Foxcotte Lake 23/01/ 2011

Foxcotte Lake from the top bank.


My first trip to Foxcotte for a while and I was looking forward to some roach fishing. The weather had been changeable the week before and with a few hard frosts the fishing could be tricky. I pulled 17 out of the hat and made my way there. With Nick for company on 16 hopefully there would be some fish in the area as Nick always draws on fish!





Peg 17 on the left with 16 in close proximity.



The water had a slight tinge to it, and whilst plumbing up I found a lot of weed in the peg and it was very difficult to find a clear area to fish. Nick on the other hand caught a fish on a bare hook, I knew he would have a load of fish in his peg! With so much weed in the area I decided to fore go any rods, and set up a couple of rigs on the pole. I found a small hole to fish in at 12m straight in front of me, and one at an angle to my left. I set up a 0.3 gram DS9 0.10 to 0.08 611-20 to a pink hollow, and a 0.4 gram DS9 0.12 to 0.10 611-18 to a yellow hollow. I also plumbed up next to the tree on my left at 6m. I decided to fish over groundbait in front of me and to put some chopped worm and caster in on the left angled swim. A 50/50 mix of black lake and match blend well riddled was the mix. I had worm, caster and maggot as bait. At the all in i cupped in three balls of groundbait with some caster in straight in front of me and half a pot of chopped worm each on the other 2 swims.
The first ten minutes were a bit of a disaster, with me faffing about, the float wasn't quite sitting correctly and I was putting on and taking shot off! I managed to settle down and hooked a couple of small roach. Nick was getting a few, with some netter roach in there for good measure. The bites were slow in coming and the weed was a problem, I did manage to catch another couple of fish when I decided to fetch a finer elastic out of the bag as the pink hollow was to heavy for the small roach that I was getting. I took off the rig from the pink hollow and put it onto a top set with 3 elastic. After I did that I couldn't get a bite! Swapping to the other lines didn't improve matters, with nothing forthcoming. I dropped a down to a finer hook and hook length but it didn't make a difference. A good hour and a half had passed before I caught another small roach. Nick was still getting a few but the whole lake seemed to be fishing hard with some anglers walking. I could see James catching steady on the sluice, and Buzz next to him catching the odd fish. I was struggling now with the weed, so when Nick went for a walk I fetched an on the drop rig out of the box and attached it to the 3 elastic, with the plan to fish above the weed.
I started pinging caster and maggot and kept lifting and dropping the rig in, this worked to a degree and I started to string a few fish together, only tiny but at least it was something. I would get a couple then it die for some time, it was difficult to keep them coming. I did this for the remainder of the match as it was the only way I could get a bite!

Hard work for not a lot.

The scales came round and I weighed a massive 1lb 2oz, 21 small fish, good enough though to take the section by double default! Nick had 2lb 8oz for third, and James and Buzz either side of the sluice were 1st and 2nd respectively, all in all a very hard day for all.

Greenridge Farm. 16/01/2011

Having not been out for a couple of weeks due to work/snow ice/ Christmas etc. I was looking forward to the match which was on lakes 3 & 4. I had heard that a few fish had been coming out in the regular Saturday matches, but it was patchy. Whilst taking my gear down to the lakes prior to the draw I managed to tread in some dog dirt, hmmm nice! Time would only tell if this was a good sign, or I was going to have "one of those days! ". At the draw I pulled out peg 36 on the middle of lake 4, not quite what I was hoping for as it is quite narrow and shallow. The end pegs had been quite kind to me on lake 4 in the past, and was hoping for a nice end peg! I did have the next best thing as peg 35 to my left hadn't been put in, so I had a nice margin to fish, if they were to come in.

