Leeda Is Going Places
It’s trade show season and the first I visited was the Leeda show in Bromsgrove last week. Through brands like Wychwood Carp, Wychwood Game and MAP, Leeda have been introducing more innovative new product than virtually anyone else – and because products like MAP’s meat cutter and hook retainer have been smashing their targets, the teams are getting the go ahead to continue to innovate.
There are a number of products I can’t talk about on here that look particularly impressive but won’t be on the shelves until next year or officially launched until the Tackle & Guns Show 2011. However, if you fly fish you will certainly want to look at the new saltwater fly reel that’s been a long time in the development stage and won best product at EFFTEX. I did actually attend EFFTEX in Amsterdam this year and Leeda had one of the best and most interesting stands and I know they are already well ahead of target for the year and that their team of anglers is really committed. They seem to be a company on the up.

Mellings Is Midland Angler Of The Year
Wayne Mellings is the 2011 Midland Angler Of The Year after posting a perfect two-point scorecard at Solihull’s Barston Lakes.The competition, which I set up with fishery owner Nigel Harrhy some nine years ago when I was editor of Midland Angler magazine, sees 40 top anglers fishing two matches on the same peg – three hours on the feeder, then three hours on the pole.Maver Midlands captain Wayne drew unfancied peg 105 on the roadside bank, but he still managed to win his section both times and that was good enough for the trophy.In the first match Wayne weighed in 24lb of F1s and skimmers fishing a pellet Method feeder with Dynamite Baits Monster Tiger Nut Pellets on the hair rig. The next heat saw him bag an impressive 34lb of skimmers by feeding 4mm Tiger Nut pellets over sloppy groundbait on the long pole. Wayne was the only angler with two section wins. Former winner Richie Hull looked on course to take the crown again after winning his section on the first match, but just missed out when Nigel Harrhy landed a 10lb carp on the whistle to finish with three points and a 66lb total.

Giant Ravensthorpe Rainbow
Highlight of the week of trout fishing at Ravensthorpe is the capture of a whopping 14lb 2oz rainbow trout to Andy Kress. Andy was out fishing with his son and a friend only 100m from the lodge when he managed to tempt the fish, which is just 6oz short of this season’s best. The fish was in great condition with a giant tail and put up quite a fight.The week has seen the rod average drop a little to around three fish per angler but the dry fly sport has once again been good with several good fish coming to nymphs as well. David Church of Naseby took a personal best rainbow of 10lb 13oz on a size 12 olive buzzer - it beat his previous best fish of 9lb 5oz.  Bank anglers along the dam are enjoying better sport working nymphs and Buzzers or black and green lures between the stocking chute and the valve tower.  In overcast conditions you can’t beat fishing small dry patterns from a drifting boat. Parachute Adams, Klinkhammers, Black Hoppers and F Fly are good patterns to offer and it is important to keep degreasing leaders and applying the right amount of floatant to flies for consistent sport. Fish will rise freely all day providing there is enough cloud and the largest concentrations of fish are still well out from the shore.

Harrell Smashes Severn Record
Outside of the region but I think well worth reporting, the River Severn match record has been obliterated by Dave Harrell with an incredible 213lb weight. Fishing in the Upton-on-Severn Festival, Dave, who used to edit Match Fishing magazine in Daventry and only recently moved out of the area, drew a plum peg which is not usually used in matches but is known to hold a big head of big bream to 9lb. Casting a feeder packed with fishmeal groundbait and brown crumb laced with casters and chopped worm about two thirds of the way across the river into 12 feet of water, the former England international was straight into fish and never looked back, bringing 38 bream to 8lb to the net. He started aggressively with worm on a size 12 hook with 8lb mainline and a 0.20mm hooklength. But once he realised how many fish he had in front of him he went even more on the attack, switching to a size 10 hook with three worms and a 0.23mm hooklength. The weight is believed to have beaten the old River Severn match record by over 50lb. “I knew the peg had form as my friend Matt Maginnis had pleasure fished it and caught well in the week. So when I loaded the car I decided to put two keepnets in, just in case,” said Dave, who is now operating a guiding service on the big river – see http://www.daveharrellangling.com/ .

Fish O Mania Venues Good For Midlanders
The venues for the 2012 Fish O Mania competition are out and it’s good news for Midlands anglers with five of the 16 qualifiers taking place in the region. Moorlands Farm isn’t in the line-up this year, but Maver Larford is on May 5th, in addition to Makins Fishery on April 21st, Woodland View Fishery on April 25th, Tunnel Barn Farm Fishery on May 26th and Boldings on June 9th. The competition sees one angler qualifying from each round for the Sky Sports televised £25,000 winner-takes-all final at Cudmore Fishery. The full list of qualifiers and ticket application details can be found in the news section of www.total-fishing.com .

