Sunday 27th February (W/L Rd 3)

After last weeks match I was looking forward to this round of the winter league as the fish seemed to be spreading out at last. I did walk around the lake before the draw and it was noticeable that the water was starting to colour up, hopefully from fish moving around! Peering into the reeds on peg 72 they were solid with carp and it looked like it would be the peg to draw. Other than that the only thing I noted was that I didn't want to draw peg 53 in the corner as the cold north-easterly wind was blowing strait into it. I also have a love / hate relationship with that peg, largely hate!


I drew in my customary late position and thankfully 53 was gone (normally saying I don't want a peg guides it into my hand in the bag), although 72 was also gone. When peg 70 came out in my hand and I was pretty happy with that as it gives you the option of shallow water in the edge under a small tree, deeper water in the open plus the small island to fish to, although the bottom is very up and down near it and not the best for fishing.


Putting my box down on the peg it was noticeable that there were a lot of small roach topping and I figured that may mean that the maggot approach that's worked well lately may be a no-goer. I didn't plumb up too close to the small island, experience told me it's about four and a half foot deep in front of it, and that also there is a root or similar snag halfway along it! I set up a rig to try shallow against it early at 14.5m, hoping to snare a fish on punch early. This was a 4x10 Preston PB2 set at about two and a half feet deep. Line was .14 to .125 to a 16 B611 and 11h lakky. The rig I thought would be the main line of attack was at about 12.5m were the bottom was shallowing up. The rig here had the same hook and lines as the shallow rig but the float was a 4x14 Preston Chianti in about five foot of water. Lakky here was also 11h. My margin rig was at 6m to my right just under the edge of the tree, in not quite 3ft of water. This rig was on .14 direct to a 16 B611 and on 13h elastic. Float was a 4x12 Chianti. I'd like to have used a lighter float but fishing that way was facing into the wind and the heavier float held the rig better in the skim. Lastly, with the colour back in the water I figured it was worth a gamble having a 2+2 line again, hoping it could be worth a bonus fish in the last half an hour or so. This was just my side of the deepest water in near 6ft of depth. Float was a .3gr NG Floats decker, but with the same line, hook and lakky as the margin rig. Bait-wise on my tray I had corn, caster, maggot and some softened micro pellet, with some 4mm expanders for the hook.


On the whistle I fed the 12.5m line with a tiny ball of micro's and four maggots, while the margin line had a small pinch of caster and micro's. Baiting up with a large piece of punch I shipped out to the small island. It didn't take long for the float to bury but I missed it! I suspected small roach as they were topping out there. Dropping the rig back out and the same happened, while the two anglers opposite had both had small roach on maggots. I baited up with a tougher (and bigger) double punch and the roach seemed to leave this alone. After ten minutes without a sign here, trying it along the island I came in and swapped for the main rig. With double maggot on the rig it went strait away and a roach of about 1oz went in the net. I was already a long way behind peg 72 mind, as they had three carp already! In fact at this time I'd seen six carp caught, all to my right off the increasingly stiff and cold breeze.


I plugged away catching small odd small roach on maggot, introducing tiny balls of micro's with odd maggots when after 45 minutes I decided to slip on a pellet. A longer wait for a bite gave me hope the roach would leave it alone but when it did go it was an even smaller roach! At this point I decided to introduce odd grains of corn so something that the micro roach wouldn't eat was left in the swim. I also topped the margin line as in all probability the (now annoying, where were they when we had the ice!) roach had eaten all the bait there. I had another try on the long punch rig, and on corn on the main line but with no joy. With peg 72 running away with it easily now on the hour and a quarter mark I dropped in under the tree to my right on double maggot, hoping that their catching had pushed odd fish out of the back of the reeds towards my margin line - no such luck! I had ten bite less minutes here before going back to the 12.5m line.


The wind had got quite bad and swirly now and corn or small balls of micro's were all I dared feed with the tow picking up. I'd moved all the shot down to keep the rig stable now and was having to plug away on either corn or pellet as maggot wouldn't touch the bottom for the tiny roach, although the odd one still managed to hang it's self on a pellet! With near half the match gone I decided on a double change, reaching into my bag I got some hemp out and decided I'd feed just that and odd grains of corn long to discourage the micro roach. In the margin I put another section on and plumbed down to the limit of my peg in the hope that 72 had pushed odd fish down (they had about a dozen by this point) I was never going to catch up with them, but no-one else I could see had more than three carp. I didn't feed the extreme margin of the peg, just put a large grain of corn on which would sink the float and dragged it up the slope. The float had been there less than ten seconds when I found myself attached to a carp of about 3lb. The next two drops were the same, waiting less than a minute for a bite! With three carp in the net it didn't do it a fourth time but I'd dragged myself up into the running. I risked a tiny sprinkling of hemp in the swim and left it alone. Up until that point 72 had slowed up, so they must have pushed the fish out of the reeds and behind them. I must have pushed them back ( I know, generous of me!) as they started catching quickly again after!


