Preston winning pegs 2015 by Fishing UK

ISSU

S P I T & S C I T TAC

TOP TIPS FROM

DES SHIPP TOMMY PICKERING LEE KERRY SCORE WITH SILVER

SUMMER CARPING

MASTERING MEAT

ns.com io t a v o n in n o prest

OM FOR YOU FR

T E AM S N O I T A V O INN N O T S E R P E TH

POWER TO VICTORY! SOUTH WEST STAR ANDY POWER CONTINUES HIS WINNING WAYS THE ONBOX 360

THE INNOVATIVE ROTATING SEATBOX

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EXPERT ADVICE

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prestoninnovations.com 02

2015

ISSUE 4 | Winning Pegs

welcome to Winning Pegs 2015 from Preston Innovations The free magazine that brings you all the latest product news as well as hints, tips and advice from the very best anglers in the business

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Editor Scott Geens Contributing Editors Adam Firth, Adam Wakelin, Frankie Gianoncelli, Lee Kerry, Angelo De Pascalis Designer Helen Holloway UK Address Unit 1, Highbridge Court, Stafford Park 1, Telford, Shropshire TF3 3BD Tel 01952 290520 Fax 01952 291974 info@prestoninnovations.com European Distribution Centre Primo Distribution B.V., Kelvin Ring 27B-29, 2952 BG Alblasserdam, Netherlands Tel 0031 78 6999593 Fax 0031 78 6999594

All Preston Innovations products are covered by intellectual property rights. Specifications and prices are correct as of February 2015. All specifications are approximate and may vary or be modified.

n this edition we bring you a feeder fishing masterclass from angling legend Tommy Pickering as well as Andy Findlay’s top 10 cold weather carp tips, both aimed at putting more fish in your keepnet all year round. For the purists we have Des Shipp and Michael Buchwalder revealing their natural water secrets and Adam Wakelin looks back at what has been an amazing year, letting you in on some of his most guarded secrets which will no doubt increase your catch rate.

We also have a host of new products for you including the innovative OnBox 360 seatbox, the redesigned Monster luggage range and this years’ must have accessory range – OffBox Pro. Coupled with new Mini and Competition rods there really is something for everyone.

It has been another successful year for Preston Innovations anglers, most notably the England Feeder Team who took team gold in Ireland along with Individual Gold and Bronze. We have the full story of how the boys romped home along with our usual summary of success in England International Lee Kerry and rising our Hall of Fame. star Ed Warren unveil more commercial tactics whilst we have not one but two New features this year include Ask the head to head challenges this year for Angler where our stars solve the angling Andy Power, a ‘friendly’ affair against conundrums that you sent in via our Neil McKinnon and an altogether more Facebook page. All this and much, much serious challenge as he takes on Geoff more in the following 84 pages. So read Vallance in the Knockout Cup Final. on and enjoy!

t t o c S e ens G Scott Geens Preston Innovations Brand Manager

2015 Preston Innovations Limited

number 1 in match fishing

prestoninnovations.com 03

COVER SHOT: ANDY POWER AND HIS WINNING CATCH AT THE KNOCKOUT CUP 2015. PHOTO: ADAM FIRTH

TACTICS, TIPS AND TACKLE DIRECT TO YOU

Contents

features pg 06

SUNNY SUCCESS Tommy Pickering shows how you can win more matches and catch more fish this summer

pg 012

SCORE WITH SILVER Des Shipp reveals his secrets to catching a net of silvers on running water venues

pg 024

COLD CARPING Andy Findlay reveals his top 10 tips for catching winter carp

new products pg 010

pg 046

MEAT MASTER Lee Kerry shows how to catch more on meat

JOIN THE REVOLUTION OnBox 360, the innovative rotating seatbox

pg 016

GET CARRIED AWAY All new look Monster luggage

pg 036

pg 056

THE SECRET TO SUCCESS Adam Wakelin takes us through his winning year

OFFBOX LIKE A PRO The next generation of seatbox accessories

pg 072

pg 054

BEAT THE FREEZE

CAST AWAY

Ed Warren reveals his winter secrets to help you catch more carp this winter

Ergonomically designed rods for 2015

Sunshine Success | TOMMY PICKERING

SUCCESS

England Feeder Team manager, Tommy Pickering shows how you can win more matches, and catch more fish this summer!

2015

TOMMY PICKERING | Sunshine Success

PLAY THE BANJO

It’s safe to say that the fish can be very obliging in the summer months. The water is warmer, the fish are actively looking for food and are spread out around the lake. This can mean bumper bags of fish for anglers all around the lake. What I’m going to do is show how you can get an edge on the competition and catch more fish and win more matches. When targeting carp, the no.1 summer species on most commercial fisheries, I like to use two different styles of feeder fishing, depending on what features I have in front of me after I have drawn my peg. The first method is a straight bomb rig, primarily for fishing in open water. The second is a Banjo Feeder, my rig of choice for fishing against islands. Here are a few different reasons that I like to use these methods and why!

number 1 in match fishing

When I draw an island peg, the first feeder that I reach for is a Banjo Feeder. I’ve been using the Banjo more and more recently and every time I use it I gain more confidence. It allows me to keep all of the bait on the feeder when it hits the bottom. Sometimes the bait on a Method feeder can come off on impact, especially when using pellets. The sides of a Banjo feeder however will protect the bait until it reaches the lake bed. Presenting a perfect pile of pellets tight to an island. I use the same setup for the Banjo Feeder that I do with the bomb and pellet, but simply replace the Link Swivel with an Inline Banjo Feeder. The long hooklength is also swapped for a short 4” hooklength, tied using 0.17mm Reflo Power and a PR 36 hook. I soak a bag of 2mm Fin Perfect Feed Pellets in water for a couple of minutes and leave them to fully absorb the water. They will soon compact into the feeder and not come out on the cast! My hookbait of choice is a 6mm Fin Perfect Feed Pellet. I don’t need to soak my hookbaits, just use them straight from the bag! In summer, I won’t leave the feeder in the water for over three minutes. This allows me to build up the swim with bait even if I don’t catch a fish. Fish in summer will want to eat a lot of bait and the pellets that you put into the swim using your feeder will be what holds the fish when they arrive.

Place your hookbait into the Banjo Feeder

DROP THE BOMB

When fishing in open water and I’m looking to catch carp, I like to use the bomb and pellet. I’m the first to admit that this isn’t a very exciting tactic, but it is one that’s very effective on the right day. This is also one of the most simple ways of fishing that I can think of!

Pour in 2mm Fin Perfect Feed Pellets...

A LINK SWIVEL ALLOWS ME TO CHANGE THE LEAD SIZE

...until the feeder is full, as shown

Compact the pellets with your palm

You are now ready to catch a fish!

The rig is extremely easy to tie. A Link Swivel slides on my 6lb Power Max reel line. This is stopped by a Korum Quickchange Bead, to which I attach an 18” hooklength of 0.15mm Reflo Power. To the link swivel I will attach a bomb, the size of which will depend on how far I need to cast. I’ll always fish within range of my catapult and match my hookbait to the free offerings. A short rod such as the 10’ Mini Plus, or for more distance the 10’ 6” Mini Plus, are ideal for commercial fisheries. They have a very forgiving through-action to absorb the lunges of a hooked fish under the rod tip, essential when fishing with a bomb. The heavy bomb swinging around above the hooklength can sometimes work as a disadvantage, but by using a softer rod it will stop fish coming off. I tie my hooklengths at 18” using 0.15mm or 0.17mm depending on the size of the fish that I’m targeting, coupled with a PR 36 hook in either a size 16 or 18. It allow the pellets to slowly fall through the last bit of the water and can often be picked up before the pellet hits the lake bed. I will keep a steady stream of pellets going in over the top. For F1’s and smaller carp, or when fishing closer in I will use 6mm Fin Perfect Feed Pellets as both hookbaits and for feeding, but when fishing further out or when carp over 5lb are the target, I’ll opt for 8mm pellets. prestoninnovations.com 07

Sunshine Success | TOMMY PICKERING GET YOUR TACTICS RIGHT AND YOU COULD CATCH A NETFUL OF CARP LIKE THIS

REMEMBER TO KEEP CASTING AND FEEDING REGULARLY TO PULL THE FISH INTO YOUR SWIM tommy pickering

IN SUMMARY

Both of these methods are tried and trusted, used by a number of highly successful match anglers. By following this simple advice you will soon be putting more carp into your net! Remember to keep casting and feeding regularly to pull the fish into your swim. Commercial carp will associate the noise with food, this could just be the difference between a match win or becoming just another name on the weigh sheet!

WITH THANKS TO IMPROVE YOUR COARSE FISHING FOR THE USE OF THIS ARTICLE 08

2015

TOMMY PICKERING | Sunshine Success

SUIT UP In the summer, Tommy dresses in layers underneath his DF20 Bib & Brace so he is comfortable if the temperature rises.

PLAY THE BANJO Loaded with the hookbait in the middle, the Inline Banjo Feeder forces the pellets to erupt out, providing the perfect presentation every time. Also available in elasticated. Six variants of each available.

t h g i l t o Sp

BIT ON THE SIDE Tommy keeps his bait and accessories close to hand on his OffBox Pro Monster Side Tray. The lightweight, two-piece aluminium construction makes it easy to transport and with the two supporting legs fitted, creates an ultra-stable set up.

ALL THE GEAR TOMMY USES TO BAG A NET OF SUMMER CARP

HOOK ‘EM Tommy uses either size 16 or 18 PR 36 hooks. This barbless eyed hook with out-turned eye is ideal for match carp.

REEL QUALITY Developed to provide precision engineering and enhanced performance, Tommy’s reel of choice is the PC-R Competition 3000. The push button, quick release aluminium spool delivers the top quality front drag system and features an over-sized line clip for supreme confidence on the cast.

LINE UP Tommy’s hooklengths are normally made up using Reflo Power.

BAIT GUIDE

PELLET PERFECTION

MATCH MADE IN HEAVEN

Tommy uses both 2mm and 6mm Fin Perfect Feed Pellets.

Tommy’s groundbait of choice is Match Method Mix, which uses the highest quality of pellets and fishmeal available.

Join the Revolution | ONBOX 360

The revolutionary new hybrid seatbox. The OnBox 360. A new fishing station featuring a fully 360 degree rotating seat with cushioned backrest, a wide footprint, extending leg system, and an integral EVA side tray as standard. The 360 will allow you to fish from the comfort of a chair whilst maintaining all the functionality of a conventional seatbox. You can still use all the usual OffBox accessories and store tackle items. The innovative concept was initially created with feeder anglers in mind, but extensive testing over the past few months has shown it also appeals to pole anglers, as you can fish out in front or rotate the seat to fish down the edge with ease.

JOIN THE

Revolution

Ergonomically-designed, the back rest folds down when not in use, plus it is shaped to allow easy casting as well as the shipping back of pole sections. Underneath the seat there is a storage compartment for your tackle. The OnBox 360 is fully compatible with all OnBox and Space Station add-on units, so you can tailor the box to suit your favourite style of fishing.

The integral EVA side tray is fully zipped and will accommodate three five-pint bait boxes or tackle accessory boxes. When not in use it fits securely underneath the leg system on two attachment points, which can also be used on the bank for keepnet connectors and accessory arms. Supplied with a padded carry strap for easy transport from boot to swim.

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2015

ONBOX 360 | Join the Revolution

FEATURES: ■ INTEGRAL EVA SIDE TRAY - Twin knuckled EVA side tray that stows away under the frame for easy transportation (will accommodate 3x large 5pt bait tubs) ■ 4 TELESCOPIC LEGS - Perfect for optimum positioning on uneven ground ■ FOLDING PADDED SEAT Comfortable, fully rotating and cushioned seat with a retaining strap for storage ■ STORAGE COMPARTMENT Under seat storage compartment that is fully OnBox compatible, with the facility to add more trays if required ■ O F F B OX A C C E S S O R Y POINTS - Two location points for attaching OffBox accessories (use for storing EVA Side Tray whilst in transit) ■ SHOULDER STRAP - Complete with adjustable padded shoulder strap and carry handle

number 1 in match fishing

prestoninnovations.com 011

Score with Silver | DES SHIPP

Score with 2015

CATCH

I N AC ON

012

S DE

England International, Des Shipp reveals his secrets to catching a net full of silvers on running water venues.

W! OUT NO

DES SHIPP | Score with Silver

L o t s o f an g l e r s shy away from fishing on rivers because they think it can be complicated and difficult, add this to a possible long walk to your peg and you can see why commercial fisheries are so popular. The reality is that rivers can provide incredible sport and you don’t have to pick the peg furthest away from the car park for good sport. The fishing is very simple and by reading this bit of advice, you too could end up with a netful of silver fish.

GETTING RIGGY

PERFECT PLUMBING

Once you’ve set up your pole and your box, the most important part is to plumb up correctly. Along with every other type of fishing you do, this could be the difference between a bumper day or struggling for bites. Use the heaviest plummet that you can find, this will help you to read the bottom easier than with a smaller plummet. You will also be fighting the flow of the water. Spend time plumbing around the swim, look for obstructions on the bottom or changes in depth. You will be running your rig downstream and if the river shallows up your hookbait can catch on the bottom, decreasing the efficiency of your rig.

0.12MM PRECISION POWER

I’m fishing on a fairly deep river with slow flow today. I’ve opted for a 1.5g PT Series 7 float, this has a round body, allowing me to hold the float back slightly if I need to. It also has a wire stem to keep the float stable in the water. The main rig line is 0.12mm Precision Power down to a 1.25g Olivette, held in place using 5 No.9 Super Soft Shot, two above, three below. Below this are two equally spaced No.10 dropper shot, and a 6 inch hooklength of 0.10mm Precision Power. The hook is a size 16 PR 322 a pattern that gives me more confidence every time I use it! The olivette helps to get the rig down in the water. This avoids the attentions of small bleak and gets the hookbait down in the water where the bigger roach will be. The dropper shot allow the hookbait to fall the last 18 inches naturally.

DES’ MAIN LINE RIG

2x NO.9 SUPER SOFT SHOT SIMPLE TACKLE CHOICES WILL BOOST YOUR CONFIDENCE

A FINE BRISTOL AVON BAR OF SILVER

1.25g OLIVETTE 3x NO.9 SUPER SOFT SHOT

number 1 in match fishing

prestoninnovations.com 013

Score with Silver | DES SHIPP

Empty a bag of Sonubaits Supercrumb River into your bucket

Then add a bag of Sonubaits Supercrumb Lake and Supercrumb Black

BAITING UP

My bait tray is extremely simple. I’ve brought a couple of pints of maggots, a couple of tins of Sonubaits Natural Hemp and a pint of casters. My groundbait is 1 bag of Sonubaits Supercrumb Black, 1 bag of Supercrumb Lake and 1 bag of Supercrumb River This is more than enough to see me through the day. I’ll start by introducing 10 balls of groundbait laced with casters and some hemp. This will create a nice carpet of feed in the swim. It’s important to ball in your groundbait just downstream of where you are fishing. The roach like to sit just above the feed and can often be caught upstream of your main groundbait. A single red maggot hookbait is my starting choice. These roach love maggots! After placing the rig in I’ll feed some hemp and maggots via a catapult then slowly inch my rig through the swim. It can sometimes pay to ring the changes with hookbaits. I’ve got the option to use some Hemp, casters or even double maggot hookbaits.

LET’S GO FISHING

Slowly add water while mixing thoroughly

Add your loose feed to the groundbait and mix thoroughly

CASTERS & HEMP LACED BAIT

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2015

A LOVELY NET OF ROACH FROM AN UNDERFISHED VENUE

Today I’m on the Bristol Avon at Saltford. It’s a fairly deep stretch of river, but has a good head of silvers. I’ve only been fishing for a couple of hours, but already had a good number of fish. I’ve been using a mixture of single and double maggot hookbaits to get bites. I’m only gently holding the float back in the flow, just enough to stop the hookbait snarling up on the bottom. By starting fishing upstream of my bait, I can often catch a fish before I even reach the spot where I ball in my bait! If I start catching tiny roach, it can often pay to stick on a caster hookbait to pick out a bigger fish. This may just be the change that could win you the match. I’ve caught over 10lb of roach today and lost a few to a rogue pike, but by visiting a venue that is extremely under-fished, I’ve enjoyed a fantastic day’s fishing. Get out and give it a go and you too could end up with a net of silver’s like this.

DES SHIPP | Score with Silver

GETTIN’ RIGGY WITH IT Des uses a 1.50g PT Series 7 float which is perfect for use on still or slow moving waters. He attaches these to 18 or 22cm Double Slider Winders.

