Weight – 60lb 8oz (12lb 0oz – silvers)
Catch – 19 Skimmers, 8 Carp, 1 Roach
Weather – Frosty start. Mostly sunny, slight breeze. Showery later.
Water Temp – 7.1c – 7.7c
With nothing planned for the weekend, I got an e-mail from Mark asking whether I wanted to go fishing, because he couldn’t go during the weekend because he was laminating his kitchen floor.
As the week progressed the weather was getting colder and the cold I picked up was getting worse. I woke up at 2.30 feeling rough, so decided to watch 3 episodes of Battlestar Galactica, cooked myself a sausage sandwich, before driving to the lake, hoping some fresh air would do me some good, although Mark kept his distance most of the day.
Mark decided to target the carp on corn. Me on the other hand wanted to improve my soft pellet fishing, so settled on fishing 4mm expander and occasionally a JPZ pellet at 13m over micros. My rig in the 7ft deep swim was a HB 0.4g frostie, .10 bottom and 18 silverfish pellet hook. I also had a 0.2g frostie to fish the 4ft deep margin swim, but with .13 bottom and 18 B911, since I was expecting some carp. Over my 13m line I was hoping for skimmers, however I wasn’t sure if they would feed after yesterday’s cold rain and today was cold, bright and flat.
It was nearly an hour before I got my first fish, a skimmer at 13m, but by toss potting a pinch of micros every put in I had a run of skimmers. As the session progressed, whenever the pole line slowed and needed a rest, I would try the lead & corn.
I caught 3 carp on the lead and 3 at 13m. As for my margin, I had been feeding micros all day and eventually caught 2 carp, plus a skimmer late on. My 8 carp weighed 48lb, plus 12lb of skimmers. Whilst Marks 8 carp weighed 40lb. A really enjoyable day despite my permanently blocked nose!
Saturday 28 January 2012
Sunday 22 January 2012
21/01/12 - Lands End - Match Lake
Weight – 27lb 14oz (21lb 12oz – silvers)
Catch – 31 Roach, 20 Perch, 2 Carp, 2 Chub, 1 Skimmer
Weather – Mild, mostly cloudy and very windy
Water Temp – 7.6c – 8.3c
Match – Open – 1st out of 4
Disappointingly there were only 4 of us today, with the forecast wind keeping many people away. Must be honest I did question whether to go, but Saturday was the only days fishing this weekend, so I packed a lead rod just in case.
With only being the 4 of us we decided to do a rover and it was no surprise we all selected to seek shelter at the bottom end of Match Lake. Jim Jenner took p8, Dave Wescott (p11), Mike West (p13) and myself on p15.
Usually with so few anglers on the lake in winter, the carp tend to disappear so I wasn’t expecting many to show, although 1 did top in p17.
Started on corn, searching the peg for any lost carp, focusing on the area to my right, but fishing long was difficult in the gusting wind and with no bites it only got 15 minutes.
I had deposited some caster on top of the far shelf, as well as the bottom of the shelf, which I kept topped up as I tried the top of the shelf, more in hope than expectation due to the clear water, however I had a good 30min spell catching a 2lb chub, with some roach and good perch.
A move down the shelf resulted in more roach and perch on caster. I also started catapulting caster to my right by the p16 platform. I decided to ignore the small bush simply because it’s a bit of snag pit and fishing .10 bottoms didn’t fancy my chances against any decent fish.
I had also been feeding micro pellet 14m to my right, but with no fish coming from here, decided to make this my throw away swim feeding 4mms by catapult to the bottom of the shelf. As the match progressed I kept switching between the 13m line and under p16 platform, catching some nice perch from under the platform on double caster. I also hooked a carp from under the platform, which dived between my nets and under my platform, breaking me. Mike thought this was very amusing, until I cast out my lead rod with double corn, whilst I sorting out my damaged rig and promptly had a 3½lb carp. A further cast didn’t produce and I could have stayed on the lead fishing down the lake, but it’s not my favourite way of catching and it appeared I was leading the way so I didn’t need to go chasing carp.
Over the 13m line I had been using a 4x14 jolly, but felt I needed a heavier float in the tow, so tried a 4x16 jolly which sat better in the water, but switched back after 30mins, because the fish appeared to prefer a more natural movement.
