29/12/21 - Todber - Hillview

Weight - 60lb 8oz (should have been 80lb!)

Catch - 19 Carp, 2 Skimmers, 2 Roach, 1 Gudgeon

Weather - Very mild and windy. Mostly cloudy and some rain

Match - Open (30 anglers)

After a lovely Christmas I was looking forward to getting out on the bank and today we were spread over Hillview and Ash. P40 isn’t currently the best area of the lake, however with the mild conditions and the wind blowing right to left I quite fancied it for a few.

I did consider targeting the silvers, but with the pairs match on Friday and the upcoming teams of 4 today represented an opportunity to work out a few things if I drew poorly in the league.

After 2hrs 10mins I had only caught a handful of silvers on the pole at 11m and no carp,

although I had lost 3 foulhookers. Richard Yeo only had a couple on p39 on the straight lead, as had the angler on p42 and it didn’t seem there were many carp in the area.

As I was struggling, I decided to be quite positive with my feed. Pinging pellet 2/3 of the way to the island, produced 2 carp on the straight lead and corn, but it wasn’t right as the wind was spreading the feed over too wide an area.

I had also been feeding meat at 2+2, plus micros (choc orange RTGs) and baninion boosted corn 2m off the right margin. Due to the wind, I ended up using a 0.5g chimp rig on the meat line and started to put a few fish into the net, including a couple of decent ones and was starting to enjoy myself.

The margin swim was a little slower to get going but I had 3 carp on corn in the last 15mins.

In the end I thought I had a 65-70lb, however I badly underestimated my first 1^st net which had 16 fish as it went over the 66lb limit (probably 70lb) and I was knocked back to 50lb.

My final weight put me 5^th in a 10-man section, instead of 3^rd. Fortunately this didn’t cost me as p46 on the spit had 110lb to pick the section money, however a note to self not to make the same mistake in the winter league. Despite this oversight I was pleased with how the 2^nd half of match went and it was nice to feed some bait.

1.    215- 4 – Mark Poppleton – p49 (HV)

2.    149-14 – Mark Wynne – p55 (HV)

3.    142-14 – Jason Powell – p47 (HV)

4.    122- 4 – Nick Ewers – p53 (HV)

5.    113-12 – Chris Martin – p75 (Ash)

Silvers

1.    20-12 – Nick Chedzoy – p37

2.    16- 8 – Tony Day – p50

3.      5- 2 – Andy Weston – p60

19/12/21 - Ivy House - Willow

Weight - 42lb 14oz (6lb 8oz - silvers)

Catch - 4 Carp, 18 Skimmers, 2 Roach

Weather - Foggy & misty all day. Felt colder later.

Match - Christmas Open (50 fished)

This match was fully booked with 50 anglers over the whole complex, but a tough day was expected as it was cold and foggy, and it felt like it got colder throughout the day. 

I drew p20 on Willow, which meant I would be looking for a few big carp. P23 and p34 are usually the better pegs in the winter as they are deeper, however as I was setting up Andy walked round and told me the mid-week match was won from here and 80lb was likely needed to win.

I had been playing around with the idea of setting up a silvers rig, but todays pay-out would be section winners only and the top 2 on each lake receiving a hamper. Therefore, I decided against the silvers rig to concentrate on the carp.

Plumbing up revealed it was only 2.5ft to my right and 4ft out in front. Despite what Andy had told me I wasn’t expecting much to my right as it had turned colder. However, as the all-in was called I noticed the mud turning over at 14m to my right, so decided to toss pot a few micros with corn on the hook. 10mins later I landed a 7lber.

I tried fishing the straight lead & corn and a small banjo feeder to the island, but never had a bite.

After an hour only 2 carp had been caught on the lake and the predicted 80lb was looking very unlikely. I was getting bored staring at a motionless tip and decided to set up a soft pellet rig to fish for skimmers, but had an 0.12 bottom just in case. By feeding nuggets of BMG boosted micros and fishing a 4mm BMG expander at 16m I caught skimmers up to 12oz, whilst keeping an eye on the rest of the section. 

