Drennan Red Range Target Carp Pole -
Joe Carass gets out on the bank with Drennan’s new Target Carp pole to see whether it is a hit or a miss.
I must admit, I do enjoy getting the chance to test poles at the cheaper end of the scale. Poles under £500 always surprise me with their quality and usability.
The Drennan Target Carp is the latest in this price range to find its way into my mitts; a 14.
Modern-day commercials are full of fish, but in match conditions, it can be anything but easy to catch them as soon as those nets go in. Des Shipp explains how to maximise your results.
Such is the angling pressure on modern waters, particularly the more heavily fished ones, that the stocks seem to have wised up to sloppy approaches and mundane feeding tactics.
That’s not to say that these fish can’t be caught.
Solhampton Fishery, Stourport-on-Severn, 10th June 2017
Angler's Name
Weight (lbs/oz)
Peg # / Lake
Jamie Hughes (MAP / Bag 'Em Baits)
173-02-00
37 (Dragonfly)
Peter Alan Rice (Mosella)
159-12-00
9 (Valley)
Jon Arthur (Drennan)
130-04-00
8 (Kingfisher)
Kevin Dales
126-06-00
29 (Valley)
Andy Welding (Strike Angling)
124-12-00
5 (Kingfisher)
Zac Brown (Preston Innovations / Sonu Baits)
123-07-00
2 (Valley)
Michael McMillan (Garbolino / Bait-Tech)
110-02-00
15 (Buzzard)
Lee Thornton (Middy)
110-00-00
12 (Dragonfly)
Qualifier number thirteen of the 2017 Mega Match This qualifier campaign saw the introduction of a brand new venue in Worcestershire's Solhampton Fishery. Conditions on the day were ideal with plenty of cloud cover coupled with a moderate breeze creating a nice ripple on the five lakes used. Pegging on the day gave anglers plenty of room and the match itself was a closely contested affair with a number of weights over the 100lb mark.
Winner on the day was 2016 runner-up, Jamie Hughes (MAP / Bag 'Em Baits).
For the second year in succession, Weston Pools teamed up with tackle manufacturer Frenzee to run an open day at the Oswestry venue for the pupils of The Marches School, local to the fishery.
As well as teaching each of the students the arts of rig making, fish care, bait preparation and many other aspects of fishing, all of the children had the opportunity to rub shoulders with, and learn from Frenzee’s sponsored stars such as Jon Whincup, Chris Jones and Phil Canning, among many others.
The weather on the day couldn’t have been any better, with warm temperatures and sunshine gracing the banks of the fishery, while the fish were by no means reticent on a day where everybody in attendance was able to put a few in the net.
With the focus of the event being getting the kids in the local area hooked on fishing, that objective seems to have been very much achieved – many of the children that attended last year’s event are now keen anglers and were only too happy to boast of their recent catches while out on the bank themselves.
Following the first mid-week qualifier of the 2017 Maver Mega Match This qualifier campaign, please see below the full and final result from Decoy Lakes, Peterborough:
Decoy Lakes, Peterborough, 7th June 2017
Angler's Name
Weight (lbs/oz)
Peg # / Lake
Sam Brown (Maver)
128-06-00
22 (Oak)
Ben Townsend (Matrix / Spotted Fin)
126-14-00
5 (Beastie)
Jon Pollard (Leicester Gas AC)
123-04-00
26 (Cedar)
Simon Fry (Garbolino)
114-11-00
23 (Beastie)
Dale Jackson (Marukyu)
112-04-00
21 (Beastie)
Ben Lawrence (Bottisham AC)
106-13-00
15 (Yew)
Marc Rodger
103-14-00
22 (Willows)
Richard Bond
100-06-00
14 (Yew)
The first mid-week qualifier event of 2017 saw ninety-four (94) anglers in attendance at Peterborough's Decoy Lakes. Conditions on the day were pretty extreme with gale force winds making usual methods impossible. Many were forced to improvise and fish short and down their edge in an effort to find the fish. Despite the conditions being more than a little tricky, the standard of fishing on the day was superb with just one fish dividing the top three highlighting just how close and fair a qualifier it was with competing anglers battling the wind making for an even playing field.
