It's geting close to me over doing this spot but when theres fish there, well you've just got to
give it a go. With that in mind, arrangements were made for me and my pal Steveo to have a few hours
out for a but of fun. Invites were sent out to a few others but come the witching hour there was only myself and Steveo at the agreed meeting point at stupid o clock last Saturday.
Armed with my trusty whips and this time a properly set up waggler, they didn't stand a chance.
We arrived about a half an hour before dawn and set about setting up, three trips from car to swim and the mountain of gear is in situ. Sorted the 6m whip out first, though the plan was to fish the waggler more than the whip in the hope of bigger fish. Last couple of trips up here had seen anyone who fished the faster running water get less but bigger fish and that was what I was after today.
We mixed up the groundbait, a bag of VDE roach mix, can't remember the name, a bag of Sensas Lake
and a about a third of a bag of Sensas River mix to help give it a bit of weight / stickiness.
A bit limited on bait as I hadn't sorted any caster so, Red & White Mags were the main attack.
The plan was to get a few in the bag on the whip line and then have a go with the wag. Steveo had a similar idea but he was going to have a go with the feeder gear.
Unlike previous visits here I decided to kick off with a good bed of feed on the whip line so out went 4
orange sized balls of groundbait with a good helping of hemp mixed in.
I'd chosen a 1.5grm Tubertini float fished in to about 8 foot of water. It was really pushing through from left to right further out but close in it wasn't particularly fast, though strangely enough there was times when the flow went in completely the opposite direction. Steveo was first to notice it, when he asked me why would his float be going against the flow, my obvious response was "thats usually because you have a fish on" and sure enough he lifted into yet another hand sized roach.
Bites for me were allmost non existant for the first half hour, I decided that was due to the big initial feed and kept at it. Sure enough the bites did come though they were difficult to read with the slowest dipping of the float being a bite. Getting the timing right was the trick and though I'd hit them all some resulted in a swinger
and some not. It was busy enough but too many missed fish had me behind Steveo I reckoned, so time for a few bigger fish and out with the waggler.
I'm no expert at fishing running water and the next half hour or so reminded me of that. I did have a couple of fish off that line but not enough to warrant staying on it and as I watched Steveo swining away on his whip line I decided to put the waggler away and settle back down on the whip line. I had kept feeding with small
balls of groundbait with hemp in it so the fish were still there and a bit more obliging then earlier.
I'd adjusted a bit this time round and started off a few inches off the bottom with catapult in hand.
Every cast had a few mags or a pouchfull of hemp in on top of it and that seemed to get me a decent
run of fish. Steveo had switched over to his feeder gear and true to form wasn't catching as many fish
as I was. He was fishing about three quarters across with a cage feeder which I tried to get him to change but he wasn't having it. Personally I'd have gone with a closed feeder to be happier that my bait was getting down. I'd have thought that using a cage feed would have a certain amount of the bait getting pushed out by the current before it hit bottom, I suppose it's one of those things that you think is right but often don;t get to prove or disprove. To be fair he had a few fish on this line but I was definitely catching more and felt like I was catching up again.
We kept at it for a couple more hours, bites were slow enough but at least there was bites.
The sun came out to play for a while at about midday and it was lovely sitting with the sun on my back
and the fish playing ball. Spring has arrived I thought, it's actually warm and for the first time in months I could actually see my maggots wriggling round in the bait tubs.
Theres allways a weigh in, even on a pleasure session so having packed away some of the gear we puleed the keepnets in to see what we had. I was figuring on about 8lbs for when Steveo weighed 13lbs I was
looking at a right kicking. I don't know, I bring him to these places, mix his groundbait, tie his rigs,
sort his bait and then he beats me. I pulled up mine and was happy enough with what I saw, plenty of
fish but too many small ones saw the scales go round to 11.5 lbs which surprised me completely.
I'm not sure how long the fish hang around this area but while they are there I'd recomend
a days fishing up there, it's great stuff...........
Thursday, February 24, 2011
Sunday, February 6, 2011
Team Kavo on The Boards
A week after my solo trip to The Boards and Team Kavo are up at stupid o clock. It sems that the younger member of the team has the same bug, no problem getting him up for fishing. If only he'd get up as easily
from Monday to Friday.
Two sets of gear are loaded up the night before, we're on the road in the dark and bucketing rain but
Team Kavo couldn't be happier, we're off fishing, happy days. It's been a while since Rob got out and
we're both really looking forward to a good day. Recent weather might effect things, a lot of rain during the past week was bound to have it really pushing through which might make things awkward. On the plus side
it should put some colour in the water which is never a bad thing.
Two sets of gear are quickly set up, the water level is higher than the previous week, there is extra colour
in the water though you can still see bait for a couple of feet as it sinks in the water but it doesn't seem to be
flowing any quicker. Robs using a 6m whip and I've a 7m with the foat rod in the rod bag for later on.
I wanted to be sure I had a few fish in the net before I tried the stick float, which I had promised myself
I'd do. Again I went with Gros Gardons as a groundbait but added a half bag of river mix to help it
bind a bit more. In truth I'm not convinced that I needed to do that, as it turned out I had more fish
when loose feeding and fishing up in the water.
Rigs were similar to the previous week, though from the off we were using Kamasan B611's so no issues with hooks straightening. Rob went with a Garbo 1.5grm float, I was thinkig about the very shy bites from the previous week so went with a slightly lighter 1grm float. After 10 or 15 mins I knew the 1gr was to light
but stupidly kept using it as the bites were again very hard to read.
We were both into fish from the off though and good swingable roach were coming to hand very regularly.
Rob was fishing on bottom and using a lot more groundbait than I was, I on the other hand had quickly started coming up in the water and was loose feeding caster and hemp. Seemed to me that I was getting more bites so I kept at it and they kept obliging.
Now those of you that know us will know that we never have a day out without something happening and today was no different. After losing a fish and the rig wrapping around my whip it was time for a break
and a cup of coffee. I figured I was ahead of Rob so it was time to get the float rod out and try my hand at
running a stick float through the faster water. Back to the swim and out with the float road only to discover theres no reel attached to it !!!! There goes that plan, back to the whip. I tied on a new rig with a heavier 2 grm float and the fish were still there.
We'd had a good 4 hours at this stage and when Rob pulled out of a fish and thrashed the rig that had been doing well for him, we were nearing the end of the session.
We started breaking down and putting the mountain of gear away and carting it all to the car, the weigh in was looming. As we're packing away both of us noticed the quite guy who had been fishing to our left.
Up came his keep net and he emptied the contents in to the bucket he had been sitting on all day !!!!
