Innholdsfortegnelse for Issue 3679 i Angling Times

THIS WEEK WE’VE seen the nation’s biggest-ever pike, eel, roach and catfish banked this year, but one angler has landed a much smaller fish that could well have deserved a place in the history books too! Jason Dixon was fishing Queensmere Dam in Manchester when he caught this rare bitterling. The British Record for this non-native fish stands at just 12 drams, landed in 1998 by mini-species expert, Dennis Flack. “I had mine on a single red maggot fished on 2lb line below a waggler,” Jason said. “I’d been pulling out small roach and rudd before this beauty put in an appearance! “I didn’t have any scales suitable for such a small fish, but I’d say it weighed well over 12 drams!”…

THE BIGGEST problem with any fishing luggage is knowing how the angler is going to use it. The gear we carry varies from angler to angler, and the way we use and store it changes throughout the year. Wychwood has taken this into account with its latest Extremis EVA luggage range. Stated uses of the items within the collection span brew kits, snacks, electronics, bait, tackle, bankwear and even wet clothing. The core parts of the system are the Utility Bag and the Carryall, both made from wipe-clean, waterproof and leakproof EVA with removable shoulder straps. The central compartment on both will take two Large Deep Accessory Bags, four Large Shallow Bags, four Medium Deep Bags, eight Medium Shallow Bags, or a host of combinations of these. The Utility Bag…

IT’S NOT difficult to see why chub and barbel are among the most popular species with river anglers. They fight hard, reach impressive weights and look the part when held aloft in front of the camera. Use large hookbaits and loosefeed offerings, such as boilies and pellets, and there’s a good chance that you’ll eventually draw in the fish that top your agenda. That could take a while to happen, though, and on some days, it simply won’t happen at all. Drennan Barnsley Blacks angler Tom Noton believes there is another way to boost the number of chub and barbel that end up in the net, while keeping bites from other species coming as you wait for them to arrive. “I firmly believe that the presence of smaller silverfish, such…

CARPSKILLS BAIT application, along with fish location and effective rigs, is one of the three fundamentals necessary for having a productive session. Anyone can buy a bag of good quality boilies or a jar of ready-prepared particles, but it’s their application that determines success or otherwise. And when it comes to the introduction of loosefeed, I’ve found there are a number of factors which are often overlooked, but which can tip the odds in your favour. ENSURE IT’S SMELLING GOOD! Bait freshness is something that doesn’t always get the attention it deserves. There’s nothing better than the smell of fresh hemp or particles, and, trust me, the carp will think the same. If you walk into a room and smell a lovely Sunday roast dinner, you’re going to want to…

FISHING TRIPS HAVE HELPED ARCHIE SO MUCH MY SON, Archie (10), has been fishing since he was three. At the age of six he was diagnosed with ADHD and, a year later, with dyslexia. Fishing for him is so calming , and helps him to be who he is. He has always enjoyed being by the water and watching his dad’s every move. He makes his own bait each week and does much more stuff by himself. At the beginning of this year he started to read, and also began writing. This was because he learned so much while fishing , and took an interest in angling books and magazines. His school has seen a massive improvement in him, and wanted me to get in touch with you to spread…

EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW FROM THE WORLD OF FISHING THE River Trent match record has been broken with an enormous 226lb haul of barbel and bream. England Freestyle Feeder team member Joe Jaggar banked 45 slabs, eight barbel and a chub during a six-hour contest on a stretch of the waterway that the controlling club wish to remain unnamed. Taking part as a guest in the local league event, he was given early hope of a red-letter day when one regular told him he’d drawn ‘the best peg in England’. Come the final whistle it was hard to argue with that, as Joe’s long-range feeder tactics worked from start to finish. “I felt confident that I’d be in for a good day, but never in my wildest dreams did…

