Fantastic winter surprises.
   
I woke up early on Sunday morning and got ready to break some ice at a local lake, I knew it was going to be hard. My dad decided to join in with me today and have a little 3 hour silver fish match. Our rigs were pretty much the same I used 5 elastic with a small Preston connector, 0.10 to 0.08 line with a 24 hook. My float was a MAP C4 ..... my dad used a Tuff eye which is his no.1 all round float mainly because he is to tight to buy anymore.
 The main baits were Pinkie and chopped maggot but I did have some back up baits like Bait Tech Xpand Expander pellets or bread punch.

      After clearing the ice from my peg and then plumbing up......I was ready to cup out 10 chopped maggots on my main line at 10 meters (as I did that, it began to snow). Now I was ready for the first put in of the session, this did not produce a fish as I was expecting....In fact the next 5 didn't. It was actually 30 minutes into the session until I hooked my first fish and my dad has his first at the same time- 3oz roach. My dad was steadily feeding his short 7m swim by using a small Fox Match toss pot. His hook bait was chopped worm and he managed 5 in the first 1 and a half hours while I was sat there with a motionless float.
2 hours into the match my dad was ahead with 10 small roach for about 1lb while I had 2 for 4oz, I was sure I couldn't get back into this match and my dad would beat me in our first match and teach me the lesson he had been threatening me with.
 I kept positive and finally my float bombed under it was a good fish and felt like a fish of nearly a pound but as you guessed...the story of my life....It spat the hook. I lost 2 more good fish until I finally landed one of them, this was a fairly good roach which probably weighed around 10oz.

My was dad steadily bagging up on 1/2-1oz roach while I was picking up the odd good sized one. I managed another 2 roach and 2 perch which together probably weighed 1lb.
10 minutes left of the session and I could well and truly say.....I was getting trashed, I had just under 2lb in my keep-net my dad had near to 3lb in his......Time was slowly ticking and I was waiting for my phone alarm to ring but then, out of nowhere, the bristle of my float dipped under. A slight lift and I was in to what I thought was one of the only carp in the lake, I had meters of no.5 elastic shooting out of my pole tip and heading under the ice towards the weed beds. I got the fish to my top kits as a sharp, spiny dorsal fin sliced the waters surface, I saw the fish and new that is was well over 2lbs!! I scooped it up in the landing net and shouted......In the bag!!! As I was unhooking it my dad had another quick perch but my phone alarm went off. It was all over now and my dad was first to weigh in.......an impressive bag of winter silvers for 3lb 5oz. I weighed my silvers in first and they went 2lb 3oz and then the monster perch which was 100% a PB........3lb 2oz.What a lump.
After the match my dad stopped fishing and we made a short video showing the cold conditions and different methods...there is a link at the bottom of this article
This session goes to show.....It is still worth fishing in cold conditions because you can still have a great time and get some fantastic results. I will never forget the time when I landed that Perch....One of my greatest angling moments yet!



Here is a quick video of the cold winters session.......Winter angling tips for juniors........

Deadly approach for catching Winter Bream 25/1/2010
I woke up early on Sunday morning hoping that I would be able to demonstrate the 'Cone' on the match lake. When we arrived at Wood lane Fishery in Iver we saw that the car-park was full and there was a match on, I had no choice but to go on to the specimen lake. This is a harder lake and is a real challenge in the Winter. I managed to get special permission to fish this lake as the rules are over 16's only.
My skimmer set-up was slackened of white hydro with a Preston Pulla bung, 0.10-0.09 rigs with a 22 B911 hook. These rigs were strong enough to land small carp. I had been told before hand that it would be unlikely for me to hook a carp on this lake in the Winter. The baits for the day were worm, pinkie, Bait-Tech Xpand pellets, Dynamite 3mm soaked swim stim pellets, Bait-Techs feed pellets and Bait-Tech Premium pellets.

The first thing I did was cup out some chopped worm and pinkie on the short line then pinkie and 4mm feed pellets on the long line, this was enough to hold the fish.
After that I was ready to try the short line with a single pinkie......nothing, I kept positive for the next half an hour but there were no signs of any fish. I decided to have a quick look on the long line.....with in 30 seconds the float buried and I was into a good fish. I finally managed to get the fish down to my top 2's and then used the pulla bung to tighten the elastic.
 With in minutes the fish was safely in the net. This fish was a lovely 2lb F1, what a great start!!

The next put in surprisingly resulted in another 2lb fighting fit F1!!..I decided to get a tiny bit more feed out to help get the fish more confident.
After 20 minutes I was in again but this fish felt much bigger....After 4 minutes of playing it I had it under control on my top kit, the fish rose to the surface and I saw that it was a lovely F2. I played it carefully for the next couple of minutes and than I finally managed to scoop it up with the landing net. A lovely F2 carp over 3lb!!
After that short spell of which resulted in 3 carp....I could catch anything. I had not had any skimmers which was very disappointing. I only had 1 option left and that was set-up my Preston Carbonactive rod with a cone, the bait would be a hair rigged strawberry Premium Pellet. My first cast resulted in a few tiny taps and the second was a great wrap round....A small 1.8lb F1.
2 hours later
I couldn't catch any more on the cone so I went back onto the pole and pinkie.......again......nothing. When I struggle I always try using an expander pellet, so one of them went onto my hook. The float dipped under and I had my first skimmer in the bag. The next put in resulted in a lost carp, I had now found the bait they were on. I began to catch skimmers ranging from 4oz-10oz regularly. In just over 1 hour I had caught about 15 skimmers. I kept plugging away at the small bream as I was hoping the bigger ones would come later in the day.
The next bite resulted in a better fish which was stretching my elastic out a good 3ft. I was happy to see it was a big skimmer and even happier to see it in the net....A lovely Bream of about 1lb.
The fishing slowed down a lot after that and I only managed to pick up 10 more very small skimmers with another being about 1lb again, I was really happy at the amount of fish I had in these freezing cold conditions.


