30/07/21 - Lavington - Ellis

Weight - 56lb 8oz

Catch - 9 Carp

Weather - Showery, cleared up later

Match - Club Evening Knock Up (6 fished)

This was likely to be the last evening match as the nights start to draw in. When I joined the club, I just wanted somewhere to fish close to home and the fact they had these evening knock-ups was bonus. Whilst the fishing has been tougher than expected they have been enjoyable.

For tonight’s match I drew p23, which I was happy with as it gave me the end of the island. Unfortunately, I started 5mins late as I had to re-set up my feeder rig as I lost the first rig in the tree on the end of the island when clipping up! In fact the tree was a pain, as I couldn’t get tight to the end of the island, so casted started a couple of metres off the island.

With no bites after 20mins, I than tried fishing tight in front of the island and surprisingly no bites again.

After 45mins, I switched to my 5m meat line to my left and I was soon attached to big common (probably about 12lb), but the hooklength eventually gave way after it rubbed up against some weed or a snag.

So, an hour into a 3hr match and no fish! Fortunately, after losing that carp, I landed a 5lber and then lost a couple. Losing fish seems to be a serial problem here, I even lost one carp where the hook pinged out of its top lip as I was drawing it towards the net – very frustrating.

During the 2^nd hour I landed 2 more carp from the 5m line, including a 10lber. I had also tried the right margin where I had fed mircos, meat and corn in 2.5ft of water, where I hooked and lost a carp, but was surprised at the lack of activity.

With 40mins left, I was still on 3 carp, losing 5. However, the margin came to life, where I had 6 carp all on meat. I found it best to throw in a golf ball of micros and some meat whilst playing a fish, which gave the fish time to settle, so when I went back in, I would have a bite almost immediately.

My 56-8 was enough to win the evening.

1st - 56-  8 - Ken 

2nd - 43-  4 - Ollie

3rd - 38-14 - Tom

 

 

 

 

24/07/21 - Todber - Hillview

Weight - 199lb 8oz

Catch - 60 Carp, 2 Skimmers

Weather - Heavy rain and thunder overnight. Mostly cloudy and breezy.

Match - Open (42 fished)

Decided to fish the Saturday open, but felt it was likely I would be off the pace as I hadn’t fished here for a few weeks and when I drew p34 any thoughts of picking up disappeared. However, when I got to the peg the wind was blowing in and there is a longer margin than other pegs, so thought I might get a few, but in all honesty a drew in the 30s rarely competes.

I decided on a simple paste (So Simple Kriller : Blue Ice) match, setting up 3 paste rigs to fish 1+1, and down each margin with the left being deeper than the right. I also set up a meat rig to fish on the top kit and a method if I couldn’t catch.

Well, I knew after an hour it wasn’t going to happen. Starting on paste at 1+1 I lost my first 2 fish, which were hooked properly, then I kept foul hooking thereafter and it didn’t feel right. A switch to the left margin produced a few fish, but not quickly enough and a brief look on the feeder was also too slow.

After 2hrs I had 50lb, mostly from the left margin and already a long way behind those around me. The main issue was the number of lost fish, which was proving very frustrating. In the end I cut back on the feed and started to catch properly, alternating between each margin and then in the 5^th and final hour had a good run of fish on the meat.

By the end I knew I didn’t do the peg justice weighing 199-8, but losing about 50lb and a slow first 2hrs meant I really should have had at least 250lb+.

The venue has fished ridiculously well with 7 weights over 300lb and 24 over 200lb.

1st: Mark Cannings 394lb 12oz (49 HV)

2nd: Tony Gilbert 346lb 14oz (84 HG)

3rd: Joe Mcmahon 337lb 2oz (60 HV)

4th: Ash Tomkins 333lb 14oz (57 HV)

5th: Lee Woodhouse 332lb 14oz (58 HV)

Section A: Colin Spencer 295lb 14oz (43 HV)

Section B: Jason Powell 323lb 12oz (56 HV)

Section C: Gary Oshea 300lb 4oz (76 HG)

20/07/21 - Barston

Weight - 48lb 12oz (19lb 8oz - silvers)

Catch - 3 Carp, 1 F1, 22 Skimmers

Weather - Hot and sunny

Match - England Ladies Fundraiser (34 fished)

The 2^nd day of the England Ladies Fundraiser and I was feeling a bit tired after a restless night at the hotel, not least because my car alarm went off twice during the night, thanks to a couple of fly’s that got into the car when I was packing up yesterday at the Glebe!