With just two hours left I decided on a drop on the 2+2 line where I'd been regularly dripping single grains of corn. I wasn't overly surprised when I didn't have a sign on it so I fed a small punch of hemp with the cup on it and carried on feeding it as I had, keeping it in mind for a late fish. Going back on the longer deep swim I had my first sign of a carp there when I had a definite liner. It had started to warm up just a touch now and the wind had eased slightly and was no longer a problem to my presentation, allowing me to spread the shot again. I was hoping that a combination of that and the regular drip feeding would bring a late burst out of the swim, and not long after the liner I had a proper indication on corn. I have to say that for all the world it looked like a proper bite, but the fish that I lost after a minute felt suspiciously foul hooked! Back out and a few minutes later I had another bite on corn and this one wasn't foul hooked, a ghostie of about 3lb joining the others in the net. I topped up with just four grains of hemp and one of corn and five minutes later found myself attached to another carp which felt bigger than the others, and a few minutes later a mirror of about 6lb was in the net. I repeated the trick and perhaps ten minutes later another bite saw a common of about 4lb in the net.


The indications faded after, so with forty minutes left I rested the swim hoping for one last flurry off it. I was almost certainly ahead of everyone I could see now, with the exception of peg 72 who had about twenty carp by this point! No indications came off the 2+2 line, and I had one bite in the margin which I lost and I suspect was foul hooked. The sun peeped through as I shipped back out to the long deep line, and I didn't wait long for a bite with carp number seven joining the others in the net, again it was a common of about 3lb. Next drop and again I had to hardly wait as another pea-in-a-pod common was in the net. The last twenty minutes didn't produce a proper bite, but it did produce a few liners as the warm sun bought the fish up. In hindsight I should have tried the shallow rig over the line, but never mind!


I didn't walk round at the weigh in, and had gathered a small crowd behind of people listening to the Carling Cup final on my radio! Surprisingly the island pegs hadn't fished, even the ones out of the wind and it had been much patchier than the week before with some people not having carp. Just 15lb was top weight when the scales got to me, with my fish going a few pound more than I thought, totalling 28lb 1oz. Weighing in peg 72 was a formality really as they were run away winners with 73lb, but nobody else managed double figures after them.


In terms of the league I was surprised to see that even after my round two disaster I was in fifth (not counting this result), but I finished ahead of everyone above me and closed the gap up, and with three rounds left and the worst result to drop it's still all to fish for. Hopefully now as we just nudge into March and hopefully spring we should see an end to barren pegs and hopeless draws!

Sunday 20th February

After the disappointment of last weeks winter league I was eager to catch a few fish and get back on track, nothing worse than not catching when others did! I didn't walk round the lake before the match but I saw a fish top in the open water, while those that looked said there was little movement in the favoured reed pegs, but some fish showing around the back of the island (peg 59)


I was one of the last to draw and hadn't taken any notice of who'd drawn where, but I wasn't best pleased when peg 48 came out in my hand! Regular readers may notice that it's a peg I've drawn twice in recent times and haven't had a bite off it in ten hours fishing. I wasn't best pleased it has to be said, and did let some people know!


Putting my box down on the peg I was weighing up my options and decided on just two lines, one for near the island and one somewhere else! In what is a shallow peg I decided to plumb long and round to the left and try and find somewhere with a better depth than the 4ft in front. After a long while plumbing I found the bottom of the island slope at 13.5m to my left, fishing in the reflection of the biggest tree reflection on the left of the picture. I had about five and a half feet of water here. This rig was a 4x14 Preston Chianti, while my island rig in about 3ft of water was a 4x10 Chianti. Both were on .14 line to a .125 hook length to an 18 hook and on Preston 11h elastic. Lastly I had a rig to try punch shallow over the island line. Set initially about two and a half foot, the float was a 4x10 PB2 on the same line as the others but with a 16 hook and on grey hydro.


Just after the whistle (I spent that long plumbing up I wasn't ready!) I fed the left hand swim with two grains of corn and four casters, then I baited up with a large piece of punch and tried the island line. After establishing that nothing was hiding along the island I fed it with a tiny pinch of crumb and four pinkies before trying a grain of corn in the deep swim. Five minutes here and no signs so it was on to maggot, a single red on the hook and just three maggots into a small cad-pot. I'd been in the swim no more than to or three minutes when the tiny speck of float blinked under! After a surprisingly lively fight a common of about 2.5lb was in the net. Repeating the process I gave it ten minutes without a bite before I decided to swap lines, not wanting to push it.


Shipping out to the island I was optimistic of a bite as odd fish were now starting to cruise round the island. The only response I had after tipping out the tiny pinch of crumb and pinkies was a liner approaching the hour mark, while the nearly everyone I could see had a carp now, while the peg opposite had three! Back on the deeper line and the three maggots were tipped on the float. Only a matter of minutes later and the single red maggot done the job again, a small common the twin of the first was in the net. Ten minutes later and again the tiny speck of float dipped under again and a bigger common of about 4lb made an appearance. The next bite barely took a minute and a small ghostie of about 2lb joined the others in the net.


Predictably the flurry of activity slowed so I left the swim alone and went back to the island. The next hour was slow and the only sign of life was a liner closer to the island despite rotating the swims. I did keep seeing good sized mirror cruise along the margin to my left. It would reach my nets and then cruise off. I decided to have a try in the edge, and a quick plumb up revealed that under the end of one piece of overhanging vegetation the depth was identical to the far bank area I'd plumbed up. I fed a pinch of casters and three grains of corn and left it alone while I had fruitless tries on the other two lines.


After leaving the two long lines I topped up each one, a tiny pinch of crumb and pinkies to the island and just three maggots on the deep line. I slipped a grain of corn on the rig and dragged it up the marginal slope. I have to admit despite seeing fish down the edge I was surprised when the float went after about thirty seconds! The amount of lakky showed it was a much bigger fish than the others I'd had and after a few minutes the same pale (well, I'm certain it was!) mirror that I'd seen cruising up the edge was in my net. A useful lump of about 8lb! By now I was getting a fair amount of stick, generally along the lines of "not bad for a (insert your own choice of four letter word!) swim!" I didn't expect to get another bite down the edge so I fed the same small pinch of casters and corn down the edge and left it.


It was a slow response now, with the island line giving no bites. With just under an hour and a half left I had another bite off the deep line, again to single red maggot. This was a decent fish too, a common of about 6lb which required the use of the pull-bung! Bites weren't coming fast and the next forty minutes gave me just two more bites. Feeding just three maggots every few minutes red maggot again done the damage and a common of about 6lb and a mirror of about 5lb gave me eight carp with about thirty minutes to go.


Sadly for me the last spell of the match didn't produce and I had to watch others catching odd fish. I missed two bites on maggot which led me to try past my swim, which very unsurprisingly didn't work. Back over the bait gave me a small roach so a switch to corn was tried. I missed a bite on this too before the match finished. I guessed my weight to be in the low to mid thirty's, but with someone else having eight fish and another having six including a double it looked like being close.


Being the third to weigh in 14lb was top when the scales reached me. I comfortably topped that, with my fish going 38lb 1oz. After finishing packing away just over 30lb was the next best weight, with a twenty and some high teen weights also going on the scales. In the end the lake fished quite well in the cold and the fish were spread out with everyone catching carp apart from the one angler who went home halfway through the match as they were getting beat both sides! With the weather looking to warm up in the week it's looking good for the winter league next week. Here's hoping for a repeat of the result!

Sunday 13th February (W/L Rd 2)

Why is it the weather on days leading up to the weekend are lovely, yet when Saturday night arrives so does the frost! After last weeks match I wanted a reasonably high number from the draw, anything from 14 (okay, but preferably higher!) would do me. I wasn't best happy then when peg 5 came out of the bag in my hand, the lowest number in......

Putting my box on the peg the only saving grace was that the water looked a touch more coloured than the previous week, but on the down-side no silvers showed in the area last week so it really was carp or bust. It was also in a rather cold easterly wind, but thankfully it was behind me. It was definitely colder than the other side of the lake that was more sheltered mind. The peg weighed in near 10lb last week, but that was mostly one fish on practically the last drop!

In the absence of silvers showing here my plan changed slightly- I had planned a rig for down the track in search of skimmers and roach, but as they were not there I figured I'd be better spending the time in search of carp. Two rigs were up for the far bank 15m away, a 4x10 Preston Chianti on .14 to a .125 hook-link and a 16 B611 in 3ft of water. This was on Preston 13h lakky. I also had a shallow rig for searching (or dobbing, as it seems to be known now) the far bank. This was on the same terminal gear as the other rig, but the float was a 4x10 Preston PB2 set about 2ft deep. Lastly I had a rig for the margins. This was really an all or nothing throw of the dice, but if I caught here they'd be big fish! My far bank rig was the perfect depth for here but I also had a heavier rig put up too, on .14 direct to a 20 Fox Series 2 hook and 15h lakky, just in case the big boys showed!

