Newton Abbot Juniors Carp Match 26th/27th September

Newton Abbot Juniors Carp Match Sept 26th/27th
This match took place over 2 days day 1 fishing on weedy lake not a lot to report as only 1 fish was caught between the 6 anglers and the sooner the club change the venue for day 1 the better, but congratulations to young Ben on Catching an 11lb Carp in the last 5 minutes and winning on the day

Day 2 was on Wheel and with prospect of a few more fish and with the sun shining Robbie and myself set off early to have a quick look around.
We arrived with plenty of time to spare and found a few other anglers already there.
Robbie had already decided on the swim he fancied and when he drew 2nd choice I was confident he would get his swim and he would get a few carp.
He chose peg 2 which is a lovely swim on the disabled platform it gives him lots of options with a margin under the platform to his left a lovely Margin next to some reeds to his right and a far bank at 12 mtrs which is hard for him to fish all day on the pole but he candle it in short bursts but can also be fished with a straight lead.
Bait for the day would be mainly pellet with some meat as back up.
We only had to setup 3 rigs for today as  the margins were pretty similar on the right and far bank slightly deeper to the left and 1 meat rig that we could alter to suit if necessary.
At the all in Robbie had a quick look down his right hand side as the reeds were already knocking and within 5 minutes the float buried unfortunately the Carp buried himself in the reeds and the hook transferred to a reed.
The swim was disturbed so he went down his left margin and again within 5 minutes another Carp took the pellet but again it came off but with little disturbance so Robbie went straight back in and was soon rewarded with a little Carp of around a 1lb and all seemed set for a bumper day but no matter how hard he tried he couldn't winkle out another bite so after an hour he tried to his right but with no bites coming and with no other fish being caught he decided it was lunch time so out came th lead rod and he dropped it over to the far bank and started to munch when the tip flew around and he landed another small carp.
He kept on the lead for another 30 minutes but no further bites and with lunch over he tried his left Margin again.
He kept lifting and dropping his float and was rewarded with 2 more bites but lost both possibly foul hooked.
Into the last hour and we had heard that 1 lad had landed a couple of bigger Carp and 2 other lads had a similar weight to Robbie.
Robbie decided to try his left margin again and with signs of Carp there he was confident of getting a bite.
It Didn't take long for Carp number 3 to come again a small 1 but this put him in second place for the day and with the reeds knocking he felt there were more Carp there for the taking and he was right.
He lowered his float in and his elastic streamed out unfortunately the Carp didn't want to stop and the hook link snapped.
In again and another bit almost immediately this time the Carp came out then dived back into the reeds and went solid with no other than pulling for a break he disappointingly pulled only to find he was still attached and played carp number 4 into the net.
We heard that young Danny had landed another Carp also so it would be close between the 2 of them so when Robbie hooked another Carp with 5 minutes to go things looked good only for the Carp around 4lb to shake the hook out.

So it ended Robbie 4 Carp 6 the weigh in started and Robbie had 2Kg 180 on to Danny and he also weighed 2kg 180 so a tie for 2nd place as everyone knew Joe had landed 4 large Carp in his weight of 13Kg.

So a good day and Robbie coming joint 2nd on the day and joint 3rd over the weekend.

A big thank you goes out to Paul Gay for looking after the youngsters as both the Junior officers were absent on Sunday
Also a big thank you to Western Towing for sponsoring the event

Spring Ponds Summer league Final Round 12th September

Just a quick post about this match as not a lot happened for me in fact I didn't get a bite for 4 hours but then had 5 nice carp for 12.5lbs all from the margins.
The match as whole fished hard with Jason Fay winning pond 1 with 27lb11oz and Phil Bailey winning pond 2 with 12lb
I would like to thank Elliot for running the league and I wish I had managed to be at more but sometimes work or Robbies competitions have been more important but next year maybe different as someone needs to beat Smithy.

