The Week Ahead...

This entry was posted on 18th November, 2013

The Prospects…

Once again last weeks weather was pretty average, typical November weather I guess! We had a little bit of everything, strong winds eased as the week progressed, temperatures dipped, rain cleared away and spells of wintery sunshine eventually broke through the carpet of grey cloud which covered most of the country.

By the looks of it this week is going to be very similar, as on the weather forecast there is a little bit of everything, as you can see below!



According to forecasters this week is going to signal the real start of winter, with some sources online stating … ‘100 days of heavy snow’, it sounds like something from the bible, but it’s not, in actual fact its a quote from some long range forecasters! Apparently this winter could be the worst for over 60 years! Now how much truth is in it, or how accurate they can be I just don’t know, but I guess they must have some idea! Whatever happens one thing is guaranteed and that is between now and March will be definitely getting some wintery weather!







For this week, well at least for here in the East it looks like we may hold it off for another week or so, as I wouldn’t call 8 degree’s and sunny spells ‘real winter’ weather!

What do these changeable conditions mean for the fishing…? Well I guess overall they aren’t too bad, as I mentioned we could certainly be a lot worse off with the weather, as we head towards the end of November! The warmest, most overcast days will probably be the most productive, with the reverse, cold clear days being the toughest, however as they say ‘you gotta be in it, to win it’.

According to our friendly fishing app, this week is going to be tough, well certainly the middle part of the week, as only Monday, Tuesday and Sunday have a fishing rating of over 50%! Today looks the best day, with a fishing efficiency rating of over 90%! So if you’re reading this blog, STOP, get the rods and get out and give it ago!



If you do 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 I managed to squeeze in a couple of days holiday, before the Christmas rush, and even better than that I managed to squeeze in some fishing!

On Wednesday I done something I hadn’t done for well over ten years; attempt to catch some Pike! With the worry of being a little out of touch, I assembled a fine pair of Piking pirates to help me on the way! The first Paul Stevens, he would be driving the boat and hopefully putting us on the fish, the second was Steve Crowe, who would be supplying the lunch and the luck! An early start saw us assemble in Wroxham at around 7.00, and after spending around an hour catching some baits we were on the water by 8.00.

Now without going into mega detail it was a fantastic day, we had over 20 takes on our slow trolled baits, nothing massive but fish from 2lb-12lb. Steve, or the wobbler as he became known (not because he is over weight!) even managed a few on wobbled deadbaits! It was a great day, with plenty of fish, banter and winter sunshine!



The Thursday saw a complete change of venue and tactics as I crossed the border and ventured into deepest, darkest Suffolk for a spot of Cod fishing! Armed with 150 of the finest Lugworm, with a building tide and strong north/north westerly wind I was confident of a few fish. I wasn’t wrong either, but unfortunately they were the wrong species!

Fishing hard with two rods from 4.00 through until 11.00 I was absolutely battered by Whiting! Fish came on virtually every cast and on numerous occasions I managed two fish on the same Pennel rig, this just proving how many Whiting were out there! I guess any Cod in the area simply stood no chance, speaking to a couple of other anglers it appeared they fared the same. I think perhaps we need a decent ‘rough up’ and a proper period of cold weather before the Codling show up in numbers, that’s what I’m hoping anyway!

All in all I suppose the session wasn’t a total disaster; we got the whole thing filmed for our YouTube channel, had some cracking fish and chips and enjoyed a ‘fine’ winter evening!

The Whiting may have won this time, but ‘I’ll be back!’





I’m not sure if I have any plans to get out this week, I’ll probably wait a few days and perhaps hatch a plan for Friday night/Saturday, but we shall see, whatever happens I’ll report back next week.

 

Pictures Of The Week…

Novembers picture of the month is well and truly underway, you can see them all in the album by clicking the link below…

November 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…

A story that caught my eye this week and that received a lot of attention in the angling press was the final of Riverfest 2013! The competition that took place on the river Wye, saw 60 hardcore river match anglers battle it out for the 10,000 purse, of course there could only be one winner… you can find out all the details below.

Riverfest Final!

Flowing water expert, and former Welsh International Andrew ‘Spud’ Murphy has won the inaugural River Fest final on the River Wye, and pocketed the £10,000 winners cheque.

The event, which saw qualifiers take place all over the country, culminated in a two day final on the Hereford stretch of the Wye.

