26/07/26 - Hillview - Canal 4

Weight - 129lb 13oz

Catch - 43 Carp, 3 F1, 1 Tench, 1 Perch

Weather - Warm & sunny, but windy. 

Match - Tackle Den (17 fished) - 4th overall, 2nd in section

For today’s match we were over canals 2, 3 and 4 and I was very happy to draw p83, an end peg on canal 4, particularly as the wind was blowing into my end of the lake.

I had bought 5pts of caster expecting to catch shallow and there were plenty of fish showing themselves.

On the all-in I tried mugging a couple of fish early without success, not least helped by loads of branches and cut reeds that had blown into my swim. So, I switched to fishing 6mm pellet over 4s, down the right margin and down the end bank at 5m. This only produced a couple of fish, so I was soon trying to catch shallow on caster, but the wind was proving to be a real pain.

I caught a couple of fish, before one snagged me in a branch, prompting me to go round to try and clear the worst of the snags. To be honest I was pretty annoyed as I lost 4 fish to

various snags, which was clearly avoidable had more care been taken when gardening.

Back to the shallow line and I couldn’t catch, although the wind was increasingly getting stronger making feeding difficult. Looking down the lake, I could see John Brady who is a good shallow angler also struggling so I didn’t feel too bad about not catching.

I decided to return to my pellet swims and started to catch well. Due to the snags and the fact, I was catching more carp than F1s I switched from 4x10 rig to 4x12 and stronger elastic.

I kept going alternating between the 2 swims for a couple of hours, before I started foul hooking fish. I had pre-soaked some micros just in case I wanted to fish paste (the rule being you can only use fishery pellet and you can’t cup in the paste). First drop into the right margin I had a 8lber and stayed on this for a couple hours alternating between the right margin and a new swim down the left side of my nets.

With 30mins my paste rig snapped above the float, so I reverted back to fishing pellet and kept catching but the swims had slowed. As a back-up, I had fed pellet at 5m down the track resulting in a final run of fish before the end of the match.

I was fairly sure I had won my lake with about 150-155lb. The weigh in started at the other end of the canal and I followed the scales. When we got to my peg I realised one of my 5 nets had been blown into the water by a strong gust of wind. When I recovered it there were only 4 fish remaining and I reckon I lost about 20-25lb.

So instead of winning the match I ended up 4^th overall – gutted but I only have myself to blame.

1.    143-  4 – John Brady – p88 (canal 4)

2.    139-  9 – Steve Venn – p76 (canal 3)

3.    132-14 – Andy Dixey – p74 (canal 3)

4.    129-13 – Ken Rayner – p83 (canal 4)

5.    122-11 – Darren Lawrence – p79 (canal 3)

6.    111-12 – Vince Grillo – p72 (canal 3)                                                                                                         

08/03/26 - Hillview - Canal 2

Weight - 88lb 4oz

Catch - 30 Carp, 15 F1s, 2 Ide, 2 Tench

Weather - Cloudy, mild but cool breeze at time.

Match - Tackle Den (21 anglers) - 6th overall, 2nd on lake

There were 21 of us over canals 2,3 and 4. I was first into the bag hoping to avoid canal 2 as I’ve been on it a little too often recently, however I pulled p64 on canal 2.

As the weather has been milder, I decided to take a punt and focus on fishing meat, although I did bring some maggot and pellet just in case.

Starting by the aerator I caught a couple of carp and an F1, before switching to fishing tight to the far bank tapping in 4 cubes of 6mm meat and fishery micros. After 45mins I was up to 7 fish, before suffering a ‘dodgy’ period where I struggled to get a proper bite and the fish I was catching were on the small side.

A switch to fishing 4mm expander a metre off the far bank, tapping in micros resulted in a run of mostly F1s after a slow start.

After about 2.5hrs, Alistair on p68 was admitting to 45lb, whilst I had about 25lb and to be honest I thought I was fishing for 2^nd on the lake.

When the pellet swim faded, a quick look over a short meat line, only resulted 2 small carp. So back to the far bank and I still couldn’t get a proper bite, however by reducing the amount of meat to only 2 cubes and a few micros I started to put a run of fish together.

In the meantime, I started feeding meat and mircos down each margin, where I could use the same rig as I used across down the left side, but I needed a shallower rig for the right margin.

