Displaying items by tag: coarse

Bury Hill see’s huge catches of tench, bream and crucian as weather improves! The general fishing on all the lakes saw a marked improvement this week as the weather picked up with anglers fishing the Old Lake catching big bags of bream to 100lb, which included good numbers of tench.

In turn Milton Lake also saw some incredible sport with quality tench and crucian making up the bulk of the catches with good numbers of specimen roach and rudd to 2lb and perch to 3lb also showing in nets to 100lb plus. Not to be left out, Bonds Lake has also seen some cracking ton up sport with anglers bagging up to 25 carp.

Bradley Gibbons aged 12 is always pleased when his Dad John books him in for a coaching lesson with our tackle shop manager Russ Evans as it always guarantees a successful day's action. Fishing the pole on Milton lake and demonstrating how to catch finicky feeders like crucians and tench using light tackle and correct feeding, Bradley had his best day ever catching a net full of tench, crucian and silvers on maggot and pellet. With crucians up to 2lbs, tench from 3-4lbs and some quality roach and rudd plus the odd bream and carp young Bradley's total was impressive to say the least finishing his day with 39 crucians, 18 tench, 1 skimmer, 3 roach, 3 rudd and 1 carp which overall totaled around 100lb. Well done Bradley.

Another angler to do well was Keith Hampson who also enjoyed his best days fishing to date when he also had a days coaching lesson on Milton Lake with Russ Evans. Adopting a sensitive waggler and maggot approach, Russ got Keith catching a good mix of species including two new pb's, a cracking 2lbs 4oz crucian carp and a 1lbs 5oz roach. Keith also caught some nice tench to 4lb and rudd for a 45lb catch. Keith's breakdown for the four-hour lesson was 13 crucian, 12 tench, 8 roach, 3 rudd and a perch plus a few that got away.

Russ is available most days in the shop and is always happy to give advice to help improve your catches, just ask. Alternatively, if you fancy a one to one with Russ which is guaranteed to improve your catches, please call him on 01306 883621.

Turning to the Old Lake, Bury Hill regular Mike Head had another brilliant days sport on the long bank this week catching 31 bream to 4lb and a bonus tench of 3lb for close to 100lb. Fishing peg 41, Mike fished a small open end feeder packed full of ground bait and 3mm pellet catching on 8mm soft pellet. This was Mikes second visit this week catching 19 bream and 2 tench during his earlier session when he alternated between feeder and pole catching on pellet, mini boilies and maggot.

Whilst pleasure anglers have been enjoying some great fishing on the Old Lake, local clubs have also seen their fair share of action as Hackbridge AC found this weekend with bream and skimmers domination the catches. With 30 plus anglers drawn on the front bank and early pegs along the long bank, match organizer Dave Johnson won the day with 75lb of bream, which he caught from peg 1 fishing the tip with corn and maggot. 2nd place went to Neil Jaks who weighed in 48lb 12oz of bream and skimmers, which he caught on the pole and pellet whilst Andy Ryan who bagged 39lb 10oz from peg 19 also catching on the tip and pellet took 3rd place.

Nineoaks is a purpose built angling complex, currently, with 3 well stocked Trout lakes, 2 Coarse Lakes and 1 small Novices pool. Set in idyllic, landscaped grounds and surrounded by an abundance of wildlife, birdlife and flora; just 1 ½ miles inland from the Aberystwyth to Cardigan (A487) coast road in West Wales.

Recent Trout catches have included:-

During early March when we had "cold weather" and heavy frosts, and semi-frozen lakes some good bags of Trout were being landed.

In the latter half of the Month when the weather was generally "bad" the few anglers that braved the cold and dampness have had some good Trout and bags of fish. Fish are still taking "gently" or "softly" and a slow retrieve with a fly around 3ft deep has done the trick. Most anglers catching Trout in the 2-2 1/2lb range. 

Two Holiday Anglers fishing "catch & release"; a Roy Hubbard of Market Harborough and Ian Caulfield of  Barrow-in-Furness both had over 12 fish each, all in the 2-3lb range across all 3 Trout Pools fishing floating and intermediate lines and trying out a variety of flies - Shrimp, Cats Whisker, Hares Ear , Damsels and Buzzers all working well. Tomos Boyle of New Quay had a 3 1/4lb Rainbow on a White Blob.

