Back to Basics

It's been a busy old time on the club fishing front. September has been virtually a match every week so there is lots to look back on.

I also go back to what I love doing...trying to winkle out a net of small silver fish.

This month we go back to basics using the most rudimentary of tackle. Just like being a youngster I try to put together a small net of fish using simply a pint of maggots and a little groundbait.

Action update August/September:

Following on from my last blog when we spoke about paste fishing for Carp and Skimmers, I just had to get back to this little water in Lancashire for a couple of days.

I chose a different peg but used exactly the same tactics using skrill pellets and paste at 6 metres and lumps of paste down the edge for Carp. It worked a treat again, but this time around I caught a real mixed bag including a Perch over 2lb using Marukyu AFP310 paste! as well as a number of big Roach over the 1lb mark.

A mixed bag using paste

Day 2: different peg and same result with 4 big carp and a couple of smaller samples. Another big perch on paste and numerous stamp Roach and Skimmers.

Possibly my favourite picture of the year with a stunning common. Look at the size of that tail !

Day 2 and another mixed bag of silvers, small carp and lumps which were put back.

Perch on paste!

Following the excitement of camping and fishing with the family, it was back to the club scene. Sitting in 2nd position in the club championship race I really needed to up my game against Chris "the raider" Pickering and John Berry.

I finished 2nd last year with my Eight Bells A.C. and was determined to go one better. With club champ Nick Haymes now concentrating more on open fishing, It has been the perfect opportunity to step up and try and cement my place at the top of the leader board.

Bradshaw fishery no4 lake was first up. This was a venue I used to shy away from a few years ago, big carp, pellet waggler, method feeder, heavy feeding...all unfamiliar ways of fishing until the last couple of seasons for me. Now I really get stuck in and with my recent success on rod and line at the Wrightington Fishery I felt confident.

Permanent peg 15 at Bradshaw no4

I drew down in the bottom corner of the lake and did not feel massively confident, but with an aerator a nice comfortable chuck I felt I would be in for a couple. I knew it would be hard to win the match with the more favoured "wall side" pegs facing. The target was to win my section and finish as high up the field as possible.

8mm pellets on a small 5g waggler fished to the right of the aerator brought me 3 carp around 5lb each, I also lost two as they found their way around the aerator ropes.

I used 3 types of pellets including Marukyu Skirll, Jpelletz and standard feed pellets. This gave me an opportunity to try different coloured hookbaits on the day. I also had a method feeder set up with a 50/50 mix of EFG151 and 2mm skrill pellets. This accounted for 3 more carp of a similar size once indications tailed off on the waggler. Finally 2 more carp and some silvers were caught short on the paste at the bottom of the near shelf.

73lb 9oz gave me a section win and more importantly 4th place overall. Warren Kirby on the fancied wall pegs smashed the ton to win the match with 112lb. John Berry made some ground up on me with 2nd place and 97lb and my travelling partner Bobby came 3rd with 87lb.

My mate Bobby sneaked this 12lb 13oz Mirror and I heard all about it in the car home!

Hampton Springs Long Island pool was our next visit. I had not been to this venue since my first season back fishing around 3 years ago. I remembered catching a couple of carp on a small crystal waggler shallow against an island but that was all I knew.

I drew a peg which used to have a bridge across to one of the islands which gave the lake its name. With the bridge not there I had the point of the island at 16 metres but with potential snags under the surface. I also could not chuck long against the island due to a wire leading to an aerator in front of the next peg along. I also had peg 2 wanting to cast to my point of the island. In short I felt a bit boxed in.

This was how my peg used to look!

Undeterred I set up a small method feeder to cast towards the island, a traditional waggler for the open water towards the rope and a short pole line.

I spent the first 90 minutes searching the open water line. Fishing a drake waggler with a single grain of corn in 6ft of water. Only a small size 20 swivel was used as shot down the line allowing me to search the depths and offering something that nobody else would be doing in my congested part of the lake. Skimmers, Roach and small F1 Carp came to the net keeping me busy.

But it was the last hour when I began dropping a method into the deeper water at the bottom of the shelf off the island when I put a quick burst of small carp together. One of the lads suggested Meat was the bait of the day and so it proved.

Rod and line tactics gave me 26lb 4oz for another section win and 5th overall. Warren Kirby smashed the match for his 2nd win on the spin banking 85lb 4oz. The bad news was The Raider Pickering and John Berry finished in 2nd and 4th respectively above me.

Mid September and back to lake 4 on Bradshaw Fisheries. This time I drew the favoured wall side and I fancied my chances to do well. As a bit of added spice I drew next to Chris "the Raider" Pickering, here I had the chance to put some pressure on him. Chris was still leading in the points race so it is upto me to force the issue. With match secretary Steve Brookes on the other side I was looking forward to a good battle.

