Hartleylands Farm Fishery. The Reservoir. August 11th, 2012.

Marsh AC club match.

I’m off down to Hartleylands Farm just outside the village of Cranbrook in Kent today for the seventh match of the Marsh AC year. It’s a match that I really look forward to fishing as it’s one of my favorite  waters with the potential for a cracking days sport. An early start was in order as I was meeting a few of the lads for breakfast at The Knoxbridge Café and with the promise of some decent weather for today it didn’t take long to get the gear loaded into the car and set off.

A nice smooth drive down saw me pulling into the car park at around 7·30am just as Al and Keith Powell who was guesting today arrived. Kevin and Jean were already there along with Keith and Mick who’d made their usual trip down from Milton Keynes and Rusty who was also guesting today and we were soon joined by John, Martin and Zack. With the pangs of hunger taken care of by a Knoxbridge Special it was time to get up to the fishery for the draw, but not before Keith Powell noticed Keith’s wallet that had dropped on the floor by his seat and phoned him to let him know he had it.

Arriving at the draw most of the usual suspects were in attendance along with our third guest today Mick the Chippy who I struck a side bet of a Golden Nugget with as usual. Dave soon had the monies collected and the draw underway. Peg 25 proved to be mine today, a short stroll from the car park and shaded by trees. Kev had peg 29 and it looked good for a few today while Mick the Chippy was next up on 28 with Rusty to my left on 26 and Mick W next up on peg 23.

Settling into the peg it was time to decide how to approach it. I’d considered fishing the pellet wag today but with the wind blowing from right to left across the peg it was going to be very awkward, so although I set one up I was pretty sure that it wasn’t going to figure. Instead it was going to be 3 pole rigs, one at 5mtrs straight out with another for the willow to my right and a third for the left hand willow. The first two were once again Nick Gilbert’s handmade 0·5g Power Pencils that were made up on 0·21 Ultima power match with size 14 Guru MWG’s to finish off with while the third rig was a 0.3 NG Edger again on 0·21 Ultima power match straight through to a size 14 Guru MWG. Bait was 4 and 6mm pellet for feed along with some hemp while hook bait would be 8mm hard pellet with some GOT Atomic paste if I needed it.

Kev provided a cup of coffee courtesy of Jean when he popped down for a chat and Dave called the All-In at 10am and I fed a couple of handfuls of hemp and pellets to the two willow swims and a handful of pellet straight out at 5mtrs before following them out with a banded 8mm to 5mtrs. I could hear that Rusty was in almost straight away but I was being plagued by sharp bites that I couldn’t connect with and I suspected that these were from roach snatching at the 8mm pellet and this was confirmed when I landed one of around 6ozs that had somehow managed to engulf the pellet.

Thankfully my first carp of the day was soon on its way, the carp in the reservoir give a good account of themselves with the deep water encouraging them to keep their heads down and making you work to get their heads up and into the net but after a spirited fight a nice mirror of around 7lbs was safely in the keepnet.

You couldn’t class the sport as fast and furious though and the general banter around the lake made it obvious that most were struggling after around an hour, apart that is from Kev who was into a steady run of fish and Mick the Chippy if the rumours were to be believed. I was picking up the odd carp on my 5mtr line but looks over at both willow swims were producing nothing apart from the odd roach and skimmer. Rusty had taken a few carp fishing shallow but they weren’t really having it either and gradually faded away.

By 12·30pm I had around 6 carp and a few silvers to show for my efforts so took a little stroll to see how others were doing on my bank. Mick W reckoned that he’d had a few but seemed to be doing OK to me judging by the amount of elastic coming from his top two as he played a carp and it was obvious that he had hopes of taking the MK Nugget from Keith today……

but the pegs in the early twenties didn’t seem to be producing as I would have expected them to. However over on the other side the one person that did seem to be getting among a few was Terry and with the wind blowing into the margins there I fancied that he had the chance of a good weight on the cards today ……

Back down on peg 29 Kev was enjoying himself taking a succession of fish from under the willow to his left……

Mick was enjoying himself as always but had suffered with a few lost fish in the course of the morning and looking to up his catch rate ……

and while Rusty was his usual jovial self, with his shallow line having dried up was looking to explore other lines in an effort to put a few more in the net……

Back at my peg it was just a question of keeping some feed trickling into the three lines and waiting for some fish to turn up, which I was certain would happen at some point given the head of fish present in the water. Dave the Fish popped round for a stroll and it obviously wasn’t going well for him and you could sense his frustration with not being able to get to grips with things today.

