Innehållsförteckning för Issue 3687 från Angling Times

HOW GOOD is Jamie Hughes? When it comes to big-money matches, he has to be the most successful angler of this generation. He recently made history by becoming the first angler to win the Maver Match This Final for a second time. The £50K title is the latest addition to a match fishing CV which also includes three Fish O’Mania titles and one Golden Reel win. His consistency in qualifying for these events – he’s reached the Fish O’Mania final for the last 13 years in a row – is unrivalled. And while I often see it stated that a lot of match fishing relies on an element of luck at the draw, I think Jamie’s track record is evidence that there’s far more to it than just hoping to…

HUGHES’ VIEWS THE RIVER Severn is close to my heart, so it’s concerning to hear that certain stretches are struggling. Stretches that used to be really good are now a shadow of their former selves. That said, there are ‘new’ stretches popping up all the time as really good places to fish. The Severn has always been a bit of a moody venue. Rising in Wales, there is often a purge of cold water that takes a few days to run through, and the Reservoir at Clywedog releases water in the summer to drop its own level ready for the winter floods. One of the biggest talking points on the Severn, though, after pollution, is foam. There seems to be a lot of it. A lot of the time. It…

FOX RAGE SPECIAL FOX RAGE LINE STRIPPER TOOL WHAT THEY SAY: Say goodbye to tiresome respooling with the Fox Rage Line Stripper Tool. With its adjustable speed dial for precision, this handy tool strips line off your spool effortlessly. The simple hand-held design will strip braid and mono, and takes 2xAAA batteries. Designed for ease and comfort, respooling your reels has never been smoother. WHAT WE SAY: Stripping line off your reel by hand has to be one of angling’s more boring tasks! This looks like a great little time-saving gadget, ideal for rapidly ripping your used line off spools and straight into the recycling bin. Price: £19.99 FOX RAGE STRIKE POINT TUNGSTEN CHIN WEIGHTS WHAT THEY SAY: Strike Point Tungsten Chin Weights are the ultimate accessory for effortlessly adding…

I’M ABSOLUTELY delighted to have won the Maver Match This final for the second time and, by now, you may have read on pages 12 and 13 how I managed to do it. What I want to focus on in my column this week is the keen level of competition on the commercial match scene right now. It’s never been easy to win one of these big matches, but it’s become even harder over the last few years, because a lot of anglers are ploughing more and more time and resources into reaching the pinnacle of the sport. The likes of Andy Bennett, Andy Power and Des Shipp are just a few of the names that are constantly causing me problems when it comes to winning titles – and there…

OUR MAN ON THE BANK I ALWAYS reckon that if you start giving fish too much respect in the brains department you will struggle to catch them. Yes, at times I admit they can be difficult, but I think that’s mainly to do with things like air pressure, temperature or the weather that stops them feeding. I often hear anglers talking about how clever a pike can be, and how special lightweight drop-off indicators are needed, so they don’t feel any resistance when they pick up the bait. But all that goes out of the window for me when a pike is willing to pick up a whole mackerel deadbait attached to 40lb wire, two six 6 trebles and 40lb braid. Does that sound like a highly intelligent creature to…

IN THESE recent summer months I’ve been targeting chub, dace and roach from the River Rother in East Sussex. The average angler can catch chub and roach all day here. And that’s exactly what was happening until just a few days ago, when I caught the dace I’d been hoping for. At first I thought it was a chub, but on second examination I noticed how old and battered this fish looked for its size, and then started to notice the tell-tale characteristics of a dace. I then proceeded to weigh it, and it came up at exactly 1lb 4oz – don’t worry, I checked three times! At just a mere ounce and two drams away from a UK record, this makes my catch bittersweet, but the fish of a…

FOR LATE-SUMMER sport on the rivers, chub remain a favourite quarry of mine. Provided the rain lays off and water clarity is decent, there are still lots of opportunities to stalk this wily species – and you can’t beat stalking them at close quarters. Time might be running out to see these fish rise for insects or creep into swift, shallow water, but the onset of autumn also brings a boost in natural food. Branches droop with ripe elderberries, while daddy longlegs and other insects are plentiful on riverbanks. So much so that there are sessions when I don’t bring bait, but just use actual berries or artificial flies. The waters of the River Tone are perfect for this and, before I’d even started my last session with John Deprieelle,…

BUILDING a bag of small silvers is a key skill for the natural water match angler, but sometimes a single fish can also secure victory. That was the case for Leigh Gardner in the recent RiverFest qualifier on the Warwickshire Avon, where a 14lb barbel made up the bulk of his 15-6-4 net and secured him a place in the prestigious final. Having started the day on the float and pole, Leigh had just a few small fish to show for his efforts. So, in the final few hours of the match, he went all-out on the feeder with a meat hookbait, and duly banked the huge fish. It’s not the first time the species has secured victory at Evesham – RiverFest founder Dave Harrell is just one of many…

THE RECENT Feeder National showed just how good the Aire & Calder Canal can be. While feeder fishing was obviously key during that event, pole tactics can also be very productive on the venue. It’s deep and wide, and any fishery with the same profile can be attacked in a similar manner – the Gloucester Canal springs to mind. Such venues are often open to the elements, and wind or tow can cause a few problems. These issues can be overcome, but you must set up correctly and prime your swim in an appropriate way if you are to offer the type of presentation that gets the fish settled and feeding confidently. GIVE IT A GO 1 VARY YOUR RIG PRESENTATION For roach, you need to string out your shot…

