Sunday July 31st

I was optimistic of a decent day's fishing today, with a nice warm morning and decent weather forecast too! Hopefully the fish would be obliging....

I had a walk around before the draw and there were not many fish visible cruising, hopefully a good sign. Hand in the bag and out comes peg 40, a peg I've never drawn, and to be bluntly honest, one I didn't ever want! There were some mumblings about me drawing it but it's got no form what-so-ever this year. Being drawn out as the golden peg made the mumblers a bit more vocal too!

Sitting down on the peg it's a long way across, 17m or so to the island. I could get about 2ft off the island in about 18in of water, but no tighter due to roots and snags. I thought this could be a problem as I find when fishing to islands you don't want to leave room for carp to get behind the float. Standard rig for here - an Nick Gilbert XTM on .17 to .15 with a size 18 Fox Series 2 matched to Preston 15h. Second up was a 2+2 line fished to my left past the point I was fishing on. A .3gr Nick Gilbert Decker float was on the same terminal gear as the far bank rig, fished in about 6ft of water. Last up was a margin rig for the right side. I had to spend a while plumbing along here. In the end it was a touch closer to me than I wanted but the bottom had a better slope. The rig was a bit lighter than my standard margin gear in an attempt to get bites as the margins have been poor on this lake. Float was a .2gr DC5 in just over 2ft of water, terminal gear was the same as the other rigs.

On the whistle I fed a pinch of pellets across, while the 2+2 line had a third of a pot of hemp and corn. I decided to leave feeding the margins till later but had knocked up some groundbait to try feeding down the edge, being as my normal approaches hadn't worked and it seems to be the 'in' way of fishing the edge.

Trying a 6mm expander across gave nothing after ten minutes so I started to to tap in a few pellets via a toss-pot. I didn't want to feed with the catty across due to the water behind the float - I didn't want to feed the fish in to the roots. It took half an hour or so before my first indication, which I missed! I suspect it was a liner anyhow.

On the hour mark I decided to start introducing a few casters and a bit of crumb across via the pot. The only person I could see who'd caught was peg 33 and nobody else was getting bites. It took until two hours in before I got my first proper bite, a small perch on double caster!

On the half way mark peg 37 had a carp and 33 was still nabbing odd fish, and with the far side lifeless I decided to feed crumb down the edge, giving it two pots with a few small cubes of meat in. This was going to get another whole pot every thirty minutes in the hope of dragging some life in to the swim!

With two hours to go I saw odd signs of life across, and lowering the rig in saw the elastic streaming out. What I thought was a good fish turned out to be about 4lb and foul-hooked in the tail. How did it do that?

The next two hours was totally lifeless where ever I tried, and with the sun in my eyes fishing across (the picture is from after the match as I was ages getting ready) so in the last forty minutes I plugged away down the edge. With half an hour to go I had a liner down the edge, and with just a few minutes to go I could see a large mirror easily into double figures mooching over the groundbait. It wasn't really troughing though and despite my best attempts to trick it, it wasn't interested in either the large dendrobena or a couple of small cubes of meat and I finished the match with my one foul-hooker!

The front side of the lake where I was fished hard for everyone (one carp to my right and none to my left). the weights were close with the top three separated by not much more than 2lb, with just 31lb 14oz needed to win. Next week is back on the old lake, and hopefully it'll be much better!

Sunday July 24th

The theme of my drawing lately seems to be deja vu, with not much variety in the pegs I draw! That said, I was quite happy with my draw of peg 66 on the end of the island on the old lake, it's got good recent form and it was off the worst of the wind (what's happened to summer!)

It was a pretty standard affair with regards to rigs for the day - the far bank rig, tight across at 16m was a Nick Gilbert XTM on .17 line to a .15 hook-link and a size 18 Fox Series 2 hook and Preston 15h elastic. The depth here was about 16in. The second rig was for the 2+2 line using a .3gr Nick Gilbert Decker in about 4.5ft of water. Terminal gear was otherwise the same for this as the far bank rig. Last up was a margin rig. This was fish about 12m to my left under some overhanging branches. Depth here was about 2.5ft and the rig was a .2gr DC5 on .19 to .17 and a size 16 Fox Series 2, with the lakky being purple Hydro.

