Monday 27 October 2008

October 26th - Maple Pairs Match, Oaks

Well, where to start? The weather this week leading up to the match had been very poor, high winds, rain and a big drop in temperature. Thankfully the winds weren’t meant to be too bad for the Sunday, it can rain as much it likes but I can’t stand fishing in the wind, as you may have read in last weeks blog! Oh and I managed to get a new number four too so it was all stations go for the last club match of the year!

I arrived at the fishery at 8am to give me time to demolish one of the wonderful full breakfasts! I paid on and then bought my bait for the day, a pint of whites, with a few reds mixed in for a change bait.

Stu and Nige were running a pairs match today, with the top four pairs getting paid out along with the individual winner. They were also running a guess the weight competition for the winning combined weight. Rather than picking pairs before the draw it was decided that your partner was selected from the draw. As I was one of the latter to draw it meant I got to see who my partner was. I drew peg 17, along the back straight, not a bad draw and I fancied a few fish from it. My partner, Paul Whittaker drew peg 51, I had my work cut out, last match him and Alan drew peg 63a and 64 and neither of them weighed in, not to worry though. I’d just have to fish my socks off!

I got to my peg and to be fair I was a bit disappointed whilst setting up. The sedges were miles away! Order for the day was that I had one line at 11 o’ clock towards the dividing bush at 15m and one at 1 o’ clock to the sedges, even at 15m I wasn’t as tight as I’d have liked to have been but I still found a good depth of about 3ft so wasn’t too put off although I knew I was in for a grueller if the wind picked up! My target weight for the day again was 30lb but felt 40lb would be needed to pick up.

I set up two rigs for across and one for down the track at 13m which was the base of the shelf. I used the same rigs as last week on Cedar, carrying on my motto of ‘’fish light, get a bite!’’

Honest John had told me that we were finishing at 3:30 today as it would be dark earlier due to the clocks going back. Maple can often throw up a weight in the last hour so with the clocks going back the last hour was actually not the last hour and we’d have another hour after? If you know what I mean?

At the all in I shipped out to my right sedge, tipped in 6 maggots and then went to my left sedge which I fed with a dozen maggots and aimed for this to be my positive swim. I went 50 minutes without a bite, this was a horrendous, I’d seen a few people catch one or two but not loads so I wasn’t too far behind but desperately needed to find the fish. My first bite came, a foul hooker that came off no sooner had I hooked it, next put out the same happened, I then foul hooked my third in a row, this one I played for a while before the hook eventually pulled!

The middle of the match was strange, the fish started to feed! Or in my peg at least! I changed to my right sedge, tipped in another six maggots and eagerly watched the pimple of a float. After a couple of minutes it dipped and I lifted into what felt like a good fish, I eventually got It out on my light gear, a mirror of about 4lb, just the start I needed! Next put out and not a bite, so I decided to create a new swim, to the right of my left sedge, I repeated the process and caught another good fish of perhaps 5lb. for the next 2 hours I only managed another 4 fish but they were all good uns! I had one that must have been knocking on 7lb. It just goes to show that by using balanced tackle you can get pretty much anything out. After all I was using an 0.10 bottom and a size 20 hook with a soft 10 elastic, it took some time to get them in but who cares? At this time of year you need to make every fish count so I just took my time.

With the last hour and a half looming it went quiet again and I’d only pick up a very odd fish and they were only small F1’s. Half three came and went, but no whistle! We must have been finishing at four as normal! I think I had two more small F1’s in the last half hour and felt I’d had a pretty good day, but what had my partner had?

From peg 1 right around to peg 45 I was winning with a weight of 37lb 12oz, the bloke to my right had 31lb and to my left had 12lb I think. So I had surpassed my 30lb target and wasn't too far off 40lb. Mick Akko spoilt my day when he put 54lb on the scales. My partner had 1lb 15oz so we were going nowhere with our combined weight. I think he needed 20lb to get us a pay out, the pegs either side of him both had 25lb ish so I don’t know where he’d gone wrong?

Back in the cafĂ© I realised I’d come 5th overall and in normal circumstances I’d have walked my section but it wasn’t to be today. Well with the club season over I’m going to fish a few opens and hopefully get on the rivers, it must be 5 or 6 years since I last fished running water! Bring it on!

I’ve been keeping a record of my match weights throughout the year and I think at present my average is just over 24lb. the reason I’ve done this is so that next year I can compare results and see if I’ve improved or not, let’s bloody hope so!