At least my draw meant a short walk to p16, which after a couple texts, I found out I was also in the right area on what was forecast to be another hot day, but at least I was sat in the shade… to start with anyway.

I spent the first 20mins slapping at 16m hoping for an early carp, but no takers. So switched to a large method loaded 50:50 mix of kriller & red RTG’s, with an 8mm choc orange gofter at 40m. Unfortunately, still no carp, but I did catch a few hand size skimmers, plus a 2lber which nearly dragged the rod in!

With 90mins gone, I had only seen 2 carp being caught, so decided to try and catch some skimmers, targeting the carp later. Therefore, cupped in micros, a few 4s and corn at 13m at slight angle to my left. Within 15mins I noticed the swim starting to fizz and by fishing corn, tosspotting 4s and corn started to catch some skimmers up to 2lb. After 90mins and 19lb in the net the swim slowed, probably not helped by the fact I got a bit excited with my feed and probably had too many fish in the swim, but none of them taking the bait.

In the meantime, I had been pinging pellet at 20-25m but couldn’t catch on the waggler, but Simon Watford to my right had 4 already. I had also been pinging a few pellets at 16m and noticed a swirl, so I was back out on the pole at 16m and soon caught a carp, quickly followed by a 2^nd. However, the bright flat conditions meant the fish were shying away from the pole, although I managed another carp, a big F1 and a final skimmer.

I was really wishing there was a bit of a ripple as I really fancied the swim for a few more fish, but the conditions meant it was really tricky. In fact come the weigh in I was really surprised to find out I came 3^rd overall

Well done to Julie Abbott for organising the 2 days and raising some extra funds for the ladies team.

1. 87-  8 - Pete Bailey - p24

2. 64-  6 - Simon Watford - p18

3. 48-12 - Ken Rayner - p16

4. 43-10 - John Pearson - p26

5. 39-14 - Andre Grandjeans - p54

6. 39-  8 - Ken Portas - p22

19/07/21 - Glebe - Pool 6

Weight - 92lb (11lb - silvers)

Catch - 17 Carp, 11 Bream

Weather - Hot & sunny

Match - England Ladies Fundraiser (48 fished)

This was the 3^rd time fishing the England Ladies Fundraiser, fished over 2 days, firstly at the Glebe and second day at Barston.

I drew p89 on pool 6 and there were plenty of carp of the surface when I arrived and it looked like a mugging day. However, it wasn’t quite as simple as that.

At the start I mugged 4 carp in the 1^st 45mins, but they were very spooky and soon melted away. A switch to the feeder, fishing Kriller & CO2 RTG’s with an 8mm red pellet produced 7 carp before that swim died.

In the meantime, I had started to feed caster shallow, which can be a great tactic here, but all I caught was small skimmers. A switch back to the feeder produced another 4 carp, before the swim died again.

With 2hrs to go (5hr match) I felt I wasn’t catching quickly enough and hoped either my short paste line or margins would produce some much needed fish. Unfortunately, neither line produced as expected. I had fed my short line quite heavily with micros to pull the fish in, but only caught 2 carp and a couple of bream.

My margin was the most disappointing. I started feeding micros & corn, later switched to caster and then some groundbait to force the issue, but nothing worked. A few fish would come into the margin but wouldn’t stay and only I managed 1 carp and another bream.

As it happened the whole complex has fished hard by Glebe standards, with a number of DNW’s.

Disappointed to finish 4^th in section. In hindsight, I should have set up a bomb and pellet line, but fully expected either the short line or margins to produce.