Here is a short video of some of the action
Catching skimmers at wood lane fishery in Iver Buckinghamshire
 

Rolfs Lake Winter League Round 5 17/1/2010
It was Sunday morning and I was again fishing the Rolfs Winter League for Match Fishing Scene. As soon as all 17 keen anglers turned up...The draw got under way. I chose peg 23 which is a meant to be a great peg for winter fishing and yet again I had Simon sitting opposite me. The rigs that I set up were the same as the last match but early on I decided to use my Shimano Technium XT 1300 with a red hydro top kit , the rig was 0.17 powerline straight through to a 14 PR28 hook I thought the carp were possibly going to feed after the big freeze so I wanted to be prepared. If the fishing was really hard, I had a bomb rod set up with an 0.10 hook link with a 20 hook.
All of a sudden, the 'All In' was called and I cupped out a very small amount of chopped worm...then had a quick coffee and let my swim settle, I then shipped out with a grain of corn and left it out there for half an hour, occasionally bobbing the float...nothing.
 I then had a look on my silver fish line.....nothing, and then finally on my long bomb line.....nothing.


It was 3 hours into the match and very few anglers had had a bite. I had another quick look on the tip and had a bite on the drop...the fish pulled a few meters of line and then spat the hook so I tried again.....another small nudge on the line and I was in again, the line went slack as the hook hold came out. The next cast resulted in the same.....but then I finally got a good hook hold..... The clutch screamed of but my Preston Carbon Active rod managed to absorb the lunges..... It was now 5 meters in front of me and I felt it tiring, as I was about the pick up the landing net...PING!! My bomb shot out of the water as the hook was straightened. That fish felt like it a good mid double which isn't big for Rolfs, I can only assume they were foul hookers.
Mike who was next to me managed to land 2 good carp on the pole in the next 20 minutes! The odd carp were showing but they had moved out of my peg.
The final whistle was blown I was very disappointed with the outcome but knew I has done the best I could...It was very comforting to know so many other good anglers also blanked.
I would like to say thanks to Eddie for helping me out during this session. Here is his new updated blog which I think is great!!........Eddie's Rolfs lake blog

Rolfs Lake Winter League Round 4  3/1/2010
A couple of weeks ago I asked Rick from the Match Fishing Scene forum if I could fish a Rolfs Winter League round, he said I was very welcome and also mentioned that they needed another angler in the team. Match Fishing Scene also known as MFS were currently in last place because of poor attendance over the last couple of rounds. I was hoping to gain some more experience and a few points to help us climb the ladder. Rolfs Gold and Rolfs Diamond were very close and were way ahead of everyone else.
The Wednesday before the match was my practice day, which was pretty unsuccessful with gusting rain and freezing temperatures, I had 6 perch, after about 5 hours we decided to give up and go into Johns little shelter and cook up some pasties.
The set up was going to be same as match day, 0.13-0.11 and 0.11-0.10 line on my 2 rigs. They both had 4x8 Jolly floats and size 20 PR30 hooks. The elastic was white hydro which is a good all round elastic. I knew the match would be hard so I was definitely not expecting any big bags to come out.

Match day
 

We arrived at the wonderful Rolfs Lake and watched John Bennett breaking some of the ice around the pegs to make it safer. He said I would have to break the ice as soon as I got to my peg which was going to be exceptionally hard work. . Me and my team mates decided who was to fish in each section, Ron was in A, I was in B and Rick was in C. The draw got under way, I had peg 10 which in the Summer produces some big carp weights. After an hour of throwing a large brick around my swim and getting the basics ready the whistle was blown. In the first minute of the match Simon Mound was into a decent perch of over 1lb, my first fish was also a perch but this one was only 3 ounces. I had to wait over 1 hour for my next bite and this one was another tiny perch.

The day got worse because the ice was catching up on me...the only clear patch of water in my peg was quickly freezing over again, I only had one choice-fish tight down the edge. I was really struggling so I went down to a 0.6 bottom with a 26 hook and half a pinkie. Nothing!! I looked around only to see Neal Riddy playing a foul hooked 11lb 6oz mirror on his light waggler set up. My dad had a walk around to see how Ian McCullock was doing he had had a double figure carp. The day got worse and worse.

The match was approaching the end and the sun was setting... I suddenly started catching!! I lost a nice perch around 10oz but managed to land 4. I was pleased to hear that Rick and Ron had all caught and that there were a lot of people that blanked.
It was time for me to weigh in my catch- 13oz. That was enough to get me 2 points and 10th out of 18 in the match but the main thing was that I enjoyed the day.
Here is a link to the match fishing scene forum forum.....Match Fishing Scene........
 