I was going to fish three lines, tight across at 11.5m, down the middle at 6m, and to my left just before peg 35's platform. Whilst plumbing up I had forgotten how shallow it was and couldn't find much more than 2ft anywhere in the peg, actually it was pretty even, which made it easy as far as rigs would go. I set up 3 rigs, an image dibber on 0.10 to a barbless 611-20, to a pink hollow. A slightly heavier image dibber on 0.12 to a pr32-18, to a yellow hollow, and a heavy rig which was a Carpa cube on 0.14 to a 911-16, to a green hollow, for the margins. As the depths were similar I could use any of the rigs on any swim. I had corn, maggots, micro pellet and some 4mm expander's, At the all in I cupped a few grains of corn to my left into the margins, and half a small pole pot of micros and corn at 6m. I was going to feed the far swim with a toss pot. My intentions were to have a look on the corn first off, before switching to the maggot if the corn didn't work.

I slipped a grain of corn on the 0.12 rig and a few in the toss pot and had a look at the far bank swim, after 5 minutes the float dipped and the first small carp of a 1lb was heading it's way to the net, a good start, perhaps the dog pooh was a good omen! Ten minutes later and number 2 of a similar size to the first was in the net. Then almost instantly number 3 this time slightly bigger. Then nothing! For a good 20 minutes or so. Stu to my left on peg 34 had had a couple and Simon to my right on peg 37 had had one. I had a look on the 6m swim but there was no bites there to be had, so I went back to the far swim, this time on maggot. There was not sign on the far line except by small fish towing the bait about. By now Stu was fishing in the margins and almost instantly he had a lump on, I kept an eye on him whilst trying to get the far line to come back to life. Stu then had another couple of lumps out of the margins, so i fed the far line with some corn and micros and decided to have a go in the margins myself.

A few minutes had passed before the float wobbled before burying, and a nice fish of 2lb had graced my landing net, not the size of fish Stu was catching, but welcome none the less. I had a few more reasonably sized fish, before I hooked one of Stu's lumps, which I promptly lost underneath the platform! This sort of killed my margins for a bit, I so re-fed and went back over to the far line. Stu was still getting the odd lump in the margins, and by now was well in front on the lake, and as far as I could tell I was second. Back out onto the far swim with corn and a small dip in the float resulted in a 1lb carp. Another couple followed before it died again. Back onto the margin line, again a small carp of a 1lb or so, followed by another couple, again nothing like the size Stu was catching! After having a look on the 6m swim, again with no bites, I went back onto the far line. After a bit the float dipped and I hooked into a fish of a decent size, I played it carefully across the lake before messing about to much and it dived under my net and I lost it ! Total Clampetry! The two best fish hooked and both of them lost!

The last 45 minutes of the match and swapping from the margins to the far line kept some fish coming, nothing big and not frequently enough to catch up Stu. At the all out I had 18 carp, not to bad, I think I had more fish than anyone on the lake but they were all of the small size! The scales came round and I weighed 29lb 14oz good enough for second on the lake and another nice pick up, Stu Weighed 52lb lump fishing, I think I cleared the small fish out of the way for him! Now where's that DVD on catching big fish....!

Upper Thames Winter League Final Round. ESKIMO FISHING! 05/12/10

The final round of the Upper Thames Winter League on The Kennet & Avon Canal at Devizes had come around, after some heavy snow the previous week and some severe frosts prospects looked hard for the match. Whist the snow had gone, several days of brutal frosts were going to make conditions and fishing very tricky. At the draw the team was on peg 2, and I was on b2 on a section up at Allington. I had not fished this bit before so new territory for me. After a long walk to the canal, I was greeted with a frozen canal and the prospect of an ice braking session, whilst I knew it would be frozen, I just didn't realize quite how thick it would be. My section was split either side of a swing bridge, with B1,2,3 one side and 4,5,6,7 the other. I got to my peg and dug the ice breaker out of the carryall. The first three chucks with the ice breaker did not go well, bouncing across the surface of the ice! After a few expletives about how thick the ice must be, I started attacking it from the edge first.

