Tough times

A difficult write this month as I have found the going really tough of late!

Still here is a little overview of where my fishing has taken me:

March:

Fish O Mania Qualifier, Tunnel Barn Farm.

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

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.

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. 

Peg 2 Spey Flyer

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.

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!

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.

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

Back to Blogging!

Well its been a long time since I last put a blog together!

With lots going on at home and a general lack of an outlet for my ramblings I decided to knock it on the head for a while, but its time to start waffling again.

No point in putting 18 months worth of chitchat so here are a couple of highlights:

• July 2015 saw the final of the Garbolino Club Angler of the Year. Myself and John Berry both fished at Barston and despite a great practice the previous day, we both struggled to make inroads in the torrential rain. My 40lb of skimmers was a good day but 6lb or so off winning the section.

• September 2015 saw me visit Lindholme lakes for the very first time. I had a great weekend catching over 400lb. The highlight being 4th overall on a 100+ peg charity match across all lakes. A hectic 164lb of F1 and Barbel on Bennies lake gave me a new personal best match weight which I still haven't passed. We visited again last year and I had another great weekend, so Lindholme is definitely now a firm favourite.

With Lumps like this, I have become a big Lindholme fan.

Loco - Crazy

• Another highlight was with partner and club champ Warren Kirby in September last year. We managed to win a pairs match ran by my old mate Harry Warren at the Glebe Fishery. If you read my previous blogs you will know this is something I have wanted under my belt for some time. Wazza's section win (And match win overall) along with my section 2nd gave us the 3 points needed for the win.

Power Pairs Winners 2016

• My usual Spring Festival at Docklow pools was also a relative success. Despite blowing out on day one with 6 points I followed it up with 3 section wins that left me on 9 points and 6th overall with a total of 236lb. Weirdly I think I fished the remainder of the week with little pressure on my shoulders and I fished better for it.

Docklow Spring Invitational Festival 2016 Results

• Winter 2015/16 also brought success. It was back with the Ice Breakers A.C. in the midlands with matches covering, Packington Somers, Tunnel Barn Farm and Barston lakes. Although I opened up the league with a win on High Pool at Tunnel, I couldn't muster anymmore but managed to stay consistent for the remainder of the league and pick up the title. I also managed to bag the pairs title with partner Sue Kettlewell so all in all an enjoyable winter and well ran by Keith Hanley.

Winter 2015/16 saw me take the Ice breakers title despite only winning once.

The last time I blogged, I would have been defending my Eight Bells A.C. club championship crown. Unfortunately I have not been able to re-claim that title and Warren won both the 2015 and 2016 seasons.

Coming back up to present day, it has been a difficult few months. Having broke my ankle in November, I only managed to start getting back on the bank in February so it has been a difficult winter personally.

However being laid up allowed me to reflect on my fishing and I have decided to strip things back and make my fishing even more simple than I used to. I am now sticking with a core couple of patterns of floats on the pole and stick with what I know works well for me.

2017 so far:

Back on the bank and walking very gingerly my first attempt was on my R.A.D.A.S. club water. Small fish were the order of the day and 2lb 3oz of bits and a bonus skimmer got me 2nd spot. My mate Bob won with 2lb 15oz so a good start back out.

Ice breakers was next on the list and with missing 3 of the rounds I was never going to be in the running for the title, but needed to get back to grips with F1 fishing. Extension was the pool and I drew an absolute flyer on peg 22.

Long story short I fished a horrible messy match, trying too many different things and trying to get my gear sorted. I got battered either side with 49lb on peg 24 and 41lb on peg 21. My miserly 19lb actually got me the section by default so every cloud and all that.

Next round was back to Tunnel on the top pool. Peg 1 was home for the day.

A reed bed to the right got me a couple of early dobbed bread fish. But I struggled to get a decent run together and felt the island at 14.5 metres across might hold a few fish. I had a cold wind blowing in my face so hoped the island might have gave some sanctuary. 3ft was perfect and a couple of pellet fish came from that line. Open water at 13 metres gave a few fish on Expander over 2mm but I was really hoping the Maggot would work the last couple of hours where I had been trickling Maggs in.

