World cod record broken

THE world cod record has been broken with the capture of the first ever 100lb-plus example of the species.

Weighing a staggering 47kg (103.6lb), it was landed by German angler Michael Eisele who struggled to hold the immense fish aloft after boating it from the famous Soröya fishing camp in Norway.

It is the pinnacle of a run of over-sized spring time ‘skrei’ cod from the area over the past two years, which also included a then European record of 91lb in May 2012.

Heiligenhafen-based Michael battled the cod for over 30 minutes after it took his 375g Horminator Puffin lure which was fished 70m deep in 94m of water out of Breiviksfjorden.

He said: “I’ve not had a really large cod before. My previous biggest was a 30lb North Atlantic but this was just unbelievable. The fight was very tough but thankfully the drag on the reel helped control its runs.

“I was using 40lb line and a 100lb leader - anything less would have been dangerous and I could have easily lost this fat fish. It felt like a big cod but not 47kg, and when it came up I was just crying and shouting ‘what a beast’!”

The fish was accurately weighed at a shore side factory and an official claim has now been filed to the International Game Fish Association (IGFA). Michael, who is a director of Dieter Eisele Fishing, beat the previous Atlantic cod best of 98lb 12oz, set way back in June 1969 in New Hampshire, USA.


Huge perch landed at Chestnut Pool

The carp were in the mood for a feast during the latest contest at Chestnut Pool but it was a huge 4lb 6oz perch landed by Dave Carter that was undoubtedly the best specimen landed on the day.

After drawing in a favourable area on the Bedfordshire complex, the local ace decided to fish double caster down the edge on the pool and caught a number of lumps before the unexpected bonus found the bait.

Sadly, his efforts weren’t enough to gain him a position in the frame, with Dave Henegan’s 96lb 10oz of carp good enough for top spot, while Peter Simons took second place with 86lb 1oz.


Rare chance to fish with Martin Bowler

A rare opportunity to spend a day’s fishing with Britain’s best specimen hunter has been made available through a charity auction.
Angling Times columnist Martin Bowler has offered to take one lucky person tench fishing for a day in aid of the Motor Neurone Disease Association.
Martin, who lost his father to the disease, does not offer guided trips so this is a unique opportunity to learn from the country’s best all-rounder.
The fishing will take place on August 13 at Linear Fisheries in Oxfordshire as part of the venue’s three-day Fish With The Stars event.
The tuition will go to the highest bidder in a sealed-bid auction. Bids should be emailed to len-gurd@linear-fisheries.co.uk
For more information visit www.linear-fisheries.co.uk


Big money match at Arrow Valley Lake

A big money contest is set to be staged at one of the country’s best bream fishing waters this summer.

Redditch’s Arrow Valley Lake has produced multiple 100lb plus hauls of slabs in recent years and squads of three are being invited to enter the tournament on August 10, with over £1,500 in cash set to be dished out.

Tickets are priced at £100 per team and you can book your spot call John Bushell on 07879 624248


Run of form continues with a 37lb 10oz common

LEWIS Porter caught another of his target fish from the Bundy’s Pit syndicate in Cambridgeshire in the form of this immaculate 37lb 10oz common.

The impressive specimen, known as the Long Common, was part of a six fish catch for the Peterborough-based media manager for Fox International which also included fish of 25lb 10oz, 24lb 5oz, 22lb 2oz, 20lb and 15lb during his 48 hour session.

All of his fish came to Mainline Baits Milky Toffee pop-up hookbaits which were presented over a scattering of 2kg of the company’s new Hybrid boilies.

His winning presentation consisted of a stiff-hinged rig which was tied with a 25lb Fox Rigidity boom section and 35lb Edges Coretex in a gravelly brown colour. This was cast out in conjunction with a safety clip system and a 4oz lead.

He told Angling Times: “I’ve had a great start to the season on Bundys and have already landed two of my target fish.”


Dream brace at carp lake

THERE aren’t many anglers who can boast of catching a 4lb perch and a 2lb roach in a single session - but Ian Henderson is one man who can lay claim to such a feat after banking this pair of specimens from a Hertfordshire stillwater.

