WHENTHE GOINGGETS TOUGH
edito ri al
APRIL 2025
April is amonth of relief, winter is fnally over, thefalse dawns of transitional Marchare behind us andnow we are nowintospringproper.
With allofour features beingshotsometime aheadofthe printing deadline, it also means that you’re quitelikely to read afeature with ice on thewater andheavyduty clothing,thenturn thepageand be bathed in brilliant sunshine and shirtsleeves
If you’re readingthis on theday themagazine hits theshelves then it’s also theday of ourfrst eventofthe year,the aptly namedVeteransSpring Cup. Events season has come roundagain quickly afterthe icydesolation of theVeteransWinter CuplastNovember–boy, wasitcold– and hopefully thesun will be
shiningphysically and metaphorically on our competitorsatBarston andwe’ll have agreat matchfor youtoread aboutinthe next issue.
If youmissedthe boat in getting aticketfor that matchbecause it sold outquickly,don’t hang around if youwanttofsh anyofthe others,they’re allsellingwelland a couple more have reached asell-outorare closetoit. Allthe details areinside.
Congratulationsto DrennanBarnsleyBlacks on winning theprestigious AT Winter League fnal… again. Thefourthtimein fveyears –that’ssome impressive angling. Are they oneofthe greatest teamsofall time?Inside, we’vegot theviews from KyeJerromand Cam Hughes,two anglerswho fshedthe matchfor other teamsand whosesquads fnishedthird andfourth
respectively,still no mean feat giventhe opposition
As forthe rest of this issue, well there’splenty to keep youhappy, hopefully.We’ve gottop anglersout theredoing it forthe mag, including Nick Speed whoshows howtoworkhardfor winning nets of early season F1s, andDarren Coxwho wasbrave (daft?) enough to bravethe elements to shoot agreat featureabout when to use PVAbags(in therain!) insteadofthe Method, or vice versa, while we have aforeign feature from SteveRingerthat will whet your appetite forthe warmer weatherto come.There’s plenty more besidesinsidebut don’t letmeholdyou up –dive in andget reading!
Phone 01795 662976 (Mon -Fri 9.30am-1.30pm) Only the previous 12 months’ issues are stocked.
AGAINST THE CLOCK
We followJohnHarvey througha practice matchat Southend Farm forthe £10,000 Fish SouthFinal
ANDYPOWER’S DIARY
Afterstartingthe monthwitha complete disaster,AndyPower soon gets things back on trackwith hiswinning ways
IN ALEAGUE OF HISOWN?
We join Nytro’sJamie Wilde in thelastround of hiswinter league,onthe Fleets Damat Barnsley
F1 WINNING TACTICS
It mightbespringbut Nick Speed showsyou have to keep working to catchwinning bags of F1s, even at prolifcvenueslikeLindholme.
CONTINENTAL CARPING!
Somethinga little bitdiferent as SteveRingertackles oneof Europe’s renowned super-prolifc Carpodrome venues –it’smargin fshing butnot as we know it!
DYNAMITE BAITCLINIC
More bait-related questions answered by Dynamite Baits’ panel of expert anglers.
VENUE DETECTIVE
Commercialfsheriesdon’t come anybiggerthanWarwickshire’s Makins Fishery! We join MAP’s JamesPeet fora springtime bagging session
CAM’S CORNER
Ournew diaristCam Hughes has been fshing alot of league matches recently,withsteadily improving results, andtakes us throughhis dayonthe AT Winter League fnal
MATCH FISHING 2025 EVENTS
Allthe details of ourown matches forthe year ahead,don’t miss them!
VETERAN’S ANGLE
Provingthat“veteran” is just a word nota stateofmind, John Brooksiskeener than ever to get cracking on thebig matchesthis year
SENSAS HOTRODS
Howdid KyeJerromand hisSensas Hotrodsteam-matesfareinthe recent AT Winter League fnal –did they getthe medaltheydesperately wanted?
