Festive Fun and Frolics!

Apologies for the delay in updating my blog, but I have the best possible excuse- I have been doing a lot of fishing, so haven’t really had the time! Still, with two weeks off from my ‘proper’ job I thought it a pity not to take advantage and put in a few extra hours on the bankside.

The Saturday before Christmas saw round three of the Ranskill Teams of Four League, and with the weather being relatively mild considering the time of year, I thought that the venues big head of silvers might well have a munch and make for a good days fishing.

I drew peg 23, a reasonable peg on the lake, but a tough section draw, with a lot of very strong pegs to beat, as it is in with pegs 22-29a. The pressure was on as well, as I had our rival Woodseats teams Brian Farrer to my left, and Rotherham Pavings Andy Allport to my right, and with all the stick I had been giving to the Rotherham lads lately this was one dual I couldn’t afford to lose!

I opted to fish three lines on the pole, as being a corner peg your running line options are very limited. I decided to fish chopped worm and caster at 10 oclock at 14.5 metres, and groundbait and maggot at 2 O’clock. I also loosefed maggots over fishmeal groundbait at seven metres.

I started long on the pole on the worm line, and a 10 oz skimmer first drop helped to settle my nerves. As the day wore on however it struck me that the worm line was decidedly weaker than the groundbait line, so I focussed my energies on this. A few better fish late on from where I had been loosefeeding, helped to boost my weight, and at the end of the match I reckoned I had around 15lb, and a great days fishing to boot.

The scales confirmed my weight as 16-9-0, which unfortunately was good enough only for third in my nine peg section as 28 and 29 at the other end of the section both bagged up, though I did get the section money by default as the two higher weights framed. I felt I did as well as I could have done considering my draw, and to put it into context the anglers either side of me were last and second to last in the section, so it wasn’t the best of areas.

A pint in the Blue Bell after the match with the Rotherham Paving team rounded off a thoroughly enjoyable day.

Sunday saw round six of the Lindholme Winter League, and after a hearty breakfast with Sir Matt it was time for another dip in the bag of destiny. I pulled out Laurels Peg 63, not a great draw as Laurels has been fishing very hard, and to make matters worse I had a star studded 12 peg section, with Alan Scotthorne, Rob Hitchens, Steve Rothery and Daz Taylor to beat if I wanted to obtain good points. I was also fishing Round Three of the knockout against Andy Geldart, so the pressure was really on.

I asked Gary Jubb how he would approach the peg, and he advised me to fish a small feeder into the bay in front of me, looking for ten bites which would mean 20lb and good points. I followed his advice, and after the first hour I had three fish in the net, and felt I was well on target. After the second hour I still had three fish however, and so I decided to try the long pole line. No bites were forthcoming, and so it was back on the tip. I took a couple more fish, and then I noticed a couple of people catching trout, so I decided to try for a couple to boost my weight, as it struck me the feeder line may benefit from a rest. I had been feeding two lines either side of me all day with a trickle of maggots, and was pleased to take a brownie about 3lb first drop. By swapping between my trout line and the tip, I managed a further three fish in the last hour, one of which was a trout which took my corn as it fell through the water on the tip!

Andy weighed in first and told me I would need 14-14-0 to beat him in the knockout, and secure the mixed grill which we had as a sidebet. I thought it would be close, but fortunately the scales( and flukey trout) went my way and I recorded 16-14-0 which was good enough for second on the lake!

It was tight at the top though, as I beat Rob Hitchens, Steve Rothery and Alan Scotthorne by just a few ounces! Trout god Daz Taylor won the lake (section) with seven trout for 24lb- proper fish!

Sir Matt put up an awesome display to finish second in his section from what was described as the worsed peg on Oasis, so we were two happy bunnys in the car on the way home, as he had knocked Steve Donaghue out of the knockout a well. My mother had done us a roast dinner, and then we went for a few bevies to start the Christmas week off in style!

Return To Ranskill

On Monday we had planned to do a head to head style feature for the Angling Star, with Matt fishing bloodworm and joker and me fishing groundbait and maggot . I won’t write too much about it, as the feature will appear in the Angling Star and then on here a month or so after, but with the weather turning mild conditions were definitiely in my favour, and I managed a few better skimmers that just tipped the balance in my direction. I wouldn’t like to do the feature again after a sharp frost though!

Hunting Jaws

On Christmas eve we decided we fancied something different, and a trip to the River Till and Fossdyke Canal pike fishing was agreed on. The weather was absolutely glorious, and we had a great day, taking six fish between us on wobbled deadbaits and plugs. It was business as usual for the ginger however, as he battered my 4-2 in the fish count stakes, as well as taking great amusement in watching my hand getting mauled by an angry pike! I might be exaggerating slightly, but blood was drawn, at which point he told me that there teeth are coated in anti coagulant, and that I would probably bleed all day! Charming.

Much to the surprise of my nearest and dearest I didn’t go fishing on Christmas day, but boxing day saw a twelve peg knockup at Carterhall Fishereies, where I fished the evening matches earlier on in the year. The owner Jeremy had kindly agreed to let us have the pegging for free, which with £10 pools meant a decent payout considering the numbers we had fishing.

I drew peg 15, which looked OK, but I had Matt on end peg 14 next to me, and I didn’t really fancy my chances of beating him, as earlier in the year it was the peg to be on, I drew it five times in the summer and won the match five times! Still with the colder weather, we both suspected that the fish would have backed off to the deeper water at the other end of the lake so nothing was certain.

I opted to fish corn on the long pole to the point of the island, and also fish a couple of shorter lines with maggots for the silvers. I was pleased when my float dipped first drop in on the corn line, and a 4lb fish soon lay at the bottom of the net. I looked around and saw Matt playing a fish on the tip however, which I felt was a good thing as it least we knew there were a few fish up our end of the lake.

The next hour was frustrating, as I couldn’t see my float properly for the sun, but when I finally regained visibility I managed to snare a further seven carp, giving me a grand total of 8 fish, which I reckoned would way 25lb. Matt finished on six carp, while my old mate Dave Tomkinson caught five carp from the top end of the lake.

I thought I had won the match, as I had two more carp than my two adversaries, and was walking around with the scales feeling rather pleased with myself. Things didn’t quite go according to plan with the weigh in however, my fish went 21-14-0, Dave weighed 22-4-0 and Matt walked the match with 28-0-0. To state the obvious, there fish must have been bigger (though Dave did have some silvers as well). Gutted! Still, a first and a third meant we had some money to share out, which helped to soften the blow for me!

That night we decided more beer was in order, and went out down Matt’s end, and what a night it turned into! Needless to say my head was hurting in the draw queue for the Lindholme Open match the following day, and when I pulled out peg 4 on Oasis I wished I had stayed in bed. I ended up with two fish, and Matt didn’t fair much better, so we headed off home with the face on, hoping for a better time the following day in the Kiveton Christmas match at Bank End.

I will have to sign off for now, but will update on how this and the rest of my festive angling antics have gone early next week! Tight Lines, and Happy New Year To all.