Give the Grand Union Canal at Rowington a try this weekend
As the river season comes to an end the country’s canal systems take over for many anglers who are still clinging to the natural venue.
There is a vast number of good canals to fish although it can be difficult to choose where to start, but Leamington AA’s recent occupation of a stretch of the Grand Union Canal may just bring you a net-full of fish this weekend.
The club is sharing the four mile stretch with Stoneleigh AC to increase fishing on a canal system that has produced some big weights in the past.
Roach, perch, skimmers and bream to 4lbs will make up the bulk of your catch to those fishing the waggler, pole or feeder down the track at 8m. Alternatively, fishing a large worm to the overhanging trees on the far bank may produce a big perch or chub.
Carp to 30lb also reside here, with boilies and halibut pellets proving good baits for the species. A moored canal boat is a perfect place to target them at this time of year due to their sheltering properties.
Predator experts can also have a red letter day thanks to the abundant shoals of perch, pike and zander. Drop shotting and roving works well around the bridge areas however a floatfished deadbait will be hard to beat for a bigger fish. So if you don’t fancy a commercial outing this weekend, get yourself a membership here as the fishing is great no matter what your style is.
Prices: £36 a year, £18 juniors
Contact: Leamington AA, 01926 312319, www.leamington-angling.co.uk
Location: Rowington Bridge 62 – Lapworth Bridge 67, Rowington, Warwickshire, CV35 7AB
Rules: No uncoated, braided hooklinks, no fires, no litter.
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Wombwell Dam Fisheries in top form for skimmers
With the rivers closed to angling those of you who still want to fish a natural style venue for silverfish won’t go far wrong by paying a visit to Wombwell Dam Fisheries.
The venue is in fine form with skimmer nets to 50lb being enjoyed on the venue’s Big Pond.
This peaceful fishery, consists of two ponds situated inside Wombwell Woods near Barnsley offering some of the best day-ticket fishing in the area. The smaller top pond contains a lower quantity of big fish, but it is a great place for bream, roach and carp.
The huge nets of silverfish on the Bog Pond are being made up of skimmers averaging 1-2lb along with roach touching 1lb, so expect plenty of bites. The feeder, pole and waggler can all be employed with the pegs in the narrower area away from the dam proving to be the hotspots. For skimmers fish the pole at 13m and feed around 6 balls of groundbait, fishing pellet or maggot over the top on the deck. Recently anglers have also been feeding a chopped worm line short for the roach which often exceed 1lb in weight.
For specimen carpers there are plenty of double-figure fish in the larger pool and these tend to be found in the deeper water towards the dam end and are currently being caught on small 20mm boilies.
Prices: £5 a day (Bottom Lake) £4 a day (Top Lake) £3 for children
Contact: 07932 333276
Location: Woodhead Lane, Hoyland, Barnsley, S Yorks, S74 9SZ
Rules: Barbless only, no bread, no floating baits
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Head to the Grand Western Canal for great fishing...
The whole of the UK is crammed with top-quality coarse-fishing options but some areas still don’t get the recognition they deserve.
Devon and Somerset are among the counties that are often disregarded but those in the know are fully aware of the massive opportunities both areas provide anglers.
Commercial fishery enthusiasts are catered for with bagging havens White Acres and Stafford Moor and even those who enjoy a spot of canal fishing have one of the most underrated waters right on their doorstep.
The Grand Western Canal may be less than 12 miles long but every inch of it has the potential to produce the goods, with a wide variety of species on the cards.
Starting life in the Devon town of Tiverton, the GWC weaves its way through the villages of Halberton and Sampford Peverell before its journey comes to end just north of Burlescombe at Lowdells Lock.
Although locals will wax lyrical about their favourite hotspots, the true beauty of this rural waterway is the fact that you will never be far away from a shoal of hungry fish, regardless of where you tackle up.
If you want a stretch that provides fairly good access and the chance of both small and large specimens, the Manley and Greenways areas are worthy of your attention.
There’s no need to get involved in a frantic Google search to find out who runs each zone either as one club controls the fishing rights to the whole venue. Tiverton DAC are charged with maintaining the venue’s natural charm and they have made sure it is all available to the masses, charging just £5 a session for access to its banks.
On days when the temperatures remain on the low side, the roach are the species to go in search of, using either a light pole rig or waggler set-up with bread punch over small beds of liquidised feed.
