I was looking forward to getting back down to Viaduct and for company in the van I had Mike Walker, the journey seems to go a bit quicker with someone to talk to. In stark contrast to yesterdays lowly turnout, there were 41 fishing today, which meant there weren't too many gaps in the pegging on either Campbell or Cary. I got in near the start of the draw, with Mike in front of me, he pulled 119, maybe the wrong day for this peg, as what wind and ripple there was, was coming off the river banks of the lakes. I was in for a munter hunter day, drawing 98.
When I got to the peg I was pleased to see the wind pushing into it and signs of fish at 6m, as well as further out. Today was going to be a simple approach bait wise, 8mm pellet and paste, although I did set up a depth waggler, a shallow waggler, as well as two lead rods and three top kits, which held a simple paste rig on 0.18 with a 10 B911 XS for 7m, a shallow/slapping rig with a NG Ghandi and a depth pellet rig, which was on 0.18, with an 0.18 hooklength.
At the start I fed the paste line at 7m and then shipped out the depth rig to 14m, feeding 8mm pellets by catapult resulted in a few swirls, so I quickly swapped to the shallow rig and soon had a double in the net. I then foul hooked one on the shallow rig, which tore off and snapped (or cut through?) the elastic at the connector, frustrating as I spent a day last week cleaning all the pole sections, checking and renewing elastics, so there was no wear or obvious reason for it to snap.
In the time it took me to get another top kit and put a new rig on, the ripple that had been aiding me at 14m had gone, along with it the fish, so I swapped to the pellet waggler at about 30yds where there was still a ripple, feeding 8mm pellets here had the water erupting with fizz and the odd swirling fish and I had a couple, before the ripple subsided here and it was a lot of feeding and casting to get the odd bite, but it was worth the wait, as they were all except one, doubles. At one stage the wind became awkward and I thought I'd be clever and set up a zig rig, with a pellet (and I tried a piece of pepperami) popped up to 6" below the surface, this resulted in one foul hooked skimmer and a foul hoked carp that was lost, so up the bank with that, so much for trying something different.
I could see that peg 76 was catching well, as the ripple had stayed on that end of the lake all day, where as with pegs 99 and 97 also now fishing the pellet waggler, the fish were becoming very wary of a hookbait. I had several looks over the paste line and even though it was fizzing well, I had no bites, so back on the pellet wag. I was trying a new (to me) way of attaching the float and I was pleased with the result, I had two small tangles in 4 hours of thrashing the water, one of which, I saw that the reel line had a little mark on it, but ignored it, next fish hooked, snapped the reel line - doh... for the sake of two minutes to remake the set up and take out the damage, self inflicted numptyness.
With an hour to go the pellet waggler line had died, so a swap to the 7m paste line and this saw a fish netted first put in, with 3 more following in the final hour, giving me either 10 or 11 fish for 123.08, which was third on the lake and 8th overall, one out of the money..... just my luck. Travelling partner Mike, had 97.03 from 119, having a bit of a torrid time with the bush and fish going in there.....
I hadn't realised that Nick Ewers had been poorly and undergone a heart bypass, today was his first time back in a match and he looks well, one of anglings nice guys, I hope the recovery is quick and complete Nick. A good return as well, winning the silvers, beating venue owner Steve Long off the next peg.
1: R Wright 265.06 peg 76
2: Chris Kitchen 222.09 peg 105
3: Lee Werritt 205.10 peg 115
4: Tom Mangnall 172.13 peg 116
5: Jimmy Brooks 160.04 peg 111
6: Steve Openshaw 151.13 peg 132
7: Dan White 136.04 peg 121
8: Chris Fox 123.08 peg 98
Silvers
1: Nick Ewers 42.08 peg 87
2: Ziggy 38.06 peg 126
3: Steve Long 34.08 peg 88
Friday, 25 July 2014
Avon Angling Open, Landsend, Wednesday 23rd July 2014
Only 9 fishing today, so at least I couldn't draw lake 3. 21 was my home for the day and there were half a dozen cruisers on the surface when I arrived. Simple approach, pellet and paste, I didn't push a pole over and plumb up the far side, so as not to disturb the cruisers, likewise I didn't put my nets in. All to no avail as the cruisers disappeared instantly I pushed the pole past 10m, the bright sun obviously aiding their visibility.
The match was a struggle, I had expected to catch from the island and this just didn't happen, the full depth rig at the bottom of the far shelf was equally as non productive, so I chopped up some meat and started a meat line, this produced one skimmer and one carp, I could hear plenty of splashing from the far side and could see Tony Rixon regularly netting fish. So after 2 1/2 hours I had a walk round the lake and it was fairly obvious the north bank was fishing much better than the south bank.
Back to my peg and I had two fish in two put ins from the island and that was it, nothing else from there all day, unless you count a 2oz roach on pellet. I persisted with a short paste line and had 4 or 5 skimmers and a couple more carp from it, putting 54.14 on the scales, which was a poor weight, but the top 3 and the top silver weight all came from the north bank, so maybe it was just one of those days.
1: Tony Rixon 163.12 peg 8
2: Andy Hembrow 119.05 peg 11
3: Steve Seager 102.15 peg 2
4: Paul Attwood, 77.8 peg 19
5: Phil Harding 68.08 peg 24
6: Chris Fox 54.14 peg 21
Silvers:
Martin Alexander 34.08 peg 5
The match was a struggle, I had expected to catch from the island and this just didn't happen, the full depth rig at the bottom of the far shelf was equally as non productive, so I chopped up some meat and started a meat line, this produced one skimmer and one carp, I could hear plenty of splashing from the far side and could see Tony Rixon regularly netting fish. So after 2 1/2 hours I had a walk round the lake and it was fairly obvious the north bank was fishing much better than the south bank.
Back to my peg and I had two fish in two put ins from the island and that was it, nothing else from there all day, unless you count a 2oz roach on pellet. I persisted with a short paste line and had 4 or 5 skimmers and a couple more carp from it, putting 54.14 on the scales, which was a poor weight, but the top 3 and the top silver weight all came from the north bank, so maybe it was just one of those days.
1: Tony Rixon 163.12 peg 8
2: Andy Hembrow 119.05 peg 11
3: Steve Seager 102.15 peg 2
4: Paul Attwood, 77.8 peg 19
5: Phil Harding 68.08 peg 24
6: Chris Fox 54.14 peg 21
Silvers:
Martin Alexander 34.08 peg 5
Monday, 21 July 2014
Sort Pole Series, Second Round, Trinty Waters, Woodland Lake. Sunday 20th July 2014
After a weeks enforced break, I was keen to get back out on the bank and hopefully put what has been a dreadful run, behind me. It was nice after a couple of weeks of solid work and driving to Worcester and back every day, to get a lift from Tony Rixon, with the usual stop off at Shipham for breakfast.
A new slim line Misha greeted us with her usual cheery demeanor, it is good to see Woodland open again and seemingly very little damage done to it by the recent KHV outbreak, John stopped by for a chat and told me of his plans for a new lake, he certainly doesn't seem to have any plans to retire and put his feet up.
I wasn't to bothered where I drew, with a couple of exceptions, I really don't get on with the pegs on the top bank, I would prefer a peg on the back bank, but either side or bottom end would be OK. I pulled peg 29 out, which is approximately in the middle of the car park bank, just over the bridge.
A fairly simple attack today, 8mm pellet and paste, four rigs, a MW pinger for banded pellet at full depth and a paste rig for the same line, and two AK47 margin floats rigged up for either margin, one with a B960 C/W band and the other on 0.20 straight through to a 10 B911XS. I was ready with half an hour to spare and wandered up to see Tony fishing the margin of Ash lake behind his peg, he did manage one small crucian before it was time to wander back and put the nets in.
On the all in I fed the 'long line' (which was topkit + 3 sections) with 8mm pellets and some hemp and the margins with pellet. First drop in with a banded 8mm pellet saw a couple of indications and after a couple of lift and drops, the float buried and a 1lb+ skimmer was netted. The first hour was slow going with another skimmer and one carp being the sum total. A switch to paste saw a couple of fish netted, but there was a lot of activity and I fouled a couple of fish which came off. After a couple of hours I had a look in the margin and the float buried first put in, the culprit was a 1lb perch who took a liking to the paste.
