Weight – 18lb 4oz
Catch – 14 Roach, 14 Perch, 3 Carp, 2 Bream, 1 Gudgeon, 1 Rudd
Weather – Frosty start. Cold & clear day
So a day at Ivy House. Not exactly my favourite venue, however I wanted to see how it was fishing prior to my clubs Christmas match.
My mate Jim wanted to go fishing, so was happy to come along, unfortunately it co-incided with the first serious frost of the year. As I left the house the car temperature gauge read 1c, when I came off the motorway it was down to -1c, but by the time I got to the venue it was -4.5c. I now began to wonder whether there would be any benefit to practicing.
The match would be on the island of the big lake and the latest reports suggested the causeway would be the best area, however on arrival the island was closed. I thought at the time this would be due to the Wednesday Open on the lake, so decided to fish the small lake, which I thought would offer us the best chance of catching.
I put Jim on peg 21, which is probably the best peg on the lake, whilst I settled on peg 20. Fortunately, the lakes hadn’t iced over, but a few more frosts and they soon will be.
Initially settled on 2 lines, caster at 6m and groundbait & caster at 13m. The short line mostly produced tiny wasp type perch, with the odd better fish, but the roach won’t come close. The longer line produced a 1lb+ skimmer and small roach, by toss potting 6 casters every put in, but generally fishing was slow.
The carp came to the lead & double corn, but I had to wait a long time for a bite. I also tried the waggler, but no joy. Jim he had a tough day, catching a small chub & perch, as well as losing a carp.
As for the big lake, I was hoping to walk the match to see what was catching, but there wasn’t any match and the island was in fact OK to fish. Anyway I did have a chat with Gary Etheridge who was practicing on the waggler, but was also struggling due to the cold, but at least he gave me a few pointers.
Looks like the club match could turn into carp bingo.
Thursday 25 November 2010
Wednesday 17 November 2010
14/11/10 - Cuckoos Rest
Weight – 16lb 9oz
Catch – 65 Roach, 8 Skimmers, 3 Perch, 1 Tench, 1 Bream
Weather – Rain for most of the day
Match – Glenfall – 2nd overall
So my first blog for quite a while. Today was a club match with the added spice of being the semi final for the club knockout, with the eventual winner receiving free annual membership worth £75. There should have been 4 of us, however the 4th person dropped out leaving Andy Lord, Craig Davidge & myself to fight it out for the final on the Match Lake at Ivy House. Since there were only 3 of us, we decided the lowest weight drops out.
I had practiced on Tuesday, weighing 28lb (10-11lb of roach & hand sized skimmers, 6 bream, 1 tench, a big perch and a 1.5lb carp) and was feeling confident, however the lake was very coloured after the recent rain and it was chilly overnight, so it could be a bit of a struggle. According to last nights weather report there wouldn’t be any wind and the sun would make an appearance. At least they got the bit about the wind correct.
Cuckoos Rest is 1 of those venues run by a non-angler and it shows. It is a nice venue, out in the sticks, but it could just do with some tiding up, in terms of overhanging branches. Having said that it’s nice to fish a venue not dominated by carp.
With only 12 fishing today, it meant plenty of room and no really bad pegs. I found myself on the left hand side of the island, the 1st peg over the footbridge. I could see Craig on the opposite bank, but couldn’t see Andy who was further along at the top of the island. Since I could see Craig, so long as I stayed ahead for him I would qualify for the final.
Although there are carp at the venue and some very big ones at that, silvers need to be your target. I settled on 3 lines, 5-6m feeding maggot/caster, 13-14m feeding groundbait (black lake & green swim stim) & caster and the waggler further out, feeding small balls of groundbait. I also had a throwaway line to my left fishing back towards the "mainland", feeding pellet & corn. On Tuesday I only feed caster on the short line, but since the lake was more coloured I decided to feed more maggot.
Having cupped 2 balls of groundbait at 13m, I started at 5m, and it took 3-4 minutes to get my 1st bite, but after an hour I had 25 fish in the net, nothing bigger than 5-6oz, but at least I was catching regularly.
A switch to the 13m line only produced a few bites, so back to the 5m line after topping up at 13m. And this is how the rest of my match went. Catch a few short, before trying the 13m line and/or waggler. After the 3rd top-up at 13m, a 4½lb tench accepted my double red maggot. Now I was sure I was in front of Craig, who had managed to catch a crayfish! Andy had a little walk around to stretch his legs and was admitting to catching a few hand sized skimmers, so it was likely to be close.
Despite the very coloured water pike or big perch seemed to unsettling the fish, because bites would just stop, plus throughout the day small fish where scattering.
Further top ups at 13m yielded very little and the waggler only produced a few small roach. Going into the 5th & final hour, I decided to feed 2 balls of groundbait, with caster at 45 degrees right. After 30mins I didn’t have a response, but with 10 minutes left a switch back resulted in a 3½lb bream. Now I was confident of at least knocking out Craig.
Graham Millard won with 17lb 3oz from the favoured right side of the island, which included a small carp and 3 decent bream. As for the knockout, Andy weighted 10-4, whist Craig dipped out with 6-12. Whilst the skimmers didn’t feed, everyone seemed to get plenty of bites from roach.
1st Graham Millard 17-3
2nd Ken Rayner 16-9
3rd Ian Pople 10-6
4th Andy Lord 10-4
Catch – 65 Roach, 8 Skimmers, 3 Perch, 1 Tench, 1 Bream
Weather – Rain for most of the day
Match – Glenfall – 2nd overall
So my first blog for quite a while. Today was a club match with the added spice of being the semi final for the club knockout, with the eventual winner receiving free annual membership worth £75. There should have been 4 of us, however the 4th person dropped out leaving Andy Lord, Craig Davidge & myself to fight it out for the final on the Match Lake at Ivy House. Since there were only 3 of us, we decided the lowest weight drops out.