His first bite of the day came in the form of a 2lb 2oz redfin, and the experienced specimen hunter from Essex admitted it’s been almost 25-years since he has banked a roach of such proportions.

Due to the bright, sunny conditions in the morning he had to wait until late afternoon for the resident perch – his intended target species - to switch on, and it was a legered lobworm tail on a size 8 Drennan hook and a 4lb hooklink that eventually tempted the 4lb 8oz predator.

But the action didn’t stop there and he went on to land a perch of 3lb and a brace of twos from a spot at 20 yards range.

“Even though the weather has been much warmer of late, the water temperatures have been very slow to rise so the secret for the big perch has been not to overfeed and just introduce a couple of
broken lobworms,” said Ian.

“I have caught roach to 1lb 8oz from this lake in the past, but I never realised that they grew this big.
I was using pretty crude gear so I’m certain that if I fine down my rigs I’ll be able to discover the true potential of the lake and hopefully catch a really big one.

“It’s another excellent example of what’s on offer with regards to other coarse species at specimen carp fisheries.”



Peanut worms set to take sea fishing by storm

A UNIQUE new bait set to take the sea fishing world by storm has gone on sale for the first time in the UK.

Peanut worms are an unusual strain of lugworm with a large bulbous end and a tough texture, and have already been used with great success in Spain and Italy. Although native to UK and Irish shores, huge difficulties in finding and digging them up has made them almost impossible to source in the past. However, Sean Walker of www.peanutworms.co.uk has now found a closely guarded way of supplying them live to anglers by mail order. The lucky few to have tried the strain of worm so far have reported impressive catches of bass, pollack, wrasse, cod, mullet and bream.

“This is a completely new bait for the UK,” he said. “Throughout the process of setting up my business I’ve been working with Defra (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) to make sure I’m operating within the law.  Peanut worms burrow deep into the sand and are underwater most of the time.

“I can keep worms alive for weeks by replicating their living conditions but this isn’t possible when sending them out, so each pack has its own individual ‘use by’ date - usually four days after the anticipated date each is received. My aim is to provide a first class live bait service.”

One of the first UK anglers to try peanut worms was Mike Tock of West Hull Angling Club who, fishing the River Humber near Spurn Point, shared a catch of 62 fish in three hours with two friends.

“I’ve never seen a bait like this before - it’s more like a slug than a worm. They are extremely tough and didn’t burst when I pierced them with a baiting needle. They also move a lot once you put them in the water. We were getting a few flounders early in the session so I changed to peanut worms and starting catching lots of bass up to 3lb. It’s unusual to catch school bass so early in the year here as the water is still very cold. I’ll definitely try this bait again,” he added.   

Buy them
Peanut worms are currently only available from Glasgow Angling Centre for £6.99 per tub. Visit www.fishingmegastore.com or call 0871 716 1670. For more information on the product see www.peanutworms.co.uk.


10% off tackle at new store for Angling Times readers

Popular retailer Dragon Carp Direct is opening its first store in the south this weekend in Ramsgate, Kent.

To celebrate, all Angling Times readers are being offered 10% off all tackle this Saturday at the store. Simply save the image of the coupon on this page, print it out and present it at the till.

Doors open at 9am and the shop is located on 59-63 Queen Street, Ramsgate, Kent, CT11 9EJ.


Rob Hughes banks second 70

Rob Hughes has become the first Briton to a bank 70lb carp from more than one country with the capture of this German giant.
The 70lb 10oz common came from a secret low-stock gravel pit in the south of the country last week. The Fox consultant had previously caught a 75lb 14oz mirror from France’s Rainbow Lake.
“I was absolutely blown away by the creature,” said Rob.
“The bite came in the early hours and it was dark. It was a heavy, dogged battle from about 150yds out until the fish came into the deep margins and woke up a little. When I saw it go over the net cord I knew it was a biggie and that was confirmed when the scales shot round to a smidgen over 32kg which, when converted back to sterling, equated to 70lbs 10oz.”
Joining Rob was Jason Colenso who banked 15 fish during the five-day session, including five over 50lb to 56lb 8oz.
All the fish fell to CPK boilies glugged in CC Moore’s Feedstim XP. Rob used size-three Arma Point SSBP hook and Fox end tackle.

