Preston Pairs

I really enjoyed fishing the inaugural Preston Pairs festival at White Acres in 2009 and literally couldn’t wait until the next one but I never expected it to come around so quickly, time is literally racing at the moment! There were 14 pairs booked on for this year’s event and once again it was to be competed at Trewaters and the consistent Twin Oaks. There were some very good anglers competing this year, both Harry and I were looking forward to a great competition. The format for the four days was simple and it provided a good way to mix up the anglers so that you were not fishing against the same people all week. On the Monday morning one of the anglers drew a letter from the drawbag and that placed him on one lake his partner obviously fishing the other. This would be repeated the Tuesday, it was then just a simple rotation for the last couple of days.

Here we go!

Harry was the drawmaster on day one and I soon found I was on the top lake at Trewaters; it was soon my turn to have a dip in the bag of dreams for my peg and I was absolutely delighted with my draw of peg 26. I literally couldn’t wait to get to the venue and get started! It is a peg I know well and one that I have had some success on previously. Recently I have found the lake to be in a tricky mood but that said I really expected a good days fishing. The lake looked great and there were even a few fish topping it really gave me no clues as to what was about to happen!

I decided on the method feeder that would be fished tight to the island, a .4gram SPRO midwater float to be fished at 5m, this rig could be fished practically anywhere else in the swim should I need it. I also had a .2gram edge rig that I was going to fish to my left at 5m and if needed move further along the bank to 11m. I also set up a J13 float for fishing shallow but this was ‘a just in case’ rig a back up as the fish had not been showing shallow. I had some dampened micros for the method and some 4 and 6 mm hard pellets a few expanders, worms and corn completed my offerings.

At the start I fed my 5m line with a few micros and cast the method tight to the island expecting a bite fairly quickly, I was not disappointed as the tip flew round and I was playing what felt like a reasonable F1 but it came off as I played it. Never mind mustn’t grumble there are plenty more where that came from and I cast again. This time nothing happened! Literally nothing happened for around 40 minutes! I could see Adam Waklin opposite me on peg 25 picking off the odd fish on the thod but he was only catching slowly. Nick Green to my right was getting the odd one but my tip would just not move!

Struggled

I went on the 5m line and had a flurry of fish a tench, skimmer and a few F1’s but after 20 minutes it died and I could not buy a bite anywhere. That is how my match went I struggled for the odd fish on all my lines. I did foul hook about three carp on my 11m edge rig but lost them all, losing those just about summed my match up. Towards the end Nick had a few carp on the method but still my tip would not move. I weighed 8lb for stone last in section, not the best of starts! As I write this I still do not know how I could have approached this match differently I literally do not know why I could not catch any fish from that peg, to say I was disappointed would be a huge understatement!

Good for some.

Adam won the lake and section with 39lb to give him and his partner James Hawkins a good chance of repeating their winning achievement of last year. Harry Billing won the other lake and the match with 43lb from peg 40. Whilst I was pleased that Harry had done well for us it just made me feel like I had let the side down. Still there were three more matches to go so it was no good crying over spilt milk, time to move on and catch some fish.

Twin Oaks high numbers

Tuesday saw me on Twin Oaks peg 25 I was not unhappy with the draw but was obviously a little worried about two end pegs in my section. I felt the choice of bait was crucial for the Twin Oaks matches as we were not fishing to the normal festival rules. This meant that we could have no more than four pints of any one bait in our gallon limit. I knew I had to have 3 pints of dampened micros for the method plus a further pint of larger pellets for the hook and loose feed. In the end I decided to put my faith in 6mm meat and made up my limit with good old plumrose.

Tackle wise I had two 9’ SPRO Picker Rods for the method and I had a .6 gram Midwater float for the pole line at 5.5m which put me just towards the bottom of the slope. The rig had a bulk of number 8’s around 2’ from the hook to a 0.12 Cralusso hook length with a Preston PR21 size 16. This rig was also suitable for fishing at 13m if I altered the depth by a couple of inches. I just marked the different depths on my pole, less rigs to set up! Elastic choice was yellow J Range on a pull bung which was perfect for those F1’s and gave me a bit of power should I hook a carp. I also set up a couple of shallow rigs which comprised of J13 floats with a PR36 hook and F1 micro band on a hair, these were also on .12 line as I figured it would be F1’s shallow.

Flying thods and leaping skimmers!

