Weight – 13lb 8oz
Catch – 20 Perch, 17 Roach
Weather – Bright & sunny.
Water Temp – 5.0c > 5.0c
Match – Lands End Winter League – rd 5 - 31st overall, 4th in section, 2nd Silvers overall
With more cold weather forecast another difficult day was expected, although come the morning of the match the frost had stayed away and it was a pleasant, almost warm day.
The 5th round of the winter league meant we were back to a random draw and I needed a decent peg to maintain a challenge for the top 7, unfortunately peg 36 on speci was far from ideal. The last 3 matches has only seen a top weight of 8lb and during this series the most anyone has managed is 3pts (out of 6). It was also in the middle of a tough section, with Tony Rixon on 33, Bela Bakos on current flyer of 34, Mike West on 39 and Andy France on 40. So a section of carp baggers and I was unlikely to see 1. I told Jason Radford on 37 we would be fighting for bottom of section.
With little prospect of winning from the peg, damage limitation was the order of the day, which meant a day silver fish hunting and hope the form pegs blew out, particularly since the water was still very cold.
Decided on 2 swims, 13m at the bottom of the shelf and the top of the shelf, so a pinch of micros & caster was deposited at 13m and I went straight over to the island hoping for a rogue carp. After 20mins it was obvious there were none around, so time to start my assault on the silvers.
After cupping a few casters with some worm atomic “kitten” cloud by the left hand bush, I went over my 13m line, but no bites, meant a switch the far side, but it was a further 10mins before I could get a fish. I had to ditch the LH bush after snagging on roots a couple of times and swapped to the RH bush which seemed to be a bit clearer. For the next hour or so I caught mostly Perch up to 1½lb on caster or maggot, toss potting 4-6 bits of caster every put in.
By the halfway stage I had 20 fish, but the swim was dying. Tony was comfortably winning the section, but Bela was struggling. It appeared the carp had moved off the island into the deeper water. I thought I was just ahead of Jason, but I couldn’t see how Mike and Andy were doing.
Whilst fishing to the island I kept the 13m swim topped with a small amount of micros and caster, hoping for a few skimmers or F1s to put in appearance, but they never did, managing only small roach and a single perch. I did try another “down the track swim” just feeding caster, but this also proved fruitless. I kept the caster going into the RH bush and periodically tried other areas along the island picking up the odd fish.
To get bites I had to dot the float (roach 4x10) right down and even then they were only little dinks. I tried showing more bristle but couldn’t get a proper bite. The real frustration was the number of perch that dropped off the hook. 9 in total.
Come the end of the match, I managed to beat Jason & Mike and was only a 1lb away from Andy who had 11lb of silvers, plus a small carp. Tony caught all day for 133lb, whist Bela was left wondering what if, although he did manage 3 carp & 2nd section.
Getting 3 points was probably the best I could hope for unless a few carp put in an appearance, but at least I picked up top silvers weight on the lake (and 2nd overall). Individually I’ve dropped from 6th to 8th so not too bad, but with 3 rounds left I could really do with a couple of decent draws.
1-Nicky Collier - 29pts
2-Vince Shipp - 27
3-Dave Hodgson - 25
4-Garry Wall 24
5-Mat Tomes 23 (236-5)
6-Martin Pettifer 23 (136-1)
7-Rod Wootton 22 (190-1)
8-Ken Rayner 22 (122-15)
9-James Wither 21 (155-8)
10-Larry Burns 21 (135-11 )
Monday 22 February 2010
Saturday 20 February 2010
19/02/2010 - K&A Canal - Clarke Pound
Weight – 23lb 0oz
Catch – 22 Roach, 16 Bream, 1 Tench
Weather – Cold bright start. Snow & sleet showers. Cold breeze.
Water Temp – 6.0c > 6.0c
An e-mail from Mark and story's of 100lb bags of skimmers, had us hastily arranging a days holiday. To be honest I was glad not to be in work, broken promises and general inactivity has made me quite grumpy recently, so a complete change of scenery was very welcome.
