my first ever river match, and my last , what a disaster

[brummiephil]

my first ever river match, and my last , what a disaster
it was on the Avon just below Evesham , had 13ft of water at my feet and there was no flow at all , could get a float to run at all !

ended up on a maggot feeder , had four bits in 5 hours, the first was a roach that was smaller than the maggot i was fishing with, then
2 little perch and them something not sure what that snapped or bit through the hook length. weighed 5oz . i was 8th out of 11 !
did not have a bite for the last two hours no matter what i did !
never again !!!

 

[chefster]

And people say rivers are getting better,that sounds like an absolute load of rubbish....mind you ,you,ve only got to look at the big prestigious matches,with the cream of the matchfishing world competing and they,re always won with either really low weights or one lucky Barbel etc,never mind Phil,get back on the CommiesGazza

 

[aebitim]

My first ever match resulted in a win, I caught a bream first cast at 3lb 9oz, next weight was 10oz, you never can tell, next one I thought I was in with a chance with 27lb something and was nowhere near, it is the same for everyone on the day.

 

[chefster]

My first ever match resulted in a win, I caught a bream first cast at 3lb 9oz, next weight was 10oz, you never can tell, next one I thought I was in with a chance with 27lb something and was nowhere near, it is the same for everyone on the day.

It helps if there are actually some fish there to catch though!!

 

[Judas Priest]

Rivers and their inhabitants are changing. On one of my rivers you can fish a maggot feeder all day and not have a nibble, yet stick a whole lobworm and plastic maggot onto a size 6 and it's a roach, chub, dace, Gudgeon and skimmers.

 

[chefster]

The trouble is though Judus,you,ve got to fish them regular as you do to know all these tricks of the trade,and know the venue,one -off club matches on unfamilier stretches usually end in disaster Gaz

 

[markv]

Avon at Warwick, loads of bites. Small fish in the main though pound plus perch relatively common and great weight builders.

16lb of roach won a week last Sunday (hemp I think) Granted quality angler it was.

All the pegs are different, differing depths, profiles, flows,fish the lot.

Loads to work out. All round bostin venue but you cant fish it like a commercial. I fish those too .

 

[peter crabtree]

Phil, never say never. All rivers are hard, especially at the moment.
Go again when it's up and coloured and you may well bag up on the right peg...

 

[brummiephil]

it was won buy a guy that has fished it every week for over 40 years with 3lb. not sure anyone else got over 1lb and at least three blanked

 

[steph mckenzie]

At least you caught, look at what you learnt on the day rather than what you didn't win or catch.
If you were to fish it again, what would you do differently?

Try to stay positive, not always easy i know.

 

[Poshpaul (Angling Trust and PaSC)]

Picked the wrong match and venue!! You should have been at the latest Port and Stilton Club outing on Dam Flask (report on it's way....eventually!!)

Your catch would have got you second place and an assortment of high quality silverware (ok tat we pick up cheap in charity shops!!)..........

I'd have still beaten you though..........I got 5 fish :wh

---------- Post added at 10:38 ---------- Previous post was at 10:31 ----------

Agree with Steph and others...use these events to learn and try and work out how you could have possibly got a few more bites/fish.

Sunday was a real grueller for all of us....and some very good anglers didn't get a touch....I realised that I hadn't taken account of the tow on the water that eventually became like a tide race in the afternoon, as the constant south east wind drove the water up the bottle neck. Lesson learned; heavier lead on feeder earlier may have nicked a couple more fish. May not have done but sitting with what was, in reality, a rolling lead wasn't the brightest thing to do!! I blame the port and stilton!:w

 

[brummiephil]

At least you caught, look at what you learnt on the day rather than what you didn't win or catch.
If you were to fish it again, what would you do differently?

Try to stay positive, not always easy i know.

take a book???

 

[hunters moon]

SORRY TO HEAR ABOUT YOUR FIRST RIVER MATCH NOT BEING TO
SUCCESFUL BUT YOU DID NOT COME LAST AND EVEN TOP NOTCH MATCHMEN
HAVE BAD DAYS,REMEMBER PHIL THE BAD DAYS MAKE THE GOOD ONE'S
EVEN SWEETER PLEASE DONT GIVE UP AFTER JUST ONE MATCH WE ALL HAVE
TO SERVE OUR APPRENTASHIP AND IN TIME YOU WILL BE MORE SUCCESFUL
THE MORE MATCHES THAT YOU FISH.
TIGHT LINES
HUNTERS MOON



at the end of your fishing trip leave only footprints.

 

[Tee-Cee]

As many others have said; Bad day and every angler who has ever fished a match has experienced many of them!

I started at 11 years old fishing in club junior matches and continued into my twenties with some wonderful memories. Had many blanks but what I taught me was to try and catch fish from the bit of water in front of me. Sometimes great, sometimes just plain awful BUT you had to make the best of it and it has stood me in good stead through my years of fishing.
Had to do some homework by reading the match reports in the weeklies, following the top matchmen articles for rigs and baits and taking as many different baits as possible for that last ditch effort when all else fails.
Everyone takes mags/casters etc so take some lobs, prepared crust cubes or whatever to give yourself the edge. How many times have top matchmen baited several 'lines' and found fish late in the match jus by changing tact.

I remember fishing a big match yonks ago on the Thames at Henley, below the island, and watching one guy haul out 160lbs of bream fishing a feeder that looked more like a shell. He used 5pints of mags with loads of feed.
Nothing special about that you might say except the ten anglers either side of him didn't manage 5lbs between them..........they ALL fished the standard float trotting the stream with nothing else as a back up...............

Just don't give up after one match as it's a very special feeling to win or 'frame' in a bigish match BUT it takes time and lots of effort. Try to fish matches on venues you're familiar with to begin with or try to fish the stretch you're match fishing the following week

Good luck at your next match!!

 

[chefster]

Everyone seems to think that this is Phil,s first match-it is,nt,he,s been doing very well within his club,but on lakes-this was his "first" River match!!

 

[smufter]

I was 8th out of 11 !

Imagine how gutted the other three must have been

 

[Tee-Cee]

Point taken Chefster;

Hope he doesn't give on RIVER matches then!

Be nice if he kept us to date if he tries again....sort of an FM diary??

 

[chefster]

Point taken Chefster;

Hope he doesn't give on RIVER matches then!

Be nice if he kept us to date if he tries again....sort of an FM diary??

I think he,s been a bit put off to say the least

 

[brummiephil]

damn right, I am looking to get to a commie soon to see some bites!!

 

[Jim Crosskey 2]

Phil

I'm no match expert, but I do fish rivers regularly. It seems in this match you were one (decent) fish away from a winning weight.

How do you tend to do in the lake matches you fish? Winning - or one fish away from winning? If you're further away from that, then it seems to me that you did better in this match on the river?

(I work in sales, we're always trying to put a positive spin on something )

Jim