Well the winter weather has finally kicked in. Woke up to see the first proper frost of the year. We just get rid of Abigail and Barney and straight into the cold winds from the Arctic Circle. At least today stayed relatively mild considering the overnight frost. I comfortable all day in a set of thermals, track suit bottoms, T Shirt and hoodie underneath my Bib and Brace.
I always make a note of the first frosts because it is the time of year that I scale down my gear. Gone are the .18 line and now .14 with .12 hooklengths. Smaller hooks are the norm and have started using the B911 F1 hooks and have been impressed in the smaller sizes.
Today I was guesting with the Maver team, and would end up on peg 15 on Pines, not really where I fancied being, but you cannot get it right everytime. Peg 15 is a good summer peg, it has good margins and you can fish the edge of the island with a small feeder or bomb, or fish the pole at length where you will find 3ft of water.
I decided to start off the match fishing banded pellet at 12m feeding 3 or 4 4mm fishery pellets every 30 seconds, after 20 minutes and no bites I decided to feed a small pot of micros on this line with a few maggots in. Another 10 minutes passed and the float goes and I have foul hooked a carp which promptly shed the hook. I shallow up a touch and next put in the same thing happens. I switch to a lighter elastic but for no reason I cannot get a bite. After an hour and a half I have my first fish in the net at around 3lb. A relief because I seriously thought a blank was possible today. I was behind the guy on 12 who had caught two good fish, but the angler on 10 was still biteless. A switch to 14.5m to the right saw another fish come, this time on Amino Chocco Maggot. but it was the only bite for 20 minutes. I refed the line and went back to the line in front of me. It was hard going, you would not get a bite, regardless of feeding. I felt as if no matter what i did it would not make a difference. I pinged, tosspotted, big pot little pot it made no difference. I even tried fishing shallow for 20 minutes for no bites. The margins were a no no as I could see the bottom 10ft from the bank, it was that clear.
I did manage another couple of carp on the maggot towards the island, and to be honest thought it was all I could get from the peg, today.
Our section was won with 49lb by Colin Fossdyke, Roy Makins turned in 32lb and my 12-11 was only good for 6th in section. There were definately no fish up our end of the lake, with the other section on the lake fishing more consistently, although still hard.
Sunday 22 November 2015
Sunday 8 November 2015
How End Yasi's 08 11 15
We have all said it before, we will have to go there one day, well I have been saying that about How End Fishery since it opened. There are two lakes on the complex, Yasi's and Dani's and both are liberally stocked with carp, skimmers, chub, ide and barbel. You get bites on any method, dependant on the weather. It is not all pellet either as most of the top weights come from maggot, caster or worm. So as you can see it is a proper mixed fishery, where bites can be had. Something I have needed of late. On site is a furnished tackle shop with bait available on the day. What more can you want on a November morning.
I had been talking with Nick Rowe on FB and he suggested we go on the weekend betweens winter league commitments. I arranged to meet him at the Little Chef at Marston Moretaine and after a breakfast we were soon pulling into Phil Stones (Pebs) little paradise. He had built the venue from scratch and looked at it from a match angler's perspective. I must admit I was impressed. The lake we were to fish was Yasi's, Nick had booked us both into a small club match to have a competitive edge to the day. My home was peg 5, and not a good peg according to Trevor Jeans, a venue regular, and who had drawn next to me on 6. At least I could talk to someone I knew. Nick had drawn peg 13 and a lot better area.
Yasi's has an island at 13m which runs through the middle of the lake, I had been told to start long in the shallow water and then settle in at the bottom of the far shelf, I also set a rig to fish at the bottom of the near shelf in the deepest water I could find, this was at around 5m. I also set up a margin line but did not expect to catch here, as there was plenty of dying rushes getting in the way and very little colour in the edge.
For across i fished a MW Rattler float taking just 2 no10 stotz, this was on .14 stroft to a .12 hooklength which I had tied with a B911 F1 size 20 hook, this was for fishing either single maggot or double pinkie and was set to fish in 18inches of water.
My long deep line was at around 10m where I could find 4ft of water and fished a NG .4g Deano float, I had bought these earlier in the year and never tried them but today I felt it was the right conditions. Again it was .14 to .12 and a size 20 B911 F1 hook. My near line at 5m was again a NG Deano set another 5inches deeper, this time to a size 16 B911 F1 hook. All my elastics were either grey hydro or white hydro.
At the all in I decided to hang back a minute and see how everyone around me started off, no one potted in, so I decided to go with a toss pot approach that was similar to the locals. With a single maggot on the hook I shipped across and started getting tiny indications and soon switched to double pinkie. This did the trick as a couple of nano ide came to rest in my keepnet. A dull spell after around 15 minutes and I started coming back towards the shelf. Back on the maggot and a couple of Ide around the 1lb mark before again this line went quiet. Back to 13m and nothing, A couple more Ide came and after about 2 hours I reckoned on having 8 Ide for about 10lb.
I had been throwing around 8-10 maggots out to 5m since the start and decided to have a quick look and see if the fish were in the deepest part of the peg. I had a good run of Ide and a single skimmer all on double maggot hookbait. Trevor was matching me fish for fish but slowly I was pulling away from him. Then as I was getting into a rhythm, it was over, no more bites, I tried different shotting patterns but still nothing. I was back out to 10m and getting odd indications on this line but time was running out. I needed to get a couple more fish to fend off the barbel and carp Trevor had caught, so upped the feed rate and this seemed to do the trick as more bites were forthcoming. At the all out I was playing another Ide and unfortunately it came off on the way back. I hoped it would not be costly. By all accounts it had fished hard, yet I had thoroughly enjoyed myself. I had to work at getting bites and trying to hook those crafty Ide.
I had been talking with Nick Rowe on FB and he suggested we go on the weekend betweens winter league commitments. I arranged to meet him at the Little Chef at Marston Moretaine and after a breakfast we were soon pulling into Phil Stones (Pebs) little paradise. He had built the venue from scratch and looked at it from a match angler's perspective. I must admit I was impressed. The lake we were to fish was Yasi's, Nick had booked us both into a small club match to have a competitive edge to the day. My home was peg 5, and not a good peg according to Trevor Jeans, a venue regular, and who had drawn next to me on 6. At least I could talk to someone I knew. Nick had drawn peg 13 and a lot better area.
Yasi's has an island at 13m which runs through the middle of the lake, I had been told to start long in the shallow water and then settle in at the bottom of the far shelf, I also set a rig to fish at the bottom of the near shelf in the deepest water I could find, this was at around 5m. I also set up a margin line but did not expect to catch here, as there was plenty of dying rushes getting in the way and very little colour in the edge.
For across i fished a MW Rattler float taking just 2 no10 stotz, this was on .14 stroft to a .12 hooklength which I had tied with a B911 F1 size 20 hook, this was for fishing either single maggot or double pinkie and was set to fish in 18inches of water.
My long deep line was at around 10m where I could find 4ft of water and fished a NG .4g Deano float, I had bought these earlier in the year and never tried them but today I felt it was the right conditions. Again it was .14 to .12 and a size 20 B911 F1 hook. My near line at 5m was again a NG Deano set another 5inches deeper, this time to a size 16 B911 F1 hook. All my elastics were either grey hydro or white hydro.
At the all in I decided to hang back a minute and see how everyone around me started off, no one potted in, so I decided to go with a toss pot approach that was similar to the locals. With a single maggot on the hook I shipped across and started getting tiny indications and soon switched to double pinkie. This did the trick as a couple of nano ide came to rest in my keepnet. A dull spell after around 15 minutes and I started coming back towards the shelf. Back on the maggot and a couple of Ide around the 1lb mark before again this line went quiet. Back to 13m and nothing, A couple more Ide came and after about 2 hours I reckoned on having 8 Ide for about 10lb.
I had been throwing around 8-10 maggots out to 5m since the start and decided to have a quick look and see if the fish were in the deepest part of the peg. I had a good run of Ide and a single skimmer all on double maggot hookbait. Trevor was matching me fish for fish but slowly I was pulling away from him. Then as I was getting into a rhythm, it was over, no more bites, I tried different shotting patterns but still nothing. I was back out to 10m and getting odd indications on this line but time was running out. I needed to get a couple more fish to fend off the barbel and carp Trevor had caught, so upped the feed rate and this seemed to do the trick as more bites were forthcoming. At the all out I was playing another Ide and unfortunately it came off on the way back. I hoped it would not be costly. By all accounts it had fished hard, yet I had thoroughly enjoyed myself. I had to work at getting bites and trying to hook those crafty Ide.
Overall
1st Paul B 48-13
2nd Nick Rowe 34-08
3rd Pip 34-04
4th Darryl 29-12
5th Simon 26-08
6th Keith Ashby 23-10
Well done to all those who framed, it was a hard day and you had to work at your fishing. Thank you to Kingfisher Club for allowing me to fish with you, a good bunch of lads who were quick to notice me losing a fish swinging it in. At least I did not fall in after the weigh in. Thank you to Pebs for allowing me to grace your fishery, I will be back and finally Nick Rowe who without his push would have seen me still not visiting How End. All in all a very good and enjoyable day.
Sunday 1 November 2015
Alders Farm Pines Lake 01 11 15
For once the weatherman got it right, I awoke from my slumber to be greeted by fog, however it was lifting by the time I loaded up the car and although cool, it was planned to get warmer throughout the day.
I was not planned into a team today for the winter league, but as luck would have it, one team was short on the day so I was a Maver angler today. I would be back up on Pines today, in fact the same peg 3 I had last week, which i would say was probably my worst day's fishing on Pines, yet strangely very enjoyable.It is not the best peg in the world as it is 6ft deep at 13m and the fish seem to prefer the shallower water at the top of the lake. Last week I had a few fish deep and odd fish shallow so set up to fish the same again. This time I would attack the peg from the start with micros on the deck with a good helping of holding corn. I also again set up to fish 2+2 with corn and a margin to the front of peg 2.
It seems strange to me, the amount of people who want to get included in the blogs both Roy Makins and I write, a prime candidate was my neighbour on peg 4 Matt Grant, in fact Matt was sandwiched between my self and Roy, so i am sure he will get a mention.Personally I think it is so they know how NOT to fish a peg.
On my other side was Fossy who announced before the match he was going to get married in the New Year. Congratulations Colin and Partner.
Any way back to fishing, I started off fishing long and deep, for a few small indications but nothing hitable. I did lose one on the deck on a banded 6mm pellet. A look on corn produced my first fish of around 4lb. I had a go shallow as I had been pinging 4mms but again nothing. A look to 2+2 and nothing , a quick look down the edge saw two maggots simply drowning themselves. So it was back out to 13m. Another couple of 4lb fish came but I was having to feed heavily with a catapult to draw fish in. I was not getting any liners so tried deepening the rig and ended up with a foul hooked carp of around 2lb to show. I tried coming up in the water slightly to see if the fish were just off bottom, but nothing.
Matt had been catching a few fish on the bomb and was getting a few on the long pole on the deck. Roy was catching well fishing shallow with maggot. Colin had struggled fishing long with only a few fish to show for it. However he was now down the left hand edge and getting a few bites. Mick Dickens was a forlorn figure, not even getting bites from peg 31. Nick Darke on unfancied peg 24 was getting a couple of fish.
I did start getting a few bites shallow on pellet late on with another couple of fish coming to boost my weight. I had said to Matt before the match I just wanted to beat last weeks weight and I did that, just.
The section was won by Roy Makins with 72-12, Richard Fullam on peg 18 had 60-13 and Matt was third in section with 45lb. My 26-06 was good enough for 6th in section, so not last in the section.
Going to have a day over How End next weekend for a change. Never been before but heard some good things about the place.
I was not planned into a team today for the winter league, but as luck would have it, one team was short on the day so I was a Maver angler today. I would be back up on Pines today, in fact the same peg 3 I had last week, which i would say was probably my worst day's fishing on Pines, yet strangely very enjoyable.It is not the best peg in the world as it is 6ft deep at 13m and the fish seem to prefer the shallower water at the top of the lake. Last week I had a few fish deep and odd fish shallow so set up to fish the same again. This time I would attack the peg from the start with micros on the deck with a good helping of holding corn. I also again set up to fish 2+2 with corn and a margin to the front of peg 2.
It seems strange to me, the amount of people who want to get included in the blogs both Roy Makins and I write, a prime candidate was my neighbour on peg 4 Matt Grant, in fact Matt was sandwiched between my self and Roy, so i am sure he will get a mention.Personally I think it is so they know how NOT to fish a peg.
On my other side was Fossy who announced before the match he was going to get married in the New Year. Congratulations Colin and Partner.
Any way back to fishing, I started off fishing long and deep, for a few small indications but nothing hitable. I did lose one on the deck on a banded 6mm pellet. A look on corn produced my first fish of around 4lb. I had a go shallow as I had been pinging 4mms but again nothing. A look to 2+2 and nothing , a quick look down the edge saw two maggots simply drowning themselves. So it was back out to 13m. Another couple of 4lb fish came but I was having to feed heavily with a catapult to draw fish in. I was not getting any liners so tried deepening the rig and ended up with a foul hooked carp of around 2lb to show. I tried coming up in the water slightly to see if the fish were just off bottom, but nothing.
Matt had been catching a few fish on the bomb and was getting a few on the long pole on the deck. Roy was catching well fishing shallow with maggot. Colin had struggled fishing long with only a few fish to show for it. However he was now down the left hand edge and getting a few bites. Mick Dickens was a forlorn figure, not even getting bites from peg 31. Nick Darke on unfancied peg 24 was getting a couple of fish.
I did start getting a few bites shallow on pellet late on with another couple of fish coming to boost my weight. I had said to Matt before the match I just wanted to beat last weeks weight and I did that, just.
The section was won by Roy Makins with 72-12, Richard Fullam on peg 18 had 60-13 and Matt was third in section with 45lb. My 26-06 was good enough for 6th in section, so not last in the section.
Going to have a day over How End next weekend for a change. Never been before but heard some good things about the place.
Sunday 25 October 2015
Alders Farm Pines lake 25 10 15
My next few matches are most likely to be at Alders Farm, with most weekends leading up to Christmas taken so it was nice to fish an open and have a bit of a practice at the same time. I am expecting to be on Pines during most of the league, so when the option to fish a knock up on there instead of Ash Lake, I was going to take it.
With the Open on Ash Lake things were running a little behind schedule so we were fishing from 1030 to 1600. But with the clocks going back we had a little more daylight. We had 7 anglers fishing Pines, Trevor Price, Ricky Quick, Jim Stubbings, Terry Lancaster, Neil Riddy and his mate Andy, plus myself. Pegs 1 to 12 were drawn and I pulled out peg 3 and I was relatively happy with that.
Peg 3 is an open water peg but with no one on peg 2 I could fish the platform and a light margin rig was set up to fish in 2ft of water just out from the platform. I also set up a customary 2+2 line which I would feed by hand with a mix of 4mm fishery pellet and a few grains of corn. My last line was to be at 12.5m with pellet on the hook, both up and down in the water. I would start off by cupping a half pot of pellet and ping a few 4mms over the top.
For immediate company I had Trevor on Peg 1 and Neil on peg 4, Trevor was going to fish the waggler at distance along the dam wall and into the corner. He also set up a pole line long to fish the brambles along the edge. Neil had set up both a waggler and feeder and a couple of pole rigs to fish deep and up in the water.
I started off fishing long and on the deck with 6mm banded pellet and after 10 minutes I had not had a bite. A switch to some Maryuku Chocco Corn saw a couple of bites, with only one gracing the landing net, the other two came off half way back. No further bites came so I switched to 2+2 and nothing, back out and shallow this time pinging around 8 pellets every 20 seconds, Fish number two fell to a pellet shallow. It was hard going, Trevor had one fish and although he was getting bites he could not hit them due to leaves on the water affecting his strike. Neil had not had a bite and was switching from long pole to pellet waggler.
I had a quick 5 minutes down the edge for nothing and another look at 2+2 but still nothing. Back out to 12.5m and another odd fish on the corn, I was still pinging around 8 pellets every 30 seconds but was cutting back on the feed due to no bites. Trevor was up to 4 fish when I had a couple of 3lb fish to catch up with him. I could not get a run of fish and it was only after the match that I thought that I should have fed heavier and got their heads down. I was getting a few liners and this was I thought from shallow cruising fish. Perhaps they were further down. Hindsight in a wonderful thing.
All in all I had a good match, did not catch a lot but one I thoroughly enjoyed, the weather was good after a slight frost the night before. It had fished hard for all of us in the open water pegs, no one really caught well, although Terry on peg 5 did have a few late fish from the tree and lost a few more. However the island pegs had fished well considering the conditions.
With the Open on Ash Lake things were running a little behind schedule so we were fishing from 1030 to 1600. But with the clocks going back we had a little more daylight. We had 7 anglers fishing Pines, Trevor Price, Ricky Quick, Jim Stubbings, Terry Lancaster, Neil Riddy and his mate Andy, plus myself. Pegs 1 to 12 were drawn and I pulled out peg 3 and I was relatively happy with that.
Peg 3 is an open water peg but with no one on peg 2 I could fish the platform and a light margin rig was set up to fish in 2ft of water just out from the platform. I also set up a customary 2+2 line which I would feed by hand with a mix of 4mm fishery pellet and a few grains of corn. My last line was to be at 12.5m with pellet on the hook, both up and down in the water. I would start off by cupping a half pot of pellet and ping a few 4mms over the top.
