Huge roach from giant 100-acre pit - Daniel Woolcott

November 17, 2020 Guest User

PLEASE NOTE - This catch report was submitted prior to the second England lockdown.

“WITH a low-pressure front rolling in, conditions looked spot-on for roach, so I drove three hours from home to fish a 100-acre pit over 42 hours.
“It wasn’t long before I found a clear patch at 60 yards and cast my open-ended feeder rigs loaded with Dynamite Baits Grubby groundbait, maggots and hemp, boosted with liquid worm extract, to the mark.
“Two maggots on a size 12 hook completed the set-up.
“The session ended up being really tough as I had regular bites from small roach to just over 1lb, meaning I was recasting every 20 minutes. It was worth it, though, as following another twitchy take I struck into a much bigger roach which I quickly netted.
“This stunning fish went 3lb exactly on my Flyweights, but I also weighed it on my Reuben digitals which said 2lb 15oz, so I took the lower weight.”

Daniel Woolcott’s 2lb 15oz roach from a 100-acre gravel pit

New barbel record on the River Anker

November 16, 2020 Guest User

THE River Anker barbel record has been beaten following the capture of this 16lb 2oz specimen. It fell to Warwickshire all-rounder Adrian Busby, who battled the impressive fish for nearly 20 minutes after it picked up his trout pellet hookbait.

It beats the old best for the waterway by 4oz.

“I’m blown away by this fish because it’s so rare for this river,” said a delighted Adrian.
“In seven years of fishing the Anker, I’ve only managed to catch 11 barbel, but this catch has made all that effort worth it.”

Adrian Busby and the new River Anker record barbel at 16lb 2oz

Thames giant is largest Drennan awarded chub of the season

November 16, 2020 Guest User

A BOILIE hookbait has accounted for one of the largest recorded chub of the season, weighing it at a staggering 8lb 8oz.

The fine specimen, which fell to a hair-rigged 15mm Krill and Crab offering, was a new personal best by more than 1lb for its captor, Paul Faint, who travelled from his home in Essex to target the species on the River Thames during an overnight trip.

He said:

“When this chub surfaced and I saw how big it was, the adrenalin and nerves kicked in, but thankfully I remained calm and netted it safely.”

Paul Faint’s 8lb 8oz chub is the largest of the season that has received a Drennan weekly award

Change of tactics results in PB tench - Ben Cook

November 11, 2020 Guest User

“THE day before my session I prebaited a few marginal spots on my syndicate lake for carp, but arrived to find the boilies still in plain view. I needed to change tactics, so I set up in a swim with a lot of open water and a large clear patch at 50 yards.
“The venue has form for big tench, so I decided to scale everything down to medium-sized PVA bags filled with micro pellets, bolt rigs with 4ins hooklinks and corn aligners on the hook.
“Following a wet and bleepless night, I was woken at 5.45am by a jittery bite on the right-hand rod and, after picking up the blank, I was greeted by that satisfying jagjag resistance that we all know and love.
“After a dogged fight a light-coloured fish appeared in my headtorch which I first thought was a common carp, but turned out to be a tench! It showed no signs of giving up and made a bolt for a reedbed to my left, but with some side strain I guided her away and over my net cord.
“My old tench best was a modest sevenpounder, but this one was longer, deeper and fuller than any I’d seen before. I weighed her three times to be sure and the needle stuck on 11lb 5oz each time.”

Careful observation produces huge Avon barbel

November 10, 2020 Guest User

WAITING for the right moment to lower in a rig paid off for Mark Woodage with the capture of this 16lb 9oz Hampshire Avon barbel.

The all-rounder had lain on his stomach for nearly an hour, observing three feeding barbel, before he braved setting a trap.

Mark added:

“I thought the barbel had spooked, but then I had an explosive bite.”

Mark’s Avon giant took a 14mm Big Squid dumbell.

Mark Woodage and his 16lb 9oz Hampshire Avon barbel

Nearside slack produces phenomenal Trent haul - Robert Brown

November 6, 2020 Guest User

“AFTER spending most of the year working, I booked a week off to have a go at the Trent’s big carp, barbel and chub.
“Because the river was rising quickly I was forced to fish in slack water just a couple of rodlengths out, but I was mega confident I’d catch under these conditions – especially on the big 3 Foot Twitch Redemption boilies that I was using.
“The first 12 hours were remarkable, and I caught three chub over 5lb alongside two beautiful common carp, one of which weighed 23lb 6oz (pictured below).

“Another smaller common followed the next morning but the weather changed for the worse, the river rose even more, and I couldn’t hold bottom using 8oz leads!
“I packed up and barrowed my kit to a nice spot with loads of slack water. An hour after baiting up I hooked my first fish, which put up an incredible fight. Eventually I slipped my net under a mint-conditioned barbel of 15lb 1oz.”

