Weight – 129lb 4oz
Catch – 35 Carp, 8 Bream
Weather – Sunny, very windy, rain, cloudy, flat calm – take your pick!
Match – Match Fishing Scene Float Only – 5th out of 20 (3rd in section)
1st trip to the Glebe in Leicestershire, which is a club complex with 8 lakes as well as 2 other lakes at Mallory Park run by Roy Marlow. It’s a really well established and well looked after fishery and today’s match was on Pool 1, which is the biggest lake on the complex with 30 well spaced pegs on a boomerang spaced lake.
This MFS match attracted anglers from all over the country, as well as a few locals, most of whom had fished here before . It was certainly an expensive day, particularly with fuel prices, however I was awake early and Mark picked me up at 5am reaching Nuneaton just after 7 for breakfast.
Today will be the first of 3 visits this summer with another float only next month and the Angling Trust Masters in August, so I was largely guided by Mark about the best approach and he has had a lot of success fishing caster. So 30pts were ordered from Tony to be split between 3 of us, plus I had another 4pts frozen. Several tins of corn and bags of 6mm pellet completed the bait list, plus I some worms left over from a few weeks ago.
After an initial walk round the way the wind was blowing, we both fancied either end, although around pegs 15-17 can be flyers and I found myself on peg 26, with Mark on 27. With 20 pegs in we all had plenty of space, split into 2 sections. I certainly had a challenge on today. As well as Mark, Pete Bailey was in my section as well as the end peg 30 which won yesterday’s match with 200lb.
Obviously with 14pts of caster tactics for the day would be shallow at 13m with 3 or 4 red maggots on a 16 B911. I also set up a line at 5m feeding pellet & corn, as well down the margin, under a bush which obscured my view of the rest the lake to my left and I only had 3 anglers to my right.
When the match started there was a gentle breeze, which soon got stronger. In the 1st hour I had 5 carp and already got though 3pts of caster! Moving into the 2nd & 3rd hour was a struggle, yet Mark kept catching. At the time I really couldn’t understand why. However on reflection, because I was in danger of going through my caster too quickly, I had cut back on the feed, plus the wind was becoming increasingly strong, making it difficult to feed. Also I should have used a heavier float to provide a bit more stability. So after 3hrs I had about 40lb.
I periodically tried the 5m line, which produced silly bites on corn from what turned out to be skimmers. Whilst on this line I upped my caster feed and started to get more swirls so the fish had returned. I then remembered I still had some worm so started using worm heads and tails, with the fish preferring the tails, probably because they wriggled more.
The next 3hrs was far better, alternating between worm and maggot. The wind dropped and in the last 2hrs I probably just beat Mark, but he had too bigger lead to overtake. However, the end peg only had 3 fish in the last hour, whilst I put in 40-50lb including my biggest fish of 9lb, beating the end peg by 20lb.
The 5m line didn’t really produce and I had 1 roach from the margin which dropped off. In the end had a really enjoyable days fishing, certainly learnt a few things about the venue and have a clearer understanding of what I need to do for next time.
I got beaten in my section by Pete Baily and Mark, which is nothing to be ashamed about. My section was 1st to be weighed and for a while it looked like I would be 3rd overall since no one was admitting to more, however pegs 6 & 8 both beat me so I ended up picking up the section by default.
1st 194- 5 Pete Bailey – p23
2nd 168- 5 Mark Poppleton – p27
3rd 153- 1 Bob P – p6
4th 141- 6 Tim Suttle – p8
5th 129- 4 Ken Rayner – p26
6th 118-10 Nick Merry – p20
Tuesday 28 June 2011
Sunday 26 June 2011
25/06/11 - Lands End - Johns Lake
Weight – 24lb 4oz (9lb silvers)
Catch – 5 Bream, 4 Carp, 4 Crucians, 3 Roach, 1 F1
Weather – Cloudy, sunny periods & breezy
Match – Open – 7th out of 13
Another poor match for me, although this time I can at least blame the peg. 59 was the only peg in the bucket without a point of an island to fish to, so I knew I was up against before I started.
I haven’t fished Johns Lake (no 3) for a while and its certainly grown on, so it isn’t quite as exposed to the wind as it used to be. When I got to my peg, fishing my margins was a nonstarter, due to a bush to my left that extend 2m out and on the right side were loads of brambles. It also meant the only angler I could see was Kev Molton on corner peg 55.
At least I had a spare peg both side and decided to try and make use of the space, trying to catch anything. According to Steve Seagar who was in 61 I needed caster, but with 30pts sitting in my fridge (for Mondays match) I had none with me – typical.
Set up 4x rigs to fish tight to the far bank, an on the deck hard pellet rig, a soft pellet rig for the silvers and a paste rig.
On the all-in fed a small amount of 3mm pellet at 10m to my left and 11.5m in front. Started tight to the far bank on 8mm pellet and promptly lost 2 carp in the 1st 10mins, 1 was definitely foul hooked and the other I thought was hooked properly, but obviously not.