The margins on this bank can be really productive as John created some nice flat areas when he lowered this bank, but they are best when you have an empty peg next to you, which as I had Bela one side and Paul Elmes the other, I was fishing them more in hope than expectation. I managed 3 carp and 3 perch from the margin, for what ever reason the carp didn't come in and settle.
Paste on the long line had to be my banker and it seemed that feeding 1/2 a pot then fishing it out was best, trying to introduce a few pellets with the paste was a waste of time. I had two quiet spells of an hour each, where I didn't put a fish in the net, I am sure they had just backed off a bit and obviously given the limitations of the short pole rules, I couldn't follow them out. The two quiet spells and the lack of a late margin run cost me a framing place, but I did pick up the section money by default, so that's 2 second in sections in this series so far, 2 section wins are essential to stand any chance of getting into the overall money at the end.
I ended up with two nets clicked at 53 and 23, along with my silvers, they actually weighed 55 odd and 23 odd so reasonable accurate clicking, just a shame about those two quiet spells, leaving me 3 fish off second place.
1: Shaun Townsend 121.00 peg 9
2: Tony Rixon 106.05 peg 26
3: Paul Elmes 105.06 peg 30
4: Chris Fox 87.08 peg 29
5: Steve Seager 79.03 peg 13
6: Leon Hubbard 73.12 peg 14
Silvers
Clint Wojtyle 18-06-0 peg 11
A new slim line Misha greeted us with her usual cheery demeanor, it is good to see Woodland open again and seemingly very little damage done to it by the recent KHV outbreak, John stopped by for a chat and told me of his plans for a new lake, he certainly doesn't seem to have any plans to retire and put his feet up.
I wasn't to bothered where I drew, with a couple of exceptions, I really don't get on with the pegs on the top bank, I would prefer a peg on the back bank, but either side or bottom end would be OK. I pulled peg 29 out, which is approximately in the middle of the car park bank, just over the bridge.
A fairly simple attack today, 8mm pellet and paste, four rigs, a MW pinger for banded pellet at full depth and a paste rig for the same line, and two AK47 margin floats rigged up for either margin, one with a B960 C/W band and the other on 0.20 straight through to a 10 B911XS. I was ready with half an hour to spare and wandered up to see Tony fishing the margin of Ash lake behind his peg, he did manage one small crucian before it was time to wander back and put the nets in.
On the all in I fed the 'long line' (which was topkit + 3 sections) with 8mm pellets and some hemp and the margins with pellet. First drop in with a banded 8mm pellet saw a couple of indications and after a couple of lift and drops, the float buried and a 1lb+ skimmer was netted. The first hour was slow going with another skimmer and one carp being the sum total. A switch to paste saw a couple of fish netted, but there was a lot of activity and I fouled a couple of fish which came off. After a couple of hours I had a look in the margin and the float buried first put in, the culprit was a 1lb perch who took a liking to the paste.
The margins on this bank can be really productive as John created some nice flat areas when he lowered this bank, but they are best when you have an empty peg next to you, which as I had Bela one side and Paul Elmes the other, I was fishing them more in hope than expectation. I managed 3 carp and 3 perch from the margin, for what ever reason the carp didn't come in and settle.
Paste on the long line had to be my banker and it seemed that feeding 1/2 a pot then fishing it out was best, trying to introduce a few pellets with the paste was a waste of time. I had two quiet spells of an hour each, where I didn't put a fish in the net, I am sure they had just backed off a bit and obviously given the limitations of the short pole rules, I couldn't follow them out. The two quiet spells and the lack of a late margin run cost me a framing place, but I did pick up the section money by default, so that's 2 second in sections in this series so far, 2 section wins are essential to stand any chance of getting into the overall money at the end.
I ended up with two nets clicked at 53 and 23, along with my silvers, they actually weighed 55 odd and 23 odd so reasonable accurate clicking, just a shame about those two quiet spells, leaving me 3 fish off second place.
1: Shaun Townsend 121.00 peg 9
2: Tony Rixon 106.05 peg 26
3: Paul Elmes 105.06 peg 30
4: Chris Fox 87.08 peg 29
5: Steve Seager 79.03 peg 13
6: Leon Hubbard 73.12 peg 14
Silvers
Clint Wojtyle 18-06-0 peg 11
Tuesday, 8 July 2014
Tony Rixon's Float Only, Round Four, Landsend, Sunday 6th July 2014
Back to Landsend for round 4 of the float only series and with three lakes in, I knew that my lot would be to trudge up to lake 3, even though I wanted a draw on Match or Speci lakes, not least, because a league framing place is out of my grasp and the Match or Specimen lake offer a realistic chance of framing in the overall or silvers on the day. (Lake 3 never seems to come up trumps in the frame when I'm on it).
Into the draw bag and with the odds 2-1 against drawing lake 3, I was not in the least surprised to see peg 41 (lake 3) written on the swimcard like a cruel taunt. Peg 41 is an end/corner which has produced decent weights, but in my experience lately, the bigger fish seem to have migrated to the middle of the lake, leaving the ends for the smaller fish that were introduced from lake 4 and Mike's homebred stocking programme.
Well, it was a day on the bank after working a lot lately, so I set about the peg in a positive manner, this lake is a non starter when it comes to competing in the silvers, so my side tray had 6 and 8mm hard pellets on it, along with a bag of paste. I set up a shallow and a depth rig to fish at 14m out to the aerator, where there were some signs of fish, a paste rig to fish the edge (and it would do for anywhere else in the peg, as the margin was 6" shallower than the rest of the peg) and a rig to fish at the bottom of the shelf of the spit, which is like having an island. I also had a couple of pints of dead maggots and groundbait, with me, but the depth of the margin stopped me mixing it up.
Starting shallow at 14m in the open water, my first two fish were a 5oz rudd and a 2oz roach, both on 6mm pellet, before a small carp was safely netted. Mike Duckett appeared with the scales and put them behind my peg, (gee, thanks Mike), he stayed for a chat, telling me about his plans for lake 4 and that pleasure anglers had been catching on paste. Whilst he was there a couple of better fish were cruising about and I mugged one about 5lb, that turned out to be my best fish of the day!! The fish soon backed off to the other side of the rope, where John Bradford on peg 70 was fishing short, giving the shallow fish an area of sanctuary where they sat all day.
Mike Nicholls had walked up before the start and showed me where he had 160lb on paste from, but this short margin only produced 4 fish all day. The most productive area of the swim was tight across to the spit, but it was tricky, as the rig set up to fish at the bottom of the shelf was producing plenty of liners and the odd lost fouler, to one proper bite. I set up a shallow rig to fish between 6" and 12" deep, but it was difficult to get the pellet in where the fish were, as the bank is undercut, so a straight lowering of the rig tight to the bank, (even after a walk round there to clear all vegetation in the way) meant that the pellet wasn't tight to the bank under water. Flicking it into the under cut wasn't effective, the presentation was wrong, as it came away from the bank as it fell.
A frustrating day, I had more fish than those who beat me on the lake, but my fish were an average stamp of 2lb, where as the pegs in the middle of the lake, as true to recent forum, had the bigger fish (double figures). I cannot think of a way to overcome that, but I probably should have worked out a way to improve my catch rate from the spit, as I could see some fish with their noses into the undercut, feeding, but they wouldn't take a pellet 6" out from it. I put 49.15 on the scales, which beat the next two pegs to my left, before the big fish put in an appearance. Match lake and Speci filled the top 4 places and the silvers, matching my prediction, will I ever get off that bloody lake 3???
Weigh sheet from lake 3.
PS. Thanks to Gordon Cannings and John Bradford who took over the scales duties, as I had to get off sharpish and get to Worcester for a nightshift........ looks like it might be 20th July before work commitments see me on the bank again.
Overall:
Into the draw bag and with the odds 2-1 against drawing lake 3, I was not in the least surprised to see peg 41 (lake 3) written on the swimcard like a cruel taunt. Peg 41 is an end/corner which has produced decent weights, but in my experience lately, the bigger fish seem to have migrated to the middle of the lake, leaving the ends for the smaller fish that were introduced from lake 4 and Mike's homebred stocking programme.