It may also be worth taking a spinning rod with you as wherever there are silverfish, predators are never far away.
The pike may only run up to low doubles but there are stacks of jacks that will charge at a lure in kamikaze fashion before shaking their heads violently as they try to remove the hooks. Quality perch are making a revival in places and a 2lb plus specimen could come your way in the right conditions.
But with the true essence of spring threatening to break through any day now, the bream and tench have started to slip out of their winter slumber and are in search of their first meal of the year.
Look for cover when searching for a big tench or two, fishing worm and caster close to these features. Be prepared to hang on tight when the float finally sinks as these fish will certainly test your tackle to the limit!
Although the bream are a little more elusive there is the opportunity to land a catch of a lifetime should you stumble upon them. Several huge shoals lurk up and down the canal and if you catch one there is every chance several others will make their way into the net.
With specimens over 5lb commonplace in these shoals, it won’t take many bites to catch 100lb of these rarely targeted lumps. Look for swims that are slightly wider, lacing them with plenty of fishmeal groundbait and particles to stand a chance of drawing their attentions.
Stunning scenery, cheap fishing and the chance to bag a new personal best, the Grand Western Canal is certainly worthy of your attention this week.
Prices: £5 a day or £30 a year (January to January) in advance from Eve Valley Angling
Contact: Exe Valley Angling, 01884 242275
Location: Chains Road, Sampford Peverell, Tiverton, EX16 7BL (Address for best access to Sampford Peverell stretch)
Rules: All fish to be returned, anglers must have a valid EA rod licence
The river season goes out with a bang!
One of the most prolific closing weeks of the river season ever proved why more anglers are returning to UK rivers as countless huge specimens and record-breaking catches hit the bank.
Match angler Andy Sharp became the envy of the specimen fishing world when he trotted maggots on 3lb line to bank the biggest chub of the season that tipped the scales at 8lb 4oz.
He was happily catching small dace and roach under the far bank vegetation on the famous King’s Weir stretch of the River Lea in Hertfordshire when the huge fish took his double maggot mounted on a size 18 hook.
“The river started to come up and that’s when all hell broke loose as I lost a big chub and then soon after I hooked another monster that turned out to be this 8lb 4oz fish,” said Andy.
“I don’t think I’ve ever played a fish so carefully in my life because I was using such light gear in a very snaggy swim. I was shocked when I saw how big this fish was.
There were no surprise specimens in store for Ray Ravenhall during a session on the Warwickshire Avon, but he made history when he took a record-breaking 198lb 6oz net of bream.
The Chairman of Worcester and District United Anglers Association fished the feeder filled with groundbait, casters and chopped worms to land 49lb bream averaging 4lb apiece at the clubs stretch at Pensham during a five-hour contest.
It’s a catch that beats the previous best for the stretch that stood at 135lb and was caught 10 years ago.
“This was an amazing end to the season and if I hadn’t lost a fish on the final whistle I would have caught made a ‘double ton’, but who can complain after a day’s fishing like this,” said Ray.
“It’s been an incredible year for the rivers as more and more anglers are have been making a return to running water.”
The last cast of Paul Elt’s river campaign saw him smash his barbel personal best when he won the battle with a superb 16lb 3oz specimen during a session on a tributary of the River Ouse.
The Dynamite Baits and Drennan-backed specialist from St Neots, Cambs, hair-rigged a small piece of legered meat that was flavoured with ‘The Crave’ and fished in conjunction with a pva bag filled with finely chopped pieces of the same bait.
“I looked over my shoulder as the sun began to set and thought to myself this is the time for a bite and I looked back at the rod, the tip twitched and I was in. I couldn’t have written it any better,” said Paul.
Moving north and the little-known River Goyt in the North West produced only its second fish to ever top the 14lb mark, which was banked by local specialist Jerry Gleeson.
He kicked off his session with a 10lb 5oz fish and then a switch from a straight lead to a feeder filled with pellets saw him land the impressive fish with an imitation piece of bread from The Hook Bait Company.
The 2014/15 season will be remembered by many as one of the best ever for big perch and Watford’s Stuart Court proved why when he landed his best ever haul of the species.
The Watford-based specialist netted a brace of fish that weighed 4lb exactly and two other perch at 3lb 13 oz and 3lb 10 oz after he baited a swim on the River Lea with chopped worms and alternated a feeder and straight lead tactics with a worm hookbait.