We wandered up to him to make sure he wasn't about to walk off with them and sure enough he was.
He claimed not to know, I don't know if he was being honest with us but he emptied them back in and went on his way.
Back to business and up came our keepnets, 12lb 10oz for the auld fellah and 10lb 8ozs for the young fellah.
I can drive home without getting slagged and all is well.
from Monday to Friday.
Two sets of gear are loaded up the night before, we're on the road in the dark and bucketing rain but
Team Kavo couldn't be happier, we're off fishing, happy days. It's been a while since Rob got out and
we're both really looking forward to a good day. Recent weather might effect things, a lot of rain during the past week was bound to have it really pushing through which might make things awkward. On the plus side
it should put some colour in the water which is never a bad thing.
Two sets of gear are quickly set up, the water level is higher than the previous week, there is extra colour
in the water though you can still see bait for a couple of feet as it sinks in the water but it doesn't seem to be
flowing any quicker. Robs using a 6m whip and I've a 7m with the foat rod in the rod bag for later on.
I wanted to be sure I had a few fish in the net before I tried the stick float, which I had promised myself
I'd do. Again I went with Gros Gardons as a groundbait but added a half bag of river mix to help it
bind a bit more. In truth I'm not convinced that I needed to do that, as it turned out I had more fish
when loose feeding and fishing up in the water.
Rigs were similar to the previous week, though from the off we were using Kamasan B611's so no issues with hooks straightening. Rob went with a Garbo 1.5grm float, I was thinkig about the very shy bites from the previous week so went with a slightly lighter 1grm float. After 10 or 15 mins I knew the 1gr was to light
but stupidly kept using it as the bites were again very hard to read.
Rob was fishing on bottom and using a lot more groundbait than I was, I on the other hand had quickly started coming up in the water and was loose feeding caster and hemp. Seemed to me that I was getting more bites so I kept at it and they kept obliging.
Now those of you that know us will know that we never have a day out without something happening and today was no different. After losing a fish and the rig wrapping around my whip it was time for a break
and a cup of coffee. I figured I was ahead of Rob so it was time to get the float rod out and try my hand at
running a stick float through the faster water. Back to the swim and out with the float road only to discover theres no reel attached to it !!!! There goes that plan, back to the whip. I tied on a new rig with a heavier 2 grm float and the fish were still there.
We'd had a good 4 hours at this stage and when Rob pulled out of a fish and thrashed the rig that had been doing well for him, we were nearing the end of the session.
We started breaking down and putting the mountain of gear away and carting it all to the car, the weigh in was looming. As we're packing away both of us noticed the quite guy who had been fishing to our left.
Up came his keep net and he emptied the contents in to the bucket he had been sitting on all day !!!!
We wandered up to him to make sure he wasn't about to walk off with them and sure enough he was.
He claimed not to know, I don't know if he was being honest with us but he emptied them back in and went on his way.
Back to business and up came our keepnets, 12lb 10oz for the auld fellah and 10lb 8ozs for the young fellah.
I can drive home without getting slagged and all is well.
Another cracking day, despite the lousy weather we had fish throughout the 5 hours that we fished and had we really gone at it I'm sure we could have had an awful lot more. Fishing up in the water and regular loose feeding seemed to be the best option for the day. One thing to pass on for anyone looking to but suitable good outdoor clothing. Rob was wearing a newly acquired Sunridge outfit. Coat, B n B thats on sale in several different tackle shops. I think it sells at129.00 which is good value if it does everything the manufacturer claims. When you buy it you get a pair of Sunridge boots thrown in making it even better value. |I managed to convince the lads in C&J Angling that it'd be better if they gave us the new Sunridge thermal gear rather than the boots and it's fair to say that both outfits are really really good. The Thermals really do keep you warm and after sitting out in the rain for 5 hours he was bone dry when the suit came off.
Really good gear, really good value, might get a set for myself.
Hitting The Boards............
No I havn't joined the local musical society lol, I've had a couple of pleasure sessions on
The Boards in Belturbet and a real pleasure they both were too. The first saw me head off on my own at stupid o clock in the morning to get a swim I had been told about. What is it with us anglers that we'll get up at ridiculous times of the day ? Some form of untreatable madness perhaps but boy am I glad that I've
got it. I've allways enjoyed arriving at a venue when it's still dark and watching the world wake up.
My pleasure fishing days give me these opportunities and sights like these remind me why I'm glad I've
got the fishing bug.
Arriving before it got light at this venue is fine as there is light from the street lights, so getting gear from car to swim is fine and getting everything ready
is quite easy. The parking is good and very close by, a great facility and one that seems to allways fish well in winter time. A couple of short trips and all the gear is in my chosen swim and it's time to get serious. Hang on, it's a pleasure session, I'll have a coffee first and watch the sun come up. It did come up as you can see from the photos, it's all lovely to see but despite the glorious sunshine it's blummin freezin and a bright day with no wind isn't generally condusive to good fishing. Coffee done and once again I've managed to have a coffee without a smoke, giving up smokes after 30 odd years is not an easy thing to do. First coffee with a smoke by the water at first light has been part of the gig for a long time, it's weird not having that smoke now.
Right then down to business, Roach are going to be the most common bite so "Gros Gardons" is the chosen
groundbait for the day, as ever thats mixed and left to settle while the hardware is sorted.
I'd brought my feeder gear and a 7m whip and had planned to spend time on both methods, as it went
I didn't. The feeder gear was setup but never picked up, as the whip just kept throwing up fish and I just
couldn't put it down. On the far side of the river it runs very fast but up to about half way across it runs
quite slowly. Plumbing up with the whip gave me depths between 6 and 9 foot so I started with a
Garbo 1.5grm Float. Rigs were tied up using Preston 4lb mainline to Kamasan pretied hooklengths,
a size 18 B511 to 1lb 8oz line. I changed the hooklength after a few fish as it became apparent quite quickly that B511 hooks are not made for swinging Roach. After my fourth fish the hook opened out so into the my
hooklength box and I opted for a Kamasan B611 to 2lb 12oz line. Much better and no more opened hooks.
It seemed that no matter what I did I could catch, Fishing over depth using small balls of groundbait laced with caster and hemp produced really hard to read, very shy bites. Coming up in the water and loosfeeding
also produced but the bites were easier to read. At somewhere around 2 feet off the bottom the bites
were not so quick in coming but easiest to see. I spent a lot of time at that depth and ran the float through the swim getting bites at the same spot regularly enough to keep doing it.