SLIP SLIP HOORAY

DON’T GET IN A SPIN Des hits the target everytime using the new Pelletpults. Featuring PTFE anti-twist technology, the flat bottomed pouch ensures the pellets are tightly grouped when feeding. Available in small and large.

t h g i l t o Sp

THE ESSENTIALS DES USES TO CATCH A NETFUL OF SPARKLING SILVERS ON RUNNING WATER

Des uses Size 5 Slip Elastic, pre-treated with Preston Slip Lubricant to give outstanding abrasion resistance. Available in 10 sizes.

HOOK THE COMPETITION Des’s rig uses a size 16 PR 322 Competition Match hook. The wide gape hook features a micro barb, crystal bend and an in-turned point on fine wire. Available in sizes 12-22.

ABSOLUTE CLASSIC With its adaptable modular storage solution and ultra stable low legs, Des never goes fishing without his trusted Absolute Station.

POLE PERFECTION Des uses the GiS Absolute XS. A true all round pole, particularly responsive when river fishing and strong enough to cope with big floats.

BAIT GUIDE

SUPERCRUMB GROUNDBAITS Four new groundbaits from Sonubaits, specifically for the resurgence of silverfish fishing. Mix them straight from the bag or with others in the range to tailor a specific groundbait for your needs. Available in Black, Bream, Lake & River.

prestoninnovations.com

#Tackle & Accessory Bag This innovative lay-flat design carryall has two fold out compartments at the top which will accommodate pole supports and other OffBox attachments. The large base compartment will accommodate bait or larger tackle items and provides enough storage space for even the most serious angler. The Strap Retainer also allows you to stow away the padded shoulder strap when not in use to avoid the mud and rain. W:57 H:40 D:33cm

THE

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INNOVATIVE NEW FEATURES RE-DESIGNED TO MEET THE DEMANDING REQUIREMENTS OF MODERN MATCH FISHING.

READY REEL CASE PROTECT YOUR REEL ON THE ROD

Innovative features, new additions and stylish new colour scheme make this the essential range for all anglers

#Roller and Roost Bag Will accommodate two large V Rollers or two Flat Rollers as well as all of your pole roosts, tripods and spare seatbox legs. Perfect for storing all of those large, extra long accessories that you canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t fit into a standard carryall. The additional large front pocket is ideal for housing long hooklength boxes and other accessories. W:84 H:13 D:25cm

Check out the full range now at prestoninnovations.com

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MONSTER LUGGAGE | Get Carried Away

away CARRIED THE ALL NEW LOOK MONSTER LUGGAGE

#2+2 Rod Holdall

#Ready Reel Case

#Tip Tube

All the benefits of a Hardcase reel case without having to remove the reel from the rod. The clamp style fit allows it to be located around the rod butt, giving maximum protection and the clever line locator prevents damage to your line whilst in transit.

The Hardcase Tip Tube provides great protection for spare quiver tips. The full length zip gives total access allowing easy selection of tips and prevents delicate guides being damaged when being placed into the tube. Will easily accommodate 20+ tips.

A new luggage concept which effectively doubles the storage capacity of each rod holdall with the inclusion of clever internal rod locators and separators. Now you can stack four rods safely and securely without dramatically increasing the overall size. Complete with an external pocket for landing net handles and feeder rests. Available in 160cm or 180cm.

W:15 H:15 D:9cm

W:6 H:76 D:5.5cm

W:22 H:163 or 190 D:15cm

MONSTER HIGHLIGHTS number 1 in match fishing

prestoninnovations.com 017

Going for Gold | ANDY POWER & NEIL McKINNON

ANDY POWER

NEIL McKINNON

GOING FOR GOLD TWO TOP MATCH ANGLERS. ONE SINGLE SPECIES CHALLENGE. WHO WILL PICK THE RIGHT TACTICS TO COME OUT ON TOP? Two of the UK’s best match anglers in a head to head battle. We thought we’d put the challenge to Andy Power and Neil McKinnon. Between them they have won a huge number of matches and big-money finals. To make the challenge more interesting we’ve doctored the rules; only one species counts – the crucian carp. The relatively small, incredibly hard fighting bar of gold is a firm favourite of many anglers around the country so what better species to target. However high the ability of these two anglers they’ve got to stand a reasonable chance of catching some crucians, that’s why we’ve chosen a lake holding a good stock of these little bars of gold. 018

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ANDY POWER & NEIL McKINNON | Going for Gold

9.00

We’ve put two pegs, 15 and 16, into the drawbag and asked each angler to pick their peg. Neil is first up drawing Peg 16. “That’s a good peg, the short platform puts me a little further out into the water making fishing in close a very easy task. I’m looking forward to targeting some of the crucians in the lake. They’re a shy biting species and can be finicky feeders at the best of times but I’ll give it my best shot,” smiles Neil as he loads the rest of his tackle onto his barrow. This leaves Andy with Peg 15, covering a large amount of open water and clear margins. Both anglers proceed to their pegs and start setting up their tackle for the day.

10.15

Both anglers have chosen to target a number of different lines to give them the best chance of keeping the fish coming all day. Andy looks incredibly well prepared before the challenge starts at 10.30. “I like to set up a number of rigs. Five hours of fishing can take a toll on your rigs and if I catch a lot of fish they might get damaged. With tough competition, I set up duplicates of my rigs in case of any breakages,” explains Andy as he plumbs up his 11m swim.

10.30

The ‘all-in’ is called and the bait is introduced into the swim. Neil has chosen to prime his swims with groundbait laced with corn. “I’ve mixed up a bag of Sonubaits Match Method Mix. This groundbait contains a high fishmeal content and is a light brown colour. The fine particles shouldn’t

fill up the fish too much, but the smell and flavour will hopefully hold them in the swim. The corn is very visual and easy for the fish to see. I’ll start by putting in 20 grains of Sonubaits Natural Corn along with two small balls of groundbait into each swim.” Andy has a different selection of bait on his side tray. Along with 2mm, pellets the Somerset rod also has dead maggots, Sonubaits F1 Corn and a bag of worms.

11.00

Neil has managed to slip the net under four crucians, all on single grains of corn as hookbaits. His 0.4g float is dotted down to a pimple. Neil explains that crucian carp can be very finicky biting fish and by dotting the float down so that only a tiny amount is sticking out of the water you will see a lot more indications. “I use a big plummet to make sure that I’m 100% certain on my depth. By plumbing up so that only the float’s bristle is showing, I know that I will be fishing just on the bottom. I’ve also used the plummet to find out what the bottom is like. Crucians love to feed on the harder gravel spots and this also makes presenting your bait much easier. On soft slit patches when the fish are feeding on groundbait on the bottom they can make a lot of disturbance. It creates a big cloud of slit and hinders the fish finding your hookbait. On the hard gravel the fish find it easier to find the bigger bits of feed,” explains Neil as he drops his rig into the water. “I’m using a PB Inter 2 Float in 0.4g. When dotted down, this float is ideal for this sort of fishing. I’m using 0.11mm Reflo Power for my hooklengths, as I like to make the bait look as natural as possible. With small hooks and light line I’m using a soft No10 Dura Hollo elastic, perfect for these crucians.”

TOP (L-R) 9.00 ANDY GETS READY 10.15 SENSITIVE RIGS WOULD BE NEEDED CENTRE 10.30 CORN AND GROUNDBAIT WERE NEIL’S CHOSEN BAITS BOTTOM RIGHT 11.00 A LOVELY CRUCIAN CARP FOR NEIL

number 1 in match fishing

prestoninnovations.com 019

Going for Gold | ANDY POWER & NEIL McKINNON

(L-R) 12.15 SMALL AMOUNTS OF BAIT WERE FED REGULARLY 13.30 A SOFT CAD POT ENSURED PINPOINT ACCURACY; RESULTING IN ANOTHER CRUCIAN IN THE NET

12.15

Andy thinks he has around 8 fish; putting him just behind Neil who is admitting to 10, but it’s still early days and all could change. “I’m only just behind, but I’ve got a trick up my sleeve that I think could make all the difference. I’ve noticed that Neil is throwing his loose feed in by hand, so I’ve attached a small Preston Soft CAD Pot to my tip to introduce my feed incredibly accurately. These soft, flexible pots will fit on all of my top kits too! Into the pot I’m placing a small ball of dampened pellets and a couple of grains of corn. This should be enough to hold the fish in the swim,’ states Andy.

12.45

Andy had caught up to Neil’s 10 fish and the match is now neck-and-neck. Neil tops up each of his swims with a ball of groundbait the size of a golf ball. Introducing another ball of groundbait when the swim might be starting to die off can kick-start new fish into feeding and keep his catch rate up.

Meanwhile, Andy is plugging away feeding small balls of pellets via the pole cup. A switch to a small worm section sees him slip the net under a string of small tench that unfortunately won’t count today. He quickly changes to a short line and immediately latches into another crucian, putting him one fish ahead of Neil.

14.00

Within half an hour, Neil has had eight more crucian carp from his short line, all caught using sweetcorn hookbaits. Andy has only had four fish to take his tally to fifteen crucians. “I don’t like to use heavy rigs for crucians. These shy biting fish can be extremely rig shy. I’ve tied my rigs using 0.13mm Reflo Power, down to a hooklength of 0.10mm Precision Power. The hook is a size 18 PR 478. I’m also using a light PB Inter 1 float to show up the delicate bites,” explains Andy as he hooks The weather is not helping the fishing, with into another fish. bright sunshine beaming down onto the lake both anglers are having to work hard for bites. Neil has been feeding a very short line, only a top kit’s distance out in front of his keepnet since the start With only half an hour left of the match Andy looks of the match. to be making a charge, a switch to his third swim “It’s really hard gravel at only a top kit’s length out that he has been resting all day produces a string of in front of me. The crucians love feeding on this bigger crucian carp that could just put him ahead of harder spot. I’ve been keeping this swim as quiet Neil. There are fish being caught regularly by both as possible, it can often be a banker that lots of anglers, both now loose feeding grains of corn to people ignore,” smiles a confident Neil as he lowers make some noise and trying to draw more fish into his corn hookbait just past his keepnet. their swims.

13.30

15.00

I’M USING A LIGHT PB INTER FLOAT TO SHOW UP THE DELICATE BITES andy power

(L-R) 12.15 NEIL FISHES CLOSE IN TO GET MORE BITES 14.00 A SENSITIVE PB INTER 1 IS USED BY ANDY 15.00 ANDY SLIPS THE NET UNDER ANOTHER CRUCIAN

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2015

IT’S A DRAW!

THE END RESULT

Both Neil and Andy are admitting to around 30lb in their nets, it’s going to be close. By feeding groundbait Neil has managed to steadily catch throughout, while Andy’s pellet approach has seen number 1 in match fishing

waves of fish, hit the net. Both anglers weigh in with 32lb of crucian carp, it’s a tie! “What a day’s fishing! I’ve put back over 40lb of other species today, along with this cracking net of little gold crucians. I’ve really enjoyed fishing

head to head with Andy, it just shows how two different methods can end up with the same result! Get out and target some crucians, but don’t forget to dot your float down and strike at the smallest of dips,” smiles Neil as he shakes Andy’s hand. prestoninnovations.com 021

On Your Box | SPACE STATION & ONBOX

ON YOUR A SEATBOX FOR EVERYONE #NEW Space Station Compact XS Sporting a contemporary graphite finish, the new Space Station Compact XS incorporates a redesigned pole seat for positive pole location, ultra-stable leg blocks and non-marking anodised legs, two of which feature threaded end caps for locating rod rests and other accessories. Providing total compatibility with existing add on units it comes complete with fixed winder tray, deep side drawer and removable deep storage tray and offers a positive solution for the space conscious angler.

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2015

The Series 5 OnBox range is brand new for 2015 and really is the fifth generation of the ever popular seatbox. It has evolved over many years and the current incarnation has all the features you would expect from a premium seatbox including a new ultra stable leg block which reduces movement whilst actually seated making pole fishing in particular a more comfortable experience.

It has non-marking anodised legs which prolong the aesthetics of the box ensuring it will still look good on the bank in years to come. Tw o o f t h e l e g s h a v e threaded end caps which will accommodate a range of threaded accessories such as pole socks and butt caps which just add to its versatility. Also, a re-designed pole seat with a soft

rubberised pole hook will protect your prized piece of carbon whilst leaving your hands free. We have utilised the ‘Absolute’ mud foot profile for increased per formance in adverse conditions and now each box is supplied with a comprehensive accessory pack which effectively makes each box ‘ready to fish’ as soon as you leave the shop!

3D Features + 1x Deep Side Drawer + 1x Deep Winder Drawer + 1x Double Winder Tray

SPACE STATION & ONBOX | On Your Box

Contains + 2x OffBox Pro Snap-Lok Short Keepnet Arms + 1x Large OffBox Pro Side Tray + 2x Double Slider Winder Trays + 1x Seatbox Cover + Leg Levellers

£75 ACCESSORY PACK €100 /INCLUDED WITH EVERY BOX

The fifth generation of OnBox not only looks super stylish but also offers carefully re-configured drawer layouts to optimise the available space, maintaining the popular deep base module for the storage

conscious angler. For good measure and to satisfy the requirements of the angler that prefers a station style seatbox, we have rolled out all of these features on the brand new Space Station Compact.

THERE IS NOW A SEATBOX FOR EVERYONE THE RANGE.

4D Features + 1x Deep Side Drawer + 1x Deep Winder Drawer + 2x Deep Front Drawers

number 1 in match fishing

#NEW OnBox Series Five With new ultra stable leg block, non-marking anodised legs (two of which have threaded end caps) and re-designed pole seat, the fifth generation of OnBox not only looks super stylish but also offers ultimate performance. Now complete with leg levellers to enable correct positioning every time and re-configured drawer layout to optimise the available space. Features + Contemporary new look + Articulated, extra wide mud feet + Built-in soft touch, rubberised pole hook + Anodised leg with threaded insert 5D Features + 1x Deep Side Drawer + 1x Deep Winder Drawer + 1x Shallow Winder Drawer + 2x Deep Front Drawers

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Carping in the Cold | ANDY FINDLAY

CARPING IN THE C LD FEEDER FISHING ACE, ANDY FINDLAY, REVEALS HIS TOP 10 TIPS FOR CATCHING CARP IN WINTER

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ANDY FINDLAY | Carping in the Cold

PICK THE RIGHT FEEDER

LOOK FOR FEATURES

In winter, the smallest of features in a lake can hold fish. With cold water temperatures, the fish are going to congregate where they feel most comfortable. Look for features such as islands which offer the fish cover, or water inlets which sometimes pump in slightly warmer water.

number 1 in match fishing

Your choice of feeder can be essential in winter. Too little bait and you may not get a bite, use a big feeder and the fish may back off because they don’t want to eat. I carry a choice of feeders with me to cover myself for any eventuality. If the lake is not on form or there has been ice on the water, I can leave the bigger method feeders and pellet feeders in my van. As a rule, the fish won’t want much bait. I start with a Micro Pellet Feeder and feel my way in. If I start catching fish I may increase the feeder size, but if i’m struggling to get a bite, I can switch to a bomb, giving me the option to fish with a single hookbait or the Pellet Cone if I need to introduce a small amount of bait.

PELLET PERFECTION

When the sun is up and the temperature rises by a couple of degrees the fish are more active. I like to use an S-Pellet hookbait in mild winter weather. S-Pellets are packed full of oils that leak out easily into the water and attract the fish. I can use them on their own, or even with a Pellet Cone or Pellet Feeder. They can be kept for long periods of time in your bag, so should the opportunity arise you can quickly grab them and put one on! prestoninnovations.com 025

Carping in the Cold | ANDY FINDLAY

KEEP YOUR ROD LOW

While waiting for a bite, your rod tip should be just above the surface of the water, this will stop any interference on the line from wind causing you to strike at false indications! By fishing with the line slack, you will also be able to see a bite develop as the line pulls through the water before the tip pulls round! These few seconds of increased awareness could be the difference between connecting with a fish, or thin air! Once hooked, by keeping the rod low and playing the fish carefully you will be able to get away with using finer wire hooks and lighter lines. I only lift my rod when I know the fish is under the rod tip.

PICK THE RIGHT ROD

You’re not going to cast a big feeder with a tiny picker rod designed for roach fishing. Likewise, a poker-stiff rod won’t show up line bites or delicate pulls from winter fish. Tailor your rod choice to the situation you are faced with. I’m using a 12’ Competition Pro Medium Feeder with the lightest tip for winter fishing. This rod has the backbone to cast a pellet cone and large bomb a long way, but is soft enough to show up even the smallest of taps on the rod tip.

