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!
Thursday, 22 July 2010
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!
Tuesday, 15 December 2009
Catch up - Morndyke and the NIdd
Well i've not been for a couple of weeks, plans, uni work and weather have hindered my appearance for a few weeks but hopefully i'll be on the bank this weekend if all goes well.
I have however managed to get down to the Nidd at Little Ribston again. This trip wasn't so fruitful however, the massive influx of rain 'dampened' my spirits as well as the fishing, I manage to improve my casting technique ten fold on the stick and although I didn't have any signs of fish I was pleased to improve my casting.
The following day was a day out with team inbetweeny at Morndyke. I thankfully drew boss peg 3 and managed to snare 11 carp through the day all on the method with micros and either a 4mm expander or a bunch of dead red maggots as a hook bait. this was also good enough to win our little match and take home a few quid!
As I say, all being well I should be fishing this weekend! Wish me luck!
I have however managed to get down to the Nidd at Little Ribston again. This trip wasn't so fruitful however, the massive influx of rain 'dampened' my spirits as well as the fishing, I manage to improve my casting technique ten fold on the stick and although I didn't have any signs of fish I was pleased to improve my casting.
The following day was a day out with team inbetweeny at Morndyke. I thankfully drew boss peg 3 and managed to snare 11 carp through the day all on the method with micros and either a 4mm expander or a bunch of dead red maggots as a hook bait. this was also good enough to win our little match and take home a few quid!
As I say, all being well I should be fishing this weekend! Wish me luck!
Saturday, 24 October 2009
Woodlands - Partridge October 24th - the Oaks - Maple - 31st October - The Nidd - 8th November
After a fairly poor match catching bits at Brafferton last week, I was looking forward to catching some proper fish at Woodlands this week!
After a breakfast (of sorts) it was onto the draw!
I drew late and managed to snare peg 24. I would have preferred to have been a bit closer to the middle but this was still better than other draws as far as i was concerned. We were also informed there was a bait check that was going to take place at some point.
For company I had Tel on 23, Mr Thackwray on 22 and Howard on 21. My plan today was to fish a small method and build up a swim but also have a corn line at 14m as a back up.
In short it fished pretty pants, you either bagged up or caught a handful, I bet you can guess which I was!
I had 6 fish for 20lb, Gordons 5 fish were all a better stamp and so the quid went his way for the first time in a very long time!
A week later we were on Maple and I informed Mr Thackwray that I was winning in the quid steaks but only by a margin of one so it would either be a draw or i'd take the victory. We also drew next to each other to spice things up further!
I caught a few fish through the match but none of any decent stamp, unlike Mr Thackwray who took another quid off me! Mr Atkinson also took a quid off me again and that was that! The end of our club season!
This Sunday just gone I fancied a change to the norm and decided to get down on the River Nidd at Little Ribston, its only a 5 minute drive so ideal for a few hours fishing. After moving out of my flat back to the old mans the previous weekend I was desperate to get on the bank and I was eagerly anticipating my first trip to a river in over 6 years!
I got there at around 8 o clock and was greeted by a mate of mines dad and one of his mate who were both in search of a few fish too.
I had a walk with my gear and settled on a deep looking spot on the outside of a bend, i ran a 2bb Drennan big stick through a fe times and kept adding the depth but never seemed to be tripping bottom and i was running out of rod to cast it out! I persevered for a while but eventually moved to the otherside of the field along a fast flowing straight that turned out to be about 4ft deep and after a few runs through was rewarded with a small grayling and shortly after his twin brother! The excitement was short lived as i had to pack up but I might just head down there again this weekend now i've picked up some tips about how to fish a stick properly!
After speaking to a very excited Rab ealrier I think I know what i'm going to get Mr Thackwray for Xmas, he's not having much look with pole sections of late so I might get him a lucky rabbits foot!
After a breakfast (of sorts) it was onto the draw!
I drew late and managed to snare peg 24. I would have preferred to have been a bit closer to the middle but this was still better than other draws as far as i was concerned. We were also informed there was a bait check that was going to take place at some point.
For company I had Tel on 23, Mr Thackwray on 22 and Howard on 21. My plan today was to fish a small method and build up a swim but also have a corn line at 14m as a back up.
In short it fished pretty pants, you either bagged up or caught a handful, I bet you can guess which I was!
I had 6 fish for 20lb, Gordons 5 fish were all a better stamp and so the quid went his way for the first time in a very long time!
A week later we were on Maple and I informed Mr Thackwray that I was winning in the quid steaks but only by a margin of one so it would either be a draw or i'd take the victory. We also drew next to each other to spice things up further!
I caught a few fish through the match but none of any decent stamp, unlike Mr Thackwray who took another quid off me! Mr Atkinson also took a quid off me again and that was that! The end of our club season!
