Angler lands giant sturgeon twice in one month!
IN the fishing world lightning does indeed strike twice, as Stuart William Larkin found when he caught the same giant sturgeon two times in the same month.
The monster fish bottomed out Stuart’s 70lb scales the first time he tempted it from Hollyhurst Lake Fishery near Birmingham, but little did he know he would have to do battle with it again two weeks later.
It took a liking to two very different hookbaits too, the first time falling to a quarter tin of luncheon meat and the second time a pair of 10mm boilies.
Chocolate river no problem for monster chub!
FLOODWATER has halted fishing on many rivers across the country but anglers targeting southern waterways are currently enjoying sport from a glut of specimen fish.
Hampshire specialist Simon Daley was one of them and he found success in pursuit of chub on the Dorset Stour with the capture of a 7lb 7oz giant.
The big-fish hunter, who made headlines a fortnight ago with a superb 16lb 13oz barbel, had intended to trot maggots for his quarry but a rapidly rising river forced a change of tactics.
He said: “The river was bank high and chocolate in colour, so trotting was out of the question.
“Instead I decided to fish the slacks with a strong-smelling paste hair-rigged to a size 8 hook, 8lb mainline and my favourite Drennan 1.25tc rod.”
Early in the session Simon thought his chance was gone when he missed a bite but a few taps on the tip five minutes before packing up was enough to warrant a strike.
He added: “I connected with a heavy fish and had to play it hard to keep it away from the snags.
“I was shocked when it surfaced – the length and girth was immense.
“I’m sure come February or March it’ll be a proper monster.”
Get on the bread for a big Avon roach
Alan Storey was left speechless when he banked this sublime 2lb 11oz 8dr roach.
Targeting Christchurch AC’s stretch of the Hampshire Avon at Winkton, the 65-year-old had struggled to fish the float in harsh conditions and was forced to switch tactics to find a result.
He said: “I’d caught small roach and dace but thought there would be a chance of a bigger fish on the bread feeder.
“After making a few casts I soon found the sweet spot and watched as the quiver tip signalled a positive take – I knew straight away it was a big roach from the classic nod, nod, glide during the fight.
“My heart was in my mouth as the roach went into the main flow near to where a big pike had surfaced previously, but thankfully I was able to net it first time.
“Whilst I would love to have caught it on the float a switch to the bread feeder made all the difference – it’s important to have a couple of options with you on the day.”
Alan’s successful set-up included 4lb mainline to a 2lb hooklink and a size 12 hook mounted with breadflake.
High water keeping barbel feeding despite the cold
DESPITE freezing temperatures barbel anglers have been hitting the banks in their droves in search of a new personal best.
Here are three recent barbel reports to inspire you to get the rods out…
Dariusz Prech 16lb 15oz barbel
Scunthorpe-based angler Dariusz Prech braved unsavoury conditions on the tidal River Trent to bank his biggest barbel ever at 16lb 15oz.
Targeting an area of slack water Dariusz opted for a maggot approach and fished four grubs on the hook in conjunction with a cage feeder loaded with spicy pellets and a shrimp and krill groundbait.
He said: “The fish was very strong, and the fight took about 10 minutes as it tried to get away in the strong flow.”
Mitch Godfrey 15lb 1oz barbel
Perseverance was key in the capture of this 15lb 1oz chunk for Mitch Godfrey who fished all day to finally receive a take whilst he was packing up.
The Nottingham-based rod targeted his local River Trent and lowered two 10mm Bait-Tech Krill and Tuna boilies into a crease behind a tree in hope of a take.
He said: “Considering the cold the fish put up a superb scrap and there were a few twitchy moments as it rubbed around a snag but a very welcome 15lb 1oz barbel eventually made it to the net.”
Paul Potter 14lb 2oz barbel
Barbel fanatic Paul Potter continued his superb run of form on the Dorset Stour when he slipped his net under a 14lb 2oz specimen during a recent evening trip.