With no more bites I had a look over my LH 10m line, toss potting more 3mm’s and caught a few crucians and skimmers, but it was very slow. In fact there didn’t seem much being caught at this end of the lake and by the ½ way stage I only had about 4lb. I had kept feeding 6mm left and right on the island, but I couldn’t get a proper bite fishing tight in. I couldn’t lift and drop due to the overhanging foliage, so just tried to rest the rig up against the slope, but the fish weren’t playing ball.
I had also been feeding pellet from the start to my right at 4m and I did have a 3½lb bream on paste, but never had another bite from here. Over my down the track swims, carp started to put in an appearance, the 1st one was foul hooked as it swam though my rig, the 2nd was hooked properly and landed and the 3rd elastic snapped above the dacron – doh!
I kept rotating swims, catching a carp down the track on 6mm pellet, and other 2 from the island again on 6mm pellet and the other on paste.
As suspected I struggled to compete, however another 1lb skimmer would have got me 2nd in the silvers.
1st 68-7 - Leighton Palmer - peg 70 - meat
2nd 64- 4 - Martin Pettifer - peg 45 - pellet
3rd 60- 0 - Martin Lenaghan - peg 41
4th 55- 3 - Steve Seagar - peg 61 - paste
Silvers
1st 12-3 - Jim Jenner - peg 42 - caster
Catch – 5 Bream, 4 Carp, 4 Crucians, 3 Roach, 1 F1
Weather – Cloudy, sunny periods & breezy
Match – Open – 7th out of 13
Another poor match for me, although this time I can at least blame the peg. 59 was the only peg in the bucket without a point of an island to fish to, so I knew I was up against before I started.
I haven’t fished Johns Lake (no 3) for a while and its certainly grown on, so it isn’t quite as exposed to the wind as it used to be. When I got to my peg, fishing my margins was a nonstarter, due to a bush to my left that extend 2m out and on the right side were loads of brambles. It also meant the only angler I could see was Kev Molton on corner peg 55.
At least I had a spare peg both side and decided to try and make use of the space, trying to catch anything. According to Steve Seagar who was in 61 I needed caster, but with 30pts sitting in my fridge (for Mondays match) I had none with me – typical.
Set up 4x rigs to fish tight to the far bank, an on the deck hard pellet rig, a soft pellet rig for the silvers and a paste rig.
On the all-in fed a small amount of 3mm pellet at 10m to my left and 11.5m in front. Started tight to the far bank on 8mm pellet and promptly lost 2 carp in the 1st 10mins, 1 was definitely foul hooked and the other I thought was hooked properly, but obviously not.
With no more bites I had a look over my LH 10m line, toss potting more 3mm’s and caught a few crucians and skimmers, but it was very slow. In fact there didn’t seem much being caught at this end of the lake and by the ½ way stage I only had about 4lb. I had kept feeding 6mm left and right on the island, but I couldn’t get a proper bite fishing tight in. I couldn’t lift and drop due to the overhanging foliage, so just tried to rest the rig up against the slope, but the fish weren’t playing ball.
I had also been feeding pellet from the start to my right at 4m and I did have a 3½lb bream on paste, but never had another bite from here. Over my down the track swims, carp started to put in an appearance, the 1st one was foul hooked as it swam though my rig, the 2nd was hooked properly and landed and the 3rd elastic snapped above the dacron – doh!
I kept rotating swims, catching a carp down the track on 6mm pellet, and other 2 from the island again on 6mm pellet and the other on paste.
As suspected I struggled to compete, however another 1lb skimmer would have got me 2nd in the silvers.
1st 68-7 - Leighton Palmer - peg 70 - meat
2nd 64- 4 - Martin Pettifer - peg 45 - pellet
3rd 60- 0 - Martin Lenaghan - peg 41
4th 55- 3 - Steve Seagar - peg 61 - paste
Silvers
1st 12-3 - Jim Jenner - peg 42 - caster
Friday 24 June 2011
23/06/11 - Rood Ashton
Weight – 33lb 0oz
Catch – 10 Carp
Weather – Mostly sunny & windy.
Match – Wiltshire Angling Evening Open – 5th out of 7
The longer these matches go on the fewer actually fish. 10 had booked in, but for various reasons only 7 turned up, so the pegs were spread along the left bank up to the point. I drew the same peg as last week, so was quite happy, however that is were my joy ended.
A really frustrating evening and I genuinely don’t know why I couldn’t catch properly. Tactics were the same as last week, the only difference was the weather condition. After the 1st 75mins I had 5 carp and doing ok, but the next hour or so I struggled to the point that feed 10-12 pouches of pellet in 1 hit. This helped with a better last hour, but the fish still hadn’t settled properly and I lost a few foulhookers.
