Langold Lake - Friday!

Alright Folks,

Not been out in a while.

Hoping to get the first feeder session underway at Langold lake on Thursday or Friday.

All the weed is clear and its looks very good indeed.

Reckon i'll be targetting it using the classic inline loop method on the G/Bait feeder with some light 0.06 Silstar tied to a B510 20 with single red.

Look here for Info http://www.talkangling.co.uk/upload/venue_details_information/45695-langold_lake_nottinghamshire.html

Looking forward to it already!

I'll keep you posted.

Nathan
@Fish4Thought

Hi Folks,

I would just like to point out the importance of fishing the margins during the winter.

On a Tuition day Yesterday i was asked to show someone my way with Paste fishing, obviously it didnt come out with massive results due to the weather which is why we concentrated on Choppy and Caster, but the gent still learnt the spec of the rigs and the consitancy i use etc.

As i say above, you should never completely right off the margin line as demonstrated yesterday. A simple cup full of slop and pellets, gave it half an hour and pretty much immediatly the gent was into a nice bream. Although its not a continues run of fish. No body can argue that a 3lb bream coulding be the difference between winning and loosing.

Perfect locations for a bonus fish!

See ya soon,

Nathan
@Fish4Thought

Langold Lake - Next to the Boat House, Thursday

Hi Folks,

Well i went for a little practice session on Langold lake. I was going to go for the feeder pegs but in the end i decided for the pole pegs, just to get rid of the bait from the previous days.

Unfortunately i made a bad mistake! Never had a touch on the pole rigs went 11m,16m and 18m and just could get a touch anywhere. I'll put it down to picking a peg without any real depth of features (Having aroundf 4ft). I did pretty much try every i went down to a single red on a size 22 tied to 8oz hook link topped off with 4 elastic and as you predict i had a bite and lost it with about 10 seconds. May of been a tench or one of the smaller carp.

In the end i just tried to simple feeder approach going out to around 35 yards or so (Just after the sharp drop off to 12ft), but even that didnt really have much results. I did have a small amount of success using my choppy mix on the feeder.

By the end of the long! day, i manager 7 skimmers and a fairly decent perch. Not usual for the lake!

My Evaluation?

Well i think its time to get on the feeder pegs now. All the weed looks as though its cleared, so now just time for some good old feeder fishing!:).

I think i have a spare slot on Thurday for a fishing session but other than that am crambed with Tuition days. Hopefully i'll get someone out a little better on the feeder on thursday!

See you then,

Nathan
@ Fish4Thought

Sorry Guys and Gals

Sorry i  have not put anything on my blog this weekend:(. I have been busy with tuition so i have not been in any matches. As far as i am aware i will be in a match monday at Hallcroft so will try and get something on then.


What do you all reckon about me having a separate blog with my tuition days on too??

Take care

Nathan
@Fish4Thought

My way with the Hook in the loop method & sensitive hair rigging

Hi Folks,

First of all, today i'm going to show you a method which i tend to use more so up in the water and its simply 'Hook in the loop", it says it all in the name.

I am going to show you the basics for setting it up and the theory behind it.

First of all get your self some hooks (eyed) and some fairly stiff line (Forget the strengh as pictured, its the only one i had to hand, use one that suites your situation):

First of all thread the line through the eye of the hook. Make sure it threads through the front of the eye, as this will help it sit correctly.

Next simply tie a figure 8 knot to form a loop and tighten down. Make sure all knots wetted down before tightening to avoid friction. This is the finished product. I tend to use this style of hook when fishing caster up in the water for small stuff and Ide. I use it frequently on my sliding shall rig which i will go through with you in the summer and spring. It does suit other methods as well as hair rigging as i will show you.

To form the hair, use dental floss, supple line or even a hair (Thats where the term comes from after all!) Please note: for the picture i have used cotton, this is just so your able to see what i do. Anyway, tie a small loop in the end of the material of your choice.

Next start a knot, but done tighten down on it! Make it around an inch away from the end of the loop!

Next, insert the hook into the knot. Its a better way of doing things that just tying it straight on, its alot less fiddly. Simply pull down on the knot, add moister before tightening and make sure you have around a 15mm hair.

