August 29th, Bank Holiday Monday

Isn't it frightening to think the next Bank Holiday will be Christmas! That said, the summer Bank Holiday seemed to have a very Autumnal feel to it which nearly resulted in me lifting my fleece in the morning, and I actually wish I had!

Walking around before-hand I fancied the pegs around the back of the island, as while the wind was pushing round there they were sheltered from the wind by the island and felt a couple of degrees warmer. Those that are eagle-eyed enough may notice that I didn't get my wish as I ended up on the same peg as last week! While I caught last week off if it's really not the best peg, plus I wasn't looking forward to the ants! I didn't notice it last week, but the buggers had a bit of a feast on me and on Monday morning I counted over forty bites up my legs, not nice! Tuck trousers into sock time it was...

I only put three rigs up for the day - a far bank rig, a margin rig and a rig for the 2+2 line. It didn't take me too long to set up as I still had the tippex marks on my top-kits from last week and the three rigs were quickly checked and re-plumbed, exactly right first time as the lake level hadn't changed! The far bank rig was a NG XTM float in 16in of water on .17 to .15 and an 18 Fox Series 2 matched with Preston 15h. The 2+2 rig was on the same terminal gear and the margin rig was the normal stepped up .19 to .17 and a 16 Fox Series 2 hook matched to purple Hydro.

On the whistle and after feeding the far line with a pinch of pellet the both the margin and the 2+2 line were fed with half a pot of hemp and corn. My reason for feeding the margin early when I hadn't last week was that I expected it would be my main catching line, and I hoped to get more than one good hour off it.

Going across on an 8mm banded pellet and the float did it's usual small fish dance before plinking under, and like last week my first carp was about 4oz. The wind was a touch awkward, although at times it would be flat calm at times it was also a job to hang on. Lifting and dropping the rig would invariably get knocks as the pellet settled but they were from smaller fish. Wondering if a 6mm banded pellet would be able to catch me a few of those smaller carp I gave it a go. This meant the float actually went under more, and when I eventually hit one of the bites the result was a bitterling!

I was flicking a few pellets across via the catty as and when the wind let me, but after about forty minutes all the indications faded so I took this as a signal to feed again with the pot. I still wasn't getting many knocks after and I was contemplating trying one of the other lines (both were getting a few grains of corn by hand) when a better bite saw me hook and land a proper carp, a dumpy mirror of a good 4lb. I plugged away on the line for a bit longer and did hook another carp about twenty minutes later, this one ripping the lakky from the pole while I was lowering the rig in! Unfortunately, for whatever reason this one pulled off as I lifted the top-kit to net it.

Indications seemed to stop totally after that across so just over the hour mark I re-fed across with the cup and dropped in on the 2+2 line. I lowered the rig in slowly, and as the float touched the water it was away - this is what I was after! Or it wasn't, as after a couple of seconds the hook pulled again. I checked the hooks on all the rigs after, they were all freshly made rigs but you never know, but they all seemed to be fine (they went in to my thumb okay!). I plugged away on the line for another ten minutes but indications were iffy so I left it alone, after topping both the close lines up with a bit of hemp and corn via the cup.

When I went back across the far line was getting increasingly awkward to fish in the wind that was swirling in the trees, and with very few signs of fish I didn't give it too long, a decision helped by the tail patterns in the margin! Double corn dropped in here and the float was away, and a decent ghostie mirror of about 5lb was in the net. I hooked another fish after that, only a few minutes later, but that one pulled off too! I was not best amused and changed the hook-links on all the rigs regardless.

I left the margin alone for a bit and dropped in over the 2+2. I was getting signs of life there and was tinkering with the shotting and depth trying to make some hittable bites. The tow was fairly strong against the wind and the majority of my knocks were coming about 2ft to the right of where I was feeding, but my first hittable bite came when I lowered the rig right down the feed, and resulted in a crucian of about a pound. I'd had to spread the bulk out a bit to get that, but when the wind really gave it some the rig wasn't quite right. The odd knocks carried on and I went back to fishing just the bulk of shot, about 10in from the hook. Lowering the float slowly in down the tow got me another bite, and this carp too was a decent stamp at about 4lb.

After that last fish I decided to rest the swim and gave it a decent amount of corn and no hemp. From what I could hear peg 57 was catching very well, although nobody else I could see had a lot more than I did. In the margin I was getting signs of fish and a switch to one large grain of corn got me a bite and another decent fish of about 4lb, followed not long after by it's twin. I then bumped a fish down the edge so I decided not to push it and went back on the other close line.

