63lb 4oz common carp from the River Ebro
This huge 63lb 4oz specimen equals the River Ebro common carp record and was banked by globetrotting angler Martin Hodgkinson.
During a week-long trip on the Spanish waterway with Mequinenza-based Catfish Tours, the Nash Tackle consultant overcame tough conditions to also net four carp over 40lb, six thirties and nine twenties.
“We had to use 20oz of lead just to keep our rigs in position and battle against the huge rafts of weed that were hurtling down the river, but it was so worth it as the carp fishing on this river is absolutely terrific even in such testing conditions ,” Martin told Angling Times.
The Wolverhampton rod fished over beds of pellets with a 32mm pellet and a 20mm Nash Squid Scopex boilie fished snowman-style on a size 6 hook.
Second 50lb-plus common for Dave Lane in a year
Dave Lane’s phenomenal 2014 got even better with the capture of this 51lb 4oz common on his birthday.
Having banked the elusive Burghfield Common at 55lb in July, Dave became possibly the only angler in history to land two 50lb commons in the same season with the capture of Kitch from Northey Park near Peterborough.
The Mainline and TF Gear-backed angler had only fished the Cambridgeshire venue for 12 nights since acquiring a winter ticket in October. Before last week’s momentous capture he had already caught two mid-thirties and a 22-pounder.
He told Angling Times: “The week before, I found the perfect spot from up a tree and put a bit of bait on it. I watched the swans come across and try to dive on it, but it was just out of their depth, which is crucial on there.
“When they went I caught the 22-pounder, so I put quite a lot of bait out and went back this week. In between, there had been two forties out of the lake and one was close to that area so I knew they had been on the bait.
“I did 24 hours and didn’t have a bite. Normally I would move, but I had a walk round and it still looked like the best spot. It was my birthday and I had been visualising catching that fish on that day, just dreaming about it as you do, but it got dark and the lake hadn’t done any bites between sunset and midnight so I thought my chance had gone.
“At 6pm I had two beeps and the fish came in like a lamb. That’s its signature so I had an idea which fish it was, but it was only 20 yards out and it came in with 20 turns of the reel. I did struggle to get it over the net cord and had to ‘double shake’ the net to get it in – that was a very twitchy moment!
“It’s a fantastic-looking fish, it’s like the Burghfield Common’s brother.”
In just over a year, Dave has caught 71 fish from Monks Pit in Cambridgeshire, 44 fish from Berkshire’s Burghfield and has now conquered Northey Park in a matter of weeks.
“I will have to go a very long way to beat this year,” he said. “I’m now going to Bundy’s Pit for the rest of the winter, and that has three 49lb-plus commons, so a hat-trick of fifties before Christmas would be nice!”
Dave fished Mainline Hybrid boilies on 360-degree rigs.
You vote Ivan Marks the greatest canal angler of all time
The nation has spoken and the legendary Ivan Marks has been voted as the greatest canal angler of all time.
Officials from the Canal & River Trust launched a campaign in October to find out who was worthy of the accolade, listing 10 potential candidates for the title.
Hundreds of votes have since been cast and the much-loved former England international has now been honoured, with a majority 32 per cent of the votes.
Nobody else came close to stealing the title from ‘The People’s Champion’, with second placed Kevin Ashurst taking 21 per cent of the vote and Billy Lane came third with 10 per cent.
The award comes a week after the tenth anniversary of Ivan’s passing and his widow, Linda, believes the award is a fitting tribute. She said: “Ivan was a big fan of fishing canals and my son Chris and I are extremely moved and happy at hearing this result. We would like to thank everyone for taking the time vote for him.”
Canal & River Trust National Fisheries and Angling Manager John Ellis expected a tight race but admitted that Ivan’s popularity was clear from day one of the voting process. “Having won numerous local, regional and national championships, Ivan played a key part in changing the face of match fishing on canals, including embracing new tackle innovations, styles and techniques.
“The Likely Lad from Leicester was a true inspiration to me and thousands of others and he thoroughly deserved to be the winner of this award.”
Voters were also asked to pick an angler they thought was worthy of praise that hadn’t been named on the initial list of 10, with Billy Makin just pipping the likes of Mark Pollard, Dickie Carr and Dave Berrow.
Six-year-old Daniel didn't know pike grew this big!
Many seasoned specimen anglers spend years trying to catch an upper-twenty pound pike – but Daniel French has achieved the impressive feat at the age of just six-years-old.
The Wiltshire-based schoolboy caught this cracking 28lb pike which fishing with his dad, Matthew, at Chew Valley Reservoir in Somerset.
