Sunday 21 August 2016

Short Pole Series, Trinity Waters. Sunday 21st August 2016

I couldn't fish this series this year, which was a shame as I have had a 3rd and 2nd overall in the previous years, so was pleased to stand-in today for someone (no idea who).  It's a nice easy day tackle wise topkits and 3 sections of pole.

Bait wise I had pellet, paste hemp and maggots, with a smattering of corn and some worms. I drew peg 8, wasn't too chuffed, but then found out that 7 and 9 weren't drawn and that cheered me up a bit, although Misha had pulled Tony Rixon another decent peg and he would be on the ample platform of peg 6.  Enough room for Judith to put her sunbed out, although he sun didn't grace us with its presence for too long today.

I did expect to catch straight from the off on paste, either 1, 2 or 3 fish so that was the first rig out of the box, then two similar rgs to fish either soft pellet, corn, maggot, worm etc on the hook and a rig to fish pellet in a band.  I had to set up two edge rigs as the edges were 12" different in depths.

On the all-in I started as planned on paste and had a fish first put in, 5lb in the net, next drop in a chunky 10lb  common and that was, as predicted, the end of the fish on paste, quite why this has happened on this lake I don't know, but the lake has changed and evolved ever since the high bank was removed.

The next 5 hours were a real struggle, I found a bit of meat and set up a deep/shallow rig set about 2' off the bottom, this works a treat at Whiteacres on Match lake, but was totally unproductive today.  Tony had a couple on his shallow rig, so off the box again and a shallow rig set up. Much thrashing of the water later I had managed on solitary carp.

The only chance I had was for the edge to come good, the nice little undercut and shallow water to my left looked ideal, but one 6oz rudd was the sole fish from there, RH side was better and I had several good fish 9-12lb, frustratingly two double figure commons found a snag and both snagged up solid, this wasn't far from the baited area, so as well as seeing 20lb+ lost, it disturbed the peg and cost me time whilst I refed it and it settled.

The two lost fish definitely cost me third and maybe even second, as I weighed 69lb odd,  Tony was 3rd with 80.11  and Clayton was 2nd with 89.03, so I had to settle for a default section pickup and rue the lost fish.  Well done to Mike West who was the only one to break the ton.  Full results on Tony's website.

Angling Trust Masters, The Glebe, Saturday 20th August 2016

A few weeks back I was perusing the MFS website and saw they were in need of an angler for the team in this match.  I offered my services and they were desperate enough to accept.  I was looking forward to this, not having fished it before, teams of 6 spread around all the lakes of the main fishery.

Shame the weather forecast appeared to point towards 40mph+ winds, which given that the Glebe can be a windy place at the best of times, would limit the majority to a couple of sections of pole and a feeder rod.  Still, it would be better than work and a chance to fish a venue I enjoy, although I really didn't shine on my last visit after some reasonable matches previously.   The drive up was uneventful, 2 hours 10 minutes so not too bad at all,

I eventually discovered my team mates at the draw, handed over my pools and waited for the draw, which was some time after the advertised 08.00.  I was handed 24, the windy bit of the main lake, I would have liked a sheltered peg on one of the smaller lakes, but maybe the BBC would be wrong on the wind.........   A rather forlorn hope!!

 Off to my peg and I spy John Arthur on 23, so some competition then..... then low and behold, who rocks up on 22, but Trigger, drive 130 miles and draw a peg away from someone from the same local match circuit.  Nice to see Glen Butler again, he was a bit further up the section and other names from the pages of the magazines graced the section.

I did have my morning brightened by Trigger, he came down and told me that "some bloke, he must be local, told me I'm on the best feeder peg in Europe".  I had to gently break the news that 'some bloke' was Roy Marlow......  These young 'uns what do they know!!

Two lead rods out the bag, both 10/11' Tournaments, one set up at 10' to fish bomb and pellet down the middle, the other at 11' to hit the far bank with a cage feeder.  Both set up fixed as is allowed and with the 20" which is required at the Glebe.  Plenty of chucks to get  the feeder clipped up, after venturing round to trim the far bank rushes.