Baggin' up on Red-Fins
For this session, I was hoping to catch some silvers to get me ready for my winter match fishing. The rigs were simple for silvers -0.10 to a 0.8 Fox Match micro-plus hook link which attached was a size 20 B911 hook. I used a size 5 garbolino latex elastic with a Preston Innovation pulla bung in case I hooked into a good fish. I used my favourite silverfish float....a Preston Chianti 3x11.
 The baits were simple- Bait-Tech Xpand expander pellets, Bait-Techs Special 'G' gold groundbait and the humble bread punch. My groundbait was mixed differently to usual, I used a minimum amount of water so when I tried to make it into a ball it fell apart The groundbait mixed in this way will sink really slowly and make a cloud in the water which fish find irresistible.
 After pluming up and finding the exact depth, I was ready to fish. My first put in resulted with a small Rudd which took it in mid water. This kept on happening so I put a dropper shot near to the hook so I could hopefully pick out the better roach.
 I hooked on a expander pellet and couldn't stop catching roach, I was getting the odd better roach to and managed to sneak one out which was probably 10oz. After losing a good fish which felt like decent crucian the swim went quiet. I managed to get my last 5oz roach on punch and then packed up. It was still a great session as I had caught around 6lb of roach. I was amazed at how good the Bait-Tech Xpand pellets were and how easy they were to prepare.

Here is a short video of some of the action
Roach on the pole

Review-Rolfs Lake
Recently I fished a match at Rolfs Lake, my aim was to land a double figure carp on the pole. I had made rigs the previous nights which I thought would be suitable-0.19 Preston Innovations Powerline straight through to a size 12-14 PR36 hook.
The elastic was Preston 15 blue hollow. The rigs were fine but I was worried the elastic was to soft, I knew I would have to take my time playing these so called lumps.......We finally arrived at the wonderful Rolfs Lake and got chatting to Eddie and John Bennet the lake owner. They were really nice people and gave me some good advice .
Only 6 people arrived on the day, every one of them made me feel very welcome, I got offered food, drink, pellets, help...they are great guys.
 The pegs which were fished were 8-14 which are the best. They let me draw first as I was new and said if I get peg 8 they will through me into the water. I put my hand in the hat and drew...Peg 8...Best peg on the lake, I was really happy, that was mainly because I didn't get my beloved Preston Innovations T-shirt soaked!
I arrived at my peg for the day and sorted out 2 rigs -16 solid elastic for the margin rig and 15 hollow for my main rig which again was close in, precisely 8m out. All of a sudden we were off, I cupped out some corn and a few fishery pellets.
 I started missing bites on meat but after some perseverance I had my first fish-a small Chub but it was still a start. I decided to try a piece of corn and as soon as it touched the water my elastic was flying out of my pole tip, it came off a few seconds later. I lost 3 in an hour....after cupping in a small ball of pellets I hooked a good carp, It was pulling me around the lake my pole was bent more than I had ever seen it...I was really out of my comfort zone.... in the end I managed to get control of the fish, after a long 10 minute fight I had a beautiful common carp in the bag, this was a PB of 11lb 4oz. After several more missed bites and one massive charge which straightened my hook, I landed another double-A common carp of 10lb 1oz exactly.
The day was drawing to an end and I was wondering where the fish had gone until......I hooked into another, I remember thinking this one would snap my pole, after 10 minutes of non stop running  I finally got the fish to come towards me. I lifted up with my top two's and a massive carp over 20lb rose to the surface it stayed there for 5 or so seconds but was to far away from netting range. It dived back down and screamed off towards the sunken tree. It was going and going and going and SNAP!!! My line was smashed like cotton....gutted, I couldn't believe it.... I was in so much shock. After that fish I realised the big carp which were in my swim were "huge" ones and almost impossible to land on 15 hollow. I lost another 5 carp I tried my margin line with pellet, my small Preston inline dibber suddenly flew under the fish took a long first run which again straightened the hook.
By the last hour, the bites started again and I hooked one, after a 5 minute fight I landed A big mirror which looked around 12lb. We took it over to the weigh station for 9lb+ fish and checked it's mouth for hooks-This was the last fish of the day and it was a PB of 13lb 4oz.
In the end I came last but I didn't mind because I got the doubles on the pole, I will definately be back again for many reasons.....Great surroundings, great helpful people, hard fighting well looked after carp, lovely looking lake, safe swims and parking. I will never forget my day at Rolfs Lake.

