This has been a good week for the Jubilee Nomads. Firstly well done to Stu, Doug, Rob and Mark for winning the Whitehall 1212 Teams of 4 match at the Jam Factory on Saturday. See the full report HERE
Phil decided on a trip to Hillview for the Sunday Open while Rob, Doug and Andy fished the open at Woodland View. Phil added to the Jubilee Nomad success this weekend by winning the match at Hillview with an impressive 141lb. See the full report HERE
However that wasn’t the highest Nomad weight of the weekend, Doug won his section at Woodland View with 143lb after coming 2nd in the mid week at Cobb House with 196lb and a win at the Jam Factory with 118lb.
A great week for the Jubilee Nomads. All catching plenty of fish just before our own festival over 3 local venues at the end of the month.
This Sunday I fancied a change of venue for my fishing. I’ve been going to the regular Sunday opens at Woodland View pretty much all Summer with limited success and I fancied a return to Hillview, I venue that suits me well.
The match was held over Moorhen and the first canal. I really fancied fishing a canal as I’ve not fished one since lockdown but I found Moorhen 15 home for the day. I was pretty happy with that but the other anglers at the draw had said Moorhen hadn’t been fishing well for a while and only 30lb had come off it the day before. With bright weather and high pressure I wasn’t expecting a good day but I still liked Moorhen 15 its a peg I’ve won off before so hoped for a good days fishing.
The plan was to fish short with meat on the deck, pellets long on the bottom and shallow plus the margins with meat or corn over two bags of fishery micro pellet. The margins can be good and at the all-in I potted in micro’s hoping to fish it early in the match but starting short on 2+2 with meat.
I was soon into fish. A carp around 5lb graced the landing net after 10 minutes, followed by several small F1’s in the next half hour. It was a good start but the angler on the next peg had caught several big fish out long at 13 metres and was pulling away from me. I needed to react to that. So out to 13 metres I went fishing a 6mm pellet and loose feeding 4mm’s over the top. That was what the other angler was doing and I just copied him! and I soon began to catch some Carp and F1’s. I manged to draw the fish off him and while I was now catching him up he was also slowing down. All was good I had around 30lb after the first hour and I was winning the pool.
The 2nd hour was still good but I was caught more F1’s than Carp. I wanted some bigger fish so in between feeding the 4mm’s I catapulted in a few 6mm’s. This worked and my carp to F1’s ratio improved and it also kept them on the bottom as they were beginning to come up in the water.
Bagging
3 hours in and I’d clicked to 50lb in the first net and was beginning to fill the 2nd keepnet. The fishing was good and I began feeding my left hand margin with fishery micro’s. As I was catching well at 13 metres there was now no need to try the margin early and I was now planning save it for the last hour.
4 hours in and I’d clicked 50lb into the 2nd keepnet the fishing was still good on the 13 metre line but slowing down a little and my thoughts were turning to be margin. I’d seem a few swirls now and I couldn’t help myself. In I went with 8mm meat. The float ripped away with a foul hooker that I lost. At least I knew some fish where there, and probably bigger! In I went again but again hooked another foul hooker. Then several missed bites. They were clearly there but it wasn’t right and my catch rated had dropped.
Decision time
Do I stick with margin with potentially bigger carp or go back to the 13 metre pellet line? I knew I was easily winning the pool if not the match. I didn’t need any big carp. I just needed to be adding to my weight with F1’s and the odd carp. I’d now clicked the 2nd 50lb net and had started my 3rd keep net. I made the decision to bin off the margin and continue fishing at long range. The line had been rested for 20 minutes and I’d still been feeding it. So for the last hour I continued to catch more F1’s and the odd carp. They had began to come up in the water and I just beginning to get a few foul hookers. Feeding more 6mm’s between the 4mm’s seemed to push them back down but I was fishing a strung out bulk and I caught several on the drop. I felt there was no need to go out with my shallow rig as I was still catching well and had easily won the pool already!
The Weigh in, with expert clicking!
Some days it all goes right. I’d clicked 50lb for the first keep net and I weighed in at 50lb on the nose. Out came my 2nd net which again I clicked to 50lb. The scales went round to 50lb on the nose again. Amazing! My total weight on my clicker was 141lb so I was happy anyway but the 3rd keepnet weighted in at 41lb which gave me a total weight of 141lb Even more amazing!!
This was easily enough to win the Moorhen pool. Then with the best weight from canal 1 being 123lb I’d won the match outright. It all went right today and my clicking was just unbelievable.
Best rig of the day
I caught virtually all my fish on the same rig in 5 foot of water. This was a 4×14 Preston Carp Pellet because it was a calm day with no wind. This was set up on 0.17mm Guru N-Gauge with a sprung out no.8’s and 10’s as the shotting pattern, (3 inch gaps) above a size 14 Guru SLWG 0.15mm 6 inch banned Ready rig. set up on yellow 17 Preston Dura Slip through a side puller. 6mm fishery pellet as hook bait and feeding 4mm & 6mm fishery feed pellet.
Size 14 0.15mm Guru SLWG banned ready rig. tying your own is old skool these days
4x x14 Preston Carp Pellet. The 2inch Bristle is key. These mass produced floats are super strong these days.
17 Yellow Preston Dura Sip. Simply the best elastic on the market for is price and durability
Saturday saw The Jubilee Nomads enter a team of four at the Jam Factory for the Whitehall 1212 organised match. A total of 15 strong teams entered this years match where each team has an angler on each pool fishing for overall team points to decide the winner. With 15 point for a pool win on offer and then 14 to 2nd and 13 for 3rd and so on.
Stu, Mark, Doug and Rob were our anglers having fished the venue recently with good results. So although there were 15 strong local teams fishing, hopes were high of doing well. They all fished well catching plenty of fish and finishing high on each of their pools and recording double figure section points. Rob and Doug weighed in 74lb each Stu had 56lb and Mark 39lb. This gave the Jubilee Nomad team a total of 46 points and 1st place in the match. 5 points ahead of Portobello A in 2nd place with 41 points and Sensas Evesham Green in 3rd.
Well done Stu, Rob, Doug and Mark an excellent result.
There is a phrase, “the more you put in, the more you get” match fishing has many types of angler. During my time fishing matches over the years I’ve met anglers from all walks of life. Yes its a fantastic hobby, we all know that, It gets you out the house in all types of weather and health and wellbeing benefits are well known.
Match anglers are all different, some are happy to fish with a few mates on the local pond with a competitive edge and then on to the anglers where fishing competitively completely dominates their life. But is this also a good thing and can pressurised match fishing actually be bad for your wellbeing? I must admit during the first Covid lockdown when we were allowed to pleasure fish I really enjoyed the whole experience. I always though pleasure fishing was a bit boring. But since then I’ve done more of it, no pressure to do well in a match and risk the mickey being taken out of you when the match hasn’t got well. Pleasure fishing is deafinitely good for your wellbeing but I’m not so sure the same can be applied to match fishing.
