Weight - 122lb 0oz
Catch - 40 Carp, 21 F1s, 4 Roach
Weather - Bright sunny start, became cloudier and cooler
Match - Wests Tackle Open - 1st out of 26
With 26 booked in today the pegging would be a little tight in some areas and initialy I was disappointed to draw 23 which is at the very bottom end of the lake. Fortunately p24 was vacant, which was just as well because a tree prevented me from fishing to my left and it took me a few minutes to decide how I was going to attack the swim. Eventually I decided on 3 areas, the right margin with meat, 5m with pellet and the island.
Realistically I thought I would be fishing for my section, because the pegs further up the lake would be better with the wind blowing that way. Starting by the island on soft pellet, toss potting 6s, I soon caught a carp and couple of roach, but it didnt seem right. I had been catapulting 4s to the left of the island when I noticed a carp already slurpping in the sedges.
For the next 2.5hrs I caught consistantly fishing shallow with hair rigged pellet, mostly 8s which gave a nicer plop than the 6s. If I could swing the rig tight to the sedges, which wasnt easy with overhanging vegatation I would usually come back with carp. The F1s have grown on since I was last on this lake, from 6-8oz nuisances to 12oz handy weight builder, including a couple 1.5lbers.
After 2hr 45mins the island swim was fading, so I tried the margin which didnt produce and neither did the 5m line. I could see all my section so knew I was ahead and Hippy (p35) walked past to get his coat from the car, becuase the wind had picked up and apparantly it was quite cool up the top end of the lake. According to Hippy most were struggling and I began to believe that a framing position could be up for grabs, but I didnt know how the other side of the lake was fishing.
Despite not catching from my margin or 5m line, resting the island swim was a good move, becuase when I went back to it after 15mins I had a good hour catching more carp and F1s before it died again.
With 2hrs to go, I eventually caught in my margin on meat. I lost my first 2 fish, but a few rig adjustments and I was soon catching on 6mm cubes of meat. My 5m line however was still proving frustrating. I had kept feeding 4 & 6s, but couldnt get a proper bite on pellet. Curtis on p25 had caught a few fish on paste, so I quickly sorted a paste rig and I still had some paste left over from yesterdays match.
Fishing the paste proved to be a decisive move, catching a better stamp of fish including 2x 8-9lbers and in the last hour I rotated between the 5m line and margin.
Come the end I knew I had at least won my section. As is usally the case news started to filter around. Mark was admitting to 38 carp and 15lb of silvers and apparantly Nick on p1 had also caught well, so it looked like it would be close. I helped weigh in from peg 38 down and Hippy had the next best weigjt of 102lb. Checking the other weigh sheet, Nick had 112lb and I beat Mark by a 1lb (although he tried to tell me he had 170lb - funny lad, not!).
Really pleased with how the day went, fortunately I was mostly sheltered from an increasing wind which helped. It was also nice to actually feed some bait.
1st 122- 0 - Ken Rayner - p23
2nd 121- 0 - Mark Poppleton - p11
3rd 112- 0 - Nick Merry - p1
4th 102- 0 - Rich Whitmarsh - p35
5th 78- 0 - Tom Ince - p14
6th 64- 8 - Curtis Whitaker - p25
Showing posts with label Todber Manor. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Todber Manor. Show all posts
Monday, April 22, 2013
Sunday, September 2, 2012
01/09/12 - Todber - Whiteposts
Weight - 133lb 12oz
Catch - 55 F1, 43 Carp, 2 Roach, 1 Rudd
Weather - Warm & sunny
Match - Open - 6th out of 14
The day after this match I should be fishing Trinity Waters, instead of writing this blog, however I woke up this morning not feeling very well so had to send Tony a text informing him of my non attendance. Unfortunately a stressful week at work, plus a long day driving took its toll, which is a shame becasue I enjoy fishing Trinity.
Back to Todber, we had the top & bottom lakes at Whiteposts. Informatiion suggested that the bottom lake would win since there was more but smaller fish, whilst the top lake had the bigger fish.
I found myself on peg 29 on the bottom lake, however there was a big question mark over the pegging of the lake, as Mark continued to remind Nick about for most the match. Instead of peg one, miss one or something similar, the middle peg, which Nick happened to draw! had 3 spare pegs one side and 2 the other side, so in other words he was pleasure fishing, so by rights should win the match. My peg was second from the end with Jon Walker on the end peg. To my right I had a spare peg before the next 2 anglers.
Following a conversation with Eddie Wynne at Tony's shop on Friday who had fished a festival there last week I had a clear plan of attack. Being a fish race I needed to catch short and the match turned out to a match of 3 parts.
I started at 7m with 8mm pellet on the deck, but after 10mins only had 1x F1 and loads of silly bites. Since that wasnt going to plan I started to catch shallow at 8m and continued to do so for the next 2hrs. The problem was the lack of carp, I only had 1, whilst Jon was also catching shallow under the end bank tree, but had carp in amongst his F1. For what ever reason the carp didnt want to come shallow in the open, prefering to stay close to cover.
In the meantime I started feeding meat down both margins and was very conscience that I was falling behind everyone and therefore needed some carp. Unfortunately the following 2hrs was just plan frustrating, becuase I only managed 8 carp down the margin, but had to go back out shallow to start catching again.
During the final 2 hours the carp decided to finally turn up down my margin and I reckon I probably put 80lb in the net, by continually swapping left and right on my top 3, but I was an hour too late. Having said that I had to pull a snag out by hand, which also seemed to improve the presentation, just a shame I didnt hook up on it eariler.
Mark won the match fishing meat at 5m, whilst Jon was 2nd on our lake all caught shallow and Nick with all that space was 3rd. If I was to fish the match again, I would dump feed at 5m instead of fishing shallow, but then again I needed my margin to turn on a little sooner.
Catch - 55 F1, 43 Carp, 2 Roach, 1 Rudd
Weather - Warm & sunny
Match - Open - 6th out of 14
The day after this match I should be fishing Trinity Waters, instead of writing this blog, however I woke up this morning not feeling very well so had to send Tony a text informing him of my non attendance. Unfortunately a stressful week at work, plus a long day driving took its toll, which is a shame becasue I enjoy fishing Trinity.
Back to Todber, we had the top & bottom lakes at Whiteposts. Informatiion suggested that the bottom lake would win since there was more but smaller fish, whilst the top lake had the bigger fish.
I found myself on peg 29 on the bottom lake, however there was a big question mark over the pegging of the lake, as Mark continued to remind Nick about for most the match. Instead of peg one, miss one or something similar, the middle peg, which Nick happened to draw! had 3 spare pegs one side and 2 the other side, so in other words he was pleasure fishing, so by rights should win the match. My peg was second from the end with Jon Walker on the end peg. To my right I had a spare peg before the next 2 anglers.
