Lincolnshire's biggest common landed

During an overnight session on a Lincolnshire stillwater Aaron Hill banked the county’s biggest common carp in the form of this 41lb 12oz common carp.

Targeting a plateau at 30yds range, the 19-year-old fooled the rarely caught specimen with a Denham Bait Innovations Inception X boilie hookbait over a scattering of freebies.

He beat his prize with a size 8 Korda Kurv hook and a 20lb N-Trap hooklink.

“The lake holds less than 20 carp and I caught most of the stock over the summer so I was glad to finally nail my target fish,” he said.


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New bailiff scheme cracks down on poachers

A revamped bailiff system combining Environment Agency officials, volunteers and police officers is helping catch more fisheries criminals in the act.

Thousands of rod licence evaders and poachers have gone undetected in recent years due to a shortfall in EA staff patrolling the banks but the government body has moved to address the growing problems the sport is facing by requesting back up from the Angling Trust and the police.

The call for help has been swiftly answered, with the Trust trialling a volunteer bailiff scheme in the South East of England which attracted hundreds of applicants. So far 15 fishermen have received professional training and dozens more are set to go through the same process in coming weeks.

Police forces have also allocated more resources towards tackling fisheries related problems, with officers helping EA bailiffs catch 20 offenders during a recent rod licence blitz of almost 500 anglers across Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and West Norfolk.

The scheme has been such as success that the Angling Trust is now even advertising for a project co-ordinator to oversee the expanding network of bailiffs and volunteers.

The Trust’s Chief Executive Mark Lloyd has been encouraged at the early results of the multi-agency approach: “Our volunteers have already caught people fishing illegally and the EA are now dealing with these cases. If our trial in the South East continues to be a success we will certainly be looking at rolling it out nationwide.”

Police officers in London have also held meetings with fisheries officials to swap intelligence, leading to a crackdown on fish thieves in the capital.

Constable Nick Bultitude of the Marine Policing Unit has been a key figure in the project and told Angling Times: “Poaching is an issue the Met Police takes extremely seriously and we would encourage anglers to report this type of offence. We investigate all allegations and work closely with the local wildlife crime officers.

“Improved co-ordination and intelligence-sharing with our partners and the fishing community mean we are better equipped than ever to deal with angling crime.”

This is a viewpoint shared by officials at the Environment Agency, and a spokesperson said: “We will continue to work with the police who have been able to assist us when we check rod licences. They can also assist when dealing with anti-social behaviour on the banks and make arrests if necessary.”

The Angling Trust is currently on the hunt Volunteer Bailiff Project co-ordinator and more details on the paid role can be found by visting www.anglingtrust.net


Brace of thirties off the top

Catching carp off the surface is one of the most exciting forms of the sport, and one angler who can certainly pay testament to this is Jack Stamp who landed a brace of thirties, including this 37lb 4oz mirror from CEMEX Angling’s Rockford Lake.

Arriving at the low-stock 55-acre Hampshire venue at 5am the Dorest-based roofer soon found a group of carp held up in a weedy bay and started feeding PVA mesh bags filled 11mm CC Moore floating trout pellets which had been soaked in Feedstim XP liquid to give them an added boost at around 40yds range.

The fish were soon feeding confidently on his free offerings but it wasn’t until four hours later that one of the fish took his hookbait.

“The bay was virtually solid with Canadian pondweed from top to bottom and it was a case of accurately casting to the small holes in the weed,” explained the 24-year-old. “If it didn’t land in the right place it would get masked in weed and be almost impossible for the fish to take.”

Shortly after landing a mirror of 32lb he connected with the bigger of the duo. “This fish was definitely one of the biggest in the bay and I had been hoping it would slip up. It gave a good account of itself but despite weeding me up on a couple of occasions after 15 minutes I had it in the net.”

“This is my first season on the lake but I haven’t managed many sessions on there yet and these are the first fish I’ve landed.”

Due to the thick weed, Jack had to use slightly stepped-up tackle and put his faith in a 12lb Daiwa Sensor hooklink and a size 10 hook.

“I used an 11mm floating pellet on the hair and also attached a small piece of cork on to the hook to stop it from dropping down in the water and potentially spooking any fish,” he added.



Nash Peg One Facebook Competition

THIS COMPETITION IS NOW CLOSED.

THE LUCKY WINNER OF THE NASH PEG ONE TRANSFORMER RECLINER CHAIR IS:

ALAN CLARK FROM BLACKPOOL

KEEP YOUR EYES PEELED FOR MORE GREAT COMPETITIONS COMING UP IN THE NEXT FEW WEEKS.

