Sunday March 27th (W/L Rd 5)

I'll start with an apology, as no matter how many times I re-edit this and save it, blogger keeps removing all my paragraph spacing andlumping it all into one long piece of text. I hope you can bare with it! With the weather on the up now I was looking forward to the penultimate round of the winter league, with the hope of a few fish! Walking round before the draw it was noticeable that the water was colouring up nicely. As usual there seemed to be a fair amount of fish present in pegs 72 (the reeds) and pegs 59 - the two winter flyer's. There were also two pegs in that I didn't want (53 and 64). Fortunately, when I drew the two pegs I didn't want were gone, but so were the two flyer's! The league leader (2pts ahead of me) had also drawn peg 59, while I fully expected the angler drawn on 72 to make the most of it too. I was reasonably happy with peg 46 as I've always done okay off it, but it was pointed out that the peg has only had one carp caught off it since Christmas.... Realistically then it looked like I was probably fishing for third, hoping nobody finished between me and the leader to keep the gap as slim as I can. I had a couple of areas in mind; a 13m line, a 2+2 line plus a margin rig and a shallow rig for long. The depth difference between the 2+2 line and 13m was only about 4in so I used the same rig for both. Float was a .3gr NG Floats Decker on .15 line to a .14 hook-link in about six-and-a-half feet of water. Hook was a 16 B611. The shallow rig was a 4x10 Preston PB2 on .14 direct to a 16 B611. My margin rig was a 4x12 Preston Somo in two-and-a-half feet of water fished 7m along the bank to my right. Line here was .14 direct to a 16 B611. Elastic on all was Preston 13h on pull-bungs. I also had a duplicate margin rig with a larger size 20 Fox Series 2 hook and matched to Preston 15h lakky in case big fish started showing in the edge. Perhaps very optimistic, but you never know! On the whistle I fed three grains of corn and a pinch of hemp on the long line, while the 2+2 line had a few more grains of corn and the same pinch of hemp. The margin also got the same bait as the closer line. Slipping on a grain of corn I had a liner early and I could see a few fish milling about. I shipped back every few minutes to allow me to use a small Cad-Pot to drip a small pinch of hemp and two grains of corn in. Predictably peg 72 was off to a good start but after twenty minutes I had a proper bite on corn and put a small common about 2lb in the net. Keeping up the same pattern of dripping in small amounts I missed two successive sharp digs on the float (perhaps from roach as they were topping) so I pushed the spread bulk together a touch and nearer to the hook to try and get more positive indications. This did the trick as the next bite saw another 2lb common find it's way into the net. After the two fairly early fish the line seemed to dry up so I topped up the margin line with a small pinch of bait and had a quick drop on the 2+2 line where I'd been dripping in grains of corn in ones and two's by hand. Nothing materialised here, though it was a touch early for it so I went back out long. An hour and a half in and no more bites had followed despite fish cruising about so I picked the catapult up and started flicking a few casters in between pot feeds. After a liner ten minutes or so later I picked up the shallow rig and baited it with double caster. Initially I had a few dinks from roach before a proper bite saw me land a common that was the weight of the two fish already in the net, but after that it went back to knocks from roach. Going back on the deck was fruitless long so I carried on dripping a few casters in while I tried the margins quick, hoping that fish would be happier in the shallow water but nothing came of it. With nothing showing long I spent more time on the 2+2 line, expecting it to come good at some point (it got me out of jail on the same peg last time I drew it, ironically the last time the clocks were changed!) With two-and-a-half hours to go I had two fish in a row quickly off the line, unfortunately they only went about 3lb for the pair of them. Back out shallow I saw a carp turn under the water when I loose fed so I stopped flicking any bait in and the fish made a mistake and soon found it's self in my net! Like the other shallow fish, this one was also a bigger stamp of fish about 4lb. After the last shallow fish the roach returned so I had a quick try in the edge, but again with no joy. On to the 2+2 line and an instant bite saw another small carp of about 2lb fell to corn but no more bites followed. In the scheme of things it was hard going to make bites, but beside the two favoured pegs (which were well ahead) nobody else was catching much and I was keeping my nose clear in third, but I wanted a few more fish just to make sure! With just over an hour to go the margins started to show signs of life and I had a liner. I fed a tiny pinch of bait on it and left the fish hopefully to settle. Going back on the 2+2 line I hooked what I felt was a better fish but after not long the hook pulled leaving me with a scale on the hook. Double disaster came when as I was going to go back down the edge two geese decided to have a massive ruck right over my bait.... With the huge disturbance plus the lost fish my swim was totally barren of life. I kept the bait trickling in on all the lines but I couldn't craft a bite from anywhere. I risked upping the feed on the 2+2 line but nothing worked and as odd fish started showing for others I found myself in the edge. With twenty minutes to go I had a bite on a grain of corn up the side and my biggest fish of the day was mugged before it really knew what was going on! A common of about 5lb. I topped up with a pinch of bait and saw a tail wave just past my feed, but I didn't manage to trick that one and finished with eight carp. The weigh in started and I knew third was the best I could manage, I just hoped that peg 72 could win! They did, with their fish going 55lb odd, 11lb ahead of the league leader. My fish went 24lb 15oz for third, just over 10lb ahead of the next weight. In all I was happy as I did about as well as I thought I could off the peg, and go into next weeks final round three points off the lead but with a more favourable result to drop (best five results count). I'll be doing my best to get the result I need, that's for sure!

