Weight - 59lb 7oz (10lb 2oz - silvers)
Catch - 12 Carp, 8 Perch, 2 Skimmers, 2 Roach, 1 Ide, 1 F1, 1 Crucian, 1 Chub, 1 Rudd
Weather - Warm, mostly sunny. Late short shower.
Water Temp - 25.2c - 26.6c
Match - Avon Angling Open - 4th out of 15
I managed to get a day off to practice for Sundays 2nd round of the float only, although looking at the weather forecast for Sunday, conditions will be completely different with low temperatures and heavy rains.
The local match circuit is delighted to see Des (Shipp) has given up full time work to concentrate on his fishing and his midweek mugging sessions! Peg 15 was my destination for the day, which can have its good days, however Tony turned up on 13 and I knew he wouldn't let me have the island to myself. With Des on 5 and Tom Thick on 19 (don't think I've seen him on a bad peg) a challenging day was ahead.
When I arrived there was plenty of carp sat on the surface, basking in the sun recovering from the riggers of spawning and with no ripple I fully expected they would disappear as soon as the pole was waved above their heads and that's what happened.
I only set up 1 rig to fish the deck with meat and despite feeding for 5hrs at 6m never had a bite, although I did manage 1 big skimmer by the tree to my right late on. So all other rigs revolved around fishing caster, 8mm pellet and meat on top of the far shelf or in the margin.
On the all-in I went out the shallow pellet rig to mug an early carp, but nothing although Tony had 1 straight away. After 5mins the fish disappeared, so switched to my caster rig, originally cupping in caster and a little meat on the far shelf. But unlike the last couple times I've tried this the fish weren't playing ball and actually found it better to toss pot the bait in. After a 2hrs I had 4 carp and about 5lb of silvers, but it really was a case of waiting for a bite, even from the silvers.
All the while I had been flicking pellet to my left on the island, to try and take some of Tony's fish away from him and also give me somewhere else to go. I had a few carp mostly by resting the 8mm pellet rig on a patch of bare bank.
With 2hrs to go, the polish angler on 16 started to pack up and although I could see Tony and Tom catching I got the impression most were struggling. The rest of match was a case of rotating swims, because I couldn't catch more than 2 fish before needing to swap. My main caster swim seemed to have completely died, so set up a new swim to the right on the island with meat/caster. I had 1 fish on meat, but more on double caster.
As for the margin. Really frustrated since I had fed from the start, yet only had 1 crucian whilst Tony managed to get a few from his margin.
I was pleasantly surprised to finish 4th and today it was always going to be difficult to beat Des, Tony and Tom from their pegs.
1st 124-8 - Des Shipp - peg 5 (incl 75lb silvers - awesome)
2nd 106-2 - Tom Thick - peg 19
3rd 86-8 - Tony Rixon - peg 13
4th 59-7 - Ken Rayner - peg 15
5th 58-15 - Chris Davis - peg 24
6th 49-13 - Ed Wynne - peg 3
Thursday 31 May 2012
Sunday 27 May 2012
26/05/12 - Lands End - Match
Weight - 66lb 6oz (14lb 2oz - silvers)
Catch - 12 Carp, 18 Perch, 4 F1, 3 Rudd, 2 Skimmers
Weather - Hot & sunny. Strong easterly.
Water Temp - 23.3c > 24.3c
Match - Open - 4th out of 9
Its funny how certain pegs tend to stick and for me its peg 11, although I would have prefered peg 21, a) because it was out of the wind and b) its a flyer. However, there was one angler who didn't want it. Nigel Bartlett was very unhappy, because he knew he would be spending most of match playing carp rather than catching silvers.
The way the wind was meant fishing to the island was going to be a challenge, as it was blowing stright down the lake, so I set up 2 rigs for fishing across, 1x for caster and the other for 8mm pellet. As for the other rigs, I set up a soft pellet rig for fishing down the track, which never got used. I also set up 2 meat rigs, 1 for fishing under the platform of peg 12 and the other for fishing at the bottom of the shelf to my left.
There was plenty of fish moving around but the question was, would they feed having only recently spawned? A quick look on 8mm pellet, didn't produce so decided to stick with double caster on top of the shelf for the 1st couple of hours just to catch what I could, which did include a couple of carp and F1s in amongst the perch. Due to the wind I couldn't fish with a toss pot so ended up cupping caster with a pinch of 4s every 2nd fish.