For immediate company I had Trevor on Peg 1 and Neil on peg 4, Trevor was going to fish the waggler at distance along the dam wall and into the corner. He also set up a pole line long to fish the brambles along the edge. Neil had set up both a waggler and feeder and a couple of pole rigs to fish deep and up in the water.
I started off fishing long and on the deck with 6mm banded pellet and after 10 minutes I had not had a bite. A switch to some Maryuku Chocco Corn saw a couple of bites, with only one gracing the landing net, the other two came off half way back. No further bites came so I switched to 2+2 and nothing, back out and shallow this time pinging around 8 pellets every 20 seconds, Fish number two fell to a pellet shallow. It was hard going, Trevor had one fish and although he was getting bites he could not hit them due to leaves on the water affecting his strike. Neil had not had a bite and was switching from long pole to pellet waggler.
I had a quick 5 minutes down the edge for nothing and another look at 2+2 but still nothing. Back out to 12.5m and another odd fish on the corn, I was still pinging around 8 pellets every 30 seconds but was cutting back on the feed due to no bites. Trevor was up to 4 fish when I had a couple of 3lb fish to catch up with him. I could not get a run of fish and it was only after the match that I thought that I should have fed heavier and got their heads down. I was getting a few liners and this was I thought from shallow cruising fish. Perhaps they were further down. Hindsight in a wonderful thing.
All in all I had a good match, did not catch a lot but one I thoroughly enjoyed, the weather was good after a slight frost the night before. It had fished hard for all of us in the open water pegs, no one really caught well, although Terry on peg 5 did have a few late fish from the tree and lost a few more. However the island pegs had fished well considering the conditions.
Overall
1st Ricky Quick 85-15
2nd Adam 57-08
3rd Jim Stubbings 42-11
4th Keith Ashby 21-13
5th Trevor Price 19-13
6th Terry Lancaster 14-14
7th Neil Riddy 11-14
So going into next week's third winter league match I did not learn a great deal, but will need to think about feeding.
Saturday 17 October 2015
Marsh AC 17 10 15 Monks Lake 4
Unfortunately all good things must come to an end, and today was the last match of the Marsh AC season. I have not been able to fish with a great bunch of lads as much as I would have liked this year for a variety of reasons, but hopefully next year will be different.
Now the cold weather is setting in a lot of the members tend to put their tackle away after the Hartleylands Reservoir match which historically is at the start of October, but a few hardy souls still braved the elements at Monks Lake 4 including both Troy and I from Milton Keynes.
Troy picked us up at 0600 for the journey down, which in itself went quite well apart from missing the M25 turn off on the way down, so back up to Hemel and have another go. OOOOPPPPPssss. However the rest of the journey went well.
Arriving at the cafe at Monks we were greeted by 8 other hardy souls, or idiots if you prefer. It was a nice fresh autumnal day, grey clouds everywhere and no wind, always a benefit on Lake 4. So rather than peg it out, the general consensus was to stay in the cafe and draw from what we knew about the lake. I already had a plan in mind as to what I was going to do, Pellet at distance and maggot down the edge, plus corn at 2+2. This was going to happen no matter where I drew.
At the draw I managed to pull out 143, I think it was in a good area with an island at around 17m, Still with only 14.5 available I would hope the fish would come closer. I had around 4ft across and also 4ft at 2+2 so duplicate rigs were set up for both lines. I was surprised to plumb the margins to find 2 1/2ft on the top shelf before it dropped quite suddenly away to 3 1/2 ft. I had Dave for company on 144 and Troy a couple away on 146. Tony Roberts was sitting on 141 and I fancied this peg for a weight before the match. However, I stated that I would be happy with 50lb today, due to the cold water,
At the all in I potted 4mm pellets over to 14m and another onto the 2+2 line with a good handful of corn. My margins I would feed nearer to the time of fishing the line.
Starting off at 14m with a 6mm Amino choco spray pellet I would like to say the float went under straight away, but nothing. Dave had already had 2 fish for 8lb and I was biteless. A switch to a grain of corn, saw fish number one in the net after around 15 minutes, a foul hooked fish saw the peg die after 30 minutes, so I re-fed the line, this time with a few grains of corn and tried the 2+2 line for 15 minutes and nothing. Another look long and I was picking off odd fish on corn over pellet, but setting the world alight. Troy was getting a few on the bomb and 8mm pellet, so I tried an 8mm pellet and still nothing. Another look on the 2+2 line and again nothing, It would be a case of plugging away until the last hour. I had around 10 fish at that point along with a few small tench and skimmers from the long line. I was pinning everything on the margin with an hour and half to go I started feeding maggot in good amounts. I was still only about 30 lb behind the leaders and could make that up fairly quickly if the carp showed up. They didn't but I did hone my roach catching skills. Every cloud has a silver lining.
At the all out I knew I had been battered by Dave fishing his normal maggot approach, Troy had caught well late on as had Tony on 141.
Terry was first to weigh and set the tone with 60lb 8oz before Simon bettered that with 63lb dead. Tom placed 36-08 on the board before Tony R topped that with 41-12. My 35-04 was all I could muster which included 8lb of silvers. Dave came in with 66-08 whilst Troy ran him close with 53-04. From here the results got worse. Tony W with 21-00 to pip Gino off the next peg with 20-08 which left last to weigh Rod bring up the tail with 12-08.
Overall
1st Dave Collier 66-08
2nd SimonWatkins 63-00
3rd Terry Goff 60-08
4th Troy Hillyer 53-04
5th Tony Roberts 41-12
6th Tom Exell 36-08
Well done guys and hope to see you all next year. In the meantime I will be concentrating my efforts at Alders in the Winter League.
Now the cold weather is setting in a lot of the members tend to put their tackle away after the Hartleylands Reservoir match which historically is at the start of October, but a few hardy souls still braved the elements at Monks Lake 4 including both Troy and I from Milton Keynes.
Troy picked us up at 0600 for the journey down, which in itself went quite well apart from missing the M25 turn off on the way down, so back up to Hemel and have another go. OOOOPPPPPssss. However the rest of the journey went well.
Arriving at the cafe at Monks we were greeted by 8 other hardy souls, or idiots if you prefer. It was a nice fresh autumnal day, grey clouds everywhere and no wind, always a benefit on Lake 4. So rather than peg it out, the general consensus was to stay in the cafe and draw from what we knew about the lake. I already had a plan in mind as to what I was going to do, Pellet at distance and maggot down the edge, plus corn at 2+2. This was going to happen no matter where I drew.
At the draw I managed to pull out 143, I think it was in a good area with an island at around 17m, Still with only 14.5 available I would hope the fish would come closer. I had around 4ft across and also 4ft at 2+2 so duplicate rigs were set up for both lines. I was surprised to plumb the margins to find 2 1/2ft on the top shelf before it dropped quite suddenly away to 3 1/2 ft. I had Dave for company on 144 and Troy a couple away on 146. Tony Roberts was sitting on 141 and I fancied this peg for a weight before the match. However, I stated that I would be happy with 50lb today, due to the cold water,
At the all in I potted 4mm pellets over to 14m and another onto the 2+2 line with a good handful of corn. My margins I would feed nearer to the time of fishing the line.
Starting off at 14m with a 6mm Amino choco spray pellet I would like to say the float went under straight away, but nothing. Dave had already had 2 fish for 8lb and I was biteless. A switch to a grain of corn, saw fish number one in the net after around 15 minutes, a foul hooked fish saw the peg die after 30 minutes, so I re-fed the line, this time with a few grains of corn and tried the 2+2 line for 15 minutes and nothing. Another look long and I was picking off odd fish on corn over pellet, but setting the world alight. Troy was getting a few on the bomb and 8mm pellet, so I tried an 8mm pellet and still nothing. Another look on the 2+2 line and again nothing, It would be a case of plugging away until the last hour. I had around 10 fish at that point along with a few small tench and skimmers from the long line. I was pinning everything on the margin with an hour and half to go I started feeding maggot in good amounts. I was still only about 30 lb behind the leaders and could make that up fairly quickly if the carp showed up. They didn't but I did hone my roach catching skills. Every cloud has a silver lining.
At the all out I knew I had been battered by Dave fishing his normal maggot approach, Troy had caught well late on as had Tony on 141.
Terry was first to weigh and set the tone with 60lb 8oz before Simon bettered that with 63lb dead. Tom placed 36-08 on the board before Tony R topped that with 41-12. My 35-04 was all I could muster which included 8lb of silvers. Dave came in with 66-08 whilst Troy ran him close with 53-04. From here the results got worse. Tony W with 21-00 to pip Gino off the next peg with 20-08 which left last to weigh Rod bring up the tail with 12-08.
Overall
1st Dave Collier 66-08
2nd SimonWatkins 63-00
3rd Terry Goff 60-08
4th Troy Hillyer 53-04
5th Tony Roberts 41-12
6th Tom Exell 36-08
Well done guys and hope to see you all next year. In the meantime I will be concentrating my efforts at Alders in the Winter League.
Sunday 11 October 2015
Alders Farm Winter League Match 2 11 10 15
Having had to miss the first match of the Alders Farm Winter League, I was looking forward to having a days fishing at a local venue. I am acting as a bit of a stop gap and filling in for teams that are short of an angler. At least I get a days fishing.
Today saw me fishing Pines Lake. A chat with Josh Blavins, would inform that the lake was fishing hard with bites at a premium. All the catches have been coming from fishing long and shallow with pellet hookbaits. Indeed the day before, Josh had won a MFS match with 136lb from peg 5.
Our team of Richard Brain, Josh Blavins and Del Smith and myself were quite hopeful of getting amongst a few fish, especially as Josh had drawn peg 5 again and I had peg 12 on Pines. The last couple of weeks have seen weights of around 40lb coming from it, so that was my target weight.
Richard had drawn peg 20 with Del on 6 on the match lake, both in decent areas and could throw up a days fishing.
I had come armed with a kilo of corn, around 6 pints of fishery 4mm feed pellets and both 6 and 8mm hard hook pellets plus a few expanders. I also mixed up some Atomic Cloud for the margins although I did not expect to catch from down the edge.
Tackle wise I set up 2 shallow rigs one a drennan dibber float taking 3 no 8 shot. The other a MW styrofoam float taking a single no 8. Both were tied to .18 Stroft and a PR36 with a band on a hair rig. A margin rig to fish to the right hand side at top 5 against the reeds. I had a good 2ft here and set to fish it with corn late on. My other rig was a DT Diamond taking 5 no8 shot, again .18 Stroft but this time with a hooklength. This was set to fish in 4ft of water on the bottom. I also had a flat bottom from top 5 to 13m and could double up this rig.My thinking being that if the fish are shallow some bait will get to the bottom.
At the all in I potted a large pot of 4mm pellet with around 25 grains of corn to 13m. A pot of pellet onto my right hand margin followed by a pot of Atomic Cloud and another half pot of 4mm's to top 5. First put in on the deep rig at 13m and nothing, so i started pinging 4 or 5 pellets over the top and after 10 minutes I was into my first fish which shed the hook at the landing net. Not the start I was hoping for. Another 10 minutes passed and fish number 2 was on but this time safely landed. With no more bites forthcoming I had a quick look over the 6m and margin lines with no joy. I was still pinging out and saw a swirl at 13m so picked up my shallow rig and I was soon into fish number 3. A bit better fish at around 3lb. Colin next door on 15 was struggling but still had 2 fish so its was close. Matt was getting a few from 16 but I could not see anyone else. After around 2 hours I had around 7 fish but I would catch only odd fish. I could not get them lined up. But by feeding regularly I was starting to get a few bites but by switching from up to down and back again I was keeping things interesting.
The next hour saw another 5 fish in the net, all taken on the new Maryuku Amino Choco spray. I had caught the earlier ones on a standard 6mm pellet and this change of bait seemed to work well. It is the first time I have used it during a match and so far so good. Hour 4 was a proper struggle for all those around me. I was going head to head with Colin, he would catch one then I would get another. It was still too close to call. I did think though that Matt was ahead of us both. Word was that Chris Telling on Peg 8 was catching well, as was peg 17. Josh was having a peg to peg battle with Nick Darke which would also be close.
My last hour was a real struggle for me. I switched to 14.5m in the hope that the fish had backed off and to my delight 5 more carp came to the net. Interestingly though all day I managed to catch most of my fish on the deck. I did have a lot of cruising fish between Colin and I but they were not feeding fish. However the odd one I caught shallow was always a better fish.
My estimate of 50lb was a little low as I ended up with 55lb 3oz, enough for halfway in the section. I managed to pip Colin by 1 fish but also lost another points by one fish, it was that close. Chris Telling won the section with 113-01 Tex was second in section with 103-01 but 3rd in section was only 60lb. Team wise we ended up joint 2nd on the day behind GOT Black.
Overall in the match itself.
1st Gary Thorpe 161-14
2nd Martin Greene 159-14
3rd Glen Picton 146-02
4th Ricky Quick 140-00
5th Del Smith 119-15
6th Tony Taylor 115-14
I enjoyed fishing within a team environment again and am looking forward to the next match on the 1st November, but before that I have a club match at Monks Lake in Kent.
Today saw me fishing Pines Lake. A chat with Josh Blavins, would inform that the lake was fishing hard with bites at a premium. All the catches have been coming from fishing long and shallow with pellet hookbaits. Indeed the day before, Josh had won a MFS match with 136lb from peg 5.
Our team of Richard Brain, Josh Blavins and Del Smith and myself were quite hopeful of getting amongst a few fish, especially as Josh had drawn peg 5 again and I had peg 12 on Pines. The last couple of weeks have seen weights of around 40lb coming from it, so that was my target weight.
Richard had drawn peg 20 with Del on 6 on the match lake, both in decent areas and could throw up a days fishing.
I had come armed with a kilo of corn, around 6 pints of fishery 4mm feed pellets and both 6 and 8mm hard hook pellets plus a few expanders. I also mixed up some Atomic Cloud for the margins although I did not expect to catch from down the edge.
Tackle wise I set up 2 shallow rigs one a drennan dibber float taking 3 no 8 shot. The other a MW styrofoam float taking a single no 8. Both were tied to .18 Stroft and a PR36 with a band on a hair rig. A margin rig to fish to the right hand side at top 5 against the reeds. I had a good 2ft here and set to fish it with corn late on. My other rig was a DT Diamond taking 5 no8 shot, again .18 Stroft but this time with a hooklength. This was set to fish in 4ft of water on the bottom. I also had a flat bottom from top 5 to 13m and could double up this rig.My thinking being that if the fish are shallow some bait will get to the bottom.
At the all in I potted a large pot of 4mm pellet with around 25 grains of corn to 13m. A pot of pellet onto my right hand margin followed by a pot of Atomic Cloud and another half pot of 4mm's to top 5. First put in on the deep rig at 13m and nothing, so i started pinging 4 or 5 pellets over the top and after 10 minutes I was into my first fish which shed the hook at the landing net. Not the start I was hoping for. Another 10 minutes passed and fish number 2 was on but this time safely landed. With no more bites forthcoming I had a quick look over the 6m and margin lines with no joy. I was still pinging out and saw a swirl at 13m so picked up my shallow rig and I was soon into fish number 3. A bit better fish at around 3lb. Colin next door on 15 was struggling but still had 2 fish so its was close. Matt was getting a few from 16 but I could not see anyone else. After around 2 hours I had around 7 fish but I would catch only odd fish. I could not get them lined up. But by feeding regularly I was starting to get a few bites but by switching from up to down and back again I was keeping things interesting.
The next hour saw another 5 fish in the net, all taken on the new Maryuku Amino Choco spray. I had caught the earlier ones on a standard 6mm pellet and this change of bait seemed to work well. It is the first time I have used it during a match and so far so good. Hour 4 was a proper struggle for all those around me. I was going head to head with Colin, he would catch one then I would get another. It was still too close to call. I did think though that Matt was ahead of us both. Word was that Chris Telling on Peg 8 was catching well, as was peg 17. Josh was having a peg to peg battle with Nick Darke which would also be close.
My last hour was a real struggle for me. I switched to 14.5m in the hope that the fish had backed off and to my delight 5 more carp came to the net. Interestingly though all day I managed to catch most of my fish on the deck. I did have a lot of cruising fish between Colin and I but they were not feeding fish. However the odd one I caught shallow was always a better fish.
My estimate of 50lb was a little low as I ended up with 55lb 3oz, enough for halfway in the section. I managed to pip Colin by 1 fish but also lost another points by one fish, it was that close. Chris Telling won the section with 113-01 Tex was second in section with 103-01 but 3rd in section was only 60lb. Team wise we ended up joint 2nd on the day behind GOT Black.
Overall in the match itself.
1st Gary Thorpe 161-14
2nd Martin Greene 159-14
3rd Glen Picton 146-02
4th Ricky Quick 140-00
5th Del Smith 119-15
6th Tony Taylor 115-14
I enjoyed fishing within a team environment again and am looking forward to the next match on the 1st November, but before that I have a club match at Monks Lake in Kent.
