Start your winter at the PAC Convention

Mick Brown - who'll be helping out with junior coaching at the convention

There's no better way to kick off your winter campaign than the Pike Anglers Club's convention.

That's the message from Britain's top predator club, as it gets set for this year's bash at Kettering on Saturday, October 1.

"It's going to be a great day out for pike anglers of all ages, with something for both seasoned hands and beginners," said organiser Colin Goodge.

"We've got some top speakers, all the latest kit and everything you need to get your winter off to a good start."

New attractions include a programme of free junior teach-ins the PAC hopes will inspire the pike anglers of the future.

Top names like Mick Brown, Gord Burton, Eric Edwards and Denis Moules will be showing the youngsters everything from how to tie a trace, to how to make their own lures.

There's plenty for the grown-ups too - including speakers Dave Horton, Micky Jones and Stephen Harper for starters, in the 500-seat theatre at Kettering Conference Centre.

There'll also be stalls with all the latest tackle - including for the first time a tank where you can check out the actions of the latest lures from Fox. Bargain hunters will be making a beeline for the secondhand tackle and lure stalls.

Mick Brown will also be launching his new book Mick Brown, Professional Pike Angler.

There's free admission for accompanied juniors - and a free "goody bag" of tackle essentials for those joining the club on the day, at the reduced price of £7.50.

Supporters Pikemaster and Pikepro will be donating a pair of forceps, float, lure trace, twin treble trace and other rig bits worth £20 for every junior who signs up on the day.

The Convention is being held at Kettering Conference Centre on Saturday, October 1.

Parking's free. Doors open 9am. Admission is £10 adult members, £15 non-members. For more information see the PAC website http://www.pacgb.com,/ or follow @pikelines on Twitter.

Rod licence fee frozen for three years

Rod licence fees are set to be frozen at their present levels for thre next three years, it emerged today.

But while the charge for an adult licence will remain at £27 until 2014, predator anglers who routinely use three or more rods will still have to buy two.

Full story here.

Ever wondered what lures sound like..?

We've all heard of buzzbaits and lures which are designed to kick out vibes to attract the pike.

Mepps have got some audio clips on their website, which give an idea of how different lures make different noises.

"It's pretty easy to see the flash of a Mepps spinner blade as it's pulled through the water, but hearing just what it sounds like has been a well kept secret up until now," the site says.

"It took us a while, but we've managed to digitally capture the sound of several Mepps spinners as they are retrieved. And, what we recorded even managed to surprise us.

"Remember, what you are about to hear are the actual sounds produced by Mepps spinners as they are retrieved. These sounds have not been enhanced or altered in any way. We make no claim as to how fish interpret these sounds, but fish do hear them."

Of its Aglia "Musky Killer" spinner, it adds: "The sound of the #5 Aglia blade is steady and deep with a rapid repetitive thump. The Magnum Musky Killer blade sounds similar, but, the thump is deeper and slower.

"Both sound like a slow moving locomotive, and both are very easy to hear underwater."

Click here to go to the sound clips, then just roll you cursor over each spinner to hear what it sounds like.

New safety campaign on the Broads

A new safety campaign has been launched to encourage boat users to wear life jackets on the Norfolk Broads - like these anglers fishing the Bure from a hire boat.

So far there have bee four deaths in the area this year. More here.

Click here for the PAC's guide to safety afloat.

Cormorants - are eagles the answer?

An interesting piece from a bird blog regarding cormorants - could white tailed sea eagles help keep their numbers down..? Read it here on Raptor Politics.

Moves to re-introduce the eagles - dubbed the flying barn door because of their 8ft wingspan - to Norfolk ended in controversy.

But apparently, there's nothing they like more than munching on a cormorant. Talking of which, local papers in Cumbria have been reporting a plague of cormorants of late.

But the Cormorant Watch website shows the Thames Valley is their current stronghold, with more than 400 sightings logged. Click here to report your sightings.

Download a free archive issue of Pikelines

If you follow us on Twitter, you'll know we've been uploading a few vintage copies of Pikelines to download for free. As well as some ground-breaking, entertaining articles, they provide a fascinating insight into how much pike fishing's changed over the years.

Click here to download Pikelines from August 1991. Click here to follow us on Twitter.

Mick Brown at PAC Convention with new book

Mick Brown, Professional Pike Angler, is the latest book on pike fishing. And you'll be able to get your hands on a copy - signed by Mick - at the PAC Convention.

