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!!

Hymatic A.C. - Astwood Fisheries, 11-06-10

Well finally i've managed to get out on the bank for a match! its been a month since my last competative session and i was chomping at the bit to get out. my choice was to fish my works club match at Astwood fisheries on the Buddliea pool. This was to be a Friday afternoon match with a 1pm draw, fishing 2-7pm. Easily the best part of the day to fish.

I've fished this pool before but atleast 3 years a go. Its an out and out pole pool, with the island from 14-17 metres away with inches of water tight to it and 3-5 foot in the reeds/weeds growing a metre or two off the island. Its very well stocked with plenty of carp present and some proper beasts too. For the week leading upto the match I put plenty of preperation in with loads of hooklengths, fresh rigs and new elastics in my top kits.

We had a great turn out for this match with 17 guys fishing. The atmosphere is always good on club matches with plenty of banter flying around the draw. Pete Bailey and myself pegged the pool out and i must admit they pretty much all looked lovely. Some with bare bank, some with reeds and some with trees over hanging the bank and there were plenty of fish moving too. I fancied a good ton would be needed to win and most would catch plenty of fish. The higher number pegs were favoured slightly as this generally the better side of the pool.

When the draw finally got underway a little late peg 4 came out for me (i was holding the draw bag so one of the lads picked it for me). Pete drew unlucky for some 13 (but not for him) which put him on the favoured side. It was now quarter past 1, so only 45 minutes to gear up, game on!!

The peg looked lovely with plenty of reed cover over at around 15-16 metres with the actual island another 2 metres behind it. Pete did warn me that the reeds, although hold fish, are more trouble that they're worth as the bigger fish in the pool know exactly where to bolt to when hooked, around the back of the reeds!

With the match pegged with 2 pegs then miss one, i had the spare peg to my right, but the nearside growth wouldnt allow me to go more the 3 metres down the bank, but a small tree provided a very nice feature to throw bait too.

Attack for the day was going to be based around the island and margins. I was going to totally ignore the track as i couldnt see many fish being down there with the weather being so warm and the bank so full of features. So set the following gear up: -

1- Island Pellet. 0.18 PI Exceed mainline, 0.16 Exceed hooklength, 14 B911. 0.25 SP slim pencil with 1.5mm tip. Double 8 Slip Latex

2 - Island Corn. 0.18 Exceed Mainline, 0.18 Exceed Hooklength, 14 B911. 0.4 SP Fat pencil with 2mm tip. Double 10 slip latex

3 - Shallow. 0.18 Exceed mainline, 0.16 Exceed hooklength, 14 B911. self cocking 'Pea' type dibber. Double 8 Slip latex

4 - Margin - 0.20 Exceed Mainline, 0.18 Exceed Hooklength, 14 B911. SP 0.2g margin float with 2mm tip.

By the time i'd set these up time was almost up so had to settle with that. The peg actually plumbed up horribly with the bottom all over the place. In front of the reeds I had around 3ft of water, but the bottom was varying by around 6 inches virtually everywhere. I can only assume the reeds have been cut back and the stems are growing back up or something. Then 2 foot to the right of the reeds, at the same distance, but going under a tree the bottom dropped off to 5 foot! Anyway i got a couple of lines sorted where i was happy i was fishing as accurately as i could.