Monday 5 October 2015
Marsh AC Hartleylands Farm Reservoir 03 10 15
Last weekend was spent at Wickstead Park with the Grandchildren, daughter and ex wife. We had a great time in the late summer weather. So I was looking forward to getting out on the bank again. Hartleylands Farm Reservoir is shut off for matches during the months of April to September and over the years we have booked it for the first Saturday in October. It has fished well in previous years with weights up to 140lb possible. Some of the lads had been for a practice and caught well with fish up to 15lb.
Mick was my travelling partner today and we had arranged to meet up with Troy & Kris en route. We incurred plenty of fog along the way but with everyone being sensible we still made good time and pulled into the Knoxbridge café with plenty of time and a full English breakfast. Tony W, Tom and Gino were already in attendance.
It was only a short journey to Hartleylands Farm from the café and on arrival we were greeted by the rest of the Marsh AC anglers.
Mick and I have been contesting the MK Nugget throughout the year and I have been fortunate to lead this 7-2 going into this match but Hartleylands is one of his better venues, so I would have my work cut out. At the draw I pulled out peg 10, not really where I would have liked to be, as it was flat calm and no wind blowing into it, but this was the area the lads had practiced and done well from although there was no one else on the lake at the time. Mick had drawn 41, not bad seeing there are only 30 pegs on the lake, so settled into undrawn peg 2. Kris was on peg 7 a good peg with a small willow tree, plenty of fish live here and both 7&8 are known good pegs. Troy was moaning as he had peg 16. It was in the shade of another willow tree and is the first peg as you reach the lake. It is the best peg on the lake and an out and out flyer.
I decided to fish 3 lines, one at 2+2 and both margins. I had 5ft at 2+2 and by fishing a .4g DT Diamond I was able to cope with the tow, both margins had 2 1/2ft and for these I set up duplicate NG Diamonds with different hooklengths. One with a bait band hair rigged, the other with just a bare hook. Bait was corn, meat and a mixture of 4, 6 and 8mm hard pellets but feed was 4mm GOT sinkers.
Because I was expecting large fish, I potted in 2 large pots of pellet on each of the lines at the start with a few grains of corn and meat cubes to try to hold any fish coming in. I also decided to top up the margins by drip feeding little and often by hand on my right hand swim and pot on the left hand margin. My 2+2 line would be toss potted every put in.
I started off at 2+2 with corn on the hook and although I had a couple of small skimmers and a roach, I was not getting any carp. I re-fed another couple of pots of pellet and moved to the left hand margin. After around 5 minutes the float dipped and I was into my first carp, around 6lb with a strategically placed hook impaled in the tail. No more bites from this swim so to the right hand side. I had been dripping in pellet and decided to try a banded 8mm. I was getting movement on the float but nothing hittable. The float was moving side to side but no dips or buries. I switched to a 6mm and this seemed to do the trick as I connected with a couple of carp, but lost them, I think they may have been foul hooked, so I switched to a softer elastic and shortened the length of the rig by 2 inches. Again this seemed to work as I was now hooking fish in the mouth and my next couple of fish were soon in the net, as long as you did not rush them. This line went quiet, so I had another look to the left and nothing. Back out to 2+2 and another couple of skimmers before the elastic stretched out and did not move. Shipping back to a top kit the elastic was still in the same place and I thought I had snagged the bottom, when slowly I could see the elastic retracting and moving towards me. I decided to keep the pole tip low and ease it back gently just using the puller kit to gain line. After around, what seemed an age I could see a large mirror carp around 12lb hooked in the side. It was just out of netting reach and as I went to get the net the hook pulled out, damn or words to the effect.
I could see Al on the next peg catching well on the method right into the corner and although they were small fish(2lb to 3lb) he was putting a weight together. Terry was bagging on peg 8 by the willow and word was that Tony R and Clive were catching well. Jim was getting a few on peg 6.
Back into the margins and I was now getting a few fish on a banded 6mm pellet. It was now 4 hours in and I needed a good couple of hours of catching fish to do any good. However it was not meant to be and I really struggled to put a run of fish together, just picking off odd fish.
Word around the lake was that Troy had emptied it, Terry had caught well but it would be close amongst the rest.
Starting off on peg 1 would be Rod who placed a level 16lb on the board to take an early lead. It was short-lived though as Mick put a fine 76-4 to take over at the top,( it could be close for the nugget). Tony was next who took the biggest fish honours on the day with a fine 16lb fish in his total of 50lb dead. Tom was next and a peg to peg battle with Gino which went in the favour of Gino by 40-4 to x31-8. Jim took over at the top fishing meat and polony with a level 99lb. Kris was next to weigh with 59-0 before Terry was first to break the ton with 151-0 from peg 8. Al was next and although he was admitting to 60lb I knew he had nearer the ton as I could see him all day. His 97-4 was closer to my estimation than his and should have been more as he was catching on the method early doors and decided to switch to the pole hoping for better fish.
My catch of 82-4 would get me half way up the leaderboard but I was never in the race really. Al's son Gary chipped in with 31-8 from peg 11 before Tony R placed another near ton and 97-4, having lost more than he caught. Chris placed 51-12 from peg 13 before Dave tipped 80-12 onto the scales. Next up was Clive, who is leading the petition to turn the complex into a Tesco's car park. So far he has one signature, with a weight of 149-0. Troy was last to weigh and looking at his 5 nets in the water you knew he had a good day. After 6 weigh's his total of 236-12 was more than enough to win. Well done Troy. Now stop moaning about your peg, there all flyers that you pull out.
Mick was my travelling partner today and we had arranged to meet up with Troy & Kris en route. We incurred plenty of fog along the way but with everyone being sensible we still made good time and pulled into the Knoxbridge café with plenty of time and a full English breakfast. Tony W, Tom and Gino were already in attendance.
It was only a short journey to Hartleylands Farm from the café and on arrival we were greeted by the rest of the Marsh AC anglers.
Mick and I have been contesting the MK Nugget throughout the year and I have been fortunate to lead this 7-2 going into this match but Hartleylands is one of his better venues, so I would have my work cut out. At the draw I pulled out peg 10, not really where I would have liked to be, as it was flat calm and no wind blowing into it, but this was the area the lads had practiced and done well from although there was no one else on the lake at the time. Mick had drawn 41, not bad seeing there are only 30 pegs on the lake, so settled into undrawn peg 2. Kris was on peg 7 a good peg with a small willow tree, plenty of fish live here and both 7&8 are known good pegs. Troy was moaning as he had peg 16. It was in the shade of another willow tree and is the first peg as you reach the lake. It is the best peg on the lake and an out and out flyer.
I decided to fish 3 lines, one at 2+2 and both margins. I had 5ft at 2+2 and by fishing a .4g DT Diamond I was able to cope with the tow, both margins had 2 1/2ft and for these I set up duplicate NG Diamonds with different hooklengths. One with a bait band hair rigged, the other with just a bare hook. Bait was corn, meat and a mixture of 4, 6 and 8mm hard pellets but feed was 4mm GOT sinkers.
Because I was expecting large fish, I potted in 2 large pots of pellet on each of the lines at the start with a few grains of corn and meat cubes to try to hold any fish coming in. I also decided to top up the margins by drip feeding little and often by hand on my right hand swim and pot on the left hand margin. My 2+2 line would be toss potted every put in.
I started off at 2+2 with corn on the hook and although I had a couple of small skimmers and a roach, I was not getting any carp. I re-fed another couple of pots of pellet and moved to the left hand margin. After around 5 minutes the float dipped and I was into my first carp, around 6lb with a strategically placed hook impaled in the tail. No more bites from this swim so to the right hand side. I had been dripping in pellet and decided to try a banded 8mm. I was getting movement on the float but nothing hittable. The float was moving side to side but no dips or buries. I switched to a 6mm and this seemed to do the trick as I connected with a couple of carp, but lost them, I think they may have been foul hooked, so I switched to a softer elastic and shortened the length of the rig by 2 inches. Again this seemed to work as I was now hooking fish in the mouth and my next couple of fish were soon in the net, as long as you did not rush them. This line went quiet, so I had another look to the left and nothing. Back out to 2+2 and another couple of skimmers before the elastic stretched out and did not move. Shipping back to a top kit the elastic was still in the same place and I thought I had snagged the bottom, when slowly I could see the elastic retracting and moving towards me. I decided to keep the pole tip low and ease it back gently just using the puller kit to gain line. After around, what seemed an age I could see a large mirror carp around 12lb hooked in the side. It was just out of netting reach and as I went to get the net the hook pulled out, damn or words to the effect.
I could see Al on the next peg catching well on the method right into the corner and although they were small fish(2lb to 3lb) he was putting a weight together. Terry was bagging on peg 8 by the willow and word was that Tony R and Clive were catching well. Jim was getting a few on peg 6.
Back into the margins and I was now getting a few fish on a banded 6mm pellet. It was now 4 hours in and I needed a good couple of hours of catching fish to do any good. However it was not meant to be and I really struggled to put a run of fish together, just picking off odd fish.
Word around the lake was that Troy had emptied it, Terry had caught well but it would be close amongst the rest.
Starting off on peg 1 would be Rod who placed a level 16lb on the board to take an early lead. It was short-lived though as Mick put a fine 76-4 to take over at the top,( it could be close for the nugget). Tony was next who took the biggest fish honours on the day with a fine 16lb fish in his total of 50lb dead. Tom was next and a peg to peg battle with Gino which went in the favour of Gino by 40-4 to x31-8. Jim took over at the top fishing meat and polony with a level 99lb. Kris was next to weigh with 59-0 before Terry was first to break the ton with 151-0 from peg 8. Al was next and although he was admitting to 60lb I knew he had nearer the ton as I could see him all day. His 97-4 was closer to my estimation than his and should have been more as he was catching on the method early doors and decided to switch to the pole hoping for better fish.
My catch of 82-4 would get me half way up the leaderboard but I was never in the race really. Al's son Gary chipped in with 31-8 from peg 11 before Tony R placed another near ton and 97-4, having lost more than he caught. Chris placed 51-12 from peg 13 before Dave tipped 80-12 onto the scales. Next up was Clive, who is leading the petition to turn the complex into a Tesco's car park. So far he has one signature, with a weight of 149-0. Troy was last to weigh and looking at his 5 nets in the water you knew he had a good day. After 6 weigh's his total of 236-12 was more than enough to win. Well done Troy. Now stop moaning about your peg, there all flyers that you pull out.
Overall
1st Troy Hillyer 236-12
2nd Terry Goff 151-00
3rd Clive Pritchard 149-00
4th Jim Etherington 99-00
5th Tony Roberts 97-04
6th Al Loader 96-12
Still it was a good day out fishing in good company again. I took another MK Nugget off Mick but had to give a nugget to Troy, at least it was not mine. Next up for me is the second round of the Alders Farm Winter League. I missed the first match because of this match but am now available for the rest of the series. Happy days
Saturday 19 September 2015
Marsh AC Claygate Sophie's 19 09 15
I have only managed to fish a couple of Marsh matches this year but with my change in work pattern I am able to commit to a few extra ones. The first of these was at Claygate Lakes complex in Kent. The lake we were fishing was Sophie's Lake, a snake lake ranging from 11m to 16m across. Pegging is tight and across has a lot of vegetation overhanging the water's edge.
Troy kindly picked me up today with Mick having to work. A clear journey down and a stop off for a Monk's Lake breakfast stick, we arrived with around 15 minutes to spare. With monies paid and keepnets collected from the fishery, it was draw time. Peg 7 stuck to my mitt, with Chris Withall one side and Tony Roberts the other. Completing our section was Simon Watkins on peg 10. Tony and Simon both had an inviting reed bed across at around 12m and bushes on the near bank. Both were decent pegs and highly fancied. Meanwhile Chris and I had some overhanging bushes but getting to the far bank would prove tricky. I had a decent depth at 4+2 with 5ft and 3ft at 10m and 18 inches tight to the far bank. Bait would be 4mm GOT Bait Sinkers for feeding, 6mm GOT sinkers for the hook, a small amount of 8mm pellets, a couple of tins of cubed 6mm meat and some left over corn from Tuesday's match.
Rigs were a MW Diamond .4g to cover the 5ft deep swim down the track which I would feed heavily with 4mm pellet, micros and a good helping of corn and meat. There are some decent bream in the lake and if I could connect to one of them it could be 10lb plus Across at 10m I fished a NG diamond in a .2g with a simple bulk shotting pattern. For across I started off fishing with a NG Ghandi .1g with a hair-rigged band. I also set up one of MW Styro foam margin floats just in case of a breakage.
Now I struggled last week fishing shallow in open water, now thinking about it I do not know why. I can fish in 12 inches to 18 inches of water at 12m with overhanging bushes and trees so why not in open water. Silly really when you think about it like that. Perhaps it's a mind set and it really affected me last time out, but you learn and realise that you can do things if you assess your performance and analyse it.
At the all in I potted two large pots of 4mm pellet and micros with another of corn and meat down the track. I potted another pot of pellet at 10m to my left and pinged a few 4mms regularly across to the far bank. I started off on this line for around 15 minutes with nothing to show for it. Both Tony and Simon were straight into fish across to the reeds. I noticed a few bubbles down the track but wanted them to settle for a bit longer, so switched to the 10m line with a single cube of meat. I had a few bites on this but missed them all leaving me trailing Tony by 5 fish before I switched to the 8m line down the track. I managed to nick a few f1's to around 2lb to close the gap slightly. After an hour it went quiet so I re-fed this line with another two pots of pellet and started pinging again at 12m. Baiting up with a 6mm pellet on a hair rig I edged the bait across. Ping ping and the float buries and a carp of around 3lb, ping ping again and another f1. I managed to steadily claw my way in front of both Tony and Simon, who unfortunately broke his 12m section in the process. Chris was picking up odd silver's (as he does) .
With 3 hours gone I reckoned on around 15 carp and f1's for around 25lb along with a couple of chub and an odd skimmer. Hour 4 was another good hour, putting around 20lb in the net. The lake was fishing hard but if I could maintain that catch rate I would be on for my target weight of 70lb. However, it looked as if the fishing would catch up with me as I seemed to lose my way in the fifth hour with only a couple of fish coming from the 12m line but away from the feed area. All my lines were now slowing down drastically and I was struggling for a bite, I tried different areas of the peg to try to change my fortunes but to no avail and I ended the match feeling I was short of the target.
Dave Collier was first to weigh, from peg 28, not the peg he drew but apparently he is the chairman and match organiser, to be fair it would have been awkward to fish the other peg as it was very close to Tony Watkins peg. Anyway Dave had 26-12 to Tony's 25-08. Clive Managed to put 11-0 on the scales before Gino who won the last match to place a single skimmer and a roach for a solitary 1-0 weight. Rod did not weigh in, At least Gino beat one side. Tom placed 6-04 before Terry started an upturn in weights and 14-04. I told you it fished hard. Troy had an enjoyable day with 23-12 to leap into 3rd place. Simon's weight of 14 -04 surprised me slightly as I thought he had more and was looking for another net from him but it was not to be. Tony had crept in front of Simon with 18 -04 before my estimate of 30lb ( Pinocchio is back) to the waiting audience sent the scales around one and settled of 56lb. Chris finished off the weigh in with 22-08.
Troy kindly picked me up today with Mick having to work. A clear journey down and a stop off for a Monk's Lake breakfast stick, we arrived with around 15 minutes to spare. With monies paid and keepnets collected from the fishery, it was draw time. Peg 7 stuck to my mitt, with Chris Withall one side and Tony Roberts the other. Completing our section was Simon Watkins on peg 10. Tony and Simon both had an inviting reed bed across at around 12m and bushes on the near bank. Both were decent pegs and highly fancied. Meanwhile Chris and I had some overhanging bushes but getting to the far bank would prove tricky. I had a decent depth at 4+2 with 5ft and 3ft at 10m and 18 inches tight to the far bank. Bait would be 4mm GOT Bait Sinkers for feeding, 6mm GOT sinkers for the hook, a small amount of 8mm pellets, a couple of tins of cubed 6mm meat and some left over corn from Tuesday's match.
Rigs were a MW Diamond .4g to cover the 5ft deep swim down the track which I would feed heavily with 4mm pellet, micros and a good helping of corn and meat. There are some decent bream in the lake and if I could connect to one of them it could be 10lb plus Across at 10m I fished a NG diamond in a .2g with a simple bulk shotting pattern. For across I started off fishing with a NG Ghandi .1g with a hair-rigged band. I also set up one of MW Styro foam margin floats just in case of a breakage.
Now I struggled last week fishing shallow in open water, now thinking about it I do not know why. I can fish in 12 inches to 18 inches of water at 12m with overhanging bushes and trees so why not in open water. Silly really when you think about it like that. Perhaps it's a mind set and it really affected me last time out, but you learn and realise that you can do things if you assess your performance and analyse it.
At the all in I potted two large pots of 4mm pellet and micros with another of corn and meat down the track. I potted another pot of pellet at 10m to my left and pinged a few 4mms regularly across to the far bank. I started off on this line for around 15 minutes with nothing to show for it. Both Tony and Simon were straight into fish across to the reeds. I noticed a few bubbles down the track but wanted them to settle for a bit longer, so switched to the 10m line with a single cube of meat. I had a few bites on this but missed them all leaving me trailing Tony by 5 fish before I switched to the 8m line down the track. I managed to nick a few f1's to around 2lb to close the gap slightly. After an hour it went quiet so I re-fed this line with another two pots of pellet and started pinging again at 12m. Baiting up with a 6mm pellet on a hair rig I edged the bait across. Ping ping and the float buries and a carp of around 3lb, ping ping again and another f1. I managed to steadily claw my way in front of both Tony and Simon, who unfortunately broke his 12m section in the process. Chris was picking up odd silver's (as he does) .
