Okay, I get it now! After the wettest April on record, it now seems we're going for the coldest May. It seems like it anyway as after last weeks brief trip in to spring I spent yet another day in May with my coat on all day.
Walking round before the match I noted that the lilly bed in pegs 44/45 was solid with fish (as always when it's up), while anywhere in the wind was noticeably cooler. I also commented that I wouldn't mind peg 48 again, but that I'd never put my hand in the bag and get it again after drawing it in the last open. So guess what peg come out in my hand? famous last words and all that! I didn't have the end peg advantage this time that I'd had before though.
I'm sure you pretty much know my rigs by now, with a small NG XTM for across in about 20in of water, while the 5m rig had a .2gr decker in about 3.5ft. Lines for both were .15 to .13 with a size 20 Fox Series 2 hook, both rigs were matched to Preston 13h elastic on a pull bung. Last up was the margin rig, fished at about 5m to my left. In 2ft of water I had a .2gr DC5 float on .17 line to a .15 hook-link and a size 18 Fox Series 2 hook. Lakky on this was Preston 15h.
On the whistle I fed the 5m line with a third of a pot of hemp and corn before going across on meat, feeding just a little meat and a few pellets via a cad-pot. Unlike a couple of weeks ago I was getting a lot of knocks from small fish, while there also wasn't any fish moving around my side of the island. Both of those were bad signs. I carried on plodding away with the small amounts of feed as I've found upping it makes the small fish problem worse. On the half hour mark I had my first proper bite which I missed, and no more followed until the hour mark when I had a small 2oz common on meat.
I could see a few others catching - peg 45 was running away with the match, and peg 70 had a couple from their margin too. On the ninety minute mark I gambled on dumping a pot on the far line as I had nothing to lose by doing it. I also fed the margin line too as it looked like I'd need it. After that I dropped in at 5m, and my confidence rose when I had indications early - early fish off this line tends to make for a good day. I missed the first bite I had here, but the second came not long after and gave me a common of about 3lb. I was just about to leave the line when I had the next bite and this was a decent fish of about 5lb that tried it's hardest to go round the small point to my right. I should have taken this as a signal to step-up but I didn't, and was left cursing as the next fish did get round the point and snagged me in the marginal roots, leaving me to pull for a break. The next rig was stepped up to black hydro on .17 line to a .15 hook-link and an 18 Fox Series 2 hook - I wasn't having that again!
Typically after the lost fish the line died on me, so I tried back across. Upping the feed here had got rid of the bits, but unfortunately there was nothing else there. Coming back to the 5m line and I thought I'd got away with the lost fish as an instant bite gave me a crucian, but it died a death after and I couldn't even raise a liner.
With half the match gone now I dropped in the margins, missing the first bite I had on meat. A switch to double corn worked and gave me two decent fish in a row, both around the 5lb mark. The bites faded after so I topped it up and spent a while rotating the lines but couldn't raise a sniff from anywhere. Back in the margins saw me lose a fish that felt decent and I'm sure it wasn't foul-hooked.
With very little happening I upped the bait - it was cool out but the water was warmer than the last match I'd been on there. I slapped a whole pot down the edge and gave the 5m line a good pot too. With all the lines dead and two hours to go I had nothing to lose!
The margin line gave me a small ghostie of about 3lb after, and then a short while later a decent common of about 5lb. Bites faded after, so another decent hit of bait went in via the cup and the line had a quick rest while I had a brief (and bite-less) try on the other two lines. I thought I had it sussed when I dropped back on the margins as a plump 5lb mirror was followed by a smaller common. Two fish to a pot it had been so far, so out went the pot again, and a 3lb'er fell soon afterwards. The next drop gave... nothing! Not even a liner.
With an hour to go all the lines were dead again. On eight carp I was on par or ahead of everyone else I could see (I had no idea how the island pegs were doing) apart from peg 45 who was still catching, and on the golden peg too. I started to loose-feed by hand in the edge instead of pot, and dropped on to the 5m line. This proved frustrating as I could get an odd bite here but couldn't hit any of them! Unusually, they came if I sat and waited rather than lifting and dropping, but changing the depths and the shotting made no difference as the float would shoot away and the lift was met with nothing. Well, the one that was met with something gave me a two foot long stick! How do they do that?
With half an hour to go I decided to plug away in the edge as it was the only line to give me a fish in the last couple of hours. A decent common of about 5lb fell to double corn, before a missed bite spooked a fish. With just ten minutes to go I gambled on slapping a whole pot of bait in from a height, hoping the noise would work too. I had exactly seven minutes left (I'd just looked at the time) when the float went, and a decent tussle saw a common of about 7lb in the net. Still time for another? You bet! This time the float went with just seconds to spare, albeit only a much smaller fish of about 3lb.
When the scales got to me peg 45 had put 64lb 8oz on the scales. I knew I didn't have that, but I hoped that the decent average stamp of fish would see me just scrape 50lb, and they did - the scales went to 50lb 8oz. I was narrowly pipped for second place by peg 53 in the corner around the island who put 52lb 7oz on the scales, including a ghostie of about 12lb.
It's not often you get 50lb at the venue and feel frustrated but I was! After having to scale up last week I should have just gone on an all out summer rig approach. The one lost fish alone on the 5m line would have gave me second, and not losing that fish may have meant the line stayed alive. Another two or three fish on top of that probably would have got me first too (or very near), given the stamp of fish. I never felt I quite got the edge right too, having to make a lot of changes to the feed to keep them coming. Perhaps it was just one of those day's - I do think the fish have spawning rather than eating on their minds, but never the less I came home thinking I should have had a bit more. Guess there's always next week!
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