BLAC Q1 2015 Gloucester Canal

Thats right it is back the BLAC Q1 2015 qualifier will be held on the famous Gloucester canal at the end of January 2015. I have a feeling this qualifier will test even the best anglers especially if there is icy conditions. I am looking forward to fishing in this first qualifier of 2015 as one of the four I have entered into for 2015. Believe it or not this will be my first outing on the Gloucester canal and looking forward too it. Let the preparations begin and good luck to all the competitors I look forward to seeing all the competitors.

For the full event details and how to enter please contact the official BLAC team through their website here

BLAC Q1 2015 Gloucester Canal

UK Lure Fishing in 2015

Its almost here and boy am I looking forward to UK Lure fishing in 2015. I have set myself a few challenges for the new year but again my focus is going to be on improving how I fish competitively and the three main areas for me will be preparation, preparation and more preparation.

So why is it all about the preparation for UK Lure fishing in 2015 for me, well as much as It helps to have the fishing gods on your side when going in to a competitive event the more questions you have answered like, what lures work, what techniques work, where the hot spots are and what the likely weather conditions will be. Having a good idea on the answers to these questions will help put you in a competitive position. Another thing about preparation is the planning as I like most of you probably find we have less and less time to do the things we love I need to be able to plan fishing into my calendar so that I can maximise my effectiveness with the time that I do have. I will tell you more about my preparation for competitive fishing in the next few posts and get back to where I see UK lure fishing in 2015 going.

So in 2014 I have read countless articles on how Lure fishing is now the fastest growing part of angling in the UK and that DropShot fishing is really taking off in the UK and contributing to this growth and I have to say I agree with most of them. Not only do I agree with them but I see these trends continuing I see more being said about how easy it is to get out for a couple of hours before, after work or at your lunch break with a light spinning rod and a small box of lures on the local canal. I expect to see more on other methods like wacky, mojo, texas and carolina rigging. I expect to see more fisheries open their doors to lure anglers and tackle manufacturers invest more in the UK market. It really is an exciting time to be a lure angler who likes competitive angling with the second year of the British Lure Angling Championship promising to be even bigger and better with more events and a street fishing league being announced earlier today. This tournament will form a big part of my focus for UK lure fishing in 2015 and am pleased to confirm that I have signed up to 4 events including the great Chew valley which are listen in my events calendar here. You can find more out about the BLAC by visiting their website by clicking here. If you like fishing competitively this is the competition to be involved in Julian Chidgey sure does know how to put together a tournament. I wonder if anyone will be able to clinch the current champ Stephen Colett’s Crown, who really had an impressive 2014 picking up awards all over Europe as well as becoming the first British Lure Angling Champion, the man deserves a good amount of respect for these achievements alone not looking further back at all his other successes.

If all the articles in the usual publications were not enough to convince you look at the brand new FREE to view publication the LURE magazine available on all your devices free of charge yes I wrote that again free of charge! Where in this day and age do you get free information? I cant think of any. Not only is it free but the content is beautifully put together with a real modern feel to it as well as being interactive allowing you to buy your favourite tackle from links straight out of the magazine online. If you have not already seen it download a copy for your iPhone,iPad, andorid or PC the details for this can be found at their Facebook site by clicking here.

In terms of the fish we target well I cant imagine we are far off seeing a new record for Perch with several 5lb fish being landed this year in various locations across the country. We may even see a Pike record tumble with one particular fish edging closer and close over the last two years. I think that the prized Zander is a way of from breaking any local records from what I read but will be interesting to see what happens who knows I may be lucky enough to have one of these record predators grace my lure in 2015.

I am no market expert so don’t take my word for it and to all my fishing family, friends and foe alike I wish you all the very best for your UK lure fishing in 2015 may your fishing lines stay tight and may your personal best records fall in 2015.

If you enjoyed reading this why not leave a comment below or follow me on Facebook here to keep up to date with my posts in 2015

UK Lure Fishing in 2015

Thats a wrap on my lure fishing year 2014

Yes, thats a wrap on my lure fishing year 2014 and It has been a really exciting year for me as I had endeavoured to improve my skills as a competitive lure angler. If you read my post on UK Lure fishing in 2014 I mentioned that I had entered myself into trying to qualify for the Team England Lure Squad as well as qualification for the final of the British Lure Angling Championships by Fox rage.

These two tournaments were my big areas of focus this year and sitting here thinking about it I did not do too badly with those goals. Whilst I did not perform to the standard I expect of myself I have taken away from those experiences a few valuable lessons in competitive lure angling.

