Bass Fishing Tips – Skeet Reese drop shot

Lucky Craft Pro Skeet Reese talks about fishing a drop shot as well as how to rig it properly.

Posted on October 16, 2008 Filed Under bass fishing, Fish, Fishing, Video Fishing | Leave a Comment

Illinois DNR To Close 11 State Parks

Illinois To Close 11 State Parks

Posted on October 15, 2008 Filed Under Lake Fishing | Leave a Comment

Fishing Charity Match

Golden Balls Carp & Match Charity Fundraiser for Cancer Research UK. Now if you haven’t heard of the Golden Boll**** charity fund raiser, please take the time to read this article as it will no doubt fill you with inspiration and warmth especially when most things in the world at the moment seem to all doom and gloom. After last years outstanding achievement in raising just under 21k, the guys and girls behind this incredible event made sure that they didn’t loose any momentum and quickly set up a committee in order to get the best organization and support they could for all involved. The event was to be held at the magnificent Hawkhurst Fisheries Kent over the weekend of the 27th/28th of September with a slightly different format to last year’s event This years event included four separate matches two Match competitions a Junior Match Competition and one 24hr Carp Match, bringing together some of the best anglers out there of all ages some as young as 10 years old. I don’t know of any other kind of charity event that brings the world of Match Angling and Carp Angling together for one joint goal in mind – to raise as much money as possible for Cancer Research UK. This year’s match competitions were organised by the one and only Tetly and I might add a number of the Musketeers Angling boys too. With a vast mix of talent on display the nets were quickly wet and the numbers of fish being landed from all over the lake soon started to stack up. There seemed to be more of an element of banter in this year’s match it soon became apparent that the anglers were in a three way battle for the medals and the rest not to mention any names found more time for verbal exchanges regarding each others angling ability, nether the less day one turned out to be a very exciting match indeed. Here’s how day one panned out on the Match Lake 1st Mark Greenway 136-14 2nd Keith Pelling 134-00 3rd Darren Chaston 129-04 Now attention turned to the carp boys and girls including a newly wed couple spending their honey moon raising money for the cause (hats off to them). For those of you that are not familiar with the Golden Boll***** rules regarding the draw, it’s very simple who ever raises the most cash gets the honours, a fair deal if you ask me!. The match was held on all three lakes, the Main Lake, the Dove Lake and the Specimen Lake. Really if you think you can raise a shed load of money get in touch with the team and put your case forward for next years match you never know you might walk away with the coveted Golden Boll**** trophy and of course the most important thing knowing you did a very great thing in supporting the event. Well after last year the match anglers embarrassing the carp anglers it was time to get even, the bait was ready the traps were set the hooter had gone and what would happen, you could of heard a pin drop not a buzzer or a liner nothing. Once again the smiles from the match boys told a telling tale, the carp anglers set in for the long wait as the heat and the high pressure put pay to the carps feeding habits. Although the fishing wasn’t as highly contested as the match guys it still went right up to the wire with Karen Dyer (newly wed) leading at one point with 18.4oz Until the Dutch destroyer Edwin Werters landed a whacker of 26.6 from the Specimen Lake, last years winner and match organizer Frank Wheeler couldn’t add to his total of 16.40z, and that’s how it remained. A valiant effort from the anglers that took part in the match and a remarkable amount of money rose to add to the total. By now the total had started to tot up quite nicely, especially as Wendy and the girls had the set up camp in the front car park tempting passers by with raffle tickets tom bola and of course the magnificent hog roast, still the pressure was on to top last years total, would we do it? Carp Match Results 1st Edwin Werters – 26.6 2nd Karen Dyer – 18.4 3rd Frank Wheeler – 16.4 A Massive thank you to all the following guys for organising the junior match which saw some cracking fish landed, Tetly, Martin Wombell, Lee Reed, Dave Sage, Keith Pelling and Steve Kelly. The juniors played their part with enthusiasm and determination no matter how small some of the fish were they all counted, check out these pics from juniors match Sunday Match Junior Winners 1st Kieran Sage – 17.04oz 2nd Ben Goldsmith – 12.7oz 3rd Kieran Finn – 12.04oz Sunday Match ADULT Angler results 1st Peter Allen – 195.08oz 2nd Nick Allen – 177.08oz 3rd Darren Law – 160.04oz Well done to all the match Guys! As all the match and carp anglers gathered around the Marquee in the presence of Cancer research reps Joyce, Nurses venue owner Tony Wilkinson, Barry Cale addressed the eager crowd and so to the part everyone was waiting for, the total, what would it be? But before we get to the total, we still had the auction to take place up stood Simon with his cheeky grin to auction off some very exciting items indeed to help push the funds as high as possible, notably a rather fetching set of ladies camouflaged undies with Golden Balls logo. So back to the total, would we reach the dizzy heights of last year, the honours were left to Tony Wilkinson nerves were jangling as he said nothing and scratched his “well I honestly didn’t think you would reach last years efforts but I am glad to say that you all have done an amazing job and you have raised … £21,500 What an amazing effort from all involved, a quite outstanding achievement yet again. Speaking to Barry moments after he told me that again it hadn’t quite sunk in how much they had actually raised.He was so proud to be involved in this event and how much depended in the help of every single person that had been involved in any way, the army of Golden Balls camo t-shirted fundraisers had blown him away with their efforts. Barry, Wendy his family and the committee would like to thank anyone who played a part in helping to raise this staggering amount. Tony Wilkinson who provided an excellent venue and support from the outset, Justin at the Fresh Water Informer for all the press, and Cancer Research UK for their help in running the smooth admin. Every single angler that took part in the competition and the marshal’s that gave up their time that all deserve praise for their efforts! Personally I would like to congratulate everyone on organising a unique and heart warming event where the angling community came together for a great cause, helping to find a cure or at least aid the suffering of others battling with this disease. Where would we be with out our sponsors, your support is such an important part of what we are trying to achieve. This is with out doubt the one of the largest charity angling fund raisers on the calendar and I am asking all major manufactures, Shops and corporate companies to get in touch with us and commit to supporting us in any way you can, if you think you can help in any way please drop me a mail to arron@carpbible.com Well done to every one and good luck for next year.