Following a conversation with Eddie Wynne at Tony's shop on Friday who had fished a festival there last week I had a clear plan of attack. Being a fish race I needed to catch short and the match turned out to a match of 3 parts.
I started at 7m with 8mm pellet on the deck, but after 10mins only had 1x F1 and loads of silly bites. Since that wasnt going to plan I started to catch shallow at 8m and continued to do so for the next 2hrs. The problem was the lack of carp, I only had 1, whilst Jon was also catching shallow under the end bank tree, but had carp in amongst his F1. For what ever reason the carp didnt want to come shallow in the open, prefering to stay close to cover.
In the meantime I started feeding meat down both margins and was very conscience that I was falling behind everyone and therefore needed some carp. Unfortunately the following 2hrs was just plan frustrating, becuase I only managed 8 carp down the margin, but had to go back out shallow to start catching again.
During the final 2 hours the carp decided to finally turn up down my margin and I reckon I probably put 80lb in the net, by continually swapping left and right on my top 3, but I was an hour too late. Having said that I had to pull a snag out by hand, which also seemed to improve the presentation, just a shame I didnt hook up on it eariler.
Mark won the match fishing meat at 5m, whilst Jon was 2nd on our lake all caught shallow and Nick with all that space was 3rd. If I was to fish the match again, I would dump feed at 5m instead of fishing shallow, but then again I needed my margin to turn on a little sooner.
1st205-15- 0 – Mark Poppleton (meat/short - bottom lake)
2nd169-11- 0 – Mark Brennan (method feeder - top lake)
3rd164-11- 0 – Ben Bentley (top lake)
4th163- 8- 0 – Jon Walker (shallow/pellet - bottom lake)
5th152- 1- 0 – Nick Merry (bottom lake - pleasure fishing)
6th133-12- 0 – Ken Rayner (bottom lake)
Monday, November 21, 2011
20/11/11 - Todber Manor - Park Lake
Weight – 122lb 4oz
Catch – 37 Carp, 4 Skimmer, 2 Roach, 1F1, 1 Tench, 1 Hybrid, 1 Tench
Weather – Dull start, becoming brighter.
Match – Wests Tackle Open – 1st out of 19
Another unseasonably mild day meant some were fishing in t-shirts, although I don’t think anyone fancied a swim, because the water certainly felt chilly.
As a comprise between those who wanted a 5hr match and those who wanted a 6hr match, we settled on 5½hr.
As usual everyone wanted to draw around the gap, pegs 5, 7 & 38, so I more than happy when I found myself 38. But with every flyer comes the pressure and Mark was certainly trying to pile it on with the usual banter.
Anyway, decided I needed to keep things simple so set a HB billybob 0.1g for the far side and down the right hand margin, plus a SZ ninjaz 0.2g for down the track at 7m. Feed was 2 tins corn, plus 6 & 4mm pellet.
I was determined not to make the same mistake from 2 weeks ago at Whiteposts, so kept the catapult safely tucked away in the carryall. I really didn’t want to encourage those F1, which can be a real pain in the arse.
On the all in, a cup of corn & 6mm’s went down the RH edge at 12m and another cup at 7m. Whilst I let that settle I went straight over to the far bank, feeding a toss pot of corn/6mm’s and started to get indications straight away, soon landing an F1. Unfortunately the next hour or so was very frustrating, because I couldn’t hook a fish in the mouth. I tried varying the amount being fed and thought I got it sussed by reducing the amount going through the toss pot, but with the far bank being 15m away it was hard work for little reward.
In the meantime, I had kept both the RH margin and 7m line topped up every 20mins. After nearly 80mins I only had about 10lb, whilst Mark on peg 35 was already admitting to 30-40lb. I felt the far line was more trouble than it was worth so ditched it, hoping the RH would produce.
3 carp in 3 put ins and I was up and running. Initially I was potting in every 3rd fish, but soon switched to toss potting 6 bits of corn and 6 pellets, only potting a ½ cup when I started to get silly bites from silvers, as the carp shy away. When I rested the swim I would switch to the 7m line, were I had kept feeding pellet and corn. This line didn’t produce many fish, but they were proper ‘uns including a near 10lber.
Most fish came to corn, I tried 6mm pellet but had to wait longer for bites, so struck with corn. With just over 2hrs to go I was up to about 20 carp, whilst Mark had about 38, so a long way behind, however Mark was insisting his carp were only small. By the end, Mark had managed a further 10 or so, plus a load of F1s, whilst I had a further 17. We both thought we had beaten each other, but as it turned out my fish were much better than the average stamp, which probably also accounts for why I only caught 1 F1 from a lake full of them.
Pleased to have beaten Mark and won the match, it hasnt happened too often this year. However 1 angler was a little too bitter & twisted saying I hadnt done well, because I had an end peg. My response was you still need to catch them. Muppet!
1st 122- 4 – Ken Rayner – p38
2nd 115- 8 – Mark Poppleton – p35
3rd 96- 5 – Nick Merry – p23
4th 85-15 – Jono – p12?
Catch – 37 Carp, 4 Skimmer, 2 Roach, 1F1, 1 Tench, 1 Hybrid, 1 Tench
Weather – Dull start, becoming brighter.
Match – Wests Tackle Open – 1st out of 19
Another unseasonably mild day meant some were fishing in t-shirts, although I don’t think anyone fancied a swim, because the water certainly felt chilly.
As a comprise between those who wanted a 5hr match and those who wanted a 6hr match, we settled on 5½hr.
As usual everyone wanted to draw around the gap, pegs 5, 7 & 38, so I more than happy when I found myself 38. But with every flyer comes the pressure and Mark was certainly trying to pile it on with the usual banter.
 |
| peg 38 |
Anyway, decided I needed to keep things simple so set a HB billybob 0.1g for the far side and down the right hand margin, plus a SZ ninjaz 0.2g for down the track at 7m. Feed was 2 tins corn, plus 6 & 4mm pellet.
I was determined not to make the same mistake from 2 weeks ago at Whiteposts, so kept the catapult safely tucked away in the carryall. I really didn’t want to encourage those F1, which can be a real pain in the arse.
On the all in, a cup of corn & 6mm’s went down the RH edge at 12m and another cup at 7m. Whilst I let that settle I went straight over to the far bank, feeding a toss pot of corn/6mm’s and started to get indications straight away, soon landing an F1. Unfortunately the next hour or so was very frustrating, because I couldn’t hook a fish in the mouth. I tried varying the amount being fed and thought I got it sussed by reducing the amount going through the toss pot, but with the far bank being 15m away it was hard work for little reward.
In the meantime, I had kept both the RH margin and 7m line topped up every 20mins. After nearly 80mins I only had about 10lb, whilst Mark on peg 35 was already admitting to 30-40lb. I felt the far line was more trouble than it was worth so ditched it, hoping the RH would produce.
