36-12-0 ...
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Sunday 30 October 2016
Sunday 9 October 2016
09 October 2016, John's Lake (Willinghurst)
47lb on the nose!
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Friday 30 September 2016
30 September 2016, Porth Reservoir (White Acres)
He who dares Rodney, he who dares!!! Porth Reservoir today, fished for the bream all day and came last in section!!!
So that’s another White Acres festival done and dusted, unfortunately my fishing performances were generally below par but the drinking and the banter were good so who cares!!!
So that’s another White Acres festival done and dusted, unfortunately my fishing performances were generally below par but the drinking and the banter were good so who cares!!!
Thursday 29 September 2016
29 September 2016, Twin Oaks (White Acres)
Right lake, nearly the right peg!!! Though it did only score 2 points yesterday ...
Twin Oaks peg 12 today. Had a mid-match meltdown and never had a fish between 14:30 and 16:00 as I was chasing shadows trying to catch the carp I could see swirling and tailing-up over my secret deep margin line at the bottom of the marginal shelf!!!
Other than that the first part of the match was OK as I managed a few on the hybrid feeder and the latter part of the match was OK once I started fishing the proper (tight to the bank) margin and the 5m line.
I was never going to compete with pegs 16 and 18 (and the awesome Roy Penkethmen who caught 120lb from peg 8) but was disappointed that my 67lb was just four pounds behind peg 10 and five pounds behind the mighty Paul Holland on peg 4, that wasted 90 minutes really costing me!!!
4 points only I'm afraid, Porth Reservoir tomorrow ...
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| Peg 12 it is |
Twin Oaks peg 12 today. Had a mid-match meltdown and never had a fish between 14:30 and 16:00 as I was chasing shadows trying to catch the carp I could see swirling and tailing-up over my secret deep margin line at the bottom of the marginal shelf!!!
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| Looking left |
Other than that the first part of the match was OK as I managed a few on the hybrid feeder and the latter part of the match was OK once I started fishing the proper (tight to the bank) margin and the 5m line.
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| All the gear ... |
I was never going to compete with pegs 16 and 18 (and the awesome Roy Penkethmen who caught 120lb from peg 8) but was disappointed that my 67lb was just four pounds behind peg 10 and five pounds behind the mighty Paul Holland on peg 4, that wasted 90 minutes really costing me!!!
4 points only I'm afraid, Porth Reservoir tomorrow ...
Wednesday 28 September 2016
28 September 2016, Trewaters (White Acres)
White Acres Maver festival day three today and Trewaters 49 was to be my home for 5 hours of fun and excitement ...
I started the match by fishing the secret deep margin rig at top kit plus 1 to the right in 3 feet of water – the float dipped under almost immediately, though after a spirited battle (lasting what seemed like a lifetime) something of a beast came off at the net!!! To say I was annoyed would be something of an understatement!!!
A switch to the pellet feeder to the island only lasted 3 chucks so the next few hours saw me rotating between the deep margin and a 5m line, potting few 6mm pellets as I went. This was fairly productive and I caught steadily, often getting one when returning to a rested swim.
Towards the end I fed the left margin (at TK + 1) with micros/riddled meat then maggots but could only generate a poor response (lost a small carp, landed odd skimmer) so I switched to fishing the deep margin rig at 11.5m into the corner – this got me a few more carp but I then lost a foul-hooker which seemed to upset things somewhat. I eventually went right under the bush in the corner at 13m with 15 minutes to go – I caught 3 carp doing this but I also lost 2 rigs in the gorse!!!
60lb on the nose for fourth in section and six points was the result – ohh and I beat Steve Sanders off the next peg so that was nice!
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| Nice photo of a tree |
I started the match by fishing the secret deep margin rig at top kit plus 1 to the right in 3 feet of water – the float dipped under almost immediately, though after a spirited battle (lasting what seemed like a lifetime) something of a beast came off at the net!!! To say I was annoyed would be something of an understatement!!!
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| Looking towards the central island |
A switch to the pellet feeder to the island only lasted 3 chucks so the next few hours saw me rotating between the deep margin and a 5m line, potting few 6mm pellets as I went. This was fairly productive and I caught steadily, often getting one when returning to a rested swim.
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| The corner to the left |
Towards the end I fed the left margin (at TK + 1) with micros/riddled meat then maggots but could only generate a poor response (lost a small carp, landed odd skimmer) so I switched to fishing the deep margin rig at 11.5m into the corner – this got me a few more carp but I then lost a foul-hooker which seemed to upset things somewhat. I eventually went right under the bush in the corner at 13m with 15 minutes to go – I caught 3 carp doing this but I also lost 2 rigs in the gorse!!!
60lb on the nose for fourth in section and six points was the result – ohh and I beat Steve Sanders off the next peg so that was nice!
Tuesday 27 September 2016
27 September 2016, Pollawyn (White Acres)
Today was day two of the 2016 Maver festival and after yesterday’s good start I was looking for another flyer in order to keep the momentum going. Being drawn into E section for this festival meant that I’d be staying onsite today as I’d be fishing Pollawyn – over recent seasons the fishing on this lake seems to have gotten trickier and trickier, making that dip into the bag of dreams even more vital ...
The pegs to draw on Pollawyn normally include those on the infamous High Bank – these face onto the widest part of the lake and are typically home to the big old carp that have been swimming about in this lake since the initial stocking way back when. However my home for the day was to be peg 45 – this isn’t on the High Bank but is often considered to be something of a flyer as you can flick a swinger rig with 16m of pole and a 2m lash into the far-bank rushes, as demonstrated by Lee Edwards in the Preston Innovations Winning Pegs 6 DVD.
So with the far-bank rushes being the obvious feature this formed the basis of my pre-match attack, the rig in question being mounted on a black Hydrolastic top kit and consisting of 0.17 Guru N-Gauge mainline, a 0.6g Drennan Inline Crystal Dibber and a 15cm hooklength of 0.13 into a size 16 Guru LWG hook with a hair-rigged pellet band. As a back-up I also set-up a rig for fishing for perch and other silverfish along the left-hand margin, as well as a rig for catching anything and everything at top kit plus two sections slightly to the right.