Two hours  to go and it was time to look at 6 metres, a few fish were sat there and confident so I felt I got my tactics half right this time, but I was a few fish off the main framing places. 38lb 6oz put me in 5th and another section win...again by default.

38lb 6oz blows the cobwebs away.

It's been over a year since I visited Partridge lakes and a little 10 peg knock up on the Spey canal was next up. Peg 14 was a new one to me and like everyone else I really struggled until the last 90 mins. I managed to put 15lb in the net but the cold rain the previous night really hit sport. I beat either side of me and actually felt I fished a nice tidy match, I just couldn't seem to find any in those first few hours. 46lb won the match so I was miles away but not dis-heartened in the slightest.

And finally this week took me back to Packington Somers on the Little Geary's pool with the Ice Breakers. Temperature was going to be up to a barmy 15 degrees and there was a nice Southerly wind blowing down the lake. I knew there would be a weight and set myself an ambitious target of 90lb if they had a chew.

A pellet feeder line across was only for desperation as I felt the only way of putting a weight together would be to catch shallow or down the edge. I was certain the fish would want a munch so it was a toss up as to maggots or pellets (I would have gone with Caster had I had any) and decided on pellet.

Two pole lines...both at 13 metres. The left hand side was negative with just micro's being fed and an expander over the top. The right hand lane was positive with 4mm cupped in and regular 4mm pinged over the top.

Two short lines were also placed close in. 6 metres to the right at the bottom of the near shelf where Maggot and a little black swim stim was fed. And in 3 foot next to the roots down the bank where micro's and corn were fed.

Rig Wise involved a 4 x14 Malman Benni float, tied on .15 - 11 NGauge with a Guru F1 Pellet hook in a size 18 completed this rig. The close in Maggot line involved a 4 x 14 Preston Chianti with the same line and an 18 Guru Maggot hook.

Kicking off on the Maggot close in gave plenty of bites off palm sized skimmers and little stocky 5oz carp, this ticked over the first hour whilst the pellet lines settled.

Going long the negative line was certainly the best picking up better F1 around the 1lb mark. This was how I anticipated the peg to work and I was expecting the positive line to kick in with a couple of hours to go. I was catching odd fish but certainly not motoring so I tried to force the positive line. A couple of fish on a banded pellet on the bottom gave me some confidence and after getting some line bites I went in 2ft with a 6mm banded pellet under a preston tyson float. The laccy ripped out straight away and I thought it was game on.... it was game over. I couldn't muster another fish shallow, despite searching from 12inches down to 3ft.

However I always had confidence in the 3ft margin line. A piece of Corn over micros saw me catch steadily if not amazingly for the last 90 minutes. 63lb gave me 4th overall and another section win, but with two weights over 100lb I cannot help think I could have done better.

Well done to AJ and Jez for their ton ups. Not bad for early March :)

Part of my 63lb on Little Geary's

I am really looking forward to getting stuck into this year's fishing. As I have said in the past, if I cannot get out fishing then the next best thing is to write about it. If anything I write gets you a couple of extra bites or just whiles away a little bit of time...then job done.

Tight Lines Dave.

Mixed Messages in May

What a random month May was!

The weather was rubbish and the fishing has been a mixture of ups and downs!

Fish O Mania Qualifier : Tunnel Barn Farm
I kicked off the month at Tunnel Barn Farm for the Fish O Mania qualifier. Having had some success a couple of winters ago I always look forward to "TBF". Stuffed with fish and you can park behind your peg...happy days.

I wasn't too happy when I drew the high pool though! My experience of this water in the past was very small fish around 6oz made up of F1 and little Barbel with the odd bonus fish upto 2lb.