Bait for the day was fairly simple with 3 tims of meat, 3 tins of corn, 3 pints of feed pellet and plenty of 4 and 6mm expanders. The island pellet line was going to recieve a quarter of a pot of feed as i was going to fish it straight away and didnt want to over load the swim form the off. the island corm line got a full pot of corn and the margin line was going to be fed by hand with meat.
On the whistle the lines were fed and i went over with my pellet rig, with a spread bulk shotting pettern over the bottom 18" of water. fish were present from the off and the float barely settled before it banged under and a gudgeon came flying through the air off a slightly excited strike!! Straight back out the float barely settled again but the (greatly controlled) strike was met with a more solid resistance and a quick ship back of 2 sections saw my doubled 8 latex get the fish immiediately under control and a 14oz F1 was in the net.
I was topping the swim up with a cad pot of pellet every fish and a 6mm expander on the hook was getting immediate bites every chuck. After around 10 fish i started getting problems with lost fish and funny bites. I'd adjusted my rig after 5 fish with the shot bulked around 10 inches from the hook which helped but i was now getting bites on the drop even with this set up so after around half an hour I went out with the shallow rig and the F1's were very obliging, with a bite pretty much as soon as the pellet hit the water.
I was still losing a few fish and the mouths of these small fish werent in great condition. They had obviously been swung in when smaller and suffered damage. But i was putting plenty of small fish in the net and  the wieght was slowly ticking over. I was doing well from what i could see around me, but i wasnt finding the proper fish this pool promises. I had topped up my island corn line on a couple of occasions and decided to try it to see if makes the difference, but a couple of very finicky bites saw only one F1 in the net in 10 minutes which was certainly not any better than catching the F1's shallow.
The shallow fish were still there and ravenous as i was struggling to find time to feed with the rig out in position. I reverted to baiting my hook up, attach my top kit, feed then ship out for an immediate bite. I was glad of my big bottle of Lucozade as it was hard work with the sun shining and me sneezing 10 times a minute as my hayfever causing me trouble!
This set the scene for the first 2 hours of the match, with only the small F1's gracing my net and although happy catching fish I was concerned by the lack of proper fish. I had heard some proper splashes around me and certainly a few from Pete over the other side. With this in mind i attached a CAD pot to my shallow rig and decided to up the feed and concentrate it with the aim of bringing up any better carp that may be hanging around nearer the deck.
After 15 minutes of this the F1's quitened down a little and i needed to work my rig a bit more, but the next bite brought a lot more elastic streaming out of the pole and proper carp was on. This first one luckily didnt head to the island and quickly shipping 3 sections back got the fish into open water and at 4lb was worth a few of those F1's in one hit. Same thing happened next cast and another 4lber was in the net with minimal fuss. I was beginning to think I was being wound up about the fish going behind the reeds when next chuck a proper fish went straight behind the reeds and i had to pull for a break.
The 3rd hour saw me put 2 more better fish in the net with the F1's mixed in, but it also saw me leave 4 shallow rigs in the reeds! I had been keeping the corm line topped up and the margin had been fed by hand all match, but i hadnt tried it yet. with two and a half feet of water in the margin i was looking for signs of fish before i was to try it. I had tried the corn line on a couple of occasions but i didnt yeild anything.
90 minutes to go and i decided to try the margin line after I left another hooklength in the reeds due to a crazy carp even though I hadnt seen any signs of fish in the margins. 30 seconds later the float vanished and the strike was met with a very very solid resitance and a big fish power out to open water. I added the 5th and 6th sections but the doubled 10 did and fantastic job and the fish really didnt get a proper head of steam up and 2 minutes later it was in the net. At around 8lb a cracking bonus. As soon as i hooked the fish and it was under control the margin line got two small handfulls of meat so i went straight back over the margin line for another. The float was definately showing signs of fish in the swim even though there was nothin obvious on the surface. 5 minutes later the float vanished again and another 8lb stamp fish tried to for freedom but the double 10 set up was having non of it and it was in the net 3 minutes after being hooked!
The last hour i put 6 more lumps in the net and was very happy with the way the match finished. Those around me seemed to have slowed down but Pete over the other side was in proper bagging mode and all i could see was a pole going out then seconds later it coming back with yards of orange bazoocarp elastic streaming out behind it.
Most people had caught fish, and a fair few people had lost plenty of fish too! I walked around to the high number pegs and began the wiegh in. There were loads of the F1's caught all over apart from in Pete's peg which was solid with proper carp. 3 nets later (3 nets being the big give away) he recorded a phenominal 236lb to blitz the match. My F1 net went 41lb which was around 50-60 fish then my big fish net went 75lb giving me 116lb and the match second with 91lb coming third.
Overall I was quite happy with my match as i was never going to get anywhere near the winning weight, but maybe an earlier look on my margin line might have put a few more lumps in the net. Incidently the big fish were in fantastic condition, lovely fish. The big difference for Pete was his peg allowed him to get into the shallow water tight to the island and find the bigger fish. This was at 17 meters so a brilliant performance.
A brilliant well matured fishery and one i will definately be visiting again.

Not sure what i'm up to next but hopefully it'll be next weekend.

Catch up soon.

