Isn't it frightening to think the next Bank Holiday will be Christmas! That said, the summer Bank Holiday seemed to have a very Autumnal feel to it which nearly resulted in me lifting my fleece in the morning, and I actually wish I had!Walking around before-hand I fancied the pegs around the back of the island, as while the wind was pushing round there they were sheltered from the wind by the island and felt a couple of degrees warmer. Those that are eagle-eyed enough may notice that I didn't get my wish as I ended up on the same peg as last week! While I caught last week off if it's really not the best peg, plus I wasn't looking forward to the ants! I didn't notice it last week, but the buggers had a bit of a feast on me and on Monday morning I counted over forty bites up my legs, not nice! Tuck trousers into sock time it was...
I only put three rigs up for the day - a far bank rig, a margin rig and a rig for the 2+2 line. It didn't take me too long to set up as I still had the tippex marks on my top-kits from last week and the three rigs were quickly checked and re-plumbed, exactly right first time as the lake level hadn't changed! The far bank rig was a NG XTM float in 16in of water on .17 to .15 and an 18 Fox Series 2 matched with Preston 15h. The 2+2 rig was on the same terminal gear and the margin rig was the normal stepped up .19 to .17 and a 16 Fox Series 2 hook matched to purple Hydro.
On the whistle and after feeding the far line with a pinch of pellet the both the margin and the 2+2 line were fed with half a pot of hemp and corn. My reason for feeding the margin early when I hadn't last week was that I expected it would be my main catching line, and I hoped to get more than one good hour off it.
Going across on an 8mm banded pellet and the float did it's usual small fish dance before plinking under, and like last week my first carp was about 4oz. The wind was a touch awkward, although at times it would be flat calm at times it was also a job to hang on. Lifting and dropping the rig would invariably get knocks as the pellet settled but they were from smaller fish. Wondering if a 6mm banded pellet would be able to catch me a few of those smaller carp I gave it a go. This meant the float actually went under more, and when I eventually hit one of the bites the result was a bitterling!
I was flicking a few pellets across via the catty as and when the wind let me, but after about forty minutes all the indications faded so I took this as a signal to feed again with the pot. I still wasn't getting many knocks after and I was contemplating trying one of the other lines (both were getting a few grains of corn by hand) when a better bite saw me hook and land a proper carp, a dumpy mirror of a good 4lb. I plugged away on the line for a bit longer and did hook another carp about twenty minutes later, this one ripping the lakky from the pole while I was lowering the rig in! Unfortunately, for whatever reason this one pulled off as I lifted the top-kit to net it.
Indications seemed to stop totally after that across so just over the hour mark I re-fed across with the cup and dropped in on the 2+2 line. I lowered the rig in slowly, and as the float touched the water it was away - this is what I was after! Or it wasn't, as after a couple of seconds the hook pulled again. I checked the hooks on all the rigs after, they were all freshly made rigs but you never know, but they all seemed to be fine (they went in to my thumb okay!). I plugged away on the line for another ten minutes but indications were iffy so I left it alone, after topping both the close lines up with a bit of hemp and corn via the cup.
When I went back across the far line was getting increasingly awkward to fish in the wind that was swirling in the trees, and with very few signs of fish I didn't give it too long, a decision helped by the tail patterns in the margin! Double corn dropped in here and the float was away, and a decent ghostie mirror of about 5lb was in the net. I hooked another fish after that, only a few minutes later, but that one pulled off too! I was not best amused and changed the hook-links on all the rigs regardless.
I left the margin alone for a bit and dropped in over the 2+2. I was getting signs of life there and was tinkering with the shotting and depth trying to make some hittable bites. The tow was fairly strong against the wind and the majority of my knocks were coming about 2ft to the right of where I was feeding, but my first hittable bite came when I lowered the rig right down the feed, and resulted in a crucian of about a pound. I'd had to spread the bulk out a bit to get that, but when the wind really gave it some the rig wasn't quite right. The odd knocks carried on and I went back to fishing just the bulk of shot, about 10in from the hook. Lowering the float slowly in down the tow got me another bite, and this carp too was a decent stamp at about 4lb.
