By Stewart Lister | No Comments
Last updated: Thursday, June 11, 2009

It’s that time of the month again when fishing goes not quite to plan. It can be bad enough match fishing when there is a full moon, combine that with a complete change of weather and the result is very indifferent sport, this weekend was a prime example at Cornwall’s Porth Reservoir. It was the venue for the SW Super League and two rounds in one weekend.

Saturday saw me draw peg 98 on the far side of the reservoir, this was completely uncharted territory for me as I have never drawn that far up the lake before. With 27 anglers on the far bank the boat took three trips to get everyone’s tackle over it was all dropped at peg 80, I thought it was just a short 18 peg walk to my peg, wrong! It was quite a long walk with no trolley; once you get past the early pegs in the 80’s they are quite spread out, it took me three trips to get all my kit to the peg. When I got there I was really surprised to find a purpose built platform extending out into the lake and I have to say it was brilliant, I could even get the brolley up which was great as it was tipping down for most of the day.

The knowledge

I based my plan on the knowledge that I had built up over the recent spring festivals, a practice match and a walk watching a few pleasure anglers. In my opinion the feeder had not been working as well as it used to in the past, consequently I had not considered for the main line of attack but felt it was worth starting on just in case. I figured that a pole based attack would be the better option. Plumbing around I found 8’ of water at 12 ½ metres which I find is an ideal depth at this venue, there was around 6’ on my closer 6m line which gave another good option although there looked less colour in the water than last week. There was hardly any wind and the reservoir resembled a mirror at times.

I set up a gram rig to fish on the deck, heavier than I needed in that depth of water but I wanted a positive rig and one that I could hold onto in case the wind got up. It was a Cralusso Capri and a float that I have just started to use at Porth as it has a brilliant bristle that is very visible in changing light conditions. My other rigs were Spro mid water floats in .4 gram they are Chianti style float and I generally fish these off the bottom. The feeder was clipped up to fish at a comfortable 25 turns of the reel, I hoped that I would not have to use it for long. For bait I had a couple of pints of caster, some maggots and worms and four kilos of ground bait.

Feeding time

At the start I cupped 5 balls of GB long and a couple short and I started on the feeder just in case it was to be a feeder day. After several quick casts to get some bait I settled down to fishing but after 15 minutes with no bites I was itching to get on the pole. I could four anglers around me and no one was catching so I sacked the feeder. Trying the short line first I had no bites so moved out onto the long line, at about this time I noticed the three anglers to my left start to catch on the feeder! But I had an early skimmer of 8oz and a couple of smaller samples which was very encouraging. The trouble was Andy Ottoway two pegs away landed one that looked to be about a pound and the guy on the end peg was now catching well, my bites on the pole stopped! But I persevered hoping those skimmers were going to oblige but after 20 minutes without a further bite and I was in trouble.

Back on the tip

With no other option, I was out again on the feeder but a further 40 minutes zoomed by and all I had to show was one missed bite, I couldn’t believe it! My mate hindsight was nagging me that I should have stayed on the feeder longer as the fish seemed to turn on after 15 minutes and feed on that line for an hour or so, I had missed that opportunity and was now well down in the section. The four anglers around me were the only ones that I could see and they all caught well on the feeder but they had slowed down considerably. Back on the pole and I started to get the odd fish but it wasn’t very quick but I just kept picking away for the odd fish on the long line. I had no bites on my closer line which was disappointing.

It was harder fishing than I thought it was going to be, I could not settle the fish at anyone depth and had to swop and change around with depths and baits to keep them coming. It was an enjoyable match, when I got the start out of my head that is. Towards the back end I was catching well including a 2lb plus bream with 10 minutes to go, it had been a good last 90 minutes but I still thought I had been trounced by everyone and was fearful of coming well down in the section.

