Weight – 10lb 3oz (3lb
3oz silvers)
Catch – 2 Carp, 2 Skimmers, 1 Perch
Weather – Rain, rain, rain and a cold NE
gale!
Water Temp – 13.0c – 13.0c
Match – Pole Only Series – rd4 – 15th
out of 25 (8th in section)
If it wasn’t for the fact that this was a league
match, I won’t have bothered going and 5 no shows agreed. High winds and heavy
rain meant some roads were partially flooded and branches of varying sizes
littered the road.
No one wanted Paddock Lake today, because with very
little cover it really was exposed to the elements. In fact of those that drew
the lake, only 3 stayed to the bitter end.
It was back to random draw today and I certainly found
myself in the section of doom. It was like a Thyers convention, with the
majority of the league leaders present, so a big opportunity if you did well.
I drew a sheltered peg half way down the right hand
side of the island and when I saw my peg I thought great, at least I can fish,
with a large group of trees/bushes providing quite a bit of shelter, although
the wind was still too strong to put up an umbrella. I did try, but after 5mins
took it down again in case I did a Mary Poppins. The conditions were truly
appalling. I wasn’t expecting to fish a winter league match at the end of
April.
Looking at my peg, I was set back from the peg to my
right, with the trees/bushes providing enough shelter for me to fish 10m to my
right. I could also fish under the nearside branches, where I hoped to catch a
few carp later, although I was concerned whether the fish would really want to
come into the shallower water. To my left was a nice long margin, but due to
the wind initially I could only fished at 5m.
After 3hrs fishing I was blanking, I had fed a short
line with caster, hoping for some roach, but never had a bite and gave up
feeding after 2hrs. The only line that was showing any signs of life was my
right hand 10m line, where I had lost a little fish as I was shipping back, as
well as what felt like a skimmer. Initially started on a 0.4g HB chump, but due
to the tow switched it to a 0.75g polar ice. On this line I had started feeding
micros and 4s, but when it became obvious there wasn’t any carp about so I
switched to cupping in caster looking for anything.
My right margin was fed with caster, whilst the left margin
was fed with meat, which I thought would be my banker for late on. However I
was trying my margins a lot sooner than anticipated and eventually managed a
carp from the right margin on meat, then had another carp on maggot from the
10m line, before the action stopped again.
Going into the final hour, by persisting with cupping
in caster I managed 2 skimmers and a perch, but lost a big skimmer at the net.
With the wind easing, I was able to go longer down my margin only to pull out
of a decent carp. It’s fair to say I was annoyed at myself, because I probably
lost 7-9lb, which would have catapulted me up what was a very tight section.
With 2hrs to go I also set up a new swim 8m at an
angle to my left feeding caster & meat, but never had a bite.
A very frustrating, wet and miserable day. For whatever
reason I couldn’t pull in any volume of fish. On reflection I may have forced
the peg a little too much, but with no fish after 3hrs felt I had no choice.
Also being set back the fish had plenty of room to back away from me and they
weren’t really in a feeding mood.
The only consolidation was my 3-3 of silvers picked up
the silvers by default.
Monday 30 April 2012
Thursday 26 April 2012
25/04/12 - Gold Valley - Gold Lake
Weight – 48lb 4oz (22lb
10oz silvers)
Catch – 7 Bream, 5 Carp, 4 Roach, 3 Perch, 2 Hybrid, 1 Rudd
Weather – Rain, rain, rain as well as a bit of wind!
Water Temp – 14.3c – 14.7c
Match – Match Fishing Scene – 4th out of 17 overall
More traveling this time to Gold Valley in Aldershot. I had heard many stories and comments about the place, ranging from it’s a great a fishery, to its too peggy, as well as the rather strict rules on bank walkers and no peeing on the bank.
The reason for today’s visit was to practice for the Garbolino Club Angler southern regional qualifier on 4 May. On the drive down I was beginning to wonder whether it was worth the effort, with the wind and rain lashing down together with the heavy traffic. On arrival, the club house overlooks Gold Lake and I recognized some of the famous pegs you see in the magazines. The venue won’t win any awards for the best looking fishery, but it is well maintained with concrete platforms and a hardcore path around the lakes.
Today’s match was run under the MFS website banner, which included a number of locals, so it would give me a good idea of how it could fish. Gold Lake is roughly rectangular and fortunately we were pegged along the canal bank, which meant we were mostly sheltered from the worst of the wind, so umbrellas could be put up, which I was quite pleased about.
I drew peg 26 at the far windward end of the lake and on the day was 3rd from the end. Must admit I was a little disappointed, because I fancied a lower number closer to the clubhouse where the wind was blowing in.
With no one on the far bank, I expected the carp to back away to the other side of the central rope, however I started on a customized pellet feeder with hair rigged 8mm pellet cast just short of the rope. After 90mins I had 4 carp and leading our section, but a further 3 casts without a bite and I got bored (unless the tip keeps going round I get easily bored) so switched to the pole.