He told Angling Times: “This barbel is possibly one of the most stunning 14 pounders I have ever caught.
“A simple change in winds from North to South East also brought the air and water temperatures up a touch and got them on the feed.”
Paul used a Hook Bait Company Spicy Fish Pro boilie to help temp the barbel.
100lb of dace from the Wye!
Just weeks after weighing in 97lb of Wye silverfish, under-25’s world No.1 Rory Jones has gone one better after bagging exactly 100lb of dace from the river in Hereford.
The catch is believed to be one of the biggest weights made up entirely of dace ever to be taken in the UK, and checks are currently underway to find out if there has been anything larger.
Before the draw there were two pegs Rory fancied, and incredibly it was one of these that he pulled out the bag.
“I told the lads that I fancied either peg 93 or 94, and when I drew peg 93, I couldn’t believe it.” Rory revealed.
“It’s one of the noted pegs on the river, where the bottom shallows by about four feet into a gravel run.
“I actually started the day hoping to catch roach, and I kicked off the peg with 10 balls of groundbait laced with a pint of caster, hemp and chopped worm, but I was quickly into quality dace.
“I therefore started loose feeding maggots to bring the fish shallow and began catching well using a pole stick on a six-metre whip.”
On occasions when the sunlight peaked through, Rory could see just how many fish were in his peg, but this didn’t mean they were easy to catch.
“Its remarkable how crafty dace are. There were so many fish in the peg, but at no stage were they suicidal.
“If my maggot was damaged at all I would run the float through and not get a touch.
“I hooked these by threading them up the shank of the hook, and if I presented them conventionally I would only land smaller fish.
“I actually caught best using a long hooklength, as the dace seemed to take my hookbait better without the resistance of a shot close to the hook.”
Long-shanked hooks were key to Rory’s success
Despite having so many dace in the peg, there were periods of the day where the fish backed off and Rory had to adapt.
“There was quite a big crowd of people watching me, and if anyone came too close you could tell as the shoal dropped downstream.
“When this happened, I balled in groundbait to create some noise to bring the fish back into the swim, after which I would catch them on the deck before bringing them shallow again with loosefed maggots.
“The sport was phenomenal, and whilst I didn’t keep count of my fish someone stood behind me and kept a tally. In 70 minutes, I landed 174 dace.
“By the end of the match my arm felt like it was going to drop off after swinging in so many fish!”
Rory caught on an elasticated six-metre whip, using an 8 x No. 4 Woody’s stick to fish through the water, as well as a Sensas Alberto float for fishing on the deck
Rory’s choice of float for fishing on the deck - a Sensas Alberto
“The Alberto was fished with No. 8 shot strung out shirt-button-style through the rig to catch in the deeper water, whilst the stick was over-shotted with a bulk.” Rory explained.
“I fished this by laying it in and holding it back, which helped to hit the quick bites. Some of the fish actually pulled the elastic out, just like carp do when fishing shallow!”
Rory used a Yellow Sensas Hollow elastic in his whip, a size 14 Sensas Feeling 3065 hook and 0.11mm line. This hook pattern was crucial in Rory’s approach, as its long shank allowed him to thread a maggot past the bend.
Dream dace falls from Hampshire stream
WINCHESTER-based angler Aidan Bordiuk was left shaking with excitement when he netted this dream 1lb 1oz dace during a trip to a Hampshire chalk stream.
After spotting a shoal of silverfish in clear water Aidan fed his chosen swim for half an hour to gain their confidence and received a strong take on the very first cast.
He said: “Amazingly a pike lunged as I brought it to the surface, so it was a lucky escape for this very special dace.
“Once I got it in and realised its size the feeling was great – it was something I’ve not had for a long time whilst fishing.”
Aidan’s dream dace fell to maggots fished on a size 18 hook, 3lb line and an Avon style float.
35lb pike breaks angler's reel!
A 450-mile round-trip from Bristol to the Norfolk Broads paid off in style for Richard Earl, who landed this stunning 35lb pike.
