Sunday October 28th

Sorry about the delay in posting this week, I had problems with the internet at home which are thankfully sorted now!

I was quite surprised when I walked round the old lake that it still held a decent colour with the cold snap we'd endured on the previous two days. I fancied the island pegs to be the pick, as not only was the water more coloured but the leaves that have started to fall in numbers were around the island too. Not enough to disrupt a days fishing, but enough to encourage the carp to be under them looking for some grub!

I didn't manage to get one of those pegs, instead drawing peg 46 in the open water. I don't mind the peg in all honesty as you've got options on it. I opted for a pretty simple approach - three rigs to cover two lines in the open water (one at 13m, one at 5m and a shallow rig), plus a margin rig to fish to my right just short of the sleeper on peg 47. With the cold now here all my rigs were on .15 line to .13 hook-links, finished with size 20 Fox Series 2's, and all matched to Preston 13h lakky. Both the open water rigs featured .4gr NG Deckers in a little over 6ft of water, while the margin rig had a 4x12 Preston Somo which I've fitted a plastic tip in to. Depth was about 3ft here. Last up was the shallow rig in case I saw cruising fish. This was a 4x10 Preston PB2 set about two foot deep.

On the whistle I fed a small pinch of hemp and around thirty grains of corn at 5m, while the margin got the same plus four cubes of meat. I was going to build up the long line by drip feeding corn and the odd grain of hemp via a small Cad-Pot on the pole.

It didn't take long to get odd signs of fish, and pretty much everyone I could see had a carp before the twenty minutes or so it took me to catch my first - a small common of about 2.5lb. In fact, peg 64 had got off to a flyer and had three! With odd indications I was sure that my long line would come good later, so I tried my best to ignore those who were catching to features. When my second carp fell about fifteen minutes later (smaller than the first though) I thought the bites would stay regular, but the swim died a death on me.

An hour and a half in and with no more fish and just two missed bites to show it was looking as if I'd got it wrong - most people were catching odd fish and everyone bar one person I could see had more than me. With the fish appearing to be eating it looked that my drip feeding three or four grains of corn wasn't right. I decided to gamble on potting in about twenty grains of corn and a reasonable pinch of hemp long, and leave it for five minutes while I had a quick drop in at 5m.

It didn't take long to get a response at 5m and two fish around 3lb a piece fell quickly - it looked like the slightly heavier feeding had worked there! I topped up the short line and left it as while the indications were still there they'd gone iffy - it was still early for that line!

Going back out long and bites were a little more forthcoming. I missed the first two, so changed the shotting around, closing the bulk right up and moving it so it started no more than ten inches from the hook. This worked and three fish fell pretty quickly, with them seemingly responding well to the hit of bait, plus I was now feeding five or six grains of corn after every fish. The worrying thing was the stamp of the fish as they were all small. I could see pegs 64 and 66 catching well, and their fish looked bigger than mine which all seemed around 2.5lb. When my eighth carp fell my fears allayed a touch as it was a good chunky common of about 5lb, and I thought I had it sussed. I was wrong, and the bites just ceased!

I took the risk of topping up while I tried in the edge. With nothing there showing I took a gamble in the edge too. With the onset of the cold I'd started to clear my bait freezer, and had taken a pint and a half of dead maggots out of it, plus some frozen groundbait left overs. I potted two pots of the crumb in, with a decent amount of the dead maggots too. Nothing ventured and all that!

Dropping in in on the 5m line I hooked what felt a better fish almost instantly but it came adrift after a minute or two. I have to say, I'm not sure it wasn't foul hooked. A small common of about a pound fell after that, and going out long produced nothing at all - not even a liner. A look in the edge and I could see a mud cloud over the groundbait. Rather excitedly, I put a bunch of dead maggots on the hook and laid the rig in. A couple of liners followed and I was ready for the bite when it came.... from a 3oz roach! I tried a grain of corn and had a liner on this before it faded, so I re-potted with groundbait and maggots and left it.

