Well, somebody has certainly turned up the heating out! A fair attendance of people had made their way out in to the sun, meaning that one or two pegs were in that I didn't really want to draw. The one that particularly stood out was peg 15... Now what did I say last week that I have a habit of drawing the pegs I don't want if I say it! So you've guessed what number came out of the bag in my hand! I have to say, sat back right in a corner it was really a margin or bust peg.
I had to fight my way in to the peg, as you can see it was a bit tight to get everything in with the bank side growth. Oh for a pair of shears! (I've learnt the hard way that you don't grab and pull them to rip them out, ouch!) The island is probably near 30m away so it was going to be a tip rod day, although finding it's 4ft odd deep tight to the island in a gap in the reeds meant it was twice the depth I wanted! Crumb mixed and clipped up at the right place it was time to decide my other approaches to the peg. The margin I thought would be the best bet- to my left there was a nice sloping margin so I plumbed along it until I found that perfect (in my mind!) two foot of water. Rig was simple and strong, with the margin pole making an outing as there were some big fish cruising about! A .2gr DC5 float on .18 line direct to an 18 Fox Series 2 hook, with purple hydro was the gear to hopefully subde them. The right margin was deeper than I wanted so I fed a 5m line a bit to the right in about 4ft of water. A .2gr diamond bodied float on .17 to .15 and a 20 Fox Series 2 was the set up. Last up was a rig to fish the weed bed that stretches through the peg in the middle. I found a hole at 12m to the left, but with over 6ft of water there I wasn't optimistic of catching there in the heat. Rig was the same as the 5m line but with a heavier float. Lakkies were 14 latex.
On the whistle I fed the pole swims, the margin getting a mix of hemp, 6mm pellet and corn, while the 12m line had just hemp and corn. Half a pot went on each, then I started flicking corn on to the 5m line. Baiting the method with a single grain of corn it was then dispatched to the island. Liners were evident from the off, and everyone around was getting the same whatever they were fishing as the fish were starting to spawn. Despite regular casting it took half an hour to get a proper indication, a drop back as I was just about to pick the rod up. A crucian of about half a pound was the result, although at least I was off the mark. The indication came a good half an hour later and was a proper yank around. I had to keep the rod up to keep the fish away from the weed and soon a 3lb common was in the net.
The next hour passed pretty slowly and a slight breeze had picked up. Blowing over my shoulder it seems that all the fish followed it as the cruising fish and the liners vanished. I tried the all the pole lines briefly but nothing showed on any of them, and nobody near was catching either. On the two hour mark I had a quick flurry of activity, with two fish in quick succession. The first a small common of about 2lb, the next a funny looking 5lb common that had the body of a 3lb'er with the head of a double stuck on it. A fish that I'm sure I've caught off the next peg in to my right twice before! The flurry of soon slowed, perhaps as they were all that was there, or maybe because the person on the next peg decided that they'd put the feeder up as I was catching on it, and the big "sploosh" seemed to land closer and closer to me each time!
Going passed the halfway mark I picked the rod up to find a fish attached, but once I got it back halfway it got stuck. Letting out slack the fish could swim away but no matter what I tried I couldn't get the fish past the snag and had to eventually pull for a break. A skimmer of a pound and a half soon after proved to be the only activity for a while, with the whole area of the lake seeming to be dead. I tried the pole lines, hoping the steady feeding by hand on the two closer lines would have gained the attentions of something, but it hadn't. With nothing to lose I filled in the margin line, giving it a pot of hemp then a pot of corn and pellet. I wasn't optimistic though! News also started to filter around the the only person really catching was on the golden peg, round the other side of the lake about as far as it was possible to get from where I was sitting.
With half an hour to go I toyed with packing away early when I again had two bites in two chucks, the first indications I'd had since the skimmer. Neither fish were big, both around two and half pound. On the last cast I had what looked like a liner that almost pulled the rod in, and an interesting twenty second tussle followed with a carp of about 8lb that had somehow managed to lasso it's self before it came free!
At the end of the match my fears had came true- that if the fish didn't come in to the edge it would be a struggle. It hadn't been great for anyone really apart from the golden peg who'd had 72lb. The other frame weights were a long way behind with 27lb and 26lb being next, with my 19lb odd being 5th.
Hopefully now the fish will have finished up spawning and the fishing will settle down for next weekend. With it being a bank holiday I'm not sure which day I'll be out, but hopefully it'll be a good 'un!
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