Whitehall League Match - 1st Match - Whitehall Club Pool

Exciting times, after the classic final is the start of the club season and my 4th year in the club. After winning the league in year 1 and then not committing to the league as much as I should in my second year I wanted it last year and missed out.




This year I have my eye firmly on this league title and the knockout to do the double! First match was the ever inconsistent Whitehall pool. Will it or won't it fish. Well at the start of the match near the car park there were swathes of carp in peg 1 where they spawn as it is the only part of the pool under 6ft deep! Some where saying they want a draw down here however I did not fancy chasing shadows as you would be in this peg.




As it happens I drew the peg...

I set up a few rigs to cover margin under tree to my left, the far bank and as there fish cruising a muggling line. I started down the edge under the tree as fish were swirling here. My set up was a sconezone samurai 0.21 straight through to a 12 B911 X-strong to orange bazoo carp. I drip fed a few casters and grains of corn with 2 corn skins on the hook. After a couple of put ins the float buried and a fish bolted off into the snag pit at the end of the pool. 1 nil carp. After that I then managed to empty the peg... by retrieving half a tree, some brambles, a shopping trolley and a german U-boat. Second fish on and again I could not control the fish away from the snags 2-0 carp... Aaaaaaarrrrrggggh!!

I had been feeding the far bank for silvers and went over for 2 small rudd... this was too slow so I left this line alone and had it in mind to catch carp on it later on. I turned my attention to muggling a few of the cruisers that had appeared in the mid-day sun. Unbelievably I didn't have a single fish doing this and the fish were coming and going at too slow a rate. I tried a number of depths and baits but they were not having it at all!

So with 2 hours to go I had 2 micro rudd in the net, ugh oh! I fed the far bank with corn and caster in 3 fishy looking places and alternated between them. I then managed to not only hook one and, you won't believe this, get it in. 8lb mirror safely in the net I go straight out topping up the swims and another bite straight away. This one again snagged me up so 3-1 carp. I then went 3-2 before 4-2 and then 4-3. With 10 minutes to go I begged for the float to go under and wallop it flew under.

A lift into the fish saw orange bazoo carp sit above the swim and then steadily swim out. The fish didn't bolt off like the others and was plodding around. As I was shipping back it rolled at 8m and it was a proper thing! I got back to my top kit and couldn't get the fish up it was just sitting there then all of a sudden it swims to my right and then keeps going, and going and going. The fish bottomed out my elastic and was going round the corner. Mistakenly I put my no4 on to try and turn the fish which resulted in my top kit traveling down the lake after it. Much amusement was had at this...

A section win under the new points system and 1 fish short of the win was the end result. Onto Hallow Pools where I have a 100% record of winning for the next league match.

Fishponds Colwall Opens

This place is an awesome fishery. It's got the works; great fishing, picturesque pegs, friendly owner and is not dominated by carp!

So I've been fishing a couple of opens on here with mixed results a couple of frames and a couple of nowheres. As with most fisheries you have to draw well however this place has a lot of great pegs and stunning looking pegs.

My approach had been to fish the pellet on the deck for the skimmers as these skimmers had been making up the winning weights. As the weather improved the ide started to play ball so my approach changed slightly to casters and maggots.

When fishing the pellet I went for an ultra-fine pellet approach. My rigs  for pellet were all 0.13 mainline to 0.11 hooklenghts  and size 18/16 B911 F1 hooks. Floats I used for rigs were the ultra sensitive yet stable Sconezone munkee thinz. I would try to get away with as light a rig as possible depending on conditions, most pegs around the islands this meant 0.2g in good conditions and 0.4g with a chop on. Fishing in the bowl would be 0.4g/0.6g because of the added depth.

Most were fishing an expander over micros in winter however I prefer to fish and feed same baits. So I adapted to 50/50 micros and 4mm dampened pellets with a 4mm over the top. Feeding patterns were difficult to differentiate between... At times dump and fish out worked others they wanted it on a six pence with a kinder pot however my best result was to spread feed and fish around  a dustbin lid size spread of bait.

