Innholdsfortegnelse for Issue 3642 i Angling Times

GET READY WITH RINGER YEARS ago, the only way to attach pole rigs to the elastic was with a plastic Stonfo connector. Whether you were using a No3 grade for roach or a 16 for big carp, they were the only show in town, yet were never quite right, in my eyes. Then came the Dacron revolution, which initially involved home-made connectors using the fly fishing material, with a bead popped over the top to hold things in place. They took time to become popular, but now almost every angler I see fishing the pole uses them, and it’s little wonder why. They’re neater than a Stonfo, won’t tangle, are lighter and more direct on the strike. In fact, even the Dacron connector has been developed further by top matchman…

A HISTORY-REPEATING LOSS WHILE walking back to the car after a short dawn session on the River Ure, a friend and I came across a young lad playing what looked like a good fish. So we crouched beneath the skyline to watch events unfold. Maybe 10 minutes had passed when the fish rolled directly in front of us – a rare Ure salmon. Neither of us revealed to the youngster what he’d hooked, and a short while later it was obvious the fish was beginning to tire. The lad grabbed his landing net and slowly began to inch it out into the river. The fish, although at the angler’s feet, was still hugging the bottom and, in his urgency to land it, the lad made his first but only mistake…

‘ANGLING Automation’, Dickie Walker called it over 60 years ago when there were rumblings about very early electronic bite alarms. To put it into context, back then far fewer anglers fished at night than they do today, and those that did so usually floatfished with floats adorned with luminous paint or used a ‘bicycle lamp’ (if you’re old enough, you’ll know) shining across the water onto the float. Legering, using a bobbin made either of breadpaste (the classic ‘dough bobbin’) or silver foil was an alternative, although my ‘trap’ on my very rare after-dark sorties was an old penny, with the line underneath it, balanced on a Nescafé coffee tin. It didn’t half make me jump when I had a bite! Walker went on to describe a device he’d designed…

FAULT FIXERS Expert help to give your match fishing the edge THE TUTOR MARK POLLARD One of the most successful UK match anglers, both on home soil and in Ireland, and a winner of multiple titles with Van Den Eynde Essex County. THE LESSON 1 GIVE THEM LESS FEED! People who still fill a pot with bait and put the lot in will still get bites to begin with, but then wonder why they’ve stopped catching after an hour. As the weeks go by, the appetite of the fish steadily decreases, and by December you’ll not feed anything! For now, put in around a quarter less than what you normally would. Less feed means more chance of keeping the fish interested for longer. 2 SCALE DOWN YOUR TACKLE…

FIND THE RIGHT DEPTH In summer, you want to be fishing in the shallowest water possible, but come late autumn, the opposite applies. Most margins slope down quite quickly and if you come out a metre or so from the bank you will often find around 3ft of water. On mild days, you may find carp here, but a more reliable spot is where you can find 4ft of water or more. This depth will hold fish no matter how cold it gets, even if there has been a frost. FISH WITH SMALLER BAITS It’s easy to be tempted to fish a big, highly-visible bait that the fish will find with little trouble, but that’s not always right. Instead, give the fish something that they can pick up confidently and…

AFTER months of anticipation, the nation’s predator anglers have been out in force this week, and if their early results are anything to go by, we’re set for a spectacular few months ahead! October 1 hailed the start of the traditional predator fishing season, with thousands of anglers dusting off their lure rods, defrosting deadbaits and hitting the banks with dreams of huge pike, perch and zander. Mark Hewett had arguably the best result of the week when he landed a 30lb 7oz pike from the Hampshire Avon. “I was trotting a crease in the river with a small livebait when, on the first run down, the float sailed away,” he told us. “I hooked a fish that felt heavy from the off and, after it made several savage runs,…

