The last few weeks have resulted in a lot of Ice breaking, not the most fun thing to do before you fish but it certainly warms you up.
I fished a match at Rayne lodge last Saturday, I drew peg 13 on the Middle lake, this is the 2nd best peg on the lake in cold conditions, so I knew I had a chance of some fish.
Having fished silverfish matches here I knew I could catch about 10lb of silvers relatively easily by fishing to hand, and I also knew the carp were quite manageable on the same gear. I broke the ice down my right margin and straight out in front, this way I had a propper long pole and margin line, as well as 2 areas I can fish to hand, as previously id found bigger silvers to hang around the edges, so maybe the carp would too?
I finished the Match with 257fish, including 9 carp, 4 of which were caught on my line to hand down the edge, 4 on my proper edge line, and 1 on the long pole. My total weight was 26lb, which won me the section and put me 2nd on the lake, as peg 15 the real flyer in the cold, had caught 38carp for 64lb and won the match!
Sunday I fished at Hobbs croft down the Fennes, I love the Fennes in the winter as you can catch good bags of roach anywhere. I drew peg 78 which I actually fancied before the draw, After breaking 2inches of ice I set my gear up and was ready to go. I Fed 8 balls of joker on my long 8meter line, and 1 golf ball sized ball at 5meters, this was to give me a start before the long line built up.
The day started brilliantly and I put a 1lb of fish in the net in no time, after about 45minutes I was able to catch over the long line and I caught with a good catch rate, unfortunately my fish were relatively small compared to what I would normally catch on this lake, but There was nothing I could do to bring in better fish, so I carried on catching what I could. Bites really tailed off for the last 2 hours as the sun was no longer on my part of the lake, I had to scrap around for bites, eventually ending up with 147fish. Unfortunatly my slow end to the match had cost me, and I finished 3rd in the match with 9lb 4oz, but won my section, the worst thing was my rival Mark Banks had weighed in 9lb 10oz, which meant I had to give him another £1!
Next week Im off to the Fennes on Ash grounds, before the Ice 5 consecutive matches have been won from peg 55 where the f1s ball up, this is also the peg I fished when I wrote my article on the pellet cone, so ill certainly be hoping to draw this peg, and if I don't hopefully 15-20lb of roach will be on the cards! Maybe the sudden rise in temperature might even get the bream on the feed? Who knows! One thing for sure is ill be on for a good day fishing!
Thanks for reading and ill see you next week!
Thursday, 31 January 2013
Wednesday, 9 January 2013
Maldon canal, Essex Interclub league final round
This Sunday it was off to maldon canal for the final round of the Essex Interclub league (www.essexinterclubleague.co.uk) Our Braintree team have a 4 point lead going into this final round, with Maldon and Does joint 2nd behind us.
Maldon are super consistent on this canal, and anywhere in fact. Being their home water of course we had to get a good result if we were to hold on to our lead.
I drew peg C8, which was just up from the bridge by the car park, my team mate Danny Mason told me this could be a match winner due to some resident bream and skimmers, so at least I had a decent peg for once!
I set up several rigs to cover different areas of the canal, but my main two lines were going to be a 6m bread line and 6meter bloodworm line and 10 and 2. I also had a rig set up for at my feet incase it was hard and I needed to catch a little perch behind my keepnet! And also a chopworm caster line up towards the bridge on the far shelf.
The whistle blew, and I started to catch steadily at 6meters on bread, after 20minutes I was happy enough, I was catching one a chuck so I couldnt be doing much wrong I thought... Well, I looked to my right down the section, and I couldnt see a pole sticking out, strange I thought, I spend a minute or so peering down through the bushes to see if I could see what was going on, and it became apparant that everyone was fishing a whip to hand! I was really annoyed with myself at this point for not considering this option, ive never fished this section before and you dont normally catch to hand, but by the number of anglers fishing this way clearly its how to fish this section!
