Monday 30 July 2012

Avon Angling Open, Sedges, Sunday 29th July 2012

This was a practice for Tony's float only league, so the lead rods stayed in the van, normally I'd be happy with that, but with an annoying wind that swapped from L to R, face on, R to L and all points in between, the lead, I'm sure would have offered the best presentation on the day.

This match was on Brick lake with all 20 pegs in. I drew 14 and I had already decided on a groundbait and caster approach for the skimmers and pellet/paste for carp. that decision cost me any chance of picking up, as the skimmers caught were taken on meat, as were many of the carp. I fed a line at 9m with the groundbait, caster and a few dead maggots, a line at 14m with softened 4mm and micros and a waggler line out towards the aerator, which was fed with 8mm (nothing smaller would get anywhere near).

It didn't take long to get a bite on the waggler and the first carp was hooked, it felt a decent fish and initially swam towards me, when it turn and went back to the middle, the line went slack, I thought it was a fouler come off, but the line had snapped 1" below the float. 4lb Daiwa Sensor, I have had no issues with this line breaking, except at Viaduct when there are lots of fish in the peg (it seems that if the lines hits another fish it can break). Maybe its an issue with carrying rods already set up, I hadn't checked it over since the last time it was used, at least setting up fresh every time you see line damage.

That was it for the waggler, 3/4 of an hour and only a lost fish to show for it and one other missed bite. Sa switch to the groundbait and caster line produced one skimmer, lucky if it was 2oz, nothing else seemed to fancy an caster. The 14m pellet line also produced nothing, to either soft or banded pellet. I set up a waggler to fish at depth and laid 12" of line on the bottom, to try and achieve some sort of presentation. This produced some indications that fish were actually in the peg and resulted in three fish for 18lb in 30 minutes, before the wind swung round again and even with 12" of line and 4 No8 stotz dragging the bottom, the float was being pushed back towards me, far too fast to fool a fish.

I had refed the groundbait line with some pellet and a look over that with the paste produced a carp nudging double figures, but that was to be my lot, I had less than 8oz of skimmers and the 4 carp went 28lb odd for a resounding no where on the day. The decision not to take meat was a costly one.......

See Mike Nicholl's blog for the results. http://silverfoxangling.blogspot.co.uk/

Monday 23 July 2012

Avon Angling Open, Trinity, Wildmarsh. 22nd July 2012

A trip to Trinity this weekend and the first sight that greeted us was John, in a boat on the lake he's used as a stock pond, with 20,000 carp in it. The bloke never stops working!! Interesting to hear he has bred 8,000 F1's this year and also intends to use one stock pond to try and get some skimmers home bred - apparently they are £125 per 100 now.

I wasn't too concerned where I drew, it would be hard for a few, this lake really doesn't like the combination of a match, bright sun and no (or very little) ripple. Island peg 10 came out the landing that was used as a draw ticket receptacle, carp and chub being the most likely species, so not too disappointed. I set up a lead rod in case I had to go over to the reeds opposite and a waggler. The pole had four top kits set up, one with a jolly and a 16 6313 on 0.14 for soft pellet/caster, a rig for hair rigged hard pellet, a paste rig and a multi purpose margin rig to fish the RH margin.

First two put in's saw two small skimmers in the net and after several more put ins where the soft pellet was ragged off the hook I switch to the banded pellet rig, this produced absolutely nothing. The skimmers didn't seem to like the hard pellet I fed with it and that was the end of that line. I set up a new silvers line with caster and that produced one roach and one hybrid, both to maggot, I didn't have a single bite on caster or worm. With so few silvers evident, it was time to concentrate on the reeds opposite and the margin. There was no interest in 8mm meat, so I shortened the paste rig by about 12" to use in the margin.

The match held no further excitement for me, 3 carp falling to the paste in the margin and two to 8mm pellet fished tight to the reeds. There was nothing in the way of liners or missed bites, so I don't think there were too many fish in the peg. The highlight of the day was watching Martin Lenaghan being done by fish after fish in the reeds to the right of peg 40. It made my one lost fish (on the lead) which shed the hook by doing a fine impression of an alligator roll when it popped up in front of me - sods law it was the biggest fish of the day.

I did lose plenty of hooks and a couple of leads, as the reeds extend out under the water, making them a proper snag pit, but if you don't get in tight, you don't get a bite. My silvers went an embarrassing 15oz and the 5 carp 21.03. I think the lost carp cost me the section money, as Dean managed 6 carp and 1lb odd of silvers for 27lb and the section money.  See Tony's blog for the results.

Monday 16 July 2012

Avon Angling Open, Viaduct, Sunday 15th July 2012

It was good to get back to Viaduct, with Campbell and Lodge in, I wanted a draw on Campbell, I got my wish, but it wasn't a peg I would have chosen, 129, apparently Steve Ringer came last in his section in the UK champs from it this week.

