Final League tables
1st Mark Poppleton - 29pts
2nd Ken Rayner - 28pts
3rd Craig Edmunds - 27pts...
4th Paul Elmes - 26pts
5th Thomas Thick - 25pts (235.6)
6th Chris Fox - 25pts (187.4)
7th Adrian Clark - 25pts (171.15)
8th Mark Brennan - 25pts (166.6)
9th Bob Gullick - 24pts
10th Mike Duckett -23pts
11th Gary O'Shea - 22pts (198.5)
12th Mike West - 22pts (116.11)
13th Adrian Jefferies - 21pts (215.7)
14th Dave Wescott - 21pts (187.14)
15th Nick Duckett - 21pts (158.10)
16th Darren Fordham - 21pts (102.7)
17th Tom Mangnall -20pts
18th Tony Rixon - 19pts (153.4)
19th Steve Seagar - 19pts (151.15)
20th Steve Musitano - 19pts (131.9)
21st John Bradford - 18pts
22nd Gordon Cannings - 17pts (135.8)
23rd Nick Merry - 17pts (128.5)
24th Leon Hubbard - 17pts (105.2)
25th Allan Oram - 17pts (104.14)
26th Tony Thick - 17pts (99.3)
27th Clint Wotlyla - 17pts (93.10)
28th Dave Hodgson - 15pts
29th Nigel Bartlett - 14pts
30th Anton Page - 13pts
31st Kev Molton - 12pts (91.4)
32nd Pete nurse - 12pts (86.0)
33rd Keith Fielder - 12pts (82.13)
34th Andy Fox - 11pts
35th Dale Howsen - 9pts
36th Aaron Britnell - 7pts
Silvers League - top 10
1st Bob Gullick - 29pts
2nd Chris Fox - 28.5pts
3rd Nigel Bartlett - 26.5pts
4th Mark Brennan - 26pts (49.7)
5th Tom Thick - 26pts (47.12)
6th Mike Duckett - 25pts (45.5)
7th Ken Rayner - 25pts (41.11)
8th Paul Elmes - 24.5pts
9th Tom Mangnall - 23pts
10th John Bradford - 22pts
Knockout winner - Paul Elmes
Monday, 24 February 2014
23/02/14 - Lands End - Johns
Weight - 51lb 15oz
Catch - 12 Carp, 10 Roach, 4 Skimmers, 1 F1, 1 Hybrid, 1 Rudd
Weather - Strong southerly wind. Cloudy and occasional light rain
Match - Winter League - rd 6 - 6th out of 36, 2nd in section
The final round of the Winter League and I really hoped for a decent draw, since I needed a section 3rd to guarantee a top 4 league position. When Craig Edmunds drew p1, which has been poor so far this series, it meant the league title was no longer certain. That was until Mark Poppleton pulled p11, which has been the most consistent peg on Match Lake. Adrian Clarke who was 4th had p55, which so far has been a boom or bust peg and Paul Elmes who was 5th drew a flyer in the shape of p34. As for me, so far this series I have waited to last, taking the last peg. Except for the first round it has worked. Today with 2 tickets left, Clayton Hudson pulled p45, leaving me with p68, which was a relief!
To be honest I’m not a fan of p68, because I have struggled from it before, as did the angler in yesterdays match and so far this series it has been a little inconsistent, with only 1 section win and a 2nd, but normally it’s worth a few fish. The island sheltered me from the worst of the strong southerly wind, so fingers crossed for a good result.
Since pellet worked yesterday, I decided to stick with it today and hoped I would get my feeding right over the short meat line. Rigs were similar to yesterday, but heavier due to the increased depth at this end of the lake as well as the increased wind.
- HB Chump 0.4g > .10 > 18 silverfish pellet (open water)
- Carbon Carrat 0.2g > .12 > 18 silverfish pellet (tight to the island)
- Carrat 0.3g > .14 > 16 B911 (meat short)
After feeding micros & 4s, by the weed bed, 13m in open water and by the island, I started by the weed bed and soon had a little roach on 4mm expander. In fact I had a few roach and nothing else. The 13m open water did produce a couple of small skimmers and an F1, but after 2hrs it wasn’t looking good. Dave Hodgson (p70) & Shawn Kittridge (p66) both had carp and I was sure Gary O’Shea on p58 were I was yesterday would have caught. I did manage a small carp in open water, but the swim wasn’t showing any signs of improvement. Because the wind was blowing the rig back towards me, I felt it was effecting presentation, despite a few rig adjustments and I couldnt find any quality fish.
The meat line had yet to produce anything, which meant I was relying on the island swim to produce. Fortunately it did. By toss potting 4s tight to the island, lifting & dropping I soon had a few carp, which put me on par with Dave & Shawn.
I was beginning to wonder whether it would be my day, when a carp took the bait as I reconnected my top 4 to the rest of the pole and then continued shipping out, only to see loads of orange elastic. I thought I had caught a snag, but no it was a 5lber, hooked properly in the top lip!
I must have overdone the feeding, because I started suffering from liners, losing 3 fish on the bounce, before the fish buggered off. Shawn had seen me catching across and was soon doing the same, hooking a couple of fish, probably overtaking me. Feeding a small cup of micros & 4s by the island and further small cup a few metres to my right along the island. Whilst that settled I looked over my meat line, which produced nothing. I had also been feeding caster/meat into my left margin. Double caster produced roach, whilst meat didn’t produce a bite.
Fortunately the carp returned to the island, but not before catching a couple more silvers. The only issue was the average stamp of carp was between 1½lb & 4lb and was concerned that anyone catching a few decent fish would soon overtake me.
