This weekend saw us back at Blythe for the final round of our pairs league round 8 of 8 which saw me and Stav lying in second place 5 points behind the league leaders Carl & Chris but a good 12 points in-front of third so barring a total blow out we looked good for second at least, we had a chance of catching the leaders on the last match but my draw arm deserted me and a bad draw saw me lose 3 points to Carl but thanks to Stav beating his man by 3 points we stayed 5 points behind. We were praying for a good draw to try and win the league again as we won it last year it would be great to retain the title! Even though i had drawn myself a bad peg on the last match Stav said i was still drawing as he was catching and winning money off my draw arm so into the bag i went for the last time this league ( until October when it all starts again ), i pulled out Bridge pool again for myself this is the 5th time on the bounce on this pool but i was more than happy with peg 3 as Carl had won the pool off this peg 2 matches ago. I pulled Stav out peg 25 on Cherries which under normal conditions is a good peg as you can reach the boom with 16m of pole but with the strong wind blowing straight down the pool from the cafe end down to peg 22 it would be impossible to hold that length of carbon today. My peg was looking good as the wind was blowing over my right shoulder as Stav and i looked at the peg it seemed one of calmest on the pool, for company i had John Billingham to my right on peg 5 Kev Clarke on peg 10 again which always seems to throw up a few fish but more importantly Chris who i had to beat was on the point peg 7. There is a boom on peg 3 which i could reach with 14.5m of pole and is virtully opposite peg 35 which i had won the pool off previously, that day i caught a lot of fish up in the water as this is the deep end of the pool with 7-8ft of water under the boom and i centered my attack around this as apart from the strong wind the temperature was still good. I also fancied the left-hand margin as there was a good 3 1/2 ft of water down towards a small tree which Carl had caught from when he won the pool off the peg, these were my 2 main attacks with a short 6m line set up for pellet just in-case.
Rig 1, shallow rig, 0.30grDrennan carp 4, 0.16 line to a Preston 16 PR27 , set 18 inches deep and 13 hollo elastic.
Rig 2, the same as above but set 3ft deep both rigs with around 18 inches of line above the float as the swirling was causing the the pole tip to bounce around and pull the rig from the water.
Rig 3, margin rig, 4x12 Preston durra 10 float, 0.18 line to a Tubertini 175 size 3 and black hydro elastic.
Rig 4, 6m pellet line, 4x14 Maver Jona float, 0.18 to a h/l of 0.16 same hook and elastic as above set around 6ft deep.
As usual i came armed to the teeth with all sizes of pellets, 1kg of worm, 4 pints of caster, 4 tins of corn and some 6mm cubed meat.
I stared the match on the shallow rig firing 4mm pellets with a 6mm lassoed pellet on the hair after feed the margin with a mix of chopped worm caster and corn, the 6m line was fed with a pot of 4mm pellets & corn. After around 10mins of pinging pellets at the float i hooked and landed my first carp of the day and a 3lb carp was soon in the bag, around another 10mins went passed before my next fish a 1 1/2lb f1 and although most of the wind was off my back sometimes it would suddenly change direction and i would have to let the pole go or risk a break. I soon changed to feeding 6mm pellets as the 4mm's were getting blown all over the place not that the local ducks were complaining as they were picking off my over-spray from the boom, Talking of the boom the strong wind was moving it away from me when it blew strongly showing all the roots underneath from the weeds, grass and bushes and when the wind subsided a little the boom would swing back towards, after fishing up to the boom for a lot of the match i began to feel sea sick as i would push the pole 1/2m closer towards it to put my rig where the fish tend to patrol and then pull it back as the wind calmed down i was just hoping that the rope tied to a tree at the end of the pool would not snap and leave me without a feature! Back to the match and at the end of the first hour i had 5 fish for around 15lb which was as good as anyone of the 5 of us on the point and the 2 guys i could see opposite so i was happy with the way it was going, my usual 1 hour phone call to Stav revealed that he only got 1 tench on the method up to the boom and the wind was that strong they couldn't hold the pole beyond 5-6m the only good news was that Carl who he had to beat was not catching at this point either. My only advice to Stav was to try a pop-up boilie with a long tail above the feeder as there are always fish up in the water paroling the boom with this the only way to present a stable bait in the wind, the second hour for me went about the same as the first with another 5 fish falling to the shallow rig with 2 of those coming to the deeper shallow rig as i was contently changing the depth to find another fish one of them was a good 8-9lb. JB on the next peg came around the bush that was in-between to spy on what i was doing as he was struggling to catch i asked him how Chris was catching as the same bush was stopping me from seeing him clearly, JB said he was really struggling to get any bites at all this and spurred me on to just keep on what i was doing as although it was hard to hold the pole at 14.m in the wind i knew there were more fish to be had on this line. A quick look on both the short and margin lines produced only 1 skimmer & 2 roach on the worm margin rig so i was soon back shallow, hour three went the same as before and good news came from Stav who had started catching odd fish from down the edge at 14.5m passed peg 24's pallet down to a lily bed this was made better as Carl was still not catching. At the end of the 3rd hour i reckoned on having 15-16 fish with only 3 of them f1's and a rough guess at 50-60lb in the sack with Chris not catching at all, over the next half hour bites started to slow right down with only 1 small carp falling to the deeper shallow rig so another look on my other lines was called for. I went onto the margin rig which i had been topping up with regular pots of worm slop throughout the match and the float buried first drop in, it was a good fish of around 6lb and i was hoping that there would be a few more down there to keep my catch rate up and keep Chris as far away from me as possible, over the next hour i had another 5 carp all in the 4-6lb class and with 30mins left to go i was happy that i was catching well when i hooked a fish that tore off down the lake at a rate of knots before breaking my 0.18 rig. I thought that it was a good foul-hooker so i put another rig on identical to it but next drop in the same happened again i couldn't believe it i hadn't lost a fish all day then 2 in 2 put-ins! Were they foul-hooked or had some of the lake's bigger residents turned up to the party? I looked into my rig draw but couldn't find a rig that i needed as it is a deep edge and all my heavy 0.20 rigs were on short line with big hooks for paste fishing so i had to do what i hate and this is make up a rig on the bank, i went for broke with 0.22 line and a size 4 Tubertini 175 hook as the beasts in this lake go to over 20lb! The next fish i hooked didn't like it and went crazy not wanting to be landed but after around 5mins of hard fighting i netted the best fish of the day 12-13lb ghostie, why do these fish seem to fight mad bulldogs on steroids? With 5mins of the match left to go i had my last fish of the day and at around 10lb the big fish certainly turned up late on down the edge but my main concern was that had Chris caught late on as a few on these margin lumps can take you from no where to right up there in no time at all, i went around the bush and asked JB how Chris had got on and when he replied 1 carp & 3 skimmers i new i had done him by a good few points. A quick call to Stav reviled that he had caught a few form his margin worm line but Carl had caught late on down the edge as well, he thought he had got enough to beat Carl but it was too close to call until they went on the scales. I was first to weigh-in and when JB added them up i had got 104lb 12oz my best weight from the fishery, JB was next with 58lb off peg 12 who had caught all his fish on the deck up to the boom after failing to catch shallow then Chris on peg 7 was next and when he pulled his fish out he was shaking his head knowing that he was going to be close to last on the pool with 7lb 8oz. Kev Clarke was next on peg 10 with 73lb odd and only Dave on peg 12 had got less than Chris with 1 carp and as we weighed the rest of the pool in ever weight over Chris's was giving me another point, by the time we had finished weighing in no one else had got more than me so i had won the pool and no one else had less than 7lb so i had beaten Chris by a masive 12 points. No time for celebration yet as i needed Satv to have got his estimations right on beating Carl, thankfully he had Stav with 53lb for 3rd on the pool and Carl 47lb for 5th beating him by 2 points so added to the 12 i had got we had gained 14 points on them overtaking the 5 point deficit we had before the start of play and winning the league by 9 points, WOHOO we had come for mid table a few matches ago to retain the title we won last year. Bad luck to Carl & Chris who had topped the league from round 1 until the last round better luck next year and well done to Kev Clarke & Tony Bowen for coming 3rd. Thanks to Gail & Dave who kept us feed & watered throughout the league ( espesily Gail's homemade bread pudding after a days fishing goes down great with a cuppa ) and thanks to Carl,JB and Brian for running the league. Another well done for Gail for winning Cherries pool on the day of peg 10 with 84lb. Top 4 on the day were:
BRIDGE POOL CHERRIES POOL
1ST S. West 104lb peg 3 1st Gail 84lb peg 10
2nd K. Clarke 73lb peg 10 2nd P.Durnell 65lb peg 22
3rd C. Owen 68lb peg 3rd Stav 53lb peg 25
4th J. Billingham 58lb peg 5 4th T. Bowen 49lb peg 23
FINAL LEAGUE
1ST ME & STAV 173 POINTS
2ND CARL & CHRIS 164 "
3RD CLARKIE & BOWEN 156 "
Well done to my pairs partner & chauffeur Stavros who turned in a great solid performance through out the league ( he made me say that!) and to all who took part in the league and see you in October when we can start all over again.
