Sunday 26th July

First of all I have to apologise for not updating this last week, I did fish, but with the amount of rain we had the lake fished diabolical and there was not a lot to write about!

For the third week in a row we were on lake 1. Hand in the bag and out came peg 5. I was happy enough with it, I've done well off it in the past and it has a decent margin that when it fishes it throws up some good weights. First rig up was for the far bank at 16m, fishing just into a small bay in the island. The water had a decent colour so I wasn't concerned about it being only about 20in deep, and the slope leading up to this was very steep and awkward to fish on. Float was a .1gr DC6 and line was .16 to an 18 Fox Series 2. Elastic was Preston 15h. The rig for the margin was in a little over 2ft of water to my left at about 5m. The rig was on .18 line direct to a 16 Fox Series 2. Float was a .2gr DC5 and lakky was purple hydro. Lastly I put up a polyball rig to push right into the far bank. This was on .18 to purple hydro.

On the whistle the far bank was fed with a pinch of pellet while the margin got a pot of hemp, meat and corn. Across on a 6mm expander and it took less than a minute to get a bite. The fish roared along to my right and promptly snapped the line. Not a good start! The rig was replaced with one on .18 line and I went back out. Again not long before a bite and soon enough a 3lb common was in the net. At this point I could already see two other people catching. I topped up with a toss-pot but the fish didn't seem interested so I topped up with a larger amount of pellet with the pot. Again a bite was quick in coming and another common of a similar size to the first made it's way in. The next drop gave me a skimmer of about 2lb so I again topped up with the bigger pot. The first hour finished with four carp and the skimmer, each fish needing a decent amount of pellets to bring a bite.

The second hour again continued as the first did. Not big fish, averaging about 3lb but with one bigger fish of about 6lb. I could still see two others catching steadily so while I was happy with the progress I needed to keep the fish coming. Finishing that hour on 9 carp I then lost a foulhooker so I topped up and dropped into the margin (which I had been topping up with half a pot every 30min) No joy came of this so I went back across. Carp number 10 was quick to arrive and the next bite gave a brown goldfish of about 8oz with a massive fan tail! The swim started to fade now, as had the others who were catching. With there still being signs of fish in the swim I decided to top up the swim again with a toss-pot and pellets, using a small amount of groundbait to hold the pellets in. On the second drop a small common of about 2lb was the result, quickly followed by another identical one before the swim started to fade again.

The next half hour or so passed without a bite, even in the margins. I decided to try pushing the poly ball right into the far bank to see what this would yield. This gave one bite quickly and resulted in a better fish of about 5lb but nothing more. At this point other people I could see had started to get odd fish again and I was sure they were not far from having what I had. I decided to push the rig a touch further up the bank. After re-plumbing and shallowing up a tad I fed half a pot of pellet and had a quick drop in the edge. This was again strangely fruitless so I decided to up the feed here to whole pots in an attempt to make something happen.

The change across had the desired effect and three more carp quickly followed. Not big fish, only 2-3lb fish before it again faded out. The margin was still strangely quiet, not even a liner or knock from small fish. I decided to drop back down a bit on the far side and after a wait of about five minutes a bite gave a better fish of 4lb+. The last hour gave a few more fish. I had to wait longer for the bites and only got them feeding small amounts with the toss-pot. I'd get one fish further up the bank before having to drop down for the next bite, just being patient and working and waiting. While I wasn't catching as fast as at the start the fish were bigger and I finshed the match with 20 carp, the last one hooked a minute or so before the whistle. The second from last fish was a proper munter of probably near 12lb!

I packed up feeling happy with the days effort. I'd had to work hard for the last few fish but apart from the first fish I hooked and the foulhooker I never lost any more fish, and I hardly missed a bite too. It was a good day all round and one of those rare days when the things you try work (apart from in the margins where I never had a bite)

As I'd drawn the scales I got to see what everyone had caught. The next peg had 58lb, while the rest of the lake had fished well with a 70lb weight and a weight of 56lb, plus another 40lb weight. My fish went 84lb 4oz in total, beating the previous best open weight of 81lb so a new lake record was set too. A good tonic after the disaster of last week!