Well, it was a day on the bank after working a lot lately, so I set about the peg in a positive manner, this lake is a non starter when it comes to competing in the silvers, so my side tray had 6 and 8mm hard pellets on it, along with a bag of paste. I set up a shallow and a depth rig to fish at 14m out to the aerator, where there were some signs of fish, a paste rig to fish the edge (and it would do for anywhere else in the peg, as the margin was 6" shallower than the rest of the peg) and a rig to fish at the bottom of the shelf of the spit, which is like having an island. I also had a couple of pints of dead maggots and groundbait, with me, but the depth of the margin stopped me mixing it up.
Starting shallow at 14m in the open water, my first two fish were a 5oz rudd and a 2oz roach, both on 6mm pellet, before a small carp was safely netted. Mike Duckett appeared with the scales and put them behind my peg, (gee, thanks Mike), he stayed for a chat, telling me about his plans for lake 4 and that pleasure anglers had been catching on paste. Whilst he was there a couple of better fish were cruising about and I mugged one about 5lb, that turned out to be my best fish of the day!! The fish soon backed off to the other side of the rope, where John Bradford on peg 70 was fishing short, giving the shallow fish an area of sanctuary where they sat all day.
Mike Nicholls had walked up before the start and showed me where he had 160lb on paste from, but this short margin only produced 4 fish all day. The most productive area of the swim was tight across to the spit, but it was tricky, as the rig set up to fish at the bottom of the shelf was producing plenty of liners and the odd lost fouler, to one proper bite. I set up a shallow rig to fish between 6" and 12" deep, but it was difficult to get the pellet in where the fish were, as the bank is undercut, so a straight lowering of the rig tight to the bank, (even after a walk round there to clear all vegetation in the way) meant that the pellet wasn't tight to the bank under water. Flicking it into the under cut wasn't effective, the presentation was wrong, as it came away from the bank as it fell.
A frustrating day, I had more fish than those who beat me on the lake, but my fish were an average stamp of 2lb, where as the pegs in the middle of the lake, as true to recent forum, had the bigger fish (double figures). I cannot think of a way to overcome that, but I probably should have worked out a way to improve my catch rate from the spit, as I could see some fish with their noses into the undercut, feeding, but they wouldn't take a pellet 6" out from it. I put 49.15 on the scales, which beat the next two pegs to my left, before the big fish put in an appearance. Match lake and Speci filled the top 4 places and the silvers, matching my prediction, will I ever get off that bloody lake 3???
Weigh sheet from lake 3.
PS. Thanks to Gordon Cannings and John Bradford who took over the scales duties, as I had to get off sharpish and get to Worcester for a nightshift........ looks like it might be 20th July before work commitments see me on the bank again.
Overall:
- Paul Elmes 155-10-0 peg 27
- Shaun Townsend 131-14-0 peg 9
- Martin Rayett 123-10-0 peg 38
- Tom Mangnall 99-13-0 peg 33
- Bob Gullick 98-07-0 peg 50
- Neil Mercer 95-11-0 peg 36
Top Silvers:
- Paul Faiers 32-0-0 peg 32
- Neil Mercer 30-0-0 peg 36
Monday, 30 June 2014
Tony Rixon's Float Only, Shiplate, Sunday 29th June 2014
I'm beginning to wonder if it's worth carrying on with this blog, it was helping me analyse my matches, but when there is so little of consequence to write about, there is little to be gained from the effort.
The chance of doing well in the league had already gone, so it's just the individual matches to fish for and today, the knockout, where I was up against tough opposition, the man behind the counter in Avon Angling, Tony Rixon.
I got in early and drew peg 10 on the main lake (20 pegs on the main lake and 10 on each canal lake), immediately I was told that the last two matches had been won of it with 200lb - funny how the lake record is 172lb and that didn't come in the last two matches............ Then that Des had done over 200lb on it for a feature, so Des catches a lot of fish pleasure fishing, is that really news??
I have drawn the peg once before and really struggled, its about 18-20m to the island, with a short RH margin. I set up two wagglers, one 12" deep and one at full depth, with two No8's down the line. They were clipped up so that the pellet just kissed the mud on the island when it landed.
Five topkits today, two paste rigs, one for the margin and one for the 6m line. Two pellet rigs, one shallow and one at full depth, finally a margin rig to fish pellet/corn/worm etc.
I started at 17m towards the island and had a skimmer on 8mm banded pellet, that was the extent of the action for over an hour, I could see my knockout opponent, Tony, on peg 8, he was similarly struggling, as were the others pegged at this end of the lake. Tony had a carp, then not too long after I managed one on the full depth waggler, but it was a lone bite.
The short line at 6m only produced two roach all day, both fell to corn, the RH margin had a fish swirling and small fish kept jumping out of the water, but paste was ignored, as was pellet. I tried double dendra and the float buried, a 10oz perch was the culprit and just before the net he spat out a dead roach, so the swirls weren't carp, they were perch chasing fry.
I desperation I got another section from my holdall and was fishing 19m to get tight to the island, which produced two fish and a lost foul hooker, no surprise that Tony landed a foul hooker!! I was totally reliant on the margin coming good, as there was no liners, no fizzing and very few bites. Paste was again a non starter, so back to double dendra and the float buried, this time a bootlace eel. Finally I hooked a carp, this was obviously fouled and it took off like a rocket and snapped 0.20 as it bottomed the elastic out as it rounded the end of the island.
In the last few minutes I landed a carp from the margin on double dendra, this put the total to 4, one behind Tony and three ahead of Paul Elmes and Steve Seager on pegs 8 and 9a respectively. This end of the lake fished extremely hard, compared to the ton weights at the opposite corner, I had about 23lb, which was 8lb short of Tony's weight, so that's the knock out over as well. Shiplate is a lovely looking fishery, the owners are friendly, but it does seem to be very peggy when 40 pegs are put on it.
The chance of doing well in the league had already gone, so it's just the individual matches to fish for and today, the knockout, where I was up against tough opposition, the man behind the counter in Avon Angling, Tony Rixon.
I got in early and drew peg 10 on the main lake (20 pegs on the main lake and 10 on each canal lake), immediately I was told that the last two matches had been won of it with 200lb - funny how the lake record is 172lb and that didn't come in the last two matches............ Then that Des had done over 200lb on it for a feature, so Des catches a lot of fish pleasure fishing, is that really news??
I have drawn the peg once before and really struggled, its about 18-20m to the island, with a short RH margin. I set up two wagglers, one 12" deep and one at full depth, with two No8's down the line. They were clipped up so that the pellet just kissed the mud on the island when it landed.
Five topkits today, two paste rigs, one for the margin and one for the 6m line. Two pellet rigs, one shallow and one at full depth, finally a margin rig to fish pellet/corn/worm etc.
I started at 17m towards the island and had a skimmer on 8mm banded pellet, that was the extent of the action for over an hour, I could see my knockout opponent, Tony, on peg 8, he was similarly struggling, as were the others pegged at this end of the lake. Tony had a carp, then not too long after I managed one on the full depth waggler, but it was a lone bite.
The short line at 6m only produced two roach all day, both fell to corn, the RH margin had a fish swirling and small fish kept jumping out of the water, but paste was ignored, as was pellet. I tried double dendra and the float buried, a 10oz perch was the culprit and just before the net he spat out a dead roach, so the swirls weren't carp, they were perch chasing fry.
I desperation I got another section from my holdall and was fishing 19m to get tight to the island, which produced two fish and a lost foul hooker, no surprise that Tony landed a foul hooker!! I was totally reliant on the margin coming good, as there was no liners, no fizzing and very few bites. Paste was again a non starter, so back to double dendra and the float buried, this time a bootlace eel. Finally I hooked a carp, this was obviously fouled and it took off like a rocket and snapped 0.20 as it bottomed the elastic out as it rounded the end of the island.
In the last few minutes I landed a carp from the margin on double dendra, this put the total to 4, one behind Tony and three ahead of Paul Elmes and Steve Seager on pegs 8 and 9a respectively. This end of the lake fished extremely hard, compared to the ton weights at the opposite corner, I had about 23lb, which was 8lb short of Tony's weight, so that's the knock out over as well. Shiplate is a lovely looking fishery, the owners are friendly, but it does seem to be very peggy when 40 pegs are put on it.
