Thursday 29/01/2015 - Emerald Fishery - Veals "You have to be mad to fish" Open - Sapphire & Ruby

I drove today and had breakfast bought for me by mid week travelling partner Glenn Bailey in the Hilltops Café.

Both of us were concerned about the weather as the forecasts seem to get worse by the hour. I can factually report that we had gales force winds, snow, sleet and rain plus it was freezing cold.

With eight pegs on Ruby and two pegs on Sapphire the pond I was hoping to be on because there are more catchable Silvers. In to the draw bag and out comes peg 6 on Ruby a good peg. However, I was a little disappointed until I realised that the two pegs on Sapphire were occupied by good focused Carp anglers.

I decided to fish for Silvers and therefore set up a Ronnie rig and a 4x14 Jolly to be fished at 6 metres down the shelf of the opposite island. The bait tray consisted of just the one pint of casters.

Starting on the Ronnie rig I caught some decent Ronnie’s from the off with single caster hook bait. However, it wasn’t long before I was getting liners from Carp. So once again it was a question of fishing around to keep the Ronnie’s coming. At half time I switched to the Jolly and had a run of small Rudd and the odd accidental small Carp. Unfortunately I hooked a branch on the bottom and although I managed to get it out I disrupted the swim so switch lines so keep the fish coming. With 20 minutes to go I broke my hook length unhooking a small Carp. I tried to put a new hook on but my hands were so cold I couldn’t feel the line or hook! So it was back in the Ronnie rig adding only another two Silvers.

My eight small Carp weighed 8lb 14oz and my Silvers 13lb 1oz for a Silvers win (pictured upper right).

The match was won by Glenn Bailey (pictured right) with 47lb 1oz from peg 4, Glenn fished at 14 metres over to the opposite island. Glen had about 40 Carp most of them caught on either 6 or 8mm hard pellet.

Considering the conditions the weights were exceptional. This is a great winter fishery.

Full Result:

1. Glenn Bailey 47-01-0 peg 4
2. Adrian Jeffery 43-06-0 peg 10
3. Tony Rixon 39-04-0 peg 1
4. Dave Bacon 33-02-0 peg 5
5. Pete Turner 23-12-0 peg 8
6. Mike Nicholls 22-15-0 peg 6

Top Silvers:

1. Mike Nicholls 13-01-0 peg 6
2. Mike Jones 10-02-0 peg 7

Weigh Sheets:

Thursday 15/01/2015 - Coffin Dodger & Skivers @ Emerald Fishery - Ruby Pool

Today it was off to Emerald Fishery to be fished on Ruby Pool these matches are ably run by Mike Jones. I travelled with the “Reluctant Winter Angler”, and after a decent breakfast in the Hilltop café it was off just down the road to the draw. The BBC weather girl Carol had obliviously overstated the conditions putting off a number of the anglers booked in.

In to the draw bag and out comes peg 9, which was the top end near side. There were only two pegs on this side because the wind was blowing into this bank. Arriving at the peg I was encourage that down wind (RH side) there was some stick-up Sedges. I thought this would hold some Silvers. However, Dave Bacon who was the only other on this bank and had drawn my peg the last match said the Sedges were full of branches and snags.

Nevertheless I set up the Ronnie rig to fish along to the Sedges with caster over caster. Because the wind would make this rig difficult to fish I also set up a 4x14 Jolly which was far heavier than I would normally use in three foot of water, but needed it due to the conditions.

First cast on the Ronnie rig produced a small Carp, I usually catch a Ronnie!!. I did have a couple of Ronnie's over the next few casts. However, after landing a few branches and twigs I put the Ronnie rig down to never be applied again.

I spent the next 4 hours fishing the Jolly out in front at a distance of the top set plus one. I had a run of small Carp before I managed to get a few Ronnie’s – my target fish. These fish are difficult to catch on this pool which I suppose keeps me going after the blighters.

I tried various hook baits - soft pellet over the kindered potted caster and micro and dead red. However, any soft  bait only resulted in unhittable bites from Motherless Minnows which I had ten or more in the landing net every time I landed a fish. I think feeding micro didn’t help the cause.

For the last hour I added another section but this time only feeding neat casters which did keep a few more Ronnie’s coming plus the occasional accidental Carp.

 

I finished the match dry, warm but muddy. My Silvers weighed 8lb 4oz (pictured upper right) for first in the Silvers and my accidental Carp weighed 34lb 12oz for an overall 43lb for a match third.

The match was won by apprentice Coffin Dodger (pictured right) who will become fully fledge next Sunday! Tony Rixon won with 46lb 4oz from peg 4 catching long down his peg to the right using hard pellet (that stops the Motherless) – see his blog for further details.

And the reluctant angler finished runner up on the day with 8oz more than me (pictured lower right with his runner up catch).

Overall an enjoyable day out plus a very close match.

Full Result:

1. Tony Rixon 46-04-0 peg 6
2. Glenn Bailey 43-08-0 peg 4
3. Mike Nicholls 43-0-0 peg 9
4. John Bradford 39-08-0 peg 8
5. Rich Coles 33-03-0 peg 1
6. Pete Turner 32-02-0 peg 2

Top Silvers:

1. Mike Nicholls 8-04-0 peg 9
2. Mike Jones 5-12-0 peg 5

Weigh Sheet: