Summary
It has been very hard going. The river is very low and has had no fresh water for weeks now. I have had 3 recent sessions on the Cricket Field and 1 on the Corn Dryers at Ellenthorpe. Only 2 decent fish, the rest being bits (Dace, Roach and Chublets).

Cricket Field session 1
This was an evening session. I fished peg 5 and hoped for a few Chub and a Barbel because I had interest on meat on recent previous trips. I only got 1 bit that resulted in this very attractive 3lb 8oz barbel. It had very distictive red edges on its fins. I have never spotted/noticed that before.

Corn Dryers
I had a full day on the Corn Dryers at Ellenthorpe. I fished quite far up river, just where the trees/bushes start opposite. I had hoped to tempt some Chub out from the bushes on the waggler but all I managed were a few small Chublets, Roach and Dace. Along the nearside I fished worm for Perch and perhaps a Chub. I managed a few Perch but nothing sizeable. It was a very hot day and was quite unforfortable as the sun shone straight at from from across the river so was hard to get cover/shade even with the brolly.

Cricket Field session 2
I had a evening session on peg 3. I had quite a bit of hemp and caster left over from the match and had also received my joining pack for Angling Trust- that was a Dynamite Baits pack containing “Big Fish - River”, soaked boilies, paste, pellet soak and a bag of groundbait that is full of broken boilies and pellets. All of these baits were Krill and Shrimp flavoured. I planned to fish one rod 3/4 across the river (using the Dynamite baits) and the other a 1/4 across using hemp and caster in the feeder and alternating beetween caster and meat on the hook.

I didn’t get a single knock on the Dynamite baits. I got a few bites on caster and managed a few Chublets. One was grabbed by a Pike. The Pike let go after a while. The Chublet was quite badly damaged so I released it striaght away.

Cricket Field session 3
The forecast was for a very hot and sunny day. I planned to fish the afternoon and evening. I chose peg 16 as it is quite well shaded by bankside trees and vegetation. I planned to bait up the far bank (using the Dunamite baits again) and bait up the near side with hemp and caster but alternate between bread and meat on the hook. I also hoped to do some stalking during the afternoon with bread on several of the surrounding pegs. My plans for stalking were curtailed when a family decided to treat teh river as a public bath. They were on peg 13 - I had hoped to try pegs 11, 14 and 15.

I was not getting any interest on either rod. It had now been a couple of hours since the public bathing session so decided to bait up both lines again and then go try with the bread.

I started on peg 15 (the Barrel peg). There is a tree upstream of the peg and the flow was quite slow in the lee of the tree. I threw in a few free samples of bread and the cast to the tree. It looked quite shallow so planned to give it 10 minutes. After about 8 minutes I got afew tugs on the tip. Didn’t come to anything. When I retrieved it I spooked a sizeable fish as there was a big splash/swirl (I should have left it there!). I decided to give it an extra 10 minutes and re-cast to the same area. After a few minutes I got more taps then a proper bite - which I missed. I tried once more but I think they had spooked by then.

I moved to peg 14. This was quite overgrown so hasn’t been fished much. That’s not suprising as the peg is so far above the river that my landing net wouldn’t reach. I would have to go back for my extra long handle. I decided to throw some crusts into the river and see if there was interest near the downstream bush. I had no bites on the bottom but started to hear fish taking the crust downstream of the bush. I threw in more crust and the splashes became plentiful and large - sounds like they were having it. The problem is that there is no peg after that bush. I decided to see if I could hack my way in. It took a bit of effort (and a few nettle stings) but I managed to get close eneough to the river. I was throwing in more crust whilst I hacked through and the Chub were obliging. They did spook a bit as I neared the river but I ducked down behind foiliage, threw more crust and waited for them to return. They did so I was not ready to tackle up for a floating bait attack so it was back to my main peg to tackle up and get a long bankstick to aid my perilous trip through the undergrowth.

Once takled up (just a size 8 hook, nothing else), I made my way back to the impromptu peg. once I got down to the peg I crouched down and threw in more crust and they were still there - then I heard a “plop” just below me. I thought I had disturbed some mud/bank and then realised that my long bankstick had slipped through the long grass and into the river - just out of reach (hmm, thinking head on but need to try for these Chub 1st). I swung my baited crust and waited for it to flow into the area where there were taking the free offerings. Several times I saw those big white rubber lips approach and then turn away at the last moment. This continued for quite a while and I was doubting that I could trick them. At last there was a big swirl right under my crust (I never saw the fish approach) I then saw my line straigten and then struck into this lovely 4lb Chub.