Scott

Catch Up

Well its been a few weeks since my last post and i have to admit a couple of frustrating weeks. so much so I'm currently on a self enforced break from fishing matches
First of all i decided to head to a new venue to me, Hillview just outside Tewkesbury. A fairly local venue,  25 minutes down the road, and a venue i regularly hear great reports about on Talk Angling. I fancied a change so gave it a go. On arriving i had a walk around and the venue looks really nice with 2 pools and 4 'canals' in a fairly compact site. The talk was that the 2 bigger pools were the places to be and with only 10 on the match the canals weren't going to be included.

a nice club house got a great sandwich inside me and the draw quickly came around and i really didn't have a clue where i wanted to be. peg 26 stuck to my hand which put me on the right hand bank of the right hand pool as you look at them from the club house. the peg looked nice with plenty of margin cover, but to be fair every peg on the complex looks nice! it was tight behind me with an elevated walkway 2 metres behind me and a good metre above the lakeside bank. Shipping would be slightly awkward but not too bad.

my homework told me margins to the next pallets, a shortish on the deck pellet line, then a long meat line with a view to catching shallow over it. i had bait suit.

my favourite aspect had joined me today and the wind was blowing, hard at times, diagonally towards me from right to left! and it was bloody freezing!!!! my bank was easily the worst affected as the other pool was protected by some very tall trees. then to cap things off even more, my number 5 collapsed on me as i was setting up. I've used my Maver 401 for 3 years with fantastic results, and this the first issue I've ever had with it so i cant complain too much! i did notice a crack in it the previous week and forgot to get it sorted so its my own fault really! anyway lots of glue and tape got it secured and i was reasonably happy.

i got off to a good start with a carp first chuck on the short pellet line, but that was the only bite in the first 30 minutes. the wind was creating quite a bad tow and i wasn't happy with it. going out long i had a 2lb tench first chuck on the meat on the deck. the wind was again causing trouble and i couldn't feed it with any form of reasonable accuracy to create a decent shallow line. after an hour with the carp, tench and a couple of skimmers in the net my head started switching off. the short line was only producing the odd bite, same as the long meat line, and the margins seemed barren. i did start a long pellet line and managed a few more carp off it. they weren't really responding to cad potting bait in regularly so i was dumping it when the few bites i was getting tailed off then resting it.

the remainder of the match went by fairly slowly with only the odd fish making an appearance. i wasn't coping with the wind and my decision making tailed completely off. i finished with 36lb in the net finishing well in the bottom half with venue regular Neville Groves taking the match win with 93lb 3 pegs down from me, and second place directly opposite me! well and truly spanked.

next match was to be at Cob House, and a match arranged through Match Fishing Scene. 26 guys were coming from all over the country to fish Laugherne Island. it was going to be tight but i still confident plenty of fish would be caught. i had been really looking forward to this match and put loads of prep in with plenty of hook lengths and fresh rigs all round.

peg 17 stuck to my hand which put me off the island at the far end of the pool. my usual cob house attack was set up with a long long pellet line, shorter paste line and margin set up, although i didn't think the margins would work with so many on the pool. i started on the long pellet line, and couldn't get it to go under. there were loads of fish moving and the weather although nice and warm in the day was still going cold at night!

Most people were struggling and it was obvious the pool wasn't coping all that well with 26 on it and very changeable temperatures. after 90 minutes i finally put a fish in the net on the long pellet. i had lost 3 fish before this though, but that was to be the story of most peoples match.

With the pellet not really getting me bites and the shorter paste line not working i decided to put the paste over my long line and see what happened. there was a breeze again which wasn't making things overly easy, but the paste anchored in place nicely started getting me a few bites (but only a few). it also made things easy from a tactical point of view as i was pretty much going to stay on it for the rest of the match. physically paste at 16 meters is hard work.

i finished with 6 fish in the net for 24lb, extremely disappointing, but I'd lost 10 fish over the course of the match. some definitely foul hooked, but some I'm positive were properly hooked. i was also disappointed for Cob House as i love the place and happily tell all that ask about it, but it hadn't performed on the day. fortunately plenty of the guys realised it really is a good fishery, but had an off day! (lots of venues all over the country weren't fishing to their best at all. lots of theories going around, but in my mind  the really hard winter, and big temperature changes from night to day meant the fish didn't know where they were! winter or spawning time!)

so 2 matches I'd looked forward to and fancied a good result from, I'd come away with nothing. On form I'm sure i would have worked harder and earned a result if only a section, but on both occasions my head had switched off and I'd let myself down. So a break is in order, get my kit sorted (new or repaired number 5) and have a couple of pleasure sessions to start to enjoy my fishing again.