With 45mins hour to go, all my swims started to dry up and was hoping some fish had moved over my pellet, but all I had was a small carp, a skimmer, and lost a carp when the hooked pulled.
Although there was only the 4 of us, I did at least have a very enjoyable day, feeding nearly all of my pint of caster.
1st 27-14 – Ken Rayner – p15 (21-12 silvers)
2nd 13- 8 – Jim Jennet – p8 (all silvers)
3rd 11-10 – Dave Wescott – p11
4th 9-12 – Mike West – p13
Catch – 31 Roach, 20 Perch, 2 Carp, 2 Chub, 1 Skimmer
Weather – Mild, mostly cloudy and very windy
Water Temp – 7.6c – 8.3c
Match – Open – 1st out of 4
Disappointingly there were only 4 of us today, with the forecast wind keeping many people away. Must be honest I did question whether to go, but Saturday was the only days fishing this weekend, so I packed a lead rod just in case.
With only being the 4 of us we decided to do a rover and it was no surprise we all selected to seek shelter at the bottom end of Match Lake. Jim Jenner took p8, Dave Wescott (p11), Mike West (p13) and myself on p15.
Usually with so few anglers on the lake in winter, the carp tend to disappear so I wasn’t expecting many to show, although 1 did top in p17.
Started on corn, searching the peg for any lost carp, focusing on the area to my right, but fishing long was difficult in the gusting wind and with no bites it only got 15 minutes.
I had deposited some caster on top of the far shelf, as well as the bottom of the shelf, which I kept topped up as I tried the top of the shelf, more in hope than expectation due to the clear water, however I had a good 30min spell catching a 2lb chub, with some roach and good perch.
A move down the shelf resulted in more roach and perch on caster. I also started catapulting caster to my right by the p16 platform. I decided to ignore the small bush simply because it’s a bit of snag pit and fishing .10 bottoms didn’t fancy my chances against any decent fish.
I had also been feeding micro pellet 14m to my right, but with no fish coming from here, decided to make this my throw away swim feeding 4mms by catapult to the bottom of the shelf. As the match progressed I kept switching between the 13m line and under p16 platform, catching some nice perch from under the platform on double caster. I also hooked a carp from under the platform, which dived between my nets and under my platform, breaking me. Mike thought this was very amusing, until I cast out my lead rod with double corn, whilst I sorting out my damaged rig and promptly had a 3½lb carp. A further cast didn’t produce and I could have stayed on the lead fishing down the lake, but it’s not my favourite way of catching and it appeared I was leading the way so I didn’t need to go chasing carp.
Over the 13m line I had been using a 4x14 jolly, but felt I needed a heavier float in the tow, so tried a 4x16 jolly which sat better in the water, but switched back after 30mins, because the fish appeared to prefer a more natural movement.
With 45mins hour to go, all my swims started to dry up and was hoping some fish had moved over my pellet, but all I had was a small carp, a skimmer, and lost a carp when the hooked pulled.
Although there was only the 4 of us, I did at least have a very enjoyable day, feeding nearly all of my pint of caster.
1st 27-14 – Ken Rayner – p15 (21-12 silvers)
2nd 13- 8 – Jim Jennet – p8 (all silvers)
3rd 11-10 – Dave Wescott – p11
4th 9-12 – Mike West – p13
Sunday 15 January 2012
14/01/12 - Fishponds
Weight – 89lb 11oz
Catch – 12 Carp
Weather – Frosty start, sunny, cold, very slight easterly
Water Temp – 7.2c – 7.7c
Sometimes we do things and then wonder why the f*** did I do that? Well I received a text from Mark saying he managed to put diesel into his petrol car – doh! (sorry mate couldn’t resist). As for me, I turned up at the venue, deciding it would be a good idea to drive across the mud track. The only problem was, as I turned the car around, my back wheel got caught in a dip. So had to jack 3 of the wheels, putting some wood under them, I eventually got out. Teach me for being lazy.
No match this weekend, simply because it’s the last weekend before payday and some unexpected bills such as getting a puppy and paying for a MOT which was actually due last month, on top of Christmas meant I could do with a cheap weekend. So decided on a trip to my club water.