On the whistle I fed a palm-full of 6mm hard pellets across, while the 2+2 line got half a pot of hemp and corn. I didn't feed the margin to start with for two reasons, firstly I've never caught much in the edge off the peg, and secondly, I hoped I wouldn't need it! It didn't take long for a response on a hard 8mm pellet across and I can't have been in much more than sixty seconds when I was shipping back with a carp on. Not a bad start either, a fish of a good 4lb.

The next few drops were met by nudges, most likely from small fish so I started to flick a few pellets with the catty. The nudges eventually led to me catching a carp of about 2oz on the pellet so on the half hour mark I fed a similar amount to what I'd started with. This again had the desired effect and a common of about 3lb was soon in the net. Not wanting to introduce a large amount again early I carried on feeding with the catty but the next fish was a roach so after quarter of an hour I went across with the pot again. This again had an instant response and another 3lb'er was in the net, so I tried a small pot on the pole, allowing me to introduce a similar amount of pellets but not use the big cup. This didn't have the desired effect though and with the swirling wind plus the fact that I had to un-ship twice on the long pole it made things awkward.

Back to feeding with the catty with the occasional cupping of pellets to keep a tight base area of feed had fish in the swim, but I couldn't get a proper bite! Eventually a bite saw another carp on but this one charged down the island and the hook-link broke. The second hour was frustrating and saw me lose three more carp. I wasn't lifting into the bites either as they were yanking the lakky out, with two pulling off near the net and one more coming off halfway across. I'm sure people thought I was bagging, but in reality I was getting very frustrated! Especially when I had to do a monkey up the tree to get my rig back! At least one of the fish was foul-hooked but I don't think the others were.

On the two hour mark it was time to rest the long line try the 2+2 swim. It took a while to get a response here and the first fish was a big crucian, and then I had a small carp of perhaps a pound and a half. I gave the swim half a pot again (I had been feeding it by hand) and went back across. No sooner had the pellet hit the bottom than the lakky ripped out! Thankfully this one didn't come off and another 4lb'er was in the net, but no more followed.

With three hours gone (halfway) it was time to feed the margins, as it looked like I did need it after all! No messing here and a whole pot of hemp and corn went in. I then topped up the far line via the big pot, giving it half a cup to try and kick it in to life. I had a drop in on the 2+2 line but didn't give it too long as I could see tails waiving at me down the edge. First drop in on double corn and I missed the first bite almost instantly. The second bite wasn't long in coming though and a 6lb common gave a good account of it's self before going in the net. I got odd liners after but didn't want to push it so soon after starting the line so I gave it a hit of bait again and left it.

I couldn't really see anyone else unless I craned right forward off my box, but I could hear a fair bit of splashing from up the lake and the banter suggested someone was catching. I managed to nick another fish from the far bank but still frustratingly I couldn't line them up. The 2+2 line seemed a little better now with more indications. I had two 3lb fish off it on corn, then trying a large cube of meat hoping for a better stamp of fish (or quicker bites) gave me just a missed bite. I decided to drop the rig in the wrong side of the bait (up the tow) on single corn and this did get me a bigger fish, with a common of about 5lb being the result.

With just under two hours to go I was plodding on steadily, not ever lining fish up but nicking an odd fish across before nabbing one or two off the 2+2 line. The margin was weird as it was lifeless unless I gave it at least half a pot, but when the fish came in the were right in the bank in just inches of water, not on the feed! They were good fish too but I couldn't get a bite from them.