This week we have teamed up with Nash Peg One to giveaway a Transformer Recliner Chair to one lucky winner worth £109.99For your chance of getting your hands on this fantastic prizes simply email the answer to the following question to fbcompetition@anglingtimes.co.uk – What is the product code for the Transformer Recliner Chair?

 

For the answer go to www.pegone.co.uk

 

To enter you must ‘LIKE’ both the Angling Times and Nash Peg One & Fish Frenzy Baits Facebook pages.

 

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One winner will be chosen and announced on Friday September 21. Last entry is on Thursday September 20.

 

Good luck!

 

 This promotion is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with, Facebook. You are providing your information to Angling Times and not to Facebook.


Patience rewarded with 40lb 12oz common

Waiting for the perfect weather conditions paid off for Leon Bartropp and his patience was duly rewarded with this 40lb 12oz common from Wellington Country Park.

The 44-year-old Essex-based carper had been baiting an area of the lake which hadn’t received any angling pressure for a while and was even being called ‘no carp corner’ by other members because there hadn’t even been any fish spotted in the area for several weeks.

“I’d been trickling a mixture of different sized Mistral i40 boilies into the area and as soon as a northerly wind picked up, blowing straight in to the bay, I made sure I got the rods out over the prebaited area,” said the Fox and Mistral consultant. “I hadn’t seen any fish but I was confident they would be there and then out of blue I received a steady take in the middle of the afternoon. The fish put up a good scrap taking me in and out of several weedbeds but I eventually got the better of it and slipped the net under a chunky common.”

Leon beat his prize with a pop-up hookbait on a hinged-stiff rig tied with a size 5 Fox Arma Point SR hook and a 25lb Rigidity hooklink.


Macey's hot run of specimen form

 ‘It is catches like this that make the blanks and the hard times so worthwhile.’ These are the words of former Olympic decathlete Dean Macey after celebrating a red hot run of form that has seen him visit both still and running water venues to bank a 12lb 13oz barbel, carp to 31lb 4oz and a brace of 13lb bream.

The first of his red letter days unfolded when he visited the tough Walthamstow Reservoirs complex in the Lee Valley, where in just a few hours he netted three carp totalling 72lb 8oz, which as well as the thirty included a common that tipped the scales at 21lb 2oz and a 20lb 2oz mirror.

He then decided to switch his attention to the bream and spodded out three kilos of pellets to a spot at 80 yards range with Mainline Baits New Grange boilie hookbaits cast over the top. And it didn’t take long for the resident slabs to arrive.

“I’ve been so busy recently with the Olympics going on but you can’t keep me away from the bank for very long. The couple of times that I have managed to get out I’ve got my head down and given it 100 per cent and it’s really paid off,” said Dean.

“After catching the trio of carp I called my mate and told him I was going to catch some ‘proper’ fish and put a load of bait out for the bream. This isn’t every hardened carp angler’s cup of tea but I love them and to round the session off with two doubles was really special.”

His next trip saw him make the 250-mile round trip from his home in Essex to target a stretch of the River Kennet at Burghfield, Berkshire.

This particular venue had been a notoriously difficult nut for him to crack in the past, but his recent form continued when he offered a hair-rigged 14mm Hinders pellet in conjunction with a small PVA bag filled with a mixture of whole and crushed freebies which resulted in the 12lb 13oz specimen.

“The going hasn’t been easy on this stretch for me, but I wasn’t going to be defeated so I thought I’d give it another go and I’m so glad I did,” he continued. “I just hope I can take this form into the winter and catch some huge chub.”




Run of blanks end with 2lb 9oz pb rudd

A run of blank sessions were soon forgotten by Steve Russell when he slipped the net under this 2lb 9oz rudd from an Oxfordshire gravel pit.

The keen specimen angler had previously struggled to locate the fish in the venue, but struck gold when he fooled the new personal best specimen along with five others to 1lb 10oz.

With fish cruising on the surface in the warm conditions, Steve decided to use a simple waggler set-up and spray maggots over the top to whip the rudd into a feeding frenzy.

“It was a really hot evening and the fish gave themselves away in a weedy corner. I was only using a 2lb 8oz bottom and a size 16 hook so there were a few heart-stopping moments when the fish tried to dive for the cover,” explained Steve, who beat his previous record by 2oz.


Carp feared dead caught at 42lb 4oz

This stunning linear was feared dead by many anglers because it hadn’t been caught for over two years, but Myles Gibson proved it was still alive and well when he landed it at its best ever weight of 42lb 4oz.

