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 WELCOME

WELCOME
JANUARY 2020

W
elcome to the January issue of
Pole Fishing magazine.
It is probably common
knowledge to many of you
who follow me through social media, but for
those who don’t already know, after two years
in charge of this magazine it is my time to
say farewell and hand over the reins to a new
editor.
I have loved my time working on Pole
Fishing as editor and before that across both
this and sister publication Match Fishing
magazine as an editorial assistant alongside
Joe Carass, Alex Bones and the dynamic duo
that were Matt Godfrey and Tom Scholey –
not to mention a man who was with me every
step of the way, the fantastic David Haynes
who deserves the utmost credit for his work
on these magazines, largely behind the
scenes.
Each of them has taught me plenty, for that
I am incredibly thankful, as I am to David
Hall Publishing for giving me an opportunity
to prove myself working across the magazines
back in 2015. The past four years have been
brilliant and during that time I have learnt
a lot, both about the trade and to add to my
skill set.
My next step sees me continue within the
angling trade, as I will be taking on the role
of media coordinator at Sonubaits, under the
Preston Innovations banner. It’s a role that
I will be looking to grasp with both hands,
continuing to bring great content to anglers
but from the other side of the proverbial
fence. Of course, the decision didn’t come
lightly but is one I feel is right for me at this
time and a great opportunity to join such a
big company in Preston Innovations, to which
Sonubaits belongs.
It also gives me great pleasure to be able
to announce that it will be ex-England youth
international Alex Clements who will be
filling my shoes on the magazine. As well
as being a fantastic angler, Alex has good
knowledge of the trade having worked in
both sales and media roles within tackle
companies previous to this. I, like you, look
forward to seeing what he can do with this
highly regarded title.
As always, this issue is full of big-name
stars and brings you content from a range
of different venues, with the anglers within
demonstrating the tactics needed to keep
catching this winter. You’ll also find lots of
tackle to feast your eyes on and maybe add to
those Christmas wish lists!
Finally, I would like to say a massive thank
you to all of the Pole Fishing readers for
your support and feedback over the past few
years – I hope to see many of you on the bank
soon!
All the best
NOVEMBER ISSUE: TRI-CAST TRILOGY 2 MARGIN POLE
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THE VENUE DETECTI

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WW W. POL EFIS HING MAG AZINE.COM

6 POLE FISHING NEWS

A look at what’s happening in the world of 44 36
pole fishing.

8 THE WONDERS OF WATERCRAFT COVER STORY

Rob Wootton explains how it takes more

than the right bait and tackle to keep
catching carp in the cold.

14 MASTER THE CASTER! COVER STORY

If you want to catch silver fish in winter you

need this bait in your armoury, says Darren
Cox.

20 COMMERCIAL CLASS COVER STORY 82

Our man Jamie Hughes just can’t stop
winning, even on venues he’s never seen
before – is there anything he can’t do?

23 JAMIE’S RIG OF THE MONTH

A breakdown of the silver-fish rig that’s been
doing the damage for Jamie Hughes this
month.

24 HARD V SOFT COVER STORY

Andy Geldart likes to use hard pellets on

commercials but knows there are times when
30
softies will do the business better.

30 SETTING THE TRAPS

Nathan Thompson visits his local Oxford
Canal to demonstrate how to target the
bonus big fish there.

36 VENUE DETECTIVE COVER STORY

For his last trip out with editor Jake, Andy
May visits Docklow Pools in the beautiful
Herefordshire countryside – it could well be
the country’s oldest commercial fishery.
42 MATCH FISHING AND POLE FISHING VETERANS 78 NATURAL DEVOTION
CHAMPIONSHIP 2020 More ups and downs on the rocky road of natural
This is one of our most keenly contested events – venues for Rob Perkins – he loves it really.
if you’re over 60 you’ll want to be in it!
82 BE OPEN-MINDED!
Editorial
44 PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT COVER STORY Graham West favours a catch-all approach on Editor Jake Fowles
Even match fishing superstar Will Raison needs to commercials at this time of year, from tiddlers to E: jake.fowles@dhpub.co.uk
practise, to get up to speed before a winter league big fish… and we mean big! Sub Editor David Haynes
Design & Illustrations Bradley Sharp
on a venue he doesn’t fish very often.
88 GARBOLINO CLUB ANGLER OF THE YEAR 2020
Advertisement Sales
50 SUBSCRIBER CLASSIC 2020 Get involved in the best club angler competition Business Development Manager
If you subscribe to Pole Fishing or Match Fishing in the country. Russell Higgins
magazines this event is just for you. 07908 949433
E: russell.higgins@dhpub.co.uk
90 ON THE CHANGE
72 STAY AHEAD OF THE CURVE F1s can be crafty critters at the best of times; Alex
DHP
Rich Chapman claims that to keep catching in Dockerty shows how to target them at this tricky Magazine Manager
cold-water conditions you need to work out the time of year. Justin Fox
patterns and think ahead. E: justin@dhpub.co.uk
96 QUICK QUESTIONS
Get the lowdown on Pole Fishing’s incoming new
TACKLE & TESTS editor, Alex Clements.

54 NEW GEAR
A selection of some of the best new
tackle items to improve your pole
fishing.

58 ON TEST: PRESTON INNOVATIONS

Alex Clements takes the Response XS90
pole to the bank.

62 PRODUCT SPOTLIGHT: BROWNING

A quick look at the new Targus seatbox
from the German tackle giant.

64 TACKLE SPY: MIDDY

Our undercover reviewer reports on
the new Supra Dry landing nets.

66 UP CLOSE: DAIWA
Where do the Advantage groundbaits
stand in the mix of things?

68 UP CLOSE: MAP
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of David Hall Publishing Ltd and may not
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Phone: 01795 662976 (Mon - Fri 9.30am-
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ISSN 1470-0727
NEWS
WHAT’S BEEN GOING ON IN THE WORLD OF ANGLING OVER THE PAST FEW WEEKS
TEAM ENGLAND U20’S MANAGER
STEVE SANDERS RETIRES
After 17 years of unprecedented
success, Steve Sanders has made
the decision to stand down
from his position as manager
of the Sensas Team England
U20’s team.
Steve first took the reins as
manager in 2003, leading the
team into the 17th FIPS-ed
Youth World Championships
in Portugal with immediate
success, as the team returned
with an individual silver medal
and a creditable fifth place
finish in the team category.
This was the beginning of an
incredibly successful journey
to become the number one
ranked team in the world and
10 years and 10 medals later,
England achieved that goal and
have remained at the top of the
rankings ever since.
06 JANUARY 2020 | POLE FISHING
Over the course of Steve’s
tenure, England amassed a
total of 21 medals with 10
team medals and 11 individual
medals.
The undoubted highlight
came in the 2013 World
Championships in France on
the La Vilaine River. England
produced a phenomenal
performance and swept the
board with team gold and
individual gold, silver and
bronze medals.
Steve’s contribution to the
development and progression
of the anglers he has tutored
and mentored over that period
has also been immense. Many
of the young anglers progressed
through the system going on
to represent England at senior
level, the ultimate accolade for
a coach or manager working
with young people.
Ben Thompson from the
Angling Trust said: “We are
obviously disappointed to lose
such an important and talented
member of our management
team. Steve has been integral
to the success of the team and
development of so many anglers
within the system.
“I speak on behalf of the
Trust and all the anglers who
have been fortunate enough to
benefit from Steve’s knowledge
over the years in offering
our sincere thanks for the
enormous amount of effort and
commitment he has contributed
over such a long period. He has
created a legacy and finding
someone to fill his shoes will be
incredibly difficult.
Having won many medals,
Steve leaves the England
setup in a very strong
position.
“We wish him the very best
of luck for the future and
hope he continues to enjoy
his own team and individual
match fishing.”
Steve added: “I have enjoyed
every minute of my time as
England manager and it has
been a privilege to work with
the many talented youngsters,
I’m proud of each and every
one of them.
“Not only have they
achieved unprecedented
success, they have represented
our nation with honour and
distinction.
“We have an outstanding
tradition of producing top
quality young anglers. I’d
like to wish the team and my
successor the very best of luck
for the future.”
WHITE ACRES EMMA PICKERING
DRENNAN SILVERFISH LEAVES MAVER
FESTIVAL
The annual three-day Drennan
Silverfish Festival held at White
Acres in Cornwall was another
huge success.
Ninety anglers from around
the country took part and
fortunately there was finally a
break in the weather. Pollawyn,
Sycamore, Jennys, Acorn,
Canal, Trelawney and Twin
Oaks were all used in the
event on a rotation scheme
which would see all the anglers
venturing to a different lake
each day.
The top three in the festival.
Steve Conway took top
honours with a fantastic three-
day weight of 211lb 9oz and
a maximum 15 points. In
second place was Steve Winter
with 191lb 7oz and 14 points,
third was Des Shipp with 131lb
3oz and 14 points, with Alan
Scotthorne fourth.
Pole Fishing editor Jake
Fowles (as he was then) got off
to a fantastic start in the first
two days, winning his section
on both days but agonisingly
falling short on the last day.
This was
Jake’s first
outing in his
new Preston
Innovations/
Sonubaits
colours.
Top lady angler Emma meant that she could no longer
Pickering has announced: fulfill her responsibilities as a
“After a fantastic two years with sponsored angler.
Maver, together we have made Emma is still sponsored by
the decision that it is now time Willy Worms and is looking to
for me to step down.” expand the brand via social
A change in Emma’s work media in the new year.
FISH ’O’ MANIA 2020 Andy Bennett 2020 FISH‘O’MANIA QUALIFIERS
was the 2019 Saturday, March 14th Tunnel Barn Farm, 150 pegs
Champion. Wednesday, March 18th Viaduct Fishery, 100 pegs
Saturday, March 21st Decoy Lakes, 120 pegs
Saturday, March 28th Heronbrook Fisheries, 110 pegs
Saturday, April 4th Viaduct Fishery, 120 pegs
Wednesday, April 15th Tunnel Barn Farm, 100 pegs
Saturday, April 18th Partridge Lakes, 150 pegs
Wednesday, April 29th Moorlands Farm, 100 pegs
Saturday, May 2nd Monk Lakes, 100 pegs
Wednesday, May 13th Lindholme Lakes, 100 pegs
Saturday, May 16th Larford Lakes, 120 pegs
Wednesday, May 20th Gold Valley Lakes, 100 pegs
Saturday, May 23rd Lindholme Lakes, 130 pegs
Saturday, May 30th Weston Pools, 100 pegs
Saturday, June 13th Woodland Lakes, 100 pegs
Wednesday, June 17th Partridge Lakes, 100 pegs
Saturday, June 20th Lakeview Lakes, 100 pegs
Saturday, June 27th Woodland View, 100 pegs
In case you missed them, here are 2020 dates for Fish’O’Mania.
This year 18 venues up and down the country will host the
minimum 100 pegged qualifiers with the final again to be hosted at
Hayfield Lakes. Once again the winner of the Fish‘O’Mania Grand
Final at Hayfield Lakes on Saturday, July 11th will net a cool £50,000,
with the runner-up taking home £10,000. Also, for the first time, the
angler with the highest total weight from the sections that do not
produce the winner and runner-up will receive £2,500.
POLE FISHING | JANUARY 2020 07
Rob Wootton

LE
A N G LE R FI

ON
ROB WOOTT
Age: 37
r
Lives: Leiceste
on so r: Dy na mite Baits
Sp
65-2/M2
Pole: Middy XZ

V EN U E FI LE

S
HILLVIEW LAKE ,
ing, Tewkesbury
Location: Twyn GL20 6JH
Gloucestershire
1134717
Contact: 0789
lakes.biz
www.hillview

WON DER S
ERC RA FT…
WAT Dynamite Bait
s-backed Rob
f watercraft a
nd
W
a
o
si
o
m
tt
p
o
le
n
th
discusses the
e ory that has se
keep him one
en

importance o the c o n d it io n s to
im u si n g h is knowledge of
h .
a h e a d o f th e competition
step

08 JANUARY 2020 | POLE FISHING


Rob’s expander pellets, which
he prepared the night before.
A
big part of anyone’s fishing
and an aspect that is often
overlooked is the watercraft
side of the sport, and more
particularly the location of
your quarry at any given time. As pole
anglers we have a limited reach with the
tool we choose but this doesn’t mean it
should prevent us catching a boatload of
fish.
One of the first things I teach anglers
when they have a day’s coaching with me
is all about watercraft and where fish tend
to reside at certain times of the day. Winter
fishing relies massively on location, as quite
often the fish in your local commercial will
be far less likely to move big distances to
feed.
You dont always have
to fill it to the top!
[LEFT] Simple as.
I’m at Hillview Fishery near Tewkesbury
for today’s piece and you could say that the
lake I’ve chosen to sit on is pretty typical
of a lot of commercials up and down the
country – a nice margin either side, gently
sloping shelves and a large area of open
water. All areas in which fish will sit, but
understanding where, when and why they
will reside in certain areas is often key to
winter carp success.
FIND THE ZONE
Open Water – The fish that are out here
are here to try and get away from the
bankside disturbance; they do not want
to get caught and while there’s no doubt
that targeting this area of the swim may
POLEF ISHINGM AGAZINE.COM
Rob favours
a strung out
shotting
pattern.
The back shot
helps to keep
a still hook
bait.
catch you a few fish, simply due to the
concentration of them, it’s often the last
part of my peg that I will try.
The trouble with catching fish from this
part of the swim is they simply want to be
out of the way, and whenever you hook
one here it generally puts all the others
on edge. As a result they will then tend
to move to a safer area, often in someone
else’s swim.
I find it a far better option to leave any
open water at the extreme of my peg until
as late as possible in the session; that way
the fish in this area may have started to
think about feeding. And if they haven’t,
well you have reduced the likelihood of
any carp residing here from spooking into
another anglers swim.
POLE FISHING | JANUARY 2020 09
Rob Wootton

A prestine winter
common carp.

Plenty of spares. Gamakatsu Pellet Middy Yellow

Eyed Hook is the Reactacore will
perfect winter pellet give the power to
hook. pull away from the
aerator in the peg.

Deep Water Short – On the majority of my commercial

fishery sessions this is the area of the peg that will get my
attention at the start of the day. The fish are in this area for two
reasons: firstly, they are close to the bank because they have an
appetite and they are thinking about feeding. After all, if they
weren’t hungry they would go to the middle of the lake, where
little bait naturally gathers, to sulk.
The second reason they are in the deep water is because
the water conditions aren’t quite right for them to sit in the
margins confidently. This could be down to a lack of colour in
the water or maybe the temperature isn’t quite right for them
to be right in the shallow water.

Margins – Summer or winter, the fish just love the margins.

The margin is where the most bait gets fed. It’s also where the
most cover is for wary fish on a general open-water commercial
lake. If the water colour is good on your local fishery and the
water temperature in the edge is to the fishes’ liking, then at
some point during the day commercial venue residents will
venture into the edge.
A lot of anglers fall into the trap of believing water
temperatures have to be high for a fish to move into ‘shallow’
water, when in actual fact a certain area of the lake just has to
be a little more inviting than somewhere else.
Take today’s session as a classic case study; it can’t have
escaped anyone that we have had a bucketload of rain over
the last couple of months, and even though the temperatures
are starting to drop quite considerably, and the fish should be
thinking about hibernating for the winter, there is still plenty of
colour in the lakes due to the rain water.

