Sunday 5th September 2010.
I think this match just creeped into double figures and we were greeted with light showers and a flat calm lake. I didn't bother drawing instead I waited for the last one in the bag and it was a flyer peg 19!!
I still don't have a pole so it took me all 20 minutes to set up a straight lead for the pellet and the conker. Peg 19 is directly in front of the point of an island at about 15-16m. However there is a row of stick ups that runs down the left hand margin at about 18-19m and because i have caught here before this was going to be my starting point. The plan was to once again fish and feed 8 and 11mm pellets with the conker as a change bait. First chuck and the tip went around with a 2lb common and i had 10 fish in the first hour for a brilliant start. Then the wind changed direction and as a result it blew a load of debris next to the stick ups. It was now impossible to cast close enough to the island and my catch rate slowed with a pretty poor second hour. Accurate casting was now really important and i somehow had to get as tight as I could without the mainline catching the debris. I also switched over to 11mm pellet and the conker to give the fish something big to home in on. This improved my catch rate and i was up to around twenty fish after 3 hours. The wind increased in the fourth hour but by varying my feed patterns i managed another 5 fish. By the last hour i was still in front but not by a huge amount and my main line had slowdright down. It was time for a change, so i cast directly in front of me to the point of the island at 16m and the tip flew around!! I couldn't believe it, it was solid and i continued to catch right up until the whistle, only suffering 2 loses. I weighed in 89lb for a comfortable win but I was kicking myself for not trying that other line earlier as i truly believe i could have doubled my weight, there were so many fish there. Still that's fishing for you and I'll be back for another day!!
Sunday, 5 September 2010
Monday, 16 August 2010
Milemead open.
Sunday 15th August 2010.
About 18 of us turned out for this one and we were greeted with nice warm and mild conditions. The lake had a slight ripple and there were a few fish cruising which was a bit concerning. Because of the problems with my broken pole i was hoping for a bit of open water and was pleasantly surprised with peg 3 again. Although a very good paste peg, I still had an island chuck to my left as well as plenty of open water and there were only 3 others down this end so i had the space i needed. I set up a paste rig on a top 3 and a lead rod and a pellet wag rod but to be honest i was expecting to catch on the lead to the island. the paste rig was plan B and the pellet wag plan C as this just doesn't produce like it used to. The fish have got bigger and wiser and they just do not need to compete like when they were stockies. I still planned on feeding all my lines though just in case. On the whistle i had a carp first chuck on the lead then a second a few minutes later, but that was it for the first hour. I tried the paste line and had half an hour on the waggler without a touch so it was back on the lead alternating between 8mm/11mm pellet and the conker. The second hour was a bit better but it was now obvious that it was going to fish hard. I plugged away in the third hour for a few more but felt i needed to change something and force the action if i was going to compete, so i switched to a large method feeder with soaked micros a bit of green swim stim for binding and a hair rigged 11mm trout pellet. The response was instant and by almost hitting the bank of the island i kept fish coming through the fourth and fifth hours with a good run of fish towards the end of that fifth hour. I then suffered a couple of breakages as i snagged the island, but i literally had to get within inches of it before the ledge plummeted down to a 9 foot hole!! It was tough going but I persevered had a had a few more. The last half hour was bite less as I got snagged again and lost a very good fish and all the commotion just spooked the fish. I ended up with just over 65lb all carp for second overall and another nice little brown envelope. Paul Carpenter fished an absolute blinder from peg 7 and won with just over 121lb.
About 18 of us turned out for this one and we were greeted with nice warm and mild conditions. The lake had a slight ripple and there were a few fish cruising which was a bit concerning. Because of the problems with my broken pole i was hoping for a bit of open water and was pleasantly surprised with peg 3 again. Although a very good paste peg, I still had an island chuck to my left as well as plenty of open water and there were only 3 others down this end so i had the space i needed. I set up a paste rig on a top 3 and a lead rod and a pellet wag rod but to be honest i was expecting to catch on the lead to the island. the paste rig was plan B and the pellet wag plan C as this just doesn't produce like it used to. The fish have got bigger and wiser and they just do not need to compete like when they were stockies. I still planned on feeding all my lines though just in case. On the whistle i had a carp first chuck on the lead then a second a few minutes later, but that was it for the first hour. I tried the paste line and had half an hour on the waggler without a touch so it was back on the lead alternating between 8mm/11mm pellet and the conker. The second hour was a bit better but it was now obvious that it was going to fish hard. I plugged away in the third hour for a few more but felt i needed to change something and force the action if i was going to compete, so i switched to a large method feeder with soaked micros a bit of green swim stim for binding and a hair rigged 11mm trout pellet. The response was instant and by almost hitting the bank of the island i kept fish coming through the fourth and fifth hours with a good run of fish towards the end of that fifth hour. I then suffered a couple of breakages as i snagged the island, but i literally had to get within inches of it before the ledge plummeted down to a 9 foot hole!! It was tough going but I persevered had a had a few more. The last half hour was bite less as I got snagged again and lost a very good fish and all the commotion just spooked the fish. I ended up with just over 65lb all carp for second overall and another nice little brown envelope. Paul Carpenter fished an absolute blinder from peg 7 and won with just over 121lb.
Sunday, 1 August 2010
Milemead open.
Sunday 01 August 2010.
