Kayak angler urges club anglers to give it a try

An ambitious kayak angler is taking the sport to new levels – by launching his craft on UK canals, rivers and even commercial carp lakes!

Andrew Hoyle regularly catches carp, pike, roach and bream while afloat and he is now encouraging others to do the same, by offering demonstrations to encourage clubs and fisheries to allow them. The Manchester man is one of England’s top kayak anglers, a fast growing arm of the sport which has so far been largely confined to saltwater in the UK.  He told Angling Times that he recently fished a small carp lake for the first time with his one-man vessel, much to the surprise of anglers sat on seatboxes nearby.

“For me it’s the intimacy of fishing at such close quarters to the water and the fish. I think you miss this when you’re sat high up on a bank,” explained Andrew. “The closest thing I can compare it to is wading out into a river and bringing fish to hand waist deep. You also see a lot of things you wouldn’t from the bank, such as fish flashing over your bait. You can get away with really light tackle because you don’t need casting power so it’s very enjoyable fishing.”

The only thing hindering Andrew and other freshwater kayak anglers at the moment is a lack of access, because he says that a lot of clubs will not allow kayaks on their waters. He is adamant, though, that kayak fishing causes the minimum of disturbance.

“We glide across the water so it’s all very quiet and subtle and my own kayak has peddles to operate a small propeller underneath. It’s not suitable on really narrow canals or on lakes which are very busy in summer, but where appropriate it’s become a very addictive platform for fishing. The adrenalin really gets going when you hook a big fish and fight it directly beneath you,” he added.

All the fish he catches are photographed and submitted for points in the worldwide Kayak Wars competition, an annual series of leagues in various continents. He is currently ranked sixth in Europe and second in the UK.

**For more information on kayak fishing or to request a demonstration from Andrew, email: manchesterangler@gmail.com. **


Wyreside fish of 39lb 4oz makes it a fishery hat-trick

A deep clay spot in 38 foot of water produced this immaculate 39lb common for Lee Walton during his latest session on the notoriously tricky Bundy’s Pit near Peterborough.

The 45-year-old Wickersley Angling Centre employee had spent three days in the swim without any action so moved to a different area. However, he felt certain that with his lines out of the swim the fish would have moved over his original baited spot so decided to up sticks once more and head back to his first peg.

His hunch paid off when he hooked in to the impressive specimen shortly after his return.

“The fish in Bundy’s are very old and as such are well aware of factors such as lines in the water,” Lee told Angling Times. “I’ve seen them in past move on to people’s bait once they’ve packed up and left so I felt sure that if I could let them feed confidently without my lines in the water I would have a better chance of catching one.

“Fishing in 38ft of water might sound quite extreme to some people but Bundy’s is very deep and the fish will quite happily feed in these depths.”

Lee offered home-made 12mm fruity pop-ups over 2kg of freebies on hinged-stiff rigs tied with Fox Coretex Stiff booms and Rigidity hook sections attached to size 7 Arma Point SR hooks.


39lb common from 38ft of water

A deep clay spot in 38 foot of water produced this immaculate 39lb common for Lee Walton during his latest session on the notoriously tricky Bundy’s Pit near Peterborough.

The 45-year-old Wickersley Angling Centre employee had spent three days in the swim without any action so moved to a different area. However, he felt certain that with his lines out of the swim the fish would have moved over his original baited spot so decided to up sticks once more and head back to his first peg.

His hunch paid off when he hooked in to the impressive specimen shortly after his return.

“The fish in Bundy’s are very old and as such are well aware of factors such as lines in the water,” Lee told Angling Times. “I’ve seen them in past move on to people’s bait once they’ve packed up and left so I felt sure that if I could let them feed confidently without my lines in the water I would have a better chance of catching one.

“Fishing in 38ft of water might sound quite extreme to some people but Bundy’s is very deep and the fish will quite happily feed in these depths.”

Lee offered home-made 12mm fruity pop-ups over 2kg of freebies on hinged-stiff rigs tied with Fox Coretex Stiff booms and Rigidity hook sections attached to size 7 Arma Point SR hooks.


Expert's advice delivers new personal best barbel

Jerry Higham spent a day on the Warwickshire Avon with Angling Times columnist Paul Garner and was over the moon when he won the battle with this 14lb 8oz personal best barbel.

It’s clear to see why Paul’s guiding days are so popular after he passed on his knowledge to the Manchester-based rod, who attracted the impressive specimen into the swim with the introduction of broken boilies and hemp.

His rig was positioned close to his own bank where a crease in the river was formed and Jerry beat his prize with the help of 12lb mainline, a 12lb fluorocarbon hooklink and a size 10 Nash Uni hook.


Three giants in one session for 14-year-old

At the age of just 14, Ollie Jenkinson has achieved a feat many seasoned specimen anglers could only dream of – catching a brace of 3lb-plus perch and a chub over 7lb in a single session.

The Biggleswade, Bedfordshire-based schoolboy targeted a stretch of the Great Ouse where he’d seen a large chub in a set of snags a few weeks earlier armed with nothing more than a tub of lobworms and a simple light running leger rig.

After wading out to drop his hookbait close to the feature it didn’t take long for his tip to wrap round resulting in a 3lb 2oz perch. No sooner had he placed the fish in to his net and got a fresh worm in position he completed the impressive brace of stripeys with a second specimen of 3lb.

“My mate came down to do a few pictures and after we’d sat chatting for an hour he suggested that I have another cast,” he said. “I thought the two perch might have spooked anything else in the snags but had another chuck just in case. Once again I started getting taps on my rod tip almost straight away and then it slowly pulled round.

“The fight was amazing and I could see in the clear water that I was connected to a large chub which I knew was more than likely the one I’d seen in the snags.

Eventually I managed to get it in the net and at a new pb weight of 7lb 2oz it really was the icing on the cake of a true red letter session.”

Ollie fished a single worm on a Drennan Super Specialist Barbel hook tied directly to an 8lb Supplex mainline.

“I’d watch my mate struggle to get a bite when using a maggot feeder a few days earlier so I thought that a single hookbait might look a bit more natural and increase my chances of getting a bite.”



New Angling Times Issue 3135 out now!

This week’s Angling Times comes complete with a free 32-page magazine that tells you everything you need to know to catch a big predator.

Also in the issue, we’ve exclusive coverage of the first £10,000 RiverFest Final as well as the British Pike Championships, Steve Ringer tells you how to win matches with sweetcorn, Martin Bowler goes in search of zander, and Bait Doc Paul Garner reveals the best ways to use fake baits. We’ve also a huge Carp News section and exclusive tackle reviews.

Angling Times is Britain’s No.1 fishing weekly – this issue is out now on the iPad and Android, in shops Tuesday November 19.


43lb pike is record shaker

The Chew Valley Reservoir pike record has been broken by Tom Mills with the capture of this colossal 43lb specimen.

The history-making predator, which beats the previous venue best of 42lb 4oz, was boated by the Bristol-based rod on his first cast of the day after he positioned a herring hookbait in an area in front of the sailing club which was totally devoid of other anglers.

In the past, the 36-year-old has experienced mixed fortunes at the vast 1,200-acre fishery and since he first started targeting its resident pike eight years ago he’s banked fish to a best of just over 25lb but also suffered his fair share of blanks.
He believes a culmination of experience and trusting his gut instincts was the key to his latest success.

“People who haven’t fished here are under the impression that you just pay your money, drop a deadbait over the side and catch big pike for fun. That couldn’t be further from the truth – I’ve had many blank sessions,” said Tom, who floatfished his deadbait on a pair of size 6 trebles.

“After all these years, my boat partner Mike Genge and I have gained a lot of knowledge, so instead of following the crowds we headed out from the sailing club where we knew there was over 20 feet of water. Both of us just fancied it for a big fish.

“When the float slowly slid away after just 20 minutes of being in the water I struck into what I thought was a mid-double. When it got close to the boat, though, all hell broke loose and it gave me the fight of my life.

“Some of my friends ask me why I bother coming back year after year, but Mike answered this question perfectly  a few years ago when he banked pike weighing 32lb and 31lb in an hour. That had been my inspiration.”

Since opening its doors to predator anglers for the annual pike trials in October, Chew Valley has already produced two different fish over the magical 40lb-barrier and more than 20 over 30lb.

And the capture of Tom’s venue record has only strengthened many experts’ claims that the venue will produce the next British record fish.

“It doesn’t take a great leap in the imagination to realise that a fish like this only has to be carrying a bit of extra weight in the depths of winter and eat a couple of 2lb trout to become a fish of record proportions,” said Tony Donnelly, assistant fishery manager at Chew Valley.


