2013 has literally flown by. I would say this year is my third season of being bang into my fishing after an 8 year hiatus. I feel I am now starting to get to grips with commercial venues and have realised I have probably been over thinking them somewhat! Back to basics using watercraft and having confidence has been key.
After last months blog and the first ice covering of winter, the weather had settled down a wee bit in terms of temperatures. I enjoyed a good run of results in November and wanted them to continue into December.
When the fishing gets tough I do tend to enjoy the light approach and thought process it needs to winkle those extra bites.
This month I look at how I approach a typical snake/canal type venue and also go back to basics in terms of tackle set up and ensuring we get some bites in the cold.
Action Update :
The month kicked off with me back at Tunnel Barn Farm in Warwickshire for the 3rd round of the mini winter league series I have been invited on. I currently sit second in the league of 15 anglers with a third and a first overall on the previous two rounds.
Peg 3 on the Club Pool was my home for 5 hours and with overcast conditions and a mild 10 degrees I liked the look of the peg. However I was a little nervous at the lack of room with only 11 metres of water across to the island, but I did have a spare peg either side which gave me some comfort.
One of the other chaps told me that the pegs in the teens had been producing the best weights and when I saw each peg had 15-17 metres of water across I could see why. However not to be put off; here is how I approached it:
When arriving at my peg I always have a sit down for a minute or so to have a look at the water and just take stock of what I plan to do. Another thing I like to do in Winter is be very quiet whilst tackling up.
It always makes me smile when people are crashing their kit down and shouting across the lake. When the fish are hungry and the water is like chocolate then its no big deal, but in Winter I like a bit of stealth...If you was relaxing until March time, would you want somebody crashing about your house and garden?
First job before anything is to get the plummet out. Looking at the peg above you can see a line of reeds across to the right. Straight away I am thinking if were a fish (and there is a comfortable depth) I will be in them reeds/rushes.
I also want to know how deep the central track is, because this is where I expect the fish to be with the water temperature a mere 4 degrees.
Check out my 10 considerations when attacking a snake style swim for winter:
- I found around 3 feet of water next to the rushes, which I was hoping would be deep enough to attract anything hiding underneath. This will be fed with maggots to catch anything.
- 5 feet of water on the 2+2 line. (As per last months blog ...note the tree as a marker) Maggots along with Marukyu EFG130 to target any species in the deep water.
- The bare mud bank I didn't expect to yield much, however it is likely the bank is undercut and some fish maybe hidden away there. This will be fed with fishery micros only...but I will choose when to attack this part of the swim.
- To my left out of shot at 9 metres I will have a completely separate swim to be fed with little balls of over wet micros. I can afford to be quite positive here.
- Keepnet is spread along the nearside margin nice and quietly. Many anglers just chuck their nets into the deep water in front of them and wonder why they cannot get a bite down the track.
- I always use a bump bar. This is not to keep my rig still or to give me a rest. I use it when I land a fish to almost ship my landing net back rather than strain with my weaker left arm.
- Such a basic thing to have, but the pole sock gives me piece of mind that my sections wont be blowing anywhere and my precious carbon will not get chipped.
- A smaller bait tray for winter with a zip in case of showers. By fining down the size of my bait tray I am not tempted to take alsorts of options and confuse myself.
- Box nice and stable. I use a little spirit level on a key ring to ensure I am nice and comfortable.
- Flask... again basic, but imperative as the temperatures can drop dramatically early afternoon time. A little known fact is that if you lose 2% of your hydration, you can lose up to 20% of your concentration.
Bait Tray:
2 pints of red and white maggots with a tablespoon of turmeric
A handful of Marukyu EFG130 groundbait.
Fishery 2mm Pellets
Marukyu JPZ
A handful of worms from the compost and a few grains of corn.
Rigs :
Line 1: 4x10 Preston Soma float. 0.12 -0.10 Silstar Match team. 18 Drennan Carp Maggot hook.
White Hydro (Same rig for line 3)
Line 2: 4x12 Jim Standish float 0.10 Silstar - 0.09 Drennan Supplex 18 Drennan Carp Maggot.
6-8 Drennan Bungee
Line 4: 4x12 Jim Standish Wire Slimzee 0.10 Silstar straight through to 18 Drennan Carp Maggot.
6-8 Drennan Bungee
My main line of attack would be across to the rushes and down the track with Maggot being my main bait. Using an old skool flavouring with a dash of turmeric on the maggots. The spiciness just gives the bait an extra kick in the cold water and has never done me any harm in terms of catching. In my mind pellet was to be a slow burner and I expected to fish this later on in the session.