Richard spent two days angling for the monster fish that obliterated his previous personal best of 24lb which he caught from Wroxham, Norfolk, nearly 45 years ago.
He said: “With just a 12lb pike to show for my efforts by 5pm on the second day I’d thought I’d be facing a blank, but on the way back to the car I heard a big fish crash 80 yards downstream.
“I got my rod and landing net in position and cast my 25cm Savage Gear 3D shallow burbot lure, when on the second cast it was hit hard by a very big fish.
“A few minutes into the fight my reel broke so I had to hand line the fish for the remainder of the fight – and if that wasn’t enough, it took me three attempts to get the fish into my 30” round net!
“A massive thank you to the local angler who assisted with photographing and weighing the pike, which at 35lb was certainly the fish of a lifetime.”
The fine esox obliterated Richard’s previous personal best of 24lb which he caught from Wroxham, Norfolk nearly 45 years ago.
Monster perch results in lost phone
DESPITE dropping his phone overboard Charlie Coppolo fished through the despair to boat this immaculate 4lb 8oz perch.
The lure-fanatic’s session on an Essex reservoir was certainly a tale of two halves, as he explained:
“The day started fantastically with my first bite producing a new PB of 4lb 10oz!
“I was buzzing but whilst sitting back staring at the photos on my phone I somehow managed to juggle it in to the air and over the side of the boat.
“With no back up or anything, I could do nothing but just watch the only photo I have of my PB just slowly sink to the depths.”
Undeterred the 32-year-old fished on and whilst drop-shotting a purple dropshot Molix SV Crawfish he managed to land the 4lb 8oz specimen alongside another fine stripey of 3lb 8oz.
Big perch feed off the scale
RIVERS might be written-off due to intense flooding but anglers who have been targeting reservoirs and Stillwaters have been enjoying multiple hits of specimen perch.
Here is a selection of some of the best catches we’ve recieved…
Joe Atkinson 4lb 4oz perch
Two weeks after boating 27 perch to 4lb 7oz from farmoor Reservoir, Oxon, Joe Atkinson was back to bag this 4lb 4oz stripey.
The fine specimen was part of a 14-perch haul for the carp angler which included nine others over the 4lb barrier, and all were taken on drop shot tactics with 2-4ins rubber shads or grubs.
He said: “Up until a couple of weeks ago I was still searching for my first four pounder – in three trips I've now managed 17 of them.
“I'm still in shock now and will be for quite some time, but this truly is the fishing of dreams for me.”
David Tudor 4lb 2oz perch
Graffham water has been producing 3lb perch for fun this autumn but David Tudor has arguably caught the pick of the bunch with this 4lb 2oz effort.
Utilising dropshot tactics with a Savage Gear dying minnow in clear colour, David drifted his boat over shoals of baitfish to take more than 20 3lb-plus perch, although the four pounder was by far the highlight of the day.
Ryan Thomas 3lb 10oz perch
Finally, Ryan Thomas proved the effectiveness of fishing livebaits over groundbait for big perch when he landed this stunning 3lb 10oz fish.
Targeting a deep area on an undisclosed southern Stillwater, the specimen ace started the session by waggler fishing maggots over a bed Dynamite Baits Silver X groundbait before switching to a float-fished livebait later on.
He said: “On only my second cast with this outfit the float sunk and after a spirited battle I managed to land a gorgeous 3lb 10oz female.
“The same lake produced my personal best in March with a giant fish of 4lb 1oz.”
16lb 12oz zander from the Severn!
A TWO-hour fishing trip was all Graham Mann needed to bank one of the season’s largest zander in the shape of this 16lb 12oz beauty.
Between 2pm and 4pm the Worcester-based angler and a friend lure-fished a stretch of their local River Severn but conditons were far from ideal, as Graham explained:
“My mate Mark had finished work early and rang to see if I wanted to fish for a couple of hours before it got dark, but we knew the river would be up and coloured after the recent rain.
“Despite this setback we headed to the river but found a big area of slack water which we thought perhaps could have held some fish.”