Next week is back on Lake Two after three matches in a row on Lake One so it's a change of scenery! Check

Sunday 12th July

With it being the first time on the New Lake for a month I was quite looking forward to a change of scenery! The favoured pegs to draw are still in the 20's, with matches still nearly always being won from there the last few weeks whilst the opens carried on, on the Old Lake. Before the draw I said that it was pointless those pegs being the favourites as I won't get one, saying that I'll draw peg 17. Not a bad guess as it happened as I drew peg 18, and peg 17 had been taken out due to two late drop outs and a no-show!

The peg has a reputation as a flyer, but it has been not that great the two times I've drawn it, although I did manage a 2nd place off it in late April. Despite the fact that it's a very wide peg (a full 17.5m to get tight to the island) I was quite happy with the peg. While the strong wind was liable to make such a long pole awkward the peg has quite a shallow margin to the left, and I was confident of catching there later on.

Rig wise I had three rigs for the pole up. First was for the far bank, at about 17m, just short of being tight to the island in a little over 2ft of water. Float was a .2gr Garbolino DC5, normally my margin pattern but at such a long distance and with an awkward reflection of the far bank I hoped it would enable me to see it! Line was .16 through to an 18 Fox Series 2 hook and lakky was Preston 15h. Margin rig was the same float but on .18 direct to a 16 Fox Series 2 hook and purple hydro. Depth wise it was not quite 3ft. Last rig up was a polyball rig to push into the foliage on the far bank, using purple hydro and .18 line with an 18 hook.

Bizarrely for me I was ready with a good 20 minutes to spare. I did plumb up under the bush just to my right but the bottom was all over the place, and with a lot of sticks on the bottom it was more trouble than it was worth. I did wonder about putting the tip rod up, but with the wind only gusty I decided to wait and see, besides, it didn't really go last time I had that peg.

At the whistle I fed just a few pellets across, while the margin got a whole pot of hemp, meat and corn. A fair few fish were moving across and I instantly started to get liners. After only a minute the pole got yanked into the water but the way the fish changed direction I suspected it was foul hooked and after a few seconds it came off. Indications started to fade after so I began to top up with a few pellets via a toss-pot. Perhaps ten minutes later, after missing a few bites I had a common of about 3lb, but then onwards proceeded to get a lot liners. This prompted me to plumb up at the full 17.5m, going slightly to my right and into slightly shallower water. I hoped that with the numbers of fish present that by barely feeding this I'd eliminate the liner problem (I'd lost two more fish, both foulhooked themselves!)

On the second drop a proper bite gave me my second fish, again a common of about 3lb before again the number of fish proved a problem. If I stopped feeding the fish went back into the little bay just along the bank out of pole reach, but any amount of food, even just 3/4 pellets sent them mental. The next hour and a half gave me just one roach and a headache as I lost another 3 fish. I'd not struck at a single one of the lost fish, they were hooking themselves, but I couldn't get a bite on the shallow rig. For that hour I began harbouring thoughts of getting the tip rod out but shelved it, hoping the fish would settle, either across or in the edge. A quick try in the margin was bite less so I went back across.

With another lost foulhooker to show and just under three hours to go the wind seemed to pick up and made controlling the pole very hard so I gave up and got up of my box and took my trusty 10ft puddle chucker out of the ready rod sleeve. Some groundbait was hastily knocked up while I clipped up and readied the feeder arm and butt rest. I decided to cast just to my right a little, as there was a gap in the tree canopy which would lessen the chance of me clipping the trees with them waving a lot in the wind.

First chuck on the method with an 8mm Sonubaits S-Pellet (they are brilliant for hair rigging, I wouldn't want to got to a match without them now) and the feeder dropped a bit short. Never mind, I'll bait up the next feeder and re-do it. Not a chance, no sooner had I picked the spare feeder up than the rod wrenched round. Shortly a common of about 4lb was in the net.

The last two and a half hours produced a steady stream of bites to the method. After 5 fish it faded a bit so I soaked some micro pellet to go round the feeder to get something more substantial into the swim. While waiting for them I had a quick drop in the margin and had a small carp of about 2lb but no more bites followed. The micro pellet with the groundbait had the desired effect and the fish came back. I finished the match with 17 carp, 14 on the method and 3 on the pole, plus a 2lb skimmer on the tip. The fish averaged about 3lb, but I had a couple of lumpy mirrors about 7-8lb a piece, including 3 cracking looking 3/4lb ghosties that went like they were possessed!

