11/12/22 - Ivy House - Kingfisher

Weight - 3lb 3oz

Catch - 3 Skimmer, 3 Roach, 1 F1

Weather - Freezing, snow showers

Match - Winter League rd 3 (39 anglers) - 9th overall, 4th in section

The 3^rd round of the Winter League and we were in for some very wintery conditions. There was talk about cancelling this round, however with no reserve date (there will be next year) it was set to proceed and ice breakers would be required. Unfortunately, the scheduled snow showers, arrived sooner than expected and were heavier than expected. Consequently, only 39 fished out of 50.

I had to take it steady on the drive and did wonder what I was doing! However, I arrived early to give myself plenty of time to break the ice, drawing p41 which is good area – it was just the shame about the ice.

After spending just over an hour, I managed to break a 4m section along the far bank and then a metre wide channel.

I started by dobbing bread along the far bank and then corn over micros by the left-hand tree in the hope of snaring a lucky carp. After 45mins and no bites it was time to switch to fishing for bites, i.e. a size 20 to 0.09.

Starting at the bottom of the far shelf, feeding pinkie and loose groundbait (black lake : Black intelligent); an hour later I had managed to catch 2 small roach, so at least I avoided a blank.

I managed a hand sized skimmer by the left-hand tree on maggot, but that was the only fish I caught from there.

With 90mins remaining I was still sat on 3 fish and decided to feed a golf ball of groundbait to the left of where I had been fishing. 20mins later I had 4 bites in 4 put ins all on pinkie, resulting in 2 skimmers, pulling out of a 3^rd at the net and an F1.

No more bites followed, so fed another golf ball of feed. Unfortunately, with 30mins remaining a heavy snow shower started which was settling on the pole and was creating a slushy surface layer, making it difficult to settle my rig. I did manage a roach but felt there was more to catch.

I had the best weight at my end of the lake, but the bulk of the roach and skimmers were further down the lake, with 3x weights of 4lb+ pushing me into 4^th in section. It could have been worse, as 1 whole section of Heron blanked (probably not helped by having the diffuser on the day before) and the Old Match Lake was won with 1oz! So, a really hard day, but if you caught a fish, it was worth mega points and I jumped from 23^rd to 11^th in the league. I just need 2 decent draws to push me into the top 8.

1.    14-12 – Jon Arthur – p20 (willow)

2.      7-15 – Jason Crump – p22 (heron)

3.      6-13 – Steve Waters – p32 (willow)

3.      6-13 – Steve Martins – p21 (heron)

5.      4-14 – David Halliday – p48 (kingfisher)

6.      4-13 – Andy Burns – p26 (willow)

04/12/22 - Ivy House - Heron

Weight - 14lb 4oz

Catch - 8 Carp, 4 F1s

Weather - Heavy Cloud, cold north easterly wind

Match - Open (14 fished) - 13th overall

14 of us on Heron Lake and hopefully a few bites, although the colour had dropped out of the lake due to the recent cold weather.

I drew p17, which isn’t the best area, but I hoped it might be OK as I wouldn’t be sharing the corner of the island with p19.

Well, it was hard. After trying the lead and bread hoping for an early bonus without success I switched to fishing a single maggot over a nugget of groundbait & micros, and soon caught a few fish at the bottom of the far shelf.

At the halfway point I only had 9 fish in the net, but then the north easterly breeze strengthened a little blowing straight at me making presentation a little awkward, as well as making it feel really cold. I had nothing for the next 90mins, trying all areas of the peg. In the meantime, Dave Willmott was catching well on p20 fishing at 16m on maggot and Louise next to me on p16 (who decided today was a good day to come back fishing after 7 months off!) who was catching on the method to the island.

In the last hour I managed another 3 fish from the far shelf, but I was miles off the pace and continued my poor recent form at Ivy House.

In hindsight and speaking to those that caught I think I should have fed more maggot, but, I still wouldn’t have framed.

1. 67-  0 - Dave Willmott - p20

2. 61-  0 - Jamie Dixey - p10

3. 59-  4 - Rob Guppy - p2

4. 37-  8 - Gary Knight - p23

03/12/22 - Todber - Homeground

Weight - 193lb 14oz

Catch - 50 Carp

Weather - Cold, cloudy, north easterly breeze

Match - Open (11 fished) - 2nd overall

I decided to have a practice at Todber in preparation for next week’s Christmas match and I’m glad I went as I learnt a few things after nearly messing up a very good peg in the shape of p91.

