Weight - 82lb 8oz
Catch - 39 Carp
Weather - Heavy overnight rain, cloudy start, sunny later, but windy.
Water Temp - 20.9c > 22.1c
Match - Wests Tackle Open - 1st out of 14
After last weeks performance I needed this result! I also don't think it was any co-incidence that this co-incidened with me finally passing a financial services exam at the 4th attempt. Sue is very happy about this, because apparently I've been very grumpy recently. It is amazing though, the relief of passing the exam, just meant I felt more relaxed, which whilst I don't wish to make excuses for my recent poor performances, being overly stressed does reflect in your fishing.
Berkley Lake is an estate lake near Frome run my Warminister AC. The lake has 27 pegs running along 1 bank, which runs east to west, so any prevailing westerlies will mean a side ways wind for most. Speaking to Mark he reckoned 70-100lb would be needed to frame, with most fish being caught at 6m on paste. That sounded simple enough, but on arrival at the water level was about 18ins above normal and the last match they fished here when the level was up was won with about 40lb.
The lake is in an area of clay, so any excess water doesnt drain away, so after the recent rain it didn't take much for the lake to fill up. Being clay also meant the bank was rather sticky! which after the walk from the car park to the lake (across a field and though the woods) meant you felt the pain.
I drew peg 3, which was at the narrower far end of the lake where the wind was blowing. For company I had Hippy on peg 2 who won the last match, so at least I could keep an eye on him to gauge how I was doing, because the only other person I could see was Steve on peg 4 to my right.
The wind was certainly blowing down, fortunately the lake dog legged slightly which meant I was slightly sheltered mainly due to some trees, but even fishing
at 6m the rig was still being blown about.
As instructed I set up a paste rig to fish 6m, I also set up a 0.5g HB dweezil to fish 8mm pellet over the paste line, a paste rig for the margin (which never produced) and finally a pellet waggler. (I also brought a method feeder, but never needed it).
Because nobody knew how it would fish I decided to start off cautiously, so only fed 3x 8s and a pinch of 6s via a toss pot with my paste. After an hour I had 8 carp. I did try the pellet rig, but this produced 2x 8oz carp and was never used again. I struck with the paste for another 15mins but it really slowed down.
In the meantime I had kept feeding 8s towards the trees opposite, although the wind made sure some of the pellet was occasionally spread out a bit. A purple patch saw me catch nearly every cast, so after about 2.5hrs I was up 25 carp.
The rest of the match was a case of rotating swims, as well as rotating hooklengths, but I kept going back to my original 8ins, which seemed to be best in the wind. Towards the end of the match bank walkers suggested I was leading and in the end I won quite comfortably, just a shame England couldn't follow my example. Another lose on penalties, but to be fair the Italians deserved to win.
1st 82- 8 - Ken Rayner
2nd 46- 0 - Mark Poppleton
3rd 39- 0 - Craig Knight
Monday, 25 June 2012
Monday, 18 June 2012
17/06/12 - Sedges - Brick Lake
DID NOT WEIGHT!
mmm, where do I start?
I got it horribly wrong. Although I fished last weeks practice match on Tile lake, I was called away early due to a very sick dog. Fortunately Sapphire recovered, but she obviously eat something that didnt agree with her.
Since the fishing had been hard, at the time I thought I could catch shallow on caster/worm and get a few carp late on. Although I drew Brick Lake this time, I still thought the same principle would apply.
Alas it didnt. After 3 hours I had only caught 15 small fish with no signs of improvement. I also had nothing on the pellet waggler towards the central rope. So I tried to catch on the deck and lost 6 decent fish, landing only 1 good eel. Had I landed those lost fish, I would certainly been more competitive in the section, but ultimately blew out big time, trying to do something different. In fact there was a very few small fish caught, probably due to the up & down nature of recent weather.
mmm, where do I start?
I got it horribly wrong. Although I fished last weeks practice match on Tile lake, I was called away early due to a very sick dog. Fortunately Sapphire recovered, but she obviously eat something that didnt agree with her.