With an hour to go I felt I was just ahead of Dave, but wasn’t sure about Shawn because I couldnt see the size of carp he was landing. After another carp from the island, it was time to try the short lines again. The margin failed, but I had my first indication over the meat line and was soon attached to a carp hooked in the wing.
Next put in I was attached to proper fish, which eventually broke me after 10mins. I may have sworn, because I thought I had blown my chance. Decision time. Stick with the short line, hoping the disturbance hadn’t unsettled any remaining fish or fish across to the island. I decided to stay short, because I really needed some proper carp. Almost immediately the float buried and a 5lber was soon netted. I had to wait for the next bite, which came with 2mins left and I missed it. Quickly rebaiting I had 60 seconds left. 20 seconds from the all out the float buried again and was attached to a 7lb carp, which I played rather gingerly, landing 5mins later.
Shawn said he only had 6 carp (he lost a couple), but they were decent fish. Shaun Townsend on p62 was admitting to 40lb and apparently Gary had caught, so the required 3rd in section was uncertain. Fortunately that last fish pushed me up from 4th to 2nd, overtaking Shaun’s Townsend 46-12 & Shawn Kittridges 45-13. So a really tight finish to the section. Turns out it was really tight finish for the league as well, as that last grasp fish was worth £120 pushing me from what would have been 4th in the league to 2nd.
Craig struggled from p1, dropping to 3rd in the league. Mark did what everyone expected winning the lake to claim top spot in the league. Adrian Clarke unfortunately had a tough time on p55, dropping out of 4th spot, which was claimed by Paul Elmes who won the match with 166-5.
Really pleased to have claimed 2nd in the league particularly after the first round disaster and today I felt I had to work hard to figure out how best to catch, as well as getting a bit of luck along the way.
1st 166- 5 – Paul Elmes – p34
2nd 110- 3 – Mark Poppleton – p11
3rd 81-10 – Adrian Jefferies – p33
4th 62-12 – Gary O’Shea – p58
5th 55-10 – Mark Brennan – p50
6th 51-15 – Ken Rayner – p68
Silvers
1st 36-12 – Bob Gullick – p5
2nd 22- 3 – Tom Thick – p32
3rd 18- 2 – Mike Duckett – p13
Catch - 12 Carp, 10 Roach, 4 Skimmers, 1 F1, 1 Hybrid, 1 Rudd
Weather - Strong southerly wind. Cloudy and occasional light rain
Match - Winter League - rd 6 - 6th out of 36, 2nd in section
The final round of the Winter League and I really hoped for a decent draw, since I needed a section 3rd to guarantee a top 4 league position. When Craig Edmunds drew p1, which has been poor so far this series, it meant the league title was no longer certain. That was until Mark Poppleton pulled p11, which has been the most consistent peg on Match Lake. Adrian Clarke who was 4th had p55, which so far has been a boom or bust peg and Paul Elmes who was 5th drew a flyer in the shape of p34. As for me, so far this series I have waited to last, taking the last peg. Except for the first round it has worked. Today with 2 tickets left, Clayton Hudson pulled p45, leaving me with p68, which was a relief!
To be honest I’m not a fan of p68, because I have struggled from it before, as did the angler in yesterdays match and so far this series it has been a little inconsistent, with only 1 section win and a 2nd, but normally it’s worth a few fish. The island sheltered me from the worst of the strong southerly wind, so fingers crossed for a good result.
Since pellet worked yesterday, I decided to stick with it today and hoped I would get my feeding right over the short meat line. Rigs were similar to yesterday, but heavier due to the increased depth at this end of the lake as well as the increased wind.
- HB Chump 0.4g > .10 > 18 silverfish pellet (open water)
- Carbon Carrat 0.2g > .12 > 18 silverfish pellet (tight to the island)
- Carrat 0.3g > .14 > 16 B911 (meat short)
After feeding micros & 4s, by the weed bed, 13m in open water and by the island, I started by the weed bed and soon had a little roach on 4mm expander. In fact I had a few roach and nothing else. The 13m open water did produce a couple of small skimmers and an F1, but after 2hrs it wasn’t looking good. Dave Hodgson (p70) & Shawn Kittridge (p66) both had carp and I was sure Gary O’Shea on p58 were I was yesterday would have caught. I did manage a small carp in open water, but the swim wasn’t showing any signs of improvement. Because the wind was blowing the rig back towards me, I felt it was effecting presentation, despite a few rig adjustments and I couldnt find any quality fish.
The meat line had yet to produce anything, which meant I was relying on the island swim to produce. Fortunately it did. By toss potting 4s tight to the island, lifting & dropping I soon had a few carp, which put me on par with Dave & Shawn.
I was beginning to wonder whether it would be my day, when a carp took the bait as I reconnected my top 4 to the rest of the pole and then continued shipping out, only to see loads of orange elastic. I thought I had caught a snag, but no it was a 5lber, hooked properly in the top lip!
I must have overdone the feeding, because I started suffering from liners, losing 3 fish on the bounce, before the fish buggered off. Shawn had seen me catching across and was soon doing the same, hooking a couple of fish, probably overtaking me. Feeding a small cup of micros & 4s by the island and further small cup a few metres to my right along the island. Whilst that settled I looked over my meat line, which produced nothing. I had also been feeding caster/meat into my left margin. Double caster produced roach, whilst meat didn’t produce a bite.
Fortunately the carp returned to the island, but not before catching a couple more silvers. The only issue was the average stamp of carp was between 1½lb & 4lb and was concerned that anyone catching a few decent fish would soon overtake me.
With an hour to go I felt I was just ahead of Dave, but wasn’t sure about Shawn because I couldnt see the size of carp he was landing. After another carp from the island, it was time to try the short lines again. The margin failed, but I had my first indication over the meat line and was soon attached to a carp hooked in the wing.