Ps. well done to Stav for not crashing the car on the way back as we were listening to the football on the way back on the last day of the season and as my team Wolves were relegated one minute then out of it the next as goals went in elsewhere i was all over the place, i had no nails left but it turned out to be a good day as well as winning the fishing Wolves avoiding relegation Blues were the team relegated along with West Ham & Blackpool, double joy as i could take the mick out of all the blue nose's at work, so i celebrated with 4 cans of Stella. CHEERS.
Sunday 29 May 2011
Wednesday 25 May 2011
Cob house Laugherne Island Sunday 15/5/11
This weekend saw us at Cob House fisheries for a Cradley Heath Labour club match on Laugherne Pool we fished the same pool last year around a month later than this year which was won with 9olb odd on a very hot still day, i was 4th that day with 70lb odd and i was hoping for a few more fish this time as the fishery had been fishing very well. We all assembled on the car park at 9.00am for the draw after what i must say is the best breakfast i have had for a long time i think i went over the top a bit as i felt very full afterwards, the midweek open on the same pool had saw a lot of fish caught on the method feeder due to a very strong wind blowing down the pool and today the conditions were the same. I drew out peg 31 on the right hand bank and traveling partner
Stav drew peg 36 most of the pegs on this pool have an island to throw to around 20m away we have been told that the gaps in-between the 3 islands are good pegs as you have the point to throw to and mug the carp as they patrol the islands. My peg was not one of the gap pegs but i was not worried as the whole pool is full of fish, i had come to fish the paste but i think the wind would be a bit strong for fishing this correctly so i might have to re-think this attack. I decided to set up just 2 pole rigs and the method feeder today as the wind looked set in for the day.
Rig 1, 4m rig a Maver invincible series 3 4x14, 0.18 line straight through to size 5 Tubertini 175, set just touching bottom in 2 1/2 ft of water, a bulk of 5 no8 stotz 6 inches from the hook to try and combat the wind and black hydro elastic.
Rig 2, 4m down the edge rig for maggot, Preston durra 10 4x12 float, 0.18 line straight through to a size 3 175 and black hydro elastic.
Rig 3, a 24 gram inline guru method feeder, 8lb maxima mainline, 16 pr27 hook to 0.20 line with a lasso for hard pellet.
For bait i had got 2 pints of 1mm micro pellets, 2 pints of 3mm pellets, 2 tins of corn and 4 pints of dead maggots, some paste and expander pellets.
I started on the method feeder after potting in some corn, pellets & paste on the 4m line and throwing some dead maggots in down the margin, i had got a 6mm red pellet on the hook and after around 3 chucks the tip flew round with the first fish of the day a nice 4lb carp. The first hour went passed and i managed a total of 7 carp in-between 3-6lb all falling to red or white hard 6 or 8mm pellets, there were a few lads catching fish but i felt that i was holding my own and the longer i could feed my two pole lines without fishing them the better they would get. Hour 2 and the wheels started to come off with only 3 more bites 2 carp and 1 skimmer for my efforts despite trying meat, corn and maggots on the hook, it was time to try the pole lines which i had been feeding from the off so i put some paste on the hook and shipped out to the 4m line and awaited the action! The wind was causing a me few problems as i was struggling to combat the strong side wind and after only 10mins on the paste i gave it up as a bad job but despite trying corn and pellet on the hook i couldn't get a bite, a quick look down the edge on the maggot was met with the same bite-less response so back to the feeder it was. I caught a few on the method feeder over the middle section of the match but i felt that the fish weren't feeding very avidly as you would have 2 fish then 10-15mins without a sign, i could see Stav and Baz catching a few fish but it wasn't until the last hour before i started to get bites on the pole lines. Into the last hour i had got 15 carp and 2 skimmers when the bites on the feeder totally dried up and i at last had a fish on the pole which came on the corn over pellet on the 4m line, 2 more carp followed and losing 2 as well but i was getting bites with one of the fish around 8lb. Then as quick as they come they vanished so a look down the edge was called for, with 3 red live maggots on the hook which i had scrounged off Stav before the start and first put in i hooked a carp which slipped the hook. The carp were down there now as next drop in i hooked and landed a fish of around 12lb which i put into a third net as i felt it might push my net over the 50lb limit, i had a couple of roach before hooking 2 more carp which i managed to lose both of the fish were there but i couldn't work out how to hook them properly. I had 2 more carp from down the edge before the all out sounded and i was left frustrated after hooking 9 carp down the edge in the last half hour but only landing 3? maybe i had fed too much? i had put around 3 pints of dead maggots down there which i thought was not over the top for the size of the fish? I thought i had got some where between 90-100lb so when Stav was first to weigh with a good 101lb i knew it would be close, he had caught mainly on the method but with 2 big lumps out of the margins going close to 30lb? there was a 4o odd next then Stu to my left had 76lb. Stav saw 3 nets in and said that if i had got more than him i would be walking home my 21 fish went 104lb 10oz and put me into 1st place so far ( sorry Stav!), John to my right had 67lb. The fish down the edge were worth catching as the 3 fish i managed to get out went 27lb but i pulled out of around 6 carp! The best weights on the opposite side were Baz Robson on peg 1 with 100lb plus ounces and Bob (Bouson) Evans with 90lb! Great this gave me my second club match win of the year and its only the third match? We all had a good days fishing and i for one along with Stav will be paying this fishery a few more visits this summer as the fishing, staff and a good clean cafe all help to make a good day out which is all i can ask for on a day off from work. Cheers.
Stav drew peg 36 most of the pegs on this pool have an island to throw to around 20m away we have been told that the gaps in-between the 3 islands are good pegs as you have the point to throw to and mug the carp as they patrol the islands. My peg was not one of the gap pegs but i was not worried as the whole pool is full of fish, i had come to fish the paste but i think the wind would be a bit strong for fishing this correctly so i might have to re-think this attack. I decided to set up just 2 pole rigs and the method feeder today as the wind looked set in for the day.
Rig 1, 4m rig a Maver invincible series 3 4x14, 0.18 line straight through to size 5 Tubertini 175, set just touching bottom in 2 1/2 ft of water, a bulk of 5 no8 stotz 6 inches from the hook to try and combat the wind and black hydro elastic.
Rig 2, 4m down the edge rig for maggot, Preston durra 10 4x12 float, 0.18 line straight through to a size 3 175 and black hydro elastic.
Rig 3, a 24 gram inline guru method feeder, 8lb maxima mainline, 16 pr27 hook to 0.20 line with a lasso for hard pellet.
For bait i had got 2 pints of 1mm micro pellets, 2 pints of 3mm pellets, 2 tins of corn and 4 pints of dead maggots, some paste and expander pellets.
I started on the method feeder after potting in some corn, pellets & paste on the 4m line and throwing some dead maggots in down the margin, i had got a 6mm red pellet on the hook and after around 3 chucks the tip flew round with the first fish of the day a nice 4lb carp. The first hour went passed and i managed a total of 7 carp in-between 3-6lb all falling to red or white hard 6 or 8mm pellets, there were a few lads catching fish but i felt that i was holding my own and the longer i could feed my two pole lines without fishing them the better they would get. Hour 2 and the wheels started to come off with only 3 more bites 2 carp and 1 skimmer for my efforts despite trying meat, corn and maggots on the hook, it was time to try the pole lines which i had been feeding from the off so i put some paste on the hook and shipped out to the 4m line and awaited the action! The wind was causing a me few problems as i was struggling to combat the strong side wind and after only 10mins on the paste i gave it up as a bad job but despite trying corn and pellet on the hook i couldn't get a bite, a quick look down the edge on the maggot was met with the same bite-less response so back to the feeder it was. I caught a few on the method feeder over the middle section of the match but i felt that the fish weren't feeding very avidly as you would have 2 fish then 10-15mins without a sign, i could see Stav and Baz catching a few fish but it wasn't until the last hour before i started to get bites on the pole lines. Into the last hour i had got 15 carp and 2 skimmers when the bites on the feeder totally dried up and i at last had a fish on the pole which came on the corn over pellet on the 4m line, 2 more carp followed and losing 2 as well but i was getting bites with one of the fish around 8lb. Then as quick as they come they vanished so a look down the edge was called for, with 3 red live maggots on the hook which i had scrounged off Stav before the start and first put in i hooked a carp which slipped the hook. The carp were down there now as next drop in i hooked and landed a fish of around 12lb which i put into a third net as i felt it might push my net over the 50lb limit, i had a couple of roach before hooking 2 more carp which i managed to lose both of the fish were there but i couldn't work out how to hook them properly. I had 2 more carp from down the edge before the all out sounded and i was left frustrated after hooking 9 carp down the edge in the last half hour but only landing 3? maybe i had fed too much? i had put around 3 pints of dead maggots down there which i thought was not over the top for the size of the fish? I thought i had got some where between 90-100lb so when Stav was first to weigh with a good 101lb i knew it would be close, he had caught mainly on the method but with 2 big lumps out of the margins going close to 30lb? there was a 4o odd next then Stu to my left had 76lb. Stav saw 3 nets in and said that if i had got more than him i would be walking home my 21 fish went 104lb 10oz and put me into 1st place so far ( sorry Stav!), John to my right had 67lb. The fish down the edge were worth catching as the 3 fish i managed to get out went 27lb but i pulled out of around 6 carp! The best weights on the opposite side were Baz Robson on peg 1 with 100lb plus ounces and Bob (Bouson) Evans with 90lb! Great this gave me my second club match win of the year and its only the third match? We all had a good days fishing and i for one along with Stav will be paying this fishery a few more visits this summer as the fishing, staff and a good clean cafe all help to make a good day out which is all i can ask for on a day off from work. Cheers.
