Excellent Fishing on the Trent & Mersey at Horninglow
The Trent & Mersey Canal through Burton-on-Trent is an excellent but under-rated stretch of waterway containing a good mix of species, including a number of river fish, such as chub, due to the Trent entrance near Wychnor further south.
The stretch is the chosen venue for the Division One National Championships this year, proving its consistency and the quality of fishing on offer. The pole is the most obvious and proven tactic that visiting anglers tend to opt for here particularly if you are targeting the venues big head of roach, skimmers and perch. Squatt, pinkie, maggots and bread will all work on their day but at this time of year the former tends to be the best option for a good net of fish. The trick is to fish a couple of lines, one at 3-5m on a whip or top sections of your pole loose-feeding little and often to keep the fish coming as well as feeding another line at the bottom of the far shelf at around 11m feeding it the same way. A little groundbait here is also a good idea to keep the fish concentrated but this must be topped-up if boats pass through and try not to use too. Some of the good pegs can be found by Dallow Lock at the northern end of the stretch as these tend to hold some skimmers and chub which can provide a nice bonus to any good roach and perch net. For the bigger fish you can use chopped worm and caster but some anglers opt for the corn or pellet fished tight to the far bank where roach to 2lb are in residence.
For predator fans there is also a good head of zander with good catch rates of fish in the 4-10lb bracket. Pike will prove harder to find but it is known for fish over 20lb to lurk in the deeper water.
Prices: £2 a day or £12 a season from Burton Angling Supplies or Burton Carp Tackle, Burton Mutual Angling Association, Juniors under 18 are £1 a season on the canal
Contact: Club secretary John Anderson 078911 26910
Location: Trent & Mersey Canal, Dallow Street, Horninglow, Burton on Trent, Staffs, DE14 2PJ
Rules: No litter, distance of at least 5m between moored boats
Facilities: Parking by Dallow Lock off Dallow Street
Brace of personal bests fall at Todber Manor
A 24-hour session at the prolific Todber Manor Fisheries proved eventful for Joe Miller as he banked a brace of personal bests.
The venue regular decided to visit Paddock Lake at the Dorset complex and legered a plastic corn hookbait alongside small solid bags of pellet.
A pb slab of 10lb 8oz was the first specimen to the grace the net but action was taken up to another level on the next run which ended with a 36lb cat on the mat.
Several carp to 16lb 8oz helped capped off the outing and Joe said: “After such a horrific winter I’d have been happy with a few runs, never mind a brace of new pbs.”
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.
Big bream catch taken at Shiplate Farm
Carp don’t always have to be the primary target if you want to frame in a commercial fishery match as Paul Chapman proved when he banked this 50lb 4oz net of bream during the latest contest at Shiplate Farm.
The venue regular drew peg 5 on the Main Lake at the Somerset complex and used pole and maggot at 13m to take slabs to 5lb and land second place in the contest.
Eventual winner Johnny Page feeder fished corn from peg 11 and put together 58lb of carp come the final whistle.
For more details on the venue visit www.shiplatefarmfishery.co.uk
Big bream net wins at Bury Hill Fisheries
The consistently mild temperatures have seen the bream switch on at Bury Hill Fisheries and Andy Ryan needed 80lb 8oz of them to top the pile in the latest event.
After drawing peg 11 on the Old Lake at the Surrey complex, the venue regular started on the feeder with pellet but a switch to the pole saw his catch rate speed up drastically, with 25 slabs sitting in the net come the final whistle.
Second place went to Ray Tingley who put together 43lb 4oz from peg 18.