SINK YOUR LINE

Keeping your line sunk is more important during winter. Most of the time you have to wait for bites, sometimes up to 20 minutes before re-casting. Having your line running through the water can also reveal where the fish are. If you start to get line bites, try dropping your rig shorter. If the liners stop you’ve probably come too short! If you aren’t getting line bites, try casting around your swim. Leaving the rod in the water for up to 20 minutes will give you the best chance of a bite from these lethargic winter carp.

RAPID BY NAME...

For tougher baits, such as F1 Corn or S-Pellets, I will use a Rapid Stop. These will push through the bait and hold it in position. For soft baits, such as Super Expander Pellets, I use the Rapid In-Stop. All you need to do is put the Rapid Stop Needle into the base of the In-Stop and push this into the bait, this will then grip the pellet due to its design! It’s simple things like this that can increase efficiency in your fishing and help you catch more fish.

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LESS IS MORE!

In winter, less feed in the swim really can bring more bites. Overfeeding a swim can really put fish off in the cold, you might not even get a bite before the fish back off into less pressured water. The Micro Pellet Feeder is perfect for starting with, it can be loaded with just enough pellets to add a small mouthful of food to the swim. 2mm pellets are the best size to use with these feeders to allow your hookbait to sit inside the feeder.

GO FOR DISTANCE

In the winter, fish move and feed less and the water tends to clear up. This can push the fish out of the margins and away from the disturbance on the bankside into the open water or around islands in the middle of the lake. For this reason, my starting point is virtually the longest range that I can cast. I said virtually because I always start slightly short of this point. Should the fish back off, I can then follow them and hopefully catch one or two more fish!

TRY UP IN THE WATER!

The top layers of the water will warm up faster in the sun and will be where the fish spend most of their time in winter. As a general rule, on bright, high pressure days I like to start around 1218” underneath the surface of the water. But don’t be afraid to experiment with different depths until you get a bite. My hookbait is two 8mm Oily Floaters. These buoyant baits will easily hold up a size 16 PR 36 hook. I like to set my tip tight down to the lead, even if this means that my tip has a large curve in it. As soon as the fish picks up my hookbait the tip will spring back. Quickly, but with control, pick the rod up and wind down until you feel the weight of the hooked fish. Striking hard can often pull the bait out of the fishes mouth.

SAVE TIME!

AVAILABLE IN THE RANGE • STOPS • IN-STOPS • BAIT DRILL • • STOP NEEDLE • PULLER NEEDLE • HAIR STOP LOOP TYER • • SUPER FINE GATED NEEDLE • SUPER FINE BAITING NEEDLE •

Fame

Hall of Fame | MAHON’S HOTEL FESTIVAL

Hall of

TOMMY PICKERING

Mahon’s Hotel Festival AFTER 3 DAYS

the 4lb mark. My third cast I had another hybrid. I then put a worm on the hook, tipped with a couple of maggots and caught bream after bream. All I was thinking every time I landed one was that it was another place up the leader board! At the end I had 58 bream and 6 hybrids. It was one of those matches that don’t happen very often, everything went according to plan! The scales man said that five previous bream had weighed in between 8-9kilos, so I was working it out in my head and thinking that I must have over 100 kilos. Sure enough, my 64 fish weighed in at 109 kilos, I was speechless! That totted my weight up to 127 kilos in total and I took the lead in the festival after 4 days. Later, I bumped into some anglers who congratulated me on breaking the record, I was puzzled... It turns out, I’d only gone and broken the River Erne record as well, which was previously I found a nice spot in the swim that was a 105 kilos! comfortable chuck where I could be accurate and close enough to do a big weight if the opportunity was there, this was about 30m in distance. My feeder choice was simple, the bigger the better. On the final day, I had a steady match at Belco I wanted to get as much bait in as possible to weighing in 6 kilos, giving my five day final total maximise my chances of a big weight and if they did weight of 133 kilos, which was enough for victory turn up I wanted to keep them, so I used Sonubaits over the nearest rival, Afe Edgley who was 2nd Supercrumb Bream. with a weigh of 99 kilos and Bob Nudd who was The match started and I emptied the feeder 6 3rd with 87 kilos. times into the swim with plenty of casters, corn Like I said at the start, these weight festivals are and a few worms. On my first cast, as always, the excellent and you are never out of the race. It was hook was loaded with 4 red maggots. Just after a case of right man, right peg and right situation, setting the tip, amazingly the rod pulled round, I add all three factors up and this is the result you picked up and missed it! On the second cast I had get. One of the best angling days of my life and a bite straight away and hooked a big hybrid around definitely one I’ll never forget!” After the first 3 days and only 18 kilos on the score board, I was lying in 64th out of 80 and I needed a miracle! I went in the draw bag and pulled out peg 1 on Sligo Road which is down from the town bridge opposite the castle. It’s a great peg and some good roach weights between 10-25 kilos had been coming off it during the week. This would be great if I was in contention and needed what I call a ‘topping up weight’, but I needed more. The pegs opposite me on Broad Meadow had been throwing up some weights of bream and with this in mind I made the decision, that’s what I was going to do. I set up a pair of 12’8” Dutch Master Method rods with PC-R Competition 5000 reels loaded with 6lb Power Max reel line. My hooklength was 100cm of 0.17 Precision Power to a size 12 PR 355 hook.

CHANGING FORTUNES

This Irish festival is held in and around Enniskillen and has been running for years. This is a five day festival and like most Irish fishing festivals, the winner is decided on overall weight and the Mohan’s is five days fishing with all weights counting. “Some anglers disagree with weight festivals but over in Ireland just one or two days can make or break your week. It also keeps the interest in anglers who aren’t doing so well because one ‘bung-hole’ draw can catapult you up the leader board, as I found out on this match of a lifetime! 028

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THE FINAL DAY

SUBHEAD | Title

EMMA PICKERING

Fish ‘O’ Mania The most prestigious event in the ladiesonly fishing calendar, Fish ‘O’ Mania is an invitation only event for the top 6 anglers in the Ladies National Championships. Emma Pickering tells us her story from last year’s championships. “After winning the 2013 National, I was invited to take part in the Fish ‘O’ Mania event, which if I won again would make me the first person to ever win it three times. The pegs are drawn randomly before the day, my peg was peg 1 and hopefully that would be the position I would be in at the end of four hours!

THE START OF THE MATCH

I chose to set up a variety of methods, to cover all bases. Carp would play a part in the final weight but it would be important to include a large amount of silver fish in the lake into my plan. I set up a small 30g Method feeder to fish across number 1 in match fishing

to the island. On the feeder I would use groundbait managed to put just over 1kg in the net, while other and a 6mm pellet as a hookbait. I started the match anglers had caught carp. Lying in 3rd place with an on the Method, trying to catch an early carp and push hour to go I needed to catch some more fish! myself ahead of the rest of the field. After two hours of switching between my Method feeder and bomb and pellet line, I was in second place, with 2.43kg. Switching between my silver fish line and carp line on the pole I managed to catch one bigger carp and a number of skimmers. Other anglers struggled I had set up two pole lines, one for fishing shallow to catch carp in the last hour, allowing me to claw and the other short at 6m to fish with worms and back the gap that had been created. But would it be enough for me to take top spot? casters for skimmers. I had to try and catch some of the carp that I could see cruising just under the surface. Picking up my shallow rig, which was tied with 0.17mm Reflo Power and using a small 4x12 line-through Preston I was the first to weigh and my final weight Pink float. My hooklength was tied using 0.15mm totalled 7.05kg. The burst of fish in the last hour Reflo Power with a size 16 PR 36 and a bait band was enough to win the match by over 2.5kg. It feels on the hair. With this rig I could fire 6mm pellets great to win and really good to do it two years in a and use the same for the hook. row. I’m the only person to win it three times now By the time of the third weigh in I had only as well so it is a brilliant achievement.”

THE FINAL SECTION

THE SECOND WEIGH IN

THE WEIGH IN

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Hall of Fame | PRESTON INNOVATIONS FESTIVAL

LEE KERRY

Preston Innovations Festival 3 DAYS IN

Whiteacres brings together some of the countries best anglers, with the final festival After three days, I had managed three section of the year. The Preston Innovations festival wins. This is a great place to be as it put me in a sees 180 qualifiers battle it out in the holiday strong position to make the top 24 and the £25,000 parks premier event. Lee Kerry took the title Parkdean Masters final on the Saturday. for a second time this year, achieving a perfect score of 5 section wins. Lee picks up the story: “I have often heard it said that Whiteacres is the centre of UK commercial match fishing, this is because anglers from all over the country come together to compete, but ultimately share information and tactics they have developed in their local area. This is why I love Whiteacres so much, there isn’t a secret tactic, or a must use method. Instead, it’s down to the angler to establish the best way of catching fish; exactly how fishing should be! This was very much the pattern of my week. With conditions constantly changing and catches ranging from 137lb of big carp at Bolingey, to 15lb of roach on Porth Reservoir. 030

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DAY 4

Day 4 put me on Pollawyn. A lake that can be notoriously hard as we enter the October festivals. My draw put me on peg 23, which although is a peg with lots of options, it put me up against some other very good pegs. In previous years, there has been some big carp in the area late in the day, so my plan was to catch anything that swims for four hours before hopefully sneaking a big carp or two later on. I kicked off the match at 6m on meat and pellets, fishing my usual catch everything rig with a size 11 Hollo elastic, 0.4g PB Inter 2 and 0.11mm Reflo Power hooklength to a size 16 PR 434 hook. This gave me three small barbel and two nice hybrids in the first 1½hrs. Bites were not coming quickly, but I could

see the lake was fishing hard with very few being caught. With this in mind a move to the skimmer line was required. Feeding worms and casters in Sonubaits F1 groundbait I began to put together a nice net of small skimmers and roach. Again I knew I wasn’t going to win the match doing this, but a section win was still within my reach. My plan had gone quite smoothly up to the last hour, now it was time for a big carp to seal the deal! 30 minutes went by and although I could see a few anglers catching the odd big fish I just couldn’t buy a bite. I knew it was going to be really close so a slight gamble was in order. I picked up the lighter rig and changing to smaller bits of meat managed two barbel and three skimmers in the last 30 minutes for about 6lb. I had built a carp! The scales came to me first with my 36lb 12oz beating those around me, but an agonising wait was in store as the scales went round the lake to the boss pegs on the high bank. 33lb was the best weight, with two other 30lb weights meaning I had won the section. I may have caught a carp in

PRESTON INNOVATIONS FESTIVAL | Hall of Fame

A WIN WAS NOT GUARANTEED, BUT IN THIS SORT OF SITUATION YOU CAN’T WORRY ABOUT OTHERS, BUT FOCUS ON MAKING THE MOST OF YOUR OWN PEG Lee kerry

number 1 in match fishing

the last 30 minutes, but my change had secured a depth and presentation I managed to start putting a steady stream of F1s together. The battle with Jon valuable section win. was going to the wire and a couple of fish on the short pole rested the far swim for a final 10 minute surge. I asked for two more fish and it happened Going into the final day the festival was in my with 1 minute to go. On the whistle I knew it was close, I had a poor hands, I was the only angler with 4 section wins, but a good result was still needed to secure the title. start, but felt that I had consistently caught more My draw put me on peg 31 Twin Oaks. Not the than Jon in the latter half of the match. The scales best carp area, but with the F1s now playing a big told the story, my 113lb to Jon’s 111lb gave me a 1 part in the lakes winning catches I knew what I had fish victory and 5 straight wins to take the Preston to target. I had some great company with Lee Wright Innovations festival for the second time in 5 years. and Andy Power in the section and Jon Arthur on the Jon was the first to shake my hand, having secured peg next to me. A win was not guaranteed, but in a place in the final himself. A final word must go to Jamie Wilde, who after this sort of situation you can’t worry about others, qualifying in the top 10 went on to take the £25,000 but focus on making the most of your own peg. A slow start on the short pole was not what I Parkdean Masters trophy the next day. Well done needed and when my banker silver fish approach mate, fully deserved!” was not producing I feared the worst. All the time I had been building a shallow line and although I had THANKS TO MATCH FISHING not seen one fish move I knew it was make or break. FOR THE USE OF THIS ARTICLE Conditions were perfect and by working my feed,

THE FINAL DAY

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Hall of Fame | WYCHAVON CHAMPIONSHIP 2014

DES SHIPP

Wychavon Championship 2014 The three day Evesham Festival is one of the biggest events in the match fishing calendar as thousands of people from all over the country descend on the historical Worcestershire town to watch their angling heroes do battle. The fishing can be intense and the introduction of bloodworm in the last few years has created a great platform for the match as anglers decide whether to sit out for big fish such as tench and barbel or target the more prevalent roach with bloodworm and joker. This year Des Shipp added yet another prestigious title to his already impressive trophy collection when he was crowned the 2014 Wychavon Champion after a close fought battle on the second day of the three day weekend bonanza. The super consistent Preston Innovations ace, and current England international, picked up the £2,000 winners 032

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cheque after weighing in 8-1-0 from peg one on the Crown Meadow. In a star-studded line up Des took full advantage of the upstream end peg taking a fine net of roach and a solitary tench.

DES’ STORY

“I am over the moon to have won what I regard as one of the most prestigious river fishing titles out there. I was pleased with my draw, not least because my good friend and England teammate, Will Raison fished the peg in the previous days match and his information was a massive help, given the fact that I don’t know the water very well. My main plan of attack was to ball in a groundbait mix of Sonubaits Supercrumb River, Supercrumb Black and soil and to fish bloodworm and joker over the top on the long pole at around 13m.

I AM OVER THE MOON TO HAVE WON WHAT I REGARD AS ONE OF THE MOST PRESTIGIOUS RIVER FISHING TITLES OUT THERE des shipp

WYCHAVON CHAMPIONSHIP 2014 | Hall of Fame

Following a good start catching dumpy roach my peg slowed up significantly, so I had to top up fairly regularly to keep the odd fish coming. Pike were a real problem, I had at least 15 fish taken by them throughout the day and ended up swinging most of the fish I hooked just to get them out of the way of the snappers! I stepped up from my usual number 4 Slip elastic to a number 6 to achieve this as it let me steer them away from the shoal and the pike. Luckily for me, I also managed to snare a bonus tench of about two and a half pounds which I managed to land on my light bloodworm gear and boosted my weight nicely. After a nervy battle, I was unsure if it was another pike but it fought differently so I took my time and to my relief when it surfaced I realised it was a tench and that it could be crucial to securing the victory as the frame weights are normally very close at Evesham.” number 1 in match fishing

RUNNERS UP

Runner up was England ace Sean Ashby, who managed a fine net of quality bloodworm and joker caught roach from peg 44. Sean caught all his fish on the long pole. Taking third place was Pole Fishing Magazine’s, Matt Godfrey. After drawing fancied peg six on the Crown Meadow, Matt also went with a bloodworm

attack as his ‘Plan A’, though he did add a few waggler caught chublets in the middle part of the day, which boosted his weight and helped him secure the £900 third place cheque. It was a great day for Preston Innovations anglers as Scott Geens and Lee Kerry filled the remaining places taking home £500 and £350 respectively, both with nets of quality roach from pegs 30 and 9.

THE RESULT DES SHIPP

PRESTON INNOVATIONS/ SONUBAITS

8-1-0 (PEG 1)

SEAN ASHBY

SENSAS

7-1-0 (PEG 44)

MATT GODFREY

POLE FISHING MAGAZINE

6-4-0 (PEG 6)

SCOTT GEENS

PRESTON INNOVATIONS/ SONUBAITS

5-13-0 (PEG 30)

LEE KERRY

PRESTON INNOVATIONS/ SONUBAITS

5-5-0 (PEG 9) prestoninnovations.com 033

Hall of Fame | WHITEACRES WINTER HAT TRICK

ADAM WAKELIN

Whiteacres Winter Hat Trick Whiteacres Winter Festival winner, Adam Wakelin, explains how he managed to win this prestigious festival for the third time! “I always take note of the weather in the preceding weeks. It has been unbelievably mild over the last few weeks so skimmers and F1s were going to be my main targets. In my eyes, Whiteacres has always been a fishmeal venue so my mix consisted of the Sonubaits Supercrush range, a favourite of mine being F1.

peg so I knew it had form. The casters shallow tactic was my main attack at 13m in front of me, as a backup I swung around to the left and plumbed a groundbait line again at 13m. Mid-match I set up a strung out deck rig, this picked off the odd roach and a hand full of carassios, which helped me to 25lb and the first section win.

DAY TWO

I drew peg 12 on Twin Oaks. My plan was to fish for big fish on every line and ignore the roach, As it is a float only festival, I break the fishing so even my top 5 line was fished positively with groundbait along with two 13m lines. I fed all of down into methods: my lines with one ball of groundbait. SHALLOW CASTERS PB CARP 2 After the first hour I’d had a skimmer and 10 BIG FISH ON THE BOTTOM PB INTER 2 carp. A switch to my two long lines produced more CASTERS TOP 5 CHIANTI carp and I then started to catch F1s and skimmers. CASTERS MARGINS CHIANTI I fished on my top 5 line for the last hour where I had a run of 8 skimmers and a bonus carassio that WAGGLER DURA WAGS took my weight up to 33lb and another section win. All of my rigs are tied on 0.12mm Precision Power and hooklengths are on 0.09mm Precision Power. My hook choice is a PR 434 for bottom and waggler fishing and PR 490 for the caster fishing. I was on Trelawney 14, a hit or miss peg. The All week I fished with Original Slip 5 elastic through only way I was going to compete was if I caught a top 3 set in my favourite ‘pingy’ style. My rod F1s and the odd roach. I fished shallow from start to choice was a 13 Absolute Super Float with a PC-R end in depths between 18” and 3ft in 5ft of water. Competition 3000 reel and 4lb Power Max line. I constantly fed with 20 to 30 casters. I could only catch a couple of fish at one depth before having to change, so I swapped from casters on the hook to dead maggots which resulted in F1 after F1. When I drew D section, peg 5 on Sycamore, years ago it went quiet I caught roach. I put 35lb on the scales I had 50lb of shallow caster roach from the same for 2nd in my section.

METHODS

DAY THREE

DAY ONE

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DAY FOUR

I drew Jenny’s peg 15, which is full of carassios. With carassios there’s no advantage of hair rigging the bait as the fish wouldn’t get hooked, all I do is hook the corner onto a flat piece of corn. I set one pole rig up for 16m and a waggler rod for 20-25m armed with 4 tins of Sonubaits F1 Corn. I started the match on the waggler and picked off the odd carassio throughout the match to weigh 40lb, for another section win.

FINAL DAY

I drew peg 23 on Pollawyn, a peg with no form all week. I thought about where my best chances of catching F1s and skimmers would be so I set up a line at 11m in the deepest part of my swim, a line at 16m in 3ft of water and a line at 16m in 5ft of water. I was only looking for 10-12 bites and I needed to give myself chances in each swim. I kicked off at 16m in 3ft looking for an F1 and after sitting for 40 minutes I could see that it wasn’t working. I caught the odd roach on the 5ft swim, then out of the blue an F1 and a skimmer, then nothing. I had a run of 3 skimmers in the deep swim and another two F1s from the 5ft swim to finish with 4 skimmers and 3 F1s and a handful of tiny roach for 11lb which was only good enough to beat the peg to my right. I finished the festival with three wins, a 2nd and dropping my worst result, a 7th, was enough for the victory! I had put 142lb into the net over the week which wasn’t by far the highest but still awesome fishing.”

WORLD PAIRS, IRELAND 2014 | Hall of Fame

ADAM WAKELIN & ROB WOOTTON

World Pairs, Ireland 2014 After feeding the pole line with eight balls of This was my first World Pairs festival and my partner for the week was Rob Wootton. Sonubaits Supercrumb Lake groundbait, I started on the feeder but it took 30 minutes to get a bite. In the last hour, I caught a hybrid with every cast. I put 25 kilos on the scales for a county and I drew Brackley peg 4. After some plumbing with a bomb, I clipped up 2 Dutch Master 11’ 8” match win. More importantly Rob had caught 20 feeder rods at 36m with 30g medium Cage Feeders. kilos on Connerlys giving us 92 kilos in total in 2 days. Plumbing the pole line I had 3.5ft at 13m and no difference past it so I decided on 13m as the main attack. I set up 3 rigs, firstly a 0.5g PB Inter 2 with a bulk and 2 droppers; second a 0.3g PB Inter 2 I drew Kiladeas, peg 7. After having a cast around, which was fished at depth. My final rig was a 4x10 40m was my chosen feeder line. I set up a pair of Chianti that was set on a long line so I could cover 12’8” Dutch Master Rods and the same three pole the top half of the swim if the fish came in shallow. rigs from day 2. The all in was shouted and I started I strung out my shot along this rig for a slower on the feeder again! fall of my hookbait. My rigs all week were set up I had a frustrating first hour due to a snag in the on 0.15mm Precision Power mainline and 0.12mm water, but the next hour I put a few more fish in the Precision Power hooklengths with size 16 and 14 PR net. I had my Measuring Sticks set up so made a 333 hooks. The elastic I used all week was doubled decision to re-clip at 45m and set another rod up as up number 4 Original Slip elastic. well. For 30 minutes I built the new swim up, then I started on the feeder and caught well for the it was bite after bite! My weight for the day was first hour. All the while I kept priming the pole line 27 kilos and that was another county and match with casters after potting in 6 balls at the start. I win under the belt. Rob had a steady with 8 kilos. then went on the pole and caught a fish every chuck, then as quickly as they came, they went! I weighed 17 kilos which was enough to win my section. Rob had won the match with 28 kilos of I drew Lough Scur, Peg 13. I tackled up as far skimmers, a fantastic start for us! out in the lake as my 50cm limit would let me, I was looking to fish the pole from start to end. After a plumb around, I found the peg was a gradual slope, dropping right off at 14m to 10 feet I drew peg 2 at Church on Garadice. After a and at 6m-7m it was pretty flat and 6 feet deep, plumb around I settled on a distance of 42m where so this would be my main line. I set up a 0.6g PB I had a count of eleven with a 1oz bomb. I clipped Inter 2 shotted with a bulk and 2 droppers, a 0.3g in up two 12’8” Dutch Master Feeder rods loaded the same pattern with strung out shotting and the with 0.10mm Braidcast and had a 5m shockleader shallow Chianti rig so that I could cover all depths. of 10lb Power Max. The rigs I used were a 1g PT In case it was solid with fish I set a whip style top Series 8 with a bulk and 2 droppers, a 4x12 Chianti 5 up. To fish to hand with No.8 Dura Hollo and a 2g for shallow fishing and a strung out 0.6g PB Inter 2 PT Series 8 rig on it. The long line I picked to feed for skimmers at 14m. for catching through the layers.

DAY ONE

DAY THREE

DAY FOUR

DAY TWO

number 1 in match fishing

I potted 2 soft balls, one at 6m and one 7m; with 8 balls cupped in at 14m along with plenty of worms. I planned to top this up every half an hour then got on it late in the match. I started to loose feed casters at the 6-7m line and started catching roach and the odd hybrid straight away on the 5m to hand rig. I started throwing small balls of groundbait at my float and purposely just fished with the bulk rig. I was waiting longer for a bite, but the stamp of fish increased by nearly double! As I was speed fishing, the match ended quickly and a couple of hundred fish went on the scales for 14 kilos which was 3rd in my section. Rob had to suffer Houghton’s Shore which had rubbish form all week, he caught a respectable 3 kilos taking our total weight to 145 kilos.

DAY FIVE

I drew peg 4 on Lock Ross, which is the definition of the word shallow! I set up a 12’8” Dutch Master Feeder rod and a 13ft Absolute Super Float with a big loaded float. There was no point plumbing up because it is 14” deep as far as the eye can see, I set my waggler rig at 2ft and took it from there. A cast with the waggler produced a run of roach but the fishing was hard. Suddenly, it was like a switch had been flicked and I caught a fish every chuck until the end of the match! The last hour’s efforts put me to nearly 9 kilos and a section win, Robs end peg on Horse Ireland didn’t produce, but he caught 7 kilos.

THE FINAL RESULT

The last day’s weight gave us 160 kilos in total and the World Pairs victory, we were over the moon! In total, I caught 93 kilos in 5 days which put me in first place and I also won the Daiwa Cup! What a fantastic sport and an awesome competition. prestoninnovations.com 035

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“This is a really versatile piece of kit and combines a Spacer Bar and Pole Roost. It enables me to position my top kits safely every time regardless of the peg and can be adjusted to almost any angle or height to combat any bankside terrain.”

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number 1 in match fishing

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World Feeder Championships 2015 | ADAM WAKELIN TELLS ALL

INNISCARRA LAKE CORK, IRELAND

2014

WORLD FEEDER CHAMPIONSHIPS FOLLOWING ON FROM AN IMPRESSIVE BRONZE MEDAL LAST YEAR, THE ENGLAND WORLD FEEDER TEAM TRAVELLED TO INNISCARRA, IRELAND FOR THIS YEARS CHAMPIONSHIPS. WOULD THEY REPEAT LAST YEARS SUCCESS, OR COULD THEY DO EVEN BETTER? ADAM WAKELIN GIVES US HIS FISHING STORY.

Preparation began early when the whole team went to a three-day feeder only festival. From a personal point of view, I had some fairly good catches but knew that a few tactics needed addressing before we went to the World Feeder Championships, which was only three weeks away! I had to make sure I was on the pace right from the first day of official practice. Hundreds of hooks were tied, reels matched up, rods in threes and fours were set up so that everything was 038

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set for an intense practice session. We as a team are committed to each other and the nation and there was only one thing we went out to achieve, and that was gold! There are some awesome anglers in the team who won’t stop until the correct methods and tactics are perfected. We began with fixing what we learnt in the three day feeder festival. The practice week is hard and unfortunately not everyone can be on the right methods all the time;

this year in particular, we as a team were giving nothing away. After five long hard days working through many distances, groundbaits, hookbaits and terminal tackle, we walked off the bank knowing that we had a strong chance of taking the gold!

I decided on Dutch Master 11’ 8” rods with the number 2 tip. The reel I chose was a 4000 size loaded with 0.08 Braidcast to a 10lb Power Max shock leader. This shock leader was important for a number of reasons. Firstly, there were some horrific snags in the venue and if I got stuck I’d normally only lose the feeder/shock leader. Second and more importantly, I needed a rod that could cast up to a when fishing at speed I could just wind 44g large feeder and also give me some the fish straight in and as soon as I finesse when the fish were shy biting. heard my shock leader knot go through

TACKLE CHOICE

ADAM WAKELIN TELLS ALL | World Feeder Championships 2015

THERE WAS ONLY ONE THING WE WENT OUT TO ACHIEVE, AND THAT WAS GOLD! adam wakelin

PREPPING THE BAIT BEFORE THE MATCH

BAITING UP

International rules state that each angler can have up to 2½ litres of bait and 12 litres of groundbait. At the end of the official practice, the team decided to choose a simple but effective groundbait mix which consisted of mainly brown crumb. We took the same amount of bait on both days: ENGLAND’S BAIT LIST 10 LITRES OF GROUNDBAIT 2 TINS OF SONUBAITS CORN 2 TINS OF SONUBAITS HEMP ½ LITRE OF JOKERS & BLOODWORM 1 LITRE OF CHOPPED WORMS

the tip ring. Within three turns of the reel the fish, if the correct size, could be swung in straight away and, more importantly, at the right height for my hand. Alternatively, if it was a skimmer or a bream this was still the right distance to scoop them with my 4m Absolute Match Landing Net Handle. number 1 in match fishing

The rig was quite an important choice, as you tend to get a lot of head winds in Ireland and to adhere to CIPS rules, rigs need to be free running rigs at a minimum of 50cm below the feeder. The team came up with a free running paternoster link that doesn’t tangle; this is crucial so

that you know your hookbait is in the right place. I chose 0.15mm Precision Power between 50-60cm coupled with size 10 PR 344 hooks. The feeder of choice was a standard Cage Feeder, which the whole team felt out-fished a standard plastic open end feeder.

1 LITRE OF MAGGOTS, HOOK WORMS & CASTERS

Groundbait consistency was crucial depending on which species I was targeting at the time. For roach and hybrids, I filled the feeder normally, but for skimmers I found a tighter squeezed feeder was deadlier. prestoninnovations.com 039

World Feeder Championships 2015 | ADAM WAKELIN TELLS ALL

HUNDREDS OF HOOKS WERE TIED, REELS MATCHED UP, RODS IN THREES AND FOURS WERE SET UP SO THAT EVERYTHING WAS SET

DAY 1

I was in section B, an area that we had practiced quite a lot in. I drew peg 12 in the middle of the section, which I was happy with. I found 12 foot of water at 20m, therefore I was going for all species! The anglers either side of me fished further out, so the match was either going to go in my favour or against me.

I had a great first hour, with about 30 fish in the net. During the second hour, I had a run of 7 skimmers followed by more roach and perch. The final stages saw me sneak 4 more skimmers in, but I knew it wasn’t enough for a section win. A good last run of roach put me on a total of 100 fish. I weighed 8.92 kilos which was good enough for 3rd

in my 25 peg section. I was extremely happy with that as not a lot was being caught around me. The team had scored 11pts to win the first day, happily 2nd place were trailing us by double the points. This put us in a great position for the next day, but as our captain Tommy Pickering says, “It’s only half time.” DAY 1 RESULTS DEAN BARLOW

4PT

PHIL RINGER

2PT

STEVEN RINGER

1PT

MICK VIALS

1PT

ADAM WAKELIN

3PT

adam wakelin

SETTING THE SCENE

The Inniscarra Reservoir is a flooded valley and can be anything from 12 to 30+ metres in depth. Distances and depths are crucial, with 12 feet being the optimum depth to find as then you would be able to target all species of fish. 040

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DAY 2

The section draw for day 2 was done and I drew section B again. Looking at the weights from day 1, I wanted pegs 1-5 or 20-25 as they were consistent. After getting my bib from our coach Glen Lawrence, he told me I’d drawn peg 1. Although it wasn’t an end peg, it was where I wanted to be.

section was really catching either. In the third hour, I had a run of 7 skimmers which catapulted me back up the leader board. Unfortunately, the rest of the match was hard going, getting only runs of 3 to 5 roach. I kept trying for a few more skimmers but sadly, they weren’t there. My total of just over 80 fish weighed in at 8.5 kilos which was 2nd in the section! The rumours were I plumbed up the depth at 19 that we had the chance of both team meters. Although it was close in, I and individual golds. stuck to the plan, the teams either DAY 2 RESULTS side of me fished further out again. DEAN BARLOW 2PT I had a great start in the first hour with 26 roach, all bigger than I was PHIL RINGER 8PT catching on day 1, so I knew I was STEVEN RINGER 1PT on target. MICK VIALS 2PT A bad 2nd hour slowed me down, ADAM WAKELIN 2PT but fortunately no one else in my

S ON

RLD CHAMP WO I

TEAM MANAGER, TOMMY PICKERING AND TEAM COACH, GLENN LAWRENCE, SHOW OFF THEIR GOLD MEDALS;

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CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: PRESTON INNOVATIONS TEAM ENGLAND - WORLD FEEDER CHAMPIONS 2014;

RLD CHAMP WO I

S ON

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ADAM WAKELIN TELLS ALL | World Feeder Championships 2015

TOMMY CONGRATULATES STEVE RINGER ON BECOMING INDIVIDUAL FEEDER WORLD CHAMPION

FINAL TEAM SCORES FINAL TEAM SCORES 1ST

By fishing for both skimmers and roach we managed to keep the fish coming whatever was in the peg. This unfortunately wasn’t the same for the Irish and Dutch teams who seemed to target either roach, or skimmers separately. We’d managed to score 26 points over the two days. This was 36 points less than 2nd place. A hard-earned Individual Gold for England!

26PT

2ND

IRELAND

62PT

3RD

NETHERLANDS

77PT

FINAL INDIVIDUAL SCORES FINAL INDIVIDUAL SCORES

TO GET TWO WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP GOLD MEDALS IS BEYOND MY WILDEST DREAMS steve ringer number 1 in match fishing

ENGLAND

1ST

STEVEN RINGER

2PT

2ND

FELIX SCHEUERMANN

3PT

3RD

MICK VIALS

3PT

2015

Join us next year as the World Feeder Fishing Championships 2015 travels to Westdorpe, Netherlands.

