keithgandhi's Xanga

Southerner's Visit to Alders 26th Sept 09

Sun, 27 Sep 2009 09:54:57 GMT

Over the year's a lot of angler's have asked me about Alders Farm, near Milton Keynes and every now and again a match is organised to fish the prolific match lake. Al Loader from www.maggotdrowning.com had arranged to have a little knock up on the water, the idea being to give those who have not fished it before the chance to enjoy the great catches that can be achieved. Only 12 pegs but enough to give those a good glimpse of the lake's potential. Unfortunately, like most things, internet, the wires got crossed and a few dropped out leaving 5 of us on the bank and fishing. I had worked the Friday night and finished at 1am to allow a little sleep before the experience.Then back to work for the night shift and stock take after the fishing. No match, but, what would be a cracking days fishing regardless.

I arrived at the fishery to meet Dinah, the owner, who after a quick chat and dipping my landing nets, pointed me into the direction of ny good friend and work colleague Vic Nugent and his partner Diane, who had dropped themselves into pegs 34 and 33 respectively. This left me with a choice of 35,36,37 or 38 on the same small bank. I dropped my gear off in 36 leaving three spaces for 2 confirmed anglers ( Colin Sharrad and Tony Roberts, who regularly fish for Marsh AC) who would turn up later. Both Vic and Diane were straight into fish from the off fishing no more than their top two's. So I fed around 3 handfuls of 4mm GOT Sinkers to the bush on my left before tackling up.

Nice and simple today, margin pole, red hydro, .18 Colmic Stream to a size 14 B911 finished off with a 2 no8 MW Dinky float, set to fish around a foot deep. No messing around. Bait would be the new Atomic Paste and 6mm GOT Expanders.

The swim I had fed was alive with carp and I knew I had made a mistake in feeding so heavy from the off, there were tails everywhere and they were pushing the other fish out of the way but after around a minute the fish of a few fish came to the net. A lively common around 4lb. Back out and the same. The paste was getting knocked around all the time and the float was moving all over the place before finally burying. I was getting plagued with foul hookers and no matter what I tried could not cure it. Trying expander seemed to lessen the effect but still foul hooked fish were disturbing the swim. However another small pinch of feed brought them back. After around an hour I had around 10 fish.

Colin & Tony had arrived by now and asked where to fish and were pointed into the direction of 37 and 38. Both Vic and myself took the time out to ensure they would know where to fish in there swims and although they had enough bait with them I gave Colin another 3 pints of sinkers just in case he needed them. Having tackled up thenselves they both decided to start on the paste feeding pellets all the time. Both were straight into fish, although, Tony seemed to be getting a few more from the opposite side of the bush he shared with me.

It was now close to 1030 and we decided to stop fishing for a bit and have a spot of breakfast in the cafe. Leaving the gear in the pegs we walked the 50 yards to the opposite bank and the lakeside cafe where Gwen was busy rustling up some bacon and eggs sandwiches and a pot of tea to wash it down with. Gwen gave permission for both Colin & Tony to bring their cars down after there session, the hill back up is a real hill, not a mere slope like Rayne Lodge top lake.

Everyone returned to thir pegs and continued where we had left off, catching and losing fish, carp upto 8lb from all the swims. I had decided to try to fish to my right still on a top two and feed a lot less, to try to cure the foul hooker problem but even after feeding 5 pellets every put in it still happened. Changes to depths and shotting never improved things and I think it was just one of those days where no matter what you tried it made no difference. Fish were still coming thick and fast for all the anglers.

Vic & Diane were first to pack up around 1330 and with Diane admitting to 74 fish for around 230lb, Vic was close behind although he never counted his fish. I took Colin & Tony for a walk around the lakes and showed them the good pegs and worst on each of them. The one thing we noticed was that no one else was feeding. Just sitting there with rods and poles out into the water and not a pole pot or catapult in sight. Still I suppose it is good to get out in tranquil surroundings. Horses for courses and all that.

Back at our pegs, it was as if we had never been away, fish coming at regular intervals to the remaining three anglers and when I was asked when I was going to stop fishing I said at 99 fish. I think the ton of fish is a magical number and although I could easily reach that target I wanted to do it next time ( in a match). After another hour and a half it was time to pack up. It was now 1530 and by the time I had sorted the gear out and gave out my left over bait to Tony it was time for a quick chat before giving directions back to the motorway for the lads from Surrey and Kent.

Tony had 66 fish for an estimated 222lb and Colin slightly less 53 fish for around 170lb and were still fishing and catching. They had planned to fish til around 6pm before enduring the trip home. My 99 fish would have been around 300lb with the average size being just over 3lb. We had made the "best of a bad job" with the lack of organisation of the match. A good breakfast and bridges rebuilt with the fishery. Two Alders "virgins" had emptied the place.Two venue regulars had emptied the place, and finally Diane had emptied the place.

Where else can you fish top two's all day, have fish to 8lb and everyone beat 200lb.

Many thanks to Dinah and Gwen for treating us very well, Tony & Colin for sticking to their guns and going fishing when it would have been easier to cry off and finally to Vic and Diane for being good friends.

Marsh AC Rayne Lodge 19th Sept 09

Sun, 20 Sep 2009 02:47:04 GMT

Today saw the last of the Marsh AC club matches for 2009, a shame really as the guys and gal make these fixtures in my calander a must with good banter. Having worked it out that during the last 5 matches I have guested for them I must have driven over a thousand miles and am sure all this driving is affecting my performances. That's my excuse and I am sticking to it. Seriously though, I have fished venues that I would never of fished before, some good and some excellent. The one thing about the venues is that they are all fish catching venues and if you approach them correctly then quite often the rewards are there to be had.

Today, I had, as my travelling partner, Mick Wright, my nemesis, as he always manages to pip me at the post, although since I starting threatening him with walking home after the matches he has "allowed" me to sneak a few results. Leaving Mick's at 6am saw an uneventful trip to Rayne, Essex. This is where our first mishap occured. The map said the lake was on the main road. We drove through Rayne and just into Braintree and still could not find it so we turned around and looked again. Still nothing but a dog walker pointed us in the right direction (back from where we just came) only to find a car park marked up as Rayne Lodge 20 yards further on from where we turned round. Still we were there now and first to get there. A quick look at the lake saw us chatting to another angler just setting up. He pointed out that we were at the WRONG lake and car park. OK, with new directions and another 200 yards saw us turn up a side road to the RIGHT car park, where the Marsh members were gradually assembling.