Unfortunately the match itself didn’t really go to plan! I spent a great deal of the match (far too long in hindsight) flicking my rig towards the far-bank rushes, only hooking 6 carp and only managing to land 3. (I did however manage to hook the rushes many, many times and I did manage to get through loads and loads of hooklengths!) When I finally got around to trying my other lines I couldn’t buy a bite from the left-hand margin (even on single maggot) and the 5m line only produced a few perch and barbel (I have a sneaky feeling that there aren’t as many skimmers in this lake as there used to be).
In the end my 3 carp and associated bits and bobs went 19-0-0, only good enough for 4 points (sixth in section). This means that I’ve dropped from twenty-fourth to sixtieth and looking for a better result tomorrow on Jenny’s Lake or Trewaters!
Until next time ...
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| Another flyer! |
The pegs to draw on Pollawyn normally include those on the infamous High Bank – these face onto the widest part of the lake and are typically home to the big old carp that have been swimming about in this lake since the initial stocking way back when. However my home for the day was to be peg 45 – this isn’t on the High Bank but is often considered to be something of a flyer as you can flick a swinger rig with 16m of pole and a 2m lash into the far-bank rushes, as demonstrated by Lee Edwards in the Preston Innovations Winning Pegs 6 DVD.
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| Looking left |
So with the far-bank rushes being the obvious feature this formed the basis of my pre-match attack, the rig in question being mounted on a black Hydrolastic top kit and consisting of 0.17 Guru N-Gauge mainline, a 0.6g Drennan Inline Crystal Dibber and a 15cm hooklength of 0.13 into a size 16 Guru LWG hook with a hair-rigged pellet band. As a back-up I also set-up a rig for fishing for perch and other silverfish along the left-hand margin, as well as a rig for catching anything and everything at top kit plus two sections slightly to the right.
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| Looking right |
Unfortunately the match itself didn’t really go to plan! I spent a great deal of the match (far too long in hindsight) flicking my rig towards the far-bank rushes, only hooking 6 carp and only managing to land 3. (I did however manage to hook the rushes many, many times and I did manage to get through loads and loads of hooklengths!) When I finally got around to trying my other lines I couldn’t buy a bite from the left-hand margin (even on single maggot) and the 5m line only produced a few perch and barbel (I have a sneaky feeling that there aren’t as many skimmers in this lake as there used to be).
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| Cosy! |
In the end my 3 carp and associated bits and bobs went 19-0-0, only good enough for 4 points (sixth in section). This means that I’ve dropped from twenty-fourth to sixtieth and looking for a better result tomorrow on Jenny’s Lake or Trewaters!
Until next time ...
Monday 26 September 2016
26 September 2016, Bolingey (White Acres)
So after a nice sunny day at Boligney on Friday it was back to the same venue today for the first day of the five day 2016 Maver festival, though unfortunately the weather was somewhat different! Whilst Friday was a lovely warm, sunny day the weather forecast for today was basically for rain all day and unfortunately on this occasion Michael Fish’s prediction was 100% correct!!!
However, just like Friday I did manage to draw another good peg, this time number 10 – this is also on the back lake but is on the narrower, left-hand side, next door to peg 11 where Claire ‘Bagger’ Hollis smashed-out a section winning 130lb in the Milo festival back in May.
I started with a small feeder to the island (same gear as Friday) again and despite a late switch to the bomb and bread I finished the first hour fishless and biteless – not the flying start to the festival I was hoping for! There must’ve been fish in the area as Tom Cole next door on peg 11 was picking-off the odd fish on the bomb and bread, but concluding that either I wasn’t doing it right or that the fish were happier around the point of the island in front of Tom a switch to the pole was in order. (Funnily enough Tom and I drew next to each other in last year’s Maver festival on Bolingey, Tom sitting on 10 with myself on 11.)
I started on the 5m (top kit plus two) line and had a feeling it was going to be tricky as it was over 8’ deep here, a depth that in my experience makes foul-hookers all too common. This turned-out to be the case as I hooked 4 carp here but only landed 2, neither of which had the hook in the right place! However a line at the top of the near shelf in about 3’ was much better – in total I landed 5 good fish (including one of 16lb that looked much bigger) from this spot and only lost 2, neither of which felt obviously foul-hooked.
The rest of my catch came from the right-hand margin – as I was fishing at Bolingey it seemed rude not to fish the margins at some point, though in fairness I probably caught more from the 3’ line. In the end my fished weighed 105-11-0 putting me second in section and a mighty twenty-fourth out of 180 heading into day two …
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| Roll-up, roll-up! |
However, just like Friday I did manage to draw another good peg, this time number 10 – this is also on the back lake but is on the narrower, left-hand side, next door to peg 11 where Claire ‘Bagger’ Hollis smashed-out a section winning 130lb in the Milo festival back in May.
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| Tom Cole next door on 11 |
I started with a small feeder to the island (same gear as Friday) again and despite a late switch to the bomb and bread I finished the first hour fishless and biteless – not the flying start to the festival I was hoping for! There must’ve been fish in the area as Tom Cole next door on peg 11 was picking-off the odd fish on the bomb and bread, but concluding that either I wasn’t doing it right or that the fish were happier around the point of the island in front of Tom a switch to the pole was in order. (Funnily enough Tom and I drew next to each other in last year’s Maver festival on Bolingey, Tom sitting on 10 with myself on 11.)
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| Not much sun today! |
I started on the 5m (top kit plus two) line and had a feeling it was going to be tricky as it was over 8’ deep here, a depth that in my experience makes foul-hookers all too common. This turned-out to be the case as I hooked 4 carp here but only landed 2, neither of which had the hook in the right place! However a line at the top of the near shelf in about 3’ was much better – in total I landed 5 good fish (including one of 16lb that looked much bigger) from this spot and only lost 2, neither of which felt obviously foul-hooked.
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| The right-hand margin |
The rest of my catch came from the right-hand margin – as I was fishing at Bolingey it seemed rude not to fish the margins at some point, though in fairness I probably caught more from the 3’ line. In the end my fished weighed 105-11-0 putting me second in section and a mighty twenty-fourth out of 180 heading into day two …
Friday 23 September 2016
23 September 2016, Bolingey (White Acres)
I’m sure we’d all agree that at times match fishing can be a frustrating mistress. There are days when you draw the only peg in the bag with no chance whatsoever of doing any good. Then there are the days when it is cold and wet or there is the tail-end of a hurricane wreaking havoc across the country, breaking pole sections for fun. And then of course there are the days when we get our tactics wrong, turning a pre-match flyer to dust! However every now and again everything comes together and suddenly everything is right with the world …
So with it being a Friday at White Acres it could mean it was time for only one thing – Bolingey o’clock! Things started well with the best bacon roll in Cornwall and a dolly of a draw in peg 18, a cracking looking peg on the far side of the back lake with the point of the central island directly in front at about 25m and a superb looking margin to the left, with what I can only describe as a ‘pointy out bit of banking’ at about top kit plus 3.
The first two hours of the match were fairly steady with approximately 45lb of small carp falling to a small feeder cast to the island – as all legering devices at Bolingey need to be totally free running the rig itself consisted of a 24g mini Guru hybrid feeder on 8lb Daiwa Sensor stopped by a Drennan quick change bead. The hooklength was made-up of 10cm of 0.19 Guru N-Gauge with a size 14 QM1 and an 8mm hair – just right for a slightly trimmed-down piece of 8mm wafter. (The feeder itself was loaded with soaked White Acres 2mm pellets with a little Mainline Cell liquid for added stickiness.)
When a bite came it would come within a few seconds of the feeder landing, leaving the feeder in the water for any length of time literally being a complete waste of time. Bites came at fairly regular intervals from the start until about 2 o’clock – right up until the point I was thinking that things were going pretty well, when like a switch the fish seemed to completely disappear and I couldn’t buy a bite on feeder, bomb or waggler for the next hour!!!
Slightly earlier than I’d intended it was by now 3 o’clock and time to attack the margin – as soon as I did I wished I’d done so earlier as it was solid! The fish weren’t massive (6-10lb) but there were plenty of them and they were well up for a munch with about 90lb of them gracing my net before the all-out was called at 5 o’clock.
In the end my three nets went 135-12-0, good enough for third overall (in all fairness only a mere ten ounces ahead of fourth), but agonisingly close to first and second (148lb and 146lb), that wasted hour between 2 and 3pm really costing me. Anyway Monday is the first day of the Maver festival and we are back on Bolingey so I will be looking for another dolly of a draw and a section or lake win – if only it was that easy!!!
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| All the gear ... |
So with it being a Friday at White Acres it could mean it was time for only one thing – Bolingey o’clock! Things started well with the best bacon roll in Cornwall and a dolly of a draw in peg 18, a cracking looking peg on the far side of the back lake with the point of the central island directly in front at about 25m and a superb looking margin to the left, with what I can only describe as a ‘pointy out bit of banking’ at about top kit plus 3.
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| Nice day for it |
The first two hours of the match were fairly steady with approximately 45lb of small carp falling to a small feeder cast to the island – as all legering devices at Bolingey need to be totally free running the rig itself consisted of a 24g mini Guru hybrid feeder on 8lb Daiwa Sensor stopped by a Drennan quick change bead. The hooklength was made-up of 10cm of 0.19 Guru N-Gauge with a size 14 QM1 and an 8mm hair – just right for a slightly trimmed-down piece of 8mm wafter. (The feeder itself was loaded with soaked White Acres 2mm pellets with a little Mainline Cell liquid for added stickiness.)
When a bite came it would come within a few seconds of the feeder landing, leaving the feeder in the water for any length of time literally being a complete waste of time. Bites came at fairly regular intervals from the start until about 2 o’clock – right up until the point I was thinking that things were going pretty well, when like a switch the fish seemed to completely disappear and I couldn’t buy a bite on feeder, bomb or waggler for the next hour!!!
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| The lovely looking left margin |
Slightly earlier than I’d intended it was by now 3 o’clock and time to attack the margin – as soon as I did I wished I’d done so earlier as it was solid! The fish weren’t massive (6-10lb) but there were plenty of them and they were well up for a munch with about 90lb of them gracing my net before the all-out was called at 5 o’clock.
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| Rude not to! |
In the end my three nets went 135-12-0, good enough for third overall (in all fairness only a mere ten ounces ahead of fourth), but agonisingly close to first and second (148lb and 146lb), that wasted hour between 2 and 3pm really costing me. Anyway Monday is the first day of the Maver festival and we are back on Bolingey so I will be looking for another dolly of a draw and a section or lake win – if only it was that easy!!!
Thursday 22 September 2016
22 September 2016, Twin Oaks (White Acres)
Yet another White Acres Thursday rover match today and with a hundred plus on it a low (or really high) draw and good peg selection would be as essential as ever. My plan was to get on the low numbered Twin Oaks, as close to 16 as possible - thanks to an average draw (29, so not really low and not really high) and pleasure anglers taking the best pegs I could only go as high as peg 6, not the best peg in the world but not a bad choice as come three thirty the winner would come from peg 5!!!
Ignoring the lessons learned from Monday I started on the feeder to the far bank and failed to catch anything until I switched to the waggler and somehow hooked a lone carp that took pity on me – as mentioned above the angler on peg 5 to my left would go on to win the match and he caught steadily on the feeder from beginning to end to secure victory with 78lb. Having discussed matters after the match the difference between our pegs was obvious – peg 5 had some nice tufts of grass lining the far margin whereas peg 6 just had bare banking. We concluded that the grass itself wasn’t holding the fish, but rather the grass was holding-up the bank giving a reasonable depth tight over whereas my bare bank had basically collapsed giving no depth (and no carp) whatsoever!
A switch to the short pole lead to something best described by one word: ‘carnage’!!! The first five fish hooked all came off, presumably foul-hooked due to the wrong feeding pattern or poor presentation (or both). (Personally I find this terribly annoying, I’d much rather not hook anything than have to suffer that sinking feeling when you know you’re going to lose one.) I did though eventually manage to land an F1 and two double-figure carp, one of the carp being firmly hooked in the tail!!!
Just as things got going a cormorant arrived and swam up and down right in front of me and the two pleasure anglers to my right packed-up, making loads of noise in the process – happy days! Having learned something from Monday I decided not to fish the normal margin today as it plumbed-up all wrong – instead I fished a secret 2.5' line 5-6' from the bank, catching two further lumps giving me a total of six fish for 45-0-0, 16th overall and only 10lb short of the frame, those lost fish (nearly 50%) really costing me a decent result as a 100% bite-to-fish ratio may have been enough – if only it was that easy!!!
