| Friday 18th
May 2001
Costcutter Moorlands
Farm
Learning
to fish a new method can sometimes be infuriating but I have really
enjoyed the past few matches at Moorlands. The worm had dominated matches
there for the last few seasons as it has done at similar venues, however,
since the inclusion of pellets at matches it has now become the dominant
method. I have fished a few matches there now and I think that so far it
was only on the Wednesday match that I didn't frame. I finished third but
I was first out of the money. The conditions prevented me from winning the
match as the wind was smack in my face.
Nevertheless,
I went there on Friday as the conditions looked more promising. I drew peg
13 on the Moors, which is a good draw, but it means that you have to fish
down the bank to the trees. I looked at the peg and listened to the locals
who told me that there are some big Ghost carp in the peg so I decided to
put the 'carp pole up'. I fish this heavy pole where situations call for
some brute force to get fish out of features as it has three top threes
with number 12s and 14s elastics through them.
I
started off fishing shallow and hooked about four carp in the first twenty
minutes before they started to fizz in the peg. I managed to sort it out
but then the wind picked up and ruined that plan so it was time to have a
look down the edge.
I had been potting some corn and pellet up to the next peg so I wasn't
surprised when I hooked a carp first drop in. I got it out and it was
about 5lb. The next two carp both came off the hook so I put the number 12
elastic rig out. I got three then lost two, which I just pulled out of for
no reason at all. This was the pattern for the rest of the day and
although I did land most of the fish I hooked, there was a small
percentage that I never landed.
I think that if I had fished a number 10 elastic then I might have landed
more fish. When the 'all-out' sounded I thought I could have done a lot
better than I did. We all hate losing fish off the hook but sometimes it
becomes a problem more than others. Colin Pace won the match from Bank
pool with 112lb and I was second again with 72lb. I had a good days
fishing and had to work hard to keep in touch with the fish. Why is it
that when you feed pellet, the fish start to fizz in your peg but you
cannot hook them? I tried fishing deeper and had a lot of bites, none of
which I hooked.
Saturday May 19th
2001
Talkangling Charity
league, Moorlands Farm
First leg.
The
morning of the match started off badly, the alarm didn't go off so that
meant I had to rush off. I stayed at my girlfriend's house, which is in
Cwm Skippy Diddly (Arse end of nowhere), but it isn't too far from
civilisation. Luckily it was mostly dual carriageway and motorway to
Moorlands so I had to race there at 71mph (There are a few policemen in
the team and you know what they are like with speeding tickets) I got
there about 7:45 and started taking pools money from teams captains. This
took longer than expected because people don't like to part with their
'hard earned', especially as they all had to pay double for the first
match. Hiding in the café only delays the inevitable. We eventually got
underway with the draw, which meant that our team had to fill in all the
team sheets as Talkangling is running this league. The team then was Gary
Plant, Clive Nixon, Grant Albutt and myself. We eventually got to our pegs
without any breakfast, although I did manage to choke down a bacon
sandwich.
I had drawn peg 1 on the Bank pool, Grant was down the other end of the
Meadow and I am not sure where Gary and Clive drew as we were all late
getting to our pegs. I had a lot of room as I had a blank peg each side of
me, but it was one of those pegs where you either win the match or come
nowhere. I started off at 16 meters with the pellet up in the water and
had a 4lb carp after five minutes. I took a while to get it out because I
now only fish with number 10 elastics. They take longer to get in, but
they all go in the keepnet, which is the desired objective. I could see
there were a few fish moving down the edge so I fed some bait there for
later on. Unfortunately, I could not even get bites fishing at distance so
I ended up down the edge earlier than I would have liked to. You need to
give them a little time to settle on this line but I had no choice but to
fish it. I had four carp in the first four drops and then nothing but 'bits' for the rest of the match. It was totally rubbish where I was. I
could see some anglers catching but the pool was not fishing too well
anyway. You needed to draw in the middle of the pool and I didn't. Apart
from Phil Rhodes who was next to me and weighed 27lb there were no other
weights at all. My 14lb didn't look too bad as there were a few 6lb
weights and one 3 ounce weight in my section. I had a few opportunities
which slipped away that might have put me higher in the section. I had a
few big carp come to surface in the peg taking floating baits that had
drifted down the pond.
This
usually happens on commercial fisheries and I catch a lot of specimens by
dropping a single caster on their nose and take my chances on the light
gear. They usually go in the net and really bump up the weight. I have had
fish to 12lb doing this but on the day I missed three bites. I have never
missed them before on the method. just one of those days I suppose!
To
be honest, after three hours without a fish I was glad to get home.
From
what I had heard Des Shipp had won the match from peg 6 on the middle pond
with 88lb and travelling partner Steve Mayo was second from peg 12 on the
Meadow with 61lb I believe we finished 8th overall on the day.
For
a full list of the results check out Gary's Charity League report.
Grant
had finished well up in his section, Clive had won his and Gary and myself
had not done too good at all. Never mind, there are a few rounds to go
yet. This was the first 'big' match I had fished since the Docklow
Festival and it was nice to see that there were no complaints about the
pegging at this one. I won't go into detail but when you fork out £75 and
then draw a peg that should never be put in, it makes you wonder why you
bother. It is nice to be in with a chance of a section win but from where
I was you can forget it. I spent most of my day making sure there were no
cars coming down the lane as the peg is on the road. We accept that not
every peg is a winning one but if pegs like that are to be included, its
only fair to close the road.
