Captain Mawgan!

I have to admit that I didn’t fancy fishing when I woke on Saturday morning, two weeks of festival fishing had left me absolutely exhausted, who said fishing was an easy sport! It was the penultimate Kernow Match Group teams of three league at Gwinear and as captain of the Cralusso team I had to go. I must say though when I arrived in the car park all those memories of countless matches came flooding back, some good and some I dismissed immediately! Today a new chapter started as the venue saw its biggest match since reopening a few weeks ago.

It had to be done, I called over to tourettes Taylor and told him he had the honour of drawing for the team, it was a colourful answer but he wandered over to do the business. TT came back with the news that I was on peg 17 initially it didn’t mean anything to me as the lakes have been completely re pegged. The old 25 I was told and I immediately knew where I was going, it used to be a good area, would it still be? I wandered around and found I was pegged next to Harry Billing who was on old peg 27 I jokingly told him to fish shallow next to the bridge, the infamous bridge no longer there since the changes to the lake. I had Andy Dare to my right on the old 20; I wonder how many years we will still be talking about the ‘old peg’ numbers. Andy and I were on for another mars bar challenge and I couldn’t lose as Andy still owed me from Twin Oaks!

My two team mates TT and Mick Heacock had fished a match on the lake mid week and finished first and second, they told me it was out and out pole at 6m and down the edge with maggot over pellet. That would do me I thought as I remembered the bar that used to be on the peg at 16m. I definitely felt too tired to fish that long. Plumbing up I settled for a line at 6 sections and an edge swim to my right where I found a nice depth. But I couldn’t resist having a look to see if the bar was still there. I quickly put on another Cralusso Capri and shipped out and found the remains of the bar, it was not as pronounced as previously but there was a definite shallower area, no doubt the fish would like the variation.

The match started and I went out to the 6m line and kindered some maggots and pellets I expected a bite immediately but it didn’t come, ten minutes later I was still waiting. I had no choice but to start pinging pellets to open up the bar! Staying at 6m I had my first bite and played a small carp to the lip of the net only to see it shake the hook! It was slow for everybody and the lost fish was annoying as it looked to be hooked properly. I went long and immediately missed a bite! It wasn’t easy holding the pole as it was quite windy, the next bite resulted in a small carp, a few more followed before a run of foul hooked fish shallowing up and fishing just off bottom solved that problem for awhile before it went slow again.

I managed a few fishing at about 2’ on a shallow rig and a few more on the deck. I only had one fish at 6m and no bites down the edge. Andy had a couple of good runs and I thought it was going to be tight. Harry had a couple of short catching spells but was only admitting to 20 odd pounds. Andy Partridge had a late run after a slow start so he could be a danger. In the end I finished second in the section and second in the match with around 36lb Whilst Andy put 42lb on the scale to win the Mars Bar and the lake!

Team wise we managed 9 points with two second in sections unfortunately Mick struggled in a very tight section where the size of the fish made the difference ,we ended up third on the day behind the winners Dares Devils and Team Spro. We are currently in joint third place with DGAS so it is a fight for the third place money next Saturday at the Barns. Looks like Team Mosella will win the league followed by Dares Devils.

The telephones ringing

As it was the Easter break a sweep was arranged at Mawgan Porth for Thursday, I was really looking forward to fishing the lake again now the weather had warmed. On the morning of the match around 8am Janet called me at home to say that there had been a mistake with the bookings and less anglers were expected, she was asking if still wanted to fish the match, I decided to go anyway as the family were away visiting and to be honest I was really keen to fish MP as I l do like this venue. I put the phone down and remembered the last time Janet called me on the morning of a match, it led to a match win and a double ton at Stafford Moor, could it be an omen!

The talk in the car park was of pegs 11 and 12 as the swims looked solid apparently you could see plumes of silt that the carp were churning up on their search for food! I had my dip and out came peg 6 nowhere near the fancied pegs but a peg in the shallow water that is also a flyer! I was not unhappy with the draw. It didn’t take long to set up in fact I only assembled three short pole rigs two J12 floats for fishing on or near the bottom and a Gaz Malman dibber that I got off him when we lodged together, I was keen to see if they could stand up to a bashing! I plumbed up to fish a top kit plus a short four and I was going to base my attack on maggots and I had four pints with me.

