25/11/23 - Todber Manor - Hillview

Weight - 253lb 0oz

Catch - 78 Carp

Weather - Hard overnight frost. Bright, sunny and flat

Match - Open (28 fished) - 13th overall

Only the one match this weekend. I settled on Todber’s open, which Mark Poppleton had organised and pay-outs would be based on sections only. As a result, 30 had booked in over Hillview and Ash (although 2 dropped out) and it would also serve a practice for next weeks Christmas match.

I was happy enough with p54 and following the first hard frost of the year, combined with bright flat conditions I was expecting it to be hard going, targeting 150-200lb as a winning weight.

As I didn’t expect to catch short, I started on the lead and bread, but after 5mins p49 already had 2 carp in the net by fishing short and other anglers were also catching in the same way!

I soon switched to fishing at 13m tapping in 4mm Uzit p-nut pellets, pinging pellet over the top. Due to the conditions, I expected those that started short to only catch a few fish before having to move out longer.

As it happened those fishing short kept catching and I probably stayed on the 13m line too long, however after 45mins I started catching at a better rate than those around me so decided to stick at 13m (still hoping those catching short would soon stop), with corn being better than pellet, until the line slowed up at the end of the 2^nd hour.

The remaining 3hrs I spent down each margin, starting down the left on 6mm meat soaked with Uzit bubblegum yellow dye and then double corn over 2mm Uzit p-nut pellets to my right.

In the last 2 hours I probably had 120/130lb and felt I had caught up with those around me, although I could see anglers further down the lake catching much better. I had beaten all the pegs opposite on the spit and peg 55 beat me by a pound, however all the better weights were further down the lake.

It was ridiculous how well the lake fished and in hindsight I should have fished shorter and probably caught 300lb. It will be interesting to see whether it will fish this well next week as a cold week is forecast with the prospect of sleet later in the week.

1.   547-  0 – Perry Stone – p48

2.    512-14 – Pemb Wrighting – p60

3.    448-  4 – Adam Burrow – p42

4.    428-  2 – Rob McCann – p47

5.    388-  4 – Greg Welsby – p34

19/11/23 - Ivy House - Old Match Lake

Weight - 16lb 8oz (4lb - silvers)

Catch - 4 Carp, 23 Roach, 4 Skimmers, 1 Perch

Weather - Showery and very windy.

Match - Winter League rd 2 (48 fished) - 6th in section.

The 2^nd round of the Winter League and my turn for the Old Match Lake which has been fishing very hard recently, so a decent draw was required. Based on yesterday’s match and the prevailing wind I fancied either p8 or 10 at the bottom of the lake, so was a little disappointed to pull p3, where the angler yesterday tipped back 2lb of bits. That said following yesterday’s match I was still confident of catching. 

Like yesterday, I started on the pellet cone, again using Uzit P-nut cloud flavoured fishery micros and soon caught a skimmer on corn. I stuck with it for an hour fully expecting the tip to go round again, but it never did. The only angler I could see catching was Jamie Durup on p16 opposite and Roy Booth on p10.

As I couldn’t catch on the tip, I tried the 11m line where I fed groundbait and caster but was getting pestered by small roach. My margin was better, catching some chucky roach on maggot, but there seemed to be very few skimmers around.

In the last 2 hours I knew I needed some carp and stayed on the pellet cone. I managed 4, but 2 of them were very small. I also tried corn down my margin, but it was obvious there was still loads of small silvers in the peg despite putting in 2 pots of feed.

In the end a really disappointing day where I fished the same as yesterday, but there just wasn’t any volume of feeding fish in front of me. P8 won the section with 47lb and p10 came 3^rd.

1.    95-14 – Gary Knight – p6 (heron)

2.    78-12 – Martin Thomas – p48 (kingfisher)

3.    69-12 – Carl Mulford – p13 (heron)

4.    63-  6 – Dwayne Seed – p2 (heron)

5.    61-  6 – Chris Telling – p16 (heron)

6.    60-15 – Stu Foale – p24 (heron)

18/11/23 - Ivy House - Old Match Lake

Weight - 32lb 3oz (4lb 3oz - silvers)

Catch - 9 Carp, 12 Roach, 7 Skimmers

Weather - Grey and blustery

Match - Open (9 fished) - 2nd overall

As my rotation for the Winter League put me on the Old Match Lake I booked in for a practice. Over the last few weeks either end of the lake seemed to be the place to draw, so I wasn’t sure when I drew p5 in the middle, however it is 1 of my favourite pegs, so I had fingers crossed.

The tea bag has continued to frame and feedback received suggested not a lot was being caught close in. Having previously tried the tea bag with limited success, I decided to try the pellet cone using fishery micros flavoured with Uzit P-Nut cloudy which added a bit of stickiness to the pellet.

Casting between the islands I netted 3 carp on triple dead reds and a skimmer on corn during the first 90mins. This I felt put me 2^nd behind Richard ‘Tea Bag’ Rogers on p10, so a good start.

As I couldn’t catch anymore on the tip I switched to the pole, where I had fed groundbait with micros and dead maggot at 13m but caught very little. Then I tried 14.5m just tapping in a few micros and fishing a 4mm expander and had a skimmer first put in, but it was a loner as I could only catch roach.

Back to the 13m line I had a few more skimmers, but it was slow going. I did try the pellet cone periodically to see whether the carp had returned and kept feeding the swim with small balls of micros whenever I was fishing the pole.