In the mean time I had been feeding 6s to the point of the island and a switch to the pellet rig resulted in 5 carp, but I also lost 6 or 7 foul hookers. The wind was also adding to my frustration. When I was fishing in front of the island, I had to be careful how I struck, because on a couple of occasions a strike co-incided with a gust of wind and a rig in the bush! This meant not striking too hard, which lead to a few bumped perch. Now I was fishing to the point of the island, I wanted to fish 16m towards the rope, but I couldn't hold the pole long enough.
I tried mugging a few carp that were cruising, but they weren't interested and those fish that were hooked properly were tight to the island.
With a couple of hours to go, Mark on p7 and Jim on p13 were catching, but reports suggested the lake was fishing hard. I was really hoping for a good couple of hours on the meat, but a F1 and big skimmer was all I had which was a surprise as well as disappointing, so it meant I really needed to get those carp sorted by the island. Another try with pellet, resulted in more liners. I think part of the problem was it was difficult to feed accurately with the catapult and the fish were just rushing around after the pellet.
Therefore decided to cup in caster & pellet, switching back to double caster. This resulted in 5 more carp and I thought I may have caught up Jim, well that was until he landed an 8lber on the all out. Just wish I had switched back to the caster rig sooner.
Mark had an easy win today fishing mostly meat, whilst Jim finished 2nd fishing 10m into the left hand margin on 8mm pellet.
1st 126lb - Mark Leader - p7
2nd 72lb - Jim Jenner - p13
3rd 68lb - p19
4th 66lb - Ken Rayner - p11
Silvers
1st - 22lb - Dave Sawyer - p17 (skimmers)
2nd - 14- 8 - Mark Leader - p7
3rd - 14- 2 - Ken Rayner -p11
Catch - 12 Carp, 18 Perch, 4 F1, 3 Rudd, 2 Skimmers
Weather - Hot & sunny. Strong easterly.
Water Temp - 23.3c > 24.3c
Match - Open - 4th out of 9
Its funny how certain pegs tend to stick and for me its peg 11, although I would have prefered peg 21, a) because it was out of the wind and b) its a flyer. However, there was one angler who didn't want it. Nigel Bartlett was very unhappy, because he knew he would be spending most of match playing carp rather than catching silvers.
The way the wind was meant fishing to the island was going to be a challenge, as it was blowing stright down the lake, so I set up 2 rigs for fishing across, 1x for caster and the other for 8mm pellet. As for the other rigs, I set up a soft pellet rig for fishing down the track, which never got used. I also set up 2 meat rigs, 1 for fishing under the platform of peg 12 and the other for fishing at the bottom of the shelf to my left.
There was plenty of fish moving around but the question was, would they feed having only recently spawned? A quick look on 8mm pellet, didn't produce so decided to stick with double caster on top of the shelf for the 1st couple of hours just to catch what I could, which did include a couple of carp and F1s in amongst the perch. Due to the wind I couldn't fish with a toss pot so ended up cupping caster with a pinch of 4s every 2nd fish.
In the mean time I had been feeding 6s to the point of the island and a switch to the pellet rig resulted in 5 carp, but I also lost 6 or 7 foul hookers. The wind was also adding to my frustration. When I was fishing in front of the island, I had to be careful how I struck, because on a couple of occasions a strike co-incided with a gust of wind and a rig in the bush! This meant not striking too hard, which lead to a few bumped perch. Now I was fishing to the point of the island, I wanted to fish 16m towards the rope, but I couldn't hold the pole long enough.
I tried mugging a few carp that were cruising, but they weren't interested and those fish that were hooked properly were tight to the island.
With a couple of hours to go, Mark on p7 and Jim on p13 were catching, but reports suggested the lake was fishing hard. I was really hoping for a good couple of hours on the meat, but a F1 and big skimmer was all I had which was a surprise as well as disappointing, so it meant I really needed to get those carp sorted by the island. Another try with pellet, resulted in more liners. I think part of the problem was it was difficult to feed accurately with the catapult and the fish were just rushing around after the pellet.
Therefore decided to cup in caster & pellet, switching back to double caster. This resulted in 5 more carp and I thought I may have caught up Jim, well that was until he landed an 8lber on the all out. Just wish I had switched back to the caster rig sooner.
