By Tom | No Comments
Last updated: Wednesday, March 5, 2008

I have had one of those weekends where I felt I fished a reasonable match both days, but won nothing! Don’t get me wrong, there is plenty I could have done better, but I know the areas where I went wrong, and this is a good feeling, as it gives you something to improve on.

Saturday saw me and Matt (Godfrey) venture down to Browning Cudmore Fisheries for another crack at the Saturday open match, in preparation for Triana North’s Winter League Semi at the venue.

With winds battering much of the North of England, as we loaded the car we wondered if there was any point putting poles in, as it seemed very unlikely that we would be able to fish them.

Arriving at the venue, the wind seemed a little better, and with over a hundred forming a queue for the draw we were enthusiastic of a good days fishing. Following my success on New Pools the previous week, I must admit I was hoping for a draw on these, as between us we thought we had something sorted.

It was sods law then that when I dipped my hand in the bag out came Suez Pool, peg 10! With Andy Moors on peg 12 to my left I knew I would have a struggle on my hands, and when I picked the brains of Andy May and when he advised me to simply copy Andy on the next peg I wasn’t exactly encouraged! He said it wasn’t the best of areas, and that the pegs further down the lake in the teens would be hard to beat, but if I fished light I would pick up the odd fish.

Unfortunately, we were nearly last to draw, and by the time I had dropped Matt off on the new pools and got to my peg I only had around 40 minutes to set up! Speaking to Andy on the next peg he wasn’t exactly confident, but said he was hopeful of a few bites late on in the day.

Perhaps foolishly, I decided to ignore Andy Mays advice regarding copying Andy on the next peg; I always think that when fishing like this the best you can hope for is second, as other anglers will always do what they do better than you can!

The only saving grace with the peg I was in was that the peg that should have been in to my right either hadn’t been drawn or the angler who was on it had decided not to bother turning up to fish it. As the lake was pegged two miss one anyway, this effectively meant I had two spare pegs to my right.

With the wind blowing down the lake, I could just about fish the pole to the reeds on the far side, but it was far from comfortable. As this is where the fish normally show on the lake, I felt I had no choice but to fish here however.

I decided to fish a total of four lines, two across, one to either side of the gap in the reeds on the far side, and two down the middle at 10 O’clock and 2 O’clock. This meant I only had to set two rigs up however, as it was the same depth on both lines across and both lines down the track.

I cupped in a nugget of micro pellets along with some maggots and casters down the track on both lines, then began the match tight across, feeding just five maggots and a kinder pot full of crushed pellet. Within seconds of my rig touching the water my purple four elastic was streaming (well, not quite) from my pole as a foul hooked stocky made a bid for freedom. Although it was only around six ounce, it was nice to have something in the net so early on in the day!

Next put in, it was down to earth with a bang however as I waited ten minutes before taking a small roach. I kept rotating my lines to keep bites coming, but it struck me things were very hard all the way around the lake, and nobody was catching a deal. At two O’clock I had three small carp and a few roach in the net, and felt I was doing relatively well compared to those around me.

Even Andy, to my left was struggling, which goes to show just how hard it was. I found that the only way I could get bites was to feed lines then leave them, while trying somewhere else and giving the fish chance to settle. As the day drew on, it seemed that the fish were beginning to liven up however, albeit slowly. One line that was proving particularly successful was my right hand line down the track, and I was getting a small carp almost everytime I went on it.

I was unsure on the best way to proceed from this point, as I had built up the line by feeding it and leaving it, going on another line then dropping back on it. I was worried that by over fishing it I might spook what fish were there and so reck my chances of a late extraction. I decided to play it by ear and keep rotating my lines, I thought I was winning the section so decided not to blow my options to early.

And Then The Wheels Fell Off! 

