I’ve missed the last couple of matches due to holidays, weddings and performing at Lodestar Festival in Cambridge, I had however managed a trip up to the Oaks to fish Maple on the bank holiday Monday where I managed a few fish by switching between, pellet on the sedge, paste on the slope and corn down the edge.
Seeing as this season hasn’t been going too well for me I’ve started preparing for next season already, essentially I’ve compiled a list of hooklengths that I’ll need for any eventuality and there’s plenty to keep me busy once the cold nights draw in! With this however, means that I’m also just using what I’ve got for the rest of this season. I had plenty of rigs and hooklengths tied up but felt they were a bit light for fishing Maple (the fixture list had changed without me knowing) but I was just going to make do and have a days fishing.
By the time of the draw (still thinking we were fishing Maple) Owen had struck a quid and was drawn on 58 and I was to be on 40 for the day. Now on Maple I’d have rather been on 58 as I like it down that end.
Owen said “You were on 40 for the Intersite weren’t you?
“No” I replied, “but we’re on Maple today aren’t we?
“No, the fixture list was changed ages ago!”
Good job Owen filled me in on this vital information otherwise I’d have arrived at my peg and tried to kick some pleasure angler off their peg!
So as it turned out my rigs would be more than adequate for the day as they’re not as big in Cedar as they are in Maple.
I go to my peg and had Jonesy for company on 41, Martin Dodsworth on 43, Kev Armitage on 45, Bob the Builder on 37 and Tupperware on 35 to make up my section. So my first thought was why I was on 40 and not 39 to make it peg one miss one, but hey ho!
The wind was getting up as we were all setting up and knowing what Cedar is like when it’s windy I made sure to get the method rod set up mainly to protect the pole from any breakages. The sedges on peg 40 aren’t as good as I’d have hoped, there’s a decent patch on the right hand side but then there is a long mud line before a cut back stretch of sedges. Not wanting to fish long if I could help it, I set up a sedge rig for the right hand sedge at each end of it. I also set up another rig for fishing to the mud although I wasn’t too confident in it today with the wind being so strong. I’d imagine the fish would back off from the strong ripples in the shallow water (so with this in mind you’d think I’d set up a line down the track where it gave the fish some shelter and it would also be easier to control a rig, erm no, don’t know why I didn’t set one up here? Out of practice perhaps!). My final rig was to fish both margins with a corn attack seeing as it had paid off the last time on Cedar and also on Maple a couple of weeks ago.
At the all in I swung the cupping kit down each side to act as a marker and threw a couple of grains of corn down either side. It was then across to the sedge armed with a 4mm pellet and a fruit shoot half full of micros. I lowered the rig in slowly which was difficult against the wind and the tow and eventually tapped my bait in over the top. The wind was proving difficult even with an 18 inch lash and two bulked number 8’s as a backshot. Eventually I started getting a couple of indications, and after 20 minutes I put a gudgeon in the net followed by a skimmer, nect I had my first F1 at just over a pound, another skimmer and a further F1 were the ripe old pickings before the gudgeon moved in. this is where I’d have normally pushed into the shallower water but I was less confident catching there today due to the weather. I had a quick look down either edge and to my surprise I managed a lonely F1 off the left sedge. After a further five minutes down either edge I decided to big pot a handful of corn down either side and then go out on the method.
Even though I’d had a few practice cast to get the clip set the wind and added weight of the feed were making it not quite go to plan, perhaps I need to clip up with a heavier lead to compensate for the weight of the feed, the added weight obviously arcs the rod further round on the cast making it go a bit further than expected? However after my first couple of naff chucks I’d got the clip set to drop it in between the front of the sedges and the mud. After ten minutes the rod was tapping round and another F1 was in the net, I carried on in the same vain but to no avail.
So at the half way stage I had 5 F1’s of no particular size and a few bits, not quite going to plan, Jonesy was now catching well heavily feeding maggot down the edge and rumours of Bob catching well the other side of me so I was getting battered!
The second half of the match was pretty much the same as the first, a further two F1’s off the sedge, two little mirrors on the tip and another little mirror from the right hand edge. So six hours and only ten proper fish! Although I got the opinion that no one had caught particularly well so planned on weighing in to see if I’d won any of the quids.
Me and Jonesy were the only ones to weigh in on our section as the rumours about Bob catching were simply that, rumours!
The weigh in ensued and Gordon shouted “I hope you’ve got more than 20lb” hmmmm not quite I thought to myself, weighing in 12lb dead I had a look at the board and I’d done it, Gordon holding up the rear with 11lb 7oz! Jonesy then weighed 50lb odd to cement my battering! Ian Bailey who decided to join us for the day comfortably won the match fishing maggot to amass over 90lb.
Back at the café and it was a quid to Acko and a quid to Owen and just as I was finishing my tea and thinking what a crap days fishing it had been I was awarded our section prize! With me and Jonesy being the only ones to weigh in and Jonesy’s weight being good enough for second meant I got the section by default! I almost felt embarrassed winning the section with 12lb but as its my first pick up of the year I couldn’t care less, its not always about picking up in style now is it!
Tuesday 14 September 2010
Thursday 26 August 2010
July 25th - Brafferton F1 Lake, 1st August - Woodlands Curlew and 8th August - Woodlands Wagtail, 14th August - Northern Intersite (Cedar)
Having only fished the F1 Lake on one previous occasion (and not doing too well) I was more looking for a days fishing than a push for prizes. Come the draw I handed myself peg 64, this meant nothing to me until I got to my peg, I’d fished 63 on the previous match and with them both being on the end of the point, they’re essentially a mirror image of one another.
I set up a few lines to experiment with throughout the day, first of all was the method feeder, for a small chuck into a hole in the island. I then set up to fish the pole at 15m, to a couple of spots a foot or two away from the island, with the water being so shallow tight up. I then set up 2 shallow rigs, one to fish between a foot and 2 feet and the other to fish between a foot and a couple of inches. Finally I had a margin rig, set up to fish 4m to either side, there was a tempting bush to my left and the right was more open with the odd tuft of grass.
For company, I had Stu on 67, Woody on 69, Bri Gascoigne on 63 and Owen on 60. At the sound of the lacklustre hooter I set about feeding my margin lines each with a big pot of cat food. I then set about my pole line at 15m. Seeing as I’d seen Stu go straight over whilst I was feeding and caught two roach, seemingly on pellet, I decided to band a 6mm hard pellet instead to keep the roach at bay. I waited maybe half an hour before a proper bite but eventually snared 4 F1’s all around the 1.5lb mark. The swim died long after this run of fish and there were no swirls, tails or boils like there had been previous so I decided to have a quick look down the either edge, but after 5 minutes on either side I was just getting bitted out by small fish so I re-fed another big pot of cat food in both swims.
