Highs and Lows!!!!

2 matches to catch up on in the last week, and both at either end of the success spectrum!! First of all after the Easter long weekend i really wasn't in the mood for work, so took a last minute decision to book a mid wee kday off and have a dabble - the original plan was to fish at Hillview as practise for the last round of the league, but Mrs P wanted to go into work so a change of plan saw me going to Manor Farm Leisure in Evesham for the Weds Open. The match was to be spread over middle and island pools - i haven't been for ages so a bit of homework was needed to at least get me in the right ball park. I got there quite early and stuffed and sandwich in me, had a quick chat with Arthur in the tackle shop and had a quick walk round the pools - there were fish topping everywhere. the forecast for the day wasn't great, but it was overcast and the wind not too bad at all, so i was quiet happy to draw anywhere and have a days fishing. The draw bag put me on Middle 21, far end peg on the near bank of the pool - as far as i knew i thought this was at the wrong end of the pool as the aerator end had been dominating, but being an end peg i had loads of room and there were fish moving in front of me.

The closest angler was 2 pegs to my left so i had all of the bank to my right to myself - this was definitely in my plan - i was also looking at a pellet waggler approach and long pole and pellet to cover all the options

So i set the following kit up (from left to right -
1 - Shallow rig - Sconezone jubleez, on 0.16 mainline, to 0.14 hooklength and a 18 B911 eyed hook with a hair rigged micro pellet band
2 - Margin rig 1 - Sconezone Doubledeez 0.2g, 0.18 mainline to 0.18 hooklength and a 12 Drennan wide gape carp
3 - Margin rig 2 - Modified Sconezone samurai 0.2g, 0.18 mainline to 0.18 hooklength and a 12 Drennan wide gape carp
4 - Long Pole - Sconezone Doubledeez 0.4g, 0.18 mainline to 0.14 hooklength and 18 B991 eyed hook with a hair rigged micro band.
5 - Pellet Waggler - Maver Reactorlite finesse rod, 3012 TD-R with 0.21 maver genesis mainline, 5ssg Maver invincible pellet waggler, 0.18 hooklength with a 14 Drennan Match Carp hook and hair rigged pellet band.
6 - Bomb - Daiwa Tournament Pro 10/11ft quiver @ 10ft, 3012 TD-R with 6lb hyper sensor mainline, 1/2oz bomb and 0.18 hooklength with a 14 Drennan Carp feeder hook and hair rigged pellet band.
Notes
1- I've modified a few of the already brilliant samurai floats by putting a shorter 2mm tip over the original 1.5mm one and fitting an enclosed spring eye - this makes it a bit easier when fishing with heavy margin baits as the tip supports the bait a little better and I've found that putting a spring eye on instead of the normal rubber over the tip makes the float settle a little easier and more constantly.Samurai
2 - Daiwa Hyper Sensor - only been using for a short while so far, but immediately very impressed - the dia for the breaking strain is superb, its very smooth and casts extremely well - its going on all my feeder reels and will be going on my heavy pellet waggler set-up. Available in bulk spools, its extremely cost effective - HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
3 - I set-up 2 margin rigs as the wind was swirly and quite blustery so if the short Samurai rig wasn't working i could put the longer doubledeez rig over the same line and maintain stability of the hook bait.
4 - Drennan Wide Gape Carp - I've been using these for a while now as my paste hook, but recently started to use them for big bunches of maggot over groundbait feed in the margins - they really are good as you can load the wide gape with lots of maggots and minimise the risk of a maggot folding over and masking the hook point Drennan Wide Gape Carp

The margin rigs were plumbed at 13m to my right just besides the next pallet on peg 20 - i had a good 2.5ft of water so was more than happy that they would come into and feed confidently there. The long pole line was at 14.5m in font of me. the plan was start on the deck and get them shallow eventually. then the rods were there for a pellet waggler at a comfortable feeding distance for 8mm pellets.
The bait tray was fairly simple -
Margin mix was a bag of Old Ghost Match Carp with half a bog of OG Krill groundbait and half a bag of OG Maggot Meal - this was mixed very wet to ensure it got the bottom quickly and minimised foul hookers. i had a pint of red maggots for hook bait over the margin feed. i also had some 4mm pellets for long pole feed and 8mm pellets for the waggler line - i also boosted the 8mm pellets wit ha glug of OG krill liquid, just to give them an edge. and finally a pot of mixed 6mm pellets that i would be using as hook baits on the long pole line.

The start of the match came very quickly, but i was ready and waiting - now i typically don't ever get off to the greatest of starts, for what ever reason, so i wasn't 100% sure what to kick off on. my long pole and margins were fed on the whistle whilst pinging a few pellets long for the waggler in between each pot, and with fish moving all over the pool the pellet was to be the first attack. it took me 2 chucks to get the feel for the distance and feather the float in with a 'plop' but first proper chuck and it went under and fish on 10 minutes after the whistle - at 4lb and nice start - in the first 30 minutes i hooked 6 fish and landed 4 with the other coming adrift after only a few seconds. for me this was a great start - i got into a rhythm of feed, cast, hold the rod for those vital first few seconds after the float lands, feed 3 more times and reel in to repeat the process.
But then it went very iffy, very quickly - i just couldn't buy another bite on the waggler (i gave the margin line a pot every 20 mins as i was banking on it being my main line). i made the decision that i wouldn't give up on the waggler line and would keep feeding it, so i tried the long pole line - I've only fairly recently got into the hard banded pellet on the pole attack, but I'm enjoying the learning curve of a new method, and finding that accurate plumbing is essential to really gain the benefits of the method. first chuck on the pole and it went under with a lightning bite but i missed it! i kept on with it imparting lots of action into the hook bait to get a response and a good bite saw 4lb mirror in the net with minimum fuss, but then even the pole line went iffy too - there were fish there but i couldn't get a positive bite - more learning required to induce positive bites on the hard pellet rig!!!
An hour had passed now and i had 5 fish in the net, a (hopefully) primed margin and an in progress waggler line - the rest of middle pool had fish coming out all over but i felt i was in a good place - but no idea how island pool was doing. i made the decision to leave the long pole line alone, and make sure i fished the margins and wagg line effectively and not dilute my effort on a third line, but new i could inject some life into it if i was struggling. it was at this point the margin was going to get its first look.
First chuck and the float flew under!! A solid (slightly over zealous) strike saw a big Rudd take a flying lesson and promptly come off!! i had a big toss pot on my pole so another taster of groundbait went in with the next chuck and another rudd took the bait, but this one hung on and found its way into the net! i was doubting the margin was ready if rudd were present but i fancied another 5 minutes on it with regular toss pots of bait going in - next bite and something better was hooked and a tench of around a pound perked my interest and finally 4th chuck saw something properly hooked and carp number 1 was on - at around 6lb was a nice fish and i found myself very interested!! straight back in and i had to wait - there were signs of fish but it wouldn't go under so after 5 minutes i gave it another proper pot of bait - i took the toss pot off my kit and went over the top and it flew under again with another carp - sorted!!! and this set the scene for the match - each margin carp was paid for with a pot of bait over the top. the more maggots i could cram in the hook the better also - i had a pint of live maggots with me as it was a last minute match, but definitely felt deads would have been better.
It did go iffy a few times over the remaining 4 hours, but by maintaining the waggler line was i able to extract another 5-6 fish in the quiet spells to keep me ticking over. i pretty much caught all match and knew i was on for a decent weight and by what i could see done well on the pool.
Come the weigh in 106lb was winning the far bank and i knew I'd do that - 3 weighs later and i posted 167lb on the weigh sheet - my best weight for a long time. peg 21 was admitting to 130lb plus but fortunately (for me) fell just short of my weight with 156lb so id won my pool, just down to island pool!! after packing my stuff away i went ot see fellow Old Ghost angler Chris Cameron who told me (with a smile on his face) he'd pipped me with 169lb!!!! Gutted!! i lost 1 fish that i shouldn't have when it bolted off and i held it instead of giving it a section or two - this turns out cost me winning the match as Chris won and i was second!! the venue fished extremely well with the main list all taking over a ton!! I will be going back over the summer to keep my eye in on the pools!!
From High to Low
The second match in this weeks entry was the final round of the Hillview League - its been a good league with great fishing, but mixed results from myself - after a great match at manor, larford and the preceding round of the league i went into the match on a high!
i really wanted to be on the pools, but the draw put me on canal 3, one i hadn't fished before, but i took lessons learned from previous rounds on the canals and honed my approach (unfortunately no photos for this one)
I'm not going to into a huge amount of detail on the fishing itself as i fished a very poor match, but i need to make sure i learn form my mistakes. my attack was a short pole and pellet line, a long line ot the far bank dobbing for anything, a margin line and meat line to an aerator in my peg.
On the whistle i fed my short, margin and meat lines and went straight over with a piece of meat at 3.4 deep tight to the far band reeds - the wind today was shocking blowing straight across me right to left and very gusty too. i hooked and landed one mirror on the meat, but was getting plagued by tiny blades and gudgeon of all things!!!! they were everywhere - every rig on every line was bobbing up and down with gudgeon attacking the bait!
After 20 minutes battling the wind over i came back to my short pellet line at a top kit plus a short 4 and number 5 section - this wes fed with 4mm pellets with my new favourite banded pellet on the hook - it went under straight away and a procession of small F1's and tench came to the net. at around 8-10oz a piece it was nice fishing but i felt i wasn't going anywhere and looking around me others seemed to be catching better fish - this is where the wheels fell off - i started to hunt around my peg looking for better fish - i went onto my meat line and caught a 2lb fish straight away but couldn't find another - i went down the margin and found a better F1 and carp, but then the gudgeon arrived and couldn't find another better fish - i went back to my short pellet line and small F1's and tench were still there, and they were easy to catch, but my head kept telling my arms to fish the meat and margins for bigger fish that weren't there in any numbers!!!
of course the disruption and inconstant feeding on the short pellet line eventually killed that line too and i was left rotating around 3 very inconsistent lines in my peg - i did have a word with myself and started a new very positive margin line to feed off the gudgeon and make something happen which did produce a couple of better fish and i did spend some real time on my meat line that produced a few fish, but it also lost me 4 proper fish from around the posts that hold the aerator down!!!!!
i was not a happy bunny, from 3 great matches I'd now had a stinker - i weighed in 67lb of fish and the peg was worth well in excess of that - just over a ton won the section and I'm sure that was easily doable but I'd chased fish that weren't there.
On reflection its quite easy to see what i should have done, dont come off feeding fish!!! that line could have done me all day and put a great weight together as they'd have ultimately come shallow. But i guess that's what makes great anglers great, their decision making abilities ensure they are always putting fish in the net, prioritising correctly and recognising when something is changing and doing something about it differentiates them from the rest of us mere mortals. to really make it worse 2 of my other team members had won their section so it could have been a great result for us!!!!
Anyway writing this down and going over it has hopefully meant its stuck in my head somewhere to help me out in the future.
Ive been extremely busy on the prep front this week as its the Maver classic finals this weekend on Sunday and Monday, so come back and see how I've messed that one up!!
Scott

The Blog is Back!!!

