Weight – 33lb 9oz
Catch – 54 Bream, 2 Hybrid, 1 Roach.
Weather – Cool, cloudy & windy.
Water Temp– 18.5c > 18.5c
Absolutely fed up with work. Nearly 2 weeks ago, it was announced my department would be sold to a 3rd party, which means more uncertainty. Normally, change doesn’t bother me, since I have been through this process on a number of occasions, however this time around, if the rumours are true, about how is buying us, it could mean the end of time at my employer. Ideally, a healthy redundancy package would be welcome.
Since I found myself getting more & more wound up, I decided to take a day off and settled on a visit to the duck pond, simply because it was local and cheap.
When I arrived there were a few carp slurping in the scum that had blown into the road wall, so I was hopeful of catching a few. I started on the pole at 10m along the wall, feeding micros & 4mm pellet. I also started feeding 4mm towards the island ready for the waggler, as well feeding pellet into the corner – right in the middle of scum.
I had my 1st fish on the 10m line after 15 minutes, but it was slow. A switch to the waggler was also slow, but eventually a few skimmers turned up on double red maggot and later 6mm expander. After nearly 2 hours I had 25 skimmers, with nothing bigger than 1lb, but the waggler swim was fading.
The 10m didn’t produce much and I eventually gave up on it. However the corner swim was a surprise. The hoped carp didn’t turn up, but I started catching some bigger skimmers, plus a 1lb plus roach, all on pellet.
As the session progressed I simply rotated between the waggler and the corner swim, catching mostly on the pellet. This despite the attention of some of over enthusiastic on lookers. Although I had to smile to myself, when 1 bloke turned with his son in his push chair, proudly saying he fished my swim yesterday, fishing the same way I was (I was in the corner when he arrived) and he had 12 skimmers in 4 hours. He then asked how I was doing, "35 skimmers in 3 hours" was my reply. He then hung around for 1 hour asking all sorts of questions about fishing. Just as well I wasn’t expecting any peace & quite.
Friday, 19 June 2009
Tuesday, 16 June 2009
14/06/09 - Fishponds
Weight – 77lb 9oz
Catch – 11 Carp, 1 Eel.
Weather – Warm & sunny. Slight breeze.
Water Temp– 19.5c > 20.0c
Match – Club Match – 2nd overall
The weather forecast was looking favourable, the issue would be, had the carp finished spawning. Alas no, the reeds were thrashing all around the lake. So coupled with 19 anglers fishing a difficult day was in prospect.
I fancied an open water draw so I could fish the waggler or long pole shallow, but peg 27 was in a corner and the waggler rods stayed in the bag. Stuart was on peg 1 opposite and I wasn’t really sure how it would fish.
Typically these pegs are great for a pleasure session, but in a match they can struggle.
There was certainly plenty of fish moving around, but not necessarily feeding. I decided to focus on 3 swims, left hand margin, 12m along the right hand bank & 8m in front, feeding 6 & 8mm pellet, fishing paste.
I spent the 1st 30 minutes on the 8m line, toss potting pellet, but never had a touch. The following 30 minutes I had a carp from each of my margins and was quite relieved, because I could see a number of carp being caught elsewhere, particular Chris on peg 22
The 2nd hour was brilliant, with 6 more carp, all from the right side and I began to think I was in for a really good day. However, the remainder of the match turned into a real struggle, with only another 3 carp landed, again from the right side. I couldn’t get bite from the 8m line or the left hand margin, which was frustrating.
From what I could see most anglers where struggling during the middle part of the match, which I half expected due the bright conditions. I had considered playing around and targeting the rudd, but decided against it since 1 carp would wipe out 1hrs worth of rudd bashing.
As the match drew to a close, my gut feeling was I had framed and I knew it would be close between myself and Chris on 22, however I couldn’t see everyone and the grapevine suggested Graham & Andy, both had a "few".
