Elstow Pits under threat
THE FUTURE of one of the UK’s most influential carp waters has come under threat.
Elstow Pits in Bedfordshire have produced many of the country’s best anglers and were also the birthplace of numerous tackle items that we all take for granted such as dedicated spod and marker rods.
Korda’s hugely popular Stow bobbins are even based on the style of indicator first developed by an angler while fishing Elstow.
The waters could be lost to angling, however, following a planning permission application for a proposed landfill site and incineration facility which has been submitted by FCC Environment who currently have a recycling centre next to the lake.
Anglers have reacted angrily to the news with a Save Elstow Pits page set up on social networking site Facebook. And Angling Times is calling all anglers to help save the historic lakes.
Ian Stott caught one the lake’s most sought after residents, The Mother, at a weight of 49lb in January 2005 said: “It was always my dream to go back to the venue and have another go at some point in the future. Surely they can’t be allowed to deprive other people of their dreams.”
Another venue regular, Paul Rudd, told Angling Times: “It’s the birthplace of modern carp fishing and it would be a travesty if the application is approved. As well as the amazing fish which the lake’s hold they are also home to such a wide range of wildlife.”
To formally object to the planning application go to: www.publicaccess.bedford.gov.uk/online-applications and enter 12/01306/FULWME in the search box. All objections must be submitted by December 12.
43lb 8oz linear ends run of blanks
MARTIN Pick brought a welcome end to a run of 20 blank nights with the capture of this 43lb 8oz linear from Wellington Country Park in Berkshire.
After a quick lead about the Leicestershire-based rod located a small clear area surrounded by dying weed at 100 yards range.
He then baited the spot with a kilo of mixed 10mm, 15mm and 18mm DT Baits Cold Water Mix boilies and cast a 15mm fluoro white pop-up hookbait over the top.
“When I arrived I had actually seen a fish show down the other end of the lake, but one of the other anglers told me that in the last couple of nights there had been a number of carp showing in the area of the water which I’d been concentrating on so this was where I headed to.
“It had been a long time since my last take from the lake so it was a massive relief when my alarm burst into life shortly after midnight,” Martin told Angling Times.
“The fish weeded me up almost straight away and I had to go out in the boat to try and free it. Once I got over the fish I managed to get it moving again and because it was a full moon I could just make out a huge ball of weed and a decent looking carp coming up towards the net. I’ve never had a 40lb-plus linear before so I was buzzing to finally put one on the bank. Hopefully, a 40lb common won’t be far away now as I know there are several in the venue.”
Martin put his faith in a reverse combi-rig which consisted of a 20lb Korda N-Trap and 25lb Mouthtrap hooklink attached to a size 6 Choddy hook.
Town centre chub action
You don’t have to venture far from civilisation for picturesque fishing, as this chub proves.
The upper Great Ouse in Buckingham town centre was the venue that produced this scale-perfect 5lb 3oz fish for Adam Perna.
The 27-year-old tiler from nearby Bicester in Oxfordshire trotted maggots at dusk.
He said: “It wasn’t the biggest chub in the world at 5lb 3oz, but it was taken right in the town centre, in the park, and my mate managed to get a great photo.
“It just shows what sort of fishing there is on your doorstep, you don’t have to walk miles into the countryside to get decent chub.”
Harrell Wins Wye Festival
The popular three-day Shakespeare sponsored Hereford Angling Festival on the River Wye once again attracted a sell-out entry and a big waiting list. Despite the low and clear river conditions there were some excellent weights recorded and an exciting end to the final day that saw river ace Dave Harrell crowned the champion.
Dave picked up £1,200 over the three days and becomes the first angler to win the competition twice after first winning in 2006.
For the full report see this week's paper (November 13).
Chod rig fools 44lb 3oz common
This impressive common had evaded capture for over a year until Simon Bloys recently caught it at a weight of 44lb 3oz from a low-stock Northants syndicate water.