After 10 minutes of furiously swinging the ice breaker over my head I finally managed to break through, the ice was 3-4 inches thick! This was going to turn into a mammoth ice breaking session, one way of working off your breakfast and keeping warm! It was extremely hard and exhausting work chipping away at it, after 2 hours and the match due to start and a couple of huge blisters on my hands, I had managed to break to a distance of 6 meters, that would have to do! Talking to Simon from Blackmore vale next door he arrived at the same conclusion! A few minutes with the net to clear all the broken ice and I was ready to set up! I had just put my box in position when someone shouted the all in, hmm I was going to be a bit late in starting fishing! I set up 2 rigs, both 0.9 to 0.7 on 1-2 elastics, one had a 511-22 and one a 511-24, plus some finer hook lengths should they be needed. Whilst I was setting up the ice was forming in the hole I had just created, and had to swirl the pole cupping kit to keep it ice free. I was going to fish at 5m, and at 6m, as far as I had broken. I did touch the ice with one of my rigs whilst setting up, and there it stayed glued to the ice! ( note to self don't touch the ice with your rigs! )

Just before 11 o'clock and I was ready to fish, I cupped in some punch crumb on the two lines, hopefully I would get a few on the punch. I kept alternating between the two lines but nothing, not even an indication, no one had caught to my right either, but the guy to my left had 2 small perch. After 45 minutes the float moved sideways slightly, I lifted and felt resistance, I carefully played it and slipped the net under a 2oz skimmer, phew! I hadn't blanked! Back out on the punch but no more bites, so I decided to turn the 6m swim into a worm line, as the chap to my left had another small perch. I chopped up a lobby and a few dendrabena and included a pinch of squatt and minced it up. I fed this, and had another cat ice clearing session, which was forming every few minutes. Out with a squatt on the hook, after a few minutes the float buried but I missed it! I wasn't quite expecting such a positive bite! Back out again with squatt and the float dipped, this time I hooked it, it turned out to be a netter roach, as far as I could tell I was doing well! No more bites for twenty minutes or so, time for a re-feed. Again a lobby, a few dendra and a pinch of squatt minced up.

After a phone call from Dave Tucker using Kieth's phone, ( cheapskate! ) I went back out on the squatt, the float dipped again and another nice netter roach, I was beating the guys around me as Simon was still blanking and the guy to my left was only catching the odd tiny perch. The ice was forming quicker now and keeping my hole clear was becoming a problem. I had a few small roach and a tiny perch, then the bites slowed. Another re-feed again not to much, buy now it was 2.30pm. It was getting colder buy the minute, and so was I. After 10 minutes or so after the feed the fish had switched on, catching tiny roach with the odd bigger one thrown in, even missing a few bites. I was catching well when the all out came even catching a few on flouro pinkie. Simon blanked next door and I knew I had beaten the guy to my left, just had to wait for the scales to see how the other side of the bridge had done. Following the scales the ice the other side of the bridge was a lot thinner, at the weigh in I put 2lb 1oz on the scales, this was made up of 23 fish, for 3rd in section, not to bad a day after all.

Back at the pub for the results, the team had done it! Second on the day with 50 points, and winning the league! A superb result for the whole squad. A nice trophy and medals for the squad, and an individual champion in the guise of Stu Dabbs. A hard day for everyone but a thoroughly enjoyable one for every body, and a semi final to look forward to at Gold Valley in March, lets hope it's warmer!