Thirteen fish banked in one session including 'The Sergeant' out at 39lb 3oz

Daniel Fellows braved the storms and was rewarded with one of his remaining target fish from the Richworth Linear Fisheries Unity syndicate – The Sergeant at 39lb 3oz.
The impressive mirror was the highlight of the 26-year-old Birmingham based rod’s 13 fish haul which included seven carp over the 25lb-barrier.

Arriving early on the Saturday morning, and with gale force winds forecast, Daniel headed to a sheltered area of the lake which allowed him to cast tight to an island where he seen fish showing close to an overhanging willow tree.

“I set up all three rods with chod rigs as I wanted to ensure my baits were presented effectively over all the leaves, branches and other debris that was likely to be on the lakebed,” he said. “The bank of the island is undercut so I cast within one foot of the island at 100 yards as that’s where the fish patrol. Getting the bait out with the throwing stick in the strong winds wasn’t easy but I eventually had a kilo of boilies on the spot.”

The first night of the trip produced three mirrors and over the next four days he continued to catch two or three fish a day by keeping the swim regularly topped up with 18mm boilies.

“On Thursday, things had gone quiet and the fish had stopped showing. My mate had brought me some more bait down so I set about putting another 2kg out before getting my head down for an afternoon nap. I was woken by a screaming receiver and could see my middle rod wrapped round. I struck into it and the fish started taking line even though I had the clutch set tight. At first I couldn’t do anything with the fish and just had to hold on. After 20 minutes or so I started to get the better of it, however, and when I looked down in the net I recognised The Sergeant.

“All my hard work had paid off - getting up early, continuously baiting up and fighting the winds. It was all worth it and I had something to show for it. What a season I have had. Catching Orange Spot at 39lb 12oz and the big common at 44lb 2oz earlier in the year, and now The Sergeant – one of the best looking carp I’ve ever seen - at 39lb 3oz. I'll certainly never forget 2013!”

 


Try Furnace Lakes For Excellent Silverfish Nets

AS the dark nights draw in and the temperatures begin to ebb away, the carp fishingregulars at Furnace Lakes slip off for their winter of hibernation making way for match and pleasure rods to enjoy world class silverfish sport.

The Sussex complex has hit the headlines on numerous occasions this year for throwing up large mirrors, commons and even catfish but it is the bream and skimmers that are now the main focus, with 70lb plus hauls a genuine possibility.
The six acre, 40 peg, Furnace Lake is the most prolific on the six pond fishery and pole anglers that have already latched on to this cold weather gem have been bagging up on a weekly basis. The lake is very mature and Although it is predominantly a carp water it is also well stocked with tonnes of skimmers, roach and big perch to 3lb as well as bream to 6lb.

For the silverfish two different attacks will work, with an expander pellet over micros and worm and caster over groundbait both producing the goods.
Set up two lines at around 13m out and make sure they are well spread out. Feed one with five big balls of fishmeal based groundbait to begin with and a big pot of micros over the other.
Expect most of the fish to be just under the 1lb mark, although bonus fish of 4lb can show up at any point. The fishery runs a number of silverfish open matches throughout the winter for those that are interested.

TIP: Use a bulk shot around 2ft above your hook with two droppers below so your hookbait falls slower through the bottom layers, skimmers won’t always be found hard on the deck.

Furnace Lakes, Horsham, West Sussex
Prices: £10 a day for one rod on Furnace Lake
Contact: 01403 791163
Location: Furnace Lakes, Guildford Road, Slinfold, Horsham, West Sussex, RH13 OQZ
Facilities: Parking, small tackle shop, toilets
Rules: Barbless hooks only.


Huge roach caught from River Ebro, Spain

Dan Sales and his girlfriend, Krystal Winter, proved the River Ebro is more than just a big catfish venue when they captured a series of huge roach to 2lb 15oz.

After pre-baiting a swim on the Spanish waterway the night before, the Hertfordshire-based couple used feeder tactics with sweetcorn hookbaits and on her very first cast, Krystal connected with a 2lb 12oz specimen.

Dan also got in on the action landing a string of big roach including a brace of fish weighing 2lb 15oz and 2lb 13oz. 

