Avoiding the Blank 19 part 5

First trip out this month was to the runs water, once again I took my Aircurves with me so that I could get used to catching more fish on them, I was using conventional rigs on leadclips for the majority of the time and had about a dozen carp that ranged from 2lb to around double figures.

13lb common from the 'Big Fish water'

Next stop was onto another lake on the same complex that is supposed to hold some bigger fish (Gonna call it ‘the big fish water’), I was using wafters and Ronnie rigs over a little bit of bait and managed a single bite in the early hours that resulted in a low double.  Jase who was with me had one in the evening so we decided to had a bit of fun on the runs water before we left, this resulted in us both having a few but it certainly wasn’t frantic.  It was fun though and that is the whole point of going fishing with your mates.

The shallows at Shearwater

A few days later I was back out on the banks of shearwater but I was using my lighter rods so it was fishing at closer range than what I would usually d in that area of the lake.  I had a few on the bottom, one on floaters and a couple on zigs but due to the fact that I had been feeding small baits I was plagued by bream, I must have had 30 of the blighters when I didn’t want them.

A rare pretty one from Shearwater

The following week it was back off to the big fish water in search of a bigger bream, I had heard rumours of bream to 8lb so it would be good for a night on the light kit.  I had worm, caster, dead maggot, hemp and corn at my disposal and this was getting fed in an open end feeder pugeed with a fishmeal groundbait with a few pellets in it.  I got indications almost straight away and after only a few hours I started to realise that there may be a problem as I started to catch eels on maggot and worm hookbaits, I persevered but the eels were that aggressive that nothing else to get a look in.  I switched to feeding corn and using double corn on the hair for the night but still they would strip the bait off the rig with the minimum indication but as the sun started to glimmer lift light levels in the pre dawn I finally hooked and landed a 4lb bream… Honour satisfied.  I started working hard again and the eels were still everywhere, but after switching swim for the umpteenth time I had a proper bite when I had given up hope in the mid morning and it resulted in a 6lb 1oz bream.  I packed up soon after to get some sleep.

Good to see so many of them.

6lb 1oz Bream at last

Last trip out for this installment was to Orchard Place farm in Kent for another Army Match,  I was partnered up with Chris and we came out the draw in the bottom half so opted for a swim in which we had seen a few fish the day before, we were tucked into a corner on the back of an island.  Chris took the corner and open water going around the island I had the back of the island, It took less than an hour for me to catch a fish and it was small.

Small fish tactics

 I ended up having to use some interesting tactics to convert the bite and long story short, we had 20 carp for 70lb, this was enough for second in the match behind Matty and Joss who were on front point and they had 350lb for just over 20 fish. Meh.  It was fun catching up with a few of the old and bold and definitely an experience. Anyway I am going to wrap thei short and sweet blog up now and Iook out for the next one very soon.

My biggest of the match at 10lb!!

Avoiding the blank 19 part 4

First trip away this month was a day session with Jase on the ‘Runs’ water, I had decided to use my long range rods as  had a match coming up where I would have to use them so getting used to playing fish on them seemed like a good idea.  It was an eventful day with plenty of banter and fish, I ended up with 10 carp to 13lb and Jase had a few less, again method feeders seemed to be the better tactic on the day.

My next trip out was with another mate, Dave, to a small group of lakes called the retreat just north of Romsey, they are small and were ornamental ponds now open on a day ticket, I was hoping for some tench or the like but my plans were scuppered very quickly, I started on the float against a tree where I had seen some bubbling as I walked around and within a minute of my treble maggot hitting the bottom I was attached to a small carp.  This continued throughout most of the day, I moved lakes and swims a few times to try and start again and it wasn’t until just on dusk that I managed a double figure carp from in the margins over what groundbait I had left.  I had seen a few better fish throughout the evening as I was floater fishing but it transpired that there had been people fishing for them all weekend before (hence bread in all the margins) and the owner doesn’t understand skylining….. Dave also had quite a few carp and rudd but his biggest was probably 7lb, still it was a fun day out.

It was now mid april and I still had not seen hide nor hair of a tench, I started putting feelers out on some of the club waters to try and get a hint and I was told about a small pond next door to the runs water.  I went out on a Friday night for a look and to be fair with the small size of it I really did not fancy it for a tench of any size so I went bream fishing on the runs water instead.  I started on open end feeders with worm and maggot hookbaits but it was a slower start than I was expecting even with the cracking weather we were experiencing (read strong winds and rain).  Up until 11pm I had had a small carp on double dead maggot and that was it, so I decided to try a switch to the method feeder, I think the line angle was wrong for the paternoster, anyway within 10 minutes I had a 19lb common on the bank and this pattern continued with a steady run of carp until about 3am when I wound the rods in.

19lb 'Runs water' common

Come the morning I fed with a big bait up feeder a small amount of bait and then went straight back over the top and at last some bream started to make an appearance through the carp.  I ended up with 10 carp and a handful of bream to 4lb ish, so not a complete failure.

I was back on the tench hunt the following week again on a water I have fished a few times in the past but has apparently been ottered, long story short I caught some nice rudd on maggot feeders in the afternoon and that was about it, bites stopped when it got dark and the fish never returned, but I did have a pike eat a feeder so that may have had something to do with it.