Very, very frustrating and I must admit I got home in a bit of mood, but a quick grope of the missus soon cheered me up!
1st 84lb – Tony Gilbert
2nd 77lb – Mark Poppleton
3rd 67lb – Mike Withy
Catch – 10 Carp
Weather – Mostly sunny & windy.
Match – Wiltshire Angling Evening Open – 5th out of 7
The longer these matches go on the fewer actually fish. 10 had booked in, but for various reasons only 7 turned up, so the pegs were spread along the left bank up to the point. I drew the same peg as last week, so was quite happy, however that is were my joy ended.
A really frustrating evening and I genuinely don’t know why I couldn’t catch properly. Tactics were the same as last week, the only difference was the weather condition. After the 1st 75mins I had 5 carp and doing ok, but the next hour or so I struggled to the point that feed 10-12 pouches of pellet in 1 hit. This helped with a better last hour, but the fish still hadn’t settled properly and I lost a few foulhookers.
Very, very frustrating and I must admit I got home in a bit of mood, but a quick grope of the missus soon cheered me up!
1st 84lb – Tony Gilbert
2nd 77lb – Mark Poppleton
3rd 67lb – Mike Withy
Sunday 19 June 2011
18/06/11 - Fishponds
Weight – 116lb 5oz
Catch – 15 Carp
Weather – Rain showers & sunny period. Breezy
Match – Club – Float Rod Only – 1st out of 5
I don’t know about everyone else, but I getting just a little p****d off with the weather. Last month was all about the wind and this month it’s all about the rain. For the 3rd match on the bounce the kit got another soaking. Just as we were setting up it rained, before another shower mid match and just as everything had dried out it rained as we were packing away.
Today’s afternoon/evening match was a float rod only match, but disappointingly only 5 turned up, which meant we were pleasure fishing. Being float rod only, would normally mean fishing the waggler, however with the iffy weather I wasn’t convinced I would catch on the pellet waggler, but I still set up 2 rods with different depths, plus a full depth waggler to fish hair rigged 8mm pellet. My 4th rod was a 15ft preston carbon active (13ft with a 2ft dolly section) to fish paste down the shelf.
My peg for the day was 6, which normally I would be happy with, but it’s not normally any good for the pellet waggler, because most of the ripple on the lake tends to go down the long bank, so I expecting to use the long rod. Since I couldn’t pot my paste in, I had to stiffen it up so I could swing it underarm. After 10mins I hooked my 1st carp and already missing my pole. Playing what turned out to be a 12lb 7oz carp on a 15ft rod isn’t much fun, but worked out it was easier to play the carp once I got it close in to tighten the clutch on the reel and hold the rod further up, effectively reducing the rod length to 13ft, which made it easier to land.
After an hour I had 4 carp, before bites dried up. I had been feeding pellet 25m out ready for the waggler. I started on the full depth waggler, but didn’t have a proper bite, although there was obviously fish in the swim. A switch to the pellet waggler didn’t produce either and to be honest I spent too long trying the 3 waggler rigs without success.
Back on the paste and I started to catch again, but still kept the pellet going in over the waggler line. Eventually the carp properly arrived, but I could only catch when it went cloudy and there was some ripple.
To be honest I would have preferred to have fished the pole, because I’m sure I would have caught quite a bit more and on a more favourable day would have caught more on the pellet waggler.
A wins a win, regardless of how many were fishing, which after a number near misses recently was welcome. 94lb was 2nd and 88lb was 3rd.
Catch – 15 Carp
Weather – Rain showers & sunny period. Breezy
Match – Club – Float Rod Only – 1st out of 5
I don’t know about everyone else, but I getting just a little p****d off with the weather. Last month was all about the wind and this month it’s all about the rain. For the 3rd match on the bounce the kit got another soaking. Just as we were setting up it rained, before another shower mid match and just as everything had dried out it rained as we were packing away.
Today’s afternoon/evening match was a float rod only match, but disappointingly only 5 turned up, which meant we were pleasure fishing. Being float rod only, would normally mean fishing the waggler, however with the iffy weather I wasn’t convinced I would catch on the pellet waggler, but I still set up 2 rods with different depths, plus a full depth waggler to fish hair rigged 8mm pellet. My 4th rod was a 15ft preston carbon active (13ft with a 2ft dolly section) to fish paste down the shelf.
My peg for the day was 6, which normally I would be happy with, but it’s not normally any good for the pellet waggler, because most of the ripple on the lake tends to go down the long bank, so I expecting to use the long rod. Since I couldn’t pot my paste in, I had to stiffen it up so I could swing it underarm. After 10mins I hooked my 1st carp and already missing my pole. Playing what turned out to be a 12lb 7oz carp on a 15ft rod isn’t much fun, but worked out it was easier to play the carp once I got it close in to tighten the clutch on the reel and hold the rod further up, effectively reducing the rod length to 13ft, which made it easier to land.
