This entry was posted on 15th October, 2013

I apologies to all those who looked, expecting this post yesterday, I wasn’t ‘slacking’ I was in fact at the Tackle and Guns show in Warwick, but more about that later!

The Prospects…

Well what a crazy week of weather we had last week!

The week started ok, but from Wednesday onwards it was all down hill, as the winds swung round to the north north/east and picked up in strength, battering us with a blast of cooler wet weather.

At the end of the week and heading into the weekend we had winds gusting 40mph and torrential downpours, it really was grim and fishing conditions were very tough and certainly impossible from the beach or boat!

I know there was a few video’s doing the rounds on the social sites, showing just how extreme the weather was and below is a picture from the Cromer pier webcam, as you can see there’s rather a lot of white water!



Fortunately this week the weather forecast looks brighter, as the winds are easing and swinging round to a more favourable southerly direction and as you’d expect from winds from the south, temperatures are also set to rise. As we head towards the end of the week and into the weekend temperatures could reach 17+ degrees!



What does this mean for the fishing?

Well after a week like we’ve had, where fishing would have been very difficult, this week should automatically be more productive. Overcast and relatively mild autumn days should hopefully see a few fish on the feed, especially as most species will soon be feeding up ready for the winter slumber.

I would hope the beaches would fish relatively well this week too, as after last weeks storm, the bottom will have been well and truly stirred up, releasing lots of natural food. This, coupled with big tides, could see the Whiting and Codling invading the beaches in numbers looking for a good feed, hopefully within the casting distance of anglers.

As well as all these factors our friendly fishing App backs up this theory, as they predict the end of the week and weekend will see fishing conditions at 100% fishing efficiency! Friday and Saturday look perfect for a few fish, so hopefully that will prove the case, I must admit, I’m extremely tempted to pencil a session in for Friday evening! So watch this space…



If you plan on having a session and do get out then good luck and of course don’t forget to let us know how you get on! Send any pictures and reports to: contact@anglingdirect.co.uk

 

My Fishing…

Last week and this weekend was pretty crazy and I just didn’t have time to get out and have ago! My only window of opportunity was Saturday morning and this was well and truly scuppered by the miserable weather. As I’d planned to do some filming I decided to call the session off, as no matter how good your sound system and camera is, you simply cannot cope with near on 40mph winds!

It was of course the Angling Direct Help For Heroes charity fish in too and I’d planned to head down to the event on Saturday to take some pictures and to see the lads. After spending a fair proportion of my time sorting raffle prizes, designing posters and peg numbers and generally spreading the word, I was very much looking forward to it.

I wasn’t disappointed; it was a fantastic evening, in great company, it was great to see lots of faces, both old and new.

It was great to see John Wilson pop in for drink, catch up and to present the raffle. Even though I’ve met John quite a few times through the years, even enjoying a night out with him earlier this year, it’s still strange to see one of my childhood idols! As he’s now moving away to Thailand I just had to get a picture with him, one for the album and one that I can look back on in years to come. So I did exactly that…



Before I round up ‘my fishing’ I’d just like to say a massive well done to the anglers who fished, as they are more hardcore than me! Surviving two nights of gale force winds, persistent heavy rain, cold temperatures and muddy banks takes some doing, but they done it! They also caught a few fish too!

A few more details about the event are written further on in this post, but I’d just like to mention that early reports, from event organiser Andy Flint have confirmed over £1000 has been raised so far and that we’re still counting! So that is absolutely fantastic news!

Whilst I didn’t get out fishing this week, I still found time to work on my other fishing related projects, adding another video to the Angling Direct blog!

The latest video, Feeder Fishing for Bream, The Bait and Method Challenge and the in depth tackle list of all products used can be seen here:

Feeder Fishing For Bream – Bait & Method Challenge

Pictures Of The Week…

Octobers picture of the month is well and truly underway as I posted another bunch of super pictures up on Friday! You can see them all in the album by clicking the link below…

October Picture Of The Month Entries

I’d like to say a massive thanks to everyone who has submitted a picture, especially those on Facebook, who I was lucky enough to speak too. I wish you all good luck! Remember to like and share your favourites to stand the best chance of winning.

If you want to get in on the action and stand a chance of winning a £50 voucher then get sending your pictures in!

Also it’s worth remembering it’s a picture of the month competition and not a just a fish of the month, so it’s not all about the biggest Carp!

If you want to enter the competition and appear on our blog and social sites then feel free to email your pictures and reports to…contact@anglingdirect.co.uk you can also share them with us on our Facebook and Twitter pages.

In The Press…

Well a couple of stories that took my eye this week, one is the news that a nationwide stocking programme of Eels is taking place and the second is something slightly more political, UK Fisheries Minister Richard Benyon has been moved back to the back benches in a government reshuffle.

