Weight – 26lb 8oz
Catch – 6 Carp, 5 Perch, 4 Rudd
Weather – Sunny & warm
Water Temp– 14.5c > 15.0c
Match – Open – 10th overall
With 17 anglers, Mike decided to peg 1 side of Speci Lake (25-32) as well as Match Lake.
Its funny how certain pegs get stuck to hand, whilst other pegs you cant get close to. I hardly draw pegs 1 & 24, but cant keep away from the top end (pegs 10 & 11), so I shouldn’t have been surprised when I opened the card to see peg 11 staring at me.
Mark was unhappy with peg 31, until I told him I would swap it for mine. Anyway I took his casters, which took a little pursuding, to add to my own and hoped for a day catching chub tight to the island.
15 mins before the match the "wave machine" (well that’s what Tony calls it) started. A pot of caster & 4mm pellet went in on the island & I started on double caster, waiting for the chub. After an hour it was obvious there wasn’t many silvers about, but I did notice carp responding to the feed. So a switch 6mm hair rigged pellet resulted in a couple of carp, but the fish weren’t taking the bait properly and a switch to paste resulted in a couple more carp.
This was turning into a frustrating match, because I could see carp moving around but getting them to take the bait was proving challenging. At the half way stage my 4 carp, from what I could hear & see was doing OK, so when the wave machine turned off I was hopeful I could catch properly. Unfortunately the session just become even more frustrating. The carp were coming to the feed, but wouldn’t take the bait.
As well as hard pellet & paste, I tried caster & expander, but it didn’t seem to make a difference. Mike was on 13 and was having the same problems. To be honest I stuck with fishing the island a lot longer than I should have, because I could see the fish and was determined to make it work.
In the end the better weights came from the other end of the lake, where there was a slight ripple.
As for Mark, he won the match with 99-6, which included over 10lb of chub, all on expander to the point of the island, although he said he had to scale down to get bites, despite the carp having their backs out of the water.
Sunday 27 September 2009
Tuesday 15 September 2009
13/09/09 - Fishponds
Weight – 335lb 5oz
Catch – 44 Carp, 2 Bream
Weather – Sunny & warm, but cool NE breeze
Water Temp– 18.0c > 18.0c
If only everything else was going as well as my fishing! And yes I had 335lb. I thought 300lb would be a possible, but had considered the opportunity to had passed until next summer.
I had made a late decision to go fishing today and I thought it may be the last opportunity to fish paste before autumn arrives. I settled on peg 3 and decided on 3 swims, LH margin a few metres away from the reeds. 9m to my right fishing at the bottom of the shelf and the final swim would be shallow at 13m.
When I arrived I wasn’t sure what to except and to be honest I would have been happy with 100lb, however after an hour I had 12 carp for 88lb from my RH swim, at which point I thought 300lb may be on the cards.
I briefly tried the shallow swim and caught 3 carp, but they weren’t coming as quickly as on the paste. So after 2hrs, I decided to concentrate on the paste. Initially all my fish came from the RH swim, whilst the LH swim was only producing odd fish, but as the session progressed the LH swim got stronger, producing the biggest carp of the session at 13lb 5oz.
I could have continued for another hour, but that would have meant re-tying a trashed rig, plus my left shoulder was feeling the strain. It’s never been right since a car accident 2 years ago.
1st hr = 88lb
2nd hr = 141lb (53lb)
3rd hr = 200lb (59lb)
4th hr = 250lb (50lb)
5th hr = 335lb (85lb)
So another PB. It’s been an awesome summer for big weights, this being my 5th weight over 200lb in the last 3 months. Not sure why I have done so well recently? Suzanne reckons I have just relaxed and in some ways she is probably right. Also, because money has been a bit tight, it’s meant keeping a simple approach and a simple bait tray.
I got a call from Mick Duckett this afternoon (Monday) asking whether I wanted to fish his Lands End Winter League. The answer was yes, but during our chat Mike explained how he has been struggling during these difficult times. With the anniversary of the collapse of Lehman Brothers in America this week, the last 12 months certainly has been difficult. Things will improve and at some point in the future there will be another recession, because that’s part of the cycle, but hopefully lessons will be learnt so the next time it wont be as hard as now.
Catch – 44 Carp, 2 Bream
Weather – Sunny & warm, but cool NE breeze
Water Temp– 18.0c > 18.0c
If only everything else was going as well as my fishing! And yes I had 335lb. I thought 300lb would be a possible, but had considered the opportunity to had passed until next summer.
I had made a late decision to go fishing today and I thought it may be the last opportunity to fish paste before autumn arrives. I settled on peg 3 and decided on 3 swims, LH margin a few metres away from the reeds. 9m to my right fishing at the bottom of the shelf and the final swim would be shallow at 13m.