With 3 hours gone I reckoned on around 15 carp and f1's for around 25lb along with a couple of chub and an odd skimmer. Hour 4 was another good hour, putting around 20lb in the net. The lake was fishing hard but if I could maintain that catch rate I would be on for my target weight of 70lb. However, it looked as if the fishing would catch up with me as I seemed to lose my way in the fifth hour with only a couple of fish coming from the 12m line but away from the feed area. All my lines were now slowing down drastically and I was struggling for a bite, I tried different areas of the peg to try to change my fortunes but to no avail and I ended the match feeling I was short of the target.
Dave Collier was first to weigh, from peg 28, not the peg he drew but apparently he is the chairman and match organiser, to be fair it would have been awkward to fish the other peg as it was very close to Tony Watkins peg. Anyway Dave had 26-12 to Tony's 25-08. Clive Managed to put 11-0 on the scales before Gino who won the last match to place a single skimmer and a roach for a solitary 1-0 weight. Rod did not weigh in, At least Gino beat one side. Tom placed 6-04 before Terry started an upturn in weights and 14-04. I told you it fished hard. Troy had an enjoyable day with 23-12 to leap into 3rd place. Simon's weight of 14 -04 surprised me slightly as I thought he had more and was looking for another net from him but it was not to be. Tony had crept in front of Simon with 18 -04 before my estimate of 30lb ( Pinocchio is back) to the waiting audience sent the scales around one and settled of 56lb. Chris finished off the weigh in with 22-08.
Overall
1st Keith Ashby 56-00
2nd Dave Collier 26-12
3rd Tony Watkins 25-08
4th Troy Hillier 23-12
5th Chris Withall 22-08
6th Tony Roberts 18-04
So a good end to the week and a match win, Troy picked up a section win so the van trip home was enjoyable, especially as West Ham beat Man City 2-1 as well. A good day by anyones standards.
Tuesday 15 September 2015
Alders Farm Pines Lake 15 09 15
It seems ages since I have been fishing and it must be the case because I have been away for a fortnight in Turkey and done a complete block of work before wetting a line. This was to be my last Tuesday match for a considerable amount of time due to changes taking place at work and myself being seconded to a different pattern of work for a year. So I was keen to do well.
Fourteen anglers booked into the match and with the whole lake to ourselves we could spread anglers out giving everyone a bit of room. With all monies paid it was onto the draw. My home would be peg 5, a decent peg in a decent area. I was happy as I had a bit of depth to work the corn and a nice margin with very little debris. I had for company Charlie Lancaster on 3 and Nick Wooding on 7.
As I always do I set up a standard top 4 with both strung out rig and a bulk straight out and another top 4 for fishing the end of the tree. All were tied to .18 Stroft and a size 16 PR36. I also set up a margin rig in 18 inches of water which I could double up as a shallow rig at 11m.
Bait was 2 kilo of corn and 2 bags of fishery 4mm pellet.
At the all in I fed both the top four lines and started on the shallow rig at 11m fishing a 6mm pellet and feeding the 4mm's. After a bit of banter from Trevor Price it was soon up the bank. I must admit now. I NEVER fish shallow, I do not know how to. I have no idea what rigs to use, how to hold the pole and feed accurately with a catapult or anything else associated with shallow fishing, but I thought I would give it a go. You have to try sometime.
I moved on to the top 4 lines straight out which I had been feeding 4 grains every 30 seconds or so and waited for the fish to come, they never did. I tried the tree top 4 and exactly the same, nothing, no bites no liners. Changes to shotting did not make any difference and after 2 hours I had one fish taken on the top 4 straight out rig fished at 11m (about a foot off bottom). I was not setting the world alight as you can tell, but I was not alone, everyone was struggling except Terry Lancaster who was catching shallow on peg 26. Colin Spencer and Del Smith had a couple of fish each and Ernie Waterfall was picking off a few from peg 1.
I could not buy a bite close in, top 4 or closer, so opted to practice my shallow fishing for the remainder of the match. HAHAHA.
I was fishing my margin rig when the wind was not blowing as I could see the float in the dark shadows of the trees and I was getting odd dinks and not connecting with many, but occasionally I would connect and the Orange NG Elastic would come out of the pole. When I had a ripple I fished a deeper rig but this time with a dark bristle to aid bite detection. I had also changed to a size 18 PR36 which seemed to help, I was foulhooking less and a bite was a proper bite. I also found that by sitting at an angle I could hold the pole better whilst feeding with a catty. Still bloody hard work though.
Anyway, to cut a long story short, or a short story shorter, I ended up with 8 fish on the shallow rig. I never had a touch on a top 4 or closer. At the weigh in I knew I would be last but I had learnt a few things along the way. Others had confirmed it had fished below standard and the top weights were all taken in the last part of the match.
All in all, I enjoyed today, I learnt a few lessons, whether they are right or not I don't know but think dibber style floats are better than bristles in calm conditions, I fished too heavy all the way through, elastics and lines. A size 18 is about right. A hair rigged pellet may be better than a band but never tried this. Who knows?
Fourteen anglers booked into the match and with the whole lake to ourselves we could spread anglers out giving everyone a bit of room. With all monies paid it was onto the draw. My home would be peg 5, a decent peg in a decent area. I was happy as I had a bit of depth to work the corn and a nice margin with very little debris. I had for company Charlie Lancaster on 3 and Nick Wooding on 7.
As I always do I set up a standard top 4 with both strung out rig and a bulk straight out and another top 4 for fishing the end of the tree. All were tied to .18 Stroft and a size 16 PR36. I also set up a margin rig in 18 inches of water which I could double up as a shallow rig at 11m.
Bait was 2 kilo of corn and 2 bags of fishery 4mm pellet.
At the all in I fed both the top four lines and started on the shallow rig at 11m fishing a 6mm pellet and feeding the 4mm's. After a bit of banter from Trevor Price it was soon up the bank. I must admit now. I NEVER fish shallow, I do not know how to. I have no idea what rigs to use, how to hold the pole and feed accurately with a catapult or anything else associated with shallow fishing, but I thought I would give it a go. You have to try sometime.
I moved on to the top 4 lines straight out which I had been feeding 4 grains every 30 seconds or so and waited for the fish to come, they never did. I tried the tree top 4 and exactly the same, nothing, no bites no liners. Changes to shotting did not make any difference and after 2 hours I had one fish taken on the top 4 straight out rig fished at 11m (about a foot off bottom). I was not setting the world alight as you can tell, but I was not alone, everyone was struggling except Terry Lancaster who was catching shallow on peg 26. Colin Spencer and Del Smith had a couple of fish each and Ernie Waterfall was picking off a few from peg 1.
I could not buy a bite close in, top 4 or closer, so opted to practice my shallow fishing for the remainder of the match. HAHAHA.
I was fishing my margin rig when the wind was not blowing as I could see the float in the dark shadows of the trees and I was getting odd dinks and not connecting with many, but occasionally I would connect and the Orange NG Elastic would come out of the pole. When I had a ripple I fished a deeper rig but this time with a dark bristle to aid bite detection. I had also changed to a size 18 PR36 which seemed to help, I was foulhooking less and a bite was a proper bite. I also found that by sitting at an angle I could hold the pole better whilst feeding with a catty. Still bloody hard work though.
Anyway, to cut a long story short, or a short story shorter, I ended up with 8 fish on the shallow rig. I never had a touch on a top 4 or closer. At the weigh in I knew I would be last but I had learnt a few things along the way. Others had confirmed it had fished below standard and the top weights were all taken in the last part of the match.
Overall
1st Colin Spencer 96-03
2nd Terry Lancaster 74-09
3rd Nick Pringle 66-13
4th Henry Williams 63-13
5th Trevor Price 63-00
6th Ade Freeman 59-03
Tuesday 4 August 2015
Alders Farm Ash Lake Cheap Tuesday 04 08 15
It seems like ages since I mentioned the MK Nugget matches, mainly due to circumstances beyond our control, but both Mick and I were booked into the Tuesday Open at Alders Farm. We would also have a good turnout with 17 anglers booked in. Trevor was busy preparing orders for shipment but would fish. A welcome sight was Mark Quick fishing again, he spends a lot of time at Alders yet rarely get his gear out. All the usual suspects were there but also some faces I had not seen before. Lads from Dunstable and even one lad from Stoke. I thought Colin, Ernie and Aidy travelled a bit.
We had the Café bank and the first four pegs on the shallows as well as a couple of pegs on the Dam Wall leaving 23 to 26 spare for any pleasure anglers.
With everyone handing over their money and pools and peg fees sorted, it was onto the draw. Lee Newson on peg 1, Colin Spencer on peg 2 (does he fish any other bank) Stuart Theobald on 3, Trevor Price on 4, my Nemesis Mick on 5, Aidy Freeman on 6. Henry Williams on 7 and Ash Bunnage on 8. Terry Lancaster was on 10 with Dennis Simpson on 12. Tim Jolley on 15, Ernie Waterfall on 18 with Mark Quick on 21( when he does fish he can half draw), Paul Higgins on 27 with Owen Smith on 28. I drew peg 29 with Derek Smith drawing end peg 30.
Looking at the draw beforehand I thought Colin and Del would take some stopping, But with Trevor 4 anything was possible, the rest I thought would have a good match and it would be close for the minor places.
I started my match fishing a topkit plus one as I found whilst plumbing up that it was a little deeper here. Going out to 2+2 would see the peg shallow up about 2inches, not a lot but maybe a difference. I did spend a lot of time plumbing up especially in the margins as there are odd holes scattered about the lake. I was fishing my normal corn but today I wanted to try something different. I potted a full pot into the swim followed by a pot of 4mm fishery pellet and started the throw afterwards. I do not normally do this but needed to try things out. However it did not seem to work too well, I had 8 fish in the first hour and although doing ok in the match as the pegs opposite were struggling I was not confident in the peg getting better. I primed up both margins with loose fed corn and had a quick look down both taking one fish from the right hand side.
Back out to the long line this time 2+2 and up the ledge, this was better and a steady stream of 2lb fish were coming to the net. With 3 hours gone I reckoned on having 30 fish but they were small and taking an age to land. It was a case of plugging away, I could see the far bank catching including Mick and could hear splashing in Del's peg and Owen's next door so it was blinkers on time. Hour 4 saw me catching a couple of fish and then waiting for bites. I had another quick look down both edges and although fish were swirling in the peg, I could not get any positive takes. I would now leave this until the last half hour. Still putting a few fish in the net on 2+2 held short on single corn before a rig was trashed and I decided to spend the last amount of time down the left hand edge. At last a couple of 4lb fish were biting and although I had 6 in as many put ins, at the end they just came to late for me.
Overall
1st Aidy Freeman Peg 7 265-05
2nd Del Smith Peg 30 254-09
3rd Colin Spencer Peg 2 229-14
4th Mark Quick Peg 21 186-12
5th Trevor Price Peg 4 174-05
6th Mick Wright Peg 5 167-05
7th Keith Ashby Peg 29 166-12
Another match over and only one left before a couple of weeks in the sun for me. The lake fished well again after a slow start and it was noticeable that those who carried on feeding throughout the quiet spells caught in the end. I must also admit defeat to Mick, who has started his comeback in the MK Nugget stakes to make it 7-1. It is only on loan Mick and I want it back. I mean 9oz is only half a fish.
We had the Café bank and the first four pegs on the shallows as well as a couple of pegs on the Dam Wall leaving 23 to 26 spare for any pleasure anglers.
With everyone handing over their money and pools and peg fees sorted, it was onto the draw. Lee Newson on peg 1, Colin Spencer on peg 2 (does he fish any other bank) Stuart Theobald on 3, Trevor Price on 4, my Nemesis Mick on 5, Aidy Freeman on 6. Henry Williams on 7 and Ash Bunnage on 8. Terry Lancaster was on 10 with Dennis Simpson on 12. Tim Jolley on 15, Ernie Waterfall on 18 with Mark Quick on 21( when he does fish he can half draw), Paul Higgins on 27 with Owen Smith on 28. I drew peg 29 with Derek Smith drawing end peg 30.
Looking at the draw beforehand I thought Colin and Del would take some stopping, But with Trevor 4 anything was possible, the rest I thought would have a good match and it would be close for the minor places.
I started my match fishing a topkit plus one as I found whilst plumbing up that it was a little deeper here. Going out to 2+2 would see the peg shallow up about 2inches, not a lot but maybe a difference. I did spend a lot of time plumbing up especially in the margins as there are odd holes scattered about the lake. I was fishing my normal corn but today I wanted to try something different. I potted a full pot into the swim followed by a pot of 4mm fishery pellet and started the throw afterwards. I do not normally do this but needed to try things out. However it did not seem to work too well, I had 8 fish in the first hour and although doing ok in the match as the pegs opposite were struggling I was not confident in the peg getting better. I primed up both margins with loose fed corn and had a quick look down both taking one fish from the right hand side.
Back out to the long line this time 2+2 and up the ledge, this was better and a steady stream of 2lb fish were coming to the net. With 3 hours gone I reckoned on having 30 fish but they were small and taking an age to land. It was a case of plugging away, I could see the far bank catching including Mick and could hear splashing in Del's peg and Owen's next door so it was blinkers on time. Hour 4 saw me catching a couple of fish and then waiting for bites. I had another quick look down both edges and although fish were swirling in the peg, I could not get any positive takes. I would now leave this until the last half hour. Still putting a few fish in the net on 2+2 held short on single corn before a rig was trashed and I decided to spend the last amount of time down the left hand edge. At last a couple of 4lb fish were biting and although I had 6 in as many put ins, at the end they just came to late for me.
Overall
1st Aidy Freeman Peg 7 265-05
2nd Del Smith Peg 30 254-09
3rd Colin Spencer Peg 2 229-14
4th Mark Quick Peg 21 186-12
5th Trevor Price Peg 4 174-05
6th Mick Wright Peg 5 167-05
7th Keith Ashby Peg 29 166-12
Another match over and only one left before a couple of weeks in the sun for me. The lake fished well again after a slow start and it was noticeable that those who carried on feeding throughout the quiet spells caught in the end. I must also admit defeat to Mick, who has started his comeback in the MK Nugget stakes to make it 7-1. It is only on loan Mick and I want it back. I mean 9oz is only half a fish.
Tuesday 28 July 2015
Alders Farm Ash Lake 28 07 15
Back at Alders today for the Cheap Tuesday Open on Ash Lake. I had fished it on Sunday and was looking forward to it. The lake had fished well in the league match and with the weather improving all the time, I expected it to fish well.
There was another match planned on pegs 1-8 so the café bank was out, but with the wind blowing into the corner of 13 we decided to fish from peg 12 along the dam wall and across the top leaving the shallows for someone who requested a coaching session from one of the Alders Staff.
I collected all the monies and paid the peg fees for the day and set about organising the draw. There were 12 in attendance and a lot of new faces to me. However, the fancied pegs were 12 Terry Lancaster and 15 Trevor Price with the wind blowing into them. Pete Archer had secured a good shallow peg which would suit his style. I drew peg 21, the tree peg and a good area. I had someone (Sorry cannot remember your name) on 20 but no one on 22.
I set up my usual 2+2 rigs and noticed on plumbing up the it dropped off around 6inches past my pole tip so hastily set up another rig to fish slightly further out if required. I also set up a shallow rig in case the fish came up in the water as they sometimes do.
At the all in I threw a dozen grains out to 2+2 and did not have to wait long for my first bite. A couple of fish came to the 2+2 line before it went quiet for around 10 minutes. A look with the deeper rig and another section added saw me getting into a rhythm, although I was cursing the amount of foul hookers and lost fish from this line, it was still more productive than the 2+2 line. Everyone was catching well and although I was getting 2lb with the odd 3lber, I was regularly putting fish in the net.
After 2 hours I reckoned on about 70lb and thought I could keep them coming. Another "iffy" spell saw a change from a bulk shotted rig to a slower strung out rig which again brought a response. It was a case of get your head down and keep going. I was picking off odd fish, then have to make a change, be it rig or shotting pattern. I did try a shallow rig for one fish but it did not feel right.
With 4 hours gone I was sitting on 52 fish and thought I had around 140lb. I could see Trevor's landing net going back and forth so knew he was catching. The pegs to my left were catching but not as quick. My neighbour on 20 was now getting some paste fish down the edge and was "in the zone". It would be close at the end between us. Pete Archer was bagging on the shallow line and getting plenty of fish to come to his pellet hook-baits, Terry had started well but dropped off the pace as the match wore on.
It was at this point that I should have changed tactics and gone down the edge, a lesson learned today. I thought about and never did it. As someone once said to me about fishing" if you think it do it" and I didn't.
Instead I tried to make a dying peg work until the end, I still caught a few but knew it was wrong. I was still foul hooking fish and losing a few off the hook but still odd fish were coming in.