“It was an incredible session and really does show what this river is capable of and Krystal was over the moon as she’d not even caught a roach before,” said Dan.

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Big perch caught on the fly

A day's tuition with a venue expert helped Barry Hawyes fool this 3lb 13oz perch from Chew Valley Reservoir.

Determined to land a large specimen from the 1,200-acre Somerset water, the keen predator rod hired the services of John Horsey in a bid to achieve his goal.

After being advised to use fly fishing tactics he cast out a minky fly pattern, and after catching a number of smaller fish he latched in to the biggest of the day towards the end of the session.

For more details on guided tours on the Bristol water visit: www.johnhorsey.co.uk


Wingham 86lb weekend brace

Not content with winning this year’ British Carp Angling Championship and banking a 51lb mirror in the spring, Matt Jones has bagged an 86lb brace during a weekend session.

The Croydon angler banked a 44lb 4oz common within an hour of arriving at Kent’s Wingham syndicate, and followed it up with a 41lb 4oz mirror exactly 24 hours late.
In May, the 41-year-old company director caught the up-and-coming venue’s first 50-pounder in the shape of a 51lb 10oz mirror. This time around he was fishing to a trough next to an island which he had baited at the end of his previous session the week before.

He said: “Wingham is an awesome fishery with young English carp.  The mirror is yet another new 40-pounder, and the 44lb common is well up in weight.  My target is an even bigger common that’s already reached 47lb 8oz.  It would really round off a brilliant season if I caught this at over 50lb as well!”

Matt baited with Urban Baits’ Nutcracker boilies and used a hinged stiff rig comprising a size 6 Korda Choddy hook tied to ESP materials.


Huge blue shark over 100lb landed

A trip on Irish charter vessel Kiwi Girl out of Mullaghmore, proved successful for local rod William Wallace after he landed this huge blue shark weighing more than 100lb.

The experienced sea angler was fishing in Donegal Bay off the West Coast of County Sligo, an area which has seen numerous shark captures this year including a 199lb specimen caught last month. This shark was landed from a proven mark in the bay before being tagged and released by skipper Declan Kilgannon.

Anyone interested in a guided trip on Kiwi Girl should call 035 08761 00111.


3lb 9oz perch from Frant Lakes

Ian Voss is one of a growing number of anglers to capitalise on the potential of commercial fisheries to produce specimen perch with the capture of this 3lb 9oz fish.

The impressive predator was one of several caught during a session at Frant Lakes Fishery in Tunbridge Wells, Kent, on the complex’s Waterfall Lake 5 - a pool renowned for its big stripeys.

The venue regular targeted a swim known as The Snags and took all of his fish on a small spinner.

For further information contact the fishery on: 01892 616424.


Linear's biggest-ever mirror is so close to the 50lb mark

The biggest carp ever to come from Linear Fisheries was banked by Paul Girling last week.

The Essex rod caught the mirror known as Popeye from Manor Farm Lake at an all-time high of 48lb 4oz.

Forty-year-old Paul explained: “We arrived on Friday morning and, after spending time patrolling the lake, I noticed some fish showing off the point near to swim 19. I found a clear gravel spot with the marker rod at about 60 yards.”

Paul baited with 15 to 20 spods of hemp, corn, chopped boilies and particles, and about 50 Mainline New Grange boilies. Having topped up the bait on Saturday, Paul received a screaming take on Sunday morning.

“It was a slow and deliberate movement through the water, but after a fight of around 10 to 15 minutes I could see it was a lump on the surface. As it came in close, it took one more lunge and picked up one of my other lines, which caused chaos, but I managed to turn the fish again and guide it into the net. 

“I could clearly see this fish had beaten my PB of 29lb 10oz but I didn’t realise how big it was until I tried to lift it out in the sling!”

The fish was weighed on two sets of scales and confirmed as Popeye by fishery officer Chris Blunt.

Paul’s rig featured a size 6 Korda Kurv Shank hook tied to N-Trap Semi-Stiff. A New Grange wafter was attached via a blowback ring and a PVA stick of pellets and groundbait were covered in Almond Goo.
 


Match weights soar in mild autumn

Unseasonal warm temperatures saw some huge weights of match carp to 373lb taken last weekend.

Despite the onset of November, temperatures reached almost 20°c and anglers were still catching fish close in, in the margins and up-in-the-water. Many commercial fisheries remain heavily coloured and no severe frosts have put the carp off feeding properly yet. 