From the start I had been potting caster & 2mm pellet at 13m every 20mins. I knew there were some big skimmers around so decided to be really positive to try and catch them. Unfortunately the first 30mins was very frustrating with bumped fish, tangles and not getting the presentation right. Eventually, I got it sorted and started to catch big skimmers up to 3lb on double caster, plus my best carp on the day of nearly 7lb. Everytime I got a roach or perch I dumped another pot of food.
I had also been feeding 8mm meat at 7m. But, again more bumped fish or they coming off after a few seconds was frustrating, although I did manage a big 3lb hybrid, plus a few smaller skimmers. I also lost an 8-9lb carp at the net, but I shouldn’t complain too much because it was foul hooked it the rear end.
Herbie who was pegged to my left and spend most of the day on the lead and occasionally the pellet waggler fishing at 30m had with 90mins to go about 3 carp, however by continually feeding 8s he managed to pull in a few late carp to pip me by 3lb. It was really useful to see Herbie catch late like that, although I had been feeding the same line I only gave it a couple of casts, but I wanted to see if I could still challenge on the pole.
Pleased with how the match progressed, in hindsight I should have spent more time on the tip during the last hour, however I lost enough fish to challenge 2nd place. Speaking after the match, there were a few lost fish, with them being hooked around the month, so not really feeding properly.
1st 88-12 – Chris N – p2
2nd 69-14 – Ludders – p12
3rd 51- 1 – Herbie – p25
4th 48- 4 – Ken Rayner – p26
5th 45-14 – Pikey – p22
6th 43-10 – Happydangler – p9
Catch – 7 Bream, 5 Carp, 4 Roach, 3 Perch, 2 Hybrid, 1 Rudd
Weather – Rain, rain, rain as well as a bit of wind!
Water Temp – 14.3c – 14.7c
Match – Match Fishing Scene – 4th out of 17 overall
More traveling this time to Gold Valley in Aldershot. I had heard many stories and comments about the place, ranging from it’s a great a fishery, to its too peggy, as well as the rather strict rules on bank walkers and no peeing on the bank.
The reason for today’s visit was to practice for the Garbolino Club Angler southern regional qualifier on 4 May. On the drive down I was beginning to wonder whether it was worth the effort, with the wind and rain lashing down together with the heavy traffic. On arrival, the club house overlooks Gold Lake and I recognized some of the famous pegs you see in the magazines. The venue won’t win any awards for the best looking fishery, but it is well maintained with concrete platforms and a hardcore path around the lakes.
Today’s match was run under the MFS website banner, which included a number of locals, so it would give me a good idea of how it could fish. Gold Lake is roughly rectangular and fortunately we were pegged along the canal bank, which meant we were mostly sheltered from the worst of the wind, so umbrellas could be put up, which I was quite pleased about.
I drew peg 26 at the far windward end of the lake and on the day was 3rd from the end. Must admit I was a little disappointed, because I fancied a lower number closer to the clubhouse where the wind was blowing in.
With no one on the far bank, I expected the carp to back away to the other side of the central rope, however I started on a customized pellet feeder with hair rigged 8mm pellet cast just short of the rope. After 90mins I had 4 carp and leading our section, but a further 3 casts without a bite and I got bored (unless the tip keeps going round I get easily bored) so switched to the pole.
From the start I had been potting caster & 2mm pellet at 13m every 20mins. I knew there were some big skimmers around so decided to be really positive to try and catch them. Unfortunately the first 30mins was very frustrating with bumped fish, tangles and not getting the presentation right. Eventually, I got it sorted and started to catch big skimmers up to 3lb on double caster, plus my best carp on the day of nearly 7lb. Everytime I got a roach or perch I dumped another pot of food.
I had also been feeding 8mm meat at 7m. But, again more bumped fish or they coming off after a few seconds was frustrating, although I did manage a big 3lb hybrid, plus a few smaller skimmers. I also lost an 8-9lb carp at the net, but I shouldn’t complain too much because it was foul hooked it the rear end.
Herbie who was pegged to my left and spend most of the day on the lead and occasionally the pellet waggler fishing at 30m had with 90mins to go about 3 carp, however by continually feeding 8s he managed to pull in a few late carp to pip me by 3lb. It was really useful to see Herbie catch late like that, although I had been feeding the same line I only gave it a couple of casts, but I wanted to see if I could still challenge on the pole.
Pleased with how the match progressed, in hindsight I should have spent more time on the tip during the last hour, however I lost enough fish to challenge 2nd place. Speaking after the match, there were a few lost fish, with them being hooked around the month, so not really feeding properly.
1st 88-12 – Chris N – p2
2nd 69-14 – Ludders – p12
3rd 51- 1 – Herbie – p25
4th 48- 4 – Ken Rayner – p26
5th 45-14 – Pikey – p22
6th 43-10 – Happydangler – p9
Sunday 22 April 2012
21/04/12 - Fishponds
Weight – 194lb 6oz
Catch – 24 Carp, 1 Golden Orfe, 1 Bream
Weather – Mostly sunny, cloudy periods, cool westerly.
