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February/March World News
by Chris Woodrow
Welcome to the February / March 2002 World News. Although a bit late, a very happy New Year to everyone looking in!
I hope you found the last World News informative, there is certainly plenty of information there if you are planning a trip to foreign climes or just want to stay in touch with what is happening fishing-wise on the Continent.
 | | Huge Fishing Adventures mirror. |
There has been a reasonable amount of information / reports received on recent fishing related escapades abroad from site visitors and forum members since the last World News however, not as much as I would have liked!
I understand the winter months are not popular for fishing overseas, especially carp fishing in Europe (other than Cassien of course) and this is the reason for the slower than usual feedback. So, with the better weather approaching you have no excuses, I’m hoping to be inundated with plenty of reports and pictures please! Everything is very much appreciated! You can e mail me at chrisw7@hotmail.com as normal or send reports / pictures to the address on the World News homepage. Photographs will be returned as soon as I’ve scanned them and anything you request to be kept confidential will be.
This month we have reports from as far a field as Egypt and Western Australia! So don’t tell me you don’t get value for your money here !!
So, what has the Essex Man been up to? Not that you’re interested! Well, I spent Christmas in Florida, and I managed to do a bit of deep-sea game fishing too of the coast of the Bahamas. We caught a few tuna, wahoo and mackerel, the big ones unfortunately eluding our boat!
On my return, I got a call from my office and was fortunate to escape the freezing UK January / February weather with a nice posting to Dubai in the United Arab Emirates for a couple of months, sorting out a problem that cropped up over Christmas. This did mean that I had to miss a week’s field-testing session to Woods Lake in France I’d been looking forward to, one of the new Horton venues for 2002, at the start of February. Still, there will be another opportunity soon I hope!
OK, enough waffling Woodrow, here we go then, kicking off this month in the land of the Pharaohs!
Egypt
 | | Chris with a big Nile perch. |
Nile perch – fantastic-looking fish that grow to immense proportions in the vast freshwater Lake Nasser in Egypt. I caught quite a few fish to 64lbs when I went, but unfortunately, didn’t get amongst the real whackers but it was truly an amazing experience. The scenery is spectacular, and fishing from a custom made boat trolling lures deep against the sheer cliff faces a real experience.
The flight to Cairo Airport in Egypt will take you around 5 hours, it is then an hours flight to Aswan and the mighty Lake Nasser. Trips leave from the Basma Hotel in Aswan and are usually a week duration, the African Angler Company will organize the boats / tackle etc. You sleep on your boat or on the lake edge if you choose (watch out for
sand scorpions in the sleeping bag - nasty!) and your guide / boatman will take care of your every need.
As well as the Nile perch, there are tiger fish with bloody great razor sharp teeth that will bite a lure in half to be caught. Nile perch have been caught to over 150lbs - that would be a fight you will remember for an awful long while!
It’s seriously hot there, and full of mosquitoes / flies, so don’t say I didn’t warn you. Still, a minor inconvenience for what should be the trip of a lifetime!
USA – New York State
As promised in an earlier World News, I will be detailing catch reports from the mighty St. Lawrence River, home of vast amounts of fabulous hard fighting commons. The St. Lawrence produces thousands of thirty plus commons every year, and hundreds of forties. An odd fifty does make the occasional appearance, but this is for a very fortunate few only each year.
I spent a fortnight with famous St. Lawrence veteran carp angler Bernie Haines a while back. We caught a stack of fish (all commons), well into the thirties. I caught up with Bernie again at the Sandown Carp Society conference and in a subsequent e-mail, he had this to say…
“Good to see you at the Carp Society conference Chris, I will be glad to send you news, catch reports etc on a regular basis as soon as the season starts. Obviously this is currently the closed season, we had a white Christmas and New Year! All the best, and best wishes for a Happy New Year from the St. Lawrence river in New York.”
Thanks Bernie, we look forward to seeing those big long torpedo commons!
 | | Paddy GB with a St Lawrence common. |
Thailand
I was in Thailand a few months ago, and although I didn’t fish we did see some really amazing looking waters there in breathtaking countryside.
There are waters very close to Bangkok where the giant Siamese carp grow to huge sizes, fish to over 240lbs reported as caught on rod and line! Fish of over 400lbs have, apparently, been seen. Rotofryer from the Forum spent January in Thailand and was hoping to do some fishing, so I’ll be interested to hear what he has to say about it when he gets the chance to put pen to paper, or finger to keyboard, as the case may be!
The fish in the picture is apparently a “small” Siamese carp, well at nearly 100lbs, they are not small in my book! You make your own mind up, either way, it’s a superb photo. This fish, along with several other of a similar size, was caught by French angler, Jean-Francois Helias, during a recent trip. Flights to Thailand (Bangkok) are not too expensive these days, and you can get some very cheap last minute deals. For those interested in going, superb accommodation and fishing in Thailand, for a week, will cost you the best part of 400 quid. I have details of two tour operators there, offering all in packages, so feel free to e-mail me if you need further information. Remember, the e-mail is chrisw7@hotmail.com
 | | 100lb Siamese carp! |
From Russia with Love….