All the talk leading upto the match related to the steep hill to the venue, after a quick look it did not look too bad. After all I am used to Alders Farm. The lake looked good with plenty of fish showing especially in the early pegs in the corner. Every peg had a feature to fish to, albeit an island, good marginal reeds or overhanging trees. This had however all been cut back since the clubs last visit and looked quite drastic in places. I had drawn peg 16 and it meant nothing to me, but looked ok. An overhanging tree to my right which stretched out to 6m, a small clump of grass at 3m to my left and a few bubbles showing at 11m. I had the point of the island at around 30m but would not be able to fish it. With all the talk of the "steep hill" I had made the decision to leave the rods at home and concentrate on a pole only match. Pete Morton had drawn the favoured peg 14a, a victim of the venue's gardening, and with Pete being a decent angler I knew I would have my work cut out.

Colin Sharrad was on the same bank and we all knew he would fish paste. Sandwiched between Colin and Pete was Judy, who was admitting to looking down the barrel of the gun, at the thought of two good anglers either side. Her aim though was too beat one and do herself proud. Mick had pulled out 11a and had a swim to die for. In a corner with overhanging trees and a small bed of lily pads to the right and a small grass lined edge swim to his left. Tony Roberts has been in good form recently and managed to draw the fish filled corner peg and with no-one pegged next to him would be hard to beat if the fish were feeding.

I decided to fish pellet and paste today. Pellet at 11m and down the edge, paste at 6m at the end of the bush. Armed with 12 pints of 4mm GOT Sinkers and a variety of GOT Hooker pellets would see me have plenty of bait should the fish get their heads down. Paste would be the new formula Atomic Paste which I was trialling and I made up around 2 pints to start with. The beauty of which is that this can be fished really sloppy. Rigs were a MW pellet float set to 3ft for the 11m line, .16 Colmic Stream to a size 14 B911. Same line and hook for the edge swims set at 18inches but with a MW Dinky. Finally a MW SC Paste float to .18 Colmic Stream and a size 12 B911 for fishing 6m.

Colin signalled the all in and out went the cupping kit to 11m and 2 pots of sinkers were deposited, closely followed by another 2 pots at 6m with some Atomic Paste thrown in for good measure. This left a good cloud in the water. Two handfuls of pellets down both sides saw me complete my feeding. Out with the pellet rig to 11m and after a few dips the float buried to reveal nothing, re-baiting this time with a soft hooker. Again the float buried and nothing. Shallow up a few inches and out again, this had the desired effect and saw fish number 1 in the net. The blank was saved. A few more fish came to the net with nothing bigger than a pound. Pete Morton was catching and it looked as if his fish were slightly bigger. It was commented on that the fish were very "slippery" and this proved to be the case as a couple of fish made a break for freedom and bounced off the ring of the net. A switch to 8mm hard pellet proved more rewarding with fish coming regularly. I had been topping up with a catapult of pellets every put in and fish were soon swirling on the surface. Out with the margin rig and unbelieveably the float stood still. Lifting and dropping did not help matters and with the fish still swirling the only place I could get a bite was on the deck. Strange. It was noticeable though that a lot of fish had parrot mouths and this could be part of the reason. With bites still coming I thought it time to rest it and try the paste. Out to 6m and within seconds the float disappeared to reveal a better stamp of fish,only around 2 1/2lb but better than the stockies I was getting at 11m. Out again and the same thing happens but this time it was short lived. After a biteless 20 minutes it was time for a quick look in the margin. Pete had set up a feeder rod and was now fishing around 2m away from the island on the method, it looked as if it was a frustrating time for him as after around 45 minutes that was up the bank and he was back on the pole. I could see Mick sneaking a few fish and shouted across to him that he could pack that up. Colin and Judy had a couple of fish apiece.

I must say that at this point a first for around 8 years took place. I had a visit from the Environment Agency bailiff who checked my licence and said it was nice to see someone catching fish.

I had been feeding around 20 pellets every couple of minutes and the odd vortex and tail could been seen down to the right hand margin. Reaching out with 3 sections of pole to a small clump of grass the expander pellet had hardly any time to settle when the black hydro came streaming out of the pole. A nice common of around 4lb graced the landing net. Yet again the swim died and it was out to 11m again for another look. This time though a shoal of skimmers had descended into the peg and no matter what I tried I could not get a carp. After 8 skimmers on the trot it was time to concentrate on one line, the margin.

This time though it was a fish a chuck, only small fish but regular and I was soon building a weight. Pete was bagging now on the pole having switched to banding a 6mm feed pellet. However my expander approach was working and by making small adjustments to my rig I manage to keep a flow of fish coming to the net. All too often the whistle goes just when you start catching and although I realistically thought I might scrape 40lb, I was admitting to 30lb as you do. Pete, I thought had done easily 50lb and I knew he had done me, but I did not know how the rest of the lake had fished.

Packing up, I thought, could I have done anything different to try to get a few extra fish. My fish were small compared to Pete's and perhaps the 8mm hard pellet was too big for the size of fish. Finally catching up with the weigh in saw Tony Roberts leading from his corner peg with 79lb 8oz, closely followed by John Holdsworth with 73lb dead. A couple of peg to peg battles took place with Terry Goff just pipping Martin Hucker by a pound. I know how that feels, after Martin pipped me by a pound at Rockells Farm earlier in the year. My nemesis, Mick had put 42 and a half pound onto the weight sheet and I admit I was a little concerned. Colin and Judy had shared the spoils with 18lb apiece and although Colin was philosophical about the fish not having his paste. It was Judy who was more pleased as she had not been beaten on one side at least. Well done Judy. Mugger put a fine 67lb together for third place before moving round to me with 53lb 8oz. Roger Noakes had 32lb from his peg 20.

Position	Peg	Angler	Weight
1st	Peg 1	Tony Roberts	79lbs 08ozs
2nd	Peg 10	John Holdsworth	73lbs 00ozs
3rd	Peg 14a	Peter Morton	67lbs 04ozs
4th	Peg 8	Terry Goff	64lbs 08ozs
5th	Peg 7	Martin Hucker	63lbs 08ozs
6th	Peg 16	Keith Ashby (Guest)	53lbs 08ozs
7th	Peg 11a	Mick Wright (Guest)	42lbs 08ozs
8th	Peg 20	Roger Noakes	32lbs 08ozs
9th=	Peg 3	Ron Mannister	28lbs 00ozs
9th=	Peg 4	Jim Boase	28lbs 00ozs
11th	Peg 5	Eddie Dobson	21lbs 08ozs
12th=	Peg 12	Colin Sharrard	18lbs 00ozs
12th=	Peg 13	Judy Hermite	18lbs 00ozs
14th	Peg 21	Rod Turner	14lbs 00ozs
15th	Peg 11	Ken Walker	13lbs 08ozs
16th	Peg 9	Zack Johnson	11lbs 08ozs

My demons had been vanquished and I would not have to suffer the torrent of abuse on the way home. A fish & chip supper on the way home rounded it off a treat. All that would have made it a perfect day was West Ham beating Liverpool on the way home but alas it was not to be.