I straight away started to feed bread short and set up a top kit to fish to hand, as I didn't have a whip on me, I caught straight away, but I wasn't getting the better fish, so I ended up using a top 4 and I got into the better fish. Unfortunately I knew not having a whip was costing me in efficiency, and to top it off when I had a nice 4oz roach coming to the net a bloody pike took it, this pike ended up staying for the long haul aswell and I lost several decent fish to it, If I had a whip I could be much quicker in striking and lifting the fish out of the water away from Mr pike! It really was peeing me off as every time I would get into a rhythm it went through the swim and would unsettle the fish for 10minutes.
It slowed down after 2 hours, and everyone was then on the longer poles catching what they can, this is when I managed to claw my way back into the section as I was catching quicker than those I could see.
I ended the day with 113fish, knowing I could have probably had over 150 if id had a whip, and who knows how many more if Mr Pike didn't show up! No bream or skimmers turned up either! Unfortunately that's the name of the game though, and I ended up weighing 3-11-8 for 5th in the section out of 10, the section was won with 5lb 8. I left my peg frustrated that I hadn't made the most of it on the day, I felt as though it would have been worth 7 or 8lb had things gone to plan, and if I could do it again im sure I could achieve this! But, that's my own inexperience, and now I have learnt, so in years to come I will always be prepared for this scenario, but knowing my luck I wont draw this area again! The positive I take from this is that I am learning from my mistakes, I spend hours running through how I have fished, how I can improve, and how others have fished and done well, not doing this would defeat the object of being a match fisherman in my opinion, so always make sure you quiz the people who have won to find out what baits and tactics were used!
When I got back to the car park I met my team mates to find 4 of them had won their sections! With my 6 points and another team mates 4 points we had a total of 50 points, which we felt was probably unbeatable, and certainly not a blow out so we had won the league for sure.
The results were called out, we won on the day, beating Maldon who finished 2nd. We won the overall league by 5 points, and our team member Danny Mason has won the individual league and also the knockout cup. I finished joint 6th in the end in the overall league, which although if my day had gone to plan I could have been 2nd, I was still happy with this being my first full season on the Interclub team, learning new waters along the way and beating some quality anglers. My target for next season is simply to finish higher up in the table than this year, and also help Braintree defend the league title! Im already looking forward to next year, Im confident I can do well as I now have experience of fishing the waters, which as shown in my last match can help a great deal!
Next week im off to Rayne lodge top lake on Saturday for an open match, id normally be looking forward to this but with the cold weather coming in I will need to have my drawing arm in gear as you need a flyer when its cold! Then Sunday im off to the river Wid, last year I caught 2 stickleback, the year before I had a 4lb bag of roach, and the year before I had 3 chub for 7lb. Lets hope this year is a good year or I may not visit this stretch of river again, id rather go to an open match or have a days practice than catch silly stickleback, thats just not fishing!
Thanks for reading my blog, come back next week to see how I get on!
Tight lines,
Reece Hearn
Maldon are super consistent on this canal, and anywhere in fact. Being their home water of course we had to get a good result if we were to hold on to our lead.
I drew peg C8, which was just up from the bridge by the car park, my team mate Danny Mason told me this could be a match winner due to some resident bream and skimmers, so at least I had a decent peg for once!
I set up several rigs to cover different areas of the canal, but my main two lines were going to be a 6m bread line and 6meter bloodworm line and 10 and 2. I also had a rig set up for at my feet incase it was hard and I needed to catch a little perch behind my keepnet! And also a chopworm caster line up towards the bridge on the far shelf.
The whistle blew, and I started to catch steadily at 6meters on bread, after 20minutes I was happy enough, I was catching one a chuck so I couldnt be doing much wrong I thought... Well, I looked to my right down the section, and I couldnt see a pole sticking out, strange I thought, I spend a minute or so peering down through the bushes to see if I could see what was going on, and it became apparant that everyone was fishing a whip to hand! I was really annoyed with myself at this point for not considering this option, ive never fished this section before and you dont normally catch to hand, but by the number of anglers fishing this way clearly its how to fish this section!
