Is this Britain’s biggest barbel?

This is the image of what could be the biggest barbel in the UK.

Weighing a colossal 19lb 4oz, the fish was caught by specimen angler Gary Johnson from an undisclosed stretch of the River Nene.

The incredible capture, which was first reported in Angling Times last week, was the result of a frustrating four-day campaign which saw the Cambridgeshire man trying numerous approaches before finally tempting his prize on a specially made John Baker bait. 

Gary told Angling Times: “I visited the venue a number of times to feed the fish, which were visible in the shallow water. However, I just couldn’t get the specimen to take my bait, despite tinkering with different set-ups and hooklength variations.” 

Gary finally found the right combination, using 5ft of 10lb Gardner Hydroflow with a size 16 Target hook and a meshed bait to avoid the hordes of roach and dace in his swim. 

If confirmed, the fish will set a new record for the venue, beating Nigel Bryan’s 18lb 3oz fish from earlier in the season.

Whincup victorious in £70,000 peg-to-peg thriller!

Jon Whincup earned himself £70,000 and the title of Maver Mega Match This Champion 2016 with a blistering display of commercial carp fishing at Maver Hayfield Lakes.

The Peterborough angler posted a record-breaking 105.75 kg (233.1lb) catch of carp to 12lb in an incredible match that saw a remarkable 1,123.82kg of fish was caught by the 24 competitors.

That equalled an average weight of 46.826kg (103.2lb) per man, together with the largest prize fund ever paid out in a UK fishing competition. 

Spectators on the Island Lake at the Doncaster venue were treated to a real tussle between Jon on peg 49 and Jamie Hughes on adjacent peg 51. Although many thought double Fish O’ champion Jamie had the edge, the scales showed that he fell just short with 93.925kg as Jon’s earlier run of big fish stole the show.

“It’s unbelievable really, it’s everything I’ve worked for over the past 20 years of fishing,” beamed Jon. 

“This is what we all go fishing for now, to win something big like this. It was the simplest match I’ve ever fished, but I thought I’d blown my chance in the last hour. I actually had a big lead, but I didn’t know about that at the time. 

“This definitely makes up for last year, when I sat between first and second place in the final.
It just didn’t happen for me. I was so close to the action that I felt how much I wanted it, so I got on with it again this year and it’s all come good now!” he said.

Within minutes of the start, it became obvious that the 2016 Match This was going to be something special. Carp were coming out all over the place, with Simon Skelton, on peg 57, getting off to a flyer and Jamie Hughes surging into the lead at the close of the first hour on the feeder. But Jon’s pole line was becoming stronger and stronger and in the second hour he put an estimated 70lb of carp in his keepnets, cementing his place among the front runners. 

Despite his swim going quiet in the last hour, when Jamie piled on the pressure, the damage had already been done. It was an enthralling battle between the pair that left spectators unsure which way to look!

“I knew Jamie was catching – we could hear what was going on over the Tannoy – but I didn’t looked round once for the first four hours. I told myself to concentrate on my float, as every bite could result in a crucial big fish. In the last hour my peg started to go a bit funny and I was foul-hooking fish. I only caught three or four,” said Jon. 

“Then I was looking round and it was the most tense hour’s fishing of my life. Of all the times to have a bad hour, why did it have to be now? Luckily, I had a 10lb carp right on the whistle, although I didn’t actually need it. 

“I said before the match that somebody would catch on the short pole all day, and thankfully it was me! 

“I’d like to thank my sponsors Frenzee and Bait-Tech and my long-suffering partner, Ivy. She sat behind me all day in the rain and she said she couldn’t bear to watch at times!” he smiled.

Jamie’s late rally helped him to the runner’s-up cheque of £5,000 and Maver’s own Simon Skelton was third and secured £3,000 with his 81kg 950g catch.

Best weight on the other side of the lake was by England star Des Shipp, but his fourth-placed 65kg 300g was only good enough for one of four £1,000 section prizes! 

