Pages for under 18 anglers

views of bm waters
August 26th 2008

Dane Barbel

Mandy and I decided we would fish the Dane today, as Mandy wanted to hook up a Dane barbel.
We first called into the Border site so Mandy could chat to Stewart, and gain an insight into where the best pegs were, and which pegs were producing fish. Stew said he had not heard any definite reports and had not fished the river for over 12 months, so potluck seemed the best bet.
We decided on Cotton farm and drove under the motorway bridge and parked at the far car park. Walking downstream we decided to fish the swim just after the Oxbow at a point where the river goes through a left hand bend just above the fast water. Here there was a small sandy area with an upstream eddy on the near bank.
Mandy opted to put a bait at the head of the eddy where it flows under a near side overhanging willow, before rejoining the main flow. She laid down a carpet of hemp and 3mm halibut pellets and then she rigged a running open-end feeder to a 30cm hook length with 2 grains of hair rigged corn, fishing this on her heavy feeder rod feeder rod.
I by now had set up my Masterline trotting gear, my Bob James centre pin reel and a 13-foot John Wilson trotting rod. Fishing a 3bb stick float rubbered top and bottom to a size 14 VMC hook on a 4lb hook length and feeding maggots constantly into the swim.
I fished the same swim as Mandy initially casting upstream and to the far bank of where she was preparing to fish. My first drop saw a 2lb Brownie in the net followed shortly by a reasonable grayling and a few small chublets, Mandy by now was ready to put her first cast into the water, so I stopped trotting the swim and wandered of downstream, to continue my fishing.
By the end of the day Mandy had landed 2 chub, one around 3lb and the other around the 4.5lb mark but the fish that made her smile most was her one barbel of 5lb, not a monster but it was what she had gone out to catch.
Many anglers often ask Mandy and I why we do not use the more hi tech baits such as pellets and boilies as hook baits, as these do tend to produce good catches.  So I will take this chance to explain. Many of the junior members we coach cannot afford lots of hi tech baits, so Mandy and I fish with the baits they can afford ie Corn, Maggot and Bread, by doing this they can use the same approach we do and hopefully mirror our catches.
Finally in the last paragraph I mentioned, “bread”. Towards the end of our session I stopped fishing and went for a walk along the Dane, stopping and throwing bread onto the water at the head of a few long slow flowing runs, good fish readily came to the surface and took the free offerings. I think my next trip will be a bread-fishing day I will keep you posted of the outcome.
Dave
Mandy BarbelMandy Chub
August 15th 2008

John Wilson visit

Well done to the junior members who attended the John Wilson visit, you were a credit to all involved.
For those who may like to know what happened, here is a short thumbnail of our visit:
From my own point of view it was a wonderful trip. The behaviour and team spirit of our members was magnificent. Mandy and I were able to have a chat and laugh with John outside of the work environment (as we usually meet up at the shows and are very busy). We were also able to discuss how Get Hooked on Fishing was going and how BMAC as a club and fishing in Cheshire were developing. 
All the juniors spent time with John and caught at least on of John’s pristine carp and gained an insight into running your own fishery. It was magnificent to see them chatting to John and asking questions about their own angling issues.
Well done to all involved and thank you on behalf of the juniors to the club for facilitating the trip.
Dave
ChrisMark BobMikejamieTomMandy JohnGroup
July 26th 2008

Details for the Visit to John Wilson

These are the young anglers who will be going.
Match Winners:
Michael Fenner
Boby Tomkinson
Jamie Taylor
Nominations:
Tom Purkis
Chris Gilbert
Mark Shoebottom
Leave from Border at 3pm on the 10th August. Staying in the Bridge in Saturday Night Returning to Border at 11pm on Sunday 11th August.fishing with John from 6.30am Sunday till 12.30 pm then go for some lunch with John. Back fishing till approx 5pm
Stewart.
June 9th 2008