Feeding just the corn here seemed to have done the trick and I started to pick up a few fish off this line. I was having to work the rig a lot, and most of the bites were coming just after the rig had been lifted a foot clear of the water and slowly lowered back. They were coming in one's and two's either down the tow or directly over the feed but they wouldn't settle on one place. Still, by fishing a single grain of corn I was steadily plodding along with fish averaging about 3lb, and hopefully I still had a last hour margin bonanza too! I did try a cube of meat every now and then in an attempt to nick a bigger fish but I never had a bite doing this.

With an hour and twenty minutes to go I found myself with fifteen proper carp and starting my second net. I'd still been feeding the margin by hand, and as the last few bites had took a bit longer to come by I gambled on having a look down the edge. I could hear talk of peg 57 already having 100lb, so was hoping on a bag-up spell myself down the edge! I did manage to nick one decent carp down the edge, but I probably spent more time than it was worth to catch it after missing a few bites.

With an hour to go and I dropped back in on the 2+2 line, but while I'd left it alone I'd carried on feeding it by hand. Unfortunately, the fish seemed to have faded away rather than come back and it took a few minutes to get something going again. The first fish came by fishing the wrong side of the bait in the tow. I then got distracted by a tail in the margin so dropped in down there, but only had a missed bite to show for it. I managed to get another carp, again fishing the wrong side in the tow, but both those fish that side were smaller. I then again got distracted by a tail in the edge, but this time I nabbed the fish on a single grain of corn. This led to me staying on the margin and while I was getting an odd bite here I was missing them. Just as I was lifting out the float went and I had another carp, but I decided just to feed the swim and go back to the 2+2.

This line seemed to show a few more signs of life and with twenty minutes to go I should have got my head down here. The wind had settled a bit so I spread the bulk out and it seemed to work. The fish were smaller at about 3lb each but twice I decided to have a sneaky look down the edge for two or three minutes, but only managed to miss a bite while going for a margin lump to catch 57. I finished the match on twenty-two carp, the last ones taken from the 2+2 line.

I could see a few other people had caught, and most of them had double figures of numbers in the 40's (the pegs I could see on the opposite bank in the open water, the best area last week) I knew I had more than all of them. As I got packed away quickly I went and followed the scales. Peg 57 was admitting to thirty carp so it was clear they'd win as everyone who could see them said they had 100lb. I'd guesstimated mine to go about 75lb. While walking up the other bank it was noticeable that it was much warmer out of the worst of the wind, I'd sat with a coat on all day and would never have said I was warm. It was a mistake to have left my fleece at home!

When the scales got to peg 57 the top weight was 47lb. They comfortably topped that, but didn't have as much as everyone had been suggesting when they put 88lb 9oz on the scales. Hmm, this was closer than I thought! When I'd finished my weighs I'd totalled a level 83lb. In the end, those were the top three weights.

On getting walking back I couldn't help but be a bit disappointed at being so close, even though I'd worked very hard at the swim to get that weight I'd perhaps chased the margin fish a bit much and it'd cost me. The wasted times towards the end in the edge perhaps would have given me the extra weight, but then so could have one more lump from the margin! And then there was those couple of lost early fish.... so near yet so far and I have to admit it's overshadowed what's a fantastic weight off that swim.

Next week my blog will be back at around it's usual time, and hopefully starting September in style!

Sunday August 21st

No complaints about the weather today, it was pretty nice this morning! Not so happy about the spiders though, why do they always have to weave their webs at face height near the shed so I get a sleepy face full of web in the morning?

Walking round and the fish seemed to be all round the lake, but more so on the earlier numbers. On queuing at the draw-bag the person in front of me walked away from the bag as peg 64 was still in and they'd struggled off it last time. My hand goes in the bag and out comes 64.... I didn't really want it either! They promptly drew after me and got 66 and moaned about that too, some people are never happy!

I had four rigs up, two for across, one for 5m and one in the margins to my right at just 4m. The bankside vegetation doesn't allow you to fish much further on either side but the right was against some reeds and a touch shallower than the left. The far bank rigs were at about 13.5m, one to fish in 14in of water and one right up the bank in about 9in of water. Both were identical otherwise, being NG XTM's on .17 to .15 and an 18 Fox Series 2. Both were on Preston 15 hollo. The 5m rig was a .3gr NG Decker in about five and a half foot of water. Terminal gear was the same and the lakky was black Hydro. Last up was the margin rig. In about two and a half foot of water the float was a .2gr DC5 on .19 line to a .17 hook-link to a size 16 Series 2. Lakky was purple Hydro.