 


39lb mirror tops thirties hat-trick

A 72 hour session on a Bedfordshire pit produced a hat trick of thirties for Wayne Albon with this chunky 39lb mirror the highlight.

Heading to an area of the lake which he knew had produced a few fish over the previous few days, the 28-year-old builder targeted a shallow gravel bar at 70 yards range.

Adopting a boilie only approach he baited the feature with 15 spods of Denham Bait Innovations Element boilies to start with and then cast matching pop-up hookbaits over the top.

Mirrors of 38lb 6oz and 30lb completed the session, and the Letchworth-based rod told Angling Times: “These were the first fish I’ve had from the venue this year. With the temperatures suddenly warming up it’s like a switch has been flicked and the fish have suddenly turned on again. I topped the spot up with a couple of spods after each fish and this seemed to keep them in the area.”

Wayne beat the trio of specimens with hinged-stiff rigs tied with an Amnesia boom section and 25lb Korda Mouthtrap attached to a size 5 ESP Stiff Rigger hook.


10lb tench on just a pint of maggots

CATCHING big tench at this time of year is often associated with the introduction of big beds of bait, but Keith Cracknell proved minimal feed can be just as effective with the capture of this 10lb 6oz specimen.

With those around him using large amounts of particles, the Norfolk-based all-rounder kicked off his 48-hour session on a local gravel pit with just a pint of maggots and a sprinkling of hemp and pellets.

It was a tactic, coupled with the regular recasting of in-line feeders filled with red grubs, that paid dividends on the first morning of his visit as he banked two male tench topping the scales at 8lb 6oz and 7lb.

Thinking that the fish had moved out of his swim, he was just packing away his gear when his hair-rigged caster hookbait was picked up by his first double figure tench of 2013.

“Some anglers just get really carried away and there were some lads that were firing spod after spod out. I knew that wasn’t going to be the way forward at a lake that’s 16 feet deep in places and was only just beginning to warm up,” Keith told Angling Times.

“I only wanted enough bait out there to stop a fish and keep it occupied for a short while, but not fill it up.

“This tench had one of the biggest frames I’ve seen but was really empty - there’s no doubt that it will be over 12lb come June.”

Keith used 2oz feeders with short, 12lb braided hooklinks and size 12 hooks.


Rudd starts record quest

ONE of the biggest rudd of all time has been landed this week weighing in at a massive 4lb 3oz.

The hugely impressive fish was banked by Matthew Wood during a session on a gravel pit in the

Cotswolds where he was ‘hedging his bets’ by targeting the venue’s resident rudd and tench.

After introducing a variety of baits in a bid to draw both species into his swim, Matthew spodded out over 5kg of particles and maggots, before presenting a simple mini-bolt rig comprising 10lb mainline, a three inch braided hooklink and a size 8 Drennan Super Specialist hook over the top.

Following a slow start to proceedings, the Cotswold Specimen Group member’s bite alarm finally burst into life when the personal best specimen – which is just 7oz short of the British record – took his three hair-rigged rubber red maggots.

“It was turning into one of those sessions where everything was going wrong. Swans were feeding on my baited spot, weed kept drifting over my rigs and I was on the verge of packing up,” explained Matthew.

“Eventually I had three small bleeps on the alarm, before the bobbin lifted up slightly and held in place. I struck into the fish and it immediately swam towards me so I thought a small tench might be responsible. When the giant rudd surfaced, I couldn’t believe it. My initial thoughts were that it was over 3lb – thankfully I’d massively underestimated it!”

Having doubled his previous best for the species with the capture, Matthew has now set his sights on getting his name etched in the history books.

