2014

2014 has certainly been a very positive year for me for a number of reasons. I started to learn shed loads of things in the shop in area's that are not my strong point, I feel my customer service is much better now, made some new friends, fished a nice league and done OK considering it was my first competitive league, finally picked up my first win and I managed to upgrade my kit.

My First Win

I am not the most confident of people and after finishing last in a lot of matches I picked up some tips and went after a win with new gear, new outlook and positively. Unfortunately it didn't come about but I kept at it. Stalbridge Angling had the Christmas match re-arranged for early 2014 and I went out with rigs made up for dobbing bread at Todber Manor's Park Lake. The rig was a Drennan Dibber float in .4g to 4lb main line and 2lb hook length to a size 18 hook. I remember catching small carp now and then for around 20lb and went 45 minutes of the last hour without a bit. All the while 2nd place on the day was catching down his edge. I carried on and seconds before the all out the float shot under and I lifted into a lump which took 10 to land. Thankfully we had 15 minutes after the all out to land any fish we hooked in normal time. I landed the fish and placed it into the net and was greeted by my neighbour who said "that may have just won you the match". Sure enough it won me the match by 1lb 8ozs.

My Kit

• Pole: Maver Signature 400 16m
• Elastics: Matrix Hollow & solid elastics.
• Rods: Matrix Carpmaster 9', Maver Abyss X 10' Feeder & 10' float
• Reels: Matrix Ultron 3000, Diawa Sweepfire 2500 & Diawa Regal X 2500br
• Luggage: Matrix Ethos Range
• Box: Matrix Superbox 1
• Line(s): Summer - Preston Reflo Power (tough line, super strong for bagging carp). Winter - Matrix Power Micron (soft, supple and very thin for its diameter yet strong. Perfect for winter)
• Feeders: Matrix Evolution method feeders, Preston pellet feeders and banjo feeders.
• Nets: Matrix 3m Carp keep nets, Matrix 50cm carp landing net & Matrix flow mesh landing net.

If you would like to view the above items the feel free to visit the TackleUk website or visit the TackleUk retail store in Yeovil, Somerset. Details will be at the bottom.

Matches

Matches this year have been awesome with both the league and club matches taking up a lot of time. I finished 5th out of 10 anglers in the summer club league, currently 3rd out of 8 in the winter club league, won the Dave Chant Memorial match, didn't disappoint at the TackleUk match at The Viaduct Fisheries in the Summer and I have been very pleased with my performances. overall, I think, a very morale boosting year. Bring on 2015's fixtures!!!

Bait

The bait I use is my own preference and they are products that I trust and I know catch plenty of fish and also don't need lots of preparation etc. Keeping it simple is key.

If I'm fishing for Silvers on lakes I use nothing more than Sensas Magic and Brown Crumb. Crumb keeps cost down and helps bulk out the magic. Plus, what fish sticks it's nose up at brown crumb?! It's a simple 50/50 mix with no additives. On rivers, I used to use Sensas River 3000 but I have been using Sonubait's new ground bait called Sonubait Super Crumb River. It's a crumb based ground ground that is designed to get to the bottom quickly and carry particles such as Castor's. Heavy and super effective. I've always got this with me when I fish the River now.

Carp on commercials is mainly using pellet. Softened pellet in the pellet feeder or around a method feeder with banded pellet, method ground bait is something I'm still experimenting with so I will let you know on that one. I am going try Swim Stim Method next! Other than that it's the traditional corn, dead red maggot, meat & pellet. 

Overall a great 2014 for me. I have figured out what I want use for my gear so I am confident, I have my setup so I am comfy and my results are showing it. I'm going to leave some pictures to show my year and links to TackleUk. 

Happy New Year!

Dave Chant Memorial Write Up. 1st Place

Summer League Write Up. 2nd Place

Winter League Write Up. 3rd Place

My First Win Write Up. Shame About Those Sections :( 

Roach And Rudd Catch From Brickyard Farm

Higher Farm Fishery Early 2014

30lb Of Viaduct Silvers

10lb Mirror From Higher Farm

Part Of A Huge Haul From Higher Farm

Had My Troubles With These This Year

Final League Standings From My First Competitive League

Name On The Trophy

To Purchase Fishing Tackle And Equipment Please Click On The Link Below Or Visit The Retail Store At The Address Below

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27-29 Forest Hill

Yeovil

Somerset

BA20 2PH

 Tel: 01935 476777 

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Real Winter feeling on the Stour

I fished the River Stour today and the conditions were hard. Bright sunshine all day, no clouds in sight, very hard frost overnight with temperatures down to -4c! With that in mind I fished peg 4 where there is some depth.

I set up the pole for 13m in the deeper water with a 2.0g Drennan Tipo float to hold back on as it was going through faster than normal and fished over Sonubaits Super Crumb River ground bait with hook baits of red maggot and pinkie. I also set up a feeder to fish past the pole line on the edge of the main flow with maggot feeder and double reds.

Started off on the tip and took half an hour to get bite and to land the first fish. A small Roach of around 3 ounces. I followed that up 3 more Roach of the same size and then the delicate bites dried up. I can only assume Mr Pike had spooked them or they had just gone off the feed.

I baited up my 13m pole line with a golf ball sized of ground bait with a small pinch of of pinkies as offerings. The rig was 0.10 Matrix Power Micron to an 0.09 hook length, again the Matrix Power Micron. I prefer the power micron as its very fine and soft for fishing for silver fish in winter. I also use it for hard fishing conditions as, I feel, it gives me the edge over other lines that aren't as soft and supple.

