K&A Teams of 4, Rd 4, Marlborough

This was the final round of the four and was being held over 4 sections that we had fished before, after breakfast I did the draw and managed to pull myself out an end peg along a stretch known as the beeches. Unfortunately that was it for the good pegs and the rest for the team were less that desirable and stuck in the middle of the section. I got the low down off my team captain and was told that my peg had won every match from the winter league with over 20lb of skimmers and Tench, so I nearly ran there!!

I had a lock 40 yards to my left and an  outflow stream from the lock about 5 yds to my left on the far bank that was feeding into the canal, I had an overhanging tree just down to my right and a bunch of brambles straight out across. So with plenty of places to go I decided to get my box into the shallows and set up in the water, I plumbed up the normal 4ft bread line at an angle of 45ᵒ to my left, a squatt line at 10m straight out in front and I plumbed up a worm line next to the tree to my right. The rigs were my usual ones and all I had changed was the elastic on my worm rig was No8 Vespe so that I might have more control over the fish I was hoping to get on it.

At the all in I fed a Satsuma ball of licky and some loose bread on my 5m line, 20 worms and about the same of caster on my 14.5m line, then 4 balls of groundbait with dead squatt at 10m for my Roach line. I shipped out on my bread line and waited, 6 mins later I had roach no.1 in the net and then a few more followed but I was never setting the world on fire and after 45mins I tried my worm line as the bread line had dried up. I counted to 100 and had no indications so dropped back in on the bread line only to be disappointed and have to go out on the squatt line. This gave a quick run of fish but they then became thin on the ground and it became a case of nicking a few fish from the squatt line then finding a way to rest it for a couple of minutes before trying to get a few more fish. I had taken a few small skimmers from the squatt line but due to being so close to the lock and it being a bank holiday saw a number of boats using reverse to brake in my swim so it was difficult to get any real numbers of fish to come in steadily. After a particularly bad run of boats I set up a rat hole punch rig and fished it at 13m across towards the bramble, this gave me a quick run of 6 bread fish for about 12oz but then it became hard again as the lock was opened and all my bait was spread about 40yds downstream.

I thought at the end that I had 4-5lb of fish as I had nearly 50 fish, I was very frustrated that my swim (a known flyer) had fished so poorly and could only wonder if it was due to the unusual high number of boats today, every time one came through the water level would fluctuate over a 6 inch range and at times the tow was so strong I thought I needed a feeder rod and 4oz of lead to hold bottom. However, the whole section had fished hard and my weight of 5lb 10oz was enough to beat all but the last 2 pegs at the far end of the section that had 6lb 13oz and 8 1/2lb respectively.

On returning to match HQ all was not well as we had had a couple of decent results and a couple of blowouts that saw us come in 10^th on the day, this saw us finish 10^th overall in the league. On a more personal note I did pick up the pools for my half section so it wasn’t that bad a day after all. It is back to commercials for a fortnight till the rivers open yippee, now did I wash my meat cutter??

Coking Farm Evening Match

This was another evening match at Coking Farm however, this time we were on Rush lake, the carp in here tend to run a bit bigger than in Meadow so fewer fish would be needed for a bigger weight. I drew peg 13 that had an island chuck and a reedy margin to my left so I fancied a few fish from both of those areas and set up a method for the island and a meat rig for down the edge. The method was on my 10ft Carp feeder rod and a small Preston 30g inline method running on 8lb sensor stopped by a quick change bead. The hooklength was 4 inches of 0.19mm powerline to a 14 QM1 with a bait band to mount Boilies or pellet. The edge rig was a 4X14 Duro 10 on .19mm to a .15mm bottom and a 16 B911, this was plumbed next to the reeds in just over 2 feet of water and had Red Vespe in the top kit.

