Wednesday, 9 May 2012
Woodlands - Skylark - 6th May 2012
After a very wet, very blustery weekend last week, I was expecting more of the same this week, especially as it was a Bank Holiday! I couldn’t have been more wrong though, according to the met office website it was to be sunny most of the day with broken cloud, highs of 10 degrees and maximum winds of 15mph. This would at least give me chance to get all my gear spread out behind me to give a final air through from last week’s drying efforts.
This weekend we were at Woodlands on Skylark. It’s been quite a while since I last fished one of the big squares at Woodlands so was quite looking forward to it. There were a million and one rumours going around as to how the previous weeks fish stocking/netting had gone, that in the end I just ignored all of it and assumed to fish it as normal.
After an expensive and rather disappointing breakfast I got the barrow loaded, which I came to realise isn’t big enough to take my new box, the draw then got underway. I held the bag and most people wanted to be somewhere in the middle which is ideally where I wanted to be, but with Stu taking the last but one peg, I was left with peg 34, right in the corner, right at the opposite end to where the wind had been blowing, and right next to where every Tom, Dick and Harry would march past throughout the day! Miffed? Face On? You Bet!!
I trudged my gear round to my peg to see that it was near enough the only part of the lake with no wind on, and looked up to the far end where you could see the vast amount of scum covering the top 2 or 3 pegs, proving that the wind had definitely been blowing up that way. I had Paul Cromie opposite on peg 2 and Stef to my left on peg 32, who were also both rather miserable about the anticipated days fishing.
To my surprise, whilst setting up there were quite a few fish rolling in my swim, from my fee right out to the aerator, whether they would feed or not was a completely different question entirely.
I set up a few rigs to hopefully cover every eventuality. My main rig would be to fish out at 13-15m on the deck. This was a 0.4g BGT shallow long float on 0.18 mainline, 0.16 hooklength, size 14 Gamakatsu Pellet hook. This was finished with a solid 14 latex. If it was really hard going I’d also set up a lighter version of this rig for the same swim but hopefully wouldn’t need it! I also set up a shallow rig for over the top of this line, this was a 0.2g Rizov RF83 on 0.18 straight through to a hair rigged band and size 16 Drennan Power Hair Rigger. This was again on a solid 14 latex. My final rig was to fish at 15m tight to a clump of grass on my right up the side of the lake, this rig would also serve my left margin too and was a 4x12 Malman Cedar on 0.18 mainline, 0.16 hooklength, size 14 Gamakatsu Pellet hook and a solid 16 latex. I also had the bomb set up for fishing towards the aerator. My rig for the right hand side of the lake would hopefully come into play later on in the match once the disturbance had died down from everyone walking to their pegs.
Bait wise today it was all pellet, I had some 4,6 and 8mm feed and also 4,6 and 8mm expanders. I had some corn in my bucket too but this would be a last resort/change bait. With my 4mm feed pellets, I’d left them to soak for 10 minutes before draining the water, this made them a bit softer, seeing as I was expecting it to be quite hard today, these pellets would break down much quicker and I’d hopefully get in amongst the skimmers as well as any bonus carp.
At the all in I’d not even put my keepnets in, so I decided to feed my 13m line with a kinder pot of soaked 4mm pellets, feed a few 8mm pellets towards the aerator and then chuck my nets in whilst these settled. Once my nets were in I had a quick look down my left margin as there had been plenty of swirls and boils whilst I was setting up so I was hoping for a bonus early carp. After a few minutes of watching a still float, I fed my 13m line again and threw the bomb out. I had a few casts and continually fired one or two pellets over the top whilst also topping up my 13m line. The tip eventually went round and I was rewarded with my first carp of the day. At around 4lb it was a welcome start. By now the wind was steadily blowing down to my end of the lake but with it came all the scum, my rigs were constantly covered in blossom and the feathery bits off the willow trees. An hour in and the open match lads started walking past to the other lakes which wasn’t helping my side swim calm down but what can you do!?
