Fine Margins!

Wow what a month April has been!

With my club season starting, Fish 0 Mania qualifier and Docklow Festival it has been none stop, so let's get cracking with where we are at...

April Action:

Peg 155 Covey no6

April kicked off with our Drennan Supercup match against Woolston Legion A.C. from Warrington.

Bratty's Partridge drawbags team consisted of:
Me
Richard Bratt (Captain)
Tom Dobson
Paul Jagger
Stephen Physick
Stephen Hilditch
Scott Rutter
Carl McCormack

Venue: Partridge Lakes Covey no6

 I drew peg 155 and as the picture illustrates, its a bit of a much of a muchness in terms of features. I decided to have 2 deep track lines, 2 lines up the far slope in 3ft of water and a rig to fish tight across. Being a team match and only fishing against one other angler it was important to be cagey yet confident in my approach.

As per my previous blog, it is a small fish venue with the odd 4lb fish milling around. Just over 16lb of small F1 gave me a 9lb margin over my competitor so it was job done. JPZ over Jpelletz/Fishery pellets did the trick. I sensed as a team we had fished well and it was proven by an 8 section 0 victory.

Every one of the team beat their opposing man so a great score for the day. Carl McCormack put in a great performance to win overall with 32lb+.

Small F1 fishing was the way on Covey 6

Next round is early June away against Bay Malton A.C. on their Border Fishery. Fingers crossed I make the team and we can progress.

Old Hough Fishery

Next time out I decided to join "Captain Bratty" on one of his local venues in Cheshire. Old Hough isn't a place I have visited before, but I was instantly impressed. Good parking, well thought out waters and pegs. If the venue had a cafe and a tackle shop it would tick all boxes.

The match was split into two separate matches on the Upper and Lower Benbo waters. I drew Lower Benbo peg 11 which was an end peg just off the point of the central island.

Lower Benbo 11

Quite a breezy day made holding 16 metres of pole across difficult, but it was necessary. On the image there is a gap between the freshly grown rushes, here was where I would present double maggot or 6mm JPZ over EFG170 cupped in loose.

It paid off handsomely with a string of F1 and small carp. I also placed two track lines and a margin line. By rotating I had a lovely days fishing to weigh 39lb 7oz and win the match on my lake. My peg was clearly a good one being an end peg, but even so the next weight was over 10lb behind so I was happy that I weighed the peg up quickly and did the business.

Eight Bells A.C. -Whitmore Fishery - East Canal

Now I have to say I am not a fan of this venue. Lots of big barbel and carp are the mainstay but our club matches never seem to produce, I think we possibly fish the water too early on in the year. A measly 16lb sat on the feeder all day gave me 5th spot. Absolutely not my kind of fishing, especially with a million bait bans on the go.

Bradshaw Fisheries

I booked on the Easter Friday match to have a crack at Lake 3 as my Eight Bells club had it booked for Easter Sunday. As It happened I drew lake 6 and enjoyed a decent day weighing 28lb of Skimmers and Roach with a bonus Carp and a few F1, this wasn't enough to get me in the frame.

A couple of the lads fished the day and did ok too. Chris (The Wealdstone Raider) Pickering had 20lb+ and Nick Haymes framed with 40lb+ for 2nd place.

Come the Easter Sunday and Lake 3 was blowing an absolute hoolie! I drew around the back of the lake where the new platform pegs go out into the lake.

Peg 20 Lake 3

I sensed the going was to be hard and approached it that way. .09 through to a 20 Drennan Carp Maggot hook with little balls of EFG170 and a JPZ or krilled maggot over the top gave me a run of tiny F1 carp and silvers. Feeding maggots tight over ensured I had a back up plan.

Feeding the left side of my peg ensured I could attract any fish from my left hand neighbour. I fished it just as I would a canal match and won my section with 20lb 14oz. Second in section was only 7lb so very pleasing and came 4th overall.

Hayfield Lakes - Fish O Mania Qualifier

The less said about this match the better. I drew Big Adam's pool and had around 15 feet between myself and either peg on the river side. 1 small carp around 2lb spared me the blank. Next year its an expensive lottery I wont be getting involved in any more.

The Dave Jack (Jacko) Invitational Spring Festival - Docklow Pools, Herefordshire

Docklow Pools has given me a lot of joy the past 4 years.

Format: 
57 anglers. 4 Lakes: Match pool, Farmer Jack, Stock Pond, Snake lake.
(Snake weights not included)

Having finished 6th overall in this festival last year, as always I wanted to improve. The caveat being I had not visited since December due to work commitments. The venue has had a fresh head of fish introduced and I was nervous I would be out of touch.

The only difference to last year is that the lakes would be split into 2 sections of 7. Same points scoring 1 for first and 7th for last.

Many of the same faces from last year came up from London and I had a really good group where I knew even if the fishing wasn't what I wanted then the laughs and banter would be.

Before the festival Proper I fished the weekend opens. The snake I struggled for 9lb of very small fish, but the following day I managed 48lb+ of F1 and Carp on the Farmer Jack peg 43 for 2nd place. So a mixed start before the business end kicked off.

48lb for 2nd off peg 43 the day before the festival starts

Day 1: 
Farmer Jack Peg 15

peg 15 the polar opposite to the previous day

Day 1 draw did not fill me with optimism. It can be good or it can be rubbish. Pegs 6 and opposite 11 hold much more consistent form so I set myself a target of 3 points.

Top 2 +2 fishing Casters for anything should give me a bit of a head start. Long at 11 metres with hemp and meat to the right and pellet to the left would give other options. But it was the margins I needed to work come the last couple of hours.

Casters accounted for a mixed bag of Skimmers, Roach, baby Barbel and other silvers for around 15lb. A couple of stocky carp long also helped boost the weight. But it was the margins offering chunky F1 and Tench that did the trick for a surprising section win!

Weight: 52lb 10z 1 point 

Day 2:
Stock Pong peg 6

Bizarrely this is the 3rd festival in a row which I have drawn peg 6! The difference this time is that the section was split slightly different. My peg would be against the left hand pegs 7,8,12,15,16. I wasn't sure if this was a good thing as peg 16 won the section the previous day.

Peg 6 Again!