As this is the last official match of the Marsh AC season I would like to personally thank all of the Marsh members, especially Dave Collier, the Marsh AC supremo and dictator who tirelessly works in front and behind the scenes to arrange great days out for the members. All the other guests who throughout the year have made me feel very welcome. Hopefully the invites will continue throughout 2010 and we can all benefit from a club that is run with real intentions of enjoying the day.

Marsh AC Private Lake 05 Sept 09

Tue, 08 Sep 2009 06:35:06 GMT

Marsh AC are a great little club that really make you welcome. I have been guesting for them for a couple of years now, when work allows. It involves a lot of travelling on my part but the banter is well worth it. You never win any money for it because of the way the payouts are structured and are lucky if you come away with more than it costs to fish. But it is the fishing and the craic that makes it all worthwhile.

Today, they have managed to secure pegs on a private lake that the organiser Dave Collier reckons is just up my street (don't know what he means). It has a strict no publicity ban so unfortunately I cannot reveal more details. And so it was that after a two hour drive from my Milton Keynes home, saw myself and another guest Mick Wright turn down a single track road and into a little paradise. The lake looked absolutely great. First impressions are a wonderful thing and tend to stick in the memory bank, a large open bowl, a couple of small islands and a stretch that looked like a narrow canal. I could see it was well looked after with cut grass and just about the right amount of trimming back, with natural banks and not a single paving slab in sight. Every peg had a feature in the shape of trees or reeds lining the bank. Set in beautiful surrondings with traditional oast houses overlooking the water.

After paying our peg fees,pools and dipping our nets, it was down to the draw and in goes the hand and peg 1 comes out. A few groans and words of discouragement come out so it must be a half decent peg. A couple of the others had fished the lake before and knew what to expect so I tapped them up for some info on my peg, only to be told it was a very good peg on its day with most fish being caught late on in the day. Plenty of lumps down the left hand edge under a tree, on the other side a few fish could be caught fishing to the reeds close in on a top two. Mick had drawn peg 14 and it was my aim to beat him for once, I have had a torrid time of late trying to take the bragging rights with Mick defeating me on more occasions than I care to remember.

Bill Gibbens and Al Loader, two of the venue regulars had drawn well on pegs 4 and 15 respectively, the pasteman Colin Sharrad had drawn 5 with Dave Collier on 6, another guest Clive Pritchard had also drawn well on peg 8 just before a corner and with access to one of the islands.

I decided to fish the margins to both left and right and feed positively hoping to catch the resident carp. I set up 3 identical rigs to fish both sides. Mick Wilkinson Dinky floats to .14 Colmic Stream and size 14 B911s coupled with red hydro and my margin pole. The fish I was expecting to catch were on average 5lb apiece and on steroids so no room for mucking about on lighter gear. Feed was 4mm GOT Sinkers with 8mm hair rigged banded pellet on the hook. I also had a selection of 6mm GOT Hookers and Expanders.I had a couple of tins of corn and meat in the bag just in case but was told that the fish are used to pellet baits and that pellets accounted for the majority of fish.

Two big pots of 4mm Sinkers were deposited on both margins lines with the left hand swim being topped up by hand as it was only on a top two. First put in down the left produced and instant bite and I was in, the red stuff was getting a proper work out as it kept going out and out. Keeping the pole tip low and at a slight angle to the fish I managed to steer it back to a waiting net and scooped it at the first attempt, phew. At close to 8 or 9lb it was a good start. Feed again another small handful and nothing, not a thing, after 10 minutes I was already onto the second swim at 3m down the right. Still nothing, I tried fishing it tight to the edge and upto a metre away but still no indications. Back down the left and a small dip produced a small carp around 3lb so after an hour I had around 11lb in the net. Bill had caught a few fish straight out on paste feeding heavily with pellets and Al was getting a lot of fish fishing around 12m on the deck, like an idiot I never set up to fish a longer line, lesson learn't. Into the second and third hour I suffered a few foul hookers managing to get one out for another 6lb. I was struggling to get bites. I adjusted my feeding from dumping pots in to trickling a few pellets at a time but nothing seemed to get into the groove. Adjustments to the rigs from 6inches overdepth to 6inches deep provided nothing.

Al was still catching well (more than can be said for his singing).

Clive was getting few fish at around 7m and on a bomb to the island.

Bill's swim had died and had resorted to fishing long into the corner close to a willow tree.

Colin's paste line had also died. Tony Roberts was heard cursing his luck and with a good few expletives was winning for the "most swear words in a sentence" competition.I wasn't far away from them but needed to catch a few more to keep up and if I could get a run together it could push me up the leaderboard and to my ultimate goal of beating Mick. He had caught a few fish in the first hour on meat but was struggling now. I decided to push my rig into the water directly under the tree and shorten the line length between pole tip and float to around 6inches as lifting the float would be a problem with a longer line. I picked up my catapult and started feeding around a dozen pellets each put in under the tree.

This had the desired affect as on about my third put in the float buried and carp number 4 was soon coming to the waiting landing net. This was closely followed by number 5 and with these fish around the 5lb mark I was starting to up the catch rate. However just when you think you have got it right it stops. I never had a bite for the rest of the match. Frustrated, but I think and the venue regulars said the same that they have never seen the venue fish so bad. One or two fish could have made a big difference to any of the anglers on the day.The only angler really happy about his day was Al, winning with a fine 122lb.

All in all a good day out and a good trip home, don't know about having to work the following day though. I managed to achieve my objective of "battering " Mick.The craic and banter makes these matches worth their weight in gold and I look forward to each one. Maybe one day I will not have to guest for the club. You never know. Their next match and last of the season is at Rayne Lodge in a fortnight, hopefully the "guest" will be in attandance.

High Flyer 21st Aug 09 TA Match

Sun, 23 Aug 2009 07:41:33 GMT

A while back I fished a couple of matches at High Flyer lakes near Ely in Canbridgeshire. http://highflyerlake.co.uk/wordpress/A cracking venue that contains some big fish to just over 20lb. Plenty of margins and fish to go at. Now, Paul Law from the http://www.talkangling.co.uk/ website had arranged a match to meet a few people from the site and to fish the venue. I took up the offer and arranged for my regular travelling partner Vic Nugent to attend as well. So names booked in, research done and we were waiting at the bit to bag up.

A rather uneventful trip across country saw us pulling into the car park around 0815 for the 0900 draw to be met by Ken Gammon, the fishery manager and regular framer at the venue. It would be rude not to talk to him so after pumping him for information and a couple of cups of tea, we waited for the rest to turn up.The general consensus seemed to be that you wanted a peg close to the car park on either side of the lake. It was really blowing hard into that end of the lake and as margins were to be the main target and around 5m. Neil Kidd was organising the monies and draw so with trepidation I placed my hand into the bag and out comes 22 ( the same number I drew at Colemans so that's a good sign).

A chat with a few of the lads said it was OK but the preferred pegs were still at the top end of the lake and as I was about a third of the way along the near back could struggle early on until the fish moved into the edge. For company I had venue regular Fred on 24 and Mark Sawyer on 20. Still hopefully I would have a few fish and enjoy the day. Vic had drawn Peg 12, one he had fished before and caught from.

