The last time I was on Pines, I felt that I did the best I could from a peg that did not contain many fish, but we as anglers have to endure those days and pegs. Mick always says to me that no peg is a bad peg, we just do not know how to fish it, and I suppose he is right. So armed with a good couple of results behind me, I was looking forward to fishing one of my favourite lakes.
As per usual I arrived nice and early at the fishery, thus avoiding the migration of traffic in and out of Milton Keynes. Replacing my old chopped worm scissors with one of the new Garbolino Bait Choppers I was determined to set up a line for silvers.
A chat with a few of the lads revealed it was a bit patchy at the weekend and with a good turnout expected today, my main aim was to not throw it away at the all in, by cupping in lots of bait.
With pools and peg fees paid I dipped my hand into the tin of dreams and out comes peg 4, happy with that. Mick had fished it a couple of weeks back and caught plenty of skimmers at 7m, so this would be my silvers line. I set up a corn line at 2 plus 2 and also plumbed up a line at 12m for fishing pellet. I also had a bomb rod with me, more for tomorrow at Oakfield but it was there so I got it out.
For company I had Pete Archer on 3 and Sean Wain on 5, Trevor and Madd were directly opposite, along with Mick Kelly, slowly getting back into his fishing.
At the all in I fed three balls of GB to 7m mixed with chopped worm, dead reds and a few micros. A pot of 4mm fishery pellets to 12m and a sprinkling of corn to top four. Working my way out of the peg, I started off on corn, feeding three or four grains every 30 seconds, one quick bite kept me interested before the float buried after 10 minutes and a good sized common around 5lb was in the net.I persevered for another 20 minutes but this line was not working as bites were at a premium.
A move to the 7m line with a lighter rig and fishing a couple of dead reds over depth again saw no bites. Pete was also struggling and took him 40 minutes for his first bite, a small perch and a couple of rudd. Sean on the other hand was fishing the waggler towards the island and pinging maggot. He was getting bites regularly and made me rue not bringing a waggler rod. Trevor opposite was also getting a few on the waggler, again towards the small island in front of him.
I went out to 12m and despite the increased depth I was getting a few odd dips and missed bites, a foul hooked carp made me make a decision to switch to fishing shallow. Pete was nicking odd silvers and small carp shallow on maggot, admitting his feed pellets were still in his car. Unfortunately, I did not have many myself otherwise I would have shared some with him. Changing rigs around I shortened a margin rig and started pinging 4mm's. After 10 minutes a dip and fish on, followed by fish off. Out again and the same happens. Adjusting the rig slightly saw the third attempt successful and a common carp around 3lb was in the net. A few more came in the third and fourth hours. Sean and Trevor were still catching well, Pete had started getting amongst the carp and Gary Page was sneaking a few fish from in front of the next peg and at the end of a reed bed. madd was trying to see how many wagglers he could fish at the same time. Me I was still in touch but needed a good last hour to cement my place. Alas it was not to be, I struggled for the last hour, only putting one fish in the net. Pete's peg had come alive, once his limited supply of 4mms started to work. Sean had switched from the waggler to the pole and was still getting amongst a few fish to edge him in front.
Overall
1st Sean Wain 76lb
2nd Trevor Price 65lb 9oz
3rd Pete Archer 65lb 4oz
4th Keith Ashby 61lb 6oz Section Winner
5th Gary Page 56lb Section Winner
Well done to all the winners. New Silver's King in Gary Page. A good close match, a few lost fish here and there have cost us all.
My next match is tomorrow at Oakfield, a MK Nugget will be at stake, so something to fish for and a catch up with a different set of fishing buddies.
Tuesday, 16 April 2019
Saturday, 13 April 2019
Marsh AC Monks Lake 3 13.04.2019
After feeling as if I had done as well as I could on the previous match, I was looking forward to fishing at Monks Lakes again. This time on Lake 3, a pool I had not fished before but I had the others over the years and felt if I attacked the peg then the fish will come.
I had been in touch with a good friend, Mark Hathway and he pointed me in the right direction, I suspect it was for the open water pegs because my silver fishing resulted in a solitary skimmer, but more of that later.
Mick was driving and with a good 90 minute drive ahead we arranged for 0545 pickup.This should get us to the venue in plenty of time to sample the delights of the new on site cafe. However, like all best laid plans, as soon as we hit the M25 we came across messages stating delays on the QE2 bridge. Still we had no choice but to persevere on and hope it would clear by the time we got there. When we did, it held us up for around 35/40 minutes. Interestingly the signs stated "Salt Spreading". Lost on me, why would they be spreading salt on the motorway during the busy driving hours when the ground was laden with frost all around. My theory was we were being invaded by continental slugs and snails and it was a control measure.
When we did arrive it was rammed in the cafe, another match was going on, so a rather long queue formed in front of us. A bacon baguette for me and a sausage/bacon baguette for Mick followed by tea and coffee all on the hoof as the draw was already taking place.
At least I had a good draw, according to the locals 112. Now I have not seen the lake before but I do know that the pegs on the end of the spit's are normally good draws.Mine though was 15m to the far bank and a proper struggle to reach with a pole. The cold north easterly breeze was whipping up the waves, but was lovely when the wind dropped.
I had been in touch with a good friend, Mark Hathway and he pointed me in the right direction, I suspect it was for the open water pegs because my silver fishing resulted in a solitary skimmer, but more of that later.
