Arm Ache

Sometimes I think I have got this fishing bug bad, Wednesday was the perfect example! I left Yorkshire after a great few days of fishing, socialising and he odd bit of business at around 11am and after a couple of stops pulled into the car park of Trewater’s at 4.45pm just in time to start the draw and go fishing! But I am glad I did as it was a perfect night. Again the turnout was on the low side but as the venue is one of the best in the South West, I for one was keen to fish.

Once again Christine Booth was in attendance and I wasted no time in asking her to draw first for me, she didn’t disappoint with peg 30 on the back straight of the top lake. It was a peg that I really fancied but after the journey could have done without the walk! When I got around there I was pleased to see a good ripple on the water, I felt sure that tonight was the night for an up in the water approach. I had to have a backup and that was going to be paste fished on a top three.

The Plan

I set up two 0.3 gram J13 floats for my shallow rig and a 4 x 12 mid water float to fish the paste which tonight was going to be Yorkshires Green Betaine, the rest of my bait consisted of some garlic micros, 4mm feed pellets and a few 6mm for the hook. I started on the paste close in and tried to ping pellets to 11m. I have to admit I was struggling to get any accuracy whilst fishing a short pole so after about 10 minutes I went on the shallow rig. I had two tench and a skimmer close but I figured it was easier to feed close and fish long. I am glad I made that decision; my mate hindsight was not telling me off again tonight!

Within minutes of fishing shallow I was getting indications which soon saw a steady amount of F1’s coming to the net. I noticed that John on peg 28 was catching well and we seemed to be fish for fish it was going to be another close match if it stayed like this. Well, I am pleased to say it did! I had the odd quite spell but it was great fishing which culminated in a brilliant last 15 minutes.

Lastix stretcher

I lifted into a bite and saw my pink J range lastix shoot out to the far bank! Playing it carefully I was pleased to see a big F1 swirl at my feet, it looked huge compared to the other fish that I caught and when I got it to the net I knew it was over 5lb, a great looking fish and a nice bonus!. After that the remaining few minutes of the match were fast and furious, I had another five smaller samples to end a great evening. The scales came around and Roy Booth was leading with 38lb until John on peg 28 put a massive 60lb 12oz onto scales! I figured I had a big 50 pound but was delighted when the scales registered 61lb 6oz which I believe is a new 3 hour record for the farm! There is one thing for sure, that record will not last for long but I’m pleased to hold it for the moment.

Mawgan Bound

I spoke to Harry that evening and he told me that Mawgan Porth was fishing brilliantly with some huge weights. After that conversation I couldn’t get the place out of my mind so booked into the Friday match! On the way there I figured that other people had been drawing me good pegs, so today I decided to stand back and take the last one in the bag. I was more than happy when Janet told me it was peg 5 in the shallows.

As I walked round to the peg the lake looked solid there were fish topping everywhere and feeding fish kicking up plumes of silt in the edge, there was no doubt in my mind that a big weight was on the cards today. The last time I drew this swim I caught next to the grass on my left and slightly to my right on a top two and short 4^th section next to some rushes. The rushes were still there so I figured I was going to fish the same, it was handy as the two chosen swims were the same depth so one rig covered two swims, I also had a duplicate set up. Two rigs were set up for fishing straight out in front of me in slightly deeper water; I hoped that I would have enough rigs made up as that’s all I had with me. All the rigs were Cralusso Capri’s 4 x10 floats on 0.20 line with a PR28 hook size 16 to a .18 bottom. These floats are perfect for this place as they are indestructible. Bait was 4mm fishery pellets of which I had four pints with a few 6mm thrown in for good measure, I also had some 4 and 6mm garlic soft pellets for hook bait. I had three keepnets in and was concerned about the far right one as it was in the shallowest water.

Off the pace?

The match started and Gary practically opposite me on peg 41 was into fish immediately, he was setting a blistering pace, unbelievably my float didn’t move in my preferred starting swim to my left but I glanced by the rushes to see the tell tale vortex of feeding fish, adding the short 4^th I was soon on the other swim and catching. Not as fast as Gary but at least I was having a few fish. I have to say that my first 90 minutes was not great, I felt I was falling behind a lot. I could hear Wayne talking who was on peg 35 he counts his fish and was admitting to 75 I glanced at my new toy and it showed 45, during the match I never caught up with his catch rate. When I had 50 fish in my right hand net I felt that they were getting a bit stressed and making a lot of noise in the shallow water, I decided to move the keepnet and stake it out in peg 4 so they would be more comfortable. Lifting the net out of the water I was surprised at the weight and figured that the net contained over 60lb. I hoped that the average size of my fish would be bigger than the other anglers particularly as Wayne was saying Harry had more than him on peg 8!

Too many fish

Back to the fishing and I was catching well but always felt I could be doing better, I actually felt that there were too many fish in my swim on a few occasions! The float was moving all over the place pushed along in the vortex of feeding fish. I actually was having a bit of a mare and trashed all of my rigs on foul hooked fish! Searching through my box i found another that had a hair rig attached with a band. I decided to fish banded pellet and start again fishing away from my main feed area. That was it, my catch rate improved and now I was landing many more fish. I wish I had realised this an hour earlier as I was now in the race and felt I was catching up.

I caught a carp that was over 4lb a beautifully marked common it is the biggest fish I have landed to date from the match lake I had a few others that were around the 2 – 3lb mark as well. It was fantastic fishing so much so that I never realised the rain was so heavy until Janet blew the final whistle, I stood up and it felt that I had been swimming fully clothed, I was absolutely drenched! That will teach me, I had a perfectly good umbrella in the van.

Fantastic weights

Janet started the weighing and Wayne took the early lead with 227lb comprising of 242 fish. Gary on peg 41 had around 160lb. My 193 fish crashed the scales around to 247lb so they were definitely a bigger stamp. I held onto the lead until Harry Billing put a fantastic 296lb onto the scales to win the match. Harry admitted that he had a terrible first hour and he contemplated an early bath but the fish moved into his swim and he caught with a vengeance and bagged for the last four hours.Oh Man, what a venue that Mawgan Porth is, there is no doubt in my mind that the 350lb barrier is going to be broken this summer. I hope I can get there a bit more as I want another crack at it.

Saturday knock up

Saturday was a disappointment as only one other angler turned up for the Saturday match! Yes the forecast was rubbish with rain most of the day but to say I was very disappointed was an understatement! Here we were with 36 brilliant pegs on a fantastic lake that is fishing unbelievably well and there were two of us! I was all for going home but’ Wrong Lake’ wanted to fish and since we had both made the effort we decided to have a knock up for a fiver.

I told Wayne where we fished on Wednesday evening and let him choose which peg he wanted. He had peg 30 so I went on 28. To be honest I found it hard to get motivated but set up my usual farm rigs. Starting on the paste at 5m I had a few fish but was plagued with liners so figured that the fish were up in the water. I went out to 11m and it was solid! I used the session as a practice trying out a few things and actually enjoyed the experience. I had 100 fish for an estimated 80 – 90lb and called it a day. Wayne admitted to around 50 – 60lb of mostly tench, he also enjoyed the practice and I think he learnt a few things.

I cannot believe the quality of fishing available in this part of the country. I have personally had nearly 400lb in three sessions, fantastic sport. I just wish the venues had a little more support from anglers, they certainly deserve it.