so we look to companies to share good practice and improve quickly.

“But one serious pollution incident is one too many. We will always work closely with companies who want to do the right thing, but we will take action against those who don’t.”

The Angling Trust has called on the industry and its regulators to commit to achieving much higher standards over the next five years, to restore healthy rivers and coastal waters. This is in the context of plans to build a million new homes, and climate change, which can make sewage spills more likely after storms.

Mark Lloyd, Angling Trust and Fish Legal chief executive, said: “Our rivers and lakes are under serious threat, and anglers are witnessing the disappearance of

fish and other wildlife.

“The Government has pledged to leave the environment in a better state for the next generation, but it has no hope of achieving this worthy ambition if it doesn’t improve water quality.

“I urge all angling clubs and fishery owners to join the Angling Trust and Fish Legal so that we can represent their interests and take civil legal action against offenders."

And top barbel angler and environmentalist Ray Walton said: “Water companies are favoured by the EA over the environment, fish and wildlife protection. If water and sewage companies can get away with it, they will. It's cheaper to dump raw sewage than treat it, so more money saved for the fat cats at the top.

“The public pay for raw sewage to be treated and keep rivers safe, so perhaps they deserve a rebate every time they dump raw sewage?”

UK’s biggest grass carp ● 53 lb 12 oz colossus ● Crucian record lake at Yateley ● Angler's Mail exclusive

T

HE biggest grass carp ever caught in the UK was landed by David Beagley last week at a whopping 53 lb 12 oz.

And it came from the same special nine-acre lake that once produced the old 4 lb 9 oz crucian carp record.

David caught the giant grassie from Little Moulsham Lake, on the historic Yateley complex, on the Surrey/ Hampshire border.

Fishery boss Alan Cooper, who recently caught a 46-pounder, said: “It is a carp syndicate, but there are about 12 grassies, of which we currently think there are at least six over 45 lb.

“Most members get about one a year, so they are not an easy proposition, but one guy has had seven out.

“This is a new lake record, following on from a different fish that was caught at 51 lb 4 oz in October 2015, so it will be interesting to see how big that fish is now.

“These fish are huge and are something to behold when they leap out of the lake.

“Recently, I was in a boat and there was shoal of them just ahead of me and they spooked and shot under the boat with massive bow waves. It was just like killer whales trying to knock seals off floating ice.

“When David caught this fish it leaped clear out of his landing net twice, so he had to play it to the net three times. They really go ballistic close in.”

Florist David, from Fleet, Hampshire, used a Perfection Ground Baits Choc Orange Nut Mix pop-up at 40 yards, off the side of a baited area, in a channel between two islands.

£100 BAIT WINNER ■ WHAT A GRASSIE! This exclusive picture of David Beagley’s awesome 53 lb 12 oz grass carp makes him the winner of the star £100 Richworth prize this week.

David will receive a bumper goody bag of Richworth’s brilliant S-Core 2 bait. And, like the big fish captors in p.2/3, also gets an exclusive Fish of the Week T-shirt.

The lake was previously owned by CEMEX Angling, before they sold all of their waters, including Horton Church Lake, in Berkshire, which is thought to have been stocked with the same strain and year-class of grass carp in the 1990s.

Horton, under the flight-path of London’s Heathrow Airport, held the previous biggest caught in Britain, a 52 lb 10 oz beast by Martin Bowler in 2016.

These fish are huge and are something to behold.

Alan Cooper

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News ‘No’ to heatwave barbel fishing DO YOU HAVE A STORY?

Contact our news editor: Thomas Petch telephone: 01252 555051 email: anglersmail@ti-media.com

l Barbel Society and top club l Risks ‘too great’

l More KHV – Mill Farm Fishery, near Hereford, and fish supplier Swallow Aquatics, at Rayleigh, in Essex, have been confirmed as having koi herpesvirus.

These outbreaks follow four other affected fisheries, reported here last week.

In 2017, 23 fisheries were diagnosed. It’s feared that the current heatwave could mean that figure is topped.

T

HE Barbel Society has called for a ban on all barbel fishing until rain and cooler weather puts an end to the current heatwave.

Chairman Steve Pope has put a temporary fishing ban on the waters controlled by the Society, warning that they could perish if caught in the current conditions.

After virtually no rain for two months, the condition of many rivers is getting critical.

Steve said: “The vast majority of barbel anglers are exercising restraint, as they totally get that the risk is just too great.

“There is no excuse whatsoever for anyone to be targeting barbel while the water temperature is above 20 degrees Celsius and dissolved oxygen levels are dangerously low.

“Many clubs have put out the same message, and some have taken a similar course of action to ourselves, by closing their fisheries. I can’t recall a time like this, and while I welcome the fact that we are actually having a summer, I cannot wait until it starts to rain.

“I have cancelled a number of guided days. The clients have understood completely, but hopefully we’ll meet up when there is no risk to the barbel.

“We are all desperate to get out barbel fishing, and when we do eventually get back on the rivers, the buzz will be even greater.

“Rain is on its way and conditions will improve, so we just need to wait; it isn’t difficult,” concluded Steve.

Yorkshire all-rounder Bob Roberts added: “I have to agree with this 100 per cent.

Sadly, some folk will always be irresponsible.

“I’m reading posts by young kids, who I once thought had promising prospects in the angling game, trash their own budding reputations through

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l Annual jamboree begins – National Fishing Month begins this Friday, July 27.

Now in its 26th year, there are more than 250 events, mostly for beginners. Visit nationalfishingmonth.com to register and then turn up.

l Mole deaths – a ‘significant number’ of perch, pike and roach died on the River Mole, near Gatwick Airport, in Surrey, due to the heatwave. The Environment Agency, who have been extra busy lately, used re-oxygenating equipment to boost levels and help remaining stocks. l Record accepted – three new records have been provisionally accepted by the British Record Fish Committee, including the equal-best 8 lb 5 oz golden orfe caught from Surrey’s Newdigate Farm by Lawrence King. Also set for the books are Jason Touzel’s 3 lb 3 oz 2 dr shore-caught white sea bream, from Jersey, and an 18 lb shore spurdog caught by Cameron Atkinson at Watermouth, Devon. A claim by Ryan Wingfield for a shore tope, at 73 lb 2 oz, from Wales, will be considered at the next meeting in six months.

n Calls have grown to suspend barbel fishing in this ongoing hot summer, and some venue controllers have acted already. sheer arrogant stupidity on social media, all for a bag of free boilies. They are ‘fish at all costs’ merchants.”

Among the clubs to close their waters are the mighty Lymm AC, based in the North West, who have shut all of their river stretches, including ones on the Severn, Dane and Dee.

A club spokesman explained: “Advice given from an Environment Agency chief scientific officer, in Shrewsbury, warned us that harmful water temperatures for barbel, pike, salmon and grayling are above 17 degrees Celsius, with fish being most susceptible after dark.”

n Lawrence King looks sure to enter British record books with this giant 8 lb 5 oz golden orfe.

n Top specialist angler Phil Morton piled in the feed to keep big bream coming during an incredible day.

YOUR ANGLiNG WEEk AHEAD

Lunar predictions Exclusive forecasts for the week July 24-30 by leading astrologer Marion Williamson.

Mega feed, mega haul! l 29 bream over 10 lb l Reservoir carp l 150 lb of feed

S

PESSY ace Phil Morton baited with 150 lb of feed in one day to catch a bumper haul of bream and carp.

Tackling day ticket Walthamstow No.1 Reservoir, in North East London, Phil caught 29 double-figure bream to 14 lb 12 oz and carp to 25 lb.

The 39-year-old firefighter from Chessington, in Surrey, said: “It was an amazing day – I had only two bream under 10 lb.

“Amongst the fish were a number of carp to 25 lb and a couple of recent stockies, which already look like London warriors. It has really pleased me to see that the carp stocks are already recovering from the fish kill last year.

“During this trip I got through 65 kilos of bait, which consisted of hemp, crushed maize, Vitalin and Bait-Tech The Juice groundbait, soaked with 500 ml of Bait-Tech Stick Mix Liquids in Berry and Scopex flavours, to provide a significant amount of attraction.

“I also introduced a gallon of maggots and 5 kilos of Bloodworm Spod & PVA Micro Pellets, to keep the huge shoals of bream occupied.

“I Spombed continuously over the rigs at 90 yards. When a bite wasn’t forthcoming, a few

Spombs over the top got the indicators ‘dancing’.

“I fished helicopter rigs consisting of 3 ft of E-S-P leadcore to a 3 oz zip-style lead, a 10 in. fluorocarbon hook length and a hair-rigged piece of corn, held in place with a fake maggot.

“I also threaded seven maggots onto a size 10 hook, balancing the hook bait with

a No.8 shot on the hair, which ensures the hook bait shoots into the mouth of a fish as it hoovers up the bed of bait.

“My main line was 10 lb E-S-P Synchro XT, which is perfect for long distance casting whilst providing good abrasion resistance, especially important with the large amount of weed in the lake,” concluded Surbiton Angling Centre consultant Phil.

It was an amazing day – I had only two bream under 10 lb.

Phil Morton n Carp to 25 lb also featured in Phil’s mega haul.

TUE: a practical Capricorn Moon creates a lucky angle to meticulous Mercury – a steady hand and an eye for detail gives you skills to hook a beauty.

WED: the Moon meets unstable, unpredictable Uranus – impulsive actions could land you in hot water, so keep your keys, phone and wallet away from the edge.

THU: powerful Pluto forms a pleasant angle to sociable Venus, creating a rather romantic atmosphere, whether that’s a date with a person or a romance with something more slippery.

FRI: it’s the full Moon in unusual Aquarius. Don’t play by the rules if you want to get lucky. Strange baits, weird techniques and offbeat locations could all pay off.

SAT: excessive Jupiter brings out your sense of adventure, so you’re up for a challenge. An excellent time to take on any large-scale fishing project.

SUN: a mystical Pisces Moon waves at mental planet Mercury – trust your intuition. Let your imagination wander and get creative to attract the big ’uns.

MON: restrictive Saturn puts the brakes on the Moon, reminding you to be cautious. Planning is key and don’t take any silly risks.

Anglers TV pick Mail

MORTIMER & WHITEHOUSE: GONE FISHING POPULAR comedians Paul Whitehouse and Bob Mortimer target pike in this final episode. They invite a cardiologist for dinner at their cosy cottage to talk about their medical pasts and futures.

They write a eulogy for each other as the sun sets on their final fishing expedition.

If you’ve missed any of these charming shows, catch them on BBC iPlayer. Turn to p.15 for anglers’ feedback on the series.

BBC2, WEDS, 10PM.

also this week…

MONSTER CARP – Serbia for predators, then Bosnia for carp.

ITV4, THURS, 8PM.

UK weather

VERY warm again, with temperatures 22-28 degrees Celsius. Sunny spells amid widespread cloud. Chance of a light rain shower on Sunday and Monday. Light, variable breeze.

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News This week’s GREAT CATCHES Stunning PB barbel N

IC GOODWIN set a new barbel PB with this 12 lb 8 oz specimen from his local River Taff, in South Wales.

Cardiff-based Nic used a feeder filled with pellets and a glugged krill boilie hook bait.

■ LEE BIGGADIKE struggled for bream on the South Holland Main Drain, in Lincolnshire, during the hot weather, but finally got his target fish with this 7 lb 5 oz ‘slab’. Local Lee added lots of skimmers, on waggler and maggot-and-corn cocktails.

■ PAUL NIXON smashed his catfish PB of 29 lb with this 48 lb ‘beast’ from a local lake. Bedworth, Warwickshire-based Paul legered a big chunk of luncheon meat.

■ LUKE NOTTINGHAM enjoyed a fine tench trip to a local lake, when he had this 8 lb 9 oz specimen and another of 7 lb.

Braintree, Essex-based Luke, 30, part owner of mobile tackle shop Tackle On Wheels, offered yellow pop-up boilies.

■ SCHOOLBOY Charlie Barwick was taken to the Great Ouse, in Bedfordshire, for an overnighter by his dad, Adam, and he matted chub of 6 lb and another of 5 lb 10 oz. Feeder and fake corn on a hair-rig did the trick.

■ SUSIE-ROSE PAINTER was chuffed with this quality perch from her local stretch of the Grand Union Canal, in Hertfordshire. She estimated it at over 3 lb. Harefield-based Susie jigged a small lure for the big predator.

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Match News

Youngest ever Fish‘O winner! l Pete’s Hayfield triumph l 51 kg wins £50,000 l Fosters lad led from first weigh-in

P

ETE BLACK, 21, became the youngest ever Fish‘O’Mania champion in the event’s 25-year history, winning the Sky-televised 2018 Final at Yorkshire’s Hayfield Lakes to claim the 50-grand top prize.

The Fosters of Birmingham employee hit the front in the 24-angler Final 30 minutes into the match, and remained there to the end, catching 51 kg 350 g of carp to doubles, mainly on 14.5 m pole and pellets shallow.

Maver Dynamite Midlands teamster Pete, drawn at match peg 7 (permanent peg 20 on Island Lake), also spent time on a pellet waggler further out, which although less productive did bring him a few extra fish whilst – crucially – resting his long pole line.

“It’s a dream come true to win Fish‘O’Mania. Everyone in the Final is good enough to win, and of course I was nervous beforehand.

“But once I got settled into my peg I felt really relaxed,” Pete told Angler’s Mail.

“I started short, but never had a sign in 15 minutes, so I went onto the long pole line, where I’d been pinging out 15 to 20 6 mm pellets every minute.

The float went straight under and I was on my way.”

Using tactics worked out during several practice visits to Hayfield by Pete and fellow Fish‘O Finalist Richie Hull, with runners Adam Rumble and Rob Brennan, the fish kept coming

n Black magic – Pete Black was the main man of the Fish’O’Mania podium, where the 21-year-old match angler picked up the giant £50,000 winner’s cheque. for Pete during a superb second hour and beyond.

“We worked out that it was important to keep changing between 18 in. and 3 ft depths on the long pole, and also that a longish line of 2-3 ft from tip to float was best,” revealed Pete.

“The type of pellets was also important. Unusually for a venue with a fishery pelletsonly rule, Hayfield offers a choice between Skrettings and Coppins. We found Skrettings far better for catching shallow.

“We also realised that at

some point you’d have to rest the long pole line before returning and restarting it.

Pellet waggler was the ideal way to do this,” continued Pete, who also acknowledged the importance of unchanged conditions.

“The weather was hot and sunny throughout our practice visits and the Final. The wind was a bit gusty on the day, so I chose to fish at 14.5 m rather than 16 m on the pole, to help accurate feeding.

“I fed much less, but used

larger 8 mm pellets on the waggler for the same reason.

“I knew that I was ahead by the closing stages, but treated every hooked fish as if it could be a decider.

“I hooked one with 40 seconds to go, shipped the pole straight back and pulled like hell.

“I netted it two seconds before the hooter, and a massive cheer went up from the crowd. What a feeling that was!”

Continued over››

n Bagger Black – Pete in action at Hayfield.

n Splash for the cash… Pete mid-flight during his victory dip.

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Match News Hull nets £5,000 champ’s handout

n Bagging champ – part of the catch that netted Pete the trophy… and the huge payout!

DURING their many hours on the road to and from practice sessions at Hayfield, Pete Black and Richie Hull pledged a £5,000 chunk to the other if they won the Fish‘O Final.

“I met Richie when I first started fishing at White Acres, and he helped me out so much, so I’m pleased to be able to hand him that cash. I’ll still have £45,000, from which I’ll buy a new van, have a nice holiday and stick the rest away for the future,” disclosed Pete.

“I always wanted to learn off

n In the money – Pete with Richie Hull. the top anglers. Richie, plus Paul Downes and Stuart Palser, always gave me time and advice.

They have been huge influences on my career.”

Power plays bridesmaid again!

Champ’s pathway to angling stardom WITH his mum Tracy, sister Danielle and five-year-old nephew Blake watching and celebrating his Fish‘O’Mania triumph at Hayfield, Angler’s Mail quizzed Pete about his road to match angling stardom.

“I started fishing aged around ten. My uncle and a next door neighbour would take me to local canals. I loved it and would always be asking when they’d take me again.

“Through local tackle shops we heard that Hazelwell AC welcomed junior anglers, so I joined up and a chap called Eddie Swan helped and encouraged me.

“I started to frame or even win the odd match or two, then aged 15 I won the club league outright, against all the adults.

Around this time I met Paul Downes, and used to sit behind him a lot, watching and learning.

“I remember winning a 50peg Open run by Cornerstone AC on the BirminghamWorcester Canal with 4 lb 10 oz of skimmers and quality roach while I was still at school.

“But that was my last canal match after I discovered Tunnel Barn Farm,” continued Pete, whose qualification for the Fish‘O Final came at the Warwickshire venue.

SOMERSET star Andy Power (Preston Innovations) had to settle for second in the Fish‘O Final for the second successive year, after his catch rate fizzle out in the latter stages for a 39.225 finish, following a promising start on pellet waggler at peg 22.

“As the match went on there were fewer and fewer signs of fish.

Still, I gave it everything and have no regrets. I’ll be back,” pledged Andy, whose consolation was a handsome £10,000 cheque.

Steve Ford, who drew next to the winner on peg 6, delivered 36.925 to the scales for third.

An estimated 6,000 spectators basked in the sunshine and enjoyed Hayfield’s many other attractions, including trade stands and the Fish‘O Ladies Final, won this year by Kayleigh Smith (Browning Ossett), and the Junior Final topped by Myles Fletcher.

Meanwhile, promoters Matchroom Multi Sport and organisers The Angling Trust have

n Pete with mum, sister and nephew.

n Junior champ Myles Fletcher and part of his winning catch.

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n Runner-up Andy Power. already confirmed that Hayfield Lakes will host next year’s Fish‘O’Mania on Saturday, July 13.

Matchroom Sport Chairman Barry Hearn added: “I’m very pleased to say we’ll be returning to Hayfield Lakes for Fish‘O’Mania XXVI in 2019. Hayfield was a great home for Fish‘O’Mania for many years, and I’d like to thank Robin, Noelie and the team for helping deliver one of our best events yet.”

Hayfield Lakes CEO Robin Goforth said: “We’ve never had a bad Fish‘O’Mania at Hayfield, and now the fish are bigger there is more thrill for the crowd and TV viewers. It will be a lot bigger next year, with licensed beer tents and other attractions.”

n Ladies champ Kayleigh Smith gets interviewed for Sky TV.

Angler’s Bridon blitzes Tyne RiverFest round Mail contacts D

ESPITE blazing sunshine and high water temperatures, the 40-entry River Tyne qualifier for the RiverFest Final delivered six double-figure weights, led by Eddie Bridon (Maver/Dynamite) with 19 lb 1 oz.

Barnsley Blacks and England Feeder squad member Eddie drew a peg at Bywell Road and set to work with light rigs beneath a 13 m pole, feeding groundbait initially then

loosefeeding maggots, to net 180 dace and chublets.

Pat Adams (DH Angling/ABC Baits) topped the day’s other zone to also clinch qualification for November’s two-day bigmoney Final on the Severn at Shrewsbury. Northallertonbased Pat fished stick float and maggots for 100 dace and a bonus 2 lb 8 oz chub from end peg on the woodyard section. n Many miles south, in Kent, the River Medway at Barming

hosted the weekend’s other RiverFest qualifier, with only 31 anglers in attendance.

St. Neots, Cambridgeshire, matchman Anthony Watling (Stanjays) netted two bream and several back-up skimmers and roach at peg 62 to win the match from Zone B. He edged out Hadrian Whittle (Daiwa Dorking) at peg 55 by 16 lb 12 oz to 16 lb 5 oz 12 dr.

Local ace Mick Hayman also reached the Final.

Email address: anglersmail@ti-media.com

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n Final via Tyne – Eddie Bridon and Pat Adams.

Bicko Soars to the top A PERFECT two-point total with a combined weight of 30 lb 4 oz gave Darran Bickerton (Sensas Starlets) the £1,000 top prize in the River Soar summer two-day festival.

Drawn at n ‘Bicko’ with his Day Two Soar Cossington on Day One, England tench brace for victory. coach Darran bagged 250 roach for 18 lb 10 oz, before winning his section again on Day Two, split between the Greens and Barrow Deeps, with a tench-assisted 11 lb 10 oz.

