Well, the SFCA League is now underway and what a fortnight it’s been. The past two weekends have seen me compete in the first of both the SFCA and Monklands Summer leagues on Forrestburn Reservoir, Lanarkshire. Although I’ve not picked up any winnings (far from it in fact), I’ve learned some hard lessons which are well worth sharing with you in this months article.

My preparation started last Saturday with a practice on the Motorway section of the reservoir (see map).  I choose this section as it was a bit of an unknown quantity for me, having only fished there once before, and as two sections were planned for the area I knew it would be a key area when deciding the team result.  I also felt the two dam banks would fish best with most fish being caught on the pole and was comfortable with the tactics for these areas.  However, the motorway side would be different as it’s shallower inside at only 3 foot on the pole line and a waggler/feeder is required to reach seven foot of water which is where I suspected most of the fish would be lying.

On arriving at the loch the wind was really blowing and I fancied it to fish. I set up one rig, a 3 ½ swan bodied waggler, plumbed at 25 metres and had a few ‘run throughs’ before feeding. The loch was towing hard and the float was racing through with the wind making presentation a little tricky. I didn’t set up a pole (but more of that later) as I wanted to concentrate on the longer line to see if roach were around. They were, and I had a dozen roach for over 3lb. Big baits such as red maggot and caster worked best and I found that I could get bites right on top of my feed by casting to my left and letting the tow carry the float over the baited area. I also found that I could keep bites coming by feeding 3 or 4 balls with joker & chopped worm when things went quiet and by varying the speed of the float by dragging between 1-3 foot of line on the deck. My team-mate also caught a few fish on the waggler and one on the pole so this method was not to be completely ruled out.

I was surprised not to catch perch in any numbers though and at the end of the session we decided that it would be mainly a roach match. However, an all out roach attack would be risky.  To leave our options open, the team plan would be to feed a mix which would catch both species. So we agreed on a dark groundbait mix with an equal amount of leam containing joker, chopped worm and a few casters. This way if roach were around we would catch them but we could still scratch a few perch out it if it came to it.

Come match day though, I got carried away and had a mad brainstorm!!!   I drew the North dam bank which usually fishes quite well, and I knew that 2 anglers had practised and caught there the previous day. Without really thinking I made up a really sweet roachy mix with lot’s of particles and action and filled it with plenty of joker and fed at 13 metres. That was mistake number 1, mistake number 2 came 10 minutes later when I found I’d forgotten to add my chopped worm!!!

Into the match itself and roach only showed in pockets leaving most of the field to fish for the odd roach and some perch. However, I really struggled and got zero roach bites (I still don’t know why). If that wasn’t bad enough, there wasn’t a perch in the country that was going to come over that initial feed, it just wasn’t right for them. The obvious answer would have been to come away from that line completely and virtually start again by stripping out the groundbait and feeding chopped worm/joker in leam at 6 metres. However I was so wrapped up in trying to catch roach that I didn’t do the obvious until 5 mins to go and ended up with 2 small perch and last in the section. I had been sucked into trying to catch fish that were in someone else’s peg instead of focussing on what my own peg was worth and paid heavily for it.

On the way back to the car park I couldn’t help but wonder what that inside line would have been worth had I gone on it earlier.   My question was answered almost immediately as it turns out the roach didn’t really show in any numbers and a pound of perch got you good section points, and where…the inside line of course!!!  Perch had been caught as short as 4 metres on the motorway sections – remember this was a line we hadn’t even considered the day before. But on reflection it made perfect sense.  The wind had been blowing for a few days resulting in a big wave which was crashing in on the margins stirring up lots of colour and food for the perch.  Rab Crossan discovered this (by accident) when while struggling on a long pole line he caught a small perch shipping out.  When it happened again 5 minutes later, he put 2 & 2 together, got 4 and went on to win the section catching one a chuck at 5 metres.

Rab with less small fish

Obviously there are lessons to be had here but something else that happened in these two sections may also interest you.  Up until that point, anglers had been working hard to catch the odd fish on the pole and waggler and it was pretty clear where everyone was lying in the section.  Most seemed content to "keep plugging away" and after around 3 hours it seemed the points had already been divided up.  But even when Rab started catching close in, most seemed reluctant to follow suit and when they did, it was too late to catch him.  A couple of hours later the section places looked very different indeed.  It was as if a whole section went to sleep even when it was apparent that a change of tactics was required to go on and win.  This can happen in matches when it seems too risky to go out on a limb but as Rab proved, it can really pay to keep thinking and grab opportunities when they are presented to you.

The following week in the Monklands club match, the short line again produced the bulk of the weights. The match was pegged on the East main dam either side of the sluice. The 5 guys to the right of this feature caught early on long pole initially before moving inside and increased their catch rate almost immediately.  I was on the other side (with around 8 others) and oblivious to just how close the rest of the match was catching.  The anglers at my end of the match were all fishing long poles (13 metres) and most were picking up a few small perch and very odd roach.  I was nowhere in the match at this point with only ounces but then I got a bit of ‘inside info’ from another who whispered that we were all fishing too long.  So with 50 minutes to go I switched to 5 metres, fed chopped worm in leam and stuck a redworm on the hook.  Amazingly (but obviously) I caught a small perch a chuck and ended up 5^th in the match with nearly 2lb.  Third was only 4lb so again, if I’d been an hour or so earlier onto that line I feel I could have framed with ease…will I ever learn !!!

So to summarise, what have been my main lessons from this years opening matches?

• Practice Makes Perfect

But doesn’t necessarily win you the match !!!  Use practice sessions to give you a feel for how the match will go but be prepared to bin your team plan if it fishes differently.

• Rule Nothing Out

The twists and turns of match fishing will never cease to amaze me.  That inside line was a real surprise but it only takes a little common sense and an open mind to come up with potential match winners.

• Stay Awake

It’s so easy to stop thinking and I think we’ve all done it at some stage in a match.  You often think you are doing OK plodding along but as things change you must be alert to what your peg is telling you.  Always keep thinking of where the next fish is coming from and look for opportunities to get ahead, after all Rab won his section by doing just that.

Although we didn’t have massive winning catches, overall both matches were a success with the respectable average weights.  And congratulations to the winners, you’ll find all the results elsewhere in the site.  My next report will come in a couple of weeks following league match two and I’m already looking forward to another good match and few lessons to share with you in Davie’s Diary.  Finally remember, if you have any questions or comments just click on the link below and send them in.

Tight lines

Davie

e-mail me - 

Back to 'Davie's Diary' Homepage