Due to the late decision to go, neither of us had time to get any bait, but fortunately I had a pint of maggot in the fridge and Mark had some groundbait. When I woke up I had to really question my decision to go, with ice and clear skies forecast, not exactly classic skimmer weather. As previously mentioned there had been some big bags of skimmers early in the previous week, because a load of fish had been moved into a couple of pounds due to maintenance work on the Caen Hill locks.
We settled on Clarke pound, were I saw my dream house, called Foxhangers Cottage. A cracking looking house on a private bank on the opposite side of the pound. Good fishing when ever you want – prefect. Just need the lottery numbers to come up, been waiting a while now.
With ice in the puddles on the tow path, Mark & I weren't really sure how it would go and decided we would be happy with 20lb. We both started on the grounbait feeder, whilst priming the pole line, with grounbait, micros and maggot. Despite a few knocks and liners, it wasn't until an hour gone that I got my first fish, a 2 lb skimmer, but no further fish.
Mark had already switched to the pole and managed a small skimmer and a roach. My first drop in on the pole, produced a 3½lb bream and over next couple of hours I got regular bites from skimmers, roach and a near 4lb tench. Feeding a tosspot of bait every 3-4 fish was working, because my first fish after feeding would be a skimmer, but feeding a larger amount didn't really work and as the session progressed the swim began to slow. The feeder only produced 1 skimmer, so I stayed on the pole.
With 90 minutes to go I had a good lead over Mark, however his pole swim started to get stronger, with regular skimmers, whilst I was mostly catching roach. By the end, I thought had done enough to beat me and so it proved when he weighed 29lb. Unfortunately for me a lost a decent tench and a decent skimmer in the last 15mins, proved decisive.
Whilst it wasn't quite the massive weights that had been reported, both of us were really pleased to get decent weights, on a canal on what was at times a freezing cold day.
Catch – 22 Roach, 16 Bream, 1 Tench
Weather – Cold bright start. Snow & sleet showers. Cold breeze.
Water Temp – 6.0c > 6.0c
An e-mail from Mark and story's of 100lb bags of skimmers, had us hastily arranging a days holiday. To be honest I was glad not to be in work, broken promises and general inactivity has made me quite grumpy recently, so a complete change of scenery was very welcome.
Due to the late decision to go, neither of us had time to get any bait, but fortunately I had a pint of maggot in the fridge and Mark had some groundbait. When I woke up I had to really question my decision to go, with ice and clear skies forecast, not exactly classic skimmer weather. As previously mentioned there had been some big bags of skimmers early in the previous week, because a load of fish had been moved into a couple of pounds due to maintenance work on the Caen Hill locks.
We settled on Clarke pound, were I saw my dream house, called Foxhangers Cottage. A cracking looking house on a private bank on the opposite side of the pound. Good fishing when ever you want – prefect. Just need the lottery numbers to come up, been waiting a while now.
With ice in the puddles on the tow path, Mark & I weren't really sure how it would go and decided we would be happy with 20lb. We both started on the grounbait feeder, whilst priming the pole line, with grounbait, micros and maggot. Despite a few knocks and liners, it wasn't until an hour gone that I got my first fish, a 2 lb skimmer, but no further fish.
Mark had already switched to the pole and managed a small skimmer and a roach. My first drop in on the pole, produced a 3½lb bream and over next couple of hours I got regular bites from skimmers, roach and a near 4lb tench. Feeding a tosspot of bait every 3-4 fish was working, because my first fish after feeding would be a skimmer, but feeding a larger amount didn't really work and as the session progressed the swim began to slow. The feeder only produced 1 skimmer, so I stayed on the pole.
With 90 minutes to go I had a good lead over Mark, however his pole swim started to get stronger, with regular skimmers, whilst I was mostly catching roach. By the end, I thought had done enough to beat me and so it proved when he weighed 29lb. Unfortunately for me a lost a decent tench and a decent skimmer in the last 15mins, proved decisive.
Whilst it wasn't quite the massive weights that had been reported, both of us were really pleased to get decent weights, on a canal on what was at times a freezing cold day.