10 JANUARY 2020 | POLE FISHING


“It’s obvious there are plenty of fish willing to feed in the
shallow water.”
The rain has also had another effect on
a lot of venues; I reckon that a lot of the
colder rainwater chills the bottom section
of the lake and for that reason the shallow
water in the edges of a lot of venues I’ve
been visiting has been producing. The
water is still cold in the margins but it’s just
not as cold as the water at the bottom of
the lake. These areas are also the first to
warm up those vital few degrees as the sun
emerges on a cold winter morning – why
wouldn’t they produce the goods?
THE CHALLENGE
The stocking at Hillview is pretty high
and I’ve been told to expect a good day’s
fishing, so after spouting off to editor Jake
about my theories he’s challenged me to a
margin-only feature! I fall for the trap and
agree to only set up margin rigs to see what
I can catch.
Fortunately for me the edges on Heron
lake are quite a nice depth at between two
and three feet deep, the colour is good also
so after a plumb up around my peg I’m
pretty confident of catching a few. I decide
to fish two lines, each side of my fishing
position and both 13 metres down the bank.
Now, even though my theory suggests the
fish should want to be in the margins, and
of that I am confident, they still won’t want
to sit under my nose so putting a little bit
of distance between yourself and the fish is
advised.
Because I’ve found the same depth on
both swims I’m going to get away with
one rig for the session. The float is a 4x12
POLEF ISHINGM AGAZINE.COM
Malman Dusty, the main line is 0.14mm
Middy Lo-Viz and the shotting of the rig
is with No10 Slot Shot, and rather than
bulking the shot I slightly spread them out
in the bottom third of the rig. Hooklength
wise I’ve gone for 0.10mm Lo-Viz and I’ve
got a size 18 Gamakatsu pellet eyed hook
tied knotless knot style to house a bait
band. These hooks are the finest I’ve found
for hair rigging so it’s worth giving them a
go once the fish become a little picky about
what they have a chomp on. Elastic for
today is a Yellow Reactacore, lovely and soft
on the strike but powering up quickly.
At Hillview you’re pretty limited on the
bait front, which, in all honesty, suits me
down to the ground! I don’t fancy using live
baits like maggots as I may have problems
with silvers, and like many commercials
POLE FISHING | JANUARY 2020 11
Rob Wootton
the venue has a fishery-only pellet
rule in force. The pellets look good
though, so a bag of 4mms is taken
to the peg and to be honest I can’t
see me using anything else as hook
bait or feed throughout the day! I’ve
got a few soft expanders prepped
but they are only coming off the subs
bench if I’m in trouble.
I start the session by rattling in
10 pellets into the left-hand margin
and waiting for a bite; early on in
the day I like to keep my hook bait
still and try and get feel for what’s
happening in the swim by reading
the indications on the float. After a
wait of about five minutes I’m starting
to lose a bit of confidence, but then
the float dips and I’m attached to an
angry carp. It leads me a merry dance
and I’m pleased I’ve used a slightly
heavier elastic as there’s an aerator in
the swim that could cause problems if
a fish gets under it.
At about 5lb that first fish is a great
start and things get better when the
next five put-ins also result in fish. I
don’t expect bites to be as regular as
I would if it was summer, but I also
won’t sit around motionless should
no indications or bites materialise.
Tapping in 10 or so pellets after each
fish is working well and if I don’t get
a bite pretty quickly I tap my hook
bait on the surface as a bit of a noise
Minimal feed and
winter watercraft
combined to produce
the goods on a cold day.
12 JANUARY 2020 | POLE FISHING
attractor, before lowering it back in –
this works really well!
After a nice flurry of fish I switch to
the right-hand swim and the result is
the same; it’s obvious there are plenty
of fish willing to feed in the shallow
water and I’m pleased that the margin
attack has worked. A banded 4mm
hard pellet has proved itself as a great
bait and I’ve settled into a routine of
using the sprinkle pot to drip three
or four pellets into the peg before
hooking a fish and depositing the
rest of the potful of pellets in the
peg ready for the next put-in; this
is a great way of feeding a peg and
another reason for a soft elastic on
the strike.
The session has been really
enjoyable, I’ve had some lovely carp
and a load of F1s all in the margins,
and despite having acres of open
water in front of me I’ve not even
had to contemplate using it. There
must be thousands of fish out there,
not wanting to feed and that would
be a nightmare to catch.
I guess it just shows that the
margins aren’t just an area to target
during the summer months and are
usually where you’ll find the
fish that are willing to have a
chew on open-water lakes
like this.
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Caster Fishing

AN GL ER FIL E

DARREN COX
Age: 53
on
Lives: Stratford-upon-Av
inline
Sponsor: Garbolino, Ma
Pole: Garbolino UK1
Accomplice Evo

VE NU E FIL E

Y
MEADOWLANDS FISHER
more,
Location: Ryton-on-Duns
Coventr y CV8 3EG
Contact: 07858 756474
www.fisheries.co.uk

MASTER
THE CASTER!
When it comes to catching winter silvers there are few better
baits than casters. Garbolino’s main man Darren Cox
explains how to get the most from this fantastic bait.

14 JANUARY 2020 | POLE FISHING


T
here are few natural baits that
sort out quality fish the way
casters do! At this time of year
when the cold sets in, if you
are looking to catch a better
stamp of silvers then casters marry perfectly
with the clearer colder water conditions.
They can be a gamble for sure, because if
it’s not a big-fish day, if they are not feeding
or just not present in the swim, then
they can be too selective. For this reason,
I seldom fish them as the only option,
especially in a match.
DEPTH AND FEEDING
There is one line I love to fish casters on
lakes wherever I can, and that’s a short line.
Ideally I like to be able to throw them out
of my hand as it is so easy to do when you
are fishing another line. I want to build
this swim for later in the session as I know
the longer I leave it the better it will be for
sure.
Today at Meadowlands my swim is not
quite deep enough very short for this time
of year, so I would rather make sure I am in
the correct depth of water. For this reason,
Golden shells!
POLEF ISHINGM AGAZINE.COM
I must use a catapult as I am fishing further
out in six feet of water. The depth is double
that at 14 metres but after a main steep
drop at 13 metres it gradually slopes up
and gets shallower all the time.
I like to get into a ‘good depth’ of water,
and by that I mean either down the first
main ledge or into the equivalent of at least
half the main depth. So, for example, if I
can find six feet of water and my longer
line down the ledge is 12 feet deep then I
feel comfortable fishing there.
What you must remember with roach
POLE FISHING | JANUARY 2020 15
Caster Fishing

however, is how active they are when
they feed, often feeding up well off the
bottom. This means that even in the cold
weather they can drift into shallower
water, certainly if it’s still fairly deep up the
ledges.
If my caster line is part of a multiple
plan of attack, I will kick it off simply by
starting to loose feed. It will build slowly as
the constant loose feed falling through the
water should start to attract fish slowly but
surely. Six to 10 casters every two to three
minutes is usually enough to build the
swim for later on. However, if I feel I may
need the swim earlier I kick it off with a bit
of groundbait.
On commercials I’m more than
comfortable using a fishmeal mix, and
today I have mixed up a 50/50 mix of
Mainline Sweet Marine and Tom Thick
Original. I will put one squeezed ball in
and one almost loose to send a trail down
through the water. These will contain
dead pinkies, casters and a few dead red
maggots. This then gives me the option to
start on any one of those baits; they should
also attract smaller fish initially, so I can
at least catch those until the better stamp
of roach turn up. I’m sure small fish often
encourage better fish to move in over bait
quicker too.
If you can throw your casters in it
makes life much easier and helps
you feed less more frequently,
even when fishing and catching
on other methods early on.
But accurate plumbing
and finding the
Even for silvers it’s worth
having a side pull system
just in case something larger
puts in an appearance.
Home made Dacron
connectors made using a
Drennan bead and fly fishing
Dacron.
Darren favours the
Garbolino Lube to
right depth, looking for a good ledge if lubricate his elastic.
there is one, is more important than being
comfortable.
RIG CHOICES
Rigs are quite simple; I will have a few set
up for this line as it will depend how the
fish are feeding as to which one is the most
effective on the day. I use the Garbolino
DCC32 (or old DC12H), which has a nice
long carbon stem and fine hollow antenna.
Depth will dictate the weight A smattering of
required but today in six feet of groundbait, pinkies
and casters helps keep
water I will set up a 0.5g float the fish interested.
with a high bulk and several
small No11 droppers. The
bulk helps me get to the settles as I’m convinced the roach watch
killing zone, which is the bait fall before intercepting it.
the bottom third of I will also have a lighter 0.2g or 0.3g
the water. I expect version with strung out No10s and No11s
bites on the drop to give me a much slower fall in case the
or just as the bait fish come higher up in the water. The final

“There is no one ‘right’

way, the right way is
how the fish want it on
the day.”

16 JANUARY 2020 | POLE FISHING


Expect a spell when a better
quality stamp moves into the peg.
Nailed! A crushed shell and a
hook perfectly positioned in
the top lip.
Shot pliers are a fantastic
tool to add and remove shot
without damaging the line.
Plenty more of these, please!
POLEF ISHINGM AGAZINE.COM
Hand sized roach like
these love casters!
rig for this line will be a shallow one in the
unlikely event the fish will come very high
in the water. This is unusual in winter, but it
can happen.
Main line on all rigs is 0.14mm diameter
Garbolino Super Soft with 0.10mm
hooklengths and size 18 Guru F1 Pellet
or Garbolino Winter Silvers in a 20. I love
the 1.2mm Fighter Hollow elastics for this
if it’s a bagging day. On less hectic days I
may drop down to a Garbolino Solid No5
(0.09mm).
PRESENTATION
There are a few important things you must
consider when fishing for roach anywhere:
presentation is critical. There is no one
‘right’ way, the right way is how the fish
want it on the day, and the only way to find
this out is by constantly experimenting. Try
laying your rig in ‘up tow’ or ‘down tow’,
flicking it past the main feed, letting it run
with the wind/tow, holding it dead still,
slowing it down, or indeed a combination
of a few or all of those ways to keep the fish
coming for the whole session. You need to
try and see the pattern forming, as there
will be one.
Today, once I started catching well I
could see exactly the fastest way to catch
fish constantly, quickly and giving me bites
that were virtually unmissable. By laying the
rig straight over the feed area with my hook
downwind of the pole tip, I would let it
settle on its own for five seconds or so and
then slow it down very slightly in the tow.
This way I think my rig was tight, the bait
had virtually stopped for a few seconds on
the bottom and the float would bury.
Once I found this pattern it was a time
and motion process, making sure I was
doing exactly what I needed to do to get
those good bites. You have to keep your
feeding constant too, as this can change
the way the fish react completely. If my
bites went iffy on me today, I could almost
guarantee an odd fish by flicking the rig
just past my feed line. This often caught me
a slightly better roach and even a few nice
POLE FISHING | JANUARY 2020 17
Caster Fishing
hybrids that must have been hanging off
the back of the feed off the bottom.
Hooking the caster correctly is also
really important. When I am catching well
I don’t want to completely bury the hook
in the caster as I feel I can miss too many
bites. I will bury the hook as normal but
then bring it out slightly so that the point
of the hook is just showing out of the side
of the caster and the spade of the hook is
also showing. It’s having the spade buried
that I think causes you to bump fish or miss
bites. However, it is a good way if you need
to fool a few fish on to the hook on a hard
day.
Don’t ignore casters on longer lines
either. The beauty of casters is that you can
feed them accurately with a catapult and
they make a lovely noise, which definitely
attracts fish. They are great for skimmers
too and I catch many skimmers in winter
A stamp winter
roach, you can’t
beat it.
18 JANUARY 2020 | POLE FISHING
long on the caster, especially double
with line on the bottom, holding the
rig perfectly still on my bump bar.
These methods work really well
on most venues, and are perfect for
canals and slow-moving rivers in
summer and winter. There is one
thing for sure, roach absolutely love
casters, and they are a must if you are
targeting bigger ones in clear water
conditions.
Don’t forget your casters this
winter for a lovely day’s roach
fishing, or just to top up a good
net of fish on the short line to gain
those extra few pounds that make all
the difference on many matches.
 BENWICK SPORTS
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Jamie’s Diary

ANGLER FILE:
JAMIE HUGHES
Age: 35 Lives: Wirral
Sponsors: Matrix,
Spotted Fin
Pole: Matrix MTX4

CLASS
A SILVER LINING
Jamie Hughes once again proves that when he puts his mind to
any style of fishing he is capable of producing the goods…

W
ith the weather now this month I would try to get on the bank few smaller events, all fairly local fisheries
starting to show some as much as possible to make the most of that would almost guarantee a great day’s
real signs that winter is some good fishing before the shutdown of sport.
just around the corner, the winter happened. This meant that for First up in the diary was the Autumn
I made the decision that once I would be able to focus on a Festival held at Weston Pools Fishery. I had
spent some time here just a few weeks back
competing in the Natural Baits Festival and
really enjoyed it, so when a space came
available in my coaching schedule I quickly
jumped at the chance to get myself back to
Weston.
As with most events here this festival was
again to be scored by section points, with
a random draw each day over three of the
lakes on the fishery’s main site. In a little
change from normal however, the decision
was made to drop the section sizes down
to just five to six pegs to hopefully create
a slightly fairer competition. This was
something that I thought was a good move
with the fish beginning to move into their
winter homes; however, it did mean that
a perfect score of two section wins would
definitely be needed to win overall so I
couldn’t afford to make any mistakes.
On to the first day and I was more than
happy to be heading off to Peg 24 on
Belvedere Pool. This is a really consistent
area of the lake that is usually home to
a few larger specimens and a peg that I
felt would give me a chance of winning
the section. That was until venue expert

20 JANUARY 2020 | POLE FISHING


Kieran Marsden sat down
next to me on Peg 25, which
is possibly Weston Pools’ most
famous epicentre. This was
sure to make winning far more
difficult but all I could do was
to get on with things and hope
that the lake’s F1 population
wasn’t residing underneath the
lily bed in front of Kieron.  than an occasional look in the
With just open water to
target my match was to be a
simple affair with pellets at
five and 13 metres, maggots
at an angle at six metres and a
margin being my plan for the
day. The biggest decision for me
however, was what strength kit
to use as with the water cooling
down a lighter approach may
be best, but I wasn’t sure just
how delicate I could go. After a quick
call to Matty Dawes I went with a 0.13mm
hooklength option as there was still a good
chance that Weston’s crazy carp would try
their best to steal my rigs.
I started in the usual manner with pellets
short, and to say I had a great start would
be an understatement! In the first 90
minutes I landed 12 carp, which put me
around the 70lb mark while the rest of the
lake struggled for bites. I had clearly drawn
on the nest, but even so I still had to try
and keep in touch with the fish as there
was no way that they would stay around for
too long if their mates kept being caught.
Sure enough the carp quickly vanished
and the remainder of the match became
a more winter style job with just an odd F1
to be caught from around the swim. The
carp did have another quick feed in the
dying stages, when I found a couple short
and one other fishing to the next pallet,
but other than that I really did feel like I
had limped through the final few hours.
Sadly during my barren spell Kieran’s peg
had burst into life and for a good three
hours he landed a large F1 every cast
fishing shallow to the lilies. On arrival
of the scales I knew that I wouldn’t have
enough, with my 110lb catch falling 35lb
short of winning the section. I did have
the consolation of finishing second in the
match overall but knew that not winning
the section meant that a festival win was
now impossible.
Next day and again I was happy with my
draw as I headed off to the iconic Peg 42
on Canal Pool. This lake was fishing by far
the hardest of the three lakes in use, with
just 75lb winning on the previous day, but
with a nice busy small-fish match looking
like the best option I was looking forward
to the match.
With potentially lots of fish required to
do well, as always my intention was to fish
as few lines as possible to give myself a
better chance of reading how the fish were
feeding instead of diluting the fish over
several different areas of the peg. A four-
line approach of two margin lines, maggots
at nine metres to the bridge and pellets at
16 metres would hopefully be enough to
cover all eventualities.
With Canal Pool generally being a slow
starter for the first couple of hours I chose
to fish my long pellet line to give the
shorter maggot lines a chance to develop.
This worked okay at first but it soon
became apparent that the fish were not
happy in the shallower water, and a move
to the deeper middle line needed to be
made a little earlier than I had planned.
Dropping short helped a little, although
fishing here so early meant that there was
still a large amount of tiny fish in the peg.
I ploughed on with this for an hour
or so, catching lots of small roach and
POLEF ISHINGM AGAZINE.COM
ide with just the very occasional
better fish making an appearance
between them, before the time
came when I had to try and force
things. Swapping to a bigger pot
and double feeding after every fish
the swim began to change and a
few of the lake’s elusive F1s started
to make an appearance. Other
edges where I had a few F1s, the
remainder of the match was spent
on my maggot line where I was
able to catch steadily by rotating
shallow and deck rigs. Action
had been far from hectic but the
steady finish meant that my catch
of 74lb was enough for a section
win, which is all I could have
expected from this lake.
Elsewhere the other pools had again
fished well with Kristian Jones winning the
match overall with 150lb from Stretton,
followed by several other 100lb catches.
This gave Kris his second section win
and with a total weight of around 230lb
was enough to win him the event. Ashley
Reeves had finished in second place, again
with two points but a smaller weight, and
I was lucky enough to pinch third with the
biggest weight of several anglers on three
points.
Once again it had been a great couple of
days at Weston with some brilliant catches
for late October – I’ll most certainly be
making sure to leave some space in the
diary to get myself back there as much as
possible next year.
SILVER FISH
Last up this month I was back to chasing
qualifiers as I headed off to Aston Park
Fishery in Sheffield, for my second
attempt to win a place in the Angling Trust
Silverfish Final at Hallcroft Fishery early
next year. This was actually a venue I had
never seen before but after speaking to my
crazy mate Mr May it sounded like
POLE FISHING | JANUARY 2020 21
Jamie’s Diary
an all-out maggot/caster approach would
be the best option, as the main species for
the day would be ide.
After driving over the moors, which
resembled a scene from the Arctic, when
we got to the venue, winter had most
certainly arrived for this match, with a
sharp frost on the ground.
On to the draw and Peg 13 on the Lilly
Lake was my location, which didn’t seem
to get any of the locals very excited. It
sounded like the wider end of the lake
was the more favoured area to draw as
these pegs were also home to some large
skimmers alongside the larger stamp of
ide. Still, with plenty of bites on the cards
I felt positive that as long as the skimmers
didn’t feed in large numbers I would be
able to catch enough small fish to reach
22 JANUARY 2020 | POLE FISHING
my 20lb target, which was thought might be
enough to win the pool.
So with just six pints of maggots on the
side tray I went about trying to empty the
lake of its tiny fish population; on this
occasion I hoped that just two lines at six
and 13 metres would be enough as each
was to be loose fed heavily with the hope of
attracting lots of fish from the pegs around
me.
Starting at six metres, I decided to just
cup a dozen maggots in to start just in case
the cold had put the fish off. This failed
to work so I started to throw six to eight
maggots over the top every 30 seconds.
This quickly provoked a response and I
began to catch small 2 to 4oz ide regularly.
Seeing that they wanted some feed falling
through the water I also began to feed
my longer line in the same fashion with a
catapult for if the short line needed a rest
at any point. Looking back now however,
and if I was to fish my match again I would
have only fed the line at six metres for the
entire session, as apart from a couple of
quick goes to see if any larger fish were
further out on the long the 13m line
produced very little, and in hindsight
possibly stopped some fish moving on to
my more productive short line. 
So pretty much my entire match was
spent at six metres, where I went through a
good five pints of maggots to catch around
200 fish. It had been really interesting
trying to work out the best ways to feed
as there were constantly different species
and stamps of fish moving through the
peg, meaning that at times a shallow/slow
fall would be best while at others a bulked
down rig was far more productive. 
The scales arrived and even I was
surprised when 47lb something was called
out, which was most certainly one of the
best winter silvers catches that I’ve ever
had! On the day this was enough to win
the match overall, meaning I had a place
in next year’s final! The other lakes had
fished a little harder than expected, with
Mick Brownell winning the Stable Lake
zone with 38lb and Andy May booking his
place in the final from Split Lake with 25lb.
It had turned out to be well worth the
effort and I must say that the venue fished
brilliantly despite the horrible weather.
Now I’ve got a bit more homework to
do, as I’ve never seen Hallcroft before;
hopefully Andy and I will get up there a
few times over the winter to work a few
things out. I’ll let you know how we get on.
 Jamie Hughes

