Monday 29 March 2010

End of the winter....

This weekend saw another 'double header' of matches for me. The first was the Saturday open at Greenridge Farm. After the usual breakfast and laughs we were ready for the draw. The golden peg was drawn first- peg 7 on canal 1. A few comments were made along the lines of 'that's safe' as canal 1 had been won with just 28lb the week before,with 130lb winning canal 2. Due to this the 16 anglers were split into 9 on canal 2 and 7 on canal 1, leaving the worst area on canal 1,the middle,with a couple of spare pegs. Into the drawbag I went and out came.....peg 7. Despite being the golden peg it was a less than great draw as the two pegs to be avoided were 5 and 7. Mark Cannings had the joy of drawing peg 5.

As always I try to be positive and the one thing that might make a difference was the fact that I had a spare peg either side,something that I find especially important on canalised venues as the fish will often settle in the quiet areas. After looking at the peg I started to consider my approach. In the last couple of matches I have found corn in the deeper water to be very effective,so my first line was on a top 2 + 2 (about 5m) slightly to the left. This was at the base of the near slope and was a 4x12 chianti on 0.14-0.12 and an 18 Gama Pellet. This was shotted with a spread bulk of 10's and shotted at dead depth in around 5ft of water. The peg was fairly flat down the middle and I had the same depth straight out at 10m. I also plumbed over to my right towards the spare platform although I wouldn't feed/fish this for a while as I wanted any fish to settle in the quiet water as mentioned. For fishing across in around 2ft of water I set up a 4x10 Chianti on 0.16-0.14 and an 18 B911. Shotting was a small bulk of 10's at half depth. The depth was very uneven along the farbank so I picked two spots where I had the same depth,although the one was very snaggy and I actually lost my hooklength and plummet so this line was sacked-just the one line across then! Lastly I set up a rig for fishing to the side of the spare platform to my right in 3ft of water- 4x12 chianti-0.16-0.14 and an 18 B911. All three rigs were set to yellow drennan bungee with a pull bung. For bait I had a tin of corn,a pint of maggot,some 4mm pellet and 6mm expanders.
The all-in was called and I potted a dozen grains of corn in at 10m,half a pot of maggot down the edge and flicked a few grains of corn in at 5m. Not bites on corn to the farbank saw me attach a small cadpot and dribble in some maggot but the double maggot hookbait resulted in a few 1/2oz roach....hmmm
All the while I had been flicking the odd grain of corn in at 5m but despite dropping in a couple of times I hadn't had a bite. Mark was getting the odd small carp to my left and Andy Potter was catching really well on the peg behind me on canal 2. After an hour and 15 minutes the float buried at 5m and a 3lb carp was soon in the net. This was a false dawn however as I couldn't buy another bite here. A quick carp on corn at 10m offered some encouragement followed by a 2lb skimmer soon after. This line was then also biteless and I was starting to realise why the middle of canal 1 was the place to avoid....
A quick bite down the edge saw a small 1lb stockie on maggot but I could only catch one fish from a line before it died. I even knocked up a shallow rig and started pinging 6mm pellet towards the far bank but 15 minutes on this told me that it wasn't going to work. With around two and a half hours to go any chance of the golden peg seemed to have gone as I had just three carp and a skimmer in the net for around 7-8lb. At this point I plumbed a line towards my right,with 10m of pole fishing about 5m out from the bank. I cupped in a dozen grains of corn and left it for 5 minutes. By this stage I realised that my best bet would be to stick with one line and make it work,rather than chopping and changing every 5 minutes. The depth was the same as my 5m line,and with the float almost overshotted and brought back with some vaseline the rig was a sensitive as I could get it,something that I felt would be important in the flat calm and bright conditions. After 10 minutes of lifting and dropping the float finally dipped and I lifted into a good fish. A few minutes later and a fat 8lb mirror was lying in the net. I shipped back out,tipped 6 grains of corn out of the cadpot and a few minutes later the float again buried and I had a 5lb carp in the net....game on! By regularly sprinkling corn through a cadpot I was catching quickly and they were a decent stamp of fish. The thought started to cross my mind that the golden peg might be on....
Alot of people had stopped catching although pegs 10 & 11 down to my right were catching quite regularly they were fishing to the farbank and the fish were of a smaller stamp. People started to take notice and 'the golden peg's going today' was being said by a few. I knew I was still quite away behind but by regularly feeding corn,lifting and dropping the hookbait I was bagging. The only problem was I had a couple of spells where I went 10-15 minutes without a bite which wasn't ideal,but by dribbling in some more corn the fish would return. It was nice fishing and I don't think I missed a bite and didn't lose a fish.
The all-out was called and I really wasn't sure how I'd done. My clicker told me I had 19 carp but I also had a skimmer and a couple of brown goldfish in there aswell. Some of the carp were proper lads but there were also a few 1-2lb fish in the net so it was hard to guess a weight. Most people were adamant that I'd done enough to take the Golden Peg but I kept telling them I hadn't. My main concerns were Andy Potter behind me and the guy on end peg 1 on my canal who had seemed to have a few. I was very anxious packing up as I thought I had 60-70lb in the net and Andy was admitting to 60-80lb. This could be close.....
They started weighing canal 2 in first and Andy put 81lb on the scales. I shook his hand and congratulated him as deep down I knew I wouldn't have that much. Dave on peg 11 then put 63lb on the scales followed by a 44 and a 50. After two weighs my weight was called out at 71lb odd.....just two proper fish short. I was a bit gutted by this as I had caught really well in the last two hours and had I made the switch earlier I might have had enough. The guy on end peg 1 then put 80lb on the scales knocking me back into third place and £35 for second in section. After the match there was a nice buffet put on as it was the end of the winter series that was won by Pete Newman. Heading home I was a bit deflated as I had come so close to a bumper payout. The only consolation is the fact that no-one had expected me to have a chance from my peg,it would have been far worse if I'd have blown a flyer. I just had to hope I could go one better and win the Winter League at Whinwhistle the following day.
Sunday dawned an hour earlier due to the clocks changing but I was still awake before my alarm as today was the final round of the Whinwhistle winter league. If you are a regular reader you'll know that following a win last week I was now tied on points with Phil James with a 3lb weight advantage. After tucking into a breakfast the banter was flying around as we awaited the draw. It was also the final of the knockout cup which saw me against Phil so it was going to be 'winner takes all'. The peg I really wanted to draw was Whinwhistle 6,with peg 7 being my second choice. These pegs are spot on for the method feeder and I had actually stopped on after the match the week before and spent a few hours fishing the tip on peg 7 as it's always been my weakest method so I need to improve. Following a good practice with a few fish caught I was confident in using it and hoped I'd draw one of the few pegs that it was suitable for. Into the bag I went and looked in sheer disbelief at the disc in my hand....W6! I couldn't believe it,just when you think the drawing gods are against you THE peg you want sticks to your hand. The draw was always going to be crucial today and I now knew I had a big chance of winning the league. Phil drew Whinwhistle 1,the end-peg and a great peg on it's day. This made things very interesting but made my task as simple as can be....beat Phil to win both the league and knockout....game on!