Monday 15 February 2010
14/02/2010 - Lands End - Johns Lake
Weight – 39lb 9oz
Catch – 8 Carp, 6 Roach, 3 Crucian, 1 Perch, 1 Rudd
Weather – Cold & mostly bright. Chilly breeze.
Water Temp – 5.0c > 5.0c
Match – Lands End Winter League – rd 4 – 3rd overall, 1st in section
It was my turn for Johns (no.3) Lake and after a poor draw on Match Lake needed a decent draw to get back in the running for the league. So I was more than happy with 42, at least I would get a few fish. When arriving at the lake I was surprised to see at how clear the water was and by all accounts it was clearer yesterday! So a difficult day was likely.
With the water being so clear, a cautious approach was required. The deepest part of the peg was at 11.5m in front, so a small amount of micro was deposited, but for the moment decided not to feed anywhere else. I started on corn by the bush on the island and a few liners suggested there was carp about, but no real bites materlised, even double maggot. A switch to the pellet swim after 30 minutes didnt produce either.
By this time Mark Leeder on peg 50 had a double figure carp and Mike “I've never seen him on a bad peg” Nicholls opposite on peg 68 had a couple of carp & a few silvers. With no bites from the pellet swim, time to try the bush again, but this time I set the spread bulk 30cm from the hook to allow a slow drop and it worked, with a 4-5lb carp on triple pinkie. The fact I was catching on triple pinkie brought some amusement from both Mike and Clint on peg 41, but when I replied with "bits of caster" when asked what I was feeding, brought further good natured ridicule.
At the half way stage, I had 7 carp (6 by the bush and 1 at 11.5m on maggot) and a crucian, but started to struggle. Since I was comfortbly leading the section, I decide to stick with the carp to try and win the lake. Mike had gone for a walk and discovered Adrian Clarke on peg 58 had 9 carp, so decided to concentrate on the silvers, but he still managaed a couple more “vermin” before the end of the match. Well you would from the best peg on the lake.
For the rest of the match I set up another swim at 14.5m up & down the shelf and rotated all my swims. I picked up 1 more carp, a couple more crucians and a near 2lb perch. With an hour to go I havent caught for about 45mins, so when I landed my 8th carp from the 14.5m line I hoped for a strong finish, however the swim now seemed to full of little roach, which was a little frustrating.
At the all out, as expected I won my section and Mark on peg 50 was 2nd with the single carp he caught after 5mins, but at 11-8 it was worth having. Adrain only managed 1 more carp, but still won the lake with 44-4. I was expecting to come 2nd, so was surprised when Mike weighed 41-15, which included 15lb of silvers on caster. Fair play to him though he fished a very tidy match and managed to catch some the better quality roach, along with a few skimmers & crucians.
As for the league I've moved from 11th to 6th, but as you can see below its all quite tight, except for Nick who has managed 4 straight section wins
1st Nick Collier 24pts
2nd Vince Shipp 21 (229-12)
3rd Dave Hodgson 21 (139-0)
4th Matt Tomes 19 (206-11)
5th Garry Wall 19 (172-0)
6th Ken Rayner 19 (109-7)
7th Adrian Jeffrey 18 (111-13)
8th Martin Pettifer 18 (100-11)
9th Rod Wootton 17 (159-9)
10th Mark Poppleton 17 (151-3)
Catch – 8 Carp, 6 Roach, 3 Crucian, 1 Perch, 1 Rudd
Weather – Cold & mostly bright. Chilly breeze.
Water Temp – 5.0c > 5.0c
Match – Lands End Winter League – rd 4 – 3rd overall, 1st in section
It was my turn for Johns (no.3) Lake and after a poor draw on Match Lake needed a decent draw to get back in the running for the league. So I was more than happy with 42, at least I would get a few fish. When arriving at the lake I was surprised to see at how clear the water was and by all accounts it was clearer yesterday! So a difficult day was likely.
With the water being so clear, a cautious approach was required. The deepest part of the peg was at 11.5m in front, so a small amount of micro was deposited, but for the moment decided not to feed anywhere else. I started on corn by the bush on the island and a few liners suggested there was carp about, but no real bites materlised, even double maggot. A switch to the pellet swim after 30 minutes didnt produce either.