As the afternoon wore on things did start picking up for me. I had to rotate round the three lines, but by doing this I started to pick up carp on a regular basis, nothing big, most were around the 4-5lbs mark but good weight builders if you can keep them coming.

Others weren’t so fortunate and I could hear Al bemoaning the fact that he couldn’t reach the spot where he felt the fish were in his swim ……

Things had picked up a bit for Tony, but he’d still found time to pop along and check out what Keith Powell was doing on peg 13 as it was obviously starting to produce for him ……

Keith was having one of those matches that we all dread, putting a few fish together but having to watch travelling companion Mick W catching just a few more which would surely result in the loss of an MK Nugget today……

My afternoon was then rudely interrupted by a pain in the neck .......... I’d been stung by a bee. Fortunately Rusty came to my aid and removed the sting with the aid of a pair of styl pliers, ad hoc surgery at its finest which allowed me to resume fishing again.

Things seemed to pick up for most as the match drew to a close, unfortunately not for Dave who had to suffer more frustration as Tony on the next peg found a late run of fish to save his day while Dave got seen off by a couple of foul hookers.

The All-Out was called at 4pm and with a set of scales on our side Kevin and I decided to get the weigh-in underway before packing up. We started with Rod on peg 19 who put 26½lbs on the scales followed by Simon with 79½lbs. Next up was Graham with 33lbs and Chris with 36¾lbs. Mick W recorded 94¾lbs and my 19 carp with a few silvers weighed 114½lbs. Rusty had managed 96¾lbs but Mick the Chippy had suffered a frustrating second half to his match with just 36½lbs meaning a Golden Nugget was coming my way. Finally Kevin put his fish onto the scales and recorded 132½lbs and a new PB Match Weight……

Time to pack away the kit and get back to the car park where Dave worked out the results and sorted out the section money. First today was Terry with a fine 163½lbs, Kevin had secured second place and I had finished in third.
Today’s sections had gone to Al, Terry, Mick W and Kevin to bring an enjoyable day to a close.

The next club match is at Colemans Cottage on September 15th, but we also have a midweek match at Alders Farm a couple of days before that which Keith has kindly organised for us, so plenty to look forward to.

 

Position	Peg	Angler		Weight
1st	Peg 15	Terry Goff		163lbs 08ozs
2nd	Peg 29	Kevin Loveland		132lbs 08ozs
3rd	Peg 25	Peter Morton		114lbs 08ozs
4th	Peg 13	Keith Powell	Guest	106lbs 00ozs
5th	Peg 26	Russell Graves	Guest	96lbs 12ozs
6th	Peg 23	Mick Wright		94lbs 12ozs
7th	Peg 20	Simon Watkins		79lbs 08ozs
8th	Peg 16	Zack Johnson		76lbs 04ozs
9th	Peg 9	Tony Roberts		75lbs 08ozs
10th	Peg 1	Al Loader		75lbs 00ozs
11th	Peg 11	Keith Ashby		68lbs 04ozs
12th	Peg 7	Clive Pritchard		64lbs 12ozs
13th	Peg 5	John Holdsworth		40lbs 12ozs
14th	Peg 22	Chris Withall		36lbs 12ozs
15th	Peg 28	Mick Pearson	Guest	36lbs 08ozs
16th	Peg 21	Graham Manning		33lbs 00ozs
17th	Peg 4	Martin Hucker		27lbs 12ozs
18th	Peg 19	Rod Turner		26lbs 08ozs
19th	Peg 8	Dave Collier		22lbs 12ozs

Hawkhurst Fishery. The Match Lake. April 14th, 2012.

Al’s Match.