Then simply tighten and steam over a kettle and you will make it all straight and smooth. Very much tangle free. Its actually very similar to the origional hair rigging system. This hair riggin style creates a very versatile air rigging system which is very sensitive and can catch even the nervous of winter carp. Ideal for hair rigging pellets, corn and small boilies. Now what if you want to add a Pop up?

Simply add a no.6 shot or better yet abit of rig putty on or as close to the knot as you can possibly get. Try it!











Go ahead and give it a try, as all method do, this one has its day - but once your crack it, you'll love it.


Nathan
@Fish4Thought

Tuition.

Just so your all aware i now only have 3 days tuition left until next year. Contact me for details.

Nathan
@Fish4Thought

Hallcroft, Reed Pool - Peg 17

Hi Folks,

I fished a match today on the reed pool again but the oppisite side was matched today. Obviously wasnt expecting anything exciting due to the weather and more importantly the wind!

I drew peg 17 which is only a couple of pegs down from one of my fav pegs, which is number 15.

As soon as i arrived at the peg i decided to change my attack all together and just left the pole for the day and concentrate on the bomb. I decided to set up my Silstar match picker on the bomb as i havnt had it out for a while. As an after thought i did decided to set up a margin rig with just a little side thought as abit of security.

Its important to do a bit of feature finding when you just have open water in front of you, especially with a a fish at a time method such as the bomb. There are methods to do this whilst not chucking in continuously like a baboon, with just simply 3 casts. 3 Far chucks, 1 left, 1 right and one in the middle of the swim.

A couple of hints for doing this are:

• Always point your rod to the side.
• Keep the tip touching the water.
• Reel in 1ft at a time (If you have time).
• Use a round bomb/lead. A gripper would be better if you can find one light enough.
• If you hit a ledge. It'll stop dead. It will feel like a snag. But a simple lift of the rod and slack in the line will relieve the tension and enable you to keep it coming towards you.

Ledges are an important feature to fish too. All fisheries have them in one way or another. Alot of people neglect the ones which are beyond there pole. Simply because they cant find them.

Getting back on track...

I was all set. I had a feel about for 15 minutes and found a small maybe 6 inch ledge around 35 yards out. I was going to fish to this but not strictly all day. I dont mind casting to a showing fish if it is deadly quiet.

My bomb set up isnt anything fancy. I dont buy bombs or leads. I use a bomb/lead that comes out of the maggot feeders which i some times use i prefer these and it saves a bit of dosh in the long run. Not to mention you can simply clip on the feeder bit and then add some sloppy swim stim for a bit of attractant!

As i say, the whole Maggot feeder section clips off and your left with a perfect bomb for a running rig.
Obviously my style of simplicity is carried on with my bomb tactics too. I thread the eye of the bomb through my mainline (4lb Maxima), shortly followed by a bead and then tied off to a swivel with an o ring attached. Then i do prefer 2ft for a hook lengh, but i have gone upto 5ft before! Today i was going for practically anything so i opted for an .9 bottom (2.4lb) tied to a B911 18 Spade end. My main attack was to be dead reds, but if needed i had a few 4mm and 6mm pellets to go at.

Time was called and i put on 2 dead reds which were fresh out the freezer and chucked it out to where i had clipped up, i decided my first chuck would be with the feeder on and decided to put abit of slop in there. It landed just where i wanted.

It was after about 30 minutes that i started getting signs. The other lads were getting fish but only roach and nothing even remotely good was showing as of yet.

Wasnt long before my tip swang round! At first i thought it may be a bream, It was giving the ol' nod which i associate with them, but as i reeled it in it began to wake up. You have to take it steady when your on light tackle, but the picker rod is soft enough to take its lunges.

Wasnt long before i had it in the net......

Not a bad sizes Ghostie 7lb ish. Enough for me and certainly alot bigger than what was being caught through the day. I decided to go for the same place but with just the bear bomb and i had another 2 in after another 20 minutes of around 10lb each. It did go extremely dead throughout the day with nothing showing at all.

I did decided to go on the margin rig for ten minutes.....

To no advantage! I didnt bother trying in the margins for longer than ten minutes as i new i could catch fish on the bomb and no such signs where coming up as in liners etc from my margin line so i abandoned it.

I went straight back out with the naked bomb and just sat and waiting. It was the last hour of the match and i thought i may of been pipped to the post by cookie but then i managed to get into 2 of these!:)
....and a small chub followed.


