Talk Angling fishing chat and tackle advice - Blogs http://www.talkangling.co.uk/upload/blogs/ Talk Angling UK is the fishing resource for anglers to chat and discuss anything from match fishing to carp angling online en Fri, 05 Dec 2008 08:15:10 GMT vBulletin 60 http://www.talkangling.co.uk./upload/images/twisteddark/misc/rss.jpg Talk Angling fishing chat and tackle advice - Blogs http://www.talkangling.co.uk/upload/blogs/ any good venues??? http://www.talkangling.co.uk/upload/blogs/pike4life/127-any_good_venues.html Mon, 01 Dec 2008 18:47:12 GMT i live in doncaster and i would like to know were good spots are to catch pike and taticts would be usefull. as i only started pikeing a week ago so... i live in doncaster and i would like to know were good spots are to catch pike and taticts would be usefull. as i only started pikeing a week ago so it would be usefull.

i do not mind going just out side of doncaster or inside doncaster, just not too far outside doncaster. iv heard the riven don is get a reputation for its pike but i havent been. and i dont dare in case its rubbish and a waste of preciouse time angling


from

pike4life:) ]]> pike4life http://www.talkangling.co.uk/upload/blogs/pike4life/127-any_good_venues.html Random ramblings from the leper colony http://www.talkangling.co.uk/upload/blogs/dangerbod/126-random_ramblings_leper_colony.html Thu, 27 Nov 2008 01:07:13 GMT I've not been fishing for a while, in fact today was my eighth day off sick from work, and the first time in sixteen years that I've had to get a sick note. If anyone else has had the horrendous cold currently doing the rounds they're going to know what I'm talking about. I've now officially got an upper respiratory tract infection, which translates as I can't breath and talking makes me cough my guts up. Laughing nearly kills me, so jokes are right out. Anyone who makes a humorous comment could be looking at attempt murder, or worse!

Whilst this has prevented me from fishing, it has allowed me to spend whole days watching other people do it on the telly. As a result I've reached conclusions about some of the respected folk from the hobby who venture into the world of TV and video. Best not to share those conclusions too explicitly, based as they are on cable channel re-runs of 30 minute tv shows and almost certainly wrong, but I think it's safe to say that Matt Hayes' mate Mick Brown, comes across as a really nice bloke, I'm not sure what to make of Henry Gilbey and John Wilson must be making a fortune on his films, 'cause I can't think of another reason to explain all the random chuckling.

Actually it's been nice to watch some fishing, but it's had a similar effect to a long day spent watching a float, I get the repeats as I'm trying to go to sleep. It can be quite pleasant to find yourself back on the bank as you drift off, but the sudden rush of adrenalin when the float goes under makes it a bugger to get to sleep.

Once I'd watched all the fishing progs twice I had to find other entertainment, so I watched Das Boot. I'd not watched that brilliant recreation of life on a U-boat for years and in German with the sub-titles it was just as atmospheric and claustrophobic as I remembered. Strangely fishing got a look in here, because although the opening scene in the brothel didn't ring any fishing bells, by the time the crew had been at sea for eight weeks without benefit of a razor, I was beginning to get a nagging feeling at the back of my mind that I'd seen the Chief Engineer somewhere before and then it struck me, if you took him out of his Kriegsmarine kit and dressed him in tweed, he'd be dead ringer for Chris Yates.

My partner has got this too, though she seems to be a day ahead of me. This means that I am able to say with some certainty that I'm not going to be any better tomorrow and the big yellow cross is going to have to remain on the front door. As that's the case, I'm hoping that they might find a few new fishing programmes to put on, whatever happened to the funny Aussie bloke who is forever playing with the peak of his hat and kissing the fish??? ]]> dangerbod http://www.talkangling.co.uk/upload/blogs/dangerbod/126-random_ramblings_leper_colony.html The knockout final http://www.talkangling.co.uk/upload/blogs/mark777/125-knockout_final.html Wed, 19 Nov 2008 13:38:59 GMT The chosen venue was Jansons fishery just off the A52 on the way Grantham. After having a sneaky practice a few weeks before I was able to formulate... The chosen venue was Jansons fishery just off the A52 on the way Grantham. After having a sneaky practice a few weeks before I was able to formulate a plan and spent Saturday afternoon preparing rigs and getting elastics correct. As the fish are mostly small stockies my rigs consisted of 0.12 fox micron + to size .10 hooklengths with a size 16 or 18 Mustad wide gape hook.

I set up one rig with a .30 Preston series H float for fishing the far bank and as I plumed up I found I could use the same rig down the inside. Elastic was a 12 latex set soft. Another rig was set up with a Garbo DC6 .2 but had preston 11h as the elastic.

The day started well with a small carp first put in follwed by a couple of small ide. The first hour flew by and by chopping and changing baits and lines I kept fish coming. About this time I could see others catching close in so I decided to feed some bait into the margins on both sides.

I decided to fish fairly close down the margins ( topkit and short 4 ) so to hedge my bets I put a big pot of pellets on 1 side and a small handfull down the other side and contined to fish the far side for 10 mins to let the fish settle. After 10 mins I baited up with a grain of corn and went in down the side where I put the big pot. I had lots of liners but no proper bites so I left that alone and tried the other side where i got a bite straight away. 3 fish soon follwed and it looked like I was in for a busy day. I threw another small handfull of pellets in and tried the other side again. This time the fish had settled and I managed a run of 6 fish in 6 put ins. I alternated between both swins taking a few from each before feeding and changing sides. I started to use my second net at 1pm and in the final 2 hours had 32lb of small stockies. Enjoyable fishing but not exactly hard.

I finished the match with 54lb 13 oz for 3rd. The winner had caught from the inside from the off and weighed 79lb and 2nd place had 63lb. There were also back up weights of 47lb and 34lb so it fished very well.

Did I win the knockout though I hear you ask. The answer is YES but not in the way I would have liked. The other angler didnt turn up due to a shoulder injury so I won by default BUT in the semi finals I had the top weight so I think I deserved to win.

Thats my club matches over for the year so I wont be fishing for a couple of months but I will still post some blog entries as I start my preparations for next years season. Hopefully that will include choosing a new pole:eek: but dont tell the missus.

