Huge hauls of silverfish at None-Go-Bye-Farm
Big bags of silverfish have been dominating at Yorkshire’s None-Go-Bye-Farm and Darren Briggs needed an impressive 37lb 1oz of roach to top the field in a recent match.
The Baildon-based rod drew peg 6 on the Bottom Lake and used caster on the long pole line from peg 6 to net fish to 1lb at regular intervals.
Days later it was skimmers that helped Chris Kendall claim victory, with the Middy man using pellet from peg 9 on the Middle Lake for 49lb 5oz of them.
Cudmore Fisheries to create fish farm
One of the country’s top commercial venues has revealed plans to create its own fish farm.
Staffordshire’s Cudmore Fisheries is home to a vast array of waters that cater for all types of anglers and bosses have decided to turn the New Pools and Adelaide Pool into breeding waters next year.
Fishery manager Frank Clarke is adamant the move will boost sport at the complex and he told Angling Times: “The aim is to make the venue self-sufficient so that we can breed all our own fish and guarantee that visitors are targeting carp and silvers that are fighting fit.”
For more details visit www.cudmorefisheries.co.uk
Help save the UK's unluckiest fishing club
Can you help save the UK’s unluckiest fishing club?
That’s the call going out to fishery owners and angling associations this week after a Leicestershire-based outfit revealed that it is facing the prospect of closure following a run of natural disasters at its three lakes.
The club, B. Marco AC, has three lakes at Sewstern Gullet, near Melton Mowbray, and suffered its first major blow 12 months ago when prolonged droughts forced its waters to dry up and stocks to perish. Soon after restocking in November 2012, the fishery was then hit by severe flooding, which saw fish carried away across surrounding fields. Now, with no more club funds remaining, it could be forced to disband and give up its lakes - unless a donation of new fish can be found.
Club member Leslie Potter said: “It would be a tragedy to have to close. We’ve been going almost 40 years, and the fishing used to be superb. We just hope somebody, somewhere might have a load of unwanted silverfish to kindly get our lakes going again.”
Following the floods late last year, head bailiff John Barnes held a whip round and even donated £1,000 of his own money to purchase new stocks.
“We put in 200 carp, 100 tench and 100 crucian carp - it was nothing really over three ponds but it got us fishing again. Then a couple of weeks later we had loads of rain, the nearby dyke flooded, water came pouring into the lakes which spilt out into the fields. We found stranded, dead fish up to a mile away, and some probably ended up in the Witham. We were left with about 20 carp and so now we’d be grateful of any donation of fish at all,” he said.
*Can you help the club by donating fish stocks? Please call Les directly on 07979 012396.
Huge 90 fish haul taken on zig rigs
A staggering session at Oxlease Lake saw Tom Maker and Mark Bartlett land 90 fish between them without using an ounce of groundbait or a single free offering.
The pair used yellow foam and single boilies to bank carp to 30lb 11oz during a weekend session that featured snow and ice at the Oxfordshire venue.
Fishing from Thursday to Sunday, Tom and Mark scored at 80yds with tactics within the reach of any weekend angler.
The massive catch included two 30s for Tom, who also had 15 20s in his 59-fish haul, and five 20s for Mark, who banked a total of 31 carp.
In all, 78 fish fell to Fox Zig Alignas dipped in Hinders Betalin and 12 came to Mainline’s Clockwork Orange pop-ups.
Tom said: “When we arrived on Thursday half the lake was frozen and it did look a bit bleak.
“I cast a bare lead out on braided line and hit some fish on the way down. I reckoned they were fairly close to the bottom so went for 3ft zigs and had a bite before I could even switch my alarm on!
“I quickly rang Bart who was over on St John’s and he jumped in a couple of pegs down. The action was absolutely mental at times and we struggled to keep all six rods in the water for longer than 30 minutes during the stay.
“People may think it is all right for us because we are consultants who get free bait and tackle, and probably fish full-time, but nothing could be further from the truth. We both work full-time jobs and booked a few days’ holiday to shoot some features for the magazines.”
Mark added: “The reason for our success on this session is not down to time or free bait or tackle, it is simply down to finding where the carp were shoaled up, finding the depth at which they were sitting and working our butts off to ensure we maximised our time in order to catch as many as possible. Obviously a little bit of luck played its part but doesn’t it always in fishing?”
Angler bags £1,000 prize in Docklow Pools match
A cash prize of £1,000 was up for grabs during the latest event at Docklow Pools and it was Steve Greaves who walked away with the honours after he banked 20lb 12oz.
