Wednesday saw me on Joseph's peg 8. This is the first peg on the dam wall and can be good, but tricky to fish. I had decided to fish 3 pole lines. My main Corn line would be down the edge at 12.5 going to 14m if needed. This is probably the only area you can fish down this edge due to the amount of weed close in. My next line was at 8m and would be a catmeat line. My last line would be a paste line at 12.5m in around 12ft of water. A bomb rod set up to fish a lassoed pellet bait finished my set up.
The wind was blowing a gale, so I did not set up a waggler rod, as I had nothing to throw at and in the conditions thought it a waste of time.
I started off fishing paste at 12.5 hoping for a quick fish. Placing a large ball of paste on a size 12 B911 and lowering it down, it sank, a small adjustment to the depth and the next put it I lifted into a small carp after around 5minutes. Happy days!!! but this was the only fish I had from this line, mainly due to the wind and not being able to control the pole properly. A look on the 8m line saw no bites coming and a quick look on the bomb on the 12.5m line produced nothing.
After an hour I decided to look down the edge, first put in with Stinky Corn over corn, saw a small dip which resulted in a small common which ran me ragged in the weed before the hook pulled. Out again and this time the float buried and after coaxing the fish into open water I managed to land a good 15lb fish at the first time of asking. I re-fed the line at 12.5m down the edge and had a couple of put in's at both 12.5 straight out and 8m for no bites. So it was back down the edge, I tried worm on the hook to no avail and banded pellet saw a lightning quick bite which was back up before I could react. Another lost fish after 3 hours saw me sticking on this line for the duration of the match. Another carp around 6lb and another lost fish and that was my match over. 31lb for 5th in section. Kevin Wingfield again winning the section with 55lb. Another day where lost fish cost me valuable points. But from this peg I was not going to beat myself up over it. I had hooked 6 fish and got three out from an awkward peg.
Troy had drawn peg 8 on Woodies and had around 36lb for halfway in his section caught on the bomb and pellet waggler. Del was on Pine's and had 19lb for midway whilst Vic was on Emily's and had 90 palm sized crucians for 21lb.
Thursday saw me fishing Emily's 5. A decent peg if the wind is blowing into it. Peg 4 had won the section every day so far and would be hard to beat. I had been told not to feed a lot and with this mind I set up 3 lines. 12.5m with corn over micros in 4ft of water just as the sunken island starts to go up. A line at 5m in the deeper water and a margin line with maggot in case I was struggling. I fed micros at the start but had been warned not to overdo it, so with this in mind I only covered the base of my cupping kit with a sprinkling of pellets and three grains of corn. Starting off at 12.5m and a single grain of corn I started getting a few small carp around the 1/2lb mark. This is the stamp fish in the lake, however it does hold a few larger specimens to 4lb. After an hour I had around 5lb of these carp and was going nowhere. Others on the lake were catching silvers as well as odd carp. I was not out of it but with the 12.5m line going quiet it was time to switch to 5m. A few skimmers and roach came off this line before again it went quiet. Into the margin where I had fed heavily with maggot in an attempt to get a silver line going. I fished this for a good hour and managed another 5lb of silvers with odd roach pushing 8oz and a few decent perch.
I kept rotating all three lines, getting a couple of bites on each of the longer lines before having half an hour on the maggot, I even managed to land an eel of around a pound on white hydro. That was fun with it swimming backwards whilst trying to net it. Pete on peg 4 had clearly won the lake and Lee on peg 2 would run him close. However there was not a lot to choose between the rest of us on the lake. My weight of 21lb 4oz was only good enough for 5th in section and in hindsight I should have kept swapping the lines on a more regular basis, instead of sitting and waiting for a bite. Another lesson learned and in reflection of my normal fishing it is something that I do quite regularly. Another couple of pound would have got me third in section and is something I thought was possible.
Troy had drawn Joseph's and had 3 fish for 20lb for nowhere in his section. Vic had drawn Beatties 11 and had 19lb of bits whilst Del again had a section second with 24lb including a carp of 14lb. Beattie's had thrown up quite a few carp to those fishing it during the week. It is Stafford Moor's pronounced specimen water but when you are targeting roach it can be a problem. Highlighted by Mike Hammond's 22lb 2oz carp taken on a single maggot on number 4 elastic. It took him an hour to land. Paul Barnes had 5 carp out of the first peg on the dam wall of this lake for over 65lb and had a 7lb bream as well as losing another 5 fish.
My festival was probably over after the second day's results but you still keep trying don't you. Del was still in with a shout of a top ten result but the rest of us were out of contention.
Friday was a bit of a chaotic day. It started with Vic feeling unwell at the cottage and making the decision to go home. Troy had drawn his peg and then threw up by the side of his van before getting to his peg. He then went back to the cottage to try to sleep it off. I had a dodgy stomach and coupled this with a cold left me feeling lethargic. Del though felt fine and needed a section win to cement his place near the top of the league and the draw gods were kind to him as he drew peg 35 on Tanners.
I was on Beattie's 5. The "Summer House" peg. It was still blowing a gale and I only had one thought in my mind. To catch a carp. I could have fished for skimmers and roach, but to be honest I did not fancy it. I set up a margin rig to fish to a bush at 12.5m to my left and a bomb rod with a lasso. At the start I fed a pot of Banana Atomic Corn towards the bush and a few pellets out to the edge of a small island for the tip. It's at this point that I would like to say that the tip and pole went around endlessly for 6 hours and I smashed the lake match record out of sight. The truth is after 5 hours I had not had a single bite, despite changes to both depth and baits. At this point I decided enough was enough and packed up early. Not the way I wanted to end the festival but I was still feeling the effects of cold and dodgy stomach and would not skyline or pass anyone on the way back to the car.
Del had finished the day 3rd in section to end up on 13points and out of the top ten. A steady performance throughout the week. Congratulations to Lee "Mushy" Farmer for winning the event for the second time on 5 points and to all the others who fished the event.
Well that's it for another year, thanks must go to Trevor Price at GOT Baits for supplying all my baits requirements for the week. To Andy Seery and the staff at Stafford Moor who conducted the weigh ins in an efficient quick manner, and to Del, Vic and Troy for being good company throughout the week.
Saturday 19 October 2013
Stafford Moor Festival Mon/Tues
The most important day of the week is the Monday. It determines which order you will be fishing the lakes in rotation. In my mind, ideally I would have liked to fished Emily's or Pine's followed by Beatties, Tanner's, Woodie's and finally Joseph's but it was not to be. Day one saw me on Tanner,s.
I had drawn peg 35, a good peg and I was pleased with it. I had drawn it during the summer and had a decent weight from it fishing half way across with 10mm Jupiters. However Vic mentioned that you sometimes need to go really long if you are getting no bites. I set up two bomb rods, one with 2/3oz bomb the other with an ounce, 4lb mainline to lassoed hook lengths. Two pellet waggler rods, one to fish 2ft deep the other to fish 4ft. I also set up a margin rig just in case.
Vic and Del had both drawn Woodie's with Vic on 28 and Del on 3. Troy would have started his campaign off on Beattie's, but would miss the first day due to work commitments.
At the all in I started off on the bomb halfway with a single 10mm Jupiter and immediately started getting a few indications on the tip, a few liners, before after 20minutes the tip goes round and fish number 1 is on. At around 5lb it was a nice start. I kept pinging a few pellets every minute or so and after an hour I had 3 fish. I had a few chucks on the waggler but the wind was hampering presentation and I just could not get it right. The lake was fishing hard. Kevin Wingfield next door on 36 was getting odd fish and I felt he was slightly in front whilst I could see Andy Pell getting a few fish down the edge towards peg 12 from peg 13. Trevor on 34 was putting together a few silver and had a proper carp down the edge.
By swapping lines and distance on the bomb I managed to hook a few more carp, losing one on the line clip and another under the platform, which looked around 8lb, so going into the last hour I was sat on 4 fish. A quick look down the edge produced nothing, so it was back on the bomb. Another two carp followed which boosted my total to 6 fish. Kevin had 7 but I think his were slightly better stamp.
Kevin weighed in 46lb to my 31lb which would see me end up 4th in section. Kevin winning it. 2nd in section was only 35lb and any one of those lost fish would have seen me start off the festival on a high, Andy Pell won the lake with 48lb. I did mention the lake had fished hard.
Vic weighed in 46lb for 3rd in section whilst Del had a section 2nd and a pick up.
Tuesday saw me on Woodie's peg 6 where Del had fished in the open on the Saturday. Again I set up 2 bomb rods to fish across to the island. A waggler rod to fish 3/4 across 2ft deep and two margin rigs to fish both sides under some trees. I started off on the bomb pinging a few pellets over to the island dropping a few short deliberately for the pellet waggler. A bream of around 2lb was first to show, not what I expected but at least I had started. A small carp on the waggler was the first to grace my other net, before the bomb and waggler lines went quiet. A look down to the left where Del had caught and nothing. A look down to the right and a small indication. Another drop in and this time an angry carp went around the back of the tree and snapped me up. I went back out on the bomb whilst I sorted out another rig and with no indications on it I was soon back down the edge. I was fishing the right hand edge tight into the bank and found that by lifting and dropping a grain of Stinky Corn, I would hook a few carp. In fact I landed only 4 more and lost another 4 with fish that ran around the back of the tree. They certainly know where to go when hooked. In hindsight I think I fed too much, only two tins but still felt if I had kindered in rather than throw it would have been better.
Again, I ended up fourth in section, losing out on second again by 6lb but way off the section winner on peg 3 with 77lb.
So Monday and Tuesday had similar results, too many lost fish had cost me points and possible better placings in the festival.
Del and Vic had drawn Joseph's. Del on the dam wall and had snagged 4 carp for 37lb whilst Vic and peg 21 on the Spit which had won the section the previous day. However, the fish were not there and he ended up with 3 fish for 20 odd pound and 5th in section. Troy was on Tanners 11 and had caught 6 carp for 38lb.
I had drawn peg 35, a good peg and I was pleased with it. I had drawn it during the summer and had a decent weight from it fishing half way across with 10mm Jupiters. However Vic mentioned that you sometimes need to go really long if you are getting no bites. I set up two bomb rods, one with 2/3oz bomb the other with an ounce, 4lb mainline to lassoed hook lengths. Two pellet waggler rods, one to fish 2ft deep the other to fish 4ft. I also set up a margin rig just in case.
Vic and Del had both drawn Woodie's with Vic on 28 and Del on 3. Troy would have started his campaign off on Beattie's, but would miss the first day due to work commitments.
At the all in I started off on the bomb halfway with a single 10mm Jupiter and immediately started getting a few indications on the tip, a few liners, before after 20minutes the tip goes round and fish number 1 is on. At around 5lb it was a nice start. I kept pinging a few pellets every minute or so and after an hour I had 3 fish. I had a few chucks on the waggler but the wind was hampering presentation and I just could not get it right. The lake was fishing hard. Kevin Wingfield next door on 36 was getting odd fish and I felt he was slightly in front whilst I could see Andy Pell getting a few fish down the edge towards peg 12 from peg 13. Trevor on 34 was putting together a few silver and had a proper carp down the edge.
By swapping lines and distance on the bomb I managed to hook a few more carp, losing one on the line clip and another under the platform, which looked around 8lb, so going into the last hour I was sat on 4 fish. A quick look down the edge produced nothing, so it was back on the bomb. Another two carp followed which boosted my total to 6 fish. Kevin had 7 but I think his were slightly better stamp.
Kevin weighed in 46lb to my 31lb which would see me end up 4th in section. Kevin winning it. 2nd in section was only 35lb and any one of those lost fish would have seen me start off the festival on a high, Andy Pell won the lake with 48lb. I did mention the lake had fished hard.
Vic weighed in 46lb for 3rd in section whilst Del had a section 2nd and a pick up.