Sticking with the predator theme and the River Thames further proved its pike fishing credentials when Martin House smashed his personal best with a huge 28lb fish.
Fish weighing 21lb and 13lb also fell to the Surrey angler when he fished a sardine on size 8 trebles.
Two days fishing on the famous River Wye gave Adam Fisher the perfect end to the season when he was rewarded with a trio of 20lb-plus pike.
The 36-year-old fished float-legered sardines to take fish of 22lb 8oz, 22lb 3oz and 21lb 12oz, plus another of 17lb 8oz, from the margins of the river and slacks behind bushes.
Angling Dreams fishing guide Adam, used Esox trace wire with size 4 and 6 hooks and 50lb braid and admitted to the loss of a monster which said ‘felt like a sunken canoe’.
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Triple-figure bags of bream at Shearwater Lake
Big bags of bream are making all the headlines at Wiltshire’s Shearwater Lake.
The scenic 37-acre venue has been in fine form all through the winter with the area’s matchmen enjoying some splendid bream fishing including Des Shipp who netted a staggering 127lb of bream to 4lb to win an open match at the lake recently.
You can fish anywhere on the lake and bag up but anglers seem to be succeeding more from the road bank or what the call ‘The Lawn’. Tactics are simple as long as you can cast a feeder to around 50-yards out as this is the distance where anglers are catching the most in around 12ft of water. A medium sized open-ended feeder with a fishmeal based groundbait and micro pellets is the best way of getting some feed down fishing either dead red maggot, caster, worm or even corn on the hook. Mainline of around 6lb and a 2ft hooklength of around 0.14mm diameter is what Des used to win his match so aim for a setup like this.
The lake is better know for its head of specimen carp which reach a whopping 34lb and most anglers target these meaning the bream have been going untouched up until now.
Prices: £10 a day, £6 juniors
Contact: 01985 844496, 07889 625999
Location: Shearwater Lake, off Clay Street, Shearwater, Warminster, Wiltshire, BA12 8AE
Rules: No keepnets or carp sacks, No nuts, peas, beans or party mix, barbless only, no braid, no dogs, fires or BBQs
Facilities: Café with toilets
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Catch from the margins at Buttonhole Lake
A mixed stocking policy is a ticket to guaranteed action throughout the year and Buttonhole Lake certainly subscribes to this policy.
The Cambridgeshire fishery faces intense competition from its local rivals but it is certainly holding its own, with specimen sized examples of various species.
Roach to almost 2lb, bream up to 8lb and barbel over the 9lb mark are all plentiful, with the biggest carp in the venue weighing in at just under 20lb.
Half of the pegs have an island to fish towards, with the rest situated in open water. A big net of silverfish can be taken from almost any swim on maggot or caster presented at half depth, although pegs 4, 9 and 18-21 are renowned for the bigger fish.
Pole fishing works well with pellet and corn for the lumps, switching to the straight lead with flavoured meat or a big 8mm pellet if the fish are sat in the middle of the open water.
There’s rarely a dull day at Buttonhole and the rising temperatures have given sport an even bigger boost.
Prices: £6 a day
Contact: Call Richard on 01945 430629.
Location: Buttonhole Lake, Rands Drove, Marshland St James, Wisbech, Cambs, PE14 8EY
Facilities: Parking and toilets
Rules: No boilies or keepnets, barbless hooks only
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Start spring at Barnburgh Lakes
If cold weather has hampered your fishing trip recently then look no further than Barnburgh Lakes in Doncaster where anglers are filling their boots. Built up over three waters, the fishery specialises in stocking winter species such as ide, barbel, roach and bream as well as varieties of carp to help keep your rod bent this weekend. With parking directly next to your peg, what more can you ask for? Here’s a breakdown of the lakes:
LAKE ONE (32 pegs)
Also known as the Top Lake, this water has a ‘triangle’ shaped island at its base around 14m out - making it an ideal candidate for pole and feeder enthusiasts. Expect to catch barbel, ide, roach and F1s steadily and the odd bonus tench, skimmer and carp, which go to 20lbs. Casting a feeder to the island with the fisheries own pellets often works well, with fishing down the track at 8m also a good alternative.
LAKE TWO (23 pegs)
A popular water in the colder months as this middle lake is only stocked with silverfish. Maggot and caster shallow work well for the roach although matchmen prefer to fish on the deck at 5m where the side bank slopes off. Again, the fisheries own pellets work well as all lakes are regularly fed with them so it’s worth picking some up from the onsite bait shop. Hair-rigged chopped worm also works well in the middle of the lake for barbel and bream where the water is much deeper.