Not so sure the catfish in the photograph loves being hung from a tree….
Thought you might be interested to see this awesome 215lb catfish, caught in Russia last year. Caught from where, we are not sure, can anyone enlighten us? Where there is one, there are surely more? Can I assume it might well be from one of the former Russian states, such as Kazakhstan or Turkmenistan?? Remember that video, ‘Big Cats of the Volga Delta’ ? Where has Kevin Maddocks got to these days, anyway?
There are approximately 2500 different types of catfish throughout the World. They range in size from as small as one inch up to a massive 15 feet. The largest is the Wels’ catish, Latin name silurus glanis which grows to over 700lbs in Russia.
On the Continent, the Wels’ is known by several names. In Germany as the waller, in France as the silure and in Russia as ssum or sheatfish. The Wels’ catfish is a scale-less fish which can vary in colour from being a very dark black right up to a sandy colour, it is well camouflaged and it’s colour varies according to the water colour. It also occurs in an albino- type form where all but the yellow pigment is missing, a condition known as xanthochroism.
So there you go, you learn something new every day. My thanks to the Catfish Society for the above statistical details. You can join the Catfish Society, if you are interested, by calling James Lockyer on 01525 718040.
I would appreciate anything that you have on your catfish adventures around the World please, especially a few more pictures. Anyone ever caught an albino cat?
 | | 200lb plus Russian cat. |
France
As usual, a fair amount going on just across the Channel in France! Once again, if I haven’t included your report or pictures in this months World News it will follow soon!
Let’s start with Dave Payne’s Fishing Adventures update. I’d like to thank Dave for the recent update he kindly sent me I hope we can rely on a regular flow of catch reports and the odd picture or two now Dave for regular monthly inclusion.
For those of you that don’t know (can’t be too many?), Dave already has some spectacular lakes in France with new venues being added this year, they include such household names as Maurepaire and Jonchery. Dave reports that all the venues hold carp to the upper forty bracket, with an average weight in excess of thirty ponds in every lake. He also predicts that Lac de la Horre (South Lake – 250 acres) will produce a fish of over sixty this season, having produced fish to 58lbs so far.
You may well have seen in press releases that Dave has recently carried out a vidange of the 500 acre North lake at Lac Horre, where he sifted through some 80 tonnes of carp, around 40 tonnes being thirty plus reported. The following venues will be / have now received fish as detailed below:
Maurepaire (50 acres), 100 more big carp.
Jonchery (30 acres), 100 more big carp.
Baudet (20 acres), 50 more big carp.
Renarde (25 acres), 50 more big carp.
You can e-mail Dave direct drivetofish@netscape.net or visit their website www.fishingadventuresint.co.uk
Moving on, Fishabil, an extra 21 fish over 40lbs has recently been added.
 | | A view of Wood Pool. |
Ah yes, ‘Fishery Focus’, as I mentioned in the last World News I will be reviewing a water every month. They won’t necessarily be in France, or even Europe, so watch this space! This month, as I had to miss the planned trip, lets take a look at a new venue for Horton Management, Woods Lake.
Woods lake is situated in the Champagne region of France, and is only a three and a half hour drive from Calais. It is a picturesque lake of 17 acres. Catches to date include
catfish to over 100lbs, carp over 35lbs and koi carp over 30lbs. A maximum of 5 anglers are allowed to fish at any one time on the lake, so this gives you over 2 acres of water each to play around with!
Field-testing has been ongoing over the last couple of months, anglers involved in this were asked to remove some of the smaller fish 2-5kg that were apparently quite prolific.
 | | Wood Lake common. |
Simon Horton has this to say about Woods Lake…
“Situated alongside the Champagne Forest, the Woods Lake is a gravel pit that was excavated in 1987. It’s surface covers 7 hectares (17 acres), and in its centre there is a lovely wild island. Relaxing and catching plenty of fish is the order of the day. The carp are present in numbers with common, mirrors, leathers and some stunning big koi.
The lake is also famous for its impressive number of Wels’ catfish from 30lbs to over 100lbs. A great place to enjoy fishing for carp and catfish at the same time. A weeks fishing costing only 175 pounds each. Toilets and showers are available for use on site.”
Remember that Essex Angling are the UK booking agents for all the Horton venues, so please e-mail them at info@essexangling.com if you need any further information or would like the new Horton brochure.
Etangs De Breton
 | | One of the latest batch of Breton carp. |
Paul Selman’s picturesque estate lakes in Brittany have received a further stocking of carp following on from the stocking of carp in the 30lb-40lb range in December.
The second batch consisted of a number of mid-20’s, again from the mighty North Lake at La Horre, and these fast-growers are expected to reach thirty plus quickly, especially as they are being fed on low fat carp pellets through the winter. Paul also expects to stock more carp before the spring, ensuring visitors to the two three-acre lakes enjoy some quality sport. More catfish from 20lb –30lb are being added to boost the current stock of cats, which run to 80lb.
