I mentioned how I was heading off down to Docklow Pools in Herefordshire for their annual Docklow Championship festival. This competition has ran for many years in various formats and is open to those who have holidayed at the complex this summer & been invited, syndicate members, caravan owners or those who have a winter let. There were some very good anglers on show and I could not wait to test my metal.
Here is my 8 match marathon of a week (Advanced apologies for some poor bankside photography!)
Sunday : Eight Bells Angling Club, Fur and Feather :
Bradshaw Fisheries Lake 9, Bolton, Lancashire.
Id not fished this lake previously but the talk from the lads in the club was that it would be a small fish affair with small carp, F1, skimmers and various bits and bobs. The water was a snake type and I quite enjoy these venues. I drew peg 7 on the point of a bend with lots of water to go at.
With wails of "Flyer" ringing in my ears I trudged off to my peg and must admit it looked the part...almost too many options to go at. A Track line, and a couple of carefully selected features across (One tight over and one in deeper water) were my plans of attack. If ever I am unsure of a water I always use Worm and Maggots on one line to give me an idea of what is around as it is fairly instant. Groundbait is allowed and my ever faithful Marukyu EFG 131 was introduced, again something I turn to when I am unsure of the species.
I soon realised I needed to beef up across as a number of F1 were straight into the reeds when hooked. I soon found a rhythm of small fish including ... Around 30 Tench, Chub, F1, Mirror Carp, Roach, Skimmers and Gudgeon. I kept busy but I couldn't quite deliver the much needed win which has become a bit of a hoodoo. 28lb 10oz gave me another 2nd place in the match.
It also ensured I finished 2nd in the club championship race for 2013. Five second spots and an overall second has a bit of a theme really! However I have won the big fish trophy for my 9lb 10oz Common at Heronbrook :)
After Bradshaw is was foot on the pedal (A steady 70mph ;) to try and make the draw for the festival.
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| 2nd place at Bradshaws and some bad camera work by Bob Price! |
The Docklow Pools Championship Festival :
Docklow Pools, Leominster, Herefordshire.
Format :
60 Anglers. 4 Lakes. Match Pool, Farmer Jack, Stock Pond and Moby Dick
Each lake divided into 3 sections of 5 anglers. 1 point for a section win upto 5 points for last in section.
Essentially this is the exact same format as the Dave Jack Invitational in May with the only difference being the Snake Lake being replaced with the Moby Dick. This I was very excited about because the Roach fishing is Excellent. With a 9th last October and a 6th in the Dave Jack Festival I really wanted to emulate this form, but as Always draws would play a part.
My draw put me in Group B which had a rotation of Day 1 Match Lake, Day 2 Moby Dick, Day 3 Stock Pond and Day 4 Farmer Jack.
Day 1 Monday :
Match Lake Peg 2
I could not believe it when I drew out the same peg as on the Dave Jack Festival. On that day I caught a number of cruising fish on the waggler. Temperatures were not upto those heights but I remembered my lessons from last time... I needed to find a shallower Margin line and should fish a method feeder by the christmas tree to my left rather than a straight lead.
Peg 2 on its day can produce but I believe it is always up against noted pegs 8 and 10 in the section, with 6 regularly showing good form. I also had Yorkshireman Brian Clay and Wayne Wardle who has been fishing the place since god was a boy to contend with. Unless I landed some real lumps my plan was for 3 points. I decided against a long Chopped Worm and Caster approach and instead feed Caster down the Margins looking to catch Roach and Chub shallow. Also an 8mm Meat line at 6 metres aiming for Carp and Skimmers.
My Method feeder practice was pretty much useless as I ended up straight into the Christmas tree on my first chuck, despite clipping up (Must try harder). Whilst waiting on the method I am constantly throwing Casters looking for swirls of the Roach and let them build their confidence. I also regularly feed Meat by hand ready for later on in the Match.
I caught a number of Silvers on my top kit, along with 4 F1 carp on the method, but felt I was going nowhere. I needed either my long left hand margin (Careful plumbing found a slightly shallower spot) or my meat line to produce. And it was the Meat that caught me a run of skimmers along with carp. The Margin gave one or two F1 but nothing major.
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36lb 7oz and 3 points on Day 1 |
36lb 7oz gave me third in section which I genuinely thought was the best I could get. Wayne was 2nd with 44lb from peg 8 and as predicted Brian Clay smashed the section with over 74lb on peg 6.
Day 2 Tuesday:
Moby Dick Lake Peg 5
Word around the Bar at the draw for Day 2 was that Moby Dick had fished terrible. I have to admit I had only fished this water once in all the time I have been visiting Docklow and I thought it would be the one to trip me up due to lack of knowledge. I had ordered 4 pints of Caster thinking the Roach and F1 fishing would be great as it usually is. But upon inspection of the water I could see that it was Gin clear and the fish had probably gone into the spring fed Mickey Mouse which links together.
