Weight - 31lb 7oz (5lb 15oz - silvers)
Catch - 4 Carp, 10 Skimmers, 1 Roach
Weather - Mostly cloudy, cool NW breeze
Match - Short Pole Series rd 2 - 19th out of 28 (4th out of 7 - section)
Writing a blog means there is no hiding place when things aren't going well, particularly out on the bank and I have received plenty of encouragement recently! However the banter is one of the reasons I look forward to my weekends fishing, particularly after a hard weeks work. Could just do with a decent draw.
The 2nd round of this short pole series and all 28 turned up. I drew p28 which at least meant a short walk, but other than that its not the best area of the lake. Speaking to a couple of anglers who fished the area in the last round, said they caught very little in the margin, which wasn't a surprise, since this bank doesn't have the best margins with nearly every peg in.
With a light but cool breeze blowing left to right down the lake, I decided to feed 4s & 6s long (3+2) left and right, plus meat (and hemp) in the margins.
Starting long on paste I had hoped for an early carp, but other than a liner no fish. A switch to expander after 45mins resulted in 4 skimmers in as many put ins, before they disappeared.
Sticking with expander did produce a couple more skimmers, but by the half way point no more showed. In fact the lake was fishing harder than expected and by the sounds of it only a handful of carp had been caught in my section (p23-29), so still all to play for assuming I could actually catch a carp.
Most of the fish seem to be caught from the opposite bank. Bobby G and Trigger in particular were playing who's got the smallest!? The number of 2lber's landed that looked 5lb+! Pinocchio comes to mind.
As for me, I tried slapping a pellet around without success, but did manage a 9lb carp on my skimmer rig. I just wish I brought some dead maggot or worm to catch a few more silvers, but will never know.
My margins proved to be a little more successful, producing a decent skimmer and a small carp, both on meat.
Since I couldn't catch any skimmers and the swim seemed devoid of life, I decided to feed a full pot of pellet to my left and fish paste over the top. This produced another carp, but no more, so another big pot this time to my right and another carp before the end.
Paul Elmes won our section with 87lb and Tom Mangnall was 2nd with 55lb, but as for the rest of us in the section we all had 4 or 5 carp and a few silvers.
1st 117-12 - Rod Wootten - p6
2nd 87-12 - Paul Elmes - p25
3rd 79- 4 - Mike Nichols - p22
4th 79- 3 - Craig Edmunds - p9
5th 61-13 - Bob Gullick - p13
6th 59-11 - Adrian Jeffery - p33
Silvers
1st 25- 7 - Paul Faires - p31
2nd 14- 3 - Chris Fox - p18
3rd 9- 6 - Steve Evans - p27
Thursday, 21 May 2015
Tuesday, 19 May 2015
16/05/15 - Windmill - Match Lake
Weight - 26lb 9oz
Catch - 16 Carp, 14 Skimmers, 6 Roach, 2 Rudd, 1 Crucian
Weather - Mostly bright and sunny, windy later
Match - Qualifier - 4th out of 6
After a much needed week off, I was looking forward to getting back out on the bank and decided to try again to qualify at Windmill.
Have to say, it was surprising to see only 6 anglers turn up, so at least the odds of qualifying had reduced. Looking at past results there is a definite 'hot' area to draw at the moment, namely p22-p28 and p10. However, my drawing arm failed me again with p6 being my home for day.
Setting up I was a little more optimistic, because the island was 15m away and with a light wind I could at least present a bait for a change, although watching the geese wading a metre off the island was a concern.
Plumbing at 5m revealed a sensible depth of 5ft, so the really deep rigs would stay on the winders today.
Initially started across feeding 6s left and right, fishing a couple of metres away from the island in 2ft of water, but the fish were taking advantage of the sun and wanted to be in the really shallow water. I tried 6mm & 8mm pellet, as well as meat, but couldn't get a bite although I could see the carp moving along the island.
Rather than wasting time chasing shadows, I switched to my short meat line at the bottom of the slope and had a bite straight away from a carp, just a shame it only weighed an ounce. There was obviously a few fish around, because I kept getting little dinks on the float, but they were only small fish nibbling away at the meat. A change to a lighter elastic, because I kept bumping fish, meant I was now landing a few fish, but nothing bigger than 3oz.
I decided to keep going, feeding 8mm meat, with 4mm expander on the hook to at least get into a rhythm of catching and hopefully get rid of the small fish, whilst drawing in the proper carp. Occasional try's with meat on the hook, only resulted in more small fish which was becoming increasingly frustrating.
Moving back to the island, I could see the fish, but couldn't hook them, until I tried paste, which resulted in 2 carp, which then scattered the remaining fish. No problem I thought, I'll switch back to the short line to let the fish settle again. However the wind picked up and as the regulars know, it doesn't take much of a breeze for it to become difficult to hold 14m of pole, particularly with paste on the hook.
My margins proved to be a waste of time, with small roach attacking the double 8mm meat. My swim just seemed to be full of small stuff.
The last throw of the dice was a big pot of pellet at 10m as it starts to slop up to the island. This produced my best fish of the day a 9lb common on paste, but then started getting little dinks from more small fish before landing a decent skimmer.
