Todber for this one, not overjoyed to draw 39, pretty hemmed in and not a good area. Switched between pellets and meat to put 120lb+ on the scales for nowhere.
Showing posts with label Todber Manor. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Todber Manor. Show all posts
Sunday, 22 May 2022
Sunday, 24 April 2022
Open, Toder Whitepost, Sunday 24th April 2022
Nice little match on Todber Whitepost, not too much to say about it, tried to catch on the deck, when I should have fished shallow I think. Weighed 111lb for nowhere.
Sunday, 15 August 2021
Tony Rixon's Short Pole League, Final Round, Todber Manor, Sunday 15th August
After catching 8 roach in 10 hours in my last two matches, maybe Todber was just what I needed.... Going into this match I was 3rd in the league and needed a decent result to stay in the framing places.
Drew peg 41, looked OK, had peg 40 vacant to my left, so I was hopeful that would benefit me. I was basing my approach on pellets, but mindful of my last visit where I had to switch to corn to win the section, I had some tins of corn, along with 8mm meat.
Topkits for pellet at 2+2 and topkit, meat rig for topkit, margin rig for just of the bank on the 'second' shelf and a rig to fish in against the rush roots. Started at 2+2 and had a fish straight away, but I could see others had started catching on the topkit line, so I soon came in on that, it wasn't hectic and plugging away saw me put 29lb in the net in the first hour, too slow.
Next hour it improved and I had over 40lb, so I was somewhat surprised when the bites dried up, short long and an early look in the edge - two fish for 11lb in the third hour, I knew I was in trouble and had no idea how to get it back. Going into the penultimate hour I saw a swirl in the edge and couldn't wait any longer, so in there with 8mm pellet, the fish in the edge were a much better stamp but it was sit and wait for one to come in.
I kept feeding the topkit line, switching this to meat and had a few from there, but I knew I was miles off the pace, that middle hour had done for me. The weights proved that, with the top two weights in the section being 272lb, only separated by ounces, there was a 183lb and then I was equal weight with young Freddy on the next peg, we both had 176.03...
That cost me a framing place by one point, oh well always next year. Looking back on the match I think I should have been more aggressive with the feed, I am so used to fishing venues where feeding frugally seems to pay off, I seem to have forgotten how to 'pile' it in - and I used to be a master at that!
Well done to the framers on the day and overall. I didn't get a photo of the sheets.
Sunday, 1 August 2021
Tony Rixon's Float Only, Penultimate Round, Todber Manor, Sunday 1st August 2021
Everyone was a little shell shocked by the results from the festival the week before this match with anglers catching over 400lb and coming nowhere. I didn't expect such big weights today, as there were less on the lakes.
Peg 52 for me, I felt there were better pegs in the section, so it would be a case of getting my head down and concentrate for 5 hours. I had banked on pellets being the bait that would see me through the 5 hours, so my main line of attack was two rigs for straight in front at 2+2 and topkit. Also a margin rig and a shallow rig. The two open water rigs were glass stemmed to take the pressure of catching short and quickly..... hmmm.
Started at 2+2 and banded 6mm, it took a little while to kick off and never really got going at a rate I felt would see a big weight, I'd been feeding the topkit line and came in on that, had a carp instantly, then a small tench and that was it, nothing. Back on the 2+2 line and by toss potting a few pellets I could get odd bites, but it was pretty slow going.
I tried the LH margin, even 8mm pellet was getting ragged by small silvers, I wasn't convinced there were too many carp down this arm today, but there was obviously some, I needed a section win to be in with any chance of keeping in touch with the league leaders.
I ended up opening a couple of tins of corn and feeding that short, it was better than pellet and I had a steady run of fish at the end, which thankfully was enough to see me over the line of the section, but a long way from the framers.
I think this is the table going into the last round, but I haven't had all the details of stand-in's this does have the worst result dropped.
Sunday, 9 May 2021
Tony Rixon's Short Pole Series, R1, Sunday 9th May 2021
First round of the short pole league today, over two lakes at Todber, Ash and Homeground, wasn't too fussed where I drew, but when 83 came out of the tub, I did think it might be the wrong end of the lake. Can't be much simpler than a short pole match, topkit + up to 3 sections allowed.
Topkits set up for margin, which was shallower than I would have liked, as a cold wind was blowing at me, two pellet rigs, one for topkit and one for topkit+3. Meat rig also set up, to fish at topkit+2.
Started on the topkit with pellet and had a fish first put in, which was a bit of a false dawn, as I only put 20lb in the net in the first hour and even fed the margin early, but to no avail, gradually the topkit+3 line started producing fish, ranging from 3lb - 7lb, I had a couple of looks back in the margin but the wait for a fish was too long and then they were small, so I had 4 fish from the margin throughout the match, whilst the pellet line in open water was much stronger.
I fed through a toss pot, a medium Matrix pot filled up with 6mm Coppens each put in, last 40 minutes I dropped back onto the topkit line, which I'd been feeding by hand and had a decent run of fish, maybe I should have dropped back on it earlier.
Come the weigh in I put 224.14 on the scales, which was enough for 3rd in the match, but only second in section, beaten by Martin on 82.
Sunday, 2 May 2021
Jon Darby's Open, Todber Manor, Sunday 2nd May 2021
One of Darby's opens on Todber Hillview, not being a regular visitor the draw of 55 didn't mean too much to me, travelling partner Tony on 54 and Mark Wynne the other side on 57.
I did set up a straight lead, but never picked it up, so the pole was my only approach, I struggled to get a regular run of fish on the pellet in front and meat wasn't much better. I kept at it and probably took too long to go up the LH margin, where I fed Gb and maggots, that was a mistake, the fish were coming off the bottom and giving me liners, I switched to meat, which I was also feeding short in my RH margin, this was also resulting in liners and missed 'bites'
I opened a can of corn and that seemed to settle things down, catching reasonably steadily, before having a run of fish in the RH edge on my topkit. Took me too long to sort it out and that cost me a pickup, coming 5th overall and one out of the money, being beaten for the section.
Monday, 29 March 2021
Todber Manor Open
First match back after lockdown, was good to be back, well it was until I drew, peg 36, anywhere the 30's is best drawn in a couple of months time, the fish don't seem to over winter there... if it hadn't bee the first match back, my disappointment at drawing there may well have seen me not bother, but I did manage a grain of optimism.
