Round 5-Whinwhistle winter league

Sunday 7th Februrary

Sunday saw the fifth round of the Winter League at Whinwhistle. Due to the arctic weather over the past few months a round was cancelled and this was the first league match since December 6th. Going into the match I was tied on 5 points with 2 other anglers but ahead on dropped result (my worst result so far is a third in section.) After a delicious breakfast I was ready for the draw. I had fished for a few hours on The Square the day before and fancied a draw on there but it wasn't to be as Keepers 15 was in my hand. Although I would have preferred to be on The Square I was happy with my draw as it was a great skimmer peg and if the carp didn't show I would expect it to win the section. The match was also a knockout round and my opponent (Daryl Eckett) had drawn on The Square so I wouldn't know how he had done until after the match-not always a bad thing. A couple of pegs to my left was Andy Shanks so the usual pound side-bet was struck-up. His peg could be hit and miss as it wouldn't compete with mine for silvers but he had a great far bank swim where there is an electric post going into the water. For whatever reason this always holds carp and they tend to be big. The day before I had witnessed how good Andy can be fishing the method and I must admit I fancied him for a fish or two from there.


Peg 15 is a great peg as it sits slightly further out than the others,has a good depth and is perfect for silvers. I set up 3 pellet rigs to cover 5 swims. I had 2 lines at 4m at angles of 10 o'clock and 2 o'clock,2 lines at 9m at 10 o'clock and 2 o'clock and one line at 13m on top of a bar where it was a good foot shallower. The peg is nice and flat so I used 2 rigs to cover the four shorter lines- the first being a 4x14 KC Chimp on 0.14-0.12 and a 18 808. This was shotted with a spread bulk of 10's and matched to pink j-range and a pulla bung. As always it was plumbed to dead depth,with the 2 nearer lines being around 2 inches shallower than the 2 longer lines. When switching between the lines it would be a case of moving the float slightly to the mark on the pole. My second rig for these lines was a 4x12 Malman winter wire on 0.12-0.10 and a 20 Black gama. This was also shotted with a spread bulk but matched to double 4 slip and would be used for fishing pinkie,single dead maggot or 3mm pellet if it was hard going. For the 13m shallower line I set up a 4x12 KC Chimp on 0.14-0.12 and an 18 Gama Pellet matched to pink j-range and a pulla. Finally I set up a method rod with a small 30g preston feeder and an 8 inch hooklength (fishery rules) of 0.18 to an 18 PR36. This was clipped up tight to the far bank.

For bait I had half a kilo of groundbait for the method,some damp micro,wetted crushed pellet,half a pint of maggot and 3mm & 4mm hooker pellets. Target weight was 10lb-15lb of silvers,with 20lb + if I managed a bonus carp or two.

The all-in was called at 10am and as always I planned to only feed and fish one pole line out before binning it and moving on to a new one. A small golf ball of wetted pellet and a pinch of micro was potted in at 4m to the left before the method was despatched to the far-bank with two dead reds. It's very tricky using the 8 inch hooklength but by layering the groundbait and looping the hooklength you can bury the hookbait inside. It's a fiddly process but worth perservering with. After less than 10 minutes a cheer went out and Andy had hooked a carp on the method to the post on the far bank. After 5 minutes or so he slipped the net under a lump that was pushing double figures. This was a nightmare scenario as that was most of my target weight in his net after just 10 minutes. After 15 minutes I hadnt had a sign so reeled in and repeated the process. I had a savage liner which gave hope but nothing followed. I had only planned to spend 30 minutes on the tip but due to the liner I decided to pot a further 20 micros and a thumbnail piece of crushed pellet on the pole and have one more cast. No bites followed so I switched to the pole as I was now 45 minutes into the match without a fish. First drop at 4m with a 4.5mm expander saw the float bury after 30 seconds or so and a 4oz skimmer was soon in the net. Over the next half an hour I was catching well on this line with small skimmers coming regularly. What was noticeable was how little feed they wanted,and a pinch every fish was slowing things down so I switched to feeding a pinch every 3 or 4 fish depending on bites. The line was starting to fade slightly but I decided to try something a bit different on my right hand 4m line. I fed a full cup of loose groundbait with a few maggots and left it while I eeked out a few more skimmers from the left hand line. Around this stage Andy added a further carp from the far bank,this time a bit smaller at around 4lb. Realistically I knew that the only way I could catch him now was if he didn't catch anymore,but with feeding fish in front of him and 3 hours still to go I knew this would be unlikely. Still, being a league match it's all about points and I had to make sure of second place. No-one else was really catching bar the odd silver,although Oscar had caught a decent perch on the waggler of around 1lb three pegs to my left. The right hand line was slow but there were a few silvers topping so I jumped off my box and got a new topkit & rig (and snapped my rear seatbox clip in the process!). I quickly attached a 4x10 Chianti on 0.10-20 Drennan eyed barbless and double 4 slip. I kept feeding 3 maggots every 20 seconds or so for around 10 minutes while I had another small skimmer from the left hand line. I had 12 roach in the space of 5 minutes shallow but they were mostly less than an ounce so it wasn't really worth sticking with. It was almost time to switch back to the pellet,this time feeding the 9m left line with a nugget of crushed pellet and around 20 micro's. Over the top after 5 minutes and I was soon catching the skimmers again with a few slightly better fish of 8-10oz. Working out a feeding pattern was difficult as they definitely wanted small amounts but not regularly. This line soon slowed so I re-fed with a small amount before spending 10 minutes on the method without a bite.

