Cold day at Witherington Farm

Well most of you have seen the weather over the past week (not good by all accounts). Today saw me down at my local venue Witherington Farm for the Reids Tackle open match.
The match was to take place on the back two lakes Selwood and Cottage 1 section per lake. Having been picked up by Si Irwin and got to the venue with no hitches (no snow down here at the miniute) I sat down to a good old breckie and a cuppa wondering what the day would bring(swear I only go fishing to have a good fry up before hand).
In the summer nine times out of ten Cottage lake out fishes Selwood lake in the winter its the other way round with this in mind I wanted to draw Selwood that wasn't to be on the draw i pulled out Cottage peg 1.Not where i wanted to be but like most times you make the best of a bad draw, first thing was first getting the ice breaker out and giving the ice a good bashing.
Having managed to clear a swim 7 meters out and 2 meters wide i decided to set up one rig and sit on it for the duration of the match as i didn't feel having a few lines would work.
So the only set up for the match would be a match top 3 with a double 5 Preston slip elastic running through it fished 7 meters out,rig would be a 0.13mm main line with a Hillbilly F1 wire float 4x10 hook length was 0.10mm with a tubertini 808 size 18 hook, shooting wise i spread the shot out along the rig.
For feed I planned on fishing micro pellet with 6mm expander over the top feeding little and often through a cad pot.
With the all in being called i set to work filling my cad pot and sorting the hook bait out.
For the first hour I never had a bite and had no indications on the float I had fed very little as I wanted to feel my way into the swim and not pile in loads of bait and mess it up.
The weather seemed to be getting worse with the wind picking up blowing right to left across my peg making the chill factor even worse, after another non action packed half hour it was time for a brew in the cafe and a quick warm up.
After a quick defrost it was back to my peg, rig in and the float buried first fish was in the net after another 10 mins the float shot under once again and fish two in the net this carried on for the next 3o mins catching a fish every 10 minutes then it went dead. With 4 gold fish and a small carp in the net in just under a hour I was pretty happy , I had a feeling the larger carp wouldn't show due to the conditions and it wasgoing to be a matter of catching what I could when the opportunity came.
After another 2 hours of watching my float with no action it was brew time once again and yet another quick warm up in the cafe. 10 minute warm up and it was back on the bank for the last hour which passed very slowly due to not having any indications on the float and the wind cutting straight me "all out" was called.
Looking around the lake there was only four of us who still had nets in water the rest had packed up and gone before the all out was called or were just packing up and off home.
When the weigh in came round I put 4lb2oz onto the scales (not the greatest of weights but with everyone struggling it was worth it) and it proved to be a good move with the winning weight being 5lb7oz leaving me to take 2nd on the lake.
Having got back to the cafe to find out the results I learned that 14lb odd had won the match of one of the pegs on Selwood. Still a 2nd on my lake was enough to eran me a nice brown envolope.
Looking back at the match now sat in the warm I must be mad to fish in this weather. The weather has been terrible over the past week with temperatures dropping to below zero with snow due over most of the country. The weight might have not been a big weight but just getting out and fishing is what counts in good company so even though i sat there not feeling my feet or hands I had a good day out.
Next match I am back down Witherington Farm next Wednesday for Army Angling Federation Group 2 Fur and Feather match hopfully some milder weather might have kicked in ? .

