Weston Pools Week 05.05.2018 - 11.05.2018

Regular readers will know, that over recent years I have been going away twice a year for a weeks fishing.One week is spent with the Yam Yams and is all match orientated with league, sections and payouts each day. The other is a much more relaxed affair with a group of friends sharing the joy of fishing. No targets just pure fishing.

This year we were going to Weston Pools for the week, stopping on site in one of the log cabins. The venue has been receiving great reports over the last couple of years, not only for the fishing but for the complex as a whole. Caravans, Tents , Hobbit houses, Log cabins are just a few options for staying the night. A club house and Tackle shop on site adds to the attraction. Also with 5 lakes on site and an additional one about a mile away there was plenty of fishing to be had.
We agreed to set off around 6am enabling us to have a breakfast along the way. So it was that Vic, Mick and I set off onto ventures new. It was a really good journey and by 0820 we were pulling into the pre arranged cafe. We had arranged to meet up with Derek at the cafe and were not surprised when he was already sitting on a table with plenty of toast around him. Breakfast devoured it was off to the fishery. It was only a short journey to the Weston Pools Complex where an open was taking place.
Day one Saturday
Due to the fact that there was an open taking place, we were able to fish the Claypit Lake which is the one off site.

The Claypit

The complex has a policy of fishery only pellets, however you can use whatever pellet on the hook, so a couple of bags of 4mm and 6mm pelets were purchased prior to fishing. With directions firmly in place it took no time to get there and with others setting up or already fishing we settled into the first pegs as you arrive at the fishery, pegs 1 to 4.
It was a lovely day weather wise with temperatures above 22 degrees, the fish were cruising around in the upper layers and both Vic and Derek settled into pegs 3 and 4 and planned to fish the pellet waggler. Mick and I were going to fish the pole, Mick top three and myself long and shallow. I am no expert on this style of fishing but enjoy it, I am getting better each time and practice helps.
We all enjoyed the day fishing with Vic and Mick probably doing the best. Mick having a lot of fish from the shaded area close in.

Mick has a unique style, all to himself

Vic though was getting fish around the couple of pound mark from the pellet waggler lines.

Another one in the net for Vic

Whilst myself and Derek spent most of the day chopping and changing tactics to see which worked better.

Derek with a pole caught carp

Day Two Sunday
Troy and Pete had arrived later on the Saturday and made up the full compliment of anglers to six. We managed to get onto Weir Lake and whilst Derek and Vic were sorting out the pegs I purchased the day tickets. Again there were a few matches going on and this seemed to be a regular item. Each day we were being given a different lake and as a lot of the matches were rovers you could get tackled up and start fishing when all of a sudden anglers turn up and fish as part of the match. The weather was glorious, plenty of sunshine and shorts and T shirts were the order of the day. My peg was Peg 10 and looked nice, I could see a few fish in the margins with their heads in the reeds, why do they do that?
I set up rigs to cover 12m straight out, 5m in front and a couple of margin rigs either side. I also set up a now compulsory shallow rig. Armed with fishery 4mms as feed I was going to fish a standard lighter 6mm on the hook. I also had some corn for down the sides. One thing I noticed is the depth, lovely depths from 3 to 4ft on some pegs and good depths in the edges as well.
The day started off quite slow with only a couple of carp in the first hour, so I went for a walk to see some of the other lads also on Weir Lake. Del was getting a few silvers whilst Vic was struggling to get a bite. Mick was doing what does and nicking a few fish on a top three line. Troy and Pete were both catching silvers with Pete having a small barbel amongst his catch.
Back on my peg I was getting a few fish long fishing both up in the water and on the deck, all carp around the 5lb mark or F1s about 2 to 3lb. Good fishing. A switch to the left hand edge produced nothing despite seeing fish in the peg. A look on the right hand margin saw a couple of small F1s and Tench. The biggest change was when I went longer to the edge of the reeds with a shallow rig. Still fishing a 6mm pellet I would simply flick the rig out and ping a few pellets over it and leave it to drop through the levels and repeat. I was regularly getting bites and fish to 12lb from this line. In total I had 36 carp or big F1s for an estimated total between 150 and 200lb. Derek was also getting in amongst the fish doing the same from his peg, Vic had caught a few eventually whilst Mick, Troy and Pete had all caught well with mixed nets (figure of speech) of carp and silvers.

