Thursday 13 December 2007

Dec 07

‘The North-West Piking Times’
NEWSLETTER OF
REGION 31 P.A.C. G.B.
SOUTH LANCASHIRE
Issue 3 -12/20007
Contents:
Newsletter Standard format Agenda:
Item
1. R/O’s Introduction
2. Meeting & Membership
3. Fish in
4. Members profile
5. Fishing photos & Catch Reports
6. Feature Article/s
7. Funny’s & Other stuff
8. Club Awards
R/O’s Introduction
Festive greetings to you one & all, for this is our Christmas edition its only about half the length of the first two newsletters however its still over 20 pages long so a pat on the back to everyone who has sent me info, much appreciated without your input I couldn’t do a newsletter at all! Our first slideshow at the November meeting was excellent, I expected nothing less from Kev Glover & I had excellent feedback from several members as he treated us to his exploits on fishing in Egypt & the Florida Keys with slide, power-point & video clips of some HUGE fish including various sharks, Goliath Grouper, Tarpon & Nile Perch. The meeting was very well attended with about 40 in total. Thanks again to Kev. I hope that early November has been more productive for you than it has for me, I had some great catches in March & April, I did well in September & did OK in October, however early November (as I write) has been slow with several blanks hopefully things will have picked up for me towards the end of the month (wishful thinking!).
Footnote I am pleased to say that catches have picked up a bit with several reports of nice fish being caught by members from mid month, including one or two caught by myself!
2 Meeting & Membership
2.1 Meeting
As stated above the meeting was very well attended & is was good to see some new faces along with some old faces from the old St Helens Region 31 days.
I will sort out a basic buffet for about 40 for the December meeting for us to enjoy at the break. I am going to start charging none members for attending slideshows, I don’t think £2 is unreasonable. I should have the membership cards ready for the next meeting.
At the next meeting we have Gary Knowles to entertain us with his fishing exploits, as most of you probably already know Gary has had some big fish including some awesome pike. All of the speakers we have lined up for the rest of the season (including myself) will have a hard act to follow from Kev’s talk. In my case going on after Kev Glover, Gary Knowles & Eric Edwards may be a little bit like the local labour club band going on stage after Oasis & the Verve etc!
2.2 Membership
Membership continues to grow & a couple more have now signed up, if you are going to join please pay your subs to Dave Cottrial our treasurer
My mate from Chester John Sands a keen piker & nice guy has confirmed that he will be joining our ranks, welcome aboard mate & I look forward to fishing with you again soon.
Here is a photo of John with a nice Welsh pike
3. Fish-in (Club Outings):
We now have three club outings under our belt as a region with about one a month planned up until March 2008. If you can please try to come along to the club outings, they are a great way to get to know other members & to pick up/share information & to see who uses what & how, how knows you may even catch a few nice fish as well as well as enjoying the social side of things, remember there is also a club outings trophy up for grabs.
Towards the end of the newsletter you will see the leader board for the club outings points table, there are still members who have not yet returned catch (or attendance) returns, please don’t forget to pass your catch return cards from the club outings to Club Outings Liaison Officer Pete Kenrick, details as follows:-
Your name if you fished
Number of fish caught
Weight of each fish (please weigh all doubles & above)
A photo of any doubles or bigger fish would be appreciated for the newsletter & the blog spot.
3RD Club outing Coniston
Coniston is a nice place to fish set in the scenic south lakes, the water is often gin clear & its one of those places the weather can change in what seems like moments. It can own you.
I travelled down on the Friday taking my uncles new boat package with me, so I got to use it before he did I must admit that most of the boats I have had I have had to modify or do up so it was great to be able to use a new (well almost new) boat, engine & trailer for a change. I had picked the boat up for him down past Plymouth the previous week testing out my new sat nav which worked a treat, the boat was owned by an old retired guy & I doubt it had ever seen the water it was all like new. There was a bit of interest in boat fishing for the Coniston event so I had arranged launching early doors before the boating centre opened so thanks to the lads at the yard for that, a tray of tinneys.
Coniston in a wild mood, these photos just don’t show how bad the weather really was!
The one thing that you cant control on such events is the weather & the weather unfortunately got the upper hand, I arrived Friday as did Ian & Mark, out in the boat I braved upto 4ft waves which were I think as much as the open-topped Shetland Dolphin of my uncles could handle. The water was well up, one of the highest I’ve ever seen the lake, this made bank access difficult with some of the favoured swims under water. Out in the boat the wind & waves had uprooted lots of weed & lots of branches off trees had come down too, these combined with the wind, rain & large waves made boat fishing a right pain in the arse at best! There were remarks that I was mad for venturing out in the boat in such foul weather however I had on both a floatation suit & life jacket & I know the lake very well so I was OK. Some of the other lads who were thinking of bringing boats decided against making the trip. Mark & Ian ventured over the East side & settled on a likely looking swim. Carl & Shaun came up from St. Helens & managed to get on one of their favourite swims unfortunately their bivvy blew in & to add insult to injury their car broke down on the way home! My sympathies to you lads. Paul Haughton joined my Friday afternoon & after dark we retired to the pub for a nice meal & a few pints. Geoff Gauton from the Cheshire region came up & boat fished Saturday. Saturday started a little better but the weather soon turned for the worse again & we got a rite good soaking in the boat. We tried all the usual good spots & a couple of the back-up ones to no avail, all I managed was to loose a fish at the boat on Friday & one dropped run on Saturday. Cookey turned up Saturday & fished the East Bank with the other lads. I had to leave Saturday night as it was the one night of the year me & the misses went out & John Woods took over from me. Mick from Ulverston came up & had a chat with the lads on the Sunday. Saturday morning head torches were out as other lads not in our gang in boats ventured out & others bank fished, two of the lads we saw early on walked round & on realising how high the water was & how open to the elements their chosen swims were decided against it & left.
The rods are out on the boat & the weather does its best to defer us!
Much as I would like to say that we all bagged up we didn’t to the best of my knowledge no one caught. The lads who decided against it & fished elsewhere by all accounts didn’t do much better with just the odd fish caught here & there. My thanks to those who turned up & braved the weather, everyone who turned up well & truly earned their 10 vital points towards the club outings league table the winner of which will pick up the club outings trophy in April at the end of this season.
My uncles 14ft Shetland Dolphin moored up with the ranger boat in the background, at a brief break in the storm, most of the jetties were under water by then!
Day out in the lakes with the PAC North lakes Region/festive fishing trip?
I have e mailed Russ from the North-Lakes region (again!) but I have heard nothing more on this as yet, so I don’t intend chasing this up again, so I suggest to anyone who is interested that we have a day somewhere localish, my suggestion would be Wyreside Lakes maybe for a bit of a social say a day on Wyreside lakes on 27TH December, if we can get 12 or more then we can negotiate a discount please let me know if you are interested & I will book us on I for one will be stuffed with turkey & mice pies by then & ready for a days fishing. The complex is a decent pike fishery & it does some nice pike to well over 20+ & it’s a convenient place to fish, swims can be booked in advance & there are facilities including a food delivery service etc. if anyone wants to overnight that can be arranged although I will only be fishing for the day. I will take names at the meeting for who wants to come along to Wireside so that I can book us one. Its not somewhere I’ve fished before so I’m looking forward to it already. To make this one a little more fun, the usual points system for club outings will apply & points will count towards your final tally on the leader-board.
Jan outing
6th JAN 08 (08:00-16:00) Market Weighton is a top venue for BIG pike so come on lads! I stole 3 of Wakefield’s trophies last year so I think the Yorkshire lads are going all guns blazing to nab the Pennines challenge trophy, there are some good anglers in the Wakey region so we have a challenge on our hands! I will issue directions etc at the December meeting. A good turnout would be appreciated.
Feb additional outing
Pete Green Wakefield R/O has laid down the gauntlet & slapped me in the face with his glove (a wet kipper) & challenged us to another lancs ‘V’ Yorks for cancer research £5 an angler to be donated to Cancer research, we are going to promote this in the press & Pikelines etc. so I would appreciate an excellent turnout from the region the venue will be Mr Kosh’s syndicate water Under bank reservoir, more details times & date to follow in due course. I’m going to invite the Manchester & Cheshire regions along for this one to fish on our side!
March outing
As previous this will be on the Leeds Liverpool Canal close to where I live in Abram, more details nearer the time.
Irish Excursion
One of the region members Ian is going to arrange this, he has Lough Ree in mind as our base, we will be going in April for a week, anyone who is genuinely interested please contact me or Ian directly. Ian is already underway with planning the trip, deposits (none returnable) will be taken at an early stage.
Next Seasons Outings
Please keep the suggestions coming in, so that by the April meeting I have something to present to you, either a list of options or venue names to draw out of the hat. If you suggest the venue I’d like you to help us co-ordinate the event.
Club Outings points system
I gave a bit of a briefing at the last meeting, the sooner you can get your pints into Pete Kendrick after the event the better, then we can publish the league table in the newsletter. I’ve printed the catch return card below for you again just incase:
Name
Venue & Date
Number of jacks (under 10lb) & aprox weight
Number of doubles 10-15lb (& weight)
Number of doubles 15.01-19.15 ( & weight)
20+ (& weight)
25+ (& weight)
30+ (& weight)
Name
Venue & Date
Number of jacks (under 10lb) & aprox weight
Number of doubles 10-15lb (& weight)
Number of doubles 15.01-19.15 ( & weight)
20+ (& weight)
25+ (& weight)
30+ (& weight)
4. Members Profile:
Name
James Dean – Assistant Regional Organiser
Age
25
Family
Girlfriend, Helen. no kids
Job
Medical engineer
Angling experience
Always been obsessed with all things fishy and have fished for most uk species , with varying degrees of success.dabbled a bit with sea fishing.
Favourite method
and venue types
Lure trolling on large windswept stillwaters.
Favourite species
and best fish
Pike of course! Best fish is a pike of 25lb. or a 40lb blue shark on 12lb line 2lb tc rod in cornwall!
‘x’ factor
No im crap at singing
Angling targets
No question a 30lb’er
Favourite drink
Brandy & coke
Favourite food
Rare sirloin steak. Or if fishing cornbeef and piccalilli butties.
Fishing vehicle
Volkswagon transporter (work van) free diesel which helps.
Interests other than fishing
Shooting , football
dislikes
All the stupid rules that govern my hobbies.
Thanks for that James & thanks for your help in running the club, much appreciated.
Introduction to your committee
As I said in last months newsletter I am getting the committee to fill in the members profile section as way of a bit of an introduction, after that I’d like members to volunteer a few details for this section.
5. Fishing Photo’s & Catch Reports:
A
Region 31 member Stu from St. Helens with a nice double from the ‘lake of Dreams’ that is Menteith. Who says all trout water pike are just short fat pigs? This one most certainly isn’t!s stated in the R/O’s introduction early November failed to produce much for me, I had a day on a Yorkshire lake where last November I had good fish to 20+, unfortunately this time round I blanked. My mate fire fighter Matt Keoh invited me upto Coniston on his boat (my old boat), we had a nice meal & a couple of pints in the pub & a half days blanking, Matt caught one jack the day before. The EA checked us & told us the water was a good 10ft up on the previous week so maybe the influx of cold water en-masse had put them off, who knows, all my usual rouses failed miserable with not a single take. Myself & Paul Houghton visited one of the big pits where we had caught a couple of fish in October, Paul managed 2 fish the best going 10, all I managed to do was miss a run, the Eel’s were still feeding I think but that’s another story. I had a half day on another big pit where I seldom fail to catch, but fail miserably this time I did! I had a day on Menteith on the lure only day (barbless lures) with the PAAS I had kinda figured on trolling lures but my boat partner was a casting lure man & I’m by no means the worlds best casting lure man, we mainly casted lures with a little trolling, my boat partner managed 5 jacks & one about 10, I managed one jack & lost 2 (one a good fish) other boats did better with many good fish caught. I hope I get another chance at the place. Menteith produced equally as well for the PAC bait & lure event which a few Region 31 members attended taking some nice fish.
Things picked up a little for me when I did a little fishing whilst on a family holiday & managed to bag 4 pike in one short afternoon session the best going 12, with others of 10+ & two both around 8-9, following it up two days after with another short session with fish of 9, 10.15 & 15, these fish were caught using a mobile approach of finding the preyfish & features with my BIC dinghy & then bank fishing said areas, enjoyable but hard work having to move around a lot & squeezing into gaps in the trees to get the rods in. I did loose what felt like a very big fish on a big bait however I guess that’s the typical fisherman’s tale of the ‘one that got away’. Paul Houghton joined me on the pit for the only full days fishing that I did & we both blanked spectacularly neither of us managing a run however we were fishing one of the more accessible areas. Some of the big pit’s I’m on are getting a right battering at the moment with pike anglers fishing them every single day of the week with some right ‘shenanigans’ & stroke pulling going on, time for pastures new (again) shortly I think. However with another 4 doubles under my belt from two short sessions I’m already over my own tally of last season’s tally of doubles (which incidentally set a new club record for the Wakefield region), but I guess comparables will only really be made on this when all entries for the Regions most doubles caught trophy come in.
R/O Jon Neafcy with a modest mid November doubles from a big pit
Personally I don’t think it has was cold enough in early November for the prey fish to shoal up tightly on some of the waters I fish, meaning you only get the odd run in each area before either another long wait or a move. At least one water I fish I am sure that the Polish taking fish (including double figure pike) has had a serious detrimental effect, the aforementioned angling pressure wont help either. As early as mid November I heard weather reports of snow but personally I never saw any.
R/O Jon Neafcy with a scraper double from a big pit
R/O Jon Neafcy with a good pike from a big pit
Incidentally the fish pictured caught by me were caught on the North-western SS6 Fibreglass rods that I have mentioned in these pages before, they are 11ft 2.5 lb test & are about 25-30 years old, which is older than some of our members! However they are still more than capable of reeling the pike in, I built a couple of these when I was just 13 years old & they used to be my prize possessions! If you haven’t seen these before or maybe you are a veteran & used to own these very rods yourself I will bring one of them along when I do my slideshow for you to have a look at.
Kev from Platt Bridge must have been taking some tips off me as has had had some blanks too!
Ian & Mark have managed some fish from a local water one going 17+ (a new P.B. for Mark – well done mate) & Ian getting a 12+, the photo of Mark’s 17 is on the front cover of the newsletter, despite reports of much bigger local fish on the piking grapevine as their have been no formal reports sent to me the 17 currently takes top slot for biggest local fish beating Steve Timmins & Paul Houghton's 16+ fish reported last month.
My mate Matt Keoh has been out on the rivers catching some Zander, Matt will be joining us in the region once he re-locates to the area he is currently posted away from home with the fire service as an instructor at their training centre. We look forward to you joining our ranks Matty mate.
Hers is Matt with a couple of River Zeds
I see that Gary Knowles has been in the angling press with his large trout water pike, well done Gary mate & we look forward to you entertaining us with your slideshow in December.
Gary from Platt Bridge Tackle & his crew have been out & about piking, here is some photos of their piking exploits. Gary runs the shop 6 days a week & Sunday is spent fishing. The smiling faces say it all, well done lads, they don’t have to be big fish that we catch & I think that we can all loose sight of what it’s all about getting bogged down chasing the next big fish & focusing on the numbers game rather than just getting out their & enjoying our fishing. Thanks very much for the photos lads & its great to see you are enjoying your fishing that afterall is what its all about.
Anglezarke Reservoir
4th November 2007
Five men, nine rods out, ten hours fishing for this small Jack.
Worth the wait though !!!
Dover Lock Canal
11th November 2007
Gary’s first of the day after only 10 minutes.
5minutes later another small Jack.
Dover Lock Canal
11th November 2007
Finally after weeks of trying, my first Pike.
May not be the biggest fish caught, but I didn’t care I’d cracked my duck !!!
My mate Andy Blunty has been out there doing a bit, taking his young lad Scott with him who caught his first pike of 5lb, well done Blunty mister junior & so another piker is born, I hope that you go on to catch as many big pike as your dad.
Young Blunty with his first pike – well done mate!
Big Blunty (Andy Dixon) is no slouch when it comes to catching big pike as anyone who knows anything about the Chester Predators or has seen their impressive photo gallery on their web-site will vouch for. Blunty managed pike to double figures on the trip with his young lad. Blunty has been out & about piking & here he is with a nice big double caught from a river on a lure. I look forward to fishing with you again soon Blunty mister (& no doubt getting another hammering on the pike catching front off you mate!)