3 carp in 3 put ins and I was up and running. Initially I was potting in every 3rd fish, but soon switched to toss potting 6 bits of corn and 6 pellets, only potting a ½ cup when I started to get silly bites from silvers, as the carp shy away. When I rested the swim I would switch to the 7m line, were I had kept feeding pellet and corn. This line didn’t produce many fish, but they were proper ‘uns including a near 10lber.
 |
| down the margin |
Most fish came to corn, I tried 6mm pellet but had to wait longer for bites, so struck with corn. With just over 2hrs to go I was up to about 20 carp, whilst Mark had about 38, so a long way behind, however Mark was insisting his carp were only small. By the end, Mark had managed a further 10 or so, plus a load of F1s, whilst I had a further 17. We both thought we had beaten each other, but as it turned out my fish were much better than the average stamp, which probably also accounts for why I only caught 1 F1 from a lake full of them.
Pleased to have beaten Mark and won the match, it hasnt happened too often this year. However 1 angler was a little too bitter & twisted saying I hadnt done well, because I had an end peg. My response was you still need to catch them. Muppet!
1st 122- 4 – Ken Rayner – p38
2nd 115- 8 – Mark Poppleton – p35
3rd 96- 5 – Nick Merry – p23
4th 85-15 – Jono – p12?
5th 52- 8 – Craig – p5
6th 46- 4 – Steve Ince – p37
Monday, November 7, 2011
06/11/11 - Todber - Whiteposts
Weight – 48lb 15oz
Catch – 17 F1, 16 Carp, 4 Rudd, 1 Roach
Weather – Cold start. Cloudy with easterly wind
Match – Open – 7th out of 10
I’ve never fished Whiteposts, but reports were that the top lake had been drained and the fish moved into the bottom lake, with winning weights of 190lb. So a knock up was organized and 10 turned up. The lake itself is a long 16 peg lake ranging from 14m to 25m wide, full of small carp and F1s.
When I got to my peg I wasn’t particularly happy. It was tight with trees immediately either side, which meant no margin. There was a more open peg to my right, set back in the bay, but apparently this was 1 of the worse (& widest) pegs on the lake. I was also told the lake is 4-5ft, so was a bit surprised when plumbing up to only find 2-3ft and with the cold I wasn’t expecting the big weights of previous matches.
Settled on 3 areas. 10m to my right where I found slightly more depth, a waggler across to the far side and 10m further to my right towards the platform as far as the tree would let me, fishing left handed.
Starting off at 10m and the first hour was slow, but picked up going into the 2nd with a run of carp. I was feeding 4mm & corn via a toss pot, with corn on the hook. What was evident was the fish would drift in and out of the swim, probably due to the shallow water.
My back plan was the waggler, although a cold easterly blowing down the lake was making presentation a bit tricky, but I got the waggler sitting as it should, but only had little dinks and no fish on corn. A switch to maggot only produced tiny rudd, so that was soon binned. A switch back to corn did produce a couple of F1s but no carp.
The rest of the match was a case of scratching around for fish. A big pot of corn and pellet to my far right did produce a couple of carp, but bites simply weren’t coming quickly enough, whilst on my main 10m line I would get loads of dinks on the float, but no fish.
In hindsight, the mistake I made was catapulting pellet. I had started the match feeding via a toss pot at 10m. Sometimes I would catch at 10m, but also caught a few fishing a metre past. I started to catapult pellet over the top whilst fishing other lines and all that did was encourage more F1s into the swim and I think a lot of the sail way bites I was get were liners. I should have stuck with the toss pot, but left my brain somewhere else.
Mark won from the bottom end of the lake fishing at 9m all day, feeding via a toss pot with corn on the hook. 3rd and 4th came either side of Mark, so there was obviously a few fish in the area.
A disappointing day when I should have caught more, but I’m back at Todber on Park Lake in 2 weeks, so an opportunity to make amends.
1st 127-4 – Mark Poppleton
2nd 103-8 – Nick Merry
3rd 102-7 – Tom Ince
4th 98-10 – Terry Lead
Catch – 17 F1, 16 Carp, 4 Rudd, 1 Roach
Weather – Cold start. Cloudy with easterly wind
Match – Open – 7th out of 10
I’ve never fished Whiteposts, but reports were that the top lake had been drained and the fish moved into the bottom lake, with winning weights of 190lb. So a knock up was organized and 10 turned up. The lake itself is a long 16 peg lake ranging from 14m to 25m wide, full of small carp and F1s.
When I got to my peg I wasn’t particularly happy. It was tight with trees immediately either side, which meant no margin. There was a more open peg to my right, set back in the bay, but apparently this was 1 of the worse (& widest) pegs on the lake. I was also told the lake is 4-5ft, so was a bit surprised when plumbing up to only find 2-3ft and with the cold I wasn’t expecting the big weights of previous matches.
Settled on 3 areas. 10m to my right where I found slightly more depth, a waggler across to the far side and 10m further to my right towards the platform as far as the tree would let me, fishing left handed.
Starting off at 10m and the first hour was slow, but picked up going into the 2nd with a run of carp. I was feeding 4mm & corn via a toss pot, with corn on the hook. What was evident was the fish would drift in and out of the swim, probably due to the shallow water.
My back plan was the waggler, although a cold easterly blowing down the lake was making presentation a bit tricky, but I got the waggler sitting as it should, but only had little dinks and no fish on corn. A switch to maggot only produced tiny rudd, so that was soon binned. A switch back to corn did produce a couple of F1s but no carp.
The rest of the match was a case of scratching around for fish. A big pot of corn and pellet to my far right did produce a couple of carp, but bites simply weren’t coming quickly enough, whilst on my main 10m line I would get loads of dinks on the float, but no fish.
In hindsight, the mistake I made was catapulting pellet. I had started the match feeding via a toss pot at 10m. Sometimes I would catch at 10m, but also caught a few fishing a metre past. I started to catapult pellet over the top whilst fishing other lines and all that did was encourage more F1s into the swim and I think a lot of the sail way bites I was get were liners. I should have stuck with the toss pot, but left my brain somewhere else.
Mark won from the bottom end of the lake fishing at 9m all day, feeding via a toss pot with corn on the hook. 3rd and 4th came either side of Mark, so there was obviously a few fish in the area.
A disappointing day when I should have caught more, but I’m back at Todber on Park Lake in 2 weeks, so an opportunity to make amends.
1st 127-4 – Mark Poppleton
2nd 103-8 – Nick Merry
3rd 102-7 – Tom Ince
4th 98-10 – Terry Lead
Monday, June 6, 2011
05/06/11-Todber Manor - Park Lake
Weight – 65lb 8oz
Catch – 23 Carp, 14 F1, 4 Roach, 3 Tench
Weather – Cloudy, persistent rain later
Match – MFS – 13th out of 21
Today was a lesson in fishing to your strengths and going against the norm isn’t always the best approach.
