Trust ramps up anti-poaching measures
The Angling Trust has this week launched a seven-point plan to tackle the ever-growing problem of poaching from English waters.
The sport’s governing body is set to ramp up a number of initiatives, ranging from the establishment of a new ‘Poacher Watch’ website for reporting fish theft - in a similar way to its Cormorant Watch site - through to a pilot scheme that will allow voluntary bailiffing by angling club members alongside Environment Agency officers.
The plan also includes furthering the recently-launched Building Bridges programme, under which the Trust has appointed two members of staff to work with member clubs and fisheries to address illegal fishing in parts of the South West and the East of England, as well as collaborating with the National Wildlife Crime Unit, a special police task force, to raise awareness of the offence of poaching within regional police forces.
For the full story, plus reaction, see today’s Angling Times.
Commercial carp fishery produces massive eel!
One of the UK’s most popular commercial fisheries has produced the biggest eel of the year at 8lb 12oz.
Stafford Moor, in Dolton, Devon, proved why many believe that it could soon produce a fish over the current British best when local eel fishing fanatic Alan Jump netted the huge specimen during a session on Tanners Lake.
The new venue record measured 45 inches in length, with a 10 inch girth, and it more than doubled the National Anguilla Club Member’s personal best.
It fell to a legered a roach deadbait on a running leger rig from peg 17.
More pics, plus the full story, only in tomorrow's Angling Times.
Fishery boss says 'It's all venue owners' duty to check rod licences"
‘Every fishery boss in the country should check rod licences before they are allowed to set foot on their lakes.’
These are the words of a commercial boss who insists that visitors fish within the law and will even buy a permit on behalf of any angler that turns up at his water without the necessary paperwork.
David Howarth owns Green Haven Fishery and Caravan Park in Boston, Lincolnshire, and is one of only a few UK fishery owners that make it their responsibility to check licences after becoming disillusioned with the Environment Agency, whose bailiffs have visited the site just once in the last 15 months.
Many venue bosses believe that it is ‘not their job’ to perform licence checks, fearing the confrontation with those anglers that choose to avoid spending the £27 for a yearly permit.
But David insists that since he began he has experienced none of the problems forseen by fellow fishery owners and believes that if others follow his example it will only produce positive results.
“If I have to buy a licence to fish at my own lake then there’s no way that I’m going to let anyone else that comes here fish without one,” he said.
Free fishing show this weekend - not to be missed!
Anglers are urged not to miss the free entry Big Fish charity fishing show taking place this coming Saturday, 3 September, featuring a host of stars, a carp match and a kids ‘fishing camp’.
Great Linford Lakes in Milton Keynes is the venue and the day includes casting, rig making and bait demonstrations from top carpers such as Colin Davidson, Derek ‘The Don’ Ritchie and Jerry Hammond, plus keen angler and Eastenders star Scott Maslen.
The kids fishing camp is being hosted by Nash Tackle, and the show also features a 24 hour carp match, cookery and falconry displays, laser clay shooting and archery, plus bouncy castles, a hog roast and an all-day restaurant and bar.
For more information see www.thebigfish.tv or call 07414 255519.
Matt Hayes back on TV - and you decide what he fishes for!
Fishing celebrity Matt Hayes has this week been signed up by the Discovery Channel for a new television series.
Angling Times first revealed that Matt had filmed a pilot called ‘24 Hour Rod Race’ in the Spring, and as a result of that initial recording, the project has now been commissioned for screening by Sky in 2012.
And AT readers can also play their part in the series by voting for the shows they want to see made.
A delighted Matt said: “It’s great news to be back working with Discovery – anglers have been asking me for a long time when we’d be making something new and this is a project I’m really looking forward to getting stuck into.
“And to celebrate the programs we’re asking Angling Times readers to vote for the shows you want me to create. I want to make this the greatest series we’ve ever produced – a series where anglers are involved from start to finish.”
*To have your say in the species Matt fishes for, see the latest copy of Angling Times - out today!
Massive eel banked
One of the biggest eels landed so far this season has been caught from a small Surrey gravel pit.
Landed by a specimen angler targetting the the species, the big ‘snig’ fell to legered lobworm tactics and was measured at 42 inches long with a huge girth.
Full details in next week’s Angling Times on sale August 2.
'Gut feeling' leads to big eel
Gut feeling led Manchester-based rod Danny Taylor to this new pb eel of 6lb 10oz.