Any doubts the pair had were quickly quashed as some thirty minutes into the session Mark hooked and landed an 8lb zander, although it was Graham’s next cast which yielded something entirely different.
“After letting the lure hit the bottom I jigged it up a couple of times and then there was a huge bang – followed by some very strong headshakes,” Graham added.
“After a short, powerful fight I was able to draw it to the surface, where Mark waited nervously with the net before he shouted: “Good god, I can hardly lift it out of the water!”
“It was such a mint-conditioned zander that I knew was a new personal best, and it was a pleasure to see it swim off strongly.”
Graham’s zed was his fourth over the 15lb barrier and took a Fox Rage Zander Pro shad in bottle green colour.
South West canal hits top perch form
AN angler fishing for silvers on a Somerset canal recorded one of his best ever sessions recently when he encountered a shoal of large perch - including a monster 4lb-plus specimen.
Mark Affleck was fishing the pole on the Taunton and Bridgewater Canal, when after putting together a nice bag of roach on casters, he decided to switch to his worm line, with tremendous results.
“What a great fight on light pole gear, unfortunately the pictures didn’t do it’s size justice”, he said.
Taunton Angling Association’s Dan Baldwin told Angling Times previously of the canals potential for large perch, he said: “The perch are spread throughout the canal but there are some noted hotspots. Bathpool Boat Docks, Chalton Orchard and upstream of Maunsel Lock, all hold lots of perch ranging from 1-3lb.”
It certainly looks like now is a great time to try and catch these fish. If you fancy a go yourself head to www.tauntonanglingassociation.co.uk for tickets.
Middle Severn on fire for double figure barbel
WHILST some anglers may have been put off by the high coloured water and cold conditions this past week, Robert Mitchell headed out to his local River Severn and was rewarded with a fine brace of double figure barbel.
Fishing with 15mm Catalyst boilies on a middle section of the Midlands river, Robert banked specimens of 10lb 6oz and 11lb 1oz - not bad for November!
He told Angling Times: “The river is very fishable at the moment and in a couple days will be perfect for chub, which are a popular target for Severn anglers in the colder months.
“With the water temperature at 9.3 degrees, the barbel are still worth trying for too.”
Rob fished his rigs over a bed of 2mm/4mm pellets and presented his boilie hookbait on a simple running rig made up of Bank Tackle components.
Over 600lb in catfish trio
Spain’s River Ebro is famed for its immense catfish but few anglers have enjoyed trips like Gary and Lucas Carter have, where they banked three cats over the 200lb mark.
Fishing over a six day period the biggest moggie the father and son landed between them pulled the scales round to a colossal 218lb – and they even added other moggies to over 150lb, alongside carp to 38lb!
Lucas said: “We were guided by Catfish Tours, with our guide being Edd Brett, who year after year has provided us with five-star service and always puts us on big fish.”
Three double figure bream and a giant hybrid!
Ian Hannaby trio of Double Figure Bream and 7lb 5oz hybrid
A hectic 15 minute spell resulted in three double figure bream landed by specimen angler Ian Hannaby, the biggest of which was 11lb 4oz.
Fishing three rods on three different spots around 20 yards apart, Ian had the quick hit of bream just after dark on a 10mm Ringers Chocolate Orange Wafters.
Amazingly, no other bream followed, however did land this immense 7lb 5oz hybrid!
Holland the place to be for massive perch
A PERCH equalling the current British Record best of 6lb 3oz has been boated from a river in Holland.
The massive stripey fell to the rod of 50-year-old Mark Edwards who alongside friend Keith Elliot had embarked on a guided trip on a waterway near Rotterdam in search of a huge perch.
Keith told Angling Times: “We were drifting across likely-looking areas and fishing little plastic paddle tails close to the bottom when Mark’s rod hooped over, and straight away our guide recognised the take to be from a huge perch.
“We couldn’t believe our eyes when this huge, round fish surfaced moments later.
