Weight - 20lb 14oz
Catch - 11 Carp, 3 Skimmers, 1 Crucian, 1 Rudd, 1 Perch
Weather - Sunny start, cool & windy later
Match - Pole Only series - 4th round
The 4th round of this well run league meant I was on D section, pegs 23-38, with 36 & 38 being the favoured pegs since they came 2nd & 3rd in yesterdays match. The question for our section would Bob “bridge troll” Gullick draw another bridge peg? Well I drew 33 and Pete Bartlett had 34, so Bob had to do with 23.
I was quite happy with my draw, there was a few a fish moving around and the signs were for a good day, although the forecast for increasing winds proved to be correct and it was quite chilly - back on with the extra fleece.
To be honest my match was quite forgettable. Initially targeted the far side fishing shallow with 6 or 8mm pellet, catapulting 6s, the problem was the fish were quite small and I wasn’t catching them quickly enough. I think had the sun stayed out the fish would have been happier in the shallow water, but with the wind & increasing cloud cover the fish backed off. Fishing meat by the bridge, only produced silly bites from small fish, so I going nowhere fast.
By the half way mark Pete, Bob & Brian Slipper (p30) had caught a few better fish and I expected Chris Fox (p38) & Gordon Canning (p36) to have caught as well. So I decided to target some silvers, since I hadn't seen many being caught. I had been feeding caster to the p32 pallet which has done me well in recent matches but nothing, not even on maggot. I had also been feeding a small amount of groundbait and pellet down the track, which didn’t produce either.
Eventually I managed a few skimmers down the track on 4mm expander and a couple of carp turned up over my caster. Targeting the silvers was the right idea, because Chris won the sections silvers with only 4-8, mostly thanks to a big tench, but I just couldn’t get a run of bites together. By concentrating on the silvers, meant I slipped down the section.
In hindsight, I was trying to do too much in the first half the match and ended up confusing myself, when I should have just focused on doing one thing or the other. To be honest I will be glad to see the back of this league, because it just hasn’t gone my way at all. Lets hope for a decent last 2 matches.
1st 104- 8 - Joe Mcmahon - p40
2nd 102-10 - Mike Nicholls - p9
3rd 68- 8 - Tom Thick - p12
4th 60- 6 - Matt Tomes - p4 top lake
5th 57-14 - Lance Tucker - p4
6th 54-13 - Andy France - p13
Silvers
1st 34- 6 - Mark Broomsgrove - p3 top lake
2nd 24- 6 - Paul Casson - p5 top lake
3rd 22- 2 - Glenn Calvert - p8 top lake
4th 21- 7 - Dave Wride - p2 top lake
5th 16- 4 - John Bradford - p6
6th 14- 7 - Tony Rixon - p1 top lake
Monday 29 April 2013
Monday 22 April 2013
21/04/13 - Todber - Park Lake
Weight - 122lb 0oz
Catch - 40 Carp, 21 F1s, 4 Roach
Weather - Bright sunny start, became cloudier and cooler
Match - Wests Tackle Open - 1st out of 26
With 26 booked in today the pegging would be a little tight in some areas and initialy I was disappointed to draw 23 which is at the very bottom end of the lake. Fortunately p24 was vacant, which was just as well because a tree prevented me from fishing to my left and it took me a few minutes to decide how I was going to attack the swim. Eventually I decided on 3 areas, the right margin with meat, 5m with pellet and the island.
Realistically I thought I would be fishing for my section, because the pegs further up the lake would be better with the wind blowing that way. Starting by the island on soft pellet, toss potting 6s, I soon caught a carp and couple of roach, but it didnt seem right. I had been catapulting 4s to the left of the island when I noticed a carp already slurpping in the sedges.
For the next 2.5hrs I caught consistantly fishing shallow with hair rigged pellet, mostly 8s which gave a nicer plop than the 6s. If I could swing the rig tight to the sedges, which wasnt easy with overhanging vegatation I would usually come back with carp. The F1s have grown on since I was last on this lake, from 6-8oz nuisances to 12oz handy weight builder, including a couple 1.5lbers.
After 2hr 45mins the island swim was fading, so I tried the margin which didnt produce and neither did the 5m line. I could see all my section so knew I was ahead and Hippy (p35) walked past to get his coat from the car, becuase the wind had picked up and apparantly it was quite cool up the top end of the lake. According to Hippy most were struggling and I began to believe that a framing position could be up for grabs, but I didnt know how the other side of the lake was fishing.
Despite not catching from my margin or 5m line, resting the island swim was a good move, becuase when I went back to it after 15mins I had a good hour catching more carp and F1s before it died again.