All set for a Boddington Classic

THE line-up for the Angling Trust/Canal & River Trust Boddington Classic Final is complete, after the final qualifier at the bag-up reservoir on the Warwickshire/Northamptonshire border produced more big weights.

Hertfordshire hauler Daniel Coss led the way with 53 kg 950 g of carp from the trees section, alternating pellet waggler and bomb, to beat West Midlander Paddy McMahon with 49.260 and Manchester raider Brian Foster with 48.575.

All three will be in a 30-angler Final this weekend, with £1,000 awaiting the winner.

n Final via Medway – Anthony Watling and Mick Hayman.

Trent ‘ton’ for Daz BURY match ace Daz Shaw (Maver NW) added a Trent ton-up to his career highlights after hoisting 100 lb 2 oz of bream onto the scales in a Div.1 National warm-up Open on the Radcliffe Viaduct section near Nottingham.

Daz drew peg 49 and shared the vast shoal of ‘slabs’ with Yorkshireman Mark Halksworth, who netted 86 lb 12 oz at next peg 50, while three weights between 25 and 30 lb were also taken on the stretch, which will be part of B Section in the National.

Meanwhile, the Trent’s East Bridgeford section hosted Round Two of Notts AA’s Bentinck Shield series, Matt Cox winning with 31 lb of skimmers and chub, from Gary Pilsworth, who bagged 25 lb of hemp roach.

“The river is fishing its head off, but match attendances are still very poor. It’s their loss!” Gary told Angler’s Mail. n Gaz Pilsworth with his 25 lb of hemp roach.

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24 JULY 2018 anglersmail.com 11

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Anglers

MAIL

Match Squad

No.1

for ma tc fishing h insight

World debut pride LEE KERRY England match pro

Lee Kerry reflects on his first World Championships with Preston Innovations Team England.

I

’VE just about recovered from what can only be described as an epic trip to Italy’s Ostellato Canal, representing Preston Innovations Team England for the first time in the World Feeder Championships.

After a successful warmup match in early June, when English teams finished first and second, all the eyes of our rivals were upon us.

With this in mind, the squad travelled out a few days before the start of official practice sessions, so that we could spend some time fishing alone on the match length.

It quickly became apparent that there were many more small skimmers to be caught than on our previous visit.

The resident bream were still showing, but small zander were proving to be a problem when fishing small baits.

Our sessions started in excellent style, the whole team catching some good weights.

I managed to put together 11 kg, 13 kg and 17 kg, and we were confident that our pre-practice sessions had established some good principles.

Overcoming adversity

Suddenly, in the official practice week, the wheels fell off. Not just for us, but for every other team, too.

The venue’s fish shut up shop, and at first we couldn’t quite work out the problem. Thursday proved particularly tough, with everyone struggling to catch anything of any size.

When this happens on an international event it can be heartbreaking. We had fished

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24 JULY 2018

the venue more than ten times by this point, catching well every time, but all of a sudden all that hard work and planning seemed to be thrown out of the window.

The management team did a fantastic job of rallying the troops on Thursday night, after the event’s opening parade. We knew we needed to completely rethink our approach, but we had only one day to do it.

Although this sort of situation is not ideal, I wasn’t worried. I’ve experienced similar before in big team events, and it actually gives you an unbelievable drive to succeed, knowing that your back is against the wall.

Back on track

On the final practice day we made some changes to our groundbait, our baits and our lines to fish, deciding to alternate between 18 m and 42 m.

The session went really well, with everyone catching skimmers and a few bream.

We settled on a combination of Sensas Super Canal Black, Magic and Terre de Somme. For our closer line we added a touch more leam, as there were also tiny skimmers to be caught.

What we put in the feeder was also important. Any amount of joker would bring in ‘nuisance’ zander, so we settled on chopped worm for the long line and just a bit of joker for the shorter, small-fish chuck.

In World Championships, six anglers make up the squad, but only five can fish, so I was delighted to get the nod to make my World Championship debut.

The team were up for it.

Everyone knew that it would be tough fishing, but keeping calm was essential, and making sure that you landed any bonus bream that you hooked would make a massive difference.

Day One

My Day One draw put me on B3, which wasn’t a good area, as it was out of the trees, leaving very little cover.

England’s plan was to catch an early skimmer at 40 m. After ten minutes four of the team had one… but not me. Staying calm, I was relieved when two skimmers of 8 oz apiece came my way after 30 minutes.

Sport in my section was painfully slow. Two anglers had two bream, with my skimmers best of the rest at the hour mark.

At this point, many teams decided to fish short for the small fish. Some started catching a few skimmers, while one angler found a bream. I could feel myself slipping backwards, as I only managed to catch one more skimmer from my long line.

As a team, we felt targeting little fish would not put us in with a chance of a getting a medal, but with other teams starting to catch around me, I consulted with manager Tommy Pickering and decided to rest the long line and catch

a few small fish from the short line.

A few small fish and a bonus skimmer put me in seventh position in my section as the final hour arrived.

Tommy had noticed a few better fish were starting to feed, so I switched back to the long line, which brought a moment I will never forget: the rod flew round after a minute and I was attached to a 3 lb bream.

The battle seemed to last forever, but was probably only a couple of minutes. I have never had a feeling like it.

Big points secured, I continued to fish long, catching three late skimmers to finish with 3.7 kg, enough for third in section, behind 6 kg and 7 kg weights.

I felt my result was the best I could do, helping the team achieve a fantastic 14-point

■ Lee in Day One action on Italy’s Ostellato Canal.

n Lee Kerry with a bonus bream that helped him to finish 13th in his World Feeder Championships debut.

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total, finishing the day in second place, behind the Russian team with a brilliant 9 points.

Day Two

After an evening team meeting, we came to the conclusion that slightly more aggressive feeding at key times would be needed for us to win Gold.

The morning’s draw put me on C22, a tough but fair section.

A similar start to the previous day meant I netted two skimmers by the half hour mark, with a 1 kg catfish the only bonus fish caught in the section.

Again, it was time for small fish, but this time I made the switch immediately, resulting in a run of small skimmers, and by small, I mean 20 to the pound.

The small skimmers kept me ahead, and also bought me precious time to look back on the 40 m line.

Just as I was thinking it was time to move back onto small fish, the tip flew round and a bream was attached. No one else had caught one, so this bream would equate to mega points.

After netting it, I rotated the lines, adding more small fish, then sneaking another 8 oz skimmer with only a minute left.

My 3.5 kg put me second in section, which was a pleasing result, but I was desperate to hear how my teammates had fared.

Steve Ringer proved why he’s

n England manager Tommy Pickering and coach Dean Barlow with the third-placed-team trophy. considered the world’s best, as he managed to win his section, but elsewhere we hadn’t quite caught enough bonus fish.

Our 22 points for the day left us one behind the Dutch overall, so we had to settle for team Bronze, while the Russians scored another brilliant 12 points to win a deserved Gold.

To win a medal of any kind amongst such a high standard of anglers is a major achievement, and it really is a great feeling to stand on the podium.

South Africa hosts the 2019 World Feeder Championships early next year, and I simply can’t wait for it to begin.

Hopefully, I can help England win that magical Gold medal.

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Follow Us on Facebook – Sensas UK www.sensasmatch.co.uk 24 JULY 2018 anglersmail.com 13

•

Back in Time

with Matt Sparkes 40 YEARS AGO TODAY

30 YEARS AGO TODAY

I think it would be fair to say that the photograph of the fish that appeared in the Mail could quite rightly be described as ‘grotesque’.

Today’s Angler’s Mail covers mainly coarse species, so in terms of ugliness, I guess a catfish would top the list. But compared to the 55 lb anglerfish caught by miner Handel Williams, the catfish is a positive stunner!

The 37-year-old angler from Mountain Ash, in South Wales, boated his prize off Plymouth, using a mackerel on a size 10/0 hook to 50 lb line. Looks aside, the anglerfish is actually a highly prized eating fish, with a delicious, delicate flavour.

Fortunately, they favour very deep water, so it’s safe to go for a paddle when you next make a trip to the seaside.

The same issue, in p.3, provided a picture far more pleasing to the eye. Lucky French student Lawrence Florentin beams with pride with

The Mail highlights the dangers of overhead power lines with the shocking story of a West Wiltshire schoolboy receiving an 11,000-volt shock when his pole touched overhead wires.

David Moore, 15, of Seend, near Devizes, was fishing on the Kennet and Avon Canal near his home when the accident happened.

He was rushed to Bath’s United Royal Hospital suffering from severe burns to his hands, feet and back. David survived the horrifying ordeal, and hopefully the story made readers more aware about such dangers.

Beauty and the beast

20 YEARS AGO TODAY Swan shot swipe

Anglers were justifiably miffed with new reports that they are still damaging swans with their lead shot, even though the use of lead weights between No.8 (0.05 oz) and 1 oz had been outlawed since 1986. The woman behind the accusations,

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NEW SERIES

Shock of boy’s life

England squad surprises

a chunky salmon of 17 lb. The fish was her very first salmon, caught from a boat close to the mouth of the River Moriston, where it enters Loch Ness.

“I was beginning to get bored and was losing patience, when suddenly the line started to pull,” exclaimed Lawrence, who went on to say: “I intend to eat half of it in Scotland and take the rest back to France, to show my friends and relations.”

The 1988 England squad was revealed, and it was a surprise to some, as boss Dick Clegg had made some fairly drastic changes. The only team member to remain from the previous year’s Championship winning side was Kevin Ashurst.

Former World Champion Dave Roper and Alan McAtee were recalled for the World Champs clash in Belgium, while a stunned Vinnie Smith was called upon to represent his country for the very first time, as was London-based matchman Dave Vincent. The sixth team member was Bob Nudd, who Dick had chosen as a reserve in the previous year’s Championships in Portugal (where England won Team

Jan Harrigan, a member of the Swan Rescue Centre, in Wychbold, Worcestershire, claimed to have tested blood samples from every swan seen at her sanctuary for three years – many from the River Severn – and thought anglers were still causing problems.

“Hardly any have normal or acceptable levels in their blood.

I know there is a problem with lead shot, and it’s far worse than

anyone imagined,” she said. She also claimed that as soon as June 16 arrives, lead levels seem to increase in a lot of birds.

Local Kidderminster tackle dealer Mal Storey was sick of anglers being made scapegoats, and was quick to refute Ms. Harrigans claims, saying: “There is no justification for blaming anglers until there is absolute proof that we are responsible. I don’t understand why we can’t

Gold). Dick’s choice proved to be a good one, as England would go on to secure yet another Team Gold at Damme, Belgium. convince them it’s not lead we’re using any more!”

Anglers MAIL

YOUR VIEWS this week

Trust solutions not enough OUR river fishing is being killed off at an ever-increasing pace by the combined effects of over-abstraction, pollution, predation and loss of habitat.

The Angling Trust has had nine years to address these problems and work out a strategy for dealing with this “very big and complex problem,” as described in your letters page by chief executive Mark Lloyd (AM, July 10).

After all this time their solution to one of the major parts is to regulate the release of rehabilitated otters, fence stillwater fisheries and find other deterrents.

Is that it?

Is that the

■ Mark Lloyd and the Angling Trust have faced criticism over their efforts on otter problems.

Q

result of nine years combined thinking?

Regulating the release of rehabilitated otters is a complete red herring. How many per years are we talking about… 50, 100, 200?

Natural England tell us there are now 11,000 otters in the wild in this country, so I think it’s fair to say that after another breeding season this number will be nearer to 20,000, making their strategy completely laughable.

Mark Lloyd complains that they’re constrained by their membership. Most organisations have members that they’re answerable to, but the Angling Trust have a further problem in that they also have a paymaster (the EA) that provides over 50 per cent of their funding. The fact that the EA got this money from us seems to have been forgotten somewhere.

They are supposed to be representing us, the anglers. If they feel that this problem is too big or too complex for them, it’s time for a change.

Keith Grace, via email.

Back for the future

I AM delighted to read of Mustad’s avowed intent to move away from plastic packaging (AM, July 10), and thought you might like to see a photograph of these Mustad hooks that I purchased in the late 1960s. Guess what… they are in cardboard boxes!

Steve Murch, via email.

Commercial care

I APPLAUD Anthony Briggs’ letter (AM, July 10). He was

■ Mustad’s eco-friendly packets… from half a century ago. spot-on regarding the use of keepnets.

Go to any commercial fishery, and the rules state: ‘No keepnets, apart from matches.’

It’s the old ‘one rule for one…’ scenario. Pleasure anglers do far less harm to fish.

In this heatwave, all matches on commercial fisheries should be banned. Lots of modern fisheries put money before fish.

David Ryley, Plaistow, East London.

WEEKLY QUESTION

Mail fans have millions of years of experience, and answer a weekly question. This week…

What have you thought of BBC2 TV series, Mortimer & Whitehouse: Gone Fishing?

Callander: I think it is Pilley: brilliant to A Chris A Mark wonderful. I have had two watch. Love the way it main fishing buddies over the years and unfortunately lost one. I do also fish alone, but time spent with these dear friends is/was incredibly valuable, and while less productive, no less fulfilling. If this programme, and its position on a mainstream channel, introduces new people to the joy, peace and inner calm that can be found through time spent at the water’s edge, it has served a valuable purpose.

shows another side of our pastime. It’s not all about catching fish and showing off your pics, it’s just as much about having a laugh with friends and talking utter rubbish.

Mansfield: I got bored A Dean after the first two. There

■ Bob Mortimer and Paul Whitehouse – fishing for fun and having a laugh.

was too much talking and repeating themselves about heart conditions, like watching 24 Hours in A&E.

caught some fish. That aside, it’s entertaining and funny and good to see fishing in rivers, not just commercial venues. Let’s hope for a second series.

A

A

Martyn Howard: it would be better if they actually

NEXT WEEK: what’s your fishing target for the rest of this summer?

Post on facebook.com/AnglersMailMagazine

Michael Fenlon: delightfully filmed. Refreshing not to

hear loud, macho geezer shouts of “Yesss, yesss! Get in, my son!” or obvious sponsor tackle and bait placements.

Scott: great to see a A Boy celeb angler who can mend a line!

E-MAIL YOUR LETTERS TO:

amletters@ti-media.com

24 JULY 2018 anglersmail.com 15

•

E V E T T S

Stop

T E er d L n u L O ll-ro

CUK’s No. 1 a

ing – anyth ! r o f ere hing es fis llow him h v o l e Stev where. Fo any

■ There is a big chub attached somewhere.

THIS WEEK’S MISSION

As the main rivers are struggling, not only with a lack of oxygen, but also with a huge influx of morons, I decided that I would zip up my boots and go back to my roots… small river and stream fishing.

Okay, they may not contain record-breaking fish, but they do contain a few surprises.

VENUE: Nottingham Anglers Association run this small stretch of the River Maun, in Nottinghamshire. For the best

value club book in town, have a butcher’s online at www. nottinghamanglers.co.uk or give their main man, David ‘Angry’ Turner, a call on 0115 919 9500, WEATHER: hot, still and really sticky, with a high of 28.5 degrees Celsius. Air pressure 1,021 mbar. Wind 4-5 mph SSW. It felt uncomfortable for fishing, and my skills would need to be at their best to avoid spooking fish.

A

NGLING is a funny old thing; it can bring people together, turn men into children, and excite you like no other pastime. No matter how many times I go, I’m loving my little trips more now than I ever did.

The fish are getting no bigger, and the fame and fortune many of us chase in this sport is not there, yet still angling grips you.

It infiltrates you like no other hobby, sport… call it what you will. This week has been no exception, and it’s only Tuesday.

Starting with my England

Lure Team, and preparing for the up-and-coming World Championships, it was so hot, and the guys, from all walks of life, had the same thing in common – fishing mad. They must have been casting out millions of times for two days in the baking hot sunshine.

So from going to fishing-mad, competitive animals, and grown men that shriek with excitement about catching a gudgeon, I bumped into the darker side of fishing… the Facebook moaners and the tackle shop limpets.

your Mauning

These guys know every peg, every fish, and are competent in the genetic make-up and biological structure of every swimming creature!

If you listen to these sorts for long enough, the shine comes off fishing.

Whilst doing my rounds between several shops, I enquired about a small stream that I had seen on Google Maps.

Some lengths were devoid of fish, and some were private, with ‘poor’ farmers not wanting peasants roaming their land,

sending instructions to their staff via Skype whilst lounging in the Bahamas!

If you know your fishing and land, that translates into ‘water abstraction going on so we don’t want anyone to see it….’ Nudgenudge, wink-wink, say no more!

“A farting little stream? What the ‘beep’ would you want to fish a stream for when you can go and catch 100 lb over the road?” piped up one wise old sage in the tackle shop.

continued over››

n The moment... the strike... awesome. n Come to Stevie...

n My new man bag, oooooh! n The Beatles’ Blackbird song wasn’t based on this fella.

He was right, why would I bother with a small river or stream when I could bag a billion, trillion carps with freaking laser beams on their heads within a stone’s throw?

My outlook on fishing must be different from many others, because you can give me an unfished stream or river over a fenced-in, prison camp-esque, otter-proofed ‘asylum’ any day!

During the conversation, a million reasons popped up why I shouldn’t go: no pegs, nettles, long walks, no café, no shop… blah-blah-blah.

These excuses only strengthened my desire to go.

Then, out of nowhere, a venue popped up in conversation – the River Maun. Perfect!

“You can stop all the Mauning right now,” I quipped. “I’m off!”

Spurred on by all the Negative Nevilles in the world,

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the very thought of tackling an overgrown, small local river gave me a trouser trumpet.

If I wasn’t excited enough, the first sight of it knocked me for six. It was stunning.

Immediately, I became submersed in botany and biology, with crystal-clear water running through obstacles of Stuckenia pectinata, all very innocuous to the eye.

Without a good pair of polarising bins, this would look like any other stream, and it wasn’t until I donned them that the river came to life.

This place was pornographic to a biologist. In seconds there was a banded demoiselle, an emperor dragonfly, a Notonecta maculata, and the anglers’ curse, the Caenis macrura, all within a few feet of each other.

Whilst the biology extravaganza was going on, I

counted at least five fish species – a perch, a gudgeon, a chub, dace and a roach.

I hadn’t brought much tackle with me, just a bag containing shot, scissors and a few bits and bobs, a pint of maggots and bread; simplicity at its finest.

Spurred on by all the Negative Nevilles.

I genuinely had a hand tremble on as I tried to get the first hook tied onto my makeshift, small river rod, my drop shot rod. It was perfect for its size and sensitivity.

This was not going to be

how to catch them, but what to catch, as I lowered the simplest of rigs into the river.

Watching fish whilst sat in ringside seats teaches you so much about fishing, it’s ridiculous. Both of us, Chappy and I, were enthralled.

My first target was my favourite fish of them all, the gonk, and I could see around six of them sweeping up maggots.

This would be easy.

Not at all. As soon as it got within a fin’s length of the gudgeon, a greedy perch took it.

Not only was catching the fish itself a lesson, but we wanted to see what would happen to the shoal when 'Perchy McStripeface' went back and told them all about his ordeal – always learning, you see.

What happened next was amazing, something that is hard to explain in the written word.

n Is it a chub, a dace, a chase or a what?

n That’s me waving 50p of bread goodbye.

n The king of fishes - a ‘Bilston barbel’.

n The 360-turn back-blow-back swinghinged aligner naked-220 anti-eject rig.

n This is the last known photo of Paul The Perch. RIP.

Imagine you can see every bit of gravel, and to your right is a shoal of fish feeding happily.

As you catch one, there is a bit of a commotion, but as you remove Mr Perch, it only takes seconds for normal service to be resumed.

In the interests of our own curiosity, we returned the dazzled perch to its watery home in a calm and peaceful manner. Then, bang! It was like a bomb went off underwater. All hell broke loose, because a jack pike had shot straight into our little theatre and smashed our perch’s face right in.

The struggle was dramatic, sad, exciting and yet peaceful, as the pike slowly eased off downstream, gills flared, as he munched his ‘crunchy on the outside and soft in the middle’ dinner of Mr Perch.

I felt a little guilty, as it was

the one that I had just caught.

He probably went back saying to the others: “I don’t know what happened then, boys, but I went upstairs had my picture taken, and... BOSHA!” The sentence in fish-talk was never finished.

While this was going on, I took full advantage of my Paul Kozyra fish-finder… quite simply, bits of floating bread thrown downstream. Although technologically out of date, they soon indicated that there were fish around, as piece after piece was slurped from the surface slightly downstream.

