My turn on lake 3 and having drawn venue expert Tony Rixon in the knock out, I was going to have my work cut out, in fact as I was so far down the league, but with a glimmer of hope in the silvers, I was intending to fish for them.
The draw slightly changed my thinking, as I drew 41 and I would prefer a non corner peg for silvers - unless the F1's feed, but as there had been a match on the lake the day before, I wasn't confident, as whilst the carp at Landsend often respond to being fished for the day before, its usually the kiss of death for silvers.
The margins on 41 are considerably different in depth left and right, so two rigs made up, as I was hopeful of a fish or two from the edges, especially as we were fishing until 16:00. I set up a rig that I hoped would catch a few silvers, but also land any bonus carp, so 0.16 with a 0.10 hooklength and a 18 Guru FI maggot hook.
I thought that meat might work, so I set up a rig on 0.20 with a 0.14 hooklength and a 16 Kaizen, this would do for many areas of the peg, as except for the area where the aerator used to be, the peg was the same depth. I also set up a rig for across to the spit that sticks out, as this usually holds a few fish, this was on 0.16 with a 0.12 hooklength and a 18 F1 hook. There is a shallower area tight across and the rig was plumbed to be just on the bottom on this shelf.
This peg does offer the option of going down to the end bank, but I refuse to do it, the bank is eroded and has trees and other snags in the water, I just won't put myself through what would end in frustration, Tourette's and tears......
Whilst the weather was mild, the water temperature was still very low, so reluctantly I put a pot on the end of my topkit (I'd rather be using a catty) and started across to the spit with a few pellets dripped out of the pot and a 4mm expander on the hook. I had an indication straight away, lifted and dropped it back in and a positive bite saw a 6-7lb fish netted, great start, the next 30 minutes saw 3 more between 3-4lb in the net and I was no thinking of abandoning the silvers and going for carp.
The first half hour was a bit of a golden patch, as the next half hour saw only one more fish in the net. I fed a ball of GB into the open water on the hour mark and left it 20 minutes before dropping over it with double maggot, this brought another small carp and a couple of roach, a switch to 4mm expander saw a small skimmer come to the net and several more roach. But the carp seemed to disappear.
Now with the beauty of hindsight, I should have got my head down and fished the rest of the match for silvers, but I was fairly convinced the last hour or so would see the carp come back, I did have a look down the RH margin - which is the deeper of the two and it was barren, I wanted to leave the LH margin to the last 30 minutes before going in there.
I did manage a very small F1 and a carp that would struggle to push the scales to the 1lb mark from across to the spit again, as well as a couple of roach. The margins only produced one carp, probably 2lb, so that was a disappointment and confirmed my poor decision in not fishing for silvers, as the lake silvers was won with 5.04 and I weighed 4.12, I think 7 or 8lb would have been easily obtainable. My 8 carp went 38lb odd and Rob Watts on 43 had 4 for 39lb odd and his silvers just beat me, the top 3 weights on the lake all came from the opposite bank, so another mediocre day for me, I felt I fished a tidy match, but the size of the fish I caught cost me.
Dreadful winter, really not sure what I am doing wrong as I just can't seem to put any quality in the net, be glad to see the spring arrive and the water temps climb up above 10° or 12°C.
Tuesday, 30 January 2018
Monday, 22 January 2018
Viaduct Winter League Round Two, Sunday 21st January 2018
Back to Viaduct this week for the second round of the winter league, it was my turn on Match lake, which I like, so hopeful of a few bites. The draw would be all important, the team protocol was for each member to draw, but as Fred has the golden arm he was cajoled into dipping his hand into the tin again. There were a couple of unflavoured draws in the tin, but thankfully Fred avoided the worst of them and handed us: Glenn on 127, Fred on 96, Mark on 64, myself on 47 and Paul on 15.
127 wasn't likely to throw up a weight, but Glenn would try and catch some silvers there, Fred knew exactly what to do on 96, Mark recalled my time on 64 last year, I was blanking with 3 minutes to go and then had a carp that salvaged a few points, 47 was more favourable than I first thought, when I found out 46 wasn't in and Paul was hopeful of carp down the edge and skimmers on 15.
As the matches are 5 hours, no need to set up too much kit, but with an island chuck I did set up a lead rod, to start on bread across, a Normark Microlight to fish the waggler, 2lb reel line and a 0.10 hooklength with a 20 F1 hook.
Plumbing up the pole lines, I found the deepest part of the peg was at 11m, going further out saw the bottom slightly sloping up and at 14m it was 6" shallower than 11m. I set three rigs up, one for 11m, two for 14m, one a double bulk rig. The water was fairly clear and I wasn't convinced that the fish would come to 11m.