 My last trip out was again an Army match this time to the Quarry Lake at Baden hall fishery, I had been looking forward to this match for a while as the chances of a big fish are very good providing you can draw on them,  unfortunately for me I failed on that first job.  Andy and I ended up pegged in the bay pegs 17 and 18, over the 48 hours we had a couple of chances and had a few fish on us but it never felt like we came close to be honest, I had a massive liner wipe out a margin rod that saw me wish that I had set it up washing line style even though I was not supposed to.  Oh well sometime rules are sent to try us when we are fishing venues like that.

Avoiding the blank 19 part 3

So after the success of my last trip out I had decided to go one better before the end of the season on a couple of my club lakes and catch an even bigger bream or a big tench.  Work was of course the first obstacle and I was on duty for the following weekend so that meant staying close to camp.  I decided to try on of the Wimborne waters, however, although I saw a few signs of fish on my visit it was mainly memorable for the swans being a right pain as the dominant pair were trying to scare last year’s young away.  I blanked and only managed a few small indications for my trouble, with the lake only being a few feet deep I was expecting more as I was sure that the fish should have started to wake up but who knows, perhaps I got it all wrong.

Club lake at dawn

The following weekend it was back to the big lake as I had managed to wangle an extra night and day just before the season was finishing, I was lucky as I managed to get my first choice swim, unlucky as the floating algae was back with a vengeance and after only 7 hours or so I had decided to move lakes to another one just down the A36.  I turned up at half 12 and was set up by 2am, I managed a bream just as I was settling down but it was of average stamp for the lakes at 3lb or so.  I decided to get a little sleep so I wound the rods in and set my alarm for before first light.  The day was slow, I did see a tench get caught from opposite me and I managed a few skimmers to about 1.5lb, but I wasn’t feeling it in my swim, next door looked better with some Lilly’s the other side of the floating island that I was fishing to.  I moved swim and managed a few small fish mostly on maggot during the day as dusk started to fall I switched to worm and wafter hookbaits hoping for some better fish.  I managed a few bream again and wound in at about 11pm with my alarm set for dark o’clock in the morning.  I switched in the morning from paternoster rigs to method feeders and this was a bad idea as I did not have another bite all morning, one to remember for that lake as I believe that the method was getting obscured by the silt, so I either need to find a firm spot of stick to the paternoster rigs. This was my last trip on this clubs lakes for this season but fingers crossed I will be back in June.

Method caught double

The following weekend it was time to get back out with the carp kit and I went on to a local runs water with Jase, from beginning to end it was a right laugh even though it was very, very damp for the first day.  We set up opposite an Island and this gave me access to the channel running behind it providing no one moved in to the disabled swims.  Jase didn’t have that problem as he was the only swim that could cover the water in his swim (excuses in early), we decided to have a friendly match. I had an inkling that there was quite a small average size of fish in this lake so I decided to break out the hybrid feeders again, it proved to be a good choice as I managed a few fish during the afternoon and as we went into the evening the score was 9-4 to me.  The first couple of hours of darkness were very slow so I decided to try something out of left field, I set up 2 zigs and started to spod over the top of them, I did get a quick pick up but the fish did the rig before I got to the rod, and then that was it for the night!!

Jase's first double take! ahhhh

Just after first light Jase started to catch again, he managed his first ever double take and had a PB Roach at 1-6, whilst all this was going on I had 2 small skimmers on the method feeders as I had switched back after the failed attempt on the zigs. As the morning progressed the bites slowed for Jase and 15 minutes before I was due to leave the score was 9-9, I had packed down most of my kit and my rods were laid on the floor when the line on the left hand rod across to the gap behind the island pulled tight and then out of the clip.  I have not been so happy to catch a 2lb carp in a long time and the look on Jase’s face was priceless, not that I rubbed his nose in it or anything. I am looking forward to the next one mate.

One of the Floater caught carp

The next few days were difficult as one of my Club lakes was suffering from a fish kill that was being caused by a spikey Diatom attacking their gills and killing the fish, I went down to help over a couple of days and it was devastating, as I am writing this we are still not sure if anything will have survived in the lakes.  We also had Toxic Blue-Green algae confirmed on another pair of lakes so we wait with baited breath as to what will happen there.  I did manage a couple of hours on another club lake though, I only took my floater rod and my float rod and managed 4 on floaters and 1 on peparami over 8mm pellet on the float in the edge.

My final trip out was off to Southwick Park, otherwise known as HMS Dryad, this was for an Army Carpers match, most had stayed overnight but as I only live an hour away I decided to drive down on the morning.  There had been 16 angler booked in for the match but unfortunately 5 had to drop out at the last moment due to a variety of reasons, this left 3 spare swims an I didn’t have a partner so it was going to be a fun 48 hours.  I managed a quick run up the bank with the organisers and my top 3 swims were 2 or 9 then peg 3, I was 3^rd out of the draw and all 3 of them were still in the bag!!  I decided on peg 9 though as it had loads of room and I had fished that area a few times in the past, I was lucky enough to get all my kit carried up on the tractor and I had loads of time to get ready as I knew the main areas of my swim were basically the large overhanging tree on the far bank at about 80 yards from my swim.