Mick was driving and with a good 90 minute drive ahead we arranged for 0545 pickup.This should get us to the venue in plenty of time to sample the delights of the new on site cafe. However, like all best laid plans, as soon as we hit the M25 we came across messages stating delays on the QE2 bridge. Still we had no choice but to persevere on and hope it would clear by the time we got there. When we did, it held us up for around 35/40 minutes. Interestingly the signs stated "Salt Spreading". Lost on me, why would they be spreading salt on the motorway during the busy driving hours when the ground was laden with frost all around. My theory was we were being invaded by continental slugs and snails and it was a control measure.
When we did arrive it was rammed in the cafe, another match was going on, so a rather long queue formed in front of us. A bacon baguette for me and a sausage/bacon baguette for Mick followed by tea and coffee all on the hoof as the draw was already taking place.
At least I had a good draw, according to the locals 112. Now I have not seen the lake before but I do know that the pegs on the end of the spit's are normally good draws.Mine though was 15m to the far bank and a proper struggle to reach with a pole. The cold north easterly breeze was whipping up the waves, but was lovely when the wind dropped.
Looks closer but 15m to the protruding reeds.
I set up a couple of rigs to fish the peg, one a .5 MW Hi Viz margin, another at .3 if the wind died back a lot.
A heavier diamond in .75g if the wind got up more. Bait would be pellet on this line.
I also set up another line at 11m straight out in front at 10 and 2 o'clock, one would be fed with groundbait, maggot and chopped worm for skimmers and ide. The other would be a pellet line. Along my bank and my section, were Clive, Kyle John and Mark Fox. Behind me I had Chris Thomas, who had won the last round at Arrans.
Chris Thomas Peg 113, a lot closer than mine.
Tony W and Gino who were busy setting up tip rods to launch across to the empty pegs on the far bank. Josh and Terry completing their section.
Gino and John ready for the off
At the all in I cupped in some pellet across to the far bank and 2 o'clock line. A couple of lightly packed balls of GB with a few dead reds and some chopped worm. I started off on the 10 o'clock silver line, but nothing after 15 minutes. A switch to the pellet line and again nothing. Adding a few coloured sections I managed to push the rig out to 15m, fed and after a few minutes, a dip and my first fish was on, feeling it was foul hooked it soon tore off and broke the hooklength. A new hooklength and out again, 10 minutes gone and another fish on and off. Chris was catching well across in the little bay in front of him. Not a ripple there but I was struggling to hold the float still even overdepth. Still I felt the only way I was going to compete was to catch carp and to do that I needed to fish this long 15m line.
I cupped in a bit more pellet and even tried a big bunch of maggots and a whole dendrobena on the hook to see if this would improve matters, on another day it may have worked but not today.
Chopping and changing pellets saw a few bites finally connecting with my first fish around the 90 minute mark, a cracking mirror around 9lb. 10 minutes later, a 6lb common and I was thinking perhaps they had turned up and the rest of the match would see a procession of big carp come to the waiting net.How wrong I was.
No more bites on any of the lines, set up a margin rig which doubled as a shallow rig. Tried that, nothing.
After 2 hours I had a couple of small indications on the float and another 5 carp came to the net along with a solitary skimmer.
Chris had blitzed the match, a good peg and a good angler on it. Plus it was fishable, which helped him I am sure.
Chris with part of his catch
Before the match had started I had gone along to Gino and informed him to cast tight to the far bank, Tony had also been listening as he quickly set one up as well. Both ended up fishing the tip nearly all day and ended up second and third overall.
Gino with part of his tip caught haul.
Josh had also caught a few further along that bank so it seemed the fish wanted to be out of the wind as much as possible.Tony Roberts managed a creditable 30lb of silvers to show that in the hands of an expert, maggots can catch fish.
Overall
1st Chris Thomas 150lb 8oz Section
2nd Gino Exell 80lb 0oz
3rd Tony Watkins 62lb 0oz
4th Josh 56lb 8oz
5th Keith Ashby 49lb 12oz Section
6th Simon Watkins 44lb 0oz Section
Well done to all the section winners and overall frame
So I have started to show some respectability in the league, a long way off the lead but I will keep striving towards the top. I have taken back a MK Nugget from Mick, so it is now 2-1 in his favour.
My next match is Tuesday at Alders on my own and on Wednesday at Oakfield with Mick.
Tuesday, 9 April 2019
Alders Farm Ash Lake 09.04.2019
By a strange quirk of fate I have started to enjoy my fishing again, OK the results have not gone to plan and I have struggled with my mince pies for a while, but I am feeling as if results are only a little bit away. First match of the year saw me arrive with no vision( wrong glasses) and a blur on the water. Second match I had correct glasses but the fish did a disappearing act and this was backed up in the Alders Spring League.
Today would be my first attempt on Ash Lake, Mick was in attendance so the MK Nugget was primed and polished. I even had 5x20p pieces in case he battered me.
at the draw I was asked to hold the tin whilst Mick pulled out peg 2, how does he do it. It is his favourite peg and I have not known him to not catch from it. Colin had drawn peg 1, whilst on the opposite bank Matt was on 30, with Roy Makins on 29, Madd on 27. As is the norm, Trevor had the last peg in the tin Peg 10, leaving me with 21. I was happy with that, the wind may cause an issue but nevertheless it was a good draw. For company I had Pete Goode on 17, 6m Dave Adams on 20 with Sean Wain on 23.
