This morning dawned with the now familiar soaked outside from heavy overnight rain! Due to people being on holiday and a couple of no shows the open match was reduced to an eight peg sweep. Only two pegs were in round the island, both corner pegs and with the wind blowing down there I really fancied drawing there, especially peg 62 in the corner with the reeds. Alas I didn't draw round there and drew the one peg that I really didn't want, peg 68 in the deep water. With 4ft of water next to the bank side sparse reeds and 7ft of water from about 4m out it was the only peg in that couldn't get into any shallow water.
I had a few rigs set up. One deck rig at 13m on .15 line to a 14 B611 and a 14 latex, Float was a .4gr handmade pattern with a heavy glass stem that's very stable. A shallow polyball rig was put up with the same hook and line as the deck rig but with 15h Hollo elastic. A rig was put up for the margin on the shallowest part I could find, just over 4ft deep! Normally I use purple hydro in the margins but with the extra depth I opted for a soft 16 latex. I also had a half depth rig put up here.
On the whistle a half a pot of hemp and corn went out long while a pot of hemp, meat and corn went down the margin. With no indications in the first 10 minutes I could see other people already catching. I decided to put a small toss-pot on and drip in some bait. First drop with some hemp and corn going out and I had a fast bite that I missed. Next drop gives another sharp bite which produced a crucian/goldfish of about 12oz. After that I started to get silly indications so I shallowed the rig to dead depth. A smaller crucian followed before the next bite saw me hook a carp which came off after a few seconds but I'm sure it wasn't foulhooked.
The lost fish slowed the swim up a bit and odd fish were cruising about. I didn't want to start feeding pellet to catch shallow yet a I figured it may scatter fish over all depths so I topped up with half a pot of bait and had a quick drop in the margins. First drop down the edge on meat and the float shot away, not a carp though but a skimmer of about an ounce! the first skimmer I've ever had from the lake!
Back out long and a few silly indications led me to try a bit deeper which gave me a proper bite and a carp of about 2lb on corn. Next chuck and a small crucian/goldfish of about 6oz. No more bited followed and the occasional liner and cruising fish led me to pick up the catty and start to flick a few pellets out. The next hour was frustrating as all I could get was bait robbing tiny fish off either line, especially on the shallow rig. They were even robbong banded pellets! With the wind picking up the fish seemed to disappear and I decided a change was needed so I soaked some micro pellets and knocked up a bit of groundbait then got my tip rod out of the ready rod sleeve.
First chuck on a small method just past the pole line and a steady pull round on an 8mm S-Pellet and another crucian cross came to the net, this one near 2lb. A couple of chucks later this was followed by a carp of about 2lb.
The rest of the match was a case of working at the method to keep a few bites coming. Ringing the changes with the bait would bring fish in ones and two's, never anymore. I had fish in equal numbers on corn, pellet and white 8mm Ringers boilies. The Margins never gave a bite apart from tiny knocks from roach. At one point I had some carp swirling in the edge for meat I was flicking in by hand but as soon as I put a polyball rig over them they went! I could see peg 44 catching steady until the last 30 minutes and while his fish were bigger (I didn't have a fish much bigger than 3lb) I thought my 16 or 17 (lost count!) carp plus my bits net would just pip him.
As the scales went round peg 44 put 48lb on the scales and I was sure I'd have a low 50's weight. Peg 44 was top until the scales got round the back where peg 61 had a whopping 120lb something! I was right to fancy that peg then, in a corner with nobody within 5 pegs and the wind blowing into it it was like pleasure fishing! With another low 40lb weight I managed second when my fish went 56lb 6oz.
Despite being so far behind first I felt I'd done well off the peg, especially as it's one I don't like! It was also the first time I'd used a method mould. Now I'd always been a bit sceptical about them but with a bit of practice re-baiting was very quick so it's something I'll try again. I did have to bury the bait in the feeder to get bites today, not put it right on the top as per the Preston advert and the method mould packet. By the end I was managing to get the bait back out very quick with an in-line feeder (could only get them and not the elasticated versions I prefer) and I have to say I'm a convert to them now!
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