Sunday 30th August

As per always when I've missed a weekends fishing I was absolutely gagging to get out on the bank! True to form I missed a good match last week on the Old Lake, with near 80lb winning and a host of other good weights, with 40lb+ being the average weight.

I was reasonably happy with my draw on the New Lake, peg 37 is a steady rather than a great peg but I've always done okay off of it the few times I've drawn it. With a fair bit of space I spent a fair bit of time plumbing along the far bank, hoping to be able to get more than one swim along the far bank. I was disappointed after about 10 minutes as I'd only found one fishable area, with the rest of the far bank having a lot of roots and stuff under the water. If it wasn't that the 'slope' was more like a cliff face and un-fishable. The one place I'd found clear I was happy with; I had two foot of water tight to the bank with a tree over the to give the fish cover. Rig for here was a .1gr DC6 to .18 line and an 18 Fox Series 2, lakky was a 15h preston hollo. The margin to my right was very up and down and a bit deeper than I'd like so I had just one margin rig up to fish to my left at 6m under an overhanging tree. I had just over 2ft of water tight to the bank on a nice slope so I was sure that it would produce. Gear for this was a .2gr DC5 to .18 line and a 16 Fox Series 2, lakky was purple hydro.

On the whistle the far bank had about twenty 4mm hard pellets cupped across while the margin got half a pot of hemp, corn and meat. It took me five minutes get a bite across on a 6mm expander, which I missed! Another missed bite next drop was followed by a common of about 3lb. At this time the peg to my right was netting their 2nd fish on paste in the deep water, and the peg to me left was also netting their first fish. A spell of missed bites led me to come up an inch of the bottom and this had the desired effect as the next 2 drops gave me two crucian/goldfish hybrids about 12oz each. The next drop was like someone had flipped a switch, and despite starting to top up via a toss-pot I couldn't get an indication. After the initial flurry the pegs either side had stopped getting any bites too.

About 30 minutes after my last bite I had a ghostie of about 3lb take a piece of corn on the drop, the first time I'd tried corn. No more joy, for me or anyone else led me to try topping up with small amounts of groundbait and pellet via the toss-pot. Odd knocks led me to think it was going to work but they quickly faded and I'm sure they were just small fish.

The next few hours went incredibly slow, with nobody near me even managing line bites, let alone any fish. Some of the anglers near me even started to pack up before 1pm as they hadn't had any bites! It just seemed dead. With an hour and a half to go I started to drip hemp across, for no reason other than to try something different! After a few minutes I missed a bite across on corn, but as soon as I lowered it back in the float went again! The excitement was short lived as a tench of about 8oz was quickly in the net! No more bites followed until on the hour mark when, as I went to lift and drop my rig I foulhooked a fish! after a merry dance a mirror of about 4lb was in the net, hooked in the pectoral fin. After this I started to get occasional liners and in the next half an hour I lost two fish, both foul hooked. The peg to my right started to catch again on paste in the deep water. The last twenty minutes for me gave three proper bites, all on pellet, and three carp in the net. No liners at all strangely!

The scales arrived round quickly, showing that there wasn't that much to weigh! The top two weights were 50lb and 42lb, but the next weight was just 16lb. I knew the next peg would beat me as his fish were a lot bigger than mine and I was right as his 5 carp plus skimmers and crucians went 37lb where as my 6 carp and bits went 25lb 8oz, good enough for fourth on the day but comfortably behind the framing weights on what was a strange day. In hindsight I think I'd have been better fishing smaller baits, either micro pellets and 4mm expanders or probably even better, choppy and caster, simply because there seemed to be other fish as well as carp to be caught and maybe they would have given many more bites. What was also strange was that the margins didn't produce, infact, they haven't produced the last few times I've been on that lake. I may have to look at changing what I do there but nobody seems to have been catching in the edge, even with the water being coloured.

Hopefully next week we'll be on the Old Lake, which is fishing a lot more consistantly. There is an open today on there, I bet it's fishing well (late draw!) and that I fished the wrong day this weekend!

