January Catch Report 2023

The weather was kind to anglers across Wales on the bank holiday Monday (1st), which gave many people the perfect excuse to get out for the first time this year. Sadly, the conditions were not in the favour of anglers for sustained periods throughout January, with freezing temperatures, high winds and rain present for the majority of the month. This didn't deter many anglers however, with plenty of anglers determined to find some fish during the breaks in the weather. Enjoy our first catch report of 2023, with a round up of some fantastic angling from across all disciplines of fishing.

Fly fishing 

With the trout season closed until March, fly anglers are limited in their options, there have been some quality fish being caught from both still waters and our grayling anglers on the river.

A stunning “double figure torpedo” for Luke Gator whilst fishing at Avington trout fishery. This new Personal best was one of three double figure fish during the session for Luke, which hit the scales at 13lb 2oz and it's hard not to notice the stunning orangey brown patterns! 

Click on the picture below to watch the video from Luke's hectic session.

Carp & Coarse fishing

The Wharf Fishery's head bailiff Marc Woodward started the year as he means to go on, by landing a new 30lb carp which tipped the scales at 30lb 8oz. 

Very impressive to see, as the fish was only put in at 8lb 8oz in November 2016.

Marc has been in fine form, but he isn't the only angler on the Wharf to have plenty of success on the water since the turn of the new year. There have been some fantastic fish landed with some of the lakes 30 pounders hitting the bank, as well as some stunning linears!

The majority of tackle used to land the carp below can be purchased via our carp section on our website, or in either of our stores. 

Blake James has been tearing up the Birch since the start of the New Year. 

Mixing it up between Pike and carp sessions, the young angler has had plenty of quality carp encluding the lovely mirror pictured below, caught using ProBaits Indian Spice hookbaits over a bed of Squid & orange boilies. The ProBaits products have been hugely popular especially across South Wales in recent times, which you can collect from both of our stores, or alternitavely you can place an order over the phone.

The Pike in the image below was the best of 3 during his recent session, caught on end tackle purchased from Newport store. All tackle is available to purchase on our website, or you can visit us in store for some friendly advice!

Darran Park Lake, located in Rhondda Cynon Taff is a day ticket lake which is stocked with plenty of quality carp, amongst other species. Despite the challenging conditions which lead to the temporary flooding of the lake, we have received some fantastic catch reports. 

Plenty of carp and pike have been landed using various baits and methods, as well as some stunning tench just like the one pictured below.

The River Wye offers almost everything that coarse anglers could wish for from roach and Rudd to hard fighting barbel and some of the best salmon fishing in the South. The Wye is also a fantastic destination for specimen Pike angling, with fish being recorded in excess of 30lb. Fishing In Wales also states that the River record stands at a staggering 37lb, caught in the early 1900's! The majority of pike anglers opt for a dead bait approach in order to target the rivers bigger fish, including our very own Jake Jones pictured below.

Jake is a vastly experience pike angler, landing numerous fish that many would consider to be once in a lifetime catches. On the 29th, Jake added another specimen to his resume. This special gift from the River Wye weighed 25lb on the nose, caught on a dead bait fished under a float rig.  The smile says it all!

Dead baiting was also the chosen method for James Newman, a regular customer of ours and a well accomplished pike angler. During a tough, cold January session, James was able to tempt this cracking mid double whilst fishing a lamprey section paternoster style. If you're thinking of hitting the banks of the Wye for yourself, Feel free to contact us for further information, or visit our pike section to get yourself stocked up on your essential tackle. 

During the winter months grayling can provide some great sport in the cold conditions. Join Ceri from Fishing in Wales as he visits the river Ithon, a tributary of the river Wye.

Sea Fishing

Join Garry as he heads down to Mumbles Pier, Swansea to catch plenty of fish alongside his friends and colleagues, whilst putting the Shakespeare XT surf kits to the test.

These outfits which we currently have in stock at half price are fantastic value for money, which include everything you need to get yourself out on the shore catching plenty of fish! 

The dynamic duo Ben & Max Worsey certainly enjoyed a bit of spare time during the school holidays, finding some time to head down to one of their local beaches in search of a few different species. 

Max is only young, but he is also extremely keen! So, when he last visited us in store, we gave him a pack of the new TronixPro worm surf hooks and challenged him to see if he can catch some fish on them!

It's fair to say the pair certainly put the new hooks to the test with a fantastic bag of fish during their session. Armed with his new size 4 hooks tied on some new rigs, the duo had fish from the off, with Benny landing a triple shot of whiting and max landing  a whiting and dab on the first cast. Plenty more fish were landed during the next two hours but the highlight of the session was certainly this fantastic thornback ray, pictured below!

