Fishing's BIGGEST challenges!

February 15, 2021 Guest User

WE recently reported the capture of a sensational 3lb 8oz river roach, a feat widely regarded the angling equivalent of scaling Mount Everest. But what other angling achievements can compare? We asked our columnists and readers…

Winning the world champs

For Rob Hughes there was one challenge that stands above all others, and that’s claiming a gold medal at the World Champs.

“You’re not just competing against the fish, but against a raft of very talented people who are at the top of their game,” he said.
“There’s no room for error, as you can guarantee that some of the other competitors won’t make a mistake. You only get one chance.”

The process starts with just getting a place in the England team which, as current England International Rory Jones confirms, is no easy feat in itself.

“The number of different skills that an international level angler must master is unrivalled. There is no hiding place on the international stage – the angler must be truly multi-skilled,” he said.

**“There is no hiding place on the international stage”**

Tracking down a double-figure eel

The reaction to Steve Pitts’ capture of a 10lb 2oz eel last summer showed just how much of an accomplishment this is for any angler. The magnitude of the catch was certainly not lost on renowned specialist Neill Stephen, who said:

“Big eels can’t be seen, they are rarely if ever recaught, and they are usually solitary one-off fish, so by definition you have to fish for them where there is no record of them ever existing!
“They can turn up anywhere, from a tiny garden pond to a huge gravel pit, and they are notoriously elusive, with some anglers putting in hundreds of nights before they even get a run. There are also many instances of huge fish being netted or electrofished out of lakes, put back and then, despite every effort by anglers, never being caught again. Put simply, you have to be a total nutter to fish for them, and most eel anglers are!”

**Steve Pitts with his giant 10lb 2oz eel**

Landing the Burghfield Common

Only 14 men in history have banked this impressive carp. Topping out at over 60lb, it is one of the country’s biggest commons, and the challenge starts with just getting a ticket for the 96-acre Burghfield Lake near Reading. Once you’re there, you then have to deal with the labyrinthine nature of the lake itself, a vast amount of which is inaccessible. You’ll soon be questioning your sanity!

Scott Lloyd, who banked the highly-sought after fish in April 2017 said:

“It takes about two hours to walk around Burghfield, and it’s blood, sweat and tears because it’s so overgrown in places. You have to go through brambles to get to the water’s edge. I soon developed a passionate hatred of brambles! Unless you’ve been there you will never have enough respect for that lake or that fish.”

**Scott Lloyd with the incredible Burghfield Common**

Boating a giant shark

AT columnist Martin Bowler knows more than most about tough fishing challenges – after all, he wrote an acclaimed book all about tracking down some of the rarest fish in our waters called ‘Catching the Impossible’!

For him the ultimate angling challenge is to target truly wild fish. He said:

“In the UK that is far from easy, but there are a few fish I’d still like to tempt onto my hooks! The sea offers the epitome of wild fishing, and with only two mako sharks ever having been caught since I was born in 1971, I think this isn’t just the ultimate challenge, but an almost impossible one!
“Failing that, catching a sixgill shark would also be fabulous!”

**“This isn’t just the ultimate challenge, but an almost impossible one!”**

Win one of the ‘big three’

For match anglers there are three main big money events – Fish O’Mania, Match This and the Golden Reel. Match ace Jamie Hughes believes scooping just one of these Blue Riband events deserves a place amongst angling’s toughest challenges.

“Your reputation means nothing,” he said.
“First of all, you need to qualify and that means fishing unfamiliar venues miles from home against talented anglers, many of whom are often local experts. Once you get through, then there’s the final itself and those you’re up against will practice intensely for it. Then, on the day you need to draw a peg that gives you half a chance, and then you need to pray it fishes to form. I’ve drawn some belting pegs in finals that have turned out to be rancid! You also need to remember that the match can be won and lost in the last 10 minutes!”