Another disappointing day at Windmill and to be honest, I've grown to dislike the place. I don't mind the fact I haven't qualified, because I haven't drawn that well and/or the wind has played its part. But I go fishing to at least have a days fishing and enjoy myself. Of the 24hrs of fishing I have endured I have only enjoyed 3hrs. Someone asked would I fish the venue if it wasn't for the qualifer and the answer is no. I have no doubt the fish will grow on and to be fair they are in very good condition, but as a purpose built match lake, it is grossly unfair, with huge differences in depth, no shelf's and variable distances to the island.
Catch - 16 Carp, 14 Skimmers, 6 Roach, 2 Rudd, 1 Crucian
Weather - Mostly bright and sunny, windy later
Match - Qualifier - 4th out of 6
After a much needed week off, I was looking forward to getting back out on the bank and decided to try again to qualify at Windmill.
Have to say, it was surprising to see only 6 anglers turn up, so at least the odds of qualifying had reduced. Looking at past results there is a definite 'hot' area to draw at the moment, namely p22-p28 and p10. However, my drawing arm failed me again with p6 being my home for day.
Setting up I was a little more optimistic, because the island was 15m away and with a light wind I could at least present a bait for a change, although watching the geese wading a metre off the island was a concern.
Plumbing at 5m revealed a sensible depth of 5ft, so the really deep rigs would stay on the winders today.
Initially started across feeding 6s left and right, fishing a couple of metres away from the island in 2ft of water, but the fish were taking advantage of the sun and wanted to be in the really shallow water. I tried 6mm & 8mm pellet, as well as meat, but couldn't get a bite although I could see the carp moving along the island.
Rather than wasting time chasing shadows, I switched to my short meat line at the bottom of the slope and had a bite straight away from a carp, just a shame it only weighed an ounce. There was obviously a few fish around, because I kept getting little dinks on the float, but they were only small fish nibbling away at the meat. A change to a lighter elastic, because I kept bumping fish, meant I was now landing a few fish, but nothing bigger than 3oz.
I decided to keep going, feeding 8mm meat, with 4mm expander on the hook to at least get into a rhythm of catching and hopefully get rid of the small fish, whilst drawing in the proper carp. Occasional try's with meat on the hook, only resulted in more small fish which was becoming increasingly frustrating.
Moving back to the island, I could see the fish, but couldn't hook them, until I tried paste, which resulted in 2 carp, which then scattered the remaining fish. No problem I thought, I'll switch back to the short line to let the fish settle again. However the wind picked up and as the regulars know, it doesn't take much of a breeze for it to become difficult to hold 14m of pole, particularly with paste on the hook.
My margins proved to be a waste of time, with small roach attacking the double 8mm meat. My swim just seemed to be full of small stuff.
The last throw of the dice was a big pot of pellet at 10m as it starts to slop up to the island. This produced my best fish of the day a 9lb common on paste, but then started getting little dinks from more small fish before landing a decent skimmer.
Another disappointing day at Windmill and to be honest, I've grown to dislike the place. I don't mind the fact I haven't qualified, because I haven't drawn that well and/or the wind has played its part. But I go fishing to at least have a days fishing and enjoy myself. Of the 24hrs of fishing I have endured I have only enjoyed 3hrs. Someone asked would I fish the venue if it wasn't for the qualifer and the answer is no. I have no doubt the fish will grow on and to be fair they are in very good condition, but as a purpose built match lake, it is grossly unfair, with huge differences in depth, no shelf's and variable distances to the island.
Monday, 4 May 2015
03/05/15 - Lands End - Match
Weight - 40lb 12oz
Catch - 7 Carp, 4 Roach, 3 Skimmers, 2 Perch
Weather - Sunny and showers
Match - Open - 16th out of 18
This blog wont take long and concluded a miserable fishing weekend.
Another poor draw (peg 3), although a number of people did remind me that Tony had caught 200lb a few weeks ago and there were a few fish moving against the reeds on the island.
I wasted the first hour chasing carp that didn't want to feed by the island, trying 8mm pellet, expander, meat and caster. After 3hrs I only caught 2 perch! The wheels had fallen off big time.
What I should have done is fish for silvers, particularly since I had 2pts of caster with me! For what ever reason I stuck it out with the carp, more out of principle than practical reasons, catching on the short meat line, but absolutely nothing from the island all match. In the end I tried to force the swim and properly overfed. However poor decision making in the first hour put me on the back foot, combined with a lack of clarity in thought met I didn't make the most of the peg
Needless to say I was the butt of much piss taking, including a cheer when I landed my first carp - thanks lads!
The last 4 weeks of so, I'm having to work really hard to catch and really looking forward to drawing a flyer on a day when the conditions aren't against me.
1st 159-13 - Mike Nicholls - p13
2nd 147-11 - Craig Edmunds - p1
3rd 142- 8 - Bela Bakos - p11
4th 124-10 - Paul Elmes - 50
5th 122- 8 - Anton Page - 42
6th 118- 0 - Tony Rixon - p7
Silvers
1st 22-13 - Nigel Bartlett - p21
2nd 22- 2 - Craig Edmunds - p1
3rd 21- 5 - Paul Faires - p24
Catch - 7 Carp, 4 Roach, 3 Skimmers, 2 Perch
Weather - Sunny and showers
Match - Open - 16th out of 18
This blog wont take long and concluded a miserable fishing weekend.
