Sunday 21st February

I had to go and curse it didn't I? After starting last week saying I could get used to not breaking ice predictably this week the lakes were frozen again! The only saving grace was that the ice was only two or three millimeters thick and easily breakable.

The draw bag was also unkind to me this week, with my hand coming out of the bag with peg 64, a peg which hasn't produced a carp (if my memory is correct) since the Christmas match or just before! First job at the peg was clearing the ice, easily done at first using a long landing net handle specifically carried for such duties. With a weed cutter on the end of the near six meter handle the narrow peg was mostly done, with the pole used to break the little ice past that as it wasn't frozen right up to the island. After that it was time to put the brolly up because as much as I hate being under it if I'm going to sit with hardly a bite then at least it would keep the slushy snow off of me which was coming down in droves by then! The day then got worse as the pillock next to me decided that instead of clearing the ice with a pole like everyone else he'd use the boat, going out and rocking it and smashing the ice between us to smithereens. It stayed where it was for the time being....

With the ice clear the first area I plumbed up was down the track as this was the area I believed I'd catch best from (or have the best chances of catching from!) I had two lines at a 45 degree angles, both on the edge of the ice, one at 10m and the other at 11m, both just where it started to shallow up towards the island, being about an inch shallower than the deepest water I could find. Rig for here was a .3gr Preston Classic 10. The depth was about four and a half foot. Line was .125 to an 18 B611 with he lakky being a soft number 10 latex. The far bank of this peg is very shallow with erratic depth variations so I set a rig at 3ft and had a plumb around to see what I could find. Eventually I had two areas, one dead in front about a meter off the island, at about 12m and the other at 13.5m further down to the right, nearer to the island and with a few twigs overhanging, which I thought may just hold a fish or two. This rig was a 4x10 PB2 with the rest of the terminal gear the same as the other rig.

On the whistle I fed three of the four lines, leaving the most promising of the far bank lines until after I'd tried it. The left hand track line got just four maggots while the right hand line had three grains of corn. The island line in front got just six casters before I slipped a maggot on the far bank rig and went across. No joy here on either maggot, caster or corn led me to feed just three maggots on it and leave it, trying the other far bank line. I could already see that one angler in the open water had a fish, and could hear others saying about people catching so with the fed far bank line barren I went down the track. Trying both of these lines in rotation, and also dropping in along that line in between where I hadn't fed gave nothing, not even a roach which on the previous times I'd had the peg had always been there!

Just after the hour mark the wind picked up slightly and all the ice kindly smashed to pieces by the eejit further up started to drift in front of me and the next hour was fruitless as I just couldn't fish. The ice sheets were small so it was a case of trying to clear them as I could neither cut a hole or just shove them under the ice to my left. In the end I just gave up and sat on my box with a coffee and it was near an hour before I could fish again as the ice started to melt. I With no bite still coming however I decided to top up the maggot line in the track with four more maggots before trying the other three lines in turn. With nothing on those though I went back on to the maggot line in the deep. After about ten minutes the float slowly sank away and I lifted, expecting a tiny roach to be the culprit but I was wrong and what was almost certainly a foul hooked carp charged off to the right until I could follow it no further due to a dining table sized piece of ice floating up! Predictably it came off....

I have to admit although I'd lost it having had a sign had renewed my enthusiasm a bit, but five minutes on the same line gave no more signs of a fish so I topped it up with four more maggots and slipped a grain of corn on to try the other line. I doubt the float had been in for much more than a minute before a sharp dink saw me attached to decent fish and after a bit of a tussle a common of around 5lb was in the net. I had another five or so minutes on the line but nothing came of it so I gave it three more grains of corn and left it, but that was the last sign of a fish I was to have all day.

The sun stayed out and it got quite warm but I couldn't buy a sign of a fish, even with the ice gone allowing me to try much further down the peg well away from any feed, trying every bait I had on all the lines. I even got the pinkies out of my bait bag and tried them! In the last hour and a half I upped the feed, dripping half a dozen maggots every ten minutes over the maggot track line and dripping odd grains of corn over that line down the track. I'd largely given up on the far bank lines, giving them the odd try but they've never gone for me on that area of the lake before so I didn't expect them too then! I could see most the the anglers in the open water catching odd fish now yet nobody on the island was getting anything other than an odd tiny roach.