Big Blunty with a 16+ river pike
Myself & Paul tried another pit towards the end of the month, we both caught but not the big fish we were seeking. Finally for my last session of November not to change my run of slow or blank sessions this month I tried a loalish water where I, like everyone else as it turned out has heard reports of big fish. Now I’m not generally one to chase fish that others have already caught & on this occasion I was given a reminder of why I generally do my own thing & don’t follow the crowds. I arrived about 30 minutes or so before dawn, upon 1st sight of the car-park my heart sank as already there were two vehicles parked up (which turned out to be over night pikers even though no night fishing is allowed) farther down there was another vehicle & two pikers suddenly got a sense of urgency in getting their gear out of the car when they saw me, another piker. By the time I’d parked up another two cars had arrived, the occupants being you have guessed it more pikers, just as Paul Houghton arrived a van went past with you guessed it more pikers in. The two lads in the next car to me had heard the reports of the big fish from the water but had not fished the water before & were on the lookout for information, I joked with them ‘it this the right spot for the pike match then?’ (due to their being so many pikers) they had had a walk round the day before & the place was packed out I told them if that if I’d knew so many pikers were fishing the place I wouldn’t have bothered. There are limited swims & I just knew that the majority will squeeze in somewhere rather than go elsewhere., so me, Paul & Glynie decided that it was not for us & opted for a move over the other side of the venue which can tend to be less popular (longer walk!). Myself & Paul cursed our luck as the previous Sunday afternoon we had taken a walk around the place & there was only one person fishing a match angler had we seen the hordes of pikers then we would not have decided to fish the place. We joined Kev & Neil around the other side but despite a multitude of rods no one caught, us ‘three amigos’ spotted a couple of out of the way likely looking swims over the other side & so we moved again, it turned out to be a route march to the water, having to negotiate fences styles & the like, on reaching the swims things looked good but we failed to catch. This sort of episode I was more than familiar with many years ago in the local area & that’s why I moved on, sometimes people say to me ‘you should never go back’, but I will still try the occasional local trip every now & again. By mid afternoon with the exception of one angler everyone else had gone, one official we saw said no one had caught, so that probably explains why there was no one fishing when we had a walk round mid afternoon the Sunday before. It still surprises me that people will make the effort to turn up before first light but if they don’t get any action that they will pack in before what can be one of the best times for piking just before & just after dark, although I admit that setting up & packing up in the dark can be a pain in the arse.
So to sum up for me November has been quite slow, hit & miss with the odd reasonable session & some nice doubles caught, I still don’t think it has been consistently cold enough for long enough on many of the bigger venues to bunch the bait fish up to us much chance of bagging up with the pike, so it has been more of a mobile approach for me seeking out the fish.
7. Feature Article:
‘The Secret Squirrel’s’ – by R/O Jon Neafcy
This is a short light hearted piece about the ‘Secret Squirrel’s’ amongst us & in my time I must admit to falling into this category at some point or other during my angling career. Just in-case anyone doesn’t know a ‘secret squirrel’ is an angler who in sort tells no-one anything! This can range from not telling everyone what venue your fishing (sounds fair to me if your onto a good thing) to not telling anyone what area you area of the country you are fishing or even if you are catching anything! I have often joked to Paul Houghton that I will blindfold him when I take him to one of the couple of ‘secret’ waters that I know, this is obviously said in jest, but what of the ‘secret squirrels?’ then…………….
So why be a secret Squirrel?
Well if you have put the hard work & effort in on a water do you really want everyone else fishing their? The answer to me would seem to be an obvious one NO! However if your fishing a known water with known fish in it does it really matter if the other serious anglers who are already fishing their find out what you have caught? I’d say NO it does not matter if they find out what you are catching.
Examples from my own angling experience
For some of my angling career I have fallen into the category of ‘secret squirrel’ myself just doing my own thing, not networking as much as I could & very much keeping myself to myself & not reporting my catches etc to protect my fishing, however did I miss out on some enjoyment & shared experience for mutual gain with likeminded individuals, I would most definitely say so yes. Here are a couple of examples of when I felt the need to go ‘underground’.
In my teens whilst carp fishing I was lead by an older more experienced Carper who showed me the way, we quite often kept our prize catches under raps sharing the info only with likeminded individuals for mutual gain. One guy who we were pooling information with held out on us when he was going to reel in he said he would prefer it if wise left so we didn’t see his rig & bait, the following week I had a large haul of carp going back to basics with free-lined bread-crust in the rushes when the usual bolt rigs failed to catch, the aforementioned secret squirrel came round for some info, did he get any – did he eck! His catch rate around that time plummeting. What goes around comes around!
Last year whilst fishing a large venue there was some guys fishing there, you know the type no unhooking mats, small landing nets & disregard for pike welfare in general they claimed to be seasoned pikers however I have my doubts. It soon became apparent that they were ‘peg poaching pirates’ if someone caught they came & cast in new to you or next time you visited the water they were there. On the day in question my brollie was set so that they couldn’t see my rods & my alarms were turned down on a day when they blanked I snook two nice doubles in under the radar keeping the rod tip under the water, both these were photographed using the already set up camera & tri-pod without the other anglers noticing. I also pulled off a similar ‘stunt’ with a 20+ last November from a Yorkshire water.
R/O Jon Neafcy with a 20+ pike ‘snuck in’ under the radar of other anglers (Nov 06)
Competitive Advantage
In my experience such SAS tactics can bring anglers rewards, however unless they are mega keen & have a vast knowledge of pike fishing & pike waters this is likely to be short lived success compared to the long term success of those who selectively pool knowledge with like minder individuals.
Is to name to shame?
I personally don’t name & shame waters in the media as I feel that it encourages the casual anglers to stampede to the water, often with adverse consequences not just on the quality of the fishing but often with sins such as litter appearing & in extremes loss of fishing rights.
Martin Sailsbury’s mate Mick with a large pike caught last year, Mick can be a bit of a secret squirrel you know!
Conclusion
So what would my own modest advice be? Well to pool information with other likeminded individuals who you can trust but not to be selective & not to go telling everyone everything & if someone tells you something in confidence to keep it to yourself. No matter what you do in your own fishing enjoy it, the day I stop enjoying it I will hang up my rods!
Come on lads send me an article to print up it can be on anything fishing related……………………
8. Funnies & Other Stuff
Funnies:
OK so why I have been fishing at far from my best as late I may as well share with you a time when things went wrong. Whilst launching a boat I used to own Andy Cooke was stricken by hunger pains & returned to the van to make some ham butties leaving me to launch the boat. The slipway had obviously not been used for some time it was very slippy & covered in slimy moss & add to that it was very steep, it was still coming light & I only found this out too late as the boat went onto the slipway pulling my down with it (not a slipway you could use a car on), I shouted Andy but he didn’t hear me, the trailer hit an obstruction jolting the boat, being a small boat there was no winch fitted & I had the tether rope in my hand, the result I fell letting go of the rope & the boat was gone. I ran to get a rod to cast & retrieve the boat, but I was too late. On hearing the predicament Andy found the whole situation too much & set off in hysterics even ringing a mutual mate to give him a live commentary on the event. Thanks for that Andy! Fortunately I retrieved the boat from the other side of the lake un-damaged. I guess the moral of this story apart from waiting until a more appropriate time to make a ham butty is to not become complacent no matter how experienced at boat launching you are.
Other Stuff:
I finally took the plunge & bought myself a proper heavy jerk bait rod, heavier than I have used before, I’ve coupled it with an ABU Multiplier reel instead of my usual fixed spool reels, I have been learning to cast with the kit which has been quite amusing.
WIN A DAYS FISHING WITH ERIC EDWARDS ON WINDERMERE IN HIS BOAT - £1 PER ENTRY (ENTER AS MANY TIMES AS YOU LIKE) – DRAW TO TAKE PLACE AT DECEMBER MEETING - Runner up prizes may include a small taster of some of ET’s new gear!
ALSO TO BE RAFFLED AT DECEMBERS MEETING SEVERAL FOX JERKBAITS (the ones I won in the P&P catch of the month competition)
Region Blog
I am very pleased to say that this is going from strength to strength. The members area (password protected) will make it much easier for us all to share information including that on fish-ins, newsletter etc.
Canvas Prints
As mentioned at the last meeting Stu Randle has donated a canvas print for the winner of the biggest local pike & the biggest pike, so you can have the photo of your prize catch put on canvas, also Stu has kindly donated a 3rd Canvas for the December raffle.
Name our newsletter
I forgot to bring Kev his prize for naming the newsletter so I will present these to him at the next meeting.
Fishing tackle discount
Platt Bridge Tackle have kindly confirmed a 10% discount for region members, thank-you.
Local Scene
Due to a family holiday I have misses the Wigan Flashes & the Low Hall Nature Reserve meetings however I have kept in touch with Mark Champion & Ian Wright who steer these groups. Watch this space!
Club Boat!
The club boat has not yet been booked out, I can supply anchors, oars & a life jacket if you are both a PAC member & a Region 31 member & you want to use the boat when you are going fishing. It’s too small for Coniston but if you want to book it for the Hollingworth Lake club outing in the new year or another time then let me know.
An Absolute Star
You may have heard me mention to you one of my ‘mentors’ Pete Green the man who restored my faith in the PAC Regional scene & led to me raising my head above the trench after years of seemingly solitude fishing wise, & as such is one of the people to thank for the existence of our region, Pete has served with the PAC in posts including R/O, L/O & Membership Secretary on the committee for the last 17+ years. Pete has travelled all over the country giving slideshows for no personal gain & he has also helped many a piker along the way, including helping me bag my 1st Yorkshire 20+, Pete often mans PAC stalls at events & has led many a newcomer to the sport down the right path. It is with sadness that I see Pete standing down due to ill health, I am planning to present Pete with some form of award for his years of service, I intend to do this at the Underbank outing however Pete must not know anything about this for he is a very modest man! I have contacted his assistant R/O who is happy for me to do this. All donations appreciated & my hat off to pike fishing’s gentle giant, a great angler & a good friend.
Newsletter & Slideshows:
The second newsletter was again a time consuming project for me & my thanks to everyone who contributed catch reports & the like without you the newsletter would be dull & un-interesting if it existed at all!
Please e mail me at – roregion31@blueyonder.co.uk or jon.neafcy@dhl.com with your e mail address if you have not yet received anything from me by e mail (either I don’t have your e mail or the e mail address I have for you is incorrect).
I did a slideshow for SPAG (Staffordshire Predator Anglers Group) which I think went down well, well no one fell asleep anyway which is always a good sign!
If any region members would like to do a slideshow for the region &/or other regions in the 08-09 Season then please let me know.
Currently we have two slideshows booked for next Season, if you want to do a slideshow or you know someone who will do one for us please let me know. I think it’s a great credit to the Region that 4 out of our 5 slideshows for this our first year are from current or former Region 31 members.
Return of the Mash?
Some of you may know Mike Ashcroft former leader of the ‘Chester Predators’ & captor of mega pike to a whopping 33+ , Chester predators was a small humble band of likeminded pike mad anglers it had a good web site & we had a few successful trips & in the end it basically comprised of Mike Ashcroft AKA Mashy, myself & Blunty AKA Andy Dixon. After some bad times & taking a year out Mashy is now back, welcome back mate & I look forward to fishing alongside you soon, I hope to see Mike along with some of his new recruits at our meetings & club outings.
Links with other PAC Regions
It was good to see Geoff Gorton from the Cheshire Region at our last meeting & he gave me positive feedback he may come along to one or two of our club outings, Geoff is a great & very modest angler.
Pike baits
Phil from Harry’s tackle has told me to let you know that he has got a new range of pike baits in including Lamprey when many places seem to have run out, he has got some of the dynamite & bait-box new range of flavours & he has also got some of the weird & wonderful kebab rigs etc.
Boats for Sale
With my uncle purchasing an almost new complete boat package & offering me free use in return for storing it for him both my Shetland & mine & Andy Cooke’s Dory are up for sale, both are excellent boats, both are competitively priced at £3250 OVNO each.
Here they are complete with their spec, if you are interested let me know.
Shetland 498 16.3ft double skinned (off shore cruiser with mega stable gull hull design) , 30hp Evinrude electric start, 2 berth, cooker, sink, tackle lockers, full electric pack, auxiliary engine bracket, new braked trailer, combined fishfinder/GPS, tonneau cover, rod holders & rod rests, 3 spare wheels, many extras, ready to go………………
14ft high sided Dell Quay Dory, mega stable tri-hull, double skinned & foam filled, galvanised roller coaster trailer including spare wheel & spare bearing assembly (both new) 25hp 4 stroke Tohatsu outboard 2005 model, 4hp 2s 2005 model Tohatsu auxiliary, combined Fishfinder/GPS, electric bilge pump, forward casting deck & tackle storage locker, walk through design, stainless rails, rod holders & rod rests, Windermere registered & ready to go fishing & much more…………..
9. Club Awards
Remember that you have got to be in it to win it! (AWARDS RUN 1ST MARCH – 1ST MARCH)
SO THE 1ST YEARS AWARDS RUN FROM 1ST MARCH 2007 – 1ST MARCH 2008
Entries:
I have received another entry for biggest local fish this time 17lb from Mark & as I said before it’s a new P.B. for him so well done mate. I am still hearing unconfirmed reports of bigger fish caught recently by one or two members, it would be nice to see some more entries for the club trophies & you don’t need to disclose the venue in the newsletter etc. If you are that bothered we can always alter the background so that no one finds your venue or swim. Personally I think it gets more competitive spirit going by entering the fish directly after you catch them rather than leaving it for months & sniping an entry in at the last minute for a fish caught months ago. Remember you have to formally enter your prize catch to be in with a crack at any of the Trophies. OK so I will climb down off my soap box now.
I will continue to list what’s up for grabs trophy wise
Award
Details
Club Outings Trophy
Most points from club outings league table
Biggest Pike (weight)
Speaks for itself!
Biggest Local Pike (Weight)
Within 30 mile radius of HQ
Most Doubles Caught
Speaks for its self
Pike Angler of the Year
This award will be based on contribution to the club & to pike fishing NOT just on numbers of big fish caught (votes to R/O please)
Significant Achievement
(R/O’s Award)
This award will be presented at the R/O’s discretion for any special or significant achievements
Pennines challenge trophy
South Lancashire V’s Wakefield PAC Regions annual event (trophy for biggest haul of pike by an individual)
Club Outings Points Awards
Club outings points are based on trust however all doubles should be weighed & where ever possible witnessed & a photo is always appreciated for the club archives/newsletter etc.
Fishing times will be agreed in advance, you may fish before & after these times however your fish will not count towards your points.
Criteria
Points awarded
Attending Club outing & fishing
10
‘Jack’ (under 10lb)
5
Double 10-15lb
10
Double 15.01-19.15
15
20+
25
25+
35
30+
50
All club awards will be presented at the April meeting, the winners name will be engraved on the trophy (all trophies to be returned the following year) for this our first year I have booked angling legend, Radio presenter & all round great angler Martin James to do the honours of presenting the trophies to the winners.
Please send ALL entries for club awards to me directly please include a photo.
Please e mail all details from club outings to Pete Kenrick
The club trophies – I think Garswood trophies did a good job for us (Jon)
Current pole positions from entries for club awards are as follows:
Award
Details
Club Outings Trophy
Club outings points league table to follow
Biggest Pike (weight)
26.8 R/O Jon Neafcy
Biggest Local Pike (Weight)
17 Mark Dunbar
Most Doubles Caught
To be announced after 1ST March 2008
Pike Angler of the Year
No entries passed to R/O yet please pass entries to Jon Neafcy by 1ST March 2008 (one vote per member only)
Significant Achievement
(R/O’s Award)
To be announced after 1st March 2008
Pennines challenge trophy
Event takes place 6th January 2008 at Market Weighton Canal (away venue)
Club outings ‘Leaderboard’
Gents this is not totally accurate at the moment as some members have not yet returned their attendance/catch returns to Pete Kenrick, I know several members who attended some of who caught on one or more event who name is not on here, we need to make this as accurate as possible otherwise it’s a pointless exercise, so if your name is not on here & you attended please contact Pete Kenrick directly – thank-you.
My thanks to Pete Kenrick for tacking on this task for the region
NAME
ATTENDANCE
JACK
LOW DOUBLE
HIGH DOUBLE
20+
25+
30+
POINTS
1
Jon Neafcy
2
5
1
0
0
0
0
55
2
Kristian Schofield
1
3
0
0
0
0
0
25
3
L. Connelly
2
0
0
0
0
0
0
20
4
Ian Whittaker
2
0
0
0
0
0
0
20
5
Kevin Marsh
2
0
0
0
0
0
0
20
6
Neil Stubbs
2
0
0
0
0
0
0
20
7
Karl Devlin
1
1
0
0
0
0
0
15
8
Pete Kenrick
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
10
9
Mike Towey
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
10
10
James Dean
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
10
11









12









May I take this opportunity to wish you all a very merry Christmas & a happy new year & I hope that you catch some nice big pike too & if you are out & about fishing, I know I will be out there doing a bit then! Technically we have now been in existence for a year as we enter 2008 (even though its really just 3 months!), well statistically you can prove anything right? I hope that so far you have all enjoyed it & are glad that you joined, as R/O I am very pleased with the progress made to date & I look forward to steering the region with your help & support into 2008 & beyond, thank you all very much!
