Match Angler


	CUDMORE FISHERIES

	cudmoretackle.co.uk

April 2008

Sunday 27^th April

This week’s match was to be fished on new pools, 1,3 and 4. The weather was not a bad as forecast, it was dull, the rain was holding off and it was not going to be windy for a change. The previous week had seen good temperatures and the water temp had risen to over 13C, summer was at last starting to arrive

At the draw I pulled out pool 3, peg 78, a good draw. I set up a feeder rod, and pole rigs for 13 metres (14 metres had not produced for the last few weeks), 6 metres and margin rigs.

I started as usual on the feeder, and had one mirror and a couple of F1’s in the first 45mins, looking down the bank a few fish were being caught on the pole, so I made a switch to 13 metres with no success. Another switch to 6 metres, on pellet, saw a slow response from the odd small skimmer and F1. I was now starting struggle and was slowly falling behind in my section. By regularly topping up the 6 metre line with pellets fed via a small pole cup I started to put a few bites together, more F1’s started to show along with the odd decent mirror up to 4lbs. I had now started to tray the margin rig and was pleased when I started to see signs of activity, which turned into a good run of mirrors up to 6lb. By 3pm I had approaching 50lb, so it was time to put another net in! By rotating the swims I kept the fish coming and although they never went mad sport remained steady

I was the first angler to weigh in on pool 3 and put 83lb onto the scales, which was the best weight so far, beating all the anglers on pool 4. The next peg pushed me close weighing 70lb. Peg 71 however easily beat these weights and put 111lb on the scales, a great weight all caught on a method feeder by Sam Bates. I could have done with some more fish on the feeder to boost my catch, however they just were not there.

Back at the café, I found out that my weight had finished 3^rd overall so another £60 came way, which is most welcome!

Tuesday 22nd April

This was the best day of the year of so far, I had seen 17C on the car thermometer earlier in the day, so was optimistic of a good night. I decided to fish on Avoca and settled on a peg in the corner. I had wanted to practice fishing paste so this was going to be my main line of attack. Due to the size of the fish in Avoca I set up a carp pole, 0.18 main line, and went armed with a 22in landing net, I was taking no prisoners!

Fishing paste at 7metres I was soon into some carp, which gave good sport throughout the 3 hour session. I ended up with 11 fish up to 12lb for an estimated 60lb catch, a very enjoyable session

Sunday 20^th April

This week saw a return to dull overcast weather accompanied by easterly wind, not great carp catching weather, the plus side was that the wind would not be as strong as the previous day.

The match saw a return to the new pools, pools 1,3 and 4 all single banked, good news, as the pools always fish better when single banked. At the draw I pulled out peg 90 on pool 3, an average draw on day. I would rather have been on the roadside end around 80 to 83 as the fish have been at that end all through the winter.

As walked towards my peg, the wind had already got up and was blowing from the east straight down the pool, not a good sign. I set up a tip rod for fishing the feeder and pole rigs for fishing at 14 metres, 6 metres and down the margins. For the first hour, I fished the feeder across for a mirror carp of around 3lb and 2 F1’s before the line dried up completely. A switch to 14 metres brought nothing, as did a further switch to 6 metres. Looking around nothing much was being caught, so it was a case of persevering on the pole swapping lines looking for bites. I Tench at 6 metres at 11am made up my mind to concentrate on this line. Gradually I started to pick up decent skimmer’s, on pellet, of around a pound and a half mixed in with the odd F1. By 3pm I had 21 fish for 35lb. I was doing so well that I put in my second net, its first outing for 6 months! The second net curse then struck, as I could not get a bite! The margin swims did not produce any bites which was disappointing as a late run of fish on these lines would have seen me record a big weight

A late run of fish saw me net a mirror carp, of over 3lb plus a few more F1’s and skimmers for a further 12lb, to end up on 47lb, placing me second on the pool behind Carl Johnson on peg 82, who had 9lb, that blank spell had cost me a pool win.

Back at the café, I found out that pool 3 was the best pool on the day, giving me second in the match. Despite a low turnout, I still picked up £60, which was gratefully received

Stay on

I was in 2 minds whether to bother to stay on this week as the weather had not improved during the day and if anything was now getting worse. To avoid a walk, I set up on Drumble peg 4, which was being affected by the wind, reasoning that it would die down as the evening went on. Wrong! it did not die down and after 40 mins with only one chub and one carp in the net it was time for a rethink. Out came the long pole and at 14 metres out towards the Island I could reach the relatively calm water. Bites came straight away and after a dozen decent sized stockies, I called it a day and went home.

Tuesday 15^th April

For this evening session I decided to fish peg 50 on Suez, as you can see, I have now turned into a real fish chaser! On plumbing up I was surprised to find out how shallow the peg is, my track rig from Sunday was far too deep, and needed to be replaced with another rig a couple of feet shallower. I had noticed how shallow peg 30 was on Sunday, obviously the fish at present are preferring the more sheltered shallow pegs on the venue. I also set up one rig for the far bank. A quick look down the track produced nothing so it was time to try the far bank, first couple of fish were small chub, before a bigger fish was hooked. I was only using a light elastic and 0.10 line, so it took a while before a 3lb mirror was safely in the net. If the fish were to remain that size I was under gunned on the tackle front. That fish was the biggest that I had hooked from Suez for ages, I need to draw that peg more often! The sun had now come out and the light was making fishing the far bank difficult, so it was time to switch to the track again, this time the fish had arrived and for the next 90 mins I had a bite every put in. I alternated two track swims, feeding and fishing pellet to end up with 28 fish for over 25lb, a nice way to spend the evening.

Sunday 13^th April

This week’s match was to be held on Suez and Brewster’s. I quite fancied a draw on Suez as the venue has been fishing well of late. Prior to the draw I thought about the pegs that have good form at present, 2 to 5, 19 to 24 and 48 to 50, all pegs at the end of their respective sides. I then drew peg 33 in the middle of the far bank! a draw that I just did not fancy one bit. On the way to my peg I stopped to chat to Andy Cunniffe who was on end peg 30 and commented that that peg was a real “**it or bust” peg, either brilliant or rubbish, how true that comment would turn out to be

Arriving at my peg I set up rigs for the far bank, track and near margins. As there is no far bank reed cover on 33, there are no far bank holding areas, all the “reed” pegs have “scoops” dug out using the digger which make ideal fish refuges. The weather was good with bright sunshine and no wind, the forecast however was for cold north wind later in the day, which would blow straight down my peg!

The match started of slowly for me but quickly for Andy, in fact he was landing his first fish as I was still feeding my swims! He had got 10 fish in the first 20 mins before I had my first bite, a small Tench from down the track. By the time I had got 4 fish, Andy had got an estimated 20lb! This was a poor start that I would never recover from. In fact after those first 4 fish I could not get a bite anywhere in my peg apart from a rogue chub from the far bank. In the end I had no option but to stick it out fishing the track for the odd bite

By the end of the match I had only got 18 small fish, mainly Tench for 13lb. Andy ended up with 53lb for 3^rd in the match. Peg 50, easily won the match with a brilliant weight of 78lb. Speaking to Rob Allen, after he had weighed in, revealed that he had caught decent F1’s up in the water! it must have been solid!

Stay on

As the weather was fine I decided to stay on for a short session on Drumble, by the time I had settled down at a peg in the far corner, the skies went dark and it started hailing. By the end of the storm the water was full of hail, the good news was that I was still catching throughout. The weather then improved, the rain and hail stopped and the wind died, although it was cold, the fish fed well. I had decided to fish the usual 2 margin lines, at approx 4 feet depth, feeding and fishing pellet. Sport was steady throughout the night and I ended with 29 fish for over 30lb. considering my performance in the match this was a pleasant way to end the day

Tuesday 8^th April

As the weather was reasonable, I decided on a couple of hours fishing after work, evening sessions for me are normally from 6pm until dark, so at this time of the year that gives me 2 hours. This week I decided to fish Suez peg 25. I set up a couple of rigs, one for the track and one for the far bank. After a slow start I started to put a few fish together from the far bank, mainly small Tench and stockies. The last 20 mins saw the track swim come to life with a few decent F1’s falling to pellet. I ended the session with 19 fish for approx 12lb, a reasonable return on a cold clear night.

Sunday 6^th April

Welcome to the April edition of Match Angler, what a difference a week makes, last week it felt like spring had finally arrived, this week it was –1C and there was a covering of snow on the ground! Having said that, at the draw the skies were blue and there was no wind, it actually felt warm despite the temperature

Due to the weather forecast, snow later in the day! there was a low turnout and the match would be run on Suez, a good choice considering the cold weather. At the draw, I was disappointed to pull peg 16 out of the hat, although better than 10 to 15, peg 16 never seems to compete with pegs 2 to 8 and 17 to 26. The last time I was on peg 16 I got well and truly beaten by the pegs either side to it would a priority to put that right this time around

Arriving at my peg, the snow was quickly melting and there was still no wind, I set up rigs for across the far bank, either side of the gap recently dug out and a rig for fishing the track. This time around I spent a long time plumbing the track to try to understand why I only caught from down my peg last time I fished this peg, I was surprised to find that the peg shallows up quickly on 16, in fact it is easily 18 ins deeper on 17 as it is on 15, bearing this in mind I set up a line at 14 metres opposite peg 17.