I plumbed up and found around 4ft at 11m, this was fairly flat throughout the number 8 section, so opted to fish front of the section before going further out as bites tailed off. A topkit plus 2 sections in front of me and at 6 sections to the tree. My last rig was a margin rig for maggot late on.Bait was 6mm fishery hard pellets with 4mm fishery feed pellets. 3 pints of maggot would do for the last couple of hours down the edge. Well, that was the plan.
I started off feeding a small pot of 4mm sinkers and followed this up with a baited 6mm hard pellet. The wind was alright and pushing the rig from right to left but after 10 minutes I had my first carp around the pound mark, A slightly larger one followed before the line went quiet. I started feeding via a tosspot every put in, lifting and dropping the rig regularly, nothing. I had a brief spell at top 4 but nothing so went out again this time fishing the whole of the number 8 section. After a couple of minutes, another small carp. 10 minutes passed and a few indications but it was getting hard to see in the ripple and I was striking at nearly every movement of the float. I then switched rigs to a heavier .5g float which gave me more stability and positive bites.
Roy Makins was catching well, I could see Mick and he was putting two fish in the net to my one, so I knew early on where the nugget was destined. Dave had started well but was now struggling and the pegs on the cafe bank were all netting a few fish.
It seemed the only place I could get a bite was at a full 11m and it was a case of lifting and dropping to induce a bite. I tried a shallow rig over this line in case the fish were higher in the water column but no joy. I was now fishing in any areas of shade or dark water I could find, The ripple was constantly changing direction and with the wind speed increasing in strength at times it was difficult to hold the pole, even at 11m.
A few more fish succumbed to the 6mm hard pellet but nothing from the top four line or surprisingly the margin line. Two pints of maggot went into the tree and not a single bite from them.
At the all out, I was happy with my day, I knew Mick had beaten me, but I felt I had done the best I could from the peg on the day. Dave threw back around 25lb, Sean had 51lb, Madd weighing in a late caught 45lb. My fish went 53lb 13oz for the best weight on the dam wall and only beaten by Roy Makin's from peg 29. The cafe bank was different gravy though, 94lb a couple of 80s and 70s.
Overall
1st Roy Makins 103-02
2nd Mick Wright 94-01
3rd Colin Kidd 83-15
4th Jacob Harris 82-09
5th Andy Leathers 71-06
6th Gary Page 70-12
Well done to all the winners, framers, section winners and for Trevor claiming the Silvers King title with 21-06.Nice to hear Richard cheering you on today.
So Mick has taken another MK Nugget for a 2-0 lead, seems to have a familiar ring to this. My next match is Monks Lake 3 on Saturday.
Today would be my first attempt on Ash Lake, Mick was in attendance so the MK Nugget was primed and polished. I even had 5x20p pieces in case he battered me.
at the draw I was asked to hold the tin whilst Mick pulled out peg 2, how does he do it. It is his favourite peg and I have not known him to not catch from it. Colin had drawn peg 1, whilst on the opposite bank Matt was on 30, with Roy Makins on 29, Madd on 27. As is the norm, Trevor had the last peg in the tin Peg 10, leaving me with 21. I was happy with that, the wind may cause an issue but nevertheless it was a good draw. For company I had Pete Goode on 17, 6m Dave Adams on 20 with Sean Wain on 23.
I plumbed up and found around 4ft at 11m, this was fairly flat throughout the number 8 section, so opted to fish front of the section before going further out as bites tailed off. A topkit plus 2 sections in front of me and at 6 sections to the tree. My last rig was a margin rig for maggot late on.Bait was 6mm fishery hard pellets with 4mm fishery feed pellets. 3 pints of maggot would do for the last couple of hours down the edge. Well, that was the plan.
I started off feeding a small pot of 4mm sinkers and followed this up with a baited 6mm hard pellet. The wind was alright and pushing the rig from right to left but after 10 minutes I had my first carp around the pound mark, A slightly larger one followed before the line went quiet. I started feeding via a tosspot every put in, lifting and dropping the rig regularly, nothing. I had a brief spell at top 4 but nothing so went out again this time fishing the whole of the number 8 section. After a couple of minutes, another small carp. 10 minutes passed and a few indications but it was getting hard to see in the ripple and I was striking at nearly every movement of the float. I then switched rigs to a heavier .5g float which gave me more stability and positive bites.
Roy Makins was catching well, I could see Mick and he was putting two fish in the net to my one, so I knew early on where the nugget was destined. Dave had started well but was now struggling and the pegs on the cafe bank were all netting a few fish.
It seemed the only place I could get a bite was at a full 11m and it was a case of lifting and dropping to induce a bite. I tried a shallow rig over this line in case the fish were higher in the water column but no joy. I was now fishing in any areas of shade or dark water I could find, The ripple was constantly changing direction and with the wind speed increasing in strength at times it was difficult to hold the pole, even at 11m.
A few more fish succumbed to the 6mm hard pellet but nothing from the top four line or surprisingly the margin line. Two pints of maggot went into the tree and not a single bite from them.
At the all out, I was happy with my day, I knew Mick had beaten me, but I felt I had done the best I could from the peg on the day. Dave threw back around 25lb, Sean had 51lb, Madd weighing in a late caught 45lb. My fish went 53lb 13oz for the best weight on the dam wall and only beaten by Roy Makin's from peg 29. The cafe bank was different gravy though, 94lb a couple of 80s and 70s.
Overall
1st Roy Makins 103-02
2nd Mick Wright 94-01
3rd Colin Kidd 83-15
4th Jacob Harris 82-09
5th Andy Leathers 71-06
6th Gary Page 70-12
Well done to all the winners, framers, section winners and for Trevor claiming the Silvers King title with 21-06.Nice to hear Richard cheering you on today.