Result: 1 J Whincup, Frenzee/Bait-Tech, 105-750; 2 J Hughes, MAP/Bag ‘Em, 93-925; 3 S Skelton, Maver UK, 81-950; 4 D Shipp, Preston Innovations/Sonubaits, 65-300; 5 D Shires, Garbolino Lindholme, 60-245; 6 A Power, Preston Innovations/Sonubaits 59-425; 7 R Brennan, Garbolino, 57-550; 8 S Openshaw, Lingmere, 56-100; 9 M Godfrey, Drennan Barnsley, 54-175;
10 D Burley, Champion Feed, 48-157; 11 L Bamford, Notts, 47-225; 12 S Davis, West Malling Angling, 43-375; 13 D Brown Jnr, Poplars AC, 40-250; 14 J Ashwell, Maver Midlands, 40-200; 15 R Harold, Matrix, 39-000; 16 A Playford, Dersingham AC, 38-675; 17 S Fry, Garbolino, 30-625; 18 P Cook, Maver, 29-325; 19 M Arnold, Decoy Lakes, 28-100; 20 J Smalley, Decoy Lakes, 26-800; 21 A Richards, Browning, 25-350; 22 G Bell, Lakeland Fishery, 24-075; 23 P Stone, Spro/ Gamakatsu, 14-300; 24 M Jones, Tredegar AC, 13-925. 

Fish for a golden £50,000 with new big-match series

QUALIFIERS IN 2017

March 4: Decoy Lakes, Cambs
March 11: Coleman’s Cottage, Essex
March 18: Larford Lakes, Worcs
March 25: Viaduct Fishery, Somerset
April 1: Monk Lakes, Kent
April 9: Larford Lakes, Worcs
April 15: Westwood Lakes, Lincs
April 22: Heronbrook Fisheries, Staffs
April 23: The Glebe Fishery, Leics
April 26: Partridge Lakes, Cheshire
May 6: Viaduct Fishery, Somerset
May 13: Lindholme Lakes, Doncaster
May 17: Decoy Lakes, Cambs
May 24: The Glebe Fishery, Leics
May 27: Barston Lakes, West Mids
June 3: Gold Valley Lakes, Hants
June 10: Lindholme Lakes, Doncaster
June 17: Larford Lakes, Worcs
June 23: Partridge Lakes, Cheshire
July 1: The Glebe Fishery, Leics
July 8: Larford Lakes, Worcs
July 15: Heronbrook Fishery, Staffs
July 19: The Glebe Fishery, Leics
July 29: Tunnel Barn Farm, Warks

Angling Times has teamed up with the creator of some of the richest matches in history to launch a competition in which the winner will scoop a guaranteed £50,000.

The new event is the brainchild of fishery owner Phil Briscoe, who is inviting anglers to take part in the Golden Reel contest for a prize pot of at least £62,000.

A series of 24 qualifying matches will be staged at some of the best commercial fisheries in the country, where the winner from each will make it through to the grand final at Phil’s own Larford Lakes complex in Stourport on August 19, 2017.

The winner of the individual open-to-all competition, of which Angling Times is the media partner, will then scoop the £50,000 first prize. 

The runner-up will win £5,000, with third place taking £3,000. Four section winners will pocket £1,000 apiece.

Phil, who was behind the incredibly successful Maver Mega Match This event has pledged that the Golden Reel – which is a totally separate competition – will be a huge hit with anglers and that the prize pot could be even bigger if the qualifiers sell out.

“I’ve been involved in creating and running big matches for 20 years and there’s already a huge buzz surrounding the Golden Reel,” Phil told Angling Times.

“The national spread of the qualifying matches means that everyone will have a match taking place at a fishery within manageable travelling distance.

“If the qualifiers begin to sell out, the prize pot will increase. Big-money matches like this are not only great for anglers that want to compete for incredible prizes like this, but they also serve to boost the sport’s profile, which is what fishing deserves.”

Tickets for each of the qualifiers (listed above) cost £50, and anglers wishing to book their place can do so from Monday, September 19 via the website at www.goldenreelangling.co.uk

Preston Innovations-backed match ace Andy Power, who has won the Maver Mega Match This Final and taken the UK Championships title twice, is one of the top matchmen who are supporting Phil’s new event.

“I’m right behind this competition, and I know there will be so many anglers that will jump at the chance to compete in another match with a massive first prize,” he said.

“The beauty of this competition is that anyone who gets a ticket to fish one of the qualifiers has a chance of winning the £50,000 top prize.”

