23/10/22 - Lavington - Ellis Lake

Weight - 114lb 0oz

Catch - 14 Carp, 1 Perch

Weather - Heavy rain cleared to be sunny

Match - Club (8 fished) - 1st overall

As I will be at Ivy House quite a bit over the autumn and winter, I fancied a change of scenery with the chance of catching some units. Therefore, I jumped on a club match at Lavington. Waking up with the raining hammering down I did waver about going, but the forecast suggested it would clear up in a few hours.

Driving to the lake there was plenty of water on the roads and arriving at the lake car park there were 4 no shows, either because they were put off by the weather or by roads that were unpassable.

I drew peg 9 with no island chuck, which meant I didn’t bother with the feeder rod. With all the heavy overnight rain, most thought it would fish hard, and I thought 50lb would be a good target weight.

Looking at my peg I decide on 3 areas, down the left margin next to some lilies feeding micros and corn, 8m to my right in 6ft of water feeding 6mm meat and micros and 12m where it was 7ft deep feeding micros, 4s and corn.

Starting at 8m, I was very surprised to hook a fish also immediately, but it took nearly an hour to net my next fish. Over the following hour, my 12m line produced a carp on 6mm (baninion janner) expander, before catching 3 carp down my left margin on corn in a 30mins spell.

My 8m line didn’t really get going and a couple of foul hooked fish suggest I was fishing too deep and feeding 6mm meat probably didn’t help. So, I setup another rig to fish the right margin which was a little deeper than the left, but this time just fed meat and a little micro, as my left margin had completely died, and I got the feeling I may have overfed it.

The new swim proved to be very productive fishing 8mm meat including a couple of double figure fish and I was left wishing the match was 6hrs, rather than 5.

In the end the day turned into a lovely bright day and a nice day’s fishing, despite the heavy downpour as we were packing up!

1.    114- 0 – Ken Rayner

2.      72- 0 – Andy Almond

3.      54- 0 – Martin Atkinson

 

 

 

22/10/22 - Ivy House - Heron

Weight - 109lb 3oz

Catch - 48 Carp, 47 F1s, 2 Gudgeon

Weather - Rain overnight, mostly sunny.

Match - Open (10 fished) - 4th overall

With a Silvers qualifier on the Old Match and Willow Lakes, it meant todays open was on Heron.

The water levels were still down, exposing the marginal shelf. However, with heavy overnight rain and more rain expected Andy said he hoped to be able to top up the lake by next weekend.

There were only 10 of us today and p22 for me. Following last night's rain, I wasn’t sure how it would fish, however there were plenty of fish topping and I hoped to catch a few fish shallow and down the margins.

At the start, I started at 2+2 fishing 4mm expander, initially feeding micros, but soon switched to 4s, catching mostly carp, some of

which were tiny. A switch to my shallow line at 10m fished a hair rigged 4mm over 4s only produced 1 small carp and margin again only produced more small carp. Therefore, I switched back to the short line to keep putting fish in the net.

After 90mins my short line was fading and there were now plenty of swirls over my 10m line, feeding 4s. To be honest I struggled to get the shallow line going, trying all 3 of my shallow rigs to work out the best depth to catch, I even tried banded dead maggot, but could only catch mostly small carp.

So 2hrs (of 5½) into the match I probably had 30lb. To make something happen I started feeding slop and this was a turning point of my match, catching those much-needed bigger F1s, mostly at 8in deep.

As a back-up I fed micros and corn down each margin, fishing corn. I didn’t catch as quickly as I hoped, but the fish I did catch were a better stamp carp and proved to be a useful back up line.

At one point I was catching really quickly over the shallow line, putting 35lb in the net in the last 75mins. In total I fed nearly 4pts of slop, needless to say it was a bit messy.

Overall, a disappointingly slow start which probably cost me the frame, but at least I worked it out – eventually.

1.    130-  1 – Mark Poppleton – p2

2.    127-  7 – Roy Booth – p10

3.    123-15 – Steve Waters – p13

4.    109-  3 – Ken Rayner – p22

16/10/22 - Ivy House - Old Match Lake

Weight - 46lb 7oz (3lb 8oz - silvers)

Catch - 9 Carp, 8 Skimmers

Weather - Bright & sunny

Match - Open (18 fished) - 10th overall

P16 today on the Old Match Lake, so not far from where I was yesterday, however it has fished completely different. As well as a few more anglers on the lake, the breeze had dropped and it was bright and sunny.

 
I had nothing at 16m tapping pellets or short and it took me 55mins to net my first fish on the feeder. Jamie was catching on p18 and Phil on p15 had a couple of fish on the lead & bread casting between the islands, but generally most were struggling.
 
I tried fishing for skimmers, using the same tactics as yesterday, but it became obvious they weren’t feeding properly in the flat bright conditions. At the halfway point, I lost a big carp on the skimmer rig which broke me and with only 3½lb of silvers I didn’t see the point of setting up a new rig.
 
Therefore, for the last 2½hrs I focused on the carp as a late run particularly down the margin could pull me up into frame.
 