After an hour I had 4 carp, before bites dried up. I had been feeding pellet 25m out ready for the waggler. I started on the full depth waggler, but didn’t have a proper bite, although there was obviously fish in the swim. A switch to the pellet waggler didn’t produce either and to be honest I spent too long trying the 3 waggler rigs without success.
Back on the paste and I started to catch again, but still kept the pellet going in over the waggler line. Eventually the carp properly arrived, but I could only catch when it went cloudy and there was some ripple.
To be honest I would have preferred to have fished the pole, because I’m sure I would have caught quite a bit more and on a more favourable day would have caught more on the pellet waggler.
A wins a win, regardless of how many were fishing, which after a number near misses recently was welcome. 94lb was 2nd and 88lb was 3rd.
Friday 17 June 2011
16/06/11 - Rood Ashton
Weight – 48lb 8oz
Catch – 14 Carp
Weather – Heavy thunder to start, later bright and calm
Match – Wiltshire Angling Evening Open – 3rd out of 8
There should have been at least 10 fishing today, but Mark trapped a nerve in his back, so at least that gave someone else a chance to win. Gary Etheridge was expecting Terry Fell to pick him up at 4.15. At 4.45 Gary calls up saying Terry hasn’t turned up so can’t go. Transpires Terry thought he had to pick Gary up at 5.15, which is a bit odd since the draw is 5pm! Terry did eventually turn up and we put the start time back 15mins to 6pm.
Unfortunately we can no longer drive around the lake to our pegs, so only the left bank was pegged. I drew 2, which I was happy about and decided to fish at 13m and down to my left next to the tree.
As 6pm approached the clouds became darker and the all in was met with a flash of lighting and massive clap of thunder. Well I didn’t fancy fishing 13m of pole, so started next to the tree and caught a small carp almost straight away, but rain was now really hammering down, which also included some hail.
20mins later the storm moved away and I could start fishing properly and an hour later I had 6 carp from my 13m line. I had been regularly feeding a pouch of 6mm pellet, which certainly brought the fish in, but the ripple disappeared and it became very bright. Now I couldn’t catch, it was if the fish just disappeared. In the meantime I could see Pete 2 pegs down now catching regularly, because he still had some ripple to fish to and Darren to my right was getting closer and closer to the reeds in an attempt to catch, but he was struggling to keep hold as the carp made their way into the snags.
After a very dodgy hour the sun had dropped a little and I started to catch again, but the fish weren’t really having it. I had tried down by the tree later on, but despite continually feeding never had a fish, so had to concentrate on the 13m line.
I’m convinced I would have caught much more had I had some ripple to fish into, because it was noticeable I struggled more when it was flat calm and I fed 5pts of pellet to get the carp feeding properly, so a bit disappointed to only finish 3rd. Darren and Terry either side of me did not weigh.
1st 66- 4 Tony Gilbert
2nd 64- 8 Pete (Wiltshire Angling)
3rd 48- 8 Ken Rayner
4th 46-8 Steve Martin
Catch – 14 Carp
Weather – Heavy thunder to start, later bright and calm
Match – Wiltshire Angling Evening Open – 3rd out of 8
There should have been at least 10 fishing today, but Mark trapped a nerve in his back, so at least that gave someone else a chance to win. Gary Etheridge was expecting Terry Fell to pick him up at 4.15. At 4.45 Gary calls up saying Terry hasn’t turned up so can’t go. Transpires Terry thought he had to pick Gary up at 5.15, which is a bit odd since the draw is 5pm! Terry did eventually turn up and we put the start time back 15mins to 6pm.
Unfortunately we can no longer drive around the lake to our pegs, so only the left bank was pegged. I drew 2, which I was happy about and decided to fish at 13m and down to my left next to the tree.
As 6pm approached the clouds became darker and the all in was met with a flash of lighting and massive clap of thunder. Well I didn’t fancy fishing 13m of pole, so started next to the tree and caught a small carp almost straight away, but rain was now really hammering down, which also included some hail.
20mins later the storm moved away and I could start fishing properly and an hour later I had 6 carp from my 13m line. I had been regularly feeding a pouch of 6mm pellet, which certainly brought the fish in, but the ripple disappeared and it became very bright. Now I couldn’t catch, it was if the fish just disappeared. In the meantime I could see Pete 2 pegs down now catching regularly, because he still had some ripple to fish to and Darren to my right was getting closer and closer to the reeds in an attempt to catch, but he was struggling to keep hold as the carp made their way into the snags.
After a very dodgy hour the sun had dropped a little and I started to catch again, but the fish weren’t really having it. I had tried down by the tree later on, but despite continually feeding never had a fish, so had to concentrate on the 13m line.
I’m convinced I would have caught much more had I had some ripple to fish into, because it was noticeable I struggled more when it was flat calm and I fed 5pts of pellet to get the carp feeding properly, so a bit disappointed to only finish 3rd. Darren and Terry either side of me did not weigh.