Well its back - its been far too long since my last post - a lot has happened, not a huge amount tho fishing wise as i haven't exactly been on the greatest form, but i always felt the blog helped me reflect on my matches and work out what went well, and what i could improve on, so its time to start it all off again. I best start off with a bit of a catch up - I organised the cob house winter league again this year, same format, same team with the Old Ghost lads - Me, John Watson, Pete Bailey and Daz Fisher - we were hoping for a repeat of last years league win, but this year we'd attracted an extremely strong group of teams and it was going to be a huge challenge - the pools used in the league had changed slightly, with Oak pool going through a refurb they had split and stocked a previously unused pool. its a very small pool pegged and stocked with original Oak fish, so there was no worry if there will be enough fish in there, but no one would know how to attack it or how it would fish. after a team meeting over a pint, we decided I'd attack the new oak pool, John would be on Wyatts, Pete on Laugherne and Daz on Laurel - it was a strange winter, not massively cold but extremely wet and all the pools were very full - we didn't get off to a great start coming joint sixth on the first round, but being knocked back to 8th after a weight count back! we won the league last year with 5 points, and we started this years with 8 after the first round - oh dear. personally i got it wrong and pretty much went past the fish! expecting a usual winter attack i went straight out to 14.5m with pellet and maggot and found it very slow going. after going through the motions, plan z came into action and i plumbed the bottom of the near shelf at around 6-7m and fed with maggot to try and catch anything (although oak stocking means that's carp, carp or carp). i had been feeding a deep margin with Old Ghost Krill Ground bait but hadn't tried it as i really wasn't confident. giving it 10 minutes for the new line to settle, first chuck the float disappeared! another chuck and bang it was gone again - found em. with a short line so productive i tried the margin and that went under 2 - so the match was spent between the 2 to give me 78lb and 3rd in section. this set the scene for the rest of the league, with 4ft of water being the magical depth - it was very strange that barely any fish were caught in the deepest water at all and pretty much everything caught at 3-5m. maggot hook bait was by far the strongest, and i combined with the Old Ghost Krill ground bait Link to put some scent in the water with out giving them any real food and it worked a treat with my worst section result being a 5th over the 6 matches. the prolific Wyatt's pool turned out to be a huge struggle - I'd pegged the one end after last years results, but it just didn't fish with a couple of pounds getting good points and it would take till the final round for it to really fish to its true potential. I'd managed to get hold of some of the new MAP dual core white elastic, rated to 6-10 and was loving it Link Here. its got enough power to keep control, but soft enough and stretchy enough to not pull hooks or break lighter hooklengths. I used it through the whole league catching fish from 8oz to 10lb, and it did it all without any issues (and I'm still using it now). Anyway we managed to pull ourselves back up the league and held in 4th place right up to the last round, and we still had the chance to nick second if we won and a couple of the other teams bombed out - a big ask, but you've got to aim high. We did our best and got second on the day, but the other teams in the equation didn't play there part and did far too well - we actually finished joint third, but 4th on weight count back - gutted!! we all enjoyed it, with some great weights across all of the pools, and some good banter! This leads me onto very recent history and i moved onto the Hillview spring league a week after Cob House finished - this is a teams of 4 league spread over the whole complex - the rules saw you pick a number which gave you a set of pegs and then the section order called - so you knew where you were based on the order your name was on the sheet and the order the sections drawn - prep was based around being anywhere!!! I've only fished the place 3-4 times previously so it was maximum homework time. the venue has carp and F1's as the main attack with Pellet and meat being the main baits. Round 1 saw me on peg 85 on the back canal - end peg (but on the wrong end apparently) the canal is around 13m wide with both banks full of features - plan of attack was short pole and pellet - very short a top kit, pellet over to the far bank, bread to the far bank and a margin line. i fed my pellet lines on the whistle and started on the bread at 3/4 depth to the thickest looking features i could find - i managed 8 fish on the bread in the first hour and was very happy, but it went very quiet and i spangled a couple of rigs getting a bit too close - snags and obstructions on both banks were a massive problem. i then found the odd F1 on the top kit line, but they were very iffy. i spent the middle of the match searching round my lines keeping the odd fish coming. going into the last 90 minutes i had my first look down the margin which had been fed with micros on the hour every hour. there were fish there as the float was bobbing about but they wouldn't take a 4mm expander - talking to the locals over breakfast they said a 6mm expander works well so i gave it a try and the difference was massive as the float just disappeared. again i was using the MAP white hollow dual core elastic and it performed brilliantly with barely any lost fish. was also using my favourite sconezone Munkeez floats on my pellet lines Munkeez - with a wire stem and 1.5mm tip they sit solidly and shot up perfectly every time and can be properly dotted down. these are the go to float for any work up to 5-6ft as I've got them in 0.2 and 0.4g - just need some bigger ones. the margin line saw my match out and from what i could see i thought id done reasonably well - the scales gave me 66lb but there was a 90lb odd on the other end peg and a 70lb in between so i was a bit gutted - the rest of the team i was guesting for hasn't done particularly well either so it was one to write off. if i was to fish it again id put my short pellet lines a little longer, top kit plus 2 to give me some room. Round 2 saw me on the right hand pool, peg 28 - the pools are rectangular and reed lined and both have a small island towards one end. i was lucky enough to have the island in my peg - the island on this pool consists of a dead tree and its branches in the water. this would be a massive part of my attack as on a previous visit id drawn on the opposite side to the island and caught from it. my attack was going to be waggler to the island, bomb and bread to the island, long pole and pellet, 5m meat line and a margin line. the wind on the day wasn't very nice at all with it blowing directly across me - i has to fish a long 4aa waggler in order for me to punch the waggler across against the wind and have some weight to straighten the line out when i feathered it in. the long pole line would be fed with 4mm and the margins with micros - Hillview rules don't allow any groundbait. i love the waggler so I'd work hard to make it work over the bomb to the island - on the whistle i fed my pole lines and started straight on the waggler - it took me a couple of calibration casts but with double maggot on the hooks i could get 15-20 seconds of good presentation before the wind took the line - 4th chuck it went under and carp number 1 was on - at 4lb a great start and i was winning the pool! (bit optimistic to get my hopes up after 10 minutes of the match) i kept the waggler going in and regular bites from roach and carp kept me interested - if the wind took the waggler to the left of the island i;d get a carp, if the wind died and it went in front of the island it would be a blade roach or an F1 (my casting isn't that bad honestly, it was the wind) the waggler line would go quiet after a couple or 3 fish so id rest it with a quick look else where - my long pole line didn't yield a bite so i binned it after a 2 hours - my meat line gave me a few chunky skimmers and it was easy to feed by hand so i kept it going through the whole match - my margin line gave me a tiny F1 but a feed every hour was easy enough so i kept it going. the waggler was yielding fish all match, but i could sense it was definitely getting slower - i gave my margin some more attention and a solid bite with an hour to go saw me hook a lump, which came off after i gave it a bit too much stick - straight back in and it went again and another was hooked - i took my time and got it in and at 8lb was a nice bonus - no more bites down the margin saw me end the match with a few last chucks to the island for antoher F1. i was definitely happy with my match and 75lb pretty much exclusively on the wagg goes up there with the best of them. this got me a section win and an envelope - the rest of the team had done fairly well and we ended up 3rd on the day and mid table overall. i did lose a couple of fish when they broke me - i set up a very light line on the waggler to cut through the wind and give me the best chance of presentation, but it was too light for the decent carp in that pool. Round 3 - back on the back canal, peg 88 this time - I'll start off saying this was definitely a match to forget!!!!!! same kind of attack as first time on the canal, apart from my short pellet lines slightly longer and in the margin and a meat line down the track. i started on the bread over at 3/4 depth under a willow and lost 2 fish straight away and spangled my rig!!! so i tried my long pellet line and found some F1's - i set-up a shallow rig for the long line and found some fish but couldn't line any up - my short pellet lines to the margins weren't producing and despite spending time with the plummet checking for snags i lost a couple of hooklengths to roots or reeds! it wasn't going well!!! i had a word with myself and set up a new longer margin line well clear of any reeds as it had grasses growing on the bank - i fed it with micros and left it for half and hour whilst i lost rigs and hooklengths elsewhere - first chuck on the new line and it went under with a 6mm Old Ghost EPS expander on the hook (my last bag of samples) and a better fish was landed. i found 4 carp around 4lb a piece in a short time and i was lot happier - i hooked a nice 8lb ghostie and got it to the net when it rolled over my line and broke my 0.14 hooklength - i re-fed, got off my box and set-up a proper margin rig on a power kit with black hydro and gave it another go as i seemed to be getting better fish - it went under again and i had a short run of chunky F1's when i then hooked another proper fish which powered off and then went solid!! putting extra sections on i moved the rig all around and let it go slack but no, fish gone, another hooklength gone! setting up again for what felt like the 100th time i went back to the margin and saw the match out catching the odd F1. 66lb on the scales isn't bad at all but 96lb won the section and i felt that was comfortably achievable from the peg, and i prob had it on the hook at some point in the match!! team blew out again! Round 4 - this was the week before last - this week saw me on the left hand pool again with the island slightly to my left but in my peg. weather leading up to the match had perked right up and was warm - first out the bag was the waggler rod again and the wind was a lot kinder so hope were high - the island on this pool is an actual island with reeds in the margins. i had and angler next peg to my right and a spare peg to my left, so my margin line was to my side of the next pallet to the left. i plumbed up a short meat line and found 2 near side shelves, so chose the bottom of the second to set my line - final attack was the pole at 13m with pellet - i set up deck and shallow rigs to cover my options - i fancied the shallow line as there were fish topping all over the pool. i was feeding micros down the margin again and 4's out - on the whistle i fed my margin short and long lines and chucked the waggler - the catty was straight in hand and i was pinging over my 13m line - a few chucks on the waggler to and around the island were very slow with just a couple of indications until a piece of meat on the hook saw a proper bite and a 4lb carp in the net - a few more chucks and nothing saw me gagging to try the shallow line and I'd noticed a couple of swirls - the shallow rig was made up on 0.16 mainline with a sconezone Jubleez float Jubleezand an 0.14 hooklength with a hair rigged micro pellet band and a 18 B911 eyed hook - the rig was matched to a match kit and the ever faith full MAP dual core white hollow elastic. it only took me a couple of drops with the rig before a carp was on and a 3lb mirror was in the net - straight back out and another was hooked - i had a great feeling about this line - i managed to catch consistently for around 90 minutes before the line quietened - i took a look on my meat line which had been fed by hand all match every few minutes, but it didn't produce a bite - a quick look in the margin and a bite saw a good fish hooked but it came off within a few seconds. i was having a lot of trouble with ducks coming into my margin line and feeding - it wasn't until i dropped some micros by my net and realised they sunk but then floated up after a few seconds!!!!!! i had a quiet time for around 45 minutes moving around my lines for only a couple of fish shallow until i upped my feed on the shallow line and the fish came back - going into the last 2 hours my shallow line was getting stronger - it was then the guy to my left started emptying his margin line with big carp but there want a massive amount happening elsewhere (or so i thought) i ended the match with a fish on and i was very happy - i thought the guy to my right would do me which turned out to be the case, but the guy on the end of the pool also did me by and pound and half - i put 121lb on the scales and by far my biggest weight in a long time. despite missing a decent section result i was really happy with how my match went and how i fished it - if i were to fish it again id have put my meat line half way up the first shelf and feed (hopefully sinking) 4mm pellet in the margin. the last round is next week and despite no real chance of a team result overall we've already paid our money in so its a free match and hopefully some good fishing. This takes me up to yesterday - i spent the day at Larford lakes fishing the annual Princes Trust Charity match organised by local lad Matt Balckmore - its a great match with banter flying all day and all for a great cause with a great raffle afterwards - i put together a bag of Old Ghost bait to go into the raffle. the match is also a pairs match but you don't know who your paired with until the draw itself - i drew peg 60 on the speci lake and with Brad a great angler who drew peg 6 on the match lake, end peg, but the wrong end at the moment.