Since the fishing had been hard, at the time I thought I could catch shallow on caster/worm and get a few carp late on. Although I drew Brick Lake this time, I still thought the same principle would apply.
Alas it didnt. After 3 hours I had only caught 15 small fish with no signs of improvement. I also had nothing on the pellet waggler towards the central rope. So I tried to catch on the deck and lost 6 decent fish, landing only 1 good eel. Had I landed those lost fish, I would certainly been more competitive in the section, but ultimately blew out big time, trying to do something different. In fact there was a very few small fish caught, probably due to the up & down nature of recent weather.
Sunday, 10 June 2012
09/06/12 - Fishponds
Weight - 117lb 9oz
Catch - 16 Carp, 1 Bream
Weather - Mostly, but windy
Water Temp - 20.2c - 21.1c
Match - Glenfall Float Rod only - 2nd out of 6
8 had orginally booked in, but 2 no shows reduced this match to 6, so plenty of room. Today was an afternoon/evening float rod only match and was pleased with peg 3, which although down the arm of the lake, the wind was blowing strongly into it so hopefully a chance of some fish shallow.
I had 2x pellet waggler, 1 standard pellet waggler with a 6 inch hooklength and 1 sliding pellet waggler. I also had a loaded waggler to fish meat short on the deck. To be honest the waggler on the deck wasnt right in the strong wind, which created a strong tow.
The 1st 20 mins was spent fishing short, whilst firing 8s 3/4 of the way across, but with no fish decided to switch to the pellet waggler and had a carp 1st cast. However I couldnt get another for 30mins.
For the rest of the match it was a case of just keep feeding and casting, alternating between the 2 pellet rigs and an occassional coming short on meat. The wind was really strong at times, which was spreading my feed about a little more than I would have wanted, plus the fish didnt seem to settle at any particular depth, so all in all a hard days fishing.
Marcus won from a seltered peg 15, fishing his usual worms catching late on.
1st 148- 0 - Marcus - peg 15
2nd 117- 9 - Ken - peg 3
3rd 111- 7 - Andy - peg 7
4th 91- 0 - Craig - peg 20
Catch - 16 Carp, 1 Bream
Weather - Mostly, but windy
Water Temp - 20.2c - 21.1c
Match - Glenfall Float Rod only - 2nd out of 6
8 had orginally booked in, but 2 no shows reduced this match to 6, so plenty of room. Today was an afternoon/evening float rod only match and was pleased with peg 3, which although down the arm of the lake, the wind was blowing strongly into it so hopefully a chance of some fish shallow.
I had 2x pellet waggler, 1 standard pellet waggler with a 6 inch hooklength and 1 sliding pellet waggler. I also had a loaded waggler to fish meat short on the deck. To be honest the waggler on the deck wasnt right in the strong wind, which created a strong tow.
The 1st 20 mins was spent fishing short, whilst firing 8s 3/4 of the way across, but with no fish decided to switch to the pellet waggler and had a carp 1st cast. However I couldnt get another for 30mins.
For the rest of the match it was a case of just keep feeding and casting, alternating between the 2 pellet rigs and an occassional coming short on meat. The wind was really strong at times, which was spreading my feed about a little more than I would have wanted, plus the fish didnt seem to settle at any particular depth, so all in all a hard days fishing.
Marcus won from a seltered peg 15, fishing his usual worms catching late on.
1st 148- 0 - Marcus - peg 15
2nd 117- 9 - Ken - peg 3
3rd 111- 7 - Andy - peg 7
4th 91- 0 - Craig - peg 20
Tuesday, 5 June 2012
04/06/12 - Fishponds
Weight - 203lb 14oz
Catch - 23 Carp, 2 Bream
Weather - Mostly sunny
I was in 2 minds about fishing today. The mornings weather was cool and cloudy, however a look at the evening TV schedule revealed not a lot, so I thought sod it and to be honest I needed a bit of a confidence boost after some average matches. It was also an ideal time to take Sapphire fishing for the 1st and see how she behaved.