The right side started off the better, but soon faded, prompting a return back to the far bank, before trying the left margin. I managed 25lb in the last hour thanks to a better stamp of fish to finish 2^nd on the lake, behind John who fished maggot most of the day.

1.    155-12 – Steve Broadhurst – p83 (canal 4)

2.    122-11 – Andy Dixie – p92 (canal 4)

3.    120-  4 – John Pearce – p74 (canal 3)

4.      98-  4 – Terry Arnold – p95 (canal 4)

5.      92-15 – John Brady – p62 (canal 2)

6.      88-  4 – Ken Rayner – p64 (canal 2)

08/02/26 - Hillview - Canal 2

Weight - 62lb 6oz

Catch - 20 Carp, 5 F1, 4 Ide, 1 Perch

Weather - Cloudy, rain late on.

Match - Tackle Den (21 fished) - 1st on lake, 3rd overall

With 21 of us, we were equally spread over canals 2, 3 & 4. As usual everyone wanted canal 3 or 4, however I found myself on canal 2 for the 4^th time recently. At least this time I was at the better end in the shape of p67.

It was nice to be setting up in the dry and there was no wind. Well, the wind stayed away, but the rain came with 2hrs to remaining.

On the all-in I decided to try corn, tapping in fishery micros hoping for an early mug carp. Fishing at 11.5m by the aerator I caught an F1 and then a 5lb carp 11.5m at the bottom of the near shelf towards the end bank. By switching between the 2 swims, I caught a further 4 carp, before the swims dried up.

A switch to dobbin bread along the far bank proved unsuccessful. Next, I tried tapping in

maggot, again against the far bank, but it just didn’t feel right.

Since I had already caught on corn, I decided to set up a new rig to fish corn against the far bank over micros, reasoning that presenting a target bait would be better for the carp. And so it proved as I had a run of fish switching between swims either side of the aerator, with the right-hand swim being much better.

I did have a spell where I foul hooked and lost 3 fish on the bounce, which was frustrating, so I just rested the swim. I caught a few silvers and an F1 over a short maggot line, however the line didn’t do much else. I also started feeding micros next to the pallet of p68 and caught a couple more fish on corn.

My last fish was a 5lber on maggot late from the left margin.

I’ve had a lovely day, constantly switching swims to keep the fish coming and it was a pleasant surprise to catch so well on corn.

1.    125-  0 – Andy Black – p82 (canal 3)

2.      63-10 – John Brady – p70 (3)

3.      62-  6 – Ken Rayner – p67 (2)

4.      51-  4 – Roy Booth – p86 (4)

5.      41-11 – Darren Lawrence – p61 (2)

6.      40-  5 – Michael Triggs – p96 (4)

11/01/26 - Hillview - Canal 4

Weight - 35lb 6oz

Catch - 8 Carp, 4 F1, 1 Perch

Weather - Lakes stilled ice over, became increasingly mild and windy

Match - Tackle Den (15 fished) - 4th overall, 2nd on lake.

The first Tackle Den match of the year and we were at Hillview on the Canals 2, 3 & 4.

Although the weather forecast was for much milder conditions, there would be gale force winds and still the expectation of breaking ice. As a result, we had a few dropouts, with only 15 fishing, which meant we were now on Canals 3 & 4.

I was quite pleased to draw p87 on canal 4, as it meant I wouldn’t be at the windward end of the lake where the wind would blow any ice.

After breaking the ice, creating a channel to the far bank I set up my rigs. On the all-in I shouldn’t have been surprised the ice was shifting already. I started across tapping in a few maggots and soon caught an F1, by which point my channel had nearly closed up.

The ice was already clearing from the pegs to my right, and a pair of ducks arrived. So, I started feeding maggot on the ice letting the ducks break the rest of the ice for me. In the meantime, I caught a perch and a small carp on maggot fishing next to the p88 platform. Surprisingly these were the only fish I caught here.

After an hour the ice had pretty much cleared my swim, however the issue was the wind had picked up making presentation on the pole difficult to the point I couldn’t fish tight to the far bank, so I concentrated on fishing the deep water in front of the pampas grass.

Since I was struggling to get a bite on the pole, I thought I would try the straight lead catching a carp on maggot, but it was much slower than expected and I only had 1 more carp late on. I even tried dobbin bread and then maggot, but the wind was a problem and I didn’t have any bites.