Water Temp – 15.4c – 15.6c
Match – Glenfall Club – 1st out of 9 overall
It’s been 2½ months since Sapphire had her leg removed and the recovery is incredible. She is so full of energy and life. The photo just shows how well she is, as well as showing the type of dog she is, surrounded by items she has managed to chew to destruction or as we are now calling it been “Sapphired”..JPG)
Today was the first Saturday club match of the year at our club water, fished 2.30-7.30. I was running late, so when I arrived the draw had already taken place and anglers had just started going to their pegs. I was left with the last peg which I thought was peg 15, but should have been peg 16, both pegs are in the corner so no damage done. I also had loads of space today, with only 1 angler (Graham) in the open water on the long bank, yet 3 anglers were in the arm of the lake.
Decided on 2 rigs today, which meant I managed to set up in time. A HB redneck .20 & 12 carp feeder for the paste and a HB dweezil 0.3g .18 > 16 B960 for hair rigged 8mm on the deck.
Most who fish this peg usually fish to their right in the shallow water, but I decided to ignore this area, simply because it’s a tackle graveyard and there is no point hooking a fish if you can’t get it out. Instead I settled on 2 swims, the 1st was to my left at the bottom of the shelf at 8m and the 2nd was out in front at 10m at the same depth.
After 30mins I had 2 carp on paste to my left, but I felt the fish weren’t taking the paste properly, so switched to pellet and had another 5 in the next 30mins.
During the 2nd hour I had a further 3, plus a big golden orfe. The 3rd hour still proved to be slow with another 3 carp and a bream. So far I had only 4 carp on paste, but I was getting the “paste” fish on pellet so I stuck with pellet for the remainder of the match.My open water swim was now showing signs of life, whilst my left hand swim had slowed. I had been feeding a handful of 8s, but now started feeding 2 handfuls into the open water swim. The 4th hour saw another 4 carp netted and the final hour saw a further 7 carp landed, including my biggest of the day weighing 13-9.
Yet another pick up and 3 wins this month. Obviously its my time at the moment and really enjoying my fishing so far this year, but with 2 visits planed at Gold Valley in the next 2 weeks could see the wheels fall off.
1st 194- 6 – Ken – p15
2nd 154- 7 – Graham M – p22
3rd 140- 5 – Marcus – p5
4th 88- 3 – Andy – p10
Catch – 24 Carp, 1 Golden Orfe, 1 Bream
Weather – Mostly sunny, cloudy periods, cool westerly.
Water Temp – 15.4c – 15.6c
Match – Glenfall Club – 1st out of 9 overall
It’s been 2½ months since Sapphire had her leg removed and the recovery is incredible. She is so full of energy and life. The photo just shows how well she is, as well as showing the type of dog she is, surrounded by items she has managed to chew to destruction or as we are now calling it been “Sapphired”.
.JPG)
Today was the first Saturday club match of the year at our club water, fished 2.30-7.30. I was running late, so when I arrived the draw had already taken place and anglers had just started going to their pegs. I was left with the last peg which I thought was peg 15, but should have been peg 16, both pegs are in the corner so no damage done. I also had loads of space today, with only 1 angler (Graham) in the open water on the long bank, yet 3 anglers were in the arm of the lake.
Decided on 2 rigs today, which meant I managed to set up in time. A HB redneck .20 & 12 carp feeder for the paste and a HB dweezil 0.3g .18 > 16 B960 for hair rigged 8mm on the deck.
Most who fish this peg usually fish to their right in the shallow water, but I decided to ignore this area, simply because it’s a tackle graveyard and there is no point hooking a fish if you can’t get it out. Instead I settled on 2 swims, the 1st was to my left at the bottom of the shelf at 8m and the 2nd was out in front at 10m at the same depth.
After 30mins I had 2 carp on paste to my left, but I felt the fish weren’t taking the paste properly, so switched to pellet and had another 5 in the next 30mins.
During the 2nd hour I had a further 3, plus a big golden orfe. The 3rd hour still proved to be slow with another 3 carp and a bream. So far I had only 4 carp on paste, but I was getting the “paste” fish on pellet so I stuck with pellet for the remainder of the match.My open water swim was now showing signs of life, whilst my left hand swim had slowed. I had been feeding a handful of 8s, but now started feeding 2 handfuls into the open water swim. The 4th hour saw another 4 carp netted and the final hour saw a further 7 carp landed, including my biggest of the day weighing 13-9.
Yet another pick up and 3 wins this month. Obviously its my time at the moment and really enjoying my fishing so far this year, but with 2 visits planed at Gold Valley in the next 2 weeks could see the wheels fall off.
1st 194- 6 – Ken – p15
2nd 154- 7 – Graham M – p22
3rd 140- 5 – Marcus – p5
4th 88- 3 – Andy – p10
Monday 16 April 2012
15/04/12 - Plantations - Main Lake
Weight – 43lb 9oz (18lb 0oz – silvers)
Catch – 16 Skimmers, 7 Carp, 3 Roach, 1 Crucian
Weather – Frosty start. Mostly sunny, but cold northerly wind.
