Every week pretty much starts in the same manner for me. Monday is a day kept for reflection on the weekends fishing, and also catching up on how other anglers have got on via the phone. It’s surprising at times how much information you can pick up from comparing your findings fishing wise with other anglers, especially if one of those other anglers is Alan Scotthorne.

So with all that done my next job for the day is to get on with my Angling Times column, normally it takes me around 2-3 uninterrupted hours to get this done, hence I get phone calls out of the way in the morning. Writing articles is something that I really enjoy doing as to me it’s very important that I get my point across. This week I have been writing about the mental side of match fishing, by this I mean what goes through my head in a typical match situation. The key to the article for me was getting across the fact that it’s not a case of sitting waiting for something to happen, but instead trying to make something happen. This may involve changing my feeding patterns, or altering the shotting pattern on my rig, the list is endless and even the smallest changes can make all the difference. So that’s Monday done and dusted, I like if possible to get all my work done early in the week so as to free up the rest of the week for the important stuff, fishing!

This is a funny day for me as in if I had a lot of writing to get done then sometimes I’ll carry it over, if not I try and get out for an afternoons pleasure fishing. Well pleasure is maybe not the right word as its time I use to try out new tackle and new methods. Being a consultant for Shimano, VDE, and Korda means I’m constantly getting new items of tackle through to try and these all have to be rigorously field tested to meet my high standards.

Today I’m actually going out for a session with the PVA to Naseby reservoir. For the past few months I have been coming down to Naseby to have a play with the PVA and it has really opened my eyes to its many uses within match fishing. The fishing here is also superb on its day with the fish being of a good size (8-12lb) in the main with an odd real surprise in there. I haven’t been here for a few months however and on my arrival I have found that the water level has come right up making the Dam the only real fishing point. Anyway it’s still well worth a cast so I have picked a spot two thirds of the way up the dam wall.

Now to anyone who hasn’t fished Naseby reservoir it’s a place whereby the fish at this time of year tend to sit out at long range. So to reach these fish I have to gear up accordingly. Instead of my normal commercial feeder set up I have instead opted to use a barbel rod. This has more casting power than a conventional feeder rod whilst still retaining a good through action for playing fish once I latch into one. The model I’m using today is the Shimano Beastmaster BX Allround in the 12 foot length. This features a test curve of around a pound and three quarters and even with the strong wind blowing today should enable me to cast around 70 plus yards with relative ease. Reel wise the rod is teamed up with the new Super Baitrunner Aero 5000 XTE-A.

These are great reels for distance casting, they offer great line lay too and combine that with bags of winding power you have the perfect reel for this type of work. The reel is loaded with 8lb Technium Tribal. This line has slightly less stretch than normal mono, which in turn gives me the angler better casting accuracy and bite detection. It’s also very hard wearing, which means I don’t have to worry about it letting me down even when I’m catching a lot of fish. Set up itself is a simple running rig, which features a Korda 2oz pear lead and a short hooklength of around 10 inches. The hooklength is 0.22 Antares Silk Shock, this may seem heavy but the fish in here are big and I’m not taking any chances. Hook is a size 14 tied using the knotless so I can hair rig the chosen hookbait. Bait for the day is Ringers commercial micro pellets which I will use to fill the small PVA bags, and then hookbait itself is a single Ringers 8mm white shellfish boilie.

With the warm weather we have been having I was optimistic that today was going to be a productive one but after a biteless hour I start to have my doubts. The problem is with the extra water having gone in, I’m now casting into around 30 feet of water and experience has taught me that Carp in particular aren’t happy feeding in these depths. On top of that the water that has gone in is likely to be on the cold side, which definitely isn’t going to inspire any fish into feeding. Rather than sitting biteless I opt for a move up to the sailing club where the water is shallower and its here that produces the only bite of the day and a lovely mirror carp nudging double figures. All in all a disappointing day but not a total write off.

In the past Wednesday was always a match day for me, but in the last couple of months there have been regular Thursday matches on a venue called Stanborough reservoir near Wellwyn garden city. For anyone who doesn’t know Stanborough in my opinion offers the best winter bream fishing in the country. Even with ice in the margins winning weights of 30lb plus are needed. And here’s the best bit, everyone catches a few Bream wherever they draw. You can’t ask for more than that in the colder months. So Wednesday is spent preparing for the next days open match. When I say preparing I mean tying up hooklengths, checking my reel lines and finally on Wednesday night preparing my bait. To me the preparation side is as important as the actual fishing itself as it enables everything to run that bit smoother during the match and saves you valuable fishing time.

