OK, hands up those of you who have framed in a match but know you should really have won it !
Todays open on the Top Lake at Willinghurst was one such occasion for me. I held back at the draw as even with only 13 anglers fishing they'd put some odd pegs in and I really wanted some of them to go before I drew ! When I eventually came to draw there was only me and Plummet (Brian Wharton) left and Pegs 12 and 27 in the bag. With pegs 11,13,14,15 and 16 left out, I quite fancied Peg 12 as it seemed to have half the lake to itself. So which peg did I draw ?
Yes, 27 !
The peg - on the back spit is not easy to fish as you usually catch at the point of the island which is about 16.5 metres away and quite shallow. Most anglers chuck a lead to the point but at this time of year I think the constant casting of a lead spooks the fish so I decided to fish the pole.
I usually fish corn at Willinghurst in winter but as a few people have been catching on soft pellet lately, I decided to give them a try. Not being a pellethead myself I just soaked some 4mm Dynamite Baits Sinking Expanders over night and whilst I think I put too much water in them, they were just about ok to put on the hook !
Rig wise, I set up to fish three lines, one just off the point of the island which fortunately was the same depth as my edge peg and also a hook in the loop rig to fish at 14 metres towards Peg 26 which wasn't pegged. Now winter is officially here, I've stepped my rigs down to 0.14 G line and a size 18 B911 hook to see if it makes any difference to the number of bites I get from carp.
As usual the match started slowly for everyone, although my mate Don on Peg 25 did have a couple of early fish on a small method feeder fishing across to the far bank. After 30 minutes I had my first fish by the island and having refed the long line I thought I'd have a look down the edge whilst I left it to settle. I shipped out, lowered the pellet in and my lovely new Hillbilly Billy Bob shot under and I was soon up with the leaders on two fish ! I hadn't expected to catch down the edge as I don't think that anyone has caught there for months in the back spit, however, with the depth being the same as across, I saw no reason why I wouldn't catch there. Fifteen minutes later, I had another fish in the edge then it all went a bit quiet again despite me switching between all three lines.
Whilst I had seen signs of fish in the area, there didn't seem to be any in the shallow water on the point of the island so I decided to plumb up away from the island in the deeper water. Fortunately the Hook in the Loop rig that I'd set up to fish to my right down the middle was spot on for the far side so I just used that. First put in on the new line I had a little dip of the float and soon had carp number 4 in the net and number 5 soon followed his mate.
With half the match remaining things were looking good as although me and Don were having a nice little battle matching each other fish for fish, nobody else seemed to be catching much and I still had 3 hours to bag up. However from here on it all went a bit "Tits Up". Whilst shipping back 17.5 metres of pole I slipped and managed to trash my rig as it ended up in the biggest tangle I have ever seen around the pole tip. With no other HITL rigs tied, I decided to have a quick go with catfood as Don had caught his fish on it and John Clifford had come for a wander and although he had only caught 2 fish, he said he hadn't had a bite on anything but small pieces of catfood. So, on went a Hillbilly 0.3 Critter on 0.16 line and with a size 14 B911. Having fed a small pot of catfood pushed through a riddle I shipped out the new rig and before the float had time to settle properly, it had disappeared from view and Carp number 6 was soon mine.
Next put in, just as I was thinking what I'd spend my match winnings on, the float disappeared again but this time the unseen fish - which was clearly on drugs of some sort shot off round the back of the island at a rate of knots and after a short tug of war swam off with yet another one of my diminishing collection of Hillbilly floats ! I then lost two foul hookers on the long line before with an hour to go, deciding to spend half an our in the edge and the last 30 minutes out by the island again. Having refed the long line, I then had two more carp down the edge on pellett before picking up the other rig to plunder the long line. I had just baited up with a small cube of catfood when Plummet shouted "All Out" - as I'd done a "Robbo" and got the finish time wrong. For those not Aufait with the term "To do a Robbo" it originated on a TF match at the Glebe where he had been feeding an inside line to fish in the last hour but got confused about the time and with tails, mud and fish swirling in the edge, picked up his rig to empty it in the last hour and the whistle went to end the match !
Anyway, with a baited hook in my hand I thought I might as well have a go - and yes, you all know what happenened next......................as a few minutes later I netted a "Barney Rubble" which was probably twice the size of any of the carp I'd caught during the match. Not wishing to depress myself fyrther, I quickly took the rig off the pole so that I wasn't tempted to try for any more !
