Club FAW & Fishing Adventures Wales 2016 Season

by Martyn Russ

What mild weather we had this year compared to previous, this meant we found a lot more days having prefect fishing conditions and with the sun shining it gave us all a lot more days to get out and about and visit different venues. This years Welsh Carp Championship turned out to be the best one we have seen so far and not to mention the amazing fishing we saw from the Junior version of the competition. Its nice to see so many talented youngsters coming into the sport and the future of Carp and Specimen fishing is looking better than ever before. There has been a huge increase in the number of people taking up fishing as a pastime, hobby or sport and especially in the Carp fishing side of things. 

Fishing Adventures Wales has played a big part in trying to get this message across and show that carp and Specimen fishing is a sport that anyone can take up, of all ages ( children accompanied by adults of course) and it doesn't have to be an expensive hobby and it's not hard to learn the basics as long as you ask someone if you are unsure about something. With this in mind we created Club F.A.W a private fishing club linked to fishing adventures wales that is free for anyone in Wales or close by who wish to join. The idea of the club is so friends, family and club members from different areas can get together, enjoy the sport and even teach each other the skills needed to ensure a safe and productive fishing session. 2016 was the beginning of the official launch of the club and we are yet to advertise the creation of the group but we have already seen a huge interest and a load of new members joining in. 

What a great year the Club has had this year with many of the members managing to catch some amazing fish and loads of them smashing their personal best captures. Even Club Admin Brian Chandler got in on the action and on his first day at a new venue within the first cast he managed to smash his personal best of 19 lb, which he was sat at for quite some time, with an amazing Common carp weighing in at 32 lb 4 oz known as Peanut from Lamby lake in Cardiff, South Wales. This was then followed by one of the new members to the club a Mr Anthony George Ron Potton , known as Big Ron, managed not only to smash his personal best fish but also capture the lake record for the lake he was fishing on. A cracking Mirror carp weighing in at 30 lb 4 oz which he names WINNY after his daughters choice of name. This was caught at Hendre Lake in Cardiff and was the lake record still held to date, Many of the other members all managed to get out and catch some stunning fish and it wasn't long before WINNY decided to show her face again as member Scott Whiting also managed to pull her out at Hendre Lake and only putting on an ounce she weighed in at 30 lb 5 oz. Its nice to see so many of the club member's doing so well and some of them having some amazing catch rates we were seeing loads being caught. 

Current members new PB's Duriing 2016

Brian Chandler               32 lb   4 oz Common

Big Ron                    30 lb  4 oz Mirror

Scott Whiting            30 lb  5 oz Mirror

Shane Kitson              26 lb   2 oz   Common

John Rees                  17 lb 10 oz  Common

This is the first year that the club has been officially open to the public to join for free and what a year it has turned out to be,. There are big plans coming up for the club with a new web site, that has taken over 2 years to develop, will soon be available to all member's with features such as venue details with maps on how to get there and details on prices. Photo collections where each member has their own trophy room to show off their best captures. A club message board for people to exchange ideas , tactics and baits and just general chat between friends. Also details of functions that will be coming up during the year so people can join in and come along and have some fun with our fishing adventures, This club site should be up and running officially by June 2017 in which we will also hold a yearly competition for the member with the highest collective weight of fish through the season who will then win some amazing tackle prizes.

What a great year guys,, well done!

Wet Nets & Tight Lines

The Welsh Carp Championship Final 2016

by Martyn Russ

Once again that time of year has come about when the final of the Welsh carp championship takes place. Well what a years its been, we have seen some amazing anglers appear on the scene and loads of stunning carp being caught including a new Welsh record of over 40 lbs at the Wharf in Cardiff and not to mention all the highs 30's being caught at venues all over south and west Wales. The quality of anglers in Wales over the last few years has increased and loads of new people are now taking up what is becoming one of the fastest growing sports in fishing, Carp fishing!

The WCC was no exception to the quality of angling Wales has to offer as the qualifying rounds, which were being held at different venues around Wales, turned out to be some amazing competitions with loads and i mean loads of stunning carp being caught right from day one. The quality of anglers and their skills was very high this year which made for a much more exciting and very close competition right through all of the qualifying rounds. The final at Fendrod Lake was also no exception but by the end of the first day a leader had already started to show and what a lead it was,. These guys were actually taking the water apart and were constantly on the net landing fish after fish.

Even though the weather had turned nasty on them and they were drenched and tired they all continued to battle on and with an amazing 200 lb lead right from day one the leaders Lee Barker and Richard Seed were showing exactly why they were in the final of the WCC. 

So 24 hrs had gone and what a busy one it had been, conditions got worse over night with most competitors kit under water but has not got to them and they were all still fishing really well and so was the venue.

