HOME INTERNATIONAL SHORE CHAMPIONSHIP 2009

Once again Steven Rathbone was chosen to represent England in this competition fished over two days in Wales, also a new cap was chosen from our club to fish alongside Steven this is Oliver Mears.

The first day was fished on a flat shallow beach, the anglers were hoping to catch small flatfish. With about half an hour to go till the end of day one England had a one point lead, but as the lines were reeled in for the end of the day the other teams caught sizeable fish this placed England behind Wales & Scotland.

Day two: England had it all to do if they were going to win the match and the competition. The day dawned dull and damp, the beach that was chosen to fish was rough at each end and clean ground in the middle, the hope was for dogfish. One of the team pulled in a double shot of dogfish on his first cast, the team was doing well, with Steven and Oliver leading in their zones, England was also ahead in another zone. As the whistle blew for the end England had managed to win the day but most importantly won the competition for the third time in a row, well done to Oliver & Steven but most of all as this is a team event well done to the whole England team for doing their best, not getting disheartened after day one and winning the gold.

 

Steven & Ollie with their gold medals being congratulated by Club President Fred Bowditch

 

TIPS

1.    OKAY I WILL START OFF THE FIRST TIP: When you are fishing watch you rod tip at all times as fish can bite quick and remove your bait, if you don't see the bite you can't catch the fish.   2.    When you are putting your worm onto your hook, make sure you leave a little bit of the hook sticking out of the worm. So that when the fish bite they have some hook to get stuck on, instead of just sucking the worm off of the hook. If you cover the hook point with bait you will miss bites and lose fish". sent in by Connor Hallett   3.    When wrasse fishing in or around rocks watch your rod at all times so that you don’t loose the fish in a snag from the powerful dive of the wrasse and be quick to wind the fish in. Sent in by Steven Rathbone. 4.    If you are trying to tie your own rigs, then you should wet every knot with saliva before pulling it tight. This prevents the line rubbing and makes the knot slide up nice and tight without getting damaged. sent in by Connor Hallett. 5.    If you make your own rigs always make two or three of the same kind in case you lose one. You don't want to lose a rig that is catching fish, especially in a competition. You can also tie some of the same types of rigs with different sizes of hooks in case one size isn't getting any bites. Sometimes a smaller hook size can make all the difference between catching or not catching. sent in by Connor Hallett. 6.   When drawing pegs in a competition make sure you adapt to your swim.  e.g.. when your swim is in rocks then don’t float fish in small holes because the tide and wind will force the float into the rocks and you will lose tackle, also don’t use long rig snoods because the snoods will tangle around rocks. When fishing over sand for flatfish use long flowing rig snoods because the tide will give your bait natural movement which means they love it!! Sent in by Steve Rathbone. 7.   If you are float fishing and want to try more than one hook you can.  Either attach a 2 or 3 hook rig under your float with the weight at the bottom, or, attach a swivel between the top of the float and your bead and stop knot.  The second method allows you to try for Garfish on the surface and Mackerel and Garfish lower down. Sent in by Connor Hallett 8.   When float fishing for mackerel try changing the depth of your float, because mackerel don't always stay at the same depth. Also when casting your float be sure to have a strong stop knot because otherwise it will slip to easily. Sent in by Aiden Dean

TIME TO GET READY FOR 2010 JUNIOR MATCHES.

As many of you know the Saturday junior matches start on 10th April with the Fred Tolley Memorial Trophy, well now is the time to get your fishing tackle out and check it is ready for the season. 1. Rod: check the rings for any damage, as this could damage your line resulting in losing a good fish. If any rings are damaged replace them or get a new rod. 2. Reels: Check that the reel works and also check the line for any wear or damage & make sure the spool is filled to the correct level. If the line is damaged or not enough on the spool replace the line. 3. Hooks: Check that your hooks are not rusty & check that you have a good selection of sizes (size: 4, 6, and 10 are a good choice) It is sometimes cheaper to buy bulk boxes of 100 so why not club together with your fishing buddies and share the cost. 4. Weights: Check that you have enough to fish with and the correct weight for your rod. These are the main things you need to fish but some extras are: Scissors for cutting line and bait, beads, small spool of line for hook lengths (breaking strain will depend on how strong your main line is, always use a weaker hook length than the mainline), cutting board for bait, cloth's to wipe hands on (as your trousers are not suitable to wipe your hands on), seat.

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