Whitedoor Dam, Oak and Beech pools. Sunday 27/9/2020

It was a gruelling day, cold over night again and the fish haven’t been showing much this week as the temperature has dropped. 10 pegged on Oak and 11 pegged on Beech to be fished as 2 matches, top 2 on each pool to frame. I was drawn Peg 10 which was pegged on Oak, an end peg but the wrong end! I was in shadow from the trees all day and it was a relief when the All out was called as I was cold all day. The pool was littered with debris and leaves from the trees and a constant bombardment of acorns falling was another hazard. But it was a day fishing so not as bad as I make out 😉.
3 lines today;
1. top 2 to my right at 2 o’clock, just under a meter deep. GORTINI 4×10 chianti, 0.9 main line to 0.6 hook length #24 hook, pinkie on the hook. Feeding Burt Baits worm slop, over wetted to cloud the water.
2. 13m straight out front. 1.2m deep. GORTINI 4×12 clear diamond, 0.9 mainline to 0.8 hook length #20 hook, big red on the hook. Feeding Burt Baits worm slop, over wetted to cloud the water and caster.
3. short top +2 left at 11 o’clock, 1m deep. GORTINI 4×12 NiTi wire, 0.9 mainline to 0.8 hook length #20 hook with a Maver bowtie band, Burt Baits 6mm Sweet F1 pellet. Feeding Burt Baits 4mm and 6mm Sweet F1 pellet.
Reports this week were that Oak and Beech were struggling to produce anything and lots of ‘blanks’ on pleasure days.
We weren’t expecting much and knew it was going to be hard going, bonus fish were going to be the difference between poor and not too bad a day. I started out on my 2 line, potting in groundbait and pinging caster over the float. not even a knock for over 10 mins, I managed to hook a Gudgeon on a retrieve, didn’t even see the bite. That was me for the next 4 1/2 hours, switching lines and depths, bait etc not even a knock. Had my 8 foot Omni out with a method feeder with a full worm on a #12 hook in the hope of enticing a bream or 2, but nothing. Tried a bomb, tried a cage, tried a pop up!! This was terrible rather than just poor. This end of the pool was doing nothing and the far bank was just as bad with a number of anglers calling it early. I stuck it out and made a 100% improvement on my weight, another Gudgeon! And that was me 2 Gudgeon, but no blank for Johnny boy. I started to pack up 15 mins before the All out, with my feeder out at 16m. A day best forgot but got to take the rough with the smooth and things can only get better!!

Jumped on the Old and Bold Match (over 60 and disabled) club match today, 24/9/2020.

Decided the other day to jump on this weekly match program as I haven’t any work. Todays match was on Haydock Park Farm complex, Cowhey and Lagoon lakes. Got drawn peg 7 on Cowhey, happy with that as it has been fishing a little better than Lagoon lately. Pegs 1-8 on Cowhey, 9-16 on Lagoon with 13 fishing. Got set up in the dry but it was threatening rain. An hour into All in and the heavens opened, pretty much constant rain all day with spells late on of torrential downpours.
3 line today;
1. 4m to the front left of the lily pad. GORTINI 4×10 chianti, 0.9 mainline to 0.6 hook length #22 hook with pinkie or big red on the hook. Feeding Burt Baits 50/50 Expander/worm slop ground bait in walnut size lumps, over wet to make a nice cloud up in the water.
2. 10m to the back side of the lily pad. GORTINI 4X12 clear diamond, 0.9 mainline to 0.7 hook length #20 hook with worm or big red on the hook. Potting in Burt Baits 50/50 Expander/worm slop ground bait, over wet to cloud up in the water.
3. 10m off the corner of my box in open water. GORTINI 4×10 chianti, 0.6 mainline to 0.5 hook length #24 hook with big red on the hook, half depth, pinging maggot.

My short line was very productive at the All in so stayed on it for some time, occasionally feeding my #2 line potting in 2 balls of Burt Baits ground bait, the stamp was small, but no one else was pulling in at the rate I was putting in the net, the cloud of ground bait were keeping the fish there and they were liking the pinkie. Switching out to big red got me some better stamp and a few blades and perch as well. Moving out to my #2 line after an hour and it was quiet, the hope of skimmers or bream moving in didn’t happen, but still I was putting fish in the net while not seeing anyone else making any headway. Spent the next 2 hours switching between these two lines and it was starting to get a bit barren. Last hour odd (4 1/2 hour match) and it was tipping down, switched to my #3 line, pinging maggot over my float and lifting and dropping and I started to get the roach and rudd feeding, I could only just see my float tip in the rain and had a few blank strikes on what must have been rain drops planting my float! Ivor to my right had got his waggler out and had found the range of the bigger skimmers and was clearly catching me and soon overtook my haul. At the All Out the rain stopped, sods law but welcome not packing up in the rain. Seems everyone was downhearted as Lagoon had fished hard and there were 4 DNW. My 4lb 14oz gave me a second place and some beer tokens, beaten by Ivor to my left with 6lb 02oz. Can’t complain at that.