It was a very hard day. I knew it would be. Hallcroft is always the same onces a Northern wind gets on it, but before the weighin i was thinking that "I reckon i have fished well" and now i am certain i made the right decision.

This was all the bait i used all day. Apart from a cup full of swim stim slop....

Top 3 were:

1. N Johnson 46lb 5oz

2. S Cooke 34lb 9oz

3.N White 32lb 7oz

Nathan

@Fish4Thought

Peg 101 - Clear Water, Ranskill: Pegs 82 - 90.

So you've drawn the fliers and you need to make it count?

Heres the all in guide to the fishery and the best pegs available.

First of all. No matter what time of the year it is. Fish are always in the margins at this venue and they are normally big lumps!

My approaches and lines for Summer would be;

1. Far bank line 1 - Approx 13/14.5m. Expect around 3 ft of depth, but this line wouldnt be on the deck. A slider float rig is favoured by me with depth inbetween 1 and 2 feet. .17 power line would be my choice and i would tie this to a 14 B911 and expect to feed constantly with 4mm Pellets. The hook bait doesnt need to be anything special. A simple everyday soft hooker will get them rolling in for you. I would suggest test the line with 13h or 10 Solid at first, as the stamp of fish can change throughout the day from 1-3lbers to 10-20lbs!
2. Far Bank line 2 - Approx 13/14.5m. Expect around 3 ft of depth and you want to set it up around 2 inch over depth. As the ledges are very small and very often! So play it safe. A colmic goldie float .3g topped up with .17 power line would be my choice for the summer and i would tie this to a 16 B911. I wouldnt feed anything as i would only go on this line if the shallow rig wasnt producing. The hook bait doesnt need to be anything special. A simple everyday soft hooker will get them rolling in for you. I would suggest test the line with 11h or 8 Solid at first, as the stamp of the fish on the long line on the deck are normally fairly small.
3. Margin line, Left and Right - First of all if you do manage to draw a peg with a straw bail in the water. Dont fish close to it. What you wont see above the water is that they are actually stacked up like stairs and no doubt will only result in disaster and tangles/breakages if you fish at the side of it. The best bet is to fish to the side of either ends of the bails. Expect around 1-2ft of water and dont be affraid to go right up to your pegs pier! I would lump up conciderably on these rigs. A colmic Goldie .4g float topped with .21 or more powerline (Somewhere around the 8 - 10lb mark will be alright) and topped with a beafy size 12 Animal. Maybe fished with 1 or 2 Soft hookers or even a little bit of luncheon meat. I would try this line for the first and last 1.5hr of a match and would continually feed these lines. Expect carp upto around 25lb. Average being around the 15lb mark. Like this!

My approaches and lines for Winter would be;

1. Far bank line 1 - Approx 13/14.5m. Expect around 3 ft of depth, but this line wouldnt be on the deck. I would suggest a .3/.2g Colmic goldie or similar to .15 power line would be my choice at this time of year and i would tie this to a 16 B911 and expect to feed every 5 mins with say just 4 or 5 4mm pellets. The hook bait needs not to be anything special. A simple everyday soft hooker will get them rolling in for you although i would go down to a 6mm during the cooler months. I would suggest test the line with 13h or 10 Solid at first, as the stamp of fish can change throughout the day from 1-3lbers to 10-20lbs!
2. Far Bank line 2 - Approx 13/14.5m. Expect around 3 ft of depth and you want to set it up around 2 inch over depth. As the ledges are very small and very often! So play it safe. A colmic goldie float .2g topped up with .11 power line would be my choice for the winter and i would tie this to a 16 B911. I would fish this line over the bait which was introduced with the shallow rig. The hook bait needs not to be anything special. A simple everyday soft hooker will get them rolling in for you same as above. Possible lowered to a 6mm and even worm if it was really hard. I would suggest test the line with 11h or 8 Solid at first, as the stamp of the fish on the long line on the deck are normally fairly small.
3. Margin line, Left and Right - First of all if you do manage to draw a peg with a straw bail in the water. Dont fish close to it. What you wont see above the water is that they are actually stacked up like stairs and no doubt will only result in disaster and tangles/breakages if you fish at the side of it. The best bet is to fish to the side of either ends of the bails. Expect around 1-2ft of water and dont be affraid to go right up to your pegs pier! I would lump up conciderably on these rigs. A colmic Goldie .4g float topped with .17 or more powerline (Somewhere around the 6 - 8lb mark will be alright) and topped with a 14 B911 Animal. Maybe fished with 1 or 2 Soft hookers or even a little bit of luncheon meat. Slightly different from the above would be possibly a worm and caster approach in the margins. I would try this line for the first and last 1.5hr of a match and would continually feed these lines. Expect carp upto around 25lb. Average being around the 15lb mark. Like this!
4. Ide and Roach line - The roach and hide can be the best bet on the cooler days while still catching them up in the water, 60lb bags arent unusual and if the carp wasnt on the ball i would not see a probably going for these. I would suggest a Colmic Goldie .2 Float fished between 1-4ft deep up in the water on a line to hand. Expect around 10 - 20ft depth in some areas so experiment with lenghs. I would also say go for a B911 size 18 and just a single or double caster at the same time feeding the same continuously in small amounts.