Sunday March 20th

I know I must be getting old when I can turn up on my birthday and not be hungover or suffering! Still, now I've reached the ripe old age of 30 I've decided to behave - the last time my birthday fell on a weekend I finished fourth in a match I should have won as I had to keep going for a walk to wake myself up.....


I'd not walked round the lake before the draw, but with a near full house I fancied anywhere away from the island for the chance of a few fish being as the island took the extra anglers present. As it stood I couldn't have draw any further away from the island, drawing peg 75 in the corner, and the shortest walk to boot!


The peg has a long margin to the right as it's the end of the lake, and I fancied it to produce a fish or two as it has done recently. The rig for there was simple, a 4x12 Preston Somo for fishing in just under 3ft of water at 12m along the bank. Line was .14 direct to a 16 B611 and on Preston 13h elastic. My second and third target area were at 12m in front and a 2+2 line. Depth on both was identical at about 5ft so the same rig would suffice for both lines. With the extra colour now in the water this was also on .14 line direct to a 16 B611. Float was a 4x14 Preston Chianti and lakky was again Preston 13h. Lastly I also put up a shallow rig to try with a longer line above it just in case fish came up cruising in the open water should the sun come out. A 4x10 Preston PB2 with the same terminal gear as the other rigs was the get up for this.


On the whistle I fed a pinch of micro's with a few grains of corn and a little hemp, where as the 2+2 line got half a dozen grains of corn. I then filled a small cad-pot with three grains of corn and a small pinch of hemp and went out long. I started to see odd fish cruising about, and even move along the margins. It didn't take long to get an occasional liner and I could see that peg 72 in the reeds had caught. I carried on dripping the odd grain of corn and pinch of hemp long to try and attract fish but on the 45 minute mark I got fed up of watching fish swim along the margins and with four or five people having caught I wanted in on the action! A single grain of corn was lowered in the margins and after a minute or two the float slid away, the culprit not one of the eight or nine carp I could see within feet of my float but crucian of about 2lb. Nothing followed after, so with not even an indication I topped it up with a pinch of bait and left it.


I carried on dripping a little bait out to the long line, and flicking the odd grain of corn to the short line. An odd liner on the long line led me to have a brief try on the shallow rig but with no joy. Odd fish again showed in the edge and nearly everyone else I could see had carp now, including someone with one fish well into double figures. I had a brief look in the edge again but the fish again done a disappearing act. I was getting a little frustrated now, but told myself that on the last time I drew the peg it was a slow starter and today could well be the same. No need to panic... yet!


On the two hour mark my perseverance on the long line was rewarded with a bite and my first carp, a common of about 3lb. It was perhaps ten minutes later and carp number two was in the net, again on corn. The swim faded after so I left it alone and had another try in the margins. Again the fish that were moving there vanished as soon as the pole went over them. I also had a quick try on the 2+2 line, but this also didn't produce.