With 2hrs to go, I eventually caught in my margin on meat. I lost my first 2 fish, but a few rig adjustments and I was soon catching on 6mm cubes of meat. My 5m line however was still proving frustrating. I had kept feeding 4 & 6s, but couldnt get a proper bite on pellet. Curtis on p25 had caught a few fish on paste, so I quickly sorted a paste rig and I still had some paste left over from yesterdays match.
Fishing the paste proved to be a decisive move, catching a better stamp of fish including 2x 8-9lbers and in the last hour I rotated between the 5m line and margin.
Come the end I knew I had at least won my section. As is usally the case news started to filter around. Mark was admitting to 38 carp and 15lb of silvers and apparantly Nick on p1 had also caught well, so it looked like it would be close. I helped weigh in from peg 38 down and Hippy had the next best weigjt of 102lb. Checking the other weigh sheet, Nick had 112lb and I beat Mark by a 1lb (although he tried to tell me he had 170lb - funny lad, not!).
Really pleased with how the day went, fortunately I was mostly sheltered from an increasing wind which helped. It was also nice to actually feed some bait.
1st 122- 0 - Ken Rayner - p23
2nd 121- 0 - Mark Poppleton - p11
3rd 112- 0 - Nick Merry - p1
4th 102- 0 - Rich Whitmarsh - p35
5th 78- 0 - Tom Ince - p14
6th 64- 8 - Curtis Whitaker - p25
Catch - 40 Carp, 21 F1s, 4 Roach
Weather - Bright sunny start, became cloudier and cooler
Match - Wests Tackle Open - 1st out of 26
With 26 booked in today the pegging would be a little tight in some areas and initialy I was disappointed to draw 23 which is at the very bottom end of the lake. Fortunately p24 was vacant, which was just as well because a tree prevented me from fishing to my left and it took me a few minutes to decide how I was going to attack the swim. Eventually I decided on 3 areas, the right margin with meat, 5m with pellet and the island.
Realistically I thought I would be fishing for my section, because the pegs further up the lake would be better with the wind blowing that way. Starting by the island on soft pellet, toss potting 6s, I soon caught a carp and couple of roach, but it didnt seem right. I had been catapulting 4s to the left of the island when I noticed a carp already slurpping in the sedges.
For the next 2.5hrs I caught consistantly fishing shallow with hair rigged pellet, mostly 8s which gave a nicer plop than the 6s. If I could swing the rig tight to the sedges, which wasnt easy with overhanging vegatation I would usually come back with carp. The F1s have grown on since I was last on this lake, from 6-8oz nuisances to 12oz handy weight builder, including a couple 1.5lbers.
After 2hr 45mins the island swim was fading, so I tried the margin which didnt produce and neither did the 5m line. I could see all my section so knew I was ahead and Hippy (p35) walked past to get his coat from the car, becuase the wind had picked up and apparantly it was quite cool up the top end of the lake. According to Hippy most were struggling and I began to believe that a framing position could be up for grabs, but I didnt know how the other side of the lake was fishing.
Despite not catching from my margin or 5m line, resting the island swim was a good move, becuase when I went back to it after 15mins I had a good hour catching more carp and F1s before it died again.
With 2hrs to go, I eventually caught in my margin on meat. I lost my first 2 fish, but a few rig adjustments and I was soon catching on 6mm cubes of meat. My 5m line however was still proving frustrating. I had kept feeding 4 & 6s, but couldnt get a proper bite on pellet. Curtis on p25 had caught a few fish on paste, so I quickly sorted a paste rig and I still had some paste left over from yesterdays match.
Fishing the paste proved to be a decisive move, catching a better stamp of fish including 2x 8-9lbers and in the last hour I rotated between the 5m line and margin.
Come the end I knew I had at least won my section. As is usally the case news started to filter around. Mark was admitting to 38 carp and 15lb of silvers and apparantly Nick on p1 had also caught well, so it looked like it would be close. I helped weigh in from peg 38 down and Hippy had the next best weigjt of 102lb. Checking the other weigh sheet, Nick had 112lb and I beat Mark by a 1lb (although he tried to tell me he had 170lb - funny lad, not!).
Really pleased with how the day went, fortunately I was mostly sheltered from an increasing wind which helped. It was also nice to actually feed some bait.