I rested the peg for a while but they didn’t return. However they were now taking the crusts below the next tree - that would put them in peg 15. So, I moved. I was expecting this to be trickier because it would be an upstream cast and would be hard to present in naturally. However on my cast I saw a big swirl swirl at my crust the turn away. Unfortunately, that was it - no more interest.

So, I went back to my main oeg as it was approaching 6pm so the usually productive evening was imminent. My enthusiasm for the evening was mis-placed as I never got a singke take. That’s 2 sessions on the Dynamite baits and nothing to show for it. I won’t write them off yet as it may just be that the fish are vert scarce at present. I will try them again once the fush return as see if they provide an edge or not.

My plan
I was going to Headingley to watch cricket this evening. I therefore got up early and planned to fish with my seatbox mid-river in peg 12. I would fish the bomb rods with luncheon meat until 9am-ish and then switch to the stick float.

Bomb rods
I started fishing around 5:30am. I had my fist bite at 6:20 when a Barbel took my meat and headed off downstream. When I managed to turn it, I was suprised that it headed for the far side bushes (which we actually quite close as I was mid-river). Barbel usually stay mid-river. Unfortunately it snagged me up in the bushes and slipped the hook. Still, it was great to do battle with a strong fish when sat on my seat mid-river.

I did not get any more indications.

Stick float
I put on a fairly light stick float and enjoyed instant action with bites almost every trot through. I got several Dace and small Chublets. After a few hours my back was aching so decided to go back on the bomb rod with worm. I get several taps and twitches but no hittable bites.

First to arrive
I was concerned that the peg I wanted (just below the island) may be occupied when I got there. However I was the first to arrive around 8am so that’s a good start. Upon arrival at the peg the river seemed even lower (if that’s possible) than it was on Friday. At least the weather should be nicer today - it was like winter on Friday.

As I was tackling up, two other anglers arrived closely followed by a third; it’s a good job I wasn’t 30 mins later!

Glaring sun
It certainly was brighter today, a bit too bright as the sun was downstream and made stick float fishing very difficult. I could not see my chubber float as it move between tree reflection and sky reflection with dappled sunlight in both cases. I just had to persevere as the sun would move in time. I was able to get about 2 feet in depth but that meant holding back to clear obstabcles as I discovered them. Thankfully a cloud obscured the sun for around half an hour once i had been fishing for an hour or with just a minnow!

First Chub
In the improving light consditions I was able to fish the end of the peg more effectively and it wasn’t long before I had a “puppy” Chub of about 1.5 lb. I got a few more Minnows but no sign of more Chub.

Meat - maybe?
I had brought along two strip of luncheon meat (enough for about a dozen casts). I got another similar sized Chub on my 1st run through on meat in teh main channel. A then had a couple of fruitless trots down the river before the flow took my float (and meat) under an overhanging bush on the far bank. I was ready and, sure enough, a slightly larger Chub dated out from the bush to grab my meat. Several casts later, I got one more Chub from the overhanging bush and the another. Unfortunately I was now out of meat; why didn’t I bring more!!

I then tried maggot and caster under the overhanging bush but simply got more minnows.

On the cadge
I had about one hour left (planned to finish at 2pm). I decided to go ask another pair of fisherman if they had any meat to spare. They gave me about half a tin - great guys. I waded back out, nearer the overhang this time, and managed three more Chub in fairly quick succession before it wnet quiet near the overhang.

Stalking
Whilst talking to the guys who gave me the meat, they said that there was a deeper run near the back close to where they had been fishing (they had moved above the island now). I was a bit hard to access but I did manage to get close and trotted meat under anotehr overhang down that run close to the nearside bank. FIrst tro through I had a Chub of about 3 lb. Then I got another of about 2lb. It was only a small run and it was soon spooked.

Far side
I had about 10 minutes left so decided to try the overhang on the far side with the last few bits of meat that I had. I managed one more Chub of about 2.5lb.

Summary
I ended up with 10 Chub. I had hoped to get them all on maggot/caster but only got 1 with that bait. Meat was easily the best and I now know what to try next time.

I did not manage to photograph any fish because I was mid-river and could not use a keepnet or have my camera to hand. Had I got a bigger fish, I would have taken it to the bank for a photo. However, here is a short video showing the swim - so beautiful.