Targeting a water with no previous form for the species, the 32-year-old specimen angler fished through the night to take the big fish, backed up by two other eels of 5lb 4oz and 4lb.
Danny’s winning approach was legered rudd head on a size 4 hook to 15lb line with a 15lb wire trace.
Alan Stagg lands 4lb 14oz eel after venue switch
After several weeks of unsuccessfully trying to land a big eel at a stillwater, Alan Stagg make the bold decision to give another local venue a shot and was rewarded almost instantly with this 4lb 14oz eel.
The Gardner Tackle ace had spent a dozen sessions chasing his target species without so much as a single bleep but that all changed when the specimen fell for a small dead rudd presented at around 30 yards out.
“The fight from an eel is always exciting and this was no exception. It had incredible power and its first run really tested my gear to the limit,” explained an elated Alan.
For more details on the tactics that fooled the big eel, pick up a copy of next week’s Angling Times, available for Tuesday July 12.
Bryan banks new personal best eel
In-form specimen angler Ted Bryan added another personal best to his incredible list of giants when he banked a 6lb 9oz eel.
The Sydenham, London-based all-rounder took the fish during a weekend trip to a Sussex club water. It fell legered lobworms and was the best of 12 eels the former Drennan Cup winner banked in the busy session.
*For more details of the catch see next week’s Angling Times, on sale Tuesday 12th July.
Small hunch brings big eel
Eel anglers often see the potential in waters that others would never dream held a decent ‘snake’ – which is exactly how Somerset surgeon John Chester banked this 5lb 12oz specimen.
The 56-year-old big fish hunter noticed that a local pond filled with carp, roach and perch, was fed by a small stream, a feature he knew gave the potential for eels to be present.
Fishing air-injected lobworm on a leger rig, it took just two hours for John to find his quarry. A long stuttering run resulting in a solid fight and a new personal best fish measuring 43 inches on the bank.
Biggest eel of the season caught from Colne Valley
The quest to land a double figure eel has led to the capture of the biggest specimen of the season so far.
Weighing 8lb 14oz the fish was banked by respected eel expert Steve Ricketts from the same Colne Valley water that last year produced a 9lb 10oz specimen for the London-based rod.
The result of a targeted campaign which had already seen the 49-year-old land fish to over 7lb this spring, the specimen came at first light on the second day, and from the off Steve knew it was a good fish.
“I’d just woken up and was standing outside my bivvy when I had a very slow take,” Steve told AT. “When I struck the fish shot off, stripping a load of line. All I could do was hang on so I knew it was a big eel.”
At 46 inches long with an 11inch girth the eel is the highlight of a number of huge specimens landed this month, and a capture Steve puts down to a tried-and-tested formula.
“I always fish four-day sessions because eels have three-day digestive systems, so if they’re there they will feed at some point over that time frame.
“I bait heavily with dead maggots on the first day. If there are eels in the area I’d expect to catch on day two or three. And if I’ve had nothing by day four I’ll pack up and go home because there probably aren’t any fish there to catch.
“My aim is to catch a 10lb eel this year, and if I’m going to do it, this approach will be the key.”
Steve’s eel fell to air-injected lobworm fished 12 inches off the bottom on a low resistance leger setup, featuring an abrasion resistant Kryston Ton-Up hooklink, 40lb PowerPro braid mainline and a 3oz lead on a low resistance run ring.
Big eels go on the feed and 8lb 10oz fish is banked
Above is the picture of a massive 8lb 10oz eel that tops an incredible week for the species in which another two huge fish of 8lb 9oz and 7lb 11oz were landed from different waters across the country.
Andy Nellist was the proud captor of the biggest fish of the prolific spell, the new personal best, caught from a Bucks stillwater, providing the highlight of a five-year quest for big eels.
Despite having to constantly re-bait his size 4 hook with lobworms after being pestered by crayfish throughout his overnight session, Andy’s persistence finally paid off when he struck into the specimen – that measured 49ins long with a 10ins girth and beats his pb for the species by 8oz.
And the Hertfordshire-based angler is of the opinion that if you’re looking for a reason why this trio of huge fish has been landed within the space of a week you need to look no further than the weather.
“It was the hottest April for 100 years and this saw the eels go on the feed early. The colder wind at the end of the month really stirred the water up, making for perfect conditions,” Andy told Angling Times.
Also landing a monster eel this week was Dave O’Sullivan, the National Anguila Club member’s 30-year eel obsession culminating in a session at a Northamptonshire stillwater that saw him take the 8lb 9oz fish of a lifetime.
