Well another weeks gone and I’ve managed to feed the oaks f1’s with another 18 pints of maggots but more of that later. Last week I got the chance to go and bank run for Barnsley on the winter league final, I was really looking forward to it as the weather was meant to be brill and it would be a good chance to get to know them all. I was asked to walk Ian Bowman and Simon Fields section and all seemed to be going very well for them, Ian was doing really well catching roach most casts although he was having a lot of pike trouble, when I left him he was definitely ahead of Dorkings Ian Didcote and his match was going to plan so I thought I’d have a wander down to Simons section.
He was doing really well from a peg with a rubbish bottom, it sloped up and he only had a metre of flat bottom but he got on with it and came back with a brilliant second as did Ian. I was really enjoying walking these two sections when captain Tony Peel rang me and said everyone needed to run the north bank as it was fishing really bad. I walked the whole North Bank in one go and saw 3 fish caught!!!!!
Anyway there just wasn’t much you could say as nothing was happening, John Dunhill fished a very good match for 4th in sect with 1lb of tiny fish(he had 70 odd) and Brett Clarke did brilliant with a section win, Brett managed 2 good eels and a decent perch. I felt really sorry for Lee Kerry though as he just couldn’t catch and it was one of them areas where you just knew it wasn’t going to happen, Glenn Lawrence had the same. Anyway with 10 minutes to go Barnsley were probably just scraping it with Steve Gardener easily last. At the weigh in steve had sneaked an eel and managed 3rd!!!!
He left it late for Dorking but I suppose you make your own luck in fishing, it goes without saying that that fish won it them. Anyway it was a good day and I know the lads were very disappointed with 2nd, they will be back but for now it was Dorkings day (again!)
Anyway with missing a Sunday at Sessay I decided to have a Monday night session at my local club lake, I hadn’t been on the small lake for 2 years so thought it would be a good time to try it. I decided to take a tin of dynamite frenzied hemp, a few maggots and some ground bait. Now last time I was there I had 100lb of stockies on paste but id been informed they where about 4lb now, but I was far more interested in catching a few roach. Id decided to fish two lines one at 5m where I was gonna flick a few lags to try and catch a few shallow whilst priming my 13m hemp line. I decided to cup 3 balls of dynamite baits roach and canal+lake mixed 50/50 onto my 13m line just to attract a few fish and cup a big pot of hemp over the top then loose feed 4-8 grains every 30 seconds or so, after my second handfull of mags at 5m I had a few boils!!!! It was solid with 6oz ide, I didn’t even know there was any in it!!!!
They where brilliant on the 3 elastic I had in I also hooked a 4lb mirror which I somehow landed on the 3 elastic. After an hour of feeding my hemp and bagging on ide I noticed fish boiling for my hemp, thought it would be the ‘nuisance’ ide. How wrong I was I shipped a shallow rig out and was soon catching a decent roach a cast and by using what ive learnt at catching f1s shallow I used a similar set up for the roach and had my float right next to my connector and they just hooked themselves rather than striking and risking the hemp come off. I ended my 3hr session with easily 30lb of roach plus my ide and carp it was lovely fishing.
Come the weekend and I was raring to go at the oaks, I had my maggots and I couldn’t wait for it. I drew peg 6 on Saturday and the peg had a bit of form and with a bit of shelter from the wind. I really fancied it, but with Gandhi on peg 2, Dave Pimlott to my right and Andy Hampson to my left I’d have my work cut out!!!!! I decided to go for broke and just fish a line in front of the sedges and one in the mud, I used a 4×12 doctored Chianti and yellow vespe elastic fort the sedges and a 0.05gr dc6 and yellow vespe for the mud line. I started on the sedges and was catching really well and Dave seemed to be struggling in the wind forcing him into fishing the feeder and he was catching too, but I thought Andy was fish to fish with me.
After 30 mins my mud line was really good and after 2 hours I was was catching ide really well but only had 2 f1s. Then all of a sudden the ide went and the peg slowed a little, this is normally a sign the f1s have landed and I had 10 in my next 10 drops whereas Andy had slowed a little. I continued to catch pretty steady till the last hour and was confident of 70lb+ but my last hour was crap and I get really frustrated with myself when I do this, its like im trying too hard!!!! And as soon as you do this fish come off, you tangle rigs etc so in future I need to be a bit calmer!!!!! At the all out with my bad last hour I thought Andy had beaten me but wasn’t sure what Dave had cos he seemed to catch in really good spells, Andy weighed 72lb and I weighed 82lb with dave weighing a big 60, I ended up 3rd which I was pleased with.
Id learnt a bit for the Sunday, I have found that the ide want to be in the mud and the f1s prefer deeper water so I fancied a sedge line attack on Sunday.
On Sunday the sun was out but it was windy again, I drew peg 15 and really really fancied this one. My old hero Dennis Geldard was on it on sat and only had 45lb but said there was loads of fish there so I was confident going to my peg, in fact I was set up before most had even got to there peg!!!!
I had Bert Pool and Gandhi for company so would definitely have some banter and also a good match between us as they both do well at the venue. Rigs were the same as the day before, I kicked off with a big pot on the mud and half on the sedge line, and first drop I had a 4lb mirror followed by a 3lb common while everyone else where still feeding GOOD START! And after 20 mins had 7 f1s to go with them, I just felt my deeper swim held the key and I think the f1s have learnt its safe there as its too deep for the pellet anglers to fish it well enough. This means you usually have it to yourself, but after an hour I was foul hooking a few and getting plagued by half ounce rudd even with 6-8 maggots on!!!!
So felt it was time for the mud, 2 fish in 20minutes where not encouraging!!!!!!! And Gandhi was catching big lads by now. I decided to plumb up another sedge swim to my right and start again, I started catching after the usual 5min wait and was catching steady again although I was foul hooking a few but I don’t mind and put my blinkers on and just fish through them. With an hour left it was nip and tuck between us three and my sedge swim was fading so it was do or die time for the mud line, 20 minutes and 1 fish and I was pulling my hair out again, 2 days running and another bad last hour I was thinking.
Luckily a few bigger fish in the last 20 minutes put me right up there. I was convinced Bert and Gandhi had beaten me. Now a quick word about my weight estimation. I’m really shocking at this and unfortunately its getting me a bad reputation at Oaks but I really am useless at estimating my weight. I also don’t realise ive been catching as well as I have. Its like I have a blindfold on sometimes!!!! Like Sunday I thought I had 50-60lb at best and I put 83lb on the scales, this got me 3rd in the match and id beaten Bert by 30lb and Gandhi by 11lb so it was quite convincing really.
Once again a consistent weekend and the maggots are definitely paying for themselves, oh I also won the £1 winner takes all guess the weight comp that Dave Wright runs, when its going for ya its going for ya!!!! So that was a nice 18 quid which more or less took care of my pools for the day!!!! Anyway im off to Carpvale for a Tuesday evening match this week to test my feeder skills and I cant wait for it.
Till next time Tight lines
At least you under estimate mucker, I overestimate half the time. I’m better for it now than I used to be, but I once genuinely believed, and told everyone I had 10lb and weighed 4-13-0. I had loads of fish and therefore assumed I had a good weight!
I admitted to 60lb on Sunday and weighed 110 hehehe
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Tom
