April Catch Report 2024

April provided us with heaps of catch reports from angelrs of all disciplines from across the UK and beyond. For our fly anglers, the river season is still closed but the still waters are enough to keep them occupied. With the seasons starting to change, coarse and sea fishing has started to  really kick off. Enjoy our in depth report below.

Fly Fishing

The Evans Family have been out on the bank chasing some welsh rainbows. Garry's Grandson Steffan has been showing us how it's done on Pen Y Fan Pond recently, landing some nice rainbows up to around 2 1/2lb. As one of the last remaining Canal Feeder Streams in Wales, Pen Y Fan is a popular destination not only for its trout fishing, but also for its beautiful scenery and wildlife.

Our very own John Phillips was joined by Fishing in Wales on the banks of the Beacons resevoir with the aim of catching some brown trout, using some early season tactics. With easy access and both day or season ticket options, this is a water that is well worth a try!

In the video below, John provides plenty expert knowledge on the water along side his usual wit and enthusiasm!

A sign that the seasons are changing is when the carp start to feed on the surface, and the fly can be one of the most exciting ways to catch them. Across the UK there are thousands of locations where you can target Carp on the fly, with the Glamorgan Anglers club offering some fantastic locations for our South Wales based anglers. Our former employee Ryan Healey enjoys fishing at the Barry Ponds, also Known as Sue's and Carols.

Carp & Coarse Fishing

With the River season still closed, coarse anglers have turned their attention to the still waters to keep themselves occupied, whether that be in UK waters or across channel to France.

Our store manager Richard Cox managed to escape the bleak British weather for a week long Carp trip to France, something he tries to do at least twice a year. a new water meant new challenges but also new fish to target! Throughout the week Rich faced plenty of challenges with plummeting temparatures and high winds, but this didn't stop him from landing on the fish. The quality of carp was very impressive with some immaculate fish in the net up to 38lb, which makes the hours of spodding, casting and water craft all worth while.

Although they were far from the target, Coxy and Co often found themselves occupied by the resident grass carp. You can imagine that this specimen went nuts when it was in the net, and of course on the bank!

For those anglers that have been sticking to local waters unlike Rich, the local lakes around South Wales have been producing some lovely fish. Take Kurt Jennings for example, who has been putting in the hours at the well known White Springs Fishery, a five lake complex located in Ponterdulais. When the rod peeled off at 7:30am, Kurts rod peeled off as he was treated to a welcome alarm call. After a tough battle this lump graced the net and tipped the scales at 28lb 7oz.

Tench are often best to target around this time of year, especially around first and last light. Baits such as worm, caster or sweetcorn are fantastic baits to use when targeting Tench, just like Rhian Bomber has been using (pictured below). These stunning fish are not as common as other species in most lakes, however there are a few waters around Wales and the rest of the UK which are well known for producing some fantastic tench fishing. Take Lliswerry Pond for example, a small mixed species fishery in Newport which has a reputation for its big head of tench up to 7/8lb. 

Darran Park, a water that we often mention in these reports is also home to a strong head of Tench. Head Bayliff Rhian Bomber has managed to catch a few from the lake recently, check out the stunning colours on this one pictured below!

Well it wouldn't be a monthly catch report without the Wharf Fishery, which has once again been on form. David Robbins has been on fire recently, along with numerous other members of the syndicate.

Sea Fishing

With big spring tides and improving weather conditions, the sea fishing seems to have really kicked on during April. The rays have been prolific, with some anglers completing their slam within the space of just 1 or 2 sessions, if you can beat the dogfish that is! 

Staff member and Tronixpro brand ambassador Ben Beal has been out on the rocks on the hunt for a big blonde, with marks like Witches Point and the Green Light being his marks of choice. Ben was not dissapointed on the ledges to the left of Witches which kept him protected from the north westerly winds, with some cracking blondes on the feed. The Mutsu T22 circle hooks, loaded with squid and sandeel or squid and anchovy wraps on a dongle proved to be deadly bait selection for Ben!