WITH THANKS TO LLOYD ROGERS @ ANGLING TIMES FOR THE USE OF HIS PHOTOGRAPHY prestoninnovations.com 041

Ask the Angler | YOUR QUESTIONS ANSWERED

We put your questions to our panel of star anglers to help you solve your angling problems and catch more fish

STAR LETTER

ASK THE

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Des, when you get to your peg what are the things you look for before setting any lines up? James Maguire First thing’s first, if I’ve visited the venue before it is much easier to assess what to do, but should it be a new venue there are a number of things that I feel are very important. The most important thing is to do your homework! There’s loads of information available on the internet about all manner of venues. You are looking to assess what size of fish you are looking to catch, how deep the venue is and what your target weight is. Once you’ve gathered these bits of information you will have more of an idea about what methods to fish and how to fish them. Local anglers are a wealth of knowledge and some are more forthcoming about their information than others. Have a chat with them before the draw, talk about methods, baits and other things you think could help to gain you an advantage. If you aren’t able to do the above, the first thing to do is put your seatbox on your peg and get comfortable. Have a look to see what is in front of you. If you’ve got an island you may need to fish a feeder, with lots of open water you could fish a waggler. Spend time preparing your bait before getting your pole out. By the time you are ready to chose your rigs, the anglers around you will probably be plumbing up. Giving you an idea of the depth and which rig to take out of your box! Don’t expect to win on your first visit to a venue, sometimes it will take a few trips to work out how to beat the other anglers. Des Shipp

Angler 2015

watch the video

YOUR QUESTIONS ANSWERED | Ask the Angler

In a five hour match on a Snake lake, when would you feed and attack the near margin? Geoff Lowe I think when you target the fish can make a big difference on snake lakes, it all depends what you are fishing for. If it’s F1’s with baits such as maggots or casters I think you can get away with feeding a lot earlier and keep the fish coming. With big carp, I think it can be a lot later in the match. The fish may not come into the margin until late on in the match to feed. I will feed my peg gradually for the first three hours or so, by hand if I can reach. If not, I’ll fill a big pot and cup in some bait every 30-40 minutes. Even if you are catching a

lot of fish on your other lines, you need to come off them to feed. It is important to prime these lines for later on in the match when you could add a lot of fish to your weight. The fish will come into the margins and go back out into the lake. They will always come back if they find some bait. What you are looking for is to keep those fish coming back, keep them in the area and interested in the bait. You’ve got to always be thinking about what your next plan of attack is, and if you’ve not primed your margin properly, the fish might not feed with confidence. With two hours to go, have a look and see if you can catch one, if it’s not

happening and the fish aren’t feeding with full confidence, then you need to make it happen! Get a good amount of bait cupped into the swim, leave it for 10 minutes and then have another look. Sometimes it can be the key to getting the fish feeding properly in the swim. Always look around you, if you see another angler starting to catch in the margin it is worth taking a look. It may not happen for you – but it could. I’ve had plenty of days where I’ve been nowhere, gone down the edge in the last two hours and ended up winning the match! Never forget about the margin line. Andy Power

How do you know what the depths are when fishing feeder to a far bank or an island? Mark Stevenson Really, the only way is to count your feeder down. After you cast your tip will have a slight bend, when the feeder hits the bottom you may feel the thud and your tip will spring back. Depth isn’t something that I’m really too bothered about. A Method feeder will sink extremely quickly, you may cast in and immediately your tip will spring back, leaving you thinking it is only 6 inches deep and it’s more likely 2 foot deep. You probably won’t see the fish against the island, even in very shallow water in summer. Your tip may pull around before you’ve even sunk the line, without having seen signs of a fish. It’s not something that really bothers me, I’m more interested in getting as close to the bank or island as possible – everytime! Andy Findlay

number 1 in match fishing

What is the best way to feed bread and get it down to the bottom of a canal? Horace Potter There’s a couple of ways to feed liquidised bread or bread crumb on a canal. To make it heavier and sink faster you can use hemp straight out of a tin, like the large grains in Sonubaits Natural Hemp. What I used to do a lot, was to use a mixture of liquidised bread and white crumb. The white crumb is a bit heavier and stodgier, meaning that it will sink quicker. Once I’ve mixed the white crumb to a slightly damp consistency, I’ll add it to my liquidised bread. A simple 50/50 mix is all that I need. Liquidised bread on its own it not very heavy, the white crumb is finer, stickier and heavier than the floaty liquidised bread.

Be careful when mixing your white crumb. Add water to it slowly and make sure that you pass it through a fine riddle to get rid of any lumps. You don’t want to overfeed the small fish with larger lumps in your bread. If you can, preparing it the night before will often give you the upper hand on the bank! Another way of making bread heavy is to add gravel. Especially for canals that will tow or are deep, just use some fine aquarium gravel mixed into the bread. Only an egg cup full will do for a session and a bag should last you for a couple of years! Lee Kerry

Des, you are catching reasonably well at dead depth using expanders over micros on the far shelf of a snake lake and then you start losing and foul hooking fish. What would you do next to stop that and hook them properly? George Sumsion The first thing to take into account is whether you are fishing on a soft bottom or not, I’ll presume you are talking about F1’s or small carp. You are maybe feeding too much. You might be getting too many fish in the peg, a problem on many commercials due to the amount of fish. As soon as you get that problem you will start to foul hook the fish. I’m not sure whether you are using 4mm or 6mm expanders, but a change to 6mm can often get you more bites, a bigger target bait for the fish to home in on. What I’ve said many times before, use the 2mm micros as your groundbait. They are great for pulling the fish into your peg. When the fish arrive switch to feeding 4mm pellets instead of 2mm. They are a bit heavier and sit down on the bottom better. You may have to go back to feeding 2mm pellets to attract more fish, but the 4mm pellets will often make the fish feed differently and you will get better bites. Fish love small particles and will spend all day sucking up the small light pellets. The bigger heavier pellets will help to keep the fish feeding properly. Lifting and dropping your rig can help to induce a bite. The pellet falling through the water can often make fish eat it. Another tip to try, is to move your rig about half a metre to the side of where you are fishing, away from the disturbance on the bottom where the fish can easily find your pellet. There’s a few tips to try and stop you foul hooking fish, hopefully you’ll put more fish in the net next time you are fishing. Des Shipp

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Ask the Angler | YOUR QUESTIONS ANSWERED

Q A Q

When fishing with barbed hooks on canals, when landing fish my hook seems to get caught up in the landing net, which is a right pain and something you don’t need in a match, how do I combat this problem? Andy Williams When I have to net a decent fish I like to keep tension between the hook and the top kit. Keep your top kit up in the air as you ship back your landing net pole, this should stop the fish moving as much and transferring your hook into your net! Because of the limitations on the types of nets that can be used in the UK it can be a problem. In Europe, you can use a knotted mesh, similar to fishing line, that your hook cannot get caught in. Another way to get around the problem is to crush the barb down a small amount, this will give you the effect of the barb, but not get caught as much in your net. With smaller fish this can be a problem, but with quality fish this can be easier to get around. The main point to remember is to keep some tension in your rig between the elastic and the hook in the fishes mouth. Scott Geens

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Des, when your peg is fizzing and you can’t get a bite, do you go over depth or shallow up? Patrick O’Connell Its very dif ficult! This can be worthwhile. This will keep is possibly one of the your rig and the fish off the bottom questions I get asked the most. away from all of the silt. By feeding I find venues that fizz a lot can be to fish shallow you may be able to similar. The silt on the bottom is do this from the all-in. Alternatively, finding some what makes the peg fizz. The fish are attacking the bottom and the harder bottom will alleviate the gasses come up from the bottom. problem. The soft silt is what There may only be a couple of fish causes the fizzing. Somewhere in the swim, but lots of fish moving in your peg will be a hard bottom, around can decrease the visibility. almost like walking on concrete.

PASTE IS A FANTASTIC BAIT WHEN YOUR PEG IS LIKE A JACUZZI Paste is a fantastic bait when your peg is like a jacuzzi, this large bait allows the fish something to home in on, it also leaks of loads of flavour into the water. Other baits that are good in silt are worms, these large, active baits can often draw the fishes attention. If you’re not confident in fishing with paste then shallowing up

Q A

Often this can be on the short pole line and only five or six metres out, before you reach the bottom of the marginal slope. If you absolutely have to fish where the bottom will fizz up it is wise to feed very little bait, by stopping the fish ripping up the bottom you will cause less bubbles. Des Shipp

How do you decide the right length hooklength to use on the pole, does it depend on bait or target species? Jamie Waldron Depth is the main factor that decides on the length of my hooklink. For a number of years the majority of my hooklengths are six inches long, so 15cm. That’s about the standard length for virtually all of my pole rigs for commercial fisheries up to about 8ft in depth. What we are trying to achieve is good presentation of your hookbait. Should I be fishing on a very deep lake, somewhere like Porth Reservoir for example, I’ll up the length to 20cm. I think this just makes the rig look a bit more natural. Having tied thousands of rigs, you know when a rig looks just right! As I make all of my rigs up at home I will shot them up beforehand. I’ll place my bulk and two droppers on the rig, with the last shot just above the hooklength. I’ll never put shot on my hooklength. Should it snap, or I need to change to a different size hook or different diameter of line, I can do so in seconds. I don’t have to get a tub of shot out of my box and place onto every hooklength I change! All of my hooklengths are attached via a loop to loop. Don’t worry about making your loops as small as possible, if they are slightly longer they seem to act more naturally in the water. Tommy Pickering

How would you fish a 3-5 foot deep margin swim on a commercial fishery? Gary Green There’s two ways that I would go about fishing margins that deep. Hemp and corn would be my first option. Both these baits are very heavy and will get down quick. The other is groundbait. If you fish groundbait then make sure you form it into hard balls to get down quickly. The problem with deep margins is that you could foul hook a lot of fish if your bait comes up off the bottom. Start of by feeding only a little bit of bait to see if I can get the fish in my peg. If not you will have to feed more positively. Go careful. If you are using groundbait, put your particles inside the balls of groundbait. This will get them down to the bottom

before breaking down. Feeding little and often will allow you to catch one fish at a time, rather that to get 20 fish In the peg all feeding together, a recipe for disaster! The other thing that you can try is to fish shallow in the margins, up to a foot deep. By fishing close enough to feed by hand, you can throw the bait on top of your float into the swim. I’ve caught a lot of fish in the past by fishing pellets up in the water in the margins. This is a great tactic that is not done by many anglers – although for this to work effectively, the venue will need to be well stocked. There’s a couple of tips to try on your next match. Hard balls of bait to get down on the bottom, feed for one fish at a time and try coming up in the water and off the bottom. Adam Wakelin

YOUR QUESTIONS ANSWERED | Ask the Angler

When fishing for silvers on a commercial when is the traditional waggler better than the pole and why? Paul Williams

T h a t ’s a n i n t e r e s t i n g question. I’m not sure when, as it could do that any day, but normally it is in the winter, when the water is clear and the fish will back away from the bankside disturbance into the deeper water. You don’t have to fish a waggler as far as you can cast. It is often ver y ef fective when fishing between 20-25 metres, just out of pole range. You can fish with a waggler at any time of year, but predominantly in the winter is when I fish it. You’ve got to have the right conditions too. With a nasty wind in your face you wont be fishing very effectively with the waggler. Start the match on the waggler, go carefully with your feeding, you may be able to put 4-5lb of fish in your net while every other angler is fishing on the pole waiting for the fish to arrive! If other anglers start catching on the pole you may need to switch to your pole lines to keep up with the other people in the match. It can also be used as another method to give your pole line a rest, often after 15 minutes rest, the fish may have settled back on your pole line, allowing you to catch more fish. As a rule, when the water is clearer and the fish have backed off, if the conditions are right the waggler is incredibly effective. It’s a very underused method that could just put a few more fish into your net when other anglers aren’t catching! Neil McKinnon

Q A

What is the best bait besides maggot and worm to use in winter? Abigail Hyslop I’m going to presume that you are fishing on a commercial fishery. My number one bait, other than maggots and worms would be groundbait. It’s a bait that has caught me a lot of carp and skimmers in the winter before. Just a small ball of groundbait is enough to add plenty of attraction to the water. Match Method Mix is my go-to groundbait. I use this bait a lot for carp, F1’s and even when fishing for skimmers. Corn is also a very good bait in winter as it is a very visual bait. Soft Pellets can be a good bait on their day. Over a bed of micro pellets they are fantastic. I wouldn’t be feeding a lot of bait, other than groundbait. If skimmers are the main target I won’t be afraid to feed six or seven balls of groundbait, packed with pinkies, hemp and casters. It depends what I am fishing for. I will often fish over this line until the bites start to get less and less. These are very similar to the bait I use in summer, just that I use less bait. You will be surprised how far only a few small pellets will go! Just be patient and eventually the fish will turn up. The great thing about pellets is that you can fish with lots of different baits on the hook, like soft pellets, maggots or corn. If I know the fish like pellets, I will use a mix of 2mm Fin Perfect Feed Pellets, mixed 50/50 with some groundbait and use a 6mm Super Expander Pellet on the hook. This is great in small amounts in winter. Tommy Pickering

THE GREAT THING ABOUT PELLETS IS THAT YOU CAN FISH WITH LOTS OF DIFFERENT BAITS ON THE HOOK tommy pickering

number 1 in match fishing

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Be a Meat Master! | LEE KERRY

CATCH

E I N AC TI

W! OUT NO

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LEE KERRY | Be a Meat Master!

Master!

BE A MEAT

Lee Kerry rates meat as one of the best baits to catch a big weight of fish. Here’s how he uses this often overlooked bait. In recent years, commercial fisheries anglers have gone pellet mad. All too often I see anglers with nothing but pellets on their side tray. This means many of us have lost sight of the baits that we started with when targeting big catches - and one of the best is without doubt meat! Luncheon meat has been an established fish catcher for many years, it has completely different properties to pellets, and as such brings a completely dif ferent response. I have had times when meat simply hasn’t worked, but on those days that it does, it is simply unbeatable. First of all I want to talk a little about when meat works, I think when to open the meat tins is the most common conundrum that many match anglers face. Basically, you can catch fish on meat all year round. I have seen big carp catches taken in the middle of winter on the stuff. But generally, meat is more effective when the water starts to warm up and then cool down. From personal experience, when water temperatures start to rise coming out of winter, this is when

number 1 in match fishing

meat can be deadly. Is it because fish are looking for a high energy source? Or do they just fancy something they haven’t seen all winter? We don’t really know, but I know that from April to June, meat can definitely outscore other baits.

make the most of all the fish in front of me. The top kit of my Absolute XS pole has size 12 Dura Hollo through to a Rolla Pulla kit. This is soft enough to deal with big roach, skimmers and barbel, as well as any rogue carp that get in on the act. This has to be

I KNOW THAT FROM APRIL TO JUNE MEAT, CAN DEFINITELY OUTSCORE OTHER BAITS Often, I will carry the confidence I have gained on meat throughout the spring into the summer as well, and today you join me on Pollawyn Lake at Whiteacres, where not only carp, but all species just love meat! It is a common misconception amongst anglers that meat is simply a carp only bait. Like most of you, I like catching a variety of species and meat gives me the perfect chance to do that.

balanced with the right hooks and line. 0.15mm Reflo Power mainline, is through to a 0.11mm Reflo Power hooklength tied to a 16 PR 434 hook. It is simply amazing the size of fish you can land on this tackle, it is a perfect balance and doesn’t put off those crucial weight building skimmers.

RIG SET UP

With this in mind, I have set up two rigs for my session today. The first is my ‘catch everything’ rig, I use this on a variety of venues where I want to

THE DACRON CONNECTOR IS LEE’S FIRSTCHOICE FOR RIG CONNECTION

prestoninnovations.com 047

Be a Meat Master! | LEE KERRY The float for today is a 0.6g PB Inter 2. This is the same on both rigs, but the second rig carries much heavier tackle. 0.19mm Reflo Power to a 0.15mm hooklength and a 14 PR 456 hook. This stronger set up is also matched with a size 15 Hollo Elastic. This combination will still fool the odd skimmer and F1, but crucially when the carp turn up in numbers, often later in the day, I have the tackle to control and land the fish quickly, giving me the chance of that match winning weight.

BAIT CHOICE

The session is going well. I have already caught several skimmers, barbel and two big carp, all on the lighter 12 Dura Hollo rig. The best feeding so far has been to fill a medium Soft Cad Pot with hemp and just 6-8 pieces of 6mm meat, however I am doing something slightly different by only feeding this bait once I have hooked a fish. This method seems to be working a treat as once a fish has been landed, the next few are already waiting for me! Moving into the last hour and it is clear that now there are only carp in the swim. The ‘baggin’ rig is

now in full swing and I have found an 8mm piece of meat is doing the damage. Interestingly, most bites are coming as the bait settles, with a nice trick being to slowly lift and lower the bait every 1-2 minutes, fooling some of the lakes more wary residents. THIS BIG CARP COULDN’T RESIST LEE’S MEAT METHOD

On my side tray today I have four baits. The first two are meat, in 6mm cubes, then in 8mm cubes. The 6mm is predominately for feeding. I have experimented with various sizes of meat and this just seems a banker for a range of species, it is usually my starting hookbait. Carp will not hesitate to eat it, but you don’t miss out on the mixed species that often dominate the peg early in the session. The 8mm cubes are mainly as a change of hookbait. I have heard it said many times that you should try to match your hookbait to your feed. I too have found this to be effective, but often the bigger bait gets picked out quicker, often by bigger fish. It is particularly useful when combined with the bagging rig for some lumps late on in the session. The third bait on my side tray is hemp. Hemp and meat are a combination that has stood the test of time. It is no surprise really as hemp is a great holding bait. Lastly, I have half a pint of 4mm feed pellets used only to kick off the swim.

