06/08/25 - Barston

Weight - 29lb 0oz (14lb 10oz - silvers)

Catch - 10 Bream, 4 F1s, 4 Roach

Weather - Warm & sunny. Moderate breeze

Match - Garbolino Clubman Final (50 anglers) - 3rd in section

It’s been a long time coming since I qualified in late May, but today was the Garbolino final with 50 anglers across the whole lake

When I arrived, I met up with Jason Crump and Simon Stacey, and we all hoped for a draw at the bottom of the lake. At the draw Jason pulled p41 and I then drew p43, whilst Simon drew up in the 50s! Oh well it was likely we would be fishing for section.

When we got to our pegs, I was little more optimistic about catching as the wind was blowing straight into our bank, although looking at recent results it seemed 50lb would be a good weight although there had been a few DNWs.

On the all-in 8 feeders full of pellet (micros, 4s & 6s), plus some corn was deposited at 42m. I then started on a hybrid at 70m and didn’t have a bite. Moving to the 42m line, again no bites and after an hour I was still blanking. Bank walkers suggested my section (p43-p51) was fishing hard.

In the meantime, I had fed a pole line at 11m with mircos and 4s. When I switched to the pole fishing a 4mm expander, I caught a couple of roach, before latching into a 3lb bream and a couple of skimmers, but the action didn’t last.

I mixed up how I fed, but regardless I would catch a couple of fish before they disappeared. This was a common theme when speaking to other anglers after the match.

I tried my 42m line again and a 20/25m line where I had been pinging 8mm pellet without success.

With 90mins remaining I was told 40lb was winning my section, whilst I only had 10lb.

Back on the straight lead with an 8mm red pellet and the tip finally went round and a 5lb F1 was netted. I then noticed a fish roll to the right of where I had been feeding and tried the pellet waggler, which produced another 3 F1s quite quickly before they disappeared.

Back on the straight lead with a teabag produced a bream and with 30mins remaining I hooked what was obviously a carp, which I lost at the net. At 10lb, it fortunately didn’t cost me as my section was won with c. 55lb.

A bit of an anti-climax in the end, but there is always next year.

24/08/22 - Barston

Weight - 35lb 13oz (28lb 5oz - silvers)

Catch - 33 Skimmers, 6 Carp, 1 F1

Weather - Cloudy and rain later

Match - Garbolino Club Angler Final (44 fished) - 7th out of 8 section

A call from David Haynes at Match Fishing Magazine the day before informed me that Dave Bruton had pulled out of the final and I was 2^nd in section, meaning I could take his place. After arranging a day’s holiday from work at short notice I agreed.

I went into the draw early hoping for 124 and got excited when I saw 24. Unfortunately, there wasn’t a 1 in front of it, however 24 is in a decent area and with the wind blowing in I quite fancied it.

I was hoping for a simple match catching shallow at 16m with a meat back up line at 13m.

Starting at 16m slapping without feed I soon caught a skimmer, losing a 2^nd 5 minutes later, but no carp after 20mins.

I noticed a couple of carp being landed to my left on the feeder, so I gave it a go, but had no pulls. Therefore, 40 minutes in I decided to switch to my meat line and soon caught a couple of carp, but they were only about 1lb a piece and then the skimmers turned up.

2 hours into the match, it was looking like the winner would come from the 120’s and I was just fishing for my section. Whilst I was still catching skimmers, it was steady rather than hectic and news was filtering down that a few carp were being caught further up in my section.

I had been pinging 8s long, fishing the straight lead and waggler over the top but not a bite. The breeze that had being blowing into to me had all but disappeared and as the match progressed the cloud cover increased, and it started to drizzle which turned into persistent rain.

Every time I came back to the 13m line I would catch small carp or skimmers, but I really needed some proper carp to pull back in the section. To try something different I decided to fish 6mm pellet at 16m on the deck to continue catching skimmers but keep pinging 6s over the top hoping to pull in some fish. I caught a few skimmers, but just couldn’t pull in those carp.

A look down my margin only produced a skimmer, and I eventually caught a carp over my pinged 8mm pellet line on the lead, but again it was small.

By the end I was a little disappointed. Had I stuck with catching the skimmers I would have 40-50lb, but my section was won with 99lb and there was a couple of 50lb weights. So, whilst I finished well down, I felt I had no choice but to be aggressive with my feed in the second half of the match to pull in some carp. It just simply didn’t happen. Always next year.

Well done to Matthew Threlfall who won from p120 with 234lb.

20/07/21 - Barston

Weight - 48lb 12oz (19lb 8oz - silvers)

Catch - 3 Carp, 1 F1, 22 Skimmers

Weather - Hot and sunny

Match - England Ladies Fundraiser (34 fished)

The 2^nd day of the England Ladies Fundraiser and I was feeling a bit tired after a restless night at the hotel, not least because my car alarm went off twice during the night, thanks to a couple of fly’s that got into the car when I was packing up yesterday at the Glebe!

At least my draw meant a short walk to p16, which after a couple texts, I found out I was also in the right area on what was forecast to be another hot day, but at least I was sat in the shade… to start with anyway.

