Your ultimate fishing guide for 2018
2018 is now upon us and with it should come some new fishing adventures. Here at Angling Times we have put together your ultimate guide, for you to look at and get inspired by for 2018.
Brush up your feeder fishing skills
Traditional open-end feeder fishing is now a favourite with top anglers and manufacturers are bringing out rods, luggage and terminal gear tailored to it.
Thousands line our reservoirs, rivers and loughs in search of bream, and there’s now as much interest in the World Feeder Championships as in the float equivalent. Here are five tips to help brush up your feeder skills…
1) Tailor your feed to how much you expect to catch. In winter only a few dead maggots or pinkies are required. In summer, when you’re on a lot of bream, be more aggressive and introduce lots of chopped worm into the peg via the feeder.
2) A free-running paternoster is the most popular rig. You can buy the free running links commercially, which are stopped against a knot, leger stop or shot.
3) If bites tail off you can either gamble and introduce more large feederfuls of bait to try and pull the fish in again, or try going a few metres further out, past your feed.
4) One of the best choices of wire cage feeder for big waters is a distance or bullet feeder, with all the weight around the base. This weight-forward feeder casts far and accurately.
5) Feeder fishing can be a game of patience and you can wait hours for fish to turn up. The last hour is usually the best, especially in the colder months, so stick to your guns.
Get on the Ronnie Rig now!
The ‘Ronnie’ is the hottest rig in carp fishing right now.
Essentially a pop-up presentation low to the lakebed, it allows the hookbait to spin around completely on a quick link ring swivel. You’ll need the aforementioned swivel, a curved shank hook, shrink tubing, a hookbait swivel and a hook bead.
CATCH A DOUBLE FIGURE BARBEL
It can take years or merely hours to bag a 10lb-plus river whisker – stocks and fish sizes vary greatly.
Your best chance of a double is when barbel are at their heaviest, which is at the back end of the season in late Feburary and March, or in November and December. In cold weather, look for a sudden rise in temperature – these small windows can spur fish into feeding.
As far as bait goes, it often pays to think big. Barbel have large mouths, so halibut pellets, boilies or paste-wrapped boilies all work. And tackle up sensibly with at least 12lb line, possibly more in floods and snags.
There’s no point hooking a 10lb barbel if you can’t land it.
BREAK A BRITISH RECORD
The carp record is probably the most likely to go next, although a claim for the mirror known as Captain Jack at 68lb 4oz has been rejected.
A record bream above 22lb 11oz is also on the cards, most likely from a large, low-stocked water that sees carp baits. And every year Chew Valley Reservoir near Bristol produces a handful of 40lb-plus pike.
You never quite know when the next surprise is around the corner, as proved by a stunning 4lb 3oz roach in May 2017 from a Suffolk syndicate lake – one ounce shy of the record.
TRY A FISH FINDER
Like them or loathe them, fish finders – or feature finders – are extremely effective at mapping the contours of a venue and revealing the fish present.
Devices are getting smaller and smaller – gone are the days of having to go out on a boat with a sonar device to discover what lies beneath. Now you can get fish finders you can cast, such as the Deeper Pro+, which sends data and swim mapping straight to your smartphone as you stand on the bank.
You’ll be able to pinpoint gravel bars, shelves and drop-offs, which can save a lot of bank hours looking for fish, especially on large waters.
Even on your local small commercial venue it will be very useful to learn where a large percentage of the carp shoal up.
GIVE YOUR TACKLE A SERVICE
Winter gives the perfect excuse to carry out maintenance on your tackle, to keep it in good working order.
Seatboxes can be cleaned and all the tightening knobs and screws on legs and footplates treated to sprays of WD40.
Check your rods, especially the line guides which can be prone to breaking and bending. A lot of tackle shops will whip new guides on for you if need be.
Reels can be taken apart and cleaned, especially around the handle and spool areas, or can be sent off to manufacturers such as Daiwa and Shimano for a full professional service.
ENTER A BIG-MONEY COMPETITION
There’s serious money around in match fishing these days.
Top prize in the Maver Match This final has been £70,000 for the past two years...win Fish O’ Mania or the recently created Golden Reel event and you’ll pocket £50,000...and there’s £25,000 up for grabs in the Parkdean final and around £12,000 for RiverFest or FeederMasters.
It’s not all about big-name anglers either. In 2011, self-confessed club angler Shane Atkin won his first-ever Fish O’Mania qualifier at The Oaks Fishery and went on to win the final too!
In no other sport can the also-rans and supposed no-hopers fish against the stars, and though class will always shine through in the long term there’s always a chance.
