Sunday May 16th

Well, what a backwards week for weather! I had a suspicion that the fishing might prove to be tricky after a week that provided three frosts. I always remembered that May was warm....

With a decent attendance the craic before the match was good, which helped keep me awake after waking up at 3.30am for some reason. Standing in the queue in my customary late place all the favoured early pegs had gone, and I said I fancied peg 25, although I've only ever drawn it once before. Well, surprisingly peg 25 came out of the bag in my hand! Normally that only happens when I'm thinking of a peg I don't want to draw.....

The peg sits near the corner of the island, and it is about 15.5m to the island in front, although I elected to fish a little to the left in to the bay at about 16.5m, where the water was a bit shallower. The island rig was in about two and a half foot of water, using a 4x10 Preston durafloat direct on .15 line to a size 2o Fox Series 2 hook, lakky was Preston 15h. Plumbing along the island a bit I was disappointed to find only one real fishable area as the bottom was all over the place, plus there were a lot of twigs etc on the bottom. I did put up a shallow rig to explore along the island if need be. This was a 4x10 Preston PB2, again on .15 line direct to a 15 B711. Set to fish about 18in deep. Lakky was Preston 13h for this. Lastly I had a rig up for the deeper water, as it was where the two top weights were caught last week. I was surprised at the depth in front of me, having over 7ft of water from about 4m until about 12m, so the rig was at 13m at an angle to the right where it was just shallowing up. In not quite 7ft of water the rig was a diamond bodied hand-made float on .17 line to a .15 hook link. Hook was a 20 Fox Series 2 and lakky was a soft 14 latex. No margin line as experience tells me the margins here are deep, plus an awkward bottom.

I have to admit I wasn't sat on my box when the whistle went, and in the time it took me to sit down and cup a few pellets and a bit of loose crumb across I could see the angler on peg 18 already playing a fish! I fed the deep line with a decent pinch of pellet and some corn. It was a throw away line really, as I never seem to catch in the deep water on this lake. The same reason was also why I elected to feed it with pellet instead of the hemp and corn I never catch over!

Shipping across with a pellet I wasn't to be outdone by peg 18, and as per last week the float had hardly been out long when it slid away. Lifting saw me attached to a sluggish weight which then livened up. I have to admit though that a fish first drop normally for me is a bad sign, like last week! After a bit of a tussle a decent ghostie common of a good 7lb was in the net. Not a bad start whatever way you look at it. I went strait over again without feeding (having had an instant bite I thought some grub would still be there) I hadn't long been out when I missed a bite but no more indications followed so after a few minutes I put a toss-pot on and filled it with half a dozen pellets and a pinch of crumb. This had the desired effect as a liner was soon followed by a bite and a very lively fish was on. Unfortunately after a minute or two of flying about the whole swim it came off! I'm not sure it was foul hooked either.

The lost fish did to the swim exactly what I thought it might and no more bites followed. I carried on dripping a few pellets and a bit of crumb in, in the hope of getting the fish which had now started to cruise about a bit to go down. I wasn't unduly worried, as I'd only seen the one other fish caught and nobody was really getting any indications. Just on the hour mark I was contemplating having a quick drop on the track line when I had the kind of bite I like when fishing long- before I had a chance to realise the float was gone the lakky was streaming out! This one flew round like the one I'd lost before and when netted turned out to be a black and silver ghostie, a cracking looking fish of about 4lb. Quite why they scrap harder than normal carp I don't know- answers on a postcard please!

Nothing else came from the line in the next few minutes, and I'd seen no other fish caught either so I decided to feed a few casters on the long line, so a dozen went in the cup along with a pinch of loose groundbait. I then dropped in down the track on a pellet. I gave it a good ten minutes with no signs of life, then just as I was going to leave it I had a liner. This gave me a bit of hope of something coming from it and I gave the line a bit longer but nothing else came of it. I went back across on pellet and an almost instant bite gave me a sluggish resistance that never gained momentum and turned out to be a skimmer of about two and half pound.

