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.