Being a ‘Tough Fjuka’ Tommy Pickering never shies away from a fish-holding snag, having developed a killer tactic to get the best from challenging situations…
Well there comes a time in every match anglers career when you just look out of the window before a fishing match and think ‘is it worth it?’. That’s precisely what happened on Saturday, I was all set to go and fish the open at Woodlands Lakes Nr Thirsk when I received a text message from Lee Kerry asking if we’d had any snow. My initial reaction was ‘shut up, it hasn’t snowed!’ but one peak out of the window confirmed that there was nearly two-inches of snow! The decision was then made to stay in bed! A wise choice as the match fished terrible anyway. It was an excuse for a much-needed lie-in followed by several cups of tea and lots of rig tying and having a general tackle sort out.
Becoming a sponsored angler is something that many people have aspirations for. Drennan’s Jon Arthur lends some sound advice for any wannabe anglers out there. 1. Treat It Like A Job Interview
My number-one piece of advice for anyone wanting to get sponsored is to treat it like a job interview.
Craig Butterfield on why sponsorship isn't always what people think. . . As
part of my job as media co-ordinator with Middy Tackle, it is my
responsibility to select and look after the sponsored anglers.
It’s that time of the year again when the team all get together to practice for the Angling Times Winter League semi final. This year it is up at Woodlands Lakes Nr Thirsk. Saturday saw me visit the venue for the first time this year, I was kind of hoping to draw on a pile of carp but that hope was short lived when I pulled out Peg 7 on Partridge. My end of the lake was flat calm when setting up, whilst the other end had a lovely ripple on it and I was sure that end would be where the carp were.
It’s a bit of a dying art these days but fishing with a float attached top and bottom is a key skill for any river angler. But what do you do if you’re faced with a downstream wind? River fishing expert Rob Perkins has the answers.
Joe Carass reflects on a couple of successful weeks at the prolific Tunnel Barn Farm!Tunnel Barn Farm has been somewhat of a second home for me this year. Since moving down here permanently in February I have found it to be the perfect place to frequent. Not only is the fishing good, but you are also fishing against some of the best anglers in the sport at that kind of fishing. Anglers such as Stu Palser, Pete Rice, Pete Caton, Steve Ringer and Paul Newell to name a few all go there regularly and as you can imagine it can be a tough nut to crack!I love a challenge though and set about trying to suss this place out.
Sunday, April 24th – Partridge Lakes Open Match. The last match of the week, I decided to have a go back on Partridge Lakes for the open match. With 85 anglers on it, it just goes to show how popular a venue it has become over the last few years.
I drew Peg 98, so it was my first time sat on Covey 4.
Phil Ringer explains just what the process and ingredients list looks like when developing a new groundbait mix.
He has been responsible for some of the best and most popular mixes over the past20 years. Classics like Ringers Original and Dark have been huge for that entire time, no matter whether bream or carp are the target.
But how does Phil go about developing a new mix? And what exactly goes into a groundbait to make it work? We joined him to take a look at the development behind the brand new Ringers Feeder mix…
The Background
I have never wanted to produce too many different groundbaits.
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.
Well I promised to give you a ‘warts ‘n’ all’ account, and even tell you when I haven’t caught a lot. Well that’s precisely what I did this weekend, caught very little!Saturday saw me visit Woodland View nr Droitwich for a practice match for the following weeks Sensas/Garbolino match. Now I would love to tell you that this was a 100 peg sell-out, but in-truth it was a very poor 13 pegger! When you consider that the five members of my team that took the effort to go, all went through a 350mile+ round trip (except Denty who would have had a shorter journey had he decided to fish on the moon) it was pretty poor. In fact everyone who attended had travelled for miles, it just proves that as popular as I maybe think it is, commercial fishery silver fish fishing isn’t so!Back to the match and we had a very interesting match, I drew on Back Deans pool and was told that there were hordes of small roach in there.
Top matchman Roy Marlow and crew go in search of big game fish. . . The team of weary anglers has arrived for the umpteenth Big Adventure in Key West Florida.
Joe Carass ponders over which flagship pole really is the best available!
Search any Internet forum and there will, in no doubt, be a which pole is best type thread. This particular subject divides opinion like no other. Anglers seem obsessed with defending their pole choices even if it is clearly not the best.
So luckily for you, we have planned for a coming issue an in depth ‘warts and all’ test on all of the flagship poles around.