After spotting signs of fish activity at 40yds range, the local 48-year-old general manager introduced around 20 CC Moore N-Gage XP boilies and then cast matching pop-up hookbaits on chod rigs over the top.
“The take came the next morning and even though I was fishing with a tight clutch the fish was stripping line with ease,” he said. “It took me through numerous weedbeds but after nearly half an hour I gained the upper hand and guided it in to the net.”
Simon tied his rigs with Korda Mouthtrap and Kaptor Choddy hooks.
Double figure Trent barbel brace
IT’S NOT often that big fish can be compared to London buses….but that was certainly the case for Richard Isaac, who broke his barbel personal best twice in one afternoon last week after years of trying to do so.
The 50-year-old sales manager completed the remarkable feat during a floodwater session on a stretch of the River Trent at Dunham Bridge, with the biggest of his brace pulling the scales round to 15lb 8oz.
His other heavyweight specimen weighed in at 13lb 2oz, and both fish comfortably beat his previous best for the species which stood at 11lb 2oz.
Richard, from Boston in Lincolnshire, told Angling Times: “The river was well up following recent rains, pushing through with a nice tinge of colour - it just felt right for a bite. That said, my day didn’t exactly start well, with the first two fish I connected with shedding the hooks in a snag – of which there are many in the Trent. I then landed a reasonable fish of about 7lb, before the ‘big girls’ made an appearance.”
“I would have been more than happy just to have upped my personal best, so to smash it twice was a dream come true. It has taken me four years and hundreds of hours on the bank to beat it – all I can say is that the gods must have been looking down on me!” he added.
A hair-rigged 10mm Korum S Pellet proved the winning hookbait for Richard, who fished this in conjunction with a 5oz open-ended Fiskys Feeder filled with pellets and plugged at either end with groundbait soaked in Bait Tech Corn Steep Liquor liquid and softened halibut pellet.
At the business end he used 12lb Fox mainline and a size 10 Pallatrax Stonze hook attached to a 6ft hooklink made from 15lb Drennan Double Strength mono.
River anglers enjoying big pike sport
Reservoirs may steal most of the limelight when it comes to big predator catches, but two anglers proved the spoils on offer from wild running water venues by landing huge river pike.
Leading the way was Gwyn Davies, who tackled a stretch of the Upper River Wye to land a stunning fish weighing 29lb 12oz.
Float legering a sardine in slack water just off the main flow, the 44-year-old from Fordingbridge in Hants, took the impressive fish on his only bite of the day at 10.30am.
Gwyn, who has a Wye pike best of 32lb, said: “I spent the first hour fishing sink-and-draw, but I switched to float legering because the water was cold and so I figured a static bait might work better. When it came, the take was a very positive downstream run which I hit straight away. The fish stayed deep for most of the fight, but provided a few scary moments when it neared the net by thrashing half out of the water. My brother Mansel was on hand to help and did a fine job netting it first time.
“Neither of us fully appreciated the fish's weight until he started to lift it from the water. We weighed it with two sets of scales, but it fell agonizingly close to the magic 30Ib.”
The fish was beaten with the help of 17lb Bass Pro Excell mainline, a 28lb trace and a pair of size 6 semi-barbed trebles.
Slightly further to the east on the River Severn near Worcester, Mark Humphries banked a fine quartet of pike in just two hours of fishing, including a brace scaling 27lb 4oz and 20lb 8oz.
After two quiet hours of the resident zeds failing to show any interest in his deadbait offerings, Mark (54) reeled in, picked up his lure rod, which was rigged up with a rubber shad, and on just his third cast latched into the biggest of his haul.
“I felt a heavy bang on the rod, and it then went solid, and I thought to begin with that I had hooked the bottom. Then the tip bounced a couple of times and I realised it was a fish! When it got close to the bank I could see the fish was only very lightly hooked on one treble, so I was praying that it would stay on!” said Mark.
“It was a really healthy-looking fish. It would only have to eat a few more chub and to be carrying a bit of spawn come the end of the season to be nearing to 30lb,” he added.
