28/05/23 - Glebe - Pool 4

Weight - 89lb 10oz (17lb 8oz - silvers)

Catch - 16 Carp, 13 Skimmers, 1 Perch, 1 Rudd

Weather - Bright & sunny, cool easterly

Match - Ross Nursey Charity day 2 - 31st out of 56 (4th out of 6 section)

Day 2 and I’ve drew much better, p68 on pool 4, although I was a little concerned as the wind was blowing down the other end of the lake, plus local expert Andy Williams turned up on p69 and Dominic on p71.

I started on the feeder tight to the far bank, fishing groundbait with a few micros and 3 or 4 dead reds or whites on the hook. After 30mins of casting every 3 minutes I caught my first fish, a rudd. This was soon followed by skimmers and a couple of carp, although I lost 2 to an overhanging bramble.

I stayed on the feeder for about 90mins before the swim faded, but I was doing alright in comparison to everyone else and to be honest it’s the first time I felt confident fishing the feeder at the Glebe due to the 20in hooklength rule. In the meantime, I kept a short line topped up ready to fish paste, but never had a bite and the anglers to my right had all started catching down their margins.

I had started pinging pellet down my left margin and fished a banded 6s, catching a couple fish, but just not quickly enough and I was now falling behind. A switch to paste again down the margin produced a couple more fish, but it was a struggle to get a clean bite. In the end I fished corn over micros which was better but still not quite right.

In the end a disappointing 2^nd half to the match, particularly as the 2 middle pegs had around 200lb, both catching on dead maggot and groundbait, which I didn’t have with me.

27/05/23 - Glebe - Pool 1

Weight - 42lb (37lb 8oz - silvers)

Catch - 43 Skimmers, 1 Crucian, 1 Tench, 1 Roach, 1 Perch, 1 Carp

Weather - Bright & sunny

Match - Ross Nursey Charity day 1 - 41st out of 52 (4th out of 6 section)

Today was the first day of the Ross Nursey charity weekend. Initially when I drew p24 on pool 1 I thought it would be Ok, although I had p30 in my section.

When I arrived at my peg it was flat, calm and bright, and the expectation was for a hard day, particularly as the fish had recently spawned.

I did try the feeder, but soon binned that off when the feeder or hooklength came back covered with weed 5 out of 6 casts which meant I focused on the pole.

I was told paste had been working, but after 30mins and no proper bites it was looking like a hard day was in prospect, even the odd fish I could see on the surface which I swung a pellet at couldn’t be tempted.

Looking around I wasn’t the only one struggling, so I decided to set up a skimmer rig just to get a few bites and hopefully catch a few carp late on.

Fishing at 3+2 with corn, feeding a small nugget of micros I started to catch skimmers up to 3lb over the next couple of hours, slowing building a decent weight of silvers.

As the day progressed a few more carp started to show on the surface, although I still couldn’t mug them, I decided to try caster. This produced more skimmers, but only 1 carp.

With an hour remaining, I felt if I could catch a couple of carp I might get 2^nd in section, as it was obvious p30 would easily win, which he did with 179lb. Therefore, it was time to try the margins, which produced a few more skimmers on corn and nothing on paste. I really thought I would catch 1 or 2 carp, but they were proving really hard to tempt.

Come the weigh-in I realised in hindsight I should have stuck with catching skimmers. The angler to my left fished a similar match to me, but he stuck with the skimmers in the last hour weighing 40lb of silvers, plus 1 carp for 47-14 and the angler to my right had 48lb for 2^nd in section.

I’m pretty confident had I stayed catching skimmers I would have had 50lb, but in reality, I didn’t expect to need skimmers to pick up in the section. Looking at the weigh sheets my section proved to be the hardest of the match and this was repeated in Sunday’s match with a number of DNW’s.

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.

16/09/22 - Glebe - Pool 1

Weight - 99lb 4oz (10lb 8oz - silvers)

Catch - 21 Carp, 7 Skimmers, 1 Tench

Weather - Sunny, with a cool northerly

Match - 2 dayer (18 fished) - 11th overall, 3rd in section

The first of 2 days at the Glebe. Nothing big just a few of the locals getting together and I managed to get an invite via Pops, probably to just to make up the numbers! None the less I do enjoy coming here and haven’t managed a trip so far this year.

Today would be on pool 1 and tomorrow on pools 5, 6 and 7. Today also coincided with the coldest night and a forecast northerly wind as summer slips away.

I drew the end peg p30. A great peg in the summer but speaking to a few locals suggested it could be hard as it has been near bottom of the section in the previous couple of weeks.

Fortunately, I was mostly sheltered from the worst of the wind and spent most of the match in a t-shirt, whilst those further down the lake were wrapped up in several layers.

I started off at 14m where the lake starts to shallow up tapping in 4s and fishing a 6mm pellet. 2 carp in 15mins was a good start, but bites soon tailed off as I managed 1 more carp and a skimmer in the next 30mins.