“The lake has a history of producing some monster rudd, but can it do a record this year? Only time will tell,” he added.

 


Linear Fisheries carp record broken

The Richworth Linear Fisheries common carp record has been broken by Ian Welsh with the capture of this 46lb 2oz common from the Oxfordshire complex’s St John’s Lake.

The sought after specimen was the highlight of a 13 fish haul which also included mirrors of 34lb, 32lb 31lb and 28lb 15oz.

The 44-year-old welder from Derbyshire spent five days on the popular day-ticket water and after finding a group of showing carp he had a quick cast around with his marker rod and located a silty gully at 40yards range in between two weedbeds.

“The fish seemed to be following the wind and passing through this area and it seemed like the ideal spot to ambush them,” he said.

“This was my first session of the year at Linear and although I knew the lake was due to start producing a few fish after a slow winter I certainly didn’t expect a session like this. My pb before the trip was 33lb 3oz and I broke this for the first time on the Wednesday with Blackeye at 34lb before getting a nice wakeup call from the big common the following morning.”

Ian put his faith in Trent Baits Liver Special boilies, feeding 7kg of them over the duration of the session, and offering pop-up hookbaits over the top. These were mounted on stiff-hinge rigs tied with ESP Stiff Link Bristle Filament and size 5 Stiff Rigger hooks.


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Target fish tops Suffolk Water Park haul

CHRIS Freeman ended a nine-year quest in emphatic fashion as he bagged his target 30 as part of a 16-fish haul.

The 41-year-old caught the mirror known as Magical at 35lb 4oz from Suffolk Water Park alongside a fish called 4.3 at 37lb 8oz and Single Scale at 30lb 11oz.

The impressive session also featured 11 20s to 29lb 4oz and three mid-doubles.
The Ipswich rod told Angling Times: “I fished Sunday night until Tuesday morning but the fish didn’t start coming until Monday afternoon and I had my last one at about 7am on Tuesday.

“I actually ran out of bait and I think the fish in front of me mopped up the last bit and moved on.”
Explaining how the session unfolded, Chris said: “I saw a couple of fish showing and with the weather improving, and the winds finally blowing a south-westerly, I set up in a shallower silty area where I thought they might be.

“To start with I put in about three or four kilos of the new Mainline Hybrid boilies that I’m testing and used about 6kg in total over the session.

“From Monday evening the fish just kept coming and I don’t think I got any sleep – I was just about able to lie down for about half an hour between fish.”

The vehicle technician targeted a silt patch at 50yrds and fished snowman rigs on Atomic Jel-E-Wyre hooklinks and a prototype Atomic hook.



Fishing UK launches angling video app

The Fishing UK Team are proud to present the biggest angling collaboration in fishing app history.

The Fishing UK app which can be found at www.fishhere.co.uk are working with some of the top angling companies with an aim to bring you the best in angling entertainment.

The Fishing UK Team proudly present 'The Goggle Box' a dedicated area to views hours upon hours of angling TV direct to your mobile device. These movies can be viewed both on the bank or on the sofa, there is a channel for every angler to ensure that everyone has something to keep them entertained and of course is shows the well known Go Fishing TV channel!

Along with members deals, forums, 3000 UK venues listed, unbelievable search functions and also the ability to post photos, movies, tips, tricks and reviews. This app is the ultimate guide to angling.

The Fishing UK app Team have a huge list of uploads to be launched throughout 2013 so keep your eyes open for more exciting in app fishing related fun.

Please check them out at www.fishhere.co.uk on facebook at www.facebook.com/fishing-uk or on twitter @fishingukapp. Download the app now and be a part of the Fishing UK community.

 

Get it now at the Apple store or Google Play store


Historic roach haul taken from Lochnaw Castle Loch

A FATHER and son duo has shared one of the biggest catches of specimen roach in angling history from the venue widely tipped to break the British record for the species.

Allan and Neil Billington were rewarded for making the 350-mile round trip from their home near Lancaster to Lochnaw Castle Loch Fishery in south west Scotland where they braved horrendous weather conditions to bank 21 roach over 2lb 5oz, including five over 3lb to a best of 3lb 4oz.

