New Recruit to Fishing - A Father and Son day on the Local Lake

by M.Russ

Jarrad Chandler

One of our Admin Brian Chandler and a personal friend Dean Curtis, a bailiff at the local lake, decided to take one of Brian's boys fishing down the lake Thursday afternoon and introduce him to the sport. With his other son already fishing and taking up specimen fishing he started young Jarrad out on float fishing for the smaller species and build his confidence slowly. Using as standard float rod and reel with a simple float set up with size 16 mustard hook to nylon he fished maggot over a small bed of spicy ground bait mixed with crushed pellet for extra attraction & with small feeding intervals of maggots to keep the fish in his swim it wasn't long before he was into his first small fish of the day which made him so happy he couldn't wait to get the line back in the water.

Jarrad enjoying his day on the lake

Brian explained the importance of fish care with his young boy and ran him through the basics of the sport and with the help and instruction from Dean it wasn't long before he was catching a fish per cast and was having non stop action. He managed a few small roach, bream and rudd not to mention a nice little perch to go along with his mixed bag. He absolutely loved his day out with his dad on the bank and said he can't wait to go again. I for one recon he will be seen on the banks again soon, along side all the specimen fisherman and it won't be long before he follows in his fathers foot steps and starts chasing the big carp.

Well done Jarrad we welcome you to the team and hope you enjoy your adventures to come.

Wet Net's & Tight Lines 

Night Fishing on Rumney River

By John Rees

The River Rumney

Whilst Martyn was preparing to go Carp fishing in the autumn and the end of the month was fast approaching i decided to get some river fishing in and chose to go to our local river for a bit of night fishing. I had decided on a full day and night at a little spot i used to fish when i was younger and my mothers boyfriend Paul also chose to come along for the trip as he is really getting into his river fishing lately. The spot we had chosen was slightly over grown and made landing the fish a little difficult but we found a way in the end and what a surprise i was in for.

Tiger Trout

I had decided to use spinners for the first part of our fishing using a silver bell spinner of 3 oz and 5 oz maximum and it was the right choice as straight away we were catching fish. It seemed like the storms we had a few weeks before has driven the fish up the river and the swims were teaming with a  variety of species. The first fish i landed was a lovely brown trout of a couple of pounds in weight but gave a fight like nothing i had experienced before. What a great start to a days fishing. I had also brought along some small white maggots and some halibut and hemp ground bait from Dynamite Baits to feed up the swim and make sure we continued to attract fish into the area. Both Paul and myself continued to catch quite a few trout including a couple of nice sea trout.

Grayling

As the evening drew in we also decided to try out a technique nick named Glimmer Spinning, using a powerful torch of flood light you light up a patch of water and then cast the spinners to the far side and drag it through the lit up area. The flickering of the spinner catching the light is supposed to catch the fishes attention and at first i didn't know if it would work in this area but i was soon proved otherwise as we continued to catch fish well into the night. As it started to get late we decided to change tactics as it was getting very dark and difficult to see with out the torches. Unfortunately i had forgotten my beta lights for float and feeder fishing so i decided to set up my stalking rod rests and alarms and using a maggot feeder on a running rig i set the rods out.

Sea Trout

It wasn't long until the alarms started to go off signalling fish feeding in the area and then all of a sudden as if they were in perfect time with each other both rods ripped off on a screaming run. I quickly handed one rod to Paul whilst i took the other and we were soon both playing fish in. It was amazing, the river hasn't been this lively in years and the fish were feeding hard. Not only did we fish a full day and night but also well into the next day as the fish just didn't seem to stop. As soon as the swim started to go a little quiet i would feed it up again with ground bait and within minuets we were off again. Both myself and Paul lost count of the amount of fish we had but we were amazed at the variety we had been catching. Grayling, Eels, Brown Trout and Tiger Trout were just a few of the species including a baby Chub and some small bleak.

EEL

We had an amazing fishing trip to out local river in Rumney, Cardiff and i can't wait till i go again. It has been years since i seen so many fish being caught from this river and was nice to see it getting back to how it used to be. Fingers crossed it stays like this and we will get to go again soon.

Wet Nets & Tight Lines

Going CoCo-Nuts at Peterstone Lakes - Newport.

by Brian Lloyd

With all the special offers on sale during the summer, not only in fishing tackle and bait shops but also in supermarkets, i had to give one of them a try. I managed to find some lovely coconut boilies and glug that were very cheap but seemed to be a very good quality and i set off to one of my favorite venues on the back roads to Newport in South Wales. Peterstone lakes is the home of the Birch Syndicate and also offer some pleasure lakes to the general public containing some very large carp, Barbel, Bream, Perch and other silver fish. The lakes are set just at the back of a working farm and offer fishing for all types of anglers.

I had decided on a feeder style set up using 12 lb line straight through to the hook link and a wide gape hook with quick stop for ease of baiting up. I was using a mix of ground bait that contained method, halibut, crushed boilies and particle mix and of course the coconut glug. The boilies them selves smelt lovely and if i could have eaten them myself i would have. For the first half of the day i baited up the area and persevered with just the boilies as a hook bait but unfortunately wasn't getting any decent bites. I did have a couple of knocks but nothing that i could have struck at. The weather was perfect is wasn't too cold and had a little cloud cover so i didn't understand why they just weren't working. 