I had a further couple of fishless casts on the bomb before having a look on the 13m line. I had a carp, again about 4lb and a skimmer in my first two puts in but was getting liners all the time and the fish were obviously shallow. I went out over my 13m line with my shallow rig, fed a few pellets, slapped a few times and after 5-10 minutes of repeating the feeding and slapping, the float bobbed and I lifted into a fish. This was much bigger and after a hefty tussle I slid the net under a 7lb common. I went back out hoping for a few more, the float once again dipped but this time my lift resulted in an angry foul hooked carp tearing off into the middle of the lake before we parted company and I only had a scale as a souvenir. The next put in, the same happened again, so with this I decided to shallow up and was now fishing 10-12 inches deep, however I now couldn’t get an indication, the clouds covered the sun and there was a definite change in temperature, the wind had also dropped leaving the lake flat calm so I decided to have a look back on the deck.
I carried on swapping between the deep and shallow rig, with the deep rig providing a few more fish throughout the day. With two hours to go, I had around 25lb in my net, Stef must have had around 50lb as his second net had gone in, Cromie probably had a bit more than Stef but was admitting to a lot less!
I decided to have a look down the boards at the side of the lake and went out armed with a 6mm expander and a few 4mm pellets. It was a nightmare to see the float at 15m due to all the scum on the surface however managed to make out a bite on my first put in. There wasn’t yards of elastic pouring out but it felt like a half decent fish, after a one sided battle a barbel surfaced and I had another 2lb in the net. I was hoping that his brothers and sister were also lurking down there! For the remainder of match I caught a few small stockies around 12oz off the boards and half a dozen fish around 5lb. I think I lost three that were obviously foul hooked as most of them surfaced at the aerator before either shedding the hook or on one occasion snapping me. There were still a couple of people walking round and whenever they walked down my bank I had to wait a lot longer for a bite, up to 20 minutes in some instances, which when you’re catching one near enough every put in, this drastically affects your catch rate and could cost you valuable fish!
The match drew to a close and from what I could tell it had been a hard match for most, Cromie admitted to 45lb but I knew he was telling porkies, I reckoned I had 55-56lb and that Stef would have beaten me though there wouldn’t be a lot in it.
I packed up my gear and being on the end pegs, Stef and I were weighing in our bank. We started up on peg 18 to work our way back down and up until Stef, Rab was winning the section with 28lb10oz, so it had fished a lot harder than I’d suspected. Stef’s two nets weighed 68lb4oz so I knew I was beaten. My first net weighed 36-08 and my second 24lb12oz giving me a combined weight of 61lb4oz. Cromies “45lb” weighed just over 80lb so he won the match with Stef and I coming 2nd and 3rd respectively.
So after a miserable trudge to my peg in the morning, it turned out the “wrong” end of the lake wasn’t the wrong end after all! I just hoped that not so many people were walking around as I think this would have helped me to push further up the placings!
Gordon had tipped back, and judging by the shine on the pound coin he gave me I think he’d been polishing it for most of the match! Acko also hadn’t faired too well and after disappearing last week we had double or quits this week, which he graciously handed over in the cafe!
The final results looked like this:
1st P. Cromie – Peg 2 - 80lb 06ozs
2nd S. Armitage – Peg 32 - 68lb 04ozs
3rd S. Lupton – Peg 34 - 61lb 04ozs
Sec1 A. Nattrass – Peg 6 - 33lb 10ozs
Sec2 R. Ogilvie – Peg 28 - 28lb 10ozs
Were at Brafferton next week, hopefully the weather, and the fishing will remain positive!
Friday, 4 May 2012
Oaks - Cedar - Club Match - 29-04-12
After a disappointing days fishing a week ago I was glad to be back on “home” soil. After a lovely breakfast I caught up with Acko and Woody to decide which pegs to use. With us having pegs 42-80 and 19 anglers fishing it made sense to fish it every other peg, you’d end up having a relatively pleasant day free from wind if you drew on the points but it’d be horrendous on any of the straights! Thankfully come the draw, I managed peg 64, which is bang on the end of a point! Although it was to be believed these flyers were no longer flyers, I was glad that I’d be able to fish properly for the day!
I had Acko to my left on peg 62 and Cooksy to my right on 66. I’d heard Ian Bowman had fished peg 62 the day before and only weighed in 15lb so I was prepared for a struggle, although the angler on peg 65 managed 38lb. So if I got somewhere in between I’d be happy!
It was lightly drizzling at the start of the match but the longer I went on setting up the rain got worse. Normally I don’t use a brolly but if it’s raining before the match I tend to put it up, plus the wind on the end of this point wasn’t too bad so hopefully I’d be alright.
