Innholdsfortegnelse for Issue 3664 i Angling Times

A FEW weeks ago at The Big One Show I was chatting to Rob Hughes in between talks, and we got on to the subject of why some anglers are able to consistently out-perform others. By and large we all have access to the same tackle and bait and, with the amount of content available to us these days, there are very few tactics that remain ‘under wraps’ – although that may have once been the case. Obviously, good watercraft skills are essential for consistent results, but something we discussed that perhaps goes under the radar a little bit in a world obsessed with rigs and baits was the actual art of casting itself, and the ability to deliver these rigs and hookbaits efficiently and accurately. At this point Rob…

EXTREMIS FEEDER RODS WHAT THEY SAY: Made for anglers seeking high performance at an affordable price, Extremis feeder rods come in 10ft, 11ft and 12ft versions, plus there are three Distance Feeder models ranging from 12ft 8ins to 13ft 8ins. These ultra-high-modulus carbon blanks are light and durable. Oversized American Tackle TI Force Air guides give improved casting distance. With attention to detail in handle length and fish-playing action, the Extremis range delivers optimum performance from 60m up to over 100m. All feature a unique rubber handle design for ultimate comfort and grip in any weather. Each rod comes with three tips and a quality padded rod bag. WHAT WE SAY: A very tasty looking set of feeder rods at a sensible set of prices! We cant wait to get…

HOW ACCURATE are you when you cast? When I say ‘accurate’, I don’t just mean where the rig lands, but how it lands, and that includes hitting the water as well as the deck. It also means how you stand, how you hold your arms, where you position your feet and the power of the cast. Does the rig hit the clip properly or are you feathering it down? Was there any bounce-back, did you feel the lead down, and has the rig landed neatly? That’s a lot to think about… and then put into practice! However, it’s vital that all these things happen in the right order, at the right time, and in the right way. Of course, most of the above comes naturally when you’ve been casting a…

Aaron Reeves Perch (unweighed), Beeston Marina, Nottingham, maggots George Harvey 7lb 8oz common carp, local club water, Gloucestershire Othello Sweeney 12lb 4oz pike, The Ducky, Liverpool, deadbait Archie Wassell 6lb mirror carp, local lake, Staffordshire, sweetcorn Lewis Shaw-Phelan 16lb 8oz common, Cudmore Fisheries, Staffs, maggots Amir Ahmed 4lb chub, Float Fish Farm, Peterborough, Cambs Teddy Pickering Mixed bag, The Carrs Angling Lakes, Stockton-on-Tees Violet Shaw Pike (unweighed), Low Mill Pond, Chorley, Lancs, livebait Orla Devlin Common carp (unweighed), Stones Fishery, Swale, Kent Benjamin Wylie 10lb pike, Grantham Canal, Nottingham, deadbait Oliver West 5lb 4oz barbel, local Essex day-ticket water, sweetcorn Liam Morgan 9lb 10oz common, Mathern Fishery, Chepstow, boilie Zac Cripsey 16lb pike, Sibsey Trader Drain, Lincolnshire, deadbait Jenson Still 12lb 5oz common carp, North View Lakes, Lincs, boilie Toby…

STEVE RINGER World Feeder champ and a constantly successful matchman LEE KERRY England International and professional angling coach SAM EDMONDS Predator fishing ace who specialises in lure tactics DES SHIPP England ace and multiple Parkdean Masters champion PHIL RINGER Top matchman and England Feeder squad international DARREN COX Team England Feeder squad member hailing from Yorkshire MARK POLLARD England international and an expert on natural water fishing I’ve used plastic elastic connectors on my pole for ages. Is there an advantage in using a Dacron connector, and is it safe? Andy Francis, Kidderminster A Dacrons are totally safe, and will not come adrift if you fit them correctly. That’s also not as difficult to do as it first seems, and most connectors have the instructions on the back of the…

RIGHT LAKE, WRONG PEG! BACK on the Maver Match This trail last week, to a venue that’s been very good to me in big qualifiers – Tunnel Barn Farm – and the guarantee of a great day’s fishing, wherever I drew. I think there’s a peg on every lake that’s capable of winning, but sadly I didn’t get one. I drew on the right lake, in the shape of the Extension Pool, but peg 3 didn’t fill me with confidence. From experience, I know that this area rarely holds big old F1s and carp, and so it proved. A start on meat short was a waste of time, prompting a swap to pellets across to the island and maggots and groundbait in the edge. I then had a bite every…

ALONGSIDE the main team event there was individual silverware to be won, the title being a real feather in the cap, given the strong opposition faced and the technical nature of the fishing. Winner was Drennan Barnsley Blacks A and Guru star Frankie Gianoncelli, whose perfect two section wins saw him tie with England captain William Raison, bringing total weight into play. William had battled it out on two harder sections over the weekend to record weights of 2-210 and 1-940 for his 4-150 final score, whereas Frankie had a good first day to go a long way towards his 10-400 winning aggregate. On that first day he landed 7-000 of roach, skimmers and a few bream from peg D14, which he then consolidated with a 3-040 mixed net off…

WHEN six men sat down at a table in 1984 and formed the Catfish Conservation Group (CCG) they didn’t expect it to have nearly 10,000 followers decades later. But today, the ever-growing group, dedicated to supporting anglers interested in the species, has just that, and members recently gathered in Buckingham to celebrate its 40th anniversary. Anglers new and old attended, including Glynn Owen – one of the group’s founders – and predator angling legend Neville Fickling. “With the catfish record reopening, we’re expecting to continue growing this year,” CCG General Secretary, Steve Stewart, told us. “Glynn and Neville were given awards for their services to catfish angling in the UK. It was a special day, and the venue soon filled up!” • If you’d like to know more about…