I kicked off across on line 1. Instantly I had 3 F1 on a double red maggot hookbait. I had fed lines 2 and 4 with a view that the early fish by the rushes would back off . They did but only when I foul hooked a carp around 7lb which I lost at the net.
Line 2 yielded surprisingly 5 mirror carp through the session on a maggot hookbait over little balls of crumb between 3-5lb. Welcome Bonus fish which gave the slightest of indications. This made me think that the better carp were sat in the deep water but moving very little.
Line 4 I chose to look on sporadically. I did nick a couple of F1, but found myself constantly re-plumbing and moving around to keep bites coming. A single jpz hookbait over the wetted Micros did the trick.
But it was line 3 that was the real catalyst for the day. The sun came from behind the clouds around 1pm and I fancied the water across to warm up quite quickly. I fished the line 1 rig at the same depth just to the right of the tree stump. Micro pellets and jpz combo got me into a run of F1. I could catch 2 or 3 then have to rest it and look over the other lines before going back again.
By kicking off with Maggot and putting a few fish in the net across, then again down the track I could allow my pellet lines to develop. And then the 2nd half of the match rotate between all 4 lines to keep one or two fish going in the net regularly.
49lb 14oz gave me a comfortable win with 15lb in second place. I felt with the water I had in front of me I utilised the space very well and reacted to things as they happened. This is another water I had not fished before and I felt with a little bit of stealth, finesse and thought I did well.
Roy Marlow has a great line that... "Do what you know... not what you think you know" and that always puts Match fishing into perspective for me. Why try something you are unsure of ?.
A week later and I was booked in for the weekend at Docklow Pools in Herefordshire. I had not been down since the October Festival but after spending last Winter there, I did not think it would take me long to tune back into the venue.
The Farmer Jack lake was the water for the Saturday open. Peg 6 (the peg I drew in the October festival) was my home for the day. I decided on a maggot approach to attract anything that swims. I knew it would be hard, but 12.5 metres in around 4foot of water would hopefully attract a few.
Just up the bank was a young fella from nearby Leominster called Michael Thomas. 15 years of age his dad dropped him off to fish the match and would pick him up later. Exactly what my old man used to do when I was his age. I would see how he got on and offer a few words of advice later.
As well as my maggot line I put in an obligatory 2mm pellet line to my left in case the lakes F1s made an appearance. I kicked off catching roach on the deck, but very slowly. A change was needed, so a 4x8 very light float with a carbon stem and strung out styls....yep styls!
Not many people use them now, but it is a preference of mine in winter to let the maggot drop very slowly through the water and styls offer the best presentation. I found the fish around 6 inches off the bottom. A string of Roach, Skimmers, Hybrids and a bonus 7lb carp over my pellet line gave me 17lb 9oz and second place. A good return to Docklow, but frustrating as I was sat on the bonus peg and was only beat by 13oz, still mustn't grumble.
I had a chat with young Michael as he was packing up. He managed to weigh 2lb of little silvers, but I noticed he was guilty like many of using summer tactics in winter...Tapping his pole tip on the water, dumping pellets from a height, rattling bait in down the edge. All great fish attracting tips for mid July ... not for December. The water is 3 degrees, the fish do not need to feed, the last thing they want is a big pot on their heads.
Words of wisdom
The next day I decided to have a pleasure fish to demonstrate how keeping things simple will produce bites in the cold. As I arrived on the members only Stock Pond, young Michael from the previous day arrived with his dad to have a pleasure fish too.
In my profession I work in training, so I think it is in my nature to try and develop myself and others. Once I had set up some kit I decided to ensure that Michael would catch some F1s on the lake.
The last time I fished in October I struggled for 38lb, but with no pressure on the lake I decided to fish the nearest peg 2 (An average draw in a match) at the car park and fish two simple lines.
I told young Michael to fish peg 21 which is often a decent area. In truth I did not know how it would fish with it being crystal clear and a water temperature of 3 degrees.
(Note on the picture how clear the water is, you can see the keepnet right down to the bottom ring)
Line 1 is just after the lake levels off to around 3 and a half foot. Here I would feed a little chopped worm, but again maggots to attract anything. Same as Tunnel Barn, I wanted some quick fish to keep things going into the net. The lake is predominantly F1s but lots of silvers that are never targeted.
Line 2 would my usual micro pellet with a Marukyu Ebi Jpz over the top. I wrote last winter that this hookbait has caught me more F1 carp than any other bait and I have 100% confidence in them.