By this time Mark Leeder on peg 50 had a double figure carp and Mike “I've never seen him on a bad peg” Nicholls opposite on peg 68 had a couple of carp & a few silvers. With no bites from the pellet swim, time to try the bush again, but this time I set the spread bulk 30cm from the hook to allow a slow drop and it worked, with a 4-5lb carp on triple pinkie. The fact I was catching on triple pinkie brought some amusement from both Mike and Clint on peg 41, but when I replied with "bits of caster" when asked what I was feeding, brought further good natured ridicule.
At the half way stage, I had 7 carp (6 by the bush and 1 at 11.5m on maggot) and a crucian, but started to struggle. Since I was comfortbly leading the section, I decide to stick with the carp to try and win the lake. Mike had gone for a walk and discovered Adrian Clarke on peg 58 had 9 carp, so decided to concentrate on the silvers, but he still managaed a couple more “vermin” before the end of the match. Well you would from the best peg on the lake.
For the rest of the match I set up another swim at 14.5m up & down the shelf and rotated all my swims. I picked up 1 more carp, a couple more crucians and a near 2lb perch. With an hour to go I havent caught for about 45mins, so when I landed my 8th carp from the 14.5m line I hoped for a strong finish, however the swim now seemed to full of little roach, which was a little frustrating.
At the all out, as expected I won my section and Mark on peg 50 was 2nd with the single carp he caught after 5mins, but at 11-8 it was worth having. Adrain only managed 1 more carp, but still won the lake with 44-4. I was expecting to come 2nd, so was surprised when Mike weighed 41-15, which included 15lb of silvers on caster. Fair play to him though he fished a very tidy match and managed to catch some the better quality roach, along with a few skimmers & crucians.
As for the league I've moved from 11th to 6th, but as you can see below its all quite tight, except for Nick who has managed 4 straight section wins
1st Nick Collier 24pts
2nd Vince Shipp 21 (229-12)
3rd Dave Hodgson 21 (139-0)
4th Matt Tomes 19 (206-11)
5th Garry Wall 19 (172-0)
6th Ken Rayner 19 (109-7)
7th Adrian Jeffrey 18 (111-13)
8th Martin Pettifer 18 (100-11)
9th Rod Wootton 17 (159-9)
10th Mark Poppleton 17 (151-3)
Sunday 7 February 2010
06/02/10 - Lands End - Johns Lake
Weight – 29lb 0oz
Catch – 7 Carp, 1 Roach
Weather – Mostly bright & sunny, becoming chilly
Water Temp – 6.5c > 6.5c
Match – Open – 3rd overall
Well it made a nice change to go fishing without having to worry about ice, although more cold weather is on its way!
Mike has decided to give Match Lake a bit of rest for the next few weeks, because it hasn't been fishing well, so we found ourselves on Johns Lake. With 12 of us booked in, we used the same pegs that would be used for next weeks winter league and I drew 62, which has been a form peg over the last few weeks.
After a week of mild weather, we were all looking forward to a few bites and reports from Wednesdays match suggested the fish would need feeding. So on the all in ¼ a pot of micros went in at 12m and a bit of caster at 6m. I started tight to the island on maggot, toss potting a bit of micro, but after 15mins I couldn't get a bite from any where along the island.
Time to try the 6m line and 5mins later I had a 1½lb carp on maggot, but then nothing. This wasn't what I expected and most of us were struggling for a bite, let alone a fish. By the half way stage I only added a small roach to my carp, I even tried the waggler fished into the gap between the island without success.
Garry Wall opposite on 50 however had 4 carp, but lost a further 4 or 5 by pulling too hard, but other than that those around me were struggling for bites. A cold northerly started blowing as well which wasn't helping.
I had been flicking 4mm's out towards the point of the island in 61 which I could just reach with 16m. A couple of liners suggested there were fish around, although they weren't taking the bait, but at least I was getting indication which was more than any where else in my swim. So a big pot of micros went in at 13m straight in front, because it couldn't do any harm, another pot of maggot, pinkie & caster went in tight to the island in the gap and a handful of bait went down the margin.