So Mick has taken another MK Nugget for a 2-0 lead, seems to have a familiar ring to this. My next match is Monks Lake 3 on Saturday.
Friday, 5 April 2019
Alders Farm Tuesday Open 02.04.2019
I have not fished any of the regular opens this year and I thought it was about time to start again, the weather was improving, today it has chucked it down, but at the weekend I caught a suntan.Mick could not fish today so it was just me and 16 others trudging up to Pines Lake.
I had purchased some maggot from the on site shop along with a bag of fishery micros. I have always got a couple of tins of the yellow stuff, so was quite looking forward to it, as long as..................................................I could see the float. This week I brought along both sets of glasses, readers and distance. My eyes are really playing up and what would seem normal to one person does not seem to work for me. I have been wearing glasses for 50 years so do know a thing about how they should work for me.
I must admit the field is getting stronger every week at Alders, plenty of regular open and league anglers, all very capable of framing. At the draw the rules were read out again, as one unfortunate angler fell foul of the rules and was disqualified at the weekend. It is easy to forget, we all fish a lot of different venues across the country, each with a unique set of rules. 99.9% of the time everyone abides by them.
I drew peg 12 on Pines, I must admit I do not like it. It is all long pole work, 14m to the platform of 11, 14m+ to the bush on the island and even 13m to a decent depth at 10 and 2. However after plumbing up I could see the pole float at 14m with my readers( work that out) If I tried my distance glasses they were blurred.
I started the match by feeding a couple of pots of maggot to the platform, A pot of corn to 10 o'clock, a mix of micros and maggot to 2 o'clock and a pot of 4mm short of the bush at 14m.
Looking around I knew I had blown it straight away, I did not see another cupping kit. Everything was going in via a tosspot. Due to this I decided to fish 13m straight out where I had fed nothing. After a couple of minutes the float buried and I was connected to a foul hooker, which came off. A look over the maggot/ micro line saw another foul hooker which also came off. I am now thinking is it depth or elastic choice( Black hydro). I adjusted the depth by a couple of inches and after 10 minutes a carp hooked in the mouth for around 2lb stopped the blank. With nothing else coming from this line I had a look at 10 o'clock with a grain of corn. Nothing. A look to the bush with a banded 6mm saw no bites. With nearly 2 hours gone I had a single carp for 2lb. Gary Page had started well opposite and Brainy was nicking a few down the edge. I was going nowhere and decided to re-feed and try to force the issue.
I was still hooking a losing fish regardless of depth of elastic, I did change to Green KND and this worked well with a couple more carp for 10lb and a couple of good skimmers for around 5lb. Ben on the next peg was catching well now over to the island but it was hard work for all.
I would like to say, I was going nowhere and made the mistakes at the start of the match, schoolboy error and should have felt my way in.
My total of 4 carp and 2 good skimmers for around 20lb was not going to trouble the scoreboard so I threwback. Maver's Ben Bell winning a close match with 65lb, Bryn Wignall second on the day with 58lb Lee Newson third with 57lb and Gary Page in the final framing spot with 56lb. Well done all. On the plus side though I could see the float and need to make sure I have them with me next time out. No Mick today either so I also saved another MK Nugget.
I had purchased some maggot from the on site shop along with a bag of fishery micros. I have always got a couple of tins of the yellow stuff, so was quite looking forward to it, as long as..................................................I could see the float. This week I brought along both sets of glasses, readers and distance. My eyes are really playing up and what would seem normal to one person does not seem to work for me. I have been wearing glasses for 50 years so do know a thing about how they should work for me.
I must admit the field is getting stronger every week at Alders, plenty of regular open and league anglers, all very capable of framing. At the draw the rules were read out again, as one unfortunate angler fell foul of the rules and was disqualified at the weekend. It is easy to forget, we all fish a lot of different venues across the country, each with a unique set of rules. 99.9% of the time everyone abides by them.
I drew peg 12 on Pines, I must admit I do not like it. It is all long pole work, 14m to the platform of 11, 14m+ to the bush on the island and even 13m to a decent depth at 10 and 2. However after plumbing up I could see the pole float at 14m with my readers( work that out) If I tried my distance glasses they were blurred.
I started the match by feeding a couple of pots of maggot to the platform, A pot of corn to 10 o'clock, a mix of micros and maggot to 2 o'clock and a pot of 4mm short of the bush at 14m.
Looking around I knew I had blown it straight away, I did not see another cupping kit. Everything was going in via a tosspot. Due to this I decided to fish 13m straight out where I had fed nothing. After a couple of minutes the float buried and I was connected to a foul hooker, which came off. A look over the maggot/ micro line saw another foul hooker which also came off. I am now thinking is it depth or elastic choice( Black hydro). I adjusted the depth by a couple of inches and after 10 minutes a carp hooked in the mouth for around 2lb stopped the blank. With nothing else coming from this line I had a look at 10 o'clock with a grain of corn. Nothing. A look to the bush with a banded 6mm saw no bites. With nearly 2 hours gone I had a single carp for 2lb. Gary Page had started well opposite and Brainy was nicking a few down the edge. I was going nowhere and decided to re-feed and try to force the issue.
I was still hooking a losing fish regardless of depth of elastic, I did change to Green KND and this worked well with a couple more carp for 10lb and a couple of good skimmers for around 5lb. Ben on the next peg was catching well now over to the island but it was hard work for all.
I would like to say, I was going nowhere and made the mistakes at the start of the match, schoolboy error and should have felt my way in.