TV giant BT Sport covers all of angling’s major competitions, and Phil Briscoe hopes that the Golden Reel will be included in its schedule.

Respected angler and TV presenter Rob Hughes has been involved in the coverage of countless big-money events, and is a driving force in getting angling on to mainstream television.

“The launch of the Golden Reel won’t just come as music to the ears of anglers that will be queuing up to fish the qualifiers,” said Rob.

“It also proves how the profile of the sport is being raised all the time.

 “This is what will get fishing more and more coverage on TV as we move forward.” commented Rob.

50lb Wellington common best of three in 121lb total

Lewis Read has banked his second 50lb-plus common in a month as a midweek overnighter produced three fish for more than 121lb.

Fishing Berkshire’s Wellington Country Park, the Gardner employee caught the Chinese Common at exactly 50lb, a 44lb ghostie and a 27lb 8oz mirror – all before packing up and heading to work.

Having lost a “blooming behemoth of a fish” on the morning of another midweek overnighter, Lewis returned to the same spot after work the same day.

He said: “I checked the area I had fished and there were a few fish about, so I wrapped up for the same spots that I had baited the previous night and got the three rods in tight to the far margin, with just one chuck needed on each rod.

“I restricted baiting to 30 boilies per rod as I had put a fair bit in the night before and, thanks to minimal casting, I had a quick bite on the long rod that turned out to be a chunk of a 44lb ghostie.

“Luckily, some very excitable campers were walking past and they oooed and aaaahed as I held the fish up and ‘dad’ did a great job with the camera!

“A few hours later the short rod lit up, pulling the bobbin up tight – and I was on the locked-up rod walking back up the slope behind the swim and leading the fish away from the far-bank snags.

“I had a bit of a brutal battle with this one – it did the dirty and went round a bush to my left, but gentle teasing eventually drew her round and then she did a couple of hugely powerful runs across the bay. Good old 15lb GT-HD mainline did its job and it turned out to be the Chinese Common at exactly 50lb! Oh my days, that’ll do!”

Lewis added: “Just as I started packing up I lost a fish on the same rod – and as I reeled in the right-hander the middle rod pulled up tight and I cajoled a lovely 27lb 8oz mirror to the waiting net. 

“It was a bit of a hectic work night by Welly standards, but then again everywhere seems to be fishing well with the cooler longer nights that have become so noticeable all of a sudden.”

7lb 14oz chub tops an amazing week

The incredible run of big chub from venues nationwide continued this week with the capture of a 7lb 14oz heavyweight from a canal!

In what has been a fantastic week for catches of the species, carp angler Richard Hogg was left shell-shocked when he netted the monster specimen from a seldom-fished section of the Staffs and Worcester Canal.

Targeting a swim where he had previously caught carp, the Brownhills-based angler set his stall out by scattering a few boilies by hand. 

Then he carefully cast a wafter hookbait into the swim. 

“When the alarm sounded I thought it was a small carp but then, when I lifted up the net, I was confronted by the biggest chub I’ve ever seen,” he said. 

“It wasn’t my target species, but I will take that fish any day of the week.” 

It’s not the first big chub to be caught by the West Midlander. Richard’s previous best stands at an impressive 7lb 8oz, and you can see more of his catches by visiting his Facebook page, Canal Carp Diary. 

It’s not just on canals where anglers have been enjoying some superb chub sport, though, as Alfie Naylor proved when he smashed his personal best for the third time this season with a
7lb 8oz fish from the River Trent. 

Just a few weeks after landing a 7lb 2oz chub, the Nottinghamshire rod revisited his local stretch and went one better. 

“I visited the swim a few times leading up to the session and scattered a few 110 Baits Redball Plum boilies around before fishing it with just a small PVA bag of five or six boilies dusted in krill powder tight in one spot,” he said. 

Alfie’s set-up was made up of a short section of 20lb Drennan Sink Link hooklength tied to a size 6 hook.

Andy Powers ahead for UK Champs title

Preston Innovations star Andy Power joined a select band of anglers with his second Old Ghost UK Angling Championships victory in a nail-biting final round at Barston Lakes.

Scoring eight points across the four-match series, the Somerset angler tied on points with Dale Shepherd, but tallied 210-558 against the 204-713 of Maver man Dale to win the £4,000 top prize and get his name etched on to the famous claret jug alongside his 2013 victory.

