Sunday October 28th

Sorry about the delay in posting this week, I had problems with the internet at home which are thankfully sorted now!

I was quite surprised when I walked round the old lake that it still held a decent colour with the cold snap we'd endured on the previous two days. I fancied the island pegs to be the pick, as not only was the water more coloured but the leaves that have started to fall in numbers were around the island too. Not enough to disrupt a days fishing, but enough to encourage the carp to be under them looking for some grub!

I didn't manage to get one of those pegs, instead drawing peg 46 in the open water. I don't mind the peg in all honesty as you've got options on it. I opted for a pretty simple approach - three rigs to cover two lines in the open water (one at 13m, one at 5m and a shallow rig), plus a margin rig to fish to my right just short of the sleeper on peg 47. With the cold now here all my rigs were on .15 line to .13 hook-links, finished with size 20 Fox Series 2's, and all matched to Preston 13h lakky. Both the open water rigs featured .4gr NG Deckers in a little over 6ft of water, while the margin rig had a 4x12 Preston Somo which I've fitted a plastic tip in to. Depth was about 3ft here. Last up was the shallow rig in case I saw cruising fish. This was a 4x10 Preston PB2 set about two foot deep.

On the whistle I fed a small pinch of hemp and around thirty grains of corn at 5m, while the margin got the same plus four cubes of meat. I was going to build up the long line by drip feeding corn and the odd grain of hemp via a small Cad-Pot on the pole.

It didn't take long to get odd signs of fish, and pretty much everyone I could see had a carp before the twenty minutes or so it took me to catch my first - a small common of about 2.5lb. In fact, peg 64 had got off to a flyer and had three! With odd indications I was sure that my long line would come good later, so I tried my best to ignore those who were catching to features. When my second carp fell about fifteen minutes later (smaller than the first though) I thought the bites would stay regular, but the swim died a death on me.

An hour and a half in and with no more fish and just two missed bites to show it was looking as if I'd got it wrong - most people were catching odd fish and everyone bar one person I could see had more than me. With the fish appearing to be eating it looked that my drip feeding three or four grains of corn wasn't right. I decided to gamble on potting in about twenty grains of corn and a reasonable pinch of hemp long, and leave it for five minutes while I had a quick drop in at 5m.

It didn't take long to get a response at 5m and two fish around 3lb a piece fell quickly - it looked like the slightly heavier feeding had worked there! I topped up the short line and left it as while the indications were still there they'd gone iffy - it was still early for that line!

Going back out long and bites were a little more forthcoming. I missed the first two, so changed the shotting around, closing the bulk right up and moving it so it started no more than ten inches from the hook. This worked and three fish fell pretty quickly, with them seemingly responding well to the hit of bait, plus I was now feeding five or six grains of corn after every fish. The worrying thing was the stamp of the fish as they were all small. I could see pegs 64 and 66 catching well, and their fish looked bigger than mine which all seemed around 2.5lb. When my eighth carp fell my fears allayed a touch as it was a good chunky common of about 5lb, and I thought I had it sussed. I was wrong, and the bites just ceased!

I took the risk of topping up while I tried in the edge. With nothing there showing I took a gamble in the edge too. With the onset of the cold I'd started to clear my bait freezer, and had taken a pint and a half of dead maggots out of it, plus some frozen groundbait left overs. I potted two pots of the crumb in, with a decent amount of the dead maggots too. Nothing ventured and all that!

Dropping in in on the 5m line I hooked what felt a better fish almost instantly but it came adrift after a minute or two. I have to say, I'm not sure it wasn't foul hooked. A small common of about a pound fell after that, and going out long produced nothing at all - not even a liner. A look in the edge and I could see a mud cloud over the groundbait. Rather excitedly, I put a bunch of dead maggots on the hook and laid the rig in. A couple of liners followed and I was ready for the bite when it came.... from a 3oz roach! I tried a grain of corn and had a liner on this before it faded, so I re-potted with groundbait and maggots and left it.

Dropping out long and I had an instant bite and put another small carp in the net, but no more bites or indications followed. I could get signs of fish at 5m so plugged away there hoping to make it work, but all I managed was a couple more small carp and a host of knocks and liners, which no matter what I tried (away from the feed, depth and shotting changes and changing feed amounts) I couldn't find a way of hitting more of them.

I finished the match on twelve carp, but the stamp had been small. My total of 37-11 was good enough only for seventh on the day. Peg 64 won with just over 60lb, with peg 66 pushing them close with 58lb. However, 43lb was good enough for third, so frustratingly I wasn't that far away! I expected the day to be much harder than it was, and perhaps started too negatively. That said, although I had a flurry of fish when I upped the feed, it didn't last long before the peg died a death. The last part of the match at 5m was frustrating too, as there were plainly some fish present. Perhaps a change of rig may have worked there, with the conditions good perhaps a thinner bodied lighter float would have given less resistance and turned a few of those nudged in to proper bites? On the last match on the lake the heavier rig was better at 5m, but the water is colder and a little clearer, so perhaps while they were there, they were reluctant feeders. It's something to think about anyway!