So thats the lines over with. Pretty much all you require on the easy days is....

The trick is to not be affraid to try new things at the venue and dont be affraid just to target the carp. Alot of people do not fish for them i cannot see why not sometimes. I used to have the record @ 163lb but i am not to sure if that still stands. Its a fairly easy venue and if you stick to the lines above you couldnt go far wrong. If you notice above i dont mention a 6 or 11m on the deck rig. The reason being is it just isnt productive enough and the size of the carp is pretty much in the ounces on most pegs. The depth can also cause alot of issues and i have useds a top 6 kit before just to cope with it!

Give it ago!

Nathan
@Fish4Thought

Hallcroft, Reed Pool - Peg 33.

Hi Folks,

So i attended the little Champion of Champions match today. It was just a little knock up of "Veterans" at Hallcroft on the Reed pool. Its my favourite pool on the complex and its also known as one of the hardest! I wasnt really feeling up to it this morning, i'd had a poor nights sleep and was just not feeling my self. So i didnt hold out much confidence.

Well anyway, i drew peg 33. One of my favourite pegs on the Reed pool as it is sort of on a little point and has a fairly large and deep margin to the right considering the rest of the pegs. Although i didnt really fancy that end of the lake today. As the wind was blowing in the bottom corner. I also dont really rate this side of the pool during the colder months. As the other bank (Which wasnt matched up) has the sun on it first, so normally the fish come on the feed earlier throughout the day.

I knew which lines i would set up as soon as i drew but i got the added bonus of a spare peg to my left so i decided to add another.

Lines were as follows:

1. 6m Line. Paste line - based just after the last ledge. My overal approach doesnt change for paste much as you have noticed. Basically decided to come down a fraction and opted for .13 Powerline with a .7g PB22 float this time tied down to a 12 B911, which as usual a bulk of shot centred between the float and hook. More or less dead depth. Fished in around 5 1/2 ft of water. Connected to 13H.
2. Margin Left. My left margin was an empty peg. I planned to fish this pretty negatively with just a cup full of bait at 1pm and just see how it went. Paste again. Exactly as Line 1 other than a .5g Pb22. Connected to 13H.
3. Margin Right. Exactly as above. How ever decided to fish this line fairly positively as i wanted to fish two lines with this swim. Connected to 13H
4. As i mention above. I opted to set up an additional rig for Dead red on a paste line. Sometimes as i have found on this particular peg you can get some very productive chub going if need. So fishing a smaller bait over existing would be a good get out clause. I also prepared some casters for this line just in case. I planned to hand pellets in every 15 mins or so. As i usually do. The rig its self is a .2g Colmic goldie put to .11 Powerline tied up to an 18 B911. This would generally be fished with 2 - 5 dead reds. Connected to 11H
5. 11m Line. I always set this line up. But i have never had to resort to it. On most pegs on the reed you will find a slightly different depth either slightly deeper or shallower at 11-13m so i found it could be a good insurance policy! Connected to 13H.

All set and ready to go!

So as the whistle was blown i put a good hand full of pellets into my right hand margin and went straight out onto the 6m line. The wind was starting to get up and as usual it was towing like a train, but the paste was holding the deck for me. I decided to pop a no.8 off the rig as the tow was pulling the float under to much and this then just added a little more bouyancy to my rig.

