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.

20 September 2012, Pollawyn (White Acres)

This was our third trip of the year to White Acres - but we know we are going to have a good time so why not?

After a few nice pleasure sessions on Pollawyn, Jenny's and Bolingey it was soon time for the Thursday rover - I drew number 24 (out of 132) so I was able to get on the high bank of Pollawyn and chose peg 18 as I'd fished there on Saturday and bagged-up (though there were only 4 or 5 of us on the whole lake that day).

Some of the new Preston pellet wagglers

As this match is effectively a 'winner takes all' sort of match (everybody who weighs in gets a prize, but there is no section money) I knew I had to fish positively and risk a blow-out in order to get my name in the Angling Times! As a result I only set-up a pellet waggler and a straight lead rod at the beginning - I was using one of the new Preston pellet wagglers and I have to say those little plastic disks attached above the weights really do stop the float diving as it hits the water!

Pellet waggler rig components

The pellet waggler in question was attached to the line using a Preston pellet waggler attachment kit (which consist of 4 float stops and a snap link swivel) - mainline was 6lb Daiwa Sensor and the hooklength 25cm of 0.19 Reflo Power into a size 16 Guru Pellet Waggler hook with a hair-rigged 3.2mm Gardener latex bait band.

The pegs on the high bank of Pollawyn are fairly deep (8-10') and it is common to catch carp 'deep shallow' so I mainly set my pellet waggler between 3 and 5 feet deep. Unfortunately the fish hadn't read the script and even though I bagged-up with such a set-up on Saturday I only had one carp on it all match!!!

Luckily the straight lead was more effective and I took 4 carp in total on this rod, fished under where I was constantly feeding to try and catch on the waggler.

I seem to spend more and more time fishing bright pop-ups

After it had become apparent I wasn't going to catch enough on the pellet waggler or straight lead I set-up another rod with a 30g small Preston pellet feeder to fish with an 8mm pop-up tight to the island. I really didn't think it would work - but that just goes to show what I know! This proved to be my most productive line and I caught 7 or 8 good carp, some nice skimmers and a barbel on it!!!

This line eventually died and I effectively wasted between 1400 and 1500 fishing like a gnome and putting nothing in the net during what should've been the best part of the match. When I finally came to my senses I decided to set-up a pole rig to bash-out some roach and perch down the edge with a fairly light rig on a top kit plus 1 - after a few nice perch I was soon attached to something that pulled back and I was soon looking at a 10lb ghostie staring back at me from my landing net!!!

Part of my winnings!

The whistle went and Rob was soon along doing the weighing - my fish totalled 71-15-0, enough for a bag of groundbait, a bag of pellets and the final money prize as I'd managed 8th overall. That wasted hour had really cost me as another 12lb or so and I would've been second - but if it was as easy as that we'd all be winning every week!

Congratulations to Tom Bainbridge who won the match with 104-7-0 on the long pole from peg 29 on Pollawyn - he caught 'deep shallow' pinging 8mm pellets and admitted to winning despite having a massive hang-over! Kevin Wingfield (who is also a regular on the festival now sponsored by Old English Cider) did well to finish third with 82-3-0, just 5 ounces behind Mick Longshaw who was second.

Link to official results from White Acres website

02 September 2012, Richardson's Lake (Marsh Farm)

Second match in a row on Richardson's Lake at Marsh Farm, and I found myself just along from where I was last time (peg 33) as I was on peg 29 today.

Lines fished today

Essentially I swapped between 2 feeder lines tight into the far bank trees and 2 top kit plus 4 pole lines (pellet only to the left, groundbait to the right).

Unlike last week only about 20% of my catch was on the pole, and the majority of fish caught on the pole were 2-4 ounce skimmers with just three bigger fish (one tench, one crucian and one better skimmer).



Pellet feeders and white pop-ups

Far and away the best approach today was the pellet feeder with a white 8mm pop-up (pinned down by 2 number 8 stotz an inch from the hook). The morning was sporadic, but a switch to casting to the right (from my initial swim straight in front) saw a golden spell that put numerous tench in the net between 1400 and 1500. (It never ceases to amaze me how casting the same feeder rig into a slightly different spot on a far bank can mean the difference between no bites and a fish a chuck.)

In the end my 29-8-0 was good enough for 4th (out of 30) - 36lb was top, with 2 other 30lb weights filling the frame.

27 August 2012, Richardson's Lake (Marsh Farm)

Today's match was organised by Godalming AS regular Roy Fiander and was a charity event in support of the local air ambulance with a good attendance of 30-40 anglers. (My understanding is that this will be a regular August bank holiday event so if you are in the Surrey/Hampshire/West Sussex area look out for it via the Apollo Marsh Farm tackle shop next year.)