On pegs 13 and 19 were Steve Boyd and Carl Lane, an amazing coincidence as we had all been sitting on the same table in the café prior to drawing 3 pegs in a line. I would need to be on my guard today to avoid being in the middle if a Prescot “sandwich”

The match started off fairly quietly for me with only the odd fish, on maggot or pellet, coming from across and no fish from the track. Carl had established an early lead and Steve was also struggling. Pegs 21 and 23 were also quieter than expected, although 25 appeared to be catching well.

Going into the final 2 hours, I was getting indications across, however was experiencing a lot of foul hooked / lost fish, for a 90 min spell. I actually lost more fish than I caught, very frustrating. To make matters worse the Sun had now gone in, the wind had strengthened and it was snowing. Losing fish in a blizzard is not my idea of fun!

Things picked up in the final hour, a good run of fish saw me end up with 27lb the best weight from pegs 10 to 23. The worst weight from the other pegs on my side of Suez was 42lb! topped by Ian Sinker on peg 5 with 69lb. considering the weather, the venue fished brilliantly; when weights of 42lb+ do not even get a section prize you know it has been a good match

No “Stay on” this week, when its 1C and snowing I would rather go home, I am keen, but not that keen!

March 2008

Sunday March 31st

This week saw spring finally arrive, although the temp was only 6C at 8am, the forecast was for 12c later in the day, which when accompanied with a light wind would make for the most comfortable day of year so far

32 anglers were booked in for the match, which was being run new pools 1,2,3 and 4. My peg for the day was pool 2 peg 45. I had mixed feelings about this peg, one hand I was pleased to be on pool 2, however, usually it is better to be on an end peg on pool 2 rather than a peg in the middle.

Tactics for the day would be simple, a feeder for the far bank, a 14 metre line, 6 metre line and a margin rig. I started on the feeder for the first 45 mins with no bites or liners, obviously the fish were not in the shallow water. Next line to try was at 14 metres and this line started to produce the odd skimmer. The pegs to my right, 43 and 41, had already caught an odd carp whilst the pegs to my left were struggling like me

Half way through the match saw much the same result, the pegs to my right were now well in front and I still had not caught a carp. Going into the last couple of hours my 14 metre line was slowing up and I had now been caught up by peg 47. I had been sparingly feeding the 6 meter line and decided that now was the time to make a switch, 3 good skimmers all over a pound followed and which now gave me an estimated 15lb. A quick try o the margin rig proved fruitless as was the 14 metre line so it was back on the 6 meter line for the last 30 mins, a sailaway bite was hit with a positive lift of the pole and the result was several metres of elastic heading towards the middle of the pool, a carp at last I thought, 10 mins later a Barbel of over 3 lbs was safely in the landing net

At the weigh I put 20lbs on the scales the best weight so far on the pool. The remaining 2 pegs to weigh easily beat that with 33lb of peg 43 and 35lb from peg 41, both anglers had several carp in their respective weights, if only I could have added half a dozen decent carp to my weight!!

Back at the café I found that both the pool 2 weight had framed, 41 won the match and 43 was second, giving me the section by double default!

Stay On

As the clocks had changed the previous night and the weather was fair, it would be light until around 8pm, which meant one thing, the first “stay on” of the year. A quick meal in the café would be followed by a 2 hour session on Drumble.

I chose peg 5, a deep peg with good form at this time of year. Due to the limited time available, I set up 2 rigs one at 7 metres and one for the margin. The margin is deep on this side of the pool and I found a good 4 feet at the edge of the reeds. Both lines received a ball of crushed pellet, (left over from the match!). 20 mins at 7 metres saw only I carp landed and one hooked and lost. A switch to the margin swim resulted in an immediate run of fish, so I baited up the other margin to my left so that I could rotate the swims and gave up on the 7 metre line.

By 8 o’clock the light was fading quickly so it was time to pack up. My final total was 21 Carp and Barbel to 3lb for an estimated 30lb+, a very nice way to end the day. I am amazed that most pleasure anglers seem to go home at 5pm, when the best time of the day to catch fish at Cudmore are the final few hours of the day, this why I enjoy a few hours of pleasure fishing especially after a hard match.

Sunday March 23rd

This week saw winter return with a vengeance, the temp was 3C as I pulled into the car park and snow showers were forecast later in the day, its typical of the English weather that the start of spring and the earliest Easter for 60 years coincides with a cold snap

This week was the final round of the winter league and as the draw was about to close we only had one team member present, me! Paul Carnwell was on hols and Neil Powell was a “no show”. I needed 2 team members ASAP and found 2 willing conscripts in Paul Gibson and Mick Bennet. The draw placed Mick on Arena 23, Paul on Suez 43 and me on Pool 4 103, reasonable draw for all of us

The cold north easterly wind was blowing directly into my peg on pool 4, however the sun was shining and it did not feel as cold as the temperature suggested. As I was at my peg early I set up 2 rods, one for fishing he far bank and one for fishing the middle along with a pole rig for fishing at 14 metres and one for the near margin.

