Hi all.
The 3rd round of the winter league was greeted with the same weather as in previous rounds. Persistent rain for the duration of the match and a strengthening wind to boot.
Team for the day was myself, Alan Lamb, Phil Clare and Rob Healey stepping in for Jon Green.
Once again it was down to me to do the team draw which gave us Alan on peg 18 Covey 1, myself on peg 48 Covey 2, Phil Clare peg 73, Covey 3 and Rob on peg 85 on Covey 4. Again we felt we could have done a lot worse, 2 pegs on spits and 85 being in usually good area. The only drawback was 18 which we were not sure how that would go as better weights have come from other pegs in that section.
For my match the peg was towards the end of the spit on Covey 2 and with 49 not being pegged I had plenty of room. I set the usual suspects rig wise, bread, 2ft maggot/pellet, 3ft maggot/pellet and a maggot rig for down the track.
I started on bread and only caught 2 small Rudd so moved onto the 3ft line feeding a few mirco's with either a 2mm or 4mm expander on the hook. It was very slow going and after nearly 2 hours I only had 2 small F1's to add to the Rudd. I could also see anglers catching so I was falling behind very quickly. I could only get bites on the 3ft line and had to keep moving swims towards the left hand side of the peg to get bites. If I tried the right hand side I got no bites. For a change I also managed to catch some fish on pellet. Once the bites went iffy changing to maggot over a few micros brought some bite back again.
It was also clear that the fish had moved to the left, as the angler on peg 46 was catching quite regular and he did say after the match that the fish had moved away from him as well. I kept plugging away catching a couple of fish from each and then moving to another area. The deep maggot line only gave up 2 fish and with out consistent bites I ended up back on the 3ft line until the end of the match. I finished with 13 F1's and the 2 Rudd for a level 20lb. The angler on 46 weighed 26lb, must admit I thought he caught more than that. So bit disappointed not to have got closer.
Unfortunately for me there were not a lot of fish in my area, as they had shoaled up nearer to the bridge and pegs 24-25. Usually the pegs on the spits hold the fish in the colder weather as they provide some shelter out of any direct wind, but not so much on this occasion.
So that was that and back to the clubhouse to see how everyone had got on.
I only managed to beat 2 others in my section so scored 8 points. Alan weighed over 15lb and got the same points as me. Phil was unlucky to only get 13lb and score 10 points. Rob Healey was our star of the show weighing in over 30lb and scoring 5 section points. This gave us a 31 point total, which still leaves us last in the league and 2 points behind the next team. For some sort of consolation there were a few teams that scored high points, proving it was a tough match for everyone.
So at least for 2015 that's pretty much it, the next match in the league will be on the 2nd Jan and to be honest I am not sure yet what fishing to do over the Christmas break. I might squeeze in a mid week match at Partridge between Christmas and New Year but will see how the weather goes.
Thanks to everyone who has taken the time to read my ramblings and I wish you all a very Happy Christmas and tight lines for the New Year.
Best Regards, Neil.
Monday, 14 December 2015
Friday, 11 December 2015
POHAS Fur and Feather Partridge Lakes.
Hello again.
Fished the POHAS annual Christmas Fur and Feather match last week at Partridge Lakes. This time we were booked on Covey 6. Another good turn out with 27 anglers fishing. I drew peg 170 in the middle of the spit accessed by the footbridge, not a bad draw. It was a windy day but the rain held off and it was possible to fish to the far bank as the wind was mainly blowing into me rather than from the side. So manageable conditions.
I set up the usual rigs as described before, but this time the 2 foot line was a little bit away from the far bank rushes. I fished bread again close to the far bank, occasionally the wind would blow the rig about a bit, but managed a couple of small chub and lost 2 F1's. Went on the pellet line at 2 foot and caught a few fish regularly. This has been the first time I have caught on pellets for a while, so it was good to know it still worked. Maybe more to do with the higher than normal temperatures lately. As expected this went a bit iffy but I had caught F1's and small carp so could not complain.
Next moved onto the 3 foot deep swim fished at 11.5 metres to the right. I stared on pellet feeding a few micros via a small pot and once again started to catch, but this slowed down quicker than before. I switched to double red maggot, still feeding micro's and started to catch again. I could not see a great deal of what was going on around the lake, but it all seemed to going well. Must admit the wind was making it difficult for some.
As per normal I had been feeding a maggot line in the deepest water, so in the last hour and half I concentrated on fishing there. Again it was steady but not on fire. I mainly got bites after feeding a few maggots. If I went a while without a bite, just feed 6 more and a bite would come quite quickly. I think I ended up with around 25-30 fish in total and weighed 33lb 12oz which was good enough to win the match, so very pleased with that.
After the match we all descended on the Stonemill Pub for our annual Christmas carvery and later onto the Hoop and Mallet for a few more drinks.
Next match is the third round of the Partridge Lakes Winter League which we are hoping to have a better result than previous.
Tight lines.
Fished the POHAS annual Christmas Fur and Feather match last week at Partridge Lakes. This time we were booked on Covey 6. Another good turn out with 27 anglers fishing. I drew peg 170 in the middle of the spit accessed by the footbridge, not a bad draw. It was a windy day but the rain held off and it was possible to fish to the far bank as the wind was mainly blowing into me rather than from the side. So manageable conditions.
I set up the usual rigs as described before, but this time the 2 foot line was a little bit away from the far bank rushes. I fished bread again close to the far bank, occasionally the wind would blow the rig about a bit, but managed a couple of small chub and lost 2 F1's. Went on the pellet line at 2 foot and caught a few fish regularly. This has been the first time I have caught on pellets for a while, so it was good to know it still worked. Maybe more to do with the higher than normal temperatures lately. As expected this went a bit iffy but I had caught F1's and small carp so could not complain.
Next moved onto the 3 foot deep swim fished at 11.5 metres to the right. I stared on pellet feeding a few micros via a small pot and once again started to catch, but this slowed down quicker than before. I switched to double red maggot, still feeding micro's and started to catch again. I could not see a great deal of what was going on around the lake, but it all seemed to going well. Must admit the wind was making it difficult for some.
As per normal I had been feeding a maggot line in the deepest water, so in the last hour and half I concentrated on fishing there. Again it was steady but not on fire. I mainly got bites after feeding a few maggots. If I went a while without a bite, just feed 6 more and a bite would come quite quickly. I think I ended up with around 25-30 fish in total and weighed 33lb 12oz which was good enough to win the match, so very pleased with that.
After the match we all descended on the Stonemill Pub for our annual Christmas carvery and later onto the Hoop and Mallet for a few more drinks.
Next match is the third round of the Partridge Lakes Winter League which we are hoping to have a better result than previous.
Tight lines.
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