Posted on October 15, 2008 Filed Under Diving and Fishing Holidays, Fish, Fishing, Fishing Trips | Leave a Comment

Carp Fishing – Indian Summer

The weekend after my return to yateley I was a little bit stuck for a venue, the weather had been very nice for nearly a fortnight, real indian summer conditions with temperatures nearing the 70’s. Unfortunately the really high pressure associated with settled weather conditions meant the going was likely to be tough on the carp fishing front. With this in mind I opted to visit a well stocked Cheshire runs water to give myself a chance of getting a bend in the rod. As soon as I arrived at the lake I had a feeling I’d catch, it was just a matter of how many. The carp were on the surface in numbers, as I stepped out of the car and looked across the lake I saw a lot of backs breaking surface on the far side and nobody fishing round there!. I grabbed my gear straight away and headed round to the swim that was full of fish. After dropping my gear and watching for a few minutes I decided floaters were the best line of attack and fortunately I’d taken a couple of bags of chum mixers with me. The only problem with using floaters was the bird life, there was a large amount of seagulls on the lake and they would cause problems for me sooner or later. I began to feed mixers slowly, just half a dozen at a time to start with. It didn’t take long for the carp to show and interest and the first bait was sampled and taken within minutes. I continued feeding mixers and slowly the fishes confidence grew as more and more carp joined in. I’m amazed I managed to avoid the seagulls for so long, a few of them even flew over my baited area and ignored it despite seeing the carp getting stuck into the floating baits, a sure sign nobody had been floater fishing on the lake for quite a while!. After an hour and a half of constant feeding with the catty my swim looked like a jaccuzzi, there were carp everywhere with their mouths out of the water scrapping for every last mixer. The swim was nearly ready for a hookbait so I slowly began to put a floater rod together. I set the rod up with a drennan sub surface controller and a 10lb drennan double strength hooklength that was 5 feet long. A single mixer superglued to size 10 esp big t raptor hook completed the setup. I was just waiting for the superglue to dry on the hookbait when two ducks appeared from nowhere and charged straight through my swim grabbing every mixer they could. I continued to feed the mixers as the ducks had their fill but it was another hour before the carp started to get their confidence back again, just as they did a swan arrived on the scene and set me back again, next to arrive were the gulls and at one stage I had a swan, a couple of ducks and about 30 gulls all over my baited area grabbing every last mixer, in with these birds were the carp and they weren’t going to miss out on their free food. My answer to the birdlife was to step up the feed and I simply hammered in the mixers , the birds had their fill and when they couldn’t eat anymore they simply drifted away and watched from a distance, even the gulls had their fill and half an hour later I was sat with a swim full of carp again. The carp were a little more wary with the disturbance from all the birds and they kept coming back for seconds every so often. I resigned myself to the fact that I wasn’t really going to get the carp completely preoccupied because of the birds so I changed tactics and set up a zig rig. I knew the water was roughly 3ft deep so I set up a zig rig with a 2.5ft hooklength and a small monster pursuit boilie pellet for a hookbait. My new tactics were to put the zig rig out slightly to one side of the baited area and to continue feeding mixers to try and build the carps confidence again. The zig rig had been out maybe half an hour when the water erupted and my delkim suddenly burst into life. I was on the rod straight away and after a spirited fight I landed a small common that I guestimated to be around 6-7lb in weight. I took a quick picture on the mat and returned the fish then continued to feed more mixers whilst I sorted out another hookbait for the zig rig. Zig rig caught common of around 7lb, the first fish of the day I was fishing again a few minutes later, this time I put the zig closer to the feed area. It was perhaps another 30 minutes before I had a repeat of the last run, the water erupted again and again the delkim warbled its tune. This fish turned out to be a small mirror of perhaps 4lb. I returned the fish unweighed and set the