Monday 29 March 2010

Sunday 27th March (W/L Rd 5)



I was hoping for a change in draw bag fortune in the last winter league match on Lake Two, and while I didn't draw what had been the area's that had been 'hot' in the last few matches I was much happier with my draw. Peg 42 is a decent peg, perhaps not a flier but it's consistent and I did fancy that it would be good for a few fish. It's also the shortest walk on the lake!
After setting my box I sat for a minute to see what the wind was doing, it was quite gusty but by and large it was missing my peg. I had three rigs up for the pole. The first rig was for 13m out to the open water in about 5ft of water. This rig was a 4x14 chianti on .14 line to a 16 B611 and on a 12 latex, this would also double up as a throw-away line at 5m which I would just loose feed by hand. I also had a shallow rig up, set at half depth. Same hook and line as before but with a 4x10 PB2 float and grey hydro. Last rig up was for the margins, both left and right (I had an overhanging bush to my left and some rushes to my right). This rig was again on the same line and hook as before, using Preston 13h lakky. The float was a doctored Preston Somo (with a plastic tip) in about 3ft of water. Lastly, I also set up a bomb rod to start on beyond the pole line.
On the whistle I fed the 13m line with a pinch of hemp and three grains of corn, while the throw-away 5m line got half a dozen grains of corn by cup to kick it off. The left margin got a pinch of hemp and micro pellet plus three bits of corn while I elected to just flick bait by hand to the right margin. I baited the hair up with double corn and flicked the bomb about 16m out. It didn't take long for the two anglers to my right to catch on the tip (in the open water, but wider) I hadn't had a touch so ten minutes later I re-cast slightly to the left. The plan was to give it 20-25 minutes on the bomb and if I hadn't had a bite give it a chuck on the pellet cone to put some bait out. I had a slight flicker on the tip but nothing else so the next chuck went out with a single grain of corn and a pellet cone of 3mm Dynamite green pellets, using the smallest Guru cone. Just as I was considering bringing it in the tip dropped slack and then pulled round. It was obviously not a big fish but I was off the mark and a welcome 2lb common was soon in the net. I gave it two more drops on the cone and corn but nothing more followed.
I had my first drop in on the 13m line nearing the hour mark, and by this point the wind had started to pick up. After a few minutes fighting the wind the float dinked under and a crucian of about a pound and a quarter was quickly in the net. I decided to top the swim up with just two grains of corn after but no more bites followed, so I topped up the left margin with a pinch of bait (I was still flicking odd grains of corn to the 5m line, plus casters to the right margin) before going back on the bomb.
I had two fruitless casts on the bomb and had noticed odd fish cruising in the open water so, wind allowing, I started catapulting a few casters over the 13m line. I went back over the long line on the deck and after a few minutes I had a liner so I decided to try shallow, but the wind had changed now and was making good presentation awkward, even on the deck. I went back on the bomb while I set up heavier rigs for the pole, changing the shallow rig for a slightly heavier float with a longer line and the deck rig for a more stable pattern. With no joy on the tip I had a quick try in both the margins but had no joy from either. Going back out long gave no joy, either on the deck or up.
With two hours to go I decided to try the 5m line. I put a single grain of corn on, flicked two grains out and dropped the rig in. The float had been in no longer than thirty seconds when it buried, taking me totally by surprise and I missed it! I dropped the float back down the same hole and it hadn't been in too long before the float shot under again. I didn't miss this one and soon a small common of about 2lb was in the net. I tried the same again but it didn't work and no more bites followed so I went back over the long line. I had been on the line for perhaps twenty minutes when I had a bite on the deck and missed it. Nothing followed so I fed 2 grains of corn and a tiny pinch of hemp over the line. Not long after the float went again but as I was shipping in the very sluggish fish came off, and I have to admit I turned the air somewhat blue! I topped the line up again and a response was not long in coming and soon a mirror a touch bigger than the other two carp was in the net. I followed the same pattern and it didn't take long before another carp, perhaps nudging 3lb was in the net.
I have to admit I was harbouring thoughts of a good last hour and a quarter when, as soon as the fish arrived they were gone. The only difference I can think off was that the sun had come out, but even the cruising fish had gone. The last hour and a bit passed un-eventfully. I did up the feed in an attempt to bring the fish back but I never had any joy, the rest of the match passing without a bite. I could see the pegs that caught last week catching steadily though....
With my draw coming with scales duty people had to wait until I'd packed away! My fish went 12lb and an ounce, which at the end of the day was good enough for sixth. With the league leader winning the match with 35lb the title is already gone. The leagues second placed angler was third on the day (with 23lb, 33lb was second and 21lb 4th) but the other people above me were already out of the running so a quick look at the board means I may be up to joint third so after a bad start a respectable placing is still up for grabs in the last match in two weeks time.
With the bank holiday weekend coming up I'm not entirely sure when I'll be out over the weekend, although Friday looks to be a decent bet at the moment!