One of the good things about pleasure fishing is you can stop at anytime and have a coffee or a chat with fellow anglers. During the morning the boards filled up with several other anglers and talking to them gave me some thoughts for future visits. A guy to my right fished a waggler all day and was busy enough to warrant doing it though I definitely out caught him. I chatted to a guy up to my left who fished a stick float in the faster water and allthough he wasn't getting as many bites the stamp of fish was much better than mine.
He had some right good proper roach and I decided I'd have a go at that on my next visit.
After a break which consisted of several coffees and no smokes I was back on the whip line and the fish
were still happy to oblige me. By 2o clock it was time to pack up and have a look at what was in the keepnet. A couple of trips back to the car and some of the gear mountain is packed away, one of the lads
took a photo for me of the final bag and I finished up putting the rest of th gear away.
Time then for a walk along the boards and a chat some very friendly guys, the guy fishing the stick float
was good at it and it's something I've never done so the chance to spend time watching him was welcome.
It's a skill I'm really keen to master and hopefully this will be the year to do just that.
The day ended with a reminder of why I enjoy it all so much and even with my less than top
of the range camera I think you'll get the idea,
The Boards in Belturbet and a real pleasure they both were too. The first saw me head off on my own at stupid o clock in the morning to get a swim I had been told about. What is it with us anglers that we'll get up at ridiculous times of the day ? Some form of untreatable madness perhaps but boy am I glad that I've
got it. I've allways enjoyed arriving at a venue when it's still dark and watching the world wake up.
My pleasure fishing days give me these opportunities and sights like these remind me why I'm glad I've
got the fishing bug.
is quite easy. The parking is good and very close by, a great facility and one that seems to allways fish well in winter time. A couple of short trips and all the gear is in my chosen swim and it's time to get serious. Hang on, it's a pleasure session, I'll have a coffee first and watch the sun come up. It did come up as you can see from the photos, it's all lovely to see but despite the glorious sunshine it's blummin freezin and a bright day with no wind isn't generally condusive to good fishing. Coffee done and once again I've managed to have a coffee without a smoke, giving up smokes after 30 odd years is not an easy thing to do. First coffee with a smoke by the water at first light has been part of the gig for a long time, it's weird not having that smoke now.
Right then down to business, Roach are going to be the most common bite so "Gros Gardons" is the chosen
groundbait for the day, as ever thats mixed and left to settle while the hardware is sorted.
I'd brought my feeder gear and a 7m whip and had planned to spend time on both methods, as it went
I didn't. The feeder gear was setup but never picked up, as the whip just kept throwing up fish and I just
couldn't put it down. On the far side of the river it runs very fast but up to about half way across it runs
quite slowly. Plumbing up with the whip gave me depths between 6 and 9 foot so I started with a
Garbo 1.5grm Float. Rigs were tied up using Preston 4lb mainline to Kamasan pretied hooklengths,
a size 18 B511 to 1lb 8oz line. I changed the hooklength after a few fish as it became apparent quite quickly that B511 hooks are not made for swinging Roach. After my fourth fish the hook opened out so into the my
hooklength box and I opted for a Kamasan B611 to 2lb 12oz line. Much better and no more opened hooks.
It seemed that no matter what I did I could catch, Fishing over depth using small balls of groundbait laced with caster and hemp produced really hard to read, very shy bites. Coming up in the water and loosfeeding
also produced but the bites were easier to read. At somewhere around 2 feet off the bottom the bites
were not so quick in coming but easiest to see. I spent a lot of time at that depth and ran the float through the swim getting bites at the same spot regularly enough to keep doing it.
One of the good things about pleasure fishing is you can stop at anytime and have a coffee or a chat with fellow anglers. During the morning the boards filled up with several other anglers and talking to them gave me some thoughts for future visits. A guy to my right fished a waggler all day and was busy enough to warrant doing it though I definitely out caught him. I chatted to a guy up to my left who fished a stick float in the faster water and allthough he wasn't getting as many bites the stamp of fish was much better than mine.
He had some right good proper roach and I decided I'd have a go at that on my next visit.
After a break which consisted of several coffees and no smokes I was back on the whip line and the fish
were still happy to oblige me. By 2o clock it was time to pack up and have a look at what was in the keepnet. A couple of trips back to the car and some of the gear mountain is packed away, one of the lads
took a photo for me of the final bag and I finished up putting the rest of th gear away.
was good at it and it's something I've never done so the chance to spend time watching him was welcome.
It's a skill I'm really keen to master and hopefully this will be the year to do just that.
The day ended with a reminder of why I enjoy it all so much and even with my less than top
of the range camera I think you'll get the idea,
Monday, January 3, 2011
Enfield Winter League Rnd 5
Global warming ! Global freezing would be more accurate. With venues all round the country still frozen
I was well pleased that the 5th and penultimate round was going ahead. So Sunday morning saw me heading
to Enfield in great form. On the way I passed the canal in Kilcock and it was still frozen so wherever we are fishing today is at very least going to be very very cold and so it turned out to be.
Theres very few cars in the carpark at 09.30 and by 10.00 theres only eight eejits standing there so not so much jossling for draw position is needed. I drew third and got myself an end peg, happy days.
Theres only one venue available to us as the others are frozen, so it's back to Kilmore again.
On the short drive to the canal I'm thinking, won here the last time and I've an end peg this time,
I'm confident, you'd think I'd know better by now.
Got to my peg (no 17) which is quite close to the bridge and it is one desolate and featureless place to be.
Still it's on the end so time to get sorted.
Theres very little flow and the wind that is blowing is on my back, so the water was very still which
would help with presentation and allow me to use small, light floats.
I figured nothing much was going to be caught so there would be a fair bit of scratching and searching round for "blips". I was right.
First things first and I mixed a small bit of groundbait, VDE Super Canal Black and black leam mixed 50/50.
I'd ran the groundbait through a pinkie riddle a couple of times to remove any large bits of feed, before adding the water. The idea behind dong this is to have a groundbait with little or no feed in it.
The only feed I wanted in my swim was a few freebies and my hookbait.
I plumbed two swims to my left and right with the same rig (The Garbo float) .09 mainline to
.08 hooklength and a size 20 Kamazan B511. This was plumbed to dead depth and then marked on
my topkit with tippex. Using this method allows me to adjust depths but allways get back to dead depth if I want to. Another rig (the Sensas float) was used to fish at varying depths up in the water in the area
between my two "bottom" swims. The same mainline and hooklength but with a size 22 hook, they'll be smaller fish at mid water I figured.
