Welcome to my fishing blog… March 2023
March 5th – The Clamp, Henfield – From Silvers To Beer Tokens
Although this was the last in the series of 6 Winter League matches, the outright winner was all but confirmed after the first 3 matches. Second place was also pretty much sewn up and so all that was left to scrap for was third place and a little self-respect and dignity. Even third place is little more than a few crumbs of comfort for a long and enduring battle of wills and skills, not to mention lucky draws.
However, those finishing outside the top 3 would be cast into the wilderness, to ponder their failures, dry nets and teary eyes. Okay, so maybe a little melodramatic but whatever the outcome, I can guarantee we will all be back again next year to go through the same emotional turmoil… cos we just love it!
So, back to the match in hand. The Clamp is a lake of 2 halves with the car park end being pretty dismal and desolate, whilst at the opposite end there are fish in abundance. Pegs 1-4 and 13, 14 and 15 are definite no-no’s at this time of year, so it was certain that half the field were going to be in for a disappointing day. At the draw I held back a while and let some of the eager beavers dive in. You know what they say… “fools rush in” and all that. And it’s just as well I did wait, as many of the bad pegs were drawn first.
So in I went and out comes peg 10. I was more than happy with that. Peg 10 is the last peg on the right-hand side bank and although peg 11 is considered to be the best peg on this side, I was at least in with a chance of catching a few fish. My plan today was to fish a long line at 12 metres straight out in front, also a “throwaway” line at the same distance well over to my left at about 10 o’clock. Plus, a shorter line slightly to my right at 10 metres and a margin line to my right-hand side tight against a tree trunk.
The long line in front and the 10 metre line would be fed with dark milled expander groundbait with a few live pinkles. I intended only used a cad pot for this to ensure I didn’t over feed. The throwaway line would be topped up with a few micros only every 30-40 minutes and the margin would be loose fed with hemp and maggles, in the hope of attracting some of the quality roach that live in the lake.
On the “all-in”, I decided to dob an 8mm disc of bread around the margins to both left and right for the first 30 minutes. Just one carp could win this match and so it was worth investing a little time on this. However, there were no signs of interest, unlike during my practice session a few days earlier when I hooked a carp on the very first put-in with bread, on peg 5. Although I subsequently lost it, it proved that dobbing is always worth a go at this time of year.
Next, it was out onto the long line with a single pinkle. 10 minutes later I had a small roach followed by a couple more in quick succession. I topped up with groundbait and a few pinkles after every put-in, whether I had a bite or not. With an hour gone, I hooked into my first skimmer, a smallish one of about 8 ounces and then I pulled out of a much bigger one soon after. The air turned blue for a few minutes… well you just cannot affords to lose quality fish on a day like this.
A quick look over the 10 metre lines brought a small roach almost instantly and so now I was fishing both swims alternating between them and using both pinkle and maggles on the hook. I had a steady run of bites, many of which were missed but looking around I felt I was in contention… that is until John Dursley to my right hooked into and landed a hefty skimmer well over pound. He quickly had another slightly smaller one but those 2 fish alone had already wiped out my lead.
Next, I decided to take a quick look on the other 12 metre line that I had been feeding with micros. I hooked a 4mm expander pellet and lowered it into position, it had only just settled when the float dipped and I was into a big skimmer. My size 7 elastic was well pulled out so this was a good fish, and I desperately needed it. Alas! It wasn’t to be… for fecks sake!!!
Crisis over, it was back on to the 10 metre line where I managed to find a couple more smallish skimmers but after about 30 minutes, I couldn’t get any more bites here. I was aware that Derrick Smith, who was opposite me, was catching steadily most of the day and had probably overtaken me by now but no matter what I did, I couldn’t get any more bites from any of my lines.
I had already set up a waggler rod as I know the skimmers will back off after a while, which is exactly what had happened. So a few casts into the middle of the lake and a light peppering of pinkles over the top was my final plan. I eventually got a bite and a small roach was duly netted but with 30 minutes of the match to go, precious time was running out. The one thing I hadn’t yet tried was an expander pellet over the groundbait feed at 12 metres so would this be my saving grace?
No is the simple answer… I lowered my pellet hookbait into the swim and within a minute, I had a very fast bite and connected with another big skimmer. Then as I recited the Lord’s Prayer we parted company… those feckin little devils! Well that was it… all out!
I knew I had been beaten by John Dursley’s quality fish and perhaps Derrick’s catch too. I wasn’t sure what Jason Pitman had on hot peg 11, as he never gives too much away. Anyway, now I have just learned that John Treasure on peg 5 had a carp down the edge, so he was very likely to be the winner.
Well, as expected, those on the unfancied pegs really struggled with a couple of DNWs and others with just ounces to show for their efforts. John Treasure won the match with his carp and a roach for 6-2-0, John Dursley was second with a nice net of skimmers and roach for 5-11-8 and Derrick Smith beat me by 2 ounces to finish third with 2-15-0. However, I did win the top silvers prize and so walked away with some very welcome beer tokens. Well done to Andy Brookman for winning the league.
My next match is the last Kingswood RBL match of the river season and will held on the Chequers stretch of the Bristol Avon next Sunday, 12th. This is bream country and there is always the possibility of a shed load but the weather forecast looks pretty grim with snow and rain on the way… watch this space!
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12th – RBL match, Bristol Avon, Chequers, Hanham
19th – Bitterwell Lake Open Match, Coalpit Heath
26th – Whitehouse Farm Rover Match
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