As you can see in the picture opposite the peg has a tree going into the water next to the platform on the farbank. This would be the main focus of my match as I know it holds carp,the trouble is getting the casting bang on the money as you have to get right up against the tree...overhanging branches and all. For this I got my ready made rod out of the bag- 11ft Shimano Beastmaster,Daiwa TDR,6lb sensor with a doctored 30g small preston feeder. The reason it's doctored is due to the fact that Whinwhistle has an 8-inch hooklength rule. This is far from ideal for fishing the method but Andy Shanks came up with a way of gluing a swivel into the top of a preston inline feeder which makes it easier to fold the hooklength over and bury the hookbait in the feeder by layering the groundbait 3 times. Sounds simple......ha! Hooklength was 8 inches of 0.18 Silk Shock to a 20 GURU MWG- spot on for two dead reds. Groundbait was Green Swimstim mixed the night before and riddled four times.
I spent a good deal of time clipping up with a 1oz lead to get bang on the money- my practice session the week before was proving crucial. With the feeder line sorted it was time for a Plan B. The temptation was there to only set up the tip but being a league match I needed a back-up in case it didn't work. This would be my standard pellet line that has served me so well all winter- a 4x12 KC Chimp on 0.12-0.10 and an 18 808. This was set at dead depth in 4 1/2 feet of water,shotted with a bulk of 10's with 1 dropper and matched to double 5 slip. I plumbed two lines,one at 11m and another at 14.5m. If I ended up on the long line I would be struggling!
For bait I had a kilo of groundbait and half a pint of reds for the method,some damp micro,crushed pellet and some 4mm & 4.5mm Ringers expanders. With everything ready I got 'in the zone' and awaited the all in.
The whistle went and the feeder was despatched to the farbank.....first cast and I caught a branch,losing the lot,not the ideal start! If it wasn't for the fact that I'd sussed the method the week before I would normally have picked the pole straight up and thrown the rod up the bank. However I knew that the method was key to winning the section so quickly rigged up,checked the clip which was still bang on and recast......and caught ANOTHER branch! Things weren't going to plan....I was now 5 minutes into the match,lost 2 feeders and hadn't spent any time actually fishing. Time for a clear head,remind myself of the fact there was still almost 5 hours to go and start fresh. After taking half a turn off the clip I cast out for a third time and this time it was inch perfect,landing right on the spot with a small plop. As I was sinking the line I felt a tap on the tip and after placing the rod on the rest it was pulled off after 2 minutes....fish on! A few minutes later and a fin perfect 4lb carp was in the net. This was a big relief and certainly settled my nerves! The next couple of casts were spot on but didn't result in any fish. After the third cast (after the last fish) the tip again pulled round after a minute or two and carp number two was on it's way,this time a fat little mirror of around 3lb. This was now the ideal scenario as these early fish settled me down and gave me the confidence to spend some time on the tip. A few more casts were uneventful before the tip dropped back on the 45 minute mark and a skimmer of around 1lb was soon in the net. Things then went quiet and after an hour I changed from casting every 3 minutes to every 5. This seemed to do the trick as the rod was pulled off the rest soon after and a 2.5lb tench was soon in the net. The next cast went a yard too far and crashed down through the overhanging branches. Before I even had chance to do anything the rod was almost pulled out of my hand as a fish hooked itself almost instantly. Frustratingly the hook pulled. The next 8 casts didn't even give so much as a liner so I potted in a small ball of crushed pellet with a few micros at 11m. The next cast on the tip was biteless so with a fair bit of bait on the tip line I decided to rest it and have an hour on the pole,hopefully putting a few skimmers in the net in the process. The rest of the section was fishing very hard,with just a few small skimmers showing. Crucially,Phil was blanking......
Lowering a 4mm Next Generation expander down the float barely settled as a 2oz skimmer snaffled it. Over the next hour I put exactly 30 skimmers in the net,averaging 2oz but with a better 12oz sample and the odd 6oz fish it kept my catchrate ticking over nicely. With two hours to go I had two carp,a tench and around 5lb of skimmers in the net for around 14-15lb. This was comfortably winning but I was well aware that Phil needed just two carp to wipe that out. Peg 1 threw up an 11lb last week so I wasn't resting on my laurels by any means.

