Webb’s World!
After offending most of the angling world with his last couple of rants, our irreverent scribe Dan Webb turns his savage tongue on his own breed – canal anglers!
It's been said that I've been a little rude in this column over the past few months. Some have even suggested that I'm a judgemental hypercritical keyboard s£&t slinger! It seems that I've slated and picked holes in every niche of fishing except the forms that I'm best known for. So then, there's nothing for it; you’re gunna get it now canal anglers!
Canal anglers are a strange breed, it's all about poles and moaning about boats and carp are seen as vermin. They look down their nose at anyone who fishes anything else other than the cut and on the rare occasion that they are seen fishing anywhere else, they make tedious jokes about No2 elastic and 28 hooks.
Des Shipp’s Pellet Waggler Masterclass
Des Shipp explains when fishing the waggler can give you the edge over other methods…
Fishing the waggler is a tactic that requires almost unparalleled hard work and perseverance. However, done correctly, in the right situation it can prove to be devastating, just as I proved in a recent Maver Match This qualifier at Gold Valley Lakes, where I qualified for the £65,000 grand final!
Why The Waggler?
The first and probably most obvious reason for choosing to fish a waggler over the pole is its versatility and range. You can simply fish much further out using a waggler than you can the pole; it is therefore suited perfectly for large lakes or up to features where the pole cannot reach or using a feeder isn’t suitable.
It also thrives on tightly pegged venues where fishing the waggler can create space for yourself by fishing an area of the lake nobody else is venturing into.
Sometimes you just have a day's fishing that you will never forget, well last Thursday I had one, catching my personal best match weight ever.
I had a club match on the Match Lake at Heronbrook Fisheries, with the Cheshire Maver team. The match lake at Heronbrook is only a venue I have fished only a handful of times, so went I drew peg 4 I didn't quite know what to expect, the lake holds a good head of F1s and some big Carp upto 20lb. I started the match on the method feeder loaded with 2mm sticky method pellets and a banded 6mm , chucking to the big Island in the middle of the lake, I caught a couple of small F1s and a small mirror carp within the first 15 minutes.
Forty years have flown by since the Sheffield Star first announced it was to host a major fishing competition for club match anglers. Who could possibly have thought that it would not only still be running today but positively thriving?
“This is the 20thyear I have been involved (writes organiser Bob Roberts) and I’m proud to see it is as popular as ever. The late Colin Dyson asked me if I’d mind taking over his Green Un column (a local sports newspaper) in April 1997 until ‘he got a little better. ’ Alas he never recovered but it’s a fitting tribute that the reigning Club Match Angler Champion is now presented with the Colin Dyson Memorial trophy, in his honour, a trophy provided by the late Jack Purchase to honour his memory.
Well this is my first year entering the Daiwa Pole Fishing Masters, which saw 112 anglers take to the prolific Tunnel Barn Farm Fisheries to compete over 3 days to become the UK pole champion. Anyone wanting to compete with the very best in angling then look no further than this event, its run by Pole Fishing and heavily backed by Daiwa and is certainly one of the hardest yet most exciting events to be involved with.
I had been waiting months for it to come around and couldn’t wait to get started, I had been given some info from lads who had fished the Inter Services national only days before and it was very clear that no one method was working hard and fast so I opted on the side of caution by taking several baits with me, but the main being Casters, Worm and Meat.
Day 1 saw me draw a nightmare peg which I have had the pleasure of quite a few times Peg 17 on Extension Pool, I say it’s a nightmare as it’s only around 7-8m to the island in front, even by fishing in line with the platform to my right I only managed 11m tight to the island; I chose to do this to give me as much room as possible just in case I needed to start other swims throughout the match, I also targeted the platform to my left into the bay for the big carp that can often be caught down there, and finally a topkit and 1 feeding micro’s and soft pellet on the hook for anything that swims.
Like most anglers, I work five days a week and quite often work weekends. A couple of weeks ago I had a Wednesday off work, so I decided to have a go at the open match on Blundells Fishery in Warrington.
I fish here regularly at the weekends but I had never previously fished a midweek open match. With turnouts of more than 40 anglers at weekends, the midweek matches are normally about half that and I was excited by the amount of room we would all have.
After working all weekend, I had the bank holiday Monday off work, so I decided to go to my local fishery, Meadow View. The match was a special charity memorial for Dave Berry, the former fishery owner. It took place across the whole complex and with well over 40 anglers booked on, it was great to see so much support to celebrate a top bloke.
After purchasing a few tickets for the after-match raffle it was a draw time.
Last Sunday, May 8th, I decided to stay local and have a go on the, in Lymm.
For anyone who doesn't know this fishery, it contains mainly big, old, wise carp that can sometimes be difficult to catch. The average size is about 6lb, with the odd proper munter going over 20lb.
My peg for the day was 31 on Lark, a pretty average draw because it was in the middle of the lake.
Last weekend I managed to get out on open matches both days. Saturday May 7th I went to the beautiful Partridge Lakes. With more than 80 anglers booked on, it has to be one of biggest open matches in the country.
I drew Peg 51 on Covey 3.
Last weekend I managed to get out on open matches both days. Saturday May 7th I went to the beautiful Partridge Lakes. With more than 80 anglers booked on, it has to be one of biggest open matches in the country.
I drew Peg 51 on Covey 3.
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.
So it was here, the first Fish ‘O’ Mania qualifier of the year. I always get excited on qualifiers for these big-money matches. They can be a bit of a lottery, but if you draw a decent peg you can be in with a chance.
For the last four years I have been trying to get a ticket for Partridge Lakes without any luck, but this year I managed to get on both qualifiers.
On Saturday it was back to one of my local venues, Blundells Fishery, for the open match. After six weeks away from the place, I knew the fishing would be slightly different from my last match on the venue.
It has a rover match across all the lakes. With about 40 anglers on it you need to draw a low number to get on a decent peg.
Tuesday, April 19th – Partridge Lakes Open I decided to visit Partridge Lakes on the open match for a practice before the Fish ‘O’ Mania qualifier the following day. I drew Peg 107 on Covey 5, not the best of draws, with the weather nice and sunny for a change.
On most of my visits to Partridge I seem to draw on Covey 5, so it’s probably a lake I know the best, having won a few quid off it. The stamp of F1s seems to be a lot smaller compared with Covey 1 to 4.
The Build Up
Round 1 of the Supercup had soon came round and following a practice session over the Easter weekend the Stockton Heath Angling Group (S. H. A. G) team were confident in the days leading up to the match which was being held at Goose Green Fishery near Alderley Edge.