Marsh AC club mate and fellow Maggotdrowner Al Loader had booked the Match Lake at Hawkhurst for a knock up today and with a good few booked on for it everyone was hopeful of a good days sport. Unfortunately the view from the bedroom window was a bit bleak when I looked out, dull grey and overcast with rain falling, but with the cats fed and a couple of cups of coffee to fortify me I soon had my waterproofs on and the car loaded up and headed for Hawkhurst. Thankfully the rain soon stopped, but with the temperature showing just 6°C and some fog outside Tonbridge it looked like a none to glorious spring day ahead.

I pulled into the car park just before 8am to find most already assembled and the last couple followed me in. A cool North easterly wind was noticeable as Keith collected the match fees for Al, before we headed to the fishery Restaurant for breakfast before the draw. The breakfast served at Hawkhurst is one of the best (2 sausage, 2 bacon, 2 eggs, mushrooms, beans/tomatoes, fried slice + toast and tea or coffee) which sets you up nicely for the day ahead, and as we chatted over this, Mick the Chippy was adamant that the Golden Nugget would be returning to him today.

With breakfast taken care of it was back to the car park for the draw. With 16 anglers present all 20 pegs were in and when my turn came peg 3 was mine for the day. Collecting my kit I chatted to Mick McMillan who was happy to have drawn peg 5, though he wasn’t quite so happy when he found out that I’d drawn peg 6 for Al.
A short walk to my peg revealed Tony on peg 1 while Brodie was on peg 2 and Dave Hough to my right on peg 4. Happiest angler on the day should have been Derek Lockwood on the other bank as he had one empty peg to his right and three to his left. You can see where everyone else drew on the peg plan below ……..

My set up for Hawkhurst was pretty simple. 3 top kits loaded with black hydro and the first 2 rigs were identical, made up of a 0·3 NG XT Power Pencil Mk 2 on 0·14 Ultima power match straight through to a size 16 Kamasan B911X for a 5mtr line (top 2 + 2 sections) on the deck where I had around 4ft of water, while the third was a 0.2 NG Edger again on 0·14 Ultima power match straight through to a size 16 Kamasan B911X for a margin line against the boards. Bait for the day was going to be hard 6mm fishery pellet along with some 6mm GOT Rippers .

With the match being fished from 10·15am till 4·15pm I had a bit of time before the start to have a stroll round and have a chat prior to the All-In so I strolled along the top of the banking behind the pegs to get a better view. Mick McMillan and Al were settled into pegs 5 and 6, a couple of the favoured pegs and would be hard to beat today as they’re both more than capable of doing a big weight……

On peg 7 Mick was hoping that the power of Beechams powders would hold his cold at bay in his quest to gain back his Golden Nugget and Clive obviously had a cunning plan that was focused on the contents of a tin……

I had a quick chat with Keith who wouldn’t be able to keep an eye on Mick today, while Terry was having a chat with Paul on peg 10, picking his brains as Paul has a very good record fishing here ……

John seemed happy enough on peg 12, as he had Dave for company today on peg 11 and the 3 empty pegs to his right……

Derek was in splendid isolation on peg 16, Rod was going with the waggler from peg 19 and Mick Wright was tucked into the corner on peg 20 and hoping to get the bragging rights for the trip home to Milton Keynes with travelling companion Keith today, while over in the opposite corner Tony seemed lost in contemplation of the day ahead ……

10·15am and the whistle was blown signalling the start of the match. Before I could even pot in a cup of pellet Mick was netting his first fish of the day!!!!!! and was netting a second before I shipped out a rig with a 6mm banded pellet on the hook. The hoped for instant bite didn’t materialise for me and others were already into fish before a bit of lift and dropping of the rig was rewarded with the float jagging under. A quick lift resulted in a pleasing resistance and a small common of around 1lb was soon in the net to get me off the mark. That set the tone for me, a pinch of pellet every put in and keep working the rig produced the bites and kept the small carp coming and I ended the first hour with 14 fish in the nets. That north east wind was really chilling despite the sunshine, but kept a decent ripple on the swim.

