No picture this week, I decided it was a bit too wet to get the camera out! And hasn't it been wet....

After last weeks struggle on the new lake I was hoping for a few more bites this week, and while a walk around the lake unsurprisingly didn't show any signs of fish (it was like a monsoon!), I still decided that I didn't want to draw an island peg. I ended up drawing later than usual in the queue as I was holding an umbrella up over the organisers. My hand went in the bag and out came 72 - happy with that, in the open water and with a few stick-ups in the edge to target too.

On putting my box down it was obvious that the stick-ups are much less prevalent than they were, due probably to the destructive nature of the geese on the lakes! I had three rigs up for the day, one for 13m in to the open water, one for 5m and a shallow rig for the stick-ups. The rigs were pretty similar for the two lines in front, except the 5m line had a smaller .3gr NG Decker float as opposed to the .4gr for out long, where the depth was about five-and-a-half foot, and more liable to catch the wind, which thankfully was largely off my back. The depth was perhaps 6-8in shallower closer in on the 5m line. Terminal gear was the same for both, with .15 mainline to a .13 hooklink and a size 20 Fox Series 2 hook. The margin rig was a small 4x10 Preston Pink float (a small in-line dibber which doesn't catch when dragged in to the stick-ups) with a .14 hooklink and a size 16 Kamasan B611 hook which is better suited to fishing caster which I like for the stick-up pegs. Lastly, all the rigs were matched to Preston 13h lakky on a pull-bung. I intended to fish meat and corn at 5m, and just corn long, while feeding a little hemp on both lines.

On the whistle I fed both the lines in front before shipping out to the long line with a grain of corn. I'd been out for perhaps five minutes before the float dinked under and I soon had a 4lb common in the net - a decent start! I did comment to a late arrival who was behind me at the time that a fish first chuck isn't always a good thing! I gave it another twenty minutes or so out with no more joy, and with signs of fish in the stick-ups I topped up the line and baited up the shallow rig. Fishing double caster here didn't take long to get a response, and three bites in the next thirty minutes led me to finish the first hour on four carp. Two were the decent 4lb stamp while the other two were perhaps 5lb the pair.

The line seemed to dry up after that so I plugged away at the long line, steadily dripping corn and a little hemp on to it via a cad-pot. I couldn't raise a response from it but it often takes a while to bring open water swims to life so I persevered with it, while also dripping a little meat and corn by hand at 5m. On odd occasions I saw fish in the stick-ups but they were very spooky and would back away from the pole the moment I dropped the rig in. I was fishing with perhaps 14in of line above the float on this rig (set about 12in deep). Fishing a longer line may have got an extra bite or two, but it also leaves you less in control and more liable to lose fish in the reeds so I kept it as it was - no point hooking them and losing them!

Two hours passed (and lots of rain) and I decided that perhaps the long line wasn't going to produce to drip feeding, so opted to give it half a pot of bait. It hadn't produced a sign since that first drop in so I wasn't going to kill it. I dropped in at 5m and had a bite on corn almost instantly but the fish came off after a few seconds. It didn't feel a big fish, more like a scatty small carp, but I couldn't get another bite after that.

I'd now fallen behind peg 44 who I could see catching fishing to the lilly bed in the peg that is now just visable, but beyond that I couldn't see anyone with more fish than me. A quick look the in the margins again saw me land a decnt common of about 5lb, followed not long after by a 4lb'er but a lost fish saw the swim fade again. With an hour and a half to go the rain eventually stopped and the sun even came out! This seemed to have a positive effect on the swim and a few fish moved in to the stick-ups and I managed another three in the next thirty minutes. Two smaller carp about 3lb, plus another fish around 5lb. I then bumped a fish so decided to rest it and with an hour to go dropped in on the 5m line with meat. I was just about to leave the line after five minutes with no indications when the float vanished, leading to a good tussle before I put the net under what what turned out to be the best fish of the day - a ghostie of around 7lb.

I couldn't raise another bite from there so I plugged away in the margin for the last part of the match, managing another three carp. They were not big fish but it had pulled me away from everyone I could see. The whistle went and I finished the match on thirteen carp and thankfully dry after a little spell in the sun!

I was one of the last to weigh in and when the scales arrived at me the top weight was 40lb 2oz, with 32lb behind that. I knew I'd manage a little over that and my fish nudged the scales to 47lb 8oz. The peg to my right was the last to weigh in and they put 29lb on the scales, giving me enough for the win on what must have been one of the wettest days I've ever fished on!