Tight Lines
Jon Neafcy
R/O Region 31 PAC GB
Wigan Piker!

Nov 07

‘The North-West Piking Times’
NEWSLETTER OF
REGION 31 P.A.C. G.B.
SOUTH LANCASHIRE
Issue 2 -11/20007
Contents:
Newsletter Standard format Agenda:
Item
1. R/O’s Introduction
2. Meeting & Membership
3. Fish in
4. Members profile
5. Fishing photos
6. Catch Reports
7. Feature Article/s
8. Funny’s & Other stuff
9. Club Awards
R/O’s Introduction
Hello Pikers!
Wow! This has turned out to be another bumper edition to equal if not surpassing our first newsletter, so a very big well done & thanks to everyone who has participated in club activity, & who have sent me details/photo’s etc. For those of you who confine their pike fishing to the traditional pike fishing ‘season’ Oct-March the season is now fully underway. Personally I’ve got quite a hectic fishing schedule planned between now & new year as I use up my holiday entitlement at work, I need to do some serious fishing as I’ve not done as much as I would have liked to this year what with doing two boats up & moving house and all. I have trips to Scotland, Trout waters, gravel pits, glacial lakes, reservoirs & drains planned so far over the winter months. As a club we have now got past the starters block & onto the hurdles! The first meeting & two fish-ins have taken place. The PAC has added us to the regions list & we have featured on the news blog/on the website & we have even had some publicity in the local press thanks to the Wigan Reporter. A local tackle-shop Platt Bridge Tackle has offered our members a moderate discount if you show your region 31 membership card, they have a basic range of Piking gear but are willing to extend this to suit your needs where they can. I am settling into the role of R/O with folk as far away as Scotland & the midlands ringing me to talk pike fishing, this misses has even got used to lads ringing up about fishing meetings & the like. Don’t forget to send me your catch reports etc for the newsletter. I hope that you have been out wetting a line & getting a few runs & landing a few nice pike …………
2 Meeting & Membership
2.1 Meeting
My thanks must go out to Alan & Paula at the Caledonian for letting us use the room & thanks to those who attended. I was astounded & amazed at the number in attendance 36 (not including me, my bro & my sped-dad), 24 put their names down as members & 22 paid up front, absolutely great thanks lads without you the region would NOT exist! I am really looking forward to Kev Glovers slideshow at the next meeting in November, as some of you may know Kev is a former R/O of Region 31 himself & he helped me out when I was a junior PAC member taking me to club outings etc so I already have a lot to thank him for. Alan & Paula at the Caledonian have said they will put more bar staff on for the next meeting. Thanks to my none angling Brother Dave for lending us his projector.
Which brings me onto the next point, we as a club need our own projectors (slide & data) & screen, the improvised two bits of wood as a screen at the last meeting need to be a first & a last! I will keep you all updated on how my bargain hunting goes!
At the December meeting I will be putting some snap on, just the basics sandwiches, pies etc. for us to gorge at the half time interval. Feel free to bring some along to add to what I’m bringing if you want to.
2.2 Membership
As stated 24 put their names down for membership at the first meeting & 22 have paid their subs. Others have expressed an interest in joining or are set to join. Please pay your subs to our Treasurer Dave Cottrial ASAP.
3. Fish-in (Club Outings):
We now have two club outings under our belt as a region with about one a month planned up until March 2008. If you can please try to come along to the club outings, they are a great way to get to know other members & to pick up/share information & to see who uses what & how, how knows you may even catch a few nice fish as well as well as enjoying the social side of things, remember there is also a club outings trophy up for grabs.
1ST Club outing Pennington Flash
‘A Local Piking Mecca………?’
The first club outing took place on local venue Pennington flash on the first weekend in October, I booked the Friday off work to get to the venue early as I wanted to ensure that I was there from the off for when our members turned up. A couple of the lads had sent their apologies that they couldn’t make it due to family & work commitments & others had decided to fish elsewhere (thanks for letting me know lads). As I’ve said before without a doubt Pennington has been hammered over the years but it can still produce the goods on its day & in my experience both early season & back end of the season are worth a go. In recent years I have confined my Pennington piking to a couple of trips a year at these what can be key times.
So the scene was set my expectations were moderate & Paul Haughton accompanied me on the Friday morning, his misses dropped us off. It was a frosty morning and there were already two lads fishing when we arrived. We settled into the swims in the trees up past the chequered buoy swim (now the white golf ball peg as Mark one of the piking twins has re-named it!), the frosty misty morning wet out appetites but unfortunately not the pike’s, when the bright sun rose with clear sky’s the water didn’t produce with the action only starting as the suns rays drifted from the waters surface as is slowly but surely got ready to set, I managed 3 & lost one, Paul managed 2 as did Andy one of the twins who came down after work Friday, the best went about nine & a half. The two guys who were there when we arrived had had one jack each, 9 fish in the first day between 5 anglers not great but not too bad, but still none of the better fish had shown themselves & as the official start of the club outing was Saturday AM & none of these fish counted towards club outings points. A couple of the lads came wandering down for a chat Friday night. Saturday saw 5 club members fishing, after a cold start it soon became warmer & back to the strong sun & clear sky’s (not great in my opinion on there) one lone angler had 2 fish early morning & I managed one jack at 11am. Paul Haughton left around tea time as his misses had made plans for the night (hope you didn’t get too drunk mate?). I moved swim before dark & it paid off with a modest double after dark going 11.02. Sunday lads started to arrive early from around 5 am or so, with about 10 members fishing, Kev from Platt Bridge & his mate Neil opted to fish the other bank as it had not been fished as much but even that didn’t work, myself & Martin Sailsbury had one dropped run each around the same time & the only other action I heard of was one 3 lb jack. So Pennington produced 14 pike that I know of over the weekend the best being only a modest 11.02. Normally I would expect on average 2-3 out of my 5 fish on their to have been doubles so it didn’t fish that well although I don’t think the bright sunny conditions did us any favours, a variety of methods & tactics were used. The event was a modest success as quite a few people turned up, a few fish were caught & we have all started to get to know one another. I had to leave at 2pm as the misses refused to pick me up any later than this but I don’t know of any fish caught later than this?
R/O Jon Neafcy with a lean mean 11.02 Pennington pike caught after dark in the margins on the clubs 1st outing (the photos is a self portrait job!)
Sunrise over Pennington flash on the regions 1st club outing
The rods are in as the mist rises on the regions first club outing on Pennington flash
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2nd Club outing Bala North-Wales weekender
‘A Bitter Sweet Symphony?’
The first view of the farmers land that members saw on the club outing
The second club outing took place at the mighty Bala in North Wales, the largest lake in Wales a venue that holds some big pike if you put in the hard work & effort to seek them out. Permission was obtained in advance to fish of private farmland & for boat launching. We suffered a small set back in that the farmer had some Bulls in his second field so we could only bivvy/camp overnight in the first field so due to this Pete Kenrick tried to arrange overnight fishing for Saturday on the campsite in the next bay for 6 anglers however the warden declined this request stating that it was a family site & that we could only have permission for two, so we had these as a back-up it the farmers land got packed out. Again I booked Friday off work to ensure that I was there as a point of contact for when members arrived, myself & Paul Houghton set off Friday morning for North-Wales, the ice warning light came on, on the car on the way signalling we were at an air temp below 4 degrees C, so was the winter finally upon us? On arrival the mighty Bala looked as awe inspiring as ever & it is a place that I really like visiting.
On the way to Bala it was like entering a war zone as a convoy of Welsh Terris (TA) meandered about in 4 tonne Bedford’s as they made there way to their weekend manoeuvres & fighter planes on exercise zoomed overhead. Arrival at the farmers land the water was well down, which was a good thing as it opens up more swims. There had been a match on the week before fishing for the roach etc. & apparently lots of fish had been caught. Fish were topping in-front of where the stream runs in & things were looking good. We set up & casted in with me getting a run almost straight away & a Bala jack put in an appearance a passing holiday maker came running down saying the fish was ‘massif’ & insisting on taking a photo, this kind of thing explains when some none anglers tell you about massif fish! Paul Houghton was next ‘in’ with what he described as a micro pike. I managed another of about 7ish next cast that put up a good account of itself for a fish so small. Paul was ‘in’ again soon after with a hard fighting pike & he was surprised that it was not bigger (I told you that these Bala fish fight hard mate!) it was long & lean & went 11.12, the reason it was so lean? It had 2 size 1’s trebles in its throat/stomach they were the galvanised ones that don’t rot – fortunately I managed to remove these & the fish swam off splashing us with water as it went, Paul said we had cured it’s indigestion!
The rods are out on the mighty Bala on one of the few occasions I’ve seen the lake flat calm
Some more of the lads started to arrive, turning up well into dark & we had a small shanty town of bivvies along the shore line, the farmer came down for a chat & to take the money. The night saw freezing fog with visibility at a minimum & a long cold night was had by all, the only runs I recall anyone getting overnight were off Eel’s & I was surprised that they were on the feed with the cold of the night.
Paul Houghton with a Bala double of 11.12(it had another anglers hooks left in it!)
Saturday day saw quite a few more members in attendance, some opting for the shallower water by the Lilly bed (where there had been many small fish turning on the Friday) & some opting for the deeper water in the second field. Fish were to 9lb were caught early morning. Andy Cooke had his eldest lads birthday do the night before & had drunk far too many Woblies to get up early. The area of the first field was now quite busy with members who were fishing overnight & there were lots of rods out, I volunteered to move for Saturday night to the area Pete had arranged in the next bay to free up some space. The dense mist which only lifted at midday prevented me getting out in the small boat as early as I would have liked too. The Bala Warden came round to charge us in addition to what we had paid the farmer, now I’m not sure that he is legal in doing this as it’s private land & we have the consent of
R/O Jon Neafcy with one of the smaller Bala snappers
& have paid the land owner. One of the lads tipped me off that the Warden had said Bala are looking to ban live-baiting so I questioned the warden on this he said it was due to the appearance of Ruffe in Bala which eat other fishes eggs, I asked why did the authorities think pike anglers were to blame as the Ruffe is so small that I don’t see people using them for bait & I questioned if they could not have got in via the river Dee, from Birds or the bilges of sailing cruisers (there are some down at the sailing club) which he admitted were all possibilities, I asked who was being consulted about the possible live-bait ban & he could not tell me if anyone was being consulted! I also pointed out that several of our lads had maggot rods out to catch bait from the water. I will be contacting the authorities & the PAC regarding this however I will choose my words carefully so as not to be a catalyst. The Warden then asked me about payment for my small boat in addition to paying for the fishing & paying the land owner to which I replied that I am a member of the sailing club & that I pay them £50 a year for the boat & a slight stand off took place with the Warden eventually accepting that I was legitimate. Cookey arrived at about 12:30 & moved my bank fishing gear in the van to the second bay. I received word from the lads from St Helens that Shaun had had a 16 in the deeper water & to top it off this was a new P.B., Excellent news!
Shaun with his new P.B. of 16.8 – a nice photo with the mighty Bala & Welsh countryside in the background – caught on a new rod first trip out! – biggest fish of the Bala event – well done!
Just after this & not long after the Wardens visit the Environment Agency turned up – by no coincidence if you ask me! I have never been checked on Bala before & I do not believe that it is Environment Agency Health & Safety Policy to send a young girl around on her own, sounds like someone had rang them to me! Everyone on the bank where our lads were fishing had their license checked, however it was just a basic license check & not a ‘dawn raid’.
Some of the lads chewing the fat as the thick mist has set in on Bala
Myself & Cookey arrived at the area Pete had reserved for us only to find 3 blokes with big frame tents & 12 rods out in said area, there was litter around, beer cans, evidence of a large fire etc. & other stuff that I won’t go into here. So me & Cookey had to settle for the public area which I don’t like as its too public, although bivvying is ‘permitted’ at Bala camping on the national park/public land is not, before it went dark 3 or 4 of 4x4 vehicles turned up on the public area with a gang of men camping, fire going, beer flowing & chants of songs like I’m a lumberjack’ through until 4am, It’s a pitty that neither the Bala Warden or the EA decided to make any checks on these two lots of people! I don’t mind paying to fish & it’s good to see the EA making checks but is it me or do they just seem to go for the easy targets? Any how I will get off my soap-box now.
I managed two fish out in my small boat (which someone called a bath-tub!) one float trailing & another anchored up bait fishing the best going about 8 or 9 on Saturday. Over night there was cloud cover so it was warmer although this didn’t seem to encourage the pike any.
One of the lads with a Bala Pike (It was larger than it looks at 9 lb – the captor is a big lad!)
As the night drew in a large fire roared where the three amigos were camped/fishing across the bay & between the noise from them & the ‘I’m a Lumberjack’ crew it was difficult to sleep. (Incidentally making fires on the lakeshore at Bala is not permitted).
I was awakened in the dark by several torches on my bivvy, EA I thought? It turned out to be a Scout leader taking his troop for a ramble in the dark (make what you will of this!) on seeing the rods & bivvy he told the young lads that there was an obstruction in their path & that they should go back down the path. I packed the bank fishing gear into Cookey’s van leaving him to bang fish whilst I headed upto the farmers land in the boat. Some members had left the venue & others had arrived Sunday, I had a chat to all those in attendance Sunday morning before going out in the boat for couple of hours fishing. A few more fish were caught although no monsters, I myself managed another 2 both caught float trailing in 40+ft of water the best going about 8ish.
Martins mate Mick with one of the Bala Pike caught on the club outing
Cookey hooked & lost what he thinks was a good fish & which would have been his 1st Bala pike, anyhow he did managed to get his first one of 9 & a half that morning. Martin Sailsbury & his mate Mick cursed me as I had told them to leave their rod pods at home, at least your improvisation managed to hold your rods in place lads!
A view of Bala after sunset from my boat (‘the floating bath tub!’ as someone called it!)
I had good feedback about the event & had we been permitted to bivvy in the second field (which is my preferred area) then I think the event would have been even better. I left about 2pm & there were still members fishing & finally thanks to farmer Wynn for letting us use his land………………………
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pete Kenrick has kindly offered to be Club Outing Liaison Officer, so please pass Pete the following info after each outing:-
Your name if you fished
Number of fish caught
Weight of each fish (please weigh all doubles & above)
A photo of any doubles or bigger fish would be appreciated for the newsletter & the blog spot.
The next club outing is arranged for CONISTON……. Why not come along
I look forward to the next club outing which is planned for Saturday 1st & Sunday 2nd December on Coniston (Fish count from Sat am – Sunday 4pm but turn up & fish any time you like), as I’ve said before it’s a very good doubles water with the outside chance of a big fish. I will arrange for early morning boat launching for anyone who needs it (reasonable fee payable to the boating centre), fishing on Coniston is FREE. Coniston is quieter this time of year with far less holiday makers etc., the venue can produce some nice fish this time of year & is well worth a go. So if you can make it then please come along. Members with boats think of the none boat owners in the club if you can accommodate someone else with you, likewise if you are able to offer someone a lift to the venue please do so to minimise costs. Please remember the lake-district by-laws that prohibit the use of live-bait & freshwater dead-baits (including Eels), don’t let that put you off as the usual dead-baits work well as do lures. Every now & again (not very often) I have been checked by the Environment Agency on Coniston although not too often they do occasionally put a boat on the venue to check EVERYONE.
Day out in the lakes with the PAC North lakes Region…………………………?
Russ from the North lakes region has kindly asked if we fancy a bit of a social days bank fishing, at the moment we are thinking that this will probably be between Christmas & new year. Upto now we are thinking Grassmere, it’s a WADA water & day tickets can be bought on line for none members they are about a fiver I think. Grassmere had done some very big fish, probably past its best I’d say but it still does some nice fish & it’s a nice place to fish. I haven’t fished it for years & my best fish from there as an 18. If you are interested in coming along then let me know.
Festive Fishing Trip
In addition to the above day out with the North Lakes lads I will be going fishing in-between Christmas & new year if anyone fancies a days piking just let me know.
