Not Always A Flyer!

2006-06-19T13:26:00.000-07:00

What an enjoyable weekend!, I won owt but it did remind me of why I go fishing.

Briefly, for the first time in many years I was on a river for the glorious 16th, the darkness hours were suprisingly fruitless but in the early morning I managed a rather enjoyable time, having 17 'proper' slabs, an immaculate 4lb+ tench plus a fair few bits, mostly decent ones of 3-6oz+. The part that would suprise most is that I caught on the waggler, yes I do own some proper floats before those of you who know me ask!!!!!!!!!!

Sunday's pre draw was good, partly because for the first time in a few weeks I didn't have a hangover. There was good banter before the draw, despite the "rumours" that had been circulating about the venue, albeit from those normal sh1t stirrers that 'aint been to the venue and are going by what a friends brothers uncle told them last week and they have to add their own bit on the end (they know who they are) Unfourtunatly these people seem to exist all over the place.

Eeky had decided to fish this week, so as fellow Yid we had to add the needed remarks to those England fans who had "discoverd" Aaron Lennon at the previous Thursday's England game. News for you lot, we've been watching him do the same at The Lane for most of the season!

There was a slight bombshell before the draw, it was announced that carp would not count, now when the only bait I had (crumb excepted) was pellet and corn plus some two week old maggot thats a bummer. We had been led to believe the previous week that carp would count, either at their full weight or as 3lb and I was not the only one in the same boat. Bugger!

The draw gave me peg 16 ( I seem to draw round there a lot, I've been within a peg either side of it in 4 of the last 6 times there I think) the pukka thing was that I had good next peg
company with Shaun to my right on 17 and Ayrsie on 15. They are not good pegs, total rubbish in winter to be exact, but at this time of year you will get a few fish, trouble is your peg doesn't normally last longer than 1hr, I know, I've drawn there enough! I have to say me and Shuan were not happy with the pegging, he had two empty pegs to his right before the next pegs (taken by the old couple, no names, but as Shaun said, it was like being a carer in an old peoples home!) the thing was that due to the way the peg's were facing we were both looking at the same bit of island with loads of room to our right, not the best for sport as we both agreed. It doesn't help when two of you are fishing the same peg......

Rig wise, there is a rather steep slope next to the far bank reeds, a .3gr DC5 float on .13 powerline with a 16B911 was set to fish on the slope, a way of fishing I enjoy alot but others seem to struggle fishing 'balanced' on a slope. Bait for this was pellet and corn, feeding micro pellet and dampend loose crumb so they sat on the slope in about 5ft of water. I also put up a rig on the same line, float and hook for the margin swim hoping for crucians and tench, with a chance of the same and skimmers across, although the nearside line was rather more level. I also put up a rig for fishing 2ft deep to push tight into the reeds for carp, something I found worked well last year and to be honest after the initial flurry was the best way to put fish into the net and make the frame (shush, don't tell anybody!), not much good when they dont count though and it was destined to spend most of the day on the bank.

The first hour and twenty was good for me (I did well then, I got an extra 2o mins out of the swim!) and I couldn't get in quick enough, with a stream of crucians and two tench finding there way into my net on pellet, I also managed a carp of 4lb+ (which Shaun tried to steal in Lay By Lover style!) and to lose two others which killed both mine and Shaun's swim when they come off! also, I lost one tench probably through some enthusiastic playing after having a good first hour, oop's! After that it was a struggle for a bite and to be honest I doubt I put 10oz in the net after 11.30. I did try the carp rig occasionally as I didn't have bait to go for bits, but didn't give it long as it's rather pointless fishing for fish that don't count! Both Shaun and Ayrsie did well to scrape out fish late on to beat me both sides, Ayrsie managing a superb 18lb+ of mostly skimmers to maggot at the bottom of the ledge for third and Shaun caught two or three tench and some skimmers on worm for 14lb 14oz for fourth, just piping my 14lb 4oz of mostly first hour fish for the next place. It was noticable that neither me or Shaun caught at the same time, as we said before the all in may happen. That said, 3rd to 5th in a row from bad pags ain't bad, though I must point out that three good anglers were there!

So, beaten both sides (the tench was only about 2lb so it made no real difference) but one of the most enjoyable day's 'craic' in a match for a while. The "old couple" kept us amused, rigs up tree's, tangles and pole sections coming apart over the water all add's to the amusement. That with the fact that despite being good friends there were regular snipes between the two, mostly that can't be repeated here, but it reminded me why the club scene is more appealing to me than the local open's where some of the anglers seem to think they are special and too full of their own self importance to laugh. That to me (and alot of others) is not what fishing is about and my thanks go to the Ayrsie and Shaun for giving my back faith in fishing matches when my faith had started to wain, cheers lad's! 28lb and about 22lb were first and second of mostly skimmers, though the decision not to allow carp seemd a bit duff as many anglers had to put back not counting fish, over half of those that were their to be honest which makes it a daft decision in my book.

Next week is on Magpie next door to Atkins, I've already made my rigs up (a bit enthusastic) so I'm bound to draw a peg I don't want! I would list them 'cept I can't be bothered now as it's late, you'll have to look next week and see then!

2006-06-13T00:34:00.000-07:00

It's fair to say they were a few rough looking people at the draw this Sunday after the England game on Sat, myself being one of them! mood, hangovers excluded, the mood was good before the draw as the fish were not spawning like last time and the lake (Home Farm at Little Walden) looked good. Generally people were pleased with the weather and were expecting a good day, not me mind as I hate the really hot weather, typical really after a winter that seemed to last forever I still don't like the conditions!

I was not 100% happy with the peg I drew, peg 1 is a peg I've never done much good from and as it's shallow it doesn't really suit my prefered warm weather approach of fishing up in the water. I really must learn to fish paste.......

For next peg company I had Shuan Smith (complete with hangover also) to my left on peg 2 and Cast Around Ken to my right. Oh well, if shallow fishing didn't