Paul now has a free colour brochure available for his lakes, which for a party of three costs just £166 each to fish for the week. To obtain the brochure e-mail him at paul@selman66.fsnet.co.uk, or ring him on 01925 763572.
Etang Dinney
 | | An awesome forty plus Dinney common. |
This new lake in the Brienne region near Chateauroux, is the newest addition to the Miller’s impressive portfolio of French waters. This lovely water of 18 acres has recently been stocked with a huge number of carp to well over 40lb. As is usual with the Miller’s waters, there is a luxury house right by the waters’ edge, making it ideal for families or the serious session men.
Details and pictures of Dinney, plus all the other famous venues the Millers own can now be viewed on their new website, hosted by FW’s very own, The Axeman. You’ll find the site at www.millersfrenchcarpandcats.com
Romania
Only a couple of months away from the first British assault of 2002 to Raduta in Romania!
The 27th April will see a lucky few UK anglers there, including Chris Woodrow once again! Tim Paisley, Simon Crow, Steve Briggs and Rob Hughes will be there also ‘In Pursuit of The Very Largest’.
Did you see my recent article in the January 2002 Big Carp magazine? Raduta really is an amazing place.
There are three trips to Raduta total this year for us Brits, excluding the World Cup in September. A second trip, following the April/May trip mentioned above, goes in June and the final assault in October. Rumour has it that Forum and ECHO member Joe De Blank will be there once again, pitting his wits against some of the biggest carp on the planet. Anyone else out there going?
 | | Chris with a Raduta forty. |
You may have also seen in the magazines or on this site that the 2002 World Carp Cup will be taking place at Raduta between 14th and 21st September. Not to mention the prestige of representing your country, or God forbid winning, there are some very impressive prizes up for grabs too. Three cars, loads of money and more await the lucky winning team and captor of the biggest carp. I will be there, representing Great Britain, fishing with fellow Essex carp angler Rene Hawkins. Any contributions or tackle donations greatly received……please? It’s about time I had a Fishingwarehouse T-shirt isn’t it?……
Carp Fishing In Western Australia
Oh yes, another first.
Here we have a great letter all the way from Australia! Avid UK carp angler, Simon Bedden, emigrated there in 1999, and had this to say in a recent e-mail, plus a wonderful picture of a fabulous koi. Simon is president of the West Australian Coarse Anglers Club.
“ I arrived in Australia in 1999 with my wife, Maria and my daughter, Stephanie. It took us four months from submitting our application to receiving our permanent residents visas.
My passion for carp fishing was something I thought I was going to have to give up, for as far as I knew there was very little freshwater fish in WA, but I had all my rods and tackle shipped over anyway. Visits to tackle shop in Perth left me with no doubt - “There’s no freshwater fish here mate…..why would you fish for them anyway?” I gave up trying to explain that carp/coarse fishing was a multi million pound industry in the UK with four million participants and decided on another approach.
I wrote a letter to the local fisheries department, asking if they would forward any information on fish and locations….the answer was that they didn’t know anything, but as it turned out a guy that worked there was a keen trout fisherman who put me in touch with someone who he knew went fishing for goldfish and koi carp in the local rivers.
I met up with Steve Giles and Pete Cunnell eighteen months ago - now we have formed a club, the West Australian Coarse Anglers’ Club, which has seven regular anglers and more wanting to join. This piece is intended to inform anyone who is emigrating and is a keen coarse/carp angler that we exist and will welcome new members.
We have koi carp to around 20lb, though extremely hard to catch, and goldfish to around 3½lb, check out our web site at – www.users.bigpond.com/bedden
There are also coarse fishing clubs in the other Australian States :-
Sydney – www.coarsefishing.ws/scacinfo
Adelaide – www.coarsefishing.ws/sadetails
South Australia – www.users.senet.com.au
Melbourne – www.ozemail.com.au/~waldock/mcahome
Thanks for the details Simon, we’d welcome any news of captures on a regular basis please. Especially when you bank a 30lb koi!
Germany
My friend and German Carp Society RO, Christoph Schulz has been in touch.
He’s promised some snippets and pictures on his recent trips to the mighty River Neckar in Germany and also on his travels in France. Christoph is an experienced carper and we welcome him to the World News and the FW site.
Summing up…
 | FW Editor, Paul Selman, with a 55lb catfish from
his Brittany lakes. |
OK, that’s it for another month, hope you enjoyed this edition of Chris Woodrow’s World News.
Please don’t forget to let me have any news, gossip, rumours or whatever on all those overseas fishing destinations, you might just be helping someone avoid a problem and put a few extra fish on the bank.
I appreciate this month that some of the reports are merely promises from people they will provide info, but remember what time of year it is! Not only the UK has been frozen solid or fishing mega-slow. There will be some really great stuff to look out for, I can’t wait to read all the reports and see all the e-mails, pictures et cetera as they come in.
Thanks fellas, your help is really appreciated.
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