Preston ace secures place in Match This Final. Preston Innovations England feeder team captain Tommy Pickering has won a place in the £50,000 Maver Match This Final, after winning the qualifier at The Oaks Lakes in North Yorkshire. Tommy drew Peg 25 on Beech Pool, and left his feeder rod in his bag – opting to fish pole and pellet shallow at just seven metres. Offering a banded 4mm pellet over 4mm feed pellets, Tommy ended the match with a winning 125-06-00 to finish a clear 20lb ahead of the rest of the field.
Hemsworth rod in Fish 'O' Mania FinalFormer England Youth International, Dale Shepherd has won the debut Fish 'O' Mania qualifier at Aston Ponds in Sheffield. The 23-year-old ace managed to net 67lb of ide, fishing up in the water with casters. Drawn on Peg 6 on the venue's Split Pond, Dale netted over 150 fish for his weight - which put him 5lb clear of second place. Runner up on the day was local rod Leon Hardwick, who caught a 62lb 12oz net of ide from Lantra Pool.
Second series of 'Fishing in the Footsteps of Mr Crabtree' announced. A second series of the popular angling TV show, 'Fishing in the Footsteps of Mr Crabtree' has been scheduled – and the organisers are on the look out for young anglers to get involved. A press release from the producers explained: "‘Fishing in the Footsteps of Mr. Crabtree – The Quest’ will bring viewers back into the world of Crabtree, but this time we’ll be setting ourselves some new and greater challenges.
New additive accounts for massive countrywide catches. A new bait additive that many anglers have described as the smelliest substance that they have ever come across has been accounting for some massive catches up and down the country. The additive, that the creators have simply named ‘Stinky Stuff’ is the result of over two years of scientific development. Creator, David Bailey explained: "The name Stinky Stuff came from people asking: "What's that stinky stuff?" when we were trialling it.
Five top rods reveal their No1 angling tip!When it comes to catching big weights of fish, and winning matches, it is difficult to get a better list of names than we have below. We have picked their brains to reveal their five number-one tips to put more fish in your net this bank holiday. Enjoy!Alan Scotthorne (Drennan/ Sensas) Preconceived ideas lead to disaster!If you drive to a venue expecting to catch in a certain way, you could very well be setting yourself up to fail. I have learnt this lesson myself the hard way, on commercial fisheries – when today's successful bait or method could very well be totally useless tomorrow.
Spring Bank Holiday promotion encourages anglers to take a friend fishing for free. The Take A Friend Fishing (TAFF) campaign, organised and run by the Angling Trades Association, is back again this Spring Bank Holiday weekend. TAFF is designed to encourage regular anglers to take their family members and friends fishing to let them try the sport for themselves. Free one-day rod licences (each worth £3.
Underwater secrets revealed. Match Fishing Magazine has launched a new series that sheds light on exactly what goes on under the water. The series is the brainchild of Match Fishing's Editorial Assistant, Joe Carass, who has taken a lead from the carp fishing world – where underwater filming has revolutionised the way anglers fish. Joe has enlisted the help of Rob Hughes – an experienced underwater cameraman, and keen carp angler.
Reserve ticket sees Browning rod in Fisho FinalBrowning Hotrods ace, Andy Leathers has qualified for the Fish 'O' Mania Final, after winning last weekend's qualifier at Barford Lakes, in Norfolk. Heavy rain overnight and cold conditions all day made for a hard match for most, but with a few anglers failing to turn up, Andy was left with plenty of room and a spare peg to his left!Drawing Peg 30, Andrew fished worm and caster to the corner, and worm and groundbait down the edge. He was able to keep fish coming virtually all day, and win the match with a 154lb 15oz net of F1s and carp to 10lb. Runner up was Middy rod, Marc Rodger who drew Peg 3 on the Top Lake, where he fished pellet shallow down the edge to net carp and F1s for his 91lb net.
Awesome Andy makes it three finals in three years. Preston Innovations and Sonubaits-backed ace, Andy Powers has qualified for the Maver Match This Final for the third year on the trot, after winning the qualifier at Boldings Fishery in Shropshire. Andy is now the first angler to qualify for all of the Match This finals to date – a truly unbelievable achievement by the Somerset-based rod. Andy drew Peg 28 on Chestnut and opted to fish caster shallow to catch F1s ranging between 1-3lb.
Drennan Cup Champ wins Ivan Marks memorial with 238lb haul. Shimano and Dynamite Baits-backed angling consultant Rob Wootton has won the Ivan Marks memorial weekend, with a 238lb haul of carp. The catch marks the third time that Rob has won the prestigious trophy, with all three winning weights being in excess of 200lb. Rob explained: “Of all the matches that I fish in the course of a year, the Ivan Marks Memorial means a lot to me – not just because it is a prestigious event to win, but also because I knew Ivan, and he was a great inspiration to me.
Famous scales manufacturer weighs in with new media!Weighing scales and tackle firm Reuben Heaton is embracing the internet and social media to raise awareness of its products. The
firm is ensuring that interested parties can get up-to-date news
information about the company, its products, the latest press releases
and event information as it happens from its RSS feed via this link: www. reubenheaton. co.
Counter shows some venues have less than 10 tickets remaining. . . The Angling Trust has added a counter facility to the Riverfest 2013 page on its website which has revealed that some venues have as few as seven tickets remaining.
Historic Spring festival celebrates 30th Anniversary. As one of the oldest commercial fisheries in the Country, it is hardly suprising that Docklow Pools in Herefordshire boasts some of the oldest commercial fishing competitions - but the famous 'Jacko's Festival' that is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year must surely go down as one of the oldest. The event was originally run by venue owners Mike & Josie Bozward, who founded Docklow Pools back in 1972! As Mike reflects on the Docklow website, back in those days the charge for rent in the Farmhouse was just £1 a night!For the last 25 years Dave “Jacko” Jack & Phil Hoad from Essex have taken over the running of the festival,and created quite a following. Jacko explained: "At first, the event ran over Easter, and in the early days the close season rules were still in force - which meant targetting coarse fish was illegal, so Mike would stock some trout in the lakes, which we would fish for with worms.
Star studded open day at Norwich store. Angling Direct have announced a star studded open day at their Norwich store. The day is to be attended by Daiwa star anglers, Will Raison, Steve Ringer and Kieron Rich, who will be demonstrating and discussing their favourite tackle, tactics and techniques. The day will include a tank demonstration, bait and rigs clinics, plus lots more!The store are also offering a 10% discount off everything in store, except price checked items.
Reading rod leads UK Championship. Paul Holland has won the opening round of the Preston Innovations UK Angling Championship, with a 68 kilo 500g bag of carp and F1s from peg 14 on Maver Larford's Match Lake. The Preston Innovations and Sonubaits ace took victory by the narrowest of margins, after beating Shimano Dynamite rod, Nick Speed by just 820 grams. He explained: "I had a lovely day, catching a few fish on pellets short, before moving on to a long pole line, where I caught some fish on caster shallow, and hard pellet on the bottom.
