So the first round of the Barston B&J winter league series was to be an interesting round, the weather was warm, the lake had very little wind on it and the temperature a barmy 17 degrees!After meeting Diddy on the carpark with his mate Shaun it was time to get the bait sorted and the groundbait done.
I was given a little help with the mix that would suit the day and forgive me but I shall not be putting it on here at this time...too many people fishing it and if its the only edge ive got over these professionals then im keeping it as close to my chest as possible.....well ok then it was a bag of leam and a bag of Van Dan Eynde Superlake...cant keep a secret me.....Plus the waggler mix which was exactly the same apart from a little fishmeal in the mix.I decided on 1 pint of joker, 1 pint of chopped worm and half a pint of casters to fill my bait limit, and alongside the 12 litres of gear I was also about to launch at the lake.

So bait all prepared and ready mixed with the use of a drill and large whisk (never be without one) it was time for the draw. Walking in to Barstons clubhouse Diddy relieved me of my pools money and promptly made the draw which placed me on the road bank on peg 94. Not the best of areas as you have to compete with the point a little further to your left. But fish have fins.

So at least I didnt have a long walk ahead of me and I could pretty much park behind the peg, so a relaxing set up was all that was needed right? Think again.....long and hard.
At least I was in good company with Darren Cox to my left, Will Raison to his left, Lee Kerry further up, Des Shipp and Rob Middleton to my right...hmmmm...star struck much?

Darren immediately asked If I was well and are we having that pound on the side.....of course I couldnt say no and I expected a right battering. At least I would be able to see what they do differently.
The match is fished to Cips rules, so this means the match will be 4 hours in duration, (a little twist on the rules) 13m pole limit, float only and you get a 10 minute pre baiting period. So, I chose to have 2, 13m lines one directly in front of me and one as far right as I could push the pole. I also had a 7m line slightly to my left where I would put chopped worm and caster and look for a bonus perch or even an F1 if there was a bold sucker about.
I also decided on a waggler set up aswell, comprising of a Cralusso Rocket Lite, 3 number 8 droppers and a small swivol to attach the hooklength of some 15 inches to a size 16 hook.This was complemented with a Spro Tamas Walther Bream rod and a Spro Red Arc Reel filled to the brim with 4lb Ultima Power Steel.

I set up 6 top kits of my new Colmic X5000 match pole, 3 on the 13m pole line, which varied from 0.20grm with a lightly strung out shotting pattern to a size 20 gamma green set 2 inches off the bottom, 0.08 hooklength and 0.10mm mainline to a size 3 elastic. A 0.4grm sensas desque float, with a bulk of number 10s and 2 droppers to a 0.09mm hooklength, 0.10mm mainline and an 18 gamma black hook set an inch off bottom matche d a slip number 5 through 3 sections. This would give me the chance to get an F1 or bonus skimmer out. The last rig on this line was set 2 inches over depth, featured a sensas abbeville 0.60grm float, 0.12mm mainline to a 0.10mm hooklength and a 16 milo T213 hook. This was all connected to a number 6 elastic through 3 sections for when or if the bonus fish arrived.My far right hand 13m line would be fished with a 4x14 Garbolino DC11 float attached to 0.12mm mainline and 0.10mm hooklength again to a 16 Milo T213 hook. This was used in conjunction with J Range Lastix 3-6 hollow through 3 sections. This was my big fish line and would be fed with a fishmeal groundbait and worms.

My 7m line incorporated exactly the same set up as the big fish rig but used a 4x12 float instead as it was around a foot shallower just down the shelf in front of me. This would be fed with worm and caster thrown in by hand.Right, 20 mins to go and I havnt even taken care of groundbait and the joker yet...doh! So another quick blitz with the drill and whisk to make sure all the groundbaits were fine, then I separated the joker with dry leam using a sieve. I then added 75% of the joker to my initial balling in mix, as I really didnt want to re-feed later in the match. I added a handful of minced worm and some casters just in case the bigger fish turned up. I wanted the fish to get the fish feeding confidently with plenty of bait available. When it gets cold though....things change! That was that, 10 double handed balls were made for the 13m line.

The waggler mix recieved a few bloodworm from my hooker pack and just a pinch of joker alongside a good helping of worm and caster. I then created some 26 sausages for catapulting onto the waggler line 35 yards in front of me. Give it to them......Just as I had finished doing this the first call was shouted to pre-bait...this is were it went all WRONG!So I cupped in my 10 balls of groundbait from some 3 feet off the water top make a spladoosh, everyone else around me all elected to chuck theirs in. So it was time to get the catapult out. I chucked my unbaited waggler rig into the spot I had clipped up and had 3 turns of the reel before it settled.

The first sausage slammed into my hand.....fook me that hurt and I managed to spray myself and the swim with bits of groundbait, worm and smashed caster....nice.The second sausage fell woefully short, the third well past it............shall I go home now?
The next 5-6 balls all landed where they should, then I managed to yet again slam another into my hand. I was ready to go home now.
Another 4 balls followed somewhere in the general direction of the float and that was it I had, had enough of that game. Now pay attention!I picked up my waggler rod and baited the hook with 3 bloodworm and a segemnt of worm and then made a lovely cast just where the last 4 balls had landed, the float sat up proud from the water as the dropper shot registered and slowly sank the carbon tip to its hollow bristle......dink down it went, a strike was met with the firm yet distinctive nod of a large skimmer...YES!

I played this fish very carefully back to the bank and managed to land it, perfectly hooked, what a start...or so I thought.
Darren then said to me, "Pete....that dont count mate....!)
"Pardon"
"That dont count mate you have to wait for the all in.....)

Oh rollox I had just caught an illegal fish in the first CIPS rule match of the league in full view of half the england squad.....dammit.

I was gutted, the fish had to be put back and at around 2lb+ it made me feel ill. I was that distracted I didnt hear Darren call the all in 30 seconds later.
Let me tell you I felt a right muppet.

Darren was very good though and said not to worry, we all make mistakes and at least it was an honest one. Just dont do it again he laughed.I managed to get a little composure back to re-bait the waggler again and chucked out to the same area, Iw aited some 5 minutes and missed the bite....my mind was elsewhere as Im sure you can appreciate.
I wound back in, checked the bait and re-cast.
Another bite was met with resistance as a near 8oz roach was netted and at least this one counted.Again another look on the waggler produced my First LEGAL skimmer after a another 10 minutes and at around a 1lb 8oz it settled me a little. At least ive got the 2lb in the net.............

I spent the next 10 mins on the wag with one more bite and nothing else to show for my efforts, this was time for me to go on the pole line and see if the roach had settled. Will had around 8 roach in the net with Darren having 4 and a skimmer. I baited up the heavier roach rig and was immmeditaly into dumpy little samples averaging some 3 oz, good weight builders. I did try my big fish line over the top when it went quiet and was rewarded with a perch nudging 1lb!
The roach came quite regular for me and with the odd look on the big fish line after all I could catch was roach...no bad thing I suppose.
I did try the waggler although even with repeated casts and more feed over the top I didnt get another fish off this line.About 3 hours into the match the roach all but dissappeared and even Will and Darren were struggling. I decided it was time to look over the big fish line and sit and wait for the big fish. Another 2 sausages of groundbait and generous helping of chopped worm went in on this line. I then baited up with a dendro tail and waited...and waited and waited....15 minutes and finally the float slid under, I struck and around 10 yards of hollow elastic streamed out to the centre of the lake, a spirited yet short fight ensued as a near 1lb 8oz F1 was netted, again rebaited I dropped in on the smae line, I had 20 minutes to go before the float went under and strike was met with a the resistance of a near 2lb skimmer....perfect, had these moved in?

Er no!

I wasted oo much time waiting for the skimmers and onlyu had one more liner before the all out was called.What a day, I felt a little deflated from the initial mistake and it affected my match as I just couldnt focus to be honest. It played on my mind a lot!

Darren was admitting to some 8lb and Will had admitted to around 10lb. I was sure I would have 10lb and might just do Darren. I was suprised to weigh in over 17lb and was delighted with the performance. Darren was very gracious and kindly gave me his pound later in the clubhouse...thank you Darren, Im sure you will get it back next time!
Will weighed in 11lb, and I managed 4th in section...not bad at all!
The team was 5th on the day with Diddy managing 2nd in section...always reliable, I think he knows fish langauge...well you cant be that ugly and not be able too?
Well done again Ian......

Remember if you fish CIPS rules...wait for the all in!

Tight lines.

Individual Nationals at Lindholme!

Individual Nationals at Lindholme fishery.

Well after qualifying for this event from the Team event I wasn’t going to turn down the chance of having a go at the individual stakes too. Now I must have spent some 3 days preparing for this event, rigs, top kits, elastics, pull bungs, bait and a general tidy up of all my gear. I’ve only seen the venue once before on an event organised by Colin Ormston which involved some of the very best anglers in the country.

