Weight - 35lb 15oz (14lb 6oz - silvers)
Catch - 6 Carp, 11 Roach, 6 Perch, 4 F1, 4 Skimmers, 1 Rudd
Weather - Bright & sunny
Match - Open - 5th out of 8, 2nd - silvers
After the usual good breakfast at Shipham, I arrived in plenty of time for the draw. 2 weeks ago Tony Rixon had said he would fish, but speaking to him mid week revealed he couldn't make it. Something about not be able to do too much fishing. Sounds like Judith is getting used to him being home and with so much DIY to catch up on - lol
Must admit I was quite happy with peg 20 and at least the water level on match lake is filling up a little, but still a long way short of its normal level. As I was setting up there was very little moving around and the water was a clearer, following a couple of frosty nights this week.
Regardless I decided to start across in the hope of an early carp, but after 30mins, I only had 1x lost foul hooked fish. I probably gave it15mins too long, because I did have a few liners, but nothing developed. As it turned out this was the only time I spent fishing across.
In the meantime I fed caster to my left under P19 platform, 4s/micros left and right at the bottom of the far shelf. The left side proved to be the most productive fishing a HB frostie 0.3g > .10 > 18 silverfish pellet & 4mm expander, catching a couple of carp, F1s and small skimmers. I had been toss potting bait, but decided to start catapulting 4s to my right instead, which resulted in my best skimmer.
Under the P19 platform, produced a couple of perch including a near 2lber on caster or prawn (yes they are back!).
With 2hrs left my swim faded and all I could catch was roach, even on 6mm pellet, which was a bit frustrating and never a good sign that there are bigger fish in the swim. I think the issue was there was too many spaces for the fish to back off into. As the afternoon wore on a few carp started to show themselves in the gap between the island and in front of the vacant p22.
Moving back down under p19 platform I managed a couple more perch, but nothing from under p21 platform.
I eventually caught a couple more carp over the loose fed pellet, but it was all a little too late and my carp were on the small side which is unusual for this area of the lake.
1st 125-15 - Andy Hembrow - p2
2nd 48- 9 - Mike West - p13
3rd 37- 9 - Dave Wescott - p11
4th 37- 8 - Ray White - p24
5th 35-15 - Ken Rayner - p20
6th 33- 6 - Adrian Jefferies - p15
Silvers
1st 19- 8 - Nigel Bartlett - p18
2nd 14- 6 - Ken Rayner - p20
3rd 13- 2 - Mike West - p13
Saturday, 29 November 2014
Friday, 28 November 2014
27/11/14 - Harescombe - Match
Weight - 46lb 8oz
Catch - 25 F1, 10 Carp, 6 Skimmers, 4 Roach, 2 Chub, 2 Gudgeon, 1 Perch
Weather - Mostly cloudy, sunny later.
Match - Cost cutter Open - 2nd out of 7
I now have some time on my hands, well at least until 15 December when I start my new job, so plenty of time to go fishing, but next time I resign I'll make sure its in the summer.
I had considered fishing my club water, but following our club match at Harescombe 2 weeks ago I fancied another go at the place and knew they did a Thursday cost cutter.
One of the things I like about this venue is you can get bites from most pegs and with 7 pegs spread around I wasn't too bothered where I drew.
Peg 29 put me on the end bank next to the collapsed bank, with the fishery manager Andy Price next to me on p30. As you can see from the photos, there has been quite a land slip. Repairs are planned, but its a big job.
This week saw the first frost of the autumn, but at least it was a little milder today and still expected a few bites. Due to the landslip the deeper water was slightly to my right, whilst to my left I found an area at 13m that was the same depth as by the island. The rest of the left hand bank was very shallow and is normally a good area, but now it was colder I wasn't so sure.
The first 50mins of this 5hr match was spent at 10m (HB Frostie 0.3g > .10 > 18 silverfish pellet), tosspotting micros and 4s. Initially I tried 4mm expander, but found single maggot was best. I managed a couple of carp and F1s, but was getting bitted out by tiny skimmers and roach.
In the meantime I had been pinging 4s across to the island and since the 10m line didn't seem to be going anywhere I moved across (HB Frostie 0.2g > .10 > 18 silverfish pellet) with 4mm expander.
Over the next 2 hours I caught reasonably well, either on 4mm expander or corn. To get bites I had to keep working the bait, but as the swim was faded, I had to move to the left hand bank. As yet I hadn't fed here, just to leave area for the fish, but now my main swim was fading I started toss potting 4s/corn, continually switching between the 2 swims to keep the fish coming.
I also switched rigs to fish hair rigged 6mm pellet, which resulted in more carp and a few bigger F1s. Unfortunately the sun broke through what had so far been a dull day and coupled with the flat conditions the fish became very finicky.
In the last hour the sun dropped a little and by switching between rigs and swims I managed to keep catching. By the all out, I thought I was ahead of Andy, who had a slow start fishing the maggot feeder to the island, but had caught well during the 2nd half of the match fishing maggot down the right hand margin. Beyond that I wasn't sure, because everyone seemed to have caught a few fish.
Another enjoyable day and was pleased to claim 2nd place against the venue regulars.
1st 58-13 - Tim Allen - p14
2nd 46- 8 - Ken Rayner - p29
3rd 41-14 - Andy Price - p30
4th 32-10 - Steve Burford - p17
Catch - 25 F1, 10 Carp, 6 Skimmers, 4 Roach, 2 Chub, 2 Gudgeon, 1 Perch
Weather - Mostly cloudy, sunny later.
Match - Cost cutter Open - 2nd out of 7
I now have some time on my hands, well at least until 15 December when I start my new job, so plenty of time to go fishing, but next time I resign I'll make sure its in the summer.
I had considered fishing my club water, but following our club match at Harescombe 2 weeks ago I fancied another go at the place and knew they did a Thursday cost cutter.
One of the things I like about this venue is you can get bites from most pegs and with 7 pegs spread around I wasn't too bothered where I drew.
Peg 29 put me on the end bank next to the collapsed bank, with the fishery manager Andy Price next to me on p30. As you can see from the photos, there has been quite a land slip. Repairs are planned, but its a big job.
This week saw the first frost of the autumn, but at least it was a little milder today and still expected a few bites. Due to the landslip the deeper water was slightly to my right, whilst to my left I found an area at 13m that was the same depth as by the island. The rest of the left hand bank was very shallow and is normally a good area, but now it was colder I wasn't so sure.
The first 50mins of this 5hr match was spent at 10m (HB Frostie 0.3g > .10 > 18 silverfish pellet), tosspotting micros and 4s. Initially I tried 4mm expander, but found single maggot was best. I managed a couple of carp and F1s, but was getting bitted out by tiny skimmers and roach.
