David Haynes continues his conversation with the genial big guy, Des Shipp.
DH: You’ve been a regular in the England setup for how long now?
DS: About 13 years, I think it is.
DH: How did that come about?
DS: I was fishing for Dorking and those people that fish for England basically come through Starlets, Barnsley and Dorking – they’re the three teams from which the England team normally gets chosen.
I had good success with Dorking, then I started fishing the Sensas Challenge matches, which are really important with Mark Downes there, the England captain, and I did well in some of them.
Words and pics: Steve Haywood
River master Joe Oakes visits the River Soar to demonstrate how to put together a match-winning weight of perch.
Perch are abundant in natural venues and regularly take part in the weighing-in ceremony, sometimes in the starring role or maybe a bit part in a well-rehearsed silvers’ onslaught, but on some days they can be the saviour of a very difficult day.
But how much attention do we give the perch? The role they play is definitely forced by the matchman’s hand and it’s the specifics of the venue and a careful nod to the conditions that will determine their appearance.
Today we are on the River Soar in Leicestershire and here the perch will always figure to some extent in match weights, and Middy’s Joe Oakes is certainly a fan.
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Single balls for Skimmer Success.
Catching big weights is of skimmers is not as easy as you might sometimes imagine. The biggest problem, believe it or not, is having too many fish in your swim!
Mark Pollard thinks that getting your feeding right is the secret to a trouble free skimmer session
Fishing on a knife edge
Early to mid spring is a strange time in fishing as the fish haven't quite fully woken up yet, but Dynamite Baits' Alex Dockerty there is still a way of catching well if you're clever. .
Bag yourself some new luggage with this great new gear from Octbox.
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Bag yourself some new luggage with this great new gear from Octbox.
Simply fill out the boxes below for your chance to win! *If the form below doesn't work please click here*
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Feed ‘em and leave ‘em
Putting together a match-winning catch on a canal is not easy, although there are some anglers that make the most difficult things look simple. Lee Wright is one of those anglers and we joined him to find out just what he does that makes building a big catch look effortless.
Something I’ve always found on canals is that if you can keep catching fish you’ll rarely be far away from the main frame. This may sound a bit obvious, but one thing I see far too many anglers doing is sitting on a swim waiting for something to happen.
Well-known for his commercial exploits, Adam Richards has taken the decision to enjoy some proper river fishing… and he’s been learning fast!
In recent years I have fallen in love with proper, natural river fishing, and I mean rivers where there isn’t a pole in sight and the walks are long! Rivers such as the Swale in North Yorkshire, where we are today, have really captured my imagination and I’ve had some great results.
I guess the key for me is how stripped back the fishing is. You don’t need loads of gear and the entire match is based around trying to outwit the crafty chub that inhabit the river.
The appeal for me of a winter day’s chub fishing means that I rarely go on commercials during these colder months.
Prepare For Winter With Frenzee
Winter can be a tricky time for commercial fishing but Frenzee has some great kit to help make your next session a success.
The Swim Searchers
Carp and F1s will often back off into space throughout the winter and a great way to exploit that is by using a light bomb or feeder setup that allows you to search the area without causing too much disturbance.
Short rods come into their own in this situation. The 8ft 6in FXT Match+ is the perfect rod for those winter snake lakes and smaller intimate commercial lakes.
With 2018 arguably heralding the beginning of a new era for Maver, we are delighted to confirm the signing of none other than England Feeder Team Manager, Tommy Pickering.
Originally from South Kirkby, the 62-year old Doncaster-based rod is no stranger to most having established himself as a household name on the back of an extremely decorative angling career spanning more than five decades. In that time, Tommy has fished at the sports highest level amassing an incredible selection of silverware from both domestic and international events including team and individual accomplishments.
Tommy’s angling career showed a great deal of promise early on with the then seventeen (17) year old enjoying numerous successes at club level.
