Tim Kelly at WPAC

Just a week to go until Tim gives his presentation on Dropshotting. The venue is Bagster House CIU in Walton Lane, Walton on Thames and the meeting starts at 8 pm on Tue 12th Nov, £3 for PAC members and £4 for non PAC.

Further details on our website, see my sig.

Bump for this coming Tuesday  

just seen in our local press that there will be night time road closures for re-surfacing works on the run up to walton bridge this means the bridge will be shut from 11 nov to 15 nov whilst work goes on. it affects the junction of oatlands ave and new zealand road and also marshalls roundabout. more details in the elmbridge guardian 7 november page 6. posted this here as thought it may affect any one going to the club for the perca chat.

Good spot Patrick. Just found this on the SCC website -

11 November to 15 November 2013

To lay the final road surface along the A244 around the roundabout at the junction with Walton Lane (Shepperton) and the eastbound approach to the traffic signals at the Oatlands Drive/New Zealand Avenue junction it will be necessary to close the A244 overnight between the hours of 8:00pm and 6:00am. A fully signed diversion route via Hampton Court Bridge will be provided to avoid the closure but you are advised to allow more time for your journey during these periods.

At the same time there will be no access to and from the A244 for Walton Lane (Walton) due to the above works. A diversion route via Monument Hill and Oatlands Drive will be in place throughout the periods the A244 is closed to traffic. Access to properties and businesses located along Walton Lane as far as the Cowey Sale car park will be maintained at all times from the Weybridge end of Walton Lane.

To facilitate the surfacing of the new roundabout at the Walton Lane (Shepperton) junction it will be necessary to also close Walton Lane from the junction with Thames Meadow through to the A244 Walton Bridge Road. Access for residents and businesses will be from the Russell Road end of Walton Lane only. During this period Walton Lane will revert to two-way working with temporary traffic controls in place Outside of the working hours of 8:00pm to 6:00am Walton Lane will operate as a one-way road as normal.

I should also mention that as well as Tim's talk we are holding a 2nd hand tackle sale. So, if you're after a bargain or two, bring your wallet.

How was it, many good tips picked up I hope.

I certainly picked up a couple of tips. Tim uses fluorocarbon line, in preference to mono and certainly in preference to braid because of its weight and sinking properties. This enables Tim to keep a slight loop of line between the tip, which is held high, and the lure. He explained that this allows to perch to move away with the lure before it feels the resistance of the rod tip.

The other was how slowly and smoothly he retrieves the lure. I've not tried dropshotting that much yet but I reckon I was retrieving the lure far too quickly and jerkily.

Having no real idea what I was doing the few times I've tried (my version) of the method - I found everything Tim said extremely useful and probably none more useful than the fact that effectively it's more akin to bait than lure fishing in that it triggers a feeding response rather than an aggressive/instinctive predatory reaction.

The upshot is you don't need to impart much or indeed any movement into the (correct types of ) lure other than a very slow and not necessarily constant retrieve, and fish bite rather than "hit" the bait which requires concentration and a well balanced set up to register, and allowing a bit of time and line for bites to develop.

He also showed us a very simple & effective knot which  makes presenting the hook
properly more reliable and far easier than with the usual palomar.

Can't wait to replace my horrible 8Lb Berkeley with some decent flouro and get back down to the Wey for those decent Perch I now know to be there.

Glad it went well chaps, sorry I couldn't make it but this new job is highly restrictive at present