1st 122- 0 - Ken Rayner - p23
2nd 121- 0 - Mark Poppleton - p11
3rd 112- 0 - Nick Merry - p1
4th 102- 0 - Rich Whitmarsh - p35
5th 78- 0 - Tom Ince - p14
6th 64- 8 - Curtis Whitaker - p25
20/04/13 - Fishponds
Weight - 138lb 10oz
Catch - 18 Carp
Weather - Bright sunshine and a light breeze
Match - Club (2 + 3 short pole) - 2nd out of 8
Today was the first match of a Saturday series at our club water, fished over various disciplines and this match would be short pole. Fishing 2-7pm, meant a nice relaxed morning, walking Sapphire around the park, which was a bit chilly. Fortunately the day warmed up and the afternoon turned into a lovely day.
Only 8 booked in, so plenty of room and I drew p3 which I wasn't disappointed with. The initial game plan was to fish at the bottom of the shelf, left & right on pellet or paste, then target both margins later in the match.
After 20mins I hooked and promptly lost my first fish, but with no more after a further 15mins I got the feeling that fishing in the deep water (7ft) wasn't right. When I landed my first carp from the margin, it felt cold, which meant the water still hadn't warmed up properly. So most of my match was spent in the margins.
After the first hour I had 3 carp, adding a further 5 in the second hour and 4 in the third hour. Most fish came from the right hand margin on paste. Up to this point I thought I was leading, because Andy on peg 1 had 9 fish and I heard that Glenn on p12 had caught a few.
Unfortunately the carp disappeared for me to be replaced by loads rudd and I only caught 1 carp. In the meantime Andys margin came alive and come the end of the 4th hour was 6 carp ahead. Eddie on p19 was also catching well from his margin, however unfortunately for Eddie with 30mins left of the match the platform he was sat on gave way. Fortunately Eddie didn't receive a soaking, but it took a while to recover his kit from the pallet that had come loose.
Going into the 5th hour by continually feeding 8s the fish returned and I added a further 5 carp on hair rigged 8mms.
1st 175-10 - Andy - p1
2nd 138-10 - Ken - p3
3rd 121-13 - Eddie - p19
4th 111- 1 - Glenn - p12
Catch - 18 Carp
Weather - Bright sunshine and a light breeze
Match - Club (2 + 3 short pole) - 2nd out of 8
Today was the first match of a Saturday series at our club water, fished over various disciplines and this match would be short pole. Fishing 2-7pm, meant a nice relaxed morning, walking Sapphire around the park, which was a bit chilly. Fortunately the day warmed up and the afternoon turned into a lovely day.
Only 8 booked in, so plenty of room and I drew p3 which I wasn't disappointed with. The initial game plan was to fish at the bottom of the shelf, left & right on pellet or paste, then target both margins later in the match.
After 20mins I hooked and promptly lost my first fish, but with no more after a further 15mins I got the feeling that fishing in the deep water (7ft) wasn't right. When I landed my first carp from the margin, it felt cold, which meant the water still hadn't warmed up properly. So most of my match was spent in the margins.
After the first hour I had 3 carp, adding a further 5 in the second hour and 4 in the third hour. Most fish came from the right hand margin on paste. Up to this point I thought I was leading, because Andy on peg 1 had 9 fish and I heard that Glenn on p12 had caught a few.
Unfortunately the carp disappeared for me to be replaced by loads rudd and I only caught 1 carp. In the meantime Andys margin came alive and come the end of the 4th hour was 6 carp ahead. Eddie on p19 was also catching well from his margin, however unfortunately for Eddie with 30mins left of the match the platform he was sat on gave way. Fortunately Eddie didn't receive a soaking, but it took a while to recover his kit from the pallet that had come loose.
Going into the 5th hour by continually feeding 8s the fish returned and I added a further 5 carp on hair rigged 8mms.
1st 175-10 - Andy - p1
2nd 138-10 - Ken - p3
3rd 121-13 - Eddie - p19
4th 111- 1 - Glenn - p12
Monday 15 April 2013
14/04/13 - Acorn - Paddock
Weight - 27lb 11oz (9lb 3oz - silvers)
Catch - 6 Carp, 5 Skimmers, 3 Tench, 1 Rudd, 1 Roach, 1 Perch
Weather - Strong winds to start, quieten down later.
Match - Pole Only - rd 3 - 16th out of 32 (5th out of 8 - sections, 3rd - silvers)
Catch - 6 Carp, 5 Skimmers, 3 Tench, 1 Rudd, 1 Roach, 1 Perch
Weather - Strong winds to start, quieten down later.
Match - Pole Only - rd 3 - 16th out of 32 (5th out of 8 - sections, 3rd - silvers)
I’m thinking of re-naming this Pole Only series the “poor weather
series”. Following the bitterly easterlies in the first round and ice in the
second round, we were back to the wind, but at least this time it was blowing
from the south.
