Witherington Farm Open- Sellwood 31/1/09

Well after finding out late on Friday night that there was an open at Witherington Farm on Saturday I made a couple of quick phone calls and managed to book in. I had only planned to pleasure fish so it was nice to find a match local to me. I set off at around 8am and was at the lakes by 10 past. The draw wasn't until 9 so I popped into the shop for half a pint of red maggot and came out with 40 quid's worth of bit's and bobs! I had a quick walk around Sellwood and there was a strong wind blowing into the car park bank. I fancied either peg 9,12 or 15. In to the bucket went my hand and peg 12 was stuck to my mitt. I was happy enough with this as despite being a corner peg it had the wind howling into it so I fancied it for a few fish down the edge. Now I've only fished Sellwood 3 times,all in the teams of 4, and every time I felt way off the pace. My biggest problem was chopping and changing too much,where a simple approach would have been better. With this in mind,I planned to fish the margins throughout. As you can see in the picture I had some grass/rushes at about 7m to my left,where I had around 3ft of water.















I then plumbed at 14.5m at 10 o'clock against the other bank and found a spot with the same depth. These would be my main two swims,with a back up right up into the corner where it was around 2ft6. My main rig was a 4x10 KC Chimp on 0.16-18 B911. This was matched to a doubled 8 latex with a fruitshoot pot on the pole. Shotting was a small bulk of 10's 18 inches from the hook with one no.10 dropper and a backshot due to the wind. The rig for the shallower swim was all the same except for a 4x10 chianti replacing the chimp. I also set up my 11ft6 carbonactive,with 8lb MatchWinner to 0.18 and an 18 PR36 for flicking in front of me if I was struggling. For bait I had 4mm and micro pellets,some red maggot,a few hook pellets and a small tin of corn. The all out was called and I went straight onto the 7m margin swim with double red maggot and fruit-shooted 4 maggots and a pinch of micro pellet in. After 5 minutes the float disappeared and I lifted into solid resistance. I coaxed the fish in and before it knew what was going on I panned an 8lb common-a nice start! I repeated the process and the same thing happened after around 10 minutes,although this fish was foul hooked and I pulled out! I decided to rest this swim and put a pinch of bait onto my two other lines. I went back onto the 7m line and after around 20 minutes of lifting and dropping another positive bite saw me catch another decent fish-again around 8lb. By this stage no-one had caught so I was pleased with how I was doing,and knew I just had to keep my head down and try to pick off odd fish. No more bites came in the next half hour on the 7m line so I cupped in a pinch of micro's and 4 maggots and moved onto the 14.5m line. A missed bite on double maggot prompted me to try corn and within 10 seconds of laying the rig in the float vanished and a lift was again met with solid resistance. 5 minutes later I slipped the net under another decent carp of around 7lb. No bite's came over the next hour,and the guy on peg 10 decided to pack up as he had no bites. He skylined my peg a bit as he left and I couldn't buy a bite off either swim for the next half an hour. I had a couple of casts on the bomb and corn to rest my swims but as expected I didn't even manage a liner. I had only seen odd fish come out around the lake so knew I was winning and just had to try and keep in front. I tried the shallow corner swim and missed a bite on corn- this was to be my only bite off this swim all day. I went back onto the 7m line with single corn and had an instant bite and soon netted a 4lb mirror. Another pinch of bait went into the swim after 10 biteless minutes and I moved back to 14.5m. No bite's were forthcoming so it was back to 7m on double maggot and another quick bite saw me land another small carp of around 3lb. With two hours left I had about 29lb in the net,and no-one else had more than one carp. A few silvers were coming out but not enough for me to worry about. However Colin Sellwood on Peg 9 then had two carp on the waggler over the next half hour and they were lumps. To go with the one he had I knew he had over 20lb so was one decent fish away from me. With 90 minutes to go I had another bite on double maggot at 7m but the fish snagged me and bust my rig! I thought this could prove costly,especially when despite trying all over my peg I couldn't buy a bite anywhere! My good mate Pete Bailey turned up with an hour to go and sat behind me. I still couldn't buy a bite from either swim so with 20 minutes to go I cupped 10 grains of corn and a pinch of pellet on the 14.5m line. I went over the top and as the corn touched the deck the float vanished and I soon had latex streaming from the pole. A few minutes later I slipped the net under my 6th carp of the day,a nice ghostie of about 4lb. I had one more sail-away bite at 14.5m with 10 seconds to go that I duly missed before the all-out was called. I started packing away and followed the scales round. Peg 1 and peg 2 both had 22lb odd,then there were a few single figure weights. Colin on Peg nine had 3 carp for 24lb,before my six fish went 34lb 4oz. This was enough for the win,with 24lb coming second,followed by a few weights around 20lb. I was delighted with the result,as I felt that what I had learned in previous matches helped. By keeping things simple and feeding negatively I was able to win the match with 10lb to spare. Back at the cafe I pocketed £60 for my troubles and after a quick cup of tea headed home. Tomorrow I'm at Whinwhistle for round 6 of the winter league,praying I don't draw The Rail!!

