Pawlett Match, Apex Lake. 24-04-16

A change of scenery today, a match over at Apex Lake in Burnham/Highbridge. It is a venue that is a public park so we see dog walkers and their sometimes uncontrolled k9s, joggers (summer viewing?), kids and cyclists plus the usual array of strange people, anglers aside.!!

We had 25 fishing today so a nice turn out, the weather was set fair but a north to north-westerly would be blowing up the lake, strengthening as the day went on. The lake is really affected by wind and the tow can be extreme at times.
I arrived in plenty of time and had a natter with a few peeps. We had John Fuidge and Ziggy Slowinski with us again today after they joined a few weeks back. Mark Watkins was making his debut on the day and would be on peg 24. He fishing Apex a fair bit but is relatively new to match type fishing.
I fancied any of the pegs in the 30's as you'd get a bit of room and they are consistent silvers pegs, I didn't expect more that 1 or 2 carp to get caught today. Pegs 3 to 6 would be a nice draw, but I really didn't fancy anywhere else to be fair, maybe peg 10.

The draw took place and I had the 3rd last ticket, peg 11 was my home for the rest of the day, well unless I left early!! It isn't a great silvers peg but you have the island a decent chuck in front and the usual marginal reeds, both likely to be the carpy type areas. If the wind go up as predicted I knew the tow would be stronger closer in than further out, but you'd have trouble holding the pole long....hmmm.
Another issue with the peg is the fact you have brambles behind you so anything over 13m is tricky to fish as you'd need to triple break down, so 13m was my maximum distance for the pole as this was fine enough to double ship.
I made my way round to the peg and got my tackle down the slope onto the platform. For company I had Pete Manning on peg 10 and Nigel Hull down on peg 12 in a corner.

Peg 11, Apex Lake

I sorted out my bait, mixing just of 2kg of groundbait, I thought that a lightly lightly approach may be best. I also prepped some micros for the method feeder. 1/2pt live maggot, 1pt caster and some corn and 4mm pellets for the margin would complete my bait tray.

4 top kits assembled, the 1st was a margin rig for corn at 8m down to my left, this was fishless so nothing more on that. The 2nd was a light 0.2g caster rig for top kit on both sides, this remained fishless. Lastly 2 rigs on light number 4 laccy, 4x14's Carp Gents with 0.10 and 0.08 hooklengths and a size 20 hooks on each. The 1st of these was a bulk and one dropper for if the skimmers arrive, also if the eels want to feed, I didn't expect them in numbers to be fair as the water was still cool. The 2nd was a bulk at half depth (had 4.5ft from 4m to 13m) and 3 droppers, I expected a few roach to be off bottom. I also set a waggler up after 2hrs after a few bubbles had been appearing at 25m, but that was fishless.

At the all-in I fed 3 decent balls of groundbait in front at 13m, 1 at 8m and some pellets and corn went down the edge, never to see any action. Similarly I began to feed both sides by hand with caster, but as I mentioned I never had a touch on either despite a few roach spawning in the reeds.

I began on the feeder with big pellet as hookbait, 1 carp would be there or thereabouts at the end of the match. Sadly I never had a bite in the 50 minutes I spent on it.

In on the long pole and I had a small silver bream 1st drop, this was followed by a few more and odd roach on the drop. Infact the second hour saw me switching between the long and short lines picking up a few fish including a bonus 10 or 12oz skimmer, but most were 3 to 5oz palm sized silver bream.

The sun was shining and I was out of the best of the wind and it was really nice, rather warm too and I could have sat shirtless....I didn't though as there were kids around!!

As we entered the 3rd hour bites had slowed and it was only John Fuidge on peg 26 was having a few silvers. I had fed around half of my groundbait by now and had figured out a routine that would usually see me pop the odd fish in the net. I had bumped a couple fish so I switched hooks a couple times, which helped. The 3rd hour gave me around 8 or 9 small fish. The wind was also getting up and the tow had picked up, nicely against the wind, I hoped the better skimmers would put in an appearance. The short pole line wasn't doing much so I deposited a nice helping of maggots and casters here hoping for the eels to arrive.

The 4th hour was nice although I had a 2lb skimmer pop off the hook as I grabbed the landing net and a gust of wind caught the topkit, I did curse!! I managed maybe another 1lb of fish during this spell, maybe only John Fuidge doing okay. But Mark Watkins over on peg 24 was getting a few bites.

The 5th hour went similar although a frisky 10oz eel was netted, only lightly lip hooked, proving to me they have not yet awoken. I guessed my weight to be 5lb or so at this point.