I drew just off the point of the island and had my fingers crossed nobody was on that peg. Alas somebody rocked up and we had a bit of banter and fun with a bit of a fish race. Interestingly the chap next door kicked off tight to the island where as I cracked on with a top kit in the deeper water. The weather was a bit chilly so I thought across might get better as the day went on. We were fish for fish and at some points I was catching 2 to his 1 fish. But it was the last hour when I had to go across and he was definitely quicker than me. His ultra light elastic allowed him to throw his pole back...food for thought in the future.

Still it was a reasonable match with around 100+ fish for 62lb and 3rd on the lake. The lad on the point of the island did me by 8lb and won the section.

High Pool was busy but the fish too small.

 

Eight Bells A.C: Bradshaw Fisheries Lake 3
I kicked off our Club Season at Bradshaw Fisheries in Bolton. We were on Lake 3 which we fished a few times last season. Last years result read...section win, match win and a fourth. So I felt reasonably confident. When I drew peg 4 on the "Chimney" I felt I had drawn well and knew the area would hold a few fish.

Bad decision making at Peg 4 on Bradshaw No3 lake.

You can see the Chimney is around 9 metres to the left. Here there is around 7 feet of water which gradually slopes up left to right to around 5 feet. Here I fed a little Marukyu EFG131 and chopped worm.

I had a rig for next to the chimney where there was slack water as the lake had a real ripple on and a touch of undertow. A rig at 11 metres to the right in 5 feet feeding pellet and a shallow rig in case I could catch up in the water later. I also had a top kit line where I loosefed casters.

I kicked off on a small method feeder in open water in case the fish had backed off with the noise around the lake. No bites were forthcoming so it was over to the chimney, but I was concious I didn't want to abuse what fish were already present. There were plenty of small Barbel, Roach and Tench to be had but very small. My top kit yielded very little, it felt a little too chilly to bring the fish in close. Very odd F1 came to the pellet line. I could see the lads to my left were catching on their feeders in open water. I could sense the better fish were further out in the open water, but for some reason procrastinated switching. When I did with 90 minutes to go the fish were indeed "out there" and I was catching everyone up sharpish.

A 50/50 mix of standard feed pellets and my groundbait mix with a 6mm pellet did the trick, but I was left ruing my late switch, I should have gone with my gut half an hour earlier. 26lb gave me 2nd in section, just 2lb behind 3rd overall. Instead I came in a lowly 7th. Not a great start!

Wipe Your Tears Charity Match: Partridge Fishery Marsh and Spey pools
Next up it was to Partridge Lakes supporting a worthy cause with a charity match on Spey and Marsh pools. My drawing arm did me well with me pulling out Peg 8 on the Spey Canal. Ideally I would have preferred pegs 1-6 with the wind pushing down that way. But I was happy to have a bit of space to my left, I was just hoping the fish back off into the space.

Again howling wind and below average temperatures made presentation difficult across where I felt the fish would be comfortable. But I had two track lines with Caster and Pellet hoping to catch a few during any quiet spells. I was really hoping that I could snare a few on the meat as its getting to the time of year where it can fool a bigger stamp.

Peg 8 on Spey lake is a consistent area.

I plugged away with odd fish for the first couple of hours just trying to put fish in the keepnet, but I wasn't nervous. Over the last couple of seasons I have begun to realise how important the last couple of hours are. Not just margin fishing, but in general. A lot can happen on different lines and it is important to be confident in what your doing. I also believe I have got better at making things happen. In the past I have been guilty of waiting for things to happen, now I force the issue.

This match was a case in point where with 2 hours to go I chose an area on the far bank to the right of the rushes where I thought the fish would gather later in the day. I purposely left this for the final push. Micro pellets (I would have used hemp if I had any) and meat got the better stamp switched on and 60lb 2oz gave me 3rd overall. Around half of this was probably in the last 90 minutes. Proof not to panic and have that "late line" either primed or ready to start a fresh.

Check out a worthy cause: http://www.wipeyourtears.org.uk/

3rd Place behind Chris Weeder Snr and Carl McCormack at Partridge

Next up it was time for the big one.... 

