Hello and welcome to my first blog. Quite frankly I'm a bit crap at this lark - both blogging and fishing ! - but I got to thinking that people dont really want to be spending a few quid every week to read about crap in the papers especially when you can log on for free and read my crap instead.
I'm sure plenty of you will have far more entertaining and informative things to say than I will, (and hopefully you'll start yr own blogs...) but if any of you are like me, then hearing what yr fellow anglers have got to say is part of the enjoyment. To that end I'll be writing about my sorry attempts to catch fish in matches I hope someone out there finds it vaguely interesting / amusing / takes pity on me if they draw next to me.
Enough talking crap, lets talk about fishing ! Yay !
Sunday just gone (19th march) - the last round of the Willinghurst Masters. Held on a complex of lakes just outside Guildford, I'm not sure why its called Willinghurst, it just is. (And if anyone from there ever reads this, update your website !) This has been a league of 6 rounds, with 12 teams of 5, with 1 man from each team on 5 different lakes, ie each lake is a section. Its run extremely well by Dave Pearson (aka Pikey) who pays the top 3 on each lake, plus the top 4 on the day including a superpool. I think that's a really fair system; basically a quarter of the field is gonna go home with some cash for their efforts, which is nice when you are sat freezing your tits off in the middle of February, and if you frame then you get a proper envelope. The lakes are all quite different from each other too, not only do they fish differently but the form of the pegs changes from week to week with the conditions , so you need to be flexible in yr approach and keep bang upto speed on the methods, resuts etc
I missed the first round as I was lounging about on a beachaway miles away (hehe), but wouldn't've missed the rest for anything. Fishing with LDAS (the Leatherhead B team) I had a great match in Round 2 winning Old Lake from peg 10 with 32lb or so, 5 bites = 5 carp, all on corn at 14 mt. Next round I drew another flyer - Old 4 - but made a bit of a pig's ear of it. I had 4 fish for 26lb, but pulled out of 3, one at the net and was smashed by another, should've won the lake really, and maybe framed, as it was 10 points for the team and some lessons learnt. (ie is solid latex the thing to use in the depths of winter, maybe a hollow or white hydro could be more forgiving on light tackle?). Next 2 rounds were shit for me, so I was v keen to draw a good peg and finish the series on a high nad give myself some confidence. You're only as good as your last result, right ?
I drew on Top Lake, which has been hard and very peggy all winter, but I drew in the back spit, a kinda canalised section of the lake about 20 mtrs wide, and an area that has been producing silverfish in the last few weeks. Willinghurst isnt somewhere where you'd normally consider silverfish, but since 2 or 3 carp was the maximum most pegs would throw up in these conditions (it's been winter for about 6 months now hasnt it ?), it becomes a viable options especially since the top 3 on a lake get paid ....
I decided to fish tight over for an early carp on the lead, and feed a line in the edge to the right where there was a shrub in the water, and also a carp line about 13 mtrs, with a silverfish back up at 6 mtrs. No need to fart about on the lead, if i hooked a fish I was going in the net so it was 8lb Pro-gold and 12" of 0.18 G-Line hooklength, with a Drennan Carp Feeder, size 16 hair-rigged with 2 bits of corn. The rod was a trusty old Tri-cast Heavy Feeder 11' (showing my Northern roots here). No loose feed, just have a few casts about to look for indications. There was an island to the far left of the peg, so i concentrated on that, and after half an hour I was getting liners. About bang on an hour it went right round, 3 mins later a fat 7lb fish was sat in the net. Good news, as 3 or 4 blokes had all had a carp, the bloke to my left on the end peg of the spit andthe lake was catching a few. Always good to keep up with the field and settle the mind.