Sunday 16th August

Well, it appears that summer is back! With the return of the warmer weather I, along with many others were hoping that it would signal the return of better fishing! A thought which took a big knock when I found out that 23 people were booked in to fish. It's the most ever on one lake since I've fished the venue and I began to think a good days fishing was a bit more distant. I fancied a draw in the 20's where there would be a bit more room, specifically 21 as it's a big bay in the island and it's hardly ever in in matches. I was a bit disappointed when I drew peg 18, although it can be a good peg (I had 77lb off it only a few weeks ago) it's never been any good when I've drawn it and the next peg (17) was in, as it obviously would be with the high attendance (That's how you know the golden peg is full up!)

With a gusty wind I elected not to put up a long pole to the island, just put up a rod to fish a small method feeder in the small bay in the island, which is too far to reach with the pole anyway! I did get the pole out so after knocking up some crumb for the feeder I set up a rig to fish in the margins to my left at about 5m, next to some lillies in about two and a half feet of water. Standard margin fare for the rig; purple hydro to .18 line and a 16 Fox series 2 hook. Float was a .2gr DC5. With plenty of time once set up I sat and tied up plenty of method hooklengths. I don't get on with fine 'hair-net' landing nets so should the quickstop break off in the net I had plenty of spares tied up to quickly change!

On the whistle I cupped in a pot of hemp, meat and corn in the margins, and no sooner than I had tipped it out than peg 21 was playing a fish! I was right to fancy it then! I didn't have a bad start, my first cast dropped a bit shorter than I'd like but the second was spot on and I soon had a common of about 4lb in the net, followed by it's slightly smaller brother about ten minutes later, both on an 8mm pellet. I started to see signs of fish moving across but was receiving next to no liners, even in only 18 inches of water! I've had this before here and the trick is too just keep plugging away and they've always switched on later. The next fish came just after the hour mark and was on corn, again about 4lb.

After fish number three I saw a fish swirl in the margins so I had a quick drop in the edge (which I was topping up every 3o min with half a pot of bait) but apart from an odd knock from small fish nothing materialised. Back on the tip and odd fish could still be seen moving along the far bank. In an attempt to get them feeding I upped the bait a bit, casting a bit more often and even switching to just dampened micro pellets on the feeder to get more grub out. On the mid-way mark the tip went round with a lumpy mirror. Next chuck a steady pull round gave what felt like a bream although it was only on for a few seconds before it came off. Next chuck I started to get liners, a good sign that hopefully the fish would start to get their heads down when disaster struck in the form of someone walking the bank! They stood on the higher bank behind for a minute or so, in full view, before walking off mumbling something about the swirling fish up the bank. Well, after that they didn't stay! The swim died a total death after, within five minutes there were no fish up the far bank and I never had another bite or liner the rest of the match, I may as well have been casting into a bath!

I kept the feeder going in every two minutes, and started to flick bait down the edge by hand in an attempt to attract some fish but I never had another indication. I have to say the swim just felt dead and I knew I was just going through the motions. The match was won with a bit over 70lb and peg 21 was second with 61lb. Unbelievably my four carp went 17lb 10z and were good enough for third! I nearly tipped back too as I was a bit peeved, people are quick enough to moan if they are sky-lined by others but seem happy enough to commit the same crime! Still, a slight surprise at a pick-up was soon bettered by listening to Spurs beating Liverpool on the radio(sorry Carl!)

No blog next week as I'll be away for a few days so it'll be another fortnight before I'm fishing again. See you then!

Sunday 10th August

The first thing I noticed on arrival to the lake was that the water was higher than usual and a bit clearer than it was a fortnight ago. Walking round the lake quickly before the draw and it seemed that the fish had drifted back round into the 20's, as that's where there seemed to be more movement and colour in the water. Typically I didn't manage to draw there, with peg 14 coming out in my hand. It's actually a peg I've never fished before, although I've fished peg 13 loads of times before.