As for the other point of the island, I decided to keep the feed light, so a small toss pot of micros was fed at 14.5m. Whilst I let that settle I would try other areas, again without a single indication. I managed to snag a carp tight to the island at 16m on triple pinkie, but all my other carp came in the last 2 hours over the 14.5m swim, on soft pellet.
By the end I thought I might be in with a shout of framing, because Garry could only another 1 to his net and the gossip was peg 42 had 5 carp, but they were munters. As it happens, Mike West on 41 had a brilliant last hour adding 30/35lb to his winning 44lb, peg 42 finished with 31lb and these were the leading weights by the time the scales arrived. At 29lb it was slightly more than expected, just a shame I couldn't connect with any of the big boys.
Dale ran me close on 70 for 3rd, weighing 27-7, which included a winning 4lb of silvers. Overall the fishing was harder than expected, probably due to the colder conditions and the wind had switched from the south westerly to a northerly. As for my day, I kept plugging away and was eventually rewarded. I didn't lose a single fish, although I had a heavier rig set up, 6 of my carp came on .11 bottom, 20 silverfish pellet hook and doubled 6 elastic. I know some will say I don't need to go that light, but as Tony says it about confidence.
The strange thing about today, was the fact people either caught early or late, but no one could keep the fish coming all match and the lack of silvers that showed was a bit of puzzle. I had a proper silvers rig set up as well. A few more lessons learnt and if this result is duplicated next week (assuming the lakes arent ice over again), it would mean maximum points.
Catch – 7 Carp, 1 Roach
Weather – Mostly bright & sunny, becoming chilly
Water Temp – 6.5c > 6.5c
Match – Open – 3rd overall
Well it made a nice change to go fishing without having to worry about ice, although more cold weather is on its way!
Mike has decided to give Match Lake a bit of rest for the next few weeks, because it hasn't been fishing well, so we found ourselves on Johns Lake. With 12 of us booked in, we used the same pegs that would be used for next weeks winter league and I drew 62, which has been a form peg over the last few weeks.
After a week of mild weather, we were all looking forward to a few bites and reports from Wednesdays match suggested the fish would need feeding. So on the all in ¼ a pot of micros went in at 12m and a bit of caster at 6m. I started tight to the island on maggot, toss potting a bit of micro, but after 15mins I couldn't get a bite from any where along the island.
Time to try the 6m line and 5mins later I had a 1½lb carp on maggot, but then nothing. This wasn't what I expected and most of us were struggling for a bite, let alone a fish. By the half way stage I only added a small roach to my carp, I even tried the waggler fished into the gap between the island without success.
Garry Wall opposite on 50 however had 4 carp, but lost a further 4 or 5 by pulling too hard, but other than that those around me were struggling for bites. A cold northerly started blowing as well which wasn't helping.
I had been flicking 4mm's out towards the point of the island in 61 which I could just reach with 16m. A couple of liners suggested there were fish around, although they weren't taking the bait, but at least I was getting indication which was more than any where else in my swim. So a big pot of micros went in at 13m straight in front, because it couldn't do any harm, another pot of maggot, pinkie & caster went in tight to the island in the gap and a handful of bait went down the margin.
As for the other point of the island, I decided to keep the feed light, so a small toss pot of micros was fed at 14.5m. Whilst I let that settle I would try other areas, again without a single indication. I managed to snag a carp tight to the island at 16m on triple pinkie, but all my other carp came in the last 2 hours over the 14.5m swim, on soft pellet.
By the end I thought I might be in with a shout of framing, because Garry could only another 1 to his net and the gossip was peg 42 had 5 carp, but they were munters. As it happens, Mike West on 41 had a brilliant last hour adding 30/35lb to his winning 44lb, peg 42 finished with 31lb and these were the leading weights by the time the scales arrived. At 29lb it was slightly more than expected, just a shame I couldn't connect with any of the big boys.