I had intended fishing the long bank, but having wasted nearly 45mins freeing the car, I decided to fish peg 6, in front of the shed. I also decided fish 20-25m out and immediately threw out the straight lead which was already set up to try and make up some time, whilst I set a waggler. Also I wanted to see if there was any fish in the area before settling. Fortunately there were, as I landed a carp after 10mins. Another followed 10mins later, by which I time I had set a 2 swan Insert Waggler, fishing the 7ft swim with 6x no 11s, 0.16 bottom and 16 B911.
Initially caught on corn, feeding 6mm’s. I tried 4mm expander and bread, catching 1 on bread, but corn was definitely better, probably due to the weight of the corn, since I was fishing dead depth.
As the session progressed bites dried up, until the last hour, when I caught 2 more on the lead casting to my left where I had seen a couple of carp topping, then I had 2 fish on the waggler and pellet.
It was certainly a cold day, particularly when the sun disappeared behind the clouds, but enjoyable none the less.
Catch – 12 Carp
Weather – Frosty start, sunny, cold, very slight easterly
Water Temp – 7.2c – 7.7c
Sometimes we do things and then wonder why the f*** did I do that? Well I received a text from Mark saying he managed to put diesel into his petrol car – doh! (sorry mate couldn’t resist). As for me, I turned up at the venue, deciding it would be a good idea to drive across the mud track. The only problem was, as I turned the car around, my back wheel got caught in a dip. So had to jack 3 of the wheels, putting some wood under them, I eventually got out. Teach me for being lazy.
No match this weekend, simply because it’s the last weekend before payday and some unexpected bills such as getting a puppy and paying for a MOT which was actually due last month, on top of Christmas meant I could do with a cheap weekend. So decided on a trip to my club water.
I had intended fishing the long bank, but having wasted nearly 45mins freeing the car, I decided to fish peg 6, in front of the shed. I also decided fish 20-25m out and immediately threw out the straight lead which was already set up to try and make up some time, whilst I set a waggler. Also I wanted to see if there was any fish in the area before settling. Fortunately there were, as I landed a carp after 10mins. Another followed 10mins later, by which I time I had set a 2 swan Insert Waggler, fishing the 7ft swim with 6x no 11s, 0.16 bottom and 16 B911.
Initially caught on corn, feeding 6mm’s. I tried 4mm expander and bread, catching 1 on bread, but corn was definitely better, probably due to the weight of the corn, since I was fishing dead depth.
As the session progressed bites dried up, until the last hour, when I caught 2 more on the lead casting to my left where I had seen a couple of carp topping, then I had 2 fish on the waggler and pellet.
It was certainly a cold day, particularly when the sun disappeared behind the clouds, but enjoyable none the less.
Monday 9 January 2012
08/01/12 - Lands End - Speci
Weight – 36lb 8oz
Catch – 4 Carp, 2 Perch, 1 F1, 1 Rudd, 1 Roach.
Weather – Bright start. Mostly cloudy.
Water Temp – 8.5c – 8.9c
Match – Lands End Winter League – 4th out of 11 – lake (10th out of 33 - overall)
Today I was filling in for the 3rd round of the Winter League and was told I would be on Speci, so I was more than happy to drew 33, as it’s a noted flyer. I also drew 34 for Tony, which turned out to be a mistake!
Ive never fished 33 before, so was surprised to find there wasn’t a shelf down the left hand bank, but close to 6ft of water all over. The aerator was 16m away and an obvious holding spot. I decided not to feed here until later in the match, hoping John Bradford would push some fish over from peg 32 opposite, although this was unlikely since John doesn’t own any pole sections beyond 13m.
I fed some micros and caster at 13m in open water, plus some caster at 13m down the left hand bank. I started by the aerator on double corn to see if there was any “silly” carp around, but there wasn’t. In fact the whole lake was fishing hard.
After 40mins I had my first carp on double maggot down the left hand bank. A switch to the open water swim, produced an F1, then another carp on 4mm expander. With 2hrs gone, things were looking good.
Carp were beginning to show between John and me, under the trees, but they were the other side of the ropes. After last weeks match where I managed to pull a couple of carp by loose feeding caster, but never had a bite, so I stopped doing that.