I had practiced on Tuesday, weighing 28lb (10-11lb of roach & hand sized skimmers, 6 bream, 1 tench, a big perch and a 1.5lb carp) and was feeling confident, however the lake was very coloured after the recent rain and it was chilly overnight, so it could be a bit of a struggle. According to last nights weather report there wouldn’t be any wind and the sun would make an appearance. At least they got the bit about the wind correct.
Cuckoos Rest is 1 of those venues run by a non-angler and it shows. It is a nice venue, out in the sticks, but it could just do with some tiding up, in terms of overhanging branches. Having said that it’s nice to fish a venue not dominated by carp.
With only 12 fishing today, it meant plenty of room and no really bad pegs. I found myself on the left hand side of the island, the 1st peg over the footbridge. I could see Craig on the opposite bank, but couldn’t see Andy who was further along at the top of the island. Since I could see Craig, so long as I stayed ahead for him I would qualify for the final.
Although there are carp at the venue and some very big ones at that, silvers need to be your target. I settled on 3 lines, 5-6m feeding maggot/caster, 13-14m feeding groundbait (black lake & green swim stim) & caster and the waggler further out, feeding small balls of groundbait. I also had a throwaway line to my left fishing back towards the "mainland", feeding pellet & corn. On Tuesday I only feed caster on the short line, but since the lake was more coloured I decided to feed more maggot.
Having cupped 2 balls of groundbait at 13m, I started at 5m, and it took 3-4 minutes to get my 1st bite, but after an hour I had 25 fish in the net, nothing bigger than 5-6oz, but at least I was catching regularly.
A switch to the 13m line only produced a few bites, so back to the 5m line after topping up at 13m. And this is how the rest of my match went. Catch a few short, before trying the 13m line and/or waggler. After the 3rd top-up at 13m, a 4½lb tench accepted my double red maggot. Now I was sure I was in front of Craig, who had managed to catch a crayfish! Andy had a little walk around to stretch his legs and was admitting to catching a few hand sized skimmers, so it was likely to be close.
Despite the very coloured water pike or big perch seemed to unsettling the fish, because bites would just stop, plus throughout the day small fish where scattering.
Further top ups at 13m yielded very little and the waggler only produced a few small roach. Going into the 5th & final hour, I decided to feed 2 balls of groundbait, with caster at 45 degrees right. After 30mins I didn’t have a response, but with 10 minutes left a switch back resulted in a 3½lb bream. Now I was confident of at least knocking out Craig.
Graham Millard won with 17lb 3oz from the favoured right side of the island, which included a small carp and 3 decent bream. As for the knockout, Andy weighted 10-4, whist Craig dipped out with 6-12. Whilst the skimmers didn’t feed, everyone seemed to get plenty of bites from roach.
1st Graham Millard 17-3
2nd Ken Rayner 16-9
3rd Ian Pople 10-6
4th Andy Lord 10-4
The Last 5 Months
You may have noticed a lack of recent blog entries. Not wishing to sound too downcast, things generally haven’t been going that well.
An injury whilst playing football (well I was absolutely clattered) has buggered my back and probably means I have to retire playing altogether, this has meant fishing beyond 10m on the pole has up until recently been a no-no.
Sue is still building up her AVON & Ann Summers business, but that taking time to yield a significant income, but its coming. However the current lack of funds means we are still car sharing and making her business successful takes priority over my fishing needs.
The good news is my work appears to be improving, but again time will tell. Although I already have some exams, a statutory requirement means by the end of 2012, I need more exams. Deep joy! So since my fishing time has already been comprised I have decided to concentrate on getting these exams out of the way.
Despite my back I have managed to do some fishing, although 1 day I truly regretted it, because after 2 hours I could hardly move, the pain was so bad. Fishing up until recently has been restricted to no more than 10m on the pole or fishing with a rod & reel. I did manage a PB weight of 357lb, carp all on pole & paste, which included 11 doubles.
Now my back is much better than it was, it means I can get out a little more often and have started to use a bump bar to help keep the pressure off my back.
A special mention to Mark Poppleton, who despite living in Trowbridge has gone out of his way to pick me up for a couple of recent matches at Lands End – top man.
So I will keep the blog updated, although it won’t be quiet as regular as I would like for the time being.
An injury whilst playing football (well I was absolutely clattered) has buggered my back and probably means I have to retire playing altogether, this has meant fishing beyond 10m on the pole has up until recently been a no-no.
Sue is still building up her AVON & Ann Summers business, but that taking time to yield a significant income, but its coming. However the current lack of funds means we are still car sharing and making her business successful takes priority over my fishing needs.
The good news is my work appears to be improving, but again time will tell. Although I already have some exams, a statutory requirement means by the end of 2012, I need more exams. Deep joy! So since my fishing time has already been comprised I have decided to concentrate on getting these exams out of the way.
Despite my back I have managed to do some fishing, although 1 day I truly regretted it, because after 2 hours I could hardly move, the pain was so bad. Fishing up until recently has been restricted to no more than 10m on the pole or fishing with a rod & reel. I did manage a PB weight of 357lb, carp all on pole & paste, which included 11 doubles.
Now my back is much better than it was, it means I can get out a little more often and have started to use a bump bar to help keep the pressure off my back.
A special mention to Mark Poppleton, who despite living in Trowbridge has gone out of his way to pick me up for a couple of recent matches at Lands End – top man.
So I will keep the blog updated, although it won’t be quiet as regular as I would like for the time being.
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