The pole line at 9m had all but died so I re-fed, this time with a full pot of loose groundbait before trying short again for the roach shallow. I had a few quick fish before going back out to 9m. It took around 5 minutes for a bite but it was clearly a better fish when it came and I carefully slipped the net under a brown skimmer of around 2.5lb. This was a useful bonus as I still had to consider the knockout competition where every ounce could be crucial. I soon looked round to see Andy into another carp,and this one looked to be a good 8lb+. This effectively cemented 1st place in section which left me with a decision to make. Do I keep catching skimmers on the pole or sit on the so far unproductive method and hope for a carp. As I was clearly in second I knew that if I could keep catching skimmers and get into double figures I would be ahead of the others in the section even if they managed a carp. I felt this would be best rather than sitting on the tip that might not go round to then be knocked down a place or two by a late carp by someone else. This,along with the fact that I had every chance of a carp on the pole made me stick to what I was doing and keep adding what I could to the net,only fishing the method if I was desperate.

With 90 minutes to go I fed my 13m line on the bar with a pinch of crushed pellet and a small amount of micro pellet. First drop and the float dipped and a 4oz skimmer was soon on it's way in. Over the next 60 minutes I kept picking skimmers off both lines while no-one else was really catching. With half an hour to go the line died and as Andy had added another lump to give him 30lb+ I saw no point in fishing the method for the rest of the match as I would probably need 3 carp to overtake him. I came off the long line and rested it for 5 minutes while having one last 10 minute cast on the method to try and snare something. No bites saw me back on the pole and by trickling in a tiny amount of crushed pellet I managed to winkle out 4 more skimmers before the all-out was called. I reckoned on having around 12-13lb with around 38 skimmers in the net.

It was very clear that Andy had walked the section and I was certainly second. I just had to hope that I had done enough to progress through to the next round of the knock-out. The other section on keepers was first to weigh and was won with 7lb. I put 12lb 10oz on the scales for 2nd in section,with 4lb odd being third and Andy winning with 34lb odd (4 carp). Daryl had caught just 2lb on The Square so I was comfortably through to the knock-out and added 2 section points to go with my two 3rds and two 1sts. With 4 rounds to go there are no 4 of us tied on 7 points with a few snapping on our heels on 8 & 9. It's very close and a lot will depend on the drawbag from here on in.

I am not fishing this weekend as I'm whisking the mrs off to Paris for 5 days. The following weekend I have got the next round of the winter league on the Sunday and on the Saturday I will either be going to The Big One tackle show or fishing the open at Greenridge Farm.

Frozen elevens

Greenridge Farm Open- 30/1/2010

This Saturday I booked on to the open match at Greenridge Farm. My last visit saw me draw peg 15 on canal 2 and I struggled catching just 3 carp. This was back in November when it rained constantly all day and was one of those days best forgotten. This time conditions were very different and upon arrival I was greeted by the demoralising sight of ice on all the lakes. It had frozen overnight and was quite thick. Nonetheless the match was to go ahead with 14 anglers booked on. As always at Greenridge there was food before the draw but this time Mick was using a new electric hotplate that took about 3 days to warm up. It would have been quicker to shine a torch on the sausages! Not that I was complaining too much as I scoffed a few before gathering for the draw. In went the lucky left hand and out came peg 11- endpeg on canal 1. If you are a regular reader of my blog you will know that this is the peg I drew on my first visit to Greenridge back in April. That day I had 96lb on shallow pellet for second place,just 3lb off winning. I somehow felt it would be a bit harder this time around.....