It was time to change rig to… a hook on the line. I like to call this the 360-turn back-blowback swing-hinged aligner naked-220 anti-eject rig.

As my rig was placed in the water, it slowly went downstream, like the chubby kid on the raft in Jaws: du-du, du-

du, du-du… silence. I looked at Ian, he looked at me, the cow looked at another cow, and the river came to a standstill.

Then… bam!

It had gone. The bread had been smashed up out of sight, and boy did my rod ‘n’ reel let me know it, as the river once again exploded into theatre.

Whilst playing it, a bolt of cobalt blue dashed passed, with its signature kingfisher shrieking, and a pike swam by.

It was unrealistically beautiful… was this actually happening?

Moments later I was rewarded with the most pristine chub you have ever seen. This truly was fishing heaven.

After missing the chance of another, I slowly returned the chub to the crystal-clear HD 15-million pixel wonderful TV show. If that wasn’t enough, I nearly scared Chappy to death.

Effin, jeffin, and a few other words… “Look,” I pointed. “A stone loach. A bloody stone loach. I haven’t seen one for a million years.”

What a find. I had seen and done it all within half an hour.

This was amazing, and as we walked along the rest of the small river, neither of us could believe you would want to pay a farmer a king’s ransom for catching his already-caught-amillion-times ‘pond pigs’.

Half a mile downstream, I had another encounter, but I’m saving it for another day. If you really want to know, I caught a lump, saw a lump, and dropped it back in before we could photograph it. Shiz happens!

This was by far the best fishing trip of the year so far, and I can’t wait to come back for more. I will most definitely keep you posted.

24 JULY 2018 anglersmail.com 19

•

Bill Rushmer’s

Top 10

NEW SERIES

Drawing upon a wealth of experience, ‘Barmy’ Bill Rushmer reveals his all-time angling favourites.

Favourite floats I

HAVE been an advocate of float fishing ever since I was first introduced to angling many moons ago, finding it the most effective way to present a bait in all kinds of situations.

I also feel that there’s no a better sight in angling than seeing a float disappear under the surface. Float fishing is not just a method for catching small fish, as I use them to target specimens, having caught some quality fish on all types of waters. It’s not rocket science, and selecting the best float for the job is far from difficult, provided you remember the two main functions of a float: to register a bite and to present the bait in the best possible way. Here are my ten favourite patterns…

1 Avons

I’ve used Avon floats for trotting fast-flowing water for over 65 years, catching lots of double-figure barbel, large chub, big bream, grayling and large roach and dace.

They are bulbous shaped floats with buoyancy near to the tip, perfect for fishing fast-flowing rivers such as the Hampshire Avon, from which it gets its name. They have great stability in fast waters, and are able to carry a lot of weight, to get the bait down to the bottom, where it’s needed.

These floats are attached top and bottom, but when using quill-stemmed versions, I use three rubber connectors to

hold them in position on the line. The first is placed on the tip, the second at the end of the body, and a third at the very end of the stem, helping to stop the float breaking in two when playing a fish.

When I started fishing, we used Avon floats with wooden stems and cork bodies, which were very colourful, the bright tip taking up nearly half of the body. I decided to blacken most of the body, to leave just a small portion of coloured tip showing above the surface, making the float more sensitive.

Over a period of time modern, more buoyant materials were used, but in my opinion you can’t beat a quill or

n A shop-bought Avon from the late-1950s, and a modified version with most of the body blackened.

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a cane-stemmed version with a balsa body.

I fish Avons with a bulk shot about 18 in. to 2 ft from the hook, with a series of No.6 dropper shot between the bulk

and the hook. I have changed to tungsten olivettes rather than shot for the bulk, as they are more dense and streamlined, helping to get the bait down to the bottom more quickly.

n Here is a selection of Avon floats. From top to bottom: one of my homemade quill floats; a Drake Quill Avon, which in my opinion is one of the best on the market; a Billy Lane Ultra Avon featuring a balsa body on cane; a cork on porcupine Avon float, built by the late, legendary Ray Mumford, who used it to catch double-figure barbel; originally a quill Avon, but I glued in an aluminium stem after it became broken, resulting in a straighter, stronger float.

Make your own cane and balsa wood Avon I have selected this float because it is easy to make, robust and very effective.

n In the late 1970s I caught barbel from the Hampshire Avon regularly by trotting an Avon float, my best ever catch being 22 barbel in a single session.

A The stem is a wooden barbecue skewer and the body is a pre-shaped and drilled one, available from www. keithsfishingtackle.com The body is glued on the stem using Araldite.

B The whole float is given at least two coats of cellulose dope or sanding sealer, allowing it to dry before being flatted with fine sandpaper.

C The body is then given a

coat of water-based acrylic paint, and the tip either painted with white waterbased acrylic or with Tipp-Ex.

D Using water-based acrylics, the tip is panted with a fluorescent colour, and I mottle the body with green paint in a camouflage effect.

E To finish the float off, it’s given two coats of clear, polyurethane varnish, being left to dry after each one.

2 Balsa wood trotters

These make very good river floats, particularly in relatively fast-flowing water.

There are plenty to choose from in most tackle shops, but I prefer to make my own, as the soft, light balsa wood is so easy to shape using glasspaper, before giving it at least two coats of sanding sealer or cellulose dope before painting.

Shotted similarly to Avon floats when fishing fast waters, in less flow it can be fished shirtbutton-style, just like a traditional stick float, to catch fish on the drop.

I prefer to use shouldered balsas, as they allow you to hold them back, to match the slower speed of the water on the bottom, without them rising too much in the water. I generally fish them overdepth whilst holding back, to give the bait a more natural presentation.

n From top to bottom: the top two are from the late-1960s, with the pointed one very sensitive, being particularly good on canals. The dome-topped stick is better in flowing water. The third float is a modern, shouldered float, useful for fishing overdepth when holding back. The fourth is a homemade, aluminiumstemmed float, for extra stability in fast water.

3 Sticks

The stick float, I believe, was invented by Benny Ashurst, and made with a balsa wood top and a harder wood base, such as cane, allowing you to catch fish on the drop as well as at full depth.

The idea is that the bait, normally casters, is in a direct line to the float. I prefer to use a stick float no more than two rod lengths out, changing to a heavier float, such as a balsa trotter, if I need to fish further out.

I use a shirt-button shotting pattern, having about three or four No.8 shots per foot of depth.

In deeper (7 ft or more), faster water, I’ll start the shotting much lower down the line, to get the bait to the bottom quickly.

I prefer to cast underarm downstream, so that the tackle lands in a line below where I’m fishing, and the float is facing upstream, as it allows me to mend the line before starting the trot, giving me far better float control. I don’t know of a species that has not been caught on a stick float.

24 JULY 2018 anglersmail.com 21

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5 Multicoloured lift floats

4 Skittles

This float was the invention of the late Pat Tarrant, and named because of its skittle-like shape. It can be fished in stillwaters, to present a bait up in the water, or for trotting shallow rivers, making it a most useful float.

It has a flat bottom, to stop the float diving too deeply after landing, preventing it from spooking fish.

The shotting is similar for

both rivers and stillwaters, the bulk being used to lock the float in position, waggler-style. When stillwater fish are up high in the water, there’s no need for extra shot between the locking shot and the hook, but a spread of shot should be used on rivers.

I’ve found this float particularly successful for catching chub and dace in river shallows, and for presenting pellets shallow in stillwaters, especially when fishing for carp.

I prefer to make my own multi-coloured lift floats, but there are equivalents readily available from tackle shops. These floats are best fished with the bulk of the shot locking the float in position, with at least a No.4 shot resting on the bottom, between 1-2 in. from the hook. When a fish bites, the

shot is supported and the float stem rises, leaving the water like a Polaris missile. It is a particularly good float for tench fishing.

It can also be used as a ‘countdown’ float, spacing the shot out evenly in a shirt-button pattern. As the float settles, you’ll see the multi-coloured stem start to sink, but if it temporarily stops, strike. It’s a great method, particularly for roach, rudd and carp.

n Peacock, being so light and easily straightened, has always been the basic stem of all my wagglers, which I classify into four types...

7 Peacock wagglers

l Straight peacocks - the simplest form of peacock waggler, and particularly popular with river anglers.

When fishing fast rivers, the thicker part should be at the top, to give it extra buoyancy.

l Insert - a peacock quill float with a finer piece of peacock quill inserted in the tip. l Bodied - this float normally has a balsa wood body at the base, enabling it to carry a lot more weight. I prefer to keep my bodies slim, as they offer less resistance when striking and setting the hook. l Insert bodied - the bodies allow them to take a lot of shot, but the inserts give sensitivity.

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In water up to about 10 ft deep, I fish the float locked in position with 80 per cent of its carrying capacity, with the remaining shot spread out in shirt-button fashion, so that the bait can be fished on the drop. It never ceases to amaze how many big tench and bream are caught on the drop.

For depths of over 10 ft, I prefer a sliding rig with the bulk of the shot at about 8 ft, and the remaining shot spread out towards the hook.

The waggler rests against the bulk shot when you are about to cast, but on entering the water, the bulk shot drag the line through the float eye, until it rests on a sliding stop knot on the line.

n Bill with a big bream, caught on a peacock waggler.

n A waggler angler’s dream!

Crowquill 6 insert

peacock wagglers

n Green with envy – Bill’s wife, Virginia, tried one of his multi-coloured lift floats and caught this specimen tench.

8 Long-range wagglers

I have used various peacockstemmed floats, often over 20 in. long, to fish at range on big stillwaters, targeting large tench, bream, carp and roach.

After experiencing many breakages, I changed over to stronger Cralusso wagglers, which feature hollow, plastic stems and buoyant, plastic bodies along with a range of push-in tips.

You can change the loading of the float using a push-in section, where the hollow tube enters the body, and there’s a rail that runs along the body, allowing the float attachment to slide up it when the float is in flight, for improved casting distance and accuracy.

I first used one of these floats on the Specimen Tench and Golden Orfe Lake at Anglers Paradise, in Devon, to fish close to the central island.

It worked very well, producing

9

about 1.5 in. from the hook. My wife, Virginia, and I caught lots of large crucians, including fish topping 4 lb.

The floats can also be used to target tench, bream, roach, rudd, carp, sturgeon and catfish.

Drake Floats make some crowquill insert floats, but I like to make my own version by taking a short peacock float and boring a hole through it using a bait drill, to remove the crowquill stem insert. I then glue in a short or long length of crowquill before painting the float to my requirements. A black-yellow-black tip is great for revealing lift bites.

Catfish 10 bobbers

golden tench to over 7 lb and golden orfe to over 5 lb. I then started using one on local gravel pits, catching big bream, some of which were well into double-figures, and also specimen tench.

The use of this float has revolutionised my catfish fishing. I was legering deadbaits for catfish at Finch Farm, near Maidenhead, in Berkshire, with a lead attached to a big, freerunning ring, but kept getting dropped takes. Instead, I decided to thread a trout ‘strike indicator’ on the line, with a deadbait fished overdepth.

Ten minutes later the indicator moved and I struck into a 38 lb 14 oz cat, followed by another of 30 lb 2 oz half an hour later.

Using the same bobber float four days later, I caught 11 catfish in less than four hours.

I now make my own indicators from polystyrene

balls, available from craft shops. I simply drill a hole in them, glue in a length of hollow, plastic tubing and paint them with a water-based fluorescent acrylic paint. They are held in position on the line with a length of cocktail stick pushed into the tube.

Last year, Virginia and I had a short break at Manor Fisheries, near Headcorn, in Kent, and had 20 catfish on this method, confirming its effectiveness.

n Two Manor Fisheries catfish – one was in the landing net when Bill had a bite and hooked another on his second rod.

Dibbers

I use these floats mainly when fishing close to the margins for carp, using 0.25 mm (11 lb) copolymer line for specimens.

I introduce feed and then wait until they are feeding confidentially, before lowering in the float, set slightly overdepth, with a big bait such as meat or paste on a big hook.

Most of my dibbers hold a

I have caught six crucians that were over 4 lb using this float.

I started making them back in the 1970s, as I wanted a very sensitive float with the ability to register the smallest of bites, and found them perfect for close-to-medium range on stillwaters and canals. This float is an updated version of a reversed crowquill, which was so popular with my grandfather’s generation, but this one carries more weight and is shorter, making it more versatile.

Like most wagglers, they are locked on the line with the bulk of the shot, with just a few small droppers down the line.

Back in late-2004, I was the first angling journalist to write a feature about crucian carp fishing at the now well-known crucian mecca Marsh Farm.

The floats worked a treat, registering the slightest bites, thanks to a No.10 shot placed

maximum of two No.6 shot, but often just one, which is placed about 8 in. from the hook. This is a deadly summer method, and the bites tend to be bold.

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•

N H JO L E Y I A B M i s s ion

Hutchy’s magic

kes iley ta d a B n h uccee ler Jo e ang e. Will he s l s r a o l c g , you’ ional hallen Tradit weekly c Either way on a or fail? n loads! lear ■ RIP Rod Hutchinson – there are many

On A

PART 1 I

PICKED up the July 3rd copy of the Angler’s Mail late, but when I saw it, I went into shock. It wasn’t that Rod Hutchinson and I had been best mates throughout our lives, or anything like that, but he had been very important to me during the mid-1970s, right through to the late ’80s.

To me, as a lad, he was a god, somebody completely special, and though the tributes in the Angler’s Mail were just and fitting, I wonder if there is more to be said…

The passing of Hutchy made me reassess his greatness and, to a degree, made me consider where greatness actually lies in angling. It’s an important point.

In these media-driven days, we tend to label anybody in any sport great when, in actual fact, they are probably merely good.

Time waits for no man. How could Hutchy possibly be gone, that man of such exuberance, charisma, depth of character?

I sat down, poured a coffee and tried to recall the days that I spent with him, to remember the moments of greatness that I witnessed.

Some while back, I wrote a tribute to Richard Walker, but I never fished with Dick, sadly. I realised, thinking about Hutchy, that I’d been immensely fortunate to fish with thousands of anglers through my long angling life. Some have been average, some good and just a sprinkling, great. What actually makes greatness then?

What actually puts an angler so way ahead of the crowd that even his or her peers have to stand back and admire?

I guess my mission this week is to analyse angling greatness as I see it. Vitally, I’m only going

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lessons to take from this true great.

Thanks to carp historian Chris Ball for this fantastic early picture of Hutchy, who I first met around this time.

… and other true greats to use as examples anglers that I have actually fished with, or conversed with, or that have known intimately. I’m sure that there have been many considerable anglers over the past half century or so of whom I have no personal knowledge.

About them, I therefore can’t comment.

Perhaps my most important mission is how do you bottle the magic of a man like Rod Hutchinson? How do you break down his greatness and perhaps pass on ways that you yourself can improve from Hutchy’s example? This, therefore, is all about the essence of angling greatness and how you can profit from it.

blamed on the local chippy, but which I would suggest was more likely down to the local pub. For 36 hours he lay tossing and turning in the spare room of my cottage, before he was up, out, back to Eric’s lake once again. He was frail, pale and knackered, but he could not let the dream of Eric go.

Rod eventually pulled off the pit because a weather forecast suggested that he would do better on a lake a couple of hundred miles away. In his absence, I decided that Eric might just be for me, a vain hope indeed.

However, over the next two seasons, Rod and I constantly communicated by phone, Rod

Rod immersed himself in Eric’s world.

Hutchy and Eric

I met Rod in 1976 when he mounted a campaign after Eric, one of Norfolk’s largest carp in those days. Eric lived in a twoacre lake in the mid-Wensum Valley and was considered largely uncatchable. He’d fallen once before, weighing just into the 30s, but he came to be regarded as impregnable.

Rod never actually caught Eric to my knowledge, but the days that I spent with him in Eric’s pursuit formed my entire vision of carp fishing… of angling in general, come to that. It wasn’t that Rod used particles to try to catch Eric, something completely new in those long-gone days, it was more his approach, his reading of the water, his feeling for what Eric was doing and what Eric was thinking.

Okay, I realised that Rod was technically very proficient.

His gear was a bit shambolic, but it was sound and he left nothing to chance. It was more what was going on in Rod’s heart and soul that impressed me, the way that he immersed himself in Eric’s world, in a way that I had never seen any other angler accomplish.

Rod fell ill, a sickness he

coming up with plan after plan that might lead to Eric’s capture. Those phone calls took me into the world of a fish in a way that I’ve never forgotten, and that has stood me in the best possible stead ever since.

Yatesy

A few years after meeting up with Rod, Chris Yates came into my life, just as he exploded into the lives of many others. Like Rod, I’d never say that I knew Chris intimately, but there was a time when we fished together quite frequently.

On one level, Chris and Rod were chalk and cheese, but they both shared the quality of greatness that I’m trying to define. A day’s fishing with Chris was like a day with no other angler. It was a day about total immersion.

Yes, Chris could be dreamy, meditative, even seemingly mind-elsewhere. But he wasn’t.

It was something about being in tune with the lake, or more commonly, the river.

When I was with him on the Avon or the Wye, I felt as I were moving into a different world somehow, a completely new

Continued over›› 24 JULY 2018 anglersmail.com 25

•

way of looking at water.

It’s important to stress this.

Like Rod, Chris took tackle seriously. Neither man would set out to fish with anything that might let them down. But, once they were happy with

pell-mell. Both knew how to watch and wait. This, for me, is one of the most vital lessons I learnt from these two particular greats.

their gear, they forgot about it completely. For them, the sole target, the burning issue, was understanding the fish that they were after, getting into its very head and psyche.

Neither man did anything

Marks on the Wensum

There were a couple of days back in the ’60s when I watched Ivan Marks tackle my stretches on the middle Wensum. OMG! Never had I seen anybody quite like him.

No. That’s not quite true. I’d watched Benny Ashurst a few years earlier on the northern canals a couple of times and the similarities between the two men were staggering.

I realise now that there was a bond between Ashurst, Marks, Hutchinson and Yates. It was all about this vital aspect of knowing the fish. In Benny and Ivan’s case, I understand now that it was all about feeding.

Those two men could intuitively know exactly what a swim needed in terms of bait. And I’m talking almost down to the last caster in Benny’s case.

There was a remarkable day on the Wensum when Ivan had about 70 lb of roach from a swim I’d never really fancied.

Watching him was a complete

n Chris Yates was, and is, one of few with true greatness.

Watching Ivan was a complete revelation.

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ANG July 2018 half horizontal without bleed.indd 1

6/28/18 3:53 PM

John’s POINT OF VIEW

that after that, my own feeding became more efficient, more reliant on gut instinct and a feel for what the fish are wanting.

Sometimes, in angling, there are no rules for a particular situation and you have to go with the flow, follow that sixth sense that great angler have in abundance.

What’s caught my attention this week!

World Cup lesson for us all

The all-rounders

n He won the lot in match fishing… the late Ivan Marks was rated the greatest angling talent

by Rod Hutchinson. revelation. Over some four hours, he cut back on bait, stepped up on bait, bombarded with bait and then starved the swim of bait.

How he divined these feeding patterns I didn’t know then and I’ve never quite worked out to this day. I do know, though,

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, if I had to choose one man to fish for my life, it would be John Wilson. Like the anglers I have already mentioned, John is technically proficient, but his brilliance comes from something else entirely. It’s a feel for fish, a sense of where they are and what they want that is almost impossible to put into words.

I’m not completely happy in saying this, but I’d put Bob James in the same category.

Of course, I fished with Bob for years in the earlier part of this century, and he reminded me in every aspect of Wilson himself.

Yes, technically hugely incompetent, but Bob had that dash of greatness that I’ve been trying to bottle ever since. Yes, I’m pretty good, but I should be after all this time. Yet, on many occasions, Bob could just winkle something out of a swim down on the River Wye,

n Bob James has a dash of greatness about him. perhaps, that would be beyond me. It was just something that he had, a knack, a feeling, something impossible to define that put his nose just in front of mine.

I only fished with Tony Miles a handful of times, and Frank Guttfield similarly, but my suspicion is that they possessed that almost indefinable essence that is angling greatness.

And don’t think that the gift is confined to the evergreens.

That’s why today I love fishing with Josh Fisher, Dave Lambert and, of course, Robbie Northman. What I see in them more than echoes of what I witnessed in Hutchy all those years ago. Young guys like these three are absolute disciples, even though, in all probability, they don’t know it.