Back under the aerator I started getting liners, losing one that bust me on .12. I tried .14, but could get a bite, so back on .12. I did have a perch on maggot, but no carp. I tried a shallow rig, but no indications.
With 3 hours gone, it was tight between John, Scott Puddy on P31 and myself, but I wasn’t sure whether to chuck some bait at the fish or hope for 1 to pass by.
Since I couldn’t get a proper bite under the aerator, I dumped a ½ pot of caster, maggot and some micros, but other than 1 rudd that didn’t work.
The 1 area of the swim I had left alone was 16m down the left hand bank. I toss potted some caster and had 2 carp within ½ hour, but then the rest of the carp disappeared, just teasing me by boshing about beyond my reach.
With 5mins to go, I was lying 2nd on the lake behind Scott who started catching in the last 2hrs finishing with 10 carp. However! John hooks his 4th carp and Tony hooks his 3rd carp. Oh bugger. I wasn’t hoping a couple of hook pulls – honest. John landed his carp 5mins after the all out to beat me by 3lb and Tony landed his 15lb common (which was a cracking looking fish), 14mins after the whistle. Dave “Beany” Wescott on p35 was “helpfully” counting down the minutes. Tony beat me by 10lb. So 2nd to 4th and 1 out of the money – ouch.
I’m not very good at hiding my feelings, so I may have looked a bit devastated. To add insult, I had a number of comments whilst loading the car about buggering up a flyer, but on the day not sure what I could have done differently. In hindsight, I should have tried catching shallow again, but genuinely thought I would at least get another carp on the deck.
1st 94-14 – Mark Poppleton – p7
2nd 82-12 – Tom Thick – p11
3rd 62-11 – Scott Puddy – p31
4th 49-10 – Bob Gullick – p13
5th 48- 0 – Craig Edmunds – p19
6th 47- 0 – Andy Hembrow – p17
Silvers
19-10 – Paul Elmes – p15
Catch – 4 Carp, 2 Perch, 1 F1, 1 Rudd, 1 Roach.
Weather – Bright start. Mostly cloudy.
Water Temp – 8.5c – 8.9c
Match – Lands End Winter League – 4th out of 11 – lake (10th out of 33 - overall)
Today I was filling in for the 3rd round of the Winter League and was told I would be on Speci, so I was more than happy to drew 33, as it’s a noted flyer. I also drew 34 for Tony, which turned out to be a mistake!
Ive never fished 33 before, so was surprised to find there wasn’t a shelf down the left hand bank, but close to 6ft of water all over. The aerator was 16m away and an obvious holding spot. I decided not to feed here until later in the match, hoping John Bradford would push some fish over from peg 32 opposite, although this was unlikely since John doesn’t own any pole sections beyond 13m.
I fed some micros and caster at 13m in open water, plus some caster at 13m down the left hand bank. I started by the aerator on double corn to see if there was any “silly” carp around, but there wasn’t. In fact the whole lake was fishing hard.
After 40mins I had my first carp on double maggot down the left hand bank. A switch to the open water swim, produced an F1, then another carp on 4mm expander. With 2hrs gone, things were looking good.
Carp were beginning to show between John and me, under the trees, but they were the other side of the ropes. After last weeks match where I managed to pull a couple of carp by loose feeding caster, but never had a bite, so I stopped doing that.
Back under the aerator I started getting liners, losing one that bust me on .12. I tried .14, but could get a bite, so back on .12. I did have a perch on maggot, but no carp. I tried a shallow rig, but no indications.
With 3 hours gone, it was tight between John, Scott Puddy on P31 and myself, but I wasn’t sure whether to chuck some bait at the fish or hope for 1 to pass by.
Since I couldn’t get a proper bite under the aerator, I dumped a ½ pot of caster, maggot and some micros, but other than 1 rudd that didn’t work.
The 1 area of the swim I had left alone was 16m down the left hand bank. I toss potted some caster and had 2 carp within ½ hour, but then the rest of the carp disappeared, just teasing me by boshing about beyond my reach.
