On a Sunday I'd rather have a big match, this seems to be a thing of the past, with many 5 -20 peggers spread over the region. I would have liked to fish the match on Trinity today, but PSV, whilst advertising their matches in the Evening Post, have some complex rules which keep the matches exclusive. (Tony, I could have told you that the carp in Trinity would still come up in the water!! - and that to win money off of peg 18 is like Mike Nicholls buying a round)
I decided to go to Landsend, with the idea that unless I had vermin crawling up the pole, I'd fish for silvers, I love catching those big Perch that are in the Match Lake.
On Saturday, I thought it through and decided to base my match on maggot and caster, a few soft pellets and a couple of pints of hard pellet - just in case, as the weather is still warm. My plan was to fish for silvers at the bottom of the island shelf and to catch carp lets on tight to the island......... That utopian idea, was all well and good, until I drew 24 - no island.
I found a nice flat area, with no leaves or snags showing on the plummet, this was about 11m towards the island (which on this peg, without 23 in, the island is at least 20m away). I also set up a couple of rigs to fish both margins, as well as a light rig to fish caster on the drop.
At the all in I potted some dampened 4mm into the RH margin at 12m (just short of the tree), I also hand fed the LH and RH margin at approx 7m, the concentrated on the 11m line. I fed caster, a few red maggots and some dampened pellet on this line, hoping to plunder a winning bag of silvers.
The plan, turned out to be, a long way from the fishes idea of me netting 30lb of silvers and a bonus 60lb of vermin....
I started on double maggot, in the first hour, I had 2 carp, one about 7lb, one about 3.5lb, they were intruders into 5 or 6lb of crucians, ide roach and perch, more than happy, after the initial hour I was on target for 6 x 15lb, (75) with the though that the peg would get better - wrong, so very wrong, I struggled for bites from any fish, I tried single maggot, double, soft pellet, hard pellet, caster, single, double and triple, and for the remainder of the match, I only had the odd small perch or roach.
I fed new lines, tried worm, maggot, caster, hard and soft pellet all with the same response of a motionless float, the water temperature remained a steady 12°C all day, I had no liners, and when scaled down to single maggot on all lines found small (very small) roach, suggesting that there were no carp feeding in the peg.
In the last hour, I tried all the tricks, chucking bait and water down the edge, trying to fool them I was packing up,I also fished tighter to snags and increased the feed, all to no avail.
I struggle to know what I did wrong, the peg gave up fish early, (not always my favoured option, usually fish that come late, feed until the end !!) and the usual building of the peg, just did not happen. Not a sign of a skimmer, they usually like the soft pellet, but not today, apparently.
Still, it didn't rain and its better than being at work....
The overall result was:
1) N Collier 87.11 peg 6
2) R Shipp 76.12 peg 11
3) N Mout 73.03 peg 32
4) A Oram 57.00 peg 5
Silvers
1) Ken Rayner 26.00 peg 25
2) N Collier 17.01 peg 6
Sunday, 25 October 2009
Monday, 19 October 2009
Clevedon Charity Match, River Kenn 18/10/09
The River Kenn keeps luring me back, it can only for the quality of the roach fishing, not the procession of unruly dogs and their owners that provide a constant distraction on the pegs below Kenn road.
I arrived for the draw early, as the ticket price included a breakfast - wasn't too bad actually, although not as substantial as a Bullock feast. General consensus of opinion was that it would fish hard, the water being gin clear, the sunny day forecast and the overnight frost.
I drew peg 14, not a peg I'd have chosen and the fact that Paul 'end peg' Faiers had drawn peg 8, the end peg in the section and the downstream end peg in the match, did nothing to bolster my lack of optimism. Kev Perry had also drawn an end peg in the car park section, it was going to be difficult to frame from my peg, best hope was for it to fish really hard.
When I got to the river, Paul & I had a chat and both thought that double figures would be a good weight, the river was flat calm, the bottom was visible 6' down and there was no sign of any fish moving.
Peg 14 is set into some rushes, these are often home to small perch and can also hold decent roach when the conditions are bright, I'd pretty much made up my mind to fish punch as a main attack and drip caster and pinkie down the edge of the rushes. I set up a 1g wire stemmed float and one in the same pattern at 0.8g, both with 0.08 hooklength and 18 B511, although I did expect to be scaling down from that.
