Innholdsfortegnelse for Issue 3665 i Angling Times

WE’RE barely into April, yet already it’s turning out to be a special year for specimen fish. Not only has the British pike record been broken, we’ve now just seen the roach record equalled too! With Wels catfish having been reinstated to the British Record Fish Committee lists, there’s every chance we could see that record smashed this year too, as there are definitely several fish capable of topping the 130lb minimum qualifying weight knocking around in our waters. But what about the other species? The River Thames has produced some huge specimens of several different species over the last few months, and there have even been rumours of chub bigger than the current UK-best of 9lb 5oz. It’s also one of several waterways, including the Trent and Lea, to…

DRENNAN CARP FEEDERS DESIGNED as a maggot feeder, the Carp Feeder can be adapted for chopped worm and caster fishing simply by widening the holes. The weights at the bottom can also be swapped between feeders. WHY WE LOVE THEM: You can cast these little beauties absolutely miles, yet they still land with a discreet plop. The tiny little 10g version is superb on rock-hard days. Sizes: Small, medium, large Weights: 10g – 20g Price: £2.35, www.drennantackle.com KORUM COMBI-FEEDER THIS pattern has a removable set of end caps, which allows the Combi-Feeder to be used as either a maggot feeder or an open-ended groundbait feeder. WHY WE LOVE THEM: The wide mesh sides ensure that your bait escapes extra-fast – perfect for when you are getting plenty of bites. The…

OUR MAN ON THE BANK EVEN after doing it for more than 60 years, angling never ceases to amaze me. Take the other day – Jon Hettle and I had planned a day’s carping, but the forecast was for light showers coming in from the west in the morning, turning to heavy rain later in the day. Well, they got that one wrong! The ‘light showers’ bit was spot-on, but by late morning the heavens had opened. We got rain and hail, the temperature was down to 3ºC and it felt even colder in the south-easterly wind blowing across the water. As we sat there suffering , my mate Ray Cutler, a regular on this water, phoned, and we didn’t need much convincing that we were mad to stay, as…

IT’S funny how most anglers seem to have venues they love, and others they consider unfavourable, or even jinxed. In match fishing , we often moan about duff pegs or the going methods, but it’s usually down to us. Hence a return to Stafford Moor with my local league mates began with some trepidation, because in the past I’ve covered myself in mud rather than glory here. I have to confess that as an angler who prefers natural venues, carpy match waters are not my strongest suit. But to compete in our league you have to handle them, so it was a case of try, try, try again, hopefully having learned from past thrashings. I had little to go on with Willow Lake, having never drawn there before. But with…

MATCHES on commercial fisheries are already being won shallow, and this trend is only going to become more and more pronounced as we head towards May. Fishing shallow on the pole is a very exciting method, where you go from staring intently at the tiny tip of the float one minute to having the pole wrenched over the next! I also like it because it’s an approach that rewards the hard-working angler. Changes of depth, altering your feeding , working the rig , these are all things to master in order to get the best out of your shallow fishing. It sounds like hard work, and at times it can be but, as in all things fishing , when you get it right, the rest is child’s play. GIVE IT…

KORUM ZELOS 7000 DISTANCE REEL WHAT THEY SAY: The ultimate power distance feeder reel for specimen anglers. Whether targeting fast-moving rivers or open water spots on stillwaters, the Zelos Distance has a powerful, balanced design, purpose built for big-fish tactics. You get six stainless bearings, a machined reel handle with a soft-touch knob, two line-friendly casting line clips, quick drag with a 15kg maximum force, a floating line rotor guard and an anti-twist line roller. A worm shaft system with a powerful 4.7:1 gear ratio retrieves 1m of line for every turn of the handle. WHAT WE SAY: With a huge spool on a light and compact body, you get a lot of reel for very little money. This is a superb budget option distance reel. Price: £49.99, Spare spool…

THE ROSIE, CONNAHS QUAY, FLINTSHIRE This Connahs Quay AC-controlled fishery is set within a country park, and the club has gone to extraordinary lengths to make it one of the best crucian fisheries in the land. There are numerous sets of lily pads, and fishing close to them with soft pellet hookbaits and sprinkling in 2mm pellets on the pole will attract fish to over 2lb. Tel: 01244 813674 PICKERING PARK, HULL, EAST YORKSHIRE There are plenty of tench in the 3lb-6lb class within this shallow park lake, and fishing the waggler close to either the marginal or island features will put you in with a chance of fooling a few of them. Corn is a tried and tested hookbait, 4mm hard pellets being a reliable option on the loosefeed…

Martha Coupland 8lb 8oz common, Packington Somers, Solihull, meat Jayden Busby Gudgeon net, local venue, maggots Oliver Devlin Bream (unweighed), Longshaw Fisheries, Kent, maggots Alistair Jackson 14lb pike, Aire and Calder Canal, Yorkshire, deadbait Phoebe Coupland 10lb common, Packington Somers, Solihull, meat Junior Charles 17lb common, Bulwell Hall, Nottinghamshire, boilie Riley Gray 15lb 10oz common, Tylers Common, Essex, pop-up boilie Abbie Bickley Pike (unweighed), Patshull Park, Shropshire, deadbait Harry Bygrave 13lb 8oz common, Lawn Farm Fishery, Cambs, pellet Harry Jennings Tench (unweighed), Birkacre, Chorley, Lancashire, wafter Ralphie Gray 3lb 6oz tench, Tylers Common, Essex, luncheon meat Austin Purcell 10lb 10oz mirror, Flanshaw Dam, Wakefield, maggot Teddie Vaughan 18lb 2oz common, Meadow View, Cheshire, boilie Finley Edwards 7lb 4oz mirror, Horton Kirby, Kent, pop-up boilie Osian Fitzjohn 14lb mirror, Weston Pools,…