Tight Lines

Mark ]]> mark777 http://www.talkangling.co.uk/upload/blogs/mark777/125-knockout_final.html Severns in Flood so its off to the Riddings http://www.talkangling.co.uk/upload/blogs/toon/124-severns_flood_so_its_off_riddings.html Sun, 16 Nov 2008 12:00:32 GMT As member of the Halfway House Angling club I was due to fish the Severn At Shrewsbury on Sunday. Alas the River was in flood and so the match... As member of the Halfway House Angling club I was due to fish the Severn At Shrewsbury on Sunday. Alas the River was in flood and so the match cancelled. All was not lost however as Our men in charge of all things official at the HHAC were on the case.
A new venue was organised, the crucian pool at the ridings. I think this is one of the most recent pools added to Riddings , but could be wrong. The pool is Triangle in shape with one of the longest sides ( there are two long one short, almost wizard hat shaped!) not fishable as it has been planted with an assortment of trees and bushes running down the boundary fence. I had fished this pool just once before last year so had an idea of what to do. Last year most persisted with the pole despite conditions being less than perfect, and only getting a bite when the wind was off, which were times few and far between. Just as the match was ending some regulars came by on a recon for a match the day after. They informed us that we were not fishing the three best pegs on the pool and that we should be chucking a lead to the trees opposite with a piece of corn on a hook. A swift glance across the pool confirmed that this is what one of our guys was doing with results, He turned out the eventual winner ( I should of set up a ledger rod , another lesson learned I guess!).
So this time I turn up with not one but two feeder rods! My new Map Parabolix STI feeder system rods These were matched to a box of freshly built hair rigged size 16 hooks with quick stop, a tin of corn and half a bag of fish meal fine groundbait. I was set.

Now the reels I was using, one old, a Mitchell 300s owned for many a year it has seen days of use and built before the day of line clips ( I would be using the Rubber band method of line clipping) and a reel provided free with a magazine subscription . This reel does have a line clip but the line lay is poor but not helped by the curious angle the fixed spool sits on the spindle! Still at least the bail arm closes at first ask unlike the now geriatric Mitchell’s bale arm to whom persuasion in the form of rapid retrieve eventually causes the mechanism to function.
So the All in is announced and immediately I set my lines, one shorter one longer. Now then, this was my first time fishing clipped up. My first casting attempts could be described as ‘a good effort’ if one were being kind and did not want to reference reality in any way or if being brutally honest ‘ comedic’ as after catching bushes and Trees a few times, end gear cracked off or whizzed back to the peg following a ‘good yank’. I am sure I heard sonic bangs as the small cage feeder I was using flew past my ear on its way to embedding itself in to the gate post behind me!
After getting my act together with line and length I settled in. Using my mobile phone timer to alert me when two minutes were up I cast to two lines on the same path. One two thirds across and the other as close to the bushes and trees as I could get. One line behind the other so should the closer line become active, line bites, caused by fish bumping the line as it passed through the closer swim, would alert me. The Timer method was a new one to. I though if I keep putting in regularly then the noise and cloud caused when the cage feeder arrives would attract fish. I used the timer to stop me day dreaming! it worked really well, in fact I am pretty sure I caught two carp that I would not of if I had not been casting so regularly as on retrieving at the alarm fish where on when no indication was seen. So I ended up with 21 lb of carp on a cold day following a sudden drop in temperature as well .
Came 2nd on the day beating all but one other by 10 lbs and being beaten by just 2 lb.
Many thanks to Sean at Stevens tackle of Cradley. Great advice on tackle and method (not the timer, that’s all mine) helped me loads on this day, and will on many other occasions no doubt. ]]> Toon http://www.talkangling.co.uk/upload/blogs/toon/124-severns_flood_so_its_off_riddings.html A Not So Brief History Part 2 http://www.talkangling.co.uk/upload/blogs/mark777/123-not_so_brief_history_part_2.html Wed, 12 Nov 2008 14:42:39 GMT July I missed the first match due to a family holiday but continued my good run of form with 2 3rd place finishes in the next 2 matches at Hackett... July

I missed the first match due to a family holiday but continued my good run of form with 2 3rd place finishes in the next 2 matches at Hackett lakes with 35lb of small carp on the method and 20lb of carp at Wolds fishery near Melton Mowbray. The final match of the month was also the first leg of the second round of the club knockout. I was drawn against probably the best angler in the club on a venue he fishes very well. We were on Serpent lake at lakeview and after a difficult day I was fortunate to be only 3lb behind him and I picked up a section win in the process.

August

Due to family committments I was only able to fish 2 matches. The first was a disasterous match back at lakeview where I drew an area de-void of fish and struggled for 9lb and the second was the second leg of the knockout.

This was fished at Eye Kettleby lake 5 and coincided with a challenge match with another club. Unfortunately this meant that virtually every peg was taken so fishing was going to be hard. Luckily I drew 2 pegs away from my opponent so I could keep and eye on how things were going. I managed to get a run of fish going from the far bank so I thought it would be close. Come the weigh in my opponent weighed in 16lb 10oz so I needed 19lb 11oz to win. I weighed my carp net first and it weighed 19lb 6 oz so with a handfull of bits in my other net I knew I was through. I finished the match in 5th place overall but 2nd in our club standings.

September

The month started well with a 2nd at Wolds Fishery with 39lb of carp on the method. The second match of the month caused some controversy. The venue has a number of rules including a 50lb per net limit and fishery feed pellets only. I finshed 5th with 48lb but 1 angler finishing above me had over 50lb in a net and another 1 used a well known brand of pellet instead of the fishery ones because he thought the fishery ones were of poor quality. Both anglers were not disqualified even though the match secretary knew of both offences after the match. I can have sympathy with the net limit offence as he was only 2lb over and its hard to calculate weight at a mixed fishery where 1 fish can be a 5lb carp and the next a 10 oz ide. However the pellet issue was the one that concerned me as the angler knew about the rule before the match and deliberatly broke it. I have been told that this matter will be raised at the club agm so I wait with anticipation to see what will happen.

The last 2 matchs of the month were a disaster. Back at lakeview for 5lb on Serpent again and then the final match was the first leg of the knockout semi final. There were 3 anglers left so the one with the lowest weight after the next 2 legs would miss out on the final to be fished at Jansons fishery on November 16th.

The match was fished on the notoriously peggy 4 Islands lake at Portland. History shows that if you are not drawn on the inner island pegs then you will struggle. I drew a peg on the outer side that in our last 2 matches on the lake the previous anglers both blanked. The other 2 semi finalist both drew on the inner pegs so I had my work cut out. I managed to weigh in 5lb 8oz while my 2 opponents weighed in 13lb and 21lb.

October

This would turn out to be another very good month with a 2nd place in the first match at Eye Kettleby and a 3rd place on a very hard match at Frisby Pits. I finsihed 5th in the next match at Little john Lakes with a nice bag that contained a bream of about 5lb. The final match of the month was the 2nd leg of the semi final. This was to be fished back at Mill Dam on the match lake. After the draw I was able to see both other anglers so i could change plans If I had to according to how they were catching. The day started great with 4 ide in 4 put ins over to the far side before anyone else even had a bite. However after both anglers caught carp soon after I had to change focus from the small ide at 14.5mtrs to try and get some bigger fish. I had fed a line at 5 mtrs straight in front and started to catch crucians and larger ide from this line. I also had fed a margin line to the next peg with corn so about 1pm tried this line with a nice big juicy worm on the hook and a lovely 4lb carp found its way to my net. I fished these 2 lines for the rest of the match catching 1 or 2 fish from each before going to the other 1. I put another net in at about 3pm ( I didnt want to break the 50lb limit ) and went about 35 mins before I caught again before 3 fish including one just before the whistle gave me a total weight of 53lb which was more than enough for a match win as 2nd place only had 37lb and also meant I had qualified for the final. The other 2 anglers weighed in 14lb and 20lb.