My plan
I arrived about 1:30pm. My plan for today was load my car with equipment for two types of session. Firstly I would rove with very little tackle (not even a seat/chair), fisghing with bread, starting at peg 1 and making my way down river and fishing until approximately 5pm. Then I would head back to the car, have my pack-up, swap to my heavy feeder rods, get a chair and head back to settle into peg 5 until dusk.

Roving

Peg 1
I had sevaral twitches but no positive bites.

Peg 3
Nothing.

Peg 4
One light twitch but no bites.

Peg 5
Nothing.

Peg 6
Nothing.

Peg 9
Nothing.

Peg 11
A few early twitches a metre or so out from the small downstream branch/feature. I then managed a small Chub of around 1lb.

Peg 14
I had a couple twitches and then bites that I missed. At around 16:45 I got a Chub of around 1lb 8oz.

Evening on peg 5
It was a very quiet evening with hardly a twitch. I got a take at around 8:20 and landed a small Barbel of 3lb.

So, what have I learned
So far this year I have caught quite a few small “puppy” Chub and some Barbel that are all smaller than I caught last year. This bodes really well for the future as these fish will undoubtedly become the specimens of future years.

My plan
I arrived at peg 5 about 3:30pm. My plan was as follows: -

• Plumb the depth along the downstream tree using my pole.
• Feed up mid-river with a groundbait of fishmeal, hemp, broken Scopex boilies.
• Feed up under the tree with a mix of liquidised bread, hemp, crushed Scopex boilies and micro meat cubes (2mm-ish).
• Whilst the fish hopefully gain confidence on the loose feed; rove along pegs 1 - 4 with bread to see if there are any Chub feeding.
• Return to peg 5 and fish into the late evening.

Plumbing the depth
I used my pole so that I could check the depth from the bankside right to the end of the tree. I was very surprised to see a fairly constant depth. I was expecting to see some troughs as I had seen on other pegs when walking the banks on a low clear river.

Roving

Peg 1
I took my Chub rod, a few slices of bread and my landing net and started by flicking out a 3 AAA link ledger under the raft of debris under the downstream tree on peg 1. I had forgotten a bankstick to had to hold the rod in my hand. Thankfully the Chub were obliging and I got a bite within 2 minutes on my first put-in. This resulted in a “puppy” Chub of about 1 to 1.5 lb. This came from about halfway along the length of the tree. I then tried further out - toward the end of the tree. Another bite within a minute this time. This felt like a better fish but slipped the hook after a few seconds. I suspected this may have spooked the shoal but tried again where I had caught the first fish. It took a little longer this time and I had to twitch the bait a couple of times but I then managed another “puppy” Chub of a similar size. After that I tried both further out and halfway along the tree but didn’t get any more bites. Still, what a great start to the session - hopefully they were all having it today!

Peg 2
There was an overhanging branch that was about 3 feet about the water. This made it quite tricky to get near the tree that was downtream from the branch. In fact, I got stuck in the branch and lost all of my tackle. So, back to peg 5 to re-tackle up. It had been about 30 minutes since I baited up peg 5 so decided to give it a try. There was nothing happening so tried roving again.

Peg 4
The tree downstream of peg 4 was the upstream tree of peg 5. I had not baited that but thought it worth a try. I tried a few casts but saw no indication of fish.

Peg 3
I do like peg 3 but it has become quite precarious to get down to it. The steps have been washed away by the winter floods. Still, this was ok with just my light roving gear. I dropped in near the downstream bush. Interestingly, there was a noticable back-eddy here as the water started to flow in the oppostite direction. I also noticed that the flow in the main channel seemed stronger here - another thing worth noting for a future session. It wasn’t long before my tip started to twitch then bent around - I struck and missed the bite - arghhh! I did not get any other bites.

Peg 2 again
I tried getting futher under the branch and had nothing on my first cast. On my second I was in the branch again and once more lost all of my terminal tackle. I think I’ll give this a miss in future!

Back on my main peg 5
I fished my Chub rod about halfway out along the tree. There wasn’t much happening - just the occasional very light twitch on bread. Probably small fish. On the mid-river (Barbel) rod, I put on a smaller feeder and fished with Scoped boilies dipped in Scopex gunk. I kept getting light taps but suspect it was fish attacking the feeder. After a while I tried luncheon meat on the hook in case they were Chub that weren’t interested in the boilies. I also tried bread. I did not get any real bites.