I have to admit the left margin looked good for a fish or two later. With plenty of water to my left in the corner and some overhanging bushes plus lillies it did look nice. With a nice 3ft of water on the edge of the bushes at 10m to my left, just behind the nearest lillies I was sure it would be a banker later in the match. Rig for here was on purple hydro and .18 line to a 16 fox series 2 hook with the float being a .2gr DC5. With that sorted I put a rig on and started to ship out to the island. As the 16m section went on I thought that someone had moved the island away while I wasn't looking as the pole had to go back on the roller so I could get out the 17.5m section from my rod bag! Eventually a .1gr DC6 float was set up to fish in just over 2ft of water, on .16 line with an 18 Fox series 2. Lakky was Preston 15h. Lastly a polyball rig was set up to fish shallow against the reeds for cruising fish.

At the whistle I fed the far swim with a pinch of 4mm pellets (I usually use 6mm in the summer but my experience of the pegs nearby, 11 and 13, led me to think small fish tend to be present on these pegs) While the margin got half a pot of meat, corn and hemp. Normally I'd give it a whole pot but with a lot of rain going in (again!) recently and with the water a bit clearer I decided to play it a bit safer.

After 10 minutes I had my first bite but missed it, and next drop on a pellet I had a small common of about a pound and a half. Odd bites continued in the next 20 minutes but I couldn't connect with them until I put an inch of line on the bottom. This led to a small tench of about 6oz and then another common of about 2lb. Any thoughts of having it sussed soon went as the swim seemed to slow up. The next hour passed with only an odd liner, yet the shallow rig was totally ignored. With nothing in the margin either, despite regular top ups, and toss-potted pellets across not attracting anything I decided to mix up some groundbait to try and bring some fish back in.

After two drops the groundbait had done it's job and another small carp came to the net, but only a baby of about 12oz, but this was followed with my best fish of the day as a mirror of about 2 1/2lb quickly came in. The swim started to slow as soon as it had started and all I had to show was in the next hour was a few missed bites and a lost foulhooker. A try in the margin gave odd silly indications on meat and when the float went properly a tiny perch came flying out of the water! Again nothing really came across, with very few indications as the swim seemed to have died a death.

With an hour to go, holding 17+m of pole across was starting to tell on the arms, with a week of having a cold not helping ( a cold, not swine flu as most would probably claim nowadays!) I decided to get the tip rod out. A quick re-jig to the set up to put a small 30gr Preston in-line method feeder on and I was ready to go. With the method mould mastered from last week I was away quickly with the tip going round as I tightened up! the last hour saw another 6 fish into the net. As per last week the baits needed changing to keep bites coming and I had two fish each on pellet and corn and two on an 8mm boilie, one of which was a lump nudging double figures! I have to admit I was kicking myself for not changing earlier, I was ready a good ten minutes before the start and nearly put it up then. I then sat and thought about it for a good hour before I did put it up.

I did lose a fish last drop. although strangely it felt foulhooked but I'll never know. I didn't get a chance for another as I hooked that one only 10 seconds or so before the all out! I knew the lake hadn't fished that well and when the scales got to me 28lb was top. I fancied being able to top that and I did, having 32lb 10oz. With nobody admitting to a lot apart from corner peg 33 claiming 6 good lumps I was hoping for a win but it wasn't to be. As he pulled out his net my prediction of 34lb was spot on as they went 34lb 5oz. Pipped from first spot by less than 2lb I really did kick myself for not putting the tip up earlier! Lesson learnt then, next time I think about changing something I must get up and do it!

The plus point again to the day was the method mould. I was very very sceptical about them until I tried one last week but I'm now sold on them! Using a Korum quick change bead for a newly baited hooklength when needed I can get the feeder back out in very near the same time as I used to be able with an elasticated feeder and swapping for a new one, but with the safeness of an in-line. I'd like to get some elasticated ones to try in the mould but my local shop doesn't stock them. Still, whatever your preference I'd recommend trying one!