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| Just needed to add 10 |
Ignoring the lessons learned from Monday I started on the feeder to the far bank and failed to catch anything until I switched to the waggler and somehow hooked a lone carp that took pity on me – as mentioned above the angler on peg 5 to my left would go on to win the match and he caught steadily on the feeder from beginning to end to secure victory with 78lb. Having discussed matters after the match the difference between our pegs was obvious – peg 5 had some nice tufts of grass lining the far margin whereas peg 6 just had bare banking. We concluded that the grass itself wasn’t holding the fish, but rather the grass was holding-up the bank giving a reasonable depth tight over whereas my bare bank had basically collapsed giving no depth (and no carp) whatsoever!
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| Looking left |
A switch to the short pole lead to something best described by one word: ‘carnage’!!! The first five fish hooked all came off, presumably foul-hooked due to the wrong feeding pattern or poor presentation (or both). (Personally I find this terribly annoying, I’d much rather not hook anything than have to suffer that sinking feeling when you know you’re going to lose one.) I did though eventually manage to land an F1 and two double-figure carp, one of the carp being firmly hooked in the tail!!!
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| Looking right |
Just as things got going a cormorant arrived and swam up and down right in front of me and the two pleasure anglers to my right packed-up, making loads of noise in the process – happy days! Having learned something from Monday I decided not to fish the normal margin today as it plumbed-up all wrong – instead I fished a secret 2.5' line 5-6' from the bank, catching two further lumps giving me a total of six fish for 45-0-0, 16th overall and only 10lb short of the frame, those lost fish (nearly 50%) really costing me a decent result as a 100% bite-to-fish ratio may have been enough – if only it was that easy!!!
Monday 19 September 2016
19 September 2016, Twin Oaks (White Acres)
Today was the first match of our third visit to White Acres this year – this time we’ll be staying for two weeks, the first being more of a holiday week before moving on to the Maver festival next Monday. Today’s match was one of the regular Monday residents’ matches with the anglers spread across Twin Oaks, Acorn, Canal and Trelawney – like most people in the queue for the draw I was hoping to see Twin Oaks 16 in the palm of my hand, and I thought I had when Twin Oaks 11 flashed before my eyes!
So I was on the right lake but as most of you will know the pegs around the famous number 16 on the low numbered Twin Oaks tend to dominate with the early pegs only really being any good if the wind is blasting the wrong way (i.e. from the right into peg 1). Putting that to one side there was still a lot of play for as I was in a section with the other pegs in the middle of the lake (importantly not 14-18) and today would prove a good practice for next week’s Maver festival should I draw on this lake again.
As per usual I seemed to have next to no time to set-up (the 90 minutes between draw and all-in on these matches seems minuscule when compared to the two and a half hours you get on the festivals) and by ten thirty I only had a single tip rod ready so I started on that! Unfortunately by midday I’d only managed three carp (two on the method feeder and one on the straight lead) so it was time to get off my arse and set-up a pole rig for the 5m line and another for the right-hand margin.
The margin line proved to be something of a waste of time (literally) as despite seeing lot of swirls over my riddled meat and micros I never had a bite from a carp – perhaps it was too shallow (12"), too early in the day or the topography wasn't right (there was a massive undercut and as the platforms are set back it was hard to get tight to the bank) – but luckily the 5m line proved to be pretty decent as I caught the balance of my 60-10-0 from this approach, just enough to secure a fortunate section win by a couple of pounds. As it turned-out I only needed another 17lb to make the frame and with hindsight not wasting half of my match on the feeder/margins and focussing solely on the 5m line would probably have got me to 100lb plus – if only it was as easy as that!!!
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| Pre-match excitement |
So I was on the right lake but as most of you will know the pegs around the famous number 16 on the low numbered Twin Oaks tend to dominate with the early pegs only really being any good if the wind is blasting the wrong way (i.e. from the right into peg 1). Putting that to one side there was still a lot of play for as I was in a section with the other pegs in the middle of the lake (importantly not 14-18) and today would prove a good practice for next week’s Maver festival should I draw on this lake again.
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| Spot the seagull |
As per usual I seemed to have next to no time to set-up (the 90 minutes between draw and all-in on these matches seems minuscule when compared to the two and a half hours you get on the festivals) and by ten thirty I only had a single tip rod ready so I started on that! Unfortunately by midday I’d only managed three carp (two on the method feeder and one on the straight lead) so it was time to get off my arse and set-up a pole rig for the 5m line and another for the right-hand margin.
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| All the gear .. |
The margin line proved to be something of a waste of time (literally) as despite seeing lot of swirls over my riddled meat and micros I never had a bite from a carp – perhaps it was too shallow (12"), too early in the day or the topography wasn't right (there was a massive undercut and as the platforms are set back it was hard to get tight to the bank) – but luckily the 5m line proved to be pretty decent as I caught the balance of my 60-10-0 from this approach, just enough to secure a fortunate section win by a couple of pounds. As it turned-out I only needed another 17lb to make the frame and with hindsight not wasting half of my match on the feeder/margins and focussing solely on the 5m line would probably have got me to 100lb plus – if only it was as easy as that!!!
Saturday 27 August 2016
27 August 2016, John's Lake (Willinghurst)
Well it was our last visit to Willinghurst for a while today - two non-fishing weekends followed by two weeks at White Acres means we won't be back until October. Luckily things went well and after endless 'one out of the monies' I finally managed to sneak into the frame with a third place from peg 8 on John's Lake.
This lake has been fishing really well lately with Luke Sheriff setting a new record with 199lb earlier in the week. My draw saw me on peg 8 a pretty standard pitch with one exception - apparently during the week Paul 'Tippy' Taylor had done some serious gardening, making peg 7's platform nicely accessible with 11.5m of pole. In all fairness peg 7 was solid - I saw loads of fish in front of the platform before the match had even started!!! In the end I managed one small (1lb) carp on the short pole and the rest from peg 7's platform to finish with a nice 130-2-0.
Until next time ...
