Translate

Monday 25 March 2024

2024 - March 24th - Ivan MARKS memorial match - Wigston AC controlled GUC at Glen Parva - Mick Carr report

Every year the Wigston AC hold the IVAN MARKS memorial match on the GUC at Glen Parva/ South Wigston . This a must go to match in the events calendar and its not the fishing that counts its the event for the Great man.


IVAN the Great - Peoples champion




Start of the day at the Manor Restaurant for the breakfast .The lads diving in for Tea and Coffee





Short drive to the Crow Mills car park heavily populated by todays expectants 







My draw was peg 28 on the Crow Mills near to the very attractive fun station ( i dont think they serve beer though ?)









The match started and i place my usual food patterns to set the trap for the expected fish haul . After a few different areas i decided to keep to far shelf and take any pair of eyes going as i amassed so many fish ( i did not count them) .

I managed to win my section with 1-14 so happy days .




7th on the day against a class field 




Back to the HQ and beer was the order of the day as we say down ready for the results service

Top man Dave Mellors




The Yellow-Peril









First time a joint winner and so good friends Steve Brookes and Matt Hodgetts take (share) the honours.






My congratulations to Adam and John and the Team at WIGSTON AC who never fail to create a great day.

Friday 15 March 2024

2024 - March 14th - SODERTALJE CANAL practice with friend Borko - The fish are not there (or not feeding yet)

A break in the cold weather allowed for a chance to cast a line on the water now that those nuisance ice flows have all but dissipated. I met with good friend Borko and we fished in the preferred pegs we mostly fish at during the course of the year.

I decided to go feeder all day however i did take my poles with me just in case the fish fed on the feeder line then i would have a chance of catching by float , well that was the theory.

I decided on casting out a few times to 'feel' the bottom and i must have cast 5-6 times and all appeared ok. So i clipped up at approx. 40metres and i had a drop of 13-15 seconds approx. I then set up a further rod shorter by at least 10 metres and i gained a drop of 9-11 seconds. So my plan was ready , all i need is some fish so using a larger feeder with fine groundbait and few offerings i cast 2 amounts on each feeder line - the trap was set ! ummm 😑

I decided to go light on both rods so an 18's hook was on both with 70 cm lengths of 0.10 line . 




GO TIP GO , TIP-GO , GO TIP GO (A quote from Tom Ostland ) 



Weather was not too bad but a cool keen wind left to right kept your head covered up 




View to the right and as you can see its a long pathway that could easily place 20 more anglers. Yes , trolley for some but its all on the flat so no hills to push up.




Looking towards town where another 4-6 pegs could be placed possibly




The parking is good , room for 20 cars on the ticket ( Saturday you are charged and Sunday is normally free) Cafe nearby is normally open from PÃ¥sk till October so refreshments and snacks can be purchased.









As you can see in the water the bottom is very stoney so ideal for sitting out on a platform from the bank . Its ideal really as with the feeder your line will be settling on various contours on the bottom especially with some depths you are casting out to are between 6-10 metres so a bit further out helps that angle . (i suppose to miss those features on the bottom its best to cast quite far out ?)

As yet not sure if we should allow that as some pegs are slightly deeper just off the bank so an angler could have a disadvantage but we shall review this closer to the time . Also to consider the time of year when colder whether anglers want to have waders on ? 
 





Nothing caught so we wait for another day 





Later in the year the plan is to run at least three matches - so far we plan to use Reel only so that can include Bolo , Slider and Feeder but we might just go feeder only .




Thursday 7 March 2024

2024 - SODERTALJE CANAL + TROSA - Nothing, Ingenting, Ingen Poeng , F**k all !

 With some time on my hands i decided to meet up with Borko on my local canal. Previous to this the canal was looking reasonably clear of ice however last nights -6 put paid to this as i visited it in the morning and my head dropped 😖 when i saw the site of all over ice , again !!! 😡













I said to Borko that we should try Trosa as it should be virtually free of ice . I was there before Borko and set up with just one feeder rod . On the far side was Stefan Johansson .




Water was up a lot and running hard as the melting snow and ice of the fields.




Borko arrived and set up like me with just one feeder rod 







We tried for a good 2 hours but nothing happened an that included Stefan on the far side. 





We all put the kit away and viewed the river just out of town as this was all new to Borko 

Thursday 29 February 2024

2024 - February 29th - Nykoping - A day of researching the pegs with Mats Larsson

With some time available to us both we decided to travel to Nykoping and view the match length . Mats had all the tools for what would be required as our initial work was to cut down all last years reeds and grasses which were brown and dead . So the more we could cut down now would be less to do in the coming weeks as the first matches are planned for the 6th and 7th of April.