After drawing peg 20 on the Match Pool at the Herefordshire fishery, the venue regular made the decision to fish maggot and corn on the pole during the Classic Final for carp and silvers.
Huddersfield’s Steve Todd fell agonisingly short of topping up his bank balance, bagging 19lb 14oz on the day.
Stunning 35lb mirror from Cromwell Lake
CROMWELL Lake burst into life for Danny Oates who took this stunning 35lb mirror along with two other fish during a 24-hour session.
The 26-year-old Manchester rod found the Nottinghamshire venue fairly busy but managed to locate a group of fish and was rewarded with a trio of carp, including a 29lb 12oz mirror, in just over an hour.
Danny told Angling Times: “I was down for a 24-hour session and to tell you the truth it was all a bit quiet when I arrived.
“Nothing had been out for three weeks and I had a look around but there was no action. The lake was busy and there were only four pegs available.
“I went down to one end of the lake and tied on a zig and had a take while the PVA foam nugget was still attached. Unfortunately I didn’t land it and I didn’t have anything during the day as the fish were all in the upper layers.”
Danny switched to bottom baits overnight and cast to a far margin, over which he chucked three or four spods of chopped Mainline Cell boilies and coconut milk.
The following morning he was rewarded with the capture of the 35lb 4oz mirror, an 8lb common and the 29lb mirror, all within 75 minutes of each other.
“The first bite was a good take but the fight wasn’t great so I thought it was a small fish until I saw it surface in the middle. I initially thought it was a twenty but didn’t realise just how big it was until I got it in,” said labourer Danny.
His rigs comprised 3oz leads, eight-inch combi-links and size-eight Fox SSC hooks attached to Cell hookbaits.
Rule breakers get red carded at Fir Tree
A FORWARD-thinking fishery boss has revealed how he stamped out rule-breaking at his complex by introducing a radical ‘red and yellow card’ discipline system more commonly associated with sports such as football.
Lancashire’s Fir Tree Fishery draws anglers from all over the region, but last year boss Martin Taylor became disillusioned with visitors paying little attention to the rules board. As a result of their ignorance, he was forced on occasion to ask fishermen to leave the complex for disobeying regulations that put his prized fish stocks in danger.
“I was fed up with people ignoring the rules and when I collected day ticket money I found some doing things they shouldn’t have been,” explained Martin.
“I had to tell people to pack up and leave the complex. It wasn’t something I liked doing at all, so I had to come up with a way of making people take notice,” he added.
He went back to the drawing board, and after months of consideration decided to implement a scheme which splits rules into two different categories. Yellow card ‘offences’ cover issues where discretion can be used, such as anglers who put too many fish into a keepnet, with a warning over their future conduct being included. Those breaking red card rules, such as using prohibited baits and tackle, are banned and asked to leave the fishery immediately.
The new system has had a dramatic effect, as Martin revealed: “I haven’t had to kick a single person off. The red and yellow card rules are clearly stated on a big board and because it is so noticeable, people read it and do as they are politely asked.”
News of the scheme’s success has already reached other venues and Makins Fishery boss Alan McDiarmid said: “It’s a very good idea and it brings a bit of humour to a serious topic. If it makes people take notice and abide by all the rules then it’s something other venues including ourselves should consider.”
Yellow card offences
- Landing nets must be used for all fish.
- Pole elastics must be tensioned to a sensible level.
- All litter must be removed from your peg.
- No more than 75lb of fish in a net during matches.
- Fish must be carefully placed back into the lake after capture.
Red card offences
- Barbless hooks only.
- No fixed rigs to be used.
- Boiles, nuts and pet food are banned.
- All fish must be placed back in the same lake after capture.
- Matchmen must use the fisheries scales and weigh sling to prevent the spread of disease
Three fish haul topped by 42lb 10oz common
MIKE Jarvis enjoyed a memorable session on his local Cambridgeshire venue, banking this pristine 42lb 10oz common as part of an impressive three-fish haul.
Tackling the Northey Park Syndicate Lake in Peterborough, the landscape gardner showed how pre-baiting can pay dividends. Prior to his session he had found a group of fish holding up in a bay and he spread three to four handfuls of 10mm boilies over the area in an attempt to get them feeding confidently.
Mike told the Angling Times: “The conditions were particularly mild for the time of year, and overcast too. Basically perfect for a bite.”
