Junior match aid festival at Partridge lakes

Heronbrook open match

May 2nd , peg ten match lake

Match lake

With my first fisho qualifier looming large on the horizon at Herronbrook fishery i thought it was about time that i headed down to Staffordshire to give the open match a go and after my last contest at Partridge lakes i just hoped that i could catch a few fish because struggling for six hours is never nice , on the morning of the match the weather didn’t look that bad a bit grey+windy but the temperature had risen a few degrees which can only be a positive and after loading my van i headed on my sixty mile trip to the fishery .

On arrival i grabbed a bacon buttie before booking on the match and then had a quick look at the waters that would be in the draw bag , after having a chat with a few of the locals i made my way towards the back of the queue and awaited my fate as it turned out i ended up with peg ten on the match lake i was informed that it was an end peg just after the mud bath , as i made my way round to the peg i noticed that the match lake had about forty platforms of which only one side was pegged this allowed most anglers an island chuck at around thirty meters , when i arrived at my home for the next few hours i had the wind blowing bang in my face and it looked like i would be getting drenched at some point during the day but on the plus side i had plenty room towards my left which had a reed lined margin that looked very fishy .

With it being my first time on this lake i was a bit unsure on what to expect although looking at results over the weekend it is an area that does throw up the odd ton weight so i was quite positive about the day ahead , i decided to keep things simple setting up ;

Eight meter line where after plumbing up i found it to be a full top kit deep and with the wind being so strong i used a 0.6 round bodied+wire stemed pole float , my main line was the usual 0.14 garbo and my hook length was 0.10 garbo which had a size twenty matrix bagger hook attached .

Top four margin line and i was surprised to find that it was nearly four-foot deep tight to the near side reeds , just like before i used a slightly heavier 0.4 malman roob float which had a bulk plus dropper shotting pattern because i intended to be using meat+corn here this set up would allow me to alter a few things as the day progressed.

Matrix little pig 8ft tip rod my island chuck was only about 25m so i used a 15 gram pellet feeder which i am more confident in using my hook was a size 16 guru lwg .

Bait for the day was a bit more than im used to taking with me but it is a six-hour match and i didn’t want to be caught short ;

Three pints red maggots

Two pints of meat+corn

Two pints of soaked micros

Small tub of 4mm expanders

Small tub of mixed hard pellets

When the all in sounded in the distance i proceeded to put in two pots of maggots on my long line and before i went onto my feeder rod i decided to see if i could pick up a mug carp from my margin swim , i tapped in a kinder pot of meat+corn before lowering my rig in on top of it by holding my pole away from the reeds i could present a static bait and it didn’t take too long before my float shot under , after playing the fish to within netting range the hook pulled out this happened a further three times before i got of my box and changed my elastic from a size 12-14 matrix red as i had been expecting to be catching mainly carp to a lighter 10-12 ng green this solved the problem as i never lost another fish during the rest of the match .

My next three hours were really easy as i caught f1s between 1+3lb pretty constantly and it was only after a really heavy shower then the wind changed direction that things got a bit slower , to be honest at this point of the match i should have started a new line somewhere else in my peg before going back to my margin in the final hour when the fish would have settled down again but i was too focused on putting fish in the net and not seeing the bigger picture . I was also beginning to run out of meat+corn so decided to begin adding a ball of micros in the kinder pot but this turned out to be a major mistake as it just brought the f1s up off the deck making them harder to catch , i altered my shotting pattern to allow for a slower fall of the hook bait this allowed me to catch some on the drop but i also foul hooked a couple and i needed to get them back on the deck although i was a bit dubious about big potting but i had no other option.

Feeding that big hit of bait virtually stopped my bites and i began fearing the worse but i soon found out why as i hit into a carp around five pounds after that the f1s returned although not in the numbers as at the start of the match , with an hour of the contest remaining i was getting worried about my net limits as i had over fifty fish in the nets all of which were a decent size although i couldn’t do a great deal about it now and just hoped that i would not be too far over but it looked like the fish decided to do my favor as i really struggled in the last hour to add too my net , i had to resort to fishing an expander with a positive bulk shotting pattern before i managed to get any bites.

