Sunday 26th June

Well, a Sunday without the wind... And no rain too! The forecast for the day was for it to be bright sunshine and hot so I was hoping for a bit of shade. Putting my hand in the bag and out came peg 70, with absolutely no shade at all!

When I got to the peg there were quite a few fish cruising around so my plan was to start on the deck at 13m, but to come up shallow. The two shallow rigs covered from just a few inches deep to about 2ft, both on quite long lines. The shallowest had a Korum Blob on it, while the deeper one was a Nick Gilbert XTM. Both rigs were finished with size 20 Fox Series 2's to .15 line and matched to Preston 15h lakky. The deck rig was in about 6ft of water and was a .3gr Nick Gilbert Decker float on .17 to a .15 hook-link and a size 18 Fox Series 2. Lakky on this was black Hydro. This rig was also for my 2+2 line fished at about 11 O'clock where it was about two inches shallower than out. Last up was my margin rig for 6m to my right under a tree. In two foot of water a .2gr DC5 float was on .19 to a .17 hook-link and a size 16 Fox Series 2 hook, matched to purple Hydro.

On the whistle I fed the long line with a decent pinch of 6mm pellets, while the 2+2 line got half a pot of hemp and corn. I didn't feed the margin as behind the tree the reeds were solid with carp, and I anticpated that as the angler on the reeds caught some fish would back away and hopefully sit there feeling safe.

Starting on the deck rig it was plainly obvious that nothing was on the bottom so after ten minutes I started to rotate the shallow rigs and flick them towards any fish that looked interested in the loose-fed pellets. At this point both pegs to my right had carp (the end peg had four in the first half an hour!) It took until about forty minutes into the match before I hooked my first fish, and by this time everyone I could see had caught. I wasn't best pleased then when it came off at the net!

On the hour mark I'd found that feeding bigger pouches of pellets less frequent seemed to spark more life from the cruisers, and with polariods on I could see odd fish stopping under the surface to eat. This led to me getting off the mark with two carp in the next twenty minutes, both taken by slapping the shallowest rig infront of them. Neither were big, the first about a pound and a half, the second about 3lb. I plugged away on this line until the two hour mark, but the cruisers seemed to have backed away and despite changing the feeding about it was plainly obvious they weren't going to have it.

I'd heard a fair bit of splashing in the two pegs to my right (I couldn't really see them due to the tree) so I baited up the margin rig with double corn and dropped under the tree, feeding just a toss-pot of hemp and corn there as I'd seen movement. Ten minutes with just a liner led to be giving it a hit of bait with the big pot before leaving it alone and trying the 2+2 line which I'd been loose feeding by hand.

I had ten minutes without joy here when, just as I was about to go on the shallow line again I missed a bite. Next drop in I started to get an odd liner then eventually had two fish in two drops, both from mirrors that would have been about 5lb each were it not for they fact they looked as though they had just spawned, and they probably went about 7lb the pair. Some tails waiving under the tree led me to try here on a cube of meat, and the float went instantly with the culprit a common of about 2lb, but after that the bait was getting mauled by roach.

The next hour was slow, adding two carp about 2lb each from the 2+2 line. With two hours to go I decided to be a bit more positive on that line, changing the spread bulk shotting to a more positive tight bulk just a foot away from the hook, fished with a cube of meat. This did the trick as the next three drops all produced positive bites, giving me two fish about 5lb each, plus one of about 3lb. Bites then went iffy after this so a change to a bulk and one dropper and going back to corn gave me two more carp, leaving me on twelve fish with an hour to go.

After that run of fish the line went off again, so I left it alone and had a brief try in the margins which I'd been topping up every 30-40 minutes. There were always carp in the swim but bites were impossible to come by and I can only assume that they were fish that had backed away from the next peg who'd been catching there, and they were frightened rather than famished!

