mmer League round 11 SpringVale Newcastle

[Leo Martin]

Summer League round 11 Springvale Newcastle Lake 27.8.22

A favoured venue amongst some Bashers and not so for others. Newcastle lake was the inform water on the complex with some 200lb plus weights being recorded. The weather was warm, sunny and occasional cloud. Only occasional light winds so at times the lake was flat calm with a mirror like surface. Fish showing all around and over the lake setting the scene for a few fish to be caught.

It must be said that Newcastle Lake probably has the tightest pegging on the complex at probably 8m and 3 clubs sharing the lake it came under a lot of pressure which I doubt was the case for the huge weights. The banks are open with very little established margin cover or features. Newcastle does have central islands to chuck to for most pegs and there are some sedges at the end of the lake if fortunate to draw one of those pegs.

Lake bookings at 20 pegs and several Bashers absent for this match with the aid of a few guests we were able to have a depleted turnout of 14 match men. Many thanks to Paul Whitehouse and a nice return of Mick McGann to make up our numbers. If we did have 20 anglers then I guess the pressure on the lake would really have increased. This also begs the question on number of issued nets as with 50lb limits people were hunting extra nets so as not to penalise themselves because despite the tight pegging, the lake did produce the goods.
Friday night draw and it was to be 2 x sections of 5 and a section of 4. First on the wheel of fortune (or should it be doom) and 34 was duly delivered to yours truly. Not a too bad of start and then as the draw progresses I found I was sharing with 3 of our top anglers in Steve Curtis , Max and Andy W8. With Bagger Sam to my right as well it was all set for me being the fish in the fish cake.

Plan was already laid with maggots, pellets and paste. Shallow , depth rigs, margin, as the reports were they would feed in there and feeder rod. Stick to the plan kid were my thoughts and enjoy the day regardless. This didn't stop all the pre match banter and wind ups but that's one of the reasons I fish as the clubs does have a few laughs throughout our season.
More pressure exerted on Poor Leo as substitute time keeper I didn't let the responsibility affect me despite another match shouting early. I even received a round of applause from the match opposite ( or it was in respect for one of their members) when  shouted time.

Feeder across to point of island and feed up top 2 + 3 line with maggots to bring in the Ide. 3 chucks for no bites, meanwhile Mr Curtis was winding in small ide on his Feeder line which was starting to frustrate him slightly.
Switch onto shallow line after 15 minutes and the Ide were there. You would catch a few and they would go. Bites very iffy at times however it was busy. Alter depth trying for better stamp but we were catching a few.
I tried the feeder a few times however no carp were there. The margin lie was fed and tails swirled within 20 minutes but despite whatever bait was tried I could not get any indication at all. The mind was wandering as a few carp were being caught so I fell into the trap of indecisiveness and switched  between shallow and various other methods. On the full depth line of 4 feet, it resulted initially in 3 inch tench, even worse than the Ide. I chucked the method under my pole line and had a couple small carp but they were very slow. I tried the method rod in my margin but again nothing,

About 2.30 I big potted groundbait on my 2+3 line nd went over it on 6 an 8 mm hard pellet and the small carp fed which gave some respectability in my day with a few carp coming to the net and a few breakages as well of larger fish. Should have done this a lot earlier, not sure how much ground bait I would have needed as I used about a kilo in the time remaining but it seemed to work for me. Anyhow 53lb 4 , not brilliant but I had a good days fishing and it helps reset the old brain.
Steve on peg 33 had a really frustrating day and worked through plans A to Z throughout the match, ever reliable feeder and consistent casts were only reaping the rewards of small Ide, chub and tench. Pole lines on his favoured green paste also was not on the Newcastle fish menu of choice. Watching his close rivals catch fish didn't help him at all but he persevered and finally started to  catch carp around 2pm which gave him his section win, well done Steve.

Max on 32 had 2 plans, Silvers first the fish for carp and both worked, Hard pellet on short and long lines gave him a match win with 144-2 and this would have been much higher however I think the fish rate slowed off in the last couple of hours.

Andy W8 caught across on his feeder then his pole lines and later on in his margin lines with a few fish being a much better stamp. His margin line being the weight builder.
Bagger Sam to my right started on his feeder to the island for a few then also went shallow. He was also trying his margins and swapping around in the search for carp but the margin fish were window shopping only. Pellet Waggler tried and feeder again before getting his head down on shallow line and finally going back in his margins where the carp did have a chew and help him achieve 118-6, well done Sam.

Our bunch really are a competitive lot at times with all sorts of methods and tactics being deployed. Referee called in to judge the casting range between pegs 31 and 32, with 8 m between pegs the gap is only 4 but I would hope chucking straight would be obvious.
Lengths of lash from pole tip to float tip questioned however tape measure came out and proved correct, well done.
I am not sure if the next one is banter or wind up but it is said a method feeder was used on a pole line.  This is not wrong unless there is no float on the line so hopefully a float was in play as per fishery rules. Otherwise Big Bash VAR may have to come into play.

Finally on the weigh in we had a net over the limit and this cost Jasper the match win by 2 lbs, He still gained section points but well done and hard luck in same sentence.
Impressive counting from Mr Roche who had a 50lb net and a 49-2 net, well done sir.

So with 7 out of 14 weights over 100lb it must be said Newcastle delivered. The fishing may not be everyone's choice but we do fish various fisheries for a selection of ranges of styles across the season. I think everyone was busy and hopefully enjoyed their day. Good banter and chatting due to the close pegging and everyone smiling at the end of the match.
I like the venue and fishery but was disappointed in that anglers had to go hunting nets in order to comply with the rules on site. When lake net limits are to be tested 4 nets should be left out for each angler not that they would trouble me much.

