All three lakes in for this match, with 20 pegs on the main lake and 10 each on Hawthorn and Westpool. I fancied a draw on the main lake, Tony Rixon offered to draw for me, but I took my own ticket and ended up on Hawthorn peg 1. I have only drawn this lake once before and that was peg 2 in winter, I won the lake that day with 50ish lb. I wasn’t so confident today, even though the peg has a pipe with water running into the lake, providing some aeration, as the wind was blowing down the lake away from my peg. Also whilst its an end peg, you cannot get to the end bank and with no real margin to speak of (due to rushes) it at least concentrates your mind on the option available.
I set up 5 rigs, a paste rig which would do for anywhere except tight over, as the depth only varied about 6”. A MW slim to fish banded pellet across, a MW pea just in case there were any cruisers , a rig to fish meat at 4m off to my right and a rig for maggot down the track.
Bait tray was simple, 6mm pellets, 8mm pellets, meat and maggots. The paste was left in the bag for now. The peg had shown some signs of life when I arrived, with a few bubbles coming up, these had completely gone 15 minutes before the all in and the signs of fish were few and far between. Shortly before the all-in was called, that most frugal of anglers, Mike Nicholls came over with an enquiry, “did I have any groundbait he could have – oh and a bowl to mix it in” I had brought a bag of mixed gimps gold/Sensas lake, but didn’t intend to use it on this lake, so off he went with it and the bowl – before the end, he brought the remnants of it back, proclaiming it jinxed…….
I fed some 6mm pellet over at the start and meat at 4m, before starting on maggot down the track, this was painfully slow and after 20 minutes without a bite, I switched to the pellet across, this was equally as non-productive. A bad start!! Back down the track with maggot saw a skimmer and a roach, which made up my sum total of silvers, weighed as a very generous 8oz. The rest of the match saw me rotating between the meat line, a paste line just up the far slope, a close paste line ( not even a bite) and the pellet tight to the far bank grasses.
This produced an occasional fish, but it was hard going. The far bank has a lot of overhanging grass, this makes it impossible to get tight to the bank. I saw Leon Hubbard on peg 3 take a short run of fish from the far bank and as peg 2 was empty I got the 16m section out of my rod bag and went to the bare bank on the far side of peg 2 This produced four fish in four put ins and then that died as well (same as Leon’s peg). The remainder of the match saw me take two more on meat and wasn’t disappointed when the final whistle went. 11 carp for 25.04 and my ‘bonus’ silvers saw me weigh 25.12, 6lb of silvers would have seen me take second in section, but as it was I was a resounding last in section. It was a pretty even section, apart from Paul Elmes who nearly quadrupled everyone else’s weight. His 108lb being section winner with the other 4 weighing between 25.12 and 32.09. See Mike Nicholls blog for actual section weigh sheets.
This hot weather seems to have the fish either cruising round not feeding, or shoaled up like winter fish and not moving from where they are happy.
1) Tom Mangnall, 140.08 peg 6 on West Pool
2) Paul Elmes, 108.4 on peg 6 Hawthorn
3) Adrian Jeffery 103.04on 9 Hawthorn
4) Craig Edmunds 94.4 peg 11 Main Lake
5) Dean Malin 77.14 peg 4 Main Lake
6th Bela Bakos 69.5 peg 15 Main Lake
Silvers
Joe McMahon, with 19.7 on peg 8 Main Lake
Thursday, 25 July 2013
Sunday, 14 July 2013
Avon Angling Open, Sedges, Sunday 14th July 2013
Another hot day with carp cruising and not looking interested in feeding. I would have preferred a draw where there was some ripple, but it wasn't to be, peg 9 which was flat calm with cruising fish out of pole range.
I set up two waggler rods, one to fish shallow and one at full depth with no shot down the line. Neither of these produced a bite, the fish doing their disappearing act as soon as the float hit the water. I tried every trick I know, 4" deep and firing pellet at the float, 4' deep with all but the last 6" of line greased, to give a very slow sink to the pellet, and every depth in between.