Dropping out long and I had an instant bite and put another small carp in the net, but no more bites or indications followed. I could get signs of fish at 5m so plugged away there hoping to make it work, but all I managed was a couple more small carp and a host of knocks and liners, which no matter what I tried (away from the feed, depth and shotting changes and changing feed amounts) I couldn't find a way of hitting more of them.

I finished the match on twelve carp, but the stamp had been small. My total of 37-11 was good enough only for seventh on the day. Peg 64 won with just over 60lb, with peg 66 pushing them close with 58lb. However, 43lb was good enough for third, so frustratingly I wasn't that far away! I expected the day to be much harder than it was, and perhaps started too negatively. That said, although I had a flurry of fish when I upped the feed, it didn't last long before the peg died a death. The last part of the match at 5m was frustrating too, as there were plainly some fish present. Perhaps a change of rig may have worked there, with the conditions good perhaps a thinner bodied lighter float would have given less resistance and turned a few of those nudged in to proper bites? On the last match on the lake the heavier rig was better at 5m, but the water is colder and a little clearer, so perhaps while they were there, they were reluctant feeders. It's something to think about anyway!

Sunday 21st October

Well, no frost yesterday morning to report! The weather was quite pleasant for the last few days and I was optimistic that the fishing would be quite decent...

As per usual, I took a place quite late in the draw queue, and had mixed feelings when peg 20 came out in my grasp - I've not drawn it lately, but in the past it's been a very good peg. However, it's recent form hasn't been that great, and the last match showed the fish were starting to group-up in the late 20's and in to the 30' - their usual winter haunts. The peg doesn't have great winter form!

It was noticeable as I pushed my shuttle round the lake that the colour had started to drop out of the water, and the lake was a fair bit clearer than it had been a fortnight ago. I had three rigs up for the day, and the far bank one was a bit lighter than had been lately given the colour dropping out - a small NG XTM in about 22in of water in the bay at 16m slightly to my left was on .15 mainline with a .13 hook-link with a size 20 Fox Series 2. At 13m, where it had just as it started to shallow up I had about 6ft of water. The rig here was a .4gr NG Decker, with the same terminal gear as above. Lastly, I had a rig for the margin at 10m to my right. In about 3ft of water I had a small 4X12 Preston Somo which I've taken the cane tip out of and changed for a plastic one. Lines on this were .17 to .15 and a slightly bigger hook, to hopefully cope with a few margin lumps! Lakky on all three rigs was Preston 13h on a pull-bung.

At the start I fed a small pinch of pellet, meat and corn down the track and in the edge, before filling my small Toss-Pot up with half-a-dozen pellets and a pinch of crumb. I'd had two drops doing this fishing with an expander on the hook before I had a liner. I tried half a worm next chuck, which gave me a tiny perch. I'd only seen two bream caught so far, so it was slow going for everyone!

About forty minutes in to the match I saw a carp swirl on my far line as I was shipping across, so I lowered my rig down without tapping the feed out of the pot and it was away! For a few seconds at least, as what felt a good fish stayed on for just a few seconds before the rig came back with the hook-link cut in half cleanly.

The lost fish was the last sign I saw of life across for a bit. Odd carp were getting caught now, but the only bites I could get were from tiny perch on either worm or maggot across. I'd topped up the track and margins with tiny amounts after loosing that fish, and on the ninety minute mark I decided to try the track line. I started with a small cube of meat, and had a liner there. A change to a grain of corn got me a bite instantly, and I played the carp back to the top-kit when the hook pulled! It wasn't a big fish, bit I was getting the feeling it was going to be one of those days....

With that lost fish any signs of better fish died away. I'd seen the odd fish move at the extreme left of my peg, so I decided to start a new swim there on the island. With the fishing being hard I decided on a winter rig! It was a touch shallower where I'd seen the movement (and I wasn't sure it was carp), but I stuck with the 13h lakky. The rig was a small Preston PB2 set about 18in deep with a 16 B611 on a .14 hook-link. It may look strange stepping up but the hook-link was a different line (Garbo line) as opposed to the Preston Reflo Power I use for my summer fishing - it's a bit suppler, and also the Reflo is in reality .15 where as the Garbo is actually what it says on the spool.