With 5mins to go, I was lying 2nd on the lake behind Scott who started catching in the last 2hrs finishing with 10 carp. However! John hooks his 4th carp and Tony hooks his 3rd carp. Oh bugger. I wasn’t hoping a couple of hook pulls – honest. John landed his carp 5mins after the all out to beat me by 3lb and Tony landed his 15lb common (which was a cracking looking fish), 14mins after the whistle. Dave “Beany” Wescott on p35 was “helpfully” counting down the minutes. Tony beat me by 10lb. So 2nd to 4th and 1 out of the money – ouch.
I’m not very good at hiding my feelings, so I may have looked a bit devastated. To add insult, I had a number of comments whilst loading the car about buggering up a flyer, but on the day not sure what I could have done differently. In hindsight, I should have tried catching shallow again, but genuinely thought I would at least get another carp on the deck.
1st 94-14 – Mark Poppleton – p7
2nd 82-12 – Tom Thick – p11
3rd 62-11 – Scott Puddy – p31
4th 49-10 – Bob Gullick – p13
5th 48- 0 – Craig Edmunds – p19
6th 47- 0 – Andy Hembrow – p17
Silvers
19-10 – Paul Elmes – p15
Monday 2 January 2012
02/01/12 - Shiplate - Westpool
Weight – 18lb 0oz
Catch – 13 Skimmers, 4 Carp, 2 Roach.
Weather – Blustery, sunshine & showers.
Water Temp – 8.2c – 8.2c
Match – Avon Angling Open – 3rd out of 12 – lake (12th out of 24 - overall)
A first time at Shiplate Farm and first impression were good. Speaking to the owners they are a little surprised at how popular the venue is, with plenty of match bookings already for this year.
With 24 booked in, the match was split evenly between Hawthorn and Westpool. Based on information gleaned the pegs to avoid were in the middle, since the fish seem to prefer either end of the canal lakes, so I was a bit disappointed to draw peg 9 on Hawthorn. Originally this lake only had 10 pegs, but a further 5 had been dug, so peg 9 was the old peg 4.
With the cosy pegging, options were a little limited, so decided to target the silvers, since I expected the end pegs to produce plenty of carp.
Initially started at 4m with maggot (jolly 4x14, .08 > 22 silverfish maggot), but after 25mins and no fish, I moved over to 9m were it was deepest, toss potting maggot and micros. After a couple of hours I only had a few small skimmers, plus a pound carp, but except for Tony Rixon (p6) and Kev Molton (p4) I couldn’t see much else being caught.
I had decided not to feed anything beyond 9m so the fish had somewhere to hide and I had somewhere to go if I couldn’t catch at 9m. Originally I hadn’t set up a rig to fish tight to the far bank, due to the shallow water, however watching Tony catching fish after fish had me reaching for a 0.1g HB frostie. I began toss potting maggot & micros tight to the far bank and a new swim at 13m at the bottom of the shelf.
The 13m swim produced a decent skimmer and some smaller fish, but generally it was very slow. I did have a look tight to the far bank for 5mins, but no fish so concentrated at 13m, occasionally dropping back to 9m.
With 45mins to go decided to dump a ½ big pot of maggot, caster & micros tight to the far bank and bugger me it the float didn’t go under when I tried it 20mins later. Over the next 25mins, I had 3 carp, losing a 3rd all on double maggot, to steal 3rd on the lake, which broke my poor run of not picking up for the last 5 matches.
Tony won our lake (see his blog), in fact the fish were waving at him when he arrived! The rest of the lake struggled with Alan Oram weighing 28-12 for 2nd on the lake. Hawthorn in the meantime fished much better. No doubt I will be back soon.
1st 81- 8 – Tony Rixon – West 6
2nd 50-11 – Chris Fox – Haw 2
3rd 38- 0 – Steve Wynne – Haw 6
4th 36- 4 – Phil Harding – Haw 14
5th 32- 4 – Martin McMahon – Haw 5
6th 30- 5 – Martin Lenaghan – Haw 11
Silvers
1st 10-13 - Alan Oram – West 13
2nd 8- 6 – Eddy Wynne – West 15
Catch – 13 Skimmers, 4 Carp, 2 Roach.
Weather – Blustery, sunshine & showers.
Water Temp – 8.2c – 8.2c
Match – Avon Angling Open – 3rd out of 12 – lake (12th out of 24 - overall)
A first time at Shiplate Farm and first impression were good. Speaking to the owners they are a little surprised at how popular the venue is, with plenty of match bookings already for this year.
