Hawthorne AC

AT Supercup match.

So off down to Harleylands for our Supercup match this morning.
On the way down in the car and the outside temp is reading -2°C, and the fields are so white with frost that it looks as if it had snowed.
On arriving at the fishery the temp has risen to a stunning 0°C but there doesn't appear to be any signs of frost! There's a bright blue sky and just a gentle breeze. The water temp is 4°C.

Into the draw, and I find myself making my way to peg 20, with a leasurely 1½hrs till the start of the match.

Peg 20,Looks lovely doesn't it?......

Well I've been told that feeder (either maggot or groundbait) with a ·08 hooklength and a 22 with single red maggot is the way to go dropped about a metre away from the island, so that gets set up 1st.
Can't resist setting up the pole as well and the main line of attack will be at 13mtrs where I've got 5ft,using a ·6grm Drennan Lake with a ·07 hooklength and a 22 again.Through the top2 I've got the new Drennan green dual core (6-8) set soft,as I'm expecting stockies no bigger than 12ozs max.

All in,and after cupping in a few micro pellets and a small amount of dry groundbait on the pole line,it's out on the feeder.
Well it wasn't happening for me but the lad to my left on peg 21 is catching steadily from the off while I can't buy a bite,but all the time I've been feeding 2-3 maggots every couple of minutes on the pole line.

After ½hr it's out onto the pole line and after 10mins the float dips,and I'm into a Carp at last,not huge at about 6ozs but at least it's a fish. Another 20mins and not another bite,so back onto the feeder and manage another couple and that's the way it went nearly all match for me. Even a pep talk from Red Leader had no effect other than to lighten the mood.

Well with about ¾hr to go I'm being battered by the next peg, I reckon he must have 20+lbs while I've got abour 6lbs if I'm lucky.
Back out on the pole once more and they're there and in the last 45 minutes I manage a fish a chuck. Why couldn't they have turned up earlier?
Come the weigh-in and the lad to my left puts 22lbs 2ozs on the scales which easily eclipses my 13lbs 9ozs.
The match is won by Medway Tackle (blue) by 14pts to 10pts, so that's us knocked out for another season .

Overall the 16 of us weighed in 235lbs 6 ozs, an average of over 14½lbs per man, which I feel given the conditions just goes to show what a good fishery Harleylands is to produce those sort of weights on a hard January day .

Well this weekend saw me spending a good part of my time at Hartleylands Fishery................

Marsh AC club match.

Saturday was at the invitation of Dave (Dave the Fish), His club Marsh AC had booked the Reservoir for one of their club matches and as all the pegs weren't taken, Steve (beebs) Jason (NofinPhish) and Myself recieved an invitation to join them.
Assembling in the Carpark for an 8.30am draw, it was nice to meet John (tutu) and Colin who had accompanied Dave to the Welsh Fish-in. Also present, though in a working capacity was Vince (vg1037) the Bailiff at Hartleylands.

I drew in the high 30's and arrived at my swim to find the wind blowing in my face and the only shady peg on the whole fishery, so while others sat around in tee shirts & shorts, I was in a bib & brace and a fleece (M/D's of course )
I started on the poleline at about 10mtrs fishing pellet and managed to winkle out 6 skimmers and a small carp before the wind made presentation too awkward. Had I not been a guest I would have gone straight onto the method feeder as this is a banker for a few Carp, but sitting in my carryall was a ball of paste.
Now paste fishing is not one of my strengths, but having read a few of Malc's exploits, it's a bait I'm determined to get to grips with, so it was out with the margin pole, tie up a couple of rigs and lets have a go.

Paste in the margin.......

Well lets just say that it was fun , trying to condition myself not to strike every dip and tremor of the float, and towards the end of the afternoon having tried endless variations of rigs I felt as if i was coming to terms with it and a few decent fish had ended up in the net .

4pm and time for the weigh in and with Vince in charge we worked our way around.
Dave had set the pace with a 40lb bag, with everyone having caught a few.

Nice one for Dave........

Colin put just over 51lbs on the scales, all caught on the Method, which was to prove the winning weight. Steve had contented himself with using the day to practice his silver fish approach in readiness for the intersite match in a couple of weeks, and definatley caught more fish than anyone for a bag in the teens.

The Weigh-in......

Jason proved to be the dark horse, in what he professed to be his first ever fishing match, and duly put 49lbs on the scales for 2nd place. Well done Jason (I may have to rethink the team ).
Last but one to weigh was me and I was pleasantly surprised to see the needle creep round to 47lbs, nearly all paste caught .

So thanks to Dave and the lads of Marsh AC for a very pleasant day as their guest, I hope you enjoyed yourselves, I certainly did.

Hawthorne AC club match.

So Sunday morning and i'm in the Carpark again, this time for a Hawthorne AC match on Nicks Lake. Nicks is one of 3 new lakes that have just been opened at Hartleylands and was only stocked with fingerling Carp last November, but already these fish weigh around 6ozs.

A low turnout of only 15 anglers meant that we only put the even pegs in the draw to give everyone a bit of room, and peg 10 was mine, It was flat calm as we set up but as soon as the whistle blew so did the wind.

Peg 10..........

Now Vince had warned me that the fish tend to follow the wind, so you can imagine my joy to find the wind blowing from behind me and blowing my fish away.
I wish I could say that I fished a blinder, but I wasted far too much time on a pellet line scratching for bites. I finally started to get a few at 12mtrs to maggot, but it was to little to late. I managed to put 15lbs 6ozs on the scales for 6th, but only 17lbs was needed for 2nd. At least I got another 3 points for the fishing race, having caught a few small Ghosties.

Mint little Ghostie....

Mike Vincent ran away with it, with 28lbs 4ozs for 1st. Everyone caught though and in a couple of seasons time this is going to be an awesome match venue.

So that was my weekend, 1 fishery but two very different lakes,and mixed fortunes .

Well a day off today and it seemed a shame to waste it, so after dropping Maria at work it was off down to Hartleylands Farm near Cranbrook in Kent.

The object of the exercise was to try out one of the new lakes on the complex as our club have a match on there in the near future. Nick's Lake is the largest of the three new lakes and has been stocked with small Common, Mirror and Ghost Carp between 8oz and 1.5lb, a few larger specimens up to 5lb and some good Roach and skimmers.
Acting on advice recieved from Vince the Bailiff, I headed to a peg with the wind blowing into it,and set up a couple of rigs to fish expanda pellet. Owing to the recent weather the water level on this lake is about a foot down which left me with about 2 feet of water at the top of the shelf, and 3 at the bottom of it.
Things were slow at the start, but after a chat with Paul (the owner) and a bit of fine tuning of rigs and feeding I was soon catching a steady stream of small stockies .

A Pristine Roach.

A Darker Common.

Well from the first put in it was almost non stop. Carp to about 4lbs, Tench and Roach all getting in on the act. The Carp were a curious mix from classic golden tones to all shades, some being almost black, all being fighting fit and in great condition .

Last one of the day.

Thanks to Vince and Paul for the tips and advice, if you're in the area do yourself a favour and pay Hartleylands a visit, you won't regret it.