First match of the decade

Well,it's been a long while since my last blog due to a break over Christmas and the arctic conditions we've been experiencing these last few weeks. The scheduled winter league match on January 10th was duly postponed as there was 3-4 inches of ice on all lakes. On that weekend I went and fished the river Blackwater with my mate Andy and caught a fair few fish on stick and maggot which was great fun. The fields were covered in snow yet we still managed to find a few fish wandering the river with minimal gear and a flask of coffee

Anyway,during the week I received a call saying that there was to be a match at Broadlands on Lower Lake which apparently wasn't suffering so much with ice. This might have something to do with the power pylons above the lake? After not fishing competitively for 5 weeks I needed no second invitation and duly booked on. I also managed to get my good mate Nick White booked on which meant any winnings would be split 50/50.

Pulling in to the carpark at a little after 8am I was pleased to see that the lake was completely ice free. What was very noticeable however was the clarity of the water. I could see the bottom a few feet out which was likely to make things hard. After paying my pools and having a good catch-up with a few of the lads I hadn't seen since before Christmas I was ready for the draw. I have fished Broadlands four times and every time I had drawn on the same side of the lake in the 20's. In went my lucky left hand and out came peg 21. I was happy enough with this as I have always caught well and fancied it for a few fish. I had heard beforehand that the other side of the lake was fishing well whereas my side hadn't fished for a good 4-6 weeks. Skimmers and carp are the main target and as they tend to be shoal fish I had to hope that a few had moved to my side of the lake. Nick had drawn the opposite side on peg 4 and I fancied him for a few fish.

The rain was already pouring down so the camera stayed in the car hence the lack of a picture.

I decided to fish my usual pellet line at 14.5m with a method to the central island as my opening gambit. I set up two rigs for 14.5m- a 4x14 KC Chimp on 0.14-0.12 and an 18 Gama Pellet. This was shotted with a small bulk of 10's with 2 droppers and matched to pink j-range and a pulla bung. My second rig was a 4x14 KC Chimp on 0.14-0.10 and a 22 Tubertini 808. This was shotted with a spread bulk of 10's and matched to the same elastic. My method rod was an 11ft Beastmaster matched to a 3012 TDR,6lb line,a small preston 30g inline feeder with a 4 inch 0.18 hooklength to an 18 PR36. For bait I had half a pint of red maggot,a pint of soaked micro's,3 & 4mm expanders and a kilo of ringers dark and swimstim green mixed 75/25.


The all-in was called and I cupped in a golf ball of micro's at 14.5m and kicked off on the method with two dead reds. I was clipped right up against the island and my first 5 casts were bang on the money. On my 5th five minute cast I had a very slow liner which led me to believe the fish were in the deeper water away from the island- possibly due to the clarity of the water. I took 5 turns off the reel clip and cast out about 4-5m off the island. After 5 minutes the tip went round and kept going and I lifted the rod into a decent fish. The water was so clear I could see the fish about 10m out. After a further minute I slipped the net under a fat little mirror carp of around 4lb or so- a great start as no-one else in my section had caught a fish by the half hour stage. After 45 minutes I'd had no further bites so went out on the 14.5m line. No bites on the light rig in 45 minutes didnt bother me as this has always been the case. I fed a thumbnail sized ball of micros and went back on the tip for 5 biteless minutes. Back on the pole & pellet and again I couldn't buy a bite. Now I was worried....

The guy on the very end peg (30) was the only angler in the section not on the same straight bank. He was around the corner and was almost fishing the other side of the lake. He was starting to catch the odd skimmer on the method into the open water. The anglers either side of me were still blanking and the word was that most of the section was as well. I switched to the light rig and went out with single maggot. A quick bite saw a 1oz roach being swung in. I began to put a few of these fish together,mostly less than 1oz but with the odd bigger 2-3 oz sample thrown in. With only the end peg catching anything I decided to get my head down and keep catching what I could,safe in the knowledge I had a precious carp in the net. It was hard work at 14.5m but I didn't want to come closer as I felt sure that at some stage I would pick up a better fish over the pellet feed. The rest of the match was spent switching between the pole and the odd cast on the method. When the all-out was called I had around 60-70 roach and the one carp. Either side of me were DNW as they each had a tiny fish each. I was knackered by the end and wished I'd brought the roach closer as the elusive bonus fish never materialised on the pole line.

