Avoiding the Blank 19 Part 11 (Moreton Fisheries and some rivers)

Avoiding the blank 19 pt 10 (Dorset Stour and Hampshire Avon)

Nov 19 AAF Group 2 Match 2 Kennet and Avon Canal

After the fun that I had been having on the river near Blandford of late I was a bit miffed when this match was moved onto the canal but due to the access issues I understood it completely. We were all back off to Bishops Cannings and the draw took place in the Wetherspoons in the center of Devizes, I know I lived there for a few months but I really dislike the place with its stupid car parking machines and rules and the traffic, don't get me started on the traffic.
I was lucky enough to draw one off the golden peg and just the wrong side of the swing bridge from where I wanted but it was a half decent peg anyway.  I had decided against taking bread for the first time in years on the canal, partially on advice from some people whom had been fishing the winter league up that way and partially because I hadn't had time since the venue change to prep any.

Despite my misgivings I knew I was in for a good day so I set up pole rigs for a short line, a couple fot the long 3ft line and  one for fishing worm down the canal to my left towards a couple of boats that should have provided some cover.  I also set up a 4m whip in case the short line was as good as it can be down there.  I had mixed my groundbait the night before to try and make it as inert as possible, I had also sieved it to remove all the bigger bits, i had pinkie, caster and worm as my main go to baits and I was ready well before the all in.

On the all in I fed a small ball of groundbait on the short line and then fed another 3 balls onto the long line, I chopped 20 worms added some crushed caster and shipped that down the canal alongside  the boat in the deeper water.  I shipped out the short rig expectant of a quick response and to be fair it wasn't too bad, i had 4 fish in 5 minutes and was soon switching to the whip to see if that could increase the catch rate. It was at this point that I started to think that it would not be my day as the boat closest to me where I had fed my worm line suddenly burst into life, the owners jumped about and set sail straight over the top of m short line.  Fortunately it only slowed the fishing for a few minutes and I was soon catching the odd roach again but their size had quartered, this was then compounded when the next boat left from my left had side this time with more throttle straight over my short line.  Time to go long I thought.

I shipped out onto the long line and there were tiny roach on pinkie there straight away, at this point I decided to try and catch a bigger stamp of fish so I decided to concentrate on fishing caster.  I would ship out and then toss pot 5-7 caster over the area and then allow the 0.3g rig to settle, after 20 seconds I would lift and drop and most put ins I was getting a bit by stamp roach doing that.

The only problem I had was that I was watching Nick and the guy to his right catching bonus skimmers and roach to 10OZ!!!!  I decided pretty quickly that I was just going to enjoy my day though and try to sort out the caster fishing as I can't remember ever doing very well with them on any canal.

I had the odd look on the worm line for a couple of slightly better roach and a perch of 4oz but I couldn't seem to keep them interested in the track so I started another caster line to my right and tried to work the two swims for maximum reward. It started to rain at one point and I even got my umbrella out of the rod bag for the first time in years, I think I'm starting to get old!  Come the all out even though Nic and I had been trying the Des Shipp school of moaning to be fair we had both had a nice days fishing.  I was weighed in first for the section and I had 2.325Kg of mostly roach, Nic had managed to moan  3.175Kg of roach, hybrids and some waspie perch onto his double pinkie hookbaits.  If we had taken away the bonus fish it would have been alot closer but such is life.  I was also beaten by the guy on the other end peg who had 2.4Kg, I saw at least 2 bream in his net so once again bonus fish had seen me off of the K&A.

So I ended up 3rd in section, Evo had a 3rd in section (By default) and Greg had 4th in section, this put the team 3rd or 4th on the day so just above bottom, still at least it was a nice day out of the office.

What would I do differently?
I will never leave bread at home again.
I should have put a worm line tight across.
I needed a lighter float on the caster line with a hairy fairy shotting pattern.

But all of this will change for the next match as we are on Todber, here is a heads up I am not re-elasticating my pole so will mostly be fishing the wag or feeder.

October 19 AAF Gp2 Match 1 Dorset Stour

So it is that time of year again when I try to get something down for the blog.

Last month I fished a group match on the Dorset Stour just outside Sturminster Newton, even though the weather on the run up to the match had done its best to try and prevent it from happening around 30 anglers turned up to a very colored and fast flowing Stour.
I managed to draw the golden peg and all I was told at the draw was that it was on Bream bend!!!  Well if that was the case I thought then I was in with a chance of a couple as the water would have been sock on, alas I was the peg downstream of the bend just as the river narrowed again, typical.

To be fair it wasn't all bad as There was a bit of slack towards the far side and some nice looking trees downstrream of the swim so I did fancy it down there for the possibility of a chub or 2 but only time would tell. 

I mixed my groundbait and then started to plumb up, I had a bit of a shock as it was about 6 feet deep at 13m and nearly 14ft at 12m!!  The flow on the long line was also problematic as it was still quite quick and I was being forced into setting up a 2g rig as my light rig, a 4g rig as a slowing rig and I also set up a 4g flat float if I needed to hold the bait still.  This was not ideal but if I came any shorter then I was not really able to fish a pole rig as the flow was to fast.  I also set up a waggler to cast down the swim in the vain hope that I might be able to get a few fish from under the trees on wag and mag and that was me all set up.

I finished prepping my bait and was actually ready for the all in, I had spoken to a couple of friends on the run up to this match and they both recommended cupping a few balls of bait in, but I knew better and decided to bosh in 6 baby's heads and then cup in 4 smaller feed rich balls over the top.

Straight after feeding I shipped out with the 2g rig baited with a red maggot confident of a quick bite, however, after an hour and with nothing to show I decided to pick up the waggler rod.  I had been trickling a few maggots down the swim towards the overhanging trees and much to my relief on the 2nd or 3rd run down the float went under withe a small bomber chub.... I hadn't blanked.  I managed to get a few bites by changing the depth, hookbait and exploring across and down the swim but I never felt like there were any big fish in the swim.   took the decision around mid match to quickly sert up a maggot feeder and cast it down next to the branches.

I set it up with a 0.20mm flouro hooklength and a size 14 carbon feeder hook and 2nd cast I hooked a decent fish, I hadn't seen the bite.  I cranked it quite hard as I was only too aware that there were old weedbeds in the flow and overhanging branches on my bank down stream, I got it to under the rod top and just as I was trying to get its head up it bit me off!

I am still not sure what had happened but I swapped to a 0.17mm mono hooklength straight after to to stop it from happening again.

It was coming into the last couple of hours now and by alternating between the feeder and the waggler i was still picking up the odd fish but they were all small.  Bri on the bream hole had had a skimmer and a few bits above me and I had been watching Mike down from me netting a few bonus fish from his short line so I was never really in the chase.  Anyway the all out was called and I ended up with 825g of small fish, this was just enough for third in the section as the river temperature had dropped dramatically with the infux of rain recently.  Bri had 1.3Kg and mike had 4.65Kg so I had been well and truly 'Harried'.

Still it was an enjoyable day in the sun and I cannot wait until the next time I can get onto the flowing water.

What would I do differently?

I would not have balled it in at the start and I should have set up a bolo for the middle of the river as my groundbait was getting washed down by the flow, I also think that a stick down the near margin may have been worth a few bonus fish.

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.