In the second hour the wind dropped a couple of times but it was noticeable that without the ripple the bites dried up, only returning with the wind. This was especially noticeable as Terry opposite me had the wind off his back leaving his peg a lot calmer, which resulted in him really struggling for a bite ……

Despite the lulls in sport when the wind dropped I managed to maintain my catch rate and at the end of the second hour I’d added another 17 fish to the nets, and felt that I was holding my own with Tony and Brodie, though Dave to my right seemed to be catching at a slightly faster rate ……

Steady away was the story of the third hour for me though Brodie felt that he needed to try a different approach to maintain his catch rate and switched to fishing shallow in an effort to keep them coming ……

Derek over on peg 16 was getting his head down, catching regularly and was obviously profiting from having those empty pegs around him ……

…… as well as being able to keep an eye on Mick and Al who, according to the grapevine were neck and neck and both catching well, though Al did have to take a break to go and get some more pellet as he had run out.

Strangely though I hadn’t seen Dave having his customary stroll during the match and looking up toward his peg I could see him hunched over and concentrating on his right hand margin, so he was obviously catching well ……

into the 4th hour I had 50 fish on my clicker when a bit of a disaster struck. As I netted another carp which thrashed around and broke the line on the rig, and despite going straight back out with a second identical rig I couldn’t buy a bite, no apparent reason for it, but I decided to take a couple of minutes to retie the original rig and once I’d done that had a bite first put in with it.

Mick was still plundering his right hand margin over on peg 20, but the fish that he was getting seemed to be quite small ……

However it was soon apparent that all was not well as sport seemed to slow down for most around the lake, The margins beside the boards were devoid of fish for me and I couldn’t get a bite when I tried there, indeed in that 5th hour I only managed to put 8 fish in the net.

The final hour was no better for me either, and in all honesty I was quite relieved when the whistle sounded the All-Out leaving me with 65 fish to weigh-in.

I soon had my kit packed away and back to the car and chatting to others they had all seemed to suffer a poor last couple of hours.

First to weigh-in was Paul on peg 10 putting 97¾lbs on the scales. Keith and Clive had 66½lbs and 71½ respectively while Mick the chippy’s cold had finally caught up with him as he weighed 31½lbs. Al placed a fine 139lbs on the scales but it would only be good enough for second today as Mick McMillan topped that with 148½lbs to take the win on the day. next up Dave Hough’s 123½lbs would give him 3rd. I weighed 105lbs, Brodie 87½lbs and Tony 81lbs. Round to the opposite bank and Mick secured the bragging rights over Keith with a level 98lbs. Rod recorded 23lbs and Terry 34½lbs. Derek recorded a fine 114½lbs to finish just out of the frame. John put 91½lbs on the scales and Dave was last to weigh with a decent 104½lbs.

So Thanks to Al for organising the day, just over 1400lbs of fish put on the scales averaging over 80lbs per man can’t be a bad days fishing on a cold spring day, and Thanks to Mick the Chippy for another Golden Nugget.

Position	Peg	Angler	Weight
1st	Peg 5	Mick McMillan	148lbs 08ozs
2nd	Peg 6	Al Loader	139lbs 00ozs
3rd	Peg 4	Dave Hough	123lbs 08ozs
4th	Peg 16	Derek Lockwood	114lbs 08ozs
5th	Peg 3	Peter Morton	105lbs 00ozs
6th	Peg 11	Dave Collier	104lbs 08ozs
7th	Peg 20	Mick Wright	98lbs 00ozs
8th	Peg 10	Paul East	97lbs 12ozs
9th	Peg 12	John Holdsworth	91lbs 08ozs
10th	Peg 2	Brodie Vowles	87lbs 08ozs
11th	Peg 1	Tony Roberts	81lbs 00ozs
12th	Peg 8	Clive Pritchard	71lbs 08ozs
13th	Peg 9	Keith Ashby	66lbs 08ozs
14th	Peg 18	Terry Goff	34lbs 08ozs
15th	Peg 7	Mick Pearson	31lbs 08ozs
16th	Peg 19	Rod Turner	23lbs 00ozs

Monk Lakes. Match Lake 4. March 31st, 2012.

 Marsh AC club match.

