Summer is in full swing and with that comes my club fishing season.
This year we have 27 members and the four rounds so far have been really well attended which is great to see.
Since my previous blog entitled "tough times" I was hoping for an upturn in fortunes, but things have been a bit mixed and there have been a couple of matches where I have fished like a clown.
On the plus side, the last couple of weeks I have managed to take stock, regain composure and begin putting some form together.
May was a bit hectic with getting married and then going away for a week so I felt a little bit rusty when it came to our first club match of the year. But I was also hoping the break would distance myself from results in April and early May.
Eight Bells A.C. match 1: Hall Lane Fishery. Bessie's lake
Bit of a funny one to start the year as the lake also had another club match on it, so it was very busy. With a Spring league also taking place the previous day, I thought it might be a tough day.
And so it proved, I have had to swap lines throughout the day to try and keep bites coming. The mud line across using Maggot and a couple of edge fish ensured my 29lb 8oz gave me the section. 75lb won the match so I was miles off getting good club points, but felt I did ok and bit of a result to start the season.
The following week saw us visit a regular haunt of ours in the form of Bradshaw Fishery.
Eight Bells A.C. match 2: Bradshaw Fishery Lake 4
Traditionally Lake 4 was always our big weight event. Over recent years Lake 4 has also offered up the highest average weights against any other venue we choose. It traditionally always fished well to Pellet Waggler and Bomb tactics. However over the last 12 months the fishing has changed considerably. F1s and Silver fish are now the mainstay of the venue.
I mucked and messed around fishing on the long pole up and down in the water for a few odd F1s. I drew permanent peg 22 and thought it might be ok for a weight of F1s but it was skimmers on the slope at around 4 meters from the bank that made up the majority of my 29lb 2oz. I knew the skimmers would come in, but it was just too late. Match number 2 and again nowhere with points so not much help towards the cause.
I believe one of the biggest disadvantages us mere mortals have when it comes to competitive fishing is purely the lack of time on the bank and time to prepare in advance.
Working away through the week and then with a bit of luck fishing once a week just doesn't offer the opportunity to get in tune with venues and/or tactics. I genuinely believe if I could get out twice or three times a week I would be able to compete effectively on the open circuit, but this match really shown how I have lost touch with this lake in the space of 12 months.
Anyway next up was an opportunity to get stuck into three days of fishing over a long weekend.
Argos invitational charity team match: Tunnel Barn Farm Fishery : New Pool
I was looking forward to this match as it is a team event and myself and a few of the Eight Bells lads were involved in a couple of teams. Last year I finished 2nd on the match overall and with over 100 anglers fishing along with some big names, it is well worth having a crack.
I have had relative success on New Pool in the past so chose this lake to try and help the team.
Caster shallow down the track and two margins was to be the relatively straight forward approach. I did plan to go across if things were desperate but I felt fishing over 16 meters would not be quick enough.
I set off on a top kit fishing maggot and put around 10lb of F1 and bits and pieces in the next in a quick fire 40 min spell whilst I primed my shallow line. Instantly I hooked an F1 and thought a good day might be on the cards, but alas I really struggled to get through a lot of hand sized skimmers.
Down the edge on meat over groundbait worked to a degree, but then I noticed the lads to my left were fishing paste. I hastily knocked some up, but the consistency and my rig didn't feel right. I plugged away and had a nice busy day with over 120 fish for 63lb 9oz. I beat all I could see to my right so did ok for team points, but unfortunately no individual spoils nor a team result.
Moorlands Farm Meadow Pool: Hollyfields A.C. v Crown A.C.
Moorlands Farm is a venue I have fished once previously last summer when it was absolutely boiling hot so couldn't really gauge how to effectively fish the venue.
But on the day of this team match (I was representing the Crown) I really fancied it. With a warm wind pushing down my end of the lake I fancied banded pellet at around 12 metres with a corn line short.