There were only 11 of us, so we were all put on Homeground and it was nice to see the water levels back up to normal.

I started on the lead & bread to the island and had a carp straight away, netting a 2^nd after 20mins. I tried the pole and expander over micros and 4s at 14m, but lost 4 in 4 put ins, and wondered if it was going to be one of those days.

I tried catching at ¾ depth, without success and went back down on the deck eventually catching a couple but falling behind Ben Bentley next to me who was catching well at 14m, so quite frustrating.

I also tried the maggot feeder across to the island and caught 2 immediately, but again struggled. So, after 2hrs I probably had 10 fish for 30lb and was a long way behind most.

Fortunately, I managed to get it sorted and started to catch well at 5m on meat. As a back-up I potted ½ pot of micros and meat down the left margin. 5mins later I could see the water clouding up and first drop in resulted in a 9lber. This place is just bonkers.

The rest of the match was a case of rotating between the margin and 5m line, switching when ever 1 line needed a rest.

In the end I was pleased to have come 2^nd, but to be honest had I switched to meat sooner I could have won the match, so plenty of lessons learnt for next week. However, looking at the weather for this coming week it’s going to be very cold.

1.    214-  8 – Greg Welsby – p78

2.    193-14 – Ken Rayner – p91

3.    191-  0 – Sam Williams – p89

4.    163-  8 – Simon Stacey – p87

27/11/22 - Ivy House - Heron

Weight - 27lb 9oz 

Catch - 23 Carp, 4 F1s, 4 Gudgeon

Weather - Sunny, cloudy periods and no wind.

Match - Winter League - rd 2 (50 fished) - 7th out of 10 section

The 2^nd round of the Ivy House Winter League and my turn for the ‘bad’ pegs on Heron, so a decent draw was required to consolidate the last rounds 3^rd in section. I would have been happy with most pegs, but p24 was at the bottom of the wish list, coming last in the first round.

Its not a great feeder peg, as you only have the corner of the island and 16m of pole doesn’t reach the far shelf. The only good thing was I had some space to my left in the corner.

 
There seemed to be a few fish moving around, particularly in front of 2,3 & 4 (in my section) and hoped I might catch a few.
 
As the water looked a little clear, I decided to start cautiously, trying the lead and bread, then expanders over micros at 16m and then the maggot feeder. However, after an hour and 1 tiny carp in the net, the wheels were falling off.
 
I eventually caught a couple of fish on the maggot feeder, but it just didn’t seem right, not least because those that were catching on feeder were using small methods. I was also having trouble trying to find a spot clear of snags and debris which wasn’t ideal.
 
A switch to fishing at 16m slightly to my right with maggot over micros & groundbait produced a couple of decent F1s and carp. However, action was short lived as I started catching tiny carp and gudgeon – never a good sign.
 
Changing the maggot feeder to a mini method, with groundbait and micros, and maggot on the hook, produced another run of fish and I felt if I could keep going, I might be able to salvage some points
 
The final hour was a struggle, however. A short line fed with pellet didn’t produce a bite, a maggot and micro line off to my left towards the corner where it was a foot shallower, resulted in a carp first put in, followed by another tiny carp and then nothing. Even tried the margin without success.
 
Eventually managed a couple more carp and F1s, back out at 16m on maggot, but it was slow going.
 
In the end I was disappointed to finish 7^th in section. In hindsight I should have come at least 5^th. The first hour cost me a couple of fish, where I should have fished the method and then maggot on the pole. That said, the number of tiny carp and gudgeon I caught showed there wasn’t many fish in the area.
 
1.    105- 6 – Gary Knight – p37 (Kingfisher)
2.     91-14 – Steve Waters – p10 (Heron)
3.     77-12 – Rob Guppy – p7 (Heron)
4.      73- 6 – Mark Poppleton – p8 (Heron)
5.      72- 9 – Mick O’Brien – p34 (Willow)
6.      67- 6 – David Strafford-Way – p20 (Willow)

20/11/22 - Covey - Match Lake

Weight - 41lb 14oz 

Catch - 20 F1s, 8 Carp

Weather - Chilly start, mostly sunny with blustery showers

Match - Open (13 fished) - 3rd overall

Only 1 match this weekend and I had hoped that there would be an open on Heron Lake at Ivy House in preparation for next week’s winter league, however that was switched to Saturday, which I couldn’t make.