When the all out sounded i had 57 f1s plus a carp but i did feel that it was worth a lot more if i had fished it a bit better but as i had only brought two nets with me it wouldn’t have made a great deal of difference to my final weight , as the scales arrived at my peg there was two 140lb nets on the lake the first of my nets went 57lb and the other was over 50lb as well and as herronbrook has a fifty pound net limit not the sixty pound that i thought i ended up going over on both nets so got knocked back to a ton , which wasnt ideal as i don’t know my true weight of my catch although it was good enough for me to win the section but i have only myself to blame because i didn’t check and i suppose it is better to find out now rather than in the fisho qualifier in May where i would have been really kicking myself .

I am back at Herronbrook fishery at the weekend and with the weather steadily increasing I’m hopeful that the fishing will be extremely good maybe even a bit of shallow for the first time this year and i must remember to take an extra net , there is definitely an art form in catching a big weight of f1s and it’s something that i need to get my head around before long .

 

 

 

Partridge lakes open match

April 30th , peg 16 covey one

After having taken a few weeks off from match fishing so i could recharge my batteries and even catch some fish , i thought that it was about time i got back in the swing of things as i have some big matches coming up in the next few months and i decided to jump in the deep end booking on Partridge lakes where they usually get over seventy anglers in attendance ,the weather during the week was doing its best to dampen my enthusiasm for the contest because we had to contend with heavy rain , strong winds and even on the Friday we had two inches of snow ! !

Worm+caster had been working well at Partridge lakes in the weeks leading up to todays match but after the recent cold spell i wasnt convinced that it was right for today and i decided to target it more like you would in winter going down the maggot+pellet route , so after sorting a plan in my head on how to attack the match and getting my rigs correct i was quite confident of having a good day’s fishing but as you all know things don’t usually go to plan and it can all go pear shaped at the draw bag .

On the morning of the match i was faced with an easterly wind which was forecast to increase during the day but at least it wasnt raining just yet , i had agreed to meet up with a few mates at the cafe and as i arrived they were already in attendance so after grabbing some maggots , then booking on to the match i went for a chat and it soon came round to draw time so we joined the queue towards the back , when it was my turn i pulled out peg 16 on covey one which was an area that i had fished before winning my section from it on a couple of occasions although after speaking to a lad in the car-park who had fished it in the week it had not been producing but today was a different day so you just never know .

On settling in at my peg i was greeted with the wind blowing strongly from left to right which could be a problem if it got any stronger , i decided to set up three rigs which would cover a few options ;

Three foot rig for pellet and i used a 4×14 malman roob with an inch spread bulk above the four inch 0.10 garbo hook length .

Three foot rig for maggot and i used a 4×12 maggie float with a staggered shotting pattern with just two number eleven stotz in the bottom third of the rig , my hook length was six inch of 010 garbo that had a size 20 matrix silver fish hook attached .

Channel swim and i used a 4×14 maggie float with a bulk plus two dropper shooting pattern , hook length was six inch of 010 garbo that had a size 18 matrix silver hook attached .

My bait for the day was ;

Two pints of red maggots

Two pints of soaked micros

Small tub of 4mm expanders

Small tub of white hooker pellets

When the all in sounded i shipped out to my far-bank marker with my pellet rig , i sprinkled in some micros then lowered my rig in among it being very careful to keep it still , it took a couple of feeds before i had my first indication which i missed but not long after i had my first f1 although it seemed to be a loner as ten minutes past without another sign so i moved further towards my right and started again but still nothing , i went right to the edge of my peg but couldn’t attract an indication from any line a switch to maggots over the same far-bank swims did not produce any more f1s although i did manage to lose a carp which snagged me up on the far side vegetation .