Tuesday saw me on Woodie's peg 6 where Del had fished in the open on the Saturday. Again I set up 2 bomb rods to fish across to the island. A waggler rod to fish 3/4 across 2ft deep and two margin rigs to fish both sides under some trees. I started off on the bomb pinging a few pellets over to the island dropping a few short deliberately for the pellet waggler. A bream of around 2lb was first to show, not what I expected but at least I had started. A small carp on the waggler was the first to grace my other net, before the bomb and waggler lines went quiet. A look down to the left where Del had caught and nothing. A look down to the right and a small indication. Another drop in and this time an angry carp went around the back of the tree and snapped me up. I went back out on the bomb whilst I sorted out another rig and with no indications on it I was soon back down the edge. I was fishing the right hand edge tight into the bank and found that by lifting and dropping a grain of Stinky Corn, I would hook a few carp. In fact I landed only 4 more and lost another 4 with fish that ran around the back of the tree. They certainly know where to go when hooked. In hindsight I think I fed too much, only two tins but still felt if I had kindered in rather than throw it would have been better.
Again, I ended up fourth in section, losing out on second again by 6lb but way off the section winner on peg 3 with 77lb.
So Monday and Tuesday had similar results, too many lost fish had cost me points and possible better placings in the festival.
Del and Vic had drawn Joseph's. Del on the dam wall and had snagged 4 carp for 37lb whilst Vic and peg 21 on the Spit which had won the section the previous day. However, the fish were not there and he ended up with 3 fish for 20 odd pound and 5th in section. Troy was on Tanners 11 and had caught 6 carp for 38lb.
Stafford Moor Festival Practice Days
With nearly three weeks off work due to various reasons I was pleasantly surprised that I had a week before travelling to Stafford Moor(SM) to prepare and a week after to get over it. However by the Thursday, prior to going I had developed a cold which went straight to my chest and was feeling weak and lethargic. Not a good sign.
Fortunately I had done some preparation and made up some deep pole rigs for Joseph's, tied a few rigs to .12 Colmic Stream for Pine's and Emily's, which left Tanners and Woodie's which would be either bomb or pellet waggler work with maybe a little pole work, which I had covered in my normal armoury. I had tied some standard hair rigs to cover single baits and got in touch with a guy to supply me some lassoed hook length's for use with double pellets (despite trying I could never get them right).
Four of us were to fish the festival, Vic, Del Smith, Troy Hillyer and myself. Del and Troy would meet up with us at the venue. Troy arriving after the first festival day due to work commitments. Del would be travelling from Hemel Hempstead. So with two practice days available, Saturday and Sunday both Vic and I travelled the 220 miles, setting off at 0400. A good journey down allowing for a cup of tea en route saw us pulling into the venue around 0820.
As today (Saturday) was going to be a practice we settled onto a couple of pegs on Pine's Lake. So we did not duplicate things, Vic was going to fish expanders over micros whereas I was going to fish corn and expander over groundbait. Setting up a 4ft rig to fish 12m just where it started to shallow up. I cupped in two small balls of GB with a few grains of corn and a few 4mm expanders. I started getting a few bites but could not hit them before it went quiet. Meanwhile, Vic was catching well on expander over micros. A few carp plus some decent sized skimmers came to his net. I was struggling and although I did manage a few skimmers in the end it took a long time for the fish to show over the GB line. Lesson Learnt number 1. Micros for Pine's with either maggot or expander.
Del had arrived at the fishery by now and booked into the open. Woodies Peg 6, so with our gear packed away we took a stroll up to see him. He was getting a few fish down the edge but not setting the world alight and at the end finished third in his section.
We booked into our rented cottage just outside Beaford, around 5 miles from the fishery and settled in before popping out for a meal in the Royal Oak at Dolton. An early night was in order after all the travelling and fishing.
Sunday, saw us get a couple of pegs on Tanners, where again we would try different things. Vic fished the bomb and pole long with pellet over micros, Del, the pellet waggler and bomb and pole with maggot over groundbait, whilst I tried corn at 2+2, catmeat at 11m and down the edge with corn. We had some decent pegs which would definitely be in the festival, 9 for Del, 11 for me and Vic on 13. The weather was atrocious, pouring rain and high winds.
Del, started off on the bomb pinging a few pellets out to the edge of an island, with a view to putting the waggler over the same line, however after a couple of trips to the island with his bomb, he was on the waggler earlier than expected, only for the same thing to happen. It did look nice with all of its new found decorations but still a bit early for Xmas. He did have a few carp down the edge and a lot of skimmers over his GB line.
Vic was fishing the bomb to the left hand island and after a few chucks was soon into a run of decent carp, ending up with 8 on a variety of 8 and 10mm hard pellets feeding 8mm elites. His long pole approach did not seem to work. Unfortunately whilst packing his gear away his rod bag fell onto his pole whilst on the pole roller breaking his 12m section.
I, had set my stall out to fish 3 lines. 2+2 with corn. Catmeat at 11m and corn down the edge. 2+2 did not work at all, not a single bite, 11m line saw me get a few bites which I suspected were from skimmers before I hooked a carp of around 4lb. The best area seemed to be the edge, fishing towards a few tree roots and an overhanging tree. 7 carp, 1 tench and a decent 10oz roach for around 45lb, all taken on Stinky Corn over corn fishing tight to the edge. I did lose a few fish that took me into the tree roots and snapped .20 Stroft.
It was noticeably quiet on the fishery, only a couple of other anglers fishing and a few walking around. Still it was only Sunday and the festival did not start until the Monday.
Fortunately I had done some preparation and made up some deep pole rigs for Joseph's, tied a few rigs to .12 Colmic Stream for Pine's and Emily's, which left Tanners and Woodie's which would be either bomb or pellet waggler work with maybe a little pole work, which I had covered in my normal armoury. I had tied some standard hair rigs to cover single baits and got in touch with a guy to supply me some lassoed hook length's for use with double pellets (despite trying I could never get them right).
Four of us were to fish the festival, Vic, Del Smith, Troy Hillyer and myself. Del and Troy would meet up with us at the venue. Troy arriving after the first festival day due to work commitments. Del would be travelling from Hemel Hempstead. So with two practice days available, Saturday and Sunday both Vic and I travelled the 220 miles, setting off at 0400. A good journey down allowing for a cup of tea en route saw us pulling into the venue around 0820.
As today (Saturday) was going to be a practice we settled onto a couple of pegs on Pine's Lake. So we did not duplicate things, Vic was going to fish expanders over micros whereas I was going to fish corn and expander over groundbait. Setting up a 4ft rig to fish 12m just where it started to shallow up. I cupped in two small balls of GB with a few grains of corn and a few 4mm expanders. I started getting a few bites but could not hit them before it went quiet. Meanwhile, Vic was catching well on expander over micros. A few carp plus some decent sized skimmers came to his net. I was struggling and although I did manage a few skimmers in the end it took a long time for the fish to show over the GB line. Lesson Learnt number 1. Micros for Pine's with either maggot or expander.
Del had arrived at the fishery by now and booked into the open. Woodies Peg 6, so with our gear packed away we took a stroll up to see him. He was getting a few fish down the edge but not setting the world alight and at the end finished third in his section.
We booked into our rented cottage just outside Beaford, around 5 miles from the fishery and settled in before popping out for a meal in the Royal Oak at Dolton. An early night was in order after all the travelling and fishing.
Sunday, saw us get a couple of pegs on Tanners, where again we would try different things. Vic fished the bomb and pole long with pellet over micros, Del, the pellet waggler and bomb and pole with maggot over groundbait, whilst I tried corn at 2+2, catmeat at 11m and down the edge with corn. We had some decent pegs which would definitely be in the festival, 9 for Del, 11 for me and Vic on 13. The weather was atrocious, pouring rain and high winds.
Del, started off on the bomb pinging a few pellets out to the edge of an island, with a view to putting the waggler over the same line, however after a couple of trips to the island with his bomb, he was on the waggler earlier than expected, only for the same thing to happen. It did look nice with all of its new found decorations but still a bit early for Xmas. He did have a few carp down the edge and a lot of skimmers over his GB line.
Vic was fishing the bomb to the left hand island and after a few chucks was soon into a run of decent carp, ending up with 8 on a variety of 8 and 10mm hard pellets feeding 8mm elites. His long pole approach did not seem to work. Unfortunately whilst packing his gear away his rod bag fell onto his pole whilst on the pole roller breaking his 12m section.
I, had set my stall out to fish 3 lines. 2+2 with corn. Catmeat at 11m and corn down the edge. 2+2 did not work at all, not a single bite, 11m line saw me get a few bites which I suspected were from skimmers before I hooked a carp of around 4lb. The best area seemed to be the edge, fishing towards a few tree roots and an overhanging tree. 7 carp, 1 tench and a decent 10oz roach for around 45lb, all taken on Stinky Corn over corn fishing tight to the edge. I did lose a few fish that took me into the tree roots and snapped .20 Stroft.
It was noticeably quiet on the fishery, only a couple of other anglers fishing and a few walking around. Still it was only Sunday and the festival did not start until the Monday.
Tuesday 8 October 2013
Tuesday Open Alders Pines 08 10 13
With a few days spare before I go and fish the Stafford Moor October Festival, I had set aside Tuesday to fish the open at Alders Farm. Mick would be in attendance so the MK Nugget was on and with me losing 10-7 at present I needed a result to close the gap.
I arrived at the fishery around 0730 and although it had just opened I was the first to arrive. I decided to wait to see who turned up before dipping my nets, because the previous week only 5 turned up. Slowly a few others turned up and with 5 again turning up I dipped my nets.
We were fishing Pines Lake, which this year has fished really well. I was there a couple of weeks ago and the water was gin clear, but today it had a bit of colour and with only 5 of us we could spread out a bit. Over a cup of tea we decided on pegs 6, 8, 15, 17 and 19 and with monies paid it was soon draw time. I let everyone else draw first and had the last peg in the bucket, peg 8.
Josh had drawn peg 6 and would be fishing stinky corn, Mick was on peg 15, where the lake record fell a few weeks ago, Carpet Roy was on 17 and Roy Makins on 19. The only two pegs I could not see were 15 and 6. At least Mick won't intimidate me today.
It was a little ironic as before the draw both Josh and myself walked up to peg 8 and he explained where he caught over 300lb from previously, it was now my home for 6 hours.
With this little snippet of information I tackled up to fish top twos both sides in the margins and top two straight out. I had 2 foot straight out and I set up a MW Dinky to .18 Stroft and a size 14 PR36 with a strung shotting pattern consisting of no10 Stotz. Down the edge I had around 12inches and Set up a couple of NG Edger floats to again .18 Stroft but one with a size 16, the other size 14 PR36. Bait would be corn over corn, no Stinky Stuff today as I have run out and they had none in the shop.
At the all in I threw out around a dozen grains of corn to all the lines and start pinging 4 grains of corn onto each line in rotation. I was soon into fish and although they were on the small side, after half an hour I had around 16 fish for 15lb. However they soon moved off and the stamp were getting better, so much so that after the first hour I reckoned on 25 fish for 40lb. I was still catching and feeding the other swims for later and getting bites as it fell through the water or as soon as it hit bottom. If not bite then I went back out again. This is probably due to the feeding pattern I have adopted. The second hour flew by and with around 50 fish in the net I reckoned I had close to a ton. However bites were tailing off and I would have to make at least 3 or 4 put ins before a proper bite materialised. I plugged away for another hour, as I did not want to go down the edge too early.I tried upping the feed during this hour and to some extent it worked but I also suffered a lot of foul hookers. I was still getting a few fish and was now on around 70 fish for 160lb.
After the half way mark had passed I decided to have a look inside. Josh was catching small carp but lots of them, Both Roy's were catching well and I could hear a lot of splashing in Micks peg, so it was a case of head down and go for it. Fishing around a foot away from the overhanging bushes in 12inches of water to the right I started off well catching 6 proper fish for around 40lb in successive put ins. This was followed by the stamp fish to 3lb and although I was waiting for a bite a little longer than on the line in front, they were bigger and worth the gamble. I still kept feeding that line but did drop the left hand line. So with 4 hours gone I was on about 100 fish for 240lb and was confident of beating my previous personal best from the lake of 242lb.
