Tuesday 23 July 2013

Sunday July 21st


With the up-turn in form of the old lake I was looking forward to fishing it - especially as there are no arm- achingly 17m wide pegs on there!

I had a walk around and wasn't really too fussed with where I drew. However, when peg 62 came out I was pretty happy as looking at the draw sheet I was an end-peg with plenty of room. Can't complain at that!

I had three rigs up for the day - one for across, one for 5m and one for 13m down the margin to my left, just behind the reeds laying over just visible in the picture. Standard rigs really - .15 hook-links to size 18 Fox Series 2's on the far-bank and 5m line. A small .1gr XTM was for across in a little over a foot of water, where as the 5m line had a .3gr NG Decker in about 5ft of water. I used 15h for across and black hydro on a puller for 5m. For the margin I had about 2.5ft of water and the rig was a .2gr XTM. Hook-link was .17 to a 16 Series 2 and matched up to Preston 17h.


On the whistle I fed across with about twenty 6mm pellets, while the 5m line had a whole pot of hemp and corn. Knocks and indications were slow coming across to start with and my first bite came after about twenty minutes - a common of about 4lb. In the next half an hour two more about 3lb each fell before the line faded, I think in part due to someone walking past to go use the fishery toilet!

I plugged away on the line and started getting an odd small 4oz pastie on banded pellet - all the while regularly feeding at 5m by hand. I was just toying on giving it a go on the ninety minute mark when I had a carp of about 2lb across so I plugged away on it for a bit longer.

On the two hour mark I decided to drop in after no more better fish across. Odd signs led me to plug away on it and in the next hour I had three carp off it. Not big fish, but I was putting something in the net! When the next fish was a roach of about 12oz I decided to top-up with half a big pot, but first dropping a half a pot of corn down the edge.

Dropping in the margins on double corn it took about two minutes to get a bite - a reasonable mirror of about 4lb. Two more followed in quick succession, both about the same size before a lull led to me topping it up. Twice more the top-up worked for two carp at a time, albeit fish of about 3lb but they were coming steady.

When the third top-up led to just a missed bite I decided to leave it be for a bit and drop back in at 5m. For the next hour I managed to rotate the two swims, only ever managing one carp at a time, but with two lines working I carried on.

With an hour to go I started getting snagged up down the edge - whatever it was hadn't been there previous as I was using the graphics on the butt as a marker and was fishing in the same place - fishing just before and beyond also led to the same. After three lost hook-links and a tug of war with the plummet trying to find a clear spot I decided to re-feed across before dropping in at 5m.

As it turned out, re-feeding across was a waste of time as I plodded along steadily at 5m for the last hour, going from nineteen carp up to twenty five. For the most part they were quite small (just under 3lb), but the last one was a better fish of about 5lb.

I'd had a pretty enjoyable day, but had no real idea how I'd done as I couldn't really see anyone, although I'd heard a bit of splashing! When the scales got to me 56lb odd was the top weight. I comfortably topped that, with my fish going 85lb 11oz on the scales, and while the remaining frame places were close I finished comfortably first.

Did being the end peg help? I've no doubt it did! It was nice to draw one for a change, and it was nice to get plenty of bites. It was by no means stupidly easy fishing, but enjoyable having to work and rotate to keep bites coming. The 5m line in particular needing constant tweaking to keep the indications hittable.

There's no blog planned for next week as I'm busy elsewhere. However, I have seen a carp or two in the river again on my travels, including a familiar old friend who'm I have a picture of with me holding him/her, taken back in 2005! I may be able to wangle just an hour or two after them in the next few weeks... perhaps!

Tuesday 16 July 2013

Sunday 14th July


Well, what another scorcher! I have to admit that in the past I used to grumble at these sorts of temperatures, but after a winter that seemed to last forever I'm quite enjoying it at the moment.

This Sundays match was back on the new lake due to a booking on the other lake, although I have to say I wasn't fussed, and if I were pushed to say I'd have preferred it for two reasons; there's more shade - and with a Duxford air show on too the low flying aircraft seem to have less of an effect on this lake as it's more enclosed.

At the draw peg 8 came out of the bag in my hand, and I have to admit I didn't really fancy it. The back of the lake looked more coloured (pegs 14 to 29), but never-the-less I was going to give it a good go! First rigs up for the day were for across - an arm aching 17m in the heat, and slightly awkward with a high bank behind. First was a .2gr NG Ghandi in just under 2ft of water. The second was a dibber rig to fish at 1ft as the water was 2ft right in tight and I suspected that the fish may not want to go down. Both rigs were matched to 15h elastic and .15 hook-links. Next up was a margin line. I had a nice long margin to my right (as shown) so my swim was literally lowering my float to within inches of the next sleeper. Depth here was about 2.5ft. The rig was stepped up as per usual for the margin - .17 hook-link to a size 16 Fox Series 2 and matched to Preston 17h elastic. Last up was a throw-away 2+2 line but as I never had a bite here you don't need to know about it. With a bit of time to spare I also plumbed along the right margin and found the same depth at the same distance as before. Handy, but again I'd not had a bite here by the end!