With an hour remaining I probably had 15lb, level with Luke and Pete to my left, whilst Matt and Simon were both ahead of me. The wind dropped slightly so I concentrated on the deep water in front of the pampas grass, tapping in maggot and started to get some regular bites, having a strong finish the match, catching 2 carp in the last 5mins allowing me to sneak into 2^nd on the lake. The best rig fishing 0.09 bottom to a 20 F1 pellet hook and 8 elastic.

1.    44-13 – Matt Greaves – p91 (canal 4)

2.    40-15 – Andy Bartlett – p73 (canal 3)

3.    35-10 – Andy Dixie – p82 (canal 3)

4.    35-  6 – Ken Rayner – p87 (canal 4)

5.    34-  2 – Simon Collins – p89 (canal 4)

07/12/25 - Hillview - Canal 2

Weight - 24lb 5oz

Catch - 5 F1, 4 Carp, 5 Skimmers, 3 Roach, 2 Ide, 1 Gudgeon

Weather - Mild, showers and increasingly windy

Match - Tackle Den (23 fished) - 16th overall, 4th in section (out of 7)

The final match of the year for Tackle Den and I was virtually guaranteed to finish 3^rd in aggregate standings. The question was who would win the clubs aggregate trophy, Steve Venn or John Brady as there was only 1pt separating them.

With canals 2, 3 & 4 in I wanted avoid canal 2, so was disappointed to draw p58. So, the wrong canal, at the wrong end.

On the all-in I caught a F1 straight away on 4mm expander at the bottom of the shelf but couldn’t get another. A switch to dobbin bread, produced a 5lb carp and a roach, but no more and a switch to maggot only produced an F1.

As dobbin isn’t my favourite method, as I really want to feed something. I started toss potting maggot at the bottom of the far shelf, catching small silvers initially, but it was slow going, although I did manage to catch a couple of F1s and a carp.

I then had a period where I was struggling to a get a bite from anywhere, not least helped by an increasingly strengthening wind. I had been feeding maggot over a 2+2 line and down by the p59 pallet and I needed either swim to come to life, as the wind meant I couldn’t fish the far bank anymore. With an hour remaining, I finally caught a carp down by the pallet, soon followed by an F1, but I never had another fish from here. Another 2 fish from the short line, finished my match.

As expected, the better weights on my lake came down the other end. With 8 and 10lb either side of me, it just illustrated how tough it was.

Well done to John who finished 2^nd on the day to win the aggregate shield.

1.    85-  9 – Luke Sherman – p83 (canal 4)

2.    84-  2 – John Brady – p72 (canal 3)

3.    61-  6 – Matt Greaves – p94 (canal 4)

4.    60-11 – Steve Venn – p78 (canal 3)

5.    50-15 – Darren Hibbert – p96 (canal 4)

6.    45-  5 – Michael Triggs – p62 (canal 2)

06/12/25 - Todber Manor - Hillview

Weight - 50lb 3oz (16lb 7oz - silvers)

Catch - 6 Carp, 34 Skimmers, 5 Roach, 1 Perch

Weather - Mild, windy and occassional shower.

Match - Open (9 fished) - 3rd overall

Mark Poppleton has organised a number of opens at Todber on Hillview Lake. With a maximum of 20, Mark thought he would be turning people away. However, the 11 or 12 that had booked in, dropped to 9, which raises the question – what is happening to the match scene. It wasn’t that long ago that 20-30 anglers at Todber was standard for a Saturday open, but now if you get more than 10 anglers for an open you are doing well, which is a shame.

Due to heavy winds and forecast rain (which wasn’t as bad as expected), Mark decided to peg the areas of the lake where the wind would be coming off your back. So the pegs down the arm and along the road bank adjacent to Ash Lake were in. We still all expected at least 150lb to win.

I ended up on p56, with Mark Wynne to my right and Tom Thick to my left.

On all-in I fed some 4s and corn, boosted with baninion at 8m. Whilst that settled, I started on the method towards the spit opposite, fully

expecting a few pulls. After 15mins I only caught a small skimmer on a 6mm yellow gofter and no carp had been caught near me.

Despite the mild conditions, the water temperature was still low at 7.3c, and combined with the very up and down weather the fish didn’t seem to be feeding. Therefore, I quickly set up a new rig (chimp 0.5g) to fish 4mm expander and maggot. I also fed a ball of groundbait (Top G : Crushed Expander) with baninion micros at 10m.

