By Matt | No Comments
Last updated: Wednesday, June 11, 2008

Now the summers here (supposedly!) I’ve got some serious team fishing to look forward to with the Triana North Lads, in the way of the Drennan Super League and the Angling Times Winter League final that we qualified for which is on the Nene this month which I’ll be competing to get picked for.

The first round of the Drennan is on the Stainforth and Keedby canal at Thorne, as well as the NFA Regional National which is always a big team event, so I fished a practice match the other Sunday for these forthcoming events, with very little success I’ll tell you! The 67 peg match saw the canal really clear, and you can see a good 6ft down, right into the cabbages on the bottom! I drew peg 58, and considering that the only access points are at peg 1 or peg 112, I had a blooming right walk!!! It was hot day too with all the gear, who says fisherman just sit there and get no exercise?

The peg looked nice, around 18m wide with lily pads either side, like moist of the others to be honest. The open matches are all usually ‘big fish matches’, as everyone tends to target bigger fish, unlike the team events where smaller squatt fish play a part. I decided to cover the options with three lines across the canal. I planned to feed groundbait with some squatt and hemp in at both 7m and 13m, which are the bottom of the near and far shelves, and a worm/caster line for proper fish at 16m. I found the same depth on my two shorter lines so I could use the same rigs (tight!) and set up a 0.6g bulked float with a couple of number 10 droppers, and also a 4×12 jolly with small shots strung out for a different presentation. Both were on 0.10 mainlines to 0.06 bottoms and size 22 B511 hooks. I fed three balls at 7m, and five balls at 13m, Sensas Lake and Noir with a bit of black leam.

My 16m line was fed with a quarter pot of worm and caster, and I set up two rigs for this line too, a 0.5g Tamas Water series on 0.11 power-lines to a 16 B560 hook and number 8 elastic, and I lighter 0.2g float on 0.09 line with a 20 hook for maggot.

Well, to cut a long story short, it was terrible!!! I had an OK start with two small perch, followed by a better fish on worm at 16m on the proper rig. After a steady fight and the fish getting in the snags under my feet a big perch that looked a good pound and a half was netted. An hour into the match I had a roach and 5 perch for 2lb or so, with nobody else catching much at all. 4 hours later the scales arrived and I put 2lb 4oz on!!! I couldn’t buy a bite! I ended up jigging a piece of worm amongst the lilies under my feet to catch the odd tiny perch! The 4 people to my right didn’t weigh in, but the guy to the left weighed 6lb, catching skimmers!

A lot of the team’s lads had really struggled, and there were very few squatt fish to catch throughout the canal, most were probably shoaled up in the clear water from the predators. The match was won by Stainforth’s Dave Dixon with 8lb 07oz, and our very own Spanky (Paul Crossland) managed an Eel and two Bream for 7lb 11oz and second. Phil Morgan also did well with 6lb 12oz and a good pick up. It wasn’t the best of canal matches, but we can’t have it good all the time! Hopefully the actual rounds will be a bit better! I’ve got the England youth trials coming up at Barston this weekend so I’ll let you know how I get on, tight lines ’til then, Matt.