Nothing more followed, and indeed the next hour and a half turned out totally dead, not only for me but for everyone else near me. A few fish were cruising about and while most around me seemed to be hoping that they would get there heads down and just waiting I was shipping back every few minutes to fill the toss-pot, mostly with crumb but with a few 4mm pellets in too. An occasional try on the shallow rig had given me just a tiny perch that dropped off on the way back. I'd actually just thought to myself that it was never going to happen when a bite out of the blue saw me playing carp number three and after a few minutes a common of about 5lb was in the net. Filling the toss-pot with a few pellets and a bit of crumb and no sooner had I tapped the bait out than the elastic pulled out of the pole. Carp number four quickly joined the others in the net, a smaller common of about 3lb. I was just thinking that the warmer temperature of the day had switched the fish on, but then they had disappeared as quickly as they'd arrived.

The next hour followed with no indications, on either the track line or across, and nobody I could see near me was catching anything other than odd silvers. With just under an hour to go another bite saw me playing carp number five. A common of about 6lb was soon in the net, and following the pattern I put half a dozen pellets in the pot then topped it off with groundbait. I doubt the bait had been in the water more than a minute when the float went away and at the same time as I lifted the lakky shot out of the end. I had the fish on for no more than a few seconds then it was gone. Shipping back I found the whole rig had gone- not a trace of line left! Somehow the rig must have came off. A new rig on and I went back over, but that was it. For some reason the rig didn't seem right and I was never as happy with it as the one I'd lost. I did have another go with the shallow rig but all that gave me was a tiny perch. Odd fish were then moving across and I'm sure I'd have caught on the other rig, even though the new one was on exactly the same set-up!

While waiting for the scales the most anyone was admitting to was four carp, although somebody was apparently admitting to having a couple of doubles. It sounded like it was going to be close! When the scales got to me 17lb was the top weight and I comfortably had that, my skimmer and micro perch going 2lb 8oz and my five carp going 26lb 8oz, giving me a dead level 29lb. The next best weight was just over 19lb in the end and that nagging feeling that lost fish would cost me didn't come true. I have to say I was a bit miffed still about the rig coming off, I've used the crows foot way of attaching rigs to the elastic for over seven years and have never had that happen before. Guess I'll just have to put it down to one of those things!

Sunday May 9th

Well, I'd like to know what's happened to the weather, apart from the fact that it's getting colder and not warmer! I was quite happy with my draw peg 14 being near to where I drew last week. The only down side was that the peg had the cold north-easterly wind on it.



On sitting at the peg the wind wasn't too bad, and it allowed me to plumb up on the long pole. There was about 3ft of water tight up to the island at 17m, perhaps a little more depth than I'd want at this time of the year. With quite a bit of room to my left I had enough space to fish two margin swims. One at 5m which I'd feed by hand just short of a newly growing lilly bed, and the other at 12m under some nearside vegetation. The rig for across was a 4x12 Preston durafloat on .16 line direct to a size 20 Fox Series 2 hook, with lakky being Preston 15h. The margin rig had the same hook and line, using a 4x12 Preston Somo in about two and a half feet of water (same depth on both swims) I also had a stronger margin rig set up, just in case! I had the tip rod left in the rod sleeve but close to hand should the wind picked up.

On the whistle I fed a pinch of 4mm pellets across, the long margin line with a decent pinch of hemp and a few grains of corn. The close margin line was fed just by hand, having a pinch of pellets every few minutes. It didn't take me long to get a response across on a 6mm pellet. The bait hadn't been the water much for than a minute I guess when I had my first bite. After a decent scrap I had a common of about 7lb in the net, not a bad start! Nothing next drop so I re-fed with a reasonable pinch of pellet and was instantly in again, this time a smaller carp of about 3lb. Again only slight nudges followed so I had to feed again, although only with a small amount via-toss pot. This didn't seem to have the desired effect and after four or five drops with just odd liners I fed a decent amount via the big cup again. Again it didn't take long for a response as a mirror of about 4lb made the net. No more bites followed, and even the knocks and liners had seemed to fade away.