Amer Jawad gets his commercial head on to catch a weight from a busy canal.
Words and photos: Steve Martin
Late spring is the time of the year when the UK’s canals come to life, as the cold, clear cut becomes coloured once the boats venture out from their winter moorings. The increase in traffic can often dissuade some anglers from entering matches on the venues, as on some days your hook bait can spend more time out of the water than in, and the frequent wash from the boats means that you have to keep re-feeding in an effort to focus and catch the fish down the middle, and slightly up the far shelf.
Don't fish too close to the feature, to avoid snags, and find a good depth
It all sounds rather negative, but that’s exactly Amer Jawad’s mind-set, as he has discovered a tactic to catch quality fish based on a method you would usually use on a commercial fishery.
Maver Hayfield Lakes, Doncaster, 4th June 2017
Angler's Name
Weight (lbs/oz)
Peg # / Lake
Kieron Rich (Middy)
171-14-00
19 (Island)
Neil Wiecek (Dalton Prog AC)
110-04-00
21 (Island)
Paul Wright (Halkon Hunt / Dynamite Baits)
97-12-00
46 (Island)
Tom Potter (Matrix Dynamite Trentman)
97-06-00
82 (Adams)
David Burley (Champion Feed)
83-04-00
22 (Adams)
Steve Cooke (Garbolino)
79-02-00
45 (Island)
Dale Heywood
67-12-00
42 (Island)
David Shires
60-00-00
17 (Adams)
This Sunday qualifier marked the second and final Mega Match This qualifier event of 2017 at Maver Hayfield Lakes ahead of this year's Grand Final, which will see twenty four (24) anglers return, once again, to the North's Premier venue on September 2nd. Conditions on the day were ideal prolonged periods of cloud cover coupled with a nice ripple and cooler temperatures than in previous weeks. The resident carp had also finished spawning, so anglers were hopeful of a good days sport.
Winner on the day, and the eleventh man through to the 2017 Grand Final was Middy's Kieron Rich.
DHP recently ran its third annual David Hall Trophy match, at the fantastic Glebe Fishery in Leicestershire.
This event celebrates the life of company founder David Hall, who passed away in 2015, and his immense contribution to the world of fishing and angling publications.
For once the weather was good and the 38 competitors had a nice day out in the sunshine, although some caught rather more than others. This year’s winner was rising star Adam Dowd, who weighed in 223lb of mainly carp, beating Match Fishing editor Joe Carass into second place with 213lb.
Today I headed down to the hugely impressive Weston pools fishery in Oswestry to contest the three-day spring festival and I was really looking forward to it as it’s probably my favourite fishery because every lake on the complex is out of the ordinary with a large head of different species including barbel , all of them are extremely hard fighting which is no doubt down to the high oxygen levels in the water due to the aerators being left on all the time.
After another early start I had a pretty stress free journey down arriving with plenty time to spare before I needed to book on, so I went for a quick walk around the complex to see if anything had changed since my last visit a couple of months ago where I struggled on Belvidere but the conditions wasn't great for catching carp & barbel and every lake looked immaculate, apart from canal which they had to shut due to a problem with the water this was a shame I usually do quite well on it and this meant they had to re-jig the pegging for the festival we also strangely had a few no shows . On arriving back to the cabin I had a chat with a few of the local lads that I hadn’t seen for a while and there was a lot of sponsored anglers knocking about plus nearly all the Welsh national squad so you could say it was going to be a tough but enjoyable couple of days, when everything had been sorted there would be a straight draw today with 10 anglers on Weir & Belvedere and 12 on Stretton & Clay pit, the second day would be another straight draw with all the lakes in except clay pit so it would be very tightly pegged and the last day would be the opposite rotation to the first day.
Day one
It was soon time for the draw and we had a minute’s silence for the people who lost their lives in the Manchester bombing the previous week which was a nice touch.
