Apologies for the lack of updates, however as some of you know Sue's health hasn't been good recently and thanks for the messages of support, it is appreciated.
2 emergency trips to the hospital, CT scans and MRI scans have revealed no bleeds on the brain or growths, which is the good news. However we are no further forward in identifying the problem, which is causing Sue mobility issues and a lot of head bobbing. She has nicknamed it 'Bobby Jerkins'. If you don't laugh you would cry.
As a consequence, I have very little spare time at the moment and rather than provide a half hearted, late blog I would rather temporarily suspend my writings, until Sue's condition improves.
The irony is in the last 3 matches I've managed a section win and 2 2nd's
Monday 28 September 2015
Sunday 6 September 2015
05/09/15 - Lands End - Match
Weight - 59lb 7oz (10lb 15oz - silvers)
Catch - 9 Carp, 3 Skimmers, 1 Tench, 1 F1, 1 Ide
Weather - Mostly cloudy, following cool start
Match - Open - 7th out of 10 (3rd silvers)
Following Monday's match I was looking forward to today and was pleased to draw p19, which usually provides a few fish and I came 2nd from it 2 months go.
With only 1 silvers pay out today, I didn't see any point setting up any silvers rigs on this peg and decided to focus on the carp, using similar tactics to Monday. The only difference was the inclusion of a meat line at 5m to my right.
Well 5 days is a long time. Starting on the long line pellet rig I hooked a carp after 5mins only for it to fall off. Then I couldn't get another.
A switch to the paste rig down the track failed to produce despite plenty of fizzing in the peg. In fact the paste failed to produce anything down the track all match.
I eventually landed my first fish, a skimmer after 45mins tight to the island toss potting pellet. However I was already falling behind Clint on p18 who catching next to the island bush and Russ on p1.
Must admit the next couple hours was really frustrating. I tried the long line swinging rig and fishing tight to the island with either pellet or paste. Also tried varying the feed, cupping bait in, toss potting and catapulting, but just couldn't get into any rhythm or work how the fish wanted it. In the end I decided to just keep catapulting bait to the point of the island, hoping they would settle later in the match - they didn't and I probably overfed trying to force the peg.
My meat line was also disappointingly slow, producing a tench and only 1 carp. I had also fed my right hand margin with 6s from the off, but only caught 2 carp. I really wasn't going any where.
After catching the tench, I had a F1 and an Ide on pellet fishing across, I considered targeting the silvers, but couldn't see the benefit since I expected someone to be catching silvers. However, hindsight is a wonderful thing. The big skimmers hadn't feed in any numbers and no one was putting together a decent weight.
With an hour to go, I opened a bag of caster that I had left in my carryall not expecting to use them. 3 handfuls were deposited to my left on my top 3. 10mins later fishing double caster, I caught a decent carp, followed by a good skimmer. I then pulled out of what felt like a decent skimmer. I did the same thing to my right with the same result and ended up only 2lb winning the silvers.
A disappointing day, but I don't think the paste will be coming out again this year and I'm not sure the meat will either. Also need to keep my hands out of the bait tubs.
1st 152- 7 - Russ Peck - p1
2nd 150- 6 - Clint Wotlyla - p18
3rd 96- 2 - Matt Tomes - p11
4th 88-11 - Mike West - p15
Silvers
1st 12-13 - Dave Wescott - p7
2nd 11- 0 - Dave Sawyer - p24
3rd 10-15 - Ken Rayner - p19
Catch - 9 Carp, 3 Skimmers, 1 Tench, 1 F1, 1 Ide
Weather - Mostly cloudy, following cool start
Match - Open - 7th out of 10 (3rd silvers)
Following Monday's match I was looking forward to today and was pleased to draw p19, which usually provides a few fish and I came 2nd from it 2 months go.
With only 1 silvers pay out today, I didn't see any point setting up any silvers rigs on this peg and decided to focus on the carp, using similar tactics to Monday. The only difference was the inclusion of a meat line at 5m to my right.
Well 5 days is a long time. Starting on the long line pellet rig I hooked a carp after 5mins only for it to fall off. Then I couldn't get another.
A switch to the paste rig down the track failed to produce despite plenty of fizzing in the peg. In fact the paste failed to produce anything down the track all match.
I eventually landed my first fish, a skimmer after 45mins tight to the island toss potting pellet. However I was already falling behind Clint on p18 who catching next to the island bush and Russ on p1.
Must admit the next couple hours was really frustrating. I tried the long line swinging rig and fishing tight to the island with either pellet or paste. Also tried varying the feed, cupping bait in, toss potting and catapulting, but just couldn't get into any rhythm or work how the fish wanted it. In the end I decided to just keep catapulting bait to the point of the island, hoping they would settle later in the match - they didn't and I probably overfed trying to force the peg.
My meat line was also disappointingly slow, producing a tench and only 1 carp. I had also fed my right hand margin with 6s from the off, but only caught 2 carp. I really wasn't going any where.
After catching the tench, I had a F1 and an Ide on pellet fishing across, I considered targeting the silvers, but couldn't see the benefit since I expected someone to be catching silvers. However, hindsight is a wonderful thing. The big skimmers hadn't feed in any numbers and no one was putting together a decent weight.
With an hour to go, I opened a bag of caster that I had left in my carryall not expecting to use them. 3 handfuls were deposited to my left on my top 3. 10mins later fishing double caster, I caught a decent carp, followed by a good skimmer. I then pulled out of what felt like a decent skimmer. I did the same thing to my right with the same result and ended up only 2lb winning the silvers.
A disappointing day, but I don't think the paste will be coming out again this year and I'm not sure the meat will either. Also need to keep my hands out of the bait tubs.
1st 152- 7 - Russ Peck - p1
2nd 150- 6 - Clint Wotlyla - p18
3rd 96- 2 - Matt Tomes - p11
4th 88-11 - Mike West - p15
Silvers
1st 12-13 - Dave Wescott - p7
2nd 11- 0 - Dave Sawyer - p24
3rd 10-15 - Ken Rayner - p19
Wednesday 2 September 2015
31/08/15 - Lands End - Match
Weight - 135lb 13oz
Catch - 32 Carp, 2 Skimmers
Weather - Damp start, but mostly cloudy and dry
Match - Garry Wall Memorial - 6th out of 28
With 28 fishing today, we were split evenly between Match and Johns Lake. Like yesterday, I wanted to keep it simple, either fishing for silvers or carp. Although not my favourite, p13 was my home for day, which has been very consistent this summer (well they say summer, more like the wet and windy season) and decided to focus on the carp, which meant the silvers rigs could stay on the winders.
I also kept the bait tray simple, focusing on pellet and paste, leaving the meat in the tins since I haven't had much success on it recently. However, it would be interesting to see what effect the extra water would have on the fishing following the lake top up yesterday.
Starting on paste (HB redneck 0.3g > .17 > 12 carp feeder), feeding a few 6s in the toss pot at 10m under the left hand tree, I had 5 carp and a skimmer in the first hour, which was a decent enough start, but moving into the 2nd hour it just felt like the swim was fading.
I had already started feeding 6s to the island and down the right hand margin, ignoring the left hand bank. Whilst the left hand bank at 14-16m looking inviting, I envisaged getting caught in the overhanging branches and I didn't want the hassle. So it was a place of last resort that wasn't required.
A switch to the island with a conventional pellet rig only produced liners, so switched down the right hand margin with the same rig and caught a small carp immediately on 8mm pellet. A switch to paste (HB redneck 0.2g > .17 > 12 carp feeder) produced more positive bites, plus I could pull a bit harder to keep the fish from getting under the p14 platform.
By the half way point it looked like Anton Page on p18 was easily winning. Russ Peck on p15 was slightly ahead of me thanks to some better fish, but at least I was heading in the right direction. To rest my margin I targeted the island again, this time with a long line pellet rig and caught a few carp on 8mm pellet, but it was hard work. I got the impression the fish would have preferred it had I been able to present the rig tight to the island, because Russ was catching (and losing) plenty fishing tight. I was a metre short and a 17m pole extension will be ordered soon!
Back under the left hand tree only produced 1 more carp, whilst a 6m swim fed from the off with 6s was providing plenty of blows, but no actual fish on either pellet or paste. they just didn't want to settle in the deeper water.
With 2 hours to go, I suffered a dodgy 30min spell where I couldn't catch, then lost 3 fish on the bounce, before the fish returned.
In the end I had nice days fishing, plenty of banter with Russ, over 100lb and it even stayed dry. I could have done a few more bigger fish to get into the frame, but otherwise felt I fished a decent match - haven't been able to say that too many times recently.
1st 197- 2 Anton Page - p13
2nd 176- 4 - Tom Mangnall - p21
3rd 154- 7 - Craig Edmunds - p62
4th 149-11 - Russ Peck - p15
5th 136- 2 - Nick Duckett - p19
6th 135-13 - Ken Rayner - p13
Silvers
1st 30- 4 - Chris Fox - p9
2nd 17- 7 - Nigel Bartlett - p22
3rd 17- 5 - Ryan J - p11
Catch - 32 Carp, 2 Skimmers
Weather - Damp start, but mostly cloudy and dry
Match - Garry Wall Memorial - 6th out of 28
With 28 fishing today, we were split evenly between Match and Johns Lake. Like yesterday, I wanted to keep it simple, either fishing for silvers or carp. Although not my favourite, p13 was my home for day, which has been very consistent this summer (well they say summer, more like the wet and windy season) and decided to focus on the carp, which meant the silvers rigs could stay on the winders.
I also kept the bait tray simple, focusing on pellet and paste, leaving the meat in the tins since I haven't had much success on it recently. However, it would be interesting to see what effect the extra water would have on the fishing following the lake top up yesterday.
Starting on paste (HB redneck 0.3g > .17 > 12 carp feeder), feeding a few 6s in the toss pot at 10m under the left hand tree, I had 5 carp and a skimmer in the first hour, which was a decent enough start, but moving into the 2nd hour it just felt like the swim was fading.
I had already started feeding 6s to the island and down the right hand margin, ignoring the left hand bank. Whilst the left hand bank at 14-16m looking inviting, I envisaged getting caught in the overhanging branches and I didn't want the hassle. So it was a place of last resort that wasn't required.
A switch to the island with a conventional pellet rig only produced liners, so switched down the right hand margin with the same rig and caught a small carp immediately on 8mm pellet. A switch to paste (HB redneck 0.2g > .17 > 12 carp feeder) produced more positive bites, plus I could pull a bit harder to keep the fish from getting under the p14 platform.
By the half way point it looked like Anton Page on p18 was easily winning. Russ Peck on p15 was slightly ahead of me thanks to some better fish, but at least I was heading in the right direction. To rest my margin I targeted the island again, this time with a long line pellet rig and caught a few carp on 8mm pellet, but it was hard work. I got the impression the fish would have preferred it had I been able to present the rig tight to the island, because Russ was catching (and losing) plenty fishing tight. I was a metre short and a 17m pole extension will be ordered soon!
Back under the left hand tree only produced 1 more carp, whilst a 6m swim fed from the off with 6s was providing plenty of blows, but no actual fish on either pellet or paste. they just didn't want to settle in the deeper water.
With 2 hours to go, I suffered a dodgy 30min spell where I couldn't catch, then lost 3 fish on the bounce, before the fish returned.
In the end I had nice days fishing, plenty of banter with Russ, over 100lb and it even stayed dry. I could have done a few more bigger fish to get into the frame, but otherwise felt I fished a decent match - haven't been able to say that too many times recently.
1st 197- 2 Anton Page - p13
2nd 176- 4 - Tom Mangnall - p21
3rd 154- 7 - Craig Edmunds - p62
4th 149-11 - Russ Peck - p15
5th 136- 2 - Nick Duckett - p19
6th 135-13 - Ken Rayner - p13
Silvers
1st 30- 4 - Chris Fox - p9
2nd 17- 7 - Nigel Bartlett - p22
3rd 17- 5 - Ryan J - p11
Tuesday 1 September 2015
30/08/15 - Viaduct - Campbell
Weight - 43lb 11oz (18lb 10oz - silvers)
Catch - 5 Carp, 25 Skimmers, 10 Roach, 3 Tench
Weather - Mostly cloudy, heavy showers and sunny periods
Match - Float Only - final round - 4th out of 38 - silvers
I nearly didn't make this match, because Sapphire has pulled a muscle in her one and only front leg whist chasing foxes out of the garden. As a consequence I have had to carry her in and out of the garden for toilet duties. Fortunately on Saturday she was a little more mobile, even if she was uncomfortable.
This blog wont be long, because I cocked up the last 2 hours trying to force the peg. Being the final round of Tony's Float Only League and with nothing to fish for following a poor series I just wanted to catch a few fish, be that carp or silvers. P125 put me in the right area for silvers. A quick chat with Steve Long confirmed my thoughts, so unless I was sat on a load of carp I settled on the idea of catching a few silvers. To be honest I wanted a day on the silvers to rest my back which was playing me up recently. A trip to the osteopath has been booked.
The first hour was spent looking for carp on paste at 5m and 14m, however despite hooking 4 (not necessarily in the right place) only landing 1, plus a big skimmer.
A switch to the 11m line where I fed 2 balls of special G groundbait and I soon started catching mostly hand size skimmers on 6mm pellet, with the occasional slightly bigger fish. Topping up with a nugget of groundbait kept the fish coming, although the lack of any decent skimmers was a concern, particularly since I could see Paul Blake on p124 and Gordon Cannings on p127 catching good skimmers on meat in amongst their carp. I had also set up a 5m line, but this never got going, only producing a couple of small skimmers and a 9lb carp.
My right hand margin had been fed with caster/corn and only corn down the left, hoping for some tench later on. I had a run of small roach on caster, but felt I needed some better fish, so stuck with worm or corn on the hook which produced a couple of skimmers and 3 tench.