My first job was obviously going to be clearing the ice. Being canalised lakes it was a case of walking around to the far-bank and breaking it up with my landing net handle. This was also done on the near side before breaking up the middle with an ice breaker. Andy Hayden to my left on peg 10 also had a rake head on a rope which was used to drag the sheets of ice away. After spending a good 45 minutes clearing my peg I was relatively happy and began setting up. I set 3 rigs up for fishing across and one for down the track. My down the track rig was plumbed at 10m in the deepest water where there was around 5 and a half feet. This rig was a 4x12 KC Gent on 0.14-0.12 and a 20 Gama Pellet. It was shotted with a spread bulk of 10's and matched to yellow drennan bungee. I plumbed all along this line and found the same depth across my peg from left to right. For fishing across I set up a 4x10 Chianti for tight over in just less than 2ft of water,a 4x12 Chianti for on the next shelf down in 3ft of water and a 3x8 Chianti set at 18 inches deep for searching all over the peg. All 3 rigs were on 0.14-0.12 to a 20 Gama pellet and matched to pink j-range and a pull bung. For bait I had half a pint of red maggot,a couple of slices of bread and some expander pellets. About 5 minutes before the all in a load of ice floated into my perfectly clear peg! I managed to shift some of it against the bank to my right but it wasn't ideal.

The all-in was called and I cupped in 3 maggots at 10m and slightly to my left before going over the op with double dead red maggot. The float settled and kept on going.....the resulting lift so several feet of elastic exiting the pole. I was a bit surprised to get a bite so quickly but disapointingly the hook pulled as it was nearing the net. It felt like a good fish and the ice had hampered playing it. Andy to my left had 3 quick fish at 11m on corn without feeding a thing. He had said that he could feel fish on the line when plumbing up so they were obviously comfortable in the deepest water. I got off my box and had a tin of corn open in record time. I went out to 11m where the depth was the same as this was where Andy was catching. After a couple of minutes the float buried and I bumped a fish that felt foulhooked. I went back out slightly to the left and soon had a 4lb carp in the net. Over the next hour I added a few more,and what was noticeable was that all of the fish came after lifting the rig and letting the corn flutter down. By this stage I still hadn't fed anything and after a couple of hours I had 5 carp in the net,while Andy had 10. I had caught all of my fish from the same spot at an angle to my left,slightly towards Andy,and hadn't had a sign in front of me or to my right. As is so often the case in winter the fish were quite tightly balled up.

At this stage it was slowing down for both of us. Andy fired a few grains of corn out while I held back, waiting to see the reaction. During this time I had a few looks along the far shelf but didn't manage so much as a liner from anywhere. It was clear the fish were in one part of my peg. I fired out the odd grain of corn (about 5 all match) to try and spark something into happening. After around 4 hours I had 10 carp in the net for around 35lb with Andy having almost double that. The rest of the canal was struggling as most people were fishing tight to the far bank with little joy. Andy then switched to 18m to a tree on the farbank (he had a spare peg to his left so was able to fish in front of this) and began to motor. I decided my best bet was to keep searching the deeper water and hope to consolidate second place as I was now too far behind to challenge for first. I had a small brown goldfish from the same spot and then about 10 minutes before the end I had a liner as far left as I could fish. After 2 minutes without further sign I lifted the float 6 inches out of the water and lowered it back down. As soon as the corn hit the deck it was gone and my 11th and final carp of about 4lb was in the net.

The all-out was called and it was clear Andy had walked the match as he must have had near the ton. I reckoned on having 35-40lb which I hoped would be enough for second (they pay top 2 on each canal)

After packing up I was first to weigh and my eleven carp caught at 11m from peg 11 weighed 40lb 2oz. Andy then had two weighs totalling 99lb 6oz,agonisingly short of the ton. The next best weight was then 27lb with a couple of high teens in between. The other canal had fished hard with 50lb odd winning and then much smaller weights. I suppose the match was a prime example of winter match-fishing for carp. You're either on a few or you're not. The hardest part is having the confidence and discipline to not feed anything,as if the fish are in front of you there's no need and if they aren't then they aren't likely to move very far to find your feed. It was pretty simple fishing and if I'm honest there's not alot I would have done differently.

Whinwhistle Open- 31/1/2010

I had thought there was a winter league round this Sunday but I had the dates mixed up and it is actually on 7th Feb. An open match was arranged instead and 12 of us turned up to fish on Keepers Lake. Upon arrival I was greeted by the familiar sight of frozen lakes. It soon transpired that they had been completely ice free the day before and had frozen overnight. Not surprising when the car thermometer showed -7 degrees as I pulled into the carpark. Andy Shanks was busy clearing a few pegs on the far-bank and was knackered by the time a few of us went round to help. I say 'help'- I managed to mostly supervise while everyone else was working up a sweat....