Last years Nykoping champion HÃ¥kan




Because of age and agility and also possibly not having the best platforms it was decided that we shall run two matches on the same day (May 4th and 5th only). The new section closest to the car park will really be for the anglers who have stated about making the pegs easier for them due to their physical ability to get comfortable in the water . So we took their advise and now have a section which is primarily on shingle/stones and very light mud and also no need to venture more than 3m out from the bank.

NOTE : The map shown is a suggestion but the number of the pegs might change closer to the actual competition 

(The picture above from Google maps obviously shows a summer picture with reed beds in abundance however come the matches on here gaps will be attained ) 


The other section is the normal match length but there again Mats who is the 'scrum master' of this section will determine the peg positions closest to the time for the match on May 4th and 5th.

NOTE : The map shown is a suggestion but the number of the pegs might change closer to the actual competition date






Arrival at the car park next to the Dog walking area 
 










A couple of weeks prior Mats had made the journey to Nykoping for an early reconnoitre of the match length and what will be required.









So today with the help of Mats great tool collection we managed to clear several positions of last years reeds and grasses. With the ice melting quite rapidly it is assumed that the ice will have dissipated and the cut reeds will eventually sink leaving very little further work . However in the weeks up to the matches in April and May then small repair work will further enhance the pegs .


A gap ready for peg 5 and where i stand would be a box position 



Mats standing on solid ice was able to hack the front end grasses and make a decent gap - at this stage i fell through the ice (only 50cm deep) but managed to stand up with slight ingress of water inside my boots .




Later we walked up to the swamp section where to our surprise we see that the section near the chairs has received attention from the local Kommune - nice !!




So it would appear that we have slightly less to repair on both sections 




Mats and i will keep you up to date of all the bank maintenance in the coming weeks and also we shall fish it a little as certainly last year we both had early success with catches. 

For last years matches and practice sessions on both sections please view ; 

https://drpiscatorial.blogspot.com/2023/05/2023-7th-may-nykoping-practice.html


https://drpiscatorial.blogspot.com/2023/05/2023-my21st-reconnoitre-day-at-nykoping.html

https://drpiscatorial.blogspot.com/2023/05/2023-may-1314th-nykoping-feeder-match.html




Tuesday 20 February 2024

2024 - Södertälje Canal - Viewing potential for Feeder competition

With slightly milder weather i decided to take a walk down at my local canal. I thought i would estimate the amount of viable positions to fish at if there was a potential competition of Feeder class.


A view from the last potential place to fish on this promenade.




From the picture above looking down the whole length towards the Gold putting area and Cafe 




Just after the tree is a potential position about 20m from that first place.




Looking back from the first place 









The next 50m was unfortunately three trees with small gaps so not useable . Then from the sunken tree was another section ..........




                                                                             




This looks like a section for at least 7-9 positions.


                                                                              



Last position of this section


                                                       

                                      



Last position of that section 



Next potential section is the signage stating the electric cable 



This small area is worth 3 positions



                                                   

                                                                      
The first position to fish could be here with the gold activity/cafe area 





                                                                             

                                                 

Loads of activities with the canal strengthening 




              



Home time 



All uphill for home 


Last path to home , all uphill 


Monday 5 February 2024

2024 - February 4th - Loughborough canal WL Pairs Match 2 - Mick Carr report

Round 2 of the LOUGHBOROUGH PAIRS CANAL LEAGUE and myself and partner Cliff are on the Swing bridge section . I have drawn peg 32 with a nice boat feature opposite and Cliff had peg 22 in the other section, will we both get into some fish ?






Further to my left 



Target boat area 




The match passed and my two fish weighed 3oz and Cliff had 7.5oz yet the Zouch sections blitzed the days proceedings with lowest weight being 2-10 and highest weight 10-14 !!! .......different planet !




Andy Astle with a decent Perch 



RESULTS : 



May be an image of text




May be an image of text

May be an image of basketball and text


2 rounds complete , 2 more to follow , all to play for.

May be an image of ‎text that says "‎Position LSMG 2024 -Winter Canal Pairs Team Points Table Points Sect Runners R4 Total 1 Sect Points Points Sect 5 0 0 0 0 Weight Worm Ray SAS op 4 4 1 0 7 7 0 8 10 0 20lbs1 0 0 0 Ùˆ 0 0 0 1 11 11 7 Bombs 22lbs10oz 12lbs11oz 6 8 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 Old Buggers 13 0 7 0 1 0 10 0 All 0 0 0 0 0 0 10 0 16 17 0 9 0 3lbs12oz 0 0 0 0 0 19 0 13lbs10oz 4lbs3oz‎"‎