As I weighed everyone in, I soon realised I would frame. By the time we got to Chris, 54-13 was the best weight, but Chris topped that with 88-3, which I knew I couldn’t beat. Overall I was pleased to finish 2nd, particularly since I only lost 2 fish all match, despite a couple who unsuccessfully tried to make a bid for freedom by diving into the reeds.
After 2 rounds, I am leading the club championship.
1st Ken Rayner 61pts
2nd Ian Pople 59
3rd Graham Beevor 56
4th Andy Lord 55
Catch – 11 Carp, 1 Eel.
Weather – Warm & sunny. Slight breeze.
Water Temp– 19.5c > 20.0c
Match – Club Match – 2nd overall
The weather forecast was looking favourable, the issue would be, had the carp finished spawning. Alas no, the reeds were thrashing all around the lake. So coupled with 19 anglers fishing a difficult day was in prospect.
I fancied an open water draw so I could fish the waggler or long pole shallow, but peg 27 was in a corner and the waggler rods stayed in the bag. Stuart was on peg 1 opposite and I wasn’t really sure how it would fish.
Typically these pegs are great for a pleasure session, but in a match they can struggle.
There was certainly plenty of fish moving around, but not necessarily feeding. I decided to focus on 3 swims, left hand margin, 12m along the right hand bank & 8m in front, feeding 6 & 8mm pellet, fishing paste.
I spent the 1st 30 minutes on the 8m line, toss potting pellet, but never had a touch. The following 30 minutes I had a carp from each of my margins and was quite relieved, because I could see a number of carp being caught elsewhere, particular Chris on peg 22
The 2nd hour was brilliant, with 6 more carp, all from the right side and I began to think I was in for a really good day. However, the remainder of the match turned into a real struggle, with only another 3 carp landed, again from the right side. I couldn’t get bite from the 8m line or the left hand margin, which was frustrating.
From what I could see most anglers where struggling during the middle part of the match, which I half expected due the bright conditions. I had considered playing around and targeting the rudd, but decided against it since 1 carp would wipe out 1hrs worth of rudd bashing.
As the match drew to a close, my gut feeling was I had framed and I knew it would be close between myself and Chris on 22, however I couldn’t see everyone and the grapevine suggested Graham & Andy, both had a "few".
As I weighed everyone in, I soon realised I would frame. By the time we got to Chris, 54-13 was the best weight, but Chris topped that with 88-3, which I knew I couldn’t beat. Overall I was pleased to finish 2nd, particularly since I only lost 2 fish all match, despite a couple who unsuccessfully tried to make a bid for freedom by diving into the reeds.
After 2 rounds, I am leading the club championship.
1st Ken Rayner 61pts
2nd Ian Pople 59
3rd Graham Beevor 56
4th Andy Lord 55
Sunday, 7 June 2009
06/06/09 - K&A Canal - Prison Pound
Weight – 28lb 8oz
Catch – 14 Bream, 4 Roach, 1 Perch.
Weather – Cool, strong easterly wind.
Water Temp– 20.0c > 19.5c
For a week or so we have seen hot sunshine, however leading up to today the weather started to cool down. Mark & I were expecting some heavy rain, instead we simply had a strong easterly wind, which would make fishing the pole difficult.
We both wanted to target the bream & tench that reside in the pound and we both had similar ideas on how we wanted to approach today. Start on the feeder, whilst letting the pole line at 11.5m settle. Both lines would be fed with groundbait, micro pellet, caster & corn, although I also loose fed 4mm pellet over my feeder line.
Mark drew 1st blood with a big bream on corn and I soon had a smaller one on maggot. After ½ hour I was 3-1 up, but we were both itching to get on the pole. As it turned out I could only get small roach, whilst Mark had a couple of bream and a crucian.
Despite the wind, I was still surprised not to have caught more on the pole, so I spent most of the session on the feeder, casting to small bush opposite, occasionally trying the pole.
After about 3 hours I had 10 Bream, but Mark was struggling and he could only catch Perch on his feeder line. The golden nugget was starting to look safe!