Fishing to a long range spot on the Oxfordshire venue the Cheshire-based rod put his faith in CC Moore N-Gage XP boilies which he fished over a bed of whole and chopped baits and hemp.

He said: “This carp has to be one of the most stunning fish swimming in UK waters at present.”


Huge haul taken from Alders Farm

Alders Farm has built up a solid reputation as a top bagging water but Josh Blavins turned it up another notch when he hauled out 446lb during the latest event.

After drawing peg 28 on the Match Lake at the Milton Keynes complex, the GOT Baits man used corn both on the short pole line and down the margins to fool carp to 8lb at regular intervals.

For more details on the venue visit www.aldersfarm.com


Brace of 3lb-plus perch

Nick Marlow’s rich vein of recent form for catching big perch continued this week when he banked a fine brace weighing 3lb 7oz and 3lb 2oz during a day trip to Upper Tamar Lake in Devon.

The Marukyu UK marketing manager used a range of Ecogear soft plastic lures and, fishing in 12ft of water, used a seven-foot light spinning rod, 6lb braid to two feet of 5lb fluorocarbon leader. He took ten other perch during the session.

“I’m always very impressed with big perch -they fight so hard for their size,” said Nick, who revealed that the Ecogear Orange Para Max was his most successful lure on the day.

Nick’s latest catch continued his great season, which has already seen him land 25 perch over 2lb, nine zander to 7lb 2oz, four big eels and four 20lb-plus river pike.

“I’ve always considered myself more of a carp angler but predators have well and truly taken over now!” he said.

 

 


Scaled down rig bags 44lb mirror

When all others around him were struggling for bites, David Preston made a slight change to his tactics and landed this 44lb 1oz mirror during a short session on the Ashmead Carp Syndicate in Somerset.

After hearing that the notoriously tricky lake had been fishing particularly slow, the owner of Preston Innovations and Avid Carp formulated a plan that he thought could tempt one of the venue’s wily old residents. Rather than fishing with boilies like lots of other anglers, he decided to try something completely different.

Drawing on his match fishing experience he knew that refining his approach and scaling down his tackle could make all the difference while the fish were feeding so cautiously.
He had a quick lead around with a 1.5oz lead and once he’d found a couple of spots that were firm and clear he flicked out two simple rigs that were baited with yellow 10mm Avid High Lites.

To make his hookbaits perform more naturally on the lakebed he trimmed them down and added a small split shot to critically-balance them.

To give his High Lite an added boost, David kept it soaking in some Sonubaits Booster Cloud before the session. “The hookbaits take on the liquid and flavour making them really attractive. Once in the water, they release a cloud of attraction that carp find irresistible,” he said.

With both rods in position he sat back and waited in anticipation. He didn’t have to wait long and at 2am, his right-hand rod screamed into life as the carp made a bid for freedom. After a long, hard fight he slipped the net under the stunning 44lb 1oz mirror known as Moonscale.

“Sometimes, thinking a little bit outside the box and trying something a bit different, can tempt fish when other tactics are failing,” he added.


Wychwood Facebook Competition

THIS COMPETITION IS NOW CLOSED.

THE LUCKY WINNERS OF THE WYCHWOOD EPIC BARROW BOSSES ARE:

GRAHAM MORRIS FROM SHEFFIELD

JOHN BEESLEY FROM OXFORD

PAUL LEESON FROM LONDON

KEEP YOUR EYES PEELED FOR MORE GREAT COMPETITIONS COMING UP IN THE NEXT FEW WEEKS.

This week we have teamed up with tackle giant Wychwood to giveaway three Wychwood Tackle Epic Barrow Bosses worth £89.99 each!

See the video at the bottom of this page for more details on the Wychwood Tackle Epic Barrow Boss.

For your chance of getting your hands on one of these fantastic prizes simply email the answer to the following question to fbcompetition@anglingtimes.co.uk – how many videos do Wychwood Specimen currently have on their YouTube channel?

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These can be found on the following links:
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Three winners will be chosen and announced on Monday September 17. Last entry is on Sunday September 16.
 
Good luck!

This promotion is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with, Facebook. You are providing your information to Angling Times and not to Facebook.


Manor Farm Fishing Newsletter, 3/9/12

WINTERS LAKE: Season ticket holder Allan sharp landed 5 carp to 27lb over the weekend, 4 of them were over 20lb! All the fish were caught on Innovate Reaper steamies. Luca de Michele landed a 12lb mirror on Cell boilies

CARP LAKE: Darryn Clark landed 3 carp overnight to 18lb on Gulp Red Crustacean boilies. Michael Bundy landed a low double on Apocalypse. James Williams landed a new PB of 21lb on squid 2t tipped with pink corn. Season ticket holder Keith landed 3 carp on a day session using zig rigs. Andy Uhl landed a 14lb common using Cell boilies. Calum sharp landed a 21lb 5oz common using a solid PVA bag.

