Red Mist Rising!

A call to Mawgan Porth on Tuesday night confirmed there was a match there the following day but the entry was on the low side. I decided to go in the hope that a few more would turn up on the morning. On the day only eight people turned up but it was a brilliant match with fantastic weights, the venue is really is fishing its socks off at the moment, it’s just a shame there are not the anglers around to fish midweek at the moment. I drew peg 6, one that I have never fished before but it has some recent form, the trouble was every peg in the bag had form and was capable of breaking 200lb!

Andy Partridge had won the match from my peg the previous day with 166lb and I knew that he would have fished a very short pole close to the platform, I thought if it’s good enough for him then it is good enough for me. I set up to the right hand side of the platform so that I could fish to my left. Rigs were my favourite Cralusso pattern, bait wise I had three pints of fishery pellets and some Yorkshire baits garlic soft hookers plus some 6 mm for the hook. I was soon ready and waiting. For company opposite me I had top chef Chris Whitehead who was on peg 41 and I could just see Harry on peg 42 on the point of the island.

Beware of men with red hands

At the start I dropped in about two foot from the bank and was rewarded with a carp straight off and it was a good stamp at over a pound. They continued coming but not especially fast, Chris was fishing maggot and having trouble with skimmers. I could see Harry netting fish on a very regular basis time to get my head down and get some fish in the net. I changed lines to one slightly closer to the bank and my catch rate improved, the fish were on average larger than I had recently caught here and I could see why anglers were getting good weights from this area when they didn’t look to be very busy!I glanced over to see how Chris was getting on and all I could see was a guy with bright red hands he looked like he had been working down at the butchers! Chris is sponsored by GOT Baits and he had sprinkled his maggots with Atomic Cloud and as he got wet from the fish he was turning a very nice shade of red, not only his hands but his trousers and pole! Mind you it was working and he was now catching very steadily.

My match was going ok but I was losing a few fish again despite fishing off the bottom and I was getting a few quiet spells followed by a burst of fish. My mates the skimmers turned up and were driving me crazy again, especially every time I had to net one. I have really been attracting them lately I just hope I can find them when the festival season starts and I visit Porth Reservoir, then I will be overjoyed at netting skimmers.

Fantastic weights

Before long the match ended and the scales arrived on the island. Got Baits Simon Poynter was the first to weigh on peg 46 and he became the latest ‘nearly man’ recording a fantastic 297lb 6oz caught on red maggot sprinkled with Atomic Cloud. Simon also had a rouge appearance and as he was travelling with Chris I couldn’t help think t would be hilarious if they were stopped by the police on the way home. ‘Honestly officer we haven’t harmed anyone we have only been fishing’. A likely story indeed you’re nicked my son!Harry was next to weigh and he had 229lb 4oz on pellet for second place. Chris Whitehead was third with 179lb 6oz and I was pleased to see Billy Arch weigh 170lb 10oz for fourth place. I don’t know if this is his biggest weight, but I do know that he has been working very hard at trying to learn how to succeed at Mawgan Porth and it’s his biggest weight here, well done Billy.

I managed to finish nowhere with 165lb incredible really, the lowest weigh on the day was a respectable 140lb!, I did say at the beginning of this piece that the weights were fantastic and I think you will agree, this really is a great little fishery. The fish are in very good condition and are some of the best looking fish I have come across on a commercial fisheries, certainly a testament to Janet’s fishery management skills. She holds open matches here on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays and will have matches on any other day if there is a demand. I recommend a visit if you are down this way on holiday, give her a call on 01637860770

Down to earth

Now if you think it’s all none stop bagging and ton plus weights down here let me tell you about my weekend! On Saturday I went to Gunnabarn another great little fishery that is nestled away in a very nice valley near Summercourt just outside Newquay. It normally fishes really well for carp with weights approaching the 100lb mark. But today it decided to show its harder side. It may have had something to do with the weather which was glorious sunny day with hardly any wind.

The last time I visited the venue not setting up a feeder rod cost me a place. I was determined not to make that mistake again, that is until I had my dip and came out with peg 9. I was immediately told that it was a good peg but holds the record for losing hook lengths on the feeder and the record was approaching 20! Apparently there is a hole on the bottom near the far bank, the bottom is covered in slate and cuts line like a knife through butter. I made my decision it was pole only again for me. Two lines one longer than those around me at 14 ½ metres and the other at 8 metres. It was to be pellet and maggot long and pellet and paste on the eight metre line.Paste and me don’t normally go together, but I am keen to learn especially as it is so effective at this time of year. I had some Yorkshire Baits Yellow Toffee GB with me that I mixed on the stiff side as there is a load of small Rudd in this fishery, I was worried if I made it softer I would not have it on the hook for long. Both of my chosen lines were the same depth so I could get away with fishing with only a couple of rigs.