In an effort to pull in some better skimmers and with 2 hours left, I fed some 4s in my groundbait. This was a mistake, because the swim started fizzing too much and I struggled to get a proper bite. The skimmers just wouldn't settle. In hindsight had I stuck with simply topping up with a nugget of plain groundbait I could have caught the extra 3lb needed to claim 2nd in silvers. All the silvers weights above me were accidental big skimmers on meat.
Speaking to Steve after the match, he confirmed the skimmers have been tricky to catch recently and have been shying away from too much pellet.
1st 175- 4 - Craig Edmunds - p76
2nd 173-14 - Chris Fox - p115
3rd 170- 13 - Chris Davis - p116
4th 162- 2 - Steve Seagar - p118
5th 159-11 - Neil Mercer - p97
6th 158- 3 - Shaun Townsend - p100
Silvers
1st 31- 5 - Gordon Cannings - p127
2nd 21-12 - Paul Blake - p124
3rd 20- 2 - Mike Walker - p112
4th 18-10 - Ken Rayner - p125
Catch - 5 Carp, 25 Skimmers, 10 Roach, 3 Tench
Weather - Mostly cloudy, heavy showers and sunny periods
Match - Float Only - final round - 4th out of 38 - silvers
I nearly didn't make this match, because Sapphire has pulled a muscle in her one and only front leg whist chasing foxes out of the garden. As a consequence I have had to carry her in and out of the garden for toilet duties. Fortunately on Saturday she was a little more mobile, even if she was uncomfortable.
This blog wont be long, because I cocked up the last 2 hours trying to force the peg. Being the final round of Tony's Float Only League and with nothing to fish for following a poor series I just wanted to catch a few fish, be that carp or silvers. P125 put me in the right area for silvers. A quick chat with Steve Long confirmed my thoughts, so unless I was sat on a load of carp I settled on the idea of catching a few silvers. To be honest I wanted a day on the silvers to rest my back which was playing me up recently. A trip to the osteopath has been booked.
The first hour was spent looking for carp on paste at 5m and 14m, however despite hooking 4 (not necessarily in the right place) only landing 1, plus a big skimmer.
A switch to the 11m line where I fed 2 balls of special G groundbait and I soon started catching mostly hand size skimmers on 6mm pellet, with the occasional slightly bigger fish. Topping up with a nugget of groundbait kept the fish coming, although the lack of any decent skimmers was a concern, particularly since I could see Paul Blake on p124 and Gordon Cannings on p127 catching good skimmers on meat in amongst their carp. I had also set up a 5m line, but this never got going, only producing a couple of small skimmers and a 9lb carp.
My right hand margin had been fed with caster/corn and only corn down the left, hoping for some tench later on. I had a run of small roach on caster, but felt I needed some better fish, so stuck with worm or corn on the hook which produced a couple of skimmers and 3 tench.
In an effort to pull in some better skimmers and with 2 hours left, I fed some 4s in my groundbait. This was a mistake, because the swim started fizzing too much and I struggled to get a proper bite. The skimmers just wouldn't settle. In hindsight had I stuck with simply topping up with a nugget of plain groundbait I could have caught the extra 3lb needed to claim 2nd in silvers. All the silvers weights above me were accidental big skimmers on meat.
Speaking to Steve after the match, he confirmed the skimmers have been tricky to catch recently and have been shying away from too much pellet.
1st 175- 4 - Craig Edmunds - p76
2nd 173-14 - Chris Fox - p115
3rd 170- 13 - Chris Davis - p116
4th 162- 2 - Steve Seagar - p118
5th 159-11 - Neil Mercer - p97
6th 158- 3 - Shaun Townsend - p100
Silvers
1st 31- 5 - Gordon Cannings - p127
2nd 21-12 - Paul Blake - p124
3rd 20- 2 - Mike Walker - p112
4th 18-10 - Ken Rayner - p125
Sunday 23 August 2015
23/08/15 - Fishponds
Weight - 301lb 1oz
Catch - 47 Carp, 2 Rudd, 1 Roach, 1 Eel
Weather - Hot & sunny, later thundery showers and humid
Match - Club - 1st out of 7
Well Sue had some good news on Friday, which should make life a little easier and allow me to relax more on my fishing. Its been fair to say I have been a little distracted over the last couple of months.
Due to holidays, we only had 7 today (plus 2 pleasure anglers) for this afternoon/evening match. With so much space I was happy to drew anywhere, although peg 6 was top of my wish list due to the shallow left hand margin and duly I drew it.
The plan for today was to keep it simple with paste and pellet. A paste and pellet rig were set up to fish the 2ft deep margin, a deep water paste rig to fish to my right and finally a long line shallow rig to hopefully catch some of the fish that were showing themselves on what is the hottest day for a few weeks.
On the all in a 1/2 pot of 6s was deposited into the left hand margin and started on the shallow rig at 13m. After 5mins there were carp already showing themselves in the margin and with no indications on the shallow rig, a switch to the paste rig resulted in a fish straight away. Unfortunately the elastic snapped at the side slot.
Sticking to the left hand margin I managed 9 carp in the first hour all on paste, feeding a small handful of 6s. The swim was slowing a little and a switch to the shallow swim which had been fed from the off with 8s, produced a further 6 or 7 carp, but in the bright flat conditions the fish were difficult to tempt despite fishing with a long line.
Back on the paste down the left hand margin and the fish had settled again, catching most put ins including a couple of double figure fish up to 13lb 5oz. When I felt the swim needed a break a switch to the shallow swim would produce a few more fish.
With 90mins left the skies became darker, there was a flash of lighting and the heavy rain started, which slowed my catch rate. After the main part of the storm passed the rain became lighter, but a breeze had picked up and the fishing the shallow long line proved a little tricky. I could have set up a conventional shallow rig, but instead decided to pot pellet to my right, which produced a few more carp, plus a decent eel on paste. However it was the left hand margin that produced the bulk of my fish.
Come the weigh in I was left a little red faced. The net limit at the lake is 100lb and the whole net is discounted if it goes over 110lb. My first net weighed 109-10, which was knocked back to 100lb. My 3rd net was completely empty!!! God knows how I managed that but was relieved to get away with it.
1st 301- 1 - Ken Rayner - p6
2nd 179- 1 - Andy Lord - p22
3rd 142- 8 - Paul Lewis - p12
4th 93- 0 - Chris Davidge - p15
Catch - 47 Carp, 2 Rudd, 1 Roach, 1 Eel
Weather - Hot & sunny, later thundery showers and humid
Match - Club - 1st out of 7
Well Sue had some good news on Friday, which should make life a little easier and allow me to relax more on my fishing. Its been fair to say I have been a little distracted over the last couple of months.
Due to holidays, we only had 7 today (plus 2 pleasure anglers) for this afternoon/evening match. With so much space I was happy to drew anywhere, although peg 6 was top of my wish list due to the shallow left hand margin and duly I drew it.
The plan for today was to keep it simple with paste and pellet. A paste and pellet rig were set up to fish the 2ft deep margin, a deep water paste rig to fish to my right and finally a long line shallow rig to hopefully catch some of the fish that were showing themselves on what is the hottest day for a few weeks.
On the all in a 1/2 pot of 6s was deposited into the left hand margin and started on the shallow rig at 13m. After 5mins there were carp already showing themselves in the margin and with no indications on the shallow rig, a switch to the paste rig resulted in a fish straight away. Unfortunately the elastic snapped at the side slot.
Sticking to the left hand margin I managed 9 carp in the first hour all on paste, feeding a small handful of 6s. The swim was slowing a little and a switch to the shallow swim which had been fed from the off with 8s, produced a further 6 or 7 carp, but in the bright flat conditions the fish were difficult to tempt despite fishing with a long line.
Back on the paste down the left hand margin and the fish had settled again, catching most put ins including a couple of double figure fish up to 13lb 5oz. When I felt the swim needed a break a switch to the shallow swim would produce a few more fish.
With 90mins left the skies became darker, there was a flash of lighting and the heavy rain started, which slowed my catch rate. After the main part of the storm passed the rain became lighter, but a breeze had picked up and the fishing the shallow long line proved a little tricky. I could have set up a conventional shallow rig, but instead decided to pot pellet to my right, which produced a few more carp, plus a decent eel on paste. However it was the left hand margin that produced the bulk of my fish.
Come the weigh in I was left a little red faced. The net limit at the lake is 100lb and the whole net is discounted if it goes over 110lb. My first net weighed 109-10, which was knocked back to 100lb. My 3rd net was completely empty!!! God knows how I managed that but was relieved to get away with it.
1st 301- 1 - Ken Rayner - p6
2nd 179- 1 - Andy Lord - p22
3rd 142- 8 - Paul Lewis - p12
4th 93- 0 - Chris Davidge - p15
Monday 10 August 2015
09/08/15 - Trinity Waters - Woodlands
Weight - 16lb 1oz (13lb 0oz - silvers)
Catch - 62 Roach, 4 Skimmers, 4 Perch, 2 Hybrids, 1 Tench, 1 F1
Weather - Mostly cloudy and light winds
Match - Short Pole Series rd 4 - 2nd out of 28 - silvers
The final round of this short pole series and looking at the league table I was lying 9th, 2pts behind a payout position in 5th, which meant I had a very outside chance of a pick up. It would mean those above me blowing out and me winning my section with a big weight. Peg 13 gave me decent chance.
Before the draw I was chatting to Paul Faires who said he was going to target the silvers regardless of where he drew and he ended next to me on p12. Because he was solely targeting the silvers he wouldn't be targeting the margins between us, leaving them free for me to attack.
The other side of me was Trigger, who lets be honest is probably the best angler on our circuit at the moment. Fortunately he was in the next section, so I couldn't worry about what he was doing.
With a positive mind set I decided not to set up any silvers rig, leaving them for Paul to catch. I also decided to feed positively for the carp and unfortunately I think that was my undoing.
Starting on paste I had a big skimmer after 45mins, but nothing else. Trigger in the meantime had 2 fish on paste and started to catch down his margins. A switch to meat failed to produce as well. Things weren't going according to plan, although other than Trigger no one was catching much. Everyone's peg were fizzing like a Jacuzzi, but very few bites.
I had feed some meat and hemp down the deeper left hand margin under the tree, but again no bites. With just over an hour gone and still only one skimmer in the net I quickly setup a caster rig (jolly 4x14 > .12 > 18 silverfish maggot) to fish under the tree as I had seen some swirls when I feeding the meat.
Taking me up to the half way point of the match I probably had 8lb of silvers including a tench and a couple of 1lb perch, but really needed some carp to show. Whilst catching the silvers I kept flicking 6s out long to draw some fish in and catch shallow, plus groundbait down the shallower right hand margin.
I only caught 1 3lb F1 shallow and nothing from the right hand margin or my left margin which I had fed quite heavily with more groundbait. Looking down my section I started to see carp being caught along with any hopes of doing well enough in section and league.
I hadn't seen many silvers being caught, so decided to spend the last 90mins concentrating on them to hopefully pick up 2nd place, because Paul was already streets ahead catching mostly skimmers on worm.
Another 5lb of silvers meant my 13lb did indeed claim 2nd in silvers, so at least I managed a pick up on a difficult day.
Talking after the match, those that caught well had been fed fairly cautiously which probably explains why my very positive approach didn't work today. The fishing this summer has been difficult as the fish just don't seem to have settled down, probably due to constantly changing weather patterns.
Congratulations to Trigger for winning the league and giving me proper battering off the next peg.
1st 135- 6 - Craig Edmunds - p14
2nd 81-14 - Kev Molton - p17
3rd 64-13 - Tom Mangnall - p7
4th 56-10 - Tim Ford - p24
5th 52-12 - Mike West - p4
6th 51-10 - Glenn Bailey - p25
Silvers
1st 22-10 - Paul Faires - p12
2nd 13- 0 - Ken Rayner - p13
Catch - 62 Roach, 4 Skimmers, 4 Perch, 2 Hybrids, 1 Tench, 1 F1
Weather - Mostly cloudy and light winds
Match - Short Pole Series rd 4 - 2nd out of 28 - silvers
The final round of this short pole series and looking at the league table I was lying 9th, 2pts behind a payout position in 5th, which meant I had a very outside chance of a pick up. It would mean those above me blowing out and me winning my section with a big weight. Peg 13 gave me decent chance.
Before the draw I was chatting to Paul Faires who said he was going to target the silvers regardless of where he drew and he ended next to me on p12. Because he was solely targeting the silvers he wouldn't be targeting the margins between us, leaving them free for me to attack.
The other side of me was Trigger, who lets be honest is probably the best angler on our circuit at the moment. Fortunately he was in the next section, so I couldn't worry about what he was doing.
With a positive mind set I decided not to set up any silvers rig, leaving them for Paul to catch. I also decided to feed positively for the carp and unfortunately I think that was my undoing.
Starting on paste I had a big skimmer after 45mins, but nothing else. Trigger in the meantime had 2 fish on paste and started to catch down his margins. A switch to meat failed to produce as well. Things weren't going according to plan, although other than Trigger no one was catching much. Everyone's peg were fizzing like a Jacuzzi, but very few bites.
I had feed some meat and hemp down the deeper left hand margin under the tree, but again no bites. With just over an hour gone and still only one skimmer in the net I quickly setup a caster rig (jolly 4x14 > .12 > 18 silverfish maggot) to fish under the tree as I had seen some swirls when I feeding the meat.
Taking me up to the half way point of the match I probably had 8lb of silvers including a tench and a couple of 1lb perch, but really needed some carp to show. Whilst catching the silvers I kept flicking 6s out long to draw some fish in and catch shallow, plus groundbait down the shallower right hand margin.
I only caught 1 3lb F1 shallow and nothing from the right hand margin or my left margin which I had fed quite heavily with more groundbait. Looking down my section I started to see carp being caught along with any hopes of doing well enough in section and league.