Robert Brown and his 15lb 1oz Trent barbel

Brutal conditions on 100-acre pit perfect for big bream - Daniel Woolcott

October 30, 2020 Guest User

“With a weather forecast of high winds, driving rain and plummeting air pressure, conditions looked perfect for the weekend, and absolutely screamed fish. I knew I had to get on the bank, so I set off for a 48-hour session on a 100-acre southern gravel pit to try to catch a bream personal best.
“Settling into a swim, I found a hard gravel area at 120yds range which I baited with a healthy amount of Grubby groundbait and halibut pellets, before punching out lead rigs with 14mm Source dumbell hookbaits over the top.
“The first evening was biteless, but at 1am one of my bobbins twitched up and down and I lifted my rod into the heavy plodding sensation of a big bream.
“After taking my time playing it to the bank I eventually guided this dark, rounded slab over my net cord.
“As I peeled back the mesh and laid her into the sling ready for weighing I just knew she’d be a new personal best.
“At 14lb 2oz it’s not the biggest bream in the world, but I’m absolutely made up with it.
“I also managed another of 11lb and a bonus 8lb 6oz tench, so it turned out to be a great autumn session.”

Daniel Woolcott and his new PB 14lb 2oz bream from a 100-acre pit

Monster Derwent barbel strikes within 15 minutes - Martin Allen

October 30, 2020 Guest User

“Arriving at the River Derwent for 5pm, I began trickling in some 6mm pellets, chopped Vortex Baits C.K.O barrels and lumps of matching paste to try and gain the barbel’s confidence.
“Within 15 minutes of casting in my feeder rig something big picked up my paste-wrapped hookbait and ran straight into a far-bank snag.
“I managed to move her out and into the middle of the river, and following another epic scrap I eventually netted her, with my heart in my mouth. I couldn’t believe the size of the fish. She weighed in at 15lb 1oz – a new Derwent PB!”

Casters the bait for a best Trent barbel

October 28, 2020 Guest User

RUI Pedro was rewarded for his decision to fish casters instead of pellets and boilies with the capture of this chunky 17lb 7oz barbel best.

The barbel fanatic travelled from his London home to fish the Trent at Collingham over 48 hours and struck into the fish before midnight on the second day.

He told us:

“I’d baited my near margin with 20 spoppers of hemp and caster and let it rest before casting out a running leger rig with 12 casters superglued to a size 10 hook.
“When she picked up the bait my alarm screamed off and line peeled from my reel. I netted her first time with shaking legs!”

Large Loddon barbel bites after just an hour

October 21, 2020 Guest User

JUST an hour after casting out, Lisa Loveridge struck into this superb River Loddon barbel weighing 15lb 14oz.

It was a new personal best for the 35-year-old, who fished an SG1 hookbait over a bed of matching boilies to induce a take.

She said:

“At 8.30pm I threw a handful of boilies over the two spots I was fishing, then at 9pm one of my rods absolutely screamed off downstream!”

Monster Thames barbel one of season's biggest

October 19, 2020 Guest User

A THREE-DAY prebaiting campaign on the River Thames has led to the capture of one of the biggest reported barbel of the year at 19lb 4oz.

The fine specimen fell to Andrew Hodgson, who primed his swim with Sticky Krill Active boilies on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday before eventually hooking into something special at 2am on the Friday morning.

“The fight was absolutely incredible and as soon as I saw it I knew it would beat my old PB of 15lb 12oz,” he told us.

Homemade baits the key to huge bream captures - Tim Jackson

October 16, 2020 Guest User

“Last year I lost confidence in shop-bought boilies but using my homemade baits I’ve enjoyed my most productive season to date – landing 45 carp and 12 bream to 18lb 2oz. It all started at the end of 2019 when I told a friend about my poor season on my syndicate lake.
“My issue was with the commercially-made boilies I was using, as I couldn’t buy a bite on them. He gave me some advice on rolling my own baits as well as a few ingredients to try, and that winter I got to work making a mix.
“With a bit of experimenting I developed some hand-rolled fishmeal boilies that I was happy with. They smelt great and I couldn’t wait to start my carp campaign after lockdown was lifted.
“My first few sessions on the lake were as though a switch had been flicked, as I caught carp from the off. On one occasion I received a twitchy bite on a 12mm homemade boilie which definitely wasn’t a carp, and after some plodding around I landed a stunning bream of 15lb 4oz.