Monday 22 March 2010

Sunday March 21st



Spring seems to finally have sprung at last, bringing out a few extra anglers (the solar powered ones!), so I have to admit with very near a full house it's fair to say there were a few pegs in the bag that I didn't want! True to form (on lake two anyway) my drawing arm let me down and I again found myself on a peg I didn't want. In fact, it's my least favourite peg on the whole lake!


Peg 53 is the narrowest of the island pegs and does occasionally throw up a big margin weight as it's in a corner - but always in late summer! You can touch the island with 13m of pole on the peg, and I had two rigs up to fish towards the island. The first was at about 12m in 3ft of water while the second was at two foot which I could push tighter over but also use shallow over the other lines. These rigs were both on .12 line with a 4x12 chianti on the deeper rig and a 4x10 PB2 on the shallow rig. A 16 B611 finished both rigs with Preston 13h elastic on the deeper rig and a slightly softer grey hydro on the other. A third rigs was set up to fish down the track. The peg gets slightly shallower to the left so the rig was at 10m at a slight angle to the right where there was a slight kink in the bottom. As far as the track goes it's shallow, even for the island pegs too with about 4ft of water the most I could find. Float was a 4x14 chianti with the same hook and line as the last rigs but using a 12 latex elastic. Last up was a margin rig for in to the corner, under some marginal tree cover. This was at 10m to my right in 3ft of water. Line was slightly stronger .14 dia but with the same hook as the other rigs. Lakky was Preston 13h. Bait-wise I had the usual maggot, caster, corn and hemp but also some micro pellet and some 4mm expanders.


On the whistle the far line got a small pinch of pellet and a few casters, the track line a small pinch of hemp and three grains of corn while the margin had a small pinch of hemp, pellet and a few grains of corn. Occasional fish could be seen cruising, which raised some slight hopes although it has to be said that me and the other angler who had drawn in the same area as last time (where we struggled on the last winter league on this lake) weren't exactly confident! And we were right as an hour and a half in four of us in a line were all bite less, although the anglers the other side of the island (in the sun) were all catching! Fortunately I couldn't see them but those that could were sick of watching them!


Eventually, two hours in I managed to catch a fish, albeit just a tiny roach on maggot on the shallowest rig pushed tight over. I could get get odd bites on maggot or caster on the shallowest rig, but was missing most of them, probably due to the size of the fish. I couldn't get a bite off either of the two other lines or on the deepest island rig. Odd carp were cruising about but most definitely not feeding.