At the start I put double maggot on the hook and threw a handful around the float and it just moved around with liners and little dips that I couldn’t connect with. Looking to my left I saw Roger Cannock into fish on a top one fishing down the edge, the doubts started in my mind, had I gone too far out? Eventually I had a couple of small carp on the maggot but I could see I was falling behind in what was going to be a carp race. I foul hooked a few, messing around with the depth I still couldn’t manage to connect with the fish.

After 30 minutes with only half a dozen small carp in the net I had to change and I decided to go on the pellet. Putting a 4 mm soft garlic on and feeding some 4mm hard pellets the pole was nearly wrenched out of my hand by a lively pound carp! Out again and the difference was absolutely amazing proper bites that resulted in a fish a chuck, I felt I was back in the race but it was going to be hard catching Roger and the others.

I did have a problem though and that was not enough pellets with me! I was so convinced that the maggot was going to do the business, I had not thought about feed pellets and had less than a pint. I did have several tubs of Yorkshire bait soft hookers though so I mixed them in with my feed pellet and fed them! The bites and the fish kept coming; the swim was getting stronger and stronger and I just hoped it would last. I changed to the dibber fishing a good 6’’ of the deck in the shallow swim and started to get some slightly better fish around the 1 ½ – 2lb mark.

I can honestly say that I had a bite or an indication every single put in during this match, it was an absolute amazing experience! I normally don’t count the fish that I am catching as my mind wanders easily and I lose count but I knew I was catching very quickly. There wasn’t time to spend looking around but every time I did look to my left Roger was either playing a fish or putting one in the net.

I looked at my watch and there was 20 minutes left and decided to count until the end, I had 25 carp in that short period and I felt that I was catching at the same rate as I had been during the last 2 ½ hours, so figured that I had around 60 fish per hour. My arms told me that I had a good weight they were really aching I was also soaked from landing so many fish! I was last to weigh and there were some stunning weights before me including two double tons! Andy Partridge had 227lb and Roger Cannock had 285lb I was worried about the later as I thought we were close. After about 8 weighs my fish totalled 337lb 3oz! Absolutely amazing my best ever match weight, what a fantastic days fishing! Come to think of it I have just spent two weeks fishing festivals and caught more in one day than I totalled in two weeks fishing! I just wish I could draw pegs like this on festivals. Perhaps I should ask Janet to give me a call before every match!

I have to say that the fish are in very good condition at MP and really nice looking carp with good markings. In fact the last time my son Alex fished the water he commented on the quality of the fish, he has qualifications in fishery management and has spent several years working on a fish farm in Worcester specialising in breeding home bred carp so I value his opinion, so whatever you are doing Janet keep it up! Oh by the way Gaz your dibbers are brilliant!

A league for all seasons!

Saturday saw us head to the Barns for the final match in the Kernow Match Group ‘Three Seasons League’ and it was split over two lakes. Nigel aka ‘TT’ couldn’t make this match so we had drafted in Mark Barden in his place, in the absence of the chief draw bag I would have to draw for the team, I wandered over swearing and cursing to myself as it always works for Nigel!. I found myself on end peg 10 on Joan’s lake; owner Kevin told me it was solid! It was the first time I had fished this bank so was looking forward to giving it a try.

Plumbing up at an angle towards peg 9 I found a very shallow bar of about 18’’ which ran from bank to bank, apparently the bar is caused by the main water mains to Newquay so couldn’t be moved when the lake was dug. The carp obviously liked this shallow area as there were loads of them on it. In fact there were so many fish there I could hardly plumb as they kept swimming into my line! It was one of those swims where you are expected to win but I was having my doubts as the water was so shallow.

The match started and I was straight out on the middle of the bar fishing at about 11m with double maggot hook bait, I was pinging maggots at my float and was expecting the pole to be wrenched out of my hands! You can imagine my surprise when after 40 minutes I was still fishless! What’s more everyone in my section had caught, some with quite a few carp. The carp were still there on my bar and looked to be feeding but they seemed to be preoccupied in something that I didn’t have! After 60 minutes I had managed only two that I had caught on a big Dendras.