I straight away started to feed bread short and set up a top kit to fish to hand, as I didn't have a whip on me, I caught straight away, but I wasn't getting the better fish, so I ended up using a top 4 and I got into the better fish. Unfortunately I knew not having a whip was costing me in efficiency, and to top it off when I had a nice 4oz roach coming to the net a bloody pike took it, this pike ended up staying for the long haul aswell and I lost several decent fish to it, If I had a whip I could be much quicker in striking and lifting the fish out of the water away from Mr pike! It really was peeing me off as every time I would get into a rhythm it went through the swim and would unsettle the fish for 10minutes.
It slowed down after 2 hours, and everyone was then on the longer poles catching what they can, this is when I managed to claw my way back into the section as I was catching quicker than those I could see.
I ended the day with 113fish, knowing I could have probably had over 150 if id had a whip, and who knows how many more if Mr Pike didn't show up! No bream or skimmers turned up either! Unfortunately that's the name of the game though, and I ended up weighing 3-11-8 for 5th in the section out of 10, the section was won with 5lb 8. I left my peg frustrated that I hadn't made the most of it on the day, I felt as though it would have been worth 7 or 8lb had things gone to plan, and if I could do it again im sure I could achieve this! But, that's my own inexperience, and now I have learnt, so in years to come I will always be prepared for this scenario, but knowing my luck I wont draw this area again! The positive I take from this is that I am learning from my mistakes, I spend hours running through how I have fished, how I can improve, and how others have fished and done well, not doing this would defeat the object of being a match fisherman in my opinion, so always make sure you quiz the people who have won to find out what baits and tactics were used!
When I got back to the car park I met my team mates to find 4 of them had won their sections! With my 6 points and another team mates 4 points we had a total of 50 points, which we felt was probably unbeatable, and certainly not a blow out so we had won the league for sure.
The results were called out, we won on the day, beating Maldon who finished 2nd. We won the overall league by 5 points, and our team member Danny Mason has won the individual league and also the knockout cup. I finished joint 6th in the end in the overall league, which although if my day had gone to plan I could have been 2nd, I was still happy with this being my first full season on the Interclub team, learning new waters along the way and beating some quality anglers. My target for next season is simply to finish higher up in the table than this year, and also help Braintree defend the league title! Im already looking forward to next year, Im confident I can do well as I now have experience of fishing the waters, which as shown in my last match can help a great deal!
Next week im off to Rayne lodge top lake on Saturday for an open match, id normally be looking forward to this but with the cold weather coming in I will need to have my drawing arm in gear as you need a flyer when its cold! Then Sunday im off to the river Wid, last year I caught 2 stickleback, the year before I had a 4lb bag of roach, and the year before I had 3 chub for 7lb. Lets hope this year is a good year or I may not visit this stretch of river again, id rather go to an open match or have a days practice than catch silly stickleback, thats just not fishing!
Thanks for reading my blog, come back next week to see how I get on!
Tight lines,
Reece Hearn
Pellet cone fishing for F1 carp at the Fennes
This Saturday I didnt have any matches booked in, so decided to use the spare time to have a little practice session. I like being able to get out for these sessions as you can learn so much more than what you can during a match, for example, you are willing to take big risks which you may not during a match, especially during the winter months.
I set up on peg 55 on the match lake, its won the last few matches as the f1s seem to shoal up here, so yes im certainly sitting on a flyer! Thats another nice thing about a practice session, as im not normally lucky enough to draw a flyer, and if I was to try this on say peg 15 on ash grounds, this would simply not work and would leave me without confidence in the method.
My baits for the day, were hard 6 and 8mm pellet, 6mm expanders, corn, bread and various colors of 8 and 10mm boilies. I also has some 2mm micros and 4mm pellets to soak for the cone, and some method feeder groundbait to help bind them. Alot of people use the sticky pellet stuff with their pellets for method and cone work, but I couldnt find any in the shops. I normally just mix up a pint of micros with a third of a pint of 4mms, just to offer something abit different, otherwise the fish can become preoccupied with the 2mms, and then add a handfull of sticky ground bait (today im using a pellet based method ground bait, but I also like to use Special G Green) I never have any problem with this mixture when fishing the method, so didn't see why I would with the cone.
