Apply for share of cash windfall
Anglers are to benefit from another huge cash windfall as more money from rod licence sales is pumped back into the sport.
Clubs, commercials and fishing charities can apply for a share of the £400,000 being made available through the Angling Improvement Fund (AIF).
The fund, which has already channelled £1.3 million of rod licence money into projects that have directly benefited angling organisations and their waters, is being administered by the Angling Trust on behalf of the Environment Agency.
Those who wish to be considered for a slice of the £400,000 have until January, 17, 2017 to apply.
“The Angling Improvement Fund is just one way we use rod licence money to work with partners for the benefit of fishing,” said Sarah Chare, Head of Fisheries at the Environment Agency .
“This latest pot of funding is the largest yet, bringing the total awarded this year to £600,000, so thank you to all those anglers who get behind their sport and buy a licence.
“There is a wide range of categories for fisheries to consider applying for, from winter maintenance and improvement of fisheries to predation management and the training of volunteers.”
The AIF has already helped fund 119 angling projects since its launch in 2015, and the Angling Trust will shortly be announcing the winners of this year’s spring round of funding, focused on access improvements for disabled anglers.
“This increase in funding is another big step forward in our programme of work to improve fish and fishing,” said Angling Trust CEO Mark Lloyd.
“With more funds coming from the rod licence over the coming year, and membership of the Angling Trust & Fish Legal growing, the future looks bright.”
Birthday boy’s Pike Champs joy
The 2016 Pike Championships results
1 Andrew Muirhead, Cromer, 21lb 1oz (two fish)
2 Wayne Lees, Oxfordshire, 16lb (two fish)
3 Jack Taylor, Stoke-on-Trent, 14lb (one fish)
4 Diniz Rodrigues, Cromer, 13lb 12oz (one fish)
5 Paul Lenton, Doddington, 13lb 2oz (two fish)
Kevin Roads, Alderminster, 11lb 2oz (one fish)
A cheque for £1,400 and the 2016 Angling Trust Pike Championships trophy was an unexpected but pleasant reward for birthday boy Andrew Muirhead.
The pike fanatic, from Cromer, Norfolk, celebrated his 52nd birthday with two fish totalling 21lb 1oz, including the day’s biggest pike of 18lb 1oz.
Fishing peg 24 on Cambridgeshire’s Bevill’s Leam, an area known locally as Glassmoor Bank, Andrew had to wait 90 minutes for his first run of the match, but after recasting a dead roach to the drain’s far margin the float was off again in two minutes.
“I gave the rod a hefty strike and immediately knew it was no jack pike – but the fight from the 18-pounder was rather disappointing,” said Andrew.
Things could have been very different had third-placed 12-year-old Jack Taylor not lost a potential match winner.
The youngster, from Stoke-on-Trent, caught a 14lb pike then, like the winner, saw his float dip again from a second fish.
“I saw the fish briefly in the clear water. It was a much better fish than the 14-pounder, but unfortunately it let go and I lost it,” said Jack.
Incredibly, he hooked the fish again moments later, but in a cruel twist of fate, he lost it again. Consolation came in the form of third place and the prize for top junior.
In between Andrew and Jack was British Pike Fishing Squad member Wayne Lees with two pike for a combined weight of 16lb, including a 13lb 4oz fish.
On a day of heavy rain, an early-morning frost and strong winds, another four double-figure fish were recorded as well as a host of smaller fish.
Match organiser Ted Rowe commented: “Despite the horrendous weather conditions throughout, the 2016 Pike Champs has been another roaring success and I’d like to thank the Angling Trust for its sponsorship, my wife Ann for helping to organise the event, all the match stewards, and Whittlesey AA’s Dave White for the venue.
“For me, though, the story of the day was young Jack landing a double-figure pike to come third in the match, beating off some very strong competition.
“Hopefully news of his success will spur on other juniors to take up this great sport of ours.”
Dave White, vice president of Whittlesea Angling Association, added: “Even though the conditions were poor and the fishing very hard, Whittlesey AA are proud to be able to hold the Championships on one of our many waters.”
Black Country lads nick Division Two National by just a point
Angling Trust Division 2 National (Sat)
Birmingham/Fazeley Canal (28 teams)
Team result: 1 Sensas Black Country AS, 205pts; 2 Matrix Halifax CRFT, 204 (weight); 3 Drennan Oxford, 204; 4 Browning West Midlands, 202; 5 Drennan NW, 201; 6 Sensas Dams & Lock, 197; 7 Sensas Strike Angling, 192; 8 Maver Midlands, 187; 9 Scunthorpe Blue, 170; 10 Browning Central, 164; 11 Scunthorpe Dynamite Baits, 161; 12 Maver Coleman’s Bait & Tackle/Matchpack, 157; 13 Canal & River Trust AC, 154 (weight); 14 Tubertini Apollo, 154; 15 Browning Wickford, 153; 16 Slaithwaite DAA, 147; 17 Colin Barlow AC Sale, 134; 18 Stoke-on-Trent AA, 128; 19 Sensas Coleman’s Bait & Tackle, 124; 20 Long Eaton Federation, 117; 21 Tang Hall MG, 106; 22 Tring Anglers, 102 (weight); 23 Notts AA, 102; 24 Coleman’s Cottage Fishery, 96; 25 Littleport AC, 90; 26 Listerhills Old Boys AA, 79; 27 Chelmsford Angling, 73; 28 Washington & Harraton AC, 70.