Armed with only my margin pole and red hydro (these fish do go a bit). It was a 1g rig out for 5m and 2 MW Diamond margin floats for fishing the edge. Plumbing up found 1ft in both margins 5m along the bank and around 6ft on the 5m line. Bait was to be corn as this had been catching well in the lead upto the match. Feed I had 6 pints of GOT 4mm sinkers, 6 Pints of GOT Micros, 6 tins of corn, 1 tin of meat just in case and 4pints of hemp.

At the all in I cupped in a pot of corn on all lines along with a pot of micros down the edges. A pot of 4mm and hemp at 5m. Out with the 1g rig onto the 5m line saw the float going through the peg too quickly but on the second trip through it dipped enough to register a bite and fish on. A carp around 3lb in the first 5minutes was a welcome sign and this was followed by another around 1lb mark. I had felt the float was not stable enough and swapped to a 1.75g float which although was better was still not right. The float was tilting and I thought the bait was coming off bottom too regularly due to the tow. If anyone knows how to combat this please feel free to get in touch. The only thing I can think of was that the line between float and pole tip was too short at around 1ft.

Things were going along slowly, a few roach, rudd and even a gudgeon put in an appearance, but not many carp. I had been feeding the margins all the time and after sheer frustration on the 5m line I decided to look into the edges for some action. Although I thought it was too early, hopefully with careful feeding I could keep them coming for longer. Fishing to the left hand margin saw a few small rudd coming so I fed the peg with a full pot of corn and another pot of micros to try to draw some fish in. A look down the right saw me connect to a lump first put in and at around 7lb was a welcome sign. I had placed a toss pot on the end of the pole and was now feeding micros and corn every put in tight to the grass edges of the bank. After each put in there would be a few tails then bang the float goes, no dipping of bobbing, just buries. This was better. A few foul hookers was inevitable in the shallow water but at least I was adding fish to the net. Carp to 7lb were coming out but a lot around the 1lb mark also put in an appearance. Then with an hour to go the peg just died, I tried feeding just corn or just micros even just hemp but nothing could induce a bite. All too often the all out goes and although I had had a frustrating day, I felt I was getting to grips with the margin fishing at High Flyer, I must however sort out the 5m line for future fishing exploits.

The winning weights had indeed come from the top end of the lake with Paul Law winning with a fine 195lb, Steve Davies followed with 134lb followed by 97lb from big Danny. My 63lb did not trouble anyone but I still enjoyed the day. Everyone down our end struggled with a few DNW's although they all caught fish.

Thanks to Paul Law and Neil Kidd for sorting out the day.

So 2 lessons are needed to be addressed. Learn to fish in tow and draw the right end of the lake.

My next match hopefully will be at another new venue for me so keep an eye on the blog for more reading on those dark nights.

Marsh AC Colemans Cottage Pathfield 15th Aug 09

Sun, 16 Aug 2009 04:41:24 GMT

For regular readers of this blog, you might remember the last time I managed to fish Coleman's Cottage. The wind was so strong that I was unable to fish my peg past 7m and with the bush on the far bank the main catching point it was a non starter from the beginning.However, I did manage a few fish and refused to lose any sleep on it. The point I am making though is that I felt I did not do the peg or the venue justice on the day. With this in mind I was hoping to do better this time around.

"Guesting" for the Marsh AC lads is always a pleasure. Matches on a variety of venues, all around the South East on established lakes in some of the nicest countryside around. The craic and banter is always good and as I tend to give out plenty, I always seem to attract some as well. Reminds me of the original Jinx Series. Good times.

Well onto the day. I had cheekily asked Dave Collier. the match secretary for Marsh AC for permission to bring along another guest to help break up the monotony of long distance motorway driving and this time it was Pete Thompson's turn to share my company for the day. And bearing in mind the travelling involved it mean't Pete pulling up the drive at 6 o'clock to load my gear into the van. A rather uneventful trip down saw us pull into the car park around 07:30 and ready for a full english breakfast washed down with a nice cup of tea. Now why is it that when I go somewhere, complete stranger's come up to me and start asking me how I am doing. Same thing happened at Colemans, another angler comes up and ask the same question. I am thinking to myself that if I was the only person on a bus that the resident bus drunk is bound to sit next to me.

All the usual suspects were there and with Pete Morton in attendance after missing the previous visit to Pathfield Lake it was important to draw well and I was hoping for a peg between 2 and 10 as the wind blowing into this end of the lake and with it being a bit deeper I was sure the winner would come from there. After pulling peg 4 for Pete, my hand goes in the hat and a small section of wood with 22 comes out. Not ideal I thought, completely at the opposite end of the lake to where I wanted and really shallow. Still with the pegging leaving me on my own and no one within 3 pegs, i was hopeful of drawing a few fish into the swim.

Pete Morton Peg 6

Pete Thompson Peg 4

Dave Collier was at last able to show off his new toy. A motorised trolley for getting his gear to his peg and with him being pegged on the far bank he was able to show off his skills with it fully loaded. A welcome rest for all who have carried his gear for the last few years. All he needs now is a set of "L" plates.

Easy does it

I set up three rigs to cover the far bank, track and margins. a margin rig could be used if the fish wanted it shallow. Plumbing up saw the track swim at 7m being only 2ft deep, the far bank only 8inches deep and the near side margins only a foot deeper. MW margin diamonds to .16 Colmic Stream and 14 B911 on the far and near swims with a .3g MW pellet float for the track, again to 14 B911s and all kitted out on soft black hydro.

A pot of 4mm GOT sinkers on to each line apart for the left hand margin which was fed with a large pot of corn with no pellet in saw me get underway. Starting off down the track in the deepest part of the swim saw me putting a few small fish in to the net straight away, small skimmers, tench and a few stockies on 6mm GOT expanders. None of the average fish showed so after 20 minutes I put another pot in and went to have a look across. A few missed bites and barbel followed before a much firmer resistance on the pole saw some black hydro come straming out of the pole and heading towards a gap in the island. Edging back the pole slowly I managed to keep the fish coming in my direction and quietly slipped the waiting net under a common around 5lb. A welcome boost and after an hour and a few more carp I had around 20lb. I was catching but a lot of small fish so decide to really attack the peg and fed again down the track, this time with a toss pot every put in. This saw carp swirling on the surface and by fishing my 8inch far bank rig down the track up in the water and lifting it up and down saw me catch a few better fish and plenty of 2lb fish. After 3 hours I had an estimated 50lb and was starting to think about putting another net in the water. The track swim had now died, no swirls or bites were fortcoming so after positioning the third net it was time to look into the margins. My right hand banker swim had been drip fed by hand with 4mm sinkers. After a few barbel I was going nowhere and wondered whether putting in the third net had affected the peg when the elastic just ripped out of the pole and after a healthy scrap a common around 7lb was going into the new net. Unfortunately it was the only carp I had from that line. The left hand swim had been fed initially with a big pot of corn with 4mm sinkers being dripped over the top. Word had reached me that some people were struggling and I felt I was up there or roundabout. Fishing a 6mm GOT Pineapple soft hooker saw me put a regular stream of carp into the net, fish from 6oz to 6lb fell regularly during the final 2 hours all on a top two. Now with there being a net weight limit of 70lb(something I was not aware of at the draw) I was sure that I had around 50lb in both keepnets plus around 15lb of silvers.