Here is a video of the day............Fishing at Rolfs Lake..........Eddies Rolfs Lake blog

Review- Korum elasticated method feeders. Oct 9th 2009
Today I planned to try out a Korum elasticated flatbed method feeder at a local lake. Before I used the method feeder I had another rod set-up with a light Diawa Gemini splashing waggler, I used it for an hour or so but only picked up 1 fish an 8lb common carp as the wind was quite strong I could barley see the float.
My first cast with the method feeder resulted in a small 5lb wild carp,  my next cast resulted in something a bit bigger. I played the fish in carefully as I knew it was a good sized carp around the 10lb mark, the fish rose to the surface and slowly slipped over the landing net..... A nice lumpy mirror carp of 9lb 12oz.
I had only been on the method for half an hour and I had landed 2 fish!!
The thing I liked about the korum method feeders is you can mould another feeder while your waiting for a bite which certainly makes fishing a lot quicker and easier as speed is what you need in matches....... 3 hours into the session I was still bagging' up on carp which were averaging 6-7lb. I had also found that the elastic in the method feeder absorbed the lunges which will minimise hook pulls....more fish landed in matches means a bigger net of fish.
After 6 more good sized carp, the fish stopped feeding so I packed up and ended what has been a delightful session.
..................I was impressed with the Korum elasticated method feeders and will definitely be using them more often!! (When fisheries allow) Another great innovation from Korum!!

 Korum method feeder review
 You can watch a short video here !!

Two things that niggled me were :
1.If the mainline snapped before the elastic the fish would be towing the feeder around which is why I normally use an inline sliding method, perhaps future developments will improve this set up.
2. Moulding a feeder by hand can be hard work and messy if the pellets / groundbait is not exact, I would prefer a quick release mould to be available.



 

Last shot at the Intertype A.C Junior shield Sept 2009
The Intertype junior shield is fished over 3 rounds, at the end of the first round I knew who my future competition would be as Steven had won with a nice bag of over 25lb. I  came second with 16lb which would usually be enough to win the match, Steve was on fire that day and there was no stopping him.
The second round was a complete disaster, I chose the 2nd lake as there was a rumour about the 1st lake being netted by poachers.... It started of bad with me losing most of my fish on the method feeder. It didn't help because people were telling me how Steve was seriously bagging' in lake 1. So the final result of that round was again in first place Steve with 16lb(lake 1), 2nd was Arron Steves brother with 15lb(lake 1), 3rd was Joe with 12lb 12oz (lake 2) and 4th was me with 12lb 2oz from lake 2. I couldn't believe my luck as in practice I was having 30lb bags using the same method on the same peg.
Round 3 the final shoot out
So the current runners up were Joe, Arron and me with 19 points, Steve was winning with the maximum 24 points...........
 6:45 in the morning and I was getting ready for the big match, I was shaking like mad and felt sick when we arrived as I knew I had to win this match for second place. I had to accept Steve had the shield this year.
8:15-I had the draw for the walkthrough, I got last pick and went in a peg which I didn't really want-Peg 1.
9:00-The match had started and I was still setting up, I didn't have time to get the pole ready so I stuck with a small Fox Match method feeder and my secret method mix....a few minuites later I hooked into the first carp of the day, the soft action of the Fox Warrior rod made playing the fish an easy task.
 The next cast lead to another and so on, 5 fish were in the bag in the first 45mins. I was amazed to see that Aaron had 1, Steve had 1 and the others had none.
11:00-I was now having a fish a cast, I lost about 3 but landed 10, I looked round and Steve was having an awful day, he had about 4 and nobody had a lot of luck..... A few miniutes later it went quite.
12:00-The fish decided to go crazy in my swim, and were much bigger than average, I counted 14 carp and the time was 12:30, I was near to a match record!
12:50- In the space of ten minutes I had 4 more wild carp, which raised my pulse and tally to 18, Steve had 6 and Arron had 5....the whistle was finaly blown I  I packed up and gathed my thoughts together for the first time in 5 hours.
2:00-Phil came round to weigh in my fish, he told me Steve was in the lead so far with 12lbs, I pulled in my fish, my first weight was 24lb 4oz and I had 5 fish left in the net.
The current record was 30lb 4oz, then I had my next weigh in 11lb 4oz, I had beaten the junior record with a great weight of 35lb 8oz (Which is the best weight from there in a match for 9 years including adult matches!!)
So I had won the match (on lake 1) by quite a bit, I took the prize money and trophy, I was so happy as this was an important match for me.

So the final result was Steve in 1st with 35 points, I was runner up with 31, Arron was 3rd with 28 points.
I would like to thank Barry Parker for his words of wisdom and congratulate Steve on a fantastic overall win.
6:00- I was mentally and physically exhausted so I decided to have an early night, it had been a long day!!!


 

The humble caster catches flying Bream
After lunch, me and my dad decided to take a visit to a local lake. I planned to fish 14.5 meters out but the strong wind made the pole hard to hold. I removed some sections until I was comfortable.
 I then put out around 5 cupfuls of hemp and corn to get the swim started.  My rig was 2.8lb (0.11) mainline to a 2lb (0.10) Fox micro plus bottom which was connected to a size 22 PR29. I used one of my favourite floats, A fox match MXP 13.
After catching a fair few 10oz-1lb  Perch and Rudd, my swim started to fizz, I dropped my single caster right onto the patch of bubbles. Straight away I am into a nice Carp which gave me a long hard fight, it wasn't that big, only 4lb dead.  About an hour later, I hooked into a small hard fighting Wild Carp of about 1lb. Then, after that fish, my swim erupted with small Bream like bubbles.
 A couple of minutes later, I had a fantastic bite, I struck and a Bream came flying out of the water. After a short sluggish fight a "small" Bream was in my net       ( well small for this lake as the average is over 7lb). We took a couple of photos and weighed it, it went 6lb 10oz, then the fish was safely returned. I plopped my bait over the fizzing and about 5 seconds later, another lumpy Bream was hooked and landed. Yet again, a couple of pictures, weighed it-7lb 5oz and returned it to let it try and fight again. With half an hour of non-stop tiny Rudd we decided to call it a day.... Slabba dabba ding dong!!!!

