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!

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.

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.

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.....

End of year struggle....

Early last week I called the tackle shop at Witherington Farm to see if there was a match 'on the board'. 'Yes' said the lad,it's on Cottage but it's fully booked'. 'No problem,put me down as first reserve.' I checked on Friday and was still first reserve so decided I would drive out there in the morning,if I got on the match great,if not I'd have a few hours fishing Sellwood (one of the other lakes). I pulled into the carpark at a little after 8 to find it was rammed with cars........strange! I got chatting to a few of the lads I know and it soon transpired that the plank in the shop had got the dates wrong,it was actually the Teams of 4 this weekend. So not only could I not fish the match I couldnt fish Sellwood as this was to be used in the match. So after an hour round-trip wasted I decided to spend the day at Whinwhistle as it was on the way home and I had the car loaded up. I very rarely get to pleasure fish as it doesn't do alot for me but faced with sitting in the hous all day twiddling my thumbs or spending a few hours on the bank I chose the latter. I had a nice day on Peg 1 of The Square catching around 16lb on pole & pellet. With the fourth round of the winter league the next day I tried a few different things that I wouldn't risk in a match situation.

Sunday morning dawned and after a cup of tea and a bacon sandwich I loaded up the car and made the short 5 minute journey to Whinwhistle. I fancied a draw on The Square after the previous day but anywhere along the middle bank of Keepers would suit me. In went the lucky left hand and out came end-peg 10. Now this peg is a bit of a flyer as it has a small bay to the left that usually holds a carp or two so I was reasonably happy. The only trouble is I always target the silvers which has been key to my consistent results over the last couple of years,and peg 10 is a little bit shit or bust as if the carp don't play ball you're looking for snookers. I was less enthusiastic when I got round to my peg to find that the overflow pipe that enters the lake in the small bay was absolutely tonking water into my peg. We have had so much rain lately that it was inevitable but I always find masses of cold water entering a lkae such as this is never a good thing. Setting up I didn't see a single sign of a fish which didn't exactly inspire me and deep down I knew it would be one of those days. I decided I would fish maggot down the edge to my left at 11m,pellet straight out at 11m and a tip rod for casting around in the small bay.

To cut a (very) long story short, I didn't even manage a real liner on the tip all day,and the silvers fishing was very hard. I managed to eek out a few on maggot down the edge and pellet long but I never felt there was any real volume of fish in my area. The water was so coloured due to the inlet pipe which I'm sure had an effect. I weighed 3lb 3oz which was actually enough for third in section so not that disaster that I had feared but I was still gutted at the day. The top 2 weights in section both had a similar weight of silvers but crucially managed a carp for around 12lb and 10lb respectively. If I'm being honest the only thing I would have done differently is fished lighter down the edge as I was geared for carp on pretty heavy gear for this time of year which wasn't ideal and I bumped one or two decent roach, but then if I was to win the section I would have needed a carp anyway.

After the match we had the Christmas meal (hotdogs,chicken legs,pizza,chips etc) and I made sure I had my fill,and then a bit more! It's now Wednesday and I'm still full.....

I haven't got any firm match commitments until early January so there's every chance I won't be on the bank until then so there will be no blogs for a while. I shall mostly be eating too much and getting drunk. Here's to a Merry Christmas and Tight Lines for 2010!

Wet Wet Wet....

After not fishing for almost 3 weeks I was looking forward to a match-double header this weekend. Looking at the forecast during the week it was clear that the weather was going to be pretty bad and that's exactly how it turned out! Saturday saw me heading to Greenridge Farm to fish the open. I had only ever fished there during the warmer months and had picked up every time so was keen to see if I could continue this run. I was first to arrive and met match organiser Mick kenny and soon found out that there were only 7 fishing. A few people had pulled out as the match drew closer,I think they were the sensible ones that paid attention to the forecast....

After scoffing a couple of bacon and sausage rolls it was time for the draw and I pulled out peg 17. We were all on canal 2 and a quick check with Pete Newman revealed that my peg wasn't the best. Plumbing up to the far bank it soon become clear that whoever dug my peg was drunk and had used a spoon. The depth variation was unbelievable and I couldnt find a flat spot anywhere. I spent the first half an hour searching along at half depth with a corn skin without a sign but soon had an 8lb mirror on pellet at depth. To cut a long story short I then went a few hours without a bite before taking two more carp of about 2lb apiece. It was quite frustrating as I only fed one spot,and that was fed very light. I tried a few places along the bank and didn't get any liners or foulhooked fish whereas the guy to my left was foulhooking fish all day,and he didn't feed anything either. For whatever reason the fish were happy in his peg although they weren't really feeding. With the rain hammering down I did something that I very rarely do and packed up with 15 minutes to go. I knew I couldn't pick up so there was no point in persevering and I left just before the weigh-in-keen to get home and showered! I believe that about 50lb won from the far-end-this was the word on the grape-vine as I left,but knowing what us match anglers are like it was probably more like 100lb!