On the whistle I fed the margins with a pinch of micro pellets and casters with four grains of corn, before going across with a grain of corn, mostly in search of indications of fish! After ten minutes with no signs I decided to feed a tiny amount (four maggots) dead in front and then go on the shallow rig and search the far bank with punch. After near an hour of "dobbing" along the far bank with no signs I baited up with a single maggot on the deep rig and went across. I'd barely been in a minute when I had a liner, which was promptly followed by a large ghostie swimming out of my swim! For the next hour I plugged away on the far line deep, trickling in three maggots every few minutes in an attempt to make something happen. With the second hour coming in the lack of life was beginning to concern me, with not even a little perch or roach to show. I then decided to feed a tiny pinch of crumb in the hope of kicking it into life and then have a look in the margins.

I was just baiting up the margin rig with a grain of corn when disaster struck! The fishery boat was moored in the next peg, and just as I was going to drop in the edge someone walked up the bank and promptly dragged the boat out as they'd left there top-kit hanging up a far bank tree, not the disturbance I wanted! I carried on searching the far bank with the shallow rig, trying both punch and maggot, even going as far as 17.5m along the bank to my right where I had the most room. I was just going to drop down the edge again when somebody else walked along the bank. I have to admit I wasn't best amused, especially as words were had before the draw about not walking due to people being disturbed!

I decided to get a lighter rig out to fish the far bank, dropping down to an 18 hook on .12 and 11h lakky in the hope of getting a response, and going back over the fed line I actually did get a bite with an hour and a half to go.... a tiny perch! Working along every area of the swim I'd tried it was dead as can be, and even the angler next peg who was fishing just for silvers was struggling for bites. If they were catching I'd have considered doing it as catch-up, but they just weren't there! I'd tried everything I could think of to get a bite and was really just going through the motions when, with fifteen minutes to go I had a bite on punch long to my left (an area I'd dropped over a dozen times!), which I missed! I shallowed the rig up a bit, dropped in again in the same place, and just as I was thinking it wouldn't go again it did. This time I bumped it, putting my rig up the tree in the process. I didn't swear..... much! Predictably that was the last sign I had and to rub salt in the wounds the angler to my left who spent the whole day struggling for silvers (they had 4oz of them on the scales) caught a small carp about 3lb on their silvers line right at the death.

I was rather down on packing up, having struggled for so long then blowing my chance right at the death, losing a rig in the process. Twenty four pound (five carp) won from the peg furthest away from mine on the lake (peg 20) but just three 8lb weights made the next few frame weights (all in late numbers!), followed by a 6lb weight of silvers. I finished second from last with 1oz, ahead of one DNW. Other than not bumping that fish I'm not sure what else I could have done. Perhaps if I'd plugged away on a silvers line I'd have caught more (not hard) but there just weren't enough silvers present (I'd have had bites across if there were, I'm sure) to make it into a weight that was good enough for anything so I gambled on a carp to get a top 5/6 place. In the league you can drop your worst weight so this one will have to be it and I now need good results in the last four matches for a respectable finish. That's the plus side to the day, but it doesn't take away the fact that I packed up disappointed!

Sunday 6th February

It'll be nice to not be looking at the weather forecast for the weekend without having my fingers crossed, that's for sure! Fortunately, the worst of the gales seemed to subside and with much of Westside fishery being sheltered it didn't look too bad this morning. Nobody really knew what to expect mind, as it was the first match on lake one since the ill-fated Christmas match. This lake really seemed to suffer this winter, with it freezing as the leaves dropped. Thankfully the owner kept breaking the ice every day and the colour has now gone to it's normal winter look instead of the blackness from the leaves, and with the milder weather I was looking forward to fishing a different lake!


With no recent match form to go by no-one really knew where would be the place to draw, but I was happy when I pulled out peg 29 as it's generally a good winter peg. The wind wasn't too bad, although it did swirl round in the tree's a bit. The awkward thing was the rafts of floating debris that had been blown off the tree's and were drifting left to right and then back. I had three rigs up, two for the island at 16.5m and one for 12m down the track at 1 o'clock just where it had started to shallow up. All the rigs had 16 B611's to .12 hook-links, with the track rig having a .4gr NG decker in near 7ft of water. Lakky on this was grey Hydro. The far bank rigs were a 4x12 chianti in just over 3ft of water (I'd plumbed right along the far bank and had a few areas set to try along he bank), while the second rig was a 4x10 PB2 set to fish a foot off the bottom. Lakky on both these rigs was Preston 13h. Lastly I also put up a bomb rod just in case the wind got bad.


On the whistle I few a small ball of crumb with half a dozen casters and three grains of corn in down the track. I then went across to the far bank with a grain of corn hoping to snare an early mug fish. Ten minutes later I had no mug fish! A cupped across a pinch of loose crumb and four casters dead in front, and then tried caster on the hook. After about half an hour I was just toying with the idea of putting a small pot on to feed across regularly when the peg to my right had a carp. Pot on and double maggot on the hook and I had my first bite, from a tiny perch! Next drop produced an equally tiny roach before a switch to caster gave me a chunky perch.


