Division 1 National Practice and Match 2023

I am in  the lucky position that by representing the British Army at angling they give me time off to go and practice for big events, this is one such occasion and it was the team practice for the upcoming Division 1 National on the Gloucester Canal.  I was a bit of a last minute addition to the team after one of the guys had to drop out due to personal reasons but fortunately I have fished it before and had been doing a little bit of prep in the background just in case I got a call up.

The official practice was Tuesday and Wednesday, but I was able to travel up early on the Monday and get a few hours with Toby and Gaz, we fished around Fretherne bridge so I think it was the early 500’s.   A lot was learnt, and I was using it to get used to casting a small feeder into 12-15ft of water and playing with top 5’s.  I had a few bites on the feeder and a couple of small fish on the pole and ended up with about 8-10lb.

Day 2 saw 5 of us go to Parkend, so pegs 413-417, it was another interesting day, and I managed some skimmers on the feeder and a hoofing great big slab on a short pole roach line, we were starting to formulate a plan.

Day 3 of Practice saw us move down to Purton Lower, the home of big bream weights in the spring and were hoping for a bag up session.  I was sat on peg 818 as an end peg and due to the conditions as we were setting up I decided to focus on the feeder and also a short pole worm line as there was a lot of weed on the inside screaming tench and perch at me.

I caught a few small skimmers on the feeder, but could not really string anything together, I fed big baits on the inside and on my occasional looks I was getting a few small perch, I had 2 eels in 2 casts at one point as the canal was bubbling everywhere and I also managed a big tench on the short pole and a baby tench on the feeder so it was a good day.

I finished off with 5.525Kg (12lb 2oz ish) that was top weight from our 4 anglers, but the guys near Splatt bridge had struggled so it was obvious that if you were on a few you needed to make the most of it.

So to the big match, during the week and a half since we practiced I had been out, got some new floats for the long pole so that they were more stable in the depths and with the wind and tow, a new feeder hook length system that I topped up with lots of fresh hook lengths and plenty of pole hook lengths in case I got amongst the eels.

To be fair it was a mixed start to the match, I was drawn around Splatt bridge so moved to the central car park waiting for my peg number, I got in easily and was ready and waiting to go, the pegs were texted out by Gaz the captain and I was only a couple of hundred meters up the canal on peg 556, this was a bonus as I was away from the hard part of the section. 

I had sorted my feeder groundbait the night before and as I checked it I thought it just needed a little more water, I was massively wrong and trashed the batch buy turning it into a claggy lump of mess.  Fortunately I had spare groundbait in my swim just in case and that was quickly mixed up but that was not the best start.

Rods were clipped, pole rigs plumbed but I was having issues with a tree behind me restricting my cast, I collared the first steward I saw and got permission to move to the left of my peg marker by a meter of so and that alleviated the issue.  Strangely, my peg and the 2 to my right seemed to be in our own mini section as the next peg to my left was over 100 meters away due to boats that had been parked up on the morning, so that was a bonus.

The all in was called, I fed 5 medium feeders on the main feeder line, cupped 3 odd shaped balls of groundbait onto the pole line to try and hold them on the slope and then cast the feeder. I was getting indications on double dead red almost immediately from small fish and soon swung (Yes SWUNG) a small roach and perch to hand in 2 casts, and all was good in the world.  By the 90 minute mark I had 2 skimmers and had just lost one at the net as I couldn’t chase it with the big net head and skinny handle, this had seen the swim go quiet so I cast 5 thimes with a medium feeder to try and draw them back in and then had a look on my inside worm line that I had fed about 20 minutes earlier.

I was getting indications on half a dendrabena straight away but I could not hiyt them, I swapped to double dead red to see if it was eels but that didn’t move.  Frustrated I had a look on the groundbait line and to my surprise I had a quick run of 5 gustas, well quick compared to what I was seeing around me, I was having to fish a single pinkie to get bites and run it right on top of where the initial feed had dropped.  I tried to force this by topping it up and resting and fist cast back out on the feeder the tip settled and wrapped round, as I lifted I felt a decent fish bump off and I knew that was the end of that. I had no more indications on the feeder for the next stint apart from a couple of small perch on redworm,so I started to rotate around the swims, the gustas had gone apsrt from the very odd bite and I managed a small perch on the inside but although I was getting bites they seemed to be very small as I only hit one even leaving it for a count of 10 to see if that would help.

At one point I had cast the feeder out and was faffing around with the shotting on one of my pole rigs and having a bit of lunch, well nothing else was happening, the plan being give it a 10 minute cast to see if they worked, well at 8 minutes I had a hittable indication and this turned out to be an eel of about a pound and a nice bonus. But, that was the end of the excitement and despite moving feeder line up the shelf and working hard on both pole lines I limped home during the later stages of the match.