After around 20 minutes i hadnt had a touch! I was getting worried so i then decided to leave the 6m line for a while and go on to my right margin - Something which i wouldnt normally of done so early on in the day.

This margin is normally fairly productive but i hadnt tried it so early on in the day let alone in the morning, it was worth a shot though. I shipped it out and rolled the pole to my left to empty the cup. I was fishing bang in the middle of my bed of pellets. I had a few indications and thought it was a good sign! Thats the best thing about paste you more than likely get a little knock at the door before they come in! Well my float shot down. Dragged my pole to the left and the fish was very lively! As usual when playing fish from the margins i also feed the margin which i just disturbed by either paste balls or pellets. At first i thought i may have got into the average lump in here (10 - 15lb) but unfortunately when i got it in the net i was shocked to see which must of been the smallest carp i haver ever caught from the Reed Pool.

Not very ordinary for the Reed Pool:P!

Well i continued with the right margin and soon had another 4 similar sized carp in my net. I didnt really care what size they were. My ethos is keep fish going in your net what ever the size and your still moving forward instead of backwards. After an hour or so fishing the margin it did predictably go dead. I went straight back on the 6m Line while still feeding the right. This time seemed to go better. I immediately had indications and all of a sudden my float went straight down. Sadly, not a carp.

But again, still a fish and a decent bream at that:).

After i landed that i went straight back out and literally nothing else for another half an hour. It was being a very funny day. With nothing really showing at all apart from the odd seagul coming down for dinner. I decided to put another cup full of Pellets and paste on my left hand margin to the spare peg. If i needed a miracle i new this is where i would get it! I tried all 3 lines to front and right for the next two hours with nothing massive of any size showing, i did however manager to get 4 or 5 chub out on the dead red. But i started to get my right hand rig going on the paste again and i was slowly but surely getting the little 1-3lb carp out.

Well it went slow for ten minutes so i figured i would try my spare peg.

It was the last hour after all and i had noticed cookie to my right getting a few chub on the chopped worm, so i thought i should up the pace a little. I shipped it out, dumped the paste and left it. It went over the 2 minute mark. Another thing i do normally is to take it back out and try another line. But as no other lines were proving productive i was going to sit and wait for the rest of the match. I was thinking about the Evesham fest qualifiers when the float shot under. Pulled it to my right and it felt like a better one. It was putting up a very good fight for the time of year as did the others! Which i thought was very strange!

Well i got it in and it turned out at the end to go 14lb

Well i managed to get that one in, dropped another freebie out and was straight back into another one as soon as my paste hit the deck. Another one slightly smaller than the above at around 10lb mark.

The whistle blew! I wasnt even watching the time and i thought i may have struggled to keep my winning runs which i recently built up.

Well the Top 3 went:

1. S Cooke 65lb 7oz

2. N Johnson 62lb 2oz

3. Kieran Crampton 39lb 8oz

Well...I was happy the way i fished. Maybe going to the Left margin ealier could of paid of but who knows. Cookie had a free bank and caught using Choppy, Paste and Pellet on the feeder.

Nathan

@Fish4Thought

Last couple of places for Tuition for this Year!

Just to let you all know i only have 5 places left for booking tuition this year so if your interested get in touch:).

Nathan
@Fish4thought

Hallcroft - Canal Pond Monday 31st

Well it had been a while since i had been on this pond. The previous session i have had on the Canal Pond had seen me go well over the 100lb mark on most of the days and only several of the pegs and different areas of the lake, so i thought it was time for a change and go back to it!

When the day came i really fancied the middle stretch of it. Its a C shape lake and the winter was blowing straight down to the straightest part. So i fancied either two bends. There wasnt many fish showing anywhere and it was dead clear but i did still want to draw there!

Unfortunately my luck wasnt in and i drew peg 1. Now, on most days i would of loved to draw this. As its the first peg and surrounded with Reeds and ledges, but today wasnt one. It was full with floating natural debris and this was to make it very difficult to fish my 14.5m line to the far bank.