Garbolino Club Angler of the Year at Tunnel Barn Farm

Next up it was time for the match I had been waiting for. Having finished club champion I really wanted to do well on this event and with 168 other anglers on the bank I wasn't too fussed where I drew, in fact I was almost hoping for a tough section as I felt this might give me the best opportunity to qualify. After blowing out last year I was ultra determined to fish a disciplined match and fish to my strengths. Also on the match was John Berry who finished 2nd in our Club Championship race in 2014.

Peg 38 on the New Pool stuck to my mitt. Mixed emotions went through my mind as I had never fished the water, but upon inspection of the peg I definitely fancied it. It was on the corner of an island with a spare peg to my right and an inviting bay to my left. It offered shelter from yet another windy day, but all the scum had blown down into the bay to my left and with only around 9 metres of water across in front of me I wasn't sure how to approach. 

Peg 38 looked inviting but had loads of scum on the surface.

My rough plan was to feed maggots regularly into the open water with a view to catching fish shallow later in the match. I quickly realised the maggots were not getting through the scum, even trying with 4mm dampened pellets I didn't feel comfortable the plan would work. 

I managed a number of Ide close in to my left and some F1 across next to the reedbed on the corner of the island. I could see 3 other anglers and nobody was really emptying it so I plugged away. But again I had left an area directly in front of me and primed it (Just out of the picture) in front of some tree roots, I could see the bank was undercut. After two hours I got stuck into small F1 after F1 on JPZ over fishery micros. Whilst doing this I had my trump card to my right...a nice flat 2 and half foot of water in front of the reeds. Here I fed meat with overwet groundbait. It was here I went for the last 90 minutes and plundered a much better stamp of F1 with the odd carp. 

I weighed in 87lb 10oz and looking at the weights it appeared I had done quite well and looked like I may qualify. Indeed that was the case and I also finished 6th overall. I was a little gutted as 5th and the main prizes was 87lb 12oz and I missed my keepnet with a 6oz F1! However qualifying was the goal and its onto Barston Lakes in July!

The other great thing is that John who drew on the Extension pool also qualified and finished 4th overall with 89lb. This competition has been good for the Eight Bells A.C. as our Club Champ of 2013 Nick Haymes not only qualified last year but finished 2nd Overall at Cob House pools. As I said to the other lads, we are not as daft as we all look. The Eight Bells has talent!

John Berry and I celebrate qualification to the Garbolino CAOY final at Barston. Bring it on!

And finally to finish the month we were back on the bank with the Eight Bells A.C. at Cudmore Fisheries panama canal. Filled with confidence from Tunnel Barn I fancied catching a few wherever I drew. But the match was absolutely dire. One of our new members Matt James won with 29lb but back up weights were pretty poor. I struggled for 13lb and 8th overall!

In conclusion the month has been a mixed bag. In the bigger matches I have done well and performed, yet on my club matches I have struggled to make in-roads. If I am to defend my title and make the CAOY qualifiers again next year I must start picking up better points. Still there are 14 matches to go so no need to panic.

And last but not least, I have to give a massive shout out to the rest of the lads who fished a team competition at Tunnel Barn Farm. The match was sponsored by Argos and run the event annually. The club put out the strongest team possible to see if we can compete with the other teams that included some top open anglers.

The team consisting of Match Secretary Steve Brooks, Warren Kirby, Nick Haymes, John Berry, Eric Bagley and Chris "The Raider" Pickering won the team event overall by a decent margin. Nick Haymes also won the match overall individually from Extension pool with 175lb...Awesome!

L-Warren Kirby. LB- John Berry. LF -Steve Brookes. Nick Haymes. RF -Chris Pickering. RB -Eric Bagley

Well done lads! Eight Bells got talent.

Until next month and Tight Lines
Dave

This months blog is dedicated to Eric Bagley who is recovering in hospital. Get well soon big man!

A Healthy Hiatus!

Crikey its been 6 months since I last penned a blog...how time flies!

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.

