AAF Gp2 Match 3, Witherington Farm (Silvers only)

My prep for this match was mainly based around tying a few hooklengths and mixing some groundbait for myself and a couple of other members of the team, I had also spent some time chatting to a few of the guys about tactics that would work on the lakes that we were using for the match.  I turned up in good time, picked up my bait, ate my cracking breakfast and then sat chatting with a few of the lads, we sorted bait and I even got pinged by Kev to help with the boards as due to the numbers we had some creative pegging over 4 sections. I was drawn peg 3 on Selwood and as I was sat in the café I was well happy as I had assumed that they would have done the same pegging as for the teams of 4.

Unfortunately I couldn’t have been much more wrong and I had Pete to my left on perm peg 2:

Rocky to my right on perm peg 4:

And no-one in the far corner:

So with the three of us aiming for the same water any further out than 16m the duel began, I decided to fish a small groundbait feeder at about 18m, checking with the both of them if they were happy that I cast there, then a 13m pole line towards my left and I put in a throwaway line on a top 2+1 where I found a little bit of depth.  I had a small moan (well it lasted all day near enough) went to the café for a brew and then returned to settle down for the all-in.

I fed 3 small balls of groundbait with 20 dead reds and about the same of caster on the 13m line and then cast out the feeder, not a lot happened for the first hour but then Rocky managed a couple of small skimmers on the wag over so I got off my box and set up a 2AA Dave Harrell sensilite waggler to fish over the groundbait line.  This had an instant response and I nicked two quick fish and then it died, as I expected, a quick look on the long pole saw me loose a pound perch (I may have swore and thrown my top kit away!! Ok I did!) So I chucked the tip out again more in hope than expecting anything.

The stopwatch was set for 10 minutes but I needed have worried as I had a couple of indications then a skimmer of about a pound followed by another.  Again a quiet period and then another couple of fish later in the day was enough to raise my interest level by a notch but another lap around my lines was fruitless and I packed everything up apart from the tip before the end.  Somehow I missed 4 or 5 proper wrap rounds on a single dead red on a Kammy 911(f1) size 18, I swapped up to a 16 but received no indications grrr.

The scales showed that Bri with acres of room on perm peg 10 had 8 kilos for the section and match, Ivan on perm peg 16 had 2^nd with 6 kilos and he had fished a tidy match, then it was Pete to my left and Rocky to my right, then Gaz on PP1 and myself with 1.970kg, that perch cost me dear as it would have got me 2 more points but being hemmed in was the worst as I am sure that as I was casting the waggler three turns beyond it was well in front of Pete.

The team came 4^th on the day as Daz carried Ben and myself, I would like to say that I enjoyed it but I cannot, it was a nice day out with a great bunch of blokes and the banter was great but I cannot seem to switch of when it is a match and enjoy it when it isn’t going my way.

Thanks anyway to Kev and his team for organising the day, I know how hard it is.

Coming up I have no matches until middle of next month so I can try to get rid of some gremlins before then, I foresee a rematch with some Cotswold Carp and I will be taking the Azi Anglers out and about as well.

What would I do different?

1.       Practice the venue

2.       I think that the feeder was the right tactic but after the first dropped indication I should have set up a method or scoop feeder to see if that was any better on the hooking front.

3.       Stick to non-silvers only matches.

Carping on the canal again

Carp on the canal 3

Please follow the link above to a short video of my latest exploits on the canal.

It was a good day.

Holidays Catch up

Well as the title says this is a bit of a catch up from the last couple of weeks, after the Todber Christmas match a few things have happened that have not been for the better but I have managed to get out on the bank quite a lot (when the wife has been at work!!)

I started on a trip along the K&A canal chasing carp and trying to become a video blogger, I had now decided to concentrae on some pounds in the town itself as it is walking distance from my house, thus saving time and fuel.  The first trip saw me sat on a likely looking swim with an overhanging tree.

The carp had other ideas and it was a blank with nothing seen or heard but I learnt a bit about the day to day life on that stretch of canal so was ready for the next time.

Travelling light was the key as it was a 25 minute walk.

My next trip out was on Christmas day to take the wife for a walk and to do a cheeky pre-bait on a few spots, it was a nice walk with plenty to see.

