2014 - River soar winter league October 12th run by Angling Trust

The river soar winter league started and myself and recruit to Midlands angling supplies John Kilby took time to study and observe several sections of the days competition. We started at the Navigation section on the pub side and later visited the 1860 length . 

First angler to show was Kev Hales of Maver on peg 9 on his own with 60 yards to the next man and 500 yards to the pub ……superb end peg however its only 13m wide so frequency of boat traffic  might tell .

Rob in a 'finding clear area' exercise in peg 8

 Chris gaining advice and encouragement in his weed peg 7

 Robs rod delivered from his van via Phil ….anything to help the days events

 Evasive asian weed everywhere ……good or bad ?

Our man Dave Mawby on peg 1 surveying the field of thirsty cows , the peg is the watering hole for them . Note how muddy the peg is due to the constant use by the cows breaking down the bank . Platform and good boots are essential here.

Walking back towards the Navigation pub

We moved over the road from the pub onto the 1860 length and thro the mist we could see the outline of cars parked up and the first few anglers.

Very taste looking weir part way down …..what fantastic waters …..and its all in Leicestershire !

Joe Roberts on first peg 1 about 16m wide he was fishing about 11m holding back and running thro on a 0.5gr float fishing light. Finished 2nd with 6100gr

Peg 2 P.Hamilton of the Loughborough AC . he caught very steady and used a slower area of the water on a long line to the far side in a bout 6' of water picking up anything with eyes . 1st with 6750gr

Next peg was Stan Piecha of the Bennets team who at first told me to step back from 8metres away and did not realise i was bank running for the team . (Think we have a communication issue in the team) Had he really forgot me from all those days at Burton on Trent many years ago plus the one day next to each other on the 3rd Soar masters ? Need new glasses Stan .

Stan was catching steady on the punch , maybe a roller next time mate ? 

 Sam Merry down on peg 7 enjoying punch and hemping.

 After a 100 yards came the last 2 pegs ; 8 and 9 who had to take their gear over the bridge onto this really peaceful canal-section.  Tom got third in section with 6000gr

Editor of one of Englands leading periodicals was showing the way with this Perch caught at 14m to the far side.

We took a walk back to the pub and the sun arrived eating away that cold mist to leave us all basking in sunshine

The 1860

 Well ! ……we were hungry , think we must have walked both sections twice , BLT and a Tiger were reward for me and a cheese and onion and coke for John.

Suitably nourished we decided to walk the pub section

Kev was catching steady and later realised 2nd place in section with 4.610gr

Peter Marlow caught steady for 3.650gr

On the fence was Quorn AC Adey Reynolds who gained a 3rd with 3.770 gr

100 yards later found Dave Mawby on peg 1 and fishing for Bennets . He was trying to re thread his elastic he had earlier broken earlier when his tip swung round whilst not looking and i had to tell him his good fortune . Anyway 2 minutes later a sizeable Bream of about 3-4LB entered the net . He went on to win with 6.365 gr.

SUTTON BONNINGTON PEGS 43 TO 51

 Joe Oakes on peg 51 started to find seed fish in the last hour and was placing pressure on Steve Hemingray and Dave Revill on pegs 50 and 49 .

 The 'rushes' pegs were the best as more roach were biting

Pegs after appeared to be mostly Perch and bleak. Here Dave Petch on peg 47 sorted a few good specimens.

Vince Callaghan of Bennets ( MAS ) Worming heavy to get that elusive Big-Bonus.

SUTTON BONNINGTON PEGS 1 to 8 , 10

First peg in was 10 with P Scott catching fluently at 9 and 11 metres all day easily taking first place all alone up the section length with 5230gr

80 yards later pegs 8 thro to 2 competed for 3rd place as Pete Jayes on peg 1 took 2nd place with 3650gr

Chris Marks took a 4th with 1650 in a tightly pegged area

Brad Titmus who i had not seen for a few years since being involved in the Scandanavian masters and a few carp commercials was fishing for Starlets




SUTTON BONNINGTON section 43-51 , weighing in time , Bennets are the days scale men

Harry took a decent 4th place  with 2950gr

Ant King with a creditable net of bleak for 1950 gr caught at 11-13m

VC with a all perch catch.