LAST CAST
This monthformerMasters Feeder WorldChamp andbig-money winnerSimon Fryanswers our quickquestions.
NEW GEAR
MAKE MEATWORK
BAG OR HYBRID?
Darren Coxlooksatthe reasoning when it comestochoosingtofsh aHybridfeederora bomb and PVAbag when targetingbig carp on largecommercialstillwaters.
FEEDER ESSENTIALS
MatchFishing’s Alex Bonesgets hishands on twoofDaiwa’s hottest newreleases. Couldthis be theultimatedistancefeeder fshing combo?
UP CLOSE
Have youtried thenew Impulse feedingstimulant from BioSource Baits? Nowavailableinpellets
Luke Bamfordsaysdon’t be amatch fshing sheep,be oneofthe frst to switch to a winning tactic andstayahead of thepack.
GOLDEN RULES
Matthew Powell reckons thereare some golden rules to follow if youwantto improveyourmatch success while thewater is still cold
WHEN THE GOING GETS TOUGH!
JoeCarassprovesthateven in grim conditions thereare still fshtobecaughtifyou usethe rightmethodatthe rightvenue.
More of thelatestnew gear and bait to stockupon.
GEAR GUIDE
We highlightseveral of the same products from diferent brands to show youwhat’son themarket. This month, pole rollers
FIRST LOOK –MAP
Alex Boneschecksout the all-newgraphene-infused G60 pole.
FIRST LOOK –FEVA
Here’s aselection of itemsfrom anew brandonthe market
COMPETITION
Here’s your chance to winan 11ft or 10ftN-Gauge ProFeeder rodfromGuru!
WESTLAKE POLE & HARDCASE
Allan Evans
OKUMA REELS
Ray Dodds
Winning Tactics
Nick Speed visits LindholmeLakestoshow how keeping working and having an open mind can bethe key tobigger catches now that theF1s are looking up.
NICKSPEED
Sponsors:Lives:Age:53SheffeldShimano, DynamiteBaits
“I can’t think of anything more enjoyable than targeting agreatnet of F1s and carp on commercials with the pole.”
Ifthere’s oneseason I getexcited aboutit’s thetransitionperiod between winter and spring,and as thefshing suddenlyimprovesasthe airand watertemperature increases, Ican’t thinkof anything more enjoyable than targetinga great netofF1s andcarpon commercials with the pole
With this in mind I decidedtomeetupwith MatchFishing cameraman Mark Parker at Lindholme Lakestohopefully showcase agreat netof commercialfsh usingan open-mindedapproach to coverall aspectsofyour swim at this time of the year,especially when in matchconditions.
Forthe session,I sat myself on Peg 7, which is more or less in the centre of theStrip Pond, andespecially nowthe “strip”, hasbeende-silted andrestocked with not only some hugeF1s and carp,it’salsobeen given aboostwitha bighead of smallF1s,soatleast on here I’mvirtually guaranteed agreat day’s fshing,and particularly with howthe weather, andespecially thefshing hasbeen over thelast fewwintermonths, Iwas certainlylookingforward
to catching afew on the pole
It’s amazing to thinkthat only afew days priortome writingthis, theaverage watertemperaturesofthe venues I’ve been fshing over thewintermonths, have been hovering around 4ºC, andnow only afew days on,the weatherhas dramatically improved, andsothe fshing hastoo, andwiththisinmindit’s imperative to change your tactics, from what wasthe approach only afew days ago.
The‘new’ StripPond, nowit’sbeen re-dug, plumbs up slightly deeper, so my main plan wasto fshshort at fvemetresin four feet with micros and Dynamite Pro-Expanders, andthenfsh shallowat13 metres with 4mmpellets.
The Short Line
Especially in match conditions this would always be my starting andsometimes fnishing line, as oftenit’sthe case –especially on this lake nowithas an abundance of smallstockie F1s– that youcan catchconsistently well throughout thematch by just concentratingonthe nearside shelf.