First chuck on the feeder was spot on again,and I actually said 'that's a fish' as it was bang on the money. Sure enough after 4 minutes the tip slammed round and another carp was on. Again it was around 3lb but it settled me down again as it showed me that the rest had done some good. However this was a bit of a false dawn as I didn't add anymore in the next half an hour. Hmmm....decision time. With 90 minutes to go I was back on the pole but as I hadn't been trickling in the small amounts of pellet required to keep the line ticking over the fish had all but gone,with just three 2oz skimmers and a 2oz carp in the next 15 minutes. There was now one hour and 15 minutes to go,Phil was still near enough blanking,I had around 18lb in the net and with the pole line not really working I made the decision to spend the rest of the match on the tip. Would it be the right decision.....?
After a couple of casts right alongside the platform the tip flew round again and a 2lb carp was soon in the net. Although they were a pretty small stamp I was grateful of any fish I could get. Ten minutes and two casts later the tip was once again flying round and another carp was on,this time a bit bigger at 4lb or so. I then added another carp with 15 minutes to go and victory was almost in the bag. As the clock ticked down the rod slammed around with seconds to spare and carp number 6 was soon in the net with his 5 mates,netted a minute or two after the whistle. Phil had struggled bigtime and apart from Oscar to my left who had caught two late carp on the method by chucking towards the sluice nobody had really caught.
I was relieved when the whistle went as I had achieved what I set out to do and won the Winter League. Phil was the first person to come over and shake my hand. Unfortunately it hadn't happened for him today but he's a top angler and is always there or there-abouts. The win was confirmed when my 7lb 10oz of silvers and 21lb of carp gave me a 28lb 8oz total comfortably winning the section and match overall. Oscar was 2nd with 17lb and Bob Wackrill was third with 4lb odd of small skimmers. After packing away I drove up to the lodge where we were treated to an end of series meal of steak pie,chips and peas....delicious! Next came the presentation where the top 5 were announced. In fifth place was Oscar Wylde,followed by Phill Timms in fourth,Roger Clacey in third,Phil James in second and myself winning. I ended up winning by four clear points as my four section wins,two seconds,two thirds and a fourth gave me a 15 point total (dropping the 4th as worst result). I picked up £40 for the section,£65 for winning the knockout and £135 for the league giving me a £240 total payout. This went someway to compensate for my Golden Peg near miss of the day before. As you can see in the picture I also picked up two nice trophies that are now proudly sitting alongside the Summer League one I got last year. That's now four leagues I've fished at Whinwhistle,coming third in each of the first two and then winning last years Summer League and this years Winter League. Winning the Knockout Cup was the icing on the cake as it meant I'd won everything possible at the venue over the past 12 months. There was talk afterwards of making next years league 'Englishmen Only'.....


