Displaying items by tag: fishing

Bury Hill Fisheries regular, Gavin Cambell braved ice cold conditions at the weekend and was rewarded with a new PB in the shape of 'Shoulders' weighing 31lb 4oz.

Fishing peg 24, Gavin fished a single piece of popped up corn on a sinking snowman rig over a bed of crushed hemp and particle mix just short of the right hand margin into approximately 6' of water. With water temperatures just above 3 degree's, Gavin not surprisingly had had no runs and was about to pack up at 4.30pm when his righthand rod tore off. As the big mirror kited in front of the boat house, all hell broke loose when Bury Hill's best known lady passed in front of the aerators prompting her to make a very strong run up the long bank taking 100m or so of line before Gavin could turn her, eventually landing his prize at 16.38 just as it was getting dark.

Gavin's end rig was a size 8 curved shank hook tied to a super natural hooklink with 2oz dung lead fished with a 6 feet lead core which he fished as a helicoptor set up. Gavin used a Terry Hearn Mark 2 12' 9" 3 1/4 tc rod with a Daiwa SS3000 reel loaded with 10 lb Nash Bullet line.

Source: Bury Hill Fisheries

Temple's first fish of 2009 smashes through thirty pound barrier!

Bury Hill regular Mark Savage smashed his PB with a new Temple record, the Italian weighing 36lb 2oz.

Bury Hill regular Mark Savage braved freezing conditions on Temple this weekend to bag not only a new PB, but also Temple’s first fish of 2009, a stonking 36lb 2oz mirror known as Italian 1.

Fishing peg 4, Mark who had been on the water since Friday fished a number of different methods and baits before settling on a light running rig and a balanced Questbait Rahja Spice boilie tipped with a fake corn which had been glugged for 3 months in a trick glug. Fishing a size 10 long shank blow back hook, Mark decided to try something different and opted to use a 12” Korda super natural hook length which he pinned down to the lake bed.

With tag number 138134, the big ‘Italian’ is a new PB for Mark beating his previous best fish, Temple’s Ghost which hecaught last year weighing 35lb 4oz. The Italian was last cught in May 2008 weighing 34lb 14oz.

With fish on all lakes now starting to show, expect to see more big fish caught over the coming weeks as the weather starts to improve.

It's back! The renowned Carpin' On show is back for 2009. This fantastic event which is dedicated to carp anglers is the biggest of its kind in showcasing all the latest tackle and bait available to today's angler - and it's available to buy!

Five Lakes Resort, nr Colchester, Essex - 7th & 8th March 2009

Carpin' On has an unbeatable line up of entertainments for anglers of all abilities hosted on the fabulous purpose-built indoor lake - from interactive forums and workshops to live demos and displays, the top angling stars will be on hand to answer all your carping questions and offer tips and advice on how you can improve your angling.

The last and final 10 places in the 2009 WCC have been filled making a total of 130 competing pairs. We take pride in announcing that the event has filled in record time (less than 5 weeks).

This is a record for the event. There will be several hundred anglers that will not been able to compete this year and we are looking at ways to resolve this for 2010. Anglers that have not been fortunate enough to secure a place are of course still very welcome to come and enjoy the pre event party and more details on this will be announced shortly.

With over 1.3 million rod licences sold last year, the Environment Agency says 2009 is set to be a bumper year for angling

Record number of rod licence sales last year as credit crunch bites

More than 1.3 million people took to the rivers in 2008 fully armed with a fishing rod and licence in a bid to find credit crunch-friendly entertainment that won’t break the bank.

Rod licence sales hit a record high last year and are predicted to increase by a further 26,000 this year as cash-strapped consumers seek out cheap alternatives to increasingly expensive trips to the cinema, football and theatre.

At just £25 for a full year’s coarse fishing licence, and with rod and line packages starting from around £30, fishing is becoming the price-savvy consumer’s pastime of choice, coming in at under £5 a month. Annually, that’s £40 cheaper than a monthly trip to the cinema (without overpriced snacks), over £300 cheaper than a monthly theatre ticket, and over £500 cheaper than a Premier League season ticket.