Back out on the long line and bites were coming but I missed three or four before a mirror of about 4lb fell. Again when I went back out I missed a run of bites so I decided on a change to the shotting, swapping the the bulk and two droppers into a more positive spread bulk starting about 14in from the hook. This seemed to have the desired effect and in the next hour I hardly missed a bite and found myself on eight carp and two cruicians with an hour and a half to go. At this stage I thought I'd edged ahead of everyone apart from peg 72 in the reeds, but the peg had faded and I decided on resting it.


A try on the margins gave me no joy whatsoever, as the fish that had been present there had faded away. Going onto the 2+2 line gave me hope when a liner came my way, then an indication which led to bumped fish. I left the line alone after that, hoping to let the fish settle so I could hopefully plunder it late. Back out long and the rest hadn't had the desired effect as bites weren't coming. Trying further out is the normal answer but this didn't work. Trying a couple of feet to the left of my feed (the opposite way to the tow) got me a bite from a carp that was a touch bigger than the others, but it didn't work again, and neither did trying down the tow.


The last hour was a total disappointment, and the warmest part of the day seemed to coincide with mine and everyone else's swim that I could see become barren. Nothing happened what-so-ever and I couldn't even graft out a liner. Looking at it I thought I'd finish second behind 72 in the reeds but as the last to weigh in it would take a while before I'd find out!


When the scales got near me 23lb was top weight, and a host of close weights behind them. Watching peg 72 pulling their nets out there was less in there than I thought and there fish went 25lb and it looked like I'd over estimated what others had! My two crucians went 4lb exactly and my nine carp totalled 30lb 11oz for a 34lb 11oz total (easy maths that!) for a birthday win!


With the larger attendance I think it's hard to draw many conclusions for next weeks winter league as there will be less pegs in, but hopefully I can pull of the same result!

Sunday March 13th, (W/L Rd 4)

Well, my moan last week about the weather seems to have worked! Granted, it's not t-shirt weather but at least things are heading in the right direction.


Walking round the lake before hand it was noticeable that the water had more colour to it than last week, that said, I still wanted a higher number draw and preferably in the 20's. By the time I reached the draw-bag every number up to 17 was gone (except 14) so I was fairly happy with what was left in the bag. When last weeks winning peg (25) came out I was happy, although I did bare in mind that just because it won last week doesn't mean the same will happen again.


As I was setting up groups of fish could be seen cruising about, and with the presence of carp I decided to abandon any silvers line. A deck rig for 16m in front to the island was first up, a 4x12 Preston Chianti to .14 line to a .125 hook-link and a 16 B611. This was in 3ft of water. The second rig I put up was to fish off the bottom for the cruising fish. A 4x10 Preston PB2 was initially set to fish six inches off the bottom. Terminal gear was the same as the other rig and both were matched to 13h Preston hollo on pull-bungs. I'd seen odd fish making their way along the edge so I set up a margin rig for 5m to my right. The far-bank deep rig was the perfect depth for here too but I also put up a stronger rig on .14 direct to a 20 Fox Series 2 hook and on Preston 15h Lakky. I wanted the option of the stronger rig as my previous experiences with the peg had showed me it has a habit of throwing up a lump or two!


On the whistle I fed the margin with a pinch of softened micro pellet with half a dozen casters and three grains of corn before baiting up with a grain of corn on the deck rig and shipping across. After spending ten minutes without a bite I started to drip in a few micro's via a small cad-pot on a regular basis, and swapped between corn and 4mm expander pellet. It took half an hour to get my first indication but it wasn't followed by anything else. On the three quarter of an hour mark I decided to try the shallow rig as I'd seen an odd sign of fish moving along the bank. Baiting up with a 9mm bread punch I laid the rig in-between the drifting debris about a meter to the left of the feed and after no more than thirty seconds the float was gone! Carp number one, a common of about 4lb was soon in the net. Explaining up until the two hour mark is easy as every drop produced the same and I never had to wait long for a bite, and never missed one either. In a "purple patch" of 75 minutes I'd put eight carp in the net for about 32lb in weight. That's not a bad start!


