There are few smells worse than minging, sour casters. Keeping them in bottles looks like a decent option and seems to keep them usable for a long time.

Looking at the ones in the clip, they don’t appear to get burn marks on them either. This is a common problem if you keep them in the fridge inside a plastic bag. On a recent trip to White Acres we put casters in paper bags and then inside plastic bags with all of the air squeezed out of them. This worked well, but took a while to pack up all of the bait we had with us.

Recent price increases have made lots of bait more expensive, and casters are no exception, especially on match days where 4 pints to a gallon might be needed. Lindholme Lakes caused a bit of a fuss earlier in the year when they banned casters in matches through the summer. The aim is to help make matches more competitive and cost effective. Not all match anglers want to spend so much money on bait, which seems reasonable.

In the past, I’ve tried quite a few other options for keeping casters. My usual method is to keep them in a white 5 liter bucket filled with water. The water needs draining off and replacing every day or so as it can start to smell a bit weird if you leave them. The bucket has a lid and handle, so can be taken to the bank. The white colour helps keep them cool by absorbing less heat from the sun. Ideally they still need to be kept in the shade and the water might need changing every few hours during the proper summer.

The post Preserving and Storing Casters at Home appeared first on Looks Fishy.

Fishomania returns in 2022. The qualifying matches are now annonced at fisheries around the UK, with the season finale at a new venue which is yet to be announced.

Saturday 26th March – Weston Pools
Wednesday 30th March – Tunnel Barn Farm
Saturday 2nd April – Moorlands Farm
Saturday 9th April – Heronbrook Fisheries
Saturday 16th April – Partridge Lakes
Saturday 23rd April – Old Hough Coarse Fishery
Saturday 30th April – The Oaks Lakes
Wednesday 11th May – Weston Pools
Saturday 14th May – Tunnel Barn Farm
Saturday 21st May – Lindholme Lakes
Wednesday 1st June – Todber Manor
Saturday 4th June – Makins Fishery
Wednesday 8th June – Westwood Lakes
Wednesday 15th June – Partridge Lakes
Saturday 18th June – Monk Lakes
Wednesday 22nd June – Heronbrook Fisheries
Saturday 25th June – Moorlands Farm
Wednesday 29th June – Lindholme Lakes
Wednesday 6th July – Todber Manor
Wednesday 13th July – Hayfield Lakes

2022 Fishomania Final Dates

Saturday 23rd July – Fishomania Final: Venue to be announced

The post Fishomania Qualifiers & Dates 2022 appeared first on Looks Fishy.

In keeping with recent years, the final will be held at Hayfield Lakes. This is a popular choice. Many fans will be hoping that this year spectators will be allowed to attend the final. Last year, due to Covid restrictions, this was a closed door event.

2021 Fishomania Dates

• Saturday 3rd April – Moorlands Farm (Possible reserve date: Saturday 26th June)
• Wednesday 14th April – Heronbrook Fisheries
• Saturday 17th April – Partridge Lakes
• Wednesday 21st April – Westwood Lakes
• Saturday 24th April – Old Hough
• Wednesday 28th April – Tunnel Barn Farm
• Saturday 1st May – The Oaks
• Wednesday 5th May – Lake View Fishery
• Saturday 8th May – Weston Pools
• Wednesday 12th May – Heronbrook Fisheries
• Wednesday 19th May – Makins Fishery
• Wednesday 26th May – Drennan Lindholme Lakes
• Saturday 29th May – Tunnel Barn Farm
• Wednesday 2nd June – Moorlands Farm
• Wednesday 9th June – Todber Manor
• Wednesday 16th May – Partridge Lakes
• Saturday 19th June – Monk Lakes
• Wednesday 23rd June – Weston Pools
• Sunday 4th July – Drennan Lindholme Lakes
• Wednesday 14th July – Hayfield Lakes
• Saturday 24th July – Final: Hayfield Lakes

The post Fishomania Qualifiers & Dates 2021 appeared first on Looks Fishy.

I’ll keep updating the post with different offers I find on the internet. If you have an offer you’d to promote, get in touch and I can add it in.

Cadence

There are a number of promotions available on the Cadence site. If you are after a new pole then you are in luck. Here’s a summary of what they are running at the moment:

Massive savings on CP2000, 1000 & 800 pole packages
Free Top 3 Kit with the CP200 Whip
CS4 and CS6 Reels – Buy one, get one free
CN4 Keepnets – Buy one, get one free
20% OFF CS Reels (exc CS4 & CS6)

I bought the CP200 whip a few years ago over Black Friday and it’s been great. The nets offer has been run in the past and always seems popular, I’ve seen lots of posts about that in their Facebook group – quite a few moany ones when they have sold out!

Nathan’s of Derby/Nottingham/Stoke

Nathan’s have a 10% offer across most items on their website and for telephone orders until Sunday night. Stores are running a call/click to collect system or you can order online. There is free delivery for online orders over £40, but there are some exclusions for bulky items. Take a look at their site or give them a call for more info.

Future Fishing

The Future Fishing store at Newark have no specific Black Friday offers, but they do have daily offers which they are announcing each day on their Facebook page. Have a look on the page to see the current and past offers that have been featured. There are videos each day with Tony the owner. The store are currently doing a call/click to collect system.

Matchman Supplies

There are some offers planned at Matchman Supplies in West Brigford. I’m not sure of the specifics, but you can find out more by giving them a call.

Angling Direct

Angling Direct seem a bit confused. Google shows a 2019 page that they seem to have forgotten about. There are some offers on the site, once you are on the category pages it feels like rummaging through a dustbin. Their site is terrible, I normally manage a few clicks before heading for the close button. Good luck with that.

Bristol Angling Supplies

I emailed to see what offers were on and nobody replied. There is no mention on the website of any offers. They did send a marketing email saying there were some offers on bivvys.

Bobco

There are quite a few sales offers on the Bobco website. They have a sale category with a bunch of stuff in there. I spotted some Diawa nets and Tournament rods that looked like decent offers. There are a few MAP seatboxes that were reduced too.

Any others?

If you have seen any other offers, please send them over.

Who knows what is happening at Farlows?! Their page is FIVE years out of date!

The post Black Friday Fishing Tackle Deals appeared first on Looks Fishy.

Performance wise, I’ve been impressed. For pole rigs its pretty robust. The rigs store well on winders, so even rigs that have been in the box for a while unravel as expected. Despite what people recommend, I tend to move shot a lot up and down the line – this line seems not be affected too much by that. I don’t normally fish straight through, but I don’t remember snapping any mainline through the summer. I normally use 0.18 for most of my rigs at the moment, the thinner lines are probably more delicate. Alan Scotthorne’s technique of crimping the line and then sliding shot over them helps to open up the shot slightly.

The Accu Power line works well for bomb and method hook lengths. During lockdown I tied up a load of 0.16, 0.18 and some 0.20 hook lengths to use through the summer. I did get snapped a few times, but some of those could probably have been avoided. You often know when a hook length should be changed before it breaks, but it’s just so tempting to leave it on for a bit longer! If I’ve tied a hook for bomb and pellet fishing with a push stop, a bit of rig tube to control where the hair stops, plenty of whipping down the shank and then looped off at exactly the right length – I want that to be used for as long as possible. It is a bit of a false economy though, I just need to get a lot faster at tying them! Using washing line at venues like Meadowlands or Boddingtons could be another alternative.

Reflo Accu Power Dimensions and Breaking Strains

The breaking strains and dimensions for the Reflo Accu Power line isn’t always as easy to find as you’d think. It’s not started on the Preston website. Checking online through different shops can be a pain, especially when certain options are out of stock.

Here’s a list of each diameter with the breaking strain in pounds and kgs.