Another poor draw (peg 3), although a number of people did remind me that Tony had caught 200lb a few weeks ago and there were a few fish moving against the reeds on the island.
I wasted the first hour chasing carp that didn't want to feed by the island, trying 8mm pellet, expander, meat and caster. After 3hrs I only caught 2 perch! The wheels had fallen off big time.
What I should have done is fish for silvers, particularly since I had 2pts of caster with me! For what ever reason I stuck it out with the carp, more out of principle than practical reasons, catching on the short meat line, but absolutely nothing from the island all match. In the end I tried to force the swim and properly overfed. However poor decision making in the first hour put me on the back foot, combined with a lack of clarity in thought met I didn't make the most of the peg
Needless to say I was the butt of much piss taking, including a cheer when I landed my first carp - thanks lads!
The last 4 weeks of so, I'm having to work really hard to catch and really looking forward to drawing a flyer on a day when the conditions aren't against me.
1st 159-13 - Mike Nicholls - p13
2nd 147-11 - Craig Edmunds - p1
3rd 142- 8 - Bela Bakos - p11
4th 124-10 - Paul Elmes - 50
5th 122- 8 - Anton Page - 42
6th 118- 0 - Tony Rixon - p7
Silvers
1st 22-13 - Nigel Bartlett - p21
2nd 22- 2 - Craig Edmunds - p1
3rd 21- 5 - Paul Faires - p24
02/05/15 - Windmill - Match Lake
Weight - 11lb 12oz
Catch - 5 Carp, 13 Skimmers
Weather - Cold easterly
Match - Qualifer - 10th out of 12
So 3rd time lucky to qualify? With a forecast easterly wind, I wanted to draw between p18-p28 which would have the wind off your bank, with p26 being the preferred option. However, p32 put me on the opposite bank and with no shelter from the island, the wind was blowing directly into me.
I really didn't fancy it, because it felt freezing in the wind, but you never know.
Targeting the bottom of the slope, left and right, I caught my first carp after 45mins on meat, before catching a second on 4mm expander 30mins later. Other than Eddie on p26 I couldn't see anyone catching and thought if I could keep catching every 30mins I would be in with a chance.
Due to the wind I had to pot feed to keep everything nice and tidy, but all I caught for the rest of the match were small skimmers and tiny carp, plus a pound skimmer on 8mm pellet shallow.
The margins didn't produce and despite carp moving around the island, the straight lead also failed to produce. In the end most of us only had 2 or 3 carp and a handful of silvers.
To be honest I couldn't wait to pack up, thoroughly fed up and cold. Sometimes you come away from a match thinking I should have done that, could have done this. However, today I really didn't know what to do. I kept the feed nice and tidy, persevered hoping the carp would turn up late, but nothing. Completely beaten by the conditions again.
Well done to Eddie Wynne for winning, catching shallow against the island from p26.
1st 55- 2 - Eddie Wynne - p26
2nd 52- 2 - Sean Wilson - p20
3rd 43-14 - Keith Bilder - p10
4th 30- 2 - Andy Lord - p2
5th 26-12 - Craig Challingsworth - p24
6th 25-10 - Pete Humpris - p22
Catch - 5 Carp, 13 Skimmers
Weather - Cold easterly
Match - Qualifer - 10th out of 12
So 3rd time lucky to qualify? With a forecast easterly wind, I wanted to draw between p18-p28 which would have the wind off your bank, with p26 being the preferred option. However, p32 put me on the opposite bank and with no shelter from the island, the wind was blowing directly into me.
I really didn't fancy it, because it felt freezing in the wind, but you never know.Targeting the bottom of the slope, left and right, I caught my first carp after 45mins on meat, before catching a second on 4mm expander 30mins later. Other than Eddie on p26 I couldn't see anyone catching and thought if I could keep catching every 30mins I would be in with a chance.
Due to the wind I had to pot feed to keep everything nice and tidy, but all I caught for the rest of the match were small skimmers and tiny carp, plus a pound skimmer on 8mm pellet shallow.
The margins didn't produce and despite carp moving around the island, the straight lead also failed to produce. In the end most of us only had 2 or 3 carp and a handful of silvers.
To be honest I couldn't wait to pack up, thoroughly fed up and cold. Sometimes you come away from a match thinking I should have done that, could have done this. However, today I really didn't know what to do. I kept the feed nice and tidy, persevered hoping the carp would turn up late, but nothing. Completely beaten by the conditions again.
Well done to Eddie Wynne for winning, catching shallow against the island from p26.
1st 55- 2 - Eddie Wynne - p26
2nd 52- 2 - Sean Wilson - p20
3rd 43-14 - Keith Bilder - p10
4th 30- 2 - Andy Lord - p2
5th 26-12 - Craig Challingsworth - p24
6th 25-10 - Pete Humpris - p22
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