After a long walk round to my peg i had all sorts of attacks going through my head and with loads of time to set-up i went for it. first out of the bag was a feeder rod for the method or bomb - this would be fished underneath a pellet waggler line fed with 8mm pellets. the pellet waggler rods were next - i set 2 up, one with a normal Styro type waggler which would be my 'light' set up and also a rod with one of the new Drennan Pellet Wagglers - these are like the John Bonney type wagglers which cast extremely well and are very stable in any wind or chop on the water.

Moving onto the pole, there are a few skimmers in this area so i set up a 13m line in around 12ft of water - i had 2 rigs for this, a 1 gram maver float (which i cant remember the name of) and a 0.8g Dave Harrell DH5 float on 0.8g. Both rigs were made up on 0.16 mainline, with the Bigger float featuring a 0.14 hooklength and size 16 T213 and smaller rig an 0.16 hooklngth and hair rigged bait band and a 16 B911 eyed hook. feed for the pole line would be 4mm fishery pellets soaked with some Old Ghost Krill liquid. The lake was pegged with every other peg in and i was lucky that the anglers either side of me were hemmed in by bank side vegetation so couldn't get anywhere near the spare platforms so they were mine - the platform to my right was a good 14m away so i plumbed my margin line at 13m around 3m from the bank in 3 foot of water - feed for this was to be groundbait and plenty of it - 1 bag of OG Match Carp, 1/2 Bag of Green Algae and 1/2 bag of Krill groundbait - this gave me a nice mix well wetted that would sink to the bottom quickly and give the fish something to graze over - my rig was made up on 0.21 direct to a size 12 drennan wide gape carp hook - this was matched to a power kit and orange bazookarp elastic - a no prisoners set-up - i set up 2 of these just in case as Larford holds some real beasts.

with time to spare i had time to set-up for and plumb up a 5m line which was around 6 foot deep and would be fed with meat - this was always going to be a desperation line if nothing else was working When the whistle finally went at midday the 13m line was fed with a pot of 4mm's, the margin fed with 2 pots of groundbait and the method was dispatched to around 30 meters and the catty was out and sending 8mm pellets over the top - first 30 minutes i didn't put the catapult down and i didn't have a twitch on the method. so it was a switch to the pellet wagg and i started off on the drennan version to get a fell for these new floats - they really do cast well, sit very stably and easily visible. after another half an hour of regular casting i didn't have a touch so nothing in the net - in the mean time the margin had had another pot or two and the 13m topped up once so on the hour mark i tried the pole line - with a 6mm snail carp EPS expander on the hook the float went straight under and a 10oz skimmers was in the net - i put 5 quick fish in the net so tried the banded pellet rig to speed things up - this rig was even better and i had a great run of skimmers to a pound and a half. all the time the pellet waggler line was being fed every 30 seconds. after an hour this line slowed massively so i rested it and got the pellet wagg out again - another biteless 20 minutes and it was back on the pole - this set a routine for the middle of the match - the pole was slowing all the time but the pellet wagg wasn't producing anything - i did put a bomb rig under the pellet waggler line but with only a couple of small liners it just wasn't happening - then out of the blue i had 2 quick fish on the pellet waggler and my first two carp for around 15lb between them - this took me into the last hour - i had tried the margin twice which only produced tiny perch to a big bunch of maggots, but id potted in groundbait every 20 minutes or so, so it was properly primed - my next bite after a quick dip from a small fish saw elastic streaming from my pole and my first margin fish hooked - this was the start of a frantic final 50 minutes which saw me put 6 proper fish in the net!! madness!! i had to put a full pot in after every fish to line the next one up and the more maggots i could cram on the hook the better and quicker the bite came. the scales quickly arrived - end peg 52 put 128lb in the sling, which i knew i couldn't get near, but i put 93lb on the weight sheet which i was more than happy with - this comfortably beat those around me - it actually put me second the whole bank so second in section and a brown envelope!!! get in! my partner on the day did well finish 6 in his section giving us 8 points and first out of the main money!! gutted! an after match pint was definitely needed and onto the raffle - my luck must have been well and truly in as i was first out the bag and chose a night away with 3 course meal included for me and Mrs P - double bonus!! that brings us up to date, a bit of a long entry and not including the kind of detail i like to usually include, but from now on in normal service should be returned. Tune in next time after I've fished the last round of the Hillview League

Sconezone V Series Floats Reveiw

Well first of all, a massive thanks to Sconey for both running the competition, and thanks for picking me out of the bag as winner!! Double bonus!!


First ImpressionsI’ve been using the current range of Sconezone floats for a while now, and have a very successful winter with Jublees and Ninjaz and more – I’ve become totally confident with them and believe they comfortably up there with the best on the market – so when this new range came about, I thought they’ve got to be something special.

First thing out the tube, was the wow factor, spangly red and black paint job with sparkly bits on it – looking beyond the prettiness though, power and strength immediately becomes obvious – the paint job is solid, fairly thick I’d say but will not let water in (not that any leaking water will have any effect what so ever due to the foam construction) – the floats feel very light, again due to the foam, and there is evidence of great construction with hints of glue coming out at a joint or two, and the stem visible through the glowing tips. It aint gonna fall apart. And the double wound eye will totally eliminate any issues with spring eyes cutting line, an issue I’ve suffered with in the past on all sorts of floats.

