Harry and I set off for Maver Larford on Thursday morning, the van was packed to the gunnels with everything we might need for a couple of practise sessions and two matches. I did wonder though if I had made a mistake and we were staying for a couple of weeks! I really don’t know how I managed in the pre van days! We arrived around 12 o’clock and after a quick coffee we were keen to get on the bank for some actual practice as we have only walked the venue previously.
Specimen Lake
We had decided that come the match Harry was to be on the Match Lake or Arena which left me with the Specimen Lake and I was raring to get at those big carp. I had some 20 gram Cralusso Rockets in my armoury these were coupled with a SPRO 11’ and 12’ Specimen Float rods. I really couldn’t wait to give these big floats a go. I mixed up five kilos of Yorkshire Baits Green Betaine groundbait and added some casters and corn. I quickly assembled the rods and was ready to launch the Rocket! The floats are fantastic, they flew towards the middle of the lake with ease, landing with a nice splash and cocking very quickly. Firing groundbait the distance I could cast was a different problem though! I spent some time cutting back the elastics on my groundbait catapults and before long I was getting bait in the general direction of my float.
After about 30 minutes I had a first for me in fishing, I actually had a 5lb carp on a boilie! Believe it or not it is the first time ever that I have ever used a boilie as bait. The next fish was a beautiful Mirror that was knocking on 20lb. I was really pleased that I was using a size 12 Drennan Method hook to 0.22 line. The day was really spent getting the GB mix right and practicing accuracy with the catapult.
Bagging
I had a wander over to see Harry who was fishing behind me on the match lake, he was in his element catching one a bung on the long pole shallow. We had to be a little careful as this was only practice and venues can give a totally false impression when they are not under match conditions but it was great to get a feel of the place.
Friday saw another practice day with Harry spending a day on Arena and myself on the far bank of the Specimen Lake on peg 50. I had two hours on the big wag trying to fine tune the feeding and I really enjoyed myself catching a dozen carp. I then spent some time on the pole at about 6 metres where I caught some Bream and more carp. Oh man, I wish this venue was closer to home it is fantastic.
Angling Times Maver Pairs
The match day dawned and we woke to a very cloudy sky and the threat of rain, about right we had just had two nice sunny days we didn’t want to be spoilt and have three nice days on the trot! When we arrived at the venue the car park was full and there was a real buzz about the place, it was good to see some old friends and have a quick chat. There is nothing like these major finals, it really is what it’s all about, I have been fortunate to qualify for a couple in the past, fishing finals in Sweden and Denmark, arriving here this morning made me realise that I have really missed the experience. Shame we didn’t get on a boat though!
33/1
As we went into the cafe there was a bookie that provided odds on all the pairs, scanning down the board we saw that our odds were 33/1, I don’t normally have a bet but confidence was high and I suppose greed kicks in so I talked Harry into a flutter, as they were in our opinion generous odds. Des Shipp and Steve Mayo were the bookies favourites at 6/1.
Waiting Game
Unlike most matches on this one you are called to the draw by Phil Briscoe, we waited patiently for our turn and we waited! We were about fourth from last to draw. I had completed all the paperwork to enter the match and consequently my name was called up to do the draw, I was having none of that even though there were only a few pegs left. The draw master himself had that honour! Harry had been pointing out to me that he doesn’t always draw flyers but his record is good enough for me.
I has handed peg 59 on Specimen Lake I was happy with that around the middle of the lake on the far side and it must be the longest walk on the venue and it was a definite two trip job with the amount of gear I had. Harry drew peg 12 on Arena this lake only had 10 pegs on it and the talk was that the individual winner would come from this lake but in all probability the opposite bank to Harry.
I was pleased to see that I had some room which is just what you need, in the section I had Sean Ashby to my left and a couple of pegs to my right was Steve Mayo a difficult section but then they were always going to be. I had decided that my tactics were going to be based around three lines: The big waggler to be fished as far out as I could feed my groundbait at about 60 yards, the pole at 6 metres and an edge swim for the last hour when hopefully the fish would be grubbing around the bank. The groundbait was already mixed which saved me a load of time on the bank and it didn’t take long to assemble my gear. The floats were going to be the 20 gram Cralusso Rockets, even though I am sponsored by Cralusso I have to say I have never come across a better waggler for this kind of fishing, they are superb.