Chasing the big money
There are various types of match angler ranging from the once a week Sunday angler to the top tackle company sponsored anglers. Many of these companies positively promote their sponsored anglers on their social media channels promoting their goods and many of these anglers are also very active personally on social media which has become part of the job these days. Many chase the big money qualifiers but it must be remembered for many, this is their job. Lets be fair anyone can enter one of these big qualifiers but chasing the dream is really only possible for these types of angler. They have the time to do it, time for all the tackle prep the know how and expenses covered, but for the average joe the odds of actually winning the final are virtually nil. If you have the time to practise on the venues, can afford the entrance fees, bait requirements and travelling expenses go for it. In reality even winning a qualifier is going to be hard. These top anglers are in the public domain and the cream of the crop, many are full time professional anglers but yes you can pay your money and fish against them. I don’t know another sport where this can happen. To compete with these anglers requires a great deal of dedication, skill and luck in the draw bag. Fishing qualifiers for these pro anglers really must be an obsession. They must spent hours on prep work so they have all bases covered.
Social media
We all like a good pat on the back when we do well and many younger anglers who have grown up with social media are heavily influenced by it. Many posting on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram their latest match results and then counting the ‘likes’ and comments they receive. Many hoping a good run of results will get their name some recognition and the possibility of a little sponsorship from the local float maker or tackle shop. This determination to succeed in my view can be great for some but for many others maybe not. We are not all the same. Personal circumstances for some anglers means they simply cannot afford the gallon caster for a shallow fishing in the summer in a 15 peg match where the winners only going to win £40.00 but if you have it on your bait tray you may bag up on F1’s and post your ‘win’ all over social media. In an attempt to raise your profile. Where as the ones with a few tins of corn or meat and a bag of pellets ‘just had a nice day’s fishing. Is this fair? Some fisheries now have bait limits which is a good idea but how many times have you had your bait tray been checked in a match? Never for me!
Fishing several times a week – good or bad?
Many older anglers now have move free time to go fishing often being semi retired from 55 and starting to take out their personal pensions. Often fishing several matches at the same venue week in week out. They become ‘venue experts’ knowing every peg like the back of their hand and the best methods and baits. This makes it difficult for the once a week angler to compete with them which can lead to disheartenment and not good for their well being . Some of these retired anglers have become brilliant anglers on these venues. They’ve put the hours in and reap the rewards. But is there more to life, fishing on the Saturday, the Sunday and maybe twice in the week. If you live on your own and you want to do it that’s fine. But if you have a family how do they feel? To fish several times a week must lead you to constantly think about fishing 24/7. Are they missing out on other pass times?
Thinking fishing 24/7
I only generally fish once a week being in full time employment and after the tackles gone got back in the garage from the last match I’m already thinking about next weekends match. My first job is checking what items of tackle are going to be needed. What I’ve used and need to replace either off eBay for small tackle items or off to the tackle shop. Tying up rigs, changing elastics etc. At least if I do it then I’ve got all week to sort it all out. Then the rest of the week before the match consists of checking the weather for Sunday, every day! researching the venue on the internet if I’ve not been there and watching hours of youtube video’s. Most evenings are spent pretending to watch TV with the Mrs when really I’m sat in the front room with my iPad all over whats app fishing groups, looking at 2nd hand fishing gear on eBay and facebook marketplace and reading about everybody’s match reports on their facebook and Instagram pages. Then the weekend comes and the Mrs mentions that we’re going out Saturday night and all I’m thinking what time are we home. I’ve got to get up early Sunday morning to get to the draw on time! Plus I’ve now got to fit in buying my fresh bait and preparing my pellets before we go out. So if all this sounds like you I guess your obsessed with fishing just like me.
Then for me there is the updating of this website, posting match reports, tackle reviews and other useful bites of information which I do all for free. Yes match fishing is obsessional, its in my DNA !!
Having used Garbolino poles for the last 25 years and trust them immensely. Plus knowing all my Top Kits would still fit the new pole, when is came to replacing my GMax C1 Power for my commercial fishing the choice was the easy. A new Garbolino UK pole. But which one?
I couldn’t afford the mortgage for a UK1 !! So baring in mind my fishing revolves around fishing commercials and the UK2 is more suited to river and canals so wasn’t an option. So the choice was either the UK4 Maxim, the out and out big carp muscle pole or the UK3 match power plus. Both were options on the table before I travelled up to the Garbo UK main dealer, Baileys of Warwick to check them out.
I’d checked both options were in stock before travelling over to Warwick and I tried out both poles. I was airing on the 14.5 metre UK4 before I arrived as I don’t really fish 16 metres on the venues I go to and buying the standard 16 metre UK3 package was going to be the more expensive option.
But as soon as I felt weight and balance deference between the two poles my mind was made up straight away. The UK4 pretty much felt like my old GMax C1 Power. A heavy pole built for big carp bagging and to be honest it felt the same. Whereas the UK3 felt a lot lighter but still capable of landing large carp as its built for commercial fishing rather than rivers and canals. The sections are still reinforced, lightweight, strong, and durable and much easier to fish at longer lengths when needed. The difference between the two poles was very noticeable but I didn’t really want 16 metres.
So rather than the standard package, Baileys were happy to supply what I actually wanted. I opted to go with a 14.5 metre version with the extra dolly butt section, 6 carp match puller kits, (I swapped the match kit that comes in the pole for a carp kit). A potting kit and two extra short mini extensions for fishing short for only just a little more than the UK4 RRP price bracket. This suited my budget and I was getting a much lighter pole than I’d been used to. Having the UK4 just felt like my current pole in my opinion.
My new UK3 also fits perfectly in my MAP Pole protection case
Using it for the first time.
I’m lucky to have Manor Farm Leisure on my doorstep and the following evening I headed down to Manor for an evenings fishing after work on the island pool. I wasn’t really interested in catching fish. I just used the opportunity to feel how my new UK3 handled fishing it at different lengths. I started fishing at its full length 14.5 metres with the dolly butt and then worked my way back towards the bank fishing short to see how using the short extensions in the 3/4 and 5/6 sections faired with balance and striking into fish and then ending up fishing in the margins.
Fishing at 14.5 metres was much lighter than I was used to with my old GMax pole. I felt I could fish at length all day. Something which was a struggle before and with the dolly butt the whole pole felt well balanced and responsive on the strike. It was also a pleasure to play fish on the 2.65 metre long top kits. I caught carp up to around 8lb and the UK3 coped with the task easily.
Overall the whole experience was a pleasure compared to using my old pole. I feel if I’d had gone for the UK4 I wouldn’t have found much difference. Paying a little more for the UK3 in my view was money well spent and its great for all my commercial work.