1st 66- 4 Tony Gilbert
2nd 64- 8 Pete (Wiltshire Angling)
3rd 48- 8 Ken Rayner
4th 46-8 Steve Martin
Monday 13 June 2011
12/06/11 - Mill Pool
Weight – 8lb 8oz
Catch – 3 Carp, 2 Ide, 1 Skimmer, 1 Orfe, 1 Roach, 1 Perch
Weather – Very wet & very windy
Match – Club – 5th out of 15
On Saturday whilst buying some bait from Avon Angling, Fabio asked why I fish venues no one has heard about. A fair question. Until recently I had never heard of Mill Pool, however at the moment, I just want to enjoy my fishing after a very difficult 18mths/2yrs. Also work is being increasingly busy, which is good news, but I also need to study to get my diploma in financial services by the end of 2012, so I don’t want to commit to too much, although I’m looking forward to the Lands End winter league.
Mill Pool is just outside Painswick, Gloucestershire and was created following a lottery grant. You can tell the lake was created by a non-angler, because the 37 pegs are only 4-5m apart, around 2 central islands, with a connecting sunken bar. The lake is only 11-13m wide so comfortable fishing, however some of the pegs didn’t have pole anglers in mind, due to high back banks and in 1 peg a tree! Depths are about 5-6ft, with 2-3ft at the top end where a small stream runs in.
15 turned up today, which meant everyone had enough room and I drew peg 1, which was the first peg next the club house. Initially I was quite pleased, because I had plenty of room to my right in front of the clubhouse, however plumbing around, I couldn’t find any shelves, and the lake just sloped into the middle, which scuppered my plans to fish long to my right along the decking of the clubhouse. Also I was on one of the more exposed pegs with the wind either funnelling down the lake or blowing straight into my face. It was a truly disgusting day.
Because there weren’t any shelves, I decided to focus fishing on the deck down the middle, so a small amount of micro & caster went in to my left, a bigger pot including chopped worm went in to my right and I started at 4m feeding caster.
After 15mins and no bites at 4m was a worrying sign. I was concerned the lake wouldn’t fish with 15 anglers, since the venue is mainly pleasure fished and doesn’t see many matches. A further 30mins after trying my 2 other swims and no bites I had to question whether I made the right decision to target fishing down the middle. So I set a shallower rig to fish 3ft up the slope and feed some caster towards the sunken bar. A small roach soon followed, but no more bites and the wind was getting stronger.
After 2 hours I had managed to add a 2lb carp. In the end I caught the rest of my fish, including a 4lb carp down the left hand margin where it didn’t slope away too steeply, catching on single maggot feeding caster. I had set up another swim, fishing long to my right trickling in caster and chopped worm, but I never had a bite.
A very difficult day, where we didn’t see the lakes potential. 13lb 10oz won from the shallow top end with quality roach.
Catch – 3 Carp, 2 Ide, 1 Skimmer, 1 Orfe, 1 Roach, 1 Perch
Weather – Very wet & very windy
Match – Club – 5th out of 15
On Saturday whilst buying some bait from Avon Angling, Fabio asked why I fish venues no one has heard about. A fair question. Until recently I had never heard of Mill Pool, however at the moment, I just want to enjoy my fishing after a very difficult 18mths/2yrs. Also work is being increasingly busy, which is good news, but I also need to study to get my diploma in financial services by the end of 2012, so I don’t want to commit to too much, although I’m looking forward to the Lands End winter league.
Mill Pool is just outside Painswick, Gloucestershire and was created following a lottery grant. You can tell the lake was created by a non-angler, because the 37 pegs are only 4-5m apart, around 2 central islands, with a connecting sunken bar. The lake is only 11-13m wide so comfortable fishing, however some of the pegs didn’t have pole anglers in mind, due to high back banks and in 1 peg a tree! Depths are about 5-6ft, with 2-3ft at the top end where a small stream runs in.
15 turned up today, which meant everyone had enough room and I drew peg 1, which was the first peg next the club house. Initially I was quite pleased, because I had plenty of room to my right in front of the clubhouse, however plumbing around, I couldn’t find any shelves, and the lake just sloped into the middle, which scuppered my plans to fish long to my right along the decking of the clubhouse. Also I was on one of the more exposed pegs with the wind either funnelling down the lake or blowing straight into my face. It was a truly disgusting day.
Because there weren’t any shelves, I decided to focus fishing on the deck down the middle, so a small amount of micro & caster went in to my left, a bigger pot including chopped worm went in to my right and I started at 4m feeding caster.
After 15mins and no bites at 4m was a worrying sign. I was concerned the lake wouldn’t fish with 15 anglers, since the venue is mainly pleasure fished and doesn’t see many matches. A further 30mins after trying my 2 other swims and no bites I had to question whether I made the right decision to target fishing down the middle. So I set a shallower rig to fish 3ft up the slope and feed some caster towards the sunken bar. A small roach soon followed, but no more bites and the wind was getting stronger.