Firstly the weather looked like it would have an effect. Following a couple days of warm weather, we now had very heavy rain overnight and the drive down was difficult as some roads were flooded. Fortunately by the draw the rain had stopped.
My peg for the day was 33, 1 up from where I was last time, so not impressed, since I struggled to catch carp although I caught plenty of F1s. Today, however I decided to focus on the carp and if I could ignore the F1’s. Unlike the last time, I could at least fish the far bank since the wind wasnt too bad. In a bid to avoid the F1, feed was 6mm pellet instead of 4mm and when fishing the far side I didn’t catapult any feed.
The 1st hour went exactly to plan, fishing paste tight to the far bank, feeding only the paste, plus 10x pellet via a toss pot, I landed 10 carp and 1 F1. Moving into the 2nd hour I started getting more liners and silly bites landing very few fish.
Moving into the 3rd hour I relented and decided to feed by catapult, fishing shallow, but tight to the far bank, again to avoid the F1’s. This produced a few more carp on 8mm before the F1s moved in again.
I had been feeding 6mm at 6m and in the margins. The margins produced very little, whilst my 6m line was full of fish, but targeting the carp was frustrating. I was missing so many fish on paste, which was obviously smaller pecking at the bait, however switching to pellet or corn I had to wait for a bite and it only produced smaller fish. Following a previous discussion with Mark, he feeds heavily with pellet and I went through 8pts.
Fishing paste today just wasn’t right, there are just so many fish in the lake, that unless you are on the noted carp flyers you need a bait with more durability. The top 3 all used meat.
The weights either side of me was 52lb & 69lb, so I wasn’t drawn in a great area. Having said that, I should have picked up my section (albeit by default) had I targeted the F1’s shallow, feeding 4mm, I would have caught at least 30-40lb which would have been enough. Lesson learned, but over the last 4 weeks that seem to be the story of my fishing at the moment.
Oh and the last 2 hours of persistent rain made me even more miserable, although not as miserable as the angler who pulled his net out, only to find a big hole and no fish. Doh! Should have checked the net before using it.
1st 190-13 Steve Tucker – peg 38
2nd 181- 6 Will Bohne – peg 28
3rd 115-10 Fred Roberts – peg 37
4th 112- 6 Mark Poppleton – peg 25
5th 106- 8 Ashley Tomkins – peg 13
6th 92- 4 Ian Browney – peg 1
Catch – 23 Carp, 14 F1, 4 Roach, 3 Tench
Weather – Cloudy, persistent rain later
Match – MFS – 13th out of 21
Today was a lesson in fishing to your strengths and going against the norm isn’t always the best approach.
Firstly the weather looked like it would have an effect. Following a couple days of warm weather, we now had very heavy rain overnight and the drive down was difficult as some roads were flooded. Fortunately by the draw the rain had stopped.
My peg for the day was 33, 1 up from where I was last time, so not impressed, since I struggled to catch carp although I caught plenty of F1s. Today, however I decided to focus on the carp and if I could ignore the F1’s. Unlike the last time, I could at least fish the far bank since the wind wasnt too bad. In a bid to avoid the F1, feed was 6mm pellet instead of 4mm and when fishing the far side I didn’t catapult any feed.
The 1st hour went exactly to plan, fishing paste tight to the far bank, feeding only the paste, plus 10x pellet via a toss pot, I landed 10 carp and 1 F1. Moving into the 2nd hour I started getting more liners and silly bites landing very few fish.
Moving into the 3rd hour I relented and decided to feed by catapult, fishing shallow, but tight to the far bank, again to avoid the F1’s. This produced a few more carp on 8mm before the F1s moved in again.
I had been feeding 6mm at 6m and in the margins. The margins produced very little, whilst my 6m line was full of fish, but targeting the carp was frustrating. I was missing so many fish on paste, which was obviously smaller pecking at the bait, however switching to pellet or corn I had to wait for a bite and it only produced smaller fish. Following a previous discussion with Mark, he feeds heavily with pellet and I went through 8pts.
Fishing paste today just wasn’t right, there are just so many fish in the lake, that unless you are on the noted carp flyers you need a bait with more durability. The top 3 all used meat.
The weights either side of me was 52lb & 69lb, so I wasn’t drawn in a great area. Having said that, I should have picked up my section (albeit by default) had I targeted the F1’s shallow, feeding 4mm, I would have caught at least 30-40lb which would have been enough. Lesson learned, but over the last 4 weeks that seem to be the story of my fishing at the moment.
Oh and the last 2 hours of persistent rain made me even more miserable, although not as miserable as the angler who pulled his net out, only to find a big hole and no fish. Doh! Should have checked the net before using it.
1st 190-13 Steve Tucker – peg 38
2nd 181- 6 Will Bohne – peg 28
3rd 115-10 Fred Roberts – peg 37
4th 112- 6 Mark Poppleton – peg 25
5th 106- 8 Ashley Tomkins – peg 13
6th 92- 4 Ian Browney – peg 1
Monday, May 9, 2011
08/05/11 - Todber Manor - Park Lake
Weight – 63lb 0oz
Catch – 84 F1, 7 Roach, 3 Rudd, 2 Carp, 1 Tench
Weather – Windy, in fact very windy. Mostly Sunny
Match – MFS website – 18th (out of 23)
Got a bit of battering today and not just from the wind.
25 were originally booked in, but as usual there were a number of late drop outs, mostly for genuine reasons, however Mark was on the phone the night before, filling 3 of the spaces with local anglers or should I say venue baggers.
Drove down with Tim Ford (Clucker) who enjoyed his first visit a few weeks ago so much he wanted to get back and promptly drew another flyer! Me on the other hand found myself on peg 32, which I felt was at the wrong end of the section (28-38) and then as the other anglers arrived I realised I was really up against it when Mark Brennan settled on p35, Dave Brittain on p34, Will Bohne on P29 and Phil Powell on P28.
I was told my area is a noted F1 hotspot, however on my few visits here I have been told to avoid them, since carp generally were needed to win. With the wind blowing left to right up the lake, fishing the far side at 14m was a non starter, so decided to fish as long as possible shallow, 6m at angle to my right and down my right hand margin towards the spare pallet. Bait was 6mm’s (fed 9pts) and paste.
Started at 5m out in front on paste, feeding just a few 6mms and I had a carp 1st put in, but it didn’t take long for the F1’s to home in and I started getting silly bites. A change to a pellet rig produced a few F1s, but the opening 30mins was a struggle.
Time to try the shallow line. Initially the wind wasn’t too bad so I could fish 13-14m and after a bit of messing around with the rig, found the fish wanted it really shallow (15cm). For the next couple of hours I was regularly catching F1’s and gradually came shorter to 10-11m, a) because the wind was becoming a nightmare and b) I wanted to catch quicker. I did experience some quiet spells, but this was simply because it was difficult to hold the pole (even at 10m) in the wind and feed at the same time.