I put a tiny Cad-Pot on the pole and started to drip odd casters there, fishing single caster on the hook. I had bites strait away doing this, mostly from dumpy roach in the 1-2oz bracket, with an odd bigger one. If I put maggot on I caught a perch! I plodded away for half an hour catching roach before it died a sudden death! Suspecting a carp may be responsible I slipped a grain of corn on, and away went the float. A very lively fight ensued, and I honestly thought I was going to lose the fish as it picked up a branch in the edge. In the end I slipped the net under a cracking looking yellow ghostie of about 8lb - a few more of those and we'd be in business!

Sadly, hooking the carp had killed the swim totally and even the perch had gone! News came round that the pegs in the late 20's and in to the 30's were catching, while I couldn't raise a bite from anywhere in my swim. It wasn't until about half an hour before the end when I had another bite, with single caster giving me a little common of about 2lb.

As a whole, the lake fished much harder than I thought it would. Peg 27 won (the peg I won the last match on that lake from) with 37lb - only four carp and one 2lb skimmer! There was a another 30lb weight and a couple of big 20's but a fair few people also did as I had done and tipped their odd fish back!

I don't really think there was a lot I could have done different, although it was frustrating losing those two fish - there just wasn't any number of fish in front of me to catch, something that may now happen with the onset of winter! Fishing the lighter rig from the off may have got me an extra fish or two, but I doubt it would have bought a framing weight. The weather looks good for the next few days, but it's due to turn cold for the weekend - I think I best have a proper rig tying session, and re-do the winter rig side of my winder tray!

Sunday October 14th

Well, we definitely had a taste of what's to come yesterday morning with a touch of ground frost, which developed in to quite a sharp looking frost as we got out of the town and to the fishery. The water on the old lake still held a fair amount of colour mind, and with the changing of the weather I really didn't know where I wanted to draw!

In the end I took my customary place late in the draw queue and dipped my hand in with just three pegs left, and out came peg 70 - that'll do, it's a good peg year round and has a few options. The peg has a small island in it, but I knew the bottom is very irregular near it, plus I couldn't get tight to it with the reeds hanging over. In the end I elected to fish the near slope at 5m, and on the slope up to the island at 13m. The depths were roughly 5ft (the far line was about 2in deeper). I put up near identical rigs for the two lines, with the only difference being a heavier .4gr NG Decker used long as it caught the breeze a touch more. Terminal gear was .17 line to a .15 hook-link and a size 16 hook, with the lakky Preston 13h. I had small tree over hanging to my right at 6m, where I had a margin rig up to fish there in 2ft of water. Float was a .2gr NG XTM, while the terminal gear was the same as the other rigs, except the lakky was Preston 15h. I did also put up a shallow rig to try, but never picked it up in the end!

On the whistle the 5m line got about a quarter of a pot of hemp and corn, and I then put just six grains of corn and a small pinch of hemp in the small Toss-Pot and went out to the long line. I had a liner pretty quick, and I started to see odd fish cruise as it got quite warm in the sun - which I was nicely sat in! Peg 42 started off like a train (they had six fish in the first hour!) while pegs 46 and 48 also had a carp early.

I'd topped up the swim for a third time with the small pot as I was getting signs of fish (I'd came back every five minutes to do so) and as I lowered the rig in the third time the float went within seconds of it settling! A lively scrap saw a small common of about 2.5lb in the net pretty quickly. By the end of the first hour I had three carp all around the same size, and each fish fell to a bait that had been worked - nothing came by sitting and waiting. As well as peg 42, pegs 46, 48 and 53 were all catching and had more than me, but I was happy to be plodding along getting bites - it's a marathon, not a sprint!

With just over an hour gone I decided that with the warm sun on my bank (it was in my eyes for the first two hours or so, and the glare meant the pic had to wait until after the match) that I'd start flicking some bait in the edge by hand, hoping that some fish would come in. I was still picking up odd fish from the long line, and again every bite was taken either as I lowered it in through the loose feed, or after lifting and dropping. Interestingly, despite there being no tow of note, my bites were coming either side of where I was feeding, lined up with a light coloured reed on the small island.