Mick definitely has the whitest legs I have ever seen, Does he wax them?

Day 3 Monday 

Monday saw us all gathering around Jacks Lake, A gorgeous looking pool with a central island and plenty of willow tree cover. Again letting somebody place a bag on a peg whilst I got the day tickets worked. Peg 16 on the back of the lake. Vic and Derek were sitting on pegs 3 and 4. Troy and Pete were on 11 and 12 with Mick on 17. I opted for a line at 6m and a couple of margin pegs left and right. A shallow rig was also set up. Starting at 6m I had a couple of small Ide in the first ten minutes followed by a couple of skimmers. I could see Mick and he was planning to fish top three and both edges, one side corn the other pellet. A similar approach to me. I had fed both margins and after an hour had a look on the left hand side with pellet with three sections of pole. A couple of dips before an F1 around 3lb graced the net. A couple of small carp around 2lb also came from this side. A look on double corn on the right hand side on a top kit saw the float burying and me hanging on for dear life, these fish do pull a lot.A carp around 5lb was the culprit lightly hooked in the mouth. I could see both Pete and Troy nicking odd fish with Pete having a barbel on the tip in his catch. Derek and Vic were both struggling despite encouragement and coaching from the fishery owner, however Vic did have a big Ide as a reward. Mick was now in the margins and bagging up, every put in was met with resistance. I was catching well and still getting slaughtered, every time I looked up he was playing fish. I ended up with 43 carp and F1s over the 2lb mark, I had a lot of smaller fish in amonst them for a conservative weight of 150lb, Mick must have added another 50-60lb on top of that. The others all had between 50-80lb. Sorry no fishing photos during the day as phone was on charge.

Still the evening was spent in the clubhouse.

Day Four Tuesday Match 1

We had arranged a few knock ups throughout the week and with permission the fishery allowed us matches on Canal, Stretton and Belvedere during the week.Tuesday was the first of these. Canal Pool and pegs along the spit. As there were only six of us we had plenty of room, allowing us every other peg.

I drew peg 23 and I must admit it looked nice. I could reach the far bank with 12.5m and had a good depth across. I set up another line at 5m, a margin line and a shallow rig. Our match was split with a carp match and also a silvers match, no overall result except for the MK Nugget between Mick and I.

I started off at 5m expecting the fish to become wary as the day wore on and pushing back to the security of the far bank. Small skimmers and crucians came readily but as has been the case all week I look across to Mick and see him playing a carp. A look towards the margin saw my first carp around 3lb but no other bites. Troy and Vic were both struggling, Pete was getting odd fish but the fishing was hard by Weston Pools standards. I decided to fish shallow with around 2 hours left and after losing my first four carp, I changed the rig and hook-length and started nicking odd fish. Things had also improved around me with both Vic and Troy now catching. I was playing catch up also with Mick and felt I was always a couple of fish behind him. Those lost fish would count dearly. Still I was now catching carp and F1s slapping and flicking the rig before time ran out.

My weight of 30lb was only good enough for last place, with Pete winning the Carp pool and Derek winning the Silver Pool.

Troy in the Shade

Happy Vic

Last of the Summer Wines Pete

Derek had top weight overall with 42lb, Troy 41lb, Pete 36lb Vic 34lb Mick 33lb.

Derek with a superb little Bertie

Mick en route to another nugget

So Mick took the MK Nugget to lead 3-2
Day Five Wednesday Match 2

Wednesday saw us fishing Stretton Lake, again another lake we had never fished before. We had been allocated six pegs at the far end of the lake which seemed very fair in comparison. I had drawn peg 26 on the far bank with Mick and Derek either side on 28 and 24 respectively. Vic was on the opposite bank not quite in the corner with Troy and Pete for company.

As this was a larger lake I thought a longer line at 11m with a top three line, a margin line and a shallow rig would cover it all. There was very little difference between top 3 and 11m so set up two rigs with different coloured bristles due to the light on the water. My margin lines was set up in 3ft of water but I did not want to fish it as fish were spawning down the sides and to be honest I did not want to disturb them. I would use this as a deep shallow rig. I started off by cupping in some feed on all lines and by the time I had done that Mick was already playing his first carp, how does he manage it?