At the all in I fed a full pot of hemp and about 30 8mm cubes of meat down the edge before casting about 4m short of the island and I started to count to 120. At 80 the tip went round and I was attached to fish no.1, it turned out to be a mirror about 6lb so was a good start. During the first hour I had 6 carp to 8lb all from the method line but it had gone strangely quiet so I decided to clip up a couple of meters further out but before casting I had a look down the edge. I had a quick bite that resulted in a slightly smaller carp but then lots of activity from silvers so I fed a big pot of bait and went back out on the method. This pattern continued with me taking another 5 carp, a bream and a roach over the last 2 hours but I knew that this would not be anywhere near enough to win even thought the lake had fished hard as I had watched the guy on peg 20 take nearly twice as many carp as me! The weigh in however, was interesting as his 20 odd carp went 90 odd pound and my 11 went 59lb so my fish were alot bigger but it was still only enough  for second on the evening with 48lb coming third.

I felt as though I had fished a better match than the last evening one, even though I had most of my meat trying to float away (so I need to look at how I store it). I believe that I approached my swim correctly but next time I would fish paste down the edge as I believe that it would have been a better choice on the day. Next stop is the K&A for the final round of the teams of 4 so I need to get my squatt rigs out!!

K&A Teams of 4 Round 3, Marlborough

It was time again for a pilgrimage up north to Marlborough and after becoming geographically challenged I arrived in good time for the draw (much to my team captain’s relief). I had just enough time to sort out my bait and eat a butty and brew before the draw took place and I was given my directions to my peg. For the second time that day I got lost but was fortunate enough to pull over in just the right place to see a couple of cars full of fishing kit pull down a lane, so I followed them and luckily found my section. D5 was my destination for the day and this saw me with 14.5m tight across and a weed bed at 4m to my right and a fishy looking snag at 13m again just to my right. My plan was simple, aim for roach but set up a skimmer rig and put in at least 1 worm line. I plumbed up my inside bread line and found just over 3ft of water at 11.5m for a groundbait and squatt line, this gave me plenty of time to look around for a worm line and found that it was the same depth next to the weedbed to my right and also across at the snag. For these two lines I set up 2 rigs, an animal rig of 0.19mm line to a 12 Carbon feeder hook and a short length of no.14 latex through 1 section of my power kit, then a light rig of Green Vespe E2 Hollow to 0.15mm and a 0.11mm bottom with a 16 B611. The float was a handmade 4 X 14 Choppy float that had a long cane bristle and wire stem that was really stable in the strengthening breeze.

I was set up with time to spare and at the all in I fed my bread line with a Satsuma sized ball of licky, then 3 balls of groundbait with Squatt, pinkie and hemp went out on the long line. I shipped out to the snag with my animal rig with a tosspot of worm and caster and counted to 100, nothing happened so I tried the inside with the same rig and again nothing. I fed both lines with half a dozen worms and 20 caster, baited my bread rig and shipped out, it took 20 mins before my first fish and 5 mins without an indication saw me feed some licky cloud and this gave me a quick run of 5 decent bread roach. Nothing else happened on the bread line so I had a look on the snag line, the wind was increasing steadily but I managed to hold the rig steady for the full count of 80 before the float disappeared and 3ft of elastic peeled out the pole. After a brief struggle I put the net under a perch of about 12oz, shipped back out and the float went under again almost immediately, but this time the perch was barely an ounce so I re fed with a few worms and 30 casters before a look on the inside worm line saw 2 perch for 2lb in the net. This gave me a nice buffer so with nothing else coming I had a look on the squatt line, this gave me a steady run of small roach all day but with me watching the guys to my right catching skimmers I kept on having the odd look on the worm lines to no avail. With 20 mins remaining I had 4 decent perch and about 50 small roach in the net for what I guessed to be about 6lb but I knew I needed more to beat the guy to my right who had landed 4 skimmers, so I had a last look on my inside worm line (the far bank was all but unfishable with the wind) after 67 secs the float dipped and then slowly slipped away and I quickly struck. The fish was not happy and elastic peeled across the canal and 4 seconds later flew back into the pole tip!!! I was distraught as I has struck too soon and knew it! I dropped the rig back down the hole but nothing happened so I shipped across to my squatt line only to have a boat chug straight over the top of it with a few minutes left. That was the end of me catching and I was not a happy bunny with myself!!

I followed the scales along the whole section and 3 people had caught skimmers to my right for 13lb, 10lb, 8lb squatt weight, 6lb 9oz (the next peg to my right) and I had 6lb 6oz. That lost lump had cost me dearly but worst was yet to come....