March outing
Pennington flash did not fish as well as I had expected on the 1st club outing, 14 fish with only 1 going double is not the sign of a well balanced fishery pike wise to me, I know it still does some good fish but I’m dubious about us going back there in March for a second time on a club outing this season. Speaking to the lads at Bala I don’t think anyone is too fussed about a return visit to Pennington in March. Several venues were suggested in place of this however all would have taken time & effort to re-arrange, so I have changed the March event to a nice easy local venue the Leeds Liverpool canal near where I live in Abram, the fish shoal up around here over winter & it has done some nice pike the best I know of going over 18 last year, its easy access piking & it should make for a social day as the canal bank is open & we can all spread ourselves out as far as we like, there are basins, bends, channels & bridge amongst other features to go at. We can even go for a pint or a bite to eat in the pub next to the canal after if we want. I have now arranged permission to park on the back car-park of the pub so that there is plenty of room for us all to park.
Irish Excursion
I am going to be planning a trip over to the Emerald Isle for 2008, probably around April, I have only ever had one fishing trip to the land of the Lepricorn & that was almost 20 years ago. Firstly I’m looking for info from members who have been before. Secondly if you want to come along then let me know & we will see what we can sort out. I’m happy to act as event co-ordinator for the trip. Please only let me know if you are seriously interested as I know from previous experience that costs rise if people drop out, the trip is likely to be for a week.
Next Seasons Outings
I like to plan ahead & I would like YOU all to pass me the names of two potential venues for future club outings for next season onwards, Kev from Platt Bridge, Eric Edwards & Assistant R/O James Dean amongst others have already started the ball rolling on this giving me a venue name each so far – thanks. Remember the venues need to be free fishing, day-ticket or bookable, there needs to be enough room for us all to fish, reasonable car parking & a few nice pike to be caught would be good too. Once we have a list of venues to go at we can discuss venues or draw names from the hat. If you want to you are welcome to get involved in organising the events on the venues that you suggest.
Club Outings points system
Just to clear up any confusion regarding the points system for the club outings you get 10 points for attending no matter if you fish half day, full day or both days so those who fish all weekend like me still only get 10 points for attending. Also on the weekend events fish only count from Saturday am to 4pm Sunday (however fish as long as you like). I will print some catch returns off & bring them to the meeting for the outings, going forward please contact Pete Kenrick with your tally for attendance & fish caught at club outings.
I have attached a catch return card can you please return these to Pete Kenrick, the latest we can accept any returns for Pennington is the November meeting, going forward we need them back ASAP after the event.
Name
Venue & Date
Number of jacks (under 10lb) & aprox weight
Number of doubles 10-15lb (& weight)
Number of doubles 15.01-19.15 ( & weight)
20+ (& weight)
25+ (& weight)
30+ (& weight)
4. Members Profile:
Name:
Andy Cooke
Age:
33
Family:
Wife Jo & 3 sons
Job:
Plant Fitter
Angling Experience:
Went fishing when I was a kid, been back into the sport for about 16 months now & enjoying my fishing
Favourite methods & venue types
I do enjoy bank fishing where I have time to relax & enjoy my time away from work. I like exploring new venues.
Favourite Species & Best Fish
I enjoy catching any species of fish, I do like my pike fishing & my best pike to date is 19 pounds from the lake district.
‘X’ Factor
Used to work on the doors at nightclubs (Peg poaching Pirate – Jon!)
Angling Targets:
To catch my 1st 20+ pike & to get out there fishing when ever I can
Favourite Drink:
A nice cold Wobly!
Favourite Food:
A good steak is hard to beat but a nice Indian or a chinky go down well too, A corned beef butty & a pot noodle go a long way on a fishing trip!
Fishing Vehicle
Range Rover Owner, but use the white transit van for fishing (Mrs Cooke wont let him drive the range rover – Jon!)
Interests other than fishing:
My family & my work, done up a few classic cars in my time & have also been into fast cars & fast motorbikes in my time.
Dislikes:
Chav’s, anti-anglers & Sunday drivers (Andy’s a White Van Man! – Jon)
Thanks for that Andy mate – tight lines Jon
Footnote: Andy has done very well in his first season or so’s Piking taking numerous doubles with fish upto 19lb (I’m not sure if he realises just how well he has done), it took me several gruelling years including many blanks to accomplish banking fish of that size & some members have yet to bank such a fish, well done………JON
Introduction to your committee
Over the next few months I would like all committee members to do a members profile for me so that the members get to know a little bit more about you all. Watch this space………………………………
5. Fishing Photo’s:
I thought that I would start us off on this one with a photo of a big Scottish pike that I caught recently it went 26.8, it fought long & hard, in a rush to get her back safely ASAP only a couple of quick snaps were taken, it was a fat broad backed fish & I’m not sure that the photos do her justice as she was awesome in the flesh, here is the best photo of her:
(That’s my ‘Andy I cant believe you have forgot how to work my camera’ face!)
Here are some doubles also caught on mine & Cookey’s recent Scottish trips…………….
A moderate Scottish low double for Jon
Andy ‘peg poaching pirate’ Cooke with a Scottish double
Another modest although superbly marked Scottish Double for Jon
6. Catch Reports:
Many members of Region 31 have been out there doing a bit, I am pleased to report that some nice doubles & 20+ fish have been caught from a variety of waters & a new personal best for at least two members during the month of October – well done on new p.b.’s for Pete & Shaun.
R/O Jon Neafcy with a 14lb pike from a big pit (another self portrait photo!)
I started my October piking bagging two doubles one of bang on 14 & one of just over10 from a big pit, the only two runs of the day but very welcomed none the less. After a slow session on Pennington Flash on the club outing Paul Haughton kick started his piking season with me on one of the big pits taking a cracking double of 15.5 his 1st double of this season, caught in the margins at night, well done my own mate, I managed a scraper double & got pestered with Eels that took every bait I casted, unfortunately the pike were not as easily tempted. I think the fish were still well spread out on the big pits maybe they will be easier to crack in the colder weather when they pike home in on the shoaled up prey fish.
Region 31 Member Paul Houghton with a 15.5 big pit pike caught from the margins after dark
R/O Jon Neafcy with a scraper double, only fish of the day from a big pit, it put up a lively fight
A couple of the lads have been out fishing the local reservoirs around the North-West which seem to be fishing OK.
Region 31 Recruit Steve Timmis & his mates had a decent days piking on a reservoir catching some nice fish, this 16 was the best one, they also lost a decent fish at the net. Steve has also been out on the large glacial lakes taking fish to 13lb
Steve Timmis with a nice 16lb Reservoir pike (The 20+ is just around the corner mate! Jon)
13 Lucky for some……………………?
Steve with a 13 from a big glacial lake
Pete Kenrick has been out on his boat catching a new personal best of 13.02 beating his previous P.B. by a pound in weight, good stuff Pate mate & I’m sure that your 1st 20+ is just around the corner! Unfortunately the photo Pete texted me of the fish (& later e mailed) I couldn’t manage to download from the phone & the e mail attachment wouldn’t open, sorry mate…………………………………
Paul Houghton has also been out & about on the local reservoirs taking a 16.12 & beating Steve’s entry for biggest local fish, although I’m hearing rumours of much bigger fish being caught locally!
Myself & Andy Cooke have had what has for me become a twice a year pilgrimage to Norfolk’s rock hard Thurne system. We took the Shetland boat for it’s maiden voyage. Our trip unfortunately co-incided with half term so it was very busy the mild (ish) weather meaning holiday cruisers were still out & the river side holiday homes were full! Each trip I find another piece of the piking jigsaw that is cracking the place or so I thought, this trips results were very poor, maybe the fish were still very spread out with it still being mild, who knows. All I managed was two jacks & one dropped run. Andy Cooke managed his first Thurne System pike with a modest double at 10.12, all the rouses I have learned on the Thurne so far failed me this trip, but I shall be back for more punishment in late Feb/early March. The Shetland performed admirably & was just reward for all the hard work & effort put in doing it up (see feature article). We lived on the boat for 3 days tucking it into the reeds at night, the double burner & grill cooker along with the 2 berth cabin were welcome luxuries.
Cookey’s first Thurne system pike at 10.12
For those of you who haven’t yet visited Norfolk (yet) here are a couple of photos of the Norfolk landscape
The infamous ‘hut’ on Horsey Mere, the scene of many piking escapades including the photo session of Watto’s 38 Horsey Mere Beast!
Martham Ferry (actually it’s a bridge on a chain!) not a million miles from where Fickling & Aimes caught record pike in the 80’s
The Shetland 498 launched at Martham boatyard on the Thurne
Martin Sailsbury’s has had a p.b. Chub of 5.10, well done mate! Martins mate Mick had a cracking trip to Norfolk recently & although he didn’t manage to tempt any of the big girls that they caught on last years trip they boated many doubles the best haul in one day was 18 pike. Looks like you have been having some tight lines, well done lads!
Martin with his 5.10 Chubb (Front cover of Anglers Mail job!)
Peter Waterfield has been fishing the fens for the Zander & enduring rain storms.
I know that James Dean & Dave Cottriall have started their piking campaign on the big glacial lakes catching a few fish. Eric Edwards is out & about on the trout water scene. A few of the region members including me Cookey, James, Dave & Eric went on Llyn Brenig, me & Cookey managed just over half a day on the Tuesday due to me having other commitments, I managed a trout of about 3.8 (with a large fresh bite mark in it!), James & Dave managed one jack in 2 days, Eric did better with fish to over 20 (see photo), yet another 20+ to Eric’s enviable list of big fish, well done mate. From a personal note prior to this year my last proper stint of trout water piking was on Esthwaite when I was a lad (over 20 years ago!) before it was ‘discovered’ as a pike water!
The boat pontoons at Llyn Brenig – a hard nut to crack?
My mate fire fighter Matt Keoh who used his piking boat in this years floods to rescue trapped villagers has been out & about river piking catching a brace of 19’s, I have no doubt the next lot of 20+ fish are just around the corner for you mate. Incidentally I got a text a while ago from Matt saying ’29 in boat’ – I thought he had had a 29lb pike but what he meant was that he had used his boat to rescue 29 people from the floods! Well done that man, us pikers come in useful now & again.
My mate Andy ‘Bluny hooks’ Dixon from Chester (Blunty) has been out on the rivers taking fish to 16.
Kev from Platt bridge has been out & about on local waters with the occasional trip further away over the last few months coping with gassed up pike & pike with other anglers traces left in them along the way. Kev has caught some doubles, two different fish on the same water went the same weight.
Kev from Platt Bridge with a couple of nice hard fighting low doubles caught from a local reservoir
Kev’s mate Neil with a fish from a Glacial Lake (watched by Grace the fishing dog)
I have heard rumours of some good fish being caught close to home from some local venues, however exact weights & photos have proven elusive as yet so it you have heard the same rumblings as me then make of them what you will! One of two region members names have been mentioned ‘on the grapevine’ as captors of one of two of these big fish, however as yet I have not received any formal reports – if you have caught a big fish then it would be nice to see a photo for the newsletter, you don’t have to name the venue etc. Don’t forget that there are trophy’s up for grabs!
The Wakefield Region had a good start on their first club outing of the season with lots of pike being caught including 5 nice doubles they must be warming up for the regional challenge that we have with them in January! They didn’t do so well on their second outing though, I don’t know of anyone who caught!
7. Feature Articles:
I thought that I would do a few works on my current pain in the arse I mean project boat the Shetland 498 offshore cruiser. I thought that James Holgate’s recent comments in P&P on his new boat were apt ‘HMS Moneypit’ – fellow boat owners will know what he means by this!
I bought the Shetland this summer for a bargain price from deepest darkest Devon, I’ve got fed up with bivvying when I go to Norfolk & other places it wastes fishing time, you have to take too much gear & is generally a pain in the arse all round & I can’t afford to stay in a B&B very often, so I can stay on the Shetland instead, I figure it will pay for itself eventually.
Here are a few of its vital statistics:
Length – 4.98 m (about 16ft 3)
Width - at widest point 6ft 10
Height – from keel to top of cabin about 6ft, 4.6ft headroom in cabin
Additional Features – 2 birth, table, double burner & grill gas cooker, plenty storage
Engine – rated upto 50hp – currently has a 30hp Evinrude 30hp electric start on remotes
Trailer brake backed, 1300kg axle 13 inch wheels
Gull hull for stability
The boat & trailer needed a fair amount of work, to the extent that I’ve vowed that it will be my last boating project. I must say thanks to Cookey for his expert welding on the trailer (you pirates have your uses!). The boat is in its original gel coat with just antifoul underneath as it came off the sea, a list of what work was needed is as follows:-
Remove old wooden furnishings & other junk
Remove antifoul & re-paint
Remove damaged fender rubber & replace
Strip down & paint inside of boat & inside of cabin
Infill void in floor with expanding foam (18 cans of the stuff were used!)
Repair floor
Fit new axle, hitch coupling & re-paint trailer (no easy task believe me)
Carpeted the floor with dark blue gel back carpet
Fitted a fish-finder/GPS rod holders, rod rests, bow & stern rollers & other ancillary equipment
Region members are welcome to a day aboard at some point
Here is a rather interesting photo of the boat suspended from a crane in the workshop!
Please send me your articles for the newsletter lads, there is only so many that I can do……………
8. Funnies & Other Stuff
Funnies:
OK so lefts just call this one Richard & Richard the 3rd! I will share with you the tale of a well known Norfolk bailiff & an angler caught short! On a day on a Broad an angler (guess who?) was caught short & needed to answer the call of nature (no 2) whilst out on the water. The Richard the 3rd was deposited overboard & floated away, a change in the wind brought Richard the 3rd back to the side of the boat just as the bailiff who is a well known stickler for enforcing all manner of rules arrived in his boat, looking down after rolling a cig he clearly saw the Richard the 3rd at the side of the boat, he never said a word about it though! Send me your funnies for the newsletter!
Other Stuff:
For a bit of nostalgia I’ve just bought a second hand North-western glass-fibre blank an SS6’s I’m just in the process of refurbishing it. I’ve bought it for sentimental reasons as it’s the blank I used to build myself my piking rods in my early teens, taking my 1st 20+ on an SS6 that I built myself. This rod will be put back into service once refurbished! If you can remember the likes of the SS6 & the PK2 then you have been pike fishing for quite a while! I always had an added sense of pride catching a nice fish on a rod that I had built myself.
I don’t know if you know but Eddie Turner is re-launching his own tackle brand again, this time it will be called ‘ET Original’, ET’s previous company was sold of to the friendly fisherman. ET has a pedigree for producing quality tackle (as well as being a pike angling legend!) There is a web site for the new gear which includes some old favourites as well as some new stuff. I’m pleased to be one of the people who Eddie has asked to field test some of the new gear for him & I will let you know how it goes suffice to say that I was like a small boy at Christmas when the large parcel arrives from ET! Early experiments with the American imported wire & ET’s own ‘Mr Softie’ wire & the Owner hooks have produced good results.
Just some of the new ET Gear that I’m involved in field testing, good stuff!
Chris Bishop of the PAC has issued some briefings for us via the PAC news section/blog spot. Dave Lumb set up the blog spot for us & R/O of the Lincoln Region Chico Winterton set up the first bit for us, John Woods has now transformed this & up-keeping this for us as our ‘blog master’ (thanks mate)
Member Stuart Randle has very kindly offered to put the winner or the biggest pike & biggest local pike onto canvas for the lucky winners! He has also offered one as a prize up for grabs at the December meeting, all the lucky winners need to do is supply a photo of their prize catch, this is a great prize (thanks mate)
WIN A DAYS FISHING WITH ERIC EDWARDS ON WINDERMERE IN HIS BOAT - £1 PER ENTRY (ENTER AS MANY TIMES AS YOU LIKE) – DRAW TO TAKE PLACE AT DECEMBER MEETING - Runner up prizes may include a small taster of some of ET’s new gear!
Region Blog
Again I must say well done to John Woods for setting up the club blog, he has done a great job, please send some photos so that he can add them to the blog. Articles etc are also welcome.
Amendments
The Eagle eyed amongst you will have picked up that I did not put a photo of Peter Waterfield in the last newsletter accompanying his article it was infact a photo of one of Peters members of the NAC, my apologies to Peter for this, my mistake. Peter I shall have to call you ‘Mr Incognito’ mate!
Canvas Prints
Region member Stuart Randle as already mentioned does canvas prints from photographs, so if you want any family photos putting onto canvas or a photo of you with your prize catch on canvas he is the man to see. Stuart has kindly donated some as prizes to the club. Thanks mate.
