Marsh AC Monks Lake 2 18.07.2020

A long road trip for this match, Monks Lakes near Maidstone, Kent.And of course due to Covid 19 no car sharing. This had the impact on Mick being unable to attend, he is fine but with new treatments, driving himself there, fishing and driving back it would all take its toll on his already ageing body.
Still i left in plenty of time and hopefully the speed cameras on both the M1 and M25 are faulty, leaving me pulling into the queue for Monks Lake. I sat in it for 10 minutes when A load of Marsh cars drive past and cut straight in. I soon followed suit and was parking the car a couple of minutes later.
The match lakes were packed with matches on lakes 1,3 and 4. Fish o Mania is there next week and a lot were getting in a bit of final practice. We had Lake 2 and the chat beforehand was about peg 67, Josh saying 400lb would be needed. Personally I thought 200lb would be a good weight on the day from anywhere.
We had pegs 45 to 77, one section on the front bank and the remaining two sections either side of the spit.
As I was fortunate to pick up a section win on my last match I was exempt from paying for this one, so when Dave asked which peg I wanted ( all folded and stapled) I said anyone. Gingerly he opened it up and peg 67 was held up. Happy days and I was off to my peg leaving a trail of moans behind me.
Peg 67 is at the end of the spit, it gives the angler loads of options, wag and bomb, method to the reed lines, Pole up and down in open water, two really great looking edges, one along the boards to the end of the spit, the other to some overhanging brambles. There is something for everyone. A chance encounter with venue regular Mike McMillan confirmed my plan and I was going to base my attack around both 6mm and 8mm pellet at 2 plus 2, and down both edges.

At the all in, I cupped in some 6mms on both my edges, the right hand side adding around 30 grains of corn, as a holding bait and option for change. I also started throwing 6mms to the 2+2 line, sometimes getting there sometimes not. The wind was blowing hard towards me and along the spit. At times it was difficult to hold the four sections. Still I could always come in closer. A few missed bites to start before a couple of skimmers around 10oz apiece graced the net. A solitary carp around 4lb put in an appearance but I was going nowhere. Clive behind me on 64 was getting a few fish. whilst John next door was catching skimmers and odd roach.

I felt they wanted some food but presenting a still bait was proving difficult. Going a whole float length over depth, grabbed a couple of carp around 8lb and after 90 minutes, I had around 25lb without my silvers. I re-fed with a couple of big pots of 6mms and had a look down both edges, nicking a 4lb fish from the left edge and a big low double from the right hand edge just before the brambles. Out again to the right and a smaller carp, but more importantly proper bites. It was at this time I made a conscious decision to drop my longer left margin line and start feeding 8mms on a top kit there instead. I was still feeding 6's to my right side and felt it was getting better, a few lulls but steadily it was buildinng a weight. After 4 hours I knew I had a ton, the clicker was doing its job.By chopping and changing pellet size, I was keeping odd fish coming. and although It was taking 5 or 10 minutes for a bite, nearly all were hooked cleanly in the top lip and by letting the red hydro take the strain, I was not losing as many as I have been recently.
Clive had struggled for the last 2 hours with only 2 carp to show to add to his previous 4hours exertions, word was Chris Thomas and Kyle Deane had caught well on the first pegs on the spit.

 I just kept my head down and never went back out to 2+2 or the left hand margin. The fish wanted to be close to the brambles in a good 2ft of water. Nice depth and proper fish, a great combination.

Overall 

1st Keith Ashby     247-04               Section Winner

2nd Chris Thomas 125-08

3rd Mark Fox       109-00                Section Winner

4th Kyle Deane     106-04                Section Winner

5th Clive Pritchard 94-12

6th John Holdsworth 71-12

7th John Drake       64-00

8th  Simon Watkins 61-12

9th Chris Withall    53-04

10th Tony Roberts 52-08

11th Dave Collier   39-08

12th Gino Exell      38-12

13th Terry Goff      35-08

14th Jim Boase      31-02

Personally I had a very enjoyable day, good company, easy traffic and plenty of lumpy fish. It was hard going elsewhere and it just goes to show how the draw can dominate the events. I drew a good peg and felt I did it justice eventually. Many thanks to Mike McMillan for words of support. And as Dave said before the match I can only win when Mick is not there. 

I am away for 9 days at Viaduct Fishery for our annual Yam Yam trip. Hopefully my form will continue and the tales of glory will follow. Tight lines all.