Today's match organiser Roy Fiander

I drew peg 33 on Richardson's Lake at Marsh Farm, which is at the far end of the complex and has the left-hand end of one of the three islands on this lake to cast to at approximately 30m.



Peg 33 on Richardson's Lake

I caught approximately half of my weight today on the pellet feeder cast tight to the far bank trees - as the foliage on these trees hang right over the far margin at this time of year the closest you can get a feeder to the far bank is probably about 3 feet, but that isn't an issue as it is only inches deep tight to the bank and it is more like 2 feet deep where you can cast to.



Chianti pole rig used today

The other half of my catch was caught on a 4x12 Preston Chianti rig fished at top kit plus 4 with a 4mm expander pellet. (This rig was made-up on 0.11 Reflo Power into a hooklength of the same with a size 20 Tubertini 808 hook, shotting was shirt button style with 5 or 6 number 10 stotz.) As I was focusing on the feeder today I only fished this rig over one line straight in front of my peg (I normally use the same rig on two different lines - one at and angle to the left and a second at an angle to the right into the same depth of water).

Things started slowly on the pellet feeder, and my first fish actually came after switching to the pole after 45 minutes - in fact I had a nice run of crucians and the odd bonus tench over softened micro pellets to get me into the match. This line eventually died, but a switch back to the pellet feeder saw another run of fish (mainly tench).

As a last gamble I fed some groundbait on the pole line and this did lead to some more fish, as did a switch to the method feeder with groundbait. In the end my 30-13-0 saw me one out of the prizes, with 36lb winning the section and 42lb top overall.

Keith Arthur - the mystery raffle prize!

There was a presentation and raffle after the match with lots of great prizes - Bagger scooped the mystery envelope which happened to be a day out with Sky Sports' Keith Arthur!!! Well done to Roy for organising such a good event - maybe see you on this match next year?

18 August 2012, Melksham (Bristol Avon)

My first Division 1 National - a bit different to your usual club match as this one included Raison, Shipp, Cox, Edwards, Scotthorne, Kerry and Ashby to name just a few!

5 times world champion, Alan Scotthorne

This match was held on the Bristol Avon and I drew H section which was the Melksham stretch - thankfully this turned-out to be much narrower than the downstream sections we walked the previous evening!!! (Some of these pegs frankly looked dangerously unfishable with the river carrying extra water, and the muddy fields and styles didn't look too suited to the heavily laden barrows the modern match angler likes to push around.)

Due to recent rain the river was up a little and really pushing through with a lot of colour - especially in my peg where I had 2 or 3 different dogs go for a swim along the far bank prior to the all in!

Drennan Team England regular, Alan Scotthorne

I decided to stick with what I know and I focused on the stick float today - fishing the long pole over groundbait on rivers is something I've never done, so even though it seemed to be the fashionable thing to do in this match I steered clear of it.

I don't mind admitting to being a little nervous at the start - and as a result I was amazingly relieved to have my stick float pulled under by a small roach on the first trot through! In the end most of my fish (roach and dace) fell to double maggot on the stick float - some shallow and some on the deck (which was at least 8' directly under my feet). I also managed a perch and and 6 ounce chublet on the straight lead with double worm during the final 30 minutes.

In the end I weighed 860 grams which gave me 17 points from a maximum of 51 - not bad considering that this is the country's premier team event, I hardly ever fish rivers and the concept of practising was never, ever considered! Unfortunately my Godalming AS team could only manage 49th place in the overall team standings.

Daiwa Dorking, victors with 433 points

Congratulations to Daiwa Dorking who dominated and won by 30 odd points - but just look at the line-up in the photo above! Calum Dicks (back row, far left) was 3 pegs upstream of me today - below is a link to this blog if you want a more technical write-up of the day:

Link to Calum Dicks' blog



Alan Scotthorne - beaten on the day by yours truly!



Ostudying the results in the Angling Times on the following Tuesday I discovered I'd drawn in the same section as Alan Scotthorne and beaten him by 10 points - get in!!!!! In all seriousness this is one of the best things about the sport of match fishing - it's very easy for the average angler to fish the same matches that the superstars do and if you have a bit of luck drawing the right peg on the right day you always have a chance to beating them!

Finally a big thank you to Dave Woolgar for organising the Godalming AS team and to Steve from Apollo Marsh Farm for helping out with the bait.

