Chris has been writing a regular weekly angling article for the Cumberland News each week since March 2000.
Chris, with the kind permission of Cumbrian Newspapers Limited, brings you his articles following their publication in the Cumberland News. You can view the latest article on this page. However for up to the minute local fishing news order your copy of the Cumberland News.
Cumberland News Weekending 22.02.08
Carlisle anglers Mike Shaw and Derek Kelly have been
enjoying some success at Loch Ken lately. Mike recently fished for Monklands in
the first round of the Angling Times Super Cup. A section winner and fourth
overall on the day with 10lb Mike helped Monklands progress to the second round
with a victory over rivals Central Scotland and Magiscroft. Mike was pegged in
the bay on the Birches and, fished at 75yards with a 60g ground bait feeder,
feeding red maggots and casters frequently, Rod was a tri-cast legend
5000, reel was a Daiwa TDA 3500 to Fireline braid straight through to an Ultima
FloCast hook length. At the weekend Mike was back at Loch Ken this time
with fellow Carlisle angler Derek Kelly this time fishing for Wigan in the
annual two day ‘Ashes’ competition against Edgeley Sports. This match is
based on total weight over the 2 days and on day one Derek Kelly finished third
overall with 14lb from the Shale Bank, the day was won by Wigan’s Pete Wilson
with 18lb from the Shale Bank. The loch was flat calm, very clear with
patches of ice in the margins, it was so cold poor Mike snapped the top section
of his rod due to his braided line freezing to the rod rings and only managed
8lb on the first day. Wigan had a 10lb advantage after day one. Day
two was won with 26lb from Robin Hoods; Mike recovered well from his disastrous
first day and finished fourth with 21lb from the Shale Bank. Edgeley beat
Wigan by 5oz on day two, but the match was won by Wigan, who beat Edgeley by
10lb overall. Individually, Mike was fourth overall with a total of 29lb
12oz, with the match being won by Wigan’s Pete Wilson with 45lb, followed by
Keith Dyal with 32lb, then Neil Bromilow with 30lb. Most fish were caught
at around 80yds range on maggots.
On the sea angling front the Cumbrian Coastline has been producing cod, bass and I have even heard of mullet being reported which is early in the year for this species. Tarnside Sea Anglers are staging an Easter Open match at Braystones Beach on Monday 24th March. Contact Heather for details on 07517045013.
All fly fisherman and amateur entomologists are invited to attend a fascinating presentation by Professor Steve Ormerod from Cardiff University titled ‘Pressures on precious upland river flies’ on Thursday 28th February at 19.15 (doors open 18.50) at The Hired Lad Restaurant, Penrith Auction Mart (off Junction 40 roundabout). The evening is being organised by Eden Rivers Trust Fisheries Advisory Committee in association with River Eden and District Fisheries Association, contact Lizzie on lizzie@edenriverstrust.org.uk or 07711794105 if you require more information.
Although there has been no news of any further salmon from the river Eden the recent frosty weather and lower water conditions has produced some excellent grayling conditions although when it is this cold there is not much point in an early start, the fish don’t seem to liven up until the sun climbs higher in the sky, and can sometimes prove a little cagey in the crystal clear water conditions whilst the full glare of the sun is on the water. But get well wrapped up and don’t what ever you do go home early because once that sun begins to get lower in the sky the grayling feed with gusto! With this in mind choose your stretches of river accordingly to prolong your sport particularly if you are roving with fly or bait rather than fishing in one position. Depending on the local geography, lie of the land, surrounding vegetation etc., the full glare of the sun will leave some stretches of river earlier than others; bear this in mind when planning your fishing. On Tuesday I visited the Kirkwood beat of the river Annan; a recognisance mission prior to a 3 day residential Grayling School I will be running at Kirkwood with owner Anthony Steel and Cumbria Fly Fishing’s Glyn Freeman in November. I landed four grayling including a brace of 2 pounders; the best weighing 2lb 10oz. For more information about the grayling school contact Anthony on 01576 510200 or aisteel@aol.com.
