Here at Korum we have a very talented team of consultants. They spend all the time they can on rivers, lakes and canals catching fish with Korum tackle. We want to share their experiences with you, so you can take advantage of their expertise. Here you will find regular stories and latest catch reports from our team, and other articles of interest.
Feb 19 2010
Last weekend I finally got back on the banks of a gravel pit in search of roach. It was my first roach trip of the season after weeks and weeks of ice cover making fishing impossible. With a frost-free weekend forecast I took Friday afternoon off and arrived to find the lake empty. This was good and bad – good because I had the pick of swims, bad because it suggested the fishing was going to be hard.
Feb 17 2010
Tuesday saw myself and father heading towards the river Wey at Addlestone, a Cemex venue that has been kind to me in the past and a small stretch of river that lm sure anyone prepared to explore could turn over a few surprises. Arriving at 8am l soon questioned my reason to fish the centre pin as the metal constantly on my bare hands soon had me reaching for the warmth of my pockets.
Feb 10 2010
I think I’ve become a hypochondriac this year, as after the cough comes an ear infection, so getting out during the early part of the week was impossible. I have been trying to put aside both Tuesday and Friday for fishing, however Tuesday had to be missed so feeling slightly better on Thursday and with the weather milder headed of with good friend Steve Ansell to the tiny river Wey in Farnham.
Feb 02 2010
What a week, and it goes to show that putting in a little extra time comes with rewards.
Monday l headed down to Cemex Westhampnett for my first overnight session in ages. The weather forecast wasn’t good with temperatures dropping to minus two overnight, however it was the chilling northeasterly wind that made it feel far colder. Sensibly l decided to take a bivvy for that extra comfort and lm glad l did as even with its extra protection l still felt chilly.
Jan 26 2010
Its difficult to comprehend that its four weeks since my last weekly report. The weather has been so bad that it’s been difficult to get to a venue safely and even if this was possible the venue would either be frozen or completely out of sorts. Last January, l remember loading the car, ready to head of to Oxford for a roach session. The nine inches of snow seemed immaterial, that was until l tried to get out of the drive. This year however l must have become somewhat more sensible and with a chesty cough decided to spend the best part of three weeks creating article material, mostly for German and Belgium magazines.
Jan 07 2010
Occasionally you hear of a catch that inspires you to the extent that you simply have to target a particular water or fish, at the end of last winter I got a phone call that had this effect on me. One of my friends had just landed a very big pike, not only was the fish caught on a lure, but was also from a canal! Having begun my fishing as a child on canals and drains, this was just too good an opportunity to miss, and a few minutes later, when I received a photo by phone of the fish, it proved to be everything I hoped, beautifully marked, full finned, and in great condition.
Dec 22 2009
At last the winters here and l for one am glad that the mild, wet weather is behind us, however, it’s gone from one extreme to another and now we are faced with the stillwaters beginning to freeze. For me the colder the better as it allows myself to focus on things better, removing those nagging thoughts that other species maybe having it and confusing the issue to the point that l don’t know if lm coming or going!
Dec 15 2009
Duncan Charman has had a busy time recently. For this blog entry we have included six weeks of Duncan's fishing adventures.
Dec 15 2009
With the weather finally appearing to be more in keeping with the time of year, than the mild autumnal conditions we have been experiencing for so long, it’s a great time to exploit the big perch potential of the many commercial venues in the area, and with last year’s campaign resulting in fish of over 4lb, as well as several 3’s and many smaller fish, this yearly tradition is something I really look forward to.
Nov 26 2009
With the continued mild weather, the mobile lure approach mentioned in my last blog entry was an obvious choice of method for the opening of the pike season on my local reservoir. With water levels well down some areas that had produced previously were left high and dry, a quick scout around in the boat with the echo sounder showed an area of 8-10ft running alongside a marginal weed bed, a perfect ambush point for a pike.
OcT 19 2009
It’s strange how things turn out. This week, what with a wedding midweek plus the TCF & Korum Competition winners day on the Severn l didn’t expect to get much fishing in so just planned an overnight session on Thursday in search of a 30 lbs plus pike. The planned session arrived, however so did the high pressure, far from ideal for pike fishing. I arrived at my chosen destination at 2pm and spent the first couple of hours sunbathing in what seemed an Indian summer. I wasn’t expecting much but after an hour the drop of indicator hit the ground and a small jack fell to my sardine offering. As the light faded another came to the net plus three other takes, one dropped, one missed and the other fell of, a fish that felt quite reasonable.
Oct 05 2009
As the first signs of the colder months begin to show, with the trees taking on there autumn colours and temperatures begin to drop, predatory fish begin to extend their feeding spells, banqueting on huge shoals of fry created by falling water temperatures, and the loss of the lush weed cover that fills so many waters through the summer. To take full advantage of this period, it makes sense to put your bait past as many predators as possible, this is where lure fishing comes into its own, lure fishing has moved on a long way from the chuck and chance method of the past, thanks to imported baits and techniques from North America and Mainland Europe.
SEPT 15 2009
September is always a month of change for me, with most summer species beginning to go off the boil, yet it still being a bit early to start winter campaigns, though the initial effort for these is already being put in place with several visits to plumb one particular large water, and some tackle preparation.
SEPT 11 2009
This week was spent with my girlfriend’s family at Dawlish in Devon. Her father Mick is a keen angler so we both were allowed to pack some gear, although it was more likely that we would have to take her nephew’s fishing, instead of using it ourselves, and as it turned out this was the case.
SEPT 03 2009
On Monday l travelled up to Maple Durham for an overnight session on a known carp and bream area to compile a bream article for TCF, however l arrived late and found the complete stretch un-fishable due to moored boats. Although l could have set up in-between l didn’t want to push my luck knowing that the bream would keep the alarms going all night so reluctantly moved downstream to an area of unknown. The night passed without any signs so at first light returned to the known swims, set up quietly and hoped that the normally nocturnal bream might just still be feeding, unfortunately they weren’t.
SEPT 01 2009
With low water levels on my local river, many species have been taking advantage of the cover and high oxygen levels afforded by weir pools. When several of the regulars reported being broken up on feeder gear, I guessed that carp would be the culprit. The head of carp present has rocketed over the last few years as floods have ‘liberated’ them from the many fisheries that border the river as it winds through the Devon countryside. The long term effects on the river will have to be monitored but at the moment it gives the angler looking for some alternative carping some amazing action.
Aug 18 2009
Like several other Korum consultant's I have spent quite a lot of time over the last few weeks hunting big Eels. Heavily stocked Commercial fishery's are a great starting point, as they provide food aplenty allowing the Eel rich pickings on dead and dying fish as well as the vast quantities of bait thrown into these most popular of fisheries. It is just such a lake that I have been targeting with some success, let me give you the highs and lows of a recent trip.
Aug 11 2009
On Monday and with the storm clouds building my mind was firmly fixed on a big eel. Travelling light l headed for a different stretch of the same Thames tributary that saw the downfall of a couple of monsters the year before. Finding the river extremely weedy l quickly had a lead around and found a clear spot within a swim I’d never fished before. Two rods were cast containing two lobworms plus a small pva bag full of maggots soaked in Sonubaits Action Crab and Crayfish dip. 11pm signalled the first bite, which came from a 5lb bream followed by a belter at 1am that had me thinking all the way to the net that l, was attached to the mother of all eels. Unfortunately the desired eel surfaced as a big barbel and at 11lbs 3oz was a welcome bonus fish.