Between Christmas and the recent bad weather, my usual bait suppliers had little to offer. Not a worm to be bought anywhere and my own wormery solid. I got some red mags, some white and pinkies during the week
so all wasn't lost. I flavoured some of the whites with Turmeric and managed to get some caster out of them too. That gave me a few different options to try out over the 4 hours but you can't beat a single pinkie
in a freezin canal.
At 11.30 I'm chatting to Seanie Ward who's pegged next to me and it's "All in". Over to my swim and
in goes a couple of small balls of groundbait with a few caster to my right hand and a couple of small balls
of groundbait with hemp to my left side. My plan was to leave them alone for an hour and search around with my short rig in the open water in front of me. A small sprinkle pot fixed to the end of my top kit allowed
me to drip feed in as I needed to. This was pinkies and groundbait, the groundbait was left powdered so it would come out of the sprinkle pot and go through the water in a cloud.
After 15 mins the float dipped and I had caught the smallest fish in the canal, as I swung it in I thought "he won't be on his own" so straight back in and as it turned out he was on his own. A couple of hours went by and it was clearer than the water, that there was very little in front of me.
Time for a couple of changes and the hook sizes were scaled down, the 20 to a 22 and the 22 to a 24.
The two swims to my left were still blank and a phone call to the other end peg confirming that was blanking
aswell made me feel a wee bit better. Two swims in the middle were throwing up a few fish so I
had to keep going. Seanie next to me, jumped in to his van for a bit of heat, maybe he had the right idea.
It was horrid cold, I had all the usual thermal gear on plus many many layers but was shivering so much at one stage I couldn't hold my pole still.
I kept plugging away checking between my bottom lines and my midwater line but it seemed nothing
was going to move my float other than my shivering. A few minutes after changing down to the size 24 hook
I discovered that the smallest fish in the canal, who I had caught earlier, had a twin brother.
He must have been missing him in the canal so he kindly jumped on to the hook and volunteered to join him in my keepnet. With five minutes to go a fish of about an ounce took a single caster again from my midwater
rig and I was so desperate to land it I even considered netting it !!!
Time was against me so I did swing it as I had time for one more put in. I needn't have bothered really
as I got it back in but nothing happened. The 4 hours have gone by it's 15.30 and the "All Out"
is called. I swear I heard eight lads scream thank God for that.
Packing up and looking at a rapidly approaching weigh scales made me realise that not many of the lads had weighed in so suddenly my three fish are looking huge. Turns out the two lads in the middle pegs 13 & 14
had a few fish in front of them. Pat in 13 had 1lb 14.5 ozs and Robbie in peg 14 had 1lb 4 ozs.
My three fish weighed all of 2ozs, yes you read that correctly but they got me second in my section
and third overall, good points for my league position and a few quid.
We were the only three to weigh anything, the 5 other lads all blanked.
I can't remember who said it to me first but someone did say it to me, "allways weigh in, allways weigh in"
Whoever it was was right.
Theres one round left now on the 29th, hopefully it'll be a bit warmer.
I was well pleased that the 5th and penultimate round was going ahead. So Sunday morning saw me heading
to Enfield in great form. On the way I passed the canal in Kilcock and it was still frozen so wherever we are fishing today is at very least going to be very very cold and so it turned out to be.
Theres very few cars in the carpark at 09.30 and by 10.00 theres only eight eejits standing there so not so much jossling for draw position is needed. I drew third and got myself an end peg, happy days.
Theres only one venue available to us as the others are frozen, so it's back to Kilmore again.
On the short drive to the canal I'm thinking, won here the last time and I've an end peg this time,
I'm confident, you'd think I'd know better by now.
Got to my peg (no 17) which is quite close to the bridge and it is one desolate and featureless place to be.
Still it's on the end so time to get sorted.
Theres very little flow and the wind that is blowing is on my back, so the water was very still which
would help with presentation and allow me to use small, light floats.
I figured nothing much was going to be caught so there would be a fair bit of scratching and searching round for "blips". I was right.
First things first and I mixed a small bit of groundbait, VDE Super Canal Black and black leam mixed 50/50.
I'd ran the groundbait through a pinkie riddle a couple of times to remove any large bits of feed, before adding the water. The idea behind dong this is to have a groundbait with little or no feed in it.
The only feed I wanted in my swim was a few freebies and my hookbait.
I plumbed two swims to my left and right with the same rig (The Garbo float) .09 mainline to
.08 hooklength and a size 20 Kamazan B511. This was plumbed to dead depth and then marked on
my topkit with tippex. Using this method allows me to adjust depths but allways get back to dead depth if I want to. Another rig (the Sensas float) was used to fish at varying depths up in the water in the area
between my two "bottom" swims. The same mainline and hooklength but with a size 22 hook, they'll be smaller fish at mid water I figured.
 |
| Left, Sensas Desque, 4x8 Right, Garbo ds14, 0.4grm |
so all wasn't lost. I flavoured some of the whites with Turmeric and managed to get some caster out of them too. That gave me a few different options to try out over the 4 hours but you can't beat a single pinkie
in a freezin canal.
At 11.30 I'm chatting to Seanie Ward who's pegged next to me and it's "All in". Over to my swim and
in goes a couple of small balls of groundbait with a few caster to my right hand and a couple of small balls
of groundbait with hemp to my left side. My plan was to leave them alone for an hour and search around with my short rig in the open water in front of me. A small sprinkle pot fixed to the end of my top kit allowed
me to drip feed in as I needed to. This was pinkies and groundbait, the groundbait was left powdered so it would come out of the sprinkle pot and go through the water in a cloud.
After 15 mins the float dipped and I had caught the smallest fish in the canal, as I swung it in I thought "he won't be on his own" so straight back in and as it turned out he was on his own. A couple of hours went by and it was clearer than the water, that there was very little in front of me.
Time for a couple of changes and the hook sizes were scaled down, the 20 to a 22 and the 22 to a 24.
The two swims to my left were still blank and a phone call to the other end peg confirming that was blanking
aswell made me feel a wee bit better. Two swims in the middle were throwing up a few fish so I
had to keep going. Seanie next to me, jumped in to his van for a bit of heat, maybe he had the right idea.
It was horrid cold, I had all the usual thermal gear on plus many many layers but was shivering so much at one stage I couldn't hold my pole still.
 |
| Wheres Seanie ? |
was going to move my float other than my shivering. A few minutes after changing down to the size 24 hook
I discovered that the smallest fish in the canal, who I had caught earlier, had a twin brother.
He must have been missing him in the canal so he kindly jumped on to the hook and volunteered to join him in my keepnet. With five minutes to go a fish of about an ounce took a single caster again from my midwater
rig and I was so desperate to land it I even considered netting it !!!