A NEW competition catering for up to 200 young anglers is set to give the future of match fishing a boost. Sheffield’s Aston Park and Kiveton Hall have teamed up to host the Celebration of Young Anglers, brainchild of tackle giant Guru. Categories for under-13s and under-18s have been created. The field will then be split further into ‘beginners’ with very little experience, who’ll be given assistance, and ‘advanced’, for those that don’t need any help. “There are loads of prizes up for grabs, plus expert anglers will be attending to offer help and advice – it’s set to be an absolute cracker!” said Guru ace Andy Bennett. The contest is on August 8, with tickets costing £10. Visit the Embryo Family Fishing Facebook page to enter.…

COVER EVERY INCH OF THE FAR BANK SLOPE ANY SWIM with an island will prove attractive, but so many anglers make the mistake of focusing too much on the feature itself. Fishing tight up against it will work, but at times the carp will push down the slope into deeper water. It’s your job to stay in touch with them, fishing at different depths throughout the session to make sure that your hookbait is never far away from where they are sat. Feed your swim correctly, don’t get lazy, and you’ll put more fish in your net from swims with an island in front. GIVE IT A GO 1 STEEP SLOPES ARE BEST You need to work out how steep the slope is from the far bank down to the…

THE EDGE Join top match anglers Lee Kerry and Rob Wootton each week as they unveil the tactics and techniques that really make a difference THIS year’s Division One National is fast approaching, and it’s fair to say I’ve heard some pretty derogatory comments about the venue that will play host. There’s no hiding from the fact that the fishing on the Leeds & Liverpool Canal around Wigan can be tricky, but I have a lot of admiration for the venue and the scene that it has helped to create. While the commercial match circuit can be a little divided because of the sheer number of matches taking place each week, the canal events are concentrated, with good turnouts for those in the North West and Midlands, regardless of whether…

IT’S rare to find a ‘hidden gem’ these days, but Dodd’s Water truly fits the bill. This half-acre pool, part of the Waterbeach AC complex in Cambridgeshire, is lined with lush reeds and dense lily pads, making it the perfect spot for a bit of floatfishing. And that’s the only tactic allowed! It’s filled with tench, crucians, bream and rudd, providing a bit of classic English stillwater fishing. There’s not a carp in sight. It resembles a traditional farm pond, with no platforms to fish from or groomed banks. It’s left relatively wild, with peg-sized gaps cut into the reeds that allow anglers to fish in comfort. The pond was dug in 2019 and opened for fishing a few years ago. There aren’t yet any specimens in here, but the…

WITH the utmost respect to Angling Times journalists past and present, when good fishing stories are hard to come by – often at this time of year, bizarrely – they have to become, let’s just say, ‘creative’. One of the finest examples was when Mr Crabtree – not forgetting his junior sidekick, Peter – was credited with inventing the Method feeder, way back in 1949. The story revealed that Mr Crabtree (or ‘Lobsterbush’ as my mates and I used to say, to camouflage the source of our angling credits) wrapped his hookbait (a parboiled spud) in a ball of stiff groundbait that any peckish cyprinid could then dig out. The story didn’t mention that this particular ‘method’ couldn’t be cast, but instead had to be thrown by hand. It must…

LAST CAST WITH DOM WHAT a difference a few weeks make. After a cool spring, so many of my local waters had been quite refreshingly clear. With some sun and another month or so, though, the undergrowth fights back. Predictably, out come the calls about natural venues being “unfishable”. Sure, all that plant matter can be a challenge, but where there’s a weed rake there’s a way, and my latest club match was the first I’ve fished where the use of one was not only allowed, but encouraged. The swim I drew needed a shave as badly as I did. I had to rake the bank before I could even contemplate thinning out the stuff in the water! My hands and trousers were soon stinking of algae and silt. Would…

THIS WEEK REPORTS have come to light of a staggering roach catch, in which 30 roach over the 2lb mark were banked. The fish were caught over two sessions by specimen angler Terry Theobald from a Shropshire Lake, where maggot feeder tactics did all the damage. If the sheer number of fish wasn’t impressive enough, Terry also landed a pair of three-pounders, the bigger one weighing 3lb 1oz. Amazingly, he only had one roach under 2lb! “They were two sessions like no other,” Terry told us. “On the first trip a light south-westerly wind was blowing, with the odd bit of drizzle. I had 17 roach that day between 2lb 1oz and 2lb 15oz.” Unsurprisingly, he couldn’t wait to get back, and returned a few weeks later. “This…