Mat Crocker, Head of Fisheries at the Environment Agency, said: “Angling is one of the most popular participator sports in the world – and is a cheap, healthy and environmentally friendly pastime that everyone can enjoy. It brings huge social and community benefits as well as contributing to the conservation and biodiversity of our waterways.

“Environment Agency research also shows that anglers generate around £1billion in revenue every year – a vital contribution to the UK economy.“

Rod licence sales generate over £23 million in revenue each year, which the Environment Agency ploughs directly back into the sport.

The £25 rod licence fee helps pay for habitat improvement works, fisheries research, monitoring and advice to owners on fish stocks. It also funds the specialist equipment used in fish rescues and enforcement to protect fish stocks, as well as the Environment Agency’s fish farms at Calverton and Leyland. These fish farms provide hundreds of thousands of fish which are stocked to improve popular angling spots and rivers across England and Wales.

Improved river quality over the past decade has also helped boost fish stocks for the sport – for example, salmon numbers in England and Wales have increased by 40,000 in the last ten years thanks to better water quality and improved habitats.

Buying a new rod licence couldn’t be easier – around 15,000 Post Offices and other outlets sell them; a direct debit can be set up, and they can be purchased over the telephone on 0870 166 2662. Alternatively buy online at www.environment-agency.gov.uk/rodlicence any time, day or night.

The first rod licences were issued in the 1860s for the newly created fishery districts. Much like today, they were available to buy at the post office. The cost of a licence varied across the districts and a licence had to be purchased for every district in which you fished. A national rod licence was introduced 1992, allowing anglers to fish anywhere in England and Wales with just one licence.

For more information about fishing in England and Wales visit www.environment-agency.gov.uk/fish

source: Environment Agency Fishing News

Today (6 January 2009) at Newcastle-under-Lyme Magistrates Court, fishing without a valid rod licence cost nine cheating anglers a total of £1,425.

The offences related to instances of fishing without a rod licence at locations in Whitmore, Chesterton and Consall.

It should send a clear message to anglers that a day’s fishing in North Staffordshire without an Environment Agency rod licence could prove very expensive indeed, with a maximum possible fine of £2,500.

Speaking after the cases, Environmental Crime Team Leader, Doug Freakley, said: “Anglers who fish without a valid rod licence need to be aware that our Water Bailiffs are out and about checking rod licences. As today’s results demonstrate, sooner or later they are going to get caught and we won’t hesitate to prosecute.

“Not only does a prosecution prove costly, with fines of up to £2,500, it also marks an angler out as someone who cheats his fellow anglers. When you buy a rod licence, the money is used to help fund our work managing fisheries and improving the sport for everyone. So if you don’t buy a rod licence, you reduce the pleasure of the sport for everyone else.

“The message from this court case is loud and clear – if you haven’t got a valid rod licence, get one today.”

Source: Environment Agency Fishing News

My first time pike fishing was at Loch Tummel in Scotland.

Caught a 23 pounder on a mackerel tail injected with smelly fish oil - did the trick obviously.

Andrew Gray - June 2008

I have fished at Wood Lane on about 6 occasions and have never failed to catch a good head of fish. In the middle of August I was fishing the smaller island lake on a Sunday with bread and sweetcorn on the ledger. By noon there wasn't much action, so I used a small spinning rod with just a size 8 hook attached and stalked the far right corner of the lake with one inch chunks of bread crust.

I had spotted lots of activity just in front of the reeds at this end. By 6 O'clock I had caught 15 carp, mostly mirror but at least three common. Most were around the 6-7lb but one made 11lbs. It was a very satisfying afternoons fishing. For every fish I caught, I saw 10 of my crusts spat and tail flapped into crumbs by these wily old fish. All the fish were in good condition and put up a healthy fight.

John Freshwater, September 2008

The ACA held its EGM in Birmingham on Monday 8 December and agreed to change its name to Fish Legal and to join forces with the Angling Trust in England, with a proxy vote of 1,484 in favour to 67 against the change. This resounding vote opens an exciting new chapter for the organisation.

We have sent new membership forms to all English individual members and club packs to all English clubs, riparian owners, commercial fisheries and trade members are being sent out at the moment. Members in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland will continue their membership with Fish Legal. There will be more information available at www.anglingtrust.net and www.fishlegal.net when these web sites go live early in January.