The scales were on me quickly and I weighed 2.250Kg (4lb 15oz ish) this was third out of the three of us as the guy on the end peg 2 to my right had snared a bream and pipped me by 700g so a pound and a half. I ended up 19^th out of the 46anglers in my section so I was more than happy with that.

The team came 22 so another great result considering the quality of the anglers and teams around you and also the bream lottery that is the Gloucester Canal. 

Thanks to all the AT team and all the stewards on the day I know this doesn’t magically happen.

What would I do different:

Try not to bump any fish off and about the only other thing I could have tried was casting the feeder to my left into the gap between me and the next peg that way, either one of the skimmers I lost would have been mega points.

Rigs used:

Feeder 1:
Rod: 3.3m Matrix XS feeder, 1oz tip.
Reel: Daiwa TDM 3012 loaded with 0.12mm Braid and 8lb sensor shock leader
Rig: Paternoster, hook lengths from 0.12-0.15 hooks 18-14 B560
Lots of different feeders were used but the best was a small cage feeder.

Feeder 2:
Rod: Drennan matchpro Medium feeder at 11’6”, 1.5oz tip.
Reel: Daiwa TDR 4012 loaded with 0.10mm Braid and 8lb sensor shock leader
Rig: Paternoster, hook lengths from 0.12-0.15 hooks 18-14 B560
Lots of different feeders were used but the best was a small cage feeder.

Pole long light:
Elastic: 5 or 6 slip
Line: 0.11mm Powerline to 0.08-0.11mm Florocarbon
Hook: 20-18 Colmic B957
Float: Dave Harrell DH11 1.5g or DH23 (DH23 was better due to the wire stem)

Pole long heavy:
Elastic: 6 slip
Line: 0.13mm Powerline to 0.08-0.11mm Florocarbon
Hook: 20-18 Colmic B957
Float: Dave Harrell DH11 3g (Used to slow or stop the bait when it was towing)

Pole worm light:
Elastic: Yellow vespe (1 meter long)
Line: 0.19mm Powerline to 0.13mm Flourocarbon
Hook: 15 or 13 B711
Float: Dependant on flow, 0.7g Frenzee pattern or 2G Drennan Trio

I also set up a whip with a waggler on it but had no bites and didn’t feel it was right.

 

 

Royal Signals Carp Angling Champs 2023

Time for something a bit different, I am going to drop in a few of my carp/speci sessions on here aswell so that you can get an idea of the mindset and tactics involved on these.

Cromwell lake near Newark was the venue, 18 acres of crystal clear water with depths going down to over 20ft, this can be a challenging venue.  The weather forecast was pretty good so that could not really be used as an excuse.

I had booked on for the night before as it meant I didn’t have to drive up at stupid o’clock in the morning, and settled in peg 13, I chucked out a couple of pva bags pushed a 45m baiting pole under a bush along the margin.  I saw a good 30 in the bay to my left but it wasn’t interested in eating and the birds managed to spook it off aswell.

On the first official day I was packed down nice and early and managed a walk around the lake, having fished it before my top choices were pegs 18, 14 and 2 as they covered some shallow water in the middle of the lake and I have always seen fish there when I have fished the lake in the past.  I had seen fish show all over the lake so the only swim I didn’t really want was peg 9.

I came out in the middle on the draw, and fortunately peg 2 was still in there, I had also been eyeing up peg 7 but fortunately went for 2 as I had fished it before.

On starting I cast a bare lead out onto the shallow water only to find that there were very few clear spots and all of the bottom seemed to be covered in silt weed, even so I started on PVA bags, but after the first recast it became obvious that these were wrong as I could not feel a nice drop, so after a few hours my plan changed completely.

I found an area were the silkweed seemed shorter and decided to put some long ronnies into it with a scattering of  bait over the top, I was feeding crushed DNA Baits S& boilie, corn and pellet using a mini skyliner spod sop that the disturbance was an absolute minimum.

I cast them out at 8pm and settled in for the night.  At about half 4 I woke up for some reason and watched the water over my spot, as I did so a fish showed, so all was good in the world. Now in my normal fishing I am usually up and watching the lake for signs before first light so that I can move onto the fish, but in these matches when you are looking for 1 or 2 bites I generally lay in bed and do it as I can only fish the water in front of me.  Anyway, I dozed off and was soon rudely awoken by my left hand rods bobbin hitting the floor,  I ran out of my bivvy in my socks and soon thought that I should have put my trainers on as the gravel was brutal…..

