With a social event on the Sunday i decided to gain more practice using feeder rods on the Saturday. I was on the bank at 07:00am and not anyone about other than the usual litter from the locals who cannot place their scrap in the bins provided.
I mixed the ingredients but noticed the water was really cold ? How could this be the water so cold when we have had a steady rise in temperatures for many weeks including the three very hot days previous ? My theory is we have had very high winds in the last few days and that might have moved the water from the bottom of the canal and further North where there is more open water , i speculate ?
I administered several feeder full's of ground bait with plenty of corn and dead-reds and some chopped worm . I estimate i was fishing in 5-7 metres at about 17-20 metres out . I started on 16's hook on 60cm tail using small GURO cage and Browning Window feeder on the other rod .
One hour later ..........no bites ...........further 30 minutes and a small Perch later i decided to come closer by 5 meters ........things improved very slightly with two roach and two Perch .
After 3 hours it was obvious it was not working .........so home
Back 2 hours later with pole
MORNING :
AFTERNOON:
Back on the bank and a peg to the previous peg that morning and decided to fish on the pole at 9m as a strong wind had got up after the mornings no wind with the feeders.
Fixed up two rigs and using dead maggot over small amounts of ground bait i started to amass a few Roach fishing 2 metres deep in shallow water and then caught better on small corn . The boat traffic was now getting bad with Jet Skis also creating a continuing wave hitting the bank which i think kept putting the fish of , however i persisted for 3 hours and took a Bream of about 1.5 kilo and some 35 roach for maybe about 4 kilos .
Great day but wow it was so hot so the afternoon wind was a blessing .
I thought i would take the opportunity to practice on some expected methods this year . I decided to go for Slider to see how accurate i can fish at depth and with a strong wind present it was a good idea as Slider gave me more control over conventional pole in weather conditions on open water like today.
Only the best products used :
EXNER slider floats - carbon Magic Slider
Groundbait
2mm pellets and additive
Best Hooks
In the Kitchen preparing the mix - note the 'special red stuff' - made by Russ - my order is in for some more !
Filtering any floaters on my last maggots that have kept remarkably well for 2 weeks.
Lovely peg that Jimmy previously sat on in the last match - nice flat bank and clear in the water from weed with good depth for the keep net
Parking free on a Sunday - no more 900 SEK fines for me again.
View from the office
Small boat passing
The days rewards - 3 decent Bream (1.5k each ) and a bucket of Roach about 5k. The Roach in the canal are very big these days since i last fished it years ago.
It was great to see familiar and new faces to this small gathering of 12 Piscatorial's of the match world. Another match organised by Jamie and the Arboga river was the venue of choice which is superb as it means car to your peg and welcoming free parking (I wish Sodertalje would be as generous )
What a superb venue
The match was 5 hours which included any amount of bait you wanted to put in at the beginning and during . The match started quite slowly and it wasn't till after 20 minutes i caught a bjorkna but after that i was completely bemused by everyone catching around me so i decided to follow what they were doing and that was to fish the feeder . I had plenty of bites but more from small fish ripping the worm of my hook . In the end i fished a window feeder with chopped worm and corn but still i could not get into the fish as all around everyone caught well . I lost two very sizeable fish , one on the feeder that got stuck on a snag/weed and lost another weighty fish on the pole that also found a snag , thats sums up my day . My head was spinning and it didn't matter what i did i could not put a string of fish together , match over and another disaster for me and i have to rethink what i am doing wrong as i have only had a 3rd in section as best result in 7 matches so time to get back to the basics me thinks . I used to win matches and sections here but since returning i cannot put a result together .................must try a lot harder
Peg 4
To my left
To my Right
The days winners
Ever present Jesper with a fine catch including a Chub for 15250 and section winner of peg 10
Now its getting larger !
Janne on peg 9 with 2nd place 17500
Thomas put us all to the sword with a cracking weight of 20450 from peg 8
Jamie with 11000 from peg 6 in section A
First Tench i have seen caught in all the years i fished this venue - Great catch from Marcus on peg 3 with 12800
Patrick always in the fish and peg 2 gave up 8700
Russ with a continuation of form for 4th place on the day and section A winner with 14775
2022 BRAND NEW OPEN MATCH SERIES
Watch out for a Brand new open match series to be run next year where its possible we could run up to 15 Open matches ?