After a lengthy drive to the venue, and a quick stop at Bag-up angling centre due to me forgetting both my casters and maggots we got to Lindholme fishery the night before the match, Neil Grantham was a great help with information on the all the pools and baits and I cannot thank him enough for that.

I watched a few of the pleasure anglers catching on just about everything on the infamous bonsai and oasis pools, which is where I was told the match would be won off, and I would need to draw one of these pools to stand a chance unless the bigger carp fed on a few other pools.
So me and Jenna (my future wife) set off to the travel lodge in Scunthorpe to get a good nights rest and act on some of Neil’s advice on rigs. Let me tell you, carrying all the kit to the room on the second floor was not the easiest task in the world, I mean how inconsiderate to have doors not wide enough to get a Rive seat box through…terrible.

An alarm at 6am woke me up from winning the nationals on bonsai and the day began. First the struggle with the Rive through the doors and then getting it the gear back into the car. Its an arduous job sometimes to get it all packed the same way and fitting in the car without things getting damaged. All this done we were on our way to the fishery after a breakfast and arrived at around 8.30am. The draw was to be made at 9am and the fishing to be from 11am to 4pm.

I stood inline and had the pleasure of a few anglers company that I had actually fished with at the Sensas Challenge Final. At last my peg was drawn….Peg 53 on laurels…dammit. Not where I wanted to be at all, as I was told that the Pegs on the spits would win this pool and there was little chance of actually winning the match from here either. So a section it is.

I walked to my Peg and it looked ok, although in the middle of a bay with an angler opposite me who had the margin to himself really. I would decide on what to do when setting up and having a careful think on my plan of attack. The weather was sunny with the odd cloud and a little wind had picked up blowing into me. This looked good for the short line and perhaps the margins?
I looked down the margins from my box and decided that I would fish to the next pallet on my right and at 13m to the left up against the margin in the gap between some sedges. A little bank clearing was needed on the right hand margin, so carefully clearing away some small branches and dead grass I managed to aggravate a wasp which stung my under arm…just where the pole rests…typical!

I decided to have two 6m lines, one at 2pm and one at 11am, both would be fed with pellets, one sparingly and the other heavily just to see which one would respond better. I had also decided on a 13m line that would both act as my long line and up in the water as I would feed it initially with the kinder pot and then see if the fish would come up in the water and I would then get the catapult out. I plumbed up carefully all over and spent some 20 minutes doing this from 6m to 16m all over my swim and found very little deviation.
My rigs were all tied on 0.14mm Ultima power silk line with hook lengths varying from 0.12mm line to 0.10mm if the F1s where going to be finicky and hook sizes from 16-20.

My 6m lines both consisted of a 4x14 KC Carpa Chimp shotted shirt button style with number 10 shot, and both matched with a 0.12mm hooklength and size 16 and 18 hooks, this was matched to a soft set Drennan yellow bungee through the new Match Lite kits for my Garbolino Super G10 pole.

My 13m line had 3 different rigs set up, one consisting of a 4 x 14 KC Carpa Chimp, 0.14mm mainline and 0.12mm hooklength and an 18 hook matched to 11h hollow, the second was a 4 x14 Preston Chianti matched to 0.14mm mainline and a 0.12mm hooklength and an 18 hook with a hair rigged pellet band, again this was used in conjunction with 11h hollow. The last featured a 4x16 Preston Chianti to 0.14mm mainline and a 0.12mm hooklength to a 16 hook, just in case the wind got up and if the bigger fish moved in. This was matched to 13h hollow elastic.
I also had 2 up in the water rigs both using 0.14mm line and 0.12mm hook lengths with a size 18 Middy KM1 eyed hook with pellet lassoes tied on each. The float was a little Milo inline float taking just 3 number 11 shot, one was set at 2ft and the other 4ft to cover my options. Both used in conjunction with yellow bungee elastic through a Match Lite kits.

My margin rigs featured rigs with 0.15mm mainline and 0.14mm hook lengths, both had size 16 hooks and featured a 4x10 KC Carpa Chimp on both lines, both were matched to Vespe green hollow elastic just in case the larger fish turned up, yet was soft enough not to pull the hooks out of soft F1 mouths.

Right that’s the rigs talked about, my bait was sorted next, seeing as I couldn’t through a small method my mix was left in the car. I had with me 2 bags of micro pellets and 2 of 4mm, 2 cubed tins of meat, 1 tin of corn, 1 tin of hemp, expanders, maggots for the hook and some casters just in case. I decided to dampen 1 bag of each micro and 4mm pellets so that they wouldn’t hold the surface tension of the water when fed and made making little balls of pellet to throw onto the 6m lines a little easier. Well if the carp don’t like it I’m sure the rats would…….
So the all in came all too quick, I was only just about ready although we had almost 2 hours to actually set up.

My 13m line was fed with a small amount of micro pellets and 4mm pellets, whilst the 6m lines got fed differently, one with half a cup of pellets the other just a kinder cup with a few maggots. Both margin lines where fed with hemp and meat and a few pellets to try and gain some of the bigger residents interest.

Time to try the 6m line fed sparingly and see if I can get a few mug fish or at least something in the net whilst the other lines rested. The hook was baited with 2 red maggots and the kinder cup received just 30 micro pellets and a couple of maggots. In went the rig and the bait was laid over the top. An immediate bite was met with fresh air. The next was met with the firm resistance of a 1 oz roach. At least I’m off the mark.

The next bite resulted in 8 yards of yellow elastic exiting my pole as carp number 1 made its bid for freedom, the elastic quickly subdued the fish and it was placed in the net and at 2-3lb it was a nice start, and far better than the 1oz roach in the silvers net that’s for sure.
So maybe a lightly fed line would produce for me? Not to be, I re-fed this again with the same amount and waited far too long for a non existent bite, so it was time to try the other 6m line, this was only good for 1 bite and a skimmer around a pound in weight and no more action after that…strange. This was also re-fed again with half a pot of pellets and the margin lines were both re-fed too.

So the 13m line was to receive its first look, I baited up with a small expander pellet on the lightest rig utilising the 4x14 Chianti. This was laid into the swim and I let the last foot of line get gently lowered before dropping the kinder pot of bait over the top. I had a bite around 2 minutes later that I missed and suspected it was a liner. So I put a few 4mm pellets into the kinder cup and went back out on this line. Again bait deposited I waited for perhaps a minute before the float registered a slight movement, now I’ve been trying very hard not to strike but rather lift into the bite, should it be a liner I wouldn’t foul hook the fish. The lift was met with resistance and 6ft of 11h hollow slowly left the pole tip and my first F1 was on its way to the net. Things were looking good for me as it was slow all over the lake with very few fish being caught. So Laurels was going to live up to its reputation for being a little hard at the time. I went back out to 13m and again a few 4mm pellets and a 4mm expander (which is actually a 3mm) was again laid into the swim. A super quick bite resulted in a 1 oz roach getting launched into orbit….there goes all that hard work lifting into bites…..

So again rig re-baited and line re-fed I waited for my next bite, again a super quick bite was met with a very small roach being the culprit. Time to give it a few more pellets via the pole cup and it was time to try the 6m lines again.
My first look over the heavily fed line resulted in a slow bite and a foul hooked fish which soon shed the small hook. This was re-fed with a small ball of pellets and the rig changed over for the other 6m line. This also proved almost as fruitless with only a roach and small barbel gracing the net.
The wind was getting up a little and made fishing the 13m line a little difficult as it whipped the pole tip round a little too much, even trying a longer line was not that helpful as the bites were hard to hit being F1s.
Time to try the margin lines now, so with a small cube of meat on the hook I decided to try the longer 13m line to my left up against the sedges. This resulted in a few missed bites and a little frustration until I finally caught one of the culprits…tiny little barbel. Little buggers!

This was the same for the left hand margin as well, so another large cup of bait on each line to try and feed these little blighters off should be enough I hope?

The wind had settle a little now, so time to go back out onto the 13m line with a banded 4mm pellet instead of the expander to try and keep the little roach at bay. The float had barely settled and the elastic was ripped out from the pole tip…perfect! This was a better F1 at around 2lb and was a welcome fish. Hopefully a banded 4mm pellet would fool a few more. The next couple of put ins resulted in F1s gracing my landing net, most in the 1lb region. Welcome fish to say the least. Now I knew the pegs on the spits where catching fish and I was falling behind at least 2 anglers that I could see.