There's no summer league this year and I'm not sure what to do about next years Winter League. Part of me thinks it's time for a new challenge but I really enjoy the matches as they're a great bunch of blokes and the fishing's always challenging. I've got plenty of time to make a decision and for the time being I'll reflect on what's been a succesful winter campaign.

Monday 22 March 2010

Back to winning ways....

Firstly I must again apologise for the lateness of my blog. I can never seem to find the time lately and if this continues I might have to put my blog 'on hold' until things quieten down a bit.
The last match I fished was the winter league at Whinwhistle. It fished very hard and I had 6lb 12oz of small skimmers on pole and pellet for 3rd in section. The frustrating thing was Phil James had 3lb odd of silvers but snared a 10lb carp on his silvers rig which won him the section. Without that fish I would have been 2 points clear at the top of the league but with it I was now 3 points behind with two rounds to go- a near impossible deficit.

This Saturday saw me fishing the Mannings Teams of 4 league. The first round was to be held at Orchard Lakes in New Milton. It's a venue I'd heard a bit about but never actually seen. In summer the weights are massive with people fishing on a topkit for 200lb+ as the fish average around the 1lb mark. In the week leading up to the match I spent a good bit of time on the 'phone to venue expert Nathan Fox who was a massive help and gave me first class info.

After a quick breakfast at McDonalds we drove the 20-odd miles to the venue in convoy (team-mates- Phil James,Roger Clacey & Phil Timms). After pulling itno the gates the most noticeable thing was the wind,it was howling down the lakes and being canalised it would mean fishing to the far bank would be very difficult. The team-draw was made nice and early and I was placed on B6 (peg 19). This meant nothing to me but a quick call to Nathan revealed it was in a good area but there were better pegs in the section,particularly peg 18 to my left that was on the bend and had a perfect margin to fish. After setting my gear down I had a good look at the peg and decided on my approach. Based on Nathan's info my main-line would be at around 13m where I had just over 3ft of water. Due to the wind this rig was an improvised 4x14 KC Chimp on 0.14-0.12 and a 16 gama pellet matched to double 6 slip on a pulla bung. As I was expecting a few fish shotting was simply a bulk of no's 6 inches from the hook as I wanted to get the bait down quickly. This rig was also plumbed at 4m to my right about 1m from the bank where I found the same depth. The edges hadn't produced for some time by all accounts but it was worth targetting as the wind was relatively mild. My second rig was a 4x16 KC Chimp on 0.14-0.12 and an 18 Gama pellet. This was shotted with a bulk of 9's and 2 no:10 droppers again matched to double 6 slip. I had a good 6ft of water from 4m out to around 10m and this rig would be used to cover all of this area. Both rigs had backshots and longer than normal line due to the ferocity of the wind. Lastly I set up a 10ft carbonactive for fishing the bomb and corn if I was struggling or the wind got much worse. For bait I had 2 tins of corn,a pint of 4mm soaked pellets and some expanders (Ringers Next Generation-simply awesome!)