In the end we only stayed on for a further 90 mins, I still couldn’t catch on the pole and my feeder line had slowed, whilst Marks swim had completely died. The one thing that surprised us was the absense of tench. Although Mark had lost 1, I suspect the sudden cool weather may have put them off. I caught all my Bream on the feeder, mostly using double caster or corn.
Comparing notes at the end, although our tactics were similar there was some key differences. Firstly I was using .11 bottom, whilst Mark was using .14 & .16. Secondly Mark wasn’t loose feeding 4mm pellet over the top of his feeder line. Whether this made a difference, is difficult to say after 1 session, however I have successfully used this tactic a few times before when catching Bream, personally I think the pellet helps the bream keep searching for food.
Mark was disappointed to finished with 13lb, but I managed to pull 1 back to make it 2-3 for the year.
Catch – 14 Bream, 4 Roach, 1 Perch.
Weather – Cool, strong easterly wind.
Water Temp– 20.0c > 19.5c
For a week or so we have seen hot sunshine, however leading up to today the weather started to cool down. Mark & I were expecting some heavy rain, instead we simply had a strong easterly wind, which would make fishing the pole difficult.
We both wanted to target the bream & tench that reside in the pound and we both had similar ideas on how we wanted to approach today. Start on the feeder, whilst letting the pole line at 11.5m settle. Both lines would be fed with groundbait, micro pellet, caster & corn, although I also loose fed 4mm pellet over my feeder line.
Mark drew 1st blood with a big bream on corn and I soon had a smaller one on maggot. After ½ hour I was 3-1 up, but we were both itching to get on the pole. As it turned out I could only get small roach, whilst Mark had a couple of bream and a crucian.
Despite the wind, I was still surprised not to have caught more on the pole, so I spent most of the session on the feeder, casting to small bush opposite, occasionally trying the pole.
After about 3 hours I had 10 Bream, but Mark was struggling and he could only catch Perch on his feeder line. The golden nugget was starting to look safe!
In the end we only stayed on for a further 90 mins, I still couldn’t catch on the pole and my feeder line had slowed, whilst Marks swim had completely died. The one thing that surprised us was the absense of tench. Although Mark had lost 1, I suspect the sudden cool weather may have put them off. I caught all my Bream on the feeder, mostly using double caster or corn.
Comparing notes at the end, although our tactics were similar there was some key differences. Firstly I was using .11 bottom, whilst Mark was using .14 & .16. Secondly Mark wasn’t loose feeding 4mm pellet over the top of his feeder line. Whether this made a difference, is difficult to say after 1 session, however I have successfully used this tactic a few times before when catching Bream, personally I think the pellet helps the bream keep searching for food.
Mark was disappointed to finished with 13lb, but I managed to pull 1 back to make it 2-3 for the year.
Sunday, 31 May 2009
28/05/09 - Rolfs Lake
Weight – 188lb 9oz
Catch – 28 Carp, 3 Roach, 1 Chub
Weather – Warm & sunny, slight breeze.
Water Temp– 18.0c > 18.0c
Match – Carp Vadar Invitation – 5th
Firstly I would like to say thank you to those who left messages of support on this blog and the Match Fishing Scene forum. It appears my last blog entry struck a cord with many and the latest MP expenses only services to make the general public angrier. Its ironic that those MPs, who heavily criticised the financial services industry for being greedy, have themselves got their own snouts in the trough.
Back to Rolfs. Mark was kind enough to invite me along to this match, which was an invitation match for Carp Vadar sponsored anglers, plus a few guests.
My record at this venue prior to this match is probably the worse in the country. I have been 3 times now, but only managed a top weight of 19lb 8oz! Mark reckons I have been really unlucky with my draws, so I was really hoping for a good draw today.
