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