November

Novemeber started with a hard match at Goosedale Fishery. Only 7 anglers braved the cold and rain. The winner had 6 carp and bits for over 20lb while I finished 3rd with 7lb 10oz of small fish and 1 small carp. The angler who finished 2nd had around 2lb with 20 mins to go but managed to hook and land an 11lb 15oz carp before the whistle. I was gutted my days hard work had been wiped out by one fish although it took great skill to land it on light lines and no 6 elastic. The match last week was a complete waste of time. It was fished on the Old lake at Portland and the winner had 7lb 10oz while I managed 3 fish for 3lb 8oz.

Well thats a not so quick catch up of my season so far. This weekend is the knockout cup final so Saturday will be spent making new rigs and checking elastics and sorting my gear out. Hope you enjoyed the read and tune in next week for a review of the final.

Thanks and Tight Lines

Mark ]]> mark777 http://www.talkangling.co.uk/upload/blogs/mark777/123-not_so_brief_history_part_2.html A Not So Brief History Part 1 http://www.talkangling.co.uk/upload/blogs/mark777/122-not_so_brief_history_part_1.html Wed, 12 Nov 2008 14:41:31 GMT I thought that I would complete a blog of my yearly matches as a club angler and the struggles involved in trying to improve week in week out. I had... I thought that I would complete a blog of my yearly matches as a club angler and the struggles involved in trying to improve week in week out. I had planned to start this next year but a quiet day at work has prompted me to begin. A bit about me first though.

My name is Mark Nicholl and I live in mansfield with my wife and 16 month old son. I started fishing at about 13 years old when I went to the river Bann in Portadown with some school friends and caught some small roach. I was hooked so to speak and joined the school angling club where for the next 3 or 4 years we would go on fishing trips throughout Northern Ireland every couple of weeks during school terms. We even took part in the Northern Ireland Schools Championship and in my final year at school we won our qualifer and came 2nd in the final fished in Enniskillen where I recorded a section win on the very hard Dolans Ring section. I almost missed out on the presentation as our teacher forgot to come and pick me up.

I went to university in Edinburgh and gave up fishing for a few years to concentrate on other things ( booze and women mostly ). Four years ago I was offered a job in Nottingham and got the fishing bug again. I bought all new equipment including a pole which I had no idea how to use ( some may say I still dont ) and ventured off pleasure fishing to places such as Lakeview near Melton Mowbray and Sherwood Forest Farm. I remember getting up before dawn and spending all day fishing and going home when it was dark. I fished a few charity matches and soon got the bug for competition.

Last year I joined a local club who fished every sunday from April to mid November. I had a terrible start weighing in 1 lb 15oz in the first 2 matches and finishing last both times. Never one to give up i carried on and improved slowly throughout the year. I was unable to fish every week as my wife was about to give birth so it was quite hard to prepare properly. I started to win my section every now and then and narrowly missed out on my first win after losing a 5lb carp after the wistle at Holmedale lake at Sherwood Forest. I was also beaten by 3 oz at Willow lakes in Foston in one of the last matches of the year. Over the winter I prepared much better and this year has brought much better results.

April

The first match of the year was fished at a very cold lakeview fishery. We fished Oasis lake and I managed 1 fish for 1 lb 9 oz to finish 8th. My first frame came in the 3rd match of the year on the Old lake at Portland where I finished 3rd with a catch of small carp on the method feeder.I managed a section win in the next match back at lakeview on stream. This also happened to be the first leg of round one of the club knockout so I carried an 8lb advantage to the second leg.

May

I began with another section win on lagoon at lakeview and 4th in the match. I weighed in 32lb including a carp of 7lb 12oz that led me a merry dance on light elastic. I missed the next match due to a family wedding but as the fish chose this weekend to spawn I wasnt bothered at all. Ok I was bothered a bit. The last match of May saw another section win and 5th in the match this time at Little john lakes fishing a small feeder to the corner of the island for a nice bag of small carp.

June

The first match of June was fished at a new venue for the club Kilburn lake in Derbyshire. Reports suggested it was full of small carp and silver fish and that they could be caught close in. It was raining quite heavily and the ground was quite muddy so I wasnt best pleased to draw the peg furtherest from the car park. It was an end peg however so I wasnt that annoyed after I arrived at my peg. I could see every one setting up short poles to fish 5 meters out so I plumbed up to find only about 1 1/2 ft deep. I could also see fish topping further out so I decided to fish shallow at 10 mtrs and try something completely different from everyone else.

It paid off as I weighed in 53lb 2oz for my first ever win.The next week we went to another new venue Mill Dam near Collingham. We fished the old lake and I came 2nd thanks to some nice carp in the margins late on. Next up was the second leg of the first round knockout. We fished Maid Marion lake at Little John Lakes where I caught over 30lb for a section win and 4th in the match. I also made it through to the next round of the knockout with about 15lb to spare. The 4th match of the month saw us return to Lakeview to fish Marina Lake. With near gale force winds blowing down the lake everyone fished in the margins or just 2 sections out. I had a great day finishing with 59lb 10oz of small carp. I was told that both end pegs at the end of the lake the wind was blowing into had not stopped catching all day so I wasnt too confident. It was won off peg 1 with 69lb but the other end peg only had 55lb so I managed 2nd in the match. The last match of june was a disaster and I finshed 11th but apart from that june was a great month with my first win 2 2nd places and another section win. ]]> mark777 http://www.talkangling.co.uk/upload/blogs/mark777/122-not_so_brief_history_part_1.html A Little Insight to Fell View Lake http://www.talkangling.co.uk/upload/blogs/fellviewlake_co_uk/121-little_insight_fell_view_lake.html Mon, 10 Nov 2008 14:02:24 GMT When we get new members we always ask them whether they are fishing primarily for the Carp, silver fish or the Catfish, the usual answer is that they... When we get new members we always ask them whether they are fishing primarily for the Carp, silver fish or the Catfish, the usual answer is that they are Carp anglers but would like to have a go for the Cats! some have never caught one before and wonder what all the fuss is about, others have caught them abroad or at a different venue in the UK and love the fight that the Cats give and so most of our Carp anglers switch to targeting the Cats all the time.