Sitting on six points heading into the final match, former Match This champ Andy drew in the same section at the Solihull lake just pegs away from his rival. Dale duly won his section to finish with eight points, Andy taking second to bring weight into play with just six kilos in it.

“I had reservations about Boddington Reservoir. I was told it was peggy and hard fishing,” Wells-based Andy said. “Round one at Lindholme couldn’t have gone any better but I came back down to earth with a bump on the Glebe with a fifth in section, and I thought I’d blown it. My only hope was to win my section in the final two matches.”

Boddington gave Andy a section win after drawing a reasonable area and so it all boiled down to Barston. With his nearest rivals also suffering at Boddington or the Glebe, Andy was leading by one point.

“When Dale drew peg 124 I thought it was game over. That peg is a guaranteed section win so I was fishing for second. If I could do that, I felt I’d win on weight,” he continued. “Pellet waggler gave me six big carp plus a few F1s but at the whistle I had no idea where I’d finished.

“Dale had won the section and people reckoned Greg Norris had caught 80lb while I thought I’d got 75lb – but as it turned out I beat Greg into second by 2lb and did it on weight.”

The final round was won by Geoff Vallance with 61-225 off peg 18 on the river bank. The Preston Innovations Delcac man went for broke on the Method feeder all day for a weight, but with little to show and just half-an-hour remaining he plopped the feeder into the margins and brought his total weight of carp to approximately 125lb. “That effectively won me the match and the £1,000 prize!” said Geoff.

Result: 1 Geoff Vallance, Preston Innovations Delcac, 61-225; 2 Adam Rooney, Guru, 55-325; 3 Paul Holland, Guru, 51-000; 4 Dale Shepherd, Maver, 48-547; 5 Phil Canning, Frenzee, 44-850; 6 Paul Hiller, Daiwa Dorking, 36-796.

Final league: 1 Andy Power, Preston Innovations, 8pts (210-558); 2 Dale Shepherd, Maver, 8 (204-713); 3 Chris Barley, Dynamite Baits, 10; 4 Andy Kinder, Maver/Marukyu, 12 (172-324); 5 Zak Brown, Preston Innovations, 12 (150-215); 6 Adam Wakelin, Preston Innovations, 12 (141-511).

Angling to star in the Olympics?

Angling has taken a step closer to being part of the Olympic Games – with the submission of an official application to be a part of the world’s biggest sporting spectacle.

Numerous high-profile stars from within the sport have campaigned for years to see one of the world’s biggest participant sports included in the global event, and following this latest development the dream could finally become a reality.

Bosses from international match angling’s governing body CIPS have put together a huge dossier in a bid to convince the Olympic Committee that fishing should officially be recognised as a sport.

If the move is given the green light, it could then be considered for inclusion in future Olympics. 

TV personality and former Olympic athlete Dean Macey believes angling would be a worthy inclusion. He said: “Millions of people across the world go fishing, so why shouldn’t it form part of the biggest sporting event on the planet?

“It would be a huge boost for angling, and for those that compete it would be the pinnacle of their career. Forget Fish O’Mania and the World Championships, the Olympics has over a billion people tuning in. It would dwarf any other angling tournament.”

Given the nation’s huge array of talent, the chances of achieving success would be high and Dean added: “No matter what form the competition took, we would be in the medals. Be it feeder fishing, floatfishing or accuracy casting, Team GB would have the best in the world in their ranks.”

Current England international Des Shipp, who has won countless tournaments in an illustrious career, says that taking part in the Olympics would top the lot. 

He said: “It would be an honour to get selected if it ever came about, and I can’t even begin to imagine how amazing it would feel to win a gold medal.

“More and more sports are being included in the Olympics and angling deserves a chance to showcase itself on the giant stage.”

Former England boss and CIPS official Dick Clegg believes that a successful bid could have numerous benefits, and he told Angling Times: “It would be great to think that angling could one day be part of the Olympic Gamesin some format, whether that is accuracy or distance casting or something else.

“In the short term, being recognised as a sport by the Olympic Committee could lead to more funding for our national teams, which would play a huge part in maintaining our current high levels of success.”

