River Huntspill (Somerset Super League Rd 2)
Back to the Huntspill today for the second round of the super league, With traveling Don picking me up I didn't have to worry about how much alcohol I had consumed yesterday but wasn't in any kind of state which was a good thing'
After the normal breakfast on route we made are way to Laburnham house for the draw, I fancied the winner would come from the sections below woolavington where most of the bait had gone in over the last couple of weeks as well as these pegs to produce better results than some area's? It wasn't to be for me though as I ended up drawing the top section of the river at gold corner which was pretty poor in the first round but you never know, Arriving at my peg the first main issue was the amount of weed present, Luckily for me my swim didn't seem as bad as some others so this year I didn't have to go swimming just to clear my swim although Andy Otterway from the Thatchers lot decided to take the plunge" I ask you' whats it all about when you have to resort to doing this just to clear your swim when there are other sections of the river which can be used and free of weed!?
First out the holdall was the feeder rod to fish toward the far bank in the slim chance of snaring a bream or some decent skimmers in the opening stages but after a brief chat with a few others this section failed to produce in the first round so with that in mind I was hoping the pole line would produce a few fish?
with plenty of time before the all in I assemble two pole rigs to fish past the nearside weed at 13mts as I didn't want to go any further as the forecast was for wet weather with the wind increasing from the south meaning it would be difficult to feed properly.
With around 5ft of water I had a heavier 0.4g rig on 0.13-0.10 and a size 20 B520 hook on one top and a lighter 0.2g slim patterned float on 0.11-0.10 to search through the lower depths.
At the all-in I fed a small pot of maggots & casters, (The casters I may add were from last week which were better than the fresh pint purchased yesterday which I had to throw away as they went grey and soft when I tried turning them"??) And then had a dozen chucks feeding a mix of casters, chopped worms & red Squatt's
though a 30g feeder before adding the hook-length and started the match with a bunch of squat's on the hook. I missed a couple of small twitches before having a 1oz rudd" the next 45mins as things didn't get much better as only two fish of similar size were added to the net. I had seen Gary O'Shea on the end peg of are section net a better fish but apart from that it seemed most were struggling including Paul Purchase next to me who was admitting to a few small fish. It was time to try the pole and starting on the lighter rig with a single white maggot I had a bite straight away resulting in a 12oz eel so a good start'? A few minutes later I hooked another around a 1lb but it shed the hook when I got it to the surface' not good! The Water colour at this end was a lot cleared probably due to the weed filtering the water? which meant fish may spook as it proved as I couldn't get a sniff after. I re-fed with another half pot before trying the feeder again.
30 bite-less minute later I was soon trying the pole again, I had a few small perch and some small rudd but it seemed the eel's had disappeared? Paul had managed a couple of eel's on his pole line but was also struggling for a few bites, it was fast approaching the halfway mark of the 5hr match and things weren't going to plan? I decided to loose fed small amount more regularly onto the pole line whilst desperately praying for a better fish on the feeder. I didn't happen so I was back trying the pole line but with the lighter rig set 6inches of the deck. it seemed to work as I added a few more rudd to 4oz and a bonus 12oz perch' to go with the one Paul Had snared on the feeder'. It seemed to be a case of catching a few fish before you had change depth and or rest it, The feeder line just didn't seem to be working as the guy below me spent most of the match on it without having much and although Paul had caught a few fish on it I didn't think he was that far in-front? In the last hour I decided to stick to the pole and keep a close eye on both of them on the tip, By swapping between fishing on and off the deck I was hoping for some late eel's , I had nothing to loose and decided to feed it a lot heavier with maggots and what I had of casters left via the catty and after a few more rudd and small roach with 20mins to go I hooked a better eel of a 1lb or so which this time I got to net' with 10mins to go I hooked another right swimmer" taking me towards the middle before I managed to stop it and get it back towards me, it felt a lot bigger than the last but after getting it a few meters from the bank it bolted around a couple of lily pads off to me left snapping my hook-length!" I soon added another but with only 2mins left I didn't have time for another bite.
Nicky Collins wandered up add was admitting to 4lb odd I though I had around 5lb and Paul was admitting to the same so it would be close as expected really Gary O'Shea was winning the section when it got to us with off the end peg with 9lb followed by Dave Micklewright next door having 8lb odd, we didn't have that but it would be close between the rest of us, Their was a 5lb 15oz before it got to me and I finished up with 6lb 1oz before Paul ended the match with 6lb 6oz"
4th in the section wasn't a bad result but the two lost eel's cost me but that's fishing, Back at the results and it seemed to be a carbon copy of the last match with those who seemed to have tried a few things have done better than those who have relied on just one method, Team match fishing to me is fishing as a team and discussing things to catch a few fish, Its seems if some just want to turn up and aren't bothered about being team members and with this in mind along with the costs involved I have decided to part ways with the team as such with regards to the future rounds of the Super league, Back to fishing my own choice of matches for the time being and at least I can only blame myself if things don't turn out right". The match was won by Thatcher's Gary Webber from below Wollavington with 29lb of bream & skimmers on the feeder on various baits from peg 99. Team wise Daiwa Gordon League lead the way after two rounds.