Hour 5 saw me back out to the top two line and still catching, although the fish were still in the 2lb mark. It was at this time I broke a top kit on a fish, probably trying to bully it in rather than take my time. The rig was still intact so it was a case of swapping top kits over. But I did lose around 10 minutes whilst I tried to repair the broken one. Still I was catching and this time the fish were back taking on the drop. I managed another 20 fish in this hour and another 50lb in the net so was thinking of 300lb. Hour 6 was a frustrating one for me, I started off well catching 4inches off the deck straight out but it died after 1/2hour with no bites coming, so I spent the remainder of the match to the right and put another half a dozen fish in the net. I honestly did not have a clue what I had caught and had a quick chat with Josh before packing up. He reckoned that he had broken the lake record of 385lb so was looking good for the win. Carpet Roy was claiming that he sussed it too late. Mick was looking smug as we walked around with the scales.
Roy Makins was first to weigh in and place 319lbs on the board to take an early lead and a new Personal Best match weight. Carpet Roy was next and managed to break the lake record with 390lb 4oz and another Personal Best. Mick was next up and his four keepnets set yet another Personal Best, 279lb 9oz. I was up next and was surprised with my catch, after a few weighs the total on the board read 393lb 11oz. I am not sure if it is my best match weight( I might have beaten it at Arrans or Rockells) but it is certainly is for Pines Lake. Last to weigh was Josh. After what seemed an eternity the scales read a massive 529lb 4oz. An awesome weight.
1st Josh Blavins 529-4
2nd Keith Ashby 393-11
3rd Carpet Roy 390-4
4th Roy Makins 319-0
5th Mick Wright 279-9
Next set of matches are at Stafford Moor, so will report on how I fished it on my return. Good or Bad.
I arrived at the fishery around 0730 and although it had just opened I was the first to arrive. I decided to wait to see who turned up before dipping my nets, because the previous week only 5 turned up. Slowly a few others turned up and with 5 again turning up I dipped my nets.
We were fishing Pines Lake, which this year has fished really well. I was there a couple of weeks ago and the water was gin clear, but today it had a bit of colour and with only 5 of us we could spread out a bit. Over a cup of tea we decided on pegs 6, 8, 15, 17 and 19 and with monies paid it was soon draw time. I let everyone else draw first and had the last peg in the bucket, peg 8.
Josh had drawn peg 6 and would be fishing stinky corn, Mick was on peg 15, where the lake record fell a few weeks ago, Carpet Roy was on 17 and Roy Makins on 19. The only two pegs I could not see were 15 and 6. At least Mick won't intimidate me today.
It was a little ironic as before the draw both Josh and myself walked up to peg 8 and he explained where he caught over 300lb from previously, it was now my home for 6 hours.
With this little snippet of information I tackled up to fish top twos both sides in the margins and top two straight out. I had 2 foot straight out and I set up a MW Dinky to .18 Stroft and a size 14 PR36 with a strung shotting pattern consisting of no10 Stotz. Down the edge I had around 12inches and Set up a couple of NG Edger floats to again .18 Stroft but one with a size 16, the other size 14 PR36. Bait would be corn over corn, no Stinky Stuff today as I have run out and they had none in the shop.
At the all in I threw out around a dozen grains of corn to all the lines and start pinging 4 grains of corn onto each line in rotation. I was soon into fish and although they were on the small side, after half an hour I had around 16 fish for 15lb. However they soon moved off and the stamp were getting better, so much so that after the first hour I reckoned on 25 fish for 40lb. I was still catching and feeding the other swims for later and getting bites as it fell through the water or as soon as it hit bottom. If not bite then I went back out again. This is probably due to the feeding pattern I have adopted. The second hour flew by and with around 50 fish in the net I reckoned I had close to a ton. However bites were tailing off and I would have to make at least 3 or 4 put ins before a proper bite materialised. I plugged away for another hour, as I did not want to go down the edge too early.I tried upping the feed during this hour and to some extent it worked but I also suffered a lot of foul hookers. I was still getting a few fish and was now on around 70 fish for 160lb.
After the half way mark had passed I decided to have a look inside. Josh was catching small carp but lots of them, Both Roy's were catching well and I could hear a lot of splashing in Micks peg, so it was a case of head down and go for it. Fishing around a foot away from the overhanging bushes in 12inches of water to the right I started off well catching 6 proper fish for around 40lb in successive put ins. This was followed by the stamp fish to 3lb and although I was waiting for a bite a little longer than on the line in front, they were bigger and worth the gamble. I still kept feeding that line but did drop the left hand line. So with 4 hours gone I was on about 100 fish for 240lb and was confident of beating my previous personal best from the lake of 242lb.
Hour 5 saw me back out to the top two line and still catching, although the fish were still in the 2lb mark. It was at this time I broke a top kit on a fish, probably trying to bully it in rather than take my time. The rig was still intact so it was a case of swapping top kits over. But I did lose around 10 minutes whilst I tried to repair the broken one. Still I was catching and this time the fish were back taking on the drop. I managed another 20 fish in this hour and another 50lb in the net so was thinking of 300lb. Hour 6 was a frustrating one for me, I started off well catching 4inches off the deck straight out but it died after 1/2hour with no bites coming, so I spent the remainder of the match to the right and put another half a dozen fish in the net. I honestly did not have a clue what I had caught and had a quick chat with Josh before packing up. He reckoned that he had broken the lake record of 385lb so was looking good for the win. Carpet Roy was claiming that he sussed it too late. Mick was looking smug as we walked around with the scales.
Roy Makins was first to weigh in and place 319lbs on the board to take an early lead and a new Personal Best match weight. Carpet Roy was next and managed to break the lake record with 390lb 4oz and another Personal Best. Mick was next up and his four keepnets set yet another Personal Best, 279lb 9oz. I was up next and was surprised with my catch, after a few weighs the total on the board read 393lb 11oz. I am not sure if it is my best match weight( I might have beaten it at Arrans or Rockells) but it is certainly is for Pines Lake. Last to weigh was Josh. After what seemed an eternity the scales read a massive 529lb 4oz. An awesome weight.
1st Josh Blavins 529-4
2nd Keith Ashby 393-11
3rd Carpet Roy 390-4
4th Roy Makins 319-0
5th Mick Wright 279-9
Next set of matches are at Stafford Moor, so will report on how I fished it on my return. Good or Bad.
Saturday 5 October 2013
Marsh AC Hartleylands Res 05 10 13
It is hard to believe that Mick has been married a year today, Happy Anniversary Mick & Angie.
So with a Marsh match planned for the same day, very inconsiderate of Chairman Dave. I had the company of Pete Thompson for the trip to Hartleylands Farm Reservoir. It is the last official match of the year for Marsh, as quite a few go into hibernation, only being tempted out again by a possible Xmas Match in November/December.
It was a decent trip down to the most important part of the day, Breakfast at the Knoxbridge Café where Kevin & Jean, Martin, John and Zack were already engrossed in full English's. A short fifteen minute trip to the fishery lay ahead and due to an accident on the M1 we were a little behind schedule. So we asked the others to draw pegs for us in case we were late.
When we eventually got to the fishery, the other anglers were musing over there pegs and how they were going to approach it. Me, I had a single minded approach, corn and hard pellet for bait. Plenty of pellet and corn for feed. I also was going to give catmeat a go as the fish in the reservoir can go big. Some kind sole drew peg 15 for me. The peg that won it last year, with a willow tree to my right and a nice clean edge to the left. The willow protruded to my top 4 so 2+2 would be my starting method and feed the edges until I saw some signs and then go over it.
Pete had been given peg 11, the peg I was on last year and after a quick chat, he decided he was going to fish for silvers( his speciality). Al had drawn peg 9 in the corner and would be hard to beat, but I could not resist when I was offered a £1 bet with both Pete and Al. Dave had drawn 7 near where he was last year and Terry was on peg 5. The other side of me I had Tony Roberts and Clive on 17 and 19 whilst I could see Tony on 21.
Al kindly gave me a few more pellets to go with what I had, so I was ready in plenty of time. At the all in I shipped a pot of catmeat to 2+2 at 10 o'clock and threw around 20 grains of corn to 2+2 at 2o'clock. A handful of corn to the left and three handfuls of pellets and corn to the right. I started at 2+2 on corn and after around 5minutes I was into my first fish. A lovely scaled mirror around 3lb firmly hooked in the fin. But they all count if you get them in. No more bites came so a quick look on the catmeat line. A few lightning quick bites but nothing connecting. By this time and after only 15 minutes into the match I saw a few fish down to the right hand swim under the willow.
Switching to the right hand swim on a top two in 18 inches of water my first bite from there came after around 5 minutes and was a nice common around 7lb. I was alternate feeding around 20 pellets every 30 seconds with around 8 grains of corn every 30 seconds. This seemed to draw fish in but I was struggling to get bites. I could see the fish come in, have a munch then go again. I gave stinky corn a go and was rewarded with another couple of fish and after an hour I thought I had around 20lb (4 fish). The second hour was slow (2 fish) as was the third( 2 fish), a few fish foul hooked and lost and a few which the hook just pulled for no apparent reason but I was ticking over with 38lb after half way. Tony had weighed 3 fish for 32lb but I had not seen him catch much else. Clive was catching as was Tony Watkins. Al was struggling on the pellet waggler and Pete was happy catching silvers and odd carp. John on the far bank was doing well and word was Terry was catching.
I needed to up my game and after a look down the left hand side for one carp, I decided to dump 3 pints of pellet straight in and 3 big handfuls of corn down the right hand side. The fourth hour went well (6 fish), I had to keep adjusting my depth a little at a time but kept some fish coming on Stinky Corn. However it was not to last but by switching over to GOT Jupiters in both 11mm and 8mm I kept the fifth hour ticking along (4 fish). Emptying my bait boxes of feed pellet in at the end of the fifth hour proved another good move as the last hour saw a few larger fish to 10lb grace the net.
I was happy with my day, a few more Stinky Corn caught carp in the bag and a few on hard Jupiters. I rue the lost fish as I thought they would cost me at the end but that's fishing.
Final Positions
1st John Holdsworth 153-4
2nd Terry Goff 110-8
3rd Clive Pritchard 109-4
4th Kevin Loveland 103-0
5th Keith Ashby 102-4
6th Tony Roberts 99-13
7th Al Loader 91-12
8th Dave Collier 82-8
9th Jim Boase 78-12
10th Tony Watkins 78-8
11th Pete Thompson 50-8
12th Rod Turner 28-0
13th Zack 26-8
14th Gino Exell 24-8
15th Martin Hucker 23-12
I have another match at Alders this week on Tuesday then I am off to fish Stafford Moor's October Festival. Will keep you posted when I get back.
So with a Marsh match planned for the same day, very inconsiderate of Chairman Dave. I had the company of Pete Thompson for the trip to Hartleylands Farm Reservoir. It is the last official match of the year for Marsh, as quite a few go into hibernation, only being tempted out again by a possible Xmas Match in November/December.
It was a decent trip down to the most important part of the day, Breakfast at the Knoxbridge Café where Kevin & Jean, Martin, John and Zack were already engrossed in full English's. A short fifteen minute trip to the fishery lay ahead and due to an accident on the M1 we were a little behind schedule. So we asked the others to draw pegs for us in case we were late.
When we eventually got to the fishery, the other anglers were musing over there pegs and how they were going to approach it. Me, I had a single minded approach, corn and hard pellet for bait. Plenty of pellet and corn for feed. I also was going to give catmeat a go as the fish in the reservoir can go big. Some kind sole drew peg 15 for me. The peg that won it last year, with a willow tree to my right and a nice clean edge to the left. The willow protruded to my top 4 so 2+2 would be my starting method and feed the edges until I saw some signs and then go over it.