England girls finish fourth in Spain

Ladies World
Championships (Sat & Sun)

River Guadiana, Merida, Spain (15 teams)

Result: 1 Poland, 33pts; 2 Spain, 35; 3 Italy, 39; 4 MAP England, 52; 5 France, 70; 6 Czech Republic, 74; 7 Hungary, 76; 8 Belgium, 79; 9 Croatia, 95; 10 Finland, 97;  jt11 Portugal and Netherlands, both 101; 13 Russia, 104; 14 Serbia, 113; 15 Slovakia, 131.

England’s quest to be crowned Ladies World Champions ended in frustrating fashion as the girls finished a red hot weekend in Spain in fourth place.

They finished 13 points from taking bronze, well clear of the fifth-placed team, after being unable to make a dent in the overnight leaders Spain and second-placed Poland who swapped places on day two.

Poland were crowned champions with host nation Spain in second and Italy third, leaving England, backed by tackle firm MAP, next best. 

Managed by Dave Brooks, the team of Wendy Locker, Helen Dagnall, Kayleigh Smith, Julie Abbott, Sam Sim and Abbi Kendall were ultimately just off the pace required when faced with catching masses of small carrasio in the river.

“Fourth place is the worst place to finish, but I feel a little sorry for the girls because they had the tactics spot on. They fell down by perhaps not attacking the river enough,” said outgoing Angling Trust international competitions director Dick Clegg. “There were millions of tiny carassio around 40g apiece to catch and it developed into a bit of a fish race where you couldn’t afford to fall behind. In some sections we were just 10 fish off scoring more points.

“There were also very few carp to catch as a get out of jail fish – 15kg was a great weight and if you could snare a 3kg carp you’d do a world of good. However, they never showed all week or across the weekend.

 “The team fished it spot on with a short line at 6m and then the whip to hand, aiming to catch a fish on every drop-in.”

The match also marked the end of an era for Wendy Locker, who retired after 23 years. 

Oar-some bream best

Catching big bream in a weed-clad lake was no chore for Adam Riches, who rowed a boat out to drop his hookbaits into a clear patch and bag this 15lb 10oz personal best.

The 29-year-old carpenter out-foxed the super-slab on a tricky southern gravel pit.

“The water is full of snags, and using a boat was the only way to get my baits through to the fish,” Adam explained.

“I found a clear spot 130 yards out and baited it with a particle and pellet mix, before rowing out to drop my rigs baited with popped-up fake corn.

“After a slow spring and only one 14lb-plus bream so far this season, I was absolutely chuffed with the result.” 

Two other bream weighing 10lb 1oz and 10lb 14oz were landed to make this a session to remember for Adam.

Scotthorne wins Wychavon Champs

THE RESULTS

Hobgoblin Championship (Sat)
Warks Avon, Evesham (73 pegs)
Result: 1 C Dicks, Maver, 10-12-0; 2 R Wootton, Shimano/Dynamite Baits, 8-6-0; 3 A Scotthorne, Drennan Sensas, 7-12-0; 4 M Derry, Sensas, 7-0-0;
5 B Blowing, Gloucester, 6-10-0.

Wychavon Championship (Sun)
Warks Avon, Evesham (73 pegs)
Result: 1 Alan Scotthorne, Drennan Sensas, 17-3-0;
2 L Gardener, Shakespeare Bait-Tech, 15-8-0;
3 W Swinscoe, Drennan/Bait-Tech, 14-7-0;
4 W Raison, Daiwa/Old Ghost, 12-0-0; 5 D Davies, Drennan/Van Den Eynde, 11-14-0.

Match Fishing Team Champs (Mon)
Warks Avon, Evesham (70 pegs)
Result: 1 S Pallett, Sensas WB Clarke, 9-2-0; 2 S Willsmore, Daiwa Dorking, 7-8-0; 3 W Raison, Daiwa Dorking, 7-0-0; 4 N Crooks, Browning Ossett, 6-1-0; jt5 A Scotthorne and J Dent, both Drennan Barnsley Blacks, both 5-14-0.
Team: 1 Daiwa Dorking, 61pts; 2 Drennan Barnsley Blacks, 43 (superior weight); 3 Matrix Image, 43; 4 Matrix Dynamite Baits Trentmen, 42 (superior weight); 5 Drennan Oxford, 42; 6 Shakespeare Bait-Tech, 42; 7 Kamasan Starlets A, 42; 8 Kamasan Starlets B, 41; 9 Sensas WB Clarke, 37; 10 Bailey’s of Warwick, 33; 11 Daiwa Gordon League, 32;
12 Browning Ossett, 30; 13 Drennan Leicester Sensas, 24; 14 Sensas Black Country, 20.