Following a couple of drops outs only 13 anglers were fishing, which mean plenty of room, however there was some very good anglers in attendance. The day started well when I drew peg 8. As the venue expert, Mark has had a good run of results here, so I listened to his advice, which was start at 16m across to the far bank, fishing on the deck, then fish by the bush to my left late on fishing pellet, but don’t bother with paste.
Another bit of advice, echoed by Nick was don’t use my N47 to fish the far bank, because I would be taking home more pieces than I arrived. This meant fishing my J27 at 16m and being a heavier pole I was just thankful I remembered my bump bar, because we are not all built like Tony Rixon!
As instructed I started on the far side, but after 90 minutes I only landed 4 carp, losing a further 4. It became obvious there was plenty of fish in the swim, but I was struggling to get their heads down. Part of the problem I wasn’t sure I was feeding enough by cupping in, the other issue was the pole, which was sticking in my hands, making shipping a cupful of bait difficult. I also had Marks advice in the back of mind that I wouldn’t catch shallow tight across.
I needed to change tact, if I was going to catch, so I switched to the bush swim sooner than intended. 1st put in on pellet and I lost a foul hooker, but I wasn’t completely happy, so I turned to my paste rig and landed a carp straight away
And so my match began and I started to sack up with carp nearly every put on the paste. At 1 point I landed 3 carp in 3 put ins weighing 10-11, 15-9, 11-7, which really put me back in contention.
Whilst fishing the paste, I kept feeding the far bank, by way of a full pouch of pellet every couple of minutes and this now became my throw away swim. As more pellet went in you could see the carp slurping the pellet stuck in the grass. My gut feeling was to fish shallow, so I quickly set up a poly ball rig and soon started catching, in fact some of the bites where quite savage pulling the elastic from the pole. The only problem with the far side was the average stamp of carp was only 3-4lb, whilst my paste fish were much bigger.
As the match progressed I rotated between the bush & far bank swims. Ideally I wanted stay on the paste line, however at times I had too many fish in the swim and was suffering from too many liners. I had been feeding a handful of pellet every carp and since I needed to keep the feeding going in, I decided on 2 handfuls of pellets, which seemed to work.
As the match drew to conclusion, I stayed on the paste and my last fish weighed 15-7. I wondered whether I would beat my previous best match weight of 168lb from Joseph’s lake at Stafford Moor, but I wasn’t sure I had done enough. First to weigh was peg 4, with 333lb, which is the best weight at Rolfs so far this year and won the match.
I was delighted to beat my previous best match weight, although I felt a little disappointed I didn’t break the double ton. Some people are never happy! However today illustrated the problems when seeking advice from others. Whilst Marks advice was correct, conditions do change and my 2 main catching method was virtually the opposite of what I was told, which just proves you need to be open minded in this game.
Just for the record I wasn’t the only 1 to break my match record, Mark came 3rd with 213lb and Nick had 258lb for 2nd.
Catch – 28 Carp, 3 Roach, 1 Chub
Weather – Warm & sunny, slight breeze.
Water Temp– 18.0c > 18.0c
Match – Carp Vadar Invitation – 5th
Firstly I would like to say thank you to those who left messages of support on this blog and the Match Fishing Scene forum. It appears my last blog entry struck a cord with many and the latest MP expenses only services to make the general public angrier. Its ironic that those MPs, who heavily criticised the financial services industry for being greedy, have themselves got their own snouts in the trough.
Back to Rolfs. Mark was kind enough to invite me along to this match, which was an invitation match for Carp Vadar sponsored anglers, plus a few guests.
My record at this venue prior to this match is probably the worse in the country. I have been 3 times now, but only managed a top weight of 19lb 8oz! Mark reckons I have been really unlucky with my draws, so I was really hoping for a good draw today.
Following a couple of drops outs only 13 anglers were fishing, which mean plenty of room, however there was some very good anglers in attendance. The day started well when I drew peg 8. As the venue expert, Mark has had a good run of results here, so I listened to his advice, which was start at 16m across to the far bank, fishing on the deck, then fish by the bush to my left late on fishing pellet, but don’t bother with paste.
