Lets start with the good points about today, usual good breakfast, some good company amd banter and when I got home, a few beers and a kebab for tea, perfect.
Now the bad stuff, drew peg 29, which as anyone who knows how the venue has been fishing will know that it is probably one of the 1/2 dozen pegs that you really don't want to draw. Had it not been a series, given the horrendous forecast, I doubt I would have gone to the peg, there are times when flogging a dead horse is pointless.
For company on 28 I had Trigger, who was equally disappointed to draw here, we knew we were fishing for an also ran place before we started. I decided to fish 4 lines, one right across, no feed, just dobbing visible baits like prawn / white maggot. One down the shelf feeding caster, one at 11m which was fed with groundbait and a margin line.
The margin line was biteless, the groundbait line produced two roach that went about 2 drams each, so no more about them. The line across produced a perch that went 1.14 on prawn and a lost carp, which I am sure was foul hooked. The line down the shelf produced two carp, both small and a couple of lost fish, which if they were carp, no big deal, if they were big perch, they could prove expensive. The fish were all caught in the first hour, the lost fish were hooked at 1.00, 1.30 and 2.00. A boring day, which was made worse by watching the 'usual pegs' bagging. The opposite bank section was won with a typical accomolished display by Tony Rixon, 213lb, the next weight in his section was 13lb.
My pitiful effort went just over 10lb for last in section ( Trigger had a carp, foul hooked, bigger than my two little 'uns put together). The only saving grace was my perch gave me second in silvers section, so I now have two wins, a second and a last in section for silvers, meaning that my only chance of claiming some overall coin is to concentrate on the silvers.
I didn't get the results, so Ken's blog for them.
Sunday 22 February 2015
Wednesday 18 February 2015
Viaduct Winter League Round Three. Sunday 15th February 2015
With drawbag Freddo doing the draw for the team today, some good pegs were assured and Fred pulled himself a decent peg, 119, I could not complain about my peg, 86, the others weren't run to pegs, but they should catch, Paul on 57, Nick Merry standing in for Glen on 26 and Mike Walker on a poor draw, 10.
I decided that the only way to stop me getting bored after 1/2 an hour without a bite and fishing for silvers, was to not set up a pole, so 2 pints of prime casters stayed in the bait bag and the pole in the holdall.
There isn't much to write about, I set up two lead rods and two wagglers, only used one of each and only had had bites on the lead rod, 3 of them and 3 liners. Trust me to draw the peg when the lake fished hard and they didn't ball up there. One on meat, two on bread, one was a solid mirror, not weighed seperately but estimated by Paul Greenwood at 20lb and two of its smaller common cousins for 41.04.
I did try a waggler line with corn and had one dip of the float on that, with nothing to show for it.
I didn't go back to the pub, but I can't believe we were last again, as Fred managed 70lb and I think third in the match from 119, I had good points on Cary and Nick had double figures from 26, Paul and Mike struggled a bit, but given their draws, no surprise.
I do know that sat on the lead, with an occasional look on the waggler, for a whole match isn't really my idea of fun, I am totally undecided what to do next winter...... Travel for F1 fishing, find silvers only matches, go back to naturals or buy a classic bike and restore it and just fish odd matches.
I decided that the only way to stop me getting bored after 1/2 an hour without a bite and fishing for silvers, was to not set up a pole, so 2 pints of prime casters stayed in the bait bag and the pole in the holdall.
There isn't much to write about, I set up two lead rods and two wagglers, only used one of each and only had had bites on the lead rod, 3 of them and 3 liners. Trust me to draw the peg when the lake fished hard and they didn't ball up there. One on meat, two on bread, one was a solid mirror, not weighed seperately but estimated by Paul Greenwood at 20lb and two of its smaller common cousins for 41.04.
I did try a waggler line with corn and had one dip of the float on that, with nothing to show for it.
I didn't go back to the pub, but I can't believe we were last again, as Fred managed 70lb and I think third in the match from 119, I had good points on Cary and Nick had double figures from 26, Paul and Mike struggled a bit, but given their draws, no surprise.
I do know that sat on the lead, with an occasional look on the waggler, for a whole match isn't really my idea of fun, I am totally undecided what to do next winter...... Travel for F1 fishing, find silvers only matches, go back to naturals or buy a classic bike and restore it and just fish odd matches.
Sunday 8 February 2015
Landsend Winter League Round 3, Sunday 8th February 2015
I can remember having some conversations last year about PMA and have tried to incorporate this into my fishing and prep, this week I was positive I needed to draw 41, 42, 68 or 70 to keep up my 100% record in the silvers league. No surprise when I picked from the last 3 pegs in the bucket, of which 70 was one, that I ended up on 55, as far away from 70 as it is possible to get...... I was already resigned to a silvers disaster
It took well over an hour to break the ice out to make a fishable area, that worked a few breakfast calories off!! I had managed to break out to the end bank and to the spit, as well as straight in front, so felt I had several options, hopefully some silvers from the open water and carp from the end bank or spit.
