Is it me or does time go by faster these days? It only seems like yesterday that I entered my first match at Beaver but that was last June! Things have changed a bit since then. My nieve approach based on a single conversation with the guys who ran the local fishing tackle shop, has been honed somewhat and I am hoping to better my own weights from last year.
I can now cast in roughly the correct place each time and I now have a pole and a proper seat-box to add to my armoury. More importantly I have had a lot more experience of getting the line wet. I can't see me getting into the prizes just yet but I do hope to keep off the bottom slot. Last time out I only just made that by coming third to last. I had a terrible day from a fishing point of view. It was my first time out with a pole and my seat box in a match and I was totally disorganised. So much so that I was not ready at the all-in.
I had made rigid plans as to how I was going to fish the match and stuck to them. What I had not bargained for was the weather; rain, hailstones and strong cross-wind made fishing harder than I had ever encountered before. I had gone from a casual approach that had served me reasonably well last year to a rigid plan that did not take account of the weather or have any built in contingency. Lesson learnt, next week it will be different.
The first thing I have to do is get my box set-up sorted so I can set up quicker. I need to make sure I have all I need to hand and not have to go back to the van to retrieve more gear. One of the problems I have encountered is the need to keep swapping the tools from my box to my tackle box if I am pleasure fishing with my chair and
vise-versa. This is easily rectified by spending very little on some duplicate tools such as rig-scissors, marker pen etc. Other things, like plummets and disgorgers, I already have enough to split between two locations. In my case, I think I will look for some scissors that are a different colour to the orange ones I already own. Knowing me I will end up with both pairs in the same place - a green pair would be a nice contrast! If I get everything sorted into the drawers of the box, have the relevant fittings ready and make up my rods before I get to the venue I will save myself a lot of time on the bank. I will also get the bait sorted out, into what I expect I will need for the match, all in bait boxes and ready to use, wherever possible. All these things are obvious but I need to make them second nature. For now I will be making a list.
As far as tactics are concerned, I am not going to get caught out this time by setting a too rigid plan. I have an outline of what I will be doing but not a timetable, if that makes sense. I will make up all my rods ready to use and get the bait organised. I will have the ability to catch up in the water as well as on the bottom. But the main thing is I will try and read the conditions and fish to the day.
Ralph.