I'd love to say that the last part went like a dream but it didn't! I lost 2 carp where the S-Pellet had masked the hook. Something that in the 2 years I've used them I've never had happen before. I also lost a couple of fish that bent the hook (Size 16 Kamasan Animals) as I held them to stop them bolting into the brambles just to the right of where I hooked them. I suspect they where those mental ghosties as they gave the most bother but I've chucked the rest of the packet of hooks out as I've not had that problem before and hope they were a rouge batch. This cost me time tieing up more hook lengths as I didn't have as many ready as I thought.

The lost fish look a little of the gloss off what turned out to be a comfortable match win with 76-10, with 35lb being second. I Found out that the open match record is just 81lb, something I should have broken, and indeed I could have done the ton, especially had I fished the tip all day. Still, on the plus side my casting was near spot on (well, bloody good for me) for the day, but I couldn't help being disappointed by the lost fish. Still, a PB weight for that lake and a match win can't be that bad so I'll stop moaning!

Sunday 5th July

With lake fishing as well as it has, at the draw I wanted a peg with a good margin as that seems to be where the weights have come from. I was reasonably happy with peg 44, as although it has no real recent form it has a decent margin and in previous times I've had the peg I have caught from it.

Looking at the picture you'll see the peg has a large lilly bed in it, which although looks inviting can be awkward as I've found previous that carp and lillies don't mix that well! My first priority was to have a good plumb along my left margin where there are some sparse dead reeds in the water. The best area I found to fish was not quite as far as the stick ups, about 4m away which let me get a little closer to the bank in about two and a half feet of water. Gear for here was a .2gr DC5 float on .18 line direct to a 16 Fox Series 2 hook. Lakky was purple hydro. With the next peg (45) in I couldn't really fish another margin line as I wanted to. The rig for the lilles was put up on .20 line to a .18 line to avoid losing floats in the lillies! plumbing up was awkward as there were a lot of stems under the water, lakky was a solid 16. Next to the lillies I had about 5ft of water. Last rig was to fish on the slope leading up to the small island. I fished heavier gear than I normally would due to the lillies being between me and it! Tackle was the same as the margin gear in about 3ft of water. Lastly I put up a shallow poly ball rig to chase cruising fish as there seemed to be a lot of them about, and with a fair amount of space to my left I could use it to fish shallow if wanted to try that.

At the whistle the margin line and the lillies got a whole pot of bait, the lillies just hemp and corn while the margin got a decent amount of meat too. The far line was fed with a few pellets and a bit of corn as the angler to my right was fishing along it to the limit of his peg and I didn't want too much bait there for both our sake! I wanted to spend as little time as possible here though. Out on the far line and predictably small roach hammered the bait so it was on with a grain of corn. The next 20 minutes produced loads of line bites, there were obviously a few fish there but they just wouldn't go down. With the lilly line starting to give bubbles over the bait I decided to drop in there while starting to ping a few 6mm pellets into the open water about 13m out to try shallow.

Dropping in without feeding didn't produce so a toss-pot full of hemp and corn went in. It didn't take long for a response on double corn, although at only about a pound it wasn't quite the response I wanted! Especially as the angler opposite was starting to catch quite regularly in the deep water! No more bites followed but after seeing a swirl in the edge I gave it a quick try but the meat hook bait was quickly mauled by tiny roach.

With odd fish swirling out where I was loose feeding pellets I decided to try out long in the open shallow. It didn't take long for the pole to yanked into the water a a lively fish gave a very good account of it's self for about 5 minutes before what looked like a decent 6lb odd ghostie pulled of near the net. To be honest I did curse as I was trying to bully it a bit into the net. Bad angling. No more bites followed so I came back in to the lillies line where fish where now blowing. Again a quick bite produced a fish but that got stuck in the lillies. Leaving the line slack allowed me to feel the fish but it seemed to go further into the lillies. After much pulling the fish eventually came free and a small mirror of about 2lb was in the net. A bite on the same line just piled strait through the lillies and snapped the hooklength. This led me to plumb up and feed the line a bit closer, a good meter away from the lillies; better to have less bites and get them out than to have them keep charging into the lillies!