Monday 20 October 2008

October 18th - The Oaks, Cedar

Well this was to be my 2nd ever open after my first at Woodlands earlier in the year. I’ve never fished Cedar Lake up at the Oaks but was assured it was similar to fishing on Maple just that the average fish size was smaller so with this in mind I could scale down if I felt I needed too. The weather forecast leading up to Saturday didn’t look too bad apart from the wind! Averaging at 18mph all day with gusts up to 30mph, so far from ideal!

I arrived at about 9:15, had my breakfast and got booked on in the tackle shop. The 10am draw soon arrived and I was probably in the last half dozen to draw and managed peg 48. This meant nothing to me as I’ve not fished it before; in fact I’ve never even seen it!

I made my way round to my peg which was just after one bend and a couple of pegs down from another. I probably had 4 spare pegs to my right and another spare peg to my left. Tony Koz was on 46 and there were three other lads on 44, 42 and 40 which ‘filled’ our point.

Whilst setting up I realised how horrific the wind was going to be today, whilst plumbing up my sedge line the pole was getting thrown all over the place. With this in mind I set my roller fairly low so if they did blow off they wouldn’t have far to fall!

I set up two rigs for across, the first being a 4x10 Malman Cedar on 0.12 Ultima to an 0.10 Powerline hooklength with a Fox Carp Match size 20, this was on an 8 Maver latex elastic. This rig would be fished at 14m to my right in front of the sedges next to the peg dividing tree. This would be my positive line where I’d feed only maggots. My second across rig was the same float but a 4x12, mainline and hooklengths were the same yet I had a size 18 B610, this was finished with an 8 size Maver Later elastic. This rig was to fish to the other peg dividing tree at 14m to my left. I would feed this line with a couple of maggots and the odd bit of a corn as a back up line to my positive line. With the wind being pretty bad I also plumbed up down the track with a 0.5g Preston float, on 0.11 straight through to a size 20 B610, elastic was a size 10 Maver latex elastic. All my rigs were 2-3 inches over depth.

Bait for today I had a pint of white maggots and a few reds thrown in for good measure. I also had a tin of corn.

11 o’ clock soon came and with it time was called. I first went out to my left sedge and tipped in 4 maggots and 2 bits of corn. Then I got cracking with building my right sedge swim up. I went out with a single red maggot and 7-8 maggots in my pot. I forced the float tight to the sedges and tipped the free offerings over the top. I’d been told the first hour could be quite slow, you’re not wrong! I got my first bite after 40 mins and missed it! I went back out and tipped a few more maggots over the top and got another bite, I soon had a small F1 of about a 1lb in the net. Soon followed by another. I then battled through the wind until the halfway point and I think I had 6-7lb in the net at this point. I then decided enough was enough with the wind and decided to fish my track line.

I went out with double maggot and tipped a kinder pot of maggots in to try and force them onto the feed straight away. I managed half a dozen roach, a few gudgeon and a skimmer before I latched into a better fish. The awkward fight led me to believe this could have been a Barbel, I was right, a pristine fish of 1.5lb. I then managed a couple more F1’s and another smaller Barbel before disaster struck. I was playing an F1 of about 2lb which was a welcome bonus however whilst I was playing it on the top kit the wind got hold of my pole which somehow blew the male end of my number 4 between my box and box leg, a sudden gust then ripped my entire pole of the roller, with my number 4 now being wedged a crunch sounded as the top 8 inches snapped cleanly off my number 4. ‘’Bar-Steward!!!!’’

Thankfully when I bought my pole last year the bloke I bought it off also included a spare number 4, be it a repaired section it was a welcome lifeline!

When I got back up and running it went from bad to worse. I hooked a big Barbel of about 3lb, just as I was slipping the landing net under it the hook pulled, as I stretched in desperation to scoop the fish it woke up and bolted off. ‘’Bar-Steward!!!!’’

After this I think I foul hooked and lost 8 fish on the trot and just couldn’t understand it, I’d strike, slowly ship back keeping adequate pressure and the hook would pull! ‘’Bar-Steward!!!!’’ (Per fish).

So after a relatively calm start to the match and an afternoon of swearing at everything how had I done? Ghandi came round to do the weigh in, the bloke on peg 40 had 22lb, peg 42 had 15lb, peg 46 on the point with no side wind had 22lb, T-Koz on 46 had 26lb and I dumped 20-13 on the scales so in the grand scheme of things I not done too bad in the area I was fishing.