Having made the decision to go, I thought it would also be a good opportunity to get a bit of practice on the pellet waggler, as well as the sliding waggler.
After an hour I had 3 carp, but lost 3 rigs with the main line snapping above the float. The 1st time was when I tried to pull the rig out of the reeds after pulling out of fish at the net. The 2nd time was when the fish was under the rod tip and the 3rd time was shortly after hooking a fish. Obviously need to replace the line, although I did only last month with a spool brought last year.
So with the pellet waggler now binned, I decided to switch to paste at 8m and even that was a comedy of errors. I had 1 fish dive under the platform. Having successfully managing to thread the pole the same way the carp still did me in the reeds. Also after landing a fish, the rig was in the water when my top kit suddenly shot off as another carp foul hooked the rig, I eventually got it back. And finally I took a walk around the lake with Sapphire, who was enjoying all the new smells. When I got back I couldn't find my no3 section, bugger. I poked around with my landing net, but couldn't retrieve the section, so there was only 1 thing for it - a bit of skinny dipping!
In between everything I did manage a few fish, as for Sapphire she was very well behaved and completely knackered by the time we home.
Catch - 23 Carp, 2 Bream
Weather - Mostly sunny
I was in 2 minds about fishing today. The mornings weather was cool and cloudy, however a look at the evening TV schedule revealed not a lot, so I thought sod it and to be honest I needed a bit of a confidence boost after some average matches. It was also an ideal time to take Sapphire fishing for the 1st and see how she behaved.
Having made the decision to go, I thought it would also be a good opportunity to get a bit of practice on the pellet waggler, as well as the sliding waggler.
After an hour I had 3 carp, but lost 3 rigs with the main line snapping above the float. The 1st time was when I tried to pull the rig out of the reeds after pulling out of fish at the net. The 2nd time was when the fish was under the rod tip and the 3rd time was shortly after hooking a fish. Obviously need to replace the line, although I did only last month with a spool brought last year.
So with the pellet waggler now binned, I decided to switch to paste at 8m and even that was a comedy of errors. I had 1 fish dive under the platform. Having successfully managing to thread the pole the same way the carp still did me in the reeds. Also after landing a fish, the rig was in the water when my top kit suddenly shot off as another carp foul hooked the rig, I eventually got it back. And finally I took a walk around the lake with Sapphire, who was enjoying all the new smells. When I got back I couldn't find my no3 section, bugger. I poked around with my landing net, but couldn't retrieve the section, so there was only 1 thing for it - a bit of skinny dipping!
Monday, 4 June 2012
03/06/12 - Lands End - Johns Lake
Weight - 32lb 9oz
Catch - 7 Carp, 6 Rudd, 5 Skimmers, 3 Roach
Weather - Mostly cloudy & showery
Water Temp - 24.4c > 25.2c
Match - Tonys Float Only - 2nd round - 2nd out of 5 section
Today I could have fished the last round of pole only series at Plantations/Acorns, however I was just outside of the main payout positions, so decided to fish Lands End instead. Next years pole only series will be all on Acorns and this time shouldnt clash with any other series, so I will definately be back.
As for today, Julia from the MFS site wanted to come along to observe a match. Having only just started fishing 3 years ago, Julia wanted to pick up tips to hopefully improve her own fishing, although after today?!
When I saw p68 staring back at me, I was very happy, although not always as good as 41 & 42, you should at least have a few. When I arrived it was obvious the swim hadnt been fished for a while, becuase I had to remove some reeds and sedges. When I started to plumb around the swim I became concerned, becuase it was alot deeper than I would have wanted, even by the island it was a good 3ft deep and with various roots and outhanging shubbery, lifting and dropping by the island was going to difficult.
After 4hours I was going no where, Kev Molton (p41) and Tom Thick (p42) were catching, but reports where that my side of the lake was fishing hard. I had caught a few skimmers in open water at 13m on soft pellet, but they really didnt want to be on the deck. By the island I had lost 4 fish, including 3 foulhookers. The problem was the fish were milling around the loose feed, but becuase there wasnt any shallower water and I couldnt lift and drop properly due the overhanging vegatation. I even tried potting caster & meat just off the island in an attempt to get the carps head down, but they really didnt want to play ball.