- Tom Mangnall 101-09-0 peg 1 (Maini)
- Glenn Bailey 100-05-0 peg 2 (Main)
- Shaun Townsend 87-09-0 peg 13 (Main)
- Eddy Wynne 74-08-0 peg 15 (Main)
- Tim Ford 71-07-0 peg 6 (Hawthorne)
- Gordon Cannings 63-10-0 peg 15 (Hawthorne)
Monday, 23 June 2014
Clevedon Club Match, Sedges Tile lake, Sunday 22nd June 2014
I had put my name down as a reserve for the Viaduct Summer League, but withdrew after the short pole match, as I seem to be struggling on there lately and I can't put my finger on the reason why, so off for a match with less pressure and a quest to get some of the enjoyment back.
14 fishing this one and the corner pegs were the ones everyone was after, although having only fished the lake once before, I wasn't too bothered where I drew, the conditions were hot, sunny and flat calm, with fish showing themselves all over the lake.
I drew 29 and was then surprised to see 30 not in, when the other 3 corners were, not sure on the thinking behind that one!! I had an island to chuck to, I had open water and the opportunity to fish with rod and line down to the end bank, the tall plants that give the venue its name, were stopping me fishing a margin, as they protrude just too far to fish parallel to the bank, but with so much water to fish, I didn't think it was a problem.
Again today, the meat stayed in the tin and I had pellet and paste on the bait table, along with a few band um's, as I set up a method feeder to fish to the island. 3 rigs were all I set up for the pole, a paste rig on 0.18 with a 12 B911XS, a shallow rig and a full depth rig, both with 16 B960 on 0.16 and a hair rigged bait band. I thought I threw away a dodgy batch of bait bands I had, but some must have snuck into the stock I have at home, as I replaced several hooks, as I did yesterday, with the bands breaking. I also set up a pellet waggler and a straight lead, starting on the pellet wag, as the cruisers were too far out of range for the pole, I 'mugged' three fish in the first hour, by casting at them, two double figure fish and a 3lb fish.
The longer the match went on, the less visible the fish made themselves and the blows all but stopped, so i switched to the method, tight to the island. First put in I hooked a decent fish, but under the rod tip it shed the hook, this happened 6 more times, I only landed one fish on the method, a 'squeaker' which was 1lb if I was lucky. Being a novice method chucker, I have no idea why they came off, but I was using an inline feeder for the first time, my other experiences have been with elasticated feeders and no such issues.
A switch back to the waggler brought one more fish, as did a foray onto the straight lead, but it was hard work for little reward, the full depth pole rig produced one fish, the shallow rig, nothing. My initial look on the paste resulted in tiny roach and skimmers pecking at the bait, with a couple of them being speared. I refed the line with half a pot of pellet and went back on it for the last hour or so, the shit fish had disappeared and I added a couple more double figure fish and a couple of smaller ones to the net. An eel took a liking to the paste, it was around the pound and a half mark, as I put my hand in the net to unhook it, it sprang like a snake and bit me, holding on tight - made me bloody jump - it broke the skin and drew blood, a first for me bitten by an eel. I'm consulting injury lawyers4U, as there were no warning signs, with regard to the dangerous nature of the stock.......
The six fish lost on the method were costly, as I weighed 81.00 for 4th place, the higher weights coming from the car park corner pegs (wind,what little there was, blowing into this bank) and a peg on the opposite bank that had the advantage of some ripple on the surface.
1: Kev Perry 157.12 peg 21
2: Andy Hembrow 118.08 peg 37
3: Lewis walker 82.13 peg 40
4: Chris Fox 81.00 peg 29
5: John Wolstencroft 78.01 peg 22
6: Paul Nicholls 70.06 peg 28
Silvers
1: Ade Baker 17.10 peg 24
2: Mark Broomsgrove 15.12 peg 27
14 fishing this one and the corner pegs were the ones everyone was after, although having only fished the lake once before, I wasn't too bothered where I drew, the conditions were hot, sunny and flat calm, with fish showing themselves all over the lake.
I drew 29 and was then surprised to see 30 not in, when the other 3 corners were, not sure on the thinking behind that one!! I had an island to chuck to, I had open water and the opportunity to fish with rod and line down to the end bank, the tall plants that give the venue its name, were stopping me fishing a margin, as they protrude just too far to fish parallel to the bank, but with so much water to fish, I didn't think it was a problem.
Again today, the meat stayed in the tin and I had pellet and paste on the bait table, along with a few band um's, as I set up a method feeder to fish to the island. 3 rigs were all I set up for the pole, a paste rig on 0.18 with a 12 B911XS, a shallow rig and a full depth rig, both with 16 B960 on 0.16 and a hair rigged bait band. I thought I threw away a dodgy batch of bait bands I had, but some must have snuck into the stock I have at home, as I replaced several hooks, as I did yesterday, with the bands breaking. I also set up a pellet waggler and a straight lead, starting on the pellet wag, as the cruisers were too far out of range for the pole, I 'mugged' three fish in the first hour, by casting at them, two double figure fish and a 3lb fish.
The longer the match went on, the less visible the fish made themselves and the blows all but stopped, so i switched to the method, tight to the island. First put in I hooked a decent fish, but under the rod tip it shed the hook, this happened 6 more times, I only landed one fish on the method, a 'squeaker' which was 1lb if I was lucky. Being a novice method chucker, I have no idea why they came off, but I was using an inline feeder for the first time, my other experiences have been with elasticated feeders and no such issues.
A switch back to the waggler brought one more fish, as did a foray onto the straight lead, but it was hard work for little reward, the full depth pole rig produced one fish, the shallow rig, nothing. My initial look on the paste resulted in tiny roach and skimmers pecking at the bait, with a couple of them being speared. I refed the line with half a pot of pellet and went back on it for the last hour or so, the shit fish had disappeared and I added a couple more double figure fish and a couple of smaller ones to the net. An eel took a liking to the paste, it was around the pound and a half mark, as I put my hand in the net to unhook it, it sprang like a snake and bit me, holding on tight - made me bloody jump - it broke the skin and drew blood, a first for me bitten by an eel. I'm consulting injury lawyers4U, as there were no warning signs, with regard to the dangerous nature of the stock.......
The six fish lost on the method were costly, as I weighed 81.00 for 4th place, the higher weights coming from the car park corner pegs (wind,what little there was, blowing into this bank) and a peg on the opposite bank that had the advantage of some ripple on the surface.
1: Kev Perry 157.12 peg 21
2: Andy Hembrow 118.08 peg 37
3: Lewis walker 82.13 peg 40
4: Chris Fox 81.00 peg 29
5: John Wolstencroft 78.01 peg 22
6: Paul Nicholls 70.06 peg 28
Silvers
1: Ade Baker 17.10 peg 24
2: Mark Broomsgrove 15.12 peg 27
Maver Match This Qualifier, Viaduct, Saturday 21st June 2014
With 120 fishing this and my recent dismal performances on this venue, I knew I would need an exceptional draw and get everything right to win this one. I had been trying a bit of reverse psychology, trying to convince myself and anyone who would listen, that I would be sat on Match lake 39. Well this worked, as I drew a corner and I had predicted the winner would come from a corner, sadly it wasn't a corner I fancied. 123, that's the first time I have ever drawn the peg with a prestige silvers pedigree and there was no point in targeting them, as I tended to agree with pre match discussion, that 150lb would be a good weight and might win it.
The way recent matches had gone, I left the meat in the tins and had 8 and 11mm pellet on my side tray, along with a bag of paste, made the way Mike Nicholls kindly told me about on Wednesday. A fairly single minded approach would be needed to qualify, so I set up 4 pole rigs, one for down the margin on 0.20 with a 16 hook on 0.18 line. A paste rig, a depth pellet rig and a shallow pellet rig, both pellet rigs with 0.16 hooklengths and B960 hooks with bait bands. The paste rig was 0.18 straight through to a 12 B911XS and a waggler rod with a short pellet waggler along with a lead rod completed the set up.