Name our newsletter
There were numerous entries & I have opted for an entry made by Kev from platt bridge of ‘The Piking Times’ however to make this more bespoke it will be edited slightly to the ‘North-West Piking Times’. Thanks to all those who submitted names & Kev will win a small prize of a couple of ET Original tackle items (thanks to ET for letting me donate these)
Custom Made Lures
At the last meeting some of the wood chuckers amongst us were like kids at Christmas with some custom made lures. These beauties are hand crafted by Region 31 member Mark Berrisford. Even a rubbish lure angler like me can’t fail to catch a few fish on these. If you are interested please contact Mark directly. Here is a photo of the ones he made for me:
Contact details are:
mark@gatley4c.freeserve.co.uk
http://lures.mysite.ogange.co.uk
Local Scene
Further to the recent letters that I sent out we have has some response. Wigan flashes management committee have been in touch & invited us along to the meetings, so we now have a foot through the door or so to speak.
The Pennington flash senior ranger has been in touch about the Polish taking fish & he has been onto the Environment Agency & has got some fish welfare posters etc in Polish – hoping that education is the key, so at least they are trying to do what they can.
Myself & Kev attended a meeting with the management team & other interested parties of a local area that is set to become another nature reserve – Low Hall (Sammy’s), there were about 10 attendees from the local community & 4 officials at the meeting the main issue raised was off road motorbikes & they are looking to install a barrier, however they raised the current situation with angling as a problem (litter, discarded line etc.), I said that this was because the water is not currently managed which no one disputed, there was one other angler present. Both myself & Kev have signed up as members of the local nature reserve & I have got some more forms if anyone else wants to come along (please do!) as a voice for anglers in the local area it would be great if we could retain fishing on the water in question & also I would like to build a good working relationship with the local nature reserves for mutual benefit as has worked well in other areas e.g. Wakefield region. If we allow such chances to pass us by then make no mistake that angling could be lost on such venues, which would not paint a very rosy picture for angling in the local area.
I have continued to pass Lancashire newspapers (Wigan Reporter, Wigan Evening Post, Wigan Observer etc) some details of our events, catches etc to get us some good press for the region.
So at least we are getting ourselves established locally & the region is getting in there & doing a bit. I will receive copies of minutes from the management committee meetings & I will try to get along to as many as I can, if we could show a presence of more than just me at the meetings that would be great!
Angling Coaching
As already stated the first angling coaching session for the region has been undertaken & I’ve made the offer to local angling clubs to do events for them if they wish to take us up on the offer.
Steve Ormrod asked me to do an article on the event which should be in the November issue of pike-lines.
The PAAS already have an angling development/coaching section & I’ve contacted the PAC committee to see if the PAC intend formalising angling coaching a bit more within the club although so far the feedback is to support other initiatives on this rather than do their own thing.
I have made the offer to the Low Hall Nature Reserve Group to do a free of charge angling coaching session for them.
I’m planning to do my advanced coaching certificate in 2008.
Raffle Prize
I tried & failed to win a fox rod to raffle off in P&P’s Fox big fish competition anyhow I managed 2nd place with the 26.8 landing a set of fox jerk-baits, these critters will be raffled off at the December meeting, I will get our guest speaker for the night Gray Knowles to do the draw for me, we will also draw the win a day’s boat fishing with Eric Edwards at the December meeting too.
Situations Vacant
I am very pleased (relived!) to announce that we have filled all of the positions that we needed to get things reasonably well organised. However anyone who wants to lend a hand is always more than welcome to do so. The press ganged conscripts include –
James Dean – Assistant R/O
Dave Cottrial – Treasurer
Pete Kendrick – Club outings liaison officer
John Woods – IT/Blog master
Martin Sailsbury – General assistant officer (Martin will help out the above & adjudicate/audit the club accounts)
The above will in effect be the ‘committee’ to assist me in running the region.
Club Boat!
The club boat has now moved home with me from Ashton to Abram, it is now insured & ready to go if you want to book it (must be both a region 31 & PAC member to use the boat) it would be nice to be able to include a nice photo of a club member in the boat with a nice pike. Remember that you can book the boat for club outings (provided the venue permits access for fishing boats)
Club Insurance
We have now received all the policy documents for our 3rd party liability insurance for all club activities including the club boat & teach-ins, this has relived us of the club funds! However in these days of a ‘claims culture’ that we live in it’s an absolute necessity for the club & it is something that we cannot afford to operate without. Our insurance covers juniors under tuition but it does not cover junior members if they are the perpetrator of an incident leading to a liability claim, hence unfortunately it will have to be a club rule that junior membership is at own risk, this will need to be signed off by a parent/guardian.
Newsletter & Slideshows:
The First newsletter was distributed at the last meeting & due to high colour content & hence high associated printing costs & to save paper (think of the environment!) going forward I will e mail the newsletter out & I will bring a few copies along to the meeting for those who aren’t on e mither! I hope you enjoyed reading the newsletter as it certainly took me a long time to put together, indeed it took time & effort from everyone involved so my thanks again to all contributors. Thanks to all of those who gave me feedback on the contents & lay-out.
Please e mail me at – roregion31@blueyonder.co.uk or jon.neafcy@dhl.com with your e mail address if you have not yet received anything from me by e mail (either I don’t have your e mail or the e mail address I have for you is incorrect).
Our first slideshow at the November meeting will be another milestone for us & I hope that the meeting is well attended.
Before you get to read this I will have done a slideshow for SPAG (Group who run the Piking on Blithfield) they must be desperate for speakers I hear you say to ask for me! The PAC banner will be flown & membership forms taken along……………………………………………………………….
I’ve already started to book people in for next season & I’ve enticed Steve Ormrod to do a slideshow at our Christmas meeting in December 08, I am sure that Steve needs no introduction to most of you. Damian Wood (Woody) from Abram who I used to fish along side way back in the early 90’s has been sowing me his photo albums of big fish, from Eels to Perch to Carp & even some nice pike, Woody has kindly offered to do a slideshow on his angling exploits for us, so I will see if he can do the October 2008 meeting & I think this will be a most enjoyable & varied slideshow by a local angler.
If any region members would like to do a slideshow for the region &/or other regions in the 08-09 Season then please let me know.
9. Club Awards
Remember that you have got to be in it to win it! (AWARDS RUN 1ST MARCH – 1ST MARCH)
SO THE 1ST YEARS AWARDS RUN FROM 1ST MARCH 2007 – 1ST MARCH 2008
Entries:
It’s very early days yet, but we have 3 entries for awards already!
I will make the first entry for Biggest Pike with the 26.8 pictured earlier, although I’d like this to fall to another member – preferably by the capture of a magnificent 30+ fish by a club member, indeed with the quality of membership so far & the diversity of waters fished I will be amazed if the 26.8 is the best fish falling to a region member’s rods this season!
Region 31 member Steve Timmis has also made the 1st entry for the biggest local pike trophy with the 16 pictured earlier, this was recently beaten by Paul Houghton with a slightly bigger one of 16.12.
These entries set the ball rolling & give other members something to aim to beat……
Just a reminder of what’s up for grabs & the entry requirements:
Award
Details
Club Outings Trophy
Most points from club outings league table
Biggest Pike (weight)
Speaks for itself!
Biggest Local Pike (Weight)
Within 30 mile radius of HQ
Most Doubles Caught
Speaks for its self
Pike Angler of the Year
This award will be based on contribution to the club & to pike fishing NOT just on numbers of big fish caught (votes to R/O please)
Significant Achievement
(R/O’s Award)
This award will be presented at the R/O’s discretion for any special or significant achievements
Pennines challenge trophy
South Lancashire V’s Wakefield PAC Regions annual event (trophy for biggest haul of pike by an individual)
Club Outings Points Awards
Club outings points are based on trust however all doubles should be weighed & where ever possible witnessed & a photo is always appreciated for the club archives/newsletter etc.
Fishing times will be agreed in advance, you may fish before & after these times however your fish will not count towards your points.
Criteria
Points awarded
Attending Club outing & fishing
10
‘Jack’ (under 10lb)
5
Double 10-15lb
10
Double 15.01-19.15
15
20+
25
25+
35
30+
50
All club awards will be presented at the April meeting, the winners name will be engraved on the trophy (all trophies to be returned the following year) for this our first year I have booked angling legend, Radio presenter & all round great angler Martin James to do the honours of presenting the trophies to the winners.
Stuart Randle has kindly donated an A4 canvas print for the winner of the biggest pike & biggest local pike all the lucky winners need to do is to supply a photo of their prize catch
Please send ALL entries for club awards to me directly please include a photo.
Please e mail all details from club outings to Pete Kenrick
Here is a photo of the trophies (as displayed at the last meeting)
The club trophies – I think Garswood trophies did a good job for us (Jon)
Current pole positions from entries for club awards are as follows:
Award
Details
Club Outings Trophy
Club outings points league table to follow
Biggest Pike (weight)
26.8 R/O Jon Neafcy
Biggest Local Pike (Weight)
16.12 Paul Houghton
Most Doubles Caught
To be announced after 1ST March 2008
Pike Angler of the Year
No entries passed to R/O yet please pass entries to Jon Neafcy by 1ST March 2008 (one vote per member only)
Significant Achievement
(R/O’s Award)
To be announced after 1st March 2008
Pennines challenge trophy
Event takes place 6th January 2008 at Market Weighton Canal (away venue)
Remember that club awards run upto 1st March so I will keep the above regularly updated each month as the entries come in
Tight Lines
Jon Neafcy
R/O Region 31 PAC GB
Wigan Piker!

Oct 07

NEWSLETTER
REGION 31 PAC GB
SOUTH LANCASHIRE
Issue 1 -10/20007
Contents:
This newsletter is a bumper edition to aptly mark the formalisation or the newly re-formed region 31
Newsletter Standard format Agenda:
Item
Page Number/s
R/O’s Introduction:
Mark Barratt PAC GB General Secretary - Introduction
Region 31 re-visited Jon Neafcy R/O
The history or Region 31 Eric Edwards
Expectations by Andy Cooke
Good luck – Martin James BBC Radio Lancashire
Predator anglers unite by Peter Waterfield
3
4
5/6
6
7
8
2. Meeting
9
3. Fish in/Club Outing
9/10
4. Members profile
11
5. Fishing photos
12, 13, 14
6. Catch Reports
15, 16, 17
Feature Article/s
Penning a piece
Region 31, the PAC & my journey so far – by Jon Neafcy
Putting the band back together – by Gary Knowles
17
18/19/20/21
22/23
Funny’s & Other stuff
Funny’s
Angling Coaching
Festivities
Local Scene
Situations Vacant
Club outings
PAC late summer evening lure fishing event
Club boat
Newsletter & slideshows
Adds
23/24
25/26
27
27
27
27
28
29
30
30
Club Awards
Conclusion
31
R/O’s Introduction
I would like to use this our first newsletter to introduce myself to you as the Regional Organiser & to communicate to you things to come for the Region (although it is very early days for us yet), so I’ve included as much info for you as I can making it a bumper edition. I have been impressed by all those of you wanting to help out so far, your help is much needed & much appreciated! Thanks lads!
I hope that everyone reading this, our first newsletter enjoys it, it has certainly took some time to put it together I can tell you! I always intended for this to be a bumper edition to start us off in style, however I have been overwhelmed by the support & assistance received, with several people kindly offering (Ok so I may have volunteered some!) to contribute to the newsletter. So what I originally planned to be about 10 pages or so is now over 30 pages! I won’t be able to produce 30+ pages every month (Pike& Predators Magazine only does about 60 pages & that’s including adds etc. & they have full time staff!) but with your support & assistance I should be able to ensure that we have a decent newsletter each moth. My thanks to all contributors (I owe that many people pints I think I have bankrupted myself) As well as my own comments, I have I am very pleased to include in this introduction section comments from the PAC GB General Secretary, PAC/Regional members old & new on what they expect from the region including a bit on the history of Region 31 & comments from other interested parties & well wishers, so the introduction section includes comments from:
Mark Barratt PAC GB Secretary
Eric Edwards (PAC Veteran)
Martin James (BBC Radio)
Pete Waterfield (NAC & ZAC)
Andy Cooke (New PAC Member)
MARK BARRATT P.A.C. G.B. GENERAL SECRATARY
It’s with great pleasure that Jon asked me to write a few words for the new region newsletter.
It is always a source of great pride to whatever committee is in place that a new region starts, or an inactive one is re-awakened. After all the PAC is a members club, and what better way to feel a part of the club, than by sharing a pint and a joke with like -minded individuals.
My admiration also goes out to the new R/O Jon Neafcy, for taking up the running of a region is no small task, and often a pretty thankless one. Hopefully from amongst the new regions membership there will emerge a few helping hands, for it is a hell of a job for just one man.
The PAC as a whole is enjoying a period of growth not seen for many years. In some respects this is a source of great inspiration for the current committee, however this could also be, because pike anglers’ are seeing more and more restrictions imposed upon them, only time will tell as to the reasoning, but I hope that you all get a great deal out of your membership, of both the club and the region.
Happy Piking
Mark Barrett
General Secretary
Mark with a nice brace of Pike
Footnote: Mark thanks very much for all your help & assistance with the Region so far-
Tight lines - Jon
R/O’s Introduction
‘Region 31 Re-visited!’
OK so now here’s my bit, so here it is, finally after many months of planning REGION 31 PAC GB SOUTH LANCASHIRE is finally up & running! I think that this is a very apt time to launch the Region what with the PAC celebrating 30 years as a club & some of the old pike fishing legends such as John Watson returning to the fold or so to speak. Some of you may remember that Region 31 used to be the old St Helens region that was disbanded many years ago, so Region 31 reaches another milestone being reformed & becoming South Lancashire (More on the history of the Region from Eric Edwards, Gary Knowles & myself later). If you are reading this then you have most probably turned up at the first informal meeting where this newsletter has been distributed. Maybe you saw the posters put up in local tackle shops, maybe you read the add in an angling publication such as P&P, Angling Times or maybe heard about the region on BBC Radio Lancashire or perhaps you got wind of the region from the old washer women’s forum sorry I mean the P&P web forum or from the good old grapevine. However you heard about the region if you turned up at the meeting (or are coming to future meetings) then thanks for your support. Both the first meeting & this the first newsletter are also milestones for the club & for us ALL & they could not happen without YOUR support & I hope that they are just the start of good things to come. I look forward to our as is our first fish-in this weekend on Pennington Flash (I hope it will be a good turn out) as it can produce good fish this time of year, I’m also looking forward to the more formal meetings with slideshows etc. over the coming winter months. I hope to get to know you all better & look forward to fishing with you all hopefully at some point. Going forward as we are in the electronic age I’m looking to just sent the monthly newsletter out by e mail (unless you don’t have e mither) as this will save costs & time, I will print a few copies off each month & bring them to the meeting with me. This is my first stab at doing a full fishing newsletter & it can only be as good as the material contained within it’s pages, so it’s over to YOU ALL going forward to send me your catch reports, photos, articles & all things Pikey for future newsletters, I’d like it to be much less about me & more about you all going forward. Remember that this is YOUR region as much as it is mine & I want everyone to enjoy being a part of the region, if we can promote pike welfare, catch a few nice pike & have a few laughs along the way then that’s what it’s all about.
If you think that there is anything missing from the contents or format of the newsletter, or if you would like to discuss anything regarding the region please let me know. I’d also like to again express my thanks to those who have already committed their support to the Region & have helped me so far along the way (you know who you are lads!).
Remember that ALL levels of pike anglers are welcome to join the region not just well seasoned veterans. Personally I don’t care if members have caught over 100 20+ pike, or if they are still trying to catch their first 20+ (or even their first pike) or any where in-between. I’d like the region to cater for all levels of pike angling ability with everyone being welcome. I’m sure that the more experienced lads can advise/assist the newer lads without giving away too many secrets & if we all put something into the region then I’m sure that we will all get something out of it.
I myself am a self confessed Piking nut, nowadays that’s all I fish for (I take this piking game a little seriously), I fish both from the bank & by boat, from Scotland to Norfolk, Lake-district to Wales & many places in-between. Pike fishing has took its effect on my life in many ways when moving house one of my absolute must requirements was somewhere to store the boats/trailers & space for all the fishing gear, the car I drive is a people carrier & I have removed the additional seats to make room for my fishing gear, most of my holiday entitlement from work is spent fishing as are my days off at the weekend, most (if not all) my disposable income is spent on tackle, Permits, lures, bait, boat maintenance etc. etc. need I go on…………….? I’m sure that this sounds all too familiar to some of you & to others it may be a cautionary tale of what you could be letting yourself in for. I hope that my enthusiasm for the sport is contagious! With a change of job role from a National to a more Regionalised position I am now able to commit to a local Region of the PAC.