Monday 23 May 2011
Blythe Pairs League Sunday 1/5/11
Hi folks, back to Blythe this weekend for round 7 of our pairs league and if you have read my blog before you will know that me partner Stav have shot back up the league over the last 3 matches from mid table to just a few points behind Carl & Chris who are on the top of the league at the moment. With a good draw we were hoping to try and close the gap from 6 points or even overtake them but it would take a good draw to do so, with a 3rd, 1st and 2nd in the last 3 matches Stav left it up to me to draw again ( if it ain't broke don't fix it! ). On the way up to the draw i felt confident of catching off most of the pegs on bridge pool except peg 33 which has shown nothing off it all league even now when the weights are picking up Paul Durrnel had 10lb off it on the last match which was the best weight off the peg all league! Yes you can guess what happened next out i came with Bridge peg 33 for myself SHIT just when we have got into a good position to attack the leaders i draw the worst peg on the pool Crap, crap, triple crap, i drew Stav peg 22 on Cherries which looks a good peg on the far end of the pool but it is the only peg on the pool that you have no boom to fish to and it has no recent form it also had the strong wind off its back blowing down the pool towards pegs 10 & 32 it was going to take a mammoth task to do anything from this draw. When i got to my peg i sat there looking at the water for inspiration and to be fair the peg doesn't look that bad with the same 2 islands to throw to as peg 29 which i had 50lb off on the last match but from this side of the pool they are over to the left, just to the right at around 16m there are some tree stumps just sticking out of the water and when Stav drew it in the winter he plumbed up all across from the stumps all the way toward the islands and said it was very snaggie which must be all the roots from the trees. I decided to set up 3 pole rigs and the method feeder, one for worm at 13m short of the snags, a short line at 6m for pellet and a margin rig for corn & meat down my left hand edge at 6m just passed a small bay, i was going to fish the method feeder this time up to the islands instead of the lead which i caught on 2 weeks ago because of the strong wind i thought that trying to get loose feed 8mm pellets over there would be very hard.
Rig 1, 13m line 4x14 Maver Jona 0.18 mainline to a 0.16 hook-length and a size 3 Tubertini 175 set on the deck around 5ft deep with 13 Preston hollo elastic.
Rig 2, 6m pellet line the same rig as above but in 4ft of water and 15 hollo elastic.
Rig 3, margin rig 4 x 12 Preston durra 10 float 0.20 line straight through to size 10 Preston pr27 hook in around 3ft of water and 17 hollo elastic.
I was going to fish quite heavy as the fish can run well into double figures here and with very few fish coming off the peg i felt that if i hooked any i needed them to come out! As i was setting up Carl came passed with his tackle and when i asked him where he had drawn he said peg 31 which made me feel worse as its a peg i fancy with a big long bay to itself in a corner, with Carl the man to beat for league points i felt that it would be near impossible with him on that peg. I had brought the usual armory of bait to cover all eventuality's as you need different baits for different pegs, you might need 8mm pellets on one peg for the wagg and lead, g/bait for the method and then you could draw a peg which you can reach the boom with 13m of pole and leave the rods in the bag!
At the start i potted in worm & caster at 13m, 4mm pellets & corn at 6m and corn with a few 8mm cubes of red meat down the edge, i started on the method feeder up to the island to my left as this is as far as you can go on this peg with the gap in-between the islands and the far island belonging to peg 29 on the other side of the pool. Over the first 30mins i had a few casts without success on the method feeder and i wasn't happy with my g/bait as a couple of times the feeder had been in the water for 5mins but most of it was still on the feeder when i reeled in, the g/bait i had got had been in and out of the freezer a couple of times as i said you don't know where you are going to draw until you get there this had been with me a couple of times with being used. I don't know if it was the g/bait or me thinking that i had caught on the lead 2 weeks earlier that made me switch to the lead but i did and 10mins later i had my first pull on the tip which saw me connected to my first carp of the day, i gained around 4-5 turns on the reel to get the fish away from the island but as i did the fish kited right when it all went solid on me the fish had snagged me. After trying to pull the fish out this way and that standing up all to no avail i eventually had to pull for a break in which i lost the lot and had to set up again, with the first hour coming to a close the tip pulled around again and carp no2 had sucked in my 8mm pellet but this time i put the rod to the left of me and just kept cranking until i felt the fish had come over the snags at 16m and a 4lb fish had got me off the mark. A quick call to Stav reveled that he a caught steady from the off up the edge on his corner peg and was doing well on his pool all i needed now was a few more bites and a bit of luck with the snags and we would be ok, Carl had got 2 good but Mark Farley had got 4 the other side of the island on peg 29 the others i could see were pretty quite. I stayed on the lead for the second hour which produced 2 more bites 1 a 3lb'er and the other i pulled out of trying to pull it over the snags, it was time to try my pole lines which i had been topping up from the start first was the worm line at 13m which after a couple of small roach produced a nice 1lb skimmer and i thought a few of those will do. I had a small perch before the bites dried up so after putting some more bait in i tried both my pellet and margin lines without a bite, back on the worm line and i couldn't get another bite on that either the peg was going from bad to worse 3 hours into the match and i had got around 8lb. Back on the lead and that was the same bite-less i was now fearing the worst and i was finding out why it has been the worst peg on the pool all winter, it was now May 1st but still there are not a lot of carp on the peg but it was the lack of silvers that i couldn't get my head around most of the other pegs you can do a decent weight of silvers off if there are no carp showing but this peg for some reason seems to lack both! The matches i can recall from memory on the peg in this league are ounces, 4lb 1 carp, dry, 2lb 1 chub, Satv had 7lb of it 1 carp + bits, 9lb 1 carp & 2 bits and 10lb 3 carp as you can see the peg has been of fire this series??? I was getting desperate but despite trying all the tricks i knew i remained bite-less until the last 20mins when i hooked a fish on a piece of red meat from the margin where i had decided to fish for the last 40mins as this offered the best chance of hooking a fish at this time of day, the fish tore off at a rate of knots across the pool towards peg 7 on the point pulling loads of 17 hollo elastic with it, then the carp carried on swimming with my rig attached CRAP it had broken my 0.20 line! Whether it was a big fish or foul hooked or both it had broke me and i had to get over it as i was fast running time, i attached another rig plumbed up again put on another 8mm cube of red meat and re-fed the line with a kinder pot of meat & corn. 5mins later i hooked and landed a fish of around 10lb i was now getting some line bites as there seemed to be a few fish down there now but i was running out of time, with only 5mins of the match left i managed a small 2lb carp then next put in hooked another fish and while i was playing it the whistle sounded. Around 2mins after the all-out i was still playing the fish which felt like another good fish but as i was just about to land it when the hook pulled out SHIT! What a day i had hooked 8 carp and only managed to land 4 i was not a happy bunny ranting and raving at myself for losing that last fish, the fish had come late down the edge but i had managed to loose 2 big lumps B******S. After i had calmed down a bit i went and followed the weigh-in Kev Clarke the best on peg 10 with Baz Robson winning the pool off peg 23 with 71lb falling to the method feeder, Mark Farley 2nd off peg 29 with 58lb, the next peg 31 was the most important as i new Carl had got more than me but by how many places was what i was worried about. Carl had 31lb for 4th on the pool and my fish went 20lb 13oz for half way on the pool 7th, that meant he had gained 3 points on me so now it was all resting on Stav to beat his partner which was Carl's dad for today as his regular partner Chris was on holiday. Stav had done brilliant off an out of form peg to end up 2nd on the pool with 65lb behind Martin Yardsley who won the lake and the overall match off peg 10 with 91lb and the best weight of the league so far so well done to him, but more importantly Stav had beat Carl's dad by the same 3 points i had lost to Carl so we were the same points adrift as we were at the start of the day so nothing gained but nothing lost. On reflection the match could have gone a lot worse for me on the worst peg on the pool but when either of the fish i lost could have got me 2 more points, at least i had got the privilege of having the best weight of the series so far off the peg, well done to Stav for putting in a great performance and keeping us in contention for the last round.
Rig 1, 13m line 4x14 Maver Jona 0.18 mainline to a 0.16 hook-length and a size 3 Tubertini 175 set on the deck around 5ft deep with 13 Preston hollo elastic.
Rig 2, 6m pellet line the same rig as above but in 4ft of water and 15 hollo elastic.
