Renewal Anglers

Renewal Christian Centre has launched a new initiative to help anglers and those who would like to try their hand at fishing to enjoy a few hours by the waterside together.

Renewal Anglers is organising day, afternoon and evening sessions at different venues throughout the region.

Whether you fancy fishing for Barbel or Chub on the beautiful river Avon or fishing still waters for Carp, Tench, Roach and Bream, this is a superb opportunity to enjoy time with other church members in some beautiful surroundings.

If you are already a keen angler, and interested in taking up the sport, or simply fancy a few hours relaxing in the countryside, Renewal Anglers would like to hear from you.

To be kept informed of future events, please e-mail peter@fisheries.co.uk with your contact details or text your details to 07951 870 559.

He leads me beside still waters Psalm 23:2

Renewal Anglers gets off to a Fish-tastic start!

Despite this summer’s appalling weather, the Renewal angling club has got off to a fish-tastic launch with with a group of ‘members’ and friends enjoying outings to Meriden’s Packington Somers Fishery, Lavender Hall at Balsall Common, Dingle Fishery near Coleshill and two trips to British Waterway’s Drayton Reservoir on the outskirts of Daventry – a venue we will definitely visit again before the year end.

The club has been formed to enable members of the Renewal congregation who enjoy fishing to spend time together at the waterside and have an opportunity to invite people they know to enjoy a relaxing and friendly few hours together in a sport which offers relaxation and excitement in varying degrees. Non anglers do not need any tackle as this will be supplied.

The club cast off with a visit to Siblings Pool at Packington where all anglers caught fish. Chris England, fully attired in flat cap and chest waders did an excellent impression of Bolton steeplejack Fred Dibnah and showed he can also catch a good few fish, whilst our very own Fred Power took the opportunity to grab a few rays, plus the smallest fish caught so far!

With everyone catching at regular intervals, Packington regular Peter Cliff set the pace for biggest fish with a beautiful 13lbs 8oz common carp – only to be outdone just before the close of play by Warwick’s Steve Tipson who bagged a cracking 14lbs 8oz mirror… and a few minutes later landed a stunning 6lb tench to add insult to injury!

The next visit was to the famed Drayton Reservoir. Fishing on the renowned slatted board ‘hot pegs’ by the sailing club the team went mad. After loosing several double-figure fish which made successful dashes for safety under the staging everyone got serious, scaling up their tackle and playing every bite in open water before bringing the fish to the net.

At one stage the action became so frenzied that Steve Tipson even had his rod snapped in two by the one that got away while Chris England added to the amusement by feeding his excess bait to the ravenous carp through the slats in the wooden staging. With nearly every fish weighing in at between 10lbs to 15lbs it was agreed a return trip was a must.

But there’s a price to pay for everything – and the following trip to Lavender Hall dampened everyone’s spirits when only two fish were caught. Pick of the day went to Chris ‘Dibnah’ England… well, really it didn’t. Pre-occupied with giving Fred Power the benefit of his advice and many years’ experience, Chris failed to see his rod bouncing on its rests as a double-figure mirror sped across Specimen Lake towards the island! Fortunately, 14-years-old James Reilly, one arm in plaster after yet another mishap on Scout camp, stepped in to the breach and landed the fish after a 10-minute one-handed struggle which earned the applause and admiration of everyone involved.

After that it was all downhill. No more bites, no more fish – so that afternoon’s FA Cup Final suddenly held greater appeal than a few more fishless hours by the bankside.

Resolved to get his own back on the rod-breaking Drayton fish, Steve Tipson beat a hasty retreat to the Northamptonshire venue for an evening session the following week. Armed with a new super strong rod and determined resolve, Steve was dealt another dastardly blow when a momentary loss of concentration ended as he saw his brand new purchase bounce on the rod rest a couple of times before darting into the water like a skier behind a speedboat!

After the lack of action at Lavender Hall the group determined to raise their spirits with an unscheduled return to Drayton. First there was Chris England, who had taken two carp from his peg on the dam wall before everyone arrived. As the Renewal lads tucked in on consecutive pegs next to Chris there was more optimism than action as the fish came few and far between – for everyone that is except Peter Cliff who took fish after fish after fish as those around him stared in disbelief.

Having just written a feature for ‘Improve Your Coarse Fishing’ in which he described Drayton as one of those venues where you can bag up on 100lbs of fish at a sitting he was obviously practising what he preached – and hit his target just before dusk when he landed his last fish for a total catch of 100lbs 4oz!

True to form, Stratford Pastor John Hawker, who was fishing next to Peter, sought solace from the scriptures and was heard to mutter: “How the wicked prosper around me!”.

The most recent organized outing was to the charming Dingle Fishery to the north of Coleshill, but once again the changeable weather marred catches on what was otherwise enjoyable afternoon, the only fish of note to be taken was an 8lb bream, again by carp-buster Cliff.

With autumn now approaching Renewal Anglers will be looking to organise outings to catch barbel on the River Avon near Evesham, a visit to the attractive and productive Clattercote Reservoir near Banbury and, of course, a return trip to Drayton Reservoir. Visits are also being lined up to Blythe Waters near Knowle, Kingston Pools near Gaydon, Lemington Lakes at Moreton-in-Marsh, Meadowlands in Coventry and a return to Packington.

Watch this space for dates and venues.