Painful start back to work!

After a welcome Section win on Partridge Lakes last Sunday and a fantastic 2 weeks off work, Monday was a bit of a shock. First thing back I had a conference call, which is not unusual as there are handover ‘stuff’ I need to be told about after holidays. I got told that my position is to be made redundant, along with 3 area managers and 5 field engineers! This week has been a bit of a whirlwind as you can imagine. Loads of things I needed to sort out and left it too late to book on anywhere. I owed the club a few hours work on one of our waters, so decided to do a half day work and then sit on one of the waters on this complex with my whip and have a relaxing, head clearing day.

Its not that often that I get to go fishing with next to nothing. Chair, 4m whip, landing net and a small bait bag, butties and flask was my stall for this afternoon.

Fished a flick tip 4m whip, 2BB float on a slider set up, 20″ depth in 4 foot of water, 0.6 hook length to a fine wire 24 hook. Bait was Burt Baits 2mm F1 sweet pellet soaked so they were just soft enough to slide on the hook, feeding soaked Burt Baits 2mm F1 sweet pellet. Nothing like an afternoon fishing to clear the mind and put things into perspective.

Fishing extra light and getting a 3lb bream on 0.6 to 24 hook sure makes the sphincter tighten and the level of concentration go up as you watch your flick tip bend 180 degrees for the initial strike.

Back match fishing next week, on a 20 pegger on Whitedoor Dam. Got some new design floats from GORTINI that are going to get a full match day on them. 4X12 and 4X14 diamond pattern glass stem, cheers Bri.

Early retirement is sounding more and more attractive.

Partridge Lakes, Sunday Open 6/8/2020. Covey 1 Peg 20, on an Island again.

I can put my bridesmaid outfit away, today I am the Bride. Won my section and the lake. 89lb 1oz had me reaping the honours, with 87lb something taking the other section off Peg 10.
19:30 Update, Peg 10 got 97 odd not 87 as I was told. Still got the section though.
A nice start to the day, the sun was out and there was little wind. Peg 21 was in so I had to keep the feed going and stop the carp moving past me to peg 21. I had soaked my 2mm and 4mm Burt Baits pellets in F1 sweet pellet enhancer yesterday in preparation, so I was feeding them dripping with more Burt Baits F1 sweet soak.
3 lines today:
1. Shallow, 12″ and 18″ GORTINI 4×10 chianti, 0.18 straight through, #12 SWL hook, Maver bowtie band to Burt Baits 6mm F1 sweet pellet. Feeding caster and Burt Baits 4mm F1 sweet pellet.
2. In front of my nets, 4′ GORTINI 4×12 NiTi wire stem chianti, 0.18 mainline, 3″ hook length 0.13 to #20 SWL hook, Maver bowtie band to Burt Baits 4mm F1 sweet pellet. Feeding Burt Baits 4mm F1 sweet pellet.
3. Edge, 24″ started out at 14.5m and drew back to 9m GORTINI 4×14 Margin, 0.18 mainline, 3″ hook length 0.13 to #16 SWL hook, 3 white maggot. Feeding Burt Baits 4mm F1 sweet pellet, Burt Baits 2mm F1 sweet pellet and Burt Baits X-pander ground bait. All dripping with Burt Baits F1 sweet pellet enhancer.
Before the all in, I got a phone call off Ian Welsh one of the Partridge regulars, passed some good advice on fishing this peg and tactics to employ. Cheers Ian, you are a star.
At the all in, fed my margin @14.5m with 2 big lumps of ground bait. Tried my hand shallow, just to see if they were up in the water. As per the advise off Ian, they weren’t but it gave the carp enough time to move in on my feed in the margin. After 10 mins of nothing I switched to my margin line and pulled a nice 2lb F1 first drop in. Moved the feed back towards me every other fish to get them feeding at a manageable 9m. Stayed on this line for the rest of the day, had a couple of foul hooked fish while dropping my feed in off the cad pot and missed a few. Tally for the day was 21 Carp and 2 F1’s. 2 of the Carp were well into 12lb+ and most were over 6lb, the last fish of the day was a stunning 15lb common which took an age to net as I wasn’t going to rush it with only 10 mins to the All Out.
I will have to wait for the full results off the complex as Covey 1-4 and 6 were fishing today. Took the section and Lake but have no idea how the other lakes have done yet.