I had a quick try in the margin (which I was topping up with half a pot of bait every 30min) produced just one roach of about 6oz on double corn. Back out shallow and a ghostie of about 3lb falls quickly to banded pellet but no more in the next 20 minutes follow. Back into the margin and no roach bites are followed by an elastic ripper and a 4lb common is soon in the net. The roach follow again so a full pot of bait is followed buy another elastic pulling bite which came off after a few seconds. With a fish lost I decided to try back out in the open and once again a bite is quick in coming as a 3lb odd fish is soon in the net.

Going into the last two hours I was keeping pace with everyone I could see apart from the peg opposite, although his peg had slowed. Back into the margins and bites had started to come regularly. There was a distinct pattern to many of the bites; the roach knocks would just stop and this was often followed by a proper bite. The next hour produced a steady stream of fish, mostly around the 4lb mark. The one quiet spell I had led to me topping up and trying long shallow which again gave an instant bite from a 3lb ghostie but with no more following. It was by no means perfect, I did lose 2 fish in that hour, both foul hooked, and I missed a couple of bites.

Going into the last hour I had 13 carp, but the peg opposite had started to catch again. I decided to have a quick plumb again and mark the pole so I was exactly where I wanted in the up-down margin, as despite the decent last hour I had the feeling that something wasn't quite right. This had the desired response as two quick fish followed. With 45 minutes left I had to put in another net as I was at the 15 maximum carp for one net. The next half an hour was just as good with 5 carp coming to the net. Each time if a whole big toss-pot didn't get a bite 3/4 of a pot of bait did! Four of the carp were small for margin fish, only about 2 3/4lb-3lb fish, but the last one was bigger at about 6lb. Bizarrely the last 15 minutes gave just 2 small roach and a baby carp. Had that spell been earlier I would have topped up and rested the swim but so late in I just plugged away as the feeding on the open water swim had slowed off as I was sure with the margin activity I wouldn't need it.

At the whistle I had 20 carp, which although the lake had fished well I knew would be there or there abouts. I wasn't quite sure if I had enough to beat the peg opposite who had caught steady all day, although he did shout across that I had beat him I wasn't so sure. The scales had to wait a bit as I was one of the two anglers on them and I wanted to be fullt packed away first! As the second to weigh in I knew I would be first after I weighed! My carp plus bits went 67lb 12oz, my best weight of the lake that has not been off a fancied reeds peg. With a good few weights over 35lb and I think (yeah I know, I was on the scales but I can't remember!) three 40lb+ weights it was clear the lake had been consistent. When we got to the peg opposite and his fish went just over 52lb I knew I had won, a good feeling after such a bad run. From memory I think there were three 40lb+ weights that didn't frame, not bad in my book.

I think next week it's back on the New Lake, the first time I've fished it since the blind pairs match near a month ago. Hopefully I can carry on the good form!

Sunday 28th June

Well, this Sunday started off being hot and it got even hotter! With the extra people on the venue that the last weeks good weights inevitably brings I wasn't sure where I wanted to draw, but hopefully it would have some shade! I had mixed feelings when peg 64 was in my hand; it's not got great form but it does at least have some shade!

In my experience of the peg the best way to catch of this peg is down the middle but in the heat I wasn't sure that it would be a reliable approach. The far bank is not the levelest and is very awkward to fish unless you go tight over into very shallow water which I don't like doing here. I had two areas marked for across, one in front and the other more to the right under a tree, both in just over a foot of water. Rig wise a 4x8 Preston pink dibber was on .16 line and an 18 Fox Series 2. Lakky was a Preston 15h. The down the track rig was in about 5ft of water, just where it started to shallow up. Float was a .3gr handmade pattern on .16 line with a 14 B611 with a 14 latex. The best area I could find for the margin was just in front of some nearside reeds. The nature of the peg means you have to fish close to yourself, more than I'd like. The saving grace was that I was hidden behind the bank side vegetation. The rig was a .2gr DC5 float on .18 line to a 16 Fox Series 2 hook with purple hydro.

At the whistle the far bank was fed with just a few pellets while the track line got a good helping of hemp and corn while the margin got the same but with a small amount of meat. On going across predictably (as I've always had on this peg) the roach battered the pellet. I was quite regularly pinging pellets across with a catty hoping that the noise would attract carp. A few fish could be seen cruising about but none were feeding. After about half an hour a swirl was seen in the margin so I had a quick drop in but the fish spooked. This set the pattern on for the next hour and a half, particularly on the far bank, but the fish would spook as soon as the pole went within a few feet of them.