On returning to the HQ it transpired that we as a team had 2 blow outs and this had put us well down the standings and into 9^th overall in the league with 1 match left. Next week round 4 on the same stretches so it should be an interesting finish to the series.

Orchard Lakes Mid week Open

This was my first mid week open at Orchard and was surprised at their only being 5 of us fishing, before the draw I was chatting with Shaine about how the Sunday series had gone the weekend before and it transpired that it had fished a bit more tricky than usual but there had still been at least 10 ton ups so a good day was on the cards. I drew peg 24 and this transpired to be the golden peg, my day had started well could it get better?

On looking at my peg I decided on a two pronged attack of a method across to the bare bank and paste or pellet down the edge. My method gear consisted of my 10ft carp feeder rod, 8lb mainline with a 12” twisted loop; this had a 30g small Preston inline method feeder running along it and stopping it was a Korum quick change bead. My hooklength was 4 inches long of 0.19mm line to a 16 PR36 with a hair rigged baitband to take a 6-8mm pellet. My feed for around the feeder was 2, 3 and 4mm pellet in the ratio 2:2:1 with a bit of groundbait to help stick them around the feeder. For the pole I set up a standard margin paste rig and a pellet rig with a 16 B911 to 0.15mm hooklength, these were plumbed to find a spot on each side that was the same depth (2.5 ft).

At the all in I cast my method around a meter off the far bank and then fed a handful of hemp and 6mm pellet on each margin, it took 2 mins for my first fish that was a small Tench. By the end of the first hour I had 10 counter Carp (over a pound) and a few bits in the form of micro carp and Tench, the second hour was much the same but then the third and forth saw me putting more fish in the net as the carp turned up in numbers on the method line and it was reminiscent of a feeding frenzy as the feeder hit the water. The problems I suffered from was the small fish kept on knocking the feeder down the ledge and the baitband was stretching and struggling to hold on to the pellet. I ended up with 63 counter Carp and alot of bits for a total weight of 145lb 8oz; this was enough to win the match by about 70lb as everyone else had struggled to get the fish feeding close in. I had a few looks down the edge but the carp were smaller and I was getting alot of bites off silvers when I was feeding pellet. I started to feed meat and this brought in bigger fish but is was slower than on the method so there I stayed for most of the match. It is off to the canal again at the weekend so look out Roach!!

Coking Farm Evening Match, Meadow Lake.

It was time for me to try my luck at an evening match and Meadow Lake at Coking farm was the place to be, peg 27 was my destination for the evening. This gave me an island 30m to my 11 o’clock and then loads of open water. My plan consisted of a paste line at 2+2 where I would loose feed 6mm pellet and pot in hemp with my paste with a method chuck as a backup. I set up 2 rigs for the pole, a 4X14 Big ‘h’ paste rig on 0.19mm mainline to 0.17 and a 12 B911. And a 4X14 Duro 7 on 0.17m main to 0.15mm and a 16 B911, both rigs were set up on Red Vespe E2 hollow elastic.

At the all in I shipped out on the pole and dropped my paste and a pinch of hemp in before feeding 30 pellet by hand over the top, I received a couple of liners over the opening 20 mins and in this time Craig on the next peg had taken 2 carp. This saw me try a pellet to get a bite and first put in I had a carp of 3lb that was soon followed by a roach, I put a pot of hemp and pellet in on the pole line and chucked out the method.

My method set up was my Drennan 10ft carp feeder with a 2508 Daiwa Whisker loaded with 8lb sensor mono, a 12” twisted loop had a small Guru inline method feeder stopped by a Korum quick change bead. My hooklength was 4 inches of 0.19mm to a 14 Guru QM1 with a bait band on the hair, this allows me to use boilies, pellet and meat as hookbait all on the same rig. A 10mm white boilie was encased in my pellet mix and the feeder was dispatched out to the island margins, over the next 30 minutes I had 3 more carp but was now 3 fish behind Craig to my left and 5 fish behind the guy opposite.