It was my turn for C Section (pegs 12-22) and being on the long straight
meant no shelter for anyone, with the wind blowing the full length of the section. Despite the wind p12 looked to be the favourite
draw (as it was in the previous 2 rounds) and we shouldn’t have been surprised
when league leader Pete Bartlett drew it. So that was gone, which meant the
next best draw would be 21 & 22 around the bridge. Again we shouldn’t have
been surprised when Bob “bridge troll” Gullick drew 22, I think that’s 7 or 8
matches on the bounce when he has drawn a bridge! Russ Peck was on 22.
As for me p19 was my home, which I wasn’t particularly happy about since
it’s the narrowest peg at 11m wide in the section. However I could at least reach the far bank in the gale force winds and with
the increase in temperatures I was hopeful of catching a few carp
shallow. Having said I considered my best chance of a pick up would be to
target the silvers, although the pegs to my right is the better area.
Due to the wind I set up a 1g rig to fish down the track, over
groundbait and micros and a 0.4g chump to fish by the p20 pallet which was fed
with caster and maggot. Bob also fed the pallet, but only with a small amount
of corn, so no damage done.
Starting at 8m I caught a small 8oz tench after 15mins on maggot, which
was eventually followed by a 12oz skimmer. Looking around no one was really
catching much, so I struck with the 8m line. In the meantime I had been
catapulting 6s to the far bank, although quite a lot actually landed on the
island. After 30mins of catapulting I saw a swirl and went straight over with
hair rigged 6mm and promptly hooked a carp which was foul hooked and came off.
At the time I thought at least the fish appear to want some feed and kept
catapulting the 6s into the far bank. Unfortunately the carp just didn’t settle
and I had to cut back on the feed.
The next few hours was a case of rotating between the pallet and the 8m line. The
pallet produced a rudd, then a 2.5lb tench, whilst I had a couple more decent
skimmers and a carp from the 8m line. With 2.5hrs left, I guessed I was near top in
the section and well ahead in the silvers. At the time because I was “so far
ahead” in the silvers I unsuccessfully tried for some more carp on pellet.
At this point the wind was easing to the point it dropped completely. My
1g rig no longer looked right and set up a 0.3g frostie to fish down the track.
With the wind dropping it also meant I could more comfortably fish the 2nd shelf down and soon
had another skimmer and another tench, plus more carp – happy days, but I couldn't catch down the
track.
Chris Fox to my right in the meantime could now fish his far line,
catching a big 2lb perch and a tench. Oh dear, the silvers prize was no longer certain. During the gale, Chris had
managed to catch small skimmers and a few roach, which meant it was now very
close between the 2 of us, so time to concentrate on the silvers, because
almost everyone was now catching carp from the far bank and I couldn't catch enough from my narrower swim.
I did manage a few more carp and skimmers, but in hindsight I was
beginning to regret being too aggressive with my feed. I had kept pinging
caster to the pallet with the intention of giving another go towards the end of
the match. Unfortunately Bob beat me to it, losing a foul hooked tench.
Come the weigh in, it came as no surprise that Pete on p12 won the
section with 75-14, which included 10lb of F1s. With no other silvers weights
it was between Chris and myself and as soon as he pulled his net out I knew I
couldn’t beat him when he weight 9-13. Those smaller fish counted for a lot. My
9-3 was more than I expected, but the good news was Chris came 2nd
in the section with 37-9 so I picked up the silvers my double de-fault.
The irony today was I needed the wind to keep blowing, because in the last couple of hours I struggled to catch.
1st 83-8 - Mike Owens - p7
2nd 75-14 - Pete Bartlett - p12
3rd 70-12 - Lewis Jones - p8
4th 60- 1 - Tim Ford - p30
5th 54- 3 - Tom Thick - p40
5th 54- 3 - Andy France - p9
Silvers
1st 16-12 - John Bradford - top lake 6
2nd 14-15 - Lance Tucker - top lake 3
3rd 12-14 - Mark Broomsgrove - p36
4th 12- 1 - Dave Poole - top lake 7
Monday 8 April 2013
07/04/13 - Lands End - Speci
Weight - 22lb 3oz (15lb 14oz - silvers)
Catch - 8 Skimmers, 1 F1, 1 Roach, 1 Carp
Weather - Gusty wind, sunny with cloudy periods
Match - Open - 18th out of 36, 5th out of 12 - lake, 3rd overall silvers
Catch - 8 Skimmers, 1 F1, 1 Roach, 1 Carp
Weather - Gusty wind, sunny with cloudy periods
Match - Open - 18th out of 36, 5th out of 12 - lake, 3rd overall silvers
Back to Lands End. This was the unused reserve date
for the winter league and with 36 booked in all 3 lakes was used. Another
mediocre draw for me, p28 this time and I had Mark Brennan to my left on p26
and Sean Townsend to my right on p29. In fact there was a number of very good
silverfish anglers on Speci today, with the most disappointed being Nicky
Collins who drew the carp flyer p32. I offered to swap.