When I arrived I wasn’t sure what to except and to be honest I would have been happy with 100lb, however after an hour I had 12 carp for 88lb from my RH swim, at which point I thought 300lb may be on the cards.
I briefly tried the shallow swim and caught 3 carp, but they weren’t coming as quickly as on the paste. So after 2hrs, I decided to concentrate on the paste. Initially all my fish came from the RH swim, whilst the LH swim was only producing odd fish, but as the session progressed the LH swim got stronger, producing the biggest carp of the session at 13lb 5oz.
I could have continued for another hour, but that would have meant re-tying a trashed rig, plus my left shoulder was feeling the strain. It’s never been right since a car accident 2 years ago.
1st hr = 88lb
2nd hr = 141lb (53lb)
3rd hr = 200lb (59lb)
4th hr = 250lb (50lb)
5th hr = 335lb (85lb)
So another PB. It’s been an awesome summer for big weights, this being my 5th weight over 200lb in the last 3 months. Not sure why I have done so well recently? Suzanne reckons I have just relaxed and in some ways she is probably right. Also, because money has been a bit tight, it’s meant keeping a simple approach and a simple bait tray.
I got a call from Mick Duckett this afternoon (Monday) asking whether I wanted to fish his Lands End Winter League. The answer was yes, but during our chat Mike explained how he has been struggling during these difficult times. With the anniversary of the collapse of Lehman Brothers in America this week, the last 12 months certainly has been difficult. Things will improve and at some point in the future there will be another recession, because that’s part of the cycle, but hopefully lessons will be learnt so the next time it wont be as hard as now.
Monday 7 September 2009
06/09/09 - Plantations - Horsehsoe Lake
Weight – 14lb 11oz
Catch – 10 Bream, 7 Roach, 4 Carp
Weather – Sunny, becoming increasingly windy
Water Temp– 16.0c > 17.0c
Match – Club Match – 3rd overall
I really didn’t know where I wanted to draw, but with the wind blowing into the bottom of the lake, that would seem favourite. When I drew 2 pegs to the left of were I fished yesterday in the middle I was a little disappointed. There were 3 of us sharing the same island, Graham to my left and Stuart opposite.
I decided on 4 swims, the island, 11.5m at the bottom of the shelf slightly to my right, 10m to my right at the bottom of the near shelf and the margin at 4m to my right.
Having fed my deep water (4ft) swims, I immediately started tight to the island with paste feeding 4mm with the paste. 10mins later I had 2 carp and thought great, but that was it and the rest of the match proved to be a struggle. I had a few skimmers from the bottom of the shelf swims, but had to set up a heavier rig after 2 hour changing from a jolly 4x14 to a polar ice 0.5g because the wind was becoming increasingly troublesome. I could hardly catch on pellet or corn, with most of my fish coming to double red maggot, including a small carp.
The island swim produced another carp late on, whilst I never had a bite in my margin.
This lake has a reputation as a good pleasure fishing water, but a difficult match water and so it proved. Craig only needed 32lb to win the match, beating Chris by 1lb. This was Craig’s first match win, so he was happy. He caught carp on top of the bar at 12m, using maggot, he even had a chub, which must have lost its way. Well done Craig.
I am sure the cool weather during the week had a bearing on results and I got the feeling fishing chopped worm & caster would have been a better way to go.
As for the league, I managed to increase my lead by 1pt.
1st Ken Rayner 156pts
2nd Ian Pople 150
3rd Andy Lord 141
4th Craig Davidge 137
5th Jim Taylor 126
Catch – 10 Bream, 7 Roach, 4 Carp
Weather – Sunny, becoming increasingly windy
Water Temp– 16.0c > 17.0c
Match – Club Match – 3rd overall
I really didn’t know where I wanted to draw, but with the wind blowing into the bottom of the lake, that would seem favourite. When I drew 2 pegs to the left of were I fished yesterday in the middle I was a little disappointed. There were 3 of us sharing the same island, Graham to my left and Stuart opposite.
I decided on 4 swims, the island, 11.5m at the bottom of the shelf slightly to my right, 10m to my right at the bottom of the near shelf and the margin at 4m to my right.
Having fed my deep water (4ft) swims, I immediately started tight to the island with paste feeding 4mm with the paste. 10mins later I had 2 carp and thought great, but that was it and the rest of the match proved to be a struggle. I had a few skimmers from the bottom of the shelf swims, but had to set up a heavier rig after 2 hour changing from a jolly 4x14 to a polar ice 0.5g because the wind was becoming increasingly troublesome. I could hardly catch on pellet or corn, with most of my fish coming to double red maggot, including a small carp.
The island swim produced another carp late on, whilst I never had a bite in my margin.