I was back down the canal a couple of days later to fish over the pre-baited spots and I managed to get 3 bites and loose all three even after diving in to try and free one of the carp from the snag it was wrapped around. I will say at this point thanks to the lady who was trying not to laugh too much as I froze in the 4 degrees water, it is NOT reccomended that you just jump in to a canal to free a fish, I thought I may have a chance of getting it un looped from the snag it was in but I was wrong and it could have gone pear shaped very quickly.  Anyway it was the lowest I have felt in a long time to have finnally found the fish just to loose 3 and the weather decided to try and cheer me up by snowing at dusk, it failed.

I was out again a few days later this time with Jim on a trip to Todber manor, we had decided to fish Wadmill so I could chuck a couple of carp rods out and hopefully get a bite whilst he fished the pole, we didn’t however count on the weather.

We decided to fish even with the ice and Jim managed to put a few small fish together fishing maggot on the pole, I tried everything I could but didn’t feel as though I was anywhere near where the carp would be.

In hindsight I should have smashed a channel out into the middle of the lake as soon as we got there and then gone for a walk smashing more ice with the breaker to try and get the fish moving around.  Might have worked?? (might also have annoyed a few people!!)

It was a nice day out with good company all the same, Jim was soon bagging with the best of them and I managed to get a go on his box and show him how to catch quicker (and avoid another blank).

Next stop was back up to Shearwater with Daz and Ben, they were setting up on the dam wall as I arrived and even after I asked if we could go to where I thought would be better for the carp we ended up sitting on the wall. I was a bit perturbed as I had packed my longer range carp gear with me and a quick marker up in front gave me depths of 23-25 feet.  I decided that zigs would be the way to go and set up a couple of Zig floats, I spodded out some cloudy groundbait with a little bit of food at 60yds but only managed a couple of bream and hybrids on them.

Daz and Ben both managed to catch a few bream and I even bumped into Rob Hughes as he was drop shotting for perch, it was another good day with plenty of banter…well mostly me moaning about being sat on the dam wall but never mind.

This takes me up to my latest trip which saw me going up to a new complex of club lakes looking for some very special carp, I fished for about 24 hours on one of the lakes for one liner and a few bubbling fish and I took a tour of the others.

It looks good and I cannot wait to get back up there especially since I learnt far more walking around the lakes talking to people rather than sitting behind motionless bobbins.

Until the next time my last 3 solo carp trips can all be found at this link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y1EqN4Ee5ug

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EZUyL9JTLvU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JL-PvZBZLT8

Winter Carp fishing on the canal. 23/12/14

Shearwater day out, 22/12/14

After my bad day at Todber I had arranged to meet up with Daz at Shearwater to get rid of some bait, with a stiff westerly forecast I got there early to reserve a couple of slightly more sheltered swims opposite the boathouse.

I had decided to fish a groundbait feeder at around 30yds but those plans were scuppered when I broke my quiver tip on the third cast, I wasn't happy. Fortunatly I had brought a few spare rods so I banged a banjo feeder out 65 turns of my Ultegra 5500XTC, the hook was baited with 3 dead reds and it didn't take long for the fist bream to hang itself on the 45g feeder.

I got bored of this after the 4th Bream and decided to set up a waggler to get rid of all the spare maggot that I had, I used a 14ft Acolyte rod, a 4AAA insert waggler with 5 No.8's down the line in 6 feet of water.  I decided to fish quite heavy due to the hoped for bream and had a 0.10mm hooklength to a size 18 B911 F1, I threw in a few balls of my groundbait that I had mixed for the feeder and then started loose feeding maggot over the top, all the time I was fishing the long range feeder for a few more bream and a shallow wag at 40yds to no avail.

It was soon time and out went the waggler baited with double maggot, I missed the first couple of indications but hen hit this pearler of a roach:

After that it was near enough a bit a chuck and the trick became hitting them in the choppy conditions, I found that I could miss a bite at the back of the feed and then get a skimmer at the front and I soon got into the swing of things. I was also having to feed two whole pouches of maggot to keep the fish down in the water.

Daz was also having a great day and he ended up with 31 bream to 4lb all taken on the method feeder in line with the buoys, I don't know how many I caught in the end but I had roach to over a pound, perch to a pound, a few rudd and lots of bream to 4lb all on the waggler I also managed a dozen bream of 3-4lb all on the long range feeder.  As I was packing up my kit I started a new line at 85 turns and had a few off this as well, no carp though.