Therefore, I jumped onto a match organised by Phil Wilkins at Covey. Only fished Covey once before about 2½ years ago and apparently the F1s and carp had grown on a bit. Results from last week match showed 80-90lb won on paste! Personally, I couldn’t see that happening again as this week the weather had turned much colder with plenty of rain.

I drew p2 which won last weeks match, although I was told p3 wasn’t in and I didn’t have that luxury today as with 13 anglers fishing it was nearly every peg in.

Having left 2pts of maggot at home I would have to stick with expanders and corn. I started across, tight to the concrete boards on 4mm expander, hooked 1 fish that came off. In the meantime, Phil next to me on p3 started catching down his margins (which I didn’t expect to work) and Pete Neate on p5 netted a couple of carp on the paste!

I soon switched to the margin and had a good 50mins, catching F1s and a couple of carp on corn over micros, mostly from the right-hand side. So, after an hour I probably had about 15lb.

Fishing tight across just didn’t seem right and after 5mins came back to 14m fishing at the bottom of the far shelf fishing a 4mm expander over a nugget of BMG boosted micros on a strung-out rig.

I spent the next couple of hours here, although I had to switch elastics from a 9 dura to 4-8 hollow as I pulled out of a couple F1s shipping back. I think the issue was the platforms are a little high off the water and the angle of the elastic meant it was just pulling the hook out of the lightly hooked fish.

As the match progressed the fishing just got harder, and I needed to move along the bottom of the far shelf to stay in touch with the fish. A heavy shower didn’t help, and my hands were freezing by the time it passed.

Going into the last hour I had tried my short line without success and really felt fishing maggot here would have been better and I regretted forgetting them, particularly as Kev Hanson on peg 1 was catching well on them.

That last hour was tough going for everyone. Fortunately, I manged a couple more carp from the far line and then a 2-3lber in the last 5mins from the short line to pinch 3^rd overall, only beaten by the 2 end pegs.

Overall, an enjoyable day.

1.    70-12 – Joe Sheppard – p16

2.    59- 8 – Kev Hanson – p1

3.    41-14 – Ken Rayner – p2

4.    40-12 – Matt Skyme – p4

5.    35-  8 – Lee Jan – p14

13/11/22 - Ivy House - Willow

Weight - 38lb 4oz (7lb 10oz - silvers)

Catch - 3 Carp, 26 Skimmers

Weather - Mild, bright and sunny.

Match - Winter League rd1 (50 fished) - 3rd in section

The first round of the Winter League and 5 sections of 10, so a really good turnout on what turned out to be another unseasonably mild day.

The section draw was completed on Tuesday and I was very pleased to miss the section of death, which included several potential league winners.

My rotation meant I would start on Willow Lake and the draw put me on p19 – a proper boom or bust peg and to be honest I didn’t fancy it as it was very bright and flat. What little breeze there was blowed left to right out of the corner.

I spent the first 45mins looking for a carp, catching 2 skimmers on 6mm pellet at 6m, but no bites on the straight lead or feeder. Tim next to me on p20 had 1 carp on the feeder and this was the only carp caught from the anglers I could see. Therefore, I decided to target the skimmers, catching best at 14m on 4mm expanders, feeding a nugget of micros. I tried hard pellets, but just had to wait longer for the same sized fish, which were a little on the small side, so I stuck with expanders.

After 2hrs this line was beginning to fade and there was no sign of the bigger skimmers. I briefly tried my short line which I kept topped up with corn, the straight lead cast to the spit where I kept pinging 6s and down the left-hand bank, but never had a bite.

In the meantime, pegs 24 & 26 opposite both had a carp a piece. With no carp of my own I decided to have one last look over my silvers line that I had topped up with a ½ cup of micros. 2 small skimmers were netted before the swim went quiet and I hooked a carp of 6lb, which was very welcome, but that line had now died.

As I couldn’t get a bite on corn over my short line, I moved a few metres to my left, feeding 6s instead. A rotation of swims didn’t produce anything and with 45mins of the match remaining I felt I needed to do something different and dumped a load of leftover bait (groundbait, micros and corn) 2m off the right-hand margin in 2ft of water.

