Sunday 29 March 2015

29 March 2015, Richardson's Lake (Marsh Farm)

If I was to be asked such a question, I’d say that the worst weather conditions for fishing at Marsh Farm would be those bright, sunny, still days – on that basis today’s match (with heavy showers and near 50mph winds) should’ve been a proper bag-up session!

Cracking weather forecast!
 
Despite predictions of terrible weather conditions today’s event (an inter-club match between Godalming AS and Woking DAA) saw an amazing turn-out of 44 anglers grace the banks of Richardson’s Lake at Marsh Farm – a fact even more amazing when you consider that the recent Wednesday matches have been won with weights not even close to 30 pounds!
 
Looking left from peg 8 on Richardson's
  
 
My dip into the bag of dreams saw peg 8 bubble to the surface – a pretty wide peg in the area just down from the favoured pegs directly in front of the tackle shop. (They are favoured as you can pick-up the Wi-Fi from the clubhouse and they’re a short walk from the shop if boredom really sets in!)
 
Hooklength components for the cage feeder
     
During the week I’d devised lovely plan consisting of fishing a pellet/cage feeder to the island, long pole to the left with loose fed maggots and long pole to the right with 4mm expander pellets over softened micro pellets/groundbait – however given the super-strong winds I decided to leave the pole in the bag at the start and instead went with just the two tip rods.
  
The first featured a 24g Guru pellet feeder and a 10cm hooklength of 0.19 N-Gauge to a size 16 QM1 with a hair-rigged pellet band; the second a 10g Drennan cage feeder with an additional 5g stick-on weight – I find the 10g feeder to be the perfect size for those hard days but I add an extra weight as I find 15g to be a much better for accurate casting. The hooklength for the cage feeder rig was 18 inches of 0.13 to a size 20 LWG – ideal for a single maggot and the prospect of some decent tench and skimmer bream.

Fish on

Like most Godalming AS club matches at Marsh Farm today’s competition was scheduled for 6 hours – though I’m not sure why as in my experience the fishing really tails-off here after 3 or 4 hours! I spent the first hour on the cage feeder 6-8m from the far bank – hopefully into the deeper water just before it starts to shelve-up before the shallow far margin. Despite dropping my feeder in roughly the same spot a number of times (no mean feat given the mega left to right wind that was blowing) my Old Ghost Green Alga and single dead white maggot could only tempt a single bite – a feisty one pound crucian that nearly dragged the rod in (serves me right for being on Facebook rather than paying attention).
  
Going into the second hour I decided to give the pellet feeder a go a little further up the shelf and almost instantly switched my 24g Guru model for a small 30g Preston effort in order to combat the ever increasing wind. Unfortunately no bites materialised on this, so as Ken Russell on the peg 9 was catching a few on the pole I decided to set-up a rig for fishing at top kit plus 3 – as far as I dared venture for fear of snapping a section or two!
  
Sit down you Muppet!
   
       
  
The pole also failed to yield any bites so by twelve thirty I was back on the cage feeder – just as I was starting to get a little despondent (peg 8 is too far from the clubhouse to get the Wi-Fi and the 3G signal around Milford is patchy) the tip pulled ‘round and a nice 3lb bream was soon in the net.
 
Even more surprisingly another one snapped-up my single dead white maggot hookbait next cast – game on! The following cast was fishless but a switch to a shorter 12 inch tail and double maggot saw a smaller specimen hit the landing net. Things then started to dry-up, but a switch back to an 18 inch tail eventually led to another skimmer, leaving me in a decent position going into the final two hours.
 
Duck!

As is often the case at Marsh Farm the final third of today’s match was absolute torture and I could only manage one more bite – a reasonable fish that inexplicably fell-off half way back to the bank. (As ever I was pretty sure this mistake was going to cost me come the final reckoning.) Well at least the weather improved – well it stopped raining for the last hour anyway!