Well today would see me fishing the first Marsh AC match of the season down at Monk Lakes on Match Lake 4. Having not fished since the last club match in the middle of October I was really looking forward to this, getting back on the bank and blowing a few cobwebs away. I was soon back into the old routine, up early, get the cats fed and a couple of cups of coffee for myself before loading up the car and setting off for the venue.
It was a dull grey overcast morning as I drove down toward Staplehurst with the temperature showing just 8°C. I’d like to say that it was an uneventful trip, but a bit of debris falling from a truck I was following shot under the car, with a bang signalling that it had hit something !!!!! The centre box of the exhaust as it happens, which will now need fixing. Anyway I made it to the fishery with Rod and Clive arriving behind me. Getting out of the cars Clive looked around and uttered the immortal words “Well at least it isn’t windy”….he really should have known better.

Over to the food bar for a breakfast roll and a cuppa where a healthy turn out of club members was assembling along with Mick the Chippy who was my guest for the day.
The draw took a little longer than usual as Dave had club fees to collect, but the draw was soon underway and I found peg 154 was mine while Mick drew 155 meaning we would have a good old chat today if nothing else.

Into the cars and up to the lake, I soon had my gear at my peg as I was able to park within 20 yards of it. I can’t say I was delighted with it as pegs 154-160 are generally regarded as “The Corner of Death” and not the most favoured to say the least, but hopefully we would still get a few.

As we started to set up the wind got up, a nasty chill north easterly from my right blowing down into the corner, making it feel cooler still. Having not fished for a while it took a bit longer than usual to get set up, even though I was going to keep it pretty simple today. Just 2 top kits loaded with black hydro and a couple of rigs the first was an 0·4 NG XT Gimp on 0·14 Ultima power match straight through to a size 16 Kamasan B911X to fish on the deck at around 10mtrs, while the second was a, 0·3 NG XT Power Pencil Mk 2 again on 0·14 Ultima power match straight through to a size 16 Kamasan B911X for a 4mtr line on the deck. Both lines had a similar 4ft of depth. Bait for the day was going to be a mix of maggot and hard 6mm pellet along with some 6mm GOT Rippers.

Mick meanwhile had the site of a couple of randy swans on his pole line that decided it was the perfect time and spot to make cygnets !!!! Thankfully they soon departed though. Kev also appeared with a welcome cup of coffee from Jean.

Dave signalled the All-In at 10am and I fed a mixed pot of maggot and pellet at 10mtrs, before starting with double red maggot over it, while Mick started on the method just short of the island. Mick was soon off the mark with a Gudgeon which led to a discussion of the merits of the humble gobio and soon followed it with a small carp and another Gudgeon before my float dipped and I bumped a bottle top off. However it was soon followed by another, all of 2 inches long, but at least I landed it saving myself the dreaded DNW.

I could already hear splashing from up on peg 151 though where Al was able to fish across to the side of the island in relative comfort and seemed to be catching carp already.
Mick was ticking along till he got broken by an unseen denizen of the deep, but I was starting to worry about the destination of the Golden Nugget that was riding on our head to head. Maggot appeared to just attract tiny skimmers and roach so a pot of 6mm’s was followed by the rig with a 6mm ripper on the hook. a bit of lifting and dropping resulted in a positive bite and finally a carp was on it’s way to the net, a nice plump little mirror of around 1½lbs.

It was still hard graft for me, though Mick kept slipping one or two into the net. By 12o’clock I just had 6 carp and that solitary tiny skimmer to show for my efforts so I fed 3 handfuls of pellet onto the 4mtr line and decided to take a stroll with the camera.

Rod and Ken on the other bank of the Corner of Death were having an ever worse time of it than Mick and I as they had the North Easterly blowing full into their faces ……

Graham at least was sheltered by the island, but was still having a struggle to find some fish and had an early look down his margin with some paste to try and snare a carp or two ……

Vic’s peg looked lovely but he was having to work hard for fish that really didn’t want to play ball ……

Kev was also struggling despite encouragement from Jean (at least I think that was what it was) I found Tony fishing his right hand margin as his main swim appeared to have died on him, and was lucky enough to get him to pose for a photo with his next fish ……

Simon was struggling as well despite using his new Maver Elite Carp for the first time and I managed to talk him into letting me have a go with it. A nice pole, but not for me as the balance didn’t feel quite right I’m afraid even after I got Simon to fit the 13mtr extension the right way round.