ARTILLERY CENTRE ANGLING CLUB SPRING OPEN WITHERINGTON FARM

After the fisho match at Lakeveiw it was time to head off back down south (home) and get ready for the Artillery Centre Angling Club spring open which was to take part at Witherington Farm.
Having spent a day down there last week to brush the cob webs out I already had a plan of attack of what i was going to do. The match was to take part on selwood and cottage, i was hoping to draw selwood as thats what i had been on last week and i have another match on there Saturday so it would help me keep in touch to what the fish were doing.
After getting down there and having a fry up and paying my pools money the draw took place hand went in and out came selwood 6 happy days !
On getting to my peg and having a look round i had a empty peg of to the right and had a island chuck to the front (would be hard as i forgot my rods) so it was going to be a all out pole attack.
The first swim i set up was the margin swim as it was screaming at me not to ignore I planned on fishing straight to the platform on the right, not on top of it just of to the side as i didn't want the fish running under the platform and all hell breaking lose trying to get them out. The rig that i set up for this was .2gram Hillbilly Grizzly float 0.16mm line straight through to a maver mt4 size 16 hook purple hydro would be the choice for elastic to tame the munters that were in the lake and pay regular visits into the margins.
The next line would be a 13meter line straight to my front (as i was setting up the wind started to pick up slightly so didn't want to get blown around all day attempting to fish any longer). The rig i set up for this swim was a Gaz Malman power pencil .2gram with a 0.13mm main line and 0.10mm hook length with a tubertini 808 size 18 hook elastic choice would be a double number 4 Preston slip elastic attached to a pulla bung, this would be my main skimmer line but would also be strong enough and give me a better chance of landing the carp within the lake should they tip up later on in the match.
The other line i set up were to be one slightly of to the left at 7meters same as the 13meter line for set up.
My plan of attack was to get the skimmers in the lake feeding as these can prove to be good weight builders and if you do get them going you could be in for a busy day. What i have noticed that the carp do tend to move onto the skimmer lines later on in the day and was hoping the chance would be there to bag a couple pushing my weight up.
On the all in all 3 lines were fed with dampened down micro pellet which i had sprinkled and mixed with Willis Worms Detonator ground bait, this gave the pellets a slight covering and one i have been using for a while to good results as it gives of a cloud in the water. The hook bait would be a either a 4mm or 6mm xspander pellet.
I decided to go over my 13meter line first and it didn't take long before i got indications on the float, after another 5mins the float shot under and i was into a carp (not what i planned for straight away) with the elastic and the pulla bung doing its job after about 10mins a 5lb carp was in the net happy days !
The next put in saw the float move around again and it didn't take long before the skimmers switched onto the feed and i started to catch steady for the next hour.
With me fishing the 13meter line every time a fish was caught i would re fed a nugget of micro pellets down the edge and out on my 7meter line as if the 13meter line went dead i could mug a few off the 7meter line and let the 13meter line settle before i had another go at it.
With the match passing the half way time i was in a good position with a fair few skimmers in the net and three carp (better than what everyone else was doing).
With the 13meter line paying of i stayed over there picking of the skimmers steadily then it went dead which is what thought it would do as the carp might have moved in true to my word the float shot under and and a carp went tearing off across the lake. I manged to bring it in to my top three kit and ping it snapped me oh well, after sticking another hook length on i wasn't surprise to see the swim had died so i re fed and went onto the 7meter line and started catching skimmers on there. By now one or two anglers had managed to put decent sized carp into their nets and were catching up, with a hour to go i made a move for my margin line knowing a couple of carp would put me back in a good position.
Having gone over the margin line and waiting for 15 mis it seemed nothing was there then thump float gone purple hydro out making a bee line for the platform. This one didn't manage to make it to the platform and it didn't take long to for it to see my landing net.
After re feeding it was straight back over there to see if any carp had come into the swim, no less than five mins later the float shot under again this one manged to get to the platform and snap me i just lost the hook luckily.
Good job i had set up another rig at the beginning with 0.20mm line same detail float and hook attached to red hydro as i though i may need to step gear should i have problems on the lighter set up.
With half hour to go i managed another three carp before the all out was called. I was happy with what i had caught as some anglers struggled some anglers caught a mixture like me and some had just carp and it was going to be tight for the section win.
With the weigh in taking place i put 44lb onto the scales with the peg two up from me taking the lake by 45lb.
With cottage lake having a winning weight of 66lb of carp it was not on the cards to take the match, however with the lake winner on my lake a guest he could only compete for the guest prize leaving me taking 2nd for the Artillery Centre Angling Club spring open.
Looking back on the match i think i will start to use hook lengths on my margin rigs as it could of gone pete tong if i hadn't of set up another rig just in case.
Next matches see me in a double header for the Saturday and Sunday back down at Witherington Farm in the Steve Ramsey Memorial match with maybe a afternoons fishing before hand just to try a few things out.