Not going to waste my time writing about the match in detail, I had 4 fish on the pole, two on meat short and two on pellet at 13m and that was the only bites on the pole. I did chuck a method over to the island and had a few carp on the method, but they was very little activity, I switched to a maggot feeder and had a couple more, but was never going to trouble the 200lb+ needed to pick up.
Well done to those that did put the weights on the scales.
Results from Todber FB page below.
28 anglers fished today's 5 hour open on Hill View and Homeground. Results:
1st: Dave Willmot 275lb 4oz (Peg 89 HG)
2nd: Ben Hagg 267lb 2oz (Peg 77 HG)
3rd: Simon Stacey 266lb 10oz (Peg 90)(would have won match if had another keepnet)
4th: Andrew Cranston 250lb 4oz (Peg 80 HG)
Section A: Trigger 226lb 8oz (Peg 47 HV)
Section B: Martin Rayet 205lb 12oz (Peg 54 HV)
Section C: Martin Rogers 239lb 10oz (Peg 88 HG)
Silvers 1st: Birthday Boy Matt Rowe 27lb 8oz (Peg 35 HV)
Silvers 2nd: Chris Albiston 25lb 2oz (Peg 60 HV)
Silvers 3rd: Dwayne Seed 18lb 10oz (Peg 58 HV)
Sunday, 15 March 2020
Todber Whitepost Open, Sunday 15th March 2020
Back to Todber today for an open organised by Mark Poppleton. On Whitepost, so a simple affair, pellets and maggots on the bait tray, waggler rods left in the van and just the battle through the axle deep mud to get to my peg, which was 25.
I set up a lead rod to fish pellet on a bomb and another rod with a pellet feeder. A topkit to fish banded pellet, one for soft pellet, another for meat short and one for down the edge.
The weather didn't disappoint, the usual pissing down rain and wind for at least the first half of the match, so huddled into the Goretex I stared across on the feeder. I was getting odd fish, but not as many as Joe McMahon on 23, who could reach the far side with a pole, I couldn't.
I switched to the pole at 14m feeding pellet with banded pellet on the hook, again, I was getting bites, but not at the rate Joe was catching., So I got off my box and got another section out, going out to 16m, that was better, a fish first put in, then one took me into the reeds opposite and took the hook length. I put another on and was catching but still not fast enough.
I had been feeding a line at 2+2 with 7mm meat and left it until an hour and 15 minutes from the end to go in there, I was pleased I did, they were queued up and I started catching at rate that was clawing back ground on Joe and on peg 27 who'd had a run of fish from the end bank. I had to feed 12-15 pieces every fish, if not it took longer to get bites, great to be able to feed and see fish reacting to it!!
Scales came a long and gave peg 27, 112lb, I had 122lb and Joe had 115lb, that was top three on lake and I was second in the match behind Mark Wynne who had 168lb from peg 11 on the top lake.
I set up a lead rod to fish pellet on a bomb and another rod with a pellet feeder. A topkit to fish banded pellet, one for soft pellet, another for meat short and one for down the edge.
The weather didn't disappoint, the usual pissing down rain and wind for at least the first half of the match, so huddled into the Goretex I stared across on the feeder. I was getting odd fish, but not as many as Joe McMahon on 23, who could reach the far side with a pole, I couldn't.
I switched to the pole at 14m feeding pellet with banded pellet on the hook, again, I was getting bites, but not at the rate Joe was catching., So I got off my box and got another section out, going out to 16m, that was better, a fish first put in, then one took me into the reeds opposite and took the hook length. I put another on and was catching but still not fast enough.
I had been feeding a line at 2+2 with 7mm meat and left it until an hour and 15 minutes from the end to go in there, I was pleased I did, they were queued up and I started catching at rate that was clawing back ground on Joe and on peg 27 who'd had a run of fish from the end bank. I had to feed 12-15 pieces every fish, if not it took longer to get bites, great to be able to feed and see fish reacting to it!!
Scales came a long and gave peg 27, 112lb, I had 122lb and Joe had 115lb, that was top three on lake and I was second in the match behind Mark Wynne who had 168lb from peg 11 on the top lake.
Saturday, 14 March 2020
Todber Winter League, Final Round, Saturday 14th March 2020
This was a reserve date, so I was hoping a week later on than the league should have finished, my turn on the high numbers of Hillview would see a decent days fishing and for us as a team to claw our way into the money.
Well, Barry drew me peg 50, 49 and 50 had been 1st and 2nd in the match last round, so myself and Ricky Mills who was on 49 weren't too upset. These pegs are just into a arm off the main lake.
50 gives you a check to the far bank, open water and a edge down to 51 which is not pegged. The wind was blowing L to R and would make fishing the long pole either hard work or impossible - it varied. I set up a bomb rod, a method feeder, a waggler and 4 topkits. The topkits were one for meat short, one for banded pellet as long as I could go, an similar one for soft pellet and a rig to go down to the pallet of 51, but not too close in, as I didn't think they come into water that shallow.
Started on the method, a perfect cast, hit the clip and a nice little plop into the water, and the next cast, the third one somehow got caught on a frond sticking out from the far bank, that was the end of that feeder... Switched a pellet feeder as I hadn't had a bite and soon had a small fish, and then a couple more, but that was slow going, 6 or 7lb in the first hour, it was slow both to my left and right,so it didn't point to me doing anything drastically wrong.
Ricky started to get the odd better fish as he switched to fishing more to his left into the body of the lake, I was getting an odd fish on the method, but had been pinging pellets to the middle or just past and picked up the waggler. I had three or 4 on the waggler, all small but it was bites, this died off and I ended the match with a brief run of slightly better fish on meat short in the last 45 minutes to stave off a last in section. All of us in the arm struggled, Ricky had 62lb, I had 52lb, Chris Martin on 52 has had 42lb and MarkWynne on 53 had 57lb. Section one and two was 48 and 54 who both fish into the main body of the lake and both weighed around the 110lb mark.
So not the best day and luckily my disaster didn't do too much damage and we moved up into 4th place and managed to pick up some coin, so well done team.