With 2hrs remaining, p23 & p34 had a single carp, but felt I needed to get back to targeting carp in the closing stages of the match. I had been feeding micros where I had caught my first carp and managed an 11lber on corn, plus a further 2 carp on the straight lead and double corn cast further right down the island. P34 also finished with 4 carp, but those weighed 20lb, so I picked up the section money. I also came 2^nd on the Willow/Old Match Lake which meant a big hamper and plenty of goodies.

1.    64- 8 – Des Shipp – p33 (moorhen)

2.    47-14 – Elick Payne – p34 (moorhen)

3.    47- 6 – Chris Timms – p5 (old match lake)

4.    44- 8 – Allan Oram – p41 (kingfisher)

5.    42-14 – Ken Rayner – p20 (willow)

6.    34- 2 – Jamie Dixey – p14 (old match lake)

18/12/21 - Todber - Hillview

Weight - 58lb 10

Catch - 18 Carp, 4 Roach, 3 Skimmers, 1 Gudgeon

Weather - Cloudy start, brighter later. Light breeze

Match - Open (24 fished)

With the forthcoming Winter League Teams of 4 starting in January I wanted to start getting in tune with Todber and there were 24 of us spread over Hillview and Ash. P42 isn’t the best area at the moment, but there were at least a few fish moving around when I arrived. 

Starting on the maggot feeder, I soon got indications and my first fish was a gudgeon, which wasn’t the start I wanted, although I did manage 1 carp in the first 30 minutes, but those silvers were proving frustrating.

I tried the straight lead and corn over the top but other than a few liners, no fish. Therefore, I spent the bulk of the match fishing the pole initially at 14m, fishing a 4mm 4mm BMG pellet over 4s. This swim wasn’t really working and set up another swim off to my right at 14m, just feeding a small nugget baninion boosted micros, whilst I kept pinging pellet over my first swim.

This 2^nd swim was much better. It was still slow going in flat bright conditions but at least I was catching a few.

I had also started pinging 6s to the island in the hope of drawing a few fish from the pegs in the mid-40s and meat on a 2+2 line. I only had 1 fish on the meat, but this line was more in hope than expectation, however a few fish eventually turned up by the island with 5 fish on the lead and corn in the last 30mins.

Don’t think I did too much wrong today, coming 4^th in section and 11^th overall, just not quite in the right area.

1.    146- 8 – Henry Smith – p66 (A)

2.    113- 0 – Nick Ewers – p38 (HV)

3.    105- 8 – Mark Wynne – p49 (HV)

4.    104- 4 – Mark Poppleton – p58 (HV)

4.    104- 4 – Rob McCann – p71 (A)

Silvers

1.    19-  8 – Lee Woodhouse – p52 (HV)

2.    14-12 – Tony Day – p56 (HV)

3.    12-  2 – Andy Weston – p75 (A)

4.    11-  4 – Simon Stacey – p40 (HV)

12/12/21 - Ivy House - Old Match Lake

Weight - 13lb 14oz

Catch - 19 Roach, 9 Skimmers, 1 Perch

Weather - Mild & breezy.

Match - Winter League (40 fished)

The 6th and final round of this Winter League. Lying 2nd, I was at least guaranteed a top 6 position, but I obviously wanted to stay 2nd, which meant ensuring I stayed ahead of Ryan Shipp who was 4pts behind me. There was an outside chance of winning, but it would have required overturning a 7pt deficit from Chris Telling which was highly unlikely.

P7 on the Old Match Lake would be my home. To be honest I would have preferred p8, but when I got to my peg the wind was blowing into my bank and although the lake has been fishing hard, I fancied it for a few.

Plumbing up the swim was a bit all over the place, with deepest spot at 13m at 5ft and generally shallower everywhere else and not that flat.