Going back on the 2+2 and I started to loose-feed more by hand again, as the last hour the bulk of the bait had gone in via a toss-pot while I was catching. This produced odd fish, but they were of a reasonable stamp (3-4lb) so I plugged away. Quite often I'd get two fish before a change in shotting, or fishing else where around the feed was needed to get another bite. With ten minutes to go I was on sixteen carp and changed back to fishing with just the bulk a foot from the hook with a single grain of corn. I netted carp number seventeen with six minutes to go, a mirror of about 5lb, and thought to myself I'd have time for one more. Lowering the float through the loose corn and the float was away instantly with number eighteen, and with a minute to go I was out and the same trick repeated and number nineteen was duly netted a couple of minutes after the whistle!

It's not often while catching I'm pleased to hear the whistle but the heat was so fierce it was nice to find a bit of shade before packing up. As the third from last to weigh I was comfortably packed away and joined the scales two pegs to my left where I was enjoying my last bottle of cold drink under the shade of a large tree! At this point 31lb odd was top weight, and when the scales got to me I put 65lb something (I can't even remember my own weight, how bad!) on the scales to take the lead. I'd heard splashing from the reeds pegs but couldn't see them, so had no idea what they had. The first to weigh put 41lb on the scales, while the last had less than that and gave me the win.

You may have noticed that I've got a little piece on the left called tackle box now, and I just thought that every month or so I'll give a little write up on some of the bites and pieces I use. I'd like it to look a bit better than it is, so it may well get fiddled around with again. Oh, and you can feed those fish too, just left click over them with the mouse!

Sunday 19th June

Well, what a surprise, waking to the sound of the wind again! That said, we're lucky that the venue is pretty sheltered, and on walking round the wind was only periodically swirly in just some of the pegs. I have to say the lake looked nice, but in the back of my mind I knew that the Tuesday evening summer league match was a struggle with three or four people blanking.

I had two pegs in mind going in to the draw queue, and by the time I went in the bag one of them had gone. Once I put my hand in the bag the other one came out - peg 37.


On putting my nets in I actually spooked a carp in the right hand margin, so I knew there were fish present. I only had the two lines of attack for the day, one rig for the far bank and one for the margins. I had a good ten to fifteen minutes plumbing along the far bank, trying to find a nice depth tight to the island, but where there was a gap in the roots. In the end I settled for an area pretty much directly infront, at about 15m. Here I had about twenty inches of water and the rig was on .17 line to a .15 hook-link with a size 18 Fox Series 2 hook. Float was a Nick Gilbert XTM and the lakky was Preston 15h. The margin rig was originally intended for the left side under a tree, but after a good plumb round I actually preferred the depth and the bottom contours of the right side margin at about 6m. A .2gr DC5 float in 3ft did the job here, on .19 line to a .17 hook-link and a size 16 Fox Series 2, matched to purple Hydro.


On the whistle I fed a dozen or so 6mm pellets across, while the margin got a small helping of corn, meat and hemp. Quite negative feeding for the time of year but the recent results suggested the fish were still in a funny mood having not spawned yet. Going over on an expander I missed the first bite before hooking a rudd of about 3oz which came off halfway back. For about ten minutes I had odd indications from silvers before they died off, so I picked up the catty and started flicking in a few pellets hoping the noise would draw some carp.


I had nothing in the way of indications for a while coming up to the forty-five minutes mark, while 33 was the only other angler I could see and they had one carp. As they were playing their second I had a bite which led to me landing my first carp, a decent one too at a good 4lb+. A liner followed but then nothing more so while still flicking a few pellets with the catty I decided to get the casters out of the cool-bag, that I'd bought simply as it had been fishing hard. I topped up with a reasonable pinch of casters but swapping to them on the hook gave me just two small perch.


It was a good hour later before I had any signs of life again, before a decent mirror of about 5lb made a mistake. A bite next drop saw a smaller carp of 2lb quickly netted, and again a bite pretty much instantly after saw me play a decent fish for a few minutes before losing it near the net. It looked a good 6lb and on day when bites had been hard to come by I have to admit I said a few choice words! I topped up with a few casters again but the swim had predictably quietend off. I was just about to try the margins when a bite out of the blue gave me a common of a good 7lb, but next drop gave me a little perch! I had a quick lifeless try on the margins but didn't give it too long before going back across.