Mark had an easy win today fishing mostly meat, whilst Jim finished 2nd fishing 10m into the left hand margin on 8mm pellet.
1st 126lb - Mark Leader - p7
2nd 72lb - Jim Jenner - p13
3rd 68lb - p19
4th 66lb - Ken Rayner - p11
Silvers
1st - 22lb - Dave Sawyer - p17 (skimmers)
2nd - 14- 8 - Mark Leader - p7
3rd - 14- 2 - Ken Rayner -p11
25/05/12 - Eden Vale
Weight - 23lb 13oz
Catch - 28 Skimmers, 10 Roach, 3 Hybrid, 1 Carp
Weather - Hot & sunny, gusty wind
An e-mail from Mark suggested a skimmer session at Eden Vale lake, which is a venue I have only fished once before a couple of years ago. Its a large natural lake situated on the outskirts of Westbury, which can be fished on a day ticket.
We settled on pegs 15 & 16 where it was 6ft at 13m. So 4 balls of groundbait, micros, 4mm pellet and corn was deposited. With the prospect of skimmers I set up 2 rigs. A 1g jean Francois with double bulk and a more conventional 0.5g HB chump. Bait was 4mm expander
Well the session didn't quite go according to plan. Mark soon switched to a half depth rig and caught most of his 52lb that way. Those skimmers just didn't want to be on the deck. I persevered with with the deck rig, mainly because I was being lazy and couldn't be bothered to setup another rig, however after a few couple of hours I got fed up of watching Mark, so switched to a shallow rig and caught, but I couldn't get the better 1lb+ skimmers, since most of mine were 6oz. I did however catch some cracking roach, the biggest weighing 1lb 2oz.
I had been feeding my margin with 6s and corn and managed a really nice looking linear mirror carp on double corn. I did lose another which felt bigger, but the hook pulled whilst trying to get it out of snag.
Catch - 28 Skimmers, 10 Roach, 3 Hybrid, 1 Carp
Weather - Hot & sunny, gusty wind
An e-mail from Mark suggested a skimmer session at Eden Vale lake, which is a venue I have only fished once before a couple of years ago. Its a large natural lake situated on the outskirts of Westbury, which can be fished on a day ticket.
We settled on pegs 15 & 16 where it was 6ft at 13m. So 4 balls of groundbait, micros, 4mm pellet and corn was deposited. With the prospect of skimmers I set up 2 rigs. A 1g jean Francois with double bulk and a more conventional 0.5g HB chump. Bait was 4mm expander
Well the session didn't quite go according to plan. Mark soon switched to a half depth rig and caught most of his 52lb that way. Those skimmers just didn't want to be on the deck. I persevered with with the deck rig, mainly because I was being lazy and couldn't be bothered to setup another rig, however after a few couple of hours I got fed up of watching Mark, so switched to a shallow rig and caught, but I couldn't get the better 1lb+ skimmers, since most of mine were 6oz. I did however catch some cracking roach, the biggest weighing 1lb 2oz.
I had been feeding my margin with 6s and corn and managed a really nice looking linear mirror carp on double corn. I did lose another which felt bigger, but the hook pulled whilst trying to get it out of snag.
Monday 21 May 2012
20/05/12 - Acorns - Paddock
Weight - 73lb 10oz
Catch - 27 Carp, 13 Skimmers, 2 F1, 1 Tench, 1 Rudd
Weather - Sunny, cool northerly gusty wind
Water Temp - 18.6c - 19.9c
Match - Pole Only Series - rd 5 - 5th out of 22 overall (5th in section)
The 5th and penultimate round of the Pole Only series and it was my turn to fish Paddocks Lake, whilst the remainder had the joys of Horseshoe Lake at Plantations. I was a bit undecided how to approach the match, whether to go for carp or silvers. With the way the series has gone for me silvers looked like the better option in terms of potential overall payout. I was lying 5th with the top 3 being paid out and excluding my dropped result I had 3x 2nd, however the top 3 to date had dropped very few points.
So it would be down to the draw and when I saw peg 3 staring back at me, I thought “OK, silvers it is” But as is usual with leagues that are coming to a close, there was a number of anglers who decided not to fish and when peg 5, the carp flyer to my left wasn’t drawn it put a different perspective om matters. Paul Frairs who draw peg 1, was being less that subtle about the fact I should fish for carp, particularly with the space to my left, thus leaving him free to plunder the silvers (Paul - told you I would put it on the blog, but we wont mention the carp that dived under my platform, between my keepnets, leaving me to thread my top kit the same way! Oops too late).