I hadn't seen many silvers being caught, so decided to spend the last 90mins concentrating on them to hopefully pick up 2nd place, because Paul was already streets ahead catching mostly skimmers on worm.
Another 5lb of silvers meant my 13lb did indeed claim 2nd in silvers, so at least I managed a pick up on a difficult day.
Talking after the match, those that caught well had been fed fairly cautiously which probably explains why my very positive approach didn't work today. The fishing this summer has been difficult as the fish just don't seem to have settled down, probably due to constantly changing weather patterns.
Congratulations to Trigger for winning the league and giving me proper battering off the next peg.
1st 135- 6 - Craig Edmunds - p14
2nd 81-14 - Kev Molton - p17
3rd 64-13 - Tom Mangnall - p7
4th 56-10 - Tim Ford - p24
5th 52-12 - Mike West - p4
6th 51-10 - Glenn Bailey - p25
Silvers
1st 22-10 - Paul Faires - p12
2nd 13- 0 - Ken Rayner - p13
08/08/15 - Lands End - Speci
Weight - 25lb 15oz (18lb 0oz - silvers)
Catch - 42 Skimmers, 6 Roach, 2 Perch, 1 Rudd, 1 Carp
Weather - Warm, sunny, flat calm
Match - Open - 3rd out of 13 silvers
With a club match on Match Lake, all 13 of us were on Speci Lake, which wasn't going to leave much room, but it would at least mean fewer spaces for the carp to hide.
Peg 29 definitely wasn't my first choice, but on arrival there were a few carp showing themselves along the island which raised my hopes a little. So the plan was to target the carp at the start and see were we go from there. With Bryan Hadley on p28 and Dave Wescott on p30 I didn't think the margins would be worth the effort.
On the all I went across with paste and got a few swirls, but no proper bites. It was the same with pellet and caster. In fact I wasted 90mins chasing carp, foul hooking 2, only landing 4 small fish. In the meantime Lewis Jones on p32 and Andy Hembrow on p31 had already started catching, including some proper munters.
In an effort to start catching something, softened 4s, micros and groundbait was fed at 11m to my right and softened 4s to my left. Fishing 4mm expander (SM Chimp 0.3g > .12 > 16 silverfish pellet) I started catching hand sized skimmers. By regular toss potting and alternating between the 2 swims every 2nd or 3rd fish I managed to keep the fish coming.
As the match progressed I gradually went longer and longer finishing the match at 14m. I was enjoying my day, with plenty of bites, but in the flat bright conditions I only caught 1 decent skimmer, plus a couple of 1lb fish, with the majority being 4-6oz fish. Trying 6mm banded pellet it only took longer to get a bite for the same size fish, so I stuck with expanders.
As a back up I cupped some caster by the island but with no shade I don't think the fish were keen to settle in the shallow water, as it was taking ages to get a proper bite. I also started feeding caster to my left at 3m late on, which can throw up some bonus fish, but double caster only produced small roach.
By the all out I was left a little frustrated. Despite the number of fish caught I really needed at least one or two more decent skimmers, although I think I may have pulled out of 1 - doh! Everyone loses a few fish, but the really frustrating was the time wasted at the start. I really should know better and switched 30mins earlier I would have probably at least claimed 2nd in silvers. Instead I was 1 out of the money for the 5th time recently. Not a great habit to get into. Rich Lovering included a couple of chub, an ide and a few decent skimmers in his winning silvers net. As for Ricky he had 6 or 7 decent skimmers, so the better fish seemed to prefer the other side of the lake today.
Taking the positives out of the day, it was nice to see so many skimmers growing on and at least I had a few bites.
On the drive back I got caught up in the Balloon Fiesta traffic. I think I may have been a bit grumpy by the time I got home!
1st 131- 1 - Andy Hembrow - p31
2nd 130-12 - Lewis Jones - p32
3rd 124- 3 - Ryan Shipp - p40
4th 73- 2 - Vince Shipp - p37
5th 67- 2 - Rod Wootton - p26
6th 64- 2 - Dave Wescott - p30
Silvers
1st 21-10 - Rich Lovering - p34
2nd 18-10 - Ricky - p36
3rd 18- 0 - Ken Rayner - p29
Catch - 42 Skimmers, 6 Roach, 2 Perch, 1 Rudd, 1 Carp
Weather - Warm, sunny, flat calm
Match - Open - 3rd out of 13 silvers
With a club match on Match Lake, all 13 of us were on Speci Lake, which wasn't going to leave much room, but it would at least mean fewer spaces for the carp to hide.
Peg 29 definitely wasn't my first choice, but on arrival there were a few carp showing themselves along the island which raised my hopes a little. So the plan was to target the carp at the start and see were we go from there. With Bryan Hadley on p28 and Dave Wescott on p30 I didn't think the margins would be worth the effort.
On the all I went across with paste and got a few swirls, but no proper bites. It was the same with pellet and caster. In fact I wasted 90mins chasing carp, foul hooking 2, only landing 4 small fish. In the meantime Lewis Jones on p32 and Andy Hembrow on p31 had already started catching, including some proper munters.
In an effort to start catching something, softened 4s, micros and groundbait was fed at 11m to my right and softened 4s to my left. Fishing 4mm expander (SM Chimp 0.3g > .12 > 16 silverfish pellet) I started catching hand sized skimmers. By regular toss potting and alternating between the 2 swims every 2nd or 3rd fish I managed to keep the fish coming.
As the match progressed I gradually went longer and longer finishing the match at 14m. I was enjoying my day, with plenty of bites, but in the flat bright conditions I only caught 1 decent skimmer, plus a couple of 1lb fish, with the majority being 4-6oz fish. Trying 6mm banded pellet it only took longer to get a bite for the same size fish, so I stuck with expanders.
As a back up I cupped some caster by the island but with no shade I don't think the fish were keen to settle in the shallow water, as it was taking ages to get a proper bite. I also started feeding caster to my left at 3m late on, which can throw up some bonus fish, but double caster only produced small roach.
By the all out I was left a little frustrated. Despite the number of fish caught I really needed at least one or two more decent skimmers, although I think I may have pulled out of 1 - doh! Everyone loses a few fish, but the really frustrating was the time wasted at the start. I really should know better and switched 30mins earlier I would have probably at least claimed 2nd in silvers. Instead I was 1 out of the money for the 5th time recently. Not a great habit to get into. Rich Lovering included a couple of chub, an ide and a few decent skimmers in his winning silvers net. As for Ricky he had 6 or 7 decent skimmers, so the better fish seemed to prefer the other side of the lake today.
Taking the positives out of the day, it was nice to see so many skimmers growing on and at least I had a few bites.
On the drive back I got caught up in the Balloon Fiesta traffic. I think I may have been a bit grumpy by the time I got home!
1st 131- 1 - Andy Hembrow - p31
2nd 130-12 - Lewis Jones - p32
3rd 124- 3 - Ryan Shipp - p40
4th 73- 2 - Vince Shipp - p37
5th 67- 2 - Rod Wootton - p26
6th 64- 2 - Dave Wescott - p30
Silvers
1st 21-10 - Rich Lovering - p34
2nd 18-10 - Ricky - p36
3rd 18- 0 - Ken Rayner - p29
Monday 3 August 2015
02/08/15 - Sedges - Tile
Weight - 38lb 15oz
Catch - 6 Carp, 3 Skimmer, 1 Eel
Weather - Sunny, but very windy
Match - Float Only rd 5 - 22nd out of 39, 3rd in section
Well after a very stressful 10 days with Sue who had 2 ambulance visits to the hospital with a suspected stroke/seizure the good news is it doesn't appear to be quiet so sinister, although a MRI scan has been booked just to make sure. Pretty scary at the time and it does help put things in perspective, not even Paul Elmes attempt to wind me up for the umpteenth time with his PB joke bothered me.
Mike Walker followed me down to the fishery, because he had never visited the venue and didn't trust his sat nav not to dump him in the middle of a field. A quick walk around the lakes with Mike and Chris Fox and we all wanted to draw the windward end of the lakes where a strong wind was blowing. Personally I fancied attacking the skimmers on Brick again.
Into the draw queue. Nick Chedzoy ahead of me pulled p10 (corner), I drew p27, Mike behind me was on p11 (corner) and then I think Tim Ford went on to p40 (another corner). Oh well never mind.
Speaking to Bob Gullick he said P27 was a decent draw, so hopeful of a good day, although the strength of the wind blowing down the lake was a concern.
For company I had Billy Grover on p26, Kev Molton p28, Tom Mangnall p29 and Nick Ewers in the corner on p30. So a tough section to get a result from.
After Thursday's match I decided to focus on paste at 5m, instead of meat. In hindsight this may have been a mistake. After feeding 4 balls of groundbait at 13m, I started at 5m fishing paste, which brought little dinks on the float but no fish. I suspected skimmers, so switched to a soft pellet and caught an eel.
A skimmer from the 13m line was the only fish from here purely because the wind was too strong to provide any presentation. Back on the 5m line I added another 2 skimmers on worm, but still no carp. In fact those around me were all struggling.
I kept feeding the 5m line, hoping to catch later, but it never happen and was left wondering whether I should have switched to feeding meat. Looking at the weigh sheets, the better weights on each lake came from the right hand banks, so perhaps it was simply a case the fish preferred to be that side of the lakes.
In the end I caught all my carp shallow on 8mm pellet at 14m. To be honest I was disappointed I couldn't catch a few more shallow, because I could see Chris Davis opposite catching well shallow. At one point a gust of wind was so strong it spun me round nearly knocking out Kev on the next peg!
As for the margins they were a complete bust and very little was caught in the margins on my side of the lake.
I was glad to hear the all out, because my back was in pieces. Back at the car I was pleased see Mike had won the match on his 1st visit, he certainly had a red letter day. Well done mate.
1st 187- 4 - Mike Walker - p11
2nd 146-11 - Nick Chedzoy - p10
3rd 133- 1 - Gary O'Shea - p31
4th 119-11 - Chris Davis - p34
5th 114- 9 - Tony Rixon - p12
6th 88- 3 - Tim Ford - p40
Silvers
1st 33- 5 - Vic Bush - p14
2nd 30- 6 - Mike Nicholls - p19
3rd 19- 2 - Leon Hubbard - p15
Catch - 6 Carp, 3 Skimmer, 1 Eel
Weather - Sunny, but very windy
Match - Float Only rd 5 - 22nd out of 39, 3rd in section
Well after a very stressful 10 days with Sue who had 2 ambulance visits to the hospital with a suspected stroke/seizure the good news is it doesn't appear to be quiet so sinister, although a MRI scan has been booked just to make sure. Pretty scary at the time and it does help put things in perspective, not even Paul Elmes attempt to wind me up for the umpteenth time with his PB joke bothered me.
Mike Walker followed me down to the fishery, because he had never visited the venue and didn't trust his sat nav not to dump him in the middle of a field. A quick walk around the lakes with Mike and Chris Fox and we all wanted to draw the windward end of the lakes where a strong wind was blowing. Personally I fancied attacking the skimmers on Brick again.
Into the draw queue. Nick Chedzoy ahead of me pulled p10 (corner), I drew p27, Mike behind me was on p11 (corner) and then I think Tim Ford went on to p40 (another corner). Oh well never mind.
Speaking to Bob Gullick he said P27 was a decent draw, so hopeful of a good day, although the strength of the wind blowing down the lake was a concern.
For company I had Billy Grover on p26, Kev Molton p28, Tom Mangnall p29 and Nick Ewers in the corner on p30. So a tough section to get a result from.
After Thursday's match I decided to focus on paste at 5m, instead of meat. In hindsight this may have been a mistake. After feeding 4 balls of groundbait at 13m, I started at 5m fishing paste, which brought little dinks on the float but no fish. I suspected skimmers, so switched to a soft pellet and caught an eel.
A skimmer from the 13m line was the only fish from here purely because the wind was too strong to provide any presentation. Back on the 5m line I added another 2 skimmers on worm, but still no carp. In fact those around me were all struggling.
I kept feeding the 5m line, hoping to catch later, but it never happen and was left wondering whether I should have switched to feeding meat. Looking at the weigh sheets, the better weights on each lake came from the right hand banks, so perhaps it was simply a case the fish preferred to be that side of the lakes.
In the end I caught all my carp shallow on 8mm pellet at 14m. To be honest I was disappointed I couldn't catch a few more shallow, because I could see Chris Davis opposite catching well shallow. At one point a gust of wind was so strong it spun me round nearly knocking out Kev on the next peg!
As for the margins they were a complete bust and very little was caught in the margins on my side of the lake.
I was glad to hear the all out, because my back was in pieces. Back at the car I was pleased see Mike had won the match on his 1st visit, he certainly had a red letter day. Well done mate.
1st 187- 4 - Mike Walker - p11
2nd 146-11 - Nick Chedzoy - p10
3rd 133- 1 - Gary O'Shea - p31
4th 119-11 - Chris Davis - p34
5th 114- 9 - Tony Rixon - p12
6th 88- 3 - Tim Ford - p40
Silvers
1st 33- 5 - Vic Bush - p14
2nd 30- 6 - Mike Nicholls - p19
3rd 19- 2 - Leon Hubbard - p15
Saturday 1 August 2015
30/07/15 - Sedges - Brick Lake
Weight - 19lb 8oz
Catch - 29 Roach, 10 Skimmers, 10 Rudd, 2 Hybrids, 1 Perch
Weather - Sunny all day, cool breeze.
Match - Open - 3rd out of 19 silvers (13th overall)
With the next round of the Float Only series at Sedges, a practice match was organised and 19 anglers were booked in on Brick lake.