Fresh from his Nomad victory at Tirley Court last week with a double tonne Andy continues his good form at Woodland View where he is now regularly in the frame. This week the open had 22 anglers split over Front Deans and Hay pools.
Andy drew on Front Deans 4 this week weighing another big weight of margin monsters mainly in the last two hours. A tactic that has served him well in recent matches at the venue, placing 164lb on the scales to take 3rd overall.
Just two other Nomads joined Andy this week. Doug also drawing on Front Deans, catching 93lb while Phil saw Hay pool home for the day weighing 63lb.
This Sunday I went over to Woodland View for the Sunday Open. With a lot a clubs fishing on various pools across the complex as you get in the summer months the open match saw 22 anglers spilt over Front Dean and Hay pool this time.
Now that the covid restrictions have been lifted at was nice to finally draw my own peg this week. My hand pulled out Hay 8 which isn’t a bad area. Only problem was I’d forgotten to bring my trolley and it’s a bit of a walk from the top car park to Hay.
On the plus side Jason Powell a venue expert who consistently picks up at Woodland View and various other places lent me his trolley up at the top car park which was good of him but the bad news was he’d drawn to next peg to me. It was now going to be tough for me to do well with Jas being in my section. But then it got worse when I arrived at my peg. Kev Slade was setting up on the other side of me. Kev is the main man at Woodland View and always the man the beat, which isn’t very often. So the pressure was well and truly on.
The match began and Kev was soon into fish. I’d caught a few small F1’s and Carp but I couldn’t really see what Jas and Kev were up to. My peg had a Willow tree either side of me so if I was going to be Chip Shopped (Battered both sides) at least I wasn’t going to have to watch them bag up. Being blinkered on my peg also didn’t help. I couldn’t see what they were doing, fishing long, short, shallow or the margins. I really didn’t know how I was doing in the match. I was catching fish OK but because I couldn’t see anyone else I really couldn’t gauge how I was doing. For all I knew I was doing alright. I caught in spells mainly on hard pellets. but I really I was never in the race. The good news is I know why and will put this into practise next time. I caught plenty of fish just the wrong size.
I weighed in 63lb, Kev was 2nd in the match with 180lb and Jas won the section with 104lb even though both were claiming 50lb as we waited for the scales. (Both of them couldn’t lie straight in bed) so I had a right chip shop match (battered both sides) Not really worth me blogging about how I caught my fish this week I got it wrong! I Broke a top kit too, the first time I’ve done that for a few years, but at least it didn’t rain!
The prolific Pete’s pool at Tirley Court is a venue I always look forward to match fishing every year. It never disappoints!
It’s not a commercial venue just a pool on a farm. But by-god it’s simply awesome. The fishing here is far superior to any commercial venue I know. Its just a large pool on a farm just south of Tewkesbury in Gloucestershire that allows clubs bookings for matches on it. However booking it may prove hard as its sold out most of the year, the fishing that good. I’ve been fishing it now for around 10 years. Mainly once a year and it I’m lucky twice a year and I don’t recall catching less than 100lb in the matches I’ve fished their. I go there now with the Jubilee Nomads and bag up every time. One of our matches a couple of years ago was actually won with a phenomenal 440lb.
Pete’s Pool – Tirley Court (commonly called the stones section)
But how would it fish today on the hottest day of the year with temperature’s in the 30’s. Today was definitely a brolly day to keep out of the sun and the good thing about Pete’s pool is that half the lake has very shallow margins sloping from nothing to 2 foot before you get out into the deeper water. These areas are commonly called the Stones, the grass bank and then there is the deeps on the other side of the lake. I drew half way along the grass bank area. So it was a case of wearing a pair of shorts and going in bare footed to place my seat box in the shallow water. So although it was the hottest day of the year, I was cool all day long and I had the foresight to freeze a couple of bottles of water overnight which were lovely and cool as the sun thawed them out.
Tactics
When you arrive at Tirley the fish are literally crawling up the bank in inches of water but they can be very hard to catch in this very shallow water. It’s much better to ignore them and fish a pole a little further out, generally 2+2 in about 3 foot of water is best. I set up for fishing hard 6mm pellets with a 4×10 Preston Carp pellet pole float on 0.17mm Guru N-Gauge mainline with a small bulk of no.10’s and one no.10 dropper above a size 14 (0.15mm) Guru banded SLWG Ready rig (no need to tie your own these days) An identical rig was also set up with a size 14 Preston GPM Ready rig for fishing soft pellet or corn if a change of bait was needed. But this also meant I had a spare rig plumbed up ready to go if the first rig got damaged as I expected a catch a lot of fish. I also set up a margin rig but this was only going to come into play if needed.
Size 14 (0.15mm) Guru SLWG Banded Ready Rigs
Preston 4×10 Carp Pellet (3 foot of water)
This was going to be a 6mm hard pellet attack throwing in by hand. I had some soft pellets and micro pellet for the margin and corn as a bait change if needed but I felt confident fishing hard pellets from fishing the venue for 10 years.
A great start
At Tirley the fishing’s that good the owner insists in weighing in half way through the match. At the all-in I began to fish on the bottom in about 3 foot of water and fed 6mm’s by hand and it wasn’t long before I was catching carp. During the next two hours the fishing was great. Easy fishing, just throwing a few pellets at the float every couple of minutes to keep the fish in my swim. Come the mid way weigh-in I placed 94lb of carp on the scales. The next best weigh was 50lb so I great start to the match. I just needed to carry it now.
Rudd’ed out
After the mid match weigh-in I carried on where I left off, fishing hard pellets at 2+2 and even after a spell of not feeding anything while the weigh-in took place I continued to catch carp. All was good then small Rudd began to be a problem. Up until now they hadn’t been a problem for me but they had been for other anglers. My carp catch rate was dropping so I primed my margin line with a big pot of micro and corn. The fish were on it straight away and seeing tails swirling in the margin I just couldn’t leave it. They proved difficult to catch here as expected due to the shallow water and I caught a couple on double corn but I was waiting for bites for to long and the other anglers were now catching me up.
So I returned to the 2+2 line which had been rested for 30 minutes now but still fed. I changed hook bait to double corn thinking this larger bait would see off the Rudd. This was good I caught a few more carp and this seemed the way forward. But no the Rudd returned and were attacking the double corn hook bait straight away. I couldn’t get my hook bait through them. I moved my bulk to 6 inches from the hook but still had the problem Rudd to deal with. My catch rate had slowed right down now. So I returned to the hard pellet hook bait and increased the free offerings hoping to feed off the Rudd. This worked to some degree. I caught some more carp but I still had the Rudd problem although pellets were much better than corn. Now with 30 minutes left. Do I try the margin again? My 2+2 line was producing carp when I could get through the Rudd. I couldn’t help myself though, seeing all these swirling tails breaking the water. I tried it again but for little return so I returned to the 2+2 line for a few more carp until the end of the match.