Next put in I was attached to proper fish, which eventually broke me after 10mins. I may have sworn, because I thought I had blown my chance. Decision time. Stick with the short line, hoping the disturbance hadn’t unsettled any remaining fish or fish across to the island. I decided to stay short, because I really needed some proper carp. Almost immediately the float buried and a 5lber was soon netted. I had to wait for the next bite, which came with 2mins left and I missed it. Quickly rebaiting I had 60 seconds left. 20 seconds from the all out the float buried again and was attached to a 7lb carp, which I played rather gingerly, landing 5mins later.
Shawn said he only had 6 carp (he lost a couple), but they were decent fish. Shaun Townsend on p62 was admitting to 40lb and apparently Gary had caught, so the required 3rd in section was uncertain. Fortunately that last fish pushed me up from 4th to 2nd, overtaking Shaun’s Townsend 46-12 & Shawn Kittridges 45-13. So a really tight finish to the section. Turns out it was really tight finish for the league as well, as that last grasp fish was worth £120 pushing me from what would have been 4th in the league to 2nd.
Craig struggled from p1, dropping to 3rd in the league. Mark did what everyone expected winning the lake to claim top spot in the league. Adrian Clarke unfortunately had a tough time on p55, dropping out of 4th spot, which was claimed by Paul Elmes who won the match with 166-5.
Really pleased to have claimed 2nd in the league particularly after the first round disaster and today I felt I had to work hard to figure out how best to catch, as well as getting a bit of luck along the way.
1st 166- 5 – Paul Elmes – p34
2nd 110- 3 – Mark Poppleton – p11
3rd 81-10 – Adrian Jefferies – p33
4th 62-12 – Gary O’Shea – p58
5th 55-10 – Mark Brennan – p50
6th 51-15 – Ken Rayner – p68
Silvers
1st 36-12 – Bob Gullick – p5
2nd 22- 3 – Tom Thick – p32
3rd 18- 2 – Mike Duckett – p13
22/02/14 - Lands End - Johns Lake
Weight - 56lb 0oz
Catch - 12 Carp
Weather - Bright & sunny, light breeze
Match - Open - 2nd out of 13
Following on from Wednesdays events it was good to hear the young lad is now home and his injuries weren’t more severe. No doubt he will have some tales to tell the girls when he is older.
With the improving weather I fancied getting out and it appears 12 others agreed with me. Since the wind was forecast to be light, it was decided to fish Johns Lake today, which I wasn’t too disappointed about, because I would be on here for tomorrows winter league and it has been the best lake recently.
With 13 though, it would mean there would be a few pegs to avoid, which fortunately I did, pulling one of my favorite pegs on the lake p58. There doesn’t tend to be many silvers at this end of the lake, so rigs were set up to pellet or meat.
- HB Chump 0.3g > .10 > 18 silverfish pellet (open water)
- Ackoo Carbon Carrat 0.2g > .12 > 18 silverfish pellet (right hand margin & island)
- Ackoo Carrat 0.2g > .14 > 16 B911 (meat)
On the all-in micros & 4s were deposited by the island, 13m in open water and 13m down the right margin. Meat & caster was fed at 5m. After an hour I only had 1 carp from the open water and was beginning to worry the bright flat conditions would have an adverse affect on the fishing. Eric Fourarce (p55) & Andy Hembrow (p53) also had a carp a piece, whilst Rod Wootton (p61) to my left had a couple.
During the 2nd hour, I had another carp from open water. So far I had been potting a small amount of pellet into the open water, but pinging pellet to the island and down the right margin. A 3rd carp from the open water persuaded me to stop pinging pellet down the right margin and start potting bait in. There was plenty of carp moving along the end bank between Eric & myself, but they were more interested in basking in the sun than feeding.
The 3rd & 4th hours were much better, as I started to catch down the right hand margin. It was never hectic, having to wait for a bite, but at least I was now catching, although some of the fish were quite small.
I decided to keep pinging pellet to the island, but never had a bite, which was a surprise and reinforced my decision to alter my feed down the margin. I only had 1 small carp over the meat line, but wasn’t convinced I got the feeding right. Definitely something for me to work on.
By the all out, reports had filtered down that Tom Mangnall on p42 had caught, as had Mike Duckett on p70. Because I had a few small fish I thought I might have 45-50lb, hoping I had enough to beat Andy and Rod. Fortunately I weighed a little more than expected to claim 2nd spot behind Tom.
Unfortunately Rod missed out on 3rd to Andy, after losing a 15lber at the net.
1st 83- 0 – Tom Mangnall – p42
2nd 56- 0 – Ken Rayner – p58
3rd 46- 7 – Andy Hembrow – p53
4th 44- 5 – Mike Duckett – p70
5th 39- 1 – Nick Veal – p41
6th 37- 1 – Rod Wootton – p61
Silvers
1st 31- 8 – Mike Duckett – p70
2nd 13- 4 – Nick Veal – p41
Catch - 12 Carp
Weather - Bright & sunny, light breeze
Match - Open - 2nd out of 13
Following on from Wednesdays events it was good to hear the young lad is now home and his injuries weren’t more severe. No doubt he will have some tales to tell the girls when he is older.
With the improving weather I fancied getting out and it appears 12 others agreed with me. Since the wind was forecast to be light, it was decided to fish Johns Lake today, which I wasn’t too disappointed about, because I would be on here for tomorrows winter league and it has been the best lake recently.
With 13 though, it would mean there would be a few pegs to avoid, which fortunately I did, pulling one of my favorite pegs on the lake p58. There doesn’t tend to be many silvers at this end of the lake, so rigs were set up to pellet or meat.