I set up 3 rigs, a Sensas pencil float on 0.14 with a 0.08 hooklength, with a 20 6313, to fish the open water, for the same line - just in case I was bagging..... a MW F1 Slim on 0.14 with a 0.10 and a 18 6313 hooklength and finally a short NG Gimp to fish the end bank / spit, this had a 16 6313on 0.12.
To cut a long boring day short, I started on the light rig in the open water with pinkie over groundbait, this produced a bite every put in for half an hour, which was micro perch, you'd have needed s crack dealers scales to weigh them. Then lifting into a more positive bite saw the Middy 1-5 elastic coming out the pole at a rate that suggested this wasn't a 4 dram perch. A steady fight saw a 3lbish carp netted, a switch to the 0.10 rig produced one more micro perch then nothing, a swap back to the 0.08 rig saw another carp netted next drop in, this one on a full size maggot.
That was it for 4 hours and 20 minutes, not another bite, I tried the open water, the end bank, the spit and went to 16m to where the haybale basket used to be, pellet, maggot, pinkie, meat, corn, all to no avail, not so much as a liner.
With 15 minutes to go I topped up the GB line with a large ball and 5 minutes later carp No3 was netted, it was a hard day, I had Trigger for company opposite on 58 and he managed 2 carp and a couple of better silvers, so it seemed as our end of the lake, which had the thickest ice cover, had very few fish, or at least virtually none willing to feed.
My micro perch were awarded 3oz for last in section silvers, so that was frustrating, although I would have not expected to beat at least two of the pegs in the section, my 3 carp went 12.07, for a total of 12.10, which was second in section, so all is not lost, as one result can be dropped, but it does put the pressure on early in the series.
1: Nick Chedzoy 83.09 peg 31
2: Ian Bouncey 68.07 peg 33
3: Tony Rixon 66.14 peg 62
4: Adrian Jeffery 45.07 peg 70
5: Steve Seager 28.08 peg 11
6: John Bradford 24.14 peg 41
Silvers
1: Rod Wotton 11.08 peg 19
2: Gary O'Shea 9.14 peg 37
It took well over an hour to break the ice out to make a fishable area, that worked a few breakfast calories off!! I had managed to break out to the end bank and to the spit, as well as straight in front, so felt I had several options, hopefully some silvers from the open water and carp from the end bank or spit.
I set up 3 rigs, a Sensas pencil float on 0.14 with a 0.08 hooklength, with a 20 6313, to fish the open water, for the same line - just in case I was bagging..... a MW F1 Slim on 0.14 with a 0.10 and a 18 6313 hooklength and finally a short NG Gimp to fish the end bank / spit, this had a 16 6313on 0.12.
To cut a long boring day short, I started on the light rig in the open water with pinkie over groundbait, this produced a bite every put in for half an hour, which was micro perch, you'd have needed s crack dealers scales to weigh them. Then lifting into a more positive bite saw the Middy 1-5 elastic coming out the pole at a rate that suggested this wasn't a 4 dram perch. A steady fight saw a 3lbish carp netted, a switch to the 0.10 rig produced one more micro perch then nothing, a swap back to the 0.08 rig saw another carp netted next drop in, this one on a full size maggot.
That was it for 4 hours and 20 minutes, not another bite, I tried the open water, the end bank, the spit and went to 16m to where the haybale basket used to be, pellet, maggot, pinkie, meat, corn, all to no avail, not so much as a liner.
With 15 minutes to go I topped up the GB line with a large ball and 5 minutes later carp No3 was netted, it was a hard day, I had Trigger for company opposite on 58 and he managed 2 carp and a couple of better silvers, so it seemed as our end of the lake, which had the thickest ice cover, had very few fish, or at least virtually none willing to feed.
My micro perch were awarded 3oz for last in section silvers, so that was frustrating, although I would have not expected to beat at least two of the pegs in the section, my 3 carp went 12.07, for a total of 12.10, which was second in section, so all is not lost, as one result can be dropped, but it does put the pressure on early in the series.
1: Nick Chedzoy 83.09 peg 31
2: Ian Bouncey 68.07 peg 33
3: Tony Rixon 66.14 peg 62
4: Adrian Jeffery 45.07 peg 70
5: Steve Seager 28.08 peg 11
6: John Bradford 24.14 peg 41
Silvers
1: Rod Wotton 11.08 peg 19
2: Gary O'Shea 9.14 peg 37
Tuesday 3 February 2015
Viaduct Winter League Round 2. Sunday 1st February 2015
Back to the big match atmosphere and banter, that was the enjoyable part of the day......
