Sunday 29 December 2013

Manor Farm Leisure - Island and Boundary Pools

  • Peg 24
  • 13lb
  • 1 carp, 1 F1, 3 skimmers and 20 tiny roach
  • 26 fished
Lost my section by 1lb and lost a 4lb carp at the net............


1st MARK MALIN 65-12-0
Colmic Airon / Bait Tech Peg 14 Island
2nd CHRIS COLMAN 64-6-0
Arthurs Angling Supplies Peg 37 Island
3rd ANDY TAYLOR 45-0-0
Lodge Park Peg 31 Island
4th JASON MORRIS 44-4-0
Shipston A C Peg 27 Island
5th PAUL ALDER 31-10-0
Solihull A C Peg 8 Boundary
6th CHRIS CAMERON 31-4-0
Middy / Old Ghost Peg 8 Island

Saturday 28 December 2013

Manor Farm Leisure - Island and Boundary Pools

  • Peg 27 Island Pool
  • 60lb 12oz
  • 1st place
  • 27 fished the match



Open match Results – Saturday 28th December -Island and Boundary Pools

1ST CHRIS TELLING 60-12-0
Cosmic Airon Peg 27 Island
2ND AIDAN MANSFIELD 49-4-0
Shakespeare Superteam Peg 37 Island
3RD RICHARD MERRY 48-12-0
Arthur’s Angling Supplies Peg 12 Island
4TH ROB ELLIS 46-2-0
Smithys Peg 31 Island
5TH CHRIS NOYCE 45-8-0
Solihull Angling Peg 4 Island
6TH MICK LANE 44-8-0
Cotswold Angling Peg 36 Boundary
 
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Wednesday 25 December 2013

Thoughts of 2013


Can't believe that another year has gone by, the winter league matches have gone so quickly this year, not sure if it's a sign of me getting old.  I was very pleased that we won our league again. So looking forward to another semi final on the Kennet and Avon Canal at Marlborough and good luck to A4 lads at Coleman's Cottage .
Highlights
 
Breaking the Manor Farm Leisure 5 hour match record, with 353lb 8oz from Middle pool. 



Also lucky enough to draw an end peg on Big Franks double header, and won that match with 385lb in 4 hours!!

Lowlights
 
Didn’t qualify on Fish o Mania  (will apply for ALL 16 tickets in 2014) 
No good at Rolfs festival

1 point away from making a frame place at Manor Farm Leisure

Didn’t catch 100lb of silvers at Rolfs Lake.

Didn’t go to Alders farm this year (will be 2014!)

Came 4th in the Turner 400

To be part of the winning team of the Thames Champs (team did win this year, but I was away in whiteacres)
I didn't catch a 20lb carp on the pole.  However, I will have new Colmic Quasar Pole (see video below) to hopefully catch some big fish and some bigger match weights!

 


Winter Leagues
Winter League fishing has always been in my fishing diary since the age of 15, and I am concerned about its welfare, as is a lot of anglers that I fish with.  I am thinking about not fishing any more Angling Trust Winter leagues, and I will focus on the commercial side, with work commitments it’s difficult to get the time to fish one aspect of fishing, yet alone both, it’s demanding on time with preparation of kit and money.  Fishing some natural venues isn’t so appealing to me now as, which does pain me to say....
I have seen a massive decline in attendances, the matches haven’t got the number of anglers like they used to have.  Milton Keynes was the prime example where our first practice match was only a 30 pegger.  This was unreal, as you would expect 60+, and ten years ago it would be 100+ pegger.  So the reward of this kind of fishing for me is becoming exhausted.  I love fishing for Drennan Banbury Gunsmiths,and feel lucky to fish with them, and you know this team is good as it has held the same team members for many years, therefore a lot of us are good friends.  However, travelling a long way to fish these matches used to give me a buzz as they were 100 good anglers fishing, but fishing a 30 pegger isn't the same.   

The cost of team fishing on natural venues with natural baits is expensive!  I would take, lob worms, bloodworm, joker, casters, groundbaits, it is a financial strain compared to the cost of a sack of pellet or supermarket baits.  I remember fishing Radley in a Winter League, I had 26lb of roach, and my bait used that day was 8kg’s of groundbait, ½ kilo of joker, 4 pints of caster, 1pint of maggot.  That day was awesome and won £80, which would of just about paid for the day.  Now don’t get me wrong, I don’t fish to win money, as I work for that, but £80 per fishing match is a lot of money to me and most people as a disposable income.

Fuel costs have hit a lot of people and their business.  So peoples disposable income isn't there!

Cormorants have without doubt has had immense impact on our waters across the country.  Not only have they eaten a lot of fish but the fish have shoaled up tightly, safety in numbers, and therefore some venues have become very peggy, fish shoal up by bridges, towns, etc....