I started off with a small feeder fished across to the far bank for the first 45 mins with no response, due to the cold temperature I was not surprised that the fish were not in the shallow water. Looking around nothing was being caught so it was time to catch a fish to avoid a dry net. Maggot at 14 metres soon produced 2 small roach so at least I would be weighing in. I tried both feeder rods, however I still could not get a bite or liner on either rod. Back on to the pole line and the reward was a near 2lb skimmer, that made my mind up to concentrate for the rest of the match on the pole, switching between maggot and pellet.

I kept catching skimmers and roach steadily for the next 3 hours, before the Sun disappeared and the clouds started to look threatening. The last 2 hours were poor and as the hooter sounded the end of the match, snow started to fall heavily making packing up difficult

My peg was the first peg to weigh and I put 13lb of skimmers and roach on the scales. Considering that I had no carp I was pleased with my weight on the day. The next peg weighed 5lb, followed by 10lb and 12lb, just when I thought I was in with a shout of winning the section the last peg on the pool weighed in 24lb of carp!. Still I was pleased with second in the section and returned to the car park to clear the snow off my tackle before loading it into the car!.

Back at the café I looked at the team card and found that Mick had come 3^rd in his section and Paul was 4^th in his section giving us a total of 9 points on the day, placing the team 5^th, our best result of the series!! We even beat Prescot by one point on the day to win our mini “bottom of the table” challenge, despite the fact that their sub turned in a section winning performance on the day

Overall “front Suez” provided the top 3 frame places, so no surprises that I drew I drew a peg on “back Suez” for the team!

Despite not winning any money during the match I did not go home empty handed as I was paid out £55 for finishing mid table in the first division of the Premier league! It is only £5 to join up for the next league, which starts in April so let’s hope it is as well subscribed as this years league

Sunday 16^th March

Ever had one of those day’s?, my day started with me looking for my mobile phone and finding it in the washing machine!, needless to say I was not best pleased with my “other half” when I found out what had happened!

At the draw bag I pulled out peg 16 on Suez, right venue, wrong peg, recently the money has been won from pegs 4 to 8 and 18 to 24, still at least I should have a few bites

On arriving at my peg I was met with a cold north easterly wind, however the peg was still fishable. Following recent trends on Suez, I set up a maggot rig for the track and a pellet rig for fishing across.

On the whistle, the first line of attack was on the far bank pellet rig, feeding micro’s and fishing an expander on the hook in 3 swims brought me no bites and no fish in the first hour, switching to the maggot rig down the track for he second hour brought me the same no bites and no fish. To make things worse Andy Cunniffe on peg 18 had caught a few early fish across and was no starting to catch well down the track, Warren Heath on peg 14 had also caught similarly, although not as many fish. The third and fourth hours saw me trying the same lines again and only catching 2 small Tench down the track (when I say small I mean small, one was 8oz and the other was only just bigger than a gudgeon!, the smallest Tench I have ever caught!). Across I had had a couple of small “stockies”, barely weighing a pound each and one of those was foul hooked!

With 90 mins to go, Warren had an estimated 12lb and Andy was on 25lb, I had under 3lb!, not good. In an act of boredom I opened up another line at 11 metres towards peg 18 using my track rig, as the peg deepens towards peg 18, this effectively meant that I was fishing about 5 metres from the nearside bank, instead of fishing just maggot on this line I fed a decent amount of micro’s and maggots and left the peg to settle for 20 mins. After a quick look on the other still unproductive lines I dropped in on the new line and promptly caught a decent 2lb F1, 3 more followed and then all to soon the final whistle sounded.

I ended up with just under 12lb, Andy won the section with 33lb and Warren ended up with 17lb. I was amazed that the fish where there to be caught if only I had fished into peg 17 earlier, it just goes to show tightly shoaled up the fish be. On speaking to Andy afterwards, he had fished heavier rigs and elastics than I had, so it was locating the fish that was important on the day rather than fishing fine tackle that made all the difference. My side of Suez was “out fished” by the other bank, which is where the “frame” money ended up. Oh well there is always next week

Sunday 9^th March

This week was another teams of 3 winter league round, after last weeks performance at the draw bag, Paul gave up his new captains role, and handed over to me. After the run of draws that I have had in the last 18 months at Cudmore, I was surprised that anyone would ask me to draw for them! First peg out of the bag was for Neil, Suez peg 23, what a flyer, thinking that I was now on a roll, the next peg was for Paul, Arena peg 7, not great. The final peg was for me, Pool 6 peg 196, to say I was disappointed was an understatement