Next week sees the bank-holiday pairs match on Monday, but I may well sneak out for the knock-up arranged for the Sunday too, meaning a rare double header for me and two updates next week. Hopefully it'll be much drier too, fingers crossed.

Sunday 22nd April

Sorry for the late update, I've been a touch busy!

I was looking forward to fishing the new lake again, so after helping out with a bit of swim repairing on the old lake (nothing like a bit of digging on a Sunday morning!), I had a wonder around to have a look at where I fancied drawing. The later numbers looked favourable to me - anything from 18 upwards, but particularly pegs 20, 25 and 37. I wasn't lucky when my hand went in to the bag mind, with peg 5 coming out - only one peg in before me so I was a bit away from where I wanted.

It's not that it's a bad peg, but it is a peg that's much better in the warm - and it hasn't been that! Still, I set about having four lines of attack; two margin swims, a 5m line and a far bank line. Starting with the far rig, it was a standard set up for me really - a small NG floats XTM on .17 line to a .15 hook-link and a size 18 Fox series 2 hook. The depth here was about 20in. I was going to fish worm on this line, so I hoped I'd get away with the heavy-ish gear! lakky was Preston 13h on a pull-bung. The 5m line was at an angle to my left in about 6.5ft of water, as it was sloping up slightly here. A .4gr Ng Decker was the float for this, with the rest of the terminal gear being the same as the far rig. I decided to fish two margin swims, but feeding them only after a couple of hours. The same rig for both, but I was going to loose-feed one and try groundbait on the other. Terminal gear was again the same, but the float was a 4x12 Preston Somo doctored to take a plastic tip, and the depth was about 2.5ft. Lakky was Preston 15h here, as hopefully I'd get a few munters down there!

On the whistle I fed a smallish amount of worm and caster across, with a few pellets mixed in. The 5m line had a pinch of hemp and corn, and I would flick a few grains of corn and the odd cube of meat here. Starting on the worm I was expecting bites, if not from carp then perch! They didn't come though, so I put a small cad-pot on and started dripping in small amounts of worm mix. It took an hour before I saw a fish caught - a couple of pegs up by dobbing bread.

I had a quick try on the 5m line with no joy, so fed my right hand margin with a bit of meat and corn, and started flicking odd cubes of meat here too. Odd fish were cruising, and I couldn't believe how slow it was. It was a full two hours before I had my first bite, which I missed! Lowering the worm back down the same hole it didn't take long to go again, and no mistake with this one as the lakky streamed out. With very little caught by others (I'd only seen three carp caught) a 5lb common was a welcome start. I loaded the cad-pot up and started to ship back across only to have two geese decide to have a fight in my swim - the second week running! I think the next addition to my rod holdall may be a shotgun.....

The next two hours were dire, and I couldn't raise an indication from anywhere. It was only when I started topping off the pot with a small amount of groundbait I started to get a very occasional liner/knock. I'd dumped a bit of groundbait in the other margin, as the end peg to my right had caught a decent fish in the edge. It could be that this coincided with the sun being on the far bank mind, I'll never know!

It wasn't until just under an hour to go before I had another bite, again from the far line. It was a good fish too at about 7lb. I hoped it would be the start of a last hour bonanza, but the only other action I had was a bite on worm down the edge from a 2oz perch. Even the liners faded away.

In the end the whole lake had fished hard, with four carp for 24lb winning, and 21lb second and 20lb third. My 12lb odd was enough for fourth and quite a few people blanked - very hard for the time of year, even with the bizarre (and very wet weather). In hindsight I think I fished to positive - I didn't feed a great deal but perhaps fishing a little lighter across (and maybe on caster) would have got me an extra bite or two. Maybe even a rig for punch fishing too, but I'd hope not to have to resort to that at this time of year. Realistically, I only wanted two more fish which perhaps could even have been enough for a win. Still, looking at the weather I may get a chance to test out the lighter fishing trick on that lake - it doesn't look like changing much!

Sunday 15th April

I'm sure this time last year was nice and spring-like... this year seems to be a frost every morning! Still, a walk around the lake and it looked pretty decent, although one or two pegs were in a very cold north-westerly wind. I hoped I'd be pushing my newly assembled Preston Space Shuttle barrow up the side out of the wind.

When I put my hand in the bag out came peg 64. I was torn a little on this, as it was out of the wind, but it's not really the greatest of pegs. I did have it a couple of times last summer and had some good weights of it, coming third and then second of it in successive weeks. It was a bit warmer then mind! Still, I'd give it a good go.