Angling Trust have taken over the winter leagues and have taken more money from teams to enter their Winter Leagues and yet seem to give a lot less back in my opinion.   The Surrey league was run without all teams paying a full enter, and therefore when it came to the end of the six rounds, they were told that their league wasn't valid.... why wait until the end of the league to address the situation? 

This years Angling Trust Final was on the Trent, which is a venue that was always going to be incredibly hard and very low weights on the cards, especially with final been so early in the season.  A lot of anglers, including myself find it hard to find out the reason why this venue was selected?   We all know that rivers tend to fish better later in the year, like September, as early season fishing on rivers tends to be all about big fish or nothing.  Maybe low percentage of anglers would be a lot of fish, and this would look good for the cameras to promote rivers, but for most it would be a struggle.   Was this a wise choice of venues to try and safe the future of team match fishing?   

The final this year is going to be on Leeds and Liverpool canal..... I hope i’m wrong, but this will be another tough venue.  We go fishing to catch fish, I like value for money, so travelling hundreds of miles to catch very little isn't going to go down well.    My lowest weight in the Oxford league this year was 4lb+ and that same match one of the sections had 7lb 15oz as it's lowest weight (roach were 30 plus to the pound) that's plenty of bites and good fishing!
Team fishing is struggling to survive for several reasons, maybe some I have covered already above, but why put the Winter League Final on a venue that has and did take a lot of negativity?  The idea of going fishing was to catch fish.  Why not put a few venues forward and let the anglers who fish the event decided where they want to go?   I know it can be difficult to choose venues and to satisfy everybody, but I don’t feel that the 2013 winter final didn’t help the leagues motivation, most winter league rounds consist of 50 anglers.  Our Oxford league is just about surviving, Upper Thames is alright, but I used to fish that with teams 12 and not 6 and they were all 100 peggers!!

Sponsorship

I have been sponsored by Vespe for a few years now, and there elastic is very good and has helped me catch some big catches and big fish.   Vespe have a nice web site, which is worth having as look at, if you haven’t already.

Colmic have supported me for just over a year and I have been lucky enough to try some good products out.    Also we have formed a new Colmic Airon Team, which is Mark Malin, Kurtis Tranter, Sam Nobbs, Frank Donachie, Myself and Karl Stephens. 

Sam Nobbs a star of the future!
 

I hope you have a great 2014 and I'll hopefully see you on the fishing bank.


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Sunday 22 December 2013

Manor Farm Leisure - Island and Boundary pools


  • Peg 16 Island
  • 19lb 2oz
  • No good
  • 23 fished


These weights aren't 100% correct

Peg 4 = ??
Peg 6 = 16b
Peg 8 = 18lb
Peg 14 = 70lb 8oz 
Peg 16 = 19lb
Peg 18 = 24lb
Peg 20 = 32lb 8oz
Peg 24 = DNW
Peg 27 = 94lb 8oz
Peg 32 = 36lb
Peg 34 = 30lb
Peg 36 = 43lb 8oz

Open Match Results – Sunday 22nd December – Island and Boundary Pools

1ST                   STEVE RICH                           94-8-0
Cotswold Angling Centre Peg 27 Island
2ND                   NEIL MCKINNON              70-8-0
Preston Innovations Peg 14 Island
3RD                    AIDAN MANSFIELD            43-8-0
Shakespeare Superteam Peg 36 Island
4TH                   ROB ELLIS                          36-0-0
Smithys Peg 32 Island
5TH                   TONY SHEPHERD                35-12-0
Banbury Gunsmiths Peg 33 Boundary
6TH                   JEREMY CAMBRIDGE            32-8-0
MFL Peg 20 Island

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Saturday 21 December 2013

Manor Farm Leisure - Island Pool


  • Peg 20
  • 18lb 10oz
  • Never caught carp after 12.30. 
  • No good. 
  • Peg 16 won section with 40lb. Terry Winstone on method feeder.
  • 14 anglers fished

Open Match Results – Saturday 21st December – Island Pool

1ST                   CHRIS CAMERON                55-14-0
Old Ghost/Middy Peg 12
2ND                   NEIL MCKINNON              53-8-0
Preston Innovations Peg 6
3RD                   STEVE RICH                           51-12-0
Cotswold Angling Centre Peg 32
4TH                   AIDAN MANSFIELD            48-12-0
Shakespeare Superteam Peg 27
5TH                   TERRY WINSTONE               46-10-0
Bonehill Mill Peg 16
6TH                   ANDY GRIMES                      40-0-0
Banbury Gunsmiths Peg 34

Thursday 19 December 2013

Manor Farm Leisure - Island pool

  • Peg 6
  • 52lb 10oz
  • 1st place
  • 16 fished

After some friendly banter with me and Shaun Little about drawing flyers, and stating peg 6 was the peg to be, I was lucky enough to draw it, maybe a birthday present?! So I took so abuse for drawing the best peg on the lake.

After a load of rain yesterday, the lake fished really hard, by Manor Farm's standards.