The waggler rod didn't produce a bite, I had one fish on the margin rig and the paste rig didn't produce a bite either, so nothing much to say about them. The guy next door on 124 was fishing meat and being pestered by shit fish, they weren't pestering the 8mm pellet, but then neither were the carp.
I spent some time trying to mug the cruisers, but even those that stayed put to have two or three goes at, were totally uninterested in feeding, not even a reaction snap at something dropping right on their nose. I managed to catch a couple on the lead, but it was such a long wait for a bite, I got bored, even though I could see Roy Worth on 121catching on the lead. He seems to have a loose set clutch and when the fish grab the pellet they run off and he picks the rod up, fish on. fair play to him, he weighed 120lb for 3rd.
I managed a dismal 7 fish, one of which looked spawn bound and very poorly, I put it in a separate net, as I didn't think it fair to have the others (even though there weren't many) on top of it when lifting them out.
I didn't weigh in, I guess including my hospital case, I had 35lb and I knew that wouldn't trouble the top couple of weights in he section and so it proved, with 78lb winning the section. 124 DNW'd as well, there didn't seem to be many fish at all in our pegs, as I wasn't getting liners or indications at any point in the match.
Result can be found here:
http://www.mavermatchthis.co.uk/match-results.php
The way recent matches had gone, I left the meat in the tins and had 8 and 11mm pellet on my side tray, along with a bag of paste, made the way Mike Nicholls kindly told me about on Wednesday. A fairly single minded approach would be needed to qualify, so I set up 4 pole rigs, one for down the margin on 0.20 with a 16 hook on 0.18 line. A paste rig, a depth pellet rig and a shallow pellet rig, both pellet rigs with 0.16 hooklengths and B960 hooks with bait bands. The paste rig was 0.18 straight through to a 12 B911XS and a waggler rod with a short pellet waggler along with a lead rod completed the set up.
The waggler rod didn't produce a bite, I had one fish on the margin rig and the paste rig didn't produce a bite either, so nothing much to say about them. The guy next door on 124 was fishing meat and being pestered by shit fish, they weren't pestering the 8mm pellet, but then neither were the carp.
I spent some time trying to mug the cruisers, but even those that stayed put to have two or three goes at, were totally uninterested in feeding, not even a reaction snap at something dropping right on their nose. I managed to catch a couple on the lead, but it was such a long wait for a bite, I got bored, even though I could see Roy Worth on 121catching on the lead. He seems to have a loose set clutch and when the fish grab the pellet they run off and he picks the rod up, fish on. fair play to him, he weighed 120lb for 3rd.
I managed a dismal 7 fish, one of which looked spawn bound and very poorly, I put it in a separate net, as I didn't think it fair to have the others (even though there weren't many) on top of it when lifting them out.
I didn't weigh in, I guess including my hospital case, I had 35lb and I knew that wouldn't trouble the top couple of weights in he section and so it proved, with 78lb winning the section. 124 DNW'd as well, there didn't seem to be many fish at all in our pegs, as I wasn't getting liners or indications at any point in the match.
Result can be found here:
http://www.mavermatchthis.co.uk/match-results.php
Friday, 20 June 2014
Short Pole Match, Viaduct, Campbell. Wednesday 18th June 2014
21 on the lake for this match, so a taster of whats to come on Saturday's Maver Match This, which is a 120 peg sell out. I can't say I was enamoured with the peg that came out of the draw tin, 134. I have seen this peg struggle before when 135 is in, but I was still determined to give it a go and maybe the fish were pushed up into that bank with the wind.
It was nice to see fellow blogger Tim Ford back on the bank, hopefully he is well on the road to recovery now.
A very simple bait tray today, pellets. Meat has not been good for me the last few matches here, so I opted to only have a few cubes for hookers in the margin. I set up 4 rigs, two margin rigs, as I couldn't get tight in down down the LH side due to a large swathe of floating scum, so I plumbed up against this, the RH margin had some scum, but let me get much tighter to the bank. The exception to the pellet bait was for down the margin, I had dead maggot and corn to feed one side and just pellet the other, along with some big dendras for hookbait. As the match progressed the LH margin scum started to grow and was soon 6' or 7' out from the bank. I went along and cleared it out with the landing net, but within 10 minutes, the cleared area was once again covered with the impenetrable layer of scum.
Not that this made any difference, as I managed one 6oz perch from the LH margin and one about an ounce smaller from the RH margin, that was the sum of my bites from the margins, apart from the continual knocking and dinking of the float from shit fish.
I fed one line straight in front, with 6mm pellet and started on a 6mm expander, this produced a missed bite, then next drop in, a 9lb carp. After that the expander was soon abandoned, as the shit fish were ragging it off the hook. A 6mm hard pellet was also being ragged, but persistence with it saw it go under and a 4oz skimmer was the result, this was the story for the next 3 hours, even with 8mm pellet, I tried 11mm pellet and this was being ragged, but the skimmers couldn't get it in their mouths.
After 3 hours I got off my box, had a walk to the shop, bought a drink and contemplated what to do next, as I was getting no liners, no foulers, no indication of any fish in the peg, I could see Glenn Bailey on 131 and Mike Nicholls on 132 getting odd fish on paste, so made some paste up and set up a paste rig, this remained motionless for over an hour, a last look down the margin and with an hour to go, I threw the towel in and packed up neatly and tidily, putting back my one carp and about 5lb of skimmers, before wandering round to sit behind Mike for the last 15 minutes.
I can only hope my bad run a Viaduct comes to an abrupt end on Saturday, it would be nice to draw a peg thats solid in the MMT. I didn't get the result's, they'll be on Tony's blog.
It was nice to see fellow blogger Tim Ford back on the bank, hopefully he is well on the road to recovery now.
A very simple bait tray today, pellets. Meat has not been good for me the last few matches here, so I opted to only have a few cubes for hookers in the margin. I set up 4 rigs, two margin rigs, as I couldn't get tight in down down the LH side due to a large swathe of floating scum, so I plumbed up against this, the RH margin had some scum, but let me get much tighter to the bank. The exception to the pellet bait was for down the margin, I had dead maggot and corn to feed one side and just pellet the other, along with some big dendras for hookbait. As the match progressed the LH margin scum started to grow and was soon 6' or 7' out from the bank. I went along and cleared it out with the landing net, but within 10 minutes, the cleared area was once again covered with the impenetrable layer of scum.
Not that this made any difference, as I managed one 6oz perch from the LH margin and one about an ounce smaller from the RH margin, that was the sum of my bites from the margins, apart from the continual knocking and dinking of the float from shit fish.
I fed one line straight in front, with 6mm pellet and started on a 6mm expander, this produced a missed bite, then next drop in, a 9lb carp. After that the expander was soon abandoned, as the shit fish were ragging it off the hook. A 6mm hard pellet was also being ragged, but persistence with it saw it go under and a 4oz skimmer was the result, this was the story for the next 3 hours, even with 8mm pellet, I tried 11mm pellet and this was being ragged, but the skimmers couldn't get it in their mouths.
After 3 hours I got off my box, had a walk to the shop, bought a drink and contemplated what to do next, as I was getting no liners, no foulers, no indication of any fish in the peg, I could see Glenn Bailey on 131 and Mike Nicholls on 132 getting odd fish on paste, so made some paste up and set up a paste rig, this remained motionless for over an hour, a last look down the margin and with an hour to go, I threw the towel in and packed up neatly and tidily, putting back my one carp and about 5lb of skimmers, before wandering round to sit behind Mike for the last 15 minutes.
I can only hope my bad run a Viaduct comes to an abrupt end on Saturday, it would be nice to draw a peg thats solid in the MMT. I didn't get the result's, they'll be on Tony's blog.
Monday, 16 June 2014
Tony Rixon's Float Only, Landsend, Sunday 15th June
A match on the 15th June evoked memories of the close season, it was a magic time, waiting for the 16th, although with Devon and Cornwall not having a close season, I guess many of us made the trek down to the Exeter canal matches, which were tough going, unless you drew the Lime Kilns, of which I only ever got to see by bank walking.....
Back to today and I fancied a draw on Match or Specimen lakes, so obviously I drew lake 3, peg 54, it seems the only time I don't draw this lake is when it's not in, or when there is rotation in a series. So not aided by feeling shite - hayfever, not over indulgence - I trudged up to the peg disappointed yet again by my inability to pull a peg on a lake, let alone an area, I fancy.
