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

TackleUk Official Website: www.tackleuk.co.uk

TackleUk Retail Store

27-29 Forest Hill

Yeovil

Somerset

BA20 2PH

 Tel: 01935 476777 

(Please Note The Above Number Is For The Shop Only. For Any Website Related Issues Please Contact The Web Team Via The "Contact Us" Section Of The Website, Thank You)