Shearwater Match, 24/2/16

So it was another days leave so that I could go to Shearwater and fish a match run by my mate Mark, so after a quick pit stop for breakfast and a pretty easy run down I was soon at the draw paid in and ready to go.  We had a pair of carp anglers turn up as we were gathered in the car park, but they found a gap on the dam wall so it was not as bad as it could have been.  I spent most of my time trying to get into Johns head after the trouncing that he had given me last week, I also fancied drawing on the road bank as I wanted to try and fish at range all day, well I got my wish and peg 9 was my destination for the day. 

It was basically the peg that Pez had won the group match from a fortnight ago so I was confident of a few fish, my confidence increased when I had John drop into the peg to my left and Gary to my right, so the same three people adjacent to each other two weeks on the bounce.   I at least knew that there would be some fish about with these two around.  I went about setting up a cage feeder rod and method rod both clipped up at the same number of turns, I decided to start at 65 turns (68 meters ish) and I would see where I would go from there.

This time I was almost ready for the all in, unlike Gary, and I was soon sat on the method for no indications in the first 30 minutes, a swap to the cage feeder was no better and I found an early foe in the form of a light breeze into our bank that was making hitting the clip accurately difficult when it gusted.  The banter was in full flow along the bank which was handy as unless you were Mark the fishing certainly wasn’t.  Mark had a great start to the match with about 10 bream in nearly as many casts. For the rest of us though it was a bit slower but they soon started to get caught and I soon had two in the net both taken on double dead red on the cage feeder. John and Gary were also catching odd fish but I was slipping behind so I decided to change to the method, this had the desired effect with two quick fish that were both of a very good average size, but I was soon left scratching my head again.

It was quite obvious that it was not just me struggling with the breeze as almost everyone along our bank had cracked off once, (some more than that hey John!) and it was at this point that I decided to concentrate on the method for the remainder of the match as it was easier to accurately hit the mark. I swapped my 14ft rod to the method to make it easier and added 5 turns of line to the cast.

The result although not instant was promising with another 3 fish coming at between 7 and 9 minutes after the feeder had hit the bottom, I also found that a 6mm yellow dumbbell was getting me all my bites, but Gary had been catching well and John was close on 8 smaller fish and some back up silvers.  With about an hour to go I decided to go balls out and try to snag a carp, they had been boshing at range so I unclipped the feeder and unleashed it.

In this time John had a few more bream 6-7 and Gary had about the same to give him 20 bream plus backup silvers, I unfortunately managed only 1 bream in the last hour and didn’t see hid or hair of the carp I was after, I had wasted the best part of the day on a pipedream and knew it.  The all out was called and I decided that no matter what I was staying on to try and get a carp.  As the scales came down John was the first of our little pocket to weigh and he had managed 32lb, my 8 bream went 24lb!! I would have only needed three more of my stamp fish to put John in trouble!  Gary had 50lb dead, and this was enough to give him 3^rd in the match as well.  I paid the double nugget to john….Grudgingly.

Thankyou Mark for an excellent couple of days on the bank, I look forward to trying to do it again next year, well done to Steve for winning with 80lb, and Rob for 2^nd with 61lb.

What would I do different?

Although I think I had the right idea I should have fished a line at 60 meter to start as this would have been easier to cast to and I could have worked on my accuracy and building the swim.  Once again chasing the fish didn’t work, Gary plugged away on the same line as for most of the day and John regretted trying longer.  So the moral is again pick an easy distance and stick to it the bream will come.

Tackle used:

Feeder Cage:

Rod: Browning Black Viper 14ft Feeder rod, 3 and 4oz quiver.

Reel: Shimano CI4 Ultegra 5500

Line: 0.205mm Colmic feeder line 0.13mm hooklength

Hook: 16 QM1

Feeder: 40g small Kevin Leech feeder later swapping to a Large 42g Guru Hybrid feeder with Black elastic

Feeder method:

Rod: Browning Black Viper 13ft (S) Feeder rod, 4oz quiver.

Reel: Shimano CI4 Ultegra 5500

Line: 8lb sensor to 0.19mm hooklength

Hook: 14 QM1

Feeder: Large 42g Guru Hybrid feeder with Black elastic

Watergate Farm, 20/2/16

So the guys had invited me to another match at Watergate Farm and I was looking forward to trying to improve on my result last time, the breakfast went down better this time and I managed to have a good chat with some of the old guard that I have not seen for a while.  I drew peg 10 and this was next to where I had fished last time.

My plan was to set up a feeder rod in case the wind picked up so that I could still fish across, I also set up a pellet rig to fish across and found a nice spot at the join of my 14.5m section and the dolly butt, so that was sorted.  I also plumbed up two short lines left and right but due to the make up of the bottom they were probably three meters from the bank left and right so I didn't put in a margin line.

