22nd and 23rd November - Oaks Open, Cedar

Saturday morning soon came around once again and I’d planned on another weekend up at the Oaks. There had been a vast drop in temperature and even when I was packing the car I was thinking to myself that it was going to be a grim one! I arrived at the fishery at half eight ish and got paid on and breakfast etc…

I was hoping for another kind draw today so that I’d either catch a few or at least have a peg out of the wind so that I’d be comfortable for the day. The fishery has recently been restocked with 5,500 small stock carp averaging at 4oz, hopefully these would be feeding and presumably on the pellet as that’s what they be used to.

I got in the queue and was midway by the time of the draw and managed to snare peg 54. Dave from the shop told me that a rake of fish was put in on this peg so hopefully I’d be in for a few. With these fish averaging 4oz it meant you needed a hundred of them to have 25lb, which meant 20 an hour! I thought about this and due to me not being used to speed fishing I halved this to 50 fish for the match, although this depended if I was on them or not!

I arrived at my peg and had Brian ‘Tupper’ Ware on 52 and someone else on 56? Looking at my peg it looked ok; I had plenty of sedge cover on the far bank and the aerator to my left just in case the sedges weren’t showing. The sun was shining down onto my right hand side although it was still bitterly cold and the wind coming from left to right which would hamper my presentation.

Bait for today I had some pumped 4mm Sensas Expanders, half a pint of whites with a few reds, some corn just in case and some micros for feeding if the pellet was working.

Rigs for today I had my usual Malman Cedars, 4x12 and 4x10, both on 0.12 Ultima to an 0.10 hooklength and size 22 Middy 63-13 hooks. Elastics on both rigs was Maver 8 Latex. I had an aerator rig too just in case at 11m.

At the all in I went straight across to the sedge straight in front of me, baited up with an expander, I was having difficulty holding the 4x10 float in position and the majority of the time it just laid on its side due to the heavy ripple passing through. I shipped back and changed to the 4x12 rig, this was spot on and I could let the float drift from one side of the sedge to the other and repeat this until I got a bite. My first bite came after 15 minutes, a stocky of about 4oz. all fish had to be netted to keep them in top condition so it took a little longer to get it in due to not being able to swing it in. I went back and managed another 2 of a similar size but was having a bit of trouble keeping the pellet on the hook. Due to the wind blowing through I was having to strike fairly hard to make good contact, the only thing was that this heavy strike meant the pellet came off if I missed the bite.

I decided to use maggot as hook bait instead as this wouldn’t come off on the strike. I also started to feed a pinch of micros after each fish to keep them interested. By the end of the first hour I had 10 fish in the net, all of about 4oz, so I needed to keep plugging away in order to build up any sort of weight although at least I was on target for 10 an hour.

Into the second hour and it was much like the first, struggling to hold the pole at 13.5m in the wind and striking at any dip I got in hope that I would connect. I was still feeding a pinch of micros through my fruit shoot top after every fish but had a slower hour than the first taking my tally to 17 after the first two hours. This meant I was behind by 3 fish, although was I? Neither side of me had had a bite in the first two hours so really I was ahead if not by my own standards set.

Into the third hour and the fishing picked up somewhat, perhaps due to the perseverance of the sun which had finally broken through to heat the water a little. The wind had also died down somewhat although the ripples were ever consistent. I was plugging away with maggot and a few micros when Chappy and Adam Richards walked past. Chappy was on 74, out of the sun and in the wind and wasn’t doing very well so had decided on a walk to warm up. He asked me how many I’d had and I think at the time of asking I’d had 25. By the time he came back around I’d finished my 3rd hour on 35 fish so I’d put 17 in the net, back on track! Although Darrell Taylor had had 60 in the first hour! Yes 60 in an hour! Although he now couldn’t get a bite. Meanwhile John Illingworth was getting one a chuck and had been since the start!

Chappy came to sit with me for half an hour and gave me some notable pointers which In turn saw my catch rate improve once again! There were a few things he noticed about my set up;

I wasn’t using a back shot
I was using maggot not pellet as a hook bait
I was too much over depth
My pole pot wasn’t near enough to the end of my pole tip.
I was feeding after every fish

After sorting out these few tweaks, adding a number 8 buckshot 5inches above the float, changing back to pellet, changing my depth by a couple of inches, moving my pole pot right to the end and feeding every 3-4 fish I managed to amass 24 carp in the 4th hour, which meant my total catch thus far was 59! I’d beaten my target of 50 and with an hour to go and the fishing at its prime I had my sights set on the 70 mark!

