25/01/15 - Lands End - Match

Weight - 34lb 6oz (7lb 10oz - silvers)
Catch - 6 Carp, 12 Roach, 4 Skimmers, 2 Perch, 1 F1, 1 Rudd
Weather - Mostly cloudy
Match - Winter League rd 2 - 16th out of 35 (3rd in section)

It seems a long time since the first round of this league started, but at least the remaining 5 rounds will be spread over the next 10 weeks, which was designed to avoid the worst of the winter weather and hopefully provide some decent fishing during February and March.

It was my turn for Match Lake and I had Tony Rixon in the knock out, but knew I was likely to be knocked out when he drew P15. I was even more certain of being knocked out when I was left with P20. Oh well at least the rigs from yesterday, when I fished p21 were still on my top kits, so setting up wouldn’t take long.

Looking at my section, I really felt I was up against it, with Tony on p15, Dan White on p17, Adrian Jefferies on p19 and Kev Molton on the current form peg p24. In the fact the only person I was confident of beating was John Bradford on p22, but that was only because I knew he would doing his best to avoid the carp.

With more anglers on the lake, there should be fewer spaces for the carp to hide away in and with a much lighter wind I decided to start on corn (Ackoo Carbon Carrat 0.2g > .12 > 18 B911) searching the swim hoping for an early carp.

After a few twitches on the float a positive bite was met with a firm strike and carp on. It was only about 4lb, but a start none the less. Another 2 followed, plus an F1 over the next 30mins before it went quiet.

I had started feeding a pinch of caster/micros left and right at the bottom of the shelf and just continually swapped between the 2 swims. When the swims had died a switch to maggot produced more silvers, plus a couple more carp. However, I was falling behind Tony and Kev, and hoped for a few more silvers, because from what I could see not many had been caught, with the exception of  Chris Fox on p5 who had caught a few F1s and a big ide. I tried feeding a ¼ cup of micros/caster/dead maggot to my right at 45 angle like yesterday, but it wasn’t as successful, with only 1 skimmer and a few roach.

Once again fishing under the platform of p21 failed to produce and I only had a couple of roach fishing across to the island.

By the all out, it was obvious that Tony had won my section and there appeared to be a lot of fish at either end of the lake at the moment, with Adrian Clark catching all day on P1 and Trigger on P13 also catching non-stop. Those of us in the middle of the lake struggled a little, but I was pleased enough to claim 3^rd in section, but also gained maximum section points for silvers. The next round on Johns Lake will decide whether I stick with the silvers league or concentrate on the overall league, but I will probably need at least a 2^nd in section to stay in contention.

There was some mixed fortunes today, particular those on speci lake which fished very hard for the majority, but overall 2 tons and 2 90s in January is pretty good, with an average weight of 35lb.

1st 115- 7 - Craig Edmunds - p13
2nd 111- 2 - Adrian Clark - p1
3rd 94-10 - Nick Duckett - p11
3rd 94-10 - Pete Nurse - p33
5th 75- 0 - Rod Wootton - p32
6th 60- 9 - Tony Rixon - p15

Silvers
1st 15-14 - Jason Radford - p70
2nd 11- 3 - Chris Fox - p5
3rd 10- 1 - Nick Duckett - p11
4th 7-10 - Ken Rayner - p20
5th 7- 6 - Gary O'Shea - p42
6th 7- 5 - Nick Ewer - p45

24/01/15 - Lands End - Match

Weight - 10lb 11oz - silvers
Catch - 25 Roach, 6 Skimmers, 3 Rudd, 2 Perch, 1 F1
Weather - Cold & cloudy. North westerly gusty breeze
Match - Open - 1st out of 8 - silvers (5th overall)

Following a long week at work I wasn’t sure whether I would go fishing today, so decided to let fate decide, i.e. if I didn’t oversleep I would go. As it happened, I woke up at midnight sweltering, because someone wanted the heating left on overnight, so that got turned off. Then at 3am, there was a loud banging, from where I do not know. Needless to say I tried to get back to sleep, but gave up at 4am.