I decided that I would do the team draw this week, as we have Nick Merry standing in on the next round and I promised him I wouldn't draw that match!! Team draw 11, was my dismal picking from the 4 left in the bucket, not a good draw, but surely it couldn't be as bad as the last round.
124 for me, Paul on 88, Glenn on 60, Paul Elmes standing in for Mike walker on 37 and Fred on 12 (sorry Fred).
For company on 123 I had Don Sutherland and Tony Rixon on 125, I knew that 124 was going to be hard, one out of the corner - it might as well be in the car park in that respect - and too far down to pick up carp if they were in their usual winter haunt.
I started on the lead and it was a spectacularly boring 3/4 of an hour, without so much as a liner on bread or meat. A switch to the waggler and corn saw the float going under regularly, but it was an undertow dragging the peacock insert float under, a switch to straight peacock saw the float managing to stay bouyant in the tow. It did result in one bite, a small unseasonal tench, by now I could see the pegs I would have fancied, 115 and 116 catching carp, with 123 and 119 both catching down to their end bank. A switch to silvers might be the only chance of a pick up, as I was going nowhere fishing for carp and I dropped in on the line I had fed with groundbait at the start. First drop in and a 2lb skimmer in the net, it wasn't fast and furious after that, a steady match, with long waits for bites saw me net 9.04 of silvers for a lake silvers win.
Tony had managed one 12lb carp on the lead and a few silvers and the weights on the lake varied from 127.03 down to 6oz, winter fishing sucks....
The team was last on the day, rock bottom, no one caught a carp, Paul managing a 4th in the silvers off of peg 88 with 9.08, Fred a depressing 10 ruffe for 8oz, lets hope Fred draws us a better peg next match.
To round off my misery, I picked up 6th in the silvers and trousered £30, only to get text messages and phone calls advising that a mistake had been made and Matt Tomes had beaten me by 1oz and his weight had been missed on the result totting up, could I give him the money...... well I could if the current Mrs F, Tony and Judith and myself hadn't spent it in the local Indian last night!! Thanks Matty, very nice it was too.....
For the results in full, see:
http://silverfoxangling.blogspot.co.uk/2015/02/sunday-01022015-viaduct-winter-league.html
Next up, lake 3 at Landsend, I will be taking several large toys to throw from my pram if I draw shite there again, I would have gone to Hillview on Saturday, but think I will give it a miss and go to the Classic Bike show at the Bath and West.
I decided that I would do the team draw this week, as we have Nick Merry standing in on the next round and I promised him I wouldn't draw that match!! Team draw 11, was my dismal picking from the 4 left in the bucket, not a good draw, but surely it couldn't be as bad as the last round.
124 for me, Paul on 88, Glenn on 60, Paul Elmes standing in for Mike walker on 37 and Fred on 12 (sorry Fred).
For company on 123 I had Don Sutherland and Tony Rixon on 125, I knew that 124 was going to be hard, one out of the corner - it might as well be in the car park in that respect - and too far down to pick up carp if they were in their usual winter haunt.
I started on the lead and it was a spectacularly boring 3/4 of an hour, without so much as a liner on bread or meat. A switch to the waggler and corn saw the float going under regularly, but it was an undertow dragging the peacock insert float under, a switch to straight peacock saw the float managing to stay bouyant in the tow. It did result in one bite, a small unseasonal tench, by now I could see the pegs I would have fancied, 115 and 116 catching carp, with 123 and 119 both catching down to their end bank. A switch to silvers might be the only chance of a pick up, as I was going nowhere fishing for carp and I dropped in on the line I had fed with groundbait at the start. First drop in and a 2lb skimmer in the net, it wasn't fast and furious after that, a steady match, with long waits for bites saw me net 9.04 of silvers for a lake silvers win.
Tony had managed one 12lb carp on the lead and a few silvers and the weights on the lake varied from 127.03 down to 6oz, winter fishing sucks....
The team was last on the day, rock bottom, no one caught a carp, Paul managing a 4th in the silvers off of peg 88 with 9.08, Fred a depressing 10 ruffe for 8oz, lets hope Fred draws us a better peg next match.
To round off my misery, I picked up 6th in the silvers and trousered £30, only to get text messages and phone calls advising that a mistake had been made and Matt Tomes had beaten me by 1oz and his weight had been missed on the result totting up, could I give him the money...... well I could if the current Mrs F, Tony and Judith and myself hadn't spent it in the local Indian last night!! Thanks Matty, very nice it was too.....
For the results in full, see:
http://silverfoxangling.blogspot.co.uk/2015/02/sunday-01022015-viaduct-winter-league.html
Next up, lake 3 at Landsend, I will be taking several large toys to throw from my pram if I draw shite there again, I would have gone to Hillview on Saturday, but think I will give it a miss and go to the Classic Bike show at the Bath and West.
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