The year kicked off with the qualifiers for the Team England Lure Squad which I thought would have attracted a lot more anglers, the first qualifier was at Esthwaite where there was a total of 6 anglers meaning that we all automatically qualified for the final on the first day I lost a big fish which was my first lesson of the year always use trailer hooks on my spinnerbaits when fishing competitively. I had also entered for the Bewl qualifier where there was a few more anglers I think 12 in total where I finished in 6th place with 7 pike giving me double qualification for the final. The final was good fun taking place over a two day period I fished with a chap I went to school with who is now a big time Shimano team angler and who ended up making the team. I did not make the final squad and fair enough I did not have the focus for two days of fishing another lesson learnt. I supported the team as much as I could which you can see in my earlier posts on Support the team England Lure Squad and Support the Team England Lure Squad Update. I did also manage to send them a pack of assorted Quantum Specialist lures that they could use in France. They finished in 7th which is an improvement on 2013 and I am sure there will be goals to be better in 2015. Having now fished fairly regularly competitively I have noticed a few anglers that consistently do well in a competitive environment who I believe could easily give the Team England Lure Squad a run for their money. I really hope that when the trial dates are set for 2015 there will be a better response from anglers around the UK to want to make the national team. I will throw my name in the hat for these again as I really want to be able to compete at a national level and say we were able to whip everyone else.

A lot of my angling highlights came out of fishing the British Lure Angling Championships by Fox Rage. I really can’t speak highly enough about what Julian Chidgey and Fox have done for competitive Lure angling with this tournament. Which is going to go from strength to strength in 2015 and beyond. I fished in 4 of these events coming in mid table for most and then qualifying on the River Tone with a 6th place and had an awesome final coming in 15th out of 50+ anglers on the great Chew Valley Reservoir. Needless to say I am really looking forward to the British Lure Angling Championship 2015 I hope that there will be many more anglers that will get involved in the 2015 events, they really are very well organised you will meet anglers who share your passion and of course there is the competition to test yourself against other anglers.

To sum up my competitive fishing year It was very challenging at times I did not do as well as I thought I should have because of my competitive nature I want to win everything but understand that this is not realistic even the great KVD does not win all the time. Having said this I am content on now knowing where I stand and what I need to do to get better and start winning some of these competitions.

Finally I want to give thanks to all those that have supported me in my efforts in 2014 as all those close to me know how important fishing is to me to all my family and friends for their encouragement to Zebco and Quantum Specialist for their professional help and finally to my beautiful wife Justine your support and encouragement means the most to me. Thank you all thats a wrap on 2014.

Thats a wrap on my lure fishing year 2014

Kayaks and Lure Fishing

Kayaks and Lure Fishing

I love lure fishing and all aspects of it but I especially love trying new things and recently I was able to try lure fishing from a Kayak for the first time thanks to Terry Wright.  A man that is doing a lot of good for Kayak anglers across the nation.

We met up at a local reservoir where Terry ran through the safety aspects of kayaks and lure fishing  from making sure people knew that we were out on the Kayaks to ensuring I had suitable life vests and flotation devices.  We then set out onto the water with the idea that we would target the Perch and Pike in this crystal clear water.

I have to say I am very impressed with the craft I was on the the Jackson Kayak Cuda  I am a 6 foot 3 inch 240 pound brute and not only was it a very stable platform to make casts from but it is so easy to paddle around in, it just cuts through the water with very little exertion from me even when the wind really picked up I still found it really easy paddling directly into the wind.

I really wanted to dropshot for perch but with the high winds it proved to be a lot easier for me to target Pike with slow retrieved Battleshads and replicants at depth. In the first hour or so I managed to land my first ever pike on a Kayak and I have to say even landing a pike on the Kayak was really easy because I was so close to the water I could safely remove my engulfed replicant whilst the pike was still in the water have a quick photo and the little jack was back on his way.

 

We carried on fishing for a couple more hours but the rain and wind really picked up which made life a little too difficult for us so we decided to pack up after around 5 hours on the water. One thing I would recommend when you go on a Kayak is ensure you have good waterproofing both for you and for your tackle I use the Quantum Specialist Bag which is totally waterproof and keeps all my gear phones, car keys and camera safe from the elements.

I was again impressed at how easy it was to transport and load the Kayaks on to the roof of Terry’s car. Not a bad day in my books a fish landed on a new water trying something new.

So kayak and lure fishing what do I think? I think its fun and I will be trying this out some more in the new year. A big thank you to Terry Wright for introducing me to Kayak angling your enthusiasm for promoting “Responsible access to appropriate water” is infectious and I left wanting to know more about it.

