G.V.A.C . Hooked! Highlights in this issue: Volume 5 Issue 2 Newsletter Date: Spring/Summer 2019 • Events for this year announced

• Latest News Goodbye Snow, Hello Sun !... Hopefully • We look at some essen- Hi Everyone, main species. Even the coaches tial tackle Welcome to the second news- caught. Over 60 young people • A look at a good read letter of the year. Having been turned up on the day and they every week since the too all caught some fish. • Pole Rigs & start of the year I can honestly Hopefully a return in June will Shotting! say I really hope the last of the see us enjoying much better cold weather is behind us and weather. we can look forward to warm days, plenty of bites & netfuls But that is what fishing is all of fish! about… and for me the beauty of the sport, you never know what you’re going to catch Inside this issue: By the time you read this edi- next. tion we will have completed 2 or 3 of our sessions for the Completing the level 2 CAST year, we have lined up some ‘First-Timer Oliver deep awards will be a priority in the in concentration new & old venues for 2019 and coming weeks and for anybody Dates for the 2 a whole variety of different Diary who hasn’t started the CAST techniques & methods for you awards or would like to start to try. them then have a word with

A Coaches Blog 2 Paul at any of our FishClub p.s. Don’t forget to upload any Our first session at Suffolk sessions for more information. catch photo’s you have to our Water Park in April saw 5 of Junior Facebook page. our ‘advanced’ juniors tackling match Lake 1 on pole and feed- As always if you have any ques- Product Review 2 er. Conditions weren’t helped tions then please get in contact Be sure to show this by a mixture of sun, rain, sleet with us & we’ll try and answer newsletter to your par- & a touch of snow, together them for you. ents so that they know

Behind the 3 with a biting northerly wind when the Fish Club ses- but you all caught, mostly on See you all soon !! Scenes sions are taking place… the pole, with Roach being the Tight Lines (Editor) Book Worm 3 (New) Latest News Pole Rigs & 4 doors at Gt Blakenham. So lots Feel free to post your own

Shotting! to look forward to, and some catches and days out fishing as

April saw us at Suffolk Water new techniques to challenge well. Park for the first of 3 sessions your fishing skills. there this year, plenty of roach Type in Gipping Valley An- were caught although the Facebook page gling Club Juniors on Face- bream & evaded our best Keep in touch on our Face- book and checkout the pages. attempts to catch them… book page where you’ll find details of all our advertised FishClub 2019 will be taking us events and showcase all of the If you have any ideas on to Battisford, Jimmy’s lake/ great sessions we’ve have over what you’d like to see in woody’s lake & Alton Water the year. the future please let us and we end the year back in- know. Page 2 Volume 5 Issue 2 Hooked!

Dates for the Diary

Mums, Dads & Grandparents this is the section Jul 2019 you need to read. Here are the up & FishClub 3 - Beginners to Advanced coming sessions planned for the year. Sat 6th - 8.30 to14.00 (Jimmy’s Lake) (NFM) Long & Short pole work May 2019 FishClub 1 - Beginners to Advanced Sat 11th - 8.30 to14.00 (Battisford Top Lake) Family Fish Day 2 - Beginners to Advanced (FF) Sat 1st - 9.00 to 16.00 (SWP - Match Lake 1) Juniors waiting to Pole & Waggler fishing (FF) start fishing Sept 2019 Jun 2019 FishClub 4 - Senior/Junior Pairs match Family Fish Day 2 - Beginners to Advanced Sat 28th - 8.00 to16.00 (Alton Water) (FF) Sat 1st - 9.00 to 16.00 (SWP - Match Lake 1) Pole, Waggler & Bomb fishing (FF) Pellet Waggler & Bomb Fishing Members £5.00 Non-members £6.50 FishClub 2 - (CANCELLED ) per session . Sat 22nd - 8.30 to14.00 (Stonham Barns) (FF) Key: Long & Short pole work (FF) Family Fish, (NFM) National Fishing Month