There were a few fish moving so I was confident I could catch a few fish. On the whistle the far line was fed with a palm-full of pellets, while the 5m line had half a pot of hemp and corn. I didn't feed the margin to start with as I could easily do that by hand at any point, plus experience told me that if that line goes it'll be very late - no point wasting bait feeding the small fish!

As per usual I went across on a 6mm expander which immediately gave me a roach. Not the usual micro one, but about 2oz - better, but not what I was after! A switch to a banded 8mm pellet and the float did it's dancing trick before vanishing. This gave me a little carp of about 4oz, so the right species, but the wrong size! I had two more carp of the same size in the next twenty minutes before I saw some movement very tight to the bank. I had been feeding pellets via a catty and some bait was going tight, so it was on with the very short rig!

Going tight over gave me a few knocks but no proper bites, and the tail I could see had gone as I shipped over. With no joy I decided to feed tight over with the pot and leave it, so a quarter of a pot of 6mm pellets went across before I had a quick try on the 5m line, but this gave no joy.

On trying up the island I had nothing there either, so I went back on to the original rig for a short while but all the happened here was the float danced around while the roach played head tennis with the pellet. When I shipped back in the pellet was round in the band!

On the hour and a half mark I decided I'd need the margin sooner rather than later. I could see those pegged on the opposite bank in the open water catching well. I'd had odd bubbles start on the 5m line and was fishing here on a cube of meat when I started to feed the margin by hand. I gave it one big handful of hemp, and just as I gave it one of corn the pole yanked as a carp hooked it's self! Off the mark with regards to proper carp, a lively ghostie mirror of about 5lb was the culpret.

Despite that one carp I couldn't raise any more bites off that line, but I was at least starting to get indications off it. On the two hour mark I decided to have a go in the margins where I'd been flicking about a dozen grains of corn every five minutes. A bite strait away saw me attached to a decent fish that charged out of the swim before pulling off! I fed it and rested it, going back to the 5m line. Here I hooked a decent mirror on corn that looked a good 7lb, and that pulled off just as I went to net it and fired my rig up a tree. A new hook-link was required after!

I couldn't get any more bites off the 5m line after so I dropped back in on the margin on double corn. A quick bite here saw me land a small common of about 3lb, and feeding just after I hooked it saw me hook a fish almost strait away after dropping in again. This did the same as the first fish I hooked down the edge and charged off and the hook pulled. This was not amusing and I have to admit I was rather peeved. I changed the hook-link, even though there was nothing wrong with the hook, but the bites stopped after.

I had a brief try over, where I had still been feeding via the catty but even the roach had got bored of mullering the pellet - probably they had a jaw ache! The match was passing by and frustratingly too. I fed a big pot of corn on the 5m line to try and boost it, as I could get odd indications on it. It worked to a degree as the float buried with a single grain of corn as bait, but the result was a crucian of about a pound. I carried on plugging away, changing the shotting to try and make hittable bites from the odd knock. I did manage to nab another small carp of about 3lb off the line, fishing well away from the feed but with two hours to go I had just three carp.

I found myself back in the margins and was getting odd bites but could not connect with them. I'm not sure if the missed bites were smaller fish or because the wind was blowing the rig back towards me a touch, as I do find then that having the float closer to you than the pole tip seems to result in missed bites for whatever reason. Still, the increase in movement was encouraging!

With an hour and a half to go I had a try on the 5m line again, and thought I had it sussed when when I managed two fish in a row, each taken by moving the shot well away from the hook in a much less positive spread-bulk and two droppers pattern, and then lowering the float in very slowly. It didn't work for a third time though! In fact, even the knocks lessened after.

With an hour to go I dropped in the edge on double corn and the float was away instantly and soon a slightly better fish of about 5lb was in the net. In fact I found myself going from relative inactivity to motoring! By feeding after I hooked a fish bites came very steadily. I'd like to claim it went like a dream and I hit them all but but I did still miss a couple. With just under an hour to go when I put carp number six in the net I found myself putting carp number fifteen in the net about twenty seconds after the whistle - what a complete change of a swim! The average stamp was good too. I did have two smaller fish, going about 5lb the pair of them, but the others were bigger and the best being number thirteen, a common of about 8lb.

When the scales got to me the other bank had fished very well, with weights of 92lb and 70lb being top and a couple of 40lb weights too. My fish went 61lb 2oz in total, and in the end that was good enough for third place, with nobody else challenging the frame after me.

In the end I was pretty pleased, as while the lost fish cost me second I got a result off a peg that nobody really likes. It's just a shame I packed all the action into one hour rather than spread it out!