With an hour and a half to go I did catch a carp of about 3lb, funnily enough they must have came up through the two pegs to my right as we all caught a carp in order, about the same time distance apart! I did foul hook and lose one about ten minutes later and that was about it, apart from odd roach on maggot. I did actually get a bite on double maggot in the margin, which produced a minnow! I honestly can't remember the last time I caught one of those...
After the whistle I tipped back and walked round to see how those that had been on fish had caught, and after walking past those of us that struggled it was noticeably warmer- I'd sat in a fleece all day, and even just after few seconds there I was roasting, so it's no wonder that the fish there were more inclined to eat! As per the last time the top four were all in a line with 44lb winning, a low 30lb weight second and two very close 28lb weights after that. Guess that shows that the fish that are willing to eat are still very close together . That said I did fish it wrong, wasting the first half of the match trying to make pellet, corn or caster work. At least three of the top four caught on maggot and the carp I had was on maggot too. I think had I fished the whole match on maggot, on the shallowest rig I may have had another carp or two(although the bits were a pain). There was more movement early on while I had a bit of the sun, that's for certain. As for the winter league next week, I just hope the draw bag is a bit kinder to me!

Monday 15 March 2010

Sunday 14th March (W/L Rd 4)




Well, I think a few days of warmer weather seems to have made everyone happier, with the craic in full flow before the draw! That said I still knew that the water would be very cold, but I, along with everyone else at least hoped that a glimmer of spring might just encourage the fish to move about a bit.


I actually was quite happy with my draw (peg 37), even though it wasn't one of the pegs mentioned by anyone before the draw as being favourable. It was however out of the quite cool breeze and one that catches a reasonable amount of sun at this time of year. It's also a more comfortable reach across than some pegs, with 14.5m of pole being enough to reach where I needed.

I had four rigs up for the peg. The two far bank rigs were a 4x12 Preston chianti, set to fish at not quite four feet, on the slope up to the island, while the other was a 4x10 Preston pb2. This was set at 3ft to try both off the bottom and also I could use it to push tighter to the island with a half extension if the fish really wanted to be there. I had a track rig up, to fish at 11m at an angle to my left, next to some weed. I have to say though I wasn't that confident about this line, as not only is it one I only occasionally catch from, but the plummet felt absolutely freezing coming from the deeper water un-warmed by the sun! This rig had a 4x14 Preston chianti in about six foot of water. Last rig up was a margin rig that was pretty much identical to the far bank deck rig, to fish at 6m to my left under a tree. Line on all was .125 dia to a 16 B611 (as I intended to fish caster or corn) with the track line being on a 12 latex, the deck and margin rigs on Preston 13h and the shallow rig on grey Hydro.



On the whistle I fed the margin and track lines, the track got just a pinch of hemp and three grains of corn while the margin got the same plus a pinch of casters too. I decided to try the far bank line without feeding it first. I gave it five minutes on corn and five minutes on maggot with no joy so I fed half a dozen casters with a big pot before trying maggot. The float dithered and dipped a lot before slipping slowly under and when I lifted a tiny roach was on the end which came off on the way back. I tried caster too, and this gave much the same except it never went under! After about 40 minutes the float did dip, in a much slower and deliberate way suggesting the presence of something bigger. I tried the shallow rig on a single caster and the float dinked under almost instantly but I missed it. After dropping the rig back in it sat for perhaps a minute before vanishing. Lifting gave a sluggish but heavy resistance. I managed to trick the carp, with little pressure it came in easy until I lifted the top-kit when it livened up but after a few minutes a carp of a good 4lb+ was in the net, result!



I had a quick drop in again without feeding and just as I was about to re-feed it the float went again, but this time it was obviously not a carp and soon a perch of about a pound was in the net. I decided to top up with half a dozen casters, and top up the other lines before dropping in again. Probably only five minutes passed before the float dinked under again and a repeat of the first time happened, with the fish being very sluggish until I tried to net it, although this one was smaller at about two and a half pound. I again gave it a quick minute without topping up but no more bites came so I repeated the process and again a response was not long in coming, this time with a mirror of about 5lb making it's way in to the net. I have to say at this point I was quite pleased, with good points assured just over an hour in to the match.