I was however attached to the fish, but it wasn’t doing a lot and I thought it was a tench so I walked the rod back to the bivvy, slipped my trainers on and played, well wound the fish in, as it didn’t do a lot, and I got a mighty shock when a slab of a mirror wallowed on the surface in front of me as I put the net around it.

 

First job, get 3 mini spods back out in the area to a) top up and b) spook the fish away and allow me to get the rod back out there, that went well rod reset and then Marcus and I weighed and took photos of the fish.

I tipped the scales at 30lb 5oz and was big enough to take me into the lead, my plan was sorted for the next morning and the day was spent flinging zigs out at a variety of depths and ranges hoping to mug a cruising fish, it didn’t happen.

 We all wound in for a couple of hours in the afternoon of day 2 for a BBQ and catch up, most people put some bait in before going and this seemed to kill the fishing off as only a few more fish were hooked.

In total 5 fish were landed and mine was the largest so I won the R.Sigs Carp Angling Championships for the first time with Jim as a runner up, (So the same top 2 as last year)

 

Lots of fish were hooked and lost in the weed but that is carp fishing I am afraid.

Thanks to Nick for doing most of the heavy lifting before the event and also for the team at Cromwell for looking after us for the duration of the event.

What would I do different:

I think I fed too much before going on the BBQ and this scuppered my chances on the second morning by having too much bait in the swim. I feel it was the best swim choice with what was available to me, maybe if I had moved to my left boundary, but the guys in Rosies retreat were sending their baitboat all over the place so I never really knew where they had been putting bait or rigs before I got in the swim.

Rigs used:

Rod: ESP Onyx 3.25lb

Reel: Shimaono Ultegra 14000 XTB

Mainline: 15lb ESP Syncro XT

Lead: 4oz pear

Rig: 10 inches of ESP semi stiff tungsten loaded and a Ronnie rig with a size 6 barbless Krank.

Hookbait: 12mm Pink S7 Pop Up

 

 

 

Royal Signals Championship 23 Todber Manor

Firstly, sorry for not keeping this up to date, but I am going to try and get back on the blog as I can use it for other things aswell.  Anyway back to the champs, I was a little on the back foot as I had been coaching on the run up to this, so whilst everyone else was getting their eye in I was trying not to lose mine. Day 1 Hillview peg 40, not the best peg but I had tons of room and the pegging was fair so it was a get my head down job and catch what I could.

 

I started with maggot in the margin and fished that all day, I swapped between shallow and no shot rigs as I had carp crawling up the bank all day, I was a little rusty however and a few destroyed rigs- (should have used a no float rig!!), and not keeping up with the clicker cost me dearly in the end.  I weighed in 653lb 13oz but had gone over in 3 nets so had lost out on at least 50lb, DJ smashed the lake on the day with 733lb but I feel that may have been possible from that peg if I had just done some small things better, but Hey Ho, onto day 2.

 

Day 2 Homeground, I was on peg 85 for this match, not what I wanted but I had the wind and rain in my face all day so that may have been a benefit by pushing the fish into the margin.  Plan was the same as day 1, maggots in the margin but I also added a meat line on a top kit as a resting line.  It was another good day and I barely noticed how crappy the weather was because I was catching so well throughout the day, I had a small cut out to my right and at times I was able to mug the individual fish as they were slurping the maggots off the reeds.  When they backed off for a few minutes I was able to drop on my meat line and tick over with a slightly bigger stamp of fish, although the bites were slightly slower.

I knew it had been a good day and I weighed in 508lb 9oz, I was pleasantly surprised when this was enough for a section win and with DJ having a  mid 400lb I knew it would be close for second place in the champs.

 

History will show that Greg was totally dominant with a 750lb on day 1 and 1081lb on day 2 he romped to winning the Corps Champs with a perfect score and total weight of 1830lb!!!, DJ piped me with 3 points and 1178lb to my 3 points and 1162lb.  Those nets I went over on Day 1 cost me dearly.

 

Thankyou to Greg for running the event and to all that fished, we just need to find more anglers now that want to get involved.

 

What would I do different:

Practice, I firmly believe that fishing the match before the camps would have stopped me from going over on my nets day 1 and this would have been the difference between 3^rd and 2^nd.

