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When the opportunity of getting a ticket for the new Preston Innovations UK Pole Champs came about I jumped at the chance to have a crack at the first qualifier, fished at Aston Park Fisheries near Sheffield. It’s bit of a different format this one compared to say Fisho or Match This where you have to win the match to qualify for the final. It’s a 60-peg match and 20 anglers will qualify for the final at Woodland View in September so the odds are favourable. But rather than just have the top 20 weights on the day, the match has been broken up into mini sections of three and if you win your mini section you qualify for the final so everybody is in with a big chance.

09:00

The lakes included in today’s match are Lanta, Bills and Butts and I felt I wanted to draw Bills or Butts to be in with a chance of getting in the overall frame or winning the match. There was the usual buzz at the draw and I was fairly happy when Dave Wesson drew me Peg 3 on Butts, although I didn’t really know anything about it. Obviously, a low number meant I was very close to the end of the of this snake style lake and that could be a good thing or a bad thing… only time will tell.

09:45

Arriving at my peg it’s a very narrow and ‘pokey’ swim and obviously not knowing the venue very well, I’ve had some advice from the lads in the on-site shop. They’ve informed me the best approach for where I am is not go in all guns blazing and take it very steady with the aim of hopefully catching around 50lb. So it could be a bit of a scratchy day but I don’t mind that, as long as I know what I’m fishing for I don’t mind if it’s not a bagging match. So the plan is to fish several lines across to the far bank for carp and catch one fish from each before swapping to another. I’ll also loose feed maggots down the middle just in case and I’ll feed some down the edges too. The last time I was here I drew on Bills and caught down the edge all day to win the match, but it’s not going to be like that today with all these anglers on it. It’s going to be a bottle job of sticking to the plan and setting traps and most importantly of all, being patient and capitalising on those mini runs of fish when they hopefully come along.

10:12

My bait for this match is very simple and I’ve got some 2mm pellets, some 4mm pellets, a few expanders for the hook, maggots and finally some groundbait which is just a ‘garage’ mix made up of some open bags I had left over. It’s the right colour and that’s the most important thing for me. Almost forgot, I’ve also got a tin of meat, which I’ll use to pick off better fish if I’m getting bothered by small fish, but I’m not sure whether my line down the middle should be fed with meat or maggots for small fish. Because I’m expecting a relatively low weight, I think I’ll feed maggots down the middle so the meat might not even get a look in today. I’m expecting the carp to be either tight across or tight down the edge.

10:19

My rigs for this match are for three lines: across tight to the far bank, down the slope across to the far side with hard pellets and down the middle on maggots. For the far bank I’m using Malman Goldie floats and these are my mudline rigs for when a little more sensitivity is required. I’m using a 0.3g float for the shallow water shotted with a bulk of No10s above a 3in trace, which is 0.14mm to a size 16 Matrix MXC-1 hook. Main line is 0.16mm. The slim blue floats are Tim Moore’s Carbon Slims and I’m using these in size 4x12 for fishing hard pellets down the slope in two and a half feet of water. Main line is once again 0.16mm Matrix Power Micron X to a 0.12mm hooklength and the hook is a size 16 MXC-6. This rig is shotted with spread No10 shot. Finally, the slim grey float is a 4x12 Tim Moore’s Carbon Maggot for fishing maggots down the middle. Lines are the same as above but the hook is a size 16 MXC-5. Shotting is again No10s spread down the entire rig.

10:25

I’m going to start the match across and feed very little just to see how the fish respond. If that doesn’t work I’ll come down the track a bit into the deeper water with hard 4mm pellets and then finally I’ve got that maggot line down the middle. I will feed some maggots down the edges to my left and right but I won’t be interested in those until much later. It could be one of those days today where I end up making new rigs during the day because I’ve got no idea what to expect. My target to begin with is to catch 30 carp and because of the stamp, that should get me somewhere around that 50lb mark.

10:30

Away we go so I’m filling my small pot with a few micros and three or four 4mm pellets and then capping it off with some groundbait. I’m definitely not going to feed very much at all to begin with. Like I said earlier, because of the low target weight, today will be all about setting traps and then after catching one, moving to another line and setting another trap. Hook bait to begin with is a banded 4mm pellet and first chuck I hook a small barbel, which is immediately followed by a couple of small carp on double red maggot, which is an encouraging start. It’s important not to get too carried away though and even though I’ve had a couple of carp in the first 10 minutes, I’m sticking to my plan of setting traps and rotating lines.

10:57

As I predicted I’ve not had another carp since catching those two I caught early but I’m still feeding with a pot of groundbait every drop in. I’ve changed lines and not had any fish so far from my second swim tight across with a banded pellet on the hook. I’ve noticed the angler to my right has caught four or five carp now and he looks to be fishing paste across, but down the shelf into the deeper water. There’s no way in the world I’m going to fish paste, but I think my next move is to come down the shelf a bit and into the deeper water to see if that’s where the carp want to be. It’s still early though and the fish haven’t settled yet because there are so many of us fishing. It will be another half-hour or so before I can gauge more accurately how it’s fishing and what I need to do for the rest of the match. Not messing my peg up is the key thing at this stage.