05 August 2012, Harris Lake (Marsh Farm)

After our annual away day to Monk Lakes last week it was back to my home venue of Marsh Farm for another Godalming AS club match, and I found myself on Harris Lake peg 29 - this is one of the widest on the lake and as a result it is a nice feeder peg for chucking to the overhanging foliage that surrounds one of the central islands.

The key to today's match was working out the best approach on the tip (I didn't even set-up the pole today as I don't see it being a match winning tactic on this lake at this time of year) - in the end this turned-out to be the method feeder (not the pellet feeder) with pellets (not groundbait), though I did catch one fish on the pellet feeder and one on the method with groundbait! Best hookbait was a white 8mm pop-up, though at one stage I did have a run of fish on a hard 6mm pellet! (As you can tell I'm trying to be scientific here but unfortunately fishing is not an exact science!)

In the end my 10 tench and 4 crucians weighed 28-3-0, which was well clear of the chasing pack (16lb was the next best weight) and enough for a satisfying victory.

29 July 2012, Lake 1 (Monk Lakes)

Today was the annual Godalming AS match at Monk Lakes in Kent - it's a bit of a trek but it is usually well worth it as the fishing is so prolific. The weather was a real mixed bag - mainly bright sunshine combined with two really heavy downpours that made it feel more like early April than late July!!!

Excerpt from Russ Evans Commercial Barbel DVD on YouTube

(As I don't have any of my own photos from Monk Lakes I've include a link to some footage from a Russ Evans DVD filmed on Lake 2 at Monk Lakes to give an impression of the venue above.)

This time we were on Lake 1, which didn't seem as well stocked as Lake 2 or Lake 3 as the winning weight was only 41lb and I was second with 39-4-0.

Lines fished today

I think it is fair to say that I started on plan A and ended-up on plan Z, but my hard work paid-off and one more fish would've won it! Here is a summary of the methods I worked through today:

1) On the deck at 11.5m with worm over 6mm pellet (1 tiny perch)
2) Heavy rig with an 8mm pellet shallow at 11.5m (nothing)

3) Light rig with a 6mm pellet shallow at 11.5m (nothing)

4) Left margin with meat over meat and hemp (3 carp)

5) Worm over pellet at 5m (nothing)

6) Banded 8mm pellet on the deck at 5m (2 carp)

7) Straight lead with 8mm pellet at 25m (1 carp)

8) Right margin worm or dead maggot over groundbait and dead maggot (nothing)

9) Method feeder with groundbait and a fluro pop-up or 6mm pellet at 25m (8 carp)

Unfortunately I didn't set-up the method until 2 hours to go, and my pre-match intention of fishing it was so low I didn't even bring any 2mm pellets!

With hindsight Lake 1 is much less prolific that the lakes we've fished at Monk Lakes before so I should've adjusted my approach accordingly - the fish certainly didn't respond to big piles of bait and it was certainly far too windy to fish the pole at 11.5m. In addition the fact that others on the far bank weren't catching on the pole should've pushed me onto the tip much earlier - the method being a banker on most commercial venues when the weather is poor and the fishing tough.

However my hard work in swapping approaches turned a potential blow-out into a frame position - the advantage of fishing well stocked venues in the summer is that when you do get things right you are normally rewarded with a bite immediately!!!

Monk Lakes website

22 July 2012, Broadwater (Godalming AS)

Broadwater is a 10 acre lake set in a public park and is home to numerous big carp to in excess of 30lb. Summer matches on this venue always yield big winning weights, but as you are fishing for specimen carp (the average must be 12-15lb) many of the Godalming AS regulars spurn these matches as standard match gear really isn't up to the job.

Link to Broadwater section on Godalming AS website

Much of this lake is very shallow (no more than 3 feet deep) and notoriously silty - in fact as I understand it the central island was constructed from silt dredged from the lake a few years back!

Broadwater schematic



In keeping with many specimen lakes certain pegs at Broadwater have names - I was fortunate enough to draw a peg called The Point today and this is a peg that has won many matches over the years. As you've probably guessed this peg on the inside of a bend in the bank and is on the far side of the lake from the car park near to the out of bounds area.

Thanks to the way the pegs are positioned being on a point means that you normally command a larger area of water than if you are on a straight section of bank and this was true for me today as I had a large expanse of open water to the left of the central island to work in.

Strong gear and big leads

It seems to me that the carp in Broadwater move around a great deal and bites normally come after your bait has been in the water between 60 seconds and 3 minutes, with noise definitely playing a part. As a result I settled on a two pronged attack today - a straight lead line constantly fed with 8mm pellets at 25m and a PVA bag of 6mm pellets cast around the swim with a 10mm boilie. (Given the deep silt the method feeder isn't really viable as it can literally disappear into the bottom, so straight leads with 12" hooklengths are much more effective.)