August Bank Holiday weekend saw a star-studded line-up for the Evesham Angling Festival. 

And after three days of action the silverware went the way of international class acts and the best team in the UK.

England aces Callum Dicks and five-times World Champ Alan Scotthorne won the Hobgoblin and Wychavon Championships respectively on the town stretch of the Warks Avon, while the all-conquering Daiwa Dorking side signed off the festival with team honours in the Bank Holiday Monday match.

Maver man Callum was first to triumph, weighing in 10-12-0 on the Saturday from end peg 73. Rob Wootton followed with 8-6-0 for second spot as the clear river saw the match turn into a roach-dominated event.

Sunday saw colour in the river after overnight rain and Alan Scotthorne drew peg 46. The Drennan/Sensas man targeted the slabs and a great early part of the match saw him home with 17-3-0, ahead of Shakespeare’s Leigh Gardener on 15-8-0.

“With rain the day before I thought there might be some skimmers and pommies to catch, and if there were any bream in the area they’d normally be found around my peg,” Alan said.

 “I balled in 12 balls of Sensas 3000 Gros Gardons Fine, 3000 Magic and brown crumb mixed 50/50 with Terre de Riviere and grey leam holding casters, dead pinkies and a lot of hemp. 

“I was targeting bigger fish, so every half-hour I topped up aggressively with two big balls over the top.”

Fishing a 2g float at 11m run through with a longish hooklink to lay some line on the deck and presenting a steady bunch of bloodworm or pinkie hookbait, the opening 90 minutes brought three bream and four skimmers before the river began to clear.

“After that it was a case of picking off little fish on bloodworm, catching what I could,” Alan continued. “At the end of the day, if you catch 17lb at Evesham you won’t be far off winning something! 

“It’s been a super weekend for me, as I was third on the Saturday match and then joint fifth in the team match on Monday – and my Barnsley team finished second overall.”

That left Monday’s team match to be decided and Dorking, riding on the crest of a wave after their record-making World Club Champs victory, crushed all before them with a 61-point tally.

They ended up 18 points clear of Drennan Barnsley Blacks, with Matrix Image third. 

Individually, Sensas WB Clarke man Steve Pallett won with 9-2-0, followed by Dorking and England duo Simon Willsmore and William Raison on 7-8-0 and 7-0-0 respectively.

Island hotspot brings Greg a day-ticket best

Casting tight to an island at a popular day-ticket venue gave Greg Wildon a new personal best in the shape of this turbo-charged mirror.

The 39lb 6oz mirror came during a 72-hour session at Kent’s Elphicks Fishery, which included a double, a 26lb 4oz common and an 11lb catfish. 

“I’d seen a lot of big fish by the edge of the island,” said the Colchester, Essex, angler, “so I managed to get a bait about 2ft from the edge of the island. After about an hour, the fish took off at an amazing speed.

“Eventually, after a brilliant fight, it made it to the net – a truly magnificent specimen.” 

Greg, who regularly catapulted boilies over his spot at 40 yards, added: “This was a new personal best and it certainly made my day.”

Two monster eels in the same session

Chris Mason had every reason to smile when he banked this impressive pair of big eels.

Targeting a stillwater in the Midlands, the species enthusiast from Walsall, West Midlands, landed fish weighing 5lb 6oz and 5lb 13oz when he fished roach and lobworm hookbaits just a few rodlengths from the bank.

The bigger specimen beats his previous personal best by 5oz and was beaten by the 28-year-old when he fished rigs made from 60lb braid and size 4 hooks.

Sunset specimen is worth the wait

Catch pictures don’t come much better than this stunning image of Gary Johnson and his huge River Nene barbel.

It weighed 14lb 12oz, and was proof that good things come to those who wait. After steadily baiting a weedy gravel run throughout the afternoon, the specialist from Nassington, Northants, resisted the urge to cast out until an hour from sunset.