In the meantime I had been pinging 4s across to the island and since the 10m line didn't seem to be going anywhere I moved across (HB Frostie 0.2g > .10 > 18 silverfish pellet) with 4mm expander.
Over the next 2 hours I caught reasonably well, either on 4mm expander or corn. To get bites I had to keep working the bait, but as the swim was faded, I had to move to the left hand bank. As yet I hadn't fed here, just to leave area for the fish, but now my main swim was fading I started toss potting 4s/corn, continually switching between the 2 swims to keep the fish coming.
I also switched rigs to fish hair rigged 6mm pellet, which resulted in more carp and a few bigger F1s. Unfortunately the sun broke through what had so far been a dull day and coupled with the flat conditions the fish became very finicky.
In the last hour the sun dropped a little and by switching between rigs and swims I managed to keep catching. By the all out, I thought I was ahead of Andy, who had a slow start fishing the maggot feeder to the island, but had caught well during the 2nd half of the match fishing maggot down the right hand margin. Beyond that I wasn't sure, because everyone seemed to have caught a few fish.
Another enjoyable day and was pleased to claim 2nd place against the venue regulars.
1st 58-13 - Tim Allen - p14
2nd 46- 8 - Ken Rayner - p29
3rd 41-14 - Andy Price - p30
4th 32-10 - Steve Burford - p17
Monday, 24 November 2014
23/11/14 - Todber Manor - Park Lake
Weight - 51lb 10oz
Catch - 14 Carp, 2 F1s, 2 Roach, 2 Perch, 1 Gudgeon
Weather - Rainy start, clearing later and becoming colder
Match - Winter League - rd 3 - 6th out of 24, 1st in section
I was looking forward to todays match, but was also little apprehensive. I was lying 6th in the league, but there was 5 of us on 4pts, which meant there would be winners and losers in terms of league position. I would be in A section, pegs 1-11 and with the colder weather the pegs up the arm where to be avoided. Fortunately I did that, drawing p11, but to be honest would have preferred p7 or p9. Roly drew p7, Daryl Falleto was on p9 and Steve Tucker got unlucky with p3.
Having drawn p11 a few weeks ago I didn't get the best out of the peg mainly due to a strong wind and today the northerly breeze was a lot lighter, if not a little colder, which meant I could fish the far bank at 16m a little more comfortably.
Only 3 rigs for today
- SM slim 0.2g > .12 > 18 B911 (hair rig pellet/corn across)
- SM chimp 0.3g > .12 > 18 B911 (down the track)
- Ackoo Carrat 0.3g > .14 > 16 B911 (meat down the track)
My intention was to concentrate on pellet, fishing maggot if needed. With a little spare time before the start I also cut up some meat, because for what ever reason some anglers are still catching on it. After feeding some micros & 4s at 5m and 12m, I started straight across on corn toss potting a few 4s. 5mins later I had my first carp, which was a relief.
After the first hour I hooked 6 carp, but lost 3 which were foul hooked. Moving to 12m produced another carp and a F1 on 4mm expander and a few small silvers on maggot, as did the 5m line. I kept switching lines and managed to snag a couple more carp from the island on 6mm pellet, catapulting 4s and later 6s across.
At the half way point decided to bin the short pellet line and started feeding meat instead. As for the 12m line I kept it topped up with 4s and a few micros which produced a few more carp.
The far line proved more difficult, the carp where definitely there, but hooking them in the mouth instead of the arse proved troublesome!
Moving into the last hour, I thought I was behind Roly, but couldn't see Steve, so 2nd or 3rd in section was likely. A couple more carp from the 12m line, then 2 carp on meat finished my match.
I had fed the margins, but because I was catching only gave them an unsuccessful 5mins.
The weigh-in started at peg 1 and I was really glad I had avoided drawing up here with Steve's 18lb proving to be best. I thought I had 45-50lb, so when Roly weighed 46lb I was hopeful of winning the section. Must admit I let out a little celebratory "yes" when the scales confirmed I won the section and currently lie 2nd in the league, 1/2pt behind todays match winner Ashley Tomkins.
1st 115- 5 - Ashley Tomkins - p28
2nd 74- 4 - Alan Oram - p38
3rd 61- 9 - Tim Clarke - p25
4th 54- 2 - Dan White - p13
5th 51-12 - Mike Nichols - p23
6th 51-10 - Ken Rayner - p11
Catch - 14 Carp, 2 F1s, 2 Roach, 2 Perch, 1 Gudgeon
Weather - Rainy start, clearing later and becoming colder
Match - Winter League - rd 3 - 6th out of 24, 1st in section
I was looking forward to todays match, but was also little apprehensive. I was lying 6th in the league, but there was 5 of us on 4pts, which meant there would be winners and losers in terms of league position. I would be in A section, pegs 1-11 and with the colder weather the pegs up the arm where to be avoided. Fortunately I did that, drawing p11, but to be honest would have preferred p7 or p9. Roly drew p7, Daryl Falleto was on p9 and Steve Tucker got unlucky with p3.
Having drawn p11 a few weeks ago I didn't get the best out of the peg mainly due to a strong wind and today the northerly breeze was a lot lighter, if not a little colder, which meant I could fish the far bank at 16m a little more comfortably.
Only 3 rigs for today
- SM slim 0.2g > .12 > 18 B911 (hair rig pellet/corn across)
- SM chimp 0.3g > .12 > 18 B911 (down the track)
- Ackoo Carrat 0.3g > .14 > 16 B911 (meat down the track)
My intention was to concentrate on pellet, fishing maggot if needed. With a little spare time before the start I also cut up some meat, because for what ever reason some anglers are still catching on it. After feeding some micros & 4s at 5m and 12m, I started straight across on corn toss potting a few 4s. 5mins later I had my first carp, which was a relief.After the first hour I hooked 6 carp, but lost 3 which were foul hooked. Moving to 12m produced another carp and a F1 on 4mm expander and a few small silvers on maggot, as did the 5m line. I kept switching lines and managed to snag a couple more carp from the island on 6mm pellet, catapulting 4s and later 6s across.
At the half way point decided to bin the short pellet line and started feeding meat instead. As for the 12m line I kept it topped up with 4s and a few micros which produced a few more carp.
The far line proved more difficult, the carp where definitely there, but hooking them in the mouth instead of the arse proved troublesome!
Moving into the last hour, I thought I was behind Roly, but couldn't see Steve, so 2nd or 3rd in section was likely. A couple more carp from the 12m line, then 2 carp on meat finished my match.
I had fed the margins, but because I was catching only gave them an unsuccessful 5mins.
The weigh-in started at peg 1 and I was really glad I had avoided drawing up here with Steve's 18lb proving to be best. I thought I had 45-50lb, so when Roly weighed 46lb I was hopeful of winning the section. Must admit I let out a little celebratory "yes" when the scales confirmed I won the section and currently lie 2nd in the league, 1/2pt behind todays match winner Ashley Tomkins.