Time was against me so I did swing it as I had time for one more put in. I needn't have bothered really
as I got it back in but nothing happened. The 4 hours have gone by it's 15.30 and the "All Out"
is called. I swear I heard eight lads scream thank God for that.
Packing up and looking at a rapidly approaching weigh scales made me realise that not many of the lads had weighed in so suddenly my three fish are looking huge. Turns out the two lads in the middle pegs 13 & 14
had a few fish in front of them. Pat in 13 had 1lb 14.5 ozs and Robbie in peg 14 had 1lb 4 ozs.
My three fish weighed all of 2ozs, yes you read that correctly but they got me second in my section
and third overall, good points for my league position and a few quid.
We were the only three to weigh anything, the 5 other lads all blanked.
I can't remember who said it to me first but someone did say it to me, "allways weigh in, allways weigh in"
Whoever it was was right.
Theres one round left now on the 29th, hopefully it'll be a bit warmer.
Sunday, November 21, 2010
Pleasure Fishing, it's well named
Things had been conspiring against Team Kavo over the last few weeks, my winter league commitments,
Robs footballing commitments, my work, life I suppose.
We planned this weekend in that we'd fish Saturday for fun and I'd fish the 4th round of the winter league on Sunday, great stuff until I get asked to work on Saturday, grrrrrrrrrrrrr.
It's a funny time and extra work just can't be turned down so with Team Kavo looking at another
let down weekend, something had to be done.
Much as I love my winter league, Team Kavo got the nod (obviously) and a day out together was
hastily arranged for the Sunday.
Car loaded (ish) on the Saturday evening and off to what is probably, no definitely our favourite
Winter venue. Those that know me well will know where it is, those that don't can ask me.
Just off The Barrow when its in flood and what a spot it is.
We arrived at about 10.00 to find our good friends Jimmy, Patsy & Rushy just unloading their
van, so immeadiatey we knew it was going to be a good day, regardless of the fishing.
The water was pushing through fairly quickly but it was a nice smooth flow of well coloured,
fish filled loveliness.
We picked a couple of swims to the left of the other lads and got the car unloaded.
First things first, get the groundbait mixed, regardless of whether I'm match or pleasure fishing that all ways the first thing to be done. A half kilo of canal mix from last week, had a half kilo of Sensas Gros Gardons and
a half kilo of Dynamite X River added to it. Not sure if the addition of the river mix made any difference
but with the flow has hard as it was I thought it might help to get the ground bait to the bottom, quickly.
Once that was mixed and riddled, I added a half pint of caster and a half pint of hemp.
From past experience of fishing here, rig selection is fairly straightforward, whats the heaviest one I have in the collection, that'll do nicely thank you. Well not quite because I have a few monstrous ones for some unknown reasons. 2 grm Triana floats were first on at 11M but after 10 mins I swopped to a heavier
3 grm Triana and after a couple of busted rigs, Rob was using a 5grm Maver float.
As usual, main line was Preston Reflo Power and hooklengths were pre tied Kamasans, either B510's or
B520's. I started the day using a size 18 B510 but after a few fish the hook went so I changed to
the heavier B520. There was a lot of good sized Roach being swung so the heavier the better I reckoned.
Right at the start it was 3 big balls of groundbait to get it going and then anytime the bites stopped it was
another big ball, very little finnesse going on here, simply ball it in and they will come and boy did they come.
Roach after glorious roach, I've never had a day like it. The only reason I didn't get a roach when I laid
it in was because I got a dace !!! or the odd wee skimmer.
It took a little while to suss things out but ship it out to a position at 2 o clock, hold it back till the shot
settled and then let it run through. A couple of little stops on the way would lift the bait off the bottom
and more often than not produce a bite. Double red mags, double caster, a red and white mag any mix
you like all seemed to produce for me. The other lads were convinced a red and white mag was the way forward but it didn't seem to matter to me.
All five of us were getting bites a plenty, it really was all action and everytime I looked to my right there was
the marvellous sight of top kits in the air with bright elastic surging out of them.
We all had time out at some stage, for a chat, a sangwich, to mix another kg groundbait !!!!
but most importantly to enjoy the day.
Soon enough it's half four in the afternoon and well, all good things do come to an end. Time for a weigh
in and right on que it's Jimmy with a scales.
It's a pleasure day but theres allways a bit of needle and an alledged tenner up for grabs within
Team Kavo so up comes the keep net, tip it into the sling and its, 15lbs and 12ozs.
Rob was next and the pressures on up comes the keep net and Jimmy says, ah Shane he's got you, again.
The scales never lies, 15lb and wait for iiiiiiiiiiiiiiit 4ozs. Yep thats really only 1 fish in the difference but it's my one fish,
So thats a fish or two under 100lbs between the five of us. Incredible fishing for the time of year.
It's fair to say had any of us been taken it seriously we'd have comfortably gone over the 100lbs.
Another great day for us all, you gotta love it.
Pleasure fishing, my pleasure................
Robs footballing commitments, my work, life I suppose.
We planned this weekend in that we'd fish Saturday for fun and I'd fish the 4th round of the winter league on Sunday, great stuff until I get asked to work on Saturday, grrrrrrrrrrrrr.
It's a funny time and extra work just can't be turned down so with Team Kavo looking at another
let down weekend, something had to be done.
Much as I love my winter league, Team Kavo got the nod (obviously) and a day out together was
hastily arranged for the Sunday.
Car loaded (ish) on the Saturday evening and off to what is probably, no definitely our favourite
Winter venue. Those that know me well will know where it is, those that don't can ask me.
Just off The Barrow when its in flood and what a spot it is.
We arrived at about 10.00 to find our good friends Jimmy, Patsy & Rushy just unloading their
van, so immeadiatey we knew it was going to be a good day, regardless of the fishing.
The water was pushing through fairly quickly but it was a nice smooth flow of well coloured,
fish filled loveliness.
We picked a couple of swims to the left of the other lads and got the car unloaded.
First things first, get the groundbait mixed, regardless of whether I'm match or pleasure fishing that all ways the first thing to be done. A half kilo of canal mix from last week, had a half kilo of Sensas Gros Gardons and
a half kilo of Dynamite X River added to it. Not sure if the addition of the river mix made any difference
but with the flow has hard as it was I thought it might help to get the ground bait to the bottom, quickly.
Once that was mixed and riddled, I added a half pint of caster and a half pint of hemp.