In truth, now I had some space to my left, I didn’t need much persuasion to go for carp, but various rigs were set up to cover all options just in case. Rigs for the day, was a HB ratcatcher 2 .17 > 16 B960 for hair rigged 8mm, the same rig as Thursday, HB Chump 0.4g, .12 > 16B911 for fishing soft pellet, HB Shindig 0.3g .14 > 18 B911 hair rigging 6mm pellet down the track, HB Billybob 0.2g .16 > 16 B911 meat down my the next pallet and finally a Jolly 4x14 for fishing caster short, but I never used it.
The northerly wind was an issue, as well as been quite cool it was also quite gusty, so catapulting pellet to the far bank was a case timing between gusts, needless to say, some landed on the island, whilst some fell short.
On the all-in micros and 4mms were deposited down the track and I went straight across to the far bank with 8mm pellet. Within 30mins I had 2x small carp, but although there was a few carp showing, they weren’t taking the bait with any confidence. So rather than keep chasing shadows, I went down the track were I spent the next couple hours, catching a few skimmers and a few carp in between, toss potting 4s. The wind was creating a fair bit of tow against the wind and some of the better fish came by holding back, then letting go – just like being on the river. Since more carp were showing I decided to switch rigs to the HB Shindig, but caught more skimmers! Typical catch carp on the skimmer rig and skimmers on your carp rig.
After a few hours the swim needed a rest, so switched back to the far bank were I had been continually feeding 6s, but the fish didn’t really want to be there and other than a lost foul hooker, no further carp were forthcoming.
With 2½hrs to go I was up to 10 carp and really hoping that by feeding meat to the pallet on peg 4 that I would make up some lost ground on the pegs behind me, particularly since my far line wasn’t producing and every time I looked back when shipping my pole, either Lance (p38) or Dave (p36) were landing fish.
A further 17 carp from the pallet, including 2 from the right hand margin was certainly useful, however the average stamp was on the small side, which was unfortunate and meant I was about 15lb shy of what I would expect. Not that it would have helped since the 3 pegs behind me all weighed a ton and any chance of an overall pick up in the series has gone. Nick Harvey on p7 who was fishing towards the end of the island (where peg 5 is) weighed 77lb, which probably illustrates that the concentration of fish in our area wasn’t as high as pegs 36,38 and 40.
Paddocks was definitely the lake to be on, with Horseshoe Lake being patchy with 58lb being the best weight, plus there was only a handful of silvers caught with 1lb 9oz picking up in 1 section.
1st 122- 6 - Lance Tucker - p38.
2nd 116-14 - Lewy - p40
3rd 100-12 - Dave Wride - p36
4th 76-15 - Nick Harvey - p7
5th 73-10 - Ken Rayner - p3
6th 58- 3 - Simon Carvello - Horseshoe Lake
Silvers
1st 31- 0 - Paul Frairs - p1
2nd 20- 4 - Lance Tucker - p38
3rd 18-10 - Mike Owens - p34
Catch - 27 Carp, 13 Skimmers, 2 F1, 1 Tench, 1 Rudd
Weather - Sunny, cool northerly gusty wind
Water Temp - 18.6c - 19.9c
Match - Pole Only Series - rd 5 - 5th out of 22 overall (5th in section)
The 5th and penultimate round of the Pole Only series and it was my turn to fish Paddocks Lake, whilst the remainder had the joys of Horseshoe Lake at Plantations. I was a bit undecided how to approach the match, whether to go for carp or silvers. With the way the series has gone for me silvers looked like the better option in terms of potential overall payout. I was lying 5th with the top 3 being paid out and excluding my dropped result I had 3x 2nd, however the top 3 to date had dropped very few points.
So it would be down to the draw and when I saw peg 3 staring back at me, I thought “OK, silvers it is” But as is usual with leagues that are coming to a close, there was a number of anglers who decided not to fish and when peg 5, the carp flyer to my left wasn’t drawn it put a different perspective om matters. Paul Frairs who draw peg 1, was being less that subtle about the fact I should fish for carp, particularly with the space to my left, thus leaving him free to plunder the silvers (Paul - told you I would put it on the blog, but we wont mention the carp that dived under my platform, between my keepnets, leaving me to thread my top kit the same way! Oops too late).
