PAC 2010 Annual Convention

Team Selection Final 2010

This years Team Selection Final will take place over the weekend of 13^th/14^th of November on assorted sections of the Warwickshire Avon. A river we know from past experience holds a good head of prey fish and numbers of predators; and we are earnestly looking forward to some excellent fishing over the weekend. Our chosen base for the Selection Final will be the Salford-Hall Hotel near Stratford-Upon-Avon. If our chosen hotel is full, then there are a great many other hotels, guest houses, & B&B Houses within the area. A full list of these can be e-mailed to you.

Registration will be held in the car park of the Salford-Hall Hotel on Saturday from 7.30am where entry fees will be collected, weigh cards issued and scales checked for accuracy. Fishing is expected to commence by no later than 10.30am with the match finishing at 4..30pm at the very latest. Meet back at the hotel after the day's fishing where the results will be posted as quickly as possible.

Entry for this years event is £40, inclusive of day tickets for both days, BPS admin fee and pools which will be paid out to the top 3 placed anglers for each day, with a cash prize for the captor of the largest pike overall, most pike overall, plus the smallest Pike overall. Please Note that ALL CHEQUES MUST be sent to our treasurers, by the end of September. Entries received after this date, especially those who wish to pay on the day will be charged £45. So pay early to save yourself that extra Fiver!

As usual we shall be holding a raffle to help raise the funds required to run the BPS and in part financing some of the costs involved in getting the team over to Ireland, and so any assistance you can offer in the way of prizes will be gratefully received.

The Top 10 anglers selected from this 2-day event, will represent Great Briatin against Ireland on our own home soil at the beginning of October 2011.

Please note that due to the nature of the fishing and distances to be covered combined with steep banks in places, that this match does not favour those with disabilities. You are still more than welcome to come along and compete at your own risk, but be aware of the problems to be faced. Whether this is your first time attending the Selection Final, or one of many, we look forward to seeing you there in November for a few beers in the hotel in the evening, some great banter and friendship – oh yes I almost forgot! - hopefully some superb fishing.

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BPS Spring Newsletter

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There have been major changes made to the website, with a lot of new articles, tools and resources added. These can be found here at this Link We hope that you like the look of things now.
The Team Selection Final for places in the 2011 British Pike Squad will take place over the weekend of the 13th/14th of November, on the Warwickshire Avon river. We have some exclusive new waters available to us, and it's looking like we will have a great time (dependant on the weather of course). The final arrangements are being made with regards to accommodation; and full details on where we shall be staying will be posted here and on the website shortly.
This years International will see the bulk of the squad travel out to Ireland on the Wednesday 29th of September and return on Monday the 4th October. We are still looking for extra stewards to come along and witness this fantastic event; so if you fancy two days of fishing in Ireland on the Thursday & Friday, followed by two days of fabulous and entertaining 'Craic' (Laughter to those who have never enkoyed Ireland before), then please let myself know and I will pass on details and the costs to you. Mini-buses will be booked to carry the squad and stewards from the airport to our base and about during the entire period of the trip - so if you don't drive; then no problem.
I can be contacted on 07525 828296 or manager@britishpikesquad.com

Hector

New BPS Forum member Hector (aka Richard Ralph) had a great day out just before Christmas with a couple of mid-doubles (16-18lb) falling to lures on a remote section of an East Yorkshire canal.

Golden hits another Twenty

Old slushy "Golden Balls" hit this cracking Twenty pounder on one of the Fen drains yesterday. So pleased he was, he called Stu Parker who was just up river to come down and weigh, and then photograph his capture. Stu himself then landed a low double from the same stretch whilst his buddy had a 16. Not bad - three bites between them and three doubles.

Single Strand Titanium Spin Traces For Sale

Whilst at the PAC Convention in September, I was introduced to a ground-breaking new wire that was just about to be introduced to the market by Andy Lush and E.T. Products. Well known and respected Pike angler James Gardner had been using the same 50lb trace for almost 18 months; only having to replace the heavy duty link via a split ring at the end of his trace a couple of times in that period. The wire itself was still virtually as new.
With dozens of pike being caught on just one trace, I could see that even though this wire is ruddy expensive at £11 for 15ft; this was an incredible wire that was almost totally kink-resistant and would outlast any other wire available on the market today. Making up for it's initial cost with the number of pike that could be landed on just one trace. I was so impressed with the look and feel of the wire, that I bought a spool of it there and then f4from Andy and made up three 18" spinning traces to take to the International with me.
Throughout that long weekend at Bridgwater of the Thursday through to the Monday, I used just the one 30lb trace landing pike to 13lbs 07 which tail-walked and gyrated non-stop throughout the fight. A normal trace might have lasted me a couple of fish before I had to replace it, but not so with this wire. At the end of 4 days of fishing, the trace still looked and felt like new. Not a mark on it!
Now you all know that I really enjoy trace making, so I decided to splash out on a few spools of the stuff along with a quantity of quality fittings; and I have been busy building a quantity of 18" Spinning Traces in 20 & 30lb breaking strains with a choice of quality Coast-Lock swivels or Kwik Change Link swivel fittings. All traces come finished with a trace crimp sleeve fitted to the top swivel to give a professional finish. The wire is impossible to twist, so all traces are hand crimped using Mick Willis Professional Crimping Pliers (The best there are available at any price).
These traces will be available for purchase at the cost of £3.50 for one trace inclusive of packing and postage, or £10 for three. Absolutely every single penny of profit made from the sale of these traces will be donated to the BPS funds, to help us towards covering some of the costs of sending the team to Ireland next year.
This range of traces will be added to shortly with some superior quality Ball Bearing Swivel Coast-Lock 30lb traces, which will cost £4 for one trace, or £11 for three. I will also be making up a number of 14" 50lb traces with equally high-strength quality swivels and links for use with large lures or baits.
A range of 7-Strand economy traces are also now available, with a 20lb Duo-Lock clip trace retailing for £1.25 for one trace, or £5 for 5 (Both inclusive of postage). A 30lb Screw-Lock version costs £1.50 each or 4 for £5.
Traces that are available to purchase so far are:

20lb Wire - E.T. Coast-Lock Link / Titanium Wire.
20lb Wire - Fox Kwik Change Links / Titanium Wire.
30lb Wire - E.T. Coast-Lock Link / Titanium Wire.
30lb Wire - Fox Kwik Change Links / Titanium Wire.

20lb Wire - Duo-Lock Link / 7 Strand Wire.
30lb Wire - Screw-Lock Link / 7 Strand Wire.

As traces are sold, I will up-date my stocks of traces so that I can keep a steady supply of traces available for prompt postage.
If you are interested, then drop me an email at manager@britishpikesquad.com with your requirements. Included in the picture are (Left) 20lb Single Strand Titanium Wire Trace with E.T Cross-Lock Link and (Right) 30lb Single Strand Titanium Wire Trace with Fox Kwik-Change Link.
Please make all cheques payable to either "M J Skipper" or "The British Pike Squad". and post your order directly to me at:

Mike Skipper
38 Appledore Close
Eastbourne
East Sussex
BN23 7JE

Set Lines Discovered

Those attending last weekend's Practice session on possible waters to host next years Team Selection Final, discovered a number of set lines on the waters they fished. Baits attached to these were still alive and fresh, so they can't have been set long before the boys arrived in the area.
It really is time that action is taken, with severe penalties being actioned to stop the rot before our wildlife is destroyed forever.
Here's a couple of pictures of what they found.....