This week I was trying my luck on the open up at the Oaks. One of my aims this year was to do 50lb on both Maple and Cedar, with having 56lb on Maple the other week that was one aim crossed off, now could I repeat this feat on Cedar?
After looking through my results, my personal best on Cedar was 39lb-13oz from peg 19 on the TalkAngling.co.uk Northern Intersite match back in August 2010. Cedar isn’t a lake I fish all that often, maybe three or four times a year so every time I fish it, it’s changed massively in the way you should approach it.
Today I was hoping for a good draw (though I wasn’t sure where that was!). I managed to draw peg 34 along the back straight. I’ve fished this on one of the Christmas Cheer qualifiers before and seemed to remember only weighing in because of the lucky peg draw after the match.
Peg 34 has hardly any sedges on the far bank and because of this I decided to fish at a comfortable distance of 13m where I found just less than 3ft of water. I set up two swims at 13m, one to my let and one to my right. This rig was a 4x10 KC Belter on 0.12 to an 0.10 hooklength and a size 18 Drennan Silverfish Pellet. This was finished off with a doubled 5 elastic and pull bung.
I set up an identical rig for fishing in a foot of water 14m if the fish were more confident in the shallower water. My final rig was to fish 13m to the platform on peg 35. This was a 4x12 Malman Cedar on 0.14 to an 0.12 hooklength and a size 18 Gama Pellet and Paste Hook, this was finished off with a solid 12 latex. Rob had mentioned that a chap had fished here on a previous match due to it being so windy and managed around 60lb. Though there was no really wind today, there was the occasional breeze drifting into this area of the peg so it would hopefully be good for the odd fish.
Bait for today I had a pint of soaked micros and some 4 & 6mm expanders.
At the all in I fed a golf ball of micros onto my margin swim and would top up as the day went on. I then went out with the “sedge” rig armed with a 4mm expander and half a pot of fruit shoot of micros. It took a few minutes before my first indication but I eventually hooked my first fish, an F1 about 2lb, I repeated the process and managed another two F1’s about a pound each, after this I was getting liners all the time and either lifting into thin air or foul hooking fish! I foul hooked three on the bounce and lost all of them, I decided to try my shallower line but had no indications therefore after an hour I decided to feed around 100ml of micros on the 3ft line and have a go down the margins.
This proved to be a good move as I ended up putting around twenty small stockies in the net over the next couple of hours before it started to go quiet. Before the line faded I potted half a big pot of micros and had another go across. With the fish responding so well down the edge I found myself having to soak some more feed pellets as I’d run out, the first time in a long time I’ve needed more than a pint of bait for a match!
I was continually getting pestered by gudgeon and small roach across on both lines whether I fed sparingly or heavy so gave it up and with around 90 minutes to go I went back down the edge.
I managed to get into a similar routine as previous and was putting a fish in the net on quite a frequent basis although only small I did have a couple of better fish, three for 10lb which was a welcome boost! I also hooked into another better fish down the edge and just I was about to slip the net under it we unfortunately parted company, at first glimpse it was a mirror of about 4lb, it was one of those “keep calm and carry on” moments or at least a “swear under your breath and put a new hooklength on moments”!
The match drew to a close, Ghandi had sacked up on peg 30 although claimed to have not had a bit during the middle of the match!
Ghandi was first to weight with 80 odd, the chap next to me claimed he’d been battered both sides but I didn’t see what he weighed (perhaps a week or so early for the worm and caster route!). I the weighed 46lb dead, so a personal best for me on the lake but not quite that 50lb target! There were some good weights going round the lake with Jonesy taking the section with 52lb, those foul hookers and the lost mirror might have cost me there! Woody weighed in a big 70 including a 12lber that weighed 9lb! Robbie won the match of peg 68 with 92lb, a fantastic weight for any time of year let alone march!
Suppose I’ll have to try my luck again next week!
Thursday 22 March 2012
Friday 16 March 2012
Brafferton Club Friendly Match - 11th March
Our club season doesn’t start until the end of the month but an impromptu match had been arranged for this weekend on the F1 Lake at Brafferton. Our last match on here saw me win the match with around 25lb on a cold autumn day, with the weather making a dramatic u-turn in recent weeks and the sun beaming down us we were all hopeful of a few fish after the low winter weights of the previous few weeks.