Rig 3, margin rig 4 x 12 Preston durra 10 float 0.20 line straight through to size 10 Preston pr27 hook in around 3ft of water and 17 hollo elastic.
I was going to fish quite heavy as the fish can run well into double figures here and with very few fish coming off the peg i felt that if i hooked any i needed them to come out! As i was setting up Carl came passed with his tackle and when i asked him where he had drawn he said peg 31 which made me feel worse as its a peg i fancy with a big long bay to itself in a corner, with Carl the man to beat for league points i felt that it would be near impossible with him on that peg. I had brought the usual armory of bait to cover all eventuality's as you need different baits for different pegs, you might need 8mm pellets on one peg for the wagg and lead, g/bait for the method and then you could draw a peg which you can reach the boom with 13m of pole and leave the rods in the bag!
At the start i potted in worm & caster at 13m, 4mm pellets & corn at 6m and corn with a few 8mm cubes of red meat down the edge, i started on the method feeder up to the island to my left as this is as far as you can go on this peg with the gap in-between the islands and the far island belonging to peg 29 on the other side of the pool. Over the first 30mins i had a few casts without success on the method feeder and i wasn't happy with my g/bait as a couple of times the feeder had been in the water for 5mins but most of it was still on the feeder when i reeled in, the g/bait i had got had been in and out of the freezer a couple of times as i said you don't know where you are going to draw until you get there this had been with me a couple of times with being used. I don't know if it was the g/bait or me thinking that i had caught on the lead 2 weeks earlier that made me switch to the lead but i did and 10mins later i had my first pull on the tip which saw me connected to my first carp of the day, i gained around 4-5 turns on the reel to get the fish away from the island but as i did the fish kited right when it all went solid on me the fish had snagged me. After trying to pull the fish out this way and that standing up all to no avail i eventually had to pull for a break in which i lost the lot and had to set up again, with the first hour coming to a close the tip pulled around again and carp no2 had sucked in my 8mm pellet but this time i put the rod to the left of me and just kept cranking until i felt the fish had come over the snags at 16m and a 4lb fish had got me off the mark. A quick call to Stav reveled that he a caught steady from the off up the edge on his corner peg and was doing well on his pool all i needed now was a few more bites and a bit of luck with the snags and we would be ok, Carl had got 2 good but Mark Farley had got 4 the other side of the island on peg 29 the others i could see were pretty quite. I stayed on the lead for the second hour which produced 2 more bites 1 a 3lb'er and the other i pulled out of trying to pull it over the snags, it was time to try my pole lines which i had been topping up from the start first was the worm line at 13m which after a couple of small roach produced a nice 1lb skimmer and i thought a few of those will do. I had a small perch before the bites dried up so after putting some more bait in i tried both my pellet and margin lines without a bite, back on the worm line and i couldn't get another bite on that either the peg was going from bad to worse 3 hours into the match and i had got around 8lb. Back on the lead and that was the same bite-less i was now fearing the worst and i was finding out why it has been the worst peg on the pool all winter, it was now May 1st but still there are not a lot of carp on the peg but it was the lack of silvers that i couldn't get my head around most of the other pegs you can do a decent weight of silvers off if there are no carp showing but this peg for some reason seems to lack both! The matches i can recall from memory on the peg in this league are ounces, 4lb 1 carp, dry, 2lb 1 chub, Satv had 7lb of it 1 carp + bits, 9lb 1 carp & 2 bits and 10lb 3 carp as you can see the peg has been of fire this series??? I was getting desperate but despite trying all the tricks i knew i remained bite-less until the last 20mins when i hooked a fish on a piece of red meat from the margin where i had decided to fish for the last 40mins as this offered the best chance of hooking a fish at this time of day, the fish tore off at a rate of knots across the pool towards peg 7 on the point pulling loads of 17 hollo elastic with it, then the carp carried on swimming with my rig attached CRAP it had broken my 0.20 line! Whether it was a big fish or foul hooked or both it had broke me and i had to get over it as i was fast running time, i attached another rig plumbed up again put on another 8mm cube of red meat and re-fed the line with a kinder pot of meat & corn. 5mins later i hooked and landed a fish of around 10lb i was now getting some line bites as there seemed to be a few fish down there now but i was running out of time, with only 5mins of the match left i managed a small 2lb carp then next put in hooked another fish and while i was playing it the whistle sounded. Around 2mins after the all-out i was still playing the fish which felt like another good fish but as i was just about to land it when the hook pulled out SHIT! What a day i had hooked 8 carp and only managed to land 4 i was not a happy bunny ranting and raving at myself for losing that last fish, the fish had come late down the edge but i had managed to loose 2 big lumps B******S. After i had calmed down a bit i went and followed the weigh-in Kev Clarke the best on peg 10 with Baz Robson winning the pool off peg 23 with 71lb falling to the method feeder, Mark Farley 2nd off peg 29 with 58lb, the next peg 31 was the most important as i new Carl had got more than me but by how many places was what i was worried about. Carl had 31lb for 4th on the pool and my fish went 20lb 13oz for half way on the pool 7th, that meant he had gained 3 points on me so now it was all resting on Stav to beat his partner which was Carl's dad for today as his regular partner Chris was on holiday. Stav had done brilliant off an out of form peg to end up 2nd on the pool with 65lb behind Martin Yardsley who won the lake and the overall match off peg 10 with 91lb and the best weight of the league so far so well done to him, but more importantly Stav had beat Carl's dad by the same 3 points i had lost to Carl so we were the same points adrift as we were at the start of the day so nothing gained but nothing lost. On reflection the match could have gone a lot worse for me on the worst peg on the pool but when either of the fish i lost could have got me 2 more points, at least i had got the privilege of having the best weight of the series so far off the peg, well done to Stav for putting in a great performance and keeping us in contention for the last round.
Tuesday 10 May 2011
Blythe Pairs League Sunday 17/4/11
Back to Blythe this weekend for round 6 of our pairs league, as it stands me and Stav my pairs partner are lying in second place 11 points behind the leaders and hoping for a good draw to see if we could impose ourselves on the leaders. Stav sent me up for the draw again and i came back with 29 on Bridge for myself and 16 on Cherries for Stav, my peg looks good with 2 small natural islands in-front of you with a gap in-between the two to cast into some 25m away plus a nice 6ft of water on the pole line and some reeds to the left of the peg down the margin it looked good! Stav's peg is on the straight half way up the right-hand side of Cherries but a long ship to the central floating boom on the pool which normally holds most of the fish. I sat looking at the water for a while trying to read the water and decide what to set up, i had spoke to Baz Robson who had come 2nd off the peg a few rounds ago while it was still cold with 17lb of f1's and he said there he had caught some fish in-between the islands on the feeder but it was very shallow. With this in mind i decided to go for a straight lead and pellet wagg attack up the islands as the fish are still not in full summer mode yet and i felt a softly softly lead might be better than a heavy method feeder, there were a few fish swimming around just under the surface in groups and some in pairs maybe they will be thinking of other things rather than feeding? I set up 3 pole rigs and 2 rods to tackle the peg.
Rig 1, on the deck at 13m for worm, 4x14 Maver Jona float, 0.18 line to 0.16 h/l to a 3 175 set with a bulk and to no10 droppers in around 6ft of water to 13 hollo elastic.
Rig 2, shallow rig for the same 13m line, 4x12 Maver Jurassic dibber, 0.14 straight through to a 3 175 and 13 hollo elastic.
Rig 3, margin rig 8m down the edge to some reeds, 4x12 Preston durra 10, 0.18 straight through to a 3 175 in 3ft of water with 15 hollo elastic.
Rig 4, 9-11 Shimano Beastmaster rod, 8lb maxima mainline, 1/2 Fox lead running free with a grippa stop behind it if i want to try a pop up boillie, 0.20 h/l to a 14 pr27 hook.
Rig 5, 12ft Maver Reactolite rod, 5lb maxima mainline, 3ssg pellet wagg, 0.18 h/l to a 14 pr27 hook.
For bait i had brought all the usual feed pellets from micro to 8mm, 1/2kg worm, 2 pints casters, 2 tins corn and some 6&8mm expanders. While setting up i found out just how much water was in-between the two islands i put a plummet on the pellet wagg and cast into the gap the float stood proud, i reeled in pulled the wagg right down to the swivel i use to attach the hook-length and re-cast the same again with only a 12 inch hook-length plus the length of the wagg around 3-4 inch i was on the deck. I don't think this will be a very productive method with less than a foot of water too fish into, while doing this Stav came around to grab his 16m Tournament extension ( i am using his spare pole at the moment) i wouldn't need need it and with a short no4 in too stiffen his pole he was just short of the boom he was going to fish at 17m! he's going to feel that in the morning!
