Dates Confirmed For Sensas Pairs League. Dates have been announced for the Sensas Pairs League. Starting just after Christmas, the popular series attracted 56 anglers last year. This year, numbers are expected to increase still further, with dates being arranged so as not to clash with the Thorne Pairs Competition.
Close fought battle in Soar Valley Winter LeagueAny angler who thought that the days of close fought team competitions are dead, should check out the latest result of the Soar Valley Winter League- where Matrix Dynamite Trentmen and the newly entered Leicester Sensas are having an extremely tight fought battle. After taking an early lead in the first round, defending champions Trentmen were sitting pretty at the top of the league. The second round saw a dramatic change however, as Leicester made the most of a brilliant draw to win the round with 27pts- and more importantly open up a 14 point lead over Trentmen in the overall league stakes. The third round saw Leicester further their lead, though it was a much closer result, with a moody river seeing both teams yielding some poor section scores.
Organisers concern for popular canal series. The Stainforth and Keadby Canal at Thorne has been one of the UK’s most prolific winter venues over recent years- yet this year attendances look set to plummet. Organiser, Mark Silman has had just 15 anglers book on the pre Christmas Individual league, four teams of four on the Al Bailey memorial, and just four pairs on the Thorne Pairs- that has sold out at 100 anglers for the last three years. He told Angling News Week “I am really concerned at how little interest the matches seem to have attracted this year, especially when you consider how good the fishing is.
Sean Ashby’s 30lb carp, and Andy Kinder’s winter margin secrets inside…In the news this week, we have loads of specimen fish captures, with massive salmon, carp, cod and perch gracing anglers’ nets. Of all the above, the salmon must rank as the most impressive – a cock fish estimated at between 35lb and 50lb from the River Tweed on the Scottish border! We have the incredible story inside, straight from the ghillie’s mouth…Also, match fishing World Champion Sean Ashby had a session to remember on the first day of the recent Sensas Challenge Final, after banking a 30lb carp – on light silver-fish tackle – and we have news of a German carp angler who has been taking some startling catches on a new bait. On top of this, there is the tale of the night fisherman who was ravaged by a fox, and the tackle company that sold out of an entire range of flagship poles just two weeks after their launch!Plus we have a host of other great features, including an instructional video from top matchman Andy Kinder on how to bag up down the edge in the cold!We also have match tackle under the spotlight, and Darren Cox bream fishing at Coombe Abbey. Click here to pick up your copy today!.
Match Fishing’s Joe Carass has had a good weekend at his regular haunt – Tunnel Barn Farm!Well it would seem that winter is well and truly here now. It seems to be upon us much earlier than the previous two years. Hopefully it wont have too much of an adverse effect on the fishing as I love my winter fishing!This week has seen me on Round Two of the Tunnel Barn winter league with the Match Fishing Drawbags team. You may recall we came second in the first round so we were hoping for a slightly better result in round two.
16 year old wins inaugaral Cob House Challenge Contest. Young Sam Prosser became the winner of the first-ever Cob House Challenge contest, ran by Jim Burton in association with MatchBox and Old Ghost. This innovative tournamnet consists of three 90-minute matches in one day, with each angler fishing three different pegs on the fish-filled Wyatt's Lake. The first match is pole only and anglers must fish a minimum of nine metres out.
Every one seems to only talk about success stories here’s something Rob Wootton thinks we can all relate to. . . The team I’m fishing for this year has had a mixed start to their winter league campaign on the river Soar - a soul destroying team last on the first round on an out of sorts river knocked the confidence a little but when we finished second in the next round we knew that there was still hope of a turnaround.
Old Ghost rod wins last Cob House Challenge. Poor weather meant a much lower turnout for the third and final Cob House 3-Way Challenge in association with MatchBox and Old Ghost. Fished on Wyatt's Lake, John Watson headed the field with a perfect nine-point score and a total of 156lb 4oz over the three heats. The Old Ghost and MatchBox rod had 46lb 12oz off Peg 22 on the pole-only round, 36lb 14oz off Peg 26 on the rod-and-line heat and then 93lb 8oz from Peg 5 on the final freestyle heat.
Pole Fishing Editor to donate this month's match winnings to charity. In his latest blog, Pole Fishing’s Editor ponders the importance of money in match fishing. It is a topic hot on the lips of many anglers at the moment, given the current trend towards qualifying matches and big-money finals. He ends the piece by promising to donate all his monthly winnings to Movember - the charity set up to raise money for testicular and prostate cancer causes.
Big turnouts expected in new match series. Hayfield Lakes has long been known for it’s fantastic carp fishing, but it is the quality of the silver fish fishing that is setting tongues wagging in the angling world. Preston ace, Lee Kerry recently shot a feature at the venue, and commented: "The fishing really is unbelievably good, anglers have the option to target carp or silver fish depending on how the venue is fishing. I caught well over 40lb of silverfish on bloodworm and joker the other day, in a catch that included crucians, perch, skimmers and some clonking roach.