Most of the pair’s fish came from clean areas between weedbeds at short to medium range, where Allan (59) and Neil (27) presented helicopter swimfeeder rigs with white or red maggots on the hook. 

“It’s an amazing place. Prior to going up there for the first time, I spent five years on a water near home after big roach, and only managed them to 2lb 11oz. You can catch fish of that stamp for fun at Lochnaw!” said Allan, who used rigs made from 8lb mainline, 4lb hooklinks and size 14 hooks.

“I was playing what turned out to be a three-pounder, when my other rod went and I had to ask the fishery manager Kevin McArdle to pick up the rod and strike. That fish turned out to be the biggest of the lot, but I’m not counting it because I didn’t play it from start to finish! Nevertheless, it still shows what a remarkable stock of fish is present, and I wouldn’t be at all surprised if somebody caught an absolute whacker in a few weeks’ time. The lake produced a fish of 3lb 13oz last November – that roach could easily be over the British record already.”

Kevin McArdle told Angling Times: “What made the catch particularly impressive was the conditions. For much of their time on the loch the lads had to endure howling gales, with winds gusting up to 70mph causing a severe undertow making line lay, bite indication and casting accuracy a complete lottery. So to catch as they did, when the loch had been fishing very hard of late anyway, was a terrific feat of angling.”

*For more info on the venue, log on to www.lochnawcastle.co.uk

 



Four thirties in 36 hours for Ed Betteridge

Ed Betteridge had a session to remember on a large, low-stocked pit with four 30s in just 36 hours.

The Greys and Chub media manager has been making the 360-mile round trip from his Derbyshire home to the south-coast venue since March and his dedication paid off in spectacular style.

Ed, who used Mainline bait at long range, said: “I was sure the fish had been sitting out in the centre of the 55-acre lake and although the odd bite had been had on single hookbaits I knew a lightly baited area would produce more action. So I baited a spot I had found at over 150yrds with the help of a Greys Distance Spod Rod and hoped the effort of long-distance casting and spodding would pay off.

“On the first night of the session I received a bite in the early hours of the morning which turned out to be one of my target fish known as the Camel, which weighed in at 38lb.

“I introduced a bit more bait for the following night and banked two double-figure bream just into dark. I then repositioned the rods and put out a bit more bait and I fully expected a night of bream action, so I was pleasantly surprised to get two carp takes in quick succession again in the early hours, followed by another carp just after dawn.

“All the fish banked were over 30lb and I was over the moon to have caught fish of 32lb, 36lb, 38lb and 39lb 14oz! The hard work and effort of getting to know the water was worth it to finally catch a few of the lake’s jewels and I was really pleased with the result because it is the first time that I have banked four 30s in a session.”



Last minute bite results in 32lb 1oz mirror

A BITE at last knockings resulted in this 32lb 1oz mirror known as Paw Print for Stuart Henderson during a session on the Match Pit in Essex.

The Harwich-based rod had been targeting the tricky venue all winter but with nothing to show for his efforts.

Arriving for his latest trip he set up in a swim known as The Beach and cast to a shallow gravel plateau in five foot of water at 85 yards range which he baited with around 100 Baitcraft T1 bottom baits.

He said: “I’d seen fish showing just before dark and heard them crashing out during the night but by the morning I still hadn’t had a take. I felt certain that I was staring another blank in the face but decided to reel in and redo the rods for the last couple of hours.

“Not long afterwards, the moment I’d been waiting for arrived and one of my rods finally screamed off. A good fight followed after which I netted one of the lake’s most sought after fish – Paw Print – which hadn’t been caught since last May.

“I was buzzing, all the cold and lonely nights through the winter had finally paid off.”
Stuart’s winning presentation consisted of a 20lb X-Line fluorocarbon leader with a 20lb Korda N-Trap hooklink and a size 5 ESP Stiff Rigger hook.  On to this he mounted snowman style T1 boilies.