The weigh-in
Come the weigh in, given my good start with my 94lb on the midway weigh-in leading the match, I had a 40 odd pound weight advantage over Andy Mitchell two pegs away. But I knew he’d had a good 2nd half of the match, much better than me and had caught well. He weighed in 212lb 8oz. An excellent weight. Did I have enough to beat that. I placed 90lb on the scales this time giving me a total weight of 184lb 8oz. A bit short and I had to settle for 2nd place overall. The time spent in the margin chasing tails had really cost me. But that’s fishing, it could have been good in the margin. If you don’t try it you never know. But really I spent to much time in the margins, costing me the match. However I was happy with how the day went considering it was the hottest day of the year so far in the 30’s which can effect the fishing. But Tirley never disappoints, its the ultimate bagging venue. If your lucky enough to fish a match here you are in for a excellent days fishing. Take plenty of keepnets, you’ll need them!
This week us Jubilee Nomads fished our own match with a few invited guests on the awesome Pete’s pool at Tirley Court.
We always look forward to fishing the two matches we are able to book on this venue each year as the fishing is always prolific here and actually booking a match here is difficult. Unfortunately Stu had to miss the match as he was having to self isolate due to covid but all the other Jubilee Nomads fished plus a few invited guests.
Tirley Court is a big weigh venue and has a 50lb keepnet limit. So plenty of keepnets are required and the owner insists on a weigh-in halfway through the match. Given that we were all fishing on the hottest day of the year with temperature’s in the 30’s it was most important that we did the double weigh-in so the fish weren’t in the keep nets to long.
Brollys were a must today and as Pete’s pool has very shallow pegs most of us donned shorts, fishing with bare feet and placed our seat boxes in the water. This was most welcome on this hot day and having water lapping around your feet all day kept us cool. But plenty of drinking water was needed.
The first half of the match was patchy and Phil set the early pace weighing in 94lb for the first couple of hours from half way along the grass bank area. Next weigh two pegs down was Andy who placed 56lb on the scales. But this meant only 50lb was recorded.
The second half of the match started and the fishing became better for most as the day processed. However it was for difficult for some to feed off the small Rudd. Andy began to catch Phil up now and also Rob in between Phil and Andy who was now catching well.
Come the end of the match, Tirley returned some excellent weighs as it normally does. Andy claimed top spot, winning the match with 212lb 4oz dispite earlier going over the 50lb keep net limit on his first weigh. Phil continued to add to his first weigh of 94lb and finished the match with 184lb 8oz to claim 2nd place.
Section Winners were Rob with 134lb which was also 3rd overall and the other section was secured by Robin on the ‘Stones’ section with 132lb.
Generally all anglers dispite the hot weather all caught fish and had a good day. 7 tonne plus weighs were recorded from the 12 anglers fishing. Tirley Court really is a awesome bagging venue and one we look forward to every year.
Just three of us Jubilee Nomads fished the open at Woodland View this week. Andy, Phil and Doug. Despite recent good attendances lately numbers were down this week but there were still some good anglers present. So the match was held on Back Deans and High pools.
Phil and Doug drew on the High pool while Andy found Back Dean’s 63 home for the day. Andy continued his recent good form at the venue and went on to win Back Deans with 93lb despite arriving late and not having much time set up. But he still had time to edge out Guru’s Mark Taylor by 8oz. Phil also lost out by 8oz on High pool weighing in 51lb to see the section being won with 51lb 8oz. Doug decided to throw back knowing anglers in his section had more than his 60 odd pound.
Result
Back Deans and High pools 1st C hill Mosella. H31. 132-8 2nd A penn. H11. 113-8 3rd Andy Mitchell Jubilee Noamds. D63 93-8 4th M Taylor. Guru. D35. 93-0
This Sunday saw me travel over to Woodland View for the Sunday Open. This week spread over Back Deans and High pools.
Back Deans hadn’t fished well the previous day with only 40lb winning the pool then so I hoped to draw on High pool, which I did and home for the day was peg 8. This is a deep peg at around 6 foot at 2×2 and even deeper further out. Weather conditions were warm around 20 degrees and the sun was out. So I set out my stall to fish my 2+2 line with hard pellets, 2+1 soft pellets over fishery micro and corn over micro into the right margin. As it was warm and sunny I also set up 4 shallows rigs for F1’s should the carp not feeding.
At the all in I big potted in fishery micro in the short 2+1 line and the right margin and started on the 2+2 line, cad potting in 6mm pellets with a 6mm hard pellet on the hook. This produced a couple of carp in the first hour but it was clear the carp weren’t there yet. So I began priming my long shallow pole line with 4mm pellets after 30 minutes and I went out to 14.5 metres 30 minutes later. I had 4 shallow rigs set up and the 12 inch depth proved to be best. Hook pellet was a 4mm Dynamite Baits Red Robin. This was much better now and I was catching mainly small F1’s and a few roach.
Shallow set up
Shallow set up 12 inch deep – 4×12 Preston Dibber on 0.17mm Guru N-Gauge mainline line with a small bulk of no.10 shot directly above a cut down 4″ Size 18 (0.13mm) Guru SLWG banded Ready Rig. Set up on a Short Stop kit with Preston Green 11, Dura Slip elastic.
6mm/4mm Dynamite Baits Robin Reds – Maybe it’s their colour giving a different shadow in the water but I always seem to catch well with these Red Robins
I just can’t recommend anything better than this Preston Green 11 elastic for Shallow fishing
Back to trying to catch Carp
3 hours in and although fishing this long shallow line for F1’s was fun I’d noted that a few carp were now beginning to be caught by anglers fishing short. These F1’s weren’t going to win me anything. I needed some carp. I had been feeding the short 2+1 line with fishery micro’s and also the margins since the start of the match, re-feeding these lines very 30 minutes to give them some confidence. Bigger fish where expected here so both rigs were tied up on 0.19mm to 0.15mm hook lengths and size 14 hooks. Bait wise I’d dyed some 6mm and 8mm Sonu baits soft expanders blue to match the blue fishery pellets and these lines produced a few carp around 3lb – 4lb but it was a waiting game for them and I probably sat here for to long before giving up these lines. I returned to the short 2+2 where I’d started the match and I couldn’t catch here either. However during striking on a couple of float dips I foul hooked a couple of carp up in the water before loosing them.
Shallow Pellet line
So with 45 minutes left in the match and with those short bottom lines not producing and thinking about those two foul hooked fish up in the water decided to fish short for them. I had those 4 shallow kits set up and I just needed to find what depth the fish were sat it. I started throwing 4mm’s by hand and fished at 3+2 with my deepest shallow rig set at 2 foot deep. The rig was the same as earlier but with a bristled float. A Preston F1 Shallow. I began to catch some F1’s and some small Carp now but as the last 20 minutes progressed with the regular feeding of 4mm’s I began to miss a lot of bites. I was now fishing to deep. A quick switch to the 12 inch dibber rig put me back in contact with the fish.