Top of the pile were the results from Alders Farm near Milton Keynes where the start of its not so aptly named winter league produced a staggering seven weights over the 200lb-mark. Leading the pack was Ricky Quick who took a staggering 373lb 15oz fishing close in with pellets to land carp to double figures from the complex’s Ash Pool.

Robbie Williams put 230lb 12oz on the scales at Frant Lakes in Kent, where luncheon meat did the damage, and Sussex’s Framfield Fishery saw weights to 216lb 8oz. At Gold Valley, one of the UK’s oldest and most famous commercial carp waters, Anthony Flint topped the pile with a weight of 204lb 12oz, taken on both the feeder and the pellet waggler shallow. And although weights weren’t quite as high in the Midlands and the North, it still needed 184lb to win at Decoy Lakes near Peterborough and 170lb at Hayfield Lakes in Doncaster. 

Leading Fisheries Management Consultant Dr Bruno Broughton said that the metabolism of cold-blooded fish is closely linked to water temperatures.
“This autumn has been characterised by a long, warm 'tail', with mild conditions and an absence of overnight frosts that would otherwise bring water temperatures down, hence the prolonged sport,” he explained. “Although there are differences between fish species, each has a cut-off lower temperature below which little food is consumed and growth virtually ceases. In carp, this tends to occur when water temperatures fall below about 7-8oC - which we haven't experienced so far. I’d urge anglers to keep taking advantage of this and fill their boots before we need thermals!”

So how for how long can we expect these mild temperatures to hold? According to the Met Office at the time of going to press, daytime temperatures  are set to remain above average for at least the next week, and ‘near or perhaps above average’ up to Thursday 28 November. 

 

 


20lb pike from large stillwater

This 20lb 2oz pike was the highlight of a four-fish haul for Jon Neafcy when he braved the recent storms at a large stillwater in Cambridgeshire.

The 40-year-old also netted a brace of predators over 16lb as well as a 15lb pike when he legered mackerel hookbaits at range on free running setups in order to offer as little resistance as possible.

All of his fish were beaten with rigs constructed with 40lb mainline which was tied to a 75lb titanium trace.

 

 


Big Bream At Bain Valley's New Lake

With eight lakes to choose from Bain Valley Fisheries in Lincolnshire is fast becoming one of the most popular commercials in the midlands. The venue’s new Bream Pit has already proven its eminence as a venue with some great nets of bream to 140lb already recorded.

As featured in our sister publication Improve Your Coarse Fishing recently, Steve Gregory proved the quality of the fishing on offer in this lake with some huge slabs to 7lb landed. However, there are no small fish in this lake so a patient approach is required and don’t expect hundreds of bites. The water is fairly weedy even in autumn so it is worth finding a nice weed free spot by casting a lead around your swim before you begin fishing. The feeder, as always when targeting bream, should be your tactic of choice on this lake. Fill it with brown crumb or any good sweet bream groundbait, adding plenty of corn, worm, dead maggots and casters to the mix. Big bream are suckers for a cocktail bait and Steve Gregory’s catch was achieved using worm and corn on the hook. Start you session by putting in a bit of bait, say a cast every two minutes for the first ten minutes or so to get some bait down on the lake bed and don’t worry about being too tight as big bream require plenty of space when feeding. A cast of around 5-10 minutes thereafter should suffice. Alternatively you can spod or use a flatbed Method feeder to put a bed of 2-4mm fishmeal pellets with a little groundbait on the lake bed and fish a bigger 8mm pellet on the hook. Both these methods will work on their day.

Another lake which is showing good form is the mixed stocked Hurricane (13 pegs). Roach, perch and bream nets well over 50lb have been landed in recent matches with simple maggot and groundbait or small pellets working well on the pole in around 6-7ft of water.

TIP: When targeting bream on the new lake, add plenty of loose offerings to your mix to give the bream something to root around for.

Prices: £6 a day, concessions £5, extra rod £2, 24 hours £20

Location: Bain Valley Lakes, North Road Farm, Tattershall Thorpe, Lincoln LN4 4PQ

Contact: 01526 342275, www.bainvalleyfisheries.co.uk

Rules: Barbless only, no keepnets, no braid, no nuts,

Facilities: Toilets, Caravan Park

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