The lines i opted for where:

1. 6m Line just after the last ledge, this was going to be my paste attack. Using a Preston PB22 .5g twinned with .13 Powerline direct tied to a 14 Animal. Pretty much my every day rig for paste but slightly tweaked and turned down a little due to time of year. This wouldnt be a rig i would expect to bag up on due to the wind but it was a good insurance policy to have. I set this up 3 and a bit feet deep just an inch or so over depth. My Paste mix was to be just as ordinary but in smaller amounts. As usual i would be feeding anything other than what i was putting around my hook.
2. 11m Line just before the far bank ledge, this was going to be my Dead red attack. Using a Colmic goldie .3g float twinned with .13 Powerline direct tied to a 18 B911 fished with between 1 and 3 dead reds this was going to be confirmed through the day which approach would be the better one. I was planning to feed a mix of Dead reds and 2mm pellets on this line to keep them interested but only feeding on a feed per fish ratio as i thought it may well be difficult today. I plumbed and found 3ft of water and set it up just so it was touching the deck but left a bit of additional line on incase the wind took a turn for the worse as hallcroft can tow like a train! I also made sure my 5 no.8's were no more than 5 inch away from the hook bait. I havnt seen many people using these floats and i dont know why! They are pretty much the strongest pole float i have ever used and in the different sizes can be used for most fishing situations! Its perfect for far bank situations, the stem isnt as long as it appears either!
3. 13/14.5m line were to be just for the far bank. I didnt actually feel as though i could fish this confidently as the natural debris was just all over the place for about a metre or so after the far bank it was clogged by reeds and leafs so it could get frustrating! But still i did make a rig and plumbed up and found 1ft of water, i made it 2 inch over depth, with again the option to go upto 5 inch over depth if need be. This was pretty much the same rig as above but i opted for .2g Colmic goldie in the place of the .3g one and instead of a bulk 5 inch from the hook i opted for 1 no.8 an inch away from the hook and 3 directly below the float.
4. My Paste margin line was to be just off my top 2 the rig was basically a shallow version of my 6m rig, using the same float but only change was a bulk of shots directly below the float as i was only fishing in 2ft of water. The paste it self would hold the rig on the deck enabling me to fish almost dead depth. I chose to fill this margin in frequently with Pellets as i always do, but only try this if other things fail.
5. My Other marginal rig was to be a negative fished rig. This was to be fished top 2 + 3 into my corner. I Plumbed up well and couldnt find anything with any feature to it so i decided to opt for a line about 3 ft off the margin its self. My rig for this was .15 Powerline tied directly to a 16 B911 and fished with a dead red approach with once again a Colmic Goldie .2g float. I was going to feed this very little with just maybe 5 dead reds chucked in every 30 mins or so.

That was my lines sorted. I really did hold most of my faith in the dead red approach for today, but it isnt a good idea to turn up to a venue with preconcieved ideas unless you know the venue and even then, it can lead to failure.

The whistle was blown and i went straight for the 11m line and fed little of my dead red a pellet mix. It wasnt long before i was in my first fish (About a minute).

An average stamp of fish for the canal, but it really doesnt take much to get a good weight with these. They are also considerably heavier than they appear. Note the debris on the water behind it! I figured i had put around 30lb in my net within the first hour and a half.

 It did start to slow down considerably and it ended up with not getting any indications at all. I decided to abandon swim. I wasnt going to feed anymore into it if i wasnt getting any indications at all as this is one of the better rules in fishing to learn and one that i do tell people when coaching. After my 11m line went dead i opted for the 6m Paste line which resulted in a fish straight away.....

............. and then nother else in the ten minutes it was in! I then went straight for my dead red margin line and was instantly in again this time they kept coming until the last 30 mins of the match. I had done around 40lb of fish in the 2+3 margin and was happy with that. When that then went dead i tried my paste approach in the margin and was probably getting a fish every 5 minutes with added 6 fish to my total weight. They are always slightly bigger on paste in the margin and some push the 5lb mark now. So every bonus fish counts. They really do scrap in the margins they go like steam trains for the size of them, its porbaly down to the depth and lack of.

Top 3 at the end of the day was.

1.Nathan Johnson 89lb 2oz
2.Mark Foy 81lb 7oz
3.Ian Turner 79lb 9oz

Weirdly the weights between 3rd and 7th came from middle of the lake which i had fancied. But it was a good result with a few fish. The weights are getting smaller and the fishing is getting harder. Cant wait:).

Nathan
@ Fish4Though