It's a nice and easy peg to fish, being only 13m to the island so this is where I had my first line. I had a good plumb around to find a clean area with no roots and found a nice area in about 20in of water just off some overhanging cover. Rig was a small Nick Gilbert XTM float, and the rig was finished with a .13 dia hooklength to a size 20 Fox Series 2 hook. The rig for 5m down the track was a .3gr Nick Gilbert Decker float, which held nicely in the tow. They're a very stable float due to the heavy glass stem which allows you to get away with a light float. In about 5ft of water this was finished with the same hooklength and hook as the far bank rig. Last up was a margin rig. This was fished at just 4m to my right, where there is a small plateau in an otherwise deeper margin, and right against some overhanging reeds. Depth here was about 2.5ft, and the float was a 4x12 Preston Somo which I've doctored to take a plastic tip. These are perfect for fishing on a slope and allow me to use the bait to shot the bristle so I know my bait is sitting perfect on the bottom. This was finished with the same hooklength and hook combo as the others, and all the rigs were matched to Preston 13h lakky on a pulla bung.

On the whistle the only line I fed with the cup was the 5m line, giving it a pinch of hemp and corn. To start with I'd trickle bait in to the margin line by hand only. On going across I put a few 4mm pellets in to a small cad pot and start like that. Slipping a 4mm expander on across it took a few drops to start getting knocks on the pellet, albeit from small fish. I could already see those in the open water catching, although those round the island I could see had yet to catch.

On the half hour mark I had a small roach on pellet, and then it became impossible to keep a 4mm expander in the swim due to the small fish. I'd seen odd carp milling about, so decided that I'd bin the pellet and start feeding just meat and corn as I was in the margin. It turned out to be a good call, as on my second drop (having fed just four grains of corn and two cubes of meat) I was away on a cube of meat. It was a decent start too, with a fish of about 4lb soon in the net. It didn't take long for the next fish to fall to meat, but what felt like a decent fish came of just as I un-shipped the top-kit.

I don't know it that was the death of the swim, because just as I lowered the rig in two geese decided they were going to cause a riot over my far bank! They very nearly took out my pole too, were it not for a me sharply moving it out of the way. They had their fight for a good ten minutes, and then spent the rest of the day giving each other the evil eye on the island in front of me!

I topped the far line up after the disturbance, and had a look down the track where I'd been dripping corn but had no joy there. A brief look on the margin gave the same none-response so it was back across. I wasn't surprised those lines didn't produce, as the times I've had this swim before they're always late goers. That however was no good to me now my far line had been ruined.

The next couple of hours was a going through the motions exercise, and while I could see anglers in the open water catching I'd not seen anybody round the island where I was catch a carp. The only addition to the net in this time was a tiny 1oz common on meat. To do something different I tried to force the far bank by upping the feed, using the big pot but chopping the cubes of meat. This worked to a degree as I got an odd liner and a fish would spook away from the swim. I'd have to top-up with the big pot to get the same response. With the upping of the feed working here to a degree, I also started to pot more in the margin too

I'd done the "big pot" a few times (which wasn't that much bait, but more than a small cad-pot) when I decided to try dropping the rig away from the feed. No sooner had I lowered the rig in than the float went away properly, but I missed it! Lowering the same piece of meat down the same hole and it was away again, but at least the lift saw my lakky following it, and a 3lb common was soon in the net. No more bites followed so I topped it up, and was about to drop in on it when I saw a swirl in the margin.

In for a penny I thought, so the far bank rig came back and I lowered a cube of meat in the margin. A few liners followed which wafted the bait down the ledge so I switched to corn, which being heavier I hoped would in place better. I didn't get to test that out as I never had a liner doing that, the float simply vanished as soon as I got it sitting right! With just over half an hour left it was a little late for them to arrive, but a 5lb mirror was soon in the net. I didn't have to wait long for the next bite, but that carp came off as I went to scoop and I somehow missed it with the landing net, ooops! It was hooked under the chin mind, as I could see the grain of corn. I topped the margin with a tiny pinch of hemp and went across to rest it.

I was just lowering the rig in when I saw a ghostie of about 8lb swim up alongside my keepnet to the sleeper on the swim, turn to it's left and start feeding on the bait! I quickly shipped back mumbling something along the lines of "I'll have you!", and promptly lowered a grain of corn. The float didn't sit for long before I missed a bite, but a few minutes later it was away again. Not the fish I'd seen, but a different plump ghostie around the 5lb mark. With just a few minutes left I was praying on the float going again, which it did. This fish felt much bigger, and with a careful bit of playing the same ghostie I saw swim up my net did a gentle roll in front of me, before being panned before it really knew what was going on! I managed to get the rig back in the swim before the whistle but didn't manage to mug another fish.