Just over an hour in and the swirling wind was awkward so I had a chuck on the bomb while I set up an identical deck rig with a longer line above it. I didn't give it too long on the bomb as the floating debris was a pain catching the line. Back on the pole and I had a definite liner so I switched to the shallow rig. I missed a bite on caster but no more followed so I had a drop on the track line on double maggot. The float had barely settled when a small roach nabbed the bait. Another next drop so I tried a grain of corn but ten minutes later with no indications it was time to go back across.


With two hours gone going and no bites across I slipped on a grain of corn, and after a few minutes a definite liner was followed by a bite that I knew I hit late, which led to me having a merry dance for a minute or so with a foul hooked fish before it came off. Switching baits gave no response, even away from where I'd fed so on the halfway mark I decided to try something different, picking up my shallow rig and baiting it with a 9mm piece of bread punch (from a home-made copy of the old image bread punches that I made 18 years ago!). I dropped this in about two meters down from where I'd fed. The float had only settled for a few seconds when it ducked under and I had my first carp from lake one for nearly four months! Not a big fish at about 3lb. The next half an hour produced three more the same size before I had a spell where I missed three bites in the next twenty minutes, so with an hour and a half or so to go I left the swim, not wanting to push it.

A brief spell down the track on corn gave me two liners but no other joy so I shallowed the rig up four inches and dropped back across on punch. I had two 3lb'ers in as many drops before I hooked a fish that felt much bigger but disaster struck when the fish went under a big raft of drifting debris. After a minute or so of playing it with a large twig on the line it came off. I was really expecting that to spook the fish but it didn't take long for another carp to fall, again about 3lb. I then had a spell of two missed bites again before carp number eight fell with forty minutes to go. With no bites for ten minutes in the hot-spot I dropped the rig a meter further down the swim and the float buried instantly with the biggest fish of the day, with a ghostie of about 5lb falling.


I had no more bites further down the swim and the last spell of the match was spent searching the swim trying to find a bite, and with ten minutes left the original hot-spot again produced a fish. I was hoping for one more but with about three minutes to go the wind, which had become increasingly swirly, caught the pole as I was lifting the rig and put me up the far bank! With the rig wrecked I didn't bother to go back out with so little time and started to pack up as word round the bank was nobody had more than three carp.


When the scales got to me 12lb was the top weight, but while the lake had fished hard for carp everyone had caught fish which wasn't bad considering it was the first match for two months on the lake! There was even a near 7lb weight of roach. My fish went 32lb 14oz for the win, something I can hopefully repeat in next weeks winter league second round!

Sunday 30th January (W/L Rd 1)

With the first round of the winter league approaching (which was weather delayed!) I don't think I was the only person nervously looking at the weather in the run up to the weekend. Thankfully, Friday nights sharp frost didn't happen again Saturday night as the cloud increased in darkness. It didn't totally stop the ice though, with a small amount of cat-ice covering the top end of the lake from pegs 44 across to 75.


At the draw most people wanted a peg round the island, given that they were the most consistent pegs of late (and still more coloured too), but by the time I drew last weeks winning peg (59) was gone. I was quite happy with peg 72 in the reeds that came out in my hand though! Even though it was the shortest walk of the day I decided to take my gear in two trips, and when I came back to the car park to get my carryall I was told that for the second week running I'd drawn the golden peg - now that normally ruins the day!


In terms of setting up it didn't take long really (I'd made piles of rigs during the week in the evening, and filled my hook-length box too, no messing on the bank for once) as I only had one rig to plumb up. This was at 13m, where I swished the pole tip in the water to disperse the cat-ice that you can see in the picture. In the flat calm a 4x14 Preston Chianti in near six feet of water was my preferred float, on .14 line to a .12 hook link and an 18 hook. I also had a 4x12 Chianti set on the same terminal gear set to fish about 16in off the bottom. Both these rigs were matched to Preston 11h elastic. Lastly I had two rigs up for the edge, both Preston pink floats in 4x8, one set to fish a foot deep and the other to fish about 16in deep. Both were on .14 to .12 but with size 16 hooks and Preston 13h to steer the fish away from the reeds, which had started to knock once people had made their way around the lake. I was even ready a good quarter of an hour before the start, unusual for me!