THE SESSION

Today, I have kicked off the session by feeding a full big pot of Sonubaits Natural Hemp at the bottom of the slope, with around 20 pieces of 6mm meat and some 4mm pellets. This line is at 6m and although it may seem close, it is a natural holding place for all species and always my first choice for meat fishing. This early bed of bait is bound to draw and hold fish, and with just a taster of meat available, I have found it gives me a better chance of a fish picking out my hookbait that bit quicker. 048

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THE FINAL RESULT

I have ended the session today with well over 100lb of prime Cornish fish and with only meat and hemp on the side tray. I would strongly advise on them joining your bait tubs this season!

LEE KERRY | Be a Meat Master!

SOFT TOUCH Lee’s best feeding was using a new Soft CAD Pot and filling it with hemp and 6-8 pieces of meat chunks after hooking a fish. Made from soft rubberised material, they will grip most popular sized top kits (5-7mm) without causing damage. Available in small, medium and large.

POWER UP ‘OLLO ‘OLLO

Lee’s main line and hooklengths are tied using 0.11, 0.15 and 0.19mm Reflo Power. This clear line is designed with built-in stretch, it is exceptionally strong and supple and is the first choice for Lee. Available in 14 diameters from 0.05-0.26mm.

Lee’s uses size 12 Dura Hollo Elastic for his first rig and a size 15 Hollo Elastic for his stronger set up, resulting in trouble-free, consistant performances from both. Both Dura Hollo and Hollo are available in 6 sizes.

t h g i l t o Sp

THE VITAL KIT THAT LEE KERRY USED TO NET OVER 100LB USING THE OVERLOOKED METHOD OF MEAT CHUNKS

ROLLA WITH IT Lee attached his size 12 Dura Hollo rig to a GiS Roller Pulla Kit. This high quality power top two kit is pre-fitted with the free-flowing Roller Pulla System. Compatible with all Preston GiS and GXR poles, as well as other top brands.

BAIT GUIDE

COMING SOON THE NEW ‘DWA’ ROLLER PULLA KIT FOR EVEN MORE POLE COMPATABILITY!

BOBBING ALONG Lee’s float of choice on both of his rigs is a 0.6g PB Inter 2. It’s slim round bodied design is ideal for deep water in calm conditions and slow moving rivers.

SONUBAITS HEMP TINS Our special cooking process ensures that none of the natural oils, sugars or attractants are lost giving you perfectly cooked, ready to use hemp. Available in Natural, Krill & Spicy Sausage.

HOOK ‘EM Lee’s chooses a size 16 PR 434 hook for his first rig. “It is a perfect balance, and doesn’t put off those crucial weight building skimmers.” For Lee’s stronger set up he uses a size 14 PR 456 hook, perfect for open water meat.

KIE IN

T AC IO N

TC H F R CA

How to Hook | FRANKIE GIANONCELLI

! NOW T U O

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MAGGOTS | How to Hook

MAGGOTS THE NORM

This is without a doubt one of the most commonly used baits, ever! Again, hooking a maggot is quite straightforward and doesn’t need much explanation. I just nick the maggot on the top of the head, which leaves all of the hook exposed and gives you a great hook hold.

THREAD IT

Great for silverfish when you want to keep the bait on the hook and catch several fish on the same hookbait. It disguises your hook, very similar to caster fishing. I always give this method a try if I’m missing a lot of bites or pulling out The next time you go fishing, chuck a maggot of fish. You can’t help but hook the fish when in the edge and see how it falls. Every time it hooking the maggot like this. Be patient, wait sinks sideways, so why don’t we hook them like for a proper bite and its fish on! that? After all, the whole principle of fishing is to disguise our hookbaits to the bait that we feed. You get a very good hook hold and it usually fools the bigger wiser fish. Think outside the box and look for little edges like this that might catch you those extra fish that other people may miss out on.

SIDEWAYS

DOUBLE MAGGOT

BAND EM’

Maggots in a band is all the craze at the moment. I have experimented quite a bit with it and this ingenious method really does work. I am a big believer in gaining an edge over my competitors wherever possible and banding maggots certainly gives you that as the fish haven’t seen it before. I try to avoid using live maggots as they wriggle out after you’ve caught a couple of fish, whereas the dead maggots can be used several times.

number 1 in match fishing

I have fined tuned this method a little to maximise its effectiveness. I hook one maggot normally through the top of the head, but I then hook the other maggot through the other end, so they sit against each other top to tail. This massively reduces the amount of spin ups you’ll encounter, great when fishing the feeder or the waggler.

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How to Hook | WORMS & CASTERS

BAND IT

The main advantages of this method is that you can catch two or three fish on it without having to change your hookbait. Most effective when fishing shallow, although I have had a lot of success using it short and down the edge. Your hook is always exposed, meaning you hit a lot more bites and it seems to have a very good hook hold, reducing lost fish. It’s a great Whenever I’m fishing for F1’s with worms I little trick and one that’s definitely worth a go will always try this technique, you can literally if you’re getting pestered by silverfish or having catch 10-15 fish all on a single piece of worm trouble with lost fish or missed bites. as it doesn’t get damaged. Very effective when fishing shallow or in shallow water down the edge or across to an island. Push the quickstop through the head of the worm as it is the strongest and toughest part and will stay on the stop longer. Use a very fine hair net to prevent the quickstop from snapping off in the landing net. It can be a nightmare when the fish is flipping and your stop gets caught in between the holes and you have to change you hooklength. Single and double casters can be deadly on their day. Casters are probably my number one bait for catching everything and it works everywhere. I would suggest trying a single caster on a big hook when fishing shallow. This can be brilliant and give you a great hook hold but it can be A fantastic bait when you’re targeting big fish quite time consuming as small silverfish can be on commercials, canals, rivers or lakes. I have a nuisance, bursting your caster etc. caught hundreds of fish on double worms as it can be irresistible to big fish. Use it down the edge on commercials fished over groundbait and casters. I remember one occasion at a White Acres festival on Bolingey Lake, I caught fifteen carp down the edge in the last hour and a half all on double worm over casters. This catapulted me from halfway in my section to winning the whole lake. It’s a deadly bait and well worth a try.

QUICK STOP

OLD SCHOOL

DOUBLE TROUBLE

KNICK IT

Whenever I’m fishing with worms I will always start by nicking the head of the worm. It’s probably the most common and simplest way to hook worms, but it works! It leaves the majority of the hook showing giving you a great hook hold. This is especially effective when fishing shallow as your hook point is always clear meaning you hook more fish and miss less bites.

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PELLETS | How to Hook

LASSO

A fantastic way of attaching your pellet to your hook. I do find it to be a little bit time consuming as opposed to a band or looped pellet, but it does give you that extra confidence that your hookbait looks completely natural.

LOOPED PELLET

BAND

Tying your band closer to the hook shank is better for F1s, whereas a 5-10mm gap is better for proper carp. F1â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s feed a lot more negatively, making a smaller hair much more effective in terms of hooking the fish in the mouth as opposed to around the mouth which results in fish loss. Carp suck the bait in a lot more positively making a longer length hair more effective.

number 1 in match fishing

Fish are becoming more and more wary as time goes by. Once they have been caught a few times on a particular method/bait they naturally become cagey making them more difficult to catch. This little technique is a great way of disguising your hookbait to your loose feed. Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve been using this method a lot throughout the spring and it can be deadly on difficult days!

PELLETS

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Cast Away | MINI PLUS RODS

t s a Cway A The next level of mini rods New technological ad vancemen t s have facilitated increased blank strength without compromising the trademark forgiving, fish playing action which makes them first choice for commercial carp anglers. Featuring fast taper tips and an ergonomically designed soft touch reel seat, the range will cater for everything from short range method feeder fishing to long range pellet waggler fishing.

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#11’ 6” Method Feeder Purpose designed for medium to long range feeder fishing this rod gives the angler confidence to launch a fully loaded method feeder in excess of 60m without compromising the rods ability to ‘play’ the fish and fast taper tips ensure bite registration and line pick up is still positive even at distance.

#11’ Float

#11’ 6” Power Float

The 11ft version is the optimum length for all commercial float fishing and will cover everything from standard waggler fishing to shallow pellet waggler. A true through action rod that absorbs every lunge when playing fish but retains a crisp action for precision casting that also aids responsiveness when striking.

The powerful blank is ideal for big weight building with pellet waggler tactics and the additional length is ideal for longer casts when fishing large ‘splasher’ type wagglers at distance. The progressive action will cope with everything from F1’s to specimen sized match carp on larger commercials.

Length: 11ft 6in Pieces: 3 Tips: 3 Line Rating: 3-8lb

Length: 11ft Pieces: 2 Line Rating: 3-8lb

Length: 11ft 6in Pieces: 2 Line Rating: 3-8lb

Price: £169.99 / €199.95

Price: £149.99 / €189.95

Price: £159.99 / €199.95

MINI PLUS RODS | Cast Away

COMING SOON! LIMITED EDITION MINI PLU S 12F T PEL L E T W AG G L E R

W I T H T H A N KS TO I M P R O V E YO U R C OA R S E FI S H I N G FO R THE USE OF THIS IMAGE

Quality High modulus carbon blank featuring superior lined guides and an understated, minimalist finish.

Rod Action Carbonactive, forgiving, fishplaying action to eliminate hook pulls and convert more bites to fish in the net.

#8’ 6” Carp Feeder

#10’ Carp Feeder

#10’ 6” Carp Feeder

Designed with snake lakes in mind, this short rod is perfect for accurately casting small method or pellet feeders tight to islands, also ideal for short range open-water fishing and casts up to 30m. With its soft action and fast-taper tips it is the perfect F1 rod with strength in reserve to cope with bonus carp.

This is the next generation of the ‘10ft Mini’ which is synonymous with commercial carp fishing. The blank features a progressive yet forgiving action which is strong enough to cope hard fighting carp yet balanced enough to use for skimmers with fine terminal tackle. The perfect all round feeder rod for the commercial angler.

A natural progression to satisfy the demand for a rod with all the qualities of the ‘10ft’ but with increased length to cope with longer casts and larger method or pellet feeders. With a little more backbone to assist ‘punching-out’ a feeder it retains the fast-taper, fish playing action which helps to eliminate hook pulls.

Length: 8ft 6in Pieces: 2 Tips: 2 Line Rating: 3-8lb

Length: 10ft Pieces: 2 Tips: 2 Line Rating: 3-8lb

Length: 10ft 6in Pieces: 2 Tips: 2 Line Rating: 3-8lb

Price: £129.99 / €159.95

Price: £149.99 / €179.95

Price: £159.99 / €189.95

number 1 in match fishing

Reel Seat An ergonomically designed soft touch reel seat, providing maximum comfort for long, intense bagging sessions.

Handle Full cork handle with EVA fore and butt grips, sized for optimum performance and added comfort.

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The Secret to Success | ADAM WAKELIN

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s s e c c u S

ADAM WAKELIN | The Secret to Success

THE

O T T E R SEC

by Adam Wakelin

2014 was an absolutely fantastic year for me! I won a number of prestigious events, including team gold with the Preston Innovations England Feeder Team, World Pairs gold and the Daiwa Cup individual title. Winning all this is great and I feel rewarded for the time and effort that I have put into the sport. Here are some key points that I believe have helped me have such a successful year. Hopefully they will help you and you can put them to good use!

BACKGROUND Believe it or not my first fishing experience was all down to my mother. One Sunday at the age of 13, I was complaining so much to her about being bored that she lost the plot in a rage (which now, I can’t blame her!), and said, “Right, I’m taking you to your father,” who was down at the local pond, fishing. I dragged my heels and tried to give her all the sincere apologies you can think of at 13 years of age, but she was having none of it. When we got there I remember the words, “Here Andrew, you have him!” and after having a dressing down from my dad I started asking him what he was doing and why. My dad explained and I was getting more and more interested, then he asked if I wanted a go. I was straight up and on his box with a short pole! Not being the most patient, as you can all imagine at that point in my life, I started to get bored and was losing interest rapidly, then he shouted, “Strike strike!” I jumped, more from shock than actually knowing what he was saying, and the elastic came streaming out of the pole! This was a point in my life I shall never forget and after an instructional

five minutes guide to playing fish on Nobody can know everything a pole, up popped a huge 2lb perch, about fishing, it’s impossible, but that was me hooked for life! there is lots of information on methods, venues and baits accessible to everyone over the internet. I I am a strong believer that if you like to give my knowledge back want to be successful at anything to anglers via my Facebook page you must be dedicated to it. My (AdamWakelinFishing) and hope that dedication to the sport starts at home I can influence those anglers and I am very fortunate to have an as I have been influenced by understanding and supporting wife others. Don’t be afraid to ask and family and without them I couldn’t questions on do half of what I do. I live and breathe or off the the sport and since the age of 13 I can bank, its count on both hands the amount of how you weekends that I haven’t been fishing. can learn Rain, hail, sleet or snow, I’m on the and be more bank a minimum of two times a week. successful. It has taken me years to get the right balance of work and fishing and the last 3 years or so I have had it down to a tee. During this time, I’ve become self-employed so that I could get more time on the bank and be able to dedicate time to go away on international duties. Time on the bank is crucial and has had a massive influence on my fishing improvement.

DEDICATION

INFLUENCES I work alongside some of the best anglers in the business at Preston Innovations, fish with some on festivals throughout the year and travel across Europe with others. Anything that I don’t know or need clarifying is at the end of a phone call or text message. When you fish alongside great anglers you are able to share information and learn some great tips.

My first

canal carp

The Secret to Success | ADAM WAKELIN

PREPARATION With having such a busy calendar, I need to make sure that I keep on top of my preparation. Whether it be tying hooks, making rigs, finding out information or gathering tackle, I always like to work months in advance. On average, I do about 20-30 hours preparation per week. “Fail to prepare, prepare to fail”, a master angler once told me!

We’ve all been there, thinking that rod will do or five of those hooks is enough, but then have been caught out. This is ok in practice, but when it happens during a match and either costs you a fish or a win, its a different matter. I leave absolutely nothing to chance now and as far as I’m concerned preparation is the key to staying on top and being successful.

my 2014 hiteacres Top 5 at W onours Individual h der Challenge e European Fe s , UK Champ in w d n u o r 3rd UK Champs , l l a r e v o 3rd medal Gold team r Champions e World Feed al 5th individu r Champions e World Feed pairs Won World otton o with Rob W inner Daiwa Cup w Whiteacres , l a iv t s e f h is Won Silverf time!! for the 3rd

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BITES After a few hectic months, I like to spend November to April fishing for bites. I go F1 and commercial silver fish fishing, where I know that nine times out ten I’m guaranteed bites. This keeps my brain ticking over as I have to think an hour ahead planning my next move and feeding other swims. These types of venues keep you sharp and you learn how fish are feeding, what depths they are at and what the best baits are to catch them. The best anglers are the best feeders and if you spend three months a year not catching anything then you fall behind. All this type of information sinks into your head and you start using it naturally at other venues. I have lost count of the amount of times I have been to two different venues on a weekend and the fish are in the same depths or feeding on the same baits, this automatically gives you a significant head start. Don’t be afraid to make notes, write things down it will all come in handy another day.

ADAM WAKELIN | The Secret to Success

CAN I ALWAYS WIN? The simple answer to this is no, but what you can do is plan your strategy. If you can work out what weight or number of fish you need to do well then you can fish and feed accordingly. I always try to work out a winning weight or give myself a target number of fish per hour, this way I can always work out what I need to be doing in the next hour or prepping a line for the last hour. In my experience, forward thinking anglers always get the most out of their swims. Don’t get me wrong, planning ahead doesn’t always go to plan and fishing to win doesn’t work every time, yes you might win some but your consistency drops. If you’re unsure of a winning weight then feel your way in and make decisions as you go, this will make you more successful in the long run. If you think like this then you can keep in touch with the leaders, because not every peg in a section is capable of winning! Working out how you can come 2nd or 3rd and not taking risky chances will keep you in the running until your day comes where everything falls into place!