I put my sixth fish in the net dead on the two hour mark, but had no big fish with them all being 2.5/3lb fish. Peg 42 was still catching, albeit slower, and 46 was one fish ahead of me but theirs were bigger. Apart from those two the other two I could see catching had slowed and there was little to chose between us in terms of numbers, but I couldn't tell how big their fish were.

Carp number seven was the first bite I had directly over my feed, and was also the biggest fish I'd had so far at about 4lb. I was starting to miss odd bites, which I think were roach (they were topping, and the pegs opposite were catching odd ones while I plugged away on corn. It was noticeable that my bites were starting to get less frequent, so I upped the feed a little. It worked to an extent bringing me two fish in two drops (the only time that happened on that line) before fading away.

At the three hour mark I decided to top up the long line and rest it, coming in to the 5m line where I'd been feeding corn by hand. I had a fish off that line pretty instantly, but didn't get a bite in the five minutes after so decided to leave it. I had a quick try in the edge, but there were only small fish present and after a few minutes of getting little dib's I left it. As I swung the margin rig in two small bubbles came up from my 5m line, so I picked that rig up and lowered the corn down over them - I think I must have lowered the corn in to it's mouth as the float simply carried on going! After netting the 3lb'er no more bites came, so I decided to risk topping it up (just a pinch of hemp and ten grains of corn) before trying out long.

With two hours to go, peg 42 seemed to have dried up, while 46 was still catching and had probably caught them up. Most people I could see were catching now, but they'd had to wait for their bites and hadn't caught in the first half of the match. The rest seemed to have to done the swim some good, and I had another three carp from it at ten minute intervals, before it went off as though someone had flicked a switch. For the next hour I rotated the swims but couldn't raise a bite from anywhere. I decided to change the rate of feeding on my 5m line, putting half the amount in, but a little more often. I'd been in the sun most of the day (it was clouding up) so I figured my best chance of a run of fish was from there as it had warmed up. Bizarrely, the margin under the tree was carp-less, and I got bitted out when I dropped in so I discarded it!.

With twenty minutes to go I had a small 2lb common from the 5m - the only bite I had so far that hadn't come from the bait being worked. No more followed, so I had a brief try long but that had never recovered. With ten minutes to go I decided to drop in on the 5m line using the heavier rig. I adjusted the depth (I'd plumbed both areas with both the .3gr and .4gr rigs, and marked both on the top-kits) and lowered the heavier rig in. The float settled nicely, then blinked away! The lift was met with more resistance than I expected, and after a few minutes netted my best fish of the day, a common of about 5lb! With just a few minutes left I had a liner, so I lifted the float clear of the water and then slowly lowered it back down. It sat there for a few seconds before sailing away, and the lift saw planty of lakky plod out! A lively fight saw me net a ghostie mirror of about 4lb. I hoped I'd have time for one last one, but just as I lowered my rig in the whistle went.

From what I could see the other bank had fished well, while the peg to my right had caught a few late. Peg 42 was the first to weigh and they fell just shy of the 50lb mark - I figured it was close between us, but guessed I'd just pip them when asked by the angler on 72 - I figured on having about 52lb, but as I was the third from last to weigh I'd have to wait! When the scales got to me I wasn't surprised to see peg 46 comfortably in front, having a shade over 70lb. Behind that there was peg 42's 49lb odd, plus a 42lb and a 41lb with a few 30's too. Not bad considering the sharp frost in the morning! My two weighs totalled up to 51lb 14oz to give me second, and a bit of kudos for admitting to my weight near on the dot!

In the end I was happy with the second placing. I'd worked hard to keep the fish coming, and in my book that makes for an enjoyable days fishing! I'm not sure why the late rig change at 5m worked (the lighter rig behaved perfectly well in the conditions), but it's one of those things. Trying it earlier may have worked, or perhaps those fish just showed up at that time and it'd have made no difference. Who knows? Still, I'd had an enjoyable day, worked at it and caught a few fish (eighteen carp in total), while sat in quite pleasant sunshine for most of the day. Can't knock that!

Sunday October 7th

With the temperature a chilly 2 degrees C when I first ventured out in to my back garden in the morning, I definitely made good with the promise from the end of last weeks blog to take my fleece!

