Good News! The price of your Leamington Angling Membership has been held at last year’s prices. Day tickets also stay the same!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Secrets of the River Leam – with George Burton
Having fished the Leam extensively in the streamier reaches for the past four or five years it has become apparent that it contains a healthy population of chub, roach, dace, perch and pike. The best times to target are when the river is falling after being coloured by rain as, for the angler seeking better than average-sized fish, this is the time when those fish lose their inhibitions and, if perfectly timed, one can be surprised at the quality of angling possible from this modest little river.
For anglers wanting simply to catch a few fish maggots will work but minnows can be a hindrance at times and so I tend to concentrate on bread and lobworms. Seek-out those deeper holes and steady glides for better chances of fish as small streams can be hit and miss and some homework on the venue can help no end, in fact a good recce with a plummet can be very useful indeed in identifying suitable swims. In clear water the best bet is bread punch and liquidised feed with the quantity of the latter needing to be carefully judged as the fish are easily overfed in these conditions.
This can be by float fishing (pole, stick float or perhaps a small waggler) or with a tiny cage feeder. The roach by this method usually average around 3 to 4 ounces and up to about half a pound but bites can be hard to hit on a quivertip and often a bobbin with the rod pointing at the bait can be best to minimise resistance to a biting fish. Sections of lobworm can also pick out the odd bigger fish of many species, but especially perch, from feature swims and deep holes where it may pay to break-up and introduce sections of lobworm to the swim very occasionally. Under coloured higher water conditions through the winter the fishing is easier as fish are more likely to feed through the middle of the day. In these circumstances whole or half lobworms are often successful but again being careful not to over-feed. It is under these circumstances that roach and chub feed well. In tight swims where your feed might be washed downstream too quickly a small to medium bait dropper can be invaluable.
The initial flush through after rain is often met with frantic feeding, particularly roach, but it can be all-but impossible to fish sensibly with debris constantly gathering on the line so as soon as there is a lowering of the water level and before the colour has dropped out I would want to be on the bank. With water on like this better roach can be caught on bread flake and chub will take a good chunk of flake or crust fished just 5-7cm from a light link-leger so that it pops-up by that distance above the bottom. Do bear in mind though that even chub of under two pounds can give quite an initial run and on snag-strewn stretches a minimum of a light avon rod of 1.25t.c. and 5lbs b.s. line straight through to size 8 specimen-type hooks will be ideal to subdue the quarry using necessary ‘hit and hold’ tactics to keep them from the roots and sunken branches and with the reel clutch set to kick-in just slightly as a buffer when the rod is reaching its limit. Surprisingly the chub, which go up to close-on 4lbs, are not all necessarily to be found under overhanging features but may frequent undercuts and drop-offs in the stream bed whereas the bigger roach, up to and over one pound, can be found under rafts and overhanging branches if steady water runs under them. The first hour or two of the day and the last hour to dusk are the most productive, especially for the larger fish, and I’ll often only fish first thing and last thing to make the best of the visits. Pike are common, often chasing fish on the retrieve, and, although some are relatively small at under five pounds, the prospect of much bigger fish is possible on deadbaits.
If you are interested you can follow updates on trips to Leamington A A and other local waters, particularly on the Leam and canals, via my blog Float, flight and flannel where it is also possible to search over a hundred previous posts.
George Burton
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Angling and the Law
One of our concerns in recent years has been anglers fishing without a Rod Licence or Membership book and the potential theft of fish from our waters. Carp are one of the prime targets for theft as they are valuable financially. Carp could also be taken for eating. As an Association, we are members of the Angling Trust and Fish Legal and they provide us with advice and guidance in these areas. As members of Leamington Angling, we can all help as the eyes and ears on the bank. What problems might we encounter?
Possible Example:- At one of our pools or reservoirs, we see anglers taking fish from the water and not returning them. This is a straightforward case of theft and should be reported to the Police and to the bailiff. If the same thing happened on a river, this would be theft of the fishing rights, assuming the angler had no membership. River fish are not “owned” by anyone.
