Innholdsfortegnelse for Issue 3705 i Angling Times

I HATE to start the issue on a negative note. However, we must address a serious and often overlooked danger in carp angling – the use of gas stoves in enclosed bivvies. Every year, tragic stories emerge of anglers who have lost their lives due to carbon monoxide poisoning while trying to keep warm. Gas stoves are designed for cooking in well-ventilated spaces, not as heating devices in enclosed environments like bivvies. When used in confined spaces, they produce carbon monoxide, a colourless, odourless gas that can quickly accumulate to deadly levels. Even leaving a bivvy door slightly open is no guarantee of sufficient ventilation. Carbon monoxide poisoning symptoms can be subtle and include headaches, dizziness, nausea and confusion. Tragically, many victims succumb in their sleep, completely unaware of the…

THERE’S been no angling for me for a good few weeks now. The distant memory of Christmas and all that it brings, plus the rubbish weather, hasn’t helped, but to be honest I’ve totally lost motivation and have been at home, feeling miserable. The key reason for my house arrest has been a bout of what I’d call a hefty cold/nasty flu. No doubt it’s got a more modern name, including a lot of numbers, letters and a backslash here and there, but I’ve simply come down with something debilitating and I can’t seem to shake it off. Loads have ‘got it’, and it’s not nice. But enough of my whingeing. My time ‘inside’ hasn’t been wasted. The tackle shed is gleaming having been emptied, swept out, re-stacked and stocked.…

WATER temperatures are still very low. That means it’s no time to be picky – we need to get a few bites from anything that swims. If you’re looking for the perfect tactic to achieve that on a stillwater, then look no further than a traditional waggler set-up. Unlike with a feeder, this approach allows you to search the layers and catch at any depth, with everything from hand-sized roach to bonus carp a possibility when you put maggots on the hook. For many anglers, this style of fishing is an art that has been consigned to the past, but if you use it this week there’s a good chance you’ll see that it’s far from being a back number! GIVE IT A GO 1 LEAN ON LOADED FLOATS Placing…

Join top match anglers Lee Kerry and Rob Wootton each week as they unveil the tactics and techniques that really make a difference WE ARE in the thick of winter right now, and January and February are the most difficult months when it comes to catching carp and F1s. The water is at its coldest, the fish aren’t remotely hungry, and there is only one tactic that will consistently produce the goods. Bomb and popped-up bread is unbeatable when the going gets tough, producing bites when few, if any, other tactics can be relied upon to put fish in your net. How you set your rig up and how you explore your peg are the two key components to being successful with it. Get both right and you could win…

DO YOU NEED RINGER’S HELP? Send your question to: askringer@anglingtimes.co.uk Where should I cast when searching for winter carp in open water? Liam Sanderson, Enfield CONTRARY to what many might have you believe, feeder fishing for carp in the cold can be a highly technical business, simply because there are lots of things that you need to consider. The idea that you simply need to chuck your feeder to a spot chosen at random, and then sit on your hands for an age, is entirely false. Using some watercraft, and analysing your swim at the start of the session is essential if you want to get the right result every time. PICK YOUR LINE If, for example, I am fishing Boddington Reservoir, a venue that offers unlimited open water, it…

OVER the years I’ve had some very special days’ trout fishing, including a brace of goldie rainbows over 20lb from Pennine Lake, a PB 23lb 11oz rainbow from Astbury Falls, and a 14b 4oz brownie from the same venue early one morning. On the bigger reservoirs, I’ve also been privileged to have shared some great catches of trout with friends from boat and bank. So, to say that recently I had the best day’s trout fishing ever, it would have to be something very special indeed! Here’s how it went. My dear friend Andrew Taylor owns a lake in Shropshire with water quality second to none, stocked with some monster rainbows and brownies which actually grow on there. The lake has fished quite hard this winter, which we put…

SEND YOUR PICS AND LETTERS TO: ATLETTERS@BAUERMEDIA.CO.UK IRISH PIKE SHOCK! I THOUGHT you might be interested in my encounter with a 20lb 2oz pike while I was fishing for roach and dace on the River Barrow at Graigenamanagh, County Kilkenny, on Christmas Eve. I had started on the waggler in a gentle flow, but had no joy. A switch to the groundbait feeder at 30 yards started to produce some nice fish. An old buddy, George, who I met at Oaklands Fishery, happened along for a chat. My luck was in as my rod-tip swept round in an awesome curve. At first we thought it was a large hybrid but, as the clutch screamed out and gave line to a surging run, it became obvious it was a big'un’.…

LOOKING off a sea wall on a cold winter’s night, you could be forgiven for thinking that life below was frozen or absent altogether. And yet, armed with the right tackle, there’s fascinating sport to be had in our coastal towns and cities. In fact, I’d say the sea provides more consistent lure fishing than our increasingly pressured rivers and canals. Freshwater sport revolves around just a few species, but saltwater has tons of different mini predators to target. Ben Bassett is a pioneer of this style of fishing , and given his intimate knowledge of the waters around Plymouth, I was relishing a catch-up. He often finds night time the right time to cast out, too, because, like me, this is when he can hit pause on work and…

