Sunday 15th September – Bonanza 1000 Qualifier, Windmill Fisheries – Down But Not Out!

I have 2 match reports today. Both relate to Windmill Fisheries and both are equally uninteresting, especially if you only like to read about winners. Regular readers will be aware that I’ve been fishing my ass off trying to qualify for the big final on Sunday the 29^th. Alas! I will not be taking part but it hasn’t been for the want of trying. All I can say is… I should have tried harder. Here’s how it all panned out…

Thursday 12^th – Windmill Fisheries Costcutter 500

So, at least I have qualified for this final, which takes place next Thursday, 19^th September, so I have been using these matches to practice using various baits, techniques and methods etc. So there were 23 anglers booked in for this one… FFS! That’s a lot of anglers and some tight pegging to endure for some, me included. For the first time ever, I drew peg 4. I’ve always managed to avoid pegs 3,4 and 5 somehow and TBH I’ve never fancied any of them but I guess my luck ran out today.

Pegs 3 and 4 are very close and I was at a loss to see where my edge lines were going to be. Likewise, I had some limitations fishing across, not that there was anything to fish to, as it’s a duck highway with an obvious access point to their island hideout. Well, you have to try and be positive and so I set up a rig for fishing worm at 9 metres and 2 edge lines. As usual, I had a maggle feeder rod set up for that initial onslaught…lol. I had 7 feet of water at 9 metres and 3 feet down the margins. Although the weather had started out quite sunny, it had been a really cold night so I didn’t expect to catch anything shallow today.

On the all-in, I cupped out some choppie and groundbait to my main line of attack. Then I cupped out some meat and micros to my left-hand margin and some 6mm pellets to my right-hand margin, just under a little overhanging bush. Next, I lobbed out the maggle feeder tight to the far bank and had a skimmer of about 8 ounces within minutes. Then, surprisingly I had a small 3-pound carp after a couple more chucks. I had hoped for another but it didn’t happen so the first hour had gone by and just the one carp and a skimmer to show for it. The wind began to pick up and it was getting pretty damn cold. A little unexpected rain didn’t help matters either, as I scrambled to cover my baits and zip up my bags while trying to get my coat on.

With the wind whipping up the waves it wasn’t possible to see any tell-tale signs of feeding carp as any bubbles were quickly pushed away or totally obscured. So, all I could do was drop a baited rig over the top of my feed every now and then to see if there were any signs of fish… there wasn’t. I decided to have a look down my right-hand edge with an 8mm pellet on the hook but got an ear-bashing from Shay Gillman on peg 3, who had apparently staked a claim to this edge. According to him, I was fishing in his swim but from my viewpoint, I was well within my restricted area. I was only fishing 5 metres along this edge. Well, being the gentleman that I am, I relinquished my rights to this edge altogether and focused on my left-hand margin.

So, with 2 hours of the match gone it was getting really boring… here we go again… waiting and waiting for something to happen. Well, I dumped out a large pot of choppie onto my 9-metre line and started to fish on it, around it, in front of it and behind it. Nothing doing. So, I kept putting in more choppie in the hope this would stir some interest but it didn’t. Half a kilo of worm later and still not a sign of a fish on this line. I looked at the scissors I had been using for cutting up my worms and thought should I? Well, it might be more fun to quietly bleed to death on the bank rather than carry on fishing in this match… lol… the things I think of when fishing at Windmill eh?

Okay, so it was into the last hour and time to abandon all hope of ever catching anything on the 9-metre line. It was now time for another look down my left-hand margin with meat. Well, I had 3 carp in the last hour on meat but they were all on the small size. I reckoned I had about 15lbs in total, which is undeniably pathetic, and was defo not worth troubling the scalesman. So, I happily tipped back. Others also suffered today so I guess it was just one of those days… like I know only too well. (I’ve already forgotten about it.) I’m not sure who won and the results were taken down too quickly so I wasn’t able to save a copy. The highlight of the day for me was seeing 3 Chinook helicopters fly over the lake in formation. What an awesome sight!