THE battle for cleaner rivers has so far been a ‘cold’ war, filled with strong statements, protests, and data gathering. But after a landmark legal judgement last week, things could be about to heat up. A new Supreme Court ruling means that individuals and businesses – fisheries and angling clubs included – who are affected by sewage discharges, can now take direct legal action against the water companies responsible. Previously, the courts ruled that penalties for water companies were the regulator’s responsibility, and that private claims couldn’t be brought against them. This new ruling changes that, and is being described as a ‘watershed moment’ by lawyers, bursting the bureaucratic bubble that for so long protected polluters. “This is a sensational victory,” said Jennine Walker of Good Law Project, a non-profit…

THE GAME CHANGER Stephen Kingswell – 2lb 13oz roach “I’VE been targeting specimen roach on a water where the small fish are very difficult to get through, and that has called for a slightly unorthodox approach. “The lake in question is a Norfolk water that sees a lot of boilies fed by carp anglers. The roach are definitely eating them, and I believe these are essentially now part of their ‘natural diet’. “So, I’ve been using them as bait, but not tiny boilies, as some anglers use for roach, but 14mm dumbells! I’ve found these to be more selective than 10mm or 12mm baits for the larger fish, and bottom baits are my preference, because pop-ups seem to tempt more bream. “There are several other things I do to help…

TACKLE GUIDE IN LAST week’s Live Test of Preston’s Dura 10ft Carp Feeder, I signed off by mentioning that I was then rigging up its sister 10ft Dura Pellet Waggler rod. So, in a first for us, you join me this week for what happened next – a sort of two-part Live Test. Having caught plenty of little F1s and carp, along with a surprise beast of a common, on a small feeder against the island of Sycamore lake at Marston Fields fishery, I could see a few basking lunkers starting to cruise in the warm sunshine. Although I was still catching , the peg had become a little stale. There are only so many times you can drop a feeder down the same hole before fish of any experience…

THE NATURAL world is never static and, as spring slips into full summer, it’s a time of transition for us anglers too. We bid farewell to some challenges and prepare for new ones. My angling diary is currently in flux as time marches on, and I feel disappointed with my salmon fishing. This year, sport was non-existent. Only three times did I get on the river and make a cast, but conditions were so poor that I did it out of desperation rather than in hope. That electric tug on the line never came. Prime time for carp has also passed but, just before spawning drew a line under it, I enjoyed a busy morning in their pursuit. Carp fishing has been made so complex these days, but it doesn't…

BAIT CLINIC Honest advice to help you to catch more fish on every trip, without breaking the bank IF THERE is one topic that I get more questions about than any other, it has to be how to produce spot-on baits for the Method feeder. It is such an efficient tactic, not just for carp, but bream, tench, F1s and crucians too. No wonder, then, that it’s well worth the small amount of effort to get right. Each species, though – as well as different venue types – requires some tweaks to the bait menu. So let’s now take a look at how you can optimise your Method baits... GROUNDBAIT AND PELLETS Taking an average commercial venue, with carp from 3lb to 15lb as our starting point, this ‘bread-and-butter’ fishery…

OUR MAN ON THE BANK READING the ‘news exclusive’ (Angling Times, July 2) I was particularly struck by this statement from Labour’s Environment Secretary, Steve Reed: "We need to stop the desecration of our rivers and our countryside." This brought to mind a conversation I had in 2010, when Martin Salter visited the River Severn. At that time, as a life member of the Angling Trust, I had the honour of being named one of its first ambassadors alongside Dave Harrell and the late Jan Porter. I expressed my concerns about otter predation, and its potential impact on the river's barbel population. Martin advised against mentioning otters and now, 15 years later, match anglers resort to using whips to catch chub and roach due to the notable decline in barbel.…