Despite fishing hard all day drifting and casting lures, the fish was the result of the only bite of the session and came on the final cast of the session, falling to a Savage Gear 3D Brown Trout lure.
Matthew told Angling Times: “When we got the pike on the boat Daniel said ‘I didn’t know pike could get this big!’ His previous biggest was 12lb and he thought that was a monster.”
Daniel has now set up his own online blog to write about his fishing adventures: www.matthew492.wix.com/dansfishadventures
Perch smash river record
Two friends experienced a ‘once-in-a-lifetime’ session after both banking record-breaking perch that topped the scales at 4lb 15oz apiece.
Andy Cheetham and Simon Brough were fishing a club controlled stretch of the Derbyshire Derwent when they beat the current river best by 3oz and smashed their personal bests’ with the amazing brace of fish.
Arriving at the midlands waterway before sunrise the duo endured three biteless hours before moving downstream. Shortly afterwards the tip of Simon’s quiver tip was pulled round as the giant stripey picked up his feeder fished dendrobaena worm hookbait.
After assisting with the weighing and photography of the fish, Andy, a photographer from Manchester, decided to move upstream of his fellow Perchfishers Group member and cast a lobworm on a size 4 hook within a few feet of the bank.
“I had a dropback bite and by the way it fought I thought I was attached to a chub,” Andy told Angling Times. “It made several lunges for the bankside vegetation and when it eventually came to the surface my heart was in my mouth as I could see that the hook was nicked through the tiniest slither of skin on its top lip - thankfully it held in place!
“I called Simon over and when the scales registered 4lb 15oz for a second time we just stood there in disbelief.”
He added: “There’s no doubt that both of these fish will be well over 5lb early next year.”
Not only do the perch fishing fanatics now each hold a River Derwent record, but this is also the biggest brace ever taken from the venue.
“We are both still in shock. I doubt we will ever experience anything like this again,” said Simon, from Matlock in Derbyshire.
“At first we thought it might be the same fish but when we looked we realised it was different. My fish had different shape and colouration as well as a small chunk missing from its dorsal fin.
“I’ve fished the river since I was a teenager and we both know it’s potential. For just one of us to catch a fish like this would have been a dream come true, but this is something so very special and further proves how exceptional perch fishing is on our rivers at the moment.”
10 river stretches to try for big perch
River Great Ouse, Stony Stratford, Bucks , contact: Milton Keynes AA, 01908 270000 River Derwent, Borrowash, Derby, Derbyshire, contact: Nathans of Derby 01332 515353
River Ivel, Manor Farm Fishery, Biggleswade, Beds, contact: Manor Farm Fishery, 01767 317835
River Lea, Hertford, Herts, contact: Johnson Ross Tackle, 01992 462044
River Thames, Bourne End, Bucks, contact London AA: 020 8520 7477
River Ancholme, Brigg, North Lincs, contact: Brigg Angling 01652 651650
River Dee, Farndon, Chester, Cheshire, contact: Chester Tackle Locker 01244 345069
River Wye, Belmont, Hereford, tickets in advance from Woody’s Tackle, contact: 01432 344644
River Sour, Sutton Bonington, Leicestershire, contact: Soar Tackle 01509 670436
River Stour, Canterbury town centre, Kent, contact: Cathedral Tackle 01843 591134
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Homemade boilies snare trio of common carp
George Dench used his own homemade boilies to take an impressive trio of commons.
Fishing at Luton Angling Club’s North House Lake, George caught the fish known as Myrtle at 31lb 6oz before latching into the Lobe Tailed Common at 29lb 8oz. His overnight session was completed with another common of 27lb 10oz.
The £65-a-year venue can be joined at www.lutonanglingclub.co.uk
Six-fish haul from Monks Pit
A three-night session at Cambridgeshire’s Monks Pit gave Carl Sharp a six-fish hit.
Top of the lot was this 30lb 1oz mirror, which was backed up with three twenties and two doubles.
The Solar-backed West Midlander said: “One of the twenties was a 26lb 6oz ghostie which was sweet revenge as I lost that fish on a zig rig 18 months ago.”
All Carl’s fish were caught from a small hole in the weed at 60 yards on maggots coated in Solar’s Squid & Octopus Up & Down Mix. He presented then on a size 6 Solar 101 hook and Easy Strip hooklength.
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40lb mirror carp on first cast
Neil Messenger bagged this 40-pounder on his first cast.
Fishing from the Dam Wall Centre on the Main Lake at Essex’s Fryerning Fisheries, Neil tempted the 43lb 8oz mirror known as Charlie before he had finished setting up all his gear.