I caught one F1 after 1 hour, after 2.5 hours I had 10lb. I was worried that I had messed this up badly.
The next 2.5 hours saw me catch 5 carp for 42lb and lost 2 big fish. I fished tight to the far bank with smelly meat and a little PVA bag. I should of done it sooner, but chucked the lead around the peg looking for liners and signs of fish. Which didn't really happen. Didn't get any liners even when I fished tight against the Island... fish aren't moving, but there was a few fish topping around the lake... so figure that out?!

I should of caught a lot more, I should of realised that bites were taking a long time to come, up to 50 minutes!  Sometimes it's best to chuck and ith 100lb! 
I had an enjoyable few hours, caught 5 on the bomb and bread and had 12 fish on the pole. The last couple of hours was really tough. After 1.30pm i should of gone to the pub, as i didn't catchleave it, I find this difficult as I ith 100lb! 

I had an enjoyable few hours, caught 5 on the bomb and bread and had 12 fish on the pole. The last couple of hours was really tough. After 1.30pm i should of gone to the pub, as i didn't catch.do get bored, but on certain pegs and this time of year, it is best to do this.   With 50lb to 70lb framing at the moment, then you only need few fish, as they are averaging 8lb or more sometimes!!!




Open Match Results – Thursday 19th December – Island Pool – Affordable Open

1ST                   CHRIS TELLING                    52-10-0
Colmic Airon Peg 6
2ND                    BARRY DUGGAN                45-0-0
Warwick Portobello Peg 8
3RD                   MARK RUSSELL                    42-0-0
Banbury Gunsmiths Peg 25
4TH                   SHAUN LITTLE                    39-4-0
Map Marukyu Peg 35
5TH                   PETE LEWIS                                    38-4-0
Golden Oldies
 
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Sunday 15 December 2013

Winter League, Round Six - Oxford Canal


  • 5lb 6oz
  • 2nd in my section
  • Team won
  • 36 points on the day


Top 4

Richard Head 10lb 13oz
Matt Herbert 7lb 12oz
John Hassler 7lb 1oz (Isis) 
Gary Barclay 6lb 10oz

All the rest my team mates.

Top 3 teams overall

  1. Drennan Banbury Gunsmiths
  2. A4
  3. Isis

I know Coleman Cottage is one of the venues for the Semi Final and the other???
 
Rumour has it that Kennet and Avon canal at Marlborough or Bath is the other venue?!?!
 
 
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Saturday 14 December 2013

Manor Farm Leisure - Middle and Ash pools


  • Peg 12 Ash pool.
  • 43lb
  • no good
  • 19 fished


Open Match Result – Saturday 14th December – Middle and Ash Pools

1st TERRY WINSTONE               115-6-0
Bonehill Mill Peg 18 Ash
2nd JOHN NEWTON                  94-8-0
Smithys Tackle Peg 24 Middle
3rd NEIL McKINNON                 89-14-0
Preston Innovations Peg 3 Ash
4th STEVE PARTINGTON          76-4-0
Arthurs Angling Supplies Peg 5 Ash
5th DAVE WELLAVIZE                62-6-0
M F L Peg 15 Ash


 
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Sunday 8 December 2013

Oxford Canal - Open

  • Peg 29
  • 2lb 11oz
  • 3rd section
  • 30 anglers fished

Paz 10lb 13oz (2nd overall)

It was tough for most...... everybody caught.
 
Top 4
 
  1. Colin Wainwright 11lb 14oz
  2. Paz 10lb 13oz
  3. Tony Hobbs 7lb 15oz
  4. Alex Clements 6lb 8oz

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Thursday 5 December 2013

Manor Farm Leisure - Windmill Pool

  • Peg 27.
  • 40lb.
  • Won section.
  • 2nd Overall
  • 6 people fished


The wind was so bad, that it was decided to put it Windmill Lake as this lake was a little more sheltered than the others.

Top 3
  1. Paul Durnal 92lb 14oz Peg 22
  2. Myself 40lb peg 27
  3. Terry Arnold 37lb peg 24
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Sunday 1 December 2013

Angling Trust Winter League - Avington

  • B5
  • 4lb 11oz
  • 4th in section
  • Team Won
Didn't have a feature. Fished really well, considering it was gin clear! I couldn't catch for long periods for some reason?! Fish kept spooking...  Caught 10 perch and a roach in the first hour and 20 mins. Then for 40 a had a fish a chuck at 6 meters! Then like a light switch it went, pulled my hair out, messed around with rigs for a hour, to catch 3 tiny perch. Then at 1.15 had a fish a chuck on a new joker line at 13 meters down the peg. Fish a chuck for 30 mins, then back to struggling! Strange.  I guess the water was so clear that the big shoal of roach drifted in and out.

I still feel that my team mates would of caught more than myself, but to catch 8lb 14oz to win the section.....
Canal was VERY clear..... a had lack of features.  But I was due a weaker draw.