My peg was again slow to respond but by pinging a few pellets on the shallow rigs both at 3ft and 18 inches, I started getting a few bites and odd fish. However this soon died. Mick was still catching well, Pete was catching and losing a few whilst Troy was struggling despite looking like a whirling dervish with his pole. Vic was starting to get a few fish which has been the story of us all, all week. Start off slow and catch later on. Derek was now targeting the silver fish and catching crucians, ide and skimmers down the side. I was still feeding the top three line and decided to have a look with an hour to go, A few carp were now on this line and helped top up the weight to 42lb overall. Mick had doubled that weight to end up with 94lb and best match weight of the week. Derek dedicated approach for silvers saw him win the silver pool with 27lb. Vic had a few fish late on and ended with 44lb whilst Troy threw back around 15lb and Pete weighed in 12lb of silvers.

Mick was now leading 4-2 and stretching his lead in the MK Nugget.

Day Six Thursday Match 3

Day Six and a first look at Belvedere Pool, again we were all in one end of the lake.

I drew peg 1 and it looked nice with a small island at around 14m which I did not fancy fishing as the fish steam off at pace and are a larger stamp in this lake. I did set up 11m though away from the island and a top 4 line. A couple of margin rigs completed the set up. I had Troy and Derek for company on my bank and could see Vic, Mick and Pete from my peg. 

Derek with one he could ride

And one he was advised not to

Mick did his customary trick and hooked a carp before anyone had fed their lines. I started off long whilst Vic opposite started off short. I did not have to wait long for a bite and soon black hydro was pouring out of the pole towards the island. Still I managed to turn it and felt comfortable playing the fish. Despite this I proceeded to lose and 6 more of his brothers or sisters before switching to red hydro. I never had another bite on the 11m line  but I did switch to the top 4 line and nick a couple of fish from there to test the theory out that the black hydro was bouncing out of the fish. The Red being stronger kept things tighter connected to fish. I also managed a couple of F1s around 3lb each from the right hand margin on double corn. Mick was still nicking odd fish and I knew it would be close between us. Vic was getting a few on his short line and Troy was getting a few down the edge. 

Love Ya

Pete had decided on a silvers match and from what I could see was getting a few down the edges. Derek was also getting F1s next to the platform of the next peg and also had 22lb of silvers to win the silver pool all three matches. Pete weighing in 12lb of silvers.

Pete Thumbs Up

I sneaked a win in the carp pool with 26lb of carp to Micks 23lb and reduce the deficit in the MK Nugget Challenge to 4-3.

Day Seven Friday

With no more matches and both Troy and Pete having to leave early, it was a day where we could go wherever we wanted, Mick decided on a day on Weir Lake fishing the tip. Vic, Derek and I fished the Stretton Pool again. Despite trying different things and playing with elastics we all struggled again to keep fish in the peg for a period of time. Bites would just come and go, try somewhere else and the same, late on the fish tend to come closer and can be caught well in the last couple of hours. I ended up with around 7 carp and good F1s with a splattering of small F1s and Crucians. Vic was catching well in patches but again the fish drifted in and out a lot. Derek had another mixed day spending time catching gudgeon, crucians and perch with odd carp thrown in.

Overall

Overall, I have enjoyed the fishing at Weston Pools, I have had two good days were I had over 150lb, the rest have been a struggle to be honest. The weather did not help with glorious sunshine and roasting temperatures 20+ at the start of the week, before halving to around 13 degrees and a bit more cloud. The fish did not know what to do, spawn, chill in the sunshine or feed. In the end I think they got the hump and  did a mix of the lot. Add this to us not knowing how to fish it properly meant we would get lower weights than the locals. 

The clubhouse was excellent throughout with plenty of choice and well able to cater for larger parties. Staff were all very friendly and helpful. 

Look no hands

The Tackle shop is well stocked and Darren was excellent throughout our stay, always at hand with queries, loaning us weighing in scales and buckets and offering general advice.

My only criticism is the accommodation, it was very basic compared to other fishing log cabins I have stayed in.There were only enough cutlery, plates etc for three people. No freezer compartment in the fridge.The shower was tiny and although I have put on weight it was difficult to turn around. Mick must have showered with the door open,😝😝, amongst a few other small gripes.

