Just thought I would do a quick catch up of my matches since my last blog which was 6 months or so ago.
I stopped doing the blog as I found it quite a chore to be honest, the wife started her new job in October and we now have weekends off together so I have been a bit lax when deciding if to go fishing at all, my enthusiasm waned, it still isn't heading in the right direction and to be fair I am not missing my weekly outings. Maybe the colder/winter months didn't help. Only time will tell....
October, Summerhayes Silvers' Winners Final, finished 4th and one out of the money. A little over 9lb and the best weight from the road bank, Eric Fouracres won from peg 13 or 14 if I remember rightly.
November, I didn't go fishing at all this month.
December, I fished the Pawlett Xmas match at Sedges, managed a few carp but not as much as good friend Paul Berry on the peg next to me who won, I think I was 7th on the day. It was bloody windy and I lost my cupping kit connector and the tosspot/catty approach was not how I wanted to go. Still some ciders as a prize and a nice bit of grub at the Legion after was appreciated.
I drew peg 43 on the Viaduct Xmas match and got it all wrong and only had 8lb or so, not last in the match by a few pounds and collected more cider. Mark Wynne won the match.
Boxing day at Sedges, drew peg 23, wasted an hour fishing for silvers, then went for carp but was never gonna get in the frame but did catch just under 60lb which may have been 4th or 5th. If I remember rightly Jamie won from peg 25 or 26 (I could be wrong though).
30th of the month I went to Landsend, drew peg 21, struggled and DNW's after catching just 1 carp and some silvers.
January, just the one match, a Saturday open at Todber, it fished bloody hard for all and I only squeaked a few little carp together from peg 62 on Ash. Beaten by Big Nick Selway off the next peg and 46lb was top weight on Ash, 78lb won overall off Hillview.
February, the solitary match I fished that month was down at Landsend, I drew peg 24, a peg that hadn't been great in the recent form so I was not best pleased, but the weather was ok and I actually had a good day picking up carp from the open water towards the island to finish with 15 carp and 7lb of silvers for a match winning 67lb (little carp....hmmm).
March, I covered for the Fishing Tackle Warehouse team in the last round of the Viaduct, team draw gave me peg 40 on the Match Lake, I wasn't too unhappy, but I struggled and only returned 7 point from 18 in the section, no disaster but I feel I could have done a few more fish and a few extra points.
The 17th gave me a 'free' match on the Landsend Winter League, I would be on Lake 3 and joked I would be on peg 68, as usual, and hey ho I drew that peg. Anyways I put 23lb of assorted silvers on the scales with some carp for a total of 42lb+ and 4th on the lake and the lake's top silvers net, so a nice pick up there. (4 times I have had that peg, 4 times I have had the best silvers net on the lake, haha).
A week later I was at Sedges, peg 26 and was happy with that, but the joy never lasted as I had 60lb and finished maybe 6th on the day as James Withers won with 172lb from peg 40, he nearly got knocked back by 100lb as he was close to the limit.
30th, Todber, peg 52 on Hillview, I draw this area regularly and it is not an area of choice most of the time. But 60lb and a days fishing as the match was over for me at the draw. Homeground gave the best weights overall and the best silvers was 89lb of maggot feeder caught skimmers on Hillview.
April, well this month I have been a 3 times thus far.
Pawlett's annual Silvers match at The Sedges (7th April), had a tough section with some very good anglers who know the venue well. I drew peg 15. I wasn't feeling up to fishing but saw the day out and surprisingly finished 2nd overall on the day and best weight off Brick Lake with 35lb 4oz of skimmer and a nice little envelope. Keith Clapp won from Tile Lake with 14oz more than me....
The following weekend it was Summerhayes Longs. I have draw down on peg 19, never been that far down before and I had silvers specialist Roy Hughes on peg 20. I wanted to fish for silvers with worms and caster but that never happened. I had a good 2nd hour catching carp on pellets across and picked the odd carp for the last 4 hours, not many, but luckily enough that was good enough as my lowly 52lb was surprisingly enough to win the match and put some money in the wallet, but it was an enjoyable day trying to figure out how to get the most from the fish that were playing games on the day in that they would come to feed up in the water but couldn't get a bite shallow.
Lastly this weekend saw me on Viaduct's Easter Monday open match, peg 74, which was miles away from where the fish/weights have been coming from. It's a peg I really don't like but I gave it a go.
I landed a couple carp, lost 2 foul hookers and lost one when I shouldn't have (I should have added sections to follow it out on a run but I didn't and the hooklength broke). 6 decent skimmers and a small perch were my other fish. I tipped back my 2 carp (15lb) and silvers (10lb) for a DNW.