Sean & I didn’t show much enthusiasm for tackling
up, but you have to give it a go. The wind would be an issue today and it
didn’t know which way to blow. One moment it would blow from the east into p25,
then it would go flat calm before blowing from behind.
I didn’t realistically think I could pick up targeting
carp, so hoped the skimmers would have a go. Main rig for the day was HB Chump
0.3g > .10 > 18 silverfish pellet. I did set up a few other rigs, but
never caught on them.
A few people have quizzed me about my float
descriptions. Most of the floats I use are handmade from Neil Powell who goes
under the name Hillbilly www.hillbillyfloats.co.uk At £2.20 the floats aren’t cheaper, however you will
struggle to find a better made float and unlike some commercially made floats
the eyes don’t rip out or explode, so as a consequence I don’t replace them as
often.
Back to the match some caster was cupped by the
island, a pinch of micros/4s at 11.5m, then a big cup of loose groundbait,
micros & 4s to my left at 13m in p27. I started by the island, but after
20mins I had no bites. A look over my 11.5m line on 4mm expander and I bumped a
skimmer. Its no surprise I couldn’t get another bite, so re-fed another pinch
of pellet at 12m, which did produce a skimmer as did the groundbait swim. So
after an hour I had 2 skimmers, as did Mark and Sean had 1. However the anglers
opposite were all catching silvers and Nicky had a couple of carp.
The 2nd & 3rd hours were
very quiet with only 1 more skimmer and a roach. I had tried the island again,
caster at 5m and caster by the p27 pallet, but not a bite. Sean was threatening
to go for a walk when he had a skimmer over his short caster line and I then
had a 6lb carp at 12m. He then threatened to go for another walk when he hooked
a double figure carp!
At the half way point not many carp had been caught,
so decided to feed some meat at the bottom of the near shelf 11m to my left in
the hope of catching a few big lumps late on. Another pot of groundbait &
pellet was dumped at 14m this time to my left and another pinch of pellet at
13m.
The remainder of the match went quite well. The short
caster line didn’t produce, although it was a useful place to allow me to rest
the pellet swim. It was a case of catch a skimmer, feed then try another area
of the swim. In the end my pellet line moved to 14m and each re-feed moved a
foot to my left along the bottom of the shelf. The groundbait swim produced 2
more skimmers.
With 90mins left the meat line was abandoned, because
Sean had caught a few more carp as had Steve Skelton on p33 and I wanted to
concentrate on the skimmers, because I felt that was my best chance of a pick
up. The silverfish anglers opposite had been catching, but mostly a smaller
stamp fish so if I could keep catching I thought I might be in with a chance,
although losing a big skimmer at the net I thought would cost me, but overall felt
pleased with my efforts.
By the all out Sean thought I had won the silvers, but
I was conscience that those opposite all started better than me. As it turned
out that lost skimmer did cost be an extra £15, because Clint Wotlyla won the
silvers (skimmers, perch & roach) with 17-2 from peg 34. In fact it was
quite close with silvers on that side with most catching roach and roach in
amongst some skimmers, yet hardly any roach or perch showed my side. John Green
(p36) had 13-0, Gary Cross (p37) had 14-2 and Shane Caswell (p39) had 9-8. As
for Bob Gullick on p40 he only had 1 F1 and a perch.
Since Clint won the silvers overall, it meant I picked
up for the silvers on the lake. Sean won the lake with 5 carp, but Trigger easily
won the match from p22 with 226lb.
1st 226- 3 - Craig Edmunds - p22
2nd 97-12 - Dave Roper - p68
3rd 70-12 - Bela Bakos - p17
4th 65-14 - Martin McMahon - p58
5th 65- 7 - Paul Elmes - p55
6th 60- 5 - Phil Harding - p70
Silvers
1st 17- 8 - Craig Edmunds - p22
2nd 17- 2 - Clint Wotlyla - p34
3rd 15-14 - Ken Rayner - p28
4th 14- 2 - Gary Cross - p37
5th 13- 0 - John Green - p36
06/04/13 - Lands End - Match
Weight - 21lb 3oz (11lb 2oz - silvers)
Catch - 9 Skimmers, 2 Carp, 2 Roach
Weather - Sunny and light winds. Actually felt like spring!