Two pleasure days and Alders Farm Ash match

Being a man of leisure at present, I am fortunate to be able to go fishing a couple of times a week, fishing where I want and when. My first stop was a trip to Meadowlands Fishery near Coventry, one of the best fisheries i the country and fast becoming a favourite of mine. Vic is in the same position as I, so we quite often team up and arrange where to go next.
Arriving at the fishery we happily paid our peg fee and purchased the fishery 8mms needed for fishing the bomb and pellet waggler, which was our aim. In fairness a sneaky trip out practising for Viaduct fishery at the end of the month.
We slotted into pegs 9 and 10, Vic on 9 and me on 10. I was going to start off on the waggler, fishing 2ft deep with a 8mm fishery pellet on the hook. I also set up a pole line on top three, where I would be dripping in 3 or 4 pellets every ten minutes or so. Vic was also going to start on the waggler, switching to the bomb as the session progressed.
Pinging into a left to right breeze was fine, two pouches containing 4 in each to the desired spot, cast, twitch reel in  and repeat. On the third go the float goes and fish on, did not even get to the twitch. A nice common around 5lb, Out again and within 10 minutes fish number two was on and soon in the net. My third fish shed the hook halfway back making it 2-1. Back out again and again on the cast the float goes again. 3-1 to me, happy days!!! Only been here 45 minutes and getting them going well.
Vic was also catching on the waggler before pulling out of a fish and snapping the tip off his Maver Powerlite 11ft Pellet Waggler rod (in case anyone has a spare tip section). A move to the bomb for him proved a pivotal decision. Slowly catching fish on 8mm pellets, fishing over the PW line.
After a couple of hours I dropped in on the pole line and had 4 fish in four drop ins, unfortunately losing them all. How did we fish before we had puller kits?
Back on the waggler and we were both catching well, the breeze had completely changed around now going right to left and as long as there was not too much of a bow I was still getting bites and plenty of fish.
At the all out we had both had 20 plus fish to 12lb, no monsters but all in pristine condition.

Alders Farm Ash Lake 07.07.2020

I had booked into my first open match at Alders Farm since the lockdown, I enjoy the Tuesday matches, a great bunch of lads and a good giggle. I got there nice and early to familiarise myself with the new rules and how the matches were to work.
There were plenty of people there, before me as i drove into the car park, a socially distanced queue outside the door for bait and day tickets. All seemed well and organised.
Loading the gear onto the barrow and wheeling it to the net dip before holding onto it as I descended down the hill. A cup of tea in the cafe before the draw. Peg 25 for me, not ideal for me, it is simply too shallow for the way I fish. We had 18 anglers on the match and the usual moans and groans bellowed around the draw.Plumbing up I found 2ft at 12.5m, less than a foot at 5m and less than 9inches close in to the bank.
I decided to use a couple of my new floats, one for fishing in the edge, mud line, and the other a margin pattern with most of the shotting below the float, a slim line float was being used on the 12.5m line. Bait would be 6mm pellets feeding fishery 4mms with maggot as a change bait late on.
For company on our bank we had, Stefan, Richard and Colin before going round to Trevor,Nick and Lee on the dam wall bank.
I started off alright catching and landing my first 5 fish in the first hour, no losses, before the line went a bit iffy. No bites. A look to the 12.5m line and a couple of small bites but nothing positive. Colin was catching at 5m, Richard was giving the pellet waggler a go. My fish were a good stamp, just not enough of them. In hindsight I think they were probably hanging off the feed.
A look down both sides saw me nick a couple more on maggot, but it was a struggle for us all on our bank. Stefan was getting a few down his edge towards 27 now and I suspected he would overtake me, as it proved in the end.
My 59lb 10oz getting me a thanks for coming whilst Stefan put 64lb on the scales. Dan Twine winning from peg 30 with 240lb with Nick Dean second from peg 8 and 145lb.

Toft Lake 13.07.2020

Another pleasure day out at another well looked after fishery, Toft Lakes near Rugby. I had been here before with a variety of people as it offers plenty of choice, method, bomb, pole and waggler all have there day. Personally I opt for the pole most times. The fish run to a good size, mainly mirrors with odd commons thrown in.
I got there nice and early, and settled into peg 7 in the open water, an area of the lake I had never visited before. I normally fish on both sides of the island. But I fancied a change. Vic and his son in law Paul were soon settling into the next couple of pegs for a social and a spot of fishing.
Opting to fish 2 lines today, 2 plus 2 and to the side where yet again I had very little water to play in. Setting the float to 9inches did not leave me too enthused on my choice of swim. However I had 5ft on the 2 plus 2 line so would concentrate there. Using one of my .5g diamonds I left a bit of bristle to show bites better, .19 N Guage to a size 14 B911X. Having fed a half pot of 4mms with a few 8mms and a dozen grains of corn, I was soon in play, after what I thought was drift on the float, I struck and red hydro came out nice and smooth. A good carp around 8lb to get me under way. I was just tripping bottom and there was a fair bit of tow on the water. Fish two was soon in the net, before a couple of foul hookers, no more bites followed, despite lifting and dropping an 8mm pellet. I re-fed the line via a cupping cut and this sparked an instant response with another couple of fish coming. Vic was soon into fish and suffering as I was, catch a couple in the mouth, a few foul hookers and a couple of fish being pulled out of.

It seems that this phenomena is happening at a lot of venues recently., may also be how I am feeding.
Still it was a pleasure session and trying to iron out a few kinks, We both caught plenty of fish to low doubles to keep us occupied throughout our time there. Paul was not so lucky.