The Test
With all these dreams of power and toughness, the obvious way to put them to the test is to catch some fish on em!! So the plan was an evening assault at my local Moorlands farm fishery. It’s a fishery I’ve not spent a massive amount of time at, but I’m spoilt for choice within a 40 minute radius of Worcester with acres and acres of water – but an evening session and the possibility of some ‘hawses’ tipped the balance in Moorlands favor this weekend. Next job to rig the floats up

V6

First onto a winder was the 0.2g and 0.3g V6 – its predecessor the Jublees has been my number one go to shallow float, so this is how it was to be set-up. The tip length is bang on to give just enough bristle to be able to read liners and guzzunders, the stem length gives just enough stability to help the rig ship smoothly and not tangle.
Both floats were rigged up to 0.16 mainline and would be attached to a 0.16 hooklength with a 16 Drennan match carp and mini bait band hair rigged to the hook.
The 0.2g had a small bulk of no.10’s directly under the float with 1 no.10 dropper and the rig set to fish a maximum of 18 inches deep
The 0.3g float had 3 no.9’s directly under the float and 2 no.10 droppers below that and set to fish at around 3ft deep

V8

I’m a huge fan of slim floats and have dabbled with my own home made versions, but this floats takes all that need to mess about away as it’s the perfect package.
A slim hollow bristle gives great sensitivity, but you’ll easily see it at distance and will hold its own in a chop. The slim body gives minimal resistance to a feeding fish and the slim flexible stem gives the whole float the right balance.
This was destined to be my deck pellet rig, so was rigged up to 0.16 mainline and would be attached to a 0.14 hooklength and size 16 T213 hook.
All three sizes of float would be shotted with my favorite strung bulk wit the last shot around 10-11 inches from the hook – this gives the bait a nice slow fall through the last 18 inches of water ,but ensures the rig settles immediately and you don’t have to wait for dropper shot to settle. You can drop the last shot down to give a quicker fall if necessary or all the shot can be bulked on the hooklength know if your bagging.

V12

Well this a brute of a float, big high vis tip, thick solid stem and nice tear drop body – this survive the worst a shire horse could throw at it, or any reed bed a wonky donkey could drag it through.
This is going to be my meat/corn float for the 5m line and any beasties
Rigged up to 0.18 mainline and an 0.18 hooklength with a 14 B911 X-strong, I’m not taking any prisoners on this rig – shotted with a bulk and 3 droppers, its positive rig to get down there, settle and ready to disappear. Double corn or meat will sort out the proper fish

The Session

Getting to moorlands we watch the last 45 minutes of the open on meadow pool, only to find out the evening open will be on Bank and Moors – great start – having a look over the actual match pools, the two clubs seem to be having a hard time of it, but plenty of fish moving on the surface I wasn’t to worried at all.
A 4pm draw will see us fishing 4.45 till 9pm – not long to set-up, but with rigs done and bait prepared it should be long enough. Talking of bait I took 2 pints of corn, a tin of meat and 2 pints of fishery pellets took me to my 5 pint match limit.
The plan of attack was a long pellet line deep (with the V8) and shallow (with the V6’s), a 5m meat and corn line (with the V12’s) and a margin line (with my trusted Sconezone Samurai’s). The bag of dreams put me on Moors 5, the peg I drew the last time I made it to moorlands – that match gave me 50-3-0 for a match second, so I certainly wasn’t unhappy – but with 11 anglers over the 2 pools we all had loads of room, so I wasn’t really bothered where I drew.

On the whistle a decent pot of pellet went onto the long line, a pot of corn with some meat on the 5m ine and a proper pot of corn with some meat and pellet went in the margin in front of the pallet to my right(easiest for me being a left hander) Straight out onto the long pellet line deep, the fizzing had started and I was pinging from the off to get em shallow – 3 minutes in and a skimmer of 10oz gets me off the mark, but I’m already getting liners – once the float, in fact all the floats were shotted, they didn’t need any adjustment to the shotting what so ever – they sat perfectly.
Next chuck an F1 finds its way to the net, but that’s it for that line – the constant pinging see’s fish all through the water column so its out with the shallow rigs after ½ an hour. Starting on the 3ft deep rig its obvious there are fish there – the float sits perfectly with most of the bristle showing once its fully settled and the pellet is down to its deepest – 1 carp of 4lb and a skimmer see their way to the net over the next 30 minutes – an hour in and it’s a slow sport. The margin has been topped up twice since the whistle so a quick look see the first proper carp of 8lb in the net on double meat, but no more bites follow – it doesn’t seem right and everyone else is sitting in the margin with not much action.
Back out shallow and the rest of the match flows nicely – I’m getting enough fish to keep me interested and enough fish to keep me ahead of everyone else on the pool who are fishing the margins – I land 3 proper ghosties and a couple of big mirrors that go mad in the net, all over the rig and float and I fear the worst – but no, the float survives the session as sparkly as it starts it!!! All of the floats have survived a bit of a bashing and come out the other in perfect nick – not sure I can think of anything bar a hammer that will break them!
The whistle goes and I’ve enjoyed the match – the scales come round and 90lb is winning and I don’t think I’ve got that – but 3 weighs later and I’ve got 91-12-0 to take the match – pretty much all down to the V6!!!!!
Last word – got some empty winders, guess what’s going on them!!! a great range of floats that perfectly suit modern commercial match fishing and most variations of fishing that we undertake on all commercials - very very highly recommended

Cob House Winter League - Final Round

Well after a long cold winter the finale of the winter was upon us!! Team Old Ghost were in top spot with 2 wins and 2 seconds. Main rivals Corkys lot were on 2 seconds, a win and a ninth - we were guarenteed the top 2 spots but the order in which we had the top spots certainly wasnt decided. With the best 4 results from 5 counting Corkys lot needed to win on the day and they'd match us on points - the difference being Corkys lot already had a quite a weight advantage over us, so they'd take the league from us!!!
The 5 remaining teams were all elligable for the 3rd and 4th spot and the money to go with it, so everyone was up for the last match!!!
Our team preperations were all about focusing on what was needed and nothing else - beat the Corkys lot angler!! We were back up to full strength on the last round and order was restored, so i was back on Wyatts, Pete on Oak, Darren on Laugherne and John on Laurel!
Onto the draw, with me running the league and draw, with Pete and John recording the sections it has been up to Darren to do the do's in the bag of dreams - the final draw saw me on peg 9 with the corkys lad on 28 (flyer), John on laurel 5 with the corkys lad on 8 (good area), Pete on oak 7 CL on peg 3 (good area) and Darren on Laugherne 10 and Cl on 29 (good area) - to be perfectly honest heads were down a bit coming away from the draw. Anyway a job to and 5 hours to make it work for us!!!!!!!!
So to my own match and peg 9 hadnt been the strongest, although it an end peg its at the wrong end form where the weights have been coming from over the previous rounds - i did hear though the open on the day before the fish had up the pool slightly. Peg 28 had produced some serious weights previously and won the section the previous couple of rounds the Jake Cork was sitting pretty and i was worried - onto the tackle front and with plenty of time to set up i wanted to ensire i covered all my bases - i'd drawn peg 9 before and knew there was a hole in it at 16m around 10 inches deeper and 2m wide then even depth either side and in fornt.

From left to right
1- Shallow rig - 0.1g Sconezone Jubleez, 0.14 mainline, 0.12 hooklength and an 18 g-point pellet to double middy 4-6 latex
2- Paste at 6m rig - SP paste float, 0.18 mainline, 0.14 hooklength, size 14 B911 to double 6-8 middy latex
3- Margin Rig - 0.2g Garbo DC11, 0.14 mainline, 0.14 hooklength, size 16 g-point pellet to double 6-8 latex
4- Light Maggot Rig - 0.2g Sconezone Piranahz, 0.14 mainline, 0.10 hooklegnth, 20 T213 to middy double 4-6 latex
5-  Pellet Rig - 0.5g Jason Elwell Slim, 0.14 mainline, 0.12 hookength, 18 g-point pellet to middy 6-8 latex
6 - Heavy Maggot Rig - 0.4g Sconezone Munkeez, 0.14 mainline, 0.10 hooklength, 18 T213 to middy double 4-6 latex