Mick 4

Keith 3

Marsh AC Arrans Lake 28.04.2018

Certain waters respond better when the water warms up a little, Arran's Lake is certainly one of those. It is a prolific water capable of throwing up huge summer weights. As a club, we have decided amongst us that this is not what we want, however, during the early or late parts of our season, April and October the fishing can still be good and you need to work at what you are doing.
Mick was driving this week so it was my turn to fork out for breakfasts at Rosie's Cafe just outside Chelmsford . Already enjoying the food were Gino, Simon, Tom and guests Kyle and Bernie.It is ideally suited for Arran's as it is only 10 minutes away.
We had 17 fishing today including a few guests. With both Dave and Tony missing from the assembled group of anglers, Simon stepped in and covered proceedings amicably. Quickly running through the rules, taking the money and getting the draw underway. As has been the norm of late, Mick drew before me and peg 14 was to be his home, My hand was drawn towards peg 4 on the opposite bank. I had never fished this bank before so was going into it blind. Mick was telling me for the last fortnight that he was going to fish a rod and line as an experiment in the cooler, wet weather. I did tell him not to but well Mick is Mick.
My plan was to fish pellet wherever I was pegged so peg 4 was as good as any peg. My aim was to fish up in the water feeding 6mm Alders Farm pellets with either a 6mm or 8mm on the hook banded.
In total I set up 6 top kits for this( mad) I had two rigs with different hooklengths, one I would place a banded pellet on the hook, the other was hairrigged band. The other difference was elastic, either red or black hydro.Beauty was that if one got trashed I could be back out fishing quicker.I also set up two deep rigs around 2 1/2ft, again with the different hooklengths.
At the all in I started off feeding a line on a top three and fishing a 6mm hard pellet, after five minutes I had snared a couple of rudd, so started upping the feed to around a dozen pellets every twenty seconds, this had the desired effect and I was now starting to connect to carp. After an hour I  estimated I had around 10 fish for about 25lb. I looked around me and apart from Simon on peg 5 no one else seemed to be catching on our bank. Troy was doing alright on the opposite bank as was Gino and Kris. Malc had arrived and dropped into peg 10, the flyer next to the bridge, it would suit his style of fishing. Fill it in and sit over it.
I soon realised that I was getting four or five fish in a run and then they would back off a little, so to keep in touch I would add a section and then push it out to fish between 3 or 4 sections. This got me a couple more fish each time. Eventually the fish would come back and by varying the feed and shotting the fish would respond. I was catching well again, although the fish were on the small side. Simon was matching my catch rate now and had a few fish pushing 10lb.
Hours three and four saw me pull away though, adding probably 80lb in those two hours. I could see Mick across the pond and he did not seem to be doing well but looks could be deceiving. He was setting up the pole to fish in the margins and if it kicked in could do well in the last few hours.
My last couple of hours were a replica of the first couple, a few fish before having to swap things around and change something, I tried shallow a couple of times throughout the match and apart from a couple of fish, it was really a non starter. Just goes to show that plans can change and you need to adapt.
At the all out I felt I had done enough for the MK Nugget, but did not know about the match as I could not see all the anglers by the bottom car park. I estimated I had around 150lb and with Simon admitting to 120lb I thought I may have got it all wrong. However,

Overall

1st Keith Ashby 185-12

2nd John Holdsworth 183-12 ( 2lb deducted for breaking net limit)

3rd Malc Doyle 137-08 Guest

4th Simon Watkins 135-0

5th Terry Goff 96-04

6th Troy Hillyer 91-06

All in all another great day for the Marsh AC. Special mention should go to John, he had a lot less fish than me but put 33 fish on the scales for 179lb. An average of nearly 6lb per fish. A lot of close weights followed the above to show that even in the cooler months Arran's can still produce good, fair matches.

Next week see's a few of us travel to Weston Pools for a week's fishing. Something we have been looking forward to for nearly a year. As usual I will let you know how we get on, warts and all.