Nice time out is at Alders Farm tomorrow on Pines Lake, my favourite lake. Please be kind drawbag.

Marsh AC Alders Farm Ash Lake 04.07.2020

Getting back into the club matches after a long lay off, when quite rightly no fishing was allowed. This would be my second match back and still feeling my way back in. A section win and second place overall on the last match at Puddledock Snake Lake settled the nerves and this match is on my local fishery. I had not visited the lake before the week prior when I had a little dabble on peg 6 whilst sorting out elastics, floats and rigs etc. Peg 5 was being rebuilt during that session and I still caught well despite Pete and Pop Up efforts to distract me.
As I live locally, I did not see the rush to get there as soon as the fishery opened, much preferring to give it 30 minutes to settle down. Arriving into the car park, I managed to sneak in next to the shop and order a couple of pints of maggot, more as a back up, in case my plan of 6mm hard pellet did not work. Nets dipped and packed away it was time for the draw.
As a section winner from the previous round I only needed to fork out the princely sum of £2 to fish today, and that included pools money. We do not win big in this club. Mick as usual was already ahead of me, making sure he stood behind the F%^K O*^ line before pointing to his folded up peg number. Can you believe it Peg 30 comes out, a peg that has won so many matches recently it was unbelievable. I followed him into the queue and tell Dave any peg will do. Out comes peg 5 or 7. Peg 5 if its has been completely rebuilt or peg 7 if not.
We had pegs 1-12 and 27 to 30, so all the pegs were capable of throwing up a weight, My section was Gino on 1, Kyle on 2, Pete Morton on 3, guesting with his former club and having a sneaky practice before the MDs weekend later this month, and Mark Fox on 4. Tony Roberts was on my peg from during the week, peg 6.

 



I had opted to fish 6mm pellet on 2+2 line to start, using a small .4g diamond to a sixe 16 KKMB. Red hydro should tame the 3 to 4lb fish, as they tend to go all over the place. A margin rig to the left hand side in 12 inches of water for later on during the match. I also set up a small slim float.3g to a size 14 KKMB to fish top three and just off deck on the 2+2 line.

                                                   Tony tucking into a boiled egg and soldiers!!!!!
At the all in I started feeding by toss pot 4mm fishery pellets with a cap full of the "price is right" liquid. (Not sure on how much to add yet). Fishing with a banded 6mm on the hook I was soon getting indications, I was missing a few bites but after a couple of minutes I was into my first fish, around 2lb. A few more followed, lifting and dropping the pellet to get the best from it. After an hour I had 8 fish but had lost the same amount, either foul hooked or just bumping them with the red hydro. Switching to purple hydro improved things slightly but I was still foul hooking and pulling out of fish.
Hours two and three flew by, no real bagging runs, just plodding away, landing one, losing one. Constantly changing shotting, depths etc to see if I fall upon the required method on the day. Word was that Kyle, Gino and Pete were catching well on 1,2 and 3 whilst Mark and Tony were nicking a few down the edges. I thought there was nothing between Mark and I but felt I was slightly ahead of Tony, so it was heads down.
Plugging away on the 2+2 lines seemed fruitless, so I decided to go down the edge with an hour to go. I had started on maggot feeding around 30 every 30 seconds, and fishing 5 maggots on the hook. Perch, Perch and a few more Perch. Back to pellet and start feeding pellet and after a couple of minutes the float goes and purple hydro comes out of the kit and a good rate of knots. Taking me all over the place a fish around 4lb and slightly better stamp than those previously caught. A switch back to red hydro and more control was welcome. I was also not bumping or foul hooking fish. I just had to ignore the little dips on the float and strike at the more positive bites.
At the all in, I thought it was close, no one was admitting to a lot, bloody lying anglers, glad I am not like them. The only one with a real grin on his face was Kyle, he knew he had broken the 100lb mark for the first time. Well done Kyle.

                                                             Kyle with a PB weight of 126-08

                                                              Foxy with part of his 131-12
Kyle and Tony grabbed the scales and started weighing in.
1st Mick Wright          170-12     Section Winner
2nd Keith Ashby         134-04     Section Winner
3rd Mark Fox              131-12
4th Gino Exell             130-00
5th Kyle Deane           126-08
6th John Holdsworth   123-04
7th Clive Pritchard      112-12    Section Winner
8th Peter Morton         105-04
9th Tony Roberts        101-04
10th Josh Donovan       96-04
11th Chris Thomas       91-08
12th Dave Collier         72-00
13th Jim Boase             44-14
Overall the lake has fished well and fair. Mick on peg 30 was always going to take some stopping but the rest of us were only separated by a couple of fish here and there. A rare MK 1-2.Well done to Mick, Keith and Clive on winning their sections. Mick has clawed back his first MK Nugget of the year making it 3-1 to me. Next match is on Tuesday at Alders on the Costcutter match.