I chose corn due to its heavy nature as by the all in, the wind was really ripping through. This made my pellet line impossible to fish so I ended up fishing a bomb just beyond the pole line. This accounted for an F1 and Skimmer, but looking around nobody appeared to be catching anything!
Dropping onto the short pole one or two skimmers began to show, but I wasn't pulling up any trees. Where were all the carp!? It got so desperate I had to put a pole line in at about 5 metres downwind with some chopped worm and caster to try and create a skimmer line.
To cut a long story short the venue fished terribly as did the Open on the adjacent bank pool. 15lb 12oz for my hard work, something didn't seem quite right. Still I managed to beat the Hollyfields lads either side of me which was important for team points and overall we did win as a team.
I thought I actually fished a tidy match, but in hindsight would have maybe made up some little PVA bags for the bomb line as even catapulting loose feed out was impossible due to the wind.
Eight Bells A.C. match 3: Partridge Fishery Covey 5
The following day and back in the north west, wind again was ripping through the peg at Partridge. Covey 5 isn't a lake I have fished before, but standard snake lake F1 fishing is the way.
Most of the pegs were being used so it was never going to be an easy match, but presentation was horrendous across, so I started on a top kit and one section down the near slope. I was sat bite less whilst the lads to my left fished straight down the track and were catching odd fish. When the wind settled I managed a couple of fish across in 18 inches of water to catch people up that I could see, but fish were still being caught regularly in the deep water down the track. I kicked myself for not putting this line in from the off.
When I made the switch I caught the odd F1 for the remainder of the match. This was the opposite to the previous day where I felt I fished a tidy match...this day was scruffy and I should have done better. 21lb 12oz was a poor return, but with the section being won with 24lb I could have managed this if I wouldn't have wasted so long down the slope, but a lesson learnt.
Garbolino Club Angler of the Year : Tunnel Barn Farm High Pool
It was back to Tunnel Barn for the CAOY competition. Having qualified for the final in 2015 and narrowly missing out on a place last year I really needed to get my head back on and stop fishing like a clown to be in with a chance to qualify.
High Pool stuck to my mitt and although it has been a while I since I fished it, I fancied it for a few fish, but really wanted to be in some space. I had a peg either side of me, but felt I needed to be on one of the back straights to be in with chance to qualify rather than the little spit I was sat on.
I started off fishing down the edge against the next pallet with pellet and managed a few early fish whilst priming a shallow line down the track with casters.
I was putting the odd fish in the net, but nothing amazing. When I switched to shallow down the middle I managed one or two fish, but couldn't keep in touch with them. I made the decision to go across in 14.5 meters because unlike the previous match where I felt fishing long wouldn't be quick enough, I felt on this day fishing long was exactly what I needed to do with a lovely mudline and 10 inches of water across.
Groundbait and dead maggots put a steady run of fish in the net, and I felt I was beating everyone around me, but knew a chap on the other side of the island was catching very well.
48lb 14oz gave me a section win by default as the chap around the corner caught steady breaking the ton and finishing 2nd overall. It transpires he fished a jigger rig using caster. I didn't realise that method was allowed and it made perfect sense how he caught. I felt the fish were up and down and darting through the bait and the jigger would have allowed the chap to find them every chuck. Finishing 5th on the lake with only 3 going trough means that I wont be in the final again, but I felt I fished a good match and beginning to get my head together.
Eight Bells A.C. match 4: Hampton Springs Meadow Pool
For some strange reason I seem to do quite well at Hampton Springs. I have only ever fished here on our club matches and during one season won all 3 of our matches we had on the venue over 3 different lakes.
The latest round was on a water I hadn't fished before, the Meadow pool. With temperatures above 30 degrees and 23 anglers on it was going to be difficult, but when I saw my peg with a long margin and lots of cover I knew the match was mine to lose.