My total of 4 carp and 2 good skimmers for around 20lb was not going to trouble the scoreboard so I threwback. Maver's Ben Bell winning a close match with 65lb, Bryn Wignall second on the day with 58lb Lee Newson third with 57lb and Gary Page in the final framing spot with 56lb. Well done all. On the plus side though I could see the float and need to make sure I have them with me next time out. No Mick today either so I also saved another MK Nugget.
Sunday, 31 March 2019
Marsh AC Arrans Lake 30.0.2019
Seems strange resurrecting this blog, I have not written a piece since early December and here we are nearly into April. I have had a couple of pleasure days dusting off the cobwebs, one at Alders Farm where I managed to snag a few resident carp on Pines lake, another day out was fishing the tip on Black Horse Lake for 4 proper bream, both excellent days in excellent company.
The first club match of the season was set for Arrans Lake in Essex, A prolific summer venue where massive weights could be caught. However, with our club unable to manage such large weights without placing serious risks of injury, we fish the lake in the cooler month's where manageable weights are common.
I have been suffering with my eyesight over the last few months, and despite changing my glasses, nothing seems to be improving. Probably something to do with the diabetes but trying to get an appointment at the hospital is a nightmare.
I arranged to collect Mick at 0545 and with a relatively early start we made good headway to Rose's cafe on the outskirts of Chelmsford, pulling in around 0710. Gino, Simon and Kyle were already tucking into there full English Breakfasts and it was if we had only seen them last week. Pulling into the venue, we were greeted by a mix of Marsh members and a selection of guests, many of whom looking to join.
Chris and I had the honour of pegging out the lake, allowing the first four pegs for short walks, along the back bank, a couple on the opposite bank and a couple on the car park bank where we needed to peg around a few pleasure anglers.
With pools and membership monies paid for the match and year, it was onto the draw. I managed the second last block in the bag with a number 7 on it. Mick had already drawn and was a couple of pegs away on 9. A good peg where the bank sits a little further out into the lake. My peg was possibly another metre further back. I had a couple of guests either side of me, Mark on 6 with Josh on 8 and along with Tony and Mick on 5 and 9 would form the section.
Experience has shown me that fishing 3 to 4 sections of pole, with either corn of pellet hook-baits has worked for me. With this in mind I set my stall out to do this. I set up 5 rigs , 2 identical to fish on top three and two identical for top four. the last rig was a slapping rig. My main issue was I could not see the float bristle, I could see a blur on the end of the float but nothing else. I did not have any reading glasses with me, I have never needed them for fishing, so everything was a bit hazy. I would only see a bite if it disappeared completely, there was no way I could fish my normal lifting and dropping style properly.
I started off on the short line expecting the fish to move out as the match wore on, first couple of put in's resulted in a couple of roach followed by the first carp of the day around 2lb. By this time I was already a couple of carp behind everyone around me, I just could not see the float properly, it was just a blur.
Still plugging away, I was striking at any movement. This was not good news, but every now and again the blind squirrel will find a nut, but it never going to be enough.
I could see around the lake and both Tony and Dave in the disabled pegs, sorry short walk pegs, were catching well, Mick and Josh were nicking a few with Mick having the upper hand. Malc and Chris were also catching well. Terry was also nicking a few fish from the the left hand bank.
I could not catch but kept putting the blurred vision into the water and throwing some pellets towards it, in the hope it disappeared.
At the all out it was a relief, I would be last or certainly close to last in the match. But lessons will have been learnt. Next match I will certainly be taking them with me.
Overall
1st Chris Guest 200.00
2nd Mick Wright 143.12
3rd Malc Doyle Guest 138.00
4th Tony Roberts 129.04
5th Terry Goff 120.08
6th Simon Watkins 105.08
Well done to all the anglers today, the guests fitted in well and can only be a benefit to the club, we have no rich pickings but we do try to have a laugh. It is important to do something you enjoy. Well done to Mick, 1-0 up in the MK Nugget stakes.
My next match will be on Tuesday where I will need to try to see the float better, so reading glasses will be at the ready. Maybe then I can get back on track.
The first club match of the season was set for Arrans Lake in Essex, A prolific summer venue where massive weights could be caught. However, with our club unable to manage such large weights without placing serious risks of injury, we fish the lake in the cooler month's where manageable weights are common.
I have been suffering with my eyesight over the last few months, and despite changing my glasses, nothing seems to be improving. Probably something to do with the diabetes but trying to get an appointment at the hospital is a nightmare.
I arranged to collect Mick at 0545 and with a relatively early start we made good headway to Rose's cafe on the outskirts of Chelmsford, pulling in around 0710. Gino, Simon and Kyle were already tucking into there full English Breakfasts and it was if we had only seen them last week. Pulling into the venue, we were greeted by a mix of Marsh members and a selection of guests, many of whom looking to join.
Chris and I had the honour of pegging out the lake, allowing the first four pegs for short walks, along the back bank, a couple on the opposite bank and a couple on the car park bank where we needed to peg around a few pleasure anglers.
With pools and membership monies paid for the match and year, it was onto the draw. I managed the second last block in the bag with a number 7 on it. Mick had already drawn and was a couple of pegs away on 9. A good peg where the bank sits a little further out into the lake. My peg was possibly another metre further back. I had a couple of guests either side of me, Mark on 6 with Josh on 8 and along with Tony and Mick on 5 and 9 would form the section.