This was Net 3 of 3 at the weigh in.

Partridge Lakes, Sunday 23/8/2020 Open. Covey 6, peg 159

Never fished covey 6 before so this was all new to me. The swim was ‘meh’ 😝 at best. No mud line to speak of, just a 2 foot gap in the sedge very undercut and full of root snags. Took an age to find a flat spot with my plummet, the wind making it almost impossible to present accurately. Sedge left and right margin with again no flat spots the bank being really undercut with high spots and dropping off into snags. Started off in heavy rain and wind, blowing right to left right across the swim. Nothing too complicated as the conditions made choices difficult.
4 lines:
1. Right margin, top 2 plus 1, 15″. 0.19 mainline to 0.13 hook length, #14 SWL hook. GORTINI 4×14 margin float. Feeding Burt Baits Sweet F1 carp groundbait and Burt Baits 2mm Sweet F1 pellet. 3 maggot/Burt Baits 6mm hook and hair Polony pellet.
2. Mud line, 13m, 18″. 0.19 mainline to 0.11 hook length, #16 SWL hook. GORTINI 4×14 margin float. Feeding Burt Baits Sweet F1 carp groundbait and Burt Baits 2mm Sweet F1 pellet. tripple maggot/Burt Baits 6mm hook and hair Polony pellet.
3. Shallow track line, 0.19 mainline to 0.13 hook length, #16 SWL hook. GORTINI 4×10, 3 maggot, feeding maggot and caster.
4. Hard pellet line, 6m on the slope, 5 foot. 0.19 mainline to 0.13 hook length, #20 Guru F1 pellet hook fitted with a 2mm Maver bow tie band. GORTINI 4×14 NiTi wire stem chianti, 4mm Burt Baits Sweet f1 hard pellet.

I did fish a line with the new GORTINI 4×14 clear diamond float for about 30 mins. It coped really well with the wind and chop and it presented the bait nice and steady. First impressions are good, can’t wait to give it a longer session, even managed to land a 5lb Common off this line 👍.

Bait presentation has been a total nightmare all day with the constant wind and at time torrential rain. Spent the day just picking off fish here and there, Shallow was a waste of time, even switched to a jigger late on to see if that would help, for nothing! Hard pellet line didn’t even produce a bite. All the fish, bar the one on the new GORTINI 4×14 clear diamond float line were from my mud line, when I could get over there, and the right margin. A poor show with 1 F1 and 7 Common carp for about ~30lb which I tipped back. Start of the day being told by chap on 161 and 157 that I was on a crap peg didn’t do too much to drown my spirits, but reality proved that advice to be sound.
On holiday end of next week so I wont be on the bank that weekend as we are off to Scotland for a short break, just about the only country left where we won’t have to isolate for 14 days when we get back into England.

Partridge Lakes, Sunday Open, Covey 3 Peg 75.

What a difference a couple of days and a change of weather can make. Yesterday this peg had 212lb odd and Peg 50 across had 235lb odd on Thursday. Today it just turned off as did Covey 1,2 and 4. Drop in air pressure and torrential rain for 30 mins may just have stopped the fish feeding up in the water. I didn’t catch Carp or F1 shallow today, the odd Ide and big Roach. The wind was weird it would keep changing direction and didn’t really put a lot of ripple on the surface, large spells of mill pond flat calm then a blow for half hour then wind would then change! Most of my fish were taken in 4 foot of water on hard pellet. Set up 4 lines today;
1. left margin, 5m hard up against the bank, 24″. 10-12 elastic, GORTINI 4X12 Margin float, 0.19 mainline to 0.11 SWL 16 hook. Changed this to a 0.16 SWL 14. 3 maggot/paste/corn
2. 9m left of centre, hard pellet line fishing off the slope, 4 foot, 16 elastic, GORTINI 4×12 NiTi wire stem float, 0.19 main line to 0.16 SWL 20 with a Maver butterfly bead band. Burt Baits 4mm F1 Sweet pellet.
3. 7-11m track line, shallow 18-24″, 10-12 elastic, GORTINI 4×10 chianti style float, 0.19 mainline to 0.13 SWL 16 hook. 3 maggot on the hook.
4. Mud Line 13m, 12″ shelf, 8-10 elastic, 0.19 mainline to 0.13 SWL 16. Maggot/paste/corn on the hook.
At the all in I fed my margin and mud line with 2 balls of Burt Baits X-pander groundbait each. chucked a hand full of caster to 7m and started on my shallow line, had an Ide within seconds and a brace of roach next put in, then it went quiet. Stuck a nugget of paste, Burt Baits Nut Blend, and dropped in the left margin, not prepared! elastic took off and kept going, dropped the pole tip in the water and waited for the snap, I could feel the float coming back and when I lifted out the hook was gone. Changed to a SWL 14 on 0.16 hook length. This margin produced a few F1 and a little common until it went quiet. Rotated though my lines and was picking up the odd F1 here and there. Last hour and a half I concentrated on my hard pellet line as this had been steady most of the match. Had a nice double common (~12-14lb) this came with someone else’s complete shallow rig still attached in the side of it’s mouth. It wasn’t a GORTINI float, so no good to me 🤷‍♂️😂😂😂😂. A good day and although my weight was good I was pipped to the section win by peg 73 – 66lb to my 47lb. Happy with the result and amazed how low the weights were off covey 1 through 4 considering this week had seen great weigh in’s. 76lb and 44lb took the honours on the other sections.

