The next match on Horwich's calendar was on the Upper Rivington Reservoir. This is the match that I was most looking forward to in the whole calendar as its not a type of fishing I do very often these days but I really enjoy it.
At the draw it was apparent that we were on for a low turnout for this match though as by draw time we only had 7 members lined up. I think the start of holiday season and the fact that it was Fathers day had taken its toll on the numbers. I drew peg 8 on the day, which probably won't mean anything to anybody else as we pegged it ourselves but it saw me sharing the bankside with Dave Matty. It seemed fairly typical though with no distinct visible features.
As I set up my box, just into the water to allow my keepnet to get into some depth, I was planning my match. The basic plan for this match had always been a tradional groundbait feeder approach so I set up my Daiwa Connoiseur X Med/Heavy feeder rod at 13ft, coupled with a Shimano Exage 4000FA reel loaded with braid and a 8lb mono shockleader. At the business end I set up the feeder free running within a 12 inch loop. I started off with a hooklength of around 18 inches of 0.15 to a size 14 Maver ES42, which as it happened, turned out to be the best on the day and I pretty much stuck with that length for the whole match. I also set up a method feeder rod as a back up/alternative as I had heard this method has worked on this venue, this was set up on a Maver Genesis Black Ice 12ft feeder rod with a Daiwa TDM 3012 loaded with 6lb mono. The feeder was a large preston inline method feeder. Hooklink was 4 inch 0.15 to a PR36 with a pellet band. My final option was a waggler, partly because I wanted to give myself something other than a feeder approach and partly because I just like to fish a waggler. This was set up was a 13ft Shimano Hyperloop FA match rod with a Shimano Exage 2500 RA reel loaded with 4lb mono. The float was quite a heavy job as there was quite a lot of chop on the water and was a 3AAA bodied waggler. Hooklength was 12 inches of 0.11 line to a size 18 Drennan Silverfish Match.
My groundbait mix for the day was to be my now favoured bream mix, Bait Tech Omen. I mix this straight out of the bag as I don't believe it needs any other ingredients or flavourings to the mix. This mix was to be used on the groundbait feeder and the method feeder. I had a selection of loose feed and hookbaits for the day including maggots (dead and alive), casters, worm and pellets.
With myself set up to go I decided to have a brew and wait for the all in. The general feeling was one of optimism with the only slight concern being the number of Pike that had been present during some of the memebers pleasure sessions a few weeks previously.
At the all in I started with groundbait feeder, making several casts with a large feeder to get a bed of bait down. Once I was happy with this I switched to a slightly smaller feeder and began to introduce some loose feed into the mix in the form of casters and dead maggot. My initial hookbait gambit was to be worm. The match started slow but I eventually managed to catch a few small skimmers on the worm. Thinking the smaller samples might be the order of the day I switch to a smaller size 16 hook and tried maggot on the hook. Strangely this resulted, almost immediatly, in my largest fish of the day in the shape of a good skimmer of around 1.5lb. The feeder continued to throw up the odd fish through the morning but it was apparent that the fish were not showing as we had intially hoped and many were struggling. None the less, I was really enjoying the day.
However, around about 12 o'clock ish, disaster struck. During a cast, I managed every feeder anglers nightmare, the dreaded crack-off. The usual loud noise accompanied the cast that allowed every angler within about 50 metres to know what I had done. This marked a nightmare 30 mins for me as I tried to get myself sorted. Initially I cast out my method feeder so at leaset I had something in the water whilst I was sorting out my other rod. The method didn' produce anything but by the time I had got my groundbait feeder back in the water my swim, as slow as it was, had gone dead. Luckily, I had been feeding my waggler line periodically throughout the morning with big pouches of maggots so to give myslef a break I went out on the waggler line. After a while I started to get bites although I found them difficult to hit and I managed to land a couple of small roach plus a nice bonus roach, possibly going 12 oz+. Sadly, it was during this period that I had my first Pike chase and while I never lost a fish to it, the Pike did seem to kill my waggler line as well.
By about quarter past 1 things had pretty much gone dead and I chucked out the feeder to finish the day. At the all out I did get a good bite and hit into what felt like a good fish but it came off pretty much straight away.
That was the end of it at Rivington, on a day which held so much promise, I couldn't help but be disappointed in the end that the bream didn't show properly and I hadn't caught much at all. At the weigh in it was apparent that everyone had struggled for bites. Winning weight was 10lb-odd with a weight of 8lb-odd following it in second place. I managed to claim 3rd place with a weight of 6lb 6oz. Disappointed but I did beat Dave Matty off the next peg to claim bragging rights, if only for 1 week!
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