I needed to put pressure on the Raider. He "Wants some"

Same tactics as previous visit, with pellet waggler and method set up. I didn't really expect the pole to feature, but set it up anyway. I also set up a bomb rod with a long tail in
case the fish were following my pellets down. The wall side is a little deeper than my previous draw in the corner of the lake so it was an option.

I found with the 3 of us pegged quite close together I needed to mix my feeding up a little and did'nt want to fish on a dustbin. I used the whole of the peg and fished in an "Arc" beginning casting to the left at the 11 o'clock position and ending at the 1 o'clock spot. Trying to pull fish from far and wide.

83b 12oz gave me another section win and 3rd overall was a good return beating the Raider in the process. Nick Haymes came back to the club and claimed another win with 110lb and John Berry again made ground finishing 2nd with 100lb 1oz. It was a good day with over 820lb caught between the 20 of us.

Last up for September it was to Langley Lakes in Lancashire. Having framed with the rod and line the previous 4 matches it felt strange setting the pole up as my main line of attack. This lake does not yield big weights and I always felt if I could hit 20-30lb I would be doing well. I drew exactly the same peg as last year where I finished 8th overall. This time the dynamics were different.... I was hungover big time! A few drinks the previous day and a late night to bed was not the best preparation but it happens now and then.

Same peg as last year at Langley Lakes

 I knew there would be small but powerful carp tight across and I needed to beef up. I also knew there would be skimmers down the track over groundbait, but with bright, still and warm conditions I knew these would not be a viable option. So it was a case of sticking across and catching silvers close in.

7 carp lost in the reeds across, even using a tight grey hydro left me pulling what little hair I have left out. The hangover was not really helping and I found the fishing really frustrating. With 2 hours to go I made the decision to get my head down close in using a top kit.

Maggots over EFG170 groundbait and catch whatever came along was the mantra. Small Roach, Tench, Crucians and Skimmers came to the net until a number of carp came and bullied their way in. One around 4lb was a real bonus and 20lb 9oz was enough for a section win and 2nd overall.

Nick Haymes did the biz making it 2 wins on the spin with 38lb.  John Berry and The Raider suffered on the day and with one match to go at Bradshaw Fishery no3 lake at the end of October the championship is in my own hands.

Back to Basics:
Earlier in the blog I eluded to carp and specifically big carp being a species I used to find quite daunting. After a 10 year sabbatical from match fishing, upon my return in 2011 fishing had changed massively and so had the size of fish. It has taken me a couple of years to get my head around it all and it is starting to come together.

One of the ways I like to get some perspective and get my feeding correct is by going back to basics. When I get a couple of hours spare I go upto my local club water and put my mind through a grilling. I have used these waters for many a blog and with a couple of hours spare this month I wanted to go back to my roots with the most simple of tactics. And as I have previously stated, if you can catch on these waters then carp are pretty fair game.

A pond full of lillies, small pin prick size bubbles breaking the surface, ducks having a good old quack and small silvers breaking the surface, my mind was wondering if I brought the right kit!

My plan was simple:
2 hours... small pond.
1 whip
1 rig
1 pint of maggot
1 pint of groundbait .... What could I catch?

The pond

The Rig

The bait

The whip and line

With so many features and so little tackle options the first question was where to fish? I decided to find a flat spot in 3 feet of water upto some weed, but not tight to the lillies. I sensed there might be the odd lump or big Tench that might drag me into the pads so I wanted to give myself half a chance.

My float a bazzerla 4x10 with a strung out shotting pattern was on 0.10 line and a size 20 drennan carp maggot hook completed the rig. My plan was to feed 3 golf ball sized balls of groundbait and loosefeed 3 or 4 maggots regularly over the top and play it by ear.

First up came a classic silver fish in this type of water...the Rudd. Thinking about some of the club matches this year, I have caught a lot of rudd especially on the top kit line or shallow. Useful when all is quiet.

The classic Rudd

With regular feeding some of the maggots would begin to start drifting down to the bottom over my groundbait. Next species sat below the Rudd are Perch to intercept the loose maggots. Already I am learning lessons. I should have put some dead maggots in my groundbait, this would have added some substance to the groundbait and maybe attracted some skimmers. Once a few Perch realised their mates were disappearing then it was the Roach turn.

Net Roach started feeding over the groundbait

Time for a change of feeding. Now Roach were grazing over the crumb, feed less maggot frequently but more volume. This will keep the fish down, it also signals time to bulk my shot together. I noticed I caught a couple of Rudd on the bottom, so for a surface feeder to go down to the deck told me I had it right, I wanted them competing on the bottom.

