Weight – 18lb 4oz
Catch – 14 Roach, 14 Perch, 3 Carp, 2 Bream, 1 Gudgeon, 1 Rudd
Weather – Frosty start. Cold & clear day
So a day at Ivy House. Not exactly my favourite venue, however I wanted to see how it was fishing prior to my clubs Christmas match.
My mate Jim wanted to go fishing, so was happy to come along, unfortunately it co-incided with the first serious frost of the year. As I left the house the car temperature gauge read 1c, when I came off the motorway it was down to -1c, but by the time I got to the venue it was -4.5c. I now began to wonder whether there would be any benefit to practicing.
The match would be on the island of the big lake and the latest reports suggested the causeway would be the best area, however on arrival the island was closed. I thought at the time this would be due to the Wednesday Open on the lake, so decided to fish the small lake, which I thought would offer us the best chance of catching.
I put Jim on peg 21, which is probably the best peg on the lake, whilst I settled on peg 20. Fortunately, the lakes hadn’t iced over, but a few more frosts and they soon will be.
Initially settled on 2 lines, caster at 6m and groundbait & caster at 13m. The short line mostly produced tiny wasp type perch, with the odd better fish, but the roach won’t come close. The longer line produced a 1lb+ skimmer and small roach, by toss potting 6 casters every put in, but generally fishing was slow.
The carp came to the lead & double corn, but I had to wait a long time for a bite. I also tried the waggler, but no joy. Jim he had a tough day, catching a small chub & perch, as well as losing a carp.
As for the big lake, I was hoping to walk the match to see what was catching, but there wasn’t any match and the island was in fact OK to fish. Anyway I did have a chat with Gary Etheridge who was practicing on the waggler, but was also struggling due to the cold, but at least he gave me a few pointers.
Looks like the club match could turn into carp bingo.
Thursday, 25 November 2010
Wednesday, 17 November 2010
14/11/10 - Cuckoos Rest
Weight – 16lb 9oz
Catch – 65 Roach, 8 Skimmers, 3 Perch, 1 Tench, 1 Bream
Weather – Rain for most of the day
Match – Glenfall – 2nd overall
So my first blog for quite a while. Today was a club match with the added spice of being the semi final for the club knockout, with the eventual winner receiving free annual membership worth £75. There should have been 4 of us, however the 4th person dropped out leaving Andy Lord, Craig Davidge & myself to fight it out for the final on the Match Lake at Ivy House. Since there were only 3 of us, we decided the lowest weight drops out.
I had practiced on Tuesday, weighing 28lb (10-11lb of roach & hand sized skimmers, 6 bream, 1 tench, a big perch and a 1.5lb carp) and was feeling confident, however the lake was very coloured after the recent rain and it was chilly overnight, so it could be a bit of a struggle. According to last nights weather report there wouldn’t be any wind and the sun would make an appearance. At least they got the bit about the wind correct.
Cuckoos Rest is 1 of those venues run by a non-angler and it shows. It is a nice venue, out in the sticks, but it could just do with some tiding up, in terms of overhanging branches. Having said that it’s nice to fish a venue not dominated by carp.
With only 12 fishing today, it meant plenty of room and no really bad pegs. I found myself on the left hand side of the island, the 1st peg over the footbridge. I could see Craig on the opposite bank, but couldn’t see Andy who was further along at the top of the island. Since I could see Craig, so long as I stayed ahead for him I would qualify for the final.
Although there are carp at the venue and some very big ones at that, silvers need to be your target. I settled on 3 lines, 5-6m feeding maggot/caster, 13-14m feeding groundbait (black lake & green swim stim) & caster and the waggler further out, feeding small balls of groundbait. I also had a throwaway line to my left fishing back towards the "mainland", feeding pellet & corn. On Tuesday I only feed caster on the short line, but since the lake was more coloured I decided to feed more maggot.
Having cupped 2 balls of groundbait at 13m, I started at 5m, and it took 3-4 minutes to get my 1st bite, but after an hour I had 25 fish in the net, nothing bigger than 5-6oz, but at least I was catching regularly.