This Sunday just gone I fancied a change to the norm and decided to get down on the River Nidd at Little Ribston, its only a 5 minute drive so ideal for a few hours fishing. After moving out of my flat back to the old mans the previous weekend I was desperate to get on the bank and I was eagerly anticipating my first trip to a river in over 6 years!
I got there at around 8 o clock and was greeted by a mate of mines dad and one of his mate who were both in search of a few fish too.
I had a walk with my gear and settled on a deep looking spot on the outside of a bend, i ran a 2bb Drennan big stick through a fe times and kept adding the depth but never seemed to be tripping bottom and i was running out of rod to cast it out! I persevered for a while but eventually moved to the otherside of the field along a fast flowing straight that turned out to be about 4ft deep and after a few runs through was rewarded with a small grayling and shortly after his twin brother! The excitement was short lived as i had to pack up but I might just head down there again this weekend now i've picked up some tips about how to fish a stick properly!
After speaking to a very excited Rab ealrier I think I know what i'm going to get Mr Thackwray for Xmas, he's not having much look with pole sections of late so I might get him a lucky rabbits foot!
Tuesday, 13 October 2009
Brafferton F1 Lake - 11th October 2009
After my maggot approach the previous week on Poplars which ‘luckily’ resulted in a top 3 placing I was confident that it would work again this time round at Brafferton. I fished on the very odd occasion here before but never on the F1 Lake.
I arrived up at the fishery at 8:30 and went for a sandwich before unloading all my gear onto the barrow. Seeing as I was fannying about getting all my gear ready I missed the draw and was drawn peg 63, on the end of the peninsula so I had plenty of water to go at, as did everyone else in fairness, on an 80 peg lake there was only 17 of us!
With Gordon on his 83rd holiday of the year, Owen not in attendance and Acko down at Whiteacres I was already three quid down before the match had started! ;o)
After finally trudging my gear to my peg I was about ready for a kip! The culmination of the long grass and an overloaded barrow with a flat tyre didn’t make for an enjoyable walk!
Tony Koz was on 61 and I warned him that we weren’t in for a quiet day as Rab was to be joining us on the opposite of the point on 64! I had a quick look at my peg and decided on a line to the island at 13.5m and after a quick plumb up a line at both 4m and 10m at the base of the near and far shelf. There are no real shelves on this lake, its more like a bowl so I plumbed all my rigs to dead depth then added on 2 inches to make sure I was always fishing on the deck.
I set up a deep rig for 4 and 10m on 0.16, to an 0.14 hook length and a size 16 B911. Float choice was a 0.4g BGT Shallow long and elastic was 14 latex. My island rig was a 4x10 Malman Cedar on 0.14 to an 0.12 hook length, 12 latex and a size 18 B611 hook.
At the all in I potted some pellets on both the deep rigs which were both quite deep at about 6ft and then went over with a half a big pot of maggots onto the island. I started off on the island and it took me over half an hour to get my first indication, meanwhile Tony had put 3 or 4 carp into his net fishing at around 11m. My bites increased however and after a few silvers I managed 4 F1’s to take my tally to about 7lb for the first hour. I then went half an hour without a bite so it was time to try the deep lines. I started off at 9.5m before coming onto the short line. I tried both lines for a good 20 minutes but no signals of any fish!
The wind had by now picked up considerably so I went to the car for my tip rod and first chuck out once I got back with a 6mm banded pellet and a pellet full of micros I was into a small F1 from open water but a further 45 minutes and no more fish followed.
I’d decided that I’d rather be catching bits than nothing at all and so went back over to the far side with maggot. I was into small, I mean very small roach but I was bumping a few off due to my 12 elastic so I changed to the lightest I had in my armoury, a latex 10, this was helping a bit but I was still losing a lot of fish. I changed down to a hooklength of 0.10 and a size 22 (is winter here?) and I was putting 9 out of 10 fish into my net. I also put a 2ft lash on as the wind by now was horrendous but at least it kept me getting bites even if I was striking like Zorro to connect! I fished this way for the rest of the match and managed quite a few roach, skimmers and even the odd chublet but nothing to build any weight however I did manage to hook another 4 F1’s, I played them carefully and landed them all bar one, would this cost me?
At the all out Rab was admitting to one carp and 5 gudgeon, but he’s a liar and went to weigh in 17lb odd. I weighed 18lb 10oz and Tony Koz put 19lb 12oz on the scales so that F1 might just have cost me! The weights were all pretty poor although Stu Turner managed 50 odd pounds which was only bettered by Honest John who snared an 8lber just before time to take the match.
We’re back at Woodlands next week on Partridge, it’ll either be a day on the paste or a day on the tip; we’ll have to wait till the day to decide though where i'll probably fish something completely different!
