Sunday 20^th July – A Change Is As Good As A Rest – A 3-Match Roundup

There was no Costcutter Qualifier match at Windmill last week, not that I would have been able to fish anyway, as I had other, more important things to attend to. However, I did manage to slip away on Tuesday, 15^th, for a match at Harescombe Fishery, situated between Stroud and Gloucester. This match was organised by Tony Cook of the “Harescombe Hobnobs” and is a very friendly affair… well, most of the time. LOL! The match was held on Donut Lake, which is just a few years old and jam-packed full of small hungry carp in the 1-4lb range. This was only the third (or 4^th) time I have fished on this lake and today the water level was well down. Just as well I only use 3.5 metre keepnets, as only half the net was in the water. Those with shorter nets had to use bank sticks so they could get them closer to the water.

We met up in the onsite fishery café for the 8.30am draw. The café is run by Cathryn, with husband Gary taking charge of all the match events. I drew peg 17, which I was happy with, as in previous matches I was on either pegs 12 or 13. Donut Lake is not part of the Harescombe fishery complex. Instead, it’s about a mile or two away on a new site, which is currently being developed and includes a new specimen lake, not yet ready for stocking. So it’s a short drive to the venue and you can park behind your peg, which is always a welcome bonus. When I got to my peg, I had local regular, Rich Powell, for company on peg 18, but there was nobody on peg 16, so a little advantage there me thinks. The weather forecast was for wind and rain today, so I decided to keep everything short and easy.

I opted for a short paste line with a topkit plus 2 sections and a 9-metre line with worm. The edges don’t look at all inviting, with no inside cover and with a steep sloping clay bank, you’d think the carp would stay well away… but they don’t. So, I set up an edge line to fish on the slope at 18 inches deep. For my paste line, I set up a 0.4-gram (4×14) pencil float. I don’t use paste floats anymore as I seem to get too many false indications, which I find difficult to read accurately. Maybe it’s just me, I don’t know, but I definitely miss fewer bites with a pencil float setup for paste fishing. I think I’m becoming a bit of a ‘master of paste fishing’ lately, especially with the consistency and flavouring of the paste itself and a presentation that’s a little different from that of everyone else. However, I feel there’s still room for improvement.

So, my paste line is almost 6 feet deep, which for me is a depth I much prefer. My rig line is 0.17 Guru N-Gauge and my hook choice is a size 14 Guru Kaizen to 0.15 hooklength. For my worm line, I set up a 0.5-gram Chianti-style float with a similar line and hook arrangement as my paste rig. For my edge rig, I set up a simple 0.5-gram crystal dibber to 0.19 N-Gauge and a size 16 Guru LWG hook to 0.17 hooklength. As the match got underway, right on cue, the rain started coming down. The wind got up too and for the rest of the day, we had to endure light to heavy showers and blustery winds. It was all coming directly into my face… luverrrly! Well, the weather didn’t put the fish off and within 10 minutes I began catching on the paste line. The fish were all quite small at around 2lbs and under, with just one nudging 3 lbs from the edge line on corn.

I did have a quick look over the worm line, which I had fed earlier, but only had one small carp, so there was no benefit in going out to 9 metres when I could catch the same stamp of fish short. Well, I just plugged away all day on the paste, probably losing about 15 fish during the session because there were times when too many were coming into the swim. Cutting down on the amount of feed usually got it all back to normal and then only to start feeding again when bites tailed off. Well, it was an enjoyable day fishing, but I’m sure I could have had a lot more fish if the wind and rain hadn’t hampered my vision. Nevertheless, I ended up with 83lbs for third on the day and a nice little pickup, thank you very much. The winning weight went to Hobnobs regular, Alan Oram, who finished up with 137-14-0. Very well done to him.

Sunday 20^th – Ivy House Fishery – Canals Open

With no club matches this weekend, I decided to have another go at the Ivy House open held on both Kingfisher and Moorhen (canal) lakes. I was joined by Kingswood RBL team mate, Jason Pitman, who had not fished on the canals before, so it was a little adventure for him this time. We arrived at a tumultuous welcome from the fishery management, who couldn’t do enough to make our day as enjoyable as possible… LOL! Not likely! Lucky if you get a smile out of them! So, there were 21 fishing today across both canals. On my last visit, I drew on Moorhen, about halfway along and had over 30lbs for nowhere, but it was a learning experience, so not too bothered. I was hoping to use what I had learned and apply it to this match, but things didn’t quite turn out as expected…

Come the draw, both Jason and I drew on Kingfisher and were only 2 pegs apart. We both intended to fish paste, but Jason also had a few other “secret” methods he was going to try. My plan was to fish paste at 6 metres and then try a line down the middle at 9 metres with worm. The inside edges were reserved for corn. It was about 4 feet deep in the middle and just over 3 feet deep on the 6 metre line. They were paying first and second overall, top silvers and 2 sections and I really should have paid more attention, especially about the top silvers payout. Anyway, the match got underway and most anglers started right across at 14-16 metres. Not me… I started short on paste. Jason did the same.

