Todber Manor Series Final Round, Sunday 21st December 2014

I must admit I hadn’t been looking forward to this match, as the venue has been very patchy, with some pegs seemingly devoid of fish.  I was on a work Xmas do in Exeter the night before, so left that early to catch the last train home and be in a fit state to fish, although I’m not convinced that leaving a good night out, to endure a torrid match, was such a good idea.

Thankfully no driving for me, as Tim Clark was once again filling one of the vacant spaces, we stopped at Cannards for breakfast and I did feel ripped off at paying £15 for two breakfasts that were missing hash browns and tinned tomatoes, the fried bread was inedible and the final gripe, is that the sausages are usually good quality, not today, they were like the Asda smart price ones we use as dog treats……

So a bad start to the day, worsened when I drew peg 33, I couldn’t refer to the previous form of the peg as this was the first time it was in, several absentees forcing Mark Poppleton’s hand, in repegging to try and ensure there were no huge gaps.  I would normally strongly disagree with altering pegging during a series, but I have a lot of sympathy with him in this case and feel it was the best option.

The pegs either side of 33 had little form from the previous rounds and with 38 being taken by Mike Nicholls and 37 by Ash Tomkins, I thought that it would take a miracle to get anything from this, as I needed a section win to have any hope of scraping into the final payout places.  Chauffeur Tim drew 31 next to me and was busily scrounging bait, as one of the no shows had agreed to bring his bait.

I set up a rod with the smallest size pellet feeder on and then 4 topkits, one for down the edge, which I didn’t hold out too much hope for, one for maggot down the track, one for meat at the bottom of the far shelf and a rig for up the shelf, although opposite me the island has collapsed into the lake.  This meant that the area I could get to along the far shelf varied wildly in depth from 4” to 3’, I found an area that had about a foot  or so of constant 2’ depth and picked that as the area to fish.

I managed the odd tiny roach from here and then one small carp, before holding 16m for no reward got too much, a look down the track produced another tiny roach, but even they weren’t exactly prolific. Then a foul hooker about 5lb, but I reckon he was a loner, as no further indications were forthcoming.  The pellet feeder did not produce a bite, apart from one tiny roach when I tried live maggot under the micro’s.

By now I was becoming fed up of watching Ash’s elastic coming out, Mike Nicholls had a few and peg 35 was also getting some fish, whereas myself and those to my left were struggling to get a bite.  I had a short walk up to peg 28 and put the kiss of death on Tony (Rixon) as I saw two bites whilst stood with him, before his peg also died completely.

I went back and tried again, this time starting up a new line and very frugally feeding 4mm meat, this produced one bite only, an F1 around the 2lb mark. With ¾ of an hour to go, with me on two carp and an F1 and Tim struggling, we decided enough was enough and packed up.  Whilst packing up I had underhanded the pellet feeder into the margin, that had been totally unproductive on the pole and it went round, another carp netted, but as I was so far behind the other end of the section, there was no chance of a late flurry and comeback.  The fish went back, all my gear was packed away tidily, in the dry and we headed off to the garage for a Costa Coffee.

 No idea of the results, but well done to those who triumphed in the league, thanks to Mark and Nick for running it, running a series is a thankless task I am well aware of.  I must admit, the way I feel at the moment I wouldn’t be rushing back to fish it again, unless the league is earlier in the year.

Next match up for me will be an open on Avalon on 4^th January, as I am working flat out over Xmas and New Year, hope to get a good result to christen my new Octbox on its first outing.  Contact Tony Rixon to book in for that one.

So whilst it’s Bah Humbug really, I will wish anyone who has got this far down my drivel,  Merry Xmas and a Happy New Year.

Trinity waters Christmas Match, Sunday 14th December 2014

16 booked into this one, a decent breakfast at home for a change, before a nice steady drive down to the usual cheery welcome and cup of coffee, thanks to Misha and Tom for getting this match organised straight after their honeymoon.

The weather forecasters had been promising rain earlier in the week, but as the day drew nearer, the forecast changed to no rain and a 13-15mph wind, as we drew, it was perfectly still and the lake surface was calm and flat.  I had fancied a draw on the far bank, so wasn't disappointed to see peg 8 reveal itself after I drew.  I had brought two lead rods and a pole for this match, I'm not normally tempted to fish the lead or feeder on this venue, but the way I feed it in the winter, should see the method or banjo feeder work. By the all-in a chilly wind was blowing straight into my face and there it stayed all day!!!