His winning presentation consisted of a hinged-stiff rig tied with a size 6 Fox Arma Point SR hook, 25lb Fox Rigidity and 15lb Fox Coretex. In addition to this, he used a 30lb Fox Illusion and a 15lb fluorocarbon mainline to conceal his setup as much as possible.
“This rig was perfectly suited to fishing on the silty lakebed, plus the stiff material the rig is constructed from gives it great anti-eject and non-tangle properties.”
Utilising his knowledge of the lake, Mike fished to the base of a gravel bar at 35 yards range, over which he spread a liberal helping of 10mm Mainline New Grange boilies and offered a 10mm Milky Toffee pop-up over the top.
The all-important bite came in the early hours of the morning and after a spirited scrap he had his prize beaten. The session was then rounded off with mirrors of 26lb 9oz and 16lb 6oz.
Rookley haul taken on singles
CASTING out a single hookbait without any feed around it can take a leap of faith - but Andy Liptrot proved how effective the tactic is with a five fish haul from Rookley Country Park on the Isle of Wight topped by a 31lb mirror.
The 46-year-old local prison officer had seen a few dimples on the surface of the water which he suspected might have been caused by carp and cast a couple of single 11mm Condensed Milk flavoured Proper Job Pop Ups towards the area.
He said: “From previous trips to the venue I knew there was a small hard clay patch surrounded by softer silt close to where I’d seen the activity. After a couple of casts I felt the lead hit down with a solid donk so I knew the rig was bang on the money. It’s not a very big patch so I didn’t want to risk overcrowding it with two rigs, so simply cast the other rod 20 yards to the side in the silt.”
It didn’t take long for his first bite to materialise, resulting in the biggest fish of the trip at 31lb. Three other carp of 26lb 12oz, 26lb and 22lb 8oz were taken off the clay patch along with a 23lb 1oz mirror which came from the silty area.
He added: “They all fought really hard and none of them had leeches on so they’ve obviously been fairly active over the winter. There had been a cold easterly wind blowing for the last few weeks so I decided to just fish singles as I didn’t want to risk killing the swim by putting too much bait out.”
Andy mounted his hookbaits on rigs incorporating seven inch coated braid hooklinks and size 6 Fox Arma Point SSC hooks.
“A lot of people scale down in the winter and use smaller hooks. I’m not a fan of this, however, and think that the carp find larger hooks much harder to deal with and eject.”
Terry Dempsey joins Century Carp
North East carbon specialists Century Composites have recently announced that the newest addition to their top level Century Carp Team is none other than the Urban Myth himself Terry Dempsey.
Century media development coordinator Dave Springall had this to tell us: ‘It goes without saying that we are super excited to finally have Terry on the team after a good few weeks of discussion. There are few carpers who can match Terry’s angling ability, big carp track record and writing capabilities. To add to this Terry is one of the most popular, friendly and credible guys on the current big carp scene making him a huge asset to our existing team.’
Terry said: ‘I am so happy to be part of the Century Carp Team. For years I have been aware of the unmatched quality of their products and I am extra pleased to know that all their products are manufactured by hand right here in the UK. This coming season I will be targeting a big pit in the Colne Valley and using the 13ft FMA-2 will give me a huge edge in helping to get out amongst the fish that can often be at extreme range. With the proven casting pedigree of Century rods I know I will be able to get amongst these fish with ease. I can’t believe I finally have three rods that actually match!’
Terry joins existing UK consultants Frank Warwick, Lee Collings, Sean Leverett, Jerry Hammond, Warren Fenn and Dave Springall.
Roach anglers paradise opens it doors
A DAY-TICKET fishery boasting one of the biggest stocks of specimen roach in the UK has opened its doors to anglers.
A major winter netting operation at Abbey Lake in Gloucestershire revealed that the three-acre venue held more than 50 big redfins weighing between 2lb and just under 3lb, with a further 150 fish between 1lb 8oz and 2lb in reserve.
The ‘roach anglers paradise’, which is part of the popular Lemington Lakes complex, has been carefully nurtured by owner and fisheries consultant Andrew Ellis.
“It’s taken around five years of hard work to get this population of roach to the stamp that they are now, but this is just the beginning – these fish will keep growing ,” Andrew told Angling Times.
“They are completely empty at this time of the year, and as soon as the water temperatures start to rise in earnest and the roach begin to eat more, they will pack on weight quickly.”
Andrew revealed how the changing face of the specimen angling world was one of the factors that encouraged him to develop Abbey Lake.
“There seems to be an increasing number of stillwater anglers who want to catch big roach and that’s the reason why I’ve put so much effort into breeding these fish. I think it’s important that anybody should be able to have a crack at catching a 3lb roach for the price of a day ticket,” he said.
