Wednesday 19 November 2014

Oakfield Open 19 11 14

With a spare day off work and a couple of pints of maggot spare, I booked in late (it was so late they added the peg in as I arrived) to the midweek open at Oakfield. I had fished it last week and I fished really poor, could only get a bite on maggot at 12m and not only missed a lot of bites, the ones I hit were tiny fish.
I could not let it beat me up though so armed with corn, expanders, hard pellet and maggot I was confident of getting a few of the carp and f1's.
I arrived nice and early to be greeted by Nick who took my money whilst John was busy making me a bacon sarnie.
Both lakes were in again and Red Kite 4 stuck to my hand. A good draw in a good area with the light breeze pushing down our end of the lake. However as last week I set up to fish 12m but this time decided to fish 3 lines at 6m all fed differently to see if I could get something to work. I also set up a line in front of peg 3.
Last week I fished baits over GB. This did not seem to work so today I cut it out completely and fished over micros. At 12m I cupped in a half pot of micros with a few grains of corn. 6m left was just half a pot of micros, 6m straight out micros and maggot, and right was micros and corn. The margin line was just corn, no micros.
I started off at 12m and drip fed a toss pot of micros and 3 grains of corn. Within 10minutes I had my first bite an f1 around 2lb. Ten minutes more go by and another f1 around the pound mark. However despite persevering and trying other baits on this line no more bites were forthcoming. I re-fed another half pot of micros and a few grains of corn and moved to 6m left.
A couple of put in's saw a micro carp around 2oz take an expander, followed by a gudgeon. A move to straight out saw a couple of missed bites on maggot before another micro carp took the bait. The right hand line was primed with corn and micros and having left it an hour and a half I was hoping it would bury first put in and I would go onto win the match by a comfortable margin. The truth is I never had a bite on it all match, nor the margin which I tried occasionally.
The only place I could get a bite was at 12m and then it was a case of drop in and wait. The tow had started to pick up a little and the float was moving a bit so I switched to a slightly heavier rig and this seemed to stay still better. I did catch a few more f1's but was never in the race by the time the scales came round. I did fare better than the guy on peg 1 who had 3 f1's but was battered by the pegs on the opposite bank and decided to not weigh in.
To be honest, I do not know where I am going wrong at Oakfield. It is mid November and the lake was won by Pete Archer fishing deep shallow on the pole. A few of the other anglers had a couple of tip fish but were still sitting motionless for a long time.
Overall
1st Steve Nicholls               55-03   Swallow 16
2nd Pete Archer                  46-10   Red Kite 32
3rd Dick Ashby                  38-14   Swallow 11
4th Barry Edwards             37 -01   Red Kite 24
5th Gordon Worrall            34-12  Swallow 23
6th Pete Alland                  30-14   Swallow 5





Tuesday 18 November 2014

Alders Farm Oaks Lake 18 11 14

Not only did I lose a nugget last time out to Mick, I fished like an absolute idiot, in hindsight. I got it all wrong right from the off and never looked like catching a few. Still today is another day.
Last Tuesday's match was on Oaks Lake and today was no different. Ten hardy souls braved the cool winter weather but at least the rain would hold off. It was fresh but not too bad for the time of year.
With monies paid, and the peg numbers sorted I was hoping for a repeat of last weeks dr aw where peg 1 was my home if not a draw from 6 to 9 would be good. However, peg 3 was to be my home for the next five hours. I had Dennis on 4 and Del Smith on 2 with Charlie Lancaster on the flyer peg 1. John Hewison was on 5 with Terry Lancaster on 6, Madd (7) Ken on peg 8 and Lee Taylor on 9. Trevor had end peg 10 and would be hard to beat from his favourite peg on the complex.
I decided to forget about margin fishing and catch what was in front of me for five hours. I pulled a deep rig from my box and found that at 11m it would sit nicely. A similar approach found 9m to my left hand line and with 4ft on my right hand swim I was set. I opted to fish expander to my left and corn to the right leaving me to fish maggot or expander on the long 11m line.
I fed both the right and 11m line with micros with a few grains of corn or expander in the mix, whilst the left hand swim was fed with ground bait and expanders.
Starting off on the 11m line I was soon into a steady procession of small carp. Nothing over a pound but I was catching a few. I was feeding a tosspot every put in with 4 maggots and a pinch of micros and this seemed to be working as after an hour I reckoned on around 15lb. I could hear Charlie catching well down the edge and proper fish too. Lee Taylor was getting a few fish from the island on the tip. Madd had snared a good carp and was getting a few fish but not regularly. It was head down time. Hours two and three were steady apart from a spell in the middle where I only had two fish in around half an hour's fishing.
I re-fed this line with a half pot of micros and maggot/expander mix and tried both the side lines, with only 2 fish to show for 20 minutes. Still nothing over a pound came to the net but the float was going under. Back to 11m and a switch to expander brought a few skimmers before again the small carp returned and pushed them out. Going into the last hour I had 50lb and hoped a few of the larger fish would come in over this line, I had fed it religiously every put in and placed a grain of corn on the hook, but still the small carp came. Maggot was probably best bait on the day with Almond Expanders a close second.
Overall
1st Trevor Price                              159-15
2nd Charlie Lancaster                     146-05
3rd Lee Taylor                                84-03
4th Keith Ashby                             61-11
5th Del Smith                                 49-05
6th Phil "Madd" Young                 47-01