The last hour was soon underway and the bank walkers had commented how slow people were finding it and 7 or 8lb would be very good, I reckoned John had that to be fair, so maybe he was the person to beat. Pete Manning said he reckoned I had 7lb, I thought less.

With just under 3/4 an hour to go I hooked a fish that pulled plenty of elastic out, nice bonus I thought, a proper bream of perhaps 3 or 4lb then PING....hook pulled.....I cursed, not too loudly, but I did. The wind was buffeting the piece of carbon around, plus the double shipping, barbless hooks etc didn't help!!

A couple of smaller fish were soon netted though and the tow was blasting through, luckily my peg was somewhat sheltered compared to most, some couldn't hold their poles further than a few sections and have waves resembling the beach that's only a mile away!!

With 30 minutes left I hooked another bream, slightly smaller, but was netted and a bonus 3lb fish entered the keepnet. I smiled.

The remainder of the match was fished out, a couple roach and small silver bream were added to the collection, I reckoned on just over 8lb.

I packed up, loaded the car and caught up with the scales that were weighing my side of the lake. Peg 1 had 5lb+ then peg 2, Jason King, had 11lb 3oz that included a late 6lb bream I was told, I didn't think I had that but thought John Fuidge may have done.

A few dnw's and a couple 4 to 6lb nets before my usual under estimated net weighed 14lb 1oz. The usual names and how I cant lie straight in bed etc came my way.

I drove the car back round to the car park and re-caught up with the scales. My 14lb was still leading as Mr Fuidge had 9lb+, and with the last few guys saying they only had a few pounds each it looked like I had won. The last few were telling the truth. So I had won, more importantly I had qualified for the Silvers Final and All-Winners Final in 2017 I one foul swoop. Bargain.

Back at the car park I chatted with a few guys before the results were done: I think these are correct.......lol:

1st, Lee Williams, 14lb 1oz. Peg 11

2nd, Jason King, 11lb 3oz, Peg 2

3rd, John Fuidge, 9lb 15oz, Peg 26 (default silvers win)

4th, Jamie Cook, 7lb 9oz, Peg 28 (default 3rd)

5th, Mark Watkins, 6lb 13oz, Peg 24 (section win)

6th, Mike Davis, 6lb 10oz, Peg 8 (section win)

Weights

So a tough day, but despite my not-so-happy feeling when I drew the peg, the little bit of shelter afforded me a few extra fish I think. But it was nice to win and I really enjoyed the day, these less-carpy venues are what I like about my fishing at the moment.

Oh well done Mark Watkins on the section win, defaulted, but all is good. Keep learning mate,

Next up is Makins on Wednesday for a Fisho qualifier, the wife is coming so it wont be a quiet day, haha.

Then I hope to get a couple matches in over the following few days, next Sunday I am on Campbell with the PSV bunch.

Until then, take care.

Lee

Psv Match. Sedges Brick Lake, 17-04-16

A shorter blog today, I hope, as not much happened for me, and a few others.
I arrived early so had a cuppa, chatted to a few guys, some of whom were fishing Tile Lake for the fishery's Top Two Series. 19 of us would be on Brick Lake.

I fancied, for the carp, pegs 9, 10, 11, 12 and maybe peg 20. The silvers, which would be my preference, would be pegs 3 to 7 and 13 and 14. The weather yesterday (Saturday) was cooled by a north-easterly wind and today looked to have a northerly, swirling wind,  but really sunny and may well affect the silvers fishing.

I drew with 4 pegs left in the basket and pulled peg 16, not ideal for either carp or silvers, I felt it was neither far enough towards either end for the fish that have followed or backed off the wind over the last 2 days.
For company I had Adam Caswell on peg 17, he want a quid side bet, and Ryan Radford on peg 15, he'd decided to go into the pools for a change given he has done well this year so far.

I set up 2 silvers rigs, one for 14m in front for maggot over a bit of groundbait and a 0.2g topkit rig for down each side using caster over caster.
3 carp rigs were assembled, a meat at 2+2 rig, a rig for shallow fishing and a rig for 2+2 to my right just up the margin shelf. All 3 of these rigs never caught anything so no more on them.
Lastly I assembled a pellet waggler.
Bait was 6 and 8mm pellets, meat, dead maggots, caster and some groundbait.

Peg 16 Sedges Brick Lake

At the all in I fed the pole lines and began on the waggler. My 1st carp was lost after 20 minutes, I think it was foul hooked. I landed my second fish, a 6lb mirror.
It then went quiet and the remainder of the first hour was fishless for me. Elsewhere pegs 8, 9, 10 and 11 were catching carp, also Steve Burgess on peg 14 was getting a few on the pellet waggler.
My 1st drop on the long pole line, with skimmers the target, saw me net a 1lb fish right away, this was a false dawn as I never had a fish on this the rest of the day....!!
The second hour saw me lose a couple more foul hookers and I got broke and got out my spare pellet waggler set up. I managed a couple more carp and a couple silvers on the topkit down the edge.