LAKE THREE (25 pegs)
This water is located at the bottom end of the fishery and like Lake One also has a central island at around 14m out. This structure is key for many anglers who fish the lake as it slopes off to around 4ft deep in places. Pole, waggler or feeder in conjunction with pellets will all do well here, with a number of big F1s regularly taken down the edge in warmer weather to boot. Match nets will include mostly F1s with commons, mirrors and silvers to add.
Prices: £5 a day, £4 concessions
Contact: 07752 528 086 or visit www.barnburghlakes.co.uk
Location: Barnburgh Lakes, Ludwell Hill, Barnburgh, Doncaster, DN5 7EE
Rules: Barbless hooks only, max size 14, Barnburgh feed pellets only, BAIT BANS - No boillies, trout pellets, cat or dog meat, nuts, No floating poles or floating baits (including bread) a float must be used, Ground bait only in cup or feeder, Free running feeders only - no method feeders or bagging wagglers.
Facilities: Toilets, on-site bait shop, disabled access, waterside parking.
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Bag up on roach at Mill Farm Fishery
Deep gravel pits are usually the haunt of specimen pike and carp anglers but there is one in the Midlands where vast shoals of giant roach have been dominating recent headlines and keeping match and pleasure anglers happy all through the winter.
Mill Farm Fishery in Gilmorton near Lutterworth, started life in the 1950s as an old sand and gravel quarry that filled up with water when a spring was disturbed on the bottom. The banks were then set with vegetation and before long it was claimed by the angling community. In time, the lake became known for its big carp but over the years the baits left by those in search of them became the staple diet of the pool’s silverfish and the roach population has boomed.
Today, these redfins are seen as a nuisance to the venues visiting carpers but to the matchman they have become the area’s best kept secret. Middy backed Joe Oakes is a regular at the fishery and reckons there are few others like it in the country.
“I love fishing this venue as the roach fishing is immense. They aren’t small either - you rarely catch anything under 4oz and it’s also the most versatile place I know. You can fish any method here and bag up, although I like to use a pole,” he said.
Being an old quarry, the depth of this venue (14-15ft on average) can put a lot of anglers off but places like this are simple to fish if you just follow a few basic guidelines, says Joe.
“Before fishing, find a flat, weed-free area with a heavy plummet at around 11m out,” he said. “Using a pole will make presentation easier when fishing at this sort of depths. Just stick to the one rig though as you’ll need another top-five kit if you wish to fish a second one.”
In winter Joe likes his bait positioned on the bottom as this is where the bigger roach sit when it’s cold, so heavier elastics and pole floats are a must.
“I fish the lake like you would a tidal river with a 2g pole float and an olivette bulk to get the bait down quickly and a slightly heavier elastic than on shallow commercials in order to set the hook better in the deeper water. As for the hook itself I use around a size 16-18 with caster or maggot as you don’t need to fish too small because the roach aren’t hook shy” he said.
Joe also likes to keep the feeding simple with groundbait his key ingredient in the deep water. “I start the session by cupping in half-a-dozen balls of fairly dark fluffy groundbait laced with casters and only top it up once bites start dwindling. The fish will tell you when to feed – it’s really that easy here,” he said.
If you enjoy fishing in this style the rewards are well worthwhile as with few predators and even fewer anglers the Main Lake’s roach shoals are easy pickings for those few who target them.
Most swims will provide at least 20lb on a good day and with a relaxed keepnet rule you’ll even be able to view your catch at the end of your session. Once the water starts to warm the carp will also feed and that’s when anglers target them with tactics such as pellet wagglers or Method feeders. Most average over 10lb with the odd lump to 20lb but the roach are still there and can be caught fishing shallow with casters or small pellets.
The fishery also has a 35-peg match lake which also fishes well for carp in summer and supplemented by a hefty amount of skimmers which make for a good day’s sport themselves.
Prices: £7 one rod, £10 for two; 10-15s £3 per rod on the bank.
Contact: 07802 655650, www.mill-farm-fishery.co.uk
Location: Mill Farm, Peatling Parva Road, Lutterworth, LE17 5NR
Rules: No night fishing, barbless only, groundbait by cup or feeder only, no peas, beans, nuts or tiger nuts
Facilities: Disabled access, toilets
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