This lake has a reputation as a good pleasure fishing water, but a difficult match water and so it proved. Craig only needed 32lb to win the match, beating Chris by 1lb. This was Craig’s first match win, so he was happy. He caught carp on top of the bar at 12m, using maggot, he even had a chub, which must have lost its way. Well done Craig.
I am sure the cool weather during the week had a bearing on results and I got the feeling fishing chopped worm & caster would have been a better way to go.
As for the league, I managed to increase my lead by 1pt.
1st Ken Rayner 156pts
2nd Ian Pople 150
3rd Andy Lord 141
4th Craig Davidge 137
5th Jim Taylor 126
05/09/09 - Plantations - Horseshoe Lake
Weight – 41lb 7oz
Catch – 15 Roach, 13 Bream, 11 Carp, 3 Rudd, 2 Perch
Weather – Cloudy, blustery, showers.
Water Temp– 15.5c > 16.0c
Really going through loads of emotions at the moment. On the positive side I’ve changed jobs internally, which whilst daunting does offer a new set of challenges and in the long term should get me back to earning some decent money again. My fishing has been going well, with the last 4 trips accounting for 714lb. Suzanne on the other hand is really having a mare. A few weeks ago I commented every time we take 2 steps forward, we have to take 1 back, unfortunately it now feels like 3 steps back. Once Sue is up and running, things will improve, but at the moment we have been let down by 2x 3rd parties, which is bloody frustrating.
As for today’s session it really was a practice session for tomorrows match. The last time I fished here was about 18 months ago, so I was really unsure how to approach the match.
A week of heavy rains and cooler weather, I was sure would have an effect. I started on the pole at 3m, fishing maggot, but after 45 mins, I only had 17 small fish and no signs of it improving. I had been catapulting 4mm to the island and fed micro pellet at the bottom of the shelf.
As the session progressed I caught skimmers on the 11m line with soft pellet or corn. The island swim initially produced some carp shallow, but they kept drifting in and out of the swim, I tried paste tight across, which produced a couple more of fish. To finish the session I tried down the edge, where I had been feeding 4 & 6mm, this produced 3 more carp, including my biggest of the session at 7-11.
I am glad I made the effort, because I now had a clearer plan for tomorrow. As for the venue, it has great potential and I know the owners son did a lot of work 2/3 years, but since he has stopped his involvement the lake has been allowed to overgrow. There was a handful of swims that have been allowed to overgrow and the reeds make fishing the margins any longer than 4m impossible.
Catch – 15 Roach, 13 Bream, 11 Carp, 3 Rudd, 2 Perch
Weather – Cloudy, blustery, showers.
Water Temp– 15.5c > 16.0c
Really going through loads of emotions at the moment. On the positive side I’ve changed jobs internally, which whilst daunting does offer a new set of challenges and in the long term should get me back to earning some decent money again. My fishing has been going well, with the last 4 trips accounting for 714lb. Suzanne on the other hand is really having a mare. A few weeks ago I commented every time we take 2 steps forward, we have to take 1 back, unfortunately it now feels like 3 steps back. Once Sue is up and running, things will improve, but at the moment we have been let down by 2x 3rd parties, which is bloody frustrating.
As for today’s session it really was a practice session for tomorrows match. The last time I fished here was about 18 months ago, so I was really unsure how to approach the match.
A week of heavy rains and cooler weather, I was sure would have an effect. I started on the pole at 3m, fishing maggot, but after 45 mins, I only had 17 small fish and no signs of it improving. I had been catapulting 4mm to the island and fed micro pellet at the bottom of the shelf.
As the session progressed I caught skimmers on the 11m line with soft pellet or corn. The island swim initially produced some carp shallow, but they kept drifting in and out of the swim, I tried paste tight across, which produced a couple more of fish. To finish the session I tried down the edge, where I had been feeding 4 & 6mm, this produced 3 more carp, including my biggest of the session at 7-11.
I am glad I made the effort, because I now had a clearer plan for tomorrow. As for the venue, it has great potential and I know the owners son did a lot of work 2/3 years, but since he has stopped his involvement the lake has been allowed to overgrow. There was a handful of swims that have been allowed to overgrow and the reeds make fishing the margins any longer than 4m impossible.
Tuesday 1 September 2009
31/08/09 - Rood Ashton
Weight – 132lb 15oz
Catch – 45 Carp.
Weather – Warm & cloudy, later sunny. Breezy
Water Temp– 17.5c > 19.0c
Match – Rainbow Trust Charity – 1st Overall
20 had booked in for this match, but a couple of late drop outs, meant 18 would be fishing in 2 sections of 9. At least it meant Mark could leave a couple of the worse pegs out.