1st 115- 5 - Ashley Tomkins - p28
2nd 74- 4 - Alan Oram - p38
3rd 61- 9 - Tim Clarke - p25
4th 54- 2 - Dan White - p13
5th 51-12 - Mike Nichols - p23
6th 51-10 - Ken Rayner - p11
22/11/14 - Emerald Pool
Weight - 9lb 13oz
Catch - 26 Skimmers, 2 Tench, 2 Hybrids, 2 Roach, 1 Rudd
Weather - Wet start, but mostly sunny
Match - Silverfish League - rd 4 - 7th out of 8
Not much to write about in this blog. The 4th round of this silverfish league and with 3 of us sat on the same points for 3rd in the league a decent draw would be required. The weather this week has seen colder, wetter conditions moving in and on the drive down the motorway the rain was so heavy I had to slow down. Fortunately by the time I arrived the storm had pasted, however the aerator was on and all this was doing was circulating the cold water. So a draw well away from the aerator would be required.
Only 8 of us today, because the 9th man decided not to fish the rest of the league and Dom decided to leave out peg 2 which was the closest the aerator. I really fancied peg 3, 7 or 8, but found myself on peg 1 again, which I wasn't happy about
The tow created by the aerator wasn't too bad if I fished to my right, but a combination of the light and constant waves created by the aerator meant I had to choose carefully were I fished so I could see my float
The first half of this 5hr match proved to be OK, I had a few fish at 4m on maggot over caster and the most productive swim was 11m towards the overhanging tree on the other island. After initially cupping in a ball of groundbait and then toss potting caster I picked up a number skimmers. On the opposite bank Barry on p3 had a few tench and was ahead of me, but I felt I was on par with Kev and Tim on p4 & p5.
The 2nd half of the match proved to be very difficult with very few silvers, but I did catch carp and fantails. I even set up a swim at 13m in open water and still managed to catch carp. With so many carp in the swim it unsettled the skimmers and ended up tipping back 7 carp & 8 fantails for about 30lb, as well as a few lost carp, which was to be expected when using 0.08 bottoms.
All this meant my league is effectively over with 2 rounds to go. Whilst its tempting not to bother with the next 2 rounds I have committed to fishing. Its not fair on the organiser who has taken time out to set things up and its not fair on the other anglers, since it makes it harder for those with an outside chance of picking up
Overall the venue fished quite hard and the big weights of last year seem to be a distant memory. It could be the weather or it could be the fish have wised up, although its noticeable I haven't caught nearly as many hybrids I did last year. Today I don't think it was any surprise that the top 3 weights came from the pegs closest to the aerator. I'm not bitter, honest!
1st 27- 4 – Dom Sullivan – p9
2nd 25-11 – Andy Gard – p8
3rd 22-13 – Barry Fitchew – p3
4th 18- 8 – Kev Jefferies – p4
Catch - 26 Skimmers, 2 Tench, 2 Hybrids, 2 Roach, 1 Rudd
Weather - Wet start, but mostly sunny
Match - Silverfish League - rd 4 - 7th out of 8
Not much to write about in this blog. The 4th round of this silverfish league and with 3 of us sat on the same points for 3rd in the league a decent draw would be required. The weather this week has seen colder, wetter conditions moving in and on the drive down the motorway the rain was so heavy I had to slow down. Fortunately by the time I arrived the storm had pasted, however the aerator was on and all this was doing was circulating the cold water. So a draw well away from the aerator would be required.
Only 8 of us today, because the 9th man decided not to fish the rest of the league and Dom decided to leave out peg 2 which was the closest the aerator. I really fancied peg 3, 7 or 8, but found myself on peg 1 again, which I wasn't happy about
The tow created by the aerator wasn't too bad if I fished to my right, but a combination of the light and constant waves created by the aerator meant I had to choose carefully were I fished so I could see my float
The first half of this 5hr match proved to be OK, I had a few fish at 4m on maggot over caster and the most productive swim was 11m towards the overhanging tree on the other island. After initially cupping in a ball of groundbait and then toss potting caster I picked up a number skimmers. On the opposite bank Barry on p3 had a few tench and was ahead of me, but I felt I was on par with Kev and Tim on p4 & p5.
The 2nd half of the match proved to be very difficult with very few silvers, but I did catch carp and fantails. I even set up a swim at 13m in open water and still managed to catch carp. With so many carp in the swim it unsettled the skimmers and ended up tipping back 7 carp & 8 fantails for about 30lb, as well as a few lost carp, which was to be expected when using 0.08 bottoms.
All this meant my league is effectively over with 2 rounds to go. Whilst its tempting not to bother with the next 2 rounds I have committed to fishing. Its not fair on the organiser who has taken time out to set things up and its not fair on the other anglers, since it makes it harder for those with an outside chance of picking up
Overall the venue fished quite hard and the big weights of last year seem to be a distant memory. It could be the weather or it could be the fish have wised up, although its noticeable I haven't caught nearly as many hybrids I did last year. Today I don't think it was any surprise that the top 3 weights came from the pegs closest to the aerator. I'm not bitter, honest!
1st 27- 4 – Dom Sullivan – p9
2nd 25-11 – Andy Gard – p8
3rd 22-13 – Barry Fitchew – p3
4th 18- 8 – Kev Jefferies – p4
Monday, 17 November 2014
16/11/14 - Harescombe - Match Lake
Weight - 67lb 5oz
Catch - 44 F1s, 7 Carp, 7 Skimmer, 1 Gudgeon
Weather - Mostly cloudy, cool NW breeze
Match - Club - 1st out of 11
I was looking forward to this match, because I have enjoyed the last couple of visits although the weather could have been kinder. At least today light winds were forecast, even if they were coming from the NW.
On arrival I had a quick chat with Tim who regularly fishes here, advising pellet & corn was still working. I could fish maggot, but was likely to be pestered by small roach & skimmers, which meant the 2pts of Avon Angling maggots (my last ever – very sad) would remain unused for today at least.
The draw put me on p19 on the far bank and with only 11 on the lake I had plenty of space, which as we know isn’t always a good thing. The good news was the vegetation on the central island has been cut back, although there were still some weeds sticking out, but at least it was a lot tidier than my last visit.
My plan of attack was to start across by the island and feed a 2+2 swim. Only 3 rigs required for today.
- HB Frostie 0.2g > .12 > 18 silverfish pellet (soft pellet/corn)
- SM Slim 0.2g > .12 > 18 B911 (hair rigged 6mm pellet)
- SM Chimp 0.4g > .12 > 18 silverfish pellet (2+2 swim)
Due to the shorter days we would only be fishing 5.5hrs. On the all in I started across toss potting 4s and 2 bits of corn with 4mm expander on the hook and my first fish was a Gudgeon. I used love catching Gudgeon as a kid and used to catch some really big ones from my local river. Next put in I had an F1 and by the end of the 1st hour I had 10 fish.