After another hour I'd not even had another liner despite changing to a tiny feeder with 2 red maggots on a 16 B611 and an 0.16 hooklink. A quick look on the long pole line and down the edge had shown nothing.... may as well have a look on the roach line. I'd potted about 20 maggots there at the start, and pinged about 6-8 with the catty every 20 mins or so, so in I went. 6 mtrs, Fox Mp2 6 x 10 in 3' of water, 0.12 direct to an 18 Drennan carbon match, strong enough just in case a lump turned up (hook, not line !). 10 secs later its dipped and a 3 oz roach makes its way across the surface. 4 more follow in the next 2 minutes, all on the same maggot. Theres not much else going on, so for the sake of entertainment I've stuck at it. After 20 mins, and about 3lb of them, I'm thinking - 5lb of these equals 1 carp, most people will catch 2 or 3 carp max. I already have 1 carp, and its a good un, and absolutely no-one else is bothering withthe roach, so.... lets carry on !
2 hours later and I've managed nearly a stone of roach and its GOOD FUN. Shuffling the shot (double bulk worked best to winkle out the 6oz fish as opposed to the 2 oz fish), changing the depth (they stayed hard on the bottom, come off 2" and the bites went), working out the best feed (potting in 15 maggots every 10 mins kept them tight in one place, as opposed to pinging with a catty) - wot a larf. I'm still thinking there's a carp to be had from the far bank tho, so with 30 minutes left I've got nearly 20lb in the net, the pole is up the bank, the feeder is back near the island (I'd like to say tight to the hotspot, but I'd be lying to you and me - lets just say it was near enough) - and its gone round. After an unnecesarily long fight that involved about 3 laps of the lake and a 5lb carp swam into the net, it probably realised it had more chance of peace and quiet if it just gave up as opposed to me yanking on it like a friggin loony
25lb 4oz, 3rd on the lake, and a thoroughly enjoyable day. The bloke to my left won the day with 55lb. Our team came 4th on the day, 6th overall, its all good. I say that with a bit of guilt as i know how hard it can be at Willinghurst in the winter, and far far better men than me have had some terrible times up there. If you are one of them, and you know who I am, please dont hit me the next time you see me and rest assured it will be my turn next winter. Roll on summer !
Speaking of which, I'll be enjoying my second season of club matches with Leatherhead DAS. If anyone in the South is looking for a well run club, with really great venues, some excellent matches and a match squad that competes in the AT Winter League, the newly formed Surrey Clubman league and the VDE Supercup, then follow the link above for details.
Tight Lines, & good luck wherever you are going
Marginpig
I'm sure plenty of you will have far more entertaining and informative things to say than I will, (and hopefully you'll start yr own blogs...) but if any of you are like me, then hearing what yr fellow anglers have got to say is part of the enjoyment. To that end I'll be writing about my sorry attempts to catch fish in matches I hope someone out there finds it vaguely interesting / amusing / takes pity on me if they draw next to me.
Enough talking crap, lets talk about fishing ! Yay !
Sunday just gone (19th march) - the last round of the Willinghurst Masters. Held on a complex of lakes just outside Guildford, I'm not sure why its called Willinghurst, it just is. (And if anyone from there ever reads this, update your website !) This has been a league of 6 rounds, with 12 teams of 5, with 1 man from each team on 5 different lakes, ie each lake is a section. Its run extremely well by Dave Pearson (aka Pikey) who pays the top 3 on each lake, plus the top 4 on the day including a superpool. I think that's a really fair system; basically a quarter of the field is gonna go home with some cash for their efforts, which is nice when you are sat freezing your tits off in the middle of February, and if you frame then you get a proper envelope. The lakes are all quite different from each other too, not only do they fish differently but the form of the pegs changes from week to week with the conditions , so you need to be flexible in yr approach and keep bang upto speed on the methods, resuts etc
I missed the first round as I was lounging about on a beachaway miles away (hehe), but wouldn't've missed the rest for anything. Fishing with LDAS (the Leatherhead B team) I had a great match in Round 2 winning Old Lake from peg 10 with 32lb or so, 5 bites = 5 carp, all on corn at 14 mt. Next round I drew another flyer - Old 4 - but made a bit of a pig's ear of it. I had 4 fish for 26lb, but pulled out of 3, one at the net and was smashed by another, should've won the lake really, and maybe framed, as it was 10 points for the team and some lessons learnt. (ie is solid latex the thing to use in the depths of winter, maybe a hollow or white hydro could be more forgiving on light tackle?). Next 2 rounds were shit for me, so I was v keen to draw a good peg and finish the series on a high nad give myself some confidence. You're only as good as your last result, right ?