A cracking 15lb 4oz bream for Tim Jackson

“From then on I just became infatuated with the bream and switched my attentions away from the carp completely.
“I’d already caught one bream on my homemade bait, so I made some special 6mm, 8mm and 10mm-sized boilies to see if they’d single them out and deter the carp.
“The ploy worked and through the summer I banked a string of double-figure bream while other anglers were struggling. There was something in my bait that the bream just wanted.
“By August I’d developed a successful approach which was fishing three rods over silty areas at distance with helicopter rigs and 8mm or 10mm boilie hookbaits.
“Over each rod I also fed half-a-kilo of flattened and crushed boilies with a Spomb.”
“The last five weeks have probably been my best on the water and I’ve landed the biggest bream in the lake twice at 18lb 2oz.
“Most of the time I’d only catch one in a trip but during my latest session I managed three of 12lb 14oz, 15lb 8oz and 15lb 10oz.”

Tim Jackson has managed to land the biggest bream in the lake twice at 18lb 2oz

Dawn not dusk the time for big perch - Simon Baker

October 9, 2020 Guest User

“For the past few weeks I’d been slipping out for a few hours after work in search of big perch on the River Lea. Despite catching lots of moderate-sized fish I hadn’t snagged a specimen – but that all changed when I ditched fishing at dusk in favour of a dawn attack.
“I’d managed to located several small shoals while freelining lobworms. I also took time to familiarise myself with different swims, and the one I ended up choosing had few bankside features. With the help of a float and a 1oz lead I located a depression in the riverbed, which I figured was an ideal ambush point for perch.
“I spent several evenings fishing that spot, resulting in numerous perch between 1lb and 2lb. I was happy that it was producing bites, but I was after something bigger, and knew I had to change something if that was to happen, so I switched my evening sessions for early mornings.
“On my most recent trip I set my alarm for a time that only we anglers would be seen out and arrived in the swim for 4am. I began by catapulting in several pouches of dead and live red maggots before casting a free-running leger rig over the top carrying a lobworm tipped with a fake red maggot.
“The session began with a run of several small perch. I had just slipped one of these back and recast to the mark when my rod-tip tapped twice then pulled round… and didn’t stop!
“I asked myself ‘could this finally be the one?’ As I struck, I was met with a solid resistance and a fish that stayed deep. I played it in gently, and as it broke the surface and slid towards the net I got the shakes because I could see it was something special.
“Needless to say, I was delighted to weigh in my first river ‘four’ at 4lb 5oz.
“Not only was it a personal best, but as I stood on the bank as the sun rose I could really see it was an absolute beauty of a fish.”

Simon Baker and his new 4lb 5oz PB perch, caught at dawn.

Switch to bolt rig helped me catch my PB eel - Ian Hannaby

October 9, 2020 Guest User

“I’d invited Phil Ringer to fish a guest ticket on my syndicate lake for bream and, although I’d managed to net a few, he’d had 10 to a best of 12lb 6oz.
“While the bream fishing was slow I decided to bait another spot with dead maggots in the hope of catching an eel, but I started off with a free-running rig and had several dropped runs.
“To stop this from happening I switched to a bolt rig with a 2.5oz lead and a size 2 longshank hook baited with two half lobworms and 10 dead maggots.
“I cast the rig back out to its spot and within a couple of hours I received a screaming run and struck into what felt like a big eel.
“After a short fight I netted what turned out to be a new personal best at 4lb 5oz – get in!
“It was hooked perfectly in the lip too which the bolt rig had definitely helped to achieve.”

Joe does it again with monster Ouse chub!

October 5, 2020 Guest User

JOE Royffe extended his superb run of form for big River Ouse chub this week when he slipped his net under this pristine 7lb 11oz specimen.

It was a new personal best by 1oz for the Hertfordshire all-rounder, who spent an evening touch-legering 18mm milk protein boilies into a number of likely-looking swims.

Joe added to a fine run of specimen fish with this 7lb 11oz chub

Rising river just the ticket for a big barbel

September 30, 2020 Guest User

When you’re faced with a rapidly rising river it can be easy to give up and go home. Liam Twells was close to doing this on the middle Trent, but he decided to head downstream and was rewarded with this 16lb 3oz barbel.

“I couldn’t get to my normal peg due to the high river levels, but I settled into a swim downstream, and had a session to remember,” he said.
“I was quickly into a 14lb 10oz barbel which I was more than happy with, so I started to pack up at around 7am as I had to get to work. But then my right-hand rod hooped over and line was stripped from the reel!
“After a 15-minute battle the fish came to the surface and my heart started pounding. Eventually I got it in the net and was buzzing. What a moment!”

Tactical tweaks the key to keep Trent barbel coming - Ian Potts

September 29, 2020 Guest User

“This year the River Trent has been busier than ever and the barbel have been hammered this summer. As a result, the fishing has become challenging, but on a recent session I managed 28 barbel, 13 of which were doubles, topped by a 16lb 3oz fish, and I put my success down to a number of changes I made to my tactics.