Thornback Rays have also been around in strong numbers, being caught by boat and shore anglers. Olly Jones has been catching plenty of thornies recently, fishing on a charter boat using a mixture of fish baits. Great to see the next generation catching plenty of fish! 

The Bass fishing has continued to impress along the Bristol Channel. If the tides and swells are favourable for Ogmore Deeps, it can be one of th best marks for targeting Bass around South Wales, along with other species such as rays, eels and hounds. Kaden Kopp is one of those that opted to fish the deeps in the search for a bass and here's what he had to say about his session:

“Headed out today to the deeps with two my mates & my dad! Doggy’s from the off then hit into a conger eel about 5-6lb, went quite chucked out a third rod about 30 yards out BAM slack line landed this little beauty of a Bass 3 an half pound, kept in a rock pool because was undecided weather to take home for the table or not. Cast back out about 30-40 yards 20mins later BAMM BAMM Slack line landed this beauty of a Bass 6.46lb. Had both bass in a rock pool. Took the 3lb Bass home for the table and released the 6lb bass back to fight another day! All baits from Garry Evans Tackle Centres thanks lads top boys highly recommend"

For those who like to think a little outside the box, there is a long listed of fantastic species tO target around the UK beyond the usual suspects like the rays and hounds as discussed above. Our staff members Lloyd & Ben met up for a session on the ledges just to the left of Witches point, with a mixture of baits and tactics to see what they could find. Sadly, like many anglers will find at this time of year the boys had no shortage of bites from the barrage of dogfish. However, with a bit of surf around as it reached high tide Lloyd decided to try a bait closer in which resulted in this massive shore rockling.

The Bristol Channel is often full of surprises, so it didn't come as a shock to us when we heard of some double figure cod (Yes,Cod!) being caughtover towards Minehead. Heading out from Penarth, White Water Charters have been snjoying some action packed sessions oveer on the English side of the channel. Skipperef by the experienced Andrew Alsopp, the lads on board have been catching some bigs rays, eels, hounds butthe highlight was certainly this lump of the cod caught by Rob Cole, estimated around the 18lb mark.

Lure Fishing

The pembrokeshire Coast has been fishing really well for Pollock on the lures, with the bass and mackerel also starting to appear also. There are endless marks along this coastline that can produce some fantastic sport whether that be rock marks or beaches, but the St Davids area has been fishing really well. The slow Jigs have proved to be deadly with smaller jigs up to 20g working well on shallower marks, but for the deeper marks the 40g and 60g jigs are ideal to get through the water quicker.

We enjoy recieving catch reports from our customers both in store and from those who shop with us via our website. Ben Welsh has recently been shopping with us online to prepare himself for a trip to the River Wye, a place that he has never fished. Armed with a selection of Flying condoms, Ben headed down to the Ty Newydd on the outskirts of the Village Erwood. The levels were perfect, which resutled in plenty of stunning trout with awesome markings as well as a bonus little salmon, The go to lure was certainly the yellow Flying C with a silver blade.

Steve Tucker, a good friend of the shop has recently returned from a sunny trip to Thailand and even managed to squeeze in a session or two! Once he was back on home soil, Steve Tucker sent in a little catch report to HTO Lures and here's whatthey had to say:

"Steve Tucker escaped the dreary weather with a much-needed family holiday to Thailand recently. Steve always carries some kit with him and on this trip he took out our Nebula SP and Nebula Light Boat Jigging rods with him. Fishing with a wide range of our jigs, Steve had a multitude of different species that made taking the kit, well worthwhile."

The HTO range of jigs are ideal for this kind of fishing, whether you're fishing from the boat or from the shore. For instance, the Shore jigs are a fantastic lure which are available in multiple colours and from 5g up to 40g to cater for your set up or target species.

We hope you enjoyed our April catch report,to be featured in next months catch report, feel free to send in your catch reports with a brief description to our email or in the comments section for this blog. Make sure to keep yourself up to date on our social media platforms for daily content.

For tips and advice, don't hesitate to get in touch and we will be more than happy to help!