Break from school results in stunning dace brace - Richie Martin
“As a break from the home schooling I took two of my boys, Ted and Buster, for an hour’s stick float fishing on a local stream.
“Both my sons caught fish over 10oz, while I had a few casts myself and managed a PB-equalling dace of 14oz 8dr – it was an absolutely stunning fish.
“The brace shot is of it alongside another fish of 11oz 8dr.
“Eventually we ran out of bait but headed for home feeling very happy with ourselves… even though the next home school lesson was equivalent fractions!”
A fine brace of big dace
Richie Martin with the biggest fish, a 14oz 8dr dace
Sunken moped home to a giant dace! - Adam Jones
“I grew up in the Cotswolds fishing for grayling, so I decided to re-live my youth and target them in the small rivers surrounding my new West London home. My first few sessions were productive, and I caught grayling to 1lb 11oz, but it was the capture of a different species that grabbed my attention.
“I was roving along a Thames backwater when I discovered a sunken moped in the middle of the river that created a break in the flow. The slack water behind it looked perfect for a bite, so I baited up with maggots before running the float through. My prediction proved right, and I caught small grayling right from the off.
“The float buried again on the next cast and I struck into a fish that felt like a grayling but ended up being a chublet of around 1lb… or so I thought. It was far too big to swing in, so I netted it and removed the hook before slipping it back without a second thought. I remember thinking at the time that its mouth looked a little small for a chub, but it was just an afterthought.
“Later that night I was flicking through Instagram and spotted a fellow angler’s post about big dace, and that’s when I got that sinking feeling. His fish looked exactly like mine! The only way to atone for my mistake was to return to the swim, where hopefully I’d be lucky enough to catch another one.
“The next day I headed back with nothing but my rod, net, tackle bag and a bait pouch loaded with white and red maggots. After spending a few minutes baiting both sides of the moped, I made my first cast along the inside crease, the float buried and I netted a 9oz dace.
“I was delighted, but I knew that the fish was way smaller than the one I’d had the day before. After slipping it back I rebaited my hook with a single red and white maggot, before flicking the rig into the outside crease. I watched as it sailed past the moped, before sinking from sight.
“I struck and connected with a fish that kited just like a grayling into the near-bank slack, where it surfaced. Then my legs turned to jelly!
“I had a flashback to the day before as I guided what I knew was a huge dace into my net. At dead on 1lb, it was a scale-perfect example, and redemption for the earlier mistake! It goes to show that it pays to capitalise on by-catches – you might be surprised at what you’ll discover!”
Adam Jones and his 1lb dace
100lb-plus dace haul is a Wye record!
IT was tough going for some anglers hitting the banks after the return of match fishing post-lockdown. But despite tumbling temperatures and melting snow, the River Wye saw a new match record set.
Even with several feet of extra water the Herefordshire river can fish its head off, and running water maestro Hadrian Whittle demonstrated just that by winning the Hereford DAA open on the river through the city with a mammoth 125-10-0 of dace. That’s right, dace – 585 of them to be precise.
It’s reckoned to be the Wye’s biggest dace match weight ever. Daiwa man Hadrian had taken one look at the river after arriving at his peg 98 draw next to the town bridge and stuck his neck out by saying 100lb was on.
Five fast and furious hours later, he was proving himself right. The win also makes it three in a row for Hadrian on the Wye, including the prestigious Wye Champs.
“Did I think the river was capable of that type of weight? I did, mainly because everything seemed to be right in terms of the river level, the colour of the water and the fact that, owing to lockdown, not much bait had been going into the river,” he said.
At the peg
“As soon as I drew peg 98, I was installed as favourite. Looking at it, the colour was ideal to catch at short range and there was 4ft of extra water on, so all the stars were aligning, if you like, for a big dace weight.
“I’d walked the river a lot and had clocked that, on peg 98, you could catch dace really close in provided there was colour in the water. The peg was one that I’d always wanted to draw, but never had. To say I was looking forward to the start would be an understatement!