BECKS LAKE: Sam Rose landed 4 carp over the weekend to 15lb using live system boilies. Ben Halski landed 3 carp to 14lb also on live system boilies. Rich Paines landed 4 to 17lb 6oz which was a new PB. Daniel Gaylor landed a 10lb bream on a strawberry boilie tipped with fake corn. Vic Pocknell landed a 16lb 8oz common on robin red pellets. One angler fished overnight and landed 2 carp to 16lb on halibut boilies. David Bialocerkiewicz caught a 19lb 04oz mirror carp using 10mm tutti fruiti boilies.

DAMSEL: There was a match on the 26th by the Wet Wagglers, the result was 1st Andy Corby 33lb 10oz (peg 2) 2nd Peter Jordan 30lb 0oz (peg 7) 3rd Mike Lynch 25lb 5oz (peg 20). Chris Corrigan caught a 15lb and 10lb common and a 4lb bream on sweetcorn. Mr and Mrs Penrose had a 14lb mirror and a 10lb common using luncheon meat as hook bait. Lee caught well on the method feeder catching 5 bream to 4lb 8oz plus 100 perch on maggots.
On Friday night 2 anglers landed 5 carp between them to 12lb using a method feeder. There have been a few carp being caught in the margins. There has been a match on damsel today (2nd September) results to follow.

BLUNHAM LAKE: Joseph Evans landed a 12lb common on Luncheon meat in the margins. His dad also caught a 8lb common and a 4lb bream using the same bait. Another angler round the lake landed 2 carp to 10lb also using luncheon meat in the margins. One angler landed 3 carp to 12lb from the margins float fishing with sweetcorn. Mick landed a few bream on the pole using sweetcorn. At the moment fishing in the margins with either luncheon meat or sweetcorn seems to be best tactics.

BOONEYS LAKE: Only a couple of people fished Booneys this weekend and unfortunately no carp were caught but there has been a lot of small roach being caught in the margins on maggots.

MATCH CANAL: David Dinnette put his angling knowledge to good effect catching 13 carp and 2 bream. The margins are fishing well for both carp and bream. The week’s tuition for beginners went really well with all the students catching, one of the students Ryan Culverhouse did well catching loads of fish and now has a personal best carp of 12lb 8oz. Bread is working well, particularly for the carp. Local matchman Peter Patmore had a really good day on the canal catching an estimated 100+ bag of carp and bream, the successful method was using paste on the top two of his pole.


Manor Farm Fishing Newsletter, 3/9/12

WINTERS LAKE: Season ticket holder Allan sharp landed 5 carp to 27lb over the weekend, 4 of them were over 20lb! All the fish were caught on Innovate Reaper steamies. Luca de Michele landed a 12lb mirror on Cell boilies

CARP LAKE: Darryn Clark landed 3 carp overnight to 18lb on Gulp Red Crustacean boilies. Michael Bundy landed a low double on Apocalypse. James Williams landed a new PB of 21lb on squid 2t tipped with pink corn. Season ticket holder Keith landed 3 carp on a day session using zig rigs. Andy Uhl landed a 14lb common using Cell boilies. Calum sharp landed a 21lb 5oz common using a solid PVA bag.

BECKS LAKE: Sam Rose landed 4 carp over the weekend to 15lb using live system boilies. Ben Halski landed 3 carp to 14lb also on live system boilies. Rich Paines landed 4 to 17lb 6oz which was a new PB. Daniel Gaylor landed a 10lb bream on a strawberry boilie tipped with fake corn. Vic Pocknell landed a 16lb 8oz common on robin red pellets. One angler fished overnight and landed 2 carp to 16lb on halibut boilies. David Bialocerkiewicz caught a 19lb 04oz mirror carp using 10mm tutti fruiti boilies.

DAMSEL: There was a match on the 26th by the Wet Wagglers, the result was 1st Andy Corby 33lb 10oz (peg 2) 2nd Peter Jordan 30lb 0oz (peg 7) 3rd Mike Lynch 25lb 5oz (peg 20). Chris Corrigan caught a 15lb and 10lb common and a 4lb bream on sweetcorn. Mr and Mrs Penrose had a 14lb mirror and a 10lb common using luncheon meat as hook bait. Lee caught well on the method feeder catching 5 bream to 4lb 8oz plus 100 perch on maggots.