C’mon Slapper!

I had to think of a plan and quick! I fed some micros at 11m and picked another line closer to my bank and fed some more. By fishing a 6mm pellet on the long line and slapping the bait into the water I started to put a few carp together. I picked up some more carp from the closer line on a 6mm soft Garlic and kept alternating the lines. It was a strange peg to fish because of the depth fishing a soft elastic the fish ran when hooked and made a big disturbance as they were led back towards me, fishing a tighter elastic they just made a bigger disturbance colouring the water up so it was hard to put fish together quickly. I spent the last few hours slapping the rig and pinging the odd pellet and managed to catch in the region of 25 carp for 58lb which fortunately for me was good enough for a section win and second overall it was close though Andy Dare managed 45lb for second in section.

Time to come good!

Venue owner Kevin Harmer was the match winner with 79lb of carp from opposite me on the end peg a nice net of fish, well done mate. Unfortunately Mark struggled in Kevin’s section so we needed Mick Heacock to do the business for Team Cralusso on the bottom match lake. Mick did not disappoint coming second with over 40lb of mainly Rudd it was a great net of fish and I was pleased for him as he has struggled against some strong opposition in this league. With his 2 points we totalled 8 which was good enough to win the last round on the day, we had the same points as team SPRO but fortunately we had 8lb more than them! The result meant that we had pulled away from DGAS and finished the league in third place.

Congratulations

I would like to say well done to my two team mates Nigel Taylor and Mick Heacock you both fished very well throughout the league, well done lads keep it up. I cannot tell you what Nigel said when I told him the result over the phone but old Tourettes didn’t disappoint! As expected Harry’s team Mosella were this year’s champions followed by Andy Dares Devils.

A big thank you to John Forster for running the league you did a great job in what is really a thankless task. Well done John keep up the good work, it is appreciated!

Two quickies

Just a quick word about my last two matches over the Easter break. On Sunday and I was back at Mawgan Porth and was really looking forward to giving this another bash! Unfortunately two very heavy frosts had taken its toll and knocked the colour out of the water so the big weights of the last match were never on the cards. There were several small matches on the lake so it was fairly full which was also going to have an effect.

I drew peg 14 and was a little disappointed with the draw but you have to take the rough with the smooth and I have had some blinders this last week! The match started and I caught well for 20 minutes on my short line before the fish backed off, following them out to 5m I had some more before it again went quite. By the 2 ½ hour mark very little was been caught and a few of the anglers were walking around. I could see the anglers around me and knew it was reasonably close between us but could not see those the other side of the bridge, the rumour was that one was catching.

I decided to go back to winter mode and set up a lighter rig and go to 11m and fish maggot on the hook. Fortunately for me this worked and I managed to put around 35lb in the net before the end of the match giving me a 70lb total which was good enough for second place. Wayne from Manchester was the match winner with a respectable 103lb taken from peg 8.

On Monday I went to the Barns for a small knock up the weather had changed and it was a very wet day. I drew peg 3 and it was one that I didn’t fancy as it has no recent form, in fact Harry Billing struggled off it the other day and I have to say so did I. Feeding about four lines I had a fish from each and two tight against the far bank in the grass. I had packed up before the end of the match which is unusual for me; I did try but just could not put any bites together. It was a shame really as it is a wonderful place to fish and I really like to visit here, perhaps a little more though needs putting into the pegging as it seems to me the majority of the fish are at one end of the lake whilst the majority of the anglers were at the other! Tourettes Taylor was the match winner from end peg 18 with around 50lb and second was Mark Barden with around 30lb, well done guys.

That’s it for me for a couple of weeks as I have to do a bit of work before the Milo Festival at White Acres starts on 20th April. If any of you are coming down to the festival and you fancy practicing at Bolingey lake on the Friday, Saturday or Sunday make sure you get a designated driver as it is the second annual Bolingey Inn Beer Festival that weekend! It was brilliant last year, hic!