I set up three rigs for the day, the first being for down the track, this was one of my homemade KP 0.4g floats on 0.14 mainline, 0.12 hooklength with a size 16 Gamakatsu pellet and paste hook. A size 16 hook may seem a bit big but I was going to fish meat on this line, and I overheard Woody say he a 16 might be better than 18, I could always swap to an 18 if I decided it wasn’t right. The next rig was exactly the same as the track rig but with a 0.2g version of the float for fishing in front of the sedge in 3ft of water, this rig would also do for both my margins. My final rig was pushing up the side of the sedges and was again the same line and hook but with a 4x12 Malman Cedar. All rigs were topped off with doubled 5 elastics.
Bait wise, I had some 4 and 6mm expanders, some micros, some 4mm feed pellets and a big tin of meat chopped into 6mm cubes, chopped with a kitchen knife, unlike Gordon “I can’t do my meat without a meatcutter” Thackwray!
At the all in the rain was now in full force, the brolly was keeping a bit of my gear dry but when its coming in sideways there’s naff all you can do to keep dry!
I threw a dozen 4mm pellets down each margin and keep doing this every five minutes or so whilst I fished in front of the sedges. I baited up with a piece of meat and put half a dozen cubes in my pot and went across to my right hand sedge. The float sat motionless, I came back every 5 minutes or so to keep a few cubes of meat going in but after 45 minutes and 3 gudgeon in the net I wasn’t going anywhere fast. I had a look down the margins and managed 2 F1’s and a small mirror before that also dried up. I fed a full kinderpot onto my deep line and left it ten minutes before going over it.
First put in and I was rewarded a mirror of about 3lb, by feeding 5 or 6 bits of meat every put in I started putting some fish in the net. It was by no means frantic but I was certainly glad to be putting something in the net.
The wind was occasionally gusting through and had by now taken the brolly down and launched it up the bank, strange how its less annoying to sit in torrential rain than under a brolly!
I carried on catching slowly off the track line when I felt it slipping away from me, I fed a dozen bits of meat to try spark a response and also fed the same on a new line a few meters further to my right. Whilst these had time to settle I spent five minutes back in the margins which I’d been continually feeding throughout the match, but after catching a gudgeon off my left swim and a roach off my right swim I was soon back onto the track swims.
For the remainder of the match I alternated between the two track swims and did manage to keep a slow but steady stream of fish coming to the net.
The all in was finally called at 4 o’ clock and Acko was already half packed up. He was admitting to about 15lb but tipped back, so at least I was a quid up (I’ll have that next week a t Woodlands please!).
I reckoned I might have about 30lb and Paul was admitting to a bit less.
The scale came round and Rab had managed 53lb odd off peg 70 (flyer), Tony Koz had had 46lb, Bob Sinclair 42lb and young Joe had managed 39lb. So it was going to be close on our point, Paul weighed in a low 20lb and then it was my turn, I managed 38-04, so I’d more than I thought but still not enough. After trudging the gear back to the car, we met back in the cafe to dry off a bit.
The top three looked like this:
1st J. Wood - Peg 48 - 73lbs 02ozs
2nd R. Ogilvie – Peg 70 - 53lbs 00ozs
3rd T. Koz - Peg 68 - 46lbs 04ozs
Next week were at Woodlands, this will be the first time I’ve fished there this year so it’ll make a nice change, I just hope the fishing is kind and the weather kinder!
Tuesday, 17 April 2012
Brafferton F1 Lake - 15th April
After missing the first two proper club matches of the year I was looking forward to today, after having had nearly 60lb out a few weeks ago I was hoping for a similar days sport! I couldn’t have been more wrong though, I got to the fishery just after 8am with a bit of a sore head from the night before and was faced with rather strong, particularly cold winds, thankfully I had an extra jacket in my bag because it was going to be a cold one! The frost the night before probably wouldn’t help matters either!
After forcing my breakfast down I loaded my gear onto the barrow and awaited the draw, the wind had definitely got stronger and it was freezing! Everyone was hoping for any peg that wasn’t down the bottom end, although these pegs have done well on our last matches, they’re completely in the shade and the wind would be blowing in your face all day.