55lb had come off my peg the previous day and weights had not been the usual 100lb+ from previous experience so I decided on my usual Maggot and top kit approach, but have the plan B of a pellet line in open water. There had been a couple of lumps shown the previous day too so I also put in a Corn line at 9 metres.

As always my short approach did dry up and I was left chasing my tail a little bit trying to find extra fish. 64 F1 and a few silvers gave me 66lb11oz was only enough for 2nd in section.

Paul Jennings across the way on peg 15 caught consistently all-day where as I had that quiet spell in the middle of the match. I think the problem with this peg is that you don't really have a margin as such. Either side is full of tree roots and the margins can be really productive off some other pegs. Still 2 points wasn't bad.

Weight: 66lb 11oz 2 points

Day 3:
Match Pool peg 18

The "Roots" peg 18 :(

Peg 2-10 had been doing the damage throughout the week and I was disappointed to draw the opposite bank, because this was my last chance to get a decent weight on the board. However the positive meant I was in a more fairer section, although peg 30 had won the past two days.

peg 18 has an old tree's roots in the water to the right hand side and the fish know exactly where they are going! I decided on a waggler approach as there was a number of fish cruising around and the day was quite humid. I would also set up my margin pole to attack the roots. 

Meat up in the water accounted for 4 decent carp and a few decent chub although I did lose an absolute Donkey which tore right through the roots when I got it to the rod tip. Pole against the roots I did manage a number of chunky F1 and a couple of 5lb carp. Top 2+2 also accounted for a few F1. 

Trying to extract these from the roots was a huge challenge.

Terry Wade on the peg 20 had very little until he decided to empty the margins the last 2 hours. His last gasp  double figure carp hooked before the whistle put him on 85lb. My 74lb 1oz I thought was OK for the peg,  but the kick in the teeth came when Micky Robinson on peg 30 weighed 74lb 3oz to put me down to 3rd in section. I was gutted and sensed it might well cost me in the overall standings. It is incredible that when we are talking weights of 70lb+ that them vital ounces can make all the difference. 

Weight: 74lb 1oz  3 Points 

Total cumulative weight: 193lb 3oz

Day 4:
Snake peg 12 (Carp side)

Peg 12 Carp Snake

The weights from the Snake matches do not count, because the snake lake itself is split into two. One side has F1 Carp as well as the Silvers, this would be one section. The other section was Silvers only. Obviously the two don't really compare so they take away the weight advantage.

Although the silver side last year was my nemesis, I felt confident of doing reasonably well on any peg and I had fished peg 12 a couple of times in the past.

When the fish are not playing the Robin's always doo!

I started very negatively with .09 to a 20 hook and maggot with a taster of chopped worm and decided to feel my way in. Both snakes go down hill traditionally after pressure and with it being the last day I didn't expect much action. I set a target of 20lb for good points.

However I hooked 5 F1 and lost 3 in the first 30 minutes. I decided on fishing .12 to an 18 hook and using a 10H. After that I didn't lose another fish. A smattering of Skimmers and Roach made an appearance, but it was under the tree to my left using 6mm meat and JPZ that did the damage. I never expected the water to fish as well and rarely had to go tight across as the track and margin kept me busy all-day for a final section win and the highest weight off the lake all week.

Weight: 43lb 6oz Points 1
Total of 7 points

So I managed to beat last years total points and as the sections were actually bigger this was probably more of an achievement. Apart from maybe the snake, I don't think I had any particularly good draws so overall I have to be pleased.

My weight and points put me in 5th overall from 57 anglers. If I had the extra 3oz on the match pool that would have put me in second place. Such a fine margin yet a big difference.

But that is fishing and why we all love it. 4 waters, 4 different styles of fishing and I am really happy I improved with my highest finish yet.

Top 30 of the festival

A huge well done to Pat Pike for winning the festival. He has always been there or thereabouts whilst I have fished the festival and he fished a blinder with 3 section wins and a 2nd.


1st : Pat Pike (Dagenham) 5 points 235lb 4oz
2nd : Tony Williams (Birmingham) 7 points 232lb 7oz
3rd : Bobby Munroe (Dagenham) 7 points 232lb 6oz
4th: Keith Harris (Swindon) 7 points 210lb 5oz
5th : David Eastwood (Manchester) 7 points 193lb 3oz


So it is into May and lots more activity coming up!

Tight Lines

Dave

Rod and Reel time

It seems an age since I threaded a line through some rod rings and cast something out! So this month I was determined to get out there and catch something on rod and reel. 

It so happens that all the matches I have been fishing recently have been on snake type venues with F1's being the main quarry. Pole presentation is unbeatable when faced with those conditions so Its been difficult.

First let me reflect on my matches since last month:

Partridge lakes - Covey No6
As I mentioned last month, my mate Rich Bratt has put together a squad for the Drennan Supercup and he kindly added me to his squad of 15. The problem being there are only 8 places in the team! So in the interest of fairness, Rich decided to run a points based qualifier to get into the team (Even he as the captain was not guaranteed a place)

The draw by organisers Angling Times was made and "Bratty's Partridge Drawbags" have a home tie Vs "Woolston Legion A.C." The home draw puts us on Covey No6 and the practice matches began in earnest.

I have been enjoying my time at Partridge Lakes near Warrington

Qualifier one: I drew peg 168 which is just over the bridge. It made no odds to me as I have never fished the water. The far slope seemed to go on forever so I decided on a couple of pellet lines in a comfortable 3ft of water and although still chilly have a line tight across in 15 inches. I also had a maggot line at the base of the near shelf in near 7ft of water. Pegs 170 and 173 caught consistently from the off, and I could never really keep up. What I did get though was a better stamp of fish using my JPZ hookbait over Mircos and Jpelletz. Just short of 18lb gave me a double default section win as 173 won with over 40lb and 170 second with over 30lb. Overall I finished around 5th in the match.

Qualifier two: I draw exactly the same peg 168. This time it was with a twist. Woolston A.C. took Rich up on his offer of a practice match, so the lake was full. I felt I could do better having learned from a few mistakes the previous week...how wrong I could be! 6 fish and 3lb 14oz later!! The lake fished awful with 8lb to my left and 2 small Chub to my right. Peg 173 again did the damage Rich Bratt with 27lb. A dent in my quest for a team spot.