The rules for it are yet to be compiled but we expect to have a system where you can qualify for a GRAND FINAL if you are in the TOP-?? . Because we have so many other matches in Sweden at the same time we will discuss a way of allowing so many results count towards a qualification to the final as we recognise commitments towards your club/team fishing .
On the same basis as this year we can deliver fresh bait and products to every venue we fish at . It will also allow anglers outside the competition to turn up and pick up orders if they wish , if we are in their area .
Rules , dates , venues are yet to be devised but we shall keep you informed through all the Piscatorial News channels .
I travelled to Köping on the 5th June to meet at Jamies house where Russ had also travelled to. From there we then further travelled to Ursjön as guests of the SWEDISH ANGLERS and our own specimen angler Christoffer was also in attendance fishing for those specimen Crucians .
https://www.facebook.com/groups/SwedishAnglers
We arrived at the car park and Russ instigated a display area to show these very experienced anglers what METMASK has in the way of bait knowledge but also the product line that we are helping develop and sell around Sweden and surrounding countries .
Russ started by showing the baits like worms and maggots and how best to look after them and what makes a good maggot . Russ has had 20 years selling bait and he used to produce his own bait and was well supported with advise by famous English anglers like Kevin Ashurst and others on how to breed maggots but most importantly how best to look after them . Russ also talked about worms and how best they are kept so you dont waste any out of your sack plus how you feed them and what environment they should be kept in .
Later we went through some products from out MIVARDI , PROFESS , LORPIO ground baits , pellets and boilies and how best we can use them in this changing Swedish market where more and more anglers are seeing the power of the pellet/Boilie which is proving a winner in these warmer months .
Russ in his demonstration of the products and baits and i think it was warmly welcomed by members of SWEDISH ANGLERS and we welcomed their input and advice also so there was a massive mutual benefit we shared together.
Plenty of EXNER Floats
Line , smells , liquids and pellets
Ground baits and pellets and wafters
A guide to maggot and worms care
I think it was the guy called Jimmy who was camped closer to the car park on the road presumably to be close to all the cars as a look-out however ; there was a report of Bear Shit in the vicinity which made me smile as i know in talking with people that when something is obvious we normally say ; 'Do Bears shit in the Woods' ?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AVMRF66_DB0
Camping out on the Bear Poo (Winnie) trail
Christoffer had a message for Jamie
I could not resist so since my fishing form is awful.......... then just buy more gear !
Wow .......what a wonderful gesture from the guys at the venue .........RULE BRITANNIA especially for June 6th that 77 years ago the normandy landings started the eventual defeat of Germany that has now brought peace to our world ......LEST WE FORGET THOSE WHO FELL IN THIS GREAT CAUSE
We were treated to a BBQ from the Guys
Better than MACDONALDS any day and the taste out in the country is always the best .
Christoffer
SUMMARY of the visit on a kind invite
I was pleasantly surprised by the enthusiasm displayed by our hosts and also found it great they have so much knowledge on specimen fishing that we were hearing about with huge interest. I also found all our hosts were so approachable and i think that Russ , Jamie and myself were involved in so many separate conversations about a full spectrum of subjects to do with specimen angling , i thoroughly enjoyed this .
During our day Russ mentioned that you can purchase large sacks of ground bait from SWEDBAIT and use add additives (maybe ours ?) as we will continue to promote our products in a professional manner even if it is a fellow company in the trade. But at the end of the day there are many Swedish shops in the market for customers just like us however if all the shops conduct themselves with fair prices and advertising then there is enough to go around for all shops in Sweden as the 'TRADE' is important if fishing is to survive and progress .
We realise that anglers have favourite brands and shops and that is called freedom of choice and this is respected so its only like some of us like to shop at Willeys , COOP , ICA etc .... and some like to shop for a new car at FORD , VW or TOYOTA etc ...... its the choice of the individual .
However we would like to say that if you require help with anything from Bait purchase , Bait care , feed products , rods , reels , pellets , boilies , Carp gear , specimen gear , venues to fish and how best to tackle that venue then our team are always here to help so please contact us on our FACEBOOK page .
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