  • This was still attached to a Carp I caught today.

Partridge Lakes, Marsh ‘Canal’ 9/8/2020. Today was a learning day.

Had a day of pleasure/learning today. An opportunity for some paste fishing with a bit of coaching off one of the Partridge lakes regulars. Marsh isn’t the best water for this but it was the only one available today and the whole complex was pretty much pegged out by 08:30.
Set up 2 lines for paste;
1. 7m down the track, 10-12 elastic, 4 foot of water, GORTINI 4X12 Johny Paste float, SWL #14 hook. Burt Baits Nut Blend paste.
2. Right margin, top 2 plus short 4, 10-12 elastic, 20 inches of water, GORTINI 4×12 Johny Paste float, SWL #14 hook. Burt Baits Nut Blend paste.
Started off on my 7m line and it was extremely slow, with the paste I was feeding 10-15 Burt Baits 6mm F1 sweet carp pellet. Load of liners and lots of waiting. The first fish was a nice skimmer, which was unexpected. A slow day but lots of tweaking my approach and presentation. 13-14 Skimmer, small F1 and big roach on my 7m line. During the day I wasn’t getting anything on my margin line, but come the last hour I decided to concentrate on this line and managed a nice 7-8lb mirror and the elusive one that got away. A leisurely lunch of Branston pickle topped pork pies and copious cups of coffee which made a nice change from grabbing a bite here and there in match mode.

Partridge Lakes Sunday Open 2/8/2020

I made sure I had a pen handy so I could write my peg number on my hand. After last visit here I didn’t want to set up on the wrong peg again! Got drawn Covey 5 again, Peg 129 on the spit/island, 5 man section. To say it was hard today is an understatement, our section win being just 68lb odd. I did however manage not to come last in section. Again this peg had no margin other than 2 foot either side of the platform the sedge taking up the rest of the bank side, but everyone in the section had the same situation. Set up 4 lines today:
1. Right margin, top2 and short No4, 10-12 elastic, 0.19 mainline to 0.13 hook length #14 SWL hook, GORTINI 4×14 margin float. 3 white on the hook or corn. Feeding Burt Baits X-pander groundbait from a cad pot
2. Mud line, 13.5m, 8-10 elastic, 0.19 mainline to 0.13 hook length #14 SWL hook, GORTINI 4×14 margin float. 3 white on the hook or corn. Feeding Burt Baits X-pander groundbait from a cad pot.
3. Shalla down the track 7-11m, 0.19 mainline to 0.13 hook length #14 SWL hook, GORTINI 4×10 chianti float. 3 white on the hook or banded caster using a Maver butterfly bead and band.
4. Hard pellet line, 7m, 8-10 elastic, 0.19 mainline to 0.13 hook length #18 SWL hook, GORTINI 4×12 wire stem NiTi float. Banded Burt Baits 6mm F1 sweet pellet using a Maver butterfly bead and band.
The hard pellet line was a no go as Covey 5 it seems doesn’t have a hard bottom slope like most of the other coveys. Fished it 3 times during the match for no results and knowing it was a silty bottom.
I don’t think anyone in the section had a carp all day, they were there and the Margin and Mud line had the tails popping up but they just weren’t feeding! Tried mugging a few in my swim as well and every time they just either spooked off or swam past the bait without taking any notice. Ended up most of the match on my shalla line as this was the only way I was catching. 20 F1 and a brace of Ide for 49lb 4oz a few lost at the net and a monster took off with my hook, but I wasn’t going to worry end peg 125 who took the honours.