Mick will be bringing copies of his latest - and long-awaited - book to Kettering for the biggest event in predator fishing on Saturday, October 1.


He told Pikelines: "The book is about my 20 years as a professional pike angler. It covers every thing I've had to do to make a living from pike fishing from sponsorships to TV work.

"It's not a rigs and methods book, its anectdotal but with a strong emphasis on my thoughts about pike behaviour and how they affect my tactics.

"It retails at £28.00 and is normally only available through my web site but I will be selling them at the PAC conference this year."

Lincolnshire-based Mick's one of a number of top pike anglers who will this year be taking time out to run junior workshops at the event, to help give the young pike anglers of the future a good start. "It's going to be a busy day," he said.

Pikelines magazine sneak preview

We're just putting the finishing touches to Pikelines before it goes off to the printers. August's magazine has a great piece on boat fishing basics from Eric Edwards, the next installment of Ivan Cooke's adventures on the Broads - and talking of adventures, John Synnuck's trekked thousands of miles to a Pacific Atoll to do battle with some exotic giants.

Nearer home, we've got all the latest on the forthcoming PAC Convention, at Kettering, on October 1 - including the final line-up for the day, more details on the junior coaching workshops and a picture of Neville Fickling wearing a deck-chair.

Keep 'em peeled for the postman...

Junior coaching on offer at PAC Convention

COACHING: Eric Edwards shows a youngster the ropes

This year's PAC Convention will feature special coaching sessions aimed at junior anglers.
Hat tip Eric Edwards, who's organised an interesting programme for the youngsters - not to mention Mick Brown, Gord Burton, Denis Moules, David Wolsoncroft-Dodds and Alan Dudhill; who'll all be lending a hand through the day.
With free admission to the Convention for accompanied juniors, we're hoping it will help encourage some of the pikers of the future.
"Several PAC regions now have qualified angling coaches within their ranks and many of them have offered their services to make it a great day for our younger pikers," said Eric.
"Mick Brown will be presenting the opening address at the junior event and we also have presentations by Gord Burton, Denis Moules and David Wolsoncroft-Doods."
Eric told Pikelines the emphasis would be "hands-on", with juniors getting the chance to build their own lure, make traces, learn abiout pike and try their hand at fly casting.
"The team of qualified coaches will be on haand to ensure no-one gets left out and give evryone one-to-one expert tuition," he went on. "What's more, thanks to Alan Dudhill and Pikemaster Traces everyone who joins the PAC at the new greatly-reduced price will receive a 'goody bag' containing lots of items that can get them started at fishing for pike."
Eric said he was determined to improve on the club's flagging junior membership and get more young people involved in our sport.
"Over the past year, as I've come into contact with many young people at PAC-run coaching events, it's become clear that there is a great demand for proper pike fishing tuition," he said. "This is our opportunity to swing our club's resources into gear and deliver what the youngsters want.
"I want to make this appeal to regional organisers: Talk to your members and encourage them to bring along a kid to the PAC Convention 2011 - and help preserve the future of UK pike fishing." More on the Convention here, here and here.

Help promote the PAC Convention

Here are a few easy ways you can help us to promote the PAC Convention.

- If you've got a blog or a website, please add the flyer above to help us spread the word.

- If you're on Facebook, please upload it to your pictures.

- If you're on twitter, please tweet it - here's a link to the picture, just copy into a tweet: http://ow.ly/5X4qq . You can follow us too - @pikelines, or click here .

- If you know anyone who's into pike fishing, e-mail them the link to let them know about predator fishing's biggest event.

Free download - vintage pike fishing magazine from 1991

Pike fishing's changed a lot over the years - see how much by downloading a free copy of Pikelines from August 1991. Click here to download PDF.

Members will be getting the latest modern-day equivalent in a few days' time, when Pikelines 133 hits their doormats. One of the benefits of belonging to the PAC is you get our acclaimed quarterly magazine.

PAC Convention update

One or two new details we can now reveal about this year's PAC Convention, being held on Saturday. October 1, at Kettering Conference Centre (left).

First of all, talks will be taking place in the centre's new 562-seat theatre. Apparently, they found a lure in the roof of the last one while they were clearing it out.

The new threare's where you'll fond speaker's Dave Horton (10am), Micky Jones (11.45am) and Stephen Harper (2.45pm); along with various awards and other presentations during the day.