Dave Petch with a few nice specimens

Dave Revill with a caster bag on peg 49 in the rushes and a 2nd place

Steve ? , cannot think of his surname , rumours has it he can fish a bit ?
Winning weight from the 'grinder' by 50 gr on Dave with 3750gr.

Joe on 51 really came towards the end and ended up 3rd for a creditable 3320gr.

TODAYS OBSERVATIONS ON 'NAVIGATION' PUB AND 1860 SECTIONS.

PUB: Well spaced out pegs on the pub section but this is entirely due to the availability of gaps in the bank side vegetation . One large weight on a known Bream peg and the rest have yet to be discovered properly but they faired better than some on Sutton Bonnington for instance .

Think this section will get better and better as winter sets in

1860:
I reckon you could have had another section in the field up to the foot bridge which must have been a killer to get across however once there on pegs 8 and 9 it threw up a 5 and 6LB weight . We counted 13 spare peg positions so it could be possible to get 2 sections down there ?

Would these pegs produce when it gets really cold ?

KNOWLEGE :

NAVIGATION - PUB SIDE

Parking is next to the pub however you are best suited to drive about 300 yards down the road towards the A6 on on a first left bend there is ample parking for several cars. walk up the road about 50 yards and go thro the gate into the field where 7 of the 9 pegs are. (pegs 2 to 8).

Peg 1 - About 25m wide , about 7-9 deep at 13m , pole and feeder tactics .

        Bank is poor and good boots and platform are needed as you sit in the cow watering hole.

Peg 2 - is about 75 yards from peg 2 on the fence , very wide about 30m . Depths about 8ft other parts a little deeper.

Pegs 3,4,5,6 - About the same as peg 2 and platform good boots are required.

Peg 7 - is very weedy at 6-10 metres .

Peg 8 - Wide , weedy close in and at 4-10metres , deep far side on bend .

Peg 9 - Is about 60 yards over the weir footbridge from peg 8 and has a 50 yard stretch to its self. Very narrow , possible to reach far side with 11-13metres.

NAVIGATION - 1860 SIDE

Parking is provided thro' the gate on opposite side to the pub . Parking only allowed down to the 1860 bridge.

Peg 1 , 2 - Approx. 15-17m wide , good pace in the water , depths about 5-7' 

Peg 3 Just after the 1860 bridge , wider at about 20 metres - 6 ' deep good bank for box

Pegs 4,5,6,7 - Approx.15-20m wide , variable depths 5-7' . Platforms ,good boots required

Pegs 8,9 - about 120 yards past peg 7 over the footbridge , could be very difficult with a trolley , try and travel light. Banks narrow (canal style) but good for boxes . 14-16m wide and about 6-9 deep.

SUTTON BONNINGTON PEGS 1-8,10

Good area but really could do with the pegs going every other one to . Would suggest 1 , 3 , 5 , 7, 10 ,12 ,14 , 16 ,18 as to give everyone a slightly better chance to draw on fish instead of leaving a known peg 50 yards on its own with all the soar after that free of anglers until you get to peg 43

Average depth is about 7-8 some a little shallower and some up to 9ft . When water is on a far side feeder works well as proven in the Soar masters qualifier with some 8-11 kilos weights in that section.

SUTTON BONNINGTON PEGS 43 TO 51

definitely spread the pegs out but keep the rushes pegs in as 49 , 50 . 51 and add 52. Then spread the pegs towards the low numbers , say 47 , 45 , 43 , 41 ,39 

Next time i hope to cover the other Sutton Bonnington section and also onto all the other sections . The day was long as we started at 09:30 and was at the weigh in at Sutton at 16:00 PM