On the whistle I cupped in a full 250ml cup of meat on my 5m line and went on the method with a 6mm pellet on the hook. It was a slow start I had four small F1’s in that opening 20 minutes which was about par for the course. I may have been second in section as 1 angler had a small carp. Nothing much happened in the next ten minutes and I felt an early look on the pole was in order. Putting on a piece of meat I shipped out and 30 seconds later was playing a 2lb common. It certainly got my interest as nobody was really catching on the thod. Back out and a minute or so later I saw a 1 ½ lb skimmer leap out of the water a nano second after I had lifted into a bite, fortunately it still had my size 16 in its top lip!

I spent an enjoyable couple of hours on the pole getting quite a few smaller fish, the odd skimmer, small F1 and a few roach. During that time I had been pinging 6mm pellets out at around 13m and had a couple of goes but only managed a few stamp roach. With around two hours to go I say Nathan Fox a couple of pegs to my right catch a carp shallow so I had another go. This time when the float dipped I was attached to an angry mirror which I was pleased to land on my F1 gear. I changed my top kit to stronger green elastic and went out again and had another! In fact I had three on the spin and then hooked one that did not want to be a prisoner and snapped me up! I fished on for another 30 minutes shallow but only had a couple of roach to show for it, it was really windy and at times I was struggling to hold the pole so I gave up with that idea and fished out the match on the thod catching around three more carp plus a few F1’s. The match went perfectly for me and I was pleased to see that I came out on top of the section with 47lb including 25lb of silvers. James Hawkins was the other section winner on my lake with 70lb to put the pressure on the rest of us.

Harry had drawn peg 6 on Twin Oaks low numbers and finished third in section with around 66lb mainly caught on the method. Adam Wakelin was on peg 15 in the other section on the same lake but he also managed third. So the league table changed around quite dramatically with a three way tie. Adam and James were locking horns with Andy Bennett and Stuart Taylor and Martin Allen and Darren Jackson all on 20 points but importantly for us we had crept up to fourth place with 20 points.

Back down the Farm

Wednesday was a rest day so we all assembled on Thursday for the dip in the bag of dreams that would put us on our homes for the day at Trewaters. I managed peg 49 for myself which again I was reasonably pleased with. Unfortunately I had a dip for Harry and pulled out my bogey peg of 35 it was one I didn’t fancy but hopefully Harry could work his magic.

I set up my normal gear but was going to concentrate on the thod and down the edge. It was not the best place to cast tight as there was some gorse bushes overhanging. At least today I had a couple of fish on my first two casts but couldn’t put much together. I had to watch Adam Wakelin and Andy Bennett catch consistently which didn’t really make me that pleased! I had fish in my swim but couldn’t make them have the hook bait. Chopping and changing baits around eventually paid dividends when I put a piece of corn on the hook. I started catching but was never going to catch up, all I could hope for was third place and hopefully consolidate our place. In the end it didn’t happen as Nathan Fox managed a late run of larger fish and finished with a few pounds more than my 20lb. Andy fished a brilliant match to win the lake with over 50lb followed by Adam.

Unfortunately my bogey peg is now also Harry’s as he finished in third place! James Hawkins winning that section from peg 34. We stayed in fourth place but were now 8 points off the lead and 7 of second place. The table going into the last day was:

1st Andy Bennett / Stuart Taylor 36 points 275lb 10oz
2nd James Hawkins / Adam Wakelin 35 points 261lb 13oz
3rd Martin Allen / Darren Jackson 35 points 245lb 3oz
4th Harry Billing / Stewart Lister 28 points 205lb 12oz
5th Ben Lord / Ivan Lord 25 points 181lb 11oz

Last chance saloon

The final day came and we were back at Twin Oaks, it was fantastic day weather wise but it was very calm. I must admit I was hoping for a bit of a blow as well as a flyer to finish the week off! I had my dip in the bag and my jaw dropped a foot when I saw Twin Oaks 3 stuck in my mitt, there must be some mistake as it is nowhere near the flyers! Oh man I was not that impressed especially when I was informed that I didn’t stand a chance from that peg!

A cunning plan, Baldric?

I went to the peg feeling a bit low but was obviously going to give it my best shot hoping that the fish had used their fins and all swam into my peg! I set up a couple of method rods as well as a 5m line and a margin rig. As I plumbed my left margin I actually felt a carp and I saw a huge vortex. I finished my plumbing to my right figuring that the depth would be similar to my left margin as a cunning plan was hatched!