My setupconsistsof
No8EliteHollowelastic, Aero SlickSilk0.15mm main line, a4x14Malman Secret foat with aspread bulk of No9shot, then a 0.11mmhooklength to a size 16 Guru Pellethook, andespecially forthissmall stampofF1s,thisrig covers me forthe shortline.
What Iloveabout the Malman Secret pattern is that thefoatpresents perfectlyinthe water, andworks so efciently especially when lifting and dropping,and forthisstyle of busy fshing this foat is perfect.
Plumbing Up
When usinga 20g plummet to fndthe 4ftdepth Iwas lookingfor,I founda level area at fvemetres, before it shelvedawayagain to thefulldepth of thelakeat sixfeet,which wasatsix metres,sointheoryI was two-thirds down theshelf Especially nowthe weather hastaken aturnfor the better, andeverythingis springingbackintolife, I wanted to fshina sensible depthwhere thefsh were more settlednearerthe deck,soatfourfeet, fve metres out, this wasnot only theperfect depthto controlmyswimbetter, butalsoa sensible distance away from myself.
Isuppose what’s importanttorememberis that thetransitionperiod hasonlyjustbegun, and so thewater clarityisstill high;therefore Ididn’t want to fshtoo high up the shelfand toonearmyself in let’ssay threefeet,asthe fshwould be toounsettled Butthisinmyopinion, this is what’s so interesting aboutthistimeofthe year, as thefshes’habitschange incredibly quickly, and maybeonlya couple of weeksaway, I’ll be wanting to fshina lotshallower depthofwater,sobeing open-mindedand adapting at this time of theyearis crucial, in ordertostayin tune with fshmoods.
Nick’ssimple pellet bait menu.
Nick’s4mm expanders
The short line foat is a 4x14 Malman Secret.
You’re allowed to swing fsh under 6oz at Lindholme
The Long Line
With everything I’ve mentionedabove,I hope it nowmakes sensewhy although thewater is still cold andclear,mymain approach at 13 metres will be shallowwith4mm pellets,asinthisfulldepth of sixfeet,tryingtopin smallF1s down will be inefcient, as in theory I’mtryingtocatch these fshata depthwhere they don’twanttofeed,and it’s inevitable that thefsh will naturally competehigherin thewater column
NowI’m sure afew of youreading this would say: “Whydon’t youfsh nearer in andcatch them shallowatsay eightmetres than fshing at amoretimeconsumingdistanceof13 metres?”
Well, yes, maybe when thewater is more coloured when it warms up in thespring, fshing shortershallowisdeadly, andwould make sense especially nowthe fshare competingmorefor food, butatthispresent time of theyear, by fshing just that littlebit slightly furtherout meansyourcatch rate is more consistent,asyou’re nowfshingata distance wherethe fshfeel more
confdent andsofeed at a shallowerdepth,therefore allowing youtocatch them quicker, whereas fshing shallowany shortercould hinder your catchrate, as thefsh aremoreunsettled
Shallow Lin e Forthisshallowapproach Iset up twoovershotted rigs,onthe Aero X7 pole’s F1 shallowmatch kits, whichcomprised No8Elite Hollowelastic,0.17mm Aero SlickSilk with an RW Dibbertoa 0.11mm hooklength with asize18 hook anda microband. Oneofthe rigs wasset to work at depths of around 24 to 26 inches,and the otherfor 20 to 24 inches
The Sessi on Starting thesession at fve metres,I Kinder potted just afew micros (around 20),and loweredmyrig straight over thetop with a 4mmexpander, andwithin secondsI wasintomyfrst stockieF1ofthe day. After thefrsthourofthe session Ihad acaughta smallF1 nearly everydropin, which Imustadmit wasfun, but on theswimmanagement side Ifelt, even by just feedinga smallpinch of micros everyfve fsh, that
The shallowrig foat, an RW Dibber
It’simportant to have very little space between the hookshank and the band.
