DHP recently ran its third annual David Hall Trophy match, at the fantastic Glebe Fishery in Leicestershire.
This event celebrates the life of company founder David Hall, who passed away in 2015, and his immense contribution to the world of fishing and angling publications.
For once the weather was good and the 38 competitors had a nice day out in the sunshine, although some caught rather more than others. This year’s winner was rising star Adam Dowd, who weighed in 223lb of mainly carp, beating Match Fishing editor Joe Carass into second place with 213lb.
Today I headed down to the hugely impressive Weston pools fishery in Oswestry to contest the three-day spring festival and I was really looking forward to it as it’s probably my favourite fishery because every lake on the complex is out of the ordinary with a large head of different species including barbel , all of them are extremely hard fighting which is no doubt down to the high oxygen levels in the water due to the aerators being left on all the time.
After another early start I had a pretty stress free journey down arriving with plenty time to spare before I needed to book on, so I went for a quick walk around the complex to see if anything had changed since my last visit a couple of months ago where I struggled on Belvidere but the conditions wasn't great for catching carp & barbel and every lake looked immaculate, apart from canal which they had to shut due to a problem with the water this was a shame I usually do quite well on it and this meant they had to re-jig the pegging for the festival we also strangely had a few no shows . On arriving back to the cabin I had a chat with a few of the local lads that I hadn’t seen for a while and there was a lot of sponsored anglers knocking about plus nearly all the Welsh national squad so you could say it was going to be a tough but enjoyable couple of days, when everything had been sorted there would be a straight draw today with 10 anglers on Weir & Belvedere and 12 on Stretton & Clay pit, the second day would be another straight draw with all the lakes in except clay pit so it would be very tightly pegged and the last day would be the opposite rotation to the first day.
Day one
It was soon time for the draw and we had a minute’s silence for the people who lost their lives in the Manchester bombing the previous week which was a nice touch.
Reporting to the Digital Commercial Manager, the Web Content Specialist will be primarily responsible for implementing and optimising world class web content on DHP’s consumer and trade websites in line with the content strategy and serving the web content needs of DHP. You will also be responsible for measurement and insight, continuously optimising content to drive on-site engagement and producing insightful reports.
In addition, you’ll be expected to build strong relationships with editors, marketing and sales teams across the business providing insight and sharing best practice with the teams to help them meet their campaign objectives.
Responsibilities:
Maintaining and updating web content across all DHP websites
Help deliver projects by auditing, migrating testing and building web content
Supporting and executing web content requirements from editorial, sales and marketing teams
Adhere to and be an ambassador for process and workflows within the digital team
Research and suggest tests to improve on-site engagement across DHP websites
Produce regular reports to the management
Assist and advise managers on best practices around digital content strategy and execution
Qualifications:
Good understanding of digital content strategy
Good understanding of web content management
Good understanding of CMS platforms
Analytical with a good understanding of success metrics
Ability to turn data into meaningful insight and recommendations
Ability to write good quality web content
Knowledge of web design principles including HTML
Knowledge of basic user experience principles (including mobile)
Ability to multi-task and manage workload/time effectively
Proactive and self-motivated with the ability to work individually or as part of a team
Ability and appetite to keep up with the latest trends in digital marketing
Willingness to adapt and acquire additional skills as may be required to fulfil the needs of the role
Support and assist social media when necessary
Support and assist the E-commerce manager when necessary
Good understanding of angling across its different disciplines is an advantage
This position could be based from home or from our office in Daventry .
Match Fishing catches up with MAP-backed star Tony Curd for a lesson in tackling the sometimes avoided, but fish-filled areas of a swim – the silt traps.
We have all been there – that fizzing cauldron of wasted match time and effort trying to catch from what can only be described as a Jacuzzi, which gives the illusion of being black with fish but often delivers so little.
As our commercial fisheries mature all of them have areas in each lake where silt settles; whether it is in open water or down the track on a snake-style lake it’s a common area that many avoid due to foul hooking, the Jacuzzi effect or just simply because you cannot catch despite the deceiving signs of fish present. Up until recently I joined this train of thought and almost wrote it off as a bad job, only utilising these areas as a shallow line during the warmer months.