Pinging pellets at 16m only produced 2 fish and the straight lead to the island only 1 carp. So as time went by, I concentrated on the short line with 4s & 6s and down the right margin fed with micros and corn. Unfortunately, the margin only produced 1x 10lber on double corn, leaving the short line to produce the bulk of my fish on 6mm hair rigged pellet, but it was slow going.  
 
Overall a tricky day for most
 
1.    117- 5 – Jamie Dixey – p18
2.    107- 1 – Jeff Rogers – p5
3.      65- 6 – Chris Cotteral – p7
4.      65- 1 – Ricky Spitieri – p9
5.      64- 2 – Stu Foale – p23
Silvers
1.      18- 5 – Ricky Mills – p19
2.      18- 0 – Sid Webb – p8
3.        9- 2 – Billy Ockwell – p12
4.        7- 3 – Jamie Dixey – p18

15/10/22 - Ivy House - Old Match Lake

Weight - 57lb 11oz (16lb 14oz - silvers)

Catch - 25 Skimmers, 12 Carp

Weather - Sunny with cloudy periods and blustery

Match - Open (17 fished) - 1st in silvers 

After a lovely break in Mauritius where I still managed to do some fishing catching baby groupers and bream on plastic jigs off a jetty by the hotel, I was looking forward to getting back to Ivy House. 

We were spread across the Old Match Lake and Kingfisher. I fancied Kingfisher as I hadn’t been on there for a while, however I ended up on p14 on the Old Match Lake, the least favourite area of the lake. However, with a spare peg either side I at least had plenty of space.

I started off looking for carp, but only caught 2 small ones after 45mins and with the better pegs catching made up my mind to try for silvers.

 
I initially started off cautiously feeding a nugget of micros/groundbait at 13m and caught almost immediately on 4mm expanders. I noticed Andy Weston on p16 catch a couple of skimmers over a big pot of groundbait. So, I followed suit, feeding a big pot of groundbait, micros and dead maggot off to my left at 14m out of the way.
 
Over the next couple of hours, I rotated between the left hand 14m line and the negatively fed 13m line, picking up a couple of carp in amongst the skimmers. The 13m line I just kept topped up with a nugget of micros/groundbait, whilst the left hand 14m was topped up whenever bites stopped, catching mostly on expanders using double dead reds as a backup.
 
The last hour was a little frustrating as the carp woke up and I couldn’t catch any more skimmers. However, an enjoyable day, feeding 3pts of groundbait and a pint of micros.
 

1.    99-  8 – Steve Brown – p41
2.    94-  7 – Danny Richards – p5
3.    90-  3 – Steve Waters – p18
4.    63-  5 – Jeff Rogers – p37
5.    62-10 – Baggy – p10
Silvers
1.    16-14 – Ken Rayner – p14
2.    10-  7 – Glyn Loveday – p44
3.      9-11 – Steve Waters – p18
4.      9-  0 – Andy Weston – p16
5.      8-  1 – Tim Hadland – p8

27/09/22 - Ivy House - Old Match Lake

Weight - 56lb 0oz (11lb 4oz - silvers)

Catch - 11 Carp, 17 Skimmers

Weather - Mostly cloudy. Showers and sunny periods, with a gusty wind.

Match - Open (13 fished) - 3rd overall

I    Decided to jump on todays costcutter before my holiday in Mauritius. With the match spread over the Old Match Lake and Kingfisher there would be plenty of space.
 
It has been noticeable the weights have started to drop off recently and a potentially difficult day was likely, particularly as the weather forecast was for cloud and a cool wind. The number of showers was an added bonus.
 
I ended up on p5 which is the shallowest on the lake and I quite fancied it, assuming the wind would allow me to fish 16m to the bottom of the island shelf.
 
As the lake had been fishing a little hard recently, I decided to start very cautiously so no big potting of bait and just feel my way into the match. I started on a mini method feeder and 6mm yellow gofter and had hooked a 4lb carp, but the hook pulled at the net!
 
With no more bites on the method, I switched to fishing a hair rigged 4mm pellet at 16m tapping in a few 4s and lost my 2^nd carp at the net – not happy! Fortunately, the next one was landed, followed by a skimmer and a couple more carp to get up and running.
 
A further carp and couple more skimmers on 6mm pellet or corn at 7m were welcome but short lived. After 2hrs the wind was now really tricky and presenting the bait at 16m was increasingly difficult. Therefore, I set up a new swim in slightly deeper water at 15m fishing a heavier rig, feeding nuggets of micros and groundbait, fishing a 4mm expander to try and get some bites. Over the next 90mins I caught more skimmers, plus a couple more carp.
 
With 90mins remaining I was hoping to catch down my margins. The right margin was too shallow in the cool weather, but the left side was slightly deeper, and this is where I fed mostly micros and corn.
 
I had tried fishing the straight lead over pinged pellet, but never had a bite and fishing 16m in the wind was becoming a real pain. So, I was relying on my short line to produce, which it did, catching a few better sized carp and more skimmers all on corn. The margin only produced an 8lber late on.
 