I immediately started catching small skimmers and roach on maggot, before switching to 4mm expander, catching better stamp skimmers, feeding a small nugget of groundbait/micros every 2^nd fish.

With 90mins remaining, I moved out to 11m, just feeding pellet and corn, fishing corn on the hook. I caught some better stamp skimmers and some carp (at long last).

In hindsight, I missed a trick as both Tom and Toby (p59) caught over 30lb of skimmers, just feeding pellet and corn. I think feeding groundbait just attracted too many small fish into the swim.

Still an enjoyable day to finish 3^rd overall.

1.    80-10 – Mark Poppleton – p60

2.    59-  8 – Dave Brittian – p52

3.    50-  3 – Ken Rayner – p56

4.    48-  0 – Tom Thick – p55

13/07/25 - Hillview - Canal 4

Weight - 122lb 10oz (17lb 8oz - silvers)

Catch - 31 Carp, 12 F1s, 30 Ide, 5 Perch, 3 Rudd, 1 Tench

Weather - Warm & sunny. Breezy early, but most calm.

Match - Tackle Den - (22 fished) - 1st in section, 4th overall.

A good turn out for todays match, meant we were spread over canals 2,3 and 4. 7 anglers on canals 2 & 3 and 8 anglers on canal 4. I drew p92 on canal 4, which meant I was at least in the shade to start the match, but also p92 & p91 (Kev Parry) were the only pegs without a spare peg either side.

I had what I thought was a simple plan. Fish short early, whilst priming a caster shallow line and finish on meat down the margins.

Starting on meat at 3m, produced a carp, an F1 and a couple of silvers for what was a slow start.

When I switched to the shallow line I started catching Ide, but I could see carp and F1 in amongst the feed, which was frustrating as I thought I was falling behind Kev who was catching on paste.

I tried various shallow rigs (overshotted isn't allowed) to try and catch those carp/F1, I even tried fishing a full depth rig tight the far bank fishing worm, toss potting caster, but very few carp or F1.

After 2 hours I only had 20/25lb, of mostly Ide. In the end I found the best rig was a RW1 dibber set at 8in with a short lash and gradually the ide were replaced by F1s, then carp.

In fact, I had a lovely couple of hours catching almost immediately as I dropped the rig in, after feeding 2 pouches of caster. I even managed to mug a couple of fish as I shipped out.

With 45mins remaining the shallow swim was slowing down, and I fully expected my margins to be solid. 2 quick fish on meat from each margin had me expecting more. However, it wasn’t as easy as I had hoped. In hindsight, I think I was fishing too deep at 3ft but I couldn’t get into any shallower water due to marginal weed. This prompted a return to the shallow swim, but it wasn’t the same.

On the all-out I was expecting John Drew on the end peg (p84) and Kev to have beaten me. However, I was pleasantly surprised to have won the lake, but a little annoyed I wasted time at the start trying to work out how best to catch properly, as I could have claimed 3rd or even 2nd overall. 

There was no beating Steve Broadhurst today easily won today.

1.    189-  5 – Steve Broadhurst – p72 (canal 3)

2.    140-  2 – John Brady – p76 (canal 3)

3.    127-10 – Cliff Dutton – p82 (canal 3)

4.    122-10 – Ken Rayner – p92 (canal 4)

5.    104-  3 – Brian Duckett – p70 (canal 3)

6.      99-  2 – Kevin Parry – p91 (canal 4)

Best weight on canal 2 was Andy Burns with 66- 6.

16/03/25 - Hillview - Canal 2

Weight - 50lb 9oz (11lb 11oz - silvers)

Catch - 16 Ide, 8 Carp, 7 Ide, 1 Perch, 1 Roach, 1 Rudd, 1 Gudgeon

Weather - Sunny with cloudy periods. Cold northerly breeze.

Match - Tackle Den (18 fished), 1st in section, 8th overall

After packing away the woolly hat following last weekend’s warm weather, I had to get it out again as it was -2 overnight and a cold northerly breeze.

Todays match was over Canal 2,3 & 4, and I drew p56 on Canal 2. Not normally the end you want, however 90lb came off it yesterday, so no pressure.

I started off fishing the bottom of the far shelf tapping in maggot and a few micros with maggot on the hook and almost immediately got snagged on something, snapping the rig just above the hooklength! I then tried fishing tight across on maggot as I saw a couple of anglers further down catching but couldn't get a bite.