At the start I could see a number of fish moving over the 25m pellet line so I stuck with this for the first 30 minutes or so - however this proved to be a big mistake as I never had a bite during this time, and as soon as I switched to the longer line dropping my PVA bag around the swim at 50-75m I was straight into fish!

In the end I had 8 or 9 carp for 117-9-0 which was only good enough for fourth place behind 150lb, 130lb and 125lb weights. All of the fish bar one fell to the PVA bag approach - however the one fish that I caught on the 25m line went 20-4-0!!!

15 July 2012, Pond 4 (MBK Coloured Ponds)

After quite a few days of rain it was nice to have a dry sunny day - this time on lakes 3 and 4 on the MBK Coloured Ponds complex in Rake, West Sussex. I drew on the far side of lake 4, one peg from the south east corner - as the lakes at Coloured Ponds are essentially rectangles with pegs on the two long banks the corner pegs really do dominate, so like everybody else I was really hoping to draw one (so near yet so far)!

Pole floats used today

As it is probably 50m from bank to bank I only set-up the pole at the start, five rigs in all:

1) On the deck at 13m with a 4x14 KC Carpa Chimp on 0.17 Reflo Power into 0.13 and a size 18 B911

2) Shallow with a 4x10 KC Carpa Shelf on 0.13 Reflo Power into 0.13 and a size 18 B911 (eyed with a pellet band)

3) On the deck at 5m with a 4x12 KC Carpa Chimp on 0.17 Reflo Power into 0.15 an a size 14 B911 (eyed)

4) Right margin with a 4x10 Preston Durafloat Plus 6 on 0.19 straight through to a size 14 Guru MWG hook

5) Left margin as number 4 above

I started with rig number 1 on the deck at 13m but could only catch tiny (2 ounce) skimmers and micro perch on chopped worm and caster, so I soon switched to rig number 2 in order to try and catch shallow with pellets at 14.5m. Despite seeing plenty of cruising carp I never had a bite on it! Next up was meat on the 5m line - with the same result!!!

Straight lead gear

As a result after 2 hours I had about 2lb in the net and was going nowhere fast so I decided to set-up a straight lead rod and started flicking 8mm pellets in groups of 4 to about 20m. This turned-out to be a great move as I caught on it steadily through to the end of the match, and with the exception of one carp caught on the pellet waggler I had the majority of my weight on it.

Meat and corn for the edge

Unfortunately despite feeding heavily to the right margin with meat & corn and to the left with 2 kilos of Sonubaits krill groundbait I had no margin munters today!

In the end my 46-10-0 was enough for second on the lake and fourth overall. Well done to Brian Stevens who every time I looked-up (he was pegged virtually opposite me) was playing a big carp hooked from his left margin and won the match by miles!

Link to MBK Leisures website

08 July 2012, Harris Lake (Marsh Farm)

After a week back at work following the Old English Cider festival at White Acres this match was a bit of an anticlimax for many reasons - despite my one tench on the method feeder and a few roach on the pole for 5-7-0 being good enough for a surprising section win in this Godalming AS club match!

29 June 2012, Trewaters (White Acres)

To cut a long story short I drew the same peg as Tuesday, only set-up two matching 30g pellet feeder rods and won the match with 60-2-0 - when you're on a roll you're on a roll!!!

28 June 2012, Acorn (White Acres)

If you’ve been reading the preceding 2 or 3 blog entries you’ll know that I started this match at the top of the leaderboard of this year’s Old English Cider festival – tied on points with Chris Haywood and Mo Brown but ahead on overall weight. I’m going to admit that as a result I was properly nervous for the first time ever about fishing a match – after all would I ever get the opportunity again to start a match knowing that all I had to do was win a five peg section to win a White Acres festival (albeit one that is not as significant as the 180 spring and autumn versions)?

Acorn*

Link to the Acorn page on White Acres website

The rotation saw my section move onto Acorn and Canal today – 2 sections and 10 anglers on each. Clint held the bag and in went my left hand (with my left foot off the ground) – well it had worked all week so why risk not doing it again? Out came Acorn peg 11 – I was happy with this as I’d fished Acorn in numerous pleasure sessions over the years and had in fact fished the very same peg in a Rover during a week Bagger and myself had had at the end of May. (That day I weighed 53-0-0 – the majority of which came in the first two hours down the edge.)