Fishing for F1s is new to me and I have found a rival to the perch for hook pulls! I could see local expert Will Bohne catching shallow, so at least I had the right idea but Will was giving me a lesson on how to catch F1s quickly.
I was conscience of the need for carp and had been feeding handfuls at 6mm’s at 6m and down the margin, but frustratingly I only had 1 carp.
By the end I knew I was off the pace, but I simply couldn’t get any carp. Both Mark Brennan and Will Bohne caught on meat short, so perhaps I should have had some meat with me. But, Phil Powell and Mark fished paste and also caught. There were only 2 DNW’s and they were both either side of me, which probably told its own story. Steve Martin to my left had stuck on a short line all day, whilst Dave to my right struggled until the final couple hours when he found some carp on meat at 6m. Speaking to Dave afterwards he said if he fished to his left (i.e. towards me) he could only catch F1’s and skimmers, but if he fished to his right he caught carp.
On the day for what ever reason the carp didn’t seem to be in my area. In hindsight I could have tried the method feeder to the far bank, which both Tim Ford and Mark Brennan successfully used and possible had some meat with me, although I’m confident had there been carp in the swim I would have caught a few more.
At least I had regular bites and learnt a few more things about the venue.
1st – 172-01 – Will Bohne – p29 (F1 shallow, then carp down the edge on meat)
2nd – 151-10 – Mark Poppleton – p21 (paste)
3rd – 151-06 – Mark Brennan – p35 (method feeder to start, then carp at 6m on meat)
4th – 144-09 – Phil Powell – p28 (5m – paste or corn)
Even with 2 DNW’s 2164lb of fish was weighed in, averaging 94lb per angler with 12 tons weights.
Catch – 84 F1, 7 Roach, 3 Rudd, 2 Carp, 1 Tench
Weather – Windy, in fact very windy. Mostly Sunny
Match – MFS website – 18th (out of 23)
Got a bit of battering today and not just from the wind.
25 were originally booked in, but as usual there were a number of late drop outs, mostly for genuine reasons, however Mark was on the phone the night before, filling 3 of the spaces with local anglers or should I say venue baggers.
Drove down with Tim Ford (Clucker) who enjoyed his first visit a few weeks ago so much he wanted to get back and promptly drew another flyer! Me on the other hand found myself on peg 32, which I felt was at the wrong end of the section (28-38) and then as the other anglers arrived I realised I was really up against it when Mark Brennan settled on p35, Dave Brittain on p34, Will Bohne on P29 and Phil Powell on P28.
I was told my area is a noted F1 hotspot, however on my few visits here I have been told to avoid them, since carp generally were needed to win. With the wind blowing left to right up the lake, fishing the far side at 14m was a non starter, so decided to fish as long as possible shallow, 6m at angle to my right and down my right hand margin towards the spare pallet. Bait was 6mm’s (fed 9pts) and paste.
Started at 5m out in front on paste, feeding just a few 6mms and I had a carp 1st put in, but it didn’t take long for the F1’s to home in and I started getting silly bites. A change to a pellet rig produced a few F1s, but the opening 30mins was a struggle.
Time to try the shallow line. Initially the wind wasn’t too bad so I could fish 13-14m and after a bit of messing around with the rig, found the fish wanted it really shallow (15cm). For the next couple of hours I was regularly catching F1’s and gradually came shorter to 10-11m, a) because the wind was becoming a nightmare and b) I wanted to catch quicker. I did experience some quiet spells, but this was simply because it was difficult to hold the pole (even at 10m) in the wind and feed at the same time.
Fishing for F1s is new to me and I have found a rival to the perch for hook pulls! I could see local expert Will Bohne catching shallow, so at least I had the right idea but Will was giving me a lesson on how to catch F1s quickly.
I was conscience of the need for carp and had been feeding handfuls at 6mm’s at 6m and down the margin, but frustratingly I only had 1 carp.
By the end I knew I was off the pace, but I simply couldn’t get any carp. Both Mark Brennan and Will Bohne caught on meat short, so perhaps I should have had some meat with me. But, Phil Powell and Mark fished paste and also caught. There were only 2 DNW’s and they were both either side of me, which probably told its own story. Steve Martin to my left had stuck on a short line all day, whilst Dave to my right struggled until the final couple hours when he found some carp on meat at 6m. Speaking to Dave afterwards he said if he fished to his left (i.e. towards me) he could only catch F1’s and skimmers, but if he fished to his right he caught carp.
On the day for what ever reason the carp didn’t seem to be in my area. In hindsight I could have tried the method feeder to the far bank, which both Tim Ford and Mark Brennan successfully used and possible had some meat with me, although I’m confident had there been carp in the swim I would have caught a few more.
At least I had regular bites and learnt a few more things about the venue.
1st – 172-01 – Will Bohne – p29 (F1 shallow, then carp down the edge on meat)
2nd – 151-10 – Mark Poppleton – p21 (paste)
3rd – 151-06 – Mark Brennan – p35 (method feeder to start, then carp at 6m on meat)
4th – 144-09 – Phil Powell – p28 (5m – paste or corn)
Even with 2 DNW’s 2164lb of fish was weighed in, averaging 94lb per angler with 12 tons weights.
Monday, April 25, 2011
24/04/2011 - Todber Manor - Park Lake
Weight –114lb 4oz
Catch – 48 Carp, 5 F1, 2 Bream, 1 Crucian, 1 Roach
Weather – Warm &sunny. Northerly breeze
Match – Match Fishing Scene website – 5th (out of 23). 2nd section
This match was scheduled to be solely a MFS match, however due to a shortage of numbers, Mark & I got a few “ringers” involved to bolster the numbers. So we had 24 booked in, but a no show meant 23 would be fishing. I don’t know why people think it’s acceptable to do this.
Mark didn’t know which peg to leave out, so in the end he let fate decide. The hot draws were 7 & 38. Fabio drew 38 for Mark and the peg left in the bag was 7 which was opposite! I found myself on peg 5, which I wasn’t too disappointed with and was definitely in the right area.
Talk leading up to the match was that meat was the bait, with some people feeding up to 10 tins! With up to nearly £2 per tin that’s an expensive day and neither Mark nor I felt it was necessary. Also I very rarely fish with meat, so decided to stick with paste and pellet, mixing 2kg of paste the night before.
Arriving at my peg there was already loads of fish slurping on the far bank, eating the spawn. Settled on 3 swims, the far side at 14.5m, 6m and down the RH margin. On the all in a handful of 4 & 6mm went down the margin and 6mm’s at 6m. Since there were fish in the far side, I went straight over with paste and the float had hardly settled before I was attached to a carp.