Round to Keith who complained he was being battered by Mick on the next peg, but he was soon into a fish, but as I raised the camera for an action shot the hook gave way. The curse of the camera? who knows but I felt it best to depart before copping a top two round the ear-hole.

Chris was whittling a few out on his first session since recovering from his broken arm, while Dave had gone for a stroll. Looking back though I could see that Keith and Mick were having a good old ding-dong with the two of them both playing fish ……

Clive seemed utterly miserable as he found fishing at 16mtrs to reach the island to much in the wind that was buffeting him and had resorted to the feeder but with little joy. It didn’t help that he had to watch Al on the next peg catching well from the side of the island as it sheltered him from the wind, and it was pretty obvious already that he would be the one to beat today ……

As I returned to my peg Jean arrived with a welcome cuppa and a cheeseburger from the food bar, so that was consumed before I got back to the business in hand.
Time to attack the 4mtr line and see if I could make something happen. Feed a small handful of 6mm’s and swing a banded 6mm out to the same spot. A couple of lift and drops and the job’s a good un as the float buried resulting in a nice little Mirror. It was never hectic but by sticking at it I soon had small carp and F1′s coming regularly to the net, forcing Mick into trying a similar approach in an effort to avoid the loss of a Golden Nugget.

Fortunately for me, I managed to keep them coming at a greater rate than Mick and when Dave called the All-Out at 4pm we both knew the destination of the Nugget.

With the kit back in the cars the Weigh-In started at Mick’s peg with a hard earned 39½lbs while my net came to a level 63lbs. John chipped in with 23½lbs. Al had made the most of his island peg with a fine 113½lbs. Clive had suffered with just 29lbs and Martin had fared even worse with 17¾lbs. Dave and Chris had had 84lbs and 53lbs and Jim 27½lbs. Mick’s 83lbs left him short of Keith’s 97½lbs. Zack added 23lbs to the total and Simon could only muster 20lbs while Terry was rewarded with 46lbs. Tony put 61½lbs on the scales, while Jean’s coaching had resulted in 37lbs for Kev. Vic’s hard work produced 70¼lbs for him while Graham could only muster 20½lbs. Rod and Ken finished things off with 9½lbs and 18¾lbs respectively.

Back to the car park for the results, with Al taking the win. Keith second and Dave 3rd.   Al, Dave, Keith and Vic taking the sections on the day and Mick’s Golden Nugget found a new home in my pocket.

Next up for me is Al’s Knock Up at Hawkhurst on the 14th so keep your eyes out for that report.

 

Position	Peg	Angler		Weight
1st	Peg 151	Al Loader		113lbs 08ozs
2nd	Peg 141	Keith Ashby		97lbs 08ozs
3rd	Peg 146	Dave Collier		84lbs 00ozs
4th	Peg 142	Mick Wright		83lbs 00ozs
5th	Peg 162	Vic Nugent		70lbs 04ozs
6th	Peg 154	Peter Morton		63lbs 00ozs
7th	Peg 136	Tony Roberts		61lbs 08ozs
8th	Peg 145	Chris Withall		52lbs 00ozs
9th	Peg 137	Terry Goff		46lbs 00ozs
10th	Peg 155	Mick Pearson	Guest	39lbs 08ozs
11th	Peg 163	Kevin Loveland		37lbs 00ozs
12th	Peg 150	Clive Pritchard		29lbs 00ozs
13th	Peg 143	Jim Boase		27lbs 08ozs
14th	Peg 152	John Holdsworth		23lbs 08ozs
15th	Peg 139	Zack Johnson		23lbs 00ozs
16th	Peg 161	Graham Manning		20lbs 08ozs
17th	Peg 138	Simon Watkins		20lbs 00ozs
18th	Peg 158	Ken Walker		18lbs 12ozs
19th	Peg 148	Martin Hucker		17lbs 12ozs
20th	Peg 159	Rod Turner		9lbs 08ozs