Hopefully I’ll be able to get a new section by next weekend. Next weekend I’m back up at the Oaks on Maple again but seeing as it’s the last of our club matches for the year we’re having a bit of a pairs match too.

Tight Elastics and watch that wind!

Monday 13 October 2008

October 12th - The Oaks, Maple

Well back up the A1 to the Oaks this weekend to see if I could capitalize on last weeks tactics and make the maggot work again. I arrived at the fishery at about 8:15, had my breakfast and then got roped in to taking the money whilst Nige went for a fag! The draw was typically late again but this time it saw us drawing at half nine so we would be fishing 10:30-16:30.

My plan this week was to fish maggot again but fish two lines rather than the one I fished last week. The reason for two was that I could feed one sparingly and feed the other a bit more positive. This would then enable me to see what was best on the day. For bait today, all I had was a pint and a half of maggots, nothing else!

We had pegs 24-66 as the first 23 pegs were booked on another match. At the time of the draw my ‘lucky’ left hand delved to the depths of the draw bag and my hand re-emerged attached to peg 24. With this being the first peg in our match it also meant I was weighing in, I don’t mind weighing in as you get to see how everyone has done although you do get a thorough soaking!

Anyway a quick drive around to my peg and I have Paul Jones on peg 25 for company. There was also a bloke on 23 fishing in the other match so unlike everyone else I didn’t have a spare peg. Dennis Geldard, Howard, Tony Koz and Bri Gascoigne made up the rest of my section.

Peg 24 and 23 are on a corner and there is an aerator between them both in the corner which is well worth fishing too but as I was setting up the bloke on 23 was plumbing up all around it so decided to leave him to it, I’m glad I did as at the start of their match he filled it in with cat food and only caught four fish from it!

I set up two lines to sedges in front of me at 14m, one to the left of the gap and one to the right. I plumbed up so that I could use the same rig on both lines without switching kits or altering depths all the time. My plan B this week was to still fish maggot but on the point of the island where I would big pot. My aim this week again was to catch 30lb but what I really wanted was to beat last week’s effort and hopefully claim another section, or better!

My rigs were similar to last weeks, I set up two Malman Cedar floats 4x10, both on 0.12 Powerline, the rig for the sedges had a size 20 Fox Carp Match Barbless on 0.10 Powerline and I had a B610-18 on 0.11 Powerline for the point of the island. Both rigs were 2-3 inches over depth. Once again they were both teamed up with a 10 latex elastic.

The all in was called at 10:30 and I shipped out with a kinder pot of maggots to my right sedge and tipped in 5 or 6 maggots and then moved to my left sedge and tipped the rest pf the cup in. I switched between lines for the first hour trying to tempt a proper fish but was constantly getting bitted out by the resident gudgeon and roach! After an hour I finally got a positive bite and put my first F1 in the net, only about a pound but hopefully this would kick start things. I managed to snare another one on the next put in of a similar size and then an Ide of 8oz soon after. Then came my first proper carp, a mirror which would boost my tally to about 4lb. meanwhile Paul Jones on the next peg was catching fish after fish, be it and Ide, a Chub or an F1.

By the time the 4th hour came around I maybe had 6-7 pound in the net, by switching lines I was picking up the very occasional mug fish and giving the roach population a good battering. I decided it was time, ‘’Sh*t or Bust time!’’ I potted in around 150ml of maggot on the point of the island and decided to stick it out here for the rest of the match. After a 20-30 minute wait I got my first fish of many leaving me an hour and a half to catch up! I got into a run of fish be it a small carp, F1 or Ide. Then I had a much welcome boost, my pimple of float, dipped, only slightly, but my eagerness saw me lift into what felt like a good fish, after a long tussle I managed to get the fish to the surface, arse first! This was a good fish, especially for Maple. I only had my small pan net today as usually the fish tend to get lost in my bigger nets! I managed to finally net the fish by kneeling on my footplate at full stretch with the landing net, the fish was that much bigger than my net that I actually didn’t net it but balance it onto of the frame and slid it across the surface until I got it to my feet and it eventually sunk into the net, double in half! It was a much welcomed boost at around 7lb and had completely worn me out! Next time I’ll perhaps set up a big landing net too, just in case ;)