Well the next few casts resulted in a few missed bites, which I’m sure were liners from fish now intercepting bait up in the water. Queue catapult! Out went some more bait on the 6m lines and margins, whilst just catapulting 5 pellets over the 13m line. I picked up the 4ft rig to start and banded a 6mm pellet and shipped out and slapped the pellet on the water. 3 seconds later a bite and yards and yards of 11h hollow was pulled from the end of the pole…ooops this is a bigger fish!


A foul hooked carp of around 4lb was the culprit and prompted me to pick up the 2ft deep rig instead. So still pinging a few pellets out the next bite was connected with after around 5 minutes of lifting and dropping, I expected this to be the case as a the carp charging around the peg probably didn’t help anything. The F1 was soon landed and at some 1lb again these would be good if I could keep them coming. I spent the next hour or so looking for fish up in the water with mixed success, the fish would move in and out of the swim, there was no pattern to it at all, I tried feeding it a little heavier which only resulted in no bites at all, then going back to just 3 pellets every cast resulted in lightning bites from roach. I don’t think I could win.
I went back onto the 6m line and had a few immediate small f1s and barbel, but really nothing to write home about and the bites were very slow in coming. Time to spend a little energy on the margins which I was really hoping would produce for me. But watching the angler opposite fish them for the last 30 minutes and just 1 F1 for his efforts didn’t fill me with confidence at all.

Well my thoughts were well founded with a small F1 and I mean small, plus a few small barbel. Bleeding things! If they were a couple of pound each they would be worth aiming for. Lovely to see and I’m sure will be a bonus for the fishery in the coming years and will be well worth aiming for.
So it was back onto the 13m line again up in the water, now I had made a big mistake here. The sun was now almost on top of my swim and I could barely see the float. Schoolboy error this one, should have watched what the sun was doing. So struggle on was the only way with lifting and dropping getting me a few more F1s to add to my net.
Well the match was coming to a close and I knew I was out of the running for my section as the pegs on the end of the spits had now all caught well in the last hour. So it was a race to get as many fish in the net from the up in the water swim as possible, and the last 10 minutes resulted in 2 F1s and 1 lost fish. That was that!
So I had worked as hard as I thought I could and alternated between my lines and kept feeding each one even if I didn’t catch. It’s a shame the bigger fish didn’t show as it could have been a little different perhaps. I really enjoyed the match and don’t think apart from the positioning of the up in the water swim I would have changed much, maybe chopped worm and caster might have scored a few more fish or perhaps a few trout that had been missed from last year?

Ah well my catch went some 13kg 870 grams, I had beaten everyone round me, just not the 3 point pegs on the other side. That’s fishing I suppose and hopefully I will get another shot next year!



Tight lines all!

Colmic X5000 16m Match pole review.

Review of the new Colmic X5000 Match 16m pole.

Well Colmic have certainly done themselves proud with this pole, at 13m I can honestly say it’s the best pole I’ve ever handled. It’s super slim measuring just 40mm at the butt and is featherweight light with ultimate balance. It’s a little short at 13m, measuring in at just over 12.60m, but the half extension brings it back up to 13m. The pole has a very different taper to all the poles I’ve owned previously. At the tip it is extremely fast tapered with only 8 inches of tip needing cutting off the power kits to accommodate the thickest of elastics…in fact I had actually used a 5.5mm internal bush on these so if you use 4.2mm then you will only need to cut them back by 4 inches. The match kits needed just 10 inches cut off the number 1 to fit an 8 elastic or my current elastic flavour of the month, pink Vespe bi core. The Joints all have a superb weaved carbon wrap on both the male and female joints, this helps reduce wear and stops the sections from sticking together when wet. It also has the Colmic Free Touch System, this is where the edges have been ground down so that you don’t catch your hands on the sections as they slide through your hands. This makes speed fishing a pleasure. The finish is also worth a mention, it’s almost rough to the touch yet flies through the hands…really odd, but I like it as it helps grip the sections when trying to pull them apart. It’s almost contradictory.
It’s super slim throughout the blank all the way to the 14.5m extension pieces which are all parallel and at a very reasonable £200 for extensions you can go as long as you like, I’ve used mine at 17.5m with no issues at all. Strength wise this pole is awesome, no it’s outstanding. The match kits will take no more than a 12 elastic, but then with a HM80 grade of carbon in them you don’t want to over gun the top kit. The power kits however are a little different. In fact there are two types available, the HM60 power kit and the FJ90 No Limit power kit. The HM60 power kits will take anything up to 18 elastics with ease or the equivalent hollow’s and have a very stiff action, you will be hard pressed to notice the difference with the power kits and the match kits apart from the weight. The FJ90 No Limit kits as specified have no elastic limit…they are super strong but don’t over balance the pole. Perfect for summer bagging, in fact if you get the No Limit number 4 as well you can use it as a margin pole. My honest opinion, great pole, brilliant at all lengths, it does start to lose its stiffness at 16-17m but rigidity is still extremely high and I cannot wait to put it to the test in the summer.

It has no problems landing carp like this:

Moorlands farm open, Tuesday 20th October.

Moorland’s farm open match walkthrough.

Well the day was wet windy and cold…totally uncharacteristic for then British weather…yeah right.

So an open it was to be, Moorland’s farm fishery the venue of choice, this venue is great for the winter as certain pools will always throw up a few carp, even at the coldest times of the year. Now this isn’t an excuse as such…but then again maybe it is. There are several pools at the venue and I get on with all but one, and the one I don’t get on with is Island pool, the deepest and most unusual pool on the complex. The depth varies from 2-5 ft in the margins to over 14ft in the deepest places and several sunken islands. I have drawn on this pool 4 times so far and the same 2 pegs. Peg 5 just behind the café and peg 17 in the far corner which is a do or die peg. The latter I’ve drawn just once. Peg 5 might as well have my name on it really.

So the draw was to be made at 9.30 and when I arrived Mal Watson, the fishery manager was taking the temperature of the three pools that were to be in the open, Moors, Bank and Island. Most of the pools were averaging 10 degrees, so looking good for a few carp at least. So onto the draw, I really fancied peg 12 on Moors as this has an excellent margin and deep water with the wind blowing away from it. So I was very very disappointed to yet again drew peg 5 on Island, I’m going to just set my gear on here permanently I think. My winders might as well have Peg 5 Island written on them for when I go again, I can just set up and then go and have a cup of tea.

Anyway upon inspection of the peg it was windy and blowing slightly towards me, far from ideal. But hey ho that’s fishing, got to try and make the best of what I consider a poor draw. Well it’s bad by My drawing standards anyway.

I decided on 3 lines initially, 1 at 14.5m towards the aerator in approximately 9ft of water which only just fits on my new very long power kits of my Colmic X5000 Match pole armed with a 12 elastic. This featured a 4x18 KC Carpa Chimp tied to 0.14mm Ultima Power Silk rig line direct to a size 16 Milo T213 hook. In winter I tend not to use hook lengths when carp fishing, it also featured a strung out shotting pattern with a bulk 2 ft from the hook. My second line was at 8m directly in front and in again around 8ft of water a 4x16 KC Carpa Chimp tied with 0.14mm Ultima power silk and a 0.12mm hooklength to a size 18 Milo T213 hook and a soft 10-12 hollow elastic and pull bung. This was for the skimmers and the odd carp.
My last line featured a 14 latex elastic armed with 0.15mm Ultima power silk tied direct to a size 3 Tubertini 175 hook and Cralusso float. This had a simple bulk and 2 droppers set 6ft from the margins 7 sections to my right in around 5ft of water.

My bait table was as follows, 1 ½ pints of casters, 2 pints of 4mm pellets and a tin of corn with a few expanders for the hook. This is nice and simple, but give it another month it will change to 1 pint of micro pellets and a small tin of corn. I’ve had nets of fish approaching 120lb in the winter on this.

The last line would be a bomb rod towards the right of the aerator at around 19m away, the Spro Picker 40 rod was my choice matched to a Red Arc reel and 4lb Ultima power steel mainline, alongside a 0.14mm hooklength and size 16 Middy KM1 hook with a hair rig, corn or expander pellets where to be the hook bait of choice.

10.45am, All in.

On the all in I put half a pot of pellets and 30 grains of corn at 14.5m, a ¼ pot of pellets and casters at 8m and a half pot of pellets on the margin line, I would leave all these lines for the first 15 minutes whilst I looked for a carp on the pellet cone.

11.00am, No movement on the pellet cone, no liners either. Angler opposite me has had 2 carp in 2 chucks on a small pellet feeder. I change my cone for a small feeder.

11.10am, Still nothing…..time to worry, Angler opposite has now had his third carp and the guy to my right has had one on the waggler idly chucked towards the middle. Something I can’t do due to where my peg is situated.

11.15am, Time to look on the pole line at 14.5m with a single grain of corn and see if anything has found my bait yet.
11.30am, I’ve spent 15 minutes looking for a bite on this line, both on corn and an expander pellet with no luck, so I re-fed this line with another ¼ cup of pellets and 10 grains of corn, whilst also potting in a little bait on the 8m line.