As that settled, I netted a 9lber from my short pellet line and then with 15mins remaining caught a 14-15lb carp from the margin swim on double corn to make me feel much happier.

In the end I was really pleased to come 3^rd in section and felt I got out of jail on a lake that fished a lot harder than expected. As expected, the top 2 in section came from the pegs behind me.

1.    128- 6 – Mike Etheridge – p12 (old Match Lake)

2.    121-10 – Joff Rogers – p9 (heron)

3.    107- 4 – Jon Arthur – p3 (old match lake)

4.      85- 2 – Steve Waters – p14 (old match lake)

5.      82-10 – Jamie Durrup – p4 (heron)

6.      79- 4 – David Stafford-Way – p10 (heron) 

12/11/22 - Ivy House - Kingfisher

Weight - 59lb 2oz 

Catch - 25 Carp, 3 Skimmers, 1 Crucian

Weather - Mild, mostly sunny

Match - Open (8 fished) - 4th overall

I had the choice of a silvers match on the Old Match Lake or an open on Kingfisher. Having not fished Kingfisher for a while I fancied a change. P44 isn’t normally the best, however with the very mild weather I was hoping to pull in a few fish. 

On the all-in I started dobbin bread across to the far bank, catching 1 carp, but with no more after 10mins I switched to fishing corn tapping in 4s. It was only when I started feeding a small nugget of micros boosted with BMG that I started to catch consistently at the bottom of the far shelf for the next couple of hours before it faded. 

I tried the bread again without success, so set up a new swim at the bottom of the far shelf, switching to 4mm expanders. This produced another run of fish before this faded again.

So far most of my fish were on the small side and I felt I needed to catch some better sized fish to consolidate my good start. My short corn line and deep left margin only produced 1 carp and a skimmer, which was disappointing, particularly as Roy on p46, who after a slow start, was catching really well on his short line. 

To make something happen I started pinging pellet at the bottom of the far shelf and started feeding by the p43 pallet. Both lines produced catching the better sized fish from with the pallet swim, whilst the long pinging line still produced the smaller stamp of carp.

Overall, I was pleased with a good start, but I probably spent too long trying to catch short and should have gone down to p43 pallet at least 30mins earlier.

1.    77- 0 – Roy Booth – p46

2.    69-14 – Andy Lord – p41

3.    64- 4 – Baggy – p48

4.    59- 2 – Ken Rayner – p44

6/11/22 - Ivy House - Heron

Weight - 52lb 8oz

Catch - 23 Carp, 20 F1s

Weather - Sunny start, heavy rain, then dry later.

Match - Open (20 fished) - 5th overall

A full house on Heron today, which would be a useful sighter for the start of next weeks Winter League. Since my last visit 2 weeks ago Andy has topped up the lake, meaning the marginal shelf is no longer exposed. It also meant no one knew how well it would fish.

I was happy with p10 as it’s a peg I have done well off it in the past.

I decided to start on a mini method to the island, but never had a bite on pellet or dead maggot, although to be fair I only gave it a couple of casts. A quick look over my short line didn’t produce either and looking around everyone else seemed to be struggling.

After an initial slow start, I eventually started catching some decent F1s and carp at 16m as it starts to shelf up towards the island on 4mm expander toss potting 4s with micros. I was catching well until the heavens opens and it rained hard for nearly 90mins or so. It was so bad I was struggling to see the float and had to take a shot off.

I had been pinging pellet to my right at 13m and caught 3 quick F1s, before they backed off and my short line didn’t produce, so I spent most of the match at 16m. However, it was fading a little towards the end and I retried the shallow line without success. A switch to maggot produced a couple of quick fish but I couldn’t keep it going.

I only needed a couple more fish to claim 3^rd overall, although I didn’t help myself when I missed the net with a decent F1. I really needed to have caught better on the shallow line, as the top 2, both caught well either on pellet or maggot late on.

Overall, the lake fished well, and it was nice to have a few bites, particularly after yesterday.

1.    74- 8 – Simon Dukes – p11

2.    60-12 – Jamie Dixey – p7

3.    58- 8 – Kev Hillsden – p22

4.    58- 0 – Mike Etheridge – p13

5.    52- 8 – Ken Rayner – p10

5/11/22 - Ivy House - Old Match Lake

Weight - DNW (tipped back 7-8lb)

Catch - 1 Carp, 4 Skimmers, 3 Roach

Weather - Rained most of the day and blustery

Match - Open (15 fished)

I didn’t fish last weekend as I had friends over and was looking forward to a double header this weekend. Although I wasn’t looking forward to sitting in the rain.

