Back on the club scene this week and a hastily arranged match on the Road Lake at Puddledock Farm Fishery in Essex. It seems rather strange to me that people say the club scene is dying, anglers are not fishing opens but are fishing the bigger matches and festivals. I look around and I see plenty of club matches on local fisheries, small opens (upto 30 anglers) having a waiting list and the larger matches having a reserve list. Our club Marsh AC is holding its own which is amazing as the most you can win is a tenner, we have a match approximately once a month, which fills out normally and allows a couple of guest appearances. Everyone gets on and offers plenty of advice and banter along the way.
Anyway onto the match. I was being chauffeured today by Mick who arranged to pick me up at 0615. Troy and Pete had accepted a couple of invites and would join us on the journey. Most of us try to catch a few fish, however these two are more concerned with the quality of the breakfasts available. We made good time along the M1 and through the roadworks on the M25 so it was pleasant to see everyone congregating for the draw at 0800. Troy and Pete both joined the club and were now members in their own right. After drawing for pegs I found myself on peg 8 in an area that will get any wind that blows, however it was close to where I was in the previous two years where I had done well. Mick had drawn peg 28 on the opposite side of the lake in the flat calm, a habit he is enjoying. Pete was a couple of pegs up from me on peg 11 whilst Troy had drawn peg 2 on the point of the island. I got myself tackled up and then called over to Mick for breakfast. A few others had already gone and returned so the tackle was safe.
10 past 10 and the all in was called. I had opted to start on the bomb tight across firing a mix of 8mm hard pellets across. Second put in and the tip goes round and a nice 2lb common was in the net. Another followed suit and after 15minutes I had 4lb in the net before the line switched off. Tony Roberts next door on peg 7 was trying to fish the long pole but the wind was getting up and he was struggling to hold the pole and float still. I had a line set up to fish catmeat at 12.5m and although I could hold the float steady by adding extra line above the float I could not connect with many bites. I even tried fishing catmeat up in the water with a sight blob push over the float bristle to stop it sinking. A look down the margins and at 5m produced a solitary skimmer but no other bites on Stinky Corn. Word was that Mick had landed a double from his margin and John Holdsworth had secured two doubles in two casts down the edge on maggot.
Another go on the bomb and another couple of carp upto 4lb on a hair-rigged hard 8mm pellet before it again went quiet. I was possibly overfeeding and decided to slow down the feed rate. Alas the same occurred a couple of fish then nothing. I kept on rotating between swims and started connecting with a few carp and skimmers at 12.5m and across.
Troy was struggling despite trying to fish long, short and middle, down the edge and tight across to the island. Pete was getting a few fish but was getting battered by John next door. Dave Collier and Tony Roberts were picking up odd fish on the method. Oh and Mick was still catching although slowly, down the edge on meat.
I decided to keep feeding the margin in the hope that a lump or two may show in the last hour. I stopped the 5m line and concentrated on across and 12.5m giving it half and hour at a time, unless I started catching well.
The remainder of the match went pretty much the same as the start. Just odd fish on both lines including a foul hooker on 12.5 which snapped me off at the hooklength and an angry carp which broke me at the clip on the bomb. Costly mistakes.
Overall the lake had fished better than the previous two years with more consistent weights across the whole lake rather than in pockets.
Overall
1st Mick Wright 57-4
2nd John Holdsworth 56-12
3rd Simon Watkins 51-08
4th Jim Boase 44-00
5th Tony Roberts 41-08
6th Keith Ashby 41-04
So another MK Nugget goes to Mick and he has managed to reduce the deficit to 7-3. No fishing for a couple of weeks now as Grandad duties are kicking in with my Grandson's birthday on the 20th and a trip to see Thomas the Tank Engine on the 19th.
Sunday 13 April 2014
Wednesday 2 April 2014
Oakfield 02 04 14
It has been a few years since my last visit to Oakfield Fishery near Aylesbury. Previously there were a couple of match lakes which were rotated to give the best possible fishing. How things have changed. They now have three dedicated match lakes. Brook, Swallow and Red Kite, the latter being new and one I had not seen before let alone fish. It was still under construction then.
Todays match would see Swallow and Red Kite in action with 18 anglers in attendance, including Mick Wright, my travelling partner and myself. I must admit that although I hold a 6-2 lead over Mick in the MK Nugget stakes, the last two times I have had to sit watching him catch plenty of fish whilst I sat struggling.