11.35am, The 8m line is now calling, so baiting up with a 4mm expander I waited for a bite for 10 minutes, working the bait, adding a tosspot and even trying a caster…nothing. I’m struggling now and the angler opposite has started to catch skimmers on his long pole line and a few carp have come out in a few other pegs now. I’m falling behind, so I needed to make something happen and fast.

11.45am time to re-feed the margin line and have another look on the 14.5m line…I looked like a gnome for the next 20 minutes waiting for a positive take after suffering a liner and a fruitless strike.

12.00pm Still not a positive bite or a fish despite looking on the 8m line again for 5 minutes……I’m getting desperate.

At this point I have to say I was almost tempted to pack up and go home as it had started to rain and the wind was blowing into my face, this makes fishing very difficult if you wear glasses as the rain gives you several hundred different pole floats to look at.

12.30pm I’m sitting on the pellet cone drinking a cup of tea when finally out of the blue my tip has gone round and this roach/skimmer hybrid has taken my hook bait……Hooray!!! at least I have not blanked, although well behind the field now, but with the average sized carp in this pool I’m sure I could still pull it back if the margin line goes…………my fingers were crossed.

13.00pm No further action on the 8m pole line or the pellet cone, I have now re-fed all the lines except the margin line…time to go kerb crawling.

13.07pm, My float has shot under and I’m into my first carp from the edge, at last could this be the start of things to come? At a healthy 7lb it was a very welcome carp.

13.31pm, I’ve had a few more liners and have put a little more feed into the margin swim with the hope of getting a few more carp to feed. Time to go back onto the pellet cone.

14.01pm, weather is still rubbish, but my tip has gone round and I’m playing my second carp, and again at a good 8lb this common carp was a welcome moral boost if nothing else.


Now I wont go through too much more as I only managed 1 more carp from the margin at around 3pm and lost a foulhooker some 15 minutes later. This was a very poor match for me with very few bites and probably not enough thinking to be honest. The other pools fished very hard with just 40lb winning Bank and even less on Moors. My lake was won with over 50lb of pellet feeder caught carp. All in all a disappointing match for me, off a peg which I really don’t rate in the winter. Would I have done anything different…sure! Dynamite?


Perhaps I should have stayed on the pellet feeder from the start, but with such a small space to chuck into I don’t think I would have ended up with too many more carp, the lack of liners told me that. Maybe I should have fished maggot over the pellet at 8m and looked for anything that swam or even 14.5m, although that’s a long way for you to bring back 1 oz fish. Oh well winter is now upon us and hopefully this is the last time this peg has my name on it.

See you all on the bank!

Sponsorship By Ultima!

I would like to thank Peter and Jane Wilson at Ultima for their very generous offer of sponsorship, I hope we have a long and very productive future ahead!

I hope that I can promote the products and the image of the company to the best of my abilities and shall endeavor to do so.

Once again Many thanks!

Coming Soon!

Coming soon will be my new used and abused section and I shall review a few of the items of tackle that I use and am confident in.

Browning Cudmore MFS match.

This was an interesting match for me, as I've never seen the pool we were to fish and only visited the fishery once before.

Not knowing what to expect apart from a few very helpful guys from MFS giving me some information and a little guidance, I took just about everything, poles, rods, wagglers, method feeders...kitchen sink etc.

On arrival Darren and I visited the on site shop and both came out with bulging bags of goodies that we cannot get from our local shops without mail ordering it, I have to say that this is very well stocked and has some very good brands in house. The breakfast is excellent (cheers Darren) and the company obviously very good.
I then helped an old...I shall emphasise the old part friend elasticate his new Maver Elite 77 power tops, I have to say these new Maver deluxe kits are very very good, they feel as light as a match top yet retain the power for heavy elastics. Tony just needs to learn how to use it properly....


Anyway the draw being made I had peg 73 resting in my hand, so it was off to the pool, which was pool 3, this is a canal shaped pool which is pegged both banks and is approximately 35m wide by around 120m long, nice shape, but catches the wind a little too easy for my liking, but then all fisheries differ, and this will offer different conditions and different methods called for.
I walked to my peg, now originally at the draw I thought I had drawn peg 72, and plonked my gear down on the peg only to be told by Mr May senior that I had actually drawn peg 73 and needed to move...doh!
So moving my gear down to the next peg I was disappointed to find that my peg needed gardening to see the edges properly, this is my kind of luck, although drawing in the middle of the pool would either be a god send or an absolute tragedy.

After nearly 20 minutes of gardening, cutting away the reeds so I could see 8m to my left margin and 6 to my right, I cut two channels so that I could see the edge clearly and my floats wouldn't be obstructed or my vision impeded during the match should the wind get up and blow the rushes around.
As we were pegged both banks I decided not to set up a feeder as at only 35m wide I could almost reach the halfway mark with a pole so I didn't see any benefit in setting one up, in any case if the wind should get up and the pole become unfishable the rods are all made up in My Spro ready rod bag.

So it was to be a pole match for me, I decided on 5 pole lines, both margins nice and simple both were the same depth, 2 x 6m lines, 1 at 11 o'clock and one at 2 o'clock this was nice and simple as the depth was exactly the same...bonus. The final line was to be at 13m and at a healthy 6ft it would be easy to have an up in the water rig over the top just in case the fish came shallow.

My margin rigs were 0.2grm Cralusso Capri pole floats, these are ultra strong line through the body floats and lend themselves perfectly for this type of fishing, this was matched to a 0.14mm Ultima Power Silk straight through to a size 3 Tubertini 175 hook, I used a simple bulk some 8 inches from the hook with the shot spaced 1cm apart. I doubled up on this rig as margin lines can be prolific, although the line diameter seems a little light for this type of fishing I was told you don't need to fish heavy. These rigs were then matched to a match top 2 & 3 and 13h hollo elastic to a pull bung.

My 6m lines were again Cralusso Capri pole floats in 0.3grm matched again to 0.14mm Ultima Power Silk line straight through to a size 16 PR28 hook, this was shotted with a reverse taper shotting pattern on one top kit and a bulk with 2 droppers on another, matched to the new Garbolino Competition light top kits and Drennan yellow bungee elastic to pull bungs.

My up in the water rig comprised of a Scone PB special float with just 3 number 11 droppers and a size 3 Tubertini 175 hook tied to 0.14mm Ultima Power Silk and matched to a 14 latex.

Lastly my 13m line was a 0.5grm Cralusso Capri pole float again on 0.14mm Ultima Power Silk line, size 2 Tubertini 175 hook, shotting was a bulk 3com away from the hook with 2 number 10 droppers and again matched to 13h hollow through a match 2&3 section and a pull bung.

Careful plumbing found a few deviations in the bottom and a nice clay bottom on the 6m lines, these I thought would produce well.
So the all in was called and I fed the 6m lines first as I wanted to catch a few mug fish from these lines as I prepped the margin and 13m lines. I fed a ball of tightly squeezed micros on all lines with a few bits of meat and a few 4mm pellets for a little difference. Very boring and nothing unusual. I was to feed the 13m line continuously with a catapult and 4 cubes of meat every minute or so to try and draw a few fish into the peg and feeding up in the water.

In went the 6m line at 2 o'clock with a single 4mm expander and a cad pot of micro pellets, I fed the pellets from the cad pot and gently lowered the reversed taper rig into position, and no sooner had it settled the float shot under and a firm lift was met with 6 feet of Drennan yellow bungee spilling from my pole as Carp number 1 was on...perfect, a few more cubes of meat on the 13m line, re-bait and look on the 11 o'clock line....nothing....!

After 10 minutes of alternating the 6m lines I noticed a swirl at 13m where I had been feeding meat regularily....yehaaaa...up in the water time!
I couldn't get the rig out quick enough to have a go, cube of meat on the hook, 4 pieces round the float, lift and drop to make the splat that meat makes when it enters the water. Despite 10 minutes of slapping, lifting and dropping..nothing! Typical.

So it was onto the deep 13m, a small cube of meat on the hook and a ball of squeezed micros over the top, I waited 5 minutes before I had an indication which was a liner as the catapulted meat was still going through the water column, then.....the float dipped...strike....6 oz skimmer...doh!
This was frustrating let me tell you, I spent the next 4 hours alternating between all my lines apart from the margin looking for fish, and in this time I managed just 2 more 1lb skimmers and 2 foul hooked and lost carp. The up in the water line had not even yielded a bite, as it seemed they did not want the pole over their heads at all, even a longer line and varying depths didnt help.
I was ready to tear my hair out and go home.