I only had 3 fish in the 4 ounces size on this line within an hour so I went back to the feeder. I went on to catch 9 more fish to have a bag of around 2lbs. Very hard fishing today but I did give the new thermals and Derri boots a run out and they were excellent. I wasn't cold at all during the day and the hot coffee helped :)

Bait Selection

Frozen edges. Was like that all day with no signs of melting.

13m View

Peg 4 on the Mill Pool

Winter Walk

My match today was cancelled so I made up some rigs in preparation for the re-arranged Shield and league matches. I had an hour and a half left of sunlight so I though I would take a walk along the river where the match was to be held.

When I arrived one of the club anglers was there fishing for pike but he had no luck in the end. Only peg 5 was under water so it must of dropped overnight a fair bit if it was called off the day before. Either way the ground was still a little frosty in places and the river was a lovely colour and would have fished well.

I walked upstream where the river was over the banks but, in all fairness, the banks are very low there. I wish I took a rod as I would've loved to try and catch a chub in some of the swims as they looked perfect.

I manage to get some great photo's on my phone on the sunset, Mill pool and the river.

Enjoy the pictures below :)

Christmas Time

Christmas time, a time of year to relax and enjoy good food and the family gathered around to exchange gifts and laughs. I managed to pick up some munchies from works Christmas raffle despite, like everyone else, really wanting to win the bottle of champagne! Still happy with what I drew so no complaints.

So what did you all get for Christmas? Any surprise gifts to add to your gear? I had no fishing gear but I was fortunate enough to receive some money which will mean a nice order being placed at work come the new year. I have, though, purchased new floats, new Derri boots and thermals which, apart from the floats, will all be used this weekend.

Recently my matches on the River Stour, both winter league and Dorset shield, have been called off due to water levels but this coming Sunday 28th of December is looking promising. I have prepped in advance and all I need is to pick up bait tomorrow at work.

My last result was 3rd in Fur & Feather match which did mean I would have to hand over my silver wear that I won back in January when it was re-arranged. I have, however, won another piece of silver wear in this current winter league when I won the Dave Chant Memorial match. I will receive this at the end of the season.

That is all for my Christmas blog. I hope you all enjoyed your Christmas day and hope you all have/had a good time on the bank over the festive period.

Next match: Sunday 28th December
Venue: River Stour, Kingsmill
League/Shield: Stalbridge Angling Society Winter League

Next Blog: Sunday 28th December

My New Floats. Matrix Carp Series 7 .40g. Great all-round float with bright sights.

Where I Started

So I started out through my best friend by going to the River Stour catching Roach on a maggot feeder. I enjoyed this every other weekend and soon moved on to my local pond to fish for Carp. After numerous early morning walks, with nothing more than a loaf of bread, my love for the sport really took off.

 I met some lads in secondary school that I became very good friends with and to this day I am still friends with them. We used to fish a small pond crammed with Roach, Carp and some Chub with meat and bread. Still in secondary school, I got myself a paper round to save up for a rod and reel of my own and soon enough I had some money to do so. I purchased my first rod and reel and after I left school my addiction to fishing reel-ly took off.

So securing a full time job and being paid well enabled me to fish every weekend and build my knowledge and my tackle collection. I purchased a little seat box which was, looking back at it now, tiny compared to the range out there now.

After a few years I joined my local club and started fishing matches. I went on a run of finishing last every other week but I was learning every time I was out. To this day I have been with that club and now very good friends with everyone. That run of finishing last has now come to an end.

I moved on to another job where I  started suffering with depression after a few years there and my I lost interest in the sport I love. I didn't want to look at my gear or even watch a DVD.

I heard of a job going at a tackle shop in the town I was working in and I went in to look around and ask a few questions of what goes on day to day. I left with the managers name, Ian, to send a CV and covering letter to.

After 5 days of my letter being sent I was called by a man, Ash, asking to come in for an interview. I was rather shocked as I wasn't expecting this at all due to qualifications and working in agricultural environment for the past 6 years. So I attended an interview and things went well. We were laughing and joking about carp anglers sitting in tents for days on end! I took in some photo's of my previous work and they seemed impressed.

The next couple days went by and I was not expecting a call from the shop so life went on. My phone rang and I picked up. I was speaking to the Tackle Shop owner, Ash! He offered me the job and gave me a few days to decide. I thought long and hard about it and decided to leave my work place and friends I've known for over 6 years to start a fresh and do something I wanted to do for a few years which was work in a tackle store.

I went in to the shop on my deadline day on a hot sunny day in summer and greeted Ash who was up a ladder and said that he was speaking to his new member of staff. He shook my hand and called Ian over. "He's excepted" he said with a smile on his face.With that I was a member of TackleUK.

I worked my noticed and started on the first Monday in October 2013. They guys were very welcoming and I was soon joining in with the banter. They got to know I liked my Maver products and started joking around with that. Soon after I had met the Drennan Rep, Dave Drake, who I hadn't heard of until that point but I was told he has fished for England and picked up medals.

My knowledge on Fly, Sea and Carp gear was very limited but I have picked up a lot listening to Ian, George, Rick, Harry and Robbo. I am more comfortable in the match and pleasure fishing categories as it is the style of fishing I enjoy.

So over a year on and what have I learned? Well, I'm a much more calmer and relaxed person, I've learned more about sea fishing etc, learned a lot more about the waters in my area, learned how to keep and prepare baits and lots more.

I am happy with life right now, I am just missing the gorgeous girl to join me on the banks!

My Local Pond In Autumn many years ago. Sadly the venue isn't fishable anymore.

Revels 9 years ago.

The famous Bait-Tech sponsored Viaduct Fishery Summer 2014