Rig wise I was simply using a 16 kamasan B911 hook, as this would be strong enough if I hooked any propper carp, but also light enough for finesse, I tied this to a 12inch hooklenght with reflo power in 0.11, yet again im confident this line can land me big carp aswell as being fine enough to not deter any f1s or bream that may show.
I started the session by putting 2 10mm punches of bread on a straight lead, this way I could see if there was alot of fish in my swim. I caught 5 fish in 5 chucks, so seemingly there were quite a lot of fish there! If I was in a match situation, i would probably keep on going until the tip didnt go round, but because I am here to learn I decided to chuck out the pellet cone, I was using the prestons small quick cone, and its really easy to use, just hook your bait over, fill it up, compress, cast out. The only issue I had was that I had to use a 1/2oz lead instead of my favored 1/4 or 1/8 ounce lead, this is because you need to cast the lead out without putting to much pressure on the cone, otherwise as I found out the cone fell my my head as I cast out! (maybe this is why people use sticky pellet?) But I had no problem after changing to the heavier lead at all, and with a bit of feathering it didn't make much commotion, which is important at times.
I then had 2 fish in 2 chucks on the pellet cone, notably quicker bites than on the bread, and much more positive pull the rod out of the rest bites! It was obviously solid out there, and in past matches they have been won with 30-50lb fishing a feeder or the bread, because of this I decided to try the banjo feeder, much more positive than the cone, and also quicker to bait up. I had a fish first chuck, but on the 2nd chuck nothing! Another 2 casts later I hadnt had a fish, I instantly felt as though the increase in bait has put the fish off, as although it is mild, its still winter! I went back to bread and lead and found the fish about 5 meters left of where id been fishing. I then caught 5 in 5 chucks again before not getting a bite, I simply had to cast about all around my bait to find the fish again, I followed this patter for the next hour or so as the fish simply didnt want to be on those pellets. I then managed to snag one on top of the area id fished the banjo, hopefully the bait had been polished up by now as it had been a while, I went back onto the cone and it was instant, I caught all day long on this method, it seemed to be the perfect amount as it was more attractive to the fish with a tiny pile of pellets compared to the banjo or just a bit of bread.
The most effective bait on the day was 6mm expanders on a hair rig, I caught on either 1 or 2 expanders, hard pellets didnt compete, nor did corn or boilies. Bread was effective on a straight lead and this would be my starting point on any match anywhere to be honest! Its just so reliable in the winter.
I finished the session with 47 f1s, they are good fish aswell, so I likely averaged 2lb a fish today, just under 100lb on a handfull of pellets. Also much more than the previous match wins on this lake, which gives me greater confidence in the cone!
To sum up, if I was to fish a match and draw this area, I would start on the bread with the idea of moving onto the cone, this way I would be working my way into the match without spooking fish. The catch rate on the cone was just insane, with bites coming as soon as the bait had settled, whereas with the bread you had to wait 5 minutes sometimes, fair enough that's still not a long time, and it shows how full of fish the peg was on the day, but in match fishing its all about making the most of your peg, and if I had fished bread all day today, I could have had 10 or 15 less fish!
One of the biggest tips I can give you when using the preston pellet cone, is to fill it up with your pellets, squish it down so they all go down the half way, then hook your bait on, fill it to the brim and push as hard as you can. If you simply hook your bait on and put the pellets in without putting half in first, then sometimes when you push the cone out it seems to fall to pieces!
I hope these tips help you catch more fish on the pellet cone!
Tight Lines,
Reece Hearn
I set up on peg 55 on the match lake, its won the last few matches as the f1s seem to shoal up here, so yes im certainly sitting on a flyer! Thats another nice thing about a practice session, as im not normally lucky enough to draw a flyer, and if I was to try this on say peg 15 on ash grounds, this would simply not work and would leave me without confidence in the method.