I decided to concentrate pretty much 90% (the other 10% were spent mugging cruising fish) of the match fishing 3 lines along the bank. Natural baits of Worm, Caster with some Corn and Micros saw me pick off odd fish throughout the match. I actually thought I had blown it when I lost 2 in the first 20 minutes, but I soon beefed up elastic to address the issue. The problem I believe was that I was entering the fishes love nest with lots of spawning going on in the rushes, so foul hooking was the issue. 59lb 9oz gave me a comfortable win with a margin of 23lb over 2nd place.
Rochdale and District A.S. weekly open: Match Lake
For anybody who has read a few of these blogs in the past you will know I often use my local club waters to try out different things. Well it has been a while since I have been up to the waters and the word on the street was that the match pool was fishing very well. Some big Bream, Ide and stocky Carp had been added in March and matches had been won with 40lb+ of Bream.
Temperature on the day had dropped somewhat to around 15 degrees with a chilly rain and with quite a decent turnout of 19 I felt that double figures would be a good weight.
Note on the peg there were 3 empty pegs straight facing me and I felt that the fish would back off into that area, and although I couldn't cast more than halfway, a little cage feeder was set up. Sonubaits new Worm Fishmeal groundbait with chopped worm, micros and maggot were the bait for the day.
Just one pole line in 8ft of water at 13 metres was fed with 3 balls. A 1gram Maver Black Ice float, .11 to a 20 F1 Maggot with Drennan 4-6 hollow being the set up. Nice and simple for a days skimmer bashing...or so I thought!
The lake fished rock hard and despite two skimmers on the feeder, all I could muster on the pole were very small roach and perch. A bonus Ide came 20 minutes before the all out, but for some reason and despite a nice tinge of colour the lake switched off (35lb won the mid-week match) I can only assume the number of anglers and the drop in temperature was the reason. 4lb 4oz 8dr (Yep, we always use drams as matches can be so tight) gave me a section win so mustn't grumble.
Despite it being hard I always enjoy these matches as it is like going back to matches when I was a teenager and double figures was a great weight!
Conclusion:
A shaky start to the club season and a couple of messy matches along the way, but having picked up a bit of coin on my last 3 outings things are picking up. It's like a striker who hasn't scored for a while... you just need to keep going and break your duck.
Looking forward to the next couple of trips with some good venues lined up.
Good luck
Dave
This year we have 27 members and the four rounds so far have been really well attended which is great to see.
Since my previous blog entitled "tough times" I was hoping for an upturn in fortunes, but things have been a bit mixed and there have been a couple of matches where I have fished like a clown.
On the plus side, the last couple of weeks I have managed to take stock, regain composure and begin putting some form together.
May was a bit hectic with getting married and then going away for a week so I felt a little bit rusty when it came to our first club match of the year. But I was also hoping the break would distance myself from results in April and early May.
Eight Bells A.C. match 1: Hall Lane Fishery. Bessie's lake
 |
| Bessie,s Lake |
And so it proved, I have had to swap lines throughout the day to try and keep bites coming. The mud line across using Maggot and a couple of edge fish ensured my 29lb 8oz gave me the section. 75lb won the match so I was miles off getting good club points, but felt I did ok and bit of a result to start the season.
The following week saw us visit a regular haunt of ours in the form of Bradshaw Fishery.
Eight Bells A.C. match 2: Bradshaw Fishery Lake 4
 |
| Lake 4 is a different beast nowadays |
I mucked and messed around fishing on the long pole up and down in the water for a few odd F1s. I drew permanent peg 22 and thought it might be ok for a weight of F1s but it was skimmers on the slope at around 4 meters from the bank that made up the majority of my 29lb 2oz. I knew the skimmers would come in, but it was just too late. Match number 2 and again nowhere with points so not much help towards the cause.
I believe one of the biggest disadvantages us mere mortals have when it comes to competitive fishing is purely the lack of time on the bank and time to prepare in advance.
Working away through the week and then with a bit of luck fishing once a week just doesn't offer the opportunity to get in tune with venues and/or tactics. I genuinely believe if I could get out twice or three times a week I would be able to compete effectively on the open circuit, but this match really shown how I have lost touch with this lake in the space of 12 months.