A switch to the 13m line only produced a few bites, so back to the 5m line after topping up at 13m. And this is how the rest of my match went. Catch a few short, before trying the 13m line and/or waggler. After the 3rd top-up at 13m, a 4½lb tench accepted my double red maggot. Now I was sure I was in front of Craig, who had managed to catch a crayfish! Andy had a little walk around to stretch his legs and was admitting to catching a few hand sized skimmers, so it was likely to be close.
Despite the very coloured water pike or big perch seemed to unsettling the fish, because bites would just stop, plus throughout the day small fish where scattering.
Further top ups at 13m yielded very little and the waggler only produced a few small roach. Going into the 5th & final hour, I decided to feed 2 balls of groundbait, with caster at 45 degrees right. After 30mins I didn’t have a response, but with 10 minutes left a switch back resulted in a 3½lb bream. Now I was confident of at least knocking out Craig.
Graham Millard won with 17lb 3oz from the favoured right side of the island, which included a small carp and 3 decent bream. As for the knockout, Andy weighted 10-4, whist Craig dipped out with 6-12. Whilst the skimmers didn’t feed, everyone seemed to get plenty of bites from roach.
1st Graham Millard 17-3
2nd Ken Rayner 16-9
3rd Ian Pople 10-6
4th Andy Lord 10-4
Catch – 65 Roach, 8 Skimmers, 3 Perch, 1 Tench, 1 Bream
Weather – Rain for most of the day
Match – Glenfall – 2nd overall
So my first blog for quite a while. Today was a club match with the added spice of being the semi final for the club knockout, with the eventual winner receiving free annual membership worth £75. There should have been 4 of us, however the 4th person dropped out leaving Andy Lord, Craig Davidge & myself to fight it out for the final on the Match Lake at Ivy House. Since there were only 3 of us, we decided the lowest weight drops out.
I had practiced on Tuesday, weighing 28lb (10-11lb of roach & hand sized skimmers, 6 bream, 1 tench, a big perch and a 1.5lb carp) and was feeling confident, however the lake was very coloured after the recent rain and it was chilly overnight, so it could be a bit of a struggle. According to last nights weather report there wouldn’t be any wind and the sun would make an appearance. At least they got the bit about the wind correct.
Cuckoos Rest is 1 of those venues run by a non-angler and it shows. It is a nice venue, out in the sticks, but it could just do with some tiding up, in terms of overhanging branches. Having said that it’s nice to fish a venue not dominated by carp.
With only 12 fishing today, it meant plenty of room and no really bad pegs. I found myself on the left hand side of the island, the 1st peg over the footbridge. I could see Craig on the opposite bank, but couldn’t see Andy who was further along at the top of the island. Since I could see Craig, so long as I stayed ahead for him I would qualify for the final.
Although there are carp at the venue and some very big ones at that, silvers need to be your target. I settled on 3 lines, 5-6m feeding maggot/caster, 13-14m feeding groundbait (black lake & green swim stim) & caster and the waggler further out, feeding small balls of groundbait. I also had a throwaway line to my left fishing back towards the "mainland", feeding pellet & corn. On Tuesday I only feed caster on the short line, but since the lake was more coloured I decided to feed more maggot.
Having cupped 2 balls of groundbait at 13m, I started at 5m, and it took 3-4 minutes to get my 1st bite, but after an hour I had 25 fish in the net, nothing bigger than 5-6oz, but at least I was catching regularly.
A switch to the 13m line only produced a few bites, so back to the 5m line after topping up at 13m. And this is how the rest of my match went. Catch a few short, before trying the 13m line and/or waggler. After the 3rd top-up at 13m, a 4½lb tench accepted my double red maggot. Now I was sure I was in front of Craig, who had managed to catch a crayfish! Andy had a little walk around to stretch his legs and was admitting to catching a few hand sized skimmers, so it was likely to be close.
Despite the very coloured water pike or big perch seemed to unsettling the fish, because bites would just stop, plus throughout the day small fish where scattering.
Further top ups at 13m yielded very little and the waggler only produced a few small roach. Going into the 5th & final hour, I decided to feed 2 balls of groundbait, with caster at 45 degrees right. After 30mins I didn’t have a response, but with 10 minutes left a switch back resulted in a 3½lb bream. Now I was confident of at least knocking out Craig.
