I’m really enjoying the fishing on Ash although apart from a couple of good results, I’m struggling to get to grips with it. After meeting Nick, PTP and Norts for a Greggs brekkie we headed down to Todber and I have to say I’m looking forward to the new restaurant opening in early August.
Draw time arrived and it was a mixed bag for the Somerset contingent, Nick was overjoyed! with 63 again (I know that feeling mate), Steve P got 70, Duffers was on 67, Norts looked happy with end peg 75 and then I pulled out one of the two remaining tickets which was 72.
I set up a little 0.3 gram Guru F1 Slim for the top two along with a Preston Innovations F1 Maggot to fish one line at 13 metres. On the side tray were maggots, casters, worms, micros plus some Bait-Tech Special G F1 and Dark groundbait.
While we were setting up it was flat calm, which is a rare occurrence at Todber but by the time the match kicked off, it had reverted to type with the wind hacking down the lake! I fed the long line with a big sloppy ball of quango mix before starting short and loose feeding casters. First put in the float buried and I swung a 2oz roach to hand. It was a bite a chuck and after the first hour, I had 48 fish for around 6lb which was spot on for the 30lb I thought you’d need to frame.
I was catching mainly small 2-4oz fish but did have two better skimmers and a decent perch of 12oz-1lb. Going into the second hour, bites began to slow and I probably spent too long on the short line before moving out to 13 metres. It took a while to get my first bite before I had a couple of skimbobs but it wasn’t really happening. I tried the head of a worm and although I had to wait for bites, two decent skimmers on the trot was encouraging.
Double maggot resulted in a nice 2lb skimmer but then the next bite saw a good leaper come off which killed it and I could only catch the odd small fish. Guy came for his usual lunchtime wander (or Manton’s Mealtime Meander as I like to call it!) just as I was netting a nice roach and asked how it was going. I said I probably had around 12lb which he thought was par for the course.
The long line had died a death so I refed it and also started loose feeding some casters over the top, I picked up the strung out rig and tried it past the feed but that wasn’t the answer and I only had a few small fish although I did hook something that felt rather weighty before it moved off and the hook pulled out.
The anglers either side were getting odd fish but Sean up on 74 was catching some big skimmers along with a tench fishing across on the feeder. I decided to feed the long line again and dropped back in on the top kit swim to let it settle. With caster on the hook, I was getting some nice roach and then the float buried and on the strike a big skimmer came flying out the water, next put in I had one of 12oz and had several more over the next thirty minutes or so.
With around half an hour left I had a quick look on the long line for five minutes but no bites so I spent the remaining time on the inside. It was lovely fishing and I had a couple more big skimmers along with some smaller ones but did pull out of a decent fish just before the all out.
The scales started with Norts on the end who weighed 12lb, Sean had a cracking net of fish for 30lb 1oz, Martin on my right weighed 8lb 15oz, I had 103 fish for 23lb 7oz and Tim next door weighed 5lb 13oz. Parker ‘The Pole’ on 70 had 8lb, Dave G weighed 14lb 11oz and I was starting to think I had a chance of framing until Stu White spoilt things by weighing 24lb 9oz. Then Duffers, who said he had approaching 20lb, was only slightly out with his estimate as he had 33lb 12oz!!
Norts on 75 had 12lb*
Sean had a lovely net of fish for 30lb 1oz on peg 74*
I had a nice day catching 103 fish for 23lb 7oz*
Parker ‘The Pole’ had 8lb on peg 70*
Dave weighed 14lb 11oz on peg 69*
Stu White had 24lb 9oz of skimmers*
Duffers did well again, this time with 33lb 12oz on peg 67*
Danny Ponting on 66 went into the lead with a brilliant 42lb 5oz of big skimmers on the waggler and corn, Jon Gray weighed 23lb 9oz, Karl on 64 had 8lb, Nick weighed 13lb 3oz and Adrian on 62 had 18lb. Photos courtesy of Todber Manor*
Danny Ponting had the top weight with a brilliant 42lb 5oz on the waggler and corn from peg 66*
Nick on peg 63 weighed 13lb 3oz*
Adrian had 18lb of skimmers, tench and perch from peg 62*
1 – Danny Ponting (Todber) – 42lb 5oz
2 – Darren Duffield (Ilminster) – 33lb 12oz
3 – Sean Rhodes (Todber) – 30lb 1oz
Another lovely days fishing but I always seem to be a few fish off the pace, I’ve caught really well for the first and last hours and I was surprised at the number of big skimmers I’ve caught down the edge. The fishing seems to be evolving all the time and the waggler and corn has come into the picture now so I might have to dig my rods out which could be entertaining!
After the match I was talking to Richard Chave and he asked if I’d like to be sponsored by Colmic so of course I said yes and he showed me loads of the great gear they do so I’ll have a closer look at some of their products over the coming months.
There’s still a great offer running if you fancy treating yourself to some new fishing gear, use the exclusive discount code AgainstMenandFish10 to get 10% off when you shop online at Somerset Angling
Also I still have copies of my book available from eBay here or Amazon here
And if you could spare five minutes to leave a nice review on Amazon, it would be very much appreciated.
Next up – Coombe Farm
Coming soon – Lots more match reports
#sponsoredpost #affiliatelinks