Southwick Park Lake

The match panned out as I though with only a few fish getting caught through the day and then more fish activity in the evenings and through the night, by the end of the first 24 hours I was in second with about 100lb but I was 100lb off the pace for first, this and the fact that I could only catch from one part of the swim did not bode well.

During the second day I tried a few things but apart from a few fish that some pleasure anglers had in front of them on the far bank and the fish under the tree I did not see a lot else, I had been given a few areas to try but some were just unreachable with the kit that I had taken so I had to make do.  Early on the second evening a few fish started to show in a different area, I managed a quick one but as I decided to feed some boilies on their heads the fish all spooked not to be seen there again!!

My biggest of the match, 17lb.

The last morning was fun, I had managed to put a rig into the far bank tree in the early hours and I decided to go to sleep as well as staying awake the whole of the first night had not helped too much, I caught steadily through the night but as it turned out it was not enough and I missed out on 3^rd by 20lb.  I think this could have been easily achieved if I had just worked my second rod more during the last night or if I had a partner!!

It was still a laugh even though the nearest anglers to me in the match were about 300m away, the bailiffs kept me entertained, anyway, well done to the winners and hopefully I will have a partner for the next one.

Lessons learned:

This month has all been about feeding too much, so I need to think about what I am trying to achieve.  If I want a quick bite or to mug a passing fish a single or small PVA bag or method is by far a better option.

AAF Gp8 QE5, Hawley Lake, 15-17 July 16

 This was the final group 8 match for 2015-16 and it was taking place on an Aldershot Garrison Club water called Hawley, I was teamed up with Gav at the last minute for this match as Ant had made other plans and Baz unfortunately had to work.  We met up on the Thursday night to get a look at the lake, then a bit of a shin dig followed by another walk around in the morning.  Gav and I had come up with a list of swims that we fancied and they were loosely based around the corners and behind islands where we may have been able to hide from all the watercraft that used the venue.

We were about 4^th out of the bag and chose peg 4 which was a nice corner peg with a warm wind trickling in.

Gav went for the right hand side and this left me with a left hand margin, open water and a far bank at about 100 yards to as far as I could cast, I was aiming for the trees on the left of the far bank cut out in the photo above but more of this later.

I had a quick lead around the swim and found an interesting area at around 15 wraps in line with a tree on the far side, so my opening gambit was to stick a few boilies into the area and then fish two stiff rigs over the top.  With the rods set and an expectancy of a few bream during the hours of darkness I decided to have a quick snooze in the afternoon, only to get woken by a positive run on my left hand rod.  It took a couple of moments but I soon realised that there was something wrong as I was playing the fish at about 10 yards out whilst fishing at 60… I had picked up a trailer and it dropped off after a couple of minutes, this changed my plan slightly and I dropped my right hand rod shorter to about 5 wraps where I had seen some bubbling earlier in the day.  That was it for new on the first day really, I tried in front of the bird feeding area for a couple of hours when it got quiet and Gav had a few bream… well 16.

The next afternoon however, the bailiffs came around to do a rig check, I pulled my rod out to show them and then gleaned as much information as I could about the venue, the plan for the night was to be a rod up the left hand edge and then a rod sent over to the far bank tree line, leading around showed it to be a sandy bottom so a Horton rig was going to be dispatched the 27 wraps to the spot I had decided on.

I gave it 10 spombs of mixed boilie to try and reduce the number of bream as Gav had been having a few and then I settled down for about 12 minutes until the first bream hung itself, and then the next… I was not happy, especially since I had to get into the water every time to cast due to the overhead trees, in mean what’s the point of works parties if the anglers cannot cast without getting their feet wet?

I had enough and walked to the shops for some fish and chips only to discover that the chippy was shut, fortunately the Indian was still open so curry it was then.  I got the rods back out onto the spots, this time increasing the hookbait size on the far bank rig to a 20mm bottom bait and then settled down for the night expectant of some action, it never happened, I had a couple of beeps and Gav lost what may have been a carp late well into darkness, to be honest though I was resigned to another blank after talking to three different bailiffs and all three telling us different numbers of fish and different spots.  Although Gav was definitely on a good day time swim, if only he could get through the bream.

Ready for action

Come the morning the water skier was the final straw, between the low trees, dogs, geese, sailing boats, kayaks, air show and bream I had had enough.
Thank you to Ron for running the event, Tim and Chris won the match with 3 carp, Paul and Paul managed second with one carp, so that was it for the season, I managed to finish 5^th in the league with a first, second and two more times that I turned up, so it is off to Wraysbury next for me, I may need to get a recce done soon.

What would I have done differently?

Hard to say and be polite, If I was to go back tomorrow to the same swim I would have a rig under the tree line to my left and a rig under the trees on the far bank for the duration unless I saw a carp elsewhere, I would feed less and not use a spomb at all.

Tackle used:

Rods: 13ft 3.5lb tc Free spirit CTX

Reels: Shimano 14000 Ultegra XTC

Line: 15lb ESP Syncro loaded