Feeding a big ball of BMGX : FA1 (50:50) with some BMG boosted micros & pinkie to my right at 13m and a small ball slightly to my left again at 13m, I started on a mini banjo feeder towards the island hoping for an early carp, whilst letting my pole lines settle. After 15mins I tried the straight lead and corn for a further 15mins, but other than a few liners no bites.
Switching to the 13m right hand line I was soon catching small roach and it took 45mins to catch my first skimmer of about 1lb.

After an hour both 13m swims just died with just the odd small roach. In the meantime, a few carp had been caught around the lake, which was a worry.

The rest of the match was a case of setting up a new swim with a small ball of feed with micros, I managed to catch a skimmer, but couldn’t get a 2nd, so had to set up another swim, gradually moving out to 16m.

I was still periodically looking for a carp by the island, by the aerator to my right where I had been pinging 4s in the hope of stirring the carp into some form of activity and finally down the margins but had no indications.

Fortunately, the last 90mins was more productive on the skimmer front. I had to wait for a bite but was at least catching a few. With 30mins left I potted a ½ cup of micros and dead maggot at 7m which produced a further 2 skimmers, losing a 3rd on the all-out.

At the end of the match, I thought I had blown it, as I was aware a few people had caught carp and I thought I only had about 10lb. Fortunately, a few of my skimmers were bigger than I thought and weighed 13-14 and was relieved to finish 3rd in section, behind Chris who had an excellent match, winning the lake with 23lb of silvers.

This result kept me in 2nd overall and £550 better off, so very pleased with how my league has gone. I only had 1 section win, but managed to be consistent throughout, with a 4th in section being my worst result.

Well done to Chris on comfortably winning the league.

1st - 66-12 - John Morgan - p41 (Kingfisher)

1st - 66-12 - Jamie Dixey - p44 (Kingfisher)

3rd - 48-  8 - Dave Willmott - p4 (Heron)

4th - 34-14 - Glyn Reynolds - p10 (Heron)

5th - 33-  2 - Jason Crump - p20 (Heron)

6th - 32-  6 - Ryan Shipp - p17 (Heron)

11/12/21 - Todber - Homeground

Weight - 110lb 0oz

Catch - 30 Carp, 3 Roach, 2 Skimmers, 1 Perch

Weather - Cold start becoming milder throughout the day. Mostly cloudy.

Match - Christmas Open (82 fished)

86 had finally booked in and paid, however there were still 4 no shows. I was happy with p78 on Homeground as I would probably have a day’s fishing, but the bulk of the fish at moment seem to be centred around p90, probably due to the water level being down. One of the 4 remaining pegs happened to be p90, which meant p77 and p89 would both be casting into 90. 

On the all in I started on the pole at 13m, but only had a few silvers. So, after 20mins I switched to the maggot feeder, casting into the deep water off the island and caught straight away, although I would catch a few, before they drifted off to be replaced by small silvers. 

With the low water levels, I had avoided fishing between the 2 islands, as it was only a foot or 2 deep, however by swapping between here and the deeper water I manged to keep putting fish in the net, but was always behind p77 & p90, plus p88 who was casting into the spare p89. 

In the meantime, I had started pinging 4s at 14.5m hoping for a late run of fish to try and catch up. I managed 7 in the last hour on banded 4mm pellet, but not enough to catch up. 

In the end I was happy with 110lb and a simple match. Bob Gullick to my left on p79 had 40lb which just illustrated how concentrated the fish are at moment on this lake. 

In the end I finished 9^th overall and a small hamper for my efforts.

1st: Steve Denmead 261lb 8oz (89 HG)

2nd: Steve Crawford 152lb 14oz (87 HG)

3rd: Mark Poppleton 145lb 4oz (69 ASH)

4th: Matt Rowe 139lb 12oz (77 HG)

5th: Steve Nadin 139lb 4oz (28 FIRS)

6th: Dan Squire 131lb 2oz (12 WP TOP)

 

05/12/21 - Ivy House - Heron

Weight - 18lb 12oz

Catch - 10 Carp, 6 F1

Weather - Freezing NW wind and cloudy

Match - Winter League - rd 5 (40 fished)

The 5^th and penultimate round of the Winter League and it was back to a random draw. As I’m lying 2^nd in the league, I just hoped for a decent draw and P8 on Heron was certainly in the right area. I also had the added bonus that the island sheltered me from the worst effects of the freezing NW wind, which meant I could at least fish the pole long at 14-16m.