In the meantime, I had been pinging 4s towards the end bank and when I switched, I stayed here for most of the match again fishing a 6mm pellet tapping in 4s in 2ft of water. The fish were a little smaller than the normal stamp, but at least I was catching, although I lost a couple of fish under the overhanging reeds

I tried a short line with corn, but this only produced a few skimmers, so I didn’t waste too much time on that. I had also been feeding micros and corn down the left margin, hoping for a strong finish, but only managed 2 carp on paste and nothing on corn. With no ripple the fish just didn’t seem to settle.

Overall, I felt I did ok bearing in mind the peg hasn’t fished well recently. 157lb won my section with 175lb winning the match.

21/08/21 - Glebe - Pool 7

Weight - 5lb 12oz

Catch - 1 Carp

Weather - Cloudy and showery. Light breeze

Match - Angling Trust Master (36 fished)

The header is not a misprint. I did only catch 1 carp and was left disappointed and angry for a couple of reasons.

This was supposed to be the Angling Trust Masters, however only 6 teams of 6 had entered, which is extremely disappointing and to be honest takes the shine of the event. When I first fished over 10 years ago, there where 16 teams, including many household names. As time has gone by the number of teams has dwindled and is now largely made up of local teams, so calling it the Angling Trust masters is misleading. For me and some others the prestige of entering a team has been diminished. In all the years I’ve fished this event in the name of the Angling Trust I have yet to see a presentative in attendance and they don’t appear to do anything to promote the event, which begs the question why I had to pay for membership?

Each year, I hear it will be better next year, but it hasn’t and 9 years ago I wrote about this very subject. Fishing-Ken's Angling Log: 11/08/12 - Glebe - Foundation Lake (kenrayner-fishing.blogspot.com)

Back to the match I was fishing under the ‘The Pellet Guys’ banner, with Mark Poppleton, Tom Thick, Chris Telling, Mark Wynne and Lee ‘Mushy’ Farmer. The sides we felt we needed to beat were Daiwa and Mallory Pink, which including Andy Findlay and Andy Kinder.

My draw put me on pool 7, p104 which was OK, but with only 6 anglers on the lake we all had plenty of space and I was looking forward to it. On arrival it became obvious there was an issue, as there were a number of dead fish on the surface, mostly bream up to 4lb and a number of carp gasping on the surface.

It appears the lake was suffering from an oxygen crash with an oxygen reading of only 30 or so, the ideal reading should be 80-120. These things happen, however there was an issue with the lake yesterday.

I expected a hard match but hoped it would improve as the match progressed.

I fished at 10m, firstly with paste, but after 30mins, no had caught, so set up a lighter rig to fish maggot or expander just to get a bite, but nothing. I periodically tried this line, plus a new shorter line with corn throughout the match, but never had a bite.

It was the same story in the margins and a 25m line (waggler/lead) fed with 8mm pellet. There were also a few fish cruising about, but they weren’t interested in feeding.

Realising it was going to be difficult, decided to fish a small cage feeder to the far bank, filled with So Simple Kriller and Blue Ice groundbait, kriller micros and hemp with dead maggot on the hook.

I lost 1 fish after 2hrs, which I thought was hooked properly, but it fell off halfway across. In the meantime, the 1^st 2 pegs (98 & 100) where the main aerator was now on, were catching a few fish whilst the rest of us were still blanking. Fortunately, the tip went round again after 3.5hr and I played the fish very gingerly setting the clutch quite light and it was a relief to land the fish. I never had another bite.

My 1 carp was good enough for 3^rd in section, with 3 blanks and the team finished 3^rd overall behind the 2 fancied team.

I don’t wish to be overly critical of the Glebe management team as running a fishery isn’t easy, however myself and a number of others don’t understand why the aerators weren’t switched on overnight and my section wasn’t switched to another lake, either Pool 3 or 9. After a 200 mile round trip, paying for bait etc, I was understandably not happy.

1st - 264- 12 - Tom Edwards (Team Daiwa) - peg 86, lake 6.

2nd - 208-  6 - Lee Farmer (The Pellet Guys/Tom Thick Baits) - peg 82, lake 5.

3rd - 192-  4 - Pete Caton (Team Daiwa) - peg 85, lake 5.

4th - 190-  0 - Jimmy Fowkes (Team Daiwa) - peg 70, lake 4.

5th - 184-  6 - Simon Skelton (Team Daiwa) - peg 22, lake 1.

6th - 184-  4 - Andrew Williams (Mallory Team Pink) - peg 24, lake 1.

1st - Team Daiwa - 10pts

2nd - Mallory Pink - 11pts

3rd - Pellet Guys/Tom Thick baits - 16pts

4th - Mallory Blue - 25pts

5th - Franky's Friends - 31pts

6th - Team Gosling - 36pts

19/07/21 - Glebe - Pool 6

Weight - 92lb (11lb - silvers)

Catch - 17 Carp, 11 Bream

Weather - Hot & sunny

Match - England Ladies Fundraiser (48 fished)

This was the 3^rd time fishing the England Ladies Fundraiser, fished over 2 days, firstly at the Glebe and second day at Barston.

