2018 - December 30th MICK HOLOHAN Memorial Trophy - Wigston canal

Every year a match is fished to commemorate the passing of one of Wigston's anglers who was taken too early as he was a well-liked person amongst his Wigstonian mates. Yesterday when we met at the Lutterworth road 1st Choice cafe for breakfast organiser and UK manager of COLMIC Adam Nurse reminded us all of what Mick was as a person in a few chosen words. Thereafter we began the draw and as the 44 strode forward expectancy was that the County Arms section was the place to be for a BIG weight however the Crow Mills section was a favourite to get a good net of fish. The Westminster bridge section was also available but no form from this section considering it was one of best last year.

Draw ! .....Crow Mills ...nice ! and on the Scales with Tom Pringle to my left who was on peg 24 but on the top section.

I setup 5 rigs 

RIG 1 - 0.10/0.07 Sensas Comp line to 0.1gr Maurizio Schiepatti Venus to Sensas 3405 22

RIG 2 - 0.10/0.07 Sensas Comp line to 0.1gr Maurizio Schiepatti Venus Blue to Sensas 3405 20

RIG 3 - 0.14 Sensas Comp line to Sensas Choppie 0.4gr to Sensas 3405 14

RIG 4 - 0.10/0.07 Sensas Comp line to 4x8 Sensas Titou to Sensas 3405 20

RIG 5 - 0.10/0.07 Sensas Comp line to 0.2gr 'Stainey' 3405 18

RIGS 1 , 2 - Pinkie maggot over ground bait at middle

RIG 4 - Far shelf 

RIG 5 - Caster and Punch in middle

RIG 3 - Down the bank in rushes and far side near overhanging for Perch 

Started by potting two of HINDERS Mark Pollard Super charged Black at 4 metres 10:00 0 clock then at 13:00 clock potted at 5metres punch ball . Placed maggots all day long down the bank near the rushes.

Fish straight the way mostly on Pinkie then changed to maggot gradually getting larger specimens . Tom Pringle to my left took an early Billy of about 1.5lb plus a good skimmer . Neil Pitfield to my right took steady procession of fish , some were netter class roach and a few decent 6oz skimmers. 

I caught at a faster rate than most but they were small fish . I needed a few bonus and prayed for one as clearly i could see fish blowing over both lines . In the 2nd hour i secured bonus skimmer of about 8oz but no more arrived . Only later when the 4 and 5 metre lines slowed up did i go over on the Titou and re-engaged with the fish as clearly they were in shallower water . Then disaster struck as two successive casts two skimmers were hooked and pinged off on No3's elastic !! ........i then went onto the rushes for a Billy and second placement i hooked and seconds later that came off ! As much as i tried i could not get anything larger so then decided to remain catching eyes for the rest of the match .

Match over and these two sections certainly caught many fish .......now the weighing in.

 Top weight on the day from the Crow Mills Top section was Paul Edwards on peg 25 with 16-12 catching Bream and skimmers on the maggot.

To my left on peg 24 was Wigston rod Tom Pringle on the Top section with 9-10

Me on peg 23 ........oooo i needed those bonus fish ...... thats fishing . 8-4 on the lower section

In the same section was the Wigston stalwart Rob Bradshaw who caught steady all day for a 3rd best weight of the day 10-2 on the lower section

Steve Oakes in same section with 2nd individual weight of 12-14 catching steady on punch and caster - Best weight of the Lower section.

Back to the Manor Restaurant pub and the days top 3 enjoying their riches and well earned drinks

COUNTY ARMS SECTION - proved to be low weight returns when so much was expected .

CROW MILLS SECTIONS - scored an average of 7-5 per man in 2 sections of 7 .

MANOR SECTION - like the County Arms proved to be a difficult section.

Excellent day for the Wigston AC and great organisation by Adam Nurse and his helpers - The League of 6 matches coming soon and hopefully good weights . 

2018 - 27th December WIGSTON AC waters on canalised section of the river Soar

Another day out with the Wigston AC who are a fine set of lads and evoke the same kind of fun and ethos as the Midlands Angling Supplies teams . Today we fished the canalised section of the river soar as previous week and hopefully this time will it fish better ? The water was a green colour run off from a previous week of rain , will it fish , will it be Silvers soup ?

Peg 6 was mine and the peg that came 2nd on previous match with large Bream and Perch securing the placement.

Just before the start a certain Leicester city manager, Claude Puel came jogging by and on his return i gave him the thumbs up as just yesterday they had beaten Man City .


             

Three rigs assembled for the day :

TOP : Maurizio Schiepatti 0.5 gr MARS BLEU 1.2/0.8 , SENSAS 3405 20 hook
MIDDLE : MAS - CL (Clive Lloyd) Maurizio Schiepatti 0.4 gr 1.2/0.8 SENSAS 3405 22 hook
BOTTOM : SENSAS LUIS 1.0gr 0.14 to SENSAS 3314 14 hook

Rob Bradshaw and Jon Wells on pegs 4 and 5

MENU

The day proved to be a disappointment  as the expected nets of silvers did not materialise ??
I have fished all day for no silvers which is staggering considering the condition of the water yet next peg 7 Steve Oakes took a 'all' net of silvers be it just 4lb odd . Strange the Perch have fed and the Silvers have not ?