On the whistle i potted some corn and 4mm pellets down the edge at 8m to some reeds, a pot of worm and casters went in at 13m, i threw the lead out with a lassoed 8mm pellet on the hair to the gap in the islands and started to fire 8mm feed pellets over the top in 5-6's at regular intervals to try and put a good bed down. 2-3 casts later and around ten minutes into the match the tip flew around and carp no1 was trying to get around the back of the island and causing right commotion in the shallow water, applying the brakes and hoping the end take held firm with the stretch in the mainline coupled with a soft rod the fish soon turned and a 5-6lb carp was in the net. During the first hour i managed to land another 4 carp all on the straight lead all in the 3-5lb range so with all going well i rang Stav to tell him, he cut the conversation quite short as he was catching well shallow up against the boom so with both of us having a few fish it was looking good for our attack on the leaders of the league. Hour 2 went a bit slower with me only adding 2 more fish to my total and losing 1 which broke my 0.20 hook-length? But as the second hour wore on bites were getting less and so were the liners which i was getting in the shallow water, i was trying different hook baits in an attempt to get more bites like double corn and pop up fluro boilie with the latter accounting for 1 fish but it was time to try the pole. I had 10mins down the edge without a bite which i had been feeding with odd 1/2 pots of pellets & corn so out i went on the 13m line with a worm head on, fishing the deck rig i lowered the rig in and emptied the kinder pot of worm & caster over the top the float went immediately and a 1 1/2lb skimmer was netted, great i thought a few of these will do! Wrong that was my 1 and only bite on the deck i couldn't believe why there was a lack of bites on the worm not even any roach, a change to the shallow rig produced just 2 roach but as i was about to give up i hooked and landed a 5lb carp which gave me a bit more hope. With lots of fish cruising around in pairs and groups a lot of anglers were struggling to catch and because of the islands the main angler i needed to keep an eye on was Carl part of the league leading duo was out of sight on peg 3, with 3 hours of the match gone i was now scratching my head as what to do next. The last 2 hours went very slow with me only adding 3 more fish to the keepnet 1 shallow on the pole and 2 more on the lead giving me a total of 11 carp 1 skimmer and a couple of roach, i had been wondering why the bites had slowed up on the lead after a good start and all i could think of was a combination of the shallow water with the bright sunshine later in the match putting the fish off feeding and more thoughts of getting ready to spawn? With Carl the first to weigh in on peg 3 he put 68lb on the scales he said he had caught well in the last hour in the margins on paste with his last 2 fish being big double figure ghosties, i never had a bite down my margins? Dave on peg 7 had 40lb with the help of a 15lb carp on the pellet wagg, the rest of the weights on the pool were 20-30lb on average so i was pleased to put my 50lb 4oz on the scales for second on the pool although my main target Carl had beaten me by a point. Back at the car park i saw Stav who said he had won Cherries pool with 65lb and had beaten Carls partner by a few places but we would have to wait until the points had been totaled up to see how many we had pulled back on them, when all the points had been sorted we found out that we were now only 6 points behind with 2 matches left we had gained 5 points on them today. With it all to play for over the last 2 matches we will need a good draw on the next round to catch them up, well done to Stav for winning the pool and getting us within striking distance.
Rig 1, on the deck at 13m for worm, 4x14 Maver Jona float, 0.18 line to 0.16 h/l to a 3 175 set with a bulk and to no10 droppers in around 6ft of water to 13 hollo elastic.
Rig 2, shallow rig for the same 13m line, 4x12 Maver Jurassic dibber, 0.14 straight through to a 3 175 and 13 hollo elastic.
Rig 3, margin rig 8m down the edge to some reeds, 4x12 Preston durra 10, 0.18 straight through to a 3 175 in 3ft of water with 15 hollo elastic.
Rig 4, 9-11 Shimano Beastmaster rod, 8lb maxima mainline, 1/2 Fox lead running free with a grippa stop behind it if i want to try a pop up boillie, 0.20 h/l to a 14 pr27 hook.
Rig 5, 12ft Maver Reactolite rod, 5lb maxima mainline, 3ssg pellet wagg, 0.18 h/l to a 14 pr27 hook.
For bait i had brought all the usual feed pellets from micro to 8mm, 1/2kg worm, 2 pints casters, 2 tins corn and some 6&8mm expanders. While setting up i found out just how much water was in-between the two islands i put a plummet on the pellet wagg and cast into the gap the float stood proud, i reeled in pulled the wagg right down to the swivel i use to attach the hook-length and re-cast the same again with only a 12 inch hook-length plus the length of the wagg around 3-4 inch i was on the deck. I don't think this will be a very productive method with less than a foot of water too fish into, while doing this Stav came around to grab his 16m Tournament extension ( i am using his spare pole at the moment) i wouldn't need need it and with a short no4 in too stiffen his pole he was just short of the boom he was going to fish at 17m! he's going to feel that in the morning!
On the whistle i potted some corn and 4mm pellets down the edge at 8m to some reeds, a pot of worm and casters went in at 13m, i threw the lead out with a lassoed 8mm pellet on the hair to the gap in the islands and started to fire 8mm feed pellets over the top in 5-6's at regular intervals to try and put a good bed down. 2-3 casts later and around ten minutes into the match the tip flew around and carp no1 was trying to get around the back of the island and causing right commotion in the shallow water, applying the brakes and hoping the end take held firm with the stretch in the mainline coupled with a soft rod the fish soon turned and a 5-6lb carp was in the net. During the first hour i managed to land another 4 carp all on the straight lead all in the 3-5lb range so with all going well i rang Stav to tell him, he cut the conversation quite short as he was catching well shallow up against the boom so with both of us having a few fish it was looking good for our attack on the leaders of the league. Hour 2 went a bit slower with me only adding 2 more fish to my total and losing 1 which broke my 0.20 hook-length? But as the second hour wore on bites were getting less and so were the liners which i was getting in the shallow water, i was trying different hook baits in an attempt to get more bites like double corn and pop up fluro boilie with the latter accounting for 1 fish but it was time to try the pole. I had 10mins down the edge without a bite which i had been feeding with odd 1/2 pots of pellets & corn so out i went on the 13m line with a worm head on, fishing the deck rig i lowered the rig in and emptied the kinder pot of worm & caster over the top the float went immediately and a 1 1/2lb skimmer was netted, great i thought a few of these will do! Wrong that was my 1 and only bite on the deck i couldn't believe why there was a lack of bites on the worm not even any roach, a change to the shallow rig produced just 2 roach but as i was about to give up i hooked and landed a 5lb carp which gave me a bit more hope. With lots of fish cruising around in pairs and groups a lot of anglers were struggling to catch and because of the islands the main angler i needed to keep an eye on was Carl part of the league leading duo was out of sight on peg 3, with 3 hours of the match gone i was now scratching my head as what to do next. The last 2 hours went very slow with me only adding 3 more fish to the keepnet 1 shallow on the pole and 2 more on the lead giving me a total of 11 carp 1 skimmer and a couple of roach, i had been wondering why the bites had slowed up on the lead after a good start and all i could think of was a combination of the shallow water with the bright sunshine later in the match putting the fish off feeding and more thoughts of getting ready to spawn? With Carl the first to weigh in on peg 3 he put 68lb on the scales he said he had caught well in the last hour in the margins on paste with his last 2 fish being big double figure ghosties, i never had a bite down my margins? Dave on peg 7 had 40lb with the help of a 15lb carp on the pellet wagg, the rest of the weights on the pool were 20-30lb on average so i was pleased to put my 50lb 4oz on the scales for second on the pool although my main target Carl had beaten me by a point. Back at the car park i saw Stav who said he had won Cherries pool with 65lb and had beaten Carls partner by a few places but we would have to wait until the points had been totaled up to see how many we had pulled back on them, when all the points had been sorted we found out that we were now only 6 points behind with 2 matches left we had gained 5 points on them today. With it all to play for over the last 2 matches we will need a good draw on the next round to catch them up, well done to Stav for winning the pool and getting us within striking distance.
Sunday 8 May 2011
Staffs-Worc Canal Castlecroft Sunday 10/4/11
This weekend we are back on the Halesowen controlled stretch of the Staffs-Worc canal at Castlecroft nr Wolverhampton for the second Cradley Heath club match of the year, both of the clubs i am in control a stretch of canal and this is an idea i have heard of a few times recently swapping a club match on each others stretches in an attempt to reduce booking costs which is on the rise all the time from most of the big commercial fisheries. I was hoping for a good draw as if you have read my blog before you will know that i have drawn peg 7 three times and peg 6 once out of five visits the only time i have drawn passed the bend on peg 7 was the fur and feather which i won off the chub flier peg 35. At last i pulled out peg 15 and i had drawn away from the top end after a few words with John Babb who i had traveled with he said there is some big roach and odd chub on the peg which is not a bad peg, when i got to the peg it looked very good with a nice overhanging tree on the other side just to the right which is 2 pegs passed an overflow on our bank. Looking at the peg i decided to go for it and leave the squatt and groundbait in the bag and go for the chub as the overhanging tree looked very inviting indeed, i had got some info from other anglers that had fished the peg before and they said that it is nice and clean under the tree and virtually snag free. I was told that the peg had won a match before with 9lb odd when they didn't peg down to the chub flier 35, today Gary Mason had the privilege of peg 35 and all the ribbing that comes with drawing a flier "jammy git" or words to that effect? I set up 4 rigs as follows.