With 15 of us all on the Old Match Lake, it meant I was happy with p10 as it offers a little room. However, recent results suggested that this end of the lake hasn’t been fishing well, but I still fancied it for a few.

Starting short hoping for an early carp and I soon caught a skimmer on corn. I couldn’t fish the pole towards the island due to a strong wind blowing down the lake, therefore I tried the lead and bread or corn towards the island which didn’t produce a bite.

At one point I thought I might catch a few silvers on dead maggot over micros and groundbait, but the action was short lived. I did hook a decent carp but I got it on my top kit too quickly and it ended up breaking me as it made a run and I couldn’t get my top kit back on the pole quickly enough.

I simply struggled for a bite, I tried putting in 6 pouches of 4s towards to the island to try and trigger a response but nothing.

I did manage 1 carp late down the left bank, but that was it. Lee opposite me only had 2 skimmers until he netted 2 carp in the last hour down his left margin, so there appeared to be very few fish at this end of the lake. That said, the whole lake fished poorly, probably due to the large amount of water that has gone into the lake and the fish just haven’t settled yet.

Definitely one to forget.

1.    52- 8 – Joff Rogers – p8

2.    33- 8 – Baggy – p11

3.    28-14 – Chris Timms – p12

4.    26- 2 – Andy Burns – p18

5.    24-14 – Steve Waters – p2

Silvers

1.    13- 0 – Steve Waters – p2

2.    12- 0 – Baggy – p11

3.    11- 8 – Joff Rogers – p8

4.      7- 0 – Andy Burns – p18

23/10/22 - Lavington - Ellis Lake

Weight - 114lb 0oz

Catch - 14 Carp, 1 Perch

Weather - Heavy rain cleared to be sunny

Match - Club (8 fished) - 1st overall

As I will be at Ivy House quite a bit over the autumn and winter, I fancied a change of scenery with the chance of catching some units. Therefore, I jumped on a club match at Lavington. Waking up with the raining hammering down I did waver about going, but the forecast suggested it would clear up in a few hours.

Driving to the lake there was plenty of water on the roads and arriving at the lake car park there were 4 no shows, either because they were put off by the weather or by roads that were unpassable.

I drew peg 9 with no island chuck, which meant I didn’t bother with the feeder rod. With all the heavy overnight rain, most thought it would fish hard, and I thought 50lb would be a good target weight.

Looking at my peg I decide on 3 areas, down the left margin next to some lilies feeding micros and corn, 8m to my right in 6ft of water feeding 6mm meat and micros and 12m where it was 7ft deep feeding micros, 4s and corn.

Starting at 8m, I was very surprised to hook a fish also immediately, but it took nearly an hour to net my next fish. Over the following hour, my 12m line produced a carp on 6mm (baninion janner) expander, before catching 3 carp down my left margin on corn in a 30mins spell.

My 8m line didn’t really get going and a couple of foul hooked fish suggest I was fishing too deep and feeding 6mm meat probably didn’t help. So, I setup another rig to fish the right margin which was a little deeper than the left, but this time just fed meat and a little micro, as my left margin had completely died, and I got the feeling I may have overfed it.

The new swim proved to be very productive fishing 8mm meat including a couple of double figure fish and I was left wishing the match was 6hrs, rather than 5.

In the end the day turned into a lovely bright day and a nice day’s fishing, despite the heavy downpour as we were packing up!

1.    114- 0 – Ken Rayner

2.      72- 0 – Andy Almond

3.      54- 0 – Martin Atkinson

 

 

 

22/10/22 - Ivy House - Heron

Weight - 109lb 3oz

Catch - 48 Carp, 47 F1s, 2 Gudgeon

Weather - Rain overnight, mostly sunny.

Match - Open (10 fished) - 4th overall

With a Silvers qualifier on the Old Match and Willow Lakes, it meant todays open was on Heron.

The water levels were still down, exposing the marginal shelf. However, with heavy overnight rain and more rain expected Andy said he hoped to be able to top up the lake by next weekend.