Initially I caught a number of Perch using single maggot over little toss pots of chopped worm, then some Skimmers showed an interest, along with the odd Chub. Here I had a simple 4x10 Jim Standish Wire Slimzee attached to 0.9 line and my favourite Drennan Carp Maggot hook to a solid Preston Slip 4.
A handful of Marukyu EFG130 groundbait.
Fishery 2mm Pellets
Marukyu JPZ
A handful of worms from the compost and a few grains of corn.
Rigs :
Line 1: 4x10 Preston Soma float. 0.12 -0.10 Silstar Match team. 18 Drennan Carp Maggot hook.
White Hydro (Same rig for line 3)
Line 2: 4x12 Jim Standish float 0.10 Silstar - 0.09 Drennan Supplex 18 Drennan Carp Maggot.
6-8 Drennan Bungee
Line 4: 4x12 Jim Standish Wire Slimzee 0.10 Silstar straight through to 18 Drennan Carp Maggot.
6-8 Drennan Bungee
My main line of attack would be across to the rushes and down the track with Maggot being my main bait. Using an old skool flavouring with a dash of turmeric on the maggots. The spiciness just gives the bait an extra kick in the cold water and has never done me any harm in terms of catching. In my mind pellet was to be a slow burner and I expected to fish this later on in the session.
I kicked off across on line 1. Instantly I had 3 F1 on a double red maggot hookbait. I had fed lines 2 and 4 with a view that the early fish by the rushes would back off . They did but only when I foul hooked a carp around 7lb which I lost at the net.
Line 2 yielded surprisingly 5 mirror carp through the session on a maggot hookbait over little balls of crumb between 3-5lb. Welcome Bonus fish which gave the slightest of indications. This made me think that the better carp were sat in the deep water but moving very little.
Line 4 I chose to look on sporadically. I did nick a couple of F1, but found myself constantly re-plumbing and moving around to keep bites coming. A single jpz hookbait over the wetted Micros did the trick.
But it was line 3 that was the real catalyst for the day. The sun came from behind the clouds around 1pm and I fancied the water across to warm up quite quickly. I fished the line 1 rig at the same depth just to the right of the tree stump. Micro pellets and jpz combo got me into a run of F1. I could catch 2 or 3 then have to rest it and look over the other lines before going back again.
By kicking off with Maggot and putting a few fish in the net across, then again down the track I could allow my pellet lines to develop. And then the 2nd half of the match rotate between all 4 lines to keep one or two fish going in the net regularly.
49lb 14oz gave me a comfortable win with 15lb in second place. I felt with the water I had in front of me I utilised the space very well and reacted to things as they happened. This is another water I had not fished before and I felt with a little bit of stealth, finesse and thought I did well.
Roy Marlow has a great line that... "Do what you know... not what you think you know" and that always puts Match fishing into perspective for me. Why try something you are unsure of ?.
 |
| A good days sport for December 49lb 14oz |
The Farmer Jack lake was the water for the Saturday open. Peg 6 (the peg I drew in the October festival) was my home for the day. I decided on a maggot approach to attract anything that swims. I knew it would be hard, but 12.5 metres in around 4foot of water would hopefully attract a few.
Just up the bank was a young fella from nearby Leominster called Michael Thomas. 15 years of age his dad dropped him off to fish the match and would pick him up later. Exactly what my old man used to do when I was his age. I would see how he got on and offer a few words of advice later.
As well as my maggot line I put in an obligatory 2mm pellet line to my left in case the lakes F1s made an appearance. I kicked off catching roach on the deck, but very slowly. A change was needed, so a 4x8 very light float with a carbon stem and strung out styls....yep styls!
Not many people use them now, but it is a preference of mine in winter to let the maggot drop very slowly through the water and styls offer the best presentation. I found the fish around 6 inches off the bottom. A string of Roach, Skimmers, Hybrids and a bonus 7lb carp over my pellet line gave me 17lb 9oz and second place. A good return to Docklow, but frustrating as I was sat on the bonus peg and was only beat by 13oz, still mustn't grumble.
I had a chat with young Michael as he was packing up. He managed to weigh 2lb of little silvers, but I noticed he was guilty like many of using summer tactics in winter...Tapping his pole tip on the water, dumping pellets from a height, rattling bait in down the edge. All great fish attracting tips for mid July ... not for December. The water is 3 degrees, the fish do not need to feed, the last thing they want is a big pot on their heads.