The F1s just kept on coming.
Loose feeding the shallowline…
…not long before there’s elastic coming out of the pole.
Nick fed theshallowline with 20 pelletsevery 30 seconds.
thereweretoo many fshinmyswimand thepeg wasgoing a bitscatty.SoI then swappedfromfeeding micropellets to feeding fve4mm pellets by hand everyother fsh, andthiswithout doubt notonlyincreased the stampofthe fshbut it also settled my swim down,sowiththisin mind Istarted priming my shallowline, as I couldtellthe fshwere wantingtofeed
What wasso importantonthis5m linewas to induce a quickbitebyhow I loweredmyrig in,and by this Imeanthe last fewinchesofthe foat itself,asespecially with thestockie F1s theslowerI lowered therig in,the quicker Ireceiveda bite,and this defnitelymadea huge diferencetomy catchrate.
After30minutes of primingthe 13m linewith20orso 4mmpellets every 30 seconds, andin themeantimestill catching on the5m line, Idecided to go on thelonglinewith abanded4mm pellet. Anditdidn’tsurprise me in theslightest to to seethe elastic popout frst drop in, whichwas defnitelya betterstamp fshalso. But, likeI mentioned before regardingthe waterclarity,I started catching them at a specifcdepth of 24 inches,and throughout thewhole of the session at 13 metres this waswithout doubt theoptimum depth whereI caught the most fsh, butagain, as with allforms of presentation,how I actually worked therig wascrucial
What proved to be most efective was
fshing aslightly longer hooklength of fveinches, to createa longer hook bait fall as Iwas jerkingthe rig. With an overshotted rig, in my opinion thereisnoother form of hookingpercentage rate that even comes closetothisrig, whichiswhy this presentation principle is deadly.
Whatwas defnitely so enjoyablewas that this wasthe frst time this spring I’ve fshed shallow, andI loved everyminuteofit, as it wasgreat just to seethe elasticgetting pulledout nearly every drop Ispent therest of theshort session concentratingonthe shallowlinewhere I also manageda the oddbetterF1mixed in with thesmaller stamp, andalthough Ikeptmyshort line alivebyfeedinga few 4mmpellets everyfew minutes, my shallow linewas so strong, therewas no need to change my approach
Throughout the session Ionlyfed one full bagof4mm fshery pellets,which showed that although Ifed both swimscontinuously, Ididn’tpushthem toohard. Especially on theshallowline at 13 metres,ifI fed toomuchinone hit it defnitelysentthe fshdeeper, so Ifound feeding20pellets every otherfsh seemed to be thecorrect amount to keep them settled at thedepth Iwas fshing
Allinall Ihad a brilliant day’sfshing, catching alot of small F1smixed with afew betterones, andithas defnitelygiven me the tastefor things to come forthe “uprising” over thenextfew weeks.
Toobig to swing, another one for the net
Alot of small F1s and a few bigger ones, agreat catch.
After starting the month with acomplete disaster, AndyPower soon gets thingsback on track with his winningways.
Winterfshingis always afckle beast! Ifeel to get resultsinwinter youjusthavetokeep going. Youwill always getbad results, butwiththe amount of luck involved at this time of year,toget rewarded you just have to keep turningup.
Fish SouthSilverfsh
Iwill startofwithwhathas been oneofmyworst day’s fshing fora while in many ways.I know it canmake us allfeel humanhearing of themishaps,aswellasthe good
With only ahandful of qualifersleftfor theFish SouthSilverfshFinal,I had booked aticketfor aqualifer at WhiteSprings,inWales Ihad only been once before, thesametimelastyear, anditlooked likea brilliant venueespecially theMatch andPleasurelakes we fshed.
So,I made thelong journeythrough Wales. With plenty of time to spare Istopped at some services that hada name Ican only presumewas made up by someonepressing randomly on akeyboard!