There was another match planned on pegs 1-8 so the café bank was out, but with the wind blowing into the corner of 13 we decided to fish from peg 12 along the dam wall and across the top leaving the shallows for someone who requested a coaching session from one of the Alders Staff.
I collected all the monies and paid the peg fees for the day and set about organising the draw. There were 12 in attendance and a lot of new faces to me. However, the fancied pegs were 12 Terry Lancaster and 15 Trevor Price with the wind blowing into them. Pete Archer had secured a good shallow peg which would suit his style. I drew peg 21, the tree peg and a good area. I had someone (Sorry cannot remember your name) on 20 but no one on 22.
I set up my usual 2+2 rigs and noticed on plumbing up the it dropped off around 6inches past my pole tip so hastily set up another rig to fish slightly further out if required. I also set up a shallow rig in case the fish came up in the water as they sometimes do.
At the all in I threw a dozen grains out to 2+2 and did not have to wait long for my first bite. A couple of fish came to the 2+2 line before it went quiet for around 10 minutes. A look with the deeper rig and another section added saw me getting into a rhythm, although I was cursing the amount of foul hookers and lost fish from this line, it was still more productive than the 2+2 line. Everyone was catching well and although I was getting 2lb with the odd 3lber, I was regularly putting fish in the net.
After 2 hours I reckoned on about 70lb and thought I could keep them coming. Another "iffy" spell saw a change from a bulk shotted rig to a slower strung out rig which again brought a response. It was a case of get your head down and keep going. I was picking off odd fish, then have to make a change, be it rig or shotting pattern. I did try a shallow rig for one fish but it did not feel right.
With 4 hours gone I was sitting on 52 fish and thought I had around 140lb. I could see Trevor's landing net going back and forth so knew he was catching. The pegs to my left were catching but not as quick. My neighbour on 20 was now getting some paste fish down the edge and was "in the zone". It would be close at the end between us. Pete Archer was bagging on the shallow line and getting plenty of fish to come to his pellet hook-baits, Terry had started well but dropped off the pace as the match wore on.
It was at this point that I should have changed tactics and gone down the edge, a lesson learned today. I thought about and never did it. As someone once said to me about fishing" if you think it do it" and I didn't.
Instead I tried to make a dying peg work until the end, I still caught a few but knew it was wrong. I was still foul hooking fish and losing a few off the hook but still odd fish were coming in.
Overall
1st Trevor Price Peg 15 295-09 Maggot
2nd Pete Archer Peg 18 200-11 Pellet
3rd Keith Ashby Peg 21 160-02 Corn
4th xxxxxxxxxx Peg 20 149-06 Paste
5th Terry Lancaster Peg 12 140-05 Maggot
Yet again the lake had fished well. The decision to put peg 15 in was justified, as when the wind blows in the fish tend to follow. My match left me frustrated, I had enough fish on the hook to do 200+ but could not keep them on. Still I was third and had a days fishing in good company. Roll on next week.Sunday 26 July 2015
Alders Farm Ash lake 26 07 15
Work commitments, club matches or league matches normally mean no fishing at weekends unless I have to travel to Kent or Essex for the Marsh matches. However, due to Terry Lancaster having to pull out of the league match at Alders to fish a match at Meadowlands, I was able to have a dabble against the big boys. The league match was a teams of three event, and I was partnered by Richard Brain and Del Smith. The weather was not too good though, rain, rain and yet more rain was predicted.
With pools paid, it was down to Del to draw us some decent pegs and to be fair he did a sterling job. Pegs 1,21 and 27. Richard fancied 21, I was not bothered and left it to Del to decide who plumped for peg 1, thus leaving me 27 as my home for the day. We all seemed happy with our draws and set about thinking about how we were going to tackle it.
I had with me, 2kilos of corn plus a few tins if required. 4 pints of maggot, both 4 and 6mm fishery pellets and a kilo of the new margin mix.
I decided to fish maggot down both edges on top twos, left hand with pellet and the right side with margin mix as feed but toss-potting maggots over the top when I was going to go over it. My main line was hopefully going to be 2+2 with loose fed corn. I also set up a longer line to start the match on which would be fed with a cupping kit to start and toss potted corn and 4mm pellet. Rigs were .3 MW diamonds in 18inches to 2ft of water tied to .20 Stroft and a size 16 Pr36. Margins were floats with no name taking 2 no 8 Stotz to a size 16 Pr36.
At the all in I put 3 cups of margin mix and 2 pots of maggot down the right hand side, 2 pots of pellets and a pot of maggot to the left. Next door on 28 was already playing a fish. I threw a dozen grains of corn to 5m and shipped out a large pot of corn and 4mm pellets to 9m. I would start here.
A single grain of corn saw a couple of carp fall to the trap set, before it went a bit iffy, I started toss potting and a few more fish came to the waiting net. After a hour I had around 12 fish for 35lb. I had been feeding the 5m line regularly and it was time for a look. I was getting fish steadily for the next two hours in small bursts of 3 fish, then wait a couple of minutes then 3 fish again. I was sitting on 40 fish now and estimated I had done 100lb. I needed to keep up the catch rate as I could see 28 and 29 catching and Trevor Price on the peg to my right was doing ok.
Whether it was me pushing the peg too hard, or the fish just changing the way they were feeding, or simply the fact it had stopped raining. I started to foul hook a few fish and lost a few shipping back. I changed shotting to a bulk around 6inches from the hook and I was back into a few fish. The rain had also returned. I was soaked. I was picking a few fish off from around the bait table and by switching side to side I was putting together a good net. Hour four flew by and I was now into 55 fish for around 140lb.
Decision time, do I come off feeding slowly fish and try the edges or persevere.
I decide to have a quick look and if no bites straight away I would be back out. After 5minutes I was back out to 5m. I would see this through to the end. Again fish were coming steadily, all around the 3lb mark, but it was a waiting game. I ended up with 62 fish and was happy with my days fishing. I knew I was behind both 28 and 29 but would run the rest of the section close.
At the weigh in our section went. 88lb, 145lb, 172, Me 183, 236,223, and 188. So fourth in section. I was happy with that, I had caught well throughout with only a couple of dry spells. Another couple of fish and 3rd in section was possible.
With pools paid, it was down to Del to draw us some decent pegs and to be fair he did a sterling job. Pegs 1,21 and 27. Richard fancied 21, I was not bothered and left it to Del to decide who plumped for peg 1, thus leaving me 27 as my home for the day. We all seemed happy with our draws and set about thinking about how we were going to tackle it.
I had with me, 2kilos of corn plus a few tins if required. 4 pints of maggot, both 4 and 6mm fishery pellets and a kilo of the new margin mix.
I decided to fish maggot down both edges on top twos, left hand with pellet and the right side with margin mix as feed but toss-potting maggots over the top when I was going to go over it. My main line was hopefully going to be 2+2 with loose fed corn. I also set up a longer line to start the match on which would be fed with a cupping kit to start and toss potted corn and 4mm pellet. Rigs were .3 MW diamonds in 18inches to 2ft of water tied to .20 Stroft and a size 16 Pr36. Margins were floats with no name taking 2 no 8 Stotz to a size 16 Pr36.
At the all in I put 3 cups of margin mix and 2 pots of maggot down the right hand side, 2 pots of pellets and a pot of maggot to the left. Next door on 28 was already playing a fish. I threw a dozen grains of corn to 5m and shipped out a large pot of corn and 4mm pellets to 9m. I would start here.
A single grain of corn saw a couple of carp fall to the trap set, before it went a bit iffy, I started toss potting and a few more fish came to the waiting net. After a hour I had around 12 fish for 35lb. I had been feeding the 5m line regularly and it was time for a look. I was getting fish steadily for the next two hours in small bursts of 3 fish, then wait a couple of minutes then 3 fish again. I was sitting on 40 fish now and estimated I had done 100lb. I needed to keep up the catch rate as I could see 28 and 29 catching and Trevor Price on the peg to my right was doing ok.
Whether it was me pushing the peg too hard, or the fish just changing the way they were feeding, or simply the fact it had stopped raining. I started to foul hook a few fish and lost a few shipping back. I changed shotting to a bulk around 6inches from the hook and I was back into a few fish. The rain had also returned. I was soaked. I was picking a few fish off from around the bait table and by switching side to side I was putting together a good net. Hour four flew by and I was now into 55 fish for around 140lb.
Decision time, do I come off feeding slowly fish and try the edges or persevere.
I decide to have a quick look and if no bites straight away I would be back out. After 5minutes I was back out to 5m. I would see this through to the end. Again fish were coming steadily, all around the 3lb mark, but it was a waiting game. I ended up with 62 fish and was happy with my days fishing. I knew I was behind both 28 and 29 but would run the rest of the section close.
At the weigh in our section went. 88lb, 145lb, 172, Me 183, 236,223, and 188. So fourth in section. I was happy with that, I had caught well throughout with only a couple of dry spells. Another couple of fish and 3rd in section was possible.
Overall result
1st Andy Gregory 274lb
2nd Del Smith 260lb
3rd Dan Hardy 236lb
4th Colin Spencer 234lb
5th Hugh Crawford 223lb
6th Ricky Quick 199lb
Teamwise I think we won the day (awaiting confirmation), Richard won his section, Del was second in his and second overall, I was fourth in section giving us a total of 7 points on the day.
Saturday 18 July 2015
Alders Farm Pines Lake 18 07 15 Marsh AC
Since getting back from Viaduct Fisheries at the start of the month, I have really struggled to get motivated to do anything, let alone fishing, but I was committed to fishing the Marsh AC match on my local water. Due to the amount of travelling involved from the members ( Essex, Kent, Berkshire and Surrey) we set the draw for 0830 fishing 10-4pm. We had pegs 1 to 18 and decided to leave a couple out at the top of the lake in the shallow water.
After breakfast and peg fees/pools were taken by Tony, who would sort out the sections. We had 13 fishing meaning two sections of 4 and one of 5. My home for the day would be peg 1. A good peg when the wind is blowing in, but it was flat calm all across the lake, I was thinking that everyone would struggle but at Alders the fish can switch on at anytime and you could do a ton in an hour when they do.
I set 3 rigs to fish the margins, two at top two both sides and one at top 5 to my left, against the brambles. Another rig was set up to fish top 4 and corn.
At the all in I started feeding top 4 line and threw some pellet down the right margin and corn to the left. I started off on top 4 and by feeding regularly I caught 4 fish in the first hour but it did not seem right. I looked down both edges for a carp from both lines before re-feeding the margins and going back out to top 4. I was still getting bites but not hitting them, I tried shallowing up gradually to no avail, still bites but no fish. I decided to try a margin rig over this line to see if the fish were shallow. At around 18 inches I would still get bites but occasionally a fish. I perservereed on this line for a couple of hours before it went quiet again. A look back on the deck saw no fish coming so I was back in the margins.
I could see Simon and Al catching long shallow, but it seemed that apart from Clive and Tony on the opposite bank no one else was emptying it. For me it was a case of keep switching lines in the hope that one would turn on.
Another couple of fish were forthcoming but it was fishing hard. I did lose a few in the brambles and reeds but at Alders everyone loses the odd fish.
After breakfast and peg fees/pools were taken by Tony, who would sort out the sections. We had 13 fishing meaning two sections of 4 and one of 5. My home for the day would be peg 1. A good peg when the wind is blowing in, but it was flat calm all across the lake, I was thinking that everyone would struggle but at Alders the fish can switch on at anytime and you could do a ton in an hour when they do.
I set 3 rigs to fish the margins, two at top two both sides and one at top 5 to my left, against the brambles. Another rig was set up to fish top 4 and corn.
At the all in I started feeding top 4 line and threw some pellet down the right margin and corn to the left. I started off on top 4 and by feeding regularly I caught 4 fish in the first hour but it did not seem right. I looked down both edges for a carp from both lines before re-feeding the margins and going back out to top 4. I was still getting bites but not hitting them, I tried shallowing up gradually to no avail, still bites but no fish. I decided to try a margin rig over this line to see if the fish were shallow. At around 18 inches I would still get bites but occasionally a fish. I perservereed on this line for a couple of hours before it went quiet again. A look back on the deck saw no fish coming so I was back in the margins.
I could see Simon and Al catching long shallow, but it seemed that apart from Clive and Tony on the opposite bank no one else was emptying it. For me it was a case of keep switching lines in the hope that one would turn on.
Another couple of fish were forthcoming but it was fishing hard. I did lose a few in the brambles and reeds but at Alders everyone loses the odd fish.
1st Tony Roberts 107-08 Peg 18
2nd Al Loader 106-08 Peg 4
2nd Al Loader 106-08 Peg 4
3rd Clive Pritchard 78-08 Peg 16
4th Gino Exell 66-08
5th Simon Watkins 63-12
6th Jim Etherington 60-12
7th Keith Ashby 60-04
8th Chris Withall 55-04
9th Chris 54-04
10th Gary Loader 50-12
11th Tony Watkins 49-08
12th John Holdsworth 30-04
13th Jim Boase 24-12
4th Gino Exell 66-08
5th Simon Watkins 63-12
6th Jim Etherington 60-12
7th Keith Ashby 60-04
8th Chris Withall 55-04
9th Chris 54-04
10th Gary Loader 50-12
11th Tony Watkins 49-08
12th John Holdsworth 30-04
13th Jim Boase 24-12
I must say that the venue fished hard but fair, Those who changed to fishing shallow, gradually built a weight. I should also compliment Gary Loader who fished on his own today for the first time. Dad Al must be really proud. A good weight on a hard day from one of the hardest pegs to fish.
Saturday 4 July 2015
Viaduct Fishery 27th June to 4th July
I have been very fortunate to meet some great people through fishing, some club mates, others on opens and festivals and others through work. I had fished a few festivals at Stafford Moor and although I enjoyed them immensely it was too competitive for ME. I much preferred the relaxed approach as I openly admit I am a club angler who dabbles in opens and those festivals. During one of those festivals I met up with a group of lads from the West Midlands, Yam Yam country. It took a while to understand the lingo and the banter but it was great. No prima donnas, no mis-information and no pulling of punches, if you fished poorly then they tell you straight.
This year they held another festival of there own. The previous few had been at Stafford Moor, but for a change they decided to visit Viaduct Fishery in Somerton. It had all we needed, a cracking fishery, plenty of bars and restaurants to choose from, and easy access from the M5 and A303.
This year there was 12 of us fishing. Nine Yam Yams and three guests, Vic, Del and myself from Milton Keynes and Hemel Hempstead. As per usual for the Yam Yams they travelled down the evening before and stayed in a B&B in Yeovil with a curry night out and a few beers. All was going well until the bill came and after a few discussions with the owner of the curry house over a £3 beer, the police were called and needed to step in the resolve the problem. A good start to the holiday.
Saturday 27th June
My start to the festival was less impressive, picking Vic up at 5am for the trip down where we met up with Del at a Little Chef en route. Still we made good time and met up with the lads in preparation for the days fishing ahead.
We had booked Lodge lake on the complex for our 12 man match and although we would have preferred to fish Cary or Campbell lakes we were happy to just wet a line. We could not book into the lodges until 4pm anyway so we had plenty of time to kill. I had fished it a few times before and not done any good on it. The area at the top of the lake was black with fish and a fancied area. To cut a long story short, I fished for carp and got skimmers, I tried 4 different areas of the swim and did not see a carp at all. I threw back around 20lb of skimmers. Pedro was next door and fished the bomb and Pellet Waggler for second place with around 45lb, just pipping Nobby for third spot with 44lb, but the real star was Paul Davis who fished the bomb into a gap in the trees for 106lb, doubling the nearest weight.
We got settled into the lodges and had a few beers to celebrate before going out for a meal in the evening.
Sunday 28th June
Due to the lakes being closed for a league match we booked a match at Goodiford Mill near Collumpton. This would not form part of the festival as this would run Monday to Friday, but would give the anglers the opportunity to hone the skills on the PW and Bomb. The weather was hot again and there were plenty of cruising carp to be seen, but would they feed. I had drawn peg 2 close to the gate and a good area, Vic was next door on 3 with Paul on peg 1. I decided to fish the PW and pole in the margins. If I could get a few late on on the pole it could really boost my weight as the edge fish run big and hard. I started off on the PW catching 10 fish in the first hour before the wind got up and made presentation a little difficult for my inexperienced hands. Paul and Vic both persevered but it was Cotty and Gongo who were catching well. Word was Dave W was getting one a bung on the waggler and would take some beating. It was a good learning curve for me seeing these guys fishing the way they do, Paul was talking all match saying this and that and I came away having learnt a great deal. I plugged away on the waggler and when I did get it right I had a few fish, but not as many as Cotty and Paul. I managed to snag a couple of margin fish and at around 8lb each they boosted my weight to 79lb. Vic had 80lb, Del had 52lb. However winner on the day was Dave W with 163lb 3oz with Cotty second with 148lb 4oz and Gongo third with 139lb 13oz.
A few beers and a meal followed to celebrate.
Monday 29th June
Cary Lake was our home for the day and the first day of the festival proper. The festival works on two sections of 6, with the winner of each section getting 1pt down to 6pts for last on section. Payouts are based on top three places overall and two section by default winners.
