A difficult write this month as I have found the going really tough of late!
First up it was a 10 peg knock up on Spey canal. Everybody wants peg 2,4 or 6 and when I was last to draw with peg 2 left in the bag I couldn't be happier. Tapping micros and fishing expander across I thought would get me some early fish as I felt my way into the match. The problem was the F1s were coming into the micros but not getting their heads down and I foul hooked 4 in 4 put in's. Dumping the pellets in didn't really work either. A swap to 4mm pellet also made no difference. It was peg 4 who was concentrating down the edge very early that forced me to follow suit. Chopped worm/Caster feed with a piece of corn over the top next to the pallet on peg 1 saw me catch a few. I knew I was far behind peg 4 and I have to admit to blowing the flyer. 51lb 9oz put me in 3rd winning the section by default. Alan on peg 4 did 57lb and I should have done that if I had gone down the edge earlier.
Still here is a little overview of where my fishing has taken me:
March:
Fish O Mania Qualifier, Tunnel Barn Farm.
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| Peg 21 Canal Pool |
In an ideal world I would have liked to have drawn New or High Pool as this is where I feel more confident, but alas I drew the only pool I had not previously fished. Again I would have liked the end of the central spit, but was a couple of pegs further down. There was no point pussyfooting around when you are trying to win the event so I fished the peg quite aggressive feed wise. 3 lines across fishing simple 4mm expander over micros, maggot down the middle and a couple of edge lines. Andy Neal was on the end peg on the other side of the island and I could see him, so he was to be the barometer of success. I started off quite well rotating lines across in 3ft of water, but Neal was pulling away from everybody else so I had to attack the channel and hope to get fish shallow. It sort of worked but not enough. 48lb put me nowhere and with 170lb qualifying it was never going to happen off my peg.
Bradshaw Fisheries, Lake 8 peg 29
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| Peg 29 |
Non stop rain from setting up to weighing in it did not stop pouring down and on a peg I had not fished before I had no idea what to expect. 3 lines across using pellet and a maggot line down the track was the way forward. Steady rotating gave me a good day's fishing with F1, Ide, Rudd and Roach. 60lb 8oz put me 4th overall but unfortunately 2nd in section. Still I felt I fished a nice tidy match on a venue I have not fished since last summer.
The Cunneries Fishery, S canal.
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| Peg 33 S Canal |
With a little bit of time off to use up at work I decided to have a go at a new venue to me in Lancashire; the cunneries. With 21 Anglers on for a Monday I was looking forward to it. The general gist seemed to be standard snake lake fishing with lots of F1 to go at. It was a glorious spring day and I was hoping the fish may come up shallow, but just in case they didn't, it was 2 lines across against the rushes in 3ft with pellet and a little worm and pellet against the mud line in 2ft.
Each peg literally looked the same so I was unsure what yardstick would be so I decided to keep an eye on the end peg to my right. He was a regular who wins often at the venue so a good indicator.
Maggot down the track accounted for a number of fish, but only 1 succumbed to a shallow bait. The rest of the fish were rotating the 3 lines across. 30 F1s and 55lb 1oz later I managed to win my section and finished 4th overall.
April/Early May:
Partridge Lakes
I decided to try and spend a bit of time at Partridge lakes for the month of April. Having fished a few matches across Spey, Ribbon and Covey 6 lakes over the past few years I am fairly familiar with them, but its the other Covey lakes I have little knowledge of.
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| Peg 2 Spey Flyer |
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| 133 Covey 6 |
The following week it was time to have a go on the open and when 133 on Covey 6 hit my hand I was happy as I have a bit of knowledge of the lake. Of the pegs in the area 131 next to the bridge looked like a real flyer and so it proved as the angler won the lake with 45lb. Despite it being a nice sunny day a bitter easterly wind was blowing into my face. Similar standard tactics of micros and expander in 3ft across along with maggot down the track was the plan. But with the lessons of the previous week ringing in my ears I was not adverse to going down the edge earlier. I had an inviting platform to my left.
Instantly I was in trouble when I saw peg 131 catching from under the bridge using no float and tapping away. As that isn't my style of fishing I just hoped the fish would come to my standard shallow tactics later on. Odd fish rotating across and down by the pallet had me going nowhere, but apart from peg 131 very little was being caught so I plugged away. With 40 minutes to go and a few words of advice from my mate Wazza I fed very aggressively down the track with saw me hook 5 F1 and land 3 down the track. I should have fed a lot more earlier, I was way to negative as I was being lead by others catch rate. 28lb+ put me 3rd on the lake with 135 having a late run down the edge and he weighed 35lb. More lessons learnt!
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| Peg 10 Spey |
The following week it was back on Spey for a small knock up and this time peg 10 was the spot for the day. I have fished this area quite a bit in the past and although up against the noted pegs 2,4,6 I still fancied it for a days sport. Again the lake fished particularly difficult. The persistent Easterly wind seemed to affect things once again. For me I had to keep plugging away for a very basic 22lb+. Bagger Paul Jagger won from peg 6 with 52lb. The interesting one for me was watching peg 12 batter me with 47lb on paste down the track. I very rarely think about fishing paste until July time when the water is very warm and the fish have spawned. These partridge lessons are building up.
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| Peg 48 Covey 2 |
And last but not least, the worst of the lot! Peg 48 meant nothing to me, but being an end peg at the end of a spit I quite liked the look of it. The Easterly wind again meant that I decided to be cautious once again. However as the match progressed and literally with nobody (I could see 5 anglers) catching I couldn't get my head around what I was doing wrong. With an hour to go and with only 6 F1 and 2 small stockies in the net things were desperate, but weirdly I was still in the running for the section. However when peg 46 began catching down the edge with 40 minutes to go I decided to throw the towel in and pack up. It is very rare I ever pack up as you just don't know what might happen in that last hour, but on this occasion I knew I could not catch the next peg.
Conclusion:
Although the weather has been strange through April with dry but chilly conditions, I think the one common denominator in my declining results is the actual venue. I am either over thinking things or just cannot get in tune with the waters. I, like thousands of others tend to get out just once a week and that makes it very difficult to compete with regulars who fish the venue on a regular basis.
I would have loved to have posted some great results with pictures of nets bulging with fish, but its the reality of match fishing in that we all go through rough spots. It's time to take a bit of time out and by the time I next pen a blog my club fishing season will be in full swing. Hopefully I will have a few more success stories to share with you.
Tight Lines
Dave