0.07 / 1lb 2oz / 0.50kg
0.08 / 1lb 4oz / 0.58kg
0.09 / 1lb 9oz / 0.74kg
0.10 / 2lb 3oz / 0.98kg
0.11 / 2lb 10oz / 1.18kg
0.12 / 3lb 4oz / 1.46kg
0.14 / 4lb 4oz / 1.92kg
0.16 / 5lb 6oz / 2.40kg
0.18 / 6lb 6oz / 2.88kg
0.20 / 7lb 14oz / 3.57kg
0.22 / 9lb 14oz / 4.48kg

There are certain bits about line that I don’t really understand. I still haven’t quite got round to referring to line using diameter, I tend to work in breaking strain (measured in pounds). In terms of diameter, I have heard lots of different stories about stated measurements being completely inaccurate – this certainly makes comparing line between different manufacturers difficult. I remember Dave Harrell posting a few bits about some experiments he did on Facebook. Lots of people mentioned that the Preston Reflo Power line was problematic for the same reason. When a friend tells you stories about landing canal pike on a 0.10 bottom you can see some truth in it.

I wonder how much line technology with change or improve in the future? I remember in my teens fishing using the Silstar Match Team line. The diameter of the 1lb 6oz line was 0.06mm and 2lb 6oz line was 0.10mm, this offers a thinner and stronger line than the Accu Power. I remember having problems with line going curly around knots – but that was probably me not being very good with a hooktyer…

Either way, the Accu Power line is good stuff. It’s easy to buy, available in most shops. The spools are fairly small, so they fit in your box easily enough. Knots are easy to tie and seem strong. It feels really smooth when it comes off the spool – when shops were selling out of everything I bought some Martix line and that felt really rough, maybe it was a bad batch though? There’s a little cover over the spool to stop the line falling off and causing birds nests in your drawers, these work better than having to clip the line into a holder, they are too faffy, especially in winter.

Let me know if you have any other recommendations. Next year when I’ve used this lot up I might see what alternatives are out there.

The post Preston Innovations Reflo Accu Power Line appeared first on Looks Fishy.

There were 47 teams who took part in the match, meaning there was a fairly staggering 470 anglers in total. Many had expectations of big weights. The river had been fishing well through the summer and the short spell of cooler damp weather meant the river had risen slightly and had some extra pace.

As with the match the week before, it wasn’t really clear which species or tactics would win the match. With anglers stretched over such varied sections on the river it was unclear if bream, barbel, chub or silverfish would be the target. It must have been quite tough to decide what tackle to take, walking the bank it seemed like most opted for the kitchen sink approach – take one or several of everything!

The team event was won by the pre match favourites, Barnsley & District. Their score of 387 points was 26 ahead of Team Daiwa Dorking who took second place. Worms fished with a maggot feeder paid dividends for Barnsley.

The individual winner of the match was Ian Paulley who fishes for the Preston Innovations Thatchers Team. He drew a peg that every angler in the match would have loved to have pulled out of the bag! The peg at East Stoke was on a section that is owned by the Nottingham Piscotorial Society. Ian fished a feeder over to the far side of the river, which produced 14 barbel and 14 chub and tipped the scales round to 45.800kgs. The day must have given James Robbins from Cadence Fishing a touch of the Green Eyed Monster, he went back a few weeks later to fish the same peg and had a great days fishing. He filmed the session in this fantastic YouTube video.