After sorting out a replacement rig, I was back down the bottom of the shelf, slightly to the left of the ‘snag’ and eventually caught my first fish after 45mins on maggot. I then had a run of fish (Ide, small F1s and a couple of Carp up to 4lb) over this line, before it dried up.

I tried the far bank again but only caught an Ide and a Perch.

A switch to fishing next to the p55 platform where I had fed maggot from the start, initially proved a bit tricky, but by tapping maggot and a few micros I started to catch a few Ide, before the F1s and Carp turned up. It was slow going but at least I was catching.

I tried other areas of the swim, but the only place I could catch properly was by the p55 pallet.

With 90mins remaining I felt I needed some of the better stamp of Carp to make up for my slow start, so started feeding the end bank with meat and micros. Although I had to wait for bites, I managed 3 Carp, plus a few more F1s/Carp from the pallet swim on maggot.

In the end I managed to win the lake by only 1lb, however the other 2 canals fished much better.

1.    102-  6 – Andy Bartlett – p88 (C4)

2.    100-15 – John Brady – p79 (C3)

3.      85-13 – Matt Greaves – p72 (C3)

4.      84-  3 – Andy Burns – p84 (C4)

5.      74-  5 – Andy Black – p91 (C4)

16/02/25 - Hillview - Canal 1

Weight - 75lb 6oz (4lb 7oz - silvers)

Catch - 34 F1s, 3 Carp, 11 Roach, 8 Ide, 1 Perch

Weather - Cold & cloudy, with an easterly breeze

Match - Tackle Den (20 fished) - 2nd overall

Last weekend, I was away up north visiting the in-laws so no fishing. Therefore, I was looking forward to today’s match as you usually get a few bites, although the cold easterly stream of weather continued.

When I drew p52 on Canal 1, my enthusiasm for the day just drained away as it’s normally a really poor draw and no one had any words of comfort. I did set up a light bomb rod to cast down towards the end bank, but fortunately, it wasn’t required.

As I expected to struggle for bites, I set up a light maggot rig (Steve Mustiano maggot 0.2g) with 0.09 bottom and a size 20 hook to fish down the track.

After feeding some maggot and fishery micros at 13m at an angle to my left, I tried dobbin bread along the far bank. I soon got bored of that and went over my 13m line tapping in maggot and a few micros.

To be honest the next 90mins was brilliant. After the first 2 put ins which produced 2 roach, I started catching small F1s (12oz) before the bigger F1s (3lb) turned up and I probably put 33-35lb in the net.

The rest of the match was a case of rotating around the peg. I had a little run of fish fishing tight to the far bank, then down by the pallet of p53 and then at 13m off to my right, before returning to the 13m left hand swim.

The last 2 hours it felt like it was getting colder, and the fishing was getting harder. I was also aware that Steve Venn to my left was slowly catching me up. Fortunately, after a quiet period, I managed to get a little run of fish over my 13m lines to just stay ahead.

Have to say I was a little surprised to have done so well from a ‘duff’ peg and it goes to show fish have fins, as the fish seemed to be spread throughout the canal today.

1.    78-11 – Matt Greaves – p44 (canal 1)

2.    75-  6 – Ken Rayner – p52 (canal 1)

3.    70-  2 – Steve Venn – p50 (canal 1)

4.    46-13 – Alistair Tilney – p8 (moorhen)

5.    39-  3 – Ian Barker – p16 (moorhen)

6.    37-  0 – John Brady – p12 (moorhen)

19/01/25 - Hillview - Canal 4

Weight - 57lb 3oz

Catch - 15 Carp, 5 F1, 8 Rudd, 5 Ide

Weather - Cold & cloudy

Match - Tackle Den (21 fished) - 5th overall

The first match of 2025 for the Tackle Den group and presentations of last year’s matches were made. Well done Andy Black for winning the aggregate league who was too good beating me with one match remaining.

We had 21 today over canals 2, 3 and 4. Peg 88 put me in the middle of canal 4 and not being familiar with the lake I had a quick chat with John Drew on p90 who confirmed we should catch.

Plumbing up revealed a lot of unseen trailing vegetation along the far bank and something to be aware of.

I started as usual dobbin bread across resulting in only 2 small rudd. I soon got bored of that and started tapping in micros and fishing 4mm expander, fishing a metre off the far bank.