Here you can watch the action
 Catching Bream on the Maver Medusa pole

Mixing with the stars
It was 6.30 in the morning and dad was shaking me to wake up I had no idea what was going on as we had no fishing trips planned, I followed instructions and got dressed at that time in the morning I didn't think to ask what was going on. Dad finally told me we were going to the Fox open day at Willow Park fisherys.


We arrived quite early and had time to chat with some of the sponsored Fox team, they gave me some great advice on how to fish and to reach my goal...team sponsorship.
Derek Willan gave me some great feeder tips and allowed me to fish with him for a while, Derek won in the British open final in 2004 at this very lake.


Apart from being a top angler Derek is a real nice guy...hopefully I will be fishing on your team one day mate !
Next to Derek was one of the top UK's waggler fisherman Mark Pollard known as "Polly" the canal king who invited me to have a 10 minute match against him for charity, naturally I lost but gained some very valuable advice from this fantastic ambassador for the hobby.
Note: Where did my Preston shirt go ?

Mark Pollard gave me one of the new Fox Warrior XT 13ft waggler rods to try, Mark told me the rod would suit my style of fishing as the soft through action would make landing fish easy and minimising the risk of hook pulls.

Finally I met the grand master himself Bob Nudd
What a true gentleman...how many 12 year olds can say they have fished with Bob Nudd, this was a dream come true.

I sat next to Bob for a short while and chatted about pole fishing he made it look so simple.
Then out of the blue Bob said do you want to have a go, I was already on the seatbox !!

The grand master taking pictures of me

 

Then Ian Welch joined in and interviewed me when playing a nice carp, there was a large crowd watching from behind the barriers which made me very nervous I couldn't lose this one.


After the session with Bob Nudd we had a chat with Mick Brown who is just as nice in real life as he is on the telly, and he still has that beaten-up camper van.

 
What a fantastic day...thanks to everyone at Fox who made this boys dream come true... if you're looking for a junior to sponsor

Pellet waggler...hard work but great fun

 I had a trip to my local tackle shop, fisherman's cabin and left wearing a new Preston t-shirt. We then travelled to a club lake near Heathrow where the planes were very noisy and flew over constantly, I decided to use a Diawa Gemini splasher float.
Before I set up my rod, I fed my swim with 8mm pellets so I could hopefully get a bite straight away.
 I cast out and clipped up the line to the maximum distance I could comfortably catapult to. I started to feed little and often to get the fish feeding confidently, this took around half an hour........after some interesting line bites the float shot under...I was in to my first fish- A nice 6lb common. The next cast led to another 6lber which gave a fantastic fight. Today was just one of those days where everything went right, some days your the dog other days your the lamp post. It was so much fun catching big carp to 8lb 12oz, I only lost one to.

 Here are a couple of videos from the pellet waggler session.......
Pellet Waggler video part 1
Pellet Waggler video part 2

A 2lb 6oz Crucian out of the blue

Date- Sunday 28th June 2009
Weather- 22°c,sunny and no wind.
Location- Club lake in High Wycombe.
Target species- Wild carp and crucians.
Bait- Hali hooker and sweet corn.
Method- A small Preston innovations method feeder (with the mould),6lb mainline to a 5lb powerline bottom. I clipped up extremely tight to a small island.
A quick sum-up of the session.
I turned up at one of my favourite swims in the lake, I knew today that I was going to bag up. My bait was on and ready to be casted out, my rod waked right round straight away- A beautiful 2lb tench. Cast out again- 2lb wildie. Almost 2 hours later I had around 30lb of wild carp and 2 tench. The fishing was just crazy,  but then I had a surprise....
My rod suddenly wrapped round and I thought I had a wild carp, It surfaced and I saw it was a nice crucian, I manage to scoop it up-The fish was a PB of 2lb 6oz. It was my 4th 2lb+ crucian of the year, I was chuffed. After that I was still catching wild carp to 4lb and tench to 3lb, by the end of the session I had over 50lb. What a fantastic session.

To watch the action click on my you tube video's.....Carp on the method feeder part 1..............Carp on the method feeder part 2

Roach fishing on the pole

Date- Sunday 21st June 2009
Weather- 24°c, sunny and barely any wind.
Location- Small club lake
Target species- roach and crucians.
Bait- Soft pellets.
Method- I used a simple pole set-up which was no.6 elastic with a 3lb to a 2lb rig,my hook was a 14 fox match which is extremely strong.
A quick sum-up of the session
First of all I plumed up 1cm under depth, after that I hooked a pellet on and shipped out. The float shot under and a 8oz roach was in the bag. This happened for ages and the fish were getting bigger, my average was around 12oz now. An hour later I managed to land myself a lovely brace of 1lb Roach, by now we started filming the roach action.

To get the whole story of this pleasure roach session, click on this link... Roach on the pole video.