The draw eventually got underway and I drew peg 25. Which not only is in the deep dark woods so I’d be freezing, I’d have the wind in my face all day and to top things off its the furthest peg away from the car park, especially when you walk the wrong way around the lake! The long grass made it a nightmare to push my barrow and by the time I got to my peg I was ready for a kip and to be honest, wasn’t really in the mood!
It took me an age to set up and for the first time in a very, very long time I wasn’t ready by the start of the match. I’d plumbed up down my left edge but it was all over the place and seeing as I had to fish maybe ten metres to the platform it was very difficult holding the pole still enough in the wind so I got this rig somewhere near and if it settled down later then I could fine tune it. I did the same with my across rig to fish to the end of the island but the wind was coming from every conceivable direction so I put this to rest with my edge rig. My final rig, and only rig that was actually ready was a 0.75g BGT Blue on 0.16 mainline to an 0.12 hooklength and size 18 Gamakatsu Pellet and Paste hook. This rig was the full length of my top kit and even this rig was slightly struggling with the tow, I had some 1g rigs in my box but I thought the smaller one would do. This rig was finished with a soft set 12 elastic and pull bung. I plumber up and I could fish this rig from 4-10metres as it was very uniform, ideally I’d start at 10m at the bottom of the far shelf but it would be wind dependant! I also had a small Preston method set up which I would start with after feeding my other line.
Bait today I had micros and 4mm’s for feed and some 4 and 6mm expanders. I also had a bit of corn to use as a change bait.
At the all in I finished off setting up and then chucked the method out, and again, and again. And again, the wind was swirling all over the place and even though only a short chuck of 14m to the island I was really struggling and was throwing it all over the place. I sacked this off and went on my deep rig at 10m where I’d fed a golf ball of micros to kick start. Although I got a small F1 first put in it was very difficult holding the pole at that length so I decided to do what I should have done at the start, fish short! At least by fishing short I could present a bait correctly, not get over frustrated and hopefully still put a few fish in the net.
I fed a line on my top 5 and was starting to calm down after a disastrous start! Thankfully the fish were there, I was catching a fish almost every put in, though I was waiting a while for a bite, by lifting and dropping the rig I was tempting small stockies, smaller barbel and smaller still gudgeon into the net. Although not manic I seemed to be doing OK from what I could see, Tony Koz on 23 was catching similar to myself and had put a few fish in the net whilst I was messing about at the start too! John on 27 was also getting a few down the edge but was getting pestered by bits.
As it looked like I was doing OK I just battled on fishing here and tried to get my head down, I’d started feeding a few hard 4mm pellets every put in by now instead of the balls of micros and it seemed to be working a little bit better. John had decided to give it a go across and managed 3 or four fish one after another before getting “blown off”. Stu had come for a walk round and had said everyone else was doing crap so I knew to keep plugging away. I did try across and managed a small chub first put in and a small F1 on the second before the wind got too much again and forced me back onto the 5m line.
It was a case of sticking at it for the rest of the match at 5m and although I did try across for the last ten minutes it was to no avail.
John, myself and Tony had all caught fairly steadily throughout the match and although I thought I’d beaten John I reckoned that Tony had done me though it would have been tight between the three of us.
At the weigh in they started from either end, up to John, Rab was winning with 24-14, John managed 17lb and then it was my turn. Although I had two nets in they were by no means full, I just like to split my fish half a match in each net. The tight so and so’s on scales gave me 22-15, though I could have sworn it was nearer 23lb! Tony was next and as he lifted his net out I knew he’d done me, he weighed 27lb odd and took the match.
So a frustrating day for all due to the weather but I managed 4th overall and a section win, if I’d have had my head screwed on at the start I could have probably pushed a bit higher up the frame but it wasn’t to be!
The top 5 looked like this, very close with just over 5lb separating the top weights.
1st T.Koz peg23 27lb 05ozs
2nd S.Armitage peg18 25lb 12ozs
3rd R.Ogilvie peg34 24lb 14ozs
4th S.Lupton peg25 22lb 15ozs
5th B.Sinclair peg15 22lb 00ozs
Next week were at Raker Lakes on Horseshoe pond, I’ve never even seen the place so it could be interesting!
After forcing my breakfast down I loaded my gear onto the barrow and awaited the draw, the wind had definitely got stronger and it was freezing! Everyone was hoping for any peg that wasn’t down the bottom end, although these pegs have done well on our last matches, they’re completely in the shade and the wind would be blowing in your face all day.