But I was wrong, the clouds came out, the sun was hiding and the chill factor had also changed, it was freezing! Due to this temperature drop in the air it meant my last hour wasn’t as fruitful as I’d hoped. I managed a further 8 fish and finished on 67. I was chuffed to bits to have caught that amount of fish, especially in winter when bites are generally at a premium. Brian on 52 had had a liner and one fish in 5 hours and the bloke to my right packed up and went, he was hiding behind his brolly all day so I’m not sure how he got on?!

There were a few moaning about how rubbish it had been. This really gets my goat, now I know I’d had a reasonably good day and caught plenty of fish but most people wait all week to go fishing and then when they get there all they do is moan! They don’t have to go fishing! Nearing the end of November do you expect to catch big bags of fish week in week out? No! So don’t complain about it!

Come the weigh in, John Illingworth was leading the match with 58lb, made entirely of stockies, he’d had an approximate 220 fish in 5 hours! That some going by anyone’s standards!

5 people to my left didn’t weigh in and I then plonked 18lb 6oz on the scales, maybe they average a little more than 4oz?!

Back to the café I was hoping with so little people weighing in that I would have done my section. Middy read out the results and I was pleased to hear my name, I’d come 6th overall! Another good result although they only pay top four and Ray Singh who came 5th was in my section so he took the honours with his 19lb 10oz bag.

Saturdays Results (34 fished)

John Illingworth (Daiwa Dons) 58-13-0, carp, pellet, peg 16
Gavin Stansfield (Selby) 27-0-0
Andy Middleton (Oaks) 25-3-0
Ian Bowman (Maver Barnsley) 22-14-0
Ray Singh (Garbolino Elton) 19-10-0
Steve Lupton (Oaks) 18-6-0

Not to worry, I’d be back on the Sunday for what would prove an even bigger grueller weather wise!

Now Sunday morning I awoke at 7 o clock, had a quick phone call from Gordy, he was off to Woodlands with a hot water bottle for the day. I decided another trip to the Oaks and get my 6th and final qualifier in for the Xmas cheer match.

Over night it had snowed and there was a thick frost covering my car which took an eternity to clear!

To cut a long story short on the fishing front, I drew 33, along the back straight, somewhere I didn’t want to be at all!

I managed to foul hook and lose a fish off the sedge and then foul hook a 1lb Barbel in its tail all match. Needless to say I tipped back!

Ghandi won the match with 34lb made up of stockies and fish up to 5lb.

A few people in the café said how hot and cold I was, they were right my Saturday performances have been good of late yet Sundays are proving to be a nightmare!

Sundays Results (32 fished)

Chris Hall (Oaks) 34-4-0, carp to 5 lb, corn, peg 11
Tony Kozaczek (Oaks) 26-14-0
Dave Pimlot (Garbolino Elton) 24-0-0
James Wood (Oaks) 16-13-0
Ray Singh (Garbolino Elton) 14-12-0
Ray Knox (Aireborough) 14-3-0

Even though I’d had a rubbish day, did I moan? Did I buggary!

Gordy had also won the match at Woodlands with 24lb 4oz, beating 2nd place who had 24lb dead. Apparently one of the lakes was won with 4lb, oh dear!

Sat 15th & Sun 16th November - Oaks, Cedar Open

I arrived up at the fishery at about 8:30, paid on and went for my breakfast. After last weekends horrific weather I was looking forward to a days fishing where I’d be able to fish how I wanted to and hopefully catch a few. The fishery owners had recently stocked some small mirrors, ranging 3-8oz, hopefully these would perk up the older residents and get them feeding!

The draw came at 9am and there were 40 booked on, a vast increase on last week. With Cedar holding 80 pegs it meant it would be every other peg in so we would all still have plenty of room. I dipped into the bag and peg 47 had stuck to my hand. I wasn’t too down heartened by this as a few weeks ago I drew 48 and had about 20lb. As I was walking to the car I had a quick word with Chappy and the last thing he said to me was, ‘don’t feed, don’t even put a cup on!’’