Congratulations
to Steve Mayo for winning the festival and just a word about the guy that
pegged the Snake. Perhaps he ought to change his name from Steve Wood to
Stevie Wonder or at least listen to his guide dog when it comes to
pegging. There will always be complaints about pegging, its part of match
fishing but if in doubt, you should never put a peg in that you are not
prepared to fish yourself!
After
listening to the comments on the bank there are a few anglers that are
having second thoughts about the August Festival on the present pegging
system. This is a disappointment as they were hoping to get more anglers
there this year as the fishing is superb and the pools money is going to
be worth fishing for at £150 entrance. Some of the Daiwa Dorkin lads have
suggested putting all the good areas of the Snake into one section which
will then make it a lot fairer for the rest but we will have to see about
that. Since when has common sense had a part in pegging?
Monday 28th
may 2001
Moorlands Farm
The
Bank holiday match at Moorlands was the one to fish, as there was a grand
for first prize. I was told that it was to be £10 entrance to paid on the
day but when I got there I found out that it was £17 all in. That's not
too bad as I like the bigger money matches, as you don't have to win so
many of them to cover your costs.
I got there late and the draw had already started but I managed to get a peg
as I had booked in the week before. There were a lot of people there that
I hadn't seen for a long time and I would have appreciated more time to
talk to them but I had top rush off a get tackled up. I drew peg 20 on the
Bank pool, which is a good area to be in, but the current info was not
good. Bank pool had not been fishing very well for a long time but I still
fancied it. There were fish rolling everywhere! I went into the tackle
shop where Clive Munslow was working and had a word with him. He told me
to fish the waggler because the fish will move top the middle of the pond
after a while. This sounded good to me as I intended to fish either long
on the pole or with the waggler. I got to my peg late and walked around
the pool with my gear until I got to peg 20. Simon Richardson was on 21 so
he was not best pleased as he thought he was having an empty peg which is
a real advantage in a match. The other side of him was Ian Whitehouse on
peg 22 so there were some good anglers in the section. When I found out
that it was winner take all I wasn't too happy. I thought there would have
been a bigger spread of the winnings rather than pay it all in section
money after first place. Still, there was a chance of winning something
from the area so when the match started I went out on the waggler, after
feeding the pole line with some pellet and corn. The wind was really
blowing hard into my bank, which made feeding and presentation difficult
so the long pole was not going to get much use until it calmed down. I do
not believe in using heavy gear on the waggler as I get the fish out
really quick without the need to pull their heads off. I use Maxima
mainline but the diameter depends on the conditions and on the day I used
0.12. The hook-length was 0.12 too but Shakespeare Omni. People who won't
use this line because they think it is cheap stuff are really doing
themselves an injustice. It is brilliant for hook-lengths for waggler
fishing as it is clear, subtle and has plenty of stretch in it. It doesn't
seem to spin up so much on the retrieve either. The first carp I hooked,
came straight in, which took about 15 seconds but it was only 4lb. The
next one was in the tail so it took a little longer but it eventually went
in the net. Bites were hard to come by after an hour so I had a look on
the pole but it was no good at all. Back on the waggler and a few more
carp later I had a little trouble with the reel I was using. The reel
jammed as though the anti reverse was on and I ended up playing that one
on the drag which I hate doing. It was too late to change reels so I
persevered with it but I never lost any fish as a result. Throughout the
day I managed to foul-hook four fish winding in which all came off. They
seemed to be lying just off the feed but when I fished there I never got a
bite. I fished shallow for most of the match on the waggler and in the
last hour I really caught some fish but it was too late. I had two carp
that were not foul-hooked, come off the hook too, which is really annoying
and when I weighed in with 39 lb I felt that it should have been more than
that.
I was getting some right grief from Simon Richardson during the match
because the other week I had won the match on the meadow when he was on
the Bonus peg. That prevented him from winning £500. (He finished second
by about two pound!) I had the constant reminder of that throughout the
day and if that wasn't bad enough, the rest of his family turned up to
join in the abuse. His father too, but seriously we had a good laugh about
it.
Lee
Richards won the lake with 50lb and I was second so I won my section
(£47), which was nice! Chris Hill won the match with 61lb from peg 58 on
the Meadow. He really is class act and has won more matches at Moorlands
than anyone over the past five years. Des Shipp drew in the fifties too,
with some room, as the next few pegs were not drawn, but he only weighed
34lb so there couldn't have been many fish there as I would have put money
on him winning that with his ability!
With
the exclusion of my section there were a lot of top names winning sections
so it suggested that on the day it was fair. This is what match fishing
should be like. There are too many venues now where the outcome is decided
at the draw before the match starts. The past few weeks at Moorlands have
been really enjoyable and my lowest open match weight has been 39lb. I am
having a few problems with the odd carp coming off the hook on number 12
elastic, but nothing too serious. By fishing number 10 elastic I get them
all out but it takes longer which is not too good when it is 'solid' I
wish I could catch them on the waggler more often - its just so much
quicker than the pole!
Giles
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