Another bit of advice, echoed by Nick was don’t use my N47 to fish the far bank, because I would be taking home more pieces than I arrived. This meant fishing my J27 at 16m and being a heavier pole I was just thankful I remembered my bump bar, because we are not all built like Tony Rixon!
As instructed I started on the far side, but after 90 minutes I only landed 4 carp, losing a further 4. It became obvious there was plenty of fish in the swim, but I was struggling to get their heads down. Part of the problem I wasn’t sure I was feeding enough by cupping in, the other issue was the pole, which was sticking in my hands, making shipping a cupful of bait difficult. I also had Marks advice in the back of mind that I wouldn’t catch shallow tight across.
I needed to change tact, if I was going to catch, so I switched to the bush swim sooner than intended. 1st put in on pellet and I lost a foul hooker, but I wasn’t completely happy, so I turned to my paste rig and landed a carp straight away
And so my match began and I started to sack up with carp nearly every put on the paste. At 1 point I landed 3 carp in 3 put ins weighing 10-11, 15-9, 11-7, which really put me back in contention.
Whilst fishing the paste, I kept feeding the far bank, by way of a full pouch of pellet every couple of minutes and this now became my throw away swim. As more pellet went in you could see the carp slurping the pellet stuck in the grass. My gut feeling was to fish shallow, so I quickly set up a poly ball rig and soon started catching, in fact some of the bites where quite savage pulling the elastic from the pole. The only problem with the far side was the average stamp of carp was only 3-4lb, whilst my paste fish were much bigger.
As the match progressed I rotated between the bush & far bank swims. Ideally I wanted stay on the paste line, however at times I had too many fish in the swim and was suffering from too many liners. I had been feeding a handful of pellet every carp and since I needed to keep the feeding going in, I decided on 2 handfuls of pellets, which seemed to work.
As the match drew to conclusion, I stayed on the paste and my last fish weighed 15-7. I wondered whether I would beat my previous best match weight of 168lb from Joseph’s lake at Stafford Moor, but I wasn’t sure I had done enough. First to weigh was peg 4, with 333lb, which is the best weight at Rolfs so far this year and won the match.
I was delighted to beat my previous best match weight, although I felt a little disappointed I didn’t break the double ton. Some people are never happy! However today illustrated the problems when seeking advice from others. Whilst Marks advice was correct, conditions do change and my 2 main catching method was virtually the opposite of what I was told, which just proves you need to be open minded in this game.
Just for the record I wasn’t the only 1 to break my match record, Mark came 3rd with 213lb and Nick had 258lb for 2nd.
Sunday, 10 May 2009
Being screwed by the system
For those that know me, will know my wife lost her job nearly 6 months ago and as yet hasn’t found another job. Having worked as a manager in the motor trade she has found it very hard to find another position.
During this time Suzanne has been claiming Job Seekers Allowance (£62pw), only to now be told she no longer qualifies! Why? Well, because I earn more than twice the minimum wage, according to the rules, this is sufficient to pay for the essentials. So the sod the fact we have a mortgage, household bills and other debts, which are only going to increase.
As a consequence of the added pressure on my finances and the fishing will have to take a back seat at the moment. Unfortunately, I have had to cancel my involvement in Tony Rixons Float League, which is disappointing, because I was looking forward to it, but trying to keep my head above water has to take priority.
What I find the most galling is Suzanne is a casualty of an economic crisis, yet despite previously contributing to the system by way of taxes and National Insurance, she won’t be getting anything. It appears the more you contribute to the system the less you get back. Speaking to a number of people, as well as chatting over the Internet, there is a definite air of discontentment.
There is the obvious anger at the reasons why we find ourselves in this economic mess. As someone who works in financial services, I understand the reason better than most. It is a matter of fact that the economy goes in cycles, so following a period of growth, there was always going to be a downturn. However, this downturn is incredibly severe, when to be honest it shouldn’t be and the government has a lot to answer for.