“Most anglers on the Trent pile in loads of bait, crash in heavy 6oz feeders and fish multiple rods in the same area. While this can work early in the season, a little more finesse is required to catch the cagey autumn barbel.
“The first thing I do is cut right back on the feed. I introduce just small amounts of bait and keep topping it up, little and often, rather than piling it all in at the start. Those barbel have been caught over massive beds of bait all year, so a more steady approach gains their confidence.
“I also do away with the heavy feeders and fish the lightest leads I can get away with alongside PVA bags of free offerings. This reduces disturbance when they hit the river, something that the fish have grown wary of.
“Many people fish through the day and night on the Trent, but I decided to rest the swim overnight, allowing the fish to have a free feed and gain some confidence. I also turn to a classic bait that’s been somewhat neglected these days – Spam. Everyone uses pellets and boilies, but a big chunk of Spam dropped in the margins can catch some big fish.

A big chunk of spam in the margins can still catch big fish

“I landed fish to 15lb 2oz on the bait, fishing just 5ft from the bank, as well as numerous other fish, but the 16-pounder came on a Vortex Cocoon fished over a small pile of bait.
“I’ll be honest, when I first hooked this fish, I thought it was a big river carp – the fight was ridiculous! It swam 60 yards upriver, and it wasn’t until I netted it that I realised it was a barbel.
“I’d just landed a 14-pounder, so when I lifted it out and realised it was substantially heavier, I knew it was something special.
“It topped an awesome session, all made possible by thinking outside the box and doing things my own way. If your local river has been fished hard this year, try scaling things down. The results could be phenomenal.”

Monster Avon chub fights like a barbel - Mark Howard

September 29, 2020 Guest User

“DURING a session targeting barbel on the Hampshire Avon, I was fishing a gravel run under a large willow tree when I caught this incredible 7lb 8oz chub.
“The fishery manager had told me and my friend that the chub that live in the stretch were getting bigger, but I didn’t realise quite how big!
“We were both using centrepin reels and suddenly mine screamed off! It felt nothing like a chub and I was certain that a barbel was on the end. It was such a powerful fish.
“It obliterates my previous PB of 6lb from over 25 years ago and was caught using a small boilie hookbait.
“I don’t often catch anything special, so I’m really pleased with this one.”

Mark Howard and his 7lb 8oz Hampshire Avon chub

First Thames barbel trip results in a massive PB chub - Harry Keys

September 24, 2020 Guest User

“Recently I decided to take a break from match angling and have a go at catching barbel on the River Thames near Pangbourne.
“The weather had been horrendous prior to my session and the river was running two feet above normal level.
“I still gave it a go, though, and fished a 6oz gripper lead with a 15mm Dynamite Baits Spicy Shrimp and Prawn boilie alongside a scattering of 20mm baits.
“At 11pm the wind speed got up to about 40mph and I thought it just wasn’t going to be my night, when all of a sudden my rod-tip bent double and I shot out of my shelter to strike into the fish.
“Surprisingly it came in like a bream, but I think that was because I was playing it in the heavy flow with a 6oz lead attached.
“When its head popped out the water I could barely believe it was a huge chub staring back at me!
“I knew it was going to be a new personal best, but never thought it would be a true Thames giant weighing 8lb 1oz!”

Carper catches record shaking Trent chub

September 23, 2020 Guest User

A carp angler on the River Trent had a real surprise recently when just 15 minutes into an after work session he hooked into a giant chub. One of the biggest examples of the species ever reported from the Midlands river.

Tom Morgan and his 8lb 3oz River Trent chub

The huge specimen spun the scales to an impressive 8lb 3oz and was accompanied to the bank by three other chub, all dwarfed by the fine fish.

Captor Tom Morgan from Keyworth told Angling Times:

“Planning to target carp on the Trent Valley Angling Club stretch at Clifton, I was just about to cast out the third rod, when I had a classic drop-back bite on one of the rods.
“From experience of the chub in this swim in the past, I had a good idea what it would be, as they often shoot under the near bank.
“From the fight, however, I thought maybe I had hooked a small common carp. That was until it surfaced and I could see the unreal size of this chub.
“As it went into the net I said ‘oh my life, look at that!’, I honestly thought I had a record.”

All Tom’s chub fell to 18mm Source boilies fished on hair rigs with size 6 ESP Cryogen hooks alongside a PVA bag of Complex-T pellets.

“Carp anglers seem to often trip these huge Trent fish up, I think because of the heavy pre-baiting strategy keeping fish in the area for longer,” he said.