1.    115- 4 – Mick O’Brien - p8
2.      56- 2 – Alan Smith – p10
3.      56- 0 – Ken Rayner – p5
4.      55-12 – Val Murray – p43
Silvers
1.      20- 2 – Alan Smith – p10
2.      17- 0 – Pete Ziemniak – p1
3.      13- 0 – Sid – p41
4.      11- 4 – Ken Rayner – p5

25/09/22 - Goodiford Mill - Match Lake

Weight - 66lb 2oz

Catch - 13 Carp, 5 Skimmers, 2 Roach

Weather - Chilly start, mostly sunny and flat, cloudy later.

Match - So Simple League - rd 8 (18 fished) - 11th overall (4th in section)

The last round of the So Simple league and I was lying 2^nd courtesy of a better weight advantage as 3 of us (Karl, Gary and myself) were all on the same number of points.

When I drew peg 1, I initially thought I would be able to cast to the island on my right with the willow tree, but when Chris Whitehead turned up on p51 I realised that wouldn’t be possible. With Phil Hart on peg 2, I had no features to fish to, just open water.

I was told there was a bar and to fish on top of this, although no one could tell me exactly where it was. Plumbing around revealed a very slightly shallower spot about 30m out, but no bar. I was also told it was a good peg for the pellet waggler, however it was a very chilly start, bright and there was no ripple. Other than fishing the open water I had very few options. I set up a pole line at 13m fed with 4s and a margin rig which I wasn’t hopeful about as the pegs either side were quite tight.

Well, the first 3 hours was a struggle, I only had 1 skimmer on the method, 3 carp and 2 big roach on the waggler and a few silvers on the pole. I was long way behind everyone in my section, as they all had shallow water or islands to target, which it soon became obvious the fish preferred to be and not on the deck in 5ft of water.

At the halfway stage, I was going nowhere and felt I had to force the peg, dumping a pint of 8s via a catapult in 5mins. This seemed to work, as I managed to pull in a few carp catching a further 5 carp on the waggler and 5 on the straight lead and red 8mm gonut up to 10lb. In total I fed 6pts of 8s, which was all I had!

I’m pleased I managed to pull back 2 section places, but I needed a further 35lb to claim 3^rd in section. Unfortunately, lost fish was a problem, either due to a snag or some of the carp had poor mouths resulting in hook pulls, which was quite frustrating.

In the end I finished 4^th overall, collecting £125. Karl managed to win his section, to claim 2nd, although there is a suggestion, he was coached all the way by Giff – lol. Gary had a similar match to me, and Chris Whitehead claimed 2^nd in section to finish on the same number of points as me and claimed 3^rd spot by 4lb. So, a tight finish and well done to Chris ‘Giff’ Ware who comfortably won the league.

It has been an interesting league due to the variety of venues; it was just unfortunate that Durleigh didn’t fish as well as expected. However, it was good to meet up with a good bunch of lads and an enjoyable league fished in good spirit, it was just a shame that Andy was unable to attend as he waits for a knee operation.

1.    161-10 – Elliot Faye – p7

2.    148- 8 – Karl Turner – p28

3.    134- 4 – Andy Bull – p36

4.    117- 3 – Simon Poynter – p16

5.    113-11 – Chris Whitehead – p51

17/09/22 - Glebe - Pool 7

Weight - 140lb 13oz

Catch - 23 Carp, 1 Skimmer

Weather - Sunny, strong northerly breeze

Match - 2 dayer (15 fished) - 8th overall, 3rd in section

Another end peg for me in the shape of p109 on pool 7 and a few screwed up faces on the locals suggested it hasn’t been the best. With a northerly breeze blowing in the end bank, I was hopeful for a few fish.

As I set up the wind was quite light, so I plumbed up at 13m where it starts to shallow up feeding 4s and 13m off to my left fed with micros and corn. Well, the first 90mins was a struggle. I couldn’t get a bite at 13m out in front and hooked 2 carp to my left on corn. The hooklength snapped on the first and then the elastic snapped at the connector for the second.

I did catch 1 carp on the straight lead and pellet over the 13m line, but with an increasingly strong breeze the tow had picked up and I decided to sack off the 13m lines.

I had already been pinging 4s into the end bank, as well as pinging 8s long to fish the straight lead as a backup line.

Switching to the end bank toss potting baninion boosted corn and micros with corn on the hook, I started catching and feeling much better about things. I lost a few foul hookers, but generally most fish were hooked properly including a few decent fish.

At the halfway point the swim was fading a bit and whilst I let it rest, I caught a few fish on the straight lead and 8mm pellet. Moving back to the end bank it was still tricky, mostly because the wind had increased. Switching to a heavier rig helped.

I had been feeding 6s on a short line, but never had a bite and my lead line didn’t produce any more, which just left my left hand margin. I had given the swim regular pots of corn and micros and first drop in produced a 12lber on double corn.

The last 90mins was steady swapping between the end bank and margin. By the end I caught more than expected, but I was a little disappointed as I missed out on 2^nd in section by 7lb and winning the section by 22lb. With a few better choices earlier (and local knowledge) I should have pushed for the section win.

Pool 6 was the place to be as everyone caught over 200lb.

An enjoyable 2 days and I just wish it was a little closer to home.