July 3rd Osprey and Heron

[Leo Martin]

Big Bash round 8 July 3rd Messingham Grange Osprey and Heron

Well Leo's season of woes continues but this should not detract in my account of this match and the fact that Messingham Grange delivered the best Bashers result of the season to date all round.

Weather overcast, sunny, with the promise of showers however on meeting and speaking to Smiler in the Car park he managed to convince me we were to suffer apocalyptic downpours during the day so my shorts were quickly covered in water proofs, umbrella unfurled and everything secured in advance of the oncoming tropical cyclones and hurricanes.  Even considered wedging the car wheels so it would not get washed away! I suppose it is in hindsight Karma from Paul for the stick he received as he tried to convince us all Peg 1 Osprey was actually Peg 1 Heron because it was  crawling with fish when he tried to unpack his car and set up there.

The development of Grange Park Fisheries continues and the lakes today presented themselves in their visually finest order with big clumps of flowering lilies alongside reed lined pegs. Certainly on the un-touched banks however on the early peg numbers of osprey signs of vegetation growth are showing with some sedges and reeds now showing through. Large dry mud free car park at the bottom as we know if you have a middle of lake peg Heron or Osprey it is a manageable walk  but the banks are barrow friendly if you choose that option. Just with some finer leaved grass would grow to cover the sand fully. On the fish front these lakes used to be full of tiny crucians, gold fish, hybrids, and silvers and bonus carp stretched the finer elastics. Now the carp and F1's are dominant species and it makes such a change to the results and set up. Major change in the fishing and also the match results which are now showing through. Well done to owner Alan and his team who relentlessly deliver the improvements.

Full quota on members and guests Robson Kerry and Phil Codlin) for match and we were rewarded with Alans generosity (and a little help from Steve Curtis) by two lakes for the price of one so plenty of room for everyone and a little different to our previous match on Swanlands which was cramped to say the least.

Peg 26 Osprey for me, good peg, however lily's across front odd platform offered escape routes for the fish however as the day panned out it wasn't to be tested. In short I caught a few fish at top 2 to left in front of lilies and right at side of reeds. I spent over 3 hours being frustrated, tested, ground down with fish in my right hand margin who refused to take my hook bait at a 6 inch depth. Waved the white flag and gave up at 3pm as never figured out what I needed to do end of story. Went back to top 2 line on left hand side at 3 feet deep and caught a last couple. I also made one other major change I that I took my umbrella down as my local weather forecaster had got it wrong.  Long frustrating day at the office and in discussions at match end many others had been in similar circumstances but managed to figure it out so advice taken on board guys, another lesson learned and stored in the old grey matter. Thank you for sharing your advice again.

Steve Curtis set off like a storm fishing through his green slimy covering to take the match win and if not for a learn spell mid match would have done 200lbs I am sure.
Phil Codlin on Osprey peg 1 had a real good spell in his margin again catching lots of fish I thought he had pressed Steve so surprised in his weight. Well done Phil and good to see you with us again.
Dave Fox opposite caught pretty well all match with spells of not catching which oddly allowed time for him to eat his numerous food offerings. Good weight Dave, well done and shame about the snags and trashed rigs.
Andy W8 behind also struggled with fish and Lily pad syndrome as they continued to swim to their escape in the established safe haven.

Smiler (the weather man) took his time to settle down and figure out the method he required to catch his quarry. He did loose one or two but got there in the end. I'm not sure if he had erected his umbrella he would have retained his catch rate but hats off to Paul he stuck at the task in hand and kept a steady flow of fish to his net. Well done mate.

Thank you to Jasper once again for the organisation and running the match. Thank you to Glen for his whistle blowing. Weighing in task being shared this week so double thanks to Steve Curtis and his apprentice Sam.

Well done to lake winners Steve and Jasper (who it must be said had a secret chat with Steve early on in the match or was he borrowing a new hook?)
Well done all section winners and second places as well.

Special mention to young Sam and Robson on their results, well done lads, very refreshing to have you both in the club and nice to see you both holding your own.

Back at Lindholme on Willows for the next match. We travel to various venues in this club, its not all the same fishing and a great test of everyone's skills and variation of abilities. Nothing boring, lots of changes and never the "same day in the office".

Please post  your account of the day,  they make good reading for all who fish and those who didnt.

[Leo Martin]

Copied from WhatsApp off Sam.

