AAF Gp2 Match 8, Orchard Farm Lakes

After the last group match that had seen me break my pole and come nearly last in section, to say that my mojo is on the wane was an understatement.  We were off to Orchard lakes and since the last time that I have fished here apparently the fishing had changed with it being more off the far bank rather than top kit fishing.

The booking in and pegging was easy for me today as Craig had everything under control and the fishery supplied the pegs and sorted the pegging, I was soon in the draw queue and  Evo pulled Main lake peg 9 out for me.

Having never fished the main lake I had no idea what to expect but I had an island at about 20 meters in front  and a blank peg to my left so that was my main 2 areas sorted.  I decided to set up a method for the island and down the edge and a pellet wag for the island, I also set up a conventional wagler as well to fish meat on the deck if it looked at being that sort of a day. Funnily enough I was ready well before the all in and on the call I sent the method tight to the island…. Nothing happened and as I went to retrieve it the feeder was in a snag, I decided to drop shorter after that.  It took about half an hour for my first bite and I lost that one as it just pulled for the island at 100mph, I also lost the second under the rod tip for no reason. However before long I had a couple of carp in the net but the size of them was not what I was expecting after being regaled with stories of doubles and high singles.  I swapped between the wag and the method for the next while trying to put some bites together but for every carp I landed I lost 2.  It was turning into a trying day as the carp where piling through snags before I could do a great deal most of the time.  I ended up with 6 carp and 2 chub for about 6kg, this was enough for 6^th in section but with H in the corner landing 18Kg in the last couple of hours I didn’t feel as though I ever got the swim going to be fair.

Craig won the match with 54kg, Pez was second with 51 both on the match lake and both caught short on the pole.

What would I have done differently?

In hindsight I wish that I had had more room but I was quite hemmed in from my left and right, a shorter skimmer feeder line may have been a good idea as Shippers on the next peg did me by a kilo and had caught skimmers on the pole, possibly mag and wag for the chub may have been an option.

Tackle used:

Method :

Rod: Drennan series 7 10ft Carp feeder

Reel: TDM 3012

Line: 8lb sensor mainline, 0.19mm hooklength

Hook: 14 QM1 with a baitband

Feeder: 24g Guru Hybrid with black hydro

Wagler:

Rod: Team Daiwa 11ft pellet wag

Reel: Daiwa TDM 3012

Line: 4lb Sensor to 0.18mm hooklength

Hook: 18 Guru Pellet wag

Float: 4g Preston pellet wag

Conventional wag:

Rod: Drennan Matchpro 12ft ultralight

Reel: TDM 3012

Line: 4lb sensor mainline, 0.16mm hooklength

Hook: 18 Guru Pellet wag with a baitstop

Float: 3aa Dave Harrell thick tip insert wag.

Fosters of Birmingham Charity Match, Barston Lake

Firstly sorry for the delay but here is the first of the catch up blogs:

Craig and I had an early start so that we could get to the fishery in time for this match, but the journey was an easy one and although we have both vowed never to have breakfast at burger king again, we arrived ready for the day.  There were loads of friendly faces at the draw and soon banter and raffle tickets were flowing.  I missed the start of the draw queue and ended up at the end, unfortunately this saw me on peg 87, this may not mean a lot to many of you but a few years ago I was part of a Club Angler of the Year final at Barston, and I blanked from peg 87 ish, along with everyone around me.  Today the conditions were better with a light breeze off our backs and some nice colour in the water I had higher hopes than last time. 

I was still without a pole so a long range method, short range method and waggler were the tactics for the day.  I had Colin to my left ad Bob to my right for company, an empty peg between Colin and myself was negated by us both facing towards the same water as he was on a point.

I was ready for the all-in and as soon as it was called my feeder was heading towards the middle of the lake at about 70 yards, not a lot happened for the first 40 minutes and then out of the blue I had a bite.  My first fish was a carp of about 3lb taken on a trimmed down white wafter.  I then had to wait another hour or so for my next bite, again on the long method and that was an F1 of about 3lb.  Then with an hour and a half to go I had my thrid bite and this was a bream of about 3lb, this was my last real bite, I had a few liners, spooked a fish out of the margin but other than that not a lot played ball. 

Colin had struggled to my left, Bob had caught a few skimmers and a decent bream on the pole for around double figures, and Craig kept on walking down to check on us as he had managed a couple of better carp and a few bits on the method from further down to my right.

Here is the section board:

I had managed to get forth in section with no long pole so it wasn’t too bad, back at the clubhouse the match had been won with 99lb and second had been sat right next to him in the teens by the 18^th green…. So the other end of the lake.  The raffle was well received and mny drawing hand had let me down again, and then the long trip home… Avoiding Burger King.