A fantastic session for both anglers, who definitely managed to prove the effectiveness of the new Tronix worm surf hooks.

Regular customers and talented anglers Karl Golding and Chris Read had a fantastic boat trip on the Bristol channel on the 20th. Kitted out in his Anyfish Anywhere clothing, here's what Chris ‘Bugzy’ Reed had to say about the trip:

"Had a great day out on the boat yesterday with some legends in the course fishing world doing an article for the angling Times.

We had a steady run of fish all day with some cracking weather for a change. We had lots of congers to 40lb, spurs to 15lb, cod to 15lb, huss, probably the smallest but but prettiest thornback I've ever caught with a few others going to just under double figure and the ever reliable dogfish."

After heavy rainfall during the middle of January, the fishing for shore and boat anglers on the Bristol channel were hampered by the huge quantities of fresh water finding it's way out to sea. But since the weather has settled, we have seen some nice bags of codling appearing. 

Paul Melvin had a fantastic session on board the Charter boat ‘Tuskar 2’ skippered by Hayden Ross, using a mixture of fresh worm and frozen squid.

Sea bass are known to be more of a summer species, as the cold water pushes them out into deeper water during the winter months, before moving into coastal waters and estuary's in early summer. With this being said, it's not uncommon to hear reports of sizeable bass being caught during the so called off season.

After visiting our Cardiff store to purchase one of our Shakespeare XT surf kits (which we put to the test at Mumbles Pier), Mathew Desmond headed down to Penarth Pier with hopes of christening his new outfit on his first outing.

He certainly did that! Using the 3 hook flapper which is included in the kit, baited with dirty squid Matt hooked into the stunning bar of silver, tipping the scales over the 8lb mark! A fantastic fish, and a welcome sight during the winter months!

Despite the tricky conditions, we received plenty of reports up and down the the country from anglers catching codling, which is always a joy to see. All round angler Mario Asprou had a cracking session whilst using the new model of a classic beach rod, the TronixPro Naga. As pictured below, Mario had success on a local South wales Mark by using a dongle rig which consisted of maxima Chameleon monofilament and a TronixPro light circle hooks, which he baited up with peeler crab. 

Mario praised the new competition Naga's powerful blank and sensitive tip, allowing him to put some distance on his cast without sacrificing quality bite indication. To read more about the new Naga, head over to our website now or visit us in store to take a closer look!

Lloyd Summers has been out on the Welsh coast putting another of TronixPro's quality beach rods, the Competition Match GT to the test. These rods have been hailed by many  experienced anglers such as Lloyd since their release, building a reputation for it's ability to conquer most beach fishing situations. Available to order at Garry Evans now.

Lloyd Summers headed out for his first session of the new year recently in search of cod. A frantic start to the session saw him land seven sizeable cod within three hours on the flood, and not a bite after. Six fish fell to half a squid and a single black lug wrap presented on a short pulley rig, mounted on a pair of Tronixpro 4/0 Beast Uptide hooks as a fixed pennel. What a great start to the year for Lloyd

Spinning & Lure fishing 

The winter months tend to be more difficult for our lure anglers. The sea bass are traditionally a summer species and pike become more lethargic as the temperatures drop, as their metabolism slows down making them less likely to chase lures. Despite the challenge, 

A regular feature in our monthly reports has been Darren Bradburry's catch reports from his predator sessions. Another clean pike, pictured below, fell victim to Darren's Savage gear 4D trout rattle shad.  

This ultra realistic lure range has proven to be deadly for Pike anglers across the globe. Available in a range of different colour patterns, the 35g or 80g options allow you to target Pike of any size in any depth of water with a life like action when in the water!

Lloyd from our Cardiff store has also been out in search of some winter Pike action on the lures. South Wales is spoilt for lure fishing spots whether it be in canals, rivers or lakes. Lloyd opted to head down to a local venue after hearing plenty of recent pike and perch reports since the new year. Sadly, freezing temperatures made the conditions difficult to fish in, but this jack was a welcome visitor on his first cast. No monster, but they all count!

 Despite the temperatures being below zero, Lloyd was able to tempt this aggressive jack using his go to soft plastic shad, the Fox Rage Zander Pro in the ‘hot olive’ pattern. 

We hope you enjoyed reading the first of our monthly reviews, for a chance to be featured in the January review, 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!