Keith 2

Mick 2

Pleasure Day Tunnel Barn Farm 23.04.2018

With nothing booked or planned for my shift off days, I accepted an invitation from Vic for a pleasure day at Tunnel Barn Farm. I have not been here for what seems like 10 years, back in the days of the Jinx series. He even offered to pick me up.
Leaving just after 6am and going across country, the journey did not take long and I managed my first ever look at Warwick Castle, what an impressive building that is.
We were soon pulling into the fishery and looking slightly puzzled as to where we needed to go to get tickets etc. Still a rather nice gentleman( later found out he was the owner) on a quad sorted us out and pointed us in the right direction. We purchased our day tickets and fishery pellets and were shown the lakes on a map. We decided to fish the High Pool pegs 2 and 3 due to the wind. Vic was on 2 myself 3. I must say at this point that the whole complex looked brilliant, well laid out, plenty of pegs with room, cut grass all round, no pot holes on the drives and most of the pegs you could park behind.
With no prior knowledge of High Pool I decided to fish at 2+1 working my way outwards as the fish backed off. I opted to fish shallow as all the videos I had seen dictated this, I set up three rigs covering anything from 2ft to 6inches. All were .2g Gandhi's tied to .15 NGuage to .13 off the same material. Hooks were size 18 B911 F1's . I also set up a deep rig for 2+1 line just in case the colder weather had put them down. Bait wise I had 2 bags of fishery 4mms for feeding, a selection of different 6mm Hookers and a pint of dead red maggots in case I really struggle.

Peg 3 High Pool

I started off by fishing 2+1 feeding 4 or 5 pellets every 20 seconds or so, I was fishing the deeper 2ft rig and after 5 minutes I started missing bites, so switched to the 1ft rig, slightly shorter in length and still keeping a short line between float and elastic.That seemed to work better and I started connecting with a few F1's, this went well for around an hour, feeding four or five pellets regularly and fishing the tight line, the elastic was coming out on its own as the fish hooked themselves. Vic had started at 11m and had a couple of roach before coming in a lot closer and fishing shallow saw him amongst the fish as well. The other two anglers on the lake were not catching.
After 90 minutes I reckoned started getting liners on the 1ft rig and switched again to a rig set at 8 inches. It was dotted right down to a dimple and every movement of the float was struck at. Still fish were coming, but I think this is where I started going wrong, I was now feeding 10 to 12 pellets every put in and I think the fish went back down again. I had to keep swapping rigs around to keep the fish coming.
At around the 3 hour mark we both stopped fishing and looked at the results of our labour. Both Vic and I had over 100lb in our nets. No wonder TBF has got such a good reputation.

Over 100lb of F1's for Me

A Happy Vic, Bagging over a ton

We decided to fish on longer, Vic deciding on either 50 fish or 1400hrs, whichever came sooner. It was strange for me, as I could not get the fish lined up. We had only stopped fishing for around 15 minutes and I needed to start again from scratch, whereas Vic was back in straight away. He was soon powering away from me and although I was nicking odd fish of a decent stamp, I could not keep up with his catch rate.
Another 90 minutes passed and Vic had had enough. The 50 mark had been reached. I had another 24 to add to my total.
We have averaged the fish at 1 1/2lb and know that the majority of fish were 2lb plus so were extremely happy with the way the day went, good company, good fishing,what more could anyone ask for?.

Marsh AC Monk Lakes 1 14.04.2018

One of the main reasons and pleasures with the Marsh Angling Club is that they enjoy fishing new lakes (to us). Although we have been to Monks Lakes many times we have never fished Lake 1. We have been on Lake 4 and 2 many times.

It was my time to drive the 220 mile round trip to the other side of Maidstone, so an early pick up was required for Mick. We also had my new barrow in attendance so packing the car with two lots of kit would require a change to the norm. Still it all went in and we made good time to Monks lakes arriving nice and early for breakfasts and teas.
We really did not have a clue on lake and how to approach it. I had a message from Mike M who pointed out that 6mm feeding 6mm would get a few fish. I also took some 4mm for feeding on a different line and some 8mms that have worked well on the complex in the past. I also had some expanders and cubed a couple of tins of meat. The dead reds were forgotten and were still sat in the freezer.
We had 3 banks on the lake, both sides of the spit that runs through the lake and pegs 1 -10 on the near bank. At the draw I checked to make sure Mick had drawn and in goes my hand, peg 12. OK so where is the map. It seems I was bottom peg on the spit, the wrong end looking where the wind was blowing. Still it was an end peg and had features down both edges. Mick had drawn peg 14 and with no one on 13 I would be able to see his every move. The barrow was loaded up and made light work of the relatively short trip to the far corner of the lake.