Qualifier three: Peg 146 this time on the opposite bank. Wind, Rain, Hail and Sun made for a disastrous day. Only 16lb was needed to win the match overall. My 4lb 5oz was another grueller!! But due to my weight advantage from the first round I managed to sneak into the team. This lake is not easy and I just hope it trips up the Woolston A.C. mob too. Roll on round 1.

Partridge Lakes - Ribbon Lake
A break from Covey No6 took me and Bratty's drawbags back to the complexes Ribbon lake. I drew Peg 10 which was on the corner of an island. The wind was again howling and this time it was coming across my face into an inviting corner to my right. It meant presentation was going to be hard over to the island and I might have to plunder my right hand margin.

Ribbon Lake peg 10

A chunky F1 and its smaller brother came to dobbed bread across along the reed line, whilst I waited for my pellet lines to settle. 

One line was placed to the right of the island in 3ft of water up the shelf. And one at 8 metres in open water to the right slightly in 5ft. I caught sporadic fish between the two lines for the first half of the match.

I also placed some dead maggots and a little Marukyu EFG 170 Nori in 3ft of water to my right hand margin next to some rushes. Here I managed a couple of F1 and some useful chunky IDE. 

But it was mid-way through when I felt the temperature had rose and the match had settled that I chose to attack the far bank. If you look at the picture closely you can see the island is heavily undercut. There was a flat spot of around 18 inches as the bank cuts under. From my lessons at Docklow Pools I know how tight you have to get into these crevices to extract fish. A sprinkle of Micro pellets with a grain of corn saw me go latch into 2 Mirror carp around the 3lb mark in two chucks. I was conscious not to abuse this line too much, but at the same time needed to catch what was there whilst the wind allowed me to present. 

Pete Rice TBF floats are perfect for sticking up rat holes. Ben Scott Wire for open water.

In the end I had to use 3ft of line above the float due to the movement of my pole and keep swapping lines concious not to spook everything in the area. Chopping between Corn and a JPZ hookbait did the trick and 35lb 9oz gave me a comfortable win.

Tunnel Barn Farm Winter League: Jenny's Pool
The final round of the mini winter league with the Forget me not club based in Birmingham with me leading by 1 point. Colin Kettlewell was my closest rival, with such a slender points advantage and only a 1lb weight advantage I just needed to beat him.

Peg 24 was the area for the day on the point of an island. Unfortunately peg 21 was in too so we were both sharing the point. As it happened the wind was so strong I would not be able to present my pole over there until the wind died down.

Peg 24 looked very inviting. But the wind was playing havoc

A maggot and a pellet line down the track in around 6-7ft of water and a margin swim were my plan. I kicked off down the track on Maggot and a welcome Tench made an appearance, but bites were finicky. I was using 0.75grm Maver Finesse float to give some sort of decent presentation in the wind. Next door Steve Gardner (Not the one who fishes for England!) was catching F1 steady and seemed to have it sussed (Turns out he drew the peg he was fishing the previous week)

To cut a long story short I blew out! I chopped and changed to try and put fish in the net, but never really made anything work. Steve was catching regularly and it made me think that Colin Kettlewell would be also. If the truth be told I probably put too much pressure on myself and didn't fish my own match. I should have stuck to what I knew would work and got my noggin down.

I also fished far too negative thinking it was another Covey No6 match. I fished Micros, Steve next to me fished 4mm...say no more. He knew the fish were feeding, where as I was too busy feeling my way into the match.

I was down the track, down the edges, up in the water, I even hastily set up a little Banjo feeder to chuck across (I had quite a few on it to be fair) but never really got my head down and cracked on.

Steve won the match with 73lb. My 54lb 8oz put me in 5th overall and with Colin Kettlewell weighing 65lb for 3rd it meant he had pipped me to the winner of the winter league. Well done Col good skills.

54lb 8oz should have been more with a little more aggression and confidence

Rod and Reel time: Bradshaw Fisheries Lake no4

The weather has been up and down quite a lot lately and I really wanted to try and catch a few fish on the pellet waggler to get some practice in for the summer. With a few hours spare I nipped off to Bradshaw's near Bolton. No4 lodge is normally always good for a few fish, its just a case of getting them to feed and finding their depth.

Peg 6 Lake No4 

The noted pegs on the wall side were not available so I chose Peg 6 which should hopefully have a few fish mooching in the area. Unfortunately the air temperature had dropped to 9 degrees and the North Western wind blowing into my face didn't fill me with pellet waggler confidence. With this in mind I also set up a straight lead.

Baitwise it was straight forward. A mixture of 8mm pellets. Robin Red's, Standard feed pellets and one or two Halibut pellets. The thinking here is the different speeds at which they sink and differing breakdown speeds. I was looking to fish a comfortable chuck around 25 metres in no particularly tight area. Just 2 or 3 every 5 minutes or so until indications begin. If the fish are not coming up for anything then a straight lead with a 10mm JPZ will hopefully snare a few fish. I also had a couple of different 10mm Boilies

Waggler set up on the Left : Straight Lead on the right

This lake is full of snags and the fish do pull back so I had to find a balance of attracting bites and getting them out.  So for both lead and waggler I chose powerful 12ft rods combined with Daiwa TDX reels.

On the waggler I went with a 6.6lb mainline with a 6lb bottom and size 18Guru MWG hook. The waggler itself was a Middy 8grm "Popper" a lovely little float that makes just the right splash and casts with ease. The waggler is held on with 2 gripper stops....simplicity in itself.

The lead was 3/4oz attached with a Guru sliding clip. Mainline is a little different as it is red in colour and has similar properties to braid, it is called Stone River and at 0.20 breaks at over 10lb. Hooklength of 2ft was 6lb to a 18 Korum CS hook and band.

The reason for the relatively small but strong hooks are due to the fishes mouths. Lots of them are damaged a legacy of a tactic in the 90s called "the rattler". Some well known North West match anglers used crude pike bungs and bubble floats for the then tiny 4oz mirrors to hook themselves. Shameful.

I kicked off the waggler 3ft deep and went upto around 7ft (The lake is about 8ft deep) trying different feeding patterns etc, but could not get any indications. I half expected to foul hook something or at least get a couple of roach attacking the pellet, but after 90 mins or so I decided on seeing what was on the deck.