After 2 hours I had managed to add a 2lb carp. In the end I caught the rest of my fish, including a 4lb carp down the left hand margin where it didn’t slope away too steeply, catching on single maggot feeding caster. I had set up another swim, fishing long to my right trickling in caster and chopped worm, but I never had a bite.
A very difficult day, where we didn’t see the lakes potential. 13lb 10oz won from the shallow top end with quality roach.
Friday 10 June 2011
09/06/11 - Rood Ashton
Weight – 42lb 12oz
Catch – 13 Carp
Weather – Cloudy sunny periods, shower later
Match – Wiltshire Angling Evening Open – 4th out of 9 (1st in section)
A pleasant evening for a change, without any gale force winds! 10 had booked in, but only 9 fished, so it was decided to have a section of 5 down the left hand bank and a section 4 on the right hand bank. Also to take advantage of the longer days the match was due to finish at 9.15, instead of 9.00pm, so 3.5hrs fishing.
I was pleased to draw the concrete drain on the RH bank, with Gary Etheridge to my right and Pete (Wiltshire Angling) to my left. Gary wasn’t happy with his peg, because the farmer had decided to cut down some overhanging branches, but unfortunately left a few in the lake.
Today I felt I needed to keep it simple, so left the pellet waggler rods at home (but I’m sure it will work when the weather warms up a bit). I did bring some bread in case it was hard, but except for 1 put in never used it, which the ducks were happy about at the end of the match. Focus was on very soft paste at 13m and down the margin. Feed was mostly 6mm’s with some 4mm’s (only because I didn’t have enough 6’s with me).
As the match started there was a gentle breeze blowing into my bank, with a nice ripple and I really fancied it for a few fish and I was desperate to do better than my previous 2 matches here. After 30mins I already had 5 carp, but the wind switched slightly and I began to struggle, so by the end of the 1st hour I was up to 6 carp, leading my bank and from those I could see opposite was doing OK.
I had being feeding a pouch of pellet, but since the wind dropped/switched direction the fish seemed to spook, before returning over the feed. As mentioned I did briefly try bread & 8mm pellet, but didn’t have a bite, so stuck with paste.
When plumbing around at the start, I found the margins were much deeper than in open water and thought I was guaranteed to get a few fish down there later. However despite continually feeding from the start, other than 1 lost fish I had nothing, which was a surprise.
Moving into the last 90mins I started feeding 2 pouches of pellet at 12m whilst still fishing at 13m. Although I had to wait for the fish to settle I started to put a few more fish in the net, however I could see a couple of anglers opposite now catching, particularly Mark who was taking advantage of his “end” peg and was catching most put ins (he did say afterwards he started to catch properly when the wind changed and he had some ripple to fish into).
I only lost 3 fish today, but that did include an 8lber at the net when the line snapped above the float – obviously nicked it on something. It also meant I lost 1 of my new Jon Walker MP shallow paste floats, which I only brought on Sunday!
When the match finished I was certain I had won my section, which I did with Gary weighing in 33lb and Pete had 25lb (Terry Fell tipped back). I had hoped to frame, but the top 3 all came from the opposite bank.
1st 74- 5 Mark Poppleton
2nd 60- 5 Tony Gilbert (included 3 carp in the last 15mins for 30lb)
3rd 57- 8 Ian Willets
4th 42-12 Ken Rayner
Catch – 13 Carp
Weather – Cloudy sunny periods, shower later
Match – Wiltshire Angling Evening Open – 4th out of 9 (1st in section)
A pleasant evening for a change, without any gale force winds! 10 had booked in, but only 9 fished, so it was decided to have a section of 5 down the left hand bank and a section 4 on the right hand bank. Also to take advantage of the longer days the match was due to finish at 9.15, instead of 9.00pm, so 3.5hrs fishing.
I was pleased to draw the concrete drain on the RH bank, with Gary Etheridge to my right and Pete (Wiltshire Angling) to my left. Gary wasn’t happy with his peg, because the farmer had decided to cut down some overhanging branches, but unfortunately left a few in the lake.
Today I felt I needed to keep it simple, so left the pellet waggler rods at home (but I’m sure it will work when the weather warms up a bit). I did bring some bread in case it was hard, but except for 1 put in never used it, which the ducks were happy about at the end of the match. Focus was on very soft paste at 13m and down the margin. Feed was mostly 6mm’s with some 4mm’s (only because I didn’t have enough 6’s with me).
As the match started there was a gentle breeze blowing into my bank, with a nice ripple and I really fancied it for a few fish and I was desperate to do better than my previous 2 matches here. After 30mins I already had 5 carp, but the wind switched slightly and I began to struggle, so by the end of the 1st hour I was up to 6 carp, leading my bank and from those I could see opposite was doing OK.