I had a lifeless spell across but kept plugging away as the fish were of a good stamp - I had one fish less than peg 33 but I was thinking we had a similar weight as mine were bigger. The next action of any note was a rather frustrating period, firstly I lost a good fish which charged miles along the bank to my left and through a huge weed bed. I got it out of the weed eventually and played it infront of me before the hook pulled. I got a glance of it under the water and it looked to be nearing double figures, although the angle it was swimming suggested it may have been hooked in the cheek rather than in the mouth. A few minutes later, after again topping up with casters I lost a fish of about 4lb near the net when the hook-link parted. That was bad angling on my part as it must have been damaged on the last fish and I didn't notice.


The swim died off for a while, and the margin had never shown signs of life. I could see peg 33 pulling away from me now after a run of fish from their margins. I kept flicking a few pellets across too, hoping the noise would attract some fish. An odd person walking told me that it was the same for everyone. Coming in to the penultimate hour I started to see odd fish cruising, and a switch to half a worm caught me a perch of about a pound and a half followed by a common of about 3lb. Then the next few drops all resulted in wasp perch on the drop so I topped it up and went back to the edge.


It was nearing the last hour when I had another bite, strait after my last spell in the margins. A mirror of about 5lb fell, and then next chuck I played a fish of about the same size to the net before the hook pulled! This again slowed the swim, while I could see peg 33 still nabbing an odd fish swapping between the edge and across.


With fifty minutes to go I decided to try something with the top-up feed, giving the 50/50 caster and pellet mix a good squirt of Dynamite Baits Swim-Stim Natural liquid. Nothing ventured, nothing gained, it's been in my bag for three years! Dropping strait over it produced a dumpy 4lb+ common, and another followed a few minutes after, again of about the same size or perhaps a touch bigger. The drop after that gave me gave me a fish that wanted to go through the same weed as the lump I'd lost earlier, it didn't make it though, and after a good tussle absolutely mint double figure common was in the net! I had twenty minutes left after that but the swim seemed a little lifeless, so it got another helping of pellet and caster through the pot, with the same good squirt of liquid!


With ten minutes to go I hadn't had any more bites, then with me wishing for one more I got it, panning a common of about 3lb with three minutes left by my watch..... Time for another one then? Rig back out, I flicked four pellets over with the catty and away went the float! Another 3lb'er was panned and I had the rig back in the swim again, but didn't manage to get a bite in the twenty seconds or so until the whistle!


I was the last to weigh (as the peg to my left had gone, but I couldn't see them) so I packed away and got to follow the scales all the way round for once. Infact, somehow I ended up on the scales which was supposed to be the first two pegs job! Going round the lowest weight put on the scales was just short of 20lb, with the weights pretty tight until peg 33. They had more fish than me and weighed in just over 40lb - I knew I had that! My silvers net (well, everything in it was green and stripy!) went 2lb 3oz, while my 11 carp bottomed out the 55lb scales! Not a bad thing as it happened as it meant I got to weigh the double seperate (thinking about it when I got home I should have got a picture of it!). The remaining fish went 46lb 13oz, while the biggy on it's own went 11lb 10oz giving me a total of 60lb 10oz.


What was noticeable after the match was that most had caught late on, so the golden hour wasn't just in my peg - did adding the liquid to my feed make any difference? Who knows, but it can't have done any harm to the peg so it's something I'll bear in mind to try again. Incidentally, when I left my peg to find the scales the swim was solid with carp feeding across, a good forty minutes since any bait had gone in. Everyone also suffered a few hook pulls, as I also did last time on the same lake. It's not something I've had before and I can only put it down to the fact they aren't feeding properly. I did learn one lession mind, be carefull if you buy cheap correcting fluid to mark the depth of your top-kits as it tends to be very runny and prone to dripping - I now have a blue bib and brace with white polka-dots on it!

Sunday June 12th

Firstly I'll start by apologising to everyone who checked here last week for a blog that never appeared - I had every intention of fishing when I wrote my last blog, but instead ended up at a barbeque in Milton Keynes!