Match - Open - 6th out of 10 (4th - silvers)
Catch - 9 Skimmers, 2 Carp, 2 Roach
Weather - Sunny and light winds. Actually felt like spring!
Match - Open - 6th out of 10 (4th - silvers)
With the promise of lighter winds I decided to book in
at Lands End and it certainly made a pleasant change not to be wearing loads of
layers. 12 were booked in, however there was 4 no shows. Why do people think it’s
acceptable to book in then not turn up without letting the organisers know?
Fortunately Tom Mangall and Jamie Parkhouse turned up after drawing 130 &
131 in the Fishomania at Viaduct, because they didn’t fancy sitting it out for
1 or 2 fish, so the final number was 10.
I was really disappointed to have pulled p1, which has shown
very little form over the winter, but with the “warmer” weather I kept my
fingers crossed. For company Nigel Bartlett was opposite on p23 and Fabio was
the closest to my right on p5.
I’m convinced that groundbait can work at Lands End,
so decided to feed ½ a cup of loose groundbait with a few micros and 4s at 13m
in open water, then a pinch of micros/4s 14m at the bottom of shelf down the
left hand side and towards the island.
Well I caught most of my fish in the first 2.5hrs,
over all three swims, although I did pull out of a couple of skimmers which was
annoying. I thought I was very slightly ahead of Nigel at this point, but Fabio
was catching and looked to be leading the silvers.
The rest of the match was a proper struggle. Caster on
top of the shelf didn’t work (why aren’t those perch and roach feeding?) and
meat by the right hand bush didn’t produce either. Nigel was also struggling,
it was just like the fish completely disappeared from this end of the lake.
Nigel did provide some entertainment. He really doesn’t like carp and was
having a proper tantrum.
In the warm sun a ball of carp sat under the tree and
a few even came for swim around the peg, but they weren’t even taking loose
feed pellet. With little ripple and clear water the fish immediately shyed away
from the pole, so I didn’t waste too much time chasing them.
In the end the feeding fish were around the middle of
the lake, with both Tom & Eric Fouracre catching shallow. Fabio easily won
the silvers with a nice bag of skimmers and F1s.
1st 106- 9 - Eric Fouracre - p19
2nd 97- 0 - Tom Mangnall - p17
3rd 43- 6 - Mike West - p21
4th 40-15 - Phil Harding - p5
5th 38-13 - Jamie Parkhouse - p15
6th 21- 3 - Ken Rayner - p1
Silvers
1st 31-12 - Phil Harding - p5
2nd 13-13 - Jamie Parkshouse - p15
3rd 11-15 - Tom Mangnall - p17
Tuesday 2 April 2013
31/03/13 - Acorns - Paddock
Weight - 18lb 12oz
Catch - 9 Carp, 1 F1
Weather - Frozen overnight. Sunny, but cold easterly wind
Match - Pole Only Series rd 2 - 18th out of 32, 8th out of 8 section
After yesterdays match I was feeling confident, with a clear idea of how I would attack the match. However fishing has a habit of kicking you were it hurts sometimes.
Today was another free draw, but would dictate the rotation for the next 3 rounds with C section (pegs 12-22) in 2 weeks.
When we arrived the lakes were frozen, which tempered my initial excitement of drawing peg 6, the form peg in recent matches. As I was clearing the ice, the wind was blowing more into my peg and I spent as long as I could with the help from Chris Fox (cheers mate) clearing as much as I could from my peg.
For company I had Chris on peg 7 and Bob Gullick on p40. I started fishing tight to the bridge, but the wind was proving troublesome blowing right across me and both Chris & I swore a couple of times as we tried to control our rigs.
Fortunately I had a couple of carp on maggot and as yet hadn't fed anything. Bob in the meantime was able to control his rig more easily, since my side of the bridge resembled the north sea and Bobs was a mill pond.
The wind did ease a little later in the match, but what killed my match (as well as Chris's) was another sheet ice which had been covering peg 5 drifted into my peg, so I was off my box again clearing more ice. The wind also caused a strong undertow and the melting ice water ran though the peg.
I did try to catch close to the island, but only had an F1, which meant all my carp came from the bridge. I didn't fed much and too be honest I wasn't sure whether feeding was actually benefiting me, since all the fish caught were away from the feed.