On Friday night 2 anglers landed 5 carp between them to 12lb using a method feeder. There have been a few carp being caught in the margins. There has been a match on damsel today (2nd September) results to follow.

BLUNHAM LAKE: Joseph Evans landed a 12lb common on Luncheon meat in the margins. His dad also caught a 8lb common and a 4lb bream using the same bait. Another angler round the lake landed 2 carp to 10lb also using luncheon meat in the margins. One angler landed 3 carp to 12lb from the margins float fishing with sweetcorn. Mick landed a few bream on the pole using sweetcorn. At the moment fishing in the margins with either luncheon meat or sweetcorn seems to be best tactics.

BOONEYS LAKE: Only a couple of people fished Booneys this weekend and unfortunately no carp were caught but there has been a lot of small roach being caught in the margins on maggots.

MATCH CANAL: David Dinnette put his angling knowledge to good effect catching 13 carp and 2 bream. The margins are fishing well for both carp and bream. The week’s tuition for beginners went really well with all the students catching, one of the students Ryan Culverhouse did well catching loads of fish and now has a personal best carp of 12lb 8oz. Bread is working well, particularly for the carp. Local matchman Peter Patmore had a really good day on the canal catching an estimated 100+ bag of carp and bream, the successful method was using paste on the top two of his pole.

David%20Bialocerkiewicz%2019lb%204oz%20Becks%20lake..jpg

Is 107-year-old Bill the oldest angler in the world?

“I only took up pole fishing at the age of 100!”

Those are the words of 107-year-old William Ware, the oldest angler in Britain, if not the world, who this week revealed the secrets which still keep him fishing week-in, week-out, even after 93 years on the bank!

The cheerful character, from Walthamstow in East London, lives on his own yet still manages to tie his own rigs and hooklinks, as well as preparing his bait and tackle. Far from looking for an easy life, he intends to carry on angling for as long as he can get a lift to his favourite Maybrand Fishery in Romford.  William regularly gets stuck into a rake of carp fishing just feet from the bank with a short pole, having moved onto commercial fisheries around 17 years ago, after nearly 80 years on the rivers.   

The great grandfather told AT: “I fish with one length of pole and when I get one I stick an extra piece on to keep it out of the reeds. At my age I have to call somebody to help me with the net if I catch a good fish, because I’m not too good on my feet! I fish with all sorts of baits - cheese, corn, maggots and bread, depending on what I’m fishing for. Down the years I’ve fished a lot on the Thames and the Ouse, and I’ve also done some sea fishing - I once caught a 5ft long tope!” he said.

William confesses he now prefers stillwaters, where he enjoys meeting other anglers, and he cites the secret to his longevity as constantly ‘keeping on the move’.
“If you can do something yourself, do it, don’t let somebody else help you. I do my own cooking, wash it all up and make my own bed. Plenty of fishing also helps. It’s a very satisfying sport and it keeps my mind active - I’m always concentrating for the next bite. I’d like to fish for as long as I possibly can,” he added.

Charlie Brownlow is the bailiff at Maybrand Fishery and gives William a helping hand whenever possible. He said: “You have to be a strong character to be able to do all this at his age. At home he didn’t like Meals on Wheels so he cancelled it and started cooking for himself again! Once he gets dropped off he’s here for the whole day, and at the end of it people can’t believe how many he has caught!”

Do you know an old angler who still fishes regularly? Write and tell us via our letters page, or email atletters@bauermedia.co.uk.


New signings at Nash

Nash Tackle this week confirmed that they had secured two new additions to their already impressive list of consultants in the shape of top carpers Steve Briggs and Simon Crow.

In a deal that will see the lads contracted to Nash with bait and tackle for the next three years, Kevin Nash revealed:

“To say that I am delighted would be an understatement! I have known Simon since he was a young man. In fact, his first mainstream consultancy was with Nash almost twenty years ago, and he and Rob Hughes won the first World Carp Cup whilst fishing with Nashbait. I will say what I said a year ago to someone watching Simon fish, he is without doubt one of the top three most focused and driven anglers I have ever seen.

“As for Steve, god, it makes me feel old when I think how many years I have known him! I have always had the highest regard and respect for Steve. He has the knack for catching big carp and has an incredible tally of them from all over the world. To be able to announce they have both decided to join Nash not only makes me very proud that they have chosen my company, but also it excites me that we now have their wealth of experience to further enhance our unrivalled innovative position in the industry".

Commenting on the move, Simon & Steve said: “The Nash brand is right at the top of the tree when it comes to carping consultancies. We are extremely excited about this move, and really look forward to working with Kevin and the rest of the lads in the team.”