Monday 24 November 2008

Let It Snow!


Well they said it was going to snow, with severe weather warnings and all. When I got up there wasn't the slightest sign of snow! By 7.20am it had just started to snow, only a little though. That wasn't really my worry, it was the fact that it had been mild up until Friday and the sudden drop in temperature was hardly likely to be conducive to good fishing.


By the time of the draw it was snowing fairly heavy, although with quite a lot of sleet mixed in. With the onset of the cold I really wanted a peg in the open water where I could fish the bomb, partly as I thought a static bait would pay off (and it was windy) and partly as it's easier to keep my hands warm! Out of the bag came peg 66. I was fairly happy, it's a peg not quite on the end of the island, you can just get away with casting to the end of the island, plus it's wide so I had plenty of water to go at.


I decided not to fish a long pole to the island, the fish seem to move close to it on this peg, even though it's shallow, but they seem to spook from the pole. To search along the island I put up my 10ft Drennan puddle chucker. Set up just to fish a strait lead with either corn or hair rigged bread. A simple running lead stopped by a Korum quick change bead with a .15dia hooklength with a size 18 Kamasan Animal with a hair rig using the excellent Korum quickstops was the kit for this. I had a few hooklengths set up at different lengths and with different length hairs. I would use a catapult to feed if I wanted too, but intended to start off not feeding. I put up one pole rig to fish two lines in the deep water at about 9m at 1 o'clock and one at 11 o'clock. Elastic was a 12 latex, rigwise it was on .125dia line to an 18 hook and float was a .3gr DC6.


On the whistle one pole line was feed with just casters and the other was feed with hemp and corn. First cast clipped the island vegetation (whoops!), as I wasn't clipped up to allow me to search the swim! A new hooklength on and just as I settled down the snow turned totally to sleet and started to sting like hell so I had to get up to put the brolly up. Ten mins after casting with no indications and I wind in with a stick on the hook. Next cast drops a bit closer to avoid rubbish. After a couple of minites its time for a cuppa, so I reach round for my flask and round goes the tip! No more than 60 seconds later a very sleepy 4lb odd common is in the net, just as the sleet gets to it's heaviest, not that I care as I haven't blanked!


The next 30 mins passes with just one slight liner, so I try casting further along the island, nearer the point. Each cast I leave in for around 10-12mins but another 3 casts later nothing else has happend. Casting back in-front of me to where I caught my fish gives a quick dropback but tightening back up shows it was just a liner. Still, signs of fish meant I was happy to leave it longer and about 15 mins later the tip yanks round and again a very lethargic common comes in, smaller at about 3lb. A couple more liners but no proper bites on the next 2 casts, including trying some pineapple flavour corn made me try hair rigged bread. No sooner had I put the rod down than the rod went round and a livlier fish was on the end and after 3-4mins a 6lb odd common finds the net.


Just after recasting the sleet turned to rain and all the ice and snow on the bank thawed and all signs of fish dissapered. At this point the 4 other anglers I could see haven't had a fish. After a biteless hour on the tip the sun actually came out and with the tip being lifeless I tried the pole. Ten minites over both swims with corn was fruitless so I tried a single red maggot. After about 5 mins I had a bite, well, I think it was, it could have been a liner as I looked round and when I looked back the float was gone. The fish chugged gently into me, then just as it came to the net it came off, damn! I wasn't sure if it was foulhooked. It came sideways to the net but I think it may of just rolled over the line. Still, I'll never know!


The rest of the match was fruitless untill the last 30 mins when the angler next peg had 2 carp quick then his swim died. About 15mins from the end, casting to the tip of the island with a single grain of corn the rod goes round again a 4lb odd common nods it's way gently to the net.


At the weigh in one angler is admitting to 5 fish, but says they are all small. Other than my 4 carp the most was 2, so I knew I'd got 2nd! The 5 fish from the reed pegs went just short of 15lb, so I thought it was going to be close. On the scales I was suprised when my 4 fish went 20lb 6oz for 1st. And then it was off as quick as possible to get back into the warm! Winter is here!

Monday 17 November 2008

Be Carefull What You Wish For!

Well, after my mini rant two weeks ago after winter flyer peg 18 on the New Lake at Westside I actually went and drew it for the first time ever! However, just as I put my box down on my peg the heavens opened! I was also concerned that I was the only angler with someone next peg (I think) with peg 17 being in. Why does that happen to me, it never seems to be in otherwise! Could that be an omen of what the day was to hold?

The peg is quite wide (I'll try and get the pic up soon, my photo thingy is playing up!-update, I deleted the pic by accident! Oooops!). There is a small bay on the island, with the far bank steadily sloping up towards it. I decided to put up just two rigs to fish along the far bank, one just over 3ft deep and the other around 2ft 6in deep. It took just over 16m of pole to use the deeper rig on my side of the slope, and 17m the other side of the bay, and could just reach the shallow side of the bay next to some reeds with 17.6m of pole with the shallow rig, which I could also try over the deeper line. Both rigs were on .14dia line to a 16B611 on Preston 13h elastic. the deeper rig had a 4x12 Preston Somo float adapted to take a plastic tip, and the shallow rig was a 4x10 Preston Black in-line dibber.

