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The Week Ahead...
The Prospects…
Pleasant… that’s probably the best way to describe the recent weather! Conditions have remained relatively settled, with decent spells of sunshine and temperatures pushing twenty degrees. Even though we are now in September summer hasn’t really shown any signs of stopping and hopefully this will continue for the foreseeable future!
The week ahead looks like carrying on in the same vein, as decent spells of sunshine, mild temperatures and light winds are all forecast and all in all it’s going to be very settled.
What could these conditions mean for the fishing?
According to our friendly fishing app this week appears to be a week of two halves, as for the first half of the week prospects look superb, with a fishing efficiency rating of over 90% for Monday-Wednesday, with a peak of 100% today and tomorrow. However after Wednesday the rest of the week is pretty quiet, until it picks up again Sunday and into next week.
With relatively settled conditions and mild temperatures I’m sure there’ll be lots of fish feeding in both still and running waters. I’d also expect some fish to be landed from the beaches, as the full moon and big tides should push some nice fish into the reach of all shore anglers.
If you are planning a trip this week and have spring species on the brain, 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…
Unfortunately fishing wise, this week was rather quiet for me, infact I didn’t manage to get out at all. In all honesty my enthusiasm is a little low at the moment and I can’t seem to gear myself up for a session! We are now coming to that in-between time… the spring/summer species; Hounds, Sole, Mullet and Mackerel are all sloping off to warmer climes, while the Autumn Winter species are still yet to properly appear and may still be a few weeks away yet, especially with the sea temperatures remaining so high.
This time of year can be perfect for targeting a specimen Bass, and many regard September as one of the best months, however the settled weather and flat calm seas hardly make for ideal conditions!
So what this week has in store I’m not sure, I may have another ‘week off’, I may sort out my tackle and tie up a few rigs ready for the start of the Cod fishing season! Which I’m hoping this year is going to be a good’un!
As I didn’t get out last week I made sure I had plenty of time on the editing suite, editing up a video from a few weeks back, where me and Steve ventured down South for some Sole.
Even though it wasn’t the most fish filled session we’d ever had, we did landed one of the target species and spent lots of time chatting rigs, tip and tactics and whatever happens it’s been very well received with over 1’000 views in the first 24 hours! You can check it out below…
Pictures Of The Week…
Augusts’ picture of the month competition is now over and what a competition it was, we had some absolutely fantastic entries and lots of great interaction, however there can only be one winner and that was Beth ‘The Pink One Carpfisher’, who ran out a emphatic winner, with her picture of a cracking 13lb12oz Mirror receiving a whopping 578 likes!
A massive well done to Beth, who’s picture can be seen below.
Septembers’ picture of the month competition is now open and in full swing and already we’ve seen some real crackers, you can check them out and vote for your favorite by clicking the link below…
September Picture Of The Month
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 our Junes 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
Roach Record Rocked!
A carp angler had a big surprise when he banked a roach just short of the British record that topped the scales at 4lb 1oz.
The huge specimen falls just 3oz shy of the current best and was netted by Sean Jackson when he fished a session at Highbridge Lakes Norfolk..
Just a day after banking a new personal best carp at 36lb 8oz, Sean who comes from Fakenham, Norfolk, received a couple of bleeps on his alarm and at first thought he’d hooked a bream.
But with a previous personal best that stood at 2lb 8oz, that was also caught from the six-acre fishery, the 31-year-old, mechanic soon knew that his two 15mm Urban Baits boilies had been taken by a big ‘redfin’.
“When I saw the sheer size of the fish and realised that it had to be pushing 4lb I just had to call Dale the fishery manager as it would have been wrong not to have a witness and a proper picture of such a huge specimen,” said Sean.
Four Loaves, One Cast, Four Pound Rudd!
One the sport’s most prolific seasons for big Rudd shows no signs of slowing down with the capture of this huge 4lb 1oz specimen.
Matt Boast stalked the new personal best during a session at a water that he’s been fishing for over 15 years with simple freeling tactics that featured a piece of bread folded around a size 8 hook attached to a 4lb fluorocarbon hooklink coupled with a braided mainline.