Sunday saw the third round of the winter league at Whinwhistle. Going into the match I was in tied second place on 4 points following a section 3rd and then a section 1st. After seeing off a breakfast I was ready for the draw. As usual I was hoping to be on Keepers lake again as I think it is more consistent and I hadn't fished the square since the massive changes took place at the end of the summer. I was second into the bag and pulled out W7- Peg 7 on the square. If I'm honest I was a bit disapointed as I had hoped to avoid The Square,especially as the end pegs 1 & 8 were likely to dominate. Nonetheless there were points up for grabs and you have to make the most of your draw. This match was also the second round of the knockout cup and I had been drawn against Nigel Berry who was on a good peg on Keepers-24. This peg is usually good for a carp or two and I thought I'd be up against it from where I'd drawn. The square is a good few hundred yards from Keepers so I wouldn't know how I had fared in the knockout until the end-not necessarily a bad thing.


After getting to my peg the weather was getting worse as the wind increased and the rain got heavier. I contemplated only setting up the tip to fish a maggot feeder to the platform on the adjacent bank but decided to also set-up the pole and waggler (I only had one chuck on the wag as the weather meant I couldn't feed it). For the pole I set up two rigs. The first was my main rig- a 4x12 KC Chimp on 0.14-0.12 and an 18 Gama Pellet. Elastic was double 5 slip and the rig was shotted with a small bulk of 10's with a single dropper just above the six-inch hooklength. The second rig was a 4x12 KC Speed on 0.14-0.10 and a 22 Tubertini 808. This was matched to double 5 slip and shotted with a bulk and two droppers. Both topkits had a fruitshoot pot on the pole. I plumbed two lines at 13m at angles of 10 & 2 o'clock. I planned to only feed one to start with and have the second as a back-up. The feeder was an 11ft Beastmaster,3012 TDR,6lb sensor with a small maggot feeder and a 12 inch hooklength of 0.16 silk shock to an 18 drennan eyed barbless tied with a knotless knot. I clipped up right in front of the platform that was about 25m slightly to my left. For bait I had a pint of damp micro's,half a pint of crushed pellet,a pint of red maggot and some 3 & 4.5mm hook pellets.

About 10 minute's before the all-in the heavens really opened and the rain hammered down. When the whistle went a few people just sat there hunched under the brollies. I decided to start on the maggot feeder and not feed the pole line atall. I would give each cast around 5 minute's,half filling the smallest drennan feeder each time. I had to add a bit more weight to the feeder as the wind was making casting increasingyl difficult. After 20 minute's I hadn't had a sign,although I did reel in a 1oz roach that had decided to hang itself. After 25 minute's I fed the 13m line with a small ball of crushed pellet and a tiny pinch of micro's. After another biteless cast it was out with a 4mm pellet and after 5 minute's without a bite I was in trouble. I have always caught well on the pellet and the fish are usually on it straight away when fed negatively. After a few more minutes of lifting and dropping the float pimple dipped and I lifted into a small skimmer. It was only around 2-3oz but as no-one else had caught a fish it was most welcome. I then went around 20 minute's without a bite which was quite worrying. I can only assume that all of the rain had knocked things on the head a bit. Eventually by working the bait and trickling in 3-4 micro's every now and then I caught the odd skimmer and had around 12 fish after 2 hours. Phil James two to my right had caught a few small skimmers short but this had dried up. He then went out to 13m and soon had a 3lb bream in the net- DOH! This put him in the lead for the section as I probably had about 1.5lb and most others were blanking. I continued picking off the odd small skimmer but it was very hard going- although I caught far better on a 4mm pellet than a 3mm or single maggot which was perhaps surprising.