Normally with no points up for grabs I wouldn't have weighed my Billy-no-mates carp in but as I worked that hard for the bugger I did, giving me a total of 5lb 4oz. The match was won with just a few ounces over 20lb and with two 19lb weights and two high 17lb weights just 3lb or so separated the top five so while nobody bagged up it was fair for those lucky enough to be out there. Lets just hope that's where I can draw next week!

Winter League Rd 2 (Sun 14th Feb)

Well, what can I say? Two Sundays without ice! I could get used to this....

After my lottery prediction at the end of last weeks blog the weather during the week perhaps wasn't as bad as it looked as though it was going to be. The chat before the draw was about which pegs to draw and I stated that I'd be happy as long as the first number on my ticket was a 2, although there was only one of those pegs left in when I took my usual late place in the queue, with the first round winner taking one of them and last weeks open winner drawing the same peg. It came as some surprise then that the last remaining "twenty something" came out in my hand, given my draw bag form of late!



I was pretty happy with my draw, it's the peg I won the first round of last years winter league off, although it's shoulder-achingly wide! I had a plan about trying to catch in the deepest water which went out of the window on drawing where I did as on the few pegs in that area I've never done any good at any time of the year doing so. The peg it's self is probably just over 18m wide so the first rig up was on the shelf up to the island at 17.5m. Here it was just over 5ft deep and the rig was a 4x14 Chianti on .125 line to a 13h Preston hollo. Second rig, for the same area of the swim was set at three and a half foot deep. This rig had the same terminal gear as the other rig but the float was a 4x10 PB2. I also put up a third rig for this line, using the more or less the same gear as the other shallow rig but with a smaller 4x8 float and a slightly softer grey hydro as the rig was set to fish a little shallower, about two and a half foot. I wanted a margin line on the peg but it was either two foot or five foot with no real depth in between and I didn't fancy two foot in the edge with no cover and the water clarity, so the deeper far bank rig was used on a line at 6m to my right, just down the near ledge. Lastly I also put up a bomb rod to fish on the far line too.

On the whistle I decided not to feed the swim at all, hoping to not scare any fish that may have been present. The pegs in the area all caught late last week and I think it may have been due to them not being used to the pressure. I started across on a grain of corn on the deck and I'm sure that after a few minutes the float had a slight dip but I didn't connect with it. After that I tried caster and a couple of minutes on that gave no bites but just as I was considering feeding I had a definite liner, so I put on the deeper of the shallow rigs and went out on a single caster. Laying the rig in (with the shot spread out at it was flat calm) the float settled nicely and blinked under. The gentle lift saw the elastic come out a few inches before the fish gently nodded and than slowly swam off, probably still half asleep in the very cold water! After a bit of very delicate playing I found myself with my first fish of the winter league, a 2lb common. Shame it took until the second match!

I gave the far bank another quarter of an hour after but no more indications followed so I risked a bit of bait in the swim, feeding a measly four caster across while cupping in three grains of corn and a small pinch of crumb on the close in line. The tiny pinch of bait seemed to encourage signs of fish, plus I could see two people who had fed quite a bit from the off and they both had a carp a piece. The frustrating part was that although I could get indications I couldn't manage a proper bite. I even had a liner on the shallowest rig. Changing baits from caster to single and double maggot red or white maggot made no difference, and I had occasional liners from depths of four foot up to two foot both over and away from where I had fed. I could even see a ghostie cruising about behind my rig occasionally!

On the hour and a half mark I tried the strait lead with corn, one cast on the line of the feed and one as tight to the island as I could realistically cast. I gave each cast fifteen minutes but surprisingly I never had a liner. With the two hour mark just in I put the deeper shallow rig on and laid the rig in about three foot to the right of where I had cupped in the tiny amount of caster. The rig followed the same pattern as the first time I'd tried it, slipping away just as it settled. This fish felt a bit bigger than the first and after a few minutes a ghostie common of about 4lb was netted. I'm guessing it was the one that I'd seen cruise past me four or five times because I never saw it again! I tried again without feeding after that fish, dropping the rig in along the island, giving it a short while in one place before lifting and dropping it in further along trying both sides of where I'd fed but to no avail.