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| Mark, a long way from the midlands |
Experience has shown me that fishing 3 to 4 sections of pole, with either corn of pellet hook-baits has worked for me. With this in mind I set my stall out to do this. I set up 5 rigs , 2 identical to fish on top three and two identical for top four. the last rig was a slapping rig. My main issue was I could not see the float bristle, I could see a blur on the end of the float but nothing else. I did not have any reading glasses with me, I have never needed them for fishing, so everything was a bit hazy. I would only see a bite if it disappeared completely, there was no way I could fish my normal lifting and dropping style properly.
I started off on the short line expecting the fish to move out as the match wore on, first couple of put in's resulted in a couple of roach followed by the first carp of the day around 2lb. By this time I was already a couple of carp behind everyone around me, I just could not see the float properly, it was just a blur.
Still plugging away, I was striking at any movement. This was not good news, but every now and again the blind squirrel will find a nut, but it never going to be enough.
I could see around the lake and both Tony and Dave in the disabled pegs, sorry short walk pegs, were catching well, Mick and Josh were nicking a few with Mick having the upper hand. Malc and Chris were also catching well. Terry was also nicking a few fish from the the left hand bank.
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| The disabled, short walk, bagging pegs |
I could not catch but kept putting the blurred vision into the water and throwing some pellets towards it, in the hope it disappeared.
At the all out it was a relief, I would be last or certainly close to last in the match. But lessons will have been learnt. Next match I will certainly be taking them with me.
Overall
1st Chris Guest 200.00
2nd Mick Wright 143.12
3rd Malc Doyle Guest 138.00
4th Tony Roberts 129.04
5th Terry Goff 120.08
6th Simon Watkins 105.08
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| The lengths some people will go to to get their face on the internet. |
My next match will be on Tuesday where I will need to try to see the float better, so reading glasses will be at the ready. Maybe then I can get back on track.
Sunday, 2 December 2018
Maggotdrowning.com Xmas Fur & Feather 2018 Alders Farm
Way back in September the Admin team at www.maggotdrowning.com stated there was to be Christmas matches at Lindholme Lakes and at Alders Farm. Unfortunately I was working on the first date at Lindholme, but was available for the second of the two matches. With no work hampering my preparation, I was able to concentrate and plan a proper "strategy" for Ash Lake. I had spent some time during the week, setting up rods, both feeder and waggler. These had not seen the light of day since my time at Viaduct earlier in the year.
With Alders being a local venue for me, I was able to set the alarm for a little later than most, but still wanted to get there early. I arrived at the venue nice and relaxed to be met by Trevor and Sophie in the shop chatting away to Dai and Dan, a couple of lads I had not seen in over 10 years, both looked good although Dan has grown a lot since. With bait and breakfast paid it was down to sorting out the tackle and getting down to the cafe.
Slowly but surely, the other site members started to arrive, Red Leader, Pete, Mermaid, Chris, Mickyboy, Len Wade and Boggis all putting in an appearance. With a Full English washed down with a couple of hot mugs of tea, I was set for the day. With the pools paid and a brief agenda of how the day is planned out, it was soon onto the draw.
Both Mick and I discussed where we both fancied to be, me choosing 6,7 or 29, Mick opting for any peg opposite the cafe, 27,28,29 or 30.
Mick puts his hand in and as expected draws peg 29, I cannot believe how consistently well he draws. As for me I go into the bin of dreams and peg 27, a good steady peg and one that I was happy with. I would hope to catch on the tip to start, and later on the pole lines long.
For bait I had a pint of dead reds for feeding on one pole line and a hook-bait for the tip. Three pints of live red maggots treated with some Atomic Cloud, half a bag of fishery micros and a few 6mm hard hook pellets.
I set up a maggot feeder for fishing the island and 2 long pole lines, one .3g the other .5g MW margin floats in case the wind got up. Both were strung shotted on .15 NGuage to a size 16 KPMB .13 hook-length. I also set up another rig to fish 7m in around 2ft of water, I did not expect to catch here as the water was very clear, but you never know. I would regret it if they rocked up and I was not prepared for them.
With the match split into sections, mine consisted of Dan on 21, myself 27, Len Wade on 28, Mick on 29 and Paul on peg 30. At the all in I started off feeding both long pole lines one with dead reds the other with fishery micros. Picking up the maggot feeder I cast out to the island , sunk my line and a few little taps saw a 6oz skimmer in the net. Out again and waited, Pete Morton on peg 3 was into a carp, Linda (Mermaid) was also into her first fish. 10 minutes later and the tip goes round and my first carp was in the net. Another 15 minutes go by and nothing so a quick look on the pole, no bites over any of the 3 lines so it was back onto the tip.
It was obvious the lake had switched off, there was a lot of cold water going into the lake, from the rain clouds above and also from the filtering effects from the other lakes.It was going to be a hard match, but also a fair one.
I managed to nick a few skimmers over the micro line but still had nothing over the maggot line. Re-feeding the maggot line I started to ping a few maggots as well over the top. This seemed to have an effect as I nicked odd carp, along with a couple of bigger skimmers. Again no-one was setting the world alight and it was a case of heads down and keep plugging away. I could hear Mick catching on 29 and could see Dan nicking odd fish on the tip from 21.
