Tuesday 09/06/2020 - Acorn Cost Cutter - Paddocks

Another trip to Acorn Fishery which was sold out with numbers limited to 28. Done the usual safe transfer of my £13 and was drawn peg 4 on the Island. No emotion as I didn't mine where I drew, just nice to be out fishing with decent weather. However, a bridge peg would have been my choice as the learning from the last match was that the Silvers have migrated under them probably to get away from the bright sunshine we've had recently. For company I had Dad to be Lewis Walker on peg 5. Two Pots was on peg 1.

Adrian Bartlett decided my peg would be the best one to measure the dissolve oxygen from (pictured right). There's plenty of oxygenating equipment available if needed - non required today though. I was hoping it was a fish attractor.

The set up was the same as last match. As we all arrived early most of us were kicking heels for an hour. Exception to this was Tony Rixon who floated off his casters a bit too efficiently and spent some time chasing floaters around his peg. I also noted Andy Gard was keen to get started as he sat with his pole pot extended over the water for 9 minutes!

Watching the fish behavior I could see it was going to be a difficult start going for them straight away, swimming around on the surface very fast and scatty. I started by feeding 1/4 of pot of micro at top-set plus two for Silvers and started to loose feed LR's again for Silver for the Ronnie rig. There's no doubt the fish here like their micro but are pretty clued up and know exactly how to feed on them without being caught in the mouth. Plenty of activity over the feed, but decided to let if settled otherwise it would have been foul hook city. Instead picked up the Ronnie rig and found the Carp were responding to the maggot in a similar way. Their action obviously would keep the Silvers at bay. So all this lead to a slow start. I did manged to land one foul hooker after which I had a spell catching Perch, Ronnie's and Skimmers. By now I knew it would be unlikely that I could pick up in the Silvers (bridges remember) I stayed with them as I was putting fish in the net in this early part of the match. Things slowed and after a lost fouler went out on the 4x12 on 4 mm expander and straight away was getting liners from Carp. I was soon playing another Carp which was only just foul hooked! I decided to re-fed this line with micro and watch the cleverness of the Carp feeding on them whilst they fell though the water, I don't  think they follow the feed to the bottom. Back on the Ronnie rig again in a new part of
the peg and had another run of small fish. Two and half hours gone so time to try the paste using a 0.3 gram rig fished over loose fed 4's. Again the fish were really scatty, they wanted the feed but not at any cost to them. So I eased off the loose feed bow waving in and out of the swim and started to pot some micro and left it as a trap which worked to some extent, this resulted in a good hour. However, careful feeding was the name of the day - but I didn't get it quite right. The last 45 minutes became very difficult and only hooked one more Carp a decent Ghosty, which I landed only for the landing net handle to come apart. I managed to retrieve it, but with no fish, but it was still on the hook but only for a few more seconds - bugger.

My Silvers weighed 16 lb 3 oz and my Carp 93 lb 3 oz for fourth overall but a third default pickup of 109 lb  6 oz.


The match was won by Tony Rixon (pictured right with Two Pots who was runner up) with 171 b 13 oz from peg 16. Tony caught "Stalking" his favourite method which he has got right sorted - see his blog for all the sordid details.

The Silvers was won by Eddy Wynne (pictured right incognito) with 59 lb 3 oz from Bridge peg 21. Eddy caught all his fish on pellet. His catch included a good few of the large Tench that are now showing as per the two 5 lb fish that Lewis Walker caught next to me also on pellet.

Result:

1. Tony Rixon 171-13-0 peg 16
2. Glenn Bailey 120-03-0 peg 1
3. Eddy Wynne 111-07-0 peg 21
4. Mike Nicholls 109-06-0 peg 4

Silvers:

1. Eddy Wynne 59-03-0 peg 21
2. Alan Q 31-07-0 peg 40

Weigh Sheets: