19/07/23 - Todber - Homeground

Weight - 308lb 12oz

Catch - 91 Carp, 1 Skimmer, 1 Roach

Weather - Warm & sunny

Match - Open (12 fished) - 3rd overall

As I’m due to fish the Garbolino clubman next week, I decided some practice was required as I haven’t fished here for a while. Today was about sorting out my elastics and rigs, and then on Saturday I plan to put into practice what I have learned, before the main match on Wednesday.

We were all on Homeground and I drew p85, not ideal as the wind was blowing into the corner of 76 and 91. I had intended to fish pellet (and set up rigs), however when speaking to a couple of anglers in the car park it was mentioned that paste was working. Therefore, I decided to fish to my strengths and see whether I could catch quickly enough on paste.

It would be an interesting comparison as Jason Crump (p86) would be fishing pellet, although he started on meat, which in hindsight he admitted was a mistake and could have cost him 3^rd place, and Sean Coleman (p84) who was also fishing paste.

Plumbing up I decided to focus on 3 areas, 2+2, 1+2 off the end of keepnets and my right margin which plumbed up nicely with a 2ft of water, tight to the bank.

The first hour I got off to flyer catching 25 carp at 2+1, despite me nearly buggering it up by feeding too much. After an hour this line was slowing, so I tried fishing shorter which didn’t work and then down my margin which got going eventually. Consequently, my catch rate slowed before picking up again and by the halfway stage (2.5hr) I was up to 50 carp.

The right margin proved to be really good as I got a bite within seconds of the paste hitting the deck and kept it going by feeding 4s every time I hooked fish, but it didn’t last as it slowed up with an hour remaining.

I had kept feeding my short line as a backup which didn’t produce as expected. I tried the left-hand margin which was shallower than the right without too much success. To kick start my swims I introduced micros which killed the margins. In the end I resorted to trying my 2+2 line, before the fish finally returned down my right margin. It was also noticeable the stamp of fish was getting smaller; I suspect due to a slight shift in the wind which meant it became flatter in front of me.

As I struggled in the last hour, I fell short of what I should have had, although I did pick up a few ideas for next time. As expected Pemb won and Simon was 2^nd, so I was more than happy to pick 3^rd place, behind those 2.

Comparing my approach with others, I think the weather forecast for the coming week might help me as there is likely to be less emphasis on shallow fishing and hopefully paste will be the way to go if it turns into a low weight affair, well low weight by Todber standards.

1.    390-  8 – Pemb Wrighting – p88

2.    373-  8 – Simon Stacey – p89

3.    308-12 – Ken Rayner – p85

4.    258-  6 – Sean Coleman – p84