I drew p89 on pool 6 and there were plenty of carp of the surface when I arrived and it looked like a mugging day. However, it wasn’t quite as simple as that.

At the start I mugged 4 carp in the 1^st 45mins, but they were very spooky and soon melted away. A switch to the feeder, fishing Kriller & CO2 RTG’s with an 8mm red pellet produced 7 carp before that swim died.

In the meantime, I had started to feed caster shallow, which can be a great tactic here, but all I caught was small skimmers. A switch back to the feeder produced another 4 carp, before the swim died again.

With 2hrs to go (5hr match) I felt I wasn’t catching quickly enough and hoped either my short paste line or margins would produce some much needed fish. Unfortunately, neither line produced as expected. I had fed my short line quite heavily with micros to pull the fish in, but only caught 2 carp and a couple of bream.

My margin was the most disappointing. I started feeding micros & corn, later switched to caster and then some groundbait to force the issue, but nothing worked. A few fish would come into the margin but wouldn’t stay and only I managed 1 carp and another bream.

As it happened the whole complex has fished hard by Glebe standards, with a number of DNW’s.

Disappointed to finish 4^th in section. In hindsight, I should have set up a bomb and pellet line, but fully expected either the short line or margins to produce.

1. 204-  8 - Sam Collett - p14 (pool 1)

2. 179-  0 - Matt Dawes - p68 (pool 4)

3. 171-  5 - Ken Portas - p80 (pool 5)

4. 138-  0 - Mal Dawes - p22 (pool 1)

5. 137-  0 - Carl Tamayo - p86 (pool 6)

6. 125-  4 - Russ Brooks - p81 (pool 5)

3. 1

23/05/21 - Glebe - Pool 1

Weight - 83lb (16lb 4oz - silvers)

Catch - 10 Carp, 25 Skimmers, 1 F1, 1 Gudgeon,1 Perch, 1 Roach

Weather - Wind, becoming stronger and rain later.

Match - Sue Marlow MacMillan Caner Charity - day 2

With the already strong breeze likely to strengthen and rain later in the day, I wanted to avoid lakes 1, 4 & 5 as the wind would be blowing straight down them. Sadly, I drew p23 on pool 1, which even on a good day isn’t the best.

120lb came off peg 24 yesterday for 2^nd in section, catching on pellet at 13m, but there was no way that was going to happen today. Fishing 11m was going to be struggle, so settled at 10m, fishing blue ice paste and 2nd put in I had a 7lber. 4th put in I’ve hooked and lost a carp, and that was it, no further bites.

A switch to the feeder, cast to the far bank, with blue ice groundbait and micros only produced a carp and a F1 on 4 dead maggots.

I had set up a 0.7g chimp for skimmers as I suspected it might be difficult and following an unsuccessful spell on the paste, decided to switch to fishing for skimmers, in the hope I could snare a carp or 2 along the way. Initially tried 4mm expander, but the fish were just nipping at the bait, probably because there was quite a bit of tow and a switch to double dead reds was much better. By toss potting a ball of micros with corn, every other put in I caught hand sized skimmers, with the occasional bigger one, plus 1 carp, losing a 2nd.

With 2hrs to go the wind had really picked up and any sort of presentation at 10m was difficult.

A switch to the straight lead and 8mm red gonut pellet 2/3rd across where I had been pinging 8s, produced a further 2 carp.

I had also been feeding 4mm pellet and corn, 2m off my margin in 2½ft and in the last 45mins had 6 decent carp on corn. To be honest, I wondered whether I should have tried the margin earlier, but I needed another 4 more carp to challenge 2nd in section.

Overall happy with the way my match went, it’s just a shame the weather ruined it a little.

1. 204-  7 - Sam Collett - p107 (pool 7)

2. 199-  8 - James Fowkes - p81 (pool 5)

3. 191-  8 - Dom Lanni - p83 (pool 5)

4. 172-  7 - Colin Mercer - p86 (pool 6)

5. 164-  9 - Andy Findlay - p16 (pool 1)

6. 146-  6 - Andy Williams - p1 (pool 1)

22/05/21 - Glebe - Pool 5

Weight - 70lb 5oz (19lb 4oz - silvers)

Catch - 10 Carp, 9 Skimmers, 2 Gudgeon

Weather - Mostly cloudy, sunny periods and showers

Match - Sue Marlow MacMillan Charity - day 1

After last week’s success, I was looking forward to spending the weekend at the Glebe to fish the Sue Marlow MacMillian Cancer charity match. However, heavy rain for most of Friday was likely to put a dampener on proceedings.

Well, my day started well being handed p80 in the middle of pool 5 which I was told was a good draw, although I had 2 good locals at either end of the lake.

I started short on 6mm pellet and had 2 carp in 15mins, and then 2 gudgeon! Which wasn’t a good sign. A switch to the feeder towards the far bank with blue ice micros and groundbait only produced 1 carp, but it was noticeable there was a bit of blanket weed on the far bank, which is a sure sign the fish haven’t started feeding on this line yet.