Preston F1 Shallow bristled float for depth over 12 inches
Preston dibber float for depths above 12 inches
Good fishing but to late!
So I had a good last 45 minutes catching Carp and F1’s short shallow again with a Dynamite Baits Red Robin hook bait.. This gave me 51lb at the weigh in only for me to find the section was won with 51lb 8oz. I wasted to much time trying to catch some bigger carp. Where if I’d have returned shallow earlier I’d have taken the section. But that’s match fishing, you need to make the right decisions at the right time. This last 45 minutes was a real bagging session but sadly to short. But still a good days fishing though and home in time to watch England v Italy in the Euro final. but the less said about that the better! It went Rome!
I’m very fortunate to have the Manor Farm Leisure complex here in Evesham right on my door step and what better way is there than to spend an evening, fishing the traditional waggler on the island pool after a hard day at work for a few hours on a perfectly calm summer evening.
At only a fiver for an evening fishing this is daylight robbery. The sport on offer at Manor Farm in the evenings is simply fantastic, bites all evening and it only gets better and better as the evening progresses. Evenings like this are perfect to fish the waggler.
Regular visitors to my website will know most of my fishing revolves around matches where fishing the pole often dominates and if you are going to compete, the pole rules but post the original Covid lockdown in 2020 where we had to stay local to pleasure fish I’ve had a lot of summer evening pleasure fishing sessions down at my local water, Manor farm Leisure. I have to say pleasure fishing the traditional waggler here has been a revolution to me last year and also this summer. No match pressures, you can just set up one rod, feed a few pellets and off you go. Nothing fancy and all the enjoyment to look forward to playing hard fighting Carp and quality F1’s throughout the session.
I’ve opted to go old skool on these sessions fishing the traditional waggler rather than the pellet waggler shallow. These are pleasure sessions where I want to sit back, take my time, enjoy the experience and take in the atmosphere these summer evenings give you rather than fishing the pellet waggler, constantly feeding and reeling in and casting all the time. These sessions are all about enjoyment.
The set up
Drennan’s Red Range 12′ Carp Waggler Rod
A long 12′ rod is required as I’m fishing at a depth which also helps with quick line pick up but it needs to be a powerful rod to be able to handle large fighting carp. I use a Drennan 12′ Red Carp Waggler rod which is a half decent tool for the job. I don’t do a lot of carp waggler fishing and this one retails at about 80 quid and suits my budget. Reel wise I don’t compromise here you need a good one able to cope with these hard fighting carp. I use the smaller/lighter Daiwa 2508 TDR reel for this type of fishing. They are expensive with a RRP of £250 but as all anglers know about angling RRP’s these reels can be picked up for around £150.00. The line retrieval and clutches on these reels are fantastic and there’s no better feeling than hearing that clutch slip when a big carp makes a run. Mainline is Guru’s N-Gauge 6lb (0.17mm) line. I use this as its thin diameter aids the distance that can be cast with a light waggler and even though it’s really suited for pole rigs I find it a very robust reel line for fishing a waggler.
Daiwa 2508 TDR
Guru N-Gauge 0.17mm (6lb)
Terminal Tackle
The business end of the set up is really simple. A 2.5g loaded Waggler. It doesn’t really matter whether its a insert and straight float. Your not looking for shy bites with the hook bait being a 6mm or 8mm pellet it’s going to be a carp or F1. The loaded float just aids the cast and it’s just attached between two float stops and then several no.8’s shirt button style down the line to dot the float down. Then just a pre-tied 15cm banded 0.17mm size 16 Preston KKM-B ready rig. There no need to fish light. To set the depth just band a SSG split shot and hook it straight on to the hook and plumb up a normal.
All you need is a bag of 6mm pellets, a few 8mm hooker’s and a catapult and off you go! Using the 12′ rod coupled with the fine diameter line makes casting out a 2.5g float easy. Just one quick flick of the line by dipping the rod tip into the water and a quick flick upwards to sink it and the float stays in place fine.
These pleasure sessions have really been enjoyable and have highlighted to me how much fun pleasure fishing can be compared to match fishing and as you go later into the evening at this time of the year the fishing on island pool just gets better and better. It’s great fun playing carp on a rod and line. Bites all evening for less than a couple of pints down the pub. Given the choice I know what I’d rather do on a pleasant summers evening.
I’ve been using these Guru SLWG Banded Ready Rigs for a couple of years now and I have total confidence in these expertly tied (better than I could do) Ready Rigs.
Being in full time employment I simply don’t have the time to tie my own hook lengths for pole fishing and when these Ready Rigs came out it was like ‘manna from heaven’ for me. I’d heard all the stories about shop brought hook lengths being rubbish on social media. Comments like “the line snapped on every hook in the packet” “The bands are in the wrong place” etc etc. But I since I’ve used them I’ve had no problems at all and they are my go to hook when pole fishing banded pellets. I can only put anglers bad experience’s with them down to a lack of knowledge on how there should be used. When Guru brought out these Ready Rigs they would have been fully field tested by them and to be honest I can’t tie them better.
Available in five hook sizes with well choosen line diameters ranging from 0.11mm to 0.17mm these 6inch hook lengths cover all my pole fishing options. I just cut them down to 4 inches when needed for shy biting F1’s on the bottom or shallow and I keep to the standard 6 inches for large Carp. I’ve caught some pretty big Carp with them and never had a hook straighten out considering their medium wire gauge. They stay sharp all day long but yes the bands do perish and snap. But this is generally due to the amount of work they’ve been through and it’s no problem looping on a new one when needed. The band will take a 4mm and up to a 8mm for carp.
These Ready Rigs have stood the test of time with me and all I need to do is to have plenty of packet with me. They fit straight into Guru’s rig boxes and also fit perfectly in the Preston Innovations ones that I prefer.
The days of me tying endless hook lengths up for the weekend are long gone. An excellent product. Well done Guru.
Last Sunday it was back to Woodland View for the Open. Another good attendance saw 34 anglers spread over Back Deans, Hay and Arles pools. I quite fancied Hay pool. I’ve not fished it many times before and this time Mick actually drew me peg 6 on Hay from the Car Park, as per the Covid restrictions.
It’s a little walk to Hay and I’d forgotten my shuttle this week but with the large amount of anglers fishing we were given an hour and a half to get to our pegs and set up for the match.. So I had plenty of time.
On arrival at my peg planned long and short pole lines with hard pellets on the bottom, margins left and right and a 2+1 line with micro and corn. Being a canal/snake style pool I also set up a small pellet feeder for throwing over to the far bank which was about 20 metres away and out of pole range.