I got to my peg and for company I had Ray Singh on peg 45, Tim ??? on peg 49 and Mal Bailey on 51. I definitely had to my work cut out (as always!) to get anything from this match.

Bait for the day I had a tub of corn from last week which I’d frozen. I read an article by Paul Coyle, he said he often fishes with defrosted corn as it seems softer and the fish tend to have a go at it a bit more. Plus it’s cheaper as you can use the same tin of corn for weeks! I also had half a pint of white maggots and a handful of reds.

I set up my usual 3 rigs. A 4x10 and a 4x12 Malman Cedar, both on 0.12 mainline to an 0.10 hooklength and size 20 B611. Both these rigs were on match kits with 8 latex elastic. Shotting for these rigs was typically shirt button with number 11’s with 12’s and 13’s dotting it right down. I also set up a track rig but hopefully wouldn’t need to use it. I also didn’t get any pole pots out!

I plumbed up in front of the sedges and found a good depth of 2.5-3ft, this depth was consistent right across the bank and with a spare peg either side it meant I could go pretty far down the bank if I needed to.

Weather wise it was very nice in contrast to the previous week, the sun was out and would blind me for the whole match and there was also a steady ripple on the water running from right to left. Usually the ripple gives the fish a bit more confidence as I think the shadow of the pole can put them off a bit as the water is fairly shallow and pretty clear at the minute too!

Time was called at 10:15 and I shipped out with the 4x10 rig with single red maggot, I tucked the float right into the sedge on my right, just before the marker tree at 14m. The float was well dotted down and the ripples were making it a bit difficult to see. However I didn’t need to see the float as within a few seconds my light 8 elastic was streaming out of the tip! After a brief tussle the first fish was in the net, an F1 of about a 1lb. I quickly shipped back out to same spot, the ripples had died down now so I could see a lot easier. The float once again dipped, I missed it, it dipped again and a gudgeon was soon in the net! I went out a third time and snared another gudgeon so I decided to try corn instead as I didn’t want to catch bloody gudgeon all day!

I managed a couple of the small stockies and 2 or 3 more F1’s before the swim was dieing a bit. I’d also changed to a 10 latex elastic as my 8 was dragging me all over the place. I thought I’d persevere for 5 more minutes before writing the swim off and starting up a new line further along the bank. My perseverance paid off, my change in elastic also! I lifted into what felt a good fish, but rather than a healthy scrap the fish came up pretty much straight away, a common of about 5lb hooked in its chin!

For the rest of the match I carried on in the same vein, by the half way point I estimated to having about 13lb, if I could keep this up I’d be on for a good weight and 28lb won the match a week ago so I thought it might put me somewhere. Ray and Tim to my immediate left and right were getting the odd fish but I felt I had the upper hand. Mal Bailey on 51 was fairing better than those two and probably had a similar weight to myself.

I kept on with the corn for the remainder of the match picking up 2 or 3 fish off one line then waiting 10-15 minutes on a new line before I got an indication. At one point I set up a new line at 15m to my left and managed to pick off 3 fish for about 7lb. With half an hour to go I had a few more stockies but it was slow going. By my estimations I had 25lb in the net, now seeing as 28lb won the previous week I thought I’d done well but needed one or two more fish to seal the deal!

3:15 came around and with it ‘TIME’ just I hooked into a big F1 of about 2lb. This meant I had 27lb by estimation. I’d had a great day I just hoped it was good enough as those around me had all struggled apart from Mal Bailey on 51 who was admitting to 25lb including a 4lb Barbel on time!

Whilst packing up my gear it was obvious I’d done well as most people on the point were all at my peg asking me questions on how I’d fished, where I’d fished, how much feed? Gareth came round to weigh in our half of the lake, Ray Singh put 15lb on the scales, next up was my peg, I dragged the keepnet out and realised I had perhaps under estimated! As Gareth said ‘F***ing Bagged Up!’ the scales went round to 36lb 8oz! I’d done a lot better than I thought! Tim to my right weighed 19lb so I beaten both my neighbours, put together!

Next up was Mal Bailey, he’d also under estimated and put 38lb 10oz on the scales, his big barbel had pushed him into the lead. Further round the bank there were two weights of 37lb. Chappy weighed in 34lb 4oz so my fish on time had also edged just in front him!