I had been told the lake was around 4ft deep so decided on fishing 5 lines and a shallow rig. I pulled out a 4ft rig and promptly chopped 2ft from it. Oh dear. Changing my plans I settled on a rig to my right at top 6 in the deepest part of the peg. Two rigs for fishing the left hand edge at 9m and 12m. A shallow rig set at a foot and a deep 2ft rig for 14m straight out in front of me. Mick had another foot on all of his deeper rigs.
I started the match fishing and feeding 6mm hard pellet via a toss-pot at 14m, nothing. A look down the edge with a piece of meat hoping to mug a fish before I started feeding produced nothing. Mick had secured a carp on the tip and also saw mud churning up on his inside line and had 2 fish in the first half hour. Clive was setting the pace though on peg 31 fishing down to the platform.It took nearly 2 hours for my first bite from the 9m right hand line on 6mm pellet. A good fish though at around 10lb. Nothing else followed for the next hour, despite changing baits regularly. I felt as if I had lost the plot. Trying to make things happen and forcing the peg when the fish were not there. I was now feeding meat on lines I had been fishing 6mms, fishing  6mms on my meat line and expanders all over the place.
I decided to concentrate on the two left hand margins going in to the last couple of hours. I would feed only via a small toss pot and see what happened. Lo and behold the float dipped and carp number 2 and 3 were in the net from the 12m line. Resting it, I re-fed and went to the 9m line and tried the same thing. Carp 4 and 5 graced the landing net. Back out to 12m and a small skimmer. Mick was now catching well at around 8m fishing meat on the deck. Clive had slowed down but Tony on the next peg was getting a few lumps down the edge late on.

I managed another 4 fish from the left hand side and in hindsight spent too long chasing another double from the right hand swim.
At the all out I felt that I did not do the peg justice, despite the depth. There were just too many options for the angler and unfortunately I tried most of them to no avail. What I should have done was to concentrate on three lines all down the edges and feed it negatively to start with feeling my way. But that's why we go fishing.

Overall

1st Mick Wright 84-04

2nd Clive Pritchard 79-00

3rd Tony Roberts 69-00

4th Troy Hillyer 60-08

5th Keith Ashby 51-00

6th Gino Exell 41-04

Mick 2

Keith 1

Oakfield Open Red Kite 28.03.2018

Due to shift patterns I have to try and get my match fix where and when I can. Finishing work Tuesday morning  meant no Alders Farm match so both Mick and I decided on a trip to Oakfield for their open. Red Kite in winter is very much feast or famine, but no different to anywhere else. Ideally somewhere in the middle of the lake would suffice, always seems to be consistent fishing. The weather forecast was also not too good. Cold Rain planned from 0900 until around 1500 and a slight breeze bringing the temperatures down considerably.
Arriving nice and early I pulled into the car park to see Mick was already there and waiting for his breakfast. So I ordered a bacon sandwich and a mug of PG and joined Mick on the table.With everyone present and correct the 13 anglers drew their pegs. My home was to be peg 34, not where I wanted to be but fish swim so who knows. Mick had drawn peg 6, a little further up the lake on the opposite bank, although that bank did not produce much at the weekend.
I decided on fishing 3 pole lines, one at 12.5m another at 11m to the right and a margin line in front of peg 33's platform. I also set up a bomb rod thinking that with the cold rain going in, feeding the peg may be the kiss of death. I could always add a feeder if needed later on.Bait was meat, corn 6mm pellet and some dead reds.
I had Barry Eddy for company on peg 36 and we both started off on the bomb. I opted for hair rigged corn. After 15 minutes and no indications, a switch to 5 maggots and still no signs after another 30 minutes. I switched over to the pole at 12.5m, the wind was not too bad and with a .4 DT diamond I was able to fish it comfortably, however still not a sign of a fish. I could see the guy on peg 9 and Mick both have an early fish and after 90 minutes all I had was a slight dip on the float. A move to 11m with corn saw another dip on the float but nothing really positive. I played around with both depths and shotting to no avail.
After 4 hours with nothing to show for my efforts, I was getting desperate, I was soaking wet as I do not own an umbrella, I could not feel my hands that were red in colour and wrinkled. I started upping the feed down the edge. With 90 minutes left I had my first proper bite and with it a good size F1, only to lose it at the net. My day gets better. Feed again and back out and a smaller F1 around 1.5lb was on the card. Another couple of missed bites and a foul hooker gave me hope that they had moved in. Mick had snared a proper lump on the tip. And I do mean snared, he was wiping his hands dry and noticed the tip was round and bouncing.
Persevering in front of the platform, I sneaked in a couple of similar F1s around 1.5lb followed by a carp of around 7lb. A couple more foul hookers followed but nothing else came to the net.
My 4 fish went 13lb 10oz for nowhere, well beaten by those in the middle of the lake, Mick's 3 fish went 16lb, including a carp of 12lb which sneaked him into 4th place overall and the receipt of an MK Nugget. 48lb won the match, apologies for not naming the angler but I failed to get a photo of the weighing in at the end.
My doctors have said" keep your legs and feet warm". So after 6 hours in the freezing cold and rain, it has taken two hours to get warmth into my bones. Glad I went but also glad it is over.