That was my day as the last 4hrs saw me not have a fish. I saw Rich Jones weigh in a 24lb carp caught shallow on the pole at 9m from peg 13. Steve Burgess on peg 14 caught a few more on the waggler while pegs 9 and 10 carried on catching a few.
Late on peg one, Steve Sewell, managed a few as did Steve O'Toole and Keith Ray on pegs 3 and 8 respectively. On my side, at my end, only Will Dearlove was catching a few, again on the pellet waggler.

At the all-out a few of us had more or less packed away so done the weigh in, beginning at peg 20 back round to peg 1.
I wont bore you with the weights, but on the pegs 11 to 20 we had Rich Jones, Steve Burgess and Will Dearlove passed the 60lb mark.
Pegs 10 back to 1 saw Mat Williams, Keith Ray, Chris Szakacs all pass the 60lb mark.
Silvers weights, well they didn't excite with 16lb or so being top and 9lb-ish second best.

Results:
1st, Rich Jones, peg 13, 108lb 4oz (10 carp to 24lb)
2nd, Keith Ray, peg 8, 95lb 11oz
3rd, Mat Williams, peg 10, 90lb 12oz
4th, Chris Szakacs, peg 9, 80lb 1oz
5th, Steve Burgess, peg 14, 72lb 10oz.

Silvers:
1st, Steve O'Toole, peg 3, 16lb 10oz
2nd, Chris Szakacs, peg 9, 9lb 12oz
3rd, Mark and Ryan Radford, plus John Bradford all had 8lb 6oz.

Weights...

So a less than exciting day on the bank, not much to dwell on and onwards to the next match.
Next Sunday I am on Apex Lake with the Pawlett group, so that could be a tough contest,  but I am currently looking forward to it.

On a positive note, Saturday saw me and Paul Wharton fish Walrow Lakes, the Snag pit, and we caught a few fish. Paul had a few roach and 4 or 5 bream, I ended up with 9 bream to 8lb or so and around 12lb of roach averaging 3oz, it was a bite a chuck on maggots or casters, not easy fishing and made a change to fish light gear in deep water.

Until next time, take care.
Lee

Pawlett Club, Sedges Silvers Match. 10-04-16

So after yesterday's anti-climax at Viaduct, it was back to sensible fishing. The club had their annual Silvers only match at the lovely Sedges Fishery. We had all of Brick and the causeway side of Tile today for use.
With a 9am draw I got there in plenty of time so had a cuppa thanks to Denise, a bit of a chinwag with a few including a couple of new members. Ziggy Slowinski and John Fuidge, two top anglers, especially for the skimmers and other non-carp species. But both sound guys and good company.

We had a very brisk wind blowing from the east/south-east, so pegs 11 to 20  (Brick Lake) were in comfort as were most of the pegs from 40 back to 31 (Tile Lake). The pegs 1 to 10 were in the wind, especially peg 10, no doubt that's where the carp would be in numbers.
As usual I fancied anywhere from 4 up to 9, or  even better 14 down to 17 would be a comfortable choice and should produce some decent skimmers. I didn't want a corner, peg 10 would be carp city, 11 usually holds plenty while 1 and 20 can have their days. Generally though the middles are a safe bet. I didn't want to draw Tile, I cant catch silvers from that lake!!

Anyways, back to the draw and I waited until 3 balls remained and there was only peg 10, 38 and 36 left in the basket.....ho hum. I kind of didn't fancy any, but found peg 10 in my hand. Now I have fished the venue loads over the last few years, I have never been lucky enough to get peg 10, I haven't even pleasure fished it. So I draw it on a Silvers only match.....Brilliant...Not.!
Anyways a job to do and I saw on the sheet I had a very good angler on peg 9 in Eric Fouracre, then he had Vic Bush next to him.....tough company. Behind me on Tile Lake I had veteran angler Rich Coles, he has been doing well of late and was on the good silvers peg that is peg 32, he'd be the man to beat on that lake, along with fishery owner Jamie down on peg 38.