“The lake has been closed since November, so the next few weeks are sure to see a few anglers leaving with smiles on their faces and personal bests under their belts!”
Day tickets on Abbey Lake cost £8. To find out more about the complex visit: www.lemingtonlakes.co.uk or call 01608 650872.
Hat-trick of forties in 'best ever session'
A GRUELLING two-week session produced an impressive three forties in the space of six days for Steve Osbourne.
The 65-year-old, who landed carp of 42lb, 46lb 4oz and 48lb from Kent’s Strawberry Fields, described it as his “best-ever UK session”.
Steve, from Essex, said: “To have a catch like that in winter, I was grinning from ear to ear. The adrenaline rush was just totally amazing - I’m still made up about it now.”
As reported last week in Angling Times, the retired rod also had perch up to 4lb 7oz and a 2lb rudd during his stay, which was so cold he had to break the ice five times.
“All the fish came on the same rod fished about 4ft out but 25 yards down the bank from me,” said Steve.
“I started off on worm and maggots on clips but nothing was happening so I moved over to a swim known as the Fridge after three days and rummaged in my bag for something else to try.
“I found some Nash Tangee Peach pop-ups in 10mm and attached them to a size-10 hook.”
Steve’s next session is a three-week trip to France chasing a 60lb common, but he admitted it would have to go some way to beat his fortnight in Kent.
“Strawberry Fields is my Redmire, it’s the most gorgeous little pond,” he said.
3lb cod wins angler a brand new car
FOR MANY anglers a 3lb fish isn’t exactly a catch of a lifetime but to Karl Wiepcke, the 3lb 7oz cod that he caught in last week’s European Open Beach Championship was the most memorable fish he will ever land…because it won him a brand new car and a pocketful of cash!
Karl took the modest fish during the three-day event, held on a wind and rain battered Yorkshire coast around Hornsea, where it was enough to beat more than 100 other anglers and scoop the first prize of a Peugeot 107, as well as nearly £3,000 in cash.
Fishing a mark at Aldborough, the 34-year-old mechanic from Goxhill in East Yorkshire knew that his only chance of banking a decent fish was to wait until high tide. Accordingly, he didn’t start fishing until 2pm, at which point he cast out a Pennel rig sporting a size 3/0 hook baited with a black lug and white rag cocktail.
Karl told Angling Times of the agonising 24-hour wait before he was announced the winner: “In a competition such as this, run over three days where anglers are allowed to rove the coast, it is hard to tell what is going on and I never dreamed I would still be ahead by the end of the last day. I’m over the moon” he said.
Surprise sea trout falls from River Test
And end of season session on the River Test took an unexpected twist when Gary Maton banked a 6lb 12oz sea trout.
The venue regular visited a renowned spot on the Hampshire waterway and decided to use simple centrepin and float tactics with sweetcorn on the hook.
Several quality grayling and brown trout took the bait before the big specimen showed up late in the day.
Alan Yates wins 'Ten Worm Challenge' event
Highly respected sea angler Alan Yates was crowned champion of the unique Ten Worm Challenge after he banked 32 fish during the contest.
Entrants to the event were permitted to use 10 lugworms and no other bait and were allowed to fish anywhere they wanted along the south coast.
At the end of the outing, the Sea Angler magazine contributor had walked to victory with ease after he selected to fish a renowned mark at Dungeness, with Mark Howard taking second spot with 11 fish from the same spot.
Angling Trust create new poster campaign
Officials from the Angling Trust have created a brand new campaign to help inform Eastern European anglers of the closed season on the nation’s rivers.
Fishermen of Polish and Lithuanian origin have been caught red handed targeting running waters during the annual shutdown in previous years and the governing body have moved to try and stop a repeat performance by generating an informative poster.
The literature will be printed in five different languages and will explain the various rules surrounding the closed season. Clubs can download the posters by visiting www.anglingtrust.net
Win a coaching day with Steve Ringer
Fancy a day’s coaching with Steve Ringer? If so, then why not get involved in an auction aimed at raising thousands of pounds for a good cause.
In an effort to help rake in cash in for a highly respected cancer care charity, the Angling Times columnist is inviting people to bid for a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to spend a day with the former Fish O’Mania champion.
The angler putting in the highest bid by April 3 will win the coveted prize, with the venue and date to be set by mutual agreement. To stake an offer email andypell999@gmail.com
End of season barbel record shaker
THIS is the picture of what is believed to be the biggest barbel currently swimming in any river in the UK, all 20lb 7oz of it!