Arriving about10minutes
before thedraw, Igot alittle worried.There wasnobody thereatthe shop.I then saw therewerevansI recognised spread around thecanal lake No problemI thought, they must have just drawnearly andsaved me apeg?
Idrove over,got out behind thelocal organiser, andhesaid: “What areyou doinghere? You’re noton my list!”Myheart sank,had Iforgottentobuy aticket? I checkedand Idefnitely had aticket, bought theweek before!Itturnedout he had been givenanold list by Fish South, andsince everyone on
that listhad turned up,they didthe draw early!
Aredrawwas calledso that Icould fsh. Obviously, that meantI felt especially popular, although some were very happy afterdrawing badly!
Idon’t even remember the number Idrew, butitwas on theshallow, narrow side of thelake. AndI wastoldit wasnot whereyou needed to draw to winthe match! It wasaround13metreswide here.The waterwas very clear, andwhenI plumbed up it wasonlybetween two andthree feet deep!Surelyit
Lives:Wells
Sponsors:Preston Innovations, Sonubaits •MFsays:Always in the bigmatches
In the Golden RodIdrewanend pegonLarford Match Lake!
wastoo shallowinsuchcold conditions?
Well, yesitwas!I satthere forthe full fvehours and managedtoget four bites, allfromcarp, whichdidn’t count! So,I guessthatmeant Ihad “blanked”, butI wasn’t theonlyone!
Iwas determined to land thelastcarpI hooked,toat leastsay Ididn’t“blank”,but it then proceeded to swim behind my keepnetand breakme!
Well done to thewinner MikeyWilliams, whodrew exactlywhere he wanted to thesecondtimeround.He texted me to thankmeafter thematch,asI thinkhedrew my pegthe frst time!
Viaduct Fish South Afew days later, Iwas at a much more localViaduct Fisheriesfor anotherFish Southqualifer.Fortunately, Iwas on thelistthistime, so theday startedofmuch better! We were fshing on the Campbell Lake,where the target wasdecentskimmers andmaybe theodd perch. IdrewPeg 114, whichisa littleset back,but it wasin themiddleofthe lake,soI felt it wouldgivemea good chance
ForbaitI hadsome casters, corn andsomeF1 Dark/SupercrushGreen groundbait.Myrigswere simple,and in the4ft deep swim Ihad a4x10Maggot foat,withstrungout No10s, aNo6 Slip elastic, and 0.08mm hooklength to a size 18. Therearen’tmany smallfsh in this lake at the moment,soyou canget away with anicelight rig, andnot getpesteredbythem. Fishing with astrung-outrig means youcan catchfsh of the bottom, as it givesthe bait a more naturalfall.
I also hada waggler setup, andafter feedinga nugget of groundbait andsome castersonthe long pole,I startedonthat. Igot of to agreat startbyfshingwith acasteronthe hook,and loosefeeding afew over thetop.I caught threebig skimmers on it before Isaw anyone else catcha fsh. I didn’t seeanyoneelseset a rodupeither, so Ihad it to myself.I didfeel though,that Ineeded to concentrateon thepoleline, andafter about an hour Igot my frst bite on it.I foundthatloose feeding casterswas best on thepole line. Ithink with thewater beingclear,the fshliked following theloosefeed to thebottom.
As thematch went on my pegseemedtoget stronger At this time of year Ioften fndasthe light levels start to dipinthe late afternoon, fshtendtostart feeding confdently,and that’s what seemed to happen. Lots of anglerscaughtwelllater on in theday,but Iseemed to be catching more consistently than anyone else.I even had to putanother netinasthere is a50lbsilver fshlimit!
Ifound that Ihad to keep moving therig around and search thepeg abit to keep catching.Sometimes moving therig afew feet to theside wouldget me abitestraight away.I thinkthe light rig helped with that too, as it wasasthoughthe skimmers were watching it fall through thewater.The twobig perch Ihad were both “onthe drop”, so were defnitesight feederstoo.