Dale ran me close on 70 for 3rd, weighing 27-7, which included a winning 4lb of silvers. Overall the fishing was harder than expected, probably due to the colder conditions and the wind had switched from the south westerly to a northerly. As for my day, I kept plugging away and was eventually rewarded. I didn't lose a single fish, although I had a heavier rig set up, 6 of my carp came on .11 bottom, 20 silverfish pellet hook and doubled 6 elastic. I know some will say I don't need to go that light, but as Tony says it about confidence.
The strange thing about today, was the fact people either caught early or late, but no one could keep the fish coming all match and the lack of silvers that showed was a bit of puzzle. I had a proper silvers rig set up as well. A few more lessons learnt and if this result is duplicated next week (assuming the lakes arent ice over again), it would mean maximum points.
Friday 5 February 2010
Further Reflection
Having had time to reflect further its fair to say I didnt expect the reaction to a comment that was intended to as well intended support. The reality is it had the opposite effect, particuarilty on Mike & for that I have apologised to Mike, becuase it was never my intention to get him involved. Unfortunately, becuase I was Lands End it was wrongly assumed that Mike had said something.
I still believe there is an issue amongst anglers that take fishery owners for granted and dont show the respect that most deserve. A story in the Angling Times this week highlighted the fact where one fishery owner has at great expense bought thousands of pounds worth of nets (keepnets & landing nets) for his customers to use, only for most of them to have disappeared. There is another fishery that decided to shut its door to match anglers, due the amount of moaning, litter and gerneral aggravation.
So back to the original purpose of my comment, we do need to support our local fishery and in general friends I have spoken to agree, although in hindsight I should have said it a different way.
If nothing else, those that read this blog will understand/appreciate the point I was trying to make and those that discuss my blog with others will be gracious enough to do the same.
I still believe there is an issue amongst anglers that take fishery owners for granted and dont show the respect that most deserve. A story in the Angling Times this week highlighted the fact where one fishery owner has at great expense bought thousands of pounds worth of nets (keepnets & landing nets) for his customers to use, only for most of them to have disappeared. There is another fishery that decided to shut its door to match anglers, due the amount of moaning, litter and gerneral aggravation.
So back to the original purpose of my comment, we do need to support our local fishery and in general friends I have spoken to agree, although in hindsight I should have said it a different way.
If nothing else, those that read this blog will understand/appreciate the point I was trying to make and those that discuss my blog with others will be gracious enough to do the same.
Thursday 4 February 2010
Stirred a hornets nest!
It appears my last blog has upset a few people. Please read the comment left.
So did I mis understand the situation? If I did I whole heartly hold my hands up and apologise. It wasnt my intention to upset anyone and to be honest I wasn’t expecting such a strong reaction. I welcome Nicks comments and he is right, up to a point, but lets be honest, we have all been guity of passing comment or making an assumption based on hearsay.
Its worth noting I deliberately did not mention any names. Why? Very simply becuase my comments werent about any individual or fishery, but about a situation that arises every week across the country. Any comments were simply an observation of events on my part. As anglers we do have the right to fish were ever we like, that is not the issue here.
How many times have you heard “is so-and-so coming?” only to meet by a sea of blank faces, then someone pops up “oh he can’t make it because…..” On the whole fishery owners have to accept this, because usually they have no choice, because banning those that don’t cancel prior to the draw isn’t practical. However it doesn’t mean it is right or the fishery owners have to be happy about. It doesn’t take much to pick up the phone.
Speaking to a number of different fishery owners over the years, they all feel unappreciated at times. I remember being at Stafford Moor, when KHV struck and Andy Seery was devastated, you could see it in his face. However 1 muppet, who apparently was a regular visitor announced at the top of his voice the fishery was sh*t and he wont return until Andy put some fish in the lakes. Talk about insensitive.
The way I see it being a fishery owner is a thankless task at times, everyone wants to catch fish, when they don’t the venue is rubbish, it needs more fish, etc, etc. This winter has been particularly hard financially, so when you expect 12-15 to turn up, but only 5 do, then yes I think it is fair to assume you will be disappointed, it’s a normal human reaction.
Know doubt the next round of the Winter League will be interesting, but if you wish to pass comment, whether you agree or disagree with my comments then please do so, obviously keeping the comments clean.