Home for the day - the paste rig was plumbed at 6m straight in front of me. the margin rig was at top 2 plus 2 in front of the reeds to my right in 3ft of water. the piranahz and pellet rig were plumbed at 16m to my right next to the hole and the munkeez plumbed slightly to my left in the hole.
I also set-up an 11ft powerlite feeder rod, with a shimano aero 4000 loaded with 0.23 Aiwa-Shima Ion reflector mainline and 2 hole micro cage feeder and 18 inch 0.14 hooklength with a size 15 B711 finishing the rig - i'm new to the Aiwa Shima line but it has been recommended b a couple of people so thought i;d give it a try - its very strong for the diameter and casts beautifully with virtually no memory of the spool and silky smooth - so far so good, so if anyone is looking for a robust, strong feeder line id highly recommend giving it a try.
Bait table consisted of 2 pint of soaked micros with a dusting of Old Ghost Silkworm Chrystalis Meal on them, 2 pints of 4mm pellets for pinging, 1 pint of reds with Old ghost Krill meal, some 4mm expanders, and 1/2 kilo of Old Ghost Green Algea groundbait mixed up and a ball of Old Ghost cereal carp paste.
Finally got to the fishing!!!! So on the whistle (well shout) out went the pot with smattering of maggots and micros on the shallower maggot line,  the same in the hole. A handfull of micros with a couple of nuggets of paste went in at 6m and half a put of groundbait and some maggots went into the margin line.
the margin line was going to be fed every hour with a cup of groundbait, same with the paste line - the long lines would be fed with a micro cad pole on the top kit.
First chuck and the light maggot rig was sent out to the 16m line so see what going on - not a lot was the answer. i'd shotted the rig with number 11 stotz ove the last third of the rig and was hoping it would grab the attention of anything in the area. the piranahz is a great float for searching and scrapping for bites as its so sensitive. 10 minutes in and Jakey on 28 catches a fish!!!! thats me down on my pool. Chris Cork on Laurel catches from his margin line (this early), Johns down on his pool. i then hear the Corky lad on Oak has caught early, thats Pete down!!!! the dperession starts and its only 1/2 hour into the match!!
Corky on Laurel is bagging down his margin and John can only get Silvers - i finally get a touch on the light maggot rig after an hour and rotation around the lines and a roach is in the net - saved the blank - but Jake now has 2 carp in the net. the munkeez rig in the hole isnt prompting the slightest of interest and i'm not happy with it (i reckon the cold water is sinking into the hole and pushing any fish out of the feature) - so i start pinging over the line to see if anything shallow can help me out. Another roach and a skimmer on the light rig give me a bit of weight and prob worth one of Jakes fish - John is now well down to Chris on Laurel and looking for snookers but section point are valuable so any fish is worth points to us for damage minimalisation!! i've no idea whats going on on Oak on Laughenre but know Daz and Petes will be working there hardest.
Tactical change number 1 - with me being end peg and having the rest of the pool to myself to my right i decide to plumb a line at 16m far to my right at 45 degrees and give it a sprinkling of just micros and plan to just fish the pellet rig over there
Back to the light and long line and not a lot going on so i want to make something happen. It gets a decent handfull of just maggots to promt a response and a rest - over to the new pellet line and 4mm expander over the top sees a bite after 2-3 minutes and carp number 1 is on!! 2 minutes later and very gingerlyi slip the net under a 2lb common - yes!! back on level ground with Jakey and i'm happier - its now 2 hours in. everyone else on the pool has caught fish so no blanks, but a couple of anglers have only a silver fish. out again onto the pellet line and nothing - i cant muster another bite from it - i give it a few pellets and leave it - out light and long and an instant bite and carp number 2 is on and in the net! so thats 5 fish and i;m happy im doing my team job - Jake hasnt had another fish. the light and long rig produces another 2 carp over the next 40 minutes and i'm now looking rounf the pool and doing ok in the section overall - Payno opposite me has 4-5 carp in the net and seems to be the main contender.
Tactical change number 2 - i decided to re-plumb the monkees rig out of the hole tothe left away from my other line and find a flat spot coming out of it - i feed it with a good handfull of maggots with a few micros mixed in - quite a positive amount of bait. I've tried the paste rig a couple of times over the first half of the match with no signs, its just to cold so decide to bin that line and not waste any time on it. Another 2 fish on the light and long line see me take the lead on the pool and i'm much happier as i'm cancelling out the result on Laurel pool behind me - Chris is still bagging from his margin - John is getting his head down and earning as many points as he can catching anything that swims.
2 hours left and payno has nicked a couple of fish and we're level pegging - Time to try the margin line and 3 maggots go on the hook and the rig is laid up the slope where the groundbait has been going in - as it settles it slides under and the strike is met with a very solid resistance!! the pole is swung round rapidly and i guide the fish out - 3 minutes later a 7lb mirror is in the pan!! Proper bonus! back out to the margin line and the same happens and a 6lb common is in the pan - i'm now feeling very settled after an extremely slow start!
I dont want to ruin the margin so its topped up with a pot of feed and go out light and long - a quick bite is rewarded with a small mirror - i swap straight over the to the new long line and decent skimmer comes my way - it seems they dont want small regular feed but a less frequent bigger amount of bait.I take the toss pots of my kits and look at either catching a couple of fish or give it 20 minutes between top-ups. the margin gives me a couple more fish arounf the 4-5lb mark and really bumping my weight up giving me the section.
rotating between rigs and the 2 long and margin lines see's me finish on 6 proper fish and around 10 small carp and 4-5 silve fish!! a very happy chappy!!!!
With only 1 set of scales available my team weighs the whole match in and its a nervous time as im packing up as i have absolutely no idea how Pete and Daz have done on the other pools - i just know John and I have cancelled each other out on our sections.
ready to go we start the weigh in - Chris Cork puts a brilliant 77lb on the scales all from his margin in February!!! John puts 12lb on the board put 6th in his section. I'm first to weigh on my pool and put 40lb in the sling - it comes as a suprise to me and the others around me as i didnt think i had that much!! Jake puts 5lb on the scales for 5th in his section, 20lb is second on my pool - so they're a point up on us. By this time Pete and Daz have joined us, and they have smiles on they're faces!!!! (secretly inside i'm already buzzing) Pete is confident he's done very well on Oak, and Daz has caught a few and is confident but cant see all the pool so unsure.
We get to Oak and Pete puts 47lb on the scales to win the pool!! the Corkys lad is 4th on the pool, so we're up!! Walking round to Laugherne and the Corkys lad puts 37lb in the sling, this puts him in front on the pegs we've weighed - Daz doesnt know what to say as he thinks its close!! 2 weights push the corkys lad to 3rd as we come to weigh daz in - his first net goes 30lb, good start. he then puts another 30lb on the scales to win the pool with 60 odd pounds - the tinker was having us on!!!
We'd done it, and done it well in the end with 3 section wins and a 6th - it won the match on the day and secured the league overall!! we took 5 points to the final league standings with 3 wins and a second. Corkys lot second with 8 points. Solhampton All Stars (Paynos rabble) came third, and Smithies Colmic stole 4th in the league and the final paying place!!
We were all chuffed to bits and very pleased with our performance!! well deserved pint was had on the way home

l-r - Pete Bailey, Scott Poynton, Helen Taylor (Cob House), Darren Fisher and John Watson

So Whats next - we've got a pairs spring league starting end of March at Brockamin fisheries, Petes with Daz and I'm with John so we're hoping for an Old Ghost 1st and 2nd
Tune in next time and i'll let you know how we're getting on!!!
Scott

I'm back!!! Cob House Winter League Catch Up and Round 5

Well its been a very very long time but its about time i caught up with the old blog and let you know what Ive been upto.
First of all, what have i been upto? Ive spent the last 18 months a little bit off the radar as ive been lucky enough to get myself involved with Old Ghost Baits UK - a very good and long time friend of mine Jim Burton is heading up the venture with another very good friend John Watson (who i have pretty much gone through my whole fishing career with) heading the sales and marketing for the brand. We've spent a very long time testing the potential products for UK use and struck upon a range of groundbaits, pastes, expanders, powder additives, liquids and sprays that we've all had a lot of success with at a fair few venues around and about and sure the UK match angler will grow to love - it should be on the shelves in April time so look out for it.
Onto the actual fishing front - my favourite Cob House fisheries has been home for the last few months as ive been organising and running a winter league at the venue.10 teams of 4 have started the league with a section on Wyatts, Laugherne, Oak and Laurel - Team Old Ghost consists of myself, John Watson, Pete Bailey and Darren Fisher. My home was Wyatts, John was on Laurel, Pete on Laugherne and Darren on Oak.
The first 3 rounds were very good for our team with Old Ghost heading the league with a round win and 2 seconds - the first 3 rounds really did fish hard with a fair few dry nets across Oak and Laugherne and even a few on the prolific Wyatts - the weather really did conspire against us with really cold spells, lots of snow around and lots of cold rain water going in the pools. fortunately we maanged to avoid any dry nets over the first rounds which stood us in good stead. unfortunately at the halfway point a number of teams decided not to carry on with the league (the bottom teams strangely enough) which left 7 solid teams fighting for the league. Round 4 was lost to the appaling weather so we join the fun on round '5'.
We had made a team tactical decision and swapped Pete and Daz on Oak and Laugherne, with the feeder dominating Laugherne Darren felt more comfortable sitting on the tip for a few bites and Pete working his magic on the pole on oak - and it had worked a treat on the previous round.
So onto the fishing and Pete couldnt actually make this round so i put myself on Oak and the stand-in, Simon christian sat on Wyatts, the easiest pool for a stranger to come in on, and Simon had fished the pool before.
With the draw and league organising done i found myself sat on peg 18 getting ready for the match

 the area had form over the previous rounds with this peg and peg 1 having success - Pete won the pool from peg on the previous round.
Bait table for the day was a couple of pints of micros dusted with Old Ghost Silkworm Chrystalis Meal, A pint of reds with OG Krill Meal, a tin of corn and half a kilo of OG Krill groundbait.
Today was going to be an out and out pole match with no room for a rod and line and no need with the weather being reasonably decent.