 

Rigs used:

Pole meat:
Elastic: Preston 17H
Line: 0.19mm Powerline to 0.17mm Powerline
Hook: 14 Kaizen
Float: 0.3g RWC Avenger

 

Pole shallow maggot:
Elastic: Preston 17H
Line: 0.19mm Powerline to 0.17mm Powerline
Hook: 14 Kaizen
Float: 0.4g Drennan inline dibber

 

Pole No float:
Elastic: Preston 17H
Line: 0.19mm Powerline to 0.17mm Powerline
Hook: 14 Kaizen
Float: none

AVB 23 Pt1

Avoiding the Blank 22 part 11, Willow Park, Hampshire Avon and Todber Ma...

Todber Mid week open 21 Dec 22

Todber again for a mid-week open, I took an opportunity with my current work pattern to book in for this and it is always more practice for the postponed Christmas match. The lakes had been frozen 2 days earlier so we were all unsure about how well it would fish and this along with the standard banter was the start of the day.

John did his spiel and then it was time to dip into the bag of destiny to see what it held. Well peg 40 on Hillview, I need to work on my drawing hand….

 I had done a little prep and had a fairly clear game plan in my head, Bomb and meat to start, long pole and short pole with meat and pellet and a meat feeder rig to try later. I was almost ready for the start, but to be fair I was expecting it to be a slow start, I fed my pole lines, the long pole though I fed with micros and maggot to see if I could generate any interest from skimmers as well as the carp.

The first half of the match was slow, I had a few liners and quick raps on the tip, the long pole gave me 1 carp and some tiny silvers that were not worth catching at 14m and the short pole had given me a carp…. I was going nowhere, it was slow around the lake but everyone around me had had a few fish, many had come on the bomb and some on the short pole.  I decided to try the meat feeder, I was using the Preston interchange ICM bombs and had bought the small cage feeder in the week so that was swapped, and I shortened my hooklength to about 4 inches to try and reduce tangles. It took a few casts, but I had a couple of fish on it, it did still tangle a lot though so I will be looking at that for the next time, it had got some bait out into the area so that was one plus.

The last couple of hours saw me have a few fish on the bomb and short pole each, kinder potting on the pole was best, I think.  Greg to my left was getting a few, the guy to my right was catching well and then Guy on peg 42 was also catching very well on the short pole. Fortunately, the all-out was called and because the scales were coming my way first, I weighed in and got a catch shot.

 

I didn’t hang around though and was able to get a haircut ready for Christmas, the results can be found Here.

The results prove just how bonkers that place is, and I will be back soon.

 

What would I do different:

Draw better, target the silvers pool if I draw pants although it would have been hard to beat Rocky’s 35lb……My meat feeder needs to be sorted out before the next match so that will probably be 2 tip rods set up.  I need to spend longer on the short pole and possibly have 2 short line swims so that I can feed and rest. Like I said many lessons were learned.

 

Rigs used:

Pole long:
Elastic: White Hydro
Line: 0.17mm Powerline to 0.13mm Stream
Hook: 16 B 911
Float: 0.25g Guru Bobbie

 

Pole Short:
Elastic: Drennan power pull 1.8mm
Line: 0.17mm Powerline to 0.13mm Colmic Stream
Hook: 16 B911
Float: 0.25g Guru Bobbie

Feeder:
Rod: 9ft Matrix Aquos C Class feeder, 1oz tip.
Reel: Cadence CS5 4000 loaded with 8lb Sensor
Rig: 10 or 20g ICM bomb with 6-12” 0.19mm hooklength to a size 12 QM1 and bait stop. Tried an 25g inline cage feeder for meat feeder.

 

 

 

AAF Gp 2 Match, Todber, 7 Dec 22

It was back to Todber for an AAF Gp 2 match, this was also our Fur and Feather so it didn’t matter how bad the draw was I would be winning something, which as it turned out was a good thing.

Loads of ‘banter’ before the match at the café we were using for the draw, and I was tasked by Tree to draw the swims for the team, and what a crock of pants they were to. I put Tree in no fish bay and myself in the corner that had done the 2 lowest weights on Saturdays match peg 80.

On getting to my swim,

I had a bit of room either side a there was only 9 of us on the lake and again I bumped a few fish whilst plumbing up.  I decided not to do a long pole line this time as I thought it would get in the way of me looking around with the bomb and wag so it was a waggler, bomb, short poleand deep margin plan.

I bumped fish again whilst plumbing up and this gave me a little hope and at the all-in, I fed pellet and meat on my 6m line and started feeding pots of maggot down the edge to my left in 3ft of water.  I cast the waggler out and caught a few small roach in the first 20 minutes and the bomb wasn’t much better but at least it was the occasional carp that picked up my meat hook bait. At about the halfway stage I think I had 20lb or so mostly on the bomb, so I had a look on my pole lines and started to catch a few fish, I am still not sure if it was where they wanted to be or the time of day. The second half of the match was a lot better although I again never set the world on fire, but as long as I beat the weights from in the area from the weekend I would be happy. It was odd because Nic on peg 90 was having a similar day to me earlier in the week, I knew this because he was telling EVERYONE.

