28 July 2013, Top Lake (Willinghurst)

Today was the first match in the Guildford Angling Centre summer league 2013, a series of 6 matches to be held throughout July, August and September across Willinghurst (2), Bury Hill (1) and Gold Valley (3). Each match is a 20 peg affair with the anglers split into 4 sections of 5 – league positions are based upon section points, with a total weight count-back used to differentiate those anglers tied on the same number of points. (Each competitor’s best 5 scores from 6 form that person’s final score.)

An aerial view of the Top Lake at Willinghurst from Google Earth

This first match was held on the Top Lake at Willinghurst. This is a strangely shaped venue that has a main bowl with 19 pegs (anglers on both long banks), another 18/20m wide strip known as the back spit with 7 swims (pegs on one side only) and a small circular section with 3 pegs (known as the Bung Hole) all interconnected (so in theory the fish are free to move between the three).

 

The stocking is mainly proper carp in the 3 to 6lb bracket with the usual smattering of nuisance (in the summer at least) roach, rudd and perch.

Looking onto the main bowl from the back of peg 2

YouTube video of the view from my peg

Well, what can I say? My first visit to Willinghurst in about 10 years and I’ve only gone and drawn the “best peg in Surrey”!!! My draw (peg 2) was one of two in the Bung Hole today, at the point where the Bung Hole  joins the main lake and opposite the entrance to the back spit. The whole Bung Hole is amazingly shallow – probably no more than two and half feet down the middle – but absolutely stuffed with fish!!!

Before the start I identified four likely looking spots – under the tree to my left tight to the bank at top kit plus one; along the right margin at TK+2; across to the far bank at 13m and the method feeder to the far bank to the right next to the entrance to the back spit.

 

However I only set-up two rigs to start with – one for the far bank, the other for the right margin – both with the same components: black Hydro top kits, 0.17 Guru N-Gauge mainline to 15cm 0.15 hooklengths tied to size 16 eyed Kamasan B911s. Floats were SconeZoneV6s in 0.2g. (These are awesome bits of kit – super strong with a line through the body design and short stems suitable for fishing down the edge in shallow water.)

Looking across to my far bank and Dave Carter on the back spit

On the whistle (today’s match was a long one, starting at 1030 and finishing at 1700) I fed a little corn and a few 6mm pellets to the far bank and dropped-in with a single grain of corn – after a few false indications I was soon into a fish and I was off to a flying start with an 8lb carp safely in the net! However this was a false dawn as half an hour later I’d only added another small (1lb) carp and a few silvers to show for my efforts.

 

Time for plan B – I quickly mixed-up some Sonubaits 50:50 groundbait and fed a cup on the right margin swim sited at top kit plus 2. Not having fished this lake before I wasn’t sure that the carp were going to respond to this approach, but as I was in the process of shipping-out pot number 2 I could already see evidence of carp ripping-up the bottom! The following 90 minutes (1100 -1230) saw a good run of fish from this line on single worm hookbaits, and regular  re-feeding of big pots of groundbait seemed to be keeping the fish interested rather nicely.

The bridge over the entrance to the back spit

However the spell between 1230 and 1400 can only be described as a complete disaster – despite hooking eight fish only one actually made it into the net! The single fish that I did manage to land came via the method feeder to the far bank slightly to the right (next to the bridge), and I managed to lose four from the right margin, two from the far bank 13m pole swim and another on the method feeder!!!

 

Following this sequence of lost fish I actually stopped fishing for ten minutes or so to regain my composure, prepare some more bait, re-tie my existing pole rigs and set-up two new ones in anticipation of a good last couple of hours – the new rigs were a heavy version for the right margin and one for the left under the tree, both consisting of 0.21 Reflo Power straight through to a size 12 Guru MWG, again with 0.2g SconeZone V6s but this time with red Hydro top kits.

Close quarter carping under the tree to my left

I’d purposely not fed the right margin for a good 30 minutes but by 1415 it was time to try and restart it, so in went 4 full pots of groundbait, soaked micros and dead maggots. This certainly did the trick as another golden 90 minute spell followed with lots of big fish falling to the heavy rigs from both the left and right margin swims with either 2 whole dendrabenas or 8 dead red maggots on the hook!