The rest of the match was a bit of a washout- I think what I was worried about happened, and I think I may have over done the bait. I had to feed a decent amount to get the bites; topping up with a toss-pot didn't work, so I really should have gone down the micro pellet and caster route rather than using the 4mm pellets I did. At one point the wind picked up enough that I needed to fish the tip and after not long I had a crucian of about a pound and a half, but that proved to be a false dawn. The last few hours of the match passed un-eventfully, and even the margins were lifeless.

In the end I tipped back about 15lb, and the lake had fished a bit harder than I expected, with 32lb winning and 31lb being 2nd, and 27lb third. In hindsight I should have fished it much more like I would have in March or early April. I may have had to put up with a few bits but I think a framing or winning weight would have been possible, but instead (like a lot of others I think on the day) I got it wrong and over done it. Still, next week is on the same lake so I'll be trying to put it right then!

Bank Holiday Pairs Match

Nice to see that the bank holiday has kept up it's usual tradition, seeing as it's been lovely all week and once the weekend arrived so did the rain and cold!

I was hoping for a change in my luck at the draw bag ( I was elected to draw, even though my form in the bag isn't great at the moment!) Going in the queue late some good combinations of pegs had already come out of the bag, so I wasn't optimistic! In the end I was reasonably happy with the combination of pegs that come out of the bag, with numbers 12 and 42. With 12 being a wider peg I was took that, being the younger one of the pair!

I hadn't walked round but from the car park I knew it would be in full blast of the wind. I think the time I took the picture was as calm as it got! I wasn't that optimistic about the peg to be honest, having struggled of it in the past. I did set up a pole rig to fish up the island at about 15m, but envisaged I'd end up on the tip. This was something that came to the fore while I was changing the rig, as the wind launched both my pole and the rollers over. How it didn't damage my pole I don't know- I was very lucky there. So a small method it was to fish over! A pole rig for 12m and down the peg was set up just where it started to shallow up. In 6ft of water a .4gr diamond bodied float was put up, on .17 line to a .13 hook length and a 15 B711. Last rig up was for the right margin at 5m, where there was a slight bay in the edge with a little bank side cover hanging in to it. This rig was on .16 line direct to a size 20 Fox series 2 hook. Elastic was Preston 15h and the swim was about two and half feet deep. I also found an area in the left margin the same depth, but I didn't feed it at the start as it was facing in to the wind and I didn't want to feed it and not be able to fish it!

On the whistle I fed the deep swim with half a pot of hemp, a few 4mm pellets and a few grains of corn, while the margin had a 50/50 mix of hemp and pellet, with a few grains of corn. A single hair rigged grain of corn was cast across on the method. A perfect cast first time, with the feeder splashing the island, resulting in a bite after only a minute or two, a good start! Only a common of about 2lb but I was off the mark. The next chuck the tip went round and unbelievably, there wasn't a fish on the end! The third chuck gave me a small ghostie of about 2lb then the next fish made the roots, and after a bit of too-ing and fro-ing it came off. It was a little while before the next bite, probably on the 45min mark. This was again a fish of probably 2 1/2lb. I topped up the long line (I was feeding the margin with a few pellets by hand) and went back on the tip. I then had another quick bite, picking up the rod there was no resistance and when I wound in the hook length was cut clean in half.

The loss of another fish seemed to slow the swim down a bit, with nothing in the next 45 minutes although I was still getting liners. I did top up the deep line again and kept plugging away on the tip. Coming up to the two hour mark two quick fish made it in to the net. Not big fish but a touch bigger than the others at probably 3lb a piece. The swim then seemed to fade again, although I was still getting odd liners so I decided to try the deep pole swim. I gave it near ten minutes and just as I was about to give up on it the float ducked under but I missed it! I gave it a bit longer but no more bites came so it was back on the tip.