Just after the two hour mark my first bite came across when a carp came onto one of the far bank lines while I was fishing it. As is usual in such shallow water the bite it's self saw the lakky streaming out and soon a very spawned out looking common of about 2lb was in the net. The next bite came perhaps ten minutes later but it came off not long after it had hooked it's self it. That seemed to cease activity on the far bank so I dropped into the middle where odd bubbles had started to appear. I started on single corn but the indications in on the float without a proper bite led me try double corn. A bite wasn't long in coming and a similar sized common to the first found it's way into the net. Next drop and the indications seemed decidedly roachy, point proven when the next bite gave a 6oz roach so I topped the swim up with a pot of bait and went back across.

Not long after going back across I had a fish, this time from the right of the swim under the overhanging tree, followed by another next chuck which was foul hooked, but it had hooked it's self. The swim seemed to fade again but the bubbles on the track line had increased so I risked feeding a whole pot of pellets on the far line under the tree to try and bring back the fish and hold them. The next drop down the middle gave an instant bite and a common of perhaps 3lb found it's way in.

No more fish came until with an hour and a half to go my first proper bite came from the margin and gave a fish of about 3lb but no more followed. The next spell gave rise to frustration as fish frequently moved along the far bank but wouldn't settle. My only bite came from the track line, but I didn't see it as I was looking at the margin at the time! With odd fish coming into the margin I again dropped in the edge on meat and was soon away with a distinct ghostie mirror of about 5lb that had swimming about in front of me most of the day! The next 45 minutes gave me another 7 fish, if topping up with a large toss-pot didn't get a bite then feeding a whole pot of bait quickly bought them back! What would have been carp number 15 came off and the fish seemed unsettled and no more came. I finished the match wishing the fish had same along earlier, although from what I heared on the bank side grapevine suggested that some big weights had been had.

When the scales got to me 65lb was to weight with 57lb second. My fish went 46lb 7oz and was good enough for 4th, with another weight of 65lb being second. Had I managed to get the fish going even half an hour earlier then a win would definitely have been possible, and the quiet last 15 minutes after losing a fish possibly cost me a 3rd place. I really should have put a whole pot of bait down the margin after losing that fish and left it for a few minutes, that rest may have been enough for me to nobble an extra fish or two and push for 3rd, still, I enjoyed the day and after a tough few weeks it's nice to be getting in among a few fish. Hopefully next week I can go a few places better!

Sunday 21st June

After having a Sunday off and having an unsuccessful start to the river season after carp I was looking forward to getting out on the bank. Not only that but with a dull day forecast I was optimistic of catching a few fish! At the draw peg 72 came out. This was not my favourite peg until the last time I drew it when I won the final round of the winter league, and the league overall with 81lb. I was happy enough with the area (especially as peg 73 seems to not be in now which cuts the peg off) but didn't imagine it would be as good it was last time as the fish tend to move out of the reeds in the warmer weather, and anyone that had walked around before the match said that the fish wearn't in them.

The reeds both sides (as pictured, yes I do have a camera sorted now!) would still be targeted and a shallow rig was put up for these. Incidentally, the reason I fish shallow against these reeds is that they are in around 4ft of water and the fish don't seem to go down to feed properly against them in that depth. The rig was a 4x10 Preston black, as the carbon stem means it takes a little more weight than the wire stemmed pinks, I wanted this as I would be fishing pellet (6mm expander) and it needed to be able to suspend one. This was set to fish about 1ft deep and was on .20 line with a short .18 hooklength as I reasoned that I was more liable to get snagged up than in the winter and didn't want to be losing lots of floats! Lakky was purple hydro and hook a 16 Fox series 2. A deck rig was put up to fish at 13m, in about five and a half feet of water, on .15 direct to a 14 B611 on a 14 latex while I also put up a poly ball rig to fish shallow on the same line.

While I was setting up there was very little movement in the reeds but while I was waiting for the whistle with five minutes before the all in the movement had started to pick up significantly in the reeds and I began to have more optimism about the margins.

