Innholdsfortegnelse for Issue 3701 i Angling Times

THE Grayling Society has backed Fish Legal’s ‘Every River Counts’ case by donating £10k to cover the legal costs of an appeal by Government against its successful case last year, in which it was ruled that management plans for the polluted Costa Beck in Yorkshire were ineffective. “We wanted to support Fish Legal’s appeal because our members recognise the importance of the case for populations of grayling and other fish across the country,” said Ron Taylor, the Grayling Society’s conservation officer. Feargal Sharkey, the Society’s president, added: “It’s time for everyone to stand up and take action. I would urge anyone with an interest in the health of our rivers to help Fish Legal, and support the appeal too.”…

YOU’LL often hear about swims on barbel rivers that will produce fish during the day, yet the chances of catching them from the same swim after dark are virtually nil. But why do fish often move in such a predictable way? Moving is inherently risky and uses energy, so there must be a strong survival advantage to undertaking such journeys. From daily feeding movement, to annual spawning migrations, fish populations are constantly on the move, and those movements are often essential to their survival. DAY AND NIGHT AREAS Many fish species will move on a daily basis, often heading upstream at dusk and back down before dawn. These ‘diurnal’ migrations normally correspond to feeding , with the fish moving upstream to find areas where invertebrate food is most abundant. Often…

THE YEAR 2024 was the best for me since the end of Covid. My health, while not perfect, was back on track, although I accepted that I can't now do what I once did. I got into a routine, and concentrated on projects already in the pipeline, rather than dreaming up new ones. I’ve promised my wife no more, and instead I’ll focus on what I already have lined up. The lakes I help run at Great Somerford appear to have settled nicely after some teething problems, which were to be expected. Midweek exclusive bookings were hard to fill, because of tough financial times and the carp market plateauing. A switch to a syndicate was the correct thing to do, and we filled our bookings straight away. Fishflix, the online…

IT’S CHRISTMAS Eve and, like everyone else, I’m making wishes for my gift list. I already know a few things I want, and it will come as no surprise that they all relate to fishing , whether it’s a new pair of trousers from Schoffel, a pair of Sealskinz socks, or a top-quality headtorch. But my wishes for angling gifts goes a lot further than things that can be bought in a tackle or sports shop. For a start, I’m hoping next year that I can catch a goliath grouper on a trip to the USA – breaking my tarpon PB on the same trip would go down nicely, too! I also wish to catch a thresher shark of any size, just to tick that one off the list of…

(* indicates an anagram) ACROSS 1Small bivalves liked by carp/tench (7)5 Merseyside resort north of River Alt (*fry mob) (6)8 One of Lindholme's largest lakes – in solo contest (4)9 Washer to keep buzzers/banksticks apart (*groin) (1,4)10 Small mountain lake (4)11 Keep line tight thus, or____ __ (*OK, clued P) (6-2)12 Monmouthshire trout river (*try hot) (6) 13 Slang for golden orfe – an incentive? (6)15 80-acre Somerset reservoir for big fish (*her guild) (8)18 Sub-surface lures for e.g. salmon (3,5) 21 Martin ___, our 'The Joy of Fishing' columnist (6) 23 Town on Ireland's 'Six Mile Water' (*Martin) (6)26 e.g. wind back line (*ever tire?) (8)28 See 14 Down29 e.g. 100lb of fish caught (3,2)30 Matt __, member of 2023 Masters squad (55-65yrs) (4)31 Horton ___, RK Leisure carp lake…

EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW FROM THE WORLD OF FISHING WE’VE all heard rumours of legendary pike that are seen but rarely, if ever, landed. If they are, they’re usually a fraction of the imagined size. But after hearing tales of a huge pike lurking in a tiny one-acre lake, fished mainly by beginners, Lee Hartley-Janes and his 12-year-old son, Aeson, set out to catch the beast – and the result was this whopping 32-pounder! The pair regularly fish at Warmwell Holiday Park, in Dorset, where they target the main lake for carp and pike. But after being told of a huge predator that had been causing anglers some bother on the complex’s small lake, they decided to investigate. “We weren’t expecting a huge fish, as we all know that…