Well, Barry drew me peg 50, 49 and 50 had been 1st and 2nd in the match last round, so myself and Ricky Mills who was on 49 weren't too upset. These pegs are just into a arm off the main lake.
50 gives you a check to the far bank, open water and a edge down to 51 which is not pegged. The wind was blowing L to R and would make fishing the long pole either hard work or impossible - it varied. I set up a bomb rod, a method feeder, a waggler and 4 topkits. The topkits were one for meat short, one for banded pellet as long as I could go, an similar one for soft pellet and a rig to go down to the pallet of 51, but not too close in, as I didn't think they come into water that shallow.
Started on the method, a perfect cast, hit the clip and a nice little plop into the water, and the next cast, the third one somehow got caught on a frond sticking out from the far bank, that was the end of that feeder... Switched a pellet feeder as I hadn't had a bite and soon had a small fish, and then a couple more, but that was slow going, 6 or 7lb in the first hour, it was slow both to my left and right,so it didn't point to me doing anything drastically wrong.
Ricky started to get the odd better fish as he switched to fishing more to his left into the body of the lake, I was getting an odd fish on the method, but had been pinging pellets to the middle or just past and picked up the waggler. I had three or 4 on the waggler, all small but it was bites, this died off and I ended the match with a brief run of slightly better fish on meat short in the last 45 minutes to stave off a last in section. All of us in the arm struggled, Ricky had 62lb, I had 52lb, Chris Martin on 52 has had 42lb and MarkWynne on 53 had 57lb. Section one and two was 48 and 54 who both fish into the main body of the lake and both weighed around the 110lb mark.
So not the best day and luckily my disaster didn't do too much damage and we moved up into 4th place and managed to pick up some coin, so well done team.
Overall on the day
1st Jon gray 128.10
2nd Martin Rogers 125.09
3rd Mark Poppleton 118.12
Overall league
1st thatchers vets 71pts
2nd sw all-stars 72pts
3rd BAS 76. 5pts
4th one local 79pts
5th parsigns 79.5pts
6th tackle UK 87
7th pi thatchers 87
8th Westerleigh 90
9th cod fathers 90
10th sas 93
11th misfits 100
12th pr floats 125
Monday, 9 March 2020
Todber Manor Winter League, Penultimate Round, Sunday 8th March 2020
This should have been the last round of the winter league, but one round was postponed due to a storm and high winds.
Travelled down with Tony and he must have had a funny turn as he waned me to draw for the team, I did advise it wasn't a good idea and he paid the price when I drew him 16, Mark Poppleton went off looking for Prozac after he saw his draw....
My prize was peg 34, the 'poor' section of Hillview, I was advised that there were no fish to be caught on the pole, so I set up a waggler - it was windy, but it was from behind me, so no problems fishing the waggler. Two lead rods, one for bread and one with a maggot feeder on.
I did set up a couple of topkits, didn't bother with the margin, just two for out in front, one with a Kaizen hook, one with a eyed LWG and a band for hard pellet.
Started on the bread, but didn't give it too long, as no liners or bites were forthcoming. It was slow in the section, with no one catching. I could get maggots out to the island with a catapult because of the wind, so fully expected to catch, I did, but it was a small skimmer and a roach. Troed the maggot feeder, nothing - I was going nowhere fast.
I picked up the pole and fed two lines, one at 14m off to 11 0'clock with micros, 4 and 6mm hard pellets, the other at 9m off at 2 o'clock, fed with the same pellets and a few dead maggots. I had a carp after about 5 minutes on maggot over the short line, switched to the long line and soft 4mm pellet, this brought another fish after 20 minutes.
I caught odd fish on 4mm soft pellet switching between the two lines, feeding after every fish, I did have an hour spell without a bite and retried the waggler, that was the same as before, one skimmer.
I had a couple of small tench and another skimmer, with the odd carp until the all out was called, I thought I might have finished 3rd in section behind Ben Hagg on 38 who caught on the lead and Steve Tucker on 37, but luckily my 43lb odd just beat Tucks to take second behind Ben's 60+lb. That was nowhere in the match with plenty of ton + weights - but not in my section....
Teamwise we did no good, but Tony was warned....
Final round is now next Saturday, so fingers crossed for one of the flyers - no, 5 of the flyers for the team..
Travelled down with Tony and he must have had a funny turn as he waned me to draw for the team, I did advise it wasn't a good idea and he paid the price when I drew him 16, Mark Poppleton went off looking for Prozac after he saw his draw....
My prize was peg 34, the 'poor' section of Hillview, I was advised that there were no fish to be caught on the pole, so I set up a waggler - it was windy, but it was from behind me, so no problems fishing the waggler. Two lead rods, one for bread and one with a maggot feeder on.
I did set up a couple of topkits, didn't bother with the margin, just two for out in front, one with a Kaizen hook, one with a eyed LWG and a band for hard pellet.
Started on the bread, but didn't give it too long, as no liners or bites were forthcoming. It was slow in the section, with no one catching. I could get maggots out to the island with a catapult because of the wind, so fully expected to catch, I did, but it was a small skimmer and a roach. Troed the maggot feeder, nothing - I was going nowhere fast.
I picked up the pole and fed two lines, one at 14m off to 11 0'clock with micros, 4 and 6mm hard pellets, the other at 9m off at 2 o'clock, fed with the same pellets and a few dead maggots. I had a carp after about 5 minutes on maggot over the short line, switched to the long line and soft 4mm pellet, this brought another fish after 20 minutes.
I caught odd fish on 4mm soft pellet switching between the two lines, feeding after every fish, I did have an hour spell without a bite and retried the waggler, that was the same as before, one skimmer.
I had a couple of small tench and another skimmer, with the odd carp until the all out was called, I thought I might have finished 3rd in section behind Ben Hagg on 38 who caught on the lead and Steve Tucker on 37, but luckily my 43lb odd just beat Tucks to take second behind Ben's 60+lb. That was nowhere in the match with plenty of ton + weights - but not in my section....
Teamwise we did no good, but Tony was warned....
Final round is now next Saturday, so fingers crossed for one of the flyers - no, 5 of the flyers for the team..
Individual
1st Ryan Shipp 175lb
2nd Nick Ewers 152-06
3rd Tony Picton 152.00
4th Glen Picton 142lb.00
5th Paul elms 130lb
Silvers
1st Paul Greenwood 25lb
2nd Chris Davis 22lb
3rd lee Woodhouse 18lb.