Having packed my gear away all that was left was to help with the weigh in. A great way to weigh in is done at Coleman's. They go around on a quad bike with a set of scales on the back. You tip the fish into a solid plastic bag and the empty nets ( fishery supplied) go into the back of the quad. Weights are recorded and onto the next one.

Clive was first to weigh with 53lb 8oz followed by Pete Thompson with a great 95lb. Not bad on your first visit to the venue. "Mugger" Moton had pipped Pete by a 1 1/2lb and put 96lb 8oz on the sheet, only to see that beaten again by Colin Sharrad by 8oz. I was starting to get worried as the last time I fished hear I thought the fish were underweight for there size. Plenty of 50 to 60lb weights were recorded before getting to Tony Roberts and 86lb of up in the water carp. Onto me, I lifted my first net out and was surprised to see the scales bottom out and 70lb, oops. Taking a few fish out see it still settle on 70lb and with 6 or 7 fish sitting in a spare landing net I accepted 70lb for the net. My second net then came out and with another couple of weighs my total of 142lb was enough lead and indeed win the match.

Back at the clubhouse, over tea's and bread pudding, the banter was flowing that I was to be disqualified for having too many fish in the net, but I am glad to say that result stood. I genuinely thought I had around 50lb in each net and was really surprised with the final outcome. It just goes to show how easy it is to become complacent during bagging sessions.

Farewell's said and the trip home was a nightmare. A12 and M25 both suffering from accidents saw me getting back to Milton Keynes around 8pm. 2 1/2hours after setting off and ending a 14 hour day.

May I thank Pete Morton for using some of his pictures in my blog this week as unfortunately my batteries died after 3 shots.

Marsh AC Nicks Lake Hartleylands 25th July 09

Sun, 26 Jul 2009 08:34:09 GMT

I sometimes wonder to myself why we go fishing at all, especially after my last outing to Drayton Reservoir on Malc's Head to Head Challenge match last week.( No Blog entry as Clive has already covered it for himself and me, but basically tackled up, sat there for 5 hours and packed away.) But the guys at Marsh AC renew all the interest with their enthusiasm and banter making you realise Drayton is a one off experience.

Having already guested for them twice this year at Colemans Cottage and Rockells Farm, it was a new venue to me in Nick's Lake at Hartleylands Farm (http://www.hartleylands.co.uk/index.html). After seeking some advice from some of the regulars it seemed that to do well you need to fish to your strengths. Any method will catch fish but choosing the right one on the day will prove the deciding factor.

I had asked if I could bring a mate along for the day and as my work colleague and someone who enjoys fishing different venues Mick Wright was at a loose end, he came along for the day. Now, Mick has a bad habit of beating me when we fish together in matches, as he did at Colemans earlier in the year. I keep saying that he will not get invited in future but in reality, its not going to happen. He is good company and doesn't gloat too much. Would today be any different?

An early start was planned for the 2 1/2hour trip down south and after picking Mick up at 6am we set off on our travels. Now I do not mind driving and even motorway driving holds no fears, however for the first time ever we saw a first on the M25. Traffic lights, yes that's right Traffic lights on a motorway.

Anyway, I digress. We had arranged to meet Pete "Mugger" Morton at the Knoxbridge Cafe on the way down and would follow Pete to the fishery after a hearty special breakfast( very nice). By the time we had finished and driven the couple of miles to the lake, the draw was taking place and after paying our monies, we drew for pegs, with peg 6 sticking to my hand and peg 9 for Mick. Not knowing the pegs, it was upto to us to fish them as we saw them, however word was that 8 and 9 were flyers and probably the best pegs on the lake.

I had come prepared for any eventuality and set up a bomb rod to feed the far bank island swim where the ducks kept climbing up the bank. A pellet waggler rod to fish 3/4 across at around 30m. Two margin rigs to fish either side one on a top 3 the other on a top 5, both to some reeds sticking out into the swim. A rig for fishing at 7m on the deck and another shallow rig set at 1ft deep. Feed for the day was 4mm pellets(12 pints) 6mm pellets(6 pints) corn and some various hooker pellets up to 11mm in size.

At the all in I potted in 2 large pots of 4mm sinkers onto the 7m line and another pot onto the margins. I could throw feed throughout to keep them topped up and started off on the bomb tight to the island. After 10minutes and the tip flying round( liners) on each occasion to be met with nothing it was up the bank and time for a look on the 7m line. I had set the float to sit just off bottom and the float buried on the first put in followed by a nice immaculate common of around 1lb graced the net. An odd skimmer which flew out of the water and a few roach followed but bites were getting finicky so I refed and had a look down the edge as there was movement and swirls over the feed I had put in. After a few iffy bites the float buried and this time kept going......... and going before the black hydro bottomed out and the hook pulled. Another put in and a couple of 1lb commons enterede the keepnet but nothing really to shout about. Mick was catching well and had a couple of decent fish in his net. Dave Collier had a couple of fish but it seemed that in our corner it was fishing slow. I felt that I would give it another hour and see how I was going before trying to fish shallow later in the match. Something I do not do enough of and need practice on. I kept putting odd fish in the net during this hour but kept losing the lumps and knew that either I needed to start landing these fish or start catching more of the smaller samples to be able to compete. A switch to red hydro brought more fish in but I kept bumping a lot more and this provoked me into changing to fishing up in sheer frustration.

By this time the wind had got up and I could feed at 5m by hand with the 4mm and used 6mm if they wind got stronger. I went out with a hairrigged 8mm pellet and fed around 6 pellets every 20 seconds to try get the fish up. With regular feeding the bites were simply pulling the black hydro out of the pole. I was now getting into a rythm and putting fish on the bank with regularity. These were only between 1 and 2lb but I was soon building a weight together. However, as is always the case the match finished too early for me.

I estimated that I had 80lb in the net and felt that if I had started fishing shallow earlier that a ton+ weight was certainly achievable, but I think that decisions like that are based on local knowledge and if you do not know how a lake fishes in certain conditions then you will always be behind those in the know.

With the scales coming round I was greeted with a winning weight of 48lb from the first few pegs. I put 76lb 4oz onto the scales and was new leader. Chris on one of the flyer pegs on the point had 50lb 8oz with Mick putting a superb 101lb to take the overall lead and beat me again (he is NEVER coming again).