Club Champion for 2014 :)

Back on the bank this year and it was to Partridge fisheries with my old Drawbag mates. Spey canal was to be the first outing for nearly 6 months. A couple of hastily sorted rigs and a standard pellet and maggot approach gave me 18lb. I was actually battered either side but won the section by triple default! Mustn't grumble!

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

My yearly spring festival to Docklow pools was blessed with Glorious weather

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

 Day 1 gave a strange draw on peg 27 which is rarely used in matches. There is 16 metres across to the far bank of the channel between the bridge pool and the Jack pool. Ideally I would have preferred more water to go at, but it wasn't a million miles away from peg 45 across the way which is always a good area.

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.

38lb 13oz for 3 points.

Day 2:
Moby Dick Lake peg 7

I last fished this lake in the October festival 2013 (See Blog 14th October 13) and for some reason the lake struggled with form. I won the section with only 6lb 4oz. However previous days results were promising and it looked like 20-30lb of silvers in my section would score good points and 50-60lb of silvers and carp would be good in the other section.

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.

39lb 4oz of mixed silvers + 1 F1 for 1 point

Day 3:
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.

Around 50lb in the Carp net

40lb of Silvers in F1s gives 89lb 7oz for 3 points

Despite a good day the more favoured peg 2 and Paul Jennings weighed 97lb. Coming up to Peg 12 where Clive Hill was pegged I genuinely thought I had more than him, but he weighed 99lb winning the section and putting me in 3rd. 

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

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!

Well done Bud (Here's a pic from a few years ago to make ya smile)

Scores on the doors for 2015

May brings the start of my defence of the Eight Bells A.C. crown, Fish O mania qualifier, Club Angler of the Year and much more. It will not be 6 months for an update that is for sure!

Tight Lines Dave

Back to Basics

It's been a busy old time on the club fishing front. September has been virtually a match every week so there is lots to look back on.

I also go back to what I love doing...trying to winkle out a net of small silver fish.

This month we go back to basics using the most rudimentary of tackle. Just like being a youngster I try to put together a small net of fish using simply a pint of maggots and a little groundbait.

Action update August/September:

Following on from my last blog when we spoke about paste fishing for Carp and Skimmers, I just had to get back to this little water in Lancashire for a couple of days.

I chose a different peg but used exactly the same tactics using skrill pellets and paste at 6 metres and lumps of paste down the edge for Carp. It worked a treat again, but this time around I caught a real mixed bag including a Perch over 2lb using Marukyu AFP310 paste! as well as a number of big Roach over the 1lb mark.

A mixed bag using paste

Day 2: different peg and same result with 4 big carp and a couple of smaller samples. Another big perch on paste and numerous stamp Roach and Skimmers.

Possibly my favourite picture of the year with a stunning common. Look at the size of that tail !

Day 2 and another mixed bag of silvers, small carp and lumps which were put back.

Perch on paste!

Following the excitement of camping and fishing with the family, it was back to the club scene. Sitting in 2nd position in the club championship race I really needed to up my game against Chris "the raider" Pickering and John Berry.

I finished 2nd last year with my Eight Bells A.C. and was determined to go one better. With club champ Nick Haymes now concentrating more on open fishing, It has been the perfect opportunity to step up and try and cement my place at the top of the leader board.

Bradshaw fishery no4 lake was first up. This was a venue I used to shy away from a few years ago, big carp, pellet waggler, method feeder, heavy feeding...all unfamiliar ways of fishing until the last couple of seasons for me. Now I really get stuck in and with my recent success on rod and line at the Wrightington Fishery I felt confident.

Permanent peg 15 at Bradshaw no4

I drew down in the bottom corner of the lake and did not feel massively confident, but with an aerator a nice comfortable chuck I felt I would be in for a couple. I knew it would be hard to win the match with the more favoured "wall side" pegs facing. The target was to win my section and finish as high up the field as possible.

8mm pellets on a small 5g waggler fished to the right of the aerator brought me 3 carp around 5lb each, I also lost two as they found their way around the aerator ropes.