In truth, now I had some space to my left, I didn’t need much persuasion to go for carp, but various rigs were set up to cover all options just in case. Rigs for the day, was a HB ratcatcher 2 .17 > 16 B960 for hair rigged 8mm, the same rig as Thursday, HB Chump 0.4g, .12 > 16B911 for fishing soft pellet, HB Shindig 0.3g .14 > 18 B911 hair rigging 6mm pellet down the track, HB Billybob 0.2g .16 > 16 B911 meat down my the next pallet and finally a Jolly 4x14 for fishing caster short, but I never used it.
The northerly wind was an issue, as well as been quite cool it was also quite gusty, so catapulting pellet to the far bank was a case timing between gusts, needless to say, some landed on the island, whilst some fell short.
On the all-in micros and 4mms were deposited down the track and I went straight across to the far bank with 8mm pellet. Within 30mins I had 2x small carp, but although there was a few carp showing, they weren’t taking the bait with any confidence. So rather than keep chasing shadows, I went down the track were I spent the next couple hours, catching a few skimmers and a few carp in between, toss potting 4s. The wind was creating a fair bit of tow against the wind and some of the better fish came by holding back, then letting go – just like being on the river. Since more carp were showing I decided to switch rigs to the HB Shindig, but caught more skimmers! Typical catch carp on the skimmer rig and skimmers on your carp rig.
After a few hours the swim needed a rest, so switched back to the far bank were I had been continually feeding 6s, but the fish didn’t really want to be there and other than a lost foul hooker, no further carp were forthcoming.
With 2½hrs to go I was up to 10 carp and really hoping that by feeding meat to the pallet on peg 4 that I would make up some lost ground on the pegs behind me, particularly since my far line wasn’t producing and every time I looked back when shipping my pole, either Lance (p38) or Dave (p36) were landing fish.
A further 17 carp from the pallet, including 2 from the right hand margin was certainly useful, however the average stamp was on the small side, which was unfortunate and meant I was about 15lb shy of what I would expect. Not that it would have helped since the 3 pegs behind me all weighed a ton and any chance of an overall pick up in the series has gone. Nick Harvey on p7 who was fishing towards the end of the island (where peg 5 is) weighed 77lb, which probably illustrates that the concentration of fish in our area wasn’t as high as pegs 36,38 and 40.
Paddocks was definitely the lake to be on, with Horseshoe Lake being patchy with 58lb being the best weight, plus there was only a handful of silvers caught with 1lb 9oz picking up in 1 section.
1st 122- 6 - Lance Tucker - p38.
2nd 116-14 - Lewy - p40
3rd 100-12 - Dave Wride - p36
4th 76-15 - Nick Harvey - p7
5th 73-10 - Ken Rayner - p3
6th 58- 3 - Simon Carvello - Horseshoe Lake
Silvers
1st 31- 0 - Paul Frairs - p1
2nd 20- 4 - Lance Tucker - p38
3rd 18-10 - Mike Owens - p34
Friday 18 May 2012
17/05/12 - Acorn - Paddock
Weight - 92lb 5oz
Catch - 30 Carp, 10 Skimmers, 2 Roach, 1 Goldfish, 1 Tench, 1 Crucian
Weather - Mostly cloudy, cool easterly breeze
Water Temp - 18.8c - 19.6c
With an exam on Monday (my 3rd attempt!) I had today and Friday off work for revision. However its the 5th round of the pole only series on Sunday and I wanted to have a practice before Sunday, but couldn't afford the time to fish a match. So I managed a short (4.5hrs) afternoon/evening session on Paddock Lake, fishing peg 18 on the main straight.
Its easy to see why Acorns is becoming so popular, with well maintained lakes, as well as easy access to your peg and parking right behind your peg certainly saved time.
Originally, I wanted to target the skimmers, because the way my league has gone, silvers may be my best chance of picking up in the overall league.
I started fishing down the track on 4mm expander, feeding soften 4s. However after 90mins the carp started to move in and the skimmers where few and far between. With so many carp in the swim decided to set up a shallow rig with hair rigged 8s, feeding 6s across.