4x8 RW Maggie

0.135mm main line

2.5feet
No11s spread through the rig

0.105mm hooklength

5 Feet Size 16 Matrix Silver

Jamie gives a lowdown
of the rig that helped him
qualify for the AT Silverfish
Final…
T
his month’s rig was one that
Andy May actually showed
me while out filming the
latest edition of Winning
Ways, at Weston Pools. It
is used when targeting ide shallow in
the colder months and is the same rig
that I used for spells at Aston Park when
securing my place in the AT Silverfish
Final next year.
Firstly, and an important component of
the rig, is the float. A 4x8 RW Maggie is
perfect for the job due to its carbon stem
and delicate solid bristle, which makes
it extremely sensitive. The bristle, being
solid and not hollow, also creates very
little resistance when a fish takes the bait,
which I believe is vital when ide are the
target.
Shotting is extremely simple with just
four No11s spread evenly through the rig.
Hooks and line were a size 16 Matrix Silver
hook to 0.10mm diameter hooklength.
Lastly, the elastic of choice is a 4-6 Slik,
which is now my go-to commercial silvers
elastic as it prevents any fish being bumped,
while still allowing me to swing fish up to
around 5oz, a big advantage when it’s a
numbers game.
JAMIE’S IDE RIG
Float: Richie Wilson Maggie 4x8
Main line: 0.135mm Matrix Power
Micron
Hooklength: 0.105mm Matrix Power
Micron
Shotting: Strung out No11s
Hook: Matrix Silvers size 16
Elastic: Slik 4-6

POLE FISHING | JANUARY 2020 23

Andy Geldart

Pictures Mark Parker

HARD
VSOFT
Andy Geldart has al
hard pellets but knows th
ways preferred
ere are days
tfish their
when soft pellets will ou
how he fishes
tougher cousins. Here’s
both…

AN GL ER FIL E

ANDY GELDART
Age: 34
Lives: Leeds
te Baits
Sponsor: MAP, Dynami
Pole: MAP TKS 1001 3G

VE NU E FIL E

HALLCROFT FISHERY
d,
Location: Hallcroft Roa
Retford DN22 7RA

24 JANUARY 2020 | POLE FISHING


A selection of 6mm and
4mm expander pellets.
I
f I’m honest, I’ve always considered
myself to be more of a hard man
than a softie. I am of course talking
about my choice of pellet here! That
said, I am slowly realising that soft
pellets can be more effective on certain
days.
Pellets have certainly come a long
way since the early 1970s, when the only
commercially available products were high-
oil trout pellets. Ideal for building rapid
weight growth in stew pond trout in fish
farms, in the 1990s fishery scientists found
that pellets with very high oil contents
could be detrimental to the long-term
health of coarse fish and so a whole host of
lower oil, wheatgerm-based pellets started
to flood the market.
It is this influx of 1,001 different types
of pellet, available in a legion of different
Andy’s hard 4mm hook bait.
[LEFT] His pellet float of choice.
shapes, sizes, flavours, oil levels and
breakdown rates, where the confusion
starts for many anglers.
This is one of the reasons I’ve always
been a plain, hard, carp pellet man. Keep
things nice and simple is my motto!
Apart from plain pellets enabling me to
keep my approach very simple, they also
have a huge amount of other advantages
over other baits. They’re readily available,
cheap, easy to keep and don’t go off like
live baits, work ALL year round, versatile,
catch everything from small fish through to
the biggest specimens and, best of all, they
are full of vitamins, minerals and other
nutrients that makes them good for the
fishery’s stock.
The final, and one of their biggest
advantages, is that stocked carp are reared
on them, so they treat pellets as more of a
POLEF ISHINGM AGAZINE.COM
This amount of
loose feed kicks off
the skimmer line.
natural food source than any bug or grub
found naturally in the lake’s water.
HARD PELLETS
For me, the use of hard pellets is a
confidence thing. Many years ago – around
a decade or more – pellet fishing was all
based around the use of soft expanders;
although bait bands were available,
we never used to hair-rig them as is so
common now. I can’t take the credit for
pioneering the use of hard pellets on the
hook, but I was one of the first to get on
to using them. Basically, I found that they
were much more efficient, particularly
when fishing at long lengths or when using
a running line setup.
Soft pellets are very good on the hook,
as we all know, but when it comes to match
POLE FISHING | JANUARY 2020 25
Andy Geldart

The carp
liked the hard
pellets today.

conditions especially, it can cost you fish by outfishing casters or vice versa.
using them. What I mean is if I were, for When the weather is cold or the fishing
example, fishing up to an island or other is hard, I find expanders really come into
feature at 14.5 metres plus, as a soft pellet their own. Also, they are a must for F1
tends to come off every time you strike, you fishing I find. Whether it’s an ‘ejection’
can lose precious match time re-baiting. thing, I don’t know. By ejection, I mean
If it takes around 20 to 30 seconds to ship that when the fish are being finicky, it is
in, re-bait and ship out, over the course easier to spit out something hard than soft.
of a five-hour match you could lose up to For example, it is much easier to spit out a
30 minutes or more. That can be a lot of grape than a feather! This 10th of a second
weight lost on some days. longer in the fish’s mouth could be the
Like all things in life though, there’s difference between a positive bite and a
always a negative to offset the positives. missed one.
Hard pellets tend to be better on days My basic premise regarding pellets is
when the fish are up for a feed, when dictated by two things: Firstly, what fish are
fishing shallow or when you’re really you ‘ideally’ targeting? And secondly, how
bagging. When the day is fishing much well is the venue fishing on that given day?
harder, it is usually a soft pellet that will see Skimmers and F1s are usually soft pellet
you getting the most bites. To be honest feeders while carp generally go for hard
though, I like to use hard pellets for ones, but see on the day as being too rigid
around 99 per cent of my fishing. can cost you fish.

SOFT PELLETS THE PELLETS

As the name suggests, expander pellets For my hard pellets, my first choice would
‘expand’ once they have been soaked be Dynamite Baits Swim Stim 4mm, but as
in water. Straight out of the bag they I’m at Hallcroft – which is fishery pellets
are rock hard, unhookable and, more only – I’m using their 4mms straight out
importantly, they float. This is because they of the bag for both the loose feed and the
are extruded at much higher temperatures hook.
than normal hard feed pellets. This action For my ‘soft’ line, I’m using Hallcroft’s
forces air into the pellet, which in turn 2mm micro pellets for loose feed. However,
makes them float prior to preparation. during the soaking process I have added
Even though I don’t fish soft pellets a lot, six capfuls of F1 Sweet Pellet Soak. I’m
there are times when a softer hook bait will not a massive additives user, but I find it
outfish a hard one tenfold – like maggots can make a big difference when everyone
is forced to use the same pellets. So, by
adding a Pellet Soak, I feel it gives me a
little instant edge.
Expanders and pellet soak I particularly like the F1 Sweet as I think
give you the best of both it appeals to all fish – carp and silvers – so
soft and hard pellets. it works well for me. I have also found that

Andy and a Hallcroft common carp.

26 JANUARY 2020 | POLE FISHING

 POLEF ISHINGM AGAZINE.COM

“With the weather being

quite mild, but low pressure
and wet, it is the carp that
have fed the best.”

Andy’s Andy likes

expander a mixture
pellet hook of different
bait. flavoured
expanders

These 4mm hard

These are catapulted pellets are straight out
over the carp line. of the bag.

Gently does it.

sweet or spicy flavours seem to work best in

cold water, whereas meaty or fishy tastes do
the business in the warmer months.
For the hook on my soft line, I’m looking
to use Dynamite’s Swim Stim Pro Expander
pellets. I don’t like to pump my pellets
though, as I find this process can be too
aggressive, making the pellets too soft and
heavy, almost waterlogging them. I prefer
to pour them into water and let them
expand naturally. The result is much better
I find.
I will always bring a good mixture of
different sizes and flavours. You only need
at most an egg cupful of all sizes, so not
many, but this gives me more options on
the day.
Plus, this number of expanders is around
70 pellets of each size and flavour. That
gives me six different expander options, or
in other words just over 400 pellets. This
isn’t a lot of bait, but, if I used all of these
on the day, they’d still be weighing me in
this time next week!
Colour and flavour are again things that
will be dictated on the day. A green or red
may outfish a natural, or a 4mm will catch
quicker than a 6mm, but until you start
fishing you’ll never know.

POLE FISHING | JANUARY 2020 27

Andy Geldart
TWO BAITS,TWO LINES
Today, I have two lines. My right-hand one
is reserved for skimmers, while the left-
hand is for carp… hopefully!
Over the skimmer line I have loose fed
around 100 micros to kick the line off,
before pole potting a pinch of micros every
cast. I cup my bait in as it makes no noise,
so I don’t tend to attract the carp as readily.
Over the top, I’m looking to fish either a
4mm or 6mm expander.
Ideally, I don’t want carp coming on to
this line as it will prevent the skimmers
from properly settling. Commercial
skimmers also don’t have the appetite that
most anglers credit them with. I find that
it is better to almost starve them on to the
hook, rather than trying to force things.
On the left-hand carp line I simply
catapult a few hard 4mms every few
minutes to make a clatter on the top with a
banded 4mm on the hook.
With the weather being quite mild, but
low pressure and wet, it is the carp that
have fed the best. I have had a dozen or so
skimmers on my skimmer line, but even
quietly potting micros in, I’ve still caught
the odd one. This has seen the skimmers
not settling properly.
Skimmers add variety
to the catch.
28 JANUARY 2020 | POLE FISHING
PERFECT PRESENTATION hard pellet had been the top boy, but that
Rig-wise, pellet fishing is very simple. I said you might fish a match there tomorrow
have a 0.16mm main line to either 0.16mm and it could be soft pellet that slays it. The
hooklength on the carp line or 0.12mm thing to remember is that if you can fish
on the skimmer line. The float is a Mick both well, then you will always catch.
Wilkinson Wire Slim 0.4g shotted with 14 That’s the simple power of pellets.
No11s spread out along the rig, to give the
pellet a lovely natural fall.
The rig is plumbed up to fish around
one inch overdepth, although on very
soft, silty venues like Hallcroft, it is worth
plumbing up regularly or moving slightly,
as the fish will quickly dig out the bottom,
seeing you fishing way underdepth.
I remember doing a feature years ago
on Bridges Pool. I plumbed up at the
end of the session, where I’d started, and
found that the swim was now 14 inches
deeper than it had been at the start of
the day!
Over the next few hours, with the
rain getting harder, the fish have
come more regularly, much to Mark
the cameraman’s annoyance, as he
desperately struggled to keep water
drops off the lenses.
By the time we’d decided to call it a
day, some four hours later, I’d recorded
a dozen skimmers, for just under 20lb
and 11 carp for close to 100lb. Today,
 ly er
on Off
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Canal Bonus Fish

A
Although it’s a canal, the
s temperatures plummet
Loose feeding
bream and skimmers has always and clarity drops out of our
can’t resist pellets. worked on local canals there are few
canals. better places to head than
inner city stretches or active
marinas. The reason is simple; the activity
and shelter provided in these areas makes
them a perfect resting spot for the canal’s
inhabitants, not to mention the likelihood
of a few free offerings introduced by the
boat owners, passers-by or people feeding
the ducks, all of which are highly unlikely
when venturing off the beaten track.

30 JANUARY 2020 | POLE FISHING

 POLEF ISHINGM AGAZINE.COM

SETTING
THE TRAPS
Spotted Fin’s Nathan Thompson demonstrates a simple
yet effective approach to targeting your local narrow canal.

VE NU E FIL E

W
OXFORD CANAL, ENSLO
MARINA
Location: Kidlington AS
society.co.uk
www.kidlingtonangling

AN GL ER FIL E

NATHAN THOMPSON
Age: 27
Lives: Didcot
Sponsor: Spotted Fin
Pro Type Carp
Pole: Preston Innovations

POLE FISHING | JANUARY 2020 31

Canal Bonus Fish

“On this particular venue I have found that a feed and rotate
policy is often the best approach.”
With a few recent night-time frosts and throughout the year but never more so in the day before testing the water with the
daytime temperatures now hanging into than when temperatures plummet, with a potential of some bonus fish later in the
single figures, it is about now that these lot of quality roach, bream and big perch day, on this particular venue I have found
sorts of venues really come into their own congregating in the area among other that a feed and rotate policy is often the
and with a trip to the canal on the cards I species. best approach.
have ventured over to Enslow Marina on By doing this I can establish an area of
the Oxford Canal, better known to the the peg in which the fish will settle most
locals and regular anglers here as the Rock SET THE TRAPS confidently. This is true during both
Of Gibraltar (named after the famous pub Unlike many other canals that I have pleasure and match situations, where the
just a stone’s throw up the road). fished, where setting up new lines is often pressure of anglers being sat on the bank
This stretch, like many marinas around a gradual process throughout the day, can often spook fish into different areas of
the country, is known to hold a lot of fish aiming to catch a rook of small fish early the canal.

Marinas like this are fish-holding magnets.

32 JANUARY 2020 | POLE FISHING

 POLEF ISHINGM AGAZINE.COM

A fixed shot rig and a Stotz It doesn’t take

rig (below), which Nathan will many of these
adjust during the course of to build a
the day. weight.

The main boat channel is one key

area and then in a depth of three feet
up the far slope is the other; this puts
me over towards the boats, which offer
fish a massive amount of cover and are a
fantastic holding spot for silver fish now
temperatures are low. These are both areas
that are renowned for producing fish on
canals and this one is no different.
Importantly though, I like to have two
track lines, one at a very slight angle at a
top-five distance and the other well out of
my peg, usually into space away from any
other anglers at 13 metres. This refers back
to the idea that fish will often back away
from bankside disturbance and often this
‘out of the way’ line can be really effective.
The cool weather also seems to slow
the amount of boat traffic down quite
significantly on this venue, so I don’t need
to worry too much about passing boats
disturbing the swims, unlike in the summer
months, particularly at weekends!
Feeding is fairly positive in terms of
quantity but is based around a low-feed
groundbait mix. However, two mixes are
prepared to reflect my target species. My
two track lines are fed differently, one with
bonus fish in mind and the other to give
myself the best chance of catching a bit of
Single maggot
Nathan uses
Stotz and shot proved effective
on his rigs. on the day.
everything.
My bonus-fish mix is Spotted Fin Natural
Dark Canal and Dark F1 mixed 70:30 in
favour of the Canal. The F1 adds a lovely
sweet flavour with a hint of fishmeal, perfect
for skimmers and bream. The second mix
is more of an all-round mix and again uses
Natural Canal, but the second component
is Dark Roach mixed in equal parts. To
No half measures!
distinguish between the two mixes I will put
them into separate buckets and mark them
with an S and an L – short and long. This
just saves me time on the bank not having
to smell which mix is which, should I forget.
Five balls of the bonus-fish mix are fed
at 13 metres out in my peg while three
balls containing a handful of pinkies are
fed at top-five distance. The bonus-fish mix
is mixed fairly stiff and contains a good
helping of chopped worm and casters. The
all-round mix is on the drier side to allow
it to remain a little more active, which is
more appealing to roach and smaller silvers.
A loose pot of the bonus fish mix is fed up
the shelf and will be my starting gambit for
the session ahead; feeding it loose rather
than in a ball allows it to spread over a large
area and sit on a slight slope. It also seems
to gain a much quicker response than when
fed in a ball that can take a little time to
break down.

RIG CHOICES
Float choice for me on the three and a half
feet swim has to be an Ian Heaps tapered
balsa float in a 0.3g size; it may seem a bit
out of the ordinary to use a pencil style
float, especially when targeting skimmers

POLE FISHING | JANUARY 2020 33

Canal Bonus Fish

Perch always find

their way in on the
action!

Small top ups on the

long line help keep
fish interested.

Luckily the
bright sunshine
didn’t put off
the bream.