The History of Region 31 by Eric Edwards
I’m sure Eric needs no introduction to many of you - Jon
As the Pike Angler’s club approaches its 30th anniversary, it’s perhaps a time to reflect on the past thirty years and my own small part in the club’s history. Things were different thirty years ago. Pike were regarded as vermin in many quarters (they still are in some) and there was little in the way of organisation between pike anglers. There were two levels of membership when the club first started. Senior members were vetted and had to be experienced pikers. They paid a lot more for their membership and received their own copy of the magazine. The rest of us, ordinary members, had to share a copy of the magazine that was sent to the regional organiser. I guess this served its purpose in that it helped to bind the regions together, establishing them as focal points for the members. It also gave the central committee the opportunity to assess the level of membership that could be expected and set the level of subscriptions and funding accordingly.
I was a fresh-faced lad of twenty-one when the club started but I can’t quite remember when I actually joined. Certainly it was within a year or two of the formation of the club. The St. Helens region, RA31 was run by Ronnie Pendleton in those days and meetings were held at the Ship Inn in Blackbrook. Ronnie ran the region for some years and set things on a sound footing. He had excellent contacts within the pike fishing world and this enabled him to get speakers and organise fishing for people. Ronnie was the first ever “Pike Angler of the Year”, a prestigious title and well deserved.
There were a number of regional organisers for the St. Helens region over the years. I did my stint as did Steve Redman, Ian Forsyth, Graham Jones, Kevin Glover, Dave Shaw and others. The region was, at times, one of the largest in the land with up to a hundred members – but it didn’t always run smoothly. Friction between members was always there, bubbling under the surface. Looking back it seems daft now, falling out with people over fish but at the time it was oh so serious. People don’t put up with friction for long and in times of strife members drifted away. There were good times though. The annual pike match between the St. Helens Region and our rivals from Cheshire was always well attended and always produced incident. I was proud as a peacock when my seven-year-old son Joe won the competition one year at Rudyard Lake with a weight of over 37lbs, despite not catching a single fish on his own rod! Regular speakers were always easy to find in those days, or so it seemed. Many many local members gave slide shows of their own and as the region became larger and well established, a growing bank balance enabled us to bring in big-name speakers like Derrick Amies and Bruno Broughton. We even got carp angler Julian Cundiff over once – a shameless and successful attempt to extort money from the areas carp anglers to raise money for pike fishing projects.
The region suffered tragedy too with the sad death of popular member John Potts. We commemorated John’s life for many years however with the annual award of the John Potts trophy. This was an engraved decanter which was awarded annually to the captor of the season’s biggest pike. I was fortunate enough to win the trophy twice myself and the largest pike ever to win it was a monster of 35lbs caught by Kevin Shore. The decanter had the name of the winner engraved upon it each year and it still exists somewhere. Many lasting friendships were formed in those days and even to this day, I often hear from people who speak of those days with great fondness. Trouble, it seemed, was never far away however and the region suffered a fatal blow in the early nineties. At the time the Water Authority were looking to introduce a ban on livebaiting in the Lake District (sound familiar) and RA31 sent two delegates to the PAC Working Dinner to appeal for help from the central committee. They didn’t get the support they asked for, they were told instead to “get into bed” with the water authority and they came away from the meeting feeling dejected. We fought off the livebait ban then, a battle we were to lose years later but the damage done to the region was irreparable and the region disbanded. The region number, 31, was immediately given away to another region by the sitting committee. That sealed the region’s fate really, with all the club’s trophies marked with 31 it seemed there was no way back for the members and they drifted away – some of them to move away from pike fishing altogether. The region lived on briefly as an independent fishing club, the St. Helens Pioneer Anglers but eventually that dwindled too and pike fishing and specimen fishing in general faded away in St. Helens.
That was then and this is now. The new South Lancashire region has taken up the number 31 and with a new organiser, new location, a powerful PAC committee in place and a surging interest in pike fishing the prospects for the future look bright.
Let’s see what we can make of it.
Eric Edwards
Eric sends his apologies that he can’t attend the first 3 meetings due to work commitments, however I hope that Eric will join us on the fish-ins to show us how it’s done – Jon
Expectations Andy Cooke (New PAC & PAAS member)
I used to go fishing as a lad (didn’t we all), we never took it very seriously (well except for Neafcy that is, I think he was into the Carp fishing back then!) & I enjoyed catching roach, perch & the like. When I left school the fishing took a back seat to work, going out drinking & doing all the things that young lads do. I didn’t fish for over 20 years! Last year I started back up fishing again & Jon took me to Coniston & lent me some tackle, I caught some perch & I also got my first pike & it was what Jon called a ‘double’ which I found out meant that it was over 10 pounds in weight. Since than I have spent a fortune well it seems that anyway on fishing gear (Cookey is a real tight wad – Jon) & I try to go fishing as much as possible, work & family commitments permitting (Cookey works more hours in a week than most of us do in a month! – Jon). I have had some good days fishing over the last eighteen months & I have travelled as far as Scotland & Norfolk on fishing trips, I will fish for just about anything that swims but I do like my pike fishing. I had a good day’s pike fishing on a big lake last year taking 3 doubles in a day (they all came within 30 minutes) & setting myself a modest new personal best of 15 pounds exactly, recently I bettered that with a slightly bigger 15 pounder from the lake district, then that same day I had a 19 pounder on a lure (footnote from Jon I told you that lure I lent you was a good one Cookey lad, even though you doubted it at the time!) it was a great fish & I really enjoyed catching it. I am looking forward to learning more about pike fishing through the PAC & Region 31 & I am looking forward to the slideshows, fishing on the club outings with other members & having a few laughs along the way. I may even bring my oldest son along to some of the club outings as I would like him to get into fishing. I mainly fish alongside Jon but I do fish on my own a bit as well. Fishing with Jon can be hard work as he always seems to be on the lookout for the next big pike, he is always mauling with his rigs & set up, he can be very particular about where, when & how he fishes. When we are on the boat he likes to us to move spot a lot normally when I’d like to have a brew & why is it when we are bank fishing he always picks waters that are miles away from a car-park & even then he still wants to fish the far side of the lake, when we fished a canal last year everyone else fished near the cars Jon insisted that we walk a mile & half before he would cast out – still we were the only ones that caught though. If Jon was doing a 5 mile run he would do 20 miles instead just for the hell of it! Jon is most definitely a madman – pike fishing mad that is. When he is not fishing Jon is on the internet on fishing web site or reading pike fishing books or researching the next fishing trip or he is mauling with one of his fleet of boats or his vast armoury of fishing tackle. Still he does catch a few good pike so I guess that there is a method in with his madness somewhere. I have had my photo in the Pike & Predators magazine in one of Jon’s articles & the biggest pike I have seen caught so far are a couple of 20+ pike that Jon caught & I am looking forward to catching my first 20+ (it was a close call with the 19), it would be good to catch a 20+ pike this winter. I like a bit of a laugh so don’t take my banter the wrong way (Cookey is a wind up merchant – Jon). I hope to see you all fishing.
Tight Lines
Andy Cooke
Good-luck – By Martin James of BBC Radio Lancashire:
‘’I would like to take this opportunity of wishing this new branch of the PAC and all its members a very successful venture. Hopefully you will all have lots of pulled strings and bent sticks’’
Martin James
At The Waters Edge Programme
BBC Radio Lancashire
Thanks for your kind comments Martin (Jon)
Here’s a photo of Martin with a nice pike caught on his favourite method fly fishing.
Predator Anglers Unite - by Peter Waterfield (NAC & ZAC):
First of all, I’d like to offer my congratulations to everyone who has put in the hard work from the PAC. I hope your new region will be long standing and successful.
I represent both the National Anguilla Club and Zander Anglers Club and have also been involved with the Manchester area of the PAC. I live locally and hope the relationships between the different clubs stays strong. After all, we are all fighting for the same side. Whether it is poaching of fish, the decline of the freshwater eel, the use of nightlines or live bait bans. These are all problems that need addressing from the viewpoint of the predatory/specimen angler.
Over the past decade we have been fortunate enough to witness the growth and success of Pike & Predator magazine. This in my opinion has accelerated the wealth of knowledge that is invaluable to all single species predatory anglers. Another notable advance is the difference in tackle available. No more do we as predator anglers have to manage with other specialist anglers tackle (modified to do our job). We now have our own, via Fox and other such companies.
The more that people get involved with the PAC and read and get involved with publications such as Northern Angler, Pike & Predator, Angling Star and other related organizations, will surely be beneficial in getting anglers opinions and suggestions aired. I think there are a lot of potential PAC members within the Wigan area, which will only strengthen the predator anglers voice in our locality in general.
Any info needed on the above clubs please ring me on 07842204173.
Regards & Good luck.
Peter Waterfield.
Peter with a nice snake! Thanks for your kind words Peter & I look forward to the clubs working together for mutual benefit.
2. Meeting:
As I’ve already said if you are reading a copy of this newsletter then you have probably turned up at the first meeting so thanks for coming along, my thanks to Alan at the Caledonian for being so kind as to provide the room free of charge. As a lot of people don’t pike fish in the summer our meetings will be Oct-April inclusive 1st Wednesday of the month at the Caledonian pub (our HQ) from 8pm onwards. I have arranged some great guest speakers from the November meeting onwards. The April meeting will be our presentation night.
I will be charging subs for the region Oct-Oct & this will be £10, this will be to cover any costs that we as a club incur & membership cards will be issued. Routine spends are likely to include things such as guest speakers expenses, maintenance of the club boat & not least 3rd party insurance for the club to legally operate. As we go forward it will be upto YOU the members how we spend this money, in the future a club water would be nice I think although that’s a long, long way off yet. The better the financial position of the club then the more we can do. If there are any budding accountants amongst you who fancy up keeping the clubs books then please let me know
3. Fish-in (Club Outings):
Fish-ins (club outings) will take place once a month from Oct-March inclusive (see programme of events issued with membership), some will be weekend trips (turn up & fish when you want) others will be just for a day, some will be local & others will be further away. Some also have boat access if you want to bring your boat along. Some of us may struggle with transport or need to minimise costs so if you can please consider giving another member a lift. Those of you taking boats (where permitted) may I suggest if you are able to do so you consider giving a none boat owner the chance of a day afloat with you even if every boat owner only did this once a year I am sure be appreciated. I may be able to offer both a lift & boat fishing to a member on occasion. I have arranged the Oct 2007 – March 2008 fish-ins in advance as there is a lot going on at the moment, this at least gives us something to go at & it’s one less thing to worry about, I figure the more notice that you have for the fish-ins the more chance you have of being able to sort your other commitments if you want to come along. Going forward I would like each member to give me the names of two venues for us to consider for the club outings – for us to discuss at the meetings to arrange future outings (you don’t need to give away your best peg or even your secret waters!). Remember that the venues need to be free fishing or day ticket or somewhere that we can book with enough car-parking & fishing space for us all & oh yes somewhere with a few nice pike in would be good too!
Can I just say that the fish-ins are NOT pike matches, generally it will just be like a group of mates fishing together, in most cases unless it is necessary to do so I won’t be booking the venues so it’s important to remember that there could be other people fishing & there will be no stewards, I won’t be implementing a rigid book of club outing rules, after all who would enjoy me checking rod licenses etc before we started fishing (I certainly wouldn’t!) I am not a bailiff so I won’t be doing that, no one would enjoy me making up a load of rules & who would come along if I did? (probably no one!) for me there enough rules & codes already, remember your responsibility as a pike angler & a member of the PAC & ensure pike welfare. Most places put the venue rules on the ticket, if there are any special area rules e.g. lake-district I will give an outline of them in the newsletter, however if in doubt ask the relevant people. In the event that any region member were to break any fishery etc rules then the Region & the PAC have NO responsibility for or association with your actions as an individual. Common sense to be used at all times. If there are any newcomers to pike-fishing I’m sure that an experienced piker can give you a hand if you come along to the club outings, it’s great reading things in books but I find that you only really learn from practical hands on experience by getting out there & fishing.
I look forward to this weekends fish-in at Pennington Flash, to the best of my knowledge there are no overly prohibitive rules & it’s a reasonable priced day ticket if the bailiff comes round. In our immediate local area ‘in our back garden’ or so to speak this has to be one of the better bets to catch a decent local pike. Without a doubt it has been hammered over the years however it can throw up a few decent fish & early season & back-end are a good bet. We will be fishing on the tip (canal) side & I hope to see you there (directions attached). I would like a member to provide a basic written summary of each club outing & send to over to me (e mail or on back of a fag packet etc.) so that I can include in the newsletter (volunteers please). Some of the pegs at Pennington can have litter in them so I will be taking along a bin bag to collect any rubbish that may have been left by others in the swim I’m fishing which I will take home & bin, whilst you don’t have to, if you would care to do the same then so much the better as we will then in-effect as a region start to have a positive impact right from the start. I will be on the bank from Friday late afternoon until Sunday afternoon, you are welcome to fish all weekend or any part of it that suits you. If anyone else is daft enough, I mean keen enough to join me all weekend then that’s great. I can give someone a lift to the venue if anyone is stuck for transport (I’m not giving you a lift with your gear on that long walk though!). It is a long walk from the carpark on Slag lane to the decent swims so its better to travel light rather than to load yourself up like a pack Mule like I sometimes seem to end up doing. Feel free to come & have a chat before you set up etc & I will wind my rods in & try to come & see you all at some point during the weekend.
Club outings take time & effort to arrange,& I know from experience that they can be a good laugh, a decent way to get to know the other lads & hey we may just catch a few nice pike too. Due to the time & effort involved in arranging these events I would like to think that they will be well attended – it is a fishing club afteral! I myself will be attending ALL of the club outings even if it means missing out occasionally on the odd day or twos fishing elsewhere to attend.
4. Members Profile:
Ok so I will be the first to give this one a go!
Name:
Jon-Paul Neafcy (Jon-Paul is my Sunday name!)
Age:
21 (OK so even I don’t believe that myself!) – 34 really (almost 35)
Family:
Partner Sharon & two kids Amy (7) & Leah (1)
Job:
International Man of Mystery (I wish) OK so I’m a Manager in the Logistics Industry, at least it keeps the wolves away from my door.
Angling Experience:
Fishing nut since the age of 5, have had a good few years when I couldn’t fish due to working away & other stuff. Used to be an all rounder specimen angler nowadays I only fish for pike. I’m a qualified angling coach which can be a rewarding task putting something back into the sport. I’m big on pike welfare & have been on air with Martin James on BBC Radio Lancashire on more than one occasion to air my views on the subject. I occasionally write for Pike & Predators & I wrote a chapter of the PAC book PAC 30.
Favourite methods & venue types
Boat fishing big glacial lakes & lochs & mobile tactics on drains & canals. Although it can be productive sitting behind 4 rods on pits & lakes with a multitude of gear I don’t enjoy that as much as I do being out on the boat or wandering along a canal or a drain with not much gear. Sometimes I think we all carry too much gear which is overly prohibitive to mobility & I am probably sometimes one of the worst offenders
Favourite Species & Best Fish
For me my favourite species is pike. I say best fish not biggest as I don’t consider my biggest fish to date to be my best fish. Predator wise I really enjoyed catching a wild perch years ago that went 3.6 & Pike wise for me a Coniston 20+ is a rare beast, I had a 23.7 from Coniston on a lure. My first 20+ pike that I caught when I was just 13 on a rod I built myself will always hold fond memories for me.
‘X’ Factor
I hold a Diploma in Environmental Management which can be handy to help understand what’s going on in the Environment. Quite well qualified in my profession & I now have more letters after my name than I have in it. I’m also a qualified angling coach.
Angling Targets:
To promote pike welfare & to enjoy my fishing. Region wise for OUR Region of the PAC to be an active one & to make a difference.
Favourite Drink:
A nice cool pint of bitter is hard to beat but a chilled Cobra Indian larger with lime is a close second for me.
Favourite Food:
Being a Wiganer a good old pie is a quick & easy meal, Chinese & Indian are firm favourites though
Fishing Vehicle
VW Touran 7 seater people carrier, (work don’t allow 4x4’s!) holds all the gear but is crap off road & rubbish for towing don’t buy one!
Interests other than fishing:
My family & collecting pike fishing books & pike fishing DVD’s & videos although as that’s obviously fishing related not sure that counts in this section, other than that none really I have put behind me my boy racer days of fast cars & my misspent youth!
Dislikes:
Anti anglers (especially the ones that did my car over once!), litter louts, Chavs, government policy makers (when they get it wrong anyway!), anglers who constantly squabble amongst each other & lower the tone of events, forums meetings & the like by hurling direct abusive insults at fellow anglers!