A 5am start wasn’t really what I needed if I’m honest but the fishing will hopefully more than make up for it. After a quick breakfast in the café en route it’s onto the venue and an 8am draw. After registering and paying my pools money it’s time for the draw. Peg 5 on the riverbank is to my spot for the day. It hasn’t been a form peg in the previous 2 weeks but one of the good things about Stanborough is you just never know where the winner will come from. Tactics wise I have opted to set two feeder rods up. Both are Shimano Antares medium feeder rods, which in my opinion are the best feeder rods on the market by some distance. They have plenty of power in the middle sections for casting whilst still retaining a fantastic very forgiving playing action, which ensures minimal hook pulls. Reels are Shimano Stradic 4000FB’s loaded with 5lb Speedmaster mono. A word of note here and that is when feeder fishing and setting up two rods it’s handy to have two reels the same. That way when it comes to clipping up it’s a simple case of casting out to the required spot and then putting the line clip on. Next step is simply to count the reel turns as you reel back in and the lead comes to hand. Today as an example I have clipped up at 50 turns of the reel.

The last step is to pick up the second rod and cast out and repeat the process until that one too is clipped up at 50 turns, admittedly it might take two or three casts to do but it’s a lot easier than pacing the line out on the bank. My end set up is a small cage feeder fished in a running loop with a short 10-inch hook length of 0.16 Antares Silk Shock. Hook is a size 16 tied with a hair rig, and hook bait is to be either an 8mm Ringers white shellfish boilie or a single cube of the famous yellow meat. Groundbait mix for the day is 50-50 Ringers bag up mix and the New Ringers dark. Remember at this point though that I have mixed the groundbait the night before to allow it to fully absorb any water. Through the feeder I am going to put a smattering of micro pellets to give the Bream something to root around on. Micro pellets are also a good way of holding Bream in the swim for longer periods. The match starts at 9am and to kick the swim off I have put 6 large cage feeders of groundbait and micros in at 50 turns using the second rod. Now it’s simply a case of picking up the other rod that is all set up ready to go.

To start the match I’m going to keep casting every 5 minutes to get a bit of bait in the swim. On 45 minutes I get my first bite that is a 4lb Bream, another next cast sadly slips the hook right in the middle of the peg. Not a good start. Twenty minutes later and the tip pulls round again only for the hook to pull. Not a good start is now turning into a disaster, one lost bream is bad enough, but two? A quick change of hook and hook length and back out I go, this is something I always do when I lose a couple of fish. I’m not saying that there was something wrong with the hook, but why take the chance. From then on it’s pretty much plain sailing and when the whistle goes to finish the match I have 21 Bream in the net. 20 have come on the boilie and just that first one on yellow meat, not sure why but they definitely wanted the boilie today. That’s one reason why it’s well worth swapping and changing hook baits until you find one that works. At the weigh in two weighs on the scales are needed and a pleasing 68lb 12oz is recorded which is more than enough for a match win on the day.

As I said at the start Stanborough offers fantastic fishing and today has been no different, I think over half the field has weighed in over 20lb of Bream on the day. Where else would that happen? Back to the lakeside café for the payout and its time to hit the motorway, finally arriving home at 6pm it’s been a long day, but well worth it none the less.

Friday for me is when it all begins again. I have the weekends matches to look forward to so its all about preparation. This week it’s the meadowlands teams of 3 winter league, so the first job is to head off to the Sportsmans lodge tackle shop to pick up my bait and a few bits and pieces of tackle I need. On return home its rig making time, although I like to make rigs on the bank when time allows, it’s always good to have some rigs in my box as back up. I have also had a couple of extra top kits arrive for my Aspire AX pole and these are going to need elasticating ready for the weekends matches. Because I fish a lot of different venues it’s important that I carry a number of top kits that incorporate varying elastic strengths. For instance one day I can be fishing for skimmers and using a no.6 or a number 8 elastic, and then the next I’m fishing for big Carp and using a 14. A point worth making here is that one of the great things about my Aspire AX pole is that it’s an all rounder, equally at home fishing for both silvers and Carp.


Right so that’s my week done and dusted! So until next time……..

Steve Ringer