- HB Chump 0.3g > .10 > 18 silverfish pellet (open water)
- Ackoo Carbon Carrat 0.2g > .12 > 18 silverfish pellet (right hand margin & island)
- Ackoo Carrat 0.2g > .14 > 16 B911 (meat)
On the all-in micros & 4s were deposited by the island, 13m in open water and 13m down the right margin. Meat & caster was fed at 5m. After an hour I only had 1 carp from the open water and was beginning to worry the bright flat conditions would have an adverse affect on the fishing. Eric Fourarce (p55) & Andy Hembrow (p53) also had a carp a piece, whilst Rod Wootton (p61) to my left had a couple.
During the 2nd hour, I had another carp from open water. So far I had been potting a small amount of pellet into the open water, but pinging pellet to the island and down the right margin. A 3rd carp from the open water persuaded me to stop pinging pellet down the right margin and start potting bait in. There was plenty of carp moving along the end bank between Eric & myself, but they were more interested in basking in the sun than feeding.
The 3rd & 4th hours were much better, as I started to catch down the right hand margin. It was never hectic, having to wait for a bite, but at least I was now catching, although some of the fish were quite small.
I decided to keep pinging pellet to the island, but never had a bite, which was a surprise and reinforced my decision to alter my feed down the margin. I only had 1 small carp over the meat line, but wasn’t convinced I got the feeding right. Definitely something for me to work on.
By the all out, reports had filtered down that Tom Mangnall on p42 had caught, as had Mike Duckett on p70. Because I had a few small fish I thought I might have 45-50lb, hoping I had enough to beat Andy and Rod. Fortunately I weighed a little more than expected to claim 2nd spot behind Tom.
Unfortunately Rod missed out on 3rd to Andy, after losing a 15lber at the net.
1st 83- 0 – Tom Mangnall – p42
2nd 56- 0 – Ken Rayner – p58
3rd 46- 7 – Andy Hembrow – p53
4th 44- 5 – Mike Duckett – p70
5th 39- 1 – Nick Veal – p41
6th 37- 1 – Rod Wootton – p61
Silvers
1st 31- 8 – Mike Duckett – p70
2nd 13- 4 – Nick Veal – p41
Monday, 17 February 2014
16/02/14 - Viaduct - Cary
Weight - 6lb 10oz
Catch - 22 Roach, 5 Skimmers, 2 Perch
Weather - Bright & sunny, with a light breeze
Match - Winter League - 14th out of 19 section
So the 3rd round of the Winter League and the MFS team felt it was owed a decent draw, following the rubbish we had to endure in the previous 2 rounds. Martin Fisher couldn’t fish, so Mark Poppleton agreed to step in before realising there was a 16 peg mugging match at Todber Manor, White post lakes. Needless to say he drew crap and drove home before the results could be announced which the West Tackle boys found amusing – let that be a lesson. Fortunately Chris Fox stepped into Martins spot which would be on Match Lake, so thanks Chris. However, our team captain, Rich Wyatt had the threat of divorce looming if he went fishing, due to a sick child, which meant there was only the 4 of us.
Team draw done and it wasn’t the worst draw, but it certainly was the worst peg for me on p94. So far this series a total of 2lb 11oz & 3pts has come from the peg over the last 2 rounds. The only crumb of comfort was the fact James Cooper came 2nd with 70lb on Thursday, but that day it was dull & overcast and peg 90 wasn’t in. As for today it was bright & sunny with little wind. I just hoped the fish had stayed up this end, but feared they would have moved into the centre of the lake.
Opposite on p90 was Nick Collins. I tried to encourage him to stay on the pole and catch silvers, but he wasn’t having any of it and set up a lead rod, which meant I wouldn’t have the end bank to myself.
Speaking to a couple of people before the start it was suggested skimmers show in the peg, although it was hardly skimmer weather, but I still mixed up some groundbait, cupping in 4 balls with caster at 13.5m, giving me the option to go 14.5m later if needed. Due to the flat conditions the float was a Jolly 4x14 > .08 > 20 silverfish maggot hook. I also set up a caster rig to fish down the right hand margin, hoping for a few perch and maybe a rogue carp later.
On the all in, I started on the waggler with punched meat or bread, casting around the swim, but had no bites after 30mins, so chucked out the lead leaving it for 20mins, but again nothing. Nick only had a single liner and things weren’t looking good. In the meantime the pegs to my left had a couple of carp, casting towards the middle of the lake.
Since I couldn’t catch a carp, it was time to try the pole and over the next 90 minutes I caught mostly small roach and a couple of skimmers, on pinkie or maggot, loose feeding caster every 15mins. After this time the swim was slowing and the wind increased a little, blowing into peg 90. Nick managed his only 2 carp within consecutive casts, before the wind dropped and changed direction again. I cast out the waggler and promptly hooked a carp, which fell off after a few seconds. Gutted, but it persuaded me to continue my search for a carp without success.
From the start I had been feeding caster into the right hand margin and my first put in instantly produced 1¼lb perch on double caster, quickly followed an 8oz perch and then a small roach. Despite continuing to feed caster into the margin I could only manage bites from small roach, although the float did appear to move sideways on a couple of occasions, hinting at the presence of a carp, but no bites.
Topping up the long line, I had a skimmer almost straight away, before the small roach moved back in. Unless I catching those skimmers, I wasn’t going any where with roach so concentrated more and more on the lead and waggler, occasionally going back to the pole hoping some big skimmers had moved over my feed. 5mins from the end I had a very big liner on the lead and was reluctantly struck just in case, but only connected with thin air.
Nick didn’t catch any more carp, Steve Denmead to my left won the lake with 56-8, but almost everyone who could was casting into his swim – I don’t think he was too happy. I just haven’t had any luck in this series, I was beaten by 4 anglers who had a single carp and one 10lber would have doubled my points. Perhaps I am using up all my luck for the Lands End series. With the last round next week another corner will do me.