Event organiser, Dave Harrell commented on his Facebook page: “The weekend has proved an incredible match of twists and turns and a fitting end to RiverFest 2013.

Pre competition favourite Andrew 'Spud' Murphy came out on top with 44-9-0 but it wasn't all plain sailing as he had to draw upon every last bit of his river knowledge to keep fish feeding at peg 93. The victory won him the £10,000 top prize and a superb Angling Trust trophy. It was a deserved victory by a class angler who proved his pedigree on both days.

Incredibly, there was a tie between three people for second place! Paul Bick, Michael Dalziel and Chris Parr all with 41-1-0. All three picked up £3,333.33!

John Urruty came in fifth and took the £1,000 prize with 40-14-0 and sixth place (£700) was claimed by Scott Geens with a two day total of 39-6-0.

I felt quite emotional after the presentation tonight and proud of what we have created. RiverFest 2013 has been a great competition and I'm already looking forward to RiverFest 2014!”

Event Champion, Spud Murphy said: “It is an amazing feeling to win the competition. Living in Tredegar in Wales, there isn’t a great deal of fishing on my doorstep, and even though it is 35 miles from my house, the Wye is like my local venue, so to win on there felt extra special.

My Riverfest journey has been quite varied in many respects, I qualified for the final at Upton On Severn, finishing second in the match with 9lb of bleak. The first day of the final saw me catch 26lb of chub on the feeder, and on the second day I managed 18lb of roach and dace on waggler tactics – so I have had to adapt to the conditions to get the most from my draws.

I would like to say a big thank you to my sponsor, Tredegar Angling Centre - I really appreciate their support. The wife and I haven’t yet decided what we will do with the money, though I expect my two teenage sons, who have just started university, will take care of most of it! .”



 

Secondly a story that I didn’t see in the press, but on a friends Facebook page…

Thurne Monster!

Whilst he was out walking on our local River Thurne he came across the remains of a mammoth dead Pike, I say mammoth because if you look at the picture below you will see his size 13 trainer by the side of it’s head!

I don’t know what the poor creature died of, but one things for sure its of some size!!



 

In Store…

As I was off for half of last week this weeks store news will be a little shorter than normal, as I’m currently in the process of catching up!

A couple of quick things I’d like to share… first of all we’ve just taken a brand new delivery of exclusive Advanta products! These latest products will fit perfectly in the current Advanta range, adding even more depth and quality to the existing products. New products include a brand new range of luggage, tackle boxes, bivvies and small terminal tackle items, they are available in all Angling Direct stores and are being populated online as we speak!







 

The Angry bird lures and keyrings are also starting to sell well and are now available online! You can check them out by clicking the link below…

Angry Birds Lures & Keyrings



 

Last week I started to work on the batch of video’s filmed from the Shimano showroom, I mentioned before we had a days filming with the legend that is Jan Porter, Jan talked us through some of the new products arriving in 2013/14. The first video focused on the excellent new range of Shimano Camo Luggage, it is now online and can be seen below. I have around 10-12 video’s to edit and will be trickling them on in the next couple of weeks so be sure to check them out on the ADTV YouTube page.



Whats in store this week… Well I guess it’ll be Christmas, Christmas and even more Christmas! I saw a stat online today that the big day is now only 36 days away, so there’s lots of work to be done between now and then! This week we will be implementing the Christmas website skin, as well as preparing all the products and promo’s, so be sure to check them out. We have 100’s of Christmas gift idea’s from £5 to £50, so you should be able to find a great fishing gift for that special someone!

 

Product of the week…

Harrison Torrix Carp Rods

Harrison is a name that will be familiar amongst many anglers, renowned for producing high quality rods for the Carp and Specimen angler; they have been producing some of the finest rod blanks on the market for over 20 years.

The company was founded in 1989 by Steve Harrison, with one aim…

‘I started Harrison Advanced Rods in 1989 to make the best possible fishing rods for the UK angler. Today we export all around the world. Our most popular products today are our Torrix Carp rods, but we also make blanks for fly, barbel, float and spinning. With a cold room full of the best carbon fibre a team of highly experienced technicians and my own extensive experience as a rod designer, we are uniquley placed to make the very best rods. And all of them made here in the UK’  Steve Harrison

To read the full review click the link below…

Harrison Torrix Carp Rods Review