I drew a peg which produced 1lb 6oz on day 1 and was told it was a good draw! I have to say I was brimming with confidence and knew this would be my chance to steal a section and get back in the race. Being brought up on tough northern canals and lakes has its advantages and weaknesses. A plus point is when the going gets tough I can stand up and be counted and can often pluck a fish from nowhere. The downside is that when it comes to big weights and aggressive fishing I struggle to compete.
You may notice on the picture there is a willow tree to the right hand side and an island across. I set up a light waggler to fish in the open water and towards the island, along with a maggot feeder. Pole wise I knew the chap the day before caught small fish by the willow up in the water. Out came a long line 4x8 tiny rig and a poly ball tied to 0.08 and a 20 hook. I literally just needed a few fish to get me going.
At the start of the match there were a number of shoals of roach swimming through the peg and I literally mugged one on my first chuck with a single red maggot. But the 20 hook to a 6 elastic didn't feel right and I bumped the fish. One or two fish started finding the net fishing 18 inches deep on the polyball and feeding nothing.
The shoals soon dispersed though and I was left to try the waggler and the maggot feeder. Eventually I decided to "Work the treeline". Essentially moving along the tree from 5 - 14.5 metres with a single maggot and trying to find the odd roach. Over the next 5 hours I had to work my socks off trying different areas, different depths etc. I scaled up to an 18 hook and changed to a yellow Hydrolastic and literally got into the zone. Trying everything I could to muster fish. Some wouldn't have been an ounce, but it had to be done.
I really needed something like a 2s elastic and .06 line with a handful of pinkies, but nobody expected the fishing to be so tough.
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| 6lb 4oz of hard earned Roach and 1 point section win |
I managed around 70-80 fish for 6lb 4oz and a comfortable section win. Although quite a physically demanding session I really worked hard and felt rewarded for the effort I put in. 2lb was second in section, followed by 13oz and 2 blanks. Tough going for many.
Day 3 Wednesday:
Stock Pond Peg 6
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| Looks very different from April ! |
Amazingly I again draw the same peg as the Jacko Festival! On that day I managed over 93lb. Again word was that the Stock Pond was fishing poorly and the previous day my peg had only yielded 7lb! The highest being Monday's 30lb. With Brian Clay again in my section he was going to be a tough one to beat, but I fancied my chances despite the poor previous weights.
Tactics as always were my usual Maggot and Pellet approach. Top kit and follow the fish out. Meat and corn approach down the edge and hope for a lump. I kicked off very well with around 5 fish in the first 20 minutes. But I became nervous when the quiet spells didn't produce Ide, Roach or Skimmers. Just quiet blank spells with very hard to hit bites. A move out to 7 metres over Pellet with a pinch of worm pulled a few quick fish, but I was left frustrated with a number of foul hooked fish and VERY finicky bites.
F1 are notorious for shy bites but no matter what I tried I just could not hook them. Only thing I did not try and looking back maybe I should was to have a bulk very close to the hook and act as a sort of Bolt rig.
38 fish gave me 38lb. Brian Clay played a blinder off Peg 2 and claimed the section with 58lb. Ian Cooper battled with him from peg 3 claimed 2nd spot with 50lb. Both managed a couple of lumps which I was missing.
After day 3 and a total of 7 points I am lying in 19th place, however with a number of people still to fish the Moby dick which was finding many people out, there was a chance with a section win on day 4 I could sneak a top 10 finish.
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| A wet and shaky 3 points with 38lb |
Farmer Jack Peg 6
Apart from the Moby draw where a couple of fish had been caught. I could only consider this the first "decent" draw so far of the festival. Probably the best peg in the section and with the only ton weight to come from this peg so far in the festival. 30lb came off the peg the previous day which didn't suggest that many fish were still in the area, but the 100lb+ weight came from the margins and the chap on Wednesday apparently did not attack there.
I decided on a Caster approach at 13 metres in the open water, but the day was very windy with a bitterly north wind. This made presentation difficult. I also put in a 13 metre line to my left down the lake with the wind, here was Caster and Chopped Worm. The worm had not really produced so far this week, but it can take time for the fish to get a taste and I felt this could be the day.
I was proven right with the caster line ahead only producing the odd Skimmer and Roach, where the worm line along with very aggressive feeding produced a number of plump F1 and a decent carp. The Margins felt too deep for me with over 3 foot of water and although I attacked this with my favourite Hemp and Corn with Marukyu Credence liquid I could only manage a couple of F1. I was left to keep searching over the worm line and working hard in the wind.