Winning team
Codfathers 11pts
Overall
Thatchers vets 55
Bac 58.5
Parsigns 61.5
Sw all stars 62
One local 67
Westerleigh 69
Pi thatchers 71
Tackle UK 71
Sas 73
Cod fathers 73
Misfits 81
Pr floats 98
1st Ryan Shipp 175lb
2nd Nick Ewers 152-06
3rd Tony Picton 152.00
4th Glen Picton 142lb.00
5th Paul elms 130lb
Silvers
1st Paul Greenwood 25lb
2nd Chris Davis 22lb
3rd lee Woodhouse 18lb.
Winning team
Codfathers 11pts
Overall
Thatchers vets 55
Bac 58.5
Parsigns 61.5
Sw all stars 62
One local 67
Westerleigh 69
Pi thatchers 71
Tackle UK 71
Sas 73
Cod fathers 73
Misfits 81
Pr floats 98
Saturday, 29 February 2020
Todber Manor Winter League R3, Sunday 23rd February 2020
It was my turn to be on Whitepost for this round, so as I have only fished it once before I relied on those more knowledgeable to fill me in, damage limitation was the advice, not a good peg.
Just for a change it was muddy, windy and far from ideal conditions, but it's the same for everyone, so no point moaning (well, not too much...).
Wind was left to right and I felt about 8m was the limit I could sensibly fish, so no longer than that set up, a lead rod to fish bread and a maggot feeder rod.
I am not going to say to much on this blog, really struggled, had 49lb on my clicker at the end and weighed 49.08, so the best bit of the day was my clicking....
I had tried the bread, maggot feeder and switched to a small pellet feeder - never had a bite on any of them, not even a liner, which makes me think there weren't too many fish there, not sure what else I could have done, frustrating when that happens, but sometimes I just think the head of fish aren't in front of you.
The fish I caught were all at 8m on maggot, except one lonesome fish in the LH margin (which meant fishing over a small point to my left.
A day to forget, I can't say I learnt a lot or really had any idea how I could change things next time and I only beat two on the toplake.
Onwards and upwards...
Just for a change it was muddy, windy and far from ideal conditions, but it's the same for everyone, so no point moaning (well, not too much...).
Wind was left to right and I felt about 8m was the limit I could sensibly fish, so no longer than that set up, a lead rod to fish bread and a maggot feeder rod.
I am not going to say to much on this blog, really struggled, had 49lb on my clicker at the end and weighed 49.08, so the best bit of the day was my clicking....
I had tried the bread, maggot feeder and switched to a small pellet feeder - never had a bite on any of them, not even a liner, which makes me think there weren't too many fish there, not sure what else I could have done, frustrating when that happens, but sometimes I just think the head of fish aren't in front of you.
The fish I caught were all at 8m on maggot, except one lonesome fish in the LH margin (which meant fishing over a small point to my left.
A day to forget, I can't say I learnt a lot or really had any idea how I could change things next time and I only beat two on the toplake.
Onwards and upwards...
Sunday, 26 January 2020
Todber Manor Winter League R2, Sunday 26th January 2020
My turn for Homeground, apparently the peg to draw is 90, so no need to put my kit anywhere near that....
The draw put me on 86, there are two sections on the lake and I was told that 86 was the best peg in the worst section, so even though it was dire in there yesterday and team mate Mark Poppleton had one carp from 85, I was hopeful that with the wind giving a ripple, it would be better today.
I had waggler rods with me, they stayed in the bag, the wind was straight into me, so I wouldn't be able to feed with a catapult. Two lead rods set up, a bomb and bread and a maggot feeder, three pole rigs, one for 2+2, and two for 14m, one with a band, one without.
On the all-in I started on bomb and bread, gave it a good shot and never had as much as a liner, a quick look on the short pole line after feeding some micros and maggots, one bite one skimmer after an hour of the match had gone.
Time to switch to the maggot feeder, I stayed on this most of the match with a couple of looks on the pole, I had one more skimmer on the short pole and that was it for the pole. First cast on the feeder, it went round, a good fish, had it under the rod tip when it lunged and snapped the 0.16 hooklength - bugger!! Shortly after I had another, smaller this time but safely landed, I then hooked another decent fish and after a nervy tussle landed a fish about 10lb, which was hooked in the tail. I'd normally feel guilty and put it back 😊😊😊, but as I'd lost one I took it as good fortune and put it in the net.
I had another, then a long spell without a bite, I should have changed to a GB feeder or method to try something different, but I must admit I was wet, cold, my fingers weren't working properly and I stayed wrapped in my Gortex and persevered with the maggot feeder, I did get a couple more by chucking along the island and lost another, I felt it wouldn't be enough to beat Mark Wynne on 85, who had 3 or 4 decent bream to go with his carp, his 12lb odd of bream with his carp proved enough by 2oz for the section win, so I took 2nd in section and default section money, as Mark won the silvers. And peg 90 did win the lake as predicted, well done Ben Hagg, you still have to catch them and with the pressure of expectation.....
Cold and wet (on the outside, the Gortex did its job) it was frustrating to lose out by 2oz, probably my fault for not changing things around, but as a team we did end up equal first on points, dropping to second on weight, so not too bad a days work.
The draw put me on 86, there are two sections on the lake and I was told that 86 was the best peg in the worst section, so even though it was dire in there yesterday and team mate Mark Poppleton had one carp from 85, I was hopeful that with the wind giving a ripple, it would be better today.
I had waggler rods with me, they stayed in the bag, the wind was straight into me, so I wouldn't be able to feed with a catapult. Two lead rods set up, a bomb and bread and a maggot feeder, three pole rigs, one for 2+2, and two for 14m, one with a band, one without.
On the all-in I started on bomb and bread, gave it a good shot and never had as much as a liner, a quick look on the short pole line after feeding some micros and maggots, one bite one skimmer after an hour of the match had gone.
Time to switch to the maggot feeder, I stayed on this most of the match with a couple of looks on the pole, I had one more skimmer on the short pole and that was it for the pole. First cast on the feeder, it went round, a good fish, had it under the rod tip when it lunged and snapped the 0.16 hooklength - bugger!! Shortly after I had another, smaller this time but safely landed, I then hooked another decent fish and after a nervy tussle landed a fish about 10lb, which was hooked in the tail. I'd normally feel guilty and put it back 😊😊😊, but as I'd lost one I took it as good fortune and put it in the net.