Rob with a handsome perch  in first 15 minutes !

Glad of taking 4 Billys for 7-4 , Two on the Lobby and the other two on smaller worm plus 7 wasps.

Steve Oakes (Joes dad)

Peter Jayes on the Bream peg .......no Bream !

All smiles with these two units

Score card

Packed up and home time

2018 - WL4 18th November

Winter league 4 seen me draw the ferry at Normanton with my mate in the car , Michael Carr , how lucky was that as the worst case scenario was for me on the Ferry and Mick drawn at Kegworth or Cossington.
Mick was on the peg nearest to the Ferry crossing in the top section and i was 5 pegs away on the bottom section.

John Kilby had drawn the 'Zouch' section close by and incurred a horrible walk . When at his peg it was where is the next angler ? Pegs miles apart is not conducive to proper match angling. However the ubiquitous Penny-wart does not help.

Sorry no catch picture however report is .........

FOR THE RECORD :
Peg 7 - end peg second section at Normanton . 
I set up a 1.5gram Sensas 'Luis' float with 6lb line straight through to a size 12 sensas 3314 for the Perch . Two other rigs of MAS-SM 0.8 to 0.15/0.10 Sensas 3405 20 and another using Sensas Abbieville 1.5gr 0.13/0.08 to Sensas 3405 20 - all very positive rigs . Had waggler and feeder setup . Waggler was 11 ft deep !
4 balls potted at the start with nothing in them . Then a splash soft ball with pinkie sand casters right in from of me . Depths were 7-8 feet to me left next to overhanging bush .In front at 11m depth was 9-10 feet .
Started on waggler and took a perch and three roach , one was dumpy. Then after 20 mins went for Perch - took three 2/4 oz size . Missed many bites as small one s attacked the lobby and i think Cray fish played with the bait.
after an hour was on the pole line catching small roach and Perch but it kept die ing . I did notice if placed my float two metres up stream of the baited area then the roach were there - maybe a few Pike hanging over the area ??? Half way through i took 3 Billys out on the bounce , whole family of big lads about 1.5lb each size. Then i lost a very large creature. I then rested the area and went out again on waggler and pole and kept feeding constantly over my three killing grounds.
Last hour back on Perch line and took a very large fish that i could not get up to the surface on my 10-12 J-Range elastic - does that cost me the section ? Anyway persistence rewarded with two more big lads and 2 decent roach on the pole / caster . Finished 1st 3360gr.


In my section was the talismanic Darran Bickerton Head of Sensas Starlets a true ambassador of the sport . Earlier in the day Darran and young Jordan Holloway helped Mick and myself of the Ferry as we were last to come over - Darran's Starlets are all respectful and helpful , we know their capabilities and their fishing status as some of the best in the country . They are a dominant team within the league and the other 5 teams are also good but the Starlets background of International and grouped knowledge is second to none . Darran has done a great job in making the 'Stars' respectful in the SVWL.

2018 - Sunday November 4th - Greenhill AC match on the Carp Lake - Maggot only ?!

Greenhill steeped in history off being the 'Friendly-club' and its tradition was never more true than on Sunday as the local cracks came together and threw a few quid in the pot to see who could get the better of each other . Match Secretary John Kilby decided on a maggot only match with a winner for Carp nets and a winner for silvers net.

A bunch of nutters !

Well the match got under way and for the first hour Mick Carr screamed into the lead with 6 lumps on the maggot feeder ! My start was okay with about 3 silvers and an F1. Later into the match established 2 feed areas and rotated them using some 2 pints or reds all match , little and often all the time.
Towards the end myself and Brian Envis were trading blows with continual carp in the 3-5lb class . However Brian edged me out by a good 10lb . So the Former Leicester Likely lad has traded his river gear for Mud Pig fishing , shame as he was a cracking angler on the Trent.

First weigh in was 26 kilos

2nd weigh in 13 kilos

Can i edge the Envo !? First weigh in 23 kilos

 2nd weigh in 13 kilos

Nick with a nice weight

Match Secretary John Kilby

 Barry with 2 weighs

Mick Carr - pulverised the opposition in first couple of hours but the fish deserted later

 Mick with 2 weigh in's

1st Brian Envis 39.900kg 88lb 7oz - winner of the Carp match
2nd Phil Ackerley 36.260kg 79lb 9oz
3rd Barry Davies 31.240kg 68lb 8oz
4th Michael Carr 22.880kg 50lb 4oz
5th John Kilby 20.800kg 45lb 8oz
6th Nick Grassby 15.220kg 33lb 5oz
7th Steve Branston 9.600kg 21lb 1oz
8th Chris Bradshaw 2.120kg 4lb 6oz
9th Paul Wilson 1.620kg 3lb 5oz
10th Jeff Kent 1.560kg 3lb 4oz 

Unlucky the bottom 4-5 anglers as there is nothing wrong with their standard , the fish were not having it proper where they were .

