Save 10% on Broads boat hire

If you're looking at fishing the Norfolk Broads, you've got to go afloat.

The Pike Anglers Club is happy to announce a new partnership with Wroxham-based Broads Fishing Ltd, which gives members a 10% discount off a day's boat hire.

Broads Fishing have 12 or 14ft aluminium dinghies or moulded dories for hire, with an outboard and a tank of fuel for £35 or £40 a day which includes insurance. They can also supply your deadbait needs.

Click here to check out their website - and make sure you mention the PAC when you book and take your membership card with you when you fish.

Pitsford 39 is new venue record

Wayne Hewitt's first-ever pike fishing trip was one to remember.

The 24-year-old from Northampton landed a 39lb 2oz specimen from the margins of Pitsford Water - a new venue record - say local paper reports.

Watto speaks in Norwich

Broads legend John "Watto" Watson will be giving a talk and a Q&A session at the Angel Gardens Pub in Angel Road, Norwich, on Monday, December 1. It starts at 8pm, admission £1.

Region 31 Christmas Bash

Piking Legend Steve Ormrod will be presenting his awesome slideshow on Northern Reservoir piking to Region 31 South Lancashire on Wednesday 3RD December.

FREE Buffet & prize raffle.

All welcome.

This is not one to be missed.

Entry £3 to non Region 31 members & £2 to Region 31 members on the door.

Caledonian public house - upstairs function room 8pm onwards. Bolton Road Ashton in Makerfield, Nr Wigan Lancashire (next door to Tesco garage) .

Hope to see you ALL there.

Tight lines Jon Neafcy RO Region 31 - Wigan Piker!

Sea eagles set to return to our skies

Conservation groups are backing a bid to reintroduce sea eagles to Britain's coastline.

But they say the giant birds aren't likely to prey on coarse fisheries including the Broads if the RSPB and Natural England get the go-ahead to release them in Norfolk next summer.

Click here for more.

Chertsey event sold out....

The PAC's first access event on Chertsey Pit has now sold out.

Events organiser Mark Skinner said those who had been unsuccessful for the first-come, first-served event, on February 28, would go onto a reserve list and would be offered a place if anyone drops out.

Steve Younger at Ely/Fenland PAC

All round predator angler Steve Younger will be talking about his experiences of fishing for everything from amberjack to zander at the British legion, Sutton, Ely, Cambs, on Wednesday night.

Admission is £3 for PAC members £5 for non members and the evening starts at 7.30pm

Steve will also be displaying items from his new tackle shop SAS (Specialist Angling Supplies), and copies of PAC30 and Zander A Complete Guide will also be for sale on the night.

War of the Roses 2

Firstly can I say a massive thank you to all that took part in this event. it was snowing, cold, raining and windy but you all turned up. Many, many thanks

It was a brilliant day and we handed over to Jane Furnace from the Macmillan Nurses a mind-blowing £2,800 - and when some of the outstanding sponsorship comes in it will go to over £3,000.

It just show how much all anglers feel about this charity and how much good they do. I don’t know if we can match it next year but only you lads will tell

Thanks and tight lines to all,

Pete Green

EXCLUSIVE: World Record 80lbs pike claim

This grainy black and white picture is claimed to be of an 80lbs pike from Eastern Europe.

It arrived at PAC HQ with a brief caption:

Gentlemen, I am enclosing a picture of what is surely the largest Pike ever caught, never mind seen. This Pike must have been around 80+ lbs if not more.

Regards
Duncan Monrom, Bansko, Bulgaria

There are no details of when, where or how the fish was caught, or the identity of its captor and his friends.

We've asked Duncan for a few more details on the fish. In the meantime, why not tell us what you think on the PAC Members Forum.

Roll up, roll up for the PAC Winter Raffle

Never mind the Arctic cold snap about to descend on us - you could be jetting off to the sunny Spain next summer on a free holiday.

A week-long trip with moggy guides Catfish Capers is the top prize in the PAC's Winter Raffle.

Other prizes so far confirmed include a trio of ET bait rods courtesy of up and coming tackle outfit Esox And More, a day's fishing with Neville Fickling, books from Mark Barrett and two Golden Menteith tickets (NB you have to be a member to use these...).

PAC advertising manager Mike Kelly : "It's a wonderful start and considering that the draw is not until next May at the AGM, I'm very confident that we will have the best Winter Raffle ever.

"I urge all our members to support the club by returning their tickets with the payment and buying as many extras as they can afford."

Tickets will be sent out soon, but you can obtain extra books by sending a SAE to Mike at 47 Yew Tree Road, Tunbridge Wells, TN4 0BG.

EA cracks down on Cut-Off Channel

Eighteen anglers - most of them pike fishing - have been booked in an EA crackdown on fishing stretches of Norfolk's Cut-Off Channel where no fishing is allowed.

Fishing is banned between Wretton Bridge and Barton Mills because of steep banks.

Click here for a local paper report.

Jon Neafcy to talk at Selby Region

Wigan Piker Jon Neafcy will be presenting his slideshow entitled Stepping Stones covering milestones and targets in pike fishing on Thursday, November 20, for the Selby region of the PAC.

Talk starts at 8pm at The Crown Inn Public House, Main Street, Hemingbrough, Selby, North Yorkshire, Y08 6QE

Membership ducks the credit crunch

Membership of the Pike Anglers Club remains on an upward curve - despite the credit crunch.

Times is hard out there but with renewals flooding in and up to 20 or more new members a week, the PAC seems to be weathering the downturn.

Membership secretary John Cahill said members were staying loyal to the club.

"This year has seen losses at a lower level than for the last three years," he said in a report to the club's committee, as it prepares to hand over the reins next May.

"This is very encouraging as we look to maximise members for the incoming committee."