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| Thanks Tippy!!! |
This lake has been fishing really well lately with Luke Sheriff setting a new record with 199lb earlier in the week. My draw saw me on peg 8 a pretty standard pitch with one exception - apparently during the week Paul 'Tippy' Taylor had done some serious gardening, making peg 7's platform nicely accessible with 11.5m of pole. In all fairness peg 7 was solid - I saw loads of fish in front of the platform before the match had even started!!! In the end I managed one small (1lb) carp on the short pole and the rest from peg 7's platform to finish with a nice 130-2-0.
Until next time ...
Sunday 21 August 2016
21 August 2016, Pittance Lake (Willinghurst)
Another trip to Willinghurst today - due to club bookings the open match was limited to New Lake and Pittance Lake so having never even seen Pittance I was hoping for a draw on New Lake (I know what I like and I like what I know and all that). As a result I drew on Pittance - peg 16 (normally a good omen), a nice looking end peg with a nice corner to chuck into and with the wind blowing in there too I was confident of getting a few pulls.
However it wasn't to be and I could only manage one small carp on the feeder and a succession of crayfish on the 5m line - though I can't decide if the highlight of the day was watching Kris Fields spending an hour up a tree cutting down branches or seeing Claire 'Bagger' Hollis fishing opposite Stevie Gardener and beating him 39lb to 23!!!
Until next time ...
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| For pity's sake |
However it wasn't to be and I could only manage one small carp on the feeder and a succession of crayfish on the 5m line - though I can't decide if the highlight of the day was watching Kris Fields spending an hour up a tree cutting down branches or seeing Claire 'Bagger' Hollis fishing opposite Stevie Gardener and beating him 39lb to 23!!!
Until next time ...
Sunday 14 August 2016
14 August 2016, Top Lake (Willinghurst)
Another match at Willinghurst today – this time I drew peg 10 on Top Lake, the first time I’ve drawn on the main bowl of this lake. For company I had a full house of superstars – England match fishing legend Steve Gardener to my left, woman of the moment Claire ‘Bagger’ Hollis directly opposite, Gold Valley nomad Stefan Gent to Claire’s left and venue experts Jason Morgan and Ben Cooke to my right. Summer open matches at Willinghurst are six and a half hour affairs running from 1030 to 1700 and things often start slowly – however I didn’t think it would take me over three hours to catch my first fish and I didn’t think it would be a 2 ounce perch!!! (There were plenty of carp cruising through my pellet waggler line but could I get a bite? Could I heck!)
The action eventually got going after 2 o’clock – by this time I was fishing my right margin in front of a fishy looking reed bed. I hooked seven fish here – one fell-off at the net and three others ran me through those rushes, turning my 0.19 into candy floss!!! Even though there were clearly plenty of fish there I decided I really couldn’t be bothered tying a new rig every second bite so I switched to fishing to the left, occasionally to the platform at 14.5m but mainly tight to the bank at top kit plus 4. So whilst there were less fish on this side every proper bite led to a fish in the net, boosting my halfway score of 0-2-0 to 69-0-0 by the end. Ultimately that slow start really cost me as I finished-up third in section, 17lb behind Steve and 23lb behind Jason – one out of the money of course!
Until next time ...
Sunday 7 August 2016
07 August 2016, Top Lake (Willinghurst)
An interesting day at Willinghurst again today, my draw putting me on peg 22 on the back spit of Top Lake – this is quite a narrow peg (16m of pole will easily reach the far bank) and there is a bridge to the right that crosses the link between the back spit and the infamous Bung Hole. For immediate company I had venue experts Paul ‘Tippy’ Taylor on 25 and John Radford on 24 to my left, plus I had Paul Holland over my right shoulder on peg 2 in the Bung Hole, so I knew I had my work cut-out from the beginning!
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| Looking right with the Bung Hole behind |
I started my match by fishing to the far bank next to the bridge – things started slowly but I eventually managed a few carp on corn and meat hookbaits, though these fish were very small (less than a pound) and one of the biggest carp was actually a tench! Just as things were slowing down Don Garnish on peg 1 had his pole dragged in by a rogue carp and led to him running backwards and forwards across the bridge like a madman before jumping into Paul Holland's peg via the back of mine! Funnily enough this didn’t seem to stop Paul from catching but I didn’t have another bite for nearly 3 hours!!! Luckily the fish returned in the final hour and I added about 30lb to my score (51-0-0), leaving me just short of John (59-0-0) and Tippy (58-8-0) but miles behind Paul Holland (120lb+).
Until next time ...
Sunday 31 July 2016
31 July 2016, New Lake (Willinghurst)
After a run of decent weights (if not results) it was back down to earth with a bump on peg 15 on New Lake at Willinghurst on Sunday where I was literally battered left (Tony Yianni, peg 17, 133-8-0), right (Paul Gibson, peg 12, 98-8-0) and centre (Jake Gallagher, peg 7, 106-6-0)!!!
My plan of bagging-up on the long pole shallow early doors then coming down the edge for a couple of hours of epic catching at the end only produced 6 carp for 38-8-0 – and two of those came in the last 10 minutes!!! Though as Paul Weller once sang – We came out of it naturally the worst: Beaten and bloody, and I was sick down my shirt. We were no match for their untamed wit, though some of the lads said they'd be back next week ...
Until next time ...
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| All the gear ... |
My plan of bagging-up on the long pole shallow early doors then coming down the edge for a couple of hours of epic catching at the end only produced 6 carp for 38-8-0 – and two of those came in the last 10 minutes!!! Though as Paul Weller once sang – We came out of it naturally the worst: Beaten and bloody, and I was sick down my shirt. We were no match for their untamed wit, though some of the lads said they'd be back next week ...
Until next time ...
Sunday 24 July 2016
24 July 2016, Old Lake (Willinghurst)
An enjoyable and slightly frustrating day at Willinghurst again on Sunday. I drew peg 1 on Old Lake – something of a flyer but in all fairness you’d have to fancy any peg on this lake at the moment as on their day 1, 3, 5, 9, 11, 13, 22, 24 and 26 are all capable of a very big weight! On reaching the peg it was clear that the wind had blown a huge amount of scum into the corner and the whole peg was covered in that annoying cotton-like fluff that collects on your line and in your rod rings – however this can also be a good thing as the carp like to sit under it and feed on it.