The 2nd hour was a little harder with 9 fish mostly on corn, but at least the fish were a little bigger and the 3rd I had 12 fish, but started catching more small skimmers as the F1s back off.
F1 fishing is really interesting and you have to continually work out how they want feeding. I had started off in 1 swim, then started left & right of this swim, moving further along the island. I struck with toss potting 4s & corn. I did try micros, but this just brought in those small skimmers, so I stopped that. Since I wasn’t catching anything bigger than 2lb I switched hooklength to .10 which seemed to improve my bite ratio.
Going into the 4th hour I noticed a few fish moving along the island and decided to start pinging pellet to my right, adding a further 10 fish mainly from the left hand side which I was still toss potting pellet/corn.
The 5th hour proved to be a golden hour with 15 fish, when I switched rigs to a hair rigged 6mm pellet (which according to Tim no one has done this winter) very tight to the island I had a run of fish, including more carp.
The last 30mins proved to be more difficult, but still landed a couple more fish. The short line proved to be a bust with only 1 more skimmer coming from it. Of the anglers I could see Andy on p24 who had been fishing maggot looked to be the busiest and he did catch more than me including a lot of small blade roach & skimmers, but sticking with pellet and corn won the day.
A really enjoyable day, with plenty of bites. Also this was my first weekend for a while where I have picked up both days. It’s probably no coincidence that I was offered a new job Thursday and feel more relaxed.
1st 67- 5 – Ken Rayner – p19
2nd 55- 5 – Andy Lord – p24
3rd 34-11 – Andy Bradley – p29
4th 24-10 – Craig Davidge – p30
5th 22- 6 – Paul Lewis – p14
6th 19- 3 – Nick Jodrell – p3
Catch - 44 F1s, 7 Carp, 7 Skimmer, 1 Gudgeon
Weather - Mostly cloudy, cool NW breeze
Match - Club - 1st out of 11
I was looking forward to this match, because I have enjoyed the last couple of visits although the weather could have been kinder. At least today light winds were forecast, even if they were coming from the NW.
On arrival I had a quick chat with Tim who regularly fishes here, advising pellet & corn was still working. I could fish maggot, but was likely to be pestered by small roach & skimmers, which meant the 2pts of Avon Angling maggots (my last ever – very sad) would remain unused for today at least.
The draw put me on p19 on the far bank and with only 11 on the lake I had plenty of space, which as we know isn’t always a good thing. The good news was the vegetation on the central island has been cut back, although there were still some weeds sticking out, but at least it was a lot tidier than my last visit.
My plan of attack was to start across by the island and feed a 2+2 swim. Only 3 rigs required for today.
- HB Frostie 0.2g > .12 > 18 silverfish pellet (soft pellet/corn)
- SM Slim 0.2g > .12 > 18 B911 (hair rigged 6mm pellet)
- SM Chimp 0.4g > .12 > 18 silverfish pellet (2+2 swim)
Due to the shorter days we would only be fishing 5.5hrs. On the all in I started across toss potting 4s and 2 bits of corn with 4mm expander on the hook and my first fish was a Gudgeon. I used love catching Gudgeon as a kid and used to catch some really big ones from my local river. Next put in I had an F1 and by the end of the 1st hour I had 10 fish.
The 2nd hour was a little harder with 9 fish mostly on corn, but at least the fish were a little bigger and the 3rd I had 12 fish, but started catching more small skimmers as the F1s back off.
F1 fishing is really interesting and you have to continually work out how they want feeding. I had started off in 1 swim, then started left & right of this swim, moving further along the island. I struck with toss potting 4s & corn. I did try micros, but this just brought in those small skimmers, so I stopped that. Since I wasn’t catching anything bigger than 2lb I switched hooklength to .10 which seemed to improve my bite ratio.
Going into the 4th hour I noticed a few fish moving along the island and decided to start pinging pellet to my right, adding a further 10 fish mainly from the left hand side which I was still toss potting pellet/corn.
The 5th hour proved to be a golden hour with 15 fish, when I switched rigs to a hair rigged 6mm pellet (which according to Tim no one has done this winter) very tight to the island I had a run of fish, including more carp.
The last 30mins proved to be more difficult, but still landed a couple more fish. The short line proved to be a bust with only 1 more skimmer coming from it. Of the anglers I could see Andy on p24 who had been fishing maggot looked to be the busiest and he did catch more than me including a lot of small blade roach & skimmers, but sticking with pellet and corn won the day.
A really enjoyable day, with plenty of bites. Also this was my first weekend for a while where I have picked up both days. It’s probably no coincidence that I was offered a new job Thursday and feel more relaxed.
1st 67- 5 – Ken Rayner – p19
2nd 55- 5 – Andy Lord – p24
3rd 34-11 – Andy Bradley – p29
4th 24-10 – Craig Davidge – p30
5th 22- 6 – Paul Lewis – p14
6th 19- 3 – Nick Jodrell – p3
Sunday, 16 November 2014
15/11/14 - Lands End - Match Lake
Weight - 94lb 4oz (15lb 3oz - silvers)
Catch - 17 Carp, 7 Skimmers, 5 Perch, 2 F1
Weather - Bright, mild & sunny day
Match - Open - 2nd out 10 (2nd - silvers)
After what has been a very tough 18 months at work, mainly as a result of various regulation changes, I decided it was time to look for another job and after 14 years I start a new role next month, which I’m really excited about.
I was a little later than I would normally like for the draw, so it was a bit of a rush to get my kit to my peg and ended up being ready 5mins after the start. I drew peg 13, which I wasn’t that keen on because it’s not my favourite peg, but it normally produces a few fish. For company I had Andy Hembrow opposite on p11 and Dave Wescott on p15.
Must admit my initial thoughts were to target the silvers, because the carp tend to be on the small side at this end of the lake, however you never know. Plumbing up and with the water levels still low, it was too shallow to target the left hand edge, although the shelf along the island at 16m was a little deeper, but didn’t expect any fish to show here till late.
With the colder weather all rigs where on .12 bottoms, expect for the margin rig under the p14 pallet which had a heavier .14 hooklength.
Having seen a carp move under the pallet, I started down there on corn after feeding 4s & micros at 5m, long towards the aerator and long in open water. Despite a few liners I had no bites, so started feeding caster and corn for later.
In the meantime Andy already landed 2 carp and was playing his 3rd as I started on my long line, which produced 2 small skimmers on 4mm expander before catching my first carp. However I couldn’t catch as regularly as Andy, but at least I was catching, as were a few other further down the lake.
After 90mins I was struggling to catch and switched from toss potting bait to catapulting 4s, really to try and drew some fish to my side of the lake, away from Andy. A switch down the margin on double caster produced 4 decent perch, but no carp.