“It was a new PB for Mark who was over the moon with such a giant fish.
“Come February I’m sure it’ll be close to the 7lb mark.”
River Lea throws up a monster dace
Trotting maggots between gravel bars on a stretch of the River Lea proved fruitful for Joe Royffe with the capture of this plump 1lb 8dr dace.
The Hertfordshire specimen ace fed a small pinch of maggots on every trot through to ensure regular bites from roach and dace throughout the day, although at 2pm he struck into a much larger fish.
“I received a very confident bite and I knew almost immediately that I was attached to a large dace,” he said.
“After a great scrap on light tackle and an exciting few moments, I was amazed at its size when it finally glided into the landing net – a fish that beat my previous best by 4oz.”
Specimen roach are hard on the feed...NOW!
DESPITE unsavoury weather conditions specimen anglers have been enjoying fantastic roach sport from river and Stillwater venues all over the country.
Here are three specimen reports to help whet your fishing appetite for the week ahead:
John Joyce 3lb 1oz 8dr roach
A double bronze maggot hookbait has accounted for one of the biggest river roach of the season in the shape of this pristine 3lb 1oz 8dr specimen.
It fell to the rod of 32-year-old landscape gardener John Joyce who headed to his local stretch of Dorset’s River Frome for a few hours’ maggot feeder fishing on the tip.
He told Angling Times: “I was catching plenty of small trout and eels when I struck into a much stronger fish, and I was surprised to see this huge roach pop up!”
Geoffrey Smith 2lb 9oz roach
Carp angler Geoffrey Smith enjoyed the roach session of his dreams after banking three personal bests in just a 48-hour period.
Targeting Brasenose One at Oxfordshire’s popular Linear Fishery, the Cardiff-based rod saw a grebe take a sizeable roach in the margins and decided to target the same area with maggot hookbaits.
He said: “Whilst spraying the area with bait I managed to draw the roach in, and before it got dark I landed fish of 2lb 3oz, 2lb 7oz and 2lb 9oz.”
Richard Wilby 2lb 9oz roach
HUGE roach from East Anglian rivers are rare beasts so you can imagine Richard Wilby’s delight when he slipped his net under this pristine 2lb 9oz specimen.
The 2018 Drennan Cup runner-up had spent eight morning’s fishing his chosen venue over the last few weeks with just three roach to show for his efforts, but this 2lb 9oz example made all the effort worthwhile, as he explained…
“Huge roach are very rare in this region so I’m tremendously happy with it – although I think it could do me a bigger one!” he said.
Richard’s roach fell to simple trotting gear including a pin, stick float and a piece bread flake mounted onto a size 12 hook.
700lb off the top... in November!
One of the most remarkable catches of the season has just been taken after a club angler landed a staggering 707lb 12oz of carp in a five hour match.
Roy Jones was the man responsible for the arm-aching haul, and in a catch that would be impressive in the heights of summer, he took full advantage after hearing that the carp were feeding hard.
Unsurprisingly, the catch is a new record for his club, ‘Andy’s Mob’.
Fishing at Kent’s Chart Fishery, there were so many fish in Roy’s peg that he was being ‘interrupted’ whilst attempting to land his fish.
“It was mental!” Roy exclaimed.
“The carp were jumping out of the lake like dolphins when I arrived, there were just so many fish in the peg.
“One problem I had was that whilst attempting to land a hooked fish other ones were ending up in my landing net! Of course, these went straight back.
“We do a weigh-in at the three hour mark, and at this point I had 385lb, but it was once I started fishing again that things got really silly.
“I was able to catch just a few metres from the bank on floating baits.”
At the end of the match Roy had 12 keepnets in, and he came well prepared for a hectic day.
“I had been told that some really big weights were being caught shallow, so I came prepared for a huge catch.
“I elasticated five top kits with red Hydrolastic, and spent time drilling 200 pellets for the hook, as well as 150 baits to use on the surface.
“You’re allowed floating baits on the hook here, and these were deadly.