Back On The Old Lake

This morning dawned with the now familiar soaked outside from heavy overnight rain! Due to people being on holiday and a couple of no shows the open match was reduced to an eight peg sweep. Only two pegs were in round the island, both corner pegs and with the wind blowing down there I really fancied drawing there, especially peg 62 in the corner with the reeds. Alas I didn't draw round there and drew the one peg that I really didn't want, peg 68 in the deep water. With 4ft of water next to the bank side sparse reeds and 7ft of water from about 4m out it was the only peg in that couldn't get into any shallow water.

I had a few rigs set up. One deck rig at 13m on .15 line to a 14 B611 and a 14 latex, Float was a .4gr handmade pattern with a heavy glass stem that's very stable. A shallow polyball rig was put up with the same hook and line as the deck rig but with 15h Hollo elastic. A rig was put up for the margin on the shallowest part I could find, just over 4ft deep! Normally I use purple hydro in the margins but with the extra depth I opted for a soft 16 latex. I also had a half depth rig put up here.

On the whistle a half a pot of hemp and corn went out long while a pot of hemp, meat and corn went down the margin. With no indications in the first 10 minutes I could see other people already catching. I decided to put a small toss-pot on and drip in some bait. First drop with some hemp and corn going out and I had a fast bite that I missed. Next drop gives another sharp bite which produced a crucian/goldfish of about 12oz. After that I started to get silly indications so I shallowed the rig to dead depth. A smaller crucian followed before the next bite saw me hook a carp which came off after a few seconds but I'm sure it wasn't foulhooked.

The lost fish slowed the swim up a bit and odd fish were cruising about. I didn't want to start feeding pellet to catch shallow yet a I figured it may scatter fish over all depths so I topped up with half a pot of bait and had a quick drop in the margins. First drop down the edge on meat and the float shot away, not a carp though but a skimmer of about an ounce! the first skimmer I've ever had from the lake!

Back out long and a few silly indications led me to try a bit deeper which gave me a proper bite and a carp of about 2lb on corn. Next chuck and a small crucian/goldfish of about 6oz. No more bited followed and the occasional liner and cruising fish led me to pick up the catty and start to flick a few pellets out. The next hour was frustrating as all I could get was bait robbing tiny fish off either line, especially on the shallow rig. They were even robbong banded pellets! With the wind picking up the fish seemed to disappear and I decided a change was needed so I soaked some micro pellets and knocked up a bit of groundbait then got my tip rod out of the ready rod sleeve.

First chuck on a small method just past the pole line and a steady pull round on an 8mm S-Pellet and another crucian cross came to the net, this one near 2lb. A couple of chucks later this was followed by a carp of about 2lb.

The rest of the match was a case of working at the method to keep a few bites coming. Ringing the changes with the bait would bring fish in ones and two's, never anymore. I had fish in equal numbers on corn, pellet and white 8mm Ringers boilies. The Margins never gave a bite apart from tiny knocks from roach. At one point I had some carp swirling in the edge for meat I was flicking in by hand but as soon as I put a polyball rig over them they went! I could see peg 44 catching steady until the last 30 minutes and while his fish were bigger (I didn't have a fish much bigger than 3lb) I thought my 16 or 17 (lost count!) carp plus my bits net would just pip him.

As the scales went round peg 44 put 48lb on the scales and I was sure I'd have a low 50's weight. Peg 44 was top until the scales got round the back where peg 61 had a whopping 120lb something! I was right to fancy that peg then, in a corner with nobody within 5 pegs and the wind blowing into it it was like pleasure fishing! With another low 40lb weight I managed second when my fish went 56lb 6oz.

Despite being so far behind first I felt I'd done well off the peg, especially as it's one I don't like! It was also the first time I'd used a method mould. Now I'd always been a bit sceptical about them but with a bit of practice re-baiting was very quick so it's something I'll try again. I did have to bury the bait in the feeder to get bites today, not put it right on the top as per the Preston advert and the method mould packet. By the end I was managing to get the bait back out very quick with an in-line feeder (could only get them and not the elasticated versions I prefer) and I have to say I'm a convert to them now!