The spell on the tip was a bit frustrating ( including one chuck that got stuck up the island!) as fish seemed to come instantly to the feeder, with a flurry of liners before fading off quick. I tried having the bait right on top of the feeder instead of burying it- hoping that the fish would find it quickly. The idea was sound in principle but it didn't work! The next thing to try was adding some micro pellets to the mix, so while these were soaking I had a drop in the margin on pellet. I had a bite instantly and soon another 3lb common was in the net. I missed a bite next drop in and then had another common of about 3lb. I was just starting to think I was going to empty the margins when the next drop I pricked a fish and the swim quietened off. I topped up with a quarter of a pot of hemp and pellet, then mixed the soaked micro's in to the crumb for the feeder. I was going to feed the left margin but the wind was a big no-no now, gusting at times at stupid strengths!

The addition of the pellets seemed to have an instant response, as carp number nine made it's way in, a mental ghostie common of about 3lb. On the next cast the second hail shower of the day started and as I reached for my jacket the tip wrenched round but with the slight delay in picking up the fish was snagged in the roots. I had another drop in but the activity had faded so I went in on the pole in the deep water. I missed a bite which may have been a liner, before missing two bites that almost certainly weren't! Back in the margins and two more fish made their way to the net in the next twenty minutes, although both being only just 2lb a piece. The indications seemed to slow a bit so I topped up with a quarter of a cup of bait and went back on the tip.

The first cast bought just some liners so I decided to try two hair rigged pellets instead of corn. This gave an instant response with a fish that felt much better than any of the others I'd had. After a few minutes a cracking looking koi about 6lb was in the net. Going in to the last hour now and bites seemed hard to come by, with another try on both pole lines being fruitless. I decided to up the bait by hand in the margin swim before trying double corn on the hair on the method. Again the change bought a quick response, with a pure silver ghostie about 4lb joining his orange, black and silver mate in the net! However after this the swim seemed devoid of life, so with 40 minutes to go I decided to stick it out in the margins.

I was getting liners in the margins and with twenty minutes to go the increase in bait worked as a bite on pellet saw me land by far the biggest fish from the margins, a common of about 6lb. Unfortunately I couldn't add to it, with the last spell of the match producing just one missed bite.

When the scales got to me 51lb 12 oz was the top weight on my lake, I knew I didn't have that, but I was closer to it than I thought with my fish going 50lb 10oz. I was thinking that the lost fish had cost me a lake win when the last angler to weigh on the lake had 84lb 12oz. Lake third it was then! Back in the car park everyone was trying to work out who'd won (while the organiser was) and it seemed that me and my partner (who was 4th on the other lake) were tied on points with another pair for first. No problem, as we had a better weight. When the result was read out both pairs were read out as first- tied on points, the weight difference apparently didn't matter and we split 1st and second! A bit of a bummer as we were done out of third last year on weight after tying on points! I wasn't the only one a bit miffed by this too! Still, at least I caught some fish on what must have been the coldest day in May I've ever fished. We were even treated to another hail shower in the car park after!

Deja Vu!

Apologies for the lack of of picture, I've just spent ages trying to work out why my phone won't find the memory card, but for some reason it won't work! Not that I really need it anyway, as just in case you didn't get it from the title, I went and put my hand in the bag and come out with the exact same peg as last week. I wasn't a happy bunny!

Having lost the frosts for two days I was hoping for some better sport, until that number 49 came out in my hand again! I have to admit I put my box down on the peg and sat for ten minutes and contemplated going to pleasure fish on lake 1 instead. I eventually decided to have a crack at it again, and then, just to make things worse, it started to tip it down!

I approached the peg much in the same way as last week- three rigs, one for the island, one for the near side of the ledge, and a margin rig. The only difference is that the margin and track rigs had smaller hooks than last week, while the margin rig was on .16 line, like the others. I was going to fish it much more negatively, trying to eek out a few fish!

The far bank got just a dozen pellets, while the track had half a dozen grains of corn and a small pinch of hemp. The margin got the same, plus a small amount of meat. I did manage about twenty minutes across on pellet (giving me some optimism of some carp being present) before the bait robbing micro roach moved in.

To cut a long and pretty boring story short, up until the last hour nobody near me had caught any fish other than odd tiny roach! The most interesting part of the day was that my partner for the pairs match next Monday (for the May bank holiday pairs match) were trying to work out who's going to draw, as he was next peg along! We both seem to have spent a lot of time lately in that cluster of pegs catching not a lot on lake 2!