So did I mis understand the situation? If I did I whole heartly hold my hands up and apologise. It wasnt my intention to upset anyone and to be honest I wasn’t expecting such a strong reaction. I welcome Nicks comments and he is right, up to a point, but lets be honest, we have all been guity of passing comment or making an assumption based on hearsay.
Its worth noting I deliberately did not mention any names. Why? Very simply becuase my comments werent about any individual or fishery, but about a situation that arises every week across the country. Any comments were simply an observation of events on my part. As anglers we do have the right to fish were ever we like, that is not the issue here.
How many times have you heard “is so-and-so coming?” only to meet by a sea of blank faces, then someone pops up “oh he can’t make it because…..” On the whole fishery owners have to accept this, because usually they have no choice, because banning those that don’t cancel prior to the draw isn’t practical. However it doesn’t mean it is right or the fishery owners have to be happy about. It doesn’t take much to pick up the phone.
Speaking to a number of different fishery owners over the years, they all feel unappreciated at times. I remember being at Stafford Moor, when KHV struck and Andy Seery was devastated, you could see it in his face. However 1 muppet, who apparently was a regular visitor announced at the top of his voice the fishery was sh*t and he wont return until Andy put some fish in the lakes. Talk about insensitive.
The way I see it being a fishery owner is a thankless task at times, everyone wants to catch fish, when they don’t the venue is rubbish, it needs more fish, etc, etc. This winter has been particularly hard financially, so when you expect 12-15 to turn up, but only 5 do, then yes I think it is fair to assume you will be disappointed, it’s a normal human reaction.
Know doubt the next round of the Winter League will be interesting, but if you wish to pass comment, whether you agree or disagree with my comments then please do so, obviously keeping the comments clean.
Monday 1 February 2010
31/01/2010 - Lands End - Johns Lake
Weight – 17lb 2oz
Catch – 4 Carp, 1 Perch
Weather – More ice. Cold & clear start, becoming showery
Water Temp – 4.0c > 4.5c
Match – Open – 4th overall (out of 5!)
The weather seems to know when it is the weekend! A week of reasonable mild conditions, but come the weekend its back to the ice. On arriving at Lands End it was -3c, so more ice breaking was on the cards.
Today’s match would be on Johns Lake (no.3), which I was pleased about, because I would be here for the next round of the Winter League. Originally Mike was expecting a decent turn out, however teams for the Viaducts Teams of 5 were short of anglers. Personally think 20 teams of 5 at Viaduct is too many, particularly in the winter, which is why I try and avoid fishing the league. If they had 15 teams, the overall fishing is likely to improve, plus there won’t be the constant problem of teams struggling for members.
Another reason for the poor turnout was a hastily arranged match at Plantations, where some were persuaded to let Mike down. Needless to say they all struggled, because they couldn’t cast to the island where the carp are due to the ice. Although Mike wouldn’t be so direct, he was annoyed. Getting on my soap box a bit here, but we need to support the fishery owners who are prepared to put in the effort. Maintaining a tidy, litter free venue requires a lot of effort, which isnt always appreciated and again personally some anglers need to show a little more respect.
Back to the match and Johns Lake, for what ever reason has become my bogey lake, so it would be nice to get it sorted. With only the 5 of us, it was more like pleasure fishing, so at least we could all be on the form pegs. I drew 58, which is a peg I always wanted to draw, it was just a shame it was iced over. Fortunately the ice didn’t take too much effort to break and I soon created a 11.5m channel towards the island as well as towards the brambles down the RH margin.
2 rigs were set up, with .11 bottom - 22 B911 & .13 bottom – 20 B911. Started on the heavy rig with corn looking for an early carp, but with no signs of life after 20 mins it was time to feed. So a few casters was deposited to my right, whilst some pinkie & maggot went in at 11.5m.
With just over an hour gone, I had my first bite on double pinkie from a 2½lb carp. However Simon on peg 61 already had 2 carp on pellet and John Bradford opposite had 1 carp.