We met up at the Oaks for breakfast and to do the draw as its only a couple of miles away. After a decent breakfast I helped Stu peg the match, with 20 of us fishing and the whole of the 80 peg lake to fish we’d have plenty of room. Stu had decided to give every angler an option on pegs, i.e. if you draw peg 1, you could choose peg 1 or 2 to fish, peg 4, you’d have 4 or 5 and so on. This would hopefully give the individual a bit more choice if their initial peg had any major obstructions such as branches in the water or a dodgy peg etc as most of us hadn’t seen the lake in since last year.
The draw got under way and by the end there was only Stu and myself to draw with peg 4 and 7 left in the bag, so either way we were next to each other. Stu gave me the privilege of drawing and peg 7 stuck to my hand, which left Stu with 4 (apparently THE worst peg on the lake)!! I believe you Stu though there are many that would disagree!
We set off in convoy to the fishery and arrived just after 9 o’clock. On arrival Honest John had realised he’d left the weigh slings at home so it was back to the Oaks for him to borrow one, so we were now fishing 10:30 – 16:30 so we had plenty of time to set up! I had the choice of pegs 7 and 8 and decided to plump for 7 so I had both the island and the gap to have a go at during the match.
With the lake holding some very sizeable fish as well as a dent average stamp I stepped my gear up for the first time in months!
My first rig was for fishing at 15m to end of the island where I plumbed up two swims a couple of metres apart, I could have done with that extra metre in fairness as I was a two feet off the island so if they backed off I’d be stuffed but decided to make this my main plan of attack. This was a 4x12 Malman Cedar on 0.16 mainline and 0.12 hooklength, size 18 Gama Pellet and Paste finished off with a 12 latex and pull bung. 0.16 may seem a bit heavy but it gave me the option to step up my hooklength if the munters were about!
My second rig was for fishing down the edge to a bush (collection of twigs), this was the same as my island rig but with an 0.14 hooklength and size 16 hook to a 14 latex.
I also set up a line at 13m towards the middle of the gap between the islands, I set up rigs for fishing on the deck in about 7ft of water and a shallow rig for over the top as there were fish (big fish at that) cruising the whole time we were setting up.
Bait for the day was simple, some soaked micros for feed with 4 and 6mm expanders for over the top. I’d also riddled off last week’s maggots to pile in the edge late on if I was struggling. I also had some hard 4mm’s for shallow.
The all in was called at 10:30 and we were away, I pinged out a few pouches of 4mm’s onto the shallow line and went straight over the top of it. I slapped and carried on feeding for the first ten to fifteen minutes but to no joy, meanwhile Woody was bagging on peg 1 and probably had 10lb in the net already!
I sacked off the shallow rig but would keep feeding until I saw any swirls. I shipped out to the island to my left hand swim armed with a 4mm and tipped in a dozen micros. I didn’t have to wait long for a bite and I soon had my first stocky in the net at about 8oz. I carried on in the same vain but feeding a full pot and catching two or three fish off it and it was all going swimmingly, I didn’t have to wait long for a bit and I was coming back with a fish almost every put in. The fish though were small, varying between 6 and 10oz with the greedy roach and gudgeon often getting to the pellet first. I started using 6mm hooker pellets and this put the tiddlers off a bit although I was still getting the odd one.
The first three hours were hectic and Me and Stu were probably fish for fish. Woody had slowed down massively after taking a toilet break and Stu and I had near enough caught him up. I caught all my fish off the same line, “if they’re feeding then why fish somewhere else?”, but it had slowed up and so I moved to my right hand swim and put another run of a fish together before that also went quiet.
I decided to put half a big pot of micros on the original island swim and give them chance to settle again. I’d still been feeding my shallow line but there was no evidence of any feeding fish and after another quick go with no results I decided to stop wasting my time on it. I had a quick look down the edge and managed one lonesome F1 before the silvers were bashing at my hook bait again. I’d now rested the island swim for 15-20 minutes and decided it was time to have another look, with only an hour or so left I’d need to put a fair few fish in the net to stand a chance of competing.
Stu had offered me a quid side bet as he knew it was going to be close, I ummed and aahed for a bit before lifting into another fish and duly obliging. With extra pressure of the newly formed pound the heat was on!
I managed to put another decent run of fish together in last hour and put a few more fish in the net than Stu but it would still be very close! The all out was called and it had been a good day apart from the frustrating middle of the match! Woody owned up to hooking a fish after time and as evidence we watched him put it back, all 7lb of it!