1st 161- 7 - Steve Kedge - p125
2nd 147- 6 - Adam Mitchell - p119
3rd 115- 4 - Roland Lucas - p116
4th 98- 1 - Nick Ewer - p124
5th 75- 9 - Lee Werrett - p110
6th 72- 0 - Dave White - p38
Silvers
1st 31- 3 - Dave White - p38
2nd 22-15 - Bob Gullick - p25
3rd 21- 3 - Glynn Reynolds - p37
Catch - 22 Roach, 5 Skimmers, 2 Perch
Weather - Bright & sunny, with a light breeze
Match - Winter League - 14th out of 19 section
So the 3rd round of the Winter League and the MFS team felt it was owed a decent draw, following the rubbish we had to endure in the previous 2 rounds. Martin Fisher couldn’t fish, so Mark Poppleton agreed to step in before realising there was a 16 peg mugging match at Todber Manor, White post lakes. Needless to say he drew crap and drove home before the results could be announced which the West Tackle boys found amusing – let that be a lesson. Fortunately Chris Fox stepped into Martins spot which would be on Match Lake, so thanks Chris. However, our team captain, Rich Wyatt had the threat of divorce looming if he went fishing, due to a sick child, which meant there was only the 4 of us.
Team draw done and it wasn’t the worst draw, but it certainly was the worst peg for me on p94. So far this series a total of 2lb 11oz & 3pts has come from the peg over the last 2 rounds. The only crumb of comfort was the fact James Cooper came 2nd with 70lb on Thursday, but that day it was dull & overcast and peg 90 wasn’t in. As for today it was bright & sunny with little wind. I just hoped the fish had stayed up this end, but feared they would have moved into the centre of the lake.
Opposite on p90 was Nick Collins. I tried to encourage him to stay on the pole and catch silvers, but he wasn’t having any of it and set up a lead rod, which meant I wouldn’t have the end bank to myself.
Speaking to a couple of people before the start it was suggested skimmers show in the peg, although it was hardly skimmer weather, but I still mixed up some groundbait, cupping in 4 balls with caster at 13.5m, giving me the option to go 14.5m later if needed. Due to the flat conditions the float was a Jolly 4x14 > .08 > 20 silverfish maggot hook. I also set up a caster rig to fish down the right hand margin, hoping for a few perch and maybe a rogue carp later.
On the all in, I started on the waggler with punched meat or bread, casting around the swim, but had no bites after 30mins, so chucked out the lead leaving it for 20mins, but again nothing. Nick only had a single liner and things weren’t looking good. In the meantime the pegs to my left had a couple of carp, casting towards the middle of the lake.
Since I couldn’t catch a carp, it was time to try the pole and over the next 90 minutes I caught mostly small roach and a couple of skimmers, on pinkie or maggot, loose feeding caster every 15mins. After this time the swim was slowing and the wind increased a little, blowing into peg 90. Nick managed his only 2 carp within consecutive casts, before the wind dropped and changed direction again. I cast out the waggler and promptly hooked a carp, which fell off after a few seconds. Gutted, but it persuaded me to continue my search for a carp without success.
From the start I had been feeding caster into the right hand margin and my first put in instantly produced 1¼lb perch on double caster, quickly followed an 8oz perch and then a small roach. Despite continuing to feed caster into the margin I could only manage bites from small roach, although the float did appear to move sideways on a couple of occasions, hinting at the presence of a carp, but no bites.
Topping up the long line, I had a skimmer almost straight away, before the small roach moved back in. Unless I catching those skimmers, I wasn’t going any where with roach so concentrated more and more on the lead and waggler, occasionally going back to the pole hoping some big skimmers had moved over my feed. 5mins from the end I had a very big liner on the lead and was reluctantly struck just in case, but only connected with thin air.
Nick didn’t catch any more carp, Steve Denmead to my left won the lake with 56-8, but almost everyone who could was casting into his swim – I don’t think he was too happy. I just haven’t had any luck in this series, I was beaten by 4 anglers who had a single carp and one 10lber would have doubled my points. Perhaps I am using up all my luck for the Lands End series. With the last round next week another corner will do me.
1st 161- 7 - Steve Kedge - p125
2nd 147- 6 - Adam Mitchell - p119
3rd 115- 4 - Roland Lucas - p116
4th 98- 1 - Nick Ewer - p124
5th 75- 9 - Lee Werrett - p110
6th 72- 0 - Dave White - p38
Silvers
1st 31- 3 - Dave White - p38
2nd 22-15 - Bob Gullick - p25
3rd 21- 3 - Glynn Reynolds - p37
Tuesday, 11 February 2014
Lands End Winter League -rd 5 -
Overall standings, after dropped results.
1st Craig Edmunds 24pts
2nd Mark Poppleton 23pts (284-0)
3rd Ken Rayner 23pts (205-5)...