What would I have done differently?

Not a lot really, the tactics I fished are all match winners at Barston on their day, I just didn’t have enough carp to go at with my positive tactics.  I may have gone further on the tip later but I was almost past halfway as it was!! So that isn’t really cricket.

Tackle used:

Feeder Long:

Rod:  Browning Black Viper 13ft

Reel: Shimano Ci4 Ultegra 5500 XTC

Line: 8lb sensor mainline, 0.19mm hooklength

Hook: 14 QM1 with a baitband

Feeder: 45g Guru Hybrid with black hydro

Method Short:

Rod:  Drennan series 7 10ft Carp feeder

Reel: TDM 3012

Line: 8lb sensor mainline, 0.19mm hooklength

Hook: 14 QM1 with a baitband

Feeder: 24g Guru Hybrid with black hydro

Wagler:

Rod: Team Daiwa 11ft pellet wag

Reel: Daiwa TDM 3012

Line: 4lb Sensor to 0.18mm hooklength

Hook: 18 Guru Pellet wag

Float: 6g Preston pellet wag

Bomb Short:

Rod:  Drennan Matchpro 10ft Bomb

Reel: TDM 3012

Line: 8lb sensor mainline, 0.16mm hooklength

Hook: 16 QM1 with a baitband

Feeder: 12g ollivette

AAF Gp2 Match 7, Viaduct Fishery

No Photos and I am going to keep it short this time.  I went to Viaduct, drew peg 74... not too bad.  It rained heavily just before the start and all the cruising fish dissappeared.  I lost 2 foul hookers in the first 30 minutes.  At the 3 hour point I lost a carp from 16m under the tree to the right, this was the only carp hooked under the tree. In the last hour I lost 3 carp from the left hand edge, one through  a hook pull, one through the 0.18mm getting snapped and one as it swam under the platform for peg 75.
At this point I lost my rag, put the rig up a tree and then destroyed two sections of my pole.
I weighed 3lb of bits for last but 1 in my section.  Well done to Pez for winning the match, Ships cat for knocking me out of the commercial cup with his first ton I believe and everyone else for not laughing at me too much.
I am still quite sore and melancholy but I am off to Barston at the weekend so lets hope I don't draw a peg where I need a pole.

AAF Gp2 Match 6, Todber Manor

It’s that time of year again when all the AAF Commercial matches start, there is always an air of expectation on the first one as we are all back in the mix on the commercial knock out that we are all trying to win. Todber was the venue for the day and we were split over 4 lakes again, one section on Ash, one on Hill View and a section split over the two Whitepost lakes.  I fancied Whitepost for the individual win although Ash is a fair lake and Hillview was my last choice as I had only managed a quick practice at the weekend but the weather had been pants and I had not learnt a lot. John had helped me to peg the match in advance so Craig and I had a pretty easy morning to be fair, a nice brekkie at Skevvys and then the draw.

The draw was an interesting affair with me having to remove pegs from the tins as people were again not turning up after booking in, for my team Pez ended up on Whitpost, Pete Ash and that left me with Hill view peg 40. Craig was on White post peg 6, I had pegged it with pegs 5 and 9 left out but thyen due to people not turning up pegs 7 and 8 also were not drawn!!!!  This gave him most of the lake to himself so he was a very happy bunny.

I dropped him off and then got to my peg, my plan was simple, a method and wagler to the island, a long pole line at 13m because the depth was no different at 11 or 16m and finally I plumbed up a couple of margin lines in 2 feet of water both to the left and right of my swim, although I mainly planned to fish to the right as there was more room to the next angler that way.

At the all-in I fed the long pole line and started on the method, over the next 5 minutes or so I had no indications so I started to loose feed with pellet, 6mm would not reach so it had to be 8mm that I was not too happy about but a swap to the waggler soon saw me landing carp number 1.  The waggler line became hard after this so a swap back to the method was called for but that was cut short by Rikki catching shallow on the pole opposite me.

I decided to have a go on the pole line, but on the deck I managed 2 small fish and I didn’t even have a bite shallow so after 20-30 minutes of faffing about it was back onto the method as I was well off the pace at the time.

Fortunately things started to happen on the method and I was soon starting to put a few fish together, by loose feeding pellet I was able to draw fish into the area that I was fishing the method and I was able to pick up a few F1’s and small carp. I tried the waggler intermittently and I also tried to mug some fish from time to time as there were some decent sized fish cruising around, I failed for quite a while.