Perseverance and long, but these floats are visible at range,

patience were needed hold well in the flow yet are incredibly
and eventually the fish
settled down. sensitive – what more could you want?
I’ve also used a SiWi Canal Punch from
the Simon Willsmore range to fish on the
track line in a 0.3g size. All rigs have been
tied on 0.14mm Silstar line with either a
0.10mm or 0.08mm hooklength. Shotting
is a simple bulk and droppers on both rigs,
the main difference being I’ve used shot on
the SiWi float and Stotz on the Ian Heaps.
I’m able to slide the Stotz around on the
line without damaging it so can adjust how
I present my rig depending on the response
on the day.

THE SESSION
It hasn’t been the easiest of sessions but an
early skimmer across got things off to a nice
start. A number of indications followed but
never materialised into true bites until a big
perch took fancy to my single caster hook
bait, a nice fish at around the 1lb mark.
A look short produced a few small roach
and perch, but with a couple of bonus
fish already in the net they had whet my
appetite and these small fish really weren’t
cutting the mustard, even if they were sat
over my bait in numbers.
Nonetheless I decided to ditch the top-
five line to focus on my bonus fish swims.
Sport wasn’t hectic but sure enough with
some perseverance and by alternating
between the two, with the occasional top-up
of groundbait and even more occasional
sprinkling of maggots, I managed another
four nice bream between 2lb and 3lb, plus
a few dumpy perch on small segments
of worm or a caster over the groundbait,
ending the session with a satisfying double-
figure haul.

34 JANUARY 2020 | POLE FISHING

SPOTTEDFIN
NATURALLY

NON-FISHMEAL MIXES
WITH THE QUALITY YOU HAVE COME TO EXPECT FROM SPOTTED FIN

ROACH SUPER BLEND LAKE SUPER BLEND CANAL SUPER BLEND

- Dark or Natural - Dark or Natural - Subtle dark colour
- Contains salts and spices - Mix dry or damp - Sticky to combat tow
- Sticky, perfect for balling - Perfect for roach and skimmers - Strong smelling
- Ideal on rivers and lakes - Medium texture mix - Fine texture mix

W W W . S P O T T E D F I N . C O M
Where To Visit

Andy May is a hugely respected, all-round match angler, a silver

W
medallist for England at youth level and three-time Matchman ell, my last ever Venue Detective with Jake
Of The Year! He is now arguably the top angling coach in the Fowles and his lovely little doggy Minnie Moo
country and can be booked online at today, and I couldn’t think of a better fishery to
www.fishingcoaching.co.uk. go to than the beautiful Docklow Pools.
• 2016 Fish ‘O’ Mania champion • World youth individual The day started off with one of Docklow’s
• Three-time Kamasan Matchman silver medallist famous breakfasts; the food and hospitality here are second to none,
Of The Year • Full-time angling coach you really are made to feel at home from the moment you walk
• Youngest ever Matchman • All-round nice guy!
through the doors. Jonathan Bozward is one of the nicest blokes in
Of The Year
the world and can’t do enough to help you out. His brother Simon
is a “proper ’un” too and has the tackle shop impressively stocked
and the bait is always in tiptop condition. You really don’t want for

36 JANUARY 2020 | POLE FISHING

 POLEF ISHINGM AGAZINE.COM

Our Venue Detective Andy May heads to Herefordshire to sample the

silver-fish sport on offer at the country’s oldest commercial venue.

POLE FISHING | JANUARY 2020 37

 DOCKLOW POOLS
anything here and nothing is too much
trouble.
I could easily have stayed in the lovely
bar and got straight on the beers sat
in front of the fire reminiscing with
Jaakeeeyyy; however, some lovely little
fishes were waiting to be caught. Also
joining us today was the new editor of Pole
Fishing magazine, Alex Clements, the very
best of luck to you in your new role mate
and I’m looking forward to working with
you, you will soon get used to my humour!
Now, although I’ve done a previous
Venue Detective on the Match Lake a
good four or five years ago, it has been
through quite a change in the last couple
of years. Just two years ago the lake had a
major de-silt and general face lift. Basically,
the lake had remained unchanged since
the early 1980s and year upon year of
fallen leaves had built up, causing lots of
silt to gather on the lake bed. The change
was clear to see especially on plumbing
up… yes, I do actually own a plummet!
I came just last week to do some product
testing with MAP and couldn’t believe the
depths, previously where you had three
feet it was now six… and I caught lots and
lots of lovely ide, wohooooo, throw your
plummets away and get it filled in with
maggots!
38 JANUARY 2020 | POLE FISHING
BAIT
Errrrr! I’m keeping things very simple
indeed today and have with me two pints of
Docklow’s finest red and white maggots…
that’s it! To be honest I pretty much use
maggots everywhere at this time of year as
not a fish swimming will refuse them, and I
love to target everything rather than sitting
and waiting.
I’m going to be using a catapult too instead
of the norm and potting bait in. This will give
me a much bigger catchment area and will
let me draw fish into my swim and hopefully
up in the water, as those lovely ide do like to
feed off the bottom.
RIGS
First off, it’s that time of year now when light
elastics are a must. Even the lightest of light
hollows aren’t really suitable for when lots of
silvers are on the cards. Even though there
are still lots and lots of great big wobbly carps
and F1s in the Match Lake I’m only using a
single solid No6 latex. This will ensure fish
losses are kept to a minimum and the other
advantage of using a light elastic is that if I do
hook something a bit angry, they don’t tend
to be as angry as they would be on a heavier
elastic!
I’ve set up two top kits, one to fish at depth
at 13 metres straight in front of me and the

other to fish at around seven metres, again straight in
front of me. I’m going to be loose feeding on both lines,
with a catapult long and by hand short. The short line will
hopefully come good later and this is where I will look to
catch them shallow.
For the 13m line I’m using a 4x12 carbon stemmed
float shotted with a bulk of seven No10s and three No11s
as droppers; shotting this way will ensure the bait gets
down fairly quick and then the droppers will bring the
bait in lovely and slow. As always, I’ve got two No8 back
shot six inches above my float and I’ve got a good two
feet of line between pole tip and float. I’m using 0.15mm
main line and 0.10mm hooklength with a size 18 Guru F1
Pellet Hook.
On plumbing up it is pretty much identical from eight
metres all the way out to where I’m fishing long at 13
metres – I’ve got bang on six feet and I set the float two
inches overdepth due to the undertow and wind.
My through-the-water rig comprises a 4x11 carbon
stemmed float which has four No11s spaced around six
inches apart down the rig. I’ve set the float at around
three feet to start and again I’ve got a good two feet of
line between pole tip and float, which is back shotted
also. Line and hooks are the same as the deep rig.
THE SESSION
To start with I cup in around 40 maggots on my 13m
line; the wind is a bit tricky and this is putting a lovely
undertow on the water, so I will need to experiment to
see where I’m getting bites compared to where my feed
POLEF ISHINGM AGAZINE.COM
“I pretty much use maggots everywhere
at this time of year as not a fish swimming
will refuse them.”
DOCKLOW
POOLS
Docklow offers a quiet, beautiful fishery
set in the tranquillity of 110 acres of
countryside in the north of Herefordshire,
near the borders of Shropshire and
Worcestershire.The perfect setting for
fishing holidays and possibly the oldest
commercial venue of its kind in the UK,
having been in operation since 1972.
There are 10 established fishing lakes
including a carp and catfish lake called the
Major Bill, a tench pool and the unique
Canal/Snake, which is a pole angler’s dream,
and day ticket fishing on Mickey Mouse,
Moby Dick and Figure of Eight – great
fishing and great choice.There are also six Docklow Pools,
private river stretches across the county, Docklow, Leominster,
on the famous River Wye for barbel, on the Herefordshire
productive River Teme and the River Lugg. HR6 0RU
Superb holiday accommodation and 01568 760256
facilities, including a tackle shop, bar and www.docklowpools.
restaurant. com
POLE FISHING | OCTOBER 2019 11
 DOCKLOW POOLS
is going in. The reason I’ve cupped bait in
to start, even though I’m going to be loose
feeding, is to instantly target the fish in an
area where my rig is settling, but the beauty
of loose feeding is that I can draw the fish
in and cover a much larger area.
Quite often, and especially when I’m
pellet fishing, I will make sure I’m bang
on my markers, which could be a blade of
grass! You really do have to be that accurate,
but the beauty of loose feeding is that you
can explore much more of your swim and
40 JANUARY 2020 | POLE FISHING
that’s why I love targeting silvers. My marker
today, for example, is the whole of a big tree
opposite!
After that initial feed I come back and
give the short line two lots of 20 maggots by
hand. I will continue to feed this way for a
good hour and around every three to five
minutes! Remember, silver fish will quite
happily come up in the water, especially
ide and chub, and the temperature doesn’t
really affect them. Carp and F1s though, are
completely different. It’s on with a single
red maggot and I make sure to lay the rig
in the opposite way to the wind, as that’s
the way the undertow is going. By holding a
tight line to the float with the back shot you
can then detect bites on the drop.
I catapult two lots of 15 to 20 maggots
over the top and get a little dink
straightaway from a roach, then the next
go I catch a little baby perch. I try double
red maggot as a bigger bait; quite often
this results in not only quicker bites as it’s
a standout hook bait but usually bigger

The fishery is well
maintained all year around
with easy access platforms.
fish. This works a treat and I catch three
ide between 8oz and 10oz in three goes…
wohooo! Every time I lay the rig in I’m giving
it 20-odd maggots through a catapult to
steadily build the swim.
It goes quiet for four or five minutes before
I hook into the culprit! Lots and lots of lovely
No6 elastic streams out of the pole but I’ve
soon got the fish under control by using the
puller kit, and within 30 seconds I net a lovely
3lb… F1, errrr, it’s not very silver and ide
looking!
Just under an hour into the session I’m
starting to miss bites, which tells me that the
fish are coming up in the water. So, it’s on
with the through-the-water rig set at roughly
half depth and I’m instantly rewarded with
an ide, but I then start missing more bites.
The wind is making things very tricky too;
I shallow up a little and manage two little
roach before going five minutes without a
bite. Hmmm, usually when you catch one ide
there’s lots there!
I go back on the bottom and begin to put
a few decent ide in the net by feeding heavier
just once to try and keep them down, as I
can’t really present the rig correctly due to
the wind, so rather than persevere and do it
wrong I’m cancelling fishing shallow out long
and looking to catch just on the bottom.
I’m still loose feeding the short line and
90 minutes in I notice a swirl on it. To be fair
the long line is good and I’m catching an
POLEF ISHINGM AGAZINE.COM
ide or little roach within two minutes
every put in, but I know I’m going to
catch much quicker short. It’s on with
a side hooked single white maggot
and I’m rewarded with… the best
fish in the world first chuck, a chub,
yessssss! I think everyone on the
complex heard me let out a massive
“ooossshhh” as I netted it. This short
line was solid and I’m catching a
10oz to 1lb ide every go by laying the
rig in against the wind and holding
a tight line – the fish are all hooking
themselves really.
One thing that I have talked
about quite a lot when targeting ide
is that you don’t need to unship
your top kit, this makes things much
quicker and will put more fish in your net in got someone like me next to you then I will
match conditions. Ide don’t really fight and certainly be nicking your fish (sorry).
it’s so much more efficient to just ship back, I go out long while priming short again
net the fish and then you’re straight back in and within five minutes I’m getting bites. It
business again. The light elastic is a must for only takes 15 minutes to get them back short
these fish, if your elastic was too strong you and I give it another hour before the wind
would be bumping loads. gets the better of me and the easterly wind
Noon comes around quick and the lovely takes its toll on my mittens, brrrrr!
Jonathan visits us with a picnic… what a man! I’ve ended the session with a good 40lb of
After that break and not feeding the fish for mainly ide, a few roach, a perch, a gudgeon,
a good 40 minutes (we had lots of tasty food) an F1 and the bestest fish ever, a chub. It’s
I went back in short and didn’t get a bite. been an amazing few hours at one of the best
This again clearly shows the importance of fisheries in the country. I can’t wait to come
keeping bait going in for these shoal fish, if back, oh wait, I’m back next week, and the
you don’t in match conditions and you’ve week after… wohooooo!
POLE FISHING | JANUARY 2020 41
DHP Events
MATCH FISHING & POLE
FISHING VETERANS
CHAMPIONSHIP!
One of our most popular events, the Veterans Championship is back for 2020!
D
o you want to be named the
2020 Veterans Champion?
Well, this is an event you
won’t want to miss! This year’s
Veterans Championship is
once again a one-off match to be held at
the stunning Packington Somers Fishery
in Meriden, near Coventry, set adjacent to
Stonebridge Golf Club.
The event will take place on Friday,
August 14th, 2020, and is open to all
anglers aged 60 years and above. Tickets
for the event will cost £25 with a further
(optional) super pool on the day of £10.
42 JANUARY 2020 | POLE FISHING
The event will be covered within Pole
Fishing magazine and sister publication
Match Fishing, with both magazines also
putting up a 12-month subscription for the
winner of the event.
Steve Downes took the honours in last
year’s event and added the title of Veterans
Champion 2019 to his name. Drawing a
fancied area in Peg 7 on Siblings B lake,
Kevin caught F1s shallow throughout the
match to finish with a weight of 137lb
8oz, to narrowly beat venue regular Derek
Hartshorn, who was just 6lb behind, just
ahead of Bob Greenbury and Harry Billing.
Steve has expressed his determination
to return to retain his title in 2020, so
competition is fierce. However, you have
to beat the best to be the best, so if you
fancy your chances get yourself booked on
and be in with a chance of being named
the 2020 Match Fishing & Pole Fishing
Veterans Champion!
DATE: August 14th, 2020
VENUE: Packington Somers Fishery
To book your spot in the match head to:
www.shopatdhp.com
 DHP EVENTS

POLE FISHING | JANUARY 2020 43

 Will Raison

PRACTICE
MAKES
Words and photos: Steve Martin

PERFECT
Daiwa star Will Raison gives an insight into how he
approaches a practice session when he only has a single
day to formulate his best plan of attack.

AN GL ER FIL E

WILL RAISON
Age: 44
Lives: Aldershot
Sponsor: Daiwa
Pole: Daiwa Air Z160
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TUNNEL BARN FARM

Location: Shrewley, 6m
Warwickshire CV35 7AN
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Create a drip-feed pot by covering A ‘pepper pot’ allows you to regulate

some holes with tape. the amount you feed.