The all in was called and I flicked a few grains of corn in at around 4-5m before potting half a medium pot of 4mm pellet at 13m and flicking a few pellets down the inside. Kicking off at 4m on a single grain of corn the float buried after 30 seconds and I soon had a 2.5lb carp in the net. This was bigger than the average so a useful start. When fishing corn down the track in this way I always like to feed by hand- never more than two grains at a time. I think the noise is a factor,and it also spreads the bait out a bit. By constantly working the bait I had 6 carp in the net after 40 minutes which was as good as anyone I could see. This line then went quiet so I decided to come off it and fish across whilst feeding the short line with a grain or two of corn every minute or so. I shipped across and was surprised I didn't get a bite straight away but by continually lifting and dropping the 6mm pellet hookbait the float eventually buried and a carp was soon on it's way in. I had 12 carp in 12 put-ins on this line and was flying with 18 carp in the net after around 90 minutes or so- far more than anyone else I could see. All the while I was flicking corn in short as the wind was getting stronger by the minute and I couldn't get the right presentation at 13m. I re-fed with half a pot of 4mms as I couldn't fish the line and hoped that there might be a few there if and when the wind died down.

Back at 4m and I couldn't get a bite so added a section and went out to 6m and found the fish again. Every time I caught a fish I threw about a dozen pellets in the edge to my right as I hoped it might be worth a fish or two late on. By regularly feeding corn by hand I was picking off carp regularly averaging around 1lb but with a few bigger ones thrown in. The weather was miserable with constant wind and rain which meant fishing long was a non-starter. This meant I had to make the short line work and whenever the line went quiet I would go slightly further out or to the side and would find a few fish. The anglers that were potting bait were all struggling and it seemed by spreading the bait out a bit I was the only one to really keep fish coming. At one point the wind dropped slightly and I went out to find the long line biteless. I don't think presentation was quite right so rather than waste time I got my head down on the corn. I had a couple of looks down the edge with no bites but kept feeding a few pellets as I had to hope the fish might turn up. The guy to my left on 18 had been struggling but in the last two hours he started to catch regularly down the edge and I was getting worried. Going into the last hour I was still picking odd fish off the corn line by searching around and constantly lifting and dropping.
With 25 minutes left I came off the corn line and dropped in down the edge on a 6mm pellet. After a few seconds the float buried and I struck into thin air! Straight back in and a repeat saw a fat little 1.5lb carp hit the net. I had another 7 carp and a 1lb skimmer down the edge in the last 25 minutes,feeding a dozen pellets everytime I hooked a fish. I netted the last fish after the whistle.

I wasn't sure how I'd done as I couldn't see all of the section but with 55 carp in the net I thought I might be ok. My main worry was the guy to my left who had caught in the last two hours and. First to weigh was Andy (andykoi) to my right who put 44lb on the scales. I was next and after two weighs I had a total of 66lb 12oz. The guy on 18 then put 54lb on the scales which was a relief as I thought it would be very close. I followed the scales round and there were a few 40's with the next best weight being 57lb (this included an 8lb+ bonus). One point I should make is the double 6 slip used. It seems to be a controversial set-up that people either love or hate and today I lost one fish all day that was bumped- the elastic was absoultely perfect for the job in hand.

Back to the hut and the rest of the team had done ok with (I think) a third and two fourths leaving us in 3rd position out of 7 on the day. After picking up my section money I headed home looking forward to getting dry!

