Following a high level intervention by the Angling Trust last year Fisheries Minister Richard Benyon announced at the 2011 Angling Summit in the House of Commons that he is now prepared to take "bold decisions" and overhaul the procedures for controlling cormorants and other fish eating birds that are causing so much damage to our game and coarse fish stocks. Read on for the latest news...

The Angling Trust is in there fighting on your behalf to get the best possible deal for anglers. We have attended several meetings of the new Defra Licensing Review group along with representatives from the RSPB, Natural England and others. There are more of these meetings planned, and we are currently undertaking a major research project to develop detailed case studies of the damage caused by fish-eating birds based on the information that our members and others have sent us.

We are taking Mr. Benyon on a visit to a major cormorant roost so he can see for himself the problems these birds are causing. Our Cormorant Control Hotline in partnership with BASC continues to help our members successfully complete the lengthy form filling involved in applying for a license to control fish eating birds. The Angling Trust is also supporting the excellent work of the Avon Roach Project and is helping to ensure that their petition calling for much greater controls of cormorants is presented directly to the minister at Defra along with the feedback we have received from people like yourself via www.cormorantwatch.org.

We expect there to be some announcements of minor changes to licensing procedures in the next few weeks in advance of any major changes which might be announced in the spring of 2012. Ultimately we are looking for much more radical solutions, but this will take time.

The information generated by anglers about the number and location of sightings collected through Cormorant Watch is important in supporting our case and showing the strength of feeling this issue has generated amongst anglers, fishery owners and others involved in the angling industry.

Campaigning on this issue, along with everything else we do for angling, is time-consuming and expensive. Please help the Angling Trust to help angling by making a donation to support our costs, by encouraging every angler you know to join and by renewing your membership promptly (ideally by Direct Debit) each year. The Angling Trust is rapidly becoming a force to be reckoned with, but we need far more support from the angling world if we are to take on more major campaigns such as Cormorant Watch.

Source: Angling Trust Fishing News

Golden Balls are at it again. Created in 2004 to raise money for a well deserved charity, Cancer Research UK, Golden Balls have just released details of their latest charity fishing competition which takes place at Wylands International Angling Centre on Saturday 14th April 2012.

It's sure to be a great success, we wish them well.

Visit the Golden Balls website

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Angling’s representative body the Angling Trust has welcomed the Environment Agency’s announcement that proposed charges for trapping American non-native crayfish are to be dropped.

The Angling Trust submitted a response to the recent consultation on this subject urging the Environment Agency not to introduce this very unpopular charge.  Trust staff are delighted that anglers’ views have been taken into account.  A rapidly growing number of waters have been infested with signal crayfish, which eat young fish and eggs, burrow into river banks, and can make angling impossible in some waters.  The non-native crayfish also carry a plague against which native English crayfish have no immunity.

Mark Lloyd, Chief Executive of the Angling Trust said:
“signal crayfish are a menace to fish and fishing and every effort must be taken to stop their spread and reduce their numbers.  We are pleased that common sense has for once prevailed.  The EA should never have given permission for them to be allowed into the country in the first place.  To charge anglers and fishery managers for removing such a damaging critter from rivers and lakes would have been ridiculous.”

Licences will continue to be required to ensure that traps are properly designed and that trapping doesn’t cause damage through spread of disease.

Source: Angling Trust Fishing News

Following the great success of the inaugural World Catfish Classic, details of the 2012 World Catfish Classic have just been released. The event will take place on 23rd - 25th May on the River Ebro Spain and will see even greater numbers of the top catfish anglers from around the world assemble to battle it out for the Title of World Catfish Classic Champions 2012.

The river lived up to its reputation in the first event with a huge 203 lbs Catfish being caught by the French team and what a great fish it was. The event itself could not have been closer with the Dutch pair of Arnout Terlouw and Ron Beugelink just pipping the American Phil King and Tim Haynie by 600 gr in the last hour of the event to create a nail biting climax. The entire event had a tremendous atmosphere that was enjoyed by all and everybody who participated is looking forward to the forthcoming event.