After a while i decided i was tired of just sitting there and needed some action so a change of hook bait was called for and i switched to meat. Usually a change of hook bait can sometime bring on the bites and in this case it did exactly that. It wasn't long before i was into my first fish of the day starting of with a nice silver bream of a couple of pounds followed shortly by a nice little common Carp just under 4 or 5 lb. As well as using the meat i also tried out the Red Banana Nut crunch from Dynamite baits and that seemed to work and managed to catch me another nice Carp but the rest was all on halibut glugged meat. I managed a couple of Carp, a couple of nice Barbel and a few bream on my trip and although they didn't seem to go for the coconut boilies i still managed a good days fishing and will have to try the coconut out at a different venue.

Wet Nets & Tight Lines

Fishing on a Budget - CK Fushion Carp Rods Review

By Martyn Russ

When i decided to change from Match fishing to Carp and Specimen hunting the first thing i thought about, like most people do, was the price of the equipment i was going to have to fork out. I though i needed good quality and strong Carp rods but with out the high prices that were on the market. So i decided to shop around and to my surprise i found there were quite a few that were offering low cost entry level Carp rods to help get people started in the sport. The trouble was, how good were these rods in reality?

There was so many different makes available such as JRC, Dunlop, TFG just to name a few and it was very hard to choose which ones would be the best for the job at hand. I wanted a rod that wouldn't just catch me fish but also be able to handle the larger of the species and also do all the jobs that were needed for successful Carp and Specimen fishing such as baiting up, Spod work and Marker float applications. I asked advice from many a fisherman and heard horror stories of rods that boasted good quality and reliable action actually snapping on the bank side when trying to cast at distance and also tips breaking under the strain of only medium size Carp. After all the research and testing i decided to choose the CK Fusion Expert Carp Rods from Dragon Carp Direct. These Rods were an unbelievably low price of just £10 each reduced from £99. Now to be honest they are more like £50 rods reduced to £10 but are amazing quality and very strong.

The rods are finished with a whipped carbon effect and stainless steel but plate to protect the end of the rods. Strengthened eyelets to ensure smooth line travel on casting and a screw reel seat to ensure your real never slips or loosens whilst playing the fish. The look and finish of the rods would rival any top brand available on the market today and i am happy to report that they are as strong as they say they are. I used both the 2.5 lb and the 3 lb test curve version of the rods and for a whole year i put them through their paces on many a different venue. The smaller of the rods were a pleasure when playing the fish and you could feel every twist, turn and shake of the head whilst the larger of the rods were strong enough to handle the largest of spods and spombs.

Even whilst out zig fishing the 2.5 lb TC rods were perfect for feature finding with the marker float and you could feel what was on the bottom whether it be silt, weed or gravel you were able to tell with ease. Unfortunately i did find that the 3 lb TC rods were a bit too stiff for longer range casting but the 2.5 lb ones made up for it. They have a fast return and very responsive tip section and are perfect for anyone who is getting into the sport or someone who is looking for a rod for all occasions.

 So if you are getting into the sport and you are trying to stick to a budget don't overlook these little gems just because they only cost a tenna. Normally i would say you get what you pay for but in this case i think Dragon Carp have come up with something a little more special than your normal cheap rods. I can assure you, you will see plenty of fish on the bank with these rods.

Wet Nets & Tight Lines

Winning an On-Line Fishing Competition - Korum

By Martyn Russ

Like many people who enter these online competitions i looked at the prize and didn't really think that i would be the one that would win such a quality prize that was on offer from Korum. I first thought "Wouldn't it be nice to have all the Top of the range fishing Tackle" and not have to buy another bit of kit. I then thought to myself "It wouldn't happen, if only i was so lucky". I suppose we all think that luck just wouldn't be on our side when it comes to the big competitions and to win over a £1000 worth of prizes just wasn't on the cards.... Boy was i so wrong!

I remember logging in to my computer and loading up Facebook to see what had been going on in the fishing world and what catches people were boasting online. I then saw one of FAW's members, Brian Chandler winning one of the Facebook weekly competitions run by several different tackle and bait companies. He had won the different packs of fake corn from Enterprise Tackle and couldn't believe his luck. I congratulated him and then decided to have a look at my e-mails. That's when i had the biggest shock of my life.

An e-mail saying RE: Carp Competition and an introduction stating "Congratulations YOU have won the £1000 Carp Competition from Korum". Well as you can imagine it took me by surprise and took a while for it actually to click home and realize it wasn't one of these spam e-mails claiming you have won prizes that you hadn't really won. I couldn't believe my luck! Was this really happening to me? Was it all real?

I quickly Jumped on Facebook to have a nose at the Korum page to see if there was anything mentioned there and also at their web page online and it was at that point i realized this was really happening to me. A dream had come true. I had been given all the top of the range carp and specimen fishing equipment and luggage from Korum. I would never need to buy another bit of kit, well apart from end tackle and replacing bits i loose during my fishing sessions. WOW! What a week it has been. When the prize arrived i just couldn't believe my eyes there was so much gear.

 Talk about having everything you have ever wanted all in one foul swoop.

Korum I can't thank you enough......... now i can't wait till my next fishing adventure!

Wet Nets & Tight Lines