Being near half way through the match I decided to try and bring things on a little by introducing loose feed a little more regular via a toss-pot. Three caster went in the pot and as before the tiny amount of loose feed seemed to stimulate a response, with odd knocks within a short time. I didn't have a proper bite until I again tried a few feet to the right of where I fed but I missed it! A liner instantly after had me reaching for the shallowest rig but nothing came on it so the deeper rig went back on. Same pattern, three casters in the toss-pot dripped over where I had fed before and swing the rig in to the right of the feed. An instant bite followed and I missed that one too! Frustrated by the missed bites I had a quick try down the edge but I never had a sign there. Going back across bought a similar response to before, feed, lower in rig but this time I had to wait a few minutes before I missed the bite!

I have to admit I was cursing a bit to myself and tried the one thing I could think of, take the toss-pot off as I didn't miss any of the bites before! I cupped in three casters via the cupping kit before going across. Trying over the bait gave just silly knocks before I dropped my rig in to the right of the feed and guess what? as soon as it settled I had a bite and this time I didn't miss it! Carp number three joined the other two in the net, this one again about 4lb. The indications definitely slowed after so I fed three casters, again via the cupping kit and with an hour to go carp number four found it's way into the net. Again about 4lb and also taken to the right of any feed. After this fish the temperature dropped and a bit of drizzle started and the indications really faded away. I had another quick try on the bomb but was never really confident of it going. A try on the deck rig gave me just another liner.

With half an hour to go I slid the rig up four inches and again carried on searching along the island. The next proper bite I had came to the left of the bait in an area that hadn't given me any indications before. This fish was a maybe a touch bigger at about 5lb. With only a short amount of time left I re-fed strait after this fish and after a short wait the next bite came, again to the left of the feed and this one was again about 4lb. With hardly any time left after that fish I didn't feed again but perhaps that was a mistake as I didn't manage any more in the last remaining minutes.

After packing away I managed to find the scales about four pegs away from me with about 7lb being the top weight. That was until last weeks winner (on the same peg remember) pulled their net out. While they only had four carp they were much bigger than mine and went 25lb 5oz, which I was sure would beat me. I was knocked back a bit more when the next peg to me put three fish on the scales for 25lb 7oz! My fish went on at 23lb 4oz but I have to say I was a bit despondent as I'm sure I missed a decent chance to win. Who knows, if I had have fed quickly after my last fish I may have managed that one last fish that would have won it. I really perhaps should have taken the little pot off earlier, or not even put it on in the first place. With it not being a race I wouldn't have been at any loss to have just fed with with big pot. Still, I've never had that happen (to such a degree, I won't argue that at long distance the little pot does make a difference to the response time to a bite) before. I perhaps shouldn't be to hard on myself, I still worked hard to get what I had on a day when many would have just sat and waited. Interestingly, on the odd times when a slight breeze picked up and I had to bulk the shot up I had noticeably less indications than when the shot were spread. It's also a bit strange that I had to feed to get bites, but never had a fish actually over the feed! Still, I managed to catch some fish which must make reading my ramblings a bit more interesting! And also with round one's winner blanking, and round two's winner blanking in the first match nobody is really running away with the league so who knows!

Sunday 7th Feb

This Sunday I found myself on lake one at Westside, in a practice match for the up coming second round of the winter league. Nobody really knew what to expect as the lake had hardly been fished in the last few weeks because of the weather. The last match was before Christmas and it was frozen then. With hardly anyone pleasure fishing it since then I expected it to be hard as the fish weren't used to to people being on the lake. Incidentally, those that pleasure fished lake two on Wednesday bagged up!