There are going to be a few very slight changes for the next event and these are:

* The draw at the opening ceremony will decide the competitors peg for the first day and the zone order for the event. There will be a draw on each night for the two following nights to see what the peg numbers competitors will fish the following day. The zones will be decided on the first draw and follow on from that so for example if peg B5 was draw at the opening ceremony then on day 2
the competitors would fish in zone C and day 3 zone A.

* Change in possible angling combination: Pair (2 anglers) or Trio (3 anglers) but only 4 rods can be used.

* A clearly identified Team Runner will also be allowed in Pair's combination.

* 50 kg of bait can be used per day and this can be either squid, halibut pellets or boilies.

* If a fish is snagged competitors can call the marshal and it may then be allowed for one of the anglers to go out in a boat to free the fish from the snag. The rod must stay on the bank at all times. The freed fish will count in the event.

The rest of the rules remains the same.

Berkley are the event title sponsor for the second year as well as new sponsors Black Cat, Rod-Box and Carplove who will join PVTV as Zone Sponsors, Reuben Heaton as the official scales sponsor and a large selection of support sponsors.

There will be a tremendous £50,000 prize table for competitors to compete for and the organisers are very grateful to the sponsors for their support in making this possible.

As part of our ongoing commitment to the environment, Friends of the Ebro will continue to campaign for clean riverbanks on the Ebro.

10 places for Hungary and 10 places for Romania have already been snapped up highlighting the interest that there is in the 2012 event. If you would like to secure your place in the event register now by going to the on line registration at www.worldcatfishclassic.com.

Further Details: World Catfish Classic

Over past seasons Kalum River Lodge have had a number of young anglers and they have always found this to be a fun and rewarding experience for all involved. This year they are holding a Youth Week from the 25th July to 1st August. This special week is designed for young persons aged 16 to 25 year to experience fishing the world's greatest rivers for Salmon, Steelhead and Trout..

Kalum River Lodge’s Youth Week is a unique opportunity for young people aged 16 to 25 to experience fishing on the world’s greatest rivers in the stunning wilderness of British Columbia. During this action packed week you will fish on the world famous Skeena River for salmon, Steelhead and trout, and float down the scenic Kitimat river.

Experienced guides will teach beginners how to fish and help more experienced anglers improve their fishing skills. After an exciting day out on the river you can enjoy a nature walk through the forest, relax on the sun deck and take in the spectacular mountain views or play soccer on the lawn.

Join fellow young anglers from around the world for a fishing trip of a lifetime.

Our Youth Week Package includes:

• 6-days fully guided fishing
• accommodation
• all meals and fishing tackle

$4350 CDN per angler

Further Details: Kalum River Lodge

When autumn, winter and early spring conditions make carp much harder to catch you need to really think about how you are using your baits, if you are using them to their full potential to catch the most fish, and how you can do things to improve your catches. Many readymade baits may well be actually reducing your chances of getting as many bites as possible. Maximise your chances of bites to a much greater degree and read on now to find out more!

If you are using high protein baits in cold water temperatures in particular this can seriously reduce your catch rate. The reason for this is very simple. In low temperatures fish may take well over 12 hours or more; or even 3 days to digest your bait before it begins to feed again. Meanwhile it is busy not feeding and using energy digesting the bait it has already consumed. This is not exactly the situation you want because every hour that fish are not feeding but digesting baits is wasted fishing time! You might be aware that in past decades very high protein milk ingredient dominated baits were usually used very sparingly compared to the mass baiting of fish based pellets and boilies for instance in use today.

Very many cold water bait designs exploiting a mere 22 percent protein for instance will be digested much faster in low temperatures and you can expect fish eating and filling up on your baits to have digested them in just 8 hours for instance - and then again be actively feeding again (and so available to catch once again.) This of course means you get far more chances of more bites as you have more actively feeding fish available.

In some respects high protein boilies are probably more suited to pre-baiting scenarios in many situations and periods of the year where you can leave a baited swim for 3 days and expect to find actively feeding fish looking for more of your bait upon your return. It makes logical sense that when fish are full of high protein bait they need a longer period to digest such baits during which your bait is not catching you fish if you are trying to catch them during this period of time.