There were only 10 of us today and p22 for me. Following last night's rain, I wasn’t sure how it would fish, however there were plenty of fish topping and I hoped to catch a few fish shallow and down the margins.

At the start, I started at 2+2 fishing 4mm expander, initially feeding micros, but soon switched to 4s, catching mostly carp, some of

which were tiny. A switch to my shallow line at 10m fished a hair rigged 4mm over 4s only produced 1 small carp and margin again only produced more small carp. Therefore, I switched back to the short line to keep putting fish in the net.

After 90mins my short line was fading and there were now plenty of swirls over my 10m line, feeding 4s. To be honest I struggled to get the shallow line going, trying all 3 of my shallow rigs to work out the best depth to catch, I even tried banded dead maggot, but could only catch mostly small carp.

So 2hrs (of 5½) into the match I probably had 30lb. To make something happen I started feeding slop and this was a turning point of my match, catching those much-needed bigger F1s, mostly at 8in deep.

As a back-up I fed micros and corn down each margin, fishing corn. I didn’t catch as quickly as I hoped, but the fish I did catch were a better stamp carp and proved to be a useful back up line.

At one point I was catching really quickly over the shallow line, putting 35lb in the net in the last 75mins. In total I fed nearly 4pts of slop, needless to say it was a bit messy.

Overall, a disappointingly slow start which probably cost me the frame, but at least I worked it out – eventually.

1.    130-  1 – Mark Poppleton – p2

2.    127-  7 – Roy Booth – p10

3.    123-15 – Steve Waters – p13

4.    109-  3 – Ken Rayner – p22

16/10/22 - Ivy House - Old Match Lake

Weight - 46lb 7oz (3lb 8oz - silvers)

Catch - 9 Carp, 8 Skimmers

Weather - Bright & sunny

Match - Open (18 fished) - 10th overall

P16 today on the Old Match Lake, so not far from where I was yesterday, however it has fished completely different. As well as a few more anglers on the lake, the breeze had dropped and it was bright and sunny.

 
I had nothing at 16m tapping pellets or short and it took me 55mins to net my first fish on the feeder. Jamie was catching on p18 and Phil on p15 had a couple of fish on the lead & bread casting between the islands, but generally most were struggling.
 
I tried fishing for skimmers, using the same tactics as yesterday, but it became obvious they weren’t feeding properly in the flat bright conditions. At the halfway point, I lost a big carp on the skimmer rig which broke me and with only 3½lb of silvers I didn’t see the point of setting up a new rig.
 
Therefore, for the last 2½hrs I focused on the carp as a late run particularly down the margin could pull me up into frame.
 
Pinging pellets at 16m only produced 2 fish and the straight lead to the island only 1 carp. So as time went by, I concentrated on the short line with 4s & 6s and down the right margin fed with micros and corn. Unfortunately, the margin only produced 1x 10lber on double corn, leaving the short line to produce the bulk of my fish on 6mm hair rigged pellet, but it was slow going.  
 
Overall a tricky day for most
 
1.    117- 5 – Jamie Dixey – p18
2.    107- 1 – Jeff Rogers – p5
3.      65- 6 – Chris Cotteral – p7
4.      65- 1 – Ricky Spitieri – p9
5.      64- 2 – Stu Foale – p23
Silvers
1.      18- 5 – Ricky Mills – p19
2.      18- 0 – Sid Webb – p8
3.        9- 2 – Billy Ockwell – p12
4.        7- 3 – Jamie Dixey – p18

15/10/22 - Ivy House - Old Match Lake

Weight - 57lb 11oz (16lb 14oz - silvers)

Catch - 25 Skimmers, 12 Carp

Weather - Sunny with cloudy periods and blustery

Match - Open (17 fished) - 1st in silvers 

After a lovely break in Mauritius where I still managed to do some fishing catching baby groupers and bream on plastic jigs off a jetty by the hotel, I was looking forward to getting back to Ivy House. 

We were spread across the Old Match Lake and Kingfisher. I fancied Kingfisher as I hadn’t been on there for a while, however I ended up on p14 on the Old Match Lake, the least favourite area of the lake. However, with a spare peg either side I at least had plenty of space.

I started off looking for carp, but only caught 2 small ones after 45mins and with the better pegs catching made up my mind to try for silvers.