So rigs for the day, Left to Right -
1 - 0.3g Jason Elwell slim pellet float - this was plumbed dead depth at top kit plus 2 section in the deepest water in the peg at around 3.5ft - this line was purely a pellet line. 0.14 mainline, with a 0.10 hooklength and a 18 g-point pellet.
2 - 0.2 Sconezone Pirahnaz, 0.14 mainline, 0.10 hooklength, size 18 T213. this was plumbed at 14.5m slightly to the left in the openest water in my peg at around 3ft deep, with the shotting strung out over the whole rig. The piranhaz is a float i used a lot over the winter and has firmly become my favourite maggot scratching float - its stable but uber sensitive and easy to shot to a dimple and the tip is highly visile- highly recommended!!! the T213 is a hook Pete put me onto as i wasnt happy with my usual B611 as i felt its not quite strong enough-  the T213 is an awesome hook, light but very strong and a great shape for the maggot - im totally converted.
3 - 0.2g Sconezone Munkeez, 0.14 mainline and 0.10 hooklength, size 18 T213 - this was for the same line as rig 2, but the float has a wire stem and slightly thicker tip and shotted with a bulk and 2 droppers - this rig would come into play if i started bagging or the weather deteriorated
4 - SP margin float, 0.18 mainline, 0.14 hooklength, 16 B911 - this was the margin line and i found 2.5ft of water 4m to my left in front of some sedges
On the whistle (my shout) the long line got around 40 micros and the same in maggots, the short pellet line got a sprinkling of micros and the margin got hald a pot of the groundbait with a handfull of maggots mixed in. Starting out on the long line, the breeze was quite blustery, but the Pirahnaz sat there nicely - but didnt go under!!!! over the first 30 minutes everyone on the pool caught a fish with the exception of me. Tommo on peg 5 was instantly into a number of fish and 5 in 5 chucks, but only landed 2 of them - foulhookers had been a problem over all the rounds and with only 3ft of water acorss the majority of the pool its easy done as the fish move around the water column.
a tiny cup went on the top kit and persevering with the light rig it took me an hour to get a fish in the net and 90 minutes in i was dead last on the pool with 1 in the net and 2 other bites on the long line.
I needed to make something happen, and with nothing happening on the short pellet line, i put a bigger pot on the top kit and decided to cut the pellet out on the long line and just feed maggots. Regular sprinkling of maggots started to see some activity in the peg and the odd bubble - at the halfway point the second fish found the net!! eventually on double maggot!!
Elastic choice on this rig was pink bazoocarp, the lightest in the Garbolino range and although the fish took some getting in, they were ending up in the net when lots of fish around the pool were being lost! i was still dead last with 2 fish in the net but my third fish 15 minutes later gave me some confidence - a full toss pot of maggot was going in regularly and seemed to be creating some interest and in the shallow water you tell there were fish in the peg.
I really was having to work the rig hard to induce bites and as soon as the rig settled a couple of lifts without a bite would see the rig out the water again and laid in on a tight line to the deck - all the bites were coming as the bait settled - the bottom on oak pool is extremely silty and i think even weight of 2 maggots and hook was partially sinking the hookbait so working the bait was keeping it visible and available to the carp.
things were picking up nicely with some bait going in and with an hour left id got upto 8 fish and was now in a comfortable position on the pool, with only a couple of anglers in front of me. the elastic was doing an awesome job with only 1 fish lost - the puller kit was definately needed as they were taking a lot of elastic but they were ending up in the net. i did try the positive rig and had 1 fish on it, but again as the droppers were settling, but definately 'felt' the searching rig was a lot more effective and getting more bites.
time was ticking but the odd bite kept me interested in the long line and with the odd fish still coming out around the pool i needed to keep the concentration up - the margin line had been fed on the hour every hour with a pot of bait but it hadnt produced a bite, in fact no one had a bite from the margins on the whole pool.
4 fish in the final hour lifting and dropping and almost slapping the rig in saw me finish with 12 fish on the whistle - i'd put almost a whole pint of maggots in through the poss pot on the one line.
Tommo on peg 5 was also on 12 fish so it was going to be close at the wieght in. my fish went 42lb and won me the pool. tommo managed 34lb and got second on the pool, so a great result after some hard work throughout the match.
the rest of the team has a great day with the other lads getting section 3rds each, giving us 10 points on the day and the team win!!!! so with 1 round left we were at the top of the league with 2 wins and 2 seconds, but the Corkys Lot had also be extremely consistant with 2 seconds and win, but with a 9th in the thier score too - with the best 4 rounds from 5 counting they were very much in with a shout so it will come down ot the last round!!!

Big Catch Up!!

A few entries to catch up on this week and a couple of reviews to finish off. But, only a few pictures this week, my camera has decided to eat batteries draining them within 2 photos so will have to sort an alternative.

Cob House 10-07-10, Laurel Pool
Well it had been far too long since my previous visit to Cob House so it was long overdue. Laurel was the destination this week. I have only fished it once before, and managed 133lb from the margin so knew the pool was more like Wyatts (lots of bites and smaller fish) rather than Laugherne (with bigger fish). Weather leading up to the day had been roasting and a number of local venues were closing for a few days to give the fish a rest in the heat. But the previous 2 days had seen a little break and even a bit of rain so i was hope full of a good session.
9 people turned up for this one, so we would be well spread around the pool and have plenty of room. After a great sandwich on the way over (although cannot wait for the Cob House cafe to open for a proper breakfast!!) peg 17 stuck to my hand and put me on the back corner of the pool from the car park, with the wind off my back.
Paste has been working well recently all over the complex so that was going to be a big part of my attack today. Bait list was simple with 6 pints of 3 mm pellets, soaked, a couple of pints of paste made with soaked fishery pellets with a bit of flavouring I'm playing with and some 6mm expander's.
The attack for the day wouldn't see me with more than 5-6 metres of pole out, so a line was plumbed up at top 2 plus 2 at the bottom of the near shelf as it flattened out then a line to my left in the margin handily at top 2 plus 2 also, easy day on the cards. Each line had a paste rig and a pellet rig to give me options with all the rigs connected to double 8 slip latex.
On the whistle each line got a full pot of bait and the pellet rig went straight over the out-line. fish were obviously present and a roach first chuck got me off the mark. i knew i would have to put up with silvers for a small while until the carp bullied them out and 3rd chuck a carp duly obliged. 20 minutes in and a glance right saw my margin line colouring up already and as i wasn't totally happy with my out-line as it was too deep with silver intercepting the bait, so i was happy to come inside early doors.
There were carp in the margins but there were silvers too. with the mixed species present i put a big CAD pot on my kit and started banging the feed in. after another 20 minutes of silly bites with the odd carp mixed in i decided to give the paste a go in the margin. this certainly did the job, and the carp sorted themselves out. i didn't need to hit the bites as the shallow water saw the fish bolting off and hooking themselves.
i kept the big pot on but couldn't get enough bait in with the paste hook bait in, so i was throwing it in over the top to keep the fish interested. this pretty much set the tone for the rest of the match. I did have to play about with the feeding to keep bites coming quickly enough  and for a while just the paste hook bait was enough to keep em coming.
There were fish coming out all over but i felt i was creeping ahead of most with a decent stamp of carp. last hour soon came around and my one swim I'd used pretty much all day did start to show a few signs of fading and Scotty J started to put the hammer down in his own swim. i kept fish going in the net but a raft of weed all of a sudden appeared (i think the fish had disturbed it from the bank) and started hampering presentation.
On the final i was happy with my performance, I'd caught fish all day as required on this pool and felt I'd beaten most but thought Scott would do me as he'd caught well on a top kit between his nets. I put 136lb on the scales, more than i thought, but Scotty J dropped me into second with 156lb. I'd had a nice day with lots of action but a small fish race isn't the kind of fishing I'll doing week in-week out! I'll be keeping my eye on the Cob Matches waiting for my favourite Laugherne Island to come up.

Hymatic AC - Lodge Pool
A Friday afternoon match this time at the local lodge pool. a small club water in Redditch. I've fished it loads of times when i was part of the club, but since moving to Worcester i haven't re-joined so haven't been for a good while.
The draw bag put me on peg peg 42, one of the end pegs of the islands with plenty of open water in front of me and a very long chuck to the main island. the long chuck was never going to be an option, but wit the proper margin pole out of the bag, a Trabucco Slim Power, i was not going to take any prisoners today. i set up a paste rig for straight in front of me at 9 meters then a pellet margin rig for about 6 meters virtually behind me to left to the corner of the island i was sat on. i also set up a method rod to chuck while the pole lines settled into the open water
The bait table featured lots and lots of pellets, 2mm's then a kilo of GB for the method, a couple of pints of paste and some 6mm hooker pellets. On the whistle each of the pole lines got 2 full pots of pellets and the method was dispatched to the open water. By the time I'd made a spare method feeder i reeled in and re-chucked. by the 5th chuck the tip went round but i bullied a small carp off the hook when it tried to get into a nearside snag. A few more chucks without any action saw the first 1/2 hour fly by. I'd seen a few fish come out on the opposite bank with people chucking tight to the reeds.
With the method quiet i went out to the paste line to see if anything had turned up. first chuck the float disappeared and i was a bit vicious on the strike as i wasn't expecting it. i struck into thin air anyway, but at least there were fish in the swim. Back out again, the float settled and ducked under and lively skimmer was attached. not the expected result but it got me off the mark. the next half hour was spent missing silly skimmer bites with 1 small carp mixed in.
I cupped some more bait into the margin line every 30 minutes and after the first hour i looked over to notice some activity in the swim. i couldn't resist a quick look and after some dips and movements the float slid away and a small (but very mad) carp put my rig into the marginal roots!!! great start.
Back out and this time the 0.20 line direct, orange bazoocarp in the kit and a big heft from me saw the first carp out into open water and in the net. things looked up form this point!! the margin line was producing a steady supply of bites, but from a smaller stamp of carp i can remember being in the pool. but i do remember the club stocking a load of very small carp a few years ago. they hadn't been showing much until recently, and boy do they give up a scrap in the shallow water.
I definitely didn't want to ruin this line as it would  be banker later on in the evening, so I'd get a couple of fish off it, top it up with a full cup and have a go on the paste line then vice versa. the plan worked quite nicely and a steady steam of fish came to the net, although the middle part of the match did go a bit iffy and i lost a couple of fish as i was having to give them a big heft away from marginal snags. the smaller carp kept the weight climbing but there were a few of the bigger 5-8lb fish mixed in, especially towards the last hour.
I never felt the paste line gave its true potential with skimmers and only the odd small carp. I'm not sure why and pellet over the top prob would have worked better but i only have 2 kits for the margin pole and the second kit was for the margin. I did shot the paste float properly and tried a pellet on the same line and it did give better bites from the skimmers, but I'm not sure the carp were there properly on that line.
Anyway the clock ticked over and the whistle went at 7pm. I'd caught plenty of fish and lost a few too, but I'd not seen too much other action around the lake. the other end peg on my island has caught plenty too, but i was hope full to do well against him. my main issue was my mate Mark Franklin on peg 7 or 8. he'd caught immediately on the whistle chucking a method tight to the reeds and had caught fish throughout. My 2 nets went 88lb and I'm not sure the peg was worth a lot more than that. i needn't have worried as 59lb the next best weight and a fairly comfortable win was in the bag. as usual the golden peg eluded me, but one day I'll get it!!!!!
i wouldn't mind a couple more kits for that margin pole. it is proper awesome, the kits are mega wide bore and you could put a bungee chord through it and it would be fine. i think its nigh on impossible to break pulling away form a snag, sideways, and is actually stiff for a margin at its full 11m length.
if anyone knows where you can get Trabucco slim power kits from please let me know!!!!!!!!!!!!