For company I had Vince Shipp on p7 who was lying 3^rd in the league, Jamie Dixey on p9 and Derek Newson on the current form peg p10.

There was certainly plenty of fish moving around in front of p9, but this happened the other week and those fish didn’t want to feed.

Starting on the lead and bread, didn’t produce, neither did a switch to the maggot feeder. I was getting liners, but no bites. Eventually I caught on a micro cage feeder, feeding Choc Orange : BMGX (2:1) and a few BMG boosted micros, with maggot on the hook.

A switch to the pole at 14m didn’t produce a bite, which was a worry and with 2 hours gone I only had 3 fish, whilst Vince had 4, Jamie 2 and Derek 8-10 fish. So, it was fishing hard.

I did eventually catch a couple fish on the pole at 16m (using a short 4) on either maggot or pinkie and 3 fish on a mini banjo feeder tight to the island to bring my total to 8 with 75mins remaining.

The wind eased a little and I was able to fish a lighter rig at 16m (using a long 4) where it was an inch or so shallower. This made a difference as I had a late run of fish tapping in micros and fishing maggot or pinkie, swapping between 2 swims.

The only negative was hooking a decent carp (about 2-3lb) with 20mins remaining, but the elastic (dura 9) snapped at the connector, which was annoying as it wasn’t that old. That lost fish cost me 2^nd in section, but none the less pleased to finish 3^rd in section only 1lb behind Jamie.

More importantly, I consolidated my 2^nd place in the league with Chris Telling now looking odds on to win having won his section today, although as we both know a poor draw and you can be very easy to trip up.

1.    44- 2 – Andy Dixey – p42 (Kingfisher)

2.    40- 8 – Steve Rich – p38 (Kingfisher)

3.    33-10 – Mick Chilley – p40 (Kingfisher)

4.    26-14 – Ian Millichip – p1 (Old Match Lake)

5.    25- 8 – Derek Newson – p10 (Heron)

6.    24- 2 – Paul Bailey – p48 (Kingfisher)

04/12/21 - Ivy House - Kingfisher

Weight - 37lb 6oz

Catch - 14 Carp, 2 F1, 4 Roach

Weather - Strong NW wind, cold, bright and sunny.

Match - Open (12 fished)

On the Canals (Kingfisher & Moorhen) today and p37 Kingfisher for me, which is a flyer, being an end peg. However, I was apprehensive about the cold NW wind which was blowing left to right into the end bank.

Starting on corn, I caught a carp after 10mins fishing towards the end bank, and that was all I caught for the first 90mins!

I had hoped to fish to my left, but the wind simply wouldn’t let me, so I set up a new swim in front feeding micros boosted with BMG and a little BMGX groundbait, at the bottom of the far shelf. By being patient, I started to catch a few fish on maggot. 

I tried tight to the end bank when the swim was fading and had a carp straightaway, but this was a false dawn as I only caught a few roach. So back to the bottom of the far shelf in a new swim slightly to the right of the last and in the last 30mins managed 6 carp to secure 3^rd overall. 

In hindsight I felt I spent too long trying to catch from the end bank, convinced I would a get a few, when in reality the fish didn’t want to be there in the cold wind.

1.    53- 6 – Allan Oram – p34 (Moorhen)

2.    50- 0 – Vince Shipp – p41 (Kingfisher)

3.    37- 6 – Ken Rayner – p37 (Kingfisher)

4.    35-10 – Chris Timms – p30 (Moorhen)

Silvers

1.    26- 0 – Baggy – p28 (Moorhen)

2.    17- 2 – John Fuidge – p43 (Kingfisher)

3.    16- 4 – Phil Godding – p31 (Moorhen)