Catching Up

Can someone please tell me where the time goes as soon as the days get longer? I seem to be cramming in as much as I can during the daylight hours and consequently have fallen well behind in my weekly blog, so I am going to race through a few matches until I get up to speed. There has been plenty going on at the productive Mawgan Porth and one of my other favourite lakes Trewaters, which at the moment is rather tricky, well at least I am finding it in difficult!

The end of May found me at Mawgan Porth for the Tuesday open and we were all hoping for a great match, I certainly was especially as I had again plucked peg 38 from the bag of dream!. The match started well enough with a flurry of carp straight from the start but it soon slowed.  There was signs of feeding fish in my right margin but try as I might I just could not get them to take a pellet but they were obviously feeding on them! I had some worms with me and presented a dendra right in the middle of the plumes of silt but unbelievable they would not take it.

It dawned on me that paste would be the answer but I had no groundbait with me.  Soaking some of my feed pellet and I soon had some improvised paste, it worked a treat and my catch rate improved. The bad part of the plan was I that didn’t make enough and I ran out before the end! What a numpty. Changing to corn produced a few but sadly not enough. Chris Whitehead won a rather lower weight match than normal from peg 42 with around 97lb I managed third with 83lb close but no cigar today.

C’mon paste head!

Wednesday I was keen to try again and this time I had plenty of paste with me hoping for an advantage! I was again pleased with the draw as I had plucked the previous days winning peg. Armed with my secret weapon I was feeling confident even though I am not a paste head! Starting as I normally do feeding some fishery pellets and some garlic micros I was soon into fish, the stamp of fish was noticeably larger on this side of the lake. I was catching ok and feeding pellets down my right margin and as soon as I saw the tell tale signs of fish activity I was down there with the paste. Would you believe I could hardly get a bite on it! It’s a strange old game this fishing lark.

I spent the majority of the match thinking I was getting well beaten up by Harry Billing who was on peg 8, strange as it might seem to those that don’t know the fishery but he was on the next peg to my right. I could just see the tip of his pole and more annoyingly his elastic stretching out which in my mind was constant!  The match finished and Richard Bond was a comfortable winner with 163lb taken from peg 47 followed by Harry with 121lb I was third once again with 117lb I left this match thinking that I really must try harder!

Continental weekend

The Bank Holiday weekend arrived and with it a two day event at Trewaters Farm. It was an open event with a difference a Continental style series of matches. Two matches per day each of three hours duration followed by a break and a draw which would see you on a different peg on the same lake! During the break refreshments were laid on. Now I have fished under this format in France when we were treated to a glass of vino and some nice bread and cheese. None of that malarkey in Cornwall though, it was a good old Cornish pasty and a can of Carlsberg, and very nice it was too!

It was a shame the weather had changed with very strong winds and rain it had been really nice for days prior to the match but we had a real downpour over night and the worry was that it was going to affect the fishing.

I was helping Clint with the draw and consequently I had the last peg in the bag which was my least favourite peg on the venue number 35, unfortunately it was the only peg on the matchlength with an angler on each adjacent peg.  Just one of those things I’m afraid, the number of anglers didn’t allow everyone to have the extra room. I was keen to do well and tried to put a brave face on. In my planning for the match I had decided to concentrate on the pole, I didn’t want to get side tracked swopping between methods and that proved to be a big mistake.

Feeding the pole line at 5m with some softened micro I started on this line and waited for my first bite, it took quite awhile to come and that first fish was a small skimmer. Paul Dench to my right was not faring much better. Mike O’Gorman to my left was  also struggling, he had put some worms in and was finding small perch, it was the first time we had seen these little fish in such numbers, a few others were catching them as well there seems to have been a Perch explosion. Eventually I managed an F1 but it was desperately slow. I started missing a few bites and kept thinking I would sort it but it never did and I actually finished last in the 6 man section with a poor 8lb and I must admit I was not a happy bunny, more so with myself as I knew the method was the way I could have improved my weight.

Mark Venton won our section mainly fishing the ‘thod’ on peg 33 followed by Mike who eventually saw off the perch and found some reasonable skimmers and F1’s. On the other lake Clint Elliott won the match followed by Harry Billing who also won his section, Both fishing the method for respectable weights around 40lb. I really was kicking myself all the way back to the car park; I must fish that method feeder!

For the afternoon match I drew peg 26 and to say I was happy with the draw was an understatement, I nearly ran to the peg! I didn’t pick the method rod up as I really fancied this on the pole. Starting on the 5m line whilst I primed the edge swim to my left I managed a few skimmers and small F1’s. Going down the edge I had a few small carp on the corn but the swim kept dying and I felt I was waiting too long. I wanted to put some worms in but was worried as I didn’t want those little footballers. Eventually I had to and what a difference it made the carp loved them! I also fed a longer line at 11m with worm and there were some better fish there, I was really enjoying the match when the whistle went, three hours just raced by, I couldn’t believe it. I managed 26lb odd for second on the lake beaten by young Joe Bray who had 29lb from 25 the other corner peg, I wish I had fed the worm 15 minutes earlier.

Day two

Sunday came and I wasn’t making the same mistake again it was going to be the method and the edge for me! I drew peg 39 on the bottom lake. I set up according to my plan but could not resist a  shallow rig. My plan was to feed the other two lines whilst I fished the thod! Well I have to say it wasn’t the best of matches for me I caught some on the tip before I started losing a few. Changing from a PR36 to a Guru hook seemed to solve the problem for awhile before the same thing happened again! Not one bite shallow despite pinging bait for over an hour. I finished off down the edge catching a few but it was another poor result and a second last in section with around 14lb.

The afternoon match

After a Cornish lunch it was peg 53 for me and I have to admit to feeling a bit down, I love this venue but just couldn’t catch. I decided to be positive and sack the shallow rig and fish the method and the edge and at last I got things right! I had a reasonable start on the thod taking some small carp including one of around 6lb taken on a 6mm pellet; I had been feeding the edge with some 4mm pellets and a few grains of corn when I noticed signs! of fish after an hour or so. First drop in resulted in a 5 pounder followed by another next drop, that’s more like it!

The fish kept coming and I put 41lb on the scales to win the match. The lake fished really well the best catch of the day in my mind was taken by Paul Dench who finished second with around 40lb taken on the pole from peg 39 all caught on the pole. Paul like me had a bit of a grueller in a couple of the previous matches so at least we both finished on a high.

The overall winner was Harry Billing followed by Clint Elliot I was a little further down the list! I think if this match is run in the same way next year I am going to ask for it to be all in the afternoon as I guess I am just not a morning person!

It was a great weekend though and a nice change. I did leave the place a little worried as the pairs festival was just around the corner and I was struggling with consistency down at the Farm.