We'll be telling you a nit more about the talks nearer the time, to whet your appetite. Once again, we think there's going to be something of interest to everyone.

For the first time, we'll be running a series of special junior teaching workshops throughout the day thanks to PAC stalwart Eric Edwards. See Pikelines for more details.

Trade stands confirmed as of today inlude The Tackle Shop (Gainsborough), ET Specialist Tackle, Franglais Fishing, The Pike Shop, Baitbox PikePro, Zoota Lures, Zandavan Products, Ultre Light Lures and Fox International; along with the popular second-hand tackle and lure stalls.

There'll also be a new books of interest to the pike angler on sale by the aothors - including Graham Booth's Pike Fishing History, Volume 1 and Mick Brown's new book Mick Brown: Professional Pike Angler.

Admission is £10 (members), £15 (non-members). Accompanied juniors free. Parking at the venue is also free.

British Pike Squad e-magazine

The British Pike Squad are training hard for the forthcoming international against Ireland in the Fens (October 8/9). Ever wondered who they are or how do you get picked for the team - or wanted to find out more about the roving wobbling tactics the squad have developed over the years..? They've just published a free e-zine on their website - click here to read it.

New hope or a cosmetic exercise..?

Are they finally going to let angling clubs and fishery managers protect their waters..? That's the question many pike anglers will be asking tonight, after Fisheries Minister Richard Benyon announced a review of the impact of cormorants, mergansers and goosanders and the effectiveness of current control measures.

Research out late last year showed that despite limited culling, cormorant numbers were on the increase.

More than 2,000 were culled in 2010, according to Swansea University. But overall numbers have increased from 18,000 in the mid-1990s, to a current estimate of 21,000.

Dr. Dan Forman, the academic who led the study, said cormorants can destroy a fishery. He said eight birds can kill 100 fish in one session, while the birds will return three or four times a day to a water and gorge themselves until stocks are exhausted.

The introduction to the latest review (full copy here) says: "It has been established, and broadly accepted across the EU, that cormorants can cause significant damage to fisheries and fish farms."

It goes on: "The review will also look at the current licensing system to see how this might be better tailored to customers' needs and consideration will also be given to the level of licensed lethal control currently available to fishery managers and landowners to manage fish eating birds. "

Anyone wishing to cull fish-eating birds currently has to apply for a licence from Natural England. Despite a complex form to fill in and the need to be able to prove that birds are having an adverse effect and other non-lethal methods have failed, officials estimate around 10pc of the cormorant population is culled annually.

But Natural England allow 2,000 cormorants a year to be culled because this number will not impact on the sustainability of the birds' overall population - this rationale echoes the EU Wild Bird Directive, whose interpretation in UK law states any cull must not threaten the "conservation status" of the species.

Factor this in, and it's clear the latest review might not have much scope to increase the numbers of birds being culled. Cynics might even see it as a cosmetic exercise unlikely to result in anything more than minor tweaks to the licensing procedure, such as a shorter form to fill in.

Buried in the Defra document announcing the review are a number of exclusions - options which have already been ruled out. The first states: "A national cull is not being considered for any of the three species as this would likely result in a long term decline in their population and would be inconsistent with the Birds Directive."

On the other hand, you might see the data gathering exercise which has been going on for some months as a sign that there could at least be some change in the wind. The Angling Trust has clearly had a steer that it needs to back its claims up with evidence - hence the website where anglers can report coromorant sightings. Click here to visit Cormorant Watch.

Another encouraging sign is Bruno Broughton - a senior fellow of the PAC - is one of three stakeholder advisors, along with Mark Owen from the Angling Trust. The other is Sarah Eaton, from the RSPB.

US State of Michigan agrees increased control measures - click here.

Cormorants - new review announced

Fisheries Minister Richard Benyon has announced a review of the impact of fish eating birds on our waters - but is it really fresh hope, or just a cosmetic exercise - see analysis here.

Defra has also published on its web site the terms of reference, scope and timeframes for what it calls "an evidence-led review of Defra’s current policy in relation to controlling the impact of predation on inland fisheries and fish farms from fish-eating birds, and, specifically, in relation to the threat of serious damage caused by cormorants, goosanders and red-breasted mergansers".