With around 2 and a half hours to go I was thinking of changing to the 2 o'clock 13m line but felt with it being so hard the fish would be a bit further out. I went to the rod bag and got out the 14.5m section and plumbed a new line. The depth was exactly the same which made things easier. I cupped in 8-10 maggots,around 10 micro pellets and a tiny piece of crushed pellet on this new line. After a 5 minute biteless chuck on the tip I shipped out to 14.5m and lowered a 4mm pellet down. The float barely settled before disaperaing and a 3oz roach was soon in the net. I went straight back out without feed and after a couple of minutes the float dipped and I lifted into something more substantial. I thought it was a carp at first but as it neared the net it was clear that it was a skimmer of around 1lb hooked in the pectoral fin. A useful bonus on such a hard day but a bit disapointing as I thought it was a bigger fish due to being foulhooked. I went straight back out without feeding and after some 5 minutes the float again dipped and I lifted into a flying skimmer of around 2lb. This one was in the mouth and a very useful fish as it probably put me in the lead for the section. I then went 10 minutes without a sign so cupped in a similar small amount of feed and tried the original 13m line. This swim was now dead so I decided to knock it on the head and spend the last 90 minutes at 14.5m and the tip.

Back out to 14.5m with a 4mm pellet and after 5 minute's or so the float vanished out of the blue and the lift was met with the welcoming sight of double 5 slip. This was a proper fish and it plodded out of the swim. After a good 20 minute's I finally slipped the net under a fighting fit common carp that must have been 9-10lb- a proper bonus fish. Now I got a bit of stick for taking so long to land the fish but on such a hard day there's no rush. At Whinwhistle it's rare to get more than one carp so you have to make sure you get it in and the double 5 is spot on for this. At this point I decided to switch the rig to a different topkit containing pink j-range elastic coupled with a pulla bung as the double 5 was hanging out of the kit following the last fish. This is the softest hollow you can get and I hoped it would be ok for the small skimmers. I only bought some during the week as I felt the pulla bung would give better control with the bonus fish-something else I had never used before. After 5 minutes without a bite I re-fed with a similar amount of bait as the initial feed and decided to give the tip 15 minute's. I switched to an 0.18 hooklength to an 18 PR36 with a quickstop on the hair and a GURU 1oz lead. The reel was unclipped and the double corn hookbait with a tiny PVA bag was cast further along the bank to the next platform. Fifteen minute's without so much as a liner was all I was prepeared to give this as nobody had caught a fish on the tip. I could see that Mike Smith on boss peg 1 had caught 3 carp- 2 smaller fish and a proper lump which I felt sure would beat me. With 20 minutes to go it was back out to 14.5m but 10 minutes without a bite meant it was decision time. I was clearly 2nd in section so had nothing to lose. A half golf ball sized nugget of crushed pellet was cupped in and I went straight over the top with a 4mm pellet. As the clock ticked down there was only 5 minutes remaing when the float shot under out of the blue and I lifted into solid resistance. The fish sat there for a second or two before kiting out of the swim. The whistle blew to signal the end of the match and I called out 'FISH ON'. I got the fish to the topkit and it became clear that it was foulhooked in the tail by the way it was fighting- almost eel-like. With plenty of elastic through the pulla I had the fish in the net but as it was coming in backwards it swam out. I felt sure I was going to lose it and prayed that the 0.12 hooklength would hold strong. As the fish was 90% in the net the hook pulled......but I managed to bundle it in- if it had pulled a second earlier the fish would have been gone. When you're luck's in you're luck's in!!

After packing most of my gear away the scales made their way down. The guy on end peg 8 to my left had caught one small carp down the edge in the last 30 minutes for 3lb odd. My net of skimmers then went 5lb 4oz before the two carp went 14lb 15oz- more than I thought and a pleasing 20lb 3oz total. The guy to my right then weighed 10oz before Phil James put a high 3lb on and promptly handed over a quid. The weights were then very poor as no-one had more than 2lb- proof of how hard it had fished. With only Mike left to weigh he plonked 3 carp on the scales from down the edge for 18lb something and second place. Phil's 3lb odd was enough for third!

After packing up I headed to the lodge for a cup of tea and my winnings. Keepers had also fished hard with 12lb odd winning each section. Importantly for me this meant I had progressed to the next round of the knock-out as Nigel weighed 11lb something- happy days!

So after three rounds I am now top of the league on 5 points following back-to-back section wins. There is still a long way to go and I just have to hope I can draw OK and maintain the results in the remaining six rounds. I'm not fishing this weekend but will be back at Whinwhistle for the 4th round (and Christmas dinner) on the 6th.