I had three baits with me, pellet, 8mm meat and paste. So rigs for all of them set up, a 0.2 MW diamond for pellet at depth, a MW cookie for pellet shallow, both on 0.16 with B960 16 hooks.  I managed one decent skimmer on these rigs, so little more to say about them. Two meat rigs, one for 6m looking across to 110 and anther for fishing up to the spit, although there wasn't more than 6" or 8" difference in the depth. These were on 0.20 with TXR7 size 16 hooks on a 6" 0.18 hooklength.

Two waggler rods set up, one shallow and one full depth, as forecast had predicted a breezy day, a lead rod completed the set up. Starting on the waggler and 20 minutes without a bite or any indication that there were any fish in front of me had me switching to the long pole line, where I had fed some 4mm pellet. A 6mm pellet was pecked by nuisance fish, so on went an 8mm. That produced a decent skimmer, but nothing else, there was no fizzing, no swirls, nothing to indicate that the peg held any decent fish.

An earlier than planned switch to the spit with meat produced an instant response and a 2lb+  Perch fell to the meat. Sticking at it and several small Carp came to the net, some smaller than the Perch. The 6m meat line produced two tiny skimmers, as the float dipped and trembled every put in, as the small fish nibbled at the meat, it was a total waste of time. By 3.30 I had 9 Carp, for a weight I estimated to be less than 30lb, so  another look on the waggler. I couldn't get it to hold still, but had a couple of indications, so in desperation, reached for the lead rod, three Carp in the first three chucks which were double the size of my spit caught fish.

That proved to be a false dawn and I went back to the spit and took another small Carp on the meat, before it all seemed to dry up completely, the lead produced one more decent fish before the all out. Not for the first time I was in the worst section, in fact it seems to be once again, the only consistent in my fishing at the moment. With me on 129 weighing 61.9 (55.00 carp and 6.11 of silvers), 130 DNW, 131 DNW and 132 weighing 44.15. I'm really not sure what more I could have done, as I had no liners when I did try the paste (nor bites), no liners on the lead and no foulers or liners on the waggler. The section was won by Phil Cardwell on 128 the other side of the spit, with 83.02, I have no idea how I could have got another 23lb from my peg.

 It does seem to be a total waste of a day and money at the moment, to keep consistently drawing in an area where there aren't enough fish to be in with a chance of framing, if I'd been battered between the winners, at least I could assess why and address what I'd got wrong. I had a spell like this in the early 90's and it went on for 18 months and saw me walk away from fishing for 15 years, lets hope my drawbag luck changes soon!!

Anton Page should have won, but being 4lb over in one net, saw that one capped at 70lb and being over 90lb in another saw him lose the whole net - ironic really that he had nearly double my weight disqualified!!

1) Tom Mangnall 242.12 peg 126
2) Anton Page 193.02 peg 123
3) Craig Edmunds 162.14 peg 59
4) Tony Rixon 138.06 peg 124
5) Alan Oram 126.07 peg 119
6) Dean Malin 85.10 peg 112

Silvers

1) Sean Towsend 31.15 peg 66
2) Tony Rixon 30.09 peg 124
3) Nigel Bartlett 30.06 peg 118


Tuesday 10 July 2012

Tony Rixon's Float Only, Landsend. 8th July 2012

I decided to face my demons again and take a trip to Landsend and take a guest spot in Tony's float only series, as with last time, it was to be a positive approach, hopefully a draw on some silvers, so caster, worm and Devils Spawn, if not, carp slaying, so hard pellet, paste and meat were in the bait bag.

I fancied a draw on Speci or Match lake, not lake 3, so what came out, peg 61  on lake 3 with Alan Oram on 58 end peg and Dean Malin on 62, so tough competition from a peg that I didn't fancy. Whenever I draw lake 3 it seems to produce one weight that possibly frames, but other wise it's fishing for section. Today it didn't even manage a framing weight and I can't recall it ever competing in the silvers.

A walk up to Alan on 58 and he had plenty of fish moving down in the corner by the pipe, the fish were cruising around the lake in pairs and fours - looks like they are going to spawn again. I set up half a dozen topkits, a caster rig, a Devils Spawn rig, a meat rig, a hard pellet rig, a paste rig and a shallow rig to try and get the slurpers and cruisers.

I fed some micros and softened 4's at 8m towards the gap in the islands, caster at 8m straight in front and hard 4's to the island with a catty. I dropped the hard pellet rig in tight to the island (the depth was only a couple of inches shallower than the middle, no shelf), it went straight under and a 2 pounder battled its way to the net. It proved to be a cruel, false dawn, as for the next 30 minutes, nothing happened, then another 2 pounder took the hair rigged 6mm pellet.

In short, it was a hard match, the caster line produced one roach, the devils Spawn line produced 3 skimmers, a 3lb carp and 4 or 5 roach. I fed a line under the tree to the left with meat and caster, the meat produced nothing, the hard pellet across produced a couple more small carp, both at depth, the shallow rig didn't even see a bite registered. Paste over the devils spawn and across produced the same result, but I did have one liner, surely a sign that the fish weren't in the peg!!