I used 3 types of pellets including Marukyu Skirll, Jpelletz and standard feed pellets. This gave me an opportunity to try different coloured hookbaits on the day. I also had a method feeder set up with a 50/50 mix of EFG151 and 2mm skrill pellets. This accounted for 3 more carp of a similar size once indications tailed off on the waggler. Finally 2 more carp and some silvers were caught short on the paste at the bottom of the near shelf.

73lb 9oz gave me a section win and more importantly 4th place overall. Warren Kirby on the fancied wall pegs smashed the ton to win the match with 112lb. John Berry made some ground up on me with 2nd place and 97lb and my travelling partner Bobby came 3rd with 87lb.

My mate Bobby sneaked this 12lb 13oz Mirror and I heard all about it in the car home!

Hampton Springs Long Island pool was our next visit. I had not been to this venue since my first season back fishing around 3 years ago. I remembered catching a couple of carp on a small crystal waggler shallow against an island but that was all I knew.

I drew a peg which used to have a bridge across to one of the islands which gave the lake its name. With the bridge not there I had the point of the island at 16 metres but with potential snags under the surface. I also could not chuck long against the island due to a wire leading to an aerator in front of the next peg along. I also had peg 2 wanting to cast to my point of the island. In short I felt a bit boxed in.

This was how my peg used to look!

Undeterred I set up a small method feeder to cast towards the island, a traditional waggler for the open water towards the rope and a short pole line.

I spent the first 90 minutes searching the open water line. Fishing a drake waggler with a single grain of corn in 6ft of water. Only a small size 20 swivel was used as shot down the line allowing me to search the depths and offering something that nobody else would be doing in my congested part of the lake. Skimmers, Roach and small F1 Carp came to the net keeping me busy.

But it was the last hour when I began dropping a method into the deeper water at the bottom of the shelf off the island when I put a quick burst of small carp together. One of the lads suggested Meat was the bait of the day and so it proved.

Rod and line tactics gave me 26lb 4oz for another section win and 5th overall. Warren Kirby smashed the match for his 2nd win on the spin banking 85lb 4oz. The bad news was The Raider Pickering and John Berry finished in 2nd and 4th respectively above me.

Mid September and back to lake 4 on Bradshaw Fisheries. This time I drew the favoured wall side and I fancied my chances to do well. As a bit of added spice I drew next to Chris "the Raider" Pickering, here I had the chance to put some pressure on him. Chris was still leading in the points race so it is upto me to force the issue. With match secretary Steve Brookes on the other side I was looking forward to a good battle.

I needed to put pressure on the Raider. He "Wants some"

Same tactics as previous visit, with pellet waggler and method set up. I didn't really expect the pole to feature, but set it up anyway. I also set up a bomb rod with a long tail in
case the fish were following my pellets down. The wall side is a little deeper than my previous draw in the corner of the lake so it was an option.

I found with the 3 of us pegged quite close together I needed to mix my feeding up a little and did'nt want to fish on a dustbin. I used the whole of the peg and fished in an "Arc" beginning casting to the left at the 11 o'clock position and ending at the 1 o'clock spot. Trying to pull fish from far and wide.

83b 12oz gave me another section win and 3rd overall was a good return beating the Raider in the process. Nick Haymes came back to the club and claimed another win with 110lb and John Berry again made ground finishing 2nd with 100lb 1oz. It was a good day with over 820lb caught between the 20 of us.

Last up for September it was to Langley Lakes in Lancashire. Having framed with the rod and line the previous 4 matches it felt strange setting the pole up as my main line of attack. This lake does not yield big weights and I always felt if I could hit 20-30lb I would be doing well. I drew exactly the same peg as last year where I finished 8th overall. This time the dynamics were different.... I was hungover big time! A few drinks the previous day and a late night to bed was not the best preparation but it happens now and then.