The next drop didn't go quite to plan however, as the next bite took a while in coming and after having the carp on for only a few seconds it came off. I'm pretty sure it wasn't foul hooked too. I took this as a cue to rest the line so I gave it half a dozen casters and left it alone, trying the track line for about ten minutes but with no indication what so ever. On going back across it seemed that the rest had done the job and a bite came pretty quickly, but after having the fish on for a short while a funny jagging sensation came up the line. Feeling much like an eel it was obvious that it was hooked in the tail. I did manage to coax it very near to the waiting net by applying as little pressure as I could but just short of the net the hook pulled and pinged my rig into the bush next to me! A few casters were dripped in before a new rig went on....

It was a while before my next bite, and by this time I'd started to have occasional drops further along the island (I'd plumbed up a fair distance both ways so I knew what was where if I needed to chase the fish) Again the next bite was shallow, and over the feed. I was beginning to think that the I'd ruined the swim by losing two fish just as this one made it's mistake, and after a few minutes carp number four was nestling in the net, this one again a decent fish about the 5lb mark. The next hour or so produced very little, the occasional bite I did get I was missing. They were all coming at the same time, just as the float settled. I did start to hit odd ones after moving the shot much closer to the hook and they all produced dumpy perch of about 2oz.

With perhaps an hour and a half to go the swim seemed totally barren, even in the margins which I had expected to give a bite or too with the good cover. I'd regularly tried down the swim too and surprisingly this gave nothing. I decided to try feeding a new swim, a bit further down plus moving my original swim a bit tighter to the island (it was fed to the tree nearly growing out of the water if you look at the pic) My first drop further down on the deck produced a liner so I tried shallow over it but nothing more came. Trying the original swim but tighter gave a bite pretty quick. After a power full fight though I lost the fish near the net, a common probably about 7lb that looked to be hooked in the pectoral fin. After this the swim faded away again so I decided to try dripping in a few maggots instead of caster. It had some effect in a sense as odd bites came, but again from just the dumpy perch. Odd tries on the other lines were lifeless and nothing else happened until ten minutes before the end when I had a liner over the original swim and then a bite next chuck when I had my biggest fish of the day, a common of about 7lb netted about a minute before the end of the match. Needless to say I didn't have time for another!

I was guessing I'd have about 24lb, which I knew would be good for decent points but was surprised to find that as people went back past me to the car park that a lot of the favoured pegs had struggled, with the most anyone admitting to being three carp for 20lb. The scales gave me 24lb 11oz for the five carp and with my perch I had a 27lb 1oz total, good enough for first with the next weight being a little over 18lb.

With two matches now to go in the league I've at least moved myself up a bit. I was in eighth place before but with three of the top four finishing quite low I should have shifted myself up towards the top four or five hopefully, but more importantly, I actually caught a few fish! Hopefully the weather will now stay on the up and give us all a break and some better fishing!

Sunday 7 March 2010

Sunday March 7th



Well, I have to say it's no surprise that the weather has done it's usual turning colder at the weekend trick, again! With the Saturday night being the coldest night for a bit (according to the weather forecast I just saw it was colder than most of the February nights) I was surprised to find the lake free of ice on arrival, especially as the temperature in my back garden was a dizzy -4 degrees C in the sun at 7.30am.


I decided to take an earlier draw this week, although most of the fancied pegs in the 20's were again gone when I got to the draw bag! I was quite happy with my draw, peg 31. Being on the same side of the lake as the favoured 20's I was sure it would be good for a few fish, although it's fair to say I expected it to be a slow start after such a cold night. Still, it wasn't raining and in fact it was quite pleasant to be sat in the sun, as it almost felt like (dare I say it!) spring was just making it's arrival.


