Having picked Ben Bentley up at 0330 we made way up country
to March in good time, having time to stop off for a McDonalds and a brew.
Having met everyone and having a good chin wag and catch up I
learned that I would be fishing in the Army C team. With the draw about to take
place off went the captains to draw for the teams, I had managed to get A
section which for those who know the area well was pegged behind the BMX track.
A quick drive in the van saw Ben draw peg 2 and me on beg 12 just over the
bridge and down to the right with a quite a bit of space to play with.
On getting to the peg I had a boat far bank left and right and
the run off of some ones back garden (bound to hold a few fish around there)
Looking at the colour of the water is was quite clear and my
main plan of attack was to fish bread short and down the track with a hemp line
towards the far bank and a bonus line at the edge of one of the boats looking
to snare a few decent sized perch.
For my punch line I went with top 3 plus one where it was around
4ft deep and free of weed fishing 4 inch off bottom. For this my set up was as
follows my trusty Tubertini Stix 4x14 with Browning Cenex 0.10mm main line to a
4inch 0.08mm hook length. Bulk shotted to get the bait down to where the fish
tend to feed. As with all my punch fishing a B511 hook size 20 was used.
Elastic choice was size 4 solid Cenex (a slight step up to what I use on a
canal in general but there is a good stamp of fish if you can get on them and
with everything it needs to be able to do the job)
Another rig was setup but a step up in float to a 4x16
should it start to flow.
My punch line down the track consisted of a Tubertini
Concord, I tend to use this float a lot when fishing down a track on a canal or
very slow moving river. A sensitive float that I find I can hold back if
needed. The same set up was used as per my short rig however this time I
started of with a 4x16 shotted with an olivette and a few droppers to get the
bait down. And should the flow picked up had a 1.0gram concord set up as well.
Elastic was again size 4.
My hemp line was about 2 meters of the far bank where I had
found 3ft of water. My setup consisted of the following a Sensas Auchy 0.2gram
float shotted using a strung out pattern of number 12 shot. Main
line was 0.10mm with a six inch 0.08mm hookength tied to a senses 3405
size 20 hook. The plan was to feed this initially via a pole cup then ping
approx 5 grains of hemp over it every 5 minutes and have a look on that line
once I had moved onto my track line and keep going over and having a look to
see if the roach hemp had turned up.
My last line was my bonus line just of the far right boat
hopping to catch a few perch later on in the match if my other lines started to
get quiet. For this I used a Richard Lattimer Squat float 4x12 with a 0.12mm mainline
and a 0.10mm 8inch hook length to a B983 size 14 hook. This would be fed with
worm and caster with a fat lobbie on the hook.
With the all in being called I set to work priming all my
swims before settling on my short bread line. The fish seemed to come fast and furious
with positive bites leading the way. There had been one or two boats moving up
and down but this didn’t seem to cause much problems for the fish and they were
more than happy to hang themselves on my hook.
By now I was in a rhythm but noticed it needed a positive approach
to keep the fish coming and was feeding a tiny ball after every 3rd fish
to keep the bites coming. I knew that sooner or later that my short line would
dry up but whilst it was still going I was going to catch every fish I could of
it before moving lines. All the time 5 grains of hemp were being pinged over to
the far swim in the hope the roach would turn onto it.
After 2 hours and with approximately 3-4lb in the net
fishing short the swim died, but at the same time so did the flow. Moving
straight down the track saw a few fish in the net but nothing as positively as
what had happened in the first two hours. Having a look to my left I notice I wasn’t
the only one that had slowed down catching. With me adjusting the rig moving up
and down within the water and changing the size of the punch saw a steady run
of fish in the net, but now I was having to work a lot harder to put a run of
fish together. I noticed that the flow had still stopped which I was surprised due
to the amount of rain we had had over the last couple of days and with the old
nene being controlled by slues gates.
With 2 hours left it was time to have a look on my hemp line
to see if the fish had moved onto it. First put in brought an instant bite and
a fish in the net (great I thought if there and they are having it I could soon
double my weight due to the stamp that hemp normally brings. Another 2 fish in
the net then saw the bites tail off, after setting on it for a while trying to
work the rig and change it around it was time to move across to the bonus fish
line which I had topped up every hour and then left to see if the fish moved in
and started feeding with a bit of confidence. A nice perch or tench would see
me push my weight up just that little bit more.
A steady run of smaller perch over the last hour kept me
catching and entertained but no big tench or perch this time round.
With the rain now picking up I was glad the all out was
called so I could get my kit packed up and away before the heavens opened.
Moving around the section saw some good weights come out but with Matt Hall on
over 10lb it was always going to be a struggle to get near that. Ben had 6lb
15oz and with a shinny pound on the highest weight between us I wasn’t sure I
had that much to compete with. With the scales coming to my peg I put 6lb dead
on them 15oz behind Ben and minus £1. I had managed to beat my left and right
which I was happy with but felt with the flow dropping off the fish didn’t really
seem interested after that. Section winner was Matt Hall with over 10lb.
Still always next year and where I always look forward to
any time I can spend on the Old Nene having fished it a few times when fishing
in the AAF Gp 3.
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