44 JANUARY 2020 | POLE FISHING


T
he hotly contested Tunnel
Barn Farm winter league
consists of 22 teams of four,
and it is ished over a period
of 10 rounds throughout the
winter. England ace Will Raison is part
of the Guru team ishing the event, but
it had been a while since he had visited
the Midlands complex, so he needed to
reacquaint himself with the venue.
We joined Will the day before the irst
round of matches, and after a conversation
with Tunnel Barn regular and Guru team-
mate Paul Holland, he settled for a session
on Peg 3 on Canal Pool.
“Practice is so important, even if you are
familiar with the venue,” explained Will.
“However, on a large complex like Tunnel
Barn you would have to make regular visits
to get to know all the lakes intimately, but
that was time that I didn’t have due to a
busy international schedule.
“I still didn’t want to turn up ‘cold’, and
as Paul asked me to ish for his team he was
“Today is all about finding out
where to fish and with what baits.”
my irst port of call when I arrived, as he
could give me loads of information about
how the lakes had been ishing in recent
weeks.
“By all accounts the venue had been
ishing well, so I just need to gauge the
mood of the ish to ind out where they
are feeding, what depth they are at and
the baits, either pellets or maggots. Paul
suggested Peg 3 on Canal was a good area
to try a few ideas.”
Will set up four top kits for the session
using the grey coloured F1 Speed kits for
his Daiwa pole. Adding short No4s to each
made them the same length as normal
top kits, to ensure he ished at the same
distance if he decided to set up any more
rigs. Each kit was itted with pink Daiwa
Hydrolastic.
The irst of Will’s rigs was for ishing
expander pellets in the deeper water, and it
comprised a Richie Wilson 4x14 F1 Winter
Dink on 0.14mm Tournament Mono.
Shotting was a spread bulk set 10 inches
ine d
t l an
lle -h
pe ight
R
POLEF ISHINGM AGAZINE.COM
above the hook. The hooklength was a size
16 Guru F1 Pellet hook on six inches of
0.10mm Drennan Supplex luorocarbon.
For ishing maggots on the same line,
the loat was a 4x12 version but with a
carbon stem, known as an RW Winter
Maggie. Shotting was a small bulk plus
two droppers, and hook size was an 18 F1
Pellet.
The setups were similar for the rigs Will
planned to ish close to the island, except
that the pellet rig had a 4x12 wire-stemmed
loat, and the maggot rig a 4x10 carbon-
stemmed model. Shotting for the latter
was a wide spread bulk with two droppers,
which took into account the shallower
depth of water.
“I use the wire-stemmed loats when
ishing expanders, as they ensure more
direct contact with the bait as it quickly
settles. The maggot rig is set so that I can
see any indications of ish intercepting a
bait on the drop.
“To be honest, I’m happy with my rigs
POLE FISHING | JANUARY 2020 45
Will Raison
as they are similar to those that I ish on
Middle Lake at Gold Valley, where F1s are
also the main target, so other than the odd
tweak I’m conident in how they ish.
“Today is all about inding out where to
ish and with what baits. I’ve plumbed up
my deeper water rigs to ish the deepest
part of the swim – six sections out – as now
that the water temperature is dropping and
there’s more clarity to the water, it’s a good
starting point.
“When it comes to the shallower rigs,
now that it’s getting colder I won’t ish
tight to the island but instead I like to set
the depth at three feet and ind a lat, clear
spot. I’ve found that it’s a good depth to
start on any commercial once it goes cold.
“I prefer to ish my baits slightly
overdepth; you will see that when I plumb
up I leave the body of the loat just out of
the water, so when the loat settles that’s
how much over I’m ishing.”
Bait for the session was 4mm expanders,
and Will pointed out that he preferred a
darker bait for F1s. Feed would be micro
pellets, which he had pre-soaked while he
was setting up, as he wanted them to take
on plenty of water so that they quickly sank.
“The heavy micros get down quickly
without spreading out, so they help to pull
ish to a concentrated patch of feed. To
start with I’m feeding to catch one ish,
46 JANUARY 2020 | POLE FISHING
so it has to ind my hook bait without too
much else to feed on.”
Red maggots, another good winter
option for F1s, were Will’s alternative bait
option, but he pointed out that he would
refrain from ishing or even feeding them
until he had spent some time on the
pellets.
He had also mixed up a small amount of
F1 groundbait, which would be for the end
of the session, and he would explain more
about its function later.
“Before I start, I just want to mention
that I’m ishing in the ive-hour match
window. If you are going to practise then
ish the match times, so that you get an
idea how the ish are feeding when you are
ishing for them.
“Also, if you set up before the start time,
it will be the same as in a match. It’s all
about trying to mirror what you would do
on the day. Unlike in the summer months,
you can’t just expect to drop in and catch
ish, so it’s key to get a feel for what can
happen at the start, as that will tell you
what to expect on the match itself.
“It’s not an exact science and I’ve no idea
which lake I’m going to draw tomorrow,
but the more I can get out of the session,
the better prepared I’m going to be.”
To best explain how the day progressed,
Will’s session has been cut into chunks of
time to give a better understanding
on how he gets the most out his peg.
WILL’S MAGGOT RIGS
To pink Hydro
4x12 carbon stemmed
Richard Wilson float
0.14mm
Bulk
Two
droppers
6in 0.10mm Drennan
Supplex Fluorocarbon
Size 18 Guru
F1 Pellet
10.15AM
Will started on his 6m line and to kick off
he fed a single small Toss Pot of micros,
before settling the 4mm expander over it.
A lack of indications saw him slightly raise
and drop the hook bait, and with no bite
forthcoming he shipped out another pot of
micros. He repeated the process again after
another ive minutes, and with no action
he left the line to rest.
“I feel this will be better with maggots
later, but I’m not going to touch them for
now as I want to see what happens when I
don’t add any loose feed into the peg.”
10.30AM
Will switched his attention to his long line,
and just as he did with the short line, he
started with a pot of feed. He ished the
line for 15 minutes, only feeding one more
helping of micros, and with no indications
he again rested the line.
10.45AM
Back on the short line, and before he
added any more feed, Will wanted to see
if there were any indications. He had an
F1 immediately, and two more followed. It
then went quiet, so he added more micros,
which resulted in two more, plus a couple
of foul-hooked ish.
“The question is, have they just turned
To pink Hydro
4x10 carbon stemmed
Richard Wilson float
0.14mm
Spread bulk
Two
6in 0.10mm droppers
Drennan Supplex
Fluorocarbon
Size 18 Guru
F1 Pellet

up or did I feed too much at the start?
Lifting and dropping the bait seems
to attract attention, so maybe they’re
following the expander down. I’ve
spread the bulk out more to slow the
bait’s descent down to see if that makes a
difference.”
11.00AM
Along with the rig changes, Will also cut
back on the feed by using a smaller pot.
The result was a ish irst put-in, but then
it went quiet. He then upped the feed
once more, feeding after each ish, but he
also foul hooked a few more.
“I’ve often found that when feeding too
little when ishing the deeper water, the
ish don’t seem to want to settle, especially
when it comes to F1s. They seem to dart
around, looking for food, and that’s why
you get quite a few foul-hooked ish. I
believe that adding more feed will settle
them down on the deck, and hopefully the
bites will be more positive.”
11.15AM
To test his theory, Will fed and then waited
for a bite. After catching a ish, he fed
again, and repeated the cycle. However,
after the third ish, he shipped out and
ished without adding any micros. A fourth
F1 was netted and then he continued to ish
without feeding. With no further bites, he
decided on a difference course of action.
“It’s all about working out whether to
feed little and often, or more feed less
often. Here it seems to be a case of feed
more often, but to be patient and wait for
the bite, and that’s the issue. F1s do move
around in pods, and it’s possible that the
ish I’m catching are coming to the bait
WILL’S PELLET RIGS
To pink Hydro
4x14 wire stemmed
Richard Wilson float
DEEP-WATER RIG
0.14mm
Spread bulk
6in 0.10mm
Drennan Supplex
Fluorocarbon
Size 16 Guru
F1 Pellet
POLEF ISHINGM AGAZINE.COM
from off the peg.
“Fish often congregate between anglers,
so you can get better results by ishing
away from directly in front on you. Having
two lines at the same depth gives you an
opportunity to ish the irst, catch a ish,
feed and then switch, so sticking with six
sections I’m going to plumb up two new
lines, as I’m happy with the irst line for
now.”
11.30AM
Having identiied a far-side bank marker,
Will plumbed up to his left and found the
depth to be four inches shallower. Once
the depth was set, he then looked to his
right to ind the same depth and made a
note of where it lined up on the far bank.
He then fed each line with a pot of pellets
and left them to rest.
He then had a second look on his long
line, and to see if the ish had moved in he
ished the expander without adding any
feed. That failed to get any interest, so he
fed and tried again and waited. After no
indications, it had become clear that the
ish were not feeding in the 3ft depth.
“I’m going to look a little deeper, so I’ve
set my maggot rig to ish at three and a half
feet. It might only need a slight change in
depth to ind the ish. However, it’s a good
time to start feeding maggots, as I’ve had
no signs at all on pellets.”
To pink Hydro
4x12 wire stemmed
Richard Wilson float
RIG SET TO 3FT
DEPTH
0.14mm
Spread bulk
6in 0.10mm
Drennan Supplex
Fluorocarbon
Size 16 Guru
F1 Pellet
POLE FISHING | JANUARY 2020 47
Will Raison

Subtle rig changes, moving lines

and tweaking feeds were all key
to catching this 70lb haul of F1s.

Once a
clear area
was found,
Will sprinkled
in some red
maggots
around the
mark and
again left the
line to rest. He
added that he
would start to
spray maggots
regularly before
returning.

11.45AM
Back to the new 6m lines, Will fed a pot of
micros to his right and then switched to the
left, where he lowered the 4mm expander
without adding any feed. He picked up
four F1s before the line went quiet. He
then fed the line and switched to his right.
It only produced a single ish, so again he
fed and looked to his left. Once again, just
a single ish, so it was feed, rest and switch.
Will continued to ish the same pattern
and over time he increased his catch rate,
with the left-hand line being the most
productive.
“I may have been a bit impatient earlier,
as I have had to wait for bites. These ish
are not so quick to feed, and I’m sure that’s
down to the drop in water temperature
over recent days. Feeding more micros,
less often, seems to be the right move,
as I can catch three ish before I have to
re-feed. However, I’ve had to wait two or
three minutes before I get any indication.
Patience...
“I’ve spent quite a bit of time on the
pellets and I’ve learnt a lot, but I want to
see how the ish react to maggots, especially
as the water is starting to clear. Not only
that, but I don’t know where I’m going to
draw tomorrow and it may be pellets here,
but maggots might be right on another
pool.”
12.45PM
Before he had his irst look over on
maggots, Will fed the 6m line directly in
front with a scattering of grubs. He then
shipped double red maggots across, and
before placing the bait he sprinkled in a
few freebies from a modiied pot, which
would allow him to feed sparingly two or
three times before having to ship back.
The change of bait in the slightly deeper
water resulted in a run of small F1s,
but again Will had to wait for bites and
there was an added frustration of leaves
gathering up against the island due to the
wind being off his back.
“It’s a lot of effort to just get small ish.
The bigger ish deinitely want to be in
the deeper water. It’s a lesson learnt. In
fact, the long line hasn’t been the best on
either bait. It’s something to bear in mind
tomorrow.”
13.05PM
While trying to get the long line working
Will had been priming his short line with
plenty of maggots, so for the inal part on
his session he wanted to concentrate on
that line.
Having had very little on the line at the
start on pellets he wanted to see whether
the ish had moved into the deepest water
later on, and if he could get more bites on
maggots.
Interestingly, he still had to be patient
and wait for a bite. However, the ish he
caught were the biggest of the day. The
best tactic was to feed after each one and
drop in over the top.
Will ended the session 30 minutes
later, and pointed out that he had the
information that he wanted and that there
would be no point in just ishing for fun
as he wanted to catch the last part of the
match that Paul Holland was ishing on
New Pool, to see how the anglers there
were doing, and importantly, what Paul was
doing.
“Today has been a refresher course, and
it’s not all about just catching ish. I’ve
probably got 70lb in the net, so it’s been a
success as I’ve got some clues as to where
I’m likely to catch, whichever lake I draw.
“Paul knows this place really well, so he’s
going to help ill in the gaps, which is why
I want to sit with him. You can ind out
an awful lot of extra information just by
watching what the other anglers are doing,
so it’s really worth putting the gear away
and spending a bit of time watching the
locals.
“You might remember that I mixed
up a small amount of groundbait before
I started, but I didn’t use it. One of the
things I like to do once I inish a practice
session is drop a little groundbait into the
edge, and once I’ve packed up I will go
back to see if the ish had moved in on the
feed. It’s another clue as to how the ish
might feed.”
FOOTNOTE
Will drew House Pool on the day of the
match, and although he didn’t win the
lake, he posted the third best weight, 81-8-
0, from the pool, which earned good points
for Team Guru and individually, he was
ninth in the match with 132 anglers ishing.

48 JANUARY 2020 | POLE FISHING

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M O R E T H A N A M A G A Z I N Es
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DHP Events

SUBSCRIBER CLASSIC
2020!
Calling all subscribers, this one’s for you! Get involved
in this year’s Match Fishing and Pole Fishing magazines’
Subscriber Classic…

50 JANUARY 2020 | POLE FISHING


T
he prestigious Match Fishing
and Pole Fishing Subscriber
Classic is back once again and
set to be held on September
18th, 2020 at Midlands F1
Mecca, Tunnel Barn Farm! The popular
event is open to subscribers of DHP’s Pole
Fishing magazine and sister publication
Match Fishing, with anybody holding a
valid subscription number able to enter.
Be quick though, the event is often a
sellout with Match and Pole readers keen
to be crowned the Subscriber Classic
Champion!
Winning the event would see you
To book your ticket head over to www.shopatdhp.com and find the 2020 Subscriber Classic within the Events tab!
adding your name to a star-studded list
of previous winners and will be no mean
feat, with an impressive line-up of anglers
gracing the bank year after year.
The Subscriber Classic match allows all
of us working on the magazines to give
something back to our readers, in what is
always an enjoyable day on the bank at a
fantastic fishery.
The event wouldn’t be possible without
the support that our faithful subscribers
give us so it is another way to say thank you
to them.
Hopefully this year’s contest will be
just as successful as years gone by – if
POLEF ISHINGM AGAZINE.COM
**SUBSCRIPTION OFFERS
AVAILABLE ON PAGE 80**
you’re a subscriber to either – or both!
– magazines, get involved and come and
enjoy the day.
Payouts on this match are always
generous, with last year’s winner Paul
Wheeler walking away with £650 for his
day’s efforts, and with cash prizes available
in each section of five anglers along with
generous rewards for each of the framing
places there aren’t many events that can
boast as impressive a payout for a one-day
event.
Tickets will cost £35, with 160 pegs
available. We will also be running an
optional super pool on the day of £10.
POLE FISHING | JANUARY 2020 51
 ISSUES 13-18
NEW NOW ON DVD
Steve’s a former feeder fishing World Champion, a regular in the England
feeder team and he also won this year’s coveted Golden Rod Final… and we’ve
teamed up with him to bring you Feeder Fishing, with the sole aim of helping
you take your feeder fishing to the next level. Visiting a variety of venues,
Steve works out and explains the best approach on the day, and now you can
follow his every move and tune in to his tactical thinking.

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01327 311999
 54: NEW GEAR
58: ON TEST – PRESTON INNOVATIONS RESPONSE XS90 POLE
62: PRODUCT SPOTLIGHT – BROWNING TARGUS SEATBOX
64: TACKLE SPY – MIDDY SUPRA DRY NETS
66: UP CLOSE – DAIWA ADVANTAGE GROUNDBAITS
68: UP CLOSE – MAP SEAL SYSTEM EVA LUGGAGE
70: COMPETITION – WIN MIDDY WINTER CLOTHING
What’s Hot?

Pole Fishing takes a look at some of the very best new products recently released.

PRESTON INNOVATIONS | DOUBLE-DECKER

SIDE TRAYS
WWW.PRESTONINNOVATIONS.COM
Available in two sizes, small and large, the Double-
Decker side tray is the perfect choice when wanting
maximum storage space but by taking up minimal
room on the bank. These trays also back down flat to
increase ease of transportation.
The main tray utilises Preston’s Venta-Lite tray
material while the upper tray is solid aluminium. RRP:
Both trays are supported with an extra-strong knuckle Small
attachments with no necessity for added support. £74.99
Large
£94.99

RRP:
£4.99
NUFISH | ZIPP HYBRID ELASTIC
WWW.NUFISH.CO.UK
Available in seven grades ranging from 4-6 to 14-16
and supplied in 3m lengths, Zipp hybrid elastic covers
all requirements from light silver fish and winter F1
fishing to summer carp fishing on commercial venues.
It offers the high-stretch, soft nature of hollow elastic
but the lightweight, low diameter nature of solid
elastics as well as the benefits of not flattening out or
being affected by cold weather regarding performance.
Also extremely durable under ongoing use, an
important attribute when used in conjunction with a
puller kit.
54 JANUARY 2020 | POLE FISHING
 POLEF ISHINGM AGAZINE.COM

GURU | NO13 MICRO CUBES

WWW.TACKLEGURU.COM
A new addition to Guru’s Micro Cube
range, this 0.01g size No13 has been
introduced to work as a fine-tuning shot
for dotting pole floats right down when
making critical changes on the bank.
They also make great ultra-sensitive
droppers when you’re looking to imitate
the natural fall of your hook bait as
RRP closely as possible, yet still need some
£2.49 weight down the line to ensure the float
sits nicely in the water.

RRP
£4.99

SPOTTED FIN | GO2 F1 DARK

WWW.SPOTTEDFIN.COM
Supplied in a 900g resealable bag, the new Dark
version of Spotted Fin’s F1 groundbait mix
offers the same sweet flavour and aroma but in a
darkened off colour more suited to clear venues
and the winter months, where target species are
often a little more spooky.
Designed with F1s in mind but also proven to
be highly effective for skimmers and carp.

POLE FISHING | JANUARY 2020 55

What’s Hot?

RRP
£74.99

DAIWA | N’ZON EVA SYSTEM SET

WWW.DAIWASPORTS.CO.UK
The Daiwa N’Zon EVA System set comes as an
eight item set including an extra-large, lidded main
storage unit, a second large lidded container and
four small lidded containers, plus two medium sized
open containers. All in all a comprehensive EVA set
that allows for lots of storage of accessories or bait.
Each component is manufactured using high-
quality, hard-wearing EVA.

MAP | C1 & C2 CARP POLES

WWW.MAPFISHING.CO.UK
Designed as an out-and-out carp pole the C1 and C2
not only make perfect first-choice carp poles but also
fill in as worthy back-ups for the TKS 401-501 and TKS
601-901 poles. Offering fantastic strength and great
performance at an excellent price, both are fantastic
poles worth taking a look at regardless of whether you RRP
are an existing MAP pole owner or if you are in the
market for a strong, no-nonsense carp pole. C1 £499
C2 £849

56 JANUARY 2020 | POLE FISHING

 POLEF ISHINGM AGAZINE.COM

MIDDY | BAND’EM BARBLESS HAIR RIG

WWW.MIDDYTACKLE.COM
Available in four hook size/line diameter combinations
– size 20 to 0.14mm, sizes 18 and 16 to 0.16mm and size
14 to 0.14mm – each pack contains eight identically
tied hooklengths six inches in length and using Middy’s
popular KM-1 hook pattern.
A twizzled loop ensures the hair is stiff and allows for
a more direct connection from when a fish sucks in RRP
your pellet hook bait to the hook, with the band also £2.79
sitting just below the bend of the hook.

MATRIX | FLEXIBLE TOSS POTS

WWW.FISHMATRIX.CO.UK
Designed in conjunction with Jamie Hughes, the most successful
commercial venue angler of all time, the new Flexible Cad Pots
are available in three sizes – small, medium and large – with each
size offering even more versatility with the inclusion of a pot
extender and two types of lid: sprinkle and drip.
The flexible TPR lid allows bait to be inserted without
removing the lid itself yet enhances the ease of tapping bait out
gradually. Ultra-lightweight and supplied in packs of two.