On arriving at the lake the drizzle started but I had a walk around anyway. There wasn't really anywhere I didn't want to draw, and when my hand went in the bag and came out with 66 I was quite happy, being as it has good recent form, and I was a second off the peg a few weeks ago.

I had three lines of attack on the peg; a rig for tight across, one for 5m and one for the left hand margin at about 10m down the bank. The rigs were standard fayre and anyone who reads regularly will know them! Across was a NG Floats XTM in about 16in of water on .17 line to a 6in hook-length of .15 tied to an 18 Fox Series 2. Lakky on this was Preston 15h. The 5m line was in about 4.5ft of water, float was a .2gr Ng Decker. Line and hooks were the same as the previous rig, while lakky was black Hydro. Last up was a margin rig, a .2gr DC5 float in about 3ft of water. As per usual for the margins the gear was stepped up with line being .19 to .17 and a 16 Fox Series 2 and matched to purple Hydro.

On the whistle I fed about twenty pellets across via cup, and then half a cup of hemp and corn on the 5m line. I elected not to feed the margin yet as it's a line I've never caught that much off in the past, and also with the match being a later start than usual I wanted to keep some bait back just incase the fish moved in numbers in the early evening!

Going across on an expander pellet produced a small roach, and then the next drop the pellet was shredded by small fish. This led to me slipping a band on the hook and trying a hard pellet. I still got knocks from roach but at least I wasn't losing my bait quickly. I picked up the catapult and started to feed pellets across. At 16m across I was having to break the pole down twice, and didn't fancy a pot on the end! Also, I hoped the regular noise (easy to feed more often with the catty than a pot!) would draw some fish.

After about forty minutes the drizzle turned into rain and with no proper bites I decided to make an unusual decision for me and put my brolly up! I didn't fancy sitting in the rain (probably due to the late night before!). A switch to the close line didn't produce and nobody I could see had caught a carp. I rotated the lines and on the 2hr mark I decided to feed the margin line to give me somewhere else to drop in on, while carrying on feeding across with the catty.

Not long after feeding the margin I started to get signs of life on the 5m line and carried on on this line, dripping corn in by hand over it too. I missed the first bite on this line but the next three drops all produced carp quite quickly. Nothing big, all about 3lb. The swim started going strange and the I had lots of indications and no bites. After playing with the depths a fourth fish fell, a little bigger at perhaps 4lb. I started to see signs of fish across but dropping over all that happened was that I spooked a fish.

No more fish came for a while, with no signs of life at all in the edge. I changed to fishing meat on the 5m line which is something which I've often found works, but all that gained me was a missed bite. Eventually a fifth fish fell on the 5m line to corn, but no more bites came after. I started to up the feed on this line but that had a negative effect as indications slowed down, so I backed off on the bait, while still keeping it dripping in.

With two hours to go the catty-fed pellets seemed to have drawn a few fish across, so slipping a pellet in to the band I went over. This time the fish didn't spook and I found myself playing a fish. The next hour produced a steady run of fish. I put a small Cad-Pot on the pole in an attempt to tighten up the feed and get bites faster. All this done was produce more line bites so I took the pot off and carried on with the catty, which was so much easier in the rain too!

I got up to nine carp before losing the tenth when it ran behind a bramble rooted in the water. A new rig saw me carry on catching fish steady, and many of the bites didn't need me to lift! None of them were big, fish averaging 3lb. I was up to fourteen fish with half an hour to go when I lost another fish in the bramble, even the lakky was in the bramble, meaning I lost the whole rig (and a precious float!) in process. The next fish I lost when it went under my net! Something that wouldn't have happend had I not had my umberella up! To be honest it was in the way when playing fish but with the rain now lashing down I wasn't taking it down.

The two lost fish seemed to slow the swim a little and I finished on sixteen carp and then had to pack up in the peeing rain. I could see that a few people had caught late but I was ahead of everyone I could see. When the scales got to me top weight was 38lb, and my estimate of having just about 50lb was close when they totalled 50lb 10oz and good enough for the win, and a reward for spending the day out in probably the grottiest June day's fishing I've known! Infact, the fish felt warmer than I did....