His ploy paid off as the fish took a John Baker dumbell boilie hair-rigged on a size 10 hook.

Well-known lump and long-lost mirror hit the bank

It’s been a tale of two fifties at a northern day-ticket water in recent weeks.

Hitting the bank at Eric’s Willows Lake, in West Yorkshire, were two very different creatures – one camera-shy, the other less so.

Three Scale, weighing 52lb 10oz, came out for the third time in quick succession to Brian Latham during a week-long session. 

“This fish has seen the bank quite often of late,” said Brian, who also had a 29lb 15oz mirror and a 20-pounder, “but it’s in great condition and gaining weight after a good spawn.”

The other fifty to be caught at Willows recently has been much more cautious – incredibly going uncaught for more than five years when it weighed 40lb 6oz!

Venue regular Danny Johannessen netted the fish during an overnighter in peg 1 and immediately realised it was one he didn’t recognise.

Danny, who fished a single Mainline Banofee pop-up on a Ronnie rig, alerted fishery boss Tom Broomhead and handed him the camera. 

Danny said: “We weighed the fish at 53lb 12oz and retained it in deep water near the outflow while we waited an hour for sunrise to get the shots by the lily bed. We were like kids on Christmas Eve, but still didn’t recognise it!”

Tom, who searched all the catch reports he had collected in three years of running the lake, said: “I contacted the remaining syndicate members for guidance and learned that as far as I am aware the fish was last landed at 40lb 6oz on April 7, 2011, by Kevin Rogerson and was regarded as the Original Scar Fish. We then suffered the floods in 2012 and it hadn’t been seen since.”

The capture takes the number of fifties in Willows to six. 

“Absolutely epic,” said Tom, “a truly heartwarming moment to weigh in and do the honours with the camera.”

Stour perch falls to a worm

Big perch love worms, and Iain McDonald used this to his advantage when he targeted the species on the Kentish Stour.

Two dendrobaena worms trundled beneath an overhanging tree on the far bank saw the local big-fish expert induce a take that produced this pristine stripey weighing 2lb 12oz.

His simple two swan shot rig was made up on 4lb line with a size 12 hook.

Perkins – the new champ

A brilliant 40-620 of bream sealed the individual National title for Matrix Dynamite Trentmen’s Rob Perkins.

Drawn on B17 (permanent peg 8, Holme Marsh Weir), Rob landed 22 slabs to 6lb using a 60g large cage feeder at 55 turns.

“I was casting regularly to put down lots of bait and it took an hour to get a bite. After that I caught fish in spurts of twos and threes. There were loads of bream in the area, and they came in, mopped up the bait and wandered off again!  

“I was behind the angler on peg 5 for most of the match, but caught and overtook him in the last hour. It’s everybody’s dream to win a National and this was definitely my day!” he said.

Rob fished a size 18 hook with half a dendrobena tipped with a maggot as bait, packing worm and caster into the feeder.
Result

1 R Perkins, Matrix DynamiteTrentmen, 40.620; 2 S Bryan, Daiwa Gordon League, 30.350;

3 A Dixon, Lincs County, 23.120; 4 W Parker, Swindon Isis AC, 19.840; 5 A Henry, Scunthorpe Tackle, 17.450; 6 M Perkins, Derby Fed, 16.800.

Mini boilies account for a 2lb 7oz roach

Respected big-fish specialist Dave Harman’s big roach campaign took off when he netted this 2lb 7oz specimen.

His chosen venue, a large southern gravel pit, didn’t respond to maggot feeder tactics due to the sheer numbers of small fish present.

But a switch to mini boilies did the trick and he struck gold on his most recent session when, after spotting some big fish at dawn, he cast out feeder rigs made from 6lb Drennan Super Specialist mainline and size 12 Drennan Barbel hooks.

“About 30 minutes after casting out I had a steady run, and I nearly had a heart attack when the huge roach popped up just a few yards from the net,” he said. 

Donavan and Ridge are Northern Carp Cup champs

Chris Donovan and Craig Ridge are the 2016 Northern Carp Cup champions following a dominant display at Wyreside Lakes Fishery.

After a sluggish start, the pair caught seven fish for a total weight of 106lb 3oz on Sunnyside Two at the seven-lake complex.