 
I initially started off cautiously feeding a nugget of micros/groundbait at 13m and caught almost immediately on 4mm expanders. I noticed Andy Weston on p16 catch a couple of skimmers over a big pot of groundbait. So, I followed suit, feeding a big pot of groundbait, micros and dead maggot off to my left at 14m out of the way.
 
Over the next couple of hours, I rotated between the left hand 14m line and the negatively fed 13m line, picking up a couple of carp in amongst the skimmers. The 13m line I just kept topped up with a nugget of micros/groundbait, whilst the left hand 14m was topped up whenever bites stopped, catching mostly on expanders using double dead reds as a backup.
 
The last hour was a little frustrating as the carp woke up and I couldn’t catch any more skimmers. However, an enjoyable day, feeding 3pts of groundbait and a pint of micros.
 

1.    99-  8 – Steve Brown – p41
2.    94-  7 – Danny Richards – p5
3.    90-  3 – Steve Waters – p18
4.    63-  5 – Jeff Rogers – p37
5.    62-10 – Baggy – p10
Silvers
1.    16-14 – Ken Rayner – p14
2.    10-  7 – Glyn Loveday – p44
3.      9-11 – Steve Waters – p18
4.      9-  0 – Andy Weston – p16
5.      8-  1 – Tim Hadland – p8

27/09/22 - Ivy House - Old Match Lake

Weight - 56lb 0oz (11lb 4oz - silvers)

Catch - 11 Carp, 17 Skimmers

Weather - Mostly cloudy. Showers and sunny periods, with a gusty wind.

Match - Open (13 fished) - 3rd overall

I    Decided to jump on todays costcutter before my holiday in Mauritius. With the match spread over the Old Match Lake and Kingfisher there would be plenty of space.
 
It has been noticeable the weights have started to drop off recently and a potentially difficult day was likely, particularly as the weather forecast was for cloud and a cool wind. The number of showers was an added bonus.
 
I ended up on p5 which is the shallowest on the lake and I quite fancied it, assuming the wind would allow me to fish 16m to the bottom of the island shelf.
 
As the lake had been fishing a little hard recently, I decided to start very cautiously so no big potting of bait and just feel my way into the match. I started on a mini method feeder and 6mm yellow gofter and had hooked a 4lb carp, but the hook pulled at the net!
 
With no more bites on the method, I switched to fishing a hair rigged 4mm pellet at 16m tapping in a few 4s and lost my 2^nd carp at the net – not happy! Fortunately, the next one was landed, followed by a skimmer and a couple more carp to get up and running.
 
A further carp and couple more skimmers on 6mm pellet or corn at 7m were welcome but short lived. After 2hrs the wind was now really tricky and presenting the bait at 16m was increasingly difficult. Therefore, I set up a new swim in slightly deeper water at 15m fishing a heavier rig, feeding nuggets of micros and groundbait, fishing a 4mm expander to try and get some bites. Over the next 90mins I caught more skimmers, plus a couple more carp.
 
With 90mins remaining I was hoping to catch down my margins. The right margin was too shallow in the cool weather, but the left side was slightly deeper, and this is where I fed mostly micros and corn.
 
I had tried fishing the straight lead over pinged pellet, but never had a bite and fishing 16m in the wind was becoming a real pain. So, I was relying on my short line to produce, which it did, catching a few better sized carp and more skimmers all on corn. The margin only produced an 8lber late on.
 

1.    115- 4 – Mick O’Brien - p8
2.      56- 2 – Alan Smith – p10
3.      56- 0 – Ken Rayner – p5
4.      55-12 – Val Murray – p43
Silvers
1.      20- 2 – Alan Smith – p10
2.      17- 0 – Pete Ziemniak – p1
3.      13- 0 – Sid – p41
4.      11- 4 – Ken Rayner – p5

25/09/22 - Goodiford Mill - Match Lake

Weight - 66lb 2oz

Catch - 13 Carp, 5 Skimmers, 2 Roach

Weather - Chilly start, mostly sunny and flat, cloudy later.

Match - So Simple League - rd 8 (18 fished) - 11th overall (4th in section)

The last round of the So Simple league and I was lying 2^nd courtesy of a better weight advantage as 3 of us (Karl, Gary and myself) were all on the same number of points.