It came as no surprise to me that the fish started to become less accommodating after that spell and I had to start searching about the depths a bit more, and I started to miss odd bites too. This slower spell coincided with rain, but after a short while the rain started to feel warm. I decided to shallow up by a few inches and a mirror of about 5lb was the result before the fish seemed to back away. Not wanting to press things too hard I decided to have a quick try in the edge where I'd been flicking a few casters regularly, but I had no joy here. Going back across I hooked a fish that I had on for a minute or so before it came off. A fair part of the reason for this was the drifting rubbish it had picked up around the rig, although I'm not sure it wasn't foul-hooked too. The next carp I landed was foul-hooked in the pectoral fin, fishing a bit further along to the left.


Bites then went a bit iffy again, and the rain got heavier (or I noticed it more as I wasn't catching!) and I had to put a waterproof jacket on. I had a quick try on the deck rig over the bait but this gave me just a liner so I topped it up with a pinch of micro's and went back on the punch. It didn't take me long to get a bite, but my tenth fish wasn't what I expected - well, you don't catch many 2lb skimmers two foot deep on punch in March! The surface debris was easing now, along with the rain so I decided to spread the shot out now. A 3lb ghostie quickly fell before I missed two bites in a row so I shallowed up a touch again. This did the job and I was into a fish that felt a fair bit bigger than the others. After a good five minutes when I never even saw the end of my elastic the fish eventually showed signs of tiring. A quick bit of playing with the pull-bung once I'd got the better of it had a cracking looking common in the landing net which required a bit of a double handed heave to get the net up to my lap! I'd guess it went about 12lb and it looked every bit like it had never been caught before!

With two hours to go I started to miss bites, before connecting with one which produced a little baby carp of about 1lb - one of the newly added ones from the stock pond. I had a quick try on the deck again after as bites faded but both pellet and corn failed to produce. Back on the punch I tried just a bit further along the bank. While I was probably only hitting half the bites here (shallowing up more bites totally stopped) I found that I could keep odd fish coming. So much so that with an hour and a half left I found myself walking up to get another net! I do have a spare that I bring in the summer, but bare in mind that 32lb is the best weight off the lake this year and that I won this match last year with about 28lb I never imagined I'd need it!

I don't know if it was me going walkabout or just that the swim had faded away but bites were impossible to come by across after. With just over an hour to go a slight movement caught my eye in the edge so I baited the lighter rig with a large punch (I'd caught all my fish on it up to now so why not I thought!) It took about five minutes and then the float slipped away. The culprit was a mirror of about 6lb that I managed to mug before it even realised it was hooked. I topped it up with a few casters after and went back across. The last hour was hard graft to make bites, the first one coming after I'd deepened up again and was actually the first (and only) bite I had over the bait across, a lively silver and gold koi of about 3lb. I'd kept trying down the peg, putting the 17.5m section on but bizarrely the fish hadn't backed away from me and the last forty minutes gave me three more bites, all between the feed and where I had been catching. All on the punch and after I'd shallowed up again and pushed the rig tighter into the far bank, meaning I finished the match with twenty "proper" carp, and the one baby which went in the silvers net with my skimmer.

I have to admit had little clue what anyone else had caught, my pre-occupation and spending half the match with my hood up in the rain had seen to that! When the scales got to me the league leader was winning the match with 15lb, my bits went just over 3lb and my last five carp went 26lb. It was only when I went to lift the other net out I realised that there was a lot more in there than I thought, with two more weighs giving me a total of 96lb 1oz, just one fish short of a ton! If only I'd bought my own spare net...

In the end I was a comfortable first, with 18lb from the next peg being second, keeping me in second place in the league but closing the gap to two points with two rounds to go, and with the worst result to be dropped I'm in a good position, I've just got to keep it up!

Sunday 6th March

I've always thought of March as spring, indeed I have many memories of sitting out without a fleece on and even on odd occasions in just a t-shirt in said month! Not in the last few years mind, still, I'll take typical January weather now over the weather we actually had in January...