Fishing from peg 1 on the Road Bank, Chris and Craig banked all but one of their fish in a hectic spell between 10.30am and 7pm on day two of the 48-hour match. 

They also caught the biggest fish of the weekend, a 24lb 10oz common.  

“They had all sorts of weather, from strong wind, to heavy rain, to bright and hot sunshine,” said organiser Belinda Coxon.

With the fish well spread out, eight of the 12 pairs caught a total of 22 carp. Second place went to Simon Bury, who fished without partner Steve Blow, with four fish for 66lb 15oz, only just ahead of Dan Robson and Shane Fletcher, who also caught four fish for a total of 65lb 11oz.

The winners collected £2,000, with second place netting £1,000 and third £500. The event, along with other British Carp Cup events, will be screened on BT Sport this November.

First-ever barbel weighs in at 16lb!

A debut barbel fishing session produced two fish with a combined weight of more than 30lb for Scott Smith.

The 24-year-old, from Crowmarsh in Oxfordshire, became the envy of many when his first-ever of the species topped the scales at 16lb and was quickly followed by a 15lb 4oz barbel .

He targeted a local stretch of the River Thames, hair-rigging a Sticky Baits Krill boilie in conjunction with a PVA bag of boilies and pellets.

“I’ve never caught a barbel before so to catch two was brilliant, but I wasn’t expecting anything of this size,” said Scott.

“My mate, who knows all about fishing for barbel and carp on running water, gave me some tips which I think really helped me, plus this was the first time I’d tried fishing my own rigs. They were nothing fancy at all because I’m still learning.

“I really can’t believe my luck because I wouldn’t have caught the second barbel if I hadn’t decided to leave one of my rods out for five more minutes as I packed away the rest of my gear.

“It’s by far the best session on a river I’ve ever had.”

Up until this incredible catch, Scott’s biggest river fish was a 5lb chub. The simple rig that proved the downfall of his two barbel consisted of a Korda 20lb N-Trap coated braid hooklink attached to a size 6 hook.

Barnsley storm to National Victory

Drennan Barnsley Blacks swept to victory in this year’s Angling Trust Division One National on the River Trent.

The Yorkshire outfit had to be content with third place in 2015 but they settled the score this time around, walking away with the title thanks to an impressive 380-point total.

Conditions leading up to the event had been ideal but the weather took a turn for the worse come match day, with the 450 entrants forced to battle against gale-force winds.

Peior to the match hours of practice had been put in by the teams to try to develop a winning plan, but Barnsley Blacks captain Glenn Lawrence admitted that everything they had learned went out of the window on the day. 

“We had been doing a lot of floatfishing on the river, but the wind was so bad that we knew there was going to be hardly any fish caught on the pole, waggler or stick float as presentation would be nigh on impossible. 

“We only caught one fish on the float between us!” he said.

Rather than enforce a strict team plan, the decision was made to allow the squad – which included such big names as Alan Scotthorne and Lee Kerry – to fish their pegs as they saw fit.

That trusting approach paid dividends, with every member finishing in the top 15 of their 45 peg sections, with Will Freeman and Matt Godfrey among their best performers.

“Every peg on the River Trent is different and when you have anglers of that calibre you know that they are going to be able to come up with a plan that will give them the best chance of doing well.

“That is exactly what happened and we are absolutely delighted to have won the Division One National.”

Barnsley’s success leaves them one step closer to making their way into the history books, with the team now just one National win away from matching the eight titles recorded by the legendary Leeds DASA side.

The victory also gives them the chance to represent the UK in the 2017 World Club Championships, the venue for which will be revealed in the coming months.

Several other star teams, including the formidable Daiwa Dorking, were on show at this year’s National, but local knowledge proved key to landing the framing spots.

Lincoln & District AC took the runners-up spot after they accumulated 367 points, with Scunthorpe back in third on 345 points.

Result: 1 Drennan Barnsley Blacks, 380pts; 2 Lincoln & District AC, 367; 3 Scunthorpe Tackle, 345; 4 Daiwa Dorking, 341; 5 Derbyshire Angling Fed, 326; 6 Browning Hotrods, 314; 7 Starlets AC,  308; 8 Lincs County, 300; 9 Daiwa Gordon League, 293; 10 Winterton AC, 290.