At theend Iweighed 60lb, enough to winthe matchand qualify. Abrilliant result for February!After abit of bad luck,itwas nice to fndsome fshagain!
Viaduct Peg114 for the Fish South qualifer…
…and 60lbof skimmers for a welcome win.
Lambsdown Peg47, my last chance to qualify forthe Silverfsh Final.
Angling Trust Silverfsh Beinginthe southwest we do usually getlucky with slightly warmer temperatures.Thiswinter hasbeenconsistentlycold andsilverfsh weights across lots of venues,inthe Midlands in particular,have been sufering,sogoing from Viaducttomynextmatch wasa bitofa shocktothe system!
Ihad only broughta couple of ticketsfor the AnglingTrust Silverfsh eventasmostofthe venues were abit farfor me.My last chance wasonthe fnal qualifer at Meadowlands, thesamevenue forthe fnal.Somehow,I hadnever actually fsheda matchat Meadowlandsbefore,so Iwas lookingforward to fshing anew venue!
Theweights on the previous matcheshad been low, so IknewI was probably in fora toughday!I drew Peg 47 on Lambsdown, thebigger, deeper lake.The otherlakehad been fshing better, butonthismatch, Ionlyneeded to winmy sectiontoqualify
With plenty of open water to go at,I setupa couple of conventional feeder rods, clippedupat35and 45 metres,aswellasa long pole line in around nine feet of water. My groundbait choice wasjustsomeF1Darkas Iwanteda mixwithless fshmeal, as thewater was very cold andclear.This meantthe mixwas nottoo rich andflling.
Iwon’t excite youtoo much aboutthe matchbut basically my frst fshwas atinyroach,which fell of on thefeeder,followed by abigger4oz roach. I caught thesewhenI wetted my groundbait into aslop andfed it througha caged window feeder.I then caught aniceskimmer doingthe same,withpinkies on the hook
That wasmygrand total catch, oneroach anda skimmer! Youmight think
that wasa badday,but I didn’t actually seeanyone catchmorethanthat! I weighedin2lb 14oz, which wasenoughtowin my sectionand qualifyfor the fnal!WelldonetoGrant Howieand Graham West, whoalsoqualifed!
Iactuallyquite enjoyedit, as Ialwaysfeltanyonewas in therace, just acoupleof fshcould swingit! We just need some milder weather forthe fnal now, to stir some fshintofeedingasI know thevenue is full of fsh!
Golden Rod Feeder Fishing
Ithenturnedmyattentions back to feeder fshing,with anotherfeeder-onlyqualifer at LarfordLakes.Inthe previous qualifer it wasvery hard,and Ithink thetwo carp Icaughtgavemethird on theMatch Lake.Thistime though,itwas much milder, andthe carp seemed to be much more active
As is oftenthe case at Larford, Iwas hoping to draw an endpeg.These tend to have abit more room and thecarptendtobackaway towardsthe ends during a match.
To my surprise Idrew what wasPeg 10 on the MatchLakeonthe day, an endpeg on thegrass bank, near theisland. Defnitelya chance to win, butI actually expected theother endto be better, as thesun wasout andthe wind wasblowing towardsthe otherend
Setting up,I didn’t see many signsoffsh initially, butI hada littlewalkaround to theopposite bank and sawlotsofcarpthatlooked liketheywerefeedingin themargins…inFebruary! Hopefully they wouldvisit me.
Starting on an empty feeder to theislandwith hair-riggedpunched bread, Ihooked an F1 within a fewseconds of thematch starting!I hadtowaita while before my next fsh, afterchangingtoa ICM
Meadowlands groundbait.
Alonely skimmer from Meadowlands.
The AT Silverfsh qualifers, Graham West, Grant Howie and me
Meadowlands results.
Larford carp feeding undermyrod.
ICM Method and Micro Wafters.
With Larford Golden Rod qualifers Dave Thompson and Dave Berry.
…andthe results.