4th Adrian Clark 21pts
5th Paul Elmes 20pts
6th Thomas Thick 19pts (188-3)
7th Bob Gullick 19pts (181-1)
8th Mike Duckett 19pts (161-1)
9th Chris Fox 19pts (146-3)
10th Mark Brennan 19pts (110-12)
11th Mike West 19pts (104-4)
12th Dave Wescott 18pts (178-10)
13th Nick Duckett 18pts (141- 6)
14th Darren Fordham 18pts (98-3)
15th Steve Seagar 17pts (142-13)
16th Nick Merry 17pts (128-5)
17th Tom Mangnall 16pts (137-14)
18th Gary O'Shea 16pts (135-9)
19th Gordon Cannings 16pts (112-10)
20th John Bradford 16pts (93-1)
21st Tony Rixon 15pts (143-5)
22nd Adrian Jefferies 15pts (133-13)
23rd Steve Musitano 15pts (88-15)
24th Clint Wotlyla 15pts (76-12)
25th Dave Hodgson 13pts (176-2)
26th Anton Page 13pts (114-2)
27th Allan Oram 13pts (84-5)
28th Pete Nurse 12pts (86-0)
29th Leon Hubbard 12pts (72-5)
30th Tony Thick 12pts (58-5)
31st Keith Fielder 10pts (78-4)
32nd Andy Fox 10pts (44-13)
33rd Nigel Bartlett 10pts (44-5)
34th Dale Howson 9pts
35th Aaron Britnall 7pts (47-1)
36th Kev Molton 7pts (39-6)
Silvers League - top 10
1st Chris Fox 24pts
2nd Bob Gullick 23pts
3rd Mark Brennan 22pts (43-7)
4th Nigel Bartlett 22pts (34-1)
5th Ken Rayner 21pts
6th Tom Mangnall 20pts (47-13)
7th Mike Duckett 20pts (27-3)
8th Tom Thick 20pts (25-9)
9th John Bradford 19pts
10th Paul Elmes 18.5pt
1st Craig Edmunds 24pts
2nd Mark Poppleton 23pts (284-0)
3rd Ken Rayner 23pts (205-5)...
4th Adrian Clark 21pts
5th Paul Elmes 20pts
6th Thomas Thick 19pts (188-3)
7th Bob Gullick 19pts (181-1)
8th Mike Duckett 19pts (161-1)
9th Chris Fox 19pts (146-3)
10th Mark Brennan 19pts (110-12)
11th Mike West 19pts (104-4)
12th Dave Wescott 18pts (178-10)
13th Nick Duckett 18pts (141- 6)
14th Darren Fordham 18pts (98-3)
15th Steve Seagar 17pts (142-13)
16th Nick Merry 17pts (128-5)
17th Tom Mangnall 16pts (137-14)
18th Gary O'Shea 16pts (135-9)
19th Gordon Cannings 16pts (112-10)
20th John Bradford 16pts (93-1)
21st Tony Rixon 15pts (143-5)
22nd Adrian Jefferies 15pts (133-13)
23rd Steve Musitano 15pts (88-15)
24th Clint Wotlyla 15pts (76-12)
25th Dave Hodgson 13pts (176-2)
26th Anton Page 13pts (114-2)
27th Allan Oram 13pts (84-5)
28th Pete Nurse 12pts (86-0)
29th Leon Hubbard 12pts (72-5)
30th Tony Thick 12pts (58-5)
31st Keith Fielder 10pts (78-4)
32nd Andy Fox 10pts (44-13)
33rd Nigel Bartlett 10pts (44-5)
34th Dale Howson 9pts
35th Aaron Britnall 7pts (47-1)
36th Kev Molton 7pts (39-6)
Silvers League - top 10
1st Chris Fox 24pts
2nd Bob Gullick 23pts
3rd Mark Brennan 22pts (43-7)
4th Nigel Bartlett 22pts (34-1)
5th Ken Rayner 21pts
6th Tom Mangnall 20pts (47-13)
7th Mike Duckett 20pts (27-3)
8th Tom Thick 20pts (25-9)
9th John Bradford 19pts
10th Paul Elmes 18.5pt
Monday, 10 February 2014
09/02/14 - Lands End - Match
Weight - 27lb 3oz (11lb 7oz - silvers)
Catch - 3 Carp, 8 Perch, 3 Skimmers
Weather - Wet & windy
Match - 10th out of 35, section win
Last week I had a bit of whinge about the pegging on Spring Lake at Viaduct and the fact I thought pegs 8 & 9 had been reversed for the 2nd round. Apparently they hadn’t, it was just who ever completed the weigh sheet didn’t input the correct names, so changed the peg numbers instead.
Today was the penultimate round of the Winter League and I really needed a good draw on Match Lake to maintain my 3rd place in the league, avoiding the bottom 4 pegs (1, 3, 22 & 24) particular with the wind and rain blowing down that end. As the draw progressed most of the better pegs were going, except for p15, which fortunately I picked, leaving p3 for Aaron who was still tucked up in bed!
As I woke up to the wind and rain lashing against the window, I did wonder why “I’m going fishing?” I had considered going yesterday, but didn’t, because I’m fed up with the continuous storms, although I’m thankful my house isn’t under 2ft of water like many on the Somerset levels and the political blame game is now in full swing.
At least today I was sheltered from the worst of the weather and was even able to put up the umbrella. By the all in I was running a little behind (one of the joys of running a league, then getting to your peg and realizing you have left something in the car) and was 10mins late starting. For company I had Adrian Clarke on p13 and Mark Brennan on p17, with my section running 15-24.
Since I last fished this peg the right hand bush has been trimmed back and Mike has tried to remove as much as possible, which meant it wasn’t quite the fish magnet it used to be, as illustrated by the photo. It also illustrates was a lovely day it was!
Rigs for today:-
- HB frostie 0.2g > .12 > 18 silverfish pellet – far bank
- HB chump 0.4g > .12 & .10 > 18 silverfish pellet – down the track
- Ackoo carbon carrat 0.3g > .12 > 16 B911 – double caster/pellet
- Ackoo carrat 0.3g > .14 > 14 B911 – prawns
After feeding some caster left & right down the margins and then some pellet at 14m to my right, I started to my left towards the island. When I was plumbing around I bumped into a carp mid depth, so after lifting and dropping with double maggot I was attached to a carp, which was quickly followed by a perch, then another carp, which was a relief.
