I have a few holidays left in work to take before the end of the month and as the weather is so good at the moment one of them just had to be taken last Monday!
I headed back up to Tunnel Barn as they hold daily opens where a good days fishing is guaranteed.
I got to the shop, picked up a pint of maggots and paid the pools and Les said we were on New Pool today which should fish well. There was a bit of a breeze but it was mild and overcast, with no rain forecast so conditions will be good as well.
On the draw I pulled out peg 19, I hadn't fished this pool before so knew very little about it apart from what I had read up and the talk at the draw.
Found the peg and it was at the bottom end with a nice margin line on the left and right but an angler on peg 1 directly opposite so going too long was out of the equation.
I planned for a top two plus two on maggot to start and then a pellet line to my right and left hand margins.
The wind was picking up a tad as the all in approached and it was a changeable one as well. One minute it was blowing straight at me, the next going left to right. I kicked off on the two plus two line feeding maggots through the pot and double on the hook. I was also chucking a few pellets down the edges to build on for later.
Bites were pretty instant but the fish were small, some silvers, small stockies were the order on this line with the odd decent F1 now and again but it wasn't really getting me anywhere. I switched over and went on the inside line on pellet and got a far better response. The bites were a bit finicy though but the fish were a much better stamp so I adjusted my rig slightly to be more direct and positive which gave instant rewards as I got into a real rhythm of feeding playing, netting and going back in. It wasn't really enough on the day though as there were a few other anglers who had caught a lot quicker from the off. I guess that was down to experience and knowing the venue and how it was going to react. I ended up with 68lb and I think it was about 5th which wasn't a bad comeback due to the start I had with small fish.
I didn't stay to see the full results as wanted to get back on the road, but there was two 98lb weights leading with a couple more to go when I hit the road.
Learnt a lot about the venue and the fish there though on this match and it will all help ready for the next one there!
I headed back up to Tunnel Barn as they hold daily opens where a good days fishing is guaranteed.
I got to the shop, picked up a pint of maggots and paid the pools and Les said we were on New Pool today which should fish well. There was a bit of a breeze but it was mild and overcast, with no rain forecast so conditions will be good as well.
On the draw I pulled out peg 19, I hadn't fished this pool before so knew very little about it apart from what I had read up and the talk at the draw.
Found the peg and it was at the bottom end with a nice margin line on the left and right but an angler on peg 1 directly opposite so going too long was out of the equation.
I planned for a top two plus two on maggot to start and then a pellet line to my right and left hand margins.
The wind was picking up a tad as the all in approached and it was a changeable one as well. One minute it was blowing straight at me, the next going left to right. I kicked off on the two plus two line feeding maggots through the pot and double on the hook. I was also chucking a few pellets down the edges to build on for later.
Bites were pretty instant but the fish were small, some silvers, small stockies were the order on this line with the odd decent F1 now and again but it wasn't really getting me anywhere. I switched over and went on the inside line on pellet and got a far better response. The bites were a bit finicy though but the fish were a much better stamp so I adjusted my rig slightly to be more direct and positive which gave instant rewards as I got into a real rhythm of feeding playing, netting and going back in. It wasn't really enough on the day though as there were a few other anglers who had caught a lot quicker from the off. I guess that was down to experience and knowing the venue and how it was going to react. I ended up with 68lb and I think it was about 5th which wasn't a bad comeback due to the start I had with small fish.
I didn't stay to see the full results as wanted to get back on the road, but there was two 98lb weights leading with a couple more to go when I hit the road.
Learnt a lot about the venue and the fish there though on this match and it will all help ready for the next one there!