25/04/12 AAF gp2 Match 6, Todber Manor

This match saw 32 anglers for the AAF decend upon Todber Manor, we had booked Park and both of the Whiteposts as we were expecting alot more anglers, but  due to certain reasons we had a few pull out at the last minute. Anyway, the remainder of us did the draw at Skevvys Cafe in Shaftesbury before driving to our respective sections, Tommy drew peg A3 for me and this turned out to be permanent peg 5 on Park. I have a little bit of history with this peg as I have had a couple of big weights off it in the past topped by a near 200lb weight a couple of years ago on paste, but that day the conditions were completely different. On arriving at my peg I had horizontal rain and near gale force winds blowing from right to left along the lake and with this in mind my plan was simple.

I set up 2 pole rigs, 1 for fishing pellet on a 0.12mm bottom and another for meat and corn on a 0.14mm bottom, the most important part of both rigs was the fact that I was using 2 no. 8 backshot o both rigs to help with control. I also set up a method feeder on my 10ft Commercial bomb rod and I was going to use this if plan A didn’t work.

At the all in I shipped out with a big pot containing about 50 grains of hemp and 20 pellet before getting off my bum and getting a landing net handle from the van (DOH). On my return I was kinder cupping 4mm pellet and hemp whilst fishing expander pellet or 6mm meat on the hook. I had 6 carp and a few other bits in the first hour but bites tailed off rapidly, I ended up chucking the method across for a couple of fish and then tried it on the 5m line for another run. Nothing was happening quickly though and before I knew it we were into the last hour and a half, at this point I had around 40lb in the net so I decided to put a whole cup of corn in on a new line down to my left (With the wind) to see what happened. The answer is that skimmers turned up at a pound a piece they were very welcome and then carp turned up. After a couple of carp the skimmers and bits wouldf return but a full cup of corn would see the carp return. In the last hour and a bit I fed two tins of corn on the new line and caught around 30lb of carp and skimmers.

Thankfully I was eventually able to call all out and it turned out that the whole of park lake had fished reasonably well considering the conditions, John Dewberry took victory with over 60kg mainly taken down the edge in the last couple of hours on meat. I ended up with 34Kg that was only enough for 4^th in section so my plan of an end of season comeback is looking less and less likely.

My next trip is Viaduct at the weekend.

K&A spring league rd 2

Round 2 of the league saw me heading off to A10, this put me at Crofton, on a peg that is just along from where Lee Edwards had taken 30lb of skimmers a month or so before, peg A11 was closer though. I got to my peg with plenty of time and mixed my groundbait and set up my rigs much the same as last week:

0.6g DS14H on 0.12mm mainline and a 0.08mm bottom, size 20 B511 rigged on no.5 elastic.

0.2g Classic 6 on 0.09mm mainline to a 0.06mm bottom and a 22 B590 on no.3 elastic

A 4X8 Handmade on the drop float with the same line, hook and elastic as the previous rig.

But this time I added a lighter Bread rig that consisted of a 0.4g DS14 with a thinner bristle and a lighter 0.07mm bottom in case it was harder that we thought.

I also put a lob rig down the track on the right hand side (towards A11); this was a 4X14 Choppy float on 0.18mm mainline to a 0.14mm bottom and a size 12 PR355 hook on Yellow Browning Hollow elastic.

Again I set up a waggler as the wind was strong at the start and forecast to get stronger through the day.

As you can see in the picture the far bank was featureless and I was able to get into the water and at the start of the match I decided that I would feed my squatt line at 13m, to find the right depth, I put 4 balls of groundbait with squatt, caster and hemp in to try and hold any skimmers that were in the area. I had fed my bread line with a small ball of licky right on the start and as soon as I could I shipped my positive rig over that line with a 6mm punch on. Nothing happened so after 10 minutes I was scratching around on my bread line with my light rig and not alot was happening. I had 3 fish at the end of the first hour and had a quick look on my worm rig down the track, again nothing so I was on my squatt line sooner than I had hoped. Due to the wind it had been difficult to loose feed accurately so I started with a kinder pot on the end of my pole to feed 10 squatts at a time, this had the desired effect in that I was able to catch a couple of fish but it was not very quick and after 2 I would end up waiting for 10 minutes or more before my next one or two.

