Wyatts pool was the venue this week. Although not my favourite pool on the complex, there is certainly nothing wrong with it and i've done pretty well on there historically (i held the venue record for a while from Wyatts with 207lb). Wyatts is all about a fish race, rather than the proper siazed fish that Laugherne holds. Weather leading up to the match had been very changeable, with frosts one morning and +8 degrees the next with plenty of wind and rain mixed in, but i was still looking forward to getting out on the bank.
Unfortunatley the day didnt go to well and i found myself lacking in 2 areas, 1 of which was completely my own fault and the other due to the extreme conditions on the day. I'll explain!!
The draw put me on peg 9, in the middle of the near bank. a pretty non-descript peg with a spare peg either side like everyone else but i was at the back of slight of a slight bay.
The wind at the start of the match wasnt to bad, blowy but very manageable and the rigs held steady when i was checking the shotting. my plan was totally based around pellets with some maggots and pinkies as backup. So i set the following up: -
Rig 1 - 0.7g slim pencil with 1.5mm tip, 0.15 Ultima Power Silk mainline to 0.10 Power silk hooklength and an 18 G-Point Pellet. Rig 2 - 1g Fat pencil with 2mm tip, 0.15 Power Silk Mainline, 0.12 Power Silk Hooklength and an 18 G-Point Pellet
Rig 3 - 0.5g slim pencil with 1.5mm tip, 0.15 Power Silk mainline, 0.10 Power Silk Hooklength and an 18 G Point Pellet
Rig 4 - 0.4g Rounder bodied float (a new shape i'm playing with), 0.14 Power Silk mainline, 0.10 Powersilk hooklength and an 18 B611.
Rigs 1 and 2 were for the main pellet lines at 11m where the wind was easily manageable and i could follow the fish out if necessary without resorting to going really long. rig 1 was set just touching with a spread bulk and droppers and rig 2 was set 3" over depth with a spread bulk and droppers. i gave myself 2 lines here at 10 and 2 o'clock and would feed micro's on one line and 4mm on the other to determine if the fish prefered one type of feed.
Before the match kicked off i managed to have 5 minutes talking to Chris Cameron who was pegged next to me and an absolutely brilliant pellet angler so i chekced his rigs out. he uses a very positive shotting pattern which 'looked' totally wrong to me, as i like nice spread out shotting to give a nice slow fall through the water, but his way obviously works. With this in mind i altered rig 2 with the bulk 18" from the hook and a second bulk in between the first and the hook. i just couldnt go as positive as chris who fishes a single bulk 12" from the hook!
Rig 3 was plumbed at 4 sections where the inside shelf starts to flatten slightly to me left out of the noisy water which would be created by netted fish and would be hand fed with pellets and rig 4 was plumbed at the same place as rig 3 but 9m to my right nearly in front of the peg next door. this was going to be dump potted with pinkies as was only to be used as a back up.
The maggot dumping line has worked for me at various venues in the depths of winter as i liken it to a bloodworm and joker approach where the majority of the bait is introduced at the start and the fish are left to graze over it with nothing else over the top and picked off as and when required.
The maggot dumping line has worked for me at various venues in the depths of winter as i liken it to a bloodworm and joker approach where the majority of the bait is introduced at the start and the fish are left to graze over it with nothing else over the top and picked off as and when required.
the bait table as very simple, with 2 pints of soaked micros, 2 pints of soaked 4mm's, half of red maggots and half a pint of mixed pinkies all mixed together and some 4mm expanders.
On the whistle my 11m lines received a medium CAD pot of pellets on each (i was going to feel my way in), the 4 section line got a few pellets hand fed and the maggot line got a full small cupping pot of feed.
This is where the issues started and the struggle began. 10 minutes after the whistle went the wind quickly picked up quite dramatically and was really gusting and creating some sizeable waves on the surface. for the first 45 minutes i could get half decent presentation and i manged to put a few mirrors in the net. i had too fish the 2 O'clock line as the sun had come out and i couldnt see a thing on the 10 o'clock line! but then the tow started to kick in!!!!!!!!!!!!
for some reason i hadnt put my ready rod bad in which had micro method and maggot feeder rods set up in it. the tow became relentless and bites dropped away and i was left struggling just gettin the odd indication if i could keep it still for a few seconds. Chris next door and John opposite me chucked small feeders and were instantly rewarded with fish when i was sat there struggling. Must remember rods!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
my other issue was not being prepared for the situation. after the match Steve Ford told me he had caught using a 2g rig held back against the tow and nailed in place. the biggest rig in my box is only 1g. the wind didnt stop and my rigs just werent right for the conditions. if there was the slightest break in the wind my float went straight under and there was a fish on. i did put an extension onto my rig with 3ft of line above the float and a couple of number 8 back shot but the wind and waves were pushing the float through way too quickly!!! i think a round bodied float 2-3g would have been perfect, but with my own float making (slim float making) hobby kicking in i was left short of the right gear. But on the flip side the conditions were pretty extreme and the rod and line approach would have the best on the day!?!?!?!
i did manage occasional bursts of fish and could only manage 2 fish from each of my 11m lines before they needed topping up and resting. the fish definately wanted some feed and regular top ups gave me bites through out the match, but it was really hard work holding the pole against the constant wind with regular gusts!
I couldnt muster a bite from either of my close lines and had everything from my 11 meter lines on a 4mm expander. bites were pretty positive and the 6-8 middy latex doubled in my match kits is absolutely perfect. i will definately be using this from now on. i need to get hold of some of the 8-10 to try it out on Laugherne island for the bigger carp and find a regular source as i cant seem to get in anywhere in my local area.
I managed to put 36lb on the scales for midway in the match. 65lb won with 63lb second so overall not the best of days!
Cob House again this week with the Talk Angling fur and feather. 40 guys booked on with Wyatts and Laugherne island in! Should a be good match, i just hope that wind ides of and gives us a decent day for once!!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment