After moving house I decided to take the winter off and concentrate on the renovation, then begin working my way back into match fishing in March. That's exactly what I did and I really enjoyed the break!
I think that competitive element in us all means we sometimes feel we are missing out on something by not being on the bank every weekend. Or even worse think we will forget it all by taking time out.
For me I have football and music as a distraction so always try and strike a balance with other interests. Admittedly I did miss my winter fishing but would definitely recommend a hiatus/sabbatical to re-charge the old batteries!
Anyway, going back to my last blog at the end of September 14 I did indeed hold my nerve for 5th place on our final club match at Bradshaw Fisheries to win the Club Championship. Great success and I went into my winter break on a high.
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| Club Champion for 2014 :) |
Back to Partridge for my 2nd knock up and this time the ribbon pool. I drew a favoured peg and made the most of it with 52lb of F1's and silvers for 2nd place. This session got me back into the swing of things, getting used to my kit again, tuning into bites etc. Two further visits to Spey and Covey 6 were not as successful but I felt like I was getting back into the groove.
April arrives and its Festival time for me. The Dave Jack invitational festival at Docklow pools beckons, but did I have enough practice after my break under the belt to make an impact?!
The Dave Jack (Jacko & Phil) Invitational Spring Festival - Docklow Pools, Herefordshire
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| My yearly spring festival to Docklow pools was blessed with Glorious weather |
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| If there is a prettier fishery then I will be damned |
Format:
56 anglers. 4 Lakes: Match pool, Farmer Jack, Stock Pond, Moby Dick.
(All weights included)
Format was the same as last year with each lake having 14 anglers split into two sections of 7. 1 point is awarded for the winner of the section down to 7 for 7th.
Having drawn my group I looked at the rotation of Farmer Jack, Moby Dick, Match Pool and Stock pond as quite reasonable. There were some good anglers in my group who I wanted to avoid in my section but it was inevitable over the 4 days I would be clashing with them.
Given some reasonable peg draws I was hopeful for a top 10 finish. This is my 5th "Jacko" festival and I have improved with every year. 5th last year and 6th in 2013. But due to my winter break I felt top 10 would be a good effort.
The great thing about this festival is that it is very friendly with great banter. Money isn't the motivation and everybody is free with their information of how they approached their pegs in the bar of an evening. It was great to see the same faces from the last few years and a few new ones too.
Day 1:
Farmer Jack Peg 27
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I decided on a pellet and maggot approach to catch everything that swims and hope for a lump or two later on down the edge. I would have liked to have fished hemp and corn tight over but with a 14.5 metre pole limit I had to set a small bomb up for across.
The day kicked off well kinder potting fishery micros and fishing double maggot over the top I managed to put a good run of Ide together with the odd F1. I couldn't really get the F1's going quick enough but it was clear nobody else in the section was pulling up any trees. A lost lump on my light silver fish rig and one lost down the edge, but 38lb 13oz for 3rd in section against a couple of noted pegs wasn't the end of the world.
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| 38lb 13oz for 3 points. |
Moby Dick Lake peg 7
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I fished a scruffy match. I began feeding casters to catch Roach up in the water, I managed a few quick fish but really should have started on the bottom to catch skimmers whilst feeding casters for later in the session and let the Roach build their confidence. I felt I plundered them too early.
No matter as I had an island at 13 metres which would be my trump card. I would feed there later in the day and hopefully catch shallow. In the meantime I got my head down with palm sized skimmers at 4 metres on expander pellets. Gary Ford from Essex was in top form and he was pegged next to me fishing a very tidy match rotating lines and catching skimmers steady. I noticed he was fishing at 8 metres, I was half the distance so knew I could catch him if we were in a fish race.
My trump card paid off and I went over to the island shallow for the last 90 minutes. Roach, Rudd, Skimmers, Chub and Hybrids made their way into my net. My first section win on day 2 was a welcome relief and a really enjoyable day. Probably around 100+ fish.