Mr Benyon's office said the review would be in four phases:



1) evidence and data gathering;



2) analysis and assessment;



3) public consultation if required;



4) recommendations.








The review is due to report its findings in early 2012. It comes after a campaign by the Angling Trust and other bodies to relax the complex licensing procedure needed to control comorants. The trust has already set up a website where anglers can report cormorant sightings.





Angling Trust Chief Executive Mark Lloyd said: "This review will be evidence-led and it is therefore vitally important that anglers keep reporting sightings of cormorants and other fish eating birds on our cormorant watch web.





"More than 25,000 birds have been logged on the web site in the first two months, which is a great start, but we will need data from throughout the year, and throughout the country if we are to make the case for change."






In a letter to the Angling Trust announcing the review, Richard Benyon said no firm decisions had been taken. But he added: "Given the current policy is more than five years old I am keen to ensure that we are able to offer fishery managers and landowners the right tools to ensure where fish eating birds are having an impact timely and effective action can be taken to prevent serious damage taking place."



There's more on the review on Defra's website here.

Research last year showed cormorants were on the increase - despite the cull. More here.

Keep in touch with the PAC via Blackberry, iPhone or Android

Reading this on a Blackberry or iPhone..? Then you'll notice we've tweaked the template for a trial to make it display better. You should find it makes it easier and faster to navigate.

More and more anglers are on Twitter these days - did you know you can follow the PAC as well..? Just follow @pikelines .

Warning over rod licence website

ROD LICENCE: Dont't get ripped off when you buy yours

Anglers are today being warned today not to buy their rod licences from a commercial website.

The fishingrodlicence.com website adds a £14 charge for "checking" applications.

The Angling Trust said the service was of no benefit to anglers because the Environment Agency (EA) does not require applications to be checked before submission.

As well as the extra charge, anglers buying their licences from the web site will not be able to go fishing until they receive their licence in the post.

The EA site offers a receipt and reference number which does allow people to fish while they are waiting for the licence to arrive.

The Angling Trust strongly recommends that all freshwater anglers buy their licence direct from the Environment Agency over the phone or via its website here, or from Post Offices and clearly authorised outlets.

The AT is raising the matter with Fisheries Minister Richard Benyon MP and Charles Walker, Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Angling Group.

Mark Lloyd, Chief Executive of the Angling Trust said: "This site offers no real extra service, but demands a 50pc surcharge on top of the rod licence fee and we urge all anglers to spread the word.

"We would encourage members who have concerns about this website to contact Consumer Direct and their MP.

"Any unsuspecting new anglers trying to buy their first licence might be put off by the inflated price and decide not to take up fishing."

Tonight the Environment Agency said: "The Environment Agency has no connection with this website, nor does it endorse its services.

"The service appears to be legal, however, we would like to point out that the Environment Agency does not require this check when someone buys their licence through the Agency’s website, over the counter at the Post Office or over the phone. An angler only has to give their name, age, proof of concession where necessary, and post-code and house number – a quick address search completes the rest."

British Waterways pledges to stop killing pike

FOI: Part of the paper trail over the BW pike cull

British Waterways has promised to stop killing pike on the canals it controls in the Midlands.

It comes amid revelations more than 100 fish were killed, after fears that one waterway had been illegally stocked with pike sent officials into a panic.

Rumours of a pike cull on the Birmingham & Fazeley Canal began circulating in January. More than 100 fish to 18lbs were said to have been removed from the Minworth stretch by electro-fishing.

Alerted by local anglers, we decided to take a look. Documents obtained by the PAC using Freedom of Information (FOI) laws confirmed nine electro fishing operations had been carried out since February 2010.

A spreadsheet supplied by British Waterways showed that in March 2010, 150 pike totalling 350kg in weight were removed from the Birimingham & Fazeley.

The same document showed that some 100 pike were removed from Chasewater and transferred to Tarddebigge Reservoir in April 2010, while a further 90 pike were removed from the Birmingham & Fazeley and relocated to Cudmore in January 2011.

FOI is a powerful tool when it comes to investigating the actions of the public bodies which control our waters. When requested, they are obliged to release internal correspondence and other papers.

Sometimes they are reluctant to do this. Documents released to the PAC showed local anglers who rightly wanted to know what was going on behind closed doors were fobbed off.

Senior officials tried to wriggle off the hook. First they didn't have the information to hand. Then it would cost "thousands" to collate it.