Back out on the long line I ended up switching between the open water, which I kept fed via a catapult and by the aerator feeding micros/4s via a toss pot. This worked quite well as I picked up carp and a couple F1s.
With 2hrs to go, Andy was still catching. In fact he fished the same swim for most of the match, so a nice easy match for Andy, whilst the rest of us were fishing for 2nd place. From those I could see a few fish were being caught and wasn’t confident that I was in a framing position.
Back down under the pallet only produced 1 more perch. So far I had kept my 5m line topped up with pellet, which as yet hadn’t produced, but 3 skimmers in 15mins boosted my silvers net and going into the last hour I wasn’t sure whether to stick with silvers or carp. As it turned out carp turned up over the short pellet line, which sorted that problem out.
I had also started pinging pellet towards the island and the 5 carp caught on 6mm pellet proved decisive. My margin swim only 1 small carp, but Dave decided to take advantage of my well fed margin and nicked 2 decent carp from the other side of the pallet!
1st 156- 8 – Andy Hembrow – p11
2nd 94- 4 – Ken Rayner – p13
3rd 83- 7 – Rod Wootton – p24
4th 64- 5 – Mike Duckett – p22
5th 59- 2 – Steve Seagar – p20
6th 49-12 – Dave Wescott – p15
Silvers
1st 19- 0 – Kev Molton – p7 (perch)
2nd 15- 3 – Ken Rayner – p13
3rd 10-15 – Rod Wootton – p24
Catch - 17 Carp, 7 Skimmers, 5 Perch, 2 F1
Weather - Bright, mild & sunny day
Match - Open - 2nd out 10 (2nd - silvers)
After what has been a very tough 18 months at work, mainly as a result of various regulation changes, I decided it was time to look for another job and after 14 years I start a new role next month, which I’m really excited about.
I was a little later than I would normally like for the draw, so it was a bit of a rush to get my kit to my peg and ended up being ready 5mins after the start. I drew peg 13, which I wasn’t that keen on because it’s not my favourite peg, but it normally produces a few fish. For company I had Andy Hembrow opposite on p11 and Dave Wescott on p15.
Must admit my initial thoughts were to target the silvers, because the carp tend to be on the small side at this end of the lake, however you never know. Plumbing up and with the water levels still low, it was too shallow to target the left hand edge, although the shelf along the island at 16m was a little deeper, but didn’t expect any fish to show here till late.
With the colder weather all rigs where on .12 bottoms, expect for the margin rig under the p14 pallet which had a heavier .14 hooklength.
Having seen a carp move under the pallet, I started down there on corn after feeding 4s & micros at 5m, long towards the aerator and long in open water. Despite a few liners I had no bites, so started feeding caster and corn for later.
In the meantime Andy already landed 2 carp and was playing his 3rd as I started on my long line, which produced 2 small skimmers on 4mm expander before catching my first carp. However I couldn’t catch as regularly as Andy, but at least I was catching, as were a few other further down the lake.
After 90mins I was struggling to catch and switched from toss potting bait to catapulting 4s, really to try and drew some fish to my side of the lake, away from Andy. A switch down the margin on double caster produced 4 decent perch, but no carp.
Back out on the long line I ended up switching between the open water, which I kept fed via a catapult and by the aerator feeding micros/4s via a toss pot. This worked quite well as I picked up carp and a couple F1s.
With 2hrs to go, Andy was still catching. In fact he fished the same swim for most of the match, so a nice easy match for Andy, whilst the rest of us were fishing for 2nd place. From those I could see a few fish were being caught and wasn’t confident that I was in a framing position.
Back down under the pallet only produced 1 more perch. So far I had kept my 5m line topped up with pellet, which as yet hadn’t produced, but 3 skimmers in 15mins boosted my silvers net and going into the last hour I wasn’t sure whether to stick with silvers or carp. As it turned out carp turned up over the short pellet line, which sorted that problem out.
I had also started pinging pellet towards the island and the 5 carp caught on 6mm pellet proved decisive. My margin swim only 1 small carp, but Dave decided to take advantage of my well fed margin and nicked 2 decent carp from the other side of the pallet!
1st 156- 8 – Andy Hembrow – p11
2nd 94- 4 – Ken Rayner – p13
3rd 83- 7 – Rod Wootton – p24
4th 64- 5 – Mike Duckett – p22
5th 59- 2 – Steve Seagar – p20
6th 49-12 – Dave Wescott – p15
Silvers
1st 19- 0 – Kev Molton – p7 (perch)
2nd 15- 3 – Ken Rayner – p13
3rd 10-15 – Rod Wootton – p24
Monday, 10 November 2014
09/11/14 - Todber - Park Lake
Weight - 58lb 14oz
Catch - 14 Carp, 13 Roach, 3 Skimmers, 2 F1s, 1 Perch
Weather - Bright and sunny
Match - Todber Series rd 2 - 7th out of 24, 2nd in section.
The 2nd round of the Todber series and after my 2nd in section during the first round I was really hoping for a decent draw today to keep me in contention. Prior to the draw a 2 minutes silence was impeccably observed for Remembrance Day.
It was section D, peg 31-38 for me and ideally I wanted to avoid pegs 31 & 32 and for Tucks and Roly not to draw 37 & 38, however I did draw p32, Tucks was on p37 and Roly p38. I was really disappointed and felt I was fishing for 3rd in section.
For company Bob Wheeler was to my left on p31 and Adrian Jeffries, subbing for Clint on p34. Following the colder weather this week, loads of heavy rain yesterday and this morning was cold with 1c showing on the drive down. The prospects were for a difficult day for what were now bright, flat conditions.
Only 3 rigs for today
- HB Frostie > .12 > 18 B911 (soft pellet/maggot across)
- SM Slim > .12 > 18 B911 (hair rigged pellet across)
- Ackoo Carbon Carrat 0.2g > 0.12 > (maggot/soft pellet down the middle)
As I was plumbing up I bumped into a fish across so this is where I decided to start after cupping in some micros/4s/maggot at 6 sections to my right and 13m.
Bob was first to hook a fish, which was foul hooked and I soon hooked a foul hooker in the tail, which I lost at the net. By toss potting a small amount of micros/pellet and 4mm expander on the hook I caught 5 carp and an F1, plus losing a few foul hookers. If I fed maggot or put maggot on the hook I would just get bitted out my tiny roach.
After an hour & 45mins the far line had died completely. The middle part of the match was very quiet. I had hoped to catch at 13m, but only had 2 carp, an F1, a 1lb skimmer and more roach.
I could see Roly catching, so knew that was the section gone, although Tucks didn’t seem to be as busy.
Since the far line wasn’t producing I starting pining 4s across in the hope of pulling in some carp for later, which was just as well, because my short line failed to produce anything other than silvers and my margins fed with dead maggot/caster didn’t produce anything.