Things weren’t going well and worse was to follow when we had the first of many hail storms which were the size of garden peas not good but at least it was hitting my back, after it surpassed i gave my margin a try with my three foot maggot rig this had worked well in previous weeks when it was windy but i just couldn’t get a bite and all i was left with was my channel swim i decided to put in two lines one i would feed with a small cupping kit every twenty minutes the other i would kinder pot in a dozen maggots . After suffering another hail storm i finally began getting a few bites not from the required f1s but ide although they was of a nice stamp and i was at least putting some fish in the net , by rotating between the two lines i had a good ninety minute spell but the longer i fished it the worse it got and i had nowhere else to go that was producing bites so that i could rest them my last hour was a complete write off putting next to nothing in the net .

The all out sounded calling time on another frustrating match at Partridge lakes and i wasnt going to bother weighing in other than we had agreed to have a pound with the other lads , as it turned out my net went 16lb which was good enough for second in the section behind the lad on peg 18 who had 24lb but he had managed to sneak out a few f1s early and late in the match which made all the difference but thats all part+parcel of match fishing ,i’m going to Herronbrook on bank holiday Monday for a try at the open its only my second visit there so im quite looking forward to it although six hour matches can take some getting used too and it will be a long day if you are not putting anything in the net .

 

Three years and still going strong

Well, it was brought to my attention that it’s been 3 years since I started to write blogs, as an un-sponsored angler I am totally unbiased about the fisheries I choose to go to and also all the tackle I choose to use. I hope you get from my blogs what I hope to achieve, which is a good honest review from the fisheries I attend to the type of line I use. Everybody is different with their choices of tackle & you should always use what you feel is the best for you, it’s all about personal choice! I have gained over 200,000 views over the past 3 years & that is just absolutely amazing & I can’t thank you all enough for taking time out of your day to come & read what I have been up to, about what an average match angler has to say. Just recently you will have noticed I have changed the style in which I write my blogs, for Christmas my long-suffering wife bought me an action camera so I can video as I fish & incorporate them into my blogs. I’m still having a few teething problems in getting used to the camera but I don’t think I’m doing too bad so far! I’ve got a few ideas on how to make it work for me better but, I’ll need to get out onto the bank for a few pleasure fishing sessions to work it all out, it’s difficult to work these things out within a match which, I intend to do over the next few weeks as I’m having a break from match fishing before the big matches start again in May.

Old Hough Fishery

Peg 3 , Lucky dip . 8th Sept

Lucky dip canal

A new venue for me to try today , although i had been to the complex before but never seen these canals or fished on a match here . I had been invited to fish with Hindley Labor club and an early start was in order for me to get to the fishery for eight , although it was a pretty easy to get their and probably takes less time to get here than some places we fish , i don’t think our club will ever have a match on here which is a shame because it looks like a really well maintained and only hope it fishes as it can , as the match on here the day before was won with 40lb and plenty of 20lb back up weights . But with the recent drop in temperature and rain all week , i wasn’t that confident but we will see .

With sixteen fishing today and us having both lucky dip and prospect canals to put in the draw bag , they decided to put eight on each and pay out the top two on both with the over all winner picking up a bonus and it was a novel way of doing things but i was fishing with a different club so i was interested to see how they ran their matches and see if they had as much moaning as in our club .

It was soon time for the draw and as on most canals you really want an end peg , but for once my draw hand let me down probably rusty after not having to use it all season . I ended up on peg three in the middle of the straight not great but i did have a bit of room to draw fish from , i had a reed lined margin with a few lily pads and it was 14m across to the far bank where their was more reeds and lily pads , their was also areas of these cut back to the mud line but i couldn’t fish too mine because their was a branch in the water blocking that area and to be honest i didn’t fancy that distance with the gusty wind forecast .

My peg for the day number 3

I planned on fishing along both slopes near and far , i had heard that it was all f1 and small carp but on the day of the match i got told that it was only silvers coming out recently , maybe they were trying to pull a fast one but we will see how things un fold .

Swims

4m plumbed up to find 3ft deep which was at the top of the slope ,preston chianti float with a  0.10 garbo line direct to a size 20 gamma hook and elastic was size 10 orange matrix .

13m used this to fish at the bottom of the slope were it was 4ft deep , i used a 0.4 scone pencil float with 0.12 garbo line and a 0.10 hook length with a size 18 gamma hook and elastic was size 10 orange matrix .