Recent Coarse catches have included:-

Although the weather has been poor some good catches of Roach and Carp with the occasional Bream and Tench have been caught.

Mr. Ian Pilson from Wrexham fishing sweetcorn, pellet and the smaller sizes of the new Myokyku Boilies certainly found the Carp in the Main Lake on peg #1 landing over 70lb of fish to 9lb, with many in the 3-5lb bracket. He also had some excellent Roach approaching the 1lb mark. He said that the new Boilies helped to sort out the better Carp and using them in the House Pool caught Roach to 1lb on the smaller Boilies, Carp to 10lb and Bream up to 2lb.

During a day of bad weather, another holiday maker from Oldham had a 2lb Tench from the Main Lake on sweetcorn and lots of Roach on maggots. The few warm days in the middle of March saw Carp being caught on floating Bread and dog biscuits in the afternoons.

The best Carp in March was an 11lb 12oz common from the Main Lake caught by Ted Cole of Cardigan on double sweetcorn. Several other doubles have also been landed. A beautiful "linear Mirror" was caught by local angler Nick Stephens of Cardigan who also had plenty of Bream.

Fishing for Charity, the brainchild of angler Tony Shaw of Lafarge Aggregates Limited, has presented a cheque for £2,000 to International Manager Joe Roberts to support the England Disabled Coarse Angling team.

Tony was amazed at the lack of support that angling at international level received from our government and in 2008 raised £650 for the team, with a similar amount going to Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity. He has promised to raise even more in 2010, with a big event planned for April.

With his army of friends and helpers, Tony has organised a series of charity angling matches and has raised money at car boot sales.

The Angling Trust and the Disabled International team would like to thank the following for their support of these events. Without their help it would not have been possible to raise this money.

Dynamite Baits; Richworth Baits; Limelight Marquees; Colin Thornton; Andy Hermitage; Richard Hunger; Bob, Kevin and Colin from Phoenix Weighing Services and of course the owner of Apps Court Farm, Stuart McGregor.

Apps Court Premier Fishery manager Clive Terry is also singled out for special thanks for his help by Tony who hopes to use the same venue for his final presentation day next April.

Dick Clegg, International Events Manager for the Angling Trust ( FIPSed) said: “Once again I would like to thank Tony and everyone concerned for their efforts in raising a substantial amount towards our disabled teams’ international expenses. Without their support the teams would not be able to compete at the highest level”

Mark Lloyd, Chief Executive of the Angling Trust said: “We are very grateful to all the volunteers and sponsors involved in this fantastic effort. Our aim is to grow the Angling Trust membership so that we can attract greater sponsorship to help fund all our international teams.”

Anyone wishing to support Tony’s fundraising can contact him on 07900126431 or 01784248745 or e-mail him: tony.shaw777@yahoo.co.uk

The Angling Trust took a big step forward this week when Sport England awarded it formal recognition as the National Governing Body (NGB) for game, sea and coarse angling.

Mark Lloyd, Angling Trust Chief Executive, explains: “At last angling has a single membership organisation recognised by government to represent the voice of anglers and the future of their sport. This builds on the recent success of the Angling Development Board in getting angling recognised and funded as a sport by Sport England. Angling clubs who are members of the Angling Trust will now find it easier to get support and funding from their local authorities and County Sport Partnerships.”

“More than 1,100 clubs and just over 10,000 individuals have joined the Angling Trust so far. This makes the Trust one of the largest NGBs already in terms of club membership. If the 250,000 anglers who are members of our member clubs were to join as individuals for just £1.75 a month, we would be the largest NGB in the country. We also need the support of all anglers to create a powerful and influential organisation which can demonstrate the importance of angling to government and other decision-makers.”

Mike Heylin, Chairman of Angling Trust said: “Governing body status is important to all of us for the funding of development plans for angling but anglers need to understand that it does not mean that Angling Trust governs angling. For anglers we remain a representative body taking the message of the importance of angling and all our fisheries to government and beyond. Angling is governed by law, regulation and byelaws, the importance of the Angling Trust is that it can speak with the law-makers and regulators and represent the views of anglers nationally, that is why it is important that anglers take up membership.”

Governing Body status will also make it easier for the Angling Trust to secure public funding to support its activities promoting angling participation and will give it the authority to govern the national angling teams fishing in international competitions. The official recognition will also help the Trust campaign and lobby on behalf of anglers on issues ranging from access to waters, local angling bans and environmental and fisheries legislation.

