Monday, 28 November 2022

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 2nd 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 3rd 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 7th in section. In hindsight I should have come at least 5th. 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)

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