If you want to know more about Kayak angling visit the friendly kayak angling forum here

If you want to know more about the Kayak I was on you can by visiting the Jackson Kayak website here 

Kayaks and Lure Fishing

Quantum Specialist in a store near you

Quantum Specialist has landed in the UK

At the recent Tackle and Guns show I had the opportunity to represent my sponsors as they launched the Quantum Specialist  brand to the rest of the trade. I have to tell you that of all my small achievements that I have made in the fishing the two days spent at this show have been my proudest, why you ask ?

Well if we go back to 2011/12 I was just getting into predator fishing here in the UK and was looking for Quantum Specialist gear at all the usual retailers with no joy, why Quantum gear well because I had grown up using there stuff in Zimbabwe. Fast forward to October 2014 I am a Quantum Specialist team angler and you can now purchase Quantum Specialist gear from most of the leading retailers in the UK.

The Tackle And Guns show is an annual trade show put together to give all the companies in the Fishing tackle and Gun industry a chance to show of their products and new catalogues to the rest of the trade. This year the decision was taken by Tim Wildermoth Zebco Europe UK sales director that we would have a stand and it would be dedicated to the Quantum Specialist brand and what a fantastic stand it was.

 

We were able to show off the majority of the products in the Quantum Specialist catalogue including some of the exciting new additions for the 2015 range such as the third generation Crypton Shotgun rod range. This range of rods has to be one of, if not the most popular in the Quantum Specialist line up and has been for a few years thanks to its affordability and great specification. The new version has improved eyelets new rod graphics and a changed butt design, it is sure to be even more popular in 2015.

Have a look at the album below of some of the new exciting products for 2015.

Quantum Specialist New Products 2015 – Highlights

[Show slideshow]

During the course of the show I had the opportunity to have a cast on the Lure tank that was stocked with Pike and Perch to demonstrate some of our great products to the other show goers. I demonstrated a range of our lures from the trusted Battleshad to the newer Spinnerbaits. I have to say the Pike were not interested at all but the Perch were all over the lures especially the spinnerbaits.

Showing off some of our lures

Demonstrating the Joker Lure

Perch after the Quantum Specialist Battleshad

This Perch could not help himself chase down the Quantum Spinnerbait in Firetiger

If you are in the tackle trade this is the event to be at. For further details please visit their website by clicking here

If you would like to no more about the Quantum Specialist range or would like to know where you can get it from feel free to  contact me here

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Quantum Specialist in a store near you

LACC Predator Pairs Open 2014

 

 

LACC Predator Pairs Open 2014

On Sunday November 9th my fishing partner and I will be taking part in the inaugural LACC Predator Pairs Open.

Set to be a very exciting friendly fishing competition with trophies going to the top three teams for longest length of fish which can include Pike, Perch, Zander and Chub caught during the day. To my knowledge this is the first of its kind in the UK and will be the first that I will be fishing in. Part of the fun of this competition is not only being able to fish in a team but being able to select a team name as well as exchange some friendly competitive banter over social media.

My fishing partner and I have called ourselves the Quantum Battleshads after our favourite lures and whilst this event is classed as a friendly one there will be some serious competition and we are looking forward to pitting our angling skills against a field of very experienced anglers. “WISH US LUCK” . The stretch of water we will be fishing is known to produce good numbers of Zander Perch and Pike so should be good.

Please visit the LACC website for the full details on the event by clicking here

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LACC Predator Pairs Open 2014

British Lure Angling Championship Final 2014

Lure Angling Championship Final

On the 4th October 2014 I competed in the inaugural British Lure Angling Championship Final and what a day of competition it was. In order to qualify for this event I had fished in 4 of the 10 qualifiers that had been held around the country eventually securing my spot for the British Lure Angling Championship Final by finishing 6th on the River Tone.

In the final I was going to be fishing against 59 of the countries top lure anglers for  the top prize of £1000 and most importantly the opportunity to be crowned the first Lure Champ in the UK. The final being on Chew valley was going to take place on boats, prior to the day our boat partners were drawn and I was lucky enough to be paired with local angler Alan Buckingham.  A man vastly experienced on this body of water and who I thank for putting us on a fantastic spot for the majority of the day.