1. 204-  8 - Sam Collett - p14 (pool 1)

2. 179-  0 - Matt Dawes - p68 (pool 4)

3. 171-  5 - Ken Portas - p80 (pool 5)

4. 138-  0 - Mal Dawes - p22 (pool 1)

5. 137-  0 - Carl Tamayo - p86 (pool 6)

6. 125-  4 - Russ Brooks - p81 (pool 5)

3. 1

18/07/21 - Woodland View - High Pool

Weight - 98lb 14oz

Catch - 45 F1's, 6 Carp, 19 Roach, Rudd, Skimmers

Weather - Hot & sunny

Match - Haines Summer Series - rd 3 (13 fished)

Today was the 3^rd round of the Haines league and 13 made the trip to Droitwich, many of whom knew the venue well. This was my first visit and the information received regarding the lake we were fishing (High Pool) which was the deepest of the lakes on the complex, which meant most fished short down the margins for F1’s and carp, plus shallow in the right conditions.

Peg 5 gave me a short walk, but an otter fence meant I would have to break down 2 sections at a time, which would be a pain if I started to catch long.

On the all-in, with loads of fish on the surface I tried mugging a few with an 8mm pellet, however with no takers I soon realised there seemed to be more F1s than carp. So, I switched to fishing short on pellet or corn, whilst I started to feed caster at 13m.

With no proper bites on the short line and it not feeling right, I soon switched to the margin

and caught a few roach and a couple of F1s on 6mm (blue ice) expander or corn. After 45mins I switched to the shallow caster line, fishing banded caster for the next couple of hours, mostly at 12in with a few at 8in.

Going into the last hour I felt I needed to catch some carp and hoped I could find a few down the margin. Whilst I caught a few, they were no bigger than the F1’s and I wasn’t catching as quickly as the shallow line, so I ended up back on the shallow line for most of the remaining hour.

By the end I was enjoying myself and wished it was a 6hr match instead of 5hrs. I felt I was close to 100lb and was pleased to weigh 98-14, which was good enough for 2^nd overall. Well done to Matt on winning, who had a better start than me and found a better stamp of carp down his margin, fishing meat over micros.

For a first visit I was really pleased, bar a couple of mistakes and would happily return.

1.119-  1 - Matt Banks - p7

2.  98-14 - Ken Rayner - p5

3.  95-  3 - Andy Eagle - p32

4.  88-  6 - Allan Oram - p11

5.  85-  0 - Cosmo - p24

 

 

 

 

16/07/21 - Lavington - Ellis

Weight - 57lb 4oz

Catch - 10 Carp, 1 Bream

Weather - Warm, sunny & still

Match - Club Evening (7 fished)

After 2 weeks without fishing, I was looking forward to getting back and tonight’s match was the start of a busy few days fishing Woodlands View on Sunday, then the Glebe and Barston for an England fundraiser Monday & Tuesday.
 
P22 tonight gave me a cast towards the end of the island, but casting was a little awkward due to an overhanging branch above my head, necessitating me to take a step to my right whenever I cast.
 
I started the match on a large 20g method feeder, with a 50:50 mix of Kriller : CO2 RTGs with some ‘rocks’ and a 6mm yellow gofter. I did try an 8mm gofter, but caught the smaller fish of the day, so struck with the 6mm. For anyone who has tried the RTG’s they are excellent for using on the method and ‘rocks’ add a little extra flavour and activity.
 
After an 1hr 45mins I had 7 carp and a 3lb bream, which was more than everyone I could see, so a great start.
 
Having fed meat to my left in 5ft of water and pellet (4s & micros) in the right margin I was hoping for a hectic last 75mins, but it ended up being really frustrating. I soon had a carp on the paste (kriller), followed 15mins later by one on meat from the left hand swim, both of which were of a bigger stamp than the feeder. However, I lost 4 on the bounce, 2 from the left and 2 from the right when the hook pulled for no particular reason. That said, some of the fish in this lake have small or damaged mouths, which means getting a decent hook hold isn’t always possible.
 
My last fish came 5mins from time on paste and the lake has fished harder than expected. Fortunately, my net weighed 57- 4 for a comfortable win, with Ollie coming 2^nd with 38-4 and Terry 3^rd with 37-14.