One or two small Skimmers then came to the net, which signalled top up time, small marbles of crumb were flicked over the area hoping to encourage some bigger skimmers. Before I knew it time had beaten me and I was packed up and gone within 10 minutes. The beauty of fishing light for a little bit of fun.

Every now and then a change is as good as a rest a couple of hours on a little water like this can be just what the doctor ordered. Try leaving the mountains of kit we all carry at home and have a little dabble on your water with a pint of maggs.

Good fun with a pint of maggot.

As we head into October it is time to start thinking about rigs etc for the cooler weather. Autumn is a lovely time of the year and can yield some fantastic fishing. With one more club match to go I am hoping to finish on a high. I might even have a dabble at a winter league too.

Tight Lines
Dave

Are You taking the paste!?

As I write it looks as if Summer is over already! Storms have dropped the monthly average rainfall already! And the winds are feeling very autumnal!

Still not to be deterred, July had some lovely temperatures and it only takes a high pressure spell to push things back to where they should be. Summer time means big fish...Big fish equals paste! This month I visit a Lancashire water where the fish run big....very big!

As always, firstly let me cover off some recent success and milestones.

Action update July/August:

Towards the end of July I was back out with my Eight Bells A.C. club mates to a place called High Heys Farm in Lancashire. I didn't know much about the place except that shallow can be the way to go with one regular winning all the recent opens "slapping".

High Heys with 3 lakes is a nice complex.

I instantly liked the look of the wide lake we had booked. A 35 yard chuck over to the empty pegs across and lots of open water in front. The margin had plenty of features to go at too. The day was pleasant but there was a stiff wind blowing into the car park end of the lake. If the fish followed the wind down that way I was in trouble.

As it transpired I had quite a pleasant day. Small barbel on the method across tight to the far bank, F1 carp shallow on the pole. 6mm skrill pellets "slapping" or using the "jigger" rig helped me put 35lb 13oz onto the scales.  Although enjoyable, the day was slightly frustrating as I pulled out of a number of F1 carp at the net, I couldn't seem to get my hook right. I was switching between a size 16 and 18 but neither seemed to make a difference.

Eric Bagley was pegged down wind at the car park and smashed the match with a lovely net of barbel for a winning net weighing 65lb 10oz. My weight was actually good enough for second overall, but as Eric was in my section I did not pick up any prize money. Still 2nd keeps me consistent and in the running in the club championship points.


Part of the joy of fishing is being outdoors, and with that I decided to join some of my family on a weekend camping trip. Myself, Aunt and Uncle decided on a weekend at a place called Fell View not far from Preston in Lancashire. The camp site had a small pond with half a dozen pegs or so and as all 3 of us fish we had to give this unknown water a try.

Lancashire countryside at Fell View was lovely.

This lake was a bit of an unknown quantity so I stuck to a pellet approach close in to see what I could muster. And the answer was Roach, Roach and more Roach. Good stamp too with them averaging 6oz. The problem was that Keepnets were not allowed, so when pleasure fishing without a net I would rather catch something that pulled back a little.

The weather decided to change and rapidly blow across the fells. A change of tactic to Meat in 6 ft of water at 7 metres would hopefully single out the better fish. The trick worked and 5 good size Tench along with a number of Roach around the 1lb mark made things a little more interesting. My Uncle Mike caught a couple of Tench as well but nothing else apart from Roach. It was food for thought in terms of targeting an unknown water. We both agreed that there must have been very few Carp in the pond as none of us hooked anything substantial. Uncle Mike promised to take me to a much better venue next time...

Summer Tench from a virgin water. 

Next up I was back to the Glebe in Leicestershire. This was an invitational match which I have fished for a couple of years. My mate Harry Warren organises the day as a corporate event for his best suppliers and customers and I luckily get involved.

16 pairs contested the match with 3 lakes to go at on a points/section basis. As a starting point no matter where you draw, each pair will need a minimum 100lb per angler before even thinking about prizes.  I drew peg 109 on lake 7 and decided to give my partner lake 1 for the experience as he had not fished it.

109 Glebe 7

I was on an end peg and knew I would do OK, but I really wanted a breeze into my bank, however the day remained still and very humid. 

My practising of casting the feeder is really paying off this year and I think I made only two poor chucks across to the far bank in the first two hours. A number of carp began to make their way into my net on the tip. Corn at 5 metres accounted for a few fish, but it was paste against the bank for the last couple of hours that made a big difference. 107lb 8oz gave me third on the lake and a couple of quid back. My partner on lake 1 struggled and our combined 10 points were miles off the pacesetters. The winning pair posted only 3 points and combined weight of 355lb

Back with the Eight Bells and our next stop was Wrightington Fishery. Last time we fished the canal, but this time we were on a lake called Rivington view. 

Weather turned for the worse making a static bait presentation key.