Keith 1
Mick 1

Marsh AC Claygate Lakes Eva 24.03.2018

As a few of you already are aware I have been undergoing various hospital tests and appointments over the Xmas and New Year periods, add in the snow," blast from the east", and his smaller brother has curtailed my fishing. The health issues are now being dealt with by both the doctors and myself, so onward's and upwards. I am happy to report that I am back into fishing mode.
My first match coincided with the start of the Marsh AC 2018 season. The venue Claygate Lake Eva. A difficult venue, but a fair one. Basically it  is full of F1s, there are odd skimmers and roach but to do well you need to plunder the F1s. There are odd carp in the lake but you cannot target them. If you nick one then great.
Mick had volunteered to drive and although we had arranged to meet up at 0530. I was wide awake by 4am and looking forward to the day. I had not been out since early December and who know's what my gear was like. It looked alright from the outside of tubes, no moisture lingering about. My bag had been emptied of all rot able matter prior to packing some Micros,4mm, 6mm GOT sinking pellets, meat. Troy had agreed to pick me up some maggot in case it was really hard. If I hard left anything behind then so be it.
As is always the case with Claygate we tend to stop off at Monks Lake near the fishery for  breakfast and a cup of tea of coffee. Today was no exception.
Arriving in the car park at Claygate, we could see a few of the others unloading their gear and renewing acquaintances from last October. Hand shakes all round, club and match fees paid, it was onto the draw. Unfortunately only 9 anglers made it to the draw. As is customary, I let Mick draw his flyer before I went into the bag. Myself Peg 22, a double peg at the entrance to the lake close to the island where hopefully a few fish will be lurking. Mick had indeed drawn well Peg 3 on the opposite bank and a good area for F1s. The other MK member is Troy, pegged on another good peg 31 with the gap of the island to go at.
I planned to fish a couple of spots along the edge of the island either side of a small snag at 12.5m. An area around a metre off the island at 14m and a 2+2 line where I had the same depth as across at 12.5m. I also set up a small .2g DS Green for up in the water.

All were tied to .17 NGuage to .15 of the same. .3g DT Diamonds with a small bulk around 6 inches from either a size 16B911F1 or a size 18. White Hydro completed the set up.
I started off feeding micros with a 6mm banded hard pellet on the hook and first put in, I had an F1 around 1 1/2lb and it was if I had not been away. That feeling stayed with me as I foul hooked my next 3 fish losing them all. In hindsight I think it was because I was lifting at every small dink.A quiet remainder of the hour with a couple of smaller fish. Simon opposite was catching well, small fish but he did have a carp of around 7lb hooked in the fin safely netted. Tony next door was dobbing bread along the reed line, he had nicked a few fish and to be fair there was not a lot between any of us. Clive was catching switching between pole and the tip.
A look on the 14m line resulted in another F1 around 1 1/2lb but it was getting harder, bites were getting more difficult to read. Simon was the only one really catching the rest were just trying to catch up. Chairman Dave, came for a walk admitting to 4 fish,

Troy getting the Rods Ready

Troy on 5 and Terry on 3, we were all in front of those scores but not by a lot. I needed to up the catch rate and decided to ping 4 or 5 4mm pellets over my lines to see if this made any difference to the catch rate. It did, by keeping a regular few pellets trickling through the water column, a few fish came. I had to wait for a bite but they were more positive. 

Tony's dobbing had slowed, maggots brought roach and perch into his swim. 

Simon had slowed down whilst Clive was still nicking odd fish on the tip between the island.

