Thursday 11 December 2008

First four rounds of the winter league

I thought I would put a quick post up with a run down of how I did in the first four rounds of the winter league.

5/10/2008
Round 1 saw me drawn on Peg 8 on The Rail. I set up two rigs for fishing over and a rig for down the track. I had about 3 1/2 foot tight over,so had a 4x12 chimp,with 0.14-0.12 hooklength and an 18b911 to an 8 latex. I also set up a half depth rig with same terminal tackle but a 4x10 Chianti. I began the match fruitshooting some crushed pellet across but had no bites in the first hour. I then flicked a bomb rig slightly to my right and had a carp around a pound within 2 minutes on double maggot, and as it was the first fish to be caught on the lake the pressure was off somewhat. Bob Wackrill to my left then had a carp around 3lb on the pole,followed by another soon after. I continued fruitshooting crushed pellet in every 10 minutes or so and after about 1hr and 45 mins of the match I had my first bite on the pole on a 4mm expander at depth. It was a welcome carp of around 2lb For the next half an hour I went fish for fish with Bob until we were both on around 12lb and then I pulled away as my peg got stronger and stronger. The remainder of the match was spent picking off fish with 3 coming very late on at half depth. I had most on double red maggot with the odd fish on corn. I ended the match with 33lb odd for an easy section win and a perfect start to the series. Bob was second with 12lb odd,with 3lb being third.

26/10/2008
Round 2- This saw me draw the Rail again, but this time on Peg 6. This is probably the worst peg on the lake as it is the widest at around 16.5m,and as the wind is often atrocius on this peg it can be difficult to fish,as there is very little to be caught down the middle. I approached the match in the same way as the first round,but 4 hours in was still biteless on both the pole and the tip. I had Rocky Redstone on my right,and also had him in the knockout. He had started 'plipping' after a couple of hours,and had about a pound. I had my first bite with 30 minutes remaining,which was foul hooked and promptly fell off. The same thing happend again with 10 minutes to go and I thought I had blown my chance. I then went out with a corn skin at half depth and with less than a minute left I had a bite and hooked a carp. The whistle went immediately and I carefully netted the fish which I knew would beat Rocky. I weighed one fish for 2lb 10oz,beating his 1lb odd of bits. Bob Wackrill pushed me into second place with 2 carp for 4lb,and the match was won from end peg 1 with 44lb- every single fish was one of the 8oz carp stocked the week before. Not a single one came out from any where else on the lake! Still,I was glad to have rescued a third in section for 3 points as with a minute to go I was heading out of the knock-out and looking at 10 points.

2/11/2008
Round 3 saw me drawn on Keepers Lake. I was on end peg 17 and based my approach around targetting the lakes skimmers. I found 5 feet of water at 13m,so set up a 4x14 chimp,0.14-0.12, 20 Gama Pellet and an 8 latex. I also had a rig for 5m where I fed 4 balls of Sensas Noire groundbait at the start,with a 4x14 speed,0.12-0.10 hooklength and a 20 Black Gama to a 6 latex. I caught fish off both lines throughout,catching mainly 3-4oz skimmers with most coming on 3mm pellet long to weight 10lb 14oz. I thought I had done enough but Bob Wackrill had a 4lb tench and a 1lb skimmer in the edge on corn in the last 15 minutes to go with some bits and weighed 11lb2oz, agonisingly knock me into 2nd in section. The lack of a bonus fish cost me, but as third weighed in 4lb odd I felt I approached the match in the right way and came away with 2 important points.

30/11/2008
Round 4 saw me again drawn on Keepers lake but this time down the other end in the shallow water of peg 23. This has an island in front at around 14m. I had fished the lake the day before and caught a stack of skimmers and two bonus tench all on pellet on peg 21 in the open water,so was fairly optimistic. I set up a pellet line on the base of the slope at 11m, with a bonus fish line over at 13m in the shallower water. I had top angler,and last years league winner, Andy Shanks on my right so a pound sidebet was duly struck up. An hour in I was still biteless,with Andy having probably 8oz of bits caught mainly on the tip with a couple on the pole. It was fishing alot harder than expected probably due to the severe frost the night before. After an hour I got off my box,set up a lighter rig and cadged a ball of groundbait off Andy. I hadnt mixed any up as I had caught so well on the pellet the day before,so lesson learned there! I plumbed a new line at a 2 oclock angle at 11m and cupped in a hard ball with 5 maggots. 5 minutes later I went over the line with a single maggot and caught a 3oz perch straight away. I fished this line for the rest of the match,catching mainly micro perch and a few roach for a hard-earned 2lb 12oz and fourth in section. Andy weighed 3lb 10oz with a few skimmers on the pellet to take my shiny pound (well,50p,two 20's and a 10!). 6lb odd won from the other end,so a tough match for all,and one bonus fish would have seen me win the section but it's a case of swings and roundabouts I guess....