Due to the sun beating down and a healthy ripple on the surface it was time to have a go shallow. I fired out half a dozen pellets at 13m to my right, wind milled the rig a few times and let it settle for 20 seconds before repeating the process, it was hard work but eventually I started to put a run of fish together, much to my surprise as I often struggle to get them going shallow. I managed 8 in 8 chucks before the cloud came over and it got noticeably cooler, which probably sent them down a bit further, but with trying the deeper shallow rig I still wasn’t rewarded with any more fish.
A quick try on the method tight up to the island proved a worthy effort as I managed probably half a dozen before this also went dead, the trouble was keeping a run of fish together. I caught the odd fish rotating lines throughout the rest of the match and after going down the edge in the last hour I managed a total of 23 fish, which was far from off the pace as i didn’t have enough quantity or quality fish. I ended up with 23 fish for 37lb 8oz. Owen weighed 41lb odd, so that was once quid down. Stu next door had 70 odd, including some good fish down the edge from piling corn in, tip for the future! Acko won the match with 104lb 12oz so another quid down. Mr Thackwray hadn’t let me down though weighing in 27lb!
The following week we were up at Woodlands, I’ve not fished here this year yet so was looking forward to it, not that I do particularly well here but I at least tend to have a days fishing. We were to be split over Kestrel and Curlew, with 15 on Kestrel and 8 on Curlew. Stu gave the run down of the prizes which confused people more than anything and we were all under the impression that wherever you finished you’d get a payout! Come the draw I managed to snare peg 51, which worked out to be peg 11 on Curlew. Now peg 11 is one up from the corner peg 12, and with no one on 12 it meant I would have the corner to fish. I must admit I’m not a massive fan of fishing the corners as they tend to be feast or famine pegs. With Woodlands, it is good as you can see nearly everyone so you know how well you’re doing. I had Owen next door on peg 8, Gordon on peg 5, Vince on peg 2, opposite me was Cooksy on 14, Stu on 17, Les Bolton on 20 and finally Woody on 23.
Rig wise, I had the method set up for fishing the boards, I had a margin rig for either side and a line at 13m, with a rig for the deck and also a shallow rig should the conditions suit. When setting my clip for the method, I was on maybe my 3rd practice cast, when I foul hooked a decent carp with a bare hook! I played the fish for 5 minutes before we parted company, thankfully I didn’t get in netting distance as I’d not set my landing net up! It must have been solid I thought, however, the doubt was also in my mind that that little episode would have scared them all off, perhaps I’d have been better landing it?
At the all in I fed both margins with a potful of corn and some pellets out to the 13m line. I then cast the method to the boards and fired a couple of 8mm pellets over the top. To cut a very long story short, I didn’t have a fish or even a proper bite in 5 hours! Thankfully on the stroke of the last hour I swapped the method for the straight lead and managed my first fish, an F1 around a pound and a half! After this first fish I eventually managed 9 fish off the tip in 20 minutes, but as soon as they arrived, they disappeared! Two skimmers off the margin and I was done!
So I had 9 fish which totalled 23lb, Gordon had a dozen fish for 50lb and Owen next door had 12 also for 74lb! Why can’t I catch the bigger ones eh? Cooksy opposite had caught all day, similar fish to mine and weighed a big 50 I think. Les managed 123lb, I was sick off listening to his baitrunner by the end of the match, and Woody managed 109lb! So a crap day, and another £2 down!
The 8th of August saw me return to Woodlands again, upon getting out of the car, I was greeted by Acko and Andy, who informed me that Nige thought I’d joined Territorial Army? This was later explained that putting “Ta, Steve” at the end of a text was perhaps a little confusing, although everyone else seemed to be aware it purely meant thanks?!
The match was split over Wagtail and Curlew and my home for the day was to be Wagtail, I can’t remember the peg number, but it was in a corner, on the Kestrel side bank of the lake and the opposite end of the lake to Curlew. After my rather disastrous match the week previous I had slightly revised my plan of attack in the hope that I could snare a few more fish!
I had a rig for my right hand edge as I couldn’t comfortably the left hand side, I trimmed back as much foliage as I could without falling in and it turned out to be a lovely little spot just under an overhanging bush at a top 2 plus 2. I had another line at 14m for fishing pellet both on the deck and shallow. To finish I had the bomb set up for fishing tight to the boards and also straight out in front. Bait for the day I had a couple of tins of corn as a change bait, six pints of 6mm pellets for the pole lines and 2 pints of 8mm for the bomb. I’d also borrowed a bait drill off Uncle Les to try quickstops as an alternative to banding the pellet on the bomb.
At the all in I fed the margin as well as my open water line and then pursued the open water bomb line, flicking a couple of 8mm pellets over the top every few minutes. I was feeding the same amount towards the boards as an alternative cast. It was a slow start but after half an hour I managed to hook my first fish, a carp of about 1.5lb. I carried on with this line picking off the odd fish but it wasn’t happening quick enough and the fish weren’t big enough. I decided to have a go on the open water pole line but after 20 minutes of not even a liner I decided to re-feed and have a quick look down the edge. The same happened here so it was another re-feed and back out on the bomb. This is how it went on for the rest of the match however I did manage to land a carp of 5lb which was my biggest fish of the day, although it took me the best part of 5 hours and 4 pints of pellets to tempt it down the edge! I understand when people say “sometimes, they just aint there”, but its every week they’re not there for me!
Anyway, my lake was won with 69lb by Les, I weighed 44lb odd and forfeited a quid to Acko however gained one back off Mr Thackwray! Rab won the other lake and the match outright with 121lb, all caught down the edge, it must have been solid!
On to my final match of this blog, after 12 months of anticipation the Northern Intersite match was back again up at Sessay. This year with 9 teams and a total of 62 anglers it was all prepped to be a good event. After the painstaking process of gathering monies and sorting the teams out we could then anticipate the number of anglers in attendance to get the match pegged out. We had Alders and Cedar this year, so put 40 on Cedar, every other peg, and then did Alders peg two miss one. So there were a few pegs left at the end but it was the only way to do it. Once everything was sorted the team captains came to draw their teams pegs, it was amazing how some captains managed to draw nearly all cedar or all Alders rather than a more even split. Talk Angling were to draw last and with only five of our 6 man minimum team we were behind before we started! I managed to snare peg 19, which is a couple up from the outside corner on 21. I had Tim “Ringer” Moran on 15 so had my work cut out, I also recognised a couple of faces from previous years also.
We had an age to set up so there was no excuses for not being prepared today. With this in mind I got cracking with getting more stuff together than I needed but it would hopefully pay off! I had a little Preston method set up on a 10ft Shakespeare Mach1 XT teamed with a Shimano Catana Reel loaded with 5.5lb Preston Direct Mono.
