This month I wrestle with the idea that catching small fish is much more satisfying than catching big fish and also want to give a new groundbait a real work out.
Firstly I want to reflect on a good month of results :
November Action :
After a good section win in October I decided to kick off November's campaign at Brookside Fishery in Cheshire.
I drew an area I had not fished before, but was happy the wind was off my back. Two lines down the track, one with Marukyu Jpelletz and Jpz over the top. And a groundbait line of EFG170 with a bit of chopped worm helped me put a few Ide, Skimmers and F1 in the net. But it was the final 90 minutes at the bottom of the far shelf feeding little nuggets of EFG130 and maggot that brought the match to life. 38lb 2oz and a long overdue win were my rewards.
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| A hard earnt win at Brookside Fisheries |
Last winter I concentrated on Docklow Pools in Herefordshire. This year I have signed up to a small winter league series of 6 matches at Tunnel Barn Farm in Warwickshire. My Mate Jez Bown invited me to fish with his Birmingham based club as I was a little undecided what to do over the Winter.
The first match was on the complexes "Top pool". Having never been before it was a chance to have a wander and suss the place out. I had read a lot about F1 fishing at the complex etc, but with strong winds and quite clear water I fished a cautious match....probably too cautious. The water did not produce brilliantly and it took me a couple of hours to find my feet. 43lb won the match with my 21lb being good enough for third. Not the worst start to a Winter league.
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| 3rd place for my first visit to TBF |
A lost fish on the pellet waggler into under water roots left me sticking to a bomb with a long tail. Usual Winter tactics are single bright hookbaits or a single strong smelling/flavoured hookbaits. I managed 12 carp on either a 10mm JPZ or a Sonubaits flouro band em. Add a sprinkling of nice Roach and 58lb 13oz gave me a comfortable knock up win. The other 7 lost fish in the roots could well have put me into treble figures, but as we know...lost fish do not count!
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| 58lb 13oz at Bradshaws Knock up. |
The following day saw me back at Tunnel Barn Farm for the 2nd round of the Winter Series. High Pool being the lake for this round. Barometric Pressure was stable, overcast conditions and a mild 10 degrees had my hopes up.
When I saw my peg I noticed the water was very coloured and really fancied it. So much so I attacked the margins with maggot and little nuggets of groundbait. I also primed the Track with 4mm Fishery pellets in 8ft of water. By rotating between the Margins and deep water I had a busy day with 70 F1s, Barbel and Skimmers. Black 6mm JPZ was the bait for the track. Double Maggot for Margin. Over 100 fish and 54lb later gave me another win and a solid start to the winter league.
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| 54lb and a win on TBF High Pool |
Now this got me thinking... did I enjoy them 12 carp more than I did the 100 smaller fish? The answer in my mind was a resounding NO.
There are few better feelings in Match Fishing than lowering a dirty great big worm or a bunch of maggots over a well primed margin swim, only for a monster edge dweller to snaffle it and rip your pole out into the lake. However sometimes for me catching a hard earnt net of smaller species in difficult conditions is just as satisfying. So ..... can silver be better than gold?
The Session
I needed to get out on the bank to do some testing. I had been using the Marukyu EFG170 with some success on commercials. But as it is aimed for Silver Fish I wanted to try it on a natural venue.
It is worth me mentioning about Marukyu Products, I am not sponsored as such and do not receive free bait. I am a field tester for the company which gives me a small discount on a limited amount of product. The point being is I would not use anything I am not 100% confident in whilst in a match situation. However the proof of the pudding is in the eating and I always test the bait. If something is not quite right...I tell them. If something is spot on...I tell you.
I arrived at my local water and was shocked to see everywhere covered in Ice. I only had a couple of hours to fish and really did not have time to break any. I took a gamble and chose a pool I had not fished before which had a peg with a few meters clear of Ice. I knew the water had lots of small fish and that it is useful for juniors as they can catch bits in the summer, but apparently some Carp and Tench often saw people off into snags. I also knew that lake had not been stocked for 11 years.
The idea of EFG170 is that whatever the dominant species are around the peg it will attract, so you could essentially get cycles of species as fish move around. So with this I decided to fish three lines. Silvers love cover so I went down the margins in around 3ft of water next to some rushes. Also in open water around 6 meters up to the edge of the ice in nearly 4ft. Both would be fed with a nugget of 170 and a sprinkling of dead maggots. Another line with some 2mm Jpelletz would give me another option. I like to be very precise where I am fishing in Winter so I used far bank markers and noted where my hands are on the pole.
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| Top: The Iced up lakes proved challenging. Margin and Open water. Note the Markers I line up with the be accurate. |
Rigs were simple. Margin was 4 x 10 Jim Standish Chianti style float attached .12-.08 and a 18 Drennan Carp Maggot. Open water was a 4 x 10 Wire Slimzee .10 straight through to a size 20 of the same hook. Elastic for the Margin was Yellow Hydro to give me a chance of any bonus fish. Solid Preston Slip no4 for open water. I would mess around with shotting starting off strung out and potentially bulking later.
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| Simple Bait tray and Simple rigs |
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| Air Temp 2.3 =========== Freezing! |
Quick brew and toilet break and I would not give up. This time I fed positively with 3 golf balls of 170 onto my open water line. Ten minutes later and I latch into a proper roach around 6oz. Then another, then one around 12oz. A quick look on my Jpelletz line and I nick a quick Skimmer. None of these were the small 1-2oz fish I was expecting. All of a sudden I had gone from some potentially suicidal Perch (or the dominant margin species) to net Roach (The dominant species?) ... all from feeding more positively? The next 30 minutes or so I add a couple more before the cold and light beat me. What I thought was to be a disaster actually felt really positive.
Some points to give me self satisfaction;
- A Natural water I had never fished
- Bait I had hardly used
- The first Ice cover of the year
- Temperatures barely above freezing point
- A limited amount of time
A satisfying catch of silvers
I think for me it is all about keeping busy, keeping things tidy and simple and just enjoying your fishing.
Here is to a good December and end to the year.
Here is to a good December and end to the year.