Late Switch Good News For Sean
Low water levels at Boddington Reservoir forced organisers to move the British Waterways Stillwater Championships to Blythe Waters at Solihull, and with high winds blowing competitors were apprehensive. However, the top three anglers all weighed in over 37lb with Dynamite Baits Backed Sean Huggins taking the £3,000 top prize thanks to a 55-7-0 bag from peg 6 on Willow Pool. Birmingham’s Grant Albutt continued his impressive form in big events, taking the £1,200 second placed prize thanks to a 48-3-0 bag from peg 4 on Willow.
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Results

John Mac Memorial, Packington Somers, Meriden, Warks, Molands Mere, Sun (40 fished)Dave Elliott (Packington) 48-14-0, carp, pellet feeder, peg 60; Max Higgott (Rods and Reels hinkley) 45-8-0; Lee Richards (Packington) 42-7-0; Andy Findlay (Preston Innovations/Korum) 38-0-0.

Kobra Feeders, Dynamite Baits Makins, Wolvey, WarksWed, Lake 2: Chris Harrison (Baileys of Warwick) 182-0-0, carp, straight lead and pellet, peg A20; Pete Wood (Coalville) 69-4-0; Terry Phillips (Attleborough Angling) 55-10-0. Thurs, Crater Pool: Dave Kent Long Eaton Victoria) 58-12-0, carp, pole and meat in the margins, peg 6; Dave Hicken (Disco) 44-6-0; John Adamson (Kobra Feeders) 31-0-0.

Mosella Manor Farm Leisure, HarvingtonWed, Middle Pool: Mark Russell (Banbury Gunsmiths) 67-10-0, carp and tench, pole and pellet, peg 25; James Berry (Manor Farm Leisure) 50-6-0; Lee Rich (Manor Farm Leisure) 45-4-0. Thurs, Island Pool: Chris French (Swindon) 86-6-0, carp and tench, pole, pellet and groundbait feeder, peg 17; George Goergen (Sensas France) 82-4-0; Barry Saunders (Manor Farm Leisure) 77-0-0. Sun, Island Pool: Steve Seabourne (Wye Angling) 110-2-0, carp and tench, pole and pellet, peg 16; Horace Davis (Rover ford Radiators) 96-8-0; Colin Woodward (Smithys Angling) 82-8-0; Aaron Britnell (Mosella Lobbies) 64-8-0.

Packington Somers, Meriden, WarksWed, Molands Mere: Lee Richards (Packington) 69-3-0, carp, pole and waggler with pellet, peg 2; John Adamson (Youngs Tunnel Barn Farm) 61-0-0; John Burchell (Packington) 52-8-0. Sat. 27, Gearys Level: Andy Findlay (Preston Innovations/Korum) 89-9-0, carp to 17lb, Method and meat, peg 18; Steve White (Kobra Feeders) 41-8-0; Lee Richards (Packington) 41-4-0.
Dams and Lock Harry England Memorial, Birmingham-Fazeley Canal, Minworth/Tyburn, Sun (38 fished)Mick Hatchard (Shakespeare) 15-0-8, roach, pole, caster and hemp, peg 154; Dave McCall (Shakespeare) 11-14-8; John Cartwright (Mosella Black Country) 11-8-8; Kevin Perry (Maver Tipton Van den Eynde) 10-2-0; Sam Rushton (Maver Tipton Van den Eynde) 8-14-0; Neil Turner (Maver Tipton Van den Eynde) 8-5-0.