The scores at the half way mark were:

Lee Baker & Richard Seed 249 lb 1 oz

John Cooper & James Dawson 46 lb 4 oz

Jonathan Jones & Josh Smith 31 lb 10 oz

Luke Hayes & Mike Robb 29 lb

Stuart Sparks & Sam Clarke 22 lb

Ross & Spencer Partridge 21 lb

John Flewin & Ethan Thomas 13 lb 4 oz

Thankfully the weather broke during the second half of the competition and the heavens shined upon most of the anglers who managed to get on the score board and tried to chase that amazing lead the 1st place position had over them. No matter how good fishing was or how many fish they caught they just couldn't catch up or even make a dent into that ever increasing total the lads had and what a competition it turned out to be. All the anglers showed just why they had made it into the final with only 3 not managing to get onto the score board and 1 not finishing the competition.

 Lee Barker and Richard Seed really showed how good Welsh carping had become and how good some of the angler are that are out there. Once again another year has past and we now have a new Welsh Carp Champion Team, Lee and Richard. Well done lads!.

 Also a massive congratulations to all the competitors as in my eyes they are all winners for getting to the final in the first place.

FINAL SCORES

1st Lee Baker & Richard Seed 281lb 5oz

2nd John Copper & James Dawson 66lb 8oz

3rd Luke Hayes & Mike Robb 62lb

Jonathan Jones & Josh Smith 45lb 10oz

Stuart Sparks & Sam Clarke 22lb

Ross & Spencer 21lb

John Flewin & Ethan Thomas 13lb 4 oz

Karl Shaw & Wayne Aguis NCR

Olly Hughs & Steve Morgan NCR

Simon Harrison & Darren Newman NCR

Rhys Lloyd & Richard Wainfur DNF

What an amazing competition 2016 has brought about and it just seems to be getting better each year, I for one can't wait to see what next year brings. Well done lads!

Wet Nets & Tight Lines

Club F.A.W. Spring / Summer 2016 - Season Update

by Martyn Russ

With the weather turning warm early this year we saw a lot of anglers getting out and about sooner than usual and even myself and co-owner Brian Chandler managed to get out early. Unfortunately the early season enthusiasm was short lived due to illness striking me hard and i ended up missing out on quite a few fishing trips but thankfully the Club members certainly made up for it. Both myself and Brian had started fishing at a new venue this year, Lamby Lake in Cardiff, and we soon found out this was no easy lake to fish and had a reputation for being very hard and the fish being very "riggy" as they call it. This means they are very good at getting rid of you rigs and spitting the hook on a take. Brian was lucky from day one where he managed to land a new personal best carp of 32 lb 4 oz within half hour to an hour of casting his rod out. 

This just goes to show the right bait in the right place can bring results and give more emphasis on "location is the key." I had only managed a small Tench of around 5 to 6 lb from the same water and had lost no end of fish to them spitting the hooks and very shy takes but this is what its all about and to me i love the challenge more than actually fishing the venue. We have plenty more trips to come and i am sure i will find one of the Lamby Lumps soon. Brian's luck seemed to hold out for the next couple of trips managing one carp each trip, small but very welcome when the fishing is hard.

Hendre Lake in St. Mellons, Cardiff has now been taken over by new management and i have to admit its about time to. The lake was going down hill fast and the amount of rubbish that was around the lake not to mention discarded fishing tackle was just beyond a joke. Thankfully Jason Massay, who is also sponsored by Nash Tackle, is now the new owner of the lake and has done an amazing job with the help of his team of bailiffs. Unfortunately half of the lake has become a no fishing zone due to it being a protected wildlife area but this didn't effect the quality of fishing in the lake.  As Hendre is our main local lake and is basically only a 10 to 15 minuet walk from where i live we find that most of the members of Club F.A.W. all use this venue and have been having some amazing results. Anthony George Ron Potton, or "Big Ron" as we call him, not only managed a new personal best but also managed to catch the new lake record this season so far. The big mirror weighing in at 30 lb 4 oz has now been named "Winny" whos name was chosen by Anthony's daughter.

Other members of the Club, such as Liam Walsh and Shane Kitson, have also been visiting the lake and having some great results with lots of quality carp being caught. Hendre lake is really turning out to be a great fishing venue and a brilliant runs water for carp fishermen. It doesn't only hold lots of carp but also contains a good head of some very big bream plus the usual mixture of Roach, Rudd, Tench and Perch along with some large Pike. The new owners have stopped all pike fishing at the lake but i don't believe its their choice as the lake is owned by the council and they are under contract to follow the landlords rules and wishes.  Under this new management i can honestly say that Hendre lake will slowly turn into one of the better fishing venues in the area and will offer something for every type of angler. 

New members to the club have all been showing they love the sport and been out catching some quality fish. None more so than new member Scott Whiting, who with members of his family and friends, has been visiting Hendre lake regular and also other lakes around Wales with some brilliant results. His catch rate seems to be quite consistent and has been showing some great skills in the sport. The skill also seems to be inherited as not only his results are good but also other members of the family have all been hauling in the fish including his farther , whom actually beat Scott on size during their last trip out to Shear Water fishing lake. Its nice to see a family group doing something they love together and getting some great results. 

 Lets hope the rest of the season remains just as good.

Wet Nets & Tight Lines