Overall
1st Linda 65-12 Peg 7
2nd Pete 47-13 Peg 3
3rd Trev 44-13 Peg 6
4th Dai 42-07 Peg 18
5th Keith 33-08 Peg 27
6th Madd 33-00 Peg 12
7th Mick 32-08 Peg 29
8th Dan 29-12 Peg 21
9th Alan 19-13 Peg 20
10th Chris 17-05 Peg 5
11th Paul 13-02 Peg 30
12th Barry 11-02 Peg 2
13th Len 10-00 Peg 28
14th Dave ( Red Leader) 3-14 Peg 1
Well done to all the framers and section winners. I also managed to pick up a few beers and a couple of bags of pellets as a raffle prize as an added bonus.
I must admit I thoroughly enjoyed the day, the event is about having a laugh and a bit of a sing song where needed. The sound of Pete singing Mariah Carey's "All I want for Christmas" will haunt me all over the festive period. Dave turning a perfectly good method rod into a swingtip rod when a wand was a more suitable tool. Trevor, fishing the waggler and striking as if he was Zorro, Barry, starting to pack up and his tip goes round. Too many to mention.
I was lucky enough to nick another of Mick's shiny new pound coins making the season score.14-6. I am sure he will be gunning for me next year.
With thanks to Peter Morton for use of his photographs from the day.
With Alders being a local venue for me, I was able to set the alarm for a little later than most, but still wanted to get there early. I arrived at the venue nice and relaxed to be met by Trevor and Sophie in the shop chatting away to Dai and Dan, a couple of lads I had not seen in over 10 years, both looked good although Dan has grown a lot since. With bait and breakfast paid it was down to sorting out the tackle and getting down to the cafe.
Slowly but surely, the other site members started to arrive, Red Leader, Pete, Mermaid, Chris, Mickyboy, Len Wade and Boggis all putting in an appearance. With a Full English washed down with a couple of hot mugs of tea, I was set for the day. With the pools paid and a brief agenda of how the day is planned out, it was soon onto the draw.
Both Mick and I discussed where we both fancied to be, me choosing 6,7 or 29, Mick opting for any peg opposite the cafe, 27,28,29 or 30.
Mick puts his hand in and as expected draws peg 29, I cannot believe how consistently well he draws. As for me I go into the bin of dreams and peg 27, a good steady peg and one that I was happy with. I would hope to catch on the tip to start, and later on the pole lines long.
For bait I had a pint of dead reds for feeding on one pole line and a hook-bait for the tip. Three pints of live red maggots treated with some Atomic Cloud, half a bag of fishery micros and a few 6mm hard hook pellets.
I set up a maggot feeder for fishing the island and 2 long pole lines, one .3g the other .5g MW margin floats in case the wind got up. Both were strung shotted on .15 NGuage to a size 16 KPMB .13 hook-length. I also set up another rig to fish 7m in around 2ft of water, I did not expect to catch here as the water was very clear, but you never know. I would regret it if they rocked up and I was not prepared for them.
With the match split into sections, mine consisted of Dan on 21, myself 27, Len Wade on 28, Mick on 29 and Paul on peg 30. At the all in I started off feeding both long pole lines one with dead reds the other with fishery micros. Picking up the maggot feeder I cast out to the island , sunk my line and a few little taps saw a 6oz skimmer in the net. Out again and waited, Pete Morton on peg 3 was into a carp, Linda (Mermaid) was also into her first fish. 10 minutes later and the tip goes round and my first carp was in the net. Another 15 minutes go by and nothing so a quick look on the pole, no bites over any of the 3 lines so it was back onto the tip.
Barry on peg 2
Another carp, after 10 minutes and I was thinking it could possibly be a feeder match. An hour had passed and I had not seen a carp caught on anyone's pole line. That changed when I saw peg 4, Chris land one.
Chris started the ball rolling on the pole line.
The waggler getting done by the feeder
Trevor Price was "getting battered" by Linda off the next peg and was swapping between waggler and long pole.I was waiting longer and longer for a bite, so it was back onto the long pole.It was obvious the lake had switched off, there was a lot of cold water going into the lake, from the rain clouds above and also from the filtering effects from the other lakes.It was going to be a hard match, but also a fair one.
I managed to nick a few skimmers over the micro line but still had nothing over the maggot line. Re-feeding the maggot line I started to ping a few maggots as well over the top. This seemed to have an effect as I nicked odd carp, along with a couple of bigger skimmers. Again no-one was setting the world alight and it was a case of heads down and keep plugging away. I could hear Mick catching on 29 and could see Dan nicking odd fish on the tip from 21.
Mick concentrating hard
At the all out I had 7 carp for around 25lb plus 7lb of bits and was telling anyone 30lb. Mick was also admitting to 30lb so it would be close for the MK Nugget. Packing up I thought about improvements or would I / should I have done anything different. To be honest, I do not think so. perhaps a method feeder rather than maggot feeder, pole lines generally worked as I expected, the water was very clear, it also seemed that fish moved in and out of the peg, perhaps that was due to the spraying effect of the catapult. Still I felt I had fished a good, tidy match.Overall
1st Linda 65-12 Peg 7
2nd Pete 47-13 Peg 3
3rd Trev 44-13 Peg 6
4th Dai 42-07 Peg 18
5th Keith 33-08 Peg 27
6th Madd 33-00 Peg 12
7th Mick 32-08 Peg 29
8th Dan 29-12 Peg 21
9th Alan 19-13 Peg 20
10th Chris 17-05 Peg 5
11th Paul 13-02 Peg 30
12th Barry 11-02 Peg 2
13th Len 10-00 Peg 28
14th Dave ( Red Leader) 3-14 Peg 1
Well done to all the framers and section winners. I also managed to pick up a few beers and a couple of bags of pellets as a raffle prize as an added bonus.