“I began fishing at around 6m to hand, but after half-an-hour moved in to 5m in around 4ft of water, as there were so many fish to catch and they were happy to be at close range. To do a big weight, I wanted to settle into a rhythm of cast, feed, strike and swing the fish in, but some of the dace were so big that it took some time to swing them in, even though I was using Grey Hydrolastic.”
The Wye peg where 100lb-plus of dace were caught
Runs of big fish
“The size of dace I was getting went up and down all the time. I’d catch a dozen small dace very fast and then clonk into a run of 6oz fish. Feeding was like clockwork, throwing in a ball of groundbait and soil full of casters each cast and then a handful of maggots over the top. This allowed me to catch either as soon as the float cocked or down my peg a little. Given the depth, I fished a 1.5g Sensas Alberto float with a double bulk and double maggot on a size 14 hook, really positive fishing that’s essential when you’re trying to catch a big weight.
“There were times when I was foul-hooking dace because there were so many fish in the swim. I tried fishing a foot off bottom, and the catch rate slowed right down. My next move was to cut out the loosefeed and rely on just that ball of groundbait each time. It solved the foul hooking, but still the catch rate was too slow, so I had to put up with losing the odd fish.”
The weigh-in
“I’d counted the fish and knew I had 100lb –I’ve always said that if you catch 500 dace on the Wye, that’s 100lb. I had well over that so was thinking getting on for 120lb, and I’d be amazed if that didn’t win!
“The final weight is believed to be the best dace match return from the Wye and probably in the UK. It was just one of those days to savour as they don’t come along that often. I believe 100lb of dace can be caught again this winter if conditions are right and the right angler is on the right peg. There are enough fish there of a big enough size.”
Hadrian and his bumper Wye dace haul
Big dace on the mag feeder
TARGETING an overhanging tree on the far bank, Matt Atkins landed a fin-perfect 1lb Hampshire Avon dace.
The Bedfordshire angler enjoyed bite-a-chuck action on a maggot feeder, adding roach to 2lb 2oz to his bag.
“The big dace was only my second ever over the 1lb mark,” Matt said.
Matt Atkins 1lb Hampshire Avon dace
Session of dreams topped by 1lb dace
A DAY trotting red maggots under an overhanging tree took a superb net of dace for Steve Spiller – including this 1lb fish.
The 54-year-old jumped at the opportunity when his mate Matt Tann invited him to fish the Hampshire Avon, but had no idea he was about to enjoy the session of his dreams.
“I managed several fish around 12oz-13oz before I hooked this one,” he said.
Steve Spiller and his 1lb Hampshire Avon dace
Monster dace just 2oz short of the record!
SIXTY-one- year-old Jeremy Weitz was left stunned when fishing a Southern chalk stream after he encountered the biggest dace he has ever seen – a superb 1lb 3oz specimen.
The Bournemouth rod described the fish as ‘truly massive’ as he measured it in at a staggering 14-inches long and was thinking he may have shattered the 1lb 5oz record set by Simon Ashton in 2002 on the River Wear – but sadly was just 2oz short.
An ecstatic Jeremy told Angling Times:
“On the day I really didn’t fancy my chances as the recent rainfall had the river running very high.
“I caught fish steadily all day in the end but despite catching some nice roach to 1lb 4oz - this dace was a completely different class.
“I’ve had dace to 1lb 1oz from the Southern rivers in the past and they usually are around 13-inches long so I was thinking this fish was bigger than it eventually weighed to be honest.”
Identification of dace, however, can be difficult. So we spoke to the Environment Agencies National Fish Farm Manager, Alan Henshaw, for some verification, he said:
“We agree this looks like a true dace from the lateral line counts, the head and the concave dorsal.
“It is very difficult to be 100%, however, without being able to see all the fins clearly.
“Dace can hybridise with chub, roach and ide. Identifying hybrids is also difficult unless you use Genetic techniques.”
The fish, which most believe to be a true monster dace was caught on a paternostered piece of sweetcorn on a size 12 wide gape hook tied to 3lb mainline, with a 7gm bomb and ½ ounce quiver tip for sensitive bite indication.