Sensas Black Country made their in-depth knowledge of the Fazeley Canal worth its weight in medals as they won the Division Two National crown by a single point.
The local lads, most of whom live within a 20-minute drive of the venue, are all regulars on the canal and the feeling was that if they got a half decent draw they could ‘do a job’ in captain Mark Hardman’s words.
Promotion, though, was their main aim, and they felt that their mass of experience should bring home the bacon.
“There are 192 pegs on the Dams & Lock stretch and we fish the Summer League each year with two teams, but this year we rotated the lads around the various areas so they could all get a feel for it,” Mark said.
“We knew almost every peg that was in, but of course, they don’t always fish as you think they might. I looked at the draw and it was steady, no screaming flyers but importantly, only one shocker in G section where I thought our lad would do well to get a handful of points.
“Bream were likely to show as conditions were perfect but the boys knew that whether they had to ship in 250 little fish or go for bream, they could do it – that’s where knowing the water so well comes into play,” Mark continued. “We did, however, think that the fish were sick of seeing chopped worm so we based a lot of our bonus fish work around just casters alongside the more standard squatt and groundbait fishing for little fish.”
The general plan for Black Country was to fish a short line near the keepnet for a few perch while their other lines settled, then go three-quarters of the way across in 2ft or 2ft 6ins of water for bread-and-butter roach, perch and gudgeon on squatts. Big-fish lines went at the same range of 11m but at angles just into the deeper boat track with double caster as hookbait.
“We knew that if we drew a peg with skimmers or bream we’d need to spend a good amount of time trying for them, whereas in an out-and-out small-fish swim it was a case of heads down and keep something going in the net with the odd look for a bonus,” Mark revealed.
“We got back to HQ and from half of the side we’d scored 130 points, so we reasoned that 210 or 220 would see us in the top five and promoted.
“When the results were read out, Browning West Midlands, who we thought had done really well, were only fourth so for a moment I did think that we might not have made the top 10! Simon Nickless soon told me to stop being so daft and reckoned we might have won it!
“So we’re in Division One on the Shropshire Union Canal next summer, and that’s another canal we know really well. Our deal with Sensas has really helped us and we’ve now got the perfect mix of experienced old heads and some great youngsters coming through,” Mark added.
Thousands more angling recruits
The future of angling is bright thanks to the success of this year’s National Fishing Month, which introduced nearly 14,000 new people to the sport over the summer.
The initiative, which is the country’s largest angling participation programme, held a record-breaking 326 special events throughout July and August in a bid to promote fishing to a much wider audience.
During the six-week period, newcomers across the country were able to learn about fishing and gain new skills thanks to round-the-clock help from licensed coaches and angling bodies such as the Canal & River Trust, the Angling Trust and the Professional Anglers Association.
Naidre Werner, Chair of the Angling Trades Association (ATA) which runs National Fishing Month, told Angling Times: “I’m over the moon that our NFM participant numbers continue to reflect how important NFM is in creating awareness of angling to the general public.
“We really do fly the flag for fishing… and people love it!”
The real key to NFM’s ongoing success is without doubt attributable to the enthusiastic and steadfast support of the voluntary organisers and coaches who actually plan and deliver the events every year.
“It’s thanks to their hard work that the sport is exposed to so many people – and they deserve our greatest thanks and gratitude for helping recruit the next generation of anglers to our wonderful sport,” Naidre said.
One body that contributed to the overall success of the campaign was the Canal & River Trust, whose partnership with the National Fishing Month campaign helped expose the country’s waterways to hundreds of people.
John Ellis, Fisheries Manager for the Canal & River Trust, said:
“We are delighted with how well our new partnership with National Fishing Month worked out this year – engaging with nearly 1000 participants.
“We are already planning a larger programme of events on our canals and rivers in 2017 to make sure that even more people get the fishing habit.”
National Fishing Month was also popular with top fishing brands Daiwa, Fladen, Fox, Leeda and Pure Fishing, who collectively helped make the campaign a reality and a success.
Naidre Werner added: “These establishments have demonstrated the admirable virtue of ‘putting something back into angling’, and I applaud them for it.”
To find out more information about the event, visit: www.nationalfishingmonth.com