**“On the day you need to draw a peg that gives you half a chance, and then you need to pray it fishes to form”**

Catching a 30lb-plus pike from a non-trout water

Any pike over 30lb is impressive, but fish of such size are far more common in trout reservoirs than they are in rivers, canals or any other natural venue. Reigning Drennan Cup champ Rich Wilby believes catching a ‘thirty’ from such a venue is right up there.

“I spend a lot of my piking time on the Norfolk Broads and can count on one hand the number of known 30lb pike that have been caught there in recent times,” said Rich.
“Predation has a lot to do with their demise, as the larger ones are an easy meal for otters in the spawning season, and cormorants have all but wiped out the prey fish in many places, which big pike obviously need to sustain their weight.”

**Huge pike like this are more common in trout reservoirs**

Enormous 100lb-plus sturgeon the perfect birthday gift - Aaron Lawther

October 13, 2020 Guest User

“This private lake I fish in Norfolk is stocked with a couple of sturgeon, so my brother Kiel and I decided to see if we could catch one for my 37th birthday. We targeted a gravel bar about two rodlengths out with roach livebaits but after a few hours we’d not had a single take, so we gave roach deadbaits a go instead.
“Within an hour of casting one out my rod tore off and I struck into this steam train of a fish which took off across the lake.
“This could only have been a sturgeon so I clung on for dear life, determined not to lose it as it swam all over the place.
“After an epic 30-minute battle this thing, which looked more like a dolphin than a fish, surfaced and Kiel managed to scoop it up.
“I couldn’t have asked for a better birthday present, to be honest!”

Aaron Lawther and his huge 134lb Norfolk sturgeon

"I had no doubt it was a double" - Warren Hammond

June 25, 2020 Guest User

“Following my recent tench and eel session, when the eels played ball but the tench didn’t, I decided to get back on the same 90-acre Surrey pit and have another go at the tench over a 48-hour period.
“Conditions looked ideal. It was warm and cloudy, with a good chop on the water, so I felt confident. I settled into a swim that I knew had a good clear, hard area around 40-45 yards out, and baited it with 30 Spombs of dead maggots, hemp, wheat, maples and groundbait. Over this area, I regularly cast my heli-rigs which featured open-end feeders filled with maggots and groundbait, with popped-up maggots as hookbaits.
“As dusk arrived on the first night I had a couple of bleeps, then the line from my reel started peeling off and the alarm was screaming. I struck into it and knew it was a good fish as it kept taking. I couldn’t gain any line for a good 20 seconds.
“I eventually turned the fish and managed to get her close in. I had no doubt it was a double. I was totally made up when the scales read 10lb 11oz.”

Wilby crowned Drennan Cup Champion!

May 14, 2020 Guest User

Richard Wilby, from Norfolk, has been crowned winner of the UK’s most prestigious specimen fishing competition – the Drennan Cup.

“Every time I think about it, I can’t stop smiling. It really is a dream come true,” says Richard,

who as well as getting his name engraved on the hallowed trophy also scoops a cheque for £2,000 as reward for completing the most convincing win ever recorded in the cup’s 36-year history.

Anglers submitted their specimen captures to Angling Times, and Drennan considered each one for a weekly award worth £80. Those winners were then featured in the magazine. When the season ended, a full list of the contenders was showcased to weekly Drennan Cup award-winners from the last five years, and they voted for who they thought should be crowned champion.

This involved listing their top four anglers and awarding four points to their top pick, down to one point for their fourth.

This year, Richard Wilby notched up no fewer than eight weekly Drennan awards, and a total of 166 points from his peers gave him a clear lead over his nearest rival Daniel Woolcott, on 128.

