26/02/23 - Ivy House - Heron

Weight - 56lb 10oz

Catch - 31 F1s, 10 Carp, 1 Gudgeon

Weather - Mostly sunny, but NW breeze

Match - Winter League - rd 5 (50 fished) - 1st in section, 3rd overall

The re-arranged last round of the Winter League and my turn for Heron.

I was lying 11^th and needed a bit of luck to get into the paying top 8. I felt if I could get at least a 2^nd in section and hope for a couple of those above me to blow out I could get there.

I was hoping to draw between p7-p11, as this side of the lake had been better than the opposite pegs, however when I got to the draw, pegs 7,8,9 & 11 were already gone. Fortunately, I pulled p10, so that was the first job done, now I just needed to catch a few fish.

Jason May was to my right on p9 who was just behind me in the league, so I really needed to beat him as well as Jamie Dixey opposite on p21 who won last week’s match.

During the week the weather had returned to frosts and there was a cold NE breeze blowing right to left, which meant the water had cleared a little from last week. Although I had some pellet, I wasn’t convinced it would work so decided to stick with maggot over the pole lines.

On the all-in I started on the lead and bread cast to the island. After 15mins I caught my first F1 and stayed on this for the next hour, netting a further 9 F1s and a 2.5lb carp. So, a great start, however when that line dried up and I switched to the pole at 15m I struggled to get a bite, adding only a couple of fish over the next hour.

In the meantime, I could see both Jason and Jamie eating into my early lead. Fortunately, by moving out to 16m and continuing to toss pot maggot with a few micros I started to pull in a few fish.

Except for a 15min spell when the bites dried up and I switched back to the lead and bread, I stayed on the pole and maggot, moving slightly right whenever it slowed. The last 45mins in particular was really good and I knew I had beaten those on my side of the lake and just hoped my late burst of fish was enough to beat Jamie which I did by 11lb.

Despite the wind being a little awkward at times I had a lovely day’s fishing to win the lake. Fortunately, a couple of results went my way allowing me to finish 6^th overall and a £185 pickup.

1.    64-  6 – Andy Lloyd – P7 (Old Match Lake)

2.    64-  4 – Val Murray – p5 (Old Match Lake)

3.    56-10 – Ken Rayner – p10 (Heron)

4.    45-12 – Jamie Dixey – p21 (Heron)

5.    40-  0 – Jof Rogers – p8 (Old Match Lake)

6.    38-14 – Mick O’Brien – p1 (Old Match Lake)

22/02/23 - Shearwater

Weight - 2lb 2oz

Catch - 1 Bream

Weather - Mostly sunny, with cloudy periods. Westerly wind.

Match - Shearwater League (28 fished) - last in section.

Today I was guesting for Chris Ware who was recovering from a minor operation.

The draw put me 2 to the right of where I was on Saturday and whilst the peg blanked on Saturday, I still fancied it, and decided to repeat what I did on Saturday.

Well, the day didn’t go as planned. After feeding 7 feeders full of groundbait, micros & corn at 60m never produced a bite. After 2hrs I had my one and only bite at 80m on a 8mm orange wafter.

In the meantime Clayton Hudson, 2 to my left had 7 or 8 bream already and Vince Brown to my right had a 24lb carp and a couple of bream.

Unfortunately, Liam Collins to my left who was 3^rd in the league hadn’t had a bite. It was like we were in a dead zone. Liam eventually caught 3 with 90mns to go, but we ended up bottom of the section.

A disappointing day, when I even tried a conventional rig with dead maggot or corn, but just no bites. Still, it was better than working.

19/02/23 - Ivy House - Heron

Weight - 40lb 13oz

Catch - 22 F1s, 14 Carp, 4 Gudgeon

Weather - Mostly sunny. Southerly breeze

Match - Open (17 fished) - 2nd overall

Today’s match was a last chance to see how the lake is fishing with an eye on next weeks final round of the winter league.

I was more than happy with p9, a great peg as its on the widest part of the lake, although I do prefer the pegs at this time of year where you can reach the island shelf with the pole.

Mild temperatures meant I wasn’t sure whether today would be a maggot or pellet day, although the southerly breeze kept it on the cool side.

On the all-in I caught a mini carp on a mini method and maggot and then an F1 on the lead and bread, but it was a lot slower than I expected.

Switching to the pole at 14.5m where I had fed a little black intelligent and maggot only produced a few tiny carp and gudgeon, so I soon pushed out at 16m toss potting maggot, fishing double maggot.

The action was slower than last week, but at least I was catching mostly F1s and to be honest other than Jamie opposite I couldn’t see anyone catching, so I just kept going.

Eventually the 16m line was dying. A switch to a 16m line to my left feeding micros and fishing 4mm expander, was a little slower than the maggot line, although the stamp of fish was slightly better. I was hoping this line would gradually improve, unfortunately it didn’t and pinging pellet over the top didn’t help either.