I had another, then a long spell without a bite, I should have changed to a GB feeder or method to try something different, but I must admit I was wet, cold, my fingers weren't working properly and I stayed wrapped in my Gortex and persevered with the maggot feeder, I did get a couple more by chucking along the island and lost another, I felt it wouldn't be enough to beat Mark Wynne on 85, who had 3 or 4 decent bream to go with his carp, his 12lb odd of bream with his carp proved enough by 2oz for the section win, so I took 2nd in section and default section money, as Mark won the silvers. And peg 90 did win the lake as predicted, well done Ben Hagg, you still have to catch them and with the pressure of expectation.....
Cold and wet (on the outside, the Gortex did its job) it was frustrating to lose out by 2oz, probably my fault for not changing things around, but as a team we did end up equal first on points, dropping to second on weight, so not too bad a days work.
Monday, 16 December 2019
Todber Manor Xmas Match, Saturday 14th December 2019
A rare Saturday off for Tony, so travelled down with him, paid up the optional pool and after a bit of social chat and some banter it was down to the serious business of drawing, with 86 fishing, it was going to important to draw well.
Tony had 58 on Hill View, whilst I plucked 8 on Whitepost Top Lake for myself, so had to take Tony's van up there after he got his kit out, a new one for me, I have never fished White post before, so wasn't quite sure what to expect.Once everyone was in off the road, I made my (short walk) way to peg 8.
The wind was blowing straight down the lake right to left, so it was likely to be a short chuck with a lead/feeder to the far side, I set up two lead rods, one with a bomb on, for bread and the other was a maggot feeder. A 0.18 hooklength with a 14 QM1 on the bread rod and a 0.16 with a 16 LWG on the maggot feeder rig.
I did consider not setting up a pole because of the wind, but did settle on just getting a margin pole out and setting that up at its full length, one rig would do, a 4x14 on 0.16 with a 0.14 hooklength and a 20 Kaizen hook. Just before the start the sky went very grey and we were subjected to a tempest, I had Steve Denmead on peg 7 next door and the wind blew his flat roller over and smashed his No6 section, this led him to look up the price of a new one and gave myself and Dave Bruton on peg 9 some fodder to wind Steve up, all in good fun and we had some good banter during the match.
I started on bread and had an almost instant bite, which I then lost, so probably a fouler. Landed 3 and lost a couple more in the first hour, it looked pretty slow for most. I switched to the maggot feeder after an look on the pole, this brought fish at intervals through the match, including 4/5 F1's that I clicked at 2lb, but they were probably over 3lb with hindsight.
I tried the pole line a couple more times during that spell, but nothing doing, until I saw Steve hook a carp on the pole with about 40 minutes to go, the wind was dropping and I soon hooked one after looking in over the micro/maggot feed, a decent fish just over double figures and then another around 4lb, the wind had died off and I could see the odd bubble and indication that there were fish feeding. A few others also had fish on the pole in the last 30 minutes - time of day or that wind dropping, not sure but it was a welcome change from struggling for bites.
Jack Stamp had been catching steadily on the end peg and the end but one peg had also had a few and thats how the lake panned out, Jack winning the lake from 12, with 95.00, peg 11 had 82 somthing and my clicked 55lb was somewhat more, how much more than 55lb I'll never know as the scales bottom out at 66lb and that's the net limit. That was enough for 3rd on the lake, a decnt prize and some pools money.
A enjoyable match, not quite sure how I got the net weight so wrong, just underestimated the fish I guess, still it didn't cost me, as it wasn't 95lb and certainly not enough to trouble winner Gary O'Shea from the bottom lake at Whitepost, which threw up 3 ton+ weights.
Awesome weights for that many anglers fishing in December, looking forward to the winter league on there now.
Tony had 58 on Hill View, whilst I plucked 8 on Whitepost Top Lake for myself, so had to take Tony's van up there after he got his kit out, a new one for me, I have never fished White post before, so wasn't quite sure what to expect.Once everyone was in off the road, I made my (short walk) way to peg 8.
The wind was blowing straight down the lake right to left, so it was likely to be a short chuck with a lead/feeder to the far side, I set up two lead rods, one with a bomb on, for bread and the other was a maggot feeder. A 0.18 hooklength with a 14 QM1 on the bread rod and a 0.16 with a 16 LWG on the maggot feeder rig.
I did consider not setting up a pole because of the wind, but did settle on just getting a margin pole out and setting that up at its full length, one rig would do, a 4x14 on 0.16 with a 0.14 hooklength and a 20 Kaizen hook. Just before the start the sky went very grey and we were subjected to a tempest, I had Steve Denmead on peg 7 next door and the wind blew his flat roller over and smashed his No6 section, this led him to look up the price of a new one and gave myself and Dave Bruton on peg 9 some fodder to wind Steve up, all in good fun and we had some good banter during the match.
I started on bread and had an almost instant bite, which I then lost, so probably a fouler. Landed 3 and lost a couple more in the first hour, it looked pretty slow for most. I switched to the maggot feeder after an look on the pole, this brought fish at intervals through the match, including 4/5 F1's that I clicked at 2lb, but they were probably over 3lb with hindsight.
I tried the pole line a couple more times during that spell, but nothing doing, until I saw Steve hook a carp on the pole with about 40 minutes to go, the wind was dropping and I soon hooked one after looking in over the micro/maggot feed, a decent fish just over double figures and then another around 4lb, the wind had died off and I could see the odd bubble and indication that there were fish feeding. A few others also had fish on the pole in the last 30 minutes - time of day or that wind dropping, not sure but it was a welcome change from struggling for bites.
Jack Stamp had been catching steadily on the end peg and the end but one peg had also had a few and thats how the lake panned out, Jack winning the lake from 12, with 95.00, peg 11 had 82 somthing and my clicked 55lb was somewhat more, how much more than 55lb I'll never know as the scales bottom out at 66lb and that's the net limit. That was enough for 3rd on the lake, a decnt prize and some pools money.