This is my personal favourite of the lakes at Sedges and after catching 46lb of skimmers last year I was looking forward to hopefully more of the same. Peg 17 put me in the right area and the plan was to look for an early carp, catch some skimmers and then catch some late carp.
For company I had Steve Tucker on p16 and Dave Bacon on p18, not that I could see them thanks to the tall reeds.
On the all in 5 balls of groundbait with some casters and 4mm pellet were deposited at 13m, plus 1/2 cup of meat and hemp at 5m. Starting on the meat whilst the 13m line settled I quickly had a 1.5lb skimmer, which was half the size of the one Tucks netted. This was followed eventually by a small hybrid, but that was it for this line all match despite feeding it all match. Tucks did manage a decent carp over this line, but it was strangely quiet.
After 45mins it was time to try the 13m line with worm on the hook and the float soon popped up with a flying skimmer attached. A second followed, but it was hard going which was a little surprising, because there was a decent ripple, although the ups and downs of the recent weather is enough to upset everyone including the fish.
The pattern for the match was catch 1 or 2 skimmers, before they disappeared , feed then catch another 1 or 2, but there was long periods between bites. Other than Tucks I couldn't see anyone else catching silvers and by the mid way point I stopped catching completely. So I got off my box to set up another rig to catch roach on caster from the margins, which was going well until I hooked a decent fish which was either a big skimmer or tench, but felt the line grating against something eventually snapping me above the hooklength, which could prove costly.
Another rig was set up and soon catching more roach and rudd. A switch back to the 13m line only produced one more skimmer, so decided to go for broke. 3 more balls were deposited at 14m to my left, plus a cup of caster.
I also decided to try and catch carp. Since the 5m had failed, decided to dump groundbait and caster down the margin. In hindsight this was a mistake. I should have concentrated on the silvers, but I did it with Sundays match in mind. I hooked 3 carp and all 3 came off. Again I felt them grate against something in the margin, so a little disappointed.
The final 15mins was back out on the 14m line, as was tucks who managed 3 skimmers to my 2. On the all out we both felt we had at least 15lb, but beyond that it was difficult to say since some of the skimmers are a little hollow. Top silvers weight by the time the scales arrived was Tony with 17-10. This was going to be close and so it proved. Tucks weighed 20-10 to my 19-8, although there was still Allan Oram who was also admitting to 15lb. Thanks to a couple of big eels he put 21-4 on the scales, relegating me to 1 out of the money for the 4th time in 6 matches.
Yes, I was a little disappointed, however plenty to consider for the match on Sunday.
1st 122- 6 - Glenn Bailey - p11
2nd 93- 0 - Steve Jackson - p6
3rd 83- 4 - Tom Mangnall - p1
4th 62- 9 - Gary Flinders - p15
5th 58- 1 - Dave Bacon - p18
6th 53- 2 - Tony Rixon - p7
Silvers
1st 21- 4 - Allan Oram - p19
2nd 20-10 - Steve Tucker - p16
3rd 19- 8 - Ken Rayner - p17
Catch - 29 Roach, 10 Skimmers, 10 Rudd, 2 Hybrids, 1 Perch
Weather - Sunny all day, cool breeze.
Match - Open - 3rd out of 19 silvers (13th overall)
With the next round of the Float Only series at Sedges, a practice match was organised and 19 anglers were booked in on Brick lake.
This is my personal favourite of the lakes at Sedges and after catching 46lb of skimmers last year I was looking forward to hopefully more of the same. Peg 17 put me in the right area and the plan was to look for an early carp, catch some skimmers and then catch some late carp.
For company I had Steve Tucker on p16 and Dave Bacon on p18, not that I could see them thanks to the tall reeds.
On the all in 5 balls of groundbait with some casters and 4mm pellet were deposited at 13m, plus 1/2 cup of meat and hemp at 5m. Starting on the meat whilst the 13m line settled I quickly had a 1.5lb skimmer, which was half the size of the one Tucks netted. This was followed eventually by a small hybrid, but that was it for this line all match despite feeding it all match. Tucks did manage a decent carp over this line, but it was strangely quiet.
After 45mins it was time to try the 13m line with worm on the hook and the float soon popped up with a flying skimmer attached. A second followed, but it was hard going which was a little surprising, because there was a decent ripple, although the ups and downs of the recent weather is enough to upset everyone including the fish.
The pattern for the match was catch 1 or 2 skimmers, before they disappeared , feed then catch another 1 or 2, but there was long periods between bites. Other than Tucks I couldn't see anyone else catching silvers and by the mid way point I stopped catching completely. So I got off my box to set up another rig to catch roach on caster from the margins, which was going well until I hooked a decent fish which was either a big skimmer or tench, but felt the line grating against something eventually snapping me above the hooklength, which could prove costly.
Another rig was set up and soon catching more roach and rudd. A switch back to the 13m line only produced one more skimmer, so decided to go for broke. 3 more balls were deposited at 14m to my left, plus a cup of caster.
I also decided to try and catch carp. Since the 5m had failed, decided to dump groundbait and caster down the margin. In hindsight this was a mistake. I should have concentrated on the silvers, but I did it with Sundays match in mind. I hooked 3 carp and all 3 came off. Again I felt them grate against something in the margin, so a little disappointed.
The final 15mins was back out on the 14m line, as was tucks who managed 3 skimmers to my 2. On the all out we both felt we had at least 15lb, but beyond that it was difficult to say since some of the skimmers are a little hollow. Top silvers weight by the time the scales arrived was Tony with 17-10. This was going to be close and so it proved. Tucks weighed 20-10 to my 19-8, although there was still Allan Oram who was also admitting to 15lb. Thanks to a couple of big eels he put 21-4 on the scales, relegating me to 1 out of the money for the 4th time in 6 matches.
Yes, I was a little disappointed, however plenty to consider for the match on Sunday.
1st 122- 6 - Glenn Bailey - p11
2nd 93- 0 - Steve Jackson - p6
3rd 83- 4 - Tom Mangnall - p1
4th 62- 9 - Gary Flinders - p15
5th 58- 1 - Dave Bacon - p18
6th 53- 2 - Tony Rixon - p7
Silvers
1st 21- 4 - Allan Oram - p19
2nd 20-10 - Steve Tucker - p16
3rd 19- 8 - Ken Rayner - p17
Monday 27 July 2015
27/07/15 - Rood Ashton
Weight - 100lb 4oz
Catch - 30 Carp, 2 Roach
Weather - Wet and windy, became a little dryer later
Match - Airsprung AC - 1st out of 13
On the drive down I started questioning my sanity. It was raining hard again and the temperature gauge read 12-13c, which felt more like autumn than summer. On arrival I realised I hadn't brought any 8mm pellet (other than the hookers I keep in a small container) and left my groundbait bucket at home. So not a great start to the day and was wondering whether it was going to be one of those days. Fortunately Steve Ince came to the rescue with a bucket so at least the groundbait could be mixed and the pre-ordered bacon baguettes arrived which were very welcome.
The most optimistic angler today was Tom Ince, who stood shivering under a golf umbrella, wearing shorts determined not to give in to the rubbish weather!
The good news was I couldn't draw the same peg as last time for the 4th time on the trot, because it wasn't in - yay! I fancied a draw on the far wooded bank and got my wish with p11, however of all the pegs on that side it was the 'bird cage' which is narrow with very little margin, i.e. the one you don't want. Fortunately I could park the car close by, taking what I needed from the carryall and rod holdall, leaving the rest to stay dry.
With the wind blowing into my face I decided to start on the method fishing with groundbait whilst letting the pellet fed 12m line settle. The intention was to fish the feeder for 30mins, but ended up staying on it for 2hrs with either a bright pink or red band 'um pellet being best. I did lose a couple to snags and had one decent fish roll over the hooklength, but 12 fish in the net was a handy start. For what ever reason the method caught fish here tend to be on the small side so I really didn't want to stay on it for too long.
A switch to the 12m line (carrat 0.2g > .16 > 16 B960) fishing 8mm pellet over toss potted 6s produced 3 carp, but it wasn't prolific and just got the feeling the strong wind was affecting presentation too much.
From the start I had fed meat and hemp into the deeper right hand edge and was immediately rewarded with a 4lber on double 8mm meat. The next carp snagged in some submerged branches. After tying a new rig (powertrap 0.2g > .17 . 16 carp feeder) a switch from 14-17 hollow to a heavier 16-20 meant no more carp made it to the snags.
A good 90min spell saw me land 10 carp up to 9lb, before it went quiet, but I was now thinking about framing. I hadn't seen too much being caught from the far side other than Nick Ince (but it transpired he had caught a lot of smaller fish including roach on worm over pellet).
So far the left margin had remained untouched allowing the fish to settle over the groundbait - never had a bite other than from roach. Towards the end of the match loads more groundbait was fed into the margin, to avail. To be honest it wasn't an ideal margin to fish, with sunken roots and overhanging brambles, but even so I was expecting a few fish from it.
The last hour was a case of picking up a few fish on the feeder and then down the right hand edge.
By the all out, I was little dryer than when I started the match. I was pleased with my efforts and was fairly sure I had at least framed. Kev Hanson was admitting to 40 carp, mostly on the method and Hippy had also caught well on paste. Fortunately I had beaten both of them thanks to a few better margin fish and I just beat Ryan on p1 who had a very good last hour.
So a long overdue and much needed win.
1st 100- 4 - Ken Rayner - p11
2nd 99- 6 - Ryan Heard - p1
3rd 83- 0 - Richard Whitmarsh - p13
4th 82- 6 - Kev Hanson - p8
5th 71- 8 - Tom Ince - p7
6th 64- 8 - Steve Ince - p5
Catch - 30 Carp, 2 Roach
Weather - Wet and windy, became a little dryer later
Match - Airsprung AC - 1st out of 13
On the drive down I started questioning my sanity. It was raining hard again and the temperature gauge read 12-13c, which felt more like autumn than summer. On arrival I realised I hadn't brought any 8mm pellet (other than the hookers I keep in a small container) and left my groundbait bucket at home. So not a great start to the day and was wondering whether it was going to be one of those days. Fortunately Steve Ince came to the rescue with a bucket so at least the groundbait could be mixed and the pre-ordered bacon baguettes arrived which were very welcome.
The most optimistic angler today was Tom Ince, who stood shivering under a golf umbrella, wearing shorts determined not to give in to the rubbish weather!
The good news was I couldn't draw the same peg as last time for the 4th time on the trot, because it wasn't in - yay! I fancied a draw on the far wooded bank and got my wish with p11, however of all the pegs on that side it was the 'bird cage' which is narrow with very little margin, i.e. the one you don't want. Fortunately I could park the car close by, taking what I needed from the carryall and rod holdall, leaving the rest to stay dry.
With the wind blowing into my face I decided to start on the method fishing with groundbait whilst letting the pellet fed 12m line settle. The intention was to fish the feeder for 30mins, but ended up staying on it for 2hrs with either a bright pink or red band 'um pellet being best. I did lose a couple to snags and had one decent fish roll over the hooklength, but 12 fish in the net was a handy start. For what ever reason the method caught fish here tend to be on the small side so I really didn't want to stay on it for too long.
A switch to the 12m line (carrat 0.2g > .16 > 16 B960) fishing 8mm pellet over toss potted 6s produced 3 carp, but it wasn't prolific and just got the feeling the strong wind was affecting presentation too much.
From the start I had fed meat and hemp into the deeper right hand edge and was immediately rewarded with a 4lber on double 8mm meat. The next carp snagged in some submerged branches. After tying a new rig (powertrap 0.2g > .17 . 16 carp feeder) a switch from 14-17 hollow to a heavier 16-20 meant no more carp made it to the snags.A good 90min spell saw me land 10 carp up to 9lb, before it went quiet, but I was now thinking about framing. I hadn't seen too much being caught from the far side other than Nick Ince (but it transpired he had caught a lot of smaller fish including roach on worm over pellet).
So far the left margin had remained untouched allowing the fish to settle over the groundbait - never had a bite other than from roach. Towards the end of the match loads more groundbait was fed into the margin, to avail. To be honest it wasn't an ideal margin to fish, with sunken roots and overhanging brambles, but even so I was expecting a few fish from it.
The last hour was a case of picking up a few fish on the feeder and then down the right hand edge.
By the all out, I was little dryer than when I started the match. I was pleased with my efforts and was fairly sure I had at least framed. Kev Hanson was admitting to 40 carp, mostly on the method and Hippy had also caught well on paste. Fortunately I had beaten both of them thanks to a few better margin fish and I just beat Ryan on p1 who had a very good last hour.
So a long overdue and much needed win.
1st 100- 4 - Ken Rayner - p11
2nd 99- 6 - Ryan Heard - p1
3rd 83- 0 - Richard Whitmarsh - p13
4th 82- 6 - Kev Hanson - p8
5th 71- 8 - Tom Ince - p7
6th 64- 8 - Steve Ince - p5
25/07/15 - Lands End - Match
Weight - 35lb (5lb 8oz - silvers)
Catch - 7 Carp, 2 Perch 1 F1, 1 Skimmer
Weather - Sunny, but windy
Match - Open - 11th out of 14 (4th in silvers)
Yesterday's weather was very wet and the lakes received a much needed top up. At least it was dry today.
Peg 3 again for me. Really not the best peg, however it has some recent form, when Ryan Shipp framed last week using chopped worm and caster, which raised my hopes a little, although I couldn't see many fish moving around. The expectation was yesterday's heavy rain would have lowered the water temperature unsettling the fish.
I didn't have time to buy any caster and Mike didn't have any, meant I was going to have to rely on meat, pellet and paste, which should have simplified my match.
Although it was dry today, a strong breeze was blowing straight down the lake, which would make fishing paste to the island a pain, so decided to feed meat and hemp. Whilst that settled I started down my right by the lily's on paste and was soon attached to a carp, which promptly snagged me in the lily's. Unfortunately in my efforts to extract the carp I snapped my no6 section - not a great start to the day.