The all-in was called and I started on the bomb and bread, I tried tight to the island, short, at various places along the island, all to no avail, I was expecting a bite, but didn't have so much as a liner. I switched to the waggler and put a small roach in the net, then a skimmer, another small roach and then a 6oz roach - I thought that I was going to have a busy day catching, but that was the end of the roach, they disappeared and I never had another the rest of the match.
I did have a better skimmer on the waggler, then a smaller one, then the jagged fight of a perch. This was spread out of 40 minutes, the action was far from hectic. Next bite was met with a more solid resistance and initially I thought it was a carp, but the fight soon gave away it was a good perch, the fish took the line above the float through a floating bramble branch, with a clump of weed attached to it. This would not come off the line no matter how hard I tried and in the end I had to try and lift it out of the water to get the fish up to net it. It then became a dead weight and negated the playing action of the rod and the perch bounced the hook out of its mouth, shame it was 2lb+.
Next cast, another decent fish hooked, but it felt fouled and so it was, halfway in and it came off, a large F1 scale still on the hook. This saw the start of an hour or so where bites had dried up, I had a look in the pole lines with pinkies, tried the lead again, all to no avail, I kept pinging a few casters in regularly and went back on the waggler, deciding that I had to try closer to the island.
The downside of this was the volume of tree cuttings or wind fallers in the peg, at one stage I hooked one every cast, I had to drop shorter than I wanted and this did see 2 F1's and another couple of skimmers come to the net, but I needed a carp to bump my weight up and for the second week running I did well to avoid one.....
I knew I'd beaten some, but with Matt Tomes on my left having two carp, I knew he'd beaten me, as with a couple of others who had carp. Also beaten by a couple of the pegs on Spring which were in the section, so my hard won, waggler caught 13.04 was worth 11 points.
Glenn had struggled on Campbell, beating those around him to get 5 points, Fred winkled a couple out for 10 points, Mark had a similar experience to me on 64, a carp in the last 5 minutes giving him 12 points, my 11 and Paul with 13 from peg 15 saw us with a lesser total than last week, but we only dropped a place to 5th and apart from Colmic who are opening up a big lead, its tight and all to fish for over the next 3 rounds.
127 wasn't likely to throw up a weight, but Glenn would try and catch some silvers there, Fred knew exactly what to do on 96, Mark recalled my time on 64 last year, I was blanking with 3 minutes to go and then had a carp that salvaged a few points, 47 was more favourable than I first thought, when I found out 46 wasn't in and Paul was hopeful of carp down the edge and skimmers on 15.
As the matches are 5 hours, no need to set up too much kit, but with an island chuck I did set up a lead rod, to start on bread across, a Normark Microlight to fish the waggler, 2lb reel line and a 0.10 hooklength with a 20 F1 hook.
Plumbing up the pole lines, I found the deepest part of the peg was at 11m, going further out saw the bottom slightly sloping up and at 14m it was 6" shallower than 11m. I set three rigs up, one for 11m, two for 14m, one a double bulk rig. The water was fairly clear and I wasn't convinced that the fish would come to 11m.
The all-in was called and I started on the bomb and bread, I tried tight to the island, short, at various places along the island, all to no avail, I was expecting a bite, but didn't have so much as a liner. I switched to the waggler and put a small roach in the net, then a skimmer, another small roach and then a 6oz roach - I thought that I was going to have a busy day catching, but that was the end of the roach, they disappeared and I never had another the rest of the match.
I did have a better skimmer on the waggler, then a smaller one, then the jagged fight of a perch. This was spread out of 40 minutes, the action was far from hectic. Next bite was met with a more solid resistance and initially I thought it was a carp, but the fight soon gave away it was a good perch, the fish took the line above the float through a floating bramble branch, with a clump of weed attached to it. This would not come off the line no matter how hard I tried and in the end I had to try and lift it out of the water to get the fish up to net it. It then became a dead weight and negated the playing action of the rod and the perch bounced the hook out of its mouth, shame it was 2lb+.
Next cast, another decent fish hooked, but it felt fouled and so it was, halfway in and it came off, a large F1 scale still on the hook. This saw the start of an hour or so where bites had dried up, I had a look in the pole lines with pinkies, tried the lead again, all to no avail, I kept pinging a few casters in regularly and went back on the waggler, deciding that I had to try closer to the island.
The downside of this was the volume of tree cuttings or wind fallers in the peg, at one stage I hooked one every cast, I had to drop shorter than I wanted and this did see 2 F1's and another couple of skimmers come to the net, but I needed a carp to bump my weight up and for the second week running I did well to avoid one.....
I knew I'd beaten some, but with Matt Tomes on my left having two carp, I knew he'd beaten me, as with a couple of others who had carp. Also beaten by a couple of the pegs on Spring which were in the section, so my hard won, waggler caught 13.04 was worth 11 points.