Bill Berry Memorial match Island Pond 5th sept 2015

Robbie had his first match for awhile and was really looking forward to this one as he came second last year.
Only 5 Children turned up which was disappointing but may show that Newton Abbot has a problem with their Junior section.
Robbie was keen to fish peg 5 as it had some deep water in front and not much weed which seemed to be hampering a few other pegs.
The Match was run as a rover which I'm never fond of as this helps the more experienced anglers who know the lakes this was quite obvious as 2 of the lads kept picking pegs that weren't available during the match as they had no idea where the numbers that were in the bag were on the lake.
Robbie drew number 5 so had last choice but luckily still managed to get peg 5 so was quite happy as was I as its close to the carpark'
We set up a pole for fishing at 6 Mtr's in around 8ft of water a margin rig for our left and a waggler for open water I also set up a bomb rod.
for bait it was going to be maggot all the way targeting small perch and roach and the plan was to catch all day and hopefully get close to 2kg (How wrong I was)
The all in was called and Robbie started at the 6mtr line cupping in some Bait tech super g gold groundbait and a few maggots.
The float stayed motionless then after  half an hour as Robbie was shipping out he caught a little perch of 20g. unfortunately that was the only bite he had in the full 4 hours luckily 2 other kids blanked so he came third and wins a trophy.
It was a bad all round on the lake with 2nd place only having 90g and the winner only having 270g.
Maybe a rethink is needed and another lake chosen next year which may give the kids a chance of catching a few fish.
Still a nice day was had and it was good to catch up with a few old faces and Robbie to catch up with some young faces

A few trips but busy at work

Been a busy time at work but have managed a few pleasure trips recently with Robbie and my Daughter decided to tag along for an overnight session at Filham pond hoping for her first Carp.

But lets start back a week or so and a very pleasant evening spent at Upham Farm we arrived around 4.15pm and as the evening rate doesn't start until 5pm we decided to have a quick walk around.
We instantly noticed some Carp feeding in lake 6 and although we had planned to fish lake 5 we thought we may come back and have a quick go here.

Upham Farm is a lovely Fishery set in some beautiful countryside and offer 6 pretty easy lakes with lots of fish and is aimed mainly at Tourists and pleasure anglers, it also has a specimen lake which does hold some Bigger Carp.

People seemed to be catching a few small carp on pegs 2,3 and 4 but as no one was fishing on 5 or 6 we headed back and got set up.

I quickly assembled a Margin rig for Robbie to try and catch the feeding Carp in lake 6 they were just under a bush at around 8 mtr's away.

Robbie managed to Manoeuvre the rig into the exact spot and within 30 seconds the float buried and a 2lb Carp was quickly Netted.

The same happened on the next 6 drops with fish from 8oz to 3lb being caught.

I set up a feeder rod and tried down the opposite margin and instantly caught a few carp but 3lb seemed to be as big as they got in this lake so after 45 minutes and 20+ fish between us we decided to settle back on lake 5.

I gave Robbie a slightly heavier Set up as I knew the Carp grew bigger in this lake sat him on his seatbox and showed him whereto lower his rig. There was a lovely cut in about 4 Mtrs to his left andi had pre baited it with some pellets and corn.

Robbie lowered his rig and within 2 minutes had a 6lbcarap pulling his elastic all around his peg he landed it and caught a few more before the lure of tree climbing overcame him and I started to fish instead.

I had a great 30 minutes landing half a dozen Carp with the biggest topping 10 pound and a few Skimmers upto 1lb or so

Robbie finished with a nice 6lb carp

The Following Monday I returned to Filham Park to see if I could get a Decent Carp or Chub from the lake

I decided on doing a night as I had a weeks holiday so plenty of time to get over it.

We arrived early and popped into the donkey sanctuary which is right next to the lake and then had a nice picnic and play in the park before settling down on a lovely double peg either 10and 11 or 9 and 10 can't remember

My daughter had decided to stay with us for the night so I set up a quick silvers rig for her and Robbie showed her how to put a maggot on and she tarted to catch small Roach and Rudd

We had a nice trip catching F1s, Crucians some small carp, Tench and Skimmers I also believe I hooked a quite large pike that mullered a 6oz roach that had taken a 6mm pellet but it let go about 5 mtr's from the bank without us seeing it but I can't work out was else it could have been.
My Daughter did catch a small carp of around 2lb so a good trip but nothing large enough to warrant a third trip anytime soon.

Filham Park Lake Ivybridge 25/07/2015

After picking up a new seatbox from Ivybridge i was in two minds whether to fish Filham Park or Little Allers fishery as both were within 5 Minutes but after speaking to a PADCAC member i decided on Filham with the promise of lots of fish and a possible Chub.
So a quick stop at the Watermark Library for my ticket £6.25 for 12 hours or £8.25 for 24 then straight to the lake.
I arrived and found a few people fishing some Carpies and a few pleasure anglers and the lake looked lovely with lots of little Islands dabbed around.
I was assured peg 17 was a favoured peg so was surprised to find it empty but settled myself down for a pleasant days fishing.
I set up a method feeder for fishing tight to the Island and 2 pole rigs i for top 2 plus 2 in about 3ft of water and 1 for my right hand margin under a bush which looked very inviting but produced nothing.
I Started on the feeder loaded with Micro pellets and a 6mm hard pellet banded on a size 16 hook and soon had a small skimmer followed by a 8oz Roach but it was hardly hectic so tried my pole line.