Sunday 26th July

First of all I have to apologise for not updating this last week, I did fish, but with the amount of rain we had the lake fished diabolical and there was not a lot to write about!

For the third week in a row we were on lake 1. Hand in the bag and out came peg 5. I was happy enough with it, I've done well off it in the past and it has a decent margin that when it fishes it throws up some good weights. First rig up was for the far bank at 16m, fishing just into a small bay in the island. The water had a decent colour so I wasn't concerned about it being only about 20in deep, and the slope leading up to this was very steep and awkward to fish on. Float was a .1gr DC6 and line was .16 to an 18 Fox Series 2. Elastic was Preston 15h. The rig for the margin was in a little over 2ft of water to my left at about 5m. The rig was on .18 line direct to a 16 Fox Series 2. Float was a .2gr DC5 and lakky was purple hydro. Lastly I put up a polyball rig to push right into the far bank. This was on .18 to purple hydro.

On the whistle the far bank was fed with a pinch of pellet while the margin got a pot of hemp, meat and corn. Across on a 6mm expander and it took less than a minute to get a bite. The fish roared along to my right and promptly snapped the line. Not a good start! The rig was replaced with one on .18 line and I went back out. Again not long before a bite and soon enough a 3lb common was in the net. At this point I could already see two other people catching. I topped up with a toss-pot but the fish didn't seem interested so I topped up with a larger amount of pellet with the pot. Again a bite was quick in coming and another common of a similar size to the first made it's way in. The next drop gave me a skimmer of about 2lb so I again topped up with the bigger pot. The first hour finished with four carp and the skimmer, each fish needing a decent amount of pellets to bring a bite.

The second hour again continued as the first did. Not big fish, averaging about 3lb but with one bigger fish of about 6lb. I could still see two others catching steadily so while I was happy with the progress I needed to keep the fish coming. Finishing that hour on 9 carp I then lost a foulhooker so I topped up and dropped into the margin (which I had been topping up with half a pot every 30min) No joy came of this so I went back across. Carp number 10 was quick to arrive and the next bite gave a brown goldfish of about 8oz with a massive fan tail! The swim started to fade now, as had the others who were catching. With there still being signs of fish in the swim I decided to top up the swim again with a toss-pot and pellets, using a small amount of groundbait to hold the pellets in. On the second drop a small common of about 2lb was the result, quickly followed by another identical one before the swim started to fade again.

The next half hour or so passed without a bite, even in the margins. I decided to try pushing the poly ball right into the far bank to see what this would yield. This gave one bite quickly and resulted in a better fish of about 5lb but nothing more. At this point other people I could see had started to get odd fish again and I was sure they were not far from having what I had. I decided to push the rig a touch further up the bank. After re-plumbing and shallowing up a tad I fed half a pot of pellet and had a quick drop in the edge. This was again strangely fruitless so I decided to up the feed here to whole pots in an attempt to make something happen.

The change across had the desired effect and three more carp quickly followed. Not big fish, only 2-3lb fish before it again faded out. The margin was still strangely quiet, not even a liner or knock from small fish. I decided to drop back down a bit on the far side and after a wait of about five minutes a bite gave a better fish of 4lb+. The last hour gave a few more fish. I had to wait longer for the bites and only got them feeding small amounts with the toss-pot. I'd get one fish further up the bank before having to drop down for the next bite, just being patient and working and waiting. While I wasn't catching as fast as at the start the fish were bigger and I finshed the match with 20 carp, the last one hooked a minute or so before the whistle. The second from last fish was a proper munter of probably near 12lb!