As the match progressed, the 11.5m line didn’t produce a single bite, despite rotating baits. I had started feeding only maggot & pinkie, but at the half way stage switched to micro pellet without success. The RH swim was the only place I could catch, but I simply had to wait (& wait) for a bite. With the water being so cold, I was reluctant to feed too much, although Simon seemed to be toss potting micro every put in and was catching, but I felt there wasnt the same volume of fish in front of me, so I just kept trickling in the caster hoping to pull in the carp.
In hindsight I could have fed heavier, but I'm not convinced it would have worked. Ideally I would have liked to search other areas of the swim, but the ice prevented me from doing that and I suspect the fish were sat closer to peg 55 opposite.
As predicted Simon won the match with 38lb. Mike was 2nd from peg 68 with 33lb, which included 11lb of silvers, so at least someone had plenty bites. Dale on peg 41 probably had the most bites of anyone, but it was blade roach, which drove him to distraction. It didn’t matter what he put on the hook, but he got pestered by tiny roach.
Catch – 4 Carp, 1 Perch
Weather – More ice. Cold & clear start, becoming showery
Water Temp – 4.0c > 4.5c
Match – Open – 4th overall (out of 5!)
The weather seems to know when it is the weekend! A week of reasonable mild conditions, but come the weekend its back to the ice. On arriving at Lands End it was -3c, so more ice breaking was on the cards.
Today’s match would be on Johns Lake (no.3), which I was pleased about, because I would be here for the next round of the Winter League. Originally Mike was expecting a decent turn out, however teams for the Viaducts Teams of 5 were short of anglers. Personally think 20 teams of 5 at Viaduct is too many, particularly in the winter, which is why I try and avoid fishing the league. If they had 15 teams, the overall fishing is likely to improve, plus there won’t be the constant problem of teams struggling for members.
Another reason for the poor turnout was a hastily arranged match at Plantations, where some were persuaded to let Mike down. Needless to say they all struggled, because they couldn’t cast to the island where the carp are due to the ice. Although Mike wouldn’t be so direct, he was annoyed. Getting on my soap box a bit here, but we need to support the fishery owners who are prepared to put in the effort. Maintaining a tidy, litter free venue requires a lot of effort, which isnt always appreciated and again personally some anglers need to show a little more respect.
Back to the match and Johns Lake, for what ever reason has become my bogey lake, so it would be nice to get it sorted. With only the 5 of us, it was more like pleasure fishing, so at least we could all be on the form pegs. I drew 58, which is a peg I always wanted to draw, it was just a shame it was iced over. Fortunately the ice didn’t take too much effort to break and I soon created a 11.5m channel towards the island as well as towards the brambles down the RH margin.
2 rigs were set up, with .11 bottom - 22 B911 & .13 bottom – 20 B911. Started on the heavy rig with corn looking for an early carp, but with no signs of life after 20 mins it was time to feed. So a few casters was deposited to my right, whilst some pinkie & maggot went in at 11.5m.
With just over an hour gone, I had my first bite on double pinkie from a 2½lb carp. However Simon on peg 61 already had 2 carp on pellet and John Bradford opposite had 1 carp.
As the match progressed, the 11.5m line didn’t produce a single bite, despite rotating baits. I had started feeding only maggot & pinkie, but at the half way stage switched to micro pellet without success. The RH swim was the only place I could catch, but I simply had to wait (& wait) for a bite. With the water being so cold, I was reluctant to feed too much, although Simon seemed to be toss potting micro every put in and was catching, but I felt there wasnt the same volume of fish in front of me, so I just kept trickling in the caster hoping to pull in the carp.
In hindsight I could have fed heavier, but I'm not convinced it would have worked. Ideally I would have liked to search other areas of the swim, but the ice prevented me from doing that and I suspect the fish were sat closer to peg 55 opposite.
As predicted Simon won the match with 38lb. Mike was 2nd from peg 68 with 33lb, which included 11lb of silvers, so at least someone had plenty bites. Dale on peg 41 probably had the most bites of anyone, but it was blade roach, which drove him to distraction. It didn’t matter what he put on the hook, but he got pestered by tiny roach.
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