Pool 6 is double banked for winter league matches and this makes the pool even harder than normal. I would have preferred a draw on any of the other pools as they are single banked, this gives you far more options as you are not limited to only being able to cast to half way across the pool

The weather was good compared to last week, the wind was reasonable, conditions were bright and the air temperature was 8C and forecast to rise to 10C later in the day

On arriving at my peg I found that I would have the wind and Sun in my face all day, oh for a peg on the other bank! As I placed my box on my peg, I felt something tugging on my arm, on further inspection I found a bomb rig hanging from my fleece, imagine my surprise when as I removed the hook I found that I had been hooked by the angler on the opposite bank, Dave Burrows!

Due to the limited space available I only set up one tip rod, a light bomb rod, a pole rig for 14 metres, and a near bank margin rig. (The same rigs as described in the Feb article when I drew 193)

The start of the match was quite uneventful with no bites on the bomb rod or pole! It took nearly 2 hours for the first fish to be landed, a 2oz Roach, caught at 14 metres. A few more followed before a decent Skimmer of over a 1lb found its way into my net. Bites then dried up again

With the match now nearly half way through, it was decision time, the wind was now getting stronger and the Sun was now directly in front of me making it impossible to fish the pole. I decided to set up a mall method feeder and fish it towards peg 195. 10 mins later the tip flew round and after a spirited fight a 3lb mirror was in the net. Another decent Skimmer and a small F1 followed and just as I thought that I had “cracked” it things went quiet again. Apart from a few more “bits” that was my last action of the day. Dave Burrow’s had landed a couple of late mirrors to overtake me in the last hour and as I “packed up” I feared that I would last in the section.

As the scales arrived, 30lb, from peg 190 was the best weight, my 9lb 12oz beat the other angler on my bank so at least I would not be last. As I followed the scales around the pool I was surprised to find that apart from Dave Burrow’s, who weighed 14lb, my weight was 3^rd best on the pool. Hopefully, this would help the overall team score.

Back at the café, Neil had fished a good match on Suez, winning the section with 53lb and coming 2^nd overall. Unfortunately Paul had a grueller on Arena, weighing 2lb and scoring 7 points. Still 11 points is our best result to date.

The match was won from pool 1, peg 8, and 3^rd was Arena peg 1, if only I had drawn that peg for Paul!

Sunday 2^nd March

Welcome to the March edition of Match Angler, as I write this I cant believe that it March already, what happened to February?, January seemed to go on forever and then February went by really quickly

This week saw another round of the winter league teams of 3, after his recent run of drawing good pegs for himself in opens and rubbish pegs for the winter league, Captain Neil Powell relinquished his responsibility and handed over the prestigious captains title to Paul Carnwell. After successfully captaining the team to the bottom of the league (excluding the teams that have not turned up!), it was the least he could do!

Paul’s first draw saw himself on pool 3, peg 74, myself on pool 4, peg 106 and Neil on Suez, peg 8, the best draw of the 3

The day was relatively warm for the time of the year, 8C, and the weather was sunny. As I drove past Drumble, several anglers had already started fishing, the pegs in the corner were flat calm and bathed in sunshine, it looked just like a summers day. When I arrived at pool 4 I was in for a shock, the wind was blowing a gale and the surface of the pool, especially on the low numbers, looked more like a scene from the north sea!. As I placed my box down on peg 106, I could see that it was going to be tough day, anything that was not anchored down was going to be blown away!

My next peg neighbours for the day, were Dean Barlow on peg 104 and Andy May on peg 108, no pressure there then! With anglers of that caliber, along with anglers practicing for the forthcoming winter league semi final it would be hard securing good section points

The wind if anything, was now getting stronger, so the first decision was to set up a bomb rod for fishing down the middle of the pool and a medium feeder rod for fishing across to the far side. I also set up a short margin pole for fishing against the near bank cover at 4 metres, any further out would be very difficult to present the bait properly

The first task was to decide what method to fish across with, looking at the water it was noticeable that the wind had put allot more color into the water, this should allow the resident mirror carp to move into the shallower water on the far bank where the bank side disturbance would be less (we were single banked this week). I decide that my opening gambit would be a small method feeder fished right across to within a meter of the far bank. The bomb rod was set up with a small cage feeder to fish maggot down the middle of the pool

The match started off well for me with 4 good sized mirrors in the first 90mins, giving me a good lead over Dean and Andy at the next pegs. Peg 102 was also catching well and was just in front of me at this stage of the match. My peg then died on me, producing only 2 decent F1’s in the next 2 hours. Andy May was now catching up and Dean was now level with me. It was time for a change in tactic’s, a quick look on the pole down the margins had produced nothing, and with the strong wind creating large waves that were breaking over the near side reeds, never looked like producing anything either! The next hour was spent fishing a small feeder down the middle, producing 2 decent skimmers about a pound each, followed by a small skimmer and a roach.