My mate Darren had drawn peg 92 and was diagonally opposite me and had managed to string a few fish together now fishing down the edge, and a quick text was forwarded. Now I must mention me and Darren have been fishing together and travelling too matches for some 5 years and I feel work very well as a pair.
He text back saying "Pellet and meat"

So down the edge it was for the next 2 hours, meat on the hook and by varying how much pellet and meat I put in I managed to string a few carp together, all fell to a single cube of meat fished dead depth and as tight into the bank as possible, I also found you had to keep the bait dead still to get the fish to take it. The amount of liners and fish spooking out from the swim was so annoying.
However by feeding a little less pellet and a few more bits of meat on the right hand margin I managed to snare 4 barbel, 9 carp and a large F1....now I could not get a bite from the left hand margin for some reason, yet it was fed exactly the same....can anyone tell me why? Answers on a postcard please.

Darren had caught well as had the end peg which Graham Aveyard had drawn to my right. As the weigh net went round Darren managed to weigh an excellent 60lb 2oz on a very tough day, the scales came round and Darren was still first when they arrived at my peg, so out came my fish and i put 60lb 80z on the scales......sorry mate, that 6oz skimmer made all the difference!

So the only other 2 people that I knew had caught was Mr May senior on the next peg to my right, he promptly put 48lb on the scales for the section win. The scales finally arrived at the end peg and Graham, Now Graham had a few more carp than me, but mine had been considerably bigger, this would be close.
He had also managed a few skimmers as well, and after putting them on the weigh scales for a very respectable 58lb!

Well done mate, just one more carp and you would have won it!

So a first and second for me and Darren and a very........hard journey home as 6oz isn't an awful lot to win by really!

Anyway, tight lines all, My next match is the Individual National at Lindholme lakes on Saturday.

Catch you all soon!

Barston Individual League (CIPS Rules) Dates.

Right Gentlemen,

I shall be running a series of 6 matches at Barston on the main lake. These will be fished to CIPS rules and these can be found here...http://www.fips-ed.com/peche_au_coup_eng.htm#

The dates are as follows,
November 8th,
November 22nd,
December 6th,
December 20th,
January 10th,
January 24th.

These matches will be run as an Individual league, however there will not be an entry fee as such. There will be a small monetary prize after the 6 matches for the overall winner.
This will be done via a super pool scheme. Your top 5 results will count and you can drop your worst result or if you have to miss a match you still have a chance at winning the league. The Entry will be £10 per man and will have a complete payout for the WINNER only.

Nigel Harrhy will be also be putting a Trophy up for the Individual winner aswell!

The matches will be fished to CIPS rules but with some small ammendments.
The matches will be 4 hours long and carp WILL count. Natural baits only, NO pellets.

The Entry Cost is £20 on the day (plus £10 if you wish to enter the super pool on the first match or second if you are not present on the 1st, but please contact me to let me know) on the day and there will be a complete payout of the pools after peg fees on the day.

I will endeavor to make sure all competitors will fish a different section over the 6 matches so you will not be in the same area twice.

If you would like to book in for these matches please contact me directly and book in on 07966779909.

Tight lines,
Peter Bailey.

Barston Individual Intersite match (65 pegs)

Ah well the weekend has been and gone and I have to say I enjoyed it very much.

Here's a thought for the day before I start the write up.

Sometimes life is like a peanut and jam sandwich, sometimes you get the smooth, sometimes you get the crunchy.

So onwards to the match, I have been looking forward to the match all week with lots of preparation and the odd rig and hook length tying session. I always like fishing Barston's main lake, even when its hard. There is something quite special about the place that keeps drawing me back, couldn't tell you what it is but the allure is great! (some say its the chicken wings...)

The draw was to be made at 9am with the fishing from 11am till 4pm as some of the walks are quite long and once you have loaded all the gear onto barrows and then unloaded it an hour has almost passed anyway. So meeting Tony on the car park with his bait, rigs and hook lengths I had done for him it was into the clubhouse for a breakfast and a chinwag with the other lads from the MFS website and a few other familiar faces.
After spotting Nigel I have now managed to get some dates for a possible set of winter league/open dates fished to CIPS rules at Barston lakes, so watch this space as I put some dates up.

Draw time came and it was peg 60 that stuck to my hand, this is one of the longest walks on the complex and I was eager to get going as I had plenty to do, this is the slightly deeper part of the lake and with very little wind or ripple I didn't think it would fish too well. But undeterred I set off on the hike to my peg.

The peg itself was comfortable with 2 trees either side of me, one around 2m away to my right and the other some 6m to the left, I was going to set up a line for fishing down the edge here as it is around 4-5ft in the edges on these pegs with depths of around 7-10ft in front of you dependant on peg.
I decided on 3 lines, one at 6m just down the shelf in around 6ft of water, this rig itself comprised 0.14mm Ultima Power Silk mainline, with a 4 x 14 KC Carpa Chimp and a 0.12mm Power silk hook length and a size 16 Milo T213 hook. this was matched to a match top 3 with a puller bung and Garbolino pink Bazoocarp elastic...fabulous stuff.
My next line was a comfortable 13m in deeper water and at around 7ft I was not so optimistic that the bream would show, as the area is quite prolific with little tiny 3oz piranhas that are the newly stocked F1's.
Anyway this line I set up 3 rigs, the first was set up on 0.12mm Ultima Power silk mainline, a 4 x 16 carpa chimp with a bulk and two droppers to a 0.10mm Power silk hook length and size 16 Tubertini 808. This was again matched to a match top 3 with a puller bung and pink Garbolino bazoocarp elastic.
The next one was set up on one of Garbolinos new Match Light kits armed with a doubled up Preston slip number 5 elastic. This stuff is ever so forgiving and quite light in the top kit compared to its equivalent hollow rated elastic. Cheers Gareth for putting me onto it finally. This rig was made up with 0.14mm Ultima Power silk mainline to a 0.12mm hook length and size 2 Tubertini 175, the float was a KC carpa chimp in 4x18 to fish with a bulk, 2 droppers and pellets on the hook. (hence the hook choice)
My third rig was again 0.14mm Power Silk matched to a 0.12mm line and a size 14 Tubertini 808, again with a 4 x 18 KC Carpa Chimp just in case the skimmers turned up en-mass. Again this rig was matched to a doubled up number 5 Preston slip elastic.

I did set up a feeder rod, I didn't need a long chuck so it was a Spro 40 Picker rod matched up with a Red Arc reel and 4lb Ultima Power steel line on the match spool, this was matched to a 0.17mm Power Silk hook length and a size 14 PR36, these hooks are awesome, I use them for most of my carping as it offers a great hook hold. Skimmers don't seem to come off either.

Now my bait table consisted of, 1/2kg of worm, 1 pint of casters, 2 pints of 4mm pellets, a tin of corn (you never know), some 4mm and 6mm expander pellets and then a load of ground bait...the fish were going to 'Ave it' in the words of Scone.
My plan of attack would be 4 balls at the start laced with ample chopped worm, some caster and a good handful of pellets on the 13m line, this would attract the Skimmers, F1s and maybe the odd carp or Tench if your lucky.
The 6m line would receive one ball of the ground bait mix alongside a good helping of pellet and it would then be loose fed with pellets at regular intervals.
My margin line was filled in with pellets and corn in the hope of a carp perhaps putting in an appearance.

I was ready for the all in, a quick tidy up of the peg revealed that I do take far too much stuff to a match and maybe one day I will cut it all down a bit...maybe.

The all in was called, so out went 4 balls of groundbait laced with free offerings on the 13m line, 1 big pot of grub down the edge and the single ball on the 6m line with some extra pellets. My next task was to put in 6 feeder loads out to 30 yards and then have a sit over this for the next 10 minutes to see if the tip would go round with a mug fish.
So all the lines fed, I baited the feeder hook length with a whole bendy dendy and slung it out to the spot i had deposited 6 feeder full's of bait. I then sat on my hands to wait and watch.

3 minutes passed without an indication so it was back in and lob out again. I sat on my hands for another 5 minutess before the tip went round, I lifted into thin air...doh! Out went the feeder again and I sat on my hands for another 5 minutes before reeling it back in and deciding to have a look on the pole lines.
I tried the 6m line initially for 5 minutes to see if there was a mug fish about but no liners or bites were forthcoming, so it was time to try the 13m line.

Out went an expander pellet on the slightly heavier rig to see if again I had any better fish mooching about in the peg, this is always worth a quick look, as carp or Tench could be the first fish to have a look on the bed of grub before any of the other fish get a look in.
The rig had settled for perhaps 2 minutes without a bite, so a lift and drop was made and the float buried, I struck and 5 yards of doubled 5 elastic came whizzing out the pole tip as the first F1 of the day made a bid for freedom, this elastic I have to say was excellent for this and the near 8oz F1 was safely deposited into the keepnet.
I put the rig back out and had to wait a further 10 minutes before getting another 'proper bite' as liners had been a small problem, perhaps I should have left this line for a little longer to get the fish picking up the freebies more confidently. But another small F1 made its way to the keepnet.

