This was the first match of the Army Angling Federation
Group 2 for the 2013-2014 season and saw us fishing the Kennet & Avon Canal
down at Bishops Cannings. Having had plenty of rain over the previous night and
with it still raining on route down to the canal I sort of gathered that it
could be a difficult day for some.
Having had breakfast and getting the draw out of the way it
was a quick chat with the other 2 lads within the team before setting off to
our respected pegs.
I had managed to draw near enough mid section on peg 9 out
of 15 peg section but still felt if I could get my head down and work at it I should
be able to pull a few fish in.
Having made my way down the muddy towpath to my peg I
noticed the wind was getting up and it was still raining (nothing worse than
setting up in the rain) Having looked at the peg it was just over 13 meters
wide with a tree just off to the right of me with a boat to my left and right.
With the wind picking up and dropping off the plan of attack was to go short
fishing punch on a match kit plus 1. With the water quite clear this is where I
intended on catching from the off until I had fished it out then moving down
the track. My other options were to fish bottom of the far shelf and also far
shelf towards the cover of the tree and have this as a bonus fish line as I
would be able to fish it all day with the wind.
For my punch lines I set up the following rigs
Short line consisted of a Tubertini Stix 4x14 on 0.08mm
Browning Cenex line to a 0.06mm 4 inch hook length finished off with a size 22
B511 hook. Elastic choice was a size 3 solid Browning Cenex elastic. Approx
depth was 4 ½ ft deep. Shooting arrangement saw one rig set up strung out and
another with a bulk with 2 droppers. If I have time I will always set 2 rigs up
that way I can see how the fish like to take the punch. One rig gives a nice
slow fall whilst the other one is more positive getting the bait down quickly.
Both rigs were set 4 inch of the bottom and this is where I always start then
adjust accordingly depending on bites.
Down the track rig consisted of a Tubertini Concord 4x14
using again 0.08mm mainline to a 4inch 0.06mm hook length finished off with a
B511 size 22 hook. This was a positive rig with a bulk and a couple of droppers
to get the bait down due to having just over 6ft of water. This line would be
used once the fish had backed off or the short line became dry. Punch would be
the way forward again on this line with a bit of fine gravel mixed in to get
the bait down due to the flow but still slow enough to create a cloud on the
way down.
Bottom of the far shelf consisted of a Richard Lattimer
Squatt float 5x12 same line and hook length but this time on a no 2 solid
Browning Cenex elastic. The plan was to use this as a Ground Bait and squatt
line should it become hard and I started to struggle. A reversed tapered
shotting pattern to help ease with the bait dropping slower, starting 3 inch
off the bottom.
For my bonus fish
line tight across I managed to find 2ft of water which was ideal and what I was
looking for. For this line I chose a Richard Lattimer Squatt float again this
time 4x12. Reason being is with the light conditions it has a very visible tip
which can be seen easily. Main line was 0.14mm
with a 6inch 0.12mm hook length. Size 7 solid elastic, heavier than the rest of
the rigs but should I hit a decent perch I didn’t want to lose it. Hook was a B983
size 16. This line would be fed with worm and caster and with a fat lobby on
the hook.
Having sorted my peg out the all in was called, far bank
line was fed with worm and caster and left to settle, Squatt line was fed and
left with the line being fed by a catapult and 5-6 squatt every 5 minutes.
I began on the short line and cupped in a golf ball size of
punch onto the short line.
Straight away the float went under and it wasn’t long before
I settled into a rhythm of catching short and feeding my squatt line. With the
fish taking the bait positively I soon moved from my strung out rig to my bulk
rig where I was able to catch slightly quicker. After the 2 hours I had managed
to catch at a steady rate with the odd top up and a smaller ball of punch added
to the swim. With next to no boat traffic all was going well until I had a walker
behind me with approx 6 dogs. With the dogs causing a hell of a lot of noise
and with the wind picking up the fish seem to move on, don’t know if it was the
wind or the noise which unsettled them but the short line had dried up and the
fish had moved.
Straight onto my down the track line saw me yet again catch
steady for about another hour before that then went dead due to boat traffic. I
came short again to see if the fish had turned up again to no avail so it was
now over to my squatt line after re-feeding my bonus line.
This brought a steady run of fish to the net but nowhere
near the stamp I was catching on the punch, but looking to my left and right it
was better than nothing and it looked like some anglers were struggling to get
a run of fish together.
With the wind starting to pick up I made the call to get
over to my bonus line and see what was there should I not be able to fish it
later on. With the float settled it wasn’t long before it went under and small
perch was in the net. This continued at a steady pace but nothing of a decent
stamp which the canal holds, still fish in the net so I couldn’t complain. With
this line starting to get slower with and hour to go I decided to start back on
the short line and split the last hour down moving around the swims to see if
any fish were still willing to feed. A slow last hour with a few more fish from
each swim saw me finish with 119 fish as the all out was called.
Looking at the angler to my left and right I knew I had done
well but was interested to see how the end of the sections faired. Had they run
away with it or would it be tight at the top for a section placing ?
Moving around with scales it was evident it was going to be
close with just under 100grams separating the top 3.
Once everyone had weighed in I learned that I had managed to
come 3rd in my section 10grams of 2nd and 70grams of 1st.
A result I was happy with considering 1st and 2nd had
come nearer the end of the sections but a few more fish would have seen me take
the section.
Results Top 3
1st 3.050 kg Danny Jones
2nd 2.930 kg Ben Bentley
3rd 2.920 kg Chris Glover
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