InFocus {River Severn}
IN
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IYCF Issue 217
Words and picture by Mick Rouse
Ice Breakers
Ace angling photographer is nothing if not dedicated!
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ust occasionally (very occasionally!) I wish I had a job where I could turn up at a nice warm office around 9am and go home at 5.30pm! But this miserable notion doesn’t last for long – even on days like this when I forced myself out of a lovely warm bed at 4.30am on a freezing morning to get to the River Severn, over two hours drive away, by 7 am. I was there to meet my old mate, and former zander record holder Ray Armstrong, and a couple of his mates for a boat fishing feature in search of pike. I couldn’t believe my eyes when I got to Worcester to find the river frozen from bank to bank. Surely we weren’t going to fish in this? But Ray assured me that he knew a couple of spots where we had a chance of a fish or two – but we would have to work for them. With Ray manning the engine and me sitting at the bow acting as an ice-breaker, I snapped Ray’s pals ahead of us forcing a route through the thickening ice. And, yes, we did get a feature and caught several pike into the bargain. But I was pleased to get home to central heating and a warm bed!
On sale February 25 – March 25, 2009 IYCF
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Wheretofish {Great British venues to try}
WHERE TOFISH
IYCF top tips
To prevent wasted journeys it’s always best to contact the venue to make sure you can fish
Spotlight on waters you can try this weekend Fishery Stats VITAL GEAR Carp gear, pole, feeder or waggler. Sweetcorn, meat and worm
“Old Pool is the best option for those visiting for the first time”
VENUE FACT FILE Day Tickets: £6 adults and £4 concessions (£4.00 and £4 after 2pm in summer). Second rod £2 extra. Bans: No trout pellets or trout pellet paste, groundbait, liquidised or floating baits. Maximum hook size 10. Keepnets are allowed. Facilities: Car parking. Several pegs on most pools are suitable for disabled anglers.
Attractive
Broadheath has matured into an attractive venue
SAT NAV: Lower Broadheath Fishery, Lower Broadheath, Worcester, Worcestershire WR2 6RQ
THE MIDLANDS
Lower Broadheath, Worcestershire Contact: 01905 429206, www.fisheries.co.uk/broadheath
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nown locally as The Jam Factory because it’s at the rear of a former jam making works, Lower Broadheath has six pools which offer a mix of pleasure and match angling in waters which hold carp to 35lb. In addition to the carp there are decent sized bream, tench, chub,
roach, perch, crucian carp, rudd and even some nice stillwater barbel. With a backdrop of trees, Old Pool is the original water at the venue which started life in 1975 as an irrigation lake for the nearby farm and has since matured into an attractive and productive fishery. Holding some of the venue’s
biggest carp, it is probably the best option for those visiting Lower Broadheath for the first time. Particularly popular with pleasure anglers, Old Pool is predominantly a carp and roach water which is shallower at both ends where there is about six or seven feet of water, falling to 12 feet in the centre.
Although sweetcorn, luncheon meat and worm are the most popular baits, many anglers who fish Old Pool are now having success with more exotic offerings including some of the new flavoured baits and meats. Maggots attract smaller nuisance fish but the disturbance can also bring in much larger specimens.
‘Want to find out all the latest fishery news’ Log onto www.gofishing.co.uk
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IYCF Issue 217
Big place
At 153 acres and 47ft deep there’s plenty of room at Killington
Fishery News
Fishery Stats VENUE FACT FILE Day tickets: £5. Available from Mr Fearnhead at Reservoir House, 015396 20326, next to Killington Lake just past the sailing club. Bans: No night fishing. All trout to be returned. No power boats. No littering. Facilities: Car parking.
New boy
Dean Jones is to develop the Kilworth complex
Stocking up at Kilworth
DIRECTIONS: The lake is next to Killington Services on the southbound M6 south of junction 37. Motel at services.
THE NORTH
Killington Lake, Cumbria
Big plans to develop leading Midlands venue
Tel: 01539 620326, www.kentangling.co.uk
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illington Lake can provide excellent sport from roach
and pike. In windy conditions the quivertip comes into its own and a one ounce groundbait or blockend feeder may be needed to fish at range.
As well as the points either side of the southern arm, the bank in front of the service area is popular with both roach and pike anglers. Standard static deadbait tactics with mackerel, sardine and smelt all produce pike but don’t ignore lure fishing on
this large water where roving tactics can help locate fish. As well as the stocked brown and rainbow trout, Killington is said to contain tench and bream but it is the roach, perch and pike that provide the bulk of the sport with roach bags to over 50lb.
Fishery Stats VENUE FACT FILE Day tickets: £5. Contact: Owner Mr D. Morgan, 01656 744498. Bans: Barbless hooks. Facilities: Car parking, disabled access.
Big pike
Pike are the main attraction but you can catch other coarse and sea species, too
SOUTH WALES
Port Talbot Docks, S. Wales
DIRECTIONS At Port Talbot railway station, cross the level crossing to the steelworks. At first roundabout take third exit and turn left at the next roundabout. Then go through the gates near Talbot Block into the car park and fishery.
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only allowed on a peninsula between two docks. There are a large number of sturdy pegs and walkways on the weed-free right bank and plenty of room on the shallower and weedy left. Some ships still use the docks and both sea and game fish enter when the lock gates are opened. Mullet,
two pleasure lakes with carp going between 5lb to 10lb and a good mixture of other species. A further two will be classed as match lakes, containing loads of silverfish and smaller carp, while the final pool will be used as a stocking pond for the immediate future. Other plans for the fishery include the digging of a seventh lake which looks set to become a day-ticket trout venue as well as the proposed building of a café and log cabins (provided planning permission is granted). Ticket prices will be set at £5 a day, £6 on the specimen lake, and £7 for fishing two rods on the specimen lake. For more details or club bookings contact Dean on 07969 837107.
Tingrith Fishery is changing
Tel: 01656 744498 he old docks at Port Talbot is topped up from the adjacent River Afan and still has a hot water outlet from the steelworks so the temperature remains slightly warmer than elsewhere, even during winter. Although there are 360 acres of water, fishing is
The prolific match and pleasure venue, Kilworth Sticks Fishery in Leicestershire, has changed owners with Dean Jones being appointed as the site’s new fisheries manager. His most immediate job is a large restocking program for all Kilworth Sticks’ six pools which will also include the classification of lakes so visiting anglers know the sizes of fish each water is likely to contain and can therefore choose appropriate tackle. Dean is further planning to create a specimen lake which will only hold carp of 15lb-plus. The lake currently holds a reasonable head of carp, with a few fish in excess of 30lb and quite a few specimen grass carp, too. Other pools will include
bass, flatties, trout, salmon and sea trout have all been taken by coarse anglers but pike are the main attraction. Specimens up to 27lb are reported and locals use huge baits and diving plugs. It’s also a popular match venue with roach and perch to 3lb, rudd to 2lb and bream beyond 6lb.
Bedfordshire’s popular Browning Tingrith Coarse Fishery is changing from a day-ticket venue to an exclusive, membersonly water. Day tickets will only be available until March 15 and these will only be on offer Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. After this time the venue will be open to members only. Initial membership costs will be £160 for concessions fishing Monday to Fridays
only, and £220 for seven-days-a-week access . Numbers will be limited to prevent the venue from becoming overcrowed. But Tingrith has assured us that membership will be open to all, with current season ticket holders and fishery regulars getting first refusal. It will be first come, first served. Contact Ann Freeman on 01525 714012 or see www. tingrithfishery. co.uk for details.
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On sale February 25 – March 25, 2009 IYCF
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