I decided to leave the long line and have another couple of casts on the feeder to see if I could catch a few on this line whilst waiting for the pole line to settle properly, I cast out and waited for 3 minutes before reeling in and re-casting. The feeder tip was then pulled round as a small F1 took a liking to the worm hookbait, this might have been encouraging if I had another bite off it...which didn't happen, I spent perhaps a further 15 minutes on the feeder for no bites at all. Silly mistake!

Back to the 6m pole line which I had been dropping half a dozen pellets over since staring the match, I waited again for perhaps 10 minutes on this line trying to entice a bite, but still nothing.
I re-fed this line with another ball of groundbait and then re-fed the margin line as well.
Back to the 13m line, I managed the odd small F1 (piranhas) and one solitary skimmer of around a pound, but again this line soon dried up....interesting.

I had now got perhaps 5lb in the net with 2 hours gone and things were not looking good as the angler to my left had now got 2 large skimmers, 5 big f1s and a few bits in his net and the the people in the deep pegs had also had a few fish.

I decided that i needed to force the peg a little and added another ball of groundbait over the 13m and get the kinder cup out and feed after every indication with a small helping of pellet and chopped worm. This for the next 2 hours with the odd look on the feeder produced not an awful lot.
with just over an hour to go I put another ball of groundbait on the 13m line and went onto my lighter rig with a large section of worm, this was immediately snaffled by a 1lb skimmer...had they at last turned up?.......YES!




For the next hour I managed to add a dozen skimmers to around 3lb and one bonus bream nudging the 5lb mark which was a welcome boost, I actually thought that this was a carp for a while as it fought really hard. I also lost 3 others which all fought quite similar, so I can only presume that these were also larger bream and the hook just pinged out for whatever reason.

The bites had been positive and after every 3 fish I needed to add a ball of groundbait to keep them interested, so perhaps I hadn't been aggressive enough on my initial feeding?

Ho hum, my net of fish went 37lb 14oz for a section win, so I was quite pleased with the result, but I'm sure I could have had a further 15-20lb if I hadn't lost a few fish. But that's fishing I suppose.

Tight lines all!


Next match is to be an open on Friday most probably Moorelands and then an MFS match at Cudmore on saturday.

Packington Somer's Teams of three.

Well the weekend has been and gone, shame really as I would have liked to have had a better result.

Anyway thought for the day, What does an Atheist scream when she orgasms?

Right onto the fishing.

Morning had arrived on the Sunday and I cant begin to tell you how excited I have been all week in anticipation of this match.
It was to be teams of three and I was drafted in to help fill a gap...lucky me.

The match was to be held on Molands mere, now for those who have never fished the place it is a wonderful venue stuffed with roach, perch, tench, crucians, skimmers and the obligatory carp. Now I prefer to catch anything that swims in this pool and always gear up to do so.

Anyway upon arriving at the venue it was time for a coffee and a toasted bacon sandwich with brown sauce....just the way to start a good days fishing....or so I thought.

A quick walk round the lake revealed next to nothing really apart from there were horrendous amounts of lily's in certain pegs, both on the far bank, on the island and on the inside aswell in certain pegs. A few carp jumping and betraying their presence on the far bank gave me a little confidence that a few fish will be caught today.
Walking back to the cafe the draw was just about to start, so at last I could'nt wait to see where I had drawn. Scott Poynton handed me an envelope with 3 pegs (well 2 actually....he cunningly concealed the third peg in the ripped off bit...) to draw from. So in went my hand and out came peg 3...or permanent peg 6....hmmm a challenging area.

Scott Drew peg 52 and Mark drew peg 17, both I would have fancied more than mine. Anyway the draw was done and off we went to our respective pegs.

Now, upon arrival at my peg I noticed I had no far bank vegetation but had some patches of Lily's growing out some 8-9ft from the bank side on either side of me, perfect I though for Tench and Crucians to hide.

I set up 2 feeder rods, both Spro 40 Picker rods, teamed up with Red Arc reels and Ultima power Steel reel line. These would have cage feeders attached with one 12 inch hooklength and one 6 inch hooklength, both made up on 0.21mm Ultima Power silk line to some Preston PR28 size 14 hooks. This was to be for carp and tench up the far bank. I did have some lighter hooklengths made up just in case I needed to drop down the shelf into 5ft of water and look for the skimmers instead.

I set up 6 top kits, 4 were made up on Garbolino pink bazoocarp elastic with puller kits, 1 had a soft set number 8 elastic and the other a number 14 for fishing near the lily's for the Tench. My mainlines would be at 13m one at 11 o'clock and the other at 2 o'clock, the one at 11 would be fed with 3 balls of groundbait and some chopped worm and caster, whilst the 2 o'clock line would be fed with just micro pellets.

I would also have a 5m line fed with just one ball of groundbait and will receive casters thrown in by hand over the top to keep anything there interested. The margin lines would be fed with a dark green groundbait laced with micro pellets, worms and corn to see if I could tempt few tench or crucians.

My Long lines were all made up on 0.14mm Ultima Power Silk line to either a 0.10mm or 0.12mm Power Silk hooklength. These had 0.75 grm Cralusso Cristina floats , this held bottom nicely and with a slightly adapted thicker hollow tip sat nicely dimpled until a skimmer either dragged it under or picked up the dropper shot and gave me a lift bite.
My 5m line comprised of a 0.14mm Ultima Power Silk mainline to a 0.12mm hooklength, this was matched to a 0.50grm Cralusso Cristina float, shotted with positive bites in mind as I would be fishing segments of worm on this line, this was matched to the soft set number 8 elastic.
The margin rig was 0.19mm Ultima Power silk to a 0.17mm hooklength and a size 3 Tubertini 175 hook, matched to number 14 elastic. This would get the Tench out should I hook one.

Sitting ready for the match I had a plan in mind, the first thing I would do was to deposit 5 feeder loads of groundbait up the far bank and see what comes over it. I would then feed all the pole lines in rotation and go onto the feeder as soon as the other lines were fed.

So the all in was called and in went the 6 feederfulls of bait...I had a wayward cast....ahem!
Fed all my pole lines and just as I was finishing cupping in the last ball at 13m I could already see a carp moving on the bait opposite in the 2ft of water....the tail giving it away. I baited the hook with a worm segment around 2 inches long and cast out to the carp, landing perhaps a foot away and spooking it, well that was bound to happen really and I was'nt too worried. So waiting for perhaps 2 minutes the tip gave me an indication that there were some fish there and another tail waving at me had me biting at the bit waiting for the tip to go round..alas not this time. So another chuck to the island and 2 minutes later the tail was back again nothing...hmmmmmmmm.

I decided to put another 3 feederfuls there to get the carp hoovering up some freebies and get their confidence up a little. I went to the 5m line as I had been regularily putting in a few casters and pinches of worm over the ball of groundbait, the float settled and dipped, a perch was soon winging its way into the waiting keepnet. This was followed by another 2 smaller samples around the 1oz mark and then the line just did'nt produce, so another small ball of groundbait and it was out to 13m to have a quick look whilst keeping my eye on the feeder line to see what was happening. The 13m line threw up 2 small roach and a hookpull from a skimmer...doh!

I decided the feeder needed another looking over, this time the feeder hit the water and a bow wave made its way across the water as the carp spooked away again, so they were there but just not giving many signs at the moment or nothing to betray their presence as they sneaked up the shelf. The tip for perhaps a minute stayed still until out of the blue an almighty crash on the far bank saw my feeder rod yanking round as a carp darted from the far bank...splendid to watch!
Anyway this carp at around 7lb was a welcome fish and put my nerves out of the window for a while, again a follow up cast to the island saw me hook into a snag on the bottom and a broken hooklength..ho hum.
3 more casts and there was'nt a sign on the feeder line, so it was back to the 5m line which immediately threw up another small perch and a small dumpy F1 carp. So some more casters over the top and nothing...motionless float! Hmmm pattern emerging now.

Back to the 13m line saw one bite and nothing else, so this was topped up with another 2 balls of groundbait to try and make something happen. My margin lines were the next to receive a little attention, I put a whole bendy dendy on the hook and lowered it into the swim by the lily's on my right, the float barely settled before it shot under and a micro perch was lifted into bright sunlight, not the fish I was looking for, so another ball of green groundbait went onto this line and I swapped over to my left hand line, again lowering the bait into position it was there for perhaps 30 seconds before a dip was followed by a positive bite. A strike was met with firm resistance of the lily bed...perfect. So a quick pull and the hook came free.
Lowering it down again slightly away from the last area the float buried again and this time 3 ft of elastic poured from the pole tip as a 1lb F1 made its way into my waiting landing net.

