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England Are World Champions Again After Stunning Gold Medal Win in Portugal

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British Perch Record Smashed? Grafham Water Giant Hits 6lb 6oz

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£6,500 Daiwa Air Tech Tested: The Best Pole Money Can Buy?

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**AFTER 13 years without World Championship gold, the England Men’s Float Team are back on top following a resounding win in Portugal.**

The side finished eight points clear of the Czech Republic come the final whistle, after a stellar performance on day two elevated them from fifth place to top of the podium.

On the Soraia River in Coruche, the team of Will Raison (captain), Matt Godfrey, Sean Ashby, James Dent, Cam Hughes and Frankie Gianoncelli, co-managed by Mark Downes and Lee Kerry, were remarkably consistent. Will also picked up individual bronze, adding another medal to his glittering collection.

“It’s an outstanding result,” Mark Downes told us. “Coruche is a venue I’ve always liked – I’ve won team gold on my last three visits with different England teams.

“It’s a technical and rewarding venue, well-suited to top-quality anglers who can adapt. The draw is important, and aside from 16 points we picked up over the two days from the dreaded A section – where early or late pegs, which we didn’t get, were best – we averaged second in section elsewhere.”

After day one, England’s 22 points put them in fifth, but a superb 13-point score on day two put the side in an unassailable position.

“We had three section wins on day two – from Frankie, Will and Sean – plus a second for James and an eighth for Matt Godfrey from A section,” Mark added.

On a personal note for Mark, this medal is his 18th team gold at World level.

“It’s been a great career, and it’s not over yet!” he said. “Sometimes in international fishing, you don’t really know what will happen on the day of the match as you’ve not quite got the tactics cracked, but on this occasion, we settled on a three-line approach on the pole, which we had great faith in.”

1ST ENGLAND – 35 POINTS  
2ND CZECH REP – 43 POINTS  
3RD HUNGARY – 45 POINTS  
4TH ITALY – 46.5 POINTS  
5TH FRANCE – 49.5 POINTS  
6TH PORTUGAL – 50 POINTS

**Joe Atkinson has landed a stunning 6lb 6oz perch from Grafham Water, eclipsing the current British record and potentially making angling history.**

The biggest perch ever reported from these shores was landed last week in the shape of a stunning 6lb 6oz specimen.

Caught by Joe Atkinson, the remarkable fish is 3oz over the current record, held jointly by Neill Stephen and Ken Brown since 2011.

It was banked from the bang in-form Grafham Water, in Cambridgeshire, which only opened to lure anglers on September 1 and, far from being a shock, it’s a record that many experts predicted was likely to fall before too long, such was the form of the vast stillwater last winter, when it produced numerous upper five-pound perch.

Light dropshot tactics did the trick for Joe, who has enjoyed a great run of fishing this year, having landed a 7lb 8oz chub back in January.

The trip was Joe’s second to Grafham this season, with the first resulting in a 4lb 12oz perch, plus three other ‘fours’.

“I fished it only once last winter, but around five years ago I enjoyed great fishing at Grafham, catching lots of high two-pounders and some ‘threes’,” he told us.

“It seems that year class of fish have grown on and are now a phenomenal average size.”

This time around Joe was fishing with a friend, and the pair set off in the morning, heading to the area where Joe had previously tasted success.

“We fished for around three hours and had one possible tap, so decided to head to the Valve Tower,” Joe revealed.

“We travelled along the shore, looking for baitfish, but my echo sounder isn’t the best and we saw very little, so we targeted the area around the tower itself. Things were quiet for the first hour-and-a-half, and we were considering a move, when the fish suddenly switched on and we landed six in 45 minutes, including several four-pounders.

“A few other anglers moved in and the action slowed, so we headed back up to where we started, near a different tower.”

On arrival at the new spot, Joe and his friend saw one other boat in the area, fishing next to the fancied tower.

“We gave them some space and, an hour later, when they moved on, we dropped into where they had been fishing,” Joe added. “My mate soon had a fish and then I landed a lovely 4lb 14oz specimen, which put up a great fight.