Cumberland News Weekending 15.02.08
Carlisle and District Coarse Angling Club member Dave
Gillies not only landed his biggest common carp from Crofton Lake a cracking
12lb 10oz fish on Sunday, he caught the most carp he has ever landed in one day
at the club fishery near Thursby and set a new personal best heaviest bag for
the Lake at 90lb beating his previous best which was a 70lb bag of bream and
carp. Dave had set out with the intention of doing a spot of waggler fishing at
Crofton, but he also decided to set up a carp rod and cast a 13mm spicy shrimp
and prawn boilie towards the island on a 1 ½ oz bolt rig thinking he might be
in with a chance of a carp whilst he fished the waggler for bream and roach. He
then started to tackle up his waggler rod but was interrupted by a 9lb carp
screaming off with his bait after just 5 minutes. After landing and returning
the carp, rebaiting and recasting the carp rod Dave once again began setting up
his float rod only to be interrupted by another carp; after 5 carp in the first
1½ hours Dave abandoned all thoughts of setting the waggler rod up and instead
concentrated on the carp fishing. In total he had 14 casts with the carp rod,
had 12 runs and landed 10 carp, all bar one of which were commons. He kept the
fish feeding by introducing a dozen boilies after landing each carp. The
smallest weighed in at 4lb, the next smallest was Dave’s only mirror carp of
the day at 6lb and he had a further 7 carp between 8 ½ lb and 11lb as well as
the biggest at 12lb 10oz. Dave said that upon arrival the water was coloured
with fish feeding and stirring up the bottom but at that stage he wasn’t sure
if they were bream or carp. CADCAC members should note that the club are holding
a work party at Crofton Lake on Sunday and with no matches on the calendar
committee members are expecting a good turn out.
3 more spring salmon have been
reported from the river Eden this week, the first was captured by Warwick Hall
regular John Hindle who landed a spirited and fresh run 10½ pounder in the
Battery on Friday after playing it for 15 minutes. Also fishing the Battery at
Warwick Hall on Saturday Chris Trinnock landed 12lb fish both fish were taken on
Flying C’s. Further upstream at Spout Beck Hugh Anderson landed the first
Yorkshire Fly Fishers Eden salmon of the season a brand new 10 pounder caught on
the fly.
Braystone’s Heather Rimmer won Tarnside Sea Angling Club’s latest match fished from the piers at Whitehaven last Saturday. Heather landed a nice cod weighing 5lb and added 7 dabs and a rockling for a total weight of 6lb 12oz. In second place was Heather’s husband Alan who landed 7 dabs for 2lb 10oz. Calder Bridge angler Alan Rigg was third with 6 Dabs for 2lb 6oz and Aka Rowlinson finished fourth landing 4 dabs for 1lb 12oz. Dab hand Ross Blacklock aged 8 was back in action again after his recent huge dab of 1lb 3¾oz; Ross was top junior on the day with 6 dabs and a rockling for 2lb 4oz. Liam Rowlinson was junior runner up with 2 dabs for 1lb 5oz. Tarnside Sea Anglers are running an Easter Open match at Braystones Beach on Monday 24th March. Contact Heather for details on 07517045013.
Elsewhere on the sea angling
scene as well as codling there have been one are two bass caught along the
Cumbrian coast line in recent weeks Nethertown, Drigg and St Bees among the
venues that have produced fish up to 6lb, but most recently a school bass was
reported landed at Grasslot, Maryport.
All fly fisherman and amateur entomologists will be interested to hear that The Eden Rivers Trust Fisheries Advisory Committee in association with River Eden and District Fisheries Association, invite you to join them in listening to a fascinating presentation by Professor Steve Ormerod from Cardiff University titled ‘Pressures on precious upland river flies’ on Thursday 28th February at 19.15 (doors open 18.50) at The Hired Lad Restaurant, Penrith Auction Mart (off Junction 40 roundabout)
Please contact Lizzie on lizzie@edenriverstrust.org.uk or 07711794105 if you require more information.