Full up fish tend to move away from actively fished baited areas in order to find somewhere quiet to most efficiently digest their food. Often such quieter areas are not the kind of areas in lakes that produce very many fish. Similarly such areas are often the retreat of fish that have been recently hooked and are in a state of recovery.

Also it may be noticed that in the case of big fish on angling-pressured waters, more frequently than not the majority of the fish will be caught in areas that receive the largest volumes of free baits This is something that Dave Lane and Terry Hearn and Jim Shelley exploit all the time by massively baiting up regularly even in winter…

This is just a simple indication of how extremely energy-efficient carp so often are in their feeding even despite the pressures angling puts on them. It is obviously energy-efficient to browse regularly fed areas particularly when your instinctive behavioural defence mechanisms for dealing with suspicious baits and rigs is extremely well honed from 24 hours-a-day practice!

Now just in case you are a the type of angler who continues to use oily pellets and fish meal boilies for example into winter, you might be over-looking this fact but if your bait is steeped in oils in cold conditions this will reduce or in very low temperatures totally prevent digestion of various elements of your baits! Oils of many kinds actually seal up your baits so the soluble components of your baits cannot disperse. Think about the implications this has on your catch rate!

For a long period I tested fishing in low winter temperatures using popular pellets compared to open-textured easily digestible homemade boilies and the results were very distinct. When water temperatures were under around 12 degrees the open texture easy-digest boilies seriously out-performed the medium to high oil (low viscosity oil) types of marine type pellets. I had to try this experiment just to prove the point in practice to myself so it was not merely hearsay or theory.

The fact that the oily pellets had been very successful in much higher temperatures just underlined how their effectiveness as baits had dive-bombed in the period around the late autumn, winter and early to mid-spring when water temperatures were yet to rise. Of course medium to high lipid content fits conditions when carp metabolism is very high due to elevated water temperatures when oxygen saturation is sufficient to promote high activity and heavy feeding.

In winter, obviously if any bait is in the right place it can catch fish but if inducing as many bites as possible form almost torpid fish is your goal and you wish to maximise all your valuable time, money and efforts you need to use a very attractive bait suited to prevailing conditions not just in water but within the carp too.

Often you get totally illogical statements from anglers on the bank who say things along the lines of: I prefer to use fish meal baits on this particular water in the winter. If you ask them if they know the ingredients and their ratios of their baits and how long their gut transit times are through the gut in low temperatures regimes they simply how no idea. Added to this and even more importantly, they do not even know why these baits might possibly make fish actually be attracted to them - as opposed to being actively repelled by them in the first place.

There is a vast diversity of baits that catch winter carp. Very many of these are not high protein baits but they catch big carp and have done for years. The other day I had someone ask me about peptones and their impacts on various fish meal ingredients. Peptones are in general a range of substances composed of protein constituents that are broken down into their smaller elements by various means and as such are easily water-soluble and easily detected by carp. My question for him was what percentage of his bait ingredients and additives and liquid foods etc consisted of soluble substances that are very easily digested by carp.

The fact is that he did not know these things meant that asking me about peptones would basically be meaningless to him. Peptones are produced from very many various protein sources. This guy did not know which versions he was specifically wanting to use (or why) and what jobs they were going to be specifically aimed at doing. Such things do not just impact on carp internally and externally but also work within baits working synergistically as a whole.

Cold water baits are so much about easy digestion and it is easy to see why. After all, you are after getting as many bites as possible - and certainly not into feeding up the fish at the expense of bites! It seems to me that many bait buffs go carp fishing in order to grow monster carp by their baiting up and not so much to maximise bait for its potential to achieve the most bites possible and thus the most hooked fish.

Now on to a related subject regarding homemade base mixes. I really like fishing with bait base mixes in various more conventional or more unusual forms. Stick mixes are just one example where you can make up your own boilie base mix and apply them or adapt them for use in winter.

Applying a base mix in various different ways as opposed to just in boilies for example has many benefits. Base mix based ground baits of many kinds can be used with various PVA products to deliver very loose and easily dispersed attraction in the water to pull fish to your hook baits in a more excited mode of behaviour; particularly in lower water temperatures and this also applies to slop and spod mixes and others too.