The scores on the doors

As is often the case the Grim Reaper was soon at my peg with the scales and my crucian and four skimmers could only pull the dial ‘round to 9-11-0 (to be honest that’s a lie – the scales were those new digital ones that nobody trusts). Here the top scores on the day:
  1. Nick Stunt (Woking DAA), 17-13-0
  2. John Brownlie (W), 16-9-0
  3. Ian Covey (Godalming AS), 15-0-0
  4. Pete Worsfold (W), 14-3-0
  5. P Makins (W), 12-11-0

Section winners:
  • Ken Russell (G), 11-8-0
  • Adie Hoile (W), 12-10-0
  • G Whiting (W), 12-2-0
  • Colin (Legend) Underwood (G), 12-1-0

So congratulation to Nick Stunt on taking the spoils and to Woking DAA for picking-up most of the prizes!

All the gear ...

Conclusions: Well as predicted that final lost fish really cost me as it probably would’ve put me in front of Ken Russell and into the money as a default section winner – though as ever I’m the one saying that tales of lost fish in the car park after a match count for nothing! I could also claim that two further bites from decent bream would’ve won me the match – but if it was as simple as that why couldn’t I manage it?!?!?!

Until next time …

Sunday 22 March 2015

22 March 2015, Kingfisher Lake (Rushmoor Lakes)

Following last week’s slightly abortive return to match fishing I was really looking forward to today’s match – especially as some long awaited sunshine was forecast at last!

Pre-match debrief

According to Google Maps, the Rushmoor Lakes complex (located near Tilford, Surrey) is only 14 minutes from my house – but despite this fact today’s visit was to be my first to a venue described as 'a superb day ticket fishery for all types of angler from the novice to the more mature angler' on their website.

Mick Redman on peg 9


The lake we were fishing today is what I’d call a typical flooded valley – Kingfisher Lake is long and thin, with a shallow, narrower top end that gets progressively deeper as it moves towards the man-made dam at the bottom end. The venue is also one of the prettiest that I’ve come across – there are trees and rhododendrons everywhere, the banks are lined with bark chippings (so thankfully no mud) and the general feel is typical of the nearby Frensham Common.

My dip into the bag of dreams yielded peg 11 – a swim slap bang in the middle of the dam wall with local legends Mick Redman on peg 9 to my left and Trevor Haskell (sporting a pair of those funky new Guru daps) to my right on peg 11 for company. Plumbing-up revealed in excess of 3 feet tight to the empty peg 10 to my left, a fairly rapid increase in depth as I came away from the bank for a few meters before the plummet dropped-off a cliff into the abyss beyond about 5 meters!!!

Pole gear for silvers

Having not fished the venue before I did the usual asking around during the week and information from Barney’s Worms supremo Giovanni Barbato indicated that we were fishing for quality roach with natural baits and small carp with more modern baits such as corn. Given the nice weather (and my loathing of fishing on the deck on deep venues with a pole) my pre-match plan looked like this:
  • Just off the bottom in 6 feet of water at an angle to my left with maggots for roach at top kit plus one
  • Pole shallow at 13m (again with maggots for roach)
  • Tight to the spare peg to my left with corn and pellets for carp
  • Tight to the spare peg to my right with groundbait and dead red maggots for carp

Hopefully such a plan would cover a few bases, though when fishing somewhere for the first time I think you need to keep an open mind and it pays to have an eagle eye on what everybody else is doing!

I decided to start short with maggots

On the whistle I fed a small handful of corn and 6mm pellets on my left-hand margin line and picked-up the rig for fishing on the deck at top kit plus one – this set-up consisted of a 0.2g SconeZone V8 on 0.13 mainline to a 15cm hooklength of 0.10 with a size 20 Tubertini 808, elastic was yellow hydro. (Whilst aimed at roach, the inclusion of a half sensible hooklength and hollow elastic gave me half a chance if I hooked a small carp or other bonus fish.)