I must admit I thoroughly enjoyed the day, the event is about having a laugh and a bit of a sing song where needed. The sound of Pete singing Mariah Carey's "All I want for Christmas" will haunt me all over the festive period. Dave turning a perfectly good method rod into a swingtip rod when a wand was a more suitable tool. Trevor, fishing the waggler and striking as if he was Zorro, Barry, starting to pack up and his tip goes round. Too many to mention.
I was lucky enough to nick another of Mick's shiny new pound coins making the season score.14-6. I am sure he will be gunning for me next year.
With thanks to Peter Morton for use of his photographs from the day.
Thursday, 8 November 2018
Oakfield Open 07.11.2018
Again, shift work has got in the way of fishing any of the regular Alders Tuesday matches so with my day off work scheduled for Wednesday, it was off to Oakfield fishery near Aylesbury. They have regular opens on Red Kite Lake, a lake with a good mix of carp and F1s.
Pulling into the car park I could see Mick's car. Sitting in the cafe he was waiting for his turned over eggs breakfast to arrive. Standing in the corner was Storming Norman, always good to see and a genuine nice bloke, who has made friends all over the country. He is back on the road to recovery and was feeling better than he has in the last three years. I am sure everyone wishes him well.
There was 15 of us fishing the match with seven on the far bank and eight on the near side. Alan Foulkes took over the draw as regular organiser Pete Alland would be late. After a chat with Mick, I decided to go into the tumbler first for a change. Peg 35, end peg on the near bank. I would have the wind coming over my shoulder, whilst Mick would have to face the wind with peg 12.
I decided to set up a maggot feeder for fishing towards the bare bank and aerators to my left, a 12m pellet line, a 5m maggot line and an edge line towards peg 34. Bait was 2pints of dead reds, a pint of live ones along with a few 6mm hookers and expanders. Feed wise I also had a bag of fishery micros.
I fed my pole lines to start with and then fished the feeder for around 45 minutes but apart from a couple of liners I had no takers. Bob on the next peg was already into a couple of F1s fishing long. So, I had a look over the 12m with a 6mm expander, a couple of roach and gudgeon but no F1s or carp. At this point I started feeding dead maggots on this line. A look on the 5m line brought me another couple of roach but still no carp. Back onto the feeder for 30 minutes where I had a single 9lb carp tight to the mudline. Then nothing again.
Going back out to 12m, I was now getting a few indications on maggot. A couple of lost fish which felt foul hooked before again dying. 5m line just brought more and more roach or gudgeon, so I decided on fishing the edge in front of the platform. I had around 2ft, a metre away from the platform and concentrated my efforts here. Five maggots impaled on a size 16 KKBM. Feeding regularly via a toss-pot I was again soon getting a few bites but although a few were again foul hooked, a few couple of F1s were hooked in the mouth. Switching to a lighter elastic helped as this was far more forgiving.
At the end I weighed in 30lb for nowhere, still enough to take a MK Nugget off Mick, who weighed in 22lb from his peg on the opposite bank.Richard ives won the match with 75lb with Bob ??? second with 69lb. A couple of 40lb weights were recorded but overall the lake fished well on the near side bank in the middle of the lake. The corners and far bank struggled.
Keith 13
Mick 6.
Pulling into the car park I could see Mick's car. Sitting in the cafe he was waiting for his turned over eggs breakfast to arrive. Standing in the corner was Storming Norman, always good to see and a genuine nice bloke, who has made friends all over the country. He is back on the road to recovery and was feeling better than he has in the last three years. I am sure everyone wishes him well.
There was 15 of us fishing the match with seven on the far bank and eight on the near side. Alan Foulkes took over the draw as regular organiser Pete Alland would be late. After a chat with Mick, I decided to go into the tumbler first for a change. Peg 35, end peg on the near bank. I would have the wind coming over my shoulder, whilst Mick would have to face the wind with peg 12.
I decided to set up a maggot feeder for fishing towards the bare bank and aerators to my left, a 12m pellet line, a 5m maggot line and an edge line towards peg 34. Bait was 2pints of dead reds, a pint of live ones along with a few 6mm hookers and expanders. Feed wise I also had a bag of fishery micros.
I fed my pole lines to start with and then fished the feeder for around 45 minutes but apart from a couple of liners I had no takers. Bob on the next peg was already into a couple of F1s fishing long. So, I had a look over the 12m with a 6mm expander, a couple of roach and gudgeon but no F1s or carp. At this point I started feeding dead maggots on this line. A look on the 5m line brought me another couple of roach but still no carp. Back onto the feeder for 30 minutes where I had a single 9lb carp tight to the mudline. Then nothing again.
Going back out to 12m, I was now getting a few indications on maggot. A couple of lost fish which felt foul hooked before again dying. 5m line just brought more and more roach or gudgeon, so I decided on fishing the edge in front of the platform. I had around 2ft, a metre away from the platform and concentrated my efforts here. Five maggots impaled on a size 16 KKBM. Feeding regularly via a toss-pot I was again soon getting a few bites but although a few were again foul hooked, a few couple of F1s were hooked in the mouth. Switching to a lighter elastic helped as this was far more forgiving.
At the end I weighed in 30lb for nowhere, still enough to take a MK Nugget off Mick, who weighed in 22lb from his peg on the opposite bank.Richard ives won the match with 75lb with Bob ??? second with 69lb. A couple of 40lb weights were recorded but overall the lake fished well on the near side bank in the middle of the lake. The corners and far bank struggled.
Keith 13
Mick 6.
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