Pete had been given peg 11, the peg I was on last year and after a quick chat, he decided he was going to fish for silvers( his speciality). Al had drawn peg 9 in the corner and would be hard to beat, but I could not resist when I was offered a £1 bet with both Pete and Al. Dave had drawn 7 near where he was last year and Terry was on peg 5. The other side of me I had Tony Roberts and Clive on 17 and 19 whilst I could see Tony on 21.
Al kindly gave me a few more pellets to go with what I had, so I was ready in plenty of time. At the all in I shipped a pot of catmeat to 2+2 at 10 o'clock and threw around 20 grains of corn to 2+2 at 2o'clock. A handful of corn to the left and three handfuls of pellets and corn to the right. I started at 2+2 on corn and after around 5minutes I was into my first fish. A lovely scaled mirror around 3lb firmly hooked in the fin. But they all count if you get them in. No more bites came so a quick look on the catmeat line. A few lightning quick bites but nothing connecting. By this time and after only 15 minutes into the match I saw a few fish down to the right hand swim under the willow.
Switching to the right hand swim on a top two in 18 inches of water my first bite from there came after around 5 minutes and was a nice common around 7lb. I was alternate feeding around 20 pellets every 30 seconds with around 8 grains of corn every 30 seconds. This seemed to draw fish in but I was struggling to get bites. I could see the fish come in, have a munch then go again. I gave stinky corn a go and was rewarded with another couple of fish and after an hour I thought I had around 20lb (4 fish). The second hour was slow (2 fish) as was the third( 2 fish), a few fish foul hooked and lost and a few which the hook just pulled for no apparent reason but I was ticking over with 38lb after half way. Tony had weighed 3 fish for 32lb but I had not seen him catch much else. Clive was catching as was Tony Watkins. Al was struggling on the pellet waggler and Pete was happy catching silvers and odd carp. John on the far bank was doing well and word was Terry was catching.
I needed to up my game and after a look down the left hand side for one carp, I decided to dump 3 pints of pellet straight in and 3 big handfuls of corn down the right hand side. The fourth hour went well (6 fish), I had to keep adjusting my depth a little at a time but kept some fish coming on Stinky Corn. However it was not to last but by switching over to GOT Jupiters in both 11mm and 8mm I kept the fifth hour ticking along (4 fish). Emptying my bait boxes of feed pellet in at the end of the fifth hour proved another good move as the last hour saw a few larger fish to 10lb grace the net.
I was happy with my day, a few more Stinky Corn caught carp in the bag and a few on hard Jupiters. I rue the lost fish as I thought they would cost me at the end but that's fishing.
Final Positions
1st John Holdsworth 153-4
2nd Terry Goff 110-8
3rd Clive Pritchard 109-4
4th Kevin Loveland 103-0
5th Keith Ashby 102-4
6th Tony Roberts 99-13
7th Al Loader 91-12
8th Dave Collier 82-8
9th Jim Boase 78-12
10th Tony Watkins 78-8
11th Pete Thompson 50-8
12th Rod Turner 28-0
13th Zack 26-8
14th Gino Exell 24-8
15th Martin Hucker 23-12
I have another match at Alders this week on Tuesday then I am off to fish Stafford Moor's October Festival. Will keep you posted when I get back.
Tuesday 1 October 2013
Alders Farm Ash Lake 01 10 13
Back to Alders today to fish the match lake Ash, I last fished it on Saturday and did well from peg 13 which can be a bit hit and miss to record 187lb and 5th place. Today however numbers were really down on the last couple of weeks with only 5 in attendance where normally we are into double figures.
Still Mick was here so the MK Nugget was up for grabs. His 9-7 lead looks unassailable at the moment but the momentum is with me having won the last one.
As you can imagine with only 5 names down it did not take long to sort pegs and we settled on 2,4,6,8,and 13. And you can guess where I was again, yes 13.
Josh had drawn 2, Terry 4, Mick 6 and Charlie 8 so with good anglers on good pegs it would be close at the top and realistically last place was always on the cards unless the wind turned direction and blew the fish into the corner I was in.
I decided to just fish the margins today, I had caught at 2+2 on Saturday and did not have a bite down the edge. Today I was determined to catch down the side. I set up three rigs to fish on 2+2 down both sides. NG Edger floats in .2g to .18 Stroft and PR36 in 18 inches of water tight in and only a couple of inches deeper a foot out. Bait would be corn with about a pint of fishery 4mm pellet.
At the all in I threw around 8 grains of corn down both sides and decide to fish to the left hand swim. Repeating the process every 30 seconds saw carp in the swim relatively straight away although they were only small fish averaging 1 1/2lb. I could see into peg 14 and there were fish everywhere cruising around the reed beds. But it was too far to fish. After an hour I had around 20 fish for 30lb in the net and nothing over 1 1/2lb. I decided to switch to the right hand swim and although I had a couple of fish on a similar par to the left, a couple gave me encouragement as the touched 4lb.
However it was slow progress and I was having to wait for bites. No matter whether I upped or lowered the feed rate it was still a waiting game. I was now switching from left to right every 2 fish to try to get the fish to settle but this did not improve the catch rate. I shallowed up a few inches as I had caught a few crayfish and thought that if they were on the deck it might be deterring the carp from having a proper go. This got me a few fish and I found that by fishing around a foot further out from the bank and fishing shallower I managed a run of fish to 4lb. I was still swopping lines and this helped keep the bites coming but after 5 hours I reckoned I had around 120lb in the net.
Going into the last hour, things were getting harder. I added another section to the pole in case the carp had backed off and was now plundering the decision. A good run of fish falling to single corn with no feed going in a section past my original feed. In the last hour I managed around 50lb to boost my weight considerably. It just goes to show that fishing over your feed is not always the answer. On Saturday I ended up a metre short of my feed and today I had to go longer to get some better fish. I think that the bigger fish tend to hang off the main feed and just pick off odd bits as they come to them.
Overall it had fished well again. I ended up as predicted last, however I still had a days fishing and I learnt today. Mick extended his lead to 10-7 so I really have my work cut out to catch him. All the three leading weights came to maggot over groundbait.
1st Josh Blavins 376lb 15oz
2nd Charlie Lancaster 369lb 11oz
3rd Terry Lancaster 313lb 15oz
4th Mick Wright 242lb 12oz
5th Keith Ashby 179lb 5oz
Still Mick was here so the MK Nugget was up for grabs. His 9-7 lead looks unassailable at the moment but the momentum is with me having won the last one.
As you can imagine with only 5 names down it did not take long to sort pegs and we settled on 2,4,6,8,and 13. And you can guess where I was again, yes 13.
Josh had drawn 2, Terry 4, Mick 6 and Charlie 8 so with good anglers on good pegs it would be close at the top and realistically last place was always on the cards unless the wind turned direction and blew the fish into the corner I was in.
I decided to just fish the margins today, I had caught at 2+2 on Saturday and did not have a bite down the edge. Today I was determined to catch down the side. I set up three rigs to fish on 2+2 down both sides. NG Edger floats in .2g to .18 Stroft and PR36 in 18 inches of water tight in and only a couple of inches deeper a foot out. Bait would be corn with about a pint of fishery 4mm pellet.
At the all in I threw around 8 grains of corn down both sides and decide to fish to the left hand swim. Repeating the process every 30 seconds saw carp in the swim relatively straight away although they were only small fish averaging 1 1/2lb. I could see into peg 14 and there were fish everywhere cruising around the reed beds. But it was too far to fish. After an hour I had around 20 fish for 30lb in the net and nothing over 1 1/2lb. I decided to switch to the right hand swim and although I had a couple of fish on a similar par to the left, a couple gave me encouragement as the touched 4lb.
However it was slow progress and I was having to wait for bites. No matter whether I upped or lowered the feed rate it was still a waiting game. I was now switching from left to right every 2 fish to try to get the fish to settle but this did not improve the catch rate. I shallowed up a few inches as I had caught a few crayfish and thought that if they were on the deck it might be deterring the carp from having a proper go. This got me a few fish and I found that by fishing around a foot further out from the bank and fishing shallower I managed a run of fish to 4lb. I was still swopping lines and this helped keep the bites coming but after 5 hours I reckoned I had around 120lb in the net.
Going into the last hour, things were getting harder. I added another section to the pole in case the carp had backed off and was now plundering the decision. A good run of fish falling to single corn with no feed going in a section past my original feed. In the last hour I managed around 50lb to boost my weight considerably. It just goes to show that fishing over your feed is not always the answer. On Saturday I ended up a metre short of my feed and today I had to go longer to get some better fish. I think that the bigger fish tend to hang off the main feed and just pick off odd bits as they come to them.
Overall it had fished well again. I ended up as predicted last, however I still had a days fishing and I learnt today. Mick extended his lead to 10-7 so I really have my work cut out to catch him. All the three leading weights came to maggot over groundbait.
1st Josh Blavins 376lb 15oz
2nd Charlie Lancaster 369lb 11oz
3rd Terry Lancaster 313lb 15oz
4th Mick Wright 242lb 12oz
5th Keith Ashby 179lb 5oz
Saturday 28 September 2013
Alders Farm Ash Lake Marsh AC 28 09 13
With the Marsh AC season drawing to a close, the penultimate match was fished at Alders Farm near Milton Keynes. At least I will not have to be chauffeured this week as I only live 10 minutes away. Mick was away for a few days leading up to this match but had managed to juggle his schedule to allow him to fish this match, so at least I would hope to close the gap in the MK Nugget stakes. I am down 9-6 and need to pull one back soon.
With the venue being so close to home, I still managed to get there early and was met by the other early birds, Kev and Jean, Simon and Gino and Tom. As the others were arriving and getting there nets dipped and bait orders, I progressed to the café for breakfast and to help peg out the lake. With monies paid Vic ran through the rules regarding nets.
Mick had drawn peg 28, a decent peg although in the shallow water, but will have a few fish. Vic was bemoaning his luck having drawn the dam wall and peg 21. I had drawn peg 13 and thought to myself that it could be a good peg if the wind was blowing in, however, it wasn't and I did not know how the fish would react to a corn approach. I had for company Tony Roberts on peg 11 and Gino opposite on peg 16. The Lancaster brothers had drawn peg 10 Terry and 19 for Charlie so at least I could keep an eye on them. Dave Collier was feeling at home on 30 as he has drawn nearby every time he has been to the lake.
I planned to fish 2+2 no matter what peg I was on and I felt this peg really suited it. I set up a .3g MW Diamond with a strung shotting pattern to a PR36 size 14 and another identical rig with a bulk shotting pattern set a foot from the hook in 3ft of water. I also set up a couple of NG Edger floats to size 14 PR36s to fish tight into the edge both sides, if required. Bait was stinky corn over standard corn with around 2 pints of fishery pellets in case I needed to boost the swim.
At the all in I shipped out to 2+2 and straight away the float dips and a firm strike sees a 2oz Rudd come flying out of the lake, next put in saw a bit more resistance and a small common around 2lb came to the net. I was now struggling as was everyone else. It was strange. After half an hour I had caught 4 carp and a rudd for around 7lb. I refed a little heavier to see if this spurred them on and a couple more followed. After an hour I reckoned on 10 fish for 20lb. I tried drip feeding the line and kept plugging away for the next hour and doubling my weight.
I had a quick look down the edges that I had been feeding since the start and only had 1 small carp to show after 30 minutes so it was back out to 2+2. The rest seemed to have done the trick and by fishing 6inches off bottom I managed to start putting a run of fish together. I was now feeding 4 grains every 15 seconds and lifting and dropping the stinky corn hookbait. Tony was now catching regularly and his fish looked bigger although I was getting more. Charlie and Vic were both catching well and if the continues would be on for a good weight. Terry was catching well from a slow start. Gino was catching although I felt he was not feeding enough to keep bites coming. I could see Mick catching but could not really gauge how he was doing.