I had drawn peg 94, not a good draw as it is shallow and options are limited, but I was confident of getting a few fish on the bomb and margins. I was also up against it with pegs 81 to 94 in my section. I started on the bomb pinging a few 8mm pellets fishing either an 8mm Jupiter or standard 8mm coarse pellet. After an hour I had one fish for around 12lb and with no one really catching apart from Del who had 2 fish and Dave W with one was still on for good points. A quick look at 5m saw no bites so I re-fed and have look down the left hand edge close to some lily pads. Again no bites were forthcoming. Paul was getting a few on the bomb although I was not too concerned as he was in a different section to me. Although he did tell me after the match that the five fish he caught were all foul-hooked except one. Unbelieveable. Bob and Gongo were struggling and Soupy was losing fish. I did managed to pick up another 2 fish towards the end of the match, but it was a struggle on the lake. Del had sneaked 5 fish to win the section followed by Dave W, I sneaked into 3rd pipping Soupy with Gongo 5th and Bob last.
The other section fished no better, Cotty winning the section, Paul second, Fred 3rd, Nobby 4th and Pedro 5th. Vic did not weigh but had 2lb of bits. Overall Del won the match with 48-10 Cotty second 45-03 and Paul third with 43-03.
I was happy with a third place in section. A good solid start. Del had won the match so got our kitty going, but Vic was not too happy having blanked.
Finally myself and Cotty got through the pairs knockout.
A few beers and a meal followed to celebrate.
Tuesday 30th June
Tuesday saw us on Campbell lake. I was hoping for a draw on the far bank between 129 and 123, as I had always done well from there, but around the aerator it was solid with fish. They could be seen creating dark clouds of silt where they were searching for food. I pulled out 119, end peg on the near bank and one I had not fished before. It was also the furthest peg from the aerator. I set up two margin lines to fish at 7m and 12.5 towards the corner. A bomb rod to fish to the pallet of 120 and a PW rod to fish towards the second platform. I had Paul on 118 who would fish the PW and bomb and at 5m. I started off on the bomb pinging 8mm pellets with a quick fish early on to settle the nerves, a look on the PW saw a couple of bites but no fish. A switch to 7m saw a couple of skimmers and odd tench. A look at 12.5m saw me catch a couple of small carp. But it was fraught with danger, I really had to pull to keep them out of the snags regardless of elastic. I ended up losing loads of rigs and walked away disappointed from my match. The rest of the section fished well and my 48lb would only be good enough for last in section. Not the day I was hoping for. Gongo won the section with 155-15 from 112, Paul was second with 138-01, Bob 3rd with 131-09, Dave 4th with 73-02, Soupy 5th 64-14. The other section fished similarly, Vic having 150-10, Pedro 124-03, Cotty 104-08, Nobby 83-05, Del 57-12 and Fred 43lb.
Overall Gongo was first, Vic second and Paul 3rd. So another kitty boost.
My 6pts score was not what I needed and pushed me back down the pecking order. A big disappointment and to cap it all Cotty and I were out of the pairs knockout. A few beers and a meal followed to celebrate.
Wednesday 1st July
Due to the poor form of Cary Lake we switched the match to Campbell Lake again, This time I drew 116. The previous day Soupy had 64-14 from it so that was my target weight. I decided to fish the bomb for the first hour then have a look down the edge and at 5m with corn and pellet. However, right at the last minute I decided to have a look down the edge at the start. A worthwhile experience as after ten minutes I had 20lb in the net. No more fish followed so I moved out to 5m where I had a few skimmers. A look on the bomb saw a couple more carp come but I could see fish to my left hand margin and thought it was time to have a look. Another carp followed although a smaller stamp before I looked again down the right hand side. I had another couple of fish from here before a couple of foul hooked fish stripped my elastic completely out of the pole. In hindsight I should have changed poles to my margin pole. A couple more fish on the bomb would see me end up with 94lb, so target achieved. However, yet again the aerator pegs had fished well and I had to settle for 4th in section beating Vic who had 79-14 and Bob who had 119 and 34-12. Paul had 177-5 to win the section from Gongo 146-15 and Dave 116-05. The opposite section was again similar, the aerator pegs producing fish. Nobby winning with 186-03, Del 161-08, Pedro 141-08, Fred 112-02, Soupy 90-09 and Cotty last in section 77-13.
Overall Nobby 1st Paul second and Del third so another kitty envelope. I really must start to contribute. A few beers and a meal followed to celebrate.
Thursday 2nd July
The festival takes on a different approach on the open match day at Viaduct. We take the 6 lowest drawn numbers and the 6 highest to form the sections. As we are split over two lakes it could mean being in a section on a different lake, but it is the easiest way to sort out. I had drawn peg 74 on Cary lake, in the narrow end of the lake and an area I had seen someone win from many years ago. It had an overhanging willow which stretched well over the lake. I opted to fish 12m to the edge of the tree and a bomb further out at around 20m. Starting out on the bomb I had a quick fish on the bomb line. A look at the tree saw my fortunes change, by kinder potting corn after each bite I was soon getting a couple of fish. I would only get two at a time, then have to wait but by regular feeding I managed to keep fish coming throughout the match ending up with 16 fish and a couple of tench. My total weight of 111-12 saw me record my first ton match weight on Cary. I was happy with that and as an added bonus won the lake in the open and fourth overall. I also won my section and pushed me back into contention. Unfortunately I did not take the results but Nobby had 8 fish for 100lb including one of 19lb 14oz. Vic had fared less well with 50lb. Roy, a Viaduct regular won the match from Campbell 111 with a massive 305lb. In fact the first three came from Campbell, pegs 111,118 and 124.
I was able to contribute to the kitty twice in one day, a match win in the festival and a lake win in the open.
A few beers and a meal followed to celebrate.
Friday 3rd July
Last day of the festival and the league position mean that 10 of us were still in with a shout of winning it. I needed a section win to have a chance of a top three placing and hope that one or two drop some points along the way. We were back on Campbell but with a change in sections. The aerator swims 3 on each side in one section and the other end of the lake again 3 each side away from the aerator. I was in the end away from the aerator on 129, I had Fred on 126 and Dave on 124, opposite was Del who had a realistic chance of winning the festival with a good performance today. Paul was on 116 and Cotty on 114 would also take some beating. Again I started on the bomb catching a couple of quick carp from a cloudy area of the peg just past the spit, A switch to 5m and the edge only saw a few small tench, so I concentrated on the bomb line and trying to keep the fish from moving up and down the lake. I could see people changing tactics so thought that they were not catching well on their chosen method. I just kept plugging away. I could see both Paul and Cotty changing to slapping a pole rig for good results but always felt I was in front of them. Del was catching odd fish but not getting into a rhythm. I could also hear noise from both Dave and Fred's pegs and was hopeful they were sharing fish.
Section results
Dave 189-04
Keith 163-00
Del 136-11
Cotty 122-09
Paul 97-06
Fred 60-00
Section 2
Pedro 247-14
Gongo 166-02
Bob 140-14
Vic 125-05
Nobby 105-13
Soupy 83-10
It was disappointing though to hear that my good mate Vic did his Tom Daley impersonation (again) on the last match. He told me he went under completely, this I did not believe as the margins are only 2ft deep and his belly would have stuck out of the water. Gongo managed to save his keepnets whilst he crawled up the back whilst Pedro could not stop laughing, friends. He was though in considerable pain with his hip and back and even after the drive home today you could see he was still in agony. A&E be warned.
It was all over the festival had finished. It was close back at the lodge with Gongo taking the overall title with a score of 13 points. Del on 15 points followed by 6 anglers tied on 16 points with the final frame place going to Pedro on weight difference. I ended up in 6th place and overall weight of 449-4oz. just missing out on 5th by 6lb, one fish.
I must say the festival is a great experience for someone like me, I had a great laugh, learnt loads and enjoyed great company over the course of the week.I caught a few fish, won a few quid and had a few beers. We had a laugh at each other and never a cross word. Hopefully I can make it next year. Finally I have to thank all the Yam Yams for a great week, Steve and Helen at Viaduct Fishery for a great fishery, lodges and hospitality. Also to Trevor Price from GOT Baits and Bulk Fishing Baits for supplying my 8mm and 10mm Jupiters, Gel-its and liquid additives. I know they have accounted for a lot of fish this week as everyone kept nicking them off me.
This year they held another festival of there own. The previous few had been at Stafford Moor, but for a change they decided to visit Viaduct Fishery in Somerton. It had all we needed, a cracking fishery, plenty of bars and restaurants to choose from, and easy access from the M5 and A303.
This year there was 12 of us fishing. Nine Yam Yams and three guests, Vic, Del and myself from Milton Keynes and Hemel Hempstead. As per usual for the Yam Yams they travelled down the evening before and stayed in a B&B in Yeovil with a curry night out and a few beers. All was going well until the bill came and after a few discussions with the owner of the curry house over a £3 beer, the police were called and needed to step in the resolve the problem. A good start to the holiday.
Saturday 27th June
My start to the festival was less impressive, picking Vic up at 5am for the trip down where we met up with Del at a Little Chef en route. Still we made good time and met up with the lads in preparation for the days fishing ahead.
We had booked Lodge lake on the complex for our 12 man match and although we would have preferred to fish Cary or Campbell lakes we were happy to just wet a line. We could not book into the lodges until 4pm anyway so we had plenty of time to kill. I had fished it a few times before and not done any good on it. The area at the top of the lake was black with fish and a fancied area. To cut a long story short, I fished for carp and got skimmers, I tried 4 different areas of the swim and did not see a carp at all. I threw back around 20lb of skimmers. Pedro was next door and fished the bomb and Pellet Waggler for second place with around 45lb, just pipping Nobby for third spot with 44lb, but the real star was Paul Davis who fished the bomb into a gap in the trees for 106lb, doubling the nearest weight.
We got settled into the lodges and had a few beers to celebrate before going out for a meal in the evening.
Sunday 28th June
Due to the lakes being closed for a league match we booked a match at Goodiford Mill near Collumpton. This would not form part of the festival as this would run Monday to Friday, but would give the anglers the opportunity to hone the skills on the PW and Bomb. The weather was hot again and there were plenty of cruising carp to be seen, but would they feed. I had drawn peg 2 close to the gate and a good area, Vic was next door on 3 with Paul on peg 1. I decided to fish the PW and pole in the margins. If I could get a few late on on the pole it could really boost my weight as the edge fish run big and hard. I started off on the PW catching 10 fish in the first hour before the wind got up and made presentation a little difficult for my inexperienced hands. Paul and Vic both persevered but it was Cotty and Gongo who were catching well. Word was Dave W was getting one a bung on the waggler and would take some beating. It was a good learning curve for me seeing these guys fishing the way they do, Paul was talking all match saying this and that and I came away having learnt a great deal. I plugged away on the waggler and when I did get it right I had a few fish, but not as many as Cotty and Paul. I managed to snag a couple of margin fish and at around 8lb each they boosted my weight to 79lb. Vic had 80lb, Del had 52lb. However winner on the day was Dave W with 163lb 3oz with Cotty second with 148lb 4oz and Gongo third with 139lb 13oz.
A few beers and a meal followed to celebrate.
Monday 29th June
Cary Lake was our home for the day and the first day of the festival proper. The festival works on two sections of 6, with the winner of each section getting 1pt down to 6pts for last on section. Payouts are based on top three places overall and two section by default winners.
I had drawn peg 94, not a good draw as it is shallow and options are limited, but I was confident of getting a few fish on the bomb and margins. I was also up against it with pegs 81 to 94 in my section. I started on the bomb pinging a few 8mm pellets fishing either an 8mm Jupiter or standard 8mm coarse pellet. After an hour I had one fish for around 12lb and with no one really catching apart from Del who had 2 fish and Dave W with one was still on for good points. A quick look at 5m saw no bites so I re-fed and have look down the left hand edge close to some lily pads. Again no bites were forthcoming. Paul was getting a few on the bomb although I was not too concerned as he was in a different section to me. Although he did tell me after the match that the five fish he caught were all foul-hooked except one. Unbelieveable. Bob and Gongo were struggling and Soupy was losing fish. I did managed to pick up another 2 fish towards the end of the match, but it was a struggle on the lake. Del had sneaked 5 fish to win the section followed by Dave W, I sneaked into 3rd pipping Soupy with Gongo 5th and Bob last.
The other section fished no better, Cotty winning the section, Paul second, Fred 3rd, Nobby 4th and Pedro 5th. Vic did not weigh but had 2lb of bits. Overall Del won the match with 48-10 Cotty second 45-03 and Paul third with 43-03.
I was happy with a third place in section. A good solid start. Del had won the match so got our kitty going, but Vic was not too happy having blanked.
Finally myself and Cotty got through the pairs knockout.
A few beers and a meal followed to celebrate.
Tuesday 30th June
Tuesday saw us on Campbell lake. I was hoping for a draw on the far bank between 129 and 123, as I had always done well from there, but around the aerator it was solid with fish. They could be seen creating dark clouds of silt where they were searching for food. I pulled out 119, end peg on the near bank and one I had not fished before. It was also the furthest peg from the aerator. I set up two margin lines to fish at 7m and 12.5 towards the corner. A bomb rod to fish to the pallet of 120 and a PW rod to fish towards the second platform. I had Paul on 118 who would fish the PW and bomb and at 5m. I started off on the bomb pinging 8mm pellets with a quick fish early on to settle the nerves, a look on the PW saw a couple of bites but no fish. A switch to 7m saw a couple of skimmers and odd tench. A look at 12.5m saw me catch a couple of small carp. But it was fraught with danger, I really had to pull to keep them out of the snags regardless of elastic. I ended up losing loads of rigs and walked away disappointed from my match. The rest of the section fished well and my 48lb would only be good enough for last in section. Not the day I was hoping for. Gongo won the section with 155-15 from 112, Paul was second with 138-01, Bob 3rd with 131-09, Dave 4th with 73-02, Soupy 5th 64-14. The other section fished similarly, Vic having 150-10, Pedro 124-03, Cotty 104-08, Nobby 83-05, Del 57-12 and Fred 43lb.
Overall Gongo was first, Vic second and Paul 3rd. So another kitty boost.
My 6pts score was not what I needed and pushed me back down the pecking order. A big disappointment and to cap it all Cotty and I were out of the pairs knockout. A few beers and a meal followed to celebrate.
Wednesday 1st July
Due to the poor form of Cary Lake we switched the match to Campbell Lake again, This time I drew 116. The previous day Soupy had 64-14 from it so that was my target weight. I decided to fish the bomb for the first hour then have a look down the edge and at 5m with corn and pellet. However, right at the last minute I decided to have a look down the edge at the start. A worthwhile experience as after ten minutes I had 20lb in the net. No more fish followed so I moved out to 5m where I had a few skimmers. A look on the bomb saw a couple more carp come but I could see fish to my left hand margin and thought it was time to have a look. Another carp followed although a smaller stamp before I looked again down the right hand side. I had another couple of fish from here before a couple of foul hooked fish stripped my elastic completely out of the pole. In hindsight I should have changed poles to my margin pole. A couple more fish on the bomb would see me end up with 94lb, so target achieved. However, yet again the aerator pegs had fished well and I had to settle for 4th in section beating Vic who had 79-14 and Bob who had 119 and 34-12. Paul had 177-5 to win the section from Gongo 146-15 and Dave 116-05. The opposite section was again similar, the aerator pegs producing fish. Nobby winning with 186-03, Del 161-08, Pedro 141-08, Fred 112-02, Soupy 90-09 and Cotty last in section 77-13.
Overall Nobby 1st Paul second and Del third so another kitty envelope. I really must start to contribute. A few beers and a meal followed to celebrate.
Thursday 2nd July
The festival takes on a different approach on the open match day at Viaduct. We take the 6 lowest drawn numbers and the 6 highest to form the sections. As we are split over two lakes it could mean being in a section on a different lake, but it is the easiest way to sort out. I had drawn peg 74 on Cary lake, in the narrow end of the lake and an area I had seen someone win from many years ago. It had an overhanging willow which stretched well over the lake. I opted to fish 12m to the edge of the tree and a bomb further out at around 20m. Starting out on the bomb I had a quick fish on the bomb line. A look at the tree saw my fortunes change, by kinder potting corn after each bite I was soon getting a couple of fish. I would only get two at a time, then have to wait but by regular feeding I managed to keep fish coming throughout the match ending up with 16 fish and a couple of tench. My total weight of 111-12 saw me record my first ton match weight on Cary. I was happy with that and as an added bonus won the lake in the open and fourth overall. I also won my section and pushed me back into contention. Unfortunately I did not take the results but Nobby had 8 fish for 100lb including one of 19lb 14oz. Vic had fared less well with 50lb. Roy, a Viaduct regular won the match from Campbell 111 with a massive 305lb. In fact the first three came from Campbell, pegs 111,118 and 124.
I was able to contribute to the kitty twice in one day, a match win in the festival and a lake win in the open.
A few beers and a meal followed to celebrate.