 I hadn't brought casters, so bait tray had pellet, corn and maggot on it and a bit of GB for the feeder, I had a reasonable RH edge given that both pegs either side were in, so set up a rig for there, intending to fish G/maggot.  I had a couple of rigs (similar, one with a banded hook, one without) to fish at 9m, where I fed 6mm pellet, corn fed at topkit + 2 and the feeder.  I had an early fish on the feeder and then another, but it didn't take off and neither was it for those anglers I could see,

I chopped and changed hookbait and went from micros to GB in the feeder, I hooked and lost a couple, not sure why, maybe foul hooked?  The wind dropped a little and I tried the pole line, a decent skimmer on the soft pellet, before the wind made presentation impossible.  A swap back to the feeder and a change to GB and maggot in the feeder and maggot on the hook, tow decent fish in two chucks had me thinking I'd sussed it, but then it was back to being biteless.  A look round the lines again as the wind allowed, corn line was barren, the pellet line gave up another skimmer and two carp before the wind once again put paid to it.

Back on the feeder and a good fish took me into a snag, I had to pull for a break and lost the lot, new feeder on and back onto a 6mm pellet on the hook with micros in the feeder, I had another odd fish or two, but the wind was making it difficult to get tight, even hitting the clip, it was bowing the line.  I did hook another good fish which fought like mad all the way across and under the rod tip, managing to slip the hook at the net.... why do the bloody do that!!

The edge line looked like it might save the day for me as I had 3 fish in 3 put ins with 3/4 of an hour to go, but he last half hour resulted in 3 missed bites and no more fish.  With hindsight I should have had another feeder chuck or two  and that might have given me a couple more points. Bit of confusion over the weigh in, but it was sorted and I weighed 71.06, those lost fish would have pushed John Arthur for 3rd in the section, that a a bit more perseverance on the feeder.

At the end I had to shoot off as the dogs were at home cross legged, apparently we were 10th as a team and I will hope to fish this match again next year, with better weather conditions.


Monday 15 August 2016

Tony Rixon's Float Only Round 5, Shiplate Farm, Sunday 14th August 2016

I needed at least two section wins and a miracle from the remaining matches, so not really knowing the venue, I wasn't too fussed where I drew and peg 7 main lake meant nothing when I pulled it out, immediately after Nick Ewers had pulled peg 6 out.  Turns out it was an end peg with a island chuck and a nice long margin........ more of these later.

Being float only, the perfect looking method or lead chuck to the island was a no-no, so two wagglers set up, one 4g pellet waggler and a depth waggler with no shot down the line, as the peg was only about 4-5' deep.

Next up the topkits, a shallow rig looked essential so that was done, a rig to fish meat at 5m, a rig to fish banded pellet at 14m and another to fish soft pellet, maggot, worm etc at the same distance.  Plumbing up the nice looking margin was a disappointment, sloping and covered in boulders and then dropping off to 4' deep, so the groundbait and maggots stayed in the bag and I set up a rig to fish a narrow 6" wide shelf which was at the end of the boulders and about 8" shallower than the drop off.  Also a rig to fish over the boulders, just off them, with a spread of No11's down the line.

The waggler to the island looked a good bet, right up until the whistle, when the wind started and ensured that for the whole 6 hours it pushed a fairly rapid wind lane R to L about 3m off the island, pulling the float away everytime, even unclipping and paying line into the bow to try and gain a few seconds of stability was pointless,  No more about the waggler, as I did try it several times and it was totally fruitless everytime.

Nick Ewers had a couple of carp on paste, whilst I had to make do with a roach and a couple of skimmers, there were no signs of fish in the peg, apart from across tight to the island and now Nicky was struggling as well.

After two hours I went down the margin - much earlier than I'd like, but it was desperate measures needed and I did manage 3 small carp and a crucian on 8mm pellet and one on 8mm meat, but that was it, about 10lb and a couple of decent skimmers.  Rotating the lines, swapping baits and having a bit of banter with Nicky and Adrian Jeffery who was on a stock pond behind us, a 5 peg section, where they were all catching, albeit small fish, passed the next 2, largely fishless hours.