Going into the fourth hour I reckoned on 80lb and the fish were still coming before dying off in the latter part of the hour. I then switched to 2+1. Something I had learnt from Josh Blavins on the Academy day a couple of years ago. The argument being that sometimes rather than the fish back off into the lake they sometimes come closer and you would end up fishing over them, so they felt safer. It seemed to work as a steady stream of fish to 4lb came to the waiting landing net. I was now on around 120lb. The fifth and final hour, saw bites tailing off but by mixing my feeding I managed to keep getting bites. Alterations to depths both up and down kept bites coming, although I did start foul hooking a lot of fish and losing them. I also had a lot of strange hook pulls where I would hook a fish and have it under control and with no added pressure the hook pulled.
At the all out I thought I had around 180lb and this may be enough to win the section. I thought I would beat Tony but it would be close. Little did I realise that Charlie was in mine.
1st overall Terry Lancaster 264lb 4oz Corn/Maggot
2nd Vic Nugent 222lb 12oz Maggot
3rd Charlie Lancaster 216lb 12oz Meat
4th Clive Pritchard 194lb 8oz Banded Pellet
5th Keith Ashby 187lb 8oz Stinky Corn
6th Tony Roberts 163lb 12oz Unknown
22 fished
Mick had 135lb 8oz to beat the Chairman again but was still forced to hand over a nice shiny Nugget to myself to make it now 9-7 and another chance on Tuesday to get a bit closer.
With the venue being so close to home, I still managed to get there early and was met by the other early birds, Kev and Jean, Simon and Gino and Tom. As the others were arriving and getting there nets dipped and bait orders, I progressed to the café for breakfast and to help peg out the lake. With monies paid Vic ran through the rules regarding nets.
Mick had drawn peg 28, a decent peg although in the shallow water, but will have a few fish. Vic was bemoaning his luck having drawn the dam wall and peg 21. I had drawn peg 13 and thought to myself that it could be a good peg if the wind was blowing in, however, it wasn't and I did not know how the fish would react to a corn approach. I had for company Tony Roberts on peg 11 and Gino opposite on peg 16. The Lancaster brothers had drawn peg 10 Terry and 19 for Charlie so at least I could keep an eye on them. Dave Collier was feeling at home on 30 as he has drawn nearby every time he has been to the lake.
I planned to fish 2+2 no matter what peg I was on and I felt this peg really suited it. I set up a .3g MW Diamond with a strung shotting pattern to a PR36 size 14 and another identical rig with a bulk shotting pattern set a foot from the hook in 3ft of water. I also set up a couple of NG Edger floats to size 14 PR36s to fish tight into the edge both sides, if required. Bait was stinky corn over standard corn with around 2 pints of fishery pellets in case I needed to boost the swim.
At the all in I shipped out to 2+2 and straight away the float dips and a firm strike sees a 2oz Rudd come flying out of the lake, next put in saw a bit more resistance and a small common around 2lb came to the net. I was now struggling as was everyone else. It was strange. After half an hour I had caught 4 carp and a rudd for around 7lb. I refed a little heavier to see if this spurred them on and a couple more followed. After an hour I reckoned on 10 fish for 20lb. I tried drip feeding the line and kept plugging away for the next hour and doubling my weight.
I had a quick look down the edges that I had been feeding since the start and only had 1 small carp to show after 30 minutes so it was back out to 2+2. The rest seemed to have done the trick and by fishing 6inches off bottom I managed to start putting a run of fish together. I was now feeding 4 grains every 15 seconds and lifting and dropping the stinky corn hookbait. Tony was now catching regularly and his fish looked bigger although I was getting more. Charlie and Vic were both catching well and if the continues would be on for a good weight. Terry was catching well from a slow start. Gino was catching although I felt he was not feeding enough to keep bites coming. I could see Mick catching but could not really gauge how he was doing.
Going into the fourth hour I reckoned on 80lb and the fish were still coming before dying off in the latter part of the hour. I then switched to 2+1. Something I had learnt from Josh Blavins on the Academy day a couple of years ago. The argument being that sometimes rather than the fish back off into the lake they sometimes come closer and you would end up fishing over them, so they felt safer. It seemed to work as a steady stream of fish to 4lb came to the waiting landing net. I was now on around 120lb. The fifth and final hour, saw bites tailing off but by mixing my feeding I managed to keep getting bites. Alterations to depths both up and down kept bites coming, although I did start foul hooking a lot of fish and losing them. I also had a lot of strange hook pulls where I would hook a fish and have it under control and with no added pressure the hook pulled.
At the all out I thought I had around 180lb and this may be enough to win the section. I thought I would beat Tony but it would be close. Little did I realise that Charlie was in mine.
1st overall Terry Lancaster 264lb 4oz Corn/Maggot
2nd Vic Nugent 222lb 12oz Maggot
3rd Charlie Lancaster 216lb 12oz Meat
4th Clive Pritchard 194lb 8oz Banded Pellet
5th Keith Ashby 187lb 8oz Stinky Corn
6th Tony Roberts 163lb 12oz Unknown
22 fished
Mick had 135lb 8oz to beat the Chairman again but was still forced to hand over a nice shiny Nugget to myself to make it now 9-7 and another chance on Tuesday to get a bit closer.
Wednesday 25 September 2013
Alders Farm Pines Lake 24 09 13
Due to shift patterns I have been unable to attend the regular Tuesday Opens at Alders Farm for a few weeks, but now there are three available Tuesdays to fish. I woke up a little late and did not feel my usual self, I do not know whether the fog outside the window had anything to do with it or just simply that I was running late. Those that know me, know I hate being late. However I still made the draw in time and managed to get prepared in plenty of time.
There were 13 likely looking lads forming an orderly queue into the draw bag when it finally came to me turn. Peg 16, a good peg which is a match winner on its day. Not one of my favourites though as I prefer a bit of water under the float and this is one of the shallower pegs. Vic had drawn peg 26 and was in for a good days fishing as he had space around him. Kevin Arathoon had also come out of retirement and was giving his pole a workout on peg 13. Mick was busy spoiling his good lady and taking her away for a break. I would have thought she would have preferred to go with a friend but apparently not.
The first thing I noticed was that the colour had dropped right out of the lake, it was clear to about 4m where I could see the bottom in 18 inches of water. Not good and even Josh opposite on peg 8 was in the process of setting up a method rod. Still I had come with a plan and was going to stick with it, no matter the peg drawn.
I was going to fish 2+2 with stinky corn feeding standard corn. I had 3 kilos with me plus a couple of tins if required, however with the colour of the water would expect to use of 2 kilos at most. For tackle I was going to set up 3 identical rigs all set to fish 2ft deep at 2+2. NG Edger float .2g to size 14 PR36 with 3 number 10 Stotz on .18 Stroft. The only difference being the length of line above the float. One was around 10inches, the second around 18inches and the other around 2ft. This would allow me the flexibility to fish past the area, or slap the rig if needed.
At the all in I threw in around 8 grains of corn onto the line and placed a grain of stinky corn on the hook, nothing, fed again and again, in fact every 20 seconds 4 grains were going in. After an hour I had nothing in the net, just foul-hooked one fish which I lost. I finally started to get a few fish by fish off the feed about a metre to the left. I was way behind everyone else. Josh was going well catching on a top two and both Simon Edwards and Roy Miller were catching well. Roy was learning loads from the "legend" as he calls him.
I would like to say that things improved but the reality is they didn't. I was picking up odd fish and not from the same part of the swim. There was no consistency to my fishing. I had a couple of fish slapping, then nothing, a few fish shallow then nothing, a few deep then nothing. Everyone else seemed to be catching. After 5 and a bit hours I knew I was well battered.
It seems that Kevin had packed up early after a lot of scum had blown into his peg and he could not present a bait properly. Vic had to dash off half way through with around 180lb in his net. And I had only 90lb to show for sticking it out.
Josh had fished a superb match to win it from peg 8 with 370lb followed by Hugh Crawford on peg 31 with 259lb. Josh winning by a clear ton. Charlie Lancaster was third in a tight finish pipping Mal Talbot 238lb to 231lb with Simon "legend" Edwards 223lb.
There were 13 likely looking lads forming an orderly queue into the draw bag when it finally came to me turn. Peg 16, a good peg which is a match winner on its day. Not one of my favourites though as I prefer a bit of water under the float and this is one of the shallower pegs. Vic had drawn peg 26 and was in for a good days fishing as he had space around him. Kevin Arathoon had also come out of retirement and was giving his pole a workout on peg 13. Mick was busy spoiling his good lady and taking her away for a break. I would have thought she would have preferred to go with a friend but apparently not.
The first thing I noticed was that the colour had dropped right out of the lake, it was clear to about 4m where I could see the bottom in 18 inches of water. Not good and even Josh opposite on peg 8 was in the process of setting up a method rod. Still I had come with a plan and was going to stick with it, no matter the peg drawn.
I was going to fish 2+2 with stinky corn feeding standard corn. I had 3 kilos with me plus a couple of tins if required, however with the colour of the water would expect to use of 2 kilos at most. For tackle I was going to set up 3 identical rigs all set to fish 2ft deep at 2+2. NG Edger float .2g to size 14 PR36 with 3 number 10 Stotz on .18 Stroft. The only difference being the length of line above the float. One was around 10inches, the second around 18inches and the other around 2ft. This would allow me the flexibility to fish past the area, or slap the rig if needed.
At the all in I threw in around 8 grains of corn onto the line and placed a grain of stinky corn on the hook, nothing, fed again and again, in fact every 20 seconds 4 grains were going in. After an hour I had nothing in the net, just foul-hooked one fish which I lost. I finally started to get a few fish by fish off the feed about a metre to the left. I was way behind everyone else. Josh was going well catching on a top two and both Simon Edwards and Roy Miller were catching well. Roy was learning loads from the "legend" as he calls him.
I would like to say that things improved but the reality is they didn't. I was picking up odd fish and not from the same part of the swim. There was no consistency to my fishing. I had a couple of fish slapping, then nothing, a few fish shallow then nothing, a few deep then nothing. Everyone else seemed to be catching. After 5 and a bit hours I knew I was well battered.
It seems that Kevin had packed up early after a lot of scum had blown into his peg and he could not present a bait properly. Vic had to dash off half way through with around 180lb in his net. And I had only 90lb to show for sticking it out.
Josh had fished a superb match to win it from peg 8 with 370lb followed by Hugh Crawford on peg 31 with 259lb. Josh winning by a clear ton. Charlie Lancaster was third in a tight finish pipping Mal Talbot 238lb to 231lb with Simon "legend" Edwards 223lb.
Sunday 22 September 2013
Lakeview John Tipple Memorial 22 09 13
It's always nice to fish somewhere nearby that you have not fished in a long while and Lakeview is one of those venues. It is only around 15 miles from the house and I must admit I drive past it on a few occasions. Last year I was fortunate to win a charity match in aid of Willen Hospice and in honour of a fellow angler, John Tipple who sadly passed away. As defending champion I was asked again to fish and was only too pleased to oblige.
Seeing as I had not fished it, for about 8 years, A couple of lads had put me straight, namely Tony Wynnick and Lol Summers. Meat, meat and more meat. Cheers guys.
With everyone meeting at Jacks café, Troy Hillyer, Chris and I set off to place peg markers down. We had been told to leave out as much as possible on the lawn bank, closest to the house, by the owner, so with this in mind we placed 4 pegs on the spit, then followed around the lake to peg 18 leaving 2 pegs on the lawn. To be honest I did not have a clue which is a good peg and which is a bad one, I just had meat, meat and more meat going through my head.
With breakfast out of the way, it was time to buy some raffle tickets and draw my peg. In goes the hand and peg 3 sticks to it. Half way along the spit. ?????????? Troy had drawn 13 and would be ok for a £1 side bet and with Chris drawing 20 and another side bet we set off.