Doubling the 45-year-old’s personal best, the fish proved to be the peak of a pursuit that’s seen him target no other species for the last 30 years. The specimen falling to the Leamington Spa-based angler’s John Sidley rig baited with a small roach deadbait.
Giving the NAC yet more reason to celebrate was the club’s general secretary Mark Salt, with a specimen eel of 7lb 11oz.
“It still hasn’t sunk in yet because it doesn’t seem real that I’ve landed a fish that’s been in my dreams since I was a boy,” Mark told AT.
“I’ve been fishing for eels from the beginning of April until the end of October every year since I can remember and never lost faith because I knew if I remained confident and used the knowledge that I’ve built up over the years, I’d get my reward.”
Mark set his sights on a southern gravel pit and, after moving swims following a tip-off from a carp angler that he’d seen a huge eel in another part of the lake, took his specimen by suspending lobworms above the weed.
The same tactics also fooled a handful of other eels weighing 4lb 6oz, 4lb and 3lb.
Environment Agency swoop on river fishing match... but it was totally legal
The Environment Agency has admitted that the current rules surrounding the closed season on rivers need changing after a protest match took place last week on the Severn.
Ten members of Willow Creek AC attended the contest at Bewdley in a bid to highlight what they described as the ‘farcical’ situation surrounding the laws relating to the three month lay-off on running water.
Despite the anglers fishing with worms, prawns and catching barbel, the EA officers who attended were powerless to stop the event because nobody was breaking any rules.
Current EA legislation stipulates that anyone can fish the Severn during the closed season as long as they do so with the intention of catching eels. Specific tackle – including a hook with a gape of no less than half-an-inch and either worms, prawns, shrimps or minnows as bait – must be used but this doesn’t stop ‘accidental’ catches of coarse fish like barbel. And it’s that loophole that EA officials admit is causing a nightmare when it comes to policing the banks.
“There are many grey areas and I wouldn’t be at all sorry to see the laws that allow anglers to bait fish for eels changed,” said EA fisheries environmental crime team leader Al Watson.
“When we approach anglers we must check that their tackle and bait is within the law, and also ask them what they are fishing for. If they say ‘eels’ then they are fishing totally within the law.
“All those fishing the match on the Severn were doing things exactly by the book.Without anglers admitting to an enforcement officer that they are purposely fishing for barbel or roach it’s very difficult for us to prove otherwise.”
Jason Ford, organiser of the recent anti closed season contest on the Severn, thinks that anglers being able to legally fish for coarse fish before June 16 makes an even bigger mockery of the current laws.
“To add insult to injury, one of the officers that visited us on the day of the contest didn’t even know the ins and outs of the byelaws and tried to unfairly prosecute one of our anglers ,” said Jason. “We will be running many more matches in the run-up to June 16 just to prove the ridiculousness of the current closed season and continue to fight for the need for change.”
Taxidermy fish trophy: Record eel goes up for sale
Eel fishing fans are to be given the chance to own a slice of history after it was revealed that the British record specimen, which was caught way back in 1978, is to be put up for sale.
Steve Terry banked the 11lb 2oz giant from Kingfisher Lake in Hampshire, but unfortunately the eel died shortly after capture and was set up by a taxidermist.
Over the past three decades the fish has been on display at a number of tackle shops in the south of England, but has spent the last six years at Steve’s house. He believes it is now high time that someone else got the chance to appreciate it.
“It’s done the rounds, but now it’s just sitting under a dust sheet in my spare room. It really needs to be appreciated, so it’s time to find a new home for it.
“I want to use the proceeds to buy back a share on Kingfisher, which I sold in 2004.”
The trophy fish is expected to attract widespread interest from fans of the species, but big eel specialist and National Anguilla Club regional organiser Barry McConnell believes it is more likely the buyer will be a cased fish collector.
“Obviously, a lot of eel anglers will want it, including myself – but the bigger money is likely to come from the collector’s market. The lucky man will be the one who can afford it.”
Renowned cased fish collector Steve Collier also believes many will be interested in the eel, despite the fact that the market for stuffed fish has taken a few knocks in recent years.
“As an existing British record set up by a decent modern day taxidermist, it’s sure to attract offers, but the cased fish market has hardly been buoyant in the last ten years. New collectors are just not coming through – there’s no new blood. That said, it’s certainly a nice thing to have on your wall.”
If you wish to make an offer for the eel, contact Steve directly on 07789 917986 or 07810 864465.