 

By this point (1545) I’d clicked to 45lb in each of my 2 nets, so as 60lb limits apply at Willinghurst I decided to put in a third – as is often the case this led to a slowing of my catch rate and I only managed 3 more fish in the final 75 minutes!!!

The final reckoning

In the end my three nets went 108-0-0 – just enough for a section and match win as second and third overall in the match (and my section) weighed 105-11-0 and 101-0-0 respectively!!!

Today’s overall top 4:

1. Phil Morris, peg 2, 108-0-0
2. Mike Keeper, peg 20, 105-11-0
3. Giovanni Barbato, peg 1, 101-0-0
4. Pete Franklin, peg 18, 100-7-0

Today’s section winners:

• Phil Morris, peg 2, 108-0-0
• Mike Seymour, peg 4, 97-12-0
• Dan Cooper, peg 26, 92-14-0
• Pete Franklin, peg 18, 100-7-0

League standing after round 1:

1. Phil Morris, 1 point, 108-0-0
2. Pete Franklin, 1 point, 100-7-0
3. Mike Seymour, 1 point, 97-12-0
4. Dan Cooper, 1 point, 92-14-0
5. Mike Keeper, 2 points, 105-11-0
6. Martin Johnson, 2 points, 59-11-0

Guildford AC legend Giovanni Barbato on peg 1

Conclusions: in this part of each blog I like to sum-up the day and summarise what I’ve learned for next time, so here is today’s thought for the day – it’s better to be lucky than good!!!

Until next time …

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27 July 2013, Syndicate Lake (Gold Valley)

Today was the first part of a rare fishing double-header – an 18 peg open match at Gold Valley. As ever there was the usual mix of angling superstars and venue experts in attendance today – I’m not sure I have much chance fishing against the likes of Tommy Hiller (Daiwa Dorking legend), Mark Goddard (2013 Maver Match This finalist), Terry Harrison (another Daiwa Dorking legend) and Perry Stone (2013 Fish’O’Mania finalist)!!!

Gold Valley schematic

Today’s match was on the far bank of Syndicate Lake – as it is all pretty uniform I was hoping for an end peg or a bit of room, so I obviously end-up right in the middle of the bank on peg 129 sandwiched between Mark Goddard and venue export Malcolm Bond!!! (This is only my third visit to Gold Valley in 2013 and I’ve now drawn next to Mark twice – regular readers will remember that last time was a close run thing with Mark just sneaking past my 51-0-0 with a match winning 131-0-0!!!)

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YouTube video of the view from my peg 

Expecting the end pegs to dominate, and given the fact that the pay-outs at Gold Valley are good (in fact I think they are still waiving the pegging fee on Saturday opens) but limited to a few anglers, my strategy today was to try and pick-up the odd big fish here and there (as opposed to putting gall of my eggs into one basket).

As a result, prior to the start I set-up the following rods/rigs:

• Preston Innovations 10’ Mini Carp tip rod, 8lb Daiwa Sensor mainline, 1/3 ounce Guru square bomb free running to a 30cm hooklength of 0.19 N-Gauge with a size 14 QM1 and a hair-rigged pellet band
• As above but with a small 24g Guru method feeder and 10cm hooklengths of 0.19 to a size 14 QM1 (for an 8mm pellet or a Ringers Banded Allsort) or a 16 (for a 6mm pellet)
• Preston Innovations 11’ Mini Carp pellet waggler rod, 6lb Daiwa Sensor mainline, 6g Preston Innovations Dura pellet waggler (with disk) to a 25cm hooklength of 0.19 N-Gauge to a size 16 Guru Pellet Waggler hook with a hair-rigged band
• Red Hydro top kit, 0.19 Reflo Power direct to a size 12 MWG, the float being a 0.3g SconeZone V6 shotted with a bulk of 5 number 9 stotz 20cm from the hook

An early look down the edge

Normally I like to start long and move closer to my own bank as the match progresses – however in order to try and sneak an early bonus I fed 2 pots of Sonubaits 50:50 groundbait tight to the bank to my left at top kit plus 1 on the whistle. Unfortunately it wasn’t to be and after five minutes I’d had absolutely no interest in my double-dendrabena hookbait.

