Welcome to my fishing blog… September 2023
September 3rd – Alcove Club Match, The Clamp, Henfield – A Few Skimmers From The Scum
Our latest Alcove club match was fished on the Clamp, which was looking very scummy due to a thin film of micro-organisms floating in the surface tension. In other words, it resembled something similar to a Jurassic swamp. I was half expecting some prehistoric humpback creature to raise its ugly head above the surface and let out an almighty roar… Oh, man… I really gotta stop smoking that stuff!
So, eventually, we had 13 keeners turn out for this affair, with one dropping out at the last minute and one turning up late for the party. The pegs nearest the car park were left out as usual as they can be pretty dire at any time of year. We were all here just 3 weeks ago so with that in mind I wanted to draw anywhere from peg 6 to peg 12… and so did everyone else. Last time I was on peg 7 and this time my trusty drawing hand pulled out peg… 6. I was more than happy with that except Jason Pitman who won last time from peg 11, drew the same winning peg. Would history be repeated?
As it happens there were a few others who drew the same pegs as last time too so past experience would definitely come into play for them. When I got to my peg it didn’t look too bad. In fact, the greenish scum blocked out the reflection from the trees making the float much easier to see, so every cloud… etc, etc. My plan of action was to fish at 8 metres to my left in the slightly deeper water, tight to the island, which was directly opposite, at 14 metres, and then slightly to my right at 9 metres. I also set up a margin rig to fish tight under an overhanging bush on the inside right-hand bank.
With very little movement on the surface from fish topping, I guessed it would be a hard session so all my rigs except the margin rig, were setup with size 18 fine wire hooks and 0.8mm hooklengths. Baits were maggles and pinkles with meat and corn for down the edge. On the all-in, I cupped out a very small ball of groundbait laced with a few dead red maggles and casters to the island. Then the same to the left-hand swim at 8 metres. I left the right-hand swim for the time being as this would be my ‘get out of jail’ card should the other 2 swims fail to produce. I was thinking maybe I would only feed a little loose-feed on this line.
So, a quick look on the 8-metre line and a small roach quickly obliged. This was followed by a couple of small skimmers. I alternated between maggle and pinkle and picked off a few odd fish but I had to wait for what seemed an age for any bites. A look over to the island at 14 metres produced nothing after 15 minutes, which was very strange. So back onto the 8-metre line and a couple more small fish had moved in but soon after I really struggled for bites here. It was time to drop a few pinkles onto the 9-metre line to my right and then lower my single pinkle baited rig over the top. I immediately had a bite from a small roach and on the very next put-in, I had the best fish of the day, a 12 oz skimmer.
After a few more fish, this line seemed to die too so it was time to look down the edge with corn. Just one carp could win the match today. However, after trying meat and corn here I didn’t get a sniff so I gave up for the time being and would try again later. Now, back out onto the island swim with a cadpot full of pinkles and with a single pinkle on the hook, I managed to attract the attention of a few small chub. I caught 5 in a row until I snagged up on the overhanging vegetation and lost my rig and that was a brand new Kev Murch float FFS! (Kev help!) Well, I could see everyone was struggling for bites and so I concentrated on the 2 lines, left and right.
I was really laser-focused on my float tip when all of a sudden I heard an almighty crash. I looked to my left and I could see Bruce Taylor lying on the ground with his seat box and attachments on top of him. The scene resembled something from a plane crash disaster movie with debris scattered all over the place. Thinking he might have had a cardiac arrest, I rushed over all ready to offer CPR. It turns out one of the legs on his seat box had collapsed, which sent him flying a*se over t*t. Bruce hasn’t been having much luck with his kit lately. Last time a wheel kept falling off his new barrow. Sort yourself out Brucie baby!
So, back to the match and with just an hour to go I was going through every trick in the book to try and buy a bite but they just were not having it. I only managed a couple more small roach in the last hour and 1 small skimmer of about 8 ounces. And that was pretty much that. It had been another really hard day on the Clamp with just 5lb 5oz being enough to secure a win for match secretary, Tony Welsby. Mike Nichols wasn’t too far behind with 5lb 3oz, taking top silvers. Even Top Gun Jason found it hard this time around but still managed to take the 2nd place money payout with 4lb 2 oz. I thought I had finished 3rd with 4lb but as it turned out I was 4th although I collected third place winnings. It’s too complicated to explain…
Well, my next match will be on the river next Sunday with the Kingswood Legion. We’re on the Chequers stretch, which is going to be interesting with some very hot weather forecast and 2 pubs within walking distance it could be pantomime time just like it was last year. We moved the match on a month from last year to avoid hot weather and drunken tom-foolery on the bank but the weather obviously has other ideas. Well, as usual, I’ll keep you posted.
Footnote: I have been fishing a couple of the silvers only opens on Bitterwell Lake during the past few weeks only to see my performances deteriorate dramatically week on week. My biggest problem has been carp, like just too many of the big fat greedy fookers! Anyway, that’s a long story but just to mention that I was pegged next to the legend that is Gary Etheridge on my last match. Watching Gary in action was like poetry in motion. Pure genius…
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