Manchester Specials Tangee Spice

My good mate Paul Adrian owner of Carp Fever Tackle here in Manchester, put together a range of additives that come under the Nash name. He is very proud of his dips and Boilies and the new Manchester Specials v2 are something I have wanted to try for a while. A sweet spicy aroma hits the nostrils and fills me with confidence. Along with Marukyu Sanagi the Tangee Spice will be in my bag this summer.

My Tangee Spiced up pellet whacked around instantly for a nice small Tench around 2lb, I also had a couple of liners and indications. Fish had definitely found my pellets and were having a sniff about my area.

A spring Tench on a Tangee infused pellet

I didn't quite feel the straight lead was the way to go, so after ditching the pellet waggler I now ditched the straight lead. I felt a small method feeder with a little groundbait would get the fish more confident and get their heads down. So off came to lead and on went a 25g Drennan method with a short 4inch hooklength. I knocked up a bag of Marukyu Luxus Method mix and popped on a 10mm JPZ

First cast and my decision was vindicated. A Skimmer around the 1lb mark took a liking to my JPZ and Luxus combo. The previous lead line bites were probably Skimmers and the longer hooklength of the lead wouldn't give the bolt effect of the method. I was hoping the silver action may attract carp. 

2 more Skimmers followed and then a change to a spicy 10mm Boilie caught this plump F1. When mixing the Luxus Mix I added a good glug of the Tangee Spice dip so it made sense to marry up with a spicy hookbait. But still where were the proper carp??

Wallop! at last. A carp around 6lb on a 10mm JPZ. This one was so slippery I nearly dropped it back in the lake 5 times before eventually getting a shot! Another carp soon had me snagged in the underwater roots. Another Skimmer of around 2lb, then an F1 and a final carp of 5lb completed the short day. At last some rod bending action!

I was glad of my decision making. The pellet waggler and lead didn't feel right, yet the method did. The groundbait and attractions definitely turned inquisitive fish into feeding fish.

Summary

It has been a funny old month really. With some success and some missed opportunities. April brings the start of the Club season for my Eight Bells A.C. Hopefully I can go one better this year and improve on the many 2nd places from 2013. The month also brings Fish 0 qualifiers and the Drennan Supercup. 

Hopefully the weather will settle and weights will increase. We now need to start thinking about preparing for the Summer months! 

Enjoy your fishing Dave

Redfin Revival!

The Roach ... one of my favourite fish.

Can you believe it is nearly March already! Having started a new job in January I have not had the time to do a specific feature as such. However I have been spending the odd short session trying to catch one of my favourite species, the humble Roach. This month we will have a look at some of the waters, bait and tackle I have been using to try and snare these silver beauties. 

First up let me re-cap on the highlights of recent matches I have fished since my last blog :

Action since Xmas:

Bradshaw Fisheries Lake 8:

There had been lots of noises about this lake being re-stocked and fishing its socks off. Some of the lads in my Eight Bells club had been going regularly and stating that 100-150 F1/Stockies were being caught in a pleasure session. A knock up was arranged and Peg 3 was my home for the day

Bradshaw Fishery Lake 8 peg 3 

Wind was bitter, but the day was sunny. I didn't know what to expect really as I had never fished the water. A simple pellet approach made sense with the stock fish being reared on them. 2 lines one at the bottom of the far shelf at 11 metres and one up the far shelf but in a nice 3ft of water was the simple plan. After an hour of sussing the feeding out it was plain sailing. Dump standard fishery pellets and marukyu Jpelletz and a hint of crushed expander groundbait on both lines, then rotate. Top up when bites faded. 85 fish and 107lb 1oz later I had won the knock up. An awesome days sport at this time of the year.

Tunnel Barn Farm Rnd 4 winter league Extension Pool:
Mid January took me back to TBF and I was greeted with a temperature of -4. We were in for a tough day! I kicked off dobbing bread (not my cup of tea at all!) along the far bank and caught an F1 and Mirror in the first hour. A pellet line and a separate maggot line down the track was left to settle. The lake had just been stocked with thousands of tiny 1-3oz F1 carp and I couldnt even get those going. My 12lb 8oz left me in 5th place. Colin Kettlewell my nearest rival in the league won the match so made ground in the overall stakes.

Blundells Fishery open Oak Pool:
I managed to sneak onto an open match at Blundells. These are rover matches and on this occasion I fancied trying to sneak a section win from the oak pool which is normally used by pleasure anglers. I found some space to myself and enjoyed a nice days Roach/Skimmer fishing for 10lb and 2nd in section. No pennies, but a water I shall definitely fish again.

Tunnel Barn Farm Rnd 5 winter league Bottom Pool:
Mid February and with gale force storms battering the UK we had to move our match from the new pool down to the bottom pool to try and find some sanctuary. Peg 32 was my peg.

A blustery peg 32 at TBF bottom pool

As you can see I had an inviting gap between two islands at 13 metres, the challenge was getting there with the pole. A small cage feeder and waggler were on standby. I felt the fish would be in the slightly slack water between the islands and also to my left there was a small bay. Pole tactics placed the odd F1 in the net. I didn't feel the waggler or feeder was giving me good presentation.

Colin Kettlewell was the next angler along and all I had to do was keep ahead of him. I plugged away and kept placing odd fish in the net. With an hour to go I decided to look in the bay to my left I had primed earlier on...It was BLACK! Not with F1 but proper carp. I managed one around 4lb and a couple of smaller samples before the match was ended half an hour early due to the strong windy weather.
17lb 8oz gave me a much needed win and puts me top of the leader board by a mere 1 point before the final round in March.

Partridge Lakes Ribbon Canal:
My mate Rich Bratt invited me along to Partridge to fish with his Drennan Supercup squad. I had only previously fished the Ribbon lake on last years Fish O Mania qualifier and did not do very well. I drew peg 4 which was the in form peg. However after 2 hours and only 2 bumped fish to show for my efforts I was worried! Still I kept patient and used all the trick accumulated from the TBF winter league to sneak 24lb 3oz onto the scales for 5th overall. It was a cracking match with only 12oz separating the top 3!

Roach:
My first fish was a Perch, but I wonder how many of us became anglers from catching a small Roach? They are a lovely species and one which I always take great pleasure in catching. When summer comes the Tench become my favourite fish, but year round it is probably the Roach. There is something so simple and satisfying about them. So very British even.