Garbolino Tunnel Barn Farm, ShrewleyMon, House Pool 2: Rob Swain (White Hart Birmingham) 112-9-0, F1s, skimmers, roach and perch, pole and maggot at 7m and 9m fished shallow, peg 3; Dave Callaghan (Measham Redfins) 96-6-0; John Stone (Tunnel Barn Farm) 76-6-0; George Goergen (Sensas France) 68-14-0. Wed, House Pool 2: Richard Knowles (MCM) 92-0-0, F1s, skimmers, roach and perch, pole and pellet at 16m, peg 25; Pete Hancox (Birmingham) 89-0-0; Pete Rice (Bag Em Baits) 61-9-0; Wayne Ainsworth (Mid-City) 60-12-0. Thurs, Canal Pool: Pete Hancox (Birmingham) 131-4-0, F1s and carp, pole and pellet to the island and down the edge, peg 10; Ronnie Biggs (OHMS) 83-8-0; Colin Constable (Tunnel Barn Farm) 79-11-0; Les Wetton (Tunnel Barn Farm) 76-0-0. Thurs, 48 Veterans, Club Pool and House Pool 1: Brian Wright (Tunnel Barn Farm) 79-0-0, F1s and carp, pole and pellet at 8m, peg 17, Club Pool; John Berry (Tunnel Barn Farm) 78-13-0; Cliff Constable (Tunnel Barn Farm) 77-0-0; Graham Wright (Tunnel Barn Farm) 71-15-0. Sat, House Pool 2: Pete Rice (Bag Em Baits) 157-2-0, F1s, pole and pellet at 3m and down the edge, peg 3; Paul Newell (Kings Mill Redditch) 123-2-0; Stu Palser (Shakespeare) 116-7-0; Richard Knowles (MCM) 113-3-0; Pete Caton (Dynamite Baits/Banbury Gunsmiths) 99-2-0. Sun. 30, New Pool: Paul Yates (Drennan) 88-12-0, F1s, skimmers, roach and bream, pole and maggot at 12m, peg 1; Stu Palser (Shakespeare) 80-15-0; Mark Malin (Mosella) 76-13-0; Pete Caton (Dynamite Baits/Banbury Gunsmiths) 70-14-0.

Goodyear AC, Willow Marsh Fishery, Shenstone, Dragonfly PoolSteve Thomson (Goodyear AC) 59-9-0, nine carp, straight bomb and pellet, peg 3; Barry Lewis (Goodyear AC) 29-2-0; J Gallacher (Goodyear AC) 19-8-0.

Moorlands Farm, HartleburyTues, Worcs, Moors and Bank pools: Paul Cartwright (Moorlands) 89-2-0, carp, pole and paste down the edge, peg 18, Moors Pool; Chris Clemson (Dudley Angling Club) 76-0-0; Pete Mace (Moorlands) 64-10-0; Jeff Clarke (Moorlands) 64-8-0. Wed over 50s, Silver and Middle Pools: Trevor Hodges (Weatherton Roofing) 127-2-0, F1s, pole and pellet at 2m, peg 14, Silver Pool; Barry Chesson (Park Inn) 110-12-0, Paul Foster (Starlet Veterans) 107-4-0; Mal Watson (Daiwa Gordon League) 89-8-0.Thurs, Meadow Pool: Martin Lafevre (Moorlands Gold) 103-8-0, carp, pole and pellet at 6m, peg 47; Ziggy Lees (Severn Trent) 74-6-0; Roger Finch (Dudley Bait and Tackle) 65-2-0; Paul Foster (Starlet Veterans) 63-8-0. Fri pm, Meadow Pool: Roman Skura (Moorlands) 157-2-0, carp, pole-fished mussel down the edge, peg 12; Glyn Clarke (Browning Spa) 122-7-0; Lee Boden (Stonehenge) 121-4-0; Colin Pace (Colin Pace Angling Academy) 113-14-0. Sat, Bank, Moors and Island Pools: Dave Johnson (Club 2000) 109-6-0, carp, pole and paste at 6m, peg 13, Meadow Pool; Mick Henshall (Fosters) 109-0-0; Brett Wilkes (Dudley) 98-8-0; Mick Lutwytch (Fosters) 98-6-0. Sun, Meadow and Bank Pools: Colin Pace (Colin Pace Angling Academy) 120-4-0, carp, pole and pellet down the edge, peg 20, Bank Pool; Richard Kings (St Davids Angling Club) 118-8-0; Des Ravenall (Colin Pace Angling Academy) 85-2-0; Wayne Mellings (Maver Midlands) 81-14-0.

Stirrup Cup, Birmingham-Fazeley Canal, Curdworth, BirminghamAlan Newman (Stirrup Cup) 7-3-8, bream and small fish, pole-fished punched bread, peg 24; Sam Lewis (Three Ems) 5-8-8; Glen Morris (Stirrup Cup) 4-1-8; Darren Barratt (Stirrup Cup) 3-12-0; Graham Massey (dams and Lock) 3-11-8; Mal Howard (Cornerstone AC) 3-4-12.

Wassell Grove Fishery, Summer League, Round Six, Brook PoolTrevor Hodges (Weathertech Roofing) 94-8-0, carp to 6lb, pole and pellet, peg 4; Kevin Williams (Wolverhampton) 76-15-0; Terry Homer (Wassell Grove) 63-8-0; Paul Hadlington (Beech Tree Miners) 54-3-0; Bill Hill (Wassell Grove) 42-15-0.

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