Top 10 Team Results

1. Barnsley & District – 387 points
2. Team Daiwa Dorking – 361 points
3. Lincoln & District AA – 327 points
4. Starlets AS – 325 points
5. Lifestyle Match Group – 318 points
6. Daiwa Gordon League – 317 points
7. Daiwa Doncaster D A A – 311 points
8. Scunthorpe Tackle – 309 points
9. Shakespeare Superteam Bait Tech – 306 points
10. Browning Hotrods – 283 points

Top 10 Individual Results

1. Ian Paulley (Preston Innovations Thatchers) – 45kgs 800grams
2. Andy Bradley (Mirfield A.C) – 44kgs 200grams
3. Darren Taylor (Sensas North) – 43kgs 550grams
4. Steve Joy (Matrix Image) – 1kgs 050grams
5. Adam Nurse (Wellingborough & District Nene) – 28kgs 0grams
6. Bob Ball (Sensas North West) – 23kgs 500grams
7. Richard Vaughan (Daiwa Doncaster D.A.A) – 20kgs 950grams
8. Roger Wakenshaw (Lincoln & District AA) – 15kgs 520grams
9. Craig Halksworth (Browning Hotrods) – 14kgs 540grams
10. Steve Webster (Tri-Cast Calder) – 14kgs 50grams

Division One National Championship Photos

These pictures were taken at the Clifton section of the match just after the whistle went. Larger versions of the pictures are available – please drop a line through the contact form with details of your email address and the images you’d like.

The post Angling Trust Division One National Championship appeared first on Looks Fishy.

In recent years, the fishing on the Trent really has exploded. Many would argue that the fishing now is equal to or even better than the sport in the 80s which gained the river a soft spot in many anglers hearts. The number of silverfish or barbel in the river mush be approaching record levels.

It was an interesting build up to the big day, due to the heatwate through August many stretches of the river had been closed based on advice from the Environment Agency. A small spell of cooler weather and some rain during the week in the run up to the match meant the river was back to some kind of normality.

The match had five sections in total which were split across the following locations:

• Clifton Bridge (Nottingham Federation)
• Radcliffe Viaducts (Nottingham Federation)
• Shelford/Hamms Bridge (Nottingham AA)
• East Bridgford (Nottingham AA) and Rolleston (Newark Federation)
• East Stoke (Nottingham Piscatorial Society)

The fishing in each section was quite different. It was unclear before the start if it would be won with barbel, bream or silverfish. The eventual winner was Andrew Moss who fished for the Browning Hotrods. His winning weight of 19.050kg of skimmers and bream was taken on groundbait feeder and chopped worm.

These pictures were taken towards the end of the match and then following the scales along the Clifton Bridge section of the match. Larger versions of the pictures are available – please drop a line through the contact form with details of your email address and the images you’d like.

England and Sensas superstar, Sean Ashby

Section winner: Hadrian Whittle with his 12.350kg catch

The post Angling Trust Individual National Championship 2018 appeared first on Looks Fishy.

The post Pole Float Conversion – Styl To Shot appeared first on Looks Fishy.

For the past few years I have really spent most time fishing for barbel on the rivers, so that means my match tackle has been slightly neglected. I think the dark January nights will be taken up tying new hook lengths and making pole rigs.

Where to Fish in 2016

Hallcroft Fishery – After a good day fishing on the Moat Pool a few weeks ago there will no doubt be plenty more in 2016. The carp in here are proper lumps, I would say bigger than average in most commercials. It is a big water too, which also makes it more interesting. A bit of a break from the 13m wide snake lakes, which is a very welcome change.

A typical Hallcroft lump

Makins Fishery – I went here just before Christmas and had one of the lazyest days fishing ever. I parked next to the cafe and then ended up fishing on the very first peg I came to, I must have carried my tackle about 5 meters. This was probably the first ever proper commercial I fished as a kid, so a trip back is always enjoyable. The venue has recently signed a deal with Guru Tackle, so it will be interesting to see how the fishery develops.

A view from the lazy peg at Makins

Springwood Fishery, Melbourne – they fish regular open matches here on a Sunday morning. The venue is stocked well so that means everyone will put some fish on the scales at the end. If you plan on going down, check before to see if it is a silverfish only match – to make sure you take the correct bait.

Southfield Reservoir – A venue recently added to the website after it was featured in the AT. This looks like the place I’d really enjoy fishing, a huge water, sitting in the water and the opportunity to bag up on some proper slabby bream! The drive from Nottingham is quite long, so this could be in the diary for later in the year.