To be honest I was gutted come the weigh in, to drew a flyer, but only for the weather to defeat me. I caught more carp than most, but they were a smaller stamp.
1st 65- 4 - Pete Bartlett - p8
2nd 52-12 - Paul Faires - A4 (top lake)
3rd 39-10 - Tom Thick - A2
4th 39- 4 - Bela Bakos - A5
5th 38- 7 - Bob Gullick - p40
6th 36-14 - Eddie Wynne - A8
Silvers
1st 37- 2 - Tom Thick - A2
2nd 36- 4 - Glenn Bailey - A3
3rd 20-10 - Andy France - A1
4th 10-12 - Mark Broomsgrove - p16
5th 9-12 - Russ Peck - p9
Catch - 9 Carp, 1 F1
Weather - Frozen overnight. Sunny, but cold easterly wind
Match - Pole Only Series rd 2 - 18th out of 32, 8th out of 8 section
After yesterdays match I was feeling confident, with a clear idea of how I would attack the match. However fishing has a habit of kicking you were it hurts sometimes.
Today was another free draw, but would dictate the rotation for the next 3 rounds with C section (pegs 12-22) in 2 weeks.
When we arrived the lakes were frozen, which tempered my initial excitement of drawing peg 6, the form peg in recent matches. As I was clearing the ice, the wind was blowing more into my peg and I spent as long as I could with the help from Chris Fox (cheers mate) clearing as much as I could from my peg.
For company I had Chris on peg 7 and Bob Gullick on p40. I started fishing tight to the bridge, but the wind was proving troublesome blowing right across me and both Chris & I swore a couple of times as we tried to control our rigs.
Fortunately I had a couple of carp on maggot and as yet hadn't fed anything. Bob in the meantime was able to control his rig more easily, since my side of the bridge resembled the north sea and Bobs was a mill pond.
The wind did ease a little later in the match, but what killed my match (as well as Chris's) was another sheet ice which had been covering peg 5 drifted into my peg, so I was off my box again clearing more ice. The wind also caused a strong undertow and the melting ice water ran though the peg.
I did try to catch close to the island, but only had an F1, which meant all my carp came from the bridge. I didn't fed much and too be honest I wasn't sure whether feeding was actually benefiting me, since all the fish caught were away from the feed.
To be honest I was gutted come the weigh in, to drew a flyer, but only for the weather to defeat me. I caught more carp than most, but they were a smaller stamp.
1st 65- 4 - Pete Bartlett - p8
2nd 52-12 - Paul Faires - A4 (top lake)
3rd 39-10 - Tom Thick - A2
4th 39- 4 - Bela Bakos - A5
5th 38- 7 - Bob Gullick - p40
6th 36-14 - Eddie Wynne - A8
Silvers
1st 37- 2 - Tom Thick - A2
2nd 36- 4 - Glenn Bailey - A3
3rd 20-10 - Andy France - A1
4th 10-12 - Mark Broomsgrove - p16
5th 9-12 - Russ Peck - p9
Monday 1 April 2013
30/03/12 - Acorns - Paddock
Weight - 37lb 3oz (7lb 10oz - silvers)
Catch - 11 Carp, 7 F1, 7 Skimmers, 1 Rudd
Weather - Mostly sunny, cold NE breeze
Match - Open - 5th out of 25 (3rd - silvers)
Really bored with this weather now and the Met office predicts another 7-10 days of this easterly system. Also this March has been the coldest since 1962 - no kidding!
I was a bit surprised to find 25 had booked in. Turns out today was advertised as an Easter open, with £20 pools instead the usual £12. However, the payout was top 3 overall and top 2 silvers only, with no sections so the draw was going to be all important.
Peg 12 was my home for the day, which I was reasonably happy with, but felt I would be up against it, with the better draws at the moment being around the small island. For company I had Lewis Jones on p10 and an angler I didn't know on p13. At least I had some room into the corner, but another frosty night meant a slow start.
After plumbing around I settled on fishing down my right hand margin on the 2nd shelf feeding caster and 2 areas against the island on the 2nd shelf, feeding micros and 4s. I also had a swim in the open water to my right and at the bottom of the far shelf.
Rig wise I set up 3 rigs, but only ended up using 2. Jolly 4x16 > .08 > 20 silverfish maggot for the open water and frostie 0.3g > .10 > 18 silverfish pellet to fish the 2nd shelf.
On the all in a small ball of groundbait with micros was cupped into the open water and a pinch of micros at the bottom of the shelf. It was no surprise it took 30mins to catch my fist fish a small skimmer on maggot over the groundbait. My first carp was a 6-7lber over the micros, which took a while to land on .08 bottom.