THE joy then pain of the 2018 World Cup is now fading, but I will always remember how I fell about laughing when the pundits for the England v Croatia game talked about potential Croatian tiredness. Were they having a laugh?

I fished for years with anglers from the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Hungary and all the Eastern European countries. Mark my words, they were tough in a way that we can’t even begin to get our heads around.

Anglers from Poland, say, could drink all night, walk and fish all day in a way that staggered us Brits. It was the same with the game. As our English lads began to falter, the legs of the Croatians simply worked harder.

When you think of the history of Eastern Europe, you understand why.

It’s all been about war, deprivation and a struggle to survive. When the going gets tough, the tough get going.

Crucian conundrum

n Wilson to fish for my life.

NEXT WEEK in Part 2 John Bailey reveals some surprising choices as his living greats – and he suggests ‘6 Steps To Angling Greatness’.

ROBBIE NORTHMAN and I think we have found yet another possible crucian water. But have we? It’s quite a public place, and the chances of goldfish being slipped in there over the years cannot be ignored.

Sometimes I think this question of hybridisation will drive me mad. Dodgy crucians, dodgy roach, dodgy rudd... does it all actually matter? Well, I suppose if you’re mad about your fishing, you’re mad about what you are actually catching, and want to know that it is real.

24 JULY 2018 anglersmail.com 27

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H C T A C RE MO for tricks ! r i e h t veal egers rts re lures to l e p x e m Guest ything fro r e v e

■Bream heaven – Mark Price with a catch of 16 bream to 4 lb in a short evening session.

Bagging

bream on big canals Mark Price explains…

Stainforth Angling Centre owner and top match angler Mark Price has seen a huge improvement in the bream fishing on the big canals in the Yorkshire area. We joined him on the South Yorkshire Navigation Canal, in his home town of Barnby Dun, near Doncaster, to find out about his feeder fishing method. A lot of anglers think that canals require a pole fishing approach, but many of the region’s man-made waterways are 25-30 metres wide, so a feeder-based attack is a must to get amongst the far bank bream.

2

I’m going to start by fishing across into the shade of the trees, as it is where I’d expect the fish to be in the heat of the day. I’m going to set up two 10 ft MAP Parabolix Black Edition Bomb rods. Clipping the line on the reel ensures accuracy, and when the line reaches the clip, it forces the hook and hook length past the feeder, helping to prevent tangles.

1

After speaking to a lot of the regulars in my tackle shop, I know that plenty of pellets are fed along this stretch, so I’m using a fishmeal-based mix of Dynamite Silver X Bream and Swim Stim F1 Sweet, with a good handful of F1 Sweet 2 mm pellets. I start by feeding two areas with four big feeders of groundbait with a few casters, dead maggots and chopped worm mixed in. One line is straight out to far bank trees and the other is slightly to the right, just past the middle, in deeper water.

3

I started with a redworm on the hook, but after 15 minutes without any signs of a bite, I switch to double red maggot and straight away tempt a 3 lb bream. It is important to bring a range of hook baits with you, as the fish will invariably show a preference for one offering. I’ve got some maggots, casters, worms, corn and pellets on my side tray today, and intend to use the whole range until I find out what they want.

Continued over›› 24 JULY 2018 anglersmail.com 29 •

CH T A C RE MO

4

5

I’ve had three nice fish on the trot from the shaded area by the trees, but I had to wait 15 minutes before my next fish, this skimmer. It might be time to try the deeper area just past the middle, but before I do I’m going to introduce another couple of big feeders of groundbait. I walked down here yesterday and watched one of the locals catching bream after bream on pole and corn at 13 m, so I’m hopeful that the shorter line will produce for me today.

6

I’ve tried the range of hook baits I’ve got with me and, without doubt, two dead red maggots has been the bream’s favourite today. I have had fish on other baits, but the wait between bites is much longer, so I’m sticking to double red from now on. I’m using a running feeder rig on 4 lb main line and a size 16 Kamasan B560 hook tied to a 2 ft 0.12 mm hook link.

TICKET INFORMATION Day tickets for the South Yorkshire Navigation, Ramper Lane, in Barnby Dun, Doncaster, South Yorkshire, DN3 1DY, are priced £4. Doncaster & District AA annual membership is £25.

Tel: 07946 382882 or Mark Price, at Stainforth Angling Centre, on 01302 846623.

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Four fish in my first four chucks on the short line is a good start. In this bright sunlight, I’d have sworn that the bream would have wanted to be in the shallower water in the shade of the far bank trees, but obviously they didn’t read the same fishing books that I read. I know a lot of the regulars like fishing a pole here, so maybe the bream have got used to feeding in the deeper water at long pole range.

7

Now that it’s 7.30pm and the light levels are starting to drop, I’m predictably getting a bite a chuck.

I know from personal experience, and from what my customers tell me, that the next hour or two will be the most productive, but the photographer has told me I’ve got to stop fishing, as he needs to take more photographs before it gets too dark.

I’ve had 16 bream and a few bits in three and a bit hours, which has shown just how prolific this canal can be. It’s not only this stretch of canal, as the New Junction, the Aire and Calder and the Stainforth and Keadby are also producing massive bags of bream.

Mark’s TOP TIPS

RIGHT ON TIME

Without question, late afternoon and into evening is the best time to target the bream on the canal, especially when it is hot and the sky is clear. Three hours at the right time of day is always better than six hours in the baking sun.

A BARROW IS BEST

There aren’t many areas of the canal where you can park by your peg, so a barrow is essential to get your kit to the best pegs.

TAKE THE SOFT-ACTIONED OPTION

You don’t need any specialist kit for bream fishing on the canal.

A nice, soft-actioned bomb rod, such as the 10 ft MAP Parabolix that I’m using, and a fixed-spool reel with 4 lb line is perfect.

KEEP IT SIMPLE

I like to keep my feeder rigs simple. A feeder bead runs on the main line, stopped by two No.8 Stotz, above a short length of twizzled line, acting as a boom. A loop at the bottom of the boom enables the hook length to be attached.

SELECTION OF SIZES

Changing the size of the feeder can make a massive difference on the canal. Some days you can catch all day using a big one, but on other days a switch to a smaller one will keep the bites coming.

NICE AND TIDY

I carry my pre-tied hook lengths on these Preston Innovations hook length spools. They are tidy and compact, and thanks to the rotating peg system, there’s no fiddling about putting loops on pins.

24 JULY 2018 anglersmail.com 31

•

ANGLING AN DO IT LIKE Dave

DaveCoster Costerexplains explainsaawealth wealthof ofclever clevertricks tricksthat thathe heuses useson onthe thebank bankthat thatcan canmake a big Dave make a bigtodifference to your This week:how Dave bait presentation difference your catches.

Thiscatches. week, he reveals to shares catch fihis sh consistently up in tips. the water.

Super skills for shallow success It’s exciting when fish start to boil on the surface for loosefeed, but once they get into a feeding frenzy, they can be very tricky to catch. Dave Coster has turned fishing shallow into an art form.

BEND BACK INTO SHAPE

MIGHTY FINE TACKLE

I’ve spent many hours perfecting the art of catching fish shallow, and it proved a tough task to crack, as when you get fish competing on, or just below, the surface for regular loosefeed, the blighters move like lightening, and if you don’t get your tackle and presentation spot-on, missed bites can drive you bonkers.

The first thing that I looked at was the float. When using a pole, which is the best way to catch fish shallow, the float needs a long, wire stem that cocks it automatically, otherwise you have to constantly work the float upright, losing vital

I’ve found that it’s best to use a 0.10 mm main line and a long, 0.08 mm hook length for this type of fishing. It’s surprising how much stick 0.08 mm high-tech copolymers can take, provided that they are matched with the right pole elastic, but more about that in a minute.

The next vital component is the hook, which needs to be small and formed from lightweight, fine wire.

I have several favourite patterns, all with wide gapes. The first is Drennan Silverfish Barbless, particularly size 20, for baits such as casters and maggots.

Another model that I like a lot

seconds of good presentation at the most likely time that a bite is going to occur.

Normal pole float wire inevitably gets bent out of shape when catching lots of fish, so I switched to titanium wire, the stuff that predator anglers use, as it springs straight back after bending.

STRIKE THE RIGHT BALANCE In the beginning, I couldn’t find pole floats to do what I wanted, so I modified my own, patiently sanding down bodies into streamlined shapes, before fixing in sensitive, fibreglass tips.

I discovered that the perfect weighting my shallow floats needed to take was three spread out No.13 Stotz. These, in tandem with a float that cocks itself, give the hook bait a very slow and natural fall when held on a tight line.

I apply the tiny Stotz weights with styl pincers, pinching them on the line quite firmly, so that

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is Sensas Black 3405, which has a micro barb, but I flatten this down. Barbless is definitely best for this type of fishing, resulting in fewer bumped fish. The black nickel finish of the 3405 works particularly well when fishing hemp and tares, disguising brilliantly with these baits.

Another old favourite is the Middy 6313 Barbless Teflon pattern.

STRETCHING TO ORANGE

they don’t move. As you can see, everything about my shallow rig is streamlined, which is most important, as fish hardly feel any resistance when they grab the hook bait, resulting in more positive bites. I normally set my shallow rigs between 2-3 ft deep, but they usually attract bites just inches below the surface.

Again, after a lot of trial and error I’ve found the best pole elastic for the job to be a bright orange number 4. This grade is particularly stretchy, which is needed when big, bonus fish turn up.

I prefer bright orange because it’s easy to see, as you need to keep in touch when you hook big fish that charge.

My favourite number 4 elastics are Future Solid Core and Preston Slip Fluoro Latex, both just over 0.8 mm in diameter. These elastics have lots of stretch, but still retain a bit of backbone, just enough to avoid losing control when

something big takes your bait.

I have landed some pretty big fish on them when using 0.08 mm line, including fair-sized carp, large chub, big bream, crucians, perch to 2 lb and some massive roach. I use a good dose of a water-based hair conditioner on the shock absorber, which keeps it working supersmoothly over a whole session.

SWERS THE BAITING GAME

COME OUT OF YOUR SHELL

The best baits for getting fish competing shallow are maggots, casters and hemp. It normally takes a while to get any of these working properly, so I start a session fishing at full depth, after putting in two or three balls of groundbait laced with hemp and casters and maybe some chopped worm, which is a great swim activator.

After the groundbait has gone in, I begin to work the swim up with loosefed maggots. Using these on the hook usually brings a quick flurry of bites, but as soon as any quality fish turn up, I switch to loosefeeding casters, a bait that invariably attracts bigger fish. I will also now try a caster on the hook, and when it starts to produce bites, I know it’s time to think about going shallow. If I’m catching well at full depth, I might stay with that rig a bit longer, but when the steady stream of casters brings fish swirling on the top, it’s bagging time.

Once fish are competing for casters on, or near, the surface, there is one more decision to make, dictated by the stamp of fish being caught. If the average size is good, I’ll probably stay with casters, but if small fish become a nuisance, I’ll start to feed hemp in an attempt to wean the fish onto it. With species such as roach, nine times out of ten, hemp ups the size of fish quite dramatically, even more so with a tare on the hook.

While it’s possible to get fish into a feeding frenzy by feeding casters little and often, the magic seed can increase the effect even more, to the extent that bites become so savage they pull your pole elastic out.

Whichever bait I end up using, I use a light-action catapult with a small pouch, which dinks and groups bait perfectly. I find that super-fresh hemp and crispy, golden-brown casters catch more and better-sized fish.

Ask &

WIN

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SPARKLING SILVERS

The great thing about fishing shallow is that you catch fish that are rarely caught by anyone else, particularly quality silver fish. These are often in mint condition, because they tend to avoid conventional methods, rarely accepting bottom fished baits.

If you can get them competing high up in the water column, big hauls are possible, including specimensized fish backed up with lots of chunky, shoal members, which are good weight builders – a friend of mine calls them ‘soldier’ or ‘stamp’ fish.

Other bonus fish can turn up on shallow-set rigs, too, such as stillwater chub, crucians, big rudd and hybrids… I’ve even caught dace in lakes!

The other thing that I like about this hectic type of fishing is how your float rarely gets a chance to dot down properly. Once it’s in the water, it’s gone.

BUMPER BAGS

This is a typical netful that you can expect by mainly fishing shallow. I started at full depth, catching a couple of bonus bream and some skimmers. As bites dried up on the deck, and my loosefed casters began to take effect, I then bagged-up with quality roach and rudd.

On a recent match on this lake, at Priory Fishery, I caught a couple of bonus chub in a winning 20 lb haul.

Going shallow in the second half doubled the weight I would have had if I had stayed with my full-depth rig.

Just after this photoshoot I had another 20 lb of fish on the same lake in much harder conditions, bagging several bream, then catching silver fish for another place in the frame.

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•

0 43 95 0

SECRET LIVES of fish Dr Ian Welch

BSc (hons) Freshwater Biology, MSc Applied Hydrobiology, PhD Aquatic Biology

Ask & WIN

this NGT rod SEND QUESTIONS TO US BY EMAIL

Send your questions to amquestions@ti-media.com

Chemical communication TRAVEL ROD WINNER I release a fish Q Should from a different swim, to

avoid spooking any others?

And does removing a caught fish from its shoal cause it more distress?

Tom Mitchell, via email.

Ian Welch says…

A Dr There are really two

questions here. First, is there any scientific justification for not returning a fish immediately to the swim from which it was caught?

And, second, does removing a fish from its shoal cause it distress?

Although our understanding of fish communication is somewhat incomplete, it is clear that they have evolved numerous strategies to cover different ecological factors, including behaviour such as shoaling, sexual arousal, aggression, feeding, species recognition, stress and injury.

Many of these strategies are physical in nature – changing colour, swimming behaviour, creating sounds, generating electricity – but the key mechanism is chemical in nature, and that is pheromonal communication.

Talking pheromones

A pheromone is basically a chemical signal that can be produced by, and recognised by, members of the same species, and it is thought that all fish produce and recognise them.

The advantage that pheromone communication has over most physical methods of communication is that because of the solubility

• 34 anglersmail.com

24 JULY 2018

of the chemicals involved, the message can be transmitted and received even in dark, turbid, weedy or snaggy water, where visible stimuli would not be seen.

Fish recognise specific chemicals in relation to different situations, and one of the key evolutionary responses is the alarm cue that signals predation, stress or physical damage.

Production of alarm pheromones is stimulated during the hooking, playing, landing and return process.

It continues post-return, until the fish has resumed a normal resting state, possibly seconds in the case of a small fish, but hours, or even days, in the case of a big carp.

The presence of a highly soluble alarm pheromone in the water is rapidly picked up by the receptors of other fish of the same species within a defined area, certainly within the confines of a swim. This should, however, be balanced against other conflicting signals in the aquatic environment. For example, in a busy commercial swim with numbers of fish competing for food, signals for aggression and feeding are likely to be more prominent than those given off by a returned fish.

Shoal searching

As far as shoaling is concerned, it is a complex social behaviour that has evolved to fulfil three primary functions: predator avoidance, foraging success and reproductive success.

It should not be confused with schooling, which is a more complex behaviour,

comprising individual fish of the same species, usually of the same size, moving together in a controlled and co-ordinated fashion, ‘synchronised swimming’ as it were, with the school acting as if it were one individual. This behaviour is more common in the marine environment, with herrings a typical example.

Shoaling is far less structured than schooling, lacks the same degree of co-ordination, and there is certainly less connection between a shoal of fish compared to a school. That said, the safety in numbers that a shoal affords fish is a key defensive strategy against predation, and a shoal fish removed from that environment will produce the same alarm pheromones as a hooked fish.

Anglers tend to return large fish away from the point of capture to avoid spooking other fish, but large fish, by their very nature, tend to be in small groups, or are even individuals, and their shoal connection is likely to be a looser association than smaller fish, which rely upon their shoal mates for a degree of protection.

My advice, as both scientist and angler, is to return small fish immediately into the swim from which they were caught but, if rules and fish welfare allow, to delay or move the point of return of specimen fish, especially chub, perch and barbel.

ANGLING ANSWERS Lord of the rings to get hold of Q Iamanaged 13 ft float rod blank,

but can’t decide what rings to put on it. Silicon carbide ones are very expensive, so I’ve been looking at more affordable alconites. What do you think?

Bob Greenham, Hertfordshire.

Coster says…

A Dave I have rods with both types

of rings and, to be perfectly honest, I don’t think there’s much difference between them, apart from the price.

SiCs are extremely expensive, as you say, while alconites are very reasonably priced. Technically, SiCs are rated as superior, because they are best at dissipating heat, so in theory they should prevent line damage, which is mainly caused by friction. They

are also diamond polished, for extra smoothness.

Alconites are a special type of ceramic, offering 80 per cent greater compression strength, and are lighter than many line guides.

I have a feeling that the benefits of SiCs are more likely to be appreciated by anglers who use thicker lines and put their fishing tackle through very demanding usage. When it comes to long float rods and the lighter lines that are combined with them, I don’t think it’s likely to mean any difference in ring performance.

One thing that I would point out is the frames you choose can affect your float rod’s action. Generally, I prefer onelegged guides, because they are lightweight. Using two-legged versions adds weight and can make a blank feel surprisingly softer and a bit slower in action.

■ SiC guides are technically superior, but more expensive than alconites, though both would perform equally well on long float rods.

Crumbs of comfort been trying to use a Q I’ve mixture of punch crumb

and liquidised bread, but can’t get the consistency right. It’s the punch crumb that’s the problem, as it keeps going sticky and lumpy. How do I fix this?

Peter Marshall, via email.

Coster says…

A Dave First of all, you need to mix

■ Sending signals: alarm pheromones will be given off by fish that have been caught, until they return to their normal resting state.

your punch crumb in a couple of stages, adding an initial small amount of water and stirring vigorously, then leaving for a few minutes. Do the same again and it should be okay.

When you add a lot of water in one go, punch crumb tends to go stodgy and lumpy.

It’s a good idea to work this groundbait through a large

■ Riddle punch crumb for a lovely, fluffy consistency, before adding some liquidised bread for a great groundbait mix. mesh riddle as well, which fluffs it up into an even better consistency.

After that is the time to mix in your liquidised bread, which will make the feed go even more fluffy and even nicer to use. A light squeeze should form a ball of feed that breaks down quickly into an enticing cloud when fed.

24 JULY 2018 anglersmail.com 35

•

Andy Browne’s THE KNOW

Handle with care

WE have come a long way in fish care and handling over the years. The old-fashioned carp sacks have been replaced by retention slings, which not only safely retain the fish, but also double as very secure weigh slings. The fish is normally supported in the margins, out of the sun, and secured with the supplied lanyards, but this should be for the shortest time possible.

2

1

As can be seen from this trophy shot, there are signs of tail damage, which can often be the first indication of a predator problem. This is why so many of our fisheries are now fenced, to protect the substantial investment by the owners and syndicate members and, most importantly, the safety

3

of the fish. We are very good at looking after the fish that we catch, and we need to guide newcomers in the same way. Before I have cast out, I place my unhooking mat in an area where I am most likely to photograph my fish.

I also fill a container of water from the lake, placing it next to the unhooking mat.

Once I have played the fish and it is safely in the landing net (still in the water), I detach the hook length from the main line via a quick link, so that the rod can then be moved out of the way, before securing the net by draping it against the bank.

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24 JULY 2018

4

I then unpack my retention sling, weighing crook and scales, before setting up my camera on a bankstick. I like to take a practice picture using the ten-second timer on my camera. This preparation allows me to quickly unhook, weigh and photograph the fish before returning it as quickly and safely as possible. If you see someone playing a large fish on their own, it is not a bad idea to reel your rigs in, wander round, and just ask if there is anything you can do to help. When a fish gets to over 40 lb, a second pair of hands is always welcome, if only to cool the fish down with some lake water or to take a picture. It’s also nice to share in a capture and have a good look at a fish that maybe you’re hoping to catch in the future.

I now submerge my safety retention sling in the water and quickly take it to my unhooking mat.

LEDGE

Andy is an all-rounder with an extensive knowledge of traditional and modern methods on all types of waters for all kinds of species.

5

I hook it onto my scales, hold it up, zero the scales, and then drape the sling across my unhooking mat. This process sounds longwinded, but it takes only a couple of seconds to do, provided you are already organised.

