Want to improve your canal fishing? If the answer is yes then you simply cannot afford to miss this guide from Graham West and Lee Newson.
Canal anglers don’t come much more experienced than Preston Innovations’ Lee Newson and Graham West. The dynamic duo have put in thousands upon thousands of towpath hours over the years, and certainly know how to keep those fish coming.
We decided to put them on a popular stretch of the Grand Union Canal at Three Locks, near Leighton Buzzard, to see how two different approaches can yield some amazing results.
Top northern angler Jamie Wilde reveals his all-time top 10 tips for rod-and-line success with carp when the water temperature plummets!
1. Go Large!
Clearly, the size of the fish matters in any match, although every carp counts and adds pounds to the final weight. Taking your time and being patient can be the difference between losing and landing a fish.
Bites can be very hard to come by during winter months so bigger fish like this can really make a difference.
Bait-Tech is delighted to welcome three new faces to theirteam of consultants. With the ever-evolving trends on the UK Commercial Match scene, we feel it is vital to keep on top of this to continue the development of cutting edge bait products to bring to market and stay at the forefront of the industry.
The latest recruits will help them with the most modern commercial fishery methods and techniques offering a stream of advice we feel is invaluable to us in terms of future products – The domination of F1 orientated fisheries requires a specialised approach and these anglers are synonymous with being at the top of their game when it comes to the species.
Joining Bait-Tech are:
Shaun Little – The Matrix Brand Manager has for long been at the top of the sport and F1 filled venues are where he spends most of his time on the bank.
Angler's Name
Weight (lbs/oz)
Peg # / Lake
Steve Rothery
140-14-00
32 (Moat Island)
Ben Dales
114-01-00
29 (Moat Island)
Ben Fisk (Bauer Media)
109-02-00
1 (Bridge Island)
Ryan Laycock (Pontefract)
106-04-00
20 (Canal)
Adam Richards (Browning)
99-03-00
28 (Reed)
Adrian Higginbottom (Matrix)
97-04-00
61 (Moat Island)
Matt Godfrey (Guru)
90-01-00
35 (Moat Outer)
James Hall
81-00-00
17 (Moat Island)
British Pole Championship Qualifiers: Steve Rothery, Ben Dales & Ben Fisk
One hundred and ten (110) anglers attended this latest qualifier at Retford's Hallcroft Fishery. Despite conditions appearing ideal with plenty of cloud cover and with a slight ripple on the water, most anglers found the going tough early on in the match with the heavy, muggy atmosphere hampering what would have otherwise been an ideal day. That said, as the day progressed, the conditions improved a little with the resident carp moving into the margins during the final ninety minutes.
Winner on the day, and next to book his place on this year's big money final, was Steve Rothery.
Following Saturday’s Mega Match This qualifier event at Monk Lakes, Kent, please note below the full and final result:
Monk Lakes, Kent, 8th July 2017
Angler's Name
Weight (lbs/oz)
Peg # / Lake
Mike McMillan (Garbolino / Bait-Tech)
198-06-00
65 (Lake 2)
Adam Southgate (Oakwood)
196-04-00
55 (Lake 2)
James Taylor (Harlow Angling)
189-13-00
66 (Lake 2)
Mark Tullet (Cresta Tackle / Bag 'Em Baits)
183-10-00
113 (Lake 3)
Robbie Taylor (Guru / Dynamite Baits)
173-02-00
91 (Lake 3)
Mark Goddard (Bag 'Em Baits)
150-02-00
135 (Lake 3)
Mark Brown (Browning Wickford)
141-02-00
56 (Lake 2)
Chris Vendervleit (Drennan / Bait-Tech)
136-14-00
58 (Lake 2)
Garbolino's Mike McMillan booked his place in another Mega Match This final after topping the fifty-nine (59) strong field at Kent's Monk Lakes. Conditions on the day were hot and sticky with very little wind offering any sort of comfort. Anglers were given plenty of room, which made for a superb qualifier with very little separating the top two on the day and numerous one hundredpoundplus catches being recorded from all three of the lakes used.
Mike drew peg 67 on Lake 2 and endured a bit of an unsettled start losing fish early on before getting into his rhythm offering pellet long at 16m.
"Well. . . things have finally started to sink in after this Saturday's crazy events! sitting here, writing about winning a 3rd Fisho title is something I could never have imagined.
Tri-Cast Weston Pools youth team takes top spot at Tunnel.
The newly formed Tri-Cast Weston Pools youth team, comprising young anglers from across the country, recently took top spot at this year’s 2017 Angling Trust Junior National. Eight top-flight youth teams fought it out for the top honours at the commercial super-water that is Tunnel Barn Farm.
The final result was decided over section placings, with Weston finishing well clear of the nearest rivals and sending three from the six-man team through to the junior Fish ‘O’ Mania final at Cudmore.
Make the most out of every peg that you draw this month with Andrew Mann’s peg planning tactics…
Have you ever fished a perfect match? I often come away from the bank knowing full well that I could have made better decisions and got a better result. More recently however, I have started to plan out my matches. I used to think that fishing was too unpredictable and wild for a strategic plan to be put in place. However, especially on commercial fisheries, implementing a plan for your session will improve your results!
Early Planning.
Following an intense qualifying campaign, 48 of the very best Club Anglers from around the country are preparing to battle it out for the title of Garbolino Club Angler of the Year for 2017.
The final, that will take place at the stunning Barston Lakes on Wednesday 19th July is certain to prove a fantastic venue to host the coveted event. The 2016 event saw East Yorkshire rod Roger Edmond pick up the title with a stunning mixed bag of the venues famed skimmers and carp. Further to being crowned the 2016 champion Roger also picked himself up Garbolino’s UK1 Accomplice Pro flagship Pole and £400 cash!
This year’s prize list is just as impressive with two of Garbolino’s top end pole’s as well as a number of reels up for grabs for the top few anglers on the day.
Thursday- 15th June
Rover Match - Canal Peg 12
I Couldn't fit the tackle in the car, only managed to put in some rigs and essential bits, fished using my mums tackle. With over a hundred anglers on the Match drew 28th, with all the best pegs on Twin Oaks gone, I decided to have a go for a few F1s on Canal peg 12, Had a quick walk round the lake before the draw and the wind looked spot on, started across at 16m on banded focus pellet whilst feeding casters at 9m, caught a few across but it was too slow. Switched to my shallow line on banded caster and bagged up shallow, had to keep changing depths to keep them coming. Throughout the day the peg started to fade, come the last 20 minutes I could get a bite shallow, so had a look down the edge and had a nice big mirror and one massive F1, when the scales came, I thought I had about 150lb, in my four nets, but ended up weighing 171lb, with the match being across the entire complex I didn't know if it was enough, quickly headed down for the presentation and was absolutely buzzing when I found out it won the match! with 111lb 12oz coming second, It was a great start to the week winning an invitation to the Preston Innovations festival, winners week, a free holiday, a few quid, a new pole roller and a nice shiny trophy
***Top Tip, when fishing casters give them a couple of sprays of Amino Scopex before tipping them into water, and also add a few sprays into the water I normally work on 10 sprays for a pint of water ***
Thursday - 22nd June
Rover Match - Peg 24 Twin Oaks
Thursday was my third and final match, of my trip to White Acres, Again it was the Rover match, I was hoping for an early draw but ending up pulling out 48 out 50 anglers.