The pole rigs were a shallow/stalking rig - this produced nothing. A paste rig for the margin, this again didn't see anything resembling a bite and a full depth paste rig to fish over the pellet line at 13m. This saw me hook a lump that shed the hook after 5 mins, I think it was hooked under the chin, that was its only action. A rig to fish pellet on the deck, this produced two fish, a solitary skimmer in the first half an hour and then a carp about 6lb at 13.45. Finally a meat rig for 6m, this was as actionless as all the other lines, until the last hour, which saw two carp and a run of skimmers netted to take my final tally to 38.11, a resounding nowhere (or 8th if that sounds better) on the day, but the best weight from peg 5 - peg 10, if only the other 5 hours had produced 30lb an hour!!!!
No surprise for me to be in the worst area, not sure why this seems to be a running theme on matches run by Tony Rixon. That's not any sort of slur on someone who has helped me out and works hard organising the matches, but it does seem to be a recurring nightmare, quite how to shake it off, apart from not fish his matches, I'm not sure.
By the magic of the internet, save and copy, paste etc. I've nicked the results from Mike Nicholl's blog
I set up two waggler rods, one to fish shallow and one at full depth with no shot down the line. Neither of these produced a bite, the fish doing their disappearing act as soon as the float hit the water. I tried every trick I know, 4" deep and firing pellet at the float, 4' deep with all but the last 6" of line greased, to give a very slow sink to the pellet, and every depth in between.
The pole rigs were a shallow/stalking rig - this produced nothing. A paste rig for the margin, this again didn't see anything resembling a bite and a full depth paste rig to fish over the pellet line at 13m. This saw me hook a lump that shed the hook after 5 mins, I think it was hooked under the chin, that was its only action. A rig to fish pellet on the deck, this produced two fish, a solitary skimmer in the first half an hour and then a carp about 6lb at 13.45. Finally a meat rig for 6m, this was as actionless as all the other lines, until the last hour, which saw two carp and a run of skimmers netted to take my final tally to 38.11, a resounding nowhere (or 8th if that sounds better) on the day, but the best weight from peg 5 - peg 10, if only the other 5 hours had produced 30lb an hour!!!!
No surprise for me to be in the worst area, not sure why this seems to be a running theme on matches run by Tony Rixon. That's not any sort of slur on someone who has helped me out and works hard organising the matches, but it does seem to be a recurring nightmare, quite how to shake it off, apart from not fish his matches, I'm not sure.
By the magic of the internet, save and copy, paste etc. I've nicked the results from Mike Nicholl's blog
Saturday, 13 July 2013
Clevedon Saturday Series, Plantation Horseshoe, Sat 13th July 2013
I didn't fish in the week, I decided to go to Landsend and sit behind Tony Rixon on Wednesday, to try and work out why I seem to fair so dismally there. I couldn't see much difference in my rigs or feeding, but confidence in the fish coming to the pellet was a big difference, Tony persevered, he just knew they would come and they did. I would have changed to caster/soft pellet/paste etc. and missed out on the fish Tony caught. An important lesson leant, now I have to put it into practice.
Back to today, I wasn't too confident the lake would fish well due to the heat, plenty of carp moving round, but more interested in sunbathing than feeding by the look of them. The fishing times might help, 13.45-19.45, 15 fishing today so plenty of room. I drew peg 8 which today was the first over the bridge on the left, no island or bar in front of me, that might not help, but I did have a rush lined end bank to target.
I bought a new pole this week, just for carp fishing, a Garbolino G Max Power, so I had to try it out today, as I had only brought hard pellet, meat and paste, so carp were the target. The first rig to be made up was a long line mugging rig, as there were plenty of cruisers. A paste rig, and 2 MW slims, one for meat and one for banded pellet.
On the all in I went straight out on the mugging rig and all the cruisers disappeared, put the rig away and they come back...... Repeat this several times throughout the match, I managed to get one fish on this rig, so no more about it. The banded pellet and meat lines were worse, not so much as a bite between them.