But when a complaint landed on the desk of the Waterways Ombudsman, British Waterways soon caved in.

In an e-mail dated February 24, 2011, Carl Nicholls, BW's fisheries and angling manager, confirmed the details of the cull carried out in March 2010.

"British Waterways was contacted by two angling clubs on the Birmingham & Fazeley Canal between Minworth and Curdworth with reports of large numbers of pike suddenly appearing in this stretch of canal," he wrote.

"Both clubs are long-standing on this water and other waters beyond this length and had never reported problems with pike. A number of rumours were also going around at the same time of a significant number of pike being illegally dumped into a Birmingham canal.

"In March 2010 we carried out an electro fishing survey to see if there was any truth in these rumours and the angling club's concerns. It was immediately clear that there were significant numbers of pike present in this two mile pound [pound = stretch of canal....].

"Due to the problem these pike were causing to both the angling club members and present silver fish stocks we decided immediate action should be taken.

"Having no health check or Section 30, it would have been illegal to have moved them to another water. We removed 150 pike for 350kg which were taken to Billingsgate."

Mr Nicholls's note adds that last October, 30 pike were removed from the same stretch of canal for a health check, which came back clear. In January 2011, a further 90 pike were removed - but this time, the fish were transferred alive to another water.

Questioned over the possible source of the pike which had suddenly appeared in the canal, Mr Nicholls said: "We never found out where the water was from where these pike were supposed to have come from. It was all rumours and hear say, but what was certain was the total number and sizes of the pike were not natural for a canal.

"The fish were very pale in colour, stumpy and their markings were not typical of canal pike, but of fish that hunted more in open waters."

This story has a happy ending - as they sometimes do, when pike anglers stand up for their fishing and refuse to be fobbed off.

The complaint to the ombudsman found its way up the food chain to John Ellis, BW's national fisheries manager. In his response, he stated had officials known how many pike they were likely to find when they elctro-fished the canal, they would have carried out a health check so they could relocate the fish elsewhere.

"You will be pleased to know that since then, British Waterways have come to an arrangement with a private fishery whereby they are willing to accept any pike in the event of there being a need to relocate them," said Mr Ellis. "As a result please be assured that British Waterways will no longer have to kill any pike."

Three top speakers for PAC Convention

Three top speakers and some new attractions are lined up for this year's Pike Anglers Club Convention.

Once again, we're heading for Kettering Conference Centre for the bash, on Saturday, October 1.

To start the ball rolling on stage we have Dave Horton, Dave has been a member of PAC for 27 years and is known throughout the pike fishing world as the author of Ultimate Pike.

Dave' talk is entitled “ 25 years of Piking the Highlights” so he will be taking usback down memory lane and what a trip that promises to be.

Next up on the oche is a Micky Jones, from Inverness. Micky`s talk is entitled “Setting the Heather Alight” his talk will cover his adventures of fishing throughout the Highlands, the final frontier in UK piking, with its relatively light angling pressure and untapped potential.

Last but not least is Stephen Harper, who over the years has not only landed many notable fishb from the Norfolk broads, but has also written two sought-after books on Broadland Pike.

Stephen's talk is entitled “Broadland; Past; Present; Future” It chronicles some of the changes Stephen has seen over 40 years on Broadland – both good and bad. His talk looks back on the illustrious past of Broadland and its pike fishing, how it was, and how it is, and how it should be.

This year we have tried to cater for the for the keen young Pike Anglers. Eric Edwards has kindly offered his services to set up a separate room for coaching which will include tackle and rig set ups, plus slides with a number of other top coaches on hand to helpanswer questions and give top class advice, those attending will each receive a goody bag.

Also this year the RNLI will be attending to give top advice on boat safety plus those attending an take along their boat floatation suites and life jackets for advice on their suitability for boatfishing, this is not to be confused with life jacket service.

There's free parking and entrance prices remain the same at £10 members/£15 non members with £5 back if you join the club on the day.

There'll also be stands large and small from all the big names in pike tackle, with all the latest gear on show; our second hand lure and gear stalls, bar, food and the chance to meet friends old and new at the country's biggest predator fishing event.

Poisson d'Avril carrot lure for pike fishing

Yep, we know what day it is.... But all you need to catch a pike is a carrot, according to this video clip.

Believe it or not, carrots were apparently wobbled in the Fens in times gone by. Along with parsnips, in coloured water.