zig rig up again with another fresh boilie pellet. By now I was fishing right in amongst the feed area and it didn’t take long to receive another blistering take. Unfortunately this fish kited to my right and I had to pile on the side strain to try and keep it from getting round a marginal bush. It was a real hang on for dear life moment and sadly my hook length parted as my line came into contact with the submerged branches of the tree. My swim went a little quiet after loosing the fish and before I could build the carps confidence again the wind sprung up making it impossible to feed more mixers. It was blowing straight in my face so my mixers just kept getting blown straight back at me. As well as feeding mixers during the afternoon I’d also been feeding in some large elips pellets from hinders. With this new breeze blowing I simply switched to my usual knotless knot hair rig and fished on the bottom instead. Switching to bottom fishing produced my 3rd carp of the day Switching to bottom baits produced another run half an hour later and after a spirited fight I netted another small common around the 7lb mark. By this time I was knackered, feeding mixers for over 4 hours with a catty really does take it out of you so I called it a day with just 3 fish to my credit. Judging by the amount of carp that had been in my swim I should have had more but you just can’t avoid problems with birds ruining your groundwork. They’d been a real pain for me on this session and they’d cost me dearly, judging by previous floater fishing sessions on this water I’d have been looking at catching over 10 carp for the session. At the end of the day, you can’t rush the carp through to pre-occupation on chum mixers . It takes time to build them up with careful feeding so its hard to avoid our feathered friends. I’m now thinking of buying a laser pen to help me out next time!. Tight Lines. Mark.

Posted on October 12, 2008 Filed Under Fish, Fishing, Fishing Report | Leave a Comment

Middy Shotgun Feeders

Top commercial match carp anglers have been trying to solve the problem of using pellets with a feeder, they needed a new feeder that delivered pellet bait like a ‘dinner plate’ away from the feeder. The SHOT-GUN does just that! You load the soaked mix into the chamber, then when on the bottom the SHOT-GUN gradually shoots out the bait leaving a separate non-obstructed ‘dinner plate’ complete with the hook bait Review: Accurate lose feeding with pellets can be a bit of a nightmare for the average rod and line angler. Well that used to be the case until along came the Shotgun Feeder from Middy. I tried the Shotgun Feeder at the stunning Celtic Lakes Resort in Wales and despite some atrocious weather, this clever new device certainly proved its worth. Setting up the feeder couldn’t be simpler – thread your main line through the centre of the tube and attach a swivel. Then tie a very short hook length to the other end of the swivel. Next, take some soaked feed pellets and fill the feeder chamber half full, drop in your hook bait and then fill the remainder with pellets, pressing them quite firmly to prevent them escaping during the cast. The key to success with the Shotgun Feeder is to get the consistency of the soaked pellets just right – too hard and they fall out during the cast, too wet and they take too long to escape and end up looking a soggy mess. The aim is to get it so once the feeder hits the bottom, the spring within the feeder pushes the pellets out slowly so they form a nice pile of tempting bait with your hook bait buried within. Similar to the method feeder principle I guess. Conclusion: I find it hard to say a bad word about these revolutionary feeders from Middy. It takes a short while to get the consistency of the pellets just right, but that’s the only difficult thing about using these pellets. For commercial carp fisheries, these would take some beating, where carp are reared on pellets and where accurate feeding is a must. Celtic Lakes Resort in Wales, where I tested the Shotgun Feeder, is certainly no commercial but is stocked full of hungry carp (two of which are pictured below). Had it not been for the torrential rain, I could have stayed all day catching stunning carp after stunning carp. ** Highly recommended Score: Where to buy The Shotgun Feeder: The Middy Shotgun Feeder is available from all good tackle suppliers or from Middy Tackle. For more information or to order these excellent wagglers, visit www.middytackle.com A big thank you to Middy Tackle for supplying UK Fisherman with these floats for review.