JOIN TOP MATCH anglers Lee Kerry and Rob Wootton each week as they unveil the tactics and techniques that really make a difference CHANGE is coming on several fronts in the weeks ahead, but that doesn’t mean you can’t keep catching at your usual rate. However, you must adapt, as every session will be different at this time of year. I’ve already seen these changes start to kick in on a lot of fisheries, so there are several things that I start to do to stack the odds in my favour. WATCH THE WIND Wind direction is more important than strength. A westerly wind will be warm, and the fish will feel its impact, allowing you to feed more aggressively and draw them in from a wide area. On the…

Do you ever favour maggots or casters over pellets when targeting carp in summer? Oliver Niven, Stevenage PELLETS are a brilliant bait for carp, but there are times when natural baits are better. That is very much the case right now, after commercials have been heavily pressured – and, as temperatures fall, maggots and casters come into their own. There are several scenarios where they are key too, and if you feed them in the correct places and in suitable quantities then you’ll soon have big fish queuing up. DOWN THE EDGE A combination of dead red maggots and groundbait can be unbeatable when fishing in shallow margins. It creates a cloud, and keeps the carp grubbing around for a long while. I will use this approach in 12ins-18ins of…

WHERE TO FISH ANGLEZARKE RESERVOIR, CHORLEY, LANCASHIRE This big, wild venue is home to some cracking bream and pike. While not easy to fish, the rewards are there to be had. Contact: Adlington Angling Centre, 01257 474823 LAKE WINDERMERE, LAKE DISTRICT, CUMBRIA A vast water, Windermere offers fishing in breathtaking scenery where huge bags of bream are on offer. Prebaiting is essential. Contact: Lake District National Park, 01539 724555 DERWENT RESERVOIR, CONSETT, COUNTY DURHAM Fantastic roach sport can be had at Derwent Reservoir, with the feeder being a good tactic. If it’s not too windy, the whip can also work well. Contact: 01207 255250 BLICKLING ESTATE, AYLSHAM, NORFOLK At this gorgeous estate, large bream and mixed silverfish are on offer. Purchase tickets from the pay and display machine in the…

Katie Reynolds 8lb mirror carp, Willinghurst Fishery, Surrey, pellet Logan Reynolds Mirror carp, Froggatt’s Pools, Shropshire, bread Riley Fry 8lb 3oz bream, stillwater, South Wales, pop-up Hayley Beckwith 7lb mirror carp, club water, Maidstone, Kent, meat Oscar & Chester Mitchell 9lb common carp, Tinkers Pond, Barnsley, casters Senna Kimmings 1lb 7oz mirror carp, Ivy House Lakes, Wiltshire, pellets Amber Mahoney 14lb 9oz mirror carp, Coarse 86 AC, Essex, pellet William Hesketh 1lb 14oz perch, Alkali AC water, Lancashire, lure Heidi Slack 5oz trout, River Dearne, Barnsley, South Yorkshire Joshua Webber 14lb 10oz mirror, Finlake Ponds, Devon, sweetcorn Henri Archbold 28lb common carp, Arrans Fishery, Essex, boilie Laurence Lewis-Austin 10lb 7oz koi carp, local water, Shropshire, bread Elliot Stiles 11lb common carp, Osmington Mills, Weymouth, Dorset, meat Vincent Atkinson 2lb common…

THE JOY OF FISHING MY APTLY-named friend Adam Fisher takes himself off to wild places, not because he wants to catch the biggest or the greatest number of fish, but simply because he enjoys the experience of being by the water in beautiful surroundings. Like Adam, you can make of your fishing whatever you want – there’s no right or wrong way to do it and, ultimately, nobody other than you cares a jot about what you end up catching. My own angling career has been varied in the extreme, bagging everything from minnows to monsters, alone or as part of a team. Now, as I get older, I try to avoid the more hectic aspects of fishing. This, of course, comes at a cost, as today’s specimens are often…

STEVE RINGER World feeder champ and a constantly successful matchman LEE KERRY England international and professional angling coach RICH WILBY Fishery owner and former Drennan Cup champion ADRIAN EVES Seasoned specimen hunter with a string of big fish to his name PAUL GARNER Bait expert and weekly Angling Times columnist DES SHIPP England ace and multiple Parkdean Masters champion DARREN COX Team England Feeder squad member hailing from Yorkshire BREAM FEEDER RIG There are bream to 5lb-plus in my local canal. What’s the best way to target them? Luke Dyer, Gloucester A Using a feeder is definitely the best line of attack, because it enables you to put down a bed of groundbait that the bream will graze over. They move around in quite big shoals and, once you catch…

Honest advice to help you to catch more fish on every trip, without breaking the bank CARP pellets are the most popular bait on most commercials. They are not only a nutritionally complete feed, for carp and other coarse species, but also incredibly convenient. Pellets should certainly be part of every angler’s bait armoury, but with many fisheries insisting on the use of their own pellets, it can be a real advantage to know how to get the best from them in different angling situations. SIZE MATTERS... Probably the most important factor is pellet size, which has a bearing on how fish feed. This comes down to two main things. Smaller pellets sink slower than larger ones, so we have to be careful when using small baits to avoid the…