The draw eventually got underway and I drew peg 25. Which not only is in the deep dark woods so I’d be freezing, I’d have the wind in my face all day and to top things off its the furthest peg away from the car park, especially when you walk the wrong way around the lake! The long grass made it a nightmare to push my barrow and by the time I got to my peg I was ready for a kip and to be honest, wasn’t really in the mood!
It took me an age to set up and for the first time in a very, very long time I wasn’t ready by the start of the match. I’d plumbed up down my left edge but it was all over the place and seeing as I had to fish maybe ten metres to the platform it was very difficult holding the pole still enough in the wind so I got this rig somewhere near and if it settled down later then I could fine tune it. I did the same with my across rig to fish to the end of the island but the wind was coming from every conceivable direction so I put this to rest with my edge rig. My final rig, and only rig that was actually ready was a 0.75g BGT Blue on 0.16 mainline to an 0.12 hooklength and size 18 Gamakatsu Pellet and Paste hook. This rig was the full length of my top kit and even this rig was slightly struggling with the tow, I had some 1g rigs in my box but I thought the smaller one would do. This rig was finished with a soft set 12 elastic and pull bung. I plumber up and I could fish this rig from 4-10metres as it was very uniform, ideally I’d start at 10m at the bottom of the far shelf but it would be wind dependant! I also had a small Preston method set up which I would start with after feeding my other line.
Bait today I had micros and 4mm’s for feed and some 4 and 6mm expanders. I also had a bit of corn to use as a change bait.
At the all in I finished off setting up and then chucked the method out, and again, and again. And again, the wind was swirling all over the place and even though only a short chuck of 14m to the island I was really struggling and was throwing it all over the place. I sacked this off and went on my deep rig at 10m where I’d fed a golf ball of micros to kick start. Although I got a small F1 first put in it was very difficult holding the pole at that length so I decided to do what I should have done at the start, fish short! At least by fishing short I could present a bait correctly, not get over frustrated and hopefully still put a few fish in the net.
I fed a line on my top 5 and was starting to calm down after a disastrous start! Thankfully the fish were there, I was catching a fish almost every put in, though I was waiting a while for a bite, by lifting and dropping the rig I was tempting small stockies, smaller barbel and smaller still gudgeon into the net. Although not manic I seemed to be doing OK from what I could see, Tony Koz on 23 was catching similar to myself and had put a few fish in the net whilst I was messing about at the start too! John on 27 was also getting a few down the edge but was getting pestered by bits.
As it looked like I was doing OK I just battled on fishing here and tried to get my head down, I’d started feeding a few hard 4mm pellets every put in by now instead of the balls of micros and it seemed to be working a little bit better. John had decided to give it a go across and managed 3 or four fish one after another before getting “blown off”. Stu had come for a walk round and had said everyone else was doing crap so I knew to keep plugging away. I did try across and managed a small chub first put in and a small F1 on the second before the wind got too much again and forced me back onto the 5m line.
It was a case of sticking at it for the rest of the match at 5m and although I did try across for the last ten minutes it was to no avail.
John, myself and Tony had all caught fairly steadily throughout the match and although I thought I’d beaten John I reckoned that Tony had done me though it would have been tight between the three of us.
At the weigh in they started from either end, up to John, Rab was winning with 24-14, John managed 17lb and then it was my turn. Although I had two nets in they were by no means full, I just like to split my fish half a match in each net. The tight so and so’s on scales gave me 22-15, though I could have sworn it was nearer 23lb! Tony was next and as he lifted his net out I knew he’d done me, he weighed 27lb odd and took the match.
So a frustrating day for all due to the weather but I managed 4th overall and a section win, if I’d have had my head screwed on at the start I could have probably pushed a bit higher up the frame but it wasn’t to be!
The top 5 looked like this, very close with just over 5lb separating the top weights.
1st T.Koz peg23 27lb 05ozs
2nd S.Armitage peg18 25lb 12ozs
3rd R.Ogilvie peg34 24lb 14ozs
4th S.Lupton peg25 22lb 15ozs
5th B.Sinclair peg15 22lb 00ozs
Next week were at Raker Lakes on Horseshoe pond, I’ve never even seen the place so it could be interesting!