Once negotiating a path to the peg with the trolley, it was time to set up. Hopefully my main catching line would be at 2+2 in around 3ft of water, however I also had 2ft down the edge so could not neglect that. I set up a MW Diamond to fish at depth at 2+2 with a strung out shotting pattern to a size 14 PR36 and orange vespe set very soft. For down the edge I settled on a NG Margin float to another PR36 and bulked the shot around halfway. I also set up a shallow rig for catching up on both lines if needed.
At the all in I started by potting a half pot of meat and pellet onto both lines and fished the deep rig at 2+2 with a cube of 6mm meat on the hook, a few dips and nothing, then a roach followed by another, this was not in the plan, however after around 15minutes I had a carp around 2lb and this was followed by his slightly smaller sister. I started pinging a few cubes out and was getting no indications except tiny dinks on the float that I could not hit. A look on corn over the same line produced nothing, so kept plugging away on the meat.
After an hour I reckoned on around 8 carp and a few silvers for around 10lb and was going nowhere, although the only person I could see catching was Troy and could hear Chris behind me catching well. I had a look down the edge and this only produced one roach so back out to 2+2, I kept plugging away and although I was catching felt I needed to up the pace to compete for a frame place( my target). I upped the feed and this seemed to trigger a small shortlived golden spell where I had around 6 fish in 6 put ins but the stamp was better. I was now getting line bites as the rig dropped through the water and gave the shallow rig a whirl. A few fish slapping the shallow rig fell to the meat and at around the 3 hour mark I reckoned on 25 fish for around 50lb and around 5lb of roach. Hour four was too prove costly as I could not get a run of fish together, swapping between meat,stinky corn shallow and an 8mm banded pellet.
Going into the last hour I gave the stinky corn a proper go shallow and started feeding a few grains with around 20 pellets every 30 seconds. This seemed to do the trick and I was now getting regular bites, foul hooking a couple and putting a few in the net, but a good 25lb came in the last hour. With the all out imminent I had one last go and was rewarded with my biggest fish of the day at 6lb 11oz (all fish over 4lb needed to be weighed and returned).
I thought I would end up third, considering that both Troy and Chris had been catching consistently, however I did not know that Dave on peg 17 had been catching well until the weigh in.
I had predicted that 90lb would win today and although I reckoned on 80lb did not think I had done enough, hour 4 had cost me and do not really know why I could not catch regularly throughout the match.
1st overall and John Tipple Memorial winner was Dave with 90lb 1oz followed by yours truly with 80lb 1oz, Troy was third with 78lb 6oz with Chris fourth with 70lb 4oz, so it was quite close with no out and out winner running away with it.
On another note plenty of money was raised for Willen Hospice, which Mercedes Benz have agreed to match. Thanks to everyone fishing and those behind the scenes.
Seeing as I had not fished it, for about 8 years, A couple of lads had put me straight, namely Tony Wynnick and Lol Summers. Meat, meat and more meat. Cheers guys.
With everyone meeting at Jacks café, Troy Hillyer, Chris and I set off to place peg markers down. We had been told to leave out as much as possible on the lawn bank, closest to the house, by the owner, so with this in mind we placed 4 pegs on the spit, then followed around the lake to peg 18 leaving 2 pegs on the lawn. To be honest I did not have a clue which is a good peg and which is a bad one, I just had meat, meat and more meat going through my head.
With breakfast out of the way, it was time to buy some raffle tickets and draw my peg. In goes the hand and peg 3 sticks to it. Half way along the spit. ?????????? Troy had drawn 13 and would be ok for a £1 side bet and with Chris drawing 20 and another side bet we set off.
Once negotiating a path to the peg with the trolley, it was time to set up. Hopefully my main catching line would be at 2+2 in around 3ft of water, however I also had 2ft down the edge so could not neglect that. I set up a MW Diamond to fish at depth at 2+2 with a strung out shotting pattern to a size 14 PR36 and orange vespe set very soft. For down the edge I settled on a NG Margin float to another PR36 and bulked the shot around halfway. I also set up a shallow rig for catching up on both lines if needed.
At the all in I started by potting a half pot of meat and pellet onto both lines and fished the deep rig at 2+2 with a cube of 6mm meat on the hook, a few dips and nothing, then a roach followed by another, this was not in the plan, however after around 15minutes I had a carp around 2lb and this was followed by his slightly smaller sister. I started pinging a few cubes out and was getting no indications except tiny dinks on the float that I could not hit. A look on corn over the same line produced nothing, so kept plugging away on the meat.
After an hour I reckoned on around 8 carp and a few silvers for around 10lb and was going nowhere, although the only person I could see catching was Troy and could hear Chris behind me catching well. I had a look down the edge and this only produced one roach so back out to 2+2, I kept plugging away and although I was catching felt I needed to up the pace to compete for a frame place( my target). I upped the feed and this seemed to trigger a small shortlived golden spell where I had around 6 fish in 6 put ins but the stamp was better. I was now getting line bites as the rig dropped through the water and gave the shallow rig a whirl. A few fish slapping the shallow rig fell to the meat and at around the 3 hour mark I reckoned on 25 fish for around 50lb and around 5lb of roach. Hour four was too prove costly as I could not get a run of fish together, swapping between meat,stinky corn shallow and an 8mm banded pellet.
Going into the last hour I gave the stinky corn a proper go shallow and started feeding a few grains with around 20 pellets every 30 seconds. This seemed to do the trick and I was now getting regular bites, foul hooking a couple and putting a few in the net, but a good 25lb came in the last hour. With the all out imminent I had one last go and was rewarded with my biggest fish of the day at 6lb 11oz (all fish over 4lb needed to be weighed and returned).
I thought I would end up third, considering that both Troy and Chris had been catching consistently, however I did not know that Dave on peg 17 had been catching well until the weigh in.
I had predicted that 90lb would win today and although I reckoned on 80lb did not think I had done enough, hour 4 had cost me and do not really know why I could not catch regularly throughout the match.
1st overall and John Tipple Memorial winner was Dave with 90lb 1oz followed by yours truly with 80lb 1oz, Troy was third with 78lb 6oz with Chris fourth with 70lb 4oz, so it was quite close with no out and out winner running away with it.
On another note plenty of money was raised for Willen Hospice, which Mercedes Benz have agreed to match. Thanks to everyone fishing and those behind the scenes.
Sunday 15 September 2013
Hawkhurst Marsh AC 14 09 13
With a gap in the Marsh AC club calendar a knock up was arranged to fish at Hawkhurst fishery near Hastings. I have fished here before and it is carp, carp and more carp. Not big fish but the average size is around 2lb and in absolutely mint condition. I suppose its what you would expect from a fish farm. However saying that my previous best weight was only about 80lb from the venue.
Mick had arranged to pick me up at 0530 to start the 250 mile round trip and although there was more traffic on the roads than normal, it flowed and we made good time, pulling into the car park just after 0730. Terry was next to arrive after his 15minute journey and looked decidedly fresher than both Mick and I.
Al had organised the match and the plan was to have breakfast in the on site café, then draw for pegs with enough time to allow us to stock up on pellets. They sell pellets by the sack and quite a few lads took advantage of this to avoid the cost of shipping.
We had the whole lake today and decided just to use one bank on Al's advice as it always seems to fish better than if you spread the pegging out and with only 10 of us able to make it suited us to avoid the road separating the two lakes. I had drawn peg 7 and it meant nothing to me, although Al had stated it was a decent peg. Mick had drawn 9, another good peg but Al had drawn the end peg 10 and would take some beating. Either side of me I had Mick Pearson on 6 and Clive on peg 8.
My plan was to fish 2+2 with banded pellet feeding fishery pellet and both margins on a top two. I had around 4ft at 2+2 and decided to fish a .4 MW Diamond with a strung out shotting pattern to a size 16 PR 36, This would allow me to see if the fish were taking on the drop. I also set up a shallow rig just in case the fish came up in the water. For the margins, I was going to fish Stinky Corn in 2 1/2ft of water tight to the boards both sides. This time it was a .3 MW Diamond still to a size 16 PR36 but with a bulk shotting pattern set just past half way.
At the all in I shipped out a banded 8mm pellet and toss potted fishery 4mm onto the line, after 30 seconds the float buried and a small carp around 12oz came to the waiting landing net. A few more fish followed and after an hour I reckoned on having 25lb of small carp. Mick P was fishing longer at around 7m but was struggling whilst Clive was soon into the margins and picking off odd fish. I could see both Mick and Al catching and felt I was doing ok, however bites were soon becoming more fickle and I was foul hooking too many fish, a change of depth saw another couple of carp join the ones in the keepnet, but I felt it was time to rest the line.
I had been feeding corn down the edge and after 90 minutes decided to have a look. Straight away the float buries and after a brief fight a cracking common around 4lb was in the net. A few more followed and after 3 hours I reckoned on around 70lb.
A short break followed due to Dave C feeling unwell and after a bit of refreshment we were soon back underway. Mick was admitting to 60lb yet Al had reckoned that both he and Mick had a ton, so I was a little off the pace.
Starting back in the margins, I was soon getting into a rhythm and was feeding corn with a pinch of pellet and fishing Stinky Corn over the top. I would get a bite and feed again whilst playing the fish. I managed to keep the fish coming and with the average size increasing from 1 1/2lb to 2lb I was also increasing the weights in my nets. A trashed rig in the last hour cost me dearly as it slowed down my catch rate. Why is it that an identical rig never seems to fish as well as the original? But I was keeping in touch, although I felt the both Al and Mick had both beat me at the whistle. I had done well, beating my previous best at the venue, so was reasonably happy with my day. The Stinky Corn had worked well on yet another venue and I had a few fish on banded pellet, something I rarely fish.
1st Al Loader 234-08
2nd Mick Wright 173-0
3rd Tony Roberts 160-08
4th Keith Ashby 157-0
5th Clive Pritchard 109-0
6th Dave Collier 106-08
7th Mick Pearson 92-08
8th Terry Goff 84-08
9th Tony Watkins 65-0
10th Rod Turner 25-08
Mick is now leading 9-6 in the MK Nugget stakes and I think I need to start pulling back some results.
My next match is the John Tipple Memorial match on the 22nd September at Lakeview fishery near Towcester. Another new venue and hopefully I can defend the trophy and catch a few fish.
Saturday 7 September 2013
Colemans & Alders Ash Lake
A slight change to the normal format of the Blog today as I will cover two matches over two days. Saturday saw me and Mick travel to Coleman's Cottage for a Marsh Match on Wood lake. I have never done particularly well here for a variety of reasons but I think it just does not respond to corn very well. And with Mick on a roll leading 7-6 at present I needed a result to get back on track.
Colemans Wood Lake
A good trip down was met with rain, and lots of it. Yet by the time we had pulled into Coleman's the smell of freshly cooked bacon soon put us in the mood. The draw allowed nearly everyone to have plenty of room and when 33 stuck to my hand I was relatively happy to get off the opposite bank for a change. Mick had drawn 25 at the top of the bowl in the corner and would be on a few fish.
I have often thought that on this lake I tend to over complicate things, left and right margins,2+2, 9m and 13m. Today was going to be different. 2+2 and left margin. Simple. Corn with stinky on it as bait and around 2pints of 4mm pellets. I had around 4ft at 2+2 and around 2ft down the edge of the first shelf. Orange vespe with .18 stroft to a MW diamond in .3g to PR36 size 14 on the 2+2. A NG Margin float to .18 and a size 16 PR36.
At the all in I threw half a dozen grains onto 2+2 and lowered a grain of stinky corn in the depths. A few lifts and drops and the float buries. I have 8 carp within the first hour and seemed to be doing well. Dave C next door was getting a few on the maggot down the edge, Al was struggling and Keith P opposite was getting a couple of fish on the tip. I had been throwing 3 or 4 grains continuously into the peg and was hoping the fish would come up off the deck, a tactic which has accounted for plenty of fish in the past however they would not come up. A few skimmers and odd barbel came to the net but it was slow going.