A Coaches Blog The Joys of Fishing! for an hour watching the tor- about how to get the best out rential rain coming down be- of a swim. All the blogs go fore deciding to drive back into detail about the baits, Well, since the New Year I home. methods & techniques I’ve have managed to get out on used & will hopefully help with the bank nearly every week In that time I have fished 6 of your own fishing, if you want- and the weekly blog tally is the 7 scheduled GVAC Mid- ed to fish these lakes. currently standing at 16. week league matches and

most surprisingly have man- Why not join me on the jour- It’s been a real eye opener aged to win 3 of the matches ney trough the year & read my with every week being a dif- & win 2 sections as well, so blog, ferent venue trying to find out not a bad return so far. Just pop along to the following the best baits, methods, talk- Paul watching Lennon link:- ing to regulars etc. unhooking another Having never fished some of

Roach these venues, certainly not I’ve also managed to pick the https://angling4all.org/blog under match conditions its worst day for the weather on been a brilliant challenge and “Every journey starts with most weeks as well, one such has really got me thinking week saw me sitting in my car a single step!”

Product Review Item : Mag Store Pre-tied locate each individual If you are not a fan of tying Hooks Stick into their new system your own hooks then these Tackle Firm : Preston Innov box (8-10 Rig Sticks are sup- are a great alternative and will Preston Mag Store Pre- Price : £3.00 - £3.99 plied in each system depend- save you a lot of time & effort tied hooks ing on size), allowing you to but this comes at a price. Description : swap and change their loca- Personally I much prefer to tie tion within the box and add My advice would be to perfect my own hooks as pre-tied new Rig Sticks . your own hook tying skills and hooks don’t give me the ver- in the long term save you a lot satility or options for what I In addition you can now buy a of money… but as they say… need, but Preston Innovations variety of pre-tied Preston each to their own. last year released something a hooks on a rig stick. These little bit different to the indus- come as 8 pre-tied hooks try standard. which you can then instantly “If time is your enemy lock into your Mag Store Sys- then this solution could be Firstly the Mag Store Sys- tem box. the answer!!” tem which uses magnets to Page 3 Volume 5 Issue 2 Hooked!

Behind the Scenes

Bait-Tech Offer There are limits to this offer & lakes, Maypole & Battisford For those of you that are not is strictly for the use of GVAC lakes. aware, local company Bait- juniors only. The work involves cutting Tech, one of the UK’s leading back the overgrown trees & bait firms with a distribution Paul will be sending out a shrubs, clearing out swims to network stretching around the revised price list soon so that make them more comfortable world, will continue providing you can see what we currently to fish from and various other GVAC junior section with have to offer. maintenance tasks. Bait-Tech’s Pro substantially reduced cost bait It is also hoped that during Natural range & to cover the Around the Club 2019 there will be some sub- FishClub sessions for 2019. Now that we are getting into stantial repair work carried Not only that, but Bait-Tech the warmer weather members out on the banks of Woody’s have kindly allowed us to pass of the committee & willing lake as the banks have eroded on this generous offer to you volunteers are carrying out quite badly in some areas. juniors, so you can buy bait, work parties at some of the pellets & groundbait directly clubs venues. Check the club diary if you are from the club at our FishClub So far these parties have car- interested in attending any of sessions. ried out work at the Barking these work parties.