Bait for the day was to be expanders, 4mm, 2mm pellet as feed and at the last moment I also pulled some corn and hemp out of the bag.  At the all in I fed both of my short lines and then went across on the pellet rig, after about 20 minutes I still had nothing to show in the net but I was getting frustrated with liners due to the depth, it was three and a half feet deep so to try and alleviate the liner problem I sent out the feeder.

I had three carp in three casts and then again liners started to become an issue, so I decided to reduce the size of my feeder to the smallest Guru Pellet feeder.  This alas didn’t have the desired affect and the liners continued so it was time for a quick look short.  Fish were being caught all over the lake, although John to my left was struggling on the peg I had been sat on last time, he was still beating me at this point though.

The inside line was not good and I was struggling with my expanders that I had made the night before, I had decided to try something new, I have since decided that if it isn’t broke don’t fix it!  I started to feed a bit of corn on the left hand side and put a quarter of a big pot on the right hand side before going across again on pellet to see if I could start to string some fish together, the quick answer is no and it seemed as though the fish were up in the water as I foul hooked a couple well off the deck. 

Frustrated I got off my box and had a quick think, I was going to try shallow with pellet but stopped myself just before I started to thrash pellet into the swim, the plan changed to dobbing bread so the guru Bait board was fetched and a dobbing rig put on the end of the top kit.  I shipped a 6mm punch across the lake and had to wait all of 30 seconds before carp number 1 was on his way to the keep net.  I had a really good run over the next hour with a number of fish responding to the bread, I ended up catching the biggest fish 18 inches off the bottom, which was an eye opener. When the fish dried up in my first spot then a move along the bank to the right saw another handful of fish into the net but it was getting hard.  I rested it by having a look short but again this was slow, so I fed the right hand side with another small hit of bait and then went back over on bread for another couple of fish.  Even though the wind was becoming troublesome I should have got off my ass at this point and put another section on the end of the pole to go left and chase the fish that way, my new toy was standing up really well in the wind so it would have been an option.

I came for another look short as the bite had dried up across again, this time I decided to try and make something happen, so I was toss potting corn on both lines and fishing for indications and the right hand side started to respond.  It was not hectic but I was getting quick runs of 2-3 fish all on corn so I changed my elastic to something a bit beefier and started to get my head down on both lines.  The right side was far better, I may have been getting better presentation as it was up wind, not sure but time started to fly and I was starting to think that I might be able to claw something back.  Unfortunately, the fish dried up again and for another half an hour I was left searching for fish on all my lines, I managed another one across and then with about half an hour left to go I had another run of fish off the right hand short line.

The all out was called and I had no real idea about how much I had caught, I had managed a few fish but they had come in spells so there are never as many as you think when that happens, as it turned out I had 74lb which was enough to beat left and right, but the match had been won with joint weights of 142lb!  With a 115lb third the rest of us had no chance but it had been a nice February day with plenty of fish in the onion sack, thanks again to the guys who ran it as I enjoy those small matches at this time of year.

Looking ahead I am off to Shearwater again this week and then a couple of days on the canal before I need to start fisho prep.

What would I do different?

The conditions leading up to today should have told me to go softly, softly, I ignored that and although I don’t believe the peg was worth 140lb I may have done a ton.

I shouldn’t have been lazy and I should have got the 16m section on when I lost the dobbing fish.

I need to start clicking my fish so I can get used to counting the fish/ weight in my keepnets.

Tackle used:

Feeder:

Rod: Drennan Series 7 10ft carp feeder.

Reel: Daiwa TDM 3012

Line: 8lb Sensor to 0.16mm hooklength

Hook: 16 QM1

Feeder: mini 24g Guru Hybrid feeder then a micro 24g Guru Pellet feeder both inline.

Pole Long pellet:

Elastic: Pink Vespe

Line: 0.15mm to 0.10mm Cenex

Hook: 16 B911 F1

Float: 0.3g AS5

Pole short:

Elastic: Double No. 5 slip – changed to Blue Colmic later

Line: 0.15mm N Gage to 0.12mm Cenex

Hook: 16 B911 F1

Float: 0.4g AS5

Pole Dobbing:

Elastic: Pink Vespe

Line: 0.15mm to 0.12mm Cenex

Hook: 16 B911

Float: 0.3g AS4

Shearwater Match, 17/2/16

I had taken leave for today so there was no surprise when the weather man predicted rain all day, I stopped off at the Golden Arches for breakfast and had a trouble free run down to the lake, so I was around 45 minutes early!  I started to bump into some friendly faces including my old mate John from Blandford, and as we were catching up Mark collared us to peg the road bank….again. On the bright side we did find the peg that was left behind last week on the army match, oh and a new feeder for me.