GOLDEN ROD QUALIFIER Hayfield Lakes (55 pegs) THE SOUTH Yorkshire venue was battered by high winds and driving rain as Storm Darragh approached, but there must always be a winner – and it was Dave Wood who adapted best to the testing conditions. The Bag Up TV and Garbolino-backed angler showed the rest of the field a clean pair of heels as he put together 74lb 2oz from peg 27 on Dannie’s Island to take victory by a comfortable margin of over 25lb. Angling Times caught up with Dave to find out how he went about qualifying for his fourth Golden Rod final in succession... EARLY HOPES “I’d not been to Hayfield for over four months, but when I saw that there was a Golden Rod qualifier on, I thought…

IT WASN’T so long ago that big carp were considered almost impossible to catch once the clocks had gone back. In fact, in Yorkshire, we used to have to contend with hard frosts and plummeting temperatures from early October. How times have changed since then! Rising global temperatures and ‘Indian Summers’ seem to be the norm now, and in recent winters most lakes in the UK haven’t frozen over until January or February. This change in the weather patterns works very much in the favour of the carp angler. Our cold-water forays to the lake are now worth the effort, rather than being mere pilgrimages of hope. MONITOR WATER TEMPERATURES Initially, the keys to successful big-carp fishing in cold water are location, memory and consistency. Let me try to…

EVER since I first became interested in this sport of ours, many years ago, I’ve read plenty about bait bans. They’re still happening today and, while thanks to social media, there is far more ‘discussion’ over the bans, the fact is they’ve been around for a very long time. Perhaps the most controversial down the years have been the attempts to ban maggots. A River Severn angler reading this 1966 headline would, if they read no further, throw their hands in the air and think about starting a petition. A couple of paragraphs in, it turns out to be a proposal for some stretches of very Upper Severn to be designated game waters, with maggots banned to prevent too many salmon parr being caught. If you don’t know anything about…

A DAM Brookbanks’ superb 4lb 14oz crucian has officially been accepted as a new national record by the British Record Fish Committee (BRFC). It was caught from the Barham Syndicate, in Suffolk, in September this year, and is the fifth new British record coarse fish to hit the banks in 2024, following those for pike, roach, catfish and eels. James Crosby’s recent River Lea barbel of 22lb 1oz is unlikely to be confirmed as a new British best until early 2025, but it’s nailed on to become number six. Many have wondered why it’s been such a successful year for big fish – everything from global warming to the impact of high-quality baits has been cited for the surge of specimens. But when we asked experts at the…

“A BRUISER OF A FISH!” Lee McManus – 17lb 2oz barbel “THE OTHER night I caught my second-biggest barbel ever, weighing 17lb 2oz. “It came from the Trent and fell to a Spam hookbait, fished on a size 6 Gardner Barbel Hook attached to a 15lb hooklink. “It was a bruiser of a fish, with a really thickset body. “I recast every hour throughout the night, using PVA mesh bags filled with pellets, pieces of meat and boilies, to keep a steady trickle of bait going through the swim.” “A GREAT FOUR-FISH CATCH” Ryan Hayden – 4lb 10oz perch “AFTER landing a 5lb 4oz reservoir perch, I returned and had a great four-fish catch, topped by this one of 4lb 10oz, and backed up by others of 4lb 8oz and…

JOIN TOP MATCH anglers Lee Kerry and Rob Wootton each week as they unveil the tactics and techniques that make a difference EVER since The Edge launched, it has been Lee and I that have been at the forefront of providing a lot of the information to help you put more fish on the bank. That isn’t changing , but we do have a new signing , who is going to feature regularly with us, and they don’t come much better than this guy. Andy Power is a serial winner, and has bagged more titles than you can shake a stick at. Be it on commercials, rivers, canals or reservoirs, he has a huge amount of knowledge in his armoury, and is regularly challenging for major honours. This week Lee…

THE BEESTON Canal is a unique venue that runs through the centre of Nottingham, and one that comes into its own once temperatures fall. Linked at both ends to the mighty River Trent, it starts from just to the south of Beeston and ends by Nottingham Forest FC’s stadium. This end-to-end connection means that the canal is always ‘flowing’ to some extent, and that the tactics required to master it are a little different to most other canals. Roach, bream and perch are the dominant species, but there is every chance of a surprise or two, with anything that lives in the Trent able to pass freely into the canal. The venue is controlled by Nottingham Federation of Anglers, and members of any of the clubs signed up to the…