Total match weight 394lb 39.4lb a man average

And Phil Ackerley won the silvers match with 720g

2018 - SVWL N01- October 21st

The start of the Winter league on the Soar Valley brings much excitement - how will it go ?

MAS Captain Lee Bennet being awarded some sponsored Bolo floats for his second year in succession qualification to the River fest final. Floats included Maurizio Schiepatti and Exner range .

MAS at breakfast

My draw was rewarding with a 150 metres from the HQ on Waterside Peg 1 the other side of the busy bridge .

Well , the match was an odd affair as for the first 45 minutes after a bombardment i was able to take my first silver fish ! ? Initially i had placed the black balls into my 7'-9' hole in front of me and continue for Perch close in .
After an initial few small Perch the 11m line came out and i took a few pairs of eyes with the odd dumpy . The rest of the match proved to be a scratcher  and i had amassed about 70 fish by the end , really hard work for 2.020 and beaten to 4th by 170 grams and beaten to 3rd by 2 kilos of fish by Chris Marks in last 30 minutes . - that is the way fishing is.

Great to sit outside with Chris Bucko and few others taking in a hard earned pint

Congratulations to Dale Lynch at Cossington who was first equal - but i and the rest of the MAS believe he should have taken first as there was some strange things going on in that section ?

2018 - EVESHAM , AUGUST BANK HOLIDAY THE SHOW MUST GO ON

EVESHAM – THE SHOW WILL GO ON ! 

Evesham a town synonymous with August bank Holiday fishing festival and a friendly town with many suitable restaurants for many hungry anglers after a long days fishing or a days selling !

It was back in July when I was contacted about exhibiting at this prestigious show and the three guys running this event deserve some attention and congratulations to take this show on and hopefully expand the show to new levels.  Please always shake the hand of SEAN ASHBY , PAUL BOOTHBY AND ROD SCOTT . It takes commitment to take the reigns of a project of this size and these guys proved their worth and were rewarded with the backing of many other tackle outlets and in fact the local program book contained many fishing outlets placing their products and notice of support.

                                          Sean

                               Paul

                                            Rod

 For the three days we decided to work closely with Phil Medhurst UK Manager of TRABUCCO on the same stall as we start to share our dual commitment on all products we front currently.

We arrived on the Friday late afternoon and soon we were placing our gear into position ready for Saturday’s arrivals . Saturday came and we were not disappointed as many anglers came to the Trabucco and Midlands Angling Supplies stall tent to discover the many NEW products that exist within our compliment of tackle.  We were so pleased the crowds were gaining hands on with EXNER , MAURIZIO SCHIEPATTI and the best from SENSAS in the float form.

We were honoured to sit between Alex Clements GUNKI tent and Dave Harrells stall who both were receiving brisk business.

The Sunday was a bit of a wash out as the customary rain attended to make fishing uncomfortable and the crowds were put off some what.

Monday the BIG day came and it did not disappoint as the crowds engulfed the stalls and business became great and the customers really hunted for those bargains.

Over the three days I met many of my team , fishing friends and customers from my client base.

MAS-Rod John Kilby and Katie

MAS Rods John Kilby , Gary Envis and Mick Carr

Wigston Colmic rod Tom Pringle

Wigston Colmic rod Joe Oakes backed by Middy and Dynamite . Joe Oakes floats were top 5 sellers on the day.

The man of the last few years with a continuous run of great results

Joe's specials

Alex Clements completed a marvellous show and had quite a few Pike and Zander himself off the 'boards'

Dan Jones .........probably one of the most respected anglers on the circuit , a great author. (with family)

 Sam the man with our Mick

 Sam Merry floats , made from the Soar league and blessed on all rivers

 Trabucco manager Philip Medhurst sat on one of his promotion boxes and his jeans were wet with his mark ! ................ 'M'

Massive entry from MATRIX anglers Tom ' Auchy ' Potter and Ian Baker

Sam and MAS float sponsored star Josh Newman

John Waples and Howard Kaye who won the Saturday match .......well done 'H' !

Martin Halford doing the business for DH.

 MAS rods Jamie Tarplee and Carl Lynch with Mick

Brian Hull ..........Mr Soar-Leicester , legend and just look at his CV for what he has done for fishing.

Ron Scales - Canal master

David Mellors and Family 'lovely'

Trevor Newey............awesome customer of MAS with good lady

Wayne Pantling - we used to fish against each other down in Corwall on the Mawgan Porth fishery , marvellous to meet up with him again.

Adrian Stokes ........total gentleman !

Gary Kirkham , a gent , a massive influence in fishing and a caring person to his family, i have a lot of time for Gary.

Steve from the Trabucco stable

Perry Hubbard ....always nice to meet with him

Packaging for our clients even at the show !!

Trevor Newey back on the stall again with the new Exner DELTA floats !!

Great mate from the SENSAS North is Bryan Hawkes

‘ CLOSE SEASON TO GO FOR 2019 ? COULD WE HAVE A EVESHAM EASTER FESTIVAL OR A MAY BANK HOLIDAY FESTIVAL ?  ‘  ( We are up for this !  )

ALSO

Its been an honour to supply the ENGLAND team with floats for their competition in Portugal .