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
