10/08/13 - Glebe - Pool 7

Weight - 149lb 4oz
Catch - 26 Carp, 3 Skimmers, 2 Perch
Weather - Warm, sunny & light breeze
Match - Angling Trust Masters - 9th out of 78 (4th in section)

Last week I received a call from Mark to say only 10 teams had entered into the Masters and its fair to say I was really disappointed to see so few teams. Last year 11 teams entered and 16 the year before, which suggested the Angling Trust were struggling to attract the big teams and big names to the event, because last year the majority of the field was made up of Marukyu sponsored Glebe members and internet teams. As a non-sponsored angler, I wanted to fish this event as an opportunity to fish against some of the best anglers in the UK, particularly since its actually quite expensive to fish the match, £30 pools, £25 to join the Angling Trust, £10 contribution to raffle prize, plus bait & fuel.

On the day 13 teams turned up, including 2 teams that Roy wasn’t aware of until the day, because the Angling Trust hadn’t told him! I know Roy is a big advocate of the Trust, but this isn’t the first time they have mismanaged a competition and for me and others based on comments I’ve seen and heard, it’s does throw into question their ability to do what they say.

Due to the original low numbers, the good news was the Big Lake at Mallory Park wasn’t in, because it’s a horrible place when there is a track day as there would be today, although had the AT told Roy about the additional teams it would have been in.

Fishing under the South West MG banner the team was Mark Poppleton (captain), Nick Merry, Pete Bailey, Tom Thick, Andy Fox and I. Having drawn once, Mark had to re-draw. Mark ended up on pool 5, Nick and Pete were on pool 1, Tom had Foundations, Andy on Uglies and I had p98 on pool 7. Andy turned up on his peg to find an angler on it! Fortunately it was sorted out with a toss of coin, but a few anxious unnecessary moments.

Back to my peg and it was the same one I had last month and like last month the wind was blowing out of the peg which meant I was the only angler with no ripple. Speaking to Chris Needham who I think holds the venue match record was guesting for Diawa was confident I would still catch and based on last month’s match I knew it was possible, but trying to compete  against top quality anglers like Chris and Paul Yates (Drennan) who had the ripple was always going to be challenging. My section also included Pool 6 with Joe Carass, Jason LeBosquet and Matt Hall.

Today’s match was only 5hrs, compared to the normal 6hrs at the Glebe and I made the decision to be really positive with my caster feed at 13m to pull in the fish shallow as quickly as possible. As I was setting up I noticed a few fish moving along the end bank and decided to start here on double corn toss potting corn and pellet, whilst I primed the shallow line.

After 15mins and a few liners, but no fish it was time to go shallow. After an hour I had 5 carp, with a further 7 added in the 2^nd hour and I was already up to 50lb, thanks to 3 proper lumps. Pete Marlow (Marukyu Black) on p100 had been struggling, but was now catching quickly on his 5m corn line and reports suggested anglers further down the lake were also catching.

Going into the 3^rd hour the fishing was becoming difficult and I had to work really hard to keep the fish in the swim, by feeding heavily, because they kept drifting away in the breeze. In fact it was becoming noticeable I was catching more by fishing downwind towards the ripple. The fish were also wary of the pole, continually shying away, also a lot of fish have been caught shallow this year and they were definitely more cagey than last month.

I tried down the margins as well and have come to the conclusion I really need to work on this aspect of my fishing next summer, because I am sure I am missing out on extra fish. I had liners, but no proper bites other from 2 tiny perch on double worm!

The last 90mins of the match was really frustrating.  There were fish in the swim, but trying to get them to take the bait was proving difficult. In hindsight I may have been better fishing 8mm pellet using the plop of the pellet to attract a few fish, but I persevered with maggot or caster on the hook and still picked up the odd fish.

By the end of the match I thought I had about 130lb, but wasn’t too sure, because I only had 3 small carp and those 3 lumps caught early on, although I could have had less had a 8lber that jumped clear of the net landed in the lake rather than on the bank! What wasn’t so fortunately was one of my nets disconnected whilst watching the weigh in, which meant I lost 2 skimmers and 3 small carp, leaving me with only 1 skimmer. I reckon I probably lost about 12lb or so, which didn’t affect the section, since I was 18lb behind 3^rd.

Joe Carass won our section with 198lb from p88 on pool 6, Chris Needham was 2^nd with 177lb and Paul Yates was 3^rd with 168lb, although he actually weighed 196lb, but went over on one net.

I was pleased to claim 4^th in section and just wish I had some ripple, because I’m sure 200lb was a possibility. As for the team, we finished 2^nd behind Diawa, which was a great result. Pete won his section, Mark & Tom were both 2^nd, Nick was 7^th and Andy 12th. I think Andy was a bit disappointed, however he did beat an England international, Stu Conroy.

I don’t have the full results, but will post when available.