Which brings me to last Friday. as i finish work at midday on Fridays, and wait for Mrs P to finish her work at around 4-5pm, i have time to myself. after a long week at work i fancied Arrow Valley for something. i was thinking about a long range feeder session as casting practise i never a bad thing! but a lovely warm afternoon after a week of hot weather meant the fish had spawned and i fancied catching some silvers in the form of roach. so a proper wag and mag session was in order. 1 pint of whites, half of reds, my old trusty MAP matchtek 13ft waggler, TD-R2508 and a small 2.5AA insert and i was away.

i chose the small shallower bay behind the sailing club as it always holds roach and is usually fairly sheltered. wind was minimal wit the odd swirl here and there. i could comfortably get my feed out to around 25 metres and it only took 2 chucks and 5 minutes for the first roach to find my net. and at 10oz a great start. so for the next 3 hours i pretty much put either a roach, perch or hand sized skimmer in the net most casts.

I was sat there totally enjoying myself, no pressure to catch bigger fish, catch faster and make sure i was keeping ahead of those around me! my only problem was making sure some feed found its way around it way around my float to make sure it went under again! i did play about with the shotting (i'd built 6 number 10's into the bulk around the float) to see if anything made a difference, and found 3 of the number 10's spread out give me a nice drop and a bite well within a minute. my smallest fish was around 3oz with a couple pushing a pound and everything in between.

i don't think there is anything much better in fishing than watching a waggler settle to a dimple, a few maggots drop around it and then the float vanish from view! the rod tip shudders as a roach realises its been fooled and then shimmers as it emerges in front of you! brilliant! 20lb later and the weeks hassles at work and previous poor fishing was gone, i was a very happy man! a couple more sessions like this (bream next time i think, then some carp) and I'll put another match in.

The weather has got noticeably warmer in the day and at night and most venues have spawned so the next few weeks should show a great weights being recorded.

One last note - there is every chance there will be an open at Arrow Valley in the next month or two. look out on the various fishing web sites for any advertisements!!
Happy dangling, all, catch you next time!!
Scott

Cob House Bank Holiday Monday

Back to Cob House this week for the May Day bank holiday open. this match was run by one of the lads from Talk Angling (Bob Baker) and usually attracts a very good crowd. Bob runs a great match and with 35 anglers turnng up, everyone was to be spread around Oak, Laugherne and Wyatts. With 2 section on each pool and overall prizes the money was well spread and certainly worth the effort.


The weather was forcast to be the best day of the weekend, but Mr weather man got it totally wrong and it was wet, very windy and very cold!!!! cold enough for a couple of proper hail storms during the day!! what happened to a nice fresh warm spring period! (and i really really hate wind! it really does my nut in! hot, cold and wet i can handle, but i just cant cope with wind!)


Anyway the draw bag looked after me and put me on Oak 15, nicely out of the wind in a bay, with lots of margin to attack! Happy Days!


Then the dream shatters. Somehow someone had managed to turn up, loiter, chat, mingle and actually forget to pay his entries! that left the draw bag a peg short, so a re-draw was called! i was not a happy bunny, and initially thought that the silly individual who forgot the most basic of requirments to enter a match should not be included in the match at all!


but this is a sociable event amongst friends, so it wasnt an option to plonk the extra peg on an end somewhere or all of a sudden include a peg in the bag for the last few people who hadnt drawn yet to chose from, so the only option left was to call a re-draw!


So second time round my drawing arm put me on Laugherne 26, an area i fished last time. not a bad draw as laugherne is my favourite pool, but it put me right in the grips of the wind! Great! after a few minutes mumbling, grumbling and whining i got to my peg and started to gear up.

as you can see from the picture above, i had an earator in front of me at 14.5 meters and a couple of short margin lines left and right (i managed to take the picture during a short calm spell, but it was blowing through for the majority of the day)

so i set the following gear up: -

Pole

1 - Light Pellet - 0.15 Ultima Power Silk mainline to 0.14 Power Silk hooklength with an 18 G point pellet hook. 4x18 Garbolino DC13 with an olivette and number 10 droppers.

2 - Heavy Pellet - 0.18 PI Exceed mainline to 0.16 Exceed Hooklength with a 16 B911. 1g SP fat pencil with 2mm tip with an olivette and number 8 droppers.