Open texture baits are obviously very good performers in cold weather. I am certainly not against using baits incorporating bread in winter. Of course there are very many bread based types of ground baits, stick mixes, method mixes and other baits. You can make cheap boilies for autumn, winter and spring that include bread crumbs along with other open-textured ingredients and use them pretty much as carriers for protein-rich liquids for example. Just using some garlic concentrate, intense sweetener and certain spice extracts for example will grab the attention of carp although many anglers will just go for their favourite flavour and a sweetener for example.

One of the bonuses of playing around with bread products in winter is that you can exploit fishing in various depths of water and specifically introduce free baits so they rise in the water or gradually sink or hang in the water to effectively tempt fish situated at different depths in the water column. As we know, carp are notorious for sitting within certain comfortable layers of water in autumn, winter and spring especially in spells of high pressure for instance. In this regard many more carp anglers are much more aware today that persisting with bottom baits or pop-up baits near the bottom in winter is often the wrong method to use when fish wish to be situated off the bottom for significant periods of time.

Especially stimulating homemade breads or cakes are great cold water edges when used on their own or used in combination with boilies or any other bait; but this is something I know very few anglers will even consider doing as it appears not to be fashionable. But I have proved this baits worth on countless occasions in my own fishing ever since my early days of baking conventional (buoyant) floater cake using homemade base mixes and readymade base mixes for example.

This is definitely a more unusual winter method to experiment with and I encourage open-minded anglers to try it! Using dog biscuits under water is a good trick but why not make your own baits that are totally unique with your own specific attractive alternative characteristics in mind?! For instance why not try fishing a homemade buoyant jelly based bait teamed with a floater cake bait for a really different winter option that I doubt hardly any experienced pressured fish will have had to deal with previously.

Sure fishing a bit of popped-up plastic corn near the bottom, or fishing a piece of black foam in mid-water can produce fish. But if you are looking for something a little bit different in a cold water bait and one that hold lots of attractive liquids then why not consider trying homemade buoyant cake! (For more information see my website and biography right now!)

By Tim Richardson.

The BRFC (British Record rod-caught Fish Committee) meeting held on 5th December at Fishmongers Hall, London, saw the retirement of Ian Epps and the election of Mike Heylin as Chairman.

The committee paid tribute to Ian who had loyally served the committee for many years having joined in December 2004 to represent freshwater fish. He was appointed as chairman following the death of his friend, Ken Ball in 2008.

His time in office saw important changes to the committee, in that he formed the freshwater sub group to look specifically at those species with a view of encouraging more anglers to claim records and for the records to be ratified whenever possible more quickly. He succeeded and an example is the Freshwater record for a Crucian Carp, caught in August 2011 and ratified at the December meeting.

Ian is succeeded by Mike Heylin who joined the committee in March 2007 to help resolve the then difficulties and bad press coverage surrounding freshwater claims. Mike needs no introduction, he is well respected within angling and has held numerous positions including being the present Chairman of the Angling Trust, the Governing Body of the sport within England that brings all the angling disciplines together, an ideal for which he has worked for many years.

Mike's aim is to continue the work of his predecessors, to develop and help retain the credibility of the British List by keeping records that are awarded on a strict procedures basis during which every effort is made to ensure their accuracy.

Source: Angling Trust Fishing News

Big names from the worlds of fishing and politics have this week welcomed the appointment of former parliamentary angling spokesman Martin Salter as the new National Campaigns Coordinator for the Angling Trust.

Martin, who stood down from the House of Commons at the last election, has recently returned from 'a fishing and writing sabbatical' in Australia which saw him publish a landmark report - Keep Australia Fishing - on the challenges facing the recreational fishing sector. Martin has made good his pre election promise to return and campaign for a better deal for both anglers and for the fisheries on which our sport depends. This new, part time post has been made possible following donations from the Angling Trades Association (ATA) and two individual benefactors who support the Angling Trust.

Martin is to be based within the Angling Trust but will be working across the sector as a whole to promote greater unity and improved joint working. In addition to assisting in campaigning, fundraising and political lobbying, Martin hopes to help drive up membership and increase participation in both the AT and ATA.