I really wanted to draw in the 20's as these are the most consistent pegs on the lake. I didn't get one but I was quite happy with peg 17 which I found myself on. With a fair bit of room around me I was sure I could nab a fish or five! The island in front is about 15m away then runs away into a very snaggy corner. My first target area was in front where you can see the dark area on the island, leaving me a slight area to let any fish back off into before experience of the peg tells me that a lot of vegetation is under the water. I had four and a half foot of water next to the island and had three rigs up for there. The first was for on the deck using a 4x12 Chianti, while I had rigs at three and a half and two and a half foot, both using 4x10 PB2's. Line on all three was .125 with size 18 hooks on all three. Lakkys were Preston 13h on the deeper of the two rigs and grey Hydro on the shallowest. Lastly I had a rig up for about 9m slightly to the right next to a weed bed. This had the same hooks and line as the other rigs, the float was a 4x14 Chianti in six foot of water and the lakky was a 10 latex. I did toy with putting the bomb rod up to chuck as tight to the snaggy bay as I dared but I've spent enough time staring as something that wont move as it is lately! Plus I didn't want to lose sets of gear either.

On the whistle I fed a small conker size ball of green swim stim with a few casters in it on the deep line while I decided to try across without feeding at first. On with a small grain of corn and after about five minutes the dotted down float vanished but I missed the bite! I didn't swear... much. No more followed so I went on to swapping between maggot and caster on the deck but half an hour in and nothing happened. I was just about to feed when I'm sure I had a slight liner. I took this as a time to try the deeper of the shallow rigs and after five minutes on this with a caster the float slipped away. On lifting I didn't feel the fish but then the rig drifted to the left and the lakky came out. That will be foul hooked then, and predictably it came off.

No more signs of fish followed so I cupped in three maggots and three casters across and went back on the the deck rig on caster. After a few minutes I went on to single red maggot and the float plinked under and a small roach found it's way in to the net. At least I hadn't blanked! Nothing else followed so I came up in the water on caster. Not long on this and the float plinked under again but my excitement was short lived when a tiny perch came in. With nothing else following and just over an hour gone I came on the the deep line but either maggot or caster failed to get me a bite so after quarter of an hour I found myself back across. I couldn't get a bite on the deck here so I started to drip in casters in three's via a toss-pot. I started to get a response with small (under an ounce) roach falling to caster on the deeper shallow rig, hard work at 15m when they hardly weigh! I tried pushing tighter to the island and going up the side a bit but this produced nothing.

With two hours gone word came round that only 1 carp had been caught and hardly anything else. A short try on the deep line again gave nothing so I put another small ball of crumb in and went back across. Here I could only get odd indications, and while some of them were liner like I think they were just small roach or perch messing with the bait. I decided to go back on the deck with corn and again after only a few minutes the float vanished but again I missed it. Lowering it in again and after a short wait it did the same again. This time I made contact with it, a fat little perch of about an ounce! My optimism started to fade away now as it had started to drizzle and the temperature had definitely started to drop.

With an hour and a half to go I tried the deep line but again had no joy so I decided to feed a dozen maggots on the line, after all I had nothing to lose. Going back across on the shallowest rig and pushing as near the vegetation up the side of the island as I dared I had a dumpy ten-to-the pound roach followed by a run of fat little perch but after for or five fish bites faded away and couldn't get a bite on any rig across. I came back in to the deep water on a single maggot and pulled the rig as tight to the weed as I dared. After a few minutes the float slid under and I have to admit I was expecting a small perch on the end but the four feet of latex out suggested otherwise! After a sluggish but careful fight a small common nudging three pound found it's way in to the net, hurrah! Unfortunately no more followed so I fed half a dozen maggots on the line and went across.

After finding nothing over and with less than an hour to go I decided to concentrate on the deep line. By fishing red maggot over depth I was catching dumpy little 'wasp' perch quite regular, although I did miss a very slow bite on caster. If I came up to dead depth I couldn't get a bite. I decided to risk putting in a marble size ball of crumb. Dropping in over it and I seemed to have scared off the perch, or maybe it was the lump that I foul hooked when I lifted the rig up! I didn't have it on for long as it made it's way into the weed and I could feel it on in the weed for a few seconds before any hope of getting it out were extinguished by the rig pinging upwards! The last spell of the match I just plugged away on wasp perch.