It was approaching 8pm so decided to focus both rods near the downstream tree. Chub rod halfway along and Barbel rod at the end of the tree. Both on luncheon meat. It wasn’t long before the Barbel rod started to tap and twitch. Unfortunately none of these turned into proper bites. I tried cubes of meat, cylinders of meat (from a large bread punch), Scopex boilies. I noticed that the Chub seemed to be plucking the meat off the hook. The cylinders of meat were about twice the length of the hook so I guess they grabbed the end in their lips and pulled, staying clear of the hook. So I then tried half a cylinder so that it would be harder to avoid the hook - no bites! I then tried bread and cheese paste. Again I was getting very small twitches on the bread. I did get a decent pull on cheese paste but it was too fast to hit. As it was nearing dark I decided on one last try on luncheon meat. It hadn’t been in for more than a minute when my rod bent right over and my reel started to scream. This was my first Barbel on my new Shimano Stradic reel and I was interested to see how the “fighting” drag system worked with a decent fish. It worked really well and I was able to easily loosen and tighten the drag as the situation demanded. It was a very hard fight with the fish taking lots of line before I could turn it. Eventually I landed a 6lb 9oz Barbel. Unfortunately it was getting dark quickly and the fish had fought hard so I decided against a photograph in favour of getting it back into the water and recovering asap.

So, what have I learned

• Roving around, whilst waiting for evening, is a great way to start the session so I will do more of this. In fact, this was so enjoyable that I fancy a long roving day tomorrow, working my way all the way from peg 1 to just opposite the Corn Dyers.
• On peg 3, the faster flow seemed to be the 1st third of the river so may be worth trying for Barbel there.
• On peg 5, most, it not all, of the interest came from the end of the tree. This was also the case when I fished there last week. So, in future I may fish my Chub rod there whilst also fishing for Barbel mid-river.

A first for me
I have never float fished in fast shallow water so was really looking forward to today. Unfortunately it started to rain the night before and the forecast was for rain on and off all day with moderate wind and only 12 degrees. I considered taking some warmer clothes but decided that my fleece and waterproof (thin) jacket would suffice. It was raining when I awoke and all the way to the river. It was quite a challenge getting my seatbox to the river due to a small twisting path that had a steep drop off right next to it. I was hoping to fish in the same peg where I had seen someone fishing on YouTube last season but a tree had unfortunately come down and completely blocked that peg. I got as close as I could to that area but the water looked quite shallow.

Mid-river seatbox again
It took a while but I was able to setup mid-river as I had on the Ure. However this water was much faster. I got everything to hand and had my brolly ready. It was only light drizzle so didn’t need it yet. As I suspected, it was very shallow, I struggled to get 18”. I used a chubber/loafer float and 6lb line. The float moved between the green of reflected trees and the white/gray sky reflection making it hard to choose the right tip colour. I started with my trusty yellow; whilst great in the trees it was not much use against the sky. I then tried a red tip but was useless against the trees. I ended up using a black marker to cover most of the tip and used tippex to create a white dome at the top of the tip. This worked and allowed me to see the float as it moved down river.

As I was about to start fishing, another angler arrived. He fished above me (just below the island) and trotted to just before my peg.

First fish
I got my first Chub on about the 10th trot down. The bite came at the very end of the swim. I wasn’t actually sure it was a bite but firm resistance from a small Chub (about 1.5 lb) got me excited.

I then noticed that the other angler had a fish. It was a small Barbel of about 2lb.

Another Chub
It took a long time to get the next fish and it also came at the far end of my swim. It was a little bigger than the first and was a definite bite. Shortly afterward I hooked (then lost) another. It appeared that my quick-link was open and the hooklength simply came away. Surely I had remembered to close it.

The other angler ended up with three small Barbel. I went to see him (he was from Selby) and noticed that he had much more depth than me. Obviously there was a hollow as the channels from both sides of the island converged. This was worth remembering for future visits. We also discussed rolling some meat to see if that would result in a bigger Chub.

Meat rolling
This is another technique that I have never really used (never been in fast enough water). I used a link ledger of 3 or 4 AAA, cast to the far side bushes then slowly eased the tip along with the flow, occasionally lifting the rod tip or paying out more line to dislodge the meat so that it would trundle along. The bites were great - little tugs and rattles on the tip. I got another 2 similar sized Chub on the method before bites dried up.