Tuesday, 10 April 2012
6th April - Good Friday Open, New Lakes - Sessay
I didn’t deem the previous weeks match a write up, I fished the open on Cedar at Sessay and struggled sat amongst the worm lads and up until the last hour I only had around 8lb in the net, I started feeding a black groundbait slop across and put small F1’s in the net up until the end and weighed in 27lb to slightly spare my blushes.
The following Monday was my birthday and I managed to sneak in 3 hours at Sunrise near Spofforth. I fished peg 11 and managed 26 F1’s and small mirrors for about 45lb, lovely afternoons sport and glorious weather to boot!
On to this week, with other commitments over the bank holiday weekend I decided to fish the Friday open up at Sessay, seeing as I wasn’t fishing for the rest of the weekend I’d have to make the most of it.
This would be my fifth time at fishing these lakes so I’m still relatively new to them and I last fished them in November last year and managed 45lb for 6th in the match. This time around I drew peg 15 on Sycamore, I’ve drawn on Sycamore twice before and always found the fish in here to be a lot smaller stamp than in the other 2 lakes. Peg 15 is right in the corner and with the wind blowing down towards me and the Steve Hawkins being the next angler on peg on my bank I had plenty of room, though everyone seemed to as there were only 6 or 7 anglers on each lake. I had Mark opposite me on peg 18 and Draw bag Whale on the end peg on Beeches behind me, everyone else was too far away!
After speaking to Rob before the match he recommended fishing slightly to my right away from the corner in order to draw more fish in to my peg rather than hammering the fish in the corner. I plumbed up right along the shelf from 13-14.5m left to right and found it to be fairly consistent apart from the odd deviation of an inch or two. I set up a rig to fish all these lines on top of the shelf and I’d have to alter my depth slightly here and there when required. This rig was one on my own 0.2g slim pencil floats on 0.12 mainline and 0.10 hooklength with a size 18 Gamakatsu pellet and paste hook, this was finished with a doubled 5 elastic. I also set up a rig for fishing 3 lines in the deep water, this was identical to the other rig but with a 0.4g version of the float.
For bait today all I had was half a bag of fishery micros, swelled up to make two pints of feed and some 4 and 6mm expanders.
At the all in I went straight out just past my 13m section pointing to my right, I was fishing in line with Marks peg so it was nice and easy to get the float in the same hole every time. I lowered the rig in with a 4mm pellet and tipped in a full fruit shoot of micros over the top. I didn’t have to wait long before my first indication and my first fish, a small F1 around 8oz, I repeated the process putting 4 fish in the net whilst Mark had seemingly lost his first three hooked fish. I altered the feed for the first hour and managed to put 12 fish in the net although they were all small fish.
I carried on in the same vein for the next hour or so and seemed to be doing OK, Mark was catching a few but I thought I had the upper hand, I could see Bert catching a few in front of the little hut but he was probably catching at the same rate as Mark. I heard Whaley tell Jonesy that he’d had 20 and I think at that point I had 16 so I wasn’t doing too bad. With these being five and half hour matches the half way point was 13:15, at this time I switched keepnets to do half a match in each net and at the half way point I’d had 36 fish and seemed to be doing OK though there were rumours of Dean Smith and Richie Newton both catching well on Beeches.
In the second half of the match I decided to move swims or at least give my original swim a rest as it had marginally slowed down from how it started.
I went over to my left at 14.5, I was fishing a couple of metres of the rushes still in the deep water of the shelf as it slopes up quite shallow into the reeds so I was still fishing at my original depth.
I kicked off with a kinder sized pot of bait and hoped to feed after every couple of fish, the fish were having it on the other line with a full pot every put in but I was waiting a few minutes for a bite. Hopefully feeding a fruit shoot of bait after every few fish I’d get quicker bites.
I was straight into fish and although I didn’t seem to be catching any faster from putting less feed in, it was quicker to not feed purely through filling the pot etc. I was still catching well though I was now getting a few liners and lifting into thin air. I didn’t think it was down to my feeding as I’d dramatically cut down by now, feeding after every three or four fish. I foul hooked maybe four in a row and was starting to get annoyed as I lost them all! I shallowed up by about four inches and started hooking fish again, I was back into a similar rhythm before the lines started again so I shallowed up another couple of inches, this worked a treat and the bites kept coming, considering it wasn’t that warm and after the midweek snow they were more than happy feeding off bottom.
