February Catch Report 2023

The tough conditions throughout February did not stop plenty of eager anglers chasing their target species this month.  Most of our anglers are pictured in winter clothing and bobble hats, which reflects the difficult weather conditions the majority of anglers faced, but we still recieved catch reports across all disciplines of fishing.

Coarse & Carp

Quickly becoming a regular feature in our catch reports, Blake James is becoming very skilled young angler, whether it be targeting Pike, carp or any other coarse species at his local Birch Syndicate.

This beast of a winter common was tempted by Blake's Pro Baits squid & orange wafter, a deadly hook bait which is used by plenty of anglers around South Wales with devastating effect.

 Although barbel are known for being difficult to catch during cold weather spells, the River Wye has still been producing a few quality fish.  Bait selection can be the difference when the temperatures are low, as the barbel tend to feed less aggressively.

Rhys and Melo have used our Cardiff store regularly for years now, and they have both become knowledgeable river anglers. Armed with a variety of tactics and baits, the lads headed up to the Hereford stretch on the Wye. Both Rhys and Melo managed to land some fantastic barbel during their recent trips, with the biggest of the fish tipping the scales at 11lb!

 Bait selection proved to make the difference for both Milo and Rhys when it came to finding the fish, with small quantities of Pro Baits squid and orange boilies proving to be a deadly approach.

Dave Grocer has been putting in the hours on his local water, Darran Park Lake in Ferndale which is run by himself and partner Rhian Bomber. The pair have helped to stock the lake with some fantastic carp over the past couple of years from some of the finest specimen waters in the UK. 

Some of the new stockies that have been introduced to the water have been putting on weight consistently, with some stunning fish now heading towards the 20lb mark, like the one pictured below. Syndicate memberships are now available to purchase and last until 28th February 2024! 

Contact number: 01443757575

A lake which often goes under the radar is Lliswerry Pond, Newport. A mixed coarse fishery which holds everything from silverfish to specimen carp and Pike, Lliswerry offers some fantastic day ticket fishing. 

Dan Seymour recently landed this lovely 21lb 6oz mirror carp, along with another 7 fish during the same session. All 8 fish fell to the same approach which was a CC Moore live system bag mix and live system wafters.

As it's the first time this fish has been caught, Dan named it ‘Charlie’ after his son.

Our dispatch Manager Ryan Healey has been enjoying some good sport on the Rivers since the turn of the New Year. With the River Taff within walking distance, it has always been Ryans go to River, but his recent sessions have seen him venture down to the River Rumney.

Trotting a stick float with casters and maggot, Ryan has been landing grayling by the dosen, but this chunk of a chub has certainly been his best fish yet. Hiding under cover on a deep run on the oppoposite bank, this specimen of a chub couldn't resist a double red maggot as it went past.

As we have mentioned in recent reports, Grayling can be a welcome species to target when other's are playing hard to get in colder conditions. This was certainly the case during the early stages of February, with temperatures dropping below zero and river levels low and clear. 

Our dispatch manager Ryan is an experienced all round angler who has been one of many anglers targeting the grayling recently, using a stick float method with maggots as hook baits to land some beautiful specimens. Take a look at this photo below, where Ryan has captured ‘the lady of the stream’ in all her glory!

The Birch Syndicate threw up another of it's quality carp during February with this beast going 37lb 4oz. Corey Was over the moon to see this beautiful fish hit the bank, breaking his current PB by a country mile.

Lure Fishing

Jaxon and his dad Rhys are regular customers of ours who love targeting  a range of species, whether that be coarse fish at their local ponds or perch, Pike and chub on the Rivers both far and near. 

Their most recent adventure was certainly one to remember. The boys came in to grab some shiny new soft plastic lures before heading up to the River Wye. Within his first few casts, Jaxon landed his PB Perch at 3lb and his first ever River Pike! 

Sea Fishing

With the Spur dogs showing in numbers throughout February, a group of members from South Wales Sea Anglers headed out on board the well renowned White Water Charters in search of a range of species, with the hope of some spurs thrown in!

Despite the slow start, the guys managed to land some big spur dogs to 15lb, conger eels, bull huss, rays and of course some dogfish. Once the skipper Andrew Alsop had put the lads on the fish, a mixture of baits were used with great success. However, the stand out bait appeared to be our sand eels coated in anchovy oil.

Along the shores of the Bristol Channel, February is usually the first month of the year when the Rays start to show in numbers, as the temperatures start to climb. Sandeel and Bluey are amongst the most popular baits, with Small Eyed, thornback, spotted and blonde Rays all being residents on Both sides of the Channel.

After purchasing a new TronixPro Banzai Power and Penn Mag 525 outfit from our Newport store, Mark Cankett headed out in search of some early Rays, despite the conditions still being unfavourable. However, Mark was able to christen his new set up in style, with this fantastic Thornback Ray.

Sadly, the cod fishing has not been as prolific as years gone by but there have been some good reports of fish between the 2-5lb mark. As normal, black lug has been the most popular bait for the cod.

Shaune Parsons had this codling from his favourite mark, the Ranny. This well earned codling was a welcome sight after missing a big drop back on his lug worm and squid bait, fished on a pulley pennel.

Shane Boxall fished a South Wales Based match on February 19th and decided to fish St Donats bay, Located between Llantwit Major and Nash Point. 

The banter between Shane and his two friends was much better than the quality of the fishing, until Shane landed this perfect Bass weighing 2lb 7oz to put him nicely on the board.

Whilst the winter weather is still lingering, have a glance at Joe Shaw's Catch & Cook promo video to give you some enthusiasm for the warm summer months. 

You can target a huge range of species from Wrasse and Pollack to Bull Huss and Tope.

Away from the cold and windy shores of South Wales, a good friend of the shop and TronixPro sales agent Steve Tucker has been out in Costa Rica. Despite being a family holiday, Steve found plenty of time to put his suitcase of tackle to good use! 

Putting the New TronixPro T24 Octopus Beak, T67 Ring & T24 Short shank hooks to the test, Steve had a fantastic mix of species as pictured below.

Permbrokeshire is known for it's quality sea fishing on both the baits and lures, with anglers visiting from all over the country to target species that aren't as prolific in other areas.

Join Mario Asprou as he targets Pollack and Wrasse around St Davids Head, with a mixture of slow jigs and bait fishing being his approach throughout the session.

Fly Fishing

In honesty, the fly fishing reports were slow throughout February. But we did have a few nice reports sent in.

Join Welsh Fly fishing champion Terry Bromwell on the banks of his home river, The Taff at Pontypridd in search of trout and grayling.

We hope you enjoyed reading this months review, for a chance 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, feel free to get in touch and we will be more than happy to help!