The day started with the weather report saying it would be light drizzle showers on and off during the day, looking outside it was overcast but not too cold so looked ok, so hopefully the fishing would be good, I had been to this venue once before but had fished the other lake and had a decent day so was looking forward to fishing it again. I had planned to fish a method i hadn,t used before which was the floating feeder that would be my main attack but also had taken the kit to fish the pellet waggler or on the surface with pellet/bread if needed. Upon arriving at the venue we had alook at the rules which stated no bread whatsoever and also not floating baits, I know that floating feeder is not floating baits but i thought i may be pushing the rules just a bit too far by going down that route so decided against it, plan A out the way.
Asking the guys it seemed that this lake was solid with carp so i decided to go down the pellet and paste route.
At the draw i drew peg 3 which was apparently on the wrong side of the lake but such is my confidence in paste i thought i would catch carp no matter what if there really was that many fish in the lake. I arrived at the peg which i basically the same as all the other pegs on the venue a grass bank not more than 10" above the water surface, I decided on two lines one at 4 metres and one down the edge about a top three along the left hand bank.
I set up the usual Maver invicible 4x14 float with a bulk and 2 small no10 droppers with a size 14 pr28 hook all on wb clarke matchteam 4.6lb line. This would be the rig i would use for the 4 metre line.
On the inside line line i used the same float but in a smaller size (sorry i forget which size) the shotting pattern however would be the bulk directly under the float as i only had 12" of water again wb clarke matchteam line 4.6lb with a size 14 pr28 hook.
On the 4 metre line i had roughly 3 to 4 feet of water.
I started out by cupping in a small amount of pellet at 4 metre and a few small pots on the inside line, this would be left as my last hour line and i would feed this regularly during the match whilst looking out for any signs of fish.
First put out on the 4 metre line and i had signs of fish there straight away and actually had 8 fish in the first hour on the paste a good start, by 12 o'clock i had 28 fish all around the 1-2lb size , meanwhile Tim (supposedly on the good side of the lake) was also catching regularly but not quite as fast as me, the next 2 hours was different as i would have 2 or 3 fish then have a quiet spell for 5 - 10 minutes whilst Tim was starting to catch me up as his swim seemed to improve. I decided to go against the grain and stop feeding to see if i could force them to take the paste instead of feeding on the pellets that i was feeding every put in.
The swim suddenly improved and i was getting fish more frequently and funnily enough they were starting to get bigger.This seemed to be the opposite of Tim's swim as he said he had to feed more bait to keep the fish coming.
At the end of the match i finished up with 62 fish for 127lb and the win Tim was a close second with 107lb third was around 50lb but everybody had fish so it did fish well.
Manor Farm Boundary tomorrow so we will see how that fishes hopefully better than the open last week which i fished but never saw the final whistle that's how hard it was!!!
Saturday 31 March 2012
Wednesday 21 March 2012
Tunnel Hill Cheltenham 18th March 2012
What a difference a day makes, Got out of my lovely warm bed and went out to a frozen car (great). Yes bloody frost not what i was expecting. Of course the venue location is on high ground above Cheltenham and its all ways colder up there so you could bet it would have an impact on the fishing.
The bait i was taking to the match was basically what was left from the day before, 1pint of maggot, 4 pints of feed pellets,tin of corn, paste, expanders (4mm & 6mm) and some bread.
Arrived at the venue the usual banter followed pus Pete turning up minutes before the draw as allways, And finally it was draw time i fancied the trackside of the lake as I've always found it decent but as luck would have it i drew peg 3 which was the grass side which is slightly deeper so you'd think with it colder it would fish better but we would find out today.
I decide to fish 3 lines one out at about 13 metres one closer in at 6 metres and one down the edge against some reeds i had to my right .
the rigs for each were as follows.
At 13 metres i set up a Maver Invicible 1 Gram float with a bulk 18 inches from the hook 2x no8 droppers below to a size 14 pr 28 hook all made up using 4.6lb line straight through.On this line i had around 5ft of water.
At 6 metres the rig was exactly the same as above.but had around 4 and 1/2 ft of water.
The inside line rig was a 4x14 Maver Invicible floar with a small bulk and 2x no 10 droppers again to a size 14 pr 28 hook on 4.6lb line straight through.
At the all in i fed a 250ml cupful on each line. i decided i would try the paste first(although i wasn't that hopeful) and had a bite first put in which turned out to be the smallest Gudgeon i have ever caught next put in was the same result.So i decide to have one more try and this time i had a small carp about 1lb so had to try again and had nothing for about 30minutes, so gave up on that line.
i went out to 13 metres and had 4 carp on the pellet nothing big i expect the biggest was around 3lb mixed in with a couple of roach and some small skimmers, i did try up in the water at 13 metres and had one carp but they weren't really there, so that was my match really i don't think I could have done much more except maybe tried the tip or waggler.
I didn't weigh in i estimate i probably had 15lb in the net.
the match was eventually won by Gerry with 57lb but it really didn't fish how it can for anybody, but there's always next time.
Next match for Breakingstone is Manor Farm Boundary which if the temperature keeps improving now it should fish well.
The bait i was taking to the match was basically what was left from the day before, 1pint of maggot, 4 pints of feed pellets,tin of corn, paste, expanders (4mm & 6mm) and some bread.
Arrived at the venue the usual banter followed pus Pete turning up minutes before the draw as allways, And finally it was draw time i fancied the trackside of the lake as I've always found it decent but as luck would have it i drew peg 3 which was the grass side which is slightly deeper so you'd think with it colder it would fish better but we would find out today.