Water Temp – 14.6c – 15.3c
Match – Pole Only Series – rd 3 – 12th out of 30 overall (7th out of 10 – sections, 2nd in silvers)
The 3rd round of the Paul Frairs series meant it was my turn to be on Plantations pegs 1-19. Due to the northerly wind that had been blowing for most the week, no one really knew whether the fish would have followed the wind into the high numbers. However the one peg everyone wanted was peg 7, so I was disappointed to pull peg 4, whilst Marks Broomsgrove got Kev Perry to pull peg 7 for him.
My peg was on a small point with anglers either side, whilst those that fish the lake regularly said it was a decent peg, but to be honest I thought I would struggle to compete and that’s the way it turned out. I settled on 2 swims at 14m fished at angles. To my right I started with toss potted 3 & 4mm pellet and to my left I potted ½ a cup of pellet, catapulting 4s over the top. I also started feeding 6mm cubes of meat over my short line for later. Due to the anglers either side I didn’t have a margin to fish which was disappointing.
After an hour I had 5 skimmers all on 4mm expander, but it was really slow going. Andy to my right already had a couple of carp on paste, including one about 10lb, plus pegs 12 & 19 had also caught. The 2nd hour was much the same and I was struggling to get a run of fish together.
An early look over the short meat line, resulted in a bumped carp and a big skimmer. I tried here a couple of times throughout the match, but other than a couple of quick bites I didn’t have anything. Those carp didn’t want to come in close.
Having feed pellet by catapult over my left hand swim, I was hopeful of catching a few, but again I couldn’t get a run together. I caught all my carp from here, plus some better skimmers on hard 6s, but it was a case of continual rotation. Since my right hand swim had failed to produce for a while, decided to pot some meat and pellet, which produced a nice crucian on meat, but other than a couple of quick bites no more fish followed.
With 45mins left 2 handfuls of caster went in at the bottom of the near shelf on my top 3. 15mins later I had 2 skimmers for 5lb which turned out to be crucial as I demoted Andy Hockin on my left into 3rd in silvers.
A difficult day. The fish had obviously followed the wind, since the better weights came from that end with Simon on p12 winning with 113lb mostly on corn. Mark Broomsgrove came 2nd from p7 with 70lb. In hindsight, I perhaps should have feed more, since a couple of anglers including Andy to my right who caught mostly on paste had feed 2-3pts of pellet. I could have also tried shallow and a couple of anglers opposite did catch shallow, however they weren’t catching any quicker than me, plus I didn’t want to miss out on any silvers. Finally my 7 carp were a smaller stamp than normal and I probably missed out on 10-15lb as a result.
Not a complete disaster thanks to my silvers and I am now currently lying 6th in the overalls and 6th in the silvers. Fingers crossed for a couple of decent draws in the remaining matches.
1st 113- 4 – Simon Carvello – plantations 12
2nd 81- 2 – Rod Wootton - plantations 30
3rd 70-11 – Mark Broomsgrove – plantations 7
4th 66-14 – Brian Slipper – plantations 27
5th 66- 2 – Andy Hayson – plantations 18
6th 65- 6 – Dave Wride – acorns match lake 1
Catch – 16 Skimmers, 7 Carp, 3 Roach, 1 Crucian
Weather – Frosty start. Mostly sunny, but cold northerly wind.
Water Temp – 14.6c – 15.3c
Match – Pole Only Series – rd 3 – 12th out of 30 overall (7th out of 10 – sections, 2nd in silvers)
The 3rd round of the Paul Frairs series meant it was my turn to be on Plantations pegs 1-19. Due to the northerly wind that had been blowing for most the week, no one really knew whether the fish would have followed the wind into the high numbers. However the one peg everyone wanted was peg 7, so I was disappointed to pull peg 4, whilst Marks Broomsgrove got Kev Perry to pull peg 7 for him.
My peg was on a small point with anglers either side, whilst those that fish the lake regularly said it was a decent peg, but to be honest I thought I would struggle to compete and that’s the way it turned out. I settled on 2 swims at 14m fished at angles. To my right I started with toss potted 3 & 4mm pellet and to my left I potted ½ a cup of pellet, catapulting 4s over the top. I also started feeding 6mm cubes of meat over my short line for later. Due to the anglers either side I didn’t have a margin to fish which was disappointing.
After an hour I had 5 skimmers all on 4mm expander, but it was really slow going. Andy to my right already had a couple of carp on paste, including one about 10lb, plus pegs 12 & 19 had also caught. The 2nd hour was much the same and I was struggling to get a run of fish together.
An early look over the short meat line, resulted in a bumped carp and a big skimmer. I tried here a couple of times throughout the match, but other than a couple of quick bites I didn’t have anything. Those carp didn’t want to come in close.
Having feed pellet by catapult over my left hand swim, I was hopeful of catching a few, but again I couldn’t get a run together. I caught all my carp from here, plus some better skimmers on hard 6s, but it was a case of continual rotation. Since my right hand swim had failed to produce for a while, decided to pot some meat and pellet, which produced a nice crucian on meat, but other than a couple of quick bites no more fish followed.