Barston Bowl - 26/07/10
I'd seen this match advertised on the various web-sites but didn't book on as it was my birthday same day and i was going to CLA game fair at Ragley hall the same day, but a change of plan and it was Ragley on the Saturday, my name on the Bowl reserve list and my fingers crossed that I'd get on. a text from Nigel Friday evening saw me on the match and i was pretty chuffed with a load of big names down to fish.
Pete Bailey was fishing too and he offered a lift as he's only round the corner from me and he gets the works van - Perfect, as we had a fair amount of gear between us. Draw time time saw me queuing with the biggest names in the sport. I cant think of any other sport where an average Joe can compete equally with ex world champions of his favourite past times - Brilliant!!
The draw bag put me on Peg 118 on the road bank in the first part of the open water from the club house. Pete drew 34 which put him dead centre of the main island on the lake. I was happy with my draw as its where i wanted to be, and Pete was very happy with a peg on the best feature on the lake (although the story doesn't end up a happy one)

 Tackle for the day was going to be kept simple with a rod and line approach only. I know from previous visits and recent UK champs matches that the fish move out with a lot of anglers round it, it was going to be a feeder match at range then a waggler shorter if other peoples pole lines worked.

So i had the following set up, from top to bottom -
1 - 12ft Maver Powerlite feeder system, TD-R 3012, 6lb sensor with a running line feeder set up
2 - 12ft Maver Powerlite feeder system, TD-R 3012, 6lb Sensor with method feeder set up
3 - Middy X-Flex Medium Feeder, Daiwa Capricorn 3500XTC, 6lb sensor with a method feeder set up
4 - Daiwa SR3 12ft waggler, TD-R 2508, 0.18 Maver genesis mainline with a 4AA waggler setup and 16 eyed B911 with a small pellet band.

The plan was to use the 2 powerlites at 30-40 turns and then the middy at long range. I've learnt recently there are gravel patches, with peaks and troughs in the open water at barston so i spent some time with a heavy lead feeling for silty areas and the rougher clearer areas. i was after the clearer patches to get a bed of feed down. I found a nice patch at 85 turns on the long line then a clearer area at 45 turns on the shorter line.
The bait table was quite simple with 2 kg of Super G gold and green with 4 pints of micros mixed in for the feeder lines and 4 pints of 6mm pellets for the waggler line. Hook baits were dead red maggots with 6 and 8mm red boilies.
On the whistle the short line got 10 feeder fulls with the feeder full of dead reds to get anything that swims onto that line, then the long line had a method dispatched with 4 dead reds on the hook. the first hour was going to be spent chucking very regularly. the feeder stayed in the water for 3-4 minutes maximum before it was wound in and sent out fully loaded again. it took 20 minutes for something to happen and the peg to my right has a n early skimmer and F1 before i latched into an F1 of my own on a red boillie.
Pete had 2 early carp tight to the island before I'd finished feeding my short feeder line and as we were sharing today i was a very happy man. Action wasn't amazing for the first hour and 2 F1's and a skimmer was a slow start. those around me had a few more skimmers than me from shorter lines so i tried mine.
it wasn't brilliant and 2 skimmers in half an hour didn't fill me with confidence. Pete's islands line died completely as those on each of the island began chucking and stopped anything getting to the middle of the island to his feeder!! i made an early decision to pretty much bin the short line but i would keep some bait going on it just in case.
Back to the method and dead reads again and some thing was stirring. in 3 chucks i had nice F1's and proper carp of 11lb, a very nice bonus that brought back up with all those around me, then nothing!!
The middle part of the match went by pretty quietly. i was keeping pellets going in regularly on the waggler line and tried it twice but the vicious Barston tow was flying through making it pretty pointless. I did keep the odd F1 and skimmer going into the net mainly on dead reds, with the usual favourite red boillie not producing.
The 4th hour was very quite and even a couple of tries shorter produced very little.
Until the switch went - my long line came alive in the last hour with a red boillie on the hook. i couldn't get the feeder in quick enough and it was wrapping within a minute. i was catching some lovely 2-3lb mirrors and reckoned i put 25-30lb in the net in that last hour before the final whistle ruined my fun!
I knew I'd easily beat those around me and with a £100, 10 man, section up for grabs i was actually quite hope full. Pete's peg was lifeless and i think he only put a few more pole caught skimmers in the net over the rest of the match. The scales came round and my hopes were gone as Tim Bull put 88lb on the scales for the match win. Section aren't paid by default in this match. I put 52lb on the scales to comfortably beat those around me. I didn't make the top 8 as published with 8th having 54lb but I'm pretty sure i was top 15 which i was chuffed with on a 100 plus pegger.
I'd stuck to my plan and even when there were pole fish coming out around me i was confident my plan would work.

Arrow Valley pleasure session.
Another Friday afternoon pleasure session presented itself to me and Pete joined me as he fancied some bream action and fun before his last round of the UK champs.
We decided to fish the same area where i won the recent open from. the plan was to chuck the feeder towards the island again and see what happens.

I set up a powerlite feeder system rod today, at 13ft with a TD-R and 6lb sensor. I've been using the Middy for a while for big chucks but went back to this rod to see how it performed as i hadn't used it at 13ft in ages.
Well it chucked a 30g method with an extra 10 grams of lead on it fairly comfortably and accurately to within 15 yards of the island (90 turns of the reel). Bait was a 2kg bag of Bait tech Something (i cant remember but its the Voodoo replacement!!!) and 3-4 pints of soaked micros mixed to give me plenty of bait for the session. Hook baits were dead reds and some red boilies of which i've never tried before here.
Pete managed the first chuck and i was expecting 20 minutes of regular chucks to get the fish going. the fish didn't want to play that game, and no more than 2 minutes later his tip went and bream number 1 was on and in the net. i suddenly got my act together and as he was cranking his fish in i sent my feeder out. as i was making a spare feeder up the tip tightened and dropped back - it was going to be one of those days - Bream number 1 for me too.
The next 3hrs was a constant cycle of chuck to the horizon (but accurately) and 2 minutes later the tip either wrapped or dropped back and bream was attached. It was slightly different to the match as some carp showed, 1 for me and 3 for Pete.

We easily put 200lb in the nets between us in an amazing session. we were constantly either chucking or cranking fish. There is another match booked for Arrow Valley on the 13th of September and I'll be putting an advertisement on all the fishing web-sites soon.

Hymatic A.C. - Barston Lakes.
Another session at barston for me on the annual Hymatic A.C. 'All Day' match. A Friday day time match where people take holiday from work to fish normal hours. Historically we've had some different format matches - 2, 4 hours session on one day, on either the same pegs, different pegs on the same lake or even different lakes for each session!! this time we kept it simple with 5 hrs at Barston on Pegs 4-32.
My plan and bait table was exactly the same as the Bowl match and the draw put me on peg 24, virtually opposite my Bowl draw. The only real difference is i didn't have the waggler out as the wind was howling and the tow was putting a proper bend in my rod when it was cast and settled. I also used the Powerlite feeder rod at 13 ft for the long chuck line as it did so well at Arrow Valley.
I went through the same routine and found clearer areas off the silt to fish too using a big bomb. On the whistle the short line was fed and the long line got a fully loaded method feeder. 20 minutes in and 6 chucks the tip went and an F1 got me off the mark. A 6mm red boilie was doing the damage with no need to try the dead reds on this occasion. another 2 F1's in the next couple of chucks kept my interest, then i had a golden spell with two 4lb carp and 10lb lump saw me put 20lb in the net in the first hour.
This was easily my best spell and the middle hours saw me put mainly small skimmers in the net, with only the odd F1. i couldn't get the carp to come back and play ball. I wasn't using a mould to make the feeders as i wanted more feed in the swim to get the carp back. Bites were regular but taking 5-6 minutes to materialise. the weight was ticking over but not massively, but then again i couldn't see anyone else really catching.
Again the last hour saw the light bulb switch on - the fish went mad and i couldn't get the feeder back in quick enough, even though this time it wasn't the nice stamp mirrors but mainly skimmers with the odd F1.
On the whistle i was playing a fish (which is always nice) and the match was over. I'd seen just the odd fish come out form the pegs i could see but end peg 32 had the island to chuck to and i couldn't see him so wasn't sure about the overall result.
As usual i took control of the scales to get things moving. peg 32 put 11lb of silvers on the scales and obviously didn't chuck to the island! I put 53lb for the win with Pete putting 32lb on the scales for second. we were splitting any winnings again so got our money back for our efforts.

That just about gets my match action up to date. As I'm poleless at the moment (getting my number 5 fixed) I've been picking and choosing matches and not been quite so busy. this has allowed to put plenty of preparation in and be totally covered for all eventualities, which is absolutely critical. And I've also enjoyed some time away from the pole and blowing the cob webs off my casting which has been pretty good especially at range. I've also learnt that having the right gear to allow long range work is vital, but you have to be able to use it properly to get the most out of it. Technique counts as much as the gear!!
I'm expecting my section back this week, so i better get rigs and tops kits ready to get back to some pole work.
Just to finish off a couple of reviews

Maver Match Pro 3 Clothing.
As part of Solihull Anglings sponsorship with Maver, the match squad get a set of clothing to wear whilst out and about. This year we have received a set of the new Match Pro 3 gear.
We originally got the Match Pro 1 stuff which for me has lasted really well the 2 years we have had it. the original set consisted of a water proof 3/4 length jacket and trousers, but the match pro 3 has a jacket and Bib n Brace. The original trousers were perfectly fit for the job, but it was much better to be back in a bib and brace and when it gets cold there will be no gaps between jackets and trousers!!
I've used the set a few times now and in a couple of heavy showers and so far I've been totally bone dry. The new set has Mavers own version of Gore-Tex and it certainly is fully waterproof and in the warmer weather has been comfortable to wear without over heating.
So far so very good and I'm looking forward to testing it out when it gets proper cold!

