23 December 2012, Richardson's Lake (Marsh Farm)

Onto the final match of 2012 for me - the Godalming AS Christmas match. This one was due to be held on the River Wey but after a week or so of heavy rain it was moved to Marsh Farm - this disappointed a few of the regulars, but in reality there was little option as the river had burst it's banks, and we still had 37 optimistic anglers at the draw in the Old Leathern Bottle.

A stormy looking Richardson's Lake, Marsh Farm

Having blanked at Marsh Farm on my last two matches I was also a little apprehensive, but at least by drawing peg 4 on Richardson's Lake I was close to the tackle shop so I could pop in for a coffee if the fishing was poor!

Peg 4

Today was actually fairly warm (12 degrees) and there was a nice south westerly wind blowing towards my end of the lake so things were looking positive as the fish tend to follow the wind here and it fishes much better with a ripple on the water.

The banjo feeder

As a result I decided to start positively and I did so with a small 30g Preston banjo feeder cast towards the bottom of the far shelf with softened 2mm pellets in/on the feeder and a hard 6mm pellet on the hair rigged pellet band. I'm sure these feeders will have a time and a place but today they only led to line bites (which in itself was a relief as I hadn't had a sniff of a fish in nearly 14 hours of match fishing).

More traditional feeder gear

So at about 1100 I dived into my rod bag and set-up a more traditional feeder (a small 20g Guru model) and a 18" hooklength with 2 dead white maggots on the hook. After 2 minutes the tip finally went right 'round and I was into my first fish - which promptly fell-off at the net!!!

Luckily the next two casts saw 2 small (12 ounce) crucians in the net so at least I hadn't blanked again!



Today's pole rig

No more fish on the tip so it was onto the pole with the 4x14 KC Carpa Chimp rig shown above fished at top kit plus 4 straight in front where I'd been feeding a little micro pellet and maggot between casts on the feeder.

Amazingly the first 6 casts on this saw 5 crucians and a 3lb skimmer in the net! This line died after the skimmer but was more than happy to see a run of fish at last, and as far as I could tell I'd rocketed up the leader board in a matter of minutes.

A switch to fishing the same rig at an angle to the right saw a very unseasonal 3lb tench, another crucian and a further skimmer, and I also added a second tench on the maggot feeder where I'd caught the first 2 crucians.

The moment of truth!

During the final hour I didn't have a bite whilst Ian Dixon to my right and Colin Underwood to my left continued to catch small (2-4 ounce) skimmers at an alarming rate, but in the end my 16-5-0 was enough to win the match by nearly 5lb - a very satisfying victory that made-up for the previous blanks!

09 December 2012, Richardson's Lake (Marsh Farm)

Another shocker at Marsh Farm - a great spring/summer venue when the tench and crucians are active, but poor in the winter, especially when the water was as clear as today!

YouTube video of the view from my peg

Peg 48, Richardson's Lake at Marsh Farm

I drew peg 48 on Richardson's Lake today - unfortunately this is a poor area as it is the shallowest part of the lake at only about 3 feet deep.

Gear used in the PVA bag rig

I started on the tip - first cast with double maggot on the bomb for 30 minutes, second cast with a 6mm hard pellet on a hair-rigged band with a PVA bag of 4mm pellets for 90 minutes.

Please go 'round! (It didn't.)

After not even having the slightest liner during these 2 hours I was 99% certain I was going to blank but carried-on regardless as nobody else in the section had caught by this point.

Pole floats used today

So I tried the pole with a 4mm expander over micros on the normally productive top kit plus 4 line, and another pole line with pinkie over Sensas Canal Black groundbait at 13m - all to no avail! By this time (1400) it was starting to get really cold again so I packed the pole away and spent the last hour on the tip again whilst I packed-up my kit in order to make a quick getaway into the tackle shop for a coffee and a warm-up at 1500.

In the end six of us in the section blanked - the 2 that caught weighed 0-1-0 each and shared the spoils of victory between them.


Yours truly modelling the autumn/winter 2012 collection!

So that's two blanks in a row for me - roll-on spring I say!

02 December 2012, Harris Lake (Marsh Farm)

Temperatures of -4 degrees Celsius in the car on the way to the venue meant only one thing - the first ice of the season!

A frozen Harris Lake at Marsh Farm

As everybody else set about breaking the ice in their pegs with ice breakers I hatched a cunning plan - to fish a waggler OVER the ice into the patch of clear water next to the island.

YouTube video of the view from my peg

A nice ice free patch of water next to the island - surely it had to be full of fish?



My thinking was simple - why scare away all of the fish in your peg by smashing the ice when you can fish in an area that must be a lot warmer than the rest of the lake (as it wasn't frozen over)? On paper a great theory but one that was shot down in flames as I never had a bite all day!

No, they are not my hands!

In all fairness 26 out of the 32 competitors today blanked - including 2 whole sections, and in one of the other sections only one angler caught! (Don't you just love winter fishing?)

The other 5 that caught were sat in a row to my left - in what is normally the worst part of the lake and the area that everybody wants to avoid at the draw!