I had a 3 inch hooklink of 0.16 Ultima Power Match with a hair rigged micro band and a size 18 PR36.
Rig wise, I had one set up for in front of the sedges. I had two mud lines on this peg so I was hoping to switch between them to keep the fish coming. I plumbed up in front of all the sedges and found that there was only an inch difference max. For this line I set up a 4x12 Malman Cedar on 0.12 Ultima Power match to a hooklink of 0.11 Powerline to a size 16 Gamakatsu Pellet hook.
My second pole rig was for fishing further up the slope. Although there wasn’t the change in grade I was hoping for, it was nice and flat. This rig was the same as the sedge rig apart from a 4x10 Malman Cedar. Both Rigs were teamed with 12 latex.
My final rig was for down my left hand edge, this would hopefully only be used as a backup! This was again a 4x12 Malman Cedar, this time on 0.14 Ultima Power Match, to a hooklink of 0.12 of the same material to a size 14 B911.
For bait today, I had some Fin Perfect Micros which I’d left to soak for an hour so they were nice and springy, I had some 4mm Ringers expanders for the pole lines across and some hard 6mm pellets for the method. For down the edge I had catfood and corn. I like to mix a bit of water with my catfood to get a nice soup, this way it dissipates in the water a bit quicker and doesn’t just sit as a clump on the bottom, the corn was to be used as a loosefeed over the top, as its quite difficult to loosefeed catmeat!
The all in sounded at 11am and the match was underway, I fed a pot of catmeat down the edge and then it was onto the sedge line. The action was far from instant and I didn’t have my first fish in the net until 15 minutes in, and this was a gudgeon! After a couple more gudgeon, roach and skimmers I went onto the other sedge and was instantly rewarded with my first carp, be it a stocky of about 6oz. I put a few more in the net and ended alternating between both sedges. After the action had died down a bit I decided to change rig and search a bit further up the mud for them. This worked a treat but only until the wind came howling through. Rather than persevere and get annoyed with myself, I switched straight over to the method and bounced it off the mud into the shallows. The method was a lot slower but I was managing the odd fish, although still only small stuff.
Towards the middle of the match the far bank lines had all but faded and the action was very slow. With this in mind I had a go down the edge. Baited up with single corn I dropped in and got a good F1 at over a pound. A few grains of corn flicked in whilst I was playing it and it was plain sailing, I think I managed another 3 or 4 before the bites dried up again.
I ended up switching between the far bank and the margin picking off 3 or 4 fish before resting it and this worked a treat right to the end of the match. None of the fish were of any size but I was always putting something in the net. Come the last hour after catching on and off and not really keeping my mind on how much I had I thought I’d start using my second net, I knew I had no way near 50lb but thought it might be interesting to see how much I could catch in the last hour now I got into a bit of a rhythm!
The match was brought to an end at 4pm and I’d really enjoyed it, i’d caught plenty of fish even if I didn’t have a massive weight to show for it. I ended up weighing in 39lb13oz which turned out to be 4oz less than section winner BudNudd, the odd dropped skimmer to blame there perhaps! I’d also beaten Owen for the first time this I think as he weighed in 20 odd. Woody managed a section win and a 7lb grass carp for the big fish award off Alders too.
Overall it was a very good day and Talk Angling didn’t come last even though we were a man short, well done team! Congratulations to Total Fishing for winning overall.
Roll on next year!
I set up a few lines to experiment with throughout the day, first of all was the method feeder, for a small chuck into a hole in the island. I then set up to fish the pole at 15m, to a couple of spots a foot or two away from the island, with the water being so shallow tight up. I then set up 2 shallow rigs, one to fish between a foot and 2 feet and the other to fish between a foot and a couple of inches. Finally I had a margin rig, set up to fish 4m to either side, there was a tempting bush to my left and the right was more open with the odd tuft of grass.
For company, I had Stu on 67, Woody on 69, Bri Gascoigne on 63 and Owen on 60. At the sound of the lacklustre hooter I set about feeding my margin lines each with a big pot of cat food. I then set about my pole line at 15m. Seeing as I’d seen Stu go straight over whilst I was feeding and caught two roach, seemingly on pellet, I decided to band a 6mm hard pellet instead to keep the roach at bay. I waited maybe half an hour before a proper bite but eventually snared 4 F1’s all around the 1.5lb mark. The swim died long after this run of fish and there were no swirls, tails or boils like there had been previous so I decided to have a quick look down the either edge, but after 5 minutes on either side I was just getting bitted out by small fish so I re-fed another big pot of cat food in both swims.
Due to the sun beating down and a healthy ripple on the surface it was time to have a go shallow. I fired out half a dozen pellets at 13m to my right, wind milled the rig a few times and let it settle for 20 seconds before repeating the process, it was hard work but eventually I started to put a run of fish together, much to my surprise as I often struggle to get them going shallow. I managed 8 in 8 chucks before the cloud came over and it got noticeably cooler, which probably sent them down a bit further, but with trying the deeper shallow rig I still wasn’t rewarded with any more fish.
A quick try on the method tight up to the island proved a worthy effort as I managed probably half a dozen before this also went dead, the trouble was keeping a run of fish together. I caught the odd fish rotating lines throughout the rest of the match and after going down the edge in the last hour I managed a total of 23 fish, which was far from off the pace as i didn’t have enough quantity or quality fish. I ended up with 23 fish for 37lb 8oz. Owen weighed 41lb odd, so that was once quid down. Stu next door had 70 odd, including some good fish down the edge from piling corn in, tip for the future! Acko won the match with 104lb 12oz so another quid down. Mr Thackwray hadn’t let me down though weighing in 27lb!
The following week we were up at Woodlands, I’ve not fished here this year yet so was looking forward to it, not that I do particularly well here but I at least tend to have a days fishing. We were to be split over Kestrel and Curlew, with 15 on Kestrel and 8 on Curlew. Stu gave the run down of the prizes which confused people more than anything and we were all under the impression that wherever you finished you’d get a payout! Come the draw I managed to snare peg 51, which worked out to be peg 11 on Curlew. Now peg 11 is one up from the corner peg 12, and with no one on 12 it meant I would have the corner to fish. I must admit I’m not a massive fan of fishing the corners as they tend to be feast or famine pegs. With Woodlands, it is good as you can see nearly everyone so you know how well you’re doing. I had Owen next door on peg 8, Gordon on peg 5, Vince on peg 2, opposite me was Cooksy on 14, Stu on 17, Les Bolton on 20 and finally Woody on 23.