John Wilson Matches

Following a keenly fought series of matches three of the six places for the visit to John Wilson’s private lakes have now been finalised.
The winners were as follows:
However as Hollie is my daughter and she has met John on several occasions in the past, it was agreed that the second place in the by far largest group, the under 15 section should take her place, so Jamie Taylor will replace Hollie, when we visit Johns lakes.
Well done Jamie, for those who may wonder why Jamie fills this place, he fished 1st, 2nd, 2nd, 2nd in his group a formidable achievement, Bobby however managed 2nd, 1st, 1st, 1st, a tremendous show of consistency and this must surely be a good omen for the future of BMAC match angling.
I can only pass on my congratulations to all who fished this series of matches, it would have been wonderful to take you all, as many of the competitors have distinguished themselves in many ways and have grown as anglers as a result of the competition. When I look back at the first match, and recall how all competitors kept a distance from each other, and then recall how on the final match you were all in one group swapping ideas and looking forward to the event, it makes me realise that our goals have been met. We now have a group of young anglers who despite the match results share a common bond, and will hopefully continue to do so for a long time, and ultimately move the club forward.
Important
Three places still remain for the visit to John’s home, these places will be filled by nomination, if you wish to nominate a junior member then do so via the web site or by ringing Stewart with detail. The final decision on who will visit John’s home will be made solely by BMAC/GHOF senior members and be based on their appraisal of the individual and their contribution to junior angling.
The proposed itinerary for the day with John is as follows:
More information on the visit will follow as we have it.
Additional Junior Matches
Following pressure from all bar non of the junior match anglers, a series of additional junior matches for the newly initiated “Club Junior Match Trophy” will now be scheduled. Watch this space for dates and venues, and Hollie tells me if she wins a trophy in this series of matches then there is no way Jamie will get it!!!!!
The Wilson trip winnersThe wilson trip winner list two

                                   Mick Bob and Hollie                                                                     Mick Bob and Jamie

May 26th 2009

Updates

The junior match series for the John Wilson visit is well underway, and many young anglers are still in contention for places. Three Islands has produced some good nets of fish and even more smiles. 
GHOF/BMAC junior Hollie had a good day of tip fishing on the specimen pool and ended up with a mixed bag of chub, roach, rudd and carp fishing from peg 2 .
The Wednesday evening coaching sessions are proving popular, in fact some top angling stars have turned up to pick up a few tips. Needless to say young Thomas was willing to help out when Garbolino ace Neil Machin needed a little help, and came along to one session. Lets hope that Tom’s valuable advice helps Neil to qualify for the 2008 Fishomania final.
smiling juniorsneil machin
                    A group of smiling juniors                                       Neil Machin helping out
Hollie
            Junior member Hollie
March 26th 2008

Kemball School visit

Recently we have seen students from William Stanyer School and Kemball School attend coaching days on Gibbos pool. Many of them caught fish, with silver fish being dominant but the odd carp did put in an appearance. After the Kemball session I carried on fishing from peg 2 on the stage.
Kemball school visitKemball school visit
Tip
I Fished seven sections of the pole (around 8m) with a 12 x 4 body down carp float and the shotting arranged in a shirt button pattern on the lower length of the line, with a size 16s Kamasan 911 wide gape eyed hook finishing the rig.  Feeding was kept minimal, a few micro’s and two 6mm expanders every second drop, saw small fish originally, but better fish eventually moved into the swim. After an hour I had landed 3 mirror carp, one common carp, 2 chub and a small barbel to end the session.
Remember to keep watching the web site for details of the trip to Stoneleigh (April) and details of additional coaching dates.
Dave
March 16th 2008

NEC visit

Today as promised the club arranged for Bay Malton Juniors to visit the Go Fishing Show at the NEC Birmingham. The group arrived at 9.30am and had a wonderful day. We knew from past experience that there are always vast amounts of people wanting to meet the stars and get their autographs, and the queues to meet the top anglers are very long, and much of the time at the show can be spent queuing, so we cheated a bit.
I went round on the Saturday twisting a few arms and calling in a few favours and made arrangements with angling stars like John Wilson, Matt Hayes, Steve Ringer, Bob Nudd, Dean Macey, Martin Bowler and Keith Arthur to meet our group. This meant that on Sunday we were able to just walk up to the stars and they were good enough to come straight over to us, we got to chat to them and have pictures with them without queuing. 
This meant the group now had plenty of time to wander through the show and view the latest tackle and equipment as well as pick up a few bargains as they went. Stewart told me they were all buzzing when they arrived back at Border, so it looks like the day was a great success.
I must also say thank you to Stewart and the adult members who gave their time to make the day a possibility, without your support the trip could not have taken place.
Dave
Juniors NEC visitJuniors NEC visit Junior visit to NECJunior visit to NEC