By now it was raining consistently and my brolly was up. I was getting very cold and uncomfortable even though I had on both the fleece and waterproof jacket.

Another attempt on the float
As bites had dried up on the meat I tried again on the float. I tried my previous trot and also across to a bay in the farside trees. I did not get any more bites and was starting to strain my back.

Bomb and meat
I decided to give the bomb a try and lift my riod tip high. Even though the water was fast, it was very shallow so I could hold bottom with a 1.5oz lead. This would allow me to rest my back and put my hands under my arm pits to warm them. In future I will keep my winter coat in the car just in case. I managed a futher 2 similar sized Chub before deciding to go home, get warm and have a nap.

Opening day - a scorcher!
We had a very hot week prior to the season starting. This continued into opening day. Opening day was my first chance to test out my seatbox, loading it and pushing it to the peg. Then getting it down the river bank to the riverside.

3 days - 3 pegs
I had taken a couple of days off work so that I could fish 3 consecutive days prior to our first match.

For opening day I chose peg 6 as there was a nice downstream bush that has a deep hole in front of it. It was a very hot day and I ended up using my brolly to shade me from the sun. I started to fish mid-river with Scopex boilies and PVA bags whilst feeding near the bush with hemp/caster, with occasional bread, luncheon meat and cheese paste. Whilst I waited for fish to start feeding at the downstream bush, I tried the waggler across the river on caster and feeding hemp and caster with my catapult. I had a few small Chublets and a Dace or two. I then tried near the bush on bread and it wasn’t long before I got a good bite. I struck into what I suspected was a Chub but once I applied pressure, my 8lb hook link snapped. I suspect a Chub took my bread then a Pike grabbed the Chub and cut my line. I had no interest mid-river and no further interest near the bush until much later in the day when my tip started to move steadily. I eventually struck but ended up netting a Pike that was hooked in the outside of it’s head - I suspect it had been giving line bites.

For the next day I decided to try one of the pegs where you can wade out. I had bought some waders that are boot-less (they have a waterproof neoprene sock) and a pair of wading boots. I was able to take my seatbox into mid-river and setup very comfortably so that I could fish the stick float near the far bank bushes. I was able to keep everything (including a bag containing extra clothes, pack-up etc) with me so that I had everything to hand. I had to use the brolly to shade from the sun again. This was lovely fishing, being so close to the water. unfortunately my reel line (Preston float-fishing line) did not float so made line control and striking very difficult resulting in many missed bites from the fast-biting Dace. I ended up with a few Dace and Chublets. I also tried bigger baits and ledgered meat and bread but got no interest.

For my final practice day I tried peg 1 as was closest to the road bridge where all of the Chub and Barbel were still shoaled up. I got a few more Chublets, some a bit bigger but no interest from anything else. The best part of this day was that I tried Mucilin on my line so that it floated and made line control and striking much-much better.

No big stuff
So, my practice days showed that there were no big fish showing. I should therefore focus on hemp/caster for the Dace and Chublets with a chance that a bigger Chub may appear.

First match
I drew peg 16 which was the furthest peg, directly opposite the nab-end of Milby Island. The river was narrower here and I was told that Barbel often show up under the bush to my right. When I checked the depth under the bush it was only inches deep. I went a little further out and it was a little deeper. I decided to feed that area but leave it alone while I used hemp/caster in the feeder with caster on the hook near the far bank. I got a Roach on the first cast. On the second cast I had a longer wait and then got a bite that suggested another Roach or Chublet. However it immediately took off and peeled line off the reel. I was frantically trying to remember what strength hooklink I had on. It was only 3lb so I had no chance with the Barbel that was tearing off down-river. It wasn’t long before my line broke. The rest of the match was pretty uneventful and I ended up with 1lb 5oz of Roach and Chublets.

No-one else had any big fish except peg 1 where one decent Chub was caught for a weight of near 6lb in total. This was also the golden peg so resulted in a £100 win.

Swale Investigation
I purchased a Leeds DASA membership this year as they have a few stretches on the Swale and Aire and Calder Canal. I have seen a video of someone fishing at Asenby on the Swale in very shallow and very fast water. He used a chubber/loafer float and was catching Chub and nice Dace on maggot and caster. I really fancied that. So, on the day after the match I had a drive to Asenby (only 10 minutes from home) and checked out the venue for suitability of seatbox. I really fancy fishing on my seatbox in the shallows. So, I decided that I will try this on Friday.