In the last 90mins a switch to the far line fishing hair rigged 6mm pellet, produced a further 7 carp, so at least I consolidated 3rd in section or so I thought. Roly was first to weigh and as expected won the match. Tucks was only admitting to 30lb, so I wasn’t surprised when he put 56lb on the scales. I thought I had 50lb, so I was really happy when I ended up with 58lb and a surprise 2nd in section. This meant I am 6th in the league, however there are 5 of us all on 4pts and I just happen to have the lowest aggregate weight.
As I said really happy with the result and hopefully a good sign after a number of recent near misses.
1st 118-10 – Roland Lucas – p38
2nd 82-12 – Ash Tomkins – p14
3rd 81- 9 – Nick Merry – p9
4th 77- 7 – Chris Fox – p17
5th 73- 1 – Tim Clarke – p7
6th 64- 4 – Tom Ince – p11
Catch - 14 Carp, 13 Roach, 3 Skimmers, 2 F1s, 1 Perch
Weather - Bright and sunny
Match - Todber Series rd 2 - 7th out of 24, 2nd in section.
The 2nd round of the Todber series and after my 2nd in section during the first round I was really hoping for a decent draw today to keep me in contention. Prior to the draw a 2 minutes silence was impeccably observed for Remembrance Day.
It was section D, peg 31-38 for me and ideally I wanted to avoid pegs 31 & 32 and for Tucks and Roly not to draw 37 & 38, however I did draw p32, Tucks was on p37 and Roly p38. I was really disappointed and felt I was fishing for 3rd in section.
For company Bob Wheeler was to my left on p31 and Adrian Jeffries, subbing for Clint on p34. Following the colder weather this week, loads of heavy rain yesterday and this morning was cold with 1c showing on the drive down. The prospects were for a difficult day for what were now bright, flat conditions.
Only 3 rigs for today
- HB Frostie > .12 > 18 B911 (soft pellet/maggot across)
- SM Slim > .12 > 18 B911 (hair rigged pellet across)
- Ackoo Carbon Carrat 0.2g > 0.12 > (maggot/soft pellet down the middle)
As I was plumbing up I bumped into a fish across so this is where I decided to start after cupping in some micros/4s/maggot at 6 sections to my right and 13m.
Bob was first to hook a fish, which was foul hooked and I soon hooked a foul hooker in the tail, which I lost at the net. By toss potting a small amount of micros/pellet and 4mm expander on the hook I caught 5 carp and an F1, plus losing a few foul hookers. If I fed maggot or put maggot on the hook I would just get bitted out my tiny roach.
After an hour & 45mins the far line had died completely. The middle part of the match was very quiet. I had hoped to catch at 13m, but only had 2 carp, an F1, a 1lb skimmer and more roach.
I could see Roly catching, so knew that was the section gone, although Tucks didn’t seem to be as busy.
Since the far line wasn’t producing I starting pining 4s across in the hope of pulling in some carp for later, which was just as well, because my short line failed to produce anything other than silvers and my margins fed with dead maggot/caster didn’t produce anything.
In the last 90mins a switch to the far line fishing hair rigged 6mm pellet, produced a further 7 carp, so at least I consolidated 3rd in section or so I thought. Roly was first to weigh and as expected won the match. Tucks was only admitting to 30lb, so I wasn’t surprised when he put 56lb on the scales. I thought I had 50lb, so I was really happy when I ended up with 58lb and a surprise 2nd in section. This meant I am 6th in the league, however there are 5 of us all on 4pts and I just happen to have the lowest aggregate weight.
As I said really happy with the result and hopefully a good sign after a number of recent near misses.
1st 118-10 – Roland Lucas – p38
2nd 82-12 – Ash Tomkins – p14
3rd 81- 9 – Nick Merry – p9
4th 77- 7 – Chris Fox – p17
5th 73- 1 – Tim Clarke – p7
6th 64- 4 – Tom Ince – p11
Sunday, 9 November 2014
08/11/14 - Emerald Pool - Emerald
Weight - 11lb 6oz
Catch - 34 Skimmers, 5 Hybrids, 2 Perch, 2 Roach, 1 Rudd
Weather - Wet & windy start, clearing later
Match - Silverfish League - rd 3 - 3rd out of 7
Sometimes you have to question your sanity, as I was setting up on peg 1 in the wind and rain for the 3rd round of this silverfish series. Unfortunately we had 2 no shows, Barry let Dom know he couldn’t make, but Simon decided just not to turn up. As a fellow match organiser, it is incredibly frustrating when people do this and I don’t understand why people think it’s acceptable.
Anyway, peg 1 was on the right hand side of the small
island. So far it won the first match, but came last in the 2nd match
and carp can be a problem, so it was anyone’s guess how it would fish. Having
said that, I thinks it’s fair to say winter finally arrived this week, with
much colder overnight temperatures.
Today was at least milder, but it was raining hard and the wind was blowing straight up the lake left to right. I set up 4 rigs to cover all eventualities.
- Chimp 0.3g > .10 > 20 silverfish maggot (top 7)
- Jolly 4x14 > .10 > 20 silverfish maggot (top 4 & margin)
- Chimp 0.4g > .10 > 18 silverfish maggot (in case I started bagging or the wind really picked up)
- 0.2g shallow rig
Based on the last match, decided to simplify my approach, so on the all in, only 2 swims were fed, leaving plenty of space to move into if required. On my top 4 a small ball of groundbait/caster was fed and my top 7 got 2 small balls/caster.
Starting on the top 4 I soon had a perch, and then hooked 3 carp. A switch to the top 7 line and I started to catch, but it was slow going. In fact everyone seemed to be struggling and not what we expected.
The next few hours was a case of switching lines and working out how to feed. Actually found it best to feed a small ball of feed with caster, leave it alone for a 10mins or so and I would get a run of skimmers, before they back off again. At one point early on I tried the shallow rig, without success.
The top 4 line proved to be really disappointing, which had been feed with caster and only produced a few skimmers/hybrids. So this was binned and I started feeding caster in the margins hoping for a tench or 2. I also started another top 7 swim to my right. This worked a little better, providing a few more skimmers, but it was still hard going.
Fortunately the rain stopped after a couple hours and it was a lot brighter, which seemed to coincide with the fishing slow down even further. From the anglers I could see, I thought Tim opposite on p5 may be ahead of me thanks to some tench, but everyone expect for Dom were struggling for bites and thankful the match was only 5hrs instead of 6 hrs.
The last hour for me proved to be difficult as the carp became more active. I tried starting 2 new swims, but only had 1 skimmer and several lost carp.
I was first to be weighed and Dom thought I would have enough to claim 2nd and that was the way it was looking until John Barker on p8 put 29lb on the scales made up of quiet a few tench.