The moment of truth

Soon enough the scales came and the Mosella Lobby’s angler on the end peg weighed an impressive 27lb to win the match he included three big slabs that was at least half his weight! Andy Ottoway had 11lb 5oz and the guy between us had over 10 pounds I weighed 11lb 6oz to ounce Andy! Richard Candy had in the region of 10lb to my right. Ian Pauly managed 17lb odd caught on the feeder and sweet corn to push me into third place in the section. I have to say though I was pleased to finish that high up after the start I had. There were a lot of lessons learnt that day when the lake was particularly tricky, it was definitely one of those matches that I would have loved to have another go at and hoped to draw the same area on Sunday. The section opposite me in the 30’s and 40’s was really hard with some very well known anglers recording very low weights and that from the section that everybody to a man wanted to draw!

Sunday

Sunday was soon with us and fortunately the rain had stopped well almost, it was a light drizzle that greeted us when we arrived. Everyone seemed in good spirits, some suffering from too much spirit as they had been on the town the night before!

Porth Reservoir

Peg Radar

I had a chat with Harry Billing in the car park and asked him where he wanted to draw and he told me he fancied peg 71. I fully expected Harry to be there as he has that knack of predicting his peg. Just lately though his radar has been slightly off, he actually said that he would be on 41 the day before and ended up somewhere in the 80’s but that day the 40’s fished terrible, so perhaps he was just not reading the radar screen correctly! Sunday he drew peg 22 again on the opposite bank to the one he wanted and miles from the peg he fancied. He did manage to win his section on both days though! There is no doubt in my mind that his fishing radar will be working properly by the time we compete in the Preston Innovations pair’s festival at White Acres in a week’s time.

I ended up on peg 84 which I can only describe as an average area, the only reason I say this is that the pegs in the early 80’s are very tight some of the closest pegging on the whole venue but not to worry I had a plan that I was sure was going to work!

After yesterday, I was going to concentrate on the feeder longer, I was even prepared to fish it for the whole match as it had paid dividends for a lot of anglers on the Saturday with a better stamp of fish, and today I wasn’t missing out on what had been a golden hour. The first thing I set up was my trusty 11’ Normark. I set three rigs for the pole but I was only concentrating on the long line at 12 ½ metres as anything closer seemed a waste of time judging by yesterdays results. The water also looked to me to be slightly clearer.

A bite on the feeder!

At the start I fed quite aggressively on the pole as I knew I was going to stay on the feeder for much longer, I wanted something for the fish to settle over and more importantly keep them there. I then was out for 5 quick casts to get some bait on the feeder line before putting bait on the hook. I was quite relieved to have a bite on the first proper cast and it was a 4 ounce skimmer. Following that it was painfully slow and after 40 minutes I only had four skimmers in the net, all smaller than the first. Young Mathew Parsons to my right was not faring much better with probably 6 fish. Maver Veal’s Simon Jones to my left also struggled on the feeder and was now on the pole and catching a few skimmers.

That was it for me the feeder was up the bank and I reached for the pole, I do find it hard fishing the feeder when I am getting no indications. I managed a few small fish but my worry was they were a mixed bag I had a roach, a perch and a skimmer in about 15 minutes. Simon however seemed to be putting some skimmers together, perhaps I had fed to aggressively at the start?

As Mathew wasn’t catching loads on the feeder I decided to stay on the pole and eventually managing to put a few together. It could never be described as easy though as I had to keep changing baits and depths to keep the fish coming. Going into the last hour I started getting a few more but they were on the small side. I felt I was about even with Mathew as he had less but bigger fish on the feeder, I wasn’t sure about Simon but talking to him afterwards he thought I was in front of him. Well the scales don’t lie and I actually tied with Simon for fourth in section with 7lb 14oz 8 drams. Mathew finished with 7lb 10 oz so at least I felt justified fishing the pole as he had concentrated on the feeder for 95% of the time.

Thoughts

Again the venue didn’t fish true to form and was quite difficult for some. At least I had been fortunate and had managed to catch some fish on both days. I am sorry that I do not know the results as I had to get home quickly after the match so did not hear who was victorious on the day.

Talking to Tom Scholey later that evening it transpired that a lot of the venues across the country fished very hard over the weekend. There is no doubt in my mind that the moon cycle, combined with the change in air pressure following a week of sun had an adverse effect on the feeding habits of our quarry, I only wish that I would learn by this and fish accordingly next time it happens!

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