With 45mins left 2 handfuls of caster went in at the bottom of the near shelf on my top 3. 15mins later I had 2 skimmers for 5lb which turned out to be crucial as I demoted Andy Hockin on my left into 3rd in silvers.
A difficult day. The fish had obviously followed the wind, since the better weights came from that end with Simon on p12 winning with 113lb mostly on corn. Mark Broomsgrove came 2nd from p7 with 70lb. In hindsight, I perhaps should have feed more, since a couple of anglers including Andy to my right who caught mostly on paste had feed 2-3pts of pellet. I could have also tried shallow and a couple of anglers opposite did catch shallow, however they weren’t catching any quicker than me, plus I didn’t want to miss out on any silvers. Finally my 7 carp were a smaller stamp than normal and I probably missed out on 10-15lb as a result.
Not a complete disaster thanks to my silvers and I am now currently lying 6th in the overalls and 6th in the silvers. Fingers crossed for a couple of decent draws in the remaining matches.
1st 113- 4 – Simon Carvello – plantations 12
2nd 81- 2 – Rod Wootton - plantations 30
3rd 70-11 – Mark Broomsgrove – plantations 7
4th 66-14 – Brian Slipper – plantations 27
5th 66- 2 – Andy Hayson – plantations 18
6th 65- 6 – Dave Wride – acorns match lake 1
Monday 9 April 2012
08/04/12 - Lands End - Match Lake
Weight – 162lb 13oz
Catch – 28 Carp
Weather – Mild, cloudy and windy
Water Temp – 14.5c – 15.8c
Match – Avon Angling Open – 1st out of 30 overall (1st out of 12 – lake)
With 30 booked in, it was decided to use Speci, Match and half of Johns Lake. I was more than happy to find myself on peg 21, which came 2nd in Fridays match, although I was concerned about the wind which was forecast to get stronger come the afternoon.
Due to the wind, I decided to spend as much time as possible fishing the far bank, before it got stronger as well as allowing time for the my 6m meat line to develop. Having said that after potting some caster across I went straight over the 6m line with meat (I actually fished 8m but at 45 degree angle, because it was 6 inch shallower than 6m in front where the lake bed had been hollowed out), but with no bites it was time to go across fishing double caster. I had considered fishing meat or pellet across, but felt with the wind that caster would be better.
After an hour I had 3 carp, potting half a small cup of caster instead of toss potting, simply because it was easier to hold the pole without a toss pot on the end. In the meantime I had been feeding 4-5 cubes of meat short and an occasional look over the short line had yet to produce, so by the 3rd hour I was up to 9 carp all on caster.
A switch to the short line revealed the carp had arrived. I had also being feeding meat down the left hand edge and this area turned out to be the most productive. Rig wise I had been using a HB Dweezil 0.3g, .16 > 16 B911 at 6m and HB AK47 0.2g, .16 > 16 B911.
With 30mins to go I was up to 24 carp, 12 in each of my carp nets and thought I was close to the 80lb net limit, so ended up tipping back about 6-7lb of silvers to make way for more carp. Unfortunately during the weigh in I didn’t quite get in quite right, with my 1st net going over 80lb, but my other 12 carp went about 65lb, obviously a few better fish in that first net – doh! So with the silvers tipped back I should have weighed about 175lb, but I’m not complaining despite Mr Rixon’s best efforts to wind me up!
There is no denying I had a proper red letter day. As Clayton put it, it didn’t matter where I put the bait the float went under. After Fridays win with my best weight from Lands End, to get a better weight today capped a great weekend and I’m in danger of becoming a proper meat head.
1st 162-13 – Ken Rayner – p21
2nd 133-12 – Ryan Summerhayes – p31
3rd 120- 0 – Leyton Palmer – p36
4th 113- 5 – Anton Page – p41
5th 86- 2 – Paul Elmes – p18
6th 85-1 – Steve Seagar – p34
Silvers
1st 44- 2 – Tom Magnoll – p28
2nd 39- 8 – Tom Thick – p7
Saturday 7 April 2012
06/04/12 - Lands End - Speci Lake
Catch – 15 Carp, 9 Roach, 4 Bream, 3 Perch, 2 F1, 2 Chub
Weather – Frosty start. Bright, sunny morning, but cloudy & cold afternoon
Water Temp – 12.8c – 13.8c
Match – Cost cutter Open – 1st out of 19 overall (1st out of 9 – lake)
It was a pleasant surprise to see 19 booked in for this Good Friday match, which Tom Thick took charge of. Being a cost cutter, Mark decided to run a £5 super pool as well with the winnings being split evenly between the overall and silverfish winners.
It was decided to put 10 on match lake and 9 on speci, which would mean plenty of room for everyone. I was a little disappointed to drew peg 40, because normally you need to be down the other end of the lake, however reports suggested that the fish were moving around and a few fish had been caught at my end last week.
Not really knowing whether there would be carp or silvers in the peg, decided to start down the right hand bank at 13m on double caster. An hour later, I had 3 carp, a couple of perch and F1 for about 20lb and according to the jungle drums was leading the lake. In the meantime I had been feeding 6mms towards the island at 16m, plus toss potting some 3 & 4mm at the bottom of the shelf 14.5m down the right hand bank.