He said: “I was just about to chuck in my third rod when the alarm screamed off, resulting in my third rod being chucked in the hedge and a fish I dearly wanted in the net. I was well chuffed!”
Neil used DT Baits boilies.
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3lb 2oz grayling from southern chalk stream
This huge 3lb 2oz grayling was caught by Neill Stephen during a session on a southern chalk stream.
The London-based big fish hunter admitted that the species had become an ‘obsession’ for him this year and he has spent hours walking the banks of the river in search of his quarry.
His dedication finally paid off after he trotted two white maggots through his swim more than 50 times to entice the impressive specimen from a deep hole.
“It was so very frustrating as the fish would mop up all of the loosefeed and then leave the hookbait time after time before disappearing back into the sanctuary of its hiding place,” Neill told Angling Times.
“But I knew that if I just stuck at it with a fine, balanced approach then it would eventually slip up.”
Neill didn’t pinch any shot down his 3lb mainline that was tied directly to a size 18 hook, and used a length of lead wire to wrap around the base of his small loafer-style float.
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Three barbel for 40lb despite the freeze
A series of harsh frosts looked like they were would ruin Gary Lucas’ chances of success following a long baiting campaign on the River Thames, but he defied the odds to land a trio of barbel for 40lb.
The London-based rod spent a month priming a potential hotspot with boilies and had pencilled in a date for his opening session.
Despite freezing cold temperatures hitting the area, he stuck to the original plan and headed to the swim for a short evening session.
Within 15-minutes casting out a 16mm boilie hookbait on a size 10 G-Force hook he had banked a barbel of 14lb 3oz and this was shortly followed by a fish of 14lb 11oz.
The impressive hat-trick was then completed with an 11lb 2oz barbel. He said: “I’ve fished the Thames for over 25 years and nights like this don’t come along very often.”
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Perch to 2lb 13oz on first visit to new venue
It can sometimes take time to get to grips with a new water but Ryan Hayden got off to a flying start at his latest target water, landing a series of perch to 2lb 13oz.
The Drennan employee ignored the recent craze of drop shotting for the species, and instead used popped-up lobworms and king prawns soaked in a krill-flavoured liquid on low-resistance running rigs.
It wasn’t long before he was slipping the net under a string of predators, with all of the bites coming from an eight foot deep spot that had been liberally baited with a spread of worms, maggots, casters and groundbait.
“I only fished for around six hours but I was kept busy with plenty of decent perch over 1lb and I’m confident that the lake holds bigger,” said Ryan.
His winning rig consisted of a foot long 4.9lb Drennan Supplex hooklink and a size 6 Drennan Super Specialist hook.
45lb 8oz mirror is 'fish of a lifetime'
Horton Church Lake rewarded one of its hard-working members with this 45lb 8oz mirror.
Roofer Tony Owen recently helped construct the impressive new lodge at the RK Leisure venue in Berkshire and has been fitting in his fishing around work.
The 48-year-old from Slough called the new personal best “a fish of a lifetime”. He added: “I have already paid my deposit for next year to try to catch a bigger one!”
New world record for biggest fish caught from a kayak
The world record for the biggest fish caught on a kayak has been broken with the capture of Greenland Shark weighing 1,225lb.
The colossal predator was caught by Swedish angler Joel Abrahamsson who targeted a water just outside Andörja, in Northern Norway, where Greenland Shark in excess of two tons in weight and over 200-years-old are known to reside.
The dare-devil angler floated out into the 1,600ft deep water and strapped himself into the kayak before dropping his 8lb coalfish bait down into the depths. After a few false indications the shark finally stuck and Joel then endured an epic 90 minute battle before the fish was finally pulled to the side of the support boat to be tagged and measured before being released unharmed.
He conquered the huge specimen, which measured a staggering 13ft long, using a PENN International 50 VSV reel rigged with Berkley Whiplash 44.9kg/0.28mm line and a homemade, specially-designed kayak fishing rod.
The 33-year-old described the fight one of the strangest of his career. “The fish is not a spectacular fighter but constantly tugs its head down and pulls slowly,” he said. “The fight was just gruesome and extremely heavy. A few times it got a bit gnarly and I was scared of going over.” With a new record under his belt Joel is not done, his next goal is to catch a 225-pound Atlantic halibut from his kayak… watch this space.
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New Canal & Rivers Trust Pairs Champs
Die hard canal anglers will have their own ‘RiverFest’ in 2015 following the announcement of dates and qualifiers for the Canals & Rivers Trust Pairs Championship.