Two rigs for the rushes, one 0.13 straight through to a 14 B611 and another with 0.08 and a 20 B511, one for worm, one for caster & pinkie. I also set a a lead rod and a waggler, intending to feed some caster right across, to hopefully snare an odd chub and any wary roach that backed away from the pole line.
Having to go out to 10m to find over 6' of water, meant that I'd have to unship across the path that the walkers, and dogs take, not ideal, but I didn't think that I'd catch closer in. At the all in I fed two small balls of liccy, one loosely squeezed, one tighter and second put in the float dipped and a 2 ounce roach was in the net - blank saved!!
To cut a long story short, the caster line across, produced not so much as a touch on my occasional look over, the rushes drip fed fed with a meagre amount of caster and pinkie, also failed to see any movement on the float, except for a moorhen (moronhen more like) that dragged the rig into the rushes and snapped the float.
After the first hour or so, I was getting bites on the punch line at 10m, but they weren't coming fast enough to build any sort of weight, I added a pinch of squatt and some hemp to the liccy feed, this seemed to slightly increase the size of the fish, but not the frequency of bites. I tried caster over the punch line, not a touch, red and bronze maggot getting the same response. Pinkie brought a small perch and squatt enticed roach, but at a even slower rate than the punch
No doubt feeding was the key (as it so often is in match fishing), had there been some colour in the water, I'd have balled it in, but not with it so clear and the lack of bites on maggot or caster makes me thihk it was right not to do so. I was topping up the liccy and hemp, when the bites became even less frequent (about ½ hour intervals), then the bites would stop for 5-10 minutes, but then the fish would come back over the feed.
As I was sat in amongst the rushes, I couldn't see any other anglers, so had no idea how the river was fishing, so just kept at the punch line and kept the fish coming, albeit slowly for the whole match. The last hour, saw the size of fish improve, but still the catch rate was slow.
The weigh in saw 'end peg' Faiers weigh in 13.08, on the next peg was James Gunter who weighed 13.13, with me next to weigh, I knew I didn't have that much and was proved correct, my all roach (and one perch) net going 10.03. Next best weight in the section was just over 3lb.
I couldn't go back to the bar for the results, as I had to get home and go to work, (deep joy), but as I was putting the gear in the car I had a phone call from Paul, Kev Perry had 25lb, Glenn (Calvert) had a 21lb odd, Paul is off to Whiteacres next week, so I wished him well and his parting shot was; "I might have known if I was pegged near you it would be crap". Once again I'd drawn 40 pegs away from the fish......
Just had an email from Jan, the Clevedon Club, Treasurer and Secretary. The match raised £904.02 for Help the Heroes and Childrens Hospice (South West), a decent sum and in the end the river didn't fish too badly. (Except my section....)
I arrived for the draw early, as the ticket price included a breakfast - wasn't too bad actually, although not as substantial as a Bullock feast. General consensus of opinion was that it would fish hard, the water being gin clear, the sunny day forecast and the overnight frost.
I drew peg 14, not a peg I'd have chosen and the fact that Paul 'end peg' Faiers had drawn peg 8, the end peg in the section and the downstream end peg in the match, did nothing to bolster my lack of optimism. Kev Perry had also drawn an end peg in the car park section, it was going to be difficult to frame from my peg, best hope was for it to fish really hard.
When I got to the river, Paul & I had a chat and both thought that double figures would be a good weight, the river was flat calm, the bottom was visible 6' down and there was no sign of any fish moving.
Peg 14 is set into some rushes, these are often home to small perch and can also hold decent roach when the conditions are bright, I'd pretty much made up my mind to fish punch as a main attack and drip caster and pinkie down the edge of the rushes. I set up a 1g wire stemmed float and one in the same pattern at 0.8g, both with 0.08 hooklength and 18 B511, although I did expect to be scaling down from that.
Two rigs for the rushes, one 0.13 straight through to a 14 B611 and another with 0.08 and a 20 B511, one for worm, one for caster & pinkie. I also set a a lead rod and a waggler, intending to feed some caster right across, to hopefully snare an odd chub and any wary roach that backed away from the pole line.
Having to go out to 10m to find over 6' of water, meant that I'd have to unship across the path that the walkers, and dogs take, not ideal, but I didn't think that I'd catch closer in. At the all in I fed two small balls of liccy, one loosely squeezed, one tighter and second put in the float dipped and a 2 ounce roach was in the net - blank saved!!
To cut a long story short, the caster line across, produced not so much as a touch on my occasional look over, the rushes drip fed fed with a meagre amount of caster and pinkie, also failed to see any movement on the float, except for a moorhen (moronhen more like) that dragged the rig into the rushes and snapped the float.