Rig 1, for worm & caster at 11m to run under the far bank tree a 4x10 Drennan caster, 0.08 straight through to a 18 Preston pr322 hook, No 4 elastic.
Rig 2, hemp at 13m off at 11 o'clock towards a bush 4x10 Tubertini styx float, 0.08 to 0.07 and a 20 pr322 hook with a No 3 elastic.
Rig 3, big maggot down the track at 6m 4x14 M.A.P pole stick, 0.08 straight through to a 20 pr322 with a No 3 elastic.
Rig 4, chub far bank rig a 4x10 Preston pink in-line float, 0.14 line straight through to a 14 B611 hook with tight 14 solid elastic.
For bait i had brought 1 pint of casters, 1/2kg worm, 1/2 white maggots, some hemp and the squatt & g/bait i had left in the bag.
I started on the worm after potting in a 1/4 of a pot of chopped worm & caster while firing hemp on that line and throwing a few maggots down the track, i had a fish first run through 2oz roach on a worm head then a small 2oz chub next put-in and things had got off to a good start. Things started to slow up a bit after that but on the half hour mark i had got around 6 small fish when i hit something a lot better, with my No4 elastic running towards the trees at a rate of knots i threw the pole back as fast as possible in an attempt to get the fish under control. Luckily the fish came out of trees and down the track and after a short but spirited fight on the relativity light gear a 1lb chub was in the net, this was a good start i thought but it after only 1 small 3oz perch in the next 30mins it was time to try another line. I tried the hemp for 10mins without a bite before switching to the maggot down the track on the pole stick, the reason for setting up a pole stick on this venue is that there is quite a strong tow up here compared to other stretches of the Staffs-Worc and you have a bit more control with a stick than with a bristle float when trying to slow the bait down by fishing over-depth. I had 3 nice 2-3oz roach and a couple of gonks on the big white maggot it wasn't fast action but either side of me weren't catching at all so i was happy to take what i was getting for now, after switching back to the caster&worm line for a couple of perch i was back down the track where i hooked another good fish and this one gave me a good run around on the No3 elastic. Chub number no2 was safely in the net and around the same size as the first i was pleased they weren't any bigger as i might have lost them on the light gear, with around 2 hours gone i thought i had got around 3 1/2 lb and while i wasn't catching a fish a bung i thought if i could catch a few bits in-between the odd chub then i might end up with a good weight. After the chub down the track i couldn't get another bite there so a switch was called for and i went for the caster under the tree which produced 2 roach around 3-4oz each and all was well sitting in the sun catching a few fish, then the wheel's started to come off big style as the sun came around and the boats stopped which we had around 6 of in the first half of the match but what ever the excuse i was trying to find i couldn't get a bite on anything. I rotated all three of my lines on a number of occasions without success, trying every trick in the book failed and i was at a loss as to think why but all i could come up with was the lack of boats and lock movement colouring the water? What was looking like a good day was fast turning into a disaster i dumped a load of worm & caster on a new line 13m down the canal towards some tree roots in an attempt to find another chub, i gave my normal worm & caster line the same treatment to try and force a chub into feeding also deciding to sit on the heavy rig for the remainder of the match as if i hooked a good chub i wanted there to be 1 winner. With 30mins remaining on the clock i had a bite on the new line on double caster and with the tight 14 elastic the fight was short lived which turned out to be another 1lb and although it was late in the day this fish gave me a new scene of hope, I re-fed both lines again with loose feed caster in a hope of some last ditch chub action but it was all in vein as that was the last fish of the day for me. Talk about a match of two half's i enjoyed the first 2 1/2 hours but was thoroughly bored the last 2 1/2 with only the one bite in the last half of the match, John on peg 16 had 2 chub & a skimmer for 4lb 20z and my 3 chub & bits went 5lb 1oz, mr. whitmore to my left on peg 15 failed to weigh. Gary Mason won the match as expected from peg 35 on the ivy bush with 16lb made up of a dozen chub the biggest around 2 1/2lb so well done to him, 2nd was Johnny bill off peg 17 with a few small chub and 2 tench. I missed out on my section prize by a few ounces which was won by Andy on peg 21 with 5lb 10z, Kev Clarke on peg 12 fished squatt from front to back in the match and managed 4lb of bits so i think that i had made the right decision by leaving them in the bag and going for bigger fish and on another day felt that the peg would be worth double what i had managed? Back to the pub for the pay out and overall the canal fished quite well with my 5lb giving me 8th overall out of the 23 fishing, apart from the chub flier the match was good with 8lb 2nd and over 4lb+ needed to make the top 12 points board.
There has been a bit of a debate over peg 35 which has won 4 of the last 5 matches on the stretch and coming 2nd by only 6oz on the other one, some club member are all for leaving it in and giving some of the less competent anglers in the club a chance of winning? others are for putting 2 pegs on the ivy as the peg is long enough to take it in the hope of cutting the amount of fish caught by 1 angler? but will you then be fishing for 3rd? and of course the leave it out altogether brigade which i am leaning towards as there are a few of us thinking that it is becoming a 1 peg venue which is a shame as there are lots of other good pegs but none that can compete with the amount of chub under the ivy on peg 35? I will certainly think twice about fishing here again if they decide to put it in as i know most venues have a number flier's but this one is totally dominating which sounds a bit funny after i won the fur & feather and the bouns peg off it but i feel something now needs to be done, there are some long walks on the stretch due to only 1 access point above peg1 and Gary's mate walked passed him to peg36 only to be given the neck ache all day watching him bag and pack in after 4 hours having caught next to nothing with a nice 3/4 of a mile walk back?
Rig 1, for worm & caster at 11m to run under the far bank tree a 4x10 Drennan caster, 0.08 straight through to a 18 Preston pr322 hook, No 4 elastic.
Rig 2, hemp at 13m off at 11 o'clock towards a bush 4x10 Tubertini styx float, 0.08 to 0.07 and a 20 pr322 hook with a No 3 elastic.
Rig 3, big maggot down the track at 6m 4x14 M.A.P pole stick, 0.08 straight through to a 20 pr322 with a No 3 elastic.
Rig 4, chub far bank rig a 4x10 Preston pink in-line float, 0.14 line straight through to a 14 B611 hook with tight 14 solid elastic.
For bait i had brought 1 pint of casters, 1/2kg worm, 1/2 white maggots, some hemp and the squatt & g/bait i had left in the bag.
I started on the worm after potting in a 1/4 of a pot of chopped worm & caster while firing hemp on that line and throwing a few maggots down the track, i had a fish first run through 2oz roach on a worm head then a small 2oz chub next put-in and things had got off to a good start. Things started to slow up a bit after that but on the half hour mark i had got around 6 small fish when i hit something a lot better, with my No4 elastic running towards the trees at a rate of knots i threw the pole back as fast as possible in an attempt to get the fish under control. Luckily the fish came out of trees and down the track and after a short but spirited fight on the relativity light gear a 1lb chub was in the net, this was a good start i thought but it after only 1 small 3oz perch in the next 30mins it was time to try another line. I tried the hemp for 10mins without a bite before switching to the maggot down the track on the pole stick, the reason for setting up a pole stick on this venue is that there is quite a strong tow up here compared to other stretches of the Staffs-Worc and you have a bit more control with a stick than with a bristle float when trying to slow the bait down by fishing over-depth. I had 3 nice 2-3oz roach and a couple of gonks on the big white maggot it wasn't fast action but either side of me weren't catching at all so i was happy to take what i was getting for now, after switching back to the caster&worm line for a couple of perch i was back down the track where i hooked another good fish and this one gave me a good run around on the No3 elastic. Chub number no2 was safely in the net and around the same size as the first i was pleased they weren't any bigger as i might have lost them on the light gear, with around 2 hours gone i thought i had got around 3 1/2 lb and while i wasn't catching a fish a bung i thought if i could catch a few bits in-between the odd chub then i might end up with a good weight. After the chub down the track i couldn't get another bite there so a switch was called for and i went for the caster under the tree which produced 2 roach around 3-4oz each and all was well sitting in the sun catching a few fish, then the wheel's started to come off big style as the sun came around and the boats stopped which we had around 6 of in the first half of the match but what ever the excuse i was trying to find i couldn't get a bite on anything. I rotated all three of my lines on a number of occasions without success, trying every trick in the book failed and i was at a loss as to think why but all i could come up with was the lack of boats and lock movement colouring the water? What was looking like a good day was fast turning into a disaster i dumped a load of worm & caster on a new line 13m down the canal towards some tree roots in an attempt to find another chub, i gave my normal worm & caster line the same treatment to try and force a chub into feeding also deciding to sit on the heavy rig for the remainder of the match as if i hooked a good chub i wanted there to be 1 winner. With 30mins remaining on the clock i had a bite on the new line on double caster and with the tight 14 elastic the fight was short lived which turned out to be another 1lb and although it was late in the day this fish gave me a new scene of hope, I re-fed both lines again with loose feed caster in a hope of some last ditch chub action but it was all in vein as that was the last fish of the day for me. Talk about a match of two half's i enjoyed the first 2 1/2 hours but was thoroughly bored the last 2 1/2 with only the one bite in the last half of the match, John on peg 16 had 2 chub & a skimmer for 4lb 20z and my 3 chub & bits went 5lb 1oz, mr. whitmore to my left on peg 15 failed to weigh. Gary Mason won the match as expected from peg 35 on the ivy bush with 16lb made up of a dozen chub the biggest around 2 1/2lb so well done to him, 2nd was Johnny bill off peg 17 with a few small chub and 2 tench. I missed out on my section prize by a few ounces which was won by Andy on peg 21 with 5lb 10z, Kev Clarke on peg 12 fished squatt from front to back in the match and managed 4lb of bits so i think that i had made the right decision by leaving them in the bag and going for bigger fish and on another day felt that the peg would be worth double what i had managed? Back to the pub for the pay out and overall the canal fished quite well with my 5lb giving me 8th overall out of the 23 fishing, apart from the chub flier the match was good with 8lb 2nd and over 4lb+ needed to make the top 12 points board.