The River Derwent at Shardlow – Roll on the summer… this is probably my favourite place to go fishing in the country. There are so many great pegs along the stretch that the Pride of Derby own. So many chub, roach and barbel to target, perfect for evening sessions after work.

A summers day on the River Derwent

Hackett Lakes – another local venue just outside of Nottingham, but one I’ve never fished. In November I had a look round when I spent a few hours on the Polser Brook that runs along side the venue. The big lake looked pretty fishy, reports from people who have fished here have always been very positive.

Coole Acres Fishery – the Lodge Lake on here looks like a different place to visit. There are no carp in there and it is a specific tench lake. Who can’t resist catching a big green slimy tench? It sounds great.

Who knows where else will be on the fishing calendar for 2016? Already after putting this list together I’ve started thinking about how good it will be to start canal fishing again. A few big pike would make a change too. It must be impossible to ever get bored of fishing!

If you have any suggestions or ideas for the best places to go fishing in 2016 then please use the comment section below or the venue submission page.

The post Best Places to Go Fishing in 2016 appeared first on Looks Fishy.

Rich “Have you even been fishing yet this year”
Me “Err”

Rich “You’re not really a proper angler are you?”
Me “Eh?”

Rich “Why don’t you come on this weeks match?”
Me “N..”

Rich “Go on, I will book you in”
Me “Yeah, ok”

That was that. It might be hard to believe, but for someone who runs a website that mostly features commercial venues, it must be around 12 years since I fished one.

On reflection it would seem like an odd decision to give myself a few evenings to get ready to fish somewhere I hadn’t been to before. I think Dave Harrell’s comments about my natural angling ability must have been running through my head. Confidence was good.

It would be easy to underestimate the level of preparation needed for a few hours fishing, the next few days involved:

• Visits to 3 tackle shops for bait and terminal tackle
• Setting up a selection of new rigs
• Tying spare hook lengths – hours of fun re-learning how to use my Pierotti hook tyer
• Looking for my keepnets
• Searching every corner of the garage for the legs on my platform
• Putting new elastic in my pole top kits
• A drive round to Mum and Dads to get bits from their garage
• New elastic in my Deli-caty’s
• Cleaning out my bait boxes that have been left for years!
• Throwing out a whole load of old bait that was in the bottom of my carryall
• Dusting off some industrial sized cobwebs off my luggage
• Trying on fishing clothes and then having to buy a new coat and bib ’n’ brace
• Getting some last minute YouTube tips
• A trip to Tesco for meat and corn

Sunday came and by half 7 I was pulling into the car park at Springwood Fisheries. Did I say it was windy? Jesus, it was so windy! The match came and went pretty quickly. I had a dream start, about 20 minutes in I hooked into a carp, I think I was the first person to get a fish. Unfortunately, it came off just as I was ready to net it. That set the tone for the next 3.5 hours, I didn’t start catching well until the last hour. It was a good experience and I learnt quite a lot. Rich won the match from a peg just round the corner of the lake, so that made it an interesting week at work.

Roll on to this Sunday and I was back at Springwood. The wind had died down, but this week we were faced with bitterly cold conditions. I drew a half decent peg and was the only person to land a big sized carp. I won the match by just over a pound, pretty good going for my second match back! This week at work has been a bit better.

Both of the matches have been great fun, especially taking the win! One of the hardest things I found was how long it took before I could tie some decent knots, barbel fishing with size 10 hooks, braid and 10lb line is a whole world apart from tying spade ends on 0.14 line. I’m going to try spending the few months over the winter on different commercials, I love fishing on natural venues, but in the cold weather I would rather catch some fish rather than spend hours walking to a peg to catch a few bits. I feel lazy typing that, but I suppose you have to take advantage of what you can!

The post Back Match Fishing appeared first on Looks Fishy.