I drew on Top Lake, which has been hard and very peggy all winter, but I drew in the back spit, a kinda canalised section of the lake about 20 mtrs wide, and an area that has been producing silverfish in the last few weeks. Willinghurst isnt somewhere where you'd normally consider silverfish, but since 2 or 3 carp was the maximum most pegs would throw up in these conditions (it's been winter for about 6 months now hasnt it ?), it becomes a viable options especially since the top 3 on a lake get paid ....
I decided to fish tight over for an early carp on the lead, and feed a line in the edge to the right where there was a shrub in the water, and also a carp line about 13 mtrs, with a silverfish back up at 6 mtrs. No need to fart about on the lead, if i hooked a fish I was going in the net so it was 8lb Pro-gold and 12" of 0.18 G-Line hooklength, with a Drennan Carp Feeder, size 16 hair-rigged with 2 bits of corn. The rod was a trusty old Tri-cast Heavy Feeder 11' (showing my Northern roots here). No loose feed, just have a few casts about to look for indications. There was an island to the far left of the peg, so i concentrated on that, and after half an hour I was getting liners. About bang on an hour it went right round, 3 mins later a fat 7lb fish was sat in the net. Good news, as 3 or 4 blokes had all had a carp, the bloke to my left on the end peg of the spit andthe lake was catching a few. Always good to keep up with the field and settle the mind.
After another hour I'd not even had another liner despite changing to a tiny feeder with 2 red maggots on a 16 B611 and an 0.16 hooklink. A quick look on the long pole line and down the edge had shown nothing.... may as well have a look on the roach line. I'd potted about 20 maggots there at the start, and pinged about 6-8 with the catty every 20 mins or so, so in I went. 6 mtrs, Fox Mp2 6 x 10 in 3' of water, 0.12 direct to an 18 Drennan carbon match, strong enough just in case a lump turned up (hook, not line !). 10 secs later its dipped and a 3 oz roach makes its way across the surface. 4 more follow in the next 2 minutes, all on the same maggot. Theres not much else going on, so for the sake of entertainment I've stuck at it. After 20 mins, and about 3lb of them, I'm thinking - 5lb of these equals 1 carp, most people will catch 2 or 3 carp max. I already have 1 carp, and its a good un, and absolutely no-one else is bothering withthe roach, so.... lets carry on !
2 hours later and I've managed nearly a stone of roach and its GOOD FUN. Shuffling the shot (double bulk worked best to winkle out the 6oz fish as opposed to the 2 oz fish), changing the depth (they stayed hard on the bottom, come off 2" and the bites went), working out the best feed (potting in 15 maggots every 10 mins kept them tight in one place, as opposed to pinging with a catty) - wot a larf. I'm still thinking there's a carp to be had from the far bank tho, so with 30 minutes left I've got nearly 20lb in the net, the pole is up the bank, the feeder is back near the island (I'd like to say tight to the hotspot, but I'd be lying to you and me - lets just say it was near enough) - and its gone round. After an unnecesarily long fight that involved about 3 laps of the lake and a 5lb carp swam into the net, it probably realised it had more chance of peace and quiet if it just gave up as opposed to me yanking on it like a friggin loony
25lb 4oz, 3rd on the lake, and a thoroughly enjoyable day. The bloke to my left won the day with 55lb. Our team came 4th on the day, 6th overall, its all good. I say that with a bit of guilt as i know how hard it can be at Willinghurst in the winter, and far far better men than me have had some terrible times up there. If you are one of them, and you know who I am, please dont hit me the next time you see me and rest assured it will be my turn next winter. Roll on summer !
Speaking of which, I'll be enjoying my second season of club matches with Leatherhead DAS. If anyone in the South is looking for a well run club, with really great venues, some excellent matches and a match squad that competes in the AT Winter League, the newly formed Surrey Clubman league and the VDE Supercup, then follow the link above for details.
Tight Lines, & good luck wherever you are going
Marginpig
posted by The Northerner at
Tuesday, March 21, 2006
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