Since I hadn’t booked in anywhere Lands End was the logical choice, particularly with the Winter League the following day.

Mike confirmed the lakes had been iced over the day before and whilst there was only the odd patch of cat ice left, it meant the fishing was likely to hard, with loads of melt water in the lake. There was also a cold north westerly breeze blowing, which also made it feel cold.

Home for the day was peg 21, which used to be a winter flyer, but hasn’t showed too much form recently. There is still a lot of fish in p24 and p1 at the moment, yet last year it was a dismal draw. I think because the water level is still down by about a foot, it’s changed the dynamics of the lake. For company I had Mike Duckett on p19 and Jim Jenner on p24.

The main rig for the day was SM Chimp 0.3g > .10 > 18 silverfish pellet to fish down the track. I also set up a heavier rig if the carp showed up, plus a maggot/caster rig and a prawn rig to fish by the pallets either side of me.

On the all in micros and 4s were deposited left and right at the bottom of the far shelf, plus caster under the pallets and finally some caster by the island.

Well the first hour was very slow, I didn’t get a bite on anything, from anywhere. On the hour mark I had an F1 on maggot, followed by a micro perch on the second hour mark.

It looked like it was slow for everyone, both Mike and Jim had caught a few fish, but no-one was running away with it. Since I couldn’t catch on expander, I had switched to feeding micros with maggot, with maggot on the hook. This brought a response from small roach, but at least I was catching something and hoped the activity would draw in some better fish. I had some slightly better roach later on plus a couple of small skimmers. I had also cupped in a ¼ cup of micros/caster/dead maggot 13m to my right at 45 degree angle which produced 3 decent skimmers up to 3lb, all on single maggot.

I was surprised the perch didn’t show in any numbers, particular on the prawn, which usually provides an instant bite if big perch are in residence.

As the match progressed I couldn’t see me overtaking Mike or Jim, so concentrated on the silvers and actually quite enjoyed my day, despite the hard condition, which was reflected by the low weights.

1^st 39- 4 – Mike Duckett – p19
2^nd 28- 0 – Jim Jenner – p24
3^rd 19-10 – Dave Wescott – p11
4^th 19- 6 – Bryan Hadley – p13

Silvers
1^st 10-11 – Ken Rayner – p21
2^nd 5- 8 – Mike Duckett – p19
3^rd 5- 4 – Dave Wescott – p11

18/01/15 - Two Counties

Weight - 11lb 11oz
Catch - 3 Carp, 1 Perch
Weather - Cold all week. Freezing start, mostly bright & sunny
Match - Open - 8th out of 15

Whilst everyone else decided to play aquatic bingo in the first round of the viaduct winter league, I decided to try Two Counties fishery again. I would have fished Viaduct but a clash of dates meant I couldn't commit to all the rounds.

A cold, windy week, was replaced by freezing rain, but at least today was clear and calm, which meant fishing was likely to hard.

Nick Merry organised todays match and with 15 booked in, meant we could book the whole lake and plenty of space for everyone. With a northerly breeze forecast, I was quite happy to draw on the far bank, which meant any wind should be off my back and the hedge would also act as a wind break.

My peg was opposite the corner of the island which was 19-20m away and most of the peg plumbed up at 7ft, so I was quite optimistic of catching.

Well, as expected it was difficult. Caught my first carp after 2hrs on maggot over micros/maggot. The second followed 10mins later and thought I would carry on catching. However, my third carp  on 4mm expander over loose fed 4s, arrived 90mins later and that was it.

I tried bread/corn on the lead, even down the margins, but couldn't get another bite.

Andy Fox to my right feed enough for everyone and not necessarily all in the same spot - lol, but he did manage 2 carp on method tight to the island. Generally it wasn't good at my end of the lake, but had plenty of laughs with Andy, Steve Ince and Trev.

Well done to Nick for winning very convincingly and I will be pleased when it warms up a bit.