It was slow going, but at least I was catching. When the action stopped, I tried a new swim fishing tapping in maggot and caught a few more fish before I started getting harassed by tiny rudd, which prompted a switch back to tapping in micros and fishing 4mm expander.

I stayed on the pellet for the rest of the match catching from 2 swims on the far side. I did catch a few fish over a short maggot line, but it wasn’t as good as the far line and I never had a bite from my margins.

Overall, today was a little frustrating due to the fish swimming up and down the canal at mid depth, which did result in a few foul hookers and to be honest I didn’t feel I got it completely right today, as I should have caught more.

1.    79-  6 – Andy Burns – p94 (canal 4)

2.    72-  1 – John Brady – p69 (canal 3)

3.    66-15 – John Drew – p90 (canal 4)

4.    66-  5 – Andy Black – p77 (canal 3)

5.    57-  3 – Ken Rayner – p88 (canal 4) 

08/12/24 - Hillview - Moorhen

Weight - 18lb 9oz

Catch - 3 F1s, 3 Skimmers, 1 Perch

Weather - Northerly gales, rain later

Match - Tackle Den (18 fished) - 10th overall, 5th on the lake

The 4^th round of the Bomb & Feeder league at Sedges fell victim to Storm Darragh with 70mph wind gusts forecast and a met office red warning issued.

The wind for today had reduced to 40mph gusts blowing in from the north, so a cold day was likely.

Today was the final Tackle Den match of the year and we would be on Moorhen and canal 2. I drew p6 on Moorhen which is normally a good peg, however I had the wind blowing straight into my face and an uncomfortable day was on the cards.

I started on the straight lead towards the island, firstly with bread and then corn without a bite. I then tried the maggot feeder, but halfway into the match I was still fishless.

I had also been cupping in maggot at 2+2, expecting to catch a few Ide, but felt in hindsight I had fed a little too heavily, so set up another swim to my right were it started to shelve up, feeding more negatively with micros and maggot.

The 2^nd half of the match was better, as I eventually caught an F1 on the maggot feeder, then caught a couple of skimmers and an absolute beast of an F1 weighing 8lb 10oz over my negatively feed pole line. I caught my final F1 from the right margin over dead maggot.

I was surprised not to catch any Ide, but it was bitterly cold in the wind and all the better weights on the lake were to my right, with Matt Greaves winning our lake from p9. However, canal 2 was the place to be as it offered some shelter from the wind. Another day for me to forget, but it was tough for most due to the poor weather conditions.

I finished the club aggregate league in 2^nd behind Andrew Black who deservedly won and Matt finished 3^rd.

1.    65-  9 – Alistair Tilney – p60 (Canal 2)

2.    54-  2 – Jason Crump – p65 (C2)

3.    38-  6 – Pete Phillips – p67 (C2)

4.    35-13 – Matt Greaves – p9 (M)

5.    32-10 – Paul Stafford – p62 (C2)

25/08/24 - Hillview - Canal 1

Weight - 71lb 10oz

Catch - 25 F1s, 7 Carp, 6 Tench, 4 Roach, 1 Skimmer

Weather - Cool, cloudy and windy.

Match - Tackle Den (21 anglers) - 6th overall, 3rd in section

Todays match was over Moorhen and Canal 1, and everyone wanted Moorhen as it was likely the winner would come from here. Therefore, I was disappointed to draw p49 on canal 1 and a strong breeze blowing right to left down to Matt Greaves on p41 was going to be a challenge.

As I didn’t know which lake I would be fishing and I’m not in touch with the venue, I brought 4pts of maggot (in the hope of catching shallow on Moorhen), meat and corn. Having done well on meat recently I decided to start on this and see where the match took me.

As the wind was likely to increase during the match I decided to start across on 6mm meat, but soon switched to 8mm meat, toss potting meat and fishery micros. After an hour I had 9 F1s of varying sizes for about 15lb and a good start, matching Jason Crump on p47 who was fishing maggot short.

The 2^nd hour was a disaster. I managed to snag my rig on a root requiring a new hooklength, snapped another hooklength when a fish broke me and then a loose thread in my landing net somehow managed to wrap around my rig when I netted a fish, requiring a new rig.

Eventually I got back into a rhythm, however the wind was getting stronger. I had been feeding meat short and to be honest I was disappointed with the response and soon converted it to a short maggot line.

Due to the wind I also switched to fishing maggot across and catching F1s shallow, however the wind was just becoming impossible, and I had no choice but to fish short.