The 14.5m swim never produced, expect the odd nibble from roach. The 16m swim towards the island, produced 2 good skimmers and another F1 on 4mm expander, whilst my caster swim only produced a couple more fish.
Half way into the match, things had gone a bit tricky, however I had yet to try down my left hand margin by the brambles where I had been regularly feeding 4-5 cubes of meat from the start. 1st put in and I missed a bite. 2nd put in I was attached to the 1st of 10 carp from the edge.
I couldn’t catch more than 3 carp in 1 go, so had to continually rotate with my other swims. The right hand edge didn’t produce anymore, so the only swim producing regular bites was the 16m swim where I had another carp and big skimmer in amongst the roach.
Down the left hand margin, I lost a couple of fish including a proper munter, which must have been 15lb plus, but I got it onto my top kit too quickly and it found another gear and bust me. Meat fishing is new to me and still feel there is room for improvement particularly regarding my rigs, so something for me to work on.
Really pleased to weigh my first ton at Lands End and I can’t remember the last time peg 40 won a match, so doubly pleased.
1st 122- 1 – Ken Rayner – p40
2nd 94- 2 – Mark Wynne – p21
It was decided to put 10 on match lake and 9 on speci, which would mean plenty of room for everyone. I was a little disappointed to drew peg 40, because normally you need to be down the other end of the lake, however reports suggested that the fish were moving around and a few fish had been caught at my end last week.
Not really knowing whether there would be carp or silvers in the peg, decided to start down the right hand bank at 13m on double caster. An hour later, I had 3 carp, a couple of perch and F1 for about 20lb and according to the jungle drums was leading the lake. In the meantime I had been feeding 6mms towards the island at 16m, plus toss potting some 3 & 4mm at the bottom of the shelf 14.5m down the right hand bank.
The 14.5m swim never produced, expect the odd nibble from roach. The 16m swim towards the island, produced 2 good skimmers and another F1 on 4mm expander, whilst my caster swim only produced a couple more fish.
Half way into the match, things had gone a bit tricky, however I had yet to try down my left hand margin by the brambles where I had been regularly feeding 4-5 cubes of meat from the start. 1st put in and I missed a bite. 2nd put in I was attached to the 1st of 10 carp from the edge.
I couldn’t catch more than 3 carp in 1 go, so had to continually rotate with my other swims. The right hand edge didn’t produce anymore, so the only swim producing regular bites was the 16m swim where I had another carp and big skimmer in amongst the roach.
Down the left hand margin, I lost a couple of fish including a proper munter, which must have been 15lb plus, but I got it onto my top kit too quickly and it found another gear and bust me. Meat fishing is new to me and still feel there is room for improvement particularly regarding my rigs, so something for me to work on.
Really pleased to weigh my first ton at Lands End and I can’t remember the last time peg 40 won a match, so doubly pleased.
1st 122- 1 – Ken Rayner – p40
2nd 94- 2 – Mark Wynne – p21
3rd 90- 5 – Steve Seagar – p36
4th 69- 8 – Mark Poppleton – p18
5th 69- 6 – Dan White – p19
6th 68- 9 – Tom Thick – p22
Silvers
1st 35- 6 – Tom Thick – p22
2nd 34-12 – Nigel Bartlett – p11
3rd 28- 8 – Martin Pettifer – p34
Monday 2 April 2012
01/04/12 - Acorn - Paddock Lake
Weight – 73lb 14oz
Catch – 21 Carp, 4 Skimmers, 2 F1
Weather – Frosty start. Mostly bright & sunny.
Water Temp – 14.1c – 14.8c
Match – Pole Only Series – 6th out of 28 overall (2nd out of 9 – section)
The 2nd round of the Paul Frairs series meant it was my turn to be on Acorns Paddock Lake, hence the recent visits. At the draw Paul had to announce that 4 or 5 people rang during the week to say they couldn’t fish, which is fair enough because replacements were found, but then 2 more didn’t turn up on the day. If these people had to organize matches, I can guarantee they wouldn’t, not turn up again. I don’t understand why you pay £50 to fish series, then just don’t turn up (unless it’s emergency).
Anyway, back to the match. Our section, would be on the best part of Paddock Lake, so hopefully a few fish would show, however scrapping ice off the car this morning and the lake has been hammered this week with matches on most days I expected a difficult match. Fortunately there wasn’t many poor draws in this section and was quite happy with p36, although results during the week suggested it had gone off the boil from previous weeks, with top weight being about 50lb.
As you can see from the photo, I had the pump in the left hand corner, as well as the corner of the island opposite. Plumbing around revealed really shallow water by the island (the water level was still down) and it was the same under the platform to my right peg 35 (hopefully I’ve got my pegging right this time, before Joe tells me off again ;¬)). Down the track was surprisingly deep with 5ft between the pump and the corner of the island, but it was slightly shallower to my right which is where I hoped to pull in a few skimmers from the gap. However my gut feeling was these swims would be either too deep or too shallow, so fortunately when plumbing up in the left hand corner revealed about 2½ft of water.