I arrived up at the fishery at 8:30 and went for a sandwich before unloading all my gear onto the barrow. Seeing as I was fannying about getting all my gear ready I missed the draw and was drawn peg 63, on the end of the peninsula so I had plenty of water to go at, as did everyone else in fairness, on an 80 peg lake there was only 17 of us!
With Gordon on his 83rd holiday of the year, Owen not in attendance and Acko down at Whiteacres I was already three quid down before the match had started! ;o)
After finally trudging my gear to my peg I was about ready for a kip! The culmination of the long grass and an overloaded barrow with a flat tyre didn’t make for an enjoyable walk!
Tony Koz was on 61 and I warned him that we weren’t in for a quiet day as Rab was to be joining us on the opposite of the point on 64! I had a quick look at my peg and decided on a line to the island at 13.5m and after a quick plumb up a line at both 4m and 10m at the base of the near and far shelf. There are no real shelves on this lake, its more like a bowl so I plumbed all my rigs to dead depth then added on 2 inches to make sure I was always fishing on the deck.
I set up a deep rig for 4 and 10m on 0.16, to an 0.14 hook length and a size 16 B911. Float choice was a 0.4g BGT Shallow long and elastic was 14 latex. My island rig was a 4x10 Malman Cedar on 0.14 to an 0.12 hook length, 12 latex and a size 18 B611 hook.
At the all in I potted some pellets on both the deep rigs which were both quite deep at about 6ft and then went over with a half a big pot of maggots onto the island. I started off on the island and it took me over half an hour to get my first indication, meanwhile Tony had put 3 or 4 carp into his net fishing at around 11m. My bites increased however and after a few silvers I managed 4 F1’s to take my tally to about 7lb for the first hour. I then went half an hour without a bite so it was time to try the deep lines. I started off at 9.5m before coming onto the short line. I tried both lines for a good 20 minutes but no signals of any fish!
The wind had by now picked up considerably so I went to the car for my tip rod and first chuck out once I got back with a 6mm banded pellet and a pellet full of micros I was into a small F1 from open water but a further 45 minutes and no more fish followed.
I’d decided that I’d rather be catching bits than nothing at all and so went back over to the far side with maggot. I was into small, I mean very small roach but I was bumping a few off due to my 12 elastic so I changed to the lightest I had in my armoury, a latex 10, this was helping a bit but I was still losing a lot of fish. I changed down to a hooklength of 0.10 and a size 22 (is winter here?) and I was putting 9 out of 10 fish into my net. I also put a 2ft lash on as the wind by now was horrendous but at least it kept me getting bites even if I was striking like Zorro to connect! I fished this way for the rest of the match and managed quite a few roach, skimmers and even the odd chublet but nothing to build any weight however I did manage to hook another 4 F1’s, I played them carefully and landed them all bar one, would this cost me?
At the all out Rab was admitting to one carp and 5 gudgeon, but he’s a liar and went to weigh in 17lb odd. I weighed 18lb 10oz and Tony Koz put 19lb 12oz on the scales so that F1 might just have cost me! The weights were all pretty poor although Stu Turner managed 50 odd pounds which was only bettered by Honest John who snared an 8lber just before time to take the match.
We’re back at Woodlands next week on Partridge, it’ll either be a day on the paste or a day on the tip; we’ll have to wait till the day to decide though where i'll probably fish something completely different!
The Oaks - Poplars - October 4th
Well, the previous week I got my wish to fish on Match pool at Carp Vale and right some wrongs, but as you may have guessed it didn’t go to plan and I weighed in 16lb 8oz for no where but still managed another quid off Mr Thackwray!
With Poplars this week I was in a quandary on how to approach it. I’ve never done terribly well on the lake and wanted to put that right today. We were on pegs 14-54 and with 21 fishing this meant it was just about peg one miss a peg. Owen initiated another three way quid between us two and Acko as they both wanted a chance of winning them back from the match on Maple, I duly obliged!
By the time of the draw Stu announced that the top 3 would get a pay out as well as three sections of seven. I held the draw bag and was greeted with the odd smile but the more occasional frown as the pegs were being lifted out. This left three pegs in the bag, Nige was drawn peg 25 as he was running a little late and this left Stu with 20 and me with 14. I was pretty pleased with this as peg 13 and 15 weren’t in so I had plenty of room and some pots to fish to on peg 13.
I bought a couple of pints of maggots and as I was walking to my peg Stu revealed that Minty and I were on scale duty! I’m sure I’ve done it half a dozen times this season, I don’t mind doing the weigh in to be fair but it takes me long enough to pack up as it is!