Despite the cold night, the lake looked good and still held a very good colour. By the time I dipped my hand in the draw bag the pegs I wanted were all gone, and peg 27 was in my hand. In the winter it's a very good peg, but in the last match on the lake that was in a line of pegs which had been very hard. I was expecting a struggle!

With the peg being about 19m wide fish the pole over was a complete no-no, so the first thing out of my bag was a 10ft Carbonactive Mini Carp, set up with a small 30gr in-line Preston method feeder. I had a two options for hook-links by using a quick-change bead - either a quick stop for fishing corn or a Sonubaits S-Pellet, or with a hair rigged pellet band so I could use try a Sonu Band 'Um. These were tied on .15 line to a size 16 Kamasan Animal. I also had two pole rigs up, one for 14m where the bottom started to slope up where I intended to fish meat and corn, and a margin rig just in case, fished at 6m to my right.

On the whistle I fed my track line with a small pinch of hemp and meat before casting across on the method. It wasn't long before I had a stonking drop-back which led me to pick the rod up, fully expecting to wind back in to a fish - but I didn't! I wasn't happy with my next cast so I wound it strait back and re-loaded the feeder. It landed spot-on this time round, so much so that I still had the rod in my hand as the tip went round! A plump little ghostie of about 2lb gave a good account of himself before being netted.

That great start didn't last long, and despite getting a few liners no more bites developed, while the pegs either side of me also had a quick fish, both bigger than mine! I topped the track line up on the forty-five minute mark, and then started sprinkling a few soaked micro's in to the groundbait (Sonubaits Krill groundbait, yes, even I've got on the band wagon a touch with that!)

On the hour mark two fish in two chucks kept me on the tip, and when the fourth carp feel a couple of casts later it looked like the slight warming of the day was bringing the fish on, as the sun started to burn off the mist. All of the fish had fell to corn hookbaits, but the biggest was perhaps about 3lb! The pegs either side had one less fish each than me, but theirs were bigger!

I topped the track line up, and then started to feed the margin as the pegs either side had both caught from their margins. I didn't put a lot in, about twenty casters plus four or five bits of meat and corn too. On the first cast after doing that I had another carp pretty instantly, but this was only about a pound and a half and found it's way in to the silvers net with the ghostie. A few bite-less casts and with nearly two and a half hours gone I decided to have one quick cast with just pellets on the feeder to leave some grub over. With a Band 'Um on the hair I gave it five or six minutes, then just as I checked the time to see if it it's allotted time was up the rod wrenched round good and proper! After a hefty tussle which saw the carp pretty much tail walk at one point, decent common of about 7lb was panned. After that I gave it two more cast's, but with no more joy I gave it a rest.

I'd seen the odd bubble coming up from the track line, so was pretty confident there were a some fish about. The peg to my right was now down the track and had caught there (including a bream of about 4lb!). I baited up with a cube of meat and lowered the rig in, and it didn't take long to get a slow liner. A minute or so later the float slipped away and the lift was met by the sight of the 13h lakky streaming out! After a bit of persuasion from the pull-bung, a common the twin of the last fish I'd had on the method was panned. I had a quick drop in with no signs so I risked topping up with a small pinch of bait. A bite a few minutes after saw me briefly hook a fish which nodded like a bream for a couple of seconds before coming off.

After losing that fish I had a brief try in the margins with no joy, so found myself back on the method. The liners and signs of fish I'd been getting had slowed up, and I sat and watched as the pegs either side caught odd fish (mostly from their margins) while I couldn't get a bite. It was as I was contemplating picking up the pole again that a bite from the blue which gave me a 4lb mirror, which led me to plug away at it a bit longer, but with no joy.

On the ninety minute mark I had a quick try in the edge but that didn't give me so much as a sign of life, so decided to try cupping in two pots of loose groundbait down there (it works everywhere else, so I read!) and then picked up the track rig again. As per the first time it didn't take long to get a bite here and a common of about 4lb was the result. And again, as per the first time I'd tried the track line line I topped up and lost a fish shortly after!