When we first took over the lake 8 years ago the Carp were pretty easy to catch on pellet, boilies, luncheon meat, bread moulded onto the hook or a bunch of worms and in the afternoon on floating Crust and dog buscuit, most of the catch results came from the margins! We put this down to the fact that for the first 3-4 years we had a match angling syndicate and at the end of the day all of their left-over baits would be thrown into their swims and the carp would come along and mop it all up, When we decided that we would stock some Catfish as we had no known predators at that point and were over run with gudgeon we decided to open the syndicate to all anglers and the match anglers were, to say the least very unhappy about it! and so all but one dropped out. However we now have 3 match anglers in the syndicate ! The first year of the new syndicate (year 5) saw many carp on the banks and most of them had not been caught before and we continue to be suprised each year with more carp coming out that have seen the bank for the first time and all of them in pristine condition. It became increasingly apparent that the carp had become very wary.............this was most noticeable with floating baits where you could see how the Carp approached the bait! Now, in the previous year the carp would come along proper greedy and snatch anything that they could see but in the second year of the open syndicate (year 6)it was noticable that the Carp had become very choosy and would swim around the floaters for a while then they would nudge the bait a few times (crafty eh!) and as if they knew, would leave the hooked bait and go find a freebie!!!!! how frustrating is that! We do know that the lake is alive with natural bait, swan mussels, blood worm beds etc which leads us to believe that the Carp have switched to natural baits and maybe the fact that most of the anglers were only targeting the cats that no other baits were going in for the carp! So that year I decided that whenever the lake was free (most weekdays) I would go out in the boat with bread and dog buscuit to see what came up for them. The first couple of weeks were pretty disheartening to say the least so I decided to put the bait in the water and sit still in the boat till I saw something ........after about 30 minutes I saw carp just within eyeshot, very very wary........I sat still barely breathing .........and slowly they would come just below the bait, eye it up for a couple of minutes and then gently open their mouths and take it from just below the surface (previously they just snatched it) as soon as they detected any movement from me they were off like a bat out of hell! However most of the fish caught on floating baits came from around the reed bed and so that is where the anglers would cast to. This led to another problem however, having seen that the reed bed produced more fish the anglers would cast within inches of the reeds, obviously when a Carp got hooked the first thing that they did was dive into the thick of the reeds and got snapped off, on a few occasions we had to don our waders and go rescue a fish trapped in the reeds all wrapped up in line. So with the fact that fish were getting snapped off and they were mainly in the reed bed left us pondering as to what to do........The reed bed had grown extensively anyway so we decided to get a machine in to remove most of it, we also had a channel dug in front of the pruned reeds in a bid to contain them somewhat so making it easier to maintain in the future and also in a bid to disperse the Carp around the lake. We spent £300 on lilies to give the carp other places to hide and breed but they all dissapeared overnight one week after we had planted them........WHAT!! however over the next few months we noticed that some native lilies were appearing here and there and decided to let them establish around the islands and so we have seen succesfull catches from two of these areas imparticular one of those being at the end of what we called the pier (a long strip reaching out towards the middle of the lake) now we have a new problem!! as news spread that the end of the pier was a new hot spot it was an obvious choice for the anglers who got here first to get that peg! The problem was that it stictched the lake up on both sides of the pier!! so after much consideration we decided to bring in the machine again and remove the strip of land (year 6) but leave the end of it in so creating a new small island, of course this upset the anglers to begin with but as they came and saw the result were all agreed that it was a good idea because it now gave more anglers the opportunity to fish to the pads. As year 7 is almost over we have noticed that the anglers who have done their homework, put in some time and adopted tactics to suit have been pretty successful ........for those who like runs waters this venue would not be suitable for you!
The growth rate is about 1lb and half per year and we do have a lot of fish caught in the 17-18lb bracket the largest Carp to date being 25lb. ]]> fellviewlake.co.uk http://www.talkangling.co.uk/upload/blogs/fellviewlake_co_uk/121-little_insight_fell_view_lake.html pellets advice and opinions sought http://www.talkangling.co.uk/upload/blogs/judge22/120-pellets_advice_opinions_sought.html Sat, 08 Nov 2008 13:34:19 GMT Being in my 60's and having pole fished for well over 16 years I have never been a great user of pellets however fishing more commercials I decided to give it a go but this is what I would like opinions on I brought a pellet pump and softened them up to go straight on the hook but allways struggled to keep them on even the fish were helping themselves so I get more success with hair rigging a pellet band and putting them on hard which appears to be better but does the hard pellet leak more attractant than the softened ones??????? and with so many clours and flavours which ones work the best for say somewhere like Makins phase 2 on the lagoon lake which is a mixed species lake and will pellets work all winter must admit since I purchased my space station and the garbo G8 my sucess rate has shot up do not match fish but want to keep going all winter any opinions would be much appreciated ]]> Judge22 http://www.talkangling.co.uk/upload/blogs/judge22/120-pellets_advice_opinions_sought.html My Match News By Clive Branson http://www.talkangling.co.uk/upload/blogs/angling_news/119-my_match_news_clive_branson.html Tue, 28 Oct 2008 10:00:28 GMT Here are my Weekly Match News straight off my web site www.angling-news.co.uk Any fishing Questions email me at clive@angling-news.co.uk ... Here are my Weekly Match News straight off my web site www.angling-news.co.uk

Any fishing Questions email me at
clive@angling-news.co.uk

WONDERFUL WYE
This weekend saw me fish the annual River Wye Championships. Having become runner up a couple of times in this event, my expectations were high when I drew the Fownhope section 5 miles below Hereford. Knowing the right peg could produce a winning weight. However I drew peg 138 in the caravan section. Having a late run of dace I caught 28lb 2oz to win that section, just 3lb out of the main prize money.

SECTION WIN
Back to Port Talbot Docks and with the same results as last week with all the major weights coming from the first few pegs. Steve Eryes winning from peg 3 with 47lb of skimmers. I drew next to last weeks peg, number 12. This time beating Mike Towler and Anthony Hogg (The venue specialists) with a section win of 24lb10oz of skimmers and a few roach. All caught twitching red maggot and worm along the bottom.