“I HAD A BIG DROP-BACK BITE WITHIN FIVE MINUTES” Daniel Bouskila – 145lb of bream “I DID a quick ‘recce’ session on a very lightly-fished water, and started by walking around it and looking for signs of life. I didn’t see much, but the wind was blowing in hard from the south west, so I picked a spot over some deeper water and fired out two maggot feeders on helicopter rigs. “To my surprise, I had a big drop-back bite within five minutes, and as I picked up the rod, felt the thump of a good fish. As I was using maggots, it could’ve been anything, but after it had kited around for a bit, a lovely bream came to the net. I knew it was close to double figures,…

Chew Valley Lake Has any venue shaped modern predator fishing more profoundly? In our rapidly moving world, it’s easy to forget just how poorly pike were treated not so long ago. Many anglers wanted them culled, while the idea of pike fishing commanding high sums of money would have been laughed at. Not any longer! Chew’s 1200 acres have produced dream fish to over 40lb for countless anglers. This is no accident, but an attitude shift in which, far from being unwanted, large predators were seen as an asset that could generate major income. Furthermore, the venue’s approach has helped bring angling factions together, with trout fishers enjoying pike sport while predator anglers learned to fly fish. River Thames No look at Britain’s changing angling landscape would be complete without…

SONUBAITS OOZING BARBEL AND CARP PELLETS A great choice in murky water or flooded conditions, where barbel can home in on the pungent flavour and vivid colour of these durable baits. Can be hair-rigged or banded and, once submerged, the oozing effect will continue to pump attraction into the swim for up to 24 hours. Dumbbell-shaped, they are available in two sizes and three flavours – Cheesy Garlic, Halibut and Spicy Sausage. PRICE: £4.99, www.sonubaits.com SONUBAITS SUPERCRUSH BARBEL A strong, meaty-smelling groundbait packed full of hempseed, meat extracts and fishmeals. Can be used to ‘ball in’ and prime an area; in a feeder to sandwich a pinch of freebies on every cast; or packed into a feeder on its own to create a slower dispersal of attractive particles. In 2kg…

OUR MAN ON THE BANK B IG bait equals big fish – how many times have you heard that? Although in some situations that can be the case, in others it can be the opposite. The size of bait that I use is decided by one of three things: the size of natural food the fish are eating, whether I’m trying to avoid fish smaller than the main species I’m targeting, and when I’m trying to do something different to what other anglers are doing. The first one is what we often call ‘matching the hatch’. If pike are eating small fish, then that’s what to try on the hook or, if trout are taking small flies rather than chasing fry, then it’s worth putting a small imitation fly on.…

CARPSKILLS Long-range fishing needn’t be daunting. Just follow a few basic rules and you’ll crack it! IN THE past, the majority of my fishing was done on small intimate waters using 10ft rods to flick out rigs to a maximum of 40-50 yards. In recent years, however, I have embarked on a complete change of approach, spending more time fishing a local reservoir, where bigger casts have been required to reach the carp. Fishing at range is a whole different kettle of fish, where fine margins can really make a difference between catching or not, and there are a few key points which have aided my success on the reservoir… BRAIDED SHOCKLEADERS On venues that permit the use of braided shockleaders, this can be an absolute game-changer for getting extra…

THE SECOND big match of the autumn on Herefordshire’s River Wye welcomed 15 teams of six to slug it out for the Wye Team Champs title, and the silverware found its way into familiar hands as Woody’s Premier emerged winners with an 81-point tally. However, they didn’t have it all their own way, as Cadence Bait-Tech Superteam matched that score, only to see the aggregate weight race go the way of Woody’s with 257-8-0 against the 236-8-0 of Cadence. Top individual was DH Angling’s Dan Ashington with 63-4-0 of mainly chub taken off peg 4 in E section at Eign using float tactics with maggot. Dave Roberts of the winning team came in second with 58-12-0 of dace on pole to hand from peg D8 on the Bartonsham section. Sensas…