Anglers can sign up on the Trust’s website at www.anglingtrust.net. Clubs, fisheries, tackle shops and riparian owners should contact us on 0844 7700616 for more information about Angling Trust and Fish Legal Membership.

The merger of six angling and conservation bodies creating the Angling Trust, the new voice of angling, was completed to plan on Monday, January 5 2009.

“It is an organisation angling has needed for many years,” said Stephen Marsh-Smith, the first chairman of the Trust. “It represents more than a million regular coarse, game and sea anglers in England. Angling contributes £3.5 billion to the economy and supports 37,000 jobs.”

Embodying all the assets and staff of the legacy organisations, the trust will be publicly launched at 10 am next Wednesday, January 14 at the Fishmongers’ Hall, London Bridge.

Among the guests will be Martin Salter MP, the government’s spokesman for angling and shooting.

“Dr. Marsh-Smith said nearly 2,500 individual anglers and clubs had already signed-up to the trust which would “run a forthright campaign to conserve marine and freshwater fisheries, promote and protect all recreational angling against commercial overfishing, habitat destruction, poaching and disease.

“We also plan to develop coaching and education for new and experienced anglers, increase participation in national and international competitions and tackle the growing problem of the predators which attack our fisheries.

“It is an ambitious programme but we believe anglers will support us and we are encouraged by the supportive messages we have already received,” Dr. Marsh-Smith added.

Individual membership is £20 a year which includes public liability insurance, newsletters and magazines. Members will be enrolled in Fish for Free (www.fishforfree.net) an innovative loyalty programme which generates credits for fishing equipment, permits and the freshwater rod licence. Clubs will be able to join Fish Legal which provides advice and takes action against polluters.

Mark Lloyd, chief executive of the Angling Trust said: “Now that we have a single body for all anglers with a comprehensive benefits, we look forward to their support and to working for and with them. We will only be able to do that if we have the mandate and the resources to do so.”

The Angling Trust’s web site www.anglingtrust.net is now live and will be developed further over the next few weeks. Anglers can sign up on-line, by telephone or by post.

Source: Angling Trust

MAKE SURE YOU HAVE A LICENCE BEFORE HEADING TO THE RIVER:

Submitted by Adrian Westwood at The Environment Agency

Anglers eagerly anticipating the opening of the coarse fishing season on June 16 should make sure they have a valid rod licence before heading for the river.

The reminder comes as 270 anglers were prosecuted by the Environment Agency in May, resulting in more than £38,000 in fines and costs. In addition three anglers received cautions.

Traditional Handmade Floatsspan>

There are many occasions in life when you find yourself getting really excited in anticipation of an event, only to be let down when it finally happens.

I’m happy to say that this definitely was not the case when I eventually got round to ordering a few of the Traditional Handmade Floats from TackleBargains. I’d seen these floats available some time ago and was immediately drawn towards them. It was the combination of materials and colours, and the fact that they were hand made, that made me bookmark that page for a day when I had a few quid to spend!

I eventually ordered a few trotting floats, as I’ve recently been to a couple of Anglers’ net fish-ins, organised by forum members, and have been re-introduced to the delights of river fishing. With a heavy workload, a new baby and various other ‘things’ going on in my life, I’d neglected my local river. Not any more • I’m addicted to the place! The ones I’d chosen were the Balsa Bodied Avons and Fluted Body Trotting Floats.

When the floats arrived, I couldn’t wait to get them wet. They looked exactly as I imagined and I was over the moon! The photos on the site really don’t do them the justice they deserve.

They look hand made…..and I mean that in a positive way. I’ve since found out that they are made by just one man and you can tell that he has put years of experience and knowledge into each one. The paint finish, in my opinion, is fantastic. The Avons, in particular, are superb, as they have a few ‘bands’ on the tip that make spotting shy bites particularly easy. This has proven to be particularly useful with the roach on my local stretch. The perch, however, drag them straight under!

I’m not going to start pretending that a float, just because it’s hand made, will catch you more fish. What these floats offer is something a bit different from the usual production line products that you may be used to. For me, sitting there on the river at the crack of dawn seeing the effects of a small roach on my bobbing float is real Huckleberry Finn material. I just love it. I suppose I’m old before my time.....or maybe I was a decent angler in a previous life!! Having said that, these floats do perform well and I've already had plenty of fish using them.

