Perch session produces brace of 15lb barbel
DAREN Eyles never dreamt that a perch fishing session would result in him becoming one of just a handful of anglers who can boast of catching two 15lb barbel in a session – but that’s exactly what happened when he banked a brace of specimens topped by this 15lb 10oz personal best.
He started the day targeting the stripeys in a local Bedfordshire river with feederfished lobworms, but turned his attentions to barbel after his chosen quarry proved too difficult to locate.
Armed with the same set-up, that featured 6lb line and a size 4 hook, he moved upstream and only had to wait 10 minutes before the 15lb 10oz fish found his lobworm hookbait. Just 30 minutes later his tip pulled round again and another immaculate fish weighing exactly 15lb soon lay in the folds of his landing net.
“Absolutely nothing was happening on the perch front, so I moved into the swim that I knew held barbel because I had faith that the lobworms would lure them out from the overhanging trees,” Daren told Angling Times.
“I’ve always dreamed of catching one over 15lb, so to have two in less than an hour was incredible.
“Every time I talk about the session it just doesn’t feel real - especially after I started the day fishing for a completely different species.”
Huge 47lb salmon from River Tweed
This is the picture of one of the biggest salmon ever landed on rod and line – estimated to weigh close to 50lb.
The colossal fish, which is by far the heaviest reported this season, was landed by Edinburgh’s Jim Reid while fishing a stretch of the River Tweed.
Measuring 50 inches in length and with a girth of 25 inches, it took the venue regular 40 minutes to land as local ghillie Ian Farr expertly manoeuvred their 11ft boat through a fast-flowing area on the Bemersyde beat of the famous waterway. It easily set a new personal best for Jim, whose previous biggest salmon stood at 26lb.
“We had only been fishing for about 10 minutes when I got the take, and before I knew it the brute had stripped 100 yards of line off my reel!” said Jim, who used a homemade gold-bodied Willie Gunn tube fly.
“It became apparent that we were attached to something special as we were forced to follow it in the boat as it tore off down river. We both gasped out load when its huge tail came crashing out of the water. It was absolutely incredible and there’s no way I would have landed it without the help and guidance of Ian. He also held the fish up so we could get a really good picture of it because I was so tired I just couldn’t lift it properly,” he added.
Ian has been a ghille on the Bemersyde Estate for 25 years and Jim’s fish is easily the biggest salmon he’s landed in that time.
“I was honoured to be part of the capture,” said Ian. “I had the dimensions of the fish analysed by a biologist on the Tweed and he confirmed that it could have weighed anything up to 46lb which is very special for the river indeed.”
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Clubs step in to save our rivers
Some of the country’s biggest angling clubs are ‘taking matters into their own hands’ to rejuvenate famous river stretches in 2013.
After enduring many years of dwindling silverfish catch returns at a number of once-popular running water venues, club officials have launched their own initiatives to redress the balance after becoming ‘disillusioned’ by the Environment Agency’s apparent inaction over the pressing issue.
As a result, a number of stretches on the Severn and the Warwickshire Avon are to benefit from a new ‘Roach Project’ designed to help fish spawn, while in the north, Leeds and District ASA is considering the viability of stocking excess ‘nuisance’ silverfish from their lakes into river stretches under their control.
John Williams, secretary of Birmingham Anglers Association, told Angling Times: “The EA denies that there is a lack of silverfish in the Severn and Avon, even though perfectly good anglers are struggling to catch them. Avon matches are won with a single barbel or catches of bream, so where have all the chub, dace and roach gone? They’ve been eaten by cormorants, that’s what.
“We’d love to stock our rivers but the EA won’t let us do it, even when we’ve offered to buy the fish ourselves, so we’ve had to look at other ways of replenishing our waters. The only time the EA seem to want to stock a river is when there’s been a pollution incident”.
John revealed that Birmingham AA has signed up to the Severn Roach Project, a scheme which aims to emulate the success of the Hants Avon Roach Project, whereby floating spawning refuges are placed into the river, where the fry hatch before being returned to the river when they are old enough. The initiative is to be trialled at a number of locations including Ironbridge and Shrewsbury, plus tributaries of the Warwickshire Avon.
The man heading it all up is Tony Bostock, who is a director of the Severn Rivers Trust as well as being an angler with 30 years’ experience in fisheries management.
“We’re putting these boards where roach have traditionally spawned in the past, to give the remaining population a helping hand. They are pieces of wood with chopped up sections of keepnets hanging beneath to mimic fontinalis weed which roach spawn in. If we get a lot of spawn we can look at rearing fish in tanks and stew ponds,” he said.
The Shropshire Anglers Federation of Anglers has already trialled its own project, putting artificial structures in back eddies at Shrewsbury, a once-prolific match stretch of the Severn. The spawn is then transferred upstream to its noted Quarry length. This section of river, which once saw 20lb-plus nets of silvers regularly put to the scales, hit rock bottom two years ago when just 1lb 9oz won a big memorial match.