I would have to wait for a bite, a change to feeding pellet made very little difference so I had a look down the edge. Dragging a grain of corn up the shelf prompting a couple of quick bites and a few f1's. However these were still small fish compared to what Keith P was catching. His were averaging 5lb a piece whilst mine would go probably 2lb at best.
Al was now catching well from his right hand edge and I could still hear a lot of splashing from Dave's peg. Back out to 2+2 and a few more fish but again slow progress. And this continued through to the end of my match.
At the weigh in my weight of 81lb was around what I expected. Keith P had 135lb whilst Al had caught late on and put 165lb on the scales only to be surpassed by Mick who was quietly tucked away in the corner, emptying it of fish. A couple of weighs and a good 196lb saw him complete the win and take yet another £1 off me to lead 8-6 overall.
Ash Lake Sunday
Sunday saw me booked into the Ash Lake open at Alders after the Meadowlands match was cancelled. Mick was working today so no MK Nugget at stake. Arriving at the fishery it was noticeable that a lot of very good anglers were present and with 24 booked on a good draw was required. After a cup of tea, the draw took place and for a change I hung back. Peg 4 graced my palm and was happy with it. Vic had drawn peg 36 on the opposite bank.
Again I stuck to my plan of attack that is 2+2 plus a margin line on a top two. However, I put a different variant of corn on the bait table today. I had stinky corn and this would be my main line of attack, but I also knocked up some corn atomic cloud for the edge and dusted some grains off for the hook on both lines.
At the all in I approached the 2+2 line exactly as yesterday with around half a dozen grains and cupped in Atomic Cloud into the edge. I would leave this line as long as possible before having a look as I did not want to spook them too early. Others around me would start on this line and hope it would last the whole five hours. I am not that confident it will with corn so prefer to fish elsewhere first and then go on it late.
I was soon into fish and by continually dripping in three or four grains I managed to keep fish coming through the first hour. John on the next peg was catching well and I thought he would be in for a good weight from peg 5. Mark was also catching on banded pellet close in and if they could keep the fish there I would be in trouble. However it seemed the rest of the lake was struggling with anglers having to wait for bites( something we are not used to at Alders). I kept plugging away and slowly I was managing to claw my way back into it. I still had not gone down the edge but was keeping it topped up regularly. A run of foul hooked fish saw a depth change and it is surprising how much difference an inch or two can make. I was still catching albeit slowly and by half way I reckoned I had 30 fish for about 75lb. One thing I did do though was when it went quiet instead of feeding more I tried an Atomic grain of corn and this brought a few more fish before I needed to switch back to Stinky Corn.
John was now struggling to put a run of fish together and was swapping his lines in the hope of getting on a few. Mark was still catching but I could not see the size of his fish.
Hour four saw my catch rate improve putting 20 fish in the net and with over a ton on what seemed a hard day, I was happy. The last hour and a half flew by and although I kept looking down the edge, it seemed devoid of fish. So I did not waste too much time on it. I could catch at 2+2 and although I needed to constantly alter depth's up and down, fish kept coming. At the all out I reckoned on 73 fish on the clicker for what I reckoned would be about 170lb.
1st Overall was Mark Dickens on Peg 6 with 203lb dead, followed by my self with 202lb 4oz. It was that close.
1st Mark Dickens 203lb
2nd Keith Ashby 202lb 4oz
3rd Colin Fossdyke 196lb 15oz
4th John Wellham 175lb 13oz
5th Pete Archer 167lb 4oz
6th Ricky Quick 160lb 11oz
Where is Mick Wright when I am catching?
I have also learnt a valuable lesson today. Have confidence in what you are doing and eventually things come right. I have been fishing corn all season and have learnt a lot over that time. Differences to depth and shotting helped today. I have not tried Atomic Corn for a while and just had a hunch that after the rain and the water being coloured a bright bait would work.
I am off now to fish in and around Somerset for a few days and will report on the trip when I get back. No matches as I understand it but some decent fishing ahead hopefully.
Colemans Wood Lake
A good trip down was met with rain, and lots of it. Yet by the time we had pulled into Coleman's the smell of freshly cooked bacon soon put us in the mood. The draw allowed nearly everyone to have plenty of room and when 33 stuck to my hand I was relatively happy to get off the opposite bank for a change. Mick had drawn 25 at the top of the bowl in the corner and would be on a few fish.
I have often thought that on this lake I tend to over complicate things, left and right margins,2+2, 9m and 13m. Today was going to be different. 2+2 and left margin. Simple. Corn with stinky on it as bait and around 2pints of 4mm pellets. I had around 4ft at 2+2 and around 2ft down the edge of the first shelf. Orange vespe with .18 stroft to a MW diamond in .3g to PR36 size 14 on the 2+2. A NG Margin float to .18 and a size 16 PR36.
At the all in I threw half a dozen grains onto 2+2 and lowered a grain of stinky corn in the depths. A few lifts and drops and the float buries. I have 8 carp within the first hour and seemed to be doing well. Dave C next door was getting a few on the maggot down the edge, Al was struggling and Keith P opposite was getting a couple of fish on the tip. I had been throwing 3 or 4 grains continuously into the peg and was hoping the fish would come up off the deck, a tactic which has accounted for plenty of fish in the past however they would not come up. A few skimmers and odd barbel came to the net but it was slow going.
I would have to wait for a bite, a change to feeding pellet made very little difference so I had a look down the edge. Dragging a grain of corn up the shelf prompting a couple of quick bites and a few f1's. However these were still small fish compared to what Keith P was catching. His were averaging 5lb a piece whilst mine would go probably 2lb at best.
Al was now catching well from his right hand edge and I could still hear a lot of splashing from Dave's peg. Back out to 2+2 and a few more fish but again slow progress. And this continued through to the end of my match.
At the weigh in my weight of 81lb was around what I expected. Keith P had 135lb whilst Al had caught late on and put 165lb on the scales only to be surpassed by Mick who was quietly tucked away in the corner, emptying it of fish. A couple of weighs and a good 196lb saw him complete the win and take yet another £1 off me to lead 8-6 overall.
Ash Lake Sunday
Sunday saw me booked into the Ash Lake open at Alders after the Meadowlands match was cancelled. Mick was working today so no MK Nugget at stake. Arriving at the fishery it was noticeable that a lot of very good anglers were present and with 24 booked on a good draw was required. After a cup of tea, the draw took place and for a change I hung back. Peg 4 graced my palm and was happy with it. Vic had drawn peg 36 on the opposite bank.
Again I stuck to my plan of attack that is 2+2 plus a margin line on a top two. However, I put a different variant of corn on the bait table today. I had stinky corn and this would be my main line of attack, but I also knocked up some corn atomic cloud for the edge and dusted some grains off for the hook on both lines.
At the all in I approached the 2+2 line exactly as yesterday with around half a dozen grains and cupped in Atomic Cloud into the edge. I would leave this line as long as possible before having a look as I did not want to spook them too early. Others around me would start on this line and hope it would last the whole five hours. I am not that confident it will with corn so prefer to fish elsewhere first and then go on it late.
I was soon into fish and by continually dripping in three or four grains I managed to keep fish coming through the first hour. John on the next peg was catching well and I thought he would be in for a good weight from peg 5. Mark was also catching on banded pellet close in and if they could keep the fish there I would be in trouble. However it seemed the rest of the lake was struggling with anglers having to wait for bites( something we are not used to at Alders). I kept plugging away and slowly I was managing to claw my way back into it. I still had not gone down the edge but was keeping it topped up regularly. A run of foul hooked fish saw a depth change and it is surprising how much difference an inch or two can make. I was still catching albeit slowly and by half way I reckoned I had 30 fish for about 75lb. One thing I did do though was when it went quiet instead of feeding more I tried an Atomic grain of corn and this brought a few more fish before I needed to switch back to Stinky Corn.
John was now struggling to put a run of fish together and was swapping his lines in the hope of getting on a few. Mark was still catching but I could not see the size of his fish.
Hour four saw my catch rate improve putting 20 fish in the net and with over a ton on what seemed a hard day, I was happy. The last hour and a half flew by and although I kept looking down the edge, it seemed devoid of fish. So I did not waste too much time on it. I could catch at 2+2 and although I needed to constantly alter depth's up and down, fish kept coming. At the all out I reckoned on 73 fish on the clicker for what I reckoned would be about 170lb.
1st Overall was Mark Dickens on Peg 6 with 203lb dead, followed by my self with 202lb 4oz. It was that close.
1st Mark Dickens 203lb
2nd Keith Ashby 202lb 4oz
3rd Colin Fossdyke 196lb 15oz
4th John Wellham 175lb 13oz
5th Pete Archer 167lb 4oz
6th Ricky Quick 160lb 11oz
Where is Mick Wright when I am catching?
I have also learnt a valuable lesson today. Have confidence in what you are doing and eventually things come right. I have been fishing corn all season and have learnt a lot over that time. Differences to depth and shotting helped today. I have not tried Atomic Corn for a while and just had a hunch that after the rain and the water being coloured a bright bait would work.
I am off now to fish in and around Somerset for a few days and will report on the trip when I get back. No matches as I understand it but some decent fishing ahead hopefully.
Cider Country Fishing
It is always nice to get away for a few days and if you can combine new surroundings and good company then all the better. Pete Thompson had asked if I fancied a few days stopping at his brother's house in Cullompton in Somerset. Fishing tackle was a must, as his brother, Tommy goes fishing.
With the plan to go on Bank Holiday Monday, stay Tuesday and Wednesday and return on the Thursday. Pete duly arrived and after loading the car with Pete's gear we were soon off and running. That was until the Engine Management light came on the Peugeot and would not allow me to rev over 2000 revs. A faulty fuel filter was diagnosed and a return to Milton Keynes ensued. Still nothing we could do about it on a Bank Holiday, so it was a case of switching the gear from my car to Pete's and off we went again. We were now three hours behind plan but at least moving in the right direction. We had decided to fish on the way down and had targeted Lands End Fishery near Wedmore in Somerset to break up the journey. Surprisingly the roads were clear and even the M4 around Bristol caused us no problems. Arriving at the fishery though caused our second disappointment of the day. All three lakes were closed off for matches. So a decision was made to try Viaduct Fishery at Somerton as it was a bit closer to Collumpton and not taking us away from the area. A trip along the country roads and within 45 minutes we were there. Day tickets purchased we settled into 2 pegs 62 and 63 on Lodge lake.
I decided to fish the edge as I had a nice little cut out in amongst some reeds with around 2ft beneath the float. I also set a line at 9m in 5ft of water and would hope for a few skimmers. Pete opted to fish long at 11m and was targeting skimmers with paste. I started off long and caught a few nice skimmers around 2lb before the bites got a bit iffy on stinky corn. A switch to GOT Rippers brought another couple of skimmers. Pete had caught well and was getting a few carp over his paste up to 12lb 7oz amongst his skimmers. I had a look down the edge and had a few carp to 12lb 6oz and as we had daily challenge to see who caught the biggest fish, Pete won day 1. Still we had a good day and an estimated 80lb each in just a couple of hours fishing. We also found out that they run a match on the Thursday and seemed a good idea to finish the week off so booked in.
After a good night's sleep, Tuesday brought Tommy's day at Kia-Ora fishery in Collumpton. This is Tommy's local venue and although I have fished here before we let Tommy choose where he wanted to fish before settling into our pegs nearby. Again Pete would fish pellet and paste, I would fish corn and Tommy the humble maggot. I had an island in front of me at 12.5m and two nice looking edges, however I decided to start off at 2+3 as I could throw the corn this far. Bites were coming and fairly regularly and it was not long before I was getting into a rhythm of feeding, dropping a bait in, feeding again, striking, feeding, landing and feeding again before repeating the process. I was only feeding corn but using Stinky Corn on the hook. After a couple of hours I had caught around 25 fish for about 120lb. I had been feeding down the edge, one side with corn the other 4mm GOT Sinkers and I decided to switch to the edges to see if I could tempt some larger fish that inhabit Kia-Ora. A good decision as in the next hour I had 12 fish for another 100lb with the best around 14lb. Pete was catching well down the edge but was struggling out and still reckoned on well over a ton. Tommy was catching small roach and the odd carp, so I went over with some corn and pellet and showed him how to fish it. As soon as my back was turned, he was into his first corn fish and after around five minutes he landed a nice common around 8lb. As time was running out I decided to have a look long by the island and by lifting and dropping a grain of stinky corn at 12.5m I was getting a fish every put in. These fish were smaller than those down the edge and even smaller than the 2+3 line but in ten put ins I had 9 fish averaging 3lb each. I reckoned on having around 280lb in the 6 hours we were there, with Pete close behind with 200lb, Tommy once he started fishing corn had around a ton. I had won day 2.