Whinwhistle practice session- 25/1/09

I awoke this morning to the sound of heavy rain,not exactly inspiring when a days fishing is on the cards! A quick check of the weather forecast showed that it was due to brighten up during the day,so a flask of coffee was quickly made and I set off for at around 8am. On arrival at the fishery the rain was hammering down,so I spent a good half an hour in the lodge sheltering from the rain and deciding where to fish. I don't get to 'pleasure fish' that often,and when I do I can never decide where to fish. I finally opted to fish the square on Whinwhistle lake as I wanted to try one or two things ahead of next week's winter league. I won my section on here in the last round fishing through the ice,and it was the only time I have drawn the lake in this series. After chatting to a carp angler fishing on the islands I finally settled on Square peg 23.

Around 4lb is usually a good weight on here in the winter league, as there are few big fish and it can be tough at the best of times. Despite this, I planned on mainly fishing pellet to target the small skimmers and hopefully one of the bonus bream or tench that can be so crucial in a tight winter league section. I feel it is far more effective to fish in this way than to try and keep pace with the squatt anglers. I decided to fish two lines at 6m and 13m, and set up 3 rigs to cover my options. My main rig was a 4x10 KC Speed on 0.12-0.10 silk shock and a 20 Gama Black to 6 latex. This was shotted with a spread bulk and was for scratching around. I also set up a 4x12 KC Chimp on 0.12-0.10 silk shock and a 20 Gama Pellet in case the skimmers showed up. This was matched to a 6 latex and shotted with a double bulk of no 10's. Both rigs were set to just touch bottom. My final rig was a 4x12 chimp on 0.12 silk shock to an 18 Gama Pellet and 8 latex. This was set to fish two inches over depth and had a slightly longer line in case the wind got up. All three rigs incorporated a no.10 back shot for stability. For bait I had some micro pellet, a bit of groundbait and some Ringers coolwater pellets in sizes 3mm,4.5m and 6mm,along with a few maggots and pinkies. I began by cupping a golf-ball of micro pellet at 13m,and 3 golf balls of groundbait at 6m. I planned on fishing maggot and pinkie at 6m to see if it was effective as the pellet. I began at 6m on single maggot and had a few tiny roach in the first 15 minutes. It was very slow so I put in a pinch of micro pellet and shipped out to 13m with a 3mm pellet. After about 10 minutes I had my first bite and netted a skimmer of around 4oz. A few more followed before it slowed so another thumbnail sized amount of pellet was cupped in and I went back in at 6m with a 3mm on the hook. Bites were instant and over the next hour I swapped between the two lines regularly taking small skimmers and roach,topping up with minimal amounts of pellet when it went quiet. After about two hours the float dipped at 13m and yards of latex streamed from the pole. There used to be alot of big carp in the square but most have been moved to the islands. However there are still one or two in there and I thought I'd hooked one. The fish was soon under control and as soon as it broke the surface I slipped the net under a pristine 3lb tench-a useful bonus! I caught steadily for the next two hours,alternating rigs and changing between 3mm and 4.5mm pellet on the hook. I would take 3 or 4 fish from each line before feeding a pinch of pellet and switching. It was really interesting fishing as I had to work for each bite and keep tweaking things to keep the fish coming. I finished the day at 3 oclock with around 9lb of small skimmers and the bonus tench in four hours. 12lb would almost certainly be a section winning weight on here next week,and I learned a few interesting things today that will stand me in good stead if I draw the square next week. Interestingly Richard Allin,the league leader, fished The Rail all day for around 5oz of eyes. The fishing is unbelievably hard on there at the moment with lots of blanks and few bites. I'm hoping and praying I don't draw there next week as it could be disastrous for the league campaign. I've almost certainly put the jinx on it now and will no doubt draw there on Sunday!

Back on the bank!

