Innehållsförteckning för Issue 3683 från Angling Times

TRULY big dace are extremely rare, but to young Logan Thomas they’re a becoming a bit of a regular occurrence – he’s banked three over 1lb since the rivers opened! His latest is this 1lb 3oz specimen, a fish just 2oz off Simon Ashton’s current British record, and one that, come the end of the season, would likely be a contender for the history books. He landed his first two big dace as part of a mixed bag while trotting maggots on a southern chalkstream on June 16, a venue to which he recently returned with his dad, Jason. “Using light float tackle, Logan had 10 others over 5oz,” Jason told us. “He was in shock when he landed the beast, which I think is a different fish from his…

BANKSIDE PROMISE • Genuine on-the-bank tests• By anglers, for anglers• Unrivalled insight Every week HOW WE TEST OUR GEAR Our team of tackle experts use their years of angling experience to test new gear to its limits.Tony Grigorjevs WHEN I cast my mind back over the key memories of my 30-year angling journey, I can think of countless fond moments. The first-ever session with my dad as I perched on a toolbox at Oldham’s Alexandra Park Lake. My first trip to a commercial fishery, winkling out hand-sized carp at Bolton’s Bradshaw Hall. And, slightly later in the journey, my first-ever match, competing alongside other youngsters in the Diggle AC junior section. They’re all treasured events, but there are other things etched in my mind that are memorable for all the wrong…

GUNTHORPE Weir, on the River Trent, has an island offering access to the white water – a barbel swim to make angling dreams come true! But, when fishery owners JD O’Reilly ( Jockey), Tammy and Aaron invited me there to make a Fishflix film, I thought that it was a wind-up! A chat with Jockey soon quashed that suspicion, but I would need someone along to hopefully assist with any hooked fish. Videographer Laurence Hanger would be behind the camera, so obviously he couldn’t wield the net, but luckily I knew a man who could. Alan Blair is a force of nature. I genuinely don’t know where he gets his energy from, and he’s the closest thing to John Wilson I’ve ever known. Like his hero (and mine), the operations…

(* indicates an anagram) ACROSS 1 Technique using waggler and maggot (3,1,3)5 Suspended container for a carp – or baby? (6)8 ___ Dowd, Manager of England Ladies Carp team 2024 (4)9 ___ rig, running rig variation (*ash OK) (5)10 ___ Springs Fish Farm, Devon – part of esplanade (4)11 River sport over rapids, whitewater ___ (7)13 Metallic sheen e.g. of scales on roach's back (*result!) (6)14 Uses e.g. bait spoon to shovel up boilies (6)16 ____ Lakes, Trent-side five lakes fishery (*mate's son) (8)18 Float fishing using current (8)21/12dn. It runs freely up/down line between shot and stop knot (6,5)22/26 ac. A Cob House Fishery water with wheelchair access (*Wye talk, Sat.) (6,4)24 Closest (*nets are) (7)26 See 22ac.27 Silverfish water at Norfolk's East Bilney Lakes (*deers) (5)28 River flowing through…

EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW FROM THE WORLD OF FISHING ARGUABLY the most famous fish in coarse angling history has just been acquired by one of the country’s premier venues, and is now on display for all to see! In September 1952 Dick Walker revolutionised the direction of the sport in the UK when he landed a 44lb carp from Herefordshire’s famous Redmire Pool. The fish shattered the then British Record, and not only proved that big fish could be caught by design, but also served to kickstart the modern carp angling scene. The fish, which came to be known as Clarissa and was set up by a taxidermist when it died, was recently put up for sale by auctioneers Mullock Jones, with an estimate of up to £40k. However,…

WHEN Andy Loble telephoned with the promise of a 2lb rudd on a feature, to say I was keen would be a bit of an understatement. But when he then added that we’d be fishing from paddleboards, I wasn’t sure if he was being serious. I pressed him with a few more questions, and after his short explanation, my excitement for the feature simply grew. Whilst working for Angling Times is very enjoyable, it can be easy to become slightly numb to the joys of ‘normal’ fishing when you’re thinking and writing about it on a daily basis. But angling from a paddleboard? That was something totally different! Having paddled once before on holiday (where I spent most my time falling off!) my main concern going into the feature was…

Angling Trust Individual NationalWigan Canal (Sat, 221 pegs) COLIN Cliffe is no stranger to the Wigan Canal, the host venue of last weekend’s Individual National (and this coming weekend’s Division 1 National) having fished there his whole life. He also lives just 50 yards away from the cut… and within walking distance of the draw! Having seen the pegging arrangements before the event, he already knew that 101 was a ‘flyer’ as soon as he drew it, but success was by no means guaranteed as he had already failed to win off the same area earlier this season. However, through a series of tactical tweaks he managed to keep the bites coming and walk away with the winner’s cheque of £1,090. Here Colin takes up the full story… A CAREFUL…

NEW SERIES STEP-BY-STEP GUIDES TO MAKING THE MOST OF YOUR TIME ON THE BANK THERE’S no hiding the fact that at first glance wide, featureless rivers are a daunting prospect. Venues such as the Thames and Trent pose all sorts of questions, and the answers are rarely staring you straight in the face. An abundance of watercraft is required to work out where your quarry will be and how they’ll want to be fed, and several pieces of the jigsaw need to come neatly together to get the fish into the net. Nick Crooks has spent plenty of time on such venues, fishing both pleasure sessions and big matches with Drennan Barnsley Blacks – the best team in the land. “Many people are put off wide, slow-moving rivers because they think…