After packing up the scales made their way around to my section. The guy on end peg 30 put an all skimmer net of 18lb on the scales. I knew this would beat me as I reckoned on having 8-10lb. He fished a good match and took full advantage of the room he had to catch on the method in open water. The next angler to weigh put two skimmers on the scales for 4lb odd. These two pegs next to each other were the only pegs in my section to catch any skimmers a tall. There were then a few DNW's and a 2lb weight before my carp went 4lb 10oz and the silvers went 4lb 12oz giving me a 9lb 6oz total and 2nd in section worth £25. The other side had fished completely differently with a few weights in the 20lb-30lb bracket. Nick had come 2nd on peg 4 with 39lb and Phil Timms won with 42lb of carp on the pole. As the overall winner was paid out Nick got his section by default which was worth an extra £5 to me as we had £60 in the pot between us. All in all it wasn't a bad day and I honestly don't think I could have done any more from the peg I had. If I had fished for the roach properly I might have had a few more but certainly not 18lb of them. I was over 5lb ahead of 3rd in section and would have come 2nd with either the roach or the carp on their own. What was also pleasing is I continued my sequence of 5 pick-ups in 5 visits to Broadlands....no wonder it's my favourite venue! I was also hopeful of continuing my run of my weight improving on every visit,but with 79lb last time out I suppose I was up against it in the near arctic conditions.

Nick asked me if I wanted to fish the Viaduct winter league on the Sunday but with the prospect of getting up at 5am and not getting home til late I decided not to. Instead I had a nice lie-in before heading to Whinwhistle at around 10am. Andy Shanks was there and we decided to have a little knock up between us. The main reason for doing so was to dry everything out from the day before as the weather was glorious. Unbelievably the lakes were all frozen solid so we had to cadge an icebreaker from a couple of anglers fishing at the top end. We (mostly Andy) broke out a couple of pegs (19 & 20) on Keepers before tucking in to a bacon and egg baguette. Fishing was to be from 12-3 with a pound at stake. One rig was set-up to fish at 5m against the edge of the ice. A 4x12 Malman winter wire on 0.12-0.10 and a 22 808. Elastic was double 4. For bait I had Saturdays leftovers- Ringers dark,some micro pellet and some maggot. I also pumped a few 3mm expanders. At the start I fed around 10 micro pellets,3 maggots and a thumbnail sized nugget of groundbait. Andy meanwhile fed two balls of groundbait. We both kicked off and waited....and waited....and waited. After around 25 minutes I finally had a bite which I missed,much to Andys amusement! A few minutes later I had another bite and bumped a fish....doh! Soon after I had a small roach,and then another,then another....Andy meanwhile was still biteless. After almost 2 hours I had around 18 small fish and Andy was still biteless. I kept reminding him that he had overfed at the start while he kept reminding me I was on a flier as usual. Then all of a sudden he started catching. The last hour saw Andy catch at the same rate as me but he was having bigger fish. My pound was suddenly looking dodgy...

The banter was flowing back and forth all match but it was obvious I was now worried as my gob was shut. I then had a bonus 3oz perch followed by a pristine roach of around 5oz. The 'all-out' (if you can call it that) was called and the scales were soon out. My fish went a huge 2lb exactly and Andys went 1lb 10oz. His shiny quid was soon nestling in my pocket...

It was an enjoyable day and made a nice change. A lie-in followed by a superb breakfast,plenty of laughs and a few fish...just what was needed on a cold winters day.

* This blog is around a week late as I have been so busy I haven't had chance! This weekend just gone I was in Brussels with my girlfriend and sampled a few waffles and more than a few of the local beers...hic! I have got the Whinwhistle winter league on Sunday after almost 2 months since the last round and I'm not sure what I'm doing on the Saturday. Hopefully I will find a match somewhere.....