With a few hours left to go I started to feed micros and meat down the edge to my right and I was soon having the odd look down there with mixed results, it might have been the changeable weather or the fact that I fed too much but I had a few runs of Carp mainly around 3lb but with a couple of lumps thrown in for good measure and some silvers and small carp.

As the last hour started I was struggling, the margin had become iffy, I could get the odd bite but there was no size to the fish, the method had also died off as the fish seemed to have moved up in the water, but I did manage to mug a carp on the pole off to my right where there were numbers held up and I also managed an F1 on the pellet wag.

I called the all-out and there was a collective sigh, a quick pack up and then I had to wait for the scales, Carl Dave and the lad to my left had all struggled with less than 10Kg each, my 2 nets went 36Kg and change so I thought that I was in with a chance of a frame but I had been watching a few people catching well around the lake and it sounded as though Docs had managed a few again.  As it turned out it was enough for second, Docs on peg 55 had managed to line some of the better carp up down the edge to his left for an impressive 51Kg weight.  As for the team, we had two seconds and a third I believe that gave us second on the day….again, I am off to Larford At the weekend for a 48Hr Carp match so tha should be fun…watch this space J

I did manage to get a bit of video and it can be found here:

What would I do differently?

I fished a hard pellet on the pole line, perhaps a worm line would have been a better option for the middle period when I was struggling on other lines.

Not a lot else to be honest, I think it went ok.

Tackle used:

Pellet Waggler:

Rod: Team Daiwa 11ft pellet wag

Reel: Daiwa TDM 3012

Line: 4lb sensor to 0.18mm hooklength

Hook: 18 Guru Pellet wag

Float: 4g Drennan stumpy pellet wag

Pellet Waggler:

Rod: Drennen Ultralight 12ft

Reel: Daiwa TDM 3012

Line: 0.18mm reel line 0.11mm  hooklength

Hook: 20 Guru Pellet wag

Float: 5BB Dave Harrell insert

Method:

Rod: Drennan Series 7 10ft carp feeder

Reel: Daiwa TDM 3012

Line: 8lb Sensor and 0.19mm hooklength

Hook: 14 QM1

Weight: Various Guru feeders

Long Pole Deck:

Elastic: White Hydro

Line: 0.17mm to 0.12mm

Hook: 20 Guru Pellet wag with Bait band

Float: 0.4g AS5

Long Pole Shallow 3ft:

Elastic: White Hydro

Line: 0.17mm to 0.12mm

Hook: 20 Guru Pellet wag with Bait band

Float: 0.3g Crystal dibber

Long Pole Shallow 1ft:

Elastic: Pink Vespe

Line: 0.17mm to 0.12mm

Hook: 20 Guru Pellet wag with Bait band

Float: MW pea

Long Pole mugging:

Elastic: Blue Colmic

Line: 0.17mm to 0.16mm

Hook: 18 Guru Pellet wag with Bait stop

Float: 0.4g Crystal Dibber

Pole Margin:

Elastic: Blue Colmic Hollow (17H later)

Line: 0.19mm to 0.18mm

Hook: 3 T175

Float: 0.3g Drennan Carp 4

Fisho Qualifier Gold Valley, 27/3/16

Today saw me take a trip to Gold Valley to have a shot at getting into the Fishomania Final, I had put in for 5 tickets but this was the first of only the two that I received, such is life.  I did the normal trip but left home with too much time to spare, fortunately I am skint so couldn’t spend any money in the tackle shop but I did get to catch up with a few faces that I haven’t seen for a while.  We got to discuss how bad we were expecting the fishing to be especially since a lot of cold water had been dumped into the venue from the sky overnight.  We also put the world to rights generally and soon the draw was upon us, the normal rush to the front took place and I managed to pull peg 9 out of the pot, which I was reliably informed was not too shabby.

As I had the island the plan was going to be a simple one, method and wag to the island, then a skimmer line at about 13m, well I had taken a lot of worm with me, and finally a margin line as I had the biggest swim IN THE WORLD!! So there was an outside chance of a fish down the edge close to the end.

Tackle and bait sorted, I even had enough time to walk back to the van for my second pole roller that I had forgotten, net went in, worm got chopped and the all in was called.

