The first thing I was dreading when I got up this morning was the weather forecast! It was actually dry when I got up but turned to drizzle not long after leaving my house. By the draw it was a heavy drizzle and it got heavier as I trudged my way to peg 23. By the time I'd put my box down however it was a monsoon, and so it continued until just after the match started!
I have to apologise for the lack of picture, and it's not here on three counts. Firstly there was no way I was getting out from under my brolly to take one before the match, secondly I forgot to pick up my girlfriends camera as my phone one is knackered and after the match I just plain forgot!
Just a quick one on how the blind pairs works; with 22 fishing it was a draw as normal but with 11 pegs in on each lake. After the match the numbers from one lake are drawn with the next lake to make the pairs so nobody knows who's with who until after.
The peg I drew is one of the widest on the lake and is in the corner (check my first blog for a pic of the peg) I was pretty happy with the peg as I've always done well from it with a win and two seconds from it in the three times I've drawn it. First thing out of the bag was my tip rod and this was set up to fish with a small method feeder after I'd used a bomb to clip it up. The feeders were small Kobra ones with black Hydro. Hooklengths were .18 to a 16 hook with quickstops on the hair for pellet and one with a 14 hook to use with a mini boilie. Rod was my trusty 10ft Drennan Puddle Chucker with a small Daiwa front drag reel. Plenty up to the job of casting the 25 or so meters to the island. I only put up one pole rig to fish in the marginal bay to my left. This was further back into it than any other time I've drawn it as the weed is not yet fully up in there allowing me to fish in about two and a half feet of water. The rig was on .18 direct to an 18 Fox Series 2 hook. Float was a .2gr DC5 and this was on 16 latex lakky.
At the whistle I fed a pot of hemp, corn and meat in the margin and went out on the tip. The first few chucks wearn't always as close to the island as I'd like as the brolly was hampering things somewhat, but after my third cast I started to get odd liners. After topping up the margin swim on the 45 minute mark my first chuck back out had the rod wrenching round. after a minute or two the strangest shaped ghostie common came to the net. At about 4lb in weight it lookes like an 8lb'er that someone had chopped in half and stuck it's tail back on! After this first fish the indications tailed off a bit but at least the rain did too. allowing me to take the brolly down and make casting a hell of a lot easier! That said every time there was agust of wind the big tree above me rained on me again!
Nothing else followed until the hour and a half mark when a bite out of the blue led to my next fish, funnily enough strait after topping up the margin again! A common again of about 4lb was the culprit and at the time things were looking good as nobody else I could see had a carp. A quick try on the pole was bitel ess so back on the tip. Bite number three came again after topping up the pole line but this fish was lost in a snag to my right down the track. I remembered the snag was there as soon as the fish hit it as I lost one or two in it last year, ooopps! The next bite was only two casts later as a cracking looking koi of about 6lb came to the net but no more bites were forthcoming.
The quiet spell led me to trying the pole again and a couple of liners and a missed bite were followed by a elastic ripping bite that gave me another common of about 4lb. After that fish the bay seemed to become devoid of fish and I decided to up the bait and try to lure some fish in to the margins. Back out on the tip and two fish in about half an hour, both about 6lb (on pellet, as all my method bites had been) gave hopes of a good run in to the match but the whole swim seemed to die for the next two hours. It was frustrating as I could see peg 29 start to catch regularly and eventually overtake me. The last twenty minites of the match I was leaving the feeder out for only a minute to get plenty of bait out and try and tempt a last fish or two. A ghostie of about 4lb followed a mass of liners before fish could be seen near climbing up the bank for grub but I didn't have time to get another bite.
I finished second on the lake with 33lb 11oz, just under 10lb behind first who had all there fish in the last two hours so with only lake firsts being paid I had to hope for a decent draw in the pairs. I was quite happy when my partner was drawn only for the next two pairs to come out to beat us right at the end so we had to make do with third pair on the day, a point behind second, so the day finished with a 3rd pair and lake second for me but no dosh! That's just my luck at the moment, it really is. I think in hindsight in the quiet two I should have spent more time casting the feeder rather than try and make the margin work as although that margin did do a big weight a few weeks ago when ever I've had the peg before I've only had a burst of bites from it before it dies and have never managed to get them to come back.
Lastly I must give my congratulations to Browning Hotrods' Neil Adcock. After drawing the golden peg and winning the lake he looked to be in for a nice payday before the weigh boards came back to reveal he had tied for first and therefore not won out right. If that wasn't a downer the high afterwards must have been good when it was noticed that someone had worked the weight out wrong on the other board and that he had won by an ounce after all! Incidentally, I think I'm going to have a break next weekend so you'll probably have to wait a fortnight for the next installment!
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