A enjoyable match, not quite sure how I got the net weight so wrong, just underestimated the fish I guess, still it didn't cost me, as it wasn't 95lb and certainly not enough to trouble winner Gary O'Shea from the bottom lake at Whitepost, which threw up 3 ton+ weights.
Awesome weights for that many anglers fishing in December, looking forward to the winter league on there now.
Wednesday, 11 December 2019
Tony's Open, Todber Manor, Sunday 8th December 2019
Well, this will be short and sweet. Tony booked Todber to run an open and given the results from the venue lately, I was looking forward to it. Travelled down with Tony, via the Riverside Cafe, not too bad a breakfast, the day did go downhill from there...
Into the draw bag and 19 came out, it then turns out it was 61. Didn't mean much to me, on arrival at the peg, it looked OK, a bit of room to the right and a island chuck.
I started on a method to the island, that was slow, a couple of fish in the first half hour, a switch to the pole feeding maggots was not much better and I had two fish on that. I could see Bela two pegs to my left, chucking a bomb and bred into open water and getting a fish a chuck, Trigger between us was catching and those to the left of Bela were also catching.
The pole line was so dire, I decided to have the rest of the match fishing the method, to try and make it work, try a few tweaks and learn something. Then a freak storm, with torrential rain and high winds swept through the fishery, I got off my box and put my pole away, seeing some others losing net bags and various other gear into the lake.
I stuck out the method until 30 minutes from the end and then packed up tipping back about 30lb, Tony fared no better, also packing up before the end and not weighing - I can't recall him doing that before!
Well done to Bela, fished the bomb and bread start to finish and won with 160lb+
Xmas match at Todber up next - just hope the draw bag is kind.
Into the draw bag and 19 came out, it then turns out it was 61. Didn't mean much to me, on arrival at the peg, it looked OK, a bit of room to the right and a island chuck.
I started on a method to the island, that was slow, a couple of fish in the first half hour, a switch to the pole feeding maggots was not much better and I had two fish on that. I could see Bela two pegs to my left, chucking a bomb and bred into open water and getting a fish a chuck, Trigger between us was catching and those to the left of Bela were also catching.
The pole line was so dire, I decided to have the rest of the match fishing the method, to try and make it work, try a few tweaks and learn something. Then a freak storm, with torrential rain and high winds swept through the fishery, I got off my box and put my pole away, seeing some others losing net bags and various other gear into the lake.
I stuck out the method until 30 minutes from the end and then packed up tipping back about 30lb, Tony fared no better, also packing up before the end and not weighing - I can't recall him doing that before!
Well done to Bela, fished the bomb and bread start to finish and won with 160lb+
Xmas match at Todber up next - just hope the draw bag is kind.
Monday, 12 August 2019
Tony Rixons Short Pole Series, Todber Manor, Sunday 11th August 2019
Guested as a stand-in for the final round of Tony's popular short pole series, the round being on Hillview lake, at Todber. No stress involved in driving down, fastest I have done it so far, bang on an hour.
Fair bit of time to kill before the start, so a look round the well stocked shop, a bit of socialising and the usual discussion of who wanted to draw where - I wasn't too fussed, as I don't know it that well, so when 52 showed itself on the drawcard, I was indifferent.
Being as it's a short pole series, (topkit +3) a nice simple approach, a rig to fish hard pellet at 2+2, this was a homemade diamond 0.5g, with as it was windy and a strong tow back against the wind. A 4x16 Roob to fish meat at 2+1 1 and a rig to fish down the edge.
Started on 6mm plain feed pellets and was soon into fish 2-3lb, but this didn't last long, after about 20 minutes the bites dried up, I decided to come short on meat and this was steady, but not hectic and I stayed on this until the midway point, when I thought I had 120lb, I then fed the LH edge with GB and it didn't take long for the fish to rock up, I dropped in the edge, but wasted 10 minutes not catching anything, I think it was too soon and they weren't settled.
Back on to the meat line, by now I had switched to feeding 50/50 8mm meat and 8mm Burts Polony Pellets, this saw me have a good 90 minutes and I had to go back to the van to get a couple more nets. I had been feeding the RH edge with pellets and there was no sign of fish, the LH edge where I fed GB and maggots was full of fish and I switched to it, I had a good run of bigger fish, up to 10lb on worms, but the last 15 minutes I kept at it too long, I should have had a look back on the 2+1 meat line, as I only put one fish in the net and that was the smallest from the edge.
Disappointed when the all out was called, this was an enjoyable days fishing, which flew by, I was admitting to 240lb, so when the scales came round and my nets added up to 258lb, I couldn't really be disappointed, but I was, as I was 30lb from winning it, as Martin Rayet had 288lb, the peg was probably worth that and more, but I was a bit rusty on catching that much. So third on the day and could have done better.
Special mention to Fred on peg 51, Clint Wojtyla's young lad, Clint coached him through, but he was told to go away and leave Fred alone at one point, Fred has weighed 153lb an awesome weight for a youngster and I was impressed with his concentration and perseverance.
Next up, Makins on Wednesday for the Rail Sport National.
Fair bit of time to kill before the start, so a look round the well stocked shop, a bit of socialising and the usual discussion of who wanted to draw where - I wasn't too fussed, as I don't know it that well, so when 52 showed itself on the drawcard, I was indifferent.
Being as it's a short pole series, (topkit +3) a nice simple approach, a rig to fish hard pellet at 2+2, this was a homemade diamond 0.5g, with as it was windy and a strong tow back against the wind. A 4x16 Roob to fish meat at 2+1 1 and a rig to fish down the edge.
Started on 6mm plain feed pellets and was soon into fish 2-3lb, but this didn't last long, after about 20 minutes the bites dried up, I decided to come short on meat and this was steady, but not hectic and I stayed on this until the midway point, when I thought I had 120lb, I then fed the LH edge with GB and it didn't take long for the fish to rock up, I dropped in the edge, but wasted 10 minutes not catching anything, I think it was too soon and they weren't settled.
Back on to the meat line, by now I had switched to feeding 50/50 8mm meat and 8mm Burts Polony Pellets, this saw me have a good 90 minutes and I had to go back to the van to get a couple more nets. I had been feeding the RH edge with pellets and there was no sign of fish, the LH edge where I fed GB and maggots was full of fish and I switched to it, I had a good run of bigger fish, up to 10lb on worms, but the last 15 minutes I kept at it too long, I should have had a look back on the 2+1 meat line, as I only put one fish in the net and that was the smallest from the edge.
