Why is it the weather on days leading up to the weekend are lovely, yet when Saturday night arrives so does the frost! After last weeks match I wanted a reasonably high number from the draw, anything from 14 (okay, but preferably higher!) would do me. I wasn't best happy then when peg 5 came out of the bag in my hand, the lowest number in......
Putting my box on the peg the only saving grace was that the water looked a touch more coloured than the previous week, but on the down-side no silvers showed in the area last week so it really was carp or bust. It was also in a rather cold easterly wind, but thankfully it was behind me. It was definitely colder than the other side of the lake that was more sheltered mind. The peg weighed in near 10lb last week, but that was mostly one fish on practically the last drop!
In the absence of silvers showing here my plan changed slightly- I had planned a rig for down the track in search of skimmers and roach, but as they were not there I figured I'd be better spending the time in search of carp. Two rigs were up for the far bank 15m away, a 4x10 Preston Chianti on .14 to a .125 hook-link and a 16 B611 in 3ft of water. This was on Preston 13h lakky. I also had a shallow rig for searching (or dobbing, as it seems to be known now) the far bank. This was on the same terminal gear as the other rig, but the float was a 4x10 Preston PB2 set about 2ft deep. Lastly I had a rig for the margins. This was really an all or nothing throw of the dice, but if I caught here they'd be big fish! My far bank rig was the perfect depth for here but I also had a heavier rig put up too, on .14 direct to a 20 Fox Series 2 hook and 15h lakky, just in case the big boys showed!
On the whistle I fed the margins with a pinch of micro pellets and casters with four grains of corn, before going across with a grain of corn, mostly in search of indications of fish! After ten minutes with no signs I decided to feed a tiny amount (four maggots) dead in front and then go on the shallow rig and search the far bank with punch. After near an hour of "dobbing" along the far bank with no signs I baited up with a single maggot on the deep rig and went across. I'd barely been in a minute when I had a liner, which was promptly followed by a large ghostie swimming out of my swim! For the next hour I plugged away on the far line deep, trickling in three maggots every few minutes in an attempt to make something happen. With the second hour coming in the lack of life was beginning to concern me, with not even a little perch or roach to show. I then decided to feed a tiny pinch of crumb in the hope of kicking it into life and then have a look in the margins.
I was just baiting up the margin rig with a grain of corn when disaster struck! The fishery boat was moored in the next peg, and just as I was going to drop in the edge someone walked up the bank and promptly dragged the boat out as they'd left there top-kit hanging up a far bank tree, not the disturbance I wanted! I carried on searching the far bank with the shallow rig, trying both punch and maggot, even going as far as 17.5m along the bank to my right where I had the most room. I was just going to drop down the edge again when somebody else walked along the bank. I have to admit I wasn't best amused, especially as words were had before the draw about not walking due to people being disturbed!
I decided to get a lighter rig out to fish the far bank, dropping down to an 18 hook on .12 and 11h lakky in the hope of getting a response, and going back over the fed line I actually did get a bite with an hour and a half to go.... a tiny perch! Working along every area of the swim I'd tried it was dead as can be, and even the angler next peg who was fishing just for silvers was struggling for bites. If they were catching I'd have considered doing it as catch-up, but they just weren't there! I'd tried everything I could think of to get a bite and was really just going through the motions when, with fifteen minutes to go I had a bite on punch long to my left (an area I'd dropped over a dozen times!), which I missed! I shallowed the rig up a bit, dropped in again in the same place, and just as I was thinking it wouldn't go again it did. This time I bumped it, putting my rig up the tree in the process. I didn't swear..... much! Predictably that was the last sign I had and to rub salt in the wounds the angler to my left who spent the whole day struggling for silvers (they had 4oz of them on the scales) caught a small carp about 3lb on their silvers line right at the death.
I was rather down on packing up, having struggled for so long then blowing my chance right at the death, losing a rig in the process. Twenty four pound (five carp) won from the peg furthest away from mine on the lake (peg 20) but just three 8lb weights made the next few frame weights (all in late numbers!), followed by a 6lb weight of silvers. I finished second from last with 1oz, ahead of one DNW. Other than not bumping that fish I'm not sure what else I could have done. Perhaps if I'd plugged away on a silvers line I'd have caught more (not hard) but there just weren't enough silvers present (I'd have had bites across if there were, I'm sure) to make it into a weight that was good enough for anything so I gambled on a carp to get a top 5/6 place. In the league you can drop your worst weight so this one will have to be it and I now need good results in the last four matches for a respectable finish. That's the plus side to the day, but it doesn't take away the fact that I packed up disappointed!
No comments:
Post a Comment