If it hadn't been a league match, I might well have been tempted to have an early finish and a cold beer on the way home, but at 3 o'clock with 2 hours to go, the peg started to show some life, a few bubbles and it didn't look like skimmers.  I got off my box, grabbed another topkit and a paste rig, fishing this at 14m, I had a carp first drop in, then another about 14lb, a short wait for another and then I hooked what I did think might be a very big bream the way it just came in under the topkit as a wallowing dead weight.  That thought was soon gone when I saw a grass carp surface before it exploded into life and gave me a right battle and a struggle to get it in my 20" net.

Grass carp have to be weighed and put back, so off to the scales with it and 12.08 was the weight, general consensus by those that saw it was they thought it was bigger, but they are so much longer and slimmer than commons and mirrors.

Back to the peg and it was now like fishing paste on Cary a few years back, you could watch the bubbles getting nearer and nearer the float and as they surround it, you can almost anticipate the bite, this is when I enjoy paste fishing best.

I had one just before the all out and was shipping back out hoping to get another, when the all out was called, a nice last two hours, but it was just too late to take the section, which was won with 96lb by Joe McMahon, I managed 2nd with 86lb and which 70lb was inside the last two hours.

I didn't get the results, but they are on Tony's blog and Mikes, suffice to say Trigger smashed it again, he really does seem unstoppable at the moment.  It didn't fish too bad at all and is a lovely fishery with friendly owners, another place I must try and get to a bit more.

Acorn Costcutter, Tuesday 9th August 2016

Decided it was time to venture down to Acorn again, another good turnout and I made sure I was into the bag for my ping pong ball nice and early.  the marker pen numbers on the ping pong balls are pretty faded and it took a second or two to register that I had drawn 33, a bridge peg.  The thing that wasn't a surprise, was that Bobby 'Sicknote' Gullick who had struggled along after an operation to fish, was on 34 on the other side of the bridge.  Bob thinks that every peg on Acorn has a bridge, as he is always next to one!!

Since my last visit the islands have had a severe trim, so you no longer have to go round and clear an area to enable getting to the far bank,I did have to do a bit of trimming to be able to get down to the pallet of 32, which was unoccupied and it did look a good prospect for later in the match.

There is a new rule at the venue, the 70lb net limit is now strictly enforced with no tolerance, so over 70lb and lose the net. Best make sure I concentrate today then.

I didn't think down the track would produce so no full depth rig set up today, a rig to fish banded pellet tight over in about 10" of water, another to fish down on the second shelf in about 3' of water, also a paste rig for this depth. A margin rig to fish down to the pallet and a shallow rig to complete the set up.

I started across with a 6mm banded pellet and had a couple of fish in the first 10 minutes or so, but I wasn't catching as fast as Bob on 34, but he was toss potting micro's and fishing soft pellet - not my cup of tea, so I stuck with the banded pellet and started to get a little run of fish, they were definitely bigger than Bobs soft pellet fish and he ended up swapping to a banded pellet.  The fish were spooky though and the little run didn't last long and I was soon trying other lines to get bites.

There was no consistency, a bite or a fish from a line, then nothing, I hadn't gone down the edge yet, determined to leave that and let it settle given the jittery nature of the fish. The best line was tight across and I continued to take odd fish from there, Bob had a good run of fish and pulled away from me, he'd gone back on the micros and soft pellet, I had a look down the edge where I had perfect depth for GB/maggot and this was disappointingly barren.

The last hour the fish did show up in the margin and whilst it wasn't frantic, I was pulling back on Bob who had slowed down, I had to feed after every fish and sometimes again after 5 minutes without a bite to get another, so it was a bit slow, but they were bigger than the far bank fish, just not coming fast enough.

I thought I had 85lb and knew Bob had more, I was surprised when he said all his big carp were in one net and he once again lost a net at Acorn as he had 70.04 in one net - harsh rule, but that knocked him back from about 103lb to 30 odd, thankfully I didn't do the same and my 93.06 was enough for third, thanks Bob!!