Weather wise is was overcast and mild with a gentle breeze. I’d seen a few small fish topping but with no carp cruising around I left my shallow kits in the holdall. But being already set up I could easily get them out if needed. Talking to the other anglers on the bank before the all-in it appeared the big carp were down the other end of the pool but I still hoped for a good day.
Starting on the Pellet Feeder
I started on the pellet feeder fishing a small 30g Preston ICS pellet feeder loaded with fishery micro and a 6mm pellet on a 4 inch size 16 0.17mm Preston KKM-B Banded Ready rig. I began to catch a few small F1’s straight from the start. But no Carp. The angler to my left had also started well but he was on the pole half way across. I wanted to continue with pellet feeder approach as it’s a method I don’t fish that often but it soon began apparent more fish could be caught on the pole so reluctantly I switched to the pole next.
The Preston ICS System gives you the option to change your set up without breaking down
Long/short Pole lines
The angler next to me was catching a few small F1’s on the pole at 13 metres on the bottom so I copied him next! I opted to fish a banded 6mm fishery pellet while feeding a few 6mm’s via a cad pot hoping for a better stamp of fish than the other angler was catching. I felt feeding 4mm’s would only draw in small fish. The set up in approximately 5 foot of water was an 4×14 Carp Pellet pole float on 0.17mm Guru N Gauge mainline with strung out shotting on the bottom half of the rig with a size 16 Guru 0.13mm SLWG banded Ready rig, set up on Preston Red 15 Dura Slip. (love this elastic). Plumbing around my long and short poles I had the same depth of water. So I plumbed up to the body of the pole float for fishing dead depth. I caught a few on the long line but these were only small F1’s so I began to prime my short line, again with 6mm’s hoping for a better stamp of fish closer in but I could only catch small F1’s. I need some carp!
Red Preston 15 Dura Slip elastic
4×14 Preston Carp Pellet, ideal with it 2mm bristle
Size 16 0.13mm SLWG Banded Ready Rig
Time for the margins
Two hours in to the match I had a look short in the left and right margins and my short 2×1 line. I’d been feeding big pots of corn and micro every half hour since the start of the match hoping to give the fish confidence before fishing here. The right hand margin with double corn hook bait proved to be the best. I caught a 8lb carp, a couple of big Skimmers and two small Carp. But that was it and I probably stayed on this line for two long. The fish weren’t coming on to feed. The margin rig was a 4×14 Preston Edge pole float (ideal with it’s 2.5mm bristle) on 0.19 Guru N Gauge with a bulk above a 4 inch cut down Size 14 Preston XSH Ready Rig. set up on 19 Hollo and the 2+1 line was a 4g Guru Diamond which gives the rig good stability over a pile of bait again with a size 14 Preston XSH Ready Rig.
Preston Edge set up for the margins on 0.19mm N-Gauge to a cut down size 14 XSH Preston Ready Rig with Preston 19 Hollo
Guru Diamond set up on 0.19mm with a bulk above a 6 inch size 14 XSH Preston Ready rig for the 2+1 line with Preston Red 15 Dura Slip
The fishing wasn’t great though and I thought the fish weren’t coming on to the top shelf of the margin so I tried my short 2+1 line at the bottom of the shelf next, again with double corn but this only produced a couple of small F1’s.
Back to the Hard pellet short line
With a hour of the match left it was clear the big carp weren’t feeding. Just small F1’s and the odd small Carp. So I returned to the short hard pellet line to pick off what I could and try for a section win. I’d still been feeding it with the 6mm’s and sometimes the bigger carp can show up late here. I began to catch again but still only small carp and F1’s. But at least I was catching a few. I finished the match of here weighing in 51lb which was just the one big carp from the margin and the rest were small F1’s and carp. I just missed the section win finishing 2nd in the section this time, for just a days fishing.
Really looking back on the day and should have stayed on the short hard pellet line catching the small F1’s and carp and building a weight. The time spent in the margins hoping for the big fish to turn up cost me a brown envelope this week as it turned out the big carp didn’t feed on this day and most anglers struggled to build big weights this time.
This weekend with it being Fathers day on the Sunday and the Mrs had planned a meal out down the pub on the Sunday for her aunties 81st birthday. I dropped into Hillview for the Saturday Open.
This Saturday saw a poor turnout of only 15 anglers, which is strange for such a prolific venue that Hillview is. But this did mean we were spread over the Moorhen and Heron pools. This was good as we all had plenty of room and because of the low turnout there was no section on one of the canal pools which generally fish better and record better weights. So all fair with something to fish for this week with all anglers on a level playing field.
I drew on the Heron pool, peg 22 this can be OK with good margins left and right. I planned to start on a short pole line with meat moving out further out if it was slow going. Pellets on the bottom on my long pole line, several shallow kits for up in the water again with pellets and a rig for down the left hand margin.
At the all in I fed pot of fishery micro in the margin early and started on the short line. Rig wise there wasn’t much depth at 2+2 and 2+3, only about 3 foot so I set up a small 4×10 Preston Carp pellet on 0.17mm Guru N-Gauge main line with stung out no.10’s above a size 16 0.13mm 6 inch GPM Ready rig. I should have cut this down to 4 inches as the the water was so shallow, mistake 1 !
Preston 15 Dura Slip elastic
Preston Carp Pellet
This was set up on red 15 Preston Dura Slip and cad potted in some 6mm cubed meat with a 6mm cube on the hook. This produced several F1’s in the first hour re feeding after every fish but it wasn’t prolific and I’d noticed the angler to my left had begun to catch some F1’s shallow. So I began to prime my long shallow line with some fishery 4mm’s before trying shallow after playing around for 30 minutes trying to catch with pellets on the bottom with no success.
Shallow fishing
It wasn’t long before I began to catch a few F1’s. I have four shallow short stop kits I keep ready made up in the holdall set up a various depths because F1’s can sit at various depths shallow but the 0.3g dibber rig set up at 12 inch proved to be the best. I’ve been using Preston’s new light green 11 Dura Slip through theses short stop kits this year and I’ve been really impressed with it. Plenty of stretch for the hooked fish to swim away from the shoal without spooking them but once it powers up, a couple of pulls and their ready for the landing net. There’s plenty of give in the elastic for a size 18 Guru SLWG banded 0.13mm Ready rig cut down to 4 inches.
Garbo Short Stop kits, great for F1’s Shallow
11 Green Dura Slip again great for F1’s Shallow
My big mistake!!
I really enjoyed catching these F1’s shallow and that’s where I made my mistake this week. Because I was catching well shallow and really enjoying the sport I neglected my margin. I’d been feeding it with big pots of fishery micro every hour and I didn’t go on it until the last 45 minutes. Big mistake!
When I did, I caught some carp straight away with Sonubaits soft 8mm expanders and a few more on double corn. I was geared up to catch some big carp here with an 4×14 Preston Edge float set up on 0.19mm Guru N-Gauge to cut down 4 inch size 14 0.17mm SXH Ready Rig on 17 Dura Slip. I probably did 25lb in these last 45 minutes and really should have fished it earlier for some big boys.