In an effort to make something happen I had a nice 30min spell on the method tight to the island, feeding mostly groundbait before that died.

Another run of fish back on the 16m maggot line was useful, however the last 30mins was proving to be difficult and then Andy Dixey on p8 got me a little worried as he started catching shallow on maggot. Fortunately, he didn’t catch enough, although the wind was being a pain and spreading the maggot over too wide an area.

It was good to get a pickup after a number of recent near misses and fingers crossed for a decent draw next Sunday.

1.    58- 0 – Jamie Dixey – p21

2.    40-13 – Ken Rayner – p9

3.    36- 1 – Ian Driscoll – p14

4.    31-11 – Steve Fox – p13

5.    30- 4 – Andy Dixey – p8

18/02/23 - Shearwater

Weight - 23lb

Catch - 8 Bream

Weather - Drizzle and light rain on & off all day. Strong westerly

Match - Angling for Heros charity match (33 fished) - 8th overall, 2nd in section

A couple of hours after agreeing to stand in for Chris Ware at Shearwater this coming Wednesday I became aware of an Angling for Heros charity match on Saturday so jumped on.

I love fishing Shearwater and like many was disappointed to see it closed during Covid. During this time there have been reports of fish being poached and loads of cormorants, so it would be interesting to see how it fished.

So far, this winter has been difficult as the fish appear to be tightly shoaled not helped by the recent freezing conditions. Today was a lot milder and there was a stiff westerly wind blowing into the dam wall, which hopefully meant the fish had spread out.

With 33 anglers the pegging was a little tight in areas, however I was happy to draw (p13) on the point opposite the dam wall.

On the all-in 7 feeders full of groundbait, micros, 4s and corn was deposited at 57m. Whilst that settled, I cast to 70m towards the buoys (75m) hoping for an early pull, which didn’t happen. After 30mins I went over the 55m line fishing an 8mm wafter and after a couple of funny bites switched to a 6mm yellow wafter and managed 3 bream over the next hour.

The following hour only produced 1 bream, which prompted a re-feed with a further 4 feeders full of bait.

From those I could see, Ian White to my right had caught a few bream and a 16lb carp, but Roland Lucas and Stu Burridge to my left were both blanking, and I couldn’t see much being caught on the dam wall.

I managed to a catch a couple more bream at 75m next to the buoys and only 1 over the re-feed. I had also fed a short line but never had a touch here.

My section ran from Ian who won the section round to my left and most of the dam wall, were I think only 1 or 2 anglers weighed, so an area to avoid on Wednesday.

The fish were obviously in the shallower water to my right, which meant I was on the edge and pleased to finish 2^nd in section and 1 out of the money – again!

Overall, it was nice to return as well as seeing more bream showing, which meant the cormorants hadn’t eaten them all!

1.    59- 1 – Louis Morris – p7 (boathouse)

2.    54-10 – John Moody – p30 (road bank)

3.    53- 8 – Matt Skyme – p8

4.    48-10 – Mark Leader – p35

5.    48- 0 – Ian White – p12

12/02/23 - Ivy House - Heron

Weight - 52lb 4oz

Catch - 26 Carp, 25 F1s, 3 Gudgeon

Weather - Mostly cloudy. Light westerly.

Match - Open (5 fished) - 2nd overall

With the rescheduled final round of the winter league coming up I wanted to get back to Heron Lake to see how it was fishing. Sadly what started as 9 fishing, ended up with only 5 which was disappointing. There were also 10 on the Old Match Lake. To be honest I think it would be best to have combined the 2 matches on either one of the lakes.

As there were only 5 of us it was decided to put us all down one bank, pegs 6 to 11 and I drew p8 right in the middle.

On the all in a small ball of black intelligent and maggot was deposited at 14.5m. Whilst that settled, I started on the lead and bread to the island. After 45mins I had 5 F1s, which was probably leading jointly with Dave Willmott on p11 who was also getting pestered by tiny carp and gudgeon.

When I switched to the pole at 14.5m it didn’t produce a bite, so I soon pushed out to 15.5m just feeding a toss pot of maggot. Initially it was slow, catching tiny carp and gudgeon. A switch to fishing double maggot, meant waiting a little longer for bites but I would catch a proper F1 or carp and I had a lovely few hours, switching slightly to my left and moving up the far shelf to 16m to keep catching.

With an hour to go the swim was drying up a little, so I switched to the lead & bread, whilst pinging maggot over the pole line. With no bites I was soon back on the pole line and the rest seemed to have done some good as I had a good finish to the match, however Dave Willmott just pipped me for the win - again.

1.    55- 8 – Dave Willmott – p11

2.    52- 4 – Ken Rayner – p8

3.  34-  8 - Mike Allen - p9

11/02/23 - Todber - Hillview

Weight - 105lb

Catch - 38 Carp

Weather - Sunny with cloudy periods. Light breeze

Match - Open (26 fished) - 8th overall

No fishing last weekend, so I was keen for a double header this weekend, although more heavy frosts during the week would probably mean wherever I went it was going to be tricky. In the end I decided to go to Todber and 26 of us all on Hillview.