Round 5 Upper Thames Winter League 21/11/2010

No post for a bit due to not going fishing, ( circumstances beyond my control ) sorry about that but normal service is now resumed! You can tell I haven't blogged for a bit because I keep forgetting to take the camera! Oops! Words will just have to paint the pictures for me! ( I hope I don't bore you to tears! ) Having walked the bank last week, and with Andover still leading the league, I was looking forward to it especially having not going out for a bit. The canal around Bedwyn had fished well the previous round, with some good weights, just a couple of sections seemed to be fishing hard. I had prepped my gear, tied numerous rigs, and loads of hook lengths, all systems go.
At the draw Barry had pulled peg 4, all the team on 4 just different sections, A4, B4 etc. I had F4, in a section known as the Beeches, it had fished well the previous week, with the winner coming from this section, catching some sizable perch, and with good back up weights of small fish. When I got to my peg I was next door to the match winning peg from the previous round, I had reeds at 10 o'clock and 2 o'clock on the far bank, with a gap in between that went back to metal piling's. Info from the John who was in this section last week was that it would be a fish race, apart from the end peg flier. Plumbing up I found no depth at the piling's, I had 18" at the reeds at 2 o'clock and 2ft at the 10 o'clock reed swim, both theses swims were at 14.5m. These 2 swims I was going to fish positively with chopped worm and caster, hoping that some of the big perch in the area would make an appearance! I set up an Image dibber on 0.10 straight through to a 611-16,to a nice soft pink hollow elastic. I had two other swims, one at 5m in front of me which was for the punch, a Garbolino 0.4 gram DS9, 0.9 to 0.7, 511-22 to a 1-2 elastic, and a squatt and ground bait line at 11.5m at 10 o'clock so to speak, a 0.3 gram Preston classic, 0.9 to 0.7 511-22, to a 3 elastic.
At the all in I fed a small pot of liquidized bread at 5m, 3 balls of ground bait laced with squatt and a few caster at 11.5m and both the two reed swims got half a pot of chopped worm and caster, I was going to have regular looks on the reed swims all day so I decided to feed it from the off. In on the punch line, bites straight away from small roach, but it was not as quick as I was hoping, a couple of bites and then nothing for a few minutes, I soon realized what the problem was when I had strike from a pike! After a few bite less minutes I re-fed and left it, by this time either side of me were catching a lot quicker than I was. A quick look on the reed swims produced a couple of small perch, so I fed those again and went onto the squatt line. This proved to be crucial as I started catching very quickly, catching up the two anglers either side, I was loose feeding squatt regularly and getting a bite a chuck. After 45minutes I fed a small ball of ground bait and had a quick look on the other lines.
I had a look on the 5m punch line, whilst I had a few fish it was nowhere near as quick as the squatt line, even so I kept feeding just in case that pike showed up on the squatt line! Over to the reed swims, I had half a dozen 2 oz perch, before it went quiet, not the size I was hoping for but not to be sniffed at. I re-fed these 2 swims and went back onto the 11.5m squatt line. The squatt line was still fishing well and I caught regularly for the next hour before this slowed a little, I gave it a couple more balls of ground bait before having a look at the reed swims. Just over half the match had gone and I was doing ok, I think I was still behind those either side of me but only just. First put in on the 10 o'clock reed swim resulted in a small perch, I shipped back out with another half a worm on and the float buried, and this time I was met with something a lot bigger. Playing it carefully I slipped the net under a perch of just over the pound, back out again and the next bite resulted in a perch of similar size, it is funny how they come along in two's! The chap to my right had just landed a big perch to, I was now well up in the section, only a couple of small perch off the other reed swim so I re-fed and went back onto the squatt line.
I was still getting regular bites off the squatt line, putting a few fish in the net, I kept having regular looks on the reed swims but this only resulted in small perch, I kept feeding hoping for another couple of big uns! The chap to my right had another couple of big perch, putting me second in section as far as I could tell. I kept swapping between the squatt line and the two reed swims for the rest of the match, a minute before the all out I hooked a lump on the squatt line, I played it carefully shouting fish on at the whistle, a couple of minutes later I finally saw it, a 5lb Pike, I was hoping for another big perch! I pulled for a break and that was that. At the scales I weighed in 8lb 11oz for second in section, very pleasing for my first match for a while. The chap to my right won the section and finished second overall, the peg is the proverbial flier! Another great team performance saw us third in the match, still first in the league overall with one round left, looking good!