With 15 minutes to go you are allowed to put your keepnets in the water, I just attached mine to my box and left them on the bank. When the all in came I saw everyone cast a method to the far bank. I dropped a piece of meat impaled on a size 12 down the edge and 30 seconds later was playing an 8 pounder! I must admit it took any pressure of me and put it on James Hawkins and Stuart Taylor who were the anglers either side of me. It’s great when a plan comes together!

Not everything went perfect

The only thing that went wrong for me was that the carp rolled over in my landing net and snapped my mainline. I cast the method tight to the far bank hoping to repair the rig as I fancied another from the margin. As soon as I picked up the pole the tip flew round and I was attached to another fish of around 5lb in fact I had two more in the next couple of casts. On my fourth cast the tip went round again but this time I was attached to something that just didn’t want to stop and it powered off to the left, eventually snapping me before I could get the clip off. What a start to the match, I had four carp in the net for over 20lbs and the match was less than 20 minutes old!

That fish fought so hard it actually stretched my mainline and it took awhile to get the distance spot on again. When I did the carp had gone and had been replaced by roach, they were stamp fish but not what you want on the method. The next 90 minutes were very quiet with nothing much happening for anybody. James had a couple and lost a couple but our section was dead. I had been throwing meat down my left margin and noticed a vortex so I had another go with the repaired rig, I was soon swinging a small perch to hand! Studying the edge I could see roach swirling for my loose feed. I made the decision to go back on the method whilst I made up a rig to fish for them. My thinking was that hopefully I could catch around 10lb of silvers whilst nothing else was happening, that would be worth around two carp and could help me stay near the top of the section.

Seriously solid

That edge swim was solid with pristine roach and it was literally one every drop in. I was really enjoying myself. There were a couple of comments about me roach bashing on a carp venue but I was convinced it was the right thing to do so stuck at it.

With around 30 minutes to go I noticed James and Stuart both playing carp they had caught on the method, that was the signal for me to have another go. I actually had three more carp before the end to finish off a brilliant match. I just wish all my matches could go that well! The scales came and my carp net was recorded at 36lb but the roach bumped me up to 56lb and they won me the section by a few pounds.

Topsy Turvey

Harry had managed second from his peg on the high numbers with Adam Wakelin winning that section, his partner James had finished third. Stuart and Andy Bennett had struggled but Martin Allen and Darren Jackson both had a good days fishing, it was clear as mud that the final leader board had changed quite dramatically!

A little later the results were announced officially which ended all the speculation and bar talk. Adam and James had taken the title for the second year running with 47 points, well done lads once again. We had climbed up to 41 points which was second equal but we lost out to Martin and Darren by 7lb! Oh man, what a week that was! Two great matches personally and two poor ones which came from a water that I love to fish, I think I am in the middle of a love hate relationship with ‘the farm’ at the moment!

The overall results were:
1st James Hawkins & Adam Wakelin 47 points 373lb 2oz
2nd Martin Allen & Darren Jackson 41 points 322lb 7oz
3rd Harry Billing & Stewart Lister 41 points 315lb 7oz
4th Stuart Taylor & Andy Bennett 39 points 316lb 6oz
5th Austin Williams & Mick Kearns 35 points 373lb 1oz
6th Clive Cole & Tom Cole 34 points 297lb 14oz
7th Ben Lord & Ivan Lord 33 points 307lb 5oz
8th Darel Faletto & Nathan Fox 29 points 218lb 11oz
9th Mike Shuttleworth & Tania Shuttleworth 29 points 216lb 4oz
10th Dave Phillips & Andy Bennett 27 points 239lb 15oz
11th Richie Lines & Bob Wack 26 points 228lb
12th Sandra Maney & Jay Davis 24 points 161lb 9oz
13th Nick Green & Maria Green 22 points 141lb 11oz
14th Eric Searle & Albert Williams 21 points 144lb 13oz

It was an enjoyable week spent with some good company the matches were fished in good spirits, I think everybody enjoyed the experience. Thanks must go to Preston Innovation who once again sponsored the event with some great prizes and to the staff at White Acres who did a great job as is now normal in running the festival. I for one am looking forward to next year’s pairs but I just hope time doesn’t fly as quickly!