Sharp frosts and a bitterly cold wind will hit weekend prospects
The next couple of weeks will see most of our local clubs running their annual fur and feather matches.
They usually coincide with some much colder weather and it looks like this year is no exception.
Allsorts AC take a trip over onto the March Twenty Foot Drain and after a good match there a few weeks ago they will be hoping for more of the same.
We have had a couple of sharp frosts and the bitterly cold wind still seems to be with us so sport may not be that good.
It is quite a deep venue though so there should be some roach willing to feed along with the odd tench and perch to a chopped worm approach.
A little closer to home Yaxley/Farcet/Holme AC will be fishing their Christmas match on the Bower at Whittlesey.
This piece of water is running very clear at the moment so should favour those fishing a bread punch approach for the roach and skimmers. The odd chub could show but I fancy this to be a really hard one.
Perhaps the biggest match of the weekend and one of the most important for several weeks in fact is the final round of the Angling Trust East Midlands Winter League. This year the league decided to try out a canal to put a bit of variety into the fixtures but unfortunately the canal section being used at Milton Keynes has not been anywhere near as good as it has been for several years.
Anglers really struggled in most sections last week in the practice match despite being able to use bloodworm and joker. I fear it will be no different this weekend as Browning Hotrods from Huntingdon and Sensas Mark One battle it out for the top spot.
Pleasure anglers are not going to find it quite so easy either. It’s time to get out the winter clothing that’s for sure.
There are fish to be caught though. As I mentioned bread punch is a cracking method at this time of year on fen drains and even on rivers too.
The Old Nene at March and Benwick both respond well to the bread approach, and Whittlesey Dyke and perhaps even Cock Bank could be worth a try.
The River Nene at Wansford and Stibbington is still producing reasonable weights to maggot or pinkie over a little groundbait.
It’s those fishing stillwaters that are going to notice the big change this weekend. Gone will be the days of piling in the bait, a little and often approach could be much more productive.
Fish will be reluctant to move into the shallow water unless the weather really picks up again so look to fish full depth right from the start of the day with maggot or perhaps soft hook pellet.
At this time of year feeder tactics really come into their own, with a small Method feeder or the new Banjo Method feeder, you will be surprised how well they work.
Pike fishing in the area has been good. There are plenty of fish showing on most of the fenland drains with a few specimen anglers recording double-figure pike. Dead baits have once again been by far the most productive with small mackerel, smelt and dead coarse baits working well
≈~≈The Daily Catch Team≈~≈
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