Approximately 16 of us turned up for this one on a nice fairly cool and overcast day. I wasn't really fussed where I drew, and was pleasantly surprised with peg 28. With only 1 other angler to my left on 29, it meant i had plenty of water in front of me to go at. For some reason I thought it might fish quite hard today, especially after Thursdays disappointment. So with this in mind i decided to fish the straight lead towards the island slightly to my right. There was some nice cover there in the way of overhanging bushes and reeds, and i figured that a nice softly softly approach could pay dividends. In addition to the lead rod i set up a mini pellet waggler rod just in case, and i also set up 2 pole lines out in front.The first for paste and the second for soft pellet and skimmers. But it was the lead that i started on, fishing it free running with a snap link swivel on 6lb sensor and a korum quick change bead on the end. Atteched to this was a size 16 PR36 tied knotless knot style on .19 Guru N guage hooklength and a hair rigged 8mm skretting coarse pellet. The plan was to ping pellets over the top and try and build the swim going for 1 fish at a time and in the first hour I had 8 fish including 2 carp pushing 8lb a piece. All the time though i continued to feed the pole lines as a back up for when the lead swim eventually slowed down. The second hour was just as productive but i was waiting longer for bites so i decided to mould some paste around the pellet and fish 'the conker' Stafford Moor style!!
I also cast tighter to the cover and although my catch rate never really increased, I was getting better fish with some right old munters wrapping the tip around.
The third hour was a bit iffy as i felt i was feeding a bit to often and as i suspected the commotion caused the fish to back off. I therefor came inside and had a look on my pole lines but after 15 bite less minutes it was back out on the lead. This time however i kept it neat and tidy and just pinged 2 pellets at a time and kept it all fairly tight. By switching between the pellet and the conker i had a good run of fish and was getting one a chuck right up until the whistle. I finished with approx 39 carp for 126lb 4oz for first and a new 6 hour match record in the process. I fished a tidy match and didn't suffer any losses. When something like a hooklength needed changing I just went about it in a cool composed manner and i suppose my decision to take it slowly slowly paid off well. I just had a feeling that the method or a pellet feeder would have been to much today, and so it proved.
Approximately 16 of us turned up for this one on a nice fairly cool and overcast day. I wasn't really fussed where I drew, and was pleasantly surprised with peg 28. With only 1 other angler to my left on 29, it meant i had plenty of water in front of me to go at. For some reason I thought it might fish quite hard today, especially after Thursdays disappointment. So with this in mind i decided to fish the straight lead towards the island slightly to my right. There was some nice cover there in the way of overhanging bushes and reeds, and i figured that a nice softly softly approach could pay dividends. In addition to the lead rod i set up a mini pellet waggler rod just in case, and i also set up 2 pole lines out in front.The first for paste and the second for soft pellet and skimmers. But it was the lead that i started on, fishing it free running with a snap link swivel on 6lb sensor and a korum quick change bead on the end. Atteched to this was a size 16 PR36 tied knotless knot style on .19 Guru N guage hooklength and a hair rigged 8mm skretting coarse pellet. The plan was to ping pellets over the top and try and build the swim going for 1 fish at a time and in the first hour I had 8 fish including 2 carp pushing 8lb a piece. All the time though i continued to feed the pole lines as a back up for when the lead swim eventually slowed down. The second hour was just as productive but i was waiting longer for bites so i decided to mould some paste around the pellet and fish 'the conker' Stafford Moor style!!
I also cast tighter to the cover and although my catch rate never really increased, I was getting better fish with some right old munters wrapping the tip around.
The third hour was a bit iffy as i felt i was feeding a bit to often and as i suspected the commotion caused the fish to back off. I therefor came inside and had a look on my pole lines but after 15 bite less minutes it was back out on the lead. This time however i kept it neat and tidy and just pinged 2 pellets at a time and kept it all fairly tight. By switching between the pellet and the conker i had a good run of fish and was getting one a chuck right up until the whistle. I finished with approx 39 carp for 126lb 4oz for first and a new 6 hour match record in the process. I fished a tidy match and didn't suffer any losses. When something like a hooklength needed changing I just went about it in a cool composed manner and i suppose my decision to take it slowly slowly paid off well. I just had a feeling that the method or a pellet feeder would have been to much today, and so it proved.
Milemead summer series final round.
Thursday 29th july 2010.
Well would you believe it, we had another rover so i went for peg 9......again!! To cut a very long and boring story short I had a crap match. My pole still isn't fixed so i had another go with just 3 sections and paste, but the fish just didn't want to know. Even the skimmers and tench had switched off. I had a brief spell on the method but that only produces 1 fish and i ended up 5th with just 23lb. Overall however i finished 3rd which was pleasing, even though there was often only a handful of us fishing. Still, we have had a good craic and a big congratulations must go out to Kelvin, the overall winner who has fished a blinder. Roll on next year and hopefully there will be a few more faces.
Well would you believe it, we had another rover so i went for peg 9......again!! To cut a very long and boring story short I had a crap match. My pole still isn't fixed so i had another go with just 3 sections and paste, but the fish just didn't want to know. Even the skimmers and tench had switched off. I had a brief spell on the method but that only produces 1 fish and i ended up 5th with just 23lb. Overall however i finished 3rd which was pleasing, even though there was often only a handful of us fishing. Still, we have had a good craic and a big congratulations must go out to Kelvin, the overall winner who has fished a blinder. Roll on next year and hopefully there will be a few more faces.
Thursday, 22 July 2010
Milemead summer series round 11.