After that last fish I decided to rest the swim and gave it a decent amount of corn and no hemp. From what I could hear peg 57 was catching very well, although nobody else I could see had a lot more than I did. In the margin I was getting signs of fish and a switch to one large grain of corn got me a bite and another decent fish of about 4lb, followed not long after by it's twin. I then bumped a fish down the edge so I decided not to push it and went back on the other close line.
Feeding just the corn here seemed to have done the trick and I started to pick up a few fish off this line. I was having to work the rig a lot, and most of the bites were coming just after the rig had been lifted a foot clear of the water and slowly lowered back. They were coming in one's and two's either down the tow or directly over the feed but they wouldn't settle on one place. Still, by fishing a single grain of corn I was steadily plodding along with fish averaging about 3lb, and hopefully I still had a last hour margin bonanza too! I did try a cube of meat every now and then in an attempt to nick a bigger fish but I never had a bite doing this.
With an hour and twenty minutes to go I found myself with fifteen proper carp and starting my second net. I'd still been feeding the margin by hand, and as the last few bites had took a bit longer to come by I gambled on having a look down the edge. I could hear talk of peg 57 already having 100lb, so was hoping on a bag-up spell myself down the edge! I did manage to nick one decent carp down the edge, but I probably spent more time than it was worth to catch it after missing a few bites.
With an hour to go and I dropped back in on the 2+2 line, but while I'd left it alone I'd carried on feeding it by hand. Unfortunately, the fish seemed to have faded away rather than come back and it took a few minutes to get something going again. The first fish came by fishing the wrong side of the bait in the tow. I then got distracted by a tail in the margin so dropped in down there, but only had a missed bite to show for it. I managed to get another carp, again fishing the wrong side in the tow, but both those fish that side were smaller. I then again got distracted by a tail in the edge, but this time I nabbed the fish on a single grain of corn. This led to me staying on the margin and while I was getting an odd bite here I was missing them. Just as I was lifting out the float went and I had another carp, but I decided just to feed the swim and go back to the 2+2.
This line seemed to show a few more signs of life and with twenty minutes to go I should have got my head down here. The wind had settled a bit so I spread the bulk out and it seemed to work. The fish were smaller at about 3lb each but twice I decided to have a sneaky look down the edge for two or three minutes, but only managed to miss a bite while going for a margin lump to catch 57. I finished the match on twenty-two carp, the last ones taken from the 2+2 line.
I could see a few other people had caught, and most of them had double figures of numbers in the 40's (the pegs I could see on the opposite bank in the open water, the best area last week) I knew I had more than all of them. As I got packed away quickly I went and followed the scales. Peg 57 was admitting to thirty carp so it was clear they'd win as everyone who could see them said they had 100lb. I'd guesstimated mine to go about 75lb. While walking up the other bank it was noticeable that it was much warmer out of the worst of the wind, I'd sat with a coat on all day and would never have said I was warm. It was a mistake to have left my fleece at home!
When the scales got to peg 57 the top weight was 47lb. They comfortably topped that, but didn't have as much as everyone had been suggesting when they put 88lb 9oz on the scales. Hmm, this was closer than I thought! When I'd finished my weighs I'd totalled a level 83lb. In the end, those were the top three weights.
On getting walking back I couldn't help but be a bit disappointed at being so close, even though I'd worked very hard at the swim to get that weight I'd perhaps chased the margin fish a bit much and it'd cost me. The wasted times towards the end in the edge perhaps would have given me the extra weight, but then so could have one more lump from the margin! And then there was those couple of lost early fish.... so near yet so far and I have to admit it's overshadowed what's a fantastic weight off that swim.
Next week my blog will be back at around it's usual time, and hopefully starting September in style!
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