I got round to my peg, Minty was on 16, Wrighty was on 18 and Stu was on 20, that was as far as I could see. I got all the kit out of the car and had a sit down to assess where I’d be attacking today. With the pots in front of 13, this would be my main line of attack with maggot. I would also fish the same rig to the tree on my left, again with maggot. With no real cover straight in front I set up a pellet line to fish tight to the far bank. I also set up a line at the base of the far shelf at 11m to fish meat; this was more a token gesture if no where else was working!
My maggot rig was a Malman Cedar 4x10 on 0.12 Ultima to a 6inch hooklength of the same material and a size 16 B911, I’m aware this seems a bit big for maggot fishing but I wanted to fish 4 or 5 maggots at a time to target the better Ide, a lesson I’d learnt from fishing on Alders. Elastic was soft set 12 latex. My pellet rig was the same float but on 0.16 Ultima Power Match to an 0.14 hooklength and a size 18 B911 complemented by a 16 latex. My meat rig was a 0.4g BGT shallow long float on 0.16 straight through to a size 16 PR36 with size 14 latex.
For bait I had 2 pints of maggots, half red half white. Plenty of hooker pellets, some micros and some meat but I was concentrating on the maggot and would only deviate to other baits if it was hard going. At the all in I potted some meat in down the track at 11m, and half a big Drennan pot of maggots to the pots on my right hand side. As with Maple a couple of weeks previous I thought I’d target the carp for the first 15 minutes or so as you often get them early on and they’re not worth missing out on. Anyway a biteless 20 minutes ensued and I sacked off the pellet line and went over the maggot line which by now would have hopefully settled.
I shipped out and double kinder potted over the tope of my float, by lifting and dropping my rig back into the feed zone soon sparked a response and Ide number one was in the net, with it being about a pound it was a good start. I caught another fish of a similar size before deciding to change down to a 10 elastic, as I was shipping back at angle it made it easier to ship back quickly without fear of losing the fish. I repeated this until I had 6 in the net all of a similar size and on the stroke of the first hour disappearing I struck like Zorro and managed to catch my float on a loner branch and although I had a hooklength on this wouldn’t do me any good as it was the mainline that was snagged. After pulling for a break I came back with a fraction of the rig I had shipped out, the loop on the connector to be precise! I chucked another rig on and seeing as I’d marked my top kit with tip-ex it was a quick process and I was back in the swim in no time. I only managed 2 more fish before I had to re-feed another big pot. I switched to the meat line whilst this pot of maggots settled but had nothing to show from it. By the end of the second hour I had 10 fish for probably 8lb.
Minty went for a walk and when he came back probably after a good half an hour I still only had the 8lb in the net. While he was gone I potted on the tree on the left hand side and by the time I went over it I caught another Ide straight away before repeating the process. I shipped out again and before I had time to feed I had hooked a fish on the drop. I tipped the feed in before playing the fish to the net, my first carp, a stocky of about 8oz.
It then died as soon as it started so to spark a response I changed to a hooklength of 0.10 and a size 20 B611. Going into the last hour I’d put the odd Ide into the net but nothing much was happening. I big potted onto both lines and then just switched between them until I got indications. It turned out to be my most fruitful hour with a couple of Ide and 4 proper carp to take my tally to around 25lb before the hooter sounded to signal the end of the match. Remarkably all the carp came to the net without much fuss, I thought I’d have to be careful with the light hook length and light laccy but they came up near enough straight way!
Minty had started packing up before the match had finished so I had a rush on to get packed up and off to do the weigh in. Seeing as I was on the first peg I put a marker down for everyone, I weighed in 25lb 10oz, Wrighty remarked that would be a good weight today but I knew he had caught, Stu had caught and apparently Rab and Howard had both caught well on 53 and 54 respectively. Minty didn’t weigh in which meant Wrighty was up next, he pushed me close but not close enough with 22lb odd. Stu then shattered my dreams by putting 34lb in the sling. The rest of the weights in our section were all in the high teens but no more above 20lb. Round to Acko’s peg and seeing as he wasn’t there Rab did the honours and 13lb 10oz was recorded. Acko shouted across the lake asking what he’d weighed, I replied ‘’a quid less than me!’’ Gordon weighed in 17lb ish so another quid was claimed. Tel took the section with a weight not much more than Gordon’s. Jonesy weighed 19lb odd which was good enough for the section and Owens weight wasn’t up to scratch meaning I’d be taking another Quid! Three quid’s out of three can’t be bad!
Up until this point I was still in second place behind Stu, with only Rab and Howard left who I knew would have more than me it meant I was guaranteed my section. Howard put 26lb 4oz in the sling; I’d been pipped by 10oz!