STEVE RINGER World Feeder champ and a constantly successful matchman WILLIAM RAISON Daiwa-backed 2008 World Champion angler NICK SPEED Match legend and winner of multiple big titles DAI GRIBBLE Two-time Drennan Cup champion and ace all-rounder PAUL GARNER Angling Times columnist and bait expert ROB WOOTTON Top matchman and former Maver Match This winner MARK HOLMES Big-carp angler and writer specialising in baits and rigs MARGIN CARP RIG What’s the score with feeding the margins at this time of year? Paul Blake, Chesterfield AGo steady, I would say! When large quantities of bait are fed in the margins, the activity of carp pushes the feed all over the swim and you are left without a focus area for the fish to feed on. By feeding more negatively, my thinking is…

BAIT CLINIC Honest advice to help you to catch more fish on every trip, without breaking the bank DESIGNED specifically for feeding fish, these baits are taken from the fish farming industry, where producing a nutritious and palatable food source is often key. Not all fish are overly picky about their diet, but some species require a different combination of macronutrients to others, which explains the wide variety of different pellets that are available. Beyond the realms of fish feed, we now have a whole industry built around developing and repurposing pellets for fishing , and which ultimately find their way to the shelves in our local tackle shop. LESS IS MORE Even though spring days can be quite warm, we need to remember that water temperatures take some…

I GOT into a spirited discussion with a fellow angler recently. We were debating how clever fish are. Said angler is pretty successful. He catches a fair few fish and clearly knows what’s what. However, we had a total disagreement about the intelligence he attributes to the carp he targets. I genuinely believe he was overcomplicating everything and giving the fish more credit than they deserve. Part of the discussion stemmed from one carp he was trying to catch. He thought it was Albert Einstein in disguise! But footage from one of the many underwater films currently doing the rounds was influencing his thinking. You know the ones. Pop a camera in the edge or on a spot, bait it up, and see how the fish react. If I’m cynical,…

JOIN FISHING FAMILY’S FIGHT AGAINST CANCER FOR the last 12 years the Palmer family – Ian (52), wife Vicki (44) and sons Callum (21) and Nathan (20) – have been raising funds for Cancer Research UK, in the form of a 48-hour carp match named Cast-4-life. Those taking part get sponsored by their friends and families, and trophies to be won include those for overall winning pair, biggest single fish and (a recent addition) the smallest fish! Over the years Cast-4-life has grown into what can only be described as an extended family, and this year is no different, with 32 anglers taking part. The match, held at Willow Park Fishery in Aldershot, kicks off on Friday, April 19 and runs until Sunday, April 21. Ian and Vicki would love…

FIRST ‘ANGLING WORLD CHAMPS FOR WOMEN’ IS FORECAST, 1990 TO ME, 1990 doesn’t seem all that long ago, so imagine my surprise to be reminded that there was no such thing as a women’s World Angling Championship at that time. “Mr Purchase was so proud of our women anglers – quite rightly so” Jack Purchase, who was championing the cause of women anglers from way back, had an ambition to see it happen, but when the opening lines of this Angling Times feature from that year state ‘A World Championship for women seems unbelievable’ it shows how much things have changed. Jack’s daughters, Linda and Ann, were both superb anglers who I had the great pleasure to fish against in his Mixed Pairs league. In one round, on Reed Pool…

How would you fish meat across on a snake lake? BRYAN THOMPSON, EMAIL MEAT really starts to come into its own at this time of year as the carp look to build themselves back up with something other than pellets, ready for spawning. However, they can still be quite spooky right now, and getting them to feed confidently can be very depth-specific. Today I’m on Derwent Pool at Makins Fishery. If I fish in 16ins of water I can get the odd bite on meat, but in 24ins the fishing is steady and the carp are far more confident. EXPLOIT ANY COVER Another option to consider is fishing to cover. As the water is still a little clearer than normal, carp are most confident with a roof over their heads,…

ALL GOOD TO START! MY NEXT big qualifier was for Fish O’Mania, at Tunnel Barn Farm. I drew reasonably well, peg 29 on the Top Lake, a swim that gave me a chance if it was going to be a low weight match – but, sadly, the complex fished its head off, giving me no chance! The plan was to fish meat short and pellets in the edge, with a reserve line on pellets across to the island, which I kind of didn’t want to fish as there were lots of roots and snags under the water. Meat was a waste of time, with nothing for the opening 10 minutes. That surprised me, as it is the dominant bait at Tunnel at present. Going across to the island at 13m…

Westwood Lakes (Sun) Hawk & Swallow Lakes (40 pegs) A SIMPLE approach paid off for Lee Cowlan in this well-attended Easter Sunday open. The venue regular stuck to out-and-out margin tactics to seal victory with 152-9-0, despite a strong easterly wind. Drawing peg 23 on Swallow Lake, Lee rotated both sides of his swim using 6mm expander pellets over potted-in micros to land carp to double figures plus a good helping of F1s, including fish to 5lb. The closest man to him, and making the long trip down from the North East pay off, was Chris Weddell. The Cleveland rod pulled noted peg 10 on Hawk Lake from the bag and, as with Lee, expanders over micros did the early damage, fished across to the far bank to take carp,…