Eight fish haul topped with 41lb 10oz common
Searing toothache did nothing to dampen Mike Jones’ resolve as he fished through the pain to bank eight carp from the Carp Society’s Farriers Lake – the highlight being this 41lb 10oz common.
Starting his session the day after the extraction of three teeth, the Pontypridd rod was still struggling with a painful wisdom tooth and such was his desire to stay at the venue in prime weather conditions he was halfway through pulling out the tooth himself with a pair of pliers when he had a run from a 28lb 4oz carp.
“I’d had the teeth out the day before and I wasn’t going to go but the conditions were perfect, the pressure was dropping all the time and the fish were fizzing,” said the 43-year-old.
The angling coach was able to get back to his dentist after the three-night session, which also included commons of 32lb and 32lb 9oz.
He said: “I needed some stitches and my mouth clearing up, but there was no lasting damage so it was all worth it.”
Mike, who has now had 25 thirties from Farriers since June, fed 8kg of Nash Monster Squid boilies and 3kg of hemp.
Rigs were snowman presentations on long lengths of 20lb Nash Missing Link, 3oz leads and size-eight Nash Fang hooks.
Fishery has 'too many big roach'
ROACH anglers across the nation are being invited to fill their nets with specimens to over 3lb in a bid to remove the species from a popular big carp water after members complained that there are just ‘too many huge fish’.
Over the last few years the resident redfins in Wyre Lake, which is part of the popular Wyreside complex in Lancashire, have been gorging themselves on boilies and other high-protein baits intended for the carp. This has seen them pile on weight at a rate of knots, and the sheer numbers of roach in the fishery has now become a problem.
In a bid to thin out the stocks, over the last four months match and pleasure anglers have been using rod and line to remove over a tonne of fish, with the biggest individual topping the scales at 2lb 12oz. All of the fish caught have been moved into Fox’s Lake, which already holds large numbers of the species and has produced fish to over 3lb in the past year.
But venue bosses are now asking for help from Angling Times readers with the ongoing ‘destocking’ programme, which is scheduled to continue throughout the winter.
“The carpers are getting so inundated with big roach that it has become a bit of a problem, so we’ve been trying to thin them out. There has already been a staggering number caught, but we need more help,” said Sally Hughes, owner of Wyreside Lakes.
“These fish have grown so quickly, and there’s no coincidence that the biggest ones have been caught on boilies. It would be great if AT readers would come along to catch these fish. Not only will they be helping us and the carp anglers out, but there’s a realistic chance of catching the fish of a lifetime.”
The invite will come as music to the ears of many roach enthusiasts and fish scientist Mark Everard, who’s written books on the species, is of the opinion that if he was to go in search of a British record he’d concentrate his efforts on fisheries such as Wyreside Lakes.
“They are a perfect breeding ground for huge roach. As well as there being an endless supply of high protein bait, the number of people on the banks helps to deter predators such as otters and cormorants,” said Mark.
“If I lived closer I’d be there like a shot. I’d strongly advise any roach angler to take Sally up on her offer because there’s no doubt in my mind that the next record will come from a water like this.”
*To find out more about Wyreside Lakes visit: www.wyresidelakes.co.uk or call 01524 792093
Woldview hauling
Andy McHale has been hauling at Lincolnshire’s Woldview syndicate with a run of fish topped by a mirror known as Floppy Tail at 40lb 2oz.
The 41-year-old had memorable back-to-back weekend sessions on the tricky Lincolnshire venue, banking a total of 14 fish.
Aside from Floppy Tail, the lake’s largest resident, Andy also snared The Beast at 34lb 4oz, Midnight at 29lb 15oz and The Peach at 29lb 2oz.
He said: “Woldview is quite a tricky water and to have 10 to 15 fish in a season is good going but I managed 14 in two weekends.”
The self-employed gas fitter banked the big mirror and seven other carp during the first weekend session and still had fish showing over his spots as he packed up to make the 90-minute journey home.