Then I suffered a setback, I hooked a fish of a similar size to the others but just I was about to land it, it snapped me just below the loop to my connector so I lost the whole rig! I couldn’t understand it!!
I didn’t dwell on it and shallowed up my track rig to the same depth as the previous one and was straight into fish again. I managed to finish the second half of the match with 42 fish and a total of 78, I had 39 fish in each net so it would be interesting to see what they weighed.
Mark asked if I had 80lb, to which I replied “you must be kidding!”, the average size of my fish was probably 8oz, I thought I’d have 40lb though Jonesy reckoned I’d have 60lb with that many fish, we’d have to wait and see though.
Ash had fished really hard with most anglers just scraping past the 10lb barrier though Ian Exley managed a lake win and section with 37lb odd. Beech had fished relatively well, with Dean Smith weighing 65lb off around peg 7, Richie Newton then went into the lead with 88lb, Whaley finished off their lake with 53lb odd. Onto our lake and with Mark Calvert weighing 50lb I was dubious as to whether I’d get the section, my first net weighed 30lb dead and my second net 30lb6oz, so I’d won the lake and managed third overall on the match. Though I must split my fish a bit better and improve guessing my weight!
I was more than chuffed with this result and the final top 5 looked like this:
1st R. Newton - B20 - 88,2
2nd D. Smith - B6 - 65,0
3rd S. Lupton - S15 - 60,6
4th P. Whale - B25 - 53,8
5th M. Calvert - S6 - 50,4
Going back, it wasn’t until the next day that I realised why my rig had snapped. Normally with my bottle tops, I thread a loop of elastic under them and attach them to my top kits with the tight loop of elastic, rather than damaging my pole with the rigid plastic. I’d done a couple of fruit shoot lids by cutting a slit from one hole to another so I could thread them on and off without having to take my rig off. I remembered at one point my rig had got caught in the slit as I was unhooking a fish but I just sorted it out and carried on fishing, this must have damaged the line without me knowing! I’ll definitely go back to my elastic cups for the future as one day a mistake like that could cost me! The larger downside of this was obviously that a fish would now be attached to this rig, hopefully it would spit the hook fairly easily, then someone will be the proud owner of one of my homemade floats!
The following Monday was my birthday and I managed to sneak in 3 hours at Sunrise near Spofforth. I fished peg 11 and managed 26 F1’s and small mirrors for about 45lb, lovely afternoons sport and glorious weather to boot!
On to this week, with other commitments over the bank holiday weekend I decided to fish the Friday open up at Sessay, seeing as I wasn’t fishing for the rest of the weekend I’d have to make the most of it.
This would be my fifth time at fishing these lakes so I’m still relatively new to them and I last fished them in November last year and managed 45lb for 6th in the match. This time around I drew peg 15 on Sycamore, I’ve drawn on Sycamore twice before and always found the fish in here to be a lot smaller stamp than in the other 2 lakes. Peg 15 is right in the corner and with the wind blowing down towards me and the Steve Hawkins being the next angler on peg on my bank I had plenty of room, though everyone seemed to as there were only 6 or 7 anglers on each lake. I had Mark opposite me on peg 18 and Draw bag Whale on the end peg on Beeches behind me, everyone else was too far away!
After speaking to Rob before the match he recommended fishing slightly to my right away from the corner in order to draw more fish in to my peg rather than hammering the fish in the corner. I plumbed up right along the shelf from 13-14.5m left to right and found it to be fairly consistent apart from the odd deviation of an inch or two. I set up a rig to fish all these lines on top of the shelf and I’d have to alter my depth slightly here and there when required. This rig was one on my own 0.2g slim pencil floats on 0.12 mainline and 0.10 hooklength with a size 18 Gamakatsu pellet and paste hook, this was finished with a doubled 5 elastic. I also set up a rig for fishing 3 lines in the deep water, this was identical to the other rig but with a 0.4g version of the float.
For bait today all I had was half a bag of fishery micros, swelled up to make two pints of feed and some 4 and 6mm expanders.