At the all in I fed some pellets and maggots on both lines via a pole cup and immediately came on the long line to give it a go first. Within a couple of minutes I had my first bite on a triple red maggot and a small Tench opened my account. A couple of small carp followed but bites were not fast and furious, well not for me. Two pegs down Martin Newstead was fishing a small method feeder and getting one a bung towards the far bank! Others were catching on the feeder but not at the same pace as Martyn, I was already thinking that not having a feeder line was going to be expensive.

Within 30 minutes I was on the shorter line and I moulded a small piece of paste around the size 12 hook. I started catching small carp and was just starting to enjoy myself when the bites tailed off! For the rest of the match it was swopping between lines and baits and putting the odd fish in the net. I eventually weighed 34lb for fourth place. Beaten by Harry for third who had 37lb. Alan Hurley fished a good match on the paste about three to my right to take victory with a well deserved 60lb and method man Martyn had just over 50lb for second. Oh well maybe next time.

I should really know better

I was looking forward to Sunday as we were trying a new lake in Grampound at Pensagillis Holiday Park. We were told that it was full of carp and ‘large nuisance tench’ and whats more very rarely fished so a bagging session was on the cards. We all met at McDonalds on the A30 as no one knew where it was except organiser John Forster and waiting for him it was clear everyone was looking forward to the day.

We eventually got going and left in convoy and I’m glad I was following second behind John as I know if I had tried to find this place on my own I would still be looking, which actually might not have been a bad thing! We arrived and parked in a small car park overlooking the fishery and what we saw was encouraging but also worrying! There before us was a picture postcard lake nestled in a lovely valley some 500 / 600 metres away it really did look the part, however, the 500 hundred plus metres was downhill and when I say downhill it really was a Cardiac Hill! It reminded me of fishing the upper Trent in the days when I was much fitter and struggled to climb the hills with less tackle than we carry now . Sharkey and I reminisced of days gone by and hills such as the one at Cornagrade in Ireland, only there the local kids came out of the council estate and carried your gear for 50p mind you that really is a different story.

We all adjourned to the reception area and had a first class breakfast, a few of the lads looking for a bit of Dutch courage even had a pint of lager! Oh man it was tempting but I knew if I did I would have been looking for accommodation as I would have stayed in the bar all day!

Yomping

I unloaded the van and carried my rods down to the lake, whilst I was there I had a wander round it did look nice but could really do with some work cutting out swim etc. I wandered to the far end and found it narrowed dramatically, there were two pegs there and I made a mental note not to draw them as I did not fancy that area one iota. Back to get the rest of the tackle and I realised just how I was dreading carting all my gear up there after the match!Anyway, John started the draw and I had my dip first and out came peg 4, yep it was one of the two I didn’t want. It really was a shame they had to be put in but without a load of work there just were not enough pegs available so someone had to draw there.

I did try to get the most out of the swim and picked my main line at 16 metres where I found about 3 ½ foot of water under a bush next to the island. I also had a swim which was only slightly deeper at 11 metres and an edge swim. At the start I fed a few pellets and some corn on the 11 metre line and shipped out to 16 metres using a kinderpot I loose fed the swim gently and fished it for 30 minutes without an indication. Time to re feed, heavier this time I potted some corn and pellets under the bush and tried the 11 metre line. No bites except the odd indication from small fish.

Early Bath

Martin Newstead was the other unlucky angler in the bay and he was also struggling, I noticed that he was trying for the silvers and would catch a few and then they would back off, there were just not enough fish in residence. I tried all my lines again without success, after two hours I decided that a walk was in order. I wandered around the lake having a quick chat with all, I was a little dismayed to learn that Sharkey was winning with about 4lb of small silvers! Back on my peg Martin had not had a fish whilst I was away. I quickly set an up in the water rig for roach and gave it a go. In about 20 minutes I had half a dozen small fish but knew I wasn’t going to make an impression and decided on an early bath!It was a shame, the venue looked brilliant and I’m sure with only a couple fishing it would be good, I just don’t think there are enough fish in the venue for match fishing. I have to applaud John for his efforts in trying to find new waters as the sport needs people like him to arrange matches for us, I hope you are not put off. Later the owner told John that he is thinking about heavily restocking the lake as he really wants to see it fished. He also mentioned that he would provide transport to and from the lake with a quad and trailer! I hope this happens as it really is a nice looking mature lake, it would be nice to revisit in a year or so.

Well it’s a journey into the unknown for me next week as Harry and I have our first look at Maver Larford in preparation for the pair’s final on 16^th August. We are going to watch the end of the festival that is currently running and no doubt find a couple of matches over the weekend. Until next time keep those strings tight.