So four rounds in I was on 10 points in total,although you drop you're worst result overall which left me with 6 if you look at it that way.

Tuesday 9 December 2008

Whinwhistle Winter Leage- round 5

Sunday saw me travelling to Whinwhistle fishery near Romsey. It is a stunning place,with 4 lakes, and a small stretch of the river blackwater. The owner John Hardeley is a top bloke and it is the venue I fish more than any other these days. I have always done well there,picking up in more matches than not as it suits my style of fishing down to the ground. The first lake you come to is 'the square',which was joined to the 'islands' lake until this autumn when they were separated and most of the big carp were removed and placed in the islands lake. The second lake is the rail,which has 15 pegs and is long and thin,between 11-16m wide. This lake has a decent head of small carp,i won the first round on there with 33lb,but it's been fishing hard lately. The final coarse lake is called 'Keepers',and is the most prolific on the complex. I fished the summer league here this year and came joint third,largely due to the fact that I missed the penultimate round as I was on a lads holiday in Malia,but that's where I met the mrs so cant complain!My worst result in that series was 3rd in a section of 9 so I was quite consistent and learned alot along the way and was raring to go for the winter series.
On arrival at the fishery I was disapointed to see all three lakes frozen,especially as I didn't have an ice-breaker with me! Nonetheless I tried to be optimistic as I needed a good result to stay in contention. In the first four rounds I had a section 1st,2nd,3rd and 4th,so could do with a win to get back on track. The one lake everyone wanted to avoid was the rail,as it had been fishing really hard of late,and as it requires fishing tight to the far bank the ice would make things difficult. I was therefore relieved to draw peg 17 on The Square. This lake is shallow at around 3-4 feet,fairly flat and with no features,the fairest of all the lakes. It was won the week before with 4lb of squatt fish,so my first target was just to catch a fish! I had top-angler Richard Allin to my left,Tony Burge on the end,Derek Pickard opposite (he won the section from the same peg the week before),Oscar Wylde next to him and Bob Mapes on peg 29. Job number 1 was to break the ice,and after breaking the margins with my net pole I managed to blag an ice-breaker and set to work. I eventually had an area out to around 10m clear,so opted to fish just two lines at 10 oclock and 2oclock. I had the same depth on both lines, so set up a 4x10 KC Speed on 0.14 (due to the ice) to an o.10 hooklength and size 20 Gama Black to a 6 latex. Shotting (or should that be stotting)pattern was a bulk of 10's with 3 no:12 droppers. I knew I wouldn't keep up with the squatt anglers so opted for the more positive approach. I also set up a rig with the same hook line and elastic for half depth. I fed a tiny nugget of groundbait with three pinkies at 10oclock,and 20 micro pellets and three dead maggots at 2oclock. I started on the 10oclock line wih a single pinkie,and despite occassionally dropping over the pellet line an hour in I was biteless. I thought this would be the case, but knew I had to stick to my guns and keep my head, despite the others catching the odd small fish. I re-fed both lines with the same as the start and dropped straight over the 10 o'clock line with double squatt at half depth. The float buried immediately and I had a 3oz skimmer and was relieved to avoid the blank. Richard and Tony to my left were still blanking,so it was in important fish. I then dropped over the pellet line at depth with a single dead read maggot and after 2 minutes the float dipped and I had another small skimmer of the same size. Straight back out and the float dipped and I lifted into something more substantial. In the clear water I could see I had a bream of about 3 lb,so I gingerley played it through the ice and was delighted when it hit the net. Moans came out from all around, as no-one had more than ounces at this stage. Straight back over the same line and the float dipped again,and a similar thing happend, with this one being around 2lb. 5lb in 5 minutes, normally enough to win the section on here! Cries of 'get the coffees in' and 'that's that then' rang around the lake. I knew I had secured good points so could now relax a bit! I fed another 10 micro pellets and 3 dead maggots over the line after a biteless fifteen minutes. I continued to take the odd small fish off the 2oclock line,but didnt have a bite over the groundbait swim! Despite Richard on the next peg catching four late skimmers for 6lb to give me a scare, I recorded a section win with a level 7lb. 4lb 4oz was third on the squatt, then there were a few 2lbs and a few ounces. I had also drawn Tony in the knock-out cup,so progressed to the semi-finals- Happy Days!!
Back at the lodge and it emerged the rail had been won with 12oz of plips,with 2oz and 1oz 2nd and 3rd respectively! The other 4 anglers blanked!! Keepers also fished hard which is to be expected when you have to break the ice I suppose! The lake was won with a single carp for around 8lb,with 5lb odd coming second,followed by a few blanks. Anyway, as it was the Christmas match we were all treated to a gorgeous meal of roast pork,apple sauce,roast potatoes,all the veg and gravy,with home-made apple pie and ice-cream for afters! It was superb, I told you John was a top-man and his wife Mandy is a brilliant cook!
So all-in all a mixed weekend,but that's winter fishing I suppose! A good result has put me back in contention,as I am now right up near the top (didnt see the exact results but by my reckoning I'm now in second place) as there were a few blow-outs which was nice!