Method feeder.Itwas then Istarted to getregular bites. That bitofmilder weatherhad defnitelystirred the carp into feeding, as afew weeksago Iwould have struggled to getbites with bait around thefeeder!
Iwas usingsoaked2mm fshery pellets,witha dollop of PowerScopex Bait Boosteronthem. This keeps them aniceconsistency andgives them anicesweet smell, whichseems to work well in winter.Onthe hook,I matchedmysmall feeder with small hook baits, usingeithermaggots,or MicroBand’Um Wafters.
As thesun came around andstarted hitting theshallowwater in my margins, Istarted to seemoresigns of fsh. To my surprise Istarted to catchF1s just underarminga Method feeder into acouplefeetofwater!
Iuseda diferent setupfor this.As you’re allowedelasticated feeders here,I used asmall ICSMethod, with 13h elasticinthe stem.Withthe fxed feeder,I couldfsh down the edge with aslack linebetween the tipand feeder.Thiswas importantto notspook anyfsh that touchedthe line. As it wasanelasticated feeder, it basically fshesitself. Thefsh hook
themselvg bitesare savage as thefsh movesof. Ididn’tneed to fshheavy hooklengthsthough, as Iwas using 0.13mmPower to asize16GPM-B hook,matchingwithmysmall hook baits.
ves against the feeder, and the
My little runofmarginfsh didn’t last though,and Ihad to go back to fshing with theICM feeder against theisland, catching some better carp later on in thematch
It wassucha contrast to my last matchhere. It just showswhata bitof sunshine andsomewarmerweather candotothe fshing.Hopefully there is plenty more to come soon!
At theend,itwas pretty clearthat Ihad wonthe match, andthe fsh obviouslyliked beinginmyshallow pegtoday.I weighedin156lb, winning thematch,and qualifying forthe fnal in afew weeks’ time, alongwithDaveBerry andDave Thompson.Welldonetothem!
Theups anddowns of winter fshing,going from a“blank”,to qualifying forthree fnalsina week!I don’tmindgetting afew badresults if it meansI getrewardedeventually! Be luckyifyou’regoing outsoon!
My Larford catch…
RRP £339.98
RRP £49.98
Reinforced Knees
WaistBelt
Zipped Chest Pocket
THE FLEETS DAM Barnsley, South Yorkshire Tel: 01226 292579
Photos: Mark Parker
In a leagueofhis own?
Winter leaguesare apopularpart of winter match angling andtoday we join Nytro’s Jamie Wilde in the last round of his, on the Fleets Dam at Barnsley…
All over thecountry, 2024-2025 winter leaguesare either enteringtheir final days or weeksor, likeours, arefishing theirlastmatch.
SinceOctober,every two weekshas seen me at the FleetsDam in Barnsley, competingovereight matches. Andtobefair, despitewhatthe weather hasthrownatusover thewinter, it hasbeen a cracking league
Theweights have been ‘onpoint’, andwhenI say that,I mean you’ve needed well over 70lbtowin most matches. Quitea fewhave been wonwithover100lb weights, whichovera winter like we have just enduredisfantastic fishing anda real testamenttothe qualityofThe Fleet as a fishery.
As well as having a
greatset of lads in the league –eachand every oneofthemlikes to take theMichael,asitwereand have abit of alaugh,as well as beingferociously competitive– Nytrohas put itssponsorship behind the event, so as well as good payouts, therehavebeen prizes forevery round, whichisfantastic forall involved
Like today, whichisthe last matchofthe league, Nytro’sMartinFordhas broughtdownsix rods as well as aseatboxand a four-rod holdallfor frst andsecondinthe league respectively.So, it means that over thecourseofthe 10 matchesall thelads have hada good chance of winning something. Allin all, Ithink Nytrohas given over £2,500 in prizes!