Now onto Rab who was last to weigh in, out came his first net and into the sling. He had a similar amount in the other net and it was going to be close between him and Stu to take the match. Rab pulled out his second net grabbed the bottom ring and started to feed them through to the top whilst keeping the middle of the net in the water, nothing wrong there you’d think, and you’d be right. Until Rab dropped the top of his net back into the drink and as he was still holding the bottom ring the inevitable happened! All his fish made a dash out the net and by the time the keepnet had been rescued there was nothing left to show for his days work! Now Rab isn’t one to take the micky out of anyone (and if you believe that then you need your head checking) so to say everyone erupted with laughter would be an under statement! A look of dismay crept into his face as his now single net weighed 17lb 12oz which meant he didn’t even win the section.
This however was good news for me and Wrighty as I crept into third spot meaning Dave took the section by default! So not a bad day at the office in the end! On reflection it wasn’t a bad match, I don’t think I missed a bite, although they were all fairly positive, I didn’t foul hook or lose any fish and the only thing I can think of that would have pushed me into second was the nightmare of getting my rig caught and having to put a new rig on. Apart from that I don’t think there was much more I could have done.
We’re at Brafferton on the F1 Lake next week, I’ve never fished here before but if the weather carries on being up and down then it might be another maggot approach. Its also now officially winter, I had to wear my jumper through the whole match this week and I’ve also been considering putting the heating on on a night! Considering not actioning, I’m not Rockefeller!
With Poplars this week I was in a quandary on how to approach it. I’ve never done terribly well on the lake and wanted to put that right today. We were on pegs 14-54 and with 21 fishing this meant it was just about peg one miss a peg. Owen initiated another three way quid between us two and Acko as they both wanted a chance of winning them back from the match on Maple, I duly obliged!
By the time of the draw Stu announced that the top 3 would get a pay out as well as three sections of seven. I held the draw bag and was greeted with the odd smile but the more occasional frown as the pegs were being lifted out. This left three pegs in the bag, Nige was drawn peg 25 as he was running a little late and this left Stu with 20 and me with 14. I was pretty pleased with this as peg 13 and 15 weren’t in so I had plenty of room and some pots to fish to on peg 13.
I bought a couple of pints of maggots and as I was walking to my peg Stu revealed that Minty and I were on scale duty! I’m sure I’ve done it half a dozen times this season, I don’t mind doing the weigh in to be fair but it takes me long enough to pack up as it is!
I got round to my peg, Minty was on 16, Wrighty was on 18 and Stu was on 20, that was as far as I could see. I got all the kit out of the car and had a sit down to assess where I’d be attacking today. With the pots in front of 13, this would be my main line of attack with maggot. I would also fish the same rig to the tree on my left, again with maggot. With no real cover straight in front I set up a pellet line to fish tight to the far bank. I also set up a line at the base of the far shelf at 11m to fish meat; this was more a token gesture if no where else was working!
My maggot rig was a Malman Cedar 4x10 on 0.12 Ultima to a 6inch hooklength of the same material and a size 16 B911, I’m aware this seems a bit big for maggot fishing but I wanted to fish 4 or 5 maggots at a time to target the better Ide, a lesson I’d learnt from fishing on Alders. Elastic was soft set 12 latex. My pellet rig was the same float but on 0.16 Ultima Power Match to an 0.14 hooklength and a size 18 B911 complemented by a 16 latex. My meat rig was a 0.4g BGT shallow long float on 0.16 straight through to a size 16 PR36 with size 14 latex.
For bait I had 2 pints of maggots, half red half white. Plenty of hooker pellets, some micros and some meat but I was concentrating on the maggot and would only deviate to other baits if it was hard going. At the all in I potted some meat in down the track at 11m, and half a big Drennan pot of maggots to the pots on my right hand side. As with Maple a couple of weeks previous I thought I’d target the carp for the first 15 minutes or so as you often get them early on and they’re not worth missing out on. Anyway a biteless 20 minutes ensued and I sacked off the pellet line and went over the maggot line which by now would have hopefully settled.
I shipped out and double kinder potted over the tope of my float, by lifting and dropping my rig back into the feed zone soon sparked a response and Ide number one was in the net, with it being about a pound it was a good start. I caught another fish of a similar size before deciding to change down to a 10 elastic, as I was shipping back at angle it made it easier to ship back quickly without fear of losing the fish. I repeated this until I had 6 in the net all of a similar size and on the stroke of the first hour disappearing I struck like Zorro and managed to catch my float on a loner branch and although I had a hooklength on this wouldn’t do me any good as it was the mainline that was snagged. After pulling for a break I came back with a fraction of the rig I had shipped out, the loop on the connector to be precise! I chucked another rig on and seeing as I’d marked my top kit with tip-ex it was a quick process and I was back in the swim in no time. I only managed 2 more fish before I had to re-feed another big pot. I switched to the meat line whilst this pot of maggots settled but had nothing to show from it. By the end of the second hour I had 10 fish for probably 8lb.