Again I had a good spell this time down the edge in the last 10 minutes or so but I thought I might have a ton if I was lucky at the all out. As we can see I had 47.525Kg (104lb 10oz ish) so I had achieved the ton and I was happy.  The results saw  the same 3 pegs being top weights in this section, although Jamie to my right went over on a couple of nets and this cost him dearly.

** The Christmas Match I was prepping for was cancelled as the lakes froze over the next day**

What would I do different:

Possibly tried to push one of the swims more and maybe switch to a meat feeder instead of the bomb especially in the later stages of the match.

Rigs used:

Pole Short:

Elastic: White Hydro
Line: 0.17mm Powerline to 0.13mm Stream
Hook: 16 B 911
Float: 0.25g Guru Bobbie
Elastic: Preston 13H
Line: 0.17mm Powerline to 0.15mm Colmic Stream
Hook:  2 Tubertini 175
Float: 0.4g  Drennan AS4

 
Feeder:
Rod: 9ft Matrix Aquos C Class feeder, 1oz tip.
Reel: Cadence CS5 4000 loaded with 8lb Sensor
Rig: 10 or 20g ICM bomb with 6-12” 0.19mm hooklength to a size 12 QM1 and bait stop.
 
Waggler:
Rod: 11ft Cadence number 1 wag
Reel: TDR 2508 loaded 3lb Maxima
Rig: 3AAA insert waggler with only a small QC swivel at the top of a 0.12mm hooklength to size 16 hook.

Todber Manor Open 3 Dec 22

This was my first open in a while, but I was supposed to be on the venue for 3 matches in just over a week and a competition I dearly want to win is on there later this year, so this was my first recce.  I decided to work largely on tactics that I know would give me a bite so I had been out in the week and bought a new, short bomb rod and some maggots as I thought it may be tricky due to the rapidly descending temperatures.

On the day I was there nice and early to get any last-minute bits from the shop and then it was time for the draw, there was 111 of us and we were all on Homeground, a lake that I had only ever fished once before with floaters for a giggle as we came out of lockdown.  My had went into the bag of dreams and I pulled out peg 90….. apparently, the best peg in Europe, we would see.

It was a short distance from the car to the peg but peg 91 was a landing net away to my left which confused me, then it transpired that peg 91 had been put in to stop peg 90 being so dominant, well at least I was on a few fish.  The plan was to start on the wag and bomb then find somewhere in open water to fish the pole and possibly something down the edge. It was a very loose plan as all I really wanted to do was catch a few fish and see what all the locals did before but being out of practice I was just about ready early enough to take the micky out of Greg for feeling fragile and forgetting his flask of tea.

At the all in I cupped a small amount of 4mm pellet and maggot towards the stand pipe at 14m and then cast the waggler baited with maggot at about 3ft deep towards the island, I hadn’t bothered plumbing the waggler because when I was plumbing up the pole line I was bumping fish with the rig. I had a couple of quick indications and carp number 1 was soon in the landing net, but the waggler wasn’t right due to a strengthening breeze so I swapped to the bomb. I was getting the odd fish on double 8mm meat and topped up my long pole regularly with pellet and maggots and after about an hour I decided to have a look.

I got a steady runs of fish but never set the word on fire, I spent more time trying to watch the anglers around me and judging what tactics were working and what were not, my best spell of the match was in the last 10 minutes when I had 4 fish in 4 casts on the bomb.  It had been a good day and I was admitting to 120-150lb (a bit vague as I was out of practice clicking).

 As we can see I ended up with 128lb, so not last but not far off and properly "Harried", but I did learn a hell of a lot. 

What would I do different:

I should have set up a short line that I actually fished.

Rigs used:

Pole long:
Elastic: White Hydro
Line: 0.17mm Powerline to 0.13mm Stream
Hook: 16 B 911
Float: 0.6g Drennan AS5

Pole Short:
Elastic: Preston 13H
Line: 0.17mm Powerline to 0.13mm Colmic Stream
Hook: 16 B911
Float: 0.4g  Drennan AS4
 
Feeder:
Rod: 9ft Matrix Aquos C Class feeder, 1oz tip.
Reel: Cadence CS5 4000 loaded with 8lb Sensor
Rig: 10 or 20g ICM bomb with 6-12” 0.19mm hooklength to a size 12 QM1 and bait stop.
 