Graham Millard won with 17lb 3oz from the favoured right side of the island, which included a small carp and 3 decent bream. As for the knockout, Andy weighted 10-4, whist Craig dipped out with 6-12. Whilst the skimmers didn’t feed, everyone seemed to get plenty of bites from roach.
1st Graham Millard 17-3
2nd Ken Rayner 16-9
3rd Ian Pople 10-6
4th Andy Lord 10-4
The Last 5 Months
You may have noticed a lack of recent blog entries. Not wishing to sound too downcast, things generally haven’t been going that well.
An injury whilst playing football (well I was absolutely clattered) has buggered my back and probably means I have to retire playing altogether, this has meant fishing beyond 10m on the pole has up until recently been a no-no.
Sue is still building up her AVON & Ann Summers business, but that taking time to yield a significant income, but its coming. However the current lack of funds means we are still car sharing and making her business successful takes priority over my fishing needs.
The good news is my work appears to be improving, but again time will tell. Although I already have some exams, a statutory requirement means by the end of 2012, I need more exams. Deep joy! So since my fishing time has already been comprised I have decided to concentrate on getting these exams out of the way.
Despite my back I have managed to do some fishing, although 1 day I truly regretted it, because after 2 hours I could hardly move, the pain was so bad. Fishing up until recently has been restricted to no more than 10m on the pole or fishing with a rod & reel. I did manage a PB weight of 357lb, carp all on pole & paste, which included 11 doubles.
Now my back is much better than it was, it means I can get out a little more often and have started to use a bump bar to help keep the pressure off my back.
A special mention to Mark Poppleton, who despite living in Trowbridge has gone out of his way to pick me up for a couple of recent matches at Lands End – top man.
So I will keep the blog updated, although it won’t be quiet as regular as I would like for the time being.
An injury whilst playing football (well I was absolutely clattered) has buggered my back and probably means I have to retire playing altogether, this has meant fishing beyond 10m on the pole has up until recently been a no-no.
Sue is still building up her AVON & Ann Summers business, but that taking time to yield a significant income, but its coming. However the current lack of funds means we are still car sharing and making her business successful takes priority over my fishing needs.
The good news is my work appears to be improving, but again time will tell. Although I already have some exams, a statutory requirement means by the end of 2012, I need more exams. Deep joy! So since my fishing time has already been comprised I have decided to concentrate on getting these exams out of the way.
Despite my back I have managed to do some fishing, although 1 day I truly regretted it, because after 2 hours I could hardly move, the pain was so bad. Fishing up until recently has been restricted to no more than 10m on the pole or fishing with a rod & reel. I did manage a PB weight of 357lb, carp all on pole & paste, which included 11 doubles.
Now my back is much better than it was, it means I can get out a little more often and have started to use a bump bar to help keep the pressure off my back.
A special mention to Mark Poppleton, who despite living in Trowbridge has gone out of his way to pick me up for a couple of recent matches at Lands End – top man.
So I will keep the blog updated, although it won’t be quiet as regular as I would like for the time being.
Tuesday, 1 June 2010
30/05/10 - Todber Manor
Weight – 76lb 0lb
Catch – 27 Carp, 16 F1, 4 Skimmers, 3 Tench, 3 Roach
Weather – Sunny, windy!
Match – Match Fishing Scene Website - 9th overall
After my last match here last month, I was really looking to another visit. However the weather forecast suggested a windy day ahead.
Peg 37 was certainly in the right area, 1 from the end peg which had the gap round to the other side of the lake and the arm. Now that wind, I was hoping it would be a westerly, because the island opposite would have provided plenty of shelter, however the NW direction meant it was funnelling though the gap straight at me.
To do well here, you need to catch the carp and avoid the F1. So decided to keep it simple, with a paste & pellet rigs for the far side, the paste rig would also be used down the margin to peg 36. The 3rd rig would be a paste rig down the track.
On the all in, the wind was already picking up, so started on the pellet rig tight across. 3 put ins and 3 carp and I was off to a flyer, but the wind was getting stronger. After initially cupping ½ a cup of 4 & 6mm at the start I had followed this up with a full toss pot of pellet every put in but was finding it difficult to present the rig. So I removed the toss pot, to make it easier to hold the pole, deciding to cup pellet in every 3 fish. Unfortunately that didn't really work, because the wind was getting stronger.