After the whistle while packing away word came round that the angler who I was told had one carp in the middle of the match had five (and lost as many), plus three or four others had caught late carp. They'd have to wait though as I was on the scales and had loads to pack away! My one carp was 2lb 15oz and I had 10oz of bits which was good enough for about 5th. A few ounces short of 30lb won where as second was just 6lb 2oz was second (one carp) and two of the three others that had one carp had fish that were bigger than mine.

Next weeks winter league is looking like a lottery at the moment now, with the weather forecast to be cold all week (it's snowing out as I write this) and as lottery's ain't kind to me (I've never even won a tenner on it) I shall not hold my breath!

W/L Round 1 (Jan 31st)

Well, typically the weather all week hadn't been that bad but come the weekend and the snow and frosts were back! A cold Friday night with a dusting of snow, plus an even colder Saturday night meant that the start of the winter league was shaping up to be a hard one indeed.

Arriving at the venue and a layer of ice about 1/4 inch thick covered most of the lake, apart from a few pegs which must have had the wind on them overnight. A quick walk around and there were still fish in the reeds pegs, the fish clearly visible not only knocking the rice but swimming through them. Obviously I fancied drawing one of the three pegs in them but by the time I got to the draw bag they were all gone! I was torn about the peg I'd drawn (66) as it's a peg I've done well off whenever I've drawn it. It was also one of the pegs that had no ice on it. On the minus side it's recent form has been terrible, hardly producing anything in the last few matches. Also while it didn't have ice in it that did also mean it had been exposed to a cold wind and as it's a relatively shallow peg I didn't think that would help.

Looking at the peg after putting my box down and I did think it may produce but I really wanted the sun to break through as it would be on the shallow water on the point of the island all day and hopefully encourage a few carp to move in. With the peg having no roach form it was looking like a carp or bust day which was not what I really wanted on a day when you really need to be weighing in. First line up was for the pole at about 14m towards the island in about three and a half feet of water (the bottom slopes up rapidly past there and the water is quite clear so I didn't want to go shallower) This comprised a 4x12 Preston Chianti on .125 line to an 18 B611, lakky was a soft 10 latex. The second line was for down the track just where the bottom started to slope up. Fished at an angle to my left at 11m float in about four and a half feet of water float was a .3gr Preston Classic 10 while the rest of the rig was the same as the last. The far bank rig also doubled up as a margin rig at 11m to my left in the margin towards a small overhanging tree. Last up was the bomb rod to fish towards the point of the island.

At the start I elected not to feed across, at least to start with, while I started on the lead hoping for an early carp. I did feed a tiny amount of casters on the other two swims, but the track line got four grains of hemp too. A single grain of corn was hair rigged and then cast nearer the point of the island to the right, landing about two meters short in around four foot of water. Unsurprisingly no liners were forthcoming so after quarter of an hour I bought it in and re-cast it, a little nearer to me but a little closer to the island. Just as I was settling down with a cup of coffee the angler next peg up, in the open water lifted into a fish on the pole. It looked a good fish too, about 6lb. Not long after this I had a liner, twice the tip pulling round a good four inches. I left it a few minutes but nothing materialised so I re-cast it a touch shorter. At this point I could see another angler in the open water (on the peg I had last week) playing a fish. While I was watching this the angler next peg fed a big cup of pellets where he'd had his fish. I kid you not after only minute the oil 'plinks' from the pellets were visible clearly in my swim!

As you'd expect that was the end of his swim, where as mine was a similar story and I have to say I finished the same as two of the last four people (if my memory is right) had from the peg-fish less! I was sure that if the sun came out some carp would have moved in to the shallow water by the island but the sun didn't come out - in fact it even snowed a bit. I finished the day fishing pinkie on a small hook under the marginal tree to my left hoping to avoid the dreaded DNW but other than the one liner I never had the slightest sign of a fish, and finished dry as did three other people. What an awful way to start the campaign! While the worst result from six can be dropped after just one match it's now going to be near impossible to retain the trophy. Not only that but now on two of the four occasions I've fished this year I've finished bite less, not a good start.