I caught consistently for next couple of hours, including a few more carp from the right hand margin. I did go back to my "silvers" line but 2 carp in 2 put ins and that line was binned.
The session didn't pan out as expected, but enjoyable none the less.
Catch - 30 Carp, 10 Skimmers, 2 Roach, 1 Goldfish, 1 Tench, 1 Crucian
Weather - Mostly cloudy, cool easterly breeze
Water Temp - 18.8c - 19.6c
With an exam on Monday (my 3rd attempt!) I had today and Friday off work for revision. However its the 5th round of the pole only series on Sunday and I wanted to have a practice before Sunday, but couldn't afford the time to fish a match. So I managed a short (4.5hrs) afternoon/evening session on Paddock Lake, fishing peg 18 on the main straight.
Its easy to see why Acorns is becoming so popular, with well maintained lakes, as well as easy access to your peg and parking right behind your peg certainly saved time.
Originally, I wanted to target the skimmers, because the way my league has gone, silvers may be my best chance of picking up in the overall league.
I started fishing down the track on 4mm expander, feeding soften 4s. However after 90mins the carp started to move in and the skimmers where few and far between. With so many carp in the swim decided to set up a shallow rig with hair rigged 8s, feeding 6s across.
I caught consistently for next couple of hours, including a few more carp from the right hand margin. I did go back to my "silvers" line but 2 carp in 2 put ins and that line was binned.
The session didn't pan out as expected, but enjoyable none the less.
Sunday 13 May 2012
12/05/12 - Fishponds
Catch – 14 Carp, 1
Bream
1st 167lb – Kev
Weather – Sunny, with a slight breeze.
Water Temp – 19.1c – 19.7c
Match – Club – Feeder Only – 3rd out
of 12
With
more revision to do (well it wold help if I passed the exam first time!), I
could only go once this weekend and the intention was to fish Lands End. However,
I strained my lower back earlier in the week and really didn’t fancy long pole
fishing, so a 5hr feeder only match seemed like a more sensible idea.
As
previously mentioned feeder fishing isn’t exactly my favourite style and I much
prefer to watch a float go under, but I saw today an opportunity to sort out
some problem areas, particularly the mix I put around the method. I do have a
method mould but I can’t seem to get the perfect mould. Last week at Gold
Valley the problem was my mix was too sticky and today I had the same issue, so
the 1st couple of moulds ended up being done my hand and there would
still be pellet stuck to the feeder, which isn’t right. By adding a small
amount of groundbait I managed to reduce the stickiness and started to produce
perfect moulds, which also meant the feeder was coming back clean.
Being
a feeder match meant setting up was easy and I found myself on peg 4, which is
at the mouth the arm of the lake. Decided to concentrate on 2 areas, the far
bank and 10m to my right where I hand fed 8s. The method itself was moulded
with 2s.
After
the first 2 hours I had 8 carp and a bream, all on 10mm white boilie, caught
about 3m shy of the far bank reeds. My gut feeling was the fish wanted to be in
the shallow water, because the temperature had increased and there was few cruisers.
Marcus
next me on p3 had roughly the same on worm, but felt my fish were slightly
bigger, particularly one that weighted 12-15. We both started to struggle after
the 2nd hour, so the fish appeared to have moved away from the far
bank and neither of us could catch close in, although I am positive I would
have caught if I could have fished the pole.
As I
had slowed down, Glenn on p21, who has taken some big weights on the feeder started
to catch, as was Kev behind me on peg 6, who was dropping his feeder into the
shallow water by some nearside reeds – it is a noted hotspot.
From
almost the start I had been firing 8s into the far bank but with an hour to go
decided to deposit 1½pt of pellet by catapult. Whilst I was feeding that line I
managed to catch a couple of carp from the near side swim, however they were
only 4lbs, compared to the average 7lbers. If I was to catch Glenn and Marcus I
needed a few better fish and fortunately the extra pellet to the far bank
seemed to work with a further 3 average sized carp coming to 8mm pellet.
Come
the weigh in those last 3 fish was enough to overtake Marcus, but I was 1 fish
shy of Glenn. Fortunately there is only 1 feeder only match a year, so back to
proper methods next month.