Minty went for a walk and when he came back probably after a good half an hour I still only had the 8lb in the net. While he was gone I potted on the tree on the left hand side and by the time I went over it I caught another Ide straight away before repeating the process. I shipped out again and before I had time to feed I had hooked a fish on the drop. I tipped the feed in before playing the fish to the net, my first carp, a stocky of about 8oz.
It then died as soon as it started so to spark a response I changed to a hooklength of 0.10 and a size 20 B611. Going into the last hour I’d put the odd Ide into the net but nothing much was happening. I big potted onto both lines and then just switched between them until I got indications. It turned out to be my most fruitful hour with a couple of Ide and 4 proper carp to take my tally to around 25lb before the hooter sounded to signal the end of the match. Remarkably all the carp came to the net without much fuss, I thought I’d have to be careful with the light hook length and light laccy but they came up near enough straight way!
Minty had started packing up before the match had finished so I had a rush on to get packed up and off to do the weigh in. Seeing as I was on the first peg I put a marker down for everyone, I weighed in 25lb 10oz, Wrighty remarked that would be a good weight today but I knew he had caught, Stu had caught and apparently Rab and Howard had both caught well on 53 and 54 respectively. Minty didn’t weigh in which meant Wrighty was up next, he pushed me close but not close enough with 22lb odd. Stu then shattered my dreams by putting 34lb in the sling. The rest of the weights in our section were all in the high teens but no more above 20lb. Round to Acko’s peg and seeing as he wasn’t there Rab did the honours and 13lb 10oz was recorded. Acko shouted across the lake asking what he’d weighed, I replied ‘’a quid less than me!’’ Gordon weighed in 17lb ish so another quid was claimed. Tel took the section with a weight not much more than Gordon’s. Jonesy weighed 19lb odd which was good enough for the section and Owens weight wasn’t up to scratch meaning I’d be taking another Quid! Three quid’s out of three can’t be bad!
Up until this point I was still in second place behind Stu, with only Rab and Howard left who I knew would have more than me it meant I was guaranteed my section. Howard put 26lb 4oz in the sling; I’d been pipped by 10oz!
Now onto Rab who was last to weigh in, out came his first net and into the sling. He had a similar amount in the other net and it was going to be close between him and Stu to take the match. Rab pulled out his second net grabbed the bottom ring and started to feed them through to the top whilst keeping the middle of the net in the water, nothing wrong there you’d think, and you’d be right. Until Rab dropped the top of his net back into the drink and as he was still holding the bottom ring the inevitable happened! All his fish made a dash out the net and by the time the keepnet had been rescued there was nothing left to show for his days work! Now Rab isn’t one to take the micky out of anyone (and if you believe that then you need your head checking) so to say everyone erupted with laughter would be an under statement! A look of dismay crept into his face as his now single net weighed 17lb 12oz which meant he didn’t even win the section.
This however was good news for me and Wrighty as I crept into third spot meaning Dave took the section by default! So not a bad day at the office in the end! On reflection it wasn’t a bad match, I don’t think I missed a bite, although they were all fairly positive, I didn’t foul hook or lose any fish and the only thing I can think of that would have pushed me into second was the nightmare of getting my rig caught and having to put a new rig on. Apart from that I don’t think there was much more I could have done.
We’re at Brafferton on the F1 Lake next week, I’ve never fished here before but if the weather carries on being up and down then it might be another maggot approach. Its also now officially winter, I had to wear my jumper through the whole match this week and I’ve also been considering putting the heating on on a night! Considering not actioning, I’m not Rockefeller!
Friday, 25 September 2009
The Oaks - Maple 20th September
Well after a disastrous week at Woodlands the week previous which really wasn’t worth the write up! I was taking a couple of my mates down to Weeton, one of my old haunts where I’ve had some good bags of Carp before the lake was trimmed down and it was all about bagging F1’s I’d now been told it was full of Ide too so the lads had a great opportunity to catch some good fish and not have the struggle! Some of the Ide go 2lb in there and because they don’t fight they are relatively easy to land for a beginner! Well I set my mate Pick up on the waggler and he was soon into his first fish, a 3oz perch, at least he’d not blanked! Then I set Joe up on my old pole fishing at 5m with maggot. I told them both to keep the bait going in little and often and they’d soon put some fish in the net. I swapped between them helping them out before fishing myself. By the end of the day Pick had managed just over 3lb of bits, feeding on the waggler just isn’t the same as on the pole and I think this was the downfall. Joe however managed 19lb 10oz and a PB Mirror carp of 4lb 7oz. I myself managed about 20lb of Ide and I only fished for a couple of hours, what a place! I’m thinking this might be a good place to go in winter for some Ide bagging!
On to this weeks club match we were back on Maple again and seeing as I’ve blown out the last two times I’ve fished it a change of tactics was in order as once I stop catching on pellet I never had a plan B, or at least a Plan B that worked!