The last hour started with me getting two fish in a row from the far bank line putting me up to eleven or twelve carp, but then the fish went iffy so I left it again. The margin fish were still in a weird mood, mooching right into the bank so I found myself back on the 2+2 line. A small carp of about a pound came from here, then another chunky crucian but the next bite after that was a 2oz roach on corn. I gave it half a pot and went back across but for the first time after resting I didn't get a fish from the line.

Coming back on the close line and I started to put a run of fish together in the last thirty minutes, with an odd good fish in amongst them too. With ten minutes to get I found myself on either fourteen or fifteen proper carp in the net, so erring on the side of caution I went with the higher number and put the other net in. That last ten minutes was probably my best spell of the match too, with a 4lb'er and then a 2lb'er going in, then with about a minute to go I hooked a better fish and just after the whistle a fish nudging 6lb went in the net too, all falling to single corn.

When the scales got round to me just shy of 40lb was winning but the end peg was admitting to nineteen or twenty carp too, but apparently they were small fish. My couple of weighs totalled just over 68lb, with my last ten minute net contributing 11lb 12oz to the cause! I was humping my gear past the end peg just in time to see their weight tallied up to 52lb something, so they were all small fish.

The win was more than I thought I was going to manage to be honest, though it was that last thirty minutes really on the 2+2 line that sealed it. I also wasn't the only one to suffer from a few lost fish too, with two or three others getting the same and one person also having the bites pulling the lakky out but losing them. Interestingly, they were hair-rigging on the pole and all mine were on banded pellet, so in both cases the hook was exposed and I'm tempted to think that has something to do with it. I did find myself earlier thinking I'd probably have done better on expanders across when the fish aren't feeding properly, but with the amount of tiny fish it's just not really an option so I guess it's just plugging away as it was and hoping the weather picks up enough soon the get the fish eating properly.

Sunday July 17th

Ahh, back to being able to to complain about the weather! The wind and rain gave the morning a rather autumnal feel and I have to say I was a little unsure about what the day would hold, both in terms of the rain upsetting the fish and with the forecast storms too.

I really wanted a peg in the open water where I find it's easier to catch short but I found myself on peg 62 in the corner round the island. I have quite fond memories of the peg as it's where I caught my first fish for two months back in mid/late January! Just as I was walking off with my gear someone told me I was also the golden peg, which is normally a curse to the days fishing...

Looking at the peg I was confident that I'd catch from it late down the margins where I had a few stick-ups. Fishing 13m down here I had just over 2ft of water, and the standard margin rig was set up for here - a .2gr DC5 float on .19 line to a .17 hook-link and a 16 Fox Series 2 hook, the lakky was purple hydro. The far bank rig was at 13m too, but I couldn't tuck this as tight to the island as I wanted due to the vegetation. In 2ft of water a NG XTM float was on .17 line to a .15 hook-link and finished with a 18 Fox Series 2 hook, while the lakky was Preston 15h. Last up was a rig for 5m. In 5ft of water I could get away with a .3gr NG Decker despite the wind. Terminal gear was the same as the last rig and matched to black Hydro.

On the whistle the far bank got a pinch of pellets while the 5m line had half a pot of hemp and corn. The margin line got a whole pot of bait - I had to attack this line as it's the one I needed to go for the best chance of taking the golden peg. Going across on a banded pellet small fish started to knock the pellet about. I started to flick a few 6mm pellets across with a catty to try and draw some fish.

In the first twenty minutes the next peg had two early from their margin, then my first proper bite saw me catch a crucian of about a pound and a half, before the next drop produced a tiny 1oz carp! With signs of fish in the margin I allowed myself a quick drop down the edge on double corn. It didn't take long to catch here with a fish of about 2.5lb falling. With no bites coming quick after I re-fed it with half a pot rather than push it too early.

I had a quick try on the 5m line but had only a liner to show for it. On going back over I again only had knocks from little fish, with the regular cattying of pellets failing to attract anything bigger. On the hour mark I dropped back in the edge and again had an instant bite but again from a smaller carp of about 3lb. Again nothing followed so I topped it up with half a pot again and left it alone.