Other than at Sedges where it is deeper I have more or less been using DT Floats F1/Silvers in 0.3g for the silvers and Slim P's in 0.2 and 0.4g for my carp-type fishing and I cannot recommend them enough, great floats.
Now the spring has arrived I do hope to get out on the bank a bit more and am looking forward to a few matches I have booked in for the rest of 2019. But I am more looking forward to a couple weekends away with the wife, especially BST Hyde Park and Madness in Taunton in July.
Maybe, just maybe, will I begin to start blogging regular.
Lets just see.
Take care to you all and tight lines.
Lee
Thursday, 25 April 2019
Saturday, 13 October 2018
Catch Up -- White Acres Maver Fest and Summerhaye's Winners Match
Not blogged recently for various reasons, but thought I would give a quick round up of the last few weeks.
From the 1st to the 5th of October myself and Jamie Parkhouse fished the Maver Festival down at White Acres, I was well up for this and although not expecting to do well, I hoped I could learn a few things to take into 2019 and hopefully a couple more festivals down in Cornwall. This would be only my 2nd main 5 day festival there but you never know how things can turn out.
It all started badly when I got to Exeter and remembered I had left my roller bag at home but after a bit of Facebook help and a bit of kindness from my lovely Mother-in-Law I managed to get my rollers before the festival. Thanks to my sponsor, Dean Townshend and Jonny Kirkton for their help in this.
It was also a chance to meet a few of the DT Floats lads, nice to meet you guys.
Day One, Porth. Peg 34.
My favourite day of the week, I love Porth (except the walks...)
I set up a long range method rod (mistake), a short chuck feeder and a couple pole rigs where it was top 3 plus a short 4 deep from 5m out to 14.5m.
I fed a couple balls of groundbait at 6m and half a dozen at 14m at the start before beginning short where I put a couple pounds in the net in the first half hour, it then went a bit quiet before the odd spurt of fish here and there on the pole and short feeder kept me ticking over in the first 2hrs of the match.
A dead 2hrs didn't help before I finished quite well catching a few skimmers on the long line.
I gave the method 3 spells of 20mins or so during the day for nothing, which I knew would happen but Jamie called me and said to try it as he had a couple bream on his.
My 11lb 10oz was 3rd in section, 4oz behind second and Andy Power won the section with 15lb, so I would like to think that 2nd was definitely in grasp and I could have go closer to Andy.
The lake fished well with several 30lb+ nets and a few mid 20s from the far side.
Day Two, Bolingey. Peg 8.
I don't seem to draw on the smaller lake or the right hand arm here but tend to get in the deeper area of the back lake. So I wasn't shocked to see that same area in my mitt at the draw as it hadn't been a good area (6 to 10) for a while pre-festival and the other pegs in my section seemed better. But fish have fins.
I set up a method to the island, an edge rig for both margins (no signs of fish all day...) a deep pellet and shallow pellet rig for 14m in front and lastly a meat rig for 2+2 in two spots feeding differently.
I had Adrian Clark next to me on peg 7 so a bit of decent company.
I began on the topkit hoping for a quick carp or 2, but other than a couple missed bites (roach/carassio?) nothing was forth coming. So I tried the method to the island and soon and lost my 1st fish to a snag around 6ft off the island. A couple did follow and were netted ok.
The match was hard over our side and a lot of fish seemed foul hooked and fish losses were not uncommon.
Well I managed no fish shallow, no fish on the deep pellet but a few on meat and a few on the method to give me 81lb to Adrian's 73lb. This was worth 4th section, decent enough, but not as good as those along the back bank which had been decent.
Day Three, Pollawyn. Peg 21.
A good peg at times (as proved on the last couple of days and in the following Preston Fest) but it struggled on the first 2 days of the Maver with 6th in section the best it did.
I tried over to the island for 1 roach and 1 small ghost f1, but ended up catching skimmers, barbel, rudd, perch, crucians and odd small f1 mostly at 11m on worm over groundbait, I probably fed too much in hindsight.
No carp hooked in the mouth down my right edge, just one lost and one lost on the silvers rig, both foul hooked.
A few roach short and a couple barbel and skimmers on meat late gave me all of 18lb for section 6th, 23lb was worth a couple or 3 more points which was within grasp should I have stuck with the skimmers etc....but 90 mins spent carp chasing was a bad choice.
Day Four, Trewaters. Peg 37.
This peg won the lake the first couple days, but I am not in the class of Callum Dicks etc, but the Wednesday it only gave 17lb and peg 39 won and the pegs further up did better.
Anyways I began short on pellet for a 1st drop carassio. That was it for the opening hour, but a couple carp from there at the start of the 2nd hour was good in comparison to others on my lake.