5. Fishing Photo’s:
I thought that I would start us off on this one with a couple of photos of nice doubles from Pennington flash, to give you a taster of the stamp of pike from the water (if you haven’t fished it before) one photo is from last year & one is from more years ago than I care to remember! It has done much bigger pike than the ones I have caught from it (my best from the venue going 16.15). Most of us have probably heard rumours of it doing 30+ fish from time to time & if anyone has a photo of a genuine 30+ from the venue then I’d like to see it. A 25+ fish that I know of came from a swim that I had pre-baited for three weeks a few years ago, it was caught on a day that I wasn’t fishing & it came to someone else’s rods but that as they say is fishing for you. If one of the bigger girls does come out I’d like to see it as I have yet to see one ‘in the flesh’ from the venue. Thanks to James & Dave for sending me a couple of photo’s to include & to Martin Sailsbury as I’m sure that no one wants to see just my ugly mug in the newsletter so please send me your photos new or old with a few words about the capture for me to include in future newsletters.
14lb Pike late September 2006 Pennington Flash to dead bait Jon Neafcy interestingly this pike was caught the day after my daughter Leah was born! (My mate Andy Blunty had a better fish of 17 on Pennington that weekend)
A nice Pennington Flash pike caught in winter many moons ago
Region 31 Recruit James Dean from Wigan with a horse caught from his boat
James’s mate Dave Cottrial with a boat caught lunker
Woody from Abram who I have not fished with since I left the local waters behind me back in 1994!
Woody knows the local waters as good as anyone & I’m trying to tempt him into pike fishing a bit. Here he is with a nice snake & a nice perch just two of the many species he has caught specimens of locally!
6. Catch Reports:
I guess that many of you will not have done much piking this season yet (?) or may not have even started your winter piking campaign yet. If not may I suggest this weekend’s fish in at Pennington flash as a good starting point to get a few fish on the bank (hopefully) with a bit of a social side to get to know the other members too. I currently only fish for pike, I am out most weekends (OK every weekend with few exceptions). Myself & Andy Cooke have both had a busy time recently with me moving house & Andy & his misses being blessed with the birth of their 3rd child (well done mate one junior fishing set coming your way courtesy of me). However we have still managed to get out their & do a bit, ‘living the dream’ as they say. Newly wed Martin Sailsbury has managed to get out & do a little piking taking a keen youngster with him (well done mate) & managing a few fish in the lake-district. Send me your photos of your catches for the newsletter, you don’t need to have the name of the venue or the location of your favourite swim in the newsletter! Here are a few photo’s of some pike caught in 2007 so far:
A nice Coniston fish for Cookey Spring 2007 (caught on one of Jon’s lures, Cookey doubted the thing worked until a nice double took it!)
A Bala Big-girl for Jon – 2007
(We have club outings this winter to both Bala & Coniston so don’t miss out!)
I thought it would only be rite to include a catch report & a couple of photos of pike caught in the immediate local area. Yes occasionally I have been known to fish in the local area (Ok just not that often in recent years!). Me & Andy Cooke have both had a couple of sessions locally around the Wigan & Leigh area & have taken pike into double figures.
Jon Neafcy with recently caught lean, mean Wigan pike
Andy Cooke with his first local double 2007 (unfortunately it bears scars of a previous capture)
Pike from further away…………………………..
Myself & Andy Cooke have had a few Scottish trips this year taking some nice pike, we started off in South-West Scotland progressing to Central Scotland. We have had some productive trips taking some nice hauls with some good doubles & I’ve been fortunate enough to have them to upper 20.
A nice lean, mean Scottish fish for Jon on one of the trips over the border this year
Here comes Eric(Hope)! The picture explains why I love fishing Derwent water anyway (Martin Salisbury)
Jan Detko, 11 years old, from Preston with his biggest pike (pike held by Eric Hope)
Sunset over a Moody Loch Ard in the shadow of the mighty Ben Lomond. An Awesome place! – by Jon Neafcy (taken from the club boat)
Rod bending action for young Jan & Eric Hope on Derwent water
7. Feature Articles:
Penning a piece…………………..
I thought that in addition to Eric’s piece of the history of region 31 (thanks Eric) that I would give you an insight into how we have got to where we are with the region to start us off & also use this as a bit of an introduction for myself. Gary Knowles has also been kind enough to write an article on his previous experiences of the PAC & Region 31 (thanks Gary). I would like anyone who has articles to send me something as I don’t want this to become the Jon Neafcy show! If you haven’t wrote an article before why not have a go we have some experienced angling authors within our ranks (Eric Edwards, Gary Knowles etc.) & at least one recruit Martin Salisbury has already wrote a published fishing book! I don’t mind giving anyone a hand with an article if they need any help either. Personally although it’s great to read about someone catching a huge pike I’d rather read something interesting & enthusiastic rather than just a list of numbers of big fish caught by the author. Adding scenic photos or photos of rigs or just you & your mates out-there fishing as well as photos of the pike you have caught can add variety & interest to your article as can sharing funny fishing stories.
Region 31 PAC, the PAC & my journey so far……….. By Jon Neafcy
I caught my first pike when I was about 7 years old, I caught it from Grassmere in the Lakdistrict just past the infamous road lay-by swim, it was an awesome monster of a fish of about 8 pounds, (8 pounds is a big fish to a lad of 7 years old I can tell you!) me & my uncle were the only ones fishing the venue that day, we rarely saw another angler up there in the days when it was free fishing before it was ‘discovered’. Looking back that day it could be said that the event changed my life, so I think that first pike hooked me really! Never then was I to realise what a grip on my life pike fishing would have. I doubt that pike had ever seen a hook before & I often wonder just how big it grew to be & I still have the photo of me with the fish, anyway I digress.
The story of my association with the PAC & Region 31 begins a long time ago, almost exactly 20 years ago in fact. I never though back then that one day I would end up as Regional Organiser for Region 31 of the PAC (however it may seem a little more obvious to some) I will recount events as I recall them.
I guess that for me with the PAC it all started for me way back when I was 15 years old during the autumn half term holidays, me already being a keen pike angler by that age my mum had dropped me off to fish one of my favourite local venues Pennington flash. I had fished the venue a bit since I was 13, on my first trip I lost what I still think to this day was a very large fish which in my younger years gave my an obsessive passion for the venue, although I rarely bother with the place today I do still give it a go a couple of times a year, anyway again I digress. On the day in question I met a fellow from St Helens & he encouraged me to join the PAC & he asked if I was interested in joining the local Region, Region 31 St Helens. I remember this encounter well for this poor chap, I think he fall asleep for a little while during the autumn afternoon sunshine, as I recall it he managed to get a little sunburned, well at least one side of his face did, one side of his face was white & the other was bright red, which although I found it funny was a bit of a dilemma for him as he was going out with his wife & friends that night! In years to come I was to be in awe at some of the catches that this fellow would make. Any guesses who this fellow is? Eric Edwards!
Eric had been the R/O of the region 31 previously, I joined the PAC as a junior member & a while after at the age of 16 as a college student I started to attend the Region 31 meetings, the R/O in them days was Kev Glover (he is doing a slide show for us in November) he & his dad were kind enough to take me on the club outings & on my first trip on an outing to the Bridgewater canal I took the pot for biggest fish with a nice 16+ fish. That ‘pot’ was enough to buy me a new rod that I had my eye on. I have fond memories of the monthly meetings at Shaw Street Social Club & the fish-ins that I attended. On one occasion after a poor catch rate on a fish in a Tatton Park in Cheshire on a club outing, myself & Steve Plant who I fished with in the early days arranged a St Helens V’s Cheshire event on Rudyard lake. Heading up the Cheshire region was none other than uncle fester himself Neil Wheater, he was a good guy what ever happened to him? The event was very well attended & most people managed to catch & there were lots of nice doubles caught, that was a very good event & one I will always remember with fond memories even if the fellow who was on the next peg to me was a right pain constantly bragging about how many big pike he had caught & how far he could cast & generally making a bit of a nuisance of himself with his over inflated ego (despite his self proclaimed ability I don’t think he caught anything except a specimen sized tree whilst he was casting out!)
Here is a photo of the 16+ fish that bagged me the pot for biggest fish on my first ever PAC fish in! I hope that we see a few fish of this stamp (or bigger) come out on some of our outings!
For political reasons that I won’t go into here (Eric has covered more in-depth in his bit) Region 31 opted out of the PAC & became the St Helens PAC (Pioneer Angling Club), around this time I had a change of career & left the area which prevented my fishing. Not too long after this I believe that St Helens Pioneer Angling Club disbanded for one reason or another. I had some great experiences with Region 31 PAC & St Helens Pioneer Angling Club & I made some good mates, although there was a negative side to my experiences with the minority spoiling a fantastic club for the majority (again Eric has already touched on that in his bit) & I won’t bore you with details here (its ancient history anyway!), overall although I have fond memories of my association my experience was bitter sweet.
One of my old photos from a old Region 31 Newsletter way back when……… (Sorry for the poor quality it’s a scanned image of a photocopied newsletter!) Incidentally the fish in the photo went just shy of 20! (one of my collection of 19’s!)
Since then I have been a member of many angling clubs, I was at one time a bailiff for Wigan Anglers, I have been a member of the Catfish Conservation Group including membership of two Syndicates Crackers Meadow (Owned by Kevin Maddocks) & Adams Pool. I was for some time a member of Bolton Specialist Anglers Group (BSG) & I had some cracking times with Greg, Tony & the lads. One of the best events I went to with BSG was to a local reservoir when a lad (Andy Thorpe) who had been a keen piker for years caught the infamous big girl from the water at 25+ it was his first 20+ & what a way to catch it fishing with a load of mates.
During my fishing ‘career’ I have fished for most species of freshwater fish with a reasonable degree of success from Trout to Eels, Carp, Perch, Tench, Bream, Barbel & Chub, Catfish even once catching a sturgeon although the Pike has always been my firm favourite. Anyone who has known my through school to college to work knows of my passion for angling.
V
arious reasons have seen me still as a PAC member but not bothering with the regional scene for many years. Then whilst being based in West Yorkshire with work I came across a right character called Pete Green a PAC Committee Member none the less & all round good guy & a great pike angler. Pete put me onto waters that saw me catch many good doubles & my first Yorkshire 20+ Pike. Pete invited me along to the region that he runs in Wakefield (a most kind gesture what with me being a Lancastrian from ‘over the hill’ & all!). I attended the meetings, fish-in’s & contributed to the newsletter, all of the lads to every man were welcoming to me & I can honestly say that I really enjoyed my time with the region (which is a credit to Pete & Mick who run it & to the PAC). I even managed to nab 3 annual awards biggest lure caught pike, most doubles caught in a season (setting a new regional record) & the precious club outings trophy, I was picked at the post for biggest pike by Chris Betts (incidentally it was the same fish as my own entry for biggest fish caught at mere ounces bigger!). If our region can be half as good a club as the Wakefield one then I’ll be happy.
Receiving 1 of 3 trophies I was lucky enough to win amid stiff competition from good anglers at the Wakefield Region of the PAC during 2006 presented by ex PAC Committee member & Wakefield R/O Mick Culpan. Either Mick has lost weight or this photo is off my bad side! (ha ha) Jon.
Receiving the Trophies at the Wakefield Region of the PAC
There have been changes at work within my role & my career & fortunately I now no longer work all over the country working now (well not as much anyway) more of a regional basis & I am able to get home almost every night. I had enquired about what was available locally within the area PAC region wise & it was confirmed that there was not an active region in the immediate local area. I received an e mail from Eric saying ‘why not start a region, I’ll come’. so an idea, a suggestion, a pipe dream, a pie in the sky (well I am a Wiganer!) was started. Others said that they would be interested including my mates Andy Cooke & Paul Houghton, Gary Knowles (who I also knew from the old St Helens days), Martin Sailsbury amongst others, so I was volunteered, or so it would seem, to start a region. Myself & Eric agreed that it would be nice to use the old St Helens regional number 31 & the name ‘South Lancashire’ was opted for, Mark Barratt Secretary of the PAC committee was kind enough to permit us to use both the name & the number (thanks Mark).
This summer I have had to arrange a venue for meetings & line up guest speakers, no easy task I can assure you. Just as I thought I had a venue sorted I got let down when the owner decided to charge for the room, fortunately Alan at the Caledonian was happy to help. Slide show guest speakers can be elusive & I managed to net us a good line up for the Winter months, Gary & Eric were kind enough to volunteer (thanks lads). Speakers need something to project their slides/PowerPoint with so I have bought some slide gear & a data projector. Martin James was kind enough to have me back on his BBC Radio show to promote the region & the region has also been promoted in Pike & Predators (P&P) (thanks James) & elsewhere (thanks to everyone who has helped).
Most clubs that I have been a member of over the years have some form of club awards so I have splashed out & donated some trophies, I hope that these will give us something to aim for. Personally I think it only right that at some point we should all try to fish together, it is a fishing club after all. So I have taken the plunge & arranged monthly fish-ins over the winter, we have to start somewhere & as I have had so much to do I’ve opted for the first year to arrange there in advance (see fish in section of this newsletter). So their we have it a brief summary of the journey so far from my first association with the PAC as a junior member to my becoming the R/O of Region 31. I am keen to promote pike welfare & any ideas for how we do that in the region are welcomed.
Pike Welfare going on Air with Martin James of the BBC & Martin Sailsbury author of fishing in Lancashire
Putting the band back together by Gary Knowles
So it appears we have come full circle, the famous (or maybe infamous) region 31 is to be reformed. When Jon Neafcy emailed me to tell me in True Blues Brothers Fashion he was “putting the band back together” I couldn’t help but raise a smile. A whole host of memories came flooding back to me, weekends in Scotland, holidays in Wales, trips to Yorkshire, drunken presentation nights and social gatherings…oh, and a little fishing thrown in too. One thing you could never accuse this region of was being boring and the friendly rivalry we had between ourselves and the Cheshire Branch of the PAC had to be seen to be believed. Smoking ferrets, kidnapped pets, ransom demands, slide show stooges, strippers, poaching each others swims and sabotaging tackle were just a few of the goings on that I would dare put into print, there are even more stories that must remain secret forever, or at least until you buy me a drink or two at the next meeting. One thing is for sure though; they were happy days, times which I now look back on with great nostalgia and fond memories.
Looking back now I’d say it’s about 15 (or is it 20) years since I last attended a region 31 meeting. Back then we were known as the old St. Helens Region whose members had a bit of a reputation, well a lot of a reputation actually and that reputation spanned our exploits both on and off the water! Still, needs must, and when I joined I was a relative novice to specimen angling, and I considered it a great opportunity to learn from other, more experienced anglers so I rolled up every fourth Thursday to see what all the fuss was about and I loved every minute of it!
Over the next few years I threw myself into the group, attending all the meetings, fish-ins and competitions and soon became a regular member. As time passed I made some great friends in the group, some of which, like Eric Edwards, Kev Dunne and Steve Plant, I still occasionally fish with. Fishing and socialising with these guys had a real influence on me and I have no doubt in my mind that joining this group made me the angler I am today, the advice support and even p*sstaking that came my way as I embarked on a massive leaning curve meant that not only did I soon become as successful as the other guys in the group, it also ensured I grew a skin as thick as a rhino’s hide.
Don’t get me wrong, the more experienced guys didn’t give all there secrets away readily, and why should they, specimen fishing in the North-West is as hard as it has ever been so why should people who have put huge amounts of work into location, bait, techniques, etc. spill the beans to a new kid on the block, that would be plain stupid.
No, what I did was listen, both to the guys in the meetings and to those people generous enough to give talks and slide shows. Slowly I learned from these anglers, I also continued to learn from my own experiences, not just in pike fishing but for fishing for large bream, tench, barbel and chub. It was then I started to give a little info back, not to everyone but to those who I trusted and knew wouldn’t take advantage of the information. From here on it was plain sailing, and I began to really reap the benefits, remember that openness, trust, integrity and respect, are all things that can only come with time and need to be earned rather than expected. Once you are in a position to give something back then you will see just how readily people will offer help, advice and the odd secret location.
I suppose what I’m saying is in joining a group like this, don’t expect it to be an instant gateway to all the best waters in the North West, that simply won’t happen. First you should immerse yourself in the club, the people, the outings, etc it is really only by doing this that will ensure you reap the benefits, and make no mistake, they are many.
Give Jon your support, he’ll need it, I know I helped out as RO, events organiser and several other roles when I was in the old Region 31 and it can be a hard, thankless task. Attend the fish-in’s and social occasions; (even now some of my favourite memories are from club outings and piss-ups) you won’t be disappointed.
Personally I fully support Jon’s efforts in reforming the Pike Anglers Club Region 31 and will be doing what I can to try and make it a success. For my part I’ll be contributing the occasional piece for the newsletter and be attending as many of the meetings as I can. Hopefully I’ll see some of you at the monthly meetings, if so please come and say hello…I’m looking forward to it already.