WHEN faced with an expanse of open water, it can be a bit daunting trying to sort out the right approach. Wind, tow and depth all play their part in making your mind up, but one constant is the bait I’ll be using – pellets. All fish love them, and they’re cheap and easy to use. You can make a bit of noise to pull in fish by loosefeeding them, and they’ll very often catch just as the bait settles. We’re now in the changeover from winter to spring , when pellets begin to dominate, replacing the maggots, corn and bread that we were using only a month or so ago. GIVE IT A GO 1 WHICH PELLET? Hard pellets rule, as they are small fish-proof, they match the pellets…

“Should I fish to my own platform in the margins, or further down the swim?” Colin Ablett, Chester IN A RECENT Guru Bitesize video I fished at 14.5m to reach the edge of the empty platform next door, so your question is very relevant! If I’d felt that I could have caught shorter, and closer to myself, I would have. So why did I fish long to the pallet? Well, the water is still quite clear, so carp are easily spooked by disturbance. Fishing further away from yourself makes good sense. A NATURAL PATROL ROUTE Carp love an empty platform. These are areas where the carp are used to finding food, especially after matches. When the water is clear, carp are much happier around cover – but not under your…

MATCH SCENE THE BIG WIN SOMETIMES, you don’t need to catch lots to win big matches – and Rob Burgin will agree with that after taking the Golden Rod Feeder Champs title at Larford Lakes with a three-point score. Reeling off a section win on day one with 38-2-0 of skimmers from the Specimen Lake, the Lindholme Lakes man then chalked up a section second with just 20-14-0 from the Match Lake, finishing as the only angler to score three points, despite having a relatively low weight. Just two carp plus a few skimmers were enough to see him home on day two, turning the match into a bit of a bottle job. When there’s £10,000 to be won though, who cares how much you need to catch? It’s about…

WOULD you ever swap your modern carbon fishing rods for those fashioned from glass or cane? My older brother, Ben, happily does so. Our original intention last week had been to fly fish the River Usk, but the weather had been so vile we settled on Burrator Reservoir, a Dartmoor trout lake. Was my brother losing it, tackling up with yesteryear specials, including a 1940s cane rod? I have to admit, there’s something quite appealing about beating fish on something created in the same decade that Hitler took a beating! For almost an hour, it wouldn’t have mattered if we’d wielded sticks of rhubarb, nothing worked. The same could gradually be said about our waterproofs! Ben’s next switch was to a glass rod and sinking line, and twice in 20…

FINAL RIVER CATCHES “THE FISH WAS IN FABULOUS CONDITION” Mick Donohoe – 4lb 8dr roach “I WAS fishing the Dorset Frome the day before the season ended when, at around 4pm, I caught the fish of my lifetime – this 4lb 8dr roach. “I was using a groundbait feeder, with three red maggots on a size 16 hook. Usually I prefer to floatfish, but the river was running too hard for that. “The roach put up a brilliant fight and was in fabulous condition, with all its scales intact. It looked as if it had never been caught before! “I cut my teeth match fishing on the Thames, where I won a few big contests. Now I live in Dorset and I have to say, trying to catch specimen fish…

AVID PRO-TECT LANDING NETS Price: 6ft £99.99, 8ft £109.99 The new PRO-Tect landing nets come in a choice of handle lengths, with an 8ft/2.4m parallel two-piece handle or a 6ft/1.8m reverse taper high-modulus carbon handle – both of which are lightweight, sturdy and responsive. Both boast a matte 3K weave finish, giving them a sleek and professional look, and the sandblasted handle grip ensures a secure hold, even in wet weather conditions. The machined ground spike handle cap allows you to secure the net in the margins to safely retain a fish for short periods while preparing your weighing and camera equipment. An ultra-hardwearing machined spreader block houses the reinforced ends of the 42ins carbon arms, while a deep and fish-friendly olive green mesh with Avid graphics completes the impressive…

OUR MAN ON THE BANK ON JUNE 17, 1977, I caught my first 20lb carp at 20lb 14oz. It took a ball of liver paste that I had made myself. That year I had easily my best carp season to date, with 17 double-figure fish topped by that twenty. I was 26 years of age, and at the time it was hard enough finding a water that held any carp, let alone a 20-pounder. Mine was from Llandindrod Wells boating lake, bang in the middle of a Welsh town. Few of my local waters contained carp, which is why I was making the 140-mile round trip to achieve my goal. Lots of others travelled there for the same reason, including Chris Yates who, like me, caught his first 20lb carp…

BAIT CLINIC Honest advice to help you to catch more fish on every trip, without breaking the bank THE NATURAL diet of roach is made up of lots of small invertebrates – anything from bloodworm and other small aquatic worms, right through to water snails, a favourite of the bigger fish. Roach can get fixated on just one type of food, which explains why bait choice can be so important. Probably the closest bait we use to the fish’s natural diet are maggots, my first choice. Red ones best mimic the colour of much of the roach’s natural diet, while whites stand out well and are preferred by small, sight-feeding fish. Small worms, especially brandlings from a manure heap, also mimic some natural food items. Roach are omnivores, and will…

Wigston AS Leicester Canal Championships (Sat) Grand Union Canal, Glen Parva – Wigston (52 pegs) THE WEATHER spoiled what was lining up to be a good match for this annual big canal event around Leicester, but a biting wind put the fish off a little and made presentation difficult in the more exposed areas. That was reflected in the weights. A shade under 4lb got you into the frame, but Matt Hodgetts and Steve Brookes will be left thinking ‘what if ?’ after tying for top spot on 5-11-0 – the first tie in the long history of this event. One more tiny fish would have sealed it for either man, as they were pegged at opposite ends of the Two Bridges section at Glen Parva. Drennan Leicester Van Den…