I started to feed 4mm with paste and started to get loads of liners and not able to properly hook a fish. And after 30mins I only had 2 fish in the net! Decided to cut out feeding the pellet and just use the paste, which helped, but fishing tighter to the far bank really made a difference and I started motoring for the next hour or so catching most put in, before the F1 started to put in a appearance. A switch to hair rigged 8mm pellet resulted in an F1, so switched back to paste.
After 3hrs I was up to 40 fish, however the 2nd half of the match proved to be really frustrating. From the beginning I had kept feeding the 6m line and the RH margin, hoping for the bigger carp. Unfortunately, I was getting loads of liners and the fish just weren’t getting their heads down. The next hour I only added 2 fish and I knew I was falling behind Mark opposite who was catching a load of fish down his margin. Also Ben to my left was catching, although looking down my section there didn’t seem to be anyone running away with it.
After that difficult hour I started catching again, but had to continually rotate my swims and I did manage a couple of better carp, but not enough.
On the all out I was left frustrated by the number liners. The lake hadn’t fished as well as previous weeks and the fish seemed to be more interested in spawning. In hindsight, was I right to stick with paste? Or should have targeted the F1? At the end of the day I was 37lb off 3rd, so I needed carp and I only needed 1 more carp to win the section. I think where I really missed out was that 1st 30mins when I should have fished tighter to the far bank sooner.
As for the problem with liners and the fish not getting their heads down. I felt I needed to feed a handful of pellet, just so that it reached the deck, because if I just trickled pellet in I doubt any of it would have reached the bottom.
Needless to say an enjoyable, if not frustrating day, with 102lb average per man.
1st 177- 7 Mark Poppleton - peg 38
2nd 164- 6 Tim Ford – peg 25
3rd 151-5 Tony Rixon – peg 29
4th 115-13 Ben Bench – peg 3
5th 114-4 Ken Rayner – peg 5
6th 112- 7 Mark Blake – peg 14
Catch – 48 Carp, 5 F1, 2 Bream, 1 Crucian, 1 Roach
Weather – Warm &sunny. Northerly breeze
Match – Match Fishing Scene website – 5th (out of 23). 2nd section
This match was scheduled to be solely a MFS match, however due to a shortage of numbers, Mark & I got a few “ringers” involved to bolster the numbers. So we had 24 booked in, but a no show meant 23 would be fishing. I don’t know why people think it’s acceptable to do this.
Mark didn’t know which peg to leave out, so in the end he let fate decide. The hot draws were 7 & 38. Fabio drew 38 for Mark and the peg left in the bag was 7 which was opposite! I found myself on peg 5, which I wasn’t too disappointed with and was definitely in the right area.
Talk leading up to the match was that meat was the bait, with some people feeding up to 10 tins! With up to nearly £2 per tin that’s an expensive day and neither Mark nor I felt it was necessary. Also I very rarely fish with meat, so decided to stick with paste and pellet, mixing 2kg of paste the night before.
Arriving at my peg there was already loads of fish slurping on the far bank, eating the spawn. Settled on 3 swims, the far side at 14.5m, 6m and down the RH margin. On the all in a handful of 4 & 6mm went down the margin and 6mm’s at 6m. Since there were fish in the far side, I went straight over with paste and the float had hardly settled before I was attached to a carp.
I started to feed 4mm with paste and started to get loads of liners and not able to properly hook a fish. And after 30mins I only had 2 fish in the net! Decided to cut out feeding the pellet and just use the paste, which helped, but fishing tighter to the far bank really made a difference and I started motoring for the next hour or so catching most put in, before the F1 started to put in a appearance. A switch to hair rigged 8mm pellet resulted in an F1, so switched back to paste.
After 3hrs I was up to 40 fish, however the 2nd half of the match proved to be really frustrating. From the beginning I had kept feeding the 6m line and the RH margin, hoping for the bigger carp. Unfortunately, I was getting loads of liners and the fish just weren’t getting their heads down. The next hour I only added 2 fish and I knew I was falling behind Mark opposite who was catching a load of fish down his margin. Also Ben to my left was catching, although looking down my section there didn’t seem to be anyone running away with it.
After that difficult hour I started catching again, but had to continually rotate my swims and I did manage a couple of better carp, but not enough.
On the all out I was left frustrated by the number liners. The lake hadn’t fished as well as previous weeks and the fish seemed to be more interested in spawning. In hindsight, was I right to stick with paste? Or should have targeted the F1? At the end of the day I was 37lb off 3rd, so I needed carp and I only needed 1 more carp to win the section. I think where I really missed out was that 1st 30mins when I should have fished tighter to the far bank sooner.
As for the problem with liners and the fish not getting their heads down. I felt I needed to feed a handful of pellet, just so that it reached the deck, because if I just trickled pellet in I doubt any of it would have reached the bottom.
Needless to say an enjoyable, if not frustrating day, with 102lb average per man.
1st 177- 7 Mark Poppleton - peg 38
2nd 164- 6 Tim Ford – peg 25
3rd 151-5 Tony Rixon – peg 29
4th 115-13 Ben Bench – peg 3
5th 114-4 Ken Rayner – peg 5
6th 112- 7 Mark Blake – peg 14
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
30/05/10 - Todber Manor
Weight – 76lb 0lb
Catch – 27 Carp, 16 F1, 4 Skimmers, 3 Tench, 3 Roach
Weather – Sunny, windy!
Match – Match Fishing Scene Website - 9th overall
After my last match here last month, I was really looking to another visit. However the weather forecast suggested a windy day ahead.
Peg 37 was certainly in the right area, 1 from the end peg which had the gap round to the other side of the lake and the arm. Now that wind, I was hoping it would be a westerly, because the island opposite would have provided plenty of shelter, however the NW direction meant it was funnelling though the gap straight at me.
To do well here, you need to catch the carp and avoid the F1. So decided to keep it simple, with a paste & pellet rigs for the far side, the paste rig would also be used down the margin to peg 36. The 3rd rig would be a paste rig down the track.
On the all in, the wind was already picking up, so started on the pellet rig tight across. 3 put ins and 3 carp and I was off to a flyer, but the wind was getting stronger. After initially cupping ½ a cup of 4 & 6mm at the start I had followed this up with a full toss pot of pellet every put in but was finding it difficult to present the rig. So I removed the toss pot, to make it easier to hold the pole, deciding to cup pellet in every 3 fish. Unfortunately that didn't really work, because the wind was getting stronger.
Unlike most pegs, I didn't have any bear bank to fish, which would have offered shallow water. My problem was the peg was nearly 2ft deep tight across and there was plenty of branches and foliage, which meant lifting and dropping became a real nightmare, because if I lifted and a gust of wind caught the pole, I had very little margin of error and did catch the branches a couple of times. I set up a shallower rig, but feeding and holding the pole steady was difficult.