As ever it was soon time for the draw and there were more than a few known faces within the draw queue, I managed to get my grubby mit into the box and pulled out peg 22 and this put me onto the peg to the right from where I was last week on the lawns. Coincidently John had pulled out peg 23, so a quid side bet was waged and banter was guaranteed.

As you can see it is a popular swim  so there was tons of mud so with that and the weather forecast I decided to only take kit out of the van if it was going to get used to try and keep some of my kit a little dryer and cleaner. I set up 3 feeder rods and prepped some pellet, dead maggot and groundbait and then faffed around for the next 30 minutes so I was just ready for the all in.

As it was a 6 hour match the plan was to catch a carp long and then put a hit of bait in on the shorter line and then empty the lake of fish, the reality was a bit different with no indications on the long line for the first 15 minutes, then I fed 6 feeders on the short line and went long for another pointless 15 minutes.  By this time John on my right had managed a roach and now a skimmer, so I came in on my short line and proceeded to have a frustrating hour with only a missed rattle to show for it. Then about an hour and a half in the tip rocked and I pulled into fish number one, but a couple of seconds later it dropped off and I was left cursing my luck, fortunately a few minutes later I had a positive drop back and Bream number 1 was soon nestled in the landing net. 

John by this time was on number 4, and I was struggling to be fair, I had another spell of missed bites and liners so I decided to put the method out onto the short line, this resulted in 3 fish in about a 45 minute spell, but then I decided to put some bait in and then fish long for a while as I needed a miracle to get back up on the fish count.

I cracked off the topping up feeder on my third cast so went long for thirty minutes with no indications. During this time I had set the open end feeder rod back up and run it back out the 12 wraps to be in line with where John was fishing, by this time he was motoring and on around 20 bream!

Back on it I tried with the standard feeder again for 30 minutes and I managed a fish on it with a positive pull round, and a swap to the method in the last 30 got me another and I dropped one with 5 minutes to go so that was the end of my day.

It had been miserable, the guy on the end peg to my right had managed a carp and a handful of skimmers for 21lb, then there was a 20lb weight, then John with 58lb, I had 6 bream for 14lb?ish and then Gary the dark horse on the next peg had managed 5 bream but some clonking great roach for another 20lb bag, all on the feeder and bomb.

John won the match and Ben from the road bank had 2^nd with 57lb, then there were a few 30lb bags and the rest, the dam wall fished hard with 18lb winning that section.

So I owe John a quid as I didn’t have one in my pocket, fortunately we are going double or quits next week, lets hope I don’t blow another flyer.

What would I do different?

Next time If I draw there I will pick a line and concentrate on the one line as the fish seem to be concentrated in that area anyway so trying to cast to the horizon is casting over the majority of them.

Tackle used:

Feeder Long:

Rod: Browning Black Viper 14ft Feeder rod, 4oz quiver.

Reel: Shimano CI4 Ultegra 5500

Line: 0.205mm Colmic feeder line 0.18mm hooklength

Hook: 14 QM1

Feeder: Large 42g Guru Hybrid feeder with Black elastic

Feeder Short standard:

Rod: Drennan Medium feeder at 12.5ft, 2oz tip.

Reel: Daiwa TDM 3012

Line: 6lb Maxima 0.13mm hooklength

Hook: 16 QM1

Feeder: 30g small Kevin Leech feeder, used a large to top up still 30g

Feeder short Method:

Rod: Drennan Medium feeder at 12.5ft, 2oz tip.

Reel: Daiwa TDM 3012

Line: 6lb Maxima 0.19mm hooklength

Hook: 14 QM1

Feeder: Small Guru Hybrid feeder, Black elastic

AAF Gp2 Match 4, Shearwater

Today was a momentous day for me as it was my first ever match on Shearwater, now I have been against this match since it was first suggested last year, my reasons are based around the size of our group and how much water we would require if everyone was to have a good day, also the venue doesn't shut to pleasure anglers so pegging could have been a nightmare.

My day unfolded a bit like this, I picked Craig up at dark o’clock and after a bit of breakfast at Maccy D’s we were soon looking at an empty Shearwater, that was my first worry dealt with so we cracked on with pegging as best we could for 45 anglers.  We were trying to avoid using the areas with fewer fish in so a lot of people were getting sardine especially along the better road bank, but that was a small price to pay as the other option would have been more blank nets.

Pegging went without a hitch, although the last two pegs and first two were a bit of a worry, but that’s fishing, Craig and I got sorted in the car park and bar one nice guy asking where was available for him to fit in and pleasure fish the draw went without a hitch as well.  Well apart from having lost the die of doom so we had to improvise with golf balls.  Craig had C8 pulled out for him and fortunately I had C9 pulled out by Pez for me which was handy.