After a short 3/4hour trip to the venue, we duly paid our pools money and tucked into breakfast whilst waiting for the rest to turn up. It was good to see plenty of old faces again. Draw time soon came round and in goes the hand and out pops peg 23 on Red Kite. Mick follows and is rewarded with peg 18 on Swallow ( a good peg on the point) (he can still draw well). Better still was the fact he was out of sight. A quick chat with Nick Bryan the match organiser and I had a plan for Red Kite.
Fortunately corn had been catching plenty of F1s and odd carp from the lake and this is what would form my main line of attack. I would start at 12m on the deck before switching to top 4 after an hour and having a look down both sides if I was struggling.
Having plumbed up at 12m I found around 4ft with it sloping slightly to my left. Although it was still relatively flattish. I would fish Stinky Corn over balls of fishery micros on this line. I set up a .4g MW Power Diamond on .16 Colmic Stream to a PR36 with a small bulk 18inches from the hook and 2 number 10 Stotz droppers.
Coming onto the top 4 line I had the same depth, but set up an identical rig to the 12m and would loose feed corn regularly over the top and fish Stinky Corn on the hook.
In the margins I had only 18inches by both platforms, my plan here was to fish meat to my left over micros and corn to my right again over micros. I set up two NG Edgers and set both slightly overdepth due to the tow.
At the all in I cupped a pot of pellet and corn onto 12m and another pot to my right hand margin. A pot of pellet with around 20 cubes of meat went to the left hand margin and around a dozen grains of corn were thrown at 5m. Starting off at 12m I had a bite first put in, lightning quick and missed. I then struggled to get a bite, the float was moving too quick in the tow. I added more depth to the rig and although it slowed the float down I was not getting bites quick enough. After 15minutes I connected with my first Red Kite F1 around the pound mark. Another followed soon after. Barry Eddy opposite was catching a few fish by fishing long but everyone else was picking off odd fish. A move to 2+2 saw me catch a 2lb bream first put in followed by a good run of F1s to give me some confidence. After 2 hours I reckoned on around 15lb in the net. I had a quick look down both margins with only a couple of small F1s to show for my efforts so was soon back out to 5m. I found that the fish would back off slightly then come back in so added another section when it went quiet. This would bring me a few more fish. I was not setting the world alight but was enjoying the days fishing. After 4 hours I reckoned on 45lb of mainly F1s with a couple of small 3lb carp mixed in. I decided to fish the margins again during a quiet spell and was rewarded with a nice carp around 6lb on the Stinky Corn. I never had a bite down the edge on meat. I was now putting fish in the net on a regular basis, mainly F1s to 2lb. I found that toss potting after every third fish kept bites coming but the wind was playing havoc with presentation.
At the all out I reckoned on around 70lb, which I was happy with, seeing as it was my first visit to the lake. Barry Eddy (97-09) had caught steadily all day and the far bank was where you needed to be on the day. My 73-08 would beat the anglers on my side of the lake but would fall short. In hindsight I should have fished a heavier rig and lighter elastics down the edge as I had bumped a lot of fish, but a lesson learnt. Mick had also had a good days fishing on Peg 18 on Swallow and I arrived just in time to witness 72-00 fall just short of a MK Nugget, so it is now 7-2 in my favour. Mal Talbot winning from peg 20 with 155lb.
Overall
1st Mal Talbot 154-15 Swallow 20
2nd Steve Nicholls 109-10 Swallow 4
3rd Barry Eddy 97-09 Red Kite 14
4th John Hiron 87-00 Red Kite 18
5th Nick Bryan 86-06 Swallow 11
6th Pete Neal 83-08 Red Kite 10
Both Mick and I enjoyed our day at Oakfield, it made a welcome change and provided us both with a match when unable to fish the Tuesday Opens at Alders Farm.
Finally, I would like to mention that www.bulkfishingbaits.com is back up and running. After illness and restructuring with new management at the helm I hope it goes from strength to strength. They stock plenty of pellets, boilies and both liquid and powder additives all competitively priced with more lines being added weekly. Have a look and place your order.