Along with Mark, I was doing my best impression of Mr Angry, there were plenty of fish on the far side, but I couldn't present to them properly, which was very frustrating. I had been feeding 6mmat 8m and a mixture of 4 & 6mm, plus hemp down the left hand margin.
When I went over the 8m line on paste, I getting plenty of indications, but no fish and the wind was making presentation difficult. A small F1 confirmed my suspicions, so I set up a new rig with a 16 b911to fish soft pellet & corn. I needed to start putting fish in the net, whilst I couldn't see anyone running away with it, I was falling behind, so every put in I toss potted 6mm with a ball of paste. I soon started to catch, not as quickly I was would have liked, but I lost a few fish off the hook and a change from 12 latex to double 6 helped, but a couple of fish I did land the hook was just hanging in.
The carp eventually turned up and switched to the paste rig. Half way into the match, I was up 22 fish, but only 8 carp and I really needed to start catching. I concentrated on the 8m line, mostly on paste and occasionally corn or soft pellet, when the small fish moved in. The LH margin only started to produce in the last 90 mins.
I had kept firing 6m's to the island in the hope the wind would drop and quick look over, revealed plenty of indication, but presentation was nearly impossible.
I was pleased with the 2nd half of the match, but ultimately the wind cost me and I'm certain 100lb was more than possible, Even on the 8m line, it was difficult to read bites, with the wind and tow, so missed bites and bumped fish still made it very frustrating day.
During the weigh in it became obvious the wind effected those fishing around the gap the most, plus a couple of exposed pegs down the bottom end of the lake. The angler on 38 managed 58lb, whilst the angler opposite on peg 7 who fished the method feeder to the island had a similar weight. The other angler in the wind was Mark on peg 5, who really struggled to catch to the far side of the arm, but eventually caught at 6m on paste coming 2nd with 123lb, which is a great effort (that really hurt to say that – lol). However he probably benefited from the angler of 38 not utilising his RH margin and Tim Suttle on peg 3, who turned up drunk from the night before, threw up and only managed to fish for 2hrs, before going home. We didn't laugh, honest.
Pete Bailey won the match from peg 12 with 176lb making full use of the only peg which had a spare peg either side.
Catch – 27 Carp, 16 F1, 4 Skimmers, 3 Tench, 3 Roach
Weather – Sunny, windy!
Match – Match Fishing Scene Website - 9th overall
After my last match here last month, I was really looking to another visit. However the weather forecast suggested a windy day ahead.
Peg 37 was certainly in the right area, 1 from the end peg which had the gap round to the other side of the lake and the arm. Now that wind, I was hoping it would be a westerly, because the island opposite would have provided plenty of shelter, however the NW direction meant it was funnelling though the gap straight at me.
To do well here, you need to catch the carp and avoid the F1. So decided to keep it simple, with a paste & pellet rigs for the far side, the paste rig would also be used down the margin to peg 36. The 3rd rig would be a paste rig down the track.
On the all in, the wind was already picking up, so started on the pellet rig tight across. 3 put ins and 3 carp and I was off to a flyer, but the wind was getting stronger. After initially cupping ½ a cup of 4 & 6mm at the start I had followed this up with a full toss pot of pellet every put in but was finding it difficult to present the rig. So I removed the toss pot, to make it easier to hold the pole, deciding to cup pellet in every 3 fish. Unfortunately that didn't really work, because the wind was getting stronger.
Unlike most pegs, I didn't have any bear bank to fish, which would have offered shallow water. My problem was the peg was nearly 2ft deep tight across and there was plenty of branches and foliage, which meant lifting and dropping became a real nightmare, because if I lifted and a gust of wind caught the pole, I had very little margin of error and did catch the branches a couple of times. I set up a shallower rig, but feeding and holding the pole steady was difficult.
Along with Mark, I was doing my best impression of Mr Angry, there were plenty of fish on the far side, but I couldn't present to them properly, which was very frustrating. I had been feeding 6mmat 8m and a mixture of 4 & 6mm, plus hemp down the left hand margin.
When I went over the 8m line on paste, I getting plenty of indications, but no fish and the wind was making presentation difficult. A small F1 confirmed my suspicions, so I set up a new rig with a 16 b911to fish soft pellet & corn. I needed to start putting fish in the net, whilst I couldn't see anyone running away with it, I was falling behind, so every put in I toss potted 6mm with a ball of paste. I soon started to catch, not as quickly I was would have liked, but I lost a few fish off the hook and a change from 12 latex to double 6 helped, but a couple of fish I did land the hook was just hanging in.
The carp eventually turned up and switched to the paste rig. Half way into the match, I was up 22 fish, but only 8 carp and I really needed to start catching. I concentrated on the 8m line, mostly on paste and occasionally corn or soft pellet, when the small fish moved in. The LH margin only started to produce in the last 90 mins.
I had kept firing 6m's to the island in the hope the wind would drop and quick look over, revealed plenty of indication, but presentation was nearly impossible.
I was pleased with the 2nd half of the match, but ultimately the wind cost me and I'm certain 100lb was more than possible, Even on the 8m line, it was difficult to read bites, with the wind and tow, so missed bites and bumped fish still made it very frustrating day.
During the weigh in it became obvious the wind effected those fishing around the gap the most, plus a couple of exposed pegs down the bottom end of the lake. The angler on 38 managed 58lb, whilst the angler opposite on peg 7 who fished the method feeder to the island had a similar weight. The other angler in the wind was Mark on peg 5, who really struggled to catch to the far side of the arm, but eventually caught at 6m on paste coming 2nd with 123lb, which is a great effort (that really hurt to say that – lol). However he probably benefited from the angler of 38 not utilising his RH margin and Tim Suttle on peg 3, who turned up drunk from the night before, threw up and only managed to fish for 2hrs, before going home. We didn't laugh, honest.
Pete Bailey won the match from peg 12 with 176lb making full use of the only peg which had a spare peg either side.
Monday, April 12, 2010
11/04/10 - Todber Manor - Park Lake
Weight – 85lb 2oz
Catch – 34 Carp, 21 F1, 1 Tench, 1 Roach
Weather – Cloudy, with sunny periods. Cool gusty wind
Match – Match Fishing Scene Website - 5th overall
Something different this weekend, a match with the MFS internet boys organised by Nick Merry. Originally I wasn't going this weekend, because Sue needed my car to drive down to Bournemouth (she hasn't found a replacement yet). However Mark offered to take me although he lives in Trowbridge, so a big detour and fair shout, because not many would be prepared to do that.
I have never seen Todber Manor, but reports about Park Lake where it was fishing well with 150lb likely to win and it was full of carp averaging 3lb & loads of small F1, so hopefully plenty of bites. The lake is a typical snake lake, with 31 pegs around a long central island, plus a further 6 up a 13m wide arm. Best draws were around the mouth of the arm, pegs 6,7,37,38 and around the oak tree (pegs 13 & 14).