I got to my peg and I could see carp boshing around in the waves.....hmmm.
I set about sorting my kit, 3 topkits for the pole. The 1st would do for 13m at two 45 degrees angles, the left side for expander or dead maggot over wet micros, the right side for maggot or caster over groundbait. The same rig would also do for 2+2 for meat over meat as the skimmers do like this bait.
Line was 0.14>0.10>b911f1 size 18 on a 4x18 Carpa Gent float and number 6 elastic.
The second rig was set up on the same hooks, line and laccy, except that it was a 4x14 version. This was for caster or maggot over plain dead maggots, off the bush on the end bank at 13m.
Lastly I set up a light 0.2g rig for roach and maybe the odd perch on the topkit line to my left, down wind. Line was 0.14>0.08>middy 6313 size 20 and again number 6 elastic. I would only loose feed caster here.
A open end feeder was put together with 0.14>18 b611x hook, this would be cast just past half way to the rope at around 22m. Various baits to be tried.
I also set up a bump bar, the first time in a couple years, as the wind was rather strong and blowing in at me from an angle to my right, I did need that.

Peg 10, Sedges Brick.....Carp peg on a Silvers day!!

Eric stated before the match I would expect a carpy day, I agreed, he also didn't expect to stay long as he didn't think the skimmers would be around the area in any numbers,
At the all in I cupped 2 balls of groundbait on that line, half a pot of mostly micros on that line. A pot of meat with a sprinkle of groundbait went in at 2+2. Lastly a cup of mostly dead maggots went off the tree/bush at 13m along the end bank. I also started feeding casters, 6 or so every couple of minutes to my left on the topkit line.

I began on the feeder, an hour later I had landed a couple carp and lost a couple when the hook pulled. In that hour Eric had landed a good few skimmers and I don't think he had encountered a carp. He was fishing a small groundbait feeder.
Into the second hour and I managed a small skimmer over the groundbait line on the pole, but a couple of bumped skimmers saw me switch that rig to a number 4 elastic. That proved a nice choice as a couple palm sized skimmers didn't bounce off the hook.
The second hour also saw me connect with at least 6 carp, I got most out, only lost 1 hooklength during that spell.
Elsewhere, new-comer John Fuidge on peg 14, which would have been my 1st choice, had a good few fish, mostly small skimmers, but he was doing well. Eric was up to around 15 skimmers and 2 lost carp on the feeder.

In the 3rd hour I gave up on the feeder as I had yet to catch a silver fish on it, only getting carp. So I stuck to the 2 long lines and the topkit rig. The spot by the bush was never really tried as the wind made presentation neigh on impossible, plus there were many carp shouldering along the end bank.
A couple roach on the topkit were put in the keepnet, but I continued to hook carp, even on single maggot and caster, they were taking the bait on the drop. But once I had removed the nuisance I tended to get a couple more roach. One fish I hooked belted off, I suspected a carp, but a jagged fight indicated a tench and I duly netted a 2.5lb tinca, much to the amusement of Eric, his feeder bites had slowed.
A couple carp off the long lines, one of 13lb or so were somehow netted on the number 4 elastic, I had even switched to 0.08 hooklength. How can these fish stay on and rarely break you on such light gear.....food for thought, hmmm.
Anyways I kept plugging away, picking up mostly roach and odd rudd on the topkit. Plus carp.

The forth hour was an ok one, silver fish wise, I managed a 3lb tench, a 6oz roach and a 6oz skimmer, but had more carp, landed and lost. I also managed to net a ghost/koi that I had landed in the first hour.....silly fish. My long lines had really died, well properly died as they were almost dead for the first three hours!!
John Fuidge was continuing to catch and by now Pierce on Golden Peg 15 was starting to bag-up at a rather quick rate and was surely catching up John and Eric in the weights. Behind me I had notice Rich Coles catching a few throughout the day and was doing well, though I had no idea on what size fish he was catching.

The last couple of hours were pretty much carp infested for me, I did land my 3rd tench and a couple roach, but even the roach has passed me by and Eric was picking up the odd one down to his left, though he never had any carp from his edge spot.
I did have a bit of fun playing a carp that when I got it into the edge looked upper double figured, but a protracted fight saw the common win the battle after 10 minutes when it snagged me down towards the corner, but it was all fun on light gear.
A few peeps started packing up with less than an hour to go as it was patchy and rain looked like it was due soon.

The 4:30 all out was called and I reckoned I had maybe 9lb, but I wasn't sure to be honest. Eric would have mid twenties as would John Fuidge. Pierce on peg 15 maybe had caught enough late on? Oh and Vic Bush on peg 8 had a couple nice skimmers and I reckoned on him having maybe 13lb. He had carp problems in the last hour.
I ended up landing at least 13 carp, pulled out of at least another 20, some only staying on for a few seconds as they belted off, I landed around 8 scales, all from the topkit line. I only lost 4 or 5 hooklengths all day which was a bonus/

I followed the weigh in, not too closely but saw workmate Paul Berry land 15lb or so from his peg on Tile. I then paid attention when we got up to Eric, he had 24lb 2oz to take the lead, Rich Coles pushed him closed but had 23lb 15oz. Next was me, my 3 tench and assorted bits totted up to 11lb 12oz, not too bad, especially as I didn't have any of the 1lb-2.5lb skimmers that are aplenty in this lake.
Around to the opposite bank we saw John Fuidge on peg 14 take the lead with 27lb exacty before Pierce's comeback was a touch late as he just shaded 20lb.

