Winter Begins.....

Actually, this morning wasn't too bad! the rain had just about stopped when I got up, and the wind had dropped to nothing. It was also a lot milder than previous mornings, and certainly nowhere near the -2 and -3's that we have had. Even the carp in my pond were quite happy to feed so I was hopeful of a few carp feeling the same in Westside!

I had a walk around the lake when I got there as I hadn't fished that lake for around a month or so. Most people wanted to draw an early peg (1-18) as thats where all the fish were caught last time. I have to admit I wasn't so sure they would be the best from looking, they had a distinct black / grey colour to the water up to about peg 15, which I think comes from rotting leaves.

My usual place two thirds down the queue and I was quite happy with peg 31, although there were quite alot of floating leaves that I thought could be a pain! I set up two rigs to fish along the far bank, in two areas of the same depth, as I didn't have a great area to fish in the margin and I've never done that great fishing the deep water on this lake. I did have to chop some lillies that were infront of my peg first though! Both rigs were on .14 dia Garboline with 16 B611 hooks. The first rig up was for fishing on the bottom in near 4ft of water, on the far slope. This used a .2gr DC6 float, while my other rig was to fish about 14-16in off the bottom and used a 4 x 10 in-line Preston Pink dibber. The two areas were at 16m in front and at about 16.5m to my right in a slight bay on the island. Both rigs were on a soft Preston 13h elastic.

At the whistle I elected to only feed the swim directly in front, leaving the fish somewhere to back off. Three grains off corn, about ten casters and a small pinch of hemp went in, then the full depth rig went across with a grain of corn on the hook. A liner after five mins gave hope of a quick fish, but the only other action was a lost fish that I foulhooked as I lifted up. Nothing else followed in the first 15 mins so I started to drip a few casters in and try one on the hook. Just an odd liner was all that happend in the next half hour, in that time the peg to my right had a perch (later weighed at a level 2lb) and a small carp, while the peg to my left (33, which I won off last time I fished this lake) had 2 small carp from the margin. A brief try on the shallow rig was fruitless (apart from cursing at the floating leaves!) so I tried double white maggot. A quick dob saw me strike and soon net a small 2lb common, at least I hadn't blanked!

A fruitless hour followed, while peg 33 had two more small carp. No liners even followed so I tried and fed the other line. All of a sudden the sun broke through and at the same time a group of carp came swimming round the corner of the island up in the water and into my peg. Out with the shallow rig and under goes the float... ooops, missed it! Back in and under again goes the float and out comes a couple of yards of lakky! a couple of minutes later and a 5lb common is in the net. Strait back out, half a dozen caster are tipped out of the pot onto the float and it buries again! A few min later a maniac 5lb ghostie is in the net, this is fun! Next drop in and the pattern is repeated, this time with a smaller carp of about 3lb, and a slightly longer wait next chuck gives another 3lb'er.

This spell of action was short lived however, and as soon as the action had started it had stopped, not a disaster as nobody near me had caught anything else. The next hour was fruitless whatever I tried, over either line, failed to produce. One lone 4lb common came out of the blue on the shallow rig so I tried pushing the rig slightly closer to the far bank. An over enthusiastic strike at a bite I missed however saw me attached to a tree on the otherside, damn! (or words to that effect!, and yes, it's still up that tree!)

Back slightly closer and odd liners started again on the shallow rig. For some reason I decided to drop the rig in way to the left and it instantly went under (should have tried that earlier!) this fish ran all along the far bank and got stuck on a branch and a load of line under a tree quite a way to my right. I could see the tree moving, and when I pulled a big branch with a load of line lifted out of the water, eeerm, now what! I was convinced I wasn't getting this fish out so just pulled and I felt something give. I was sure I had just the branch attached (and said so to the angler next peg) till it swam past me when shipping back! In the net and it was a ghostie of no more than 3lb that had caused so much trouble! I had to cut a load of said line off my rig, it must have been at least 8lb line, with a hook tied knotless knot style with the hair stop still in the loop, and it had been in the water a while!

I had one last common of around 4lb that was in the net just before the whistle, but didn't have enough time to get another. I reckoned that my 8 carp would go around 32lb, way more than anyone else I could see. It was only when the scales can round I found out that someone had 50lb off peg 18, now I hate that peg, mostly 'cos its a winter flier, and I never draw it, EVER! That peg (with the same angler normally!) beat me a few times last winter, hence my dislike of it! I will draw it one day!

I was only reasonably happy with my 2nd (14lb was 3rd off 33 to my left) I do feel if pushed I could have had a bit more from my peg, but not enough to win. It's just a bit of a bummer when there is one peg that seems to beat you (as opposed to the angler), and more so when the same lucky swine seens to draw it. He even had the balls to complain about it as he said it was too far to the island!! Some people are never happy!