After the first hour or so, I was getting bites on the punch line at 10m, but they weren't coming fast enough to build any sort of weight, I added a pinch of squatt and some hemp to the liccy feed, this seemed to slightly increase the size of the fish, but not the frequency of bites. I tried caster over the punch line, not a touch, red and bronze maggot getting the same response. Pinkie brought a small perch and squatt enticed roach, but at a even slower rate than the punch
No doubt feeding was the key (as it so often is in match fishing), had there been some colour in the water, I'd have balled it in, but not with it so clear and the lack of bites on maggot or caster makes me thihk it was right not to do so. I was topping up the liccy and hemp, when the bites became even less frequent (about ½ hour intervals), then the bites would stop for 5-10 minutes, but then the fish would come back over the feed.
As I was sat in amongst the rushes, I couldn't see any other anglers, so had no idea how the river was fishing, so just kept at the punch line and kept the fish coming, albeit slowly for the whole match. The last hour, saw the size of fish improve, but still the catch rate was slow.
The weigh in saw 'end peg' Faiers weigh in 13.08, on the next peg was James Gunter who weighed 13.13, with me next to weigh, I knew I didn't have that much and was proved correct, my all roach (and one perch) net going 10.03. Next best weight in the section was just over 3lb.
I couldn't go back to the bar for the results, as I had to get home and go to work, (deep joy), but as I was putting the gear in the car I had a phone call from Paul, Kev Perry had 25lb, Glenn (Calvert) had a 21lb odd, Paul is off to Whiteacres next week, so I wished him well and his parting shot was; "I might have known if I was pegged near you it would be crap". Once again I'd drawn 40 pegs away from the fish......
Just had an email from Jan, the Clevedon Club, Treasurer and Secretary. The match raised £904.02 for Help the Heroes and Childrens Hospice (South West), a decent sum and in the end the river didn't fish too badly. (Except my section....)
1st Kev Perry 25lb 14oz All roach on bread punch Peg 55
2nd Brian Hobson 25lb 0oz Bream & Tench Peg 81
3rd Steve Cox 23lb 12oz Bream Peg 53
4th Glen Calvert 21lb 13oz Roach Peg 51
5th Jon Gray 19lb 14oz Roach Peg 72
6th Simon Carvallo 16lb 4oz Roach Peg 42
7th James Gunter 13lb 13oz Roach Peg 12
27 Anglers Fished
Thats it until next Sunday, although I haven't found a match I fancy yet, so if anyone has any suggestions...
Thats it until next Sunday, although I haven't found a match I fancy yet, so if anyone has any suggestions...
Friday, 16 October 2009
The Best Laid Plans......
.... OK, the title is a bit of an oxymoron where I am concerned, being one of the least organised and forward planning men in the country.
On Thursday evening, I was in position to book a match on Sunday (having worked 7 nights, then 6 days and being bloody knackered), I also wanted the latest info on the Kenn (the venue of Sundays match - a charity event) so rang Paul Faiers. He hadn't fished the river this week, but was planning to have a session today (Friday). I was up for a practice and told him, I'd see him there.
My 13 days of long shifts had their toll and I awoke just after 09.00, so I'd be a bit late, not to worry. Once the two spoonfuls of Nescafe had started coursing around the veins, I loaded the car and then picked up on the news that the M5 was closed for a 30 mile stretch - this wasn't good news - any M5 closure ends up with Bristol gridlocked.
As I set off, more in desperation to get a few hours on the bank, rather than in hope of a fruitful practise, it soon became apparent, that my quest to get across town for maggots and casters was doomed. I called in the local shop (Bill Pugh on Red Lion hill) and he had no maggots, the delivery lorry was stuck in the traffic chaos. So, was it back home and spend a few hours tying rigs and then an early visit to the pub?? ..... No, the fishing took precedent, after so many days at work and I bought a ticket for Huntstrete.
This entailed a visit home, the gear in the car was all for tackling the Kenn, grabbing some micro pellet and expanders, sorting out the rig boxes and changing direction to Huntstrete, saw me arrive about 11.50.
In total laziness, I choose peg 20 on Bridge, its an easy walk and there was no one too close - or so I thought.