In theleaguethis
year therehavebeen32 competitors, including myself.Overthe course of theeight rounds,you areallowed to drop one result,orifyou can’tmake aweek,thatalsocounts, andtosay that thefshery hasfshed well wouldbean understatement
As Isaidearlier,you needed well over 70lbto even geta look in.I’d say that theaverage weights over allthe matcheshave been around the80lb mark,which in winter is phenomenal!The thing with TheFleet is that even though they do make regularstockings,you are really fshing forbigger carp.The averageisaround 5lbto6lb,althoughthe fshdogouptonearly 30lb. Therehas even been acoupleof20lb-plus fsh caught over thecourseof
theevents. This meansthatthe fshing,aswellasbeing very good,can be a challenge. This placeisfar from a‘gimme water’,it rewardsgood anglersand good fshing,and if youcan do that it will very often recompense youkindly.
As formyseason, well what canI say? Without sounding big-headed,I have hada brilliant winter league this year.I started with twowins, then a second placeinround three andround fve, with the rest of thematches allbeing wins.Havingdroppedone of thesecondplaces, it has givenmea mere seven points goingintotoday’s fnal round. My nearest competitor,JonathanHaigh is on 11 points,soI’m well on my waytowinning hopefully,fngerscrossed.
“The average weights over allthe matches have been around the 80lb mark, which in winter is phenomenal!”
JAMIE WILDEAge: 38Sponsors: Nytro,Bait-Tech
Today’sMatch
Today, thedrawbag hasn’t been allthatkindtome, sadly.
IamonPeg 62, around two-thirds of theway up towardsthe carpark, which is theshallowerend and with agreat deal of very cold rain in thepastfew days andevilnortherly winds, thecarpare nothere. There does seem to be theodd one, butthe majorityitseems are much furtheruptowards the damend wherethe wateris slightly deeper.Thatsaid, there’salwaysa chance.The greatthing aboutThe Fleet is that it is averyfairwater, with matchesbeing wonof allswims over thecourse of theleague. Therehaven’t been anyrealfyers,which
hasbeen great.
Ihavehad wins of the damwall– Peg 41, I’ve wonofPeg 58, twoalong from me todayand hada second from Peg29. Youjust don’tknowwhere thefsh mightbeand that is brilliant forcreatinga fair match situation.
In frontofmeI have around four feet of water, so today, fshing forlinebites is goingtobekey to trying to fndwhere afew fshmight be holedup. As it hasbeen averytough daytoday –so far, I’ve only hadtwo bites, oneofwhich Ilost, andthree linebites –locationiskey
On largeopenwaterslike this one, with no obvious features,you need to search thewater youhave, going
to them rather than trying to draw them to you.
Itendtolook at fshing halfway, as thereare lads on thefar bank,sowiththisin mind,I startshort andatthe twoo’clock position,prior to workingmyway to my left This allows me to coverthe watermoreefciently.Once Ihavefound afew fsh, Iwill recast to that area. Idon’t liketoclip up though,asthe fshare very largeand even in winter they couldeasily snap me of,and that onefsh couldbethe matchwinner. Theother thingI do diferently to agreat deal of otheranglers is to make regularcasts.I am notone forsitting on my hands, even in thecoldest of conditions.I thinkthe fshwill watchthe
bait fall throughthe water andtakeitfairlyquickly if they aregoing to take it at all. Forme, even in the winter,evena 10-minutecast is alongtime.
That said,ifI wasfshing with apopped-up bait,like bread,I will give it alittle longer as thehook bait is more in thefsh’s face,but again, only in an area where Iamgetting linebites.There is no pointsitting it outina placewhere thereare no fsh! Ilookatitlikepolefshing. Youwouldn’tleaveyour pole rigstaticfor 20 minutes, so whytakethisapproach with abomb? By casting regularly, it is thesameas lifting anddropping.You areencouraging thefsh to take thehook bait outof
The lads on the match.
Regular casts are essential
Search the water, fnd thefsh.
…and terminal tackle.
Looking forline bites
Jamie’srod…