1st – 29-11 – John Barker – p8
2nd – 27-14 – Dom Sullivan - p6
3rd – 11- 6 – Ken Rayner – p1
4th – 9- 8 – Kev Jeffries – p7
Catch - 34 Skimmers, 5 Hybrids, 2 Perch, 2 Roach, 1 Rudd
Weather - Wet & windy start, clearing later
Match - Silverfish League - rd 3 - 3rd out of 7
Sometimes you have to question your sanity, as I was setting up on peg 1 in the wind and rain for the 3rd round of this silverfish series. Unfortunately we had 2 no shows, Barry let Dom know he couldn’t make, but Simon decided just not to turn up. As a fellow match organiser, it is incredibly frustrating when people do this and I don’t understand why people think it’s acceptable.
Today was at least milder, but it was raining hard and the wind was blowing straight up the lake left to right. I set up 4 rigs to cover all eventualities.
- Chimp 0.3g > .10 > 20 silverfish maggot (top 7)
- Jolly 4x14 > .10 > 20 silverfish maggot (top 4 & margin)
- Chimp 0.4g > .10 > 18 silverfish maggot (in case I started bagging or the wind really picked up)
- 0.2g shallow rig
Based on the last match, decided to simplify my approach, so on the all in, only 2 swims were fed, leaving plenty of space to move into if required. On my top 4 a small ball of groundbait/caster was fed and my top 7 got 2 small balls/caster.
Starting on the top 4 I soon had a perch, and then hooked 3 carp. A switch to the top 7 line and I started to catch, but it was slow going. In fact everyone seemed to be struggling and not what we expected.
The next few hours was a case of switching lines and working out how to feed. Actually found it best to feed a small ball of feed with caster, leave it alone for a 10mins or so and I would get a run of skimmers, before they back off again. At one point early on I tried the shallow rig, without success.
The top 4 line proved to be really disappointing, which had been feed with caster and only produced a few skimmers/hybrids. So this was binned and I started feeding caster in the margins hoping for a tench or 2. I also started another top 7 swim to my right. This worked a little better, providing a few more skimmers, but it was still hard going.
Fortunately the rain stopped after a couple hours and it was a lot brighter, which seemed to coincide with the fishing slow down even further. From the anglers I could see, I thought Tim opposite on p5 may be ahead of me thanks to some tench, but everyone expect for Dom were struggling for bites and thankful the match was only 5hrs instead of 6 hrs.
The last hour for me proved to be difficult as the carp became more active. I tried starting 2 new swims, but only had 1 skimmer and several lost carp.
I was first to be weighed and Dom thought I would have enough to claim 2nd and that was the way it was looking until John Barker on p8 put 29lb on the scales made up of quiet a few tench.
1st – 29-11 – John Barker – p8
2nd – 27-14 – Dom Sullivan - p6
3rd – 11- 6 – Ken Rayner – p1
4th – 9- 8 – Kev Jeffries – p7
Thursday, 6 November 2014
02/11/14 - Todber Manor - Park Lake
Weight - 49lb
Catch - 14 Carp, 6 Skimmers, 3 F1s, 4 Roach
Weather - Cloudy, sunny periods. Windy
Match - Wests Tackle Open - 11th out of 22
A 2nd week at Todber, this time a Wests Tackle Open. Have to say I wasn’t overly happy with p11, which came 5th in section in last week’s league match.
On arrival the peg was a full 16m wide and I hoped the light wind blowing up the lake wouldn’t get any stronger. No such luck!
I decided not to take any meat this time, preferring to focus on pellet and maggot.
To be honest I didn’t have a great match, I thought I would be up against it for my section (p1-13) let alone framing, but there was a few fish showing on the far side, which was where I started toss potting pellet, fishing a banded 6mm pellet.
After 30mins I was scratching my head, because I only had 1 carp, but plenty of liners, although to be fair not a lot was being caught around the lake.
I kept pinging 6s across all match and there was certainly fish moving around, but found getting a proper bite difficult, until the last 2 hours when the fish seemed more settled, although they were half the small of those being caught from p13.
My top 7 line was fed carefully with 4s, with maggot on the hook. First drop in produced a carp, great I thought. However that was the only carp I caught from here, although I did catch nearly 10lb of skimmers and F1s.
This just leaves my margins, which were fed with 4s and corn. I hooked carp on the first 3 drop ins, but lost all 3. 1 was at least foul hooked, but other than a small carp and a big skimmer that was the only fish from the margins.
On reflection, I made a few mistakes during the match, although wind limited my opportunity to maximise the far bank. Hopefully a few more lessons learnt for next week’s league match.
1st - 138- 4 - Ash Tomkins - p3
2nd - 115-10 - Nick White - p1
3rd - 91- 4 - Steve Ince - p35
4th - 90-12 - Martin Rogers - p26
5th - 78- 4 - Mark Poppleton - p23
6th - 69-10 - Kev Hanson - p38
Catch - 14 Carp, 6 Skimmers, 3 F1s, 4 Roach
Weather - Cloudy, sunny periods. Windy
Match - Wests Tackle Open - 11th out of 22
A 2nd week at Todber, this time a Wests Tackle Open. Have to say I wasn’t overly happy with p11, which came 5th in section in last week’s league match.
On arrival the peg was a full 16m wide and I hoped the light wind blowing up the lake wouldn’t get any stronger. No such luck!
I decided not to take any meat this time, preferring to focus on pellet and maggot.
To be honest I didn’t have a great match, I thought I would be up against it for my section (p1-13) let alone framing, but there was a few fish showing on the far side, which was where I started toss potting pellet, fishing a banded 6mm pellet.
After 30mins I was scratching my head, because I only had 1 carp, but plenty of liners, although to be fair not a lot was being caught around the lake.
I kept pinging 6s across all match and there was certainly fish moving around, but found getting a proper bite difficult, until the last 2 hours when the fish seemed more settled, although they were half the small of those being caught from p13.
My top 7 line was fed carefully with 4s, with maggot on the hook. First drop in produced a carp, great I thought. However that was the only carp I caught from here, although I did catch nearly 10lb of skimmers and F1s.
This just leaves my margins, which were fed with 4s and corn. I hooked carp on the first 3 drop ins, but lost all 3. 1 was at least foul hooked, but other than a small carp and a big skimmer that was the only fish from the margins.
On reflection, I made a few mistakes during the match, although wind limited my opportunity to maximise the far bank. Hopefully a few more lessons learnt for next week’s league match.