The weigh in ensued and due to everyone in the club owning up to a bad back when it comes to weighing in, it was passed on to yours truly!
Woody was first with a very healthy 64-14, Stu pushed him close with 62-10 and it was now my turn. My second half of the match weighed 20lb, I knew I’d caught a lot better in the first half but would it be good enough? Err, no, my other net weighed 38lb giving me 58lb dead so Stu had done me! Still working it out, we’d all had over a hundred fish each, not bad for the start of March!
Tony Koz was next up to take the lead with 89-02, he’d caught well for most of the day either against the island or down his left hand edge on peg 12. Even Howard surprised us all with an initial weight of 62-04 before finding another fish in the bottom of his net to take over Stu with 63lb odd. Andy Nattrass was next with 67lb odd for second overall! Our section had fished brilliantly and my weight was only good enough for 6th in the seven man section!
The middle strip hadn’t fished as well as our section with much lower weights although John and Steph but had 50lb. Steve Cromie managed to claim third 66lb odd off peg 63 at the end of the point.
On the whole the match had fished very well for this time of year, even Gorgeous Gordy managed 30lb, minus a quid!
With Mother’s day next weekend and being the model son that I am, I’m off to get battered on the Saturday open on Cedar at Sessay, wish me luck!
We met up at the Oaks for breakfast and to do the draw as its only a couple of miles away. After a decent breakfast I helped Stu peg the match, with 20 of us fishing and the whole of the 80 peg lake to fish we’d have plenty of room. Stu had decided to give every angler an option on pegs, i.e. if you draw peg 1, you could choose peg 1 or 2 to fish, peg 4, you’d have 4 or 5 and so on. This would hopefully give the individual a bit more choice if their initial peg had any major obstructions such as branches in the water or a dodgy peg etc as most of us hadn’t seen the lake in since last year.
The draw got under way and by the end there was only Stu and myself to draw with peg 4 and 7 left in the bag, so either way we were next to each other. Stu gave me the privilege of drawing and peg 7 stuck to my hand, which left Stu with 4 (apparently THE worst peg on the lake)!! I believe you Stu though there are many that would disagree!
We set off in convoy to the fishery and arrived just after 9 o’clock. On arrival Honest John had realised he’d left the weigh slings at home so it was back to the Oaks for him to borrow one, so we were now fishing 10:30 – 16:30 so we had plenty of time to set up! I had the choice of pegs 7 and 8 and decided to plump for 7 so I had both the island and the gap to have a go at during the match.
With the lake holding some very sizeable fish as well as a dent average stamp I stepped my gear up for the first time in months!
My first rig was for fishing at 15m to end of the island where I plumbed up two swims a couple of metres apart, I could have done with that extra metre in fairness as I was a two feet off the island so if they backed off I’d be stuffed but decided to make this my main plan of attack. This was a 4x12 Malman Cedar on 0.16 mainline and 0.12 hooklength, size 18 Gama Pellet and Paste finished off with a 12 latex and pull bung. 0.16 may seem a bit heavy but it gave me the option to step up my hooklength if the munters were about!
My second rig was for fishing down the edge to a bush (collection of twigs), this was the same as my island rig but with an 0.14 hooklength and size 16 hook to a 14 latex.
I also set up a line at 13m towards the middle of the gap between the islands, I set up rigs for fishing on the deck in about 7ft of water and a shallow rig for over the top as there were fish (big fish at that) cruising the whole time we were setting up.
Bait for the day was simple, some soaked micros for feed with 4 and 6mm expanders for over the top. I’d also riddled off last week’s maggots to pile in the edge late on if I was struggling. I also had some hard 4mm’s for shallow.
The all in was called at 10:30 and we were away, I pinged out a few pouches of 4mm’s onto the shallow line and went straight over the top of it. I slapped and carried on feeding for the first ten to fifteen minutes but to no joy, meanwhile Woody was bagging on peg 1 and probably had 10lb in the net already!
I sacked off the shallow rig but would keep feeding until I saw any swirls. I shipped out to the island to my left hand swim armed with a 4mm and tipped in a dozen micros. I didn’t have to wait long for a bite and I soon had my first stocky in the net at about 8oz. I carried on in the same vain but feeding a full pot and catching two or three fish off it and it was all going swimmingly, I didn’t have to wait long for a bit and I was coming back with a fish almost every put in. The fish though were small, varying between 6 and 10oz with the greedy roach and gudgeon often getting to the pellet first. I started using 6mm hooker pellets and this put the tiddlers off a bit although I was still getting the odd one.