If a criminal offence is in progress and/or you are verbally abused or threatened with violence, report the incident via 999 – making those points clear. If reporting an incident historically or providing information, please do so on 101. Necessary evidence, as ever, would be who, what, where and when, paying particular attention to
descriptions, vehicles, and whether, say, water tanks, nets etc were present. Take photos but only if it is safe to do so.
You can see full details of the Angling Trust advice here:-
A Guide for Anglers Reporting Offences to the Police
http://www.anglingtrust.net/core/core_picker/download.asp?id=5500
Theft of fish or fishing rights are matters for the Police. Fishing without a rod licence is a matter for the Environment Agency.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Kevin Dowsing – Last Day of 2016 at Jubilee Pools. (re opens 1st March)
Hi Anthony, happy new year to you. I fished the pools on the last day of the season had a cracking day caught 5 carp the biggest a 21 lb common.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
New Rod Licences
Proposals include licences which:
- Run for a year from whenever you buy them
- Give you the choice of a licence covering 3 rods as well as the standard 2-rod licence
- Are free for junior anglers
So that fisheries work can continue to be funded, it is proposed to increase the licence fee for the first time in 7 years.
Full Annual (2 rods) £30.00
Full Annual (3 rods) £45.00
Concessionary Annual** (2 rods) £20.00
Concessionary Annual** (3 rods) £30.00
Junior Annual* (under 17 yrs) FREE
**(a) persons aged 65 years or older,
(b) persons in possession of a Blue Badge parking concession,
(c) persons in receipt of Disability Living Allowance or Personal Independence Payment.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Grand Union Zander
Coventry angler Steve Hancox took this specimen zander at Offchurch on the grand union. Weighing in at 10lb 8oz the 56 year old used an imitation perch lure when angling for pike.
Phil
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Napton Reservoir
Out and about in the freezing weather looking after your waters. Pictured here at Napton Reservoir are (l to r) Barry Swain – Ryton Bailiff, Pete Hall – Napton Bailiff, Kelvin Tallett – Committee and Richard Taylor – Committee, not forgetting Pete’s dog Ellie.
Anthony
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Big Chub Catch at Wasperton
Well done to Coventry’s Ian Carrol on his recent catch of chub taken on the Avon at Wasperton.
Ian fished the waggler with bronze maggots on the hook and feeding regularly. A great day’s fishing!
Phil
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ryton Country Park
For information following further discussion the vehicle entry fee for Ryton Pools as of 1 April 2017 will be:
£3.50 (daily, before 4pm) £3.00 Twilight Tariff (daily after 4pm) £3.00 Winter Tariff (all day 1 November – 28 February inclusive).
In addition annual entry permit prices are held at the 2016 price for another year (£36.00).
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ryton Juniors – Tackle Donation
Leamington AA would like to thank angler Allan Makepeace from Coventry who has kindly donated tackle towards the children’s angling sessions at Ryton pools.
These sessions go on every year and are held jointly by the Ryton country park rangers, LAA bailiffs and some volunteers.
Since making an appeal for items last year we have had several people donate various items of tackle and the people involved in the events are all very grateful.
Many thanks all.
Phil.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Stratford Lido
Although the main river was well up and coloured (4th Feb), the level was falling and the Lido bay can always be relied upon for a few fish.
The sun was shining and although my initial plan of a legered lobworm didn’t produce, I had a bag of liquidised bread and a few slices in my box. Just dropping a few small balls of feed at my rod tip and running a stick float with a sixteen Kamasan B911 with a piece of punch soon brought a few bites. Some nice roach to eight ounces came to the net plus a few hybrids which fought all the way to the net. Every now and then, the roach would vanish so on went a piece of worm which produced some very fat perch. A great day on the river! Anthony
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
New Members Handbook
The members handbook with useful maps and information has been updated and you should be able to get one when you renew your membership. Membership books for 2017-2018 will be available soon.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Newsletter – photos wanted.
For our next newsletter, we need to hear from you with photos and information about your angling exploits on Leamington waters.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Leamington Angling 
You must be logged in to post a comment.