At the whistle the open water swim was fed with half a cup of hemp and a good pinch of corn before I baited with a pellet and dropped into the margins to my right (the most productive side last time) without feeding. Lots of bobs and movements quickly had me shallowing the rig up to 6in deep and very quickly I was playing my first fish, which came off as I was netting it! No need to worry as I was in instantly the next drop. The first hour passed in what seemed an instant as I netted my 8th fish on the hour mark, never taking more than two fish from a margin before swapping to the other side to avoid pushing the fish away. Not big fish, the first two were only a pound and a half a piece, with the the rest being about 3-4lb.

The second hour continued in the same vane, and I only lost one fish in that hour that snagged me up away from the reeds! I kept topping up the far line as I knew from experiance the margins wouldn't keep up but at the end of the hour I finished with 14 fish. Again I only took one or two fish from a margin and it was noticeable that the fish were starting to back away. I had my 15th fish, a slightly bigger one of about 5lb by dangling my pellet on it's head as it slurped against the reeds! As the peg opposite had a brief run of fish in the open water I decided it would be a good time to rest the margins and try out. I also decided to risk feeding a few pellets to my right margin as it had slowed more markedly than the left.

On going long with a grain of corn on the deck I had a few bubbles around the float and lots of indications so I decided to try double corn hoping it would be found quicker. An instant bite as it settled gave another 3lb'er before the indications died off so I topped up and came back into the edge. I had two quick fish from the left but couldn't get a bite from the right. I eventually managed fish 19 just on the halfway mark by trying a bit further along the edge but all was not well and so decided to drip pellets into the right margin to try and draw some fish in.

The next hour was fish less (except a tiny roach which I chucked back) and the margins started to seem full of tiny fish and the reeds seemed to have gone lifeless as the day heated right up and the carp moved out into shallower water. At this point also I could just see peg 48 start to catch lumps in the edge (it's a shallow peg) Carp number 20 eventually came to corn on the deck long just after I started to ping a few pellets out there to try and draw in some of the cruising carp. No more followed deep so I went out shallow and the pole was snatched from my hand before I could pick the catty up. My thoughts of bagging up here were short lived as even on banded 6mm pellet the roach were wrecking the bait in seconds and I was beginning to wish I has some bigger hard pellets!

The next hour I managed to pinch 4 more carp, both came in pairs from each margin out of the blue, fishing a bit further along the bank, but in-between I was plagued by the tiny fish. Going into the last hour I had 25 fish but suspected that peg 48 was overtaking me as a steady stream of margin lumps made there way in. I began to hope against hope that the fish would return but it was obvious now that they had moved to shallower water in the sun. One quick fish came from the right fishing to the limit of my peg before a burst of fish from the left moved me up to 29 carp with 35 minutes to go but that was to be that, losing another just before the whistle that snagged me.

As I suspected peg 48 had won the match, weighing in 114lb 7oz which I think is the match record now. On the whole the lake had fished well and most people recorded respectable weights. My 29 carp went 89lb 7oz for my biggest weight from the venue and a comfortable 2nd, and while I had a good days fishing I was left to curse the fish moving out of the reeds. I'm pretty sure they moved into the shallower pegs the other side of the lake as they started to catch when the sun came out while my peg slowed! I'll also have to bring some bigger hard pellets to try as the last 3 hours were a mare with tiny roach shredding 6mm expanders or hanging themselves on 6mm banded hard pellets. Perhaps having a tougher bait would have got me an extra fish or two and may have got me to my first match ton for a while!

Hopefully now the fish have finished spawning and I'll get some more good fishing in the coming weeks now! Tight lines till next week!

Blind Pairs Match

The first thing I was dreading when I got up this morning was the weather forecast! It was actually dry when I got up but turned to drizzle not long after leaving my house. By the draw it was a heavy drizzle and it got heavier as I trudged my way to peg 23. By the time I'd put my box down however it was a monsoon, and so it continued until just after the match started!

I have to apologise for the lack of picture, and it's not here on three counts. Firstly there was no way I was getting out from under my brolly to take one before the match, secondly I forgot to pick up my girlfriends camera as my phone one is knackered and after the match I just plain forgot!

Just a quick one on how the blind pairs works; with 22 fishing it was a draw as normal but with 11 pegs in on each lake. After the match the numbers from one lake are drawn with the next lake to make the pairs so nobody knows who's with who until after.