I started out by casting a large silver spoon to mimic the huge balls of bait fish that were in our area, Alan very kindly suggested that I revert to the tried and tested method of casting replicant type baits allowing them to sink and then very slowly retrieving the lure. Now we were fishing in about 15-20 foot of water approximately 60 foot off the main slipway for the sailing club. Alan was first to land a fish however only after loosing his first one right at the boat, I followed this pattern loosing my first fish right at the boat then landing the next one. It quickly became apparent that we were on the right pattern when we both started trading blows catching fish for fish which was really fun. Alan soon overtook me though as at one stage he had 3 fish in as many casts. I was becoming an expert “Net Boy” the way Alan was catching them. As the morning went on it was clear that the other boats saw how well we were doing quite a few boats started to edge closer to our area which I was not to bother about but Alan was not having any of it and was very quick to point out the rules and send the other boats on their way. Take my word for it Alan is an absolute gentleman but get on his wrong side at your peril.

As the break  neared it was apparent that the boys fishing for perch were doing well as the media boats were focusing on Ben Humbers boat which was near enough that I could see the size of some of the perch he was landing with an alarming regularity, I remember thinking “man he has to have caught a really decent length of fish”. I decided to switch up to one of the lures that I trust the most a Quantum Specialist Battleshad specifically the 12cm Rainbow pattern version on a 20 gram jighead to get the lure down quickly. My hope by downsizing from a 6 inch replicant was that this lure was still big enough to tempt the pike but also small enough to tempt the larger perch.  Well it did not take long for this to work as I landed a decent size perch which would be my last fish of the morning session as the sound of the airhorn came through the air and it was time to head back to the clubhouse, the first session of the British Lure Angling Championship Final 2o14 was over.

The lunch break gave me the opportunity to catch up with the other anglers and see how good or bad I was doing and from the conversations that I was having I must have been doing really well at least in the top ten at that stage which I was really happy with. Lunch was very kindly supplied by the Polish Angler Association  it was Polish sausage served hotdog style and man it was very enjoyable thank you to all at the Polish Anglers Association I really enjoyed that.  I did use that last 10 minutes of the lunch break to clear my mind and think up what my tactics might be in the afternoon session.

Lunch was soon over and we were in the boats waiting to head out. Such was the enthusiasm of the anglers to get the best spots Julian had to come out and round us back up into the holding area before he would sound the horn which kicked off the final session of the British Lure Angling Championship Final 2014. Fortunately for me Alan put us back on the good spot.

I kicked things off after lunch landing two fish in quick succession on the Battleshad. Alan then caught his final one from this spot. We fished this hard for the next hour with no further success we made the decision to try some drifting around the back of the island. I brought up the anchor and we were on the way, after making 3 drifts we with not a bump from anything we moved to an area where in the qualifying event my boat partner managed to land a 17 and at 19lber in short succession. Again this proved fruitless and we made our way over the cages where it seemed the other 30 boats were all holding. Not wanting to annoy the other anglers we stayed on the top end of the cages in about 20-25 foot of water casting the replicants again the proved fruitless and time was running out. Alan took us over to an underwater culvert that he knew about this was more promising as I lost another fish right at the boat and landed another junior Alan chipped in with his final fish of the day before the klaxon went and we were headed back to club house for the presentation. The afternoon session had proved a lot harder for us than the morning session with only 4 fish being landed. As we were unloading the boat it was clear that other boats had a much better afternoon session than us. Frustrating but thats that nature of competitive fishing its all about making the right decisions and having the right knowledge.

With out cards all handed it it was time to put an end to the speculation and announce the winners and put an end to the first ever British Lure Angling Championship Final 2014.

Biggest Fish went to Ben Tregoning 35+lb pike caught on a 4.5″ shad which we will never know the true weight of because there was no scales available. Anglers pay attention to this ENSURE YOU TAKE SCALES WITH YOU ALWAYS

The Top 20 Were

Your Champion Steve Collett

Ben Humber 2nd place

John Horsey 3rd place

1	Steve Collett
2	Ben Humber
3	John Horsey
4	Paul Parnell
5	Shane Close
6	Rado Papiewski
7	Marcin Kwasniewski
8	Ben Church
9	Andy Charmer
10	Mariusz
11	Alan Buckingham
12	John Cheyne
13	Adam Kirby
14	Matt Boast
15	David Watkins-Smith
16	Ben Davis
17	Jakub Potrykus
18	Dan Sissons
19	Greg Bafia
20	Slavomir Perzynski

I managed to finish in 15th place and my Alan finished in 11th had I not lost the 4 fish that I did and Alan not lose the 6 fish he did I am sure we would have been right up there in the top 10. I am still happy with that achievement and I am sure Alan is too.

I learnt many lessons this year and made even more friends along the way to the final and have to say what Julian Chidgey and Fox Rage are doing for the sport of Lure fishing is a long time over due and I want to thank them. So Julian and Fox thank you for putting together this fantastic Tournament I am looking forward to the 2015 tour schedule.

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British Lure Angling Championship Final 2014