I was thinking that the right approach on the day might have been maggot, as I have caught fish that are cruising and apparently not interested in a bait, on maggot, perhaps the movement makes them snatch at it.
With half an hour to go, I had 5 carp for not much more than 15lb and 2lb of silvers, I dropped the caster rig, with double maggot, in under the tree, where I'd been feeding caster and meat, the float setttled and within 30 seconds slid under and a 5lb carp was netted (after it stretched the white hydro nearly into Dean's peg and he lifted his rig to try and mug the intruder, until he realised it was hooked!!). Rebaiting with two really fat maggots and once again the float slid under and another carp battled the 0.12 before being netted.

My 30lb 4oz was only good enough for 3rd in section, as Craig Edmunds had mugged 70lb in a fine mugging display on the day from the peg opposite me, although the island foliage meant I could see him doing it and Alan took a weight about 50lb from the end peg. With Dean DNW next to me, I remain convinced there just weren't any numbers of fish in our pegs, carp or silvers.

So Landsend continues to thwart my efforts, not sure what to do to change it, as the results show, my gut instinct about not wanting to draw lake 3 was fully founded.

1.      Anton page 279-0-0 peg 19
2.      Tom Mangnall 152-0-0 peg 21
3.      Bob Gullick 120-11-0 peg 5
4.      Mike Nicholls 116-09-0 peg 18
5.      Clayton Hudson 107-08-0 peg 34
6.      Tom Thick 107-05-0 peg 1

Top Silvers:

1.      Clayton Hudson 36-12-0 peg 34
2.      Tony Rixon 31-05-0 peg 3
3.      Nick Collins 29-12-0 peg 16

Sunday 1 July 2012

Trinity Two Day Festival Sat/Sun 23/24 June 2012

Back to the old format this year, fishing Woodland and Wildmarsh lake on alternate days. Into the drawbag and 32 on Woodland revealed itself. I was a bit disappointed with it as a draw, the wind was blowing to the opposite end of the lake and much of my peg did not have a ripple on it. I had bait to fish for silvers, but decided that I wouldn't be able to compete with the pegs in the 20's which usually produce some skimmers.

I set up a couple of waggler rods to fish pellet shallow and about 4' deep, a rig to fish Devils Spawn at 12m, another to fish banded pellet at the same distance, a paste rig for 12m and a rig to fish meat in the margins.

Starting on the waggler, it was slow going, with just the odd bite from roach, after 20 mins I had a carp, but it seemed to be a loner, as the waggler didn't produce another fish. A switch to the 12m line was equally unproductive, on soft and hard pellet, no fizzing, no liners, real hard fishing. I'd been dripping a little feed into the margins, but there was no sign of fish, even so, in desperation, I had a drop in far earlier than I would usually. This resulted in one carp, but then the meat was being ragged by tiny fish.

Back to the 12m line and there was now an odd bubble showing and I managed a couple of skimmers and two carp on Devils Spawn, before switching to paste, this brought several more carp and a three more skimmers before the all out, with my skimmers going 10lb exactly and the carp 52lb. As expected the two pegs at the other end of the section, the windward end of the lake took the top two places in the section, I knew I'd need some decent anglers to have a disaster on Sunday for my 3rd in section to put me in the frame. Even with that, I wasn't too disappointed getting 3rd from the peg, Kev Perry on peg 2 had really struggled, so I don't think there were too many fish in our corner of the lake.

Sunday saw me draw 52 on Wildmarsh, a really good peg for silvers, especially small fish on a topkit to hand, but I knew that only a section win (and some really unexpected blow outs) would do any good, so I set out my stall to catch carp. Again a pellet line at 12m, with a paste rig at that length, also a polyball paste rig for the margin, which was the shelf in front of peg 53. I also set up a feeder, but this produced just one small roach and a tiny hybrid. After an hour I had a 9lb carp on 6mm banded pellet at 12m, but that was it from that line, no matter what bait I put out there it was attacked and whittled down by tiny fish. I had a few roach and small skimmers, but was looking far from the section win needed, so I carried on looking for carp, in the last hour, the margin produced two more carp, 5lb each and the scales saw me weigh 19lb odd of carp and 4lb odd of silvers. Ignoring the silvers in the blank middle of the match cost me, as Paul Lock won the section with 24lb odd of skimmers, an hour fishing for roach would have seen me make up the 1lb deficit, although with Paul Elmes and Paul Lock both registering two section wins,  a point less wouldn't have seen me make the overall frame.

Thanks to John, Sue and Misha for a good weekend, just a shame the weather seems to affect the fishing whenever there is a big match at Trinity.

Overall;

1) Paul Elmes 2 points 156.11
2) Paul Lock 2 points 103.01
3) Tony Rixon 3 points 130.08
4) Dean malin 3 points 114

Silvers:

1) Craig Edmunds 2 points 38.07
2) Nigel Bartlett 3 points