So lessons learnt for next time. I had a good margin peg but I got blinkered into catching small F1’s Shallow for most of the day! The match was won with 120lb of shallow caught F1’s and if I’d gone down the edge they were there to be caught! So no brown envelopes this week but at least I enjoyed the day catching a few.
The small market gardening town of Evesham is blessed with the picturesque Warwickshire Avon running its course through the Vale of Evesham and it’s been a mecca for river anglers for years.
In 1929, Ernie and Eileen Huxley moved to Hampton Ferry to operate a smallholding market garden and the ferry, which was still the only link between the village of Hampton and Evesham. Being a keen angler, Ernie spent as much time as he could fishing the waters and was approached by an increasing number of anglers requesting permission to fish there too.
Hampton Ferry Cafe
Arthur Boden (left) Ernie Huxley (centre) Dick Taylor (Right)
The popularity was such that Ernie held a competition which was the first of very many contests. Success led to Hampton Ferry growing to become the heart of angling in the Midlands, with many of the big names in angling often visiting to fish there. Eileen opened a cafe to serve breakfasts to the ever-growing number of anglers. The cafe evolved over the years and is now Raphael’s Licensed Restaurant. Ernie and Eileen’s daughter Diana and her husband Sam Raphael, became partners in the business and later it was Diana’s contribution over the years that has seen match fishing thrive in Evesham.
Local club, Evesham Jubilee A.S, est 1897 leaving The Trumpet Inn Evesham for a days fishing
Post WWII in 1946 saw the formation of Evesham and District Angling Association from several well run local clubs and the fishing thrived in this golden age of angling. The now famous Evesham Town stretch and Common road areas of the River Avon, Hampton Ferry with it’s famed Whitehouse bend plus the Naight stretch and Twyford a little further outside the town all saw local clubs joining the association fishing matches.
River Avon – Hampton Ferry 1949
Evesham Angling Festival
With Evesham’s match fishing historical heritage well and truly established by the Huxley’s the Evesham fishing festival soon followed. It started as a bet as to whether an angling competition could be a spectator sport by Dick Derrington who put on a one off match of 40-50 invited anglers on one day. Then over the years this was expanded by Dick Derrington with the help of Diana Raphael, Ernie Huxley’s daughter to two days and then all 3 days over the August bank holiday weekend. It started in 1978 as the Colt 45 then the Courage championships followed in later years by John Smiths, Shakespeare and Match fishing Magazine .
In addition to the main Evesham match one of these three days sees Evesham and District Angling Association run their prestigious Wychavon Angling Championship where half the field is made up from local fishing club champions and also qualifiers from matches held in Evesham throughout the year against invited star anglers from across the Country. Then the Monday normally see’s some of the Country’s top Teams compete in the Teams Championships.
The John smith’s sponsorship ended 2002 and this nearly lead the prestigious competition being transferred to Bewdley but then Shakespeare stepped in and then later David Hall Publishing with Match Fishing Magazine as sponsors.
Up to 30,000 spectators visit Evesham during the long August Bank holiday weekend. Many attracted by the fishing festival. This brings extra revenue into the towns hotel’s cafes and bars. So the festival receives backing from Wychavon District Council’s from the additional car parking fees generated on the Crown meadow next to river by the tented tackle village. This prize money on offer helps to attract many of the Country’s top running water anglers. Which in turn keeps Evesham on the map regarding fishing. Any angler always wants to add an Evesham title to their match winning fishing CV.
The Tented Village, Evesham Angling Festival
Evesham’s large Crown meadow right next to the match length of the River Avon is ideally suited for the tented tackle village that accompanies the angling festival and this allows anglers to do a bit of shopping for all types of fishing tackle in between watching any of the three matches over the weekend and in 2018 Paul Boothby, Rod Scott and Sean Ashby proudly agreed with Wychavon District Council to take on the running of the show side of the Angling Festival on the August Bank Holiday weekend for foreseeable future. Whilst the fishing was always going to go ahead under the expert guidance of Diana Raphael and the Evesham & District Angling Association.
How it all started, listen to Diana Raphael’s memories
Twyford Farm
Further up stream from the EDAA waters used for the Evesham Angling Festival there is the Twyford Farm stretch of the River Avon. This was one of the Country’s best running water match venues during the 80’s and into the 90’s famed for its large bags of Barbel, Chub and Bream were anglers such a ‘The man in Red’ Jan Porter and Dave Harrell made their names along with many of the leading angling ‘superstars’ of that generation. Twyford was a mecca for these top anglers at the time but this all changed when the site was developed into what is now known as the Twyford Country Park. Angling wasn’t something of interest to the new owners during this development and also with the new style commercial fisheries popping up at the time drawing anglers onto still waters the running water fishing at Twyford declined. The matches stopped and this famous stretch of the River Avon fell into decline.
Twyford is back
But you can’t ‘keep a good dog down’ 15 years after the fishing stopped Twyford is now back. Local tackle dealer and former Wychavon champion, England under 20’s manager Howard Kaye has recently rejuvenated Twyford Farm having spend many hours last year and during the closed season, repegged the stretch. Adding new pallets to fish from and re landscaping the roadways and paths at the venue giving river anglers access to this famous stretch of water once more.
Howard Kaye, 2018 Wychavon winner
It’s early days but quality bags of fish that made Twyford famous are thankfully still there in abundance with plenty of big fish being caught from the matches Howard is running.
Running water fishing seems to be on the up. The weekly qualifiers for the Evesham Festival weekend are sold out most weeks with 40-50 anglers fishing these open matches, and now with Twyford up and running again. Evesham coupled with it’s fine historical association with fishing, really is one of the UK’s prime running water match fishing venues!
This Dura Slip Hybrid elastic ticks all the boxes for me based on it’s durability, performance and its cost price.
6 months in from trying a couple of top kits with Preston new Hybrid Dura Slip. I must say I’m pretty impressed with it. I first used the green 11 elastic though a couple normal top kits back in the winter fishing for carp and F1’s with maggots, small hooks and light lines. It performed great, plenty of stretch in it and very noticeable when it powered up compared to the standard Preston 11 hollo elastic I used the previous winter. The added bonus is it’s still fine with no signs of perishing. In fact I was so impressed with it I used it in my short stop kits this summer where it’s also been excellent for shallow F1 fishing but I have also landed some bigger carp easily with it. Plus you can elasticate two short kits from one 3 metre piece and at roughly a fiver a excellent value.
So come the summer months I’ve also used the white 13, red 15, for my carp fishing and the yellow 17 for margin munters. Again I been impressed with it compared to standard hollo. Plenty of stretch in it and once it powers up landing fish has been a lot quicker. I also feel able to use slightly smaller and lighter hook lengths this year which always helps getting more bites.