When I drew peg 1, I initially thought I would be able to cast to the island on my right with the willow tree, but when Chris Whitehead turned up on p51 I realised that wouldn’t be possible. With Phil Hart on peg 2, I had no features to fish to, just open water.

I was told there was a bar and to fish on top of this, although no one could tell me exactly where it was. Plumbing around revealed a very slightly shallower spot about 30m out, but no bar. I was also told it was a good peg for the pellet waggler, however it was a very chilly start, bright and there was no ripple. Other than fishing the open water I had very few options. I set up a pole line at 13m fed with 4s and a margin rig which I wasn’t hopeful about as the pegs either side were quite tight.

Well, the first 3 hours was a struggle, I only had 1 skimmer on the method, 3 carp and 2 big roach on the waggler and a few silvers on the pole. I was long way behind everyone in my section, as they all had shallow water or islands to target, which it soon became obvious the fish preferred to be and not on the deck in 5ft of water.

At the halfway stage, I was going nowhere and felt I had to force the peg, dumping a pint of 8s via a catapult in 5mins. This seemed to work, as I managed to pull in a few carp catching a further 5 carp on the waggler and 5 on the straight lead and red 8mm gonut up to 10lb. In total I fed 6pts of 8s, which was all I had!

I’m pleased I managed to pull back 2 section places, but I needed a further 35lb to claim 3^rd in section. Unfortunately, lost fish was a problem, either due to a snag or some of the carp had poor mouths resulting in hook pulls, which was quite frustrating.

In the end I finished 4^th overall, collecting £125. Karl managed to win his section, to claim 2nd, although there is a suggestion, he was coached all the way by Giff – lol. Gary had a similar match to me, and Chris Whitehead claimed 2^nd in section to finish on the same number of points as me and claimed 3^rd spot by 4lb. So, a tight finish and well done to Chris ‘Giff’ Ware who comfortably won the league.

It has been an interesting league due to the variety of venues; it was just unfortunate that Durleigh didn’t fish as well as expected. However, it was good to meet up with a good bunch of lads and an enjoyable league fished in good spirit, it was just a shame that Andy was unable to attend as he waits for a knee operation.

1.    161-10 – Elliot Faye – p7

2.    148- 8 – Karl Turner – p28

3.    134- 4 – Andy Bull – p36

4.    117- 3 – Simon Poynter – p16

5.    113-11 – Chris Whitehead – p51

17/09/22 - Glebe - Pool 7

Weight - 140lb 13oz

Catch - 23 Carp, 1 Skimmer

Weather - Sunny, strong northerly breeze

Match - 2 dayer (15 fished) - 8th overall, 3rd in section

Another end peg for me in the shape of p109 on pool 7 and a few screwed up faces on the locals suggested it hasn’t been the best. With a northerly breeze blowing in the end bank, I was hopeful for a few fish.

As I set up the wind was quite light, so I plumbed up at 13m where it starts to shallow up feeding 4s and 13m off to my left fed with micros and corn. Well, the first 90mins was a struggle. I couldn’t get a bite at 13m out in front and hooked 2 carp to my left on corn. The hooklength snapped on the first and then the elastic snapped at the connector for the second.

I did catch 1 carp on the straight lead and pellet over the 13m line, but with an increasingly strong breeze the tow had picked up and I decided to sack off the 13m lines.

I had already been pinging 4s into the end bank, as well as pinging 8s long to fish the straight lead as a backup line.

Switching to the end bank toss potting baninion boosted corn and micros with corn on the hook, I started catching and feeling much better about things. I lost a few foul hookers, but generally most fish were hooked properly including a few decent fish.

At the halfway point the swim was fading a bit and whilst I let it rest, I caught a few fish on the straight lead and 8mm pellet. Moving back to the end bank it was still tricky, mostly because the wind had increased. Switching to a heavier rig helped.

I had been feeding 6s on a short line, but never had a bite and my lead line didn’t produce any more, which just left my left hand margin. I had given the swim regular pots of corn and micros and first drop in produced a 12lber on double corn.

The last 90mins was steady swapping between the end bank and margin. By the end I caught more than expected, but I was a little disappointed as I missed out on 2^nd in section by 7lb and winning the section by 22lb. With a few better choices earlier (and local knowledge) I should have pushed for the section win.

Pool 6 was the place to be as everyone caught over 200lb.

An enjoyable 2 days and I just wish it was a little closer to home.