Next weekend brings the August Bank Holiday, and while I won't be out on the Sunday I shall on the Monday, so the next update will be a bit later. Tight lines until then!

Sunday August 14th

After last Sunday's fish filled day I was hoping that the new lake was going to fish a bit better than it had been.

When my hand went in the bag a few of the numbers I wanted were still in, but when 35 came out it wasn't the best option in the bag. In fact, I think I described it as the worst peg on the lake last time I drew it!

Plumbing up gave me 15in of water at 16m, but this was probably 2ft off the island. If I went any tighter the water was very shallow, just 3-4 in. This wasn't ideal as I like to get as tight to the island as I can to stop liners, but with the water low this isn't possible on some pegs now. On a more heavily stocked water I'd have put a rig up for it. The rig was normal for fishing across; a NG XTM on .17 to .15 and a size 18 Fox Series 2. This rig was matched to Preston 15h. The only other rig I put up was for the margin at about 8m down the bank to my right. I had a nice sloping area with 2ft of water near to the bank here. The rig was pretty much the same as for across but the float was a .2gr DC5.

On the whistle I fed a small pinch of pellets across, while the margin got a small pinch of hemp and corn. I wasn't going to feed a lot here and if it didn't go with half the match gone I had some groundbait to feed.

I had a liner more or less from the off, and after about ten minutes I started to drip a few pellets in via a toss-pot. Pretty much dead on the half-hour mark I had my first proper bite on a 6mm expander which gave me a carp of about 3lb. This wasn't the kick-start to the day I hoped and the fish that had been present started to fade away.

On the hour mark I decided on a change, as while there wasn't as many fish present there were still some. I had a few worms with me so took a small handfull plus some of the peat they were in and gave them a liberal dose of liquid worm before mixing them with a few pellets, casters and an odd grain of corn. The first drop feeding this via toss-pot gave me a small perch and the next half an hour gave me a couple more small perch before any activity faded. The next bite gave me another carp of about 3lb before the swim totally died on me.

On the halfway mark I'd had no more bites so I fed the margin with two pots of loose crumb with a few small cubes of meat in. I then noticed an odd movement under a tiny bush to my left. This needed me to just hold a top-kit and a foot of the no4 to reach. I decided to flick just an odd pellet here after I'd plumbed up to find it about two inches deeper than the other margin. After a fruitless try across another movement to my left saw me drop in on a pellet and the float went away as soon as I lowered it in. A carp of about 3lb was in the net before it even knew what was going on as I'd hooked it so close to me!

No more bites came so I tried both the other lines but with no joy. Another movement under the small bush saw me about to try there but just as I was going to the angler on the next peg (who'd not caught) threw all his bait in down that margin as he packed up. That was that down the edge after then!

I plugged away on the two lines I'd originally fed and with an hour to go I had two bites in two drops from across where I'd still been feeding the worm mixture. Both these fish were bigger at about 5lb each, but the last hour bag-up I hoped would happen didn't and the bites faded, funnily enough as the angler the other side packed up noisily....

I kept the bait going in and with about ten minutes to go I managed my sixth carp, a smaller one than the last two at about 3lb again. I hoped I'd had enough time for another but while I had fish in the swim I never managed to get another bite before the whistle.

The match had been hard for all those that I could see, with the four anglers I could see one having one, one having four and the other two were the pegs either side that had packed up carp-less.

Walking round following the scales peg 14 was the first person to put a weight on the scales around what I thought I had with a 20-14 total. A couple of other weights around that mark came to the scales with the best being 22-10, until peg 27 put their fish on the scales and totalled 32lb odd, with more fish than they'd admitted to! I knew I didn't have that so it was second I was hoping for but I knew it was going to be very close. A couple of double figure weights went on the scales before they got to me, and when I put my fish on the scales I totalled a level 24lb and narrowly pipping the last peg to weigh in who had 23-6 into second place.

In the end I was quite pleased with the result, and I'm not sure I could have scraped much more out of the peg in the end, certainly not through my own errors anyway, although I wasn't best pleased with the anglers either side and they way they packed up as I'm pretty certain they cost me fish. Still, next week is back on to the old lake and that's fishing much better!

Sunday 7th August

I was looking forward to getting back on to the old lake after last weeks struggle, and with the warmer weather during the week it's fair to say most people were optimistic of a decent days fishing. I have to say I was too on walking round, as while the wind was on most of the pegs the water seemed much more coloured - hopefully due to fish feeding!

I did fancy a peg round the back of the island where the wind was pushing, as like most lakes the fish follow the wind. Pegs 57 and 59 were at the windward end but flat calm as the island sheltered them and seemed a perfect draw to me, but by the time I dipped my hand in the bag they were gone and 48 came out in my mitt.