As the scales came round to me 36lb was top weight, from the opposite bank in the open water. My fish went 25lb 13oz on the scales which had me second for a while, until two weights from the open water on my bank of 40lb something and a 32lb weight pushed me in to 4th. The top three were all sat in a little triangle in the open water facing each other!

I was left cursing a bit, as while I was by far and away the biggest weight from the island pegs I feel I should have pushed the frame places closer. The two lost fish alone may have got me third. I was too slow changing things across (the geese were out of my control, but didn't help!) while I should have tried the margin a bit more as I hadn't dropped on it for a while until I saw movement, but they may not have been there of course. I spent a fair bit of time on the 5m line which didn't produce at all. I was surprised at that, as the times in the past I've drawn that peg I've always caught down the track. I guess it's just a little rust to get out of the system after the break (it's obvious having caught on meat last week I should have started on it) and I do think the extra 7lb for third was easily achievable, and perhaps given my better stamp fish the 16lb for the win too - three fish could have done that.

Next week is back on the new lake, so that'll be a different challenge where I most likely wont get away with fishing just at 13m. Hopefully, it'll be a rust free day!

Friday 6th April - And We're Back!

Well, how nice it is to be returning! Was I excited to be getting back in to the swing of things? well, the fact that I was awake at 6am making hooklenghts and sorting bait suggests so! The only downside was when I went out to feed the fish - it was rather chilly with quite a sharp frost. I went and checked the outside thermometer on the side of my shed and it was reading -4C! Brrrrrrr.

The lake looked good when I arrived - a nice colour and very little wind on it, although unsurprisingly there was no movement after such a cold night. With a low turn-out there wasn't a peg in the bag I wouldn't have taken - we all had a nice amount of space so I couldn't understand some of the moaning! I was quite happy with my draw, as peg 41 gave me the shortest walk possible and an end peg.

The peg is in a corner, so I had the bank to fish too, plus the open area in front. I was also happy that it was fairly shallow, with no more than about 4.5ft of water even going out to 13m. The night may have been cold, but with a bit of sun and temperatures forecast to (just) make double figures the water would warm up nicely.... I hoped!

I set up four rigs for the day; a margin rig for 12m in to the corner, a 5m rig, a rig for 13m in front and a shallow rig to try both in the margin and over the long line. With no snags (there is a lilly bed in the corner, but dragging the plummet around showed I was plenty far away from it) I opted for 13h lakky on three of the rigs, with a slightly lighter grey Hydro on the shallow rig. All the rigs were on .14 main-line with hook-links of the same, with 16 B611's completing all bar the margin rig, which had a size 20 Fox Series 2. Depths were roughly 4.5ft long, just under 4ft at 5m and 2.5ft in the margin. The shallow rig was set about 2ft. For bait I had corn, hemp and a little meat, with a couple of slices of bread should I be really struggling. I did have a few pellets but these were left in the carryall up the bank.

On the whistle the margin had about ten grains of corn and a pinch of hemp, while the long and 5m swims slightly less of the same. I started on the long line, dripping in a few grains of hemp and corn, a tactic that had worked for me last winter. The going method the last few weeks had been dobbing bread in front of visible cruising fish, but I prefer to leave the fish alone that are cruising until an absolute last resort - if I'm going to stalk fish they'll be bigger than match carp!

I wasn't expecting a fast start, but with an hour gone and only the odd roachy looking knock I was getting a little worried - I'd expected an odd fish, even if they were small. There had been a few fish caught on the other bank in the sun, but it was much cooler still my side! I'd seen odd fish moving to give me hope and dropped in on the margin and spooked a fish. On the hour mark I tried punch on the shallow rig in the edge which got me of the mark... with a roach!

I was no better off nearing the two hour mark and I was surprised that my drip-feeding approach long hadn't got me of the mark. Odd fish were visible in the edge, and I even had a liner or two on the odd quick drop on corn. Deciding something wasn't quite right I fed just two cubes of meat in the edge before having one quick foray over the long line on the shallow rig, but that didn't work.

Dead on the two hour mark I slipped a cube of meat on margin rig and lowered it in. It can't have been in the swim much longer that a minute before a positive bite saw me attached to my first carp - a common of about 3lb. Topping the swim up with just two grains of corn and two cubes of meat after I managed to get three more bites in the next forty minutes. Not fast, but worth waiting for as all three led to a carp in the net with the biggest perhaps 5lb - the others the same size as the first.