My baits for the day, were hard 6 and 8mm pellet, 6mm expanders, corn, bread and various colors of 8 and 10mm boilies. I also has some 2mm micros and 4mm pellets to soak for the cone, and some method feeder groundbait to help bind them. Alot of people use the sticky pellet stuff with their pellets for method and cone work, but I couldnt find any in the shops. I normally just mix up a pint of micros with a third of a pint of 4mms, just to offer something abit different, otherwise the fish can become preoccupied with the 2mms, and then add a handfull of sticky ground bait (today im using a pellet based method ground bait, but I also like to use Special G Green) I never have any problem with this mixture when fishing the method, so didn't see why I would with the cone.
Rig wise I was simply using a 16 kamasan B911 hook, as this would be strong enough if I hooked any propper carp, but also light enough for finesse, I tied this to a 12inch hooklenght with reflo power in 0.11, yet again im confident this line can land me big carp aswell as being fine enough to not deter any f1s or bream that may show.
I started the session by putting 2 10mm punches of bread on a straight lead, this way I could see if there was alot of fish in my swim. I caught 5 fish in 5 chucks, so seemingly there were quite a lot of fish there! If I was in a match situation, i would probably keep on going until the tip didnt go round, but because I am here to learn I decided to chuck out the pellet cone, I was using the prestons small quick cone, and its really easy to use, just hook your bait over, fill it up, compress, cast out. The only issue I had was that I had to use a 1/2oz lead instead of my favored 1/4 or 1/8 ounce lead, this is because you need to cast the lead out without putting to much pressure on the cone, otherwise as I found out the cone fell my my head as I cast out! (maybe this is why people use sticky pellet?) But I had no problem after changing to the heavier lead at all, and with a bit of feathering it didn't make much commotion, which is important at times.
I then had 2 fish in 2 chucks on the pellet cone, notably quicker bites than on the bread, and much more positive pull the rod out of the rest bites! It was obviously solid out there, and in past matches they have been won with 30-50lb fishing a feeder or the bread, because of this I decided to try the banjo feeder, much more positive than the cone, and also quicker to bait up. I had a fish first chuck, but on the 2nd chuck nothing! Another 2 casts later I hadnt had a fish, I instantly felt as though the increase in bait has put the fish off, as although it is mild, its still winter! I went back to bread and lead and found the fish about 5 meters left of where id been fishing. I then caught 5 in 5 chucks again before not getting a bite, I simply had to cast about all around my bait to find the fish again, I followed this patter for the next hour or so as the fish simply didnt want to be on those pellets. I then managed to snag one on top of the area id fished the banjo, hopefully the bait had been polished up by now as it had been a while, I went back onto the cone and it was instant, I caught all day long on this method, it seemed to be the perfect amount as it was more attractive to the fish with a tiny pile of pellets compared to the banjo or just a bit of bread.
The most effective bait on the day was 6mm expanders on a hair rig, I caught on either 1 or 2 expanders, hard pellets didnt compete, nor did corn or boilies. Bread was effective on a straight lead and this would be my starting point on any match anywhere to be honest! Its just so reliable in the winter.
I finished the session with 47 f1s, they are good fish aswell, so I likely averaged 2lb a fish today, just under 100lb on a handfull of pellets. Also much more than the previous match wins on this lake, which gives me greater confidence in the cone!
To sum up, if I was to fish a match and draw this area, I would start on the bread with the idea of moving onto the cone, this way I would be working my way into the match without spooking fish. The catch rate on the cone was just insane, with bites coming as soon as the bait had settled, whereas with the bread you had to wait 5 minutes sometimes, fair enough that's still not a long time, and it shows how full of fish the peg was on the day, but in match fishing its all about making the most of your peg, and if I had fished bread all day today, I could have had 10 or 15 less fish!
One of the biggest tips I can give you when using the preston pellet cone, is to fill it up with your pellets, squish it down so they all go down the half way, then hook your bait on, fill it to the brim and push as hard as you can. If you simply hook your bait on and put the pellets in without putting half in first, then sometimes when you push the cone out it seems to fall to pieces!