With 24 booked in, the match was split evenly between Hawthorn and Westpool. Based on information gleaned the pegs to avoid were in the middle, since the fish seem to prefer either end of the canal lakes, so I was a bit disappointed to draw peg 9 on Hawthorn. Originally this lake only had 10 pegs, but a further 5 had been dug, so peg 9 was the old peg 4.
With the cosy pegging, options were a little limited, so decided to target the silvers, since I expected the end pegs to produce plenty of carp.
Initially started at 4m with maggot (jolly 4x14, .08 > 22 silverfish maggot), but after 25mins and no fish, I moved over to 9m were it was deepest, toss potting maggot and micros. After a couple of hours I only had a few small skimmers, plus a pound carp, but except for Tony Rixon (p6) and Kev Molton (p4) I couldn’t see much else being caught.
I had decided not to feed anything beyond 9m so the fish had somewhere to hide and I had somewhere to go if I couldn’t catch at 9m. Originally I hadn’t set up a rig to fish tight to the far bank, due to the shallow water, however watching Tony catching fish after fish had me reaching for a 0.1g HB frostie. I began toss potting maggot & micros tight to the far bank and a new swim at 13m at the bottom of the shelf.
The 13m swim produced a decent skimmer and some smaller fish, but generally it was very slow. I did have a look tight to the far bank for 5mins, but no fish so concentrated at 13m, occasionally dropping back to 9m.
With 45mins to go decided to dump a ½ big pot of maggot, caster & micros tight to the far bank and bugger me it the float didn’t go under when I tried it 20mins later. Over the next 25mins, I had 3 carp, losing a 3rd all on double maggot, to steal 3rd on the lake, which broke my poor run of not picking up for the last 5 matches.
Tony won our lake (see his blog), in fact the fish were waving at him when he arrived! The rest of the lake struggled with Alan Oram weighing 28-12 for 2nd on the lake. Hawthorn in the meantime fished much better. No doubt I will be back soon.
1st 81- 8 – Tony Rixon – West 6
2nd 50-11 – Chris Fox – Haw 2
3rd 38- 0 – Steve Wynne – Haw 6
4th 36- 4 – Phil Harding – Haw 14
5th 32- 4 – Martin McMahon – Haw 5
6th 30- 5 – Martin Lenaghan – Haw 11
Silvers
1st 10-13 - Alan Oram – West 13
2nd 8- 6 – Eddy Wynne – West 15
Sunday 1 January 2012
31/01/11 - Lands End - Match Lake
Weight – 22lb 0oz (8lb 3oz – silvers)
Catch – 42 Roach, 4 Carp, 3 Perch, 3 Skimmers, 1 Golden Tench
Weather – Very mild, mostly cloudy.
Water Temp – 8.2c – 8.7c
Match – Open – 5th out of 10
We have a new edition to the Rayner household, a 9 week old Blue Staffordshire Bull Terrier. A friend of Sues had 7 pedigree pups, unfortunately 1 of them which we have called Sapphire has a deformed leg, so couldn’t be sold and it will need to be amputated in a few weeks. However she is a lovely little hound, who has very sharp teeth and is a proper bundle of energy!
Wednesdays match suggested that the pegs at the bottom of the lake would be best, particularly with the forecast winds (which never materialised), so I was really disappointed to draw peg 1, which as well as being at the windward end the lake has been has been fishing awful. Rod Wootton drew p24 opposite on Wednesday and didn’t weigh and if he can’t catch carp, then they are not there. Also the carp generally tend to smaller in these pegs.
I started off on corn, 13m down the left hand bank at the bottom of the shelf without any indications, but I did have a 3lb golden tench over some micros I deposited at 13m in open water. With no more fish showing, a switch to fishing the top of the shelf with maggot (0.1g HB frostie, .10 bottom & 20 silverfish pellet) only produced 1 roach, so that only got 5mins.
A further switch to fishing at the bottom of the shelf with caster (4x16 jolly, .10 bottom & 20 silverfish maggot) produced a run of roach 1-3oz roach, plus a couple of small carp, toss potting caster.