Previous blogs I have often cited my local club waters to be a place where I can practice and try new things. These waters are home to lots of small 1oz roach and during a few stolen afternoon sessions over the course of the winter I wanted to try and increase the stamp of the Roach I was catching.

These waters are NOT easy and whenever I fish them, I am conscious they keep me grounded when it comes to commercials. In other words if what I do works on these club waters, they will absolutely work on a commercial! The lakes also keep me tuned in with watercraft and other natural instincts that you lose by fishing in the comfortable surroundings of a commercial venue.

TL: Colmic Jolly and Chianti style. BL: Wire Slimzee. 3 pics : Tough northern natural waters.

Tackle:
Firstly pole tactics have been the mainstay of my attack over the winter months. Roach can be shy biters and to present fine lines and hooks, there is no better.

Elastics: A solid 4 or a number 6 if bonus fish are around...well lubricated.

Line: The ever faithful Silstar match team or Drennan Suplex. On very tough days Drennan flouro carbon hooklengths. 0.10-0.08 diameters.

Hooks: I only use Drennan patterns on the pole. Carp Maggot, Silverfish Pellet (Bread) Kamasan B511 Sizes 18,20,22

Floats: These waters average 4-5ft and are very clear, with some swims upto 10ft. I usually have two lines for the roach, one where I can fish very negative and another positively.

For open water the Colmic Jolly pattern is an absolute classic silverfish pattern. A stable carbon stem and a fine plastic bristle show the slightest bites. However if there is a an undertow a Jim Standish wire slimzee with a thicker hollow bristle allows me to lay some line on the bottom.

Other floats such as a Drennan Carbo or Tipo would offer similar properties, as the Colmic's are hard to find
(I only have 1 left!) I would also always have a Chianti style float set up with styls or small stotz to search the layers and catch fish on the drop. I would also use this shape for the breadpunch on calm days.

Mix and match for situations

Bait:
Hookbaits throughout the Winter have varied. Some venues will respond to a classic caster approach. Moving water then Hemp maybe an option. But for me I have stuck to a faithful maggot approach, however to find the slightly better stamp fish then flouro pinkie has been the stand-out bait. Maybe the bright colour in the clear water catches the eyes of the bigger fish? Bread, worm and pellet all have all accounted for fish too in different conditions.

Top left: Breadpunch is synonomus with canal Roach fishing and works on some of the deeper swims at my lakes, however I like to add punch crumb to my liquidised bread to make it heavier. The lakes can tow and I want to ensure my bread gets to the bottom and not 2 swims further down! Additives such as Sensas Arromix or Marukyu credence can be added to any water you use for mixing.

Top right: For Commercial Roach the fish will be used to high levels of fishmeal from fishery pellets. Marukyu 170 is designed specifically for Silvers and can be balled in or used sparingly and contains fishmeal and 20 other ingredients. A couple of pints of SFA400 Krilled Maggots are the perfect accompanier.

Bottom left: Whatever you choose groundbait wise, in clear water, darken it down to match the bottom. My club waters suffer from many Herons and the last thing a shoal of roach will do is graze over a very light mix. I use atomic cloud, but anything dark including soil will suffice.

Bottom right: In deeper swims and again to avoid that undertow I sometimes add PV1 binder to ensure the bait gets down where I need it to go, molehill soil has the same effect, but there aren't many moles in North Manchester!

Think about squeezing your balls!

When targeting Roach on the bottom, groundbait plays an important part for me. Here are a couple of things that I think could help you catch more Roach:

Firstly think about how you want the groundbait to behave. If using a classic mix such as Sensas Roach it is very active. The crushed hemp and other particles will keep popping about for a long time, these active mixes will attract a lot of small fish (challenging when Pike are about). If you want it to attract larger fish then maybe mix it the night before so the particles have taken all the water on and the mix becomes inert. I like to find a balance because I want the small fish to attract their mums and dads.

Secondly when moulding the balls, wet your hands first which will give the balls a kind of second skin and stop them breaking up mid-water.

Also think about how you squeeze your balls (Steady...I am still talking about groundbait here :) If I introduce 3 balls to start off with, the first will be squeezed as tightly as possible, the second one not quite as tight, then the third fairly soft. This will give me 3 rates of breakdown speed and will increase the attraction to passing shoals.

Timing:
Timing has been the critical part of catching the Roach over the Winter. I was initially getting to the waters around 10am and struggling for bites. I then realised the Roach come alive as the light starts to fade. From 3pm till dusk. Once I realised this, it allowed me to start later and be very positive from the start. So I could lay down a carpet of feed and feel my way into the session quicker.

On a recent session I began fishing at around 1pm and left around 4.30pm. I fished just one line at 10 metres using the Colmic Jolly float with red maggot over a bed of groundbait and caught most of the fish after 3pm. Even a bonus winter Tench put in an appearance, so my two favourite species on a cold winter afternoon.

A recent afternoon session caught me this tidy net of bigger than average Roach and a bonus winter Tench.

All in all I have really enjoyed my Winter sport so far. Last year I concentrated at Docklow pools which was great, but its a long and expensive journey. This year I have been more selective where and when I wanted to fish and what to fish for. The winter league has been a great distraction and I can't wait for the final round.

River Misery:
Before I sign off I must spare a thought for all those people affected by the floods in recent weeks. There is no river sport around my area so I gave up travelling to them a long time ago. But for those river addicts I suspect their season is over. How it will affect the future of those areas and future fishing is anybodies guess.

Spring is around the corner, enjoy your fishing.

Dave

Words of Wisdom

I cannot believe 12 months have passed since I first decided to start writing a Monthly blog!

2013 has literally flown by. I would say this year is my third season of being bang into my fishing after an 8 year hiatus. I feel I am now starting to get to grips with commercial venues and have realised I have probably been over thinking them somewhat! Back to basics using watercraft and having confidence has been key.

After last months blog and the first ice covering of winter, the weather had settled down a wee bit in terms of temperatures. I enjoyed a good run of results in November and wanted them to continue into December.

When the fishing gets tough I do tend to enjoy the light approach and thought process it needs to winkle those extra bites.