There has been a bit of a debate over peg 35 which has won 4 of the last 5 matches on the stretch and coming 2nd by only 6oz on the other one, some club member are all for leaving it in and giving some of the less competent anglers in the club a chance of winning? others are for putting 2 pegs on the ivy as the peg is long enough to take it in the hope of cutting the amount of fish caught by 1 angler? but will you then be fishing for 3rd? and of course the leave it out altogether brigade which i am leaning towards as there are a few of us thinking that it is becoming a 1 peg venue which is a shame as there are lots of other good pegs but none that can compete with the amount of chub under the ivy on peg 35? I will certainly think twice about fishing here again if they decide to put it in as i know most venues have a number flier's but this one is totally dominating which sounds a bit funny after i won the fur & feather and the bouns peg off it but i feel something now needs to be done, there are some long walks on the stretch due to only 1 access point above peg1 and Gary's mate walked passed him to peg36 only to be given the neck ache all day watching him bag and pack in after 4 hours having caught next to nothing with a nice 3/4 of a mile walk back?
Thursday 5 May 2011
Blythe Pairs League Sunday 3/4/11
Round 5 of the league and as the temperature starts to rise we were all looking forward to catching a few after the long hard winter of no or very little fish. Stav got me to draw and i was in two minds about my peg 35 on bridge as it has no form but looks a great peg as it's in a corner and you can reach the small floating boom with 13m of pole, i had drawn Stav on peg 12 on Cherries where i had fished the last round which is a good peg and i was sure he would catch a few off the peg. Peg 35 on Bridge looks good as it has a long edge to itself which is a sort of a bog/marsh area that is fenced off, a good 7 1/2 ft of water up to the only floating boom on Bridge pool( the other islands on Bridge are proper ) but there has been very little caught off the peg so far in the league i was just hoping that with the warmer weather a few carp would show up this end as pegs 3 & 5 which fish up to the other side of the boom had shown next to nothing so far in the league and pegs 7 & 10 on the point being the most consistent. With not fishing the peg before i decided to keep things simple and set up just 3 rigs, 2 for up to the boom at 13m 1 on the deck and 1 up in the water the other down the edge at around 10m which is just as the reeds start to stick out from a rope that is across the marsh bay to the right of the peg.
Rig 1, on the deck rig a o.50gr Maver Jona float with an ollivete and to no10 droppers, 0.18 mainline to a 0.14 hooklength and a 16 tosciro hook in 7 1/2ft of water, 13 hollo elastic.
Rig 2, up in the water on the same line 0.30gr Maver jurassic dibber 0.14 straight through to a 16 pr27 with a lasso for hard pellets & 13 hollo elastic.
Rig 3, edge rig a 4x12 Maver Jona float with all the shot 8in from the hook, 0.18 to 0.14 and a size 3 tubertini 175 hook, 13 hollo elastic in 3 1/12 ft water.
For bait i had got all the usual sizes of pellets from micro to 8mm, 1 1/2 pints of casters & 1/2kg worm, 1 tin corn & some 4mm & 6mm expanders.
On the whistle i potted a cup full of chopped worm caster with a few grain's of corn 10m down the edge and half a pot of 4mm pellets on the 13m line with a couple of grain's of corn, i put a 6mm expander on the hook and shipped out to 13m. After around 30 seconds in the water the float moved side-ways and no proper bite, another few seconds later and i lifted into a bite with no connection? I lifted the rig out of the water to check the pellet was still on and dropped the rig back in, the float this time moved side-ways in the other direction? i was getting liners there were fish up in the water, with the match only 2 mins old i shipped back and changed to the shallow rig with a 6mm hard pellet on. I dropped the rig in and fired 10 4mm pellets over the top and my 13 hollo came out of the end of the pole Bingo! a 1lb f1 was netted and next put in the same result it looked like there were a few fish in the peg. Over the first hour i remained on the shallow rig and caught 11 f1's and 1 carp of around 4lb with most of the f1's around the 1lb mark but a couple over 2lb, on the hour mark i rang Stav to say i was ok and catching and see if he was catching he had a couple of carp 5-6lb so he was catching and all looked well. Hour 2 was a little slower than the first with around another 6-7 f1's and 1 more proper carp of around 4lb again but as the last 15mins of the second hour failed to produce a bite it was time for a change, it was time to try the margin line and rest the shallow rig and as far as i could see most of the rest of the anglers on my pool were struggling with just odd fish showing i thought i had around 25-30lb and was sitting pretty. I had feed the margin line 2-3 times with a pot full of my worm, caster & corn slop while i was fishing shallow so i shipped out with a kinder pot of slop and a worm head on the hook, there had been the odd bit of reed bashing going on right from the start down the margins so i was not surprised when the float buried not long after settling and with a bit of slide strain i soon had a 2lb carp in the net. I started catching well on the margin line with mainly small carp in the 1-3lb range a couple of tench and the odd roach i also had a solo chub, i was glad that the carp on this line were relatively small as i was not fishing heavy gear for them and with only 13hollo elastic and 0.14 line i felt that if any big carp turned up they would make short work of my rig and go through the 10ft thick reeds in double quick time. I stayed on the margin line for around 1 1/2 hours before bites began to dry up a bit so a quick switch back to the shallow rig was called for and with 2 f1's and a 3lb carp in around 5mins of fishing it looked like the rest had done the line good and as if the fish had regrouped! Wrong with another 15mins of bite-less action up in the water it was back to the margin line to see if the same sort of rest had done this line any good, we were now into the last hour of the match and i hooked a fish down the edge which swam straight through the reeds and broke my hook-length now i had to make a decision to make, put a new hook-length on or get a heavy rig & top kit out? I went for the easy option and just replaced the hook-length WRONG! 5mins later i hooked another good fish that went through the reeds under the rope and out the other side, i applied as much side-strain as i dared without risking the pole but it was all in vein as the rig was stuck solid. The problem was now that the rig was some 13m away stuck in the reeds and as i began to ship back the elastic got tighter and tighter, i got the pole back and managed to break down to the short no4 and top kit but to stop the risk of getting a pole float in the eye i normally in this situation put my foot on the elastic under the water to slow the rig down when it comes shooting back it hit's my rubber boot and not me. Not this time as i was just about to put the elastic under my boot with my top kit in a funny c shape all i heard was the sickening crack of carbon and loud bang as my top kit shattered into lots of little pieces SHIT!!! I soon realized my mistake as i had got my top kits mixed up and had been fishing down the edge with a match kit and not a power kit PRATT. Not one to cry over spillt milk i got up and got my super power kit out of the holdall with tight 17hollo elastic out and put a 0.18 rig on, i only managed one 2lb carp and a couple of roach in the last half hour before the whistle sounded. I don't know if it was the disturbance of me losing two quick fish or going to a heavier rig but just when i thought the big carp had turned up i couldn't hook another one! As we walked around the pool weighing in it soon became apparent that it had still fished harder than we all thought with weights between 15-25lb the norm, Carl's partner (sorry his name escapes me) top weight off peg 23 with 36lb, i knew then that i had got enough to win the section and so the pool, i was last to weigh in on the last peg and after a couple of weighs i was given 70lb 4oz Great a 1st at last and all we needed now was a good result from Stav which could see us shoot up the leader board, a quick walk to the car park to find Stav soon revealed that he had come 2nd on Cherries pool with 35lb and Kev Cark winning the pool off peg 10 with 36lb, Stav had caught mainly on the pellet wag and feeder but losing a couple of big lumps down the edge late on, Kev having all his fish on the feeder up to the boom. We have shot up the overall leader board from 4th to 2nd with Carl & Co in-front by 11 points and Kev Clarke & Tony Bowen in 3rd some 5 points behind us. With 2 rounds remaining it's now all to play for and we are a lot happier than we were 2 rounds ago lets hope for a good draw on the next round in 2 weeks time.
Rig 1, on the deck rig a o.50gr Maver Jona float with an ollivete and to no10 droppers, 0.18 mainline to a 0.14 hooklength and a 16 tosciro hook in 7 1/2ft of water, 13 hollo elastic.