Back to the results and they were:

1st, John Fuidge, peg 14, 27lb
2nd, Eric Fouracre, peg 9, 24lb 2oz
3rd, Rich Coles, peg 32, 23lb 15oz
4th, Pierce Furlong, peg 15, 20lb 4oz
5th, Jamie Cook, peg 38, 17lb 2oz
6th, Paul Berry, peg 39, 15lb 12oz

Weights....

John qualifies for the Silvers final in 2017, newbies to the club usually qualify on their 1st outing, I did, James Withers did, Paul Berry did and now John.....to name a few.

So a very tough day given the conditions, but I enjoyed it, shame I had to use my 1st peg 10 draw in a silvers match!!
Back to the same venue next weekend with the PSV guys. I may even fish on Saturday, not sure if Cary at Viaduct or Landsend appeals....I shall see.

Until then, take care,

Lee

Fishomania Qualifier, Viaduct. 09-04-16

My first qualifier of this season was a local affair, Viaduct Fishery. The list of competitors and reserves was a mix of top local talent and some 'magazine names' from the world of match fishing.

I arrived in loads of time so had a chat with a few guys after I had taken a walk around the lakes, there was a nippy chill on the wind that was blowing up the lakes. I fancied 3 or 4 on the Spring Lake, 38 on Middle, any corner peg on Match or Lodge. 80, 81, 83, 97, 77 and 102 on Cary. While on Campbell I wouldn't have minded any from 111 to 115, other than that 128 or 129 on the spit would be ok I would have thought.

With the weather cooler and odd breezy spells along with showers I expected lower than recent weights have been, 150lb would be in with a chance I would have thought, but this would maybe even out the weight and make it a close contest?
Anyways back to the draw and I hung on towards the end of the queue, I was in the line with Tom Mangnall, and we had hoped for a good peg, especially as a few of the 'less-wanted' pegs had been plucked from the tin. I drew, 2 pegs stuck together, dropped one back in and left me with 129, Not too shabby.

I got to my peg, surveyed the scene and noted I had very little in the way of ripple, not what is needed. The winds were pushing over into 112 to 115, these hot pegs also had a few fish boshing in that area. I hadn't seen more than a few roach in my peg.....hmmm!!
I set up a lead, a waggler to fish up and down in the water. 4 pole rigs were put together, a meat rig for 9m as the water was clear-ish, a banded pellet rig for full depth at 14.5m (my poor back....), a slapping/shallow pellet rig and a banded pellet rig for a couple spots along the spit.

Peg 129, Campbell

I would love lo say things went well, but it was 30 minutes before I had my 1st carp, a 5lb fish on the lead. In that half an hour quite a few carp had been had from pegs 110 up to 116, Steve Tucker probably the pick of them with 5 or 6 on the lead.
My next fish came an hour later and another of the same size as my 1st. Not much was happening in the pegs to my right and along the bottom bank, odd fish here or there.
Meanwhile new Frenzee recruit Dan White, on as a reserve again, was opposite on peg 112 was properly into the fish, he was a long way ahead at this point, he was mostly catching on the pole shallow and a few fish on the lead when he rested the pole lines I guess.

Into the 3rd hour and I had a carp on the long pellet line then another on the lead, both fish around the 4lb mark, smaller stamp fish. A couple lost foul hookers and one landed came over the next half an hour, the landed one fell to the waggler fished 12 inches deep.
A look on the meat line gave me a 4oz skimmer but that was that line done for the day.

The last 90 minutes was spent swapping between the lead and the waggler at mostly full depth, I lost a 10lber at the net but did land a couple on the waggler and a couple on the lead in that final period.
Dan White was still catching well and Tucks to his left was catching a few again and looked close to 100lb, I reckoned on Dan having near to 180lb.....me, my clickers showed 50lb and 10lb.
I had 12 or 13 carp in total during the day, only one over 6lb and a couple 2lb fish.

The all out was called and I packed up. The guy on peg 130, a foreign chap, had landed a decent mid-double in the last hour and had a couple 8lbers during the day so I reckoned on him having maybe 85lb. He actually had a few ounces under 90lb. I weighed in just under 64lb.
The scales carried on along the lake and I finished packing up and put the kit in the car before going to see how Dan had done, rumour had it that the best weight was 145lb or so and there was a couple low 100lb nets including Perry Stone on the match lake.
After multiple weighs the winner was confirmed as Dan weighed in 210lb 11oz. Well done him.
Steve Tucker then snuck 3rd overall with 110lb 5oz, 1 ounce ahead of 4th.