Following last year’s pilot match, which saw just the one match fished on the Shropshire Union Canal at Soudley, 2015 will see anglers tackling 11 qualifiers on canals spread across the UK. In partnership with the Angling Trust, the Canals & rivers Trust will run qualifiers on venues such as the Kennet & Avon Canal, Beeston Canal and Gloucester Canal starting on April 12 with a 110 peg grand final to be held on the Birmingham/Fazeley Canal on Saturday October 24.
‘It’s been a long held ambition to see a major national event of this type launched on the canal network,” said Canals & Rivers Trust National Fisheries and Angling Manager, John Ellis. “I feel sure that many club anglers will fancy their chances on qualifying for the final on their own local patch and then who knows what might happen?”
Tickets for each match are priced at £20 per angler (£40 per pair) and will go on sale in early February through the Angling Trust. A 50 peg junior canal championship match will also be held on October 24. Venues and qualifiers are as follows:
Sunday April 12 - Grand Union Canal, Loughborough
Sunday April 26 – Shropshire Union Canal, Hodnet AC waters
Sunday May 3 – Grand Union Canal, Northampton area
Sunday May 24 – Kennet & Avon Canal, Devizes
Sunday June 21 – Gloucester & Sharpness Canal, Winget AC waters
Saturday July 11 – Aire & Calder Navigation Canal, Boothferry Aire & Calder Joint Canal Committee waters
Sunday July 26 – London Waterway venue to be confirmed
Saturday August 15 - Rochdale Canal, Heywood DAC waters
Saturday September 5 – Staffs/Worcester Canal, Wolverhampton AA waters
Sunday September 20 – Beeston Canal, Nottingham
Sunday September 27 – Leeds-Liverpool Canal, Wigan
FINAL: Saturday October 24 Birmingham/Fazeley Canal
35lb mirror carp from Farriers Lake
The Carp Society’s Farriers Lake is famed for its big commons, but Rich Seeds tempted this 35lb 15oz mirror from the Gloucestershire venue.
The 31-year-old fishery manager fished 60yds out and caught a total of seven fish during his 24-hour session.
Baiting heavily with 5kg of 20mm Sticky Vor-Tex boilies over each rod, the Hampshire angler presented matching hookbaits on 6ins blowback rigs made with Korda 20lb N-Trap and size 6 Korda Kaptor Kurv hooks.
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Two 30lb-plus pike from the banks of Chew
The UK’s finest specimen pike water has delivered once again when two anglers fishing from the bank landed fish of over 30lb.
Experienced pike angler Nige Williams banked his twenty third specimen over the 30lb-barrier during a two day session at Chew Valley Reservoir when he legered the ‘biggest mackerel he’d ever seen’ to fool the predator that topped the scales at 35lb 12oz.
The Wolverhampton-based specialist fished from an area of the Somerset venue known as ‘Wick’, and presented his bait 100yds from the bank on a rig made from size 2 Greys Prowla trebles, a wire trace and 65lb braided mainline.
“I started at first light but by late afternoon I’d only had a couple of small fish,” said Nige. “It was almost dark, so I put on a huge mackerel - it was so big that my mate who I was fishing with joked that it was ‘a Drennan Cup winning mackerel.’ Shortly after getting the hookbait in the water I had a screaming take. The fish even jumped clear of the water during the water which was an incredible sight.”
He added: “I was very lucky to land this fish as the hooks fell out in the net.”
Fishing on the opposite bank to Nigel was Norfolk-based all -rounder Darryn Stolworthy, who ended a 25-year quest for a 30lb pike when he won the battle with a 34lb 7oz predator.
The Angling Direct-backed angler also put his faith in a large hookbait and used a smelt deadbait to tempt his new personal best.
Following a powerful fight he beat his prize with a rig constructed from a 35lb wire trace, size 6 Owner trebles and 65lb braided mainline.
“I’ve never fished harder for any other species in my life and to finally land a thirty is like having a weight lifted from my shoulders - I’m so chuffed,” Darryn told Angling Times.
Prebaiting brings home a brace of 34lb mirror carp
Finding a productive coldwater spot paid off in style for Wes Prowton as he banked a brace of 34lb mirrors during a five-fish hit.
The 27-year-old targeted an Oxfordshire stillwater and reaped the rewards of a prebaiting campaign to take two thirties alongside three commons of 22lb, 24lb and 26lb in a three-night session.
The Burford angler said: “I knew the fish would be starting to group up and I knew if I kept introducing bait into this spot that they would come across it.
“I’ve been properly fishing this venue for about two years and this is probably my best session on there. There are still a couple more fish I want to catch out of there, though.”
Wes fished at 86 yards and had the first 34-pounder at 3.10am on the first night. One of the smaller commons followed at 8am, and less than half an hour later he had the other 34lb mirror in the net.