This tempted me to try my paste line again and I had a quick run of carp to 6lb ish saw my hopes raise before another quite spell dashed them again. With an half an hour to go, and only 9 fish in the net I decided to sit it out on the method till the end as I was now being beaten by 3 people who I could see. In the last 15mins I had a flurry of fish that saw my total increase to 13 Carp and I decided then that I may have made a mistake by setting the pole up. The scales were on me first and my bag of carp went 43lb 8oz, Craig on the next peg had just over 60lb but was beaten into 3^rd by a 69lb and 85lb. My net was enough to squeak 4t from the guy to my right who had a good second hour but I should have just fished one line and taken the consequences if it had not worked. The method would have been the right tactic for the night but it was a lesson learnt in speed fishing as the last 4 fish were all landed in double quick time and scooped under the rod end. Now I can’t wait till the next one!

FLE Fishery (formally Greenridge Farm Fishery) Open

So it was off to Greenridge Farm to see if the lessons I had learnt last month would come in handy, it had been decided that we would fish Canals 1&2 and the buzz was pegs 9-11 on Canal 1 and 12 &13 on Canal2 was the place to be. Again my drawing hand was spot on as peg 9 was on the card.

When I looked at my peg I decided on fishing pellet across, paste in the middle and for the margin I decided to try a tactic that I had used at Heronbrook with good effect, it consisted of feeding large quantities of dead maggot and loose groundbait down the edge so a bag of green swimstim was mixed, 2 and 4mm pellet got softened and my expanders got pumped. My rig for across consisted of 0.15mm mainline and a 0.13mm bottom to an 18 B911, this had a 4X12 Big ‘H’ Border float and was rigged on yellow Vespe E2 hollow elastic. This was nice and soft to try and stop the fish bolting along the far bank, however, it was set on a puller bung to allow me to get control of the fish close in. My paste rig started a s a KC Carpa Margin set at 4ft but due to the stiffening wind later got changed to a 4X14 Big ‘H’ Paste on 0.19mm mainline and 0.17mm bottom with a 10 Drennan Margin Carp, this was set on red Vespe E2 hollow. And finally down the edge it was a doctored 0.4g Sconezone Double Deez on 0.19mm main to a 0.17mm bottom and the same hook as the paste rig but in a size 14, this was set on Orange Vespe E2 Hollow to try and control any bigger fish that I may have caught quickly.

At the all in I cupped some hemp and pellet in on my 11.5m paste line before shipping across to the far bank with a kinder cup of 2mm pellet and a 4mm expander on the hook, I managed a couple of quick carp before the Topmouth Gudgeon became a problem and a change to 4mm pellet in the toss pot saw another 2 carp in the net. After an hour the wind however increased and saw an increased amount of wind tourette’s that saw me decide to try the paste line, due to the fact it was facing slightly into the stiffening wind rig control was tricky but I had a quick Carp before I decided to start a new line at the same distance downwind in my swim. This improved matters and I had another carp, but a short line between float and pole was causing problems, I changed rigs and had a bit more line andf weight down the line, this instantly gave me two more fish before I overfed the swim and fizzing became a real problem.

Because of this and the fact it was now halfway through the match I started feeding my margin with pots of groundbait and dead maggot, i also plumbed up a new line at 2+2 straight out for my paste rig and started loose feeding 4mm pellet over the top by hand. The next 2 hours saw me catch 10 carp all but one from the new paste line but with an hour to go I had overfed my swim and started to suffer badly from liners and Topmouth Gudgeon. This saw me lose a couple of fish and the will to fish in the last 20mins so I packed up early for the first time in ages and waited for the weigh in (as I was on scales). Peg 8 had been catching all day as had both the guys to my right, peg 8 won the pond with 80lb, end peg 11 had 79lb, peg 10 and myself were both sat on 48lb 15oz. Basically I came nowhere with over a ton winning the match from the other lake, but I learnt some valuable lessons for the future.

1.    Not all venues respond to the pot it in approach on the paste line, I had more success fishing a line that I could accurately loose feed 4mm pellet by hand.

2.    Don’t feed too much, as soon as I had done this on all my lines the Gudgeon became a problem and fizzing made it tricky to get bites.

3.    To get around the fizzing fish the paste on the slope, requires accurate fishing but is well worth the effort.

4.    Don’t quit, another couple of fish in the last 20 mins could have seen me in the top 5 and 1 fish would have beaten 2 people on my lake!!!

Anyway there is always next time.