Another water I had not fished before and when I drew facing an island I quite liked the look of it. My main nervousness was a number of anglers had spare pegs around them, where as I was boxed in with someone either side. For an added bit of pressure my peg was also the bonus peg for the day.

I set up a small method feeder to fish across to the island and a couple of pole lines with Corn and Pellet hookbaits. The feeder mix was 50/50 Marukyu EFG150 and 2mm Skirll pellets. 

I felt that with the water being very coloured then the high attraction skrill and high protein crumb would be the best bet. My tip kept busy with small barbel and carp, plus one bonus around 9lb. With the action steady, if not amazing I decided to stay on the tip. I just felt that the fish wanted a still bait and rather than struggle with the pole, keep fish going in the net with the rod and line. One change I made was to put a heavier method on to sit on the slope better. 60lb 8oz of Carp and Barbel was enough to sneak ahead of Chris "the raider" Pickering and secure me a section win and overall/bonus peg win. 

I was particularly happy with this little victory as I have always dismissed "ledger" tactics. But this year I have made a conscious effort to get my casting right and increase the tools in my locker. It is working.

They're taking the paste!

After the fell view visit, my uncle promised me a visit to a water where I would get plenty of action off carp averaging around 8-10lb. Now these venues are few and far between in the North West. It was no surprise to find out the venue is a members only water, so when I was invited on I jumped at the chance.

This small members lake had some big surprises!

Two days were to be spent on this very quaint half acre or so lake tucked away in Lancashire. Day 1 was very cold and bitter with temperatures struggling to get above 14 degrees with a chilly wind.

Uncle Mike had warned me it maybe a tough day but one or two carp could show and a few bites off silvers should keep things busy. Pellet should catch everything and the now very faithful Marukyu Skrill pellets came out of the bag. Paste would be used when I felt bigger fish had arrived.

There are 3 types of paste I like to use: 

The Marukyu AFP range of 300 (pink: small fish), 310 (White: medium/mixed stamp) and 320 (Green: big fish). These are very simple and  anybody can use them with a simple 1-1 ratio explained on the reverse of the packaging (Bottom right image). The Paste contains gluten and sticks together really well on the hook. 

Paste is hugely popular as bait in the far east where they are experts are rearing and catching Carp. I tend to use paste July-September and these bags will easily last the 3 months.

Secondly, I sometimes use ground down pellets, nice and simple. Here you can add your own flavours depending on the venue when mixing it with water. 

Thirdly, groundbait. I have used the same mix for the past 3 summers and it is called EFG150. Add as much water as you like to get the right consistency for the day (Bottom left image)

With the wind difficult I decided to feel my way into the first day and see what popped along. I also wanted to give my margin pole a real good going over as it had not really been tested yet.

Keepnets were allowed for fish under 3lb so when I started catching one or two skimmers I thought I would pop them to one side. When bites from the silvers subsided then a piece of paste found 3 good stamp carp all towards or above double figures. Muscular fish that looked like they had never been caught before. 2 from down the edge and 1 from 5 metres where I had been catching the odd skimmer to tide me over. All on EFG 310 paste. Uncle Mike showed me the way with half a dozen carp and lots of Roach.

The margin pole was soon tested.

Paste Tackle:
With only around 3 feet of water in this part of the lake, the float doesn't want to be to big as the wind will pull the float across the surface skim and in turn pull the hook out of the paste. something around 0.2grm would suffice.
Line: 0.17 Guru N gauge
Hook: 14 Kamasan B911
Pole: Shimano Beastmaster
Elastic: Drennan Bungee 16-18 (Open water. 18-20 (Margin)
A paste pot is useful when fishing longer than a few metres out, as is a little pot of water to wet fingers and manipulate each paste portion when shipping out, plus it can be a messy business.

With the lake full of Lilly pads, The trick is to hit the bite then push the fish out to 8 metres and play them in open water. The puller kit also seemed to make these fish crazy, so I found that an almost old school way of "pole high" was the best way to subdue them.

Proof of the paste pudding. "Average" 10lb fish.

Around 8lb of Skimmers to go with my 3 carp.

Mike with a Mid-double common

Day 2 and despite overnight downpours the sun was out and very very warm. Hopefully this would get more fish on the move. Despite around 40lb the previous day it was quite difficult, but I felt a little more in tune with the venue and recognised a few errors.

First error I felt I was wasting time in the margins when the fish were not there. I decided to have a line at 5 metres for skimmers and only fish the margins when I saw signs of fish there. I.e. Tail patterns, lilies being brushed etc.  So 6mm Skrill pellets were prepared. These would be the only particles I would feed. I also had some maggots for the hook.

