By Davie Corcoran
The Event
Team Scotland was pleased to be invited to this excellent event for a second successive year by England Co-Manager and Sensas UK rep Mark Downes. Sensas has supported Team Scotland at international events for many years now and it’s great to be involved in their biggest domestic event.
It’s a real ‘who’s who’ of match angling, with all the top teams in England (plus ourselves and Sensas 28 from France) competing to CIPS rules on top fishery Packington Somers.
Although the match is fished on a commercial venue, it’s very different to what you might expect for a few of reasons.
Firstly, the match is run to CIPS rules so all teams would have to negotiate pole length and bait limits.
More importantly however, bloodworm is permitted which means tactics need to be devised around feeding methods / baits not normally used by venue regulars.
Finally, carp do not count (with the exception of crucians and F1’s) and the use of pellets is banned.
These rules are good in my view as they give competing anglers experience of CIPS rules and level the playing field by cancelling out the venues established carp based match winning tactics such as method feeders and pellet based approaches.
The Venue
Packington Somers is one of the best venues I’ve visited. It’s a real mixed fishery with ponds of all shapes and sizes containing a refreshing variety of species.
The match is hosted on a total of 4 ponds and although this makes practice difficult, it provides a variety of fishing which is a real test for the competing teams.
The main targets are good sized skimmers, tench and F1s on the larger of the lakes and huge stocks of smaller skimmers and roach on the smaller ponds.
Rigs were relatively straightforward as the ponds are all of similar depth so standard ‘bulk and two droppers’ plus some ‘on the drop’ set ups covered most bases.
The Feeding & Tactics
This is where things get really interesting! Fishmeal groundbaits are allowed in these matches throwing up a series of challenges. Under normal match conditions at Packington, fishmeal is fed almost exclusively in groundbait and pellet form so you might think the resident stocks would look at nothing else.
However, that can be a dangerous assumption to make when you consider that carp are off limits under Sensas Challenge rules and silver fish can play an important role in building good team points. Throw joker into the equation and the venue requires a completely different approach to normal – the locals must think we’re mad when they see teams balling in large quantities of groundbait and joker!
Practice therefore focused on establishing whether fishmeal or traditional groundbaits were best. On top of that, decisions on how much joker to feed were also a priority and which other baits would be fed and where (dead maggots, caster and chopped worm were crucial in last years event and so had to form part of the practice).
Practice sessions for me were limited to two days on Molands Lake and it became clear that traditional groundbait containing a modest amount of joker plus some caster was the best feed on the main 13m line. This would be a mix of darkened down Sensas Lake and Leam balled in with a small amount of joker.
Then several smaller ‘money balls’ containing the majority of the initial joker feed were cupped in accurately over the top. This means you are able to draw fish in over a wide area but focus their attention on the money balls, catching directly over the main feed when things are going well.
However, when things get tough (as they inevitably do) it’s possible to fish around or past the main feed area to pick off fish that are hanging back. This is a useful tactic that works on a variety of venues at home and abroad.
However, a second line for bonus fish using fishmeal as the base mix was also important. This also differed from the main mix in that it contained no joker. Instead dead maggot or chopped worm would be used (depending on the lake drawn) as this line would be used to target bonus tench, F1s or Crucians.
As is often the case, it is good to have two lines with differing approaches on each. By doing so you can:
- Establish what’s working best on the day and begin to focus your efforts on the line that is producing best.
- Target different species on separate lines. This also means you can tailor floats, lines and hooks to the target species on each line. In this case that meant light rigs for small baits / silvers on the main line and more substantial rigs for bigger baits / bonus fish over the fishmeal line.
- Rest a line while you fish another. Get this right on the day and you can switch between the two lines to keep bites coming all through the match.
It’s worth saying that the same feeding approach could not be used on all lakes. For example, Little Gearys Lake was mostly F1’s and therefore fishmeal was more important. On the smaller lakes where more roach were present, caster played a more prominent role.