Walking around the lake with Mark before the draw, neither of us fancied drawing the arm, due the NE wind blowing out of it, although we later found out that Saturdays match was won from peg 1 at the top.
With 25 booked in, 2 no showed which wasn't on since there was a waiting list, needless to say Nick was happy. I found myself on peg 10 which according to a local was OK, but probably just out of it. With peg 9 to my left vacant at least I had some room.
The island was lined with thick sedges, that drooped into the water, although slightly to my left was a gap with an exposed bank which was obviously the catching the area. Slightly to my right the sedges weren't quite as dense and this would be my back up swim.
4 rigs were set up, 2x hair rig pellet and 2x paste rigs for tight across and down the track. Bait was 4 & 6mm pellet, plus hemp. ½ pot of 6mms & hemp went down the track 11.5m to my left & I started on the paste tight across. The wind however was proving troublesome. Although I had a carp within 5mins it was going to me easier to fish pellet. After an initial slow 10mins, bites became more regular toss potting 4mms with a few 6s and for the next hour I caught carp and the odd F1 quickly, but gradually more smaller F1s put in an appearance.
2 hours in I had about 20 fish and from those I could see was doing well, although Tim Shuttle on peg 8 was probably on par with me. A switch to my back up swim didn't produce much, so I persisted fishing the gap.
I had been feeding a pouch of 6mms & hemp every 15mins down the track, but only managed 1 carp and bumped another. After 4hrs I was up to about 40 fish, but other than a tench and a roach I hadn't caught for 1/2 hour.
Catapulting pellet to the island wasn't working, although there was carp slurping in the sedges, I couldn't catch, even using a shallow rig tight against the mud and the wind was making it difficult to present into the smaller gaps. Therefore decided to cup ½ pot of pellet in the gap to get the fish down. In the meantime I had also set up a new down the track swim at 6m in front of me feeding 6mm by hand, whilst still feeding 6mm & hemp to my left.
Tim was starting to get ahead of me thanks to a some bigger paste fish. Fortunately my paste swims kicked into life, mainly at 6m, although I bumped a few (general consensus was the fish weren't having it properly, only mouthing the bait).
The far line also benefited from the pellet dump, where the carp had returned and the last hour proved to be quite productive putting 13/14 fish in the net.
At the all out, the usual banter started with Tim saying I had beaten him, but he had 2 better fish (6lbers). It was close, but I was proved right, when he weighed 91lb.
Overall for a first visit I was pleased with how the match went, although next time I would probably spend less time feeding with the catapult, because it only encouraged the F1s & created lots of liners. Also I should have switched to the paste a little sooner.
A fair venue, with plenty of bites and a tight frame.
1st 115-4 – peg 26
2nd 100-0 – Mark Blake – p3
3rd 91-2 – Tim Suttle – p8
4th 89-10 – Mark Brennan – p19
5th 85-2 – Ken Rayner – p10
6th 82-8 – Roly -p25
Catch – 34 Carp, 21 F1, 1 Tench, 1 Roach
Weather – Cloudy, with sunny periods. Cool gusty wind
Match – Match Fishing Scene Website - 5th overall
Something different this weekend, a match with the MFS internet boys organised by Nick Merry. Originally I wasn't going this weekend, because Sue needed my car to drive down to Bournemouth (she hasn't found a replacement yet). However Mark offered to take me although he lives in Trowbridge, so a big detour and fair shout, because not many would be prepared to do that.
I have never seen Todber Manor, but reports about Park Lake where it was fishing well with 150lb likely to win and it was full of carp averaging 3lb & loads of small F1, so hopefully plenty of bites. The lake is a typical snake lake, with 31 pegs around a long central island, plus a further 6 up a 13m wide arm. Best draws were around the mouth of the arm, pegs 6,7,37,38 and around the oak tree (pegs 13 & 14).
Walking around the lake with Mark before the draw, neither of us fancied drawing the arm, due the NE wind blowing out of it, although we later found out that Saturdays match was won from peg 1 at the top.
With 25 booked in, 2 no showed which wasn't on since there was a waiting list, needless to say Nick was happy. I found myself on peg 10 which according to a local was OK, but probably just out of it. With peg 9 to my left vacant at least I had some room.
The island was lined with thick sedges, that drooped into the water, although slightly to my left was a gap with an exposed bank which was obviously the catching the area. Slightly to my right the sedges weren't quite as dense and this would be my back up swim.
4 rigs were set up, 2x hair rig pellet and 2x paste rigs for tight across and down the track. Bait was 4 & 6mm pellet, plus hemp. ½ pot of 6mms & hemp went down the track 11.5m to my left & I started on the paste tight across. The wind however was proving troublesome. Although I had a carp within 5mins it was going to me easier to fish pellet. After an initial slow 10mins, bites became more regular toss potting 4mms with a few 6s and for the next hour I caught carp and the odd F1 quickly, but gradually more smaller F1s put in an appearance.
2 hours in I had about 20 fish and from those I could see was doing well, although Tim Shuttle on peg 8 was probably on par with me. A switch to my back up swim didn't produce much, so I persisted fishing the gap.
I had been feeding a pouch of 6mms & hemp every 15mins down the track, but only managed 1 carp and bumped another. After 4hrs I was up to about 40 fish, but other than a tench and a roach I hadn't caught for 1/2 hour.
Catapulting pellet to the island wasn't working, although there was carp slurping in the sedges, I couldn't catch, even using a shallow rig tight against the mud and the wind was making it difficult to present into the smaller gaps. Therefore decided to cup ½ pot of pellet in the gap to get the fish down. In the meantime I had also set up a new down the track swim at 6m in front of me feeding 6mm by hand, whilst still feeding 6mm & hemp to my left.
Tim was starting to get ahead of me thanks to a some bigger paste fish. Fortunately my paste swims kicked into life, mainly at 6m, although I bumped a few (general consensus was the fish weren't having it properly, only mouthing the bait).
The far line also benefited from the pellet dump, where the carp had returned and the last hour proved to be quite productive putting 13/14 fish in the net.
At the all out, the usual banter started with Tim saying I had beaten him, but he had 2 better fish (6lbers). It was close, but I was proved right, when he weighed 91lb.
Overall for a first visit I was pleased with how the match went, although next time I would probably spend less time feeding with the catapult, because it only encouraged the F1s & created lots of liners. Also I should have switched to the paste a little sooner.
A fair venue, with plenty of bites and a tight frame.
1st 115-4 – peg 26
2nd 100-0 – Mark Blake – p3
3rd 91-2 – Tim Suttle – p8
4th 89-10 – Mark Brennan – p19
5th 85-2 – Ken Rayner – p10
6th 82-8 – Roly -p25
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