Garbolino Monster Carp Net.
I've had the net for a few months and have to admit it has had limited use. Due to its shear size I've found it difficult to find a situation where it can physically fit into a peg.
When i have used it, i cant fault it. The locking mechanism on the top ring is solid, and the quality of the net means it should last a very long time. it will definitely be coming with me to my matches and when an opportunity exists it will be first choice.

Well that's about it, i hope i haven't bored you!! I'm not sure what is coming up in the next few months but I'm sure I've got a couple of matches at Arrow Valley which I'll keep you posted on.

Tight lines, ScottyP

Arrow Valley Open - 03-07-10

This week sees me at Arrow Valley, but this time its not a Friday afternoon pleasure session, its a match!!!! Our works club chairman is a fellow fan of Arrow Valley and keen to set a match up, so with the club links to the Redditch federation of Anglers who run the fishing rights a date was set and the match was on!!!
the weeks leading up to the match had seen very warm muggy weather, and a few lunchtime walks around the lake had seen some very slow pleasure angler action. Arrow valley can be very fickle and switch off very quickly so i was little concerned but a break in the weather and a bit of rain put some hope in my mind.
I had a plan going into the match that if i drew on the Shakespeare bank I would solely concentrate on the feeder either in open water or to the island if i drew on it. The Shakespeare bank (named so because of the Shakespeare fishing tackle factory just over the road) has a reasonable depth of water off it, and a good number of pegs have an island chuck, but most importantly I've never really done very well on the pole line on this bank so the pole isn't the option in my own mind. If i was in the bay i would concentrate on the pole, giving them some gear at the start then having the feeder as a back up if required. The bay has a lovely 8-10 foot of water on the pole line on most pegs, so suits a positive pole attack and in recent history has been holding the bream with good pleasure bags.
Bait for the day was 4kg of groundbait (50/50 Super G green and gold and enough of it to give a pole line plenty if required), 1 pint of dead reads, 1 pint of caster, 1/2k of worm, and a couple of pints of soaked micros.
The draw was well organised with everyone having to split to different car parks dependant on the peg number. I left it a bit late to arrive and didn't get time for any breakfast!!!! Anyway into the bag, and peg 54 stuck to my hand. Now referring back to the plan, bay or Shakespeare bank, peg 54 didn't put me on either!!!!!! 54 was actually past the bay slightly round the corner and an area I've never actually fished. The peg had the island in front of it but it was a long way away. I didn't fancy the pole on this peg as I wanted to concentrate on the island and feeder lines and not spread my attention (feeding regime) to wide. So it was going to be a tip match for me.

I'd set a few feeder rods up in preparation for the match: -

1 - Middy X-Flex medium feeder, Daiwa Capricorn 3500 XTC loaded with 6lb Daiwa sensor.
2- Maver Powerlite feeder system @12ft number 3 tip, Daiwa TD-R 3012 loaded with 6lb sensor.
3 - Maver Powerlite feeder system @12ft number 4 tip, Daiwa TD-R 3012 loaded with 6lb sensor.

Rods 1 and 3 had a Preston Innovations snap link tied to a 8 inch twisted loop with a 1/2 inch loop above it. Rod 2 had the same but the twisted loop was 12 inches long. The idea of this set up is too loop the hooklength into the small loop and the feeder is attached to the snap link giving a paternoster rig. Rod 3 had a short paternoster link for a positive rig/short hooklength set-up and rod 2 had a longer link for a more sensitive rig/long hooklength set-up. Rod 1 was primarily to be used for the method but has the option of a hooklength and feeder being added if the method wasn't working. The middy rod is great for long chucking as it has nice big throughout and more back bone than the Powerlites so is my first choice for long chucks and big fish
With a 2oz lead attached to the middy rod, a chuck tight to the island in front of me gave 104 turns on the reel. The bush to my right was 110 turns but i had to give it some welly to get it there. The bush was do-able with a lead, and i fancied the feature, but wasn't sure about the cast with a method attached, but i would give it a try. The powerlite rods were clipped at a very comfortable 40 turns. So the plan was to chuck a method to the island and have a traditional feeder line shorter.

On the whistle 10 feeder fulls loaded with worm, caster and pellet went on the short line then the method rod was prepped (50/50 groundbait and pellet, 4 dead reds on the hook) and launched to the bush in the distance- 20 yards short! Effort number 2 - 10 yards short! Effort 3 - 15 yards short. There was a gusty breeze blowing left to right and slightly towards me, which wasn't helping.
1st decision of the match 20 minutes in and i haven't actually fished yet - bin the bush, because i cant seem to get there or even keep it reasonably accurate and see how close i can get straight in front of me. First chuck 10 yards off the island, 4 second count and the feeder hits the deck, nice!!! re-clipped at 96 turns of the reel - if it works its gonna be a long hard day chucking!
The first hour was to be spent making  very regular casts to build the line up and generate some interest. As soon as the method was cast and the rod set I'd prep a spare feeder, watch the tip for a minute then reel in for another cast, probably a 3-4 minute cycle. 3rd chuck on this line (my casting is pretty accurate, but the wind is causing some difficulties over such a big chuck) ,the tip moves, moves some more and starts rattling. a firm pull and I'm into bream number 1.

I've got the biggest tip in the middy rod to aid casting so I'm not expecting a bream to give a big wrap around so enough movement in the tip to convince me the fish is on will see me pull into the bite. It takes a good couple of minutes to pull the fish back and 3lb fish relaxes me after 40 minutes of the match. After the first hour I've 3 fish in the net and with regular casts the tip is showing signs of fish every cast.
I'm using the standard large Kobra method feeders with 25g weighting on them, but felt before the match if I were to draw in this area or the weather not be brilliant some more weight might be needed aid casting. So a cry for help on Matchfishing-scene.co.uk saw Pete Bailey tell me he had some stick on lead i could have a go of. These are foam backed chunks of lead with a 5g weight. So i gave my feeders a good clean and stuck 2 on 2 feeders, and 1 on 2 feeders. On the match i was using feeders with 2 extra weights on and they were brilliant. i tried a method with no extra weight on and couldn't get it close to the clip!!!! The glue on the weights was superb too because they didn't budge all match and they were getting some abuse at the range i was casting!

Second the second and third hour passed by nicely with regular casts seeing fish being winched back and after 3 hours i had 13 bream in the net. I was now leaving the feeder in for 5 minutes at least as a bite usually resulted and there were obviously fish around. I was loving it. I could see the top half of the Shakespeare bank and nothing was really happening so i was well in front of what i could see. I'd heard of 5 carp in the bay and 2 others catching fish so i had to keep the concentration up, and casting accurate.

Some times the breeze would get up (always when you've reeled in and about to cast) so on a couple of occasions i sat there for a minute waiting for it to drop before i re-cast. If the breeze stayed up i made my method feeders on the small side so i could put more energy into the cast, keep them more aerodynamic and hope fully hit the clip every time.
I'd caught all my fish up to now on either 2-3-4 or 5 dead reds on the hook, but the action noticeably slowed in the 4th hour. worried the fish had moved off, i upped my casting again to waiting no more than a minute after the rod was set to get more bait in. i also upped the size of my methods to help on the bait front. i had to really push the cast with a heavier feeder but I felt the swim needed it. Signs of fish returned but bites were still absent. I then tried a big chunk of worm tipped with a maggot as a change and first chuck the tip pulled right round and i thought I'd got my first carp on, but eventually another bream popped up in front of me!
End of the 4th hour saw me with 19 fish in the net. I never felt like i was bagging at any point, but i never stopped doing something. Casting and winding at such range takes time, especially with a fish on!
The last hour approached, and the 5 carp rumour turned out to be untrue, but there were definitely 2 people catching fish regularly in the bay, and 1 angler on the Shakespeare had 9 skimmers and a big carp. The wind dropped for the last hour so i put 2-3 extra yards on the clip and pushed the cast a bit closer to the island, which worked nicely as 2 big chunks of worm on the hook pushed my tally up to 26 fish on the whistle!!! What a brilliant days fishing! i was tired though as i hadn't really stopped all day. I did keep the short line topped up every hour with 5 big feeder fulls, but never tried it as i didn't want the long line to fade or allow the bream to move off!
Quickly packing up (put the rods back in the ready rod bag and tidy up) i moved my gear round the bay where the other anglers were and got ready to weigh the section in. One of the guys in the bay was saying he had 30 fish, so i was a bit gutted after my hard work. I was first to weigh and after 2 weighs registered 74lb 3oz. I was chuffed to bits. The guy with 30 fish weighed 59lb as he had some much smaller fish mixed in with his bream. i pretty much knew now I'd won it!!! there were 4-5 more 30lb weights in my section and everyone had had a brilliant days fishing and were asking when the next match was to be!! 39lb won the Shakespeare bank, but back up weights weren't brilliant with 12lb winning the 3rd section.

The only down side of the day was my Preston shuttle wheel collapsing on me when i started walking back. i was moving off the bank onto the path and it tipped slightly putting all the load onto 1 wheel which collapsed. i loaded myself with my box and rods and walked it back, then walked back again and loaded the rest of my gear onto the 1 wheel trolley and slowly and care fully walked that back! i was proper knackered by the end of it, but the winning in my back pocket eased the pain slightly.

Not sure where i am next, put I'll let you know how i get on!!