RRP
£5.99

POLE FISHING | JANUARY 2020 57

On Test: Preston Innovations

ON TEST: PRESTON INNOVATIONS

RESPONSE XS90
ENHANCED
DURABILITY
Incoming new editor Alex Clements takes to the bank to check out the new Preston
Innovations Response XS90 pole.

T
he new XS range of Preston
poles supersedes the
successful M range, which
were released back in 2014.
With improved carbon
technology the XS range features greater
strength in key areas and reinforced
joints for added durability.
THE PACKAGE
Removing the pole from the padded
Response holdall reveals a comprehensive
package. The irst thing that takes my fancy
are the dolly-butt sections, of which you’ll
ind three, then one extension and two
mini sections that I immediately took a
liking to. On both natural and commercial
venues ish are constantly being pressured
by anglers so the ability to add a more
comfortable shorter section to explore
around the feed area can often guarantee
those extra bites.
Not only that but inserting a mini-butt
also helps strengthen the end of the joint,
preventing any crushing under pointy

58 JANUARY 2020 | POLE FISHING

 POLEF ISHINGM AGAZINE.COM

elbows and also helps the overall balance of

the pole.
The pole features two main sections,
which really minimises the space taken
up in the holdall; the main pole comes in
the 14.5m section, with the 16m section
separate. The spares package comes with
a generous 13 kit bundle, including the
match kit supplied in the pole plus three
additional match kits that come supplied
with spare No3 sections (traditional No4s).
This means that on those deeper venues
your rigs can sit comfortably on the top kits
and ishing is made effortless.
Two Roller Pulla F1 Top Kits are also
included; these come pre-itted with an

POLE FISHING | JANUARY 2020 59

On Test: Preston Innovations
internal bush that looks capable of housing
medium sized elastics, and inally, six Roller
Pulla Power Top 2 Kits, also pre-itted and
capable of housing stronger carp elastics.
No cutting back is needed on Preston’s
Spot On cupping kit as it is adjusted with
a simple pull to your desired length and
comes supplied with cups.
Joining the XS90 are also three other
poles including the XS70, XS50 and XS
Carp. The XS poles meet a range of budgets
and suit a variety of ishing styles and also
make a fantastic back-up pole for anyone
needing to carry a second pole.
ON TEST
Docklow Pools was the destination for this
month’s On Test pole trial and I was faced
with wet and blustery conditions; although
not pleasant to ish in, it gave me the perfect
opportunity to really put the Response XS90
through its paces.
With ish showing out long I decided to ship
straight out to 13.5 metres and plumbed
up, inding a nice flat area of the swim to
present my pellet hook bait, which was my
60 JANUARY 2020 | POLE FISHING
plan of attack for the day.
The Match Lake at Docklow is stocked
with big F1s, carp, skimmers and plenty
of ide, which no doubt would give me a
really good reflection of the pole’s overall
handling, not only for the bigger specimens
but also the smaller species.
While simply shipping in and out I quickly
became aware of just how stiff the pole really
was and it didn’t take long for the resident
skimmers and F1s to make an appearance.
Shortly afterwards I struck into my irst
carp of the session; bottomed out on
Preston Innovations 9 Hollo within seconds,
the strength test had begun!
Straightaway I noticed the easy ship inish
coming into play as I was able to make
quick manoeuvres with the XS90. With
gusts of wind curling around the island it
certainly piled extra pressure on to the pole,
which visibly and physically was impressive
in just how well it handled the elements.
Unfortunately the 10lb plus ish found
the keepnet and the hooked slipped, but
I ended up with a lovely net of big F1s and
skimmers to inish the session.
My overall impression of the XS90? I am
extremely impressed with its handling and
stiffness, undoubtedly a worthy flagship pole
at a superb price.
XS90 POLE PACKAGE
• 1 x 16m Pole
• Section 9/10 Half Extension
• 3 X Match Top 3 Kit (3.95m)
• 2 X Match Top 2 Kit (2.4m)
• 6 X Roller Pulla Power Top 2 Kit (2.4m)
• 1 X Spot-On Kupping Kit And Kups
• Section 7/8 Bi-Conical Mini Extension
• Section 5/6 Bi Conical Mini Extension
• Monster Response Holdall
• EVA Elastic Alignment Cones with PTFE bushes
KEY FEATURES
• 100 per cent Torayca High Performance Japanese
Carbon Fibre
• Interchangeable with the previous Response range
• Internal and external reinforced carbon joints
• Section alignment arrows
• Easy ship finish
RRP
£2,799.99
 .9 LY
9
£3 N
O



VIDE GA
 
  




MONTHLY ONLINE VIDEO MAGAZINE
ISSUE 52
» 88-MINUTE HD VIDEO
  
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This month Des travels to Llandegfedd Reservoir in

Wales to sample some awesome feeder fishing for
hybrids.

TOPICS DETAILED:
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- Feeding the swim

H YTHBE FEEDDER - Feeder rigs

- Tackle choices
ON - Where to cast
- Fishing two lines

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ISSUE 46

88
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EMPTY IT ISSUE 40 ISSUE 41 ISSUE 42 ISSUE 43 ISSUE 44 ISSUE 45

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Browning Targus Seatbox

PRODUCT SPOTLIGHT:
BROWNING TARGUS
SEATBOX
T
he brand-new Browning Targus seatbox comes in as
the German tackle giant’s lagship model. A stylish
ixed-frame design sat on six 36mm legs and inished
Pole Fishing takes a look at Browning’s latest with Browning’s classic maroon colour scheme.
Designed for comfort, stability and easy transport.
seatbox offering…

62 JANUARY 2020 | POLE FISHING


STORAGE
The tray clips are easily pushed to the
side for easy access into the units and
sealed with a positive click. The box comes
supplied with 3cm and 6cm side drawer
trays, which you can reposition to be on
either side of the box by simply moving
the trays. The compartment under the seat
offers transport for extra trays for holding
items of tackle and important hooklength
boxes and rigs.
SIT IN COMFORT
Stripped of any unnecessary components
this box is staggeringly light while still
offering style. The padded seat cushion
has a pole heel and slot going from front
to back to help position your pole on the
windiest days, with the Browning logo
embroidered on to the seat.
POLEF ISHINGM AGAZINE.COM
ALL-TERRAIN
Six large pivoting mudfeet attached to
six, 60cm telescopic legs, which when
telescoped give a generous overall leg
measurement of 105 centimetres, which
will easily cover you on a variety of venues
and situations. The seatbox’s overall light
weight also helps easy positioning.
RRP: £499
POLE FISHING | JANUARY 2020 63
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 POLEF ISHINGM AGAZINE.COM

SUPRA TROOPERS The Tackle Spy gives some new landing nets from Middy the
shakedown.

I
’ve been hearing
a lot of talk about
revolutionary new
landing nets from
Middy for the last couple of
months and each time these
nets have been mentioned it’s
niggled me – after all, what can
be that revolutionary about a
landing net?
My delivery of the two largest
nets in the Supra Dry range
actually filled me with some hope
though; designed for extreme
competition fishing where speed
is essential they certainly look the
part, and I love the minimalistic
style of them. I hate all the faff that 4/5
manufacturers seem to put around the 5/5
rims of their nets at the minute and the 4.5/5
current trend seems to be that branding is
more important than the net’s function!
These nets perform brilliantly; they are
light, very light in fact, and glide through the The open mesh size is just right too, ideal spreader block (but then, which right-thinking
water beautifully. for speed scooping, and also preventing angler would?), in sensible hands the net is
Which brings me to the part of the net that hooking up your hair rig. plenty strong enough.
Middy claims to be revolutionary – the new I’ve been using the 20in model for my There are three sizes in the range and I
material. This is like nothing I’ve seen before, fishing but after looking at the particularly reckon the smallest 18in version will be perfect
very light and soft but water seems to shake thin 9mm black anodised alloy frame on the for F1 fishing, when a big net can often get in
away from it easily too. As Middy says: “The 22in version I just wanted to make sure it was the way and slow the fishing down.
special mesh is unique like a polished surface up to the job of lifting big fish from the water,
that repels water, so it remains lightweight and which is what it is designed for. RRP:
cuts through the water easily.” Again the net passed the test, and although 18IN £23.99
Cutting through the sales jargon, it does I wouldn’t want to lift double-figure fish 20IN £24.99
just that. without holding the lightweight polymer 22IN £25.99

POLE FISHING | JANUARY 2020 65

Up Close: Daiwa

UP CLOSE: DAIWA GROUNDBAITS

GAIN THE
ADVANTAGE
Pole Fishing takes a look at some additions to Daiwa’s Advantage range of groundbaits.
66 JANUARY 2020 | POLE FISHING
 POLE
POLEFF ISHINGM AGAZINE.COM

U
tilising Will Raison’s
vast store of knowledge
and expertise about
groundbaits, four new
mixes have been added to
the Advantage range, which Daiwa claims
to be: “Out of the bag solutions for today’s
popular fishing techniques.”
All Round Black and Method Mix Black
are darker versions of the original mixes
and are launched with cooler weather and
clearer venues in mind, where a dark mix
can be advantageous. All Round Black is
ideal on any mixed fishery or large natural
waters, carrying a proven proportion of
fishmeal and other key ingredients to
deliver a versatile pole or feeder mix for
bream, roach, hybrids, carp and F1s. It can
be mixed with chopped worm and caster
or dead maggots, used on a small feeder
at close range to catch everything and as a
base for other mixes when required.
Method Mix Black will begin working
fast on the bottom. Little or no bait will
come off the feeder on the splash but it
will create almost instant cloudy attraction,
releasing your hook bait quickly. The
lower fishmeal level ensures a versatile
non-rich mix. Mix it 50/50 with micros for
a high bait loading.
Sweet Fishmeal is, as the name suggests,
a sweet-smelling fishmeal mix perfect for
skimmers, F1s and bream on commercials.
Low in fishmeal and food content but with
sweet attractants, being lightly active it
is also ideal for the colder months. Ideal
on the pole with chopped worm, dead
maggots or casters, or as a base for other
mixes when required.
The final mix is River, a sticky mix
perfect for loading with particles on deep
or flowing venues. River mixes up sticky
to carry a lot of bait particles to the river
bed but breaks up fast to deliver feed on
the spot. With high levels of hemp and
coriander in the mix, River is quickly
active, giving off its attractants and
continuing to work as it breaks down. It
can carry plenty of feed particles to the
bottom on flowing water, is ideal for deep
water feeding or can be used as a base for
other mixes.

RRP: £3.99

POLE FISHING | JANUARY 2020 67

Up Close: MAP

UP CLOSE: MAP SEAL SYSTEM EVA LUGGAGE

EXPANSIVE
EVA!
Match Fishing magazine editor Dan Webb takes a look at the rapidly multiplying
Seal System EVA luggage range from MAP.

L
ast year, MAP released the
first batch of EVA luggage,
which was topped up again
earlier this year with yet
more items. The existing
range included a bait system – designed
to carry bait ready to go in five EVA
tubs all contained in a waterproof carry
case – two sizes of net bag, including
a drain hole with sealing cap, plus a
range of cases to carry everything from
hooklength boxes and pole pots through
to a triangular shaped catapult bag!
With clear lids on the smaller items
for easy contents identification, tough
oversized zips, reinforced bases and strong
carry handles all finished with a sleek
carbon effect black with blue flashing, the
range went down a storm.
This autumn, the range has expanded
yet again to allow the discerning angler to
now fully kit out their entire luggage with
tough, durable and waterproof EVA!
First up is the Seal System Carryall.
Spaciously sized at 55 x 38 x 35cm, it is also
perfectly dimensioned to fit on seatbox
footplates to allow for easy transportation
on a trolley. Carryalls tend to take a lot of
stick, so an extra-thick double EVA base
has been included for durability, along

68 JANUARY 2020 | POLE FISHING


with handles and a carry strap for those
of you who still carry your kit to your peg
(you are a rare few!).
As if this wasn’t enough, the bag comes
with nine (!) inner EVA cases to allow you
to sort and organise the contents. If you
wanted to really push the boat out, an EVA
Carryall Inner bag can also be purchased
to help you organise the EVA bags that are
in your EVA bag! Incredible!
The Roller Bag has been designed to
take two of MAP’s Dual pole rollers when
top and tailed, keeping them tightly
packed and saving space. At 77 x 30 x
22cm, it will also accommodate other
makes of pole roller.
The Seal System Bait Bag is very clever
and my personal favourite of the range.
The top tray section can be used like the
standalone bait system as a way of getting
all your prepared baits to your peg and
ready to go in either bait boxes or EVA
tubs, speeding up setting up. Simply
unclip it and put it on to your side tray
and you’re ready to go! The lid can then
POLE
POLEFF ISHINGM AGAZINE.COM
be folded back over to ensure your bait
remains dry in the rain.
The base section is a foil lined cooler
section where all your spare baits, food or
drink can be stored or even just used for
storage of smaller items of tackle.
Many anglers use a groundbait bucket
but their biggest problem is how to keep
the contents dry in the rain or stop it
filling your car with bait when it falls C4000 and C5000 – have also been added
over! This is why MAP has designed the and will be available in shops shortly.
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POLE FISHING | JANUARY 2020 69
Competition: Middy
WIN
WINTER
WINNER!
Get your hands on a full set of Middy Winter Clothing
worth £244.95!
I
n our December issue we put
Middy’s winter clothing range under
our Product Spotlight. Now, thanks
to the generous people at Middy
you have the chance to win a full set
for yourself!
The prize will include the complete
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As well as waterproof and breathable
qualities (5,000mw and 3,000mb
respectively) the Bib ‘N’ Brace benefits
from adjustable shoulder straps, wide
bottom leg openings, reinforced skinned
70 JANUARY 2020 | POLE FISHING
knee areas, waterproof taped seams and
fleece lining.
Many of the same qualities can be
found in the Pro Jacket, with the addition
of a specially shaped hood allowing
for 180-degree unrestricted vision, and
elasticated storm cuffs. An MX-800 Fleece is
a fantastic addition to the range and can be
worn as a top layer on cool dry days, with its
elasticated bottom edge, high zipped storm
collar and warm anti-pill material making
it very warm and comfortable indeed, or
underneath the Jacket on the coolest days
to stay extra warm.
You’ll also find a Middy Beanie and a
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your prize bundle.
 POLEF ISHINGM AGAZINE.COM

WHAT YOU’LL WIN!

• MX-800 Bib ‘N’ Brace
• MX-800 Pro Jacket
• MX-800 Fleece
• Middy Beanie
• Forward-Thinking T-Shirt

HOW TO ENTER:
For your chance to WIN a full set of Middy winter clothing head over to
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Q: Which Lee is a well-known Middy-sponsored angler…

A: Lee Thornton B: Lee Addy C: Lee Kerry

Terms And Conditions

This is an online-only competition and runs from midday on Friday, December 6th, 2019.The winner will be selected at random from all correct
entries received by 11am on Friday, January 3rd, 2020.The editor’s decision is final and no correspondence will be entered into.

POLE FISHING | JANUARY 2020 71

Winter Pellets

72 JANUARY 2020 | POLE FISHING

 POLEF ISHINGM AGAZINE.COM

STAY AHEAD
OF THE CURVE
Spotted Fin’s Rich Chapman discusses the wonders
of winter pellet fishing and how to stay one step
ahead of the game to keep you catching.

O
nce those first frosts start
to appear, everyone seems
VE NU E FIL E
to get gripped by maggot
madness! It seems to be a
PARTRIDGE LAKES
rrington challenge of who can bring
Location: Culcheth, Wa
WA3 4AQ and feed the most at times – just throw
Contact: 07469 981743 them… throw them anywhere!
www.partridgelakes.co.uk While there are times that it does pay
dividends, it could be described as a sh*t or
bust approach; occasionally you might end
AN GL ER FIL E
up with the mother lode of F1s descending
on you, more often you can blow your
RICH CHAPMAN peg or end up with thousands of tiny little
Age: 27 silvers, which even combined might weigh
t
Lives: Burton upon Tren about four drams.
Sponsor: Spotted Fin Over the past few years, I have found that
Pole: MAP 801 2G
starting and often finishing the match on
pellets can really give you that edge. I’ve
lost count of the times where I have been
the only one in my section catching on
pellets. It’s all about getting the feeding,
preparation and presentation right and
you will catch. Carp and F1s don’t suddenly
stop eating pellets because there have been
a couple of frosts. But due to their very
nature you can get away with feeding tiny
amounts and still get a response, whereas
maggots often need to be fed in much
larger amounts to make them really work,
which when you are really scratching can
often work against you.