I was fairly happy with the peg despite it not having great recent form as it's fairly shallow (4.5ft at the deepest), and therefore easier to concentrate fish on the bottom in. I put up three rigs for the day and first up was the rig for the island at 13.5m, which was manageable in all but the worst of the wind. In 16in of water the float was a NG XTM on .17 line to a .15 hook-link with a size 18 Fox Series 2 hook and matched to Preston 15h lakky. The second rig was for the 2+2 line. In just over 4ft the float was a .3gr NG Decker with the same hooks and line as the island rig, with the lakky being black Hydro. Last up was a margin rig, fished at about 5m to my left. Depth here was 2ft and a standard margin set-up of a .2gr DC5 float on .19 to .17 matched to a 16 Fox Series 2 hook. Lakky on this was purple Hydro.

On the whistle the far bank line got a palm-full of 6mm pellets, while the 2+2 line got half a pot of hemp and corn. Last up, the margin had a whole pot of hemp and corn. The first drop across on a 6mm expander and it produced a small roach after a host of knocks, so it was on with a banded 8mm pellet. The small fish still knocked the pellet but with a few carp milling about I was sure they'd settle so I started flicking pellets across with the catty.

On the hour mark I was just about to come off the far line as others were catching when a series of liners led me to stay on the line for a bit, but after another fifteen minutes I came off the line and dropped in over the 2+2 line. This gave me my first fish, a common of about 2lb that was hooked outside the mouth. When my next fish, a 4lb ghostie was also hooked outside the mouth I added another inch to the depth so I was on the bottom by about three inches as the wind was increasingly bad. This had the desired effect and by the end of the next hour I was on six fish, all falling to single corn.

Starting the third hour and I found I got bites quicker by fishing above the direction of the tow and was now catching steadily, feeding a whole toss-pot of corn each time. Again, all the fish were taken on single corn and I'd got myself into a good rythm of feed, bite and fish and by the half-way point of the match I was on thirteen carp with the fish all in the 3-4lb stamp. As tends to happen on "unlucky thirteen" I lost the next fish (the first one I'd lost) when it ran along the bank to my left and the hook-link parted on a root. This got even more frustrating when the next fish pulled off as I went to net it, putting the rig up a tree and requireing a new rig after I'd retrieved it.

The two lost fish slowed the swim a bit so I topped it up with half a pot of hemp and corn and dropped in down the margin. I'd originally intended to put half a pot in every 45 minutes but with the fish looking in the mood for some grub I'd stepped it up to feeding it every 30 minutes. It didn't take long to get a response from another chunky 4lb'er but no more bites followed so I gave it another pot of bait and left it.

Dropping back on the the 2+2 line and I picked off two smaller fish about 2lb each on meat before I found bites hard to come by so I dropped in down the edge again. This followed the same pattern as the first time with a fish falling strait away but no more bites following.

Going back on the other line again and I decided to feed corn by hand to increase the noise, so both the margin and 2+2 line were getting small pinches of corn every few minutes. With two hours to go I found that fishing right in the middle of the feed was better as it got me more bites, but I was missing a few of them so I put the bulk of shot right on the top of my six inch hook-link. This had the desired effect and I started to catch steady again and in half an hour I put four more carp in the net including one about 6lb before tails waiving down the edge got my attention.

Two drops down the edge on double corn gave me to fish quickly but they were smaller so I gave it a hit with the pot again and dropped on the other line. A couple more quick fish of that line saw me up to twenty three carp with an hour to go when bites went off. A switch to meat led to a flurry of missed bites before giving me a tiny carp of about 4oz.

The last hour in the margins gave me a steady run of fish down the edge, and a switch to meat down the edge seemed a better option than corn. The fish averaged about 4lb a piece until carp number twenty eight which was a ghostie mirror of about 7lb which I put in the net with just under ten minutes to go. In those last couple of minutes I put two more carp in the net but smaller, in the 2/3lb bracket to be on thirty proper carp with a minute or so to go. With the tails waiving at me I think had I dropped in again I'd have got another but I was at the net limit of fifteen carp per net. Had I any longer I'd have emptied the net with my roach and micro carp in it!

I was the fourth to weigh in and about 40lb was top weight when the scales got to me, my five weighs (one of them 5oz from the silvers net) totalled up to 114lb 10oz and comfortably enough for the win. The two pegs round the back of the island that I'd fancied originally filled second and third with a 70lb and 50lb weight. Not a bad days fishing in all!