1st - 138- 4 - Ash Tomkins - p3
2nd - 115-10 - Nick White - p1
3rd - 91- 4 - Steve Ince - p35
4th - 90-12 - Martin Rogers - p26
5th - 78- 4 - Mark Poppleton - p23
6th - 69-10 - Kev Hanson - p38
01/11/14 - Lands End - Match Lake
Weight - 77lb 13oz (23lb 10oz - silvers)
Catch - 9 Carp, 7 F1s, 5 Skimmers, 2 Roach, 1 Tench
Weather - cloudy, cool breeze
Match - 3rd out of 7 (1st - silvers)
It was nice to return to Lands End and reports suggested it was still fishing well. Only 7 for today’s match, so plenty of room on Match Lake, but too much room can create areas for the fish to hide away. I wasn’t too concerned where I drew and was happy enough with peg 18.
Whilst setting up there were a few fish moving around, particularly between the islands, so it was looking good for a few fish.
On the all-in, a small handful of 4s/corn was thrown to my right by the tree and I then shipped out to 16m slapping an 8mm pellet around to the surface feeding fish. Well that didn’t work and after 10mins decided to fish properly so cupped in some pellet/corn by the island. Whilst that settled I went down to the tree and had an 8lb carp straight away on double corn.
Back out towards the island, toss potting pellet, fishing a hair rigged 8mm. This produced a few fish, but my 5 fish at the end of the first hour was already a couple of fish behind Steve Seagar on p20, who was also fishing the far bank.
After 90mins the fishing became more difficult and started pinging pellet to my left along the island which produced a couple more carp, but it was hard going. It was also noticeable the wind had increased and it felt cooler than earlier in the day.
By the mid way point I was up to 8 carp and 2 F1s, but the fish seemed to have backed off the island. I had been feeding meat at 6m, which only produced a roach. It fact I didn’t have anything else off the meat line all match.
I needed to make something happen, just to put some fish into the net. Steve was obviously leading the way, but beyond that I thought I was on par with Jim Jenner on p15 and I heard Mike Duckett on p11 was catching. So a cup of caster was fed in front of p17 pallet and pellet at 14m towards the gap between the islands.
The caster swim produced a big tench and skimmer. Unfortunately I lost a couple fish which I assume were perch, including one of about 2lb which threw the hook as it surfaced and with my recent history of losing money winning fish I hoped it wouldn’t cost me today.
The right hand swim by the tree which I kept topped up with pellet, only produced a big skimmer. As far as I could see Ray White opposite on p5 was the only one targeting silvers and I was fairly sure we had a similar weight so far, but needed a few more skimmers & F1s. My 14m pellet line really produced the goods with a number of F1s and skimmers falling to 4mm expander. Which was just as well because the middle part of the match the carp seemed to have switched off, but even with my silvers felt I was too far behind Steve who started to catch again in the last 90mins. Dale & Jim also started catching again and I thought they would both beat me. However, if I could get a run of carp I might be able to claim 2nd. As it turned out I only managed 1 carp of 11lb and decided to stay focused on the silvers.
Ray was first to weigh and his silver went 18-10 which was a surprise and I really wasn’t sure whether I had that, although I knew it would be close. Mike on p11 plonked 94lb on the scales and vindicated my decision to target the silvers at the half way stage of the match. I think Ray was a little disappointed when I put 23lb of silvers on the scales.
In the end a nice day and looking forward to Lands End Winter league next month. There are a couple of spaces available, so if you are interested please let me know.
1st - 99-14 - Steve Seagar - p20
2nd - 94- 2 - Mike Duckett - p11
3rd - 77-13 - Ken Rayner - p18
4th - 77- 4 - Jim Jenner - p15
Silvers
1st - 23-10 - Ken Rayner - p18
2nd - 18-12 - Ray White - p5
Catch - 9 Carp, 7 F1s, 5 Skimmers, 2 Roach, 1 Tench
Weather - cloudy, cool breeze
Match - 3rd out of 7 (1st - silvers)
It was nice to return to Lands End and reports suggested it was still fishing well. Only 7 for today’s match, so plenty of room on Match Lake, but too much room can create areas for the fish to hide away. I wasn’t too concerned where I drew and was happy enough with peg 18.
Whilst setting up there were a few fish moving around, particularly between the islands, so it was looking good for a few fish.
On the all-in, a small handful of 4s/corn was thrown to my right by the tree and I then shipped out to 16m slapping an 8mm pellet around to the surface feeding fish. Well that didn’t work and after 10mins decided to fish properly so cupped in some pellet/corn by the island. Whilst that settled I went down to the tree and had an 8lb carp straight away on double corn.
Back out towards the island, toss potting pellet, fishing a hair rigged 8mm. This produced a few fish, but my 5 fish at the end of the first hour was already a couple of fish behind Steve Seagar on p20, who was also fishing the far bank.
After 90mins the fishing became more difficult and started pinging pellet to my left along the island which produced a couple more carp, but it was hard going. It was also noticeable the wind had increased and it felt cooler than earlier in the day.
By the mid way point I was up to 8 carp and 2 F1s, but the fish seemed to have backed off the island. I had been feeding meat at 6m, which only produced a roach. It fact I didn’t have anything else off the meat line all match.
I needed to make something happen, just to put some fish into the net. Steve was obviously leading the way, but beyond that I thought I was on par with Jim Jenner on p15 and I heard Mike Duckett on p11 was catching. So a cup of caster was fed in front of p17 pallet and pellet at 14m towards the gap between the islands.
The caster swim produced a big tench and skimmer. Unfortunately I lost a couple fish which I assume were perch, including one of about 2lb which threw the hook as it surfaced and with my recent history of losing money winning fish I hoped it wouldn’t cost me today.
The right hand swim by the tree which I kept topped up with pellet, only produced a big skimmer. As far as I could see Ray White opposite on p5 was the only one targeting silvers and I was fairly sure we had a similar weight so far, but needed a few more skimmers & F1s. My 14m pellet line really produced the goods with a number of F1s and skimmers falling to 4mm expander. Which was just as well because the middle part of the match the carp seemed to have switched off, but even with my silvers felt I was too far behind Steve who started to catch again in the last 90mins. Dale & Jim also started catching again and I thought they would both beat me. However, if I could get a run of carp I might be able to claim 2nd. As it turned out I only managed 1 carp of 11lb and decided to stay focused on the silvers.
Ray was first to weigh and his silver went 18-10 which was a surprise and I really wasn’t sure whether I had that, although I knew it would be close. Mike on p11 plonked 94lb on the scales and vindicated my decision to target the silvers at the half way stage of the match. I think Ray was a little disappointed when I put 23lb of silvers on the scales.
In the end a nice day and looking forward to Lands End Winter league next month. There are a couple of spaces available, so if you are interested please let me know.
1st - 99-14 - Steve Seagar - p20
2nd - 94- 2 - Mike Duckett - p11
3rd - 77-13 - Ken Rayner - p18
4th - 77- 4 - Jim Jenner - p15
Silvers
1st - 23-10 - Ken Rayner - p18
2nd - 18-12 - Ray White - p5
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