No more carp-ing about bad weather

I've been chasing the rudd again, I just love their obliging ways and their fabulous deep red fins. Try a 'puddle-chucker' float, fished 18 inches deep, combined with a size 20 hook and single maggot - great fun if you can manage to hit the bites!

Keep firing in plenty of freebies to get the fish competing, then cast over the baited area and gently draw back into the target zone. Bites are fast and furious - it's great sport!

I noticed a few carp were cruising just below the surface and tried fishing for them, again with a short hooklength, but using quarter inch cubes of luncheon meat as bait. Of course, they took every freebie I catapulted in - and totally left the one with the hook in, which is typical carp tactics ... very frustrating. I managed to catch a small 4lb-er though. Great fun on float tackle.

The Barlow Open Day held last weekend was a great success, with more than 85 people having a go on the coarse-fishing coaching sessions, and 35 people tried their hand at fly-fishing - it was a great day for getting hooked on fishing!

Talking of hooked ... I've just got to share this picture, above right, with you all.

While at the Fish 'o' Mania final, 13-year-old Aidan Flavell of Pontefract had a short session with an NFA angling coach and landed this huge carp weighing in at 17lbs - what a start to his angling career.

Rain stopped the CLA Game Fair for the first time in its 49-year history.

The adverse conditions over the last few weeks meant that the organisers pulled the plug on the event scheduled to open on Friday July 27, because of health and safety considerations.

No, it wasn't politically correct red tape - the grounds at the Harewood Estate were so water-logged that driving was deemed too dangerous.

Other concerns were the difficulty in maintaining food hygiene in the presence of excessive mud, the possibility of emergency vehicles getting stuck and mud being carried onto the local roads, potentially causing traffic problems.

The CLA Game Fair is always well worth a visit - let's hope we have better conditions next year.

Mick Rowe, organiser of the Buddy Bus System, will be visiting Anston Ponds on August 17and Barlow Fisheries on the 18th.

If you are in the area, pop in for a chat - he will be pleased to see you.

Mick is championing the less-able anglers among us.

He can offer advice on specialised angling equipment, such as trollies, attachments, platforms etc, all designed to help the disabled angler continue with his fishing.

Mick is also compiling a nationwide database of angling helpers who are willing to take someone fishing or just lend a hand.

Come on, you anglers, let's get behind this worthy cause. You can contact Mick via e-mail - [email protected] - for more information.

Finally, Dave Womble of the Don Valley Specimen Group has sent us a great a story of his A1 Pit big bream captures - just click to www.AnglersToday.co.uk - Anglers Tales page for more details.

If you’ve got a story to tell, or angling photos, don’t hesitate to send them in for publication. Have a look on the Your Pics pages on the website - they’re full of submitted photos of happy, successful anglers. Are you on there?