Coming back on the short line only produced 1 skimmer on pellet and nothing on the paste.

With the sun coming out, I started pinging a few 8s long, but couldn’t get a bite on the waggler, although I had 1 on the straight lead over the same line. After 2hrs I was going nowhere fast with only 4 carp in the net, whilst both ends were catching.

A switch down the margin, tosspotting micros and blue ice flavoured corn, with corn on the hook, produced a few decent skimmers and a couple more carp.

At the halfway stage I had 30lb and was falling behind the 2 end pegs; I manged a couple more skimmers & carp from the margins but I couldn’t keep the line going and needed to rotate.

I tried forcing the peg in an attempt to catch up, including dumping 2 pots of bait over a new short line, which did produce 2 carp on paste but it was a struggle and I was scratching my head wondering what to do next.

In the end I came 4th in section and was glad when the match finished hoping for a better day Sunday.

1. 149-  0 - James Fowkes - p2 (pool 1)
2. 145-  8 - Jamie Adcock - p100 (pool 7)

3. 143-15 - Ian Shore - p92 (pool 6)

4. 140-  3 - Ian Simpson - p73 (pool 4)

5. 138-15 - Steve Porter - p85 (pool 5)

6. 132-  2 - Mark Robinson - p76 (pool 5)

15/05/21 - Glebe - Pool 1

Weight - 151lb 12oz

Catch - 28 Carp, 3 Gudgeon, 1 Skimmer

Weather - Showers most of the day. Breezy to start, calming later

Match - Ivan Marks Memorial - Day 1

Today was the first day of the Ivan Marks Memorial weekend, with 67 anglers over the whole complex, so plenty of room for everyone.

I was handed p4 on pool 1. The lake hasn’t fished well recently, although I was at the right end, but my section included p1 which is normally the flyer.

Started on the cage feeder loaded with So Simple blue ice groundbait and micros, with 3 or 4 dead maggots. After 70 mins I had 4 carp, plus a couple of silvers, which was slow going, but no one else was really catching except for p1.

I had been pinging 6s at 13m and when I switched to my pellet rig, I had 1 carp and lost 2 foul hookers. After cupping in a few pellets, a switch back to the feeder only produced 1 more carp and back on the pellet rig at 13m produced another foul hooker.

There was a breeze blowing right to left and I had decided against fishing paste long as I thought it might be a bit awkward but felt I needed to at least give it a go. This was the first time I had used the So Simple blue ice paste and it was certainly blue, colouring my hands, but it also left a lovely blue cloud in the water.

After making the switch to paste, I never looked back and caught steadily throughout the rest of the match, including one spell where I added 8 fish for 60lb. It became obvious the fish didn’t want much feed and found it best to feed a few 6s with the paste.

Surprisingly I never had a bite down my margin or 5m line. Come the weigh in I was surprised when p1 only weighed 117lb as I thought he had caught more, but he did say he had lost a few. So pleased to have won my section, but it wasn’t until I collected my winnings that I found out I had won the match overall and was presented with a crystal goblet trophy by Linda Marks, Ivan's wife.

It was a shame I couldn’t fish the 2^nd day, but will be back at the Glebe next weekend for another 2 day charity weekend.

1-      151-12 – Ken Rayner – p4 (pool 1)

      2-      146-  0 – Arthur Billcroft – p100 (pool  7)

      3-      144-  2 – Carl Williams – p84 (pool 5)

      4-      143-  7 – Daz Sly – p95 (pool 6)

      5-      142-  0 – Dave Bailey – p86 (pool 6)

      6-      124-  9 – Mark Griffiths – p89 (pool 6)

21/05/17 - Glebe - pool 3 (uglies)

Weight - 32lb 10oz
Catch - 4 Carp, 3 Perch
Weather - Warm and sunny, breezy
Match - Ivan Marks Memorial - day 2 - 44th out of 91, 2nd in section

So onto the second day and with more anglers booked in today, it meant foundation lake would be included, which no one wanted. Well I avoided foundation, but drew p59 on Uglies (pool 3) and looking at yesterdays result 27lb came off it, with DNW's from either side, which suggested a difficult day lay ahead.

Fortunately for me the peg to my right (p60) wasn't in today, so at least I had a little more space. However, uglies by name ugly by nature, the day was really hard work and not much to write about, so I've just put loads of photo in the blog instead! And loving the XL colmic rollers, which came in very handy today.

I started the match on the feeder, firstly with corn and then 8mm pellet, without success. During the week I received 2 tubs of Marukyu 8mm band um type pellet to try, in krill and scopex flavours. To make something happen I tried a krill pellet and caught a 4lb carp - result. However that was the only fish I caught on the feeder.

As expected the fishing was hard, with very little being caught, with angler to my left yet to catch and the angler on p61 had 2 carp. The rest of the match was just trying to catch, on the lead, waggler, short pole line and margins - nothing, not even an indication.

Fortunately at the half way stage I mugged an 11lber as it swam past me at 5m, but these fish were easily spooked and it was difficult to spot them due to amount of 'white' water in front of me.