Glenn had struggled on Campbell, beating those around him to get 5 points, Fred winkled a couple out for 10 points, Mark had a similar experience to me on 64, a carp in the last 5 minutes giving him 12 points, my 11 and Paul with 13 from peg 15 saw us with a lesser total than last week, but we only dropped a place to 5th and apart from Colmic who are opening up a big lead, its tight and all to fish for over the next 3 rounds.
Viaduct Winter League Round One, Sunday 14th January 2018
Hard to believe that a year has passed since the last winter league, where is the time going.....
I must admit, I haven't been enjoying this winters fishing and am not taking every opportunity to get out on the bank, as I usually would, I'm not sure if the stats would bear me out, but I feel as if the winter fishing is getting worse every year.
But, it was with renewed enthusiasm I got my kit ready for this, I have always liked team fishing and this year sees us with an unchanged team of Myself, Paul Faiers, Freddy Roberts, Glenn Calvert and Mark Broomsgrove. We are looking to improve on last years finish, hopefully emulating 2016's league win, but there are some good anglers and the draw bag to overcome to get near that aim in the 5 matches.
Its great to see the banter and atmosphere that these big matches generate, something that is missing from todays match scene, along with the social side, when many used to have a pint or two on the way home. A great sense of anticipation from the 90 anglers in attendance, anticipation and hope that one of the 'shite draws' doesn't come their way.
With renowned poor drawers in the team, we all voted Freddy to pluck our rotation and peg from the draw tubs, that put him on 132, Mark on 103, Myself on 71, Paul on 52 and Glenn on 20, not the worst draw in the tin, but probably Glenn and myself of the least favoured of the pegs.
Peg 71 on Lodge is a bit hemmed in, but this year with peg 55 not being in, you can cast the waggler a little further. Lodge lake section is float only, so no need to set up a lead rod, I had two wagglers set up, one with 0.12 and a 18 Guru F1 for caster and one with 0.15 and a 18 PR36 for corn or meat.
I did set up a rig to try under the brambles to my right, although I was far from convinced that I would catch short, a rig to fish at 14m and a double bulk rig for the same distance.
Starting on the waggler and meat saw the waggler sitting motionless, a switch to corn was no better, finally a switch to maggot brought 2 missed bites. I had fed a bit of GB, with dead maggot and caster in at 14m, a look over this saw a roach netted - that was the blank saved, but it was pretty much it, as far as the pole lines went, nothing on caster, maggot or even prawn down to the bushes and nothing else on the 14m line.
I spent most of the match fishing the waggler as far as I dare without encroaching on to peg 56's boundary, this was the only lace I could get bites, corn being the best bait. I kept persevering as peg 70was getting a few bites doing this and he had 3 decent carp and some skimmers to win the section. I managed 12.01 of skimmers for 7 points, one 10lb carp would have seen my points doubled, that's how tight the lake was.
Teamwise it wasn't perfect, but it wasn't a bad day, Fred taking 15 points, Mark with 14, my 7, Paul had 15 and Glenn 9, so 60 points and joint 4th, Colmic were runaway winners on the day with 75 points.
I must admit, I haven't been enjoying this winters fishing and am not taking every opportunity to get out on the bank, as I usually would, I'm not sure if the stats would bear me out, but I feel as if the winter fishing is getting worse every year.
But, it was with renewed enthusiasm I got my kit ready for this, I have always liked team fishing and this year sees us with an unchanged team of Myself, Paul Faiers, Freddy Roberts, Glenn Calvert and Mark Broomsgrove. We are looking to improve on last years finish, hopefully emulating 2016's league win, but there are some good anglers and the draw bag to overcome to get near that aim in the 5 matches.
Its great to see the banter and atmosphere that these big matches generate, something that is missing from todays match scene, along with the social side, when many used to have a pint or two on the way home. A great sense of anticipation from the 90 anglers in attendance, anticipation and hope that one of the 'shite draws' doesn't come their way.
With renowned poor drawers in the team, we all voted Freddy to pluck our rotation and peg from the draw tubs, that put him on 132, Mark on 103, Myself on 71, Paul on 52 and Glenn on 20, not the worst draw in the tin, but probably Glenn and myself of the least favoured of the pegs.
Peg 71 on Lodge is a bit hemmed in, but this year with peg 55 not being in, you can cast the waggler a little further. Lodge lake section is float only, so no need to set up a lead rod, I had two wagglers set up, one with 0.12 and a 18 Guru F1 for caster and one with 0.15 and a 18 PR36 for corn or meat.
I did set up a rig to try under the brambles to my right, although I was far from convinced that I would catch short, a rig to fish at 14m and a double bulk rig for the same distance.