The first three hours were hectic and Me and Stu were probably fish for fish. Woody had slowed down massively after taking a toilet break and Stu and I had near enough caught him up. I caught all my fish off the same line, “if they’re feeding then why fish somewhere else?”, but it had slowed up and so I moved to my right hand swim and put another run of a fish together before that also went quiet.
I decided to put half a big pot of micros on the original island swim and give them chance to settle again. I’d still been feeding my shallow line but there was no evidence of any feeding fish and after another quick go with no results I decided to stop wasting my time on it. I had a quick look down the edge and managed one lonesome F1 before the silvers were bashing at my hook bait again. I’d now rested the island swim for 15-20 minutes and decided it was time to have another look, with only an hour or so left I’d need to put a fair few fish in the net to stand a chance of competing.
Stu had offered me a quid side bet as he knew it was going to be close, I ummed and aahed for a bit before lifting into another fish and duly obliging. With extra pressure of the newly formed pound the heat was on!
I managed to put another decent run of fish together in last hour and put a few more fish in the net than Stu but it would still be very close! The all out was called and it had been a good day apart from the frustrating middle of the match! Woody owned up to hooking a fish after time and as evidence we watched him put it back, all 7lb of it!
The weigh in ensued and due to everyone in the club owning up to a bad back when it comes to weighing in, it was passed on to yours truly!
Woody was first with a very healthy 64-14, Stu pushed him close with 62-10 and it was now my turn. My second half of the match weighed 20lb, I knew I’d caught a lot better in the first half but would it be good enough? Err, no, my other net weighed 38lb giving me 58lb dead so Stu had done me! Still working it out, we’d all had over a hundred fish each, not bad for the start of March!
Tony Koz was next up to take the lead with 89-02, he’d caught well for most of the day either against the island or down his left hand edge on peg 12. Even Howard surprised us all with an initial weight of 62-04 before finding another fish in the bottom of his net to take over Stu with 63lb odd. Andy Nattrass was next with 67lb odd for second overall! Our section had fished brilliantly and my weight was only good enough for 6th in the seven man section!
The middle strip hadn’t fished as well as our section with much lower weights although John and Steph but had 50lb. Steve Cromie managed to claim third 66lb odd off peg 63 at the end of the point.
On the whole the match had fished very well for this time of year, even Gorgeous Gordy managed 30lb, minus a quid!
With Mother’s day next weekend and being the model son that I am, I’m off to get battered on the Saturday open on Cedar at Sessay, wish me luck!
Tuesday 6 March 2012
Maggotdrowners Winter Knock Up - Oaks, Maple - 04/03/12
After 4 pick ups on the trot (forgetting a blank!) I was eager to do the business today and hoping for a kind draw on some fish for a change!
After a hearty breakfast I squeezed into the queue to draw my home for the day, when peg 29 stuck to my hand I was narked to say the least, I even tried turning it upside down and convincing Mark it was peg 62 but he wasn’t having any of it. Peg 29 is on “suicide straight”, I’ve never liked it along here although I have picked up a section in the past.
I got to my peg and decided I’d just have to make the most of it and not let the draw beat me, the weather would try its hardest to do that today! I got dressed and made sure I had the brolly up to try and keep my box and side tray dry. Seeing as I was expecting a grueller of a day scratching for bites I decide to stay faithful to the super light rigs that have done been proud over the last few weeks.
I set up a track rig at 12m towards the far bank trees both left and right, this was a 4x12 KC Carpa Belter, 0.10 mainline, 0.08 hooklength, Size 20 Drennan Silverfish Match and finished with a 6 elastic and pull bung. Peg 29 is quite shallow and I only found just over four foot at the base of the far slope.
I also set up a sedge rig that was a 4x10 KC Carpa Belter, 0.10 mainline, 0.08 hooklength, Size 20 Drennan Silverfish Match, again with a 6 elastic and pull bung. The sedge were shallow again so I set these lines a metre or two back from the sedges where I found two and a half feet or so.
My final line was on my top six towards the tree in my right hand margin, I didn’t expect to catch off here but it would be a bonus if I did.