The peg I drew is one of the widest on the lake and is in the corner (check my first blog for a pic of the peg) I was pretty happy with the peg as I've always done well from it with a win and two seconds from it in the three times I've drawn it. First thing out of the bag was my tip rod and this was set up to fish with a small method feeder after I'd used a bomb to clip it up. The feeders were small Kobra ones with black Hydro. Hooklengths were .18 to a 16 hook with quickstops on the hair for pellet and one with a 14 hook to use with a mini boilie. Rod was my trusty 10ft Drennan Puddle Chucker with a small Daiwa front drag reel. Plenty up to the job of casting the 25 or so meters to the island. I only put up one pole rig to fish in the marginal bay to my left. This was further back into it than any other time I've drawn it as the weed is not yet fully up in there allowing me to fish in about two and a half feet of water. The rig was on .18 direct to an 18 Fox Series 2 hook. Float was a .2gr DC5 and this was on 16 latex lakky.

At the whistle I fed a pot of hemp, corn and meat in the margin and went out on the tip. The first few chucks wearn't always as close to the island as I'd like as the brolly was hampering things somewhat, but after my third cast I started to get odd liners. After topping up the margin swim on the 45 minute mark my first chuck back out had the rod wrenching round. after a minute or two the strangest shaped ghostie common came to the net. At about 4lb in weight it lookes like an 8lb'er that someone had chopped in half and stuck it's tail back on! After this first fish the indications tailed off a bit but at least the rain did too. allowing me to take the brolly down and make casting a hell of a lot easier! That said every time there was agust of wind the big tree above me rained on me again!

Nothing else followed until the hour and a half mark when a bite out of the blue led to my next fish, funnily enough strait after topping up the margin again! A common again of about 4lb was the culprit and at the time things were looking good as nobody else I could see had a carp. A quick try on the pole was bitel ess so back on the tip. Bite number three came again after topping up the pole line but this fish was lost in a snag to my right down the track. I remembered the snag was there as soon as the fish hit it as I lost one or two in it last year, ooopps! The next bite was only two casts later as a cracking looking koi of about 6lb came to the net but no more bites were forthcoming.

The quiet spell led me to trying the pole again and a couple of liners and a missed bite were followed by a elastic ripping bite that gave me another common of about 4lb. After that fish the bay seemed to become devoid of fish and I decided to up the bait and try to lure some fish in to the margins. Back out on the tip and two fish in about half an hour, both about 6lb (on pellet, as all my method bites had been) gave hopes of a good run in to the match but the whole swim seemed to die for the next two hours. It was frustrating as I could see peg 29 start to catch regularly and eventually overtake me. The last twenty minites of the match I was leaving the feeder out for only a minute to get plenty of bait out and try and tempt a last fish or two. A ghostie of about 4lb followed a mass of liners before fish could be seen near climbing up the bank for grub but I didn't have time to get another bite.

I finished second on the lake with 33lb 11oz, just under 10lb behind first who had all there fish in the last two hours so with only lake firsts being paid I had to hope for a decent draw in the pairs. I was quite happy when my partner was drawn only for the next two pairs to come out to beat us right at the end so we had to make do with third pair on the day, a point behind second, so the day finished with a 3rd pair and lake second for me but no dosh! That's just my luck at the moment, it really is. I think in hindsight in the quiet two I should have spent more time casting the feeder rather than try and make the margin work as although that margin did do a big weight a few weeks ago when ever I've had the peg before I've only had a burst of bites from it before it dies and have never managed to get them to come back.

Lastly I must give my congratulations to Browning Hotrods' Neil Adcock. After drawing the golden peg and winning the lake he looked to be in for a nice payday before the weigh boards came back to reveal he had tied for first and therefore not won out right. If that wasn't a downer the high afterwards must have been good when it was noticed that someone had worked the weight out wrong on the other board and that he had won by an ounce after all! Incidentally, I think I'm going to have a break next weekend so you'll probably have to wait a fortnight for the next installment!

Sunday 30th May

This Sunday turned out to be another scorcher so I was fully expecting to arrive and find that the fish were spawning or had spawned but was wrong on both. As it has been lately my drawing arm let me down (funny how the people who call you spawny at the draw seem to disappear when you can't draw for toffee!) and I again found myself around the back of the island on peg 53. I've drawn the peg twice previously and my best weight off it was 16lb on a day when about three inches of snow fell in March last year!

