I have to admit to turning up this Sunday with a slightly fuzzy head, after enjoying a few cold ones while watching the England game the night before. I needed them too after that Green howler!
I wanted to draw an early or late peg, that would mean I would be on the front of the lake which seemed to be the form area. I was a little disappointed with peg 17, but the fish have fins and they do swim! I had to make rigs on the bank as I didn't make any up the night before. The first area targeted was on the island point, a bit to the right at about 16.5m. The island is actually closer than that in front but along there it's about 4ft deep tight, where as to the right was the only area shallower, where it was about 20 inches deep. This rig was on .15 direct to an 18 Fox Series 2, with Preston 15 hollo. The float was a 4x10 Preston Durafloat. The second area was towards a weed bed to my right. I fished at about 12m, where the weed was a bit thinner as I didn't want to be losing fish in it. Rig was a .3gr diamond bodied handmade float on .17 line to a .15 hook link. Hook was an 18 Fox Series 2, with the lakky a 14 latex. It's about 6ft deep here but with the air pressure being low I thought it may go. Last area was for the margins. I spent ages plumbing up as I had a lot of room to my right, but I couldn't find a nice area. In the end I settled on an area at just 5m, the bottom here was still all over and I wasn't that confident in it to be honest.
On the whistle I fed the island swim with a pinch of 6mm pellets, while the deep line got half a pot of hemp and pellet, with a few grains of corn. The margins were just fed with pellet by hand. Going across on a 6mm pellet it took a few minutes to get any sort of indication and it was probably on the fifteen minute mark when I had my first bite, a small pastie mirror of about 10oz. Any indications slowed after so I put a small toss-pot on to trickle in some bait. The swim livened up a bit but still no more proper bites so I decided to give it a quarter of a pot. This had the desired response and shortly after I had another proper bite, producing a small common of about 2lb. Next drop and I started to snag up on a root, which I could lift clear of the water but it was still attached to the bank. This was a problem as it was a very small area to fish in!
By the end of the hour I'd had a frustrating time, missing a few bites which always left me attached to the snag. I wasn't losing gear on it, but it was definitely stopping me from fishing properly. I'd seen bubbles on the deep line and dropped in there for a few minutes, but only had a few liners. I shortly after added another small common, about 2 1/2lb, which again came after feeding a bigger amount of bait rather than through a small pot. On the two hour mark I again dropped in on the deep line (which I'd topped up with quarter pots twice) After a few nudges and liners I had a proper bite on pellet. A very lively fight ensued and a cracking looking black and gold koi of about 3lb was netted. No more bites followed so I topped it up and had a very quick go on the margins, with no joy
Going back across and the rest seemed to have done the trick and another small common of about 2 1/2lb was in the net. From what I could see I was doing okay, as the lake seemed to be fishing hard, with a fair amount of fish cruising that looked like they still haven't spawned. The far line also seemed to fade, with odd liners and a fair bit of trouble from the snag, which seemed to be moving around but was most definitely still stuck to the bank so I couldn't get rid of it!
The next hour passed slowly, with nobody near me catching either. A lot of fish were cruising about and I seemed to be spooking fish nearly every time I went across with the pole! With just over an hour to go I hooked a fish that charged around the island and never came back, most probably foul hooked. Dropping back down the track and the indications seemed to be on the up, perhaps co-inciding with the drifting in with a layer of scum. It actually became awkward to get a bait in clean, and I had to take a shot off to see the float in the scum. Pellet seemed to attract iffy bites so I added and inch and tried corn. It didn't take long for the float to dip under and another small common of perhaps 3lb was in the net. Next drop in I topped up with a toss-pot but it didn't really happen, so I fed half a pot again. Dropping in I had a bite quickly, but this fish was having none of it, charging through all the weed and getting stuck solid. After feeling a ping which suggested the fish was off I pulled for a break, losing my hook link. I had a quick try in the margins with no joy, so I went back over, but again, with no joy!
With just a short amount of time left I went back down the middle, and a run of bites led me to catch a carp, feed quarter of a pot, go back and get another fish, but they were small, all about 2lb. On the whistle I had nine carp, which seemed more than anyone else was admitting to, but others were admitting to fish much bigger than what I had! When the scales got to me 30lb 2oz was winning, with 26lb 7oz being second. I knew I didn't have 30lb, thinking probably just 25lb at best. Not a bad guess as it happened, with my fish going 24lb 11oz. In the end that was only good enough for 4th, with the 30lb weight winning (and taking the golden peg) and two 26lb weights being second and third.
I have to admit I was kicking myself, I really should have twigged feeding heavier to start with, as feeding with the big pot on a line I was fishing more often than not led to a fish. I also wasted time in the last hour trying two un-productive lines after losing a that fish, when I was getting bites off that one line. Looking at it, while the fish I had were all small I was only one fish of second and two of first, something that was easily do-able had I done what I should. Guess it shows what a night on the beer before does before a match! Just as well the next England game is on Friday night!
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