MATCH FISHING on the RIVER DON Earth Centre NORTHERN RIVER MASTERS Q7

Another Qualifier - It's Round 7 of the Northern River Masters 2022 and my campaign to reach the final. This time out we're headed for the River Don Earth Centre stretch on the Rotherham & District UAF book.
The River Don here tends to be deep and slow running in normal conditions and that's certainly what I found when I drew peg 29 with 16.5ft off the end of the long rod.
Plan of attack for this one was to ball it and fish my 10m Acolyte whip into the flow for roach and skimmers and have the bolo as backup to search further down the swim if the fish dropped back. Of course I'd let the groundbait settle and go for a look on the feeder for an early bream or skimmer. Well that was the plan but as we all know, things rarely go as smoothly as you'd hope!
Enjoy the video guys 👍🎣🐟
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Until next time...
TIGHT LINES!

[@AnthonyWilliams-ew3wp]

You fished a tricky peg very well.

[@jamesflynn1784]

Keep at it John lad great videomuch appreciated pal

[@HOOKEDFishingChannel]

Thanks James, will.do👍

[@antrog1895]

I believe the peg is known as a parrot cage 😆 As for the river….. shall we just politely say snag pit. Unlucky there mate, felt ya pain cheers for uploading though, entertaining as ever. 🍺🍺🍺🍺

[@HOOKEDFishingChannel]

Yes parrot cage and snag pit Ant, it was a frustrating day for most to be fair. Thanks for watching and commenting👍

[@melvinbartlett4444]

Great video as usual John you sertnantly need a good draw don’t know wether the notifications are working did not get your uploaded until today anyway great video you fished well considering the obstacles you had to put up with all the best for the next one

[@yc-7591]

You're so cool

[@HOOKEDFishingChannel]

Thanks 😁

[@derekbatey1501]

Hard lines John, admire you perseverance ,one day you will qualify, you deserve it 🤞

[@HOOKEDFishingChannel]

Hope so! Thanks Derek👍

[@ianhoward5493]

Another great video John, and a great looking venue, the amount of branches you took out you could have starting making your own Christmas tree, draw with your left hand on the next match it might bring you a better peg and a bit of deserved luck. Ian in the Borders

[@karldawson8402]

Great vid john..tight peg nightmare,nothing worse than being hemmed in on all side coupled with drawing what looked like a barren section,always next time.

[@HOOKEDFishingChannel]

Thanks Karl, don't forget if you want to guest with the bandits, give me a shout - 3 matches left, Calder, and 2 commies👍

[@karldawson8402]

@@HOOKEDFishingChannel will do john cheers 🙂🙂

[@mikepattinson3285]

Great video again John, you did well not venting you frustration. River and depth allows debris to settle on bottom, just fortunate you didn't loose lots of gear.

[@HOOKEDFishingChannel]

Thanks Mike. It was a frustrating day again, about time I had a really good day's fishing.

[@allyearangler1471]

HFC, awesome video! I just subscribed to your channel!

[@clintonhughes6245]

Unlucky mate

[@HOOKEDFishingChannel]

Someone has to be Clinton🤷‍♂️

[@davidfarmery4577]

Hard day John bad draw but got a few fish better luck next time thight lines.

[@HOOKEDFishingChannel]

Yeah tough day for most, hard to settle in that peg, did my best but the fish had other ideas. Thanks David👍

[@adamstoneangling3411]

Another great well made vid mate, shame about the poor fishing, hopefully more luck in future rounds 👍

[@HOOKEDFishingChannel]

Cheers pal👍

[@richardrouse1873]

Tough day John but your videos are as good as usual please keep them coming and hopefully your luck will change and start drawing some better pegs 👍🏻all the best😎

[@HOOKEDFishingChannel]

Thanks Richard. If I didn't have bad luck I'd have no luck at all, must have broken too many mirrors 🤣

[@philanthropist1241]

Good effort John, a great advert for fishing commercials 😆

[@HOOKEDFishingChannel]

Cheers Phil! I’d rather eat my on bait than sit on a commercial week in week out😝

[@geraldhinde681]

Your luck has got to change some time John keep at it it will happen 👍

[@HOOKEDFishingChannel]

Some people seem to draw well all the time which I guess means others of us have to draw bad all the time, I never used to draw this badly for so long though, maybe it's the curse of the cameras🤷‍♂️

[@pmay222]

fabulous looking place... when you said its a small fish peg ..i was expecting you to windmill out 15lb of silvers on the whip... maybee fish a bit closer 6m whip and flick hemp and maggot ..also try waggler.? easy from my armchair watching but i was willing you to do well...those deep northern venues are unpredictable by looks of it... but keep at it..

