26 AnglingT ımes tuesday, December 11, 2012 Join us at: www.gofishing.co.uk Subscribe now at: www.greatmagazines.co.uk Tuesday, december 11, 2012 AnglingT ımes 27

Anglo-French Tom Lane, grandson of the late great Billy, gave Six winter tips experts try to me a proper mauling – and I was delighted to be shown how to do it. save salmon SLOW IT DOWN BRITISH and French 1 If the water temperature is low scientists are working you will often get more bites by together to help save dwindling stocks of slowing down your rig. With Atlantic salmon. running line floats you can do A massive 70 per cent this by easing the float through decline in fish numbers No bites? You by controlling the line with your over the last 30 years fingers. For even slower has sparked a major new presentation, try a centrepin as research collaboration it’s a great way of catching fish in by experts from both the the depths of winter and will UK and France, who have sometimes get you bites when decided to pool their expertise, resources and other rigs fail. My team-mate data to maximise current proved this in the last winter international research league match by using a strung efforts and reverse the rig, two-foot overdepth and worrying trend. eased very slowly through the This study, called the need to adapt! swim for 5lb of roach. Anglers MorFish (Monitoring for around him all dry-netted! Migratory Fish), will take three years and involves TRY A STRAIGHT LEAD numerous charities and lad on the next peg teaches me a lesson on the wye 2 I’ve lost count of the number trusts, including the Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust. of times I have caught fish on a It is to be funded by the EU straight lead when floatfished costing around £2.5m euros. he recent cold weather baits have failed to produce has seen anglers all over the bites. I use a link of around six Follow us country struggling for bites inches and a tail from 3ft to 6ft. on twitter: and it’s hardly surprising _ when you consider just how @angling times Tlow the water temperature is. There’s no need to pack the rods away until next year, though, as there is still Thieves ruin it some excellent fishing to be enjoyed if you go about things in the right way and for the kids carefully select your venues and pegs. A CHARITY has been left I have measured water temperatures devastated after thieves stole more than 60 fishing for many years and always found that rods that were used to get whenever there’s a drop it has an adverse underprivileged children effect on fish. It doesn’t always have to Only feed heavily once the shoals move in. into the sport. be sub-zero temperatures – a drop from Northern Ireland’s Angling 8ºC to 6ºC can have a big effect on how FEED CAREFULLY First has taught over 2,000 species like roach feed. 3 Until you know there are youths in the County Down The recent River Wye winter league plenty of feeding fish in front of area this year, but its matches have shown just how venues you it’s always best to err on the future efforts are sure to can change as the temperature drops, side of caution. Feed little and be hampered following the and aside from the feeding side of things often – on some venues this incident. Scheme co-ordinator there’s fish movement to contend with. might mean less than half a pint Mark McGivern believes the Pegs that were good a couple of months of maggots in five hours. If you charity may have to cancel ago have become difficult on some days start getting bites, build up the events, and said: “We have and there were dry nets from the top two feed steadily. If you are getting a several groups booked in sections in the last two matches. bite every cast you can be but I’m not sure it will be Days like these, when you just can’t get Tom’s 44lb 1oz winning net of perch. confident there are plenty of fish possible to go through with bites, always make you wonder whether that want feeding. them all. We can’t believe there are actually any fish in front of you, someone would do this.” but it’s been interesting to see how EXPERIMENT WITH BAITS anglers have adapted to come back with The peg upstream of me wasn’t in and We were both introducing small balls 4 If the river is clear it will pay returns instead of empty nets. on the downstream peg I’d got Tom of groundbait packed with casters and More info to experiment with your Win coaching A couple of weeks ago I drew peg 20 at Lane, grandson of the late great Billy and chopped worm, but over the next two Dave Harrell hookbaits. Single caster is a is recognised as one the top end and, after a biteless hour- son of the late Coventry tackle dealer hours Tom hooked into so many perch great bait for roach, while from Dave Dave Harrell of the country’s best-ever