On the whistle I left the margins and went out long with a grain of corn to see if anything was present before I fed. After five biteless minutes or so I cupped in four maggots long before picking up the shallowest of my margin rigs and dropping in the edge on an 8mm bread punch. I gave it ten minutes or so but with no signs I swapped over for the deepest margin rig, again with punch. This didn't take long to produce with a small common of about 2lb falling to the punch just as it settled. Not long after I netted this fish someone just along the bank also netted a fish, taken on the bomb and corn. About ten minutes after the first bite the punch on the same rig again produced, and a similar sized common joined his brother in the net. The next drop was again an instant response to the punch, but this fish was a touch smaller at about a pound and a half, but at least I was catching! At this point I also saw someone on the other bank take a fish that looked a good 6lb+, again on the bomb and corn. Just nudging the fifty minute mark my fourth bite gave me another small carp on punch, again about 2lb, before the swim again went quiet.


I had a bite less half an hour down the edge before deciding to try out long with maggot, pouring myself a deserved coffee before I shipped out! No sooner had the float settled to the pimple that I had it (held up only by grease and fished dead depth) than the faintest bite saw a typical winter brown goldfish fight, one long charge off before plodding like a bream, but at near a pound and a half (and after the last few weeks!) it was a welcome fish none-the-less. Nothing followed next drop so I potted in three more maggots and missed a bite on that drop, but no more happened despite working the rig so heading towards the two hour mark I came back to the margins.


Despite fish being present I couldn't get a bite on punch so I swapped to a single caster and quite quickly had a bite on this, again only a small fish of about a pound and a half but still welcome! I couldn't get a bite after this on either of my margin rigs, despite going back to punch and even trying maggot, so after a fruitless half an hour here I went back out long. Again fishing single maggot and not long after dripping three maggots over the float I had a very delicate bite just after I'd lifted the rig and left it to settle again. This fish felt much bigger than the others and after a sluggish fight a common of nearer 4lb than three was in the net. I again missed a bite next drop before nothing else followed, so not wanting to push the swim I came back in the edge.


Nothing fell fishing to the reeds to my right, as they'd seemed to have backed right into them, but I saw a group of fish to my right in the edge, so fishing left handed to reach into where they were I dropped in on punch. I could see some big fish swimming here, including a couple of sizable ghosties so I was thinking in terms of a bigger fish when the float plincked under, but the lively fight gave me another 2lb'er! Still, I was happy with the progress considering the cold, and the most I'd seen anyone else catch was two (albeit bigger) on the bomb and corn. I had no more bites down either side, trying both punch and caster and the shallower rig, and even dropped in further down the edges but after no bites I again went out long.


As had been the pattern here I laid the rig in, tipped out the three maggots and lifted the rig through the falling bait again, and this again produced a bite. This fish again felt bigger but the fight was livened up by the fact that it was hooked in the pectoral fin! In the net it was again nearer to 4lb than three. No more bites followed so with two hours to go I came back in the edge. I missed a bite on punch to my left but no more followed and then again I saw a group of fish to my right, tight in to the bank. Fishing left handed again the punch fooled another fish but despite the presence of the larger fish that I could see it was again a fish of about 2lb!


That last fish in the edge spelled the end to bites for a while inside, while going long I missed a bite but I'm sure that was a liner. With an hour to go I had a bite on the deeper rig in the left margin on punch, and I played a lively mirror of about 2lb to the net before it pulled off! That proved to be the last bite I had down the side, but rotating the swims each time I went long I had a carp, all of that slightly bigger size, and all on single red maggot. I never had two bites in a row but each time I rested it, it produced a fish! The bites were very delicate but I never missed any and finished the match with eleven carp and the brownie / crucian.


As the scales came round it was evident that it had fished very hard for everyone and as the last to weigh in the best anyone had managed was 12lb odd. A fair few people had caught one carp late but the cold had really knocked it for six. My fish totalled 32lb 10z on the scales for a perfect start to the winter league, oh and the golden peg! It wasn't a bumper pay-day though, as the winter league golden peg is separate to that of the opens, and of course it's only the first match! Still, it's nice to be catching some fish!

Sunday 23rd January

With this weeks open being the last match before the winter league I was rather keen to get on the bank and actually catch a fish- I really didn't want to be going in to the league without having caught a fish for over two months!


I didn't walk too far round the lake in the morning, just as far as the reed pegs which, as per usual, were solid! The water looked to have a touch more colour to it too. Normally in the winter the reeds or the open water are the place to draw but just lately the island pegs seem to have thrown up odd fish and the deep water hasn't. Apart from in the reeds peg 59 was the one most wanted as there were a lot of fish present round the back of the island last week, when it wasn't pegged! The fact that all the reed pegs and 59 were gone by the time I drew perhaps showed the merit of an early draw (drawing early doesn't work for me though!) but I was pretty happy with 62, a peg that tends to produce fish in the winter. It's also the first time I've drawn the peg in four years at the venue and been able to fish it properly, as the one time I drew it before it was frozen solid. On the downside, just I was was walking off it was drawn as the golden peg! A sure-fire kiss of death......