I spent the first 20mins slapping at 16m hoping for an early carp, but no takers. So switched to a large method loaded 50:50 mix of kriller & red RTG’s, with an 8mm choc orange gofter at 40m. Unfortunately, still no carp, but I did catch a few hand size skimmers, plus a 2lber which nearly dragged the rod in!

With 90mins gone, I had only seen 2 carp being caught, so decided to try and catch some skimmers, targeting the carp later. Therefore, cupped in micros, a few 4s and corn at 13m at slight angle to my left. Within 15mins I noticed the swim starting to fizz and by fishing corn, tosspotting 4s and corn started to catch some skimmers up to 2lb. After 90mins and 19lb in the net the swim slowed, probably not helped by the fact I got a bit excited with my feed and probably had too many fish in the swim, but none of them taking the bait.

In the meantime, I had been pinging pellet at 20-25m but couldn’t catch on the waggler, but Simon Watford to my right had 4 already. I had also been pinging a few pellets at 16m and noticed a swirl, so I was back out on the pole at 16m and soon caught a carp, quickly followed by a 2^nd. However, the bright flat conditions meant the fish were shying away from the pole, although I managed another carp, a big F1 and a final skimmer.

I was really wishing there was a bit of a ripple as I really fancied the swim for a few more fish, but the conditions meant it was really tricky. In fact come the weigh in I was really surprised to find out I came 3^rd overall

Well done to Julie Abbott for organising the 2 days and raising some extra funds for the ladies team.

1. 87-  8 - Pete Bailey - p24

2. 64-  6 - Simon Watford - p18

3. 48-12 - Ken Rayner - p16

4. 43-10 - John Pearson - p26

5. 39-14 - Andre Grandjeans - p54

6. 39-  8 - Ken Portas - p22

26/07/16 - Barston

Weight - 34lb 12oz
Catch - 35 Skimmers, 1 F1
Weather - Mostly cloudy, but warm and light winds
Match - England Ladies Fundraiser

A new venue for me and one I have always wanted to fish. Today was a fundraiser for the England Ladies team which had originally been scheduled for the Glebe, but following an outbreak of KHV has closed for a short period.

Travelling up with Chris Fox and Tony Rixon was mostly uneventful and we had a decent breakfast at a local Beefeater/Premier Inn. At the draw there were 60 anglers, which meant we were evenly spread around the main lake. Mark Poppleton had given me a run down of the pegs to draw and those to avoid. Unfortunately p106 was on the avoid list, plus my 10 peg section started with me going done to the famous p124. In other words there was little chance of picking up today, with the section in theory getting better the further down the section.

Mark drew p104, so at least I knew someone and Jason Adlam was on my right. I always said that if I didn't drew a flyer then my target for the day was to just enjoy myself and hopefully have a day either on the skimmers or F1s, since the carp seem to be localised to certain areas of the lake.

2 methods feeders were set up, 1 heavy to cast as far as possible and a lighter one to fish at 20/25m over loose fed 8s. 2x poles rig 0.4g and 0.2g were set up to fish at 14m in 4ft of water with pellet. The final rig was paste down the margin, since today's match would be fished between 11.30 - 5.30, I was hoping for some zoo creatures to turn up late on.

After feeding 4 balls of F1 green with some 4s and corn at 14m, I started on the heavy method hoping for an early tug. On the 3rd cast I had one, but it fell off shortly afterwards and I think it may have been a F1 rather than a carp.

Have to say I do tend to a get a bit bored fishing the tip, but after that fish loss I felt obliged to have a couple more casts on the method, but to no avail.

So with nearly an hour gone, it was time to switch to the pole, where I had been pinging 6s over the top. After an initial slow start I started picking up some decent skimmers up to 3lb on the lighter rig and banded 6s (due to the flat calm conditions), but it wasn't long before I had to change to the heavier rig and 4mm expander, as the wind picked up slightly I had some ripple to fish into. It was noticeable that when ever the ripple disappeared, getting a bite became harder, but generally I was enjoying myself.

When ever bites slowed, I fed a soften ball of groundbait and maintained pinging 6s over the top. Switching to the method only produced a skimmer and a F1. Due to the flat conditions I did change tact to fishing the straight lead (which I found out after the match was catching further down my section), but no joy. So a case of the right tactic, but no fish to appreciate it.

The last 90mins proved to be the most difficult. The lake in front of me had gone flat calm, whilst most of the anglers opposite were all catching carp down their margins in the ripple.

My margin didn't produce a single bite and I did feed a lot of pellet to try and draw them in. My only regret was not setting up a proper pellet waggler rig to fish over the 8mm pellet, since Mark in the 45mins probably put 30/35lb into the net to win his section.

Mark playing a last minute carp to win his section

Overall a really enjoyable if not long day. The weights that beat me in the section all had carp and my gut feeling was there weren't many carp in my area of the lake. Even Mark only caught a couple of them late. Perhaps I could have weighed more had I stayed on the tip, but I probably wont have enjoyed it as much.