HOMEWORK The last thing I’d like to mention is using the weather and seasons to your advantage, pick and choose the venues that suit you. I spend all week looking at the weather, especially during winter, so that I can work out what will be the best way to spend the weekend. If you are in a league or a series then you have to go regardless, but looking at the forecast will help you prepare and plan your methods. There is nothing worse than wishing that you’d got a rod or some smaller hooks!

g n i h s i f r u o y y o j n e t s o m e r o f d n a t s r i F ! 5 1 0 2 r o f s e n i l t and tigh number 1 in match fishing

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Which Hook Will Work for Me? | COMMERCIAL VENUES

WHICH

CHOOSE THE CORRECT PATTERN BASED ON THE

Commercial Venues WAGGLER

Meat / Corn

PR 27

sizes 10-18 barbless

POLE

Pellet / Meat Corn / Big Carp

Pellet

PR C1

PR 38

sizes 12-18 barbless

sizes 10-18 barbless

Maggot / Caster Worms

Maggot / Caster Pellet / Worms

Meat / Corn Worm / Pellet

PR 412

PR 434

PR 456

sizes 16-22 barbless

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sizes 12-22 barbless

FEEDER

sizes 10-18 barbless

Pellet / Meat Corn /F1s / Carp

PR 36

sizes 10-20 barbless

Meat / Corn Worm / Pellet Big Fish / Margin

Maggot / Caster Pellet / Silvers / F1â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s

PR 478

PR 490

sizes 10-18 barbless

sizes 12-18 barbless

NATURAL VENUES | Which Hook Will Work for Me?

HOOK?

VENUE, METHOD, SPECIES & CHOICE OF BAIT

Natural Venues POLE

FLOAT

Squatt / Pinkie Maggot

Hemp / Caster Breadpunch

PR 311

PR 322

sizes 14-24 barbed

sizes 12-22 barbed

number 1 in match fishing

#PR 311 A favourite of Des Shipp, this fine wire hook is perfect for roach and skimmers, with baits such as squatts, pinkies and bloodworm. Combine with light elastics and lines for more refined bags of silver fish.

FEEDER

Halibut Pellet Meat

Maggot / Caster Worm

PR 39

PR 355

sizes 10-18 barbed

Maggot / Caster Small Fish

Maggot / Caster Big Fish

PR 333

PR 344

sizes 12-22 barbed

THREE OF THE BEST

sizes 6-18 barbed

#PR 27 A traditional eyed hook that has been a proven fish catcher for over a decade. A favourite of Tommy Pickering, it is natural choice when hair rigging baits such as pellets, corn and mini boilies. #PR 456 The hook Lee Kerry used to catch a record breaking 513lb of carp. This super strong pattern is the perfect big fish hook, both margin and short pole bagging this hook is a must.

sizes 10-18 barbed

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Top Tips for Natural Venues | MICHAEL BUCHWALDER

Michael Buchwalder is one of the finest exponents of natural water angling in the UK and has notched up countless victories on rivers and lakes around the country. Here he lets us into some of the secrets of his continued success on these sometimes difficult waters.

Fish as light as you possibly can

Use your plummet carefully

Take your time

Pellets - Ignore them at your peril

Ensure you have fresh bait

Fooling wary fish from rivers and canals can be very tricky as they can be very cautious of all things that appear unnatural. You will be amazed at how many more bites you get and as long as your gear is balanced it is possible to extract big bonus fish on light gear.

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Rivers and natural lakes often hold underwater features and worse underwater snags. It is no good feeding all of your bait on top of a shopping trolley! Plumb up your peg carefully building a mental picture of the underwater contours, this will help you decide where to feed as well as aiding you when running your rig through and playing fish.

I of ten see people rushing to land a fish quickly but on natural venues you are fishing for educated fish, hooking them is hard enough so donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t rush and lose them. Play each fish carefully and ensure it ends up in the keepnet. Quite often a low weight will be enough to win or frame so make every fish count.

Some natural venues are now regularly occupied by specimen carp anglers feeding lots of pellets and particles, bream and roach have become accustomed to eating them but they are largely overlooked by traditional anglers. On their day they can be devastating and should not be dismissed.

All live baits should be in tip top condition. M aggo t s sh o u ld be riddled and fresh maize applied, casters should be cleaned off with skins and floaters removed and worms should be fresh as possible and stored in a cool bag if possible. Good quality, fresh bait will always get you more bites on hard fished waters.

MICHAEL BUCHWALDER | Top Tips for Natural Venues

NATURAL VENUES by Michael

Buchwalder

Think about your groundbait

Be prepared

Use a depth marker

Always have a ‘throw away’ line

Think about the light

I always mix up the night before with hot water if I am targeting bream as this gives you an inert mix which is ideal for laying down a carpet of bait with lots of particles. But for roach fishing I always mix up on the morning and add an amount of crushed hemp 15 minutes before the ‘all in’ to create an active mix to draw fish into the peg. This mix will keep ‘working’ for the duration of the session.

number 1 in match fishing

Always have a variety of rigs and terminal tackle available and in particular - lots of hooks. On natural venues you often have to change your approach throughout the day to keep bites coming and a large selection of pre tied hooks saves time when looking for the perfect presentation. It can also help if you are faced with a particularly snaggy swim where hook losses are commonplace.

I always place a bank stick marked at 1 inch intervals in the margins, it is amazing how some venue depths fluctuate throughout the day. Without this information you could be fishing at completely the wrong depth if the river rises or drops without you k nowing. T he same can apply to canals and lakes if sluice or lock gates are opened.

By this I mean somewhere in your peg that you feed heavily at the start and leave untouched for a minimum of 4 hours. Sometimes this line will not produce a bite but on other occasions it can produce some big bonus fish in the last hour that can be match winners. Always feed this line well away from your other swims and avoid the temptation to go on it too early as any big fish will need time to settle over the bait.

I have lost count of the amount of times I have had to change colour of my float tip just to see it. Light and visibility can be affected by all sorts of variables so it is essential to carry a selection of floats with different coloured tips as well as a black marker pen and some Bristle Grease, all of which can be used to tailor your float colour to suit the peg you are fishing. It is no good fishing with a tip you cannot see.

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Four Seasons in One Page | LAYERING UP YOUR CLOTHING

g n i r p S HRS

#CLASSIC GREY SUNGLASSES

HRS

#BLACK PI LOGO CAP

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r e m m Su HRS

#’TOP GUN’ NAVY TSHIRT medium to xxl

#BLACK JOGGERS medium to xxl

HRS

#WHITE PI LOGO CAP #BROWN SPORT SUNGLASSES

#NEW SOFT SHELL JACKET medium to xxl

#’CASUAL’ BLACK TSHIRT medium to xxl

#NEW DF12 SUIT medium to xxxl

183 12 21

JULY

194 12 21

JUNE

12 59

MAY

155

APRIL

MARCH

107

182

AUGUST

191

#DRIFISH TROUSERS medium to xxl

#’1985’ BLUE POLO SHIRT medium to xxl

#TRACKSUIT TROUSERS medium to xxl

7 14

64 4

n m u t u A HRS

#SHOWERPROOF CAP

HRS

r e t n i W

HRS

FEBRUARY

103

DECEMBER

JANUARY

NOVEMBER

137

10 18

OCTOBER

SEPTEMBER

LAYERING UP YOUR CLOTHING | Four Seasons in One Page

7 1

HRS

* ENGLAND AVERAGE 1981-2010. SOURCE: MET OFFICE

#NEW BLACK BEANIE HAT

#NEW ’DF20 GILET medium to xxl #DRIFISH NECK WARMER

#’ROYAL’ BLUE HOODIE medium to xxl

#NEW THERMAL SOCKS

#DF20 SUIT medium to xxxl number 1 in match fishing

#BLUE JOGGERS medium to xxl

#CELCIUS THERMAL SUIT medium to xxxl

#NEW 2 PIECE UNDERWEAR medium to xxxl prestoninnovations.com 065

Beat the Boats | SCOTT GEENS

MANY ANGLERS LOSE THEIR HEAD WHEN A COUPLE OF BOATS COME THROUGH THEIR SWIM ON CANALS. SOME CANALS ARE BUSIER THAN OTHERS; PARTS OF THE GRAND UNION CANAL IN SUMMER CAN OFTEN LOOK LIKE THE WATERWAY EQUIVALENT OF THE M6 AT 5PM ON A FRIDAY! BUT THERE ARE A FEW WAYS THAT YOU CAN USE THIS TO YOUR ADVANTAGE... During the holiday period, the number of boats will increase with holiday makers and day hire on boats. Unfortunately, these novice boaters are normally the type that can ruin your track swim, who have little idea of how to slow down, or what direction they are going in and often lead to a large amount of muffled cussing! Having fished the canals regularly for many years, I know of a few ways to make the most of your peg during periods of heavy boat traffic and give yourself the best chance of consistently putting fish in the net.

WHERE TO START?

So what’s the best way to stop boat traffic affecting your fishing? Well, the easiest way is to feed all of your bait against the far bank. This is one area of the canal that receives the least amount of traffic from the boats and doesn’t get stirred up like the main track of the canal will. After arriving at the peg I’ll put my box down and assess what I have in front of me. I’m looking to find small gaps in the bushes or brambles, or the 066

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On a lot of canals, especially those It’s vital that you spend time side of an overhanging bush. Those plumbing up your peg to know what’s with high boat traffic and coloured features that just scream fish! If you’ve got something – fish about. Don’t fish too shallow because water, you may not be able to see to it. If you get to your peg to find a the fish won’t build up confidence how far out the brambles come. It’s only when you place your rig in without a plummet attached, that you find a hidden bramble that can cause no end of problems! Only when I’m happy that I can strike without putting my rig 3ft up bare concrete wall, or bare bank then when feeding, you’ll either spook the in a tree and I can land a fish without the second point becomes much swim after a couple of fish, or even it hanging my hook into a snag will I worse, you don’t get any bites at all. move onto bait. more important. Even if it means coming slightly FEED YOUR BAIT TIGHT further off the far bank, away from TO THE FAR MARGIN the bushes, or into a different hole that you hadn’t thought about before. 2 - 2 ½ feet is ideal when looking to attract a range of species. Anything that swims in a canal will be confident feeding in that depth, especially important when you can expect a wide range of species. Spend a bit of time looking for changes in depth. You might be surprised at how it can change in a short distance. While plumbing up it’s also worth trying to find snags that may be hidden from view.

IT’S VITAL YOU SPEND TIME PLUMBING UP YOUR PEG TO KNOW WHAT’S ABOUT

SCOTT GEENS | Beat the Boats

BEAT THE

Boats

Canal ace Scott Geens shows how to beat the boats on a busy canal

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Beat the Boats | SCOTT GEENS

SCOTT’S SHIPPING METHOD

AFTER HOOKING A FISH, THROW YOUR POLE BACK AWAY FROM ANY SNAGS

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BREAK DOWN YOUR POLE WHEN THE FISH IS IN THE CENTRAL TRACK

KEEP THE FISH AWAY FROM THE NEARSIDE MARGIN

SLIDE YOUR NET UNDER THE FISH

THIS SKIMMER WAS SAFELY EXTRACTED FROM THE FAR BANK SNAGS

2015

BAIT CHOICE

When I know that there are a range of species present I’ll take only four baits with me. Two very obvious selections that will catch a huge number of fish – worms and casters. These will catch perch, roach, chub, hybrids, even eels. It also gives me plenty of hookbait options with single or double casters, whole, a section or even just the worm’s head. Third, is Hemp. It is always on my side tray as it is a bait that all fish love. The fourth is groundbait. Instead of feeding the balls down the track, where the boat will disturb the bait, I’ll feed two balls tight across on the far bank to kick off the swim. The groundbait is laced with hemp and used as a carrier for the chopped worms and casters. I like to use a 50/50 mixture of Sonubaits Supercrumb Black and Supercrumb Lake. Having been designed by some of the country’s best match anglers, I have full confidence in the pulling power and effectiveness of them. If you’re not familiar with canal fishing and want to give it a go there’s one rule when it comes to feeding bait. Don’t cup in your bait just before or straight after a boat has been through your peg. Even if it passes at the allin! Wait a couple of minutes until the disturbance has settled. You only have to watch what happens to your keepnet as a boat passes to imagine what your light ball of groundbait does.

TOUGH TACKLE

I try not to fish too light when fishing against the snags for a range of fish. I’d rather land everything I hook than risk losing all of my tackle and the fish in the trees! My rigs are tied using 0.11mm Reflo Power, a line that has stood the test of time and I know is right for the job. A super tough 2g Tyson 2 dibber float is my choice, even if my rig gets dragged through a bush I can be confident that the float will be untouched.

I’ve tied the 0.11mm to a size 16 PR 344 hook. I like to use a reasonably fine wire hook, but one that will give me confidence that when I pull back to extract the fish from the snags it won’t spring open. The size 16 is a good size for burying inside a single caster, yet big enough for a double caster or worm hookbait. A few years ago if I told you that I was using hollow elastic on the canal you would have laughed. Today there are a range of situations where I wouldn’t be without it. The properties of hollow elastic allows it to be soft upon the strike but it soon powers up when you are pulling away from the far bank. With the possibility of bream, hybrids, roach, perch and possibly a chub on this stretch, I’ve opted for a size 12 Dura Hollo.

SCOTT GEENS | Beat the Boats

THE SESSION

Today, I’ve come to a stretch of the Shropshire Union Canal. This particular length of the canal is run by Hodnet AC. I know from previous experience that it contains a number of big chub, roach, perch and some hybrids. There’s even the chance that a carp could decide to muscle in on the action. I’ve chosen this bit of canal due to the high traffic, with plenty of boats up and down the canal it will be a good way to show the effectiveness of the method that I’ve described. I’ve found two nice holes in the far bank. Both fortunately are the same depth, allowing me to use the same rig! Into each of these gaps in the trees I’ve cupped in two balls of the 50/50 mix of Supercrumb Lake and Supercrumb Black laced with hemp, and also cupped in a mixture of chopped Dendrobaena worms and casters over the top. I’ve opted for a worm for the first put-in. If there’s a chub or two about you have a good chance to catch them straight away. Unfortunately, it wasn’t to be today and my first bite didn’t come for just over half an hour. I met a fast dip on the Tyson dibber with a firm strike before throwing the pole back as fast as possible. When you don’t know what you’ll hook next, this is the only way to ensure anything you hook gets put into the net. Make sure you are aware of where you have to ship back to. If there are lots of people walking up and down the bank be aware of anyone passing before you knock someone over! After a short fight under the top kit a small perch of around 6oz hits the net. A switch to a double caster hookbait shortens the time between bites and after a succession of smaller perch I finally latch into something a bit bigger. After a short, but spirited battle of which I thought was a chub, turned out to be a hybrid of around 10oz. The boat traffic is starting to get busier. I’ve already had two boats pass through my peg at the same time, not a common thing but it shouldn’t affect the swim. Soon after, a string of hybrids are placed into the net. I like to loose feed with a catapult. I’ll feed mainly casters and occasionally some hemp. The hemp makes plenty of noise when it hits the surface, helping to draw fish in. After only five hours of fishing I’ve caught a good number of hybrids plenty of perch and even managed a lone rudd and a bonus eel. By topping up with small balls of groundbait I’ve kept the fish concentrated on the two lines all day long, without having to start from scratch with boats washing away my feed!

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Winning Rigs | OUR PROS SHOW YOU HOW

g n i n n i W i gs R

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THICKER PEACOCK WAGGLER

0.13MM REFLO POWER

AAA LOCKING SHOT

NO.8 SHOT

SIZE 16 PR 344

NO.12 MICRO SWIVEL

0.16MM REFLO POWER MAX CLEAR

e k a L ig R

Keep it simple, catch more fish!

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r e l g g Wa R ig WHAT YOU WILL NEED

LEE KERRY’S

One thing in match fishing that can easily be over complicated is the rig. Whether it is for feeder, float or pole fishing, lots of anglers over-engineer their terminal tackle adding in all sorts of knots swivels and other unnecessary components. Take a look a most top anglers’ rigs and one thing will be evident - simplicity. The rig is designed to present the bait in the most natural way possible and anything that may compromise this is unnecessary and may even be detrimental to how the rig performs. Another common theme with rigs is that anglers, such as Des Shipp and Lee Kerry, will quite often use the same one for a multitude of applications and this ultimately allows them to learn to read the rig and convert more indications into fish in the keepnet. Using a rig regularly means you can understand how it works and use it to your advantage. Here is a selection of our stars’ rigs which they have used to win countless matches up and down the country. Simple and effective.

SCOTT GEENS’

This is Lee’s ‘go to’ rig for natural venue fishing which he utilises to devastating effect on stillwaters, and canals across Europe. It is also the rig that has accounted for many victories on his favourite Stainforth and Keadby Canal. Perfect for roach, skimmers and b re a m wh e n u s e d i n conjunction with maggots, pinkies and bloodworm.

WHAT YOU WILL NEED 1x PT SERIES 6 FLOAT

NO.9 SUPER SOFT SHOT

SIZE 20 PR 311

NO.10 DROPPERS

0.10MM REFLO POWER

0.07MM REFLO PRECISION POWER

This rig has been employed by Scott to record wins on many UK rivers. Particularly effective on fast flowing waters such as the Severn and the Wye and when targeting big fish such as chub and barbel. In the right conditions this rig will often outscore a feeder approach when used in with loose fed maggots, casters and hemp.