Once again Shearwater has come good and I cannot wait until I go back, I might even try the pole!!

Todber Christmas Match, 20/12/14

Once again I had been looking forward to this match for ages and I was not disappointed as some of the best anglers in the area turned up to try and win a hamper that had been lovingly put together by Linda.  I was met at the draw by the rest of the Azi anglers as we had descended on the venue in force, we had also managed a cheeky practice on the Tuesday previous so we knew roughly what to expect.  We knew it was going to be hard as 46 people had booked in and this saw the lakes being split over the three main match lakes, I wanted to be in a corner or wides on the top Whitepost lake, or in the golden triangle 5-7, 37,38 on Park.

Left handed I managed peg 5 on the top Whitepost so I was in the right area, what I hadn’t counted on was nearly every peg being in on the lake so I had a restricted far margin to chuck a waggler at, since this was my banker tactic I was already in trouble.

I also set up a groundbait line to fish at 14.5m and a margin rig just off the bush to my left as this is usually good for a couple of fish, finally I set up a scoop feeder as well if I was desperate.  My day was a bit of a non starter if I am honest and in the first 3 hours I had 6 small fish on the pole, I was moaning by text to a mate at this point and I got hit in the leg by my rod butt on the feeder for my first carp.  I tried starting a new maggot line at 13m but this produced a few small roach and a perch before drying up, then a run of 15 roach on the wag in the last hour saw my day peter out.

The fishery staff did the weigh in and I had gone a quid with Pez on the flyer peg 7 and Jim on peg4, Pez had 2 carp and a skimmer for 7lb 14oz, Jim had 6lb 2oz with 2 carp and a few bits, My 1 carp and bits went 5lb 1oz.  I had guessed 5lb so I was happy with that, I was the lowest weight from all of the Azzi anglers and Pez ensured the maximum amount of people saw me give him a quid.

It was a brilliant day and I am looking forward to next year already, although a few more fish would be nice.

18/12/14 Viaduct Costcutter.

It was back off to Viaduct, this time for a Thursday cost cutter.  There were 11 of us this time all on Campbell, and after a brew and a chat I was first in the draw bag for peg 125, not where I wanted.

I decided not to spend too long looking for a carp as I didn’t think that I would get too many, the weather has seen them being a bit funny of late so if I wasn’t on them I would not get them to move.  The back up plan was to fish for silvers and try to take that pool.

I set up a bomb, waggler and margin rig for the carp than a 0.4g rig to fish for silvers at 13m, I took the decision to fish at 13m as I knew that the wind would be picking up throughout the day and at the start the wind was off my back so I thought that I would be alright.

At the start I fed 4 balls of ground bait and dead maggot on the pole line and cast out the bomb, I managed a couple of small liners so swapped to the waggler for the next 30 minutes casting a 6mm cube of meat around the swim, I again had a couple of liners but nothing concrete.  It was at this point that the guy on peg 119 was playing his 4the carp so I decided to swap looking for the silvers.

I lowered the rig in and in the next 10 minutes I lost 4 large fish that I think were big skimmers tha I am sure were all foul hooked, frustrated got off my box and pulled a light feeder rod out of the bag and set up with a small groundbait feeder I started a new line at 23 turns.  This seemed like a master stroke as first cast I had a roach, followed by a pound skimmer then another couple of roach before it went quiet.  What happened next was unexpected as the tip gently knocked a couple times so I picked up onto it and was soon unclipping the rod as a very angry carp decided to go on a bit of a jolly across the lake. A few minutes later I was slipping the net under and 8-9lb carp, not bad for a 0.12mm bottom and size 16.

That was it however for the feeder, back on the pole line I managed a few small skimmers but it was hard work in the wind, and the last line the margin gave me a couple of roach and a brace of perch for a pound and a half.

The end was welcomed and my silvers went 8lb 6oz, this was not enough on the day as 114 had 19lb and 130 had 14lb of skimmers and tench, the match was won with 70lb odd rom 119 and second was 123 with 60lb.

What would I do different?

I think that the better fish in cambell don’t settle over the groundbait and both weights that beat me fed just caster.