Just a little rain and a flat calm lake greeted us for this one. We had a rover again and you guessed it, I chose peg 9. This time however because i broke my pole last week, I set up just the one paste rig to be fished on a top 3!! It was shit or bust really but after last week I was confident of a few. The first hour was steady with a few carp and plenty of decent skimmers and tench. Carp bites were a bit 'snatchy' as they were obviously a bit spooky so close. Anyway I persevered and the second hour was a bit better, but I never really had the carp settled. Into the third hour and i upped the feed and my swim finally switched on. The carp had settled in numbers and I began to bag up, fishing the paste up the slope. The odd foul hooker became a problem and I pulled out of 3 fish. I also snapped 2 rigs but quickly settled back into a rhythm. I ended up with 81lb for second but if I could of had just another half an hour I would have done the ton. Still cant complain with 80lb in only 3 hours, with 30lb of that being skimmers and tench again. This is my heaviest weight so far during this series, but interestingly, speaking to Mark afterwards, he had fed 5 pints for 114lb compared to my 2 pints and 80lb!! So with one round left I have finally sussed out a formula for success; Break your pole so you are forced to fish short, feed heavily, at least 5 pints and convert those skimmers into carp. I am already looking forward to next week, its a shame as its the final match of the series, but Its been a fantastic learning curve for me. Perhaps I can draw the golden peg again, put what I have learned into practice and this time do the business!! We shall see.
Milemead summer league round 10
Thursday 15th July 2010.
Torrential rain and gale force winds that brought trees down greeted us for this one. We had a rover so I chose one of my favourites, peg 9. I set up just the one paste rig to be fished at 5 sections over 8mm pellets and with the wind blowing right to left it was a real battle to get decent presentation, but this was the closest flat spot i could find, just past the bottom of the near shelf. That said, I had a fairly decent first hour with a scattering of carp and some nice skimmers. The gusting wind was a nightmare however and I was really struggling to feed accurately. The second hour was a bit dire as the wind became increasingly stronger so I came in closer and started a new line at 2+2 up the slope. My catch rate improved in the third and final hour, but presentation was still a disaster. By the end the carp had pushed out the silvers and I was bagging. I had fed about 2 pints and ended up with 70lb 1oz for third again. Incidentally 30lb of that was skimmers and tench!!
Torrential rain and gale force winds that brought trees down greeted us for this one. We had a rover so I chose one of my favourites, peg 9. I set up just the one paste rig to be fished at 5 sections over 8mm pellets and with the wind blowing right to left it was a real battle to get decent presentation, but this was the closest flat spot i could find, just past the bottom of the near shelf. That said, I had a fairly decent first hour with a scattering of carp and some nice skimmers. The gusting wind was a nightmare however and I was really struggling to feed accurately. The second hour was a bit dire as the wind became increasingly stronger so I came in closer and started a new line at 2+2 up the slope. My catch rate improved in the third and final hour, but presentation was still a disaster. By the end the carp had pushed out the silvers and I was bagging. I had fed about 2 pints and ended up with 70lb 1oz for third again. Incidentally 30lb of that was skimmers and tench!!
Saturday, 17 July 2010
Tuesday, 6 July 2010
Milemead open.
Sunday 4th July 2010.
Given a half decent draw somewhere along the flat bank i was fairly confident of a few fish. No matter where I drew I was going to fish a paste line for carp and a soft pellet line for skimmers. So i was well chuffed when peg 3 stuck to my hand.
The golden pegs were still in place and we had a fairly decent turnout. After setting up paul got me to draw the golden pegs and you guessed it, first one out was peg 3!! So potentially and in all reality i was fishing for a hat trick of the match, silvers and golden peg. With my mate Kelvin bagging nearly 100lb from this peg in only three hours last week It should have been possible. I stared off well, after cupping in a big pot of 8mm pellets i had 4 carp and ten big skimmers in the first hour. But i was a bit concerned with the lack of carp. I stuck to my feeding pattern of a pouch full of pellets after every fish but by the end of the second hour i had only added 2 more carp and a few tench. With the benefit of hindsight i probably should have stared another line at this point, but i persevered with the single line as i really wanted to attack it for a big weight. Problem is the carp hadn't read the script and with the wind blowing down the other end of the lake i was beginning to get the feeling that there weren't too many fish in the area. So with this in mind i got my head down and made every put in count, even if i came back with a skimmer it was still adding to my overall weight. Third and fourth hours flew by and i had managed to add a few more carp and skimmers and into the fifth hour i was expecting things to pick up. The swim did get better and i continued to add to my tally, but a rum on lost fish got me agitated and i lost my focus and rhythm for a while. I added a few more in a pretty slow last hour and never really got going flat out. At the weigh in I put 75lb 10oz on the scales for fifth, which ordinarily would have probably got me a frame place but it fished pretty well with 3 more 80lb+ weights and a winning 90lb+ weight. Tony ounced me for the silvers so i came away with only a decent days fishing and the clean sweep wasn't to be, still there's always next week.
Given a half decent draw somewhere along the flat bank i was fairly confident of a few fish. No matter where I drew I was going to fish a paste line for carp and a soft pellet line for skimmers. So i was well chuffed when peg 3 stuck to my hand.