After 90mins I thought the wheels had fallen off with only a skimmer and an F1 from my right hand down the track swim, whilst everyone was catching particularly those on the island (pegs 1, 3, and 5). The left hand down the track swim only produced a few liners and as suspected confirmed what I thought about the depth, so I stopped feeding the swim never to be tried again. In the meantime I had kept pinging 6mms to the island and meat by the pump.
After seeing a fish roll by the pump it was time to give it a go and 45mins later I had 7 carp on meat, which cheered me up. The rest of the match was a case of rotating between the pump, the island, down the track and the right hand platform. The island only produced 1 small carp on 8mm pellet all match, as did the right hand platform. The water was just too shallow for the fish to feed with any confidence. The track swim, only produced a few more silvers, but I just couldn’t pull those skimmers into the swim, probably because it was a bit too narrow for them to settle.
So the majority of my fish came from the pump swim. With 30mins left, I was sure I was still behind 4 or 5 anglers, and then I had a run of 6 fish from the pump. The last fish being my best weighing 6-15 and it was just as well I put it in my 3rd net. If I hadn’t it would have pushed me over the 70lb net limit, by a pound.
As we were packing up, I felt that Rich Lovering on p5 would win which he did with 108lb, catching on various baits and I thought it would be close with Gary Bewdell on p1, but he only weighed 43lb. apparently he lost a load. Fortunately my fish were a better stamp than normal, which according to the locals isn’t a surprise for this peg. On reflection a bit of strange match. I probably only had about 2-3hrs of activity, whilst the rest of time was a bit boring – not that I’m complaining.
1st 108-2 – Rich Lovering – Paddock 5
2nd 100-10 – Rod Wootton – Plantations 19
3rd 100- 0 – Lance Tucker – Plantations 8
Catch – 21 Carp, 4 Skimmers, 2 F1
Weather – Frosty start. Mostly bright & sunny.
Water Temp – 14.1c – 14.8c
Match – Pole Only Series – 6th out of 28 overall (2nd out of 9 – section)
The 2nd round of the Paul Frairs series meant it was my turn to be on Acorns Paddock Lake, hence the recent visits. At the draw Paul had to announce that 4 or 5 people rang during the week to say they couldn’t fish, which is fair enough because replacements were found, but then 2 more didn’t turn up on the day. If these people had to organize matches, I can guarantee they wouldn’t, not turn up again. I don’t understand why you pay £50 to fish series, then just don’t turn up (unless it’s emergency).
Anyway, back to the match. Our section, would be on the best part of Paddock Lake, so hopefully a few fish would show, however scrapping ice off the car this morning and the lake has been hammered this week with matches on most days I expected a difficult match. Fortunately there wasn’t many poor draws in this section and was quite happy with p36, although results during the week suggested it had gone off the boil from previous weeks, with top weight being about 50lb.
As you can see from the photo, I had the pump in the left hand corner, as well as the corner of the island opposite. Plumbing around revealed really shallow water by the island (the water level was still down) and it was the same under the platform to my right peg 35 (hopefully I’ve got my pegging right this time, before Joe tells me off again ;¬)). Down the track was surprisingly deep with 5ft between the pump and the corner of the island, but it was slightly shallower to my right which is where I hoped to pull in a few skimmers from the gap. However my gut feeling was these swims would be either too deep or too shallow, so fortunately when plumbing up in the left hand corner revealed about 2½ft of water.After 90mins I thought the wheels had fallen off with only a skimmer and an F1 from my right hand down the track swim, whilst everyone was catching particularly those on the island (pegs 1, 3, and 5). The left hand down the track swim only produced a few liners and as suspected confirmed what I thought about the depth, so I stopped feeding the swim never to be tried again. In the meantime I had kept pinging 6mms to the island and meat by the pump.
After seeing a fish roll by the pump it was time to give it a go and 45mins later I had 7 carp on meat, which cheered me up. The rest of the match was a case of rotating between the pump, the island, down the track and the right hand platform. The island only produced 1 small carp on 8mm pellet all match, as did the right hand platform. The water was just too shallow for the fish to feed with any confidence. The track swim, only produced a few more silvers, but I just couldn’t pull those skimmers into the swim, probably because it was a bit too narrow for them to settle.
So the majority of my fish came from the pump swim. With 30mins left, I was sure I was still behind 4 or 5 anglers, and then I had a run of 6 fish from the pump. The last fish being my best weighing 6-15 and it was just as well I put it in my 3rd net. If I hadn’t it would have pushed me over the 70lb net limit, by a pound.
As we were packing up, I felt that Rich Lovering on p5 would win which he did with 108lb, catching on various baits and I thought it would be close with Gary Bewdell on p1, but he only weighed 43lb. apparently he lost a load. Fortunately my fish were a better stamp than normal, which according to the locals isn’t a surprise for this peg. On reflection a bit of strange match. I probably only had about 2-3hrs of activity, whilst the rest of time was a bit boring – not that I’m complaining.