Anyway next up was an opportunity to get stuck into three days of fishing over a long weekend.
Argos invitational charity team match: Tunnel Barn Farm Fishery : New Pool
 |
| New Pool |
I have had relative success on New Pool in the past so chose this lake to try and help the team.
Caster shallow down the track and two margins was to be the relatively straight forward approach. I did plan to go across if things were desperate but I felt fishing over 16 meters would not be quick enough.
I set off on a top kit fishing maggot and put around 10lb of F1 and bits and pieces in the next in a quick fire 40 min spell whilst I primed my shallow line. Instantly I hooked an F1 and thought a good day might be on the cards, but alas I really struggled to get through a lot of hand sized skimmers.
Down the edge on meat over groundbait worked to a degree, but then I noticed the lads to my left were fishing paste. I hastily knocked some up, but the consistency and my rig didn't feel right. I plugged away and had a nice busy day with over 120 fish for 63lb 9oz. I beat all I could see to my right so did ok for team points, but unfortunately no individual spoils nor a team result.
Moorlands Farm Meadow Pool: Hollyfields A.C. v Crown A.C.
Moorlands Farm is a venue I have fished once previously last summer when it was absolutely boiling hot so couldn't really gauge how to effectively fish the venue.
But on the day of this team match (I was representing the Crown) I really fancied it. With a warm wind pushing down my end of the lake I fancied banded pellet at around 12 metres with a corn line short.
I chose corn due to its heavy nature as by the all in, the wind was really ripping through. This made my pellet line impossible to fish so I ended up fishing a bomb just beyond the pole line. This accounted for an F1 and Skimmer, but looking around nobody appeared to be catching anything!
Dropping onto the short pole one or two skimmers began to show, but I wasn't pulling up any trees. Where were all the carp!? It got so desperate I had to put a pole line in at about 5 metres downwind with some chopped worm and caster to try and create a skimmer line.
To cut a long story short the venue fished terribly as did the Open on the adjacent bank pool. 15lb 12oz for my hard work, something didn't seem quite right. Still I managed to beat the Hollyfields lads either side of me which was important for team points and overall we did win as a team.
I thought I actually fished a tidy match, but in hindsight would have maybe made up some little PVA bags for the bomb line as even catapulting loose feed out was impossible due to the wind.
 |
| Poor fishing at moorlands but we won as a team. |
Eight Bells A.C. match 3: Partridge Fishery Covey 5
The following day and back in the north west, wind again was ripping through the peg at Partridge. Covey 5 isn't a lake I have fished before, but standard snake lake F1 fishing is the way.
Most of the pegs were being used so it was never going to be an easy match, but presentation was horrendous across, so I started on a top kit and one section down the near slope. I was sat bite less whilst the lads to my left fished straight down the track and were catching odd fish. When the wind settled I managed a couple of fish across in 18 inches of water to catch people up that I could see, but fish were still being caught regularly in the deep water down the track. I kicked myself for not putting this line in from the off.
When I made the switch I caught the odd F1 for the remainder of the match. This was the opposite to the previous day where I felt I fished a tidy match...this day was scruffy and I should have done better. 21lb 12oz was a poor return, but with the section being won with 24lb I could have managed this if I wouldn't have wasted so long down the slope, but a lesson learnt.
Garbolino Club Angler of the Year : Tunnel Barn Farm High Pool
It was back to Tunnel Barn for the CAOY competition. Having qualified for the final in 2015 and narrowly missing out on a place last year I really needed to get my head back on and stop fishing like a clown to be in with a chance to qualify.
High Pool stuck to my mitt and although it has been a while I since I fished it, I fancied it for a few fish, but really wanted to be in some space. I had a peg either side of me, but felt I needed to be on one of the back straights to be in with chance to qualify rather than the little spit I was sat on.