The plan worked a treat, regular pots of pellets at 5 metres and a piece of groundbait paste or 5 maggots got me into steady skimmer action. All the while I fed close in at around 2ft depth. As soon as I see signs then a large lump of groundbait paste over the pellets.

A total of 15 carp succumbed to the paste. The biggest fish was a stunning common where I would estimate to be around 18lb. Along with many fish in the 12-15lb bracket. In addition around 35lb of Skimmers made the paste action all the worthwhile. Guesstimate would be in the region of 170lb of fish.

Margin dwelling mirrors

Scale Perfect commons

30lb+ of Skimmer Bream.

Uncle Mike uses similar tactics to me but stays fishing close in to the edge. He had a real mixed bag with lots of Roach, Skimmers, Tench and half a dozen carp. We both agreed that although location was the easy part, it was all about the feeding. It is not a case of piling in a load of pellets and plopping a dollop of paste over the top. It takes some fine tuning the feeding and reacting to what is going on, at the same time going through lots of bait...just not all at once.

The water should be a reasonable temperature for a few more weeks. Have a go on the paste, but think about how you feed and attract to the margins, and what to do when it goes a little quiet. Why not open up a silver line like I did.

Here is to a successful September and remainder of August.

Tight Lines
Dave

It isn't the size that matters, its what you do with it!

After a couple of weeks away and a hectic workload, I couldn't wait to get back out on the bank!

This month I explore the idea of fishing short and keeping busy. I have had a bit of success recently fishing very close in and putting everything that came my way in the net. All too often I see people wielding 16 metres of pole when sometimes the fish are under your feet.

A scene replicated on every commercial across the country, but is this chap ignoring the short line?

First off lets look at where we have been:

Action Update June/July:

After my last blog at the Glebe I managed to fit one more match in with my Eight Bells Club at Hampton Springs Fishery Rock pool in Cheshire before going on holiday.

I drew a nice peg with a Lilly bed 12 metres down to my left margin and an island across at 14.5 metres. Using fishery pellets and swapping between a worm and Jpz I managed 30lb 14oz of small carp, tench and barbel for 2nd place (As usual) I foul hooked a couple of larger carp but didn't manage to get them in which was a bit of a gutter.

Hampton Springs is a popular Cheshire water

After my jollies I had a serious case of holiday blues! But I was straight into it with 2 matches at Heronbrook fisheries. 

First off my local tackle shop runs an annual event and attracts 150+ of the regulars and a few local stars. I drew peg 15 on the Bridge pool. Although it looked the part nothing of any substance seemed to show. I was 3rd in section with 21lb of small barbel and little f1s. 30lb won my section and I wish I would have stuck at the small stuff. This got me thinking....

Next up it was Maver Match this at the same venue. Again I drew the bridge pool and peg 11 around from where I was the previous week. I knew immediately I had no chance, but still persevered and attacked the peg very aggressively. There is no point fishing for the section on these matches with such high calibre of anglers. My aggression did not work and I left learning pretty much nothing. The only thing I would say about both of these matches is that I could have prepared a little better in terms of my tackle, I just was not really feeling it, so I had to buck my ideas up!

Back with the lads from the Eight Bells A.C. to a place I have not visited before. Wrightington in Lancashire. We were on the match canal with another club filling the end pegs, so the lake was virtually full.

Wrightington Match Canal. Lovely but end peg draw needed.

Typical of many commercial venues it was a uniform 14.5 metres across with a central track and margins. Everybody wanted an end peg and as it transpired Match Secretary Steve Brooks smashed the match off one of the ends with 54lb of small barbel and carp. I beat either side of me weighing 19lb but made little impression coming around 8th overall.


Next up with the Eight Bells it was to Bradshaw Fisheries in Bolton. I guess I would class this as my "local" commercial now. We were back on lake 3 which I really enjoyed back in April time. Small fish with plenty of bites. The difference was it was cold and windy back then, now it was a lovely day and I could present properly.

The great thing about club fishing is it is always a good laugh. I always travel to the club matches with a guy called Bob Price and I guess you could call him a character! Bobby complains that I never mention him in the blog, the thing is he rarely frames on the matches, so what is there to write? (Only joking Bobby, we all know you won a few in the 80s)

Me and Eight Bells travelling partner Bobby Price sporting our new Guru "Jaffa" waterproofs.

Thinking back to Heronbrook and the small fish, Lake 3 does have one or two larger stamp carp. I could go for them fishing long into the open water. But I decided to fish short, literally a top kit feeding casters and catching everything. I also had an open water swim, but I found it was the same depth right up to 14 metres, so I settled at 9 metres. Nice and comfortable and if the fish did back off I had lots of scope to go at.

I started catching Rudd up in the water feeding casters heavily knowing a few would get to the bottom. Then I changed to my bottom rig. Caster accounted for a couple of little barbel and tench, but it was the switch to 6mm Marukyu Jpz over the casters that brought a better stamp. I had to wait a little longer for the bites, but they were better fish.