Back in the café I realised I’d come 4th overall out of 40 anglers so I was chuffed to bits! Chappy remarked that he was going to stop telling me what to do as it was now having detrimental effects on his final position. They were also only paying out top 4 so it meant he had to put up with a section ;o)

I got £50 for coming 4th which would nicely pay for my weekends fishing! I’ll also see my name up in lights for the first time, or at least in the Anglers Mail!

Mal Bailey (Garbolino Elton) 38-10-0
Bert Lockwood (Bob-Co) 37-12-0
Steve Sharples (Oaks) 37-10-0
Steve Lupton (Oaks) 36-8-0
John Chapman (Garbolino Elton) 34-4-0
Mick Grant (Oaks) 33-10-0

Sunday came around very quickly and I was full of confidence after the previous day and couldn’t wait to get back out on the bank. I got there nice and early again so not to be rushed. By the time of the draw there were 47 booked on! At the end of the match I heard the match organiser say that someone had said ‘why’ve you put this peg in? It was in yesterday!’ to which he replied ‘well there are only 80 pegs on the lake so where do you want me to get me some more from?’’ The joys of being a match organiser I suppose!

This time around I drew peg 31, a crap draw and the day before most people along that bank didn’t even weigh in! I looked on it positively though and thought I’d try make the most of a bad draw!

I set up the same as yesterday yet I set up two 4x10 rigs as the wind was non existent, there was even a ripple on the surface which might make my day even worse! On setting up my setting rigs I went out with the rig I used the day before with a new hooklength on and found the sedge line was perhaps only 18 inches deep! I did manage to find one spot that was just over 2ft but not a big area! I also had an aerator to my left so plumber up down here. It was one extreme to another, this line was well over 6ft; my top kit was only just long enough for the rig!

In short I didn’t have a bite for the first two hours. I foul hooked a carp and lost and then had 6 bites which I managed to turn into fish, 4 stockies, an F1 and an Ide. Steve Sharples on jackpot peg 29 weighed in 35lb dead by using his foul hooking technique ;o) and John Fallows on 33 managed 17lb odd. I weighed in 6lb dead purely because on a Sunday they do a draw from a bag and whatever weight comes out if you had it you win some coin. Anyway 33lb 11oz was drawn from the bag so nobody won again.

Final result looked like this and I was disappointed as I wanted to show that the previous day wasn’t a fluke but at this time of year you need to take it whilst you can. On the Saturday I was clearly on a few fish yet the Sunday I clearly wasn’t. Not to worry still an enjoyable weekend and I’ll be back again next week!

Mark Calvert (Garbolino Elton) 38-10-0
Steve Sharples (Oaks) 35-0-0
Anthony Stock (Oaks) 34-10-0
Adie Mitchell (Harrogate Angling) 24-12-0
Bert Poole (Oaks), Chris Hall (Oaks) and Dave Pimlott (Garbolino Elton) all 24-4-0

On a lighter note I got a text off Gordon saying he’d found my blog and asked who had taken the photo in the top corner, was it a professional? So to repay the favour here is a picture that I took of Gordon down in Whiteacres, ‘Say Cheese!’

Gorgeous Gordie - The Pensioners Pin Up

Sat 8th & Sun 9th November - Cedar Open

I’d decided to book myself onto the Christmas Cheer match up at the Oaks on the 21st December, with a top prize of £500 and an evening do with a buffet and a raffle I thought why not?! To qualify for the match however, you need to fish 6 matches between the 1st November and the date of the match itself. With a free weekend just gone I decided to fish both Saturday and Sunday to get a couple out of the way. I arrived at the fishery at around 8am on the Saturday morning, ready for a bite to eat, get some bait and book on. The draw was to be at 9 and fish 10-3, just like our club matches we started 15 minutes late ;o)

Dave was holding the draw bag, my hand went in and out came peg 58, I asked him if it was a good peg and he paused before saying, yeah, yeah its alright, the pause told me everything! Today however I would have been glad to be in a peg out of the wind and actually fish my match how I wanted rather than the wind dictating how I approached it.

Thankfully when I pulled up at my peg I was 2nd peg into the point and therefore would have the wind on my back all day but would hopefully be able to fish my own match. I had Ian Bowman (Maver Barnsley) round the corner on peg 56, someone on 60 and Bob ‘The Builder’ Sinclair on 62 so I’d have to fish my heart out to get anything from the day.