Rig wise, I had the method set up for fishing the boards, I had a margin rig for either side and a line at 13m, with a rig for the deck and also a shallow rig should the conditions suit. When setting my clip for the method, I was on maybe my 3rd practice cast, when I foul hooked a decent carp with a bare hook! I played the fish for 5 minutes before we parted company, thankfully I didn’t get in netting distance as I’d not set my landing net up! It must have been solid I thought, however, the doubt was also in my mind that that little episode would have scared them all off, perhaps I’d have been better landing it?
At the all in I fed both margins with a potful of corn and some pellets out to the 13m line. I then cast the method to the boards and fired a couple of 8mm pellets over the top. To cut a very long story short, I didn’t have a fish or even a proper bite in 5 hours! Thankfully on the stroke of the last hour I swapped the method for the straight lead and managed my first fish, an F1 around a pound and a half! After this first fish I eventually managed 9 fish off the tip in 20 minutes, but as soon as they arrived, they disappeared! Two skimmers off the margin and I was done!
So I had 9 fish which totalled 23lb, Gordon had a dozen fish for 50lb and Owen next door had 12 also for 74lb! Why can’t I catch the bigger ones eh? Cooksy opposite had caught all day, similar fish to mine and weighed a big 50 I think. Les managed 123lb, I was sick off listening to his baitrunner by the end of the match, and Woody managed 109lb! So a crap day, and another £2 down!
The 8th of August saw me return to Woodlands again, upon getting out of the car, I was greeted by Acko and Andy, who informed me that Nige thought I’d joined Territorial Army? This was later explained that putting “Ta, Steve” at the end of a text was perhaps a little confusing, although everyone else seemed to be aware it purely meant thanks?!
The match was split over Wagtail and Curlew and my home for the day was to be Wagtail, I can’t remember the peg number, but it was in a corner, on the Kestrel side bank of the lake and the opposite end of the lake to Curlew. After my rather disastrous match the week previous I had slightly revised my plan of attack in the hope that I could snare a few more fish!
I had a rig for my right hand edge as I couldn’t comfortably the left hand side, I trimmed back as much foliage as I could without falling in and it turned out to be a lovely little spot just under an overhanging bush at a top 2 plus 2. I had another line at 14m for fishing pellet both on the deck and shallow. To finish I had the bomb set up for fishing tight to the boards and also straight out in front. Bait for the day I had a couple of tins of corn as a change bait, six pints of 6mm pellets for the pole lines and 2 pints of 8mm for the bomb. I’d also borrowed a bait drill off Uncle Les to try quickstops as an alternative to banding the pellet on the bomb.
At the all in I fed the margin as well as my open water line and then pursued the open water bomb line, flicking a couple of 8mm pellets over the top every few minutes. I was feeding the same amount towards the boards as an alternative cast. It was a slow start but after half an hour I managed to hook my first fish, a carp of about 1.5lb. I carried on with this line picking off the odd fish but it wasn’t happening quick enough and the fish weren’t big enough. I decided to have a go on the open water pole line but after 20 minutes of not even a liner I decided to re-feed and have a quick look down the edge. The same happened here so it was another re-feed and back out on the bomb. This is how it went on for the rest of the match however I did manage to land a carp of 5lb which was my biggest fish of the day, although it took me the best part of 5 hours and 4 pints of pellets to tempt it down the edge! I understand when people say “sometimes, they just aint there”, but its every week they’re not there for me!
Anyway, my lake was won with 69lb by Les, I weighed 44lb odd and forfeited a quid to Acko however gained one back off Mr Thackwray! Rab won the other lake and the match outright with 121lb, all caught down the edge, it must have been solid!
On to my final match of this blog, after 12 months of anticipation the Northern Intersite match was back again up at Sessay. This year with 9 teams and a total of 62 anglers it was all prepped to be a good event. After the painstaking process of gathering monies and sorting the teams out we could then anticipate the number of anglers in attendance to get the match pegged out. We had Alders and Cedar this year, so put 40 on Cedar, every other peg, and then did Alders peg two miss one. So there were a few pegs left at the end but it was the only way to do it. Once everything was sorted the team captains came to draw their teams pegs, it was amazing how some captains managed to draw nearly all cedar or all Alders rather than a more even split. Talk Angling were to draw last and with only five of our 6 man minimum team we were behind before we started! I managed to snare peg 19, which is a couple up from the outside corner on 21. I had Tim “Ringer” Moran on 15 so had my work cut out, I also recognised a couple of faces from previous years also.
We had an age to set up so there was no excuses for not being prepared today. With this in mind I got cracking with getting more stuff together than I needed but it would hopefully pay off! I had a little Preston method set up on a 10ft Shakespeare Mach1 XT teamed with a Shimano Catana Reel loaded with 5.5lb Preston Direct Mono.
I had a 3 inch hooklink of 0.16 Ultima Power Match with a hair rigged micro band and a size 18 PR36.
Rig wise, I had one set up for in front of the sedges. I had two mud lines on this peg so I was hoping to switch between them to keep the fish coming. I plumbed up in front of all the sedges and found that there was only an inch difference max. For this line I set up a 4x12 Malman Cedar on 0.12 Ultima Power match to a hooklink of 0.11 Powerline to a size 16 Gamakatsu Pellet hook.
My second pole rig was for fishing further up the slope. Although there wasn’t the change in grade I was hoping for, it was nice and flat. This rig was the same as the sedge rig apart from a 4x10 Malman Cedar. Both Rigs were teamed with 12 latex.
My final rig was for down my left hand edge, this would hopefully only be used as a backup! This was again a 4x12 Malman Cedar, this time on 0.14 Ultima Power Match, to a hooklink of 0.12 of the same material to a size 14 B911.
For bait today, I had some Fin Perfect Micros which I’d left to soak for an hour so they were nice and springy, I had some 4mm Ringers expanders for the pole lines across and some hard 6mm pellets for the method. For down the edge I had catfood and corn. I like to mix a bit of water with my catfood to get a nice soup, this way it dissipates in the water a bit quicker and doesn’t just sit as a clump on the bottom, the corn was to be used as a loosefeed over the top, as its quite difficult to loosefeed catmeat!
The all in sounded at 11am and the match was underway, I fed a pot of catmeat down the edge and then it was onto the sedge line. The action was far from instant and I didn’t have my first fish in the net until 15 minutes in, and this was a gudgeon! After a couple more gudgeon, roach and skimmers I went onto the other sedge and was instantly rewarded with my first carp, be it a stocky of about 6oz. I put a few more in the net and ended alternating between both sedges. After the action had died down a bit I decided to change rig and search a bit further up the mud for them. This worked a treat but only until the wind came howling through. Rather than persevere and get annoyed with myself, I switched straight over to the method and bounced it off the mud into the shallows. The method was a lot slower but I was managing the odd fish, although still only small stuff.