I had four rigs up, three for fishing across (one deck rig on the slope and two shallow) plus a rig up for the margin, which I fancied I may be able to nick a fish from late on as it would be in the sun all day. The deck rig across was a 4x12 Preston chianti in not quite 4ft of water, while the two shallow rigs were both 4x10 PB2's, one set at 3ft and one at two and a half foot. While those were meant to try shallow they could also be used to push tight to the island (which I could touch at 16m, even with a short 4th section) should I see fish there later. I had found a couple of areas to fish there, although not to the left near the point of the island as the slope is kind of like a shallow beach nearer the point and the depth was shallow close to the island. Line was .12 dia on all three rigs, and with size 18 hooks on all too. Lakky was Preston 13h on the deck and deepest shallow rig and grey hydro on the shallowest. Last rig up was a 4x12 Preston somo set to fish in about four foot of water at 5m to my right, under some overhanging branches. Gear was a slightly more robust, using .14 line to a 16 hook and a soft 12 latex elastic.
On the whistle I only fed the margin line, giving it just two grains of corn, a small pinch of hemp and half a dozen casters. I wanted to see if there were any signs of fish across before feeding so I set about searching the far bank using a single grain of corn. I gave this half an hour, trying in various areas without a sign so I fed half a dozen casters directly in front hoping to attract something while still allowing me to search down the peg. With no sign on the deck on maggot or caster I tried the deepest of the shallow rigs. After perhaps another ten minutes I had a bite directly over the feed and missed it- I'm not sure if it was a liner or a small fish but no more followed.
With an hour and a half gone the pegs further up (in the 20's, the area I and the other framers were in the last match on this lake) started to catch odd fish where as the pegs either side of me were still bite less. I had a quick try in the margins on maggot and caster but with no joy so I went back across on the deck on a single caster. This gave me a slow bite and the lift gave me the familiar 'jag jag' sensations of a perch, and a decent one too, probably nudging the pound mark. No more followed so I started to drip feed maggots across, trying to get a response from anything but even the normally plentiful small perch were only conspicuous by their absence!
With an hour and a half left I was at a loss as to what else to try- I couldnt buy a bite doing anythin, and the pegs in the 20's were still catching odd fish. The peg to my left was still bite less and the peg to my right had only had one bite, a perch that weighed in at 2lb 1oz at the end! I came in to the margins again, on double maggot and this time the float slipped away. I was then attached to something that felt pretty substantial. I'm not sure if it was foul hooked as after a few minutes it snagged me in my own margins and I lost it. When I hooked the fish it obviously also moved something as every time I dropped in there after I got snagged!
I spent the rest of the match searching along the far bank, trying both of the shallow rigs and the depth rig all along the bank as far as I could see but with no joy. With nothing to lose I decided to feed further down the peg too, giving it a fair amount of maggot but with no joy. With ten minutes to go I had a definite liner, fishing on the deck in front of me. I tried the deeper shallow rig again and with five minutes to go I foul hooked a carp, just lifting the rig to lower it in again. Needless to say I lost the fish so I decided to do something that I seldom do and I packed up before the whistle!
I didn't bother to weigh my perch, opting to try and dry my nets instead. I can't remember the exact weights but about 22lb won, 18lb odd was second (with one fish of 13lb 1oz) and there were a couple of low double figure weights. I can only think that the very cold night had knocked it on the head, the peg I drew, although not the most favoured is pretty decent. I never saw a fish move in it all day, which is pretty unusual. The peg to my right had just the one perch and the peg to my left finished bite less too so it wasn't just me that struggled.
Although the we are supposed to lose the hard frosts in the week coming it doesn't look like it'll be warm enough to change the fishing much, so next weeks winter league is looking like it may be a peg lottery. I hope I'm wrong, as I don't do very well in any kind of lottery!

Monday 1 March 2010

Sunday 28th February (W/L Rd3)

I can't be the only one who looks forward to the days fishing only to be thwarted by the weather seemingly everytime out...

With a severe weather warning in place for the wind and rain it was typical really, as the weather had been cracking during the week, still, at least there was no ice!

The day took a further blow when my hand dipped in to the draw bag and peg 55 came out, I couldn't have drawn further away from where I wanted to be, in the lovely sheltered 70's where there was fish moving.