10mins later I manage a decent carp on paste, but no more followed so switched to the far side hoping to bag up. Well it simple didn't happen. The meat across only produced 2 perch and a F1, I tried pellet and paste, but couldn't get a proper bite. The carp just weren't getting their heads down.
Tom Mangnall on P1 was picking up a few fish my slapping a pellet around and Vince Shipp on P5 had caught a couple of fish, but no one was running away with it.
To be honest I became a little preoccupied trying to catch carp, partly because I thought I would be too far behind to claim a silvers payout. As it turned out the silvers weren't feeding either with only 10lb needed to 2nd in silvers.
The island only produced 1 carp on paste. The left margin where I had been feeding pellet produced only 1 carp on 6mm pellet, but it was my 6m meat line which produced the bulk of my fish.
A difficult day and I just wish I had brought some caster or at least concentrated on soft pellet to put together a net of silvers. As it happened I was 1 out of the money (for the silvers) for the 3rd time in the last 4 matches.
1st 133- 0 - Ryan Shipp - p13 (chopped worm & caster)
2nd 98-15 - Dave Wescott - p19 (paste)
3rd 76- 2 - Adrian Jeffery - p15
4th 63-13 - Rod Wootton - p11
5th 62-14 - Tom Mangnall - p1
6th 46- 2 - Vince Shipp - p5
Silvers
1st 19- 0 - Ryan Shipp - p13
2nd 13- 6 - Eric Fouracre - p24
3rd 10- 3 - Rich Lovering - p21
Catch - 7 Carp, 2 Perch 1 F1, 1 Skimmer
Weather - Sunny, but windy
Match - Open - 11th out of 14 (4th in silvers)
Yesterday's weather was very wet and the lakes received a much needed top up. At least it was dry today.
Peg 3 again for me. Really not the best peg, however it has some recent form, when Ryan Shipp framed last week using chopped worm and caster, which raised my hopes a little, although I couldn't see many fish moving around. The expectation was yesterday's heavy rain would have lowered the water temperature unsettling the fish.
I didn't have time to buy any caster and Mike didn't have any, meant I was going to have to rely on meat, pellet and paste, which should have simplified my match.
Although it was dry today, a strong breeze was blowing straight down the lake, which would make fishing paste to the island a pain, so decided to feed meat and hemp. Whilst that settled I started down my right by the lily's on paste and was soon attached to a carp, which promptly snagged me in the lily's. Unfortunately in my efforts to extract the carp I snapped my no6 section - not a great start to the day.
10mins later I manage a decent carp on paste, but no more followed so switched to the far side hoping to bag up. Well it simple didn't happen. The meat across only produced 2 perch and a F1, I tried pellet and paste, but couldn't get a proper bite. The carp just weren't getting their heads down.
Tom Mangnall on P1 was picking up a few fish my slapping a pellet around and Vince Shipp on P5 had caught a couple of fish, but no one was running away with it.
To be honest I became a little preoccupied trying to catch carp, partly because I thought I would be too far behind to claim a silvers payout. As it turned out the silvers weren't feeding either with only 10lb needed to 2nd in silvers.
The island only produced 1 carp on paste. The left margin where I had been feeding pellet produced only 1 carp on 6mm pellet, but it was my 6m meat line which produced the bulk of my fish.
A difficult day and I just wish I had brought some caster or at least concentrated on soft pellet to put together a net of silvers. As it happened I was 1 out of the money (for the silvers) for the 3rd time in the last 4 matches.
1st 133- 0 - Ryan Shipp - p13 (chopped worm & caster)
2nd 98-15 - Dave Wescott - p19 (paste)
3rd 76- 2 - Adrian Jeffery - p15
4th 63-13 - Rod Wootton - p11
5th 62-14 - Tom Mangnall - p1
6th 46- 2 - Vince Shipp - p5
Silvers
1st 19- 0 - Ryan Shipp - p13
2nd 13- 6 - Eric Fouracre - p24
3rd 10- 3 - Rich Lovering - p21
Tuesday 21 July 2015
19/07/15 - Ivy House - Willow
Weight - 25lb 0oz (8lb 2oz - silvers)
Catch - 2 Carp, 52 Roach, 5 Skimmers, 1 Perch
Weather - Mostly sunny and breezy
Match - Float Only rd 4 - 22nd out of 40 - 2nd in section
I was looking forward to this match and walking around the lakes there was the usual chat about where to draw and where to avoid. At the moment much of it is guess work until the lakes settles after being divided in 2. On paper the smaller lake (Match) nearer the café looked the best although today there would be 15 anglers on it, meaning only 5 space pegs. The far lake (Willow) would also have 15 anglers and a little more space and the new canal would have 10, which most people wanted to avoid.
Peg 28 put me on the far side of Willow, with the small lake behind, which meant plenty of room, however this area of the lake has been poor recently so a difficult day was likely. My section started at p21 (next to the causeway) drawn by Tim Ford who I expected to do the business, leaving the rest of us (Glenn Calvert, Kev Molton and Mike West) to slug it out for 2nd in section. Paul Elmes was to my left on p30, so I really did have plenty of room.
After Tuesday's match I had a plan of fishing long with pellet, 7m for skimmers and the margins for later. This plan now needed a little adapting, because the long line was a little deeper than expected and being a poor area of the lake decided to go down the route of trying to catch everything. The extra space also meant I could still have a pellet/corn line set up away from me for the carp/big skimmers. Well that was the plan.
Starting on expander over the pellet/corn I got dings on the float from little fish. A switch to corn meant no more dings but no fish either. Going over to 13m, where I fed 2 balls of groundbait with caster, chopped worm and pellet resulted in a 8oz skimmer straight away then nothing. On to the 7m line where I fed caster, corn and a small ball of groundbait produced 2 small skimmers on double dead maggot.
I was hoping for something a little bigger in the opening hour, but all attempts for a proper skimmer failed. Although with the wind blowing into the other end of the lake, meant it was mostly flat calm in front of me, which combined with the bright conditions wasn't ideal.
Since I had seen very little caught in my section I decided to swap my skimmer rig (SM chimp > .12 > 16 B911) for a more delicate roach rig (Jolly > .10 > 20 silverfish maggot) fishing caster which kept me occupied for a couple of hours whilst keeping an eye on everyone.
At the half way stage another attempt at catching a decent skimmer or even a carp over the pellet/corn line or the long line failed. There were a few carp cruising which I tried to mug, but as soon at the pole came towards them they bugger off.
So with 2.5hrs left it was decision time. I noticed Tim, Glenn and Kev catch a carp and felt I had to do the same in light of the absence of any decent skimmers.
Silvers
Catch - 2 Carp, 52 Roach, 5 Skimmers, 1 Perch
Weather - Mostly sunny and breezy
Match - Float Only rd 4 - 22nd out of 40 - 2nd in section
I was looking forward to this match and walking around the lakes there was the usual chat about where to draw and where to avoid. At the moment much of it is guess work until the lakes settles after being divided in 2. On paper the smaller lake (Match) nearer the café looked the best although today there would be 15 anglers on it, meaning only 5 space pegs. The far lake (Willow) would also have 15 anglers and a little more space and the new canal would have 10, which most people wanted to avoid.
Peg 28 put me on the far side of Willow, with the small lake behind, which meant plenty of room, however this area of the lake has been poor recently so a difficult day was likely. My section started at p21 (next to the causeway) drawn by Tim Ford who I expected to do the business, leaving the rest of us (Glenn Calvert, Kev Molton and Mike West) to slug it out for 2nd in section. Paul Elmes was to my left on p30, so I really did have plenty of room.
After Tuesday's match I had a plan of fishing long with pellet, 7m for skimmers and the margins for later. This plan now needed a little adapting, because the long line was a little deeper than expected and being a poor area of the lake decided to go down the route of trying to catch everything. The extra space also meant I could still have a pellet/corn line set up away from me for the carp/big skimmers. Well that was the plan.
Starting on expander over the pellet/corn I got dings on the float from little fish. A switch to corn meant no more dings but no fish either. Going over to 13m, where I fed 2 balls of groundbait with caster, chopped worm and pellet resulted in a 8oz skimmer straight away then nothing. On to the 7m line where I fed caster, corn and a small ball of groundbait produced 2 small skimmers on double dead maggot.I was hoping for something a little bigger in the opening hour, but all attempts for a proper skimmer failed. Although with the wind blowing into the other end of the lake, meant it was mostly flat calm in front of me, which combined with the bright conditions wasn't ideal.
Since I had seen very little caught in my section I decided to swap my skimmer rig (SM chimp > .12 > 16 B911) for a more delicate roach rig (Jolly > .10 > 20 silverfish maggot) fishing caster which kept me occupied for a couple of hours whilst keeping an eye on everyone.
At the half way stage another attempt at catching a decent skimmer or even a carp over the pellet/corn line or the long line failed. There were a few carp cruising which I tried to mug, but as soon at the pole came towards them they bugger off.
So with 2.5hrs left it was decision time. I noticed Tim, Glenn and Kev catch a carp and felt I had to do the same in light of the absence of any decent skimmers.
Initially caster/corn was fed down the right margin and groundbait down the left. Just like Tuesday attracting the fish into the swim wasn't the problem, getting a bite was. I managed a roach and 6lb carp from the right margin on corn and a 2lb skimmer and a double figure common from the left on double corn.
In the end I was quite pleased with my efforts beating everyone between p21 and p37. As expected Tim won my section. Despite the difficult fishing I enjoyed the day. Even the forecast rain stayed away.
1st 317-11 - Chris Davis - p11 (M)
In the end I was quite pleased with my efforts beating everyone between p21 and p37. As expected Tim won my section. Despite the difficult fishing I enjoyed the day. Even the forecast rain stayed away.
1st 317-11 - Chris Davis - p11 (M)
2nd 81-14 - Bela Bakos - p39 (W)
3rd 67-11 - Dick Bull - p20 (M)
4th 61- 4 - Steve Tucker - NC10
5th 55-14 - Craig Edmunds - p4 (M)
6th 51- 8 - Martin Lenaghan - p14 (M)
Silvers
1st 42-12 - Steve Tucker - NC10
2nd 40- 1 - Leon Hubbard - p17 (M)
3rd 26- 5 - Clint Wotlyla - p37 (W)
Monday 20 July 2015
18/07/15 - Fishponds
Weight - 75lb
Catch - 14 Carp
Weather - Mostly sunny and windy
Match - 8th out of 10
Today was a lead/feeder rod only afternoon/evening match at my club water. Not being a fan of this style of fishing, I don't normally fish these matches, preferring to watch a float going under rather than a tip rod pulling round. However, because I needed to sort a few things out Saturday morning I decided to book in.
On arrival Joe Thompson was 'delighted' to see me - he obviously received the letter from his insurers informing him that my insurers are taking legal action to recover the costs of his very minor collision with my car. Fortunately I drew the other side of the side, so didn't need the ear defenders.
Peg 16 put me in the far corner with the wind off my back. Its a peg I don't particularly like, because its quite snaggy close in and your options are quite limited. So I wasn't bursting with enthusiasm and already regretting the decision to fish. However, it wasn't raining which a pleasant change - every cloud....
Setting up didn't take long. 1 lead rod and 1 method to fish left and right down each bank. Bait was 8mm or 11mm pellet, so very simple.
4 carp in the first hour, followed but only 1 in the second, meant I was falling behind those I could see, but I just didn't get the feeling there was any volume of fish in front of me, so just kept piling in the pellet hoping to draw a few fish in. This did work, but the problem was the snags. I had all my fish down the right bank on the lead towards a partially sunken tree. Assuming I managed to pull the fish away from the tree, it was a case of making sure I avoided the other snags on the way in. In total I lost 8 fish, which may have been enough to frame, but my average stamp of fish was just 5lb, compared to the usual 7lbers.
Well done to Dave who won his first Glenfall AC match with 200lb.
1st 204- 5 - Dave Bradley - p20
2nd 162- 1 - Brian Gilbert - p6
3rd 144- 8 - Glenn Putterill - p12
4th 118- 4 - Andy Bradley - p25
5th 111-14 - Nick Jordell - p7
6th 103-10 - Eddie Long - p1
Catch - 14 Carp
Weather - Mostly sunny and windy
Match - 8th out of 10
Today was a lead/feeder rod only afternoon/evening match at my club water. Not being a fan of this style of fishing, I don't normally fish these matches, preferring to watch a float going under rather than a tip rod pulling round. However, because I needed to sort a few things out Saturday morning I decided to book in.
On arrival Joe Thompson was 'delighted' to see me - he obviously received the letter from his insurers informing him that my insurers are taking legal action to recover the costs of his very minor collision with my car. Fortunately I drew the other side of the side, so didn't need the ear defenders.
Peg 16 put me in the far corner with the wind off my back. Its a peg I don't particularly like, because its quite snaggy close in and your options are quite limited. So I wasn't bursting with enthusiasm and already regretting the decision to fish. However, it wasn't raining which a pleasant change - every cloud....
Setting up didn't take long. 1 lead rod and 1 method to fish left and right down each bank. Bait was 8mm or 11mm pellet, so very simple.
4 carp in the first hour, followed but only 1 in the second, meant I was falling behind those I could see, but I just didn't get the feeling there was any volume of fish in front of me, so just kept piling in the pellet hoping to draw a few fish in. This did work, but the problem was the snags. I had all my fish down the right bank on the lead towards a partially sunken tree. Assuming I managed to pull the fish away from the tree, it was a case of making sure I avoided the other snags on the way in. In total I lost 8 fish, which may have been enough to frame, but my average stamp of fish was just 5lb, compared to the usual 7lbers.
Well done to Dave who won his first Glenfall AC match with 200lb.