Unlike most pegs, I didn't have any bear bank to fish, which would have offered shallow water. My problem was the peg was nearly 2ft deep tight across and there was plenty of branches and foliage, which meant lifting and dropping became a real nightmare, because if I lifted and a gust of wind caught the pole, I had very little margin of error and did catch the branches a couple of times. I set up a shallower rig, but feeding and holding the pole steady was difficult.
Along with Mark, I was doing my best impression of Mr Angry, there were plenty of fish on the far side, but I couldn't present to them properly, which was very frustrating. I had been feeding 6mmat 8m and a mixture of 4 & 6mm, plus hemp down the left hand margin.
When I went over the 8m line on paste, I getting plenty of indications, but no fish and the wind was making presentation difficult. A small F1 confirmed my suspicions, so I set up a new rig with a 16 b911to fish soft pellet & corn. I needed to start putting fish in the net, whilst I couldn't see anyone running away with it, I was falling behind, so every put in I toss potted 6mm with a ball of paste. I soon started to catch, not as quickly I was would have liked, but I lost a few fish off the hook and a change from 12 latex to double 6 helped, but a couple of fish I did land the hook was just hanging in.
The carp eventually turned up and switched to the paste rig. Half way into the match, I was up 22 fish, but only 8 carp and I really needed to start catching. I concentrated on the 8m line, mostly on paste and occasionally corn or soft pellet, when the small fish moved in. The LH margin only started to produce in the last 90 mins.
I had kept firing 6m's to the island in the hope the wind would drop and quick look over, revealed plenty of indication, but presentation was nearly impossible.
I was pleased with the 2nd half of the match, but ultimately the wind cost me and I'm certain 100lb was more than possible, Even on the 8m line, it was difficult to read bites, with the wind and tow, so missed bites and bumped fish still made it very frustrating day.
During the weigh in it became obvious the wind effected those fishing around the gap the most, plus a couple of exposed pegs down the bottom end of the lake. The angler on 38 managed 58lb, whilst the angler opposite on peg 7 who fished the method feeder to the island had a similar weight. The other angler in the wind was Mark on peg 5, who really struggled to catch to the far side of the arm, but eventually caught at 6m on paste coming 2nd with 123lb, which is a great effort (that really hurt to say that – lol). However he probably benefited from the angler of 38 not utilising his RH margin and Tim Suttle on peg 3, who turned up drunk from the night before, threw up and only managed to fish for 2hrs, before going home. We didn't laugh, honest.
Pete Bailey won the match from peg 12 with 176lb making full use of the only peg which had a spare peg either side.
Catch – 27 Carp, 16 F1, 4 Skimmers, 3 Tench, 3 Roach
Weather – Sunny, windy!
Match – Match Fishing Scene Website - 9th overall
After my last match here last month, I was really looking to another visit. However the weather forecast suggested a windy day ahead.
Peg 37 was certainly in the right area, 1 from the end peg which had the gap round to the other side of the lake and the arm. Now that wind, I was hoping it would be a westerly, because the island opposite would have provided plenty of shelter, however the NW direction meant it was funnelling though the gap straight at me.
To do well here, you need to catch the carp and avoid the F1. So decided to keep it simple, with a paste & pellet rigs for the far side, the paste rig would also be used down the margin to peg 36. The 3rd rig would be a paste rig down the track.
On the all in, the wind was already picking up, so started on the pellet rig tight across. 3 put ins and 3 carp and I was off to a flyer, but the wind was getting stronger. After initially cupping ½ a cup of 4 & 6mm at the start I had followed this up with a full toss pot of pellet every put in but was finding it difficult to present the rig. So I removed the toss pot, to make it easier to hold the pole, deciding to cup pellet in every 3 fish. Unfortunately that didn't really work, because the wind was getting stronger.
Unlike most pegs, I didn't have any bear bank to fish, which would have offered shallow water. My problem was the peg was nearly 2ft deep tight across and there was plenty of branches and foliage, which meant lifting and dropping became a real nightmare, because if I lifted and a gust of wind caught the pole, I had very little margin of error and did catch the branches a couple of times. I set up a shallower rig, but feeding and holding the pole steady was difficult.
