If there is one venue that goes against the grain in freezing cold conditions it is the River Wye in Hereford, and it did just that again as Andrew Cranston won the latest match with a colossal 200lb 8oz haul.
Blanks galore were recorded across the country as the icy blast hit hard, but the waterway responded as it often does, with those that were drawn on the tightly packed shoals enjoying immense sport.
The England U25 international wasn’t the only one to be kept busy from start to finish though, with six other anglers breaking the 100lb mark.
Second place went to Chris Jones who brought 139lb 7oz to the scales, while two-times RiverFest champion River Mike Bedding slotted into third with 110lb 12oz.
Angling Times caught up with Andrew to find out how he put the historic haul together.
Fancied Flier
“The Wye is always capable of a huge weight of chub when it goes very cold, but the draw is essential. Put simply, some areas are totally devoid of fish and a blank is inevitable, while others are rigid with them!
“Peg 87 was exactly the sort of area that I wanted, and I fancied it for a good day. Keeping it simple was always going to be key, and I knew that the chub would have to the sole focus as all other species would have shut up shop given the bitterly cold conditions.
“I set about fishing a bolo halfway across the river, planning to attack that line from start to finish. I fed 10 balls of groundbait at the start of the match, each packed with hemp, casters, maggots and meat.
“My hook was baited with a couple of maggots and for the first 15-minutes, the float never went under!
“But once I caught my first fish, it was lift off in true Wye style. The flow was quite steady, allowing my rig to trundle through at the perfect pace, and every fish was a chub in the 8oz-3lb bracket. Once that first fish had gone in the net, it was a bite every chuck for the rest of the match!”
Topping up
“With so many fish in front of you and lots of good anglers surrounding me, it was important to give the fish a reason to stay once they’d arrived.
“Regularly throwing balls of groundbait in laced with loosefeed was the key to keeping the shoal in front of me.
“I’d estimate that I had between 130 and 150 chub by the time the final whistle went, and every single one of them was a chub.”
Making history
“The Wye in Hereford has produced plenty of enormous weights over the years, with the famous peg 96 usually throwing up such delights.
“My catch in the biggest on record from any other peg which made the day even more special.
“As planned, all my fish were caught on the same line, and I used a 17ft Daiwa Connoisseur rod and a Daiwa Tournament 420QD reel spooled with 0.18mm mainline. My float was a 10g bolo shotted with a bulk and two big droppers, with a 0.16mm hooklength to a size 12 hook at the business end.
“I’ve had a brilliant winter on the Wye so far, and the beauty about the venue is you just never know whether you could better it next time you are out – it is that good!”
