It Felt Like Spring.... For A Day!

And it was only a day, because as I sit here now looking out of the window the wind and rain is back!

The brief spell of warmer weather had even put the carp in the stock pond in spawning mode, with several groups of fish crashing about in the marginal vegetation - surprising really as I wouldn't imagine the water had warmed up that much yet!

As had been the norm on the new lake, I wanted a high number (pegs number 1-40 on this lake, anything of 14 or more would do), so I was happy when 34 came out in my hand - it is the going flyer on the lake! Having said that, there were only three left in the bag when I drew, the other two being 18 and 25, so I would have taken any of those.

There were two big pluses to the peg in my opinion (not including the recent form), and those are that it's not as wide as some areas at only 14.5m, and that it has a long margin to the right with two small bays in it, which is where the overflow pipe runs out of the lake in to the small stream behind. I had three rigs up for the day, the far-bank being a small NG XTM. The depth here was about 14in, and it was on .17 line to a .15 hook-link and matched to a size 18 Fox Series 2. This was attached to Preston 13h lakky on a pull-bung. Second up was a rig for 5m, but being as it never got picked up after I plumbed the depth I won't dwell on it. Lastly the margin rig, which was a .2gr DC5 float fished in about 2ft of water. I fished this at about 10m to my right, on the point in the middle of the two bays.

On the whistle I fed the 5m line with a pinch of hemp, meat and corn, while the margin line had the same - I elected to feed this from the start as it has form as a margin swim recently. I then went across with a cube of meat, feeding three cubes of meat and a few 6mm pellets in a cad-pot topped off with a little groundbait.

Despite there being a few fish visible indications were not fast in coming. I was feeding a small pinch of bait via the cad-pot every few minutes to hopefully encourage the fish in to feeding. On the forty minute mark I saw end-peg 40 catch a carp, and then had my first bite. Things didn't go to plan as the fish charged off round the point of the island before the rig gave way above the hook-link, probably cut off against a root from the bank. This prompted me to step up the lakky on the new rig to 15h - the next fish wasn't doing the same! I then topped up the margin with a similar amount to the first time.

It was a while before any more signs were had, but I'd seen peg 40 net another fish. On the eighty minute mark I decided on a change to half a worm, and I also started to ping a few pellets across with the catapult instead of relying on the pot. I don't know which change (if any!) prompted it, but my next bite wasn't long in coming - a decent common of about 5lb. Not too long after my second carp also fell to the worm, a pure white ghostie common that looks exactly the same as one I have in my pond! A bit bigger than my pond fish though at about 3lb.

After that flurry the swim faded so I topped it up with a dozen pellets and a few cubes of meat via the cupping kit and had a brief look in the edge. Despite seeing a few fish moving along the edge it was a bit early for them to settle and I never had a bite there. I could however see a few fish along the far bank and my return to there saw me quickly put carp three and four in the net - a small common of about 3lb, and a ghostie of about 5lb. I'd carried on pinging a few pellets across and was just thinking about re-feeding with the cupping kit when my next bite came, a crucian of about a pound.

The crucian signalled to me it was time to top-up, and it didn't take long for the fish to come back. Carp five and six were both decent fish in the 4lb bracket, and topping up strait after seemed the way to go (I'd had two fish off each feed so far) This worked, and in fact they came so soon after dropping the rig in I figured I may be able to pinch a third fish off that feed - and I did! Smaller than the previous two at about 3lb, but I was now pulling away from peg 40 who still nabbing odd fish.

I wasn't surprised to find after that flurry of action that bites were a little harder to come by, and when my next bite after topping up gave me a big brown goldfish I decided to leave the line for a bit and try the margin. I'd given it five minutes down the edge on meat without a knock and was just about to leave it when a bite totally from the blue saw me putting carp number ten in the net with ninety minutes to go. I decided to give it another go, topping up with a toss-pot of meat and corn but it didn't happen, so I gave it a decent pinch of meat, hemp and corn via the cupping kit and went across again.

The rest across had let the fish settle and the eleventh carp to go in the net was a decent one of about 6lb, but then a raft of floating scum made presentation awkward. I could see signs of fish under it, but just couldn't get a bait through the mix of willow fluff and weed the geese have pulled up cleanly. After wasting a bit of time trying I gave up and dropped in down the edge. A few liners gave me the confidence to wait for a proper bite on meat, and after ten minutes or so I had one. Like the first fish from down the edge it was one of the smaller ones at about 3lb.

With an hour to go the raft cleared a little, and when I could get my rig in across I could get a bite before too long. Carp numbers thirteen and fourteen were again that decent 4lb stamp, but after topping up I lost the next fish. Dropping in on the margin I managed to nick another fish there, a little bigger than the first two, but again the margins failed to bring more than one bite. I went back across with a quarter of an hour to go, and my next bite was from a fish that felt bigger than those before it. I panned a fish that weighed exactly 8lb with seven minutes to go - I know the exact weight as it was the only fish to go in that net! The scum-raft had drifted back and perhaps I should have had my last drop in the edge, but I could see feeding fish across so persevered in trying to get my rig in there, but to no avail.

Two people were admitting to eight carp each, but other than that most were admitting to three or four. When the scales got to me 27lb was top weight, and my fish tipped the scales round to 64lb 12oz. The end peg (40) put 26lb odd on the scales for third - their swim died a death in the last couple of hours.

It was a pleasing day after struggling the last time round on that lake, but not as pleasing as being able to sit out a fair part of the day in a t-shirt as opposed to a fleece and full waterproofs! I wouldn't be surprised if we're back to that next week.