1st 108-2 – Rich Lovering – Paddock 5
2nd 100-10 – Rod Wootton – Plantations 19
3rd 100- 0 – Lance Tucker – Plantations 8
4th 80- 8 – R Hentley – Plantations 27
5th 74- 9 – Lewis Walker – Plantations 28
6th 73-14 – Ken Rayner – Paddock 36
31/03/12 - Acorn - Paddock Lake
Weight – 48lb 11oz (18lb 11oz-silvers)
Catch – 32 Skimmers, 12 Carp, 3 Tench
Weather – Cool & cloudy. Cold northerly breeze.
Water Temp – 15.7c – 16.3c
Match – Open – 5th out of 23 overall
Back on with the fleece, following a week of warm weather today was a bit of a shock to the system, with a cold northerly blowing.
I found myself on p26, which normally is a poor draw, although Dave Wride managed 31lb of skimmers from the peg in Tuesdays open, but generally it isn’t great. To make matter worse the peg is at the end of the long straight, with the wind blowing straight down and I was bloody freezing.
Due to the “lack” of carp in the area, I decided to concentrate on catching silvers, which meant ignoring the shallow water by the island as well as the margin, thinking not too many carp would be happy sitting there with the cold wind.
I started at 10m at the bottom of the shelf with a 0.3g HB frostie, but after 15mins I was a setting a 0.4g SZ munkeez which sat better in the wind. After the 1st hour I had 7 skimmers, but by the 2nd I was up to 20, including a carp. Bait was 4mm expander, however I started to catch more on JPZs, probably because they were a bit denser than the expanders and sat better in the tow.
In the meantime I had been feeding at 11m to my left in open water with potted meat and pellet. First put in with meat produced a carp, I tried pellet but this didn’t produce, so decided to just feed 4mms by catapult, hoping to pull in a few more skimmers. I also started feeding meat by hand to my left at the bottom of the nearside shelf.
During the 3rd & 4th hours it was a case of rotating and picking up odd fish, including a decent tench. The skimmers seemed to have done a disappearing act, although I was finding more carp, which created a bit of conundrum. I really wanted to be catching silvers, because I didn’t think my peg was a framing peg, but they just didn’t seem to be any volume in front of me. I kept feeding pellet hoping the skimmers would return and tried down my left hand margin and picked up 4 carp and 2 very useful tench over the next hour.
Going into the last hour the skimmers had finally returned in the open water swim, including a proper bream, before I had a couple more carp.
During the weigh in pegs 17 & 18 weighed 27lb & 30lb of silvers, with 44lb winning from peg 1. My total weight was the best from peg 10 around to peg 34 when Rod weighed 51lb to finish 3rd. There was a couple of low 50s with 61lb weighing (I was hoping the Acorn website would show the results, but it hasn’t been updated yet). So in conclusion I was very surprised to be so close to the overall frame and I should have spent more time trying to catch carp. Never mind.
Catch – 32 Skimmers, 12 Carp, 3 Tench
Weather – Cool & cloudy. Cold northerly breeze.
Water Temp – 15.7c – 16.3c
Match – Open – 5th out of 23 overall
Back on with the fleece, following a week of warm weather today was a bit of a shock to the system, with a cold northerly blowing.
Due to the “lack” of carp in the area, I decided to concentrate on catching silvers, which meant ignoring the shallow water by the island as well as the margin, thinking not too many carp would be happy sitting there with the cold wind.
I started at 10m at the bottom of the shelf with a 0.3g HB frostie, but after 15mins I was a setting a 0.4g SZ munkeez which sat better in the wind. After the 1st hour I had 7 skimmers, but by the 2nd I was up to 20, including a carp. Bait was 4mm expander, however I started to catch more on JPZs, probably because they were a bit denser than the expanders and sat better in the tow.
In the meantime I had been feeding at 11m to my left in open water with potted meat and pellet. First put in with meat produced a carp, I tried pellet but this didn’t produce, so decided to just feed 4mms by catapult, hoping to pull in a few more skimmers. I also started feeding meat by hand to my left at the bottom of the nearside shelf.
During the 3rd & 4th hours it was a case of rotating and picking up odd fish, including a decent tench. The skimmers seemed to have done a disappearing act, although I was finding more carp, which created a bit of conundrum. I really wanted to be catching silvers, because I didn’t think my peg was a framing peg, but they just didn’t seem to be any volume in front of me. I kept feeding pellet hoping the skimmers would return and tried down my left hand margin and picked up 4 carp and 2 very useful tench over the next hour.
Going into the last hour the skimmers had finally returned in the open water swim, including a proper bream, before I had a couple more carp.
During the weigh in pegs 17 & 18 weighed 27lb & 30lb of silvers, with 44lb winning from peg 1. My total weight was the best from peg 10 around to peg 34 when Rod weighed 51lb to finish 3rd. There was a couple of low 50s with 61lb weighing (I was hoping the Acorn website would show the results, but it hasn’t been updated yet). So in conclusion I was very surprised to be so close to the overall frame and I should have spent more time trying to catch carp. Never mind.
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