The whole day turned into a struggle for everyone in the section and the guy to my right ended up going for a walk after a couple of hours to report that not alot had been caught at all. I managed to start loose feeding squatt by catapult and this allowed me to explore the swim a bit more again though I would catch one or 2 fish then struggle for a while. I had no interest on my worm line and struggled for a few small fish all day so when the all out was called it was welcome. I weighed in 2lb 1/2oz and this was enough to beat the guy to my right and then the next 4 pegs to my left so it was job done for the team again, this was enough for 4^th in section and I only missed out on 3^rd due to a last gasp perch for one of the guys. The next round is in about a month so it will be all change on the tactics and hopefully some better fishing as the whole canal had switched off for this one. Till then it’s mainly commercials and hopefully carp bagging.

Kennet and Avon, Spring league, Round 1

So it is that time of year again and round 1 of the K&A spring league saw me fishing for Browning Andover A with Keith, Dave and Phil. We all met up at the draw in Marlborough football club and had statutory bacon and egg roll and a coffee, as well as planning on where we would like to draw among the 88 pegs. My destination for the day was B8 and this put me mid section along the Brimslade stretch, not the best place in my mind as the end pegs were bound to dominate, however, there was a silver lining in that the 22 peg sections were split into 2 smaller sections of 11.

So it was 15m wide with a small bunch of stickups in front of me that were just asking to be fished, so I set up the following rigs:

0.6g DS14H on 0.12mm mainline and a 0.08mm bottom, size 20 B511 rigged on no.5 elastic.

0.2g Classic 6 on 0.09mm mainline to a 0.06mm bottom and a 22 B590 on no.3 elastic
A 4X8 Handmade on the drop float with the same line, hook and elastic as the previous rig.
4X12 Carpa Chimp on 0.16mm to a 0.14mm bottom and a size 12 Carbon Chub hook on medium hollow elastic through one section of my top kit.
I also set up a 4m whip rig with a 2BB waggler that did not get used and also a waggler to fish over the squatt line if it was tricky.

 At the all in I fed a Satsuma of licky bread with a bit of loose at 5m just to my left where I found 4ft of depth, I then shipped out 4 balls of Browning Canal groundbait with a pinch of squats mixed in and then I chopped up 4 lobworms into 4 chunks each and put these in next to the stick ups with about 20 casters. After this was done I put a 4mm punch onto my 0.6g rig and shipped out over the top of my feed, it took about 5seconds for my first bite and I was off the mark straight away, next put in however, I missed a bite and then had to work harder at trying to get and keep the bites coming and at the end of the first 45 minutes I had caught around 10 fish but I had been regularly loose feeding 10-20 squatts over my long line at 11.5m, so it was almost time for my first look on the squatt line, but it would be the worm line first. I shipped across through the strengthening with about a third of a decent lob on the hook and had to wait all of around 20 seconds before the float disappeared and a hefty strike saw 3ft of elastic come out followed by me wrestling with my pole in the wind whilst trying to ship a decent skimmer back from the far side. At about a pound it was a welcome fish but I had obviously spooked the rest off with the heavy-handedness as no more bites were forthcoming, I topped up with 4 more lobs and some caster then went onto my squatt line.

I shipped my squatt rig across to my far bank line and again the first two put in saw two fish coming to hand but then it was a case of working the swim to try and keep the bites coming, and this was the case for the last 3 hours of the match. The wind was tricky as it kept swapping directions and was very strong at times; there was a lock at each end of the short stretch so the water was constantly moving and when a boat went through the left lock it flowed like the Trent. So it became a case of trying to figure out the best way of presenting the rig through the changing conditions, this also saw me trying to use the waggler but the presentation was not right on the day and I did not get a bite on it. I started a new bread line down the inside that gave me 2 small roach in the last hour and I also managed to catch a 4oz perch off of my worm line. It had basically become a case of rotating through my swims and trying to catch a fish at a time off a line although, I did manage a half decent run on the squatt line when I started to drop loose feed through a kinder pot just to make sure that I could get it across the canal.