Cumberland News Weekending 08.02.08
Tarnside Sea Angling Club’s Ross Blacklock aged 8 is
earning something of a reputation for himself as an up and coming young sea
angler. In the Tarnside club’s latest match fished on Whitehaven’s piers
Ross was top junior landing 4 dabs for 1.4kg beating many of the adult
competitors, but it was the size of one of Ross’s dabs that amazed everybody;
later weighed on a set of imperial scales it took the needle round to 1lb 3¾oz
a specimen dab indeed. The British record for shore caught dab has stood since
1936 when M L Watts landed a 2lb 9oz 8 dram monster from Morfa Beach, Port
Talbot and although a huge 2lb 12oz 4drm dab caught by R Islip from Gairlock,
Wester Ross, broke the boat record in 1975 you see very few dabs over 1lb in
weight; so Ross can be proud of his catch. Steve Lancaster won the match with a
bag of 7 dabs weighing 1.6kg. Alan Rimmer was second with 2 flounders for 1.5kg;
on the imperial scales Alan’s best flounder was a cracking 1lb 14oz specimen.
Alan’s wife Heather tied for third place with Aka Rowlinson 0.7kg of
flounders. Junior runner up on the day was Liam Rowlinson with a 0.5kg flounder.
13 anglers fished a wind swept Lonsdale Park on Sunday in the final match of the Carlisle and District Coarse Angling Club’s Winter League. It was the sheltered pegs to the right of the bungalows that produced the goods with these pegs producing the top three weights. Andy Davidson of Carlisle take first place with 13lb 2oz of pole caught roach. Fellow Cockermouth anglers Steve Dixon and Frank Birtwhistle battled it out for second and third places, both using waggler, maggot and caster tactics to land almost identical nets of roach, at the weigh in Steve had the edge by just 1oz; 10lb 15oz to Frank’s 10lb 14oz. Houghton angler Chris Scott had already secured the title before the last match and after winning his section on Sunday he finished with 274 points. But the pressure was on Carlisle’s Pete Brown who had to catch a fish in order to finish runner up; Pete eventually managed to do just that, a 3oz roach was enough to secure the runners up spot with 240 points. Carlisle tackle dealer Pete Wilson finished third with 237 points. CADCAC members should note that the club are holding a work party at Crofton Lake on Sunday 17th February and with no matches on the calendar committee members are expecting a good turn out.
7 anglers fished the fourth and final ACA British Pike Championship 2008 Qualifying match of the winter at Longtown’s West Pond on Sunday. The match was fished in teeth of a strong westerly with the wind growing stronger as the day went on. The pike were feeding, but very tentatively resulting in dropped runs and 6 lost fish amongst the competitors on the day. Barrow in Furness angler Mike Fretwell won the match with a 9lb 6oz pike taken on a legered smelt fished in conjunction with his own recipe fishy groundbait moulded around his lead 'method' style each cast. Mike hooked the fish with an hour of the match to go and whilst stewards were weighing his fish he had another run on the same rod that he had only just recast; but unfortunately the pike dropped the bait on the strike! Mike went home £49 better off as well as qualifying for the 2008 ACA British Pike Championship Final. Carlisle angler Kevin Brown took second place winning £28; Kevin had lost a pike at range within the first hour of the match using a drifted trout deadbait but was compensated when a 2lb 2oz pike took a fancy to the same bait 20 yards into another drift later in the match. The match also raised £21 for the ACA. West Pond fishery manager Chris Bowman had donated some special permit prizes for anglers fishing the series of 4 ACA qualifying matches held over the Winter; Mike won a full season permit with the heaviest total weight of pike taken during the series, Chris Brookshaw of Barrow and Carlisle's Alastair Paisley both won a half season permits for the second heaviest total weight and the heaviest pike respectively.
