The Cadets category of the Angling Trust Cadets, Juniors & Intermediates National Championship on Saturday 2nd July 2011 saw four times previous winners, Smartbait Leeds coming back from last year’s second place position to take the Championship title back for 2011 with 13 points (47. 87 kg). Second place was Worksop & District AA with 11 points (49. 13 kg).
SW super league practice match Bristol Avon at Swineford. . . Crane and Jack Whites 17/7/2011 48 Anglers Fished The Anglers were well spaced along the 3 sections today, which meant some long walks.
Results for open contests week ending 3rd July 2011. . . All lakes fishing well with match weights of 150lb being caught and pleasure anglers reaching weights of 120lb+Top PoolChopped worm and caster to the islands and down the edges catching well with f1’s up to 2lb, skimmers roach and perch to 1lb.
We’re in an era when good-quality seatboxes are arriving at our offices every few weeks, so just how good is the new Sensas 700? Joe Carass checked one over to find out… For the past few years Sensas has been trying to make a name for itself in the seatbox market, and several models have been brought out since the company’s first designs. Now, though, I think that a product of a quality synonymous with the Sensas name has finally hit the tackle shops. The 700 box really is the perfect example of what the modern match angler is looking for in a seatbox. It has a modular design so that trays can be added for extra storage, along with a slide-out rig section where anglers can house hundreds of rigs or various other bits and bobs.
After developing a successful range of gear that all started with pole pots, the Frenzee design team has now turned its attentions to rods. Dave Harrell checks out the initial range of seven… Having worked in the fishing-tackle industry myself in a previous life, I know more than most exactly how difficult it is to break into the marketplace with a new range of angling products. I went through the exercise just over 20 years ago when I created the MAP brand, and while taking on the big boys in the industry was challenging I sometimes found myself wondering if I could make products like rods any better than (or even as good as) what was already available from long-established companies. Thankfully, at that time at least, the answer was yes and sales were good for several years before the big influx of rods from China put paid to any competitive developments I could achieve in the UK.
Joe Carass takes a close look at a new family of hooks that is already gaining favour with many top anglers on the match circuit… Even though I’m very young (well, compared to editor Dave Harrell) my angling career stretches over more than 18 years, and the original Preston PR range of hooks seems to have been available for as long as I can remember! There were many cult hooks among that range and I’ve had loads of success using several of the various patterns available. They were hugely popular but, as with all things, technologies move on and hooks can be produced nowadays that are even better than when the original range was first produced. So, having used so many of the old PR range I couldn’t wait to see what the lads at Preston had come up with in their new range. It comprises five hook patterns, which is quite a small range, but it complements the existing PR competition range of barbed hooks and the PR eyed range perfectly.
Dave Harrell runs the rule over the latest family of rods to come out of the Japanese tackle giant’s factory in Scotland… Every so often I find myself wondering if tackle companies can actually come up with anything new in terms of rod developments. The raw carbon fibre materials now being used haven’t changed significantly for a number of years so the only things that can be worked with are actions and cosmetics. This new family of six rods from Daiwa actually came about as a result of rods that the Scottish factory developed for the Italian market and, to use Daiwa’s words, they ‘break the rules of rod making. ’There’s no cork in sight on any of these new Airity rods as each one has a tapered butt section, which blends into its own sculptured handle and unique reel seat.
This new seatbox from Ultimate offers excellent value for money. It features a heavily padded pole seat, double-extending non-marking legs, five drawers and a cassette-style footplate. RRP: £149. 99 .
When anglers of the calibre of Darren Cox and Steve Cooke work together to design a rod range you can probably expect something pretty good. Dave Harrell takes a look at their work… Match rod actions are something that have interested me for many years and having been involved in rod designs and developments myself in a previous career I like to think I know a bit when it comes to passing judgement on them. This new range of four feeder rods has been developed by Darren Cox and Steve Cooke, two incredibly successful feeder anglers in their own rights with a long list of match wins behind them on various waters around the UK, so as you can probably imagine I was looking forward to having a look at the finished products when they arrived at the Match Fishing office. My first reaction when I took all four rods out of the bags and set them up was one of surprise, as I’d expected to waggle another set of soft, parabolic through-action rods, which seems to be the current trend with virtually every rod producer.
Due to the rise in popularity of pencil floats, Preston has released this pattern that looks set to continue this trend. The floats feature a stable wire stem and a plastic bristle that looks great for dotting down. They’re available in sizes from 0. 1g, right up to 1.