The most exciting period of the match was a 10min spell 30mins from the end, when I mugged another carp. As soon as I netted that one, I immediately mugged another which came off at the net. Unbelievably I immediately hooked another and again this one came off! Bugger, I wasn't happy because with so few fish being caught that might prove costly. Fortunately I managed to mug another almost immediately and this one was safely landed.

I couldn't tempt another in the last 20mins and was glad for the end of the match. Those lost fish did prove costly, since the section was only won with 39lb, but at least I managed to pick up 2nd in section.

A great weekend, where in excess of £3,000 was raised for a number of charities. Also Ivan Marks widow presented all the section payouts over the 2 days and the winners trophy to Jarrad Smith who won the match from p30 on pool 1 with 181-10.

1st 181-10 - Jarrad Smith - p30 (pool 1)

2nd 158- 7 - Mick Wheatley - p7 (pool 1)

3rd 149- 3 - Paul Taylor -p10 (pool 1)

4th 148-14 - Nick Massp - p25 (pool 1)

5th 138- 6 - Rich Bedder - p5 (pool 1)

6th 133- 3 - Andy Kinder - p16 (pool 1)

20/05/17 - Glebe - Pool 8

Weight - 87lb 10oz
Catch - 21 Carp, 3 Perch
Weather - Showery, gusty wind, cool
Match - Ivan Marks Memorial - day 1 - 11th out of 81, 1st in section

I haven't fished the Glebe for nearly 2 years and was looking forward to getting back to this fabulous fishery, just wish it was a little closer.

This weekend was the first day of the Ivan Marks Memorial, where the winner was decided my the angler with the biggest single weight over the 2 days. Whilst the winner could come from most lakes, everyone really wanted pool 1. So into the draw and pulled 114 on pool 8, which is effectively a stock pond and not normally included in matches. Although I wasn't likely to win the match from here, I still had the section to go for.

The pool has 10 pegs on a rectangle lake, 5 on each side and there were 5 of us, 4 in the corners and 1 in the middle. The only information I could get regarding the pool was it was full of small fish and there were some proper lumps up to 20lb.

My peg put me in one of the corners and the first job was to clear all the rubbish from the corner! Well I had plenty of time, because we had 2.5hrs to set up, not even I need that long.

The first rig out of the box was a long line pellet rig to target the many fish showing themselves on the surface. However as we got closer to the 11.30 start time, the weather closed in, becoming more cloudy, the wind picked up and a rain shower shortly before the start pushed the fish down.

Other rigs were 2 margin rigs to accommodate the differing depths, to fish expander's or corn. Finally I had a rig to fish the bottom of the slope at 11m where it was 5ft deep, although I hoped I wouldn't need it, because I wasn't convinced the fish would want to feed on the deck..

On the all in, hemp and corn was deposited in the right hand margin and I started on my left

at 4 sections on 6mm expander over 6mm amino+ pellet and corn. With no bites after 10mins, I switched to the right hand margin and was immediately rewarded with a double figure carp. However this was my only fish during the first hour, which was a surprise bearing in mind the lake was suppose to be full of small fish. The other anglers had all caught, but generally it was a quiet start.

Time for a change of tact, so cupped in 4 & 6mm amino+ pellet at the bottom of the slope and feed 6s & corn down the left bank at 13m. By swapping between the 2 swims, I started to catch, with the margin swim being the most productive catching on 6mm expander.

With 2hrs of the 5 hour match remaining, I started to struggle which coincided with the weather really closing in with heavy winds and rain. Ideally I wanted to go further down the end bank to follow the fish as they backed off, but the wind meant that would be difficult. Instead decided to pot in some caster and corn, fishing worm over the top. 3 perch later, I had no choice but to suck it up and fish longer down the end bank, potting in some 6s and corn at 15m.

With an hour to go I had a few more fish from the bottom of the slope, but they really didn't want to be in the deep water and other than the big carp at the start of the match I never had another bite down the right hand margin.

As suspected fishing 15m down the end bank was difficult in the wind, which fortunately eased a little and I found it best to pot in 6mm pellet, fishing corn over the top. Although I had to wait a little longer for bites, the stamp of fish was better.

Throughout the match I couldn't tell who was winning the lake, because it was nip & tuck with the 2 corners to my right. With 3 fish in the last 10mins I thought I may have enough, since both anglers had a quiet last hour. However with only a minute to go one them was attached to a rather large carp, which turned out to be a 15lb ghostie.

Fortunately a last good hour where I caught some better stamp fish, proved enough to win the section. As suspected the better weights came from pool 1, but generally the venue didn't fish as well as expected, but the weather has horrible at times.