During the last 90mins the carp returned with 6 fish, losing 2 all on triple dead reds sprayed with Uzit P-nut to finish 2^nd overall.

1.    39-  7 – Richard Rogers – p10

2.    32-  3 – Ken Rayner – p5

3.    25-  4 – Stu White – p12

4.    17-  7 – Dave Strafford-Way – p9

Silvers

1.    20-12 – Stu White – p12

2.    12-  4 – Phil Gooding – p2

3.      7-15 – Dave Strafford-Way – p9

12/11/23 - Hillview - Canal 1

Weight - 11lb 3oz

Catch - 2 Carp, 2 F1

Weather - Cold and rainy

Match - Tackle Den (17 fished), 12th overall, 3rd in section

I was looking forward to fishing this match as I haven’t been here for 8 years and enjoyed my last visit.

We were on canals, 1, 3 and 4, and was told that canal 3 or 4 had been the most consistent. However, following more rain during the week, as well as getting colder it was expected to be a little harder than of recent.

I drew p41 on canal 1 and was told it had been the best peg on the canal, so fingers crossed for a decent day.

On the all-in I started dobbin bread along the far bank fully expecting a bite, but nothing, which was a concern and the realisation it was going to be tricky. In fact, everyone on our lake was struggling.

To be honest there was not much more to say about this match, as I had 4x bites and 4x fish, on maggot tight across. I tried various areas of the swim without success and the lake had just shut down. Matt Greaves next to me on p43 only weighed 12lb 8oz and Ian Barker won our lake with only 21lb, whilst the other anglers managed 13oz and a DNW.

The open match behind us on the 2 main lakes was only won with 53lb, so winter has arrived.

1.    49-  8 – John Pearce

2.    44-  9 – John Brady

3.    38-  8 – Terry Arnold

4.    25-  4 – Cliff Dutton

5.    21-13 – Brian Duckett

11/11/23 - Goodiford Mill

Weight - DNW

Catch - 1 Carp, 1 Rudd

Weather - Bright and sunny

Match - Uzit Feeder & Lead League - rd 3

Being 3^rd in the league I was hoping for a decent draw to maintain my position. Well, my day went badly. P27 looked like a boom or bust peg being in a corner and in the last round John struggled for only 4pts and lost lots of kit to snags.

After 90 minutes I had already lost a couple of fish and rigs, and nearly packed up in frustration. The main snag was a sunken branch that had been left in after a tree had been cut down.

I decided to cast to my right in an attempt to avoid the branch and netted my first fish, but again lost more fish and kit on trailing brambles and then some discarded line, which was the final straw.

I had enough and as I was trailing everyone in my section decided to pack up in sheer frustration. I also decided to pull out of the league, as it’s a 200-mile round trip to a poorly managed venue.

5/11/23 - Ivy House - Kingfisher

Weight - 37lb 14oz

Catch - 14 Carp, 8 Skimmer, 1 Perch, 1 Roach

Weather - Mostly sunny, showers later. Cool NW breeze

Match - Winter League - rd 1 (48 anglers) - 5th in section

The first round of the Winter League and one I look forward to, not least because I have come 6^th and 2^nd in the last 2 years.

This year we had 48 anglers and with some very good anglers fishing it was likely to be very competitive. Unlike previous years, there would be 6 rounds instead of 5, so 6 sections of 8.

The section draw was held on Friday evening and my rotation would be Kingfisher, Old Match Lake, Heron A, Moorhen, Willow and Heron B.

I wasn’t sure how Kingfisher would fish as it had been affected by flooding when the brook that runs parallel to the lake burst its bank. I had expected it to be heavily coloured following the weeks rain. However, Andy had increased the height of the bank along the brook which meant the lake wasn’t at as coloured as expected.

At the draw, I pulled p37, which I was pleased with, although a little concerned with all the groundwork along the far bank to prevent future flooding. Also, the peg can be a bit hit and miss in the winter.

On the all-in I started off dobbin bread and maggot along the far end bank, apart from a couple of nips from roach I didn’t catch. A switch to fishing corn over micros at the bottom of the far shelf, only produced a skimmer, which was a concern.

I eventually found my first carp toss potting maggot sprayed with U-Zit P-Nut down the end bank, catching 2 more before that dried up. After 2 hours I switched to a 2+2 line, where I had been feeding maggot from the start and caught 4 skimmers up to 1.5lb and then a carp, but I couldn’t catch again until much later in the match when I had a couple more skimmers.

The rest of the match was spent trying various areas of the swim. I had 2 carp dobbin bread, none dobbin maggot and the best area was down the end bank toss potting in maggot, but I couldn’t catch more than 2 carp before they backed off.

I had fed my margin for later in the match and pinged pellet to my left at the bottom of the far shelf without success. I had a chat with Jason on p39 and Neil on p46 who were 1^st & 2^nd in section and they both caught on dobbin maggot across, so I’m not sure I did too much wrong, I just feel there were not too many fish in the swim.

So, a disappointing first round result, finishing 5^th in section, but at least I have 5 more matches to pull myself up the league.

1.    144-  1 – Matt Hamilton – p16 (Heron)

2.    133-11 – Neil Morgan – p46 (Kingfisher)

3.    112-  7 – Andy Dixey – p6 (Heron)

4.    110-  6 – Rob Guppy – p13 (Heron)

5.    100-  0 – Simon Duke – p21 (Heron)

6.      89-  0 – Steve Martin – p2 (Heron)