Book Worm - Ivan Marks on Match Fishing

If I’m not fishing then I like nothing better than to read all from his own range of about fishing, be it one of the newspapers, a maga- floats that were in the zine or one of the many books that have been written by beginning all hand made by the greats of the sport. Ivan himself but which So I thought I would share with you some of the books were later produced com- that I have read over the years, which have inspired me to mercially. learn more & improve my own angling ability. I still have some treasured floats in my own collec- Title : Float Fishing with Ivan Marks tion. Author : Ivan Marks & John Goodwin Ivan talks in-depth about ISBN : 0720710278 each design & the materi- Published : 1978 als that were used to create the float. Pages : 176 He talks about the use of Price : £5.00 - £10.00 that float in the some- times, specific situation it Every sport has its heroes and for me when I started was designed for, giving fishing at the tender age of 10, no angler shone brighter you shotting patterns and then the late, great Ivan Marks. This man was my hero, the depths the float was sadly Ivan passed away in 2004 at only 68yrs old. used in. There is a lot of detail in this section of the book and it is best read a few times to fully understand it all. I was extremely privileged to have met him a number of times in my youth and he was always the most humble, The last section of the book concentrates on the secrets of unassuming gentlemen you could ever wish to meet. Al- Ivan’s success from using small hooks, to using good quality ways open to questions, he would never hide any secrets bait, how to feed your swim correctly, bait presentation, all about his tactics or baits. the way through to decision making, having confidence, even Many thought of him as mainly a ledger/feeder man and how to think like a fish! indeed he won a lot of matches using this tactic but in reality it was his talent with a float that brought him his Bearing in mind that this book is now over 40 years old there greatest success. is so much of the content that is still relevant to today’s fishing, and if you only ever buy one book about float fishing, then in In this book Ivan starts off describing the basics of float my opinion this is the book to buy. fishing. He talks in depth about the different conditions he faced on the bank, the theory behind his shotting patterns, The copy I have is at least 39yrs old and I have read it count- bite detection, the tackle he used (now mostly out of less times over the years as a reference for many aspects of date) and many other aspects of this art. my own fishing and every time I read it I always discover something new and different that I can use. The second and largest proportion of the book then goes into detail on each & every different type of float he used, G.V.A.C . Page 4 Gipping Valley Angling Club - ‘Active’ ‘Accessible’ ‘Accredited’

GVAC is based in mid Suffolk and has waters in and around Needham Market, Stowmarket & Brantham. The club was established in 1984 with our original members fishing Needham Lake and four sections of the River Gipping.

The club values its members’ opinions, the development of its fisher- GVAC helpline: 07592 014 627 ies and the development of angling and is intent that all shall be given E-mail: the opportunity to enjoy our sport in a safe and friendly environment. steve.barnes@gippingvalleyangli ngclub.co.uk Our very active Junior Academy sections host regular events for young anglers and, along with our intermediates, are given every en- couragement and opportunity to compete on a national level. With the support of local tackle shops in the area, the Environment Agency Editorial E-mail: [email protected] and Mid Suffolk District Council, young members and non-members alike can enjoy the coaching afforded by the club’s volunteers. We are actively involved with the running of the Suffolk County Amalgamated Angling Association (SCAAA), members of Institute of Man- agement (IFM) and are supported by the Angling Trust in angling development projects.

Pole Rigs & Shotting We’re on the web www.gippingvalleyanglingclub. The Mugging Rig co.uk How does the rig work? With the warmer weather now upon us and sum- mer just around the corner, carp are starting to be more active and as the temperature rises they will be basking on the surface in the hot sun.

This tactic involves swinging the rig towards any visible, cruising fish on the surface, ‘mugging’ them as they swim past. You don’t need to feed just swing the hook bait between 30cm & 50cm in front of their noses.

The depth of the rig is purely trial and error but a good starting point is 45cm as it gives the carp time to inspect the bait as it falls through the water.

The shotting pattern is very simple and consists of a bulk of No.10 shot directly underneath the float with no other shot down the line. This makes the fall of the bait as natural as possible.

If the carp are taking the bait with confidence then shallowing up the rig to sit in front of the carp’s nose may well quicken up the bites. However, if the carp are wary then add an additional 15cm to the depth so that they have more time to work out if the bait is falling naturally.

The line between the float and your pole tip should be between 100cm to 120cm, this helps to keep your pole tip as far away from the fish as possible, and helps prevent spooking the fish.

Keep the line tight to your pole tip so that you give yourself the best chance of hooking those fish.

Be ready for some very quick bites and aggressive fights as the carp tear away from your swim. This can really be an exciting tactic to try.

Feed very sparingly to keep a few fish biting !!