Marlow Anging club John Hester memorial junior match

Date- Saturday 13th June 2009
Weather- 26°c, sunny and no wind at all.
Location- Club match lake in Marlow.
Target species- Skimmers, small carp and tench.
Bait- Maggot
Method- I kept my method simple which was a small free running lead with a 0. 10 Preston hooklink to a PR28 18 hook attached.
A quick sum-up of the session
I turned up to the draw just in time, I chose 18, one of the worst swims. I set up my rod and clipped up, then I waited for the whistle to be blown...... I was off,  I cast out, straight away I had a small skimmer in the bag, then a perch and then......... a massive bite and a huge bend in the rod,  it surfaced and I was amazed to see that it was a nice tench topping 3lb. They are very rare from this lake so I was extremely pleased. That was it after that except from 2 more small skimmers,  nobody was really catching and I new I had won. I was 3rd to weigh-in-3lb 15oz which put me well in the lead. After the other juniors weighed in I was informed I had won and that second place was only 1lb 2oz. I then packed up and waited to collect my trophies...... I proudly took the specimen and winners trophy.  What a day!!!!

Method feeder madness
Date- Monday 1st June 2009
Weather- 28°c, sunny and no wind at all.
Location- Club lake.
Target species- F1's, Tench and Crucian carp.
Bait-Sweet corn and hali- hookers.
Method- 4lb maxima line to a small Preston innovations inline method feeder, 0.15 powerline hooklink with a 14 PR36 hook attached.
  A quick sum-up of the session.

I used my Preston innovations method mould today for the first time, it was brilliant, I cast out tight to the island and waited for a take. I had a few line bites but all of a sudden the rod wrenched round- A 2lb F1. I cast out again and you guessed it- another F1. two fish later, another bite, this was a better fish, a 2lb+ tench. By now I was quickly bagging up on f1's and the odd Tench and Crucian. This was a really busy 5 hour session so I needed to go home and have a well earned rest.

You can watch the crazy action on my you tube video's.....Working the method feeder

      How to use the method feeder effectively

Accurate casting every time               Play the fish out of the feed area


Take your time over bait presentation                              The end result                      

My PB Crucian

Date-Sunday 17th May 2009
Weather-8°c, heavy rain and windy.
Location-Club lake.
Target species-Carp, Crucian, F1 and Tench.
Bait-Sweet corn
Method-My mach 3 reel was loaded with diawa maxima 4lb line, that went through the middle of my small Preston method feeder. I used a short hook link of 3.2lb which had a 14 PR27 Preston hook attached. The rod was a Garbolino pellet combo.
A quick sum up of the session.
I cast out my method feeder every 10 minutes but they just weren't biting. About 4 hours into the session I tried a small cube of luncheon meat.....straight away my tip wrapped round, it wasn't a big fish, a 10oz roach. It was still slow and I knew something was wrong with my method-mix, it was to dry and exploded when it hit the water.  I mixed some more up and added water until it was just right, I now felt much more confident about catching another.
My first cast with a small piece of corn and improved method mix got me a massive bite. I hooked it and successfully netted a 1lb F1 carp. The F1 spooked the swim for an hour or two but all of a sudden the rod wrenched round, the fish was fighting hard, it surfaced and I quickly netted it- A PB crucian of 2lb 2oz. What a day!

Review-Wood lane Fisheries ,Iver, Buckinghamshire.

Date- Monday 4th May 2009
Weather- 11°c, rain and windy.
Location- Wood Lane Fisheries. (match lake)
Target species- Carp.
Bait-8mm hali- hooker.
Method- I used my garbolino pellet combo rod with the following setup. A Gemini pellet waggler (16 gram) to a swivel which had my 3lb to a 14 hair rig hook link attached.

A quick sum up of the session
Straight away my friends started catching carp and skimmers, I was getting good bites but not hooking them. Barry (my friend) told me to strike as soon as the float dibbed, so I did and finally hooked into my first carp of the day- a nice 2lb mirror, I placed him into the keepnet hoping that could be important for the match. I switched to the pole but only had 3lb of skimmers..... Over the next 2 hours I had 5 more carp to gain my weight to about 14lb. By now the carp, chub and skimmers kept on coming. The whistle was blown for half time and I was comfident I was going to get over 20lb by the end of the day.
After about 2 hours I started to get a few carp and I had caught the biggest of the day- a 3 1/2lb common, but that was the end of all the action so I packed up and got ready for my weigh in. Ramzi, my other friend, got the scales and the sling ready. First we weighed in the carp- ''27lb 12oz'' then the silvers' '7lb 4oz'' so 35lb exactly, what a result!!! Unfortunately, It was an expensive day as all 4 diawa Gemini splasher floats (£6 each) disintegrated after a short while. I changed wagglers after 2 hours to a maver 8 gram pellet waggler.