Disappointed when the all out was called, this was an enjoyable days fishing, which flew by, I was admitting to 240lb, so when the scales came round and my nets added up to 258lb, I couldn't really be disappointed, but I was, as I was 30lb from winning it, as Martin Rayet had 288lb, the peg was probably worth that and more, but I was a bit rusty on catching that much. So third on the day and could have done better.
Special mention to Fred on peg 51, Clint Wojtyla's young lad, Clint coached him through, but he was told to go away and leave Fred alone at one point, Fred has weighed 153lb an awesome weight for a youngster and I was impressed with his concentration and perseverance.
Next up, Makins on Wednesday for the Rail Sport National.
Saturday, 6 July 2019
Tony Rixon's Float Only, Todber Manor, Sunday 30th June 2019
There was a lot of anglers who were really looking forward to this one, myself I haven't fished it since the beginning of January, so no up to date info on it.
I drew peg 87 on Homeground, meant nothing to me, but had a lovely looking island chuck with a waggler, so shallow and depth rods were the first bit of kit set up. Then trying to keep it simple, a shallow rig, a banded pellet rig for on the deck - I had planned to fish this at 11m, but that soon changed! A rig for meat short and a margin rig, although I didn't expect that to work, given the pegging is quite tight.
On the all-in I went out to 11m and saw that Martin Ryatt on 86 was straight onto 2+2 and those to his right were also starting short, as they were catching from the off I dropped back in on that line and with 8mm Burts polony pellet om the hook I had a decent first hour putting just over 50lb in the net. That was on a par, if not ahead of the others on the bank, but then it slowed up and I tried the waggler, going long again and soon started losing ground to those who stuck it out on the short line.
The wind was strong enough to completely ruin the waggler fishing and I did start to lose my way, at one point I was looking at anglers with a 2" lash fishing short catching hungry carp and I was questioning why I was there, is that really fishing? I am not saying it shouldn't be like that for those that want to do it and there is no doubt that there is ability and skill involved in amassing the weights that were seen on the day, but I just wasn't enjoying it and really had no competitive spirit left.
I did start to catch some better fish towards the end on meat, but knew I was a long way behind those to my right and Neil in the corner who was getting one a bung, after a slow start. Wwll to him on the win.
I must be either alone, or in a tiny minority that weren't raving and praising the fishery after the match on social media, I can say the fishery is well maintained, a great shop onsite, its welcoming and is very accessible with parking behind many of the pegs, but I just don't think its for me, I was looking somewhat jealously at the posts on social media from the guys who had been fishing the Superleague on the Huntspill.
Time to take stock and maybe have a change of direction, weigh sheets below, the weights are quite unbelievable.
I drew peg 87 on Homeground, meant nothing to me, but had a lovely looking island chuck with a waggler, so shallow and depth rods were the first bit of kit set up. Then trying to keep it simple, a shallow rig, a banded pellet rig for on the deck - I had planned to fish this at 11m, but that soon changed! A rig for meat short and a margin rig, although I didn't expect that to work, given the pegging is quite tight.
On the all-in I went out to 11m and saw that Martin Ryatt on 86 was straight onto 2+2 and those to his right were also starting short, as they were catching from the off I dropped back in on that line and with 8mm Burts polony pellet om the hook I had a decent first hour putting just over 50lb in the net. That was on a par, if not ahead of the others on the bank, but then it slowed up and I tried the waggler, going long again and soon started losing ground to those who stuck it out on the short line.
The wind was strong enough to completely ruin the waggler fishing and I did start to lose my way, at one point I was looking at anglers with a 2" lash fishing short catching hungry carp and I was questioning why I was there, is that really fishing? I am not saying it shouldn't be like that for those that want to do it and there is no doubt that there is ability and skill involved in amassing the weights that were seen on the day, but I just wasn't enjoying it and really had no competitive spirit left.
I did start to catch some better fish towards the end on meat, but knew I was a long way behind those to my right and Neil in the corner who was getting one a bung, after a slow start. Wwll to him on the win.
I must be either alone, or in a tiny minority that weren't raving and praising the fishery after the match on social media, I can say the fishery is well maintained, a great shop onsite, its welcoming and is very accessible with parking behind many of the pegs, but I just don't think its for me, I was looking somewhat jealously at the posts on social media from the guys who had been fishing the Superleague on the Huntspill.
Time to take stock and maybe have a change of direction, weigh sheets below, the weights are quite unbelievable.
Monday, 14 January 2019
Todber Manor Silvers, Saturday 5th January 2019
First match of 2019, 35 fishing this silvers match, I was hopeful of a decent draw, but I managed to pluck out 62 on Ash, end peg and apparently the shallowest peg on the lake, it was also the only one with a covering of cat ice before the start.
Plumbing up I could see that it may not be the ideal silvers peg in the cold weather, from about 10m out the peg shallows up, it also shallows up towards the end bank as you go to the left, so to get in the deepest water, I would have to fish 10m at the most, I did set up a rig to fish in the shallower water at 14m, but was doubtful it was right on the day.
I also set up a waggler, but that was pretty fruitless, there didn't seem to be any fish sat across the peg in the shallower water.
Not going to waffle on too long, it was a struggle, weighed 8lb odd, beating Dave Stockton to my right who had 6lb, at the end Nick Chedzoy said "I don't know why you bother to come and draw pegs like that".... I'm beginning to wonder myself if its worth the effort, time and cost!
Plumbing up I could see that it may not be the ideal silvers peg in the cold weather, from about 10m out the peg shallows up, it also shallows up towards the end bank as you go to the left, so to get in the deepest water, I would have to fish 10m at the most, I did set up a rig to fish in the shallower water at 14m, but was doubtful it was right on the day.
I also set up a waggler, but that was pretty fruitless, there didn't seem to be any fish sat across the peg in the shallower water.
Not going to waffle on too long, it was a struggle, weighed 8lb odd, beating Dave Stockton to my right who had 6lb, at the end Nick Chedzoy said "I don't know why you bother to come and draw pegs like that".... I'm beginning to wonder myself if its worth the effort, time and cost!