Last time, on Moorhen, I started catching within 10 minutes, but today I had to wait at least 30 minutes before I saw any indication of a fish. Meanwhile, those fishing long were catching and I was tempted to change tactics, but the lazy slob that I am just couldn’t be arsed and so I carried on with what I was doing. Finally, after an hour, I began catching a few, but not before I realised I was being plagued by silver fish. The float just never stopped moving. What I originally thought were small, shy-biting F1s turned out to be skimbos. Each skimbo I hooked leapt clean out of the water, which was quite entertaining. At this time, I just thought of them as a bit of a nuisance… mistake!

There were obviously many more skimbos than carp or F1s in my swim and so I went out on the 9-metre line with worm. I waited a long time for one small carp, so that was valuable time wasted. I then tried down both margins with corn, but there were no signs of carp there, just roach. I could see Jason catching well and a guy on the end peg was catching consistently. Either side of me was catching too, but what I didn’t realise was that the guy to my right was targeting the silvers. So, as there were a lot of skimbos in my swim, I thought maybe I should do that too, but I didn’t have any maggles and they didn’t want worm so I started fishing with tiny balls of paste. Well, it was back onto the paste line.

I started catching a few skimbos plus the odd carp, but time was running out. I probably managed to catch about 5lbs of silvers in the last hour and realised far too late that a day on the silvers would have been much more productive. So, that would be my plan for next time. I ended up with just under 20lbs of carp and 7lbs of silvers. The top overall weight was 143-01-0, the top silvers prize went to the guy next to me, who went for them all day. He had 14-03-0 and I was second in the silvers, but no pick up for that. Jason had a respectable 55lbs and enjoyed the day.

Tuesday 22^nd – Harescombe Hobnobs Open On Donut… Again

It was back to Harescombe again on Tuesday as there was no Costcutter qualifier again on Windmill Match Lake. The next match is on August 7^th, so I joined the Hobnobs for another carp bashing session on Donut Lake. I arrived in plenty of time, so I had a cuppa and a chat with the lads in the café while waiting for the draw. So, here we go… into the drawbag and out pops peg 22. That’s okay, a peg I haven’t fished before and there was some overhanging vegetation on the far side too. A lot of fish were on the move, but I found it difficult to catch them up in the water on this lake, so it would be a short paste line once again for me. I did plumb up the edge on a 16-metre line, but I would use that only if I were desperate. Other than that, I had a 9-metre line for fishing with worm and one inside line to my left for fishing corn.

On peg 23, I had Rich Powell for company again! I have drawn next to Rich in my last 3 matches on this lake. Okay, so on the all-in, I cupped out a ball of Scopex groundbait and a few micros to the 5-metre line (top kit plus 2). Then I dropped a worm bomb on the 9-metre line for later, if necessary. Starting on paste, I had to wait 30 minutes for my first fish. I couldn’t believe how slow it was and not just for me, it was the same for everyone as far as I could see. Well, apart from the 2 anglers at either end of the lake. They both had a lot of space and I think that made a big difference today. Well, I tried he worm line for about 20 minutes and just kept getting small indications, but nothing that was worth a strike. Next, I started priming the edge line with corn, but I wouldn’t go over it unless I saw some signs of fish in the swim. The idea was to catch one every now and then and not totally focus on the edge.

Well, back onto the paste line and now with 2 hours gone and only 3 small carp in the net, I had to do something to get the swim to spur into life. I started putting in a mix of Scopex, 4mm pellets and micro pellets at every put-in and that seemed to get the attention of a few carp. Now I began to get more bites regularly, but they were still very tentative at first, resulting in many missed bites. I spent the next 40 minutes making minor adjustments to the rig until I finally got it right but with more than half the match gone already, I was now playing catch-up. I eventually got into a rhythm and the carp were coming steadily to the paste. Every now and then, I would rest the swim while I checked down the edge for a bruiser and I had a few of them, which helped get my weight up.

In the latter part of the match, everyone was catching and I thought it was going to be close between me, the 3 anglers to my right and the 2 anglers to my left. Beyond that, the 2 anglers on the “end” pegs were running away with it. On the all-out, I was sure I hadn’t done nearly enough to get anywhere, having had such a very slow start. However, as luck would have it, I did win my section with 58-5-0, so a little wonga in my pocket after all. Well done to Rob Pass, who won the match with 144-2-0 from peg 13. I should say, though, that there were 4 empty pegs to his left and one to his right. Second place went to CJ with 98-13-0 and again, a very big gap between him and the rest of the field. Distance definitely made a difference today as the carp backed off to the safety areas.

Well, that’s my roundup complete. My next match will be on Sunday 27^th, when I’ll be competing in a 2-lake Charity match in aid of Cancer Research, at Whitehouse Farm. Really looking forward to that one. Keep you posted!

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