Thank you for once again running the show Jasper and also Steve for his weighing in.

Next match is another in form lake at Grange where we go on the new lake again. Plenty still to book on please and pay up before the electricity companies take your money.

How was your day and match, baits, tactics please post.

[fishfinder]

Another good and comprehensive report from Leo, went with 2 plans of attack ,1st method across which had been successful the last time I fished this lake and paste in front and edge.As it happen both had limited success, started on feeder across and caught a few carp but then small tench and chub and ide moved in and although it was a bite a chuck i soon realised I was going nowhere with this as I had about 15lb in the 1st hour whilst max had 40lb up in the water on maggot so on to paste in front with much the same result couple of early carp then bits.Sould have rigged a hard pellet rig up as andy and max were both now catching on it,but carried on on method, paste and edge getting further behind and more frustrated and with an hour and half left had 40lb with max 70lb in front of me and Andy well in front,seen some fish come down the edge and tried of 20 minutes to snare a few on paste managed a few and lost several it was not really working so tried method over this area and last hour must have put 70lb in the net but not enough to catch max whos last hour was poor compared to the rest of his well fished match.Needed another half hour.did manage to overtake andy though to finish 2nd in section. Unlucky for jasper who sould have won the match. I don't want to harp on about rules and what is deemed acceptable after the wrong peg incident but if we are knocking back net wieghts,whats the difference with breaking other although stupid lash lengths or not netting all fish rules.Not having a go at any individual as it was not an isolated incident but maybe a discussion sould be had about what is deemed acceptable and what is not.

[jasper31]

Not one of my fav venues but as Leo has said we fish a variety of venues to add a bit of spice... >:D

Last peg on our little stretch gave me a bit of room and end of one of the islands so not too bad, looking down the bang was grateful as the pegging between pegs is ridiculous...

At start of match threw feeder to edge of island and for the first hour had a few carp, a barble and a couple of small tench.... When I got little fish I knew a change was in order - so went on short line and had a small carp first put in and second cast hit another carp but must have been foul hooked as mine came pinging back and snapped my float in half....

Can't do shallow fishing as no idea what I'm doing lol. Saw Mick Roche and Mark Radford catching well doing it but looked hard work on a hot day.

I had put a cup of groundbait in edge at start and saw that the fish were right on it so next option was to fill it in, did this and went for a little walk.

On my return the water was chocolate... tried corn but wasn't really on it so went on 6mm hard pellet and bites came quicker, had to plough through smaller fish to start with but plenty of bait soon got carp back in. With 2 hrs to go had to fetch another net and with 30 minutes to go I was a bit concerned with the net limit but didn't think I was that far over at the end... silly me.

142lb for second is a good result but should have done it right and would have had 157lb for the match win.... Lesson learnt.

Place fished well for the amount of anglers on it with plenty of ton weights needed to frame... some great efforts with Mick's ton of silver fish and Steve Guy putting a great net of fish together... some very good and impressive anglers this club is producing

[steelcowboy]

Not in my top 10 venues , place is nice , lakes are good , fishing can be very good, pegging is not the best appreciate they are running a business but just a little tight and you only get pegs you pay for no extras !

Fishery rules ..... far to many , and some seem a little a strange !

I asked few friends for a game plan and came up with just 2 forms of attack. Which was 1xpint of white maggot fished shallow at top kit + 2 and top kit + 1 hard pellet on the deck .

Not really something I do shallow fishing especially for silvers and with the 12" lash rule this severely restricted what rigs I had that would let me fish at 18" not ideal but had 1 rig but was .3 gram and really wanted a .1 or at worst .2 but it was what it was .
Fished maggot shallow for 90minutes until the maggots ran out couldn't be arsed to chase them up and so just fished 18"  these weighed 38lb and was happy with that but no way could I do that for 6 hours ,

Went on my top kit + 1 line fishing hard 6mm on the deck got a couple of small carp straight away . I tried a couple of different rigs and I thought all rigs had a 12" lash but Jasper pulled me on one which I disagreed with but I instantly checked with a ruler and he was correct it was only 11'' not sure how that happens whether the float had moved while playing a fish I don't know but that rig was then only used for the margin with more than a 12' lash.

All my rigs was checked by Springvale bailiff who also complemented me on my hook choice and also impressed with the whipping .

By chance whilst pouring a coffee I had my top kit in hand and was just about to ship out when I had a fish on ! This then became my main line and fished this most of the match but at two o'clock I lost a rare 5lb carp thought the hook length had broke but it was the elastic that snapped a ouch the Dacron so lost the lot 😏 set up another rig and 3 fish in the bloody same happened again fish and rig gone 😏

The next rig never was the same and having wasted 30 minutes on the lost two rigs the last hour only produced 18lb

I honestly thought Andy had passed me and deffo thought Stevie Curtis who had a brilliant last 90 minutes but fortunately my good start just got me over the line in front . I was hoping for a section win at best having seen Paul Whitehouse and Jaspers end pegs where I thought it would be 1st and 2nd

Felt sorry for Jasper going over in a net can't say I agree with the rule
The rule is a little ambiguous I think :

Would have thought it would just say  maximum net 50lb anything over will get knocked back to 50lb and not could we ask no more than50lb in any one net at any time .

Well done to all section winners Mick Roach and Steve Guy on a excellent net of Silvers well fished 👍

I also agree with Leo about hunting for nets I was lucky to find two spare nets past Jasper for me and Andy 8

Can't wait to get to Grange where the rules are more sensible and the new pond is fishing silly just hope it slows down a bit when we get there fingers crossed 🤞