I tried sweetcorn,6mm pellet 8 mm pellet and 6 and 8mm meat but all i could get was Roach admittedly nice ones mainly ranging from 6-10oz's so i managed to build a weight quite quickly.

I had another go on the feeder but every time i cast the feeder was attacked by small roach boiling over it so i decided to concentrate on the pole.

I tried the margins but never had a sign of anything big just little nibblers reducing my pellet into small pea shaped nuggets so i decided to try a little further out with an 8 mm pellet it took longer to get a decent bite but suddenly i had a Roach of around a 1lb and a quarter a really lovely fish then almost immediately a gorgeous Crucian of over a 1lb and a half.

I had a few small Carp but nothing over a pound and i couldn't find a tench or Chub.
looking around the lake it seemed to have fished quite hard for the larger species and with so many little roach attacking anything that went it i decided to call it a day a bit earlier than planned.

I will be back as i quite fancy doing a night to see if there are any larger Carp around and hopefully catch a Chub i will bring Robbie as he will have great fun catching the roach and smaller Carp that seem to be everywhere.

Goodiford Mill 19/07/2015

Unfortunately the match at Milemead was cancelled last minute due to lack of interest which is a shame as its a good fishery and i was expecting a decent day but as i had all the bait and tackle in the car i decided i had to go somewhere so i decided upon  Goodiford Mill  I must say it truly is a fantastic venue

Arrived to find a match had been booked on the lower part of the lake so fished the top bank surrounded by Carpies who had alarms all set up (why they do this on a match lake is beyond me)
I quickly set up a method feeder and chucked it towards the far bank whilst i attempted to set up my Pellet waggler but within 40 seconds the tip wrapped around and i had a lovely 4lb mirror carp in the net.
I decided to wait and set up the rest of my gear before casting again.

I set up up my pellet waggler and 2 pole lines one at top 2 plus 2 and a margin line for my left hand side in about 15" of water.

Once i all set up i cast the method over to the far bank waited 30 seconds then the tip wrapped round again but this time the fish came off.

This set the pattern for the day and i have never lost so many fish in one day not sure whether it was me my hook choice or just fish that had been caught alot and had bad lips

After half an hour i heard some lads arrive who were having the match and instantly recognized the voices as some of the Newton Abbot lads inc the Torbay Tart obviously none of them had my number or else I'm sure they would have rung?


I decided to try my luck and fish alongside the match so i left my swim for half an hour and started again on the all in  I had 35 Carp averaging 4/5lb rotating between a method feeder and Pellet waggler mainly on 8 mm pellets but a few on 6s also had 2 larger carp from the Margins on the pole late on.

I did fish before and after the match and emptied my keepnet twice during the match as i only brought 1 from the car so my weight wasn't a true measure of the day but in all i had well over 200lb inc the fish before and after the match so not a bad days fishing.

Next up will be another pleasure trip not sure where yet.

N.A.F.A Junior Summer league 11/7/2015

Decided to miss my summer league match at Spring ponds so Robbie could take part in his summer league we turned up at wheel pond and i instantly saw i had left his poles on the drive at home(Plonker)
No matter as it would only take 15 minutes to pop home so waited for the draw then made a quick dash home.
Robbie got first choice today and picked peg 1 a nice peg on the wooden gangway allowing him to fish the far bank with comfort but also 2 margins 1 along the gangway and 1 to his left were we new alot of Crucians hung around.
To my surprise the Torbay Tart turned up thinking he could fish a Junior match i suppose after his recent run he may get a top 3 here.
After the rules were explained he managed to find his Neice so she would be fishing in his place.

We set up 3 rigs for today 1 for the far bank 1 for top 2 plus 2 for silvers and 1 margin rig for meat luckily we found 2 spots with equal depth either side.

Bait would be Maggot for silvers and meat and pellet for the Carp.

The all in was called and Robbie went straight out for silvers it took awhile but he started to catch a few small roach and perch no-one seemed to be catching much except for the Tarts Neice who was getting a better stamp of roach than Robbie.

Unfortunately after an hour Robbie started to feel ill and despite trying to carry on i made the decision to call it a day so we had to pack up early.
I knew it was the right decision because as soon we got home he went straight to bed and slept for 2 hours only waking when he a nightmare involving the Torbay Tarts legs in shorts only Joking he was thankfully his legs were fully covered today.

Will try and get the full the results and update soon.

Next up hopefully a trip to Milemead if i can persuade my wife to let me out on my eldest son's birthday