Brilliant write up

Afternoon gents,just a quick report on yesterday's match at grange park,osprey pond.On the draw I pulled peg 19 on osprey about a third of the way down.first impressions on the peg,two nice margins both had some features to fish too and had a couple of pegs each side so plenty of room to fish out,as I set up I plumbed both margins up the one to my right being 1  1/2 foot and the one to my left being around 6 inches I then Plumbed up two plus two rigs straight out as I plumbed around I realized that there was a shelf slightly to my left the right side being 3 foot and the left being 1 and a half so I plumbed up a rig at the bottom and one at the top,as the match started I fed the margin to my left with 50/50 ground bait of beatine green and marine halibut Also corn and dead reds the other I left and Didn't feed.as I looked up I saw John lanelly pulling in a carp within the first few minutes of the match.then I started fishing my 2 plus 2 line to the left of the slope on the bottom of it, I started on a hard 6mm pellet feeding fours over the top I had a few bites but just small bream picking up the pellet and dropping it.As I was fishing I noticed fish swimming out of the bush to my left margin and feeding on the bait I had fed in the margin,so I put my margin rig on with a piece of corn on a size 16 hook and straight away the elastic burst out with a small mirror as I landed it all the fish seemed to scare away so I fed a few 4mm pellets and they came rushing back out after that I put a 6mm pellet on to speed things up a little saving the change of bait each time after each fish I fed some 4mm pellets and the fish were always there there was an hour period at 1pm were it's slowed down but it soon picked back up and from then on catching all day,a big well done to everyone, everyone fished great 🎣👍🏻

[fishfinder]

Peg 29 on osprey mine for the day,peg had no form this year but can be won from any peg on either lake so was ok with the draw.Got to my peg wind blowing down to my end and a new algae bloom was covering my water in front of the peg,was not happy but as I was rigging up it became obvious that plenty of carp were cruising about under it slurping at it so rigged a dobbing top up which was basically 2ft of line,pumped a few 6mm pellets as well,started on edge of lillies had a few then alternated between pellet and bits of paste from just below the green algae to 2ft deep and started to get carp regularly but these soon backed off ,down the margins which I fed with micros from the start kept getting a few on paste mainly to my left which was shallow,back to the scum after a few returned caught a few more then alternated between the 2 for 3hrs,thought 200lb was on but when a shower came and the wind increased the carp disappeared  from out front so had to concentrate on the margins for rest of the match,caught a few then with all the disturbance in the shallow water and dragging them out of the lillies had to rest this every few fish,was happy with result but even more pleased with results in rest of match as alan and myself have worked hard to improve the fishery and sould be even better next year after a planned busy winter .

[Jlanelly]

My Day peg 15 Osprey
Happy with the draw, but did fancy peg 16, any way 15 it was. There were lots of fish showing in my left hand margin in very shallow water, I plumed up 2 plus 2 a margin rig very shallow only 6 inch then a pasty rig in 2 ft of water. At the all in I started with paste almost instant bite fish on nice 5lb carp to start, out on paste 3 small skimmers changed to 6 mm pellet as others have this is were the frustrating day started foul hook after foul hooked and lost fish. Managed to mug a few. A change to dead reds on top kit to my left fed 3 pints this kept the carp coming for 92 lb happy days.
Tight lines all
Roll on next outing

[jasper31]

Well last in bag again and middle of the lake - Peg 9 Heron......this last in bag business is killing me need to swap places with Max and his pegs  ;D ;D ;D ;D

When i got to peg i was pleased to see i had a small bush to my right and a twig to my left hand margin. I could see carp in inches of water and i was puzzled on how to fish for them as they were obviously coming in for food. I started off fishing at top 2 and 2 whilst pinging 8mm pellets out to the middle. had a couple of small fish and but had seen lots of fizzing in the middle where i had fired pellets earlier. Tried bomb and pellet but never had a sniff or a liner so quickly sacked that off.

The fish in the edge were too tempting so came in on top kit, fished just off into water that was 18" deep, had a couple of carp but liners and false indications were doing my nut in. So i quick trip to see venue expert to ask a clarification on the rules and once back in my peg a new set up was done. I put a small method feeder on my top kit with 17 hollo elastic.... bang the fish were on it!!! After 30 minutes the bites got a bit iffy so i swapped to a small pellet scoop...and the bites got better....but once again they became iffy...so a quick rethink and i realised that the fish were coming in taking a little and then off, if they didn't pick up the bait first they got away with it. So another change was needed and i put on the smallest hybrid feeder i had and laid the pellet on top of this, this meant that it was the first thing they could feed on......result no sooner had i put the bait in the water and it was away and the bites were instant. What i did notice was that some of the smaller fish were getting in on the act.....another swap to a size 12 hook and 9mm wafter sorted that out. It was a steady run to the finish line then.
I did spend too much time trying to sus out the fish but once i did never looked back, with 118lb in the nets it would have been interesting to see what i would have got if i didn't spend the first couple of hours messing about. All in all everyone had some good fishing, well done Steve (obviously  >:D) and special mention to the young guns of Sam and Robson - definitely ones to watch in the future.
Full result sheet to down load if you want it below.