I was hoping by catapulting caster across I would draw in a few more fish, but after 45mins no further fish followed. A quick look over my pellet line didn’t produce, so this was topped up. In the meantime Adrian was foul hooking fish, losing most of them under his platform, whilst Mark had a few F1s and skimmers, but generally it was fishing very hard. The heavy overnight rain was obviously having an effect.
Fishing left and right in the margins I managed a few perch, catching 2 on prawn and the remainder on double caster. The pellet line produced 3 skimmers & a carp on 4mm expander. I did set up another pellet swim, but only had 1 lost foulhooker.
I had hoped my long swim towards the island would produce late on. After struggling to catch over caster, I switched to feeding 4s, but nothing happened. Adrian in the meantime managed 4 late carp to win his section fishing mid depth about 3m off the point of the island where there was more ripple as the wind funnelled though a gap in the trees. My gut feeling was I may have been too aggressive feeding this swim in an attempt to draw some fish into the peg.
Throughout the match I had been trickling pellet & meat in front of the bush, but this didn't yield anything.
Doing the weigh in it became obvious the carp simply didn’t feed on our lake, with most struggling to catch. So another section win which plants me in 3rd place with 1 round to go.
1st 89- 5 - Craig Edmunds - p33
2nd 88- 7 - Mark Poppleton - p36
3rd 69- 0 - Paul Elmes - p42
4th 60-10 - Martin Lenaghan - p58
5th 59-15 - Nick Duckett - p50
6th 39- 0 - Adrian Clarke - p13
Silvers
1st 17- 0 - Mark Brennan - p17
2nd 15-11 - John Bradford - p32
3rd 14- 3 - Darren Fordham - p70
4th 14- 0 - Tom Mangnall - p7
5th 13-14 - Bob Gullick - p40
6th 11- 7 - Ken Rayner - p15
Catch - 3 Carp, 8 Perch, 3 Skimmers
Weather - Wet & windy
Match - 10th out of 35, section win
Last week I had a bit of whinge about the pegging on Spring Lake at Viaduct and the fact I thought pegs 8 & 9 had been reversed for the 2nd round. Apparently they hadn’t, it was just who ever completed the weigh sheet didn’t input the correct names, so changed the peg numbers instead.
Today was the penultimate round of the Winter League and I really needed a good draw on Match Lake to maintain my 3rd place in the league, avoiding the bottom 4 pegs (1, 3, 22 & 24) particular with the wind and rain blowing down that end. As the draw progressed most of the better pegs were going, except for p15, which fortunately I picked, leaving p3 for Aaron who was still tucked up in bed!
As I woke up to the wind and rain lashing against the window, I did wonder why “I’m going fishing?” I had considered going yesterday, but didn’t, because I’m fed up with the continuous storms, although I’m thankful my house isn’t under 2ft of water like many on the Somerset levels and the political blame game is now in full swing.
At least today I was sheltered from the worst of the weather and was even able to put up the umbrella. By the all in I was running a little behind (one of the joys of running a league, then getting to your peg and realizing you have left something in the car) and was 10mins late starting. For company I had Adrian Clarke on p13 and Mark Brennan on p17, with my section running 15-24.
Since I last fished this peg the right hand bush has been trimmed back and Mike has tried to remove as much as possible, which meant it wasn’t quite the fish magnet it used to be, as illustrated by the photo. It also illustrates was a lovely day it was!
- HB frostie 0.2g > .12 > 18 silverfish pellet – far bank
- HB chump 0.4g > .12 & .10 > 18 silverfish pellet – down the track
- Ackoo carbon carrat 0.3g > .12 > 16 B911 – double caster/pellet
- Ackoo carrat 0.3g > .14 > 14 B911 – prawns
After feeding some caster left & right down the margins and then some pellet at 14m to my right, I started to my left towards the island. When I was plumbing around I bumped into a carp mid depth, so after lifting and dropping with double maggot I was attached to a carp, which was quickly followed by a perch, then another carp, which was a relief.
I was hoping by catapulting caster across I would draw in a few more fish, but after 45mins no further fish followed. A quick look over my pellet line didn’t produce, so this was topped up. In the meantime Adrian was foul hooking fish, losing most of them under his platform, whilst Mark had a few F1s and skimmers, but generally it was fishing very hard. The heavy overnight rain was obviously having an effect.
Fishing left and right in the margins I managed a few perch, catching 2 on prawn and the remainder on double caster. The pellet line produced 3 skimmers & a carp on 4mm expander. I did set up another pellet swim, but only had 1 lost foulhooker.
I had hoped my long swim towards the island would produce late on. After struggling to catch over caster, I switched to feeding 4s, but nothing happened. Adrian in the meantime managed 4 late carp to win his section fishing mid depth about 3m off the point of the island where there was more ripple as the wind funnelled though a gap in the trees. My gut feeling was I may have been too aggressive feeding this swim in an attempt to draw some fish into the peg.
Throughout the match I had been trickling pellet & meat in front of the bush, but this didn't yield anything.
Doing the weigh in it became obvious the carp simply didn’t feed on our lake, with most struggling to catch. So another section win which plants me in 3rd place with 1 round to go.