1st 167lb – Kev
2nd
108lb – Glenn
3rd
102lb – Ken
4th
91lb - Marcus
Monday 7 May 2012
06/05/12 - Viaduct - Campbell
Weight – 62lb 7oz (14lb
12oz – silvers)
Catch – 8 Bream, 7 Carp, 2 Tench
Anton had started to catch shallow, whilst I decided to stick with fishing on the deck, confident the fish would come, reasoning that I could catch shallow on the waggler further out where I had been feeding 8s, also I been feeding meat short for later.
By the end I could have kicked myself, because I knew what I did wrong, but was far too slow to response in the mistaken believe I would catch on the deck. If it hadn’t been for the match I had at Gold Valley on Friday I would tried to get in on one of the mid-week matches, which on today’s evidence I could have benefitted from.
In the end Anton weighed 152lb to win the section but what was really annoying was the fact only 69lb was needed to claim 2nd in section and a section pick up by de-fault. I only have myself to blame. Never mind there is always next week.
1st 159-12 – Tom Magnoll – p98
Silvers
Catch – 8 Bream, 7 Carp, 2 Tench
Weather – Mostly sunny. Cool easterly breeze.
Match – Avon Angling – Float Only Series –
rd1 – 24th out of 40 (4 out of 5 – section)
Today
was the 1st round of Tony Rixon's Float Only series. I had decided
to fish the series, even though the 2nd round clashed with the last
round of the Paul Frairs Pole only series and I will only miss the 2nd
round if I’m in with a chance of an overall payout from the pole series, which
is a possibility, but I can’t afford any more slip ups.
Viaduct
is one of those venues which I have struggled to get to grips with, mainly because
I don’t fish it that often, which I do intend to rectify this year, because I
never fish here with any confidence. Today was very much a case of not understanding
the venue, however this was one of the reasons why I wanted to fish the series.
Peg
126 was an excellent draw, having won a mid-week match with over 200lb, but
last night was cold and I wasn’t sure how the fish would respond. Also I had
venue regulars in my sections with Anton Page on 125 and Dick Bull on 128. Regardless,
I decided to approach the match with a positive frame of mind, taking only meat
and various size pellets. Also since this seemed to be a carp area, decided
against setting up any silvers rigs.
I
started at 13m fishing on the deck with 8mm pellet, feeding 6s and after the 1st
hour had a couple of tench and a carp. However the next couple of hours is
where I got it wrong.
Anton had started to catch shallow, whilst I decided to stick with fishing on the deck, confident the fish would come, reasoning that I could catch shallow on the waggler further out where I had been feeding 8s, also I been feeding meat short for later.
Unfortunately
for whatever reason I had my stubborn head on and by the time I decided I was fed
up of watching Anton catching shallow, the wind dropped and the ripple
disappeared. I did manage 1 carp shallow, but left it far too late. I also had 1
carp on the pellet waggler, but the real surprise was the lack of action over
the short meat line were I only had 1 skimmer. The fish really didn’t want to
feed on the deck, which was a common comment post match.
By the end I could have kicked myself, because I knew what I did wrong, but was far too slow to response in the mistaken believe I would catch on the deck. If it hadn’t been for the match I had at Gold Valley on Friday I would tried to get in on one of the mid-week matches, which on today’s evidence I could have benefitted from.
In the end Anton weighed 152lb to win the section but what was really annoying was the fact only 69lb was needed to claim 2nd in section and a section pick up by de-fault. I only have myself to blame. Never mind there is always next week.
1st 159-12 – Tom Magnoll – p98
2nd
153-13 – Shaun Townsend – p123
3rd
152-15 – Anton Page – p125
4th
146-13 – Clayton Hudson – p85
5th
126- 8 – Gary Etheridge – p114
6th
117-14 – Craig Edmunds – p110
Silvers
1st
73-14 – Nigel Bartlett – p80
2nd
53- 3 – Tom Thick – p81
3rd
20- 6 – Shaun Townsend – p123
Saturday 5 May 2012
04/05/12 - Gold Valley - Gold Lake
Weight – 11lb 0oz
Catch – 4 Bream, 3 Perch, 1 Crucian, 1 Roach
Weather – Mostly cloudy, cold northerly breeze
Match – Garbolino Club Angler
Today was the southern qualifier for the club angler competition, where the top 15 would go through to the final at Lindholme. 69 anglers booked in, split 40 on Gold and 29 on Middle, with only 6 no shows.