The peg is on the end of the island and is probably the narrowest peg around the island (13m wide), and the best hope of a few fish off it is from the margins, mostly to the right under an overhanging tree. I did put up a rig for across but it took a long while to plumb up as the bottom is rather erratic tight over. In the end I set up to fish tight against the tree dead opposite in about 16in of water. Line was .16 and hook was a 16. The float was a small Preston Durafloat and the rig was on 15h Preston lakky. I also put ap a rig to fish down the middle at 6m. For the island pegs it's shallow down the track with around 4ft of water and I did think I'd manage a few fish here. Float was again one for the Power Traps made by Mark Haskins. This was on .16 line but matched with a 14 hook and on a 14 latex lakky. Last rig up was for the margins and I found some time plumbing both left and right. To my left I could fish only a few inches from the bank in about two and a half feet of water while under the tree to my right I couldn't fish quite as near to the bank due to snags, although depth was much the same I'd prefer to get nearer the bank. Gear for this was a Garbolino DC5 float on .18 line and a .16 hooklength (because of the snags I elected to use a hooklength to avoid losing floats!). Hook was a Fox Series 2 in an 18 and matched to purple Hydro.

At the whistle (yep, I was ready this week!) I fed a few pellets across before giving the other three lines a whole pot of bait after the more positive approach worked last week. The track got hemp and corn while the margins had a pinch of meat in too. The start of the match was very slow and it took near half an hour to get an indication across, and I'm sure that was from a roach as there were a few in front of me. Odd fish had started to move under the tree in the shade in the margin but they were not feeding so I wanted to leave them alone. I topped up the other swims on the 45 minute mark and left them until the hour.

First try in the left margin was fruitless so I tried the right margin under the tree. I missed the first bite after less than a minute but was off the mark next drop with a very sluggish common of about 2lb that looked full of spawn. Next drop gave another fish but this was a rather sorry looking common of not much more than a pound. The next bite was longer in coming which led to me seeing my lakky roar past peg 54 and my rig fly back minus the hooklength. Hmm, probably foulhooked then! After the commotion of that I decided to give it half a pot of bait and try back across where I had been flicking pellets with the catty while in the margin.

No joy either across or down the track in the next half an hour saw me back under the tree. A spell if silly bites led me to try double corn. A quick bite on this led to the lakky pulling out before I lifted! What I thought was a much better fish though turned out to be a crucian/goldfish cross of about a pound that came in with a big stick on the line! No more bites on corn so I topped it up and tried the other edge for a bit. I quickly found myself back under the tree, and the next bite again saw the purple Hydro fly past the peg 54 again before the rig came back with no hooklength again! I topped up again and decided to go in .18 strait through after that! First drop in gave another crucian/goldfish thingy before the line started to fade as the sun came round and onto the water.

The next hour was barren until trying under the tree on meat again gave another mental fish which managed to pull purple hydro up to the next swim again before coming back, although the erratic nature of it's swimming suggested it was foulhooked before it pulled off. Trying the other margin and the track line was a pointless effort before I noticed a carp right up the island, no doubt eating pellets I had over shot with the catty. I put the far bank rig on and shoved it right up the island were the carp was and an instant bite saw me have a brief tussle with a common of about 4lb.

Going into the last hour I had to try something else (I was on the golden peg so I wasn't giving up!) I plumbed up again under the tree and found a gap in the snags where I had pulled out the stick with a fish earlier. It was only about six inches shallower but hopefully was where the fish would prefer to be in two foot of water, where odd fish were still moving in what little shade was under the tree. A whole pot of bait went in and was left for a few minutes before I tried it. No joy though as I was bite less until shortly before the end as the elastic was yanked out of the pole on the bite but for the 4th time today the lakky went past peg 54 and the rig came back with no hook! Time to pack up then, at least in the sun my nets would dry off before I left! My fish fish might have just got to double figures but as they were back in the lake when the scales came round I won't know for certain!

I'm not really sure what I could have done differently, I get the feeling that there wasn't a lot of fish in front, I certainly didn't see that many, nor get many liners. The sun going round onto the margin swim under the tree seemed to be the death of what there was there too. The four zoo creatures that I lost were probably foulhooked as any fish I did see wearn't that big and I've had plent of low doubles out on that gear with no worries.

Next week is the blind pars match so I could end up on either lake, and obviously I don't know who my partner is until the pairs are draw after the match. Hopefully my luck will change soon as it's been pants since the winter league finished!