I had being feeding a pouch of pellet, but since the wind dropped/switched direction the fish seemed to spook, before returning over the feed. As mentioned I did briefly try bread & 8mm pellet, but didn’t have a bite, so stuck with paste.
When plumbing around at the start, I found the margins were much deeper than in open water and thought I was guaranteed to get a few fish down there later. However despite continually feeding from the start, other than 1 lost fish I had nothing, which was a surprise.
Moving into the last 90mins I started feeding 2 pouches of pellet at 12m whilst still fishing at 13m. Although I had to wait for the fish to settle I started to put a few more fish in the net, however I could see a couple of anglers opposite now catching, particularly Mark who was taking advantage of his “end” peg and was catching most put ins (he did say afterwards he started to catch properly when the wind changed and he had some ripple to fish into).
I only lost 3 fish today, but that did include an 8lber at the net when the line snapped above the float – obviously nicked it on something. It also meant I lost 1 of my new Jon Walker MP shallow paste floats, which I only brought on Sunday!
When the match finished I was certain I had won my section, which I did with Gary weighing in 33lb and Pete had 25lb (Terry Fell tipped back). I had hoped to frame, but the top 3 all came from the opposite bank.
1st 74- 5 Mark Poppleton
2nd 60- 5 Tony Gilbert (included 3 carp in the last 15mins for 30lb)
3rd 57- 8 Ian Willets
4th 42-12 Ken Rayner
Monday 6 June 2011
05/06/11-Todber Manor - Park Lake
Weight – 65lb 8oz
Catch – 23 Carp, 14 F1, 4 Roach, 3 Tench
Weather – Cloudy, persistent rain later
Match – MFS – 13th out of 21
Today was a lesson in fishing to your strengths and going against the norm isn’t always the best approach.
Firstly the weather looked like it would have an effect. Following a couple days of warm weather, we now had very heavy rain overnight and the drive down was difficult as some roads were flooded. Fortunately by the draw the rain had stopped.
My peg for the day was 33, 1 up from where I was last time, so not impressed, since I struggled to catch carp although I caught plenty of F1s. Today, however I decided to focus on the carp and if I could ignore the F1’s. Unlike the last time, I could at least fish the far bank since the wind wasnt too bad. In a bid to avoid the F1, feed was 6mm pellet instead of 4mm and when fishing the far side I didn’t catapult any feed.
The 1st hour went exactly to plan, fishing paste tight to the far bank, feeding only the paste, plus 10x pellet via a toss pot, I landed 10 carp and 1 F1. Moving into the 2nd hour I started getting more liners and silly bites landing very few fish.
Moving into the 3rd hour I relented and decided to feed by catapult, fishing shallow, but tight to the far bank, again to avoid the F1’s. This produced a few more carp on 8mm before the F1s moved in again.
I had been feeding 6mm at 6m and in the margins. The margins produced very little, whilst my 6m line was full of fish, but targeting the carp was frustrating. I was missing so many fish on paste, which was obviously smaller pecking at the bait, however switching to pellet or corn I had to wait for a bite and it only produced smaller fish. Following a previous discussion with Mark, he feeds heavily with pellet and I went through 8pts.
Fishing paste today just wasn’t right, there are just so many fish in the lake, that unless you are on the noted carp flyers you need a bait with more durability. The top 3 all used meat.
The weights either side of me was 52lb & 69lb, so I wasn’t drawn in a great area. Having said that, I should have picked up my section (albeit by default) had I targeted the F1’s shallow, feeding 4mm, I would have caught at least 30-40lb which would have been enough. Lesson learned, but over the last 4 weeks that seem to be the story of my fishing at the moment.
Oh and the last 2 hours of persistent rain made me even more miserable, although not as miserable as the angler who pulled his net out, only to find a big hole and no fish. Doh! Should have checked the net before using it.
1st 190-13 Steve Tucker – peg 38
2nd 181- 6 Will Bohne – peg 28
3rd 115-10 Fred Roberts – peg 37
4th 112- 6 Mark Poppleton – peg 25
5th 106- 8 Ashley Tomkins – peg 13
6th 92- 4 Ian Browney – peg 1
Catch – 23 Carp, 14 F1, 4 Roach, 3 Tench
Weather – Cloudy, persistent rain later
Match – MFS – 13th out of 21
Today was a lesson in fishing to your strengths and going against the norm isn’t always the best approach.
Firstly the weather looked like it would have an effect. Following a couple days of warm weather, we now had very heavy rain overnight and the drive down was difficult as some roads were flooded. Fortunately by the draw the rain had stopped.
My peg for the day was 33, 1 up from where I was last time, so not impressed, since I struggled to catch carp although I caught plenty of F1s. Today, however I decided to focus on the carp and if I could ignore the F1’s. Unlike the last time, I could at least fish the far bank since the wind wasnt too bad. In a bid to avoid the F1, feed was 6mm pellet instead of 4mm and when fishing the far side I didn’t catapult any feed.