In the end, just as I was toying with packing up early (the two pegs to my right had!) odd fish started to come along the edge. Just odd liners to start, then I had two late fish, one on corn and one on meat. Reasonable stamp fish, with the pair probably about 9-10lb between the two of them. I was a bit miffed that I didn't get a double figure ghostie- I watched it come along the edge feeding, it went head down right on my bait and the instant bite gave me a 5lb common! It must have robbed it out of the ghosties mouth!

The lake fished hard again, with 35lb winning, and two 20lb+ weights making the rest of the frame. A few people had two carp and didn't bother to weigh (only 4 from 21 did) so it wasn't at it's best it's fair to say!

As I said earlier, next week is the bank holiday pairs, with no match on the Sunday. I just hope I can draw better!

Sunday 18th April

While the weather seems to have perked up now in the day the ice still seems a little reluctant to leave us totally! Jack frost had visited a couple of time in the last few days, leaving us with what I've found to be some of the worst conditions to fish in; bright, warm days and frosty nights. Coupled with quite high air pressure I wasn't expecting a great days fishing, especially coupled with a full house as there is an upcoming Clubman Supercup round on the venue.

At the draw I really wanted a peg with a bit of cover in it, as I was sure the fish would be wanting to move out of the way. What I actually got was a peg that's in an area I've never drawn before! Peg 49 is the first peg down one arm of the island, and is the shallowest part of the lake. While it has no recent form I did think the shallow nature (I didn't realise how shallow it was mind!) may work to my advantage, as it would warm up quicker. What did then put the mockers on it was that it was drawn as the second golden peg- a sure curse!

First task was to have a bit of a plumb round- firstly in the margins as there was an inflow pipe tricking water in to the right. It was very shallow here, less than a foot and I came away from it a touch, fishing just past it and about four foot out, in about two and a half foot of water. This is where I found out how shallow it was, as when I swung the margin rig (just over a meter long as I was plumbing) I found I could just touch the bottom with it down the middle! I also used the same margin rig for the left margin. Here I had a slight point away from me and at 5m I was fishing in the edge, tight to the grass, at an angle of about 11 O'clock. The margin rig was on pink Middy Hollow elastic (similar to black hydro or Preston 15h) for no reason other than I've had it ages and decided to use it! Line was .16 to an 18 Fox Series 2. My track line was at about five and a half meters (taking it just past the point but angled to my right away from it) This was on the same hook and line as the margin rig, using a .2gr diamond bodied handmade float. Lakky on this was a soft 14 latex. Lastly I had a rig up for the island. After much plumbing in the end I plumped for an area just in to the small bay opposite. Nice and easy at just over 13m, it was about 16in deep (in the sun all day, and with the colour I thought I'd get away with it) Again this was on .16 line, lakky was Preston 15h with a size 20 Fox Series 2 hook. Float was a small Preston Durafloat, pattern number I can't remember! Quite positive gear really, but when the area produces it tends to be bigger fish. Plus, no point fishing for second on a golden peg!

On the whistle I fed a decent pinch of 4mm pellet across, where as the track line got about a dozen grains of corn and a pinch of hemp. The right margin got half a pot of hemp and 6mm cubes of meat, while the left (on the point) would just get a few pellets and grains of corn flicked on it by hand. The first two drops across were on a 4mm expander, but this just got shredded instantly by tiny fish; not a good sign! In fact, there were very few signs of carp in the area. I gave the far line perhaps half an hour on corn, getting odd knocks off roach. I was flicking pellets across in two's and three's, hoping the noise would attract a carp, but all that seemed to be in the area were tiny roach.

