All-round master Simon Willsmore lifts the lid on his against-the-grain feeder tactics for big-water success.
If I had to say what had given me the biggest edge in match fishing over the last 10 years, it would be using my initiative to think outside the box.
I was lucky enough to live in Italy for seven years, where some very good, but also eccentric Italian anglers influenced my fishing. I also fished some very peculiar venues, and I still carry a lot of the ideas and thinking from those days with me now.
Well, look what we have here! Yet another fantastic prize for Match Fishing readers to get their hands on. . . *
*If you're having problems with the form above please click the image below*
.
England international Callum Dicks explains how less-selective baits start to rule after fish get sick of the same old pellets!
Now that we are well into English summertime and our commercial fisheries have been bombarded with pellets for the past few months, it is inevitable that the fish having to eat them will be wising up to our tactics.
It is about now that a switch back to more natural baits, such as worms, casters and maggots can give you an edge over those around you and it has certainly stood me in good stead these past few weeks!
The Venue
Packington Somers Fishery is a simply stunning venue hidden away within the Stonebridge Golf Centre in Meriden, near Coventry. The venue is home to 13 well-stocked lakes as well as a stretch of the River Blythe, totalling approximately 20 acres of idyllic water.
As well as the abundance of fish-filled lakes the site is also well equipped with an on-site cafeteria, tackle shop and toilet facilities, so, simply put, Packington Somers is set up to cater for your every need!
From the available lakes I have decided to bring you to the wonderful Molands, a 61-peg water offering superb fishing with a huge range of match-winning methods possible.
Five-time world champion Alan Scotthorne visits the mighty River Trent to demonstrate how to target river roach on the feeder.
Roach can be difficult fish to catch from stillwaters on a feeder and trying to tempt these clever fish on a river can be even more taxing. Add a tide to the equation and it becomes an even greater challenge!
This is what I am facing today on the tidal River Trent at Laughterton, in Lincolnshire. This is a river I started my angling career fishing and it has a large stock of quality roach among other species.
Steve Barraclough explains how planning where you fish and when is the key to big mixed bags.
Among the most crucial questions that anglers ask themselves before a session is what lines should they fish, and where should they fish them in order to catch the maximum amount in the quickest time possible
As crazy as it might sound, the better and more prolific the venue, the more difficult it is to get this right, because if you aren’t catching the best stamp of fish that are feeding at the shortest distance possible, you can bet your bottom dollar that someone, somewhere on the match will be!
To make mattes even more difficult, it is impossible to know for sure exactly how the fish will feed until you start fishing. So the smart way to go is to plan your attack around giving yourself options, so even if you don’t get it right straightaway, you can quickly adapt to the conditions that you are faced with and get the best from your peg.
Big Fish, Little Fish?
I like to think of myself as a very positive angler – and for me that means fishing for the biggest fish possible straightaway.
Five-time world champion Alan Scotthorne visits the mighty River Trent to demonstrate how to target river roach on the feeder.
Roach can be difficult fish to catch from stillwaters on a feeder and trying to tempt these clever fish on a river can be even more taxing. Add a tide to the equation and it becomes an even greater challenge!
This is what I am facing today on the tidal River Trent at Laughterton, in Lincolnshire. This is a river I started my angling career fishing and it has a large stock of quality roach among other species.
Claimed by Middy to be the world’s first ever chair designed for both pole and feeder fishing, the MX-100 fills an important niche in the whole seatbox/fishing chair market.
If you’re an angler for whom a seatbox is an unnecessary extravagance, you don’t want to have to settle for an unsuitable carp angler’s chair or, even worse, a garden seat. Neither option is particularly comfortable to fish from, especially if they have arms, and nor are they much suited to the demands of fishing the pole or feeder.
Enter the Middy MX-100 Pole/Feeder Recliner Chair.
Tackle Saver man Steve Shorrock does the business at this year's Natural Baits Festival held at Weston Pools Fishery!
So, that time of year has come round again and it was time for the Weston Pools Match/Pole Fishing Natural Baits Festival. Sponsored by Tri-Cast and FabTrays.
Having fished this event for the first time last year I was really looking forward to it this time around. Weston Pools is a fishery I visit regularly and already this year I have had my fair share of success at the venue, namely during the FabTray Festival in early August where I managed to finish in 2nd place overall after the five-day event.
Here's your chance to win 5 Frenzee FXT Match+ Feeder Rods with a combined worth of £399!!
FXT Match + Feeder Rods - Explained by Mick Bull
FXT Match + Feeder Rods - Explained by Mick Bull Mick Bull talks you through the Frenzee FXT Match + Feeder Rods. Available in 8ft, 8ft 6, 9ft, 9ft 6 and 10ft. Mick explains how best suited each rod is for commercial fishing. Mick will be sharing a few of his feeder tips later in the week.
Our tango-tinted typist, Dan Webb, strives to try and discover what it is that sets the legendary life-long superstars from the ‘come and go’ talent in today’s world of match fishing…
So is class actually permanent? This is the shortened version of a question one of my friends asked over Facebook. It just seems to be assumed by everyone that if an angler is a class act, they will always be a class act.
Just look at Bob Nudd; despite his dating profile stating 21 he is in fact over 70 years old, but draw next to him sat knee deep in an Irish lough in a gale with 300 roach to be caught at 14 metres and there is still more than a good chance he will batter you! He may now prefer a cup of cocoa and his slippers after a match than a pint of Guinness, but he is still a class act!
However, there are many anglers out there who 10, 20 or 30 years ago used to catch obscene amounts of fish from a lot of venues using many different methods, who you just don’t see in the media any more. Some have given up and some have health problems that limit their fishing.