At the all in I went straight out just past my 13m section pointing to my right, I was fishing in line with Marks peg so it was nice and easy to get the float in the same hole every time. I lowered the rig in with a 4mm pellet and tipped in a full fruit shoot of micros over the top. I didn’t have to wait long before my first indication and my first fish, a small F1 around 8oz, I repeated the process putting 4 fish in the net whilst Mark had seemingly lost his first three hooked fish. I altered the feed for the first hour and managed to put 12 fish in the net although they were all small fish.
I carried on in the same vein for the next hour or so and seemed to be doing OK, Mark was catching a few but I thought I had the upper hand, I could see Bert catching a few in front of the little hut but he was probably catching at the same rate as Mark. I heard Whaley tell Jonesy that he’d had 20 and I think at that point I had 16 so I wasn’t doing too bad. With these being five and half hour matches the half way point was 13:15, at this time I switched keepnets to do half a match in each net and at the half way point I’d had 36 fish and seemed to be doing OK though there were rumours of Dean Smith and Richie Newton both catching well on Beeches.
In the second half of the match I decided to move swims or at least give my original swim a rest as it had marginally slowed down from how it started.
I went over to my left at 14.5, I was fishing a couple of metres of the rushes still in the deep water of the shelf as it slopes up quite shallow into the reeds so I was still fishing at my original depth.
I kicked off with a kinder sized pot of bait and hoped to feed after every couple of fish, the fish were having it on the other line with a full pot every put in but I was waiting a few minutes for a bite. Hopefully feeding a fruit shoot of bait after every few fish I’d get quicker bites.
I was straight into fish and although I didn’t seem to be catching any faster from putting less feed in, it was quicker to not feed purely through filling the pot etc. I was still catching well though I was now getting a few liners and lifting into thin air. I didn’t think it was down to my feeding as I’d dramatically cut down by now, feeding after every three or four fish. I foul hooked maybe four in a row and was starting to get annoyed as I lost them all! I shallowed up by about four inches and started hooking fish again, I was back into a similar rhythm before the lines started again so I shallowed up another couple of inches, this worked a treat and the bites kept coming, considering it wasn’t that warm and after the midweek snow they were more than happy feeding off bottom.
Then I suffered a setback, I hooked a fish of a similar size to the others but just I was about to land it, it snapped me just below the loop to my connector so I lost the whole rig! I couldn’t understand it!!
I didn’t dwell on it and shallowed up my track rig to the same depth as the previous one and was straight into fish again. I managed to finish the second half of the match with 42 fish and a total of 78, I had 39 fish in each net so it would be interesting to see what they weighed.
Mark asked if I had 80lb, to which I replied “you must be kidding!”, the average size of my fish was probably 8oz, I thought I’d have 40lb though Jonesy reckoned I’d have 60lb with that many fish, we’d have to wait and see though.
Ash had fished really hard with most anglers just scraping past the 10lb barrier though Ian Exley managed a lake win and section with 37lb odd. Beech had fished relatively well, with Dean Smith weighing 65lb off around peg 7, Richie Newton then went into the lead with 88lb, Whaley finished off their lake with 53lb odd. Onto our lake and with Mark Calvert weighing 50lb I was dubious as to whether I’d get the section, my first net weighed 30lb dead and my second net 30lb6oz, so I’d won the lake and managed third overall on the match. Though I must split my fish a bit better and improve guessing my weight!
I was more than chuffed with this result and the final top 5 looked like this:
1st R. Newton - B20 - 88,2
2nd D. Smith - B6 - 65,0
3rd S. Lupton - S15 - 60,6
4th P. Whale - B25 - 53,8
5th M. Calvert - S6 - 50,4
Going back, it wasn’t until the next day that I realised why my rig had snapped. Normally with my bottle tops, I thread a loop of elastic under them and attach them to my top kits with the tight loop of elastic, rather than damaging my pole with the rigid plastic. I’d done a couple of fruit shoot lids by cutting a slit from one hole to another so I could thread them on and off without having to take my rig off. I remembered at one point my rig had got caught in the slit as I was unhooking a fish but I just sorted it out and carried on fishing, this must have damaged the line without me knowing! I’ll definitely go back to my elastic cups for the future as one day a mistake like that could cost me! The larger downside of this was obviously that a fish would now be attached to this rig, hopefully it would spit the hook fairly easily, then someone will be the proud owner of one of my homemade floats!
Thursday, 22 March 2012
Oaks - Cedar Open - 17-03-12
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!
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!
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
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