TARGET THE DEEPER WATER

Finding the right depth is important, but
how often do you start your session short,
then a few quick bites in the deep water
and it starts to slow down. You see so many
people then write this line off, maybe start
throwing maggots at it and begin targeting
the slope. But, in my experience anyway, if
you try and keep ahead of the fish, starting
up new lines before catching everything off

POLE FISHING | JANUARY 2020 73

Winter Pellets

“To make this work you need to be ahead of the game – if you are sat
waiting for one more bite, it’s already too late!”

the last you can really get the most out of
your peg.  Don’t get me wrong, it doesn’t have to
You might be catching from upwards of
10 lines through the session, catching a
quick run of fish on each, but to make this
work you need to be ahead of the game – if
you are sat waiting for one more bite, it’s
already too late! You will soon start to see
a pattern emerge; it might be that you can
get five or 10 fish before the bites start to
slow down, or you start getting liners or
weird indications. If you find you can catch
five fish off a line… catch four… then
move.
be one a bung, during proper scratching
matches it might be two bites over half
an hour, but the sooner you work out the
pattern the better.
Hard 4mm pellets will generally be my
starting point; recently I’m becoming more
and more confident in the Catalyst ones
from Spotted Fin, a nice uniform pellet
that can be banded with no worries with
added attraction. Especially when fishing
such small quantities of bait, if you can
draw a bit more attraction out of those few
pellets, then why wouldn’t you!
As a starting point for the session,
find the bottom of the nearside shelf.
Depending on the venue, somewhere
between a top kit and two to three sections;
once I have found that depth I like to have
a quick feel around the rest of the open
water just to check the amount of variation.
If it’s only a few inches then I will stick to
just the one rig and change it throughout
the session. 
Floats are pretty standard issue, a slim

74 JANUARY 2020 | POLE FISHING


Liquid first, then
add water.
body with a wire stem, generally in either
4x14 in depths up to five feet providing it’s
not too windy, then a 4x16 if the conditions
are a bit choppier or in six feet. Shotting-
wise I tend to use a nicely spread bulk and
droppers, normally three No10 droppers
spaced around six inches apart (I use the
length of my pliers as a gauge) then a bulk
above that. This gives the perfect blend of
stability thanks to the bulk but with the all-
important natural fall for the last couple
of feet.
I’ve done a bit of underwater filming in
You don’t need much!
the past during the winter months, having
seen first-hand how carp react once the
temperatures start to drop. I can almost
guarantee that when people say there are
no fish in their swim… they are wrong!
Most of the time, they will be sat relatively
dormant in mid water (often there will be
a specific depth of water that is fractionally
warmer) and they will sit there until
something triggers them to feed. This might
be a change in conditions, such as the light
starting to fade at the end of the day. You
suddenly start getting bites and put it down
POLEF ISHINGM AGAZINE.COM
Rise… … and fall.
to an ‘arrival’, when in reality they have
been in front of you all day, but the change
in light has triggered them to have a chew. 
The other way is to grab their attention
with a bit of food, in this case a pellet. This
is why it is important to have that nice,
natural slow fall. A pellet wafting gently
through a shoal is going to get a bit of
attention; as soon as you grab the attention
of one, a few of his mates might join in too. 
When it comes to the actual fishing,
you’ve fed half a dozen 4mms through
your pot, your perfectly dotted down float
POLE FISHING | JANUARY 2020 75
Winter Pellets
dithers and disappears and you land your
first fish of the session. If you’ve not waited
too long then repeat the process again; if
you get a few indications before eventually
getting a bite, try reducing the feed slightly
to find the optimum amount on the day.
This might be as little as four pellets… I
know it sounds crazy but it is more than
enough to attract fish and get you that bite.
More importantly, you are not overfeeding
them, which once their metabolism starts
to slow, is very easy to do!
When it comes to moving your swim, I
like to pick three far-bank markers: one
straight in front of me at 12 o’clock, one at
11 and another at one o’clock. By breaking
your peg down like this you can start bang
in front, then the moment the bites start to
tail off, add a section, re-plumb and catch
a few from the 12 o’clock line, then repeat
the process at 11 o’clock, then one o’clock,
76 JANUARY 2020 | POLE FISHING
before adding another section. By working
through it systematically like this, you can
keep nicking the odd fish through the day,
and providing you keep the work rate up
and are quicker than others around you in
setting up new swims you keep ticking over,
especially during the first few hours of a
match before they really want to feed.
Most the time I have found 4mm pellets
are the way to go with either one on the
band or a 4mm expander for a slightly
more subtle presentation. When it really
gets tough, you might want to switch over
to micros; traditionally they can be a bit
of a nightmare for foul hookers but if you
prepare them using the method I have
been using for a while now, you end up
with a micro that is swelled up to its very
maximum and taken on plenty of water,
meaning it is a lot heavier to cut down on
any issues with foul hookers.
Next time you’re
out, why not try
experimenting
with liquids?
GETTING PERFECT MICROS
• A good quality micro is needed for this – the
GO2 F1s come up lovely! But be a bit cautious
with Skretting-style pellets.
• Fill a container with an inch of micros; don’t go
too deep as you will end up with mush at the
bottom.
• Add a glug of GO2 F1 Liquid, the glycerine-based
liquid not only loads them with extra attraction
but seems to help them keep their shape better
than just water.
• Cover the pellets totally with water, no more nor
less than the level of the micros.
• Leave them to soak for 30 minutes and give them
a mix.
• Leave to soak again and mix (repeat until they are
fully expanded and no longer sticky).
• Once they are at this stage they will sink
perfectly, not clump together and can easily be
fed as individual pellets.
TOUGHEN UP YOUR EXPANDERS
• Start off with good quality expanders and pump
as normal so they sink.
• Immediately drain off the water and add to a
small tub (I’m using an old wafter tub).
• Add a good glug of glycerine-based liquid and
loosen it slightly with a bit of water.
• Leave to soak in a fridge overnight.
• The next day they will have softened up enough
to hook perfectly, but due to the extra thickness
of the glycerine they tend to stay a little bit
smaller in size and a lot tougher, meaning less
time shipping in and out to change hook baits. 
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Rob’s Diary
WHAT A DIFFERENCE
A WEEK MAKES!
Some reflection and plenty of outings for our natural venue lover Rob Perkins!
I
always find the Sensas Final in
France fascinating, particularly the
importance of your groundbait mix
combined with your presentation.
Mind you, I think it may just be a
fascination with international rules fishing
because it’s not something we get the
opportunity to do very often. I have always
been an avid follower of the exploits of the
England teams since I was a kid. I think it’s
a bit of a shame that international fishing
and the success we as a nation have in
fishing is somewhat overshadowed these
days by big-money individual matches.
The French have always been renowned
for their finesse. I remember a Stopwatch
78 JANUARY 2020 | POLE FISHING
R O B P E R K I N S
Many variations
were needed for
the Sensas Final
this year.
feature years ago, I believe with Gilles
Caudin on the Coventry Canal, where he
utilised rigs tied on 0.05mm diameter line
direct to a tiny hook! The French also tend
to reach for lighter and lighter rigs when
they are struggling to catch or to improve
their catch rate.
I have written before about the need to
experiment with rigs as it’s not always a
case of lighter is best. But lighter rigs and
end tackle will more often than not get you
extra bites on pressured venues. The way
in which the Sensas Final is run inevitably
leads to the venue being pressured due
to the practice taking place in the week
running up to the two-day final. This
A Tyne chub
for Rob.
usually leads to two tough days on the final
itself, although this year’s venue coped
really well and the fishing was largely pretty
good.
On previous trips the fishing has become
extremely hard for the final itself, my
previous best French match weight being a
lowly 370g! Smashed it both days this year,
although to be fair the bar wasn’t very high.
The last trip I made we were told the yellow
sector would be very difficult and you can
guess where I spent my two days for the
final. But we had practised it and I found
that to get a bite I fished a 0.3g pencil float
with strung out 13s in around 10 feet of
water. Also, it was very important to lay your

rig in correctly and I flicked it out beyond
my pole tip, pulled the float back directly
over my groundbait and then lowered it in.
If you got a bite it was as it settled or soon
after, so I would wait briefly before lifting
it out and repeating the process. It made
for a busy day rewarded with very few bites
for me.
As with presentation, groundbait plays a
massive part in match fishing in France. As
my nickname ‘Uncle Baller’ would suggest,
I look forward to any opportunity to hurl
copious amounts of groundbait at my pole
tip! But the 10-minute pre-baiting period
is absolutely key to the outcome of your
match. A careful balance has to be struck
with types of mixes and quantities and
finally how much live bait to introduce.
The bait limits are plenty but you do have
to balance out what goes where, which is
obviously difficult at times for an option
coverer such as myself.
Anyway, back on home soil and
more familiar venues, but with winter
announcing itself with the first hard frosts
interspersed with torrential downpours it’s
fair to say matches have been somewhat
testing.
I have managed two trips to Ulley
It was an Rob found the
extremely difficult bream at Ulley
but interesting Reservoir for a
Sensas Final. deserved win.
Reservoir; the first found me on Peg 32
and I was hoping for a nice day catching
roach and perch on the pole. Thankfully
though, the short line was too weedy and
after trying my hardest to catch on it I had
to abandon it. This forced me on to my
longer bream line and eight fish later I
weighed in a match-winning 29lb 8oz.
My next visit was after the deluge that
flooded Sheffield. I expected there to be
colour in the water and that usually means
plenty of bites on the pole at a comfortable
distance. The colour was a lot worse than I
had seen it before, but I still felt we would
catch a few fish. I was very wrong and the
colour had made it a day to just try and
avoid a blank. I managed to slip two little
hybrids into my net for 7½oz. Unbelievably
that was enough for my section and third
in the match!
This month has seen the last of the Tyne
matches and it’s been a tough series for
me this year. Two draws at Hexham had
left me a long way adrift in the King of the
Tyne. On the last match I pulled out the
downstream end peg at Wellbank Lane
at Corbridge. Last year on this match I
drew the top end pegs of this section and
had 31lb of dace for fourth overall. This
POLEF ISHINGM AGAZINE.COM
year my peg looked a bit too pacy and was
boiling into the bank, not ideal but it was a
good depth.
I started on the float and no bites had
me chucking the feeder out for a few small
fish. I kept baitdroppering worms in short
and eventually I was rewarded with a nice
chub. I kept loading this line up with bait
for the rest of the match but sadly my day
was over and 5lb 5oz was not the finish I
was hoping for. The river on the whole
fished below par as weather conditions in
the week had taken their toll.
Finally, a winter league update. I have
only had a chance to practise for the
round at Benwick. A draw in the section
beyond the Halfpenny Toll Bridge was met
with less than enthusiastic remarks from
my team-mates. It took me an hour and
three quarters to provoke a response from
a fish and I had odd tiny roach along with
some dumpy little perch until the end and
1lb 12½ oz was all I could muster.
The league so far has been somewhat
topsy-turvy and very competitive, with
several of the teams in the hunt. At the
moment after four rounds Tackle and
Bates lead, with us and Image in joint
second.
POLE FISHING | JANUARY 2020 79
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???????????? Success
Mixed-Bag

AN GL ER FIL E

GRAHAM WEST
Age: 46
Lives: Dunstable
vations,
Sponsors: Preston Inno
uba its, Bro wn’s Ang ling
Son
Pole: Preston XS90

VE NU E FIL E

PACKINGTON SOMERS
iden,
Location: Somers Rd, Mer
Coventr y CV7 7PL
Contact: 01676 523833
.uk
www.packingtonestate.co

Preston Innovations and Sonubaits backed Graham West demonstrates

a ‘catch-all’ approach that sees him through the winter months.

T
wo weeks of rain, the rivers
are full to the brim and after
reading the social media
posts, most venues are fishing
extremely hard! It’s a dilemma
that has faced us over the last few weeks,
with so much rain meaning many venues,
namely rivers, have been a complete write-
off, or at least fishing a little iffy in the case
of the canals and many commercials.
With this in mind, light lines, light rigs
and fish for everything that swims tactics
are often the way forward, and commercial
fisheries that contain plenty of silver fish
are the places to head for.
You’re joining me today at the stunning
Packington Somers Fishery in Meriden,
near Coventry. It’s a venue I have fished a
few times before and one of the greatest
appeals of the place is that it pretty much
caters for everybody, with a plethora of
lakes each offering slightly different target
weights, species and needing different
approaches when targeting them in match

Graham’s key skimmer mix. Minimal preparation needed. Just hooked! Cad pots at the ready.

82 JANUARY 2020 | POLE FISHING

 POLEF ISHINGM AGAZINE.COM

conditions.
Today, of course I am pleasure fishing
and that means free rein. For that I have
decided to sit on the venue’s Big Geary’s
lake, and while this particular lake is known
for its big carp, being a big open water
venue where feeder or bomb tactics with
pellets and boilies often dominates, it has
recently hosted a silver fish match where
weights in excess of 30lb were caught,
mainly consisting of roach and skimmers
anywhere from 3oz to 3lb.
I have therefore decided on a softly-softly
approach with silver fish in mind but really
leaving the door wide open regarding
target species by using simple hook baits
such as maggots, casters, worms and some 2
and 4mm Pro Expanders.
DOUBLE UP
My plan is to fish two lines, both at 14.5
metres but at angles left and right; this
allows me to easily and quickly switch

… groundbait and pellets on the

Casters and chopped worm… … with a few maggots on one line… other. Side pullers for back-up!

POLE FISHING | JANUARY 2020 83

???????????? Success
Mixed-Bag

between the two fed areas and a plumb
around reveals that the lake bed is very
flat, which allows the same rigs to be used
across both.
One is fed with a mix of Sonubaits
Superfeeder Fishmeal and F1 Dark mixed
50/50. I’m a big fan of the Superfeeder
mix, and while the name suggests it’s a
feeder groundbait I have such confidence
in it when targeting skimmers that I have
started using it on the pole too. F1 Dark is a
proven winner and darkens the overall mix
off nicely as well as sweetening it a little. A
few casters and chopped worms are added
to a one-handed ball and introduced into

A solitary carp
decided to join the
party and a big one
at that!

Graham is really enjoying the new Bristle grease helps dimple the float
Preston Innovations float range. bristle.

84 JANUARY 2020 | POLE FISHING

 POLEF ISHINGM AGAZINE.COM

Slime, it gets
everywhere but
it means that
you are catching.

“A sudden quick It doesn’t take long for

little skimmers like these
indication, met to pile on the weight.

with a big strike,

results in my elastic
streaming from the
tip of my pole.”

the peg.
The other line, positioned to the right,
is fed with the same mix but instead
of ‘natural baits’, 2mm Pro Expanders
are added to the mix with the idea of
alternating on both and nicking a few fish Sonubaits expander pellets
off each line. Again a single ball formed all perfectly uniform and the
with one hand is introduced at the start of perfect size for targeting
bream and skimmers.
the session.

RIGS
Winter is a time of year renowned for its
changing conditions and particularly light,
which can be extremely awkward around
about now. For this reason, although my
main targets today will be the lake’s silver
fish, I still want to be using a float that
offers high visibility, without hindering
sensitivity. The new Des Shipp Slims
range fit the bill perfectly and with a slim
body shape cut through the water cleanly
and with little resistance to the fish, but
a choice of different tip diameters and
materials means you can find a float to suit When they arrive it can be busy fishing.
the conditions on the day.
When the light is perfect then a Chianti
or F1 Fine pattern would be my choice, but drop, while the F1 Pellet has a wire stem and 16 SFL-B, with my hooklengths coming
today I can just tell it’s going to be a pain! is perfect when looking to get the bait down straight off the pre-tied Mag-Sticks.
I’ll therefore opt for F1 Maggot and F1 and be a little more stable in the water. Shotting differs across the two rigs
Pellet patterns, which both have a 1.5mm Both are chosen in a 4x14 size and tied also; a simple strung bulk of No9 shot
hollow bristle that picks up the light well to 0.12mm diameter Reflo Accu Power, complements the wire stemmed F1 Pellet
and glow very bright. The F1 Maggot has with the Maggot teamed up with a 0.10mm while a bulk and two dropper shotting
a carbon stem more suited to a slow fall of hooklength and size 18 SFL-B and the Pellet is preferred in conjunction with the F1
the hook bait and looking for bites on the an 0.11mm diameter hooklength and a size Maggot.