Personally I think I fished it right today and walked away thinking I could not have done anything different. I caught what was in front of me which was my aim. It would have been nice if a few of the larger specimens had come out to play but you cannot have everything. Shame Mick is never here when I fish well.

Saturday 15 November 2014

Oakfield Open 12 11 14

A lot of you will know that the MK Nugget is contested by Mick Wright and myself over the course of a year. All was fine until I was asked to swap shifts in July. It meant our normal matches were curtailed and we had to plan in advance our matches. Today was one of these matches. Not at one of our normal haunts but it made a nice change to pop over to Oakfield Fishery near Aylesbury.
Mick had agreed to pick me up in return for a breakfast and to avoid the queues around the roadworks at Buckingham we set off around 0645. We arrived nice and early for the draw but breakfast took up some of the time.
At the draw we were told there would be 14 fishing so they would split the match over both Red Kite and Swallow lakes. I was hoping for a peg on Swallow  but I ended up on Peg 8 on Red Kite, with Mick on the end peg on our bank,18.
The wind would be tricky today, It was blowing directly into our faces and coupled with rain, it was obvious that I would be getting wet today. I do not like umbrellas.
I decided to fish a line at 12m with expander or hard pellet, A line at 5m with corn and a margin line to the pallet on peg 7 for a maggot approach.
The strange thing I noticed was that there was very little tow on the water and I could easily use a MW Diamond in 5ft of water. Hooklength's were .13 to a size 18 B911. For the 5m line I used a similar float in .3g for 3ft of water to a size 16 PR36 fished direct. Margin line was .18 Stroft and a NG Mini Diamond to a size 16 PR36.
At the all in I potted in a pot of small balls of micros on each line followed by a half pot of the intended hookbait for each swim.
Starting off at 12m I missed my first bite after 5minutes but was soon into my first f1 around 2lb, next put in and another followed after a couple of minutes wait. Then nothing. I re-fed and tried the 5m line. Nothing and 20 minutes wasted. A quick look down the side on maggot and no indications or bites. Back out to 12m and nothing. Switching from expander to hard pellet made no difference, indeed the only thing I could get a bite on was maggot and a small skimmer and a gudgeon were placed in the net. That was my match. I could not get a bite on anything bar maggot and these were only small blades, no carp or f1s. To say I was disappointed was an under estimation. I had looked forward to this match and felt gutted that I had let this one slip.
Mick had also struggled but had persevered on a top three line for 12lb to comfortably beat me for the nugget, making it 12-11 in my favour with one match left to go.