I fed three balls of chop and groundbait mix at 13m before sending the feeder between the island and the reflection of the big tree, it felt about 2 feet deep maximum so the plan was to build the swim slowly through the day and hope for a few fish in the last hour.  I was leaving the feeder in for 15 minutes at a time and after the third cast I put another ball of worm mix in on the pole line, then the feeder went back out.  It was very slow around and Si to my left had managed a small carp on the feeder to the island by this point but it was one of only a couple I had seen come in on our bank, before I knew it I had a almighty drop back bite and a few minutes later my honour was satisfied and a small carp was in the net.  The feeder went straight back out but all I got to show for it this time was liners, so a change of hookbait and carp number 2, 3 and 4 were all in the net aver the next 30 minutes.

I thought that I was well on the way for a good weight but up until now the weather had been alright and there had been a bit of sun on the water.  The next thing to happen was a big cloud sat overhead and deposited loads of hail onto the lake, the liners stopped.  I came in on the pole line that I had been feeding for the last couple of hours but all I managed was bumping one small fish and paning a small hybrid.

I tried the big wag and started to feed the edge a bit more aggressively but over the last two hours all that happened was that the lake started to empty of people, Si had two carp in the final hour and we both also lost one in the final thirty minutes.  I saw two fish down my edge but had no liners or other indications.

The all out was called and to be honest I was glad, the guy to my right had packed up with an hour to go only having had one skimmer and he was not the only one.  Si had been getting reports of a weight coming from middle lake and a couple of guys on the other bank had managed 6 or so carp as we had been watching them.

The scales were on us quick and Si’s 4 carp went 28lb, mine 33lb 15oz, ok almost half of that weight was 1 fish but I am not complaining, as ther scales followed around the whiole of the next section did not weigh! And there were a lot of 20lb weights winning sections.  At the results I had managed to win my section but had missed out on 4^th by only 5lb…. that lost fish cost me dear, 3^rd had 50lb, 2^nd 70lb and the guy on peg 99 won it with 105lb so well done to you.  Farewells done it was the windy drive home along the M3.

What would I do differently?

I should have set up a bomb to try fishing a longer hooklength and possibly some meat on the hair.

I should have spent the last 30 seconds down the edge… not picked up my method rod and cast pointlessly to the island.

Other than that the weather gods were against me.

Tackle used:

Waggler:

Rod: Drennan Acolyte Carp Waggler 12 ft

Reel: Daiwa TDM 3012

Line: 0.20mm Colmic feeder 0.18mm hooklength

Hook: 18 Guru Pellet wag

Float: 14g Drennan XL pellet wag

Method:

Rod: Drennan medium feeder at 11.5ft

Reel: Daiwa TDM 4012

Line: 8lb Sensor and 0.19mm hooklength

Hook: 14 or 12  QM1

Weight: Various Hybrid feeders

Pole Long Double Bulk:

Elastic: Yellow Hydro

Line: 0.15mm to 0.12mm

Hook: 16 B911 F1

Float: 0.8g Drennan Carp 2

Pole Margin:

Elastic: Red Colmic Hollow

Line: 0.19mm to 0.18mm

Hook: 3 T175

Float: 0.3g Drennan Carp 4

Ash Lake Open, 12/3/16

I had booked into this match a while ago and had been looking forward to it as it marks the start of my ‘commercial’ season, Simon was running it and after a quick stop at Maccy D’s for fuel I was soon booking in with him at the shop at Todber.  It was going to be tight with all 14 pegs on the lake getting filled and amongst the other anglers were the other two members of team Baggers’ Pez and Pete. John was also in attendance so I was hoping for some revenge after Shearwater and finally I was a little perturbed when I bumped into Rolly in the shop, as I thought that that would be one of the fliers gone, but he assured me that he had been drawing badly of late at viaduct, he then listed the pegs and I agreed.

Pleasantries done it was time for the draw and in amongst the scrum I managed to pull peg 3 out of the bag, I knew where I was going and was soon looking at this view:

The plan was simple, due to the weather man saying that there would be very little wind all day a waggler would be dispatched to fish the far side with meat, I would also set up a bomb if a disaster happened.  I plumbed up my skimmer line at 14.5 meters as the peg was set back compared to the pegs on my right so I needed to push further out into the open water, this had a double bulk rig and a hairy fairy rig.  Finally I plumbed up a short line to fish meat.

I had just finished murdering worms as the all in was called and I fed 2 balls of worm, groundbait and micro mix on the 14.5m line, a few cubes of 6mm meat at 5m and then I cast the waggler across with a small cube of meat on the hair.  It was not immediate but the first hour was actually quite good, I managed a 3-4lb Carp as my first fish on meat in about 4 foot of water, a little later I saw Simon to my left have a decent carp in the shallow water on the wag so I chased the fish over and managed a good spell with 4 carp for around 30lb in nearly as many casts. Unfortunately that was it for the big fish action and due to the conditions almost any action, I plugged away on the wag for a few smaller carp and had the odd look on the skimmer line but they never really turned up.  The weather was warm and still so I even tried fishing shallow over the skimmer line and also on the wag but to no avail.  I didn’t have a single indication on the short line all day, but the bank was quite busy.