National Campaigns Coordinator - Principal Roles:
- Supporting angling participation programmes
- Liaising with angling trades & other representative angling bodies
- Parliamentary and Ministerial liaison and political lobbying
- Membership recruitment & engagement
- Campaigns and communication
- Raising the media profile of angling
- Strategy advice and policy development

Martin's appointment has been strongly endorsed by those at the very top of angling in the UK.

Fisheries Minister Richard Benyon MP said:
"I am really pleased that Martin will be active in the Angling Trust working with the Angling Trades Association to promote angling across the UK. Over the years I have built a healthy respect for Martin's knowledge and passion for angling. I look forward to working with him in his new role and to seeing more people of all ages on our river banks and lakes."

Robin Morley, Sales Director of Daiwa UK said:
" I am delighted that we have managed to secure Martin Salter's services to encourage, support and promote angling in the UK. Having known Martin for many years I know his passion for angling, not to mention his vast experience gained over the previous 13 years in Parliament, will prove invaluable in promoting angling to the level it deserves.

I would also like to thank all the UK tackle companies who have made this possible by their contributions to the Angling Participation Fund organised by the Angling Trade Association (ATA)"

Charles Walker MP, Chairman of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Angling said:
"I believe that Martin Salter has been one of the most outstanding politicians of his generation when it comes to the championing of fishing interests. His depth and breadth of knowledge continues to be appreciated across the political spectrum, as does his campaigning zeal."

Mark Lloyd, Angling Trust Chief Executive said "Martin Salter is quite simply the best person the Angling Trust could possibly employ to campaign for anglers' interests. He has great contacts in Parliament, an encyclopaedic knowledge of angling and fisheries issues, and huge experience of communicating and lobbying at every level. We are very grateful to everyone who donated to make this possible. We hope that his appointment will encourage more individual anglers to get off the fence and join the Angling Trust so that we can continue to expand our work fighting for fish and fishing."

Naidre Werner, Chairman of the Angling Trades Association said:
" With a fabulous contribution from the trade, we are able to enlist someone of Martin's calibre and experience to raise the profile of angling and benefit of us all. The next twelve months will be very exciting."

Wildlife photographer and film maker Hugh Miles said:
"Our rivers and fish life are in desperate trouble and we couldn't wish for a more energetic and efficient champion to fight their corner than Martin Salter".

Chris Yates, author and former record carp holder said:
"To have such a committed, experienced and passionate campaigner as Martin Salter fighting for our rivers will give every angler cause for hope and I applaud his appointment to the Angling Trust."

Paul Knight, CEO of the Salmon and Trout Association added:
"S&TA is very pleased to see Martin Salter back involved in angling and fisheries politics in England. We worked very closely with him when he was Angling Liaison Officer for the last Government, and we look forward to doing so again as he looks to unite the different approaches from the various angling and fisheries organisations into a unified voice for the benefit of both the sport and the aquatic resource upon which it depends."

Angling writer and travel guide John Bailey said:
"I have known Martin for several years now and worked with him on a number of projects. I remain impressed by his vision, his energy and his ability to communicate. Above all, I like his obvious sincerity. Martin is no glib politician, he cares through and through for the causes he espouses. He is a terrific friend of angling and I for one will give him all my support. I really hope we have the opportunity to work together again in 2012 and do something positive for the sport we loveand believe in. This is, I believe, a really positive move for the Angling Trust and has made me personally want to get more on board."

Angling columnist and broadcaster Keith Arthur added:
" Since I have known Martin and, more importantly the job he has done for angling, the more I am convinced that he is what we need to carry our message. He is the perfect advocate for our sport, in my opinion."

Mike Thrussell, Director, World Sea Fishing Ltd added:
" Martin Salter has a proven passion and track record for both defending and promoting angling. His appointment to the Angling Trust as National Campaigns Coordinator brings a wealth of experience, knowledge, influential contacts and know how that will push angling to the forefront and also contribute greatly to maintaining and growing the sport for the future. My hope and expectation is that his known ability to bring people together will also help unify and strengthen the sport so that anglers from all disciplines work together to secure a positive future."