The match was won from the reeds pegs (surprise!) with 27lb something on corn, and that peg now has won the last three matches now. 13lb was 2nd, from the next peg and two 6lb weights (one carp each) were next. Unfortunately from now bread has been banned (it was allowed, as long as it was punched) so one deadly winter method had been ruled out.

Nest week should be an open on lake one in preparation for the 2nd round on there the week after. How it will fish is any ones guess as it's been hardly fished since before Christmas due to the weather. I'm expecting it to be hard, which is a shame as I really could do with a nice days fishing and a few bites having successfully avoided drawing a winter flier so far! Roll on summer.....

Sunday 24th January

It has to be said that this Sunday it was nice to arrive at the venue and for there not to be a single piece of ice in sight!

I quite fancied a draw in the 70's, being quite sure that as they all hold cover of some sort that they would probably be the pegs to have. I was slightly torn about the peg I drew (69) as people seem to favour the area as it's deep, yet I think sometimes when it's been very cold but the fish look for slightly shallower water that warms up a bit quicker.

Plan for the day was simplereally with two pole lines, one at 12m and one in the left margins where there are some sparse underwater stick-up's. Lastly I put up my trusty bomb rod to fish a strait lead past the pole line. With no wind I could get away with a light float in the near 7ft of water, using a 4x14 Preston Chianti. I had just over 5ft of water in the edge but the rig here was the same. I also put a shallower rig up using a 4x12 float with strung shotting, so I had at least one rig to try shallow on each line (two obviously on the longer line) All the pole rigs were on .12 line to 18 hooks, lakky was a soft 12 latex on the deeper rigs and grey hydro on the shallowest. Lastly for the bomb I had a variety of hook links tied up to allow me to try either punch or corn (singles and multiples) at varying lengths from the lead.

On the whistle both pole lines received a tiny amount of hemp, two grains of corn and a few casters before I baited the bomb with a single grain of corn and cast it a couple of meters past the pole line and to the right (where I had a fair amount of open water, I had a peg nearer to the left, and opposite to the left) It didn't take long before I had a slight twitch but it never developed. I left it about twelve minutes before re-casting, this time a touch closer in and more in front. After only a minute I had a proper liner which pulled the tip a good few inches round but again another ten minutes on that spot produced nothing. The third cast went directly in front, about 6ft behind the pole swim but gave nothing in 12-15 minutes. I have to admit that worried me as the last time (not counting when there was ice) I drew the area (peg 68) the only fish I had was on my first cast!

Deciding on a change I swapped the hook link for one with a longer hair and tried punch, casting to the spot where I'd had the proper liner. Again after only a minute the rod pulled steadily round, but this time it kept going! What felt like a decent fish kited round to the right for a few seconds without taking any line, then just as I was going to undo the clutch a bit it pulled off! I was not best amused.... Checking the clutch on the reel it seemed fine, set as it has been since it was last used, but I decided to slacken it two 'clicks' anyway in the hope that the situation would not be repeated.

The lost fish spelled the end of any movement, even liners. I went through the motions the next few casts but nothing happened, until an hour and a half in when totally out of the blue and just as I was about to give the pole a go, I had a savage pull before the tip dropped totally slack. After a few winds of the reel I made contact with the fish which rather plodded it's way to the net. At about 3lb the common had taken a single grain of corn cast strait in front but a few meters behind where I had fed the pole line. I gave the bomb another go on the same spot but nothing came of it.

Going on the pole it was again a case of going through the motions as like the pegs around me, I couldn't buy a bite, not on any bait or at any depth. At this point odd fish had been caught but only at the ends of the lake. Back on the lead and it was more of the same, not even a liner was to be had. The others in the open area where I was had ceased to get liners too, and with an hour and a bit to go the angler nearest (and opposite) packed up fish less. I'd been flicking a few maggots over the pole swims every 7-8 minutes after my first try on them, in an attempt to provoke a response even from a roach but I couldn't get the slightest sign of a fish anywhere.