“I didn’t set myself a target number, I was just thinking of individual fish I really wanted to catch,” Richard tells us.
“Last season, I finished the competition second with five awards, so I upped my target to six this time around. To get eight was beyond my wildest dreams.
“Doing a lot of homework on tactics and location certainly helped, but luck played a huge part too. For example, I had the bream and rudd early on in the season but caught the tench and eel within the space of a week during opportunistic trips.
“With the tench, I felt it was my last chance of the season to bank a really big one, so I drove 70 miles through the night to reach a southern stillwater which I knew held some specimens. I settled into my swim at midnight and baited up lightly with casters, hemp, red maggots and groundbait before casting my worm kebab heli-rig over the top. At first light I had the all-important bite and an 11lb 11oz tench was soon netted.
“A week later I landed the big eel and by the end of July I had four awards, so those two catches were definitely the turning point for me. With a huge chunk of the season left to go I decided to pile on the pressure and catch as many big fish as I could. Luckily it paid off. I can’t thank everyone enough who voted for me.”

For runner-up Daniel Woolcott it was a brace of tench that proved to be the defining moment in his pursuit of the Drennan Cup.

Before May 2019, the angler from Kent had already won two weekly awards for a 3lb 4oz roach and a brace of eels, although tench catches of 10lb 12oz and 11lb 11oz ensured he had three under his belt before summer, autumn and winter arrived.

“I got off to a fantastic start with the roach and eels but I thought I had a really good chance of winning it when I had the tench,” he says.
“Finding out I’d come second made my day and I’ve been buzzing ever since, but I take my hat off to Richard, who deserves it with the season he’s had.”

With a total of 81 points, Hertfordshire specialist Joe Royffe was voted into a well deserved third place after ending his season with five weekly awards. He admits that his 15lb 10oz bream was the fish that inspired him to have a go at competing.

“I never dreamt about getting close to the Cup until I submitted my 3lb 2oz rudd in July,” he says.
“The turning point was when I got a second award for the bream, as I was confident I could get a third by catching a big perch in winter.
“I then had the huge dace, followed by the big roach a few weeks later. To come third is a great personal achievement, especially after such an unsuccessful winter.”

Voting saw Buckinghamshire all-rounder James Champkin take the final spot with a respectable 63 points.

Despite a couple of near-misses, James ended a sublime season with four weekly awards, and reckons it was the catch of a 3lb 2oz rudd that gave him hope.

“That fish put me on three awards by the middle of the summer and suddenly made me feel that I had a realistic chance of taking home the Cup,” he explains.
“That was my first rudd session of the season so it really felt like I was gaining momentum, and with the whole autumn and winter to look forward to I was confident of hitting a few more targets.
“After dreaming of winning the Cup for years, I’m delighted to have taken a major step forward by securing fourth and having my name etched on to the trophy among some of the all-time great big-fish anglers.”

James Champkin with a brace of 3lb-plus roach

Thames gets in on the barbel boom

February 5, 2020 Guest User

The Trent may have been taking the headlines for big barbel catches recently, but anglers down South on the Thames have been enjoying fantastic specimen sport too.

The biggest fish from the river in recent weeks fell to Roman Vann, who caught a 17lb 12oz barbel just as the river was fining down after flooding.

“At first I was convinced that I was attached to a carp, the fight was that hard!” Roman said.
“I had lost my headtorch in the melee and was on the phone to my mate saying that the barbel wasn’t that large, but when I eventually turned the light on and looked into the net, I realised just how big it was. I said to him: ‘It’s huge - it’s like a horse!’” added Roman.

The fine specimen fell to boilies fished over a bed of hemp not far from the bank.

Another angler who struck gold was David Ranger, who ventured out for the first time since the sad passing of a lifelong fishing partner in August.

He christened his return to the river with the capture of this immaculate 15lb 15oz barbel.

Arriving at a stretch of the River Thames in Berkshire during a heavy downpour, David wasn’t expecting too much – but he hooked his first fish within a few hours, followed by the big girl the next morning.

“It’s not my biggest barbel, but it still gave me that buzz after a long time away from fishing,” he said.
“I have to thank my friend for looking down on me.”

David’s barbel fell to a new rig he was trying which incorporated a 15mm boilie and a 12mm pop-up on a hair rig, with a PVA bag of boilie chops attached on the cast.