overall standings -
First out the holdall was the feeder rod to fish toward the far bank in the slim chance of snaring a bream or some decent skimmers in the opening stages but after a brief chat with a few others this section failed to produce in the first round so with that in mind I was hoping the pole line would produce a few fish?
with plenty of time before the all in I assemble two pole rigs to fish past the nearside weed at 13mts as I didn't want to go any further as the forecast was for wet weather with the wind increasing from the south meaning it would be difficult to feed properly.
With around 5ft of water I had a heavier 0.4g rig on 0.13-0.10 and a size 20 B520 hook on one top and a lighter 0.2g slim patterned float on 0.11-0.10 to search through the lower depths.
At the all-in I fed a small pot of maggots & casters, (The casters I may add were from last week which were better than the fresh pint purchased yesterday which I had to throw away as they went grey and soft when I tried turning them"??) And then had a dozen chucks feeding a mix of casters, chopped worms & red Squatt's
though a 30g feeder before adding the hook-length and started the match with a bunch of squat's on the hook. I missed a couple of small twitches before having a 1oz rudd" the next 45mins as things didn't get much better as only two fish of similar size were added to the net. I had seen Gary O'Shea on the end peg of are section net a better fish but apart from that it seemed most were struggling including Paul Purchase next to me who was admitting to a few small fish. It was time to try the pole and starting on the lighter rig with a single white maggot I had a bite straight away resulting in a 12oz eel so a good start'? A few minutes later I hooked another around a 1lb but it shed the hook when I got it to the surface' not good! The Water colour at this end was a lot cleared probably due to the weed filtering the water? which meant fish may spook as it proved as I couldn't get a sniff after. I re-fed with another half pot before trying the feeder again.
30 bite-less minute later I was soon trying the pole again, I had a few small perch and some small rudd but it seemed the eel's had disappeared? Paul had managed a couple of eel's on his pole line but was also struggling for a few bites, it was fast approaching the halfway mark of the 5hr match and things weren't going to plan? I decided to loose fed small amount more regularly onto the pole line whilst desperately praying for a better fish on the feeder. I didn't happen so I was back trying the pole line but with the lighter rig set 6inches of the deck. it seemed to work as I added a few more rudd to 4oz and a bonus 12oz perch' to go with the one Paul Had snared on the feeder'. It seemed to be a case of catching a few fish before you had change depth and or rest it, The feeder line just didn't seem to be working as the guy below me spent most of the match on it without having much and although Paul had caught a few fish on it I didn't think he was that far in-front? In the last hour I decided to stick to the pole and keep a close eye on both of them on the tip, By swapping between fishing on and off the deck I was hoping for some late eel's , I had nothing to loose and decided to feed it a lot heavier with maggots and what I had of casters left via the catty and after a few more rudd and small roach with 20mins to go I hooked a better eel of a 1lb or so which this time I got to net' with 10mins to go I hooked another right swimmer" taking me towards the middle before I managed to stop it and get it back towards me, it felt a lot bigger than the last but after getting it a few meters from the bank it bolted around a couple of lily pads off to me left snapping my hook-length!" I soon added another but with only 2mins left I didn't have time for another bite.
Nicky Collins wandered up add was admitting to 4lb odd I though I had around 5lb and Paul was admitting to the same so it would be close as expected really Gary O'Shea was winning the section when it got to us with off the end peg with 9lb followed by Dave Micklewright next door having 8lb odd, we didn't have that but it would be close between the rest of us, Their was a 5lb 15oz before it got to me and I finished up with 6lb 1oz before Paul ended the match with 6lb 6oz"
4th in the section wasn't a bad result but the two lost eel's cost me but that's fishing, Back at the results and it seemed to be a carbon copy of the last match with those who seemed to have tried a few things have done better than those who have relied on just one method, Team match fishing to me is fishing as a team and discussing things to catch a few fish, Its seems if some just want to turn up and aren't bothered about being team members and with this in mind along with the costs involved I have decided to part ways with the team as such with regards to the future rounds of the Super league, Back to fishing my own choice of matches for the time being and at least I can only blame myself if things don't turn out right". The match was won by Thatcher's Gary Webber from below Wollavington with 29lb of bream & skimmers on the feeder on various baits from peg 99. Team wise Daiwa Gordon League lead the way after two rounds.
overall standings -
Nice write up as usual Dom, I can understand your point about team fishing, it takes a lot of dediciation and time for it to work, not many people seem to want that level of commitment nowdays.
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