Sunday, 4 November 2018
Monday, 8 October 2018
Todber Manor Pairs Round 1, Saturday 6th October 2018
A bit of a late entry into this one for me, partnering Jon Howell. Had I known what the day would turn into I might not have bothered!!!
A really frustrating drive down, why, oh why do all Nissan Micra owners drive at 25 in 30 limits, 33 in 40 limits, 38 in 50 limits and have no concept of the national speed limit sign..... Other annoying small cars also fall into this trait.
Into the drawtub and out comes 55, not a peg I'd run to and most others would say the same, in a pole only match it wouldn't be too bad, but it is hemmed in by 54 and 49, so if the fish don't rock up down the edge or short, you can't go looking for them too far out.
The rain was coming in at an angle on the cold NW wind (which was forecast to get worse), an umbrella was unlikely to protect me, that was if it would even stay in one piece. I left as much kit in the van as possible, which included the waggler rods, I did set up a straight lead and a method, to fish short, in light of the forecast. As it was I decided that my Multi Margin would be more than long enough for the distance I could fish out, with the wind pushing hard enough to limit to 2 or 3 sections at most.
Rigs would be simple, a pellet rig for 2+2 at the bottom of the shelf, one at similar depth for off to the right for meat and another for about 4' off the bank , into a couple of feet of water. On the all in I started on the pellet rig and was catching on 6mm banded pellet feeding 4mm pellets, not at an amazing rate but after half an hour or so, I thought I was on target for 20lb an hour, I thought that with a good last hour or so would be decent points.
The fish were all in great condition, but small, 2lb average I'd say and after the first hour the wheels came off and trundled away...…. The bites really slowed down and I tried slightly further out, but the wind was making that a fairly pointless exercise. I went out 20 turns on the bomb and pellet where I'd been feeding, but not so much as a liner, a switch to the method brought brief hope, as I had bites and 3 fish landed in 4 casts, then nothing.
The edges were very slow, just an odd bite on meat, but the fish were of no better stamp. By now I was cold, very cold, I was involuntarily shaking, not just shivering, but shaking, if it had been an open I would packed up and gone home. I reckon I had put my 20lb target weight in the net in the first hour and by 3pm (4 1/2 hours in) I had clicked 46lb, so way off target.
The last part of the match I spent back on the 2+2 line fishing pellet and the rate did climb during the last hour, but still no quality fish, I reckon the biggest I had was not much over 3lb, whereas there were fish over 19lb caught. The net I had clicked at 46lb went 55lb, difficult to judge these smaller fish as they are a variety of shapes. The net started with an hour and a half to go went 31lb, so bang on target, but nowhere near enough to compete in the section, not sure what I could have dome different, staying home in the warm would have been the best option!!
Well done to everyone for staying and weighing in, in what were the worst conditions I think any off us had fished in, in October.
Poor start for me and also my partner, so a lot to do to pull this back to a respectable result.
A really frustrating drive down, why, oh why do all Nissan Micra owners drive at 25 in 30 limits, 33 in 40 limits, 38 in 50 limits and have no concept of the national speed limit sign..... Other annoying small cars also fall into this trait.
Into the drawtub and out comes 55, not a peg I'd run to and most others would say the same, in a pole only match it wouldn't be too bad, but it is hemmed in by 54 and 49, so if the fish don't rock up down the edge or short, you can't go looking for them too far out.
The rain was coming in at an angle on the cold NW wind (which was forecast to get worse), an umbrella was unlikely to protect me, that was if it would even stay in one piece. I left as much kit in the van as possible, which included the waggler rods, I did set up a straight lead and a method, to fish short, in light of the forecast. As it was I decided that my Multi Margin would be more than long enough for the distance I could fish out, with the wind pushing hard enough to limit to 2 or 3 sections at most.
Rigs would be simple, a pellet rig for 2+2 at the bottom of the shelf, one at similar depth for off to the right for meat and another for about 4' off the bank , into a couple of feet of water. On the all in I started on the pellet rig and was catching on 6mm banded pellet feeding 4mm pellets, not at an amazing rate but after half an hour or so, I thought I was on target for 20lb an hour, I thought that with a good last hour or so would be decent points.
The fish were all in great condition, but small, 2lb average I'd say and after the first hour the wheels came off and trundled away...…. The bites really slowed down and I tried slightly further out, but the wind was making that a fairly pointless exercise. I went out 20 turns on the bomb and pellet where I'd been feeding, but not so much as a liner, a switch to the method brought brief hope, as I had bites and 3 fish landed in 4 casts, then nothing.
The edges were very slow, just an odd bite on meat, but the fish were of no better stamp. By now I was cold, very cold, I was involuntarily shaking, not just shivering, but shaking, if it had been an open I would packed up and gone home. I reckon I had put my 20lb target weight in the net in the first hour and by 3pm (4 1/2 hours in) I had clicked 46lb, so way off target.
The last part of the match I spent back on the 2+2 line fishing pellet and the rate did climb during the last hour, but still no quality fish, I reckon the biggest I had was not much over 3lb, whereas there were fish over 19lb caught. The net I had clicked at 46lb went 55lb, difficult to judge these smaller fish as they are a variety of shapes. The net started with an hour and a half to go went 31lb, so bang on target, but nowhere near enough to compete in the section, not sure what I could have dome different, staying home in the warm would have been the best option!!
Well done to everyone for staying and weighing in, in what were the worst conditions I think any off us had fished in, in October.
Poor start for me and also my partner, so a lot to do to pull this back to a respectable result.
Tuesday, 17 October 2017
Todber Manor Open Saturday 16th September 2017
Just a short blog on this match, drew 41 on Hillview, it has an island chuck, with 40 & 43 not in the edges looked inviting as well, so fingers crossed. A couple of the locals suggested starting to the island and I did just that, it was pretty much a non starter, so I switched to a 13m line on the pole with hard pellet, this proved to be the only line I could catch from, a short line didn't work until the last 30 minutes, the edges were barren (not a single bite). I persevered hoping a few better fish would show up, but the 1lb stockies and tiny tench seemed to be the only residents of the peg, until the last 30 minutes when I had my biggest fish of the day, a 3lb tench on meat short. I weighed 55lb for nowhere and the lack of any quality was what did for me.
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