3 - Shallow - 0.18 PI Exceed mainline to 0.16 Exceed Hooklength with a 16 B911. 4x12 preston tyson dibber shotted with a bulk at mid depth and the rig set at 2 foot deep.

4 - Paste - 0.18 Exceed mainline direct at a 12 B911. 4x14 KC Carpa Paste float with 5 number 10's spread over the last 4 foot.

5 - Margin - 0.18 Exceed Mainline, 0.18 Exceed hooklength to a 14 B911. 0.2g SP margin float with a 2mm tip and bulk of number 8's 10 inches for mthe hook.

Rods

1 - Maver powerlite feeder system @ 11ft, TD_R 3012, 6lb sensor wth a small PI inline method feeder

2 - Maver powerlite feeder system @11 ft, Daiwa Exceller plus 3000, 6lb sensor with a micro cage feeder.

3 - Daiwa SR3 12ft float rod, TD-R 3012, 0.20 maver genesis with a 6g middy popper and 0.18 hooklength.

i need to start playing with making myself some wire stemmed floats. i use the Garbolino's as they're great for windy conditiions, but they wont stand up to a days bagging session and i've got through quite a few of them over the last couple of years i've been using them.

the light and heavy pellet rigs were plumbed at 14.5 meters to the aerator and 6 meters to the right. the paste rig was at 11 meters at the bottom of the near shelf and the margin rigs 4m to my right and left in 3 foot of water. all the rods were clipped tight to the island.

Bait for the day was plenty of soaked 3mm feed pellets, a couple of pints of 6mm feed for pinging to the island, 4mm and 6mm expanders, a tin of corn and some Bait Tech Super G gold mixed into a very soft paste.

with the reliably unsettled weather still persisting (warm in the day, but with regular frosts in the morning) i didnt want to over do it at the start so the pellet lines got a 1/4 cup of pellets with some expanders mixed in, the paste line got 1/2 a pot of pellets with a couple of chunks of paste mixed in and the margins would get small amounts regularly fed by hand and the island would be pinged with pellets when the wind allowed.

I started on the aerator line and soon discovered the water was trolling through quicker than the river Severn, and i wasnt overly happy with my presentation, but i did get a couple of early bites and managed to lose a couple of early fish! Not a great start. The guy to my right managed 4 early fish on the method to point of the island so i was soon over to the island myself, but couldnt buy a wrap. with an hour gone i was losing 2-0 to the fish with nothing in the net and needed to make something happen.

i'd topped up my shorter paste line a couple of times and i decided anchoring some paste might get me a bite or two. it did the trick and put 3 fish in the net in the next half hour. this planted a seed in my head. i knew there were fish at the aerator but icouldnt present a decent bait to them with the pellet so decided a long paste attack might just turn the peg around. so i set up another paste rig with a 0.5g maver black ice paste float and plumbed it right next to the aerator. i then set the trap with a full pot of pellets and a couple of lumps of paste and left it for a couple of chucks on the shorter paste line.

A couple of touches but no bites made me move to the long paste line after a 15 minute rest and float shot under! decent carp number was on and i was a fairly happy man. the wind was still causing issues but a long line above the undershotted float meant it settled quite nicely in the tow and wind with a round an inch of bristle showing. I was showing my ametuerish paste skills off too as i was hooking a pellet and wrapping my paste around it so knew the paste would stay during shipping and setting the rig. but the fish didnt mind and i put some good fish in the net during the middle of the macth.

the long line did slow considerably going in to the last 90 minutes and i couldnt get a bite on the second long line. there were a few fish coming out of the margins but i couldnt get a bite there. i'd been pinging pellets to the island all match and had one wrap on the method but that was it.

the wind did calm slightly for the last hour and the tow slowed. i did run my light pellet rig through and it actually got me a couple of fish in the last hour amongst a final couple of paste fish before the whistle went. i ended up with around 20 fish, but the stamp wasnt amazing so i wasnt sure how i'd end up. i put 49lb on the scales and was actually quite suprised they went that heavy. i easily beaten those around me but the end pegs in the section did me so i walked away empty handed.

hindsight tells me to have some more heaveir rigs in my box, especially some wire stem patterns to give me some better stability and Laugherne will tow very easily! also i could have chucked the little cage feeder i had set up over the long line which might have got me a couple of extra fish.

But overall it was nice to catch some fish