I had been feeding caster under the tree to my right but never had a fish here despite feeding it all match. Nigel Bartlett in the meantime opposite was starting to catch roach (in fact a lot of roach) at 4m, yet I had to go 13m. The only thing I could put it down to be the sun was behind Nigel and with the trees, it provided more shade in the relatively clear water.
My 13m line started to dry up, but none of my other lines was producing. With 90mins left and the falling light levels, I moved back up the shelf fishing tight to the end bank at 14-16m and caught a few more roach. There were carp moving at 18-19m under the tree, but because Nigel was fishing short they weren’t under any pressure to come my side, so I started to catapult caster, which worked with a few better roach, as well as a couple more carp.
To be honest I had quite an enjoyable match, with plenty of bites, but I was never going to compete with the bottom pegs. I was surprised, as was Nigel with the lack of perch, but during the weigh in it was obvious they liked the company of the carp, because they too were down the other end. Never mind, a new venue to try on Monday, then back to work Tuesday.
1st 47-3 - Chris K – p7 (incl 19-15 of silvers – mostly from the top of the shelf on maggot & caster)
2nd 42-12 - Alan Oram – p11
3rd 38- 0 – Steve Seagar – p15
4th 22- 6 – Nigel Bartlett – p24 (all silvers)
5th 22- 0 – Ken Rayner – p1
6th 20-11 – Jim Jenner – p3
Catch – 42 Roach, 4 Carp, 3 Perch, 3 Skimmers, 1 Golden Tench
Weather – Very mild, mostly cloudy.
Water Temp – 8.2c – 8.7c
Match – Open – 5th out of 10
We have a new edition to the Rayner household, a 9 week old Blue Staffordshire Bull Terrier. A friend of Sues had 7 pedigree pups, unfortunately 1 of them which we have called Sapphire has a deformed leg, so couldn’t be sold and it will need to be amputated in a few weeks. However she is a lovely little hound, who has very sharp teeth and is a proper bundle of energy!
Wednesdays match suggested that the pegs at the bottom of the lake would be best, particularly with the forecast winds (which never materialised), so I was really disappointed to draw peg 1, which as well as being at the windward end the lake has been has been fishing awful. Rod Wootton drew p24 opposite on Wednesday and didn’t weigh and if he can’t catch carp, then they are not there. Also the carp generally tend to smaller in these pegs.
I started off on corn, 13m down the left hand bank at the bottom of the shelf without any indications, but I did have a 3lb golden tench over some micros I deposited at 13m in open water. With no more fish showing, a switch to fishing the top of the shelf with maggot (0.1g HB frostie, .10 bottom & 20 silverfish pellet) only produced 1 roach, so that only got 5mins.
A further switch to fishing at the bottom of the shelf with caster (4x16 jolly, .10 bottom & 20 silverfish maggot) produced a run of roach 1-3oz roach, plus a couple of small carp, toss potting caster.
I had been feeding caster under the tree to my right but never had a fish here despite feeding it all match. Nigel Bartlett in the meantime opposite was starting to catch roach (in fact a lot of roach) at 4m, yet I had to go 13m. The only thing I could put it down to be the sun was behind Nigel and with the trees, it provided more shade in the relatively clear water.
My 13m line started to dry up, but none of my other lines was producing. With 90mins left and the falling light levels, I moved back up the shelf fishing tight to the end bank at 14-16m and caught a few more roach. There were carp moving at 18-19m under the tree, but because Nigel was fishing short they weren’t under any pressure to come my side, so I started to catapult caster, which worked with a few better roach, as well as a couple more carp.
To be honest I had quite an enjoyable match, with plenty of bites, but I was never going to compete with the bottom pegs. I was surprised, as was Nigel with the lack of perch, but during the weigh in it was obvious they liked the company of the carp, because they too were down the other end. Never mind, a new venue to try on Monday, then back to work Tuesday.
1st 47-3 - Chris K – p7 (incl 19-15 of silvers – mostly from the top of the shelf on maggot & caster)
2nd 42-12 - Alan Oram – p11
3rd 38- 0 – Steve Seagar – p15
4th 22- 6 – Nigel Bartlett – p24 (all silvers)
5th 22- 0 – Ken Rayner – p1
6th 20-11 – Jim Jenner – p3
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