Slabba Dabba Doo a monster Bream

Date-Saturday 18th- Sunday 19th April 2009
Weather- 19°c, sunny intervals and windy.
Location- Club lake
Target species- Big bream.
Bait- 8mm hali-hooker.
Method- I used my garbolino rod with a simple set up, a big cage feeder which was packed with groundbait. The hooklength was 3.2lb and on that I tied a 12 hook which had a small bait band attached.
A quick sum-up of the sessions
Day 1-After a couple of line-bites I finally got a take, I struck and slowly reeled in. I was surprised about the size of the fish- a 2lb wild carp. I was disappointed that it wasn't my dream, a double figure bream ....
Another bite and another bend in my rod. It was like hooking into a stingray because of the way it planted on the bottom... I couldn't move it. I was sure it was a big bream. The lump came to the surface and I quickly netted it. It was my dream a double figure bream of 11lb 4oz, I wont be forgetting that one!
Day 2-I used the same set-up. At first I struggled for a bite, but all of a sudden the tip wrapped round and I was definitely in to another bream. I netted it easily and I weighed it, 7lb 6oz. That was the end to a brilliant day.

Here is a video of me catching my PB Bream
 

Hard fighting Carp on the pole

Date-Saturday 11th April 2009
Weather-10°c, light rain and not a lot of wind.
Location-Marlow Angling Club lake.
Target species-Carp.
Bait-Soft hooker pellets and maggots.
Method-I set up my pole which had the following set-up. I used garbolino 8 elastic. The rig was 2 1/2lb with a hook link of just under 2lb. My float was a Preston chianti which took a few no.8 shot. I had a 20 carp hook which was very strong.

A quick sum-up of the session
I started with maggots while we waited for our pellets to absorb the water. I dropped the float in and 5 seconds later it bobbed and then shot under, I was in! It got badly snagged up in reeds but I managed to encourage him out, this had to be a carp' I said. A few minutes later the fish was plodding under my pole tip and the elastic was tiring it out. The fish surfaced and I was sure I had caught this fish last summer, It was a fat mirror carp.7 minutes later he was ready to land, yes! It was in the net. We weighed it and it was 4lb 12oz(not 4lb 4oz) and we were delighted to know that the carp was still in healthy condition and living well. That was it after that except from a small perch, but we were gutted that we didn't get a bite on the pellets which my dad made. It was still a brilliant day catching a nice carp on light tackle. You can watch all the carp action on this link.

DAN CATCHING CARP ON THE POLE
 

Olive green slimy machine

Date-Thursday 2nd April 2009
Weather-11°c,sunny intervals, no wind and murky water.
Location-Marlow Angling Club lake.
Target species-Tench and carp.
Bait-Maggot and soft hooker pellets.
Method-I used my pole. On one of my top 2's I put on a dog biscuit rig, it was fairly heavy with 16 elastic. My other top 2 had 10 elastic with 4lb mainline to a 3lb bottom, the float was a carpa chimp which took a few no.8 shots.
A quick sum-up of the session
After trying different spots with the plummet I finally found a deep hole. I Then catapulted out dog biscuits to see if the carp would take them confidently, they did. I started on  my float rig with two red maggots on an 18 hook, it was a slow start. I clipped my pole up and had a sip of coffee but then the elastic shot out. After about 4 minutes I finally got the fish in- a nice 2lb tench. I then used the dog biscuit rig but unfortunately had no takes. By this time there was only 10 minutes left of the slow session so I decided to put on a homemade soft hooker pellet. First drop in and the float flew under and It was a bigger tench of 2lb 4oz. I hooked on another pellet and slowly shipped out, the float dipped and then slowly sunk under. My 10 elastic was stretched to the other side of the lake. It felt like a good sized carp but then it shot back towards me and rose to the surface, it was a big tench. The tench in this lake get up to just over 3lb. I managed to quickly net it. It was one of the biggest tench in the lake, a 3lb 1oz female..... That was the end to the brilliant "slimy" Tench session.


 

Review-Sonubaits paste pellets.

Date-Saturday 28th-Monday 30th March 2009
Weather-7°c,rain,hail and strong wind. Last day was sunny and 8°c.
Location-Club waters in Bucks.3 day session.
Target species-Chub, small tench, crucian carp and roach
Bait-New Sonubaits- Bacon grill flavour soft hookers
Method-I fished the pole with a fox match float, my main line was 3lb and hook link was 2.6lb. I used 10 latex elastic as I was fishing next to a weed bed.
A quick sum-up of the sessions
Day 1-I fished a small lake, my dad put up the brolly while I clipped on my rig and a fox match pole cup to accurately feed some Sonubaits pellets, they looked awesome. I used maggots for 1 hour and didn't get a touch so I put on a sonubait paste pellet. I had lots of small touches but no confident takes.
I started getting bites on maggots and caught three 2oz rudd before we packed up for the evening.
Day 2-I went to the same lake again with the same setup, I couldn't get a bite on maggots as before so I hooked on a paste pellet....30 seconds later the float drifted under and the elastic was out, it felt like a chub because of the way it was heading to the snags but then an olive green tench floated to the surface.
It was probably just over 2lb, the sonubaits paste pellets really worked! That was it for that day except from some surprise rudd that took tiny bits of the pellet.
Day 3-I changed venues and went to my favourite lake, I used the same set up now with the new sonubaits banded pellets, pineapple flavour, I knew that they were going to be successful. First drop in and the float was under I hooked a roach of 4oz. followed by another ten within 15mins. The bites were so quick you couldn't look away, I missed lots of bites. 4 hours into the session I was happily bagging up roach on the banded pineapple pellet but then the float nervously went under and I was into something bigger. The elastic was out and the pole was bent. A golden dinner plate surfaced and went kindly into the net. It was a big crucian that weighed 1lb 15oz. I had a lot of nervous bites and had a shoal of them in my swim.... soon after I had a nice pellet caught roach that was about 10oz, next drop in lead to another crucian but this one was 1lb 11oz. I was happily catching roach again until I hooked into something that felt really nice.
Another large crucian, Got him ! it weighed 2lb 1oz and was a personal best. Sonubaits sell awesome baits and I recommend you giving them a try.