6

I now disconnect the arms of my landing net from the handle and slowly roll the net around the arms. Just before you lift the fish out of the water, ensure that the pectoral fins are flat against the body and the dorsal fin is down, to prevent them being damaged when you lift the fish in the net. The fish is quickly transferred to the retention sling, which is already open on the mat, and the hook is removed carefully.

7

Once the fish is safely zipped up in the retention sling, I attach the scales to a weigh crook on a substantial 6 ft pole. I then lift the crook, to take the weight, and weigh the fish.

CARE TIPS

8

Once the weight is recorded, I normally give the fish a quick dousing with water, before taking a few trophy shots and returning the fish to the water.

Always ensure that you keep the fish over the mat and fairly low to the ground when taking pictures.

10 9

Carefully hold the fish in the sling in the margins, until it has recovered sufficiently to move off under its own steam.

I always carry a couple of bottles of Gardner Antiseptic. One is a gel, the other is a liquid solution, so do read the instructions on the bottles.

Dry any hook damage with a clean tissue and then apply the solution to the area, and try to release the fish without disturbing the treated area. Always ensure that you keep these products away from sensitive areas such as the eyes and gills.

● If at any time the fish shows any signs of distress, such as bleeding from the gills or leaking spawn from the vent, it should be instantly returned to the water and held upright until the fish moves off under its own steam. ● I would not entertain having a mat that does not have sides or a retaining flap, or one that doesn’t have a thick, padded base. ● Always ensure that you keep the fish over the mat and fairly low to the ground. ● Invest in quality scales – ones that are manufactured by companies that make only scales, such as Salter or Reuben Heaton. If they are battery operated, keep a spare set of new batteries in the car. ● Always buy a landing net that is capable of holding the fish of your dreams, and make sure before fishing that all of your kit complies with the fishery’s rules. ● When handling fish, all watches should be removed, as they can easily lift the scales off a fish when you have to roll the fish towards you to restrain it if it starts playing up when you are taking a trophy shot. ● If you see anyone struggling with a fish on the bank, give them a hand and offer some friendly advice, without ‘jumping down their throat’. We have all got to start somewhere!

24 JULY 2018 anglersmail.com 37

•

CARP Crew

Colin DAVIDSON Top carp analyst

Tweaks on top WHAT can you do to go from carp repeatedly rejecting or shying away from a floater hook bait to nailing it?

Unlike when fishing on the bottom, you clearly get to see how well you’re doing when fishing on the surface.

Unfortunately, the number of times that we have a near-miss or come close without hooking a carp seems to demotivate people rather than encouraging them.

Make no mistake, floater fishing can

be cruel, but it also offers you the most complete feedback of all – which in turn means plenty of opportunity to change things to make a difference.

Here are a few ideas to turn ‘not quite’ into ‘no messing’, and a ticking clutch!

1

What are you feeding? There’s still massive reliance on pet biscuits, available in bulk very cheaply from supermarkets. That’s great, but if carp aren’t that bothered about eating them, there’s no point in having lots of them. Floating pellets are still the best, followed by cat biscuits, which are higher quality than dog feeds, as felines are more fussy eaters.

2

Whatever feed you take, be sure to boost the taste and smell of it by using a dip, booster or bulk liquid, because even this simple step puts you well ahead of most carpers, and encourages much stronger, more competitive feeding, increasing the likelihood of a carp taking your hook bait.

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24 JULY 2018

3

One element of good presentation that is overlooked by many is keeping the hook link very lightly greased, so that it sits in the surface film rather than hanging down beneath the surface at eye line for an interested carp. Check your link and hook bait before you cast out; don’t assume that it’s fine. A floatant or line grease needs to be reapplied regularly to keep the link buoyant.

5

4

Yes, carp mouth and try to eat controllers, but they can also be very unsettled by them, and if putting the end tackle out seems to be the kiss of death and flattens feeding activity, try a change of controller. Small and opaque can bring a different response from big and white, depending on the clarity and light conditions. Use marker pens to reduce sight tips, to make them less visible to carp.

Alternative hook baits are always worth a try when trying to catch suspicious carp. No matter how obvious a bright pop-up is, there is often a surprisingly daft carp in the swim that will home in on it – even when targeting fish that you think should know much better. A less alarming change bait is a lump of good old bread, which is reliably gulped down with no hesitation at all.

6

7

If the carp are being very picky over the hook bait, try ‘matching the hatch’ and using exactly the same on the hook or hair as you’re feeding. With pellets, it can be infuriating, as they don’t last long, and soften and break apart quickly, but the exact same taste and smell as the free offerings can result in the hook bait suddenly being taken confidently.

If you’re being refused and refused, try a boosted hook bait. Sometimes a dip or a dunk can be enough to stimulate a carp that little bit more to take a bait before another nearby carp gets it. For a real gem of an edge, reach for a jar of Marmite – sticky and superb. Beware, though, too much on a hook bait will sink it, but carp often go loopy over it.

8

Persistence is part of the surface fishing game, and a frustrating day full of rejections and near misses can be completely forgotten with a couple of belting carp in as many casts. All it takes is for the wind to drop or change direction, the light to change, the sun to lower in the sky…

There are many variables in successful surface fishing, but sticking at it is one of the most important ingredients of all.

24 JULY 2018 anglersmail.com 39

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CARP Crew

Six weeks of baiting works on Severn S

AM MOORE focused on his local River Severn, in Worcestershire, for this fine 24 lb 2 oz mirror carp after a six-week pre-baiting campaign.

■ ALAN WILLIAMS tried Mainline The Link boilies for the first time, and took this 30 lb 8 oz mirror carp from Oxfordshire’s Linear Fisheries Gaunts Lake. Alan fished the far margin tree line at 96 yards over 4 kg of freebies.

24 JULY 2018

■ SAM HAYWARD blanked for a couple of days before finding a few fish at close range on West Yorkshire’s Eric’s Willows, and immediately connected with this 45 lb 8 oz leather carp. The 24-year-old carper offered Mainline’s new The Link boilies over a scattering of freebies.

Upton-based Sam offered double 20 mm Dynamite The Source boilies over Frenzied Feeder Maize, and his pal chipped in with another 20.

■ BEN SINGLETON tackled his local River Ribble, in Lancashire, for this fine 17 lb common carp. Preston-based Ben offered Dynamite Robin Red boilies over matching pellets to far bank snags.

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Latest big carp catches!

■ JAMES HORTON needed only a five-hour trip to Essex’s Fryerning Fisheries to tempt this 42 lb leather carp. The 25-year-old carper offered Mainline Hybrid boilies at 40 yards, and added three others.

■ TOBY STACE had a tricky social session on Kent’s Cottington Lakes Fishery, but still winkled out mirror carp of 37 lb and 17 lb. The 22-year-old builder offered Nash Scopex Squid snowman presentations on short hook links.

CARP Crew

Billy FLOWERS Jamie LONDORS England Carp Aces

Stunner from the snags This week: Billy enjoys midweek overnighter success.

F

OLLOWING on from my good run of success on my syndicate lake, Cowlands Farm, I was itching to get back.

I had been keeping the bait going in on my spots, but only after a busy spell with work and then a friend’s wedding weekend was I able to return for a midweek overnighter.

There was only one motor in the car park, and I found the guy was set up two swims away from where I had been baiting, which was something of a relief.

I got the kit in the swim and, knowing the number of wraps to the spots, clipped my rods up with two of them on spinner rigs. The rig was constructed of a 25 lb boom section that had been crimped with a loop at one end for any quick changes, and to the other end I crimped a spinner swivel with a size 4 Kurve hook. These were fished with fluoro popups.

The third rod was also presenting a pop-up, but as it was going on a harder spot I opted to fish this with a more subtle camou hook link on a multi rig.

Each rod was fished with around 40-50 baits, then I set the bedchair up nice and close to my rods. They were locked up, due to my fishing either a snaggy area or a far tree line, and I needed to be on the rod instantly if I got a bite. There was no need for a bivvy/brolly, as the weather forecast was again not predicting any rain, so I sat back and watched the water.

Within half an hour I spotted a fish show over my middle rod, and I waited really eagerly, thinking that it was going to rattle off at any time. Nothing seemed to happen for half an hour, but then the middle rod

■ Billy was chuffed with this scaly Essex mirror, which was just shy of the 30 lb mark. signaled a solitary beep… and everything fully tightened up.

I bent into the fish and kept the rod low and to the side.

That was the hard part done.

I’d kept it away from the snag, before playing it out in open water. Once the fish was close enough in very shallow water, due to the water level having dropped during this heatwave, I could see I was attached to one of the scaly mirrors. The very quick battle ended when I waded out and safely netted the fish.

When I put the fish on the mat I could see it was nailed in the centre of the bottom lip – that size 4 wasn’t going to come out easily. And, at just short of 30 lb, it was an absolute stunner.

Unfortunately, that was the only bite, as I had to head off early morning for work, but not before baiting my spots with around two kilos of boilies in preparation for the weekend.

I was more than happy with my catch, and buzzing to get back over to the lake.

New Farm Fisheries

Fishing Maidenhead, Berkshire

One of Berkshire’s leading carp and catfish fisheries • 3 outstanding fishing lakes set in 20 acres of landscaped grounds with carp up to 44 lb and catfish up to 90 lb.

• Match fishing lake • Catfish lake • Carp-only lake • Camping & caravan pitches available all year round.

• Toilet and shower facilities on site.

• Close to local attractions, Legoland, Windsor Castle, Thorpe Park • Hot food available from March - October.

• Maidenhead Angling Supplies.

Match bookings and tackle shop on site Tel: 01628 788645

www.newfarmfisheries.co.uk

New Farm Fisheries, Drift Road, Hawthorn hill, Maidenhead, SL6 3ST

Bailiffs: 07585 955 263 - Landline: 01628 789564 24 JULY 2018 anglersmail.com 41

•

Michael Salisbury’s

SCHOOL OF ANGLING

Mike is a qualified Level 2 UKCC angling coach, specialising in carp, catfish, match, predator and general coarse fishing.

Hit the same spot every time ■ A double-figure mirror, one of many carp caught from a club water using the deadly accurate Method feeder approach.

I

N recent years it has become no secret how good Method feeders are when it comes to catching species such as carp, bream and tench.

The Method works by frequent recasting, so even if you’re not getting bites, you are feeding a spot with the groundbait that comes off the feeder. If your bait is spread over a wider area, it becomes less likely that you’ll get a number of fish feeding in a tight area.

If you really want to get the Method working to its full potential, you’ll need to cast it accurately every time, and a pair of distance sticks and your reel’s line clip will help you achieve this. When fishing a spot in open water or against a feature, the need for accuracy is paramount.

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24 JULY 2018

Spot-on Method

Distance sticks are a recent addition to many carp anglers’ armoury, but they can also be devastating when used with a quivertip and Method feeder.

The principle behind them is to enable you to cast to and hit the same spot every time, essentially by measuring the distance that you are achieving.

There are a number of tackle companies that make distance sticks, and generally they will come with a cord, enabling you to measure the distance between them, and line them up with each other.

When used in carp fishing, they are usually spaced 12 ft apart, as this is the length of most carp rods. Carp anglers can then measure the distance

to their spot in rod lengths.

For tighter swims and with feeder rod approaches, I prefer to space the sticks 6 ft apart, simply by halving the length of the measuring cord.

The key to using distance sticks in Method feeder fishing is the line clip on your reel. You may have only used this to store the line at the end of the session, but in this scenario it fulfils a very important role. To use your line clip and distance sticks in tandem, follow these simple steps…

Method mastery

At the start of your session, I would recommend recasting every ten minutes if you’re not getting bites. This way you’re quickly building a good amount

of bait on your chosen spot, and your feeder will create a noise that the fish in commercial venues will associate with the arrival of food.

Measuring your cast every time may seem like a bit of a chore initially, but the more used to it you get, the quicker you can do it. The thing to consider is the reason why you are doing it. How many times have you attempted to cast tight to an island, only to overcook it and end up getting snagged in a tree?

Worse-case scenario, you may have to pull for a break, and by the time you have re-tackled, your swim has gone off the boil.

Using distance sticks can help eliminate these errors from your fishing. If you are fishing

Made to measure

1

Cast your feeder until you are satisfied that it is in the place that you want it. Then tighten the line to your feeder gently, before placing the line under the clip of the spool of your reel.

2

Reel in, and wrap your feeder around the left-hand distance stick, ensuring that you trap it.

3

Open the bail arm and begin wrapping your line around the sticks, counting each ‘wrap’.

Once you hit the line clip, that will be your required distance, so take a note of the number of ‘wraps’.

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open water, particularly on a big venue, it’s very difficult to know whether you are hitting the same spot every time without the use of distance sticks.

One of the club waters that I fish is a classic example of a venue in which the fish respond far better to tight areas of bait.

Using distance sticks and a line clip, I was able to achieve great

accuracy in my casting, both for an open water spot and one tight to an island. The island area got so hectic that I was barely able to put my feeder rod on the rest before the next take.

Distance sticks are a simple concept, they’re not expensive, and they can revolutionise your feeder fishing. Give them a go on your next session.

• Extre • Soft a

If you catch a fish or choose to recast, wrap the feeder around the lefthand stick again.

Open the bail arm, and wrap your line around the sticks the required amount of times. Once you have done so, place the line under the clip on your reel, and carefully reel in. Re-cast, and you should be hitting your spot again with great accuracy.

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longer ca sts

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5

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• Soft a

Cast to your spot, ensuring that you are standing or seated in the same spot as you were for your original cast. Then take your line out of the clip once you have cast out, or an aggressive take could drag your rod in.

SISTANCE

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NEW Dynamite F1 Baits GEAR DYNAMITE have released a new range of F1 baits, designed for catching F1 carp, which

are stocked in lots of fisheries these days.

Here’s my take on the full range…

Widely respected tackle expert Richard Howard reveals and comments on the best new products coming your way.

richard.howard@ti-media.com

Swim Stim F1 Sweet Groundbait £3.99 a bag.

This Swim Stim groundbait includes a sweet palatant, a water-soluble fishmeal and a super-attractive milk powder.

The ingredients cloud up in your swim, stimulating F1s to feed. It’s a versatile groundbaits, as you can pot it in loose and damp, to create a sloppy cloud, or you can mix it into a firmer consistency for moulding around a Method feeder.

Swim Stim F1 Sweet Pellets

Swim Stim F1 Sweet Durable Hookers

These pellets have a coating of attractants and sweet palatants, designed to attract F1s. Available in 2 and 4 mm sizes, you can use them as feed and hook baits. They are also perfect for moulding around a Method feeder (left).

Coming in 4 and 6 mm sizes, these high-leakage, sweet-smelling hook baits lend themselves to direct hooking (right), hair-rigging (left) or spiking, giving you plenty of options to enable you to fool the wariest of F1 carp.

£3.99 a bag.

Swim Stim F1 Sweet Pellet Soak £4.99 for 500 ml.

This Soak can be added to any carp, coarse or expander pellets. It looks particularly useful for boosting fishery pellets, being easy to apply.

Dynamite recommend a soaking of two minutes per mm of pellets, so 2 mm pellets would require a soaking of four minutes. You then pour off the excess liquid and let the pellets stand for 20 minutes before using them.

If you want to boost expander pellets, it’s recommended that you use the normal method (a pellet pump or bag), but replace the water with the Soak, to add colour and flavour.

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£2.99 a bag.

NGT Magnetic Bivvy Hooks

Sensas Black Arrow 200 Feeder Rods

£4.95 from www.qfished.co.uk NGT have released these useful bivvy hooks. By using a super-strong magnet and backing plate to sandwich the skin of your bivvy or shelter in between, they allow you to position them exactly where you want them.

The hooks will support lots of items, from a bite alarm remote receiver to a coat (pictured).

You get two in a pack.

£49.99-£69.99.

Sufix Super 21 FC Fluorocarbon Line

LAST month I introduced you to the new Black Arrow 400 feeder rod range. If the price of the range was a stretch too far, you’ll be pleased to read that I’m now introducing the Black Arrow 200 Feeder Rod family, as they have a price tag starting at a penny under £50.

There are five Black Arrow 200 feeder rods, from 9-13 ft, to suit lots of venues, including intimate commercials and ‘snake’ lakes, to bigger, natural venues.

Designed to get you off to a great start with feeder fishing without breaking the bank, they come with a through-action, to guard against hook pulls, and power further down the blank, to help you cast feeders a fair distance.

The shorter, two-piece designs have a power rating of 10-30 g and 10-40 g, whereas the three-piece, 12 ft and 13 ft rods are rated at 10-60 g and 20-70 grespectively.

They all come with three quivertips, in a mix of glass and carbon, to suit different conditions.

I’d strongly recommend that you check them out if you’re getting into your feeder fishing.

There are Black Arrow 300, 400, 500 and 800 feeder rods series to consider as well.

from £9.99 (150 m).

THIS 100 per cent fluorocarbon line sinks four times faster than standard nylon, making it a very useful choice in situations where you want your main line to sink quickly and appear almost invisible in water.

Suiting lure and bait anglers, it is a low-stretch line, too, for improved bite indication, helping you to pull hooks into fish quickly and to stay in control during the fight.

It’s also extremely abrasion resistant, perfect when you’re fishing around structure or for rough-mouthed fish.

Clear and Pink options are available, in 0.14 mm (3 lb) up to 0.60 mm (40 lb). For specimen carp and barbel, I’d recommend you take a look at the 0.28 mm (12 lb), 0.33 mm (16 lb) and 0.40 mm (20 lb) versions.

It looks useful for most applications, from working lures for cautious perch, to heavyweight carp in clear water.

24 JULY 2018 anglersmail.com 45

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Anglers Where To Fish MAIL

Crossing swords with Viaduct carp Your local expert this week is BRIAN GAY South West regional Where To Fish columnist Brian Gay can turn his hand to most methods, from match bagging with silver fish to

B

AIT-TECH Viaduct Fishery has so much to offer pleasure and match anglers.

The six-lake complex is one of the prettiest venues I’ve visited. With beautiful trees and bankside fauna, it really is a location tailor-made for Mr

big fish specialist tactics. An angler with a tactical brain, this week he visits Bait-Tech Viaduct Fishery, at Cary Valley, in Somerset.

Crabtree. It is nestled in the Cary Valley, below a viaduct, and is run by the Long family – Steve, his wife, Helen, and son, Matt. Believe me, you are assured of a great welcome.

The match sport on lakes Campbell and Cary is legendary.

There’s a healthy match calendar, drawing anglers from far and wide, with the lakes producing triple ‘ton-up’ hauls.

However, the venue is much more than a match anglers’ mecca, as it is a pleasure anglers’ paradise, too, with match-style or specimen approaches producing quality fish.

It’s also a venue where hardened carpers, in need of a confidence boost, can occasionally be found, My visit coincided with the hottest day of the year, and while walking around the complex, I could see plenty of carp basking in the afternoon sun.

A match was underway on Campbell and Cary, contested by anglers staying in the venue’s holiday lodges.

This is a popular venue at weekends, and even today, on a Monday, there was a decent number of anglers.

Springing the trap

I planned to fish an evening session, and with Cary already pretty busy, I decided to fish Spring Lake, where there is a realistic chance of a doublefigure carp and possibly a

TOP TIPS

■ Easy does it. Brian bends into a margin-caught carp.

2

1

The larger Viaduct carp are wise fish, often avoiding big baits, so a smaller offering, such as two Mainline Toppers, can pay dividends.

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When it’s mega hot, it pays to make use of the bankside cover, to disguise your presence and keep yourself cool. Just make sure that you are always on your rods.

■ Brian was delighted with this amber-coloured, unusually shaped common carp.

20-pounder. It is also home to a massive head of single-figure carp and a raft of bream, roach, rudd and perch.

I was joined by my fishing pal Shawn Kittridge, an all-rounder who occasionally competes in matches at Viaduct. He was going to float fish meat on rod and line, while I was going to utilise a two-rod, specimen carp-style attack.

When the carp are sunning

DON’T MISS OUR weekly up-to-date info on ◗ Stillwaters ◗ Canals ◗ Drains ◗ Rivers ◗ Top Clubs and Tackle Shops

There’s a tackle shop on site, with friendly advice from Steve Long and his son, Matt. the right, both about two rod lengths along the bank.

Shawn was feeding a line right under his 13 ft Carbon Active rod, positioned straight out in front of him, with pellets, groundbait and cubed meat. He also fed a second swim, tight to cover on his left-hand margin.

