“With the second round of the Kent Angling League taking place at the end of this month on the River Rother, Iden Lock to Newbridge in Sussex, I along with a few teammates took the decision to get in some team practice on what I consider to be one of my favourite match venues. The River Rother has always been a good hunting ground for me and the style of fishing needed to catch bonus fish of all sizes suits the way I like to approach the venue. Attack and be bold is my motto when I am looking for a double figure weight that I know will be good enough for section wins and an overall frame position. The fish respond to heavy feeding with groundbait and that’s exactly what I do at the start of a match or session, ball in the groundbait from the off to kick start the peg. Large floats like 2grams plus are needed as well as the river has a large head of small bleak and using lighter rigs will be incepted with the small silvers hindering any chance to build up a good weight as the bonus fish like eels, tench, bream and skimmers feed on the bottom in depths up to eight feet.

As well as the relaxing scenery and the fact that the Rother is stuffed with fish, I always enjoy my trips back to the rivers as it always reminds me of when I first started to fish as a young lad. It always sends me back down memory lane as in my first days of an angler the commercial fishery were few and far between so heading off down the rivers and canals was a common practice to enjoy a days action. With the KAL second round match a couple of weeks off I will no doubt take in two more practice sessions, I don’t need to really but any excuse to fish the section at Newbridge again is a good enough reason in my books.

OAP bargain days
The little lakes at Bury Hill Fishery, Milton and Bonds are still fishing incredibly well and more and more anglers are starting to creep back on the banks to enjoy some brilliant sport with big bags of crucians, tench, carp and big roach keeping our visiting anglers occupied and happy. The Old Lake, whilst the sun is shining still seems to fish much better in the early mornings and late evenings but big bags of bream and skimmers can still be had if you are prepared to scale down the terminal tackle and hook sizes. It is always worth remembering that on Mondays and Tuesday throughout the season we offer our OAP day tickets at a cost of £5.50 instead of the normal £8.50 for the first rod, it has been proving quite popular but I know there are still lots of senior citizens who do not know of this offer, so please by all means spread the word.

The Obsessed Angler
On the 14 July I will be organising the first of many midweek silver fish only opens on the Old Lake so I am looking forward to that as the bream are really starting to feed again. This is going to be a busy month for me as I have individual matches, team events, coaching lessons and more filming to do on my new angling DVD series The Obsessed Angler, the first part of the series will be out in the next few weeks and I have just recently had a glimpse of the first part so with a few tweaks, dotting of the I’s and crossing of some T’s the first show will be ready to go to press and I can’t wait. I just wish there were more hours in the day as I have a lot to do but the time seems to go much to quick but I guess it is good to be kept busy. The next part of the filming will take place down a small river I know so well called the River Eden which runs mainly in Kent, it’s full of bends, deep sections, shallow and fast running glides down to slow moving holes. It is a fascinating river with some lovely scenic views and with so many species of fish to catch I am looking forward to the filming.

With the World Cup finishing on Sunday 11 July I fully expect more and more anglers to be out in force soon after and with no other distractions in the way I am sure plenty will be looking to catch that special fish of a lifetime or simply enjoying an idyllic day resting stress free in the beautiful Surrey countryside, that is Bury Hill Fishery.

Tight Lines,

Russ Evans.”