Posted on October 10, 2008 Filed Under Fish, Fishing, Fishing Report | Leave a Comment

A life on the Ocean Wave

7th Oct, Belfast lough After a miserable week of showers and gales a small break in the weather was predicted for this morning, Da had mentioned that he was taking his boat Mufti for a spin so I jumped on board to experience a spot of sea fishing. Soon after setting sail, my level of optimism was high, this may have been due to the fact Da had installed a new fish finder or that he was serving Irish coffee at half ten in the morning. After a quick dash across the shipping lane in Belfast Lough we arrived at the first mark just off Bangor Bay. Da was soon into his first mackerel of the day The first fish I managed to stick into was a very sorry looking herring, somehow the suicidal fishy had managed to impale himself onto the hook by his eyes. Upon removal of the hook both his eyes remained on the trace and he was left with a gaping hole right through his head. This was one fish that wasn’t going to get put back in. After some more herring I finally caught up with Da in catching mackerel. We were doing so well, I decided to handicap myself by using a fly rod with a fast sinking line, this proved to be near impossible as the boat drift didn’t allow the line to sink, so I soon switched back to a heavy spinning outfit coupled with feathers. After a productive couple of hours we decided to head home. Whilst making our way back across the channel my galley slave Da prepared his speciality fried mackerel and a cup of tomato soup. We managed to time our exit well, a mist came down and the winds, which had been absent for most of the day, re-appeared. Below, if you squint you can just about make out Carrickfergus Castle. Since the last time I was afloat Da’s boat handling skills has improved a great deal, we managed to berth her again without even touching another boat, jetty or tender. Hopefully after such a successful trip I can get out again soon, next time, though I’ll have to make sure I make the coffee.

Posted on October 7, 2008 Filed Under Fish, Fishing, Fishing Diary, Sea Fishing | Leave a Comment

Did you ever wonder why you were standing in a gale waving a stick about

2nd Oct, Killylane Reservoir After two very tough days, I figured the weather couldn’t get any worse. My mate Andrew and I had planned to reward ourselves for our hard dissertation slog with an extended trip fishing. I had been out the past two days and I knew it was going to be an uphill struggle. So we decided to head to Killylane, as we thought we might get a bit of shelter from the strong winds. We’ve fished here before but today everything had changed, mainly due to the hurricane blowing straight through the reservoir. Most of the day was spent tramping around the water to find a sheltered spot, this soon became impossible. At the end we were desperate, I chose to try the deep water in front of the dam wall, with a sinking line and boobies and Andrew chose an inlet that you could probably jump over. I managed about twenty minutes without being blown into the water and walked back to join the slacker sitting alongside the inlet. This tactic paid off for him though as amongst the eddies in the inlet Andrew had managed to catch the only trout of the day.

Posted on October 7, 2008 Filed Under Fish, Fishing, Fishing Diary | Leave a Comment

Good Job, Arron!