I packed up feeling happy with the days effort. I'd had to work hard for the last few fish but apart from the first fish I hooked and the foulhooker I never lost any more fish, and I hardly missed a bite too. It was a good day all round and one of those rare days when the things you try work (apart from in the margins where I never had a bite)

As I'd drawn the scales I got to see what everyone had caught. The next peg had 58lb, while the rest of the lake had fished well with a 70lb weight and a weight of 56lb, plus another 40lb weight. My fish went 84lb 4oz in total, beating the previous best open weight of 81lb so a new lake record was set too. A good tonic after the disaster of last week!

Next week is back on Lake Two after three matches in a row on Lake One so it's a change of scenery! Check

Sunday 12th July

With it being the first time on the New Lake for a month I was quite looking forward to a change of scenery! The favoured pegs to draw are still in the 20's, with matches still nearly always being won from there the last few weeks whilst the opens carried on, on the Old Lake. Before the draw I said that it was pointless those pegs being the favourites as I won't get one, saying that I'll draw peg 17. Not a bad guess as it happened as I drew peg 18, and peg 17 had been taken out due to two late drop outs and a no-show!

The peg has a reputation as a flyer, but it has been not that great the two times I've drawn it, although I did manage a 2nd place off it in late April. Despite the fact that it's a very wide peg (a full 17.5m to get tight to the island) I was quite happy with the peg. While the strong wind was liable to make such a long pole awkward the peg has quite a shallow margin to the left, and I was confident of catching there later on.

Rig wise I had three rigs for the pole up. First was for the far bank, at about 17m, just short of being tight to the island in a little over 2ft of water. Float was a .2gr Garbolino DC5, normally my margin pattern but at such a long distance and with an awkward reflection of the far bank I hoped it would enable me to see it! Line was .16 through to an 18 Fox Series 2 hook and lakky was Preston 15h. Margin rig was the same float but on .18 direct to a 16 Fox Series 2 hook and purple hydro. Depth wise it was not quite 3ft. Last rig up was a polyball rig to push into the foliage on the far bank, using purple hydro and .18 line with an 18 hook.

Bizarrely for me I was ready with a good 20 minutes to spare. I did plumb up under the bush just to my right but the bottom was all over the place, and with a lot of sticks on the bottom it was more trouble than it was worth. I did wonder about putting the tip rod up, but with the wind only gusty I decided to wait and see, besides, it didn't really go last time I had that peg.

At the whistle I fed just a few pellets across, while the margin got a whole pot of hemp, meat and corn. A fair few fish were moving across and I instantly started to get liners. After only a minute the pole got yanked into the water but the way the fish changed direction I suspected it was foul hooked and after a few seconds it came off. Indications started to fade after so I began to top up with a few pellets via a toss-pot. Perhaps ten minutes later, after missing a few bites I had a common of about 3lb, but then onwards proceeded to get a lot liners. This prompted me to plumb up at the full 17.5m, going slightly to my right and into slightly shallower water. I hoped that with the numbers of fish present that by barely feeding this I'd eliminate the liner problem (I'd lost two more fish, both foulhooked themselves!)

On the second drop a proper bite gave me my second fish, again a common of about 3lb before again the number of fish proved a problem. If I stopped feeding the fish went back into the little bay just along the bank out of pole reach, but any amount of food, even just 3/4 pellets sent them mental. The next hour and a half gave me just one roach and a headache as I lost another 3 fish. I'd not struck at a single one of the lost fish, they were hooking themselves, but I couldn't get a bite on the shallow rig. For that hour I began harbouring thoughts of getting the tip rod out but shelved it, hoping the fish would settle, either across or in the edge. A quick try in the margin was bite less so I went back across.

With another lost foulhooker to show and just under three hours to go the wind seemed to pick up and made controlling the pole very hard so I gave up and got up of my box and took my trusty 10ft puddle chucker out of the ready rod sleeve. Some groundbait was hastily knocked up while I clipped up and readied the feeder arm and butt rest. I decided to cast just to my right a little, as there was a gap in the tree canopy which would lessen the chance of me clipping the trees with them waving a lot in the wind.