With around an hour to go people started to pack up all around me and before long Simon and Mark to my left were packing up as were the three pegs between myself and Rolly!  This was possibly caused by Rolly having been netting good sized skimmers and a few carp nearly all day and Pete further down had managed a few on the wag as well.  The last 15 minutes saw a few more indications on the waggler line and I even managed a small carp with 3 minutes to go and missed a bite on the whistle. 

It had been a nice but frustrating day, I was still miffed that the bigger fish had just disappeared on me but I had still had a better day than most, Simon weighed first for 24lb, then it was my turn, 5lb of bits and 45lb of carp for a total of 50lb 4oz was more than I had thought so I was a happy bunny.  The scales went up the lake and I had decided to fish on for a bit to see if I could find out where the better fish had disappeared to.  Rolly had 70lb, Pete 45lb and that was the rest of the top three and I had managed another second on the lake.  Baggers had managed a good day with myself and Pete in the main frame and Pez managed to pick up the silvers pool with around 15lb from the far end, I even got a quid back off John so that was a plus.

Thankyou Simon for running the match and also to all the team at Todber for the friendly welcome and great fishing.

  

What would I do different?

I will definitely be investing in an 8mm meat cutter for the summer so that I can fish it at a greater range.

The short line needs to be plumbed correctly and not just fished 2+2 because it works on pleasure sessions.

Tackle used:

Waggler:

Rod: Drennan Matchpro Ultralight 12 ft

Reel: Daiwa TDM 3012

Line: 4lb to 0.11mm hooklength

Hook: 20 Guru Pellet wag

Float: 4AA Dave Harrell thick tip insert

Bomb:

Rod: Drennan Ultralight Bomb 1oz tip.

Reel: Daiwa TDM 3012

Line: 0.20mm  to a 0.15mm fluorocarbon hooklength

Hook: 16 QM1

Weight: 8g inline olivette

Pole Long Double Bulk:

Elastic: Yellow Hydro

Line: 0.15mm to 0.12mm

Hook: 16 B911 F1

Float: 0.8g Drennan Carp 2

Pole Long Standard:

Elastic: Yellow Hydro

Line: 0.15mm to 0.12mm

Hook: 18 B911 F1

Float: 0.3g AS3

Pole shallow:

Elastic: White Hydro

Line: 0.15mm to 0.12mm

Hook: 18 B911 F1

Float: 0.3g AS3

Pole Short:

Elastic: White Hydro

Line: 0.19mm to 0.14mm

Hook: 2 T175

Float: 0.2g Drennan Carp 3

Trip to the Dorset Stour

I managed to get an early finish and a plan had already been hatched to go and try out my new Bolo rod before the end of the season, the Dorset Stour was the selected river and the Sturminster angling stretch called Colber had been selected, unfortunately Fate had different ideas and the parking that I had been told about was full so I was off to the Bull.

I trotted down to around peg 12 after chatting to a couple of guys who were already fishing, I had been hoping for a fair bit of depth but 7-8 foot would have to do me.  I got started by feeding 6 jaffas mid river before starting by running my light rig over the top, I had a bite first cast, and second and third and so the die was cast for the day.  I managed a skimmer randomly after about an hour and this was followed by a second about half an hour later, other than that it was all small roach and dace.

I tried loose feeding and lightened up the hooklength but I couldn’t seem to get the better roach to hang on the end.   I ended up after much chopping and changing with 50-80 small fish and the two skimmers, it had been a brilliant few hours.

What would I do different?

Not a lot really it was mainly a session to get the new bolo rod on the bank and that was a success. I am very impressed with it as it handled a 0.08mm hooklength under a 3g float very well and it had enough backbone when I hooked the skimmers that they never stood a chance.

Tackle used:

Bolo Light:

Rod: Matrix Reflex 6m light bolo.

Reel: Daiwa TDM 3012

Line: 0.18mm supplex to 0.08-0.10mm hooklength

Hook: 20 B560

Float: 3g Dave Harrell standard bolo

Bolo Heavy:

Rod: Browning Champions Choice 6m Bolo.

Reel: Daiwa TDM 3012

Line: 0.20mm supplex to 0.12mm hooklength

Hook: 18 B560

Float: 4g Dave Harrell standard bolo shotted bouble bulk