The 1st hour went exactly to plan, fishing paste tight to the far bank, feeding only the paste, plus 10x pellet via a toss pot, I landed 10 carp and 1 F1. Moving into the 2nd hour I started getting more liners and silly bites landing very few fish.
Moving into the 3rd hour I relented and decided to feed by catapult, fishing shallow, but tight to the far bank, again to avoid the F1’s. This produced a few more carp on 8mm before the F1s moved in again.
I had been feeding 6mm at 6m and in the margins. The margins produced very little, whilst my 6m line was full of fish, but targeting the carp was frustrating. I was missing so many fish on paste, which was obviously smaller pecking at the bait, however switching to pellet or corn I had to wait for a bite and it only produced smaller fish. Following a previous discussion with Mark, he feeds heavily with pellet and I went through 8pts.
Fishing paste today just wasn’t right, there are just so many fish in the lake, that unless you are on the noted carp flyers you need a bait with more durability. The top 3 all used meat.
The weights either side of me was 52lb & 69lb, so I wasn’t drawn in a great area. Having said that, I should have picked up my section (albeit by default) had I targeted the F1’s shallow, feeding 4mm, I would have caught at least 30-40lb which would have been enough. Lesson learned, but over the last 4 weeks that seem to be the story of my fishing at the moment.
Oh and the last 2 hours of persistent rain made me even more miserable, although not as miserable as the angler who pulled his net out, only to find a big hole and no fish. Doh! Should have checked the net before using it.
1st 190-13 Steve Tucker – peg 38
2nd 181- 6 Will Bohne – peg 28
3rd 115-10 Fred Roberts – peg 37
4th 112- 6 Mark Poppleton – peg 25
5th 106- 8 Ashley Tomkins – peg 13
6th 92- 4 Ian Browney – peg 1
Saturday 4 June 2011
04/06/11 - Fishponds
Weight – 144lb 6oz
Catch – 16 Carp, 1 Eel, 1 Hybrid
Weather – Bright and sunny start. Later rain shower & cloudy. Windy again.
Passed my R01 financial service exam yesterday, which is a relief and to celebrate I thought I would go fishing – like I needed an excuse! The other reason for going was to test some new bits of kit, namely some preston 19h elastic to replace my red hydro. Also some new SconeZone double deez floats for fishing 8mm pellet on the deck and hillbilly rednecks for paste. So nothing complicated.
Following 2 days of very warm weather the likihood was the carp would be back spawning and the thrashing in the reeds on my arrival came as no surprise. The strong wind wasn’t a surprise either. They say this spring has been 1 of the driest on record. How about the 1 of the windiest?
Anyway, I made an early start, because I didn’t sleep well last night, so by 7.30 I had my 1st fish.
Most fish came to paste, but the fish were more interested in other things. Although trying to get a near 2lb into a standard landing net in entertaining, as you get 1 bit in, the other end slithers out.
As for the new bits of kit the elastic was softer than expected, which caused a few anxious moments as 1fish made it under the platform and around 3 scaffold poles, which meant having to feed my top kit under the platform and the I still landed the fish! Just glad no one was watching, because I was in a right mess. As for the floats, the hillbilly rednecks are a brilliant, super strong float, unfortunately the jury still out on the scone double deez floats as my line snapped around the spring eye.
Catch – 16 Carp, 1 Eel, 1 Hybrid
Weather – Bright and sunny start. Later rain shower & cloudy. Windy again.
Passed my R01 financial service exam yesterday, which is a relief and to celebrate I thought I would go fishing – like I needed an excuse! The other reason for going was to test some new bits of kit, namely some preston 19h elastic to replace my red hydro. Also some new SconeZone double deez floats for fishing 8mm pellet on the deck and hillbilly rednecks for paste. So nothing complicated.
Following 2 days of very warm weather the likihood was the carp would be back spawning and the thrashing in the reeds on my arrival came as no surprise. The strong wind wasn’t a surprise either. They say this spring has been 1 of the driest on record. How about the 1 of the windiest?
Anyway, I made an early start, because I didn’t sleep well last night, so by 7.30 I had my 1st fish.
Most fish came to paste, but the fish were more interested in other things. Although trying to get a near 2lb into a standard landing net in entertaining, as you get 1 bit in, the other end slithers out.
As for the new bits of kit the elastic was softer than expected, which caused a few anxious moments as 1fish made it under the platform and around 3 scaffold poles, which meant having to feed my top kit under the platform and the I still landed the fish! Just glad no one was watching, because I was in a right mess. As for the floats, the hillbilly rednecks are a brilliant, super strong float, unfortunately the jury still out on the scone double deez floats as my line snapped around the spring eye.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)