Lewy's Lines

There have been quite a few articles about needing to get young people involved in Angling, so when asked if you'll take someone fishing for the first time, how could I refuse? The New Fisherman! So, it was Samuel's 7th birthday and his Mum, Lianne was asked by Samuel if he could go fishing.  A quick message on facebook and we sorted out a date when I'd be back in Teesside to get him out on the bank. The Gear Where do you begin with regards tackle for a new angler?  Well Korum provide some great kits for beginners, a float, ledger and pole outfit. I decided to get the Korum Float Pack Starter kit .   The only change I made was replacing the 6lb line for some 4lb line which I had plenty of. Fish safety is number one, so I grabbed an old landing net head and handle to add to the kit and some other floats, shot, a towel, rod rest, bank stick, some more ready made hooklengths and bait tub.  The gear was ready! The Venue We needed a venue that was local an...

The final day and the week had flown by!  All the anglers where split into four seeding groups.  Those leading the seeding group selected an envelope which revealed the lake the seeding group would be fishing on. Needless to say I was currently in the last seeding group and Col K had picked Woodpecker for us. The Draw Peg 12 on Woodpecker, a great draw.  Herbie came over and explained how I needed to fish todays match for a good result. Set-Up Pole Lines: 12 metres towards the point of the island 7 metres at 2 o'clock Feeder line down to peg 13 a couple of metres off the island The key to Woodpecker is the fact it is was originally made up of 8 smaller lakes.  Target fishing the deeper areas where the lakes used to be joined. All-In A beautiful day lay ahead of us.  Herbie's advice was to put in two balls of groundbait with no loose offerings in on the Island line and one ball on the 2 o'clock line and fish the feeder for the first hour to le...

Today I was looking forward to fishing Tanners.  The weather was a lot better today, calm, sunshine a far cry from yesterdays horrid day. The Draw Peg 11 today, a very short walk from the Lodge of Plenty, neighbours for the day Colbrad and Col K. Set-Up 6 and 12 metre pole lines.  The waggler rod came out too.  I had swims in front on me and also margin swims to my right and a tree line pointing towards peg 12. All-In The long pole line was fed with two balls of groundbait.  A small cup of chopped worm on the tree margin line.  I kicked off the 6 metre line with a nugget of groundbait with single red maggot. As previous days I could not get the short line working at all... so I had a quick look on the tree margin line, float dipped and fish on... another big carp which ended up in the net after about 10 minutes. Col K hooked a landed a large bream, around 3lb in weight on the waggler. Colbrad was also fishing the waggler and getting a few fish, ...

Shocking weather Day 3 and I'm dead last on the leaderboard.  Today the weather forecast predicted that we would be getting battered by winds gusting between 50 and 70 mph!  Of course the rain would be with us too... Waking up in the Lodge of plenty we were greeted with horrible weather! The Draw My lake for the day would be Oak, the carp had been showing on previous matches so I wanted to avoid the corner where most of the carp where... Peg 13 unlucky for me, Carp corner! Set-Up The wind was so bad the pole option was going to be short only so the feeder rod was the only real option of the day.  Pole lines would be margin to my left and keep net line. All-In I selected a feeder line that was around 18 metres, groundbait and double red maggot.  Again opting for a negative approach therefore I'd leave this feeder in until the first bite indication.  5 minutes on the clock and the tip wrapped round... yet a lovely none counting carp! This repeat...

After a bad start to the festival I was looking forward to fishing Willow Lake behind the new tackle shop.  Willow had been fishing well so far this week so was expecting a good day despite the weather. The Draw Peg 8 on Willow was my lot for the day.  It was the middle of the far bank.  Neighbours would be the Scottish C@£$, Col K and Shedders. Set-Up Pole lines at 6 metres with a "99" double bulk rig and a waggler for fishing to the sunken island. All-In The weather lady had predicted the rain would stop at 12pm which for once, was right and the whistle for the all-in also stopped the rain! After the previous day I opted for a negative approach on feeding and had selected three areas on the 6 metre line, cupping in nuggets of groundbait over each line. The plan was a per Animals cracking victory yesterday on Willow and to take a couple of fish from each swim, before topping up and moving to the next.  Best laid plans and all... Thirty minutes in and ...

The start of the main event!  It was certainly a bit of a late night, the Lodge of Plenty had the usual visitors and there were a few sore heads for a Monday morning. An expect crowd gathered in the new fantastic looking tackle shop, no need for a queue in here, plenty of space for us all to gather round and listen to our leader, Herbie! The lakes we had for the festival were Willow, Oaks, Tanners and Woodpecker. The Draw Today was an open draw with all lakes in the drawbag.  My lot home for the day, Peg 32 on Woodpecker.  This peg hadn't been included in yesterdays Champions League match and I've been here on a previous festival and didn't do very well from it... Set-Up Pole lines at 6 and 12 metres fishing at both 10 o'clock and 1 o'clock positions. Bait was an array of options... Worms, Red maggots, expanders, micro pellets, pinkies and groundbait. All-In Speaking to my team captain, Wayne, aka O'Dribbill Jnr he advised starting short with ex...

Finally it is here, Stafford Moor 2016!  The invitational event that see's 34 plus anglers descending on Devon to see Jo, Paul and family at Stafford Moor fisheries. It's been a year since we last saw Jo and Paul and the work they have done in that time is inspiring! There has been major work on Pines with it drained, fish removed and desilted.  A new island in the middle of the lake will house the pegs and fishing will be from the island outward, so something different and new. Lakes have been renamed: Emily's is now Willow Sophie's is now Oak A new tackle shop was in the process of being completed and wow, it is huge!  Impressive shower and toilet facilities for the carp anglers. Chatting with Paul and Jo, it is clear their vision is for a beautiful looking fishery as well as an exciting venue to fish! Fantastic job Paul and Jo and plenty of pictures can be found on the Stafford Moor facebook page and linked account with Jo ( Joanne Coombes ). Today...