To rest the short line I simply went on my 9 metre line. Originally I fed micro pellets, but it didn't feel right as the peg was fizzing like mad. A change to 4mm Marukyu skrill feed pellets with one on a band as hookbait, snaffled some skimmers and small carp. In all I had 8 different species of fish and in the region of 100 fish for 37lb 10oz with nothing over 1lb in size. A lovely days sport fishing short.

The day was good fun because I had a real head to head battle with Chris "the raider" Pickering in my section. I pipped him by 2lb or so and I am convinced that those early Rudd and silvers probably did it for me.

Carp, F1, Tench, Rudd, Roach, Gudgeon, Crucian, Barbel and Skimmer Bream for 37lb 10oz.

Short and Sweet:

When I was a kid I spent every minute I could on my local Rochdale canal. 20 years ago all I used to fish was the waggler and 9 times of out 10 I would fish at my rod end with a Drennan Canal Grey float. There was no flow back then as the locks were closed so not a particularly defined marginal shelf. It was a case of finding a nice level area with no rubbish or shopping trolleys and flicking maggots or casters steady until some fish arrived. Then you could tailor your feeding to what was happening. That's how I have been approaching the short line.

My local canal helped me fall in love with the sport and learn some valuable fish feeding lessons.

Things had been crazy busy the last couple of weeks so to get away from it all I decided on a last minute visit to Docklow pools in Herefordshire. Flicking through my blogs you will see it is a regular haunt of mine and one of my favourite venues. Good tackle shop, good pub and more importantly some great people and friends.

First I had a crack on the match pool open. I decided on the short approach but this time down the margins. I drew peg 21 which is OK, but the margin was over 3ft which I wasn't comfortable with. Still I tried a pellet and fish for anything approach, but could not get through the small roach (and I mean small!). Method across to the island was better and 41lb was a nice day, but didn't trouble the frame. Simon "Shed" Bradford is the main man in form at the match lake and won with 98lb.

Next up was the stock pond open which gave me the perfect opportunity to again fish short and put anything that comes along to the net. Target are the ample shoals of F1s which are putting on weight, but I never dismiss the many roach, perch, ide and skimmers. Peg 20 was my home for the day.

Peg 20 can be hit or miss.

Peg 20 can be great or can be a real challenge as the picture shows there is only 9 metres of water to the overgrown island across. It is pointless fishing over as it is too snaggy.

Fishery micro/4mm pellets were dampened down with Marukyu SFA450 liquid krill to give something a bit different from everybody else. I also pumped my expander pellets with the krill additive to compliment my feed.

Expanders pumped in SFA450 give that extra confidence and something different.

Preston Dura 10H elastic, 0.12 silstar line with a 4x12 Jim Standish Slimzee and a size 16 Drennan Carp maggot hook was the rig for the top kit. Here I had 3 pints of red and white maggots.

The plan was to feed micros at 9 metres to the left of the island as my "plan B". But the main line of attack would be the top kit feeding maggots heavily to keep the fish down. If small silvers became a pest I would fish an expander over the maggots and trickle in a few loose pellets as well.

Top 2 with my float dotted to a pimple.

The plan worked a treat and heavily feeding maggots kept the fish confident towards the bottom. A little trick I did use was to lay my double maggot or expander in first, then feed the maggot over the top. I found this drew the really small fish into the upper layers to intercept the initial feed, but inevitably bait was still getting down to where I needed it as I was feeding good handfuls of bait. When bites did tail off I went long and nicked the odd fish whilst the short line settled.

A very similar match to the Bradshaw fisheries, although with a bigger stamp of fish. F1, Roach, Perch and Skimmers came in abundance. My Mate Jez Bown was doing well on peg 5 and when he weighed in 123lb I didn't think I had a chance. I knew I stopped counting at 100 F1s but my last hour was pretty slow. In fact I had put in some corn down the edge as peg 20 sometimes attracts the odd lump, and I ended up nicking half a dozen small fish doing this in the last 30 minutes.

The day was very hot and sticky, and despite those odd quieter spells the short line did the damage with me winning with 131lb 11oz. Again did those odd silvers make a difference over Jez? Probably.

Despite an eyeful of sweat, I still managed to pose with part of my 131lb short caught haul.

A recurrent theme throughout my blogs has been to improve, keep busy and enjoy it. For me I still have the odd pants match, but overall I am definitely improving in terms of putting a weight together (3 x 100lb + weights in 2014).
I intend on keeping busy, whether it is fishing short, long, waggler or lead.
And as for enjoying it, well as long as I feel prepared and confident in what I am doing I always do!