1st 167- 0 - Andrew Williams - p22 (pool 1)

2nd 145-12 - Mark Fox - p47 (pool 3)

3rd 111-10 - Dave Doane - p17 (pool 1)

4th 106- 6 - Jon Preedy - p10 (pool 1)

5th 101- 2 - Steve Porter - p16 (pool 1)

6th 98-11 - Russell Shipton - p4 (pool 1)

30/08/14 - Glebe - Uglies (Pool 3)

Weight - 128lb
Catch - 13 Carp, 3 Skimmers
Weather - Sunny, cloudy period & breezy
Match - Angling Trust Masters

It’s that time of year again for the Angling Trust (formerly ACA) Masters at the Glebe, fishing under the South West Match Group banner. Fortunately this year the big lake at Mallory Park which I hate wasn’t included, but it did mean that 2 sections of 14 would be on Pool 1 so that would be 2 sections to avoid.

Tony Rixon picked me up at 5.30 and 2hrs 20mins later we were eating a decent breakfast at the Mallory Park café. An anxious looking Mark Poppleton was waiting for us, although I probably didn’t help matters by suggesting we were 70 miles further away than we actually were. And that set the tone for the rest of the day.

As well as being a member of the Angling Trust, there was also a requirement for each team to bring a “big” team prize and each individual must bring a small prize for a raffle draw. The other 3 members of our team, Tom Thick, Dan White and Nick Merry, were travelling up together, however they had left there prizes at home, so stopped off at Morrison’s to make their purchases. Mark was presented with a fresh mackerel and a horseradish! Toms mind works in a different way!

Prior to the draw Tony and I walked around Pool 1 and Uglies (pool 3). Tony quite fancied peg 1 on Pool 1, which was sheltered from the brisk breeze and I fancied a draw on Uglies, simply because I have never fished it. Come the draw, we both got our wishes.

I was reliably informed my peg 48 on the narrower side of the island was a good shallow peg, fishing 17m swinging a shallow rig towards the far side bushes. Unfortunately today there was a brisk breeze blowing across me right to left, which would meant fishing shallow was unlikely, but still set up a long line rig just in case and a pellet waggler rod was already setup. However I wasn’t too impressed with the platform (see picture) and it took a little while to get settled.

The other advice was Uglies was full of big fish and I might be only need 12 fish or so do well. With this in mind a rig to fish corn at 7m (Ackoo Powertrap 0.4g 0.2g > .17 > 16 carp feeder), a margin rig (Ackoo Carrat 0.2g > .17 > 16 carp feeder), and a cage feeder rod were also set up. 10mins before the all-in a carp rolled on the far side and I decided to start on the feeder, whilst letting my 7m line rest after cupping in a pot of corn and hemp.

30mins later the feeder only produced 1 small skimmer and I didn’t want to waste any more time on it, particularly since my 7m line was fizzing already. The following 60mins proved to be incredibly frustrating, hooking 6 carp, but losing 5 due to hooks pulls, although 1 was definitely foul hooked. A minor rig adjustment adding a no 10 shot closer to the hook and I landed 6 of the next 7 fish. Whether the increased ratio was due to the rig adjustment or the fact I got my feeding right, potting a ¼ cup of corn & hemp I’m not sure, but at least I was catching.

A couple of casts with the straight lead didn’t produce anything from the far side over loose fed 8s, I even tried the pellet waggler and shallow pole, without success. When the wind did drop to a sensible level late into the 5hr match, I was already fishing the margins.

As well as plenty of corn, hemp and pellet, I also brought all 10pts of my frozen caster today, just to make room in the freezer, which was going to fed somewhere and the right hand margin was the place.

Since the start I had been cupping caster and a little corn into the right margin and groundbait into the left margin, fully expecting the left margin to be the best. As it turned out the right margin proved to the most productive with 5 carp, whilst I only had 1 over the groundbait, all on double corn, including a proper munter of 19lb, missing out on my personal best by 8oz.

So a really strong last 45mins and I was left wishing the match was longer and also regretting losing so many fish at the beginning. It was just one of the days. Had I landed just half the number of fish lost, I would have probably come 2^nd or 3^rd in section, instead of finishing about half way.

Back at the Mallory Park café food was provided free of charge which was very welcome before the long journey back. The results revealed we finished 6^th overall, which is respectable bearing in mind the calibre of angler fishing. Diawa won and MAP finished a close 2^nd.

Remember the mackerel? Well someone decided it was a good idea to put into the front grill of Marks car. Apparently it’s now somewhere on the A417, after a brief period being stuck in the wiper blades – well it was funny at the time when I received the following picture from Mark. 

15/07/14 - Glebe - Pool 6

Weight - 84lb 0oz
Catch - 16 Carp, 16 Bream, 2 Roach, 1 Perch
Weather - Warm & sunny
Match - MFS - 13th out of 16

I’m a bit late with this blog, simply because I’ve been busy with work and I’ve just spent the weekend in Bournemouth with Sue’s family.
 

I’m not going to dwell too much on this match which was organised by MFS, which was held on pools 6 & 7. I turned up with the expectation of catching shallow and surprisingly it didn’t work as expected. I drew a decent enough peg, p87, however arriving at the lake the breeze was blowing down to the other end of the lake, which meant all the ripple was 2 pegs above me.