Federation chairman John Roberts said: “A couple of years ago, before we started the project,we might have 40 anglers in a match and only five catching fish. Now we’ve now got 35 catching fish and more consistent overall silverfish weights – it’s a marked improvement. We’re basically encouraging the river to regenerate itself. Hopefully the town stretches will soon bounce back too, and we’re looking to work with the Severn Roach Project for the good of this amazing river,” he said.
Meanwhile, in Yorkshire Leeds and District ASA has been given permission to move unwanted roach and skimmers from one of the club’s heavily-stocked lakes into the River Wharfe, subject to health checks.
This comes after concerns over fish numbers were expressed by several clubs about the lack of fish in several stretches of the upper and middle river.
Clubpresident Stan Jefferies said: “Small silvers breed so well in commercials that they can become a nuisance, so why not put them to good use by replenishing our rivers? I’m not saying this will make an instant difference but eventually it would, if these fish reach a spawning age,” he said.
Steve Fearnley sits on the fisheries committee at the club and believes that the silvers in many Yorkshire rivers, such as the Ouse, Aire and Calder, have moved into the lower reaches.
“These parts are tidal and usually unfishable. So you get some sections which are solid and others further up where there are hardly any silverfish and trout have taken over. Why can’t numbers of fish simply be moved back up river? The EA here has been heavily stocking urban rivers such as the Don and Aire, thanks to the great work of fisheries officers like Peter Mishchenko and Peter Turner. But it seems other EA branches with upland rivers under their control won’t stock theirs, even though they are most in need,” he said.
£35m Evesham fishing complex gets go-ahead
Britain’s first combined shopping centre and fishing complex has been given planning permission.
The £35m IntoOutdoors site will include tackle shops, two lakes and a stretch of the River Avon near Evesham in Worcestershire.
The site’s key feature will be the chance for anglers to instantly road-test tackle before buying, according to Devon-based developer Eagle One.
The venue, which is set to open in summer 2014 after work begins in January, will also include a 45-unit retail park in its 125-acre setting. Restaurants, cafés, cycle routes and 60 holiday lodges are also planned.
IntoOutdoors said the lakes are likely to be run as day-ticket waters as well as ‘try before you buy’ arenas.
Top all-rounder Jan Porter, who lives in Evesham, said he feels for existing local tackle dealers but admitted this American-style centre has been a long time coming.
He said: “My first feeling as an ex-tackle retailer is it’s going to have an impact locally and my concerns are for those shops, but we are living in a very fast-moving world and when I sold my business in 1989 I saw there would eventually be these superstores and I was going to get eaten alive.
“From a commercial viewpoint, it’s an exciting venture. We are becoming American in Europe and this is like the Bass Pro places, where you pretty much go there for the weekend. It’s a retailing colossus.
“Retailing is becoming an event and that’s why people will take to it, and they’ve got a massive captive audience.
“For anybody who goes there I think it’ll be a great opportunity to get professional advice and road-test equipment. I can’t see it not being a success, providing they give people what they want.”
The new centre will replace a smaller outlet centre, Evesham Country Park, which currently occupies the land.
Simone Tothill, director of the project, said: “IntoOutdoors is a unique retail concept which offers an alternative to traditional and internet-based retailing.
“We believe it will succeed by making the shopping experience a truly leisure-based activity, with IntoOutdoors designed to appeal to all age groups.
“A retail environment where you can ‘try before you buy’ is an intrinsic part of our offer, not only do consumers get a memorable hands-on shopping experience in an idyllic setting, but retailers benefit from showing products to their full potential.”
Three river barbel records in two hours
TWO HOURS was all specimen angler Nigel Bryans needed to smash the River Nene barbel record not once but three times with a trio of amazing fish totalling 49lb.
Bryans beat the venue’s previous best on his first cast when he landed a specimen weighing 16lb - a mere 1oz above Jamie Cartwright’s record fish caught last month on the east midlands river. He then broke his own record twice over when he followed this up with two monsters each weighing 16lb 8oz to round off an amazing session.
Fishing an unnamed stretch of the river in flooded conditions, the 49-year-old from Peterborough was using nothing more complicated than a hair-rigged luncheon meat hookbait on a running lead, with a size 10 Nash Fang hook and a 15lb Gardner hooklink. He fed no free offerings or loosefeed.
Nigel said: “I have caught a few fish from this section of river in the past so I thought I’d just cast out and give it a go. Within 15 minutes I was playing the first fish, the weight of which shocked me when I put it on the scales, but to then catch two even bigger fish so soon after was simply unbelievable.
I was going to pack up after the first fish as it was getting dark! It was my best session ever, and I’ve hardly slept a wink since, such was the adrenaline.”
Barbel dominate in 113lb commercial catch
Barbel are becoming a more common occurrence in stillwaters as Derek Gladwin found out when he took 113lb 10oz of them to win the latest event at Monk Lakes.
The Preston Innovations Delcac man picked peg 57 on Lake Two out of the draw bag and made no mistake, taking specimens to 5lb by alternating between the Method feeder with meat and pellet on the pole line.
Runner up Sean Clifford was the only other man to place triple figures on the scales, recording a 104lb 12oz mixed catch.
