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.
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.
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.


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.