A NEWLY-LAUNCHED booking platform is set to make the delivery of events geared towards boosting angling participation easier and safer than ever before. Swimbooker Ltd has partnered with the Angling Trust to develop a digital system that will enable angling coaches, clubs and fisheries to easily promote and manage their events. Crucially, it will ensure that safety standards are met before fishing events are created, making the whole process more regulated. In addition, it’s set to become the go-to place for anyone interested in taking part in a fishing session. “By working with the Angling Trust to bring this product online, we hope to make angling more accessible, and engage the next generation to partake in the sport we all love,” said Alfie Tilley, co-founder of Swimbooker. The product will launch…

GRAYLING FLOAT RIG Should I use a stick float or an Avon pattern for grayling? Eric Bailey, email A I’d use a Crystal Loafer or Avon float, sized to suit the flow, with a bulk shot (I find olivettes too prone to tangling) and a small swivel between that and the hooklink to help reduce line twist. That’s as complicated as that part gets. The hook choice, in my experience, is more important. I’ve experimented a lot and find a size 14 Drennan Wide Gape Specialist attached to a 4lb fluorocarbon hooklink takes some beating. Grayling have hard mouths and can often shake hookholds, and the size, gape and offset bend of these hooks really helps. While it may seem a heavy set-up, in the fast, gravel glides that the…

• Local know-how for bumper nets• Your tried & tested top waters• Expert venue tactics LINDHOLME LAKES, EPWORTH, LINCOLNSHIRE This popular winter venue offers great winter sport. Bring a tip rod and fish a small feeder, or the bomb and corn. Contact: 01427 875555 BRADSHAW HALL FISHERIES, BOLTON, LANCASHIRE Good nets of ide, roach and skimmers are on offer here. Natural baits on the pole and waggler work best. Contact: 01204 307197 WESTWOOD LAKES, BOSTON, LINCOLNSHIRE You’ll find no shortage of fish at Westwood. It’s a prolific complex, with large numbers of F1s and carp to be caught. There’s a great tackle shop, too. Contact: 1205 724162 DECOY LAKES, PETERBOROUGH, CAMBRIDGESHIRE Sit on the end of the point on Lou’s Lake if you want to catch plenty of carp. The…

ON THE FLYER WINTER CLASSIC QUALIFIER Viaduct Fishery, Campbell Lake (Sun) TOP COMMERCIAL fishery angler Mikey Williams put the disappointment of finishing second in a big-money match 24 hours earlier well and truly behind him when he secured a place in the On The Flyer Winter Classic final. After getting pipped by just 2lb at Viaduct Fishery in the Fish South qualifier the day before, the Guru and Mainline Match-backed angler rebounded in perfect style by winning the Winter Classic silverfish-only heat at the same venue with 49lb 10oz of big skimmers. It wasn’t all plain sailing , though, as Mikey revealed to Angling Times when he described how he secured his place in the event final at Meadowlands Fishery, where the winner will take home a hefty £12,000. Here…

GURU SHOT PLIER WHAT THEY SAY: The Shot Plier securely places split shot or Micro Cubes on to your line, and is particularly effective at shotting up pole rigs. It has soft-touch ergonomic handles and a long, smooth head, giving pinpoint shot placement. A recess lets you remove shot quickly, and prevents damage to the line, while a rear cutter offers even more versatility. Finished off in black paint, this handy tool will become an essential part of rig preparation. WHAT WE SAY: No need to apply shot with your teeth any more! Pliers give even pressure, damaging the line less and making the shot easier to move. These look just the ticket, and will keep your dentist happy, too! Price: £5.99, www.tackleguru.com GURU NON-TOXIC SHOT DISPENSERS WHAT THEY SAY:…

TO HELP YOU MAKE THE MOST OF YOUR TIME ON THE BANK THE BASIC principles of many tactics are subject to change throughout the seasons. For example, use bomb and pellet tactics in summer and you’ll be firing copious amounts of freebies over the top to try to draw hungry carp in, while in winter the catapult is almost redundant, and a single bait is all that’s lobbed around to try to locate the tightly-shoaled fish. But the hybrid feeder is a little different, because the baits and tackle that are used with it remain largely unchanged over the seasons. However, it’s the tiny details that perhaps won’t be picked up on by the untrained eye that are tweaked from season to season. The 2024 Fish O’Mania finalist Alex Dawson…

WHY DIDN’T I JUST STAY IN BED? THE idea of fishing in freezing cold conditions doesn’t appeal to me, and during the recent Arctic blast I found it entertaining to poke a little gentle fun at my hardy mate Andy May when he went fishing. So, I can’t really understand what went through my mind a few days later, when I decided to book on to the Lingmere Fishery open while the big freeze was at its most intense! I drew peg 7 on the Match Lake, which is a hotspot. Since the aerator had been running, there was no ice to smash. This may sound like a bonus, but aerators running make the water nearby even colder and less appealing to the fish, and a quick check confirmed it…