Fish worth over £2,000 stolen from Midlands venue. The prolific Barston Lakes near Solihull is famous among specimen carp, and match anglers alike – and has a deserved reputation for being among the country’s most prolific fishing venues. However, last Thursday night it was the victim of a fish theft. Anglers who have visited the venue before cannot have failed to notice the clubhouse’s novel koi carp pond, which is housed in the giant ornamental fountain at the front of the club house.
Qualifiers grow in size for 2014. Matchroom Sport have announced an increase of pegs for some of the 2014 Fish ‘O’ Mania XXI qualifiers. Over recent years, qualifiers have been limited to 130 pegs, with just the final qualifier at Lindholme Lakes boasting a whopping 300 peg total. For 2014, there will be an increase in pegs for a total of eight of the qualifiers.
Stewart Lister reflects on an enjoyable Veterans Festival. I am sure I’m not alone in the belief that we are not getting older, and think we can still do what we did 25 years ago? Sure, the odd niggle here and pain there, are little reminders of the years creeping by. That along with those annoying age category questions that I see all the time on the internet, you know the ones that put us all in nice age brackets like 18 – 24 years, 25 -30 and so on. Well, you know time is marching on when the next bracket that applies to you is over 65! So, what is this all about in a fishing article? Well when you get to the magical age of 55 you become eligible to fish ‘Veterans matches and festivals’ like the Coors Veterans held annually at White Acres! It was really great meeting up with a lot of old friends as I competed in my first vets festival, I am a little annoyed with myself for not doing it a couple of years ago as I have missed out on a really great event, it’s one that will now be pencilled in my diary for as long as I am able.
Garbolino ace takes £1,000 win. Kian Wardle has won the seventh annual Silvermaniac competition at Devon’s Stafford Moor complex. The popular contest, which was this year contested by 66 of the country’s best silverfish anglers, takes place over two days with the first day of the competition being a qualifier, and the second a final for the winners of each section. With several days worth of cold rain pouring into the complex, the fishing was predictably tough and patchy in areas, but Sunday’s final on the usually prolific Tanners Lake still boasted a star studded line up.
Angling's health benefits acknowledged in national press. Coverage in The Guardian newspaper to about a scheme in Newcastle-upon-Tyne which involved GPs prescribing fishing as a tonic for patients suffering from stress and depression has been welcomed by anglers. The article explains how angling is one of several activities which can be recommended by Doctors as a "social prescription". Innovation charity Nesta has found that a majority of GPs are keen to find alternative ways of improving patients' health and wellbeing without dishing out more and more medicines.
England Feeder Team embark on South African adventure!England's feeder team are preparing to leave for South Africa, as practice for the third World Feeder Championship gets underway. This Saturday the team - which is made up of Steve Ringer, Phil Ringer, Grant Albutt, Tommy Pickering, Mick Vials, Adam Wakelin and coach Glenn Lawrence fly to Johannesburg, before making the four hour journey by road to the site of this years event, the mighty Bloemhoff Dam. Team stalwart Steve Ringer explained: "We are all really looking forward to getting on the bank and having a go at the event, though truth be told we aren't too sure what to expect! In terms of tackle, we have all had to really scale everything down, as obviously transporting everything that we have over there is a very expensive exercise. Our sponsors, Preston Innovations have generously sent a container over there containing boxes, carryalls and ready rod holdalls, but it still leaves us having to take rods, reels hooklengths and feeders as part of our luggage consignment on the plane.
Martin Holmes tells you how he won this year’s Preston Innovations Festival at White Acres.
Instead of a love-hate relationship, I have had a hate-hate relationship when it comes to the Preston Festival at White Acres! I have sworn on more than one occasion that I would never fish it again. In the half dozen or so times I have fished it I have drawn appallingly, and probably fished just as bad too! And, I have never picked up a penny other than a section win by default!
In the spring Festivals, however, I have fared much better and have had two top 10 finishes in the Milo Festival, coming 9th in 2009 and 3rd in 2012. I have also finished agonisingly 11th two years on the trot in 2011 and 2012 on the Dynamite Baits Festival.
Garbolino launch new poles for 2014. . . Names
like the Super Legion and Power Legion are enshrined in angling
folklore, being rightly regarded as some of the best poles of their
time.
Ex England star, Lee Thornton on why team fishing is going nowhere. I read with interest Mark Downes article in this month’s Match Fishing magazine, and was particularly interested in Mark's comments regarding how the team is treated with contempt here in the UK and like superstars abroad. Well Mark, you are of course correct, I cannot think of many people within match fishing who care one iota whether the England Team comes first or last. This of course shouldn’t be the situation, the guys at the top of the game should be given praise that they deserve but I have been thinking about why this is the case.
Shipp & Kerry's Italian GloryDes Shipp and Lee Kerry have returned form Preston Innovations Italia Festival in victorious style, after each winning a day of the star studded competition. The event, which is open to Preston Innovations consultants from throughout Europe, is contested on the prolific Lake Faldo and River Tevere. The first day of the event is a coaching day - and taught Lee Kerry some lessons that were to prove very valuable. Lee explained: "The first major match of the festival is a pairs event that takes place on Lake Faldo, but the coaching day before the event proved a good chance to practice.