The office will be closed over Christmas, but will reopen on 5 January when we will be happy to answer any questions members might have about the changes.

News from the Legal Department…

The ACA are delighted to have won damages for the Grantham Angling Association following the shocking pollution of the River Witham back in 2002. In the early hours of 3 April, 25,000 litres of chemical fertiliser poured from an agricultural storage tank, made its way into a nearby ditch and flowed downhill into the Witham. The chemical pollution moved slowly along the river, leaving a trail of destruction in its wake, with dead fish obvious for up to 15 km downstream from the point at which the pollution entered the watercourse and raised ammonia levels detected as far as 38km away. Brown trout, chub, roach, grayling and barbel all perished and near to the source of the pollution the chemicals were so concentrated that a dog died within minutes of jumping into the river for a swim. The valve on the tank was allegedly forced open in an act of vandalism and those responsible were never found. The Environment Agency prosecuted the suppliers of the agricultural chemicals, Omex Agricultural, who had supervised the siting of the tank on high ground, in an uninhabited farmyard, with inadequate security. In bringing a civil claim, the ACA won £6,000 in damages for the GAA and also recovered costs.

In an additional case, the ACA defended a spurious claim brought against the Grantham Angling Association by one of its ex-volunteer water bailiffs. The bailiff - now banned for life from the club - claimed for £700 worth of damage to his vehicle after allegedly driving over a loose bit of concrete on the access road to club's fishery. The claim was heard at Grantham County Court on 8th December 2008 but was dismissed on the grounds that the GAA was not liable for the alleged accident.

We are also celebrating a settlement on behalf of the Common Bank Angling Club based in Chorley, Lancashire. On two separate occasions in March 2006 usual suspect United Utilities allowed raw sewage to spew into a feeder stream that led to our member's lake, the Common Bank Lodge. The two spillages were attributed to a failure at a poorly maintained pumping station. Damage to the lake was compounded by a simultaneous diesel spill, allegedly coming from a nearby hospital. Several hundred perch, roach, gudgeon, bream, carp and a few pike were killed - the majority dying slowly from lack of oxygen, with flocks of gulls visiting in the days that followed to pick off the dead fish floating on the surface. Despite this pollution effectively destroying the fishery the club were surprised and disappointed with the Environment Agency's decision only to send a warning letter to the utility company with no further legal action. The ACA took on the case and won £4,000 for the club.

In mid-Wales, the ACA has secured £10,000 for the New Dovey Fisheries Association from Network Rail in recompense for embankment works on the River Dyfi that re-directed the watercourse, leaving precious sea trout pools in an old meander loop shallow and unfishable.

In Alfreton, Derbyshire, we have taken on a new case on behalf of the Excel Hatchery. A pipe owned and controlled by Severn Trent Water burst in September this year polluting our member's fishery, killing a large number of fish and leaving a large amount of deposited sewage in the lake. The club approached the ACA following a lack of response from Severn Trent Water and the Environment Agency. Meanwhile, three months after the burst, the sewage remains in the lake.

In other legal department news, we are pleased to announce that both Guy Linley-Adams, head solicitor here at the ACA and our man in Edinburgh, Bob Younger are both now qualified to practice in Scotland having studied for and passed the Law Society for Scotland's qualifying exams. This will remove the need for the ACA to instruct private agent solicitors in Scotland in order to issue proceedings and will mean that we operate more efficiently and can recover costs more easily following successful settlements north of the border.

Finally, we would like to thank two clubs for very kindly donating funds. Methyr Tydfil Angling Association donated £5,000 and Grantham Angling Association have given £1,000 following the successful conclusion of cases on the Taf Fechan and the Witham respectively. We are extremely grateful for these generous donations that will be ploughed back into our work to protect fisheries and the freshwater environment.

All that remains is to wish all our supporters a very Merry Christmas and a united New Year.

Source: www.a-c-a.org

All the organisations participating in the creation of the Angling Trust have now undertaken the necessary constitutional steps to wind up their existing operations and form the Angling Trust on 5 January 2009.