I had a bit of space to my right but couldn't utilise it to fish the margin, as the bankside vegetation has grown so much, that even stood up and leaning as far forward as I dare, I could not get down the edge and the bush was far too substantial to cut back with a weed cutter. The LH margin was also over grown and has a tree drooping down into the water, I managed to clear some of the lower branches and bankside grass, but the water wasn't too coloured and I thought that the LH margin would be just too close to me to produce, as I could only go as far as the tree trunk, which was top 2 + 1 1/2 sections.
I made up a margin rig, more in hope than expectation and as predicted it was a non starter, producing just one perch to 6 dead maggots.
I had (for me) a simple side tray of bait, 6mm pellet and 6mm meat, 8mm pellet and a few cubes of 8mm meat for hookers, also a few soft pellets, so I set up three rigs, one to fish soft pellet in the open water at 14m, one to fish meat at 6m and a rig to fish across to the island. A similar depth all over the peg, so no need to mess about with rigs if I needed to start a new line elsewhere in the peg, even tight to the island was only 6" shallower than the open water, no shelf to fish on.
The match started very slowly for me, I began on the soft pellet at 14m and this produced a couple of missed bites, two silver fish that fell off on the way back in and a foul hooker that broke the 0.14 hooklength. With 45 minutes gone I was fishless and Dave Evans on 55 had two or three, so I went out to the island, I soon had my first fish in the net, a perfect fish, looked like it hadn't been caught before, but it was only about 1lb. Some consolation for my constantly running nose, itchy eyes and the itching at the back of my throat, which wasn't aiding my concentration.
Dick Bull opposite had started to catch a few shallow, so I shallowed up the island rig and this didn't produce any fish in the open water, but I did have a bit of a eureka moment with fishing tight to the island, as I had a run of fish that saw me over take Dave on 55 and get back on terms with Dick, as these were the only two anglers I could see. I had no idea how the rest of the lake was fishing. There were some fish still spawning, so the splashing noises weren't necessarily fish being landed.
The island line died off, so I had a look on the meat line, this didn't produce a bite, not so much as a tremor of the float and this was the same each occasion I tried it. I also started a pellet line at 7m off to my right, this produced one small skimmer and one small carp, so it was back to the island for the rest of the match, I had another spell where I had several fish and at 16.10, I thought I had 60lb in the net, so expecting the peg to get stronger in the last hour or so (17.30 finish) I started another net, this ended up with three fish in, the fish had gone from the island and I just picked up the three as they mooched along the island.
It was frustrating to watch Dick Bull go down his margin and get at least 4 decent fish, when I couldn't, he weighed 90lb to my 81.12, so the lack of late fish cost me, as the section was won from the peg next to dick, with 92lb, so third in the section for me and series over - a really frustrating way to be beaten, especially as I had the potential for a long margin if it weren't for the triffid like foliage. That said, it was satisfying to at last catch some fish at Landsend across to the island, something I have regularly failed to do before, even though all the framing weights came from the other two lakes.
Next up, a short pole match at Viaduct on Wednesday and then the Viaduct round of MMT next Saturday........ I may as well leave my gear on match lake in readiness!!!
I didn't get todays results, as I had to get away, but I'm sure they can be found on Tony's blog and probably pictures of the weigh sheets on Mike's (Silverfox).
Back to today and I fancied a draw on Match or Specimen lakes, so obviously I drew lake 3, peg 54, it seems the only time I don't draw this lake is when it's not in, or when there is rotation in a series. So not aided by feeling shite - hayfever, not over indulgence - I trudged up to the peg disappointed yet again by my inability to pull a peg on a lake, let alone an area, I fancy.
I had a bit of space to my right but couldn't utilise it to fish the margin, as the bankside vegetation has grown so much, that even stood up and leaning as far forward as I dare, I could not get down the edge and the bush was far too substantial to cut back with a weed cutter. The LH margin was also over grown and has a tree drooping down into the water, I managed to clear some of the lower branches and bankside grass, but the water wasn't too coloured and I thought that the LH margin would be just too close to me to produce, as I could only go as far as the tree trunk, which was top 2 + 1 1/2 sections.
I made up a margin rig, more in hope than expectation and as predicted it was a non starter, producing just one perch to 6 dead maggots.
I had (for me) a simple side tray of bait, 6mm pellet and 6mm meat, 8mm pellet and a few cubes of 8mm meat for hookers, also a few soft pellets, so I set up three rigs, one to fish soft pellet in the open water at 14m, one to fish meat at 6m and a rig to fish across to the island. A similar depth all over the peg, so no need to mess about with rigs if I needed to start a new line elsewhere in the peg, even tight to the island was only 6" shallower than the open water, no shelf to fish on.
The match started very slowly for me, I began on the soft pellet at 14m and this produced a couple of missed bites, two silver fish that fell off on the way back in and a foul hooker that broke the 0.14 hooklength. With 45 minutes gone I was fishless and Dave Evans on 55 had two or three, so I went out to the island, I soon had my first fish in the net, a perfect fish, looked like it hadn't been caught before, but it was only about 1lb. Some consolation for my constantly running nose, itchy eyes and the itching at the back of my throat, which wasn't aiding my concentration.
Dick Bull opposite had started to catch a few shallow, so I shallowed up the island rig and this didn't produce any fish in the open water, but I did have a bit of a eureka moment with fishing tight to the island, as I had a run of fish that saw me over take Dave on 55 and get back on terms with Dick, as these were the only two anglers I could see. I had no idea how the rest of the lake was fishing. There were some fish still spawning, so the splashing noises weren't necessarily fish being landed.
The island line died off, so I had a look on the meat line, this didn't produce a bite, not so much as a tremor of the float and this was the same each occasion I tried it. I also started a pellet line at 7m off to my right, this produced one small skimmer and one small carp, so it was back to the island for the rest of the match, I had another spell where I had several fish and at 16.10, I thought I had 60lb in the net, so expecting the peg to get stronger in the last hour or so (17.30 finish) I started another net, this ended up with three fish in, the fish had gone from the island and I just picked up the three as they mooched along the island.
It was frustrating to watch Dick Bull go down his margin and get at least 4 decent fish, when I couldn't, he weighed 90lb to my 81.12, so the lack of late fish cost me, as the section was won from the peg next to dick, with 92lb, so third in the section for me and series over - a really frustrating way to be beaten, especially as I had the potential for a long margin if it weren't for the triffid like foliage. That said, it was satisfying to at last catch some fish at Landsend across to the island, something I have regularly failed to do before, even though all the framing weights came from the other two lakes.
Next up, a short pole match at Viaduct on Wednesday and then the Viaduct round of MMT next Saturday........ I may as well leave my gear on match lake in readiness!!!
I didn't get todays results, as I had to get away, but I'm sure they can be found on Tony's blog and probably pictures of the weigh sheets on Mike's (Silverfox).
Sunday, 8 June 2014
Callum's Open, Viaduct Campbell. Saturday 7th June
I booked into this match thinking it would be good to get on Campbell and catch a few fish, how wrong could I be!!
Since my decision to be a bit more single minded and fish for carp, my weights and enjoyment have both seemed to plummet, not much good when you are sat on a peg, thinking, "why am I here, I'd rather be doing something else".
I drew peg 118, I wasn't disappointed with the draw, I felt I'd catch a few from it, the LH margin being a banker for a few fish during the day and often produces fish for longer than just the last hour. I set up a waggler and a lead rod, the waggler didn't get used, the wind was all wrong. The lead rod was used, but only produced 2 liners, so bugger all to say about that either.
4 pole rigs were the mainstay of my plan, shallow and full depth rigs to fish banded pellet, a meat rig to fish short and a rig to fish down the LH margin, which was very similar depths at 7m and 13m along the bank.
Starting on the full depth rig with 6mm pellet it took me 45 minutes to hook a fish, which then managed to deposit the hook in my silvers net...... not a great start. I had Roy Worth for company on 119 and Roy was catching on the lead and the pole down to the end bank, just to rub it in and make me feel even more bloody useless..