Day three saw the three of us lining the banks of Goodiford Mill. Settling in on some early pegs to avoid any long walks. Again, my plan was to fish stinky corn over corn at 2+3 and down the edge. Pete was going to fish pellet and paste before switching to expanders. Tommy would fish maggot and his newly learnt corn tactics down the edge. After a slow start on my long line I soon had skimmers and odd carp queuing up for a grain of stinky corn, however I noticed a few swirls whilst feeding and thought the fish were off bottom. A change of rig and after a few nice roach to 12oz I was getting carp shallow lifting and dropping. Tommy was getting a lot of blade roach on the maggot, and was quite pleased to have caught 20 fish after the first hour for about 2lb in weight. Not my cup of tea but each to their own. I had around 50lb on my clicker, mainly carp but a few skimmers and roach. Our target today was to catch a crucian and a tench. Pete although struggling on the paste had secured one of the species, a crucian of around a pound. I just kept plugging away alternating between up and down in the water and was bagging. After three hours I reckoned on 150lb. However fishing was disrupted by a guy fishing further round. He had lost his rod in the water and wanted help to get it back. It had lodged it self against the island and was stuck fast. He decided to swim over with a lifebuoy round his waist to retrieve it. Attached to the buoy was another of his carp rods with 10lb line to help drag him back if he got into difficulties. It was definitely a sight to see but the mission was accomplished, rod retrieved and the guy, although wet and embarrassed it had happened in the first place went away happy. Back to the fishing and it was if we had not been away. Fish were queuing up again and by the end of the day I reckoned on 83 carp for around 320lb plus approximately 25lb of silvers plus a tench of 1 1/2lb which drew the daily challenge. Pete had decided to fish the whip and in 45 minutes had 69 fish on expander, all roach and crucians at half depth on a topkit straight out.
Our last day would see us compete in the Viaduct costcutter match before returning home. After breakfast at the fishery we drew for pegs, opting to leave it to the last 2 in the bag. Pegs 130 for me and 132 for Pete. So next door to each other (peg 131 was not in). I had open water in front of me and an overhanging willow tree to me right. Pete was tucked away in the corner with good looking margins and open water. I had a local next to me who set up a couple of bomb rods plus the pole for fishing up and down and margin rigs. Me however, decided to fish corn at 11m, feeding a 2+2 line and one edge by the tree late on. I did not take any rods with me due to space in the van being limited. At the all in I potted a pot of pellet with around 30 grains of corn at 11m and threw some bait regularly in the edge and 2+2 line. I started on 11m and first put in, I had a foul hooked carp of 4lb which after a struggle came in. A few skimmers and tench followed before the bites tailed off. This time I fed with a far larger percentage of corn to try to get the carp going. This seemed to do the trick as I snagged a few carp to boost my first hour weight to 35lb on the clicker of carp. I was still getting some nice skimmers and odd tench and roach but was not keeping a track of them. Hours two and three flew by and although odd fish came, I realised that you needed to keep the peg fizzing to get constant bites. I was now feeding a large pot of pellet and corn every hour. Topping up occasionally with a toss pot. Going in the fourth hour my clicker said 64lb and with a 70lb net limit I started a new net. The fifth hour was harder, with only 10lb in the carp net but feeding heavier(every half an hour) brought the fish back. I thought that with a good last hour I was in with a shout. I had a look down the edge for two roach so gave that idea up quickly and at 2+2 only had a small skimmer, so it was 11m or nothing. By lifting a dropping the stinky hookbait I was able to add another 4 fish. I was a bit adrift of my neighbour who had caught well throughout, a couple of fish on the bomb then up and down and then the margin before going back to the bomb for a total of 161lb. My carp nets went 107lb and with 28lb of silvers I ended up third overall with 135lb and a brown envelope. Pete had caught in bursts and weighed in 10lb of silvers and 65lb of carp.
So that was it, four days fishing and over 800lb of fish, a brown envelope to end with. Will help with the car repairs and news that my fridge freezer at home has broken down. Still better than working, I suppose.
With the plan to go on Bank Holiday Monday, stay Tuesday and Wednesday and return on the Thursday. Pete duly arrived and after loading the car with Pete's gear we were soon off and running. That was until the Engine Management light came on the Peugeot and would not allow me to rev over 2000 revs. A faulty fuel filter was diagnosed and a return to Milton Keynes ensued. Still nothing we could do about it on a Bank Holiday, so it was a case of switching the gear from my car to Pete's and off we went again. We were now three hours behind plan but at least moving in the right direction. We had decided to fish on the way down and had targeted Lands End Fishery near Wedmore in Somerset to break up the journey. Surprisingly the roads were clear and even the M4 around Bristol caused us no problems. Arriving at the fishery though caused our second disappointment of the day. All three lakes were closed off for matches. So a decision was made to try Viaduct Fishery at Somerton as it was a bit closer to Collumpton and not taking us away from the area. A trip along the country roads and within 45 minutes we were there. Day tickets purchased we settled into 2 pegs 62 and 63 on Lodge lake.
I decided to fish the edge as I had a nice little cut out in amongst some reeds with around 2ft beneath the float. I also set a line at 9m in 5ft of water and would hope for a few skimmers. Pete opted to fish long at 11m and was targeting skimmers with paste. I started off long and caught a few nice skimmers around 2lb before the bites got a bit iffy on stinky corn. A switch to GOT Rippers brought another couple of skimmers. Pete had caught well and was getting a few carp over his paste up to 12lb 7oz amongst his skimmers. I had a look down the edge and had a few carp to 12lb 6oz and as we had daily challenge to see who caught the biggest fish, Pete won day 1. Still we had a good day and an estimated 80lb each in just a couple of hours fishing. We also found out that they run a match on the Thursday and seemed a good idea to finish the week off so booked in.
After a good night's sleep, Tuesday brought Tommy's day at Kia-Ora fishery in Collumpton. This is Tommy's local venue and although I have fished here before we let Tommy choose where he wanted to fish before settling into our pegs nearby. Again Pete would fish pellet and paste, I would fish corn and Tommy the humble maggot. I had an island in front of me at 12.5m and two nice looking edges, however I decided to start off at 2+3 as I could throw the corn this far. Bites were coming and fairly regularly and it was not long before I was getting into a rhythm of feeding, dropping a bait in, feeding again, striking, feeding, landing and feeding again before repeating the process. I was only feeding corn but using Stinky Corn on the hook. After a couple of hours I had caught around 25 fish for about 120lb. I had been feeding down the edge, one side with corn the other 4mm GOT Sinkers and I decided to switch to the edges to see if I could tempt some larger fish that inhabit Kia-Ora. A good decision as in the next hour I had 12 fish for another 100lb with the best around 14lb. Pete was catching well down the edge but was struggling out and still reckoned on well over a ton. Tommy was catching small roach and the odd carp, so I went over with some corn and pellet and showed him how to fish it. As soon as my back was turned, he was into his first corn fish and after around five minutes he landed a nice common around 8lb. As time was running out I decided to have a look long by the island and by lifting and dropping a grain of stinky corn at 12.5m I was getting a fish every put in. These fish were smaller than those down the edge and even smaller than the 2+3 line but in ten put ins I had 9 fish averaging 3lb each. I reckoned on having around 280lb in the 6 hours we were there, with Pete close behind with 200lb, Tommy once he started fishing corn had around a ton. I had won day 2.
Day three saw the three of us lining the banks of Goodiford Mill. Settling in on some early pegs to avoid any long walks. Again, my plan was to fish stinky corn over corn at 2+3 and down the edge. Pete was going to fish pellet and paste before switching to expanders. Tommy would fish maggot and his newly learnt corn tactics down the edge. After a slow start on my long line I soon had skimmers and odd carp queuing up for a grain of stinky corn, however I noticed a few swirls whilst feeding and thought the fish were off bottom. A change of rig and after a few nice roach to 12oz I was getting carp shallow lifting and dropping. Tommy was getting a lot of blade roach on the maggot, and was quite pleased to have caught 20 fish after the first hour for about 2lb in weight. Not my cup of tea but each to their own. I had around 50lb on my clicker, mainly carp but a few skimmers and roach. Our target today was to catch a crucian and a tench. Pete although struggling on the paste had secured one of the species, a crucian of around a pound. I just kept plugging away alternating between up and down in the water and was bagging. After three hours I reckoned on 150lb. However fishing was disrupted by a guy fishing further round. He had lost his rod in the water and wanted help to get it back. It had lodged it self against the island and was stuck fast. He decided to swim over with a lifebuoy round his waist to retrieve it. Attached to the buoy was another of his carp rods with 10lb line to help drag him back if he got into difficulties. It was definitely a sight to see but the mission was accomplished, rod retrieved and the guy, although wet and embarrassed it had happened in the first place went away happy. Back to the fishing and it was if we had not been away. Fish were queuing up again and by the end of the day I reckoned on 83 carp for around 320lb plus approximately 25lb of silvers plus a tench of 1 1/2lb which drew the daily challenge. Pete had decided to fish the whip and in 45 minutes had 69 fish on expander, all roach and crucians at half depth on a topkit straight out.
Our last day would see us compete in the Viaduct costcutter match before returning home. After breakfast at the fishery we drew for pegs, opting to leave it to the last 2 in the bag. Pegs 130 for me and 132 for Pete. So next door to each other (peg 131 was not in). I had open water in front of me and an overhanging willow tree to me right. Pete was tucked away in the corner with good looking margins and open water. I had a local next to me who set up a couple of bomb rods plus the pole for fishing up and down and margin rigs. Me however, decided to fish corn at 11m, feeding a 2+2 line and one edge by the tree late on. I did not take any rods with me due to space in the van being limited. At the all in I potted a pot of pellet with around 30 grains of corn at 11m and threw some bait regularly in the edge and 2+2 line. I started on 11m and first put in, I had a foul hooked carp of 4lb which after a struggle came in. A few skimmers and tench followed before the bites tailed off. This time I fed with a far larger percentage of corn to try to get the carp going. This seemed to do the trick as I snagged a few carp to boost my first hour weight to 35lb on the clicker of carp. I was still getting some nice skimmers and odd tench and roach but was not keeping a track of them. Hours two and three flew by and although odd fish came, I realised that you needed to keep the peg fizzing to get constant bites. I was now feeding a large pot of pellet and corn every hour. Topping up occasionally with a toss pot. Going in the fourth hour my clicker said 64lb and with a 70lb net limit I started a new net. The fifth hour was harder, with only 10lb in the carp net but feeding heavier(every half an hour) brought the fish back. I thought that with a good last hour I was in with a shout. I had a look down the edge for two roach so gave that idea up quickly and at 2+2 only had a small skimmer, so it was 11m or nothing. By lifting a dropping the stinky hookbait I was able to add another 4 fish. I was a bit adrift of my neighbour who had caught well throughout, a couple of fish on the bomb then up and down and then the margin before going back to the bomb for a total of 161lb. My carp nets went 107lb and with 28lb of silvers I ended up third overall with 135lb and a brown envelope. Pete had caught in bursts and weighed in 10lb of silvers and 65lb of carp.
So that was it, four days fishing and over 800lb of fish, a brown envelope to end with. Will help with the car repairs and news that my fridge freezer at home has broken down. Still better than working, I suppose.
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