The National Federation of Anglers (NFA) held an Extraordinary General Meeting at the National Water Sports Centre in Nottingham on Saturday 6 December to approve the dissolution of the NFA and the transfer of its assets and staff to the Angling Trust. The meeting was attended both by individual and club members who voted 30 to 2 for the resolution.

The National Federation of Sea Anglers (NFSA) held an EGM at Buckfastleigh in Devon on Saturday 6th December at which the membership approved the proposals to allow the winding up of the NFSA and the transfer of its assets to Angling Trust. Including proxy votes, the membership supported the 3 proposals by a margin of 418 to1, 418 to 1 and 412 to 8 respectively.

The Anglers’ Conservation Association (ACA) held its EGM in Birmingham on Monday 8 December and agreed to change its name to Fish Legal and to become a part of the Angling Trust with a proxy vote of 1,484 in favour to 67 against the change.

The National Association of Fisheries and Angling Consultatives (NAFAC) and the Specialist Anglers Alliance (SAA) had both approved the merger with their respective memberships earlier in the year and therefore there are now no constitutional reasons for the merger not to go ahead as planned at the start of 2009.

All the organisations are now writing to their existing individual, club, riparian and fishery owner members with information about the benefits on offer from the Angling Trust. These include free public liability insurance for individual members, along with the innovative Fish For Free scheme which can earn Angling Trust members more than the cost of their subscription in cashback on fishing tackle and the annual rod licence. For angling clubs and riparian and fishery owners, there is a new discounted insurance package on offer which will offer savings of hundreds of pounds on existing cover.

Terry Fell, Chairman of the NFA commented,
“This is a very historic occasion both for the NFA and the sport of angling as a whole. The NFA has been in existence since 1903 and has a wealth of history; however the board believes that now is the right time to bring together all of angling’s assets and create one Governing Body for the sport. There is a huge wealth of expertise and experience in the Angling Trust and we are all looking forward to working with the other parties involved. The success of the Angling Trust will rely upon the support of the angling community and I would urge anyone who has an interest in the sport to join up and support The Voice of Angling: the Angling Trust.”

Richard Ferré, Chairman of the NFSA said,
“The NFSA is proud to be a part of the formation of the Angling Trust. Sea anglers share an interest in many issues with their freshwater counterparts and we will be much stronger if we pool our resources. The new Angling Trust will build on the work we have undertaken for many years, lobbying for greater protection for marine fish stocks and running national and international competitions on and off shore.”

Stephen Marsh-Smith, Chairman of the ACA said,
“The ACA’s unrivalled record of taking polluters and others to task will be continued by the Angling Trust under a new brand: Fish Legal. All clubs, fisheries and riparian owners in England should join the Angling Trust and Fish Legal to benefit from this unique legal protection. Now that we are one organisation, we will be able to link the legal work with proactive campaigns to change policy and practice and to stop damage to fisheries happening in the first place.”

Mike Heylin, Secretary of SAA said,
“We have finally achieved the dream of a united front for angling with Angling Trust. Now we have to do the hard work of delivering for the nation’s anglers and the fisheries they enjoy. I urge all anglers to join as soon as they can. It takes money to defend angling from national as well as European policymakers.”

Martin Read, Executive Chairman of NAFAC said,
“It has been a long time coming, but now the talking is over its time for action.”

Trevor Johnson, Chairman of Milton Keynes Angling Association, commented,
“One body – speaking with one voice for England’s anglers – is now the only way forward if our sport is to survive and prosper. But let no-one think that it is all done and dusted...that all we have to do now is go fishing. If this is going to work anglers have to put their hands in their pockets and give Angling Trust their support – whether they fish for bass off Cornwall, carp in Milton Keynes or trout in a northern beck. Old rivalries and narrow interests are going to have to be put aside and everyone, at all levels, must work for the common good of our sport. That will not be easy for some...but it has to done.”

Mark Lloyd, Chief Executive of Angling Trust commented,
“the Angling Trust will not only continue the work of all these bodies, but it will also do much more. We will now be able to represent all anglers much more efficiently and effectively. All the staff of the organisations involved are working flat out to make sure that everything is in place for the launch in January. We all hope that every angler’s New Year resolution will be to join the Angling Trust.”

Source: www.nfadirect.com