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.
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| 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.
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| Jayz it's a boat !!!! |
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| 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.
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| 'Av iiiiiiiiiiiiit |
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