It then died and during the day I picked up only 1 carp on the long pole just off the island, 1 on the meat line, nothing down my edges (again spent too long chasing fish not there towards the end), but managed to get a few on the feeder and I was winning the lake with 15 mins to go, then Jon Arthur and the guy opposite me had 4 and 5 carp respectively on their pellet feeders to push me down to 3rd. I had 36lb, Jon 39lb and the lad across 49lb, so a 3rd, not a disaster. But a few things learned for sure.
Day Five, Trelawny. Peg 8.
I wanted to be on Twin Oaks which is in with Trelawny, although I like Trelawny I seem to struggle as F1 fishing is something I just don't do.
Anyways I had fished this peg on the Sunday after I arrived (and several times over the years in hols),
I struggled then but caught some silvers and odd F1 while Jamie did a bit better using worms as opposed to my pellet and casters attack.
I set up a feeder, nowt on this. A shallow pellet rig (DT Pinger) for 14m, a shallow caster rig (DT Skittle) for 2+2, a deck rig for worm/caster and one for pellets on the deck to fish under the relevant shallow lines. A margin rig for both sides.....again used far too much for only a couple skimmers and one lost foul hooked carp.
The first hour was slow then I had a good couple hours catching F1s on the pellet long, I couldn't get anything but odd roach short on casters. It then died a dead so I faffed around trying to winkle out a few extra fish and hope for a proper carp. It didn't happen and I ended the match catching small F1s.
My 30lb was 5lb or so short of section 4th, instead I was ounced down to 7th. Andy Power won the section and lake with 157lb I think, brilliant to watch.
Again a few mistakes made, I should have taken meat as there were some carp caught on this bait all over the lake. Also I spent too long chasing lumps down my edges instead of keeping on doing what I was doing, but I figured I needed a couple of lumps to get top 3 in section.
I finished the week in 79th, not so bad but a couple better results would have pushed me further up the charts. I hope to rectify this next time I am there.
On the plus side I beat Jamie on both weight and position, I ended up 10lb or so and 23 places better off than my caravan buddy.
Last Sunday was the Summerhayes Winners match, with some decent money to go at I was hoping for a good day.
Anyway I will cut it ultra short, I had a mare of a day, drew 34, which was not near my favoured area and with Chris Boulton on 36 where he had won the week previous it looked like a neck ache day. Indeed it was as Chris won with 120lb, there were a couple 60lb+ nets filling the last two money places. So well done Chris and the others.
My match wasn't fun, I wanted to go home after an hour. I managed to snag my top 4 in the reeds, but got it back thanks to my cupping kit and jiggery pokery.
I lost a few fish off the hook by rushing and managed to lose a whole feeder set up when reeling in, the connector had come undone!!
But I did put 30lb on the scales as I stayed to weigh in. To my right Gareth Lennox tipped back a similar amount and Jack Billet went home with over an hour left, it had fished hard probably due to the amount of rain the day before.
Next up is Summerhaye's Silvers Winners Match this Sunday, I hope that goes better but there are some tidy silvers anglers fishing it so I will have to try my hardest....lol
Until then, take care.
Lee
From the 1st to the 5th of October myself and Jamie Parkhouse fished the Maver Festival down at White Acres, I was well up for this and although not expecting to do well, I hoped I could learn a few things to take into 2019 and hopefully a couple more festivals down in Cornwall. This would be only my 2nd main 5 day festival there but you never know how things can turn out.
It all started badly when I got to Exeter and remembered I had left my roller bag at home but after a bit of Facebook help and a bit of kindness from my lovely Mother-in-Law I managed to get my rollers before the festival. Thanks to my sponsor, Dean Townshend and Jonny Kirkton for their help in this.
It was also a chance to meet a few of the DT Floats lads, nice to meet you guys.
Day One, Porth. Peg 34.
 |
| P34 Porth |
I set up a long range method rod (mistake), a short chuck feeder and a couple pole rigs where it was top 3 plus a short 4 deep from 5m out to 14.5m.
I fed a couple balls of groundbait at 6m and half a dozen at 14m at the start before beginning short where I put a couple pounds in the net in the first half hour, it then went a bit quiet before the odd spurt of fish here and there on the pole and short feeder kept me ticking over in the first 2hrs of the match.
A dead 2hrs didn't help before I finished quite well catching a few skimmers on the long line.
I gave the method 3 spells of 20mins or so during the day for nothing, which I knew would happen but Jamie called me and said to try it as he had a couple bream on his.
My 11lb 10oz was 3rd in section, 4oz behind second and Andy Power won the section with 15lb, so I would like to think that 2nd was definitely in grasp and I could have go closer to Andy.
The lake fished well with several 30lb+ nets and a few mid 20s from the far side.