Martin Salter concluded:
" After an 18 month break to re-charge my batteries it's great to be back and fighting for fishing. I particularly grateful to Mark Lloyd at the AT and Naidre Werner at the ATA for giving me the opportunity to put my skills, experience and contacts to good use and for the benefit of the sport we all love.

My first job is to recruit some high profile ambassadors to help me raise the profile of the Angling Trust so that it can become a really strong and powerful voice for recreational fishing and the environment. I'm particularly keen to get some effective outcomes from the current Defra review of cormorant predation which has caused so much damage to fish stocks.

I am already lined up to attend a range of ministerial and other meetings and will be addressing conferences and supporting the excellent work of Angling Trust campaigners Mark Owen (Freshwater) and David Mitchell (Sea Angling) and the legal team headed by Justin Neal. I will be the main point of contact with my former colleagues on the All Party Parliamentary Group on Angling and will be developing and helping to implement a wider angling and fisheries campaign strategy for 2012."

Source: Angling Trust Fishing News

Volunteer four hours a week and join the new volunteer bailiff scheme being trialled in the South East by the Angling Trust and the Environment Agency. Get active on the bank finding, reporting on and finally catching fish thieves and others damaging our fisheries.

This is a unique opportunity to spend a day fishing with an angler of your choice for two people.

Research shows that fish theft and illegal fishing are the two biggest concerns for today's angler.

By joining the Angling Trust and Environment Agency "Special Bailiff Scheme" anglers can help stamp out fish theft on rivers, lakes, canals and estuaries helping to preserve fisheries for generations to come.

The Angling Trust and Environment Agency are running a three year pilot in the Environment Agency South East Region to prove the effectiveness of well trained volunteers in acting as a back up to full time Environment Agency bailiffs in their difficult task of policing our fisheries.

Volunteers in the South East are invited to apply now for this opportunity to make a difference.

The Angling Trust is initially looking for twelve volunteers in each of the four areas within Environment Agency South East, forty-eight in total, to work as part of the Angling Trust Team. Volunteers will be subject to a CRB check and will be expected to undergo a training course. They will then work in conjunction with the Environment Agency Team of Enforcement Officers delivering information on illegal activity and in the first year prove themselves capable of monitoring and reporting activities on rivers, lakes, canals and estuaries in their local area, not just on their own club or syndicate waters.

After the first year some volunteers will be offered the opportunity to train for a Management Restricted Environment Agency Bailiff Warrant so that they can extend their duties into licence checking and byelaw offences and take an active role working alongside operational Agency bailiffs in the field. In this role they will be representing both the Angling Trust and the Environment Agency. To be eligible, volunteers will undergo an enhanced CRB check and will have special training to give them the skills needed when dealing with the public in what can be difficult circumstances.

During this period the Angling Trust will be recruiting further monitoring and reporting volunteers to act as eyes and ears and to provide the intelligence to guide the activities of the highly trained Environment Agency bailiffs and voluntary Special Bailiffs.

In year three, some Special Bailiffs will be offered the chance to become fully warranted Environment Agency Volunteer Bailiffs, working independently when licence checking and able to assist full time officers in active operations to apprehend fish thieves and others breaking national fishery byelaws.

Volunteers will be expected to offer an average of four hours a week to the scheme and will be in the vanguard of what the Angling Trust hope to develop into a fully equipped national team of volunteer bailiffs, much like Police Special Constables, working alongside full time Environment Agency Bailiffs who will be responsible for managing volunteer efforts. Applicants will work in the evenings and at weekends as well as during the day.

Volunteers will need to be reasonably fit and able to demonstrate good interpersonal skills, show the ability to write clear and concise reports, keep accurate notebook records and timesheets and have an intimate knowledge of the waters in their area as well as having a full driving licence and being able to swim. This is an Angling Trust initiative and applicants will need to be a member of the Angling Trust to receive insurance cover.

For an application pack email bailiffs@anglingtrust.net

Non-members:
Join the Angling Trust at www.anglingtrust.net
Membership includes free insurance, newsletters, stickers, tackle and book discounts and other benefits and costs just £25 a year - that's less than 50p a week!

Source: Angling Trust Fishing News