The Moathouse Fisheries, Ron Hassall Invitational Annual Trophy. (15 pegs). Sunday 19th May, Mallard Pool.

And it was a right mare for me!

Drew peg 2, which has 2 large clumps of stick-ups directly in front of the peg 8m out, somewhere I had never fished on Mallard as I have never fancied it and you can’t get to the mud line, which from the results today is where all the Carp were. I now know why I had never fished it! there was nothing out there, the odd ripple and swirl but nothing on Worm, Big Red, Expander or hard pellet. Had one other line that was 5m out and this was only producing silvers, I was boxed in at 3m each side by other anglers so didn’t even have a margin to fish off. I was bumping off a lot of fish as I was set up with 8 and 10 elastics, got a 5 top kit out and first drop in at 5m hit a Carp that just dragged my elastic off to the reeds and dumped my hook and float there. Had to go back to a 8 other wise if I hit into another carp I would again just get dragged off to the reeds. Finished the day with a paltry 4lb odd. Not overly dissapointed as it was far better than a day at work. Bottom line is I chose the wrong rigs and tactics, which cost me a Gortini 4×16 round body float and a good placing on a water I rarely struggle on. Congrats to Eddie Marcroft who absolutely smashed it with 37lb odd as well as smashing one of this top kits and still managed to land the Carp!

  • I was wedged between these 2 other anglers, not ideal.
  • 1st Eddie Marcroft (Golborne Tackle & Bait) peg 11with Carp, and roach to pole for 37-4-0.
  • 2nd Jackie Kirk, (Abram) peg 4 with Carp, skimmers and roach to pole for 15-9-8.
  • 3rd Ian Alexander (Burt Baits) peg 10 with carp and silver fish to pole for 12-15-0.
  • 4th Mark Brown, (Newton le Willows) peg 5 with carp and silvers to pole for 14-7-0.
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Vulcan Res 5/5/19

Another great day on Vulcan, with again great company. Started the day on Peg 5 casting to the lily pad 25 metres directly in front of me.
Shakespeare Omni 8′ tip rod and Omni 30 reel, 6lb main to 4lb hook lengths.
Chad and Brian C were over on the 17-18 Pegs with the wind blowing directly in their faces.
I rigged up with a 16 forged hook and 50/50 method pellet and sweet groundbait. Hook bait was expander that had been soaked in oyster sauce, only took 5 mins and I had a nice F1. Late morning, despite an omission by the Met Office, it started to rain and the wind got up. Brian and Chad moved round to Peg 6 and Peg 7 as they were really on the wrong side of the pond for the weather conditions.
I was alternating between oyster, krill and caramel, and strawberry expanders during the day, oyster was by far the most effective. I ended the day with 13 carp/F1 to 6 lb and a nice solitary ~4lb tench.

It was a scorcher. White Door Dam 21/4/19

Tip and whip today, just for a change. The day started off dry and warm, not even a breeze to cool thongs down as by Noon it was a scorcher and the fish were all cruising on the top. Started off on the tip, 6mm expander soaked overnight in tutti fruity. First chuck and less than 10 seconds the tip swung round and a fair size Roach was the first of 60 for the daily total. Fished the tip until 11:30 ish when it started to get real quiet, I had 14 skimmers and the roach at this point so was far from disappointed. rigged up my 6m whip, Gortini 4×10, 3lb mainline to 1.1 hook length and a size 20 hook, first chuck had a 2lb skimmer which was interesting! I was pulling out roach skimmer and bream every drop in. Went back to the tip about 3, just for a break. A few more roach over an hour and back on the whip until I got to 60 and called it a day.

  • First of the day.
  • Caught on a whip..

Lagoon, 14/4/19

A cold start to the day and with hopes of it getting warmer I was pretty happy, no rain forecast was a bonus. Back on the pole today, trying out different shotting patterns on the Gortini 4×14 round body, 4×10 Chianti and Mini margin. Only one other sole on Lagoon so was really quite all day, a few visitors having a mooch but no other anglers. 3 rigs set up for the day;
1. 5-8 Hollow elastic, Gortini 4×10 Chianti 1.5m depth to a 0.09 hook length, #20 hook.
2. 5-8 Hollow elastic, Gortini 4×14 round body 1m depth to a 0.09 hook length, #20 hook.
3. 8-11 Hollow elastic, Gortini Mini margin 20cm depth to a 0.11 hook length, #18 banded hook.
Fished the Gortini 4×14 to my 10 o’clock, big red over a bed of soaked 2mm carp pellet. This was my most fruitful line all day and all but 2 skimmers were caught on this track. I had big red, pinkies and expanders with me, big red were the bait that was pulling the weight out though. The margin track didn’t produce any bites at all.

Most of the day was spent pulling out decent size roach and skimmers, with a nice bin lid for good luck. A few, small, perch with one a fair size. Fed my 10 o’clock track with soaked 2mm and big red and stopped for some lunch and a cup of coffee. 5 mins after putting in after lunch my elastic took off across the lake, dropped my tip into the water and waited for the hook length to snap! Amazingly it stayed intact and after playing the fish for a good 10 mins I got it’s head up and got it in the net, only just fit, I wasn’t set up for catching a big carp so only had my 16″ net on hand. What a beautiful carp, nice colour, unmarked and hooked center of top lip, perfect. It was still very lively so after a quick pic it was back into the water. A great day 47 fish landed and a half dozen or so unhooked before landing.

  • IT DIDN’T STAY THIS CALM ALL DAY! THE WIND GOT UP AND IT WAS COLD.
  • LAST FISH OF THE DAY

A day on Vulcan Res 7/4/19

I had made plans to have a lazy day on Vulcan Res, just my Omni 8′ tip rod, Omni 30 reel. Didn’t really go to plan, although I did have a great day I was also quite productive on 6mm expanders, soaked in summer fruits overnight, that was all the bait I had brought with me other than 2mm method pellet and a bit of groundbait to mix in with the method mix. Started off fairly cold and pretty sparse on bites, Peg 5 fished 6′ short of the lily bed directly in front of me. Chad ‘the male model’ turned up after I had been there for 20 mins or so and he was my lucky charm, no sooner had he sat down and I was in. A nice 3lb F1, well chuffed, I was now getting a bite every 20 mins or so and they were getting increasingly bigger each catch, 4lb then 6lb then ~10lb then another 6lb then nothing for the next hour and a half. 2 o’clock ish and Chad was packing up as soon as he was through the gate I was in again, another ~10lb, 10 mins later a 6lb then immediately a 2lb Bream, a couple more at 4lb and time I made a move as I had run out of method, it was a hard decision as I was doing so well but time to go home. Had a hungry visitor, who was happy with soaked pellet. Below is a selection of the best of the day.

Sunday 7/4/19, lazy day

As the Havannah Flash match’s are on hold due to the start of the Spring League on the canal, I think I will have a lazy day on Vulcan Res. Tip rod, chair and minimum fuss. I promised myself last year to spend more time with the rod rather than just concentrating on pole fishing. Weather looks good, bit cloudy and the temps in the teens.