[@HOOKEDFishingChannel]

The swim was dropping off steeply and I wanted to get into the flow on a very low and clear river. A short line may have worked but Kev above me wasn't catching on it. As for.waggler, it's not something I have much confidence in (fishing shallow?) on such a deep swim, slider can work well, better than the bolo if the wind had been the worse problem but it was those darn snags😡 Thanks for watching, I'll be back to try again in a couple of weeks time.🤞

[@martincallaghan8817]

Well you got chance to hoy some balls of groundbait about but sadly didn't get chance to utilize it to your advantage ' I once had a similar session to that on the ure above aldwark year's ago ' sure I dismantled a beaver's lodge 🤣 stick your hand back in the bag John that winning pegs in there somewhere . 👍

[@HOOKEDFishingChannel]

Haha nice one Martin🦫

[@karlpearson8032]

Awesome effort John, I reckon a lot of anglers would have given up, not you John that’s why me and all your subscribers keep on watching your videos, there brilliant.

[@HOOKEDFishingChannel]

Thanks Karl, appreciated mate👍

[@gazellis1961]

Oh well at least you've dredged the Don John lol...still a great video and hope you draw a top peg soon...your due one.

[@HOOKEDFishingChannel]

LOL Gaz...the next person on 29 probably had a free run through and emptied it🤔 Thanks pal 👍

[@stephenmcloughlin2901]

thanks John. i caught one perch on the Don the last time i was there lol

[@HOOKEDFishingChannel]

When it's not in the mood it's tough going Stephen, but I'm a glutton for punishment and will be back for the second one there in a couple of weeks time🤞

[@stephenmcloughlin2901]

@@HOOKEDFishingChannel its my first year canal and river fishing with my new club. exciting times.

[@HOOKEDFishingChannel]

Keep going, you'll learn a lot, it's not a quick process and even when you think you know a venue, every day is different. Tight lines bud 🎣

[@phillipblackham9629]

Hard day at the office John, on to the next one 👍

[@HOOKEDFishingChannel]

That's it Phillip 👍

[@ianmitchell9056]

Chin up good look next time out

[@HOOKEDFishingChannel]

Cheers Ian👍

[@jorvikangler]

Oh well. Onward and upward - hopefully.

[@HOOKEDFishingChannel]

Hopefully🤞

[@dennishoward3096]

crap draw john right snag pit, still a great video better luck next time your due a good draw.

[@HOOKEDFishingChannel]

Tell me about it! Cheers Dennis👍

[@clivecottingham2043]

Awful when you know fish are there but can’t get at em,so frustrating.Don’t think you could have fished different John.Chuck and hope I suppose.Better luck next time mate but we’ll filmed, nice to see the movement on the tip.

[@HOOKEDFishingChannel]

Yes, frustrating day Clive, put it behind me and move on. Not the easiest peg to film in but do my best for you guys.

[@davidwilkinson6949]

Enjoyed the video hope you enjoyed the beers

[@HOOKEDFishingChannel]

🤣I certainly did David, cheers 🍻

[@darrenbrewster3345]

Unlucky John 👍👍

[@HOOKEDFishingChannel]

Yeah, someone has to be😭

[@darrenbrewster3345]

@@HOOKEDFishingChannel I had a day to forget on Saturday on the tees 🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️

[@jamesburton668]

Unlucky John. As always, good angling! A lot of it’s in the draw! Also, I’m pretty sure if you were on fish you’d a got em mate. Those snags didn’t help though. Better look next time👍

[@HOOKEDFishingChannel]

Thanks James. Yes the draw tends to be where they are won and lost but it would have been nice to make the most of the float line, sadly it wasn't to be, just gotta keep on truckin' 😉

[@jamesburton668]

@@HOOKEDFishingChannel that’s the one pal👍

[@jamesatkinsfishing]

Tough bit of river to fish there John just the wrong peg I think 🤔🤔

[@HOOKEDFishingChannel]

Cheers James, apparently they're ordinarily good pegs, it was a case of, should have been here last week🤷‍♀️

[@johnibbertson2960]

some of them pegs have not been cleared out john ,shame cos you can have good days down there las time i was down i had 22 lb 2metres to hand

[@HOOKEDFishingChannel]

Nice day's fishing that for you John. I'm surprised the fish were that close in, was there colour in the river? I assume you were you fishing on top of the ledge in shallow water?