At the all out I felt as though I had needed another 30 minutes to pip Simon. I think I got the tactics right eventually but it took too long for the brain to engage. But that's fishing.

Overall

1st Simon Watkins     36-00

2nd Keith Ashby        34-00

3rd Mick Wright        32-08

4th Clive Pritchard     29-00

5th Tony Roberts       26-08

6th Jim Boase            25-04

7th Dave Collier        25-00

8th Troy Hillyer         18-08

9th Terry Goff           12-04

It was great to get back out on the bank after such a long lay off. I do not think I have ever gone that long without wetting a line before.But getting your health right  is important, I am told it leaves you time to do the things you enjoy for longer. So second overall, a nice shiny MK Nugget from Mick and a new toy to play with on my next outing. A new electric barrow courtesy of Neil Dudsbury to help me getting to and from my peg. Certainly looks the part. 

Oakfield Wednesday Open 06 12 2017

Last week caused a bit of a stir. I had over a hundred views on the page for not going fishing. Unfortunately, I still had the clutch issues with my car, which puts a strain on actually getting there. The weather had however improved slightly. It was still cold especially in the wind, but the temperatures had improved from -2 degrees to around the 4 mark. 

Mick had kindly offered to do the driving and with the increased traffic expected we left slightly earlier than normal. Arriving in plenty of time for a breakfast and a couple of cups of tea, meant we were well prepared. We had taken a quick walk upto Red Kite Lake and both fancied a peg in the middle of the lake nearside out of the wind and to avoid the corner pegs.

There were 17 anglers in attendance including fellow GOT Baits angler Roy Makins, who regularly contributes his sessions on various websites. 

Going into draw my hand stuck to peg 17 and a corner peg with the wind blowing in. Mick had fared slightly better on peg 9 in the middle of the lake, also with the wind in his face.

With an hour to set up I set up 3 pole lines, 7m, 11 and 12.5m I would start at 12.5 feeding at 11m in case the wind got up and it was impossible to fish longer. I would feed a little at 12.5 via a tosspot but nothing of any significance, My other line at would be corn at 7m feeding regularly by hand. I also set up a bomb rod which could easily be changed to a maggot feeder if required. Bait would be fishery 6mm pellets, dead maggot and trusty old corn.

I started off with a small pot of corn and dead reds on the 11m line and another of the same at 7m. The theory being that the bait will not disappear whilst on the bottom. The dead reds hopefully bringing in smaller fish which in turn attract the larger f1s and carp. There would then be some corn to them to feast on. 

I then picked up the bomb rod and had a couple of chucks towards the bare bank to my left. After 15 minutes and nothing I tried the open water in front of me and first put in with single hair rigged corn resulted in a good sized f1. After an hour that solitary fish was all I had to show for it. Dave Stratful on the opposite corner peg was struggling, Roy Makins had a couple of foul hookers on the tip and waggler. The guy Next to Roy though was catching well on the tip, Pete Alland also had caught. My neighbours were struggling also with a couple of small roach to show for there efforts.

I re-fed my pole lines and decided to have a look on these. I started off at 12.5 with corn and nothing, coming back to 11m and I had a small carp after around 15 minutes which was hooked under the chin. No other bites on either corn or dead reds. I tried a banded 6mm but again this proved fruitless.

Others were now catching, especially opposite. Dave had caught a couple of f1s and a carp, Roy was now getting a few, chopping and changing between waggler and pole, whilst his neighbour was also still putting a few into the net.

Going into the last 2 hours I was stuck on 2 bites and 2 fish. The remaining couple of hours were spent on the bomb with a couple of dead reds. Cast it and leave it. Two more fish followed and four in four but nowhere near enough to compete. To be fair I think I was out of it at the draw, but you never know. My weight of 16lb 5oz fared better than Mick who surprisingly had also struggled on peg 9. One carp and a few roach for a did not weigh.

We did not wait for the overall result but knew we were well out of it. I am sure Roy will inform us in due course. Well done to all the framers, I do know there was a couple of 40lb+ weights from the early pegs before Mick and those opposite must of had close to that if not more.

So that is all I have to post for this year, it has been challenging, both in learning and the MK Nugget. Mick is improving year on year and always keeps me on my toes. Many thanks to all those who have helped improve my fishing, you may not think you have but sometimes a single conversation is all that is required.

Have a good Xmas and New Year and I will see you all when the ice melts.