The far bank wasn't going and I could only get liners down the edge. I carried on topping it up as I thought the fish would get their heads down at some point. On the two hour mark with the wind a bit gusty I bulked the shot up a foot from the hook on the 5m line and dropped in with a 10mm cube of meat. A sharp bite which took the lakky with it saw another smallish carp, followed by another about ten minutes later before that line faded, which led to me giving that half a pot boost what I'd fed by hand there.

I dropped across again and had an instant bite from an even smaller carp of perhaps a pound and a half before the mad indications (and the increased wind) led to me leaving the line again. Dropping in the edge saw me attached to carp number five, but this one led to a bit of a merry dance before I mugged a fish of about 4lb hooked in the tail. Nothing more followed so that was again topped up with half a pot.

On the 5m line I lost a fish on the meat but I think that may have been foul-hooked. With the wind dropping a touch I went back to a spread bulk and corn on the rig and this seemed to do the trick. The next hour gave me a run of fish, all in the 2-3lb bracket but they were coming steadily and with two hours to go I was into double figures of fish.

I'd kept an eye on the edge, and had been topping it up every thirty minutes and could see fish moving there. I gave the 5m a small pot of bait and left it to drop in the edge and was instantly into a bigger fish. A 5lb'er was soon in the net, but topping up via a large toss-pot didn't seem right so I gave it a quarter of a cup. This had the desired effect and soon another decent fish fell. Keeping to the pattern of feed, drop in and bite with just over an hour left I was on fifteen carp and motoring, with all the fish being twice the size of what I had been catching.

All the while down the edge I'd been keeping an eye on the dark cloud moving in ominously behind me, and with an hour to go a rumble of thunder was followed by a deluge of rain that made the frequent showers we'd already had seem like a misting! With my jacket on and hood up I plugged away but the indications were fading away. I did lose a fish from the edge that felt bigger still but may have been foul-hooked. Eventually the rain slowed and I then hooked another fish but the line inexplicably parted midway down the rig. Putting on a new rig I topped up the margin and left it.

A brief spell on the 5m line saw another small carp on corn before the wind picked up, so I bulked the shot up again and put on a big cube of meat and another small carp fell to that. Back in the edge and I was getting some indications and in the last ten minutes I managed another two carp, albeit much smaller than those I was catching.

I finished the match on nineteen carp, but very little idea of what others had caught. I packed my rain soaked gear away and went to find the scales just as they got to peg 53, which according to others was the only peg to challenge what I had. On pulling their net out they had less fish than me but all big, but on the scales when they went to 51lb something I knew it was looking good! My fish totalled 63lb 1oz on the scales and the best weight after I weighed was 32lb.

On reflection, given the weather it didn't fish too bad, we'd had over an inch of rain on Saturday, and a fair bit on the day too, but going home with soaked gear was a little less painful with a little bonus!

Sunday July 10th

Well, what a change it makes not to whinge about the weather! This morning was about as near a perfect morning as you'd pick to fish; not to warm, a slight breeze plus a bit of cloud..... I have to admit I was optimistic! Walking round the lake beforehand and the marginal lilly bed looks wrecked and there were a lot of lillies drifting loose so it looked as though the fish had spawned too.

I wasn't overly picky with regards to pegs apart from the fact I didn't want pegs 15 or 40, so I was happy to see both of them gone before I got to the draw bag! I was very happy with the number that came out in my hand, I've a good relationship with peg 25! It's a peg I knew I'd be able to get right up in to the shallow water of the island, and while it's not the narrowest of pegs, it's one where I can leave the 17.5m section in the bag!