Next up was a quick go on the method at 5m, over which I’d fed about two thirds of a pint of 6mm pellets in order to make some noise and hopefully draw a fish into the area. Again after five minutes I’d had no indications so it was rapidly time for plan C!

 

Looking left from peg 129

Whilst fishing the method I’d been blasting 8mm pellets to 25m and as it was nice and sunny with only a light breeze it was time for the pellet waggler. My constant pinging of pellets had by now pulled 8 or 10 ducks into my peg and after about 15 minutes of feeding and casting the inevitable happened and I managed to hook one!!!

I’d not had any indications on the pellet waggler (not from a fish anyway) in this period so it was time to try the method feeder cast tight to the central rope. Unfortunately this only led to a fairly chunky roach and a small skimmer (hookbait was a 6mm pellet and the feeder mix was a combination of 2mm pellets and groundbait), and when the bomb with an 8mm pellet at 25m only yielded another small skimmer I started to fear the worst!

 

Looking across to the far bank

Luckily a switch back to the method feeder to the rope with yellow Ringers Banded Allsort led to a carp out of the blue on the hour mark – however almost immediately after landing it I managed to bounce my Guru method mould into the lake, never to be seen again!!! (Why don’t they make them buoyant?)

As I don’t carry a spare this mishap forced a switch to a small 30g Preston Innovations method feeder (their moulds do float), and after another slow spell the peg came to life between 1230 and 1330 with a carp, 2 crucians and 6 better skimmers hitting the net. Sadly the following 30 minutes only saw one more carp in the net, and by 1400 it was time to give the 25m line that I’d been feeding for 3 hours a proper go. Sorry to say half an hour later all I’d managed was one carp on the method from this line – though some really bad angling had seen another smash my 0.19 hooklength!!!

 

0.3g SconeZone V6 for the edge

The method feeder to the rope yielded another carp between 1430 and 1445, but entering the final quarter of the match I was now heavily reliant on my margin swim producing to make any impression whatsoever on the match.

 

Unfortunately I stubbornly stuck with this line (which was fed heavily with Sonubaits 50:50 groundbait and dead maggots) even though it didn’t really take off – of the 2 carp that I did hook one fell-off for no reason after being on for 2 minutes and the other snapped my 0.19 line on its way to the centre of the lake!!!

The final reckoning …

To make matters worse Mark Goddard landed some nice carp in the lat hour on the tip and pellet waggler to beat me with 55-0-0 to my 50-8-0!!! This put me in a disappointing fourteenth place (out of 18) and a lowly next to last in section – ‘the only way is up’ as they say!!!

Overall top 4:

1. J Attwood, peg 121, 108-0-0
2. H Marsh, peg 132, 106-2-0
3. C Dalton, peg 126, 101-0-0
4. P Stone, peg 124, 93-8-0

The view to the right



Conclusions: whilst my final position in the match was less than I’d hoped for it was a small victory of sorts as I was only one half decent carp behind Mark Goddard on the next peg, and only one proper fish behind 3 others in my section. (I could point out again that I lost a carp on the feeder and two proper jobs on the pole, but I’m the first to say that talk of lost fish in the car park after the match counts for nothing …) Other than that it seems that the method feeder to the central rope is still the banker approach on many pegs at Gold Valley, and arguably I’d have been better-off just setting-up this one rod!

Until next time …

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07 July 2013, Pond 2 (MBK Coloured Ponds)

Secret teams of 4 events featuring anglers from Godalming and Woking at MBK Coloured Ponds are like London buses – nothing for ages then two come along at once! In a similar fashion to the match I wrote about back in May, today’s match saw 32 anglers (16 from each club) randomly assigned to one of eight teams, with one angler from each team on each of the 4 lakes. (Each angler draws their own peg as per a conventional match, but each peg is pre-allocated to a team by the match organiser.)

Summer finally arrives in the UK!