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| 48lb 5oz and a section win on the last day |
With an 8 point total this equalled both The Dave Jack Festival and the 2012 October Docklow Champs, so I am happy with my consistency. If only I could find a more consistent approach for the match pool then I would be pushing that bit further.
With 7 of us sat on 8 points I finished in 12th position due to my relatively low weight aggregate of 129lb. I was only 14oz behind 11th which was frustrating. But overall 2 section wins and my 12th place paid enough to cover my entrance fee, so better than a poke in the eye with a stick.
A massive well done has to go to Brian Clay in my group who recorded a perfect 4 section wins to become the 2013 Docklow Festival Champion. Not only is Brian a top angler, but also a top bloke and I cant fault him, I only wish I could find a Mrs like his lass Elaine who loves to sit by him and read a book :)
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| Docklow Champ 2013 Brian Clay presented by Simon Bozward |
2013 Docklow Fesitval Championship Result
1st Briay Clay (Yorkshire) 4 points 212lb 10oz
2nd Paul Jennings (Manchester) 6 points 168lb
3rd Steve Greaves (Bury) 6 Points 138lb 13oz
4th Gary Davis (Swindon) 6 Points 92lb 12oz
5th Bill Rathbone (Cannock) 7 Points 144lb 4oz
6th Greg Herbert (Herefordshire) 7 Points 129lb 8oz
7th Keith Harris (Swindon) 7 Points 94lb 5oz
8th Dave Chipperfield (Essex) 8 Points 225lb 8oz
9th Kevin Bell (Wetherby) 8 Points 223lb 6oz
10th Phil Mason (Herefordshire) 8 Points 146lb 3oz
11th Bob Lindsay (Manchester) 8 Points 129lb 14oz
12th Dave Eastwood (Manchester) 8 Points 129lb
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| Paul Jennings 2nd Place |
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| Steve (Oh Noooo!) Greaves 3rd place |
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| Me Collecting 12th Prize and Sections off Simon Bozward of Docklow Pools |
Day 5 Friday Pairs Event :
After the Festival there is always a bit of a fun match whereby pairs are drawn at random. One fishes the Farmer Jack and one on the Match Pool. Unfortunately I drew a chap who finished 58th in the festival and wasn't having much luck. I played my part weighing 44lb 10oz on peg 5 of the Match Pool which was 4th best on the lake. Meat at 6 Metres and a couple of lumps down the margins put a weight on the board. My Partner struggled for 9lb on Farmer Jack so alas it was not to be.
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| When 4th and 5th in Festival are drawn together as a pair, this is what happens. Well done Bill Rathbone and Gary Davis |
Day 6 Syndicate Members Match :
Docklow Members are invited to fish the syndicate matches on the 2nd Saturday of every Month. This month it was a teams of 3 event again names drawn at random over 3 separate sections. I drew peg 24 on the Match pool which can be one of the best pegs on the lake. The first hour on the method feeder produced some F1 and a nice Common. But my Pole line was a nightmare where I lost 7 foul hooked fish over the Meat line. I didn't feel they were feeding properly and the effectiveness of meat is probably wearing off after a week of pressure and the drop in temperature. I really wanted to fish the Chopped Worm, but I didn't have enough to do it effectively. 36lb left me nowhere. However I wasn't to let the team down too much though as one on the Farmer Jack struggled for 2lb.
Day 7 Brookside Fisheries Open :
Brookside Fisheries, Stretton, Cheshire.
I headed home after the syndicate match, but in a moment of madness rather than have a lie in after 7 matches, I decided to try an open at Brookside Fisheries near Warrington. I haven't been for around 8 months, but do like the place as its maggot fishing and lots of species.
Peg 5 on Snake one left me with an aerator to the left hand side and lots of cover on the far bank. By fishing Maggot over little nuggets of EFG 131 I managed a storming first hour with a nice big Mirror around 6lb and a number of smaller ones. Chopped Worm and Marukyu Credence by the Aerator accounted for some Skimmers and a number of start up lines along the track with 2mm Jpelletz kept the odd F1 coming. 50lb 4oz gave me joint 4th and a section win. So a good end to the week.
Final Thoughts :
Festival Fishing is hard work with the amount of preparation needed. If I am honest I didn't really have as much time as I would have liked to prepare this time around, but I did my best. With a little more thought and just try and keep things a little more simple on the Match I think I could have nicked 2nd in section. The same goes for the Stock Pond as I should have had a "Plan B".
As for fishing 8 matches on the bounce, well I am knackered. I imagine it is every match anglers dream to fish for a living, but for me there would be two certainty's...
1. I would be permanently mentally drained.
2. I would probably starve!
Enjoy your fishing! :)
(P.s. Thanks to Tom Mackay for taking pics of my ugly mug after every match)