Words of wisdom
The next day I decided to have a pleasure fish to demonstrate how keeping things simple will produce bites in the cold. As I arrived on the members only Stock Pond, young Michael from the previous day arrived with his dad to have a pleasure fish too.
In my profession I work in training, so I think it is in my nature to try and develop myself and others. Once I had set up some kit I decided to ensure that Michael would catch some F1s on the lake.
The last time I fished in October I struggled for 38lb, but with no pressure on the lake I decided to fish the nearest peg 2 (An average draw in a match) at the car park and fish two simple lines.
I told young Michael to fish peg 21 which is often a decent area. In truth I did not know how it would fish with it being crystal clear and a water temperature of 3 degrees.
(Note on the picture how clear the water is, you can see the keepnet right down to the bottom ring)
 |
| Line 1 at around 10 o clock 6 metres / Line 2 at 12 o clock at 9.5 metres |
Line 1 is just after the lake levels off to around 3 and a half foot. Here I would feed a little chopped worm, but again maggots to attract anything. Same as Tunnel Barn, I wanted some quick fish to keep things going into the net. The lake is predominantly F1s but lots of silvers that are never targeted.
Line 2 would my usual micro pellet with a Marukyu Ebi Jpz over the top. I wrote last winter that this hookbait has caught me more F1 carp than any other bait and I have 100% confidence in them.
 |
| A simple bait tray |
I saw young Michael also catching the odd silver, so I wandered over to check his set up. Although the young fella was getting a couple, I checked his rig which consisted of 0.17 line attached to 0.15 bottom and a size 14 hook. This was unbalanced to a solid number 5 elastic. A quick search through my rigs and I provided him with a 0.4grm Ben Scott open water float with 0.12-0.10 line and a 20 hook.
I explained the benefits of feeding some micros through a toss pot with a few maggots and using a far bank marker. I also gave Michael some jpz for the hook. I then plumbed up accurately for him and explained how an F1 bite may develop with the importance of the bait being dead depth and lifting and dropping.
After sitting with Michael and getting him right for 40 minutes or so I realised I had only around 90 minutes left to catch a few myself. I went straight onto my longer line at 9.5 metres. A ripple had developed on my peg and I was confident my pellet approach would get some F1s. I set a target of 20lb in 90 minutes and plugged away. Rig was 0.3 Jim Standish Wire Slimzee. 0.12-0.10. 18 hook and 6-8 Drennan Bungee.
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| A wire Slimzee the perfect F1 pattern |
 |
| 9.5 metres into the ripple attracted the F1 Carp |
Bites were very very shy and I had to constantly work the rig, lifting and dropping, but went onto a nice steady run of good stamp F1s. As I looked up young Michael was into his first F1 of the day and started catching every put in. So much so I was thinking if it was a match the little fella might be beating me!
 |
| Young Michael kept feeding tight and found the F1's |
By building up my maggot line I put a number of quick fire Silvers in the net. Along with the confidence I have in my pellet line I plundered the F1 in a quick fire burst and certainly hit close to my 20lb target. Which given the conditions I thought was a wee bit ambitious.
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| The perfect winter scene |
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| Close too if not 20lb of Silvers and good stamp F1s in no time. |
Yearly round up:
That completes my 12 blogs for the last 12 months and something I have really enjoyed doing. I guess I have realised that if I am not out fishing, then writing about it is the next best thing for me.
As I have said previously, I may not be the best angler in the world, but I work very hard at trying to improve and my results this year are on the up. I hope I have helped people along the way put a few extra fish in the net.
A few acknowledgements must be made to the following:
- Docklow Pools for allowing me to use keepnets on their members waters for a couple of shoots. And for looking after me when I visit.
- Roy Marlow at the Glebe Fishery
- "Media man" Clint Walker at Marukyu
- Ray Best at www.ukmatchangler.com
- Jim Standish for making my pole floats
- Keith Arthur for proofing my initial writings (And my mythering the last 18 years!)
- Rochdale and District Angling Society
- Oldham Advertiser for printing my weekly column
- All the lads in my Eight Bells Angling Club for being so supportive of my writings
- Festival buddies : Jez Bown, Sean Stewart and Ronnie Ord. (That's enough I haven't won an Oscar)
More importantly a massive thank you to everybody who has taken an interest in reading the blogs, without you I simply would not have anything to write about. So far the blog has received 3700 hits and growing.
Have an excellent Christmas and a Happy New Year...see you in 2014.
Tight Lines
Dave