I kept the caster going into the right hand margin, as well as loose feed 4s to the left side of the island and micros on the point. There was definitely a few fish moving around, but they were reluctant to feed in the cold. By the half way point I had a few more skimmers and carp for about 15lb on double maggot from the island, which was on par with Lewis, but every time I looked up pegs 6 & 7 were landing fish.
First look into the right hand margin and I had a carp straight away, but lost the 2nd. The open water swim produced a couple more skimmers and F1s mostly over the groundbait, whilst the 2nd shelf accounted for more carp.
With an hour to go I knew I was fishing for at least 3rd, but didn't realistically think I would challenge for the silvers, so stuck with the carp, landing another 4. That decision probably cost me £70. I beat everyone around me, p13 only weighed 4lb, whilst Lewis had 23lb. However my silvers weighed 7-10 and 8-2 was needed to win! A surprisingly low weight.
In the end I felt I fished a good match and got the most out of the swim (except for the silvers). If I repeated that in tomorrows pole only series I would have won the section.
1st 55- 6 - Mark Bartlett - p6
2nd 47- 1 - Ade Baker - p7
3rd 45-12 - Shane Lovell - p5
4th 37-15 - Mark Walsh - p37
5th 37- 3 - Ken Rayner - p12
6th 34- 1 - D Blakemore - p9
Silvers
1st 8- 2 - Charlie Barnes - p26
2nd 8- 0 - Rob Fogg - p15
3rd 7-10 - Ken Rayner - p12
Catch - 11 Carp, 7 F1, 7 Skimmers, 1 Rudd
Weather - Mostly sunny, cold NE breeze
Match - Open - 5th out of 25 (3rd - silvers)
Really bored with this weather now and the Met office predicts another 7-10 days of this easterly system. Also this March has been the coldest since 1962 - no kidding!
I was a bit surprised to find 25 had booked in. Turns out today was advertised as an Easter open, with £20 pools instead the usual £12. However, the payout was top 3 overall and top 2 silvers only, with no sections so the draw was going to be all important.
Peg 12 was my home for the day, which I was reasonably happy with, but felt I would be up against it, with the better draws at the moment being around the small island. For company I had Lewis Jones on p10 and an angler I didn't know on p13. At least I had some room into the corner, but another frosty night meant a slow start.
After plumbing around I settled on fishing down my right hand margin on the 2nd shelf feeding caster and 2 areas against the island on the 2nd shelf, feeding micros and 4s. I also had a swim in the open water to my right and at the bottom of the far shelf.
Rig wise I set up 3 rigs, but only ended up using 2. Jolly 4x16 > .08 > 20 silverfish maggot for the open water and frostie 0.3g > .10 > 18 silverfish pellet to fish the 2nd shelf.
On the all in a small ball of groundbait with micros was cupped into the open water and a pinch of micros at the bottom of the shelf. It was no surprise it took 30mins to catch my fist fish a small skimmer on maggot over the groundbait. My first carp was a 6-7lber over the micros, which took a while to land on .08 bottom.
I kept the caster going into the right hand margin, as well as loose feed 4s to the left side of the island and micros on the point. There was definitely a few fish moving around, but they were reluctant to feed in the cold. By the half way point I had a few more skimmers and carp for about 15lb on double maggot from the island, which was on par with Lewis, but every time I looked up pegs 6 & 7 were landing fish.
First look into the right hand margin and I had a carp straight away, but lost the 2nd. The open water swim produced a couple more skimmers and F1s mostly over the groundbait, whilst the 2nd shelf accounted for more carp.
With an hour to go I knew I was fishing for at least 3rd, but didn't realistically think I would challenge for the silvers, so stuck with the carp, landing another 4. That decision probably cost me £70. I beat everyone around me, p13 only weighed 4lb, whilst Lewis had 23lb. However my silvers weighed 7-10 and 8-2 was needed to win! A surprisingly low weight.
In the end I felt I fished a good match and got the most out of the swim (except for the silvers). If I repeated that in tomorrows pole only series I would have won the section.
1st 55- 6 - Mark Bartlett - p6
2nd 47- 1 - Ade Baker - p7
3rd 45-12 - Shane Lovell - p5
4th 37-15 - Mark Walsh - p37
5th 37- 3 - Ken Rayner - p12
6th 34- 1 - D Blakemore - p9
Silvers
1st 8- 2 - Charlie Barnes - p26
2nd 8- 0 - Rob Fogg - p15
3rd 7-10 - Ken Rayner - p12
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)