Remember a bad days fishing is still better than a good days work!

Tight Lines
Dave

The Sweet Success of Spring

I think May has to be one of my favourite months. Everything seems to bloom and come to life.

Fields and forests are enveloped in greens and yellows. The offspring of nature are busy learning what life is about. Ducks, Geese, Rabbits, Frogs, Toads and of course the fish begin their own rituals. 

I knew this month was going to be really hectic and was nervous about getting enough time to prepare, but I managed to juggle work and fishing to have some good results...and some not so great!

May Action update:

Fish O Mania: The Oaks: 

The month kicked off with my 2nd of 2 Fish O qualifiers. I drew what looked a lovely peg on the point of an island on the Cedar lake. Former finalist Paul Richie was sat to my left and he explained we were probably at the wrong end of the lake. He was right, I chucked back around 12lb of Skimmers and a couple of F1. Around 60lb won the lake.

Bradshaw Fisheries open: A last minute decision to enter on new lakes 8&9. Peg 3 on Lake 8 was my draw, but the weather was cold and windy. 28lb 10oz was hard work but won me the section.

Garbolino Club Angler of the Year: Tunnel Barn Farm: 

The rules to qualify for this competition has been changed to allow the runners up from each club championship to enter. Nick Haymes was our Eight Bells A.C. champion and I was runner up so we both entered. I drew a noted flier on the House pool, between two islands and more importantly had room around me.

House pool....blown!

What I found on this match was that I never really made anything work. I had advice to fish by a tree stump to my right. It was a hot day too so I quite fancied mugging a few fish off the surface. I also received lots of advice from the Garbolino sponsored team as they walked around. The result was 59lb 8oz and way behind the winning 120lb & 110lb which qualified off the lake. Eight Bells club champ Nick managed to qualify off his water, so he will be in the final at bagging mecca Cob house in the summer. Good luck lad!

There was one stage where I was struggling to hit bites. I was fishing down the edge .15 through to a size 16 hook in search of proper carp. Darren Cox suggested I stepped down .12 and 18 hook and fish specifically for the F1's. I immediately had 7 fish in 7 chucks. The learning point being how cute F1's can be even in coloured water. If I did hook a carp I could have just took my time anyway!

Partridge Lakes: The Spey Canal:

I needed an upturn in fortune and a small match with most of the lads from my supercup team "Bratty's Partridge Drawbags" was to bring the first bit of good action. I drew peg 8 on the Spey canal. It didn't mean anything to me as I had only fished the water once around 3 years ago.

The Spey was coloured up with the fishy goings on. Either side of the reed bed kept them coming.

The weather was good and the fish were spawning like crazy so I was a little worried how the day would fish. Fishery pellets with a dash of Marukyu SFA 450 Krill and topped off with a little EFG170 groundbait across in the shallow water did the damage. Swapping between double maggot and Jpz hookbait I managed 43lb+ for a victory. A mixture of F1 and carp across and down the edge did the business

One of the funniest moments was Young Tom Dobson on peg 6, he hooked a carp in the reed beds next to him. He foolishly (Or not so foolishly as he go it in!) decided to fish with a solid 8 elastic down the edge = fun & games.

Tom "Dobber" Dobson and his 8s Laccy!

Eight Bells A.C: Fir Tree Fishery:

This was a nice little match on a water I had not fished before. The owner said that the target species were small carp up to 12oz as the lake is only a year or so old... He was right, the fish were tiny! 

Fir Tree Fishery - Small Fish match

I concentrated on a top kit, as that was where I wanted to catch them quick. But it was the track which kept bites coming regularly Jpz over tiny 1.5mm fishery pellets did the trick. Skimmers and tiny carp were the bulk of the weight with a few Ide.

Around 80 fish for 30lb 7oz gave me a section win and 2nd overall.  One trick here was to over-wet the micros and mould them into little marble size balls nice and tight. The water was around 10ft deep so this was important to concentrate the fish. There was also a very strong undertow so I had to be sure my feed was where I was fishing.

A 2nd place the day after the Spey win.

Sweet Success

For this months feature I headed off down to the Glebe Fishery in Leicestershire. For me this venue is the Rolls Royce of fisheries. I decided to repeat what I did last year and spend a couple of days down there. (May 2013 blog: The Glorious Glebe)

This month is a little different as I have actually done a video blog to accompany the usual script.  I hope it helps bring things to light a little.

Day 1:

First up it was the Maver Match this event. I drew lake 4 peg 88. Feeder to the far bank and a short Corn and Margin line was all I based my plan around. It was short sighted as the lake fished relatively poorly for the Glebe. I realised with 20 minutes of the match remaining there were fish to be caught on the pellet waggler.