“On my very next cast with a two-inch dropshot lure I then hooked something that stripped line from the reel, making 20-yard runs. My mate and I were laughing — he didn’t think it could be a perch, but from the fight, I felt like it had to be.

“When the fish rose from the depths and surfaced, we both said something unprintable.

“I had just released the 4lb 14oz fish – but this one was in a different league!

“Once it was netted, I was lost for words. And when we weighed it, I was stunned – just saying the words ‘6lb 6oz perch’ makes me feel sick!”

Key to Joe’s approach is fishing with very small lures – he alternates between NED rigs and dropshots, both of which he retrieves slowly, with tiny twitches of the rod.

“The baitfish in Grafham seem large this year. Around the boat moorings we could see fry around four inches long,” he explained.

“But it seems that something smaller, and more subtle, produces on the lure front. That’s what I’ve always done well with on here.”

Joe plans to submit a claim for the title to the British Record Fish Committee (BRFC), although their verdict is one we’ll await intently. Back in 2010 Mike Dolan had a 22lb zander (incidentally also from Grafham Water) rejected as it was weighed while the angler was still afloat.

Regardless of the outcome, it’ll take a lot to bring Essex-based Joe down though, as his aim this autumn was simply to catch a big perch – a target he had reached well before landing the six-pounder.

“The ‘fours’ were big enough for me! My goal was a large perch, and I was more than happy with those from the last trip,” he added.

“My mate has asked if we should go back to Grafham, but to be honest, I’m pretty content with my perch fishing for now. My plan this season, after the perch, was to try for one of the big barbel from the River Lea. So, I think I’ll start a little earlier on those and hope to manage another good result before the season’s end!”

**NEW flagship poles arrive quite regularly, but nothing gets everyone quite as excited as a release from Daiwa.**

The market may well be getting tougher, and the difference between many top-end poles is getting smaller, but Daiwa is still the undisputed market leader.

Although everyone is expecting the Air Tech to be light, stiff and strong, all top-end poles boast these qualities, so I don’t think these attributes alone are why Daiwa poles are still considered the best.

The first big reason is the UK-made badge. You shouldn’t be surprised to learn that all budget-priced poles are manufactured in China. What might come as a shock, though, is that many premium ones are made there as well!

Although there are the obvious cost benefits in this, nothing quite beats a pole made in a UK factory. It’s not just the attention to detail and quality control, but also the shipping and supply. When you start running short on stock, you can do something about it quickly when you have your own factory.

This is probably why Daiwa’s customer service is so highly regarded. Have an accident with a top-end Daiwa, and chances are the team will get you fishing again very quickly!

Reason two is durability. If you see an angler on the bank fishing with a 10, 15 or sometimes even a 20-year-old pole, it’s almost always a Daiwa. This is probably also the explanation for reason number three – Daiwa poles hold their value.

Some top-end poles from elsewhere are nearly worthless after a few years. Sell your flagship Daiwa, though, and there’s a good chance that as long as you’ve looked after it, you’ll recoup a significant lump of your hard-earned cash. The thing is, if you own a Daiwa, you will already know all this. So let’s cut to the chase – just how good is the Air Tech?

To find out, I took it to Green Farm Fishery, a membership-only water near Towcester, Northants, with the aim of catching a load of carp and F1s shallow – a method where every scrap of additional rigidity results in more bites connected with and extra weight in the keepnet.

Starting with the pole as ‘standard’ with a commercial kit on the end and all the silver sections up the back, but no Phex attached, meant I was fishing just shy of 16m. The weight, balance and feel had me convinced from the word go that this was something exceptional.

I’m not the biggest guy in the world, yet I was able to control and slap the rig exactly as I wanted to. Not only that, it felt manageable enough that I reckoned I could do it for hours! I have to stress that most of the fish were F1s. Get a decent slap with a carp, and chances are it will rip the elastic out.

F1s are different – you have to get a controlled slap that results in a rig landing straight and the line tight to the pole tip. Let the pole flex and bounce a little too much, or drift off a little as you fight its weight, and all you will do is miss bites.

I soon got this off to a tee as fish after fish lined up.

As if this wasn’t good enough, like most modern poles, the Air Tech has a couple of cheat cards to improve things further.