1st 204- 5 - Dave Bradley - p20
2nd 162- 1 - Brian Gilbert - p6
3rd 144- 8 - Glenn Putterill - p12
4th 118- 4 - Andy Bradley - p25
5th 111-14 - Nick Jordell - p7
6th 103-10 - Eddie Long - p1
14/07/15 - Ivy House - Willow
Weight - 21lb 6oz
Catch - 26 Skimmers, 2 Roach
Weather - Dry start, then heavy drizzle
Match - Open - 3rd out of 26 - silvers (17th overall)
A little behind on my blogs (again), but decided to fish Tuesdays cost cutter open at Ivy House in preparation for the float only league on Sunday. Arriving at the café I wasn't the only one, with Tony Rixon, Chris Fox and Trigger bolstering the numbers.
As regulars know Andy Lloyd has being working hard to improve the venue. The latest work has seen the original causeway widened, the island flatten and the excess soil used to make a 2nd causeway splitting the lake in two, thereby creating a 20 and 24 peg lakes. Personally I think this will be a good thing in the long term and I'm sure commercially (lets remember Andy is running a business) it makes sense and should improve the fishing once the stocking of each lake is worked out.
The lakes had also been re-pegged and p37 put me on the island, next to the new causeway. Initially I was quite pleased, because the wind was blowing down this end and a couple weighs of carp had been caught during the previous week. However I was less pleased when the 2 pegs opposite were taken as well as p38 to my left, so I felt a little cut off.
After spotting a swirl by the causeway I started on the slapper rig hoping for an early carp, but never had a bite. A switch to 13m where the swim starts to shallow up, fishing 6mm expander over 6s and corn I had a big skimmer followed by a few more skimmers before it slowed, but still no carp. In fact everyone around me seemed to be struggling. Therefore decided to on the skimmers.
I had set up a secondary swim to my left in open water feeding groundbait and pellet. This produced a number skimmers throughout the match on various baits (expander, worm, dead maggot), but couldn't get a bite on corn, which has caught a lot of fish recently.
My 13m line had a regular helping of 6s, but the pellet only got nibbled from roach which was a little frustrating.
I had also been pinging pellet to the causeway all match, but no signs of fish so decided to feed groundbait, which brought the fish in, but I simply couldn't get a bite. This wasn't a unique problem, because a number of other anglers had similar issues. In hindsight I should have fished a longer line, or even set up a waggler. I just felt the fish where unsettled feeding against a bare bank. No doubt it wont be long before the green stuff starts growing back.
By the all out I was happy with how the match started, although disappointed with how in finished. I did consider staying on, but again the weather had turned to more of the wet stuff and I didn't fancy spending my evening getting even wetter.
Andy doesn't pay de-faults, so unfortunately Baggy who came 2nd in the silvers also framed, meaning my 3rd in the silvers put me 1 out of the money.
1st 137- 2 - Elick Payne - p18
2nd 113- 3 - Tony Rixon - p6
3rd 98- 8 - Andy Lloyd - p42
4th 71-11 - Chris Fox - p21
5th 66- 2 - Baggy - p16
6th 59-14 - Oggy - p20
Silvers
1st 47-15 - Craig Edmunds - p31
2nd 44- 2 - Baggy - p16
3rd 21- 6 - Ken Rayner - p37
Catch - 26 Skimmers, 2 Roach
Weather - Dry start, then heavy drizzle
Match - Open - 3rd out of 26 - silvers (17th overall)
A little behind on my blogs (again), but decided to fish Tuesdays cost cutter open at Ivy House in preparation for the float only league on Sunday. Arriving at the café I wasn't the only one, with Tony Rixon, Chris Fox and Trigger bolstering the numbers.
As regulars know Andy Lloyd has being working hard to improve the venue. The latest work has seen the original causeway widened, the island flatten and the excess soil used to make a 2nd causeway splitting the lake in two, thereby creating a 20 and 24 peg lakes. Personally I think this will be a good thing in the long term and I'm sure commercially (lets remember Andy is running a business) it makes sense and should improve the fishing once the stocking of each lake is worked out.
The lakes had also been re-pegged and p37 put me on the island, next to the new causeway. Initially I was quite pleased, because the wind was blowing down this end and a couple weighs of carp had been caught during the previous week. However I was less pleased when the 2 pegs opposite were taken as well as p38 to my left, so I felt a little cut off.After spotting a swirl by the causeway I started on the slapper rig hoping for an early carp, but never had a bite. A switch to 13m where the swim starts to shallow up, fishing 6mm expander over 6s and corn I had a big skimmer followed by a few more skimmers before it slowed, but still no carp. In fact everyone around me seemed to be struggling. Therefore decided to on the skimmers.
I had set up a secondary swim to my left in open water feeding groundbait and pellet. This produced a number skimmers throughout the match on various baits (expander, worm, dead maggot), but couldn't get a bite on corn, which has caught a lot of fish recently.
My 13m line had a regular helping of 6s, but the pellet only got nibbled from roach which was a little frustrating.
I had also been pinging pellet to the causeway all match, but no signs of fish so decided to feed groundbait, which brought the fish in, but I simply couldn't get a bite. This wasn't a unique problem, because a number of other anglers had similar issues. In hindsight I should have fished a longer line, or even set up a waggler. I just felt the fish where unsettled feeding against a bare bank. No doubt it wont be long before the green stuff starts growing back.
By the all out I was happy with how the match started, although disappointed with how in finished. I did consider staying on, but again the weather had turned to more of the wet stuff and I didn't fancy spending my evening getting even wetter.
Andy doesn't pay de-faults, so unfortunately Baggy who came 2nd in the silvers also framed, meaning my 3rd in the silvers put me 1 out of the money.
1st 137- 2 - Elick Payne - p18
2nd 113- 3 - Tony Rixon - p6
3rd 98- 8 - Andy Lloyd - p42
4th 71-11 - Chris Fox - p21
5th 66- 2 - Baggy - p16
6th 59-14 - Oggy - p20
Silvers
1st 47-15 - Craig Edmunds - p31
2nd 44- 2 - Baggy - p16
3rd 21- 6 - Ken Rayner - p37
Monday 13 July 2015
12/07/15 - Trinity Waters - Woodlands
Weight - 44lb 12oz (3lb 15oz - silvers)
Catch - 7 Carp, 37 Roach, 3 Skimmers, 3 Rudd
Weather - Mostly overcast and showery
Match - Short Pole - rd 3 - 7th out of 28, 2nd in section
I'll be honest. I wasn't really looking forward to this match, mainly because I have struggled to come to terms with the venue, although to be fair I haven't had the best draws. So today was about just trying to have a days fishing, which meant my carryall was weighed down more than usually with various baits. The intention was if I couldn't catch carp, I would at least try for some silvers.
For the 3rd week on the bounce we have had nice weather during the week, but come Sunday it was back on with the Gore-Tex as it rained on and off for most of the day.
At the draw and peg 14 put me one peg away from the favoured corner of 15 where Martin Lenaghan sat. My section started with me going round the end bank to p22, which included Tony Rixon on p19 (with the big snag now removed) and Trigger on p22, which won the section in the last round.
When I sat down on the peg, I quite fancied the margins to produce as I had a little more space than some pegs. The right margin was about 2.5ft deep, so that would be fed with groundbait later in the match and the left margin was 4ft deep, which would be initially fed with caster, with the option to fed pellet later depending on how the match progressed.
At the start of the match I hedged my bets a little feeding 6s to my right and groundbait/caster to my left. Starting in the right hand swim with paste was a little slow, eventually hooking my first fish, a 3lb 'flying' bream after 15mins, which promptly threw the hook mid air - bugger.
Despite loads of fizzing I couldn't get another bite on paste, so switched to a 1g silvers rig and double dead reds on the hook. Netting a 3lb carp. The left hand swim failed to produce, so decided not to bother with it. Everyone else seemed to have caught a couple of early skimmers or carp, but after an hour everyone was now struggling.
A switch to the left hand margin fishing with one of Mike Nichols favourite float patterns, a 4x14 jolly I started catching some very small roach on caster, with the occasional bigger 2oz fish. At one point the swim went quiet and I thought perhaps a carp had moved so tried the paste rig without success. Switching back to the caster rig and the swim was now full of motherless minnows (no doubt attracted by the paste) and I couldn't get a proper bite.
The right hand depth swim was proving to be a nightmare. There was loads of fizzing, but simply couldn't get a bite. A number of people were experiencing the same issue and can only put it down to the fish feeding a couple of feet off bottom. In an attempt to force the fish down I feed a big pot pellet, fishing worm which produced 2 skimmers, but nothing else.
I had also started feeding 6s to my left in an attempt to catch shallow mostly at 2ft deep on 6mm banded pellet. This produced a few better roach, but pulled out of a couple, so switched to a light 6-10 hollow. Typically my next bite was a carp, which kited right snagged up on Dave Evans rig. Fortunately Dave was very good about it and I managed to unhook his rig, before landing my carp. A 2nd carp soon followed, but the ripple had now moved out in the middle of the lake, before going flat calm. I couldn't get another bite after that.
So with 2hrs to go I had 3 carp and my silvers. I knew I was behind Martin, Tony and Trigger, but from what I could see not much was being caught.
I had started feeding groundbait down my edge an hour previously, but so far couldn't get a bite using my favourite Carrat float. I tried bunches of maggot, worm, double corn and meat. Eventually I had a carp on double 8mm meat. I couldn't get a bite anywhere else so for the last 30mins stuck with the margin and caught 3 more carp all on meat. Needless to say the margin was solid by the all out, oh for an extra 30mins.
It looked like Trigger had at least won the section, but it would be close between Tony and myself. During the weigh in it became obvious the lake had fished harder than expected. By the time we got to Trigger I was leading the section, beating Tony by 3lb and needed Trigger to frame so I could pick up the section which he duly did.
1st 110- 2 - Mike Nichols - p31
2nd 59- 8 - Craig Edmunds - p22
3rd 52-15 - Glenn Bailey - p4
4th 52-12 - Paul Elmes - p3
5th 52- 4 - Gordon Cannings - p7
6th 46-10 - Rod Wootton - p2
Silvers
1st 23- 9 - Vic Bush - p30
2nd 9- 1 - Dave Evans - p13
2nd 9- 1 - Tom Mangnall - p25
Catch - 7 Carp, 37 Roach, 3 Skimmers, 3 Rudd
Weather - Mostly overcast and showery
Match - Short Pole - rd 3 - 7th out of 28, 2nd in section
I'll be honest. I wasn't really looking forward to this match, mainly because I have struggled to come to terms with the venue, although to be fair I haven't had the best draws. So today was about just trying to have a days fishing, which meant my carryall was weighed down more than usually with various baits. The intention was if I couldn't catch carp, I would at least try for some silvers.
For the 3rd week on the bounce we have had nice weather during the week, but come Sunday it was back on with the Gore-Tex as it rained on and off for most of the day.
At the draw and peg 14 put me one peg away from the favoured corner of 15 where Martin Lenaghan sat. My section started with me going round the end bank to p22, which included Tony Rixon on p19 (with the big snag now removed) and Trigger on p22, which won the section in the last round.
When I sat down on the peg, I quite fancied the margins to produce as I had a little more space than some pegs. The right margin was about 2.5ft deep, so that would be fed with groundbait later in the match and the left margin was 4ft deep, which would be initially fed with caster, with the option to fed pellet later depending on how the match progressed.
At the start of the match I hedged my bets a little feeding 6s to my right and groundbait/caster to my left. Starting in the right hand swim with paste was a little slow, eventually hooking my first fish, a 3lb 'flying' bream after 15mins, which promptly threw the hook mid air - bugger.
Despite loads of fizzing I couldn't get another bite on paste, so switched to a 1g silvers rig and double dead reds on the hook. Netting a 3lb carp. The left hand swim failed to produce, so decided not to bother with it. Everyone else seemed to have caught a couple of early skimmers or carp, but after an hour everyone was now struggling.
A switch to the left hand margin fishing with one of Mike Nichols favourite float patterns, a 4x14 jolly I started catching some very small roach on caster, with the occasional bigger 2oz fish. At one point the swim went quiet and I thought perhaps a carp had moved so tried the paste rig without success. Switching back to the caster rig and the swim was now full of motherless minnows (no doubt attracted by the paste) and I couldn't get a proper bite.
The right hand depth swim was proving to be a nightmare. There was loads of fizzing, but simply couldn't get a bite. A number of people were experiencing the same issue and can only put it down to the fish feeding a couple of feet off bottom. In an attempt to force the fish down I feed a big pot pellet, fishing worm which produced 2 skimmers, but nothing else.
I had also started feeding 6s to my left in an attempt to catch shallow mostly at 2ft deep on 6mm banded pellet. This produced a few better roach, but pulled out of a couple, so switched to a light 6-10 hollow. Typically my next bite was a carp, which kited right snagged up on Dave Evans rig. Fortunately Dave was very good about it and I managed to unhook his rig, before landing my carp. A 2nd carp soon followed, but the ripple had now moved out in the middle of the lake, before going flat calm. I couldn't get another bite after that.
So with 2hrs to go I had 3 carp and my silvers. I knew I was behind Martin, Tony and Trigger, but from what I could see not much was being caught.
I had started feeding groundbait down my edge an hour previously, but so far couldn't get a bite using my favourite Carrat float. I tried bunches of maggot, worm, double corn and meat. Eventually I had a carp on double 8mm meat. I couldn't get a bite anywhere else so for the last 30mins stuck with the margin and caught 3 more carp all on meat. Needless to say the margin was solid by the all out, oh for an extra 30mins.
It looked like Trigger had at least won the section, but it would be close between Tony and myself. During the weigh in it became obvious the lake had fished harder than expected. By the time we got to Trigger I was leading the section, beating Tony by 3lb and needed Trigger to frame so I could pick up the section which he duly did.