I decide to fish 3 lines one out at about 13 metres one closer in at 6 metres and one down the edge against some reeds i had to my right .
the rigs for each were as follows.
At 13 metres i set up a Maver Invicible 1 Gram float with a bulk 18 inches from the hook 2x no8 droppers below to a size 14 pr 28 hook all made up using 4.6lb line straight through.On this line i had around 5ft of water.
At 6 metres the rig was exactly the same as above.but had around 4 and 1/2 ft of water.
The inside line rig was a 4x14 Maver Invicible floar with a small bulk and 2x no 10 droppers again to a size 14 pr 28 hook on 4.6lb line straight through.
At the all in i fed a 250ml cupful on each line. i decided i would try the paste first(although i wasn't that hopeful) and had a bite first put in which turned out to be the smallest Gudgeon i have ever caught next put in was the same result.So i decide to have one more try and this time i had a small carp about 1lb so had to try again and had nothing for about 30minutes, so gave up on that line.
i went out to 13 metres and had 4 carp on the pellet nothing big i expect the biggest was around 3lb mixed in with a couple of roach and some small skimmers, i did try up in the water at 13 metres and had one carp but they weren't really there, so that was my match really i don't think I could have done much more except maybe tried the tip or waggler.
I didn't weigh in i estimate i probably had 15lb in the net.
the match was eventually won by Gerry with 57lb but it really didn't fish how it can for anybody, but there's always next time.
Next match for Breakingstone is Manor Farm Boundary which if the temperature keeps improving now it should fish well.
Staunton Court, Saturday 17th March 2012
Arose from slumber land to find a somewhat mild morning,We had however had allot of rain overnight and i was hoping it hadn't cooled the water temperature too much.I'd really enjoy fishing Staunton and had been looking forward to this match all week so was hoping the sudden downpour wouldn't dampen my enthusiasm for the match.
Anyway bait wise for the match i decided to take,5 pints of feed pellets,1 1/2 pints of paste, a tin of corn, a pint of maggot, expanders in 6mm & 4mm sizes and finally three slices of bread just in case it was really hard.
Arrived at the venue in plenty of time for the draw and promptly drew peg 8 which was halfway along the grass bank. i decided to set up just to fish 2 lines one at around 5 metres straight out in front where i had around 5-6ft of water, the second line was to be at around 2 o clock where i had 2ft of water.
The 5 metre rig comprised of a 1gram Maver Invincible float with a bulk of shot around 18 inches from the hook with 2 no8 droppers below and hook size was a pr28 size 14.
The second inside line rig was a 4x14 Maver Invincible again with a small bulk just 12 inches from the hook with 2 no10 droppers below the hook again was a size 14 pr28.
both rigs were made using WB Clarke Matchteam line in the 6.6lb breaking strain.
On the all in i cupped 2 x 250ml pots of pellet on the 5 metre line and 1x 250ml pot on the inside line. First put in
at 5 metres and i had a carp around the 8lb mark and then had 2 more around the same size within minutes of one another then the bites dried up so i re-fed and straight away had another 2 fish so they obviously wanted the feed so i decided to come in a metre so i could feed easily by hand every put in, so i had the 5 carp in the first hour and a hand full of skimmers, as it happened the carp went off the feed but the skimmer just kept coming all in the 1lb - 2lb size, anyway to cut a long story short the rest of the match carried on exactly the same i had skimmers with the odd carp thrown in for good measure, I did try the inside line and had one fish off it but the bites weren,t coming quickly so i didn't waste anytime on it just carried on fishing in front.
I ended up winning the match withe around 129lb which comprise of around 80lb ish of carp and 44lb of skimmers,A really enjoyable day.
apologies for the wait between posts but unfortunately as we all know the fishing has been very hit and miss and i haven't been out much.
Andy
Anyway bait wise for the match i decided to take,5 pints of feed pellets,1 1/2 pints of paste, a tin of corn, a pint of maggot, expanders in 6mm & 4mm sizes and finally three slices of bread just in case it was really hard.
Arrived at the venue in plenty of time for the draw and promptly drew peg 8 which was halfway along the grass bank. i decided to set up just to fish 2 lines one at around 5 metres straight out in front where i had around 5-6ft of water, the second line was to be at around 2 o clock where i had 2ft of water.
The 5 metre rig comprised of a 1gram Maver Invincible float with a bulk of shot around 18 inches from the hook with 2 no8 droppers below and hook size was a pr28 size 14.
The second inside line rig was a 4x14 Maver Invincible again with a small bulk just 12 inches from the hook with 2 no10 droppers below the hook again was a size 14 pr28.
both rigs were made using WB Clarke Matchteam line in the 6.6lb breaking strain.
On the all in i cupped 2 x 250ml pots of pellet on the 5 metre line and 1x 250ml pot on the inside line. First put in
at 5 metres and i had a carp around the 8lb mark and then had 2 more around the same size within minutes of one another then the bites dried up so i re-fed and straight away had another 2 fish so they obviously wanted the feed so i decided to come in a metre so i could feed easily by hand every put in, so i had the 5 carp in the first hour and a hand full of skimmers, as it happened the carp went off the feed but the skimmer just kept coming all in the 1lb - 2lb size, anyway to cut a long story short the rest of the match carried on exactly the same i had skimmers with the odd carp thrown in for good measure, I did try the inside line and had one fish off it but the bites weren,t coming quickly so i didn't waste anytime on it just carried on fishing in front.
I ended up winning the match withe around 129lb which comprise of around 80lb ish of carp and 44lb of skimmers,A really enjoyable day.
apologies for the wait between posts but unfortunately as we all know the fishing has been very hit and miss and i haven't been out much.
Andy
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