I have to say I'm not sure what's happened to the weather, but the Saturday was distinctly cold, and it hasn't been that cleaver during the week either!
With a lessened attendance (and a clear head!) due to local river matches starting there wasn't really anywhere that I didn't want to draw. So, taking my customary late place in the draw queue I put my hand in and came out with peg 68... I didn't want that! I hadn't noticed it was in. I'd fancied the pegs around the island as there were a lot of fish around there, particularly 53. After spending so long drawing there when there was no fish, now I can't get there!
The sole reason I didn't want 68 is because it's deep, with four and a half foot of water in the margins and near seven foot from 4m and beyond. The peg opposite (which wasn't in) is just as deep from 4m but has a nice shallow margin! On putting my box down I did have one plus point, as I was out of the quite strong and gusty wind. After plumbing up at 13m, I decided to set up two shallow rigs, as I figured they may be key to pinching a few fish. I had a deck rig, a .4gr handmade diamond bodied float, on .17 line to a .15 hook link. Hook was an 18 Fox series 2 and the rig was on a 14 latex. The two shallow rigs were set for between two and three feet and the other for between one and two feet. Both were Preston Durafloat 1's on .15 direct to an 18 Series 2 hook. Both rigs were on Preston 15h lakky. Last rig up was for the edge. I decided that with the depth it would be treated as my 5m line (which has gave me a few bonus fish the last few times on this lake) This rig was identical to the 13m rig but with a slightly smaller float in four and a half feet of water next to the stick ups.
On the whistle I fed the 13m line with half a pot of hemp and a few grains of corn, while the close line had a whole pot of hemp, corn and meat. I dropped in on the long line on a grain of corn, and not long after the rig had settled the float plinked under, but I missed it! I suspect it may have been roach as they were topping all over the peg. No more bites followed in the next ten minutes so I started to top up the swim with a toss-pot of hemp and corn every ten minutes to try and provoke a response. I gave it up to the hour mark trying this, with nothing to show other than an odd liner. I decided that with the odd fish showing to pick the catapult up and started flicking 6mm pellets over the rig. I was going to give it half an hour before I picked up a shallow rig but after a spell of liners the deeper shallow rig found it's way out after twenty minutes. I'd only been in with the rig for a few minutes when the float buried. Lifting saw the lakky out and after a brief tussle a small lean 2lb common was in the net, the first fish I'd seen caught.
The next forty minutes were frustrating after such a quick response, with odd liners following even on the shallowest rig. With a cooler wind I wasn't sure the fish would be very close to the surface but a spell of sun made me get of my box and put up a poly ball rig to fish shallower. First drop in saw a ponderous but heavy weight on the end. I had the net in hand when a ghostie nudging the double figure mark surfaced (much bigger than what I thought was on!), it laid on the surface for a second, which was long enough for me to mug it. The next three drops produced fish reasonably quickly, all around the 4-5lb mark. I was just thinking that I had it sussed when the fish seemed to back away.
The next few hours were hard work in attempting to keep fish coming, with odd fish coming out of the blue, normally a change of rig or feeding produced the fish, totally out of the blue. Only one fish came to the shallowest rig, with the others on either of the two deeper rigs. What was noticeable was that the fish falling on the deeper rigs were a fair bit smaller (under 3lb) compared to those that had fallen to the shallowest rig. With an hour to go I was on eleven carp, probably just ahead of anyone else I could see, but I didn't know how the island pegs were fairing. I'd carried on feeding the closer line, but was reluctant to come off the shallow line as it's harder to feed, plus you can't read the indications if your not on it! And it also seemed that the odd time I said I'd try it I seemed to get a carp shallow!
Going in to the last hour the wind had dropped, and it got distinctly warmer. This led to fish showing in front of me very shallow. I had a good run of four carp in the next half an hour on the poly ball rig, all around the 4lb mark. I then lost carp number sixteen near the net, and after that I couldn't get a take even though there were still fish in the swim. I plugged away till the end shallow but had no more, and I wished I'd tried the short line, although I was sure I'd manage another fish or two up.
I was guessing that I'd have approaching 60lb in weight, with the smaller fish taken deeper pulling down my weight. Others were admitting to eight to ten fish, but peg 53 admitted to twenty, although they said they were small. They are however, one of those people that struggle to lay strait in bed! I was one of the last to weigh and 53 had top weight with just over 73lb, with a 40lb+ weight second. I knew I didn't have 70lb, and my fish took the scales to 57lb 11oz and I finished in second.
I wasn't too despondent in the end, as I felt I'd worked hard for my fish shallow, and it was noticeable again that slapping the rig, or tapping, didn't work. In fact, it seemed to have the opposite effect to what I wanted! In hindsight if I'd came shallow earlier, and tried the short line in that dead spell late I perhaps could have made up the difference, but that's on a perfect day and I don't have many of those! At the moment I'd just settle for a cure for the second-itis I seemed to have developed!
No comments:
Post a Comment