The all in was called ‘fish on’, everyone looked over as I swung in a 2 oz roach! I quickly packed up before having to weigh in. Dennis and Paul witnessed my weigh, 27lb 4oz, not far off my target so I was pretty pleased, and for the minute I was winning the match! Paul Jones then left me ruing my poor start by weighing in just over 40lb, next was Dennis who put 27lb 10oz on the scales. I could have been annoyed but to come within 6oz of Dennis was pretty good as he’s a very good angler. Howard didn’t bother weighing in and next up was Tony Koz who managed 42lb 12oz odd to take the section, Bri Gascoigne on 31 managed 25lb odd so overall I’d done ok. There were a few 40’s and plenty more 20-30lbs so the fishing is slowly picking up again! Honest John did it again from peg 66 with nearly 50lb and put some more money towards his new front teeth fund! ;)

Stu and Tony Koz split third prize as they both had 42lb 12oz which meant they won less than if they’d have won there section!

Well with a week off before our final club match I’m jumping in at the deep end by the fishing the Open on Cedar next Saturday! Let’s hope I snare a few!



Monday 6 October 2008

October 5th - The Oaks, Maple

This is a photo I took in around June time whilst on a microlight flight. This is the Oaks complex to those of you who don't know. Looks a bit different from the air I must say!
Well this week saw me return to the Oaks to fish Maple again. Gordon picked me up at 7:45 and we arrived up at the Oaks at about twenty past eight, we thought it rude to not have a breakfast so quickly got in the queue. I had another new tactic today, I’d decided to leave the method feeder at home this week, its tailed off over the last 2-3 weeks and hasn’t been producing as well as it had been and with a fair bit of a rain and a dramatic drop in temperature over the last week it was a definite no go. My new tactic today was maggots, maggots and more maggots! I know a lot of the regulars have been catching well on Cedar with maggot for the last few months and after speaking to one of them on the Oaks Banter site it was decided my best line of attack would be to fish maggot on one line all day and make it work! I did have a plan B though which I could try in the last hour if I was struggling but hopefully I wouldn’t need to use this. I’ve also decided to set my self a personal target for each match, that way I can be pleased with my performance even if I get battered. Today’s target was 30lb, this would be tough to achieve on somewhere that hasn’t been fishing all that well but I thought It was achievable and also thought it might get me in the money.

There was 37 booked on today with a few guests and a few of the lads from the Otley club that had gone to White acres with us. We had the whole lake today so we would have a bit of room. I drew peg 30, not a bad draw, there’s certainly worse. Peg 30 is on a corner with a small overhanging willow in the margins which looks very appealing but I was going to ignore it today. My one line tactic was to be across to the island in 2.5-3ft of water on the shelf, this ended up being to my right at 1 o’ clock in line with another small tree on the far bank.

Rig wise I had a couple set up, still both for the same line. I had a Malman Cedar float in 4x10 on 0.12 Ultima to a 6 inch hooklength of 0.10 Powerline to a size 18 Gamakatsu Pellet hook. This rig was for fishing on the drop or at least to give the bait a slower fall and would be back up to my main rig which was the same but with a 4x12 float with 0.12 Ultima straight through to a size 16 Gamakatsu Pellet Hook. Both of these rigs were attached to some match kits incorporating a soft size 10 Maver latex elastic teamed with pull bungs. My plan B rig was a 0.4g BGT shallow long float for fishing at 10.5m at the bottom of the shelf, this was on 0.13 straight through to a 16s PR36. Hopefully I wouldn’t have to use it but if I did I had a tin of cubed meat at the ready dusted in green Swim Stim.

Weather wise it wasn’t too bad for a change, the sun was out for the whole day all be it cold enough to need jumpers and fleeces on. Wind was minimal with the odd gust very rarely but on the whole the lake was very still.

