Dorset Shield Round 4
So yesterday was my first match as a sponsored angler and it was Round 4 of the Dorset Shield hosted by Blandford Angling.
The Shield is all about 5 Angling Clubs getting together for 5 matches and battling it out for the trophy. Each Club has 4 members in the team and each individual is in a section. 4 sections of 5 anglers with a 1st and 2nd payout and an overall winner payout. I've really enjoyed fishing it this year on the river and I like to think I've done well against some good anglers.
Before the match I found out as much info as I could before hand and all I managed to get was "one end is 10-12' and the other is 4-5'!". I knew instantly that I needed to draw between pegs 1 and 8, but the draw gods were against me and I ended up with peg 12.
Walking the field, which felt like an eternity, I soon realised I was against some good anglers and I soon got chatting and having a laugh with them. Reaching my peg I unloaded my trolley and set up my box, side tray, roost and then mixed my groundbait. Next out was the pole rollers, keepnet out and landing net and bait bag. Not knowing the depths and with the river flowing a tad more the usual I set up a 3.0gm Drennan Trio to hold back in the flow. Mainline was Matrix Power Micron (2lb b/s) to a Power Micron hooklength (1lb) and a Matrix size 20 Silver Barbed hook. The plummet, at 13m, hit the deck and I could of cried! Peg 11 shouted to me "is that all the depth you have?" to which I replied yes. TO be honest, I thought he was going to jump in but he looked up and said "low weights down this end today then" and he wasn't wrong. I set up a slightly shorter line for bread punch as well as frost overnight may have made things harder so I kept this as my emergency line should I need it.
With 2 rigs set up I prepared my bait, Hemp, Castor, Maggot and Pinkie sorted and time for my groundbait. I used Sonubait Super Crumb River which is a new mix from them. It is a fine mix but heavy and sticky to enable you to pack it with hemp, castor or any other particles and get it down quickly. I have been having great success with this in my winter league as I will explain below.
To kick off my swim I cupped in 2 tennis ball sized balls off just grounbait and then fished a single white maggot on the hook. I caught 5 fish quickly around 1-3oz's then everything went dead. I picked off one more fish after an hour and not a touch for the remainder of the match at 13m. I loosefed some hemp to create a noise and to try bring fish in but it failed. I fed my crumb line then had a coffee and ran through my options. I left the 13m and concentrated on the punch. The punch rig was the same only in 1,5gm. Same lines and hook. The Power Micron is superb with it being so soft and supple and low diameter I have total faith with it no matter what I am fishing for, The Silver hook is perfect for punch and small single hook baits like Pinkie, maggot and castor. Ideal match hook and great when the waters has a tinge of colour to it.
D Section was won with 5oz's and my team mate grabbed our only decent points with 2nd and 4oz's. I weighed in with 7oz in Section C for 3rd. 2nd was 9oz and our section winner had 12oz from peg 11. I'm not sure on the weight for the other sections but the rest of my team finished 3rd in their sections.
Though results leave us (Stalbridge) in 5th (out of the 5 teams) and to stand any chance of winning the trophy we must win our sections in 2 weeks and hope other results go our way. Last round is at Sturminster. Full of Skimbobs, Roach, Perch and big Bream! Looking forward to a interesting final round!
Peg 12 at Blandford. Lovely looking peg, just a shame it had no depth.
Stalbridge Angling Society Winter League
This is my first proper go at this league and I am loving it. Ok so a few fixture's have been re-arranged but I can't complain. We have 2 more matches to fish and one of those is this coming Sunday at Kings Mill. Pegging is up stream and on the Mill Pool but if numbers drop it will be on the pool.
Things are looking good for this league at the moment as I am currently 2nd and I have won the Dave Chant Memorial Trophy :) So that trophy along with last years winter league Christmas match means 2 trophies in 2 winter leagues with the chance of winning the league title and the Dorset Shield for a 2014/2015 Winter Treble! Winning the treble or league and memorial double would be a huge boost especially after picking up sponsorship just over 2 weeks ago. That would be a great first report to send up to Matrix HQ!
No huge weights yet but I will push forward and make sure I don't go down without a fight. I'm going to work bloody hard to bring home that League title. It starts this weekend!
All to play for. 2 Frames and beating 1st will secure the title.
I'm fishing well and it's down to preparing well and being organised on the bank. I never use the same rig twice, same with hooklengths, fresh bait from work, advice from fellow anglers and my bosses help me lots and help my role in the shop too. I'm happy and to be honest it is the happiest I have ever been. It's all down to one thing....
FISHING!!
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