I hope these tips help you catch more fish on the pellet cone!
Tight Lines,
Reece Hearn
Wednesday, 2 January 2013
Christmas week of matches
Well Ive got lots to report this week, to begin, last Sunday was our clubs christmas match at the Fennes on ash grounds. The weather had been good and i was really looking forward to it!
I drew peg 6, which is normally a good area for roach, but there were no bream coming out of here lately so it was unlikely i could win the match from here, but i was confident of winning the section as the plan was to fish bloodworm and joker with caster over the top, and im getting quite handy at this lately!
I fed 8 balls of joker in a 50/50 groundbait and leam mix at the start, and every 30 minutes or so the swim needed a top up ball of joker just in leam. I fished a tidy match and weighed in 14lb 2oz with 103roach, more than enough to win the section, but some bream had come out on the other bank as expected so i finished 4th in the match.
Thursday was my next match, a silverfish match at rayne lodge, it was pegged on the bottom and middle lake. I drew peg 2 on the middle, I caught 298roach for 12lb 8oz for 3rd in the match, my fish were tiny compared to the guy who had won so I was always fighting an uphill battle, but I left satisfied id done a good job from my peg that day.
Friday was a Match on the top lake of rayne lodge, id drawn peg 21, which in normal conditions was a brilliant draw as the fish shoal up here and you can catch on a straight lead with pop up bread, unfortunately though this wasn't the case! And this is one of the worst pole pegs on the lake so I was in for a struggle! I managed to pick up odd fish throughout the day, and in the last 45 minutes my pole swim came alive, I had one a chuck and finished with 30 (unfortunately small carp) for 55lb, which put my 4th in the match and narrowly missing out on the section, good result from a poor peg on the day!
Sunday it was the teams of 4 match at the fennes, I drew peg 10 on ash grounds, I was happy with this as although i would not be able to win the match from here, i would be able to catch a good bag of roach to win the section. I fished similar blood worm and joker tactics to the last week, this time catching 129roach for 15lb 14oz, a quality bag of roach, and more than enough to win the section as 2nd was the peg to my right who weighed 10lb. Unfortunately my team had a bit of a blow out and we only managed 3rd in the match, which also meant i only got 7.50 of my winnings after splitting my section money 4 ways!
Monday I had another silverfish match at rayne lodge, this time it was pegged on the top lake, I drew peg 10, which I was fairly happy with as at least I was on the deep bank. Id opted to fish a top kit to hand with caster and groundbait, and also a long pole line.
I didn't even have to pick the long pole up as I was catching one a chuck all day, getting mainly roach and the odd bonus skimmer or hybrid, most people were only hooking carp on their long poles so I decided not to waste my time. I finished the day with 458 roach and skimmers for 30lb 14oz, a busy days fishing! I won the match, 2nd place being Danny Mason with 27lb, and third coming from the peg to my right with 26lb.
Tuesday was yet again an all in match on rayne lodge top lake, yet again I had a poor draw getting peg 14, the only worse peg on the lake on the day was peg 17! This peg is shallow on the feeder and pole line, I well and truly was out of it today! I didn't get anything in the first hour, not a bite! whilst I watched most people in the deep water catching odd carp. My swim eventually picked up and I found odd carp on the long pole on corn and odd fish down the edge by a fishy looking bush that hangs in the water, unfortunately though my stamp of fish was even smaller than the previous match, I finished with 34 carp for 56lb for 7th in the match, well below the average stamp of fish for this lake, the only consolation is id beaten half the blokes who were on better pegs! The winner had 103lb and his fish were big, as id expected from the deeper water. It was even the same pegs who won all the money as the last match, peg 4 peg 8 and peg 12, why couldn't I draw one of those?
Next week im off to Maldon canal for the final round of the Essex inter club league, our Braintree team hold a 4 point lead going into the final round, so its certainly ours to lose, Id certainly like another good result as I am only 2 points away from 3rd in the league, which I don't think is too bad seeing as I haven't fished half the venues before! It looks like Danny Mason who also fishes for Braintee is going to win the individual league, hopefully we all put in another consistent performance to take the league honors.