Going into the final two hours I had a decent 75-80lb in the net, mainly caught on the waggler – I started on a 3g float but soon had to step-up to an 8g version so I could cast through the fluff in the eyes of my rod without having to clear it out each and every time! (I probably had to re-tie this rod 5 or 6 times to clear the fluff that had built-up around the base of the float and in the rod rings.) Unfortunately the final two hours weren’t as productive as I’d have liked and I only put a further 35-40lb of margin caught carp in the net. This gave me a total of 113-12-0, not even one out of the money as Kris Fields took that accolade with 114-0-0!!! Saying that we were miles behind Jason Morgan (140 odd), Stevie Gardener (180 odd) and Marc Illingworth (190 odd) – roll-on Sunday, can’t wait for another go!!!
Until next time ...
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| Not ideal conditions for the waggler!!! |
Going into the final two hours I had a decent 75-80lb in the net, mainly caught on the waggler – I started on a 3g float but soon had to step-up to an 8g version so I could cast through the fluff in the eyes of my rod without having to clear it out each and every time! (I probably had to re-tie this rod 5 or 6 times to clear the fluff that had built-up around the base of the float and in the rod rings.) Unfortunately the final two hours weren’t as productive as I’d have liked and I only put a further 35-40lb of margin caught carp in the net. This gave me a total of 113-12-0, not even one out of the money as Kris Fields took that accolade with 114-0-0!!! Saying that we were miles behind Jason Morgan (140 odd), Stevie Gardener (180 odd) and Marc Illingworth (190 odd) – roll-on Sunday, can’t wait for another go!!!
Until next time ...
Sunday 17 July 2016
17 July 2016, Campbell Lake (Viaduct Fishery)
Day two of our cheeky weekend away at Viaduct Fishery – I’d love to say that I spent last night sorting my kit/bait and having a nice meal in the Glastonbury Travelodge but the truth of the matter is that we went to a nightclub that was full of people much less than half my age and they were playing a style of music I couldn’t even begin to comprehend!!! (I was later informed that the music was something called ‘jungle’, though I’m still none the wiser.)
After yesterday’s match on Lodge Lake today’s event was to be held on the infamous Campbell Lake, home to some monster carp and home to some monster match weights in excess of 200 pounds. Having not seen this particular lake before we had a quick look around before the draw and I have to say it seemed much more suited to my style of fishing than Lodge Lake – Campbell is a much bigger lake (35 pegs) and hence rod and line tactics seemed more applicable. The lake itself is a simple rectangle with platforms along all four sides, the only visible feature being an aerator somewhere near the middle (so no islands) – it very much reminded me of the first two lakes at Bolingey, just twice the size.
My draw saw me on peg 123 – this is a spot in the far corner of the lake. As a result I had lots of room and access into the corner to my left but unusually for rectangular venues one of the pegs along the short bank was occupied. This restricted my open water fishing to a range of 20-22m – any further than this and I’d have been casting my bomb or waggler onto the end of the guy on peg 121’s pole!
Prior to the all-in I settled on four options and set-up the following rigs:
I started my match by pinging a few 8mm pellets onto my bomb lines (one straight in front, one diagonally to the left towards the narrow bank), a nice pull and a decent carp from the line straight in front first cast being my reward. Unfortunately this was only followed by some fizzing and the odd liner so I soon moved on to the bomb line towards bank – this was soon sacked-off as it was full of twigs and every time I reeled-in I found some form of plant matter or other masking my hook point.
I eventually managed a tench and another carp from the original straight lead line but following even more fizzing and the sight of the odd carp swirling through my loose feed I decided to set-up a pellet waggler rod. Second cast on this new approach saw a proper bite (that pulled the rod tip as I was reaching for my catapult) and carp number three was soon in the net – though this was something of a false dawn as over the next hour or so I could only manage two more bites on it, the first being a big foul-hooked fish that took absolutely ages to land!
As sport on the waggler was hardly hectic I decided to have a quick look on the 5m line with meat – this saw plenty of bites but generally from very (very) small fish and even though I also managed a tench and a couple of skimmers it was clear that I was going nowhere with this line so it was time to move on again. In mild desperation I upgraded my bomb to a 19g version and tied-up a PVA bag of pellets to attach to the hook and as is often the case such a change of tactic led to a carp first cast. Obviously I thought I'd cracked it, then promptly never had another bite on it – that’s fishing I guess!!!
As a result I went long down the edge to the left earlier than expected (1330) and kicked things off with a big pot of dead read maggots and sweetcorn – this led to a carp straight away on a big bunch of dead maggots, then nothing for the next twenty minutes, so as expected it was still a little bit too early for all out margin fishing. I returned to the straight lead in front line, feeding really heavily with 8mm pellets to try and induce a reaction, though in the end I only really managed to induce loads and loads of fizzing!!! (I eventually got a pull which fell-off at the net - boo.)
With two hours or so to go I went back down the edge and eventually got into a run of fish, big potting a combination of live and dead read maggots definitely being the best feeding approach. As is often the case I lost a few (almost certainly all foul-hooked), but I also landed a fair few on big bunches of dead maggots. In the end my fish weighed a total of 84-8-0, a decent enough weight but still well short of the superstars that made the frame:
So that’s the end of a very enjoyable weekend – Viaduct certainly seems to be an excellent venue and the people that run the place are particularly friendly and helpful. It’s just a shame that it’s a two and a half hour trip each way, but I for one would be keen to pay a visit again in the near future.