Junior members enjoying the visit to the NEC Birmingham

18/02/2008

Gibbos Pool

We can now announce that a 30-metre junior/disabled coaching platform has been erected on Gibbos Pool. The Environment Agency, Get Hooked on Fishing, Bay Malton AC and Border Fisheries funded the project at a cost of £10,000.00.
New stagiing at Border fisheriesThe stage will be designated for junior angling/coaching and disabled angling, and to this end the restraining barriers on the leading edge of the stage are finished in two colours. Junior anglers may fish behind the lighter coloured barriers leaving the darker barrier area clear for disabled access.
This area although now complete will not be fishable until early summer, as grass seed needs to be sewn and given time to establish, before access is fully granted. I would therefore ask that if you fish Gibbos Pool, you do not access the stage or walk across the area until such time as the site is officially opened.
The construction has been a major undertaking and although it is not my practice to single out individual persons, I feel that George and Henry along with juniors Chris and Thomas need to be thanked for their effort and commitment in the building of the stage. Without their input things could not have been completed so speedily.
Thanks lads you have been marvellous.
Mick Glover also had a major input with some fantastic ideas, and suggestions that ultimately saw the project finished to such a high standard.
08/02/2008
Today I spent the afternoon fishing Stacey’s Pool with top match angler Neil Machin. Neil will be making a DVD from the Border site in March and wanted to get in some practice.
We had a strange day; fish were hard to come by initially with Neil fishing corn on the method feeder from Peg 12 out into the centre of the pool and me fishing the pellet on the shotgun feeder at the same distance from peg 10. Both Neil and I had continually fed inside lines in addition to the feeder lines and after 4 hours of fishing the long feeder lines had only produced small bream and roach. Neil changed to the inside line tight to the left margin and almost instantly produced a carp. I also changed tactics and fished single maggot on the drop presented on a small waggler 15 yards out. Neil continued on the inside line and steadily caught carp, the fish were mainly around the six pound mark, however the best fish was undoubtedly a mirror well into double figures, that saw Neil smiling once it was in the net. Myself I had a constant flow of bites on the waggler producing quality roach and rudd, but sadly no carp to compete with Neil’s specimen.
The moral if there is one to this story is to always be prepared to change and adapt your fishing; eventually you will get your reward.
18thDecember 2007
Today saw a group from the Sir William Stanyer School Crewe fish on Gibbos pool, there was still a little ice on the surface initially but slowly this disappeared during the session.
The group fished 4m whips to hand using light pole floats and size 18/20's hooks, to present a maggot bait. Fishing proved hard initially but slowly fish came to the baits and bites were more frequent. Double maggot fished one inch over depth produced the best results however some fish were caught on the drop towards the end of the session.
Remember that when winter sets in fish feed less aggressively, so reduce the free offerings, keep loose feed to a minimum and be prepared for small sensitive bite indication.
Dave
16 December 2007

River Dane (Cotton)

Mandy (my wife) and I decided to fish the Dane at Cotton, we drove down to the river and feeling really energetic (as normal) Mandy decided to tip fish the swim by the car park. However as it was our first visit to the venue I opted to just trot the river, spending a short while on each swim. The water level was dropping and still contained a little colour following the recent rains, the ground was slightly frost covered but this burnt off during the morning.
Dave Smith with Chub caught on the River DAneI set up a 13 foot (John Wilson) trotting rod, attached a 4BB stick float and fished a 14s hook to a 4lb hook length. The shot was bulked 16 inches above the hook with one #1 shot acting as a dropper 8 inches from the hook. Mandy used a Shimanno medium feeder rod (2oz tip) with 6lb line straight through using a small swivel to act as a stop for the lead and then added a 12 inch hook length with a size 14 hair rigged hook.
We always try to use the baits that are readily available to young anglers, such as bread meat and maggot these are inexpensive and within the affordability of junior members. Mandy opted to sit it out on corn while I was using red maggot and bread.
The result of the session was that Mandy took a while to get the fish going on the first swim upstream of the motorway bridge but eventually started to catch chub upto 2lb fishing the inside line of her swim. I fished the first 3 swims upstream of Mandy and the first 3 three swims below the bridge. My results for the day were fish from all swims in total 6 grayling all around the 10 oz mark and 14 chub to 4lb.
This venue is good for young anglers but remember it is flowing water and some swims need caution when you approach them so always fish with a partner, be safe and sensible. If you need more information you can contact me via the web site.
Dave