First chuck on the method with an 8mm Sonubaits S-Pellet (they are brilliant for hair rigging, I wouldn't want to got to a match without them now) and the feeder dropped a bit short. Never mind, I'll bait up the next feeder and re-do it. Not a chance, no sooner had I picked the spare feeder up than the rod wrenched round. Shortly a common of about 4lb was in the net.

The last two and a half hours produced a steady stream of bites to the method. After 5 fish it faded a bit so I soaked some micro pellet to go round the feeder to get something more substantial into the swim. While waiting for them I had a quick drop in the margin and had a small carp of about 2lb but no more bites followed. The micro pellet with the groundbait had the desired effect and the fish came back. I finished the match with 17 carp, 14 on the method and 3 on the pole, plus a 2lb skimmer on the tip. The fish averaged about 3lb, but I had a couple of lumpy mirrors about 7-8lb a piece, including 3 cracking looking 3/4lb ghosties that went like they were possessed!

I'd love to say that the last part went like a dream but it didn't! I lost 2 carp where the S-Pellet had masked the hook. Something that in the 2 years I've used them I've never had happen before. I also lost a couple of fish that bent the hook (Size 16 Kamasan Animals) as I held them to stop them bolting into the brambles just to the right of where I hooked them. I suspect they where those mental ghosties as they gave the most bother but I've chucked the rest of the packet of hooks out as I've not had that problem before and hope they were a rouge batch. This cost me time tieing up more hook lengths as I didn't have as many ready as I thought.

The lost fish look a little of the gloss off what turned out to be a comfortable match win with 76-10, with 35lb being second. I Found out that the open match record is just 81lb, something I should have broken, and indeed I could have done the ton, especially had I fished the tip all day. Still, on the plus side my casting was near spot on (well, bloody good for me) for the day, but I couldn't help being disappointed by the lost fish. Still, a PB weight for that lake and a match win can't be that bad so I'll stop moaning!

Sunday 5th July

With lake fishing as well as it has, at the draw I wanted a peg with a good margin as that seems to be where the weights have come from. I was reasonably happy with peg 44, as although it has no real recent form it has a decent margin and in previous times I've had the peg I have caught from it.

Looking at the picture you'll see the peg has a large lilly bed in it, which although looks inviting can be awkward as I've found previous that carp and lillies don't mix that well! My first priority was to have a good plumb along my left margin where there are some sparse dead reeds in the water. The best area I found to fish was not quite as far as the stick ups, about 4m away which let me get a little closer to the bank in about two and a half feet of water. Gear for here was a .2gr DC5 float on .18 line direct to a 16 Fox Series 2 hook. Lakky was purple hydro. With the next peg (45) in I couldn't really fish another margin line as I wanted to. The rig for the lilles was put up on .20 line to a .18 line to avoid losing floats in the lillies! plumbing up was awkward as there were a lot of stems under the water, lakky was a solid 16. Next to the lillies I had about 5ft of water. Last rig was to fish on the slope leading up to the small island. I fished heavier gear than I normally would due to the lillies being between me and it! Tackle was the same as the margin gear in about 3ft of water. Lastly I put up a shallow poly ball rig to chase cruising fish as there seemed to be a lot of them about, and with a fair amount of space to my left I could use it to fish shallow if wanted to try that.

At the whistle the margin line and the lillies got a whole pot of bait, the lillies just hemp and corn while the margin got a decent amount of meat too. The far line was fed with a few pellets and a bit of corn as the angler to my right was fishing along it to the limit of his peg and I didn't want too much bait there for both our sake! I wanted to spend as little time as possible here though. Out on the far line and predictably small roach hammered the bait so it was on with a grain of corn. The next 20 minutes produced loads of line bites, there were obviously a few fish there but they just wouldn't go down. With the lilly line starting to give bubbles over the bait I decided to drop in there while starting to ping a few 6mm pellets into the open water about 13m out to try shallow.