As an experiment, with the MMT match coming up, I tried feeding meat short to my left and pellet short to the right, the meat line was barren, I didn't have a single bite on it, the pellet line was fizzing, but no sign of carp. I tried a soft pellet on the meat rig, over the pellet feed and managed a couple of skimmers and two bream, but it was tough going. I saw the swirl of a carp and decided to make some paste and set up a paste rig, this I duly did and it produced one foul hooked skimmer and one carp in over an hours fishing.
By now Roy was handing me a right hiding and my banker margin produced one carp, one tench and two fish that took the rigs into the underwater jungle. So with 3/4 of an hour to go, I had 4 carp, a tench and the previously mentioned bream and skimmers, Roy had gone to his margin and was catching there as well, that was the final straw, I packed up and chucked my meagre catch back.
I am going to honour the leagues and commitments to matches I have made, but apart from that I can't say I have any inclination to go fishing, I'm not enjoying it, spending ages on preparation and then being unable to get a bite, whilst the next peg sacks up.
I didn't get the results, but I'm sure Ken Rayner will have them on his blog when he puts it up.
Since my decision to be a bit more single minded and fish for carp, my weights and enjoyment have both seemed to plummet, not much good when you are sat on a peg, thinking, "why am I here, I'd rather be doing something else".
I drew peg 118, I wasn't disappointed with the draw, I felt I'd catch a few from it, the LH margin being a banker for a few fish during the day and often produces fish for longer than just the last hour. I set up a waggler and a lead rod, the waggler didn't get used, the wind was all wrong. The lead rod was used, but only produced 2 liners, so bugger all to say about that either.
4 pole rigs were the mainstay of my plan, shallow and full depth rigs to fish banded pellet, a meat rig to fish short and a rig to fish down the LH margin, which was very similar depths at 7m and 13m along the bank.
Starting on the full depth rig with 6mm pellet it took me 45 minutes to hook a fish, which then managed to deposit the hook in my silvers net...... not a great start. I had Roy Worth for company on 119 and Roy was catching on the lead and the pole down to the end bank, just to rub it in and make me feel even more bloody useless..
As an experiment, with the MMT match coming up, I tried feeding meat short to my left and pellet short to the right, the meat line was barren, I didn't have a single bite on it, the pellet line was fizzing, but no sign of carp. I tried a soft pellet on the meat rig, over the pellet feed and managed a couple of skimmers and two bream, but it was tough going. I saw the swirl of a carp and decided to make some paste and set up a paste rig, this I duly did and it produced one foul hooked skimmer and one carp in over an hours fishing.
By now Roy was handing me a right hiding and my banker margin produced one carp, one tench and two fish that took the rigs into the underwater jungle. So with 3/4 of an hour to go, I had 4 carp, a tench and the previously mentioned bream and skimmers, Roy had gone to his margin and was catching there as well, that was the final straw, I packed up and chucked my meagre catch back.
I am going to honour the leagues and commitments to matches I have made, but apart from that I can't say I have any inclination to go fishing, I'm not enjoying it, spending ages on preparation and then being unable to get a bite, whilst the next peg sacks up.
I didn't get the results, but I'm sure Ken Rayner will have them on his blog when he puts it up.
Thursday, 5 June 2014
Ivy House Knock Up. Wednesday 5th June 2014
I was looking forward to my first visit to the New Canal at Ivy House, having been promised "bites all day" by Tony Rixon. It looks like Andy Lloyd and Karen are still working hard and improving the fishery, which I'm sure will get even better. The only downside to this fishery for weekday matches is the time it takes to get there, its about 4 miles further than Viaduct, but takes 80 minutes instead of 50 minutes, due to getting out of (and back into) Bristol in the mornings / evenings, the rush hour seems to last for about 4 hours twice a day now.
Only eight today, shame as I think some of these commercial lakes don't benefit from big gaps between anglers, giving fish space to back off into if they feel pressured. I would have fancied one of the end pegs, but as usual I didn't manage to draw one of them, nearer the middle being my home for the day and it was one of the narrowest pegs on the lake, with a three peg gap between me and Tony, who had managed to get one of the widest pegs on the lake, probably 3-4m difference between the two pegs.
I had been told that the lake held skimmers, small tench, F1's and stockie carp, with bigger specimens up to 10lb. I had brought 4 and 6mm pellet, both hard and soft and a couple of pints of maggots. My mine approach was going to be pellet and I started on 6mm hard pellet at 6m, first 5 drop ins saw 5 bites, with a roach, tench, carp and f1 landed, the line then went dead, not another indication. A switch to a line at 9m feeding micro's and fishing 4mm soft pellet saw me have a nice run of small carp and f1's with the odd tench and two skimmers, before this line also died.
I am sure, as I have already mentioned, this fish moved out of the narrow part of the peg and I only managed the odd fish from the end of the second hour, until the end of the match, these I am sure were fish moving through the peg, as I lost all indication of feeding fish in the peg.
I had kept a very short line fed with maggot, all this was producing was tiny roach, so for the last half an hour I upped the feed and did manage a 12lb carp from here on double maggot, it took 20 minutes to get in on 0.10 and an 18 6313 and that saw the match out.
A disappointing 4th place with 63.10 of which at least 40lb was caught in the first two hours, disappointing as I felt I had fished and fed a tidy match, I have no idea how I could have stopped those fish backing off into the gaps.
1: Tony Rixon 111.10 peg 11
2: Ron Hardiman 73.02 peg 2
3: Phil Harding 70.12 peg 13
4: Chris Fox 63.10 peg 7
5: Shane Turner 47.07 peg 17
6: Keith Turner 31.11 peg 15
Only eight today, shame as I think some of these commercial lakes don't benefit from big gaps between anglers, giving fish space to back off into if they feel pressured. I would have fancied one of the end pegs, but as usual I didn't manage to draw one of them, nearer the middle being my home for the day and it was one of the narrowest pegs on the lake, with a three peg gap between me and Tony, who had managed to get one of the widest pegs on the lake, probably 3-4m difference between the two pegs.
I had been told that the lake held skimmers, small tench, F1's and stockie carp, with bigger specimens up to 10lb. I had brought 4 and 6mm pellet, both hard and soft and a couple of pints of maggots. My mine approach was going to be pellet and I started on 6mm hard pellet at 6m, first 5 drop ins saw 5 bites, with a roach, tench, carp and f1 landed, the line then went dead, not another indication. A switch to a line at 9m feeding micro's and fishing 4mm soft pellet saw me have a nice run of small carp and f1's with the odd tench and two skimmers, before this line also died.
I am sure, as I have already mentioned, this fish moved out of the narrow part of the peg and I only managed the odd fish from the end of the second hour, until the end of the match, these I am sure were fish moving through the peg, as I lost all indication of feeding fish in the peg.
I had kept a very short line fed with maggot, all this was producing was tiny roach, so for the last half an hour I upped the feed and did manage a 12lb carp from here on double maggot, it took 20 minutes to get in on 0.10 and an 18 6313 and that saw the match out.
A disappointing 4th place with 63.10 of which at least 40lb was caught in the first two hours, disappointing as I felt I had fished and fed a tidy match, I have no idea how I could have stopped those fish backing off into the gaps.
1: Tony Rixon 111.10 peg 11
2: Ron Hardiman 73.02 peg 2
3: Phil Harding 70.12 peg 13
4: Chris Fox 63.10 peg 7
5: Shane Turner 47.07 peg 17
6: Keith Turner 31.11 peg 15
Monday, 2 June 2014
Pole Only 2014 Final Round Up.
I have been totally frustrated by my series, for whatever reason I have failed dismally to come to grips with the venue this year and the last round was over as soon as I saw the peg which was left in the tub, 25. I had brought maggot and plenty of it, as a main line of attack, but when you sit with a single maggot on a 20, on 0.10 and don't get a bite for 45 minutes, it signifies to me that there aren't many fish of any species in the peg.
So enough of my woes, time to put this firmly behind me.
Before I post up the final results, I'd like to say thanks to Paul for dealing with all the phone calls, cash and general chasing people that goes on when running a series, also I think that in difficult circumstances (having to put 30 on the lake) he did a good job of pegging it, with the sections being as fair as could be expected. Thanks to Ken Rayner for the use of his scales and his assistance in weighing in, along with Tom Thick and Glenn Calvert.