Come the draw and there were only 2 pegs I really didn't fancy,peg 24 and peg 11. These two are the very end pegs of each section and aren't great for silvers for some reason. Anywhere between 15 and 23 would have been ideal. In went the lucky left hand and out came peg 11....Doh! The same number as yesterdays visit to Greenridge but I somehow felt it would be a lot harder today.

Peg 11 was one of the first to be broken in the morning and by the time I got there it had started to re-freeze. There were only a couple of ice breakers available so I began to set up a couple of topkits etc before cadging one and re-breaking my peg. I spent a good 30 minutes and clearead a wide channel out to around 10m. I set-up two rigs- both 4x12 Malman Winter Wires on 0.14-0.10 and both matched to double 4 slip. The only difference was one rig had a 20 Tubertini 808 and the other had a 22 Black Gama. The Gama rig was for fishing single dead maggot or pinkie an inch overdepth and the 808 was for fishing pellet at dead depth. I had around 5ft of water all over the peg and plumbed 4 lines. Two at 4m left and right and two at 10m left and right. All four lines were plumbed right up against the ice. The peg was very flat which might be a reason why it isn't the best for silvers?For bait I had half a pint of maggot,half a pint of pinkie,some damp micro,3mm & 4mm expanders and half a kilo of groundbait (50/50 Ringers dark & PA Low Feed)

The all-in was called at 10.15 am and I fed a nugget of groundbait and 3 pinkies short to the left,before putting two balls of groundbait to the right. I planned to leave this line for atleast 3 hours and to be honest it was a bit of a throwaway line. The long left line received 10 maggots and around 2 micro pellets while the long right line was left unfed. I kicked off on the short left line with single pinkie but didn't have a bite in the first fifteen minutes. I then moved onto the long left line and this was also uneventful. After 90 minutes I hadnt had a bite off either line and neither had Phil Timms to my right on peg 12. The only person to catch in my section was Phil James on peg 15 (flier!) who was catching small fish on squatt long. I was now getting pretty bored so refed the long left line with a pinch of micro pellet and fed a small hard ball of grounbait on the long right line. I then did something I almost never do and left my peg. I walked around to the hut and bought a Mars and a Snickers before walking around the lake and having a chat with Andy on peg 24. He had just caught 3 pairs of eyes in the last 10 minutes and was the only person in that section to have caught anything.

I returned to my peg to find that Phil next door had caught a 3oz skimmer and the other anglers in my section had also caught 1 fish each. I still couldn't buy a bite until just after two hours when the float finally dipped on the left hand long line and I soon netted a plump 4oz roach on single dead maggot. I always prefer to use dead maggot when the water's cold as it stays stretched out whereas a live maggot will shrivel up as soon as it hits the water. In the next 5 minutes I had another 2 roach before I was once again biteless. At this stage Phil next door started to catch a few skimmers. He had resorted to cupping in groundbait loose and it had clearly worked. Never one to be slow on the uptake I cupped in a loose pot of groundbait over the right hand line and left it for 5 minutes. First drop in and the float settled for all of 5 seconds before burying and a 6oz skimmer was soon in the net. I then had a few more before switching to the pellet rig which brought a few extra fish. Over the next couple of hours I kept picking off fish,with my 36th being swung in right on the whistle. Phil James had slowed right up although I felt with the big head start he had it would be close. Phil Timms had caught less fish than me but had crucially found 2 proper skimmers of around 2lb and 1lb respectively that I knew would make the difference.

After packing away I was once again first to weigh and the needle bounced round to 5lb dead. Phil Timms then put 7lb 13oz on the scales- I told you it would have been close without those two bonus fish. The next two anglers had less than 1lb each before Phil James pulled his net out. It was clearly going to be close between us and the scales eventually settled on 5lb 8oz. If I'd had another 15 minutes I probably would have had that. So I finished third in section and one out of the money. The other section was won with 2lb something,with most weights 1lb or under. It had fished hard for most but it was always likely to be given the conditions. Most important of all was Andy Shanks weighing in 2lb 3oz which meant another shiny nugget was in my pocket. The trouble was he finished 2nd in his section so had another 19 to go with it.....

Next Sunday finally sees the next round of the winter league. I'm currently top but only on dropped result as 3 of us are tied in 1st place. I'm hoping for a half decent draw and a few fish to stay in contention.