My maggot line produced a couple of F1s before they disappeared, which prompted a switch to my left margin (downwind) fishing meat. I soon added some proper carp and F1s before the swim died. Moving back to my short line, it was now full of small silvers and even feeding maggot heavily I couldn’t feed them off.

I had hoped for a strong last hour (5.5hr match) but it was slow going. The left margin produced the occasional fish and I eventually had to fish longer towards p48 platform catching my best fish of 8lb. I also caught a few fish down my right margin on 6mm expander.

Come the all-out I was a little annoyed with myself as that poor 2^nd hour cost me a possible section win, although the wind didn’t help either. In hindsight, I should have set up a pellet line when I realised the short maggot line wasn’t going to work.

As expected, the winner and second place came from Moorhen in the windward corner of the lake and Matt won our lake.

1.    96-15 – Steve Venn – p1 (moorhen)

2.    96-  6 – Andrew Black – p19 (moorhen)

3.    83-  3 – Matt Greaves – p41 (canal 1)

4.    82-  4 – Jason Crump – p47 (canal 1)

5.    73-13 – Cliff Dutton – p3 (moorhen)

6.    71-10 – Ken Rayner – p49 (canal 1)  

03/03/24 - Hillview - Canal 3

Weight - 73-12

Catch - 30 Carp/F1, 14 Ide, 4 Tench, 1 Gudgeon

Weather - Frosty start, bright and sunny.

Match - Tackle Den (23 fished), 3rd overall, 2nd on lake

With my car back in the garage with ongoing electrical issues, I managed to get Volvo to pay for a hire vehicle for today. When I turned up in the car park Matt Greaves just pointed and laughed when he saw me driving a van with Enterprise emblazoned on the side, later suggesting I need to get rid of my car. He may have a point.

Today’s match was spread over canals 2, 3 and 4, and following the cold week, including a heavy frost this morning, a number of us brought bread only to discover that bread is banned at the venue after 1^st March. Due to the weather the general feeling was it would fish harder than of recent, so I was pleased to draw p69, an end peg on canal 3, although I was the only one without a space peg.

I did think about dobbin maggot to start, but instead decided to start at 12m to the right of the aerator fishing 4mm expander over fishery micros. This produced a F1 and then a carp, followed by 3 tench which prompted a switch to the dobbin rig to try and catch up with John next to me on p70 who already had a couple of fish

dobbin.

The fish were being really spooky, even shying away from any loose fed maggot. To be honest, I wasted too much time chasing carp around the swim and I don’t really enjoy this type of fishing. I did manage 1 carp, but that was foul hooked, and I just felt I needed to take a more positive approach.

I had fed some meat and micros into the left corner and caught a couple of F1s and an ide, but it didn’t feel right. Instead, I decided to switch to maggot to try and catch some ide, fishing with .10 bottom, as it didn’t appear the carp/F1s were feeding. By tapping in a few maggots against the end bank, I started catching a few F1s and carp, obviously preferring a different presented bait, along with a few ide.

I ended up moving around the end and far bank to stay in contact with the fish and moved ahead of John over the next couple of hours, who was still catching the odd fish shallow. Whilst I felt I had more fish than John, the fish he was catching were a better stamp.

With 90mins remaining the maggot swims were waning and I had started feeding meat at 5m, plus down the left corner. Whilst those swims settled, I switched tapping 6 cubes of 6mm meat, across to the far bank and started catching again. When I needed to rest the swim I would try the left corner swim, which produced little, which was the same for the 5m swim. With nothing to lose, the 5m swim got a half cup of meat and micros. When I came back to the swim 20mins later I soon had a couple of F1s which were a little on the small side, but nothing more. Fortunately, when I returned to the far bank swim after resting it, I would have another run of fish on meat, losing only 1 fish under the aerator.

Come the weigh in it was very close as I only needed 1 more fish to win, coming 3^rd to Andrew Black and Alistair Tilney who both caught dobbin maggot. Overall, an enjoyable day as it stayed dry for a change.

1.    73-13 – Andrew Black – p96 (canal 4)

2.    74-  2 – Alistair Tilney – p82 (canal 3)

3.    73-12 – Ken Rayner – p69 (canal 3)

4.    65-  0 – John Pearce – p70 (canal 3)

5.    59-  6 – John Brady – (canal 4)

6.    47-  2 – Dominic Olivia – p64 (canal 2)