Along with Mark, I was doing my best impression of Mr Angry, there were plenty of fish on the far side, but I couldn't present to them properly, which was very frustrating. I had been feeding 6mmat 8m and a mixture of 4 & 6mm, plus hemp down the left hand margin.
When I went over the 8m line on paste, I getting plenty of indications, but no fish and the wind was making presentation difficult. A small F1 confirmed my suspicions, so I set up a new rig with a 16 b911to fish soft pellet & corn. I needed to start putting fish in the net, whilst I couldn't see anyone running away with it, I was falling behind, so every put in I toss potted 6mm with a ball of paste. I soon started to catch, not as quickly I was would have liked, but I lost a few fish off the hook and a change from 12 latex to double 6 helped, but a couple of fish I did land the hook was just hanging in.
The carp eventually turned up and switched to the paste rig. Half way into the match, I was up 22 fish, but only 8 carp and I really needed to start catching. I concentrated on the 8m line, mostly on paste and occasionally corn or soft pellet, when the small fish moved in. The LH margin only started to produce in the last 90 mins.
I had kept firing 6m's to the island in the hope the wind would drop and quick look over, revealed plenty of indication, but presentation was nearly impossible.
I was pleased with the 2nd half of the match, but ultimately the wind cost me and I'm certain 100lb was more than possible, Even on the 8m line, it was difficult to read bites, with the wind and tow, so missed bites and bumped fish still made it very frustrating day.
During the weigh in it became obvious the wind effected those fishing around the gap the most, plus a couple of exposed pegs down the bottom end of the lake. The angler on 38 managed 58lb, whilst the angler opposite on peg 7 who fished the method feeder to the island had a similar weight. The other angler in the wind was Mark on peg 5, who really struggled to catch to the far side of the arm, but eventually caught at 6m on paste coming 2nd with 123lb, which is a great effort (that really hurt to say that – lol). However he probably benefited from the angler of 38 not utilising his RH margin and Tim Suttle on peg 3, who turned up drunk from the night before, threw up and only managed to fish for 2hrs, before going home. We didn't laugh, honest.
Pete Bailey won the match from peg 12 with 176lb making full use of the only peg which had a spare peg either side.
Saturday, 29 May 2010
Season Review
For me the fishing season runs from June to May and I usually like to take a few weeks off during April & May, simply because the fishing during this time, particularly May can be a bit dodgy with spawning fish.
On a personal level the last 12 months has been hard. Back in June my parent company made a decision to sell off the company I worked for. I had to make a decision about either continue working for my existing company or move to the parent company. In the end I moved to the parent company in August with a mandate to set up a new service, however progress has been painfully slow and it is only recently that all my hard work is starting to bear fruit.
As for Sue, I have never known someone to have such a bad run of luck, but I think (& hope) she has settled on what she wants to do for the future. Having given up trying to find a full time job, she now wants to run her own business selling AVON and Ann Summers. Sue's problem has been the 2 fold, firstly she spent 20 years in the motor trade and secondly she was a manager. Unfortunately, with so many people looking for work, it appears potential employers are seeing 20 years motor industry and immediately discounting her managerial skills. So Sue has decided to set up her own business, building a sales team for AVON and Ann Summers. There is some serious money to made if she can grow the team large enough and I have told her if it gets to the point where she needs to employ someone to deal with admin etc, I will be her man. That way I will have more time to go fishing! Unfortunately, that will be a few years away.
With such a tight financial year, it has meant I haven't been able to go fishing as often as I would like and that's one of reasons why I focused much of my time at Lands End during the winter. Ironically being on a tight budget and seen me have one of my best seasons. Having to limit what bait I take has allowed me to focus on how I approached a match. Previously I have been guilty of taking too much and confusing myself, but by looking at how other anglers approach their matches, such as Tony Rixon and Rod Wootton has allowed me to be more confident that what I am doing is right and I shouldn't keep chopping and changing.
Fishing has certainly kept me sane these last 12 months, although there has been some lows, as well as some highs.
The lows – Being dropped by Maver Veals wasn't unexpected and on reflection I should have dropped myself months ago, however I honestly thought I would back straight financially sooner and able to commit the necessary time.