Towards the middle of the match the far bank lines had all but faded and the action was very slow. With this in mind I had a go down the edge. Baited up with single corn I dropped in and got a good F1 at over a pound. A few grains of corn flicked in whilst I was playing it and it was plain sailing, I think I managed another 3 or 4 before the bites dried up again.
I ended up switching between the far bank and the margin picking off 3 or 4 fish before resting it and this worked a treat right to the end of the match. None of the fish were of any size but I was always putting something in the net. Come the last hour after catching on and off and not really keeping my mind on how much I had I thought I’d start using my second net, I knew I had no way near 50lb but thought it might be interesting to see how much I could catch in the last hour now I got into a bit of a rhythm!
The match was brought to an end at 4pm and I’d really enjoyed it, i’d caught plenty of fish even if I didn’t have a massive weight to show for it. I ended up weighing in 39lb13oz which turned out to be 4oz less than section winner BudNudd, the odd dropped skimmer to blame there perhaps! I’d also beaten Owen for the first time this I think as he weighed in 20 odd. Woody managed a section win and a 7lb grass carp for the big fish award off Alders too.
Overall it was a very good day and Talk Angling didn’t come last even though we were a man short, well done team! Congratulations to Total Fishing for winning overall.
Roll on next year!
Thursday 22 July 2010
Maple 6th June, Cedar 13th June, Maple 27th June, Weeton 11th July, Maple 18th July
Maple 6th June – Regrettably I didn’t have time for a blog last week, so here is a quick recap, I drew peg 21, with a spare peg to my right, and what I thought to be a couple of spare pegs to my left, until an overslept Nige turned up on peg 19.
I had my usual rigs set up for fishing in about 12 inches of water as well as a deeper rig for in front of the sedges. I also had a paste rig set up for 13m which put me on a nice flat spot on the shelf.
To cut a long story short, as always on Maple and Cedar, I caught a few fish from the off but couldn’t keep them coming into the second hour, this is where I hoped my paste line would come good, although I put a few fish in the net from the paste line, it was difficult watching Nige bagging up next to me, I spent more time watching Nige’s float than my own, trying to glean some tips for me to use in future sessions. I ended up weighing in 31lb 4oz, Nige weighed 111lb. This was by far the runaway weight; I think Stu and Bob came 2nd and 3rd with 55lb and 54lb.
Oh and I lost another quid to Owen….fortunately Acko and Gordy weren’t in attendance so that inevitably spared my blushes!
On to Cedar 13th June, due to me being the generous bloke that I am, I’d lent the girlfriend my car for the weekend as hers is, shall we say, buggared. So thankfully Mr Thackwray had agreed to pick me up. I must admit, waking up at 7 o clock was an absolute nightmare, a full day on the pop for Knaresborough Bed Race had taken place on the Saturday so I was feeling more than a little sorry for myself, so much so I had a bottle of Lucozade for my breakfast when we got to the Café and declined the normal big brekkie!
Come the draw I wasn’t too fussed where I drew and as normal hung back to let everyone else decide my fate, much to Gordon’s displeasure as he wanted to be off, he’d drawn peg 11 and peg 12 had won it the day before.
When I got to my peg I set up 2 rigs which would hopefully cover all my options. I had a pellet rig for 18 inches of water which could be fished in 3 or 4 swims on the far bank. After the “paste”ing I got off Nige the other week I decided to set up a paste line again midway up the far shelf.
At the all in I went across and managed to snare 6 small F1’s in as many chucks and after the first half an hour I was probably on 8lb or so. When this swim dried up I alternated between swims but only picked up the odd fish. A lot of these fish I could swing in so I wasn’t building a weight very quickly!
Throughout the middle of the match it was a case of catch a couple and then weight whilst alternating swims, nothing much was doing however! Whether on the pellet or getting frustrated by the lack of hitting bites on the paste. I felt I’d started to get to grips with paste on venues last year, be it in deeper water and bigger fish however.
Come the final hour I started putting a few fish into the net again and Owen said I must have had 40lb now, however I was more of the opinion I wouldn’t have even had 25lb, the last 30 minutes proved fruitful and I put a few more in the net before time was called.
Come the weigh in and our section was very close in deed, Cromie on peg 1 weighed 39lb 12oz, Woody on peg 2 weighed 36lb 12oz, Stu Whit on peg 4 36lb dead, myself 36lb 12oz, until Owen raised the bar with 41lb. Owen ended up with a default section as Nige had again sacked up with 62lb off peg 10 to claim another victory, Gordon on 11 had weighed in just over 40lb so that was me now £2 down. The pressure was on Acko now who unfortunately for him, weighed in a dismal 34lb, must try harder eh?! One quid back!
Overall it was a very tight match with only a couple of weights breaking away from the pack.
Onto Maple 27th June, and again it proved rather fruitless in more ways than one (including England’s dismal display against the Germans which could be heard on fivelive around the entire complex!) two weeks previous I had drawn peg 21, well this week, I was on 20. With only 2 pegs left in the bag I drew this instead of 43, which I’d have preferred in all honesty.
I already had my rigs set up, one for in front of the sedges, one for 12 inches and a paste rig. Once the all in kicked off I managed to foul hook and lose 3 decent fish off the front of the sedges, which essentially scuppered that plan so was forced onto the paste line earlier than expected. I managed to put a few fish in the net but was again getting pestered by bits even after switching to a harder paste. Rotating back through the pellet lines just added to my annoyance, shipping out 15m so often to just bring back a gudgeon or knocked off pellet was taking its toll!
The main problem was the state of my pellets, I’d kept them in the shade all day but they were crispy to say the least mid way through the match. Rather than carry on with them I pumped a new batch which were the other way, to soggy. I just couldn’t get them right on the day, maybe I need to try new hooker pellets? Currently I use the Ringers and Dynamite Bait Betaine’s but after the weekend I’ve lost faith in both of them. I could do with knowing how to keep pellets in good condition throughout a match too if anyone has any ideas?
By the end of the match I weighed in a dismal 19lb 8oz, another quid lost to Owen and Acko and a thorough beating from either side!
Rab came 3rd with 67lb off peg 49 ish, Robbie came 2nd with 84lb off peg 51 ish and Honest John managed a match win of 89lb from peg 1.
I definitely need to have a rethink before the next match I’m available to fish, which coincidentally is again on Maple, so far this year, when I have been able to get out its always been at the Oaks, you’d have thought I’d be getting to grips with the place by now!
With no club match on the weekend of 10/11 July I decided to go down to Weeton for some silver bagging and hopefully a few carp too! In tow were my mate Joe and also my dad who hasn’t fished in around 8 years. We got to the lake at about 8:30 and with it being a small fishery and a few people already there I decided to get us all set up on 3 pegs in a row so I could be on hand if either of them needed any help. I set my dad up on peg 2 with a feeder, I would be on peg one and Joe on the end peg (not sure what number).