Going into the last hour it was decision time, I was slipping down the section fast, Dean had overtaken me and Andy had caught up. Both anglers had caught F1’s down the middle whilst I had not. I felt that I needed at least one more mirror, and catching that last roach made my mind up to go back on the method feeder for the rest of the match. I cant see the point in fishing a method that is producing small fish when you need to catch mirrors to do well on the new pools. Some of the visiting anglers, practicing for the angling times winter league semi final have been fishing bloodworm and joker, catching 10lb of bits and coming nowhere. The silvers are just too small and there are too many mirrors averaging 3lb+, to do well in the section you need to catch these larger fish, although it can be a real “bottle tester”!

15 mins later, the tip round and a 3lb mirror was safely in the net, this was to be the last fish however, and as the hooter sounded for the end of the match, I ended up with 5 mirrors, 2 F1’s, 2 skimmers and a few bits, weighing just over 24lb. Dean had weighed in 33lb and peg 102 had weighed in 51lb! so I was 3rd out the first 4 pegs weighed, not wanted to hear in a team match! . Things improved however as Andy May weighed in 22lb and then the weights determinate until the end of the section were peg 116 weighed in 48lb. This left me 4^th in the section and a rare next peg win over Andy May!!

Team wise Neil fished a good match to come 3^rd in his section on Suez and Paul was 7^th on pool 3. 14 points was our best result to date, (9^th on the day), things are looking up!

Overall, Suez won the day with 54lb from peg 6, Pool 4 was second and 3rd with 51lb from peg 102 (2 pegs from me!) and 48lb from peg 116. Suez then dominated the lesser places taking 4^th, 5^th and 6^th, proving that the recent restocking has had a big impact on the overall weights post Xmas

February 2008

Sunday 24th Feb

What a difference a week makes, last week on my way to Cudmore it was –6C, this week it was 9c, 15 degrees warmer!. This week the complex was busy, due to club matches on Arena, Pool one and bottom Suez this week’s open was to be pegged on top Suez and pools 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6. As the new pools were double banked, this meant that it was crucial to draw Suez to stand a good chance of winning the match

Armed with this information I then drew peg 193 on pool 6, so much for a winning strategy at the draw bag. On arriving at the peg I was faced with a moderate south westerly blowing straight at me, opposite me was an angler who was extremely disappointed to see me now setting up opposite him, I have not so much cursing whilst setting up for a long time! The forecast for today was for rain to spread in form the west during the morning, if this happened, I was going to get very wet. As the match’s have also returned to summer hours, i.e. 6 hours, 10.30 to 4.30, I would have an extra hour to suffer if I got a soaking

I set up the usual 14 metre rig, 0.14 mainline, 0.12 hook length to a size 18 hook. As the weather was so mild, I decided to also set up 2 margin rigs, one rig for fishing approx 2 metres from the bank and one rig for fishing tight against the near bank cover. Both rigs would be fished at approx 6 metres along the bank

I also set up a tip rod to fish a small feeder down the middle. Normally in Feb I would have expected to be fishing corn on a bomb rod, however, the water today was very coloured so I reasoned that a small feeder would be better

At the start of the match I had a few casts on the bomb to try and locate some carp with no success, so I switched to the small cage feeder and still had no success!. With over an hour gone and no bites it was time to switch to the pole line at 14 metres. I had been trickling in a few micros and the odd grain of corn, so was expecting an immediate response, however after 20 mins and still no bites it was time to go back on the tip again!

Looking around, nothing much was being caught, the few fish that had been caught where to the anglers on the opposite bank to my right. Everyone on my pool had netted at least one fish though so after 2 hours I was exactly last on pool 6. In order to avoid a potential dry net I tried maggot on the hook at 14 metres and was rewarded with a small roach that promptly fell off as I unshipped. Still on a dry net I tried the same line again and was rewarded with a small F1 of about a 1lb. 15 mins later a ghost carp of over 2lb joined the F1 in the keep net. This brief up turn in sport was short lived and again the peg died.

Going into the last hour, the rain had been and gone, the wind had subsided and conditions where good for the time of the year. Sport however was still non existent for me, only the 2 pegs to my right were catching, the rest of the anglers on the pool were catching nothing. Having tried the bomb, 14 metre line and deep margin rig for the umpteenth time, more out of boredom than anything else, I decided to try the shallow margin rig. The margins on the new pools are deeper than last year as the levels have been increased by about 9 inches, as a result all my rigs are now too short and need a short length of line to make them usable! After aprox 10 mins my float dipped, a quick lift of the pole saw several feet of no 12 elastic disappearing towards the center of the pool. I don’t know who was more surprised, me or the fish!. After a brief fight a nice mirror, weighing at least 4lb, was safely in the keep net. 15 mins later another mirror of a similar size joined it in the net. The hooter sounded for the end of the match all too soon and my 4 carp weighed in at over 12lb to win me nothing!. 32lb won the section from the road side end peg.