The Winner, Dan White (Frenzee SW)

I don't feel I could have had too much more from my peg, I couldn't get a bit along the spit on pellet or meat, bites on the pole were scarce and spasmodic at best on running line, the fish had obviously done what they do in April and got on the wind.

Overall Results: Ta to Viaduct's Facebook page...

1. Dan White - 210lb 11oz - peg 112
2. J Kirk - 145lb 9oz - peg 127
3. Steve Tucker - 110lb 5oz - peg 111
4. Simon Kiefer - 110lb 4oz - peg 95
5. Perry Stone - 104lb 4oz - peg 45
6. Jason Hale - 98lb 1oz - peg 62
7. Steve Trevett - 97lb 12oz - peg 81
8. Mark Harrinton - 97lb 11oz - peg 3
9. Zac Newton - 94lb 6oz - peg 18
10. R Taylor - 91lb 14oz - peg 67
11. Steve Jackson - 91lb 4oz - peg 25
12. M Petrov - 89lb 5oz - peg 130
13. Ben Emery - 88lb 3oz - peg 115
14. Dean Stacey - 87lb 5oz - peg 80
15. C Cameron - 86lb 6oz - peg 48
16. Andrew Mann - 85lb 9oz - peg 78
17. C Shephard - 84lb 8oz - peg 19
18. Tony Gilbert - 84lb 6oz - peg 87
19. Tommy Hillier - 83lb 10oz - peg 86
20. Scott Puddy - 83lb 2oz - peg 96
21. Chris Perry - 82lb 13oz - peg 66
22. J Hannam - 81lb 10oz - peg 83


Next up for me is tomorrow's match at Sedges, a silvers only contest, in last year's corresponding match I had well over 100lb of carp on the silvers kit.....lets not hope for the same. It is gonna be windy and I don't want Tile.....onwards and upwards.

Lee.

Shiplate Costcutter, Main Lake, 07-04-16

A toss up as what to do today, I was going fishing yesterday, but couldn't be arsed, but I wanted to go today, I did contemplate Viaduct, but then Jonny Page told me of a match on the Main lake at Shiplate, I really enjoy that lake, although I do need to learn some of it's moods and how the carp feed away from the edges...I booked in without hesitation. I really fancied a day fishing for the silvers and my bait was mostly geared up for them......groundbait and corn!!

I had the beloved wife with me today, she doesn't get out much, obviously, and fancied watching an 'exciting'  match. On the way over I told her that I fancied anywhere from peg 7 round to peg 12 or 13 as there would be a ripple and the new wind may well have shuffled the carp away from pegs 1 and the more favoured peg 15. That's what happened the last time I fished there, a northerly pushing the fish down the lake.
After arriving for the 10am draw, which happened at 9:40, I chatted to a few guys, 11 were fishing, before dipping in for my peg, Steve had put 1 and 7 on the near side of the lake in and the rest of the pegs would be from 9a up to 15. I put my hand in an pulled 2 stuck together so dropped one back, I was left with peg 15. Generally seen as a flyer, or rather THE flyer, but I wasn't too confident, expecting the carp to be mid-lake or further down. But none the less, it was a carp peg I would be sat on, but I have won a silvers pool from this peg in the past.

I slowly made my way round, my back is being an arse and has been painful for about 2.5 weeks now.
I went about sorting my kit, I didn't want to faff much, so I set up a method feeder and a couple pole rigs. The 1st rig was for 6m in front using corn over maggots and a little micro, this rig would do for 13m in front using corn over 6mm pellets. The same rig also did for the same distances and baits along my left edge (ish), though it was a float's length shallower. So I marked everything up.
The 2nd rig was simply for down by a tree to my left in the margins using corn over 6mm's.
I never set up a silvers rig..........poor decision in hindsight.
Bait was robin red pellets and micros for the method feeder, corn, maggots, micros and 6mm pellets for the pole lines.