This left the paste line to the end bank at 13m, which did produce a couple of small fish, which had made every effort to get in amongst the reeds, so a good test of the new pole in dragging them out. The float wasn't right for this, so I set up another rig with a blob to fish the paste tight to the rushes, which produced an immediate fish in the net. Then a quiet spell, before another couple of fish, one of them a better size about 9lb. I then foul hooked a big fish that took off towards the island to my right and tried to get round the back of it, I wondered what was going to break first, but the pole handled it fine and the 0.19 powerline was the weakest link.
This led to another quiet spell, so a look round the other lines and they produced as already said, nothing. Back on the paste and an odd fish fell to it, but it was a long wait between fish, one took me into the reeds and slipped the hook into them.
It was with an hour to go that the cruisers looked more likely to feed and I did get one slapping the mugging rig, as previously mentioned, but they soon melted away again after that. I had one more take me into the reeds before the end, another hook firmly fixed into the reeds, although with the elastic pulled to the point I couldn't believe something wasn't breaking, it all came flying back with the rig and hook intact.
I wasn't sure what had been caught round the lake, at the all out I had 33lb on my clicker and assumed that it wouldn't be enough to do any good, but it turned out that most found it hard and my hard won fish were enough for third and I wasn't too far out with the clicker as they went 34.12 So not too bad a day and I'm pleased with the new pole, it feels more powerful than the Tournament.
1. Mark Broomsgrove 59.08
2 Andy Hembrow 41.00
3. Chris Fox 34.12
4. Kev Perry 31.08
=5. Rod Wootton 28.08
=5. Rich Heatly 28.08
Back to today, I wasn't too confident the lake would fish well due to the heat, plenty of carp moving round, but more interested in sunbathing than feeding by the look of them. The fishing times might help, 13.45-19.45, 15 fishing today so plenty of room. I drew peg 8 which today was the first over the bridge on the left, no island or bar in front of me, that might not help, but I did have a rush lined end bank to target.
I bought a new pole this week, just for carp fishing, a Garbolino G Max Power, so I had to try it out today, as I had only brought hard pellet, meat and paste, so carp were the target. The first rig to be made up was a long line mugging rig, as there were plenty of cruisers. A paste rig, and 2 MW slims, one for meat and one for banded pellet.
On the all in I went straight out on the mugging rig and all the cruisers disappeared, put the rig away and they come back...... Repeat this several times throughout the match, I managed to get one fish on this rig, so no more about it. The banded pellet and meat lines were worse, not so much as a bite between them.
This left the paste line to the end bank at 13m, which did produce a couple of small fish, which had made every effort to get in amongst the reeds, so a good test of the new pole in dragging them out. The float wasn't right for this, so I set up another rig with a blob to fish the paste tight to the rushes, which produced an immediate fish in the net. Then a quiet spell, before another couple of fish, one of them a better size about 9lb. I then foul hooked a big fish that took off towards the island to my right and tried to get round the back of it, I wondered what was going to break first, but the pole handled it fine and the 0.19 powerline was the weakest link.
This led to another quiet spell, so a look round the other lines and they produced as already said, nothing. Back on the paste and an odd fish fell to it, but it was a long wait between fish, one took me into the reeds and slipped the hook into them.
It was with an hour to go that the cruisers looked more likely to feed and I did get one slapping the mugging rig, as previously mentioned, but they soon melted away again after that. I had one more take me into the reeds before the end, another hook firmly fixed into the reeds, although with the elastic pulled to the point I couldn't believe something wasn't breaking, it all came flying back with the rig and hook intact.
I wasn't sure what had been caught round the lake, at the all out I had 33lb on my clicker and assumed that it wouldn't be enough to do any good, but it turned out that most found it hard and my hard won fish were enough for third and I wasn't too far out with the clicker as they went 34.12 So not too bad a day and I'm pleased with the new pole, it feels more powerful than the Tournament.