Following the scales around saw Colin Sharred and Clive Pritchard pushing me down the overall places and leaving me third in our 3 peg section of guests. Further round Tony Roberts and Mugger had a peg to peg battle with Tony coming out winner with 176lb to Peter's 106lb. Last to weigh in was Simon who had been sneaking a few fish and put a fine 129lb to take second place.

I really enjoyed the day out again and can only thank Dave Collier and the rest of the Marsh AC lads for allowing myself and Him( Mick) to guest. Their next match is at Colemans Cottage in August and my name is already down for this, so things are looking good. I will be out on the bank again soon though with a match at Alders Silver Lake to look forward to against our work colleagues from Wakefield.

My only criticism of the day was where are the pasties, I was starving towards the end of the match and when I eventually got home at 8 o'clock found my local takeaway shut.

Rockells Farm 28th June 09

Mon, 29 Jun 2009 11:04:55 GMT

Today saw me teaming up with the lads from Marsh AC. I had a mare at Coleman's Cottage with the lads last time out and knew a good performance would be needed at Rockells Farm. Travelling with me today was Vic Nugent, a fellow GOT angler and a dedicated pastehead. As familiar guests we knew most of the lads and find their company a great laugh and the banter can fly from any direction. The pegs were placed allowing all the top end of the lakes to be utilised. Previous visits to the venue suggest that you needed to be at the top end of the lake to be in with any chance. The Marsh Lads had a great day out there last time round with plenty of personal bests being broken along the way. Could the same be achieved or had they already peaked?

My day started with Vic driving over to mine and loading the gear into one car for the 60 mile trip to Saffron Walden. The trip itself was uneventful with early morning fog that kept you on your toes across the country roads. The only mishap was seeing a car miss the roundabout and plough straight over, but with only damage to the car and both occupants alright we proceeded on our way.

Arriving at Rockells was a delight, the fog rising and fish in the margins on every peg we stopped at. Gradually the Marsh AC lads turning up and with myself and Pete "Mugger" Morton being nominated with the pegging we quickly got on with it and pegged 9 down one side and 11 down the other. The better pegs being 1,2,3,16,17,18 and 19. A lot of other pegs could throw up a weight if the fished showed in any numbers but you needed to get them there in the first place and would require regular and a lot of feed to draw them in.

I had planned to fish pellet for the first part of the match followed by paste in the second match. These were 2 x 3 hour matches and a total weight deciding the winner.

Vic was into the hat quite early for him and pulled out peg 2, Mugger had drawn peg 17 and Al Loader on peg 18. My hand dipped in a small lump of wood with peg 1 stuck to it. A right result for the effort we put in pegging. Dave Collier, our host and dangerman Colin Sharrad had drawn just off the flyers and were more than capable of drawing fish from other pegs. Martin Hucker finally turned up on peg 3, much to our despair as we were hoping no one would fish it. Martin had a big weight last time he fished here, so we knew he would be the man to beat with his floater tactics.

As said earlier my plan was to fish pellet then paste, dependant on how i got on after the first match so I set up 2 pole rigs for the pellet to fish dead depth on top twos either side. I was surprised to find 2 1/2ft close in and thought this was ideal. A paste rig for a top three straight out in front was also set up. Floats on the pellet rigs were MW margin taking 2 number 8s onto .16 Colmic Stream to a size 16 B911. The paste rig was a MW self cocker and set to fish on the deck in 3ft of water. Red hydro through my Garbolino Margin Manager would suffice.

Feed was 4mm GOT sinkers with 6mm GOT expanders and 6mm GOT Liver soft hookers as hookbaits. I had brought 16 pints of feed pellets with me and expected to use the lot during the following 6 hours.

At the all in I tried to fish the left hand margin and although I was getting bites I could only connect with odd fish, mainly roach and I knew that they would not win me anything so re-fed after 15 minutes and gave the right hand swim a go. Feeding by hand saw a steady stream of carp coming to the net. I did not a lot of carp coming up for the feed as it dropped through the water so shortened my rig to fish 18inches deep in the 2 1/2 foot swim. This brought with a lot of fish and also a lot of problems with foul hookers and with my elaastic set too tight I was pulling out of a few fish. Vic was catching steadily as was Martin, I could see Mugger netting a few lumps and knew he would be there or thereabout, that is his class. Al was cursing his luck and blaming his elastic for lost fish.

Now 3 hours flies by, but with regular slight changes in depth I managed to keep in touch with the fish and knew I had done a ton by the all out. Martin had blitzed the field and both Vic and Mugger had performed well. With pegs being weighed from peg 19 first 120lb was leading the field and Mugger was out in front. A lot of decent 3 hour weights came out around the lake and a few disappointed anglers could not understand why they were not catching. Martin had fine floater caught 180lb with his peg getting better as he went on. Vic had put a good paste caught 133lb from peg 2 and as I was last to weigh in was surprised to see my "ton" weight go 148lb and second after match one.

10 minutes before the all out on match one I had deposited 3 good handfulls of 4mm sinkers into the swim and hoped that would enough to keep the fish interested with all the commotion of emptying the nets, repositioning them especially as i was fishing so close. I had, by now made a decision to keep with the pellet and fish to my strength's. I swopped the topkits over and allowed a softer red on the pellet rigs as the paste rig would now be redundant. I also moved both pellet rigs to fish shallow and shortened the line from poe tip to float to allow more positive bites.

Armed and read for the all in again it was 10 minutes before I had my first fish. Vic had had 3 and Martin was catching again. But with the bites coming as it dropped through the water, they were soon coming thick and fast. Feeding 2 or 3 times kept the fish coming and with the softened elastic meaning less hookpulls I was managing to land nearly everything I hooked. I still got foul hookers but think that was enevitable. There were a few bigger lumps in my second match and thought I had done enough to equal my first weight. The same old faces were still catching well and I was confident that it would be close at the end between Martin, Vic, Mugger and myself.

After 6 hours of fishing, the final shout goes out across the lake and I was relieved to finish. I was knackered. My back was aching. I was first to weigh in this time around with the weighing in reversed. My weight was an astonishing 234lb, a total surprise and a new personal best for a 3 hour match and a total of 382lb, which in itself is a PB for a 6 hour match. Vic was next and with his 173-04 (PB for 3 hours) added to this 133lb from match one giving him a total of 306-04. Martin had thought he had the same as before and with 180-12 banked he put a very good 202-08 to pip me for first overall by 1lb 4oz. A lot of PBs were broken around the lake with Dave Collier increasing his to 254lb, Colin Sharrad also breaking the double ton mark. It would be down to see what Pete "Mugger" Morton could do. I had seen him catching regularly throughout and knew he had a big weight. 210lb later saw him just miss out on a 3 hour match win. However with his combined weights hitting 330lb he had set 2 more PBs along the way.