This month I look at how I approach a typical snake/canal type venue and also go back to basics in terms of tackle set up and ensuring we get some bites in the cold.

Action Update :
The month kicked off with me back at Tunnel Barn Farm in Warwickshire for the 3rd round of the mini winter league series I have been invited on. I currently sit second in the league of 15 anglers with a third and a first overall on the previous two rounds.

Peg 3 on the Club Pool was my home for 5 hours and with overcast conditions and a mild 10 degrees I liked the look of the peg. However I was a little nervous at the lack of room with only 11 metres of water across to the island, but I did have a spare peg either side which gave me some comfort.

One of the other chaps told me that the pegs in the teens had been producing the best weights and when I saw each peg had 15-17 metres of water across I could see why. However not to be put off; here is how I approached it:

When arriving at my peg I always have a sit down for a minute or so to have a look at the water and just take stock of what I plan to do. Another thing I like to do in Winter is be very quiet whilst tackling up.
It always makes me smile when people are crashing their kit down and shouting across the lake. When the fish are hungry and the water is like chocolate then its no big deal, but in Winter I like a bit of stealth...If you was relaxing until March time, would you want somebody crashing about your house and garden?

First job before anything is to get the plummet out. Looking at the peg above you can see a line of reeds across to the right. Straight away I am thinking if  were a fish (and there is a comfortable depth) I will be in them reeds/rushes.

 I also want to know how deep the central track is, because this is where I expect the fish  to be with the water temperature a mere 4 degrees.

Check out my 10 considerations when attacking a snake style swim for winter:

1. I found around 3 feet of water next to the rushes, which I was hoping would be deep enough to attract anything hiding underneath. This will be fed with maggots to catch anything.
2. 5 feet of water on the 2+2 line. (As per last months blog ...note the tree as a marker) Maggots along with  Marukyu EFG130 to target any species in the deep water.
3. The bare mud bank I didn't expect to yield much, however it is likely the bank is undercut and some fish maybe hidden away there. This will be fed with fishery micros only...but I will choose when to attack this part of the swim.
4. To my left out of shot at 9 metres I will have a completely separate swim to be fed with little balls of over wet micros. I can afford to be quite positive here.
5. Keepnet is spread along the nearside margin nice and quietly. Many anglers just chuck their nets into the deep water in front of them and wonder why they cannot get a bite down the track. 
6. I always use a bump bar. This is not to keep my rig still or to give me a rest. I use it when I land a fish to almost ship my landing net back rather than strain with my weaker left arm.
7. Such a basic thing to have, but the pole sock gives me piece of mind that my sections wont be blowing anywhere and my precious carbon will not get chipped.
8. A smaller bait tray for winter with a zip in case of showers. By fining down the size of my bait tray I am not tempted to take alsorts of options and confuse myself.
9. Box nice and stable. I use a little spirit level on a key ring to ensure I am nice and comfortable.
10. Flask... again basic, but imperative as the temperatures can drop dramatically early afternoon time. A little known fact is that if you lose 2% of your hydration, you can lose up to 20% of your concentration.

Bait Tray:

2 pints of red and white maggots with a tablespoon of turmeric
A handful of Marukyu EFG130 groundbait.
Fishery 2mm Pellets
Marukyu JPZ
A handful of worms from the compost and a few grains of corn.

Rigs :
Line 1: 4x10 Preston Soma float. 0.12 -0.10 Silstar Match team. 18 Drennan Carp Maggot hook.
White Hydro (Same rig for line 3)

Line 2: 4x12 Jim Standish float 0.10 Silstar - 0.09 Drennan Supplex 18 Drennan Carp Maggot.
 6-8 Drennan Bungee

Line 4: 4x12 Jim Standish Wire Slimzee 0.10 Silstar straight through to 18 Drennan Carp Maggot.
6-8 Drennan Bungee

My main line of attack would be across to the rushes and down the track with Maggot being my main bait. Using an old skool flavouring with a dash of turmeric on the maggots. The spiciness just gives the bait an extra kick in the cold water and has never done me any harm in terms of catching. In my mind pellet was to be a slow burner and I expected to fish this later on in the session.

I kicked off across on line 1. Instantly I had 3 F1 on a double red maggot hookbait. I had fed lines 2 and 4 with a view that the early fish by the rushes would back off . They did but only when I foul hooked a carp around 7lb which I lost at the net.

Line 2 yielded surprisingly 5 mirror carp through the session on a maggot hookbait over little balls of crumb between 3-5lb. Welcome Bonus fish which gave the slightest of indications. This made me think that the better carp were sat in the deep water but moving very little.

Line 4 I chose to look on sporadically. I did nick a couple of F1, but found myself constantly re-plumbing and moving around to keep bites coming. A single jpz hookbait over the wetted Micros did the trick.

But it was line 3 that was the real catalyst for the day. The sun came from behind the clouds around 1pm and I fancied the water across to warm up quite quickly. I fished the line 1 rig at the same depth just to the right of the tree stump. Micro pellets and jpz combo got me into a run of F1. I could catch 2 or 3 then have to rest it and look over the other lines before going back again.

By kicking off with Maggot and putting a few fish in the net across, then again down the track I could allow my pellet lines to develop. And then the 2nd half of the match rotate between all 4 lines to keep one or two fish going in the net regularly.

49lb 14oz gave me a comfortable win with 15lb in second place. I felt with the water I had in front of me I utilised the space very well and reacted to things as they happened. This is another water I had not fished before and I felt with a little bit of stealth, finesse and thought I did well.

Roy Marlow has a great line that... "Do what you know... not what you think you know" and that always puts Match fishing into perspective for me. Why try something you are unsure of ?.

A good days sport for December 49lb 14oz

A week later and I was booked in for the weekend at Docklow Pools in Herefordshire. I had not been down since the October Festival but after spending last Winter there, I did not think it would take me long to tune back into the venue.

The Farmer Jack lake was the water for the Saturday open. Peg 6 (the peg I drew in the October festival) was my home for the day. I decided on a maggot approach to attract anything that swims. I knew it would be hard, but 12.5 metres in around 4foot of water would hopefully attract a few.

Just up the bank was a young fella from nearby Leominster called Michael Thomas. 15 years of age his dad dropped him off to fish the match and would pick him up later. Exactly what my old man used to do when I was his age. I would see how he got on and offer a few words of advice later.

