This week I fished Woodland View’s Fur and Feather match. Always a good turn out for these matches and this week 30 anglers were spread over Front and Back Deans. 

I drew FD23 a decent area but not the best as the carp shoal up in the winter and the corner pegs normally throw up a good weight and so it proved. 

On arrival at my peg the recent heavy rain had turned the paths around the pool a mud bath and my kit was covered in mud after the match, but that’s winter fishing and can’t be helped. 

The plan was to fish for anything with maggots, No cash prizes up for grabs in this match as all the pools go towards the prizes so I wanted to catch as much as I could, I set up a pole rig at 14.5 metres, a 4×16 Preston F1 Fine pole float on 0.13mm mainline with a strung out no. 8 and no,10;s to a size 18  0.11mm Preston SFL (ready rig)  This same rig for the short line but a 4×14 as it was a little shallower at 5 foot and a 4×12 for the inside line. 

I began cad potting in several maggots and a small ball of fishery micro’s on the long pole line and began catching small stockie’s and the odd small F1 on double red maggot for the next hour but then the angler on the end peg flyer began to catch proper Carp now. Although I was catching well these stockie’s weren’t going to compete with carp being caught. So I switched to corn skin hook bait for the next 30 minutes hoping for a carp on the drop as I was fishing though the water and a corn skin still sinks slow through the depths of water.  This didn’t work I was still catching the stockies but at a lower catch rate. It wasn’t working. So I tried triple red maggot on the hook next and began feeding maggot with a catapult next rather than cad potting in the maggots. No change to luck  now I was still catching small stockie’s and F1’s but my catch rate hadn’t improved when fishing the corn.

Now at the half way point in the match, the two end pegs on my end of the pool were now catching carp as expected and were pulling away from the rest of us A section win was all that I could hope for now so I returned to the double red maggot hook bait and carried on catching the stockies. At least I was catching well and building a weight and there was still a change of catching a carp at any time. I stayed on this long line but began feeding my short line with maggots hoping for a good last hour there which sometimes can be brilliant. 

I did finally hook a carp on the long line next. My no.11 Dura slip elastic stretched out, This was my bonus fish! I needed to get it out so I took my time with it and after several minutes I placed a 6lb Carp in the keepnet. This probably doubled my weight now and I hoped for another. But the low winter sun had finally come out now and my peg was pointing directly at the sun. With the ripple on the water I just couldn’t see my float but as I’d finally caught a carp I persevered with the long line with a view to switching to the short line a little sooner and I added another small carp after another 30 minutes, plus more stockies but I really couldn’t see my float now. It was time to switch to the short line. 

This was much better. I could see my float now and it was now into the last hour of the match. I hoped for a few bites otherwise the maggot feeder would come into play for the long line. I caught a few more small F1’s here so I decided to finish off the match here, catching a few more stockie’s and silvers. Then with 15 minutes to go I hooked a small carp but pulled out of it. I should have taken my time but with only 15 minutes left in the match I bullied it to much hoping to catch another and it was lost. (Bad angling) I shipped back out and then hooked another on the all out. You get time to play a fish after the all out so having just lost a small carp I didn’t want to lose this one and I took my rime. But you’ve guessed it, I pulled out!! 

So that was it. I knew the end peg flyer had already beaten me but if he mainframed, would those to two lost carp cost me an default section win? He actually won the match with 85lb and my 27lb of small stockies and F1’s plus the two carp already caught was enough to pick up the default section. So a good day and my Christmas goodie bag (which everybody gets) was enhanced with a few more Christmas goodies to eat over Christmas and the New Year. 

Woodland View really do look after there regulars with some great Fur and Feather prizes for all fishing and the complimentary Soup and Bread before the prizes were handed out really warmed us all up after the cold winters day fishing. Thank you Woodland View.