It has been very convenient for the government that house prices had continued to rise, the extra revenue generated from inheritance tax and stamp duty has been massive, but were has the money gone? Chasing weapons of mass destruction and brown nosing an absolute muppett in the US. With increasing house prices, mortgage providers had to find new ways of offering mortgages to the general public and so starts the ever decreasing circle.
What I find incredible is the government and the financial institutions didn’t see the signs, or chose to ignore them. Unfortunately it is human nature to believe the good times we will continue, however the government via the FSA (Financial Services Authority), should have more closely regulated the industry. They would not been able to stop the downturn, because it is part of the cycle, however by saying enough is enough, then I believe we wont be in as deep as we are at the moment. As I said before this didn’t suit a government who are quite happy to fritter away our taxes.
So now we find ourselves in this position, many of us have lost jobs or working more hours for less money, which is certainly true in my case. However the government has forgotten about those who have previously contributed to the system, preferring to look after those deemed to be not so well off, like the overweight family, who say they are too ill to work, so they get virtually everything paid for them. Withdraw their benefits, they will suddenly be well enough to work!
So why am I ranting? Well it hurts when you arrive home and find your wife in tears, because some drunk, drug addict or other low life is deemed to be more worthy to receive benefits. These people will continue to take from society, whilst giving nothing back. Whilst those who want to work, get shafted.
Hopefully, Suzanne will get a job soon and I can get back to fishing!
During this time Suzanne has been claiming Job Seekers Allowance (£62pw), only to now be told she no longer qualifies! Why? Well, because I earn more than twice the minimum wage, according to the rules, this is sufficient to pay for the essentials. So the sod the fact we have a mortgage, household bills and other debts, which are only going to increase.
As a consequence of the added pressure on my finances and the fishing will have to take a back seat at the moment. Unfortunately, I have had to cancel my involvement in Tony Rixons Float League, which is disappointing, because I was looking forward to it, but trying to keep my head above water has to take priority.
What I find the most galling is Suzanne is a casualty of an economic crisis, yet despite previously contributing to the system by way of taxes and National Insurance, she won’t be getting anything. It appears the more you contribute to the system the less you get back. Speaking to a number of people, as well as chatting over the Internet, there is a definite air of discontentment.
There is the obvious anger at the reasons why we find ourselves in this economic mess. As someone who works in financial services, I understand the reason better than most. It is a matter of fact that the economy goes in cycles, so following a period of growth, there was always going to be a downturn. However, this downturn is incredibly severe, when to be honest it shouldn’t be and the government has a lot to answer for.
It has been very convenient for the government that house prices had continued to rise, the extra revenue generated from inheritance tax and stamp duty has been massive, but were has the money gone? Chasing weapons of mass destruction and brown nosing an absolute muppett in the US. With increasing house prices, mortgage providers had to find new ways of offering mortgages to the general public and so starts the ever decreasing circle.
What I find incredible is the government and the financial institutions didn’t see the signs, or chose to ignore them. Unfortunately it is human nature to believe the good times we will continue, however the government via the FSA (Financial Services Authority), should have more closely regulated the industry. They would not been able to stop the downturn, because it is part of the cycle, however by saying enough is enough, then I believe we wont be in as deep as we are at the moment. As I said before this didn’t suit a government who are quite happy to fritter away our taxes.
So now we find ourselves in this position, many of us have lost jobs or working more hours for less money, which is certainly true in my case. However the government has forgotten about those who have previously contributed to the system, preferring to look after those deemed to be not so well off, like the overweight family, who say they are too ill to work, so they get virtually everything paid for them. Withdraw their benefits, they will suddenly be well enough to work!
So why am I ranting? Well it hurts when you arrive home and find your wife in tears, because some drunk, drug addict or other low life is deemed to be more worthy to receive benefits. These people will continue to take from society, whilst giving nothing back. Whilst those who want to work, get shafted.