THE hugely popular Mortimer and Whitehouse: Gone Fishing is set to return to our screens at Christmas, after series 6 ended on a somewhat unusual note. Since it was first broadcast in 2018, the BBC2 programme has been a hit with the angling and non-angling public alike. But the final two episodes of series six were, by the show’s lofty standards, somewhat controversial. The penultimate episode saw the appearance of guest star and comedian Lee Mack, who stood in for a shingles-stricken Bob. Lee, who is vegan, refused to fish, and instead ‘magnet fished’ alongside a bemused Paul. It’s safe to say that audiences weren’t pleased with the episode, with some hailing it the ‘worst ever’. In the final episode of the series, Bob – still…

EVERY year without fail, electrofishing across the heartland of British canal fishing is a red rag to anglers. While the authorities still condemn zander as an invasive pest, the fishing landscape has changed beyond measure since that classification was made. Back in the 1970s and 1980s, match anglers flocked to natural waters, and predator fishing was a fringe interest. Some zander-hit venues showed a steep decline in the short term, with species like gudgeon wiped out. Fast forward to 2023, however, and it’s lure and predator anglers who often dominate on canals. They’ll tell you that silverfish populations have stabilised, while hotly opposing the removal of the very fish they want to catch. But who gets the final say? VALUE FOR MONEY? One man staunchly against culls is Steve Lile.…

TACKLE GUIDE NOW that you’ve whizzed through the first section of your Angling Times, got past the exclusive news stories, pictures of big fish that you wish you’d caught and Steve Ringer’s unbeatable advice, you’ve finally got to the best bit – the tackle pages! You will no doubt now be expecting a review about the latest rod or pole, one that’s just about to hit the tackle shops. But what’s this? A MAP Dual 9ft Bomb rod – a gem of a rod, no doubt, but from a range hurtling toward five years old! There is, however, a good reason for this. Please, read on… Top international feeder angler Michael Buchwalder joined MAP a little over a year ago. Not only has he been heavily involved in tackle development,…

THE OLD adage of ‘one man’s meat is another man’s poison’ rings true quite often in angling, so as I loaded the van with slimy, wet nets after a great day on the bank I knew that many people would have preferred to stay at home rather than do what I’d just done. Catching bream from a river isn’t very popular with specialist anglers these days. Many view the species as little more than a nuisance. Conversely, match anglers dream of drawing a peg full of weight-building ‘slabs’, but being an all-rounder means I can find joy in every type of angling, and that’s fine by me. So, let me describe my latest adventure. Heavy rains the previous week had created coffee-stained, swollen rivers, which had no doubt sent the…

CHESTERFIELD CANAL, WORKSOP, NOTTS The two small pounds between locks 42 and 44 at Shireoaks hold bream to 6lb. Thoroughly explore your swim, fishing worm and caster to far-bank cover and maggots over groundbait down the track. Tel: 01909 489621 DROITWICH CANAL, DROITWICH SPA, WORCS Dozens of pegs were cut out on the Mildenham stretch several years ago and those that trial fished the area were surprised at the number of bream present. Depths run to 4ft and fishing worms over groundbait will fool fish to 5lb. Tel: 07910 231005 RIVER TRENT, NEWARK-ON-TRENT, NOTTS Bream to 7lb-plus are possible from Crankley Point. Catch the venue carrying some colour in mild conditions and 100lb hauls are achievable. Use a large cage feeder to lay down a bed of groundbait laced with…

Honest advice to help you to catch more fish on every trip, without breaking the bank. AS WATER temperatures drop, commercial fishery carp start to change their behaviour. No longer will you always find them right up in the shallow margins, as in summer, and more often they will be sat a little bit deeper. On many venues, especially older ones, the firm area at the base of the marginal drop-off, just before where the softer lakebed begins is a great place to target, as not only is it the right depth, your bait will be sat on the bottom, and won’t become buried in the softer substrate. You can fish this ‘transitional’ zone on the near bank with the short pole, but the chances are that to fish the…