At the all in I fed some hemp on my six metre line and went straight onto the big waggler I was hoping that most would go on this line later in the match and that by fishing it early I could concentrate the fish. As far as I could see it was only Steve and I on the big wag. I was pleased to get my first bite after 15 minutes but was a little disappointed with the size at under a kilo, definitely the smallest I had caught on the waggler, but at least I had made a start on feeding the net. My second fish arrive 30 minutes later a bit bigger but I was concerned that I was not getting many indications. I could see Steve three pegs to my right getting the odd fish so it gave me the confidence to carry on. My neighbour to my right was fishing a very good pole match and was not really sacking so I carried on with my main attack.
I just could not make it happen, I was looking for an average of 4 fish an hour but I was only getting 2 and they were smaller than I hoped for. By the end of the fourth hour I had run out of groundbait and was left to fish the paste for the last hour but that also didn’t work for me and I only managed a few small skimmers. At the all in I sat a little disappointed on my box trying to think why it didn’t work but I just did not have an answer. During the match I could see that I was using the same bait as both Steve and Sean but my float just didn’t go under.
The Result
Harry walked down and I could immediately tell that he had caught a load! It wasn’t the best feeling I have had. Yes I was pleased that he had caught but it made me feel bad that I hadn’t! He was estimating over a 150lb and confident that he had done well on his side of the lake. I walked back with him as it was going to be sometime before the scales arrived at my peg. As we got to Arena he was about to be weighed and after all the addition he had 86 kilo and at that time was top weight in the match. I really cannot describe how I felt! The scales arrived on the other side of Arena and the weights there were unbelievable! Four other anglers beat Harry’s weight the best being Adam Richards with 112 kilo! What a venue that Arena is it must be one of the best stocked lakes in the country.
I eventually finished well down in my section with a paltry 17 kilo, I have no excuses I am convinced I had the right tactics to win the section but I’m afraid it just didn’t work for me. I really enjoyed the match even though I was left a little frustrated. Steve Mayo won my section with 43 kilo of carp caught on the big waggler. He eventually ran out of groundbait with about 10 minutes to go and went on the 6 metre pole line and caught 2 great big skimmers! Well done Steve on two counts, winning your section and winning the pairs final with your ‘super star’ partner Des Shipp, who also won his section on the Match Lake with 60lb caught on the method feeder. The only pair to finish with a perfect score. It was like a lot of big matches lately a Daiwa Dorking whopping with Paul ‘Tommy’ Hillier and Paul Holland taking runner up spot, third spot went to Steve and Geoff Ringer.
Maver British Pairs Pole Championship
Sunday saw another big match on the same venue but this time pole only. Pairs again could nominate which lake they were going to fish and with the field just about the same as Saturday I think everybody was on the same lakes. The draw was completed in the same fashion as yesterday but the order was reversed so Harry was in the hat for a dip earlier. I was handed peg 8 on the Speci Lake and Harry had 72 on the match lake. Shame he didn’t draw Arena, they would still have been weighing him!
Talking tactics
We had a discussion about our pegs and talked to anglers who had been in my section the previous day, what we found was not that encouraging! It had been hard the previous day with low weights but there was a good head of skimmers in the area. Our decision was for me to fish it like the match lake at White Acres in the winter and look for 50lb of silvers which we thought would give good section points, it seemed like a good plan and one that I was happy with. I mixed 4 kilos of Yorkshire Baits Green Betaine groundbait and I had ample worms and casters with me, I also had loads of meat to put down the side.
I used a .75 gram Cralusso Capri with a .12 bottom to an 18 PR21, in fact the rig was one that I had made up for the high bank at White Acres and it seemed perfect for it today. I used the same float pattern but in a .5 gram version for the six metre line. I also set up some up in the water rigs for roach and skimmers. I also set up a carp rig for all my lines just in case!