Nothing too complex for the day in hand tackle wise, I had two identical rigs for 16m to the island fished just to my right, plus a margin rig. The far bank rigs were Nick Gilbert XTM's on .17 line to .15 hook-links and size 18 Fox Series 2 hooks, both matched to Preston 15h lakky. Depth here was about 18in. The other rig was for the margin to my right at about 5m. I had to do a bit of gardening to be able to pull my rig right in to the bank into about 2.5ft of water. Float here was was a newer.2gr Nick Gilbert XT Series Margin float coupled to my normal margin gear of .19 line to a 17 hook-link and a size 16 Fox Series 2. Lakky on this was purple Hydro. Unusually I was ready well before the whistle so I also put up a rig to fish shallow against the far bank, but I never picked it up!

On the whistle I fed a small palm-full of 6mm pellets (about 25-30) across while the margins had just a small pinch of hemp and corn, plus I was going to flick corn there by hand too. On going across on a 6mm expander I had a carpy like indication that I think was from a fish spooking before catching a roach of about 2oz. The next chuck I again had a roach of the same size before the indications got a bit silly and then died away. On the half hour mark with the indications fading I cupped in the same amount of pellets that I started with and had a bite almost the instant the float settled which produced a carp of about 3lb.

With the first carp in the net I picked the catty up and started pinging a few pellets across but the indications were few and far between so on the hour mark the cup went back across. This again bought an instant response from a carp bigger than the first at about 5lb. That fish was quickly followed by a smaller carp of perhaps only a pound before the indications faded again. I expected that going across with the cup would bring a fish again as had been the pattern but it didn't, and the swim seemed to be going downhill rather than getting better with indications fading away.

On the two hour mark I started to introduce casters in with the cupped feed while still pinging pellets across in three's and four's every few minutes. I took the chance to have a quick drop in the edge as I'd seen signs of fish but all I had was a couple of liners. Going back across, but on double caster and at last there seemed to be a bit of life with an occasional indication. I managed to catch two perch before my first carp fell to the change, a dark koi of about 4lb. This was followed by a chunky mirror next drop of a similar weight. After that fish the indications again faded so I again fed with the bigger cup, about a dozen each of caster and 6mm pellet before having another quick try in the margins.

As happened the first time in the edge I only had a liner so I didn't waste too long there, and on dropping back across the lakky was ripped out as I lowered the float in, this resulted in another chunky dark coloured koi but this one was probably nearer 5lb. I was still getting indications after this so I held back from cupping in again and just flicked a few pellets in, and eventually carp number six fell. A quick drop in after that and the indications weren't really there so across went the cup again. At this point someone walked round and bought news that the lake was fishing hard, with the most anyone admitting to being three carp. The fish came back to the feed but were most definitely edgy, I suspect at least in part due to the walker!

The fish did come back, after I'd had another brief (bite-less) spell in the edge. Steady rather than fast I was getting two fish off a feed before having to cup in again. I did try toss-potting rather than catapulting and using the big cup but it wasn't right and I think the fish felt more comfortable grazing rather than with the feed super tight. The fish were worth waiting for, all about four pound mark.

With forty minutes to go I was on thirteen carp and steadily working towards a good weight when a hooked carp ran along the island to the left, much the same as the others had. This one however hit a branch and broke the hook-link off against it, but I did get the branch out! The lost fish seemed to upset the swim a bit and it took a while to get the fish going again. A change to half a worm managed to get me three more carp in the last twenty minutes, the first two a bit smaller than average but the last one, netted just on the whistle was a beautiful black, gold and silver koi of around 6lb.

I couldn't really see the other anglers but had heard a bit of splashing late, but when the scales got to me 25lb was the top weight. My fish comfortably topped that and went a bit more than I thought nudging the scales to a total of 70lb 12oz, comfortably finishing ahead of the second placed weight of 29lb.

Overall I have to say I enjoyed the day, I worked hard for the fish and felt satisfied with the result. It was also nice to be rid of the lost fish that have been a problem on the lake in the last few weeks too, not that I was doing anything different!

Sunday July 3rd

Well, on getting up this Sunday it looked like it was going to be another scorcher! Thankfully, at least the new lake has shade on most of the pegs - I didn't fancy baking again like last week.

