Blind Pairs Match, 6th June

I'd actually forgot that the first Sunday of June was the blind pairs match! A simple format really, random draw of pegs on both lakes, then after the match pegs are drawn together from each lake to determine the winner. Now, with a fair spread of pegs in I wasn't fussed where I drew really, and my hand went in to the bag and come out with...... peg 42, the same peg I was sat on last week! I do seem to have a knack for doing that, as I once drew the same peg on a lake five times in a row!


I was reasonably happy with the peg mind, as I didn't have the strong face wind of last week for a start. I had the same lines as and rigs as last week; a 12m rig, a 5m rig and a margin rig. I also put two shallow rigs up. These were both on .15 direct to an 18 Fox series 2 with a pellet band, and with Preston 15h lakky. One was a poly ball to fish between 4in and a foot deep and the other was a small Preston Durafloat to fish between a foot and 18in. Any deeper than that and I'd rather catch on the deck!


There were a few fish cruising about so I elected not to feed the long line, giving the margin a cup of meat, corn and hemp while the 5m line had half a pot of corn. I then started on the deeper of the shallow rigs with an 8mm banded pellet and started to flick a few pellets regularly via a catty over the top. After ten minutes or so I'd had odd liners so I put on the poly ball rig and tried shallower depths. I said to myself that I'd give it up to the 30 min mark, and just as I was toying with trying on the deck the lakky pulled out and a small common of about 3lb was in the net.
This led to me giving the line another twenty minutes, but nothing followed so I tried the deck rig. I only fed a few grains of corn via the toss-pot, but ten minutes on the line gave me just a couple of liners from fish very high up in the water. I carried on feeding by the catty while on the deck, albeit less often. I was also still feeding the 5m line by hand.

With no joy on the deck I had a few more minutes shallow, on the deeper rig. With that giving me just a liner I put the poly ball rig back on. After probably ten minutes I had a fish that hooked it's self but came off just a second later, spooking quite a few carp in the process. With this in mind I decided to rest the line, giving the margin another half a pot (as I had on every half hour) and try the 5m line. Nothing on this in ten minutes so I had a very quick try in the edge. With no indications coming I went back on the shallow line. After banding the pellet I fired pellets out three times with the catty before shipping out. I laid the rig in and as I reached for the catty carp number two tugged on the end. Again, this was a smallish common of about 3lb. The next half hour proved to be a bit frustrating, with two more carp just pricking themselves without actually being properly hooked. Something I've never experienced before really fishing shallow. I changed the hook after the first, dropped strait back in and had the same happen again! The only thing I could think of was to slightly tighten the very slack elastic slightly, to provide more resistance.

It was a good half hour before I got to test the theory, but it worked! A spell of slight ripple seemed to give the fish a bit more confidence and carp numbers three and four followed pretty quickly, but my feeling of satisfaction at having it sussed didn't last long as shortly after the next fish just pricked it's self and predictably the fish seemed to back away again. It seemed a good time to rest the swim again, so I had a quick try on both the 5m and margin lines, but neither gave me any indications. Nudging towards the half way mark I found myself back on the shallow line, again on the poly ball rig. The rest seemed to have the desired effect and the next hour and a half proved to be quite steady, pushing me up to a dozen carp. Most of the time the fish came in two's, and normally in gaps in the feeding when I could either see fish in the feeding zone (wearing Polaroids) or when I was getting liners and swirls. Strangely though, I never had any takes if I slapped the rig or tapped the pole, unusual when shallow fishing and getting bites not feeding. None of the fish were big, all being around the 3lb mark.

With an hour and a quarter to go the fish seemed to have faded away. Even the deeper shallow rig didn't produce. I was just about to try the closer lines when carp number thirteen made a mistake, leaving me to try the line a bit longer but with no joy. With just under an hour to go I went back on the margin line. I didn't wait long for a response as a slightly bigger carp of about 4lb made a mistake. Topping up with a whole large toss-pot of bait and again I hardly waited as another carp, again a touch bigger made it's mistake. I repeated the same process, hoping the fish would again get a bit bigger. It was not more than a few seconds before the next bite, and my bit bigger wish was more than granted, as this fish was twice the size of the last, a ghostie of fully 10lb! The next two fish followed almost as quick, but not quite as big, but both a good 4lb+. However, next chuck I pricked a fish as I lifted the rig at the same moment the float went, and unfortunately it came off. I decided to top the line up with half a pot and try the 5m line. Typically I had a bite on it and missed it! Strait back in and another bite gave me carp nineteen, a small common about 2lb. I tried the margin again after but got just silly indications, as a big rumble of thunder gave people a bit of a start! I gave it another pot of bait, hoping to bring the fish back and dropped back in to the 5m line. A bite on this gave me a 6oz roach, then a crucian about a pound and a half so with a few minutes to go I went back in the margin. Silly knocks produced a 2oz roach on meat, so thinking it wasn't going to give me carp number twenty I went back on the 5m line. This just led to me missing two bites and the whistle went just as the thunder and lightning really started!

I quickly packed my gear away, still dry and just as the I started the weigh in (on the scales again!) the rain really came down. Somebody else was admitting to 21 carp, off the peg I really fancied and I thought that the small average size of the shallow fish was going to cost me. My nineteen carp, one crucian and two roach gave me 73lb 11oz, my best match weight of the year so far. It wasn't enough though as the 21 carp from peg 48 went 83lb 6oz. I had to settle for lake 2nd, the next weight after me was 56lb. However, by the time I got back to my gear I'd spent long enough in the torrential rain that I looked like I'd swam round the lake! The draw for the pairs looked promising when I was drawn with the third place on the new lake, until the two first places were drawn out together! In the end I had to settle for joint second pair. However, I'd had a good days fishing and felt I'd worked hard at it, especially the shallow fish which really didn't want to give themselves up. It's just a shame I pricked the fish in the margin. Perhaps having to put a third net in for the silvers in the last twenty perhaps didn't help too? who knows!. Next week I'll be trying to go one better, as that's two weeks in a row I've been second!