Following last weeks practice match, I was feeling confident that given a decent draw I could qualify, so when I found myself on peg 12 on the canal bank of Gold Lake, I was initially quite pleased, particularly when I had 2 space pegs to my left.
Darren Cox from Garbolino came round to see all the anglers and suggested that I was in a good area for skimmers, which was pleasing to here and was more helpful than Will Raisons response of “you will catch on everything”.
On the all in I cupped in caster and 2mm pellet at 13m. After spending an hour on the feeder, I was bored with only 1 liner to show for my efforts. A couple of fish had been caught to my right, but generally it was slow going.
I’m not sure the cold northerly breeze was helping me and I had to put my second fleece on. A look over the 13m line produced a crucian, then a small perch. Looking around I thought that if I could get a net of silvers I could then get a few carp late on.
However best laid plans and all that, meant I struggled badly. I kept topping up the 13m, confident the skimmers would arrive, but other than a couple of skimmers and a few perch those fish were reluctant to feed.
I had been feeding 8mm pellet, 30m out hoping the fish would eventually turn up, but despite feeding all match, I only had 1 skimmer and qualification was becoming a distant dream.
As the match progressed and the need for snookers, it was now a case of feeding a lot of caster and meat at 6m and down the left hand margin. When I had a big bream (4lb 12oz) at 6m on meat I thought I got a chance, but that was the only fish from this line. The margin didn’t produce a single bite on caster or meat.
I didn’t hang around for the results, but have since found out that only 36-38lb was required to qualify. I don’t think anyone qualified from my area of the lake, with the angler to my left only landing 1 carp, on what is considered a good peg opposite the island. The most anyone had to my right was 4 carp.
In hindsight may be I should have just sat on the feeder all day, but it doesn’t suit my style of fishing and I didn’t have any confidence in it after that first hour, but with such a low qualifing weight I feel vindicated for feeding really positively in the last 2hrs to pull in some carp, since you can easily have 2 or 3 carp for 30-40lb
Catch – 4 Bream, 3 Perch, 1 Crucian, 1 Roach
Weather – Mostly cloudy, cold northerly breeze
Match – Garbolino Club Angler
Today was the southern qualifier for the club angler competition, where the top 15 would go through to the final at Lindholme. 69 anglers booked in, split 40 on Gold and 29 on Middle, with only 6 no shows.
Following last weeks practice match, I was feeling confident that given a decent draw I could qualify, so when I found myself on peg 12 on the canal bank of Gold Lake, I was initially quite pleased, particularly when I had 2 space pegs to my left.
Darren Cox from Garbolino came round to see all the anglers and suggested that I was in a good area for skimmers, which was pleasing to here and was more helpful than Will Raisons response of “you will catch on everything”.
On the all in I cupped in caster and 2mm pellet at 13m. After spending an hour on the feeder, I was bored with only 1 liner to show for my efforts. A couple of fish had been caught to my right, but generally it was slow going.
I’m not sure the cold northerly breeze was helping me and I had to put my second fleece on. A look over the 13m line produced a crucian, then a small perch. Looking around I thought that if I could get a net of silvers I could then get a few carp late on.
However best laid plans and all that, meant I struggled badly. I kept topping up the 13m, confident the skimmers would arrive, but other than a couple of skimmers and a few perch those fish were reluctant to feed.
I had been feeding 8mm pellet, 30m out hoping the fish would eventually turn up, but despite feeding all match, I only had 1 skimmer and qualification was becoming a distant dream.
As the match progressed and the need for snookers, it was now a case of feeding a lot of caster and meat at 6m and down the left hand margin. When I had a big bream (4lb 12oz) at 6m on meat I thought I got a chance, but that was the only fish from this line. The margin didn’t produce a single bite on caster or meat.
I didn’t hang around for the results, but have since found out that only 36-38lb was required to qualify. I don’t think anyone qualified from my area of the lake, with the angler to my left only landing 1 carp, on what is considered a good peg opposite the island. The most anyone had to my right was 4 carp.
In hindsight may be I should have just sat on the feeder all day, but it doesn’t suit my style of fishing and I didn’t have any confidence in it after that first hour, but with such a low qualifing weight I feel vindicated for feeding really positively in the last 2hrs to pull in some carp, since you can easily have 2 or 3 carp for 30-40lb
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