Walking around before hand I thought the earlier numbers looked better, the water seemed more coloured and there were more fish moving around. I'd have been happiest with any peg up to number 20 (15 in the corner excepted) but it wasn't to be with peg 33 coming out. A bit bitter-sweet, as I'd won of the peg a few weeks ago, but on the downside that was with just 29lb! I was hoping it would fish a bit better this time.

Only two rigs up this time, nice and simple! The far bank rig was in about 16in of water and the float was a Nick Gilbert XTM. Line was .17 to .15 with an 18 Fox Series 2 on the end and the rig was matched to Preston 15h lakky. The other rig doubled for two margin lines; one at 11.5m to my left and the other at 6m to the right. Typical margin jobbie for me with a .2gr DC5 on .19 line to a .17 hook-link and a size 16 Fox Series 2. Lakky was purple Hydro.

On the whistle I fed across with about a dozen 6mm pellets, while the left hand margin got just a quarter of a pot of hemp and corn. I elected to not feed the other side until later, and this was going to be fed a touch lighter still, unless of course the fish were showing that they wanted a lot of bait!

On going across I had signs of life instantly and just a quarter of an hour in I was putting my first carp in the net. It didn't take long for a bite next drop either, but totally in-explicably the fish came off as I was shipping back while under very little pressure. The swim slowed a little after this so I topped up with a similar amount of pellets to what I'd started the swim with. The signs of life returned instantly and carp number two was soon in the net, perhaps a touch bigger than the first at about 4lb. The next drop I had a very short wait for a bite but again, for no real reason the fish came off after a short while.

An hour in to the match now and the even feeding again failed to bring the fish back. I could see three other anglers and the end peg had suffered a similar fate, catching two fish early, then after losing a fish it died. I started to introduce a few casters a this point via a small pot, while also still pinging a few pellets across with the catty which has served me well lately, but the swim seemed totally barren of life after the early flurry which is something I always worry about after catching from the off.

On the two hour mark I decided on a look in both margins, trying the dump fed longer one first before starting to toss-pot a little hemp and corn into the other but neither showed any signs of life. Infact the going up to the halfway point in the match all I'd added to the tally was a single liner across and nobody near me was catching either.

With all the lines lifeless I decided to try something else in the long margin, giving it three whole pots of loose (damp) groundbait. Don't ask me what the mix was as I'd had a tidy out of the bait store in the shed on Saturday and put all the bottom parts of bags in to one big bag mixed together to use them all up!

Leaving the margin line alone for a bit I went back across on caster and the float barely settled before it went. This fish went along the island before again coming off! I was not amused, but the next drop the same happend and another 4lb'er was in the net. With no more bites in the next five minutes I topped the swim up with a pinch of casters and again went over on double caster. A short wait was ended when I hooked what felt like a much bigger fish which ran along the bank, down the shelf and strait in to a snag and left me without a hooklength.... It was definetly one of those days!

The lost fish spelled an end to the action so I dropped in over the crumb on a cube of meat. I had a couple of liners so decided to put a whole worm on, but this didn't bring a response so I topped up with more crumb and left it again. Going back across was lifeless so I made the decision to try feeding chopped worm across. Half a worm burried strait away and gave me a 2oz rudd and a similar sized perch before again going off, and no matter what I tried I couldn't raise a response again from any line.

The match finished with me in a line of five anglers who didn't weigh in, while the other side of the lake had fished a touch better and a later text message (I was long gone!) told me that 46lb had won, with 35lb second and 28lb third. I have to admit I'm very frustrated about the lost fish but everyone seems to be suffering the same, but it's no coincidence that once you lose a fish the rest seem to vanish! I saw the first fish I lost and that was hooked outside the mouth and lighter lakky may be an option, however, with the root's and lillies in the lake I like to have a measure of control. I really don't know! This fish still haven't all spawned in the lake (which I've never known to happen so late) and I think thats a big contribution to them not feeding properly. Nothing I can do about that!