Until next time …
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| Day 2 - Campbell Lake |
After yesterday’s match on Lodge Lake today’s event was to be held on the infamous Campbell Lake, home to some monster carp and home to some monster match weights in excess of 200 pounds. Having not seen this particular lake before we had a quick look around before the draw and I have to say it seemed much more suited to my style of fishing than Lodge Lake – Campbell is a much bigger lake (35 pegs) and hence rod and line tactics seemed more applicable. The lake itself is a simple rectangle with platforms along all four sides, the only visible feature being an aerator somewhere near the middle (so no islands) – it very much reminded me of the first two lakes at Bolingey, just twice the size.
 |
| All the gear ... |
My draw saw me on peg 123 – this is a spot in the far corner of the lake. As a result I had lots of room and access into the corner to my left but unusually for rectangular venues one of the pegs along the short bank was occupied. This restricted my open water fishing to a range of 20-22m – any further than this and I’d have been casting my bomb or waggler onto the end of the guy on peg 121’s pole!
 |
| Looking towards 121 |
Prior to the all-in I settled on four options and set-up the following rigs:
- Straight lead – 8lb Daiwa Sensor main line, a free-running 10g Guru square bomb and 30cm of 0.17 N-Gauge to a size 14 QM1 with an 8mm hair-rig (the correct length for a drilled 8mm pellet)
- Top 2 plus 2 – black Hydro, 0.17 main line, 4x12 Roob (shot with number 10 stotz shirt button style to give a slow fall), 15cm hooklength of 0.13 to a size 16 LWG (eyed)
- Short margin at top 2 plus 2 – red Hydro, 0.19 straight through to a size 12 MWG, 0.3 SconeZone V6
- Long margin at 11.5m – same components as above (this line was fished at 11.5m as this is the longest distance I could fish at and still get tight to the bank, any further and the bank disappeared out of sight around a bit of a point)
 |
| I was opposite Bagger today |
I started my match by pinging a few 8mm pellets onto my bomb lines (one straight in front, one diagonally to the left towards the narrow bank), a nice pull and a decent carp from the line straight in front first cast being my reward. Unfortunately this was only followed by some fizzing and the odd liner so I soon moved on to the bomb line towards bank – this was soon sacked-off as it was full of twigs and every time I reeled-in I found some form of plant matter or other masking my hook point.
I eventually managed a tench and another carp from the original straight lead line but following even more fizzing and the sight of the odd carp swirling through my loose feed I decided to set-up a pellet waggler rod. Second cast on this new approach saw a proper bite (that pulled the rod tip as I was reaching for my catapult) and carp number three was soon in the net – though this was something of a false dawn as over the next hour or so I could only manage two more bites on it, the first being a big foul-hooked fish that took absolutely ages to land!
 |
| The margin line to the left |
As sport on the waggler was hardly hectic I decided to have a quick look on the 5m line with meat – this saw plenty of bites but generally from very (very) small fish and even though I also managed a tench and a couple of skimmers it was clear that I was going nowhere with this line so it was time to move on again. In mild desperation I upgraded my bomb to a 19g version and tied-up a PVA bag of pellets to attach to the hook and as is often the case such a change of tactic led to a carp first cast. Obviously I thought I'd cracked it, then promptly never had another bite on it – that’s fishing I guess!!!
As a result I went long down the edge to the left earlier than expected (1330) and kicked things off with a big pot of dead read maggots and sweetcorn – this led to a carp straight away on a big bunch of dead maggots, then nothing for the next twenty minutes, so as expected it was still a little bit too early for all out margin fishing. I returned to the straight lead in front line, feeding really heavily with 8mm pellets to try and induce a reaction, though in the end I only really managed to induce loads and loads of fizzing!!! (I eventually got a pull which fell-off at the net - boo.)
 |
| Those boots need a polish! |
With two hours or so to go I went back down the edge and eventually got into a run of fish, big potting a combination of live and dead read maggots definitely being the best feeding approach. As is often the case I lost a few (almost certainly all foul-hooked), but I also landed a fair few on big bunches of dead maggots. In the end my fish weighed a total of 84-8-0, a decent enough weight but still well short of the superstars that made the frame:
- Pete Franklin - 171lb 3oz - peg 127
- Martin Johnson - 162lb 15oz - peg 125
- Ian Dunlop - 146lb 15oz - peg 114
- Neil Morgan - 136lb 13oz - peg 129
- Rob Wiltshire - 130lb 8oz - peg 126
- Phil Cardwell - 115lb 15oz - peg 128
So that’s the end of a very enjoyable weekend – Viaduct certainly seems to be an excellent venue and the people that run the place are particularly friendly and helpful. It’s just a shame that it’s a two and a half hour trip each way, but I for one would be keen to pay a visit again in the near future.
Until next time …
Saturday 16 July 2016
16 July 2016, Lodge Lake (Viaduct Fishery)
Something slightly different this weekend – our local Apollo Guildford match team have once again made it through to the semi-final of the Angling Times Supercup, the venue being the prolific Viaduct Fishery in Somerton, Somerset. As a result the guys have arranged a cheeky weekend away to get to know the place and kindly extended the invite to Bagger and myself – Glastonbury Travelodge here we come!!!
Viaduct is not a fishery that I’ve visited before but I’d read a lot about it and a quick look online yielded loads of blogs and YouTube videos, the films showing Jonny Arthur catching just 18 fish for 252-11-0 to win a Fish’O’Mania qualifier and another showing Adam Wakelin beating Andy Power by an ounce (279-6-0 versus 279-5-0) to win a round of the UK championship making particularly good viewing.
Today’s match was to be held on Lodge Lake, a roughly triangular shaped pond with 20 pegs. There was an (inactive) aerator located in the middle of the lake but no central islands – as this isn’t the biggest lake in the world (and there are pegs along all three sides) it struck me as being mainly a pole venue, though there are a few pegs where you could probably cast a waggler or straight lead without infringing too much on your fellow anglers.
My draw saw me on peg 64, probably the furthest pitch from the tackle shop/carpark but apparently a good one as it is in a corner and features something called ‘The Monk’ – a concrete pillar about 5’ from the bank towards the corner to the right that is no doubt something to do with controlling water levels. As well as The Monk and the corner to my right I had a small bay between two trees on the opposite bank (diagonally to my right) and a vacant platform to my left. I had Luke Sheriff for company directly across on peg 66 – he had a nice gap between the bank and an overhanging tree to his left, but as we were pegged opposite each other in the narrowest part of the lake we effectively cancelled each other out in terms of being able to fish long into open water.