No bite followed this, so it was back onto the feeder. Now I must explain this started the most frustrating period of fishing Ive had in a long time. The feeder had only just hit the water when the rod was almost wrenched in as carp number 2 tore off into the middle of the lake, I managed to get this back to my bank and could feel that it was a decent fish, then it decided that the lily bed to my right was the place to be and promptly sheered my hooklength off leaving me with the lily's and the carp swimming round feeling smug....
Grrrr....

So I cast out again and 2 minutes later the tip went round with a typical skimmer bite and at around a pound it was welcome. I decided to cast again and 2 minutes later the tip heaved round as carp number 3 was hooked, this fish also came out from the far bank, plodded around for a while and then came up in front of me, and at around an estimated 5lb would be a useful fish...disaster, the fish flipped over and managed to flick the hook out...arrrrghhhhh.

I decided that I needed to catch something and looked on the 5m line, nothing was forthcoming. Back out onto the 13m and 2 small skimmers and a roach were the rewards for around 15 minutes work...not good. The feeder line was calling, I cast out again with the long hooklength and it took 5 minutes of liners before the tip went round, this time a small f1 at around a pound again was at least easy to get into the net. A few more casts were needed before I had another indication on the feeder line and carp number 4 was hooked. This fish was scrappy as I fought it to my bank and this time the left hand lily's were the carp's choice for my feeders final residence...arrghhhh (this was'nt my choice of word here, shall we say that it was rather obscene)

A new feeder and hooklength were applied as my other rod was cast into the water with the 6 inch hooklength, this I never had a bite on.

I re-fed both my margin lines and 13m groundbait line and looked on the pellet swim, I had an immediate bite that saw a near 1lb skimmer think it was a trout for a minute as it jumped about. Another smaller sample followed, but this soon dried up and would need a re-feed and it was back onto the feeder.
Carp number 5 soon found the bait and swam directly towards me, until I caught up with it and had the rod almost wrenched from my grip as it turned the other way, it then swam into the middle and went solid...no matter what I did it stayed solid, I pulled, I let the line go slack and still nothing, this was getting frustrating. Then just as I was about to pull for a break the carp swam free, so who only knows what happened there. The carp was giving me a dogged fight at my feet before the hook pulled out. I think this was from the feeder bouncing around too much or maybe even being foulhooked?, but I will never know I suppose.

A couple of small skimmers from the 13m line gave me hope that it could have at last switched on, but no. Small string of fish and then it would go quiet.
Back on the feeder line and carp number 6 and 7 were again both hooked and lost in the lily's either side of me, I was getting rather stressed at this point, Ive never felt so downcast when fishing goes like this.
Anyway finding the will to re-cast carp number 9 was played hard and it ended up in my net and at around 2lb it did'nt stand much chance I don't think. I actually let out a large sigh at this point as I had finally landed a carp.

I decided from this point to abandon the pole as with only 30 minutes left I needed weight and there were still the odd fish showing over on the far bank. Carp number 10 was hooked with 10 minutes to go, so I tried very hard to keep this fish on, but despite my best efforts the fish was lost in the lily's to my right after much swearing and cussing.

I could'nt wait for the match to end, but that's fishing I suppose.

Now my 17lb was enough for 3rd in my ten man section so I was pleased with the result although my blood pressure must have been sky high. Mark had won his section with 21lb and Scott had done well coming second in his! So we scored 26 points out of a possible 30, not too bad at all.

Well Barston for me Sunday, lets hope that the carp and skimmers will play ball there!

Tight lines all.

Sponsorship!

http://www.anglingconcepts.co.uk/

Well a little news to follow on from the last few weeks.

I have been recently been in contact with SPRO and Cralusso and now have a sponsorship deal in place, so I shall take this opportunity to thank Angling Concepts and John Caylass for all their help and support and look forward to a constructive and successful future.

So the next time you may see me on the bank I will be in the the Spro blue and white liveried bib and brace!


Thanks to those who have helped me along the way, Scone, Ian Didcote, John Caylass and Andy Kinder, without your help gentlemen I wouldnt be the angler I am. Cheers all!

Glebe 2 dayer!

Well the time has come for me to actually fish the Glebe again in a 2 day event. This would be run by MFS and have several teams, all mixed together from different parts of the country. If you want to know how this works then log on to http://www.matchfishing-scene.co.uk/ and check out the teams and how they were organised, turned around, bartered for and other doo dahs.

Day one,

I was to be drawn on pool 1, now I like this pool as it seems quite fair, although the wind can be a damned nuisance. This pool is approximately 35 yards wide, around 7ft deep and is lined with reeds and rushes either side, and the pegs are nicely spaced and very comfortable. The glebe itself as a fishery is very very nicely kept, no litter, all the grass is cut nicely and the fish in very good condition.
There are some weird rules however at this place, such as the maximum elastic that can be used is 14 solid or black hydro/15h hollo, and also 20 inch hooklengths on the feeder. These have to be adhered too, as this is what Roy Marlow has decided on for his fishery.

So to the draw, I was to be in a 6 man section pegs 10-15. I was one of the last to draw with just 2 pegs left, peg 11 and peg 10....I so wanted an end peg..please be an end peg.....alas not to be as I opened the little slip of paper and peg 11 had stuck to my hand. Oh well, better get on with it and try to catch as many fish as possible. This match was to be based on overall weight for the team to win, so anything that had fins would be aimed for.

I got to my peg and looked across the lake, the wind was howling into me and the weather was getting worse as the skies got blacker by the minute...nice.
I had an airator on the far bank which was to be my feeder marker. This I would tackle with a SPRO 40 3m picker rod alongside a Red Arc reel loaded with Ultima 0.20mm power match line. My hooklength , 20 inches of Ultima Power Silk was matched a Guru size 14 QM1 hook with a hair.
The groundbait I was going to put through it contained a lot of particles, something I wished I hadnt done on hindsight...(such a wonderful thing).

My pole rigs were all tied on 0.19mm Ultima Power Silk straight through to a size 5 Tubertini 175 hook and Cralusso Capri floats ranging from 0.75 gram to 0.30grm would complete the set ups. The Shotting patterns were all a bulk some 8 inches from the hook as I expected the fishing to be very good and the bites positive.....
The rigs were all matched to half length of black hydro elastic through the power kits of my trusted Garbolino G10 pole.

Now for bait I had just about everything under the sun to hand, hemp, corn, meat, worm, casters, groundbait, paste, hookpellets etc etc, I decided that my long line all 8m of it directly in front would be fed with a messy combination of pellet, worm, caster and corn, whilst the inside line to my left some 5 sections would be fed with just corn and hemp, whilst on the right I would feed slightly further down the shelf with corn, hemp and pellet some 6 sections away.

I was ready then for the all in, this match was going to be 6 hours long so could be a marathon match if the fish fed. Or very very slow match if the fish decided against feeding for whatever reason.

The hooter went to signal the start of the match, in went 2 large cups of mess on the 8m line and 1 each of corn and caster down the one side and again one each of pellets corn and caster down the other...plenty for the fish to go at....apparently you cannot overfeed the fish at the Glebe.

So I picked up the feeder rod and had my first couple of chucks (none went down the same hole thanks to the wind making life very very awkward) and after getting at least 3 in the same sort of area I baited my hooklength with a single grain of corn and cast back towards the far bank.
I let the feeder drop, hit the bottom, gave it 20 seconds and then pulled it back a little way to straighten the hooklength and leave the hookbait near to the feeder bait. 10 seconds later the tip went round and the first fish of the day was on its way to my waiting keepnet. A skimmer of 8oz was soon swimming on the inside of my silvers net.
I chucked out several times without a further indication apart from the odd liner somewhere in the middle of the pool.

So it was time to try the pole lines, I couldnt see anyone catching on the feeder to be honest with just the odd fish coming out. Nobody was running away with it just yet.

The heavier 0.75gram rig was to be used as the wind was blasting across the water making presentation more than difficult, so on went a single grain of corn and a full large cad pot of mess to go over the top. Out went the rig and the pot of mess.
I waited some 5 minutes for my first bite, which I struck at, connected and then pulled out...scale on the hook...hmmm foulhooker then.
Out went the rig again, and this time the bite was met and a skimmer of 8oz was to join its brother in the silvers net.
The going was quite tough with skimmers falling to segments of worm and the odd hooker pellet and piece of corn, but no carp were forthcoming to this approach. I was getting worried as the Darren to my left had now got 5-6 carp in the net and the guy to my right had also snared a few on the feeder too.
So the line was re-fed alongside the other inside lines and the feeder was called into action again.