1st 104-14 - Nick Merry
2nd 60-12 - Dave Burford
3rd 22-10 - Dave Anders
4th 19-12 - Tom Ince
5th 14- 8 - Bob Wheeler
6th 12-10 - Trev

11/1/15 - Lands End - Speci

Weight - 27lb 10oz (13lb 14oz - silvers)
Catch - 2 Carp, 10 Skimmers, 7 Perch, 7 Roach, 1 F1
Weight - Windy start, but calmer later. Mild & cloudy
Match - Loyalty Match - 1st silvers on Speci - 8th out of 14 overall

Only 14 of us today, due to a clash with the winter league at Avalon, but after we had paid our £1's over the year, there was £240 in the pot, plus pools for the day. There was quite a debate about how best to peg Match & Speci, a) to split the pegs evenly over both lakes and b) taking into account the forecast heavy winds.

Before the draw the result from yesterdays match surprised everyone, because Andy Hembrow won with 160lb from p25. Due to the heavy winds on Saturday only 2 pegs were put on speci (p25 & p40) rather than the more exposed p1 & p24 on match. Andy caught most of his fish at 19m towards the island and this influenced our decision to put p39 in instead of p40. There was also an argument for putting in p26 instead of p25 so you could at least reach the island with 16m. All if, buts and maybes.

At it happened I drew p25 and Tony Rixon p39. Realistically we both expected pegs 31-34 to do the damage, but was hopefully those carp may still be in the area. If not silvers was likely to be my only realistic opportunity to pick up.

I didn't have 19m of pole, so had to be content with fishing 16m towards to the island, which was initially fed with micros and 4s, later catapulting 4s over the top. Caster was also fed by the p26 pallet and down the left hand bank. A small amount of pellet was also fed at 14m at the bottom of the shelf down the left hand bank.

Starting on 4mm expander (SM Chimp 0.4g > .10 > 18 silverfish pellet) I managed 4 small skimmers during the first hour towards the island, but some of the fish in the swim were really small pecking at the pellet producing a few false bites. Tony seemed to be experiencing the same issue, which suggested there wasn't many carp in the area.

After 90mins a 1.5lb skimmer was very welcome, as was a F1 30mins later, but generally it was slow going. I did hook a carp but the hook pulled when I got it on the top kit, it felt like a decent fish and I think it was hooked properly but will never know. 

I had kept catapulting caster towards p26 pallet and decided to try a prawn hoping for a perch. 10 seconds later the float slides away and was very surprised to see an 8oz roach attached! The next 2 fish were perch before the swim faded. On my 2nd visit to the pallet I had another 2 perch followed by an 8lb carp, again on prawn which really upset Tony. Something about a surf and turf angler.

Anyway, with no further bites a switch to the 5m line were I had been feeding caster for 3hrs only produced a roach. So it was back out on the long lines for a few more small skimmers (which are a good sign for the future) and another carp which I didn't really want.

I could see Steve Seagar on p32 catching well, no doubt aided by the fact the forecast wind was non existent and according to Tony, Mike on p33 was catching as well, which meant I needed some more silvers.

Fortunately 3 perch from the outlet pipe in the corner with 30mins to go made me feel a bit more comfortable about winning the lake silvers, which I duly did. As it turned out I also finished 3rd on the lake.

1st 98-14 - Steve Seagar p32
2nd 86-15 - Craig Edmonds - p24
3rd 52-13 - Mike Duckett - p33
4th 51-12 - Nick Duckett - p11
5th 49- 7 - Andy Hembrow - p16
6th 46- 6 - Kev Molton - p13

Silvers
1st 15- 0 - Nick Duckett - p11
2nd 13-14 - Ken Rayner - p25
3rd 11- 5 - Chris Fox - p7

04/01/15 - Two Counties Farm

Weight - 52lb 4oz
Catch - 15 Carp, 1 Perch
Weather - Cold & cloudy
Match - 1st out of 13

If I’m being honest I didn’t have much enthusiasm for fishing this Sunday. I would have preferred to fish Saturday, considering my first visit to Hillview or failing that there was a knock up at Harescombe. However the weather forecast was for wind and rain, which is my least favourite conditions to fish in, so decided not to bother, which just left Sunday. 