I set up the two lead rods, one with a banjo feeder on and the other with straight lead, I had brought a couple of slices of bread for use with this, but with the water still well coloured for the time of year, I wasn't sure it would work.  next out the holdall were 3 topkits, one with a rig to fish the 4' deep margin, where I fully expected to catch some fish from, especially as peg 9 was empty and I could get under the platform, usually a banker in winter for extracting the resident fish.

Two other top kits, a MW Pinger 0.4g with a bulk of No8's and two No10 droppers, this was finished off with a 0.14 hooklength and a 16 6313 hook.  The other rig was a 0.3g NG Gimp, with a bulk of No9 shot, with 3 droppers, hopefully to pick up any fish sat off the bottom, this had a 0.12 hooklength and 16 6313 hook.  This was the most successful rig, although neither were frantically busy......

On the all in I fed two pole lines, one at 10m and one at 14.5m, the shorter line was fed with micros and a few dead maggots, the longer line with micros and 4mm pellets, again, just a small amount.  I then started by casting a banjo feeder to the halfway point, this was a fruitless exercise of 30 minutes, before I switched to the 10m pole line, this was also biteless.  Pushing the pole out to 14.5m saw a couple of fish come to the net, just a small roach and a skimmer, but it was a start.  Bites were hard to come by, but they bites I did have were all as a result of lowering the rig through bait toss potted in, a carp about 7lb then graced the net, as i had swapped to corn on the hook to avoid the small roach.

The pole line then died off, an early look in the margin with corn had a 2lb carp take it almost straight away, that would be a good sign usually, but today it was to be a lone bite and fish until another one with an hour to go. Back onto the 14.5m line and it was impossible to see the float at times due to the ripple, occasional bit of sun and constantly changing shades of cloud reflection, colour was irrelevant, the conditions weren't conducive to sensitive bite indication.  Surprisingly the 10m line did not produce a bite at any time during the day, even the odd tiny roach and rudd that took the double maggot preferred to stay well away from the bank.

I swapped back to the method, but this time with 3 dead maggots and dropped a lot shorter, on the pole line, this produced a positive pull round and I was surprised when a 21/2lb perch popped up and was netted, Apart from a 3oz roach which fell off, this was the last bite on the method.  Switching back to the pole saw another decent perch netted and a couple more small skimmers, but it was too slow and that was the case all along the bank that I had fancied......

My 3 carp went 11.07 and my silvers 8.01 for a 19.08 total which apart from the corner peg, was the top weight on the bank, but it was a long way behind Nick Harvey who had a very comfortable win from peg 20.

A big thanks to Misha and Tom, who kept the Trinty tradition going, bringing round hot soup, sausage rolls and mince pies during the match, it was disappointing to end my good record in this match (2 wins, a 2nd, a 3rd and a 4th), but the cold wind and the draw beat those of us on the far bank today.

Todber Manor next Sunday, last in the series and I think most are expecting a grueller, for my part the section I am due to be in has been dominated by peg 38, so if it stays the same, a draw there looks essential.

1: Nick Harvey  121.09 peg 20
2: Tom Mangnall 61.03 peg 25
3: Steve Evans 40.04 peg 5
4: John Davies 34.04 peg 7
5: Dave Evans 31.12 peg 17
6: Kev Perry 29.05 peg 28

Silvers
Mark Broomsgrove  16.04 peg 14

Lansend Winter League Round One, Sunday 7th December 2014

I've been looking forward to this, whilst Landsend has been far from kind to me, the failure to gain any consistency in open matches, other than bombing out, has mostly been of my own making, my second year fishing this series and was second in the silvers last year, I was hoping to make a decent attempt at the overall league this year.

With the early start ordered by organiser Ken, the assembled throng were eagerly waiting the appearance of the briefcase, which has now become a symbol of the league, as well as no small amount of good humoured merriment and piss taking on facebook.  Managing to sneak towards the front of the draw queue saw me pull 36 from the tin, a peg that was unlikely to compete with those at the end of the section, but it does usually give a few bites.

4 rigs for today, I only caught on one of them, a 0.3g NG Gimp, on 0.14, with a 0.12 hooklength and a 16 6313 hook, I was reluctant to go lighter as the lake does hold some big fish.  The other rigs were a margin rig, several looks to the empty pallets either side, not so much as a dink on it. Two rigs for up the shelf across, one with a band on for hard pellet, that didn't get wet and a similar rig with a plain hook on, that got wet, but was as motionless as the margin rig.

I fed some micros and dampened 4's down the middle, and caster up the shelf, after 20 minutes and no bites, I swapped to caster at the base of the far shelf and a 1lb+ chub was a welcome first fish.  I began to get some indications and bites at a rate enough to keep my interested, by catapulting caster tight to the catching area.  Double caster on the hook the accounted for a steady run of perch up to 2lb and another chub, before the bites tailed off very quickly.