Nothing......

I was getting frustrated, one of the best venues in the country and I could not catch a damned carp...whats going on, I had to have a serious word with myself.

After giving myself a berating it was time to look on the right hand inside line at 6 sections. This was fed with pellets, corn and hemp from the off. There should be a carp here now...surely.
The first put in with corn saw me miss a bite, so back out again and within seconds the float buried and the strike was met with resistance as the 2lb skimmer that took to the air and flapped about on the surface doing some interesting water acrobatics....crazy creatures.
I didnt mind if these fish were all the same size, easy to get out and goo weight builders.
The foat buried a few more times with some good skimmers coming to the net on a regular basis.

At last a bite was met with solid resistance as a carp took off towards the middle of the lake, the half length of black hydro stopped it very quickly and a 5lb carp was now to grace my carp net. HURRAY!!!!

In went some more bait as I decided to fish my other margin line to my left. A handful of hemp over the top of the float and another of corn, I settled down to wait...all of 5 seconds. The float was yanked under and elastic streamed out from my pole tip as angry carp number 2 was on its way into the net and at 6lb it was a welcome fish.
No more bites from this line so in went another handful of hemp and corn and it was back to hooking 8oz skimmers on the right hand line with the odd small carp of around a pound putting in an appearance too.

I just happened to look at the time and apart from getting a proper soaking it was now almost an hour to go...better pull my fingfer out as I was 30lb down to the guy on the end peg to my left.
So in went some more hemp on the left hand line and the rig was laid over the top...10 seconds later and the float vanished...missed it DOH!
Re-baited and the rig was laid in again and more feed over the top....float vanished and the elastic streamed out from the the pole as a 3lb carp was quickly netted and despatched into the waiting onion sack...get in there.

For the next hour I have had a carp evry 5 minutes with 3 lost fish, I was more than happy with this as it would have brought me back up in the section, personally I felt I had'nt fished a very good match and had fished past the carp for too much of the match at 8m, but you live and learn I suppose.
The weather had been awful during the match and had now cleared to leave blue skies and sunshine...typical.
The weigh in was on its way round and I was surprised to see that just 54lb was winning my section...I thought I had more than that. I pulled the silvers net from the water and 29lb of small skimmers and little carp was the result. Hmmm out came my carp net and put a futher 50lb of mudpigs on the scales for a total of 79lb odd to win the section....well chuffed.
I personally thought the venue fished hard, but there had been some tremedous weights on the other pools with Gary Thorpe weighing in over 200lb on Pool 5...awesome performance mate.

Day 2,

I was looking forward to today as I knew I was on Pool 4, peg 69. This had been drawn the previous evening so we all knew where we were and so that the banter could start back at the Longshoot.
This peg had weighed in 70lb the day before and peg 70 next to it had weighed in over 178lb!

The peg itself wasnt exactly what i would call a good looking peg, just very plain, no features at all, again lined banks with rushes that you couldnt see round, and the feeder chuck was some 30 yards. I made a big mistake today, I didnt take any groundbait, instead I took soaked pellets to put through the feeder. I was going to get a proper lesson on why not to use pellets and to use groundbait instead by Jamie (Dottedown) on peg 70.

So, the feeder was to be exactly the same set up as before with 0.20 Ultima power match line loaded onto my Spro Red Arc reel and 3m spro Picker rod. Teamed up with an Ultima Power Silk 0.19mm hooklength and a Guru QM1 size 14 hook with a long hair for doubled up sweetcorn (I was told there be monsters in here....)

The pole lines were to be a little different from the previous day, I was to just fish at my top 5 with a power kit and half length of 15h hollow elastic teamed up to 0.19mm Ultima Power Silk, to a size 6 tubertini 175 hook and a Cralusso 0.5grm Capri pole float. These are indestructable, perfect for the day ahead.

I had narrowed my bait selection down today, with just 3 baits on my side tray, pellets, hemp and of course corn. The previous days weight had been on corn and hemp fished at 5m, so this was to be my plan of attack with the feeder in the first hour. This match was only going to be 5 hours. So 4 top kits were rigged with identical rigs, and float patterns for the day ahead in case of breakages.

I was ready alongside 8 pints of hemp, 8 pints of corn and 3 pints of pellets. It was easier toset up today for some reason and i felt a lot more comfortable with the wind coming over my shoulder this time instead of straight at me, and the rain was to keep off for the day. Finally some better weather.

The hooter went and it was all in.

So on the pole line went 2 cups of hemp and one of corn alongisde a few handfulls over the thop to make the feed area larger with a concentrated centre where my hookbait would be. The feeder went out 4 times depositing bait before I attachemd my hooklength with 2 pieces of corn on the hair rig. Thie was launched to the far bank to start the waiting process for the carp to find the bait.
I had a few liners so the feeder was wound back in, refilled and launched back out, and no sooner had the feeder hit the water round the tip went...OMG could I stop it...no chance. The hook pinged out so I can only assume this was a foulhooked carp.
Out went the feeder again with me being a little disgruntled as Jamie on the next peg was now playing his first carp...alss foulhooked in the side....he managed to land his...doh!

I watched a motionless tip as jamie had another 3 fish, I was hoping my feeder line would work, but the carp just didnt want pellet, they wanted the groundbait without any feed content. I was trying to leave the pole line alone as long as possible to build up a few fish. As I was hoping to drop straight in and catch one.
In the feeder came without a sniff, it was time to look on the pole line with an hour gone and not one carp to show for my efforts, but Rick Baxter down on the end had a few carp, Jamie had 4 and the lads to my left had also had a few fish...this was again not looking good.

Out went my rig with a single grain of corn and the wait began, as 2 handfulls of bait went over the float, a minute later the float buried with ridiculous speed, I struck and 2 feet of blue hollow came streaming out as a near 1lb roach was lifted into orbit.....not quite what I was looking for. Carp number 5 had now graced Jamies net, and they were not small either.

I rebaited and refed, this time after 5 minutes the float buried and the blue hollow streamed out from the pole, HIT and HOLD time.....the half length of elastic soon had the fish under control and a near 9lb common carp lay in the net.
Next chuck saw the same thing happen and its brother went in the other net. Happy days two fish for 18lb, right time to play catch up with Jamie, I waited a further 10 minutres before carp number 3 graced the landing net and as Jamie would say HORSE this fish was nudging some 15lb...nice!
Now this is where it pete tong for the next half an hour or so as I lost 3 fish on the bounce, one foulhooked and 2 properly, as they wallowed out in front of me before the hook just pulled out for no reason I could work out.
This cost me time and weight, so I quick re-plumb of the swim and a shot taken off the rig alongside a number 6 section added to follow the fish out a little soon had me back on track as I caught Jamie up with 8 carp a piece, although my next 3 fish might only have weighed 10lb between them.
The skimmers then turned up, unlike pool 1 these fish averaged 2lb and were welcome when the carp didnt play ball. Some of these were just as acrobatic though. Great fun I have to say. I even had one which was as black as the ace of Spades.

Normality resumed as the carp returned in numbers for around an hour with me landing a further 12 fish, ranging from 3lb up to 12lb. I think I only lost 2 fish during this time and was quite please with the result as Jamie was still picking up the odd carp to the feeder but he wasnt catching on the pole for some reason.

Now for whatever reason my swim died for a while despite trying to feed and bring them fish back and adding sections to see if some had backed off past the feed, now jamie was on a bit of a roll landing 6 carp on the feeder in consecutive casts and 2 of these were Horses, well into double figures. now I was quite sure Jamie had caught me up weight wise as his fish although fewer in number were mahoosive.

I decided it was time to set up another line at 8 sections to my left in the same depth of water and fed with just a cup instead of loose feeding by hand...difficult to do at that range unless your Ultima's Andy May and can half moon bait like casters even at 13m.

This worked for me as I started to pick off the odd small carp and skimmer from this line as I rested the 5m line. Jamie had now managed to branch out as his feeder caught the overhanging foliage on the far bank and had to pull for a break and the he lost the whole lot feeder and all. So he needed to remake his feeder set up, this was both time consuming and can knock casting confidence, which indeed this had. (He even said so himself, for whatever reason his feeder line was now strangely very very quiet) Lo and behold my 5m swim came back to life and I started to increase my lead over Jamie's as I landed a further 7 fish to his 4.

I was very pleased with how the match had gone, although me not having groundbait had probably cost me the double ton, as it would have been nice to have cast over and grabbed the odd carp when my swims went quiet. But again hindsight is a wonderful thing.

I ended the match with 148lb, for a section and lake win.

Well I cant wait to go to this fantastic venue again, as i feel even through the winter the skimmer fishing would be very very good.

Tight lines all.

Packington Somers match for me sunday....im already looking forward to it.