1st 110- 2 - Mike Nichols - p31
2nd 59- 8 - Craig Edmunds - p22
3rd 52-15 - Glenn Bailey - p4
4th 52-12 - Paul Elmes - p3
5th 52- 4 - Gordon Cannings - p7
6th 46-10 - Rod Wootton - p2
Silvers
1st 23- 9 - Vic Bush - p30
2nd 9- 1 - Dave Evans - p13
2nd 9- 1 - Tom Mangnall - p25
Monday 6 July 2015
05/07/15 - Lands End - Johns Lake
Weight - 63lb 7oz (7lb 15oz silvers)
Catch - 12 Carp, 7 Skimmers, 3 Crucians, 2 Roach, 1 F1
Weather - Dry start, but some very heavy showers
Match - Float Only Series rd 3 - 21st out of 40, 2nd in section
After a good breakfast at Shipham I arrived with enough time to walk around the lakes with Mike Walker who has only fished the venue a handful of times. The usual questions of where I would want to draw came up and to be honest I wasn't that bothered, but with 15 anglers on Johns lake I thought that might be the lake to avoid.
Mike drew my peg from yesterday and went on to win his section. I wasn't so lucky, with peg 45 which is probably one of the worst pegs on lake 3. It can occasionally produce but with Rod Wootton on p46, neither of us were looking forward to it. My 5 peg section included 41, 42 and 50 and neither Rod or I expected to pick up any coin today.
In the knockout I had Glenn Calvert, who was on p68, so at least we were on the same lake, but to be honest I didn't fancy my chances of getting through to the next round.
As you will see from Mike Nicholls blog I took to the boat. Mike has been very busy doing shows and hasn't had time to trim back the island foliage. As a consequence there was a number of sedges and brambles trailing into the water. After clearing my island of debris, which meant I could fish tight to the island, I cleared Rod's as well (I did consider dropping extra branches into his swim - lol).
My Captain Pugwash impression, meant I only just set up in time for the all in, but I had noticed a few fish milling around in the gap between the island so having a boat over their heads didn't have any ill effects on the swim.
Starting across on paste in the gap and I had 3 good size carp for just over 20lb after 30mins, which was a really good start and a bit of a surprise. Like yesterday the carp soon wised up to it and I started to get loaded of little dinks. A switch to the pellet rig revealed the potential culprits as smaller skimmers, which meant it was time to rest the swim.
Fishing along the island produced a few decent silvers which I would have been happy to keep catching to let my margin which was fed with hemp/meat and my island gap swim time to settled. However, Rod was now catching in the swim I cleared out for him and I knew Mike on p50 was also catching.
The forecast light rain, turned into a couple of heavy deluges and I was just pleased to have taken my coat from the car, unlike a couple of others who were deceived by the sunny start to the day.
The fish seemed to have been put off by the rain, since we all stopped catching. Fortunately I managed a couple more fish from the island on paste or pellet, but it was noticeable the pellet fish were a smaller stamp.
My margin swim only produced 2 carp, which was a disappointment and my down the track meat swim didn't produce at all. By the all out Rod had more carp than me, but I had the bigger stamp so it would be close. As it turned out my silvers swung the decision by 4lb.
Second in section is more than expected so I cant be too disappointed and I had hoped in vain Mike's 95lb would be enough to frame so I could pick up section money by default. However, there were a number of ton weights on match and speci lakes.
As for the knockout, Glenn beat me by 10lb - so well done Glenn.
1st 186- 4 - Tony Rixon - p38
2nd 175-11 - Kev Molton - p33
3rd 163-12 - Dan White - p13
4th 117-14 - Craig Edmunds - p3
5th 111- 5 - Steve Seager - p16
6th 102-12 - Mike Walker - p19
Silvers
1st 27-13 - Andy Hembrow - p34
2nd 16-15 - Kev Molton - p33
3rd 14- 7 - Mike Duckett - p21
Catch - 12 Carp, 7 Skimmers, 3 Crucians, 2 Roach, 1 F1
Weather - Dry start, but some very heavy showers
Match - Float Only Series rd 3 - 21st out of 40, 2nd in section
After a good breakfast at Shipham I arrived with enough time to walk around the lakes with Mike Walker who has only fished the venue a handful of times. The usual questions of where I would want to draw came up and to be honest I wasn't that bothered, but with 15 anglers on Johns lake I thought that might be the lake to avoid.
Mike drew my peg from yesterday and went on to win his section. I wasn't so lucky, with peg 45 which is probably one of the worst pegs on lake 3. It can occasionally produce but with Rod Wootton on p46, neither of us were looking forward to it. My 5 peg section included 41, 42 and 50 and neither Rod or I expected to pick up any coin today.
In the knockout I had Glenn Calvert, who was on p68, so at least we were on the same lake, but to be honest I didn't fancy my chances of getting through to the next round.
As you will see from Mike Nicholls blog I took to the boat. Mike has been very busy doing shows and hasn't had time to trim back the island foliage. As a consequence there was a number of sedges and brambles trailing into the water. After clearing my island of debris, which meant I could fish tight to the island, I cleared Rod's as well (I did consider dropping extra branches into his swim - lol).
My Captain Pugwash impression, meant I only just set up in time for the all in, but I had noticed a few fish milling around in the gap between the island so having a boat over their heads didn't have any ill effects on the swim.
Starting across on paste in the gap and I had 3 good size carp for just over 20lb after 30mins, which was a really good start and a bit of a surprise. Like yesterday the carp soon wised up to it and I started to get loaded of little dinks. A switch to the pellet rig revealed the potential culprits as smaller skimmers, which meant it was time to rest the swim.
Fishing along the island produced a few decent silvers which I would have been happy to keep catching to let my margin which was fed with hemp/meat and my island gap swim time to settled. However, Rod was now catching in the swim I cleared out for him and I knew Mike on p50 was also catching.
The forecast light rain, turned into a couple of heavy deluges and I was just pleased to have taken my coat from the car, unlike a couple of others who were deceived by the sunny start to the day.
The fish seemed to have been put off by the rain, since we all stopped catching. Fortunately I managed a couple more fish from the island on paste or pellet, but it was noticeable the pellet fish were a smaller stamp.
My margin swim only produced 2 carp, which was a disappointment and my down the track meat swim didn't produce at all. By the all out Rod had more carp than me, but I had the bigger stamp so it would be close. As it turned out my silvers swung the decision by 4lb.
Second in section is more than expected so I cant be too disappointed and I had hoped in vain Mike's 95lb would be enough to frame so I could pick up section money by default. However, there were a number of ton weights on match and speci lakes.
As for the knockout, Glenn beat me by 10lb - so well done Glenn.
1st 186- 4 - Tony Rixon - p38
2nd 175-11 - Kev Molton - p33
3rd 163-12 - Dan White - p13
4th 117-14 - Craig Edmunds - p3
5th 111- 5 - Steve Seager - p16
6th 102-12 - Mike Walker - p19
Silvers
1st 27-13 - Andy Hembrow - p34
2nd 16-15 - Kev Molton - p33
3rd 14- 7 - Mike Duckett - p21
04/07/15 - Lands End - Match Lake
Weight - 104lb 1oz
Catch - 21 Carp, 3 Skimmers, 3 Perch, 2 F1s, 2 Roach
Weather - Warm & sunny
Match - Open - 2nd out of 14
Beginning to feel a lot better about my fishing now following a section win last weekend and a PB weight on Wednesday, However, it's easy to understand why some anglers threaten to quit whilst on a poor run.
Entering the draw with a positive mind set and drew p19 which is not always a winning peg, but usually very consistent and I was looking forward to a good day.
Since I haven't been here for a few weeks, asking around what's working, the reply came back pellet, pellet and more pellet. What about paste or meat? No, no one has really caught on it. Sod it, I mixed up some paste and cut up 2 tins of meat any way, simply because this a tricky time of the year with the fish coming off the back of spawning and may possibly going at it again.
A number rigs were set up to target the island with paste or pellet, plus a couple rigs for down the track for meat and a silvers rig just in case.
Starting across to the island with paste whilst everyone was still feeding I caught my first fish after 15mins, shortly followed by another, before they went skittish swimming through the peg pulling the rig out of the paste. A switch to pellet produced a couple more fish, but it was very difficult to get a proper bite. Just ask Jamie Parkhouse on p21, who I thought was running away with the match, however very few of the fish hooked were actually landed.
A switch to fishing down the track over micros & 4s with a banded 6 would I hope produce a few skimmers whilst the carp settled back down. It proved to be hard work in the bright conditions catching only 1 skimmer and a roach. Rising bubbles revealed there were a few fish feeding, so tried worm instead which did improve things with a couple of F1s and skimmers, but it was still slow going. A 2nd back up pellet swim to my right didn't produce anything and since we were now half way though the match I needed a rethink.
A pot of hemp & meat down the track transformed my match. After picking off a couple more fish from the island, the meat line produced 13 carp in the last 2hrs, which was a nice way to finish the match. I still thought Jamie had beaten me, but he had continue to lose fish throughout the match and I was fairly sure I beaten the anglers on my side of the lake.
On the all out the grapevine suggested that as well as James Withers on P1 catching late and Lewis Jones on p3 catching all match, Mike Duckett (p8) and Ray White (p11) had also caught well, however this turned out to be a bit of wind up.
1st 155- 5 - Lewis Jones - p3
2nd 104- 1 - Ken Rayner - p19
3rd 96- 3 - James Withers - p1
4th 85- 4 - Rich Lovering - p13
5th 59- 8 - Jamie Parkhouse - p21
6th 57- 6 - Ray White - p11
Silvers
1st 19-14 - Andy Hembrow - p6
2nd 18-10 - Rod Wootton - p5
3rd 13- 0 - Mike Duckett - p8
Catch - 21 Carp, 3 Skimmers, 3 Perch, 2 F1s, 2 Roach
Weather - Warm & sunny
Match - Open - 2nd out of 14
Beginning to feel a lot better about my fishing now following a section win last weekend and a PB weight on Wednesday, However, it's easy to understand why some anglers threaten to quit whilst on a poor run.
Entering the draw with a positive mind set and drew p19 which is not always a winning peg, but usually very consistent and I was looking forward to a good day.
Since I haven't been here for a few weeks, asking around what's working, the reply came back pellet, pellet and more pellet. What about paste or meat? No, no one has really caught on it. Sod it, I mixed up some paste and cut up 2 tins of meat any way, simply because this a tricky time of the year with the fish coming off the back of spawning and may possibly going at it again.
A number rigs were set up to target the island with paste or pellet, plus a couple rigs for down the track for meat and a silvers rig just in case.
Starting across to the island with paste whilst everyone was still feeding I caught my first fish after 15mins, shortly followed by another, before they went skittish swimming through the peg pulling the rig out of the paste. A switch to pellet produced a couple more fish, but it was very difficult to get a proper bite. Just ask Jamie Parkhouse on p21, who I thought was running away with the match, however very few of the fish hooked were actually landed.
A switch to fishing down the track over micros & 4s with a banded 6 would I hope produce a few skimmers whilst the carp settled back down. It proved to be hard work in the bright conditions catching only 1 skimmer and a roach. Rising bubbles revealed there were a few fish feeding, so tried worm instead which did improve things with a couple of F1s and skimmers, but it was still slow going. A 2nd back up pellet swim to my right didn't produce anything and since we were now half way though the match I needed a rethink.
A pot of hemp & meat down the track transformed my match. After picking off a couple more fish from the island, the meat line produced 13 carp in the last 2hrs, which was a nice way to finish the match. I still thought Jamie had beaten me, but he had continue to lose fish throughout the match and I was fairly sure I beaten the anglers on my side of the lake.
On the all out the grapevine suggested that as well as James Withers on P1 catching late and Lewis Jones on p3 catching all match, Mike Duckett (p8) and Ray White (p11) had also caught well, however this turned out to be a bit of wind up.
1st 155- 5 - Lewis Jones - p3
2nd 104- 1 - Ken Rayner - p19
3rd 96- 3 - James Withers - p1
4th 85- 4 - Rich Lovering - p13
5th 59- 8 - Jamie Parkhouse - p21
6th 57- 6 - Ray White - p11
Silvers
1st 19-14 - Andy Hembrow - p6
2nd 18-10 - Rod Wootton - p5
3rd 13- 0 - Mike Duckett - p8
Wednesday 1 July 2015
01/07/15 - Fishponds
Weight - 403lb 14oz
Catch - 49 Car, 2 Rudd
Weather - Hot, mostly sunny.
Well I seemed to have timed having a week off work with some very hot weather. Happy days, but the hot sticky nights, means not a lot of sleep, so decided to make the most of the situation and get up early for a short session at my club water.
At 6.20 I was sat on peg 6 ready to go. The peg offered a shallow margin to the left which I felt would be the best place to target the carp in the warm conditions.
Since there were a few visible fish I started fishing shallow with 8mm pellet and after 90mins had 16 for about 128lb.
In the meantime I was feeding a few 6s into the left margin and it was now solid. Fishing paste on my top 3, I just kept catching including a number of 'doubles' up to 13lb 9oz.
After 4hrs fishing I decided to call time, because the intention was for a short session before it got too hot, but I have no doubt I could have pushed for 500lb. Besides my back was starting to ache a little.
The lake hasn't been fishing that well recently, so today came as a surprise, but to be honest the fish were just there. In total I only fed 2pts of pellet and normally I would expect to feed at least 3x times that amount.
After some hard fishing over the last couple of months it was nice to catch, beating my previous PB by 30lb. Lets hope I can kick on from here
Catch - 49 Car, 2 Rudd
Weather - Hot, mostly sunny.
Well I seemed to have timed having a week off work with some very hot weather. Happy days, but the hot sticky nights, means not a lot of sleep, so decided to make the most of the situation and get up early for a short session at my club water.