My optimism lifted a touch when I put my box down as the water seemed to be a touch more coloured round the island. The peg has a lot of room, with the point of the island in front but a long margin to the left with a few stick-ups. With so much room I had five rigs up to allow me to experiment with the swim and find some fish. First up was for the side of the island at 13m in just over 3ft of water, which also usefully doubled up for about 12m down the edge, in a gap of some stick-ups. I also had two shallow rigs for the edge, although they would also be tried across. I also had two rigs up for fishing in the deep water, about five feet at 11m to my left and at 10m in the deepest water I could find out to my right, about 6in deeper. All the rigs had .12 hook-links with the shallow and right hand track rigs having 16 B611's, for punch on the shallow rigs and corn on the track rig. The other rigs had 18's on to fish maggot or pinkie. From where I was sat I could see a lot of fish swirling and moving in front of peg 59, but nothing had moved where I was!

On the whistle I fed a tiny pinch of crumb with four pinkies in across, while the left and right track lines got four maggots and three grains of corn respectively. I slipped an 8mm piece of punch on to the deepest shallow rig and dropped in down the edge on the hope that I could get a mug fish from the marginal cover at 13m. I had about ten minutes down the edge with no indications, lifting and dropping the rig and, with a longer line above the rig, flicking it away from the pole. I was just thinking about changing when peg 59 hooked a fish, which when netted looked a good 4lb+. Time to try across then!


I baited up with two pinkies and went across, and was pleased when I saw a group of fish cruise through, even though they were heading towards peg 59 who was now playing their second fish! After a few minutes I had a liner which lead to nothing so I re-baited with a single red maggot and put a tiny pinch of crumb with three pinkies into a tiny pole mounted cup. I tapped the bait out across, laid the rig in over the top and as it settled the float dinked under and I found myself in the unusual situation (of late) of being attached to a fish. It plodded across the lake like a bream, hardly fighting against the 11 hollo and keeping the pole low a common of about 4lb promptly came off just as I reached for the net. AAAAARRRRGGGH! How I didn't turn the air blue (or jump in after it!) I don't know. I hadn't put any pressure on it and my first fish for two months just slipped away! Back across on maggot and nothing more followed so I swapped to double pinkie and again filled the pot with a tiny pinch of bait. As I shipped out I saw a group of fish cruising up the island towards me and like before I tapped the bait out, laid the rig in over it and the float dinked under as it settled! After a very nervy fight (from me) I slipped the net under a common of about 3lb, and my whoop of joy was heard around the lake! I was really in strange territory when I repeated the process next drop in and found myself into a fish again, but around half the size this time.


After a very quick flurry I was wary of feeding too much so dropped in after without feeding but had no luck, so again I put a tiny pinch of crumb with three pinkies in the pot and went across. No instant bite this time so I reached for a well earned cup of coffee when the float dinked again, lifting one handed into the bite was no problem, but in the split second delay in putting my coffee down to enable be to ship back the fish came off. This time the air did turn blue!


No more bites in the next two drops and I decided it was a good idea to rest the swim, dropping onto the left hand track line on maggot. In the ten minutes or so I spent here peg 59 had another two fish, and I was just toying with going back across when I saw movement and a group of fish in the margin to my left. In with a shallow rig and punch and the fish cleared off as soon as the pole got anywhere near them, despite a longish line on the rig, so after a few fruitless minutes I decided that I would risk feeding the margin in the hope of encouraging the odd cruiser to go down. Just four casters found their way into the swim before I had a quick (and lifeless) drop back across, before trying the other track line.


The next couple of hours was a going through the motion exercise really- I never saw any signs of fish across, let alone having any indication. Peg 59 continued to catch odd fish, until the last hour when they started catching faster! Bankside gossip was that apart from 59 nobody else had more than two fish so I kept my head down tryng to craft a bite from the swim. Odd fish would cruise into the margin when I wasn't fishing it, but never came into the edge when I was fishing it, no matter how long I waited. I tried to the very limit of where I could fish to the point of the island, trying both on the deck with maggot / pinkie / corn or punch, and with the shallow rigs on punch or caster but never had (or saw) a sign of a fish there. I could however, see all the fishy movement in peg 59!


With twenty five minutes to go I had a bite over where I'd started on the island, again on pinkie and again laying the rig in over the tiny pinch of feed. A common of about 4lb graced the net before I missed a bite next drop and found myself attached to the far bank vegetation. I removed the rig without disturbance to the swim but after putting a new identicle rig on I never had another sign of a fish in the swim and I finished on three.


As the scales came round the opposite corner of the island to me had the top weight, with two fish for 7lb odd. Peg 59 comfortably topped that with seventeen carp for 52-10 and my three carp went 8-12. I was eventually pushed down to fourth with someone having four carp for 12lb odd, catching two fish late, and end peg 75 having two carp for 10lb something. Surprisingly, the favoured reed pegs in the 70's both blanked, even though fish were there.


