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Carrs Angling Lakes, 26th August 2012

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After 2 months of not fishing due to work commitments I finally got back on the bank and visited my first really local venue, Carrs Angling Lakes , just off Letch Lane, Stockton, before you reach Carlton Village. After chatting to a couple of local gents and walking around the Match Lake  I decided to fish Peg 17. Set-Up It was a comfortable 14 metre reach to the islands in front of me so there was no need to break out any rods.  While plumbing up I found that the bottom of the far shelf was a consistent depth of around four and a half foot, so one rig for my selected swims which were: Left side far bank Cut opening far bank Right side far bank 5 metre line Bait for the day was Corn, Pellets and a pint of white/red maggots. All-In I cupped in a small pot of micro pellets, 4mm pellets and a couple of grains of corn on the left side far bank swim, cupped in around 20 maggots on the right side far bank swim and would feed the 5 metre line by hand with a 4mm pellets.

Fish O Mania - Lindholme Lakes, 27th June 2012

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and the line kept on getting longer... After applying for 4 Fish O Mania tickets this year, I managed to secure only 1 ticket for the final qualifier at Lindholme Lakes in Doncaster. I arrived early, around 7am and was front and centre in the queue which as the morning progressed and the clock came around to 9am got longer and longer...  The banter in the queue was great and just goes to show what a friendly bunch of people anglers can be. Neil Grantham outlined the rules to the competitor and also paid tribute to an angler that unfortunately could not fish the event as he had been involved in an accident with a car.  That angler is none other than Nathan Watson and a collection was been made.... for the car driver... Peg 57, Laurels The Draw My hand went into the very full bag and out came Peg 57 on Laurels.  I'd fished Laurels before during the week with the Maggotdrowning crew so I had a basic idea of what to expect. Peg 57 turned out to be on the bank betwee

Connor Whipp Charity Match, The Glebe, Leicestershire, 26th June 2012

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Brian Green, Proper Tidal Boy on Match Fishing Scene had organised a charity match for his nephew, Connor Whipp who has neuroblastoma a form of childhood cancer.  The venue was Roy Marlow's Glebe complex in Leicestershire But first a little about Connor.  Connor is 4 years old who loves Captain America.  In fact the treatment Connor needs is based in America and family and friends are on a mission to raise £250,000.  Connor's favourite super hero, Captain America is going to help him beat his illness.  If you would like to donate to Connor's appeal, please donate at this website: http://www.bmycharity.com/ConnorWhippAppeal The Night Before... A little tired after the previous night I decided late on the Sunday night to travel down to the infamous Longshoot hotel for some craic with the lads as I thought it would be better than having to get up really early on Monday morning and battle the thousands of commuters from Teesside to Leicester. Pulling in

Trinity Lake, The Cut - 1st June 2012

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Day 6, our final day's fishing in Ireland and the group had agreed to go back to the cut at Trinity Lake. We arrived with only a few people on the bank up to the far end, so we easily fitted in our 6 pegs together. I drew a peg one down from my previous experience on the Cut and knew exactly how to fish it. The Set-up Pole only today, just as previously, so it was 12 metres of pole coupled with a very light float to trot down the swim and fish shallow. The All-In Feeding cast and trotting the float down the swim it took some time before the first fish was in the net.  In the meantime, both Paul and Fred (who was my partner for the day) were soon ahead of me.  Paul's fish were of good quality. Eventually my fish started to come, but they were definitely smaller than those Paul was getting and so started a great battle for honours between myself and Paul.  Today would decide the champion with Paul needing to finish two places higher for a win, or one place highe

Church Shore, Garadice - 31st May 2012

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Day 5 and the team scores were tight with myself, Paul and Bernard tied in first individual placings.  Today would be a deciding day. We had arrived at Garadice on the Church shore stretch of the lake for todays sport. Pegging was a further apart than previous days so I could only just hear the craic from the other guys.  Paul and I certainly made up for it and he was pegged to my right. My swim looked very fishy with stick up reeds to the left, fish topping at long waggler and feeder range.  The water was crystal clear, the weather was overcast and there was a good ripple on the water. The Set-up Pole Line at 14 metres with 4 foot depth straight ahead Pole Line at 14 metres in the stick ups with 3 foot depth Feeder Line at 40 turns Large Waggler rig at 30 turns The All-In I had decided today that I would not groundbait my pole lines, so instead I cupped in a pot full of maggots, sweetcorn and casters on both the line ahead and the 'stick up' swim. The

Trinity Lake, The Cut - 30th May 2012

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Day 4 and we arrived at Trinity Lake cut to see Francis McGoldrick doing a feature with Dave Houghton from Active Irish Angling . Directions to the cut at Trinity Lake can be found on this link. While chatting to Francis, he had netted 10 hybrids with very simple methods.  Those methods I would get to try for myself and end up having the best day so far in Ireland. We found 6 swims for us all, Paul and the lads had kindly pegged me to the left of Francis where the cut meets another channel. The Set-up Pole only today, just as Francis was doing, so it was 12 metres of pole coupled with a very light float to trot down the swim and fish shallow. I did set up a maggot feeder to try and plunder the far margins for any Irish tench... The All-In Francis was feeding caster and his hook bait was a single red maggot and as I didn't have any casters with me Francis kindly gave me a pint to feed with. First couple of trots down and feeding about 15 caster every time

Town Lake, Killeshandra - 29th May 2012

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Day 3 and a new venue to try.  Town lake at Killeshandra.  Driving back from Foxholes the previous evening we had all checked out this venue, although nobody was fishing to give us an indication of form there were 6 available swims to the right of the boat ramp with easy access for the old boys. The lake had a light breeze and ripple on the water and looked very fishy, so onto the draw and out with the tackle. The Setup Pole at 13 metres, depth was top 5 sections!!! Pole Top 3, end of the keep net swim... all will be explained later!  Feeder at around 40 turns I was using a Sconezone Berweemz , 1.5 gram pole float for the deep pole line and it was the first time I had ever fished this deep. The All-In I cupped out 4 balls of groundbait on the pole line and as with previous days, decided to rest this swim for at least an hour.  That waiting time would be spent on the feeder. No bites on the feeder materialised, even after casting around the swim.  The other lads