Heading in to the last hour I decided to sit it out on the tip, so finding the biggest grain of corn I could I dropped it a few feet to the right of where I had caught the fish. After about ten minutes, and totally out of the blue the rod absolutely wrenched round and a couple of minutes after a common of about 4lb joined the other in the net. At least he wasn't lonely now! The late fish did bring hope of a late feeding spell but it wasn't to be, trying back where I'd had fish and even trying the furthest I'd cast, and leaving the casts 15-20 minutes I had no further joy. I think there may have been a slight twitch of the tip very shortly before the end but I was packing the pole rigs away at the time and didn't have my eyes totally focused on the tip.

After the match I was kicking myself for losing a fish on a hard day as despite hearing that one of the reeds pegs had produced a good weight nobody else had more than three carp. The top weight of the day was that one peg in the reeds, having 42lb of carp on punch I believe, where as two fish for 13lb was 2nd and just over 10lb was 3rd. My two carp went 7lb 2oz and was just enough for 4th. The lost fish had almost certainly cost me a place, and maybe even 2nd so while I was kicking myself for that at least I caught-the only person sat in the open water, and in the middle part of the lake to catch. The five or so others who had carp were all sat at either end of the lake.

Next week signals the start of the venue individual winter league (delayed due to the weather) so I'm hoping for a good start to the defence of my title. That said, the coming weeks weather looks none to clever so even it's it's not frozen it's gonna be hard! Check back in a week and see!

Sunday 17th January

Well, I have to admit that last week I let the weather get the better of me! With snow and a cold wind forecast, and the fact that I had a cold I really didn't fancy smashing ice again, so I didn't, I stayed at home!

Back to this week anyway... News was that the lakes were mostly thawed out on Saturday so I left the ice breaker at home. Trouble was that with the water already very cold a slight frost Saturday night put a coat of ice (albeit not that thick) back on the lake.

I was fairly happy with my draw. Peg 70 has a few straggly reeds to the left where I thought I'd be able to catch a few roach, while the tree at about 6m to the right is normally a good margin spot. The water was as clear as I've ever seen it and I could see the bottom under the tree so I didn't expect to fish right under it, but with near 4ft of water at the end of the tree, coupled with the sun being out and on the bank I did think it may offer the chance of a late carp. I couldn't break the ice as far out with the pole as I wanted, managing to about 9m out, not quite far enough to get to the bottom of the slope of the small island.

The three rigs I put up were as follows- A roach rig for just beyond the stick ups to my left in about four and a half foot of water. This was a 4x12 DC10 float on .12 mainline with a .09 hook link to a size 20 hook. Lakky for this was a doubled 5. The other two rigs (under the tree and on the edge of the ice) had the same line, hook and lakky, both on .125 line to an 18 hook and a 10 latex elastic. The only difference was the float sizes, a 4x12 for the margin and a 4x14 for the longer line. Depths were four foot and a little over five foot respectively.

On the whistle the roach line was fed with a pinch of hemp with three maggots and casters. The long line had more or less the same while I didn't feed the margin to start with and dropped in down there. I thought with the sun being on the bank and the cover that I might be able to nab an early carp but after five minutes with no joy I fed a few maggots and casters here and dropped on to the roach line. With it having a few minutes to settle I expected a response pretty quickly but it never happened. I gave it a few minutes, flicking 2/3 maggots over the top regularly but it just didn't go. I was surprised but not unduly worried as apart from the next peg along nobody else I could see had caught.

Coming up to the hour mark I'd tried all the swims but with no joy, and the reflections on the 9m line made seeing the float awkward. News came round that odd people were sat on pockets of small fish but it was feast or famine and as I was an hour behind in a small fish race I decided to abandon the roach line. I wasn't happy with the reflections on the 9m line as it was making it near impossible to see the float with a facing sun, plus it was a bit short of where I wanted. Oh how I wanted my ice breaker! Then an idea; a 3 inch thick two foot long on the bank, which was rapidly lobbed out on to the edge of the ice smashing it about a meter back. After a quick clear out with the pole cup I fed a couple of maggots and a small pinch of hemp on the line before leaving it.