As I expected, Don won the match with 9 carp for 54-0-0, but with a number of anglers having between 6 and 8 carp, the minor places would all be decided on whose fish were biggest. Steve Sanders had eight for 42-12-0 whilst my fish just scraped me third place with 37-0-0 ahead of God (Steve Gardener) on 35-6-0 and Mike Sanders with 34-2-0.
Result
Donald Garnish Peg 25 54-0-0
Steve Sanders Peg 2 42-12-0
Dave P Peg 27 37-0-0
Steve Gardener Peg 10 35-6-0
Mike Sanders Peg 8 34-2-0
Harry The Hat Peg 20 33-10-0
Whilst it is always nice to pick up a few quid towards the next match the frustrating thing is that I know I could have won and in winter time you just can't afford to waste those opportunities.
I'm still very much undecided about sunday, do I go to Willinghurst or fish the club match on the River Mole ? The river looks perfect at the moment - or it did when I rode over it on my bike about an hour ago but with heavy rain forecast for tomorrow, it could well be up and pushing by sunday. Anyway, wherever I end up, come back Monday to see how I got on.
JPZ's from Marukyu - "The Dogs Danglies"
Jordan Whitby with a PB Carp of 18lb from Newdigate
Maggotdrowning.com
Exclusive Pictures
Fred Davis with his personal best chub of 7-2-0 from the River Lea
and his 6-8-0 tench !
Neil Humpage with part of his 89-10-0 match winning chub catch from the River Wye
Mike Spragg with his personal best Barbel from the The Wye, a whopping 10-1-0.
Davey P's Locker - Tackle I would recommend
Drennan Lake Floats - I used to use these floats for crucians and have recently started using them again for my silvers fishing, The cane bristle makes them especially sensitive.
I use this hook for nearly all my carp fishing from Size 10's with paste, 14's with the knotless knot on the lead and 18's for Hook in the loop rigs and they have never let me down.
How smart are this lot - Andy May and his wife with some of the motley Total fishing.com crew. There is a small pond just out of the picture and they fished a small sweepstake between the wedding ceremony and the reception ! Andy May won, Haisman was last - no change there then !
Myles Levy and his mate Chris with a 59lb catfish from France.
When I was writing in the Angling Times I promised some friends that I would try and get "Fish Cakes" mentioned in an article. However, as I was sacked before I could do so, I thought I'd put them on here ! So Mick and Karen Jones, here they are as promised !
At least one member of the Baxter clan can catch fish ! Young Dylan with a 4lb bream.
Hathers at Stafford Moor - Let this picture be a lesson to you all, those last couple of drinks the night before are never a good idea !
World Exclusive !!!!!!!
Andy Toplis playing a fish.
Ryan Hughes with part of an 80lb bag from White Springs Fishery in Wales
Mick Bull wont have received many points for this dive - but having just won the Fisho Final and £25k I don't think he really cared !
Another exclusive for Pikey's Progress - Terry Molloy not talking ! Oh yes and with a decent River Thames Pike.
OK Own up - who lent Mick The Bookie some fish to pose with ?
Martin Harper with a superb 8lb tench from Farlows Lake
Young match star Tony Curd with an 11lb barbel from the River Kennet - he didn't say where, these spessy hunters are so secretive !
Total Fishing's Justin Laundon with a fine net of fish from Lindholme Lakes
Fred Davis with 3 chub over 5lb and a small one from the River Lea.
http://www.carpvader.com/index.asp
Jeff Moors took part in the recent Catfish Challenge and caught this one - more of a "kitten" than a cat really !
And here are some proper ones that the winners had.
BNF - with part of a near 100lb haul from the Glebe
Scone - Angling writer, float maker and all round good egg !
"Hathers" with his 3-8-0 roach from Timsbury Manor - some claim it was really a hybrid, I couldn't possibly comment !
"Fordy on the Telly" with 40lb of prime River Kennet chub.
.........and this one weighed 5-2-0
Alan Dove with a small Skimmer Bream of 15-8-0 from Walthamstow Reservoir
Fred Davis plied Alan Dove with coffee all day then when he went to attend to a call of nature caught this one with his gear !
Colin Ormston (Billy no Fish) with the reason that some anglers still fish rivers !
Phil Stone (Pebs) with a fine net of roach and rudd from Witherington Farm
Total Fishing.com ventriloquist Gary Haisman with his two new dummies - Billy No Fish and Pebs.