1st  Steve Shaw on peg 15 with 107.10
2nd Jake Alden on 27 with 103.14
3rd Chris Fox on 33 with 93.6
4th Chris Ray on 5 with 93.1
5th Glen Bailey on 4 with 84.2
6th Norm Sterry on 18 with 70.3

Since this blog is a bit late, I have since heard a couple of days after Bob's wife has been taken quite poorly, so for all the banter and piss taking, which won't stop, I would like to wish Bob and Angela good luck and hope that they get the best possible outcome.

Tuesday 2 August 2016

Float Only Series, Round , Avavlon, Sunday 31st July 2016

For the second day running, I pulled out peg 22, different venue today though, a visit to the peace and tranquility of Avalon, I had fishery owner Vic Bush on end peg23 and Rich Lacey on 21.  Two wagglers set up, one for full depth and one shallow, a rig for skimmers, but as yesterday, the conditions weren't conducive to skimmers feeding. a full depth banded pellet rig, a paste rig and a margin rig, although 22 has no margin to speak of and its 4-5' deep, little confidence in it as I have never caught a carp from the margins here.

I was expecting to catch straight away on the waggler, even if it was only one or two fish, this didn't happen. A look over the pole line I'd fed at 14m with a soft pellet produced a skimmer, this joined a 4oz roach in the net that took a 6mm pellet on the shallow waggler. There was a bit of fizzing, so a look with paste brought my first carp and after a long wait, my second.  A look round all the other lines, deep and shallow waggler were all in vain, Vic was catching, but the pegs to my right were struggling as much, if not more than me.

I decided to give the waggler a prolonged spell and upped the feed, this seemed to draw a few fish in and I had a couple, before hooking a snag - no idea how, I was clipped up and had cast dozens of times to the same spot.  That was the first lost float, next was a better fish that dived into a snag off the end of the island, float two gone. That was the start of 3 more floats biting the dust in snags, two visits and 10 floats light.........

I had a couple more fish on the waggler before ending with one on the paste, 10 carp for 37lb and a couple of pound for my skimmer and roach. Frustratingly Tony said, when he weighed me in,  he had 9 carp for 60lb - no idea if its possible to pick out the better fish or if its pot luck.

I beat a couple of pegs to my right, but not Vic who had 17 carp and the small size of the fish dumped me down the section.  Frustrating day, not sure what I would do differently next time, apart to hope for 6-8lb fish instead of ones less than 3 1/2lb.

Landsend Open, Saturday 30th July 2016

With Viaduct hosting the Supercup and my need to get some practise in at Landsend, I decided to book in for this match, a bonus being that it was going to be on Match lake - I can never seem to draw it in matches spread over two or more lakes.

Into the tin and out comes 22, the murmurings were that it was too far down and 13 seemed to be coveted, we'll see and the peg usually holds a few skimmers, although the bright sun and flat calm lake didn't bode well for a day catching silvers.

Plenty of time to set up, so a rig to fish tight across, a shallow rig on a long line, which could also be swung to the far side in case the pole spooked them, a rig to fish soft pellet and one for banded, both on the deck, a rig to fish meat short and finally a margin rig, to fish down towards the empty pallet of 23, which was a perfect depth for maggot and GB.

Not much to write about the first 4 hours, I had one carp across on meat, no bites on pellet, no liners, nothing down the track, no bites on meat short, it was dire, I toyed with the idea of an early finish and a visit to the pub.  I did have a couple of skimmers short on dead maggot and a couple of perch.  I had been feeding the margin for 45 minutes before dropping in and getting a see through perch on 10 maggots, next put in a bigger perch, before finally, a decent carp. I had a decent run in the penultimate hour, putting 60lb in the net, I put a second next in at 4pm and that was a sign for the fish to bugger off.

I managed 4 more for just over 20lb in that net in the last hour, so smaller fish and less of them - why is it that putting that extra net in so often disrupts things,  I had to feed a full pot of GB and some maggots after every fish, dropping back in without feeding meant no sign of a fish.

In the end I was glad I stuck it out and managed third place and a welcome pickup.  The margin saved me, good job 23 was empty.