Feeding my way in

themselves, you can target them with shallow pellet waggler tactics, but it’s a lot of hard work, and I was hoping to be more selective with my tactics. I tackled up in peg 21 while Shawn selected peg 20, and the good thing about the abundance of trees at Viaduct is you can often find some shade.

There is a no fixed rig rule here, but you can only use boilies as a hook bait, not as

feed. Hoping to catch a big carp in the margins, I was armed with a pair of 10 ft, 3.5 lb t.c. rods, a free-running, 1.25 oz pear-shaped lead and an 8 in. hook length to a curved pattern, barbless, size 10 hook, tied up KD rig-style. Both rods were rigged pretty much the same way, the only major difference being the hook baits.

I hair-rigged two Mainline Toppers, which are basically

the same size and shape as two pieces of corn, on one rig, and a popped-up, pale-yellow boilie on the other.

With bankside vegetation and tree cover, there was inevitably going to be some debris in the margins, so a popped-up bait seemed an obvious choice.

I hooked on a small PVA mesh bag of 6 mm fishery pellets, dropping one rig into my lefthand margin and the other to

Shawn was first to catch, as the skimmers and roach took a liking to his meat offerings.

My swims were quiet, which I half expected while the sun was still blazing down.

The margins are shallow, so you will often know when a big carp is present, as you’ll either spot them or see boils, swirls or colouring up of the water.

I started supplementing the PVA bags of feed with handfuls of pellets, feeding the left-hand margin much more positively.

By feeding one swim less aggressively, it gave me something to judge the response by. My left-hand rod tip was constantly bouncing, caused by small fish brushing against the line while feeding on the pellets, while the right-hand rod tip, over the minimal feed, was pretty much still.

3

Feed one swim heavily and another one light, as sometimes the carp will be attracted to lots of feed, but at other times to little feed.

4

Use the fishery pellets as feed, as this is what the fish are used to eating. That said, the Viaduct fish also show a liking for Robin Red pellets.

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Anglers Where To Fish MAIL

Our experts visit the best venues to fish near you!

Make mine a double

Once the sun started to drop behind the trees, I was on red alert, and sure enough it wasn’t too long before my right-hand rod bent round. A single-figure common, a typical Spring Lake carp, put up a spirited fight before I successfully landed it.

I was intrigued that the carp had responded over the line with less feed, and despite continuing to feed the lefthand line with several handfuls of pellet, I could not feed off the small fish. Just as I was contemplating the need to feed or not to feed further, I had another ‘screamer’ on the right-hand rod.

This time the fight was a harder one, and after a while I netted a very interesting-looking common.

This fish was deep, but had a kink in its body about twothirds along, suggesting it’d had some sort of physical problem when it was younger. It was still a handsome fish, having deep, amber scales and a perfect pair of barbules.

It weighed 15 lb 4 oz, and although not one of the lake’s 20s, it was a classic example of the sort of fish that keep the pleasure anglers coming back.

It was a frustrating evening for Shawn, as he had to concede

■ Viadict is a mature, picturesque fishery complex, with a viaduct as a backdrop.

■ Luxury lodges are available.

that he could not get through the ‘bits’.

The really interesting thing about my session was the fact that all of the fish were caught on Topper hook baits from the lightly fed margin.

If you have never been to the Viaduct, you don’t know what you’re missing. Arm-aching

bagging for match anglers, and idyllic, relaxed carping for pleasure anglers.

Aside from the lakes, the venue offers plenty of parking, toilets, and a well-stocked bait and tackle shop, which also sells snacks and drinks. For those interested in holidays, there are three luxury lodges available.

Brian’s VENUE BREAKDOWN

The Viaduct Fishery, Cary Valley, Somerton, Somerset,TA11 6LJ. A - Channel between Middle and Spring.

B - Peg 1 is a good place to fish towards the channel.

C - All swims with an island cast have excellent potential.

D - Where Brian and Shawn fished, the swims having good potential for big fish in the margins.

OTHER LAKES Campbell. A match-only lake, best described as a hauling pool, where 200-300 lb bags are made regularly. There are

lots of carp and a good head of silver fish.

Cary. Similar sport to Campbell, but available to pleasure anglers. It always appeals, as it is capable of multiple runs and the chance of carp to 20 lb-plus.

Lodge. Capable of great bags of decent-sized carp, as well as excellent bream and skimmer hauls.

Match. Has a mixed head of fish, including carp, F1s, tench and bream, all ready to take your float fished bait.

Tickets Day ticket prices: adults £8 one rod; £10 two rods; juniors £5 and £7; concessions £6 and £8. Evening tickets (starts vary from 12:30pm to 4pm, depending on daylight hours) £6 one rod; £7 two rods.

Tel: 01458 274022. Visit: www.viaductfishery.com

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RIV

8

5 ft

5

CAR Y

14

6 ft C

B

A

ER

5.5ft

To the other lakes

4.5 ft 1

5 ft

16

C

3.5 - 4 ft To parking, tackle shop and toilets

1

Middle Lake

Spring Lake D 4.5 ft

Lodges

Exc lus ang ive fis h l e rs sta ing fo lod ying i r ges n

SPECIES COMPLEX BESTS ★ CARP 27 lb ★ PERCH 3 lb-plus ★ BREAM 4 lb-plus ★ ROACH 1 lb 8 oz ★ TENCH 4 lb

1

20 Shawn’s Peg 21 Brian’s Peg

Anglers Where To Fish South West

SOUTH WEST

MAIL

Brian Gay Tel: 07768 612872 email: Brian62@mac.com

» Red-hot venues P TO D RO

Somerset matchman turned specimen angler loves to unearth hotspots across the region

RIVERS River Culm

Where? Beare Gate and Killerton, Devon, EX5 3JU. Day tickets £6. Exeter & DAA membership £48.

Tel: 01392 668935.

What’s being caught? Good for summer sport with dace, chub and roach, in big single-figure bags up to doubles.

Tactics? Roving can be a good way to keep the bites coming.

Maggots, casters and seed baits all worth a go.

River Tone

Where? French weir to Firepool, Taunton, Somerset, TA1 4AA. Free fishing. Tel: Enterprise Angling on 01823 282623 or Taunton Angling Centre on 01823 282518.

What’s being caught?

Excellent free stretch in summer for chub, dace and roach.

Capable of some very big bags, mostly chub but with roach, dace, perch, gudgeon, minnows and grayling all possible, sometimes all in the same session.

Tactics? Early and late best when it’s hot and the water is clear. Stick float or waggler with

seed baits starting to account for good roach and chub nets.

Maggots and casters also produce.

CANALS Bridgwater and Taunton Canal

Where? North Newton, Somerset, TA7 OBG. Day tickets £5. Bridgwater AA membership from £37.50. Tel: 01278 45702.

What’s being caught? Decent tench, bream and perch, with good rudd and lots of small silver fish.

Tactics? Pole and chopped worm or corn early or late works well for the bigger fish.

Maggots and casters also good, especially for the silver fish.

Kennet and Avon Canal

Where? Bathampton village, near Bath, Somerset, BA2 6TG. Day tickets £3. Bathampton AA membership £40.

Tel: 07720 882368.

What’s being caught? Bream and skimmers the main target, with double-figure bags the aim.

Tactics? Pole and expander pellets over micro pellets or fishmeal is a good way to catch them.

Argal Reservoir, near Falmouth, Cornwall, R11 5PE. Marlon Weyeneth had a successful short session at this 65-acre South West Lakes Trust water, landing this lovely

STILLWATERS Acorn Carp Fishery

Where? Lampley Road, Kingston Seymour, North Somerset, BS21 6XS. Day tickets from £10. Tel: 01934 834050 or 07957828721.

What’s being caught? The 3.5-acre Main Lake is good for plenty of sport with upper-doubles, 20s and a chance of a 30.

Tactics? Small, solid bags of pellets with pop-up hook baits. A spread of freebies also helps.

BK Fisheries

Where? The Green Lane, St Erth, Cornwall, TR27 6HP. Day

26 lb common carp along with five others, four of which weighed over 20 lb.

Venue latest: 01209 860301. tickets £7. Tel: 07919 130244 or 01736 753275.

What’s being caught? Plenty of carp and silver fish action on Billy’s. Bill’s for big ‘slabs’ and big carp.

Tactics? Pole, waggler or lead with pellets on Billy’s. Try boilies for Bill’s carp, while the bream love a big, juicy cocktail of worm and casters or corn and worms.

Diggerlakes

Where? Verbeer Manor, Willand, Cullompton, Devon, EX15 2PE. Day tickets £10 for 12 hours; £20 for 24 hours.

Tel: 07733 223417.

What’s being caught? Snail’s Lake for decent 20s and 30s,

Comic characters we bump into on the bank F

ISHING is full of characters, and sometimes they resemble those that you see being laughed at in comedy shows on TV. I’m sure many of you will have come across anglers quick to inform you of how good they are, while pointing out what you’re doing wrong, as I did recently.

It reminded me of Harry Enfield’s creations – Stanley ‘considerably richer than you’ and Loadsamoney.

Stanley’s angling equivalent can ‘cast considerably further than you’, while Loadsamoney’s equivalent is

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constantly sneering at other people’s gear while they proudly sport the latest in rods, reels and gadgets, only to be on eBay a week or two later buying the next new release.

One angler that I met was adamant that he was casting over 100 yards when quite clearly he wasn’t, and was quite indignant to have this pointed out. But these days, with distance sticks and clipping, there’s no argument, and in some cases the same is true of overestimated catches or inaccurate weighing.

Even if you can cast 100 yards, sometimes the sensible

option is to come back 10-20 yards and give yourself that margin, so that you can fish comfortably and feed that spot even if conditions deteriorate.

Faced with too many Harry Enfield characters in a short space of time, I turn into one myself – Angry Frank.

Then it’s a case of: “No, ‘cast considerably further than you!’ Take your gear and fish somewhere else!”

If you bump into a bankside ‘better than you’, try not to be an Angry Frank like me, but just keep calm and smile, and let them carry on kidding themselves.

chosen by your local expert! while Persey’s Pool is great for runs with upper-teens, 20s and a chance of a 30.

Tactics? Mostly boilies, bottom baits or pop-ups. Small bags work on Persey’s.

Foxcotte Lake

Where? Charlton, Hampshire, SP10 4AJ. Day tickets from £6, in advance, Andover AC membership £30.

Tel: 01264 335339.

What’s being caught? Tench to 4 lb-plus, carp, perch and silver fish the mainstay, while there are also some perch to 3 lb-plus.

Tactics? Pellets, corn, worms, or maggots and casters tempting bites.

Golden Pond Fishery

Where? Stockbridge, Hampshire, SP11 7LA. Day tickets £8. Season £120.

Tel: 07734 669738.

What’s being caught? Great sport with carp, roach and fantails.

Tactics? Larger carp showing on top to Mixers. Float fished smaller baits for quality roach and fantails at short range. Meat for carp on the bottom.

Hill View Lakes

Where? Cherry Orchard Lane, Twyning, Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire, GL20 6JH. Day tickets £8. Tel: 01684 296719.

What’s being caught? Heron and Kingfisher Lakes and the Canals all in excellent bagging form, with lots of F1s, carp and silver fish. Triple-figure bags always on the cards.

Tactics? Shallow pellet works well. Margins scoring, too.

Canals good to the far bank and down the track.

Shearwater Lake

Where? Clay Street, Crockerton, Wiltshire, BA12 8AH. Day tickets £10; 24 hours £20. Tel: 01985 844496 or 07889 625999 (8am-6pm).

What’s being caught?

Consistently good carp and bream water with plenty of doubles and occasional 20s matted. Big hauls of quality bream, too.

Tactics? Long-distance surface or bottom tactics scoring for the carp. Method feeder excellent for the bream.

Angler’s Mail

Support your local

FISHING CLUB EASTLEIGH & DAC Eastleigh & District AC, in Hampshire, was founded in 1952 as Caustons AC. Now a thriving, modern organisation with over 800 members and several waters of their own, including the fantastic Stoneham complex, the club provides great sport for all types of freshwater angler, from beginners to specimen hunters. Members can also fish Witherington Farm commercial fishery. The club has a thriving match section as well as a junior section. Coaching is provided, too. Membership runs from May 1 and costs £90; 1618s £55; 13-16s £30; OAPs and disabled £55. An enrolment fee of £15 is waived for 13-16s. www.edac.org.uk Tel: 01722 711616.

■ Loadsawelly and lotsagear! Brian has met some fishing folk who reminded him of Harry Enfield characters.

Anglers Where To Fish South East MAIL

Duncan Charman

Tel: 07928 617006 Email: duncancharman@me.com Specimen angler with an incredible list of personal bests to his name.

A Jake of all trades O

VER the past few years I’ve been privileged to work alongside Dynamite-backed Jake Lund, to help produce articles for Anglers Mail.

He rarely fails to put a fish or two on the bank whilst I am there, but on our last session he really pulled out all the stops, by catching a massive common and then an upper double, as you will see in a feature coming soon.

What impresses me is he always considers how the lake is fishing, what tactics others are using, where the fish are, then simply creates a plan of attack for the session ahead.

On another note, I wish I

had a Tony Gee of Ace Tackle & Bait in every county that I cover, because a quick phone call to him (01865 372066) and I have all the latest info on how a stretch of the Thames in his local Oxfordshire is fishing.

Thanks mate, your help is appreciated.

By contrast, many fishery Facebook pages are out of date. One Surrey venue’s most recent entry was in March, showing snow and ice on the fishery.

A plea to fisheries with web pages: if you want me to help you publicise your water, please get to grips with social media sites and keep them updated.

RIVERS River Lea

Where? Dobbs Weir, Dobbs Weir Road, Hoddesdon, Hertfordshire, EN11 0AS. Day tickets £5.40 for two rods, on the bank. Nights allowed, but bailiff must be called first (number below). Several angling clubs also have the right to fish, including Hertford AC, membership £47.

Tel: 07907 212035.

What’s being caught? Doublefigure barbel, bream to over 10 lb, chub over 6 lb and a few carp to over 20 lb.

Tactics? The top weir is best for the chub and barbel, with legered big baits such as meat, pellets and boilies. The lower weir contains lots of bream to over 10 lb that respond to groundbait feeder, but are also caught on boilies and pellets intended for the barbel.

River Medway

Where? Teapot Island-Yalding stretch, Yalding, Kent, ME18 6HG. Canalised section known as ‘The Cut’. Free fishing. Trade in Tackle, in Maidstone, often has the latest information.

Tel: 01622 814294.

What’s being caught? This deeper cut has a few carp.

Tactics? Best when the river quietens down, with quality hair-rigged boilies, and a bit of pre-baiting won’t go amiss.

River Mole

■ Back goes the big ‘girl’.

■ This fish, held by Jake Lund, is a tiddler compared to the one to be shown in a forthcoming feature!

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Where? Norbury Park, Mickleham, Surrey, RH5 6EA (nearby). Leatherhead DAS membership £70 plus a £20 joining fee. Tel: Surbiton Angling on 0207 018 2134 or S.C. Fuller on 01306 882177.

What’s being caught? Chub to over 5 lb, double-figure barbel and big perch.

Tactics? Pellets producing chub and barbel, or drop shotting sorting out the bigger perch.

River Ouse

Where? Newick to below Barcombe Mill Bridge, East Sussex, BN8 5EA (Anchor Inn).

Ouse Angling Preservation Association and Copthorne DAS membership £87.

Tel: 01825 723371.

What’s being caught? Chub, roach and perch in the faster water below Newick, along with carp and bream in the slower, deeper stretch downstream of the Anchor Inn.

Tactics? Trotting a stick float and maggots producing silver fish, including a few chub to 3 lb. Feeder for bream and carp.

River Thames

Where? Donnington Bridge Road, Donnington, Oxfordshire, OX4 4AY (nearby). Oxford DAA membership through local clubs, including Kidlington AS, membership £22. Day tickets £5, from local tackle shops, including Tony Gee at Ace Tackle & Bait, Kidlington. Tel: 01865 376943 or 01865 372066.

What’s being caught? Mostly perch to 3 lb and bream to over 6 lb. Roach in isolated spots, but bleak are a major headache.

Tactics? Find where the ducks are fed with bread and a morning/evening session close by can be rewarding for the roach. Perch falling to drop shotting or pieces of lobworm, pole fished close to the weed.

Bream coming to groundbait feeder at dusk.

CANALS Kennet and Avon Canal

Where? Kintbury Lock, Station Road, Kintbury, Berkshire, RG17 9UT (nearby). Civil Service AS associate membership £114 plus entrance fee. CSSC new members £67.

Tel: 020 8572 0145.

What’s being caught? Along with the standard canal species, carp, tench, trout and even grayling show occasionally, especially at the top end, where the canal has some flow.

Tactics? Mainly pole and waggler with maggots, casters and chopped worm.

River Lea Navigation

Where? Stonebridge Lock, Tottenham, North East London.

Day tickets £4. River Lea AC membership £30, including a £15 joining fee.

Tel: 07922 688060.

What’s being caught?

Skimmers, roach, perch to over 2 lb and a few chub to 4 lb.

Tactics? Pole and maggots over a fine groundbait across to the far bank, with casters sorting out the better quality fish.

STILLWATERS Chigboro Fisheries

Where? Goldhanger Road, Maldon, Essex, CM9 4RE. Day tickets from £10; 24 hours from

£20. Tel: 01621 857368.

What’s being caught? All lakes fishing very well. Kim Clarke has had two amazing trips, the last producing 20 fish, including catfish to 43 lb 8 oz and carp to 32 lb 5 oz.

Tactics? 2 ft yellow zigs working well, or hair-rigged boilies and white-tipped snowmen.

Darenth Fishing Complex

Where? Darenth, Dartford, Kent, DA2 7QY. Day tickets from £8. Tel: 01322 290150.

What’s being caught? Bill Hodkin topped an eight-fish haul with a 44 lb 2 oz mirror carp and two 30s in a 72-hour session. Masons Lake producing multiple catches of carp, and Willow fewer but bigger carp, a 29 lb 3 oz fish out recently.

All three lakes, the other being Terrapin, also contain massive catfish and quality tench, bream, perch and crucians, along with plenty of silver fish.

Tactics? Hair-rigged boilies for the carp, with wafters and popups best. Halibut pellets and luncheon meat for the catfish.

Frant Lakes

Where? Hawkenbury Road,

Bells Yew Green, Frant, East Sussex, TN3 9AP. Day ticket lakes 1-6 £11 one rod; £13.50 two rods. Specimen Lakes 7 and 8 (adults only) £22.50 for up to three rods. Tel: 01892 616424.

What’s being caught? All lakes fishing well, with plenty of double-figure carp showing.

Best fish reported recently was a 26 lb 4 oz mirror to Colin Aburn, from Specimen Lake 7.

Tactics? Zig rigs and floating baits, or try margin stalking.

SOUTH EAST

» Red-hot venues chosen by your local expert!

TO RO P D

Godstone Vineyards Fishing Lake

Where? Quarry Road, Godstone, Surrey, RH9 8DQ. Days only £10 (9am-5.30pm).

Tel: 01883 744590.

What’s being caught? Carp up to 15 lb, quality roach, a few big chub, tench and perch.

Tactics? Floating baits account for most of the carp, but boilies and pellets close to the island catch their fair share of carp and a few specimen roach.

Holme Grange Fishery

Where? Red Lake Lane, Wokingham, Berkshire, RG40 3BJ. Day tickets £10 one rod; £15 two rods.

Churchgate Lake, Battlesbridge, Essex, SS11 7QR. Salisbury, using a 2 ft zig rig cast Fourteen-year-old Tim Bigden has tight to the far bank and a piece of been fishing for just a few months, black foam dipped in the new but he beat his PB by 10 lb when Bait-Tech Krill Stick Mix Liquid, at he landed this 22 lb mirror carp on this three-lake fishery. a session with angling coach and Venue latest: 07798 902315.

Angler’s Mail contributor Michael Tel: 01344 777411.

What’s being caught? Expect bites all day from hard-fighting carp, the fishery best 36 lb, but mainly singles, doubles and a few fish of 20 lb-plus.

Tactics? Pellet waggler is best at the moment, with banded 8 mm pellet hook baits, but feed a few pellets around the float continuously. Method feeder is also good.