Gary Knowles
Gary thanks for your input & support mate, much appreciated & I look forward to your slideshow in December - Jon
8. Funnies & Other Stuff
Funnies:
I thought I would re-count the tale of my dog Rocky & the bull. For anyone who knows my dog (he often accompanies me on fishing trips) he has a long line of misdemeanours under his belt which including shitting in a hire car, eating all the BBQ food of the worktop & chewing my misses car interior. Now the Rock is a placid meek & mild (although very mischievous) sort & he likes folk & dogs alike. What he does not however like is farm yard animals. We were fishing from a farmers field & there were 3 bullocks in the field, although fully grown they were (I was told) not mature & the farmer assured us they were harmless. Rocky decided to have a bit of a stand off with one which ended up in both dog & bull backing off, lucky though I! Anyway we were about to go & I was packing the car when I heard one hell of a commotion going on Rocky (ever sneaky) had done one & was having another crack at the bulls this time the biggest one! Now this thing was NOT going to back down, trouble was neither was the Rock! As bull charged dog darted, on realising it was not one of his better moves the dog bolted – straight for me! So there was I right next to the water car almost packed – no time to jump in & start it up, dog running towards me, bull in hot pursuit. Quick thinking I thought if I stay in the water (still had my waders on) & I grab the dog & move the bull will go straight over the drop off into 20+ feet of water! This was the plan, one that should suffice to give us time to make good our escape, OK so the plan was flawed the bull may drown & I’d have one not very happy farmer after me instead! So dog continues to try to get away from the bull, at one point its hoof caught him on the side of the head as he darted underneath it (cutting around his eye) he gains a little ground on the bull & legs it & jumps at me with the bull still in hot pursuit! The dog jumps at me & I grab his collar & throw him into the deeper water (although he doesn’t like doing he can swim) & I leg it along the margins the other way. The bull on hitting the water stops dead & retreats, moments later its quietly going about its business with its brothers. I guess that Bulls don’t like water! Me & the Rock made good our escape. Now he is a Staffordshire bulldog, but that’s taking the piss! On looking back we were very lucky I should not have trusted that sneaky dog of mine & should have kept him on the lead (I thought he was in the car when we were going but he had jumped back out) that Bull was BIG, I reacon that it could have knocked my people carrier over if it had charged it head on from the side of the car. The dog cried like a baby all the way home. Were I to take him back there again would he go for the bull again, you bet he would – he will never learn!
Send me your funnies to put in the newsletter - Jon
The rock enjoying a quieter moment!
Other Stuff:
Angling Coaching
A fair bit of my job at work involves presenting training of one type or another so last year I took the plunge & took the first sport Angling Coaching level 1 qualification WADAA were kind enough to sponsor me for this training. I completed my training in the Lake District, made some new friends & useful contacts. There is a lot more to it than just the fishing as you can imagine including having to undergo Police vetting to work with kids, indeed angling coaching teaches you nothing about fishing its all health & safety, child protection, codes of conduct & the like. This year I have done a bit of coaching & a bit of guiding. In June along with other coaches from WADAA I attended the Jackie Charlton Disabled anglers federation event at Esthwaite water, acting as a ghillie/guide for two severely disabled fly fishermen from the North East, as I told WAADA manager Neil Birkshaw I don’t fly fish but they just wanted me to control the boat for them & take them to likely spots around the lake & do the safety bit. One lad was wheelchair bound & the other was a hunchback with a club foot so as you can imagine it was a bit of a challenge getting onboard one of the standard trout fishing boats. Both of these lads had to take numerous tablets whilst we were fishing. Sod’s law it was windy & cold for June & it also threw it down with rain (not ideal conditions for fly fishing from a boat), however never have I met two more good spirited anglers, mad keen who love their fishing, not once did they complain about the weather or anything, I know some able bodied anglers who would have been moaning most of the day about the wind & the rain. That day Esthwaite didn’t fish it was highly coloured due to all the rain & it contained a lot of algae, its certainly not the Eshtwaite that I knew of 20 years ago, however despite that the lads couldn’t thank me enough for the days fishing & I think that next time anyone is tempted to moan about conditions not being right on the day they are fishing or other such trivialities they should spare a though for these two lads who were an inspiration to us all. I am looking forward to (hopefully) completing my advanced angling coaching level 2 qualification in the near future if I can find a sponsor!
Eric Edwards contacted me about setting up a teach-in in the local area for juniors & newcomers to the sport. I thought this was a fantastic idea as it’s good to put something back into our sport & I think this is definitely a way to shape future attitudes to pike angling in the area. Eric went along to the St Helens AA meeting & obtained permission to use a section or Carmill Dam. Eric mithered fellow anglers to donate gear for the event & he was inundated with stuff which included about 9 rods & 6 reels, my thanks to all who gave (the rods & reels will be retained for future events). We nearly had a show stopped when the PAC said that the insurance would not cover the event, my coaching insurance said they wouldn’t cover it either & in the claims culture we live in I just couldn’t risk running the event without adequate 3rd party liability insurance, this was a bit of a nightmare to obtain many insurers just would not take the risk, one insurer quoted over £1000! But after a bit of negotiating & limiting the number of events I finally obtained it to cover 3rd party liability for club meetings, outings, events & the club boat for £190 + tax. Myself & Eric co-ordinated the event & Eric made up 25 pike packs for participants. We promoted the event on the internet, in local tackle shops via a flyer that I made up & event in the local press. I had to make up a safety briefing, lesson plan & risk assessment for the event all pre-requisites enforced on us angling coaches by the powers that be. Myself & Eric met up the week before to finalise our plans. Although there was a lot of interest in the event you can never be certain that any number (if anyone) will turn up to these events, or on the other-hand you could be over-run with attendees. The unknown variables including the weather could make or break the event. The weekend of the event arrived & late notice I also had the nod from the solicitor that me & my family were moving house that weekend, hectic to say the least. I put up posters around the event area informing others not to fish there whilst Eric was busy sorting all the tackle for the event. I returned home Saturday to complete my move, early to bed & up & down at Carmill for 8am. Eric was already there waiting as was one young lad who had peddled down on his pushbike with full kit! Eric was I think close to the point of being thrown in by two burly match-men, the area had been double-booked for us & a match! Anyhow we negotiated a compromise with the Match lads moving round & we all managed to stay dry.
We had several stewards & assistant coaches including James Dean, Dave Cottrial, K. Devlen, John Woods, K. March, N. Stubbs & Dennis Bird. The event was split into 4 sections to cover various methods – ledgered dead-bait & trace making, float-ledger, lure & drifting & paternoster, the event ran 10-2 this giving 4 of 1 hour slots of each method. We had 4 coaches & a steward to accompany each group with a couple of extra stewards to take photo's take the registration, now all we needed were some attendees. By 10 we had about 25 kids accompanied by parents & about 5 adult newcomers to piking & the show was well & truly on the road. It was a bit repetitive for the coaches going through the same subject with 4 different groups, but the feedback from the coaches & the stewards was that they all very much enjoyed it, the kids were very well behaved & no doubt some very keen young anglers amongst them. All the kids received one of the pike starter packs made up by Eric from the stuff that had been donated.
Overall the event was an astounding success, even the idiot in the speedboat couldn’t spoil it for us despite his best efforts, St. Helens AA have kindly left an open door to us for future events. My thanks to everyone who attended & to all those who gave gear for us to give away, without each & every one of you the event could not have succeeded. My special thanks to Eric Edwards for all his time & effort in co-ordinating the event with me. Sadly we never got chance to show unhooking a pike as we all blanked, well you cant have everything can you now!
Jon Neafcy explaining ledgered dead-baiting to a group of prospective pikers
Eric Edwards has them enthralled with the art of the lure
James Dean showing them how It’s done with the paternoster
Dennis Bird showing attendees the business end of things on the float ledger rig
Festivities
I’m thinking of making the December meeting a bit of a festive do, we already have a great guest speaker for the night (Gary Knowles) I’ve told Gary that the Father Christmas outfit is optional! I’m prepared to put on a sandwiches & pies etc. if anyone thinks that would be a good idea? (let me know lads!) For the April meeting our presentation night I’m not booking a slide show as there will be enough to go through & I’m sure that Martin James will keep us entertained anyway, I am however thinking of doing a pike fishing quiz as a bit of a laugh with a prize for the best score I’m also thinking of a tackle auction (10% towards club funds) as this has gone down well with other regions. Remember that it’s YOUR club so your ideas, suggestions & help are much needed.
Local Scene
I’ve wrote to local angling clubs informing them of our Region in an attempt to promote pike welfare in the region. I’ve wrote to the Wigan flashes management committee informing them of the club & what we are about, I’ve offered to attend their meetings & I await their response. I am also offering local angling clubs free angling coaching sessions for their new/inexperienced members who fish for Pike as well as offering to do a talk on pike fishing. As I’ve already said Eric Edwards & myself have kicked this off with the 1st local coaching event to get us started. If anyone is interested in helping me make contact with the local angling clubs then please let me know
Situations Vacant
Assistant R/O
I’m looking for an assistant R/O to generally help me out with the running of the club, if you have a little spare time & you think that you could help me out please let me know, I’m sure that we can sort out the who does what between ourselves over a pint, it would be nice to have a few fishing trips together too.
Blog Master
Dave Lumb has been kind enough to set up a blog for the region (cheers Dave) however I’m looking for someone to keep it upto date & jazz it up a bit (OK a lot as there is next to nothing on it at the moment!) as my PC skills aren’t upto the job, so this is one either for the Assistant R/O or another member. If you have a look at the Lincoln region’s blog they have a great blog & I’d like to aim for something like that if at all possible (I’ve been in touch with the Lincoln Region & they are willing to give our blog master a hand)
Club Outings
I’m looking for a volunteer to upkeep the scores from the club outings if you would like to do this please let me know (maybe this is something the assistant R/O could do?)maybe going forward this could include helping me organise the club outings.
Club Accounts
I’m looking for someone to do some very basic accounts for us to keep a track of club funds, this could also include taking the money on the door for slideshows etc.
Personally I’m not bothered if the same person does all of the above or if a few members do one of the above tasks each (Jon)
PAC late Summer evening Lure Event
In August I attended a summer lure event with the Wakefield region of the PAC, it was for 4 hours in the evening on the River Hull, it was just a bit of a laugh & it was more to get the lads together before the ‘Piking season’ got going. As my parting gift to the region (other than me leaving that is!) I donated a trophy for the biggest haul of pike which I presented on the bank. The Wakefield region are making this an annual event & I wondered if anyone would be interested in us doing something similar? If so I’m sure I could arrange it for one Saturday evening in September 2008, maybe I could even arrange a BBQ or a few butties at a local pub (maybe at the Caledonian?) or at mine after if anyone is interested let me know & I will add it to our calendar of events.
Presenting the lure outing trophy for Wakefield Region at the river Hull to Andy Naylor
Club Boat!
Region 31 recruit James Dean from Wigan (not the James Dean) has kindly given me a 9.6ftx4.11ft fibreglass dinghy – thanks mate. The boat is in it’s original gel coat & has had no major repairs, it has built in buoyancy tanks in the front & rear & two bench seats & its quite stable for a little boat, I field tested it up at loch Ard in Scotland & it performed fine. We tried to get permission to leave the boat up at Bala but for various reasons that I won’t bore you all with here we failed. So I will leave the boat at my house, it is car topable & can easily be carried by two men, members can use it for a few quid by booking it though me. I have a spare life jacket & I’m sure I can sort a set of oars & some basic anchors if anyone needs them I will also supply a couple of ratchet straps. Going forward maybe we could look to use some club funds to buy a small electric or petrol outboard for the boat (its short shaft & would take upto a maximum of 4 hp), but lets see if we can get one for free first, so if anyone is replacing an old electric or petrol outboard then please consider donating your old one to the club & if we are being really cheeky maybe someone could donate a leisure battery too?! I wouldn’t advise to use a small boat like this when the weather is too rough or on a massive water, anyhow it should be fine for when the weather is not too bad on the majority of venues & should help none boat owners get afloat for a day if they want to try boat fishing out without the expense of buying their own boat. With a sensible amount of tackle it’s ideally a one man boat however it may be OK for two for just a bit of lure fishing or with the absolute minimum of gear. I will be doing the boat up a little bit adding a wooden floor, carpet & filling the buoyancy tanks with buoyant foam. If you haven’t boat fished before have a good chat with someone who is an experienced boat angler before going afloat (there are a few experienced boatmen around) if you can get someone else to show you the ropes before you go afloat alone so much the better & NEVER compromise your Safety. Any use of the boat will be strictly at your own risk, it’s there for your own benefit as a regional member. I have paid the 1st years third party liability insurance which covers any club members use of the boat (3rd party liability only), transportation of the boat is not covered & you will need to check this with your own car insurance to ensure that you are covered. Whilst fishing all PAC members are themselves covered by the PAC’s insurance however this does not extend to 3rd party liability for boating accidents or to the boat hence our including the boat in our policy. Some anglers also take out separate tackle insurance however etc. that’s up-to you. To use the boat you must be both a PAC & a Region 31 member for insurance reasons. All I will ask is that you use the boat safely, sensibly & responsibly & you look after it, if anyone damages it then I’d expect them to make good the repairs. If your coming to the club outings some of the venues permit boat fishing & the club boat is available for booking (I can’t guarantee it but I may even be able to transport it to the venue on outings for you if need be!)
The club boat in all it’s current glory:
Newsletter & Slideshows:
As I‘ve already said I will look to produce a newsletter Oct-April so any material that you can send me would be much appreciated. Maybe we can even forward some stuff (articles etc.) to Mr Fickling for use in Pikelines which would be good press for the region. I’m looking for a name for the newsletter, please send my your ideas, prize for the one we use. If you are able to put together enough material to do a slideshow then please let me know & I will book you in for next winter, it is not just our own but other regions who would be interested I’m sure as speakers can be in high demand & short supply, they must be as a few have even booked me to do a slideshow for them! Seriously though if you haven’t got enough material yet to do a slideshow but you would like to be involved then forward some pics & details to me & I could put together a ‘Region 31 Road Show’ Power-point presentation with sections on beginners, veterans (Eric!) etc. & on different specialities e.g. big water piking, local waters etc. this way is you want to be involved you could have a go at presenting a section of the slideshow.
Adds:
I have included some useful local tackle shop adds, these guys I hope will be supporting the club, so in return if we can support them by shopping there then that would be good.
EAC sponsored our angling coaching session on Carmill dam – thank-you
Platt Bridge Tackle 01942 864777
Platt Bridge Tackle have kindly offered to give Region 31 members a discount if you show your membership card
Harry’s Tackle on Old Road in Ashton has been providing a quality service to local anglers for many, many years – 01942 728532
9. Club Awards
I have donated some trophies to give us all something to aim for & details of the club awards are as follows.
Club awards will run from 1ST March – 1ST March, presentations will be made at the April meeting.
Photos are to be submitted to the R/O for adjudication for club awards (a few words on the capture is not essential but would be appreciated for the newsletter etc.)
Award
Details
Club Outings Trophy
Most points from club outings league table
Biggest Pike (weight)
Speaks for itself!
Biggest Local Pike (Weight)
Within 30 mile radius of HQ
Most Doubles Caught
Speaks for its self
Pike Angler of the Year
This award will be based on contribution to the club & to pike fishing NOT just on numbers of big fish caught (votes to R/O please)
Significant Achievement
(R/O’s Award)
This award will be presented at the R/O’s discretion for any special or significant achievements
Pennines challenge trophy
South Lancashire V’s Wakefield PAC Regions annual event (trophy for biggest haul of pike by an individual)
Club Outings Points Awards
Club outings points are based on trust however all doubles should be weighed & where ever possible witnessed & a photo is always appreciated for the club archives/newsletter etc.
Fishing times will be agreed in advance, you may fish before & after these times however your fish will not count towards your points.
Criteria
Points awarded
Attending Club outing & fishing
10
‘Jack’ (under 10lb)
5
Double 10-15lb
10
Double 15.01-19.15
15
20+
25
25+
35
30+
50
All club awards will be presented at the April meeting, the winners name will be engraved on the trophy (all trophies to be returned the following year) for this our first year I have booked angling legend, Radio presenter & all round great angler Martin James to do the honours of presenting the trophies to the winners.
I’m paying the balance on the trophies & collecting them from Garswood Trophies in time to show them off at the first meeting. I will include a photo of them in the next newsletter.
Conclusion:
I hope that you have enjoyed this our first newsletter & that it has given you a taste of the things to come & that it has given you a flavour for what a few blokes who go Pike fishing can achieve collectively if they put their minds to it! Last but by no means least my thanks to Pete Green & Eric Edwards who have been my ‘mentors’ on the road to becoming R/O & who’s advise & guidance have been most valuable to me.
Tight Lines
Jon Neafcy
R/O Region 31 PAC GB
Wigan Piker!