.

Date-Friday 6th March 2009
Weather-9°c,sunny intervals, clear water and no wind.
Location-A private lake near High Wycombe.
Target species-Roach but a few nice perch would be nice.
Bait-Maggot
Method- I used my Shimano Technium pole at about 7 metres. The elastic was a garbolino no.4 hollow which is very light and stretches with the smallest of fish.
Then I clipped on my rig which was 4lb main line to a 2lb bottom. The float was a Preston blue 0.50 gram  which had a yellow tip.
A quick sum-up of the session
I hooked on a plummet and shipped out slowly. I found a deep spot which is were the fish will hopefully be. I then took the plummet off and hooked on 2 red maggots and got out there again. I had a tiny dip on the float which resulted in a tiny perch. I shallowed up and went out once again. About 2 minutes later the float shot under and the elastic flew out. I new this was a nice perch. It went straight into the net. A good perch of around half a pound.
After the perch had been caught, I had a bite almost every 30 seconds but they weren't taking the maggots properly! Then the float slowly dibbed under and I was in. It was another small 1oz perch. A minute later I had a quick bite. This is a better one I said. I kindly went tail first into the net. A nice perch of about 10oz.
That perch spooked the swim for a while so I catapulted a small handful of maggots out into my spot. The float started moving to the side so I hit it and the elastic flew out again. A silver bar floated into the net. A good roach of about 8oz .That's what we were looking for!
 After that I didn't catch anything special except from another roach of about 4oz.I was pestered by small perch. It was a good session and I really enjoyed it though.

Pike fishing on the River Thames

Date-Saturday 21st February 2009
Weather-11°c, sunny, no wind, not a lot of current and clear water.
Location-River Thames
Target species-Pike
Bait-Sprat
Method-I used two of the same rods with identical set-up's.
Light ,9ft Shakespeare, telescopic spinning rods.
 My bait-runner reels were both loaded with 20lb braid, then I had a sliding bung/float with the depth touching bottom. I had a sliding ledger that stopped when it hit the swivel that was attached to a 18lb trace. I used size 2 single hook.
A quick sum-up of the session
My first rod went between the current and the slack water........The second into the slack water.
The float in the slack water nervously bobbed and moved across the surface....I struck but there was nothing.
The fish had not taken it confidently. I cast again with a fresh sprat and it did the same.....The third time I struck and had something on but it was so small! It let go of the bait . I got out there again, but  this time the float slid away.  I had him! The pike did not fight, it was like reeling in a sack of potatoes and was soon ready for the net...Got him!!! A small 3lb pike.
2 hours went by and nothing had happened I decided to try the margins. All of a sudden the float shot under, the rod was heading into the water... my dad grabbed it and hit the run. He quickly passed the rod to me.
 It must of taken 15 meters of line which I eventually gained back after a really hard. fight. My arm was tiring but luckly the pike was to !. After 10 minutes it rose to the surface it was heading for the net, but it wasn't giving up that easily, it ran again, but finally decided to give up, going head first in the net.
The pike weighed 8lb 5oz (picture in top left corner).

You can watch all the pike action on this link.
Dans 8lb pike

A Pike to remember

Date-Wednesday 18th February 2009
Weather-8°c,dark clouds,slugish current and the odd light shower.
Locaton- River Thames
Target species-Pike.
Bait-Sprat
Method-I used two rods with the same simple set-up.My first rod was 3lb test curve (11ft) with 20lb braid through a sliding medium weight.Then I tied on a trace which is 24lb and a single size 4'o sea hook (always barbless). I did the same on my second but the rod was a light 9ft Shakespeare telescopic spinning rod.
A quick sum-up of the session
I cast out the first rod....the current took it under a willow tree,  the second rod cast it in front of me about three rod lengths out, half an hour into the session, the line slowly peeled off the reel. I was in on the first rod. It was only a 5lb'er but a good start.
 Then an hour and a half after the first fish, I had a tiny drop back bite on the second rod. I struck and straight away I knew I was in to a big fish. The rod was bent double....two minutes later, it splashed on the surface, I said to my dad "That's a PB.It's 20lb" After it surged away I managed to gain a bit of line, seven minutes into the fight it began to tire. It swam away from the net first time but second time it went in. It is a big net and it just fitted in bending the handle. We unhooked it and put it on the scales. A new PB of 16lb 5oz ( picture is top left).
It went dead after that fish so I tried wobbling a sprat on the second rod. First cast fell prey to another beast. I watched it take the bait under my rod in the margin. It was a nice fish of around 12lb.Ten seconds later it took line and spat the hook. I lost it, but I cast again. Guess what? another take from the same fish! A minute or two later I gained some line it was tiring slowly. But it again came off the hook! It went dead after that so we decided to call it a day.

You can watch all the action on this link
Dan catching a 16lb 5oz pike on the River Thames