PORT TALBOT
Back to Port Talbot Dock. It seems just a few moments ago that I was fishing the Popular Winter series at Port Talbot Dock in South Wales. The start of the this year match, had a mixed response after a pre match fish off. With all the major weights coming from the first few pegs. Rob Jones from Caerphilly won the match with 37lb of skimmers from peg 3. I Drew next to the venue expert Mike Towler Peg 13 and 14. Mike just beating me for the section with 26lb to my 22lb 12oz


WINTER WYE
The Winter season is back already and the first of the River Wye Series fished on the Belmont section in Hereford started this Sunday. With a good turnout of 12 teams. However with heavy rain over night the River started to rise as we fished. With some anglers struggling the weight we not that bad. 26lb on the tennis courts was the winning weight. I had a good draw Peg 89 opposite the rowing club. After scaling down to size 20 and single maggot I managed to land three Chub and one Perch for 14lb 12oz and winning my section and 4th overall. Local team Woody’s won the team event and our team Nomads 6th. ]]> Angling-News http://www.talkangling.co.uk/upload/blogs/angling_news/119-my_match_news_clive_branson.html My First Match by Smileymiley. http://www.talkangling.co.uk/upload/blogs/smileymiley/118-my_first_match_smileymiley.html Fri, 24 Oct 2008 18:30:05 GMT It all started over the August bank holiday 2008....I went fishing for the first time in probably 20 years with my new mate Spongebob. We were... It all started over the August bank holiday 2008....I went fishing for the first time in probably 20 years with my new mate Spongebob. We were intoduced a few months before by the Birmingham,Coventry and Black Country Gestapo!! (My mrs and his mrs are from Germany)
I got my hands on his spare pole and ended up at some puddle at Tofts Lakes south of Coventry.
I caught probably 25 - 30 roach tench perch and something called a skimmer that was covered in goo and stank like something you can have a good guess at!!:eek:
None of them were over about 6oz, but I was happy as it had been the most fish I had ever caught in one sitting. ( I cut my teeth on the Grand Union in Knowle during the 80's after school and never caught anything bigger than a 6oz Roach.)
So I go home happy after one of the most relaxing times in recent years with my NBF Spongebob. (the most relaxing being the holiday in the Maldives last year with the missus)

Over the next few weeks I buy a garage load of tackle and we go and fish a couple of cuts ; one in Nuneaton with Spongebob and my other new fishing mucka Sumo, and The Cannock Extension with SB. Didn't catch much out of either just a few tiddlers again. (Are there any fish in the canals anymore??)(Were there any fish in the canals in the first place??!!)
The 18th October arrives and I meet up with SB for his birthday bender round Coventry. We go to the Ice Hockey then end up at a biker bar and get thoroughly sozzled. After the obligitory doner meat and chips we end up back at his place and I collapse in a drunken pile on his spare room floor.
The morning arrives too quickly and we go round to Dick's House for bacon sarnies and coffee to soak up the rubbish in my delicate tum!. We pack him in the van and set off for the venue ; Packington Somers.
We were all guests of Radford AC. We were fishing on Gearys and SB and Dick had been saying we needed to avoid pegs 1 to 15 as they had a steep bank behind them and were a bit of a pain with a pole. As it was my first match I really wanted to avoid them as I had enough on my plate without having a hill behind me to rest the end of my pole on.
We get there and I am faced with a group of middle aged men in skiing salopettes.:D;) I am quickly told these are called bib and brace...nice!! ( I have actually sent off for some now)
I hand my money in and I am told the pegs are 7 - 36. Now the odds are getting longer on me getting a low peg with mount everest behind me..great. We go then to the car park and hang about till the draw. I am quite excited by this time. A queue forms and we take our discs....No 4.....eh!! We start at 7 I thought. Well it ends up I have got peg 11...oh b*gger!!!. I get in my car and go to my peg. I stand at the top and look down at the peg..It's about 20 ft below me...how the hell am I going to get my pole up that when I'm fishing!!!:confused::confused:
Anyway, I start setting my tackle up and get ready for the off at 1000am. I have made some rigs myself and get 1 of them on the end of my power top 2 on my new 12.5m pole and a lighter rig on my match top 3.
The hooter goes and I fill my cupping kit with chopped worm and caster and soil and start shipping out to 10m at 10 to! I just get it out there without spilling it everywhere (shipping out above head height at arms length..effing great!!!) I fill the cupping kit up with micro pellets this time and start shipping out to 10m at 10 past! I get to 5m and the end of the pole drops off the end of my roller 20 ft above my head behind me.....the cupping kit flies into the air and the pellets are everywhere at 5m out. I start again....pole back up the bank onto the roller...fill the cupping kit...start shipping out at 10 past...5m comes and the pole comes off the roller .......and the pellets are taking another flying lesson:confused::o..straight in the drink at 5m!!!! Well thats when I decided that was my second swim. ;)
So I then feed the margin to my left at 5m right by an overhanging hawthorn bush with some pellet. That would do for later on (so I was told - keep feeding the margin but don't fish it for an hour or so!!) Great.
I get my rig on and ship out 10m with a bit of worm on a 10 elastic top 2. Within 30 seconds I have a fish on the end only to be flung off...looked like a roach when it sailed past the end of my pole....! I ship out after re baiting and again a roach goes sailing past again....b*gger:mad:! This happens twice more in the first 15 mins...4 fish lost.
I change my top 2 to my match 3 with a 4-6 elastic and ship out after changing the rigs over. Straight in to a nice roach...8oz or so. Fan..effing..tastic I think.
I feed again with a few casters and pop some pellets in my margin. Ship out and straight into a great big slab of goo of about 3lb. I get it in my landing net...the biggest fish I have ever caught by far..I'm shaking like a leaf.
SB is on the phone..he's had a couple of tiddlers but nothing else. I ship out again and have a few bites, a couple of tiddlers but nothing else.
Then bam!!!! The elastic shoots out and I think I've caught a passing submarine..blimey. 5 mins later, a smashed up float and slimey trousers, a lovely 3lb ish tench is sitting on my lap...this is it...this is what it's all about...in the words of team america...f*ck yeah!!!:D:D
After that I have a couple of nibbles but nothing more. Must have spooked the fish.Bummer. I change my top 2 to my top 3 and go to the margin. Change to red maggot, straight into a couple of tiddlers. By this time it's about 1215 and the wind has got up and the end of my pole is swaying around. Suddenly I am shipping out and the wind takes me into the bush. On the end of my rig I have a lesser spotted Hawthorn fish...Oh Sh*t....then I hear a sharp crack as I try to play the bush...the end of my pole has taken a swim and is hanging like a xmas decoration about 4m away. Luckily it hasn't snapped and I put the top 2 with the 10 elastic on the end with a new rig.
I feed a few pellets out to 5m at 10 past, remember, where all the other pellets landed 3.5 hours ago, with my catapult, as the 3 section of my cupping kit is hanging from the bush, then I pop a 4mm hook pellet on; never fished a pellet before. I have no bites for 15 mins so think I'll go back on worm and caster as pellets are crap. I fling some casters out with a few bits of worm with my catty and plonk my rig in the drink. I wait and wait for about 5 mins and by this time the wind is blowing a gale into my face and I can hardly see the float. I chuck some more casters in and the float goes...I drop the catty and strike....a slab of slime comes in quickly followed by 1 more about 5 mins later both of a couple to 3 lb.
I keep there with the worm and my elastic goes again like a train....After an eternity of left, right up down in out up down left right I get this monster tench in my net. Must be about 4.5lb....oh yeah baby:cool:. I then ship out again and get another slimy slab of a couple of pound and then a couple of tiddlers.
It then comes to 3pm and the hooter goes. I start packing away and suddenly there's a chap in waders taking down my xmas decorations for me..thank god for men in kinky boots!! He then weighs my catch and at 15.5lb tells me I am way in front at this stage. Great. Then remember I am the 4th peg...bum! I go round to SB's peg 4 up from mine and he's had about 8lb. I'm shaking now and scrounge a fag off him to calm me a bit (gave up 18 months ago).
I finish that and go and pack the rest of my tackle away. Suddenly a 4x4 stops at my peg and this lovely man comes over and hands me a 20 spot!! "Well done mate..you won" he says and then drives off.

WAYHAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

First match, first win!!!!

I pack my tackle in the car and after being invited to their next match in Evesham I say my goodbyes to SB and Dick and head home smelling like a kebab visiting the brewery at Grimsby docks!!

Next episode...Nuneaton Cut against Sumo's club on the 2nd Nov. I have got my Nugget ready!!!:D

See ya next time. :) ]]> Smileymiley http://www.talkangling.co.uk/upload/blogs/smileymiley/118-my_first_match_smileymiley.html Boldings http://www.talkangling.co.uk/upload/blogs/toon/117-boldings.html Tue, 14 Oct 2008 12:32:14 GMT Well its been a while since I fished Boldings ( see earlier post) and I said I would post a 'match report ' here it is ….
The weather was mild and dry on the day with little wind, almost perfect for my first ‘Ton up’ I was thinking. Dream on! It started to go wrong when I got there, parking up on the car park and decamping the gear ready for the jaunt to the lakes. Trollying the kit across to the crowd awaiting the draw, I was wondering where there kit was when one of the guys there pointed out I wouldn’t make it far with only one wheel on the wagon! Cracking trolleys these Preston ones, it must take genius inspiration and an acute understanding of engineering to believe a thin 1'' screw passing through the centre of a hub set up will provide enough force to ensure the hub will retain the wheel to a seat box with cassette footplate, 2 keep nets, and a carry all containing various assortment of pole rollers keep net arms and spray bar as well as enough bait for a days bagging!
I digress, 'where’s yer kit?' I enquired, 'down by the lake with the car' was the response. So despite the signage indicating the prohibition of traffic passing, it seems that one can ferry kit to parking areas nearer the lakes (it’s an option I would be taking next time!)
I was going to be walking to the lake this time.

In the café the cook wasn’t happy, serving breakfasts he was hoping not to, he went about the task under mutterings of alleged start times. And so in a dazzling display of inappropriate customer service I had a 30 minute wait while three breakfasts were cooked and 2 sandwiches were assembled before I could be on my way with 3 bags of venue pellets and the knowledge (gleaned from a regular customer also waiting to be served, but with the added annoyance that he would not need to await a draw and could, should he be served, be on his way and wetting line in pursuit of a relaxing days fishing on one of his day off from work.) that corn hadn’t been working over the last week or so.
I guess the half hundred weight of pulse would need to be returned to storage then! And with no meat in the bag the outlook was looking grim. Doh!.

Come draw time I wanted to be one of the first with the hand in the bag, this would leave me time to hike to the waters. The anticipation. The draw. The sound of dreams being crushed as I read out the lake I was to spend the next 8 hours on, Larch!
.
The walk there was uneventful save the overturning of the precision machined trolley when I asked it to scale a small bump in the road, no harm done no bait spilt.
I reached my peg it looked ok and to the untrained eye promised some piscatorial action, having taken a few minutes to recover from the trek to the lake ( these gym sessions don’t seem to be working at all) I set up my kit, all the gear and no idea in the truest sense, all blue and black, my peg area bristled with extra pole tips, Nets and bait trays.
My Peg, Lilly pad in the margins to the right a Lilly pad area out about 8 meters in front. These were my chosen battle grounds.
The start time came and went without the usual war cries of ‘all in’. Anglers around Birch pondered the situation and tentatively, eased out pole cups, unrepentantly, cast out feeders and with an air of belligerence, cast out splashing wagglers. A few needed more encouragement and joined in the activities after discussion. ‘Did yow ere the all in?’ ‘I daint, did yow?’ ‘Must ov been called as them are feeding!’ etc etc etc… let the games begin….

In I go with the pole to the lily pads ahead over the top of cupped pellets, the margins get the hand feed treatment. With a large piece of corn on the hook on the bottom I am constantly getting small knocks as the lakes resident roach muscle in on the swim. The margins are no better, I swap to feeding maggot in the margin, the smaller fish will be fed off and the bigger fish might be worth the effort. I did not at this point believe the entire lakes silver contingent would be considering making reservations for château peg 1! They were and did and so for the remaining time of the match I set about trying to get bait down to the bottom in the hope it would be ignored by the smaller and pounced upon by the larger.
The next peg sat on a feeder all match and took two (maybe more, I was busy, missing bites mostly) carp. A performance he was not impressed with either, elegantly expressed when with more than half hour still to go he packed up. When he saw the scales also starting from the other end of the lake he went home, looking back at the water with only scorn. I sympathised. I managed to haul one carp from each of the swims and the rest of the time was spent swinging in silver to hand. Not a winning bag, come the weigh the scales man informed me I had won the silver fish pot ( at least I would have had there been one!).
So with the match over I returned to the Upper car park and retrieved my car parking near my peg for when I was kicked off the lake. I consoled myself with a cup of tea and fished on till the aerators jumped in to action indicating closing. Yep, caught more in the last hour than the previous eight. A mate of mine says ‘if you’re not catching your doin it rung!’ I guess I have much to learn. Still, a new venue under the belt and the day was pleasant enough.

George Cooper Memorial - 25th September 2008

Boldings Pools, Bridgnorth

Name Lake Peg Weight

Individual Overall

1 Gary Haywood Sycamore 8 72lbs 2ozs
2 Pete James Sycamore 2 66lbs 8ozs
3 Allan Bailey Larch 16 58lbs 8ozs
4 Derek Willetts Larch 15 55lbs 5ozs
5 Steve Heizman Chestnut 18 47lbs 10ozs
6 Dave Rowbury Larch 24 46lbs 13ozs
7 Dave Kent Sycamore 48 45lbs 6ozs
8 Sean Green Chestnut 21 36lbs 10ozs
9 Neil Thursfield Larch 18 34lbs 10ozs
10 Dan Thursfield Larch 11 33lbs 13ozs


Sections
Chestnut
Steve Heizman 18 47lbs 10ozs

Sycamore
Dave Kent 48 45lbs 6ozs

Larch
Dave Rowbury 24 46lbs 13ozs ]]> Toon http://www.talkangling.co.uk/upload/blogs/toon/117-boldings.html One of those days http://www.talkangling.co.uk/upload/blogs/dangerbod/116-one_those_days.html Mon, 13 Oct 2008 20:23:06 GMT Steve and I went fishing again last Monday, something we'd not done for a while and whilst I like solo fishing well enough, I'm certainly not averse to going with a mate.

