Summary:
Windy weather over the weekend led to excellent bream fishing conditions and the skimmers fed in earnest...
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Blustery conditions over the weekend led to excellent bream fishing conditions on several venues. It's the light values that are important when it comes to bream and choppy water means they are reduced, meaning that bream and skimmers feed with more confidence.
In the Acorns Trust Charity event at Arrow Valley Lakes, winner Paul Bick bagging 41 of them on pole and 4mm pellet fished at 13 metres on peg 68 for a fine 61-6-8. Two pegs away on 70 Birmingham’s Dave Boyle fished The Method for 17 proper bream, giving him 59-8-0 and second spot, with Smithy’s AC rod John Newton in third with 41-13-0.
On the Birmingham-Worcester Canal match anglers also found the venue’s skimmers in obliging mood with the top three all weighing in double figures of them in the WDAA Open. Good Intent’s Lee Davis topped the field with 11-13-0. He fished maggot at 10 metres on peg 127 behind the football ground for ten fish, but it was a close run thing, Swan AC’s Paul Coley taking 11 skimmers for 11-7-6 from peg 125 on breadpunch, with Mike Higginbottom not far behind with 10-11-10 from peg 121. Meanwhile on the Birmingham Fazeley Canal at Minworth Barry Jones put together a super 22-12-0 winning bag of bream and skimmers to 3lb, fishing pole, chopped worm and caster from peg K7 at the Kingsley cables in a Dams and Lock Summer League match where Brent Wilkes also weighed in over 18lb. And in the Blackfords Progressive match at Kingswood Lake in Cannock, Chris Brown took the honours with 75lb of bream – 33 fish on the Method and pellet.
Extremely saddening and distressing news to learn that my former angling media colleague Kevin Green has passed away after a short illness. Kevin, who was an excellent editor of my old magazine Improve Your Coarse Fishing and was very popular with the people he'd worked with, was only 40, and leaves a young family, and my heart goes out to them.
Birmingham’s Mark Downes has admitted to ‘management errors’ as England missed out on the medals in the 2013 European Match Fishing Championships fished on Serbia’s Novi Sad Canal at the weekend. The England manager and his support kept his team fishing for small bleak for too long on the opening day, causing them to fall too far behind. An improved effort on Day Two saw them finish 18 points outside the medal positions with Belgium winning the gold, Italy silver and Hungary bronze. Mark told Angling Times: “Had we known the size of the bleak we wouldn’t have bothered going for them because they averaged 4 grammes apiece. As management we made some wrong decisions, there’s no getting away from that.”
A seal-scaring device is to be installed on the River Severn following reports that anglers have spotted at least one animal on the big river and on the Lower Teme eating salmon, barbel and chub. The Angling Trust has alerted authorities in an attempt to move the fish back to the sea. Meanwhile boards put in place on stretches of the rivers Severn, Trent and Warwickshire Avon to help roach spawn have been labelled a big success.
Skimmers and hybrids were also on the feed on the Warwickshire Avon, Andy Burton winning a midweek match at Evesham with 34lb of them. But come the weekend and the festival qualifiers things got harder. The Match Fishing Team Championship qualifier saw Maver Midlands and Kamasan Starlets book their places in the final, but it was tough going, only winner Steve Townsend topping 6lb. Sunday’s 70-peg Wychavon Qualifier saw a tinge of colour back in the water at Evesham and off the end peg Trevor Chalk took three bream on groundbait feeder for a winning 16-1-0.
There are three new programmes in the latest issue of Sea Watch to go live here on Total-Fishing.com including a report on the 2013 European Beach Open presented by Andy Ford, who many of you will know from his Fish O Mania reports on Tight Lines. There's also a programme about the great fishing for giant cod and halibut in Northern Norway, and a new series on how to looks after and get the most from your multiplier reels. Plus there's a bran new series called Shore Thing in which Julian Shambrook and Jansen Teakle track down the best shore fishing in the UK and show you the techniques you need to know - see http://www.total-fishing.com/videos/sea-watch-monthly
Click on www.total-fishing.com to join the UK’s No1 online angling community
Acorns Trust, Arrow Valley Lake, Redditch, Worcs, Sat (41 fished)
Paul Bick (Shakespeare) 61-6-8, 41 skimmers, 4mm soft pellet at 13 metres, peg 68; Dave Boyle (Birmingham) 59-8-0; John Newton (Smithy’s AC) 41-13-0; Pete Bailey (Ultima) 41-11-0; Carl Lee-Hopps (Redditch) 36-14-0; Joe Roberts (Kamasan Starlets) 31-4-0. £205 raised.
Bridgnorth AS, River Severn, Linley Bank, Salop, Sun (67 fished)
John Webb (Bridgnorth AS) 44-15-0, four barbel, ten chub, maggot feeder, peg 178 above dairy ford; Adrian Narbeth (Sensas WB Clarke) 39-15-0;Dave Williams (Tenbury) 34-4-0; Tony Bouckley (Wolverhampton) 26-5-0; Jez Williams (Canalside Tackle) 25-2-0; Alan Richards (Coseley) 24-7-0.