“I had an absolutely brilliant day - but I’m knackered now!”
Eight Avon barbel to a 16lb 10oz best
THE Hampshire Avon has returned to a rich vein of barbel form in the past few weeks, with one angler reporting a run of eight double figure specimens – culminating in a 16lb 13oz monster.
The superb fish fell to 43-year-old roofer Simon Daley as just part of a phenomenal two weeks on the Southern river, which saw him land chub of 6lb 5oz and 7lb 3oz in addition to an unforgettable list of barbel of 10lb 6oz, 15lb 10oz, 11lb 7oz, 15lb 3oz, 13lb 12oz, 14lb 14oz and 14lb 1oz.
Speaking exclusively to Angling Times, Simon said: “This season I’ve had some of the best barbel fishing I’ve experienced on the River Itchen and Hampshire Avon.
“The last two weeks have been an amazing experience, the rivers have had some much needed rain and the area I had been baiting wasn’t seeing any pressure.
“I was blown away with the size of the biggest, a fish I have been after for a season or more.
“Another lump a few day later means I have now caught six 14-plus fish this season from three different rivers – incredible.”
Simple tactics incorporating inline leads with short braided hook links tied to size 8 hooks and a secret homemade bait were all Simon needed to catch his fish
9,300lb of silvers banked in roach bonanza!
An incredible 9300lb of river fish have been caught in matches over the last week, the bulk of which have been made up of pristine roach and dace.
The catches came in this year’s Wye and Bann festivals, and will live long in the memory of local anglers.
In Hereford, over 3800lb of fish were caught over the prestigious three-day long Wye Festival, with each angler averaging a fantastic 21lb a day, as well as lots of roach over the 2lb mark being landed.
River expert Dan Ashington went home with the trophy, but it was under 25s World Number One, Rory Jones, who topped the individual catches with a thumping 97lb bag of roach and dace on the first day.
Drawing a peg on the tennis courts section, Rory was on a swim where he’s had mixed results in the past…
“I’d actually drawn the peg three times previously, and have blanked twice and landed four chub the other time.
“It can however produce when there is extra water on, but it turns into a really strange swim to fish.
“It becomes a massive eddy, meaning that it flows the wrong way a lot of the time!”
Rory went with his usual positive approach, cupping in groundbait seven metres out laced with hemp, caster and chopped worm, and it wasn’t long before Rory was into fish.
“In the first three minutes I will have had 6lb. It was solid with quality roach averaging two fish to the pound, and I also had two that will probably have gone 5lb between them.”
After catching a roach a chuck for the first hour and 10 minutes, the peg suddenly went quiet when an unwelcome guest entered the swim:
“I saw something big in the water, and at first I thought it was a Labrador that somebody had let in the river, but then the head of a huge otter popped up and stared at me.
“This really put the roach off, so I started feeding groundbait by hand and caught dace instead.
“It turned out to be a phenomenal day, and if it wasn’t for that otter a weight of 130lb would have been on the cards.”
Rory finished third overall, and caught his first double figure barbel as well as a 2lb 9oz roach on the other days in the festival.
Anglers also enjoyed phenomenal silverfish sport over in Northern Ireland, where over 5500lb of roach were landed during the Wild on the Bann and the Bann Bonanza Festivals.
Individual weights were up to 31kg on the more productive days and were made up of pristine roach averaging 4oz with the odd better specimen up to 1lb 4oz chucked in.
Event organiser Derek Buckley told Angling Times: “It’s been a great couple of weeks on the Bann, when the river runs clear the fishing can be brilliant.
“We had two days of rain towards the end of the second week which caused the river to rise and slowed the sport down, but before that the average weight was 13kg-plus with every angler having a fish over 1lb in the net.
“I would recommend people come and visit, based on current form the Bann is probably one of the best rivers in Europe in my opinion.”
The whip was also key in silverfish weights on the Bann, with a 4g float fished at 6m over a ball of groundbait laced with hemp, maggots and casters the most effective tactic.