and-a-half on a maggot feeder, I decided Alan, for company. that he lost count! maggots are best if the river is ONE OF the best match river anglers and has devoted It’s been great to see Tom, a man in his If I couldn’t come first in the section I anglers in the country is to spend the next hour fishing a big stick britain’s best river angler his life to learning different coloured. Don’t ignore big baits giving his fans the chance to float with three or four small helpings of early twenties, developing his river skills needed to try for second, so I set up skills on running water. He has like lobworms, especially if there win a day’s coaching. loosefed maggots introduced each time tells all – only in AnglingT ımes rather than just going for the commercial another pole rig with a 6g Cralusso fished for England at World are perch about. Angling Times regular the float was running through the swim. option. A win on the main match length Bubble float set overdepth on 8m of line. and European level and now Dave Harrell, whose weekly The rig was set at dead depth and at Hereford was eluding him, though… This was used on a 10m pole angled owns his own tackle company, KEEP GOING Dave Harrell Angling. For article is to the right, runs hookbait was double red ever chub at 6lb 7oz! I tried for a further down. Even so, the 0.14mm hooklength We both set up running line and pole downstream on the same line as Tom. 5 During the depths of winter details of his products go to: his own tackle company, and maggot on a size 16 half an hour for another and then spent I used came under severe pressure from rigs and during the first hour it was I then began to introduce balls of you will often find the last two any customers spending £25 www.daveharrellangling.com hook. With two and a the rest of the match having 30-minute the big chub and I’m pretty sure I would pretty clear that everyone in our section groundbait crammed with casters and He is also available for hours of daylight are the best, so or more before the end half hours of the spells on the feeder, straight lead and have lost it if I’d fished any lighter. was struggling to get a bite. Then Tom chopped worms. The ploy worked and at one-to-one and group never give up. of the year will automatically match gone I had my stick float. No more bites followed but Last weekend was very difficult. Air turned to his master plan! Switching to one stage I had a run of quality perch coaching sessions on the be entered into the draw River Wye throughout the to bag a day’s tuition for first bite, which that fish gave me big team points in the temperature plummeted overnight and an 8m pole rig with a 6g flat float and a before they eventually turned round WATCH SOME MATCHES brought my best section and helped our team into third. another hard match followed for many. I chunk of lobworm, he was soon into the and went back home to Tom again. river season. For more details 6 If you’re intending to two people. contact Dave at: info@ Some would say that was a lucky fish drew peg 74 upstream of the old railway first of what was to become a memorable My nine perch went an ounce under pleasure fish a venue where For more details on the daveharrellangling.com bag of perch. competition visit www. but I don’t agree. I knew it was going to bridge in the fourth round of the Wye 19lb, which got me second in section plus You can also follow matches are held on a regular daveharrellangling.com be a hard day and I fished hard for what I Winter League and I quite fancied it for a I had switched from the pole to a the section prize by default, while Tom’s Dave’s daily and weekly basis, take some time out to go always felt was going to be one or two few fish. In recent months this swim had running line with a 4g Bolo float and 44lb 1oz gave him his first Hereford exploits on Facebook at: and watch one or two before you bites from where I was. I also knew thrown up good weights of roach, small landed a decent perch on three red match win. I was delighted, despite the www.facebook.com/ go fishing yourself. This way you match results that there was a better than even chub, dace and perch but rarely a maggots from just above Tom’s peg. mauling, and I hope it’s the first of many DaveHarrellAngling and on will find out which species are chance that if I got a fish it would mixture of all these species at the same Then I had another and estimated I’d got wins there for him – as long as I’m not Twitter at: www.twitter.com/ showing where, and what tactics dave_harrell news & dates be a good one, so I resisted scaling time. It was also quite a short swim. almost 4lb in the net. next to him when he gets the next one! are being used to catch them. My best ever chub start page 87 weighed 6lb 7oz.