So a mixed day really, I managed to catch a fish for the first time in two months, ending my worst ever run of blanks (five) but I didn't fish well, the two lost fish probably costing me second place. I never had enough fish in front of me to do anymore than that, I walked round to 59 after the match and there were loads of fish present along the whole back of the island, I saw more in a minute than I'd seen in my peg all day! The winner never fed a thing all day, yet I never had a bite unless I fed, albeit in tiny amounts. It won't be so easy next week on that peg in the first winter league round mind, as more pegs round the island will be in and they won't have all the space to themselves. Hopefully I've worked the rustiness (and all the blanks) out of my system and can have a good start to the winter league next week!

Well, At Least The Ice Has Gone.....

Well, the ice was gone last week too! I have to admit though that after spending another bite less session on the bank I didn't really want to write about it!

I was a little optimistic this week, as the weather had been mild for five days before this match meaning that although without doubt the water would still be very cold, it would have at least been rising in temperature. Arriving on the Sunday most of the lake was wind free, although you could hear the very strong wind whistling through the trees. There were two pegs in that I really wanted to draw; peg 72 in the reeds (it won last week, albeit with just 6lb, but the reeds were heaving on the day, as there were again) and peg 62 in the corner, with the (warm) wind blowing down in to it and with signs of fish moving. When I went into the draw bag there were only a couple of pegs left, including 62 and 69- both I'd have been happy with. What I wasn't happy with was peg 48, which has bad cold water form, and I'd already blanked off it not long ago!

Putting my box down I wasn't the most optimistic- it's a shallow peg and the lack of colour meant I could see the bottom in a good 2ft of water. With this in mind my rigs were kept away from the island a touch. A 10m rig fished at an angle to my left found the deepest water I could on the pole at about four and a half feet. I aimed to fish corn here and the rig was a .2gr NG Decker on .14 line to a .12 hook-link with a size 16 B611. I had two rigs up for the island (well, to the left of it rather than the front) at 13m. One to fish in not quite 4ft of water and the other for a bit further up the slope set at 3ft, which could also double up to try shallow over the deeper lines. Lines and hook-links were the same but with smaller size 18 hooks to fish maggot (a 4x12 chianti and a 4x10 PB2 were the floats). Lastly, I had a bomb rod up, both to cast a bit to left towards the open water and also to use over the island lines if the wind got too bad (it did at times during the day before dieing, I took the pic after the match) and also if fish were present on the shallower areas but wouldn't tolerate the pole over them.

Shortly before the start of the match I was buoyed by two things; firstly a group of fish cruised through my swim, following the island, and secondly the sun came out and was not only nice on my back but it also was on the water near the island, leading me to hope that any fish moving in the shallower water here may actually be able to be tempted to feed. Having seen movement I fed the 10m corn line with three grains of corn and four casters before dropping the bomb just past where I intended to fish the pole, hoping to nick a fish there without feeding and perhaps spooking them. I had a proper liner after ten minutes but it didn't develop so after near twenty minutes I changed hook-links and tried a couple of bits of punch. Again the swim showed signs of life in the sun so after twenty minutes without a proper bite I wondered if feeding something may encourage them to get their heads down. By this time peg 69 had two early carp from the deep water, and 72 in the reeds had one, as did 62!

After feeding just three maggots and the same of casters on the long line I had one more chuck on the bomb with corn, a bit further away from the island. Again I had liners but nothing that developed so after twenty more minutes the tip rod went up the bank and a single red maggot went on the long rig. With the pole going out it seemed to stop any signs of life, with no liners and no visible fish moving, even with a fairly long line above the float. I trickled odd maggots in hoping for some sign but it never happened so after half an hour I had a quick drop on the corn line, but this gave nothing. Buy now the sun had gone in and despite my best attempts at making something happen I never had so much as another liner for the rest of the day! Even searching the swim with punch on a long line rig and casting the bomb about failed to produce signs of anything. I still stuck it out to the whistle mind! With no sun on the peg the fish just went away...

For the last hour and a half I watched peg 72 steadily catch to comfortably win the match with 30lb 14oz. Peg 69 was second with three fish for 12lb and 62 was third with one fish of 6lb odd. In the last twenty minutes or so the two end pegs on my bank both had a carp each but the block of pegs in the middle of the lake (where I was) were just blanks. I have to say that the last few sessions now have really knocked by confidence and with a fortnight until the winter league I'm now really questioning myself and the way I've fished. I'm not sure I've done a lot wrong, just wrong place at the wrong time but I'm now toying with either trying something different or not fishing until the winter league starts.

The hunt for a fish continues........