Same peg as last year at Langley Lakes

 I knew there would be small but powerful carp tight across and I needed to beef up. I also knew there would be skimmers down the track over groundbait, but with bright, still and warm conditions I knew these would not be a viable option. So it was a case of sticking across and catching silvers close in.

7 carp lost in the reeds across, even using a tight grey hydro left me pulling what little hair I have left out. The hangover was not really helping and I found the fishing really frustrating. With 2 hours to go I made the decision to get my head down close in using a top kit.

Maggots over EFG170 groundbait and catch whatever came along was the mantra. Small Roach, Tench, Crucians and Skimmers came to the net until a number of carp came and bullied their way in. One around 4lb was a real bonus and 20lb 9oz was enough for a section win and 2nd overall.

Nick Haymes did the biz making it 2 wins on the spin with 38lb.  John Berry and The Raider suffered on the day and with one match to go at Bradshaw Fishery no3 lake at the end of October the championship is in my own hands.

Back to Basics:
Earlier in the blog I eluded to carp and specifically big carp being a species I used to find quite daunting. After a 10 year sabbatical from match fishing, upon my return in 2011 fishing had changed massively and so had the size of fish. It has taken me a couple of years to get my head around it all and it is starting to come together.

One of the ways I like to get some perspective and get my feeding correct is by going back to basics. When I get a couple of hours spare I go upto my local club water and put my mind through a grilling. I have used these waters for many a blog and with a couple of hours spare this month I wanted to go back to my roots with the most simple of tactics. And as I have previously stated, if you can catch on these waters then carp are pretty fair game.

A pond full of lillies, small pin prick size bubbles breaking the surface, ducks having a good old quack and small silvers breaking the surface, my mind was wondering if I brought the right kit!

My plan was simple:
2 hours... small pond.
1 whip
1 rig
1 pint of maggot
1 pint of groundbait .... What could I catch?

The pond

The Rig

The bait

The whip and line

With so many features and so little tackle options the first question was where to fish? I decided to find a flat spot in 3 feet of water upto some weed, but not tight to the lillies. I sensed there might be the odd lump or big Tench that might drag me into the pads so I wanted to give myself half a chance.

My float a bazzerla 4x10 with a strung out shotting pattern was on 0.10 line and a size 20 drennan carp maggot hook completed the rig. My plan was to feed 3 golf ball sized balls of groundbait and loosefeed 3 or 4 maggots regularly over the top and play it by ear.

First up came a classic silver fish in this type of water...the Rudd. Thinking about some of the club matches this year, I have caught a lot of rudd especially on the top kit line or shallow. Useful when all is quiet.

The classic Rudd

With regular feeding some of the maggots would begin to start drifting down to the bottom over my groundbait. Next species sat below the Rudd are Perch to intercept the loose maggots. Already I am learning lessons. I should have put some dead maggots in my groundbait, this would have added some substance to the groundbait and maybe attracted some skimmers. Once a few Perch realised their mates were disappearing then it was the Roach turn.

Net Roach started feeding over the groundbait

Time for a change of feeding. Now Roach were grazing over the crumb, feed less maggot frequently but more volume. This will keep the fish down, it also signals time to bulk my shot together. I noticed I caught a couple of Rudd on the bottom, so for a surface feeder to go down to the deck told me I had it right, I wanted them competing on the bottom.

One or two small Skimmers then came to the net, which signalled top up time, small marbles of crumb were flicked over the area hoping to encourage some bigger skimmers. Before I knew it time had beaten me and I was packed up and gone within 10 minutes. The beauty of fishing light for a little bit of fun.

Every now and then a change is as good as a rest a couple of hours on a little water like this can be just what the doctor ordered. Try leaving the mountains of kit we all carry at home and have a little dabble on your water with a pint of maggs.

Good fun with a pint of maggot.

As we head into October it is time to start thinking about rigs etc for the cooler weather. Autumn is a lovely time of the year and can yield some fantastic fishing. With one more club match to go I am hoping to finish on a high. I might even have a dabble at a winter league too.

Tight Lines
Dave