With the feeder already set up my dad was fishing within 5 minutes and then I could concentrate on getting Joe set up to fish for Ide at about 7m. I was to do the same but fishing at 10m. We were both in the resident Ide from 4oz up to 2lb where as my dad was struggling for any indications on the tip. After a good mornings sport with the silver fish, Joe and I fed the margins with some pellets and went and had a spot of lunch behind my dad, who by now had caught a skimmer a carp or two. I’d given him a catty to spray a few pellets over the top which seemed to do the trick in luring a few fish in, that and an improvement in casting throughout the day eventually started to put some fish in the net.
After a quick bite to eat it was back to fishing down the margins for some carp. I had a carp of about a pound first put in before a few skimmers, a proper bream and then my first decent carp of about 3lb. Joe wasn’t getting any signs down his edge so a couple of nuggets of pellets down to the other side and he was also soon into fish. I managed to snare a couple of better carp, one about 5-6lb and my biggest fish of the day of nearly 8lb. I managed to get snapped 4 times throughout the day, which makes it interesting when your fishing and you don’t know if you’re striking into a skimmer or a double figure steam train!
We packed up around 4:30 and seeing as my scales only go up to 25lb I decided we’d guesstimate the weight of the nets as weighing in would have been a pain and just weigh our biggest fish. My dads keepnet came out first and he’ll have had a good 30-35lb made up around 11-12 fish with a biggest fish of 5lb8oz. I was next with about 60lb, 50/50 silvers to carp with a biggest fish of 7lb 12oz, finally Joe, who had 35-40lb and a biggest fish of 5lb 8oz also.
So a cracking days sport for all and a nice change to pleasure fish and catch a decent bag of fish for once!
Back up to Maple on the 18th July, after catching a few the week before I was in two minds on how to approach Maple this week, I’d even said to Owen in the café that I was tempted to fish maggot, in fewer words he told me not to bother and get on the mud line with pellet. Come the draw I managed to snare peg 58 which I was pretty pleased with, I had a section win off here with 38lb last year so had a bit of confidence going to my peg. I decided to sack the paste line off this week and concentrate on the pellet and try to make it work rather than constantly switching between lines. I had Bob the Builder on peg 56 and Mick Ayre on 60 for company.
So with in mind, I soaked some micro’s and prepared some hooker pellets. I set up a rig 2.5ft deep with a Malman Cedar 4x12 and a 4x10 of the same float for up in the mud, where I also had a mound of soil that had collapsed from the banking. Both rigs were on 0.14 Ultima power match mainline with an 0.12 hooklength of the same material, hooks were size 16 Preston PR21’s or 24’s perhaps, whichever the spade end ones are?!
As usual Gordon had waited for Bob to leave his box before blowing the hooter, I told Bob he had to give me a 2 fish head start, which to start with went “well”, I had a gudgeon first put in before losing 3 foul hookers, I finally managed to hook my first carp and second fish, coincidentally Bob was also into his first fish. I managed to put 10 or 11 carp in the net in the first hour along with a few roach, the only downside being that all my carp were 10-12oz, so I’d need a few more to build any sort of weight. Over the rest of the match I alternated between 4 sedge lines and picked up the odd fish but into the last hour I was miles off the pace and needed a couple of bonus fish, purely for morale rather than any prizes. I put a good handful of pellets in on the mudline and within ten minutes tails were wagging all over the place! I shipped across into the shallow water and after five minutes hooked and landed a good size mirror of about 6lb, after it thrashing in the net and snapping my rig, I put a hefty rig on of 0.18 and an 0.16 hooklength to hopefully guide a few more out from the far bank. I managed a few liners and a foul hooker before a 4lb ghostie on time.
So another relatively disappointing day on Maple, and not being able to keep a run of fish going. Nige won once again with 114lb, again on paste, Jim Atkinson had bagged 70lb off peg 54 also with paste, there were a few 50’s and also some single figure weights to mix things up a bit! Owen weighed 53lb, Acko had 40 odd I think which meant my 32-13 was far from the pace and was therefore £2 down. Thankfully Superstar Thackwray could only manage 18lb, however he buggared off before giving me yet another trophy pound! Never mind, I’ll just have two off him next week!
I had my usual rigs set up for fishing in about 12 inches of water as well as a deeper rig for in front of the sedges. I also had a paste rig set up for 13m which put me on a nice flat spot on the shelf.
To cut a long story short, as always on Maple and Cedar, I caught a few fish from the off but couldn’t keep them coming into the second hour, this is where I hoped my paste line would come good, although I put a few fish in the net from the paste line, it was difficult watching Nige bagging up next to me, I spent more time watching Nige’s float than my own, trying to glean some tips for me to use in future sessions. I ended up weighing in 31lb 4oz, Nige weighed 111lb. This was by far the runaway weight; I think Stu and Bob came 2nd and 3rd with 55lb and 54lb.
Oh and I lost another quid to Owen….fortunately Acko and Gordy weren’t in attendance so that inevitably spared my blushes!
On to Cedar 13th June, due to me being the generous bloke that I am, I’d lent the girlfriend my car for the weekend as hers is, shall we say, buggared. So thankfully Mr Thackwray had agreed to pick me up. I must admit, waking up at 7 o clock was an absolute nightmare, a full day on the pop for Knaresborough Bed Race had taken place on the Saturday so I was feeling more than a little sorry for myself, so much so I had a bottle of Lucozade for my breakfast when we got to the Café and declined the normal big brekkie!
Come the draw I wasn’t too fussed where I drew and as normal hung back to let everyone else decide my fate, much to Gordon’s displeasure as he wanted to be off, he’d drawn peg 11 and peg 12 had won it the day before.
When I got to my peg I set up 2 rigs which would hopefully cover all my options. I had a pellet rig for 18 inches of water which could be fished in 3 or 4 swims on the far bank. After the “paste”ing I got off Nige the other week I decided to set up a paste line again midway up the far shelf.
At the all in I went across and managed to snare 6 small F1’s in as many chucks and after the first half an hour I was probably on 8lb or so. When this swim dried up I alternated between swims but only picked up the odd fish. A lot of these fish I could swing in so I wasn’t building a weight very quickly!
Throughout the middle of the match it was a case of catch a couple and then weight whilst alternating swims, nothing much was doing however! Whether on the pellet or getting frustrated by the lack of hitting bites on the paste. I felt I’d started to get to grips with paste on venues last year, be it in deeper water and bigger fish however.
Come the final hour I started putting a few fish into the net again and Owen said I must have had 40lb now, however I was more of the opinion I wouldn’t have even had 25lb, the last 30 minutes proved fruitful and I put a few more in the net before time was called.