Waggler:
Rod: 11ft Cadfence number 1 wag
Reel: TDR 2508 loaded 3lb Maxima
Rig: 2AAA insert waggler with only a small QC swivel at the top of a 0.12mm hooklength to size 16 hook.

 

 

AAF Gp 2 Match 2 Tockenham Reservoir

 I was only able to book in for this match after I had to cancel 3 days up north chasing carp, but I managed to get some bait sorted and a new pole so I would be sorted for the day.  All my research told me that I needed to be drawn in the main bowl of the lake and that I would be chasing skimmers and bream with perch as a backup. 

Team captain Tree asked that I do the draw, so after the natural knockout draw that saw me competing against Glyn (The tench charmer) I got to stick my mit in the bucket. Typically I drew in the arm and didn’t fancy my chances of any bream, this was compounded by a couple of guys fishing on the point opposite so my feeder plan was changed to a roach/ scratching plan. 

 

 

The swim was quite tight with a branch above me to the right and a reedbed encroaching on the left so I decided to fish a long pole line to the right, feeder straight ahead and short pole in the reeds chasing perch. I mixed a slight fishmeal mix for the feeder and a roach pole line groundbait mix that I planned to use with leam to focus on the particles rather than the food content in the groundbait, however, I only had 2 very small fish drop off my rigs from the long pole line so enough about that.

I fed 6 balls on the long pole line then started 2-minute casts on the 36 turn feeder line, it was a good call not to fill it in as I was getting the odd indication, but the wind and lack of practice was making accuracy difficult. I had a few small roach and perch on the feeder before having a look short, and I managed a 3 perch for close to 12 oz in about 5 minutes.

This set the tone for the rest of the match as I would plunder the short perch line and then rest it by fishing the feeder for 30-60 minutes.  I really need to practice my feeder fishing more and learn what real bites look like. At just after the halfway stage the wind had picked up that much that both myself and Greg next door packed out long poles away due to the branches coming out the trees, but it made the day easier.  I had left my feeder rod in whilst I was doing this and as I was returning to it, I noticed that it was pulling round steadily.  I hit the bite and got all excited as I contacted with a decent fish, after a few nervous moments on the braid I was slipping the net under a near 2lb perch, BONUS.

The wind worsened and the fishing improved further down the lake as some bream were being caught and I was glad when the all out was called as we were now racing a fast approaching storm. The scales showed that my roach and perch net went 3.250Kg (7lb 3oz) and this turned out to be enough to not only win the section but also progress to the next round of the naturals cup that will be held on the K&A in January, sorry, not sorry Glyn.

 

 

What would I do different:

I think that a second perch line, although I started one in the last hour to my right and it was poor, may have seen a bit more weight in the net and practicing my feeder fishing with braid so that I get a better understanding of the bite indication and improve my casting accuracy. 

Rigs used:

Pole long heavy:
Elastic: Preston Slip number 5
Line: 0.13mm Powerline to 0.10mm Stream

Hook: 18 Drennan Silverfish Maggot

Float: 2g Drennan GTip 2

 Pole long light:

Elastic: Preston Slip number 5
Line: 0.13mm Powerline to 0.10mm Stream
Hook: 20 Drennan Silverfish Maggot
Float: 1g DH 23 shotted with strung number 9’s and 10’s
 
Pole Worm:
Elastic: Yellow vespe 1.2 meters long
Line: 0.19mm Powerline to 0.15mm Colmic Stream
Hook: 3 Tubertini 175
Float: 1.5g Drennan AS6
 
Feeder:
Rod: 3.3m Matrix horizon xs with 1 oz tip
Reel: TDM 3012 loaded with 0.12 braid and 8lb sensor shock leader
Rig: Running feeder link, 0.15 or 0.13 florocarbon to 18 or 16 B911 F1
Feeder: 20g Guru small X change or 25g small slimline cage
 

 

Inter Corps Coarse Angling Championships, Stainforth and Keadby Canal

 I had been selected to represent the Royal Signals in the Inter Corps championships again this year, and it was being held at the famous Thorne stretch of the Stainey.

It consisted of 2 team practice days and then the competition, Day one saw the team draw E section that was in and around the Staniland Marina and it looked good for a few bites, we had a rough plan and I fished to that managing a respectable 4Kg+ net of roach that I was very happy with, especially since most of them came on bread as I was struggling to fish long in the wind.

Day 2 we moved to the other side of the lock, in A section, it had fished hard the day before and the constant rain during this session made it challenging for everyone, I managed about 2.5Kg that was ‘mid section’ but had figured a few things out along the way in the form of a throwaway perch line and a second long bread line that gave me a run of fish close to the end.