Sport was hardly hectic, but during the first 60 minutes I at least managed a few bites on single maggot and ended-up putting 5 or 6 roach in the net. From my vantage point in the middle of the dam wall I could see what virtually every other angler was up to, and with the exception of Dave Lake’s first cast carp and Colin Underwood’s early chub, most seemed to be really struggling with bites very few and far between.

Long pole shallow in the sun - lovin' it!



The decline of the short line coincided with the clouds clearing and the sun appearing – a very welcome sight following last week’s soaking at Gold Valley! This gave me all the incentive I needed and I was soon shipping out my shallow rig to 13m and spraying maggots about like there was no tomorrow. (The shallow rig was identical to that used for fishing short with the exception that it was set-up to fish through the water to 3 feet.)

After 10 minutes or so of constant feeding I was soon into the first of a decent run of quality roach and by twelve thirty (today’s match was fished from ten to three thirty) I was confident I’d pushed my total up to a good five pounds or so. With nobody else seeming to have put a run of fish together I tucked into my tuna roll looking forward to the final three hours and building towards a decent total.

15g Drennan cage feeder and Preston Innovations feeder bead link

Unfortunately the fish hadn’t read the script and to cut a long story short I didn’t manage to add to my tally at all from twelve thirty to the final whistle at three thirty – and the people I work with think fishing is boring!!! (In order to appease the boredom I swapped between the long and short roach lines, tried my margin swim to my left, fed the margin swim to the right with groundbait/dead red maggots and even set-up a feeder rod to fish at 20m with a cage feeder and a long tail – none of which yielded a single bite!)

Having said that the entire lake seemed to switch off in the afternoon - Mick Redman’s late carp and Trevor Haskell’s skimmer being the only fish I actually saw after lunch.

The scores on the doors

Following the slow torture that was the final three hours of today’s match I was pleased to see the scales – and I was even more pleased when my bag of quality roach pulled the dial around to one ounce short of six pounds, enough for second overall on the day:
  1. Chris Kampa, peg 21, 7-5-0
  2. Phil Morris, peg 11, 5-15-0
  3. Mick Redman, peg 9 & Perry Gray, peg 15, both 5-1-0
  4. Not applicable
  5. Dave Lake, peg 7, 5-0-0
So congratulations must go to Chris Kampa for clinching another victory with a couple of late carp from one of the pegs in the rhododendrons at the far end, and commiserations to Dave Lake for missing a pay-out by an ounce!

All the gear ...

Conclusions: At the end of every match I ask myself a simple question: 'If I could fish the match again, knowing what I know now, what would have I done differently?' I normally come-up with a nice long list of ideas, but today I think I stumbled upon the correct tactics (long pole shallow with maggots for roach) pretty quickly and 5 or 6 more bites could’ve been enough to win the match. All-in-all Rushmoor Lakes seems a pretty decent venue (it’s certainly a nice place to spend a day) and on another day I’m sure the weights would’ve been a lot better – roll-on summer!!!

Until next time ...

Sunday 15 March 2015

15 March 2015, Middle Lake (Gold Valley)

I think it was Robert Burns that said 'the best laid plans of mice and men often go awry' – well having not fished for the best part of 3 months (in order to avoid struggling for a bite in the wintery conditions that seemed to have settled over the country for a lifetime), the most anticipated comeback in British match fishing history (sic) left me soaking wet, freezing cold and rather peeved after only being able to generate the measly sum of two bites!!!

Gold Valley Waterfowl Sanctuary

After some good looking match results I’d decided to kick-off my spring 2015 campaign on the banks of the southern bagging Mecca that is Gold Valley – however, when news filtered through last night that yesterday’s match had been won with a lowly 36 pounds my plan of fishing positively for carp was hastily replaced with much more cautious skimmer-based thinking!