Rigs for the day, I had two sedge rigs, a 4x10 and a 4x12 Malman Cedar on 0.12 Ultima, the lighter float had a hooklength of 0.10 Powerline to a Fox Carp Match 20 and the heavier float had a size 18 B611. Both sedge rigs were on 8 latex elastic. I also set up a track rig at 12m.

My main sedge line for the day was to be 14.5m to my right, tight to the sedges in front of the tree. I was able to use the same rig right across the swim as the depth was consistent. For bait I had a pint of whites and a few reds.

Time was called at 9:15 and I shipped out with the 4x10 rig out with a single red maggot and spent the first 45 minutes searching the swim, not feeding anything and simply fishing different lines for five minutes. If I didn’t get any indication I would simply drop it in a metre further down the bank. My efforts were finally rewarded when I slipped the net under a little ghostie of about a pound. The bloke on my left had also had 1 and peg 56 had nothing. I then decided to introduce a bit of feed to my main sedge line. I tipped in 4 maggots and swung my rig over the top. Within a few minutes the float dipped and a brief tussle entailed and soon I had an F1 of about a pound in the net. I managed a further 2 F1’s of a similar size before it went quiet again. I started to search around again but no look. Ian on peg 56 had started to put a few together and I think with 2 hours to go he 2 Ide, a Chub and 4 F1’s so I was 3 fish behind. The bloke on 60 had also had 4 fish by now.

By the last hour I had caught Ian up and on the final I had another fish on to mark the end of the match, I finished with 9 carp and one Ide. At the end of the match I was getting regular dips on the float but couldn’t connect. Ian finished with 9 fish in total and the bloke on 60 still only had the 4. It had fished hard but hopefully I could take away the knowledge of beating some of the regulars. Ghandi came round for the weigh in and Ian on peg 56 put 12lb 6oz on the scale so it was to be close. I managed 13lb dead so had beaten him and also the bloke on 60. Bob ‘The Builder’ weighed in 5lb so I felt I’d done ok. Mark Calvert weighed 16lb odd off 64, peg 66 had 20lb and 68 16lb odd.

Although I’d not won the section I was happy to beat the anglers immediately around me. I spoke to John Chapman after the match and he weighed 9lb 11oz so overall I’d not done too badly. James Dent won the match fishing corn and managed about 30lb I think.

Sunday came and with it winds of up to 40mph! Not gusts of 40mph, just constant all day! I drew peg 15, this time around Dave said that there were a few fish to be had there, again it was just a case of being able to fish!

For company I had Dave Pimlott on peg 17, Steve Sharples on 13 and Tony Koz on 11. The wind was to prove to be a problem with the gust coming from left to right through my swim. Due to me being on the end of the point it meant I couldn’t see how everyone else was doing so I’d have to guess they were doing well and try to do better myself.

Rigs were the same as yesterday and I had my remaining maggots from the day before as I’d probably only used a dozen from the pint! Today I also brought the bomb rod with me, I was glad I did as the wind was terrible!

To cut a long story short, the first two hours came and went and all I had were a few skimmers and gudgeon, the wind was as predicted and felt more like 100mph. the second two hours the winds remained but with it came a driving icy rain, I didn’t put the brolly up as I thought it would be more hassle than its worth so got cold and wet! I also remembered I’d torn the crotch on my waterproof trousers and so after a few hours had a little scare when I thought I was wetting myself, gladly to realise the rain was running off my jacket into tear! Phew!

I couldn’t feel my hands for the most of the match due them being so cold and seeing as I couldn’t fish further out than my top four I decided to chuck the bomb out and sit and wait until the tip went round. After 45 minutes of it being in the water the tip finally arced around and my first F1 was in the net. After that the wind and rain both subsided to I put the pole out to the same hole I’d got my bite from and nothing else, not even a liner. I managed a few more silvers before the final whistle but was more than relieved when time was called.

I tipped back to save embarrassment, Steve Sharples had ‘10’ for 17lb odd and Dave Pimlott had 13lb I think? Chappy managed 3rd with 25lb odd I think. Robbie managed to double default his section with 13lb 14oz. Stu tipped back 5 carp and for most it was a day to forget! I don’t think I’ve ever wanted a cuppa so much!

Anyway I’ll be back again next week; hopefully the weather will behave itself!