“I’ve been using bog-standard tactics – just simple blowback rigs – and concentrating on finding where the fish will be,” said Wes, “when they start to group up in the colder weather it’s likely that if you have one bite you can get another and that’s why I fished two rods tight on the spot.”
Wes put 3kg of 16mm Sticky Krill boilies over the area and fished matching hookbaits on rigs made with Korda components.
Two fish for 83lb from Fryerning Fisheries
A four-night session gave Carl Carlucci two fish for a combined weight of 83lb.
The Chelmsford angler targeted the Main Lake at Fryerning Fisheries and banked The Boss at 47lb and a seldom-caught 36lb mirror.
He said: “When I turned up it was foggy and fishing hard. I caught the first fish on the second night and then packed up my gear was going to go home, but I changed my mind and stuck it out, and had the 47-pounder on the last night.”
“The Boss is a crazy fish, it really fights hard,” said the 46-year-old. “The margin in front of me was 11ft deep and it was towing me up and down for a genuine 15 minutes – it really was on for a long time.
“The other fish was a very rare fish that has not been caught for at least four years to my knowledge.”
Carl, who only recently returned to carp fishing after a 13-year absence, has caught a number of big fish from the Essex venue this year.
He added: “It’s actually a repeat capture of The Boss for me, but it’s at a new top weight and you can’t pooh pooh catching a 47-pounder! It started the year at 41lb 12oz, so it’s put on over 5lb.”
Carl used Kryston monofilament hooklengths and size 6 Fox Arma Point hooks. He fed DT Baits’ Coldwater Green Beast boilies in mixed sizes and concentrated on a firm spot 50 yards out.
Riverfest sets its sights on £20,000 top prize
The organisers of the sport’s biggest river competition have launched a campaign to attract major sponsorship in a bid to realise the ‘ultimate dream’ of offering a £20,000 first prize to the winner.
Following the huge success of RiverFest, competition founder Dave Harrell this week revealed to Angling Times that he is working with event organisers the Angling Trust to attract a sponsor in order to make the 2015 event the biggest yet.
Dave believes that acquisition of major sponsorship from outside of the sport will allow the annual competition to reach its full potential by possibly growing the number of anglers in each regional qualifier from 60 to as many as 90 which will in turn substantially boost the individual prize pot that currently stands at an impressive £12,000.
“It’s my dream to eventually have a first prize of £20,000. This will take a lot of work, but we have already proved that the Angling Trust is capable of making some amazing things happen,” said Dave.
“The ‘trust’ has already put a pack together that will be sent out in order to attract interest from major companies outside of fishing.
“This competition is getting bigger and bigger every year and we are confident that there are businesses out there that will recognise the huge benefits of being associated with the success story that is RiverFest.”
Ben Thompson, competitions and performance manager for the Angling Trust, has been instrumental in the event’s success and has been at the forefront in producing its sponsorship campaign.
“We will sit down with Dave Harrell in the next few weeks to begin planning for 2015 and we will focus on securing a headline sponsor, reviewing the qualifiers and consider increasing the size of some of those qualifiers as well establishing a booking system that will meet the demand for tickets. We will be bringing news of developments to anglers early 2015.”
The Angling Trust is actively seeking sponsors for the competition, if anyone is interested in finding out more about this or other opportunities then please contact Ben Thompson at ben.thompson@anglingtrust.net
Just one bite results in 17lb 4oz Ouse barbel
A groundbait and meat attack has accounted for this stunning 17lb 4oz barbel for James Crameri.
Many experts have ranked 2014 as one of the best ever for big barbel and the Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk-based specialist further cemented this view when he banked the specimen from the Great River Ouse.
The majority anglers these day rely on pellets and boilies, but James began his session by introducing six balls of spicy groundbait laced with pieces of meat into two likely looking swims.
After persevering in the first for several hours without a bite he upped sticks and then cast his hair-rigged meat hookbait to a crease in the current. And 40 minutes later he received his first, and only, bite of the day.
“I hadn’t fished the river for ages, but in the last week or so I really got the urge to begin my winter campaign. The last thing I expected was to kick it off with a stunning fish like this though,” said James.
“Many anglers use relatively short hooklinks when fishing for barbel, but I like to fish one that’s around 4ft as this set-up is less likely to give you any false indications. I also used a PVA bag filled with groundbait and pieces of meat - a combination that’s great for creating an enticing scent trail in the water, especially when your chosen river is carrying a little extra colour and flow.”
James’ rig was made from a 12lb Korda Subline mainline, a 15lb Drennan E-S-P Sink Link hooklink and a size 10 hook.
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