The next hour was the same on whatever line I tried. I was bite less on corn where as meat or pellet would be stripped off by tiny roach, occasionally leaving one of about half an ounce hanging! As midday came odd carp started to cruise about, bringing a bit of optimism to those of us in the area- five of us in a line had only odd tiny roach between us. On the half way mark I took what turned out to be my only chance of a carp. While fishing down the track on meat a common of about 6lb was taking bits out of the drifting surface scum around my float. I dangled the meat just in front of his nose and he took it! After a lively scrap he was in the net- the only carp caught (apart from one about 2oz) for about six pegs to my right! The angler to my left, on the end of the island, had just one carp too. I don't think any of us there did anything wrong- they just weren't there! I never had a liner all day and in the last 90 minutes I never saw a carp cruise. Some days you just know your flogging a dead horse! I did up the feed a lot in the last hour, but in my heart of hearts I just knew that there were no carp there.

As a whole the lake fished hard (as did most of the country from the results I've seen) with two 26lb weights being first and second- taken from pegs with good cover in them. I think there was a 24lb weight too, as we were all beaten by the conditions. Still, as the days edge past the summer gets ever closer, and so (hopefully!) does some good fishing!

Winter League, Final Round

I have to say I was quite looking forward to the last round of the winter league. I'd walked round before the match and the colour had increased in the water and in most areas there seemed to be a few fish moving. Going in to this match the leader couldn't be caught but second place could be- they were five points ahead of me on equal third but with the worst results being dropped after I had an advantage, as my worst result was nil points!

I took a late place in the draw queue and was getting a bit worried as all the fancied pegs seemed to be going. Peg five was the one I fancied the most, but that was gone! When my hand went in to the bag I was quite happy when peg 29 came out, a decent peg all year round. I also had the league leader (winner!) on the next peg, to add extra encouragement to do well.

Plan for the day was four pole rigs, two for the far bank, one for on the near ledge and a margin rig. It's a fair reach over, about 17m to get in to the shallower water I thought I'd need to be in. The first rig was for in three feet of water, keeping my options open to go that touch tighter later. This was on .14 line to a 20 Fox series 2, using a .2gr Garbolino DC5 and on Preston 15h elastic. The second rig was a shallow rig, set at 2ft deep. Terminal gear was .14 line to a 16 B611 and a 4x10 PB2 float. Elastic was a softer Preston 13h. Third rig was for down the near ledge. This was on the same line as the other two, with a .4gr diamond bodied float in 6ft of water. Hook was again a 20 Fox series 2 and lakky was a 12 latex. Last rig was for my right margin. This was practically identical to the far bank rig. Bait was 4mm expander's, corn and caster with some hemp, micro pellets and a small amount of crumb. I also had some meat which I thought may come in to play later.

On the whistle I fed a small pinch of micros and three grains of corn across, the same but with a pinch of hemp in the edge and a dozen grains of corn on the ledge. I slipped a grain of corn on and went across. It didn't take long to get a bite, I reckon I'd been in no more than twenty seconds when the float buried, but I missed it! I had a liner not long after and my next bite came after about six or seven minutes. This saw me attached to a decent fish and even on the stronger lakky than of late a fish of about 4lb gave a good account of it's self before being netted. Next drop didn't bring much, so I decided to re feed with a pinch of micros and two grains of corn. This bought a near instant bite but after a few seconds this fish came off. This was the start of a frustrating twenty minute spell where I hooked two more fish and lost them both. I'm sure two of them weren't foul hooked too. After this spell the fish seemed to fade off, but nobody else I could see had caught.

Going in to the next hour I was feeding a few micros and an odd grain of corn by toss-pot as each lost fish had come after feeding, and when I didn't feed I didn't get a bite! I decided to try pushing that but tighter over, pushing the half butt in and taking me in to water four inches shallower. It took about ten minutes to get any sign of fish and when the float did dink under it was met with a very solid resistance. After a few minutes of the fish sluggishly trying to explore the peg to my right a ghostie around the 10lb mark surfaced and after a short while longer it met the landing net. Definitely one worth waiting for! I topped up after this but no more fish followed so I left the line and had a quick try on the the other two, but with no response.