On the whistle I fed a about a dozen 6mm pellets and a pinch of loose groundbait, while the 2+2 line got a decent pinch of hemp, meat and corn. I elected to leave the two margin lines for a bit. With it being a long way across and an awkward bank behind I elected to start on a worm which stays on well. However, the micro perch and small roach were such a pain I quickly swapped to a 6mm expander. I waited slightly longer before a 2oz skimmer fell so I tried an 8mm cube of meat but got exactly the same result.

After finding the small fish such a pain I cut out feeding any crumb and the slivers faded away. The perch were still a problem and ruled out fishing worm or even meat as the pesky "wasps" even munched that! I plugged away with pellet or corn but with no joy. I could see peg 11 catching steadily to my left although the carp didn't look big. I had a brief try on the shallow rig but the same happened. No response on pellet, and perch on caster or meat!

On the two hour mark I needed something to start working and gave the left margin a small amount of meat and corn. I went back across and started seeing odd carpy signs. A missed bite boded well on pellet, especially as the next drop produced a small common of about 1lb. However, no more bites were forthcoming. A slight movement to my right a little, at the full 17.5m caught my eye so I dropped my shallow rig over it. Bingo! No sooner had the float settled than the elastic came streaming out. Not a big carp at about 3lb, but not a bad result when the next drop was followed but a 4lb'er and then shortly after one about 6lb! A slightly longer wait ensued and it looked as though the fish had back away. A brief rest while I had a bite-less try elsewhere got me a little baby ghostie of about 12oz but then it totally died.

With two hours to go and a now barren swim I decided to give the right margin a good helping of ground bait - I had nothing to lose! I could see peg 11 still catching, while peg 14 was also catching down the edge too. I started to feed small amounts more often down the left margin but all I could get down the edge were small perch - they were even taking double 8mm meat on the hook!

With an hour to go I had a small common of about 3lb down the edge - maybe it was about to come good? No bites came for a bit so I had a brief try across, but apart from one missed bite on the shallow rig nothing else showed.

I could see odd signs down the edge and decided on a kill or cure measure with half an hour to go and slapped in half a pot of corn noisily (no meat, I didn't want to feed the perch!). With fifteen minutes to go it paid off as a brace of 5lb'ers fell before the indications faded. With little more than two minutes to go I gambled on feeding again - much less but hopefully enough to get a bite. With no more than ten seconds left the float was away and the lakky followed it at the same time! A cry of "fish on" came from me on the whistle as a slow, sluggish fish chugged away on the end. Five minutes later I was looking at a chunky sparsely scaled mirror every bit a double! A result, and maybe enough to haul me in to the frame....

When the scales go to me just 12lb odd was top weight. My fish plonked the scales round to just over 39lb and when peg 11 only put 30lb on the scales I began to wonder being as they were tipped to win. As the scales got round it was obvious it had fished hard and the best weight to go on the scales after were just shy of 30lb.

So, a win from a peg I didn't really fancy wasn't a bad result, even if it wasn't won until the last ten seconds with that last-gasp lump! Perhaps just rewards for the arm-aching work at 17m in the heat earlier. I know I certainly felt it when I got home!

Monday 8 July 2013

Sunday July 7th


Well, that was rather a hot weekend! From the car park after arriving there were signs of some fish spawning, although it looked as if they were finishing up. Hopefully a good day was in store with the fish hungry after eventually getting down to what they seem to have been waiting to do for months!

When my hand came out of the draw bag I was pretty happy with the number I saw - for the first time in what seems forever I was away from the front of the lake! Peg 25 is one of my favourite pegs on the lake and one I have a good record from. I put three rigs up to approach the peg; one for across, one for 12m slightly to my right at the bottom of the slope and one for the left margins at 5m. I'm pretty sure you know what my rigs are likely to be now, so with writing time limited I'll skip going to detail over them!

On the whistle I fed across with about twenty 6mm pellets before giving the track line with half a pot of hemp, corn and meat. I could see a few fish around and was pretty confident that I'd catch. My first bite wasn't long in coming and fell to a 6mm expander pellet - a small common of about 3lb. Odd liners ensued as I carried on dripping a few pellets across but about twenty minutes later my next carp also fell to a pellet - a bit bigger this time at about 5lb.

The next fish I hooked I lost after a few seconds, but unfortunately it seemed to move the mire of roots across (it had taken a good amount of plumbing to find a clear area tight over) and I started to snag up on most drops across. I have to admit I threw the pole back in frustration after snagging up again, only to see my top-kit and short 4 shoot across the lake! Not good, but fortunately I managed to quickly retrieve it after getting out a spare no4 and using my cupping kit. Phew, that could have been expensive!