The mighty specimen, which falls just 10oz short of Grahame King’s 21lb 1oz British record, was landed by seasoned specialist Dave Currell when he targeted an undisclosed river stretch.
The Hertfordshire-based rod, who held the British record for the species himself way back in 1998, tempted the new personal best on a feederfished bunch of red maggots.
It is the first barbel over 20lb to be banked from any UK river since the capture of a 20lb 12oz fish from the River Wensum by Mark Rylands in 2008, a barbel which, like Grahame King’s Great Ouse record, is known to have perished at the hands of otters.
“I wouldn’t be at all surprised if this fish doesn’t become a new British record before the end of the year,” Dave told Angling Times.
“After spending the best part of 20 years fishing for specimen barbel, in recent seasons I’ve mainly been concentrating on floatfishing for big roach, but on this particular session I decided to chuck out a feeder as well - and I’m so glad that I did! I was trotting away when I saw the tip on my feeder rod knock a couple of times , so I quickly put my float rod down and grabbed the feeder rod just as it buckled over as the fish hooked itself. It wasn’t clear at first just how big the barbel was until I lifted it out of the water in the net.”
“When I saw the needle on my scales spring past the 20lb mark I started shaking so much that I couldn’t hold the thing still. I just stood there in disbelief until my witnesses turned up!” added Dave, who beat the fish using 12lb mainline, a 10lb braided hooklink and a size 12 Drennan barbel hook.
Britain’s Top 5 biggest barbel
1 21lb 1oz, Grahame King, River Ouse, 2006
2 20lb 12oz, Mark Rylands, River Wensum, 2008
3 20lb 7oz, Dave Currell, undisclosed river, 2013
4 19lb 5oz, Duncan Kellett, River Kennet, 2006
5 19lb 4oz, Steven Short, River Trent, 2007
Prebaiting campaign produces brace of thirties
A THREE week prebaiting campaign paid dividends for Rob Shanks when he landed a brace of thirties during a 24 hour session on a Norfolk stillwater.
Targeting a couple of spots on the lake which had a track record for producing some of the venue’s bigger fish during the colder months the Norwich-based rod had been trickling in a steady supply of Sticky 15mm Vor-Tex boilies.
He said: “I noticed that the lake’s birdlife were actively searching for baits but had shown very little interest in the area I’d been baiting. I’d put in about 7kg over a three week period so I knew it was very unlikely that they hadn’t stumbled across and I figured the carp had to be wiping it out. And with milder weather forecast I decided to do a quick 24 hour session.”
It proved to be a wise decision and after casting out three chod rigs, each baited with glugged Sticky White Chocolate pop-ups, over a deep silty area it wasn’t long before he started receiving several liners.
“I topped up the swim with a couple of handfuls of boilies before hitting the sack and I was awoken at 1.30am by a twitchy take on my middle rod. After an epic battle it turned out to be a repeat capture of one of the lake’s character fish – a 31lb 4oz mirror. A few hours later I received another take which resulted in a cracking 33lb 8oz common.
“By the time I slipped her back after a few pictures the lake was 80 per cent frozen. It was definitely one of my most memorable winter captures in nearly 20 years of carp fishing.”
100-acre pit produces the goods in freezing conditions
FISHING a 100-acre pit can be a daunting experience at the best of times, let alone in the depths of winter. But that’s exactly what Tom Fellows did and was rewarded with this cracking 29lb 8oz mirror.
Arriving at the vast southern venue three hours in to darkness he settled in to a swim on the back of freezing cold northerly wind with the hope of being able to spot any signs of fish once it got light.
But after an uneventful night and nothing to go on by midday, the Swim Tackle-backed rod decided to wind his rods in and go for a walk round the water to see if he could search out any of its residents.
“I still couldn’t see anything so decided to stay put and stick it out in the hope that something would move over my spot at some point,” he told Angling Times. “It was so cold that I spent all of the evening and night zipped up in my bivvy trying to stay warm. To my surprise, just as the sun started to rise the following morning the tranquility of the pit was smashed as one of my alarms burst into life.”
A hard fight followed but it wasn’t long before Tom was scooping up his prize in the waiting net.
“I was ecstatic with the result – catching from such a large expanse of water when the conditions were so tough.”
Fishing at around 120 yards to a deep channel running between two islands, he fished an Oxford Carp Baits MC Nut boilie on a hinged-stiff rig, comprised from Swim Tackle components.