As well as my maggot line I put in an obligatory 2mm pellet line to my left in case the lakes F1s made an appearance. I kicked off catching roach on the deck, but very slowly. A change was needed, so a 4x8 very light float with a carbon stem and strung out styls....yep styls!

Not many people use them now, but it is a preference of mine in winter to let the maggot drop very slowly through the water and styls offer the best presentation. I found the fish around 6 inches off the bottom. A string of Roach, Skimmers, Hybrids and a bonus 7lb carp over my pellet line gave me 17lb 9oz and second place. A good return to Docklow, but frustrating as I was sat on the bonus peg and was only beat by 13oz, still mustn't grumble.

I had a chat with young Michael as he was packing up. He managed to weigh 2lb of little silvers, but I noticed he was guilty like many of using summer tactics in winter...Tapping his pole tip on the water, dumping pellets from a height, rattling bait in down the edge. All great fish attracting tips for mid July ... not for December. The water is 3 degrees, the fish do not need to feed, the last thing they want is a big pot on their heads.

Words of wisdom
The next day I decided to have a pleasure fish to demonstrate how keeping things simple will produce bites in the cold. As I arrived on the members only Stock Pond, young Michael from the previous day arrived with his dad to have a pleasure fish too.

In my profession I work in training, so I think it is in my nature to try and develop myself and others. Once I had set up some kit I decided to ensure that Michael would catch some F1s on the lake.

The last time I fished in October I struggled for 38lb, but with no pressure on the lake I decided to fish the nearest peg 2 (An average draw in a match) at the car park and fish two simple lines.

I told young Michael to fish peg 21 which is often a decent area. In truth I did not know how it would fish with it being crystal clear and a water temperature of 3 degrees.
(Note on the picture how clear the water is, you can see the keepnet right down to the bottom ring)

Line 1 at around 10 o clock 6 metres / Line 2 at 12 o clock at 9.5 metres

Line 1 is just after the lake levels off to around 3 and a half foot. Here I would feed a little chopped worm, but again maggots to attract anything. Same as Tunnel Barn, I wanted some quick fish to keep things going into the net. The lake is predominantly F1s but lots of silvers that are never targeted.

Line 2 would my usual micro pellet with a Marukyu Ebi Jpz over the top. I wrote last winter that this hookbait has caught me more F1 carp than any other bait and I have 100% confidence in them.

A simple bait tray

Initially I caught a number of  Perch using single maggot over little toss pots of chopped worm, then some Skimmers showed an interest, along with the odd Chub. Here I had a simple 4x10 Jim Standish Wire Slimzee attached to 0.9 line and my favourite Drennan Carp Maggot hook to a solid Preston Slip 4. 

I saw young Michael also catching the odd silver, so I wandered over to check his set up. Although the young fella was getting a couple, I checked his rig which consisted of 0.17 line attached to 0.15 bottom and a size 14 hook. This was unbalanced to a solid number 5 elastic. A quick search through my rigs and I provided him with a 0.4grm Ben Scott open water float with 0.12-0.10 line and a 20 hook. 

I explained the benefits of feeding some micros through a toss pot with a few maggots and using a far bank marker. I also gave Michael some jpz for the hook. I then plumbed up accurately for him and explained how an F1 bite may develop with the importance of the bait being dead depth and lifting and dropping.

After sitting with Michael and getting him right for 40 minutes or so I realised I had only around 90 minutes left to catch a few myself. I went straight onto my longer line at 9.5 metres. A ripple had developed on my peg and I was confident my pellet approach would get some F1s. I set a target of 20lb in 90 minutes and plugged away. Rig was 0.3 Jim Standish Wire Slimzee. 0.12-0.10. 18 hook and 6-8 Drennan Bungee. 

A wire Slimzee the perfect F1 pattern

9.5 metres into the ripple attracted the F1 Carp

Bites were very very shy and I had to constantly work the rig, lifting and dropping, but went onto a nice steady run of good stamp F1s. As I looked up young Michael was into his first F1 of the day and started catching every put in. So much so I was thinking if it was a match the little fella might be beating me! 

Young Michael kept feeding tight and found the F1's

By building up my maggot line I put a number of quick fire Silvers in the net. Along with the confidence I have in my pellet line I plundered the F1 in a quick fire burst and certainly hit close to my 20lb target. Which given the conditions I thought was a wee bit ambitious.

The perfect winter scene

Close too if not 20lb of Silvers and good stamp F1s in no time.

Yearly round up: 

That completes my 12 blogs for the last 12 months and something I have really enjoyed doing. I guess I have realised that if I am not out fishing, then writing about it is the next best thing for me. 

As I have said previously, I may not be the best angler in the world, but I work very hard at trying to improve and my results this year are on the up. I hope I have helped people along the way put a few extra fish in the net. 

A few acknowledgements must be made to the following:

• Docklow Pools for allowing me to use keepnets on their members waters for a couple of shoots. And for looking after me when I visit.
• Roy Marlow at the Glebe Fishery
• "Media man" Clint Walker at Marukyu 
• Ray Best at www.ukmatchangler.com
• Jim Standish for making my pole floats
• Keith Arthur for proofing my initial writings (And my mythering the last 18 years!)
• Rochdale and District Angling Society
• Oldham Advertiser for printing my weekly column
• All the lads in my Eight Bells Angling Club for being so supportive of my writings
• Festival buddies : Jez Bown, Sean Stewart and Ronnie Ord. (That's enough I haven't won an Oscar)

More importantly a massive thank you to everybody who has taken an interest in reading the blogs, without you I simply would not have anything to write about. So far the blog has received 3700 hits and growing.

Have an excellent Christmas and a Happy New Year...see you in 2014.

Tight Lines 

Dave

Silver feels better than Gold?

This month I wrestle with the idea that catching small fish is much more satisfying than catching big fish and also want to give a new groundbait a real work out.

Firstly I want to reflect on a good month of results :

November Action : 
After a good section win in October I decided to kick off November's campaign at Brookside Fishery in Cheshire.
I drew an area I had not fished before, but was happy the wind was off my back. Two lines down the track, one with Marukyu Jpelletz and Jpz over the top. And a groundbait line of EFG170 with a bit of chopped worm helped me put a few Ide, Skimmers and F1 in the net. But it was the final 90 minutes at the bottom of the far shelf feeding little nuggets of EFG130 and maggot that brought the match to life. 38lb 2oz and a long overdue win were my rewards.