At 6.20 I was sat on peg 6 ready to go. The peg offered a shallow margin to the left which I felt would be the best place to target the carp in the warm conditions.
Since there were a few visible fish I started fishing shallow with 8mm pellet and after 90mins had 16 for about 128lb.
In the meantime I was feeding a few 6s into the left margin and it was now solid. Fishing paste on my top 3, I just kept catching including a number of 'doubles' up to 13lb 9oz.
After 4hrs fishing I decided to call time, because the intention was for a short session before it got too hot, but I have no doubt I could have pushed for 500lb. Besides my back was starting to ache a little.
The lake hasn't been fishing that well recently, so today came as a surprise, but to be honest the fish were just there. In total I only fed 2pts of pellet and normally I would expect to feed at least 3x times that amount.
After some hard fishing over the last couple of months it was nice to catch, beating my previous PB by 30lb. Lets hope I can kick on from here
Monday 29 June 2015
28/06/15 - Lavington - Ellis Lake
Weight - 39lb 12oz
Catch - 11 Carp, 8 Perch, 1 Tench, 1 Gudgeon
Weather - Rainy start, bright later, but breezy
Match - Airsprung - 4th out of 13, 1st out of 6 section
When I originally booked in I thought we were on Merritts Lake which, however this lake has been partially drained in order for maintenance work could be carried out.
I fished Ellis once 5 years ago and was informed it was full of fish, but can fish hard in matches. Nick Merry and Tom Ince fished it earlier in the week and caught well mostly on pellet shallow. The lake itself was dug about 10 years ago and its a classic case of digging a lake without any thought about how to fish it. Its a rough rectangle shape with a central island, however its 10-11ft deep with no shelves. Have to ask what were they thinking?
With 13 fishing there should have been plenty of space. Walking around with Hippy and Nick pegging the lake, we had different ideas. However, not having any experience of the lake I deferred Hippy's knowledge which on balance was right, but you are never going to please everyone!
As for me I didn't fancy one of the island pegs, because that would mean giving the method rod an airing. What I did fancy were the bottom pegs at the car park end with the blowing into it, so I was pleased to draw 27, which put me on the end peg on the right hand bank. It looked very fishy, but plumbing up revealed a deep margin of 4ft, which started to slope away straight away. At 4m it was already 8ft deep and only getting deeper.
Plan of attack was to focus on the margin fishing paste (redneck 0.2g > .17 > 12 carp feeder), fishing shallow at 13-14m (I had 2 rigs set up for 1ft and 3ft deep) and finally a silvers rig to fish at 5m at an angle to my left feeding groundbait (soft balls so they don't roll away) and 4mm pellet, because I was told there were some very good bream in the lake.
Starting in the margin I had a carp straight away on paste, shortly followed by a tench and then another carp, after 45mins. A switch to the shallow rig eventually produced a carp on 6mm pellet, plus another which I lost at the net. Back in the margin and it was slow going, which died completely when a fish which judging by the jagging fight was a good tench snagged me in the reeds.
Onto the silvers rig produced a small perch on worm, re-feeding only brought more perch, plus a gudgeon. This was getting harder and harder. Tom was pegged next to me and couldn't believe how hard it was, because his last 3 pleasure sessions resulted in over 100lb, including 50lb of silvers.
Hippy and Nick were on the other 2 pegs at this end of the lake and were also struggling, which was a real surprise because were expecting a good day. Steve Musitano, Mark Poppleton and Kev Hanson were all catching from the far bank opposite the island on the method to the island.
I kept working my 3 swims, but at the half way stage only had 4 carp and my silvers. I had left the feeder rod in the car, but a quick chat to Tom who said I could fish the end of the island if needed. Nick opposite was doing the same, using his waggler rod because he didn't expect to be fishing the method either, but only had 1 carp thus far.
After retrieving the rod from car, I had a carp 2nd cast fishing tight to the boards on a bright orange pellet. Another 2 followed over the next 20mins and started to think I might be able to push for a framing position, but the fish soon backed off.
I got the feeling the fish were backing off too much feed down the margin as well, so instead of cupping feed in, found it best to either throw in a small handful of pellet or cup a few pellets in with paste and started to get a few more indications. The fish in this lake as well as Merritts have very small mouths, which means they have to suck very hard on the paste, which resulted in a couple of missed bites or hook pulls.
I managed another carp on the feeder and a couple more from the margin including a 6lber with 5mins to go which was my biggest of the day.
By the all out it was obvious where the bulk of the fish where and Tom confirmed that was were most of the pleasure anglers fished. As for me I had hoped for a better days fishing, but in the end pleased to have at least claimed the section which fished poorly by comparison to the other side of the lake.
1st 78- 2 - Mark Poppleton - p5
2nd 70-10 - Steve Musitano - p4
3rd 42- 6 - Kev Hanson - p7
4th 39-12 - Ken Rayner - p27
5th 22-14 - Andy Fox - p23
6th 22- 7 - Steve Ince - p6
Silvers
1st 18- 0 - Steve Ince - p6
Catch - 11 Carp, 8 Perch, 1 Tench, 1 Gudgeon
Weather - Rainy start, bright later, but breezy
Match - Airsprung - 4th out of 13, 1st out of 6 section
When I originally booked in I thought we were on Merritts Lake which, however this lake has been partially drained in order for maintenance work could be carried out.
I fished Ellis once 5 years ago and was informed it was full of fish, but can fish hard in matches. Nick Merry and Tom Ince fished it earlier in the week and caught well mostly on pellet shallow. The lake itself was dug about 10 years ago and its a classic case of digging a lake without any thought about how to fish it. Its a rough rectangle shape with a central island, however its 10-11ft deep with no shelves. Have to ask what were they thinking?
With 13 fishing there should have been plenty of space. Walking around with Hippy and Nick pegging the lake, we had different ideas. However, not having any experience of the lake I deferred Hippy's knowledge which on balance was right, but you are never going to please everyone!
As for me I didn't fancy one of the island pegs, because that would mean giving the method rod an airing. What I did fancy were the bottom pegs at the car park end with the blowing into it, so I was pleased to draw 27, which put me on the end peg on the right hand bank. It looked very fishy, but plumbing up revealed a deep margin of 4ft, which started to slope away straight away. At 4m it was already 8ft deep and only getting deeper.Plan of attack was to focus on the margin fishing paste (redneck 0.2g > .17 > 12 carp feeder), fishing shallow at 13-14m (I had 2 rigs set up for 1ft and 3ft deep) and finally a silvers rig to fish at 5m at an angle to my left feeding groundbait (soft balls so they don't roll away) and 4mm pellet, because I was told there were some very good bream in the lake.
Starting in the margin I had a carp straight away on paste, shortly followed by a tench and then another carp, after 45mins. A switch to the shallow rig eventually produced a carp on 6mm pellet, plus another which I lost at the net. Back in the margin and it was slow going, which died completely when a fish which judging by the jagging fight was a good tench snagged me in the reeds.
Onto the silvers rig produced a small perch on worm, re-feeding only brought more perch, plus a gudgeon. This was getting harder and harder. Tom was pegged next to me and couldn't believe how hard it was, because his last 3 pleasure sessions resulted in over 100lb, including 50lb of silvers.
Hippy and Nick were on the other 2 pegs at this end of the lake and were also struggling, which was a real surprise because were expecting a good day. Steve Musitano, Mark Poppleton and Kev Hanson were all catching from the far bank opposite the island on the method to the island.
I kept working my 3 swims, but at the half way stage only had 4 carp and my silvers. I had left the feeder rod in the car, but a quick chat to Tom who said I could fish the end of the island if needed. Nick opposite was doing the same, using his waggler rod because he didn't expect to be fishing the method either, but only had 1 carp thus far.
After retrieving the rod from car, I had a carp 2nd cast fishing tight to the boards on a bright orange pellet. Another 2 followed over the next 20mins and started to think I might be able to push for a framing position, but the fish soon backed off.
I got the feeling the fish were backing off too much feed down the margin as well, so instead of cupping feed in, found it best to either throw in a small handful of pellet or cup a few pellets in with paste and started to get a few more indications. The fish in this lake as well as Merritts have very small mouths, which means they have to suck very hard on the paste, which resulted in a couple of missed bites or hook pulls.
I managed another carp on the feeder and a couple more from the margin including a 6lber with 5mins to go which was my biggest of the day.
By the all out it was obvious where the bulk of the fish where and Tom confirmed that was were most of the pleasure anglers fished. As for me I had hoped for a better days fishing, but in the end pleased to have at least claimed the section which fished poorly by comparison to the other side of the lake.
1st 78- 2 - Mark Poppleton - p5
2nd 70-10 - Steve Musitano - p4
3rd 42- 6 - Kev Hanson - p7
4th 39-12 - Ken Rayner - p27
5th 22-14 - Andy Fox - p23
6th 22- 7 - Steve Ince - p6
Silvers
1st 18- 0 - Steve Ince - p6
Saturday 27 June 2015
26/06/15 - Rood Ashton
Weight - 49lb 8oz
Catch - 11 Carp
Weather - Showers clearing later
Match - Airsprung - 7th out of 12
Booking a half day off work and then driving to Trowbridge from Weston-Super-Mare, expectations were high of a good evening match.
Stopping off at Wests Tackle for a coffee and found out only 68lb won yesterdays evening match. Walking around the lake with Hippy we had to peg around a couple of pleasure anglers on the lawns, but still had plenty of space and there were a few fish moving around. With the space I wasn't too concerned were I drew provided I avoided peg 6 on the top bank which I struggled from in the last 2 matches.
To say I was gutted to see 6 staring back at me would be an understatement. Being an evening match, my intention was to focus on the margins, but the problem with peg 6 is the lack of cover and I was doing my best to push the negative thoughts to the back of my mind. However a stiff breeze blowing from behind met I really wasn't confident.
3x rigs were set up to fish banded pellet, paste and meat. Since the depth was roughly the same all over the rigs covered fishing at 13m and the margins.
Starting at 13m, first put in I hooked a carp! Yay, perhaps it will be better than I thought. Err, no. I got the fish in on the top kit only for the hook to pull. Then I couldn't a proper bite on either the paste or pellet. It was strange. I was feeding 6s, there were fish milling around, but couldn't get a bite. Talking after the match this was a common theme.
In the meantime I had fed groundbait and a small amount meat down the left hand margin and 6s to my right. After 45mins of frustration fishing long I went down the left margin and landed a carp straight away only to be then pestered by roach. I kept rotating swims to try and find my next fish, but just couldn't get a proper bite. Another carp from the left margin brought my tally to 2 with an hour left to go.
The left margin was showing most signs of activity, even if it was from roach. I decided to re-plumb the margins only to discover I may have been fishing just off bottom if I didn't get very tight to the bank. Needless to say as soon I adjusted the rig I had a carp straight away! Oh dear, did I just make a big school boy error or was it coincidence? We will never know.
I also switched from feeding pellet down the right margin to feeding groundbait and I couldn't get my rig in quick enough catching 9 carp in the last hour rotating left and right. I had the best weight on the top bank, so not convinced there was as many carp in the area.
1st 75-0 - Ryan Heard - p3
2nd 69-12 - Nick Merry - p4
2nd 69-12 - Mark Poppleton - p9
4th 68- 8 - Tom Ince - p1
5th 58-10 - Rich Whitmarsh - p11
6th 53- 6 - Dan Blackwell - p12
Catch - 11 Carp
Weather - Showers clearing later
Match - Airsprung - 7th out of 12
Booking a half day off work and then driving to Trowbridge from Weston-Super-Mare, expectations were high of a good evening match.
Stopping off at Wests Tackle for a coffee and found out only 68lb won yesterdays evening match. Walking around the lake with Hippy we had to peg around a couple of pleasure anglers on the lawns, but still had plenty of space and there were a few fish moving around. With the space I wasn't too concerned were I drew provided I avoided peg 6 on the top bank which I struggled from in the last 2 matches.
To say I was gutted to see 6 staring back at me would be an understatement. Being an evening match, my intention was to focus on the margins, but the problem with peg 6 is the lack of cover and I was doing my best to push the negative thoughts to the back of my mind. However a stiff breeze blowing from behind met I really wasn't confident.
3x rigs were set up to fish banded pellet, paste and meat. Since the depth was roughly the same all over the rigs covered fishing at 13m and the margins.
Starting at 13m, first put in I hooked a carp! Yay, perhaps it will be better than I thought. Err, no. I got the fish in on the top kit only for the hook to pull. Then I couldn't a proper bite on either the paste or pellet. It was strange. I was feeding 6s, there were fish milling around, but couldn't get a bite. Talking after the match this was a common theme.
In the meantime I had fed groundbait and a small amount meat down the left hand margin and 6s to my right. After 45mins of frustration fishing long I went down the left margin and landed a carp straight away only to be then pestered by roach. I kept rotating swims to try and find my next fish, but just couldn't get a proper bite. Another carp from the left margin brought my tally to 2 with an hour left to go.
The left margin was showing most signs of activity, even if it was from roach. I decided to re-plumb the margins only to discover I may have been fishing just off bottom if I didn't get very tight to the bank. Needless to say as soon I adjusted the rig I had a carp straight away! Oh dear, did I just make a big school boy error or was it coincidence? We will never know.
I also switched from feeding pellet down the right margin to feeding groundbait and I couldn't get my rig in quick enough catching 9 carp in the last hour rotating left and right. I had the best weight on the top bank, so not convinced there was as many carp in the area.
1st 75-0 - Ryan Heard - p3
2nd 69-12 - Nick Merry - p4
2nd 69-12 - Mark Poppleton - p9
4th 68- 8 - Tom Ince - p1
5th 58-10 - Rich Whitmarsh - p11
6th 53- 6 - Dan Blackwell - p12
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