Sunday saw the penultimate round of the winter league at Whinwhistle. Going into this round I had slipped to second place and was now three points behind Phil James in first. With only two matches to go it was going to be very difficult to make up the ground,especially as winter league attendances dwindle towards the end. What started off as a league of 24 was now left with a disapointing 11 fishing as those out of the running often don't turn up. This meant that there would be two small sections of 5 and 6,with 6 on Keepers and 5 on The Square. After a superb bacon & egg baguette I was ready for the draw. This might sound like a 'crap draw excuse' but there really was only one peg to avoid and that was peg 4 on The Square. This was the only peg without a feeder chuck and the best weight off it all winter was 4lb odd. My heart sank when I pulled my disc out of the bag and saw W4 staring back at me. I couldn't believe it and was absoultely gutted. Andy Shanks had drawn a flier in peg 1 which won the last match and I fully expected him to win the section with carp both on the feeder and down the edge. The news got worse when it emerged that Phil James had drawn end peg 16 on Keepers. At this moment I genuinely thought any chance I had of winning the league had been lost at the drawbag....
After driving down to The Square I was doing my best impression of a tourettes sufferer as I couldn't believe the peg I had drawn. It's in the middle of the bank with a spit opposite that always has pleasure anglers on it. After setting down my box I finally stopped cursing and began to think about what I was going to do
The peg had almost no chance of throwing up a carp so I thought it best to fish a light pellet approach and hope I could find a few skimmers and rescue a third or fourth in the section. My first line was straight out at 11m where there was around 4ft of water. This rig was a 4x12 KC Chimp on 0.14-0.10 and an 18 Tubertini 808 shotted with a bulk of 10's with 1 dropper. Elastic was double 5 slip. The peg was very flat so this rig also served my 14.5m line that would be a back-up for when the short line died. My final line was a bit of a throaway and was at 16m slightly to my right- same float and elastic but with an 0.12 bottom and an 18 Gama Pellet. This rig was set 3 inches over depth. Lastly I set up a maggot feeder clipped to the farbank but with a couple of pleasure anglers on that bank this was never likely to work. For bait I had half a pint of soaked micro's,some wetted crushed expander,some expanders for the hook and a pint of maggot. I also had some dryish fishmeal groundbait that would be cupped in on the 16m line.
The all-in was called and I fed a golf ball of crushed pellet with a pinch of micro at 11m,a ball of groundbait and a cup of loose groundbait,a few micro's and a few maggots at 16m before casting the maggot feeder to the far bank. I only gave this 5 minutes and as expected no bites were forthcoming so it was out to 11m with 4mm expander. I was delighted to see the float disapear first drop and a small skimmer of around 2oz was soon in the net. After 3 more in the next 3 drops I fed a tiny amount of crushed pellet through the fruitshoot pot,feeding every third fish initially. After an hour I was flying with 25 skimmers in the net. Crucially Andy was blanking which was a bit surprising. Mike Smith on peg 6 had caught a small carp on the method so we were probably about level. After 2 hours I had exactly 50 in the net and by trickling in small amounts of micro's and crushed pellets I was keeping the fish coming,hardly missing a bite and not losing any fish. Normally at Whinwhistle the pellet line dies between the first and second hour but there was no sign of it today so I was happy to get my head down and keep adding weight to the net. Mike next door had added a bream of about 3lb to his carp which would keep things pretty tight between us. Once or twice I had a slight quiet spell but I found waiting was the best thing to do as re-feeding can often be the kiss of death. After 3 hours I had around 60 fish in the net so had slowed down slightly but I was still on for a decent weight. A bite like any other saw a better fish on and I gingerly played a 2.5lb bream to the net-a real bonus.
I was still very wary that all Andy would need is two carp to overtake me but I felt the best option was to keep adding whatever I could to the net and hopefully it would be enough. A quick try on the 16m line with double dead maggot saw a pair of eyes hanging on the end so rather than waste time it was back to 11m. The rest had helped as going into the last hour I had 80 skimmers in the net,including the bonus fish and a couple of 8oz samples. Mike had added a tench to his net on the feeder to give him around 10lb,less than what I had. Andy had caught one small tench on the feeder and I had everything crossed that he wouldn't catch a few late carp. I then had another better skimmer nudging 2lb that tore off like a carp before coming in like a wet carrier bag! I had set myself a target of 100 fish at one stage but the line was showing signs of slowing. A quick try at 14.5m saw one small skimmer but it was slower than at 11m so I sacked the line.
With 25 minutes to go my worst fear happened as Andy hooked into a good fish down the edge. I knew if he got it in quickly he would have plenty of time to find another. Fortunately it took ages and with 5 minutes to go he was still playing it,netting it with just 2 minutes to. It was a right old lump and one more carp would see him overtake me. I was counting down the clock as he shipped back out and was relieved when the whistle went as I felt sure he'd have had another given a few more minutes. A quick check of the clicker showed I had 94 fish in the net and I was pretty confident of the section win.