Cackle Hill Lakes Holiday Complex Carp, specimen fishing and lodge holidays in Kent - Prestige lodges available Each having 3 bedrooms & 2 bathrooms - sleeping up to 6 people and available for fishing holidays or just a peaceful break in amazing settings!

Caravan facilities also available with electric hook-ups, running water, toilets & showers

For more information contact us now or visit our website Telephone:

01580 292292

Email:

enquiries@cackle-hill-lakes.com

WWW.CACKLE-HILL-LAKES.COM Headcorn Road, Biddenden, Kent, TN27 8JW

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Anglers Where To Fish Midlands MAIL

Steve Cope

TEL: 01922 640247 or 07985 741178. email: steve.cope@hotmail.com Midlands match and pleasure angler with a comprehensive knowledge of venues and tactics.

RIVERS River Derwent

Where? Darley Abbey Weir downstream to Handyside Bridge, Chester Green and River Gardens Weir to Borrowash Bridge, Derby. Day ticket parking and access off Station Road, DE72 3LJ. Day tickets £6, from local tackle shops, including Alfreton Angling Centre, DE55 7JE and Fishermania, DE24 0EG. Tel: 07419 121312.

What’s being caught? A few shoals of dace and grayling, decent chub to 4 lb and occasional big barbel. Darley Park is fishing best.

Tactics? Stick float and maggots or waggler with maggots for the dace and grayling. Leger big chunks of luncheon meat or pellet feeder for the chub and barbel, early morning and late evening.

River Severn

Where? Quatford, Shropshire, WV15 6QL (parking and access). Members only. BAA membership £40. Tel: 01562 882116 or 07976 886558 (9.30am-2pm Mon-Fri).

What’s being caught? Three miles of prime river fishing. Big shoals of chub to 5 lb, barbel to doubles with roach and dace.

Plenty of pike.

Tactics? Feeder tactics for the

barbel and chub, with pellets, maggots, hemp and casters.

Use long hook lengths, as the river is low and clear. Give fish plenty of time to recover. Stick float or whip with maggots and groundbait for the roach and dace. Lures and deadbaits for the pike.

Warwickshire Avon

Where? Evesham, Worcestershire, EDAA Town waters, Crown Meadow, WR11 4SS, or Hampton & Ferry waters, WR11 4BP, or Willmott’s section, WR11 2GG (parking behind every peg). Day tickets: Town waters £3, on the bank; Hampton Ferry £5, on the bank or from the on-site café; Willmott’s £4, from The Bait Box. Tel: Hampton Ferry on 01386 442458 or the café on 01386 45460 or EDAA on 01386 565018. For Willmott’s, phone The Bait Box on 01386 442955.

What’s being caught? Barbel being caught on the 80s pegs at Hampton Ferry. A few bream coming out below the bridge in the town on pegs 23 and 24, and the top end on pegs 1 and 2. Hemp roach and bootlace eels are being caught all along, and some massive bream just under 9 lb on Willmott’s, with a few tench and plenty of hemp roach. Lots of chublets down the bottom end of the stretch.

TACTICAL Briefing MAYNES LAKES,

HINCKLEY, LEICESTERSHIRE

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24 JULY 2018

Even more at Moorlands

B

ROMSGROVE-based carpenter Glyn Clarke (ABC Baits) has smashed the Moorlands Farm fishery record with 343 lb.

Fishing in the Over-50s Open on Meadow Pool at the Hartlebury, Worcestershire, water, Glyn, who has fished at Moorlands on and off for the past eight years, drew peg 27.

He told me: “I fed 4 mm fishery feed pellets and fished my top two straight in front with paste on the hook, made from fishery pellets, and caught carp up to 10 lb all day from the off.

“I knew that I had a big weight, but I thought I’d got about 250 lb, though it’s hard to judge.”

It took seven weighs, and he beat the previous best

by Dudley rod Brian Jones (Mosella) of 308 lb 13 oz from Bank Pool peg 20 on May 9.

“Shame it wasn’t a big qualifier!” said Glyn. Well done, mate.

There are nine well-

Tactics? Pole with casters, worms and hemp or groundbait feeder with casters, worms and hemp doing the job. Pole anglers are having half a dozen roach on the same piece of hemp, over loosefed hemp. Waggler and maggots down the bottom end in the 80s for stacks of chublets.

■ Glyn Clarke with part of his 343 lb fishery record haul at Moorlands Farm. stocked pools at the complex, three ideal for youngsters, a 120-seater licensed café, a toilet block, six units for touring caravans, and parking behind most pegs. I thoroughly recommend the place.

Day tickets are £7.50.

Tel: 01299 250427.

Where? Clay Mills, Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire, to Wychnor. Day tickets £2, must be bought before fishing, from

Burton Angling Supplies, DE14 2DP, or Fishermania, DE14 2LG, or Bacchus & Rhone, DE11 7DU. Burton Mutual AS canal membership £12.

Tel: 07419 121312.

What’s being caught? This nine-mile stretch is fishing really well. Bream to 4 lb, roach to just over 1 lb, perch to 3 lb and chub to 4 lb showing well all along the canal, Horninglow Basin particularly prolific.

Double-figure barbel can crop up anywhere, but the Oakamoor Café section, on the A38, has

DESCRIPTION: three popular fishing pools, including two ‘snake’ lakes, with similar stocks. Varying in sizes, from 10 to 20-plus pegs, all the pools have islands and depths to around 3.5 ft. There’s a smaller, no fishing, pond, too.

Regularly matches take place, especially on Wednesdays and Sundays, with the main targets being carp to 3 lb along with a few doubles, a good head of barbel to over 4 lb, lots of roach to 1 lb, a few tench, bream to 1 lb 8 oz and lots of small perch.

TACTICS: the island margins are targeted by pole anglers

fishing 12-15 m across, with paste or pellet over regular loosefeed. The Method also scores, especially on a pole, with lots of hook baits producing, including hard pellets, corn and maggots.

Running line waggler and Method feeder tactics will also catch fish. You can also get plenty of bites down the edge, close to cover. Some target the silver fish on maggots, casters or pinkies for plenty of action.

Matches can top 100 lb in the height of the summer. The barbel and the tench are in Pools 1 and 2.

TICKETS: £5, on the bank. No

CANALS

Trent and Mersey Canal

been a recent hotspot, and the confluence with the River Trent at Wychnor. Carp to 30 lb coming from the Barton-underNeedwood Marina mouth.

Zander and pike, too.

Tactics? Pole with bread, maggots, casters and groundbait for the bream and roach. Hemp down the track for the bigger redfins when the boat traffic dies down in the evening.

Pole and casters to features for the chub, and chopped worm for the perch. Leger luncheon meat for the barbel. Carp gear with boilies for the carp.

Walsall Canal

Where? Holyhead Road Bridge, Moxley, West Midlands, to Ryders Green Locks Bridge, Great Bridge, West Midlands.

Day tickets £2, on the bank.

Sportsman AA membership £10, from Phil’s Tackle, DY4 0ET. Tel: 07835 553595.

What’s being caught? Bream to 8 lb in the bays in the evening.

Bream to 3 lb 8 oz dominating all along the stretch, with roach to 1 lb 12 oz, perch to 2 lb and gudgeon, with occasional carp around mid-teens.

Tactics? Pole and big red maggots down the track for the bream. Drop shotting or pole with worms and red maggots for the perch. Big roach responding to hemp anywhere with a bit of a feature. Squatts and pinkies over groundbait for stacks of small silver fish. The carp are being caught on floating baits fished to features and bridges.

STILLWATERS

Halfpenny Green Vineyards Where? Halfpenny

night fishing. Barbless hooks only. Meat on the hook only.

No surface fishing. Keepnets in matches only. No pleasure fishing on Wednesdays or Sundays. Tel: 07779 437224.

GOOD SWIMS: Pool 1: 32, 36 and 38. Pool 2: 1, 10 and 22.

Pool 3: 42, 43 and 45.

LOCAL TACKLE SHOP: JD Tackle, Britannia Shopping Centre, 4 Stockwell Head, Hinckley, LE10 1RE. Tel: 01455 631000.

LOCATION: from the A47 north of Hinckley, near Morrisons, pick up Stoke Road, towards Stoke Golding. The hedgerow on the left starts low

Green, Bobbington. South Staffordshire, DY7 5EP. Day tickets £7 for one rod. Tel: 01384 820861 or 07947 433780.

What’s being caught? Four anglers weighed in over 140 lb each in a match, the best weight so far this year 235 lb. On Moorhen Pool, carp from 1-13 lb coming out. On Heron Pool, lots of barbel of 3-4 lb, carp to 20 lb, skimmers to 1 lb 8 oz, chub to 3 lb, ide to 1 lb 8 oz, golden orfe, blue orfe, tench and koi carp.

Quality roach on both pools.

Tactics? Pole and feeder on Heron, with pellets most effective for the carp. Paste and pellets for the carp on Moorhen.

The silver fish are going for maggots, worms and casters.

Luncheon meat (on the hook only) for the barbel.

Lake View Fishery

Where? Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire, LE14 4SX. Day tickets £7 one rod. On-site café and bait bar. 24 hours £20 for three rods; two nights £35 for three rods. Five night anglers maximum at any one time.

Nights by prior arrangement only. Tel: 07813 276623.

What’s being caught? Lots of carp to 10 lb on the match pools.

Doubles to mid-20s coming out of the Specimen Ocean Pool, with plenty in the 10-15 lb class.

Bream to 6 lb on Rees Lake.

Stacks of skimmers, crucians of 1 lb, F1s to 4 lb, small barbel, roach, rudd and perch to 1 lb being caught on all lakes. Chub on certain pegs on all lakes.

Tactics? Pole, waggler or feeder. Pellets, corn, worms, casters and maggots productive on all of the lakes. Pellets and maggots to the lily pads for the bream on Rees Lake. The and then rises – keep an eye out for the second gate in the high hedge on the left, as that’s the entrance to the fishery.

SAT NAV: LE10 3EA.

TOP TIP

To Stoke Golding

barbel are being caught on all lakes, short and down the edge on pole top kits and pellets or maggots. The chub are going for worms. The crucians and F1s are being caught shallow on corn and pellets over all lakes.

Worms, casters and maggots for the silver fish and perch.

Snitterfield Reservoir

Where? Stratford upon Avon, Warwickshire, WR11 8PA. Members only. Leamington Spa AA membership £38. Tel: 01386 870039 or 07890 467464.

What’s being caught? Anglers are typically catching 20-30 crucians to 1 lb 8 oz in pleasure sessions. Skimmers to 2 lb being caught on the road bank.

Tactics? The crucians are being caught all around the reservoir, close in on the end of a rod tip or on the top two sections of pole, using pellets, maggots and corn.

Big feeders plopping in spook the skimmers on the road bank, so use a tiny cage feeder to start with, and maggots and worms on the hook.

Staunton Harold Reservoir

Where? Near Melbourne, Derbyshire, DE73 8DN. Day tickets £5, from Burton Angling Supplies, DE14 2DP, and Bacchus & Rhone, DE11 7DU. Burton Mutual AS reservoir year ticket £100. Tel: 07419 121312.

What’s being caught? Bream to 6 lb in 40-50 lb catches per session. Recent roach catches of 30 lb in a couple of hours in the evenings.

Tactics? A feeder with worms, casters and groundbait for the bream. Big roach being caught on waggler and maggots, or groundbait feeder with maggots and worms on the hook.

P TO D RO

Upper Warwickshire Avon, Wasperton, Warwickshire.

Leamington AA match secretary Phil Mattock (Sensas Droitwich) was all smiles after catching this handsome 4 lb 10 oz bream on a

groundbait and pellet feeder with a 10 mm pellet on the hook during a recent evening session.

Venue latest: 07890 467464.

To Normandy Way, Hinckley and A5

oa d Stoke R

P

Experiment with dead red maggots, pellets, corn and paste, to see what the fish want on the day.

24 JULY 2018 anglersmail.com 55

•

MIDLANDS

» Red-hot venues chosen by your local expert!

Anglers Where To Fish North West

NORTH WEST

MAIL

» Red-hot venues

Ian Chapman Tel: 07510 405123 email: ianchappy@yahoo.co.uk Chorley-based Chappy champions rivers, canals and stillwaters all across the region.

Learn to lighten your load

S

EEING the mountains of tackle that many anglers lug around with them, I wonder what it would take to persuade some of them to leave most of it at home.

Taking just the basics and going for a session on a local river would make a refreshing change.

Unlike in 2017, flows have been low this summer, due to

River Dee

RIVERS River Dane

Where? Daisy Bank Farm, Holmes Chapel, Cheshire, CW4 7LW. Members only. Lymm AC membership £90 plus a £35 joining fee. Tel: 01270 820812.

What’s being caught? Decent chub to 3 lb and barbel to 7 lb have been tempted by anglers on this winding and featurefilled stretch, which involves walking a steep hill to access it.

Tactics? Arrive early to enjoy the best, and often very immediate, action. Travel very light. Try using chunks of meat, big pellets, floating bread, worms or corn to tease the fish out. Float fishing can also be enjoyable on pegs with pace, but regulars tend to use straight lead tactics.

River Dane

Where? Northwich, Cheshire, CW9 5QG. Day tickets £5, in advance from local shops.

Northwich AA membership £50 and no joining fee.

Tel: 07570 976539.

What’s being caught? Make an early start here and you are much more likely to find dace, roach, perch and chub in catches to 15 lb, before they switch off on bright days.

Tactics? Try stick float or a light waggler with casters over hemp and casters loosefeed.

Maggots will also score, but tend to attract the smaller fish. Take four pints of bait and expect to get through it.

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the lack of rain, but there are still fish to be caught and, as a result of low levels, they are probably even easier to locate as they drop into deeper pools.

The key is to fish at the right time. That typically entails an early start, a late finish, or even a session into darkness.

I hope this week’s extra river listings may persuade some of you to go exploring on a river.

24 JULY 2018

Where? Worthenbury, Wrexham, North Wales, LL13 0AW. Members only. Warrington AA membership £50 plus a £40 joining fee. Tel: 01928 716238.

What’s being caught? Plenty of dace, chub, grayling and maybe occasional barbel are the targets at this pleasant and very lightly fished venue.

Tactics? There are a variety of swims, so take feeders and floats. Wander down the stretch first and then target steady glides with maggots on a stick float, or fish a big bait such as worms, bread, pellets or meat on a feeder.

River Mersey

Where? Paddington Bank, Warrington, Cheshire, WA1 3PB. Members only. Warrington AA membership £50 plus a £40 joining fee. Tel: 01928 716238.

What’s being caught? Some decent-sized bream to 4 lb, and plenty of roach, perch and a few pike to 10 lb. Flow is sluggish, but there’s no shortage of water.

Tactics? Groundbait feeder works well in combination with worms or corn on the hook for the bream, particularly early morning. Pole is productive, and stick float will also catch fish shallow. Red maggots are best for the silver fish.

River Ribble

Where? Shawe’s Arms, Waltonle-Dale, Preston, Lancashire, PR1 4PA. Free fishing.

Tel: 01772 253476.

■ A rod and a landing net, plus a few bits of tackle and some baits in your pockets – what could be more simple?

What’s being caught? Dace and chublets all through, with some quality roach off the sand bank area and up by the farm. A scattering of decent chub and barbel are also being tempted.

Tactics? Stick float or waggler for the roach and dace, or try fishmeal boilies on a block-end feeder for the larger specimens, to avoid the eels. Go early or late for the best chances of contacting larger fish.

River Weaver

Where? Hulse’s Island, Hartford, Cheshire, CW8 1 PR. Northwich AA membership £50 and no joining fee.

Tel: 07570 976539.

What’s being caught? Bream to 3 lb in catches to 30 lb, mainly with dawn starts. Good numbers of roach and perch on the 8-11 m pole line.

Tactics? Arrive early or fish until dusk to experience the best results in this hot summer.

Target overhanging cover spots on the far side using worms and casters for the bream.

River Weaver

Where? Winsford marina length, Cheshire, CW7 3AA. Day tickets £5. Winsford & District AA membership £45.

Tel: 07712 471762.

What’s being caught? Early starters are finding steady and enjoyable sport with skimmers, chub, roach, perch and hybrids, but more fresh water is needed to liven sport up.

Tactics? Pole or stick float, with

casters and maggots on size 18 hooks. Arrive early to enjoy the best peg choices and superior fishing.

CANAL

Rochdale Canal

Where? Kilnhurst Road, Todmorden, West Yorkshire, OL14 6 AL. Day tickets £5.

Todmorden AS membership £50. Tel: 07711 908603.

What’s being caught? Always a few decent bream and skimmers to be had here, but it really helps to arrive at dawn and fish the first few hours, before boat traffic can scupper your sport.

Tactics? Use casters on a long pole and fish the far shelf. You can catch closer in on some swims here, with a weight of 15 lb typical, maybe more.

Plenty of roach on bread punch.

STILLWATERS

Langley Lakes

Where? Goosnargh, Preston, Lancashire, PR3 2JP. Day tickets from £7 to £24.

Tel: 01772 861901.

What’s being caught? Fishing well for bream to 3 lb, small carp and chub from the Match Lake, with catches to over 50 lb recorded. Large carp coming out, with lots of high doubles from the Specimen Lake.

Tactics? Try boilies and meat or corn for the big carp. Match Pool typically produces its best results to pole with pellets, corn and maggots, fished shallow or close in.

chosen by your local expert!

Lingmere Fishery

Where? Lingham Lane, Moreton, Wirral, Cheshire, CH46 4TB. Day tickets £7.

Tel: 0151 677 7911.

What’s being caught? Lots of F1s to 2 lb off both pools. Larger carp to 10 lb also feeding very well. Add barbel, chub and ide and you have the makings of a fabulous day’s fishing.

Tactics? Pole and 6 mm banded pellets shallow or close in is working well. Also try meat for a larger carp. Make sure you feed at least two areas consistently to keep the fish coming.

Moss Farm Fisheries

Where? Cutnook Lane, Irlam, Manchester, M44 5NB. Day tickets £5. Tel: 0161 775 1655.

What’s being caught? Prime summer sport on all of the pools, with plenty of carp to 8 lb and silver fish feeding all day long. Catches to over 50 lb fairly easy to put together.

Tactics? Pole and pellets just on the bottom is an effective way to catch fish, so make sure that you plumb the depth. Try meat punch and corn to latch into a larger carp to around 8 lb.

Old Hough Coarse Fishery

Where? Forge Mill, Warmingham, Cheshire, CW10 0HQ. Day tickets £6 midweek; £7 weekends.

Tel: 07765 000857.

What’s being caught? Great results off all of the pools, with 100 lb match hauls recorded.

West Sooty is producing some superb specimen carp sport and catfish to over 20 lb.

Tactics? Pole with pellets will bring plenty of action. Feed every chuck to keep the fish in the swim. Try shallow when it’s obvious that the fish are up in the water. Near and far margins should be exploited, too.

Rosemary Wood Fishery

Where? Riding Lane, Ormskirk, Lancashire, L39 7JD. Day tickets £6. Tel: 07957 434325.

What’s being caught? Moss Lake is fishing well for carp to 10 lb, as well as stacks of skimmers and roach. Island Lake can be excellent for smaller carp and skimmers, a lot depending on how sunny the day is, and with more cloud cover forecast and cooler weather, sport should be superb.

Tactics? Method feeder is favoured on Moss Lake, with corn or big pellets on hair-rigs successful. Try a mini boilie for a big carp, too. Never overlook the margins on both waters.

Whitmore Fisheries

Where? Bradshaw Lane, Greenhalgh, Preston, Lancashire, PR4 3HQ. Day tickets £7. Tel: 01253 836224.

What’s being caught? Barbel to 8 lb being caught close in on East Lake. Lots of carp from all of the pools and canals, along with skimmers and ide. Catches to 100 lb quite possible.

Tactics? Take plenty of bait for loosefeeding, and there’s no need to fish too far out. Use maggots or casters on the hook, or large pellets. Keep lines fairly strong, at least 5 lb breaking strain, to guard against losses.

TO RODP

River Mersey, Stockport, Cheshire.

The return of barbel to the once heavily polluted River Mersey has been headline news recently, and Kenan Wood is among the anglers

who have had first-hand experience of the sport it now offers, with this fish on a bunch of maggots.

Venue latest: 0161 480 2511.