Available in 8 sizes, Dura Slip Hybrid Elastic combines power, durability and stretch to create the perfect solid elastic for a wide range of species including F1’s and Carp. The elastic has been pre coated with slip oil increasing its performance and further enhancing its durability, Perfect for high catch rate venues where traditional solid elastics may fail.
Available in 3m lengths Pre coated with slip oil for durability and performance Available in 8 popular sizes High stretch factor
This week had seen the fish spawning at Woodland View. So the fishing was always going to be interesting and so it proved.
The Open was held on Front and Back Deans with me drawing the front bank of Deans again. Having drawn this area for the last 3 times and I’ve struggled to put a decent bag together from this area. This time peg 10 was home for the day but I did have more room this time with spare pegs available either side of me.
I set up rigs for the margins, short lines, 2×2 and 2×1. With options of replumbing up further out if needed as there wasn’t much of a change in depth going out into the pool. Normally catching on a short line works well at Woodland View. So at the all in I fed my left margin and my 2×1 line with a large pot of micro’s for later in the match, which I planned to top up each half hour and started on my 2×2 line with hard pellet.
The Rig
The rig was a 4×14 Preston Carp Pellet on 0.17mm Guru N Gauge main line with a spread bulk above a size 16 (o.13mm) Guru SWLG banded ready rig set up on a 15 Preston Dura slip elastic, though a puller top kit.
I caught a few small F1 stockies during the first hour here, Cad potting in fishery 4mm’s but the fishing was slow and looking around the pool, everybody else was also struggling. I needed to move and I added another section on to 2×3 replumbed up and continued with a 6mm hard pellet on the hook. This was a little better and I caught a couple of carp and some more smaller stockies, but still not good. But at least it was the same for all. A week of spawning fish had played it’s part.
After an hour I decided to go long shipping out to 13 metres and replumbed up fishing on bottom but with strung out shotting a could fish through all the layers of water. I changed the feed pellets to 6mm’s and waited for a response.
This proved to be the right choice as I began to catch some more small carp and stockies and estimated I had about 30lb two hours into the match which looking around seemed to be better than the other anglers on the pool. Most of these anglers were still fishing short or shallow with little return so I was happy to continue to pick some fish off the 13 metre line.
Another hour in I was catching a few, mainly stockies with the odd carp. I melt there were a few carp to be caught and I began to ping over a few 6mm’s with the catty hoping to draw in some larger carp. This worked to some degree and the stamp of fish I was catching improved. I even caught a few carp on the drop and I considered going shallow for them but opted to continue what I was doing as I seemed to be winning the pool. However I’d now noted the angler in the corner opposite on a good peg was also catching now.
3 hours in the 13 metre line was slowing up and it was time for a look short in the margins and the 2×1 line were I’d been feeding micro’s every half hour. I tried here first with a 8mm Sonubaits 8mm expander, dyed blue to match the fishery feed pellets. First put in the float buried straight down and my elastic stretched out with a bigger carp. Rig wise I was geared up for big carp. 0.19mm to 15mm with a 14 Preston GPM hook and a heavier elastic so I was able to give the fish a little more force before he ended up in the keepnet.
At this point I thought, great they’ve turned up. and I hoped for a bagging couple of hours. But no I’m not that lucky!! It was the only fish I caught here after waiting 30 minutes more. I tried the margin next which only produced a ‘flying Skimmer’. My catch rate had now dropped right down. I’d tried to catch short but only had the one carp here.
So it was decision time. Do I stick with it or return to the 13 metre line for the last 45 minutes. The other anglers were catching me up. especially the angler on the opposite bank in the corner and I hadn’t put much in the keep net for the last hour.
So back out to 13 metres I went. I caught a few more small carp here after a 15 minute wait thinking I’d made the wrong decision. I probably added 10lb before the all out came.
At the weight in I had 50lb to beat in my section with one more angler to weigh in after me but he was on a flyer end peg. First weigh with my stockies and small carp went to 20lb and I needed 30lb+ The 2nd net sent the scales around to 47lb giving me 67lb all together. So I hoped for the section win. It turned out the last angler only had 30lb so I had my section at least.
The talk around the pool was that this may be enough to win the match as Back Deans had also been a struggle for all. It was the angler on the opposite corner I had to worry about and he was the last to weigh in on Front Deans.
He weighed in 69lb for the win relegating me to 2nd place overall. I just needed one more Carp! But I was happy to take a brown envelope home anyway. The hour fishing short for little return had cost me the win.
The recent good Jubilee Nomad form at Woodland View continues. After Andy’s 2nd place finish last Sunday, it was Phil’s turn to frame this Sunday.
This Sundays open was held over Front and Back Deans with just Phil, Andy and Doug in attendance for the Nomads. Stu and Rob had decided to travel to Hillview for their open while Robin and Mark were off doing other things.
With the recent good weather the fish had just finished spawning at Woodland View and the fish weren’t in the mood for feeding and the weights were generally poor from the venue.
Phil, Andy and Doug all drew on Front Deans this week and the fishing was tough for all. Phil took the Nomad super pool by coming 2nd overall in the match with 67lb, just 2lb short of the winner who had 69lb. Doug had 50lb and Andy 48lb.
Over at Hillview Rob had a good days fishing the 4th canal to post another tonne plus weight of 121lb but no cigar this week.
This Sundays Open match saw another excellent turnout of 45 anglers spread over Front Deans, Hay, High and Arles pools, with many using the match as a practise for the Golden Reel qualifier next Saturday.
Five of us Jubilee Nomads were in attendance dispite the weather forecast which saw blustery conditions with heavy rain forecast for later in the day. It felt like we were back to winter fishing! The good news was you could now sit in the cafe before the draw after more of the Covid restrictions being lifted but as normal the draw was done my Adi outside.
Doug, Rob and Phil drew on Front Deans while Andy and Robin found Arles pool home for the day. Doug was the star Nomad this week winning his section from Front Deans and also taking the Nomad super pool from his end peg 2 with 97lb closely followed up by Rob on the next peg who had 92lb, hoping for another pick up after the previous days section win!
Phil, further down the section through back 40lb wanting to get back home before the rain and for the final days football fixtures on the TV while over on Arles pool Andy and Robin caught a few but were really never in the race drawing Arles, with only a section win really up for grabs.
On the plus side, given the forecast for heavy rain later in the day, we escaped the worse of the weather and all our kit was back in the cars before the heavens opened and Woodland View continues to fish well.
Sunday open hay Arles f/deans high 45 fished 1st Ash price. Woodlands. D29. 150-8 2nd Ash ski. Peg one. Hay8. 137-4 3rd J Powell. Peg one. Hay 17. 131-12 4th S Campbell. Stourport. High26. 116-6 5th C Cameron. Midi. High34. 109- 6th K sheldon. Dudley. D27. 103-8