Those that caught today all caught after smashing the ice and feeding joker - though plenty of people fed it today and didn't catch, and those that did catch caught on pinkie or caster (as opposed to with joker or bloodworm on the hook).

Bonus YouTube video of Bagger not catching on the groundbait feeder

Let's hope next week is better!!!

18 November 2012, River Wey (Godalming AS)

On the River Wey this week - and before you ask, yes I do own a few stick floats and traditional wagglers (as well as hundreds of method feeders and pellet wagglers)!

River Wey, Godalming

I drew a nice looking peg in the Upper Common Meadow today, and despite a fairly hard frost I actually fancied it for a few fish.

The 0.4 gram Drennan alloy stick float I used today

In fact I started-off quite well (a decent run of dace and roach on the stick float with maggot) and after 90 minutes I was starting to think that heavily stocked commercials aren't the answer - then it went completely dead and I never had another bite all match!



The view from my peg as I looked upstream

In the end I weighed 1-5-0 (which was only good enough for fourth in section) and as a tramped back to the car I couldn't help day dreaming of fishing the long pole shallow for big carp on a warm summer's day!!!

04 November 2012, Broadwater (Godalming AS)

What a match - torrential rain prior to the draw very nearly saw it called-off and we were dogged by heavy showers and a biting wind throughout.

Broadwater, Godalming

To cut a long story short I caught one roach on a small 20g Kamasan Black Cap maggot feeder and a Preston hook-to-nylon that Bagger won in a White Acres rover back in September. It was very welcome and for the record weighed exactly 6 ounces!!!

Some of the terminal tackle used today

I actually did quite well on the day as 26 out of 32 blanked, and that single bite was enough for our team of four to come second on the day despite starting with only 3 anglers, finishing with 2 and ending-up with only one fish between us!

As the saying goes - if you can't be good, be lucky!!!

21 October 2012, Richardson's Lake (Marsh Farm)

Peg 14 on Richardson's today - a pretty decent area, and in probably the most prolific section.

Straight lead rig components

I started across to the far side with a 2/3 ounce Guru square bomb and a 12" hooklength of 0.19 Reflo Power into a size 14 Guru QM1 hook - mounted on the hair was an 8mm white pop-up boilie, pinned down with 2 number 8 stotz an inch from the hook.

Method feeder rig components

No indications after 20 minutes so I switched to the method (a small 30g Preston model) loaded with some softened 2mm Fin Perfect pellets and some Stiki Pellet binder - hookbait was a hard 6mm pellet on 10cm of 0.19 Reflo Power into a size 16 QM1.

This led to a few iffy line bites so I switched to the normally more positive pellet feeder (small 30g Preston again) - but at the end of the first hour I was still fishless.

Next up was the pole at 14.5m with a 4x14 KC Carpa Chimp and tiny piece of worm over some chopped worm and caster - again no proper bites so after 2 hours I was still without anything in the net and I was starting to get really twitchy!!!

The Mo Brown Slim'o - a wonderfully handmade pole float



Luckily a switch to a top kit plus 4 line slightly to the left with a 0.1g Mo Brown Slim'o and a 4mm Fin Perfect expander over some softened 2mm pellets led to some proper bites and 2 crucians in short order.

The Slim'o rig

These 2 very welcome fish were followed by 2 more crucians and a skimmer over the next hour.

Scaling down made a difference

Despite opening a new line at an angle to the right the fourth hour was fishless so it was back on the pellet feeder. Again some funny line bites, but after tying-up a hooklength consisting of 10m of 0.15 Reflo Power and a size 18 Drennan Eyed Barbless Carp Feeder hook and attaching a single dead white maggot the tip wanged straight 'round and a small tench found itself in my keepnet!

This was to be a false down however and it proved to be a one off! I rotated my pole lines again, but at 1400 I packed the pole away and committed myself to the tip for the final 90 minutes (we were fishing 1000 - 1530) - this tactic has paid-off before but with hindsight I should've stuck with the top kit plus 4 line as I never had another bite!

In the end my 6 fish weighed 6-13-0, only good enough for a disappointing 6th out of 8 in section.

07 October 2012, Harris Lake (Marsh Farm)

Today was the first match of the Godalming AS teams of four competition, and I found myself on the far bank of Harris Lake at Marsh Farm - the side next to the main railway line between Portsmouth and Waterloo!

This is normally a good area as it is much wider than the near side of Harris, and normally holds tench next to the island and some nice roach through the middle.

Bait for the method feeder

I started on the method to the island looking for an early tench to get me up and running, but no bites materialised in the first 20 minutes.

The Jean Francois - a good choice for silvers on deepish venues

On the whistle I had fed 4 balls of Sensas Gros Gardons and Canal Black (mixed 50:50) at 11.5m and I'd been feeding with casters via a catapult whilst fishing the method feeder so it was time for a look with a 0.6g Jean Francois rig.

This saw a decent run of small roach, but unlike during the previous week's practise I didn't hook any bonus tench or crucians, and with about 2 hours to go I was well down in the section so it was back onto the method to try and catch-up.

Luckily this switch saw 2 nice tench in the net and with an hour to go I was back in contention - however these were to be my last fish of the day and in the end my 9-9-0 was only good enough for 4th in section.