OUR PROS SHOW YOU HOW | Winning Rigs

ANDY POWER’S

MICHAEL BUCHWALDER’S

p m e H ig R Michael’s hemp rig is all about sensitivity and has accounted for wins on various slow moving rivers and drains. Particularly successful on the notoriously dif ficult but fish filled Warwickshire Avon where presentation is the key to catching the resident roach. It can also be used with bread punch and maggots.

WHAT YOU WILL NEED 1x 4x12 CHIANTI

w o l l Sh a ig R

Des always keeps his rigs simple and none more so th an h is s tand ard commercial rig with a bulk of Stotz and two droppers. With balanced mainline and hooklength and a sensible hook it allows him to catch fish after fish with little chance of tangling allowing him to maximise his time at his peg. This rig has notched up countless wins on a variety of baits.

Andy is almost unbeatable when shallow carp fishing is the approach and he feels his unique rig gives him the edge. Incorporating an olivette it allows him to swing the rig directly towards the fish when ‘mugging’ and makes an exaggerated fish attracting splash when used as a conventional shallow rig with hair rigged pellet or meat.

DES SHIPP’S

p e e D ig R

WHAT YOU WILL NEED 1x PB CARP 1 FLOAT

1x 0.3G OLIVETTE

1x FLOAT STOP

1x NO.10 SHOT

1x SIZE 16 PR 36

6MM PELLET & BAIT BAND

WHAT YOU WILL NEED

0.13MM & 0.17MM REFLO POWER

1x SIZE 20 PR 311

18x NO.12 SUPER SOFT SHOT 0.06MM & 0.08MM REFLO POWER

The feeder rig that has accounted for more fish than he can remember. Versatility is the key as the Feeder Bead allows Tommy to change his feeder in as instant should conditions change. Likewise the Quick Change Bead allows him to swap hooklengths. Often employed with groundbait, worms and casters for big bags of bream and skimmers.

number 1 in match fishing

1x PB INTER 2 FLOAT

1x SIZE 16 PR 456

NO.10 DROPPERS

NO.8 STOTZ

0.15MM & 0.13MM REFLO POWER

r e d e Fe i g R

WHAT YOU WILL NEED DISTANCE CAGE FEEDER

0.12MM PRECISION POWER

0.20MM REFLO POWER MAX

FEEDER BEAD

QUICK CHANGE BEAD

1x SIZE 16 PR 355

TOMMY PICKERING’S

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Beat the Freeze | ED WARREN

BEAT THE

Preston Innovations, Ed Warren, reveals his winter secrets to help you catch more carp when the weather is cold!

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ED WARREN | Beat the Freeze

Getting ready to go fishing in winter can feel like a bit of a chore at times, but it can be extremely rewarding when you return home with a match win under your belt and an envelope with your winnings! Winter fishing can really get on your nerves, especially when the fish aren’t active, you get frozen by a freak snowstorm or even worse, finish the match with the dreaded dry net. It also makes you think much more about how to catch the fish, where they will be in your peg and how to feed. I’m going to run through my top tips on how to catch more carp and F1’s in winter.

MARK YOUR POLE TO ENSURE THAT YOU ARE FISHING ACCURATELY

WHERE TO START?

A common question often asked is where to start fishing in winter? It can differ on many lakes, but as a rule I look for deeper water on the long pole. 13 metres is a good starting point, being comfortable to hold. I like to fish further away in winter. As the water clears up the fish will back away from the margins and bankside disturbance and as the fish won’t be moving much you’ll have to follow them! I’ll plumb up with two lines at 10 o’clock and 2 o’clock. This allows me to feed two lines and hopefully keep fish coming though the match. Sometimes you can get away with using the same rig for both lines if the depth is the same.

number 1 in match fishing

Spend plenty of time plumbing up in your swim. You want to find the deepest water that you can. There may be one bit of your peg that is only 6” deeper than the rest, but this is where you want to be fishing. One very important part of winter fishing is marking your pole. This simple, but extremely important tip is often overlooked by anglers, but can really improve your catch rate. If you are fishing on the end of one of your sections it is easy to know the distance, but should you be fishing half way along a pole section it is an essential tip. Mark your section with either Tippex or electrical tape.

SUPER EXPANDER PELLET & SIZE 18 PR 490

PB INTER 3 FLOAT

RIG UP

Getting the right rigs can mean the difference between a good day’s fishing, or a bad day’s blanking! As the fish won’t be moving much in the cold weather you’ll often find that the bites will be extremely finicky, therefore dotting down your float and using thinner, more supple line is essential. My rigs are extremely simple, for the rig line I use 0.12mm Precision Power, coming down to a PB Inter 3. This float has a wire stem to make it more stable in the deeper water. Directly underneath the float is a small No.10 shot, this helps to cock the float, allowing me to read what is happening as the rig drops through the water. 12 inches above the hook is a spread out bulk of No.9 Super Soft Shot. The spread bulk provides a slower, more natural fall through the water, but still gets the bait down where you want it! Underneath the bulk is a 6” hooklength of 0.10mm Precision Power down to a size 18 PR 490 hook. This fine wire hook is perfect for a soft pellet or piece of corn on the hook. Dotting your float down as low as possible will help you to connect with more fish. The bites from carp and F1’s can be easily missed if you’ve got a lot of bristle showing above the water.

NO. 10 SHOT

SPREAD OUT BULK OF NO.9 SUPER SOFT SHOT

0.12 PRECISION POWER prestoninnovations.com 073

N I P S A N I T E G T ’ DON Y TECHNOLOG T S I W -T I T N WITH PTFE A

ACCURATE FEEDING WITH A SOFT CAD POT IS ESSENTIAL

BAIT AND FEEDING

R E DUR AMBER-CO

ABLE HOLL

OW EL AS TI

ERGONMIC

SOFT-GRIP

FL AT BASE

PELLE T PO

LE X FR AME

IS T T E C H N

OGY

ANTI-T

RIGID NON-F

HANDLE

AVAILABLE IN TWO SIZES

SMALL for 4mm - 8mm pellets LARGE for 6mm - 10mm pellets Prices from £7.99

UCH

Although I won’t need to feed a lot in winter, I like to take a wide range of baits. It gives me lots of options to use when I’m fishing, which is great in winter when the fish can be picky! When fishing two swims at 10 and 2, I will often feed one swim with natural baits such as maggots and casters and the other with 2mm Fin Perfect Feed Pellets and a few grains of F1 corn. This allows me to change baits without the risk of ruining a swim by introducing more of another type of bait. I’ll kick off one swim with a small handful of 2mm pellets and three or four grains of F1 Corn. In winter this is enough to kick off a swim, because the fish won’t want much bait. On the other line, I will feed a few maggots and casters to create other options. For hookbaits I can use Super Expander Pellets, F1 Corn, maggots or casters, allowing me to chop and change until I find something that the fish want to eat.

By using a Soft Cad Pot on the end of my pole I can introduce small amounts of pellets into the swim when I ship out. I’ve also used the sprinkle cap on the top, to slow down the release of pellets and give me two chances to feed! Just a few pellets trickling into the swim can spur the fish on the feed.

ED WARREN | Beat the Freeze

FO R T ON E H D

K C H C

IDE IN S P TR A E A P RO A ’S

W! OUT NO

T HE S E W IN T E SURE TO HELP R T IP S A RE AND BET TER W YOU TO BIGGER INTER CATCHES Don’t sta y a t home ju

s t b e c au s put 100lb e y o u wo in your ne n’t t each tim out there e y o u g o. and work G e t a t your fishin for the fis g, search h and win more ma tches!

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Knockout Cup 2014 | ANDY POWER VS GEOFF VALLANCE

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ANDY POWER VS GEOFF VALLANCE | Knockout Cup 2014

2014 THE FINAL Following six hard-fought rounds, two Preston Innovations anglers went head to head in the final for the 2nd year running. This time it was Andy Power vs Geoff Vallance. Who would end up as champion?

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Knockout Cup 2014 | ANDY POWER VS GEOFF VALLANCE

The Set ting #The

Knockout Cup is held as one of the most prestigious events in the match fishing calendar, featuring over 100 of match angling’s elite whittled down over five qualifying rounds, leaving four anglers in the two-day final. Held at the extremely scenic and fish filled, Docklow Pools, this was sure to be a great match.

DAY ONE

match by fishing with meat on the waggler. Both anglers opting for an Adjustable Dura Waggler to offer maximum bite indication. After only a few minutes Andy, with some advice from his bank runner, Lee Edwards, came off the waggler line to concentrate on the short pole. With the lake holding a huge number of silverfish, Andy would target them up-in-the water using casters, in an attempt to build his weight while the carp were not feeding. Geoff was targeting the larger fish, using bigger baits, such as meat. Andy kept plugging away on his short pole line, his constant slapping of the 4x12 Chianti Float and caster hookbait put fish after fish into the keepnet at an alarming rate. Geoff’s catch rate had started to fall, with only the odd fish going into the net. His decision to target only big fish wasn’t helping his efforts to catch The venue would change for the up with Andy. With two hours of the match left, second day. Mickey Mouse lake would be the scene of the final day. Unlike Andy decided to have a look at his previous years, where the two finalists would be pegged next to each other, a change would be made allowing the anglers a choice of pegs. Geoff drew peg 8, a peg that is familiar to the Knockout Cup ANOTHER FISH SAFELY IN THE and also the peg that sealed NET FOR ANDY Micheal Buchwalder’s victory in 2013. Andy drew peg 20. On the opposite bank to Geoff, next to the bridge. This peg could produce a big weight, but the talk on the bank was that carp would be needed to win. Both anglers started the The first day saw four anglers go head to head on the Match Lake. This lake is home to a number of species including some large carp and plenty of F1’s and silver fish to back it up! Fishing with a long pole, Andy Power fed Sonubaits Natural Hemp via a Soft Cad Pot, with a worm hookbait to keep a steady stream of carp, F1’s and chub going into his net. Meanwhile, Geoff Vallance was fishing a short line, feeding hemp and fishing with meat on the hook. Another finalist, Rob Wooton looked to be catching lots of fish, but Gary Miller had fallen behind slightly going into the last hour. A switch to his margin line saw Andy catch five big carp to add to his tally! Andy managed to put 137lb 14oz onto the scales to book his place in the day two match. He was closely followed in 2nd place by Geoff Vallance, who weighed in with 132lb 4oz, taking the second spot in the day two match.

margin lines. A heavy rig tied using a PB Carp 1, 0.17mm Reflo Power and a size 12 PR 456 hook would be enough to subdue one of the large carp that reside in this lake. His F1 Corn hookbait was soon snapped up by a large carp! T his w asn’t t he last of the carp to be placed in his net either. Over the next hour and 45 minutes a procession of carp came to the margin tactics. Geoff managed to put some bigger fish into his net later on during the match, but could it be enough to catch Andy’s net of carp and silvers? When the scales arrived, Geoff was first to weigh. His mainly silver fish net tipped the scales to 33lb 9oz.

Round in peg 20 Andy was next to weigh. His two keepnets full of fish totalling 102lb 14oz was enough to take the title and be crowned 2014’s Knockout Cup Champion!

THE WINNERS VERDICT

“To win this event is a great feeling, I remember reading about it years ago as a young aspiring angler, thinking how awesome it would be to win it one day, or even be invited to fish among such quality anglers! The pegging for day two was only decided the day before, so when I drew peg 20 I knew nothing about the form of it, but felt that as long as I could catch silver fish shallow on casters, as I did in practice, I would have a good chance. With some tasty-looking margins as a backup, I felt reasonably confident. The match itself went to plan, with plenty of decent roach around. Although a little finicky at times, they gave me a decent lead over Geoff, which enabled me to go in search of big carp in the margins with meat, to finish off a great day.”

DAY TWO

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GEOFF’S WEIGH IN OF 33LB 9OZ

ANDY POWER VS GEOFF VALLANCE | Knockout Cup 2014

THE MATCH ITSELF WENT TO PLAN WITH PLENTY OF DECENT ROACH AROUND Andy power

ANDY POWER

KNOCKOUT CHAMPION 2014 ANDY’S WINNING CATCH OF 102LB 14OZ SECURED HIS VICTORY

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Taming the Tiber | ANGELO DE PASCALIS & TOMMY PICKERING

RIVER TIBER, ITALY

E H T G N I TAM

R E B I T

Along the River Tiber there are many match venues but by far the most popular is the FIPSAS sports facility in Umbertide. During the third Preston Innovations Italian Festival we discovered the secrets of this wonderful venue and were keen to revisit when it was announced as the setting for the latest Winning Pegs Italia DVD, so we went along to capture all the action as Italian Feeder Champion Angelo De Pascalis was joined by England Feeder Team Manager Tommy Pickering. The section of river in this area can host up to 260 anglers and offers an array of species such as carp, chub, carassio, barbel, tench as well as 080

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many small fish. The chub has always been considered the king of this river here and itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s the first target of every competition angler and can be caught in large numbers dependent on the season and the method employed, by far the most effective is feeder fishing. And who better to demonstrate the art than two of the finest feeder anglers in the world. Angelo was keen to analyse how Tommyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s approach differed from the methods he would normally employ and show how it demonstrated the effectiveness of various tactics when applied in the correct manner.

ANGELO DE PASCALIS & TOMMY PICKERING | Taming the Tiber

Destinati

on The river T ib er is the thir d longest rive r in Italy, risi ng in Emilia-Rom agna and flo wing for 406km thro ugh Umbria and Lazio to the Tyrrhe nian Sea.

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Taming the Tiber | ANGELO DE PASCALIS & TOMMY PICKERING

TOMMY’S

Feeder Essentials

PR 344 hooks Precision Power

Reflo Power

O pe n Ended Feeder For

Tommy’s R Diagram ig See page 71

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“Making the right decisions, tactically, keeping things simple and preparing the baits and groundbait correctly is the key to success,” Tommy told Angelo when we arrived on the riverbank. Tommy’s first choice rod for this wild venue was the new 12ft Competition Pro medium feeder coupled with a PC-R Competition 4000 reel loaded with 6lb Reflo Power Max Line. Generally on the Tiber, the flow of the water is not too fast so it is ideal for a 45g open ended groundbait feeder approach and the running rig chosen by Tommy is very simple to assemble. It is made up of a simple link swivel and Korum Quick Change Bead with a 50cm Precision Power hooklength in 0.14mm diameter finished with a size 16 PR 344 hook. During the bait preparation Tommy explained to Angelo that the groundbait must always be mixed perfectly so that it can hold the bait until the feeder has reached the bottom. Tommy stressed that you must be careful with this as if the mix is too dry and leaves the feeder before it reaches the bottom the fish could quite possibly follow the bait out of your swim which can obviously be disastrous in match fishing circumstances when you

are limited to the confines of your peg. Watching Tommy fishing, Angelo observed that everything seemed very simple and it was imperative to keep casting to induce a bite. A mixture of Sonubaits Supercrumb Bream and River ensured that most casts were rewarded with a bite or a fish confirming his positive approach was the right choice. What was particularly noticeable was the Competition rod’s ability to convert the bite into a hooked fish due to the fast action blank and the correct choice of quiver tip. This resulted in chub after chub finding its way into Tommy’s keepnet, much to Angelo’s delight.

Angelo was also fascinated b y To m m y ’s choice of baits used throughout the day; it immediately became clear that the caster was the most successful hookbait which was strange as a maggot approach normally scores on the Tiber. The mixture of caster and Sonubaits Tinned Hemp that Tommy had prepared was also the perfect choice as Tommy amassed an impressive haul of chub as well as a solitary barbel. After this great experience, Angelo was delighted with the results and commented, “Having the chance to admire a great champion like Tommy Pickering during a fishing trip on the river is priceless.” The comparisons that the two had made between their contrasting styles and approaches just goes to show you can always compare notes and that your own knowledge and beliefs combined with those of other anglers can ultimately result in both parties catching more fish than ever before and after all that’s what every angler wants. And fortunately for our two stars there are few venues as idyllic as the River Tiber in Umbertide to achieve that goal.

ANGELO DE PASCALIS & TOMMY PICKERING | Taming the Tiber

ec t The Perafti on Combin ed the new

Angelo us Tommy and Feeder n Pro 12ft Competitio with a PC-R rod coupled . n 4000 reel Competitio

MAKING THE RIGHT DECISIONS, TACTICALLY, KEEPING THINGS SIMPLE AND PREPARING THE BAITS AND GROUNDBAIT CORRECTLY IS THE KEY TO SUCCESS tommy pickering

number 1 in match fishing

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THE INNOVATIVE ROTATING SEATBOX INCLUDES EVA SIDE TRAY PRICE £229.99rrp SEE THE ONBOX 360 IN ACTION @

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