Anglers Where To Fish North East

NORTH EAST

MAIL

Alain Urruty Tel: 07808 367519 email: preston-a@sky.com Knowledgeable Yorkshireman who loves fishing all types of venues

Flex your mussels O

NE of the things that I’ve noticed over the past few weeks, talking to fishery owners, is how many people are catching fish on supermarket seafood baits.

Usually the story starts with the words: “It’s a bit of a secret, but…” and then I’m told of the great bags being landed on cockles, mussels and prawns.

I’ve never tried any of these

super baits, but I do recall a session where a couple of anglers were catching a fish a cast on mussels while I was struggling a couple of pegs away with pellets.

I don’t know why these baits are so good, or why the fish like them so much, but clearly they do, so it might be worth taking a pack with you on your next outing and giving them a go.

What’s being caught? Roach, dace, perch, bleak, small chub and skimmers in double-figure bags. A few bream showing to feeder anglers.

Tactics? Big stick float, Bolo’ or long whip to-hand with loosefed bronze maggots and hemp the best approach. Groundbait feeder with chopped worm and casters to target the bream.

River Swale

Where? Cundall Lodge Farm, Cundall, North Yorkshire, YO61 2RN. Day tickets £5, in the honesty box.

Tel: 01423 360203 or The Tackle Box on 01642 532034.

What’s being caught? Some good chub and barbel reported, as well as plenty of dace if targeted. Look for the pacier stretches.

Tactics? Bomb with halibut pellets or meat on the hook over a bed of hemp or pellets for the bigger fish. Stick float with maggots for the dace and small chublets.

CANALS New Junction Canal

■ The secret is out. Mussels – one of the supermarket seafood baits that seems to be doing the biz everywhere.

River Calder

RIVERS River Aire

Where? Beal, near Knottingley, West Yorkshire, DN14 0SL. Members only. Bradford No.1 AA membership £48.

Tel: 01274 571175.

What’s being caught? Roach, perch and skimmers with some good bream, if you can find them feeding. Mixed doublefigure bags on the cards, more if you track down the bream.

Tactics? Groundbait feeder with chopped worm and casters for the bream and skimmers, especially when there’s a bit of extra water and colour in the river. Big stick float, Bolo’ or pole with loosefed maggots best for mixed bags.

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24 JULY 2018

Where? Gravel Pits, Brighouse, West Yorkshire, HD6 2SP. Members only. Bradford No.1 AA membership £50.

Tel: 01274 571175.

What’s being caught? Some good catches of grayling and trout reported from the streamier sections of the river.

Tactics? Trotting with a stick float and maggots for the best action. Bomb or small maggot feeder also producing.

River Don

Where? Burcroft, Conisbrough, Doncaster, South Yorkshire, DN12 3EF. Day tickets £4.

Rotherham & District UAF membership £25.

Tel: 01709 583452.

Where? Top Lane Bridge, Braithwaite, Doncaster, South Yorkshire, DN75SX. Day tickets £4. Doncaster & District AA membership £25.

Tel: Stainforth Angling Centre on 01302 846623.

What’s being caught? Lots of skimmers, roach and perch feeding, as well as some bigger bream to 4 lb. Afternoons into evening for best sport.

Tactics? Groundbait feeder to the far bank with fishmeal groundbait, chopped worm and casters, and worm or red maggots on the hook, for the skimmers and bream. Pole with maggots or casters over groundbait for mixed bags.

Some good bags of roach reported on hemp and tares.

Stainforth and Keadby Canal

Where? Kirk Bramwith, near Doncaster, South Yorkshire, DN7 5SW. Day tickets £4.

Doncaster & District AA membership £25.

Tel: Stainforth Angling Centre on 01302 846623.

What’s being caught? Roach, perch, skimmers, hybrids and a few big chub. Good mixed bags coming to maggots, with better quality roach to hemp. Plenty of hybrids and skimmers reported

from the ‘Willows’ stretch.

Tactics? Pole with maggots and pinkies over groundbait for mixed bags. Groundbait feeder with a bit of chopped worm to the far bank for the skimmers and perch.

STILLWATERS Barnburgh Lakes

Where? Ludwell Hill, Barnburgh, Doncaster, South Yorkshire, DN5 7EE. Day tickets £6. Tel: 07714 765488.

What’s being caught? Plenty of F1s feeding, with match weights on the Bottom Pond topping 300 lb. The Top Pond is also producing excellent sport, with bags of over 200 lb reported.

Tactics? In the hot weather, shallow fishing with a pole, in open water and in the margins, has brought the best bags.

Maggots, casters and pellets all producing fish, with regular loosefeed essential to keep the fish coming.

Chapmans Well Fishery

Where? Burnhope Road, Maiden Law, Lanchester, Co. Durham, DH7 0RA. Day tickets £9 one rod; £10 two rods.

Tel: 07836 758987.

What’s being caught? Carp, tench, crucians, bream, F1s and roach feeding well. Good bags of tench averaging 3 lb reported, as well as doublefigure carp. A bite a chuck from silver fish, if targeted.

Tactics? Pole up in the water has been the most consistent method for all species. Pellets for the carp, and maggots with plenty of loosefeed for mixed bags, including plenty of roach.

Margins in the evenings for the carp and tench, with prawns or mussels catching plenty.

Fleets Dam

Where? Smithies Lane, Barnsley, South Yorkshire, S71 1NL (nearby). Day tickets £6.

Season £60; two rods £80.

Tel: 01226 292579.

What’s being caught? Plenty of carp to doubles being caught in the warm weather. Good bags of skimmers, roach and perch, if targeted. Recent match weights to 84 lb and pleasure bags higher.

Tactics? Pellet waggler, bomb or Method feeder all producing good bags of carp. Banded pellets with regularly loosefed 8 mm pellets best. Pole at

WALES

» Red-hot venues chosen by your local expert!

Wales

P TO D RO

Ron Cousins

Tel: 07831 242820 email: cousins.news@gmail.com Welsh maestro who has a terrific historical knowledge of fishing venues and their locations.

Is poaching catching on?

T

HE recent discovery of a net and its contents of fish in the River Wye is just the latest in a series of fish thefts, and follows the night lines set from the river bank.

The problem is also moving inland, as reports come in of fish thefts from both English and Welsh lakes and ponds along the lower Wye Valley.

Policing fisheries is difficult and could be dangerous for

Queen Mary’s Ponds, Ripon Parks, Ripon, North Yorkshire, HG4 3HS. This 6 lb 11 oz tench was the best of four caught by Mal Brittain on 10 m pole and paste at these two ponds, controlled by Bradford 11-13 m and soft pellets over cupped-in micro pellets also catching. Maggots or casters on pole for the silver fish.

Lindley Wood Reservoir

Where? B6451, near Otley, North Yorkshire, LS21 2RB. Members only. Mirfield AC membership £33. Tel: licence secretary on 07887 712823.

What’s being caught? Some good bags of hybrids, skimmers and roach reported, with pleasure bags of 30 lb-plus.

Tactics? Waggler, whip or long pole with plenty of loosefed maggots or casters for bite-a-chuck action. Groundbait feeder to try to get amongst the bream.

Ulley Reservoir

Where? Pleasley Road, Sheffield, South Yorkshire, S26 3XL. Day tickets £5.

Tel: 01709 850353.

What’s being caught? Some excellent bags of roach, skimmers and perch reported, as well as a few better bream.

Tactics? Long pole or whip with pinkies, maggots or casters over an initial balling in of groundbait for the best

No.1 AA, which have also produced double-figure bream, bringing a smile to many anglers’ faces.

Venue latest: 01274 881851.

Angler’s Mail

Support your local

FISHING CLUB BRADFORD NO. 1 ANGLING ASSOCIATION Bradford No.1 AA was founded in 1878 and is one of the largest, most well-established clubs in the North East region.

It controls about 43 miles of rivers, nine lakes and 14 miles of canals, offering a variety of fishing to suit all coarse anglers, including barbel to doubles, chub to 6 lb-plus, carp to 30 lb, bream to doubles and tench to 7 lb-plus. Rivers include the Aire, Calder, Derwent, Ouse, Nidd, Swale, Wharfe and Ure. Membership is £50; ladies, OAPs and 17-19s £30; under-17s £5. www.bradfordno1.com Tel: 01274 571175.

mixed bags. Set up a full-depth rig and a half-depth one, as the fish do come up in the water. Groundbait feeder with maggots, casters and chopped worm for the bream.

RIVER River Severn

Where? Newtown, Powys.

Free fishing. Info from Gwynfor James at Severn Angling, on Severn Street.

Tel: 01686 624044.

What’s being caught? Chub to 4 lb, grayling and dace.

Tactics? Low water and the release of cold dam water is making fishing patchy, but stick float or waggler with maggots is catching in the faster stretches.

CANAL Crumlin Arm of Monmouthshire Canal

Where? The Deeps near Risca, Gwent. Day tickets £3.

Pontymister AC membership £12, from nearby Pontymister Angling on 01633 615723.

What’s being caught? Bream, roach, chub, perch and tench, 12 lb winning the three-hour matches.

Tactics? Pole with bread punch over small pots of liquidised bread for the roach and bream, or maggots for the chub.

STILLWATERS Butetown Pond

Where? Close to the Heads of the Valley road at Rhymney, Mid Glamorgan, NP22 5XD. Day tickets £5, from Fochriw Post Office or on the bank. Rhymney AS membership £30 (includes more pond and river fishing).

anglers who try to protect their sport.

There was a time when fishery officers were spread across the country, and they certainly kept the lid on salmon poaching, but today Natural Resources Wales has nowhere near the manpower.

The worrying question is: will the fact that fish thieves are getting away with it encourage others to join them?

Tel: secretary Jesse Pugh on 01685 840122.

What’s being caught? Carp to over 20 lb, bream to 10 lb and good roach.

Tactics? Waggler and maggots ten yards out for the roach.

Groundbait feeder well out into the deep water with corn, worms or pellets for the bream, or carp on a variety of boilies.

Caerphilly Castle Lakes

Where? Castle Street, in centre of Caerphilly, Mid Glamorgan, CF83 1NY. Members only.

Caerphilly AA membership £40 (includes River Rhymney) from Tony’s Tackle, opposite the castle, on 02920 885409.

What’s being caught? Lots of 18-25 lb carp, with a 26 lb fish the best, and a few tench.

Tactics? Most anglers fishing for carp, and baiting heavily before fishing boilies, Scopex pop-ups taking a lot of fish.

Eisteddfa Fishery

Where? Eisteddfa Uchaf, Pentrefelin, Criccieth, Gwynedd, LL52 OPT. Day tickets: Carp Lake £10; day ticket Match Lake £7, from the café.

Tel: 07759 871327.

What’s being caught? More big fish transferred to the Carp Lake, where fish to mid-20s are being caught. Small carp and roach in the Match Lake, where Mike Downs had a winning 83 lb.

Tactics? Pole and pellets in the Match Lake. Corn or boilies over feed pellets for the carp.

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Anglers Where To Fish East MAIL

Tom Legge

Tel: 07801 627465 email: tomlegge@yahoo.com Cambridgeshire angling coach who is always fully informed with the latest fishery news.

Get well soon, Fraser A

FTER a touch-and-go month for Cambridgeshire fishery owner Fraser Gilbert, following a heart attack, I was delighted to hear that he is back home recovering after a successful operation at Papworth Hospital.

Fraser has always supported the youth angling work that I do alongside other coaches, often waiving day ticket fees

RIVERS Old Bedford River

Where? Welney, Norfolk, PE14 9RB (nearby pub). Day tickets ■ Quadruple World Champion Bob Nudd with a 23 lb 7 oz net of Bure roach, caught on single caster over groundbait during the recent Norfolk Three Rivers festival.

at his two-lake venue in Little Downham – including a school match that I ran last month while he lay in a hospital bed awaiting open heart surgery.

Get well soon, mate!

Trophies for that match were supplied and engraved by a long-running institution of the Cambridge angling scene, Cooper & Sons.

The shop, run by Sid Cooper £3. Welney AC membership available. Tel: Shaun Booth on 01354 638638.

What’s being caught? Tench to 4 lb, rudd, perch and roach

■ Fraser Gilbert, seen here with a carp, is recovering after open heart surgery. and his son, Tim, have decided to finish selling fishing tackle and bait, unable to compete with online rivals for our trade.

Happily for local sports

Where? Horning, Norfolk, NR12 8PF (nearby tackle shop). Day tickets £5. Norwich DAA membership available.

Tel: Tony Gibbons on 01603 400973.

What’s being caught? Bream to 4 lb, skimmers and lots of quality roach in the 3-10 oz bracket from the Horning town and nearby St. Benets Abbey stretches. Match nets to 40 lb were taken in a recent threeday festival. Predator anglers can tempt specimen perch alongside moored boats at first light.

Tactics? Groundbait feeder with worms and red maggots for the bream and skimmers.

Pole with casters or maggots over heavy groundbait feed, holding back with flat floats of 2-4 g, brings roach and skimmers. Hemp and tares also scoring.

24 JULY 2018

clubs, schools and businesses of all sorts, Cooper & Sons will remain open for trophy and engraving work – a sector that is apparently booming.

showing, with dawn or dusk sessions best in the heatwave.

Controlling club Welney AC have reduced day ticket and club membership prices, to reflect temporary loss of access to parts of the Old Bedford and the neighbouring River Delph during major bank maintenance work.

Tactics? Chopped lobworms, bread flake or sweetcorn on waggler or strong pole gear for the tench, close to lily beds. Whip with maggots and groundbait is the best tactic for mixed bags.

River Bure

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■ Tim Cooper – trophies still, but soon not tackle.

■ Despite blanking on the backwater stretch, Peterborough DAA member Simon Bailey was chuffed to see his brother-in-law bank this barbel on their first visit.

River Nene

Where? Castor to Orton, Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, PE2 7DZ. Day tickets £5. Peterborough DAA membership £30. Tel: Rob Harris on 07702 440892.

What’s being caught? Despite low levels, barbel remain viable targets on the backwater, and at Alwalton and Orton sluice sections. Bream to 4 lb, occasional tench with plenty of roach and perch feeding on slow flowing stretches between the weir pools.

Tactics? Legered pellets on long hook lengths for the barbel. Pole or float with maggots over groundbait for mixed bags. Hemp and tares for the quality roach.

» Red-hot venues chosen by your local expert!

North House Lake, Wyboston, Bedfordshire, MK44 3AL. part of a catch of 14 carp and Paul Tidmarsh topped a great three tench shared with his session at Luton AC’s North brother, Braidan.

House Lake with this boilieTel: 07549 142044. tempted 23 lb common carp,

STILLWATERS Halesworth Lakes

Where? Halesworth, Suffolk, IP19 8BT. Day tickets £8.

Tel: Steve Barnes on 01473 327366.

What’s being caught? Hectic sport with carp across all three lakes. Middle Lake holds the bigger fish, to 14 lb, with Match and Wisset lakes coughing up lots of fish in the 2-8 lb range.

Quality roach also showing.

Tactics? Floating bread, dog biscuits or big pellets on the surface working well. Feeder fishing also effective, with luncheon meat currently the best hook bait.

Priory Country Park

Where? Bedford, MK41 9DJ. Season tickets £43 for daytime fishing. Tel: 01234 272084 (local tackle shop).

Willowcroft Lakes

Where? Wisbech St. Mary, Cambridgeshire, PE13 4SD. Day tickets from £6 per rod, rising to £30 for three rods over 24 hours. Full tariff on fishery website. Camping/caravanning facilities and café on-site.

Tel: 01945 701625.

What’s being caught? Famed for its catfish, specimens to well over 40 lb are present in Six Islands, Café and Seadyke lakes. Tom White bagged up with 20 cats, including a small

Angler’s Mail

Support your local

FISHING CLUB

EAST

TO RO P D

What’s being caught? Carp to upper-30s are targets on the complex’s largest water, Priory Lake. Riverside Pond and Fingers Lake offer smaller carp, roach, rudd and occasional tench. The adjacent Great Ouse river offers chub, skimmers, roach, perch, pike and zander, with occasional barbel on the New Cut. Tactics? Legered boilies at long range for the big lake carp.

Float or pole with maggots, casters, corn and groundbait on the smaller ponds. Legered Robin Red pellets for the New Cut chub and barbel. Long pole and chopped worm and casters for the bream.

ROYSTON & DISTRICT ANGLING CLUB Royston & District AC is an open membership club based around the North Herts/ South Cambs border, with membership £25 adults; £15 OAPs, juniors and ladies. As well as an active club match programme on home and neighbouring waters, RDAC control Thriplow Pit, where there are carp to upper-20s, roach, rudd, tench, bream, specimen perch and ide. Day tickets are priced £7, in advance from JLK Tackle in Meldreth, or Thriplow Village Stores.

Tel: Mick Rivers on 01223 870189 or 07951 915744. albino, on a recent Café Lake session. Carp to 20 lb-plus also feeding.

Tactics? Legered halibut pellets, fishmeal boilies or luncheon meat for the cats and carp. Corn, casters and pellets for mixed bags on the smaller lakes.

Look good. Do great.

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CLASSIFIED

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The INFORMANT Our secret angler takes you into previously untold stories.

A sprinkling of salt I

T’S always nice to get away for a change of scene in the summer, and to take a rod and reel and few bits with you for the chance to wet a line.

When it’s warm, the British coastline takes on an almost magnetic attraction for people wanting to frolic in the water and benefit from the cool, onshore breeze to make them feel more comfortable.

I found myself getting a bit of salty air in my lungs recently, and watched a few anglers fishing from the harbour wall in the heat, but catching very little.

So I carried on up the coast until I saw one of those green tourist signs with a fishy symbol, which indicated that there was somewhere where I could have a dabble.

It was close to the sea wall, and although it was a coarse fishery, the owner told me that I might like to try his salt lagoon.

He had turned one of his fishing ponds into a sea fishing venue, by connecting it to the ocean by a large pipe, with a fine-mesh grill to stop fish escaping.

Then he had stocked it with every sea species that you can imagine, and when the tide came in and along the pipe it 2

1

gave his lagoon a top-up from the briny.

It seemed odd at first, tackling up a waggler rod to go sea fishing, but I was soon catching flounder and dabs, some lovely mini bass, pollack and whiting, along with mullet, mackerel, wrasse and garfish.

The only species he didn’t have was weever fish, not wanting the regular trips to A&E that stocking them would have caused.

I had expected him to sell lugworm and ragworm in his small tackle shop, but instead he had just pellets. “Everything that swims eats pellets,” he told me, a little unromantically, 4

3

mail

aCROSS

1. Float that’s not fixed 5. Buzzer 6. Alain, AM man 8. Old-fashioned line, and in fish 10. Flat pears, Grippas, Breakaways 12. City with Thames, near Linear 14. US-based anti-angling group 15. Shelled bait 16. North West river

7 7 9

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11 13

12 16

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DOWN

1. Large snout-headed species, Acipenseridae 2. Part of centrepin that you bat 3. Flat sea fish 4. Tiny weight units 7. On a lily 9. Welsh river 10. Artificial bait 11. Bread bait 13. Loose bait

Answers to last week’s puzzle:

ACROSS: 1. Split cane 6. Ouse 8. Lake 9. Bed 11. Alan 12. Yellow 15. Dorsal 16. Gut 18. Drag 19. Star 15

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lakes around our coastline.

When I came back from holiday and got back into my old routine, it soon felt as if what I had experienced had been just imagined.

It was like the famous story of the man who dreamt that he was walking alone on a beach, only to wake up and find himself in bed at home… but with sand in his shoes.

Getting my tackle together for a few hours at a local stillwater, I gave the reel handle a quick turn, and discovered that it had seized up with the effects of salt water.

as he tipped out a big helping from a sack intended for salmon farmers.

The flounder were perhaps the most entertaining of all, with their strange, flapping fight, going round in circles like crucian carp, and giving you that strange look as you unhooked them, that only a fish with both eyes on one side of its head can achieve.

It made me realise that the thrill of not knowing what you are going to catch next more than makes up for any lack of size, and I wondered why there weren’t more landlocked sea-

Anglers QUICK CROSSWORD

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Strange, flapping fight.

DOWN: 1. Sealey 2. Lark 3. Chub 4. Needles 5. Trundle 7. Sea 10. Cod 13. Edgar 14. Worms 17. Tug

Be sure to get Angler’s Mail next Tuesday

Anglers mail

Your BIG VALUE news & tips magazine is on sale JULY 31.

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