Starting on the waggler and meat saw the waggler sitting motionless, a switch to corn was no better, finally a switch to maggot brought 2 missed bites. I had fed a bit of GB, with dead maggot and caster in at 14m, a look over this saw a roach netted - that was the blank saved, but it was pretty much it, as far as the pole lines went, nothing on caster, maggot or even prawn down to the bushes and nothing else on the 14m line.
I spent most of the match fishing the waggler as far as I dare without encroaching on to peg 56's boundary, this was the only lace I could get bites, corn being the best bait. I kept persevering as peg 70was getting a few bites doing this and he had 3 decent carp and some skimmers to win the section. I managed 12.01 of skimmers for 7 points, one 10lb carp would have seen my points doubled, that's how tight the lake was.
Teamwise it wasn't perfect, but it wasn't a bad day, Fred taking 15 points, Mark with 14, my 7, Paul had 15 and Glenn 9, so 60 points and joint 4th, Colmic were runaway winners on the day with 75 points.
Sunday, 14 January 2018
Landsend Winter League Round 2, Sunday 7th January 2018
My turn on match lake and after a pretty disastrous first round I needed a decent draw, the fish have been at one end the lake, so of course, I drew the opposite end. Peg 22, it can be a good skimmer peg, but with the water so cold and clear, I was unconvinced that they would feed, but silvers had to be my only chance of picking up on the day, although with Tony Rixon on 5, which is home to the lakes F1's (silvers at Landsend) I knew it would be a tough ask.
Not going to try and spin this out, it was cold and tough, the lake fished very tough and Allan Oram was a runaway winner, my silvers quest was unravelled by Tony, although I am led to believe my 5lb of silvers was enough to win them by default, that just about sums it up.
Not going to try and spin this out, it was cold and tough, the lake fished very tough and Allan Oram was a runaway winner, my silvers quest was unravelled by Tony, although I am led to believe my 5lb of silvers was enough to win them by default, that just about sums it up.
Ivy House Open, Saturday 7th January 2018
First match of the year and back to Ivy House, first visit for a while, not far any other reason than opportunity and the weekday traffic keeping me from attending the midweek matches.
13 of us here today, Andy decided to put everyone on one canal and I was happy with that, sometimes in winter too much room lets the fish back off into gaps. The draw tin gave up peg 23 to me, an end peg, although it was mentioned it might be the wrong end.... Well, we'll see, so off to the peg and a fairly simple approach, maggots and pellets, a wire stemmed gimp to fish down the track, another slightly smaller to fish just up the far shelf and a rig top fish up the far shelf, although I wasn't convinced it would produce.
I was right about going up the far shelf, not a bite there, I spent the day between 3 lines, one at 2 o'clock which was a maggot line, another at 10 o'clock which I fed pellet and one just dragged 6"up the far shelf which was deeper down to the tree opposite and to my left.
The pellet line was a non starter and didn't give me a bite all day, I was hoping for a few skimmers on maggot, but they were not playing and I kept working away to get small carp from 1oz up to about 8oz, they weren't coming fast and I had a spell of nearly two hours without a bite. I did have a hybrid about 2lb and was hopeful for more, but the silvers were either not at this end or had shut up shop.
A couple more fish in the last half hour, including the biggest carp of the day at about 2lb saw me weigh 13.12 for 4th on the day and one out of the money, so 2018 starts as 2017 ended..... As predicted, the other end produced the winner, but it was nice to back out.
13 of us here today, Andy decided to put everyone on one canal and I was happy with that, sometimes in winter too much room lets the fish back off into gaps. The draw tin gave up peg 23 to me, an end peg, although it was mentioned it might be the wrong end.... Well, we'll see, so off to the peg and a fairly simple approach, maggots and pellets, a wire stemmed gimp to fish down the track, another slightly smaller to fish just up the far shelf and a rig top fish up the far shelf, although I wasn't convinced it would produce.
I was right about going up the far shelf, not a bite there, I spent the day between 3 lines, one at 2 o'clock which was a maggot line, another at 10 o'clock which I fed pellet and one just dragged 6"up the far shelf which was deeper down to the tree opposite and to my left.
The pellet line was a non starter and didn't give me a bite all day, I was hoping for a few skimmers on maggot, but they were not playing and I kept working away to get small carp from 1oz up to about 8oz, they weren't coming fast and I had a spell of nearly two hours without a bite. I did have a hybrid about 2lb and was hopeful for more, but the silvers were either not at this end or had shut up shop.
A couple more fish in the last half hour, including the biggest carp of the day at about 2lb saw me weigh 13.12 for 4th on the day and one out of the money, so 2018 starts as 2017 ended..... As predicted, the other end produced the winner, but it was nice to back out.
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