After an eternity the match ended and I was able to pack up before the scales came round, here are the results from my 11 pegs:

Peg	Team	Name	lb	oz	Pts	Ind Pos
B1	J Davies	Oakwood Blue	17	6.0	11	1
B2	Daniel Webb	Black Horse	5	14.5	10	6
B3	Gary O'Shea	Thatchers A	3	3.0	8	26
B4	Pete Harrod	Tubertini Red	2	2.0	6	44
B5	Kevin Rowles	Devizes Match Group Red	3	12.0	9	22
B6	Steve Cousins	Shakespeare Team Hansford	0	13.0	3	70
B7	Darren Fordham	Devizes Match Group White	1	8.0	5	55
B8	Ben Bentley	Browning Andover A	3	1.0	7	30
B9	Matrl Lloyds	Sensas Wiltshire Angling	0	12.5	2	73
B10	Les Humphreys	Oldboys	0	11.0	1	77
B11	Mick Hurst	Thatchers B	1	4.5	4	61

That skimmer was the main difference between myself and the guys around me so I was very happy that it had turned up, on the team front the top three spots were filled with Drennan Banbury Gunsmiths, Swindon Talisman and GBMV Marine, we were down in 12^th position as myself and Phil had decent results but the other 2 had struggled in difficult areas. Still 3 more rounds to go so we shall have to see what happens.

Witherington Farm teams of 4, 07/04/2012

Another round and another peg, this time 4 in the top RH corner, this gave me an island chuck and also both margins looked good for a few fish as to my left was an empty platform well within reach and to my right a really nice looking reed bed.

For bait I mixed up 3 pints of groundbait and pellet mix for the feeder, I had the compulsory tin of 6mm meat, 3 pints of hemp and some 4mm and 6mm pellet for feed. I also mixed up a bit of paste at the start but did not expect to use it for a while; I hoped that my scoop feeder on 8lb reel line with a 0.20mm bottom, a 16 QM1 rigged on my 10 ft Force bomb rod and a new Browning Ultimatch reel would see me getting some early action. I clipped this up within a meter of the island and then proceeded to set up the rest of my kit starting with a paste rig for my left hand margin, this comprised of a 4X10 big H paste float on 0.20mm mainline to a 0.18mm bottom and a size 5 Tubertini 175. I started with this on 17H elastic through a heavy tension puller kit on my Z9 but that later changed to 13H through 1 section of a power match kit. I also set up a meat rig comprising of a 4X14 Drennan carp 2 on 0.18mm mainline to a 0.14mm hooklength and a size 2 Tubertini 175, this I had set up on yellow Browning Reflex elastic. There was a small silty depression at 6m in line with the end of the island that would be easy to feed by hand so that was that line sorted, I also set up a skimmer rig to fish at 13m but the less said about that the better. Finnally I set up a waggler rig on my CC Superlight float rod with 4lb maxima to a 0.14mm bottom and a 4g loaded pellet wag as the island was definitely further away than I had first thought, this was to fish polony if I saw any submarines cruising through.

At the all in I fed my 13m line with hemp and pellet, my 6m line with meat and hemp and then my left margin with hemp and 6mm pellet, before I launched the feeder to the island, over the next 45 minutes I had a load of liners but no fish whereas Gary on the next peg started to catch skimmers on the wag, nearly one a bung, so I needed to do something and had a look on my long line. I had 2 indications over 20 minutes and that was a 3oz skimmer and I dropped a tiny roach both on 4mm pellet, that was enough to sway me and I decided to concentrate on the carp for the remainder of the match. I alternated between the left hand margin, a new margin line that I started to my right, the meat line and a few chucks towards the island on the tip and wag. I managed 3 skimmers and 2 carp from the left hand margin, a carp on the meat line and 4 foul hookers from my right margin, as it turned out at the end I needed one more carp for 2^nd in section and 2 or 3 more for a section win. I had lost 4 from the right (1 was hooked in the mouth but bust me off in the reeds hence I changed that rig onto the 17H).

The scales told me that I had 33lb 14oz, 2^nd had 37lb and Gary ended up with 54lb plus of mostly skimmers all on the wag and pellet. It’s that time of year again and the K&A Teams of 4 start next week so it’s all change in my kit.