On the two hour mark I decided to try a 6mm cube of meat across. I cursed as I missed a bite almost instantly, but the next drop was met with a bite that produced a perch of an ounce! Hard work at 17m+! I was surprised at how slow it was, as at this point I'd yet to see anyone else catch a carp. I had another quick try on the track and the margin lines (the margin was getting small pot's of bait every 40 Min's, while I was just flicking corn by hand to the track line) but neither gave a bite. With the half way mark passing I decided to try something different with the feeding, deciding to still feed pellet and odd grains of corn via toss-pot but to top it off with ground bait.

I was surprised at how quick the response came, with a bite coming on the first drop trying it. A common of about 3lb was followed next drop by a mental (but cracking looking!) ghostie of about 2lb. The next drop gave what looked to me every bit an F1 of about a pound and a half. While no F1's have been stocked in to the lake there are both carp (obviously!) and crucians so it could quite possibly be a naturally occurring hybrid of the two. After the flurry of fish the swim faded somewhat. The next hour produced two more fish about 3lb a piece, both to corn on the deck. Strangely I was getting no liners, just the odd bite out of the blue. I was having odd drops down the peg, to the small point on the island visible in the pic, trying both on the deck and shallow but nothing happened.

Going in to the last hour I was comfortably ahead of those around me but was concerned that the swim had faded and people were starting to catch odd fish. I'd given up on the other two lines as I'd not had a bite off either and the fish I had seen caught were from across. I did prick a fish down the peg trying caster so I fed a few casters via toss-pot and then, as I laid the rig in I had the pole yanked in to the water summer bite style! I had the fish right to the net when the hook pulled! I couldn't get another bite there so I went back to the original line. This produced another carp of about 4lb with half an hour to go, again on corn. With just over ten minutes to go a gust of wind caught the pole (there had been a good few during the day) and after having the pole swung round I found myself stuck up the far bank! One trashed rig later I decided to have the last few minutes on the shallow rig and caster. This gave me another fish with five minutes to go, a crucian/brown goldfish of about a pound and a half, but I didn't have time for another.

Listening to the after match chat it looked as though I'd finish second as my favoured pre match peg (number 5) had walked the match, putting 14 carp on the scales for 57lb. A few other decent weights had been put on the scales, with 28lb being the next weight. My bits net went 3lb exactly and my seven carp went 31lb 6oz, which was enough for second with that 28lb being 3rd.

My good result was enough to push me up in to second overall in the final standings- not a bad result I think, although I had three framing weights on lake 1 two of my three draws on lake 2 were (on the day) terrible. In the end I was four points behind first, and two ahead of third. I was pleased with the day- I had to work hard for my fish and really after the third round second was about the best achievable really barring a miracle. I must have got something right as the pegs either side didn't catch a carp! With the winter league out of the way now, I'm looking forward to a bit of summer bagging now!

A Good Friday?

An early blog this week- with the long Easter weekend I decided to fish on the Friday this week. With the weather having turned a bit colder during the week I wasn't sure where I wanted to draw really, although walking round before hand I liked the look of peg 46. The margins on the peg can be good with a nice clean bank with two and a half foot of water to fish in tight to the bank. It also had the wind behind it and with rain forecast later it would at least be comfortable. Why am I talking about it? because I actually drew it! I couldn't do that in the winter league could I!

First task was a rig for the open water at about 12m. This was a .4gr diamond bodied pattern in about six and a half foot of water. This would also double for the 5m line where it was just 3in shallower. Line was .14 dia direct to a 16 B611, lakky was a 12 latex. I also had a shallow rig up for half depth, a 4x12 PB2 with the same hook and line but on a 13h lakky. The third rig up was a margin rig for the left margin. In about two and a half foot of water float was a 4x12 Somo with the same hook and line as the other two rigs and on Preston 13h lakky too. Lastly, I also put up a bomb rod to try past the pole line to start with.