The golden pegs were still in place and we had a fairly decent turnout. After setting up paul got me to draw the golden pegs and you guessed it, first one out was peg 3!! So potentially and in all reality i was fishing for a hat trick of the match, silvers and golden peg. With my mate Kelvin bagging nearly 100lb from this peg in only three hours last week It should have been possible. I stared off well, after cupping in a big pot of 8mm pellets i had 4 carp and ten big skimmers in the first hour. But i was a bit concerned with the lack of carp. I stuck to my feeding pattern of a pouch full of pellets after every fish but by the end of the second hour i had only added 2 more carp and a few tench. With the benefit of hindsight i probably should have stared another line at this point, but i persevered with the single line as i really wanted to attack it for a big weight. Problem is the carp hadn't read the script and with the wind blowing down the other end of the lake i was beginning to get the feeling that there weren't too many fish in the area. So with this in mind i got my head down and made every put in count, even if i came back with a skimmer it was still adding to my overall weight. Third and fourth hours flew by and i had managed to add a few more carp and skimmers and into the fifth hour i was expecting things to pick up. The swim did get better and i continued to add to my tally, but a rum on lost fish got me agitated and i lost my focus and rhythm for a while. I added a few more in a pretty slow last hour and never really got going flat out. At the weigh in I put 75lb 10oz on the scales for fifth, which ordinarily would have probably got me a frame place but it fished pretty well with 3 more 80lb+ weights and a winning 90lb+ weight. Tony ounced me for the silvers so i came away with only a decent days fishing and the clean sweep wasn't to be, still there's always next week.
Saturday, 3 July 2010
Milemead summer series round 8.
Thursday 1st July 2010.
After last weeks disappointment i was determined to get my act together this week and as we decided on another rover i chose one of my favourite paste pegs, no.9. 5 sections out, green swim stim over loose fed 8mm's with a nick Gilbert paster on Nguage 7lb line to a size 12 B911 and Preston 17h. No Messing about. I had a fish first put in but unbelievably pulled out of 8 of my first 10 carp!! I was just pulling back far to hard and trying to bully them in, which for me goes against my character. Anyway i settled down and caught steadily for the rest of the match. I did do 'a Squirrel' and hooked the tree above me once and i also ran out of paste!! With a torrential downpour of rain all evening it was a struggle to keep the paste right let alone have to make any up during a three hour match. I finished up second with 69.4. but to be honest i should have done a ton, there were that many fish prepared to have a go. I just fished a sloppy match, with no discipline. Still I'm well up for this Sunday's open and just pray i draw a decent paste peg, if not its all out for the skimmers and tench with a view to bagging the silvers pools.
After last weeks disappointment i was determined to get my act together this week and as we decided on another rover i chose one of my favourite paste pegs, no.9. 5 sections out, green swim stim over loose fed 8mm's with a nick Gilbert paster on Nguage 7lb line to a size 12 B911 and Preston 17h. No Messing about. I had a fish first put in but unbelievably pulled out of 8 of my first 10 carp!! I was just pulling back far to hard and trying to bully them in, which for me goes against my character. Anyway i settled down and caught steadily for the rest of the match. I did do 'a Squirrel' and hooked the tree above me once and i also ran out of paste!! With a torrential downpour of rain all evening it was a struggle to keep the paste right let alone have to make any up during a three hour match. I finished up second with 69.4. but to be honest i should have done a ton, there were that many fish prepared to have a go. I just fished a sloppy match, with no discipline. Still I'm well up for this Sunday's open and just pray i draw a decent paste peg, if not its all out for the skimmers and tench with a view to bagging the silvers pools.
Milemead summer series round 7.
24th June 2010.
This one is hardly worth reading about. Only 5 of us turned up so we had a rover. The first thing you have to ask yourself is why the hell would anybody pick a peg that they hardly caught from the week before? Well i did just that and walked to peg 1 again. I don't know why but i just had to have another crack at it after my last disappointment. My determination to have another go should have been focused on fishing a match winning peg instead, but there you go. Anyway to cut a long story short i pole fished soft pellets and corn to the same outlet overflow as before and got of to a fair start. I thought that if i went for everything that swam i could so a decent weight providing the fish continued to feed. Problem was it was very flat and calm and after the first hour the fish just backed right off and even the tench and skimmers refused to feed confidently. I ended up with a pathetic 15.5 lb for last and have now slipped well down to third overall.
Its time to re focus.
This one is hardly worth reading about. Only 5 of us turned up so we had a rover. The first thing you have to ask yourself is why the hell would anybody pick a peg that they hardly caught from the week before? Well i did just that and walked to peg 1 again. I don't know why but i just had to have another crack at it after my last disappointment. My determination to have another go should have been focused on fishing a match winning peg instead, but there you go. Anyway to cut a long story short i pole fished soft pellets and corn to the same outlet overflow as before and got of to a fair start. I thought that if i went for everything that swam i could so a decent weight providing the fish continued to feed. Problem was it was very flat and calm and after the first hour the fish just backed right off and even the tench and skimmers refused to feed confidently. I ended up with a pathetic 15.5 lb for last and have now slipped well down to third overall.
Its time to re focus.
Tuesday, 22 June 2010
Milemead open.
Sunday 20th June 2010.
17 of us turned out for this one, which is reasonable for this little fishery. There are currently 3 golden pegs running with 2 of them capped at £100.00 and the other at about £40.00 odd.