[@dt1607]

Just a thought, swinging your feeder rest round to your left, might offer less resistance to the fish, giving you a more positive bite ??? 🤔👏👏👏

[@HOOKEDFishingChannel]

To be honest I don't think it would have made much difference, very little flow. I chose that side for the feeder just to give me some space in an already tight peg. Float was the right method for the day but unfortunately unfishable for me.

[@dt1607]

Ok, it's just what I'd have tried to make bites more positive

[@keithbrown6990]

Hi John bad peg next time 🎣

[@keithbrown6990]

Hi John went you on the river hull

[@HOOKEDFishingChannel]

Hope so Keith🤞

[@HOOKEDFishingChannel]

On the 15th October if I haven't qualified beforehand.

[@keithbrown6990]

@@HOOKEDFishingChannel ok thanks. Let hopefully 😁

[@markymarkthelabman7639]

No chance off that peg but still a good video 👍you must be due a flyer soon🤞🤞

[@HOOKEDFishingChannel]

Long overdue Mark, curse of the cameras 🫤 thanks for watching bud👍

[@anthonylong6403]

A bad day at the office always makes a beer taste much sweeter in my experience John! Great video as usual and I look forward to your upcoming session on the Aire. Do you take part in any matches on the Calder, by any chance as I am planning a few sessions on there before the winter and would be interested to know how best to tackle the river.

[@HOOKEDFishingChannel]

Hi Anthony, the beers tasted great! Aire is the next video up. I do fish the calder and have another qualifier on there. How to fish it all depends on the area but if you're heading to Altofts Ings then my preferred approach is to fish a pencil float on the whip - find around 8-10ft of water and ball it (4-6 balls) with black groundbait and lace them with dead maggot. Fish maggot over the top and once they turn up, keep the loose feed going in.

[@anthonylong6403]

@@HOOKEDFishingChannel Hi John, Thanks very much for your very helpful response, really appreciated! The fact that you take time to respond sets your channel apart from most others!! The stretches of the Calder I am most interested in are those on the Mirfield AC book, which includes Altoft. Had a walk along some of the Mirfield stretches yesterday and this morning but many pegs are very overgrown and appear largely unfished - saw lots of fish however!

[@HOOKEDFishingChannel]

They will strim them down at Altofts soon in preparation for the NRM qualifier and the final is on there. Altofts comes into it's own in Autumn. If you fish the first one out of the car park on the bend of the river, it's a flyer. If you walk upstream it starts to shallow up at the horsehoe bend, maybe half way from the car park to the bend there's some platformed pegs that offer good fishing. If you follow the canal down to Woodnook car park where the lock cottage is, the last pegs below the bridge are great too, or adjacent to the woodnook car park, those pegs on steep banks are best approached on feeder to the far bank for perch and chublets. Mexborough above the weir tends to be the favoured bream area but they rarely show in numbers, the first couple of pegs below the weir aren't worth fishing anymore now the turbine is the flow comes back round in a big circle in, they're very shallow but further downstream it deepens up again, not my foavoured area but bolo or stick works ok down there.

[@tonyrobinson3808]

unlucky mate dont think you could of done much more

[@HOOKEDFishingChannel]

Definitely limited on options Tony, feeder clearly wasn't how they wanted the bait presented, I maybe should have taken the big slider waggler to get out further on float but didn't 🤷‍♂️

[@davetaylor8858]

Point the feeder rod upstream and stick to 6mtrs on the whip

[@HOOKEDFishingChannel]

Thanks for the tip Dave👍

[@antonseer]

Bad luck ? Or loading 7+ Balls of G/B over an area you CANNOT fish, is I am sorry to say is a “SCHOOL BOY ERROR “ this continual bombardment at the start of Matches is getting you no where! For once go on the straight lead and SEARCH FIRST that way you just might leave some Decent fish in your swim instead of bits. You cannot rely on luck John. ANT

[@HOOKEDFishingChannel]

You're entitled to your opinion Ant, I hear what you're saying but on plumbing up the area seemed fine. As for not putting the bait in, well that's open to debate, I'm sure many who fish the river would disagree, if you don't put it in, you won't get the fish. It was a difficult day for most, the fish just weren't in the mood and it was out of sorts by comparison to previous weeks.