P59 for me and a good winter area especially with p58 out of action due to a dodgy platform.

Starting on the straight lead and meat I had a good first hour catching 10 carp for about 25lb, with 8mm red meat being the best.

After an hour the swim was slowing and I switched to the 14.5m line where I had been pinging pellet, however this was slower than expected and the stamp of fish was on the small side. To be honest I wasn’t happy with my 6mm pellet, as I left my normal pellet at home and felt the ones I was using were too light.

Wynner next to me on p60 and Nick Veale on p57 were also struggling. At the halfway point Wynner started pinging pellet to the island to make something happen and shortly afterwards had a good run of fish on the lead and meat to overtake me. In the meantime, I was struggling. I started pinging meat over the lead line and had a few fish, but it didn’t last and Wynner was back to struggling for bites.

I had fed a short meat line and managed 8 carp in the last hour, but again it was slow going.

In the end I was disappointed not to have weighed more and Wynner beat me by 20lb to take the section money. In hindsight I wonder whether I should have stuck to fishing the lead and just be patient rather than trying to make something happen on the pole.

1. 249-10 - Craig Edmunds - p49

2. 175-  2 - Mark Poppleton - p54

3. 152-14 - Jack Stamp - p53

4. 136-  0 - Gary O'Shea - p56

5. 127-  8 - Mark Wynne - p60

29/01/23 - Todber - Ash

Weight - 63lb 8oz

Catch - 22 Carp, 6 Skimmers

Weather - Cloudy and south westerly breeze

Match - Open (9 fished) - 2nd in section

Mark organised todays match and with only 9 of us we were all on Ash, which was ice free unlike Hillview of which ½ of the lake was still covered.

Based on yesterdays match the fish had done their usual winter trick of balling up around p70, so Mark settled on 2 sections so at least those drawn off the fish had something to fish for.

I drew p66, so off the favoured area, although p67 (not in today) won yesterday’s match and both Richard Yeo (68) and I hoped the fish were still resident.

On the all-in I fed a few micros and corn at 14m. Whilst that settled, I tried the straight lead and bread, and then meat to the far bank without success. Rich hadn’t caught and neither had Jack Stamp to my left fishing the far bank, so I didn’t waste too much time before switching to the 14m line.

Initially fished corn which produced a skimmer and then a carp, but it was very slow. Eventually, by pinging 4s and tapping in 4s I started to catch on hair rigged 4s, In the meantime Jack was catching from the far bank and we were level pegging until mid-match when he had a 5 or 6 quick fish and my 14m line was drying up.

Back on the straight lead and meat produced a couple of fish, but it wasn’t as good as I hoped.

I felt I needed to move out to 16m and delayed due to the wind being a bit tricky. When I did eventually switch, I had a slow start, but at least I started catching again pulling back the deficit on Jack. In the last 30mins I couldn’t get in quick enough and wished they had turned up (or switched) earlier as I might have taken the section, which Jack won with 75lb mostly catching from the far bank.

I had also fed maggot short, but never had a bite here.

Despite the poor draw (although the end pegs were definitely worse) I still had a nice day, although the rain as we were packing up wasn’t welcome.

1.    189-  0 – Mark Poppleton – p70

2.    170-  0 – Dwayne Seed – p71

 

28/01/23 - Greenridge Farm - Blue Canal

Weight - 27lb 12oz

Catch - 9 Carp, 2 Skimmers, 1 Roach

Weather - Cold start, cloudy with sunny period.

Match - Open (5 fished) - 3rd overall

No fishing for me last week due to frozen lakes. I had considered going to Shearwater and was glad I didn’t as even that was iced over.

This week I fancied a change of scenery and Mark suggested I join him at Greenridge Farm near Romsey, a venue I fished once before about 12 years ago. Normally there would be 10-12 anglers over the 2 canals. Well, there were 5 of us and we would be on the left hand (blue) canal.

The draw put on p1 at the top of the lake and at least I didn’t have to worry about the ice that was still evident at the bottom end. I was told I was on a good peg and with a tree in the water I fancied it for a few.

After dobbin bread along the end bank, around the tree and the far bank without any indications I was a little worried, particularly as the angler on p3 had already started catching.

I managed my first fish a skimmer on maggot, quickly followed by a carp toss potting maggot. Over the next couple of hours, I caught a few more dobbin bread by a small reed bed slightly to my left and this was the only place I could catch, except for 1 carp that I mugged!

The last 2 hours however were awful with only 1 carp, 30 minutes from the end, again from the small reedbed. I tried various areas of the peg without success and to be honest I didn’t enjoy myself. It was evident there wasn’t many fish at this end of the lake, whilst the angler on p3, kept catching on bread to easily win with 103lb.

Oh, the joys of aquatic bingo. I don’t think I will be rushing back.