Come the weigh in and our section was very close in deed, Cromie on peg 1 weighed 39lb 12oz, Woody on peg 2 weighed 36lb 12oz, Stu Whit on peg 4 36lb dead, myself 36lb 12oz, until Owen raised the bar with 41lb. Owen ended up with a default section as Nige had again sacked up with 62lb off peg 10 to claim another victory, Gordon on 11 had weighed in just over 40lb so that was me now £2 down. The pressure was on Acko now who unfortunately for him, weighed in a dismal 34lb, must try harder eh?! One quid back!
Overall it was a very tight match with only a couple of weights breaking away from the pack.
Onto Maple 27th June, and again it proved rather fruitless in more ways than one (including England’s dismal display against the Germans which could be heard on fivelive around the entire complex!) two weeks previous I had drawn peg 21, well this week, I was on 20. With only 2 pegs left in the bag I drew this instead of 43, which I’d have preferred in all honesty.
I already had my rigs set up, one for in front of the sedges, one for 12 inches and a paste rig. Once the all in kicked off I managed to foul hook and lose 3 decent fish off the front of the sedges, which essentially scuppered that plan so was forced onto the paste line earlier than expected. I managed to put a few fish in the net but was again getting pestered by bits even after switching to a harder paste. Rotating back through the pellet lines just added to my annoyance, shipping out 15m so often to just bring back a gudgeon or knocked off pellet was taking its toll!
The main problem was the state of my pellets, I’d kept them in the shade all day but they were crispy to say the least mid way through the match. Rather than carry on with them I pumped a new batch which were the other way, to soggy. I just couldn’t get them right on the day, maybe I need to try new hooker pellets? Currently I use the Ringers and Dynamite Bait Betaine’s but after the weekend I’ve lost faith in both of them. I could do with knowing how to keep pellets in good condition throughout a match too if anyone has any ideas?
By the end of the match I weighed in a dismal 19lb 8oz, another quid lost to Owen and Acko and a thorough beating from either side!
Rab came 3rd with 67lb off peg 49 ish, Robbie came 2nd with 84lb off peg 51 ish and Honest John managed a match win of 89lb from peg 1.
I definitely need to have a rethink before the next match I’m available to fish, which coincidentally is again on Maple, so far this year, when I have been able to get out its always been at the Oaks, you’d have thought I’d be getting to grips with the place by now!
With no club match on the weekend of 10/11 July I decided to go down to Weeton for some silver bagging and hopefully a few carp too! In tow were my mate Joe and also my dad who hasn’t fished in around 8 years. We got to the lake at about 8:30 and with it being a small fishery and a few people already there I decided to get us all set up on 3 pegs in a row so I could be on hand if either of them needed any help. I set my dad up on peg 2 with a feeder, I would be on peg one and Joe on the end peg (not sure what number).
With the feeder already set up my dad was fishing within 5 minutes and then I could concentrate on getting Joe set up to fish for Ide at about 7m. I was to do the same but fishing at 10m. We were both in the resident Ide from 4oz up to 2lb where as my dad was struggling for any indications on the tip. After a good mornings sport with the silver fish, Joe and I fed the margins with some pellets and went and had a spot of lunch behind my dad, who by now had caught a skimmer a carp or two. I’d given him a catty to spray a few pellets over the top which seemed to do the trick in luring a few fish in, that and an improvement in casting throughout the day eventually started to put some fish in the net.
After a quick bite to eat it was back to fishing down the margins for some carp. I had a carp of about a pound first put in before a few skimmers, a proper bream and then my first decent carp of about 3lb. Joe wasn’t getting any signs down his edge so a couple of nuggets of pellets down to the other side and he was also soon into fish. I managed to snare a couple of better carp, one about 5-6lb and my biggest fish of the day of nearly 8lb. I managed to get snapped 4 times throughout the day, which makes it interesting when your fishing and you don’t know if you’re striking into a skimmer or a double figure steam train!
We packed up around 4:30 and seeing as my scales only go up to 25lb I decided we’d guesstimate the weight of the nets as weighing in would have been a pain and just weigh our biggest fish. My dads keepnet came out first and he’ll have had a good 30-35lb made up around 11-12 fish with a biggest fish of 5lb8oz. I was next with about 60lb, 50/50 silvers to carp with a biggest fish of 7lb 12oz, finally Joe, who had 35-40lb and a biggest fish of 5lb 8oz also.
So a cracking days sport for all and a nice change to pleasure fish and catch a decent bag of fish for once!
Back up to Maple on the 18th July, after catching a few the week before I was in two minds on how to approach Maple this week, I’d even said to Owen in the café that I was tempted to fish maggot, in fewer words he told me not to bother and get on the mud line with pellet. Come the draw I managed to snare peg 58 which I was pretty pleased with, I had a section win off here with 38lb last year so had a bit of confidence going to my peg. I decided to sack the paste line off this week and concentrate on the pellet and try to make it work rather than constantly switching between lines. I had Bob the Builder on peg 56 and Mick Ayre on 60 for company.
So with in mind, I soaked some micro’s and prepared some hooker pellets. I set up a rig 2.5ft deep with a Malman Cedar 4x12 and a 4x10 of the same float for up in the mud, where I also had a mound of soil that had collapsed from the banking. Both rigs were on 0.14 Ultima power match mainline with an 0.12 hooklength of the same material, hooks were size 16 Preston PR21’s or 24’s perhaps, whichever the spade end ones are?!
As usual Gordon had waited for Bob to leave his box before blowing the hooter, I told Bob he had to give me a 2 fish head start, which to start with went “well”, I had a gudgeon first put in before losing 3 foul hookers, I finally managed to hook my first carp and second fish, coincidentally Bob was also into his first fish. I managed to put 10 or 11 carp in the net in the first hour along with a few roach, the only downside being that all my carp were 10-12oz, so I’d need a few more to build any sort of weight. Over the rest of the match I alternated between 4 sedge lines and picked up the odd fish but into the last hour I was miles off the pace and needed a couple of bonus fish, purely for morale rather than any prizes. I put a good handful of pellets in on the mudline and within ten minutes tails were wagging all over the place! I shipped across into the shallow water and after five minutes hooked and landed a good size mirror of about 6lb, after it thrashing in the net and snapping my rig, I put a hefty rig on of 0.18 and an 0.16 hooklength to hopefully guide a few more out from the far bank. I managed a few liners and a foul hooker before a 4lb ghostie on time.
So another relatively disappointing day on Maple, and not being able to keep a run of fish going. Nige won once again with 114lb, again on paste, Jim Atkinson had bagged 70lb off peg 54 also with paste, there were a few 50’s and also some single figure weights to mix things up a bit! Owen weighed 53lb, Acko had 40 odd I think which meant my 32-13 was far from the pace and was therefore £2 down. Thankfully Superstar Thackwray could only manage 18lb, however he buggared off before giving me yet another trophy pound! Never mind, I’ll just have two off him next week!