Big fish showing on the Ure
Tue 22nd was a day to try the Ure (Cricket Field) again for an evening session. I had become a little worried about the effort of taking a fully loaded seatbox to the river especially when drawing the furthest peg. So, I decided to reconfigure the box so that I was taking much less. This made a huge difference and it was easy to get to the river and much quicker to setup and packup. I fished peg 5 as there was a downstream bush that had given me several good fish last year. I arrived about 6pm and immediately baited under the bush whilst I got setup. I decided to fish one rod mid-river with Halibut pellet and the other rod near the bush rotating between bread, cheesepaste and luncheon meat.

I got no interest mid-river by 8pm so decided to fish luncheon meat on that rod at the bush but further from the bank than my other rod. At 8:30 I was fishing meat on both rods. I turned to get some bread ready for my nearest rod and when I turned around the rod was bent over. I lifted into a Barbel that took off under the bush and eventually snapped me. About 15 minutes later I got another really good bite on the same rod on meat but missed it - Chub I guess.

Next, I got a bite on meat on the furthest rod and hit into a Barbel. This was my smallest in the Ure to date at 5lb 8oz. Throughout the last hour I had several plucks on meat on the furthest rod. Some of them developed into proper bites that I missed when I struck. I suspect these were Chub as the meat was on a hair rig. In future I will dispense with the hair rig once I start fishing close-in.

Summary
So, it took me two weeks to catch my 1st fish in the river last year. This year I have been catching smaller fish from day one and have located bigger fish in the first week so looks good for the new season.

A very cold spring
What a strange spring, we had very little rain, freezing nights - even into May and the occasional sunny day. However the cold nights did nothing to raise the water temperature of the pond. This meant that the fish were very docile and not ready to spawn. Even the bankside vegetation and lillies were held back.

Pleasure Sessions
The cold temperatures resulted in having the best fishing in the very deep pegs (11, 12 etc). As the water slowly started to warm and the warmer days arrived (still freezing nights), I decided to try the mid-depth pegs (25 - 27). I had some successful sessions there with lots of bubbling Bream, some caught on the waggler. I also tried a day of fishing two feeders, one on a method feeder with pellet as bait and the other on a cage feeder with normal groundbait and natural baits (caster, sweetcorn, worm). On this occasion, the natural baits were definitely better. I retried the same experiment a few weeks later (when it had warmed more), this time the pellet feeder was the better choice with soaked 2mm pellets in a cage feeder and trout/coarse pellets on the hook.

In peg 26 I also managed to get the Ide feeding near the surface in the warmer afternoons (still cold nights). I had a good bag fishing shallow and even managed a couple of skimmers near the surface.

Once the weather properly warmed up and the nights warmed too - the pond exploded with life. Lillies seemed to be popping up before my eyes and I could watch Carp cruising in the margins and at the surface further out. On one occasion I tried a pellet shallow but got a 5lb Bream rather than the Carp that I expected.

Unfortunately the warmer weather co-incided with a lot of willow fluff on on the pond making several pegs unfishable.

Carp Sessions
I decided to try peg 15 which had done really well in threee consecutive matches with large catches (40 - 50lb of small Mirror Carp). By now the lillies were up and this peg was completely surrounded by sunken bushes and lillies. I kept firing pellets to the edge of the lillies and it wasn’t long before they started moving as Carp turned up. I used my Carp rod and 10lb line so that I could bully them through the lillies. I ended up with a few nice fish for over 30lb. This practice was to come in handy in the last match (see below).

Matches
As previously posted, I was 2nd in the 1st match of the season. I then drew peg 6 twice in succession which is apparently very good in summer but wasn’t much good in our dire spring. I then drew peg 19 which is where I had success with the pellet feeder in a practice session. This is also a fancied Bream peg. However, it failed to produce on the day. For the last match I drew peg 16 which was next to peg 15 where I had practiced. This was also very shallow and surrounded by lillies. I used the same tactic of heavy gear and pellets, sight fishing to moving lillies and managed 3 Carp for 13lb and 2nd place. I lost 2 more, either of which would have won me the match.

New Seatbox
I have never owned a seatbox. When pleasure fishing this isn’t much of a problem because you can choose a peg where you can get your chair and bankstick in and you know where you are going and what you are targetting so can just take the gear that you need. However, match fishing changes all that - you might get drawn in a peg with a concrete base (not good for banksticks) or on a smallish peg or very sloped bank (not good for a chair that has splayed legs).