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| 39lb 4oz of mixed silvers + 1 F1 for 1 point |
Match Pool Peg 14
Day 3 brings the Match Pool which had been producing some great weights in the low and high numbers as the wind had been pushing down that way for over a week. My drawing arm really let me down pulling peg 14 at the opposite end called "the bowl". Day 1 and 2 had both yielded less than 20lb per day so I really didn't fancy it.
I did have some good news, that the chaps on pegs 18 and 20 to the right of the picture were not fishing to the island facing them. That left the end of the island for me....a chuck of around 50 yards. Not good when you haven't cast a rod for 6 months ha. But a few practice chucks and we were fine.
First two hours flew bye fishing a method feeder where F1 and the odd carp came to the net. One or two fish also fell to the waggler as they cruised around bowl. I also managed a number of Silvers at 5 metres on my corn line. But it was the last couple of hours where some chunky F1 and odd Carp helped build my weight fishing Hemp and Corn down one edge and Pellet and Caster the other. A lot better than I thought the day would be. But being up against the noted pegs of 2-10 I was unsure how I did.
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| Around 50lb in the Carp net |
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| 40lb of Silvers in F1s gives 89lb 7oz for 3 points |
Again not the end of the world especially on the un-fancied peg. Going into the final day on 7 points I lie 8th. I have nowhere near enough weight to challenge the top runners so must try and win the section on the stock pond.
Day 4:
Stock pond peg 3
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| Peg 3 with a mountain of kit set up |
Now normally on the stock pond I am always confident about putting a few fish in the net. Especially on pegs 2-6 and 18-21. But for some reason pegs 12 and 15 had been the better area and Peg 3 had averaged 10-15lb which was very unusual.
The lake is stuffed with small hungry F1's with plentiful Silvers and some great big old lumps. Usually a top kit for a quick burst of fish is the way to go and then find a way of continuing the day.
But with the uncertainty I set up lots of different options, but I still almost expected to catch short. Gary Ford on peg 4 had two short lines set up too so I felt I could gauge the short response between us.
But after a biteless 15 minutes I had a line at 11 metres on a bar 12 inches shallower than the rest of the peg, here a quick burst of 5 F1s had me confident. Bites dried up and I had to almost adopt a winter tactic of creating new swims constantly to attract bites. However Gary began catching short so I followed suit, I had still been feeding the swim so expected the area to produce. But I could not buy a bite!
I ended up chasing my tail. The island facing me was 16 metres away with the old lumps loitering about in the shade. But with the 14.5 metre limit I decided to long line it and see if I could snare one. The problem being is these are wise old fish and the sight of the line puts them off. However I did manage to hook 2 big double figure fish around 12 inches deep on meat, but sadly lost them both. My hook inexplicably pulling as I played them into open water. #gutted.
Gary had fished a blinder and caught steadily short to weigh 54lb and win the section. I just couldn't get anything close in. peg 20 on the other side of the island caught a few for 34lb showing that there were some fish around. And finally peg 2 had very little all day but caught 3 carp down the edge in the last 30 minutes. This relegated my 17lb to 4th in section which was a disaster! I have never weighed lower on the stock pond, I was so disappointed I didn't even take a picture!
So ultimately it was a last day blow out! However there were a few things that I felt impacted on my week. Firstly preparation (or lack of it) as I had been so busy at work I struggled for time to make rigs etc and ended up making them on the day. Secondly my drawing arm wasn't great. Apart from peg 7 on the Moby I wouldn't have fancied any of the others to make an impression within the section.
Overall I just missed out on the prize money coming in 12th from 56 which in fairness was not a bad result given the prep and pegs.
But more importantly it was a great week with some great company and amazing weather! And I am being back on the bank getting ready to assault the summer!
A huge well done to Johnny Abbot for winning the festival .... Gruellllllleeerrrrrrrr!
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| Well done Bud (Here's a pic from a few years ago to make ya smile) |
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| Scores on the doors for 2015 |
Tight Lines Dave