Friday 3rd July
Last day of the festival and the league position mean that 10 of us were still in with a shout of winning it. I needed a section win to have a chance of a top three placing and hope that one or two drop some points along the way. We were back on Campbell but with a change in sections. The aerator swims 3 on each side in one section and the other end of the lake again 3 each side away from the aerator. I was in the end away from the aerator on 129, I had Fred on 126 and Dave on 124, opposite was Del who had a realistic chance of winning the festival with a good performance today. Paul was on 116 and Cotty on 114 would also take some beating. Again I started on the bomb catching a couple of quick carp from a cloudy area of the peg just past the spit, A switch to 5m and the edge only saw a few small tench, so I concentrated on the bomb line and trying to keep the fish from moving up and down the lake. I could see people changing tactics so thought that they were not catching well on their chosen method. I just kept plugging away. I could see both Paul and Cotty changing to slapping a pole rig for good results but always felt I was in front of them. Del was catching odd fish but not getting into a rhythm. I could also hear noise from both Dave and Fred's pegs and was hopeful they were sharing fish.
Section results
Dave 189-04
Keith 163-00
Del 136-11
Cotty 122-09
Paul 97-06
Fred 60-00
Section 2
Pedro 247-14
Gongo 166-02
Bob 140-14
Vic 125-05
Nobby 105-13
Soupy 83-10
It was disappointing though to hear that my good mate Vic did his Tom Daley impersonation (again) on the last match. He told me he went under completely, this I did not believe as the margins are only 2ft deep and his belly would have stuck out of the water. Gongo managed to save his keepnets whilst he crawled up the back whilst Pedro could not stop laughing, friends. He was though in considerable pain with his hip and back and even after the drive home today you could see he was still in agony. A&E be warned.
It was all over the festival had finished. It was close back at the lodge with Gongo taking the overall title with a score of 13 points. Del on 15 points followed by 6 anglers tied on 16 points with the final frame place going to Pedro on weight difference. I ended up in 6th place and overall weight of 449-4oz. just missing out on 5th by 6lb, one fish.
I must say the festival is a great experience for someone like me, I had a great laugh, learnt loads and enjoyed great company over the course of the week.I caught a few fish, won a few quid and had a few beers. We had a laugh at each other and never a cross word. Hopefully I can make it next year. Finally I have to thank all the Yam Yams for a great week, Steve and Helen at Viaduct Fishery for a great fishery, lodges and hospitality. Also to Trevor Price from GOT Baits and Bulk Fishing Baits for supplying my 8mm and 10mm Jupiters, Gel-its and liquid additives. I know they have accounted for a lot of fish this week as everyone kept nicking them off me.
Tuesday 16 June 2015
Alders Farm Affordable 16 06 15
There used to be something special about the 16th June. You had an air of anticipation and hope for the first day of the season. You had been preparing baits and getting your kit together in readiness, nowadays, it seems to have fallen to the wayside. I know a lot of people who still look forward to the date, but have given up on the rivers and canals a long time ago, preferring to fish commercials and lakes. I am one of those, but still look forward to the odd session on a river and I hope to plan a couple in before the end of the year.
Today saw me fishing the Alders Affordable on Pines lake. Last time I fished it I could not keep fish coming and those I did hook either were foul hooked or slipped the hook. Still today is another day.
My peg for the day would be 5, just tucked away in the trees, I was happy with the peg although it had not showed any form of late. On arrival I could see a few swirls close in and this made my mind to just fish close. A top three and a couple of margin rigs. Bait was corn and some gelled corn with a couple of kilos as feed and around 2 pints of fishery 4mm pellets.
At the all in I tossed a couple of handfuls of corn out to 4m and was straight into fish, a nice common around 6lb, a few 1lb fish showed and after 30 minutes I had around 20lb in the net and was on for a decent day. However this soon stopped and I was reaching for another section, a change of depth and a couple more fish but it was slow. After 2 hours I had around 14 fish for about 40lb. Trevor Price was struggling and only getting odd fish on the pellet cone. However Charlie was admitting to 24 fish. I could see Aidy Freeman getting a few and after a slow start Andy Gregory was putting a few fish in the net.
Hour three was another slow hour but by switching lines I managed another 25lb. Hour 4 was were it all starting turning around for me, I changed my feeding strategy from little and often to a handful and wait. This had a desired effect and although fish were on the small side I was putting fish in the net. This also coincided with Trevor starting to catch properly. He was catching four fish to my one and was like a man on a mission. Proper fish too. He lost a few as we all did on the day.
I kept plugging away hoping for a few of the better fish to show, but alas it was not to be, I kept catching on the dump and wait method and thought it would be close between Trevor and I, Andy was emptying it across on 17 and Charlie and Colin were still catching.
Today saw me fishing the Alders Affordable on Pines lake. Last time I fished it I could not keep fish coming and those I did hook either were foul hooked or slipped the hook. Still today is another day.
My peg for the day would be 5, just tucked away in the trees, I was happy with the peg although it had not showed any form of late. On arrival I could see a few swirls close in and this made my mind to just fish close. A top three and a couple of margin rigs. Bait was corn and some gelled corn with a couple of kilos as feed and around 2 pints of fishery 4mm pellets.
At the all in I tossed a couple of handfuls of corn out to 4m and was straight into fish, a nice common around 6lb, a few 1lb fish showed and after 30 minutes I had around 20lb in the net and was on for a decent day. However this soon stopped and I was reaching for another section, a change of depth and a couple more fish but it was slow. After 2 hours I had around 14 fish for about 40lb. Trevor Price was struggling and only getting odd fish on the pellet cone. However Charlie was admitting to 24 fish. I could see Aidy Freeman getting a few and after a slow start Andy Gregory was putting a few fish in the net.
Hour three was another slow hour but by switching lines I managed another 25lb. Hour 4 was were it all starting turning around for me, I changed my feeding strategy from little and often to a handful and wait. This had a desired effect and although fish were on the small side I was putting fish in the net. This also coincided with Trevor starting to catch properly. He was catching four fish to my one and was like a man on a mission. Proper fish too. He lost a few as we all did on the day.
I kept plugging away hoping for a few of the better fish to show, but alas it was not to be, I kept catching on the dump and wait method and thought it would be close between Trevor and I, Andy was emptying it across on 17 and Charlie and Colin were still catching.
Overall
1st Trevor Price 242-14
2nd Colin Spencer 230-06
3rd Andy Gregory 219-08
4th Charlie Lancaster 179-02
5th Aidy Freeman 153-00
6th Keith Ashby 147-11
I was a little frustrated at the end of the match, I could catch on corn, but had to keep changing lines, depths and shotting after a couple of fish as it would die or I would suffer foul hookers and hook pulls. AND does anyone know how Trevor manages to land fish so quietly.
Tuesday 9 June 2015
Alders Farm Affordable 09 06 15
Ash Lake at Alders Farm was the venue for today's affordable open. It had been fishing well over the weekend leading up to this match with winning weights over 200lb and plenty of ton plus back up weights. Most had been taken on paste or maggot over groundbait. Well that's me done then.
It was good to see some new faces on the match today, with a healthy 14 anglers partaking. I settled down and took the money whilst Charlie and Trevor sorted out the pegging.
I drew peg 12, end peg on the café bank and a good peg if the wind was blowing in, as it was today. I decided to concentrate on my normal 2+2 line with .18 Stroft to .16 hook length to a size 16 PR36. A .3g MW Diamond with a couple of number 8s spread out. This would be my opening line but I also set up a line to fish 10m towards the corner, I used a similar rig to fish the 2ft margin depth where I could see the float, however I was sure I was 2ft away from the bank due to the over hanging nettles and reeds.
I had Trevor for company on peg 8 and although I had a bit of room in the corner, I was concerned that the fish would not turn up, it really is a feast or famine peg. I started off throwing a few grains of corn and I was soon getting indications on the float and after 15 minutes I had 3 fish in the net but they were only around the pound mark. I was still feeding 3 or 4 grains every 20 seconds or so and started to up the feed, to see if this improved the bite ratio. No noticeable change so I tried a bulk shotting pattern and this resulted in a few 2lb fish to leave me with 15 fish in the first hour for around 25lb.
I tried bringing the rig closer, but the fish would not follow, I could only get a bite just off bottom and the full range of the top four. After two hours I reckoned on having around 50lb and was going nowhere. I was getting fish but they were small 1-2lb stamp. I needed to get a few 3lb fish to have any chance of a frame. I could hear Trevor catching and could see a few others getting a few fish.
A slow 3rd hour prompted the change to the margin line. I had been feeding regularly and first put in resulted in a 3lb fish. But that was it. A move closer to top four down the edge changed my match, I was getting bites regularly and was slowly building a weight. I would get a couple of 3lb fish followed by a couple of two's then back to 3lbers. Hours four and five flew by and by the close I reckoned on having 120lb. Going into the last hour I was hoping for a few lumps to finish off the session but alas it was not to be. I was now having to wait for a bite and when I connected it was another 2 or 3lb fish.
At the all in I reckoned on around 150lb, which I knew would not be good enough on the day. I had plenty of bites again but the stamp of fish were on the small side.
It was good to see some new faces on the match today, with a healthy 14 anglers partaking. I settled down and took the money whilst Charlie and Trevor sorted out the pegging.
I drew peg 12, end peg on the café bank and a good peg if the wind was blowing in, as it was today. I decided to concentrate on my normal 2+2 line with .18 Stroft to .16 hook length to a size 16 PR36. A .3g MW Diamond with a couple of number 8s spread out. This would be my opening line but I also set up a line to fish 10m towards the corner, I used a similar rig to fish the 2ft margin depth where I could see the float, however I was sure I was 2ft away from the bank due to the over hanging nettles and reeds.
I had Trevor for company on peg 8 and although I had a bit of room in the corner, I was concerned that the fish would not turn up, it really is a feast or famine peg. I started off throwing a few grains of corn and I was soon getting indications on the float and after 15 minutes I had 3 fish in the net but they were only around the pound mark. I was still feeding 3 or 4 grains every 20 seconds or so and started to up the feed, to see if this improved the bite ratio. No noticeable change so I tried a bulk shotting pattern and this resulted in a few 2lb fish to leave me with 15 fish in the first hour for around 25lb.
I tried bringing the rig closer, but the fish would not follow, I could only get a bite just off bottom and the full range of the top four. After two hours I reckoned on having around 50lb and was going nowhere. I was getting fish but they were small 1-2lb stamp. I needed to get a few 3lb fish to have any chance of a frame. I could hear Trevor catching and could see a few others getting a few fish.
A slow 3rd hour prompted the change to the margin line. I had been feeding regularly and first put in resulted in a 3lb fish. But that was it. A move closer to top four down the edge changed my match, I was getting bites regularly and was slowly building a weight. I would get a couple of 3lb fish followed by a couple of two's then back to 3lbers. Hours four and five flew by and by the close I reckoned on having 120lb. Going into the last hour I was hoping for a few lumps to finish off the session but alas it was not to be. I was now having to wait for a bite and when I connected it was another 2 or 3lb fish.
At the all in I reckoned on around 150lb, which I knew would not be good enough on the day. I had plenty of bites again but the stamp of fish were on the small side.
Overall
1st Colin Spencer 262-09
2nd Trevor Price 257-04
3rd Charlie Lancaster 210-13
4th Terry Lancaster 170-01
5th Keith Ashby 159-02
6th Neil Hutchins 143-00
Wednesday 3 June 2015
Alders Farm Affordable 02 06 15
Finally a day off work and a chance to go fishing. Alders Farm Affordable was just what I needed. The weather did not too bright, in fact it was predicted to be windy with gusts up to 40mph and plenty of rain. It did not disappoint.
Today's match was planned to be on Pines and the previous week it had fished strangely, hardly anything for the first three hours and then it switched on.
However the weather gods had been playing a part, good weather leading up to the week would be getting the fish in the mood to spawn, only to be hit by plenty of rain and cooler temperatures in the latter part of the week. At least we had a bit of consistency leading up to this match, rain and more rain.
I had planned to fish my usual corn approach which has been working quite well for me. Others were planning a day on the paste, maggot or expander.
I had drawn peg 3, a decent peg if the fish are in the edge but I have never done any good with corn down the sides. I was however confident of getting a few fish on a top four. I set up a couple of top kits to fish 2+2 one with yellow NG elastic the other with red NG. Due to the wind I set up a .6g MW Diamond leaving plenty of bristle showing, .16 Stroft to a size 16 B911. The other was a .4g MW Diamond set up the same if the wind dropped. I could not ignore the margins as it could turn on and you would have to be prepared for it. My target for the day was 100lb on corn. It had not worked last week with those trying it saying they could not get a bite on it.
For company, I had Ernie on peg 1, Dennis on 5, Colin on 8 and Trevor on 10. Vic was on peg 15 with Charlie on 17 and Terry on 21.
At the all in I threw a dozen grains of corn and flicked the .6 rig out and nothing, I started feeding regularly and slowly was starting to get a few bites. I connected with a couple which just came off, strange, I thought my set up was alright, the elastic was not tight and there was plenty of slack built into the puller. I was also getting a few bites which I thought were liners so shallowed up a little at a time but when I did this no bites were forthcoming, so it was back on the deck. After 45 minutes I had nothing in the net, Ernie had managed 8 from the brambles. I was getting battered. I altered my shotting and this seemed to do the trick and 6 small carp and a couple of skimmers were safely in the onion sack. It was short lived though. I checked the corn and noticed that it was damaged, jagged edges were I would have expected it to be smooth. I wondered if crayfish were the cause and the fish were backing off from the feed area. I added another section and switched to a short 4 and fish 1/2m further out, still feeding the same spot. Again this seemed to do the trick and a few more fish were rehoused. I was slowly catching Ernie up, who was suffering with the snags and brambles. Others were plugging away but not setting the world alight so I thought I was still in with a shout if the fish switched on and fed properly, I was still losing and missing loads of bites but the fish were there and I felt I had to just plug away. A switch to the lighter rig (.4) caught me another few fish but did not seem right moving through the peg.
The margins which had been fed regularly produced nothing although I could see swirls and the reeds moving. I think they had their minds on other things.
Back out to top 4 and a half to see out the match and that is basically it. My match was over, I reckoned on doing the ton but only just.
Today's match was planned to be on Pines and the previous week it had fished strangely, hardly anything for the first three hours and then it switched on.
However the weather gods had been playing a part, good weather leading up to the week would be getting the fish in the mood to spawn, only to be hit by plenty of rain and cooler temperatures in the latter part of the week. At least we had a bit of consistency leading up to this match, rain and more rain.
I had planned to fish my usual corn approach which has been working quite well for me. Others were planning a day on the paste, maggot or expander.
I had drawn peg 3, a decent peg if the fish are in the edge but I have never done any good with corn down the sides. I was however confident of getting a few fish on a top four. I set up a couple of top kits to fish 2+2 one with yellow NG elastic the other with red NG. Due to the wind I set up a .6g MW Diamond leaving plenty of bristle showing, .16 Stroft to a size 16 B911. The other was a .4g MW Diamond set up the same if the wind dropped. I could not ignore the margins as it could turn on and you would have to be prepared for it. My target for the day was 100lb on corn. It had not worked last week with those trying it saying they could not get a bite on it.
For company, I had Ernie on peg 1, Dennis on 5, Colin on 8 and Trevor on 10. Vic was on peg 15 with Charlie on 17 and Terry on 21.
At the all in I threw a dozen grains of corn and flicked the .6 rig out and nothing, I started feeding regularly and slowly was starting to get a few bites. I connected with a couple which just came off, strange, I thought my set up was alright, the elastic was not tight and there was plenty of slack built into the puller. I was also getting a few bites which I thought were liners so shallowed up a little at a time but when I did this no bites were forthcoming, so it was back on the deck. After 45 minutes I had nothing in the net, Ernie had managed 8 from the brambles. I was getting battered. I altered my shotting and this seemed to do the trick and 6 small carp and a couple of skimmers were safely in the onion sack. It was short lived though. I checked the corn and noticed that it was damaged, jagged edges were I would have expected it to be smooth. I wondered if crayfish were the cause and the fish were backing off from the feed area. I added another section and switched to a short 4 and fish 1/2m further out, still feeding the same spot. Again this seemed to do the trick and a few more fish were rehoused. I was slowly catching Ernie up, who was suffering with the snags and brambles. Others were plugging away but not setting the world alight so I thought I was still in with a shout if the fish switched on and fed properly, I was still losing and missing loads of bites but the fish were there and I felt I had to just plug away. A switch to the lighter rig (.4) caught me another few fish but did not seem right moving through the peg.
The margins which had been fed regularly produced nothing although I could see swirls and the reeds moving. I think they had their minds on other things.
Back out to top 4 and a half to see out the match and that is basically it. My match was over, I reckoned on doing the ton but only just.
Overall
1st Colin Spencer 150-02
2nd Vic Nugent 149-11
3rd Charlie Lancaster 147-14
4th Ernie Waterfall 111-11
5th Keith Ashby 108-13
6th Terry Lancaster 96-10
It was a strange day, on previous trips to Pines, I have caught well steadily and the results have been determined by the size of fish dominant in the peg on the day. Today I had a complete mixture which did not feed properly. I had a few foul hookers and a lot which just came off for no apparent reason even after changing hooks and hooklengths. My target of 100lb was achieved, so I was able to take something positive from the day.
Saturday 16 May 2015
Viaduct Fishery May 9th-16th 2015
Picking Mick up at 0600 and loading the car up for our annual jolly boys outing to far and wondrous places always leaves a nice smile on my face. We have been as a group, planning and executed some great trips in the past to Ireland, Stafford Moor, Whiteacres and more recently Viaduct Fishery at Somerton in Somerset.