Two new venues for Fish O'Mania 2013
Next year's Fish O'Mania qualifier dates and venues have been announced, and those in search of the £30,000 prize will have two new venues to tackle as Coleman's Cottage Fishery and Aston Ponds join the fray alongside some old familiar favourites.
Here are the full list of qualifiers:
Sat, April 6 - Viaduct Fishery
Sat, April 13 - Preston Innovations Boldings Pools
Wed, April 17 - Dynamite Baits Makin's Fishery
Sat, April 20 - Coleman's Cottage Fishery
Weds, April 24 - Gold Valley Lakes
Sat, April 27 - Tunnel Barn Farm
Sat, May 4 - Maver Larford Lakes
Weds, May 8 - Monk Lakes
Sat, May 11 - The Oaks Fishery
Sat, May 18 - Barford Lakes
Sat, May 25 - Aston Park Fishery
Weds, May 29 - Messingham Sands
Sat, June 1 - Partridge Lakes
Weds, June 5 - Preston Innovations Woodland View
Sat, June 15 - Woodland Lakes
Weds, June 26 - Garbolino Lindholme Lakes
Big perch on the feed
PERCH personal bests tumbled at a host of stillwater venues this week as the prolonged lower temperatures and frosty mornings sent the species on the feed.
One man taking advantage of the seasonal bonanza was Wyn Jones, who was rewarded for persevering at a rock-hard Hertfordshire venue by landing a 4lb 11oz cracker following his only bite of a day session.
The 54-year-old gas engineer from Cheshunt had endured numerous blank days over the past three seasons at the water, with just one lost fish to show for his efforts. But all those countless unproductive hours soon melted away with the capture of the special fish, which beat his previous perch pb by a whopping 1lb 10oz.
“I was just pouring a final cup of tea before I started packing up, when the bite came out of the blue. It was a fantastic fish, and I’m still buzzing from the capture to be honest. It’s incredible the difference catching just one fish can make to your morale – I was beginning to think I’d never catch a big perch from the venue, but now I can’t wait to get back there for another go!” said Wyn.
He used a simple swimfeeder rig on a running link, with 6lb mainline, a 4lb hooklink and a size 12 hook holding three bronze maggots.
Another angler who banked a new personal best on his only bite of the session was Lee Chatfield, who landed a 4lb 5oz fish from a southern Stillwater. The 36-year-old threw away the rule book and polefished a king prawn hookbait over a mix of chopped prawns, chopped lobworms and red maggots soaked in Sonubaits Krill liquid, introduced on a little-and-often basis.
“It was hard going because of all the recent rain, but one bite can change your day and makes it all worthwhile. The fish will be well over 5lb in February, when I will hopefully catch her again!”
The fish beats Lee’s previous best perch of 4lb, caught from the river Thames.
King prawns have also been doing the business for Bob Langford, who has had a rake of big perch from his own Springfield Meadows during a series of short evening sessions, topped by a 5lb fish taken last week.
Freelining his bait under overhanging trees did the business for Bob, who told Angling Times:
“Visitors to my lakes have had loads of decent perch over 3lb while targeting carp with prawns, so I thought I’d give them a go. In a couple of evenings last week I had fish weighing 3lb 12oz, two at 4lb 2oz and then the big one. I always knew that there would be a ‘five’ in there!”
Matchman nets huge pike on Stainforth & Keadby Canal
A roach fishing session on the Stainforth and Keadby Canal took an unexpected twist when Lee Kerry hooked and successfully landed this 25lb 12oz pike.
The Preston Innovations rod had been enjoying a practice outing on the prolific Thorne section of the Yorkshire waterway and had managed to put over 20lb of roach in the net on waggler tactics in three hours sport.
With the light closing in he hooked another redfin which was snapped up by a big pike and after a tense ten minute battle in which a boat also ploughed through his swim it was in the net.
“The size 18 hook had lodged in between its teeth and it’s a miracle the rig didn’t break as I was only using an 0.09mm hooklink!” explained Lee.
Moorlands Farm festive matches
Moorlands Farm is hosting a range of matches over the festive period.
The Kidderminster complex will run two special fur and feather opens before Christmas on Thursday December 20 and Saturday December 22. There will also be a New Year's Day open on January 1.
Call the fishery on 01299 250427 to book your place.
23lb river pike on roach deadbait
JAMES Sarkar only had one bite during a recent session on the River Severn – but he wasn’t complaining as it resulted in this 23lb personal best pike.
The 20-year-old Sparsholt College student presented a floatfished roach deadbait on a pair of size 4 trebles to tempt the impressive predator, which beat his previous best of 22lb 8oz, from the near margin of his swim on the midlands waterway.
His father, Dilip, has also been getting in on the pike action over the last week and landed a 20lb 10oz specimen from an undisclosed river.
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Tunnel Barn Farm record smashed
Commercial fishery expert Pete Rice showed his class once again when he smashed a Tunnel Barn Farm record with 188lb 5oz during the latest contest.
The Bag’em Matchbaits man drew peg 46 on High Pool and broke the lake best by using pellet on two lines to net a mixture of carp and F1s.
Second placed John Berry needed 123lb 9oz while the lowest weight taken by the 33 man field was 79lb!
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).
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.
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
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.