Position	Peg	Angler	Morning	Afternoon	Total Weight
1st	Peg 3	Martin Hucker	180lbs 12ozs	202lbs 08ozs	383lbs 04ozs
2nd	Peg 1	Keith Ashby	148lbs 00ozs	234lbs 00ozs	382lbs 00ozs
3rd	Peg 17	Peter Morton	120lbs 00ozs	210lbs 00ozs	330lbs 00ozs
4th	Peg 2	Vic Nugent	133lbs 04ozs	173lbs 04ozs	306lbs 08ozs
5th	Peg 6	Dave Collier	86lbs 12ozs	167lbs 08ozs	254lbs 04ozs
6th	Peg 15	Colin Sharrard	83lbs 08ozs	127lbs 08ozs	201lbs 00ozs
7th	Peg 18	Alan Loader	70lbs 04ozs	101lbs 08ozs	171lbs 12ozs
8th	Peg 8	Tony Roberts	48lbs 00ozs	94lbs 08ozs	142lbs 08ozs
9th	Peg 16	Terry Goff	51lbs 04ozs	89lbs 08ozs	140lbs 12ozs
10th	Peg 19	Graham Manning	63lbs 12ozs	50lbs 04ozs	114lbs 00ozs
11th	Peg 13	Bob Hucker	29lbs 00ozs	62lbs 00ozs	91lbs 00ozs
12th	Peg 4	Judy Hermite	47lbs 00ozs	35lbs 12ozs	82lbs 12ozs
13th	Peg 10	Clive Pritchard	22lbs 00ozs	52lbs 12ozs	74lbs 12ozs
14th	Peg 7	Roger Noakes	23lbs 08ozs	31lbs 00ozs	54lbs 08ozs
15th	Peg 5	Eddie Dobson	19lbs 00ozs	28lbs 08ozs	47lbs 08ozs
16th	Peg 12	Ken Walker	14lbs 00ozs	27lbs 12ozs	41lbs 12ozs
17th	Peg 9	Jim Boase	15lbs 00ozs	25lbs 12ozs	40lbs 12ozs
18th	Peg 11	Rod Turner	9lbs 00ozs	14lbs 00ozs	23lbs 00ozs
19th	Peg 14	Zack Johnson	6lbs 02ozs	13lbs 12ozs	19lbs 14ozs

A cracking day out with loads of Personal bests enjoyed with good friends and in good spirits. Now I have been very good throughout this blog entry and did not mention Al's 3 hour match record which stood at 130lb. Still the same Al.

Alders Farm 27th June 09

Mon, 29 Jun 2009 08:38:09 GMT

I had planned this annual match into my match calender since the original idea had been muted. John Buxton and the lads from Disabled-angler.com has for many years been supporting many charities, raising thousands of pounds along the way.

This match was a pairs match. One on the silver lake the other on the match lake, 5 pegs on the match lake being in the silver lake section (a distinct advantage for anyone drawing it). My partner was Vic Nugent, a good friend, workmate and regular travelling companion. I had been placed on the match lake, with Vic fishing the silver.

After a bacon sandwich in the cafe, we met up with a few of the other GOT lads and was chatting about the previous days match and what the winning weights and methods were. Gary Thorpe had struggled on peg 27 albeit still winning his section. Madd had performed well from peg 36 and found the fish close in. It had been a pellet match on the day with a lot of the pasteheads not catching as well as they had hoped. So pellet it was then.

At the draw Vic walked up and pulled out our 2 pegs for the next five hours. Peg 15 on the silver lake for Vic and peg 27 on the match lake for me. A quick chat with Gaz. Gary also said to Vic that he had drawn a good area so we set off to our respective pegs full of hope and trying to achieve a top four place. Our previous best finish was 5th.

I had no one in peg 26 today so I could fish to the platform at 9m and feed a line at 4m down the edge keeping both areas seperate. Another line at 12m and a line at 10m at 2 o'clock saw me have four lines set up and raring to go. Rigs were kept simple with MW margin floats to .16 Colmic stream and size 16 B911 hooks shotted with 2 number 8 shot and a single no 10 stotz dropper, this was the two margin rigs sorted. On the longer lines I set up 2 MW pellets floats to .14 Colmic Stream and again B911 size 16s to fish into 3ft of water.

Bait today was pellet,pellet and more pellet both for feed and hook. Expanders pumped and dusted in atomic corn.

At the all in a large pot of pellet were deposited on all lines with a few expanders mixed in. A look onto the 12m line saw the float dip and nothing, out again and the same thing happened. A third put in with atomic expanders saw the float bury and a small rudd soon graced my keepnet. Rudd on the line was not a good sign so I had a look onto the 9m line in front of the platform as this had started to cloud up. A sure sign of feeding fish. After 3 small carp from the paltform the swim died and i re-fed another pot to try to lure the fish back.At this point I dropped a pole winder off my tray and whilst getting it off the floor noticed a couple of tails rooting in the grass on the 4m line. Too good an opportunity to pass up, so on with the 4m margin rig and after a couple missed bites i finally connected with a carp around 3lb. I had been feeding by hand regular amounts of feed and the swim just seemed to be getting better. After around 2 hours I was onto a good weight and hoping to beat my previous best match weight of 138lb from Alders. Then for no apparent reason the fish were no more. No tails, swirls, vortexes or anything. I had been feeding regularly and in the same spot all the time so made decision to fish a metre away from the feed thinking that the fished had backed off further away. A couple of small stockies came but nothing mind blowing. A move to metre away from the bank saw a few more fish grace the net and it was a case of just plugging away. The guy on 28 had now started to get a few fish from the end of the bush on paste. Better fish from the look of it and if he carried on in the same vein I would be up against it. I kept changing lines and snatching odd fish from all my lines and although not setting the world on fire, kept in touch fish for fish with my neighbour until the last hour when he managed to snag a few lumps from his paste swim. I had fed 12 pints of pellets on my 4 lines and felt that I had got the best from the swim. Gary had had 78lb from it the day before so there was not a lot of fish in the swim and if I could beat that I would be happy.

When the scales came round it had fished well with both pegs 3 and 4 both recording 200lb weight with a few 100lb weights. My 91lb 8oz was good enough for 10points on the day and with Vic scoring an excellent 5points from his peg on the silver lake and 3rd on the lake. Only losing the lake by 2lb. It was that close, one fish.

Our 15 points was only good enough for 5th on the day, equalling our previous best. Winners on the day were Gary Thorpe and Trevor Price with 8 points.

Marsh AC Colemans Cottage 16th May 09

Sun, 17 May 2009 14:43:23 GMT

Today saw myself and work colleague Mick Wright travelling down to Colemans Cottage as guests of Marsh AC. A friendly bunch of reprobates who enjoy their fishing and the banter even more. We were booked in on Pathfield Lake and in previous matches the weights were extremely high. The expectations were good for a good days fishing and a craic.