As the weather got warmer fishing altered from skimmers making the weights to more mixed bags. I drew around the islands a couple of times and had to alter approach to include ide. Casters up in water or over to shallow water was my approach. Rigs were similar 0.11 mainline to 0.11/0.10 hooklenghts and 18/20 B911 f1 hooks. Floats changed also in order to present the bait effectively and also to ensure bite detention was at its most sensitive. As I was fishing on the drop my deck rigs were a Sconezone piranahz in 0.2g, the thin body making it extremely sensitive,  and the tip being hollow was easy to read against the island. For up in the water the tiny Sconezone bitz float was used... With a smaller stem to allow the float to cock quicker. This  float was used in 0.07 with 2 no10 shot under the stem of the float.

My first go at this started frantically however died off. I believe my feeding to be too aggressive with pinging casters 6/8 a time every 20s/30s. The next time I visited I utilised a sprinkle pot on the end of pole and feeding a few casters now and then with lifting and dropping the rig was much more productive. As the fish became more confident and more were there competing I picked the catty up.

40lb-50lb weights of silver fish are a fantastic change to carp fishing that dominates most commercial waters. If you haven't already you should check out this excellent venue!

Maver Classic Final - Larford Lakes

Well I have only just been able to muster myself to report on this match. The reason for this shall become apparent in this piece. Before I start to write up on how my match went I want to say well done to my mate Matt Blackmore on winning the final, only wish I could have given you more competition on the final day!

Day 1

My first day saw me draw on the maver bank on the specimen lake, peg 85 to be exact, which looked good with fish showing and the wind chuntering into my face all day. I had my pairs partner James Wilson, fresh from qualifying for the match this final, in my section along with others including Dave Roberts on an end peg.

As there were fish showing the first thing out of the bag were the pellet wag rods. The first was shimano beastmaster 11'6" with a shimano technium 4000 reel loaded with 0.20 silstar line. This was for fishing between 3ft upwards. The next was a maver reactorlite 12' with same reel combination for fishing a little deeper. Final waggler rod was another reactorlite 12' for launching the big waggler out past the feed. I also set up a method rod for the 5m line and a line down the edge although I was not confident in catching in the edge due to the depths found here (3'6" tight in).

I started the match plopping the method over the 5m line whilst pinging at 30m for the waggler. I had an indication almost straight away. The second feeder to go in and as it landed the tip slammed around and the clutch started screaming. After the fish had stopped running I started to crank it back in only for the hook hold to fail and the hook to fall out.

I persevered on this line for 40mins, with 3 skimmers being the result, before chucking out the waggler.

First cast and the float dibbed as it landed before slamming under and the rod flying round... it definitely wanted it! I then had a play around with a number of different feeding patterns and depths to keep the fish coming. It was very steady with the odd fish but with the waggler flying in so often I was kept very busy.

There were a number of fish rolling and these fish kept going further and further back from where I was feeding so half way through the match it was time to pick up the big 18g waggler out and chuck it about. I wasn't having too much luck with this so then started to chuck at rolling fish. I managed to chuck one out over the top of a fish and the float dipped, a solid strike saw the rod double over and the fish was on. A long plodding fight told me this was a proper lump. As I got the fish to the top my heart was pounding, it was easily a high double pushing into 20lb. I got the net under it only for the fish to swim out and as it did the hook pulled! I cursed and then got back to it.

I had 3 fish on the big wag and had a look over the line I had been feeding with an hour to go. I managed 2 more on the waggler after messing around with the 5m line and having a look down the edge which was enough for a section win!

Day 2

Onto the second day and I needed a draw and boy did I 'think' I had one with peg 30, the end peg on the grass bank, of the match lake. This peg had all but destroyed the pairs league matches in the spring and with a gorgeous edge line it had to be!

Fishing however can be very cruel. I set up the standard lines of pellet short, long and shallow and fished dead maggots over groundbait down a short and long edge line. The long story short was that there were not the feeding fish in the peg. I thought that to mess this peg up could mean I came 3rd/4th in the section however it really wasn't to be and last in section was a cruel blow. Potentially my best ever chance at winning this huge match.