I drew peg 22 and although optimistic I never really believed I had much of a chance, especially when Paul Carpenter told me he'd drawn peg 1 and John Hetherington had drawn 20. Anyway I went about my business setting up 2 margins rigs, an open water paste rig and a method rod for the island. The problem with this peg is that's its on the wrong side really and with 2 of us pegged in this little section and a flat calm surface, the carp were never going to settle. The fish in this lake have grown on well, but they are no longer naive and so take some catching. In fact i saw fish swimming in and out of this area all day and once they saw the nets or a reflection they just bolted off. After the all in I fed my lines and started on the method, but after a blank 15 minutes i had a look on my right margin as i fancied it for a few. one chub was all i could manage on meat, and after another 15 minutes i had a look on the paste line. First put in resulted in decent skimmer which in reality is a bad sign as you really need to get into the carp from the off. After another half an hour and just 1 carp on the paste i had a look on my left hand margin, but strangely didn't even have an indication, so it was back out on the method. This too was proving fruitless and so after a desperate first 3 hours i decided to concentrate solely on the paste line, with a little look in on the margins in the last hour. I decided to cup in some soft micros mixed with ground bait and fished small pieces of paste over the top and for the last 3 hours i caught a steady procession of skimmers and tench. With everybody else going for carp i had one eye on the silver fish pool. By fishing out the feed i kept the skimmer coming along with 5 more carp and finished up with 22lb of silvers and 15lb of carp and took the silvers pools. It was a bit of a frustrating day as i was fired up for the carp but never the less i taught myself a great deal about the peg and this particular area of the lake and it should stand me in good stead for the future. Tony Steele fished an absolute blinder and won with over 90lb on catmeat and paste and i was really chuffed for him, especially as he had been dreading this peg for weeks. Paul came in second from peg 1 with his usual professional display. The golden pegs have rolled over for another fortnight and Nick Gilberts paste floats performed brilliantly again as per usual. Full frame placings can be found by going to http://www.milemeadfisheries.com/
17 of us turned out for this one, which is reasonable for this little fishery. There are currently 3 golden pegs running with 2 of them capped at £100.00 and the other at about £40.00 odd.
I drew peg 22 and although optimistic I never really believed I had much of a chance, especially when Paul Carpenter told me he'd drawn peg 1 and John Hetherington had drawn 20. Anyway I went about my business setting up 2 margins rigs, an open water paste rig and a method rod for the island. The problem with this peg is that's its on the wrong side really and with 2 of us pegged in this little section and a flat calm surface, the carp were never going to settle. The fish in this lake have grown on well, but they are no longer naive and so take some catching. In fact i saw fish swimming in and out of this area all day and once they saw the nets or a reflection they just bolted off. After the all in I fed my lines and started on the method, but after a blank 15 minutes i had a look on my right margin as i fancied it for a few. one chub was all i could manage on meat, and after another 15 minutes i had a look on the paste line. First put in resulted in decent skimmer which in reality is a bad sign as you really need to get into the carp from the off. After another half an hour and just 1 carp on the paste i had a look on my left hand margin, but strangely didn't even have an indication, so it was back out on the method. This too was proving fruitless and so after a desperate first 3 hours i decided to concentrate solely on the paste line, with a little look in on the margins in the last hour. I decided to cup in some soft micros mixed with ground bait and fished small pieces of paste over the top and for the last 3 hours i caught a steady procession of skimmers and tench. With everybody else going for carp i had one eye on the silver fish pool. By fishing out the feed i kept the skimmer coming along with 5 more carp and finished up with 22lb of silvers and 15lb of carp and took the silvers pools. It was a bit of a frustrating day as i was fired up for the carp but never the less i taught myself a great deal about the peg and this particular area of the lake and it should stand me in good stead for the future. Tony Steele fished an absolute blinder and won with over 90lb on catmeat and paste and i was really chuffed for him, especially as he had been dreading this peg for weeks. Paul came in second from peg 1 with his usual professional display. The golden pegs have rolled over for another fortnight and Nick Gilberts paste floats performed brilliantly again as per usual. Full frame placings can be found by going to http://www.milemeadfisheries.com/
Sunday, 20 June 2010
Milemead summer series round 6
Thursday 17th June 2010.
1 was to be my peg tonight and with the wind blowing down this end all week i fancied it for a few fish. Problem is i have never fished it before and so went about things lacking in confidence. Peg 1 is in a corner and has an aerator and an over flow outlet for features, as well as a curvaceous reed lined margin. My plan of attack was to fish 13m to the concrete overflow outlet and a paste line at 9m. To cut a long story short i really struggled for the first 2 hours and didn't even have an indication on the paste line. I had missed a few bites on the margin line but felt i was feeding far to positively which had the effect of scaring the fish off. Anyway, i began potting in small amounts of soft micros with paste on the hook and began to catch steadily, missed bites were still a problem and i cursed myself for not bring any corn, as this would have been far more durable. With the carp in residence here i am sure a single grain over micros would have got me more bites as i would not have had to constantly ship in and out with the paste. I caught well in the last hour and finished up with 27lb, but it took me far too long to work out and i finished up well down the list. Still at least I know now what not to do next time. Worse still though, i have slipped to third in the league, now 2 points behind second place. I need a bit of luck now at the draw bag and really need some good results.
1 was to be my peg tonight and with the wind blowing down this end all week i fancied it for a few fish. Problem is i have never fished it before and so went about things lacking in confidence. Peg 1 is in a corner and has an aerator and an over flow outlet for features, as well as a curvaceous reed lined margin. My plan of attack was to fish 13m to the concrete overflow outlet and a paste line at 9m. To cut a long story short i really struggled for the first 2 hours and didn't even have an indication on the paste line. I had missed a few bites on the margin line but felt i was feeding far to positively which had the effect of scaring the fish off. Anyway, i began potting in small amounts of soft micros with paste on the hook and began to catch steadily, missed bites were still a problem and i cursed myself for not bring any corn, as this would have been far more durable. With the carp in residence here i am sure a single grain over micros would have got me more bites as i would not have had to constantly ship in and out with the paste. I caught well in the last hour and finished up with 27lb, but it took me far too long to work out and i finished up well down the list. Still at least I know now what not to do next time. Worse still though, i have slipped to third in the league, now 2 points behind second place. I need a bit of luck now at the draw bag and really need some good results.
Thursday, 10 June 2010
Milemead summer series round 5.
10th June 2010.