Due to girlfriend/family/work commitments and the arctic conditions over the Christmas and New Year period I haven't fished since the last round of the winter league at Whinwhistle on December 7th. To say I was itching to get back on the bank is a bit of an understatement. As I had two free days this weekend I decided I would head to Whinwhistle to practice for next weekends 6th round of the winter league. I'm currently in second place on 7 points,one point behind league leader Richard Allin,who I have also drawn in the semi-final of the knockout cup,so it was important to get a feel for the place again after 6 weeks away. I arrived at the fishery at around 8am and the first thing I noticed was the chocolate-like colour of the water. It was quite surreal as there was a hard ground frost,but we'd had a lot of rain during the week which had coloured the water. I headed straight to the cabin for a catch up with John the owner. It emerged that three of the four lakes had been fishing well all week,with plenty of silvers showing along with the odd carp. However the fourth lake, 'The Rail' hadn't had an angler on it for over 2 months,due to the fact that most people blanked in the last round of the winter league and it was won with mere ounces. The trouble with The Rail is that there are hardly any silvers in there,which means if the carp don't feed you're in trouble. Being the fool that I am I decided to give it a bash,and settled on Rail peg 3. (see pics below)

















I have always done well on The Rail by fishing tight across and feeding little or no bait,so was confident of a few fish. I set up to fish at 14.5m tight over to my left,13m tight across in front and 14.5m down the side of the point to my right. I had the same depth on all 3 lines,so set up a 4x12 chimp on 0.12-20 Gama Pellet shotted with a spread bulk and an 8 latex. I also set up a 4x10 chianti for half depth and a small drennan carp 4 set at 12 inches deep- both on 0,12 to 8 latex and 20 hooks. These two rigs were for searching all over the peg with bread punch,something that I have done well on at this time of year in the past. I also set up a bomb rod- 10ft Carbonactive,TDR reel,4lb line to .12 silk shock and a 20 drennan eyed barbless carp. I had some micro pellet,corn,maggot,4.5mm Ringers Coolwater hookers and two slices of bread for punching on the side tray. I began on the 12 inch rig with bread punch,slapping the rig and trying all along the far bank,but without a bite after 10 minutes I switched to the half depth rig and repeated the process. No bites materialised so I cupped around 30 micro pellets in front,10 maggots to the left and 3 grains of corn to the right. I flicked the bomb rig far over to my right and gave it 5 minutes. To cut a long story short over the next hour I couldn't buy a bite on any of the lines despite trying all of the usual tricks. As I hadn't fished for so long I decided that I wanted bites,so made the early decision to move over to Keepers Lake to fish for the Skimmers and roach,which is what I had planned to do from the start! It didn't take long to move and I was set-up in my new peg by 11. I used the same rig for the pellet line at 13m,and quickly knocked up a 6m roach rig consisting of a 4x10 KC Speed,0.12-0.10 silk shock and a 20 Black Gama. I cupped in a golf ball of micro pellet at 13m,and 3 small rock hard balls of groundbait at 6m as I planned on leaving this line for the first hour. I shipped out to 13m,lowered the rig down and the float kept on going but I missed the bite. A few more missed bites and it was evident that there were a few fish in front of me. I decided to change the spread bulk for a double bulk,with 4 no:10's a foot from the hook and another four 6 inches away from the hook. I shipped out and an instant positive bite saw a nice skimmer of around 6oz come to the net. Another 3 came in 3 put ins,as the bites were coming quickly. After a few more I had a couple of roach so put another nugget of micro's in and the skimmers were straight back. This set the pattern for the day,with 3 or 4 skimmers coming straight after a small amount of micro's went in before they would back off and I would repeat the process. It was clear they were responding to the feed but I was still cautious and fed just enough to keep the peg ticking over. I tried the 6m groundbait line and had a few roach but it was slower than the pellet line and the fish were smaller,so concentrated long. After a couple of hours I went to the cabin for a bacon sandwich and a chat with a few of the winter league lads who were in there. I went back to the peg after about an hour,put another golf ball of micro's long and caught instantly again. With half hour or so remaining I decided to try something different and put a full pot of micro's in (admittedly the smallest garbolino ext cupping kit pot) to see what would happen. Five roach in five casts convinced me this is something not worth trying next week,as although the skimmers wanted feed on the day it was a mistake to put too much in. It was actually quite simple to feed really,as soon as the roach showed I would put another small nugget of micro's in and fish it out-idiot proof! I packed up at 3 with around 12lb to show which isn't bad in freezing conditions when I only fished for 3 hours. Plenty of bites on a cold crisp day,what more could you want in winter?
I'm heading back down there tomorrow,come back and see how I get on!
Tight Lines