11:28

I’m starting to get a bit more of an idea now of what I need to do for the rest of the match. I foul hooked a carp about 15 minutes ago but managed to get it in and I’ve also tried fishing the maggot down the middle. There are small fish to catch on the maggot and it could definitely be worth dropping on to this line every now and then to catch a quick pound of fish, but I need to catch carp to do any good. After an hour though, one thing is clear, it’s going to be tough and fishing negatively is going to be the best way forward for me and it’s even more important now not to feed too much bait and blow the peg. After catching some small fish on the maggot I’ve now gone long again and I’ve hooked a big fish straightaway. It turns to be a carp about 6lb and that certainly makes a dent into those early carp he caught next door on the paste (which have now fizzled out). I’ve adjusted my target weight to between 30lb and 40lb because of how it’s fished in this first hour.

11:58

This last half-hour has been very slow for me, and everybody else that I can see. I foul hooked a carp about 10 minutes ago that took me straight into a snag and I ended up losing the rig, and that’s been the highlight since I last checked in with you! I’ve also lost a carp from my left hand swim and it seems that when you drop in on a swim you get one chance and that’s it. I’m seeing signs of fish all the time though, so they are in the peg but I just can’t catch them at present. I’m going to move into the shallow water in my right hand swim but with pellets this time to see if I can get a fish there. It’s the same mantra at this point, just plod along and don’t do anything silly and if I don’t get a bite in my right hand swim across, I’ll have another go down the middle to see if I can catch a quick pound of small fish.

12:24

I’ve finally had a run of four carp that got me all excited but then I hooked one that took me straight into the far bank and stole my rig! I’m fishing the maggot down the middle at the moment just to give the far bank a rest, but tight across is the only place I can catch a carp. I can’t consistently get bites across though, so it needs to be rested regularly and it’s important I do that because I’m relying on them entirely today and I don’t want to risk blowing it. This middle line for small fish is important though, and if I can catch 5 or 6lb on this line then it’s going to be worth a couple of extra carp at the end of the match. I’m still feeding the same as I was at the start of the match and I’m not prepping any lines at all, I’m just potting in a small pot of micros and groundbait before lowering my rig in and feeding maggots regularly by hand down the middle.

13:30

Two hours to go and the last hour has been pretty uneventful. I’ve changed lines and given plenty of time on each to try and catch another carp or two but it just hasn’t happened for me. Every time I do hook one it’s foul hooked and I lose it, so it’s been frustrating to say the least. The problem is when I foul hook and lose a fish, it creates so much commotion in the peg that there’s no way I’ll be able to go back across and expect to get a proper bite and a carp. I’m sticking to the plan though, and setting traps by feeding a small pot of groundbait and pellets before lowering the rig in. I can’t really see anybody catching although the angler directly behind me has a peg full of carp in the corner – you can see them just under the surface. He’s trying to mug them so he should get one or two doing that. What’s more frustrating is that the angler to my right has had another three fish in the last 20 minutes on the paste. I’m now thinking I’d like to catch another eight to 10 carp before the end of the match.

14:00

This last half-hour has been just as bad as the previous one and apart from one foul hooked carp, I haven’t had another one despite trying all my lines across. What I’m doing now is trying to catch as many silvers as I can before I think it’s time to go back across to try and catch another carp. The carp are so tight to the far bank and because I think that far bank is undercut, they’re sitting right under the far bank cover where it’s impossible to catch them. The silver fish line though, isn’t really good enough because of the stamp of fish – I can’t catch them fast enough to persuade me to stick with it for a while. It’s very hard to know what the right thing to do is because I don’t know where I’m going to get my next bite from a carp. I’ve even tried down the edge for a few minutes and only had tiny fish so I’ve had to cross that off as an option for now. I’ll stick with the silver fish for now because that’s all I can catch.

14:55

I’ve had another couple of well-hooked carp over the last hour but there’s not really a lot to report back on because it still feels just as hard as it has been for the last couple of hours. I’m scratching around on my far bank swims and it’s largely uneventful, but every now and then I hook a carp completely out of the blue. There’s no real pattern to it, it’s more of a case of having the rig in the right area at the right time, although selecting the right area is more down to luck than anything else. I’m hoping I can get another two carp before the end of the match, which is only another 30 minutes away. I have managed another 2lb or so by having another spell on my silver fish line down the middle and that’s worth another carp in terms of weight. I’ve cut the feed right back on the silver fish line as doing that seemed to produce a better stamp of fish, and I know I can catch another 2lb from there in the last 10 minutes of the match if I need to.

15:25

Well, the last half-hour has been okay and I really didn’t expect it to be. I’ve had three carp across and another three from down the middle, and up to the last few minutes of the match I didn’t have any signs of a carp on my silver fish line. As I said earlier, the fish have been in my swim all day but it’s only in the last half-hour that they’ve decided to open up and feed. Not knowing the venue well has probably cost me fish today because I’ve not had the knowledge of where to move next, but even though it’s been tough I’ve really enjoyed it. It’s felt like a fair match because there haven’t been that many fish about, meaning everybody is in with a chance. My biggest mistake has been not spending long enough cutting my far bank pegs out. I’m sure if I could have poked my rig tighter to that undercut far bank, I would have been able to tempt a few more during those tough periods. But overall very enjoyable and hopefully I’ve done enough to get my spot in the final in September.

15:51

I’ve managed to put 47lb on the scales, which is a few pounds more than I thought I had. That late run of carp has done the trick and not only have I won my section, I’ve also finished third in the match with 85lb winning and 52lb was second. I could definitely have caught enough to finish second had I known the venue a bit better, but I was never going to catch enough to win the match. Roll on the final at Woodland View in September, where the Match Fishing cameras will once again be with me so keep an eye out for that one.