Hopefully, Suzanne will get a job soon and I can get back to fishing!
Monday, 4 May 2009
03/05/09 - Fishponds
Weight – 75lb 13oz
Catch – 13 Carp, 36 Rudd, 4 Roach.
Weather – Cool start. Mostly sunny & breezy.
Water Temp– 15.0c > 15.5c
Match – Club Match – 3rd overall
17 turned up for the match, which is just about right, before you have to start jamming pegs in.
I was happy with peg 22. Jim was on peg 21, so I couldn’t fish to my left and decided to concentrate fishing to my right. 3 swims were set up. 13m feeding 6mm pellet and corn, 10m to my right at a 45 degree angle for my paste and finally a margin swim in front of the pallet on peg 23.
An hour into the match, I had 1 bite, but no fish, which appeared to be the story for most. In fact from what I saw only 3 carp had been caught, so a really slow start. I had a decision to make, stick trying for the carp, or target the rudd at 2m, which I knew I could catch quickly and try for the carp later.
I tried for the rudd. In ½ hour I had 40 fish, but they simply weren’t coming quickly enough. Normally I would expect to have caught 80-100 fish in this time, but there didn’t seem to be any volume of fish in front of me. In the meantime everyone started catching carp!
A switch back to my paste rig and I quickly landed 2 carp, but I was struggling on my 10m line and my 13m swim failed to produce anything. Time to try the margin. From the start I had been feeding pellet so hopefully there would a few round. I had set up 2 rigs for the margins, 1 pellet rig, which I thought would be the main catching rig and a paste rig in case I wasn’t hassled by the rudd.
Since there didn’t seem to be many rudd around, I decided to start on the paste. 1st put in I lost a carp when the hook pulled, but the 2nd put in I landed my biggest fish of the day at 10lb 7oz. This was about the half way point in the match and I felt was about 6th or 7th in the match.
I didn’t want to completely blunder the margin swim, so kept rotating between the margins and 10m swim, catching mostly margins. With an hour to go, I had a caught up most, expect Andy on peg 16. With the wind blowing into the corner, everytime I looked up he was playing a fish. Ian on peg 13 was also catching, so I needed a few more to finish strongly.
The margin swim was still the best area and with 10 minutes to go, I hooked my last carp, which I lost when the hook pulled. This was my 3rd carp to be lost in this manner and I suspect the fish were only lightly hooked, as I had landed a couple of fish that had been hooked around the mouth.
At the weigh in, I knew Andy had run away with it, which he duly did with 113lb, but it would be close between Ian and myself. Ian was 1st to weigh with 79lb 13oz, so I missed out by 4lb.
Overall I was pleased with 3rd. With the right angler on it, peg 16 was always going to be hard to beat and my slow start ultimately proved costly.
Catch – 13 Carp, 36 Rudd, 4 Roach.
Weather – Cool start. Mostly sunny & breezy.
Water Temp– 15.0c > 15.5c
Match – Club Match – 3rd overall
17 turned up for the match, which is just about right, before you have to start jamming pegs in.
I was happy with peg 22. Jim was on peg 21, so I couldn’t fish to my left and decided to concentrate fishing to my right. 3 swims were set up. 13m feeding 6mm pellet and corn, 10m to my right at a 45 degree angle for my paste and finally a margin swim in front of the pallet on peg 23.
An hour into the match, I had 1 bite, but no fish, which appeared to be the story for most. In fact from what I saw only 3 carp had been caught, so a really slow start. I had a decision to make, stick trying for the carp, or target the rudd at 2m, which I knew I could catch quickly and try for the carp later.
I tried for the rudd. In ½ hour I had 40 fish, but they simply weren’t coming quickly enough. Normally I would expect to have caught 80-100 fish in this time, but there didn’t seem to be any volume of fish in front of me. In the meantime everyone started catching carp!