I started off fishing down the edge against the next pallet with pellet and managed a few early fish whilst priming a shallow line down the track with casters.
I was putting the odd fish in the net, but nothing amazing. When I switched to shallow down the middle I managed one or two fish, but couldn't keep in touch with them. I made the decision to go across in 14.5 meters because unlike the previous match where I felt fishing long wouldn't be quick enough, I felt on this day fishing long was exactly what I needed to do with a lovely mudline and 10 inches of water across.
Groundbait and dead maggots put a steady run of fish in the net, and I felt I was beating everyone around me, but knew a chap on the other side of the island was catching very well.
48lb 14oz gave me a section win by default as the chap around the corner caught steady breaking the ton and finishing 2nd overall. It transpires he fished a jigger rig using caster. I didn't realise that method was allowed and it made perfect sense how he caught. I felt the fish were up and down and darting through the bait and the jigger would have allowed the chap to find them every chuck. Finishing 5th on the lake with only 3 going trough means that I wont be in the final again, but I felt I fished a good match and beginning to get my head together.
Eight Bells A.C. match 4: Hampton Springs Meadow Pool
For some strange reason I seem to do quite well at Hampton Springs. I have only ever fished here on our club matches and during one season won all 3 of our matches we had on the venue over 3 different lakes.
The latest round was on a water I hadn't fished before, the Meadow pool. With temperatures above 30 degrees and 23 anglers on it was going to be difficult, but when I saw my peg with a long margin and lots of cover I knew the match was mine to lose.
I decided to concentrate pretty much 90% (the other 10% were spent mugging cruising fish) of the match fishing 3 lines along the bank. Natural baits of Worm, Caster with some Corn and Micros saw me pick off odd fish throughout the match. I actually thought I had blown it when I lost 2 in the first 20 minutes, but I soon beefed up elastic to address the issue. The problem I believe was that I was entering the fishes love nest with lots of spawning going on in the rushes, so foul hooking was the issue. 59lb 9oz gave me a comfortable win with a margin of 23lb over 2nd place.
 |
| A relief to get a win at last after a couple of terrible months results. |
For anybody who has read a few of these blogs in the past you will know I often use my local club waters to try out different things. Well it has been a while since I have been up to the waters and the word on the street was that the match pool was fishing very well. Some big Bream, Ide and stocky Carp had been added in March and matches had been won with 40lb+ of Bream.
Temperature on the day had dropped somewhat to around 15 degrees with a chilly rain and with quite a decent turnout of 19 I felt that double figures would be a good weight.
Note on the peg there were 3 empty pegs straight facing me and I felt that the fish would back off into that area, and although I couldn't cast more than halfway, a little cage feeder was set up. Sonubaits new Worm Fishmeal groundbait with chopped worm, micros and maggot were the bait for the day.
Just one pole line in 8ft of water at 13 metres was fed with 3 balls. A 1gram Maver Black Ice float, .11 to a 20 F1 Maggot with Drennan 4-6 hollow being the set up. Nice and simple for a days skimmer bashing...or so I thought!
The lake fished rock hard and despite two skimmers on the feeder, all I could muster on the pole were very small roach and perch. A bonus Ide came 20 minutes before the all out, but for some reason and despite a nice tinge of colour the lake switched off (35lb won the mid-week match) I can only assume the number of anglers and the drop in temperature was the reason. 4lb 4oz 8dr (Yep, we always use drams as matches can be so tight) gave me a section win so mustn't grumble.
 |
| Old Skool weights for Old Skool fishing. |
Despite it being hard I always enjoy these matches as it is like going back to matches when I was a teenager and double figures was a great weight!
Conclusion:
A shaky start to the club season and a couple of messy matches along the way, but having picked up a bit of coin on my last 3 outings things are picking up. It's like a striker who hasn't scored for a while... you just need to keep going and break your duck.
Looking forward to the next couple of trips with some good venues lined up.
Good luck
Dave