With a little over an hour to go and the temperature started to drop and the fleece was needed again! Back on the tip and I had a very savage liner. I decided to re-clip up the method a touch closer to drop it down the slope a touch more (just once round the spool, perhaps only 15-20cm) I also decided to see if the pellet / Band 'Um combo would pick up a bigger fish again. It didn't take long to tell me it worked as the rod wrenched round after a couple of minutes. It was a decent common too of about 8lb, but disaster struck as it picked up a branch close in (well, a small tree). The fish was still on for a few seconds before a "bump" feeling came up the line telling me I'd lost it. With such a short amount of line between tree and fish it broke the hook-link off against it. I got the tree in mind, that was probably 4lb....

The next cast was made using corn and the predominantly groundbait mix while I quickly tied up another method hook-link with a band on the hair (I don't like having too many banded hair-rigs tied as the bands tend to deteriorate, and I'd bent the other hook pulling in a branch from across). It took me two casts to complete the hook-link as both time the rod pulled round pretty quick, giving me a brace of 4lb'ers. I gave the corn one last chuck as it'd worked but no bites saw me back on the Band 'Um and pellet combo. As had been the case, a slightly longer wait saw a bigger fish fall as a common of about 5lb was soon panned. With the method having been the most productive line I decided to stay with it and not pick the pole up in last half hour or so. I only had one more bite on it (on corn) and another fish of about 3lb was put in the net about seven minutes before the end. I finished on eleven bigger carp, plus the two small ones. I never found out if feeding that crumb down the edge worked!

When the scales got to me 30lb was the top weight from the peg to my right. I totalled 47lb 15oz before the peg to my left fell just short of the weight to my right. The danger peg I thought was the next along who I'd seen playing a few fish, but they totalled 37lb odd to take second, but evidently they'd lost quite a few fish too.

In the end the top four weights were all in a line, and it looks like the fish are moving in to their winter haunts with the advent of the water cooling. That said, considering the weather in the lead up to the Sunday (a lot of rain two nights in a row, followed by a frost) that's hardly surprising, and it didn't fish too bad. We can't expect too much now it's October - those leaner times are just around the corner!

Sunday September 30th

Well, after last weeks soaking I was pleased that the weather forecast didn't predict any rain until long after we'd have left the bankside, which was nice because trying to find the space to get everything dry when it's still wet outside makes the nightmare process of getting everything dry even worse.

Being back on the old lake, I really fancied a draw in the open water but it wasn't to be as I found myself on peg 64. The pegs in the open water were relatively wind free, but those of us in the arms of the island found the wind hitting the island and then funnelling through. Last week the rain, this week a wind tunnel! Peg 64 has something of a poor reputation but I've always done okay of it. The downside is it's a late go'er so it's a case of hoping the fish show up early enough!

I had three areas to target in the swim; tight across at 13.5m, 5m and the right hand margin at 4m. At times the wind wasn't too bad, so I risked going on the lighter side with the rigs. The far bank had a .1gr NG XTM, in 14in of water this had 2ft of line above the float to allow for the wind. This was on .17 line to a .15 hook-link and an 18 hook. Lakky was Preston 13h. For the 5m line I had a .3gr NG Decker, set with the same terminal gear as the far bank rig. With minutes to go before the all-in, I also put up a heavier .4gr of the same. Lastly was a .2gr NG XTM for the margins. Hooks and line were stepped up here, and the lakky was Preston 15h.

The start of the match led to the 5m line getting about a third of a pot of hemp and corn before going across with a tiny pot on the pole to feed just 4-6 pellets each time. The close proximity of the margin meant I'd feed it by hand. The wind meant that the pot didn't stay on long! It was also very frustrating as I could see signs of fish across, but it was impossible to present the rig to them! the lighter float came off to be replaced with a .2gr version, but still the gusty wind ruined the presentation. Putting a string of backshot along the line helped when the wind wasn't so bad, but the skim was a nightmare as the wind rushed along the island.

After forty minutes or so frustration got the better of me - I'd missed one bite across but the wind was less gusty and more consistent blowing now. In the odd lull I could see fish over the bait (when the wind let me feed with the catty), but trying to fish it was only going to lead to a bad back and/or a broken pole. I didn't fancy either and left it alone!