From past experience of fishing here, rig selection is fairly straightforward, whats the heaviest one I have in the collection, that'll do nicely thank you. Well not quite because I have a few monstrous ones for some unknown reasons. 2 grm Triana floats were first on at 11M but after 10 mins I swopped to a heavier
3 grm Triana and after a couple of busted rigs, Rob was using a 5grm Maver float.
As usual, main line was Preston Reflo Power and hooklengths were pre tied Kamasans, either B510's or
B520's. I started the day using a size 18 B510 but after a few fish the hook went so I changed to
the heavier B520. There was a lot of good sized Roach being swung so the heavier the better I reckoned.
Right at the start it was 3 big balls of groundbait to get it going and then anytime the bites stopped it was
another big ball, very little finnesse going on here, simply ball it in and they will come and boy did they come.
Roach after glorious roach, I've never had a day like it. The only reason I didn't get a roach when I laid
it in was because I got a dace !!! or the odd wee skimmer.
It took a little while to suss things out but ship it out to a position at 2 o clock, hold it back till the shot
settled and then let it run through. A couple of little stops on the way would lift the bait off the bottom
and more often than not produce a bite. Double red mags, double caster, a red and white mag any mix
you like all seemed to produce for me. The other lads were convinced a red and white mag was the way forward but it didn't seem to matter to me.
All five of us were getting bites a plenty, it really was all action and everytime I looked to my right there was
the marvellous sight of top kits in the air with bright elastic surging out of them.
We all had time out at some stage, for a chat, a sangwich, to mix another kg groundbait !!!!
but most importantly to enjoy the day.
Soon enough it's half four in the afternoon and well, all good things do come to an end. Time for a weigh
in and right on que it's Jimmy with a scales.
It's a pleasure day but theres allways a bit of needle and an alledged tenner up for grabs within
Team Kavo so up comes the keep net, tip it into the sling and its, 15lbs and 12ozs.
 |
| Me 15lb 12oz |
Rob was next and the pressures on up comes the keep net and Jimmy says, ah Shane he's got you, again.
The scales never lies, 15lb and wait for iiiiiiiiiiiiiiit 4ozs. Yep thats really only 1 fish in the difference but it's my one fish,
 |
| Rob 15lb 4 ozs |
So the Auld fellah does it for a change because if I don't say that the young fellah will winge.
Next it's the Mafias turn to weigh in and like Team Kavo they have their own braggin rights etc to
be battled for and won. Patsy had best weight with 25lb odd, Jimmy with 24lb odd and
Rushy with 18lb odd
 |
| Jimmy 24lb odd |
 |
| Patsy 25lb odd |
 |
| Cheesy, just plain odd !! |
So thats a fish or two under 100lbs between the five of us. Incredible fishing for the time of year.
It's fair to say had any of us been taken it seriously we'd have comfortably gone over the 100lbs.
Another great day for us all, you gotta love it.
Pleasure fishing, my pleasure................
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Enfield Winter League, Round 3
I'm back on track now and up to date having fished the 3rd round yesterday 07/11/2010.
Fail to prepare prepare to fail, or so they say. Who are they ?
Having been rightly thumped last time out I was determined that things just had to change. I had spoken to Pat after the last match and to his credit he explained what he was doing to out catch me, well out catch everyone actually. I had a further discussion with Enda Hickey and he explained to me more about what Pat was doing. Armed with all this info from top top anglers I approached Sunday the 7th with a confident outlook.
Waking up an hour late and having to race from Ratoath to Enfield like a Schumacher would wasn't the best start but I got to thte infamous car park on time.
The usual banter thus ensued and I had time to get my bait from Brian and have a chat with Pat who
was quick to remind me how soundly he had thumped me in the previous round. We were wondering which stretch we'd be on and I said it'll be Kilmore again, good said Pat. It threw up plenty of fish last time,
well it did for some !!! Yeah very funny..........
A couple of minutes later he came over to me and handed me two rigs he had just tied and said, here you go these will catch you fish, roach just love the smell of me. Figure that one !!!!
The usual messing happens at the draw, we line up by the wall and myself and Pat are 1st and 2nd to draw.
Then for some unexplainable reason they draw it from the other side, so we're last. The venue is confirmed
as Kilmore and I draw peg 6, pretty much slap bang in the middle of the 14 taking part on what was a
gloriously Sunny morning.
A quick few minutes in the car, wake up a drunk who is parked across the gate blocking the way on to the stretch and it's set up time. An even more bleak looking peg to the previous week greeted me and it's get the finger out time.
A couple of rare things happened in this round, heres the first of them chugging along in all it's glory.
I wondered if this would make or break the day, on the one hand it would dirty up the water which is never a bad thing. On the other it might put the fish in freak out mode and they may not feed.
Time would tell.
We'll get to the other rare thing later.
Anyway it's set up time and everyone is busy for an hour or so. With about 15 mins to spare I'm all set to go so time for a coffee and a quick chat with the lads pegged on either side of me. Both of them had framed in the previous round, no pressure then.
11.30 comes round and it's All In, fed two lines with choppies and caster, one on the far bank at the top of the slope and one on the near, to my left at the bottom of the slope. These were to be fed every 30 mins with small amounts of chop and caster and left alone till the last hour.
A line to my right was set up to fish on the bottom or over depth and this was kick started with a small
golf ball size of VDE Black "Canal" with a few caster in it and some loose hemp. I'd feed this according
to bites and use, red mags or pinkies on the hook.
The final line was based on what I had discussed with Pat and Enda and was going to empty the canal !!!
A 4x12 pencil float, 6 shot spread evenly out to a number 20 hook and off we go. This is going against everything I've ever thought about winter fishing. I'm not fishing on the bottom where I allways assume fish will be in the colder weather. I'm going to fish over the weed for blips and hope to get enough to count.
But they allways go to deepest water don't they ?
About 30 mins in and having shortened, lengthened, tried a coupleof different shotting patterns,
nothing and I'm gutted. So it's over to the bottom line and after 20 odd mins, I've two fish in the keepnet.
Happy days, the lads either side of me have nothing and the fish do go to the deepest water.
Oh no they don't !!!! 15 mins goes by and no further indications of life on the bottom rig and it's time to give
the other line a go again. I had clipped on a sprinkle pot and at the start had been dripping in pinkies but this time I had the idea to add a small amount of dust. Out I shipped and started to drip feed a mix of pinkies
and dust over the float and after 5 mins under it went and fish on.
Two white pinkies on the number 20 hook and a pot full of pinkies and dust was suddenly the way forward.
Next thing I know one of my friends from Fishingtalkireland.com (Padzer) is behind me with his two nippers.