So with 2hrs to go, time for a complete change. I had nothing to lose, so started catapulting caster, fishing double caster on the hook and soon had my 1st carp. Unfortunately it was quiet that straight forward, I had a few rudd, but to get a carp I had to place the float tight to the island and keep firing caster at the float. Eventually I had 5 carp, including 1 that got itself tangled up in some overhanging brambles, plus 2 more down the margin on meat to finish what was a very frustrating match. Had I switched to caster sooner, I may been able to take the section win. More ifs, buts and maybe's. As Sue has put it I "seemed to have gone off the boil" recently, but at least today I didnt stop trying and eventually got a few.
1st 132-13 - Jason Radford - peg 38
2nd 90- 3 - Clayton Hudson - peg 34
3rd 87- 9 - Gary Etheridge - peg 5
4th 82-12 - Tony Rixon - peg 40
5th 82- 6 - Kev Molten - peg 41
6th 75-15 - Tom Thick - peg 42
Silvers
1st 36-12 - Nigel Bartlett - peg 15
2nd 30-12 - John Bradford
Catch - 7 Carp, 6 Rudd, 5 Skimmers, 3 Roach
Weather - Mostly cloudy & showery
Water Temp - 24.4c > 25.2c
Match - Tonys Float Only - 2nd round - 2nd out of 5 section
Today I could have fished the last round of pole only series at Plantations/Acorns, however I was just outside of the main payout positions, so decided to fish Lands End instead. Next years pole only series will be all on Acorns and this time shouldnt clash with any other series, so I will definately be back.
As for today, Julia from the MFS site wanted to come along to observe a match. Having only just started fishing 3 years ago, Julia wanted to pick up tips to hopefully improve her own fishing, although after today?!
When I saw p68 staring back at me, I was very happy, although not always as good as 41 & 42, you should at least have a few. When I arrived it was obvious the swim hadnt been fished for a while, becuase I had to remove some reeds and sedges. When I started to plumb around the swim I became concerned, becuase it was alot deeper than I would have wanted, even by the island it was a good 3ft deep and with various roots and outhanging shubbery, lifting and dropping by the island was going to difficult.
After 4hours I was going no where, Kev Molton (p41) and Tom Thick (p42) were catching, but reports where that my side of the lake was fishing hard. I had caught a few skimmers in open water at 13m on soft pellet, but they really didnt want to be on the deck. By the island I had lost 4 fish, including 3 foulhookers. The problem was the fish were milling around the loose feed, but becuase there wasnt any shallower water and I couldnt lift and drop properly due the overhanging vegatation. I even tried potting caster & meat just off the island in an attempt to get the carps head down, but they really didnt want to play ball.
So with 2hrs to go, time for a complete change. I had nothing to lose, so started catapulting caster, fishing double caster on the hook and soon had my 1st carp. Unfortunately it was quiet that straight forward, I had a few rudd, but to get a carp I had to place the float tight to the island and keep firing caster at the float. Eventually I had 5 carp, including 1 that got itself tangled up in some overhanging brambles, plus 2 more down the margin on meat to finish what was a very frustrating match. Had I switched to caster sooner, I may been able to take the section win. More ifs, buts and maybe's. As Sue has put it I "seemed to have gone off the boil" recently, but at least today I didnt stop trying and eventually got a few.
1st 132-13 - Jason Radford - peg 38
2nd 90- 3 - Clayton Hudson - peg 34
3rd 87- 9 - Gary Etheridge - peg 5
4th 82-12 - Tony Rixon - peg 40
5th 82- 6 - Kev Molten - peg 41
6th 75-15 - Tom Thick - peg 42
Silvers
1st 36-12 - Nigel Bartlett - peg 15
2nd 30-12 - John Bradford
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