The big low for me however was the Lands End Winter League. After the 6th round I was lying 3rd overall, but the last 2 rounds weren't kind. A draw on peg 55 Johns, although normally a decent peg, on the day the weather was getting milder and there was a real strong westerly blowing. So whilst everyone had some sort of ripple, my swim was flat calm and the fish simply didn't want to be there. The last round saw me draw the wrong end of Sydneys lake and as a consequence I dropped out of the top 7 and no money – gutted.
On the positive side, I had some seriously big weights in the last 12 months, 5 tons, 4 double tons and a personal best 335lb. I also managed a personal best match weight of 218lb, which was a club match record, well up to last month anyway. Whilst that was a memorable match, probably my best result was at Rood Ashton, fishing against 18 locals, who normally approach the lake with the method feeder and pole/paste. According to the locals my pellet waggler approach wouldn't work because the lake was too shallow! 45 carp for 133lb and a convincing match win proved otherwise.
Of the 37 matches fished, I've picked up in 24, which has been very helpful, collecting more money than I have paid out and during December to February I picked up 10 times from 11, its just shame that during March a run of poor draws halted that little run.
So what about the future? Being a glass half full type person, I am hopefully that the next 12 months will see Sue and I back on a even keel. Both our jobs are showing signs of going in the right direction, so hopefully in the not to distant future I can commit to more fishing.
On a personal level the last 12 months has been hard. Back in June my parent company made a decision to sell off the company I worked for. I had to make a decision about either continue working for my existing company or move to the parent company. In the end I moved to the parent company in August with a mandate to set up a new service, however progress has been painfully slow and it is only recently that all my hard work is starting to bear fruit.
As for Sue, I have never known someone to have such a bad run of luck, but I think (& hope) she has settled on what she wants to do for the future. Having given up trying to find a full time job, she now wants to run her own business selling AVON and Ann Summers. Sue's problem has been the 2 fold, firstly she spent 20 years in the motor trade and secondly she was a manager. Unfortunately, with so many people looking for work, it appears potential employers are seeing 20 years motor industry and immediately discounting her managerial skills. So Sue has decided to set up her own business, building a sales team for AVON and Ann Summers. There is some serious money to made if she can grow the team large enough and I have told her if it gets to the point where she needs to employ someone to deal with admin etc, I will be her man. That way I will have more time to go fishing! Unfortunately, that will be a few years away.
With such a tight financial year, it has meant I haven't been able to go fishing as often as I would like and that's one of reasons why I focused much of my time at Lands End during the winter. Ironically being on a tight budget and seen me have one of my best seasons. Having to limit what bait I take has allowed me to focus on how I approached a match. Previously I have been guilty of taking too much and confusing myself, but by looking at how other anglers approach their matches, such as Tony Rixon and Rod Wootton has allowed me to be more confident that what I am doing is right and I shouldn't keep chopping and changing.
Fishing has certainly kept me sane these last 12 months, although there has been some lows, as well as some highs.
The lows – Being dropped by Maver Veals wasn't unexpected and on reflection I should have dropped myself months ago, however I honestly thought I would back straight financially sooner and able to commit the necessary time.
The big low for me however was the Lands End Winter League. After the 6th round I was lying 3rd overall, but the last 2 rounds weren't kind. A draw on peg 55 Johns, although normally a decent peg, on the day the weather was getting milder and there was a real strong westerly blowing. So whilst everyone had some sort of ripple, my swim was flat calm and the fish simply didn't want to be there. The last round saw me draw the wrong end of Sydneys lake and as a consequence I dropped out of the top 7 and no money – gutted.
On the positive side, I had some seriously big weights in the last 12 months, 5 tons, 4 double tons and a personal best 335lb. I also managed a personal best match weight of 218lb, which was a club match record, well up to last month anyway. Whilst that was a memorable match, probably my best result was at Rood Ashton, fishing against 18 locals, who normally approach the lake with the method feeder and pole/paste. According to the locals my pellet waggler approach wouldn't work because the lake was too shallow! 45 carp for 133lb and a convincing match win proved otherwise.
Of the 37 matches fished, I've picked up in 24, which has been very helpful, collecting more money than I have paid out and during December to February I picked up 10 times from 11, its just shame that during March a run of poor draws halted that little run.