Going on to the 5m line I didn't expect too much so early. An odd liner gave me a little heart, but I could see most of the pegs in the open water catching steadily. I started flicking bait in to the margin to try and get that going too.

It was on about the ninety minute mark when I had my first carp. A brief lull in the wind led me to drop in across. I tried a cube of as a change bait and the float was away instantly. Not a big fish - a common of about 2lb but I was off the mark. Unfortunately the wind picked up again and put the mockers on it!

Dropping back to the 5m and either the rest or the quarter pot top-up had worked as I missed a bite lowering the rig in right over the feed (surprising given the wind). Lowering the rig back in didn't work, so I re-filled the small pot and lowering the hook bait in through the loose feed. As soon as the corn hit hit the bottom the float was away! A decent common of around 4lb was culprit, and a few minutes later he was joined by his little brother. Again, this one was taken lowering in through the feed and the bite came within seconds. With the fish taking like that I wished I could have fished the light rig, but I could only get any presentation fishing with the heavier one! Another 3lb'er fell after a short while but the swim seemed to be fading. I could get signs of fish, but no bites.

With the half way point of the match arriving I topped up the 5m line with the same amount as I'd started it with. A positive move but I was a long way behind the open water pegs! A drop in the margins got me a bite on double corn but I missed it and no more came, so I gambled on upping the regularity of my feeding here so I was flicking bait in to it every five minutes or so.

By now the wind had got even worse, so I put two more no8 Stotz on the line as backshot halfway between the float and pole tip. They'd have sank the float normally but by holding them just in the water they absorbed most of the wind buffeting. It was perhaps a combination of the better presentation and the re-feed and rest but I started to nick an odd fish off the 5m line. I was by no means motoring, but the fish were a decent average stamp with each one being around 4lb. Again, every fish fell quickly after lowering in the rig. By dropping it in but holding the float clear of the water I let the rig straiten. Once it had dropped strait I lowered the float in, holding tight to the back shot. If I got a bite it was within seconds and I didn't miss one.

With an hour to go I had eight carp, and decided that I could risk a quick drop in the edge to see if there was anything there. I had a bite on double corn no sooner had it hit the bottom, but it was only a bubba of about 2lb. No more signs followed in the coming minutes so I gave it a whole handful of both corn and hemp, making plenty of noise. I picked the heavier rig up for the 5m line, lowered it in and then noticed swirls coming from the edge!

I gave it about thirty seconds at 5m (enough time to get a bite if it was going to, given how it had been), before bringing it in and picking up the margin rig. Double corn was lowered in, and holding the rig tight to the back shot as the float settled (as I had been at 5m) got me a bite instantly! As I played the fish I flicked a few grains of corn in to keep them happy, before netting a fish that was nearer 5lb than 4lb. That worked another two times with similar stamp fish, before they were gone as quick as they turned up. I gambled by giving it just one handful of bait before going back to the 5m line with just over twenty minutes left.

The wind had eased a lot now, and while I could get odd indications no bites came. I decided I could get away with the lighter rig now, so tried that but using a cube of meat as a change bait. It worked, but strangely now I had to leave the bait static! I had two fish on this, albeit they were both smaller at 2.5/3lb, before gambling the last few minutes in the edge, but that didn't get me one last lump that I was hoping for, and I finished on thirteen carp.

I was packed away in time to follow the scales round, and 59lb and 46lb were the top weights from the open water. Peg 62 to my left in the corner also had a slightly bigger 46lb weight caught late on from their long margin before I topped them with my fish going 47lb 13oz. There was another low 40lb weight from the open water pegs on my bank, before I was pushed down in to third by a 53lb wieght.

I was happy enough with that given the conditions - the first spell of the match was a nightmare with the wind, and perhaps I should have tried the bomb over. Other than that I don't think there was much else I could have done - I never lost a fish and only missed two bites. I think it's fair to say the summer bagging has finished now, as that was the second weekend in a row I've sat with my jacket on. I'm taking my fleece next week!