After walking round before the draw nothing changed my mind over where I wanted to be, with the higher the number the better as far as I was concerned - anything of 18 or above would do me! I had mixed feelings really when I pulled peg 11 out of the bag, as it's a consistent peg in terms of getting bites so I knew I'd catch a few fish, but on the downside it's not really a peg you'll win off in the cold due to the stamp of fish. Still, in terms of a practice the chance of a few bites would do me nicely.

As you can see from the picture it's not a wide peg (the narrowest on the lake actually) with 13m of pole direct in front being enough to touch the far bank. I had three rigs up to start the day, the first at about 12.5m in front, about a meter or so to the right of the big tree stump. Experience tells me that going closer to the stump means more bites but also a lot of expense and lost rigs! It's a jungle underneath and I wanted to see how far away I could get away with fishing from it and still pick up a few bites. This rig was a 4x12 Preston Chianti on .14 line to a .125 hook length and a 16 B611 hook matched to Preston 13h lakky. This was in about 3ft of water. This same rig also doubled up to fishing on the other corner of the bay in front of me, about as far to the right of the picture as you can see. I also set up an obligatory shallow rig with the same terminal gear as the previous rig but with a 4x10 Preston PB2 set to fish between 6 inches and a foot off the deck. Last up was a rig to see how fast I could catch silvers as this is the area where they seem to school up the most. Fished off to my left at 8m so I wouldn't bring anything back from the far bank over it I set up a 4x14 Preston Chianti in five and a half foot of water. I wanted this rig to be carp capable so it was actually on the same lines as the other rigs but with a smaller (18) hook and on very soft 11h elastic. I planned to try pellet here to see if I could catch any skimmers or crucians to be honest, especially as the peg was fished on Wednesday (the only day that the lakes are pleasure fished) and they had a few crucians off a similar line.

On the whistle I fed a tiny ball of softened micro pellet with half a dozen casters on the silvers line before baiting up with a grain of corn to try along the far bank to search for any fish before I fed over. It wasn't long before a fish was on, but not in my swim! I'd been out no more than thirty seconds before peg 17 was playing a carp. I gave it about quarter of an hour on various spots on the far bank (it's a nice slope for the most part along) before electing to feed a tiny pinch of micros strait in front, which was as close to the big stump I was going to feed. There are a lot of snags under the stump that aren't visible but believe me they are there! (and it is a stump, just a tall one as it's cut off not far above what you can see in the picture!)

Slipping a 4mm expander on and going on to the silvers line didn't take long to get a response as the first four or five drops all produced fish, with three roach and two skimmers falling pretty much as the rig settled. None of the fish were big, all between 1-2oz but coming quick enough to nab a few pounds between trying for a carp. I tried pushing the well spread bulk down and together to try and find some bigger fish and also combat the rather cold breeze that was causing an awkward skim and pushing a lot of floating debris past that the geese have created. It didn't really work, as I had to wait a bit longer for bites from the same fish. Bites started to slow a touch shortly after so I decided to try maggot but that just produced tiny fish. Topping up with three casters and a tiny ball of micro's again bought the bites back and a pellet even produced a slightly bigger roach among the ten-to-the-pound ones. Although I was catching steady my mind started to wander to carp when the peg to my left had one about 3lb and I could also see a group of fish cruising in the empty peg to my right. I carried on with the easy bites on pellet and when they started to fade on the hour mark I nudged the float a touch over depth and slipped on a caster to try for something bigger. I was just about to give up on that after five minutes when the float slowly slid under and the strike saw a little more elastic come out, with a perch about 8oz the result. I again fed a tiny ball of micro's and a few casters before leaving the swim.

On going back across I decided to try the shallow rig on the right hand limit of the swim with punch due to the fish cruising in the empty peg that way, which were now taking leaves and bit's of weed off the top! I could actually of reached them with about 15m of pole but the match rules state you can only fish up to the next peg and in doing that I'd have been in the next peg. There are one or two that would have chucked a lead up there I bet though! First drop on the punch and the float went strait away and I missed it. Strait out and it did the same again but I didn't miss it this time, and with the carp cruising about I had a 2oz roach! On a 9mm piece of punch.... Another missed bite there led me to try in front of me where I'd fed. A grain of corn got me a bite pretty quick from a roach about 3oz but no more followed until a liner led my to try the shallow punch rig which produced another roach about 2oz.