Todays match would see Swallow and Red Kite in action with 18 anglers in attendance, including Mick Wright, my travelling partner and myself. I must admit that although I hold a 6-2 lead over Mick in the MK Nugget stakes, the last two times I have had to sit watching him catch plenty of fish whilst I sat struggling.
After a short 3/4hour trip to the venue, we duly paid our pools money and tucked into breakfast whilst waiting for the rest to turn up. It was good to see plenty of old faces again. Draw time soon came round and in goes the hand and out pops peg 23 on Red Kite. Mick follows and is rewarded with peg 18 on Swallow ( a good peg on the point) (he can still draw well). Better still was the fact he was out of sight. A quick chat with Nick Bryan the match organiser and I had a plan for Red Kite.
Fortunately corn had been catching plenty of F1s and odd carp from the lake and this is what would form my main line of attack. I would start at 12m on the deck before switching to top 4 after an hour and having a look down both sides if I was struggling.
Having plumbed up at 12m I found around 4ft with it sloping slightly to my left. Although it was still relatively flattish. I would fish Stinky Corn over balls of fishery micros on this line. I set up a .4g MW Power Diamond on .16 Colmic Stream to a PR36 with a small bulk 18inches from the hook and 2 number 10 Stotz droppers.
Coming onto the top 4 line I had the same depth, but set up an identical rig to the 12m and would loose feed corn regularly over the top and fish Stinky Corn on the hook.
In the margins I had only 18inches by both platforms, my plan here was to fish meat to my left over micros and corn to my right again over micros. I set up two NG Edgers and set both slightly overdepth due to the tow.
At the all in I cupped a pot of pellet and corn onto 12m and another pot to my right hand margin. A pot of pellet with around 20 cubes of meat went to the left hand margin and around a dozen grains of corn were thrown at 5m. Starting off at 12m I had a bite first put in, lightning quick and missed. I then struggled to get a bite, the float was moving too quick in the tow. I added more depth to the rig and although it slowed the float down I was not getting bites quick enough. After 15minutes I connected with my first Red Kite F1 around the pound mark. Another followed soon after. Barry Eddy opposite was catching a few fish by fishing long but everyone else was picking off odd fish. A move to 2+2 saw me catch a 2lb bream first put in followed by a good run of F1s to give me some confidence. After 2 hours I reckoned on around 15lb in the net. I had a quick look down both margins with only a couple of small F1s to show for my efforts so was soon back out to 5m. I found that the fish would back off slightly then come back in so added another section when it went quiet. This would bring me a few more fish. I was not setting the world alight but was enjoying the days fishing. After 4 hours I reckoned on 45lb of mainly F1s with a couple of small 3lb carp mixed in. I decided to fish the margins again during a quiet spell and was rewarded with a nice carp around 6lb on the Stinky Corn. I never had a bite down the edge on meat. I was now putting fish in the net on a regular basis, mainly F1s to 2lb. I found that toss potting after every third fish kept bites coming but the wind was playing havoc with presentation.
At the all out I reckoned on around 70lb, which I was happy with, seeing as it was my first visit to the lake. Barry Eddy (97-09) had caught steadily all day and the far bank was where you needed to be on the day. My 73-08 would beat the anglers on my side of the lake but would fall short. In hindsight I should have fished a heavier rig and lighter elastics down the edge as I had bumped a lot of fish, but a lesson learnt. Mick had also had a good days fishing on Peg 18 on Swallow and I arrived just in time to witness 72-00 fall just short of a MK Nugget, so it is now 7-2 in my favour. Mal Talbot winning from peg 20 with 155lb.
Overall
1st Mal Talbot 154-15 Swallow 20
2nd Steve Nicholls 109-10 Swallow 4
3rd Barry Eddy 97-09 Red Kite 14
4th John Hiron 87-00 Red Kite 18
5th Nick Bryan 86-06 Swallow 11
6th Pete Neal 83-08 Red Kite 10
Both Mick and I enjoyed our day at Oakfield, it made a welcome change and provided us both with a match when unable to fish the Tuesday Opens at Alders Farm.
Finally, I would like to mention that www.bulkfishingbaits.com is back up and running. After illness and restructuring with new management at the helm I hope it goes from strength to strength. They stock plenty of pellets, boilies and both liquid and powder additives all competitively priced with more lines being added weekly. Have a look and place your order.
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