Tony was running a match at Avalon, however it isn’t high on my list of venues to fish (I know some love the place, but I’m not a fan), which left very few options, until Craig suggested a match at Two Counties Farm near Mere, which is a venue I had never seen, let alone fished. As I said not much enthusiasm, because as from Thursday only 7 or 8 had booked in and it was a bit far away for a knock out. The lake is only a couple of years old, run by Gillingham AC and apparently received a stocking of the Todber F1s which are now sorely missed from Park Lake. So with promises of plenty of bites, I decided to fish and as it turned out 13 eventually turned up.

 

Information on the venue was scarce, other than the fact the lake had a central island and was stocked with carp & F1s. On arrival the lake looked well maintained and the water had a decent colour. The lake itself held 26 well spaced platforms and the island varied from 17m to 30m away from the bank. We were also told the lake bottom was uneven, with bars, troughs and plateaus following advice from the EA, which meant it, was dug as a club water, rather than a match lake.

I had also been told to draw the far bank of the lake, because the car park bank doesn’t fish as well during a match, so I shouldn’t have been surprised to myself on p8 which put me on the car park bank, 2 from the end bank. The good news however, was I was the end peg, because a gap had to be left for any club members who wanted to fish.

 

Trevor the match organiser also said there were a lot of small perch, so decided not use maggot unless I really needed to, preferring to stick with expander and corn. The island was 25/30m away, which was an obvious place to target. Plumbing up revealed a nice wide flat area in 6ft of water at 13-14m, which meant I was able to target 2 swims. One slightly to my right and the other was at more of angle to my left. I also found a flat area 8m to my left, 5m from the bank which was just less than 4ft deep. I also plumbed a margin, but the rig remained unused.

 

Well at least the weather was more favourable with hardly any wind and as such I set up a HB frostie 0.4g > .12 > 18 silverfish pellet to fish at 13m, however the easterly breeze picked up a little and it just wasn’t sitting right, so after an hour set up a SM Chimp 0.5g > .10 > 18 silverfish pellet which sat much better.

 

Starting the match, micros/4s was deposited at 13m and 4s/corn at 13m left. Whilst I let that settle I cast the straight lead to the island. The anglers to my right and those on the end bank all chucked method feeders almost into the same collective spot! So I was quite happy with my stealthier lead only approach, expecting the fish to desert the end of the island in a hurry.

 

I tried corn and bread, but other than a few liners no proper bites, whilst one of the method chucker’s hooked 2 carp, but lost the 2^nd when his landing net detached with the fish in the net. Reports also suggested a few fish were already being caught from the far bank as was Mark at the other end of my bank and with an hour gone I was still fishless. A brief look on the pole didn’t yield a bite, so it was back on the lead/corn when the tip went round. So that’s what a hooked fish feels like – I was beginning to forget! Anyway just as I put the net under the fish the hook pulled and a quick scope meant it was safely netted. At last a bit of fishy luck this has sadly been missing recently. By this point Mark was already up to 10 fish.

 

Whilst on the lead, I had started catapulting 4s over the left hand 13m swim really to make something happen, but kept still kept feeding micros/4s into the right hand swim. With no further bites on the lead, I had a bite almost immediately from the left hand swim, landing my 2^nd carp, soon followed by the 3^rd.

 

By rotating left and right I started to put a few fish in the net. The right hand only kicked into life after cupping a half cup of pellet, which produced fewer, but larger fish up to 7lb. Although it slowed up in the last hour, I managed my last fish on the all-out.

 

I knew Mark had struggled in the last 2 hours and the jungle drums suggested someone had 60-70lb. I thought I had 45-50lb and wasn’t far off with 52-4. The 60-70lb turned out to be 48lb, apparently he had caught a lot of fish on the method, but obviously a much smaller stamp. Which just left Mark who finished with 39-12.

 

After Tuesday’s blank, I was pleased to get back into winning ways quickly. As for the venue, I would be happy to return.

 

1^st 52- 4 – Ken Rayner

2^nd 48- 4 – Mark

3^rd 39-12 – Mark Poppleton

4^th 30- 8 – Nick Merry

5^th 29- 4 – Calum Craig

6^th 21- 0 - Paul