So what about the future? Being a glass half full type person, I am hopefully that the next 12 months will see Sue and I back on a even keel. Both our jobs are showing signs of going in the right direction, so hopefully in the not to distant future I can commit to more fishing.
28/05/2010 - Winterbourne Duck Pond
Weight – 44lb 13oz
Catch – 72 Skimmers, 1 Tench
Weather – Sunny, blustery at times
A trapped nerve in my back, prevented me from fishing last weekend. I had booked today off with the intention of going to my club water, however Sue needed the car (I'll be glad when she gets her own). I decided to still have the day off and got Sue to drop me off at the duck pond for an afternoon session.
When I arrived, someone was already in the bus stop swim, but the water level had dropped about 1ft, so I chose the slip way off the dam wall, which would offer the most depth at 2ft.
Nothing complicated today, a roach 4x12, .11 bottom & 18 silverfish pellet hook & double 5 elastic, fished at 11.5-13m towards the island and 11m down the left hand margin towards the road wall. Initially started feeding 4mm pellet & maggot via a toss pot, but soon reverted to catapulting 4mm. After a slow 10mins I started catching nearly every put in on double red maggot. After 40mins I ditched the maggot switching to soft pellet and the skimmers kept coming , although after an 2hours the swim was slowing, which coincided with the wind picking up.
A switch to corn helped and for the remainder of the session, I kept swapping between pellet and corn. When the main swim went quiet, a look down the left hand edge produced the odd fish, including a lost carp when the hook pulled, but most fish came at 11.5m. A 2½lb tench went a welcome change from the skimmers which went up to 1¾lb.
In the end I had to get Sue to pick me up earlier than intended , because I was running out of 4mms, having fed 2pts. Whether the drop in the water level had concentrated the fish in the deeper water, I'm not sure , but this beat my previous best silvers weight from the venue by 9lb.
Catch – 72 Skimmers, 1 Tench
Weather – Sunny, blustery at times
A trapped nerve in my back, prevented me from fishing last weekend. I had booked today off with the intention of going to my club water, however Sue needed the car (I'll be glad when she gets her own). I decided to still have the day off and got Sue to drop me off at the duck pond for an afternoon session.
When I arrived, someone was already in the bus stop swim, but the water level had dropped about 1ft, so I chose the slip way off the dam wall, which would offer the most depth at 2ft.
Nothing complicated today, a roach 4x12, .11 bottom & 18 silverfish pellet hook & double 5 elastic, fished at 11.5-13m towards the island and 11m down the left hand margin towards the road wall. Initially started feeding 4mm pellet & maggot via a toss pot, but soon reverted to catapulting 4mm. After a slow 10mins I started catching nearly every put in on double red maggot. After 40mins I ditched the maggot switching to soft pellet and the skimmers kept coming , although after an 2hours the swim was slowing, which coincided with the wind picking up.
A switch to corn helped and for the remainder of the session, I kept swapping between pellet and corn. When the main swim went quiet, a look down the left hand edge produced the odd fish, including a lost carp when the hook pulled, but most fish came at 11.5m. A 2½lb tench went a welcome change from the skimmers which went up to 1¾lb.
In the end I had to get Sue to pick me up earlier than intended , because I was running out of 4mms, having fed 2pts. Whether the drop in the water level had concentrated the fish in the deeper water, I'm not sure , but this beat my previous best silvers weight from the venue by 9lb.
Monday, 17 May 2010
16/05/10 - Cuckoo's Rest
Weight – 6lb 6oz
Catch – 33 Roach, 10 Perch, 8 Skimmers
Weather – Cold, cloudy, rainy start. Brighter later, but windy
Match – Open - 7th overall
16 turned up Mark’s match at Cuckoo’s Rest, with the expectation of plenty of skimmers and tench. However, the weather had a big hand in how the day turned out. After the warm day yesterday, it was back on with the fleece, because it was certainly a bit nippy and with the early start I expecting a slow start.
I drew the 1st peg over the bridge on the left side of the island. General consensus was, it wasn’t a great draw, however a few tench had been caught recently in the area by pleasure anglers. Being on the corner of the island, meant I was sitting at angle to the open water, but to my left there was an over hanging tree at 14.5m on the “mainland”, as well as the margin towards to the bridge, so at least I had a few options.