As usual it was open water fishing so the plan was chuck a method long and see what would happen for the first 15-30 minutes then decided whether or not to feed any bait on the shorter 45 turn line. It didn’t take long to set the rods up from scratch so I also put up a waggler to fish at about 20m to the left of the swim, I tried it several times and didn’t get a touch.

My bait was 1 part 2mm pellet, 1 part 4mm pellet, 2 parts groundbait and 2 parts water that I mixed as soon as I got to my peg, I made a similar mix so that I could put a quantity of bait onto the short line if I decided to do so.

I was ready for the all in just and as Craig called it I launched the long range rod to around 80 yards and started the stopwatch, I was hoping for an early carp but after 5 minutes I had to settle for a 2lb skimmer, not a lot seemed to be happening around the lake so I decided to lay a small bed of feed on the shorter line, only six big feeders but it was laced with 2mm pellet and dead maggot.  Then it was back onto the long line for another hour or so, I was leaving the feeder in for 15 minutes at a time and on my third cast just close to me winding in the tip went around again.  Bream number two was soon in the net but by now Craig had managed a couple of Bream and a carp on his shorter line so I decided to have a look with the open end feeder.  To be honest not a lot happened over the next couple of hours, I rotated through all my rigs on all lines and Craig had a few more bream off the next peg I wasn't too sure what else was happening as it was a struggle to see but one of the guys to my right came around for a quick chat.  He said that a couple of them were on about 10lb but that he had managed a quick run of fish straight after putting a hit of bait in, so as he left I fed another 6 feeders on my short line and followed it straight up with the open ended feeder. It took three minutes for the first bite that was a Hybrid of about 2lb and the next cast it took the full 5 minutes that I was leaving the rig in for now, but then the swim went quiet.  There was an hour remaining now and Craig was on seven Bream to go with his Carp, since there was a quid on it this was the only part of the match that mattered.  I decided to look beyond the feed so I lengthened my feeder rod to twelve and a half feet and took 5 yards off the reel before re clipping it.

This definitely worked as the next five casts saw me hook 5 bream and land 4; one came off when I hit the bite a little early, something I have always struggled with to be honest.  Craig was worried for a few minutes but as quickly as the run started, it finished, and even adding more line and casting around the area didn’t yield any more fish.  With 15 minutes to go I unclipped the long rod and spanked it as far as I could, this later turned out to be just over 100 yards, but it stayed motionless to the end, were as Craig managed a few more bream in the last 30 minutes, much to my despair.

The scales showed that Bri to my right had managed 13kilo+, Craig had 14Kg and Mike on the dam wall had 15kg, he did have a 5kg carp that he managed to extract on his roach rig as well so good angling there mate.  My 8 Bream went 10kg and a bit that was enough to squeak 4^th in section, Pez managed to win the match from the road bank with 19kg and Pete also had 5kg so all of the team had caught which was more than could be said for some people. 

It had been a nice day for Craig and I sat in the sun with the wind deflected by a large tree, the road bank and dam wall looked to take the brunt of the cold wind, unfortunately there were a lot of DNW’s but that’s winter bream fishing I am afraid.  I learnt a few bits on this match that should sort me out for the next couple of Wednesday matches where I am off to Shearwater again on a couple of friendly matches.

What would I do different?

I wish I had clocked the hit of feed earlier, I was aware of it, but I feel as though I was quite lack lustre trying to get the shorter line to work today, I also think that I should have plumbed up a bit more on the tip as my original short line was very rocky, which is possibly why the method didn’t work there.

Tackle used:

Feeder Long:

Rod: Browning Black Viper 14ft Feeder rod, 4oz quiver.

Reel: Shimano CI4 Ultegra 5500

Line: 8lb sensor 0.18mm hooklength

Hook: 14 QM1

Feeder: Large 42g Guru Hybrid feeder with Black elastic

Feeder Short standard:

Rod: Drennan Medium feeder at 11.5ft to start but extended to 12.5ft later in the day, 2.5oz tip.

Reel: Daiwa TDM 3012

Line: 6lb Maxima 0.19mm hooklength

Hook: 16 QM1

Feeder: 30g small Kevin Leech feeder, used a large to top up still 30g

Feeder short Method:

Rod: Drennan Medium feeder at 11.5ft.

Reel: Daiwa TDM 3012

Line: 6lb Maxima 0.19mm hooklength

Hook: 14 QM1

Feeder: Small Guru Hybrid feeder, Black elastic

Waggler:

Rod: Drennan Acolyte 14ft.

Reel: Daiwa TDM 2508

Line: 0.16mm Mainline, 0.1mm hooklength

Hook: 18 B911 F1 QM1

Float: Dave Harrell 3AA sensilite waggler, only two no9 shot down the line.