The first two anglers had 7lb and 3lb respectively before Mike put 11lb 8oz on the scales. I then tipped 17lb 8oz on the scales and with Andy weighing in 11lb 14oz (10lb 14oz carp & 1 tench) I had the all important section win. This was all I could do and I had to hope that Phil had dropped a point or two,but being on the end peg I thought this would be unlikely. I have to say of all my wins at Whinwhistle this was the most satisfying as it was the worst possible draw and I would have taken 7b if you'd offered it at the start. I got a bit lucky in that the carp didn't really show but it was a risk i had to take and fortunately it paid off


A quick phone-call to the top lake revealed that Phil had bombed out coming 5th in section. I couldn't believe it! Although this was now his dropped result and he counted a previous fourth this meant we were now tied on points overall. So with one round to go we are exactly level on points,I have a 3lb weight advantage and we are also against eachother in the final of the Knockout. It's all to play for and the draw will be massive as if one of us draws a flier it could be all over. The final round is this Sunday and I will be sure to write a blog as it's likely to be very,very interesting!

Monday 1 March 2010

Catching up....

Firstly,I must apologise for the lack of a blog from last week,we are in the process of moving offices at work so it's been a bit busy to say the least!


The Sunday match was the Winter League at Whinwhistle. Going into the match I was tied in first place with 2 other anglers and there were plenty still in the mix. I drew on Keepers Lake again,with the 2 anglers I was tied with in my section. I managed to beat them both but could only manage a disapointing 4th in section,my worst result so far. I had 6lb 12oz of small skimmers on the pole but couldn't find any bonus fish. The angler to my left was third- he had a 9lb carp after around 3 minutes of the match and not alot else! I dropped the result and counted my third in section from an earlier round.Phil James had drawn the out and out flier (peg 7 on The Square) for the second match running and again walked the section with around 20lb odd on the tip- the same as the last time he drew it. To show how hard that section is just 1lb odd was enough for 3rd. So with 3 rounds to go Phil is now in first place,with me a point behind in second. It's all to play for and the draw is going to be crucial from here on-in so fingers crossed I get lucky.


This Saturday I booked into the open match at Greenridge Farm. I'm still getting to grips with the place but enjoy fishing there and will be putting some time in over the coming months. After the usual breakfast it was time for the draw and with a disapointing 9 anglers turning up we were pegged on canal 2 with every single peg in. I fished canal 2 back in November and had a nightmare on peg 17,so this was the only peg I didn't fancy. It therefore come's as no great suprise when I pulled out peg 17...doh! It was a different day this time and negative thoughts wouldn't achieve anything.......

The barometric pressure had plummeted over the previous 24 hours so I expected the fish to be in the deeper water anyway,and the reason I had a nightmare last time was due to the nature of the far-bank (dug with a spoon!). To my right I had Andy Potter on golden peg 18 and Andy Vane to my left. After setting up my gear I got a few rigs out. My first rig would be for the deeper water where there was around 5ft. A 4x12 KC Chimp on 0.14-0.12 and an 18 B911 shotted with a spread bulk of 10's and matched to yellow Drennan Bungee. I plumbed 3 lines at around 10m to the left of my peg,straight in front and over to the right. My next rig was for on the second shelf at around 13.5m. The rig was the same as the first but the depth was a little over 3ft. Again I plumbed 3 lines across at different angles and marked them in my head by using far bank markers. Finally I set up a rig for fishing tight to the far bank in 12 inches of water. Although I didn't expect to use this due to the conditions if people were catching in this depth I had to be ready. This rig was a 4x10 Chianti on 0.14 to an 18 Drennan eyed barbless with elastic again being yellow bungee. I decided to try something slightly different and set up a bomb rod- 9ft Shimano Beatsmster with a small 1/3oz lead and a 12 inch hooklength of 0.18-18 PR36 and a quick-stop hair. I set this up as on my last visit I had caught on corn without feeding and with the weather forecast uncertain if the wind got up too much it could be worth a few.