Green Swim Stim & micros were deposited at 13m and 4mm’s were catapulted towards the over hanging tree. Whilst I let that settle I started at 5m fishing caster and after 30mins I had 10 fish in the net, before bites dried up.
The 13m line produced very little on soft pellet with bites very hard to come by. In fact everyone seemed to be struggling, expect Hippy who was on the right bank, casting a small method feeder towards the far bank, catching proper bream and the odd carp.
I would have been happy to keep going with the roach at 5m but couldn’t keep them going, as they drifted in & out of the swim. Even adding another section didn’t help, so a bit oft head scratching.
My overhanging tree swim did produce a couple of small skimmers on corn, but again no more and I had to keep rotating swims just to keep a few fish going into the net. Even tried the waggler, which only produced 1 roach. Although Hippy was running away with it, a couple of decent skimmers or tench would soon put you back in the contention for the frame.
With the wind increasing strength, I was beginning to regret not packing a feeder rod to fish beyond 14.5m, but with the wind cutting across me, fishing longer as I had intended was no longer an option.
I set up a new swim at 11.5m, just feeding 4mm and caster via a toss pot, reasoning the roach at 5m were worth having , perhaps they would feed more confidentially further out and hopefully a few skimmers would show. Unfortunately the roach got smaller and there were very few skimmers.
As the match drew to a conclusion, I stuck with the pellet and corn hoping for a better fish, but it just didn't happen. Those that framed all had at least 1 decent fish, but overall a very disappointing match. Those skimmers never feed and not 1 of the 2500 small carp stocked last month showed.
Hippy won with 64lb, but 2nd was only 16lb, which was 2 carp, 1 proper bream and a skimmer.
Catch – 33 Roach, 10 Perch, 8 Skimmers
Weather – Cold, cloudy, rainy start. Brighter later, but windy
Match – Open - 7th overall
16 turned up Mark’s match at Cuckoo’s Rest, with the expectation of plenty of skimmers and tench. However, the weather had a big hand in how the day turned out. After the warm day yesterday, it was back on with the fleece, because it was certainly a bit nippy and with the early start I expecting a slow start.
I drew the 1st peg over the bridge on the left side of the island. General consensus was, it wasn’t a great draw, however a few tench had been caught recently in the area by pleasure anglers. Being on the corner of the island, meant I was sitting at angle to the open water, but to my left there was an over hanging tree at 14.5m on the “mainland”, as well as the margin towards to the bridge, so at least I had a few options.
Green Swim Stim & micros were deposited at 13m and 4mm’s were catapulted towards the over hanging tree. Whilst I let that settle I started at 5m fishing caster and after 30mins I had 10 fish in the net, before bites dried up.
The 13m line produced very little on soft pellet with bites very hard to come by. In fact everyone seemed to be struggling, expect Hippy who was on the right bank, casting a small method feeder towards the far bank, catching proper bream and the odd carp.
I would have been happy to keep going with the roach at 5m but couldn’t keep them going, as they drifted in & out of the swim. Even adding another section didn’t help, so a bit oft head scratching.
My overhanging tree swim did produce a couple of small skimmers on corn, but again no more and I had to keep rotating swims just to keep a few fish going into the net. Even tried the waggler, which only produced 1 roach. Although Hippy was running away with it, a couple of decent skimmers or tench would soon put you back in the contention for the frame.
With the wind increasing strength, I was beginning to regret not packing a feeder rod to fish beyond 14.5m, but with the wind cutting across me, fishing longer as I had intended was no longer an option.
I set up a new swim at 11.5m, just feeding 4mm and caster via a toss pot, reasoning the roach at 5m were worth having , perhaps they would feed more confidentially further out and hopefully a few skimmers would show. Unfortunately the roach got smaller and there were very few skimmers.
As the match drew to a conclusion, I stuck with the pellet and corn hoping for a better fish, but it just didn't happen. Those that framed all had at least 1 decent fish, but overall a very disappointing match. Those skimmers never feed and not 1 of the 2500 small carp stocked last month showed.
Hippy won with 64lb, but 2nd was only 16lb, which was 2 carp, 1 proper bream and a skimmer.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)