As expected, Suez won the day with 43lb and also provided 2nd and 4th. Pool 5 peg 144 was 3rd, Pool 4 peg 104 was 5th and pool 3 peg 96 was 6th. Needless to say Pool 6 did not figure in the frame!

Sunday 17th Feb

This week saw the return of the frosts, the lowest temp I recorded on the car thermometer on the way to Cudmore was –6C. Needless to say it would have a big impact on the fishing. Today was to be a teams of 3 winter league match, however, due to the conditions the league match was postponed and it was to be an open match instead. Considering the conditions the turnout was excellent, over 60 anglers were booked in which gave the organizers a problem as the new pools were frozen over. It was decided to run the match on the ice free Arena pool and the Suez canal. Due to the number of anglers competing this meant putting in all the pegs on the 2 venues rather than the usual every other peg

At the draw I pulled out Arena peg 18, not a good draw. As I walked to my peg I was hoping that the pegs either side of me would not be drawn as needed as much room as possible on that side of the pool. As I placed my tackle on my peg, no one appeared to be close by so was hopeful of some room. Peg 18 is close to an aerator (opposite peg 17) so I was looking forward to a “chuck” into the next peg!

On returning to my peg (we take so much tackle nowadays that either 2 journeys or a sizeable trolley are required!), I was disappointed to find a “full house” for at least 6 pegs either side of me, I had also lost the aerator to my neighbour in peg 17!

Due to the confinements of the peg, methods were to be the pole at 14 metres and the tip to cover the rest of the peg. Pole tackle was a 4 x no 10 float to 0.14 mainline with a 0.12 hook length, (due to the size of the fish in Arena i.e. up 20lb it is not wise to fish any lighter!) and a light bomb rod to fish hair rigged corn. The start of the match had been put back to 10.45am to allow the anglers on Suez to break the ice so I had plenty of time to set up. In fact I was ready so early, I set up a medium feeder rod in addition to the bomb rod, this gave me the option of fishing a small feeder if required

The match started and during the first hour I searched my peg using the bomb rod looking for a decent carp. Looking around, nothing was happening and I had not seen a single fish caught. It seemed that my side of the pool was devoid of any fish!. During the second hour a few small fish were being caught by anglers fishing the pole on maggot. Despite the conditions on the day I reasoned that at least 30lb would be needed, so I resisted switching to the pole too soon as the bomb rod gave me my best chance of catching a carp. The conditions on the bank were now quite comfortable, the Sun was shining, there was hardly any wind and the air temperature felt quite warm. Going into the 3rd hour I was still biteless so more out of boredom rather than anything else I tried the pole line, after what seemed like ages I caught 2 small roach (to avoid a dry net!) and decided to go back on the tip for the rest of the match. 6 pegs to my left, Dean Barlow had started to catch a few Chublets on the pole line, probably attracted into the area as it was down stream of the aerator. Despite the aerators being switched off prior to the match the water was still moving around the pool, it seems that once the water movement has been started on Arena it takes hours to stop!

Going into the last hour I could see that some pegs in the late 20’s were starting to catch carp, however apart from them, nothing else was being caught. A couple of anglers had lost a sizable Carp, probably foul hooked and Dean Barlow had carried on catching Chublets. I had stayed on the tip, ringing the changes between, hair rigged corn, maggot on the feeder, corn on the feeder and even a small method feeder to catch exactly nothing else!

At the weigh in my 2 roach weighed 4oz, thanks to the generous scalesman! and only 2lb took my section (one chublet and one small skimmer). Peg 27 easily won the pool with 26lb (3rd in the match). 11lb was second on the pool from peg 4. My section had the lowest section winning weight on the entire match!, I must now the venue record of being placed in the lowest weight sections on Cudmore, I wonder if they do a prize for that?

Sunday 10th Feb

Sunday 10th dawned with yet another significant change in the weather, this week it was a frost followed by a still Sunny day. The bright, still conditions along with an increase in air pressure does not bode well for carp catching!