Some of these floats may be a little more expensive than their factory counterparts (they range from £1.77 to £4.12), but they won’t break the bank. I think they’re worth every penny. You should have seen my face when I thought I’d lost one in a far bank tree!!

There are various floats available in this range, including Pike Sliders, Goose Quills, Porcupine Quills and Crow Quills. If coarse fishing is your thing, treat yourself! Click here to go straight to the Traditional Handmade Floats page.

Elton Murphy - www.AnglersNet.co.uk

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Priory Farm Fishing Lakes, Surrey

A quick jaunt down the M25 and I was soon driving down quiet country lanes just outside Reigate in Surrey, on my way to sample the excellent fishing at Priory Farm Fishing Lakes. The sun shone through the window and I was full of the joys of spring and looking forward to some well earned time away from work.

Priory Farm Fishing Lakes offer superb coarse and carp fishing on four lakes, all well stocked with crucian carp, roach, perch, tench, rudd, bream, and of course, stunning carp to 30lb. A mere 20 miles from Central London, Priory Farm Lakes are within easy reach and members only fishing means the lakes remain under fished and the quality of the fish is always second to none.

I met up with Ian Ford, the Fisheries Manager at Priory Farm who drove me up to the car park. He suggested I try out Priory lake, as despite the recent cold weather, it had been fishing reasonably well.

The fishing on Priory Lake offers great year round sport and according to Ian, the carp, which are close to the original wild carp, will definitely give you a good fight !!

Most baits had been working well Ian remarked and taking his advise I set up two rods, one with a method feeder and single boilie cast as near to the island as I dared and one with a waggler fished hard on the bottom with pellets for hook baits. I offered only a few morsels of loose feed as I expected that bites might be hard to come by after a cold night.

Bites were indeed hard to come by, in fact they were pretty much non existent. I was also troubled by the resident swans who were certainly in feeding mood, even if the fish weren't. After a couple of hours on Priory Lake with no action whatsoever, I decided enough was enough and moved the short distance to Hogtrough Lake where I hoped for better luck.

Hogtrough lake is the youngster at Priory Farm although the lake is maturing nicely with the island and bank side vegetation growing rapidly. Apparently the fishing can sometimes be a little harder than the other lakes although the rewards are well worth putting in the extra effort, especially if targeting the resident hard fighting carp which go to 30lb.

As I neared Hogtrough Lake, I noticed there was one other angler trying his luck so I decided to pick his brains about what methods and baits worked well on Hogtrough. The angler in question turned out to be George, a regular at Priory Farm Lakes for many years. George was fishing the pole at 4m and because of the cold weather, with water temperatures not much above 0 deg c, he was using extremely fine tackle and tiny baits.

He explained that he always fished a different swim at Priory Lakes, still keen to learn as much about the fishery as he was when he first fished the lakes over 16 years ago.

Although he was keen to pass some of his knowledge onto a newbie like myself, he certainly wasn't going to reveal all his secrets that he had amassed over many years of studying and fishing and the lakes at Priory Farm.

He was keen to retain a certain edge over everyone else ... and who can blame him.

George estimated that a crowded day at Priory Lakes would see a maximum of around 10 anglers on each lake. Compare this to a day ticket commercial fishery and you can see why this members only fishery is so attractive.

I could have stayed talking with George all afternoon but I had come to sample the fishing, so decided I had better get back to it. Using the same two methods I had started with on Priory Lakes, I recast my rods and hoped that as temperatures had risen slightly from the morning session, I could tempt a few fish to have a quick meal.

Unfortunately, this was not the case and the net stayed dry all day. George did manage one perch of around an ounce but I'm sorry to say that was all. Strangely though I was not too disappointed. For a townie like me, being in such stunning countryside with only the sound of the trees rustling in the wind and the odd bird singing was pleasure enough. Of course I would have liked to catch some fish, but that can wait until next time.

So what are my first impressions:

• Stunning location
• superbly maintained lakes and pegs
• un crowded and under fished
• easy to find and get to (even for me in West London, the drive was only around 45mins)
• really friendly and helpful fisheries manager (Ian Ford)

I can't wait to get back to Priory Farm and try my luck once more.