First up is a Pro F1 kit – a one-piece 1.83m top kit that is 57cm shorter than the Match, Commercial and Power kits. It not only stiffens the top end but also speeds up the netting of fish as they rise closer to the angler.

The second is called a Super 6, a shortened sixth section that replaces the normal section, reducing the pole’s length by approximately 85cm.

By first feeding a section closer and fishing for a bit to re-acquaint myself with the pole, I then added the Super 6 and the F1 kit, before putting the 16m section back on to compensate for the reduced length.

My jaw nearly hit the floor! The difference was out of this world! I thought I had plenty of control before, but this was ridiculous! I know short No.4 sections are hugely popular for this style of fishing, but in my opinion, the Super 6 is even better, as it doesn’t just stiffen the top end – it transforms the whole pole!

You could always use a short No.4 and a Super 6 at the same time, but that would just be silly – could anybody possibly want a pole that stiff?

The best part of this remarkable section is that it is also available separately for £180, which allows any current UK-made Daiwa pole owner to use one on their existing pole.

It’s now that this review moves on to the tricky subject of price. This pole sells for around £6,500, albeit with a very healthy selection of top kits and spares. Even so, this still puts it around £3,000 more expensive than most other flagship poles. So, is it worth the extra cost? Going on strength, weight and rigidity alone, I’d be struggling to decide.

However, once you have taken into account all the benefits mentioned at the start of the review, plus the Diamond Satin and ITS taping which, combined, make a huge difference to shipping… the blinding balance and feel… the fact that despite relentless shipping and slapping, not a single section loosened… plus the durability and strength… and the answer has to be yes, it’s worth every penny! And that’s without even mentioning the outstanding new Dual Roller pullers, the section and elastic alignment systems, and the optional extras like short 4, F1 Speed Extension and the now overdue Armlock Phex.

In my opinion, every single aspect of this pole is complete perfection, right down to the smallest detail. If you want the very best and you are willing to pay for it, do not hesitate – you really won’t find better.

\+ A stunning balance makes this pole feel even better than the sum of its lightness, strength and stiffness

\+ Outrageously stiff as standard, but the pole is improved further with use of the supplied Super 6 section

\+ Amazingly easy to ship due to its rigidity and low-friction ITS and Diamond Satin finishes

\+ Supplied with an excellent package, featuring enough extras to get you going on any kind of water

\- Although Daiwa tells us the team are working on it, depth markers are not included on the top kits. These are a useful feature well worth incorporating on the next production run

• Hyper MSG and improved Nanoplus carbons  
• Bias Carbon V-JOINT  
• Diamond Satin on 9, 10 & 11  
• ITS on sections 5, 6, 7 of the 13m version  
• Section alignment system  
• All kits cut and fitted with PTFE bushes  
• All No3 sections fitted with PTFE nose cone  
• Dual Roller side puller fitted on Commercial, Power and F1 kits  
• Dual Roller side pullers supplied with pre-wrapped Match kits  
• Weight: 1395g (1595g including PHEX)  
• Pro Match x 3 (spare side puller x 3)  
• Pro Commercial x 3  
• Pro Power x 3  
• Pro F1 x 3  
• Pro Cupping Kit  
• Pro F1 Cupping  
• No.4 section x 2  
• Super 6  
• Super Light PHEX 9/11  
• Holdall  
**Price:** 16m pole package £6,499; pole only, including Super Light PHEX9, £4,900; 13m pole only, including 8/9 reversible extension, £2,940

SENSATIONALLY well balanced and jaw-droppingly light with a superb finish – few poles handle as well as this.  
**:a[www.fishshimano.com]{href='http://www.fishshimano.com' }**

ARGUABLY the strongest and toughest flagship pole ever made. A true all-rounder, this one is capable of tackling any kind of long pole fishing in the UK and Europe.  
**:a[www.tackleguru.com]{href='http://www.tackleguru.com' }**

AN UNBELIEVABLY high-performing pole considering its quite modest price tag. A sensational range of well-thought-out spares and top kits make it a firm favourite among anglers. **:a[www.prestoninnovations.com]{href='http://www.prestoninnovations.com' }**

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