Last week was weird but this week was just plain bizarre. I drew peg three again only this time the wind was blowing down my end of the lake and It was also an end peg. Following on from last week i set up 2 paste rigs with different colour tips for just the one line a meter short of because of the wind. On the whistle out i went feeding 8mm and fishing paste over the top. To say is was slow was an understatement, as i only had 2 carp and half a dozen skimmers in the first hour. During the second hour i tried varying my feeding but to now avail as the carp were elusive. By now i was regretting not setting up a margin swim as a back up. I persevered on just the one line and got my head down to get as many skimmers as possible, but liners were a nightmare and a very strong gusting wind made presentation challenging. With half an hour to go I decided to put a walnut size lump of paste on and hey presto, carp first put in. I had a total of 5 carp and 2 big skimmers in that last half an hour and i couldn't put a big enough piece of paste on, the bigger the better. I finished up with 41lb for third again , 21lb of that was skimmers and managed to hold onto 2nd in the league overall. Trouble is, although pretty consistent I am just not doing good enough and need to work on increasing my weights.
Last week was weird but this week was just plain bizarre. I drew peg three again only this time the wind was blowing down my end of the lake and It was also an end peg. Following on from last week i set up 2 paste rigs with different colour tips for just the one line a meter short of because of the wind. On the whistle out i went feeding 8mm and fishing paste over the top. To say is was slow was an understatement, as i only had 2 carp and half a dozen skimmers in the first hour. During the second hour i tried varying my feeding but to now avail as the carp were elusive. By now i was regretting not setting up a margin swim as a back up. I persevered on just the one line and got my head down to get as many skimmers as possible, but liners were a nightmare and a very strong gusting wind made presentation challenging. With half an hour to go I decided to put a walnut size lump of paste on and hey presto, carp first put in. I had a total of 5 carp and 2 big skimmers in that last half an hour and i couldn't put a big enough piece of paste on, the bigger the better. I finished up with 41lb for third again , 21lb of that was skimmers and managed to hold onto 2nd in the league overall. Trouble is, although pretty consistent I am just not doing good enough and need to work on increasing my weights.
Sunday, 6 June 2010
Milemead summer series round 4
Thursday the 3rd June 2010.
What a strange match this turned out to be. The wind had been blowing down the end of the lake all day and by the time we got to our pegs it was very gusty. I drew peg 3 at the wrong end, although it was an end peg and immediately decided on a method feeder approach to the island with a paste line as back up. The paste line was at 11m just past the bottom of the near shelf in about 7 feet of water. On the whistle out went the feeder for 6 minutes without a bite. Second cast and the tip flew around with a decent carp. The problem is that there is a ledge close to the island but it drops of quickly. The wind was making casting difficult and i pretty much wasted the first hour and a half by persevering for 3 fish. First drop in on the pole with paste over 8mm pellets and the float buried with a 5lb munter. I caught steadily for the next 2 hours but never really got going. I ended up with 44lb for fourth but kicked myself for wasting that first hour and a half, and stupidly pulled out of 3 decent fish out of sheer frustration. Top weight was 86 followed by an 83 then a 47 and my 44. I am still second overall, but only just, by 1 point, so i really need to pull my finger out and get my arse in gear. Stupid decision making and a careless attitude has cost me again.
What a strange match this turned out to be. The wind had been blowing down the end of the lake all day and by the time we got to our pegs it was very gusty. I drew peg 3 at the wrong end, although it was an end peg and immediately decided on a method feeder approach to the island with a paste line as back up. The paste line was at 11m just past the bottom of the near shelf in about 7 feet of water. On the whistle out went the feeder for 6 minutes without a bite. Second cast and the tip flew around with a decent carp. The problem is that there is a ledge close to the island but it drops of quickly. The wind was making casting difficult and i pretty much wasted the first hour and a half by persevering for 3 fish. First drop in on the pole with paste over 8mm pellets and the float buried with a 5lb munter. I caught steadily for the next 2 hours but never really got going. I ended up with 44lb for fourth but kicked myself for wasting that first hour and a half, and stupidly pulled out of 3 decent fish out of sheer frustration. Top weight was 86 followed by an 83 then a 47 and my 44. I am still second overall, but only just, by 1 point, so i really need to pull my finger out and get my arse in gear. Stupid decision making and a careless attitude has cost me again.
Wednesday, 2 June 2010
Milemead summer series round 3
27Th May 2010.
I felt far better prepared for this round after last weeks lesson. At the draw i pulled out peg 28. To be honest I was a little disappointed, because i just do not really know how to fish this section of the lake. The peg is in a shallow bay end of the lake with an island to the right at at 2 o'clock, but the whole area is very shallow. I plumbed up to fish paste down the channel between me and the island and fed 2 lines just past the bottom of the shelf. I also set up a method feeder rod for the island. On the whistle out went the method for a quick fish, then back inside on the paste. After an hour things were very slow with just about 5lb in the net and i was going knowhere. I began alternating lines trying to sneak a fish from each one and on the paste lines i switched to hair rigged pellet on the deck. This increased my catch rate but i was falling way behind and didn't really know what to do. I had ignored a margin line as there was less than a foot of water and didn't think the fish would settle there. So out of desperation I flicked out the method on the pole line, 5 minutes later the tip flew around with a munter. I continued with this until the whistle and weighed in just short of 30lb for 4th. Whilst packing up i poured some micros into the margin and would you believe it within seconds there were fish everywhere!!
Oh well you live and learn and i think i have a plan for the next time i draw here. My results so far are a second, third and fourth, so i am on a slippery slope and although i remain second overall, i need a good result this week to get back on track. Its the 1's I need!!!