At the all in I fed heavily on both my lines with groundbait containing chopped worm and caster plus a little meat. Whilst I was still feeding my neighbour to my left was playing a good skimmer! I started on the six metre line and I was having a roach a bung on a worm head but I figured I would need about 10 just to catch up with that skimmer! I persevered and was plagued with small fish. I guessed that meat would be better on the hook and this produced better size skimmers, they were small but plentiful, just the size that made you want to swing them but you didn’t dare as you knew they would come off!
I had a look on the longer line with worm and was pleased to see plenty of bigger samples there, I was really enjoying myself but was getting a little perturbed by the amount of big fish been landed in my section. I just couldn’t find one, the best I had was a skimmer about a pound. As the match went on more and more carp were caught in my section and I was falling well behind. Caster up in the water was a waste of time so I changed to pellets, first drop in on a pellet and had a bite which turned out to be an 8lb carp, trouble was I was on my .12 skimmer rig and 8 elastic! It took about 10 minutes but it eventually came in. I had been feeding whilst playing the fish so hopefully some more would be there. A change to proper tackle resulted in a bumped skimmer! There is no justice in this fishing lark. Try as hard as I could I just could not find a carp.
The rest of the match was spent feeding the net with skimmers and the last hour looking forlornly for a carp or two down the edge. They never showed and with their non appearance any chance I had in the section was gone. The bigger fish just didn’t come over the groundbait. I eventually weighed 20 kilo so I know the tactics were right for my 50lb but there is no doubt I got it wrong. That said I really enjoyed it again and it just show that there is nothing like a bit of experience on the water. Harry had a reasonable day but was beaten by a couple of anglers in his section so we decided to call it a day and head back to Cornwall before the results were known.
Overall it was a very enjoyable experience, I would have loved to have been coming home with a bulging wallet but that was not to be! The organisation and venue was superb and I for one am looking forward to trying again next year. As we drove out of the car park I couldn’t help but think that the bookie had it right!
Records tumble at Mawgan Porth
Just to bring this up to date on Tuesday I decided to have a go at the Mawgan Porth Open and I was glad I did. On my last visit I drew peg 6 and left the venue thinking I had ‘done it wrong’ and that I should have fished up in the water. I was delighted to draw peg 6 again so that I could put the theory to the test and hopefully get rid of that ghost!
I set up two rigs to fish at about 3 metres out they were both identical rigs comprising of J13 J range floats on .18 line to a size 16 PR 27 hook. I actually plumbed one of the rigs up to start at dead depth which is about 3’. I also set up two rigs for the inside just in case! They were the same pattern of float and hook. My thinking was that I could use them if needed on the shallow line. My bait was 6 pints of fishery 4mm pellets and some 4mm Yorkshire bait garlic soft hookers.
At the all in I fed a couple of handfuls of pellets and went out on the depth rig. I had a slow start which was worrying I could see everybody else catching immediately. Slowly the fish responded and I started getting a few. As soon as I started foul hooking the fish I shallowed up 6’ at a time. I was finding it difficult to find the correct depth the fish were feeding at. Coming into the second hour the fish turned up and I started catching much quicker. At times I was catching less than a foot deep.
My mates the skimmers were there in force again and I was not impressed having to net ounce fish, it is just so slow. But I knew that I had to fish through them and keep on going. The fish kept coming until the end of the match and I was reasonably pleased with my performance. The scales arrived and I was chuffed with 228lb which is my personal best at this venue. Good enough to win? No way man, it was good enough for third! The honour went to Harry Billing who shattered the record with a stunning 329lb! Absolutely brilliant mate well done, I just wish you had drawn that other bank at Larford! Second was Andy Partridge with 240lb and Stuart Snape contributed 211lb what a fishery!
Hi Stu With Gwinear on the sick can you recommend any places in the radius of PERRANPORTH that i can fish. I will fish Mawgan but need another venue to concentrate on . Also , where is best tackle shop to order casters ? Harry with 329 ….awesome stuff…was he on the pellet ?
Long for the english fishing / Phil
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