I had done a fair bit of research into the different seat boxes and wanted one that was flexible enough for both pond and river work and had wheels good enough for rough river banks. I had also watched what several anglers used on YouTube and seen their reviews.

I finally chose the Octbox - a very versatile and sturdy system. Unfortunely it was out of stock and there was a waiting list of several months. I put in my order and then waited. It finally arrived just before the last pond match giving me time to have a practice session first.

Preparation
We had some lovely warm weather about 12 days before the match. However that only lasted two days and then we returned to near arctic conditions with nights below zero and snow showers that could popup at any time. This cold snap lasted all the way to the match day so it didn’t look good for the pond.

I decided to get some practice so fished it a week before the match. I chose the deeper swims (peg 12) where I had the stockie carp previously. The day started ok with quite a few bites that resulted in a few Ide and Roach but dried up after the first hour and a half. I put in some feed and groundbait and gave the page a break for 30 minutes or so. Upon my return I had a Bream of 6lb. I then had a solitary small Mirror Carp (another of those stocked last year). Later I had another Bream, this time 5lb 8oz on the feeder (sweetcorn and worm). I finished the day with one more Bream of about 4lb 8oz.

Second practice
Two days before the match I decided to try one of the pegs that I have not fished before (peg 26). It was a very cold start to the day and I struggled to get a bite for the first hour and a half. Then I managed a few Ide and Roach and also got one of the small Tench that was stocked last year. At 3:40, twenty minutes before the planned match end, I got a lovely Bream of about 6lb giving me a total net of 10lb. I would be happy with that in the match!

Match Day
I awoke to frost on the grass and an iced up car - not a good start. I just hoped to draw one of the deeper pegs. I had broken my chair a couple of weeks ago but had a idea of how to patch it up until my new seatbox arrives (more of that later).

I was very happy to draw peg 11 in the deeper part of the pond. I started to get bites from the off and managed a few small Ide and Roach. I also got another two of the small Mirror Carp and pulled out of a skimmer. The guys either side of me seemed to be catching similar amounts.

Then at lunchtime, it went dead. I tried corn and worm on the feeder for an hour and got nothing. I then had a very barren afternoon with just a few shy half-bites but no fish. When it got to 15 minutes before the end of the match I thought that the chances of a Bream had gone.

Late breaking news….
Then, with ten minutes to go I hit into a nice Bream. My heart was in my mouth just hoping that I would not pull out of it as I had a skimmer earlier in the day. Thankfully I got it in and could not wait for the weigh-in.

Result
I ended up finishing second. Not bad for my first match in 25 years. You could call it luck but I have managed at least one big Bream on every visit to the pond this year when others have not.

A new peg for me
I had planned to fish peg 19 as the wind was forecast to be coming from behind that pag. However, when I arrived the committee of Gary, Gary and Kevin were already there and fishing the pegs I had planned to try. However both Garys recommended peg 12 (which should also have the wind behind it).

Waggler at close-medium range
Last year I had a clear out and got rid of my old floats (some were probably 30 years old). I have just ordered some new ones so didn’t have any heavy wagglers with me. I therefore fished about 20m out.

A slow start
I fished the float for a couple of hours whilst also feeding a swim just off the island for the feeder/bomb later. I only managed a couple of small Roach and a skimmer by 11am so decided to rest the float line and try the feeder for an hour or so. I had a couple of twitches on sweetcorn but no real bites. The maggot didn’t work on the feeder either.

That’s more like it
When I went back on the waggler I immediately started getting bites. They were very shy, not managing to pull the float entirely under but started to catch small Mirror Carp that were stocked last year. I managed 4 of these stockies by lunchtime. I then put in some feed and went to see the guys whilst I had my own food.

Enjoyable afternoon
When I got back I continued to get those shy bites that resulted in more stockies. I also hooked a bigger Carp and almost had it in when it headed for the tree at my left hand side - I applied side-strain to turn the fish but my hook pulled out my hook ended in the tree to my right. So, I tackled up again and managed a couple more stockies before getting a 6lb Bream - no sign of spawning nodules yet.

I continued to get bites on and off all afternoon and ended up with 2 skimmers, 2 Roach, that 6lb Bream and 12 of those little stockie Mirrors.