Nationwide stocking programme announced.

Over 25,000 eels have been released into a North Somerset reservoir as part of a national project to boost numbers.

Eventually 100,000 eels will be released in UK waterways, including in Shropshire, the east of England and Wales, the BBC website has reported.

Eel numbers are falling as they cannot reach their breeding habitats due to man-made barriers in their way.

Andrew Kerr, from the Sustainable Eels Group, told the BBC website: "You want to see the eel doing well and prospering as it tells us how well we are managing our water. What we've had to do is catch them in hand nets and then put them in tanks.

"Sometimes we immediately move them on past the barriers but on this occasion we've taken 100,000 and we've grown them on from two inches long, to four, five, six inches long."

UK Glass Eels used licensed fishermen who caught the baby eels in hand nets during the spring tides along the River Severn earlier this year.

The first batch was released on Monday into Blagdon Lake, chosen as it has shallow water, and lots of reeds for protection from predators.

Once mature they will return to the Sargasso Sea in the Atlantic to spawn.

A total of £45,000 is being spent on the project organised by the Bristol and Avon Rivers Trust, the Sustainable Eel Group and UK Glass Eels.

Benyon To The Backbenches

Government reshuffle sees move for popular minister.

The UK Fisheries Minister Richard Benyon has been moved back to the back benches in a government reshuffle earlier in the week.

It is not known whether the move was forced on him, or mutually agreed.

Writing on Twitter yesterday, Mr Benyon, who was also responsible for the marine environment and flooding, said: "On back benches! Three and half really fun years with much achieved. Really appreciate time working with outstanding Ministers and Officials."

Benyon is expected to be replaced by the Camborne MP George Eustace. However, there is speculation that changes could be on the way for Defra, which looks after both agriculture and fisheries

 

In Store…

As I mentioned earlier last week was busy, we had a new batch of adverts to sort for all the magazines, finish the promotional work for the charity event and complete all the day to day, week to week work loads.

First of all, as I mentioned earlier in the post, the Help For Heroes Charity Event went fantastically well, a huge thanks to everyone who supported the event, in any way, shape or form.

I would like to mention all our very generous friends and suppliers who donated gifts and prizes for the raffle, this includes…

Nash, Fox, JRC, Sonik, Sticky Baits, CC Moore, Dynamite Baits, Avid Carp, Wychwood, ESP, Greys, Prestige, Korda, Korum, Enterprise Tackle, Atomic and Navitas.

Also special thanks to the Anglers Mail, Total Carp, Advanced Carp, Tops Tiles, BMC Tiling, Neil Wayte, Cobbleacre, Fight Factory, and Steven Harper.

And a very special thanks to the Bridge Pub lakes in Lenwade, who were fantastic from start to finish and who were very accommodating.

The event itself was won by Matty Morris and Scott Kingsley who landed two fish for 31lb and scooped the first Angling Direct charity trophy! Second place was taken by Bob Meek and Barrie Channon with 18lb and third place was taken by Rob Shanks and Nathan Highley with 13lb.



Once again and most importantly over £1000 (and still counting) has been raised by the lads, which is a superb effort. We’ll keep you posted with the exact amount raised, and bring you some pictures when we hand over the cheque to the very worthy charity.

Yesterday saw us embark on a mamouth 13 hour day as we visited the Tackle and Guns tradeshow at Stoneleigh Park. We saw some fantastic new products, I’ll be adding a write up to the blog this week, as there was far to much to mention in this post!



This week see’s promotional work for Wroxham, Kent and Advanta to be finished, as well as all the blogs and feedback from the recent tradeshows. I still have a wealth of pictures of information from the Nash Tackle show to write up, but I just haven’t had a spare moment.

Before signing off for another week ahead, I’d just like to post up a picture I was sent from our Navitas competition winner.

Here’s the winner, Lee Peverall showing off his new bank side garments and a nice Common! Congratulations and thanks for Lee for the kind words and pictures. Lee wrote... 'Thanks to Chris and all the guys at Angling Direct for my competition prizes! The Navitas clothing kept me nice and warm on Saturday night. Cheers lads.'



Product of the week…

JRC Contact Bivvy

The JRC Contact bivvy is one of their most popular bivvies and is in fact one of the most popular bivvies on the market! The Contact range has been on the market for over two years, in that time have provided a bank side home for thousands of anglers and set a benchmark for value, quality and ease of use.

This superb value for money ‘pram hood’ design bivvy, is quick to erect and super stable even in the worst of weather. It features all the things you’d usually associate with a bivvy double the price! A 5000 hydrostatic grade super waterproof 210D nylon cover, fully taped seams, aluminium poles and frame supports.

You can check out all the details on this fantastic bivvy, which appeared in our tackle Tuesday by clicking the link below…

JRC Contact Bivvy