Gordon’s hooter went off at 10:15 (another typical late draw) and the match was underway, I went out with a 250ml cup half full of maggots and tipped them in, spreading them about a little bit as to not concentrate the fish too tightly. I then went out with the positive straight through rig, double red on the hook and dragged it up the slight slope; I was fishing 3 inches over depth to ensure the bait was always on bottom with the undulating depth; this would also pin the bait down and keep it more static. The first half an hour went by without so much of a nudge on the float where as Jim on peg 31 had had a couple of gudgeon and a small F1, the bloke to my left on peg 28 had a carp first put in but I don’t think it was a big one. I hadn’t put any more bait in during this half an hour as I didn’t want to overfeed and so after a motionless first 30 minutes I switched to the lighter rig again with double maggot but this time cupped in a dozen maggots as I laid the rig in. The float was held up for a second, I struck but nothing. I laid the rig in again; the bait this time had time to reach the deck before a subtle lift that forced the top of the body out of the water, this was met with a gentle lift and the first fish was on, a gudgeon but at least it was a start, I caught a couple more gonks before I had my first better fish, an Ide of about 6oz. After I had this Ide I switched to the more positive rig as I felt the 4x10 rig wasn’t getting to the bottom quick enough (even when I grouped the shot 8 inches away from the hook). The 4x12 rig was laid in and some more maggots cupped in over the top. The float lifted again and Ide number 2 was in the net. This carried on until I had 5 Ide in the net until I lifted into something that felt a lot better, after a short tussle on the ‘’light’’ elastic I stretched the top kit in the air and slid the net under a Barbel of about a pound, hooked in its side! I then went back out and another better fish, a tench of maybe 12oz was soon in the keepnet. Then after my first small F1 of the day it went quiet for 20 minutes so I big potted another 125ml of maggot in on the same line. This worked a treat and I soon put another 3 better F1s in the net.

I think there is a definite advantage to fishing one swim all day and making it work as throughout the day you’re always aware of what’s going on in the swim. I usually have half a dozen different swims and to be fair I can’t keep up with them all. Or as Mick Bandy would say, ‘’I’ve got more lines going than Pete Doherty’’.

Quarter past one soon arrived to mark the half way point (we have 6 hour matches) and I estimate I had 14lb in the keepnet so I was just about on course to my 30lb target. I hooked a decent fish which I’m saying was foul hooked and subsequently the hook pulled! D’oh! (Or at least words to that affect). For the rest of the match I would catch half a dozen fish, Ide and F1’s, and then have a quiet 20 minutes, a big kinder pot of maggots would switch them back on for another 5 or six fish. If I big kindered any sooner than 20 minutes then I would still have to weight so decided every 20 minutes to introduce a bit more feed unless I was catching and then I would simply feed a dozen maggots after every fish.

Honest John snared a lump of about 6lb and had a few other better carp but by the end of the match he only admitted to 15lb although I thought he had a lot more than that. The pegs either side (28 and 31) both tipped back where as I was confessing to 25lb but thought I may have 30lb at a push.

A quick pack away and I managed to join the weigh in at Tony Minikin who had 50lb odd to take the lead from peg 11 I think (the first one on the straight just after the corner). I watched a few more weighs and it had a fished a bit better than normal with a few 20lbs and then Bri Clay who was a guest from the Otley Club dragged his net which had over 60lb of fish in it. The only problem here being that as a club and the fishery we have a 50lb per net rule, you can use two nets and have 60lb in one and 10lb in another but with only one net in you can only have 50lb. Bri plonked his on the scales and it kept going round until the scales bottomed out at 50lb. This meant his weight was capped to 50lb and his fish didn’t even get weighed. Perhaps a bit harsh to a guest but rules are rules and others were capped a few weeks back so it would have caused far too many arguments if this one had slipped through the net, no pun intended.

There were no real weights in my section and when we got round to my peg I was shocked when lifting my net out as I perhaps had a bit more than I had estimated! I plonked 36lb 4oz the scales which would take the section depending on what Honest John had. John was being honest, nearly, and put 20lb on the scales so I had won my section.

There were no real massive weights on the rest of the lake, Nige had 18 odd and Gordon had a similar amount. Martin Dodsworth did manage to put 46lb on the scales which turned out to be good enough for fourth.

Back to Caf for a chip butty and a cuppa and also to claim my second envelope of the year. Tony Minikin won the match and Stu also won his section. The open on Cedar had fished terrible with 49lb winning, Ian Bailey had 36lb and Robbie only managed 32lb so it must have been hard. I just hope they don’t decide to come on the club matches instead!

So to conclude, my one line attack worked a treat and with a second pick up of the year I can’t grumble. At the start of the year I didn’t expect to come anywhere in any match but now with a section and 2nd under my belt I have the much needed confidence that I have perhaps been lacking. For once I not only had a tactic but a tactic that I’d employed and I’d also made it work! Role on next week when were back on Maple again!