 

As well as catching shallow I was also hoping to sort out how I approach the Glebe margins, because I’ve struggled in the past, so I was duly armed with loads of caster to fish shallow, as well as plenty of 6mm pellet. I also had 3kgs of groundbait for the margins.

 

I made 3 mistakes during the day. The first was not taking a feeder rod, because the anglers either side caught straight and Woody in particular to my right on p89 was catching very well, although most the fish were small by Glebe standards. However I’m not a fan of the feeder, so wasn’t too concerned. I had started down the right margin on double corn over regular small balls of groundbait and caught 2 carp, plus a few decent skimmers, before the swim dried up.

 

The second mistake was buggering about trying to catch shallow. I started by feeding caster whilst fishing the margin and soon there was plenty of fish moving about, however as soon I shipped out the pole the fish disappeared due to the lack of ripple. The problem was I spent too long trying to make it work and chasing fish around the swim, dropping either 8mm pellet or maggot in front of them, but the carp just bolted away. A sure sign they have seen it all before and have become very wary. A switch from feeding caster to 6mm pellet produced a better response but still too few carp, with big skimmers showing instead.

 

The third mistake was not having enough corn with me, I thought I had more than I actually had, which meant I couldn’t attack the 5m line as I had intended, which is a key line at the Glebe at the moment.

 

The only good aspect of the day was the margins. Not much was caught down the margins on our lake and as it turned out I had done well in that respect, so as at least some lessons learnt.

 

I think a few people have expected me to be distraught, but to me honest, my attitude towards fishing as changed in the last couple of years. A few years ago I probably been very grumpy, although I had one of my worst days at the Glebe, I still caught 84lb, but more importantly know where I went wrong and will get it right (hopefully) in 3 weeks for my return visit.

 1^st - 322- 6 – Pete Bailey (pool 7)

2^nd - 218- 4 – Ross – p90 (pool 6)

3^rd - 200- 0 – Scone – p93 (pool 6)

4^th - 175-12 – Woody – p89 (pool 6)

5^th - 147- 8 – J Pearson – p87 (pool 6)

6^th – 147- 4 – p101 (pool 7) 

16/06/14 - Glebe - Pool 1

Weight - 121lb 8oz
Catch - 33 Carp, 1 Tench, 1 Crucian
Weather - Windy, cool & cloudy
Match - MFS - 13th out of 20

Apologies for the latest of the blog, however loads going on, mostly work related, including an overnight stay in London, means is the first chance to catch up with my blog.

 

Today’s match was organised by MFS, with 20 anglers on what I think is the best lake on the complex. Driving up to the Glebe, Mark & I expected a day shallow fishing, because the recent weather has been very pleasant and the carp seemed to have got the spawning mostly done. On arrival however, it was cloudy & cool with a NE wind blowing, but there was a few fishing showing themselves.

Peg 1 was my home for the day and it can be a very good peg, although the fish can be on the smaller side. Putting my box down and there was a few fish moving around, so I was quite optimistic of a good day. As I said the expectation was for a day’s shallow fishing and with the wind blowing into me, pellet rather than caster would need to be used.

As well as a couple of shallow rigs, 2 margin rigs were also set up, 1 to fish by the reeds and another to fish the shallower water tight to the bank. And finally a paste rig at 5m.

With 2hrs to set up I was ready with 30mins so went for a walk. By the time I got back to my peg the fish had disappeared in the increasingly strong cool wind and I was glad I had brought my fleece.

Starting shallow on 8mm pellet, I soon had 3 carp after 20mins, but then nothing. Typical, I’ve been looking forward to this match for a little while, we have had a week of warm weather and now it was cloudy, windy & cold.

Toss potting pellet and corn by the reeds, I soon started catching carp either on 6mm expander or corn, before the action slowed down. The rest of the match was case of chopping & changing to keep to the fish coming. Throughout I managed a few carp shallow, either on pellet or caster, but the cool wind was an issue, because they didn’t seem to want to come shallow, although having the wind blowing at me didn’t help blowing the rig under the pole.

The 5m line was regularly feed with 6mm pellet, which produced 4 carp on paste, but again it was slow going.

After the rest the swim by the reeds produced a few more carp, before it died. Towards the end of the match it was time to try the margins, which had starting feeding after 3hrs with caster/corn. This line only produced 5 carp, so overall a little frustrated, because the fish were a smaller stamp and I couldn’t catch enough of them.

Saying that I think I made 2 mistakes. The first was the 5m line, where I should have brought hemp and more corn, since this doesn’t work very at the Glebe. The second mistake was the margin line. I should have set it up closer to me to make it easier to feed, also you really need groundbait at the Glebe. I’m back again in 4 weeks so hopefully a few lessons learnt, but really hope it will be a shallow days fishing.

The best weights came from the other end of the lake, with Pete Bailey nearly breaking the venue record. As for me I needed another 20lb to claim 2^nd in section and a pick up, so disappointing.