A hard earnt win at Brookside Fisheries

Last winter I concentrated on Docklow Pools in Herefordshire. This year I have signed up to a small winter league series of 6 matches at Tunnel Barn Farm in Warwickshire. My Mate Jez Bown invited me to fish with his Birmingham based club as I was a little undecided what to do over the Winter.

The first match was on the complexes "Top pool". Having never been before it was a chance to have a wander and suss the place out. I had read a lot about F1 fishing at the complex etc, but with strong winds and quite clear water I fished a cautious match....probably too cautious. The water did not produce brilliantly and it took me a couple of hours to find my feet. 43lb won the match with my 21lb being good enough for third. Not the worst start to a Winter league.

3rd place for my first visit to TBF

Mid November brought a milder weekend and the Saturday saw me having a small knock up with the lads from my Eight Bells A.C. at Bradshaw Fisheries near Bolton. Lake 4 was the venue and I fished a very straight forward match. 1 pole line for silvers if the fishing was hard, a pellet waggler/bomb line around 25 meters to snare the odd carp.
A lost fish on the pellet waggler into under water roots left me sticking to a bomb with a long tail. Usual Winter tactics are single bright hookbaits or a single strong smelling/flavoured hookbaits. I managed 12 carp on either a 10mm JPZ or a Sonubaits flouro band em. Add a sprinkling of nice Roach and 58lb 13oz gave me a comfortable knock up win. The other 7 lost fish in the roots could well have put me into treble figures, but as we know...lost fish do not count!

58lb 13oz at Bradshaws Knock up.

The following day saw me back at Tunnel Barn Farm for the 2nd round of the Winter Series. High Pool being the lake for this round. Barometric Pressure was stable, overcast conditions and a mild 10 degrees had my hopes up. 

When I saw my peg I noticed the water was very coloured and really fancied it. So much so I attacked the margins with maggot and little nuggets of groundbait. I also primed the Track with 4mm Fishery pellets in 8ft of water. By rotating between the Margins and deep water I had a busy day with 70 F1s, Barbel and Skimmers. Black 6mm JPZ was the bait for the track. Double Maggot for Margin. Over 100 fish and 54lb later gave me another win and a solid start to the winter league.

54lb and a win on TBF High Pool

Now this got me thinking... did I enjoy them 12 carp more than I did the 100 smaller fish? The answer in my mind was a resounding NO.

There are few better feelings in Match Fishing than lowering a dirty great big worm or a bunch of maggots over a well primed margin swim, only for a monster edge dweller to snaffle it and rip your pole out into the lake. However sometimes for me catching a hard earnt net of smaller species in difficult conditions is just as satisfying. So ..... can silver be better than gold?

The Session

I needed to get out on the bank to do some testing. I had been using the Marukyu EFG170 with some success on commercials. But as it is aimed for Silver Fish I wanted to try it on a natural venue. 

It is worth me mentioning about Marukyu Products, I am not sponsored as such and do not receive free bait. I am a field tester for the company which gives me a small discount on a limited amount of product. The point being is I would not use anything I am not 100% confident in whilst in a match situation. However the proof of the pudding is in the eating and I always test the bait. If something is not quite right...I tell them. If something is spot on...I tell you.

I arrived at my local water and was shocked to see everywhere covered in Ice. I only had a couple of hours to fish and really did not have time to break any. I took a gamble and chose a pool I had not fished before which had a peg with a few meters clear of Ice. I knew the water had lots of small fish and that it is useful for juniors as they can catch bits in the summer, but apparently some Carp and Tench often saw people off into snags. I also knew that lake had not been stocked for 11 years.

The idea of EFG170 is that whatever the dominant species are around the peg it will attract, so you could essentially get cycles of species as fish move around. So with this I decided to fish three lines. Silvers love cover so I went down the margins in around 3ft of water next to some rushes. Also in open water around 6 meters up to the edge of the ice in nearly 4ft. Both would be fed with a nugget of 170 and a sprinkling of dead maggots. Another line with some 2mm Jpelletz would give me another option. I like to be very precise where I am fishing in Winter so I used far bank markers and noted where my hands are on the pole.

Top: The Iced up lakes proved challenging. Margin and Open water. Note the Markers I line up with the be accurate.

 Rigs were simple. Margin was 4 x 10 Jim Standish Chianti style float attached .12-.08 and a 18 Drennan Carp Maggot.  Open water was a 4 x 10 Wire Slimzee .10 straight through to a size 20 of the same hook. Elastic for the Margin was Yellow Hydro to give me a chance of any bonus fish. Solid Preston Slip no4 for open water. I would mess around with shotting starting off strung out and potentially bulking later.

Simple Bait tray and Simple rigs

With the air temperature struggling to make 3 degrees the ice was melting very slowly which made bites at a premium. I kicked off down the edge with a nugget of crumb and 4/5 dead maggots. 3 Perch in the first 30 minutes were my reward. Upon asking some of the regulars people had fished all-day without so much of a bite and gone home. 1 small Roach in open water was all I could muster. An hour in and I had to get myself warm ... the air was freezing.

Air Temp 2.3    ===========      Freezing! 

Quick brew and toilet break and I would not give up. This time I fed positively with 3 golf balls of 170 onto my open water line. Ten minutes later and I latch into a proper roach around 6oz. Then another, then one around 12oz. A quick look on my Jpelletz line and I nick a quick Skimmer. None of these were the small 1-2oz fish I was expecting. All of a sudden I had gone from some potentially suicidal Perch (or the dominant margin species) to net Roach (The dominant species?) ... all from feeding more positively? The next 30 minutes or so I add a couple more before the cold and light beat me. What I thought was to be a disaster actually felt really positive.

Some points to give me self satisfaction; 

• A Natural water I had never fished
• Bait I had hardly used
• The first Ice cover of the year
• Temperatures barely above freezing point
• A limited amount of time

  

  A satisfying catch of silvers

I think for me it is all about keeping busy, keeping things tidy and simple and just enjoying your fishing. 
Here is to a good December and end to the year.