 

So to the match day, I was drawn peg B3, not far from where I had been sat the day before and in an area that had apparently fished hard both days, the plan was to fish bread short, caster long, an in the lily’s perch line left and right and finally a waggler set up to rest the swims and maybe get some bonus rudd from the far bank weed.

 

I was ready well before time as the prep of the previous 2 days had everything to hand and ready to go so Kev, Adi and myself went to annoy Martin the team captain for a bit before returning to our pegs for the all-in.

 

At the whistle I fed a ball of bread on my short line, followed by a palmful of caster on my 14.5m line and a small amount of worm and caster on both of my perch lines before baiting up with a 5mm punch and going onto my short line.  Bites were pretty much immediate with a small roach on the second cast, and it was just as well as Lee on the peg to my right had a 1lb skimmer first cast and another smaller sample soon after, but I needn’t have worried as I was soon catching chunky small roach one a put and continued to do so for the next 40  minutes, it wasn’t as prolific as on the other days so I was a little concerned and tried an early look on my caster line. 

 

This gave me a small perch and a couple of iffy bites so I topped up and went back on the bread, and so the pattern continued although the fishing was getting better as the day was going on.  I was getting the odd skimmer and better roach on both the bread and caster lines but at about the halfway stage I decided to rest them and have a quick look on my worm lines for a bonus fish.  The left hand swim gave me a little wasp so I switched to my right hand swim, now I fish substantial gear and big hooks so when I am worm fishing I strike positively, but as the float slipped away and I counted to 5, the strike saw my number 5 section give up and snap about a third of the way down.  I grabbed the carbon and landed the 1oz perch but mu match was now over as the sections would not telescope and I could fish no further than a top kit plus 2 sections on the pole.

I had a moment to regain my thoughts and set a 6m whip up to fish on the the short bread line and then re plumbed the waggler to use it over my caster line, but I would be struggling for presentation and my nice tight feeding was out of the window.

The last 2 hours were a struggle but I still managed 10-15 small fish from across both lines but I was gutted as I had been starting to catch well. I have to say thanks to Ian the bank runner for not taking the piss to much, I may have cried.

I was happy to finish as the weather matched my mood for the last hour and pissed it down so it was now just waiting on the scales, it turned out to be more than I thought as I weighed 3.150Kg, this was enough for third in section and I was just over a kilo behind the section winning weight so it was in reach if I hadn’t of shattered my pole.

 

On the teams front the AGC won with 12 points, RLC had 14 points and despite a good practice we fell short with a few bonus fish being caught around us and finished 3^rd with 19 points. So well done the winners.

 

Well you are all in trouble because despite breaking my pole and getting soaked through for 2 days the match fishing bug is back….

 

Watch this space.

What would I do different:

NOT BREAK MY POLE

The plan was sound and working for me that’s all I can say really.

Rigs used:

Whip: Cadence 9.5m at 6m
Line: 0.13mm Powerline to 0.10mm Stream
Hook: 18 Colmic B957
Float: 1.5g DH 23

 
Pole Bread:
Elastic: 5 Preston Slip
Line: 0.13mm Powerline to 0.10mm Stream
Hook: 20 or 18 drennan polemaster (some of my last ones)
Float: 0.6g Drennan SF 2

Pole Caster:
Elastic: 5 Preston Slip
Line: 0.13mm Powerline to 0.10mm Stream
Hook: 20 or 18 drennan polemaster (some of my last ones)
Float: 1g Drennan G-Tip 2
 
Pole Worm:
Elastic: Preston 13H through 1 section
Line: 0.19mm Powerline to 0.15mm Colmic Stream
Hook: 15 B711
Float: 0.8g Drennan Carp 2

 
Feeder:
Rod: 3.3m Matrix horizon xs with 1 oz tip
Reel: TDM 3012 loaded with 8lb sensor
Rig: Helicopter 0.11mm hook length to 16 B560
Feeder: 20g Modified tiny cage
 
Waggler:
Rod: Cadence CS10 11ft number 1
Reel: Daiwa TDR 2508 loaded with 3lb maxima
Float: Dave Harrell 2AA sensitip wag
Hook length: 0.10mm to a size 20 or 18 B560

AAF Group 2 Match 1 Dorset Stour, Colber

 Firstly, I am sorry that it has been a while but I have been very busy so these blog pieces will be kept a lot shorter than in the past. The story for this match goes that a while ago I was chatting to Greg and decided to start fishing some of the group matches again, probably concentrating on the natural venues but with an eye on the R.Sigs champs next year as they will be on a local venue to me.