The obvious difference with this match was the weather – it had been very hot and sunny in the previous days and today was forecast to be a real scorcher with no wind. (Not normally ideal for catching fish, but given the some of the weather we’ve faced so far in 2013 who’s complaining?)

Sir Ken Cardwell and some of the Woking chaps prepare for the draw

YouTube video of the view from my peg

As ever I was hoping for a corner peg on Pond 4 – so of course I ended-up in the middle of Pond 2!!! Having said that peg 5 was a nice looking swim with plenty of open water to attack – plus the pegging on the day meant that I had two spare pegs to my left and one to the right, with the platforms of pegs 4 and 6 both reachable with 10m of pole. The only area of concern was the presence of lily pads and Canadian pond weed – both of which can lead to lost fish and broken pole sections!!!

Simple bait requirements for the straight lead

In terms of bait I’d split the frugal 2 pint pellet limit equally between 8mm hard pellets for the straight lead and the same of 6s for the pole (and straight lead at a push). I’d also brought some corn, a pint of red maggots, a bag of Sonubaits 50:50 groundbait and a tub of worms left-over from White Acres – ideally to be used down the edge. A Tub of mixed Ringers pop-up boilies/Banded Allsorts and two tubes of Kiana Goo rounded things off on the bait front.

Looking across the lake to Perry Gray on another corner draw!

As ever there were loads of cruising fish visible in the upper layers so before the start I decided to set-up a dumpy 6g Preston Innovations pellet waggler (the type that are loaded with an optional disk to stop them diving too deeply) on 6lb Daiwa Sensor mainline with a 25cm hooklength of 0.19 Reflo Power to a size 16 Guru Pellet Waggler hook and a hair-rigged pellet band. I also set-up a straight lead rod with 8lb mainline, a one third of an once Guru square bomb and a 30cm hooklength consisting of 0.19 Guru N-Gauge to a size 14 QM1 with a hair-rigged pellet band.

(It’s worth noting that MBK rules dictate that the shallowest you can set a float for open water is 2 feet deep and that hooklengths for legering must be a minimum of 30cm – effectively ruling-out the method feeder.)

On the “all-in” I cast my bomb to about 25m with a bright orange Ringers Banded Allsort and started feeding 8mm pellets via a catapult – given the weather I was expecting a tough match and a slow start so I was very pleased to bag 3 small (1 to 2lb) carp in the first 3 casts, ultimately putting 10 in the net in the first hour. (These were either caught on a 8mm pellet or a bright orange Ringers Banded Allsort – for some reason I couldn’t get a bite on a yellow one!)

PVA bags with some added Tutti Frutti Goo reignited the peg

Towards the end of the first hour things had started to slow so at about 11 o’clock change was in order – I replaced the 1/3 ounce bomb with a heavier 2/3 ounce version and attached a small PVA bag of 6mm pellets with some Tutti Frutti Goo squirted on the outside. This approach yielded 3 further fish over the next half hour – bites were fairly slow to develop but the stamp of fish was twice that of those caught in the first hour.

MBK Leisures

After a good start the period between eleven thirty and one o’clock can only be described as ‘desperate’ – I spent 90 minutes chasing shadows and didn’t put a single thing in the net! The straight lead line had dried-up and I thought it was too early for the margins so I decided to try and copy Andy Rogers on peg 3 who had been successfully spraying maggots and mugging cruising carp with a light waggler set-up – big mistake!!! (If I’m always the first to tell people who ask that they should play to their strengths in a match then why did I waste an hour and a half mucking about on a method I’m clearly no good at?!?)

The idea behind this approach is that you pull a number of fish into your peg with loose-fed maggots and when a suitable specimen comes into view (and range) you cast your hookbait just in front of it’s nose.(There are always loads of visible fish in the upper layers during the summer at MBK Coloured Ponds.) Andy has this approach down to a tee but frankly I’ll be sticking to the method feeder in the future!!!

With hindsight my problems were threefold – firstly I was spraying too many maggots over too wide an area; secondly I was far too impatient and simply kept casting without being able to see a fish in the peg; and finally my waggler was too light for the 11’ pellet waggler rod and 6lb line I was using, so when I could see a big fish I couldn’t cast to it accurately. (But apart from that I was doing it perfectly!!!)