On arriving at café the temperature was still below freezing, -1C was showing on the car dashboard as I parked up. This week the whole match was to be on the new pools as club matches were booked on the other pools and canals. With the Sunday attendances increased by anglers practicing for the forthcoming winter league semi final, the new pools were going to be “double banked “ for the first time since the autumn. This along with the weather conditions would provide difficult fish catching conditions

At the draw I pulled out peg 31 on pool 1, I was please to be on pool 1, however I would have preferred to have been pegged at either end of the pool rather than in the middle. I set up the usual bomb rod along with 3 pole rigs, 4 x no12 and 4x no 10 to size 16 hooks and .10 hook length’s to cover lines from 14 metres to just 3 metres out (6 metres along the bank towards the next peg). If the match had been single banked I would not have bothered with the near line.

As I tackled up, the pool was flat calm and I was sure that the bankside disturbance would keep the fish in the middle of the pool. At the start of the match I fed all lines sparingly with a few grains of corn and a sprinkling of micro’s, and went straight out on the bomb with hair rigged corn. Looking around nothing much was being caught so I stayed on the bomb. The decision paid of as the tip pulled and a 2lb mirror was soon in the net. During the next hour, 2 more carp followed before the peg went dead. I spent he next hour casting around looking for a bite to no avail. By now the odd carp was being caught and my early lead was being pegged back.

On switching to the pole, rotating and feeding all the lines, only the occasional small skimmer and gudgeon showed. I now had a decision to make, stay on the pole and catch bits or go back out on the bomb and try and catch some more carp, needless to say the bomb won! Unfortunately, the rest of the match remained biteless! . Despite staying on the bomb for most of the day, I was still ahead of the anglers on either side of me. The angler to my left had given up and gone for a walk at 2pm whilst the angler to my right, spent the day fishing for bits on the pole. I was still confident that my 3 carp would beat his bits weight, when I noticed allot if elastic pouring out of his pole, (that was no gudgeon!), after much shipping in and out a 3lb carp, foul hooked in the fin, on .06 line! was in the landing net, so much for beating the anglers either side!

At the weigh in, my 3 carp and a few bits weighed 8lb v 10lb at the next peg, that carp made the difference!

Overall the prize money on pool 1 went the pegs on my right, peg 16 won the match with 50lb, peg 24, opposite bank, came 2nd with 31lb, peg 21 won the other section with 18lb and peg 9 won my section (opposite bank slightly to the right of peg 31) with 20lb

Sunday 3rd Feb

Welcome to February’s edition of Match Angler, the start of the month saw winter arrive with snow, hail, frost and high winds affecting the north west. By Sunday the temperature was up to 6C, however the wind was already blowing a gale as I drove into the car park

Today’s match was to be held on the new pools, 3,4,5, and 6 and Suez. At the draw in went the hand and out came Suez peg 2. Peg 2 is not a great draw, however, being an end peg, it does give a degree of cover on a windy day. On arriving at the peg, the wind was gusting around the peg and although the water was reasonably calm, the strong gusts would make presentation very difficult

I set up several rigs to cover both the track and far side swims, I was going to give myself as many options as possible! Rigs were the usual 4 x no 10 and 4 x no 14 floats, .10 and .08 line to size 20 and 18 hooks. Elastic was the now scaled down no. 8 and no. 5, which would help ensure that all the fish I hooked would stay on and be landed, at least that was the theory!

The match started uneventfully for me with no bites across or down the track, Paul Shone at the next peg had already had a decent Carp of approx 2lb and this was to be an ominous sign of things to come. The wind was now getting stronger and it was proving difficult to keep the pole still, Paul had already lost one rig in the far bank reeds when he again found himself snagged across on pulling for a break he ended up with the top 3 in his hand, 13 metres of elastic and the rig still attached to something solid, on grabbing the top 3 half way up and lifting sharply the inevitable happened and the no 1 section snapped, Paul was now left holding what can only be described as the biggest swing tip ever seen on Suez, the air was now blue with expletives, cursing the weather, venue, reeds etc! After tackling up yet again, Paul was soon catching carp number 2 and 3!

Around and hour and half into the match, a switch from pellet to maggot across, found a couple of carp, before things again went quiet, Paul had by now admitted to 8 carp so I was well and truly behind. Even though I was rotating 8 swims I just could not find any more carp, the last 3 hours saw me net a nice Perch over 1lb, a 12oz chub and several roach up to 4oz. At the scales I weighed 6lb 10oz and felt that I had been well and truly thrashed by the rest of the anglers. Paul put an impressive 27lb on the scales, an excellent result from peg 4. I decided to assist in the weigh in to see how the other anglers had fared, pegs 6 and 8 had already gone home, peg 10 did not weigh and peg 12 had less than me, I was second in the section, 21lb behind the winner! The next section, as expected, fished much better with 30lb coming from peg 18.

Back at the café, I was surprised to find out that Paul had come 4th in the match and that I had taken the section by default, I now felt allot better about the day! It just goes to prove that you should never give up and always weigh in no matter how badly you think you have done.


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