IF THE carp aren’t playing ball, but you still want to catch something sizeable, the abundance of hefty skimmers in Yew Tree Fishery will make sure you end with a bulging keepnet! Located on the Wirral, the two-lake complex is a bit of a local hidden gem that has been in fine form of late. Plenty of mirrors and commons are being caught, but during spells when they shut up shop, or for those anglers who simply don’t fancy focusing on them, there are stacks of silverfish waiting beneath the surface. Mixed nets to over 100lb are easily achievable from almost every peg across the complex, and there are swims to suit all styles of fishing. Whether you chuck a small feeder to the island, attack the margins, or go…

ANGLING TIMES TEAM FINAL, 1976 I NEVER did get to fish Coventry’s Coombe Abbey Lake which, back in the day, was THE stillwater bream venue of match fishing, one that was at least on a par with where Southfields Reservoir and Ferry Meadows are today. Coombe Abbey is an estate lake, designed – like so many others – by Capability Brown. It is still fishable today and, although still known for bream as well as tench, is probably more of a predator fishery these days, with zander being the main target. These fearsome fish had yet to arrive at Coombe when the article above was published. Some great anglers and teams produced some wonderful catches, and the Angling Times Team Final was no exception, fished on the first weekend of…

LAST CAST WITH DOM IS THERE any reliable way to make an income from angling these days? It’s a more precarious world than ever out there. Social media might be full of folks hashtagging sponsors and talking a big game, but make no mistake, the number of those earning a living wage from the sport has shrunk. Technology has changed the landscape forever, and actual job vacancies are sparse. Those who brought you Facebook and Amazon have dismantled an entire industry of magazines and paid roles, leaving a scrabble of social media influencers, sponsored guff and unpaid chumps climbing a ladder that isn’t even greasy any more but plain broken. The money and jobs are going to Silicone Valley rather than the Wye Valley. But in the midst of all…

IN A BID to better monitor the water industry’s continued pollution failures, the Environment Agency (EA) has said it is ‘investing millions’ to increase levels of inspection and enforcement. As regulator, the EA is regularly slammed for allowing the water utilities to seemingly ‘get away with it’, but this week the agency acknowledged that ‘the people want and deserve more for their water environment’. As such, they have vowed meet the challenge of saving the UK’s rivers ‘head-on’. “With additional funding secured earlier this year, dedicated teams will be made up of new and experienced officers who will focus on regulating the water industry,” said an EA spokesperson. “By March 2027, we will have 500 staff dedicated to this, including environment officers, data analysts, enforcement specialists and technical experts.”…

SEND US YOUR PICS • newsdesk@anglingtimes.co.uk• Make sure your pics are hi-res and that you are in them “I’M THINKING OF TARGETING THEM NOW!” Austin Battell – 5lb eel “FOLLOWING the captures of my biggest carp, bream and tench, I added another personal best during a recent trip in the shape of this 5lb eel! “It was caught from Tonbridge & District’s Barden Lake on feeder tactics, with worm and maggot hookbaits. “The fight it put up was great, and I’m now thinking of targeting them a bit more! In the same session, I also managed a bream of 11lb 4oz, and a few days later I had two over 12lb.” “OUT OF NOWHERE, I HAD A GOOD HIT” Freddie Karam – 3lb 6oz perch “I DECIDED to try targeting…

SONUBAITS CHUNKY FISH WHAT’S IN THE BAG: Real chunks of dehydrated fish, mixed with a blend of quality fishmeals and mixed high-protein ground pellets. WHY WE LOVE IT: A proper stinky mix of the rawest kind of fishmeal possible. Big and hungry specimen fish absolutely love it, especially in the warmest water in the height of summer. Price: £7.99 for 2kg, www.sonubaits.com DYNAMITE BAITS BIG FISH MARGIN MIX WHAT’S IN THE BAG: A coarse recipe packed with a mixture of high protein crushed pellets, sweet biscuit and quality fishmeals that keep fish feeding for ages. WHY WE LOVE IT: A sticky and heavy consistency carries plenty of particles if required and keeps the fish near the bottom. Its biscuit base makes it ideal for year-round use. Price: £6.29 for 1.8kg,…

THE other day a young chap phoned about having a guide day out with me for barbel on the River Severn. Now, my first question to any potential customer is “what do you want from the day?” and the most common answers are “I want to catch more barbel because I’m struggling at the moment” or “I’d like to catch a PB.” Both these inquiries I can help with, but this chap told me he wanted a double-figure barbel. I explained that a double on any given day is a hard call anywhere, but then he proceeded to bend my ear, telling me about the number of doubles featured every week in Angling Times and on social media. Surely, he said, this would be an easy ask for a paid…

SEND YOUR PICS AND LETTERS TO: ATLETTERS@BAUERMEDIA.CO.UK I’VE JUST returned from a holiday with my wife Emma, mother-in-law Valerie Balmforth and my wife’s uncle, Dave Balmforth. We stayed at Parklands Farm Pool on the Somerset/ Dorset border, owned by a lovely couple called Justine and Andy Parker. The pool has just two mobile homes which you can fish from. The sport was fantastic with all of us catching carp over 20lb, including five over 30lb to a best of 34lb 2oz. In total we caught more than 60 carp, with the smallest being 16lb. My mother-in-law Valerie only started fishing two years ago at the age of 67 and prior to that she would not even go near a fish that’s was out of the water! Now she is…