Cumberland News Weekending 01.02.08
Mark Garret of Keswick has
landed the first Eden salmon of the season. Mark was fishing with his brother on
the Top beat at Warwick Hall on Sunday, when spinning in the Gravel Bed with a
Black and Yellow Flying C he hooked the sea lice covered Springer estimated at 8½lb
which put up a spirited account before being unhooked and returned. Shortly
afterwards Marks brother from Levens hooked a much larger salmon which tail
walked downstream before shaking the hook. With the river Eden dropping to
something approaching a fishable level earlier this week some salmon anglers
were out and about on the lower river, with anglers fishing Warwick Hall and the
Carlisle Angling Association water with both fly and spinner. No more spring
salmon to report as yet but one party did report 4 kelts in a day. Mark Garrets
fish, the first of the season goes into the lead in this seasons competition to
find the captor of largest salmon caught from the river Eden and reported in the
Cumberland News, although (and I hope Mark will not be offended) I don’t think
it will lead for long. This year’s prize is a superb box of Irish Shrimp flies
tied by Keith ‘Haggis’ Hargraves worth over £100. Anyone interested in the
full range of quality flies tied by Haggis can contact him on 07967145504.
The Carlisle and District Coarse
Angling Club’s Crofton Lake was the venue for the club’s latest winter
league match last Sunday, 19 anglers fished the match but the going was not easy
and the top three places were taken by anglers who managed to land a single big
bream. Keswick’s Bob Youdale on peg 2 landed the biggest; taking first place
with his 5lb 13oz feeder caught bream. In second place was Martin Chandler of
Carlisle who also fished the feeder on peg 14 to land a 5lb 9oz bream for second
place. Longtown’s Alan Little fished the waggler from peg 6 to land his bream
which at 5lb 3oz was enough to secure him third place.
One pleasure angler did well on Sunday at Crofton, a day ticket angler
landed carp of 12½lb, 7lb and 5½lb. With The final match of the CADCAC winter
league taking place on Sunday at Lonsdale Park expectations are running high for
bumper bags of quality roach. Houghton angler Chris Scott lies in an
unassailable position at the top of the league and the battle will be for the
runners up spot. Club members are reminded if the Golden Peg prize is not won on
Sunday it will be shared among the top three anglers on the day.
Harrington Sea Angling Club fished their first match
of 2008 at Caulderton on Saturday night. 13 anglers fished 2½ hours of ebb and
1½ hours of the flood tide. But despite the promising conditions only 7 fish
were caught 4 cod and 3 rockling. First was Alan Hill from Little Clifton with 3
cod for a total weight 7lb 4½oz Alan also had the heaviest fish a cod weighing
3lb 2oz. Second was Luke Holliday from Flimby with 1 cod and a rockling for 2lb
12½oz., third was Gary Kirkbride from Flimby with a rockling of 4¾oz and in
fourth place was Steven Foster from Workington with a rockling of 4½oz.
Harrington SAC hold regular matches throughout the year anyone wishing to join
the club should contact Alan on 01900 67257 or Barry on 01900 63924.
Last Sundays open match on the West
Bank Loch Ken saw Alec Napier of Motherwell take first place with a net of
skimmer bream weighing 16lb 10oz from his peg to the left of Robin Hoods Bay.
Ewan Weed of Ayr finished second with15lb 9oz of skimmers from his peg on the
Birches section and third placed David Anderson of Glasgow netted 12lb 12oz from
the area to the left of Robin Hoods Bay. Skimmer bream in the 6 to 8oz size
range made up the bulk of the weights in this weeks match.
The final ACA British Pike Championship 2008 Qualifying match of the winter takes place at Longtown’s West Pond on Sunday, with a 9am draw, fishing 10am to 3pm, £20 all in, contact Chris on 01228 674519 for more information.
If you have had a good catch, caught a big fish, have any match results, club news or have any other fishy tales, coarse, sea or game from Cumbria, Northumbria and Dumfriesshire why not get in touch with Chris.
Chris Bowman Fishery Management
Crosshill Cottage, Blackford, Carlisle, Cumbria CA6 4DU
Tel: 01228 674519
Email: chris.bow.fish.man@tinyworld.co.uk
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