I plugged away across until the two hour mark when I decided that I'd go back onto the short silvers line if all I could catch across were roach. Bites were not quite so easy to come by now, perhaps a result of the cold wind which was funneling through the peg, touching only my peg and the next along. Pellet seemed to be the best bet as maggot was only giving me tiny perch so ten-to-the-pound roach seemed a better bet, even though frequent shotting changes were needed after every other fish to keep them coming. The wind was actually making my hand near numb every time it got wet from a fish but I was happy plugging away with probably two and a half pound of small fish in the net I'd got the weight of the peg to my lefts carp, that was until the two pegs to my right both had carp in quick succession, and word came round that peg 20 had three carp including one that looked double figures. Time to look for a carp then!

Back on the punch rig to my right as the fish were still in the next peg was fruitless so I decided to feed three grains of corn in the hope that any fish on the way past would spot the bright grains and be encouraged to stop. I slipped on a grain of corn on the deck rig and went back to the other fed far line, lowered the rig in slowly and no sooner had it settled than the float dipped and the lift saw me shipping back fast as the elastic went for the tree stump! It didn't make it though and a carp of about 3lb was in the net soon after. I had ten more minutes on the line without response so I topped it up with a tiny pinch of micro's and a grain of corn and went onto the line furthest to my right. Again I lowered the rig in slowly, and again it carried on going! Carp number two was in the net pretty soon after, again only small (as they tend to be on the peg) probably nudging three pound.

No more bites followed so I had a quick drop on the silvers line. Again it was slow and maggot was the best bet for bites with odd 1oz roach in between the tiny perch. With an hour and a half to go I decided I'd leave the dying silvers line (but I'm tempted to think I just needed to put another section on and I'd have caught again) and plug away for another carp or two as I wasn't going to get anywhere with silvers in an open, and others were starting to catch odd carp too, with everyone I could see having at least one. I decided to try punch on the deck rig and just as I shipped out the sun peeped through onto the far bank. I lowered the rig in slowly and missed a bite, not unconvinced it wasn't a roach I lowered the bait back in and commented to the next peg that the sun may trigger one or two fish into feeding. No sooner had those words left my mouth than the float went and carp number three was on! This one felt a bit livelier but came off as I un-shipped my top-kit, although a scale on the hook told me why. I went strait back onto the far line on punch, lowered the rig in slowly and the float blinked strait under! A smaller carp this one, I debated putting it in with my silvers before deciding it was nearer a pound and a half than a pound and put it in with the other two!

I didn't have a bite next drop so I fed a tiny pinch of micro's and went onto the other far line on corn. I lowered the rig in here and it also went strait under but I missed it! I had a few more minutes here without a bite and decided to top this line up with two grains of corn and leave it. We were just into the last hour now and the cold breeze vanished, and with no awkward surface skim and the fact that all the floating debris had blown into the corner I spread the small bulk right out giving the rig a "shirt button" style of shotting. This seemed to do the trick as the last fifty minutes or so gave me three more carp and a 4oz roach, all taken just as I finished lowering the rig in. One carp was on punch, again only of about a pound and a half, while the other two were on corn and a touch bigger. The last one went into the net with twenty seconds to go. I did miss one more bite on the right hand line but otherwise all the fish came from in front.

As the scales came round talk was that pegs 20 and 25 had caught five or six decent carp a piece so it looked as though first and second were sewn up. When the scales got to me 11lb was the top weight and when pushed on my weight I said I may just have 17lb. Not a bad guess as it happened as my six pasties and bits went 17lb 4oz. Peg 20's five carp went 23lb (including an 11lb'er) while peg 25's "six small carp" went considerably more than my six small carp as they totalled 31lb for the win.

I was quite pleased with a third place of the peg, it's a consistent peg all year but in the cold it doesn't win very often as the stamp of carp are small compared to the pegs in the 20's. Mostly I was happy to not only have had plenty of bites but to have a bit of a plan in my head should I draw in the group of pegs where the silvers are still holed up in next weeks winter league.