Andy then returned on the Wednesday and topped up the swim with 4kg of boilies before returning with his rods at the weekend.
This determination paid off with six fish in the second session at 17lb 4oz, 19lb 2oz, 19lb 8oz, 21lb, 23lb and The Beast at 34lb 4oz.
All fish fell to CC Moore Live System pop-ups fished on chod rigs in light weed over a spread of bottom baits.
“This is my second season on Woldview and I’ve had a good couple of years,” said Andy, who is now concentrating his efforts on a Cambridgeshire water.
“I switched my bait over to CC Moore’s Live System in May and haven’t looked back, I’ve literally not blanked since, it’s a brilliant bait.”
Ireland to host World Champs?
The coarse fishing World Championships could finally be set for a return to the UK and Ireland with the completion of major improvements to Lough Muckno.
Previous access issues at the venue in Castleblaney, Monaghan have been resolved with the construction of 3,500m of road which is directly linked to 225 permanent pegs.
The move has seen it vetted as a possible location for both the World Feeder and World Police Championships.
At a massive 1,000 acres, Muckno recently hosted sections of the £50,000 Lakelands and Inland Waterways World Pairs Angling Championship as well as the European Police Championship, but now organisations in the country have bigger fish in their sights.
In a joint project between the Irish Angling Development Alliance (IADA), Inland Fisheries Ireland and Monaghan County Council, the venue has been revamped to meet the strict criteria required to host a world event.
Dick Caplice, former national team manager and the current chairman of the IADA said: “Every section now has seven or eight car parks so it’s easy to unload a lot of gear close to the pegs. Local hotels and guest houses are getting on board too, realising it is set to become an angling mecca.
“In both big events we’ve hosted recently we’ve had some great feedback from anglers all over Europe who think the set up, and fishing, is A-class.
“As far as I’m concerned it’s the best wild coarse venue in Europe. The next phase is to open up another stretch of this huge lough, to take the peg capacity up to around 350,” he added.
Former England international Mark Pollard won £10,000 for coming second in the World Pairs tournament, during which he caught almost 20lb of roach from Muckno.
“It’s a very picturesque place but at the same time it’s full of fish, especially roach, with bonus skimmers and hybrids too,” he said. “I think it’s so good because it’s so vast, the fish shoals just keep coming and they don’t get plundered. We don’t have anything on this scale in England for another “World Champs, Holme Pierrepont was full of roach but it’s faded away,” he added.
Deep water thirties brace
THIS 36lb 14oz common carp was the highlight of a brace of thirties caught by Lewis Porter during a recent session on Bundy’s Pit in Cambridgeshire.
The Peterborough-based Fox International media manager targeted a hard clay patch in 36ft of water at 30 yards range and also helped himself to a second common of 33lb.
Both fish were taken on Mainline Baits Milky Toffee pop-ups fished over 5kg of mixed Cell and Fusion boilies on hinged stiff rigs tied with 25lb Fox Coretex boom sections, Rigidity pop-up sections attached to size 5 SR hooks.
Rolling meat scores for Derwent double
Professional fishing coach, Patrick Oliver, put his watercraft skills to good use to fool this 13lb 10oz personal best barbel during an outing on the River Derwent.
The Three Rivers Angling Adventures chief has become an advocate of rolling meat tactics in recent years and relied on the simple, yet effective, approach to tempt the specimen from the Derbyshire waterway.
His pupil for the day – John Docherty – also put a bend in the rod when an 11lb 3oz barbel fell for the same method.
For more details on Patrick’s guiding services visit: www.threeriversanglingadventures.co.uk
Essex Manor's Stella out at 51lb
DAN Taylor caught his first ever carp over the magical 50lb barrier in the form of this 51lb mirror known as Stella from the Essex Manor syndicate.
Targeting a patch of silt just 20 yards from the bank, the Kent-based rod baited the feature with four kilos of Tails Up Pro Fish 10mm and 18mm boilies before positioning a matching flavoured white pop-up over the top.