Our day started at 0530am when I picked Mick up from his house to travel the 1 and 3/4hour journey( according to the AA). However I am sure they do not take into account a lot less traffic on the roads at silly o'clock time and my driving. Pulling into the car park at 0700 left us with plenty of time for a cuppa and a couple of Bacon Rolls in the cafe before the masses arrived. A quick look around the lake left us impressed and we could easily see how the weights were so big. It would be another hour before the draw, so a quick chat and another tea with the gathering Marsh members is always welcome. A chance to catch up, as a few I had not seen for nearly a year.The fishery provide all nets so at least the smell on the way home would be either Mick or myself.

I had tapped up some info on Pathfield from Lee Ripper, Lol Summers( 2 fellow GOT anglers) and venue regulars Chris Vanderveilt(someone I had talked to on the internet but never met.He is though shorter than I imagined) and Bernie Fraser(always short). Nearly to a man they said meat and pellet at 4m at 10 and 2 o'clock but also take some worm and caster for fishing longer. Unfortunately the meat was still in the fridge at home so it would have to be corn. The draw was kind to me giving me peg 9. A cracking looking peg with margin reeds and an overhanging low bush across on the edge of the main island. Mick had drew peg 8 another noted peg and with the wind blowing strong and hard into it should be good for a few fish.

Now plumbing up was a problem, not only was there a high bank behind me that hindered shipping the pole back and forth, but, the wind by now had got so strong you could not hold the pole beyond 7m. Not good news in a 13m peg. I did managed to plumb the line and found only a foot of water just in front of the bush. A look down the margins on my side of the bank saw around 8 inches to my left and a foot to the right. The long rig doubled up on this line. However at 4m I found around 2 1/2 ft going steadily out to 6m where I had 3 1/2 feet. I decided that if the planned wind did not drop then this would have to be my main line and concentrated my efforts here. If it did then I could go across to the bush. I fed all lines with pellet with a bit of corn and a couple of toss pots of paste also went in the right hand side. I started on the expander at 6m and before the float settled I looked round and saw Mick playing a good sized carp.

On my second put in the float dipped viciously and yards of black hydro came streaming out of the pole and after a brief encounter with the bushes on the far bank the hooked parted company. I tightened up the elastic as I felt it was too soft. Out again and this time after about 5minutes the float dipped a touch and a mirror carp of 5lb sat sweetly in the bottom of the landing net. A few more stockies and crucians followed, before I noticed a tail waving at me from down the left hand margin. A quick change of rig and in it went not to hit bottom. Black hydro out and then straight back in.*%%$£ foul hooked. Two proper fish lost and only one in the net. Mick was still catching steadily and did so throughout the match. Colin Sharrad on peg 7 was biteless fishing his normal paste tactics and Dave the Fish and Al were walking the bank.

I had decided now that the wind was not going to blow itself out, so put another pot of corn and pellet on the 6m line and fish corn on the hook hoping for a run of fish that could quite easily build a weight. This tactic seemed to work as after 5 minutes i had hooked and landed another, before losing some more. I could never quite get the balance right. The elastic was soft yet whilst playing fish and plenty of elastic out the hook would pull out. By retracting it the crows foot and lifting just left the elastic in the water. Do not understand this.

After around 3 hours Colin had landed his first fish and was now cruising. Mick was still plodding away and I was still landing one or two and losing some.It was not even just on one top kit as I changed over to a different one after the 3rd lost fish.

At the all out I felt I had not done the peg justice and my weight of 24lb 8oz was nowhere near the frame. Mick had secured 4th with his net of fish for 45lb 12oz whilst Colin had snuck on the rails to win comfortably with 71lb. Dave the Fish andAl who had been walking the bank earlier had obviously seen something I was doing and copied it because back at there pegs they proceeded to come 2nd and 3rd on the day with both weights around 55lb after "struggling" in the first half.

As always it was good to meet up with a few new and very old faces and share a laugh and a joke. Well done Marsh AC. This is what club fishing is all about.

Above are the results and Colin Sharrad. Colemans May 16th Winner.

Stafford Moor Friday

Thu, 07 May 2009 04:28:54 GMT

Myself and Vic had booked into the ResidentsMatch on Friday leaving the others to fish around the complex. There was only 16 booked in but with it on Tanner's and with my new found confidence in the bomb ( see Stafford Moor Wednesday), I was looking forward to the draw. Vic had gone in first and pulled out 13 a reasonable peg with an island to sling the bomb to and a good margin swim. Also a short walk. My hand went in and pulled out peg 36, I almost ran to it but nonchantly said it was a good peg on its day.

On arrival i was delighted to see the wind blowing into my side of the lake. I decided to fish 2 lines. My main line would be the bomb down the edge to the far side of the bridge and a pole line at 10m to the third stantion on the bridge itself. The bridge seperates Tanners from Beatties, the specimen lake. Strong tackle would be required so I set up 2 rigs to purple hydro to fish the 3ft swim. Both Pellet floats to size 14 B911.

Starting on the bomb and feeding 11mm shop bought pellets with a " new hair rigged" pellet on the hook the rod arched rod on its second put in and the fish was on, only for the hook to pull out at the net. Next door the angler was slinging the bomb to the island in front of him and was starting to catch. I went out again after a few choice words with myself and was soon rewarded with a carp around 7lb. Feeding in the wind scattered my feed and I found the best way was to feed 2 pellets at a time and then wait a few minutes before feeding again. The fish came steadily throughout the first 4 hours with 16 fish in the net for around a ton. Next door was matching me but his fish were slightly smaller on average. Then disaster struck, I hooked a fish and had managed to drag it out of the snags from the edge into the open water when the tip of my rod came out and slid down the line to the bomb. The fish was obviously spooked by this and rolled straight over the tip, snapping the line above the hooklength, meaning not only di i lose the fish but the tip as well. With no spare available I had no option to fish the pole for the remaining 1 1/2 hours.

The pole line was not where I wanted to be after catching so many fish on the bomb, but I had no choice. So, I fed a couple of pots of 6mm pellets onto the line and baited up with a piece of corn. After a couple of missed bites the float buried and a skimmer flopped to the surface. I kept plugging away but was disappointed I had not been more prepared and have a back up for the bomb rod. Yet another lesson learn't. I did managed 2 carp from the peg but they only were around the 3lb mark.

At the all out I was annoyed that I should have done better and felt I could have won the match. My weight of 116lb though was only beaten by my neighbour with 141lb all taken on the bomb along our bank, and I could not fish the bomb for nearly 2 hours. I felt I could have put another 50lb in the net during that time.

I packed up and took the long walk back to the lodge. I did not even know how the other pegs had done, i was that cheesed off. Vic had weighed in 85lb before the wind changed and made feeding impossible. I was then pleasantly surprised to see Andy Seery turn up at the lodge and present me with a brown envelope for £40 and the promise of a polo shirt from the lodge.

Still a good end to the week after a frustrating start. Roll on next year.