Down goes the float again, on cue to show the kids a fish. They didnt stay too long as by this stage the weather had completely changed and it was blummin freezing. Over the coming hour a further 12 bites on this line with 10 landed meant I had 14 fish in the keepnet and I knew I was doing well as the lads around me had nothing like that many, if any. With about 30 mins remaining that line dried up and I systematically tried the other three lines but nothing else came my way. So there it was, suddenly it was 15.30 hrs and it's All Out.
I quick word with my nearest neighbours and I was thinking I might get a section win here.I had no idea what had happened at the other end of the stretch so I started packing away, feeling confident and nervous.
The scales soon appeared and I had ammassed the incredible total of 1lb 8ozs, a few pegs later and I've definitely won my section, a few more pegs later and I've only got to beat Leo Aungier in the end peg !!
The lads had told me he was catching OK and had one good fish so as we get to his peg and he lifts out his keepnet I'm bricking it. Soon as I saw it I was well pleased, he only had a pound I reckoned and sure enough
he had a few ozs over the pound but not nine of them.
So there I am, I've finally done it actually won a match. I've had a few section wins since I started this
madness but never an actual match win. Happy days, just my luck it was on the day of the lowest turn out but in all honestly, I was so happy to have actually won I couldn't have cared less.
You might remember I said earlier that a couple of rare things happened and I'd get back to the second one.
Well theres the second one, me actually winning, lol.
Ask and you shall receive, or so they say, who are they ?
Never be afraid to ask questions of other anglers, way more often than not you'll get an answer
and it will help you out no end.
Roll on round 4 at the end of the month, can't wait. The sheet below shows all the final weights.
Fail to prepare prepare to fail, or so they say. Who are they ?
Having been rightly thumped last time out I was determined that things just had to change. I had spoken to Pat after the last match and to his credit he explained what he was doing to out catch me, well out catch everyone actually. I had a further discussion with Enda Hickey and he explained to me more about what Pat was doing. Armed with all this info from top top anglers I approached Sunday the 7th with a confident outlook.
Waking up an hour late and having to race from Ratoath to Enfield like a Schumacher would wasn't the best start but I got to thte infamous car park on time.
The usual banter thus ensued and I had time to get my bait from Brian and have a chat with Pat who
was quick to remind me how soundly he had thumped me in the previous round. We were wondering which stretch we'd be on and I said it'll be Kilmore again, good said Pat. It threw up plenty of fish last time,
well it did for some !!! Yeah very funny..........
A couple of minutes later he came over to me and handed me two rigs he had just tied and said, here you go these will catch you fish, roach just love the smell of me. Figure that one !!!!
The usual messing happens at the draw, we line up by the wall and myself and Pat are 1st and 2nd to draw.
Then for some unexplainable reason they draw it from the other side, so we're last. The venue is confirmed
as Kilmore and I draw peg 6, pretty much slap bang in the middle of the 14 taking part on what was a
gloriously Sunny morning.
A quick few minutes in the car, wake up a drunk who is parked across the gate blocking the way on to the stretch and it's set up time. An even more bleak looking peg to the previous week greeted me and it's get the finger out time.
 | |||||
| Bleak and open, peg 6 Kilmore |
I wondered if this would make or break the day, on the one hand it would dirty up the water which is never a bad thing. On the other it might put the fish in freak out mode and they may not feed.
Time would tell.
 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Jayz it's a boat !!!! |
 | ||||
| On the canal !!! |
Anyway it's set up time and everyone is busy for an hour or so. With about 15 mins to spare I'm all set to go so time for a coffee and a quick chat with the lads pegged on either side of me. Both of them had framed in the previous round, no pressure then.
11.30 comes round and it's All In, fed two lines with choppies and caster, one on the far bank at the top of the slope and one on the near, to my left at the bottom of the slope. These were to be fed every 30 mins with small amounts of chop and caster and left alone till the last hour.
A line to my right was set up to fish on the bottom or over depth and this was kick started with a small
golf ball size of VDE Black "Canal" with a few caster in it and some loose hemp. I'd feed this according
to bites and use, red mags or pinkies on the hook.
The final line was based on what I had discussed with Pat and Enda and was going to empty the canal !!!
A 4x12 pencil float, 6 shot spread evenly out to a number 20 hook and off we go. This is going against everything I've ever thought about winter fishing. I'm not fishing on the bottom where I allways assume fish will be in the colder weather. I'm going to fish over the weed for blips and hope to get enough to count.
But they allways go to deepest water don't they ?
About 30 mins in and having shortened, lengthened, tried a coupleof different shotting patterns,
nothing and I'm gutted. So it's over to the bottom line and after 20 odd mins, I've two fish in the keepnet.
Happy days, the lads either side of me have nothing and the fish do go to the deepest water.
Oh no they don't !!!! 15 mins goes by and no further indications of life on the bottom rig and it's time to give
the other line a go again. I had clipped on a sprinkle pot and at the start had been dripping in pinkies but this time I had the idea to add a small amount of dust. Out I shipped and started to drip feed a mix of pinkies
and dust over the float and after 5 mins under it went and fish on.
Two white pinkies on the number 20 hook and a pot full of pinkies and dust was suddenly the way forward.
Next thing I know one of my friends from Fishingtalkireland.com (Padzer) is behind me with his two nippers.
Down goes the float again, on cue to show the kids a fish. They didnt stay too long as by this stage the weather had completely changed and it was blummin freezing. Over the coming hour a further 12 bites on this line with 10 landed meant I had 14 fish in the keepnet and I knew I was doing well as the lads around me had nothing like that many, if any. With about 30 mins remaining that line dried up and I systematically tried the other three lines but nothing else came my way. So there it was, suddenly it was 15.30 hrs and it's All Out.
I quick word with my nearest neighbours and I was thinking I might get a section win here.I had no idea what had happened at the other end of the stretch so I started packing away, feeling confident and nervous.
The scales soon appeared and I had ammassed the incredible total of 1lb 8ozs, a few pegs later and I've definitely won my section, a few more pegs later and I've only got to beat Leo Aungier in the end peg !!
The lads had told me he was catching OK and had one good fish so as we get to his peg and he lifts out his keepnet I'm bricking it. Soon as I saw it I was well pleased, he only had a pound I reckoned and sure enough
he had a few ozs over the pound but not nine of them.
So there I am, I've finally done it actually won a match. I've had a few section wins since I started this
madness but never an actual match win. Happy days, just my luck it was on the day of the lowest turn out but in all honestly, I was so happy to have actually won I couldn't have cared less.
You might remember I said earlier that a couple of rare things happened and I'd get back to the second one.