As long as you are able to pay your entry fee you’ll be able to compete side by side with World Champions and the very best.
JOIN THE ANGLING TRUST
The sport’s governing body represents individual coarse, sea and game anglers in England plus respective clubs and fisheries at the highest level in parliament.
Its Fish Legal (formerly the ACA) uses the law to fight those who pollute and cause other damage to the environment. And it’s responsible for organising a number of competitions... Fish O’Mania, National Championships and RiverFest.
So why should you part with your hard-earned to join? A lot of what it achieves goes largely off the radar of most anglers. For example, it has a number of campaigns running, including tackling issues such as cormorant predation, water abstraction and hydropower. And via a number of schemes it helps develop angling participation.
Of most interest, however, is its enforcement work, especially to prevent poaching, where it has set up a number of operations, workshops and the Voluntary Bailiff Service.
It has raised awareness within various police forces, Wildlife Crime Units, the Crown Prosecution Service and the Magistrates Association to ensure prosecutions for illegal fishing and poaching are achieved.
All the information you need on its work and how to join is on the website www.anglingtrust.net
make a fishing video
A growing number of anglers are showcasing their fishing trips on the website YouTube, and via videos and video blogs.
With cameras fixed on their every move, carpers are documenting their sessions, specialist anglers are taking you roving on rivers and the match fraternity let you follow them through competitions.
Getting involved is great fun and allows you to keep a long-lasting record on film of your fishing. If you want to know how to do it well, the channel ‘Carl and Alex Fishing’ is up there with the best.
You could start off with your smartphone but far better would be a small waterproof camera such as a Go Pro, a small camcorder or the video function on a digital camera. You’ll also need a microphone and video editing software.
Download some good cheap software such as Sony Vegas, while iMovie is completely free for MAC users.
MASTER CATCH PICTURES
Every angler likes to get a nice picture of his or her catch, but fish welfare must take priority. Contain big fish on mats or in cradles with a bucket of water to hand, and always kneel down in case a fish slips. Don’t attempt to photograph too many fish at once.
A small tripod is a good investment for a self-take, and digital cameras mean that you can have a few ‘practice runs’ first without the fish, which can be resting in the water in a net or sack. This will give you chance to get the focus and exposure right, and use flash if you need it.
Remember to frame the picture correctly by zooming in or getting closer, but not to the extent of cutting out some of the fish.
JOIN AN ANGLING CLUB
If you’d like unrestricted access to mile upon mile of unpressurised rivers, canals and traditional-style stillwaters then it’s a great idea to join an angling club.
Yearbooks typically cost around £30-£40, with concessions available, and even if you only fish the waters 10 times that equates to a £3-£4 day ticket – that’s real value.
Some clubs collaborate with others, too, so both parties have access to each others’ venues, meaning even more miles of water to explore.
As a member of a club you’ll also have access to friendly matches, meetings, club headquarters and socials, such as working parties.
INTRODUCE SOMEONE TO FISHING
Taking a friend or loved one for the first time to enjoy the pastime you know and love is often even more rewarding than fishing yourself.
The Take A Friend Fishing campaign organises a select few periods in the calendar when you can take someone for free. That means a free one-day rod licence can be printed off from its website www.takeafriendfishing.co.uk or cut out from this magazine. A number of Angling Trust member fisheries will offer your friend a free day ticket too. Remember, no rod licence is required for any angler under the age of 12.
Visit a fishing show
Fishing shows are usually held in spring. The biggest and the best is the aptly named ‘Big One’, taking place on March 24 and 25, 2018, at Farnborough Exhibition Centre in Hampshire.
You can watch seminars from stars in custom-designed arenas, test out baits in tanks, book fishing holidays, join clubs and The Angling Trust, get a tackle tracker and meet the Angling Times staff and contributors. All in a fantastic new building. Tickets are available from www.fishfacepromotions.co.uk or by calling 0345 873 1900.
JOIN A SINGLE SPECIES GROUP
If you’re a fan of fishing for a particular fish there are a number of benefits to joining a national group of like-minded people.
These species-specific organisations run social events such as talks, presentations and conventions over the year, with regular magazines, fish-ins and even exclusive access to venues. You’ll have access to loads of information and instruction on fishing for your favourite fish from members’ areas and it’s a chance to join a national network.
So whether you want to join the Barbel Society for a session on the Trent, the Pike Anglers Club to target big Scottish pike, or even share a night with the National Anguilla Club, there’s a group for you. There’s even one for catching gudgeon on the Grand Union Canal!