Thanks for reading,
Tight lines,
Reece Hearn
I drew peg 6, which is normally a good area for roach, but there were no bream coming out of here lately so it was unlikely i could win the match from here, but i was confident of winning the section as the plan was to fish bloodworm and joker with caster over the top, and im getting quite handy at this lately!
I fed 8 balls of joker in a 50/50 groundbait and leam mix at the start, and every 30 minutes or so the swim needed a top up ball of joker just in leam. I fished a tidy match and weighed in 14lb 2oz with 103roach, more than enough to win the section, but some bream had come out on the other bank as expected so i finished 4th in the match.
Thursday was my next match, a silverfish match at rayne lodge, it was pegged on the bottom and middle lake. I drew peg 2 on the middle, I caught 298roach for 12lb 8oz for 3rd in the match, my fish were tiny compared to the guy who had won so I was always fighting an uphill battle, but I left satisfied id done a good job from my peg that day.
Friday was a Match on the top lake of rayne lodge, id drawn peg 21, which in normal conditions was a brilliant draw as the fish shoal up here and you can catch on a straight lead with pop up bread, unfortunately though this wasn't the case! And this is one of the worst pole pegs on the lake so I was in for a struggle! I managed to pick up odd fish throughout the day, and in the last 45 minutes my pole swim came alive, I had one a chuck and finished with 30 (unfortunately small carp) for 55lb, which put my 4th in the match and narrowly missing out on the section, good result from a poor peg on the day!
Sunday it was the teams of 4 match at the fennes, I drew peg 10 on ash grounds, I was happy with this as although i would not be able to win the match from here, i would be able to catch a good bag of roach to win the section. I fished similar blood worm and joker tactics to the last week, this time catching 129roach for 15lb 14oz, a quality bag of roach, and more than enough to win the section as 2nd was the peg to my right who weighed 10lb. Unfortunately my team had a bit of a blow out and we only managed 3rd in the match, which also meant i only got 7.50 of my winnings after splitting my section money 4 ways!
Monday I had another silverfish match at rayne lodge, this time it was pegged on the top lake, I drew peg 10, which I was fairly happy with as at least I was on the deep bank. Id opted to fish a top kit to hand with caster and groundbait, and also a long pole line.
I didn't even have to pick the long pole up as I was catching one a chuck all day, getting mainly roach and the odd bonus skimmer or hybrid, most people were only hooking carp on their long poles so I decided not to waste my time. I finished the day with 458 roach and skimmers for 30lb 14oz, a busy days fishing! I won the match, 2nd place being Danny Mason with 27lb, and third coming from the peg to my right with 26lb.
Tuesday was yet again an all in match on rayne lodge top lake, yet again I had a poor draw getting peg 14, the only worse peg on the lake on the day was peg 17! This peg is shallow on the feeder and pole line, I well and truly was out of it today! I didn't get anything in the first hour, not a bite! whilst I watched most people in the deep water catching odd carp. My swim eventually picked up and I found odd carp on the long pole on corn and odd fish down the edge by a fishy looking bush that hangs in the water, unfortunately though my stamp of fish was even smaller than the previous match, I finished with 34 carp for 56lb for 7th in the match, well below the average stamp of fish for this lake, the only consolation is id beaten half the blokes who were on better pegs! The winner had 103lb and his fish were big, as id expected from the deeper water. It was even the same pegs who won all the money as the last match, peg 4 peg 8 and peg 12, why couldn't I draw one of those?
Next week im off to Maldon canal for the final round of the Essex inter club league, our Braintree team hold a 4 point lead going into the final round, so its certainly ours to lose, Id certainly like another good result as I am only 2 points away from 3rd in the league, which I don't think is too bad seeing as I haven't fished half the venues before! It looks like Danny Mason who also fishes for Braintee is going to win the individual league, hopefully we all put in another consistent performance to take the league honors.
Thanks for reading,
Tight lines,
Reece Hearn
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)