Angler's Name
Weight (lbs/oz)
Peg # / Lake
Chris Cameron (Middy / Old Ghost)
59-06-00
43 (Gold)
Mark Tester (Pulborough AS)
57-00-00
1 (Gold)
Lynas Neale (Gold Valley)
46-08-00
14 (Gold)
Geoff Vallance (Preston Innovations / Sonu Baits)
39-06-00
11 (Gold)
Stefan Gent (Drennan Borden)
36-00-00
20 (Gold)
Craig Meadows (Five Bells Fishing Club)
32-12-00
45 (Gold)
Grant Thorne
22-00-00
5 (Gold)
Glen Butler
20-00-00
48 (Gold)
British Pole Championship Qualifiers: Chris Cameron, Mark Tester & Lynas Neale
This year's qualifier at Hampshire's Gold Valley Lakes, Aldershot, was a difficult day out for competing anglers. With temperatures leading up to the match during the week before sky rocketing to over 30°C, the resident carp were uninterested in anglers baits and were, instead, making the most of the weather fully focused on spawning. Unfortunately, sport on the day as a result, was very hard with weights recorded on the day only going to emphasise this. Most anglers resorted to pellet waggler tactics to catch odd fish with a relatively low weight winning the day.
Angler's Name
Weight (lbs/oz)
Peg # / Lake
Simon Skelton (Maver / Dynamite Baits)
294-09-00
23 (Lake 1)
Darren Cox (Garbolino)
230-01-00
100 (Lake 7)
Kieron Rich (Middy / Burt Baits)
193-14-00
12 (Lake 1)
Andy Power (Preston Innovations)
190-00-00
80 (Lake 5)
Chris Barley
180-12-00
19 (Lake 1)
Perry Stone (Cresta)
180-05-00
109 (Lake 7)
Wayne Ibbotson
176-01-00
85 (Lake 1)
Greg Cooper
173-03-00
97 (Lake 6)
British Pole Championship Qualifiers: Darren Cox, Kieron Rich & Andy Power
Another superb Match This qualifier event at The Glebe / Mallory park with some truly outstanding weights recorded! Once again, the venue attracted the maximum number of anglers, with some truly phenomenal sport being enjoyed from all over the complex with a total of thirty three (33) weights over one hundred pounds being offered to the scales. Conditions on the day were pleasant with plenty of sunshine seeing a continuation of a great spell of weather. Anglers targeted the resident carp mainly with pellet waggler or shallow on the pole with some big edge fish being caught late on.
Making his way through to his fourth Mega Match This final was Maver's own, Simon Skelton.
Marukyu backed angler Martin Stokes reports back from the Alders Farm Fishery in Milton Keynes. . .
On Friday I fished the beautiful Alders Farm Fishery in Milton Keynes, for me it was the first time at Alders.
On Saturday, it was second and final day of our venture to Alders Farm Fishery and this time it was on The Match Lake "Ash". After speaking to Trevor Price, the Fishery manager and local expert, he informed me that the fishing would be alot better than the previous day, he wasn't wrong!
The Open Match was sponsored by Marukyu with lots of prizes, for the winners. At the draw I drew peg 7, with the wind blowing the other end of the lake and lots of carp spawning, I started the match negative, just in case the fishing was hard. After catching a few on the long pole shallow early the previous day, I started on this line again, 6mm Marukyu Focus Pellet flavoured with Scopex Amino on the hook, pinging 6mm fishery pellets again flavoured with Amino Scopex.
We caught up with Wayne Swinscoe at Meadowlands Fishery for a lesson in catching winning weights of silvers on deep venues.
MF: What’s the difference between tackling large and deep venues like this one here at Meadowlands, compared to your average 5ft to 6ft deep commercial pond?
WAYNE SWINSCOE: I think the main thing is the fact that you are much more exposed to the elements on venues like this. Larger bodies of water are affected much more by the wind. That means they can really tow at times.
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Pellet Masterclass
Finding fish in winter can be difficult, catching them even more so. One angler who can most others can't is Mark Pollard, and he has a simpleapproach to help put more fish in your nets this winter
It may sound obviousbut in winter finding the fish is the secret to success. The mistake I see a lot of anglers make though is not approaching a swim with an open mind"
Punching With Perch
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.