Dropping in without feeding didn't produce so a toss-pot full of hemp and corn went in. It didn't take long for a response on double corn, although at only about a pound it wasn't quite the response I wanted! Especially as the angler opposite was starting to catch quite regularly in the deep water! No more bites followed but after seeing a swirl in the edge I gave it a quick try but the meat hook bait was quickly mauled by tiny roach.

With odd fish swirling out where I was loose feeding pellets I decided to try out long in the open shallow. It didn't take long for the pole to yanked into the water a a lively fish gave a very good account of it's self for about 5 minutes before what looked like a decent 6lb odd ghostie pulled of near the net. To be honest I did curse as I was trying to bully it a bit into the net. Bad angling. No more bites followed so I came back in to the lillies line where fish where now blowing. Again a quick bite produced a fish but that got stuck in the lillies. Leaving the line slack allowed me to feel the fish but it seemed to go further into the lillies. After much pulling the fish eventually came free and a small mirror of about 2lb was in the net. A bite on the same line just piled strait through the lillies and snapped the hooklength. This led me to plumb up and feed the line a bit closer, a good meter away from the lillies; better to have less bites and get them out than to have them keep charging into the lillies!

I had a quick try in the margin (which I was topping up with half a pot of bait every 30min) produced just one roach of about 6oz on double corn. Back out shallow and a ghostie of about 3lb falls quickly to banded pellet but no more in the next 20 minutes follow. Back into the margin and no roach bites are followed by an elastic ripper and a 4lb common is soon in the net. The roach follow again so a full pot of bait is followed buy another elastic pulling bite which came off after a few seconds. With a fish lost I decided to try back out in the open and once again a bite is quick in coming as a 3lb odd fish is soon in the net.

Going into the last two hours I was keeping pace with everyone I could see apart from the peg opposite, although his peg had slowed. Back into the margins and bites had started to come regularly. There was a distinct pattern to many of the bites; the roach knocks would just stop and this was often followed by a proper bite. The next hour produced a steady stream of fish, mostly around the 4lb mark. The one quiet spell I had led to me topping up and trying long shallow which again gave an instant bite from a 3lb ghostie but with no more following. It was by no means perfect, I did lose 2 fish in that hour, both foul hooked, and I missed a couple of bites.

Going into the last hour I had 13 carp, but the peg opposite had started to catch again. I decided to have a quick plumb again and mark the pole so I was exactly where I wanted in the up-down margin, as despite the decent last hour I had the feeling that something wasn't quite right. This had the desired response as two quick fish followed. With 45 minutes left I had to put in another net as I was at the 15 maximum carp for one net. The next half an hour was just as good with 5 carp coming to the net. Each time if a whole big toss-pot didn't get a bite 3/4 of a pot of bait did! Four of the carp were small for margin fish, only about 2 3/4lb-3lb fish, but the last one was bigger at about 6lb. Bizarrely the last 15 minutes gave just 2 small roach and a baby carp. Had that spell been earlier I would have topped up and rested the swim but so late in I just plugged away as the feeding on the open water swim had slowed off as I was sure with the margin activity I wouldn't need it.

At the whistle I had 20 carp, which although the lake had fished well I knew would be there or there abouts. I wasn't quite sure if I had enough to beat the peg opposite who had caught steady all day, although he did shout across that I had beat him I wasn't so sure. The scales had to wait a bit as I was one of the two anglers on them and I wanted to be fullt packed away first! As the second to weigh in I knew I would be first after I weighed! My carp plus bits went 67lb 12oz, my best weight of the lake that has not been off a fancied reeds peg. With a good few weights over 35lb and I think (yeah I know, I was on the scales but I can't remember!) three 40lb+ weights it was clear the lake had been consistent. When we got to the peg opposite and his fish went just over 52lb I knew I had won, a good feeling after such a bad run. From memory I think there were three 40lb+ weights that didn't frame, not bad in my book.

I think next week it's back on the New Lake, the first time I've fished it since the blind pairs match near a month ago. Hopefully I can carry on the good form!