A switch back to my paste rig and I quickly landed 2 carp, but I was struggling on my 10m line and my 13m swim failed to produce anything. Time to try the margin. From the start I had been feeding pellet so hopefully there would a few round. I had set up 2 rigs for the margins, 1 pellet rig, which I thought would be the main catching rig and a paste rig in case I wasn’t hassled by the rudd.
Since there didn’t seem to be many rudd around, I decided to start on the paste. 1st put in I lost a carp when the hook pulled, but the 2nd put in I landed my biggest fish of the day at 10lb 7oz. This was about the half way point in the match and I felt was about 6th or 7th in the match.
I didn’t want to completely blunder the margin swim, so kept rotating between the margins and 10m swim, catching mostly margins. With an hour to go, I had a caught up most, expect Andy on peg 16. With the wind blowing into the corner, everytime I looked up he was playing a fish. Ian on peg 13 was also catching, so I needed a few more to finish strongly.
The margin swim was still the best area and with 10 minutes to go, I hooked my last carp, which I lost when the hook pulled. This was my 3rd carp to be lost in this manner and I suspect the fish were only lightly hooked, as I had landed a couple of fish that had been hooked around the mouth.
At the weigh in, I knew Andy had run away with it, which he duly did with 113lb, but it would be close between Ian and myself. Ian was 1st to weigh with 79lb 13oz, so I missed out by 4lb.
Overall I was pleased with 3rd. With the right angler on it, peg 16 was always going to be hard to beat and my slow start ultimately proved costly.
02/05/09 - Fishponds
Weight – 142lb 15oz
Catch – 18 Carp, 7 Bream, 2 Tench.
Weather – Mostly sunny, becoming increasingly breezy.
Water Temp– 15.0c > 15.0c
Decided on a practice session, before tomorrow’s match, settling on peg 3.
I set up 3 swims, 13m feeding 6mm pellet & corn, fishing corn on the hook, 10m to my left feeding 8mm pellet, fishing paste and finally 8m pellet in the margins.
After 2hrs I only had a couple of bream & carp, caught either on paste or corn, but sport was very slow. I kept plugging away on the paste, feeding a large tosspot of 8mm pellet every put in. The next 2 hours the fish arrived and nearly every put in I had bite and consequently started to put together a few fish, including 2 double figure carp, the biggest weighing 12lb 10oz.
I wanted to try a few different things, so I put the paste rig down and dumped 2 pots of 6mm pellet & corn at 13m. Whilst I let that lot settle, I tried the margins, fishing a hair rigged 8mm pellet. Despite continually feeding the previous 3 hours, I did catch, but not nearly as well as I thought I would, only landing 4 carp & 2 tench.
My 13m line didn’t really produce either, 3 carp and a single bream was all I caught, however I wasn’t that surprised. On the day paste was definitely the best bait
Catch – 18 Carp, 7 Bream, 2 Tench.
Weather – Mostly sunny, becoming increasingly breezy.
Water Temp– 15.0c > 15.0c
Decided on a practice session, before tomorrow’s match, settling on peg 3.
I set up 3 swims, 13m feeding 6mm pellet & corn, fishing corn on the hook, 10m to my left feeding 8mm pellet, fishing paste and finally 8m pellet in the margins.
After 2hrs I only had a couple of bream & carp, caught either on paste or corn, but sport was very slow. I kept plugging away on the paste, feeding a large tosspot of 8mm pellet every put in. The next 2 hours the fish arrived and nearly every put in I had bite and consequently started to put together a few fish, including 2 double figure carp, the biggest weighing 12lb 10oz.
I wanted to try a few different things, so I put the paste rig down and dumped 2 pots of 6mm pellet & corn at 13m. Whilst I let that lot settle, I tried the margins, fishing a hair rigged 8mm pellet. Despite continually feeding the previous 3 hours, I did catch, but not nearly as well as I thought I would, only landing 4 carp & 2 tench.
My 13m line didn’t really produce either, 3 carp and a single bream was all I caught, however I wasn’t that surprised. On the day paste was definitely the best bait
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