1st 89- 5 - Craig Edmunds - p33
2nd 88- 7 - Mark Poppleton - p36
3rd 69- 0 - Paul Elmes - p42
4th 60-10 - Martin Lenaghan - p58
5th 59-15 - Nick Duckett - p50
6th 39- 0 - Adrian Clarke - p13
Silvers
1st 17- 0 - Mark Brennan - p17
2nd 15-11 - John Bradford - p32
3rd 14- 3 - Darren Fordham - p70
4th 14- 0 - Tom Mangnall - p7
5th 13-14 - Bob Gullick - p40
6th 11- 7 - Ken Rayner - p15
Monday, 3 February 2014
02/02/14 - Viaduct - Campbell
Weight - 4lb 12oz
Catch - 59 Roach, 2 Skimmers, 1 Rudd, 1 Perch
Weather - Bright & sunny
Match - Winter League rd 2 - 15th out of 19 - section
Last week at Lands End I ended up climbing a tree to rescue an Owl than had become tangled in some line. God knows how the angler concerned managed to cast that high into the tree with his 1oz lead and leadcore! But rather than retrieve it, he left it for the unfortunate owl to become entangled in, damaging his wing. The good news however is the owl is now recovering at the local owl sanctuary and should make a full recovery.
And now for a bit of a whinge. During the first round, our team draw put me on peg 9 on spring. I did notice on the weigh sheet pegs 8 & 9 had been swapped around, but thought this was to even up the team draw. Looking at the weigh sheet this round the pegs were put back to what I would have expected! Which means I should have been on p8 – not happy, because you shouldn’t change the pegging like that, but I can’t do anything about it now.
It had been agreed we would all take turns to do the team draw and today was my turn. Team draw 18 wasn’t what I wanted, because it put me on 131, which is notoriously poor area in the winter. As for the rest of the team, Rich Wyatt was 100, which had 14pts last round, Martin Fisher was on 70 which fished well last round, but generally not a good area, Fred Roberts had 51 which isn’t good and Mike was on 25. So all in all not a great draw, with Rich having the best of the bunch.
The weather was fine and sunny today, before the next Atlantic low pressure moves in, but at least it gave me options Since my peg is so poor I had 2 choices, either sit it out for 1 pull round on the tip or try and have a days fishing catching what I can.
2 wagglers were set up, the first to fish on the deck and the second to fish on the drop. 2 lead rods were already made up, but the meat rig only got 15mins. I also set up a jolly 4x14 to fish at 13-14m to be fished over groundbait.
Since the wind was favorable I was able to catapult caster a reasonable distance and soon started catching small roach on maggot. During the first hour, Tom Thick on 132 had 2 carp on the waggler cast to the end bank and p110 opposite also had a couple of carp. Other than that no-one at this end of the lake, including Andy Power on 129 had a carp, so was happy to continue fishing the waggler and hope some bigger fish would move in later.
A couple of spells on the pole, produced even smaller roach, so I spent the majority of time on the waggler, swapping to the on the drop rig & caster which produced a few better roach, but reverted back to fishing on the desk feeding slightly heavier, less often, which produced better bites and I did have a pound skimmer, soon followed by a 6oz one. Unfortunately no more followed and it back to catching roach.
By the all out other than 110 & 132, no one had a carp in my area, so I felt justified fishing the way I did, just really hope for a few fish on Cary on 2 weeks. As for the team, it was a bit of disaster. Rich only managed 8pts, Martin had a mare with only 1pt, Fred got what he expected with 8pts and Mike did the best with 11pts.
Catch - 59 Roach, 2 Skimmers, 1 Rudd, 1 Perch
Weather - Bright & sunny
Match - Winter League rd 2 - 15th out of 19 - section
Last week at Lands End I ended up climbing a tree to rescue an Owl than had become tangled in some line. God knows how the angler concerned managed to cast that high into the tree with his 1oz lead and leadcore! But rather than retrieve it, he left it for the unfortunate owl to become entangled in, damaging his wing. The good news however is the owl is now recovering at the local owl sanctuary and should make a full recovery.
And now for a bit of a whinge. During the first round, our team draw put me on peg 9 on spring. I did notice on the weigh sheet pegs 8 & 9 had been swapped around, but thought this was to even up the team draw. Looking at the weigh sheet this round the pegs were put back to what I would have expected! Which means I should have been on p8 – not happy, because you shouldn’t change the pegging like that, but I can’t do anything about it now.
It had been agreed we would all take turns to do the team draw and today was my turn. Team draw 18 wasn’t what I wanted, because it put me on 131, which is notoriously poor area in the winter. As for the rest of the team, Rich Wyatt was 100, which had 14pts last round, Martin Fisher was on 70 which fished well last round, but generally not a good area, Fred Roberts had 51 which isn’t good and Mike was on 25. So all in all not a great draw, with Rich having the best of the bunch.
The weather was fine and sunny today, before the next Atlantic low pressure moves in, but at least it gave me options Since my peg is so poor I had 2 choices, either sit it out for 1 pull round on the tip or try and have a days fishing catching what I can.
2 wagglers were set up, the first to fish on the deck and the second to fish on the drop. 2 lead rods were already made up, but the meat rig only got 15mins. I also set up a jolly 4x14 to fish at 13-14m to be fished over groundbait.
Since the wind was favorable I was able to catapult caster a reasonable distance and soon started catching small roach on maggot. During the first hour, Tom Thick on 132 had 2 carp on the waggler cast to the end bank and p110 opposite also had a couple of carp. Other than that no-one at this end of the lake, including Andy Power on 129 had a carp, so was happy to continue fishing the waggler and hope some bigger fish would move in later.
A couple of spells on the pole, produced even smaller roach, so I spent the majority of time on the waggler, swapping to the on the drop rig & caster which produced a few better roach, but reverted back to fishing on the desk feeding slightly heavier, less often, which produced better bites and I did have a pound skimmer, soon followed by a 6oz one. Unfortunately no more followed and it back to catching roach.
By the all out other than 110 & 132, no one had a carp in my area, so I felt justified fishing the way I did, just really hope for a few fish on Cary on 2 weeks. As for the team, it was a bit of disaster. Rich only managed 8pts, Martin had a mare with only 1pt, Fred got what he expected with 8pts and Mike did the best with 11pts.
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