The Match – Day 1
I drew Molands Lake on Day 1 which I was happy enough with given I’d practiced there. I had two lines at 13 metres as planned and was confident that this approach would serve me well. However, the venue fished much harder on the day for all species especially the skimmers and stamp roach which we’d caught freely in practice.
The main Lake & Leam line proved difficult and only produced some small skimmers and roach. However, it was hard work, fishing on and around the feed area and swapping rigs to keep bites coming.
Ironically, I ended up putting together most of my 7kg weight from the fishmeal line using bigger hook baits such as double dead maggot or a bunch of bloodworm fished a few inches over depth.
This got me better sized skimmers and some F1s which really boosted my weight. In fact, half way through the match I decided this line was best and took a bit of a risk by adding joker in my top up balls which brought a few extra skimmers.
I knew I’d struggled and wasn’t surprised to end the match mid section. My team mates hadn’t fared much better and we were 14th from 24 teams after the first day. We discussed how each of the lakes had fared over dinner and a pattern emerged – most had caught best on fishmeal.
The Match – Day 2
When day 2 arrived, I had drawn Gearys Lake, the biggest on the complex and predominantly a skimmer water. It’s a lovely lake, 4ft deep on the pole, heavily coloured and tows when a wind is on it. On arriving at my peg I found myself between Dorking A’s Will Raison and Dorking B’s Grant Albutt. Both Dorking teams had done well and were sitting 1st and 2nd overnight – this could be a long day!
This time round I focused on one line at 13metres balling in fishmeal with a little leam containing joker and some dead maggot – again very little bait in the thrown balls but plenty joker in the balls cupped in over the top.
I started brightly with a few small skimmers on the pole in the first hour using double bloodworm baits tripping bottom or laying on slightly. Will picked up a couple of good sized skimmers on the waggler but Grant to my right had got off to a flier and was catching regular on the long pole.
As the match progressed I worked hard at the pole line topping up with small balls of joker bound with grey leam to keep bites coming and steadying presentation with switching to a bigger float layed on by 4 inches.
Skimmers would give away their presence by providing liners and indications on the float but it was important to identify proper bites to avoid foul hookers.
My peg got stronger and stronger and I had a good last hour to finish with 6kg and mid section (again!). Will’s waggler-caught bonus fish had made a difference and he finished 500g and a section place above me. However, Grant had clearly got it spot on and he won the section with 10kg.
I reflected on the match while packing up and felt I’d not created a big enough feed area at the start by not balling enough groundbait and I wasn’t convinced that fishmeal was right on the day. I ‘manned up’ and politely asked Grant how he’d approached it!
He couldn’t have been more open and confirmed my fears – he’d fed twice as much as me at the start and used a sweet rather than fishmeal based groundbait – lesson learned. I felt happy that I’d made the most of my peg under the circumstances but knew it could have been better with a more attacking traditional approach.
Conclusions
The event turned out to be a cracker and Dorking dominated the top two team positions and produced the individual winner in Des Shipp showing just how strong they are.
They had focused on a catch everything approach using traditional groundbait mixes in the main. Knowing this after the event was frustrating as I felt we’d been on the right track only to veer off course with a fishmeal attack after a mid table first day performance.
However, fishing a venue like this teaches you so much about the importance of getting the feeding right. In fact, international matches come down to building an understanding of how best to use your bait allocation over the match to ensure your targeting the right fish at the right time on the right method. Not easy but this is really what match fishing is all about.
Talking with many of the top teams was also an eye opener. The standard is exceptionally high on the main circuit down south and anglers from the successful teams travel to a top match most weeks. Fishing big matches makes a huge difference to sharpness and accelerates the learning process greatly.
I believe Scotland is in a good place as far as the growth of match fishing is concerned following the emergence of commercial venues and the open circuit is growing with 40+ peggers now common place.
However, the team scene has diminished so events like the Sensas Challenge and Celtic Cup are vitally important for the Scotland Team to provide valuable big match experience.
Here’s hoping our ongoing relationship with Sensas means we’ll be back fishing the event next year. I’d like to think we’ve benefited greatly from the experience and can look forward to putting what we’ve learned into practice in matches at home and abroad.