Big rudd are known for being incredibly shy and spooky, so the all-rounder from Ockley, Surrey, spent hours gaining the fishes confidence by flicking out pieces of bread.
He’d fed no less than four loaves into his margin spot before he made the single cast that led to his amazing capture.
In Store & Online
Last week, as mentioned in last weeks blog post, was another busy one! As each day passed more and more items were completed and struck off the to-do-list, but at the same time more and more jobs were added! It’s all good though I guess, the fact the weather is really holding up, especially after an already superb summer, is great news for the trade and all anglers in general.
Last week we were especially busy on the blog, adding a brand new Tackle Tuesday (Mainline Baits Liquids), Wednesday Review (Fox FX11 Reel) and a special piece from our good friends at Carpology, all about the Chod Rig, which is well worth a read! You can check it out at the link below…
Year Of The Chod Rig…?
We also added a couple of cracking sea fishing reports, the first from our good friend Phil White, who runs the boat the Chinook II out of Bradwell. Phil has not only been getting amongst some superb fish, but he’s also been rubbing shoulders with rock’n’roll royalty, as just last week he welcomed Peter Green, legendary songwriter and guitarist of Fleetwood Mac onboard! To read Phil’s full report and/or to book a trip with him click the link below…
Chinook II Charter Fishing Report – September
The second was from Shane Pullen and the Sea Angler guys, who’ve been enjoying some fine summer fishing targeting Bass! The fantastic four, Shane Pullen, Paul Gunner, Big Ja and Darren Mills have been enjoying some superb sport, taking some absolute crackers on both baits and lures. Fishing the waters around Dungeness, the River Thames and Jaywick Sand in Essex they’ve managed lots of fish, with one of the biggest, an absolute cracker of 7lb landed on a lure by Big Ja. You can check out the full report and pictures at the link below…
Summer Bass Fishing – Shane Pullen
Also last week, I finally caught up with our very own Jeannette Halliday, Beccles shop manager, who’s just returned with the England team after fishing the World Champs in Portugal. Even though the ladies just missed out on a podium finish, Jeannette who gained her first cap, came back with a glowing report and some cracking pictures, which you can check out at the link below…
Ladies World Championships – Jeannette
Last week I also noticed we breezed passed the 400 followers mark on Instagram, I know it may not seem a lot, but we haven’t been using it that long and it’s growing nicely each day. Originally, I must admit I wasn’t a massive fan… I never understood the fact why we spend thousands of pounds of quality camera equipment, to take a stunning picture, to then spend 59 pence on an app that makes it look old and out of focus? BUT… I’m quite happy to admit when I’m wrong and this is one of these occasions, as I now absolutely love it! You can follow us on Instagram and check out some of our recent posts by clicking the link below…
Angling Direct Instagram
Looking ahead to this week I’m not exactly sure what we have in store, I have a couple of meetings penciled in, one to talk about the C word (Yep, Christmas!) and the second a Skype call to discuss some plans about an exciting new competition we hope to roll out in the next couple of weeks, but more on that will follow shortly. Of course there’ll be the usual tackle reviews and blog updates, as well as a new newsletter, I’m hoping we’ll be able to add some new promo’s and special offers online too. Busy, busy, but all good.
Anyway, I’ll leave it there for this week and leave you with our product of the week. Whatever you have planned, have a good one and be lucky and of course, tight lines!
Product of the week…
Fox FX11 Reel
If you were to take reel design and fishing expertises – Shaun McSpadden, Scott Day, Chillcott and co – tip it into a vast blender, strain the contents, distil the liquid down to a pure essence and inject it into a reel, you’d end up with this: the FX11. The new King of reels. And better still, it’s all built from scratch, just so it suits you perfectly. You see, gentlemen, whilst Fox aren’t the first company to bring out a new reel in 2013, they are the first to start production at their HQ in Romford not on a British Airways flight to Shanghai whilst flicking with a Chinese reel manufacturer’s brochure…
To read the full review, click the link below…
Fox FX11 Reel Review