I felt far better prepared for this round after last weeks lesson. At the draw i pulled out peg 28. To be honest I was a little disappointed, because i just do not really know how to fish this section of the lake. The peg is in a shallow bay end of the lake with an island to the right at at 2 o'clock, but the whole area is very shallow. I plumbed up to fish paste down the channel between me and the island and fed 2 lines just past the bottom of the shelf. I also set up a method feeder rod for the island. On the whistle out went the method for a quick fish, then back inside on the paste. After an hour things were very slow with just about 5lb in the net and i was going knowhere. I began alternating lines trying to sneak a fish from each one and on the paste lines i switched to hair rigged pellet on the deck. This increased my catch rate but i was falling way behind and didn't really know what to do. I had ignored a margin line as there was less than a foot of water and didn't think the fish would settle there. So out of desperation I flicked out the method on the pole line, 5 minutes later the tip flew around with a munter. I continued with this until the whistle and weighed in just short of 30lb for 4th. Whilst packing up i poured some micros into the margin and would you believe it within seconds there were fish everywhere!!
Oh well you live and learn and i think i have a plan for the next time i draw here. My results so far are a second, third and fourth, so i am on a slippery slope and although i remain second overall, i need a good result this week to get back on track. Its the 1's I need!!!
Wednesday, 26 May 2010
Milemead summer series round 2.
Thursday 20th May 2010.
Unfortunately after last weeks match whilst packing up I managed to stand on my last Preston Durafloat 5 paste float. So i went online to check out what else is available. In the end I opted for Nick Gilbert's hand made pasters. A brief email to nick was met with a speedy response and i settled on the .6 gram ones that would suit the match lake depths. I placed the order on Monday and they arrived on wednesday, hows that for fantastic service? I must say that they were very well packaged, beautifully prepared and finished to an amazing standard and i couldn't wait to give them a try. So I set off nice and early and sat myself down on peg 5. The idea is that I am practising the methods and baits required on the pegs that i am pretty sure are going to be put in come the match. Peg 5 has an island at 13m and a good margin as well as about 5-6 feet of water down the track. I set up a dibber for fishing tight across with hair rigged pellet and a paste rig down the track. In a nutshell I struggled to get the fish going across, I had a few but there isn't any cover there now so the fish are a bit shy. I had to fish into the stick ups to get the carp. So I settled on the paste line and basically caught tench, skimmers and the odd carp all day long. Nicks floats were absolutely brilliant. They are very robust but at the same time nice and sensitive, he has got the balance spot on. They sat beautifully in the water and were very stable and the shotting capacity was spot on. I really dont know why i waited so long to switch over but I am glad I did!!
Come the match and I was primarily prepared for the paste, but as you do I pulled out peg 19, a method feeder peg cast tight an island with stick ups. The stick ups were knocking frantically with fish so it was a bit of a no brainer really, although i did have to cast almost in them to get bites and this caused a major problem. You see what I had failed to do was th have any spare animal hook lengths tied up and just previously i had run out of heavy hook length trace. You can guess what happened next as when I didn't have a fish on i pretty much got snagged on the stick ups and had to pull for a break. In the last hour I finally stripped down the rig and tied up a hook length using 8lb reel line. This did the job and i had the majority of my weight in the last hour, but the damage had already been done and i ran out of time. I weighed in 44lb for 3rd but in all honesty i should have at least doubled that as the peg was solid. I was unprepared and paid the price. The next day it was off to The Tackle Barn to stock up and I'm now trying out the Guru NGuage line MWG hooks and PR36's. This should sort them, Ill let you know how they perform. Whilst in the shop I got one of the 10' mini garbolino rocket pellet waggler rods and a 10' mini Shimano force master feeder rod for the short chucks. The are obviously both budget models but they seem fine and will be ideal for the short chucks. Lets hope I can give them a work out next week.
Unfortunately after last weeks match whilst packing up I managed to stand on my last Preston Durafloat 5 paste float. So i went online to check out what else is available. In the end I opted for Nick Gilbert's hand made pasters. A brief email to nick was met with a speedy response and i settled on the .6 gram ones that would suit the match lake depths. I placed the order on Monday and they arrived on wednesday, hows that for fantastic service? I must say that they were very well packaged, beautifully prepared and finished to an amazing standard and i couldn't wait to give them a try. So I set off nice and early and sat myself down on peg 5. The idea is that I am practising the methods and baits required on the pegs that i am pretty sure are going to be put in come the match. Peg 5 has an island at 13m and a good margin as well as about 5-6 feet of water down the track. I set up a dibber for fishing tight across with hair rigged pellet and a paste rig down the track. In a nutshell I struggled to get the fish going across, I had a few but there isn't any cover there now so the fish are a bit shy. I had to fish into the stick ups to get the carp. So I settled on the paste line and basically caught tench, skimmers and the odd carp all day long. Nicks floats were absolutely brilliant. They are very robust but at the same time nice and sensitive, he has got the balance spot on. They sat beautifully in the water and were very stable and the shotting capacity was spot on. I really dont know why i waited so long to switch over but I am glad I did!!