Tuesday 11 November 2014

Alders Farm Oaks Lake 11 11 14

I always try to support my local fishery Alders Farm when I can and if shifts at work allow I always book into the regular Tuesday Opens. Not only are they normally well attended but are spread out across the fishery. To be honest, it would do my head in if it was on the same lake week in week out. Last week I suffered on peg 21 on the match lake and was hoping my drawing arm improved this week.
There were 8 of us fishing this week and as always it was nice and friendly, something else I enjoy, it was pegged 4 on each side of Oaks Lake. Charlie pegged it out whilst Trevor was sorting out bait, etc. I collected the monies and with everyone paid up it was draw time. I fancied a peg in the trees. That had been kind in the past and with a bit of wind on it, I really fancied it. However, peg 1 stuck to my hand and I was still pleased even though I was on the wrong bank. Peg 1 is the first peg on the lake with overhanging trees into the water at 10m to the left. It normally holds some carp, but it often depends on whether you can get them out. I also set up to fish at 12m straight out but would only go over it if the wind dropped enough to control the pole. I also plumbed a line at 2+2 where I could get out of the wind but was doubtful any skimmers or carp would venture so close as the water was fairly clear.
At the all in I cupped a pot of micros to 12m and top 4 lines and a mixed pot of micro and corn to the tree at 10m. With the wind dropped I thought it best to have a go long whilst I could. After 10 minutes and nothing to show for it I re-fed the line and dropped in close. I had a couple of small carp on expander coated with pineapple Gellit before it went quiet. Time to look to the tree. Six put ins saw six Rudd, a switch to a bulk rig fished dead depth with stinky corn saw a procession of carp to around 3lb. I was know catching well and after 2 hours put another net in as I thought I might need it. I reckoned on 50lb in that net and was going well. With a third net in, I started to put a few fish in before it went quiet. I re-fed again and switched out to 12m. A couple of 5lb fish on this line boosted an already decent weight. However it never lasted and I was waiting too long for a bite, albeit better fish. I could catch smaller fish quicker and hoped that I could catch enough from the 10m tree line to see me over the line.
I could see Charlie catching from peg 8 opposite and Terry was getting a mix of carp and Skimmers so was hard to judge. Trevor is a fish so I knew he would be there or thereabouts. John next door on peg 2 had secured a personal best carp in the region of 15lb and was elated to have done this in his first match.
I found that by fishing out a bit further from the tree line I was still getting bites but was struggling to hit them. I did not think the fish were up in the water because I tried this a couple of times for nothing. I kept plugging away and hoped for a good last hour however it was not to be and only four fish came to the net.
Overall
1st Charlie Lancaster           127-10
2nd Keith Ashby                  113-00
3rd Terry Lancaster               77-12
4th Hugh Crawford               77-00
5th Nick Rowe                      73-00
6th Trevor Price                    67-15
I feel after this match that I fished it about right today, I only lost one fish all day and that was from the 12m. I am not sure that micros were the right thing for down the side but it is certainly something I can work on over the next few months.

Tuesday 4 November 2014

Alders Farm Ash Lake 04 11 14

My first venture to Alders for a few weeks and I was biting at the bit to get amongst the resident carp and have a decent day where the float kept going under. However, the weather gods had decided a different day was to be had. I awoke to the first frost of the year, never a good sign, with a plan to rain between 2pm and 4pm.
I made my way through the daily commute and pulled into the fishery to be greeted by Lewis, the new fishery owner, who explained some of his plans for the future. Allowing youngsters on the fishery, improvements already made to the cafĂ© and a far bit of TLC to the lakes and surrounding areas. It certainly all fits into his plan of having coaching days for both adults and youngsters, linking up with local schools and clubs who will thrive on the first hand knowledge available from the team at Alders.
As I said earlier I had not been to Alders for a while and the only information I could glean was from the recent winter league matches. It seemed to be a maggot/ground-bait combination or a pellet approach which was doing all the damage. But, I fancied a day on the corn and set my stall out accordingly. I was pegged on peg 21 on the dam wall and had 3ft at a top three and was confident I could get them going if they were there. I also set a couple of margin rigs up to fish the pallets either side, one with pellet, the other corn.
I had Madd for company on peg 23 who would be fishing pellet or maggot throughout. At the all in I potted a half pot of corn and pellet to my left and a full pot of pellet to the platform to my right. I threw a few grains of corn to the top three line and lowered a pineapple "gellited" corn with no immediate bites. After 5 minutes I was starting to get indications but they were minute twitches of the float. A few alterations to the shotting pattern and I was soon into my first fish, a common around 2lb. His brother soon followed and after an hour I had around 8 fish. Not the start I wanted but hopefully as the sun came up and warmed the water, things would improve. Hour two was also slow and by the end of the hour I was reaching for the margin rigs. One fish from the right hand edge, and I was back out to top three.
I could see Vic, who was celebrating his 57th birthday, or as he says 19 again and again, catching from peg 5 whilst Charlie was getting a few from peg 7. Madd was starting to get a few close to the platform on 24, after a slow start and Dell Smith on 26 was also amongst them. I must also say that the banter was second to none with nearly everyone contributing to a game of Popquiz at some stage of another and Terry Lancaster singing along to Jerry Lee Lewis and Little Richard.
Hour three and four improved a little bringing my total to 45 fish and around a ton. I decided to have a proper look down the edge in the last hour, partly due to seeing a few tails in the pegs but also because I was going no where on the top three line. The first 10 minutes were quiet before the float dipped and a 5lb fish was in the net, I re-fed and again waited for 10 minutes before another 5lb fish. A couple more followed and I estimated I had around 150lb. I ended up just a little short on 143-11 for nowhere, but was glad to blow the cobwebs off and see the float go under.
Overall
1st Colin Spencer                337-0
2nd Dell Smith                    268-13
3rd Charlie Lancaster         213-14
4th Trevor Price                  210-0
5th Vic Nugent                   204-12
6th Terry Lancaster            188-06


Good to be back at Alders and I will be back next week as my shifts fall nicely.