The weather forecast was supposed to be pretty decent, but it was looking a bit dodgy to me, so we decided to stay close to home and went off to Pool House Farm.

The weather started off pretty dismal, then brightened up, then went rapidly downhill again. For a while it looked as though the fishing was going to go the same way, but for me it ended on a high, well sort of.

We started out with mist, but the sun soon came out and burned it off and smaller fish began to show up on the surface. Steve was fishing at depth, choosing to drop his pole fished maggots close to a bed of lily pads, I was fishing a single grain of corn over a scattering of freebie sweetcorn in more open water. We were neither of is getting much interest from the fish and as I was more interested in catching a fish than in failing to catch a monster, I switched to a short pole rig, with a very sensitive little float and started fishing a maggot up in the water.

Soon I'd landed a nice skimmer and lost a decent roach, things were looking up! Steve though, had realised that he was sitting on the shadiest peg on the pool, he was fishing the coldest water and he'd not had so much as a knock. Well no problem, we virtually had the pool to ourselves, so we moved round a few pegs and fishing shallow we both thought we'd take advantage of the warmer water and fish maggots for silvers. Of course at this point the clouds rolled in and the temperature dropped noticeably. I know the water temperature couldn't possibly have dropped as quickly, but whatever the reason, the fish stopped biting.

We struggled on to lunch time with my total now standing at two skimmers and Steve still struggling with a dead bag. After a break for lunch and a tactic talk we got back to it, a roach each and things were looking up again, but not for long and after a couple of changes of depth and reducing to a 22 hook I finally got bored and wandered off with the top two sections of my pole, a folding net, maggot box and disgorger, to try my luck by a small lilly patch close in to another empty peg.

Ten minutes later and I'd caught half a dozen little roach, I made my way round the pool from peg to peg pulling out tiny little fish until I ended up at the pools only double peg with it's adjacent lily pad patch, a few moments later I was holding up a decent sized fish and Steve was packing his gear up to come and join me.

We fished opposite sides of the lilies and soon had a few decent fish each. I decided to change my rig again and went deep in the hope of a last chance decent fish before it got dark. I went back to a size 16 hook and carefully impaled a worm, I also put my third and fourth sections on the pole to reach out to a tempting gap in the lilies. I was pleased to see that the worm aroused a lot of interest, but nothing was taking the bait properly, the fish contented themselves with nibbling and worrying at the worms ends.

I changed worm again, snipping it in half to get the juices out and sending both ends of the drendrobaena wriggling like mad. I dropped the bait in as close to a gap in the lilies as I dared and scattered maggots over the top. a bite came almost immediately and I lifted the pole, nothing there and half my worm gone! Cheeky bugger!

I dropped it back in and waited, it twitched, dipped and then pulled under and slid towards the weeds. I pulled hard round, away from the snags and a fish pulled back hard, switching direction and heading for open water. It was pulling out a good length of bright orange elastic and I thought I'd hooked a small to medium sized carp.

It put up a good fight, but with the fourth section off the pole and the end held up nice and high the elastic was taking its toll. I was gobsmacked though when a silver head broke surface and I saw a flash of red fins. This was a roach, but not like any roach I ever caught before, it was a beauty too. I landed it and quickly unhooked it, reverently I held it up for Steve to see, and stepped back with an ominous crunch onto my number four pole section. At this point I was suffering mixed emotions, this was the biggest roach I ever caught, but that crunch sounded expensive.

That was my last fish and soon we were packing up, however my ineptitude demonstration still had a way to go. The crack wasn't too bad fortunately and I reckoned some epoxy resin and a carefully applied strip of carbon fabric would see it right. I wiped the pole sections down and started to slot them inside the butt section, dislodging the end cap in the process, it rolled across the staging coming to rest a couple of feet from where I stood. Putting the pole down, I stepped across to pick it up, put my foot on a wet patch, felt my boot slip, and watch helplessly as the toe of my sliding boot connected firmly with the end cap and punted it straight into the middle of the pool.

Normally I'd have said at least one rude word, this time I couldn't believe what had happened, so I just stood wordlessly watching the spreading patch of ripples where my end cap had slipped below the surface. I suppose I should just be grateful that I hadn't gone in after it! ]]> dangerbod http://www.talkangling.co.uk/upload/blogs/dangerbod/116-one_those_days.html Sunday, January 27, 2008.Alders Farm. The Match Lake. http://www.talkangling.co.uk/upload/blogs/pete_m/114-sunday_january_27_2008_alders_farm_match_lake.html Thu, 18 Sep 2008 13:56:40 GMT Image: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v75/pnm123/Venues/AldersFarmMatchLake.jpg Today saw me making an early start for the 55 mile trip from...
Today saw me making an early start for the 55 mile trip from South London up to Alders Farm, just outside the village of Great Brickhill. A good run up the M1 and A5 saw me pulling into the car park just after 8am. Kit loaded onto the barrow for the decent down the hill from the car park and into the pump house cafe for a sausage sandwich and a coffee before the draw.
Now i very rarely fish at Alders, but today was more of an excuse to catch up with some of the GOT Baits anglers that I've been fortunate enough to get to know and fish with over the last couple of years. Chatting to Matt Nutt, Gary Thorpe and Trevor Price before the draw the general opinion was that a few fish would be caught as long as you didn't draw down in the corner (pegs 17-21). I was behind Matt at the draw and the look on his face said it all as he saw peg 19 stick to his hand, and I fared no better with peg 17 being my draw.
Matt was kind enough to fill me in on what to expect, and I have to say I didn't feel to bad as I set my kit up. as it was a nice bright sunny day, though the wind that was blowing into our corner kept it pretty cool. I set up a couple of kits, rigged with MW Diamonds to fish at 13mtrs and 7 mtrs, and with peg 18 not being in another to fish down the edge towards 18 where i would just keep trickling a little bait in for later in the match. I also set up a feeder rod with a small maggot feeder, though with not a lot of water to aim at in the corner it wasn't a real consideration.
Baitwise I had some soft hookers, red maggot and sweetcorn with micro pellet for feed. 10am and all in saw a small pot of micro's with with a pinch of maggot and 6 bits of corn deposited on the 7 and 13mtr lines with some corn and pellet going in next to peg 18 in the margin.
Nearly 3 hours in and all I had to show for my efforts were a few microscopic Rudd while the young lad to my left on peg 16 had managed a solitary Carp on the feeder.......
Matt was plugging away on 19 but at the time was faring no better, despite being familiar with the venue, with just a couple of the forementioned micro Rudd himself.