For bait I had half a pint of maggot,half a pint of damp 4mm pellet,a tin of corn and some expanders. Five minutes before the all-in Andy Potter wanted to have a waggle with my pole as he's in the market for something new. 'Just dont put my rig up the far bank' were my last words. I was tidying my peg up when I looked round to see my rig snagged on a far-bank branch....typical! As it was the 0.14 rig I had to pull for a break and the rig was left over the far side. I now knew I wouldnt be ready for the start as I had to get a new rig out of my box. Andy was very apologetic and felt terrible....not that I reminded him about it much! In all seriousness he's a good bloke and always a laugh to draw next to so there was no intention....I think!

The all-in was called and I wasn't ready so flicked the bomb out to around 10m with a single grain of corn while I fixed my new rig. After 5 minutes the tip dropped back and I wound into a fish. A brown goldfish of around 1lb wasn't exactly what I was after but it was a start. With my rigs in order I decided to go on the pole at 10m or so with a single grain of corn. I didn't have a sign on any of the three swims after 5 minutes in each so it was time to try fishing further over on the second shelf. I repeated the process of 5 minutes in each spot with no signs so started to ping three 4mm pellets to the middle line every minute or so for around 5 minutes. A grain of corn was dropped onto this line and the float didnt even settle and a 4lb mirror carp was soon in the net. This proved to be a false dawn as I couldn't buy another bite across,despite cupping in 3 grains of corn on the right hand line.

At this stage I cupped in 3 grains down the middle and went over the top after 10 minutes. A quick dink on the float saw a koi carp of around 3lb in the net followed by a 1lb brown goldfish 10 minutes later from the same spot. I then had a spell without a bite and couldn't get any signs across. Nobody was really catching across although Andy to my right was picking up odd fish on corn. It was now pretty grim and despite dribbling in a small amount of bait on my left hand middle line I couldn't get a sign here. After 3 hours I was falling behind so put a new line up at 14.5m as far to the left of my peg I could go in the deeper water. I was kinder potting around 10 maggots every put in and had a couple of chunky rudd before a switch to corn saw a small 2lb carp come to the net. This line also dried up and it was proving hard going. Both anglers either side of me had started catching a few fish short on corn and at one stage it looked like the golden peg might be going.

With an hour and fifteen minutes left it was time for one last throw of the dice and I plumbed a new line at 6m slightly to my left in the deepest water. I cupped in 3 grains of corn,10 maggots and proceeded to feed a grain or two by hand every minute or so. This is something I used to use to good effect on the canals at Hillview as the feeding by hand seemed to trigger a response and often from bigger fish. After 5 minutes or so the float buried and I lifted into a substantial fish. After a further 5 minutes I slipped the net under a fat 8lb mirror and was suddenly interested again. I continued to feed by hand and around 10 minutes later the float buried again and although the 5lb fish was hooked in the tail I managed to get it in the net without too much bother by using the short 4 section. This new line then went quiet despite a few put-ins so it was back over the original swims while I kept feeding the short line by hand. With 15 minutes to go and no bites from elsewhere it was back at 6m as the clock ticked down. With a minute or two left I blinked and the float was gone and I struck into another solid fish.

The whistle blew and I shouted 'fish-on' and a few minutes later panned a fighting fit common of 6lb or so. I must admit I was left feeling a bit disapointed after the match as I should have switched to the new line sooner. I put almost 20lb in the net in the last hour and feel that had I fed the line earlier and kept trickling some bait in they would have been lined up. Andy Vane to my left won the match with 52lb,Paul Barnard on end peg 20 was second with 49lb and Pete Newman third with 47lb. My 32lb odd was enough for fifth,just a pound behind Ray Kelly in fourth. Ray is a regular reader of my blog and it was great to meet him and we had a long chat afterwards about the match and both felt we could have pushed for a win had we done things differently. I was too slow to recognise that there were fish to be caught short and I was only three good fish off winning,something that I feel was very possible had I switched sooner.

After packing away I must have talked with Ray for a good half an hour,so much so that I didn't have time to go back for the customary beer as I was going out in the night so had to get my skates on. It was interesting to bounce ideas off eachother and I certainly learned plenty that will hopefulyl stand me in good stead for next time. This Sunday I have the winter league at Whinwhistle with family commitments taking precedent on Saturday.