POLE FISHING | JANUARY 2020 85

???????????? Success
Mixed-Bag
Fishing long in winter
on large venues is often
the way forward.
At the business end of my Response XS90
I’ve used a one-piece F1 grey top kit, with
No8 Dura Hollo elastic and a side puller
just in case I get lucky and need to gain
control over any larger specimens.
THE FISHING
With highs in temperature throughout the
day likely to hit a mere 6ºC and variable
winds forecast I choose to sit on a point,
Peg 28, on Gearys following a little drive
around the lake. Being surrounded by trees
this peg is likely to be in direct contact
with the sun much sooner than other
pegs around the lake that are tucked away
or shielded and covered in shadow. The
trees around the lake are also shielding it
from too much wind so a slight ripple on
the water and a bit of defence from any
stronger gusts should help me maintain
presentation.
As expected after a cold frosty night, it
was a very slow start to proceedings but by
regularly alternating between lines I could
hopefully discover where the fish were
going to turn up first and potentially what
baits they would prefer on the day.
A good 30 minutes passed before my
first bite, a small roach falling to a single
maggot hook bait. This was however,
followed by a run of small skimmers.
A switch to my pellet line, with a 2mm
Pro Expander slipped on to the size 16
86 JANUARY 2020 | POLE FISHING
hook resulted in a quick bite and my
biggest skimmer of the day, about
10oz. Having caught a few fish and
not re-fed the ‘natural baits’ line a
nugget of groundbait with a few loose
offerings within was introduced while
I saw what else the pellet line was able
to produce. Three small skimmers
followed, but bites were far from regular
and while these skimmers were nice fish, I
was catching far quicker on the other line.
Switching back, the little skimmers
and roach were steadily lining up for me
before a sudden lull in indications told me
something’s not quite right. My suspicions
were confirmed when a sudden quick
indication, met with a big strike, results in
my 8 Dura Hollow elastic streaming from
the tip of my pole. Carp on!
Now, when hooking big fish on light gear
it is important to remember to be careful,
but at the same time remain in control.
Keep the pole low and allow the fish to tire
out gradually, removing sections a couple
at a time so that you can easily add them
again should the fish bolt back into the
lake again.
After a lengthy battle I had the fish
within range where I could start using my
puller kit; again it’s all about being smooth
here and not ripping the elastic out of the
kit in an attempt to bully the fish into the
net. Find the point where you can start
turning the fish but allow it to take elastic
should it nod or go on a run.
Sure enough the fish popped up and
once it had that gulp of air it was game over
and into my net – a stunning zip mirror
that was well into double figures, the size
18 hook miniscule in its top lip.
As the day progressed, the groundbait
swim got stronger but the pellet line
faded, just producing the occasional better
skimmer during the day. Sometimes it goes
the opposite way, but by having the two
lines it helps you decide which bait they
prefer on the day.
The conditions were tough at times, but
it has turned out to be very enjoyable day
with the fishing really getting me thinking
what to do for the best. It’s been a simple
case of rotating, topping up with small
amounts of groundbait and catching runs
of fish as they move into the peg. I end the
day with a lovely net of skimmers and that
cracking carp; I’ve probably put over 28lb
in the net today by taking the very simple
route of catching whatever is willing to feed
rather than setting my stall out for anything
in particular.
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DHP Events

CLUB ANGLER OF THE YEAR

Have you got what it takes to make it to the premier club
angler competition in the country this year?
2020

T
his is THE event to be a part of
if you’re an angler associated
with an angling club, with
fantastic payouts available at
each of the qualifying rounds
plus further cash prizes on the day of the
final. Prizes don’t stop at that either, with
event sponsor Garbolino having supplied
over £12,000 worth of Garbolino tackle
over the course of the event in previous
years, including poles from the company’s
UK series, rods and reels, Garbolino-
branded caps and a goodie bag for each
angler on the day of the final.
Darren Cox, Garbolino’s UK general
manager, has this to say on the event: “We
are delighted with the huge amount of
support the Garbolino Club Angler of the
Year has received from anglers across the
whole of the country!
“The event continues to get bigger and
bigger every year. We try to select venues
that are popular and offer varied fishing, – I look forward to seeing you all on the
and the numbers over the past few years bank!” QUALIFYING ROUNDS
suggest our north, Midlands and south This year’s event will see the same format
venues are popular among the masses. as in previous years, with three qualifying SOUTH: WEDNESDAY, MAY 6TH –
“It doesn’t matter which region you rounds each seeing a number of anglers GOLD VALLEY LAKES
live in, you can choose the qualifier that making their way through to the final, to be Gold Valley is the south’s flagship venue,
suits your style. Then, if you are fortunate held at Barston Lakes on June 24th, 2020, run by England international Will Raison
enough to get to the final at the wonderful with 45 spaces up for grabs. and his family. With a number of lakes
Barston Lakes – the ‘Wembley of match All entrants must fish at club level and be offering different target species there is
fishing’ – you can also fish to your strengths associated with an angling club, with each plenty of scope for a lot of methods to
as so many methods are capable of club able to nominate and put forward come into play.
producing the winning weight. their best performing anglers to compete
“Let’s hope 2020 is another brilliant year in the event.

88 JANUARY 2020 | POLE FISHING


MIDLANDS: WEDNESDAY, MAY 20TH
– TUNNEL BARN FARM
Tunnel Barn Farm is the Midlands Mecca
of F1 fishing and over the past few years
has been our most well attended qualifying
round.
With over 200 pegs spread across the
nine-lake complex TBF offers fantastic
fishing, with a number of lakes capable of
throwing up match winning weights.
NORTH: FRIDAY, JUNE 5TH –
LINDHOLME LAKES
Our northern qualifying round takes us
to the fantastic Lindholme Lakes complex
in Doncaster. Whether it’s big carp, F1s
or even chub and barbel that you enjoy
catching, Lindholme has it all. Always a
popular round with our northern anglers.
POLEF ISHINGM AGAZINE.COM
To enter, head to
www.shopatdhp.com.
Each ticket for qualifying
rounds will cost £30 with an
optional £10 super pool on the
day of each qualifier.
For successful entrants that
make it through to the final,
there will be a £20 super pool
on the day of the final.
THE FINAL! WEDNESDAY, JUNE 24TH –
BARSTON LAKES
The ultimate in venues to hold a
prestigious final, Barston Lakes is a
favourite with anglers and has proved to
be an excellent choice to hold what has
fast become one of the most competitive
matches in the angling calendar. Skimmers,
carp and F1s all come into play during
the final so the most well-rounded angler
almost always comes out on top!
POLE FISHING | JANUARY 2020 89
F1s In Winter

Pictures Mark Parker

ON THE
CHAN G E
Early win te r ca n be a tri
A
ck
le
y
x
tim
D
e for getting consistent
oc k erty runs through his
sport; Dynam ite Ba its ’
pr oa ch fo r ta rg et in g F1s at this time of year…
ap
AN GL ER FIL E

ALEX DOCKERTY
Age: 24
Lives: Sheffield
s
Sponsor: Dynamite Bait
Pro
Pole: Drennan Acolyte

VE NU E FIL E

LINDHOLME LAKES
orth,
Location: West Carr, Epw
near Doncaster DN9 1LF
Contact: 01427 875555
www.lindholmelakes.co.uk

90 JANUARY 2020 | POLE FISHING

 POLEF ISHINGM AGAZINE.COM

T
his time of year is often one
that leaves us anglers pulling
our hair out. It’s not quite
rock bottom, in terms of
how dificult the ishing and
conditions can get, but the change is here
and ishing is certainly not what it was even
just a month ago.
Hopefully this piece will dispel a few
myths and clear up a few simple, yet
effective approaches to ishing for F1s
and smaller carp in changing weather
conditions.

PELLETS
Firstly, let’s set the situation. I’ve sat on a
typical peg here on the Bonsai Lake at the
Drennan Lindholme Lakes complex. There
is an island, but it is out of pole reach, so
all the peg is open-water ishing, as it is
with many commercials up and down the
country, meaning the approach will be
relatively straightforward.
I base all my commercial ishing around
pellets, as this is a staple bait for the ish in
these venues – they’ve been raised on them
and fed them all throughout their life and
they see this bait more than any other…
meaning they should be more than happy
to feed on them, should I present a rig

POLE FISHING | JANUARY 2020 91

F1s In Winter

Alex feeds small balls of groundbait and pellets. Micro pellet feed.

Banding is the easist

way to present a
hard pellet.

and feed my bait in a way in which they’re

wanting to feed, regardless of the time of
year.
The main appeal of pellets is how little
bait you can feed and still get a bite,
meaning that often minimal bait is needed
to catch a good weight. This is perfect for
this time of year, as I’m looking to create
maximum competition in my peg to
maximise my chances of getting a bite now
that the ish have slowed down. There also
won’t be the same numbers of ish entering
my peg looking for a meal like there would
have been in months gone by, so by feeding
very little the odds of hooking those that
do enter my peg are stacked very much in
my favour.
Here at Lindholme, hard 4mm pellets
are the go-to option for me until pretty
much the point in which I’m breaking ice
on a nearly weekly basis. They’re selective
enough to almost exclusively target the
carp and F1s needed to win, but also small
enough that they are still palatable to the
ish even as temperatures cool. The plan
today is to feed these on a top-kit-plus-three
line, in order to see how the ish are going
to respond to feed. Should this be good,
that’ll enable me to gain a clearer idea of
what I’m likely to expect on both my long
pole and edge lines.
DOWN THE EDGE
In terms of the edge line, the feeding is
going to be slightly different. I’m going to
opt to feed balls of groundbait with a few
micros in. The reason for feeding the small
balls is mainly due to the depth, in order to
eliminate line bites and foul-hooked ish.
The micros serve as the food content, to
help hold the ish in the peg.
Often as it cools down, using groundbait
and smaller particles in this way is a
great way to feed or give the peg added
attraction without actually putting too
much in, in terms of food content, as can
often happen with larger particles such
as corn or pellets. This means I can still
He feeds a
few 4mms
through a
pole pot.
Alex’s pole loat.
[LEFT] He has total
conidence in F1
Sweet Cool Water.
feed a volume of bait if needs be to attract
ish into the peg, but not ill them up,
hopefully making them stay for longer so
that I can catch them.
The mix is Dynamite Baits F1 Sweet
Coolwater groundbait with a few micros
soaked in the F1 Pellet Soak, mainly to
make my pellets different from the rest and
to give them a subtly different attraction
to the plain old ishery pellets they get fed
every day.
RIGS
My rigs also relect the changing approach
with a reined 0.15mm Drennan Supplex
main line through to a 0.12mm Supplex
Fluorocarbon hooklength, inished with a
size 18 B911 hook and a micro band. The
loat is a 0.4g Drennan AS1 with a sensitive
1.5mm bristle. This is perfect for the four
feet of water in front of me. To make things
easy, I’ve used the same rig for the long
and edge lines.
As is usual when ishing pellets I have
plumbed up to dead depth, so that the
bites are very positive. This also helps when
targeting F1s, which can be very inicky
biters at times.
THE SESSION
To kick off I’ve started on the short pole
line, feeding just ive hard 4mm pellets at a
time through a pole pot. This has brought
a run of stockie F1s, with the odd larger
‘original’ thrown in as well.
Changing the way I introduce the rig
into the peg and altering how the rig falls
through the water column can entice or
encourage more bites. Laying it in rather
than dropping it straight down will prolong
the fall of the hook bait; this allows the ish
to follow the bait down and will often help
to pick out those wiser specimens rather
than the mug stockies.
Alternatively, by simply lowering my rig
in more slowly, I can try to mirror the fall
of the bait from my pot with my hook bait
and in turn reduce the likelihood of ish

92 JANUARY 2020 | POLE FISHING

 POLEF ISHINGM AGAZINE.COM

“Altering how the rig falls through

the water column can entice or
encourage more bites.”

An F1 comes to the net.

A simple shotting pattern.

F1s are suckers for this winter approach.

POLE FISHING | JANUARY 2020 93

F1s In Winter
The Lindholme
stockies are like
peas in a pod.
Proof that Alex’s methods
are spot on – even the
duck agrees!
giving me false indications as I feed
over an already ‘ishing’ rig.
Another nice tip in relation to
this is to pay attention to how you
feed bait through the pot, either
from a height to attract ish into the
area if bites are hard to come by,
or if line bites are an issue pot the
bait in sneakily to minimise noise,
hopefully meaning the ish don’t
notice the bait until it is settling on
the bottom.
I ind this crucial at this time
of year. By altering the way I feed,
it can immediately change the
response from the ish.
After a quick run of F1s this line
begins to fade, and since the wind
has increased in strength it has
made presentation on the long pole
become almost impossible. My only
other option is to open the edge line
early.
Due to it being quite deep for a
margin – around three feet – I’m
conident the ish will quickly
oblige. It’s a bit of a myth that ish
won’t come into the edges when
temperatures drop, but as long as you can
ind a reasonable depth, there is a tinge
of colour and you put a decent amount of
distance between yourself and the ish then
there is really no reason it can’t be in your
thoughts. A small nugget of groundbait is
fed and left for ive minutes.
94 JANUARY 2020 | POLE FISHING
Another key point as the weather
changes is that the approach of piling it in
until they turn up is often not the way to
go. It is better to ish for one bite at a time,
as on the other two open-water swims.
Simply waiting for that time when the
ish want to feed in the edge and
combining this with small piles of bait
to maximise the competition is in my
eyes the best way to go.
Today has proved this, with a nice
run of smaller F1s and the odd ‘big lad’
thrown in. I have topped up with small
balls – made up of varying quantities
of micros – after every ish, depending
on whether I felt I needed more food
content to hold them, or if there was
enough attraction within the ball of
groundbait to induce a bite. With a
hard 4mm pellet on the hook, it has
proved to be the way forward today. On
other venues, using corn and/or dead
maggots may be the way to go. There
are no hard and fast rules at this time
of year.
By the end of the session I’ve
put together a cracking net of ish,
considering how chilly the wind and
air temperature are, showing how
keeping busy, rotating lines and
thinking about how much you feed
in order to maximise competition all
help to put more ish in the net. Add
to this the way you approach your peg
in a steadier, more methodical manner and
you can ensure that even at this tricky time
of year you can still maintain a steady catch
rate throughout.
This will hopefully help you to get in the
frame or make the most of your pleasure
session the next time you’re on the bank.
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Alex Clements

QUICK QUESTIONS

ts!
, A l e x Clemen
agazine
r o f P o le Fishing m
ito
k n o w th e new ed
Get to

96 JANUARY 2020 | POLE FISHING


AGE?
26.
LIVES?
Hampshire.
FIRST EVER POLE?
MAP CFS ‘Commercial Fishery Specialist’.
CURRENT POLE?
Daiwa Air XLS.
ANGLING HEROES?
Andy Read, Colin Dance, Phil Drew and Will
Raison are all people who have helped me and
inluenced me through the years; without them I
wouldn’t be the angler that I am today. 
WHERE DID YOU LEARN TO FISH?
When I irst started ishing I became a member of
the Petersield & District Angling Club, which had
a host of lakes, ponds and rivers where I went every
weekend without fail – this mixture of different
styles of ishing really helped me establish myself as
a bit of an all-rounder.  GREATEST ANGLING ACHIEVEMENTS?
AGE WHEN ACQUIRED FIRST SPONSOR?
I was about 12 and it was with a company called
PA Megabait that, as the name suggests, developed
and manufactured bait. It was really high-quality
stuff and caught me loads of ish!
NATURALS OR COMMERCIALS?
I was brought up mainly ishing on rivers and
have some fantastic memories of the cold misty
mornings and the unpredictable ishing; for that
reason it has to be naturals.
FAVOURITE VENUE?
Roach Mecca Inniscarra Reservoir in Ireland, a
beautiful ishing environment and being over in
Ireland is always good fun with such welcoming
people. I even had the pleasure of ishing a youth
World Championship on the venue in 2017 –
although we had a bit of a shocker!
FAVOURITE POLE FISHING TACTIC?
Bloodworm and joker ishing in the winter on
pretty much any venue. Also I really enjoy ishing
on the Continent. I’ve been lucky enough to travel
with the England squad on a number of occasions
and have loved it.
TOP THREE POLE ITEMS OF TACKLE?
1) Preston Innovations Competition Pro Flat
Rollers – everything in a roller that I need: stable,
medium weight, good rollers and long legs.
2) Drennan Pole Pots – fantastic for accurately
measuring out bait when feeding.
3) Perfect Gloucester pole loats – this loat is in
my winder tray 90 per cent of the time whether
I am ishing on naturals or commercials. It has
a thick, ibreglass, highly visible bristle and a
versatile teardrop body, making it ideal for various
strategies. 
POLEF ISHINGM AGAZINE.COM
BIGGEST MATCH WEIGHT?
180lb from Gwinear in Cornwall from Phase 2
when the lakes were split into three – I believe this
was in 2010! This was also a lake record at the time
and I was just 17 years old.
FAVOURITE MATCH?
When I have time I venture over to Inniscarra in
Ireland with a group of friends to ish the festivals,
which are mainly roach and hybrid dominated.
The ishing is truly incredible, often catching
between 20 to 30kg a day! In the evening we go
back to the bar, have a huge meal and play some
pool while tormenting whoever came last on the
day – as an overall day you simply cannot beat that,
often regardless of the result. 
BIGGEST POLE CAUGHT FISH?
I believe this would be a carp that I caught on
a inal round of a winter league match on the
Basingstoke Canal, weighing in at 18lb. With my
three perch I weighed in 18lb 3oz and won the
match!
In 2016 with the U25 England team at Coruche, in
Portugal, we won team Gold and I won individual
Gold. I won my section on the irst day of the
World Championship with a 7kg 500g weight of
carassios and barbel and then weighed 5kg 400g to
inish second in my section on day two – my three-
point total was enough to win outright!
COMMERCIAL VENUE TEAM OF FIVE?
1) Jamie Hughes
2) Andy Bennett
3) Andy May
4) Steve Ringer
5) Will Raison
NATURAL VENUE TEAM OF FIVE?
1) Alan Scotthorne
2) Will Raison
3) Des Shipp
4) Matt Godfrey
5) Steve Hemingray
GOALS FOR THE FUTURE?
The most important aspect for me is that I enjoy
my ishing. It is too easy these days to commit
your time to everything and then later realise
you are not enjoying what you are doing. For
instance, through the winter months I like to do
some predator ishing for pike, perch and zander
and some local silver ish-only matches, which I
thoroughly enjoy!
POLE FISHING | JANUARY 2020 97
NEXT MONTH
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