On the whistle I cupped in a few casters and a couple of grains of hemp on the nearest deepr swim, I didn't want to feed further up and on the other side of the bay to start with, to give the fish somewhere to back off too, so I could hopefully rotate to keep odd fish coming. After 7 or 8 mins with a bit of corn on the hook and no bites I put on two red maggots and started to drip odd casters in with a toss-pot. The float settled and shot under and I was thinking 'here we go!', yet all that was on the end was a small perch, less than an ounce in weight. That proved to be the only sign of life for the next hour in my swim, then two ghosties cruised through my swim.

To cut a long and rater boring story short no matter what I tried, and where in the swim I tried it, nothing happend apart from an odd liner.That was until an hour before the end of the match. By this time peg 17 had just started to pack up, having not had a bite. I missed a bite on the nearest deeper swim and then had a 2lb common followed by one about 6lb next drop, both on single caster. By this time I could see one person (peg 20) with 4 carp and someone else with 2 so thought that a good last hour would give me a chance, but as soon as it had started it had stopped! The next bite gave just one tiny roach. Five mins before the end I missed a bite, then had a chunky 4lb mirror carp, then missed a bite seconds before the whistle. I have to say I was thoroughly gutted!

The match was won with 44lb from peg 33 (the peg in the corner I won from late in September) the peg to my left had 24lb for 2nd and 21lb was 3rd. My 3 carp gave me just over 13lb which was good enough for 4th. I sat and pondered the whole way home what had gone wrong, but I honestly believe I didn't have fish infront of me. Perhaps it was the rain, which felt very cold (and wasn't forecast!) but I don't know, I really don't. Two bad weeks in a row now, we can only hope for next week I guess!

Monday 10 November 2008

Not The Best Of Days!



When I drew peg 45 on the Old Lake at Westside I was reasonably happy with the draw, after all the peg has features and is not too deep but I just had a feeling that the day was going to be hard. I had no reason to expect it as the weather had been settled and conditions were good, it was just one of those feelings.

Rig-wise I had three put up. The first was fished towards the small island on the slope leading up to it. This was in just over 3ft of water. The float was a .2gr DC6 on .14 dia line to a 16B611 to a soft 14 latex (due to the remains of a big lilly bed in the swim). I also had a rig to fish next to the remains of the lillies, the hook and line for this rig was the same as the other rig but with a larger .3gr DC6 float in around 5ft of water. Last rig was in the margins where there were a few straggly reeds in the edge in 3ft of water, float for this was a 4x12 Preston Somo with the same hook and line as the other rigs, elastic was a soft black hydro. This rig would also double up for trying shallow over the other lines. Bait-wise I had caster, corn, hemp and a few red and white maggots for the hook.

Each line was fed at the start with a pinch of bait but with no casters on the deeper line to keep any fish down (as the hemp and corn sink fast) Starting on the far line and it was awkward to see my float in the mottled light but the first half an hour gave me just one liner before a bite on double white maggot gave me a small carp of about 2lb. Absolutely nothing followed in the next hour, even trickling casters on the far line via a toss-pot failed to get a response. The angler next peg had struck at odd bites fishing to the other side of the lilly bed, then had a fish there so I decided to drop in there. An instant bite on corn produced another 2lb common but nothing else, not even a liner. Odd fish had started to top by this point but the next hour produced nothing except one missed bite on the shallow rig next to the lillies. Out of the blue an hour after the first fish next to the lillies another 2lb common finds it's way to the net.

With an hour to go and nothing else was happening, but other anglers on the opposite bank had started to catch odd fish; all of those were sat with the sun on the water, I was in the shade. I decided to get the catty out to flick a few casters to the long line while I was fishing the deeper line, as this was were I thought I had the best chance of a few fish. I had one bite next to the lillies with half an hour left which stormed strait through the lillies and I lost, though I'm almost certain it was foul-hooked. This led to me going on the long line and an instant bite on maggot gave me another 2lb common. Next drop and I was strait in again but this fish stormed towards me and into the lillies, then pulled off. After that hoards of floating leaves came through and it was practically impossible to fish.

My four carp gave me just over 9lb which was good enough for 4th, 48lb had won, from peg 48 on the end of the island. This peg is shallow on the island (2ft) and had been in the sun all day. 21lb was second (5 fish) and 13lb was 3rd (4 fish). I was left a bit peeved with the day, I got home feeling that I hadn't fished well. I'm not sure if catapulting the bait over the long line had helped or if it was just that last 30min spell you get on commercials, but I should have tried it earlier, but even then my peg wasn't good for near 50lb but I really should have framed. Never mind, always next week!

Sunday 2 November 2008

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!