Feed for the day was dampened micros, 4mm expanders, black swim stim and a pint of whites.
The all in was called at 10am and I shipped out to my hand track swim, tipped in 6 micros and a fruit shoot worth of groundbait and dropped the rig in over the top. It took all of twenty seconds before the float bobbed and I lifted into what felt like a good fish. With fishing so light I took my time and after a very healthy scrap and plenty of elastic stripped out of the bung I slid the net under a lovely 7lb mirror! What a start this was! I shipped out to the same line again, re-fed and the float buried again. This time a smaller F1 about a pound but welcome all the same. I repeated this for the first hour and by the stroke of 11am I had nine fish in the net for 25lb! This was made up a 7lb common, 4lb mirror, 3lb F1 and 6 further F1’s.
The day couldn’t have started any better and I carried on in the same vain although the line did slow in the second hour. I managed 3 fish in the second hour, another 7lber and two F1’s to take my tally to 35lb all in the first two hours!
As often happens when I fish Maple the action slowed right down and over the next 3 hours I only managed 6 F1’s and a few roach by moving through all my swims. I thought I’d have about 40lb by now but knowing what my guessing of weights are like I decided to put my other net in just in case!
The last hour and the bites had all but dried up from the carp and I was getting plagued by roach so decided I’d fish for them and try and keep warm. The rain battered it down from start to finish to hopefully whipping a few roach out would help me warm up a bit. I went out to the left hand track swim, tipped in a dozen maggots and dropped a double maggot hook bait over the top. I had a few roach before I put a further two F1’s in the net to boost my tally. With ten minutes to go the roach had slowed down too but thankfully one final gasp the float buried and I was into my final good fish of the day, time was called “FISH ON” and I slid the net under a 3lb ghosty!
At the end of the match I reckoned to having 40lb in the first net and 6lb in the second net. Bri Clay was winning the match up my weigh with 49lb so it was going to be very close!
I weighed my little net first which went 8lb-13oz, my big net went 47lb-7oz so I’d done it, a total of 56lb-4oz to take the match. Chris Hargreaves weighed a very health 44lb off peg 18 too to come third overall.
So although I could have been beaten by the draw I stuck at it and managed my first win of the year and more importantly making it 5 pick ups in 5 on the Maggotdrowners matches. Even more importantly though, I took another pound off Mr T!
The top 3 looked like this:
1st – 56lb – Peg 29 – Steve Lupton
2nd - 49lb – Peg 55 – Bri Clay
3rd – 44lb – Peg 16 – Chris Hargreaves
After a hearty breakfast I squeezed into the queue to draw my home for the day, when peg 29 stuck to my hand I was narked to say the least, I even tried turning it upside down and convincing Mark it was peg 62 but he wasn’t having any of it. Peg 29 is on “suicide straight”, I’ve never liked it along here although I have picked up a section in the past.
I got to my peg and decided I’d just have to make the most of it and not let the draw beat me, the weather would try its hardest to do that today! I got dressed and made sure I had the brolly up to try and keep my box and side tray dry. Seeing as I was expecting a grueller of a day scratching for bites I decide to stay faithful to the super light rigs that have done been proud over the last few weeks.
I set up a track rig at 12m towards the far bank trees both left and right, this was a 4x12 KC Carpa Belter, 0.10 mainline, 0.08 hooklength, Size 20 Drennan Silverfish Match and finished with a 6 elastic and pull bung. Peg 29 is quite shallow and I only found just over four foot at the base of the far slope.
I also set up a sedge rig that was a 4x10 KC Carpa Belter, 0.10 mainline, 0.08 hooklength, Size 20 Drennan Silverfish Match, again with a 6 elastic and pull bung. The sedge were shallow again so I set these lines a metre or two back from the sedges where I found two and a half feet or so.
My final line was on my top six towards the tree in my right hand margin, I didn’t expect to catch off here but it would be a bonus if I did.
Feed for the day was dampened micros, 4mm expanders, black swim stim and a pint of whites.
The all in was called at 10am and I shipped out to my hand track swim, tipped in 6 micros and a fruit shoot worth of groundbait and dropped the rig in over the top. It took all of twenty seconds before the float bobbed and I lifted into what felt like a good fish. With fishing so light I took my time and after a very healthy scrap and plenty of elastic stripped out of the bung I slid the net under a lovely 7lb mirror! What a start this was! I shipped out to the same line again, re-fed and the float buried again. This time a smaller F1 about a pound but welcome all the same. I repeated this for the first hour and by the stroke of 11am I had nine fish in the net for 25lb! This was made up a 7lb common, 4lb mirror, 3lb F1 and 6 further F1’s.