I asked Mark what pegs he fancied. 5, 6, 15, 16 & 17 was the reply, so when I drew peg 5 I knew I was in the right area. Unfortunately for Mark, he drew peg 10, which was in the corner. It looked a cracking peg, expect the wind was blowing in the opposite direction.
Whilst setting up a couple local spotted I had a couple of pellet wagglers set up, which apparently doesn’t work here. At the start of the match, I immediately started under the tree to my right on paste, because I had noticed a few fish moving around and I hoped for a couple of mug fish. 15 mins later I had 1x 4lber in the net, but bumped 2 others. In the meantime I started feeding my 13m line with 6mms and the waggler line with 8mms.
After an hour, I managed 4 carp from under the tree and 1 on the waggler. The 13m didn’t produce (although I only tried it for 5mins), so I decided to ditch it in favour of concentrating on just the 2 lines. As the match progressed the waggler line got stronger & stronger.
From what I could see peg 2 (where I practiced on Friday) was catching, as was Nick on the bottom bank. It was noticeable the fish preferred to have a ripple over their heads and for 3 hours I caught consistently on the waggler and knew barring a disaster I was likely to be in the frame.
The 5th hour of the match proved really difficult with only 3 fish. The wind had dropped and the sun came out. There was obviously still fish in the swim, but they wouldn’t take the bait. I tried a longer hooklength, but that only resulted in foul hookers and my paste line was only producing iffy bites. I really wanted the paste line to produce, because you tended to get the bigger fish. Fortunately the average size on the waggler was better than on Fridays practice, so I didn’t persevere too long on the paste.
Going into the last hour the fishing picked up, it was still bright and there was a little more ripple on the water, however I had to wait a little longer for the bites. Previously I was hooking fish almost immediately of the waggler landing, but I now had to wait up to a minute before I got a proper bite.
In the end I had 37 fish on the waggler, which isn’t bad for a method that doesn’t work. Apparently no one can remember the pellet waggler winning at Rood Ashton.
Overall, it was a really enjoyable match, not because I won (although that helps), but I kept things simple struck to the game plan. To be honest, I felt confident the waggler would work on most pegs, simple because any anglers who were casting out beyond the pole line were using method feeders.
Nick finished 2nd with 102lb and 81lb was 3rd.
Catch – 45 Carp.
Weather – Warm & cloudy, later sunny. Breezy
Water Temp– 17.5c > 19.0c
Match – Rainbow Trust Charity – 1st Overall
20 had booked in for this match, but a couple of late drop outs, meant 18 would be fishing in 2 sections of 9. At least it meant Mark could leave a couple of the worse pegs out.
I asked Mark what pegs he fancied. 5, 6, 15, 16 & 17 was the reply, so when I drew peg 5 I knew I was in the right area. Unfortunately for Mark, he drew peg 10, which was in the corner. It looked a cracking peg, expect the wind was blowing in the opposite direction.
Whilst setting up a couple local spotted I had a couple of pellet wagglers set up, which apparently doesn’t work here. At the start of the match, I immediately started under the tree to my right on paste, because I had noticed a few fish moving around and I hoped for a couple of mug fish. 15 mins later I had 1x 4lber in the net, but bumped 2 others. In the meantime I started feeding my 13m line with 6mms and the waggler line with 8mms.
After an hour, I managed 4 carp from under the tree and 1 on the waggler. The 13m didn’t produce (although I only tried it for 5mins), so I decided to ditch it in favour of concentrating on just the 2 lines. As the match progressed the waggler line got stronger & stronger.
From what I could see peg 2 (where I practiced on Friday) was catching, as was Nick on the bottom bank. It was noticeable the fish preferred to have a ripple over their heads and for 3 hours I caught consistently on the waggler and knew barring a disaster I was likely to be in the frame.
The 5th hour of the match proved really difficult with only 3 fish. The wind had dropped and the sun came out. There was obviously still fish in the swim, but they wouldn’t take the bait. I tried a longer hooklength, but that only resulted in foul hookers and my paste line was only producing iffy bites. I really wanted the paste line to produce, because you tended to get the bigger fish. Fortunately the average size on the waggler was better than on Fridays practice, so I didn’t persevere too long on the paste.
Going into the last hour the fishing picked up, it was still bright and there was a little more ripple on the water, however I had to wait a little longer for the bites. Previously I was hooking fish almost immediately of the waggler landing, but I now had to wait up to a minute before I got a proper bite.
In the end I had 37 fish on the waggler, which isn’t bad for a method that doesn’t work. Apparently no one can remember the pellet waggler winning at Rood Ashton.
Overall, it was a really enjoyable match, not because I won (although that helps), but I kept things simple struck to the game plan. To be honest, I felt confident the waggler would work on most pegs, simple because any anglers who were casting out beyond the pole line were using method feeders.
Nick finished 2nd with 102lb and 81lb was 3rd.
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