Lily pads and a spare peg to the left

Over recent weeks I’ve been trying to leave any margin lines as late as I can – feeding and fishing a margin line too early seems to lead to an odd fish or two but then the line dies, whereas leaving it later seems to mean more fish stay in the peg for longer. (Of course there is a trade-off as leaving a margin line too late means you’ve limited the amount of time you have before the “all out” to actually catch ‘em!)

However given the previous 90 minutes I was in serious catch-up mode so I decided to feed my left margin (which was at about 10m to the vacant platform 6) I decided to feed a small amount of corn and 6mm pellet at 1300. I was in two minds as to giving the straight lead another go whilst this swim settled but for some reason I decided to go straight in with a single grain of corn – it was a good job I did as this move lead to 3 decent carp in the net in double-quick time!!!

(The tackle for this line was my ‘light’ margin set-up – 0.17 Guru N-Gauge mainline to a hooklength of 0.15 with a size 16 eyed B911. The float was a 4x10 Preston Innovations Durafloat 10 and the elastic black Hydro.)

Unbelievably a dabble on the straight lead following a re-feed on the margin saw two more carp added to the total, and altogether the spell between one o’clock and two fifteen produced about 10 carp for roughly 30lb – which added to the 20lb from the first 90 minutes meant I was in a good position with approximately 50lb in the bag going into the vital final stage of the match.

My right margin – peg 4’s platform

As today’s match was a 6 hour affair starting at 10 o’clock the final phase of the match (the bit where everybody prays for some Billy Bunters to turn-up in their margin) was slightly longer than normal and would go on until 1600. As my left margin was starting to slow and as I had a second accessible platform to my right I decided to gamble a little a drop three large pots of Sonubaits 50:50 groundbait in front of peg 4’s platform – whilst this has worked well on other venues I’ve never been able to make this tactic work here before (hence the “gamble”).

Well I needn’t have worried as shortly after potting in the final load of groundbait there were visible tail patterns and clearly fish on the bait immediately!!! First drop in with half a worm lead to an immediate bite and an angry carp screaming out of the peg at a hundred miles an hour – happy days!!! This set the pattern for the rest of the match and after plundering the right margin for a few initial fish I converted the left margin to the same groundbait and worm approach with the same positive impact – having two productive margin swims was a great bonus and I was simply able to switch from left to right, re-feeding and picking-off the odd fish until the end of the match.

The all important scores on the doors

It was soon my turn to weigh-in and my two nets went a pleasing 86-7-0 – a new personal best for the venue and enough for a lake/section win as I’d just done enough to sneak past D Smith’s creditable 79-2-0 from corner peg 18.

Overall the venue fished very well with 2 ton plus weights, a 90, two 80s and numerous 50s, 60s and 70s. Lake/section winners:

• J Brownlie, 66-12-0, Pond 1 peg 4
• P Morris, 86-7-0, Pond 2 peg 5
• D Steer, 119-6-0, Pond 3 peg 7
• M Cook, 115-6-0, Pond 4 peg 3

On the team front my quartet crashed to a disappointing seventh (from eight), but at the top the first 3 were separated by only 2 points. Team result:

1. Team C (C Kampa, S Smith, K Cardwell, R Fiander), 23 points
2. Team H (F Bevan, A Rogers, S Kendall, C Salmon), 22 points
3. Team B (J Brownlie, C Underwood, A N Other, M Cook), 21 points

It was hot in the car park!

Conclusions: whilst in the end I got out of jail I can’t help but reflect that the 90 fishless minutes that formed the second quarter of my match could have been disastrous – this isn’t the first time I’ve wasted a large portion of a match on an untested long-shot and in future I’ll be sticking to the plan and leaving such experimenting for pleasure sessions!!! On the plus side the scaled-down margin gear was very effective on the day – perhaps the reason I’d failed to catch down the edge in previous visits to the MBK Coloured Ponds was my unnecessarily over the top use of 0.19 mainline straight through to a size 12 hook with a giant hookbait?

Until next time …

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