I calmed down and bit and with a new rig had a good plumb around again to try and find a clear area to fish. I settled on an area much further to the right than I've fished the peg before, and near to the corner of the island. I'd avoid it normally as it could mean the fish run along the island and directly away from you, causing problems, but needs must and with no other suitable areas it was my best bet for across! I fed it with a few pellets and a little loose groundbait before deciding that it would be a good time after the disturbance to start trying to prime a margin swim. I gave it half a pot of hemp, corn and meat before going on to my track line.

I didn't have any signs while down the track, but I could see an odd swirl across. With a pellet on I had a few liners and one missed bite so I tried a worm. That didn't stay in long as a small mirror of about 2lb fell. Topping up after each fish and two more fish fell fairly quickly, one about 4lb but the other most likely nearer to 8lb. However, after the run of fish all signs seemed to disappear - I'm pretty sure due to the wind which was pushing down to the front of the lake, now I wasn't drawn there! I could see peg 29 (the last peg in along the side I was on) start to catch regular from their edge swim. I couldn't get a bite from mine!

Odd perch were all that seemed to show before I nabbed a ghostie of about 4lb that I watched swim along the island, drop over the feed and then the float went away. With an hour and a half to go peg 29 was motoring, but while I could see others catching a few, their fish looked smaller than mine. With just one hour left I had another fish across at about 3lb but then lost one almost strait away after.

The lost fish seemed to be the death-knell as I struggled for a bite anywhere in the peg. I started spending equal time across and down the edge (I'd written off the deep line as I'd had no bites or fish blowing on the line, and I'd not seen anyone else catch there either). With about twenty minutes to go I had my first bite down the edge on meat, but I wasn't expecting a 3lb bream! With about ten minutes left my second bite down the edge gave me a common of about 7lb but I didn't have time for any more.

When the scales got to me 37lb was top weight and 34lb was second. I took the lead for a while when my fish totalled 39lb 2oz but as I expected peg 29 was comfortably ahead of me with a total of 59lb odd. The last peg to weigh looked like they'd push me for second but they totalled 36lb.

In the end I was quite pleased with that - the day nearly fell to pieces at one point. Interestingly I think we arrived just as the fish had finished up spawning - it was a late draw and a midday start. All the bigger fish I had were a bit lethargic and a lot of the fish I saw looked tired and recently spawned out. Hopefully the hot weather has allowed them to get that out of the way now and hopefully now they'll get their heads down and have a munch!

Wednesday 3 July 2013

Sunday June 30th


Well, it's back to business as usual! The river carping didn't go too well, with someone nobbling a carp from my swim one day when I had to leave early (and I know had I stayed I'd have had one) and I also had a stalking opportunity ruined when a black lab (it's always one of those misbehaving too!) jumped on top of a low double common I had grubbing around my bait!

Arriving at the lake and with the wind blowing down the lake I fancied a draw around the back of the island - it was at the windward end but sheltered, and also with the temperatures forecast to reach the mid 20's it's also fairly shallow. Alas, it wasn't to be when I drew peg 47, although I don't particularly mind the peg it is in the deepest part of the lake and can therefore be a challenge on bright, hot days.


I had just the two rigs up for the day - a rig for 12m in to the open water which also doubled for my 2+2 line (which was just 2in shallower) and a rig for the margin to my right at 5m. Pretty standard summer rigs went up, with a .4gr NG Decker for the deeper rig, finished with a .15 Reflo Power hooklink, and the margin rig was a .2gr NG XTM with a .17 hooklink. Lakkys were black hydro and Preston 17h respectively.

With a lot of fish cruising about looking as if they wanted to spawn I was worried that my deep swim would perhaps be a struggle until those fish that wanted to feed would come in to the edge, and I was proved correct! Pretty much everyone I could see was catching odd fish early while I remained biteless.

With the wind being a bit of a mare after an hour I abandoned the longer swim - I always think if it's going to be a worthwhile line you'll catch their fairly early before the fish move closer. It proved to be a fair wait until they did, as it wasn't until three hours in before I had my first fish - a common of about 4lb from the 2+2 line.

For a bit I managed to alternate between the 2+2 line and the edge and pinch odd fish. With an hour to go I'd had seven carp - four from the edge and three out, which were smaller than the margin fish. With the fish seeming to respond in the edge to me feeding noisily (slapping the feed out of the cup) I risked pushing the swim by upping the bait, and the result was that although odd fish still came in I couldn't get a bite! Wrong move.

The sum total of my last hour was a 2oz roach on corn from the 2+2 line, and a carp of about 5-6lb which I lost at the net, hooked from the margin right near the end after I backed off on the feeding.

The gamble of upping the bait proved to be quite costly in the end as I finished fourth with 33lb, with the weights ahead of me being 36lb, 37lb and 43lb winning. The lost fish alone cost me a place or two, but as I seem to have developed a knack of doing this year I didn't quite get it right again. Frustrating, but we can't have it all ways, and there is always next Sunday! Hopefully I'll find the time to do my write up a bit earlier, while things are a bit fresher in my mind!