Wednesday 21 April 2010
18th April - The Oaks Lakes, Cedar
Well, where to start, after the terrible winter we've had, exams and uni work stacking up along with real work and gigging i've not had any spare time to fish and so this would be my first trip since November last year!
After playing a gig in Leeds the night before the 7am start i had planned turned into hear half past but i still arrived at the fishery in time for a good breakfast!
Aftr paying on, paying my subs and throwing a quid in honest Johns pocket (sorry I mean th football card) the draw was near enough underway.
I hung back and managed peg 46, a peg i've fished before and i've also fished 47 and 48 a few times so was hpoing i'd catch a few.
I set up three rigs that were as follows. A mud line rig in 12-18 nches of water tight against the bank, a sedge rig at 2.5ft which would also double as my margin rig were both 12 latex elastic with 0.14 Ultima Power Match mainline, 0.12 hooklengths of the same material with size 18 B911 as my choice of hook. My final rig was for 11m at the base of the far shelf for fishing mea if it was tough, this was set at 5ft deep with a 0.4g BGT shallow long float.
I was surrounded by the Stu's today, Stott to my left on 44 and Whitaker on 48, Bri Gascoigne on 50, Howard on 44 and Tony Koz on 42 completed the 6 man section, so i'd have to work pretty hard today!
Bait wise i had some maggots, a tins worth of 4mm meat, and plenty of pellets.
Before the all in Bob the Baliff checked my fishing licnese, a new intorduction for the Starbeck Club which can't be complained at. My proper license hadnt come through the post but fortunately i had my reciept printed out!
On the whistle i cupped in a small handful of meat at 11m, threw some more down the left margin and then it was time for the pellet on the sedge line.
I shipped over with a 4mm expander and a pinch of micros, from not fishing for so long i wasnt sure how much they'd want so erred on the cautious side.
After the first hour i wasnt doing too bad, i was putting a few fish in the net but they were all around 6oz with the odd bigger one of a pound. Once my left sedge had died i had a quick look at 11m but nothing showed so i re-fed and then tried the right sedges instead. Again i put a few fish in the net, but it was far from frantic. It carried on like this for the rest of the match and it never really seemed to be buzzing anyway. Mart Whitwas catching good Ide on caster and Stu was getting the odd one up in the water but no one was in bagging mode as far as i could see.
I saw Bri catch a few down the edge so after feeding drips of meat all day I had a look and caught probablies 6-7lb of fish in 4 or 5 put ins before it went quiet again. I re-fed whilst fishing acros again. Furtunately i managed a few fish in the last half hour but the biggest being only 12oz. By the end of the match i felt i might just have 30lb but we'd see.
Tony put 38 on the scales and he said nhe only caught in the latter part of the match, Stu had 44lb so that was me well beaten, i managed 34lb 10oz so more than i thought i had but stil off the pace. Mart Whit managed 46lb odd to take the section, made up mostly of good Ide on his caster line, something to remember for the future, though i suppose this is what happens when you dont go fishing for 6 months!
I bumped in Acko on my way back to the Caf and yes you guessed it, i owed him a quid, Acko managed 43lb odd. Now it was fingers crossed that Mr Thackwray had balls it up? not one to break a tradition Gordon weighed in 13lb so i was evens on the quid front for my first week back!
I wont be fishing for a few weeks again whilts i finish off my uni work for yet another year but wil hopefully be back on the bank my mid may!
After playing a gig in Leeds the night before the 7am start i had planned turned into hear half past but i still arrived at the fishery in time for a good breakfast!
Aftr paying on, paying my subs and throwing a quid in honest Johns pocket (sorry I mean th football card) the draw was near enough underway.
I hung back and managed peg 46, a peg i've fished before and i've also fished 47 and 48 a few times so was hpoing i'd catch a few.
I set up three rigs that were as follows. A mud line rig in 12-18 nches of water tight against the bank, a sedge rig at 2.5ft which would also double as my margin rig were both 12 latex elastic with 0.14 Ultima Power Match mainline, 0.12 hooklengths of the same material with size 18 B911 as my choice of hook. My final rig was for 11m at the base of the far shelf for fishing mea if it was tough, this was set at 5ft deep with a 0.4g BGT shallow long float.
I was surrounded by the Stu's today, Stott to my left on 44 and Whitaker on 48, Bri Gascoigne on 50, Howard on 44 and Tony Koz on 42 completed the 6 man section, so i'd have to work pretty hard today!
Bait wise i had some maggots, a tins worth of 4mm meat, and plenty of pellets.
Before the all in Bob the Baliff checked my fishing licnese, a new intorduction for the Starbeck Club which can't be complained at. My proper license hadnt come through the post but fortunately i had my reciept printed out!
On the whistle i cupped in a small handful of meat at 11m, threw some more down the left margin and then it was time for the pellet on the sedge line.
I shipped over with a 4mm expander and a pinch of micros, from not fishing for so long i wasnt sure how much they'd want so erred on the cautious side.
After the first hour i wasnt doing too bad, i was putting a few fish in the net but they were all around 6oz with the odd bigger one of a pound. Once my left sedge had died i had a quick look at 11m but nothing showed so i re-fed and then tried the right sedges instead. Again i put a few fish in the net, but it was far from frantic. It carried on like this for the rest of the match and it never really seemed to be buzzing anyway. Mart Whitwas catching good Ide on caster and Stu was getting the odd one up in the water but no one was in bagging mode as far as i could see.
I saw Bri catch a few down the edge so after feeding drips of meat all day I had a look and caught probablies 6-7lb of fish in 4 or 5 put ins before it went quiet again. I re-fed whilst fishing acros again. Furtunately i managed a few fish in the last half hour but the biggest being only 12oz. By the end of the match i felt i might just have 30lb but we'd see.
Tony put 38 on the scales and he said nhe only caught in the latter part of the match, Stu had 44lb so that was me well beaten, i managed 34lb 10oz so more than i thought i had but stil off the pace. Mart Whit managed 46lb odd to take the section, made up mostly of good Ide on his caster line, something to remember for the future, though i suppose this is what happens when you dont go fishing for 6 months!
I bumped in Acko on my way back to the Caf and yes you guessed it, i owed him a quid, Acko managed 43lb odd. Now it was fingers crossed that Mr Thackwray had balls it up? not one to break a tradition Gordon weighed in 13lb so i was evens on the quid front for my first week back!
I wont be fishing for a few weeks again whilts i finish off my uni work for yet another year but wil hopefully be back on the bank my mid may!
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