The day couldn’t have started any better and I carried on in the same vain although the line did slow in the second hour. I managed 3 fish in the second hour, another 7lber and two F1’s to take my tally to 35lb all in the first two hours!
As often happens when I fish Maple the action slowed right down and over the next 3 hours I only managed 6 F1’s and a few roach by moving through all my swims. I thought I’d have about 40lb by now but knowing what my guessing of weights are like I decided to put my other net in just in case!
The last hour and the bites had all but dried up from the carp and I was getting plagued by roach so decided I’d fish for them and try and keep warm. The rain battered it down from start to finish to hopefully whipping a few roach out would help me warm up a bit. I went out to the left hand track swim, tipped in a dozen maggots and dropped a double maggot hook bait over the top. I had a few roach before I put a further two F1’s in the net to boost my tally. With ten minutes to go the roach had slowed down too but thankfully one final gasp the float buried and I was into my final good fish of the day, time was called “FISH ON” and I slid the net under a 3lb ghosty!
At the end of the match I reckoned to having 40lb in the first net and 6lb in the second net. Bri Clay was winning the match up my weigh with 49lb so it was going to be very close!
I weighed my little net first which went 8lb-13oz, my big net went 47lb-7oz so I’d done it, a total of 56lb-4oz to take the match. Chris Hargreaves weighed a very health 44lb off peg 18 too to come third overall.
So although I could have been beaten by the draw I stuck at it and managed my first win of the year and more importantly making it 5 pick ups in 5 on the Maggotdrowners matches. Even more importantly though, I took another pound off Mr T!
The top 3 looked like this:
1st – 56lb – Peg 29 – Steve Lupton
2nd - 49lb – Peg 55 – Bri Clay
3rd – 44lb – Peg 16 – Chris Hargreaves
Thursday 1 March 2012
Maggotdrowners Winter Knock Up - Oaks, Alders - 26th February
After three sections on my last three Maggotdrowners matches I was sceptical as to whether I could continue my good form (scratching for bites!!).
We were on Alders this week which has 34 pegs and there were only 21 of us fishing so we’d have a bit of room. Alders has been good to me in the past, I’ve won a few knock ups on here, as well as a winter club match, even going back to my junior matches I always picked up a few points off this lake. It’s also been terrible on occasions too, with my weights being marked on the board as DNW!
What I like about Alders is the options you have, this is peg dependant but you’ve to be ready to go at it with a number of methods. With the island being 20-25m in some areas I’d packed the waggler rod as well as the method, I was hoping it was now warm enough to winkle a few out on the method, we’d have to wait and see though.
Typically after preparing my tackle all week, I drew peg 5 which you can normally reach the island with, or at least in the middle of summer when there’s plenty of vegetation on the far bank! With only having 15m of pole to play with it left me about a metre short where as the chaps on pegs 3 and 7 could both reach!
I was unsure as to how it would fish, I assumed the carp would still be in winter hiding even after the milder temperatures and also didn’t think it would be warm enough for the Ide to be there in any great numbers so I planned on scratching around for bites.
I set up a maggot line at 13m straight in front and this was a 4x12 KC Carpa Belter on 0.10 to a 0.08 hooklength and size 20 Drennan Silverfish Match, this was finished off with a size 6 solid latex. I also set up a pellet lines at 15 to my left and right, this was a 4x12 Malman Cedar on 0.12 to an 0.10 hooklength and a size 20 Gamakatsu pellet and paste hook, this was finished off with a doubled 5 latex. My final attack would be the method tight to the far bank, although casting would have to be a case of punching it out to hit the clip to avoid the overhanging branches (that I clipped a few times whilst setting the clip!).
Bait for today, I had a pint of white maggots, last week’s pint of casters that I’ve stored in my pellet pump, some micros, 4mm expanders and some black swim stim. I planned on mixing the micros and groundbait as and when I needed for the method.