I’d learned a lot that day – but I knew that I’d have to catch a great deal more than 50 odd pounds to beat venue expert Ricky Lale (who was in my sub-section and sat two pegs to my left on peg 9). Past experience had shown me that catching down the edge would be crucial – however as with many venues things don’t normally kick-off properly in the margins on Acorn until the last 90 minutes or so. As a result my main line attack of initially would be tight to the central island and I once again set-up two rods with matching 30g Preston pellet feeders to fish with 8mm pop-ups or 6mm hard pellets over softened 2mm White Acres fishery pellets.

Pole floats used today



Plan B was the margin and I set-up similar rigs to yesterday – a 0.1g Mo Brown Rio for fishing under my feet and two 4x10 Preston Dura Plus 6s for fishing left and right at top kit plus one section. (All rigs were tied on 0.19 Reflo Power straight through to a size 14 Guru MWG for fishing double worm on the hook.) Pegs 9, 10 and 11 are actually quite wide and there is a reasonable amount of water between the island and the bank – as a result plan C would be the long pole shallow at 13m. I set-up two rigs with 4x10 KC Carpa Shelf floats – one a lighter version with 0.13 mainline into a hooklength of the same with a size 18 Kamasan B911, the other a heavier version with 0.17 mainline into a hooklength of 0.15 into a size 16 B911.

I started on the pellet feeder and I was into a fish no longer than 10 seconds after the hooter had blown – I could see all of the other anglers in my section and for the first three hours I’m sure I was ahead by at least 2 or 3 fish as the fish kept on coming on the pellet feeder.

At around this point the island line started to dry-up dramatically so it was time for the long pole shallow – I wasn’t sure it was going to work but after a few minutes of feeding 6mm pellets and slapping my float on the surface of the water I was soon into a few fish. In total I caught four carp and four good F1s – enough to maintain a section winning position with an hour of the festival to go.

Ricky Lale in action on Acorn from a previous year*

Unfortunately this is the point in what had been a glorious week that the wheels came off – the island line had died, the long pole shallow had dried-up and I simply could not get a bite in the margins (I’d fed a good amount of Sonubait’s Supercrush green to the left at around 1400 and I’d been frequently loose feeding 6mm pellets to my right since the same point). At times I could see good carp over both lines but for one reason or another they wouldn’t take my hookbait. Out of desperation I employed a strict 2 minute rotation between the feeder to the far side, the left margin then the right margin – but I could see Ricky bagging from his left margin and every fish he caught hammered another nail into the coffin of my attempt to secure the title!

By the time the hooter went for the ‘all out’ and Steve appeared with the scales I knew Ricky had beaten me fairly and squarely – and in all fairness no quarter had been asked for and no quarter had been given! (On reflection I was more than happy with my own performance and I couldn’t have tried any harder – I was simply beaten by a better angler on the day!)

Ricky was first to weigh and tipped 77-14-0 onto the scales – my two weighs were close but not good enough as they only pulled the needle around to 70-8-0. News soon filtered through that Chris Haywood had clinched his fourth section win in a row and hence had clinched the festival with a perfect 20 point score. Mo Brown could only produce a third in section dropping him down to a still very credible fifth allowing yours truly to take second, Ramzi King third and Andy Poole fourth.

Ramzi King, Chris Haywood and yours truly!*

The final top ten is:

1. Chris Haywood (20 points, 185-10-0)
2. Phil Morris (yours turly) (19 points, 319-17-0)
3. Ramzi King  (19 points, 145-11-0)
4. Andy Poole (19 points, 137-1-0)
5. Mo Brown (18 points, 256-14-0)
6. Ricky Lale (18 points, 214-10-0)
7. Kevin Sims (18 points, 178-13-0)
8. Les Hills (18 points, 140-10-0)
9. Will Sweeney (17 points, 200-2-0)
10. Kevin Wingfield (17 points, 175-9-0)

Link to official results from White Acres website

All-in-all I was more than pleased with my second placing – especially as I’d managed 3 sections wins, 3 lake wins and a second, plus the highest individual weight of the week prize!!! Congratulations to Chris who was a very worthy winner – and well done to the rest of the field who have no doubt already started thinking about their plan of attack for next year’s festival already (I know I have)!!!

The White Acres Team*

I’d like to take this opportunity to thank Clint, Kirsty, Steve, Karl and Rob for once again organising a great festival – how anybody can even consider moaning about any element of a holiday at White Acres is beyond me! (I would thank Ricky but he was fishing the festival as opposed to running it.)

Roll on next June!!!

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*Photos courtesy of facebook and the White Acres website