I won't be fishing until January as family/girlfriend commitments take over until then unfortunately!

For more information on Whinwhistle Coarse Fishery check out www.whinwhistlefishery.co.uk

Witherington Farm Teams of 4- 6/12/08

Saturday 6th December saw me heading to Witherington Farm for the teams of 4 winter league. This is a venue that I have only recently started fishing, despite living in Salisbury for over a year since graduating last summer. I have already fished two rounds on Sellwood,and found myself on there again for this round. Our team 'Total-Fishing.com' were in 5th place out of 8 teams going into this round,mainly due to the fact that we haven't had the same team twice so it has been hard to develop any continuity and understanding. I arrived at the venue at around 8 o'clock to find that despite a sharp frost the lakes were ice-free. Our drawer-master extraordinaire 'Nicky-the-Bricky' drew the pegs,placing me on Sellwood peg 1- in the corner next to the areator. Not a peg I would have chosen as I don't like being 'hemmed in' in corners,especially during the winter. Nonetheless fish have fins and all that, and I tried to approach the peg with a degree of optimism. I opted for a three-pronged approach- a pellet line at 13m, a corn line at 14.5m slightly to my right and a lead swim towards the island. I found a slight hole around 3 inches deeper than everywhere else for my pellet line at 10 oclock. The rig consisted of a 4x12 KC carpa chimp,with 0.14 silk shock to 0.12 silk shock hooklength and a 18b911. The Corn rig was the same set up but was around 6 inches shallower so a separate rig was assembled. Both rigs used a number 10 latex. The lead rig consisted of a preston carbonactive 10ft rod,Daiwa TDR reel loaded with 8lb matchwinner to a 12-inch 0.18 silkshock hooklength and an 18 PR36 with a pellet band hair-rig. The match started at 10am and I cupped around 30 micro pellets and six dead maggots at 13m, with 30 grains of corn going in at 14.5m,as I planned to completely leave this line for atleast the first three hours. Out went the lead rig with double corn to the island,but without even so much as a liner after 30 mins I brought it in and cast out with a pellet cone this time to see if that would spark a response. 30 mins on this and still without a liner I brought in and put on a 2ft hooklength of 0.14 to a 20 hook and double maggot and cast towards the island again. By this stage one or two fish had come out,but the three of us on my bank had not had a bite between us. Another 30 mins on the lead and without a bite it was time to look on the pole line. Baiting up with a single 4mm expander I expected to catch as there are lots of skimmers to go at in Sellwood,but despite 10 mins of lifting and dropping I was still biteless. In went another 10 micro pellets and three dead maggots and it was back on the tip. This time I changed to an 0.10 hooklength and lengthened it to 2ft, and put on a small drennan maggot feeder. In went 6 maggots and after around 5 minutes I had a tentative pluck on the tip,which I struck at and was relieved to feel a fish on the end. It was a small skimmer around 8oz but it got me off the mark and put me ahead of the four remaining anglers blanking. It proved to be a false dawn however, as no more bites were forthcoming,despite regualrly ringing the changes. By now the bloke on peg 15 had caught 3 decent carp on the lead and double corn,and the guy at the opposite side of the lake on peg 9 was catching small skimmers one a chuck and also had a bonus carp. The two guys to my right were still biteless,and it was clear there were very few fish in front of us. Around 3 and a half hours in the guy to my right had a micro perch at 3m,so had also avoided the blank-leaving just the chap on peg 4 without a fish. The remainder of the match was spent going through the motions,and I failed to even get a bit on either pole line. I had two more skimmers in the last hour on the tip and double corn but never felt there were carp in front of me. The all out was called and I was glad it was over, although being on peg 1 I had the joy of conducting the weigh-in. After packing up in double quick time I went to see how team-mate Nick had done on cottage 15,and he reckoned he was around half way in his section. My 3 skimmers went 2lb exactly. The chap to my right had some proper skimmers show up on his pole line in the last 20mins,and caught 5 fish for 9lb odd! The guy on peg 4 managed a single skimmer for 1lb. The weights got progressively better as we went round the lake. Kev (dont know his surname) won the lake from peg 15 with 6 carp on the lead and corn for 37lb. I came a very disapointing 7th in the 8 peg section,so all in all a day to forget!