Serendipitous events seem to occur with great frequency in my life.  I can’t explain it.  Today was another example. About a year ago, I was asked to get in touch with the president of the “Headwaters Fly Fishing Club” to see if I could assist them with getting their website back on line.  I did have a chat with Bill MacIvor and we both had good intentions to keep in touch and possibly meet for an afternoon of fly fishing, but we never did touch base again. Today, I was going through old email and came across the first email that had Bill and I in touch. I thought I may as well give him a call again while I was looking at that email so I rang him up. The Headwaters Club holds their meetings about 15 minutes from where I live, but in the past, I have just been too busy to commit to joining another club, although I’ve had a desire to find out more about Headwaters and perhaps consider membership. So I thought it was quite an interesting coincidence that after a year, the very day I call Bill, he advises me that tonight just so happens to be the club’s first meeting of the year and I get an invitation to attend. At first, I didn’t think I really had time to  put away what I was working on and get ready for a meeting I had not scheduled, due to start in about an hour and a half. Then, Bill mentions to me, “Tonight there is going to be a presentation on Czech Nymphing by a guy with the last name of Varga.” “Varga?” I asked incredulously.  “Arron Varga by any chance?” “Yes, that’s it.  That’s his name.” For those who don’t know, I have fished with Arron many a time, and have counted him a very good friend. Indeed, we have been teammates on The Ospreys for the past few years, however this year for reasons I won’t get into, I resigned from the team and did not participate in the Canadian Fly Fishing Championships.  I had not seen Arron since the beginning of July and dearly wanted to talk to him about some things. The chances of calling up a guy out of the blue after a year and finding out what I found out – the first meeting, and then not only the first meeting tonight, but also my good friend Arron would be presenting at it were curious. I was still hesitant about going but after being motivated to do so by someone who thought it would be good for me to get out of the office because she cares… I went. I have to say that Arron did a fantastic job of presenting the subject of Czech Nymphing to a bunch of fly anglers who had never really heard much about the technique and who are more used to casting dry flies on the Upper Credit and many had never even heard of a “three fly rig” before.  He covered everything from the motivation behind the discovery and perfection of the technique (it has to do with discovering the most efficient and effective ways to catch small trout in rivers during competitions), equipment, leader considerations, types of flies to choose and how to balance the flies for the water being fished, the technique itself and even gave up some of his own secrets that helped Arron to perform very well for the past few years at the Canadian Fly Fishing Championships. Arron spoke for close to two hours to an audience that had his full attention and interest.  Many a good question was put to Arron after his presentation and he expertly handled them all in a thoughtful, engaging and knowledgable way. For myself, I learned a number of things that I’m looking forward to putting to the test as soon as I can.  As well, I met a great bunch of fly anglers and signed myself up to become a member of the club and am looking forward to the learning, sharing and camaraderie this coming winter. I have to give thanks to Arron on a personal note as well, for we went out for a coffee after his presentation and discussed a few things that I really appreciated discussing with him.  Thank you, Arron. If you’re interested in learning more about Czech Nymphing for fly fishing in general and want some instruction, you might want to consider getting in touch with Arron.  Along with instruction, he is now also offering some guiding on rivers in Southern Ontario including The Grand and Conestogo.  At the moment, he has no website but he can be reached at 519.843.5736 or  avarga at golden.net.

Posted on October 2, 2008 Filed Under Fish, Fishing, Uncategorized | Leave a Comment

Bad days

30Sept,01Oct Marshalstown and Woodburn Reservoirs When i started blogging, one of the aims was to record all the times i had fished. Recently this has changed to writing about only the days I did well on. This has had the side-effect of letting me think i am a better angler than i actually am. Thought I’d better even the balance. The last two days I’ve been presented with a bit of free time so I used it wisely and went fishing. Admittedly the weather has been pish, but i still thought I’d do OK, damn over-confidence. Yesterday my getaway was obstructed by my five year old nephew who had decided that he was coming with me. I knew this wasn’t going to be a great days fishing but his optimism was contagious, he wanted to see me catch a fish, the thought that i might blank hadn’t even occurred to him. So off we went. I opted for Marshallstown reservoir as it has some good platforms so as to not let the child fall in or get covered in mud. My expert adequate control of the flyline was enough to entertain him for about ten minutes. There-after his enquiries of “when are you going to catch a fish?” got him through another ten minutes. After which he tried to take matters into his own hands by throwing rocks into the water to drive the fish closer to me. Bless his cotton socks, he’s ever so thoughtful. Although no fish were caught, we all returned with the same amount of eyes we left with and no-one had been in the water for a swim. Today I though I’d make up for the lack of fish and really put some effort in. I even managed to get to the water before noon. I begun at the wild fishery at the top of the three reservoirs at South Woodburn, there is rumoured to be wild trout in here so I thought I’d check it out. I’ve fished here before a couple of times but had only ever caught fingerlings in a spot we call the nursery. I would have started my day here apart from the fact that there was no water in it. I took the opportunity to walk around the reservoir as the circumference is less with less water in it. I’m quite a lazy bugger. The wind had unfortunately decided to follow me about and no matter where I stood it blew into my face at about 20 knots. All in all, it turned out to be quite a nice walk despite not seeing any evidence of the mythical wild brownies and for once i actually arrived home before the time demanded suggested by wifey.

Posted on October 1, 2008 Filed Under Fish, Fishing, Fishing Diary | Leave a Comment

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