Prior to the start of the match I settled on a three pronged attack and explicitly chose not to fish a certain area. The lines that I settled on were:
Rightly or wrongly I decided not to fish long into the corner to my right and I had 4 reasons for this:
To be perfectly frank I found the first 5 and a half hours of today’s match somewhat frustrating (summer open matches at Viaduct are normally 6 hour affairs fished from 11 until 5). The bomb line into the bay diagonally across to my right looked really fishy but seemed to be full of twigs and only produced three proper pulls from three fairly small carp. The paste line at 5m produced plenty of bites but these were generally from small silvers – this line did produce a tench and a couple of nice skimmers but I wasn’t really focussing on the silverfish prize so I soon sacked this off. My margin line tight to the bank to the side of the vacant platform to my left was equally underwhelming – I fed it quite positively with groundbait and dead red maggots but my double dendrabena hookbait only yielded two bites, the second of which went under the platform and around one of the legs transforming my 0.19 rig line into candy floss!!!
Having to re-tie my margin rig actually prompted a change that at least boosted my tally from about 20lb to a total worth bothering the scalesman with – rather than fishing (as I normally do) tight to the bank I decided to try fishing right in front of the platform to my left. This put my float some 3 or 4’ from the bank (and hence could’ve been a nightmare with foul-hookers) but I was going nowhere and had nothing to lose! I also decided to switch to feeding corn and some of the new Ringers R6s pellets instead of groundbait. I’ve no way of telling if it was just the time of day, the change in fishing position or the different loose feed but in that last 30 minutes I caught twice as much as I did in the preceding 330!
In the end the 7 or 8 carp caught in the final half an hour gave me a total of 60-4-0, nowhere near the frame but a small confidence boost going into tomorrow’s match on Campbell nonetheless. Well done to the top 5 overall:
Until next time …
 |
| Spot the viaduct |
Viaduct is not a fishery that I’ve visited before but I’d read a lot about it and a quick look online yielded loads of blogs and YouTube videos, the films showing Jonny Arthur catching just 18 fish for 252-11-0 to win a Fish’O’Mania qualifier and another showing Adam Wakelin beating Andy Power by an ounce (279-6-0 versus 279-5-0) to win a round of the UK championship making particularly good viewing.
 |
| The Real Luke Sheriff opposite |
Today’s match was to be held on Lodge Lake, a roughly triangular shaped pond with 20 pegs. There was an (inactive) aerator located in the middle of the lake but no central islands – as this isn’t the biggest lake in the world (and there are pegs along all three sides) it struck me as being mainly a pole venue, though there are a few pegs where you could probably cast a waggler or straight lead without infringing too much on your fellow anglers.
My draw saw me on peg 64, probably the furthest pitch from the tackle shop/carpark but apparently a good one as it is in a corner and features something called ‘The Monk’ – a concrete pillar about 5’ from the bank towards the corner to the right that is no doubt something to do with controlling water levels. As well as The Monk and the corner to my right I had a small bay between two trees on the opposite bank (diagonally to my right) and a vacant platform to my left. I had Luke Sheriff for company directly across on peg 66 – he had a nice gap between the bank and an overhanging tree to his left, but as we were pegged opposite each other in the narrowest part of the lake we effectively cancelled each other out in terms of being able to fish long into open water.
 |
| The Monk |
Prior to the start of the match I settled on a three pronged attack and explicitly chose not to fish a certain area. The lines that I settled on were:
- Bomb and pellet into the bay between two trees diagonally to my right. The rules at Viaduct preclude the use of method-type feeders and stipulate legering hooklengths of at least 12” so my set-up included either a 10 or 19g Guru square bomb free running to a 30cm hooklength of 0.17 to a size 14 QM1.
- Paste at 5m. I was aiming for carp so this rig included black Hydro and 0.17 Guru N-Gauge straight through to a size 12 MWG.
- The margin tight to bank to the side of the vacant platform to my left. Again I was only really looking to catch carp on this rig so I went with my heaviest margin set-up – red Hydro, a 0.3g SconeZone V6 and 0.19 Guru N-Gauge straight through to a size 12 MWG.
Rightly or wrongly I decided not to fish long into the corner to my right and I had 4 reasons for this:
- Whilst setting-up I saw lots of fish move under the tree opposite, but saw no signs of fish in the corner.
- As I was going to be fishing the straight lead diagonally to my right my view was that this would cut-off any fish that might’ve headed into the corner from open water.
- When I’ve been fortunate enough to draw corner pegs in the past fishing the margin to the side away from the corner has been more productive.
- Most importantly I didn’t want to break my pole! It seemed to me that if I fished long into the corner then any hooked fish would bolt along the far bank towards peg 66 potentially seeing a very expensive number 7 or number 8 section ‘interact’ with The Monk in a very negative fashion!!!
 |
| A map of the complex |
To be perfectly frank I found the first 5 and a half hours of today’s match somewhat frustrating (summer open matches at Viaduct are normally 6 hour affairs fished from 11 until 5). The bomb line into the bay diagonally across to my right looked really fishy but seemed to be full of twigs and only produced three proper pulls from three fairly small carp. The paste line at 5m produced plenty of bites but these were generally from small silvers – this line did produce a tench and a couple of nice skimmers but I wasn’t really focussing on the silverfish prize so I soon sacked this off. My margin line tight to the bank to the side of the vacant platform to my left was equally underwhelming – I fed it quite positively with groundbait and dead red maggots but my double dendrabena hookbait only yielded two bites, the second of which went under the platform and around one of the legs transforming my 0.19 rig line into candy floss!!!
 |
| Looking left |
Having to re-tie my margin rig actually prompted a change that at least boosted my tally from about 20lb to a total worth bothering the scalesman with – rather than fishing (as I normally do) tight to the bank I decided to try fishing right in front of the platform to my left. This put my float some 3 or 4’ from the bank (and hence could’ve been a nightmare with foul-hookers) but I was going nowhere and had nothing to lose! I also decided to switch to feeding corn and some of the new Ringers R6s pellets instead of groundbait. I’ve no way of telling if it was just the time of day, the change in fishing position or the different loose feed but in that last 30 minutes I caught twice as much as I did in the preceding 330!
 |
| On-site tackle shop |
In the end the 7 or 8 carp caught in the final half an hour gave me a total of 60-4-0, nowhere near the frame but a small confidence boost going into tomorrow’s match on Campbell nonetheless. Well done to the top 5 overall:
- Luke Sheriff (66), 118-5-0
- Martin Johnson (73), 110-2-0
- Paul Williamson (62), 94-13-0
- Pete Franklin (53), 94-9-0
- Giovanni Barbato (60), 90-4-0
Until next time …
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