After that run of fish the bites just started to get iffy and I missed two in a row. I wasn't sure if it was due to the pressure on the swim or the fact the sun had increasingly started to vanish behind some dark clouds, causing the temperature to drop a bit. Just as I was about to leave it I connected with a much smaller carp of about 8oz, perhaps the cause of the missed bites. I elected to top up the swim and leave it anyway, giving it a small pinch of hemp and two pieces of both meat and corn.

I was happy now in that I'd pulled away from those I could see (albeit there were a couple I couldn't, but I try not to worry about those until after the whistle!), but I needed to put fish in the net from another area of the swim instead of relying on just the one area. I'd been dripping odd grains of corn at 5m since the start of the match and three hours in seemed a good time to try it. A single grain of corn was slipped on to the hook and lowered in. Odd signs on the float were encouraging, but it took a few minutes and dragging the float away from where I was feeding (there was very little, if any tow) to get a positive bite. It was worth the wait mind, and a dumpy 4lb common was the result. I gave it a few more minutes, but with no more bites I topped up with a pinch of hemp and left if alone for a try on the margin swim.

Slipping a cube of meat back on and the rest seemed to have done the swim some good, although it wasn't as strong as it was with the temperature dropping away a touch still. The next hour saw me nab three fish from the edge, a ghostie nudging 4lb the best of them, before the swim died as the temperature dropped enough to warrant me putting my hood up!

I tried the long swim which I had carried on topping up via the pot with the odd grain of corn but I really was surprised it wouldn't come good. The 5m line produced an odd indication on corn, so I chanced my arm with a small cube of meat as it had been so good in the margins. I'd barely lowered it into the swim and the float went - worth a try then as carp number nine graced the net. The next drop on meat produced a 2oz skimmer - something of a rarity on this lake!

After that fish I went through a barren spell as the cooling down took effect, and even the cruising fish vanished from my swim, while I watched others further up the lake start to catch odd fish. The margin and long swims were totally lifeless, so with the 5m swim producing odd knocks I was beginning to pin my hopes there.

With about forty minutes to go my faith in the line was retunred, with the dripping in of corn rewarding me with four bites and three carp in the next twenty-five minutes before disaster struck and I lost a fish. I'm not sure of it was foul-hooked or not as it ran towards me - it was a proper indication but something didn't feel right. I had a quick look in the edge while resting the line but I was never confident that it would go so I finished the match up at 5m, missing two bites on corn in the last five minutes. This left me to finish up on a dozen "proper" carp, one small carp plus my two bits.

Packing up and word came that of the anglers I couldn't see someone had fourteen carp, including some lumps, while another was admitting to nine for about 34lb. I figured I'd have in the region of 35-37lb, so it looked close for second with an obvious winner - those that could see all of us told me I'd be second - a result I thought considering my six month sabbatical.

With me being the first peg on the lake I was the first to weigh, putting a total of 43lb 5oz on the scales - a bit more that I'd thought. When the angler a couple of pegs up who had fourteen came to weigh it looked closer than maybe others had suggested, with a few smaller fish in their net. Their two weighs were read out and my quick maths gave me just ahead of them, and this was confirmed by the organiser who read out a total of 42lb 12oz - just 7oz in it! The next weight after that scare was a low thirty, but considering the very sharp frost it had fished much better than anyone would have imagined.

So, a winning return to match fishing, but I do have to admit I felt a bit rusty! I was slow to react to things to make bites - a change of baits worked in the edge, while a change in shotting worked at 5m, but I really didn't do them quick enough and could have nabbed another fish or two. Still, it's something that will come back with time on the bank, which I will now again have! It's back to the weekly Sundays out from after this weekend, and I'll do my very best to keep the blog updated as quick as I can. Tight lines all!

It's Nearly Here!

I managed to get out down to Westside over the weekend, in the hope that there would be a few drop-out from the final round of the winter league, meaning I could fish as a "ringer". In all the winter leagues I've ever fished the last round always have a few ringers in, and I was second reserve - I thought I had a good chance of getting in, but I didn't!

I pleasure fished on the old lake, the first time in six months my match gear has been out! I had a dozen or so 2-4lb carp, plus a couple of smaller ones and a pair of crucians, predominantly on corn at 13m in the open water. In hindsight I'd probably have done better sitting in the shallower water round the island, but I didn't want to walk any further to be honest! And it was just nice being back out on the bank.

With the long bank holiday weekend coming up I'm hoping to sneak out, although my first wedding anniversary is on Sunday so that's a big no no, but failing that I'm definitely out the following weekend. It's good to be back - I wonder how rusty I'll be!