The match kicked off at 10am and I shipped out with a kinder pot of maggots onto the 13m line before going out to the left hand 15m line with a 4mm pellet, the float settled and I tapped a few micros and a fruit shoot worth of groundbait over the top. After plenty of lifting and dropping, 10 minutes later, the float quivered and I struck into my first fish, a dumpy roach of a few ounces, at least I’d not blanked! A re-feed on the second put in saw me put my first F1 in the net of about a pound, this gave a healthy scrap on relatively “heavy” gear.
No more bites materialised on either 15m line, I’d been feeding a kinder of maggots ever 15 minutes or so on the 13m line and decided it was now worth a look. Chris on peg 3 had managed a couple of half decent fish off the point of the island and the chap to my left had only had a few bits. After 90 minutes I think I was the only one with a carp in the net on our bank although the majority of Ide in Alders are bigger than the F1 I had in the net! I got into a rhythm catching tiny roach and rudd off the 13m line but they were incredibly small.
I started to up the feed and was spraying a few maggots over my float with the catty. I started to get a few liners and striking at thin air so decided to set up a shallow rig to have a go over the top. This was a Preston PB3 on 0.12 to 0.10 and size 18 Middy 63:13, elastic for this was a solid 6 latex. I set the rig around 18 inch deep and went out with double maggot, I planned on feeding caster so but went with the more robust maggot so I could slap the rig in. I had a few small roach from the off before an Ide of about a pound, a few more roach followed before the laggy shot out and the pole tip buried under the surface. The fight was on and when I finally got back to my top 2 I stripped a few feet of elastic from the pulla kit and eventually slid the net under a lovely 4lb mirror. When possible I fed with the catty whilst playing the fish although the emphasis was on landing the fish!
I went back out on the shallow line and managed a few more roach before the sun hid behind the clouds and the fish seemed to back off a bit. I tried on the deck again and although I was getting indications I was missing a few bites. I decided to big pot some maggots in, only maybe 100ml but I hoped this would settle the fish on the deck again.
Whilst I waited for this line to settle I had a quick chuck over the far bank with the method to see if there was anything there. I’d been firing the odd 4mm pellet over there but this was to no avail, after 15 minutes I’d not even had a liner so carried on firing the odd pellet out there and went back to the 13m line.
The big pot had settled the fish, or sort of, I managed another F1, another 1lb Ide and the roach were back in force! I decided to carry on hammering the roach to keep pace with everyone else and hope that my bigger fish would carry me through. Chris on peg3 was flying by now putting good fish in the net quite often, as was the chap on the other side of the point so I was fishing for the section again.
The all out was called at 4pm and by my reckoning I might just scrape 10lb (4lber, 2 F1’s 2 decent Ide and loads of bits).
The weigh got underway and Chris plonked 35lb on the scales (I wouldn’t be troubling that!). My 10lb 8oz fell way short of the mark but was good enough to beat my other neighbour who managed 8lb13oz. I wasn’t sure how the sections were working today, a couple of lads put an 18lb and a 25lb on the scales from the bay on my side of the lake and the other side had disappointed with Bri Clays 12lb odd winning the bank. Last to weigh off the end peg and other side of the point to peg 3 weighed a very respectable 37lb of Ide and one lonely F1.
The match hadn’t fished as well as I’d hoped though there were still some good weights but showing that the fish are still very tightly shoaled up.
Back in the cafe and my name was read out for the 4th time in four matches, another section under my belt! The pressure is really on now for Maple next week in order to carry on my good form!
We were on Alders this week which has 34 pegs and there were only 21 of us fishing so we’d have a bit of room. Alders has been good to me in the past, I’ve won a few knock ups on here, as well as a winter club match, even going back to my junior matches I always picked up a few points off this lake. It’s also been terrible on occasions too, with my weights being marked on the board as DNW!
What I like about Alders is the options you have, this is peg dependant but you’ve to be ready to go at it with a number of methods. With the island being 20-25m in some areas I’d packed the waggler rod as well as the method, I was hoping it was now warm enough to winkle a few out on the method, we’d have to wait and see though.
Typically after preparing my tackle all week, I drew peg 5 which you can normally reach the island with, or at least in the middle of summer when there’s plenty of vegetation on the far bank! With only having 15m of pole to play with it left me about a metre short where as the chaps on pegs 3 and 7 could both reach!
I was unsure as to how it would fish, I assumed the carp would still be in winter hiding even after the milder temperatures and also didn’t think it would be warm enough for the Ide to be there in any great numbers so I planned on scratching around for bites.