Thanks to Veals for their continued sponsorship of the series, in the form of vouchers and finally, thanks to everyone who turned up and didn't moan too much.....
That's the Oscar- esque speech over and done with, onto those who managed to work the venue out and catch some fish.
Winner on the day and taking the heaviest weight prize, was Lewis Jones with 100.09 from unfancied peg 16. Heaviest Silvers weight prize went to Paul Faiers with 24.02 from peg 5 (match five).
The knockout final was contested between Tom Thick (who came back in after the first round as the heaviest weight knocked out) and Brian Slipper, Tom made the most of his second chance and weighed 77.10 from peg 2, whilst Brian weighed 49.12 from peg 4.
Overall and Silvers final tables below.
So enough of my woes, time to put this firmly behind me.
Before I post up the final results, I'd like to say thanks to Paul for dealing with all the phone calls, cash and general chasing people that goes on when running a series, also I think that in difficult circumstances (having to put 30 on the lake) he did a good job of pegging it, with the sections being as fair as could be expected. Thanks to Ken Rayner for the use of his scales and his assistance in weighing in, along with Tom Thick and Glenn Calvert.
Thanks to Veals for their continued sponsorship of the series, in the form of vouchers and finally, thanks to everyone who turned up and didn't moan too much.....
That's the Oscar- esque speech over and done with, onto those who managed to work the venue out and catch some fish.
Winner on the day and taking the heaviest weight prize, was Lewis Jones with 100.09 from unfancied peg 16. Heaviest Silvers weight prize went to Paul Faiers with 24.02 from peg 5 (match five).
The knockout final was contested between Tom Thick (who came back in after the first round as the heaviest weight knocked out) and Brian Slipper, Tom made the most of his second chance and weighed 77.10 from peg 2, whilst Brian weighed 49.12 from peg 4.
Overall and Silvers final tables below.
Pole
Only 2014 Overall Table With Worst Dropped
|
|||||||||
After Six Matches
|
Worst
Result
|
||||||||
Name
|
Points
|
Weight
|
Points
|
Weight
|
|||||
1
|
Mark
Broomsgrove
|
46
|
228
|
14
|
7
|
35.05
|
|||
2
|
Tom
Thick
|
44
|
298
|
8
|
7
|
36.08
|
|||
3
|
Dom
Sullivan
|
44
|
259
|
15
|
5
|
15.01
|
|||
4
|
Lewis
Jones
|
43
|
268
|
8
|
2
|
17.05
|
|||
5
|
Glenn
Calvert
|
43
|
165
|
4
|
6
|
48.00
|
|||
6
|
Pete
Bartlett
|
42
|
257
|
12
|
1
|
15.14
|
|||
7
|
Andy
France
|
41
|
269
|
8
|
4
|
18.12
|
|||
8
|
Bob
Gullick
|
41
|
232
|
13
|
4
|
33.13
|
|||
9
|
Russ
Peck
|
37
|
257
|
15
|
2
|
20.14
|
|||
10
|
Brian
Slipper
|
37
|
247
|
14
|
3
|
9.12
|
|||
11
|
Mike
Nicholls
|
37
|
225
|
14
|
2
|
16.06
|
|||
12
|
Tony
Thick
|
33
|
144
|
12
|
4
|
22.04
|
|||
13
|
Nick
Harvey
|
31
|
210
|
0
|
2
|
16.09
|
|||
14
|
Kev
Perry
|
30
|
195
|
9
|
3
|
18.01
|
|||
15
|
Ken
Rayner
|
30
|
172
|
1
|
3
|
19.02
|
|||
16
|
Lance
Tucker
|
30
|
167
|
13
|
2
|
11.07
|
|||
17
|
Mike
Owens
|
30
|
158
|
7
|
2
|
10.13
|
|||
18
|
Kevin
Lloyd
|
29
|
262
|
5
|
0
|
0.00
|
|||
19
|
Chris Fox
|
27
|
180
|
3
|
2
|
15.04
|
|||
20
|
Paul
Faiers
|
25
|
151
|
8
|
2
|
12.09
|
|||
21
|
Glenn
Bailey
|
24
|
170
|
5
|
1
|
3.07
|
|||
22
|
Gordon
Canning
|
24
|
141
|
11
|
1
|
28.02
|
|||
23
|
Rob
Fogg
|
23
|
151
|
3
|
0
|
0.00
|
|||
24
|
Eddie
Wynne
|
23
|
121
|
15
|
2
|
44.14
|
|||
25
|
Nigel
Vigus
|
22
|
118
|
7
|
0
|
0.00
|
|||
26
|
Paul
Lasson
|
19
|
95
|
14
|
1
|
16.11
|
|||
27
|
Charlie
Barnes
|
18
|
72
|
4
|
1
|
4.13
|
|||
28
|
John
Osborne
|
17
|
172
|
5
|
0
|
0.00
|
|||
29
|
Norman
Hugget
|
16
|
133
|
0
|
0
|
0.00
|
|||
30
|
Harry
Muir
|
15
|
126
|
15
|
0
|
0.00
|
|||
Pole Only 2014 Silvers Table With Worst Dropped
|
|||||||||
After Six Matches
|
Worst Result
|
||||||||
Name
|
Points
|
Weight
|
Points
|
Weight
|
|||||
1
|
Paul Faiers
|
49
|
68
|
14
|
7
|
5.02
|
|||
2
|
Charlie Barnes
|
48
|
46
|
0
|
8
|
5.06
|
|||
3
|
Tom Thick
|
45
|
50
|
6
|
2
|
0.14
|
|||
4
|
Eddie Wynne
|
43
|
52
|
12
|
3
|
0.02
|
|||
5
|
Mike Nicholls
|
42
|
54
|
6
|
4
|
0.04
|
|||
6
|
Chris Fox
|
39
|
44
|
1
|
3
|
0.01
|
|||
7
|
Bob Gullick
|
39
|
27
|
12
|
4
|
1.00
|
|||
8
|
Glenn Calvert
|
37
|
24
|
8
|
2
|
0.04
|
|||
9
|
Ken Rayner
|
36
|
26
|
5
|
2
|
0.11
|
|||
10
|
Paul Lasson
|
35
|
18
|
4
|
4
|
0.03
|
|||
11
|
Lance Tucker
|
34
|
26
|
3
|
0
|
0.00
|
|||
12
|
Harry Muir
|
34
|
25
|
5
|
0
|
0.00
|
|||
13
|
Brian Slipper
|
33
|
15
|
13
|
1
|
0.12
|
|||
14
|
Pete Bartlett
|
32
|
23
|
12
|
2
|
0.10
|
|||
15
|
Glenn Bailey
|
32
|
9
|
15
|
3
|
1.04
|
|||
16
|
Russ Peck
|
27
|
16
|
10
|
0
|
0.00
|
|||
17
|
Gordon Canning
|
27
|
13
|
3
|
0
|
0.00
|
|||
18
|
Mike Owens
|
27
|
10
|
7
|
1
|
1.15
|
|||
19
|
John Osborne
|
25
|
18
|
9
|
0
|
0.00
|
|||
20
|
Mark Broomsgrove
|
25
|
16
|
11
|
0
|
0.00
|
|||
21
|
Tony Thick
|
25
|
14
|
0
|
3
|
1.04
|
|||
22
|
Rob Fogg
|
25
|
11
|
15
|
0
|
0.00
|
|||
23
|
Nick Harvey
|
23
|
12
|
10
|
0
|
0.00
|
|||
24
|
Norman Hugget
|
23
|
9
|
10
|
0
|
0.00
|
|||
25
|
Dom Sullivan
|
22
|
16
|
9
|
0
|
0.00
|
|||
26
|
Kevin Lloyd
|
21
|
9
|
0
|
0
|
0.00
|
|||
27
|
Andy France
|
19
|
7
|
10
|
0
|
0.00
|
|||
28
|
Kev Perry
|
18
|
5
|
15
|
0
|
0.00
|
|||
29
|
Nigel Vigus
|
10
|
5
|
5
|
0
|
0.00
|
|||
30
|
Lewis Jones
|
9
|
8
|
14
|
0
|
0.00
|
|||
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