As the last hour began, Andy Moors started catching chub and the odd F1 across, and I could see that the lad in the peg below me was catching as well, so I decided to give my best line more attention in the hope of keeping my lead. This is where things fell apart for me- it seemed that bigger fish had moved on the line. I hooked a mirror that took me the best part of 20 minutes to land on the 0.8 bottom I was using.

In hindsight, at this point I should have put my lighter rig down and put on something stronger, but I assumed that the fish would be a one off, and I would be back to the smaller carp and roach next put in. How wrong I was- a foul hooked F1 gave me the run around for five minutes before coming off, before another lengthy battle with a good stamp mirror took me past the end of the match and into extra time.

I landed the fish, but couldn’t help but wonder what I would have caught had I netted the fish I had hooked quicker. In the last hour, I reckon I spent 40 minutes playing fish, and every time I dropped over the line the float would go under within a few seconds.

I must admit I was kicking myself, I had a chat to Andy Moors, and he said that he thought I had fished a good match, but he agreed that if I had gone onto stronger tackle at the beginning of the last hour I probably would have had more, as the fish were clearly down the track to my right hand side.

To make matters worse, I weighed 18-10-0 and was done for the section by Darren Taylor who weighed 26lb of – you guessed it- big mirrors taken late on in the match. Andy’s net of carp and chub went 12-12-0, so at least I can say I took a celebrity scalp!

Matt fished a blinder once again to win the section with just over 20lb, an awesome effort from an unfancied peg. He managed to wind one of the Sensas Leicester lads up by telling him he only had 12lb- the Leicester lad went on to weight 13lb, and thought he had won the section, until Matt put 20lb on the scales! The sensas lad was still ranting on about it when I got round to pick Matt up! Nothing like a saw loser!

The next day, I decided to have a run up to Lindholme to chance my arm in the open match up there, along with fellow Woodseats angler Matt Oldfield.

The wind was even worse than the previous day, and blue bins were flying across the road as I loaded the car! We got to Lindholme, and I wasn’t happy to draw Oasis peg 6, as the key method in this lake is the long pole, and we knew this would be difficult given the conditions. Matt drew on Beeches, and when we saw his peg it looked really fishy and he had loads of room, although it has to be said neither of our lakes were fancied as potential match winners, as Bonsai has been fishing so well lately.

At the all in I cupped some pellets down the middle along with a few pieces of corn, and a nugget of pellets around half way up the far shelf. Again things were very slow for everyone, and the only person I could see catching on my bank was ever consistent Steve Rothery.

Give ‘em a pot! 

At two o’ clock having only five small carp in the net, I knew I had to try something. The kid on the end peg to my left packed up and went home, giving me a bit more room, so I shipped across to the far bank and fed half a pot of maggots, as I caught a lot of fish last summer by feeding maggot up the far shelf. I lowered the rig in over the top, not really expecting the float to move, and was gobsmacked when the pole was yanked from my hand as an angry 3lb chub made a bid for freedom. Next put in the same thing happened, and again on my third put in. By now, I was getting excited, but as is so often the case when this happens, the swim swiftly dried up!

I took a few more smaller chub and around 10 F1’s from this line in the last hour to finish the match with just over 20lb. Steve weighed 23lb, and our two weights were best from our side of the lake, but down the bottom end there was a mid 40lb weight and also Steve Clarke with a high 30. As we came back up the back straight there were a couple more high 30’s and another 40lb weight, so once again I had no money to come!

Matt had a good day, finishing 7th in the 70 odd peg match with 45lb from Beeches. Unfortunately, he didn’t win anything either, as the kid who won the match was in his section, and they did’t pay out on a default basis. Doh!

I have offered to go and bank run for Triana North at the Winter League Semi next saturday, which I am really looking forward to. I love watching good anglers fish, as it often gives me ideas as to how I can improve on my own fishing. I am also wanting to understand more about the dynamics of more serious team fishing, as I am hoping to have a crack at it myself with Triana in the summer months, depending of course on my performance in the practice matches. I can but try!

Tight lines until next week!

Tom