There's plenty going on behind the scenes as the club looks ahead to maintain the momentum built up over the current committee's term.

As ever, we thank everyone who supports our work to conserve the pike and pike fishing.

BRRRR - cold weather on the way

Reach for those thermal long-johns... This weekend is going to see the winter start getting its own back, after an unseasonly mild snap.

Many pike anglers are fascinated with the weather and the effect it has on their fishing.

This site gives you the overview as far as advanced forecasts are concerned, along with ways of setting up your own weather alerts.

Check us out at Donnington

The PAC will be at this weekend's Donnington Carp Show.

Our stall will be selling the full range of PAC products and PAC30 books, along with memberships and renewals.

Click here for more on the event.

See you at Sandown

The Pike Anglers Club will be among the many stalls at this year's Sandown Carp Show.

We'll be selling PAC products, books and memberships - come along and see us if you're there on Saturday, November 29 or Sunday, November 30.

Click here for more on the event.

PAC special events update

Applications are flooding in for a clutch of PAC members' events arranged towards the back-end of the season.

Chertsey Gravel Pit, the Warping Drain, Hykeham Gravel Pit, Ecton Lakes and Quays Pit offer a variety of waters to go at.

See Pikelines for more details.

Foreign weed invades Broads

Pennywort - a fast-growing alien species of weed which chokes waterways - is infesting parts of Rockland Broad, off Norfolk's River Yare, and the upper reaches of the River Waveney.

Efforts are under way to stem the invasion. Click here for more.

Fly casting tuition up for grabs

Fly casting instructor Peter Hartley has a few places on a teach-in for those wishing to learn to cast predator flies.
It's being held at Graffham Water on Sunday, December 7.
Peter can accommodate 6 anglers at a cost of £90 [£15 each if 6 attend]. He'll have fly rods available to use.
A couple of places have already gone. If you'd like to attend, e-mail Colin Brett at colin_brett@ntlworld.com

Relief for channel anglers after survey

Once the stamping ground of the 70s A-list, the Great Ouse Relief Channel has fallen from favour with today's generation.

Siltation of sluices and the tidal ouse have meant water from the river has been released via the Channel, causing many fish to be washed through the tail sluice into The Wash.

But Denver's sluices have now been re-opened, reducing the need for run-offs via the Channel.

And now controlling club King's Lynn AA has revealed a recent EA survey found large numbers of fry, along with predators taking advantage of the food source.

Check out the perch - not to mention trout - in these slideshow pictures.

Click here to see them.

Pikelines is on its way

Pikelines is on its way to PAC members and as usual it's packed with news and views from all four corners of the UK and beyond.

Pike Angler of the Year Graham Slater lets us in on some of the secrets of the mobile approach he adopts fishing the Lincolnshire drains.

Darren Ward povides a salutary lesson on safety afloat, with an account of the terrifying day his boat sank.

Mick Gleeson waxes lyrical about his love of river piking, while PAC stalwart Eric Edwards gives a revealing interview to PAC President Phil Wakeford.

There's a full report on the landmark court case, when two men were prosecuted for killing and eating fish on Norfolk's River Wissey.

Last but not least, there's a picture of what's claimed to be a world record pike weighing 82lbs. Is it for real..? We'll let you decide.

Wars of the Roses pike fish-in

This just in from Peter Green regarding the Wars of the Roses....

"Friends, Romans, Countrymen, lend me your ears" – oh sorry, wrong script (apologies to Mr Shakespeare)!

Calling all adopted "Yorkshiremen" from the North of England and ye Lancastrians and Cheshiremen. "Sir" Peter Green has once again called on all true gentlemen or others to take up their fishing rods for the next battle in this series.

This will take place at Dam Flask reservoir, near Sheffield on Sunday 23rd November 2008 commencing at 8am ‘til 4pm. Tickets will be available from "Sir" Peter to be purchased in advance at £10 for 2 rods. Places are limited to 75 so it is "first come, first served" Please apply by post as soon as possible with a cheque payable to Peter Green along with a stamped self addressed envelope to:

17 Lincoln Street

Wakefield

WF2 0EB

Tel 01924 782705

Maps of the venue along with sponsorship forms will be sent out by return. All money gathered will once again be given to the MacMillan Nurses Cancer Care charity at an event at the end of the day. Full details will be announced later. Peter asks that all anglers gather as much sponsorship as possible so that we can give a huge amount to this absolutely fantastic and well deserving service. Last time we raised over £1800, let’s make that look like small beer this time!

If people prefer they can contact his serf Chas White for tickets etc. in advance on 01642 765332. We hope to see as many as possible of you there!

New EA fisheries boss is pike angler

Pictured with a pike, the Environment Agency has revealed its new head of fisheries.

Mathew Crocker is a keen angler who has worked for the Environment Agency since it was formed took over from Dafydd Evans this week.

More here.

Meanwhile, another EA official has revealed his "secret" method of catching pike - sparking a thinly-veiled attack on livebaiting from a regional press angling correspondent.

More on that one here.

James "the doc" talks in Sussex

Big fish specialist James 'The doc' Gardner, talk on his piking experiences down in Sussex on Tuesday, November 11.

From his methods of tackling the big open trout waters to his more delicate approaches to smaller waters.

James has caught pike from many venues around the country and his pike fishing exploits have accounted for pike upto 37lb.

All talks start at 8pm, although it’s advisable to be there early for to catch up with friends and fellow members in the bar beforehand and of course to grab a seat.

Venue is the Kings Head 1 High St East Hoathly BN8 6DR The region asks for £2.50 for PAC members and £3.50 for non members.

As always there will be a raffle on the night with some top prizes on offer and the chance to buy a copy of the PAC book PAC 30. Further details on the blog