On the whistle the long line got three grains of corn and a pinch of hemp, while the margin had the same but with a few 3mm pellets mixed in too. The 5m line would just receive corn flicked in by hand. First cast was on the bomb, about three meters past the pole line and further to the right. With nothing on the first cast on double corn the next two casts had single corn with a small pellet cone. With not a nudge approaching the 4o minute mark it was time to try the pole line. A single grain of corn went out to the 12m line, but after five minutes with no joy I decided to put a small toss-pot on and try trickling some bait in to stir a response. After two more drops and nudging the hour mark I was just debating trying the bomb again when I had my first bite. After a good tussle a common of about 6lb was in the net so I gave it another quarter of an hour, topping up after that fish but with no more signs of life.

I decided to top up the margin line before having a chuck on the bomb. I was just debating my options when the rod steadily pulled round but it was obvious it wasn't a carp and a crucian of about a pound and a quarter was soon on the net. With that I decided to give it a bit longer but at the hour and a half mark and no more bites it was back on to the long line. A bite (again on single corn) wasn't long in coming and a small common of about 2lb was quickly in the net. I topped up with two grains of corn and a tiny pinch of hemp and perhaps five minutes later my next bite produced a lively 3lb ghostie. After this the indications I had were very finicky so I topped up with a pinch of hemp and three grains of corn and went back on the bomb, although this produced nothing.

As the half way mark came others started to catch too, including the angler opposite netting a right lump that looked comfortably double figures. The rain started and it seemed to stop indications on the longer line. I gave the 12m line a decent pinch of hemp and half a dozen grains of corn and dropped in on the 5m line, which I had been steadily flicking grains of corn on to in ones and twos every few minutes. A liner after a few minutes was followed by a proper bite and carp number four was soon in the net- a common about 3lb. No more bites followed so I cupped in four grains of corn on it and had a drop in the margins. A few silly bites on corn told me that roach rather than carp were in residence, and trying double maggot confirmed it as a roach of about 1oz was the result.

Back out on the long line and the rest and extra grub had the desired effect as indications soon turned in to a proper bite and a mirror of about 3lb was in the net. The wind picked up and I had to lower all the shot on the rig to stabilise it a bit more. Not too long after and another bite gave me another 3lb common. A missed bite next drop followed by a decrease in indications led me to top up the swim again and drop back in on the 5m line. With nothing to show there I tried the margins again but just the roach knocks again led me back out to the 12m line. With silly indications resulting there I decided to stop feeding the hemp. With just a missed bite to show after another 15 minutes I came back on to the 5m and a chunky 4lb common was the result, but again no more bites followed.

Dropping back out long and cutting out the hemp seemed to have the effect as a common about two and a half pound was in the net. Next drop in and an instant bite again saw me attached to another carp which inexplicably came off half way in. I dropped in four grains of corn and left the line alone for five minutes, trying the 5m line but with no joy. Back out long and another bite saw me attached to another carp, and half way back that one came off too! I didn't even check the hook, cutting it off and changing it after dropping in a few grains of corn again. Predictably though, the two lost fish had seen the end of the action and I had to sit and watch others catching while whatever I tried I couldn't buy a bite, not even past the catching area.

The last hour passed uneventfully, apart from roach knocks in the margins. With the last ten minutes remaining I decided that the 5m line was the best bet for a fish and decided to sit on it. With a few minutes to go it seemed a good choice as carp number 9 resulted, another common of about 3lb but I didn't have time for another.

Packing away it looked pretty close between me and three others I could see, and I just had a feeling that those lost fish would cost me. As the third to weigh in I was comfortably first when my fish totalled 34lb 3oz. One of the island pegs produced a 31lb weight then the scales got round to the peg's I'd been watching. The first one to weigh in narrowly pipped me plonking 34lb 8oz on the scales! I knew it! The other two put 32lb and 29lb on to the scales and while I'd finished second the lost fish had cost me a win! I shan't grumble too much mind- I enjoyed the day working for bites, and it was nice to catch a few fish after such a long tough winter. I was surprised that the margins never really went, but nobody really caught in the edge this week (they did last week) I can only guess the two cold days and a frost in the days before had just taken enough of a toll on the water temperature to stop them.

Next Sunday sees the last round of the winter league, on lake one this time. After a bad start I'm in joint third so hopefully I'll be able to get a good result and get a respectable final placing. I'll let you know next week!