Peg 15 r.h.s

Peg 15, l.h.s and feeder area

At the 11am all-in I fed the various pole lines before chucking the method feeder out, 30 mins later I had a 5lber in the net, I thought the fish may have turned up.......Wrong.
After 2hrs I tried the pole, I was miles behind Titch Williams and Jon Page further down, they'd had a few carp as had Tom Downing on peg 14B, though he was catching loads of skimmers on the pole using 6mm pellets, he said they were accidentals.
A look down the edge to my left at 13m (painful....bloody back) saw me have a little indication, which is more than I had at 13m in front all day, but that knock on the float never developed, so I came in to 6m down the same edge. I had a bite right away and my 2nd fish, a 1lb tench was netted. 20 minutes later a 5lb carp from the same spot was in the keepnet. I died again and I was getting bored. I was cursing not setting up a silvers rig, but my back was being a pain and didn't fancy the effort (bad angling....nah....common sense, haha).
Back out on the feeder and it was about an hour or so later I lost a fish, but on inspection I had some old line on the hook, so maybe a 'trail-er'? I had another chance at around 2pm and landed my 3rd carp, another 5lb fish was in the keepnet.
Another look on the pole lines, the right edge gave me a slight knock, it never turned into a bite, so I looked in front, only the 6m line gave me a couple skimmers before re-feeding and looking short down the left edge, my 4th tench of 1lb or so was netted.

Further along Titch and Jonny were doing well, and the wife had told me Tom Light on peg 9a had landed a few skimmers and carp. Tom Downing was bagging away on the skimmer and odd carp from slapping tactics. Pegs 1 and 7 didn't look like they had landed much at all.

It was now 4pm and an hour left, at this point I had 3 carp for 15lb or so, 3 skimmers, 4 tench at 12oz-1lb each and a roach. A look down my left edge saw the elastic heading out into the lake before I even noticed the float gone!! But a nice 10lber was in the keepnet after a spirited scrap. The next drop saw the float stay still.
A look short down the left so a quick bite and I promptly bought back a 3 inch long scale, ooopps.
That was my last bite from that edge for the day.
With half hour to go I managed a nice 3lb tench on the 6m line in front, plus a couple skimmers, before a final look down the left edge with 20 minutes to go, a short jab on the float saw my strike into my 5th and last carp, a nice 6lb fish, moving my clicker to 30lb.
That was my action done for the day. 5 carp, 5 skimmers, 5 tench and a roach.

I packed up before Steve arrived to the scales...I plonked 11lb 9oz of silvers on the scales, my 5 carp added 35lb 4oz. 46lb 13oz was my total. I reckon I could have had that in silvers had I fished for them.....oh the hindsight.!!
Tom Downing weighed 24lb+ of silvers, both me and him thought he had 30lb or so of those. He also had 39lb 8oz of carp. His total was 64lb 2oz.

I never followed the scales from then on, I packed my gear away before making my way back to load the car. As I passed Titch and Jonny Page, they said they had 80lb and 70-odd pounds respectively.
I didn't find out what else was caught until the car was loaded and monies dished out.

Results:
1st, Titch Williams, 84-14, peg 13a.
2nd, Jonny Page, 70-03, peg 13.
3rd, Tom Downing, 64-02, peg 14b he also won the silvers pool with 24lb 10oz.
4th, Tom Light, 62-15, peg 9a.
5th, Lee Williams, 46-13, peg 15.

Weights

So a frustrating day, but as expected, I wasn't too sure on peg 15, but I am certain that I could have had 30-40lb of silvers had I fished properly for them. But the carp, at this time of year, tend to move around a lot with the winds, which it looked like had happened with them hanging around a bit further down the lake in the ripple/waves.

Next up for me is the Viaduct and Saturday's Fishomania Qualifier before Sunday see's me on a silvers match at Sedges. A couple of nice draws, where short pole tactics are best, would suit me and my back at the moment.

Until Then, Take Care.
Lee

Psv Match, Harescombe Match Lake. 03-04-16

A last minute decision to book on for the PSV match up at Harescombe, a fishery that I like and was lucky enough to win on my last outing there. It's a good 60-odd miles each way for me, but it is a really fair venue and you are sure of a few bites throughout the day.
Results from Thursday showed that the fish, in the main, had followed the wind, but would they follow the wind today, which was blowing the opposite way to then?

I made good time on the journey up and arrived to find Matt Challenger loading his trolley.....keen bean. Nearly everyone else was up in the café chatting and eating. We wandered on up and waited to do the draw. I fancied anywhere from peg 10 up and around to 22, where the wind was pushing. The pegs at the café end were calm and I hadn't saw a fish top prior to the draw. I didn't fancy 30 round to 6, though peg 29 is always worthwhile.

Into the bag, 3rd from last, and I pluck peg 30, café end before the bridge. It has always been a peg that seems to pay second fiddle to both 29 and peg 2 as you tend to feel a bit hemmed in, I had the end of the central island 16m away off in the 11 o'clock direction, which as I am suffering from a dodgy back, wouldn't be a line on my menu.....but at 1 point I tried for 2 minutes, it hurt, I gave up.

Harescombe Match Lake peg 30.