Shallow 0.4 matrix float set 1ft deep to fish along the far bank , with 0.12 main line to a 0.10 hook length and a size 18 gamma pellet hook , elastic was size 10 orange matrix

Bait

1 pint red maggots

0.5 pint soaked micro

0.5 pint crushed expander ground bait

4mm expanders

My bait table

As the all in sounded i went on to my 4m swim first and began by feeding a medium cad pot full of micros and an expander  on the hook being careful not to over feed in the conditions . I expected a slow start and wasn’t disappointed but by re feeding every five minutes i began putting the odd fish in the net , but i was struggling to get my float to settle properly because i wanted the expander to register on the float tip which it did occasionally , maybe the bottom was un even and better plumbing is required on my part .

The bites on the pellet where slight dinks and it took me a while to sort out which ones to hit and which to leave , but i got it right in the end with a few big skimmers , tench and the odd crucian coming to the net . No carp though so far although a few were getting caught tight across on the end pegs ,it wasn’t long before one of those little dips that i lifted into resulted in hooking some thing bigger which after a short fight it snagged me up not far from where i hooked it on an under water obstruction . I hastily put on a new hook length and went back out but some thing had been dislodged under the water preventing me from fishing this area .

So a change of swim was in order and i went out to 13m using the same rig , but the wind was a bit of a night mare making presentation with pellet bad , so a change to maggot resulted in a few small roach and i made the bold decision to big pot in some maggots with micros on this line which seemed to do the trick and my next bite resulted in a flying skimmer which took me through the pads and this resulted in a broken hook length !!!!!

The wind was getting stronger and stronger , after struggling with my pole for a while i decided to set up a new swim was in order and i had been feeding my right hand 4m margin with maggots while i had been fishing long . So i had been expecting an instant response which is what i got but only 8oz silvers came my way , a few tiny fish got in on the act too before i had a chub of about 1lb which spewed up lots of maggots . Some nice golden tench came my way also but the tiny silvers were getting on my nerves taking my double maggot hook bait on the drop , even with a bulk six inch from the hook , so i decided to change back to a pellet and i also began feeding micros through a kinder pot , this produced some more nice bream .

I didn’t think that i was catching fast enough because i would catch two decent fish then nothing for twenty minutes , so i decided to set up a new swim at 5m to my left in slightly deeper water away from the under water obstruction and here i would only feed with pellets and continue loose feeding the right hand side with maggots so i could alternate the two swims to see which worked best . I began picking up some nice bream again and would switch swims after every couple of decent fish , this was working well until approaching the last hour when the heavens opened and every thing switched off for forty minutes until it had stopped , in the remaining minutes of the match the sun came out and this coincided with me catching my only two carp of the day .

When the all out sounded i was a bit unsure of my weight but didn’t think i would be troubling the leaders today , after packing up i went round to follow the weigh in and it soon became apparent how hard it had actually fished , with lots of low weights on Prospect and that canal was won with only 23lb . Over on lucky dip where i was fishing it was the same again with 10lb winning until i put 20lb on the scales but un fortunately the next two weights both beat me to knock me out of the money and i ended up third on my lake , fifth overall and it was the same old story of lost fish costing me at least second and if i had put more effort in to fishing long maybe i could have added the extra fish to challenge the winner .

Prospect

1st 23lb 10oz

2nd 23lb

3rd 13lb

Lucky Dip

1st 34lb

2nd 24lb

3rd 20lb

Lots of things to ponder about today ;

Although every thing looked perfect , i could never get settled in my peg , don’t feel up for match fishing at the moment not sure why ?

Could never get my float to settle correctly and need to find a float i am confident with , its a problem i always tend to suffer with in the wind .

Need to spend more time plumbing up and also marking my pole where my swims are , getting my self confused .

Stop taking the easy option and fish where the fish want to be .

Rushing during the match costs you fish in the end , if it doesn’t look right change it , regarding hook lengths as it only takes seconds .

My feeding wasn’t right today because couldn’t keep them settled in one swim .

Well that’s another match over with on a new venue , think a trip back to sycamore or partridge could be in order and try to get my fishing back on track , keep coming back to see how i get on .