LAKEVEIW FISHO MANIA 2010 QUALIFIER

Well the time came to fish my first match of the year having been away for the last 6 or so months. This turned out to be the fisho mania qualifier up at Lakeveiw fishery at Melton Mowbery. Having picked up my brother (traveling partner) it was off to lakeveiw funny thing was i had never seen the place before and wasn't sure what the day would turn out like.
I had been given some sound info from one or two of the lads of Total Fishing forum and my plan was based around what i had been told.
Having pulled into the car park and parking the car it was of to cafe for a good old bacon and egg butty (top notch by the way).
Looking around there were a few faces there that had even won the final or had taken part in the final and it did feel a bit weired.
Draw time came and as usual there was a rush to form the que i sat there with my brother and deiced to draw once the que went down.
My hand went into the draw and drew serpent peg 1 happy days i thought one of the lakes that i thought stood a chance of picking up the winning weight.
Having got to my peg i noticed the wind blowing from left to right blowing into the bank.
My plan of attack was to fish 2 rigs over to the far bank at 13meters tight into the rat holes,these rigs were a hillbilly rat catchers tied to 0.15mm main line and a 0.14mm hook length with a size 18 tubertini 808 hook. I plumbed up one to sit on the far shelf and one which i could push up onto the shelf.
My other 2 swims were a 4 meter line just off to the left for this i used a Gaz Malman power pencil .2 of a gram same as my other rigs 0.15mm main line 0.14mm hook length,then a paste line down the left margin just at the bottom of the shelf which was a 0.16mm line straight through to a maver mt4 size 10 hook.
For feeding the far bank I intended to feed micro pellet and expander on the hook. The inside line was to be red maggot fished on the deck.
All in was called and straight away i went over to the far bank tipping a cad pot of micros onto the shelf straight away the float shot under and fish number one was in the net again i went back over and another fish came shortly after. Spending another 15mins over there with no more bites I moved over to the other rig and pushed it on to the shelf same again float shot under and fish 3,then same again it went dead. I re fed and stayed over there for a while as there was indications that the fish were there however didn't want to be caught all the time i was feeding my inside maggot line hoping it would pay off later on in the match.
With bites coming few and far between i took a gamble and moved over to my inside line earlier than i wanted to (i needed a few fish as one or two other anglers were catch steadily). Straight away the float shot under another fish in the net. I then had a funny spot of losing 6 fish on the bounce and after a quick adjust to my rig and the shotting pattern i was again back into the fish. This continued for the rest of the match every time i went back over i would feed by hand, I did have a few slow spots where the fish were hard to come by but then i would have a good half hour of constant catching. With the lake not really producing i thought i would be in with a shout of at least a section win.
With the all out coming I wasn't sure how I had done compared to the other lakes I knew it would be tight for the lake as some one else had been catching all match.
With the scales coming to me first it was time to see what i had got i tipped 60lb 10oz onto the scales and was told your in with a chance of winning the match even though i said at the beginning that you would need 70lb to win.
In the end i finished 1st in my section and 2nd on the lake being beat by 3lb (who went on to take 2nd overall in the match)
After the results were in I learned i had managed to finish 4th overall missing out 1st by 8lb.
This was a very tight match with the winner being Andy North (Well done that man all the best in the final).
Looking back I had a great day and feel I could of gone all the way if it wasn't for losing around 6 fish but that's match fishing for you win some lose some.Its a match i will remember for a while as it was so close.

For a full run down on how the match went click on the link below and watch the video from tight lines

http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid29318049001?bctid=82308388001
Next match for me now is back down to Witherington farm in the Artillery Spring Open on the Wednesday.

QUICK UPDATE

Just at the last time i posted on here its been a while, due to job commitments its not been possible to fish due to me being out of the country for the past 6 months.
I spent the Tuesday down at Witherington Farm on Selwood lake just to blow the cob webs out and give my new pole a wiggle and had a good day baggin 60lb odd of skimmers and ten carp fishing 13m out using pellet over micro pellet,its was just nice to get out and find that i hadnt lost the touch lol.
Well as all of you know Fisho is in full swing with the makins fisho fished yesterday.
I managed to get hold of three tickets the venues are
Lakeveiw 24th April
Stafford Moor Fishery 8th May
Octoplus Boldings 22nd May
so as they say you have to be in it to win it !
Other matches i have lined up at the moment include The Steve Ramsey Memorial Match which is a 2 dayer event down at one of my local fisheries Witherington Farm. I fished this last year for the first time and had a good time ,good company,plenty of piss taking a good all round weekend thats on the 1st/2nd May .
My next two army angling matches both take part down at Witherington farm as well,with one being the on the 28th April which is the Artillery Centre Angling Clubs spring open and the other being a group match some time in May.
My main aim this year is just to have fun and a good time and catch some fish on the way and report on here what i have been up to.