It has everything we need as a fishery, the lodges are superb and the town life caters for all our needs, plenty of pubs, restaurants and take-away's. As you can see we do not cook a lot, apart from breakfast. The lads in question are Mick, Vic, Pete, Troy, Del and myself.
Saturday 09 05 15
As stated earlier I had picked Mick up at 0600 and arranged to meet Vic in Buckingham, who would follow us down. Pete and Troy were coming down later, but we had arranged to meet Del at a service station at Amesbury for breakfast. After a full English and a couple of cups of tea we were off to the venue. We could not get the keys until 4pm, so a nice relaxing couple of hours were spent on Lodge Lake where we would catch plenty of skimmers and a few nice carp. With both Mick and Del getting so good fish from the margins.
Sunday 10 05 15
With the venue being used for a league match we were unable to fish Campbell, Cary or Lodge lakes so we decided on a knock up on Spring Lake. A fiver in each and a split pot, one for silvers, the other for carp. Vic, Pete and myself were pegged at the back of the island, Troy went to the corner with the wind blowing into it, Del on the bridge peg and Mick by the lily pads. I was happy with my peg, I wanted to fish the bomb and pellet waggler, but I had a decent margin to my left and set up a line to fish at 11m. I started on the waggler pinging 8mm coarse pellets over the top and after ten minutes the float went and fish number one was on, a good fish around 12lb. With no more bites after an hour I switched to the bomb where plenty of skimmers and a rogue 8lb carp took a liking for my pellet hookbaits. Both Vic and Pete had caught a carp each and I felt the skimmers were just about keeping me in touch. Vic's peg was getting stronger and bites and fish started to come regularly. I switched to the 11m line and more skimmers came, but not enough to compete with Pete who had switched his attentions to silvers. I then went over the margin line with around an hour to go had a look down the edge. A couple more skimmers were followed by a 17lb 8oz Mirror carp. I ended up with 3 carp for 38lb and 16lb of silvers. Pete followed that with 8lb of carp and 23-06 of silvers. Vic won the carp pool with 104lb of carp up to 16lb all on the PW. Troy had around 20lb of silvers and 2 carp for 18lb, Del had a couple of carp and 20lb of silvers, so with just Mick to weigh, Vic had already won the car pool as Mick only had 2 carp and Pete was leading the Silvers pool. Mick,s net of silver,s went 23-03 and Pete was overjoyed ( fist-pumping and all) to win the silver's pool by 3 ounces until it was pointed out that he had another net to weigh. Unfortunately for Pete this had another 15lb of silver,s and Mick had snatched the loot. We never took the mickey, honest.
Monday 11 05 15
Monday saw our first chance to fish Cary Lake, I opted to fish the far bank on peg 86. A decent peg with the wind blowing towards the corner. Del and Vic were on 98 and 97 respectively, Mick sat on 95 whilst Troy sat next to me on 85. Pete wanted some silver practice and sat on lodge lake by the tackle shop. Again I set up a PW and the bomb rod and a pole line for 5m with corn. I started on the PW but the wind made it awkward to present a waggler in the same place two casts on the trot. So after an hour I switched to the bomb and first cast the tip goes round and a nice mirror carp of 16lb. This followed for the next 2 hours, I would have to feed, wait for about 10 minutes and then the tip would go, some were skimmers but mostly carp. Vic and Del were both struggling just getting odd fish. Mick was getting a few from the margins fishing a pole float on the rod. Troy was getting a few on the bomb next door and it was neck and neck. Pete would end up with over 50lb of silvers from Lodge lake. I tried the 5m line and sneaked a couple out on 8m pellet over the corn but lost a couple more, that I think were foul hooked. Although the fish were not weighed I clicked 180lb on the clicker not including skimmers.
Tuesday 12 05 15
Tuesday saw me sitting on peg 96, I fancied it for a few fish, although the area fished hard the previous day. Pete sat on 95 and Troy on 94. Mick fancied a day on the match lake whilst Vic and Del went onto Spring Lake. I decided to just set up the bomb and a margin line to the platform on 97. I would feed this with corn and pellet and have a look every now and again. I got off to a good start with fish coming to the net fairly regularly on GOT Baits Jupiter's in both 11 and 8mm. But found the same thing was happening as the previous day. It was if the fish did not want feed over their heads. But by working at it I ended up with 16 fish on the bomb and 2 from the pole line for an estimated 170lb. Pete was trying to get his head around the skimmers and paste fishing but slowly worked it out the groundbait and not paste was the answer. Troy who had started slowly was pulling a few fish in later to finish with approximately 160lb. Vic who had moved from Spring Lake to Cary ended up with 12 fish for around a ton. Mick had around 50lb of fish from the match lake consisting of f1's, carp skimmers and perch. Del appeared back at the lodge with a big grin and 193lb on his clicker taken on a variety of methods. PW, Bomb and long pole both up and down.
Wednesday 13 05 15
Due to an Army match on the complex we decided on a day out, away from Viaduct fishery. Goodiford Mill was chosen and although I personally am not too keen on the place, it does hold a lot of fish and a couple of lakes to choose from. Pete had arranged to meet his brother Tommy there. Vic and Del had decided to go straight up to the match lake and practice their pellet waggler skills. Troy and Pete sat on the silver lake watching for Tommy to arrive. Mick and I sat on the opposite bank. I had decided to fish a half day on the silver lake and the rest on the match lake. I found that it was quite deep considering its size and at 7m I had 5ft on water and 4ft on a top 3. I fed a couple of pots of 4mm pellets onto 7m and by fishing a 6mm expander over the top slowly started catching skimmers to a pound. Pete, Troy were catching odd silvers, whilst Mick was catching some nice crucians and odd carp amongst his skimmers and roach.
Tommy's arrival saw us all move up to the match lake, Vic and Del had already done a ton and I settled a few pegs away as I wanted to get a few photos. Pete was getting amongst the silvers on the match lake, whilst Tommy and Troy were catching one a bung. Personally I gave it a go for around an hour but with around 60lb thought that was enough and packed up and concentrated on taking the Michael and photos. Vic and Del both had over 200lb, Troy had just under the 200lb from just a few feet in front of him. Tommy and Pete both caught plenty of fish, with Pete not catching a single carp, whilst those around him did well. Mick was getting plenty of action although I was not sure how much he actually had.
Thursday 14 05 15 Open Match
I was really looking forward to this match, it was the only official match during the week and a chance to fish Campbell or Cary again. We had all decided to enter bar Troy who wanted a peaceful day by the lodge fishing Middle Lake. The weather was not going to put us off. It had forcast rain and lots of it, so at least we knew in advance we were all going to get wet. At the draw it was strange both lakes were in and we all drew on Campbell. Mick on 110, a good corner peg, Pete on 116, myself on 125, a peg I fished last year and framed from. Del on the edge of the spit on 128 and Vic end peg 131. Nobby and Paul Davis from the Yam Yams had come down on a spying mission. Nice to see you both and even better in a few weeks time when we go back to Viaduct.
The previous night I had a good chat with a local angler, who explained to me how he fishes meat on both Cary and Campbell Lakes and with this information imparted to all fish I was armed with 4 tins of meat. I started off slowly fishing the bomb for nothing, whilst next door had sneaked a few on 5m line. A quick switch to the pole line at 5m on meat saw me catch a few tench before the carp moved in. After an hour I reckoned on having 40lb. A mix of carp and tench. By alternating between 5 and 7m I could keep fish coming in hour 2 and 3 but the guys opposite on 112 and 115 were catching faster but smaller fish by the look of it. Vic was catching odd fish as was Mick, whilst Pete was struggling on his silver approach. Hour 4 was slow and I think eventually cost me with only around 20lb of carp and around the same of silver's going into the onion sack. Hour 5 and 6 flew by, I had got the fish back but 5 lost fish in a row, two of which were foul hooked.
Friday 15 05 15
Our last days fishing, ideally it would have been nice to finish off on Cary but another match was on it, so I opted for fish for a couple of hours on Spring with the PW and bomb for a couple of skimmers. A move to Middle and a bomb into a bay saw me catch a couple of carp to 9lb in between losing 6 fish in the trees roots either side of the bay. Good fun and a chance to dry some kit out, but nothing more. In fact I think all of us were fished out. It is tiring, believe it or not, fishing for a week.
Overall it was a great week in good company, a great set up at Viaduct, just a shame there were not many opens that we could fish.
It has everything we need as a fishery, the lodges are superb and the town life caters for all our needs, plenty of pubs, restaurants and take-away's. As you can see we do not cook a lot, apart from breakfast. The lads in question are Mick, Vic, Pete, Troy, Del and myself.
Saturday 09 05 15
As stated earlier I had picked Mick up at 0600 and arranged to meet Vic in Buckingham, who would follow us down. Pete and Troy were coming down later, but we had arranged to meet Del at a service station at Amesbury for breakfast. After a full English and a couple of cups of tea we were off to the venue. We could not get the keys until 4pm, so a nice relaxing couple of hours were spent on Lodge Lake where we would catch plenty of skimmers and a few nice carp. With both Mick and Del getting so good fish from the margins.
Sunday 10 05 15
With the venue being used for a league match we were unable to fish Campbell, Cary or Lodge lakes so we decided on a knock up on Spring Lake. A fiver in each and a split pot, one for silvers, the other for carp. Vic, Pete and myself were pegged at the back of the island, Troy went to the corner with the wind blowing into it, Del on the bridge peg and Mick by the lily pads. I was happy with my peg, I wanted to fish the bomb and pellet waggler, but I had a decent margin to my left and set up a line to fish at 11m. I started on the waggler pinging 8mm coarse pellets over the top and after ten minutes the float went and fish number one was on, a good fish around 12lb. With no more bites after an hour I switched to the bomb where plenty of skimmers and a rogue 8lb carp took a liking for my pellet hookbaits. Both Vic and Pete had caught a carp each and I felt the skimmers were just about keeping me in touch. Vic's peg was getting stronger and bites and fish started to come regularly. I switched to the 11m line and more skimmers came, but not enough to compete with Pete who had switched his attentions to silvers. I then went over the margin line with around an hour to go had a look down the edge. A couple more skimmers were followed by a 17lb 8oz Mirror carp. I ended up with 3 carp for 38lb and 16lb of silvers. Pete followed that with 8lb of carp and 23-06 of silvers. Vic won the carp pool with 104lb of carp up to 16lb all on the PW. Troy had around 20lb of silvers and 2 carp for 18lb, Del had a couple of carp and 20lb of silvers, so with just Mick to weigh, Vic had already won the car pool as Mick only had 2 carp and Pete was leading the Silvers pool. Mick,s net of silver,s went 23-03 and Pete was overjoyed ( fist-pumping and all) to win the silver's pool by 3 ounces until it was pointed out that he had another net to weigh. Unfortunately for Pete this had another 15lb of silver,s and Mick had snatched the loot. We never took the mickey, honest.
Monday 11 05 15
Monday saw our first chance to fish Cary Lake, I opted to fish the far bank on peg 86. A decent peg with the wind blowing towards the corner. Del and Vic were on 98 and 97 respectively, Mick sat on 95 whilst Troy sat next to me on 85. Pete wanted some silver practice and sat on lodge lake by the tackle shop. Again I set up a PW and the bomb rod and a pole line for 5m with corn. I started on the PW but the wind made it awkward to present a waggler in the same place two casts on the trot. So after an hour I switched to the bomb and first cast the tip goes round and a nice mirror carp of 16lb. This followed for the next 2 hours, I would have to feed, wait for about 10 minutes and then the tip would go, some were skimmers but mostly carp. Vic and Del were both struggling just getting odd fish. Mick was getting a few from the margins fishing a pole float on the rod. Troy was getting a few on the bomb next door and it was neck and neck. Pete would end up with over 50lb of silvers from Lodge lake. I tried the 5m line and sneaked a couple out on 8m pellet over the corn but lost a couple more, that I think were foul hooked. Although the fish were not weighed I clicked 180lb on the clicker not including skimmers.
Tuesday 12 05 15
Tuesday saw me sitting on peg 96, I fancied it for a few fish, although the area fished hard the previous day. Pete sat on 95 and Troy on 94. Mick fancied a day on the match lake whilst Vic and Del went onto Spring Lake. I decided to just set up the bomb and a margin line to the platform on 97. I would feed this with corn and pellet and have a look every now and again. I got off to a good start with fish coming to the net fairly regularly on GOT Baits Jupiter's in both 11 and 8mm. But found the same thing was happening as the previous day. It was if the fish did not want feed over their heads. But by working at it I ended up with 16 fish on the bomb and 2 from the pole line for an estimated 170lb. Pete was trying to get his head around the skimmers and paste fishing but slowly worked it out the groundbait and not paste was the answer. Troy who had started slowly was pulling a few fish in later to finish with approximately 160lb. Vic who had moved from Spring Lake to Cary ended up with 12 fish for around a ton. Mick had around 50lb of fish from the match lake consisting of f1's, carp skimmers and perch. Del appeared back at the lodge with a big grin and 193lb on his clicker taken on a variety of methods. PW, Bomb and long pole both up and down.
Wednesday 13 05 15
Due to an Army match on the complex we decided on a day out, away from Viaduct fishery. Goodiford Mill was chosen and although I personally am not too keen on the place, it does hold a lot of fish and a couple of lakes to choose from. Pete had arranged to meet his brother Tommy there. Vic and Del had decided to go straight up to the match lake and practice their pellet waggler skills. Troy and Pete sat on the silver lake watching for Tommy to arrive. Mick and I sat on the opposite bank. I had decided to fish a half day on the silver lake and the rest on the match lake. I found that it was quite deep considering its size and at 7m I had 5ft on water and 4ft on a top 3. I fed a couple of pots of 4mm pellets onto 7m and by fishing a 6mm expander over the top slowly started catching skimmers to a pound. Pete, Troy were catching odd silvers, whilst Mick was catching some nice crucians and odd carp amongst his skimmers and roach.
Tommy's arrival saw us all move up to the match lake, Vic and Del had already done a ton and I settled a few pegs away as I wanted to get a few photos. Pete was getting amongst the silvers on the match lake, whilst Tommy and Troy were catching one a bung. Personally I gave it a go for around an hour but with around 60lb thought that was enough and packed up and concentrated on taking the Michael and photos. Vic and Del both had over 200lb, Troy had just under the 200lb from just a few feet in front of him. Tommy and Pete both caught plenty of fish, with Pete not catching a single carp, whilst those around him did well. Mick was getting plenty of action although I was not sure how much he actually had.
Thursday 14 05 15 Open Match
I was really looking forward to this match, it was the only official match during the week and a chance to fish Campbell or Cary again. We had all decided to enter bar Troy who wanted a peaceful day by the lodge fishing Middle Lake. The weather was not going to put us off. It had forcast rain and lots of it, so at least we knew in advance we were all going to get wet. At the draw it was strange both lakes were in and we all drew on Campbell. Mick on 110, a good corner peg, Pete on 116, myself on 125, a peg I fished last year and framed from. Del on the edge of the spit on 128 and Vic end peg 131. Nobby and Paul Davis from the Yam Yams had come down on a spying mission. Nice to see you both and even better in a few weeks time when we go back to Viaduct.
The previous night I had a good chat with a local angler, who explained to me how he fishes meat on both Cary and Campbell Lakes and with this information imparted to all fish I was armed with 4 tins of meat. I started off slowly fishing the bomb for nothing, whilst next door had sneaked a few on 5m line. A quick switch to the pole line at 5m on meat saw me catch a few tench before the carp moved in. After an hour I reckoned on having 40lb. A mix of carp and tench. By alternating between 5 and 7m I could keep fish coming in hour 2 and 3 but the guys opposite on 112 and 115 were catching faster but smaller fish by the look of it. Vic was catching odd fish as was Mick, whilst Pete was struggling on his silver approach. Hour 4 was slow and I think eventually cost me with only around 20lb of carp and around the same of silver's going into the onion sack. Hour 5 and 6 flew by, I had got the fish back but 5 lost fish in a row, two of which were foul hooked.
Overall
1st Mark Warne 112 246-10
2nd Andy Neal 80 230-01
3rd Tucks 115 210-02
4th Keith Ashby 125 193-08
5th Unknown 100 191-11
6th Vic Nugent 131 174-10
Not a bad result considering we only visit twice a year. A frame place and a silver's win for me. Vic getting the silver pool by default. Mick had 104lb from 110, Pete had 16lb 12oz of silvers and Del had finally got some keepnets that were not overweight and weighed in 136-08 for 8th overall. Oh and another MK Nugget off Mick to make it 7-0. Back at the lodge, Troy had caught well from Middle Lake with 18 carp and a few silvers.Friday 15 05 15
Our last days fishing, ideally it would have been nice to finish off on Cary but another match was on it, so I opted for fish for a couple of hours on Spring with the PW and bomb for a couple of skimmers. A move to Middle and a bomb into a bay saw me catch a couple of carp to 9lb in between losing 6 fish in the trees roots either side of the bay. Good fun and a chance to dry some kit out, but nothing more. In fact I think all of us were fished out. It is tiring, believe it or not, fishing for a week.
Overall it was a great week in good company, a great set up at Viaduct, just a shame there were not many opens that we could fish.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)