1^st 372- 8 – Pete Bailey – p24
2^nd 187- 8 – Mark Poppleton – p21
3^rd 181- 2 – Ian Simpson – p27
4^th 175- 8 – John O’Driscoll – p30
5^th 169- 4 – Robbo – p17
6^th 168- 0 – Stevie B – p23

10/08/13 - Glebe - Pool 7

Weight - 149lb 4oz
Catch - 26 Carp, 3 Skimmers, 2 Perch
Weather - Warm, sunny & light breeze
Match - Angling Trust Masters - 9th out of 78 (4th in section)

Last week I received a call from Mark to say only 10 teams had entered into the Masters and its fair to say I was really disappointed to see so few teams. Last year 11 teams entered and 16 the year before, which suggested the Angling Trust were struggling to attract the big teams and big names to the event, because last year the majority of the field was made up of Marukyu sponsored Glebe members and internet teams. As a non-sponsored angler, I wanted to fish this event as an opportunity to fish against some of the best anglers in the UK, particularly since its actually quite expensive to fish the match, £30 pools, £25 to join the Angling Trust, £10 contribution to raffle prize, plus bait & fuel.

On the day 13 teams turned up, including 2 teams that Roy wasn’t aware of until the day, because the Angling Trust hadn’t told him! I know Roy is a big advocate of the Trust, but this isn’t the first time they have mismanaged a competition and for me and others based on comments I’ve seen and heard, it’s does throw into question their ability to do what they say.

Due to the original low numbers, the good news was the Big Lake at Mallory Park wasn’t in, because it’s a horrible place when there is a track day as there would be today, although had the AT told Roy about the additional teams it would have been in.

Fishing under the South West MG banner the team was Mark Poppleton (captain), Nick Merry, Pete Bailey, Tom Thick, Andy Fox and I. Having drawn once, Mark had to re-draw. Mark ended up on pool 5, Nick and Pete were on pool 1, Tom had Foundations, Andy on Uglies and I had p98 on pool 7. Andy turned up on his peg to find an angler on it! Fortunately it was sorted out with a toss of coin, but a few anxious unnecessary moments.

Back to my peg and it was the same one I had last month and like last month the wind was blowing out of the peg which meant I was the only angler with no ripple. Speaking to Chris Needham who I think holds the venue match record was guesting for Diawa was confident I would still catch and based on last month’s match I knew it was possible, but trying to compete  against top quality anglers like Chris and Paul Yates (Drennan) who had the ripple was always going to be challenging. My section also included Pool 6 with Joe Carass, Jason LeBosquet and Matt Hall.

Today’s match was only 5hrs, compared to the normal 6hrs at the Glebe and I made the decision to be really positive with my caster feed at 13m to pull in the fish shallow as quickly as possible. As I was setting up I noticed a few fish moving along the end bank and decided to start here on double corn toss potting corn and pellet, whilst I primed the shallow line.

After 15mins and a few liners, but no fish it was time to go shallow. After an hour I had 5 carp, with a further 7 added in the 2^nd hour and I was already up to 50lb, thanks to 3 proper lumps. Pete Marlow (Marukyu Black) on p100 had been struggling, but was now catching quickly on his 5m corn line and reports suggested anglers further down the lake were also catching.

Going into the 3^rd hour the fishing was becoming difficult and I had to work really hard to keep the fish in the swim, by feeding heavily, because they kept drifting away in the breeze. In fact it was becoming noticeable I was catching more by fishing downwind towards the ripple. The fish were also wary of the pole, continually shying away, also a lot of fish have been caught shallow this year and they were definitely more cagey than last month.

I tried down the margins as well and have come to the conclusion I really need to work on this aspect of my fishing next summer, because I am sure I am missing out on extra fish. I had liners, but no proper bites other from 2 tiny perch on double worm!

The last 90mins of the match was really frustrating.  There were fish in the swim, but trying to get them to take the bait was proving difficult. In hindsight I may have been better fishing 8mm pellet using the plop of the pellet to attract a few fish, but I persevered with maggot or caster on the hook and still picked up the odd fish.

By the end of the match I thought I had about 130lb, but wasn’t too sure, because I only had 3 small carp and those 3 lumps caught early on, although I could have had less had a 8lber that jumped clear of the net landed in the lake rather than on the bank! What wasn’t so fortunately was one of my nets disconnected whilst watching the weigh in, which meant I lost 2 skimmers and 3 small carp, leaving me with only 1 skimmer. I reckon I probably lost about 12lb or so, which didn’t affect the section, since I was 18lb behind 3^rd.

Joe Carass won our section with 198lb from p88 on pool 6, Chris Needham was 2^nd with 177lb and Paul Yates was 3^rd with 168lb, although he actually weighed 196lb, but went over on one net.

I was pleased to claim 4^th in section and just wish I had some ripple, because I’m sure 200lb was a possibility. As for the team, we finished 2^nd behind Diawa, which was a great result. Pete won his section, Mark & Tom were both 2^nd, Nick was 7^th and Andy 12th. I think Andy was a bit disappointed, however he did beat an England international, Stu Conroy.

I don’t have the full results, but will post when available.