Sunday 15^th – Windmill Fisheries Bonanza 1000 Qualifier – The Last Chance Saloon

Before going into this match I was well aware that I had it all to do, regardless of what peg I drew. But hey… it’s not the end of the world if it all goes pear-shaped right? Okay, so 17 turned up for this one on what turned out to be a dry but chilly day… and yes… the wind was churning up some waves once again. Well, with this being my final chance to qualify, I was going to put all my previous practice experience to good use. I would be unleashing my cunning beast of a plan… oh yeah! So, into the drawbag and out comes peg 6. Yes, that will do nicely, especially as there was nobody on peg 5.

This is a peg with plenty of options. There’s a nice reed bed on the island just opposite, which is reachable at 16 metres and there’s the end of the island to aim for with a feeder. There are 2 nice-looking edge lines too that slope away gently and 7 feet of water out in front at 10 metres. It had it all so it was now time to see if I could fook it up or conjure up some magic. The only other angler in view was Dave Willmott on peg 17, so I would be keeping an eye on him throughout the match.

During my many practice sessions I had caught well on paste, worm, meat and pellet so my plan was to fish worm at 10 metres, which would be my main approach. Plan B was to fish meat down my left-hand edge and pellet down my right-hand edge, with paste being an alternative to try anywhere if all else was failing. I never go fishing anywhere without maggles and so they would come into play right from the off. On the all-in, I cupped out some choppie to the 10-metre line and then chucked out a maggle feeder toward the island slightly to my right.

I had a small skimbo right away followed by 2 more but no sign of any carp there. I noticed Dave Willmott had caught early and short and I think he might have been using meat so I gave it a try on my margin. There was nothing for me there so it was onto my worm line for a quick look. It was too early I think as there were no bubbles or any other signs of fish. So, here we go again… ringing the changes and waiting for something to happen. I had a kilo of worm with me today and I wasn’t shy about putting a lot of it in, so in went some more. Dave Willmott was now 4 carp ahead of me. FFS!

He had already qualified so I wasn’t overly worried but as he was the defo the pacemaker. I began to feel like I was losing grip of my match, so I put in some more choppie, with hope and a prayer. Meanwhile, I explored the 2 edge lines and had some indications and missed bites, which I was certain were carp until it was confirmed. I foul-hooked one from my right-hand margin on paste and lost it in the reeds on the far bank. FFS! I really needed that fish to get me off the mark. Then a look on my left-hand edge got me a healthy 7-pounder on meat but I couldn’t get any more. I spent the next 2 hours biteless…

Then with 4 hours of the match gone, I noticed some bubbles on my 10-metre line. I was straight on the case with double dendra on the hook. I still had to wait about 20 minutes before I finally hooked and landed my first carp from this line. Then it was a case of filling it in with choppie with a double worm offering, which brought more fish into the swim. Finally, they had arrived but I only had about an hour left and still had so much ground to make up. My next carp was a 9-pounder, which lifted my spirits and got my brain calculator working overtime. I reckoned I would need at least 6 more of this stamp before the all-out.

Well, for the last hour, it was a case of catch one lose one right up to the final whistle. I could have done with another 30 minutes as the carp were all piling in and I was in full flow but my moment of glory was cut short. I knew I hadn’t done enough and once again too much time was wasted. In hindsight, maybe I should have used this dead time to go for silvers, as at least I would have been putting something in the net… hindsight eh? So, I finished up with 44lbs and I needed 69lbs. The 25lbs difference equates to probably 4 more fish. Here endeth the lesson. (Dave Willmott won with 88lbs… I think).

Well, it was fun… some of the time. But I’ve learned a lot from fishing these matches, which I will defo refer to for the Costcutter final. That’s the next one and according to the organisers, I’m a 66/1 longshot… hmm… worth a punt I think. After all the fun and frolics are over I’ll be heading out to Staverton again on Sunday 22^nd for a match on the river Avon with my Kingswood RBL club. It’s an invitation charity match… keep you posted!

If you enjoyed reading this blog then be sure to join the Fish Wag Facebook group HERE for blog updates. Please Like and Share… it’s appreciated! Check out my older blog posts below…