I set up a maggot line at 13m straight in front and this was a 4x12 KC Carpa Belter on 0.10 to a 0.08 hooklength and size 20 Drennan Silverfish Match, this was finished off with a size 6 solid latex. I also set up a pellet lines at 15 to my left and right, this was a 4x12 Malman Cedar on 0.12 to an 0.10 hooklength and a size 20 Gamakatsu pellet and paste hook, this was finished off with a doubled 5 latex. My final attack would be the method tight to the far bank, although casting would have to be a case of punching it out to hit the clip to avoid the overhanging branches (that I clipped a few times whilst setting the clip!).
Bait for today, I had a pint of white maggots, last week’s pint of casters that I’ve stored in my pellet pump, some micros, 4mm expanders and some black swim stim. I planned on mixing the micros and groundbait as and when I needed for the method.
The match kicked off at 10am and I shipped out with a kinder pot of maggots onto the 13m line before going out to the left hand 15m line with a 4mm pellet, the float settled and I tapped a few micros and a fruit shoot worth of groundbait over the top. After plenty of lifting and dropping, 10 minutes later, the float quivered and I struck into my first fish, a dumpy roach of a few ounces, at least I’d not blanked! A re-feed on the second put in saw me put my first F1 in the net of about a pound, this gave a healthy scrap on relatively “heavy” gear.
No more bites materialised on either 15m line, I’d been feeding a kinder of maggots ever 15 minutes or so on the 13m line and decided it was now worth a look. Chris on peg 3 had managed a couple of half decent fish off the point of the island and the chap to my left had only had a few bits. After 90 minutes I think I was the only one with a carp in the net on our bank although the majority of Ide in Alders are bigger than the F1 I had in the net! I got into a rhythm catching tiny roach and rudd off the 13m line but they were incredibly small.
I started to up the feed and was spraying a few maggots over my float with the catty. I started to get a few liners and striking at thin air so decided to set up a shallow rig to have a go over the top. This was a Preston PB3 on 0.12 to 0.10 and size 18 Middy 63:13, elastic for this was a solid 6 latex. I set the rig around 18 inch deep and went out with double maggot, I planned on feeding caster so but went with the more robust maggot so I could slap the rig in. I had a few small roach from the off before an Ide of about a pound, a few more roach followed before the laggy shot out and the pole tip buried under the surface. The fight was on and when I finally got back to my top 2 I stripped a few feet of elastic from the pulla kit and eventually slid the net under a lovely 4lb mirror. When possible I fed with the catty whilst playing the fish although the emphasis was on landing the fish!
I went back out on the shallow line and managed a few more roach before the sun hid behind the clouds and the fish seemed to back off a bit. I tried on the deck again and although I was getting indications I was missing a few bites. I decided to big pot some maggots in, only maybe 100ml but I hoped this would settle the fish on the deck again.
Whilst I waited for this line to settle I had a quick chuck over the far bank with the method to see if there was anything there. I’d been firing the odd 4mm pellet over there but this was to no avail, after 15 minutes I’d not even had a liner so carried on firing the odd pellet out there and went back to the 13m line.
The big pot had settled the fish, or sort of, I managed another F1, another 1lb Ide and the roach were back in force! I decided to carry on hammering the roach to keep pace with everyone else and hope that my bigger fish would carry me through. Chris on peg3 was flying by now putting good fish in the net quite often, as was the chap on the other side of the point so I was fishing for the section again.
The all out was called at 4pm and by my reckoning I might just scrape 10lb (4lber, 2 F1’s 2 decent Ide and loads of bits).
The weigh got underway and Chris plonked 35lb on the scales (I wouldn’t be troubling that!). My 10lb 8oz fell way short of the mark but was good enough to beat my other neighbour who managed 8lb13oz. I wasn’t sure how the sections were working today, a couple of lads put an 18lb and a 25lb on the scales from the bay on my side of the lake and the other side had disappointed with Bri Clays 12lb odd winning the bank. Last to weigh off the end peg and other side of the point to peg 3 weighed a very respectable 37lb of Ide and one lonely F1.
The match hadn’t fished as well as I’d hoped though there were still some good weights but showing that the fish are still very tightly shoaled up.
Back in the cafe and my name was read out for the 4th time in four matches, another section under my belt! The pressure is really on now for Maple next week in order to carry on my good form!
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