He said: “On first light my right-hand rod went in to melt down and as soon as I picked it up I knew something special was on the other end. After a slow, heavy fight lasting 15 minutes I slipped the net under a fish of a lifetime.”
Dan beat his new personal best with a size 7 Atomic Tackle Grabba hook attached to a 25lb Jel-E-Wyre hooklink and a 2oz lead on a safety clip system.
Brits excel in Sensas Challenge
Daiwa Gordon League and Kamasan Starlets flew the flag for British matchfishing in last weekend's Sensas Challenge Final, returning with third and sixth places respectively against the cream of Europe's match elite made up of 12 other nations.
Fishing against 62 other teams of four that had come through qualifiers in their respective countries, Gordon League scored 33 points to end the two days just a point behind second-placed French side Le Group Des Pecheurs Saintongeais, fellow countrymen PCRP crowned 2012 champs with a terrific 21 point score.
For the full report see this week's paper (November 6).
15 year wait for pb chub
A 15-year quest to break his chub personal best came to a triumphant conclusion for Dennis Hayes when he banked this 6lb 3oz specimen from the River Waveney.
With warm temperatures and a tinge of colour in the water he was confident of enjoying a memorable session, and things started well with a brace of fish to 4lb 15oz coming to the net early on.
The Suffolk-based rod had never landed a 5lb-plus specimen despite countless attempts, but he finally broke his duck when the chub fell for a piece of hair-rigged meat.
34lb Thames mirror landed
A flooded Thames produced this impressive 34lb mirror to Ash Geden.
The 22-year-old Windsor rod targeted a deep silty part of a slack area to bank the new river personal best.
Despite cold conditions, with frost on the unhooking mat at dawn, Ash’s heavy pre-baiting of Sticky Baits XS boilies and mixed particles paid off.
The fish had clearly taken a liking to the feast, excreting samples of the bait all over the mat.
Ash used a hinged stiff link rig incorporating a size-five ESP Stiff Rigger attached to 20lb Korda Mouth Trap hooklink with an eight inch boom section.
Everything was kept pinned down by 3ft of ESP leadcore attached to a 4oz flat pear lead fished helicopter style.
The hookbait was a 16mm Sticky Baits Buchu Berry pop-up and the mirror was tamed on 18lb ESP Syncro XT mainline, an ESP 3lb test curve Sniper rod and a Daiwa Emcast reel.
Thames record shaker tops amazing week for barbel
CARL Welch has come within 1oz of breaking the River Thames barbel record with this 18lb 1oz specimen which has headed up another phenomenal week for the species on rivers across the UK.
The historic fish was landed by the Feltham, London-based security guard, who continued his unbelievable run of form on the waterway, which recently saw him land a British record-shaking chub of 9lb 3oz, when he concentrated on a stretch at Chertsey.
Just a few days earlier the 35-year-old had landed an impressive barbel of 15lb 12oz from the same swim, but knowing there was a chance of an even bigger fish he returned and stuck with his winning combination of an Aqua Dynamix Worm boilie offered in conjunction with a small PVA bag of crushed baits.
After a couple of missed bites his rod was almost pulled off the rest by the new personal best that weighed fractionally less than Guy Robb’s river record of 18lb 2oz caught in 2005.
“I cast back out after failing to connect with a take and sat back to check a couple of e-mails on my phone when out of the corner of my eye I saw the rod start to literally take off. I simply grabbed hold of the handle and hung on for dear life as the fish powered off downstream,” he told Angling Times.
“I’ve had some big fish from the river, but the sheer power of this one was staggering and it took me over 20 minutes to land it. By this time a crowd of other anglers, dog walkers and joggers had gathered behind me and were all willing the fish into the net.
“This has been the most productive October for barbel that I’ve ever had. I can only put it down to the weather as I know that so many other anglers are also reaping the rewards.”