Gold Valley, Middle Lake peg 84


Having said that, my 'more cautious skimmer-based thinking' was immediately thrown into disarray when I drew peg 84 – an end peg flyer in the far corner of Middle Lake – the lack of open water meaning it was likely to be carp or bust, with hopefully tonnes of carp taking shelter along the long margin parallel to the pegged bank!!!

The usual pellet feeder gear

Given the nature of my peg I decided to leave the pole in the bag (if I had drawn an open water peg I’d have certainly fed a 14.5m line with groundbait and dead maggots for skimmers), and instead put all of my eggs into one basket by setting-up just a single pellet feeder rod – the intention being to search the long, parallel margin for carp and to fool them with a nicely presented pile of pellets and a hookbait they just couldn’t resist!

(Gear for this rod was the usual 8lb Daiwa Sensor mainline, small 30g Preston Innovations pellet feeder stopped by a Guru speed bead, 10cm hooklengths of 0.22 N-Gauge to either a size 16 or a size 14 QM1 hook with a hair-rigged pellet band or bait bayonet.)

Looking left towards the clubhouse

Prior to the 'all in' I was that confident of bagging-up that I actually put all three of the keepnets that I had brought with me into the water – a real show of bravado given the fact that the weight limit per net at Gold Valley is 80 pounds! However, after the first hour came and went with no proper bites to show for my efforts and the entire lake seemingly fishing rock hard this choice seemed rather foolish to say the least!!!

Personally I’m a massive fan of method/pellet feeder fishing – however when the fishing is difficult such tactics can seem very, very crude and there are times when such an approach just isn’t going to work. So having had a few liners but no proper bites I decided that a switch to a more discrete tactic was in order, so I was soon up off of my box and into my rod bag for my second tip rod – this one was rigged-up with a 20g Guru inline lead and a 12 inch hooklength of 0.22 N-Gauge to a size 14 QM1 with a hair-rigged pellet band. Thankfully the switch paid-off and on the second cast (with a bright orange Ringers Allsort on the hair) the tip smashed ‘round and I’d at least managed to avoid the dreaded blank with a 4lb common carp.

A very rare occurrence!!!

That fish hit the net at precisely 12:19 and my second (and final) fish of the day didn’t come along until 15:38 (22 minutes from the 'all out') – if you have any ideas on how to make 3 biteless hours seem exciting in an online match fishing blog please send me your thoughts on the back of a postcard or a sealed down envelope!!!

The second fish was of a similar size (and fell to the same tactics) to the first so my first outing of Spring 2015 saw me put a titanic 8-0-0 on the scales – not quite the start I’d been dreaming about since Christmas!

Scales!!!

Having weighed-in my section I now know that my return of two fish was actually quite reasonable as most anglers around me weren't that far ahead - however the following results show that certain parts of the lake in fact fished very, very well:

  1. Perry Stone, 145-3-0
  2. Tommy Hiller, 93-0-0
  3. Mike Halstead, 60-4-0
  4. John Clarke, 51-8-0
  5. G Anderson, 37-0-0
  6. Charlie Dalton, 33-4-0

So congratulations to Perry Stone who fished a great match from end peg 87 (pegs 85 and 86 are currently out of action whilst a new car park is being constructed), catching consistently from his left-hand margin and on the tip casting diagonally to the parallel bank in front of peg 85. (I know this as I sat opposite him all day - lucky me!)

All the gear ...

Conclusions: as is often the case in winter and early spring, many carp venues can be very peggy as the fish tend to shoal together in tight groups - as a result a few anglers can have a very good day whilst the others struggle. I don't normally like to make such excuses, and I'm happy to admit that 3 months of not fishing has left me extremely rusty, but whilst my pellet feeder tactics are crude compared to the rigs needed to catch roach and F1s, they are extremely effective when fishing a peg full of feeding carp and I'm certain that if there had been a decent number of fish in my peg I would've caught more than the two that I did manage - roll-on summer!!!

Until next time ...