I got to the fishery at 8:20 and had a leisurely breakfast and a chat with a few of the lads about my previous days fishing. Come the draw and most of the lads were asking why Minty was Nige’s trousers? The sections were announced to be two 5’s and two 6’s as there were 22 in attendance today. Everyone piled around the bag as usual and rather than pushing with everyone else I hung back for a change and by the time I drew I could only feel three pegs still in the bag. In went my left hand and out came peg 58, I was pretty pleased with this as its an area of the lake I never seem to be on and hopefully I’d be in for a good days fishing! When I arrived at my peg, I had Andy Nattrass for company on 56, Owen on 60, Acko on 62 and Nige on 62a. A three way quid was struck between Owen, Acko and I to add bragging rights to the day.
My plan this week was to fish meat at the bottom of the far shelf and on the mud line when this line petered out. I would also start on pellet in normal fashion in front of the sedges. In the past I tend to get half a dozen very early on before having to have a rethink and I didn’t want to miss out on these early fish whilst I was waiting for the meat lines to settle.
I had three rigs set up, a Malman Cedar 4x10 for in front of the sedges 2.5ft of water and the same rig but for the mud line. Both rigs were on 0.14 Ultima Power Match to a 6 inch hooklength of 0.12, again Ultima Power Match. On the sedge (pellet) rig I had a size 18 B911 and a size 16 for the mud (meat) line. Elastics were 12 latex for pellet and 14 latex for the meat. My track rig was the same as the mud line regarding line hooks and elastic but set at 5ft deep with a 0.4g BGT shallow long float. This rig would be fished an inch or two over depth. All my rigs were back shotted with no.8 Stotz, there was no ripple whatsoever but the tow seemed quite strong.
For bait I had two tins of meat cubed into 4mm pieces and also some 6mm pellets of meat I punched out of the left over slices. I also had a handful of 4mm Ringers expanders and some soaked micro pellets.
The all in was shouted at 10:15 and the match was underway. I went out with the cupping kit to 11m and tipped in a good handful of meat. Then it was onto my left hand sedge armed with an expander and a fruit shoot of micros. Instantly I took 3 small carp about 12oz a piece before switching to the right sedge to repeat the process. I caught a further three fish off this sedge although I did foul hook a carp of about 6lb that came up tail first I couldn’t reach it with my net, I pulled some laccy out of the pull bung, applied a bit more pressure and we parted company! Unfortunately my expletives had got the attention of Mr Atkinson and he was far from sympathetic! So I was sitting on 6 fish for about 5lb after the first half an hour. Owen had managed one or two at a slightly better stamp and Nige by all accounts was into bagging mode on boss peg 62a.
Both my sedge lines had died as expected and it was now onto the meat line. I had two kinder pots on so that I was able to feed at 11m with one pot and also feed at 14m on the mud every time I went out. I soon managed to catch a few fish and by the end of the third hour I had managed 14 fish. My initial 6 fish, 6 from 11m and two off the mud. By my reckoning I had 14 fish for 14lb. This wasn’t going to be good enough at this rate but nothing could be done. I fished the next two hours and only managed 2 further fish to take my tally to 16 for 16lb, these came from switching between lines and hoping to pick off the odd fish.
The last hour had arrived and I desperately needed to catch. Nige was easily winning our section and probably the match so the default section was all that was up for the taking as far as I was concerned. I went out to my right sedge armed with pellet again and the fish had arrived, not in great numbers but I did put 9 further fish in my net to take my tally to 25 for approx 25lb by the call of time.
Acko and Owen were interested to know what I’d caught and they both thought I was telling porkies or to quote Acko ‘’you lying little c**t!’’ At max I thought I would have 30lb but 25 fish for 25lb seemed about right in my head.
After watching Stu weigh in 57lb and Paul Jones with 40lb it was confirmed that the battle for the section was on. Jim also put a big 30 on the scales. We were soon round to my peg and my two nets went 38-08, perhaps I had underestimated a little, or by 50%! If only I’d have managed that big fish I lost at the start, that would have seen me sail into 3rd place overall! Owen weighed 29lb so that was one quid safe, Acko then weighed 35lb so both scalps had been captured! Nige weighed around 90lb I think from 3 weighs and won the match comfortably. Tel and Martin had had hard days on 64 and 66 respectively so I’d also won my section! My first pick up since January this year, about bloomin’ time!
We’re at Carp Vale again next week on Cyprio and Match Pool, I’m actually swaying more to fishing on Match Pool having now fished it and learnt a few lessons, I wouldn’t mind a day righting a few wrongs from a few weeks ago! However the fate of the draw bag will probably put me on Cyprio now!
