I'll start with my now customary weekly moan about the weather! After a lovely mild week why do we have to get a days cold rain at the end of the week and then a sharp frost Saturday night. Still, I wouldn't want to be sitting out there right now in that wind.....
While waiting for the draw and chatting about pegs someone mentioned about peg 42 being no good. I kind of sprang to it's defence saying that it's pretty consistent all year round and nearly always produces fish, then putting my hand in the bag I was given a chance to prove what I had said (or eat my words) as that's what I drew! I was fairly happy with that, and it's a nice short walk!
Approach for the day was pretty simple really, three pole rigs for two lines and a bomb rod! The 13m and 5m rigs were practically identical, using a .3gr NG Floats Decker in about 5ft of water. the depth was about four inches difference but a separate rig allowed me to keep a nice short line above the float when fishing short. I also had a half depth shallow rig too, using a 4x10 PB2 float. All the rigs were with .13 hook-links (direct on the shallow rig) and had size 20 Fox Series 2 hooks, and all on Preston 13h elastic. The bomb rod was my trusty 10ft Drennan and was to be my starting gambit.
On the whistle the long line received three grains of corn and a pinch of hemp, while the close line had half a dozen grains of corn. I baited up the bomb with a single hair rigged grain of corn and used a tiny Guru pellet cone the give a little bait to the area. This was cast just short of mid-way but to my left. I did this as nobody was that way on the lake so it was a nice quiet area and hopefully somewhere the fish would move too out of the way of noisy anglers walking around before the start! It had been out no more than a minute when the tip nudged as if a fish was near, then only a few minutes later it pulled round with a fish on! Not massive at about a pound twelve but a quick start. I had a liner next cast but nothing on the cast after so on the three quarter of an hour mark I swapped to the pole.
I could see odd fish cruising around, but all were on the opposite side of the lake in the sun - as per usual I had drawn the cold side of the lake, and sat in the shade all day and was quite cool. I missed a bite first drop on corn but no more followed, so on the hour mark I started to toss-pot in odd grains of hemp and a few casters in an attempt so spark some life. Probably fifteen minutes after I started to get odd indications that I suspected were from roach, as some were topping in my swim. I gave it a short while on the shallow rig in case they were from carp higher in the water but nothing came of it, the showing fish were all still on the sunny side of the lake! Going back on the deck I decided to try maggot, and low and behold a small roach fell to double white, but fell off as I un-shipped. Back out on maggot and no quick bite, instead it was five minutes before the float slid under and lifting in to what I thought would be a roach wasn't a roach! Only a small carp, not much over a pound, but everyone was struggling with the exception of 46 in the deep water (where I was last week) who'd had three carp off the same short line I caught late from last week. A few minutes after that carp another slow bite saw me lift in to a fish, but after a second or two it came off and left me with a scale on the hook. Nothing came in the next ten minutes or so, so I cupped in two grains of corn and a few casters and left it.
My next try was on the close line, which I had been throwing grains of corn in ones and two's on, but I had no joy on this so I had two casts on the bomb, leaving each for about fifteen minutes but I didn't even have a liner. Dropping back on the longer pole line on maggot and a quick bite saw me catch a roach of an ounce. I switched to corn and a response was pretty quick in coming and saw me attached to a bigger fish. After a few minutes a chunky mirror nudging 5lb was in the net. It didn't take long next chuck to get another bite, albeit from a much smaller fish of about 2lb, again on corn, but any thoughts of a run of fish soon went as the next few drops were bite less.
I had a fruitless spell trying the bomb and even a short spell on the shallow rig but they came to nothing so with an hour and a quarter to go I found myself on the 5m line. I had a liner lowering the rig in so that gave me some confidence and after a short while I had my first bite here which produced another small fish just nudging the 2lb mark. I gave it a while longer although the swim showed occasional signs of life I couldn't get a proper bite, even trying away from the feed a touch, a trick that normally works. A quick try on the bomb to rest it gave me a small carp of not much more than a pound after a near ten minute wait, so I had another cast which saw the rod near pulled of the rest not long after setting the tip. This led to me playing a 3lb'er to the net with the spare hook-link that I was baiting up stuck in my hand! I didn't get a bite next drop so with half an hour left I came back to the 5m line. I had a bite here quickly and a fish that I'm sure wasn't foul-hooked powered off and then came adrift. I plugged away here for the rest of the match for nothing, but close to the end it did show signs of fish. In hindsight I should have tried the long line or gone back to the tip after losing that fish really.
As first to weigh in my fish went 18lb 11oz on the scales, while the next peg (same angler on the same peg that won last week) had just over 12lb. Peg 46 then put 36lb 9oz on the scales for a comfortable win. A few weights of 10-11lb was about the sum of all the other people weighing, leaving me in second, but I saw two people tip back that may well have had enough for 3rd! A bit daft really.
Last of all, just a quick note to say I wont be blogging next week as I shall be away over the weekend, but I'll be back raring to get out on the bank the week after!
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