A look on the soft pellet down the track was totally fruitless, a switch to maggot over the micro's brought another chub and the smallest perch of the day, before a switch back to the far line, which saw another chub and a perch take a liking to the double caster.  I was getting well beaten by Adrian Clark on peg 34, who was catching big carp off the end of the island, as yet I hadn't seen one!!  I wasn't alone, Tony Rixon to my right had a couple of perch and one small foul hooked carp and was really struggling for bites.  I gave up totally with pellet and concentrated on maggot for the rest of the match, managing 3 carp and one decent skimmer in the last hour and a half.

My 3 carp went 17.06 and the silver collection went 17.10 for a level 35.00, which as predicted, didn't beat the two end pegs in the section, but was enough for 3rd in section, 8th overall and a lake silvers win, so not the start I wanted, but, a welcome envelope,  not as bad as it was for some.  The weekends weather and the clarity of the water really knocked the fishing back, a spell of settled weather, even if its cold would be welcome. Have to wait until 25th Jan for the next round, that will decide if it turns into a silvers league or I can still progress in the overall league.

Next up, Xmas match at Trinity next Sunday, looking forward to it.

1: Dan White 89.07 peg 31
2: Adrian Clark 77.10 peg 34
3: Ken Rayner 65.06 peg 32
4: Glenn Calvert 53.07 peg 13
5: Ian Brownsey 39.07 peg 7
6: Paul Elmes 37.00 peg 70

Silvers
1: Andy Hembrow 19.10 peg 68
2: Chris Fox 17.10 peg 36

Landsend Open, Sunday 30th November 2014

Not having been to Landsend for a while, I thought it best to get a practice in before the start of the winter league next Sunday. The draw could have been kinder to me, I thought, as I stared at 24 in my hand, but the fish were obviously down that end as 125lb had won from peg 2 the day before.

There was little on offer in the way of fish movement, colouring up or bubbles as the match lake has taken on its winter guise, water clearing, a few leaves and twigs floating around and an occasional tiny silverfish blipping the surface.

I was toying with the idea of cubing up a tin of meat, as the day was mild, but I resisted and stuck with my pre-match plan of pellet, caster and maggot. 4 topkits, a MW F1slim on 0.14 to 0.10 and a 18 6313 to fish caster or soft pellet for skimmers short and off to my left. A pencil float on 0.14 to 0.12 and a 16 6313 to fish soft pellet at 14/16m and another similar with a band on, in case hard pellet worked. Finally a rig to fish down the edge, plumbed up tight to the tree at 14m.

On the all in I fed some caster short and some micros and caster off to my left at about 7m, some micros and dampened 4mm's at 14m, finally a few casters up on the shelf along the edge and pellets at full depth under the tree bough. Starting short on the caster to see if there were any 'mug' fish around, was fairly pointless, one tiny perch to show for it. The 14m line was more productive, far from manic, but for the first couple of hours a few bites, indications and fish in the net for about 48lb.

Nick Duckett on 1 had started down the edge and was doing a fine job of catch and release, I hadn't wanted to go down there too early, but the looks I had down there yielded nothing on pellet or caster and two perch for about 1 1/4lb in total on prawn.

I was fairly confident that things were going OK, as I seemed to be competing well on the lake and expected the peg to get stronger, then just after the 2 hour mark the peg went dead, I tried 16m, I looked over my caster lines, I started a new line at 16m off to my left, I persisted with the edge, all to no avail, I didn't have a bite for over 3 hours (apart from a 1oz perch and a similar sized roach) even on a single maggot. I am sure I didn't over or under feed it, but obviously I can't 100% guarantee that, but there had been signs of fish on the 14m line and these completely stopped.

With 15 minutes to go the the float buried and I had another fish to take my total to 54lb, nowhere on the day, but frustratingly close enough to have been in with a shout had I been able to catch at even half the rate of the first two hours, in that three and a half hour blank spell.  Nick on peg 1 managed a few fish in the last hour or so by fishing to the island, as did a couple of others, it seemed that as the day wore on and the water slightly warmed, the fish moved to the shallower water around the island, with 24 not having an island, I was a bored spectator.

No complaints about the weights for the last day of November, a couple of 90's, 70's 60's and 50's and a few double figure nets of silvers, top weight 22lb.  So lets hope it doesn't go freezing cold before next Sunday.  I didn't get the results, I'm sure they will be on Ken Rayners blog.