Putting my box down on my peg it wasn't as sheltered as I'd hoped it would be, and the rain was tipping down (which is why there is no picture) The wind was blowing in at me from about 10 o'clock in front and even with the brolly up I was getting a soaking, and with a lot of pegs in round the island I wasn't optimistic, and neither was anyone else nearby.

Despite my fishing the venue now for near three years peg 55 is one of the few pegs I'd never fished before. Putting a rig on and shipping over to the island I found very little water near the island at 14.5m and had to come back a good meter to get 3ft of water. I earmarked two areas to try towards the island, one to the left and one to the right. This rig was on .125 line to an 18 hook and grey hydro. Float was a 4x12 Preston Somo with a plastic tip. As per last week I thought my best chance of a carp would be in the deeper water so I had a good plumb around and earmarked a where the bottom of the shelf was; I'd feed two areas here but I wanted to be able to explore the whole of the area looking for bites. This rig had the same hook and line as the last rig but with a 4x14 chianti to a 10 latex. I also put up a heavier rig in case the wind got any worse (at this point it was gusty but I could get the presentation I wanted with it) this had the same terminal gear but a more stable diamond bodied .5gr float. Lastly, I had a few brambles hanging in the water at 4m to my left, giving quite an overhang. Depth here was the same as on the far bank line so it was a last option!

On the whistle I fed the two track lines, one with just three grains of corn while the other had three grains of corn and six casters. Trying the left far bank swim with corn gave no joy so it got a small pinch of maggots before trying the other, which also gave no joy. I tried maggot on that line for a while but with no joy so topped that up with a few maggots and came in to the track lines. Now the wind and rain got a bit worse, and I was beginning to question my sanity not to mention the fact that I'd manage to get a couple of sections jammed together (my fault entirely!) so had to fish with sections behind me when fishing the track lines. With the hour mark coming up I'd had no sign of a fish and neither had any of the other four anglers I could see. I have to admit my hands were as cold as they've ever been and I could now only hold the pole across on odd occasions with the wind. It was time to get the bomb rod out....

With two hours gone the others I could see had followed suit and gone on the lead and still not even a liner had been had, or any small fish. I'd tried flicking the lead around most areas of the swim and nothing had came of it so I started to flick odd casters to the nearside overhang when not fishing the pole. I even put a smaller (size 20) hook onto the track rig to fish maggot but still nothing.

As the third hour came somebody I could see actually caught a fish, a small roach which they foul hooked! At this point the highlight of the day was that I'd got my radio working so I could listen to the Spurs game! I dropped in to the nearside caster line without any response so I started flicking maggots there instead while I tried the far bank and track lines with no joy (apart from Spurs being 2 up at half-time!) With an hour and a half left I slipped a single white maggot on and flicked the rig in the edge, and just after the float settled it slipped away and a few seconds later I thankfully wasn't looking at another DNW with a 1oz roach in the net! Next drop produced a roach of about 2oz so I tried a caster. This took longer to produce a bite and didn't have the desired effect as it gave the smallest fish so far! Another try on maggot gave a similar size fish before the bites went iffy so I fed a few more maggots. I'm not sure if this unsettled the fish or the fact that people were walking about but I never had another bite until right near the very end, managing another two small roach.

I have to say I was pleased to be packing up, and I can't have been the only one! My few plips went 4oz, the best weight of anyone without a carp! The only other fish I saw caught was the one foul hooked roach and I was surprised to find I had a mid match finish with six anglers blanking and me beating the single roach. The pegs I wanted to draw in the 70's were the place to be as those four pegs filled the top four with 28lb winning and I think 17lb needed for 4th.

I think it's fair to say half way in now that any chance of defending the trophy have gone, although a decent placing is not beyond reach and a top three or four finish is what I'm aiming for now. I just need a change of luck at the draw bag! And a change in the weather would be nice too, it's not too much to ask for is it?