Lookng around the lake, I could see that Matt's prediction was coming true with other anglers getting amongst the resident Carp. Nobody was bagging, but at least most seemed to be getting one or two. Looking across to Matt I noticed he appeared to have a fair bit of elastic coming from his top kit Yes, he was into a Carp, and obviously a decent one, indeed it proved to be a near double. Suddenly my float dipped and I nearly forgot to strike such was the shock To say that I played it gently may be a bit of an understatement, but I was determined to get it safely in the net. It proved to be only about 4lb, but it was most welcome. Matt even managed to get a similar one while i was playing mine without me noticing, so carefully was I playing my fish.
It would be nice to say that it was the start of a decent last couple of hours, but that was it for both myself and Matt We didn't get another bite between us for the rest of the match. At the end Matt's fish gave him just over 14lbs while my solitary Carp and a few tiny Rudd made just 4lbs 3ozs, while poor Trevor Jeans on 21 suffered the dreaded DNW. The match itself was won by Gary Thorpe on peg38 at the opposite end of the lake with 10 Carp that he'd caught at 14mtrs on corn and pellet for 58lbs 14ozs.
Keith (gandhi) popped down to watch the weigh-in and he was kind enough to carry both mine and Matt's rodbags back for us. A bit of banter with the lads in the car park brought the day to an end while Trev was kind enough to let me have a couple of samples of as yet unreleased GOT Baits products for me to try. Not the best of days for me fishing wise, but a good crack with Matt for company and I'll definately be going back to Alders, though I may wait till it warms up a bit 1st and the Carp get a bit more spread out and re-discover their appetites. ]]> Pete M http://www.talkangling.co.uk/upload/blogs/pete_m/114-sunday_january_27_2008_alders_farm_match_lake.html Sunday, January 13, 2008. Monk Lakes. Bridges Lake. http://www.talkangling.co.uk/upload/blogs/pete_m/113-sunday_january_13_2008_monk_lakes_bridges_lake.html Thu, 18 Sep 2008 13:48:23 GMT *First outing of 2008.* Image: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v75/pnm123/Venues/MonkLakes.PumaBridgesandSpecimen.jpg My 1st outing of the...
First outing of 2008.


My 1st outing of the New Year saw me driving down to Monk Lakes to meet up with Andy (The Hat) Spreadbury from the Maggotdrowning Forum in the car park at 8am. The weather didn't look to promising . A leaden grey sky holding the promise of rain, with heavy clouds scudding across at a rate of knots didn't bode well as Monks is one of the most exposed fisheries going, and with the object of the day being to help Andy refine his waggler fishing I felt we could be in for a struggle .

The original plan was to set up on one of the heavily stocked match lakes, but with matches on all 4 of the match lakes, we elected to try one of the pleasure lakes. A leasurely drive round saw us settle on Bridges, the larger of the 2 pleasure lakes where we could fish 2 adjacent swims with the wind off our backs. Although the temperature was 10°C the wind made it feel like half of that .

Now the thing is that although I fish Monks fairly regularly, it's mostly one of the four match lakes. Andy and I hadn't fished Bridges since November 2004 when the lake hadn't been open long, so neither of us really knew what to expect.

I was soon set up, having brought my Shakespeare 11ft Micro all set up in its ready rod sleeve, selecting a Drennan 3AA peacock insert waggler fishing 3lb straight through to an18 Drennan barbless carp match hook, with red maggot for bait. Andy was using his 11/13 John Wilson rod at 13ft in more relaxed mode fishing from his chair .


The maximum depth I could find was around 3ft about 25mtrs out towards the island, so a pouch of red maggots was followed by my float as I settled back to see if anything showed an interest. The wind was making things difficult, with Andy having to blacken his float tip to see it in the chop.

Soon my float slid away resulting in a nice plump skimmer of around 2lb in the net and 5 minutes later its twin followed it ................
Andy finally got of the mark with a little Ide, not quite what he was hoping for but at least it was a start.............


I couldn't help notice that we were getting the odd curious glance from other anglers on the lake as we were the only ones using float tackle, all the others tucked behind brollies or bivvies with the seemingly obligatory pair of carp rods for the larger carp that most anglers target on this lake.

Next up for Andy came a skimmer.................


.......... but we were both struggling to put a run of fish together, I seemed to get a couple then nothing for a half hour, indeed despite trying numerous changes the only way I could get a bite was to lay 6" of line on the deck. Finally I managed to connect with something that felt a little different, and it proved to be the 1st of several Chub of around 1lb, good to see as the last time i'd fished the lake they had been freshly stocked at around 4ozs in an effort to provide year round sport. I'm sure they'll drive the carpers nuts as they're large enough now to swallow a boilie .

Andy spent a while watching me and soon spotted the difference in my approach to his, with my match background I was always doing something, feeding, twitching the bait through my feed and casting more often, whereas Andy with his background in carping was more content to leave his rod in the rest for longer after casting and feeding less frequently.

Around about 1pm I hooked what was obviously a bonus, probably a carp but i'll never know as it just plodded off and shed the hook .

By 2pm i was getting ready to pack up when Andy was in again............


................. It was soon apparent that this was something better as a carp surfaced about 20 feet out, Andy's landing net was looking a bit inadequate so I acted as ghillie with mine. On the mat it was obvious that the fish was a bit of an old warrior as unfortunately its fins weren't in the best of condition and it had a nasty scar on one gill cover. A quick weigh before it was returned showed 15lbs, a nice bonus fish, meaning that we had both managed around 20lbs of fish during our session .


With my gear packed Andy decided to fish on for a while, so i bid him farewell after discussing the possibility of a session after Crucians at Marsh Farm later in the year once its warmed up a bit, that should be fun .
You can read Andy's take on the day HERE.
]]> Pete M http://www.talkangling.co.uk/upload/blogs/pete_m/113-sunday_january_13_2008_monk_lakes_bridges_lake.html the usual suspects.... http://www.talkangling.co.uk/upload/blogs/creepy/112-usual_suspects.html Fri, 12 Sep 2008 18:45:12 GMT well my weekly thursday night matches,are almost finished,as we have only one more match left in the series.i can do no better than fifth i think,as... well my weekly thursday night matches,are almost finished,as we have only one more match left in the series.i can do no better than fifth i think,as i have had some right stinkers.still thats the joy of fishing i guess.i have managed two wins,in the ten match series,and last night was the second one.i have only been matching properly for about four years now,and i still have a great deal to learn.but im very fortunate to be fishing with some of the kindest and skilled anglers around.the sivell brothers,pete and mervin,are almost legends around bristol,and have won countless matches.pete is one of the most respected anglers in the south west,and im glad to say,he has told me a few tricks.the other angler,who has been a big help to me,is the castermaster,dave clutterbuck.the guy is a true gent,and one of the nicest men,you are ever likely to meet.the fact that hes a quality angler as well is a bonus. dave shore is another angler,who has been kind enough to take me under his wing.i soon hope to repay the acts of kindness,buy winning a few decent matches.:) ]]> creepy http://www.talkangling.co.uk/upload/blogs/creepy/112-usual_suspects.html