Day Two, Bolingey. Peg 8.
 |
| P8 Bolingey |
I set up a method to the island, an edge rig for both margins (no signs of fish all day...) a deep pellet and shallow pellet rig for 14m in front and lastly a meat rig for 2+2 in two spots feeding differently.
I had Adrian Clark next to me on peg 7 so a bit of decent company.
I began on the topkit hoping for a quick carp or 2, but other than a couple missed bites (roach/carassio?) nothing was forth coming. So I tried the method to the island and soon and lost my 1st fish to a snag around 6ft off the island. A couple did follow and were netted ok.
The match was hard over our side and a lot of fish seemed foul hooked and fish losses were not uncommon.
Well I managed no fish shallow, no fish on the deep pellet but a few on meat and a few on the method to give me 81lb to Adrian's 73lb. This was worth 4th section, decent enough, but not as good as those along the back bank which had been decent.
Day Three, Pollawyn. Peg 21.
 |
| P21 Pollawyn |
I tried over to the island for 1 roach and 1 small ghost f1, but ended up catching skimmers, barbel, rudd, perch, crucians and odd small f1 mostly at 11m on worm over groundbait, I probably fed too much in hindsight.
No carp hooked in the mouth down my right edge, just one lost and one lost on the silvers rig, both foul hooked.
A few roach short and a couple barbel and skimmers on meat late gave me all of 18lb for section 6th, 23lb was worth a couple or 3 more points which was within grasp should I have stuck with the skimmers etc....but 90 mins spent carp chasing was a bad choice.
Day Four, Trewaters. Peg 37.
 |
| P37 Trewaters |
Anyways I began short on pellet for a 1st drop carassio. That was it for the opening hour, but a couple carp from there at the start of the 2nd hour was good in comparison to others on my lake.
It then died and during the day I picked up only 1 carp on the long pole just off the island, 1 on the meat line, nothing down my edges (again spent too long chasing fish not there towards the end), but managed to get a few on the feeder and I was winning the lake with 15 mins to go, then Jon Arthur and the guy opposite me had 4 and 5 carp respectively on their pellet feeders to push me down to 3rd. I had 36lb, Jon 39lb and the lad across 49lb, so a 3rd, not a disaster. But a few things learned for sure.
Day Five, Trelawny. Peg 8.
 |
| P8 Trelawny |
Anyways I had fished this peg on the Sunday after I arrived (and several times over the years in hols),
I struggled then but caught some silvers and odd F1 while Jamie did a bit better using worms as opposed to my pellet and casters attack.
I set up a feeder, nowt on this. A shallow pellet rig (DT Pinger) for 14m, a shallow caster rig (DT Skittle) for 2+2, a deck rig for worm/caster and one for pellets on the deck to fish under the relevant shallow lines. A margin rig for both sides.....again used far too much for only a couple skimmers and one lost foul hooked carp.
The first hour was slow then I had a good couple hours catching F1s on the pellet long, I couldn't get anything but odd roach short on casters. It then died a dead so I faffed around trying to winkle out a few extra fish and hope for a proper carp. It didn't happen and I ended the match catching small F1s.
My 30lb was 5lb or so short of section 4th, instead I was ounced down to 7th. Andy Power won the section and lake with 157lb I think, brilliant to watch.
Again a few mistakes made, I should have taken meat as there were some carp caught on this bait all over the lake. Also I spent too long chasing lumps down my edges instead of keeping on doing what I was doing, but I figured I needed a couple of lumps to get top 3 in section.
I finished the week in 79th, not so bad but a couple better results would have pushed me further up the charts. I hope to rectify this next time I am there.
On the plus side I beat Jamie on both weight and position, I ended up 10lb or so and 23 places better off than my caravan buddy.
Last Sunday was the Summerhayes Winners match, with some decent money to go at I was hoping for a good day.
Anyway I will cut it ultra short, I had a mare of a day, drew 34, which was not near my favoured area and with Chris Boulton on 36 where he had won the week previous it looked like a neck ache day. Indeed it was as Chris won with 120lb, there were a couple 60lb+ nets filling the last two money places. So well done Chris and the others.
My match wasn't fun, I wanted to go home after an hour. I managed to snag my top 4 in the reeds, but got it back thanks to my cupping kit and jiggery pokery.
I lost a few fish off the hook by rushing and managed to lose a whole feeder set up when reeling in, the connector had come undone!!
But I did put 30lb on the scales as I stayed to weigh in. To my right Gareth Lennox tipped back a similar amount and Jack Billet went home with over an hour left, it had fished hard probably due to the amount of rain the day before.
Next up is Summerhaye's Silvers Winners Match this Sunday, I hope that goes better but there are some tidy silvers anglers fishing it so I will have to try my hardest....lol
Until then, take care.
Lee
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