So anyways, 4 lines for me today, all on the same lines, floats and hook size. 0.2ng Jordans on 0.14>0.10>b911f1 size 18 (or 911 standard for band).
These lines would be a left edge swim just before the infall, corn over 4mm pellets here.
2 lines at 2+2 on the diagonals, the left one for meat and maggots, the right hand one for banded 6mm pellets over 4's.
Lastly a rig for just near empty peg 1 at around 10m away from me , this would be for banded pellet over micros and 4's. I had 3 bites but no fish from here so no more on that.

Bait was live maggots, 6mm meat, corn and a few micros and 4mm pellets. Oh and some 6mm pellets for in the bands.
For company I had Ross Sewell on peg 29 to my left, and Lee Waller on peg 2, you can see him in the pic above. But I had a good view of the whole lake and could judge how I was doing.

The all in was soon called and I fed the two edge swims and began on maggots, 20 minutes passed without any activity for me, though Lee had netted a few fish. Further up odd fish had been caught.
After 20 minutes I had a random few minutes, I had a couple roach but bumped 3 better fish, so I changed the hook and hoped this solved the bumped fish issue. It had, though it was after 90 minutes that I landed my first carp/f1, a 2lb carp came to the maggots, this was followed by a couple skimmers and an F1. I was missing a few bites and did try coming shallower but this didn't have the desired effect, small roach methinks.

After a couple hours Lee Waller had done reasonably well, but most others were struggling, Matt Challenger, on the first pegged peg on the far bank (peg 18) was catching as were those from pegs 10 to 15. I had a look on the 2+2 pellet line and promptly had a skimmer and a small carp, but that was it for that line for the rest of the day.
A look down the left edge gave me a 2lb carp and a chub, then a skimmer before that area died.
So for the remainder of the match I struggled away switching between the 2+2 maggot and meat line and the left margin line. I found that meat would give me more positive bites than the maggots but I would have to wait a bit longer and the fish was less likely to be a roach or small skimmer.

As we entered the last couple of hours my clicker showed around 20lb plus I had a couple pound of silvers. Lee Waller was plenty ahead of me, he had a good few barbel alongside his F1's
I could see Steve O'Toole catching pretty much every drop on his short line, his neighbours further up from him and Matt Challenger were all catching.
It was at this point I started to catch well, both on and off the bottom on meat and maggots, picking up the occasional fish from the edge kept me busy until the end of the match, which incidentally coincided with the wind really lightening up. Maybe the fish had drifted down as the winds had eased?

The all out was called and my clicker showed 40lb, plus I had my silvers, so perhaps 48lb total. Lee Waller would have around 10lb more than me, though we probably had less than further up, especially Matt Challenger and Steve O'Toole.

I packed up and tried to get the gear away from the rain, which stopped by the time the weigh in began.
First to weigh was Ross on peg 29, he had 15lb of skimmers and a couple carp for 25lb 4oz.
I was next and my 8lb 12oz of skimmer/roach/chub was added to my slightly underestimated net of F1's and odd carp. My total was 56lb exactly.
Lee Waller popped 61lb 4oz on the scales, then Derek Lucas and Steve Burgess put 34lb and ounces on the sheet, this was between them, Steve just pipping Derek.
Steve O'Toole then took the lead with a cracking 83lb 4oz net, well fished that man.
Matty Taynton had 2oz less than Lee Waller then Lionel Legge had exactly 49lb.
Last up on the car park bank was Chris Szakacs who had 58lb 7oz from peg 15.

I left the scales at this point to go back and get my nets together and finish loading the car.
I caught up with the weigh sheet after the weigh in and Matt Challenger had taken 2nd spot on the day fishing worm over caster, he had 71lb 5oz. The rest had 24lb, 39lb and 44lb.

So a fair enough day, plenty of bites, though my first 2 or 3 hours were tough as it seemed the fish had followed the wind. But the last couple of hours were very enjoyable.
I wish there was somewhere as similar to this nearer home as it can give a cracking days sport, you don't need 100lb+ weights for a good match, just decent nets which give a close contest.
My largest fish was maybe 2lb today.

Results:
1st, peg 8, Steve O'Toole, 83lb 4oz
2nd, peg 18, Matt Challenger, 71lb 5oz
3rd, peg 2, Lee Waller, 61lb 4oz
4th, peg 10, Matt Taynton, 61lb 2oz
5th, peg 15, Chris Szakacs, 58lb 7oz
6th, peg 30, Lee Williams,56lb

Weights.....ignore Steve's results maths.!!

I have this week off and will try and squeeze a match in during the week, Viaduct on Saturday for the Fisho qualifier and then a silvers match next Sunday at Sedges.

Until then, take care and tight lines.

Lee