 

This first group match was being held on the prolific Colber stretch of the Dorset Stour so it would have been rude to miss it. I booked in a week before and was soon being tapped up by Tree to join his team, if only for the natural venues, well why not. The draw was conducted the night before via Zoom as there was no suitable venue to hold a draw for 18 people and I was given C2 as a swim, now this meant absolutely nothing as I had never been to the stretch so it would be a surprise come the morning.

 

The swim was on the outside of a bend and I was sat on the top of a high bank with about 14m to the far side, as you can see from the photo there was a tree on my bank downstream and a bunch of reeds opposite it so they were earmarked for lines.

So my plan was to feed a few balls of feed rich groundbait on a pole line at about 11m, then feed worm down by the tree and loose feed maggot for a waggler line towards the reeds. My groundbait was ½ Bag River, ½ Bag canal and lake and ½ a bag of roach black all from the dynamite baits stable, simply because I had them spare in the garage.

I set up a rig for the pole, a heavy rig for down by the tree, a waggler, a light feeder and a 6m whip in case the pole line was good. I was ready in plenty of time so went and annoyed a few people and had a cup of tea.

At the all in I cupped in 6 balls of groundbait with 250ml of hemp, caster and deadened pinkie followed up with a palmful of caster and about 20 chopped worms on the perch line.  I shipped out the pole rig and started to catch small fish straight away, the first run lasted about 25 minutes before they petered off and a look down the worm line saw the fist of a few small perch come in.  The day was pretty simple, try to coax a few bites on the pole, then refeed a small ball and try something else for 10 minutes, the stamp of fish was small and I never really had them lined up, although I did give the whip a go for 10 minutes or so, but it was still nice getting a few bites, especially when I hooked a fish that pulled elastic out on the worm line, ok as I was swinging the 6oz perch granted.

The 5 hours ended and had actually enjoyed working hard to get the bites, I was on boards so we got the carbon put away and then started from the bottom of the stretch, it turned out that Glynne had charmed a 4lb tench out on his light maggot rig and that saw him weigh 3.375Kg, there were a couple of 2Kilo weights and then I weighed 3Kg dead for second in section.

 

I just needed a bonus fish as the match had been won from 2 pegs to my left by Greg with 3.55Kg and that included 2 small tench!  I was forth overall so in all a good day, on the team front I was top scorer, we will leave it at that.

What would I do different:

I think a second groundbait line further over or a worm line further down the river in the main channel may have been worth a few more bites in the quiet spells, and I would have fed my waggler line more accurately rather that trying to fish as far down the river as possible.

Rigs used:

Whip: Cadence 9.5m

Line: 0.13mm Powerline to 0.10mm Stream
Hook: 18 Colmic B957
Float: 1.5g DH 23
 
Pole light long:
Elastic: 1.2mm Drennan Power Pull
Line: 0.13mm Powerline to 0.10mm Stream
Hook: 18 Colmic B957
Float: 2g DH 23
 
Pole Worm:
Elastic: Preston 13H through 1 section
Line: 0.19mm Powerline to 0.15mm Colmic Stream
Hook: 33 B711
Float: 1.5g Drennan AS6
 
Feeder:
Rod: 3.3m Matrix horizon xs with 1 oz tip
Reel: TDM 3012 loaded with 8lb sensor
Rig: Helicopter 0.11mm hook length to 16 B560
Feeder: 20g Guru commercial open end (The smaller one)
 
Waggler:
Rod: Cadence CS10 13ft number 1
Reel: Daiwa TDR 2508 loaded with 3lb maxima
Float: Dave Harrell 2AA sensitip wag
Hook length: 0.10mm to a size 18 B560

Avoiding the Blank 22 Part 7 (Cromwell Lake and Salisbury Club waters)

Avoiding the Blank 22, Part 6 (The Hampshire Avon, the Dorset Stour and ...

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This month the focus has changed to carp fishing up and down the country. Turners was a hard blow though as I felt as though anyone in more than 12ft of water had drawn out of the fish and so it proved, and only having 1 zig to move up and down the water column proved fruitless, although I am still sure it was the right plan. Willow park however was a great little session, I drew in open water and the fish were soon giving themselves away. Simple tactics were key and although I was the last person using maggot before the bait changes, I only had 2 pints and some of that went home with me. Turners Lake https://www.embryoangling.org/venue/turners-lake/ Willow Park https://www.willowparkfishery.co.uk/ Salisbury and District Angling club Lakes https://salisburydistrictac.co.uk/steeple-langford-lakes/ https://salisburydistrictac.co.uk/peters-finger-lakes-2/

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