I'll take this off at a tangent, why do the 'carp' anglers feel the need to erect tent cities, when the lake is only open from 07.30 - 18.30, why do they think its acceptable to cast into a peg (ie. over half way) that is occupied. Why is it acceptable for me to pay my annual and daily fee, which I have no problem with, yet I only ever fish my peg, usually with a pole, but not exclusively. Although, always only one rod (or pole) in the water at one time.
The angler on peg 16 today was fishing peg 15 and peg 17 (these two pegs are quite far apart due to the shape of the lake) he did not have a bait in his own peg. I can appreciate that pleasure fishing does not have the same rules as match fishing, but where the bolt rig cowboys are concerned they can fish any swim in the lake from their peg.
Enough moaning, I tried to turn the session into a learning exercise, as I find expander pellet, a bait I struggle with. It took ¾ hour for the peg to get going, the first fish being an immaculate conditioned 5 or 6lb vermin of the common variety.
The next 3½ hours saw me net a few skimmers (the intended quarry). a nice bonus Tench and another vermin that took 17 minutes to land on white hydro, although the fat water pig was in excess of 10lb.
The lack of a single maggot or caster saw my final net, devoid of roach, but it was decent enough net of skimmers, bolstered by the bonus,late season Tench add up to about 12lb, the water pigs which ruined the peg at various points through the day, added another 30lb.
Once I got home I rang Paul, to see how he'd got on on the Kenn, what had happened only helped to confirm my thoughts for Sunday, the river is gin clear, Saturday night is due to be frosty, with bright sunshine on Sunday.... anyone got any spare B & J ??
On Thursday evening, I was in position to book a match on Sunday (having worked 7 nights, then 6 days and being bloody knackered), I also wanted the latest info on the Kenn (the venue of Sundays match - a charity event) so rang Paul Faiers. He hadn't fished the river this week, but was planning to have a session today (Friday). I was up for a practice and told him, I'd see him there.
My 13 days of long shifts had their toll and I awoke just after 09.00, so I'd be a bit late, not to worry. Once the two spoonfuls of Nescafe had started coursing around the veins, I loaded the car and then picked up on the news that the M5 was closed for a 30 mile stretch - this wasn't good news - any M5 closure ends up with Bristol gridlocked.
As I set off, more in desperation to get a few hours on the bank, rather than in hope of a fruitful practise, it soon became apparent, that my quest to get across town for maggots and casters was doomed. I called in the local shop (Bill Pugh on Red Lion hill) and he had no maggots, the delivery lorry was stuck in the traffic chaos. So, was it back home and spend a few hours tying rigs and then an early visit to the pub?? ..... No, the fishing took precedent, after so many days at work and I bought a ticket for Huntstrete.
This entailed a visit home, the gear in the car was all for tackling the Kenn, grabbing some micro pellet and expanders, sorting out the rig boxes and changing direction to Huntstrete, saw me arrive about 11.50.
In total laziness, I choose peg 20 on Bridge, its an easy walk and there was no one too close - or so I thought.
I'll take this off at a tangent, why do the 'carp' anglers feel the need to erect tent cities, when the lake is only open from 07.30 - 18.30, why do they think its acceptable to cast into a peg (ie. over half way) that is occupied. Why is it acceptable for me to pay my annual and daily fee, which I have no problem with, yet I only ever fish my peg, usually with a pole, but not exclusively. Although, always only one rod (or pole) in the water at one time.
The angler on peg 16 today was fishing peg 15 and peg 17 (these two pegs are quite far apart due to the shape of the lake) he did not have a bait in his own peg. I can appreciate that pleasure fishing does not have the same rules as match fishing, but where the bolt rig cowboys are concerned they can fish any swim in the lake from their peg.
Enough moaning, I tried to turn the session into a learning exercise, as I find expander pellet, a bait I struggle with. It took ¾ hour for the peg to get going, the first fish being an immaculate conditioned 5 or 6lb vermin of the common variety.
The next 3½ hours saw me net a few skimmers (the intended quarry). a nice bonus Tench and another vermin that took 17 minutes to land on white hydro, although the fat water pig was in excess of 10lb.
The lack of a single maggot or caster saw my final net, devoid of roach, but it was decent enough net of skimmers, bolstered by the bonus,late season Tench add up to about 12lb, the water pigs which ruined the peg at various points through the day, added another 30lb.
Once I got home I rang Paul, to see how he'd got on on the Kenn, what had happened only helped to confirm my thoughts for Sunday, the river is gin clear, Saturday night is due to be frosty, with bright sunshine on Sunday.... anyone got any spare B & J ??
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