1. Mark Broomsgrove 59.08
2 Andy Hembrow 41.00
3. Chris Fox 34.12
4. Kev Perry 31.08
=5. Rod Wootton 28.08
=5. Rich Heatly 28.08
Tuesday, 9 July 2013
Tony Rixon's Float Only, Landsend, Sunday 7th July 2013
If this match wasn't part of a series that I'd committed to, I wouldn't have fished it. For whatever reason, I seem to draw on lake three everytime its in, I hung back at the draw hoping to get a peg on Match or Specimen lake, so I could fish caster foe silvers.
I couldn't believe it when peg 66 (lake 3) was the peg I pulled, not only no chance of silvers, but also a poor peg on the lake. I was very tempted to no bother going to the peg, but decided to go and give it my best shot. I set up a NG Gimp, 0.2g that would suffice for caster, although I didn't expect to catch much on it. A Preston pencil float that would do for Devils Spawn and meat, a paste rig and a MW slim on a long line to fish banded pellet, although the lack of cruisers in the peg meant that it saw little action.
I fed some micros and 4's at 11m, caster down the track and short, meat at 5m. Starting on the devils spawn at 11m saw a couple of tiny skimmers netted, but that soon died off. The caster short line produced a couple of perch, which were stuffed with caster, not a good sign, before that died off.
I did get a couple of rudd down the track, so in desperation set up a greased loop rig, to try and pick up a few silvers, this produced two rudd before becoming as barren as every other line. Just before 3 o'clock I walked to Fabio on the next peg and he said he'd be packing up and going if he had his van, so I wasn't the only one suffering.
I went back to my peg and had 4 bites in 20 minutes on paste, 2 foul hookers that shed the hook quickly, a common that was low doubles was netted after a tough fight and to cap off my day, I played a double figure ghostie for nearly 10 minutes, before the hook pulled just as I was going to net it. That summed up my day.
I didn't bother to weigh in as I had the one common about 12lb and 2lb of silvers. Fabio had a couple late on meat giving him 26lb, and Dick Bull the other side weighed 22lb making the section of 5 the worst of all 8 sections, quite how to change my luck at the drawbag, I don't know.
See Tony's or Silverfox blog for the results, as I didn't hang around at the end........
I couldn't believe it when peg 66 (lake 3) was the peg I pulled, not only no chance of silvers, but also a poor peg on the lake. I was very tempted to no bother going to the peg, but decided to go and give it my best shot. I set up a NG Gimp, 0.2g that would suffice for caster, although I didn't expect to catch much on it. A Preston pencil float that would do for Devils Spawn and meat, a paste rig and a MW slim on a long line to fish banded pellet, although the lack of cruisers in the peg meant that it saw little action.
I fed some micros and 4's at 11m, caster down the track and short, meat at 5m. Starting on the devils spawn at 11m saw a couple of tiny skimmers netted, but that soon died off. The caster short line produced a couple of perch, which were stuffed with caster, not a good sign, before that died off.
I did get a couple of rudd down the track, so in desperation set up a greased loop rig, to try and pick up a few silvers, this produced two rudd before becoming as barren as every other line. Just before 3 o'clock I walked to Fabio on the next peg and he said he'd be packing up and going if he had his van, so I wasn't the only one suffering.
I went back to my peg and had 4 bites in 20 minutes on paste, 2 foul hookers that shed the hook quickly, a common that was low doubles was netted after a tough fight and to cap off my day, I played a double figure ghostie for nearly 10 minutes, before the hook pulled just as I was going to net it. That summed up my day.
I didn't bother to weigh in as I had the one common about 12lb and 2lb of silvers. Fabio had a couple late on meat giving him 26lb, and Dick Bull the other side weighed 22lb making the section of 5 the worst of all 8 sections, quite how to change my luck at the drawbag, I don't know.
See Tony's or Silverfox blog for the results, as I didn't hang around at the end........
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