Well theres the second one, me actually winning, lol.
Ask and you shall receive, or so they say, who are they ?
Never be afraid to ask questions of other anglers, way more often than not you'll get an answer
and it will help you out no end.
Roll on round 4 at the end of the month, can't wait. The sheet below shows all the final weights.
 | |
| 'Av iiiiiiiiiiiiit |
| . |
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Enfield Winter League, Round 2
Very late doing this update, thankfully after what turned out to be a great Summer I'm back working again.
Bit all over the place as a result and way behind on some things so here goes.
Sunday 17th of October saw us all meeting in the usual car park at 09.30 for the draw for round 2 of the 2010
Enfield Winter league.
13 hardy souls or more commonly known as big eejits handed over their entry money and dipped into the lucky box for a peg on a section I'd never fished before, Kilmore. The usual josstling for position ensued but with no sign of Pat Bartley nobody was actually trying to skip !! As Karl Woodhouse is drawing just in front of me a mobile rings and it's Pat, he's late, is on the way and will someone draw for him. I'm next and draw peg 4, then I draw for Pat and yep peg 3. This time I'm taking advantage of it and keeping an eye on him and what he does.
A very bleak and featureless peg 4 on the Kilmore stretch was ready to go with 15 mins before the all in
so time for a few snaps and a quick coffee. Nipped in to Pats swim with a riddle for him and sure enough
as we're having a quick chat someone yells all in.
I'd put three set ups together to fish four lines, fairly standard stuff really. A 4x10 Garbo DC17 was used for my far bank and inside line swims. These were fed with choppies and caster and both left alone till the last hour.
The two other lines were fished at 10 and 2 o clock in visible clear spots between what is still a very weedy stretch. Both were set up using Trabucco 4x12 pencil floats which I've become very fond of. The only change from the last time was the use of a tiny shot between float tip and pole end. This was done to sink the line and so aid presentation, it definitely helps to keep things still. It was my good mate from the Carlow Mafia that reminded me to do that when we met during round 1. One thing I have learned is that when a good angler gives you a tip, use it.
The line at 10 o clock was halfway across and was started with a golf ball size of Sensas Black Lake with a few dead red mags in it. I went for an 18 hook with a single red mag or a couple of pinkies. Just kept chopping and changing to try and tempt something but not a thing came off this line in 4 hours.
The line at 2 o clock was further across and was started off with a nothing but hemp a half full 50ml pole cup
was dropped in to it. A smaller hook on this rig i.e. a size 20 and fished it with pinkies only. Changes were brought about by using different coloured ones,nothing in particular stood out other than that all 8 yes all 8
fish that I did have came off this line. The two choppy lines were tried on and off over the last hour having been fed with small amounts of chopped worm and caster every 30 mins but they never looked like throwing up a fish at any stage and didn't.
One thing I do try to do is keep a close eye on anglers pegged next to me and when one of them is an
Irish International and an absolute master on these venues, I'd be mad not to. Again this time he had swung
two fish to hand before I had really started fishing and being honest it was soul destroying. What the hell is
he doing so differently, or what the hell am I doing so wrong. Over the course of the day I noticed him cupping in what looked like powder. It was just groundbait either very loosley squeezed or not squeezed at all. Noticing that gave me a clue or two as to his tactics and a chat afterwards confirmed them to me.
Roll on the next day and we'll see if I can use the same tactics to my advantage.
I finished the day having been rightly thumped by the man to my left who had a decent winter canal weight on what turned out to be a half decent venue, with lots of fish caught. The scrore sheet below shows the weights on the day.
Bit all over the place as a result and way behind on some things so here goes.
Sunday 17th of October saw us all meeting in the usual car park at 09.30 for the draw for round 2 of the 2010
Enfield Winter league.
13 hardy souls or more commonly known as big eejits handed over their entry money and dipped into the lucky box for a peg on a section I'd never fished before, Kilmore. The usual josstling for position ensued but with no sign of Pat Bartley nobody was actually trying to skip !! As Karl Woodhouse is drawing just in front of me a mobile rings and it's Pat, he's late, is on the way and will someone draw for him. I'm next and draw peg 4, then I draw for Pat and yep peg 3. This time I'm taking advantage of it and keeping an eye on him and what he does.
so time for a few snaps and a quick coffee. Nipped in to Pats swim with a riddle for him and sure enough
as we're having a quick chat someone yells all in.
I'd put three set ups together to fish four lines, fairly standard stuff really. A 4x10 Garbo DC17 was used for my far bank and inside line swims. These were fed with choppies and caster and both left alone till the last hour.
The two other lines were fished at 10 and 2 o clock in visible clear spots between what is still a very weedy stretch. Both were set up using Trabucco 4x12 pencil floats which I've become very fond of. The only change from the last time was the use of a tiny shot between float tip and pole end. This was done to sink the line and so aid presentation, it definitely helps to keep things still. It was my good mate from the Carlow Mafia that reminded me to do that when we met during round 1. One thing I have learned is that when a good angler gives you a tip, use it.
The line at 10 o clock was halfway across and was started with a golf ball size of Sensas Black Lake with a few dead red mags in it. I went for an 18 hook with a single red mag or a couple of pinkies. Just kept chopping and changing to try and tempt something but not a thing came off this line in 4 hours.
The line at 2 o clock was further across and was started off with a nothing but hemp a half full 50ml pole cup
was dropped in to it. A smaller hook on this rig i.e. a size 20 and fished it with pinkies only. Changes were brought about by using different coloured ones,nothing in particular stood out other than that all 8 yes all 8
fish that I did have came off this line. The two choppy lines were tried on and off over the last hour having been fed with small amounts of chopped worm and caster every 30 mins but they never looked like throwing up a fish at any stage and didn't.
 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Featurelss Peg 4, on Kilmore Stretch. |
Irish International and an absolute master on these venues, I'd be mad not to. Again this time he had swung
two fish to hand before I had really started fishing and being honest it was soul destroying. What the hell is
he doing so differently, or what the hell am I doing so wrong. Over the course of the day I noticed him cupping in what looked like powder. It was just groundbait either very loosley squeezed or not squeezed at all. Noticing that gave me a clue or two as to his tactics and a chat afterwards confirmed them to me.
Roll on the next day and we'll see if I can use the same tactics to my advantage.
I finished the day having been rightly thumped by the man to my left who had a decent winter canal weight on what turned out to be a half decent venue, with lots of fish caught. The scrore sheet below shows the weights on the day.
 | ||||
| Weights for round 2 Enfield Winter League 2010/11 |
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