One of those fishermen was Red Darling who now holds the River Derwent record following the capture of a 16lb 6oz specimen.
The fish, which smashes his previous biggest for the species by over 5lb, was taken from a Derbyshire County Angling Club stretch when the waterway was high and coloured after recent rain.
Hair-rigged pellets on a size 8 hook attached to 10lb line proved to be the winning method and the all-important bite came when he flicked his rig out just over a rodlength from his own bank.
“I was in total shock once the fish was in the net as I knew I’d smashed my personal best. That feeling was magnified once my friend Dan Golding and another angler came along to help me weigh and verify it as a new river record,” said Red.
You can always count on the famous Throop Fishery on the River Stour to produce some big barbel when the conditions are right and Luke Guarguaglini used the tried-and-tested method of rolling meat to beat his barbel personal best with the capture of a 15lb 5oz specimen.
After landing two chub to 5lb in the morning, the huge fish made an appearance just after lunch time when he trundled his hookbait, which was flavoured with mild curry powder, through a slack area in an otherwise fast-flowing swim.
Peck on fire
Prolific carp catcher Darrell Peck has been getting among the bigger residents of a southern gravel pit and during a three night session on the 50-acre venue landed this 40lb 4oz mirror.
A fish of 35lb also graced the net of the Korda employee who set up in a swim where he had taken carp of 32lb and 27lb the previous week.
Convinced the lake’s fish spent the majority of their out in the middle of the water, Darrell had been concentrating his efforts around the central swims on the venue.
Over the course of the session he introduced 6kg of Mainline Baits new Hybrid bait and fished 10mm Milky Toffee pop-ups over the top. These were mounted on hinged-stiff rigs tied with 20lb Korda N-Trap and 20lb Mouthtrap along with size 8 Choddy hooks.
To achieve the distance required to get close to where the fish were holed up he used 4oz distance leads in conjunction with a 20lb braid mainline and a 50lb Armakord shock leader.
Attention to detail results in 43lb 4oz mirror
ONE thing that few anglers take into consideration when targeting specimen carp is their line lay. But by paying close attention to details such as this can make all the difference as Rob Willingham proved with this 43lb 4oz mirror from Cleverley Top Lake.
The Korda employee arrived at the Essex venue on a Friday evening, and with strong winds and torrential rain lashing down he wasted no time getting his rods out in an area of the lake where he knew the fish had been residing over the last few days. But despite fish crashing out in front of him during the night, his bobbins had remained motionless by the morning.
“The day turned out to be bright and sunny, and with a few fish cruising near the surface I cast out a couple of zigs, but these failed to produce anything,” Rob told Angling Times.
“There was a lot of weed in front of the swim which was making things very awkward for me to get my lines down and into position. To solve this I spent an hour raking the area so that I could a better line lay.”
With everything sorted he got his rods back out for the night and spread a scattering of boilies over his hookbaits.
“It was a clear, starry night unlike the previous one, and I was in bed by 9:30pm. I awoke to a slow, forceful take at around 4:25am, and lifted into what was a powerful specimen. I was immediately forced to give line slowly as it surged left in the deeper water.
“Applying steady pressure I eventually began to retrieve some line and got her within close quarters. There was only one band of weed in front of me that I hadn’t cleared and guess what happened? She went straight into it and wedged herself solid.
“It was only a few yards off the bank and I knew it was just shallow enough for me to climb into the waders and go after her, which I duly did. I managed to get the rod directly above the fish and within a couple of minutes she popped up to the surface.
“It was then panic stations as she bolted through my other two lines leaving me in a right mess. I managed to sort this out with a little nip one pearl one and soon enough she was engulfed in the mesh. It was her, I couldn’t believe it, Geezers weighing 43lb 4oz. I got some very memorable pictures and would like to thank all my mates that shared the occasion with me.”
Rob put his faith in his favourite hinged stiff rig presentation which was tied with an Amnesia boom section and 15lb Mouthtrap pop-up section attached to a size 8 Korda Choddy hook.