On to this weeks club match we were back on Maple again and seeing as I’ve blown out the last two times I’ve fished it a change of tactics was in order as once I stop catching on pellet I never had a plan B, or at least a Plan B that worked!
I got to the fishery at 8:20 and had a leisurely breakfast and a chat with a few of the lads about my previous days fishing. Come the draw and most of the lads were asking why Minty was Nige’s trousers? The sections were announced to be two 5’s and two 6’s as there were 22 in attendance today. Everyone piled around the bag as usual and rather than pushing with everyone else I hung back for a change and by the time I drew I could only feel three pegs still in the bag. In went my left hand and out came peg 58, I was pretty pleased with this as its an area of the lake I never seem to be on and hopefully I’d be in for a good days fishing! When I arrived at my peg, I had Andy Nattrass for company on 56, Owen on 60, Acko on 62 and Nige on 62a. A three way quid was struck between Owen, Acko and I to add bragging rights to the day.
My plan this week was to fish meat at the bottom of the far shelf and on the mud line when this line petered out. I would also start on pellet in normal fashion in front of the sedges. In the past I tend to get half a dozen very early on before having to have a rethink and I didn’t want to miss out on these early fish whilst I was waiting for the meat lines to settle.
I had three rigs set up, a Malman Cedar 4x10 for in front of the sedges 2.5ft of water and the same rig but for the mud line. Both rigs were on 0.14 Ultima Power Match to a 6 inch hooklength of 0.12, again Ultima Power Match. On the sedge (pellet) rig I had a size 18 B911 and a size 16 for the mud (meat) line. Elastics were 12 latex for pellet and 14 latex for the meat. My track rig was the same as the mud line regarding line hooks and elastic but set at 5ft deep with a 0.4g BGT shallow long float. This rig would be fished an inch or two over depth. All my rigs were back shotted with no.8 Stotz, there was no ripple whatsoever but the tow seemed quite strong.
For bait I had two tins of meat cubed into 4mm pieces and also some 6mm pellets of meat I punched out of the left over slices. I also had a handful of 4mm Ringers expanders and some soaked micro pellets.
The all in was shouted at 10:15 and the match was underway. I went out with the cupping kit to 11m and tipped in a good handful of meat. Then it was onto my left hand sedge armed with an expander and a fruit shoot of micros. Instantly I took 3 small carp about 12oz a piece before switching to the right sedge to repeat the process. I caught a further three fish off this sedge although I did foul hook a carp of about 6lb that came up tail first I couldn’t reach it with my net, I pulled some laccy out of the pull bung, applied a bit more pressure and we parted company! Unfortunately my expletives had got the attention of Mr Atkinson and he was far from sympathetic! So I was sitting on 6 fish for about 5lb after the first half an hour. Owen had managed one or two at a slightly better stamp and Nige by all accounts was into bagging mode on boss peg 62a.
Both my sedge lines had died as expected and it was now onto the meat line. I had two kinder pots on so that I was able to feed at 11m with one pot and also feed at 14m on the mud every time I went out. I soon managed to catch a few fish and by the end of the third hour I had managed 14 fish. My initial 6 fish, 6 from 11m and two off the mud. By my reckoning I had 14 fish for 14lb. This wasn’t going to be good enough at this rate but nothing could be done. I fished the next two hours and only managed 2 further fish to take my tally to 16 for 16lb, these came from switching between lines and hoping to pick off the odd fish.
The last hour had arrived and I desperately needed to catch. Nige was easily winning our section and probably the match so the default section was all that was up for the taking as far as I was concerned. I went out to my right sedge armed with pellet again and the fish had arrived, not in great numbers but I did put 9 further fish in my net to take my tally to 25 for approx 25lb by the call of time.
Acko and Owen were interested to know what I’d caught and they both thought I was telling porkies or to quote Acko ‘’you lying little c**t!’’ At max I thought I would have 30lb but 25 fish for 25lb seemed about right in my head.
After watching Stu weigh in 57lb and Paul Jones with 40lb it was confirmed that the battle for the section was on. Jim also put a big 30 on the scales. We were soon round to my peg and my two nets went 38-08, perhaps I had underestimated a little, or by 50%! If only I’d have managed that big fish I lost at the start, that would have seen me sail into 3rd place overall! Owen weighed 29lb so that was one quid safe, Acko then weighed 35lb so both scalps had been captured! Nige weighed around 90lb I think from 3 weighs and won the match comfortably. Tel and Martin had had hard days on 64 and 66 respectively so I’d also won my section! My first pick up since January this year, about bloomin’ time!
We’re at Carp Vale again next week on Cyprio and Match Pool, I’m actually swaying more to fishing on Match Pool having now fished it and learnt a few lessons, I wouldn’t mind a day righting a few wrongs from a few weeks ago! However the fate of the draw bag will probably put me on Cyprio now!
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