Dropping in under the tree and a few tiny knocks showed on the float. Lifting and dropping the same happened again. I decided to try a smaller hook on the rig, trying to just catch a fish. First drop and a small roach came in, my first fish of the year! Two more followed in the next two drops but then they faded away. I went over the longer line and no sooner had the float settled it dipped away but I missed it. A small roach followed next chuck but no more came.

Nothing else had happened going in to the last hour, while three or four anglers had been regularly catching small roach. The only signs of fish in front of me were on the longer line. With three quarters of an hour to go the float dragged to the left a few inches before slipping away. Lifting up expecting a small roach to be on the end I was surprised when the number 10 latex made it's way under the ice. After a few minutes of delicate playing a mirror of about 2 1/2lb was in the net, YYYEEESSS! A liner next chuck led to nothing so I fed three maggots and the same of hemp on the line before having an unsuccessful try in the margins again. Two more small roach were all that found their way in in the last half an hour before the whistle went.

My first carp of 2010 tipped the scales at a whopping 2lb 15oz and the roach 2oz between the lot of them, but it was enough for my first win of the year with nobody else on the lake catching a carp. Second was 1lb 14oz of small roach and a few other weights over 1lb were weighed in.

Hopefully by next week all the ice will be gone and we can resume normal winter service! See you then...

Sunday 3rd January

Well, the New Year has started the same as the old one, that is cold! Oh, and with a lot of ice! I can't be the only one who's fed up with it...

With a surprisingly good turn out and more than one ice breaker present (plus the boat and some weed rakes) the required number of swims were cleared super quick and the draw was only a few minutes late! I fancied the pegs anywhere in the open water (67-72 were the ones in) so with due aplomb my hand came out of the bag with peg 62! Yes, I've finally managed to draw it, but typically weeks after I'd have wanted to, and weeks after a carp was last caught in a match!

Plonking my box down and my first task was to clear the ice again, as it had only been smashed and it was starting to freeze up again. Drawing the peg put me in a bit of a dilemma as last week the island pegs had not produced anywhere near the numbers of roach as the other pegs, plus they had shown late. The corner, with a few stick up's in it had the morning sun into it and the peg had been (up until the freeze up) THE peg for carp (which is why I drew it for the first time in two and a half years fishing at the venue, when no carp have been showing!) So I decided to have a gamble and put a rig up for carp next to the stick ups, while feeding a near roach swim as last week. The carp rig was on .12 to an 18 hook and grey hydro - not too heavy but I'd imagine any carp hooked would be very sluggish. This rig had a small 4x10 float in just over 3ft of water. The roach rig was the same as last week but with a lighter lakky (lesson learned!) chancing trying doubled elastic again, with a double 5 hopefully soft enough not to bump any better silvers but give a fighting chance with any carp.

On the whistle I fed three casters, the same of maggots and a tiny pinch of hemp on the 4m roach line before trying the longer margin line (I decided not to break across) at 7m with bread punch not feeding. I decided to leave the roach line till I saw other people start catching off theirs.

To cut a long story short (four hours and forty minutes shorter to be precise, I packed up a bit early!) I never had a bite. The two pegs to my right never had a bite either and I only saw four tiny roach caught all day with three of the five people I could see blanking. I spent the majority of the day on the carp rig, mostly on maggot but for what it was worth I may as well have been fishing on a 20mm boilie. Even with the sun in the corner my peg was freezing up all day and while the corner looked like it could produce a fish I don't really think I was ever in any danger of doing so!

So, the New Year hardly started with a bang but I did get to enjoy Man U getting dumped out of the FA Cup by Leeds which provided some amusement, and as the sun was dropping, along with the temperature I packed up at the final whistle as I was fed up with clearing the ice every five minutes. As I thought the open water pegs caught roach with 3lb 11oz winning, and while nobody had any decent fish they had a lot of bites with the winner having 150 odd fish!

I have to say I'm rather fed up of the weather now and am contemplating waiting until the weather picks up a bit now, which looking at the long range weather forecast may not be for a while.... I'll let you know what I decide next week!