Come the match and I was primarily prepared for the paste, but as you do I pulled out peg 19, a method feeder peg cast tight an island with stick ups. The stick ups were knocking frantically with fish so it was a bit of a no brainer really, although i did have to cast almost in them to get bites and this caused a major problem. You see what I had failed to do was th have any spare animal hook lengths tied up and just previously i had run out of heavy hook length trace. You can guess what happened next as when I didn't have a fish on i pretty much got snagged on the stick ups and had to pull for a break. In the last hour I finally stripped down the rig and tied up a hook length using 8lb reel line. This did the job and i had the majority of my weight in the last hour, but the damage had already been done and i ran out of time. I weighed in 44lb for 3rd but in all honesty i should have at least doubled that as the peg was solid. I was unprepared and paid the price. The next day it was off to The Tackle Barn to stock up and I'm now trying out the Guru NGuage line MWG hooks and PR36's. This should sort them, Ill let you know how they perform. Whilst in the shop I got one of the 10' mini garbolino rocket pellet waggler rods and a 10' mini Shimano force master feeder rod for the short chucks. The are obviously both budget models but they seem fine and will be ideal for the short chucks. Lets hope I can give them a work out next week.
Wednesday, 19 May 2010
Milemead summer series round 1.
Thursday 13th May 2010.
Today was the first round and to be honest i didn't even realise until after i arrived in the morning. I pitched up at 10.00am planning for a days pleasure fishing and to dust of the cobwebs a bit. But when Paul informed me of the match i duly paid my pools then set of for what turned out to be a bit of vital practice. Ive been working on my pellet fishing on the deck for a bit, specifically hair rigging them. so with this in mind i set up 2 rigs to fish 2 lines at 10.00 o'clock and 2 o'clock. The first with a hair rigged hard pellet and the second with a spade end and an expander, both were to be fished dead depth over loose fed pellets. The other difference was that i would initially feed one line with micros and the other with 6mm pellets. I also set up a paste rig for the bottom of the near shelf and a shallow rig for the 13m line. After cupping in the loose feed it was obvious that fish had moved over the micros as bubbles were showing instantly. Whereas there was only a few pin pricks coming up from the 6mm pellet line. First put in on the 6mm line and i missed a bite, by lifting and dropping i soon had another and connected with a decent tench. I then pinged out a few more 6mm's over this line then moved over to the micro pellet line, bites came quickly on this line with more tench and skimmers. Moving back over to the 6mm line i connected with my first carp. I then fed the paste line and continued to alternate between both of the pellet lines picking off fish from each one. It was clear that this tactic was going to be quite productive with a mixture of species but my problem come matchtime was that i was going to need the carp. With this in mind I switched over to the paste line and began catching straight away, proper lumps as well. What was noticeable however was how quickly the carp drifted off and the tench moving in unless I fed a fair amount. Every time i potted in some bait i would get a run of carp and then tench followed by big skimmers. I did have a brief spell shallow, but to be honest after half an hour i knew it would be a waste of time.
Come 6.00pm and the match I drew peg 9, i was reasonably pleased because it was an end peg and there was only 2 of us down this end of the lake, the wind had also been blowing down there all day. I plumbed up and decided to fish a paste line at 9m and a paste line down the edge. I also had the method rod set up to chuck to the island. At the all in i fed my lines with a mixture of 80% micros and 20% 6mm's. I then chucked the method towards the island. The rod had only been on the rest 30 seconds before the tip flew around with a chunky 3lb mirror on the end. 10 more bite less minutes and i quickly changed to the paste line. I caught steadily for the full 3 hours and ended up with 56lb for second. I never bothered with the edge line as i didnt see any movement and just flogged the one line to death.
Today was the first round and to be honest i didn't even realise until after i arrived in the morning. I pitched up at 10.00am planning for a days pleasure fishing and to dust of the cobwebs a bit. But when Paul informed me of the match i duly paid my pools then set of for what turned out to be a bit of vital practice. Ive been working on my pellet fishing on the deck for a bit, specifically hair rigging them. so with this in mind i set up 2 rigs to fish 2 lines at 10.00 o'clock and 2 o'clock. The first with a hair rigged hard pellet and the second with a spade end and an expander, both were to be fished dead depth over loose fed pellets. The other difference was that i would initially feed one line with micros and the other with 6mm pellets. I also set up a paste rig for the bottom of the near shelf and a shallow rig for the 13m line. After cupping in the loose feed it was obvious that fish had moved over the micros as bubbles were showing instantly. Whereas there was only a few pin pricks coming up from the 6mm pellet line. First put in on the 6mm line and i missed a bite, by lifting and dropping i soon had another and connected with a decent tench. I then pinged out a few more 6mm's over this line then moved over to the micro pellet line, bites came quickly on this line with more tench and skimmers. Moving back over to the 6mm line i connected with my first carp. I then fed the paste line and continued to alternate between both of the pellet lines picking off fish from each one. It was clear that this tactic was going to be quite productive with a mixture of species but my problem come matchtime was that i was going to need the carp. With this in mind I switched over to the paste line and began catching straight away, proper lumps as well. What was noticeable however was how quickly the carp drifted off and the tench moving in unless I fed a fair amount. Every time i potted in some bait i would get a run of carp and then tench followed by big skimmers. I did have a brief spell shallow, but to be honest after half an hour i knew it would be a waste of time.
Come 6.00pm and the match I drew peg 9, i was reasonably pleased because it was an end peg and there was only 2 of us down this end of the lake, the wind had also been blowing down there all day. I plumbed up and decided to fish a paste line at 9m and a paste line down the edge. I also had the method rod set up to chuck to the island. At the all in i fed my lines with a mixture of 80% micros and 20% 6mm's. I then chucked the method towards the island. The rod had only been on the rest 30 seconds before the tip flew around with a chunky 3lb mirror on the end. 10 more bite less minutes and i quickly changed to the paste line. I caught steadily for the full 3 hours and ended up with 56lb for second. I never bothered with the edge line as i didnt see any movement and just flogged the one line to death.
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