We are delighted to announce that Belgian feeder international Danny Vancraenendonck has joined the Matrix team as a consultant. Danny will help strengthen the Matrix team in Belgium.
Matrix Media manager Craig Butterfield was delighted to have Danny on board, “Danny is a great angler and brings a wealth of experience to the brand. He’ll be helping with both product feedback and we’ll also be out on the bank with him producing interesting content for both printed and digital media”.
Webb’s World
Dan Webb has been counting the pennies this month, and is not convinced his investment in the worm market has been paying dividends…
What can £30 buy? One-half of a meal out with the wife? A pair of shoes for the kids? A good night down the pub? (If that’s not enough, you need to take a long hard look at how much you drink!) A trip for two to the cinema? For most people (excluding Pete Goodman), £30 isn’t to be sniffed at! It’s affordable but at the same time not the sort of amount of money you want to give away too often! I love my fishing and I don’t mind paying for good bait, but when £30 only covers the price of fish food, that’s when I start to get upset!
As I’m writing this, I’m just days away from my next credit card statement where the normal diesel, floats and McDonald’s coffee bills have been grossly inflated by masses of bait after practising and fishing the Drennan Knockout Cup at Tunnel Barn Farm (thanks very much for the invite Tom, I hope you didn’t mind the subtle hints)!
It’s that time of year, around spawning time, when those picky commercial fish just want to start gorging on a worms. A kilo of worms causes a noticeable dent in the wallet but add to that four to six pints of casters in case they come shallow and suddenly thoughts of remortgaging come to mind!
Spending money on bait is a consequence of going fishing, but when it costs more to feed fish for five hours than the wife at a restaurant, that’s when it gets too much.
I feel like I’m putting a pound coin in my Cad Pot every time I ship out. I get a twisting, swirling sensation in my stomach that’s aggravated every time I miss a bite.
How time flies when you organise an event and I still can’t believe it’s been 15 months since the first one. Well here we are back at the prolific Tunnel Barn Farm Fisheries in Warwickshire, this is the venue of choice simply because its centrally located attracting as many anglers from both sides to attend, it has the required facilities such as a shop, café and accommodation and it can hold our required number of anglers with room to spare. Last year was our first year and it attracted 130 anglers from all over the UK this year we boosted numbers by just over 50% taking the number of anglers to 200, we also had exclusive use of the fishery giving us 9 lakes to use.
We have kept the same draw format as last year which we felt was right for a large number of people to draw in a short space of time and this year was no different and I was told we got all anglers in and out of the door in just 15 minutes; it’s a great system which allows each angler to draw and not have to stand and wait to put their name on a list or find section boards, they quite simply put their draw ticket in an envelope which has their allocated number on it and drop it into a bucket and head straight for their peg.
Top match tackle firm Middy are delighted to announce that Russell Shipton has put pen to paper on a 12-month rolling sponsorship deal.
Based in Kent, Russell joins Middy after recently finishing in the top 30 at the UK Champs at his first attempt. He also competes in big matches like Match This and Fish'O'Mania and is a brilliant angler, who will now provide even more expert advice as Middy develop more high-quality tackle, designed to improve your catch rates and match efficiency.
Russell has been using Middy tackle for years and had also been a ‘Shop-Pro’ for Orpington Tackle & Bait, until being offered this full sponsorship deal.
Top match tackle firm Middy are delighted to announce that Russell Shipton has put pen to paper on a 12-month rolling sponsorship deal.
Based in Kent, Russell joins Middy after recently finishing in the top 30 at the UK Champs at his first attempt. He also competes in big matches like Match This and Fish'O'Mania and is a brilliant angler, who will now provide even more expert advice as Middy develop more high-quality tackle, designed to improve your catch rates and match efficiency.
Russell has been using Middy tackle for years and had also been a ‘Shop-Pro’ for Orpington Tackle & Bait, until being offered this full sponsorship deal.
I thought I would write something a little different from the norm to highlight that some anglers don’t have the luxury to make an impact on their local commercial or natural water like most anglers have. I speak for all the Armed Forces anglers but in particular the British Army.
As an ex-serviceman myself I can fully appreciate how hard it is for these guys to find the time to fish as an individual but even harder to come together as a team; obviously each one signed up to carry out a duty to the queen whether that be based at home in the UK, abroad at an overseas regiment or on operational tours worldwide.
Throughout the calendar year these guys may only get to see the bank a handful of times and be expected to compete under their individual Corps or Army banner, so when it comes to events like nationals or inter service events they have to fight even harder to compete against the already established and shall we say, match fit teams.
Get Pinging! Jamie Hughes likes to keep in touch with the ever changing behaviour of fish. Here is why he thinks hard pellets are starting to rule over soft…
Pellets have always been the bait in which I have the most confidence. I have spent years perfecting the way that my bait is prepared and also the best ways of presenting the bait through my rigs. For a long time fishing with softened micros and a soft hook pellet/expander was the best way to approach most fisheries that I visited and at times is still a great method.
We are excited to announce a new format for the Preston Innovations Pole Fishing Pairs competition. In a break from our old league-style format, this year we are holding a series of qualifiers up and down the country, with the top three pairs from each qualifying for the Grand Final at Preston Innovations Woodland View Fishery on Saturday, March 4th.
Here, subject to turnout, and thanks to generous backing from the sponsors Preston Innovations, we will pay out over £11,000 in cash with nine pairs being paid out. The winning pair will walk away with £4,000 and the prestigious Preston Innovations Pole Fishing Pairs trophy.