Dams and Lock Summer League, Birmingham-Fazeley Canal, Minworth, Birmingham, Sun (73 fished)
Barry Jones (Team GB Four Ashes Gold) 22-12-0, bream to 3lb plus skimmers, pole and chopped worm and caster, peg K7, Kingsley cables; Brent Wilkes (Mosella Bait-Tech) 18-5-4; Rob Chambers (Mosella Bait Tech) 14-8-15; Ian Sharratt (Dams and Lock) 11-10-0; Chris Fowkes (Browning Central) 10-12-0; Sam Rushton (Mosella Bait Tech) 9-5-3.
Teams: Mosella Bait Tech Blue 11; Browning Lifestyle Red 21; Browning Central 24; Shakespeare Superteam Blue 25; Dams and Lock A and Team GB Four Ashes AC Gold both 30.
League: Browning Lifestyle Red 47; Shakespeare Superteam Blue 48; Shakespeare Superteam 55; Mosella Bait Tech Blue 56; Browning Lifestyle Green 58; Dams and Lock A 62.
Moorlands Farm, Hartlebury, Meadow and Bank Pools, Sun, 38 fished
Mal Watson (Daiwa Gordon League) 118-12-0, carp, pole and pellet down edge, peg 26 Bank; Martin Adcock (Colin Pace Angling Academy) 112-15-0; Tim Jones (Golden Maggots) 109-3-0; Chris Hill (Mosella) 98-5-0.
Blackfords Progressive, Kingswood Lake, Cannock, Staffs
Chris Brown (Gerry’s of Nottingham) 75-10-0, 33 bream, Method feeder and pellet close in, peg 5; Mark Greening (Streetly) 33-4-0; Dave Nicholls (West Bromwich) 22-0-0.
Cradley Heath Labour, Preston Innovations Woodland View, Sun, High Pool
Jon Baker (Cradley Heath Labour) 122-10-0, carp to 8lb, pole, worm and caster in margins, peg 6; Simon West (Cradley Heath Labour) 97-2-0; Mark Farley (Cradley Heath Labour) 87-0-0.
Garbolino Tunnel Barn Farm, Shrewley, Warks
Mon, Club Pool: Andy Quarmby (Middy) 106-15-0, F1s, roach and skimmers, pellet, 7m, peg 7; Dave Purvis (TBF Veterans) 105-9-0; Dave Chapman (White Hart Coventry) 102-14-0.
Tues, 30, over 50s, Bottom and Top Pools: Dave Purvis (TBF Veterans) 99-4-0, F1s, roach and skimmers, pole and pellet, peg 31 Top; Dave Chapman (White Hart Coventry) 92-1-0; Chris Constable (TBF Veterans) 79-11-0; Jim Davenport (TBF Veterans) 76-15-0.
Wed, House Pool 2: David James (Mosella) 139-12-0, F1s, roach and skimmers, pole and caster through slop, peg 4; Steve Parker (Marukyu) 97-13-0; Wayne Sweetman (Tunnel Barn Farm) 92-2-0.
Thurs, 75 Veterans, Club, Jenny’s, House 1 and Canal Pools: John Stockton (Barford) 88-3-0, carp, F1s, roach and skimmers, pellet at 6m and down edge, peg 22 Club; Dave Purvis (TBF Veterans) 74-3-0; Reg Davies (TBF Veterans) 71-11-0; Alan Higgs (TBF Veterans) 69-0-0; Dave Chapman (TBF Veterans) 65-13-0; Bertie Eade (TBF Veterans) 64-5-0.
Fri, House Pool 2: Pete Rice (Bag ‘em Matchbaits) 115-2-0, F1s, roach and skimmers, pole and caster through slop, peg 28; Mark Thackerley (Woodhouse AC) 107-11-0; David James (Mosella) 98-7-0.
Sun, House Pool 2: Pete Rice (Bag ‘em Matchbaits) 131-3-0, F1s, roach and skimmers, pole and caster through slop at 2m and down sides, peg 21; Pete Caton (Dynamite Baits/Banbury Gunsmiths) 125-9-0; David James (Mosella) 121-5-0; Colin Partridge (Oxford) 111-14-0.
Maver Solihull Angling Centre, Packington Somers, Meriden, Warks. Wed, Molands Mere
Wayne Carter (Packington) 126-12-0, F1s, candle and pellet, peg 43; Lee Richards (Packington) 112-7-0; Danny Tresigne (Packington) 106-13-0.
Stirrup Cup, Birmingham-Fazeley Canal, Curdworth, Birmingham, Sun
Clark Taylor (Stirrup Cup) 5-11-0, 4lb bream, 1lb perch plus bits, pole, chopped worm and red maggot, peg 63; Graham Massey (Dams and Lock) 5-5-0; Martin Lane (Attleborough Sports) 5-0-8; Darren Barratt (Coleshill DAC) 3-14-4.
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