Rig 2, up in the water on the same line 0.30gr Maver jurassic dibber 0.14 straight through to a 16 pr27 with a lasso for hard pellets & 13 hollo elastic.
Rig 3, edge rig a 4x12 Maver Jona float with all the shot 8in from the hook, 0.18 to 0.14 and a size 3 tubertini 175 hook, 13 hollo elastic in 3 1/12 ft water.
For bait i had got all the usual sizes of pellets from micro to 8mm, 1 1/2 pints of casters & 1/2kg worm, 1 tin corn & some 4mm & 6mm expanders.
On the whistle i potted a cup full of chopped worm caster with a few grain's of corn 10m down the edge and half a pot of 4mm pellets on the 13m line with a couple of grain's of corn, i put a 6mm expander on the hook and shipped out to 13m. After around 30 seconds in the water the float moved side-ways and no proper bite, another few seconds later and i lifted into a bite with no connection? I lifted the rig out of the water to check the pellet was still on and dropped the rig back in, the float this time moved side-ways in the other direction? i was getting liners there were fish up in the water, with the match only 2 mins old i shipped back and changed to the shallow rig with a 6mm hard pellet on. I dropped the rig in and fired 10 4mm pellets over the top and my 13 hollo came out of the end of the pole Bingo! a 1lb f1 was netted and next put in the same result it looked like there were a few fish in the peg. Over the first hour i remained on the shallow rig and caught 11 f1's and 1 carp of around 4lb with most of the f1's around the 1lb mark but a couple over 2lb, on the hour mark i rang Stav to say i was ok and catching and see if he was catching he had a couple of carp 5-6lb so he was catching and all looked well. Hour 2 was a little slower than the first with around another 6-7 f1's and 1 more proper carp of around 4lb again but as the last 15mins of the second hour failed to produce a bite it was time for a change, it was time to try the margin line and rest the shallow rig and as far as i could see most of the rest of the anglers on my pool were struggling with just odd fish showing i thought i had around 25-30lb and was sitting pretty. I had feed the margin line 2-3 times with a pot full of my worm, caster & corn slop while i was fishing shallow so i shipped out with a kinder pot of slop and a worm head on the hook, there had been the odd bit of reed bashing going on right from the start down the margins so i was not surprised when the float buried not long after settling and with a bit of slide strain i soon had a 2lb carp in the net. I started catching well on the margin line with mainly small carp in the 1-3lb range a couple of tench and the odd roach i also had a solo chub, i was glad that the carp on this line were relatively small as i was not fishing heavy gear for them and with only 13hollo elastic and 0.14 line i felt that if any big carp turned up they would make short work of my rig and go through the 10ft thick reeds in double quick time. I stayed on the margin line for around 1 1/2 hours before bites began to dry up a bit so a quick switch back to the shallow rig was called for and with 2 f1's and a 3lb carp in around 5mins of fishing it looked like the rest had done the line good and as if the fish had regrouped! Wrong with another 15mins of bite-less action up in the water it was back to the margin line to see if the same sort of rest had done this line any good, we were now into the last hour of the match and i hooked a fish down the edge which swam straight through the reeds and broke my hook-length now i had to make a decision to make, put a new hook-length on or get a heavy rig & top kit out? I went for the easy option and just replaced the hook-length WRONG! 5mins later i hooked another good fish that went through the reeds under the rope and out the other side, i applied as much side-strain as i dared without risking the pole but it was all in vein as the rig was stuck solid. The problem was now that the rig was some 13m away stuck in the reeds and as i began to ship back the elastic got tighter and tighter, i got the pole back and managed to break down to the short no4 and top kit but to stop the risk of getting a pole float in the eye i normally in this situation put my foot on the elastic under the water to slow the rig down when it comes shooting back it hit's my rubber boot and not me. Not this time as i was just about to put the elastic under my boot with my top kit in a funny c shape all i heard was the sickening crack of carbon and loud bang as my top kit shattered into lots of little pieces SHIT!!! I soon realized my mistake as i had got my top kits mixed up and had been fishing down the edge with a match kit and not a power kit PRATT. Not one to cry over spillt milk i got up and got my super power kit out of the holdall with tight 17hollo elastic out and put a 0.18 rig on, i only managed one 2lb carp and a couple of roach in the last half hour before the whistle sounded. I don't know if it was the disturbance of me losing two quick fish or going to a heavier rig but just when i thought the big carp had turned up i couldn't hook another one! As we walked around the pool weighing in it soon became apparent that it had still fished harder than we all thought with weights between 15-25lb the norm, Carl's partner (sorry his name escapes me) top weight off peg 23 with 36lb, i knew then that i had got enough to win the section and so the pool, i was last to weigh in on the last peg and after a couple of weighs i was given 70lb 4oz Great a 1st at last and all we needed now was a good result from Stav which could see us shoot up the leader board, a quick walk to the car park to find Stav soon revealed that he had come 2nd on Cherries pool with 35lb and Kev Cark winning the pool off peg 10 with 36lb, Stav had caught mainly on the pellet wag and feeder but losing a couple of big lumps down the edge late on, Kev having all his fish on the feeder up to the boom. We have shot up the overall leader board from 4th to 2nd with Carl & Co in-front by 11 points and Kev Clarke & Tony Bowen in 3rd some 5 points behind us. With 2 rounds remaining it's now all to play for and we are a lot happier than we were 2 rounds ago lets hope for a good draw on the next round in 2 weeks time.
Blythe Pairs League Sunday 20/3/11
Back again to Blythe for round 4 of our pairs league and we (Stav and I) were hoping for a good draw as we were around half in the league out of 14 pairs and with this one the half way point in the league 4 out of 8 we needed to put some good points on the board if we were going to make an impact on the top placing. I was happy with my draw on peg 12 Cherries pool as i have fished the peg a few times and always caught a few normally enough to get into the top half on the pool, Stav's peg on the other hand was crap 33 on Bridge pool which has produced only 2lb on the last match with a good angler on it Martin Yardsley and next to nothing off it in the 2 other rounds so it looked like our mega points score was out of the window.
I am going to cut this one short in an attempt to catch up to date so without going through rigs and stuff i will cut to the chase, to be honest i am struggling to remember much about this match as it was some 6 weeks ago. I caught most of my fish on the method feeder on double dead red maggot or corn with micro pellets on the feeder, last year i fished the peg 3 times in the league and caught mainly on the pole but this time it was the reverse. My first carp of the year? yes the 20th March before i have caught my first carp of the year and after around 1 1/2 hours on the feeder with only 2 skimmers to show i was on the moblie to Stav to see how he was getting on when the rod tip pulled round SHIT! dropping the phone on the side tray i was connected to a good fish, soon i netted a carp of around 10lb not a bad start as it was still cold and a few wouldn't catch that all day so with some good points in the bag i was happy. I ended up with another 6 smaller carp on the feeder and just around a dozen small skimmers in the 2-4oz on the pole for 27lb and 3rd on the pool which was won by Ade on peg 26 with 36lb around 5 fish up in the water on meat? Ollie was 2nd off corner peg 32 with 32lb. Stav had suffered off what has become the boggie peg on Bridge 33 with 1 carp and a few bits for 7lb odd but still beat one or two on the pool, so with half the league gone we were lying in 6th position out of the 14 fishing with Carl ( the gaffer) and his partner in 1st place we really need the weather to warm up a bit so the carp wake up and spread out. A couple of the carp i had caught were full of small lice on there belly's and behind the gill's a sure sign of them just waking up out of the silt where they have lay dormant all winter and starting to look for food! here's hoping.
I am going to cut this one short in an attempt to catch up to date so without going through rigs and stuff i will cut to the chase, to be honest i am struggling to remember much about this match as it was some 6 weeks ago. I caught most of my fish on the method feeder on double dead red maggot or corn with micro pellets on the feeder, last year i fished the peg 3 times in the league and caught mainly on the pole but this time it was the reverse. My first carp of the year? yes the 20th March before i have caught my first carp of the year and after around 1 1/2 hours on the feeder with only 2 skimmers to show i was on the moblie to Stav to see how he was getting on when the rod tip pulled round SHIT! dropping the phone on the side tray i was connected to a good fish, soon i netted a carp of around 10lb not a bad start as it was still cold and a few wouldn't catch that all day so with some good points in the bag i was happy. I ended up with another 6 smaller carp on the feeder and just around a dozen small skimmers in the 2-4oz on the pole for 27lb and 3rd on the pool which was won by Ade on peg 26 with 36lb around 5 fish up in the water on meat? Ollie was 2nd off corner peg 32 with 32lb. Stav had suffered off what has become the boggie peg on Bridge 33 with 1 carp and a few bits for 7lb odd but still beat one or two on the pool, so with half the league gone we were lying in 6th position out of the 14 fishing with Carl ( the gaffer) and his partner in 1st place we really need the weather to warm up a bit so the carp wake up and spread out. A couple of the carp i had caught were full of small lice on there belly's and behind the gill's a sure sign of them just waking up out of the silt where they have lay dormant all winter and starting to look for food! here's hoping.
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