I had a dismal 38lb 8oz, but there was lower than me and although the lake was won with 125lb there were no back up weights just 40s, 50s and 2 x 70lb weights. 

Day 2:

The second day allowed me to relax. Just like last year fishery owner Roy Marlow allowed me private access to the waters to do this feature. I wanted to try a new product launched by Marukyu called "Sweet success". As the name suggests this is a new groundbait with a very sweet almost caramel scent.  For me it just screamed Skimmers! 

I set up on lake 7 and ideally wanted to fish Chopped worm for the Skimmers. But learning from the previous day I also set up a feeder and a pellet waggler. The day was showery but also very still and fish could be seen in and around the upper layers.

Sweet success loaded with dead mags and chopped worm

I put in 4 big balls at the bottom of the near shelf loaded with chopped worm and dead maggots. I expected the Skimmers to be patrolling the the nearside ledge and wanted to get them settled.

Whilst waiting for the nearside shelf I chucked an open end feeder with the same groundbait mix across to the far side aimed at carp. I also fed the new Skrill Pellets in size 8mm 3/4 away across the lake for the pellet waggler.

A couple of line bites in the first 20 minutes told me the carp were not feeding on the bottom just yet. Then a couple of small carp made an appearance.

Fish On!

A couple of chunky little carp kicked off the session on the feeder

Rather than sit watching the tip, I wanted to be busy, so a re-feed of my skimmer line was in order before I went onto the pellet waggler. A banded 8mm Skrill pellet cast between 1/2 and 3/4 across the pool with a couple of loose offerings kept me busy instantly.

Good fun on the pellet waggler

Come here!

Wallop! The stamp of fish on the pellet waggler

Coming onto the short line for my original quarry I initially had a couple of small carp, followed by some decent perch and then the Skimmers. These were a good stamp around 2lb a piece, but I didn't feel I had things right.. enter uncle Roy!

Roy came down the bank and explained that it was no good fishing into the deep water. The skimmers had been spawning and not really showing very well lately. He suggested fishing off the bank into around 3ft of water. So Margin fishing, but slightly down the slope.

Roy added micro 2mm skrill pellets and corn to my sweet success groundbait and over wet the mix. A deeper rig with a longer line was assembled and 3ft was found a couple of metres off the bank. The interesting thing was how Roy bulked the shot under the float and left just 3 x 10 stotz as droppers.

The idea being that he wanted the bait to waft around and for the bigger fish to snatch at it. Traditionally I would always fish with a bulked down rig and go overdepth to try and avoid foulhookers. This could be interesting...

Words of wisdom from Admiral Marlow

The idea was to feed overwet groundbait for 15 minutes or so without fishing. This should attract the fish to come up the shelf, and those up in the water to investigate. Hookbait was the new prototype expander type pellets from Marukyu (Available in Red & Black very soon!)

Admiral Marlow was soon into fish down the slope.

The fish needed a good 15 minutes to build confidence

Video Clip:   Something new for this month is video footage to demonstrate this margin tactic.

https://vimeo.com/96672426

A succession of carp and skimmers came on this tactic until I had to call it a day.

Fish on!

Get in!

Good Stamp carp over the sloppy sweet success

Chunky Mirrors too dwelled down the edges.

Roy really got me thinking about how I fish down the edge. Does it really need to be the magical 2ft depth? Do I really need to bulk down my rigs? Would the tactic work elsewhere or is it just the Glebe is so good? etc etc. Either way it didnt really matter as I had a great day's fishing and food for thought for the following day's match.

Around 30lb of Skimmers, perch etc to add to my carp weight..

Video Clip: Carp net

https://vimeo.com/96644659

Day 3:
The following day I fished a match amongst the Marukyu sponsored anglers and the field testing team. The day was much more windy and Roy did mention that Corn tends to work only with a chop on the water.

Lake 5 was my home for the day. Similar tactics were assembled. The only difference is that due to the chop on the water I replaced the Worm line down the shelf with hemp and corn. I did not touch this line for 3 hours.

A couple of early feeder fish. A succession of carp and skimmers over the sweet success off the bank and a cracking last 2 hours over my corn lines gave me an enjoyable day. So really everything I wanted to work did! (Makes a change!)

120lb 8oz gave me a new personal best during a match. However that was only good enough for 4th on the lake! But again day by day I have improved and began "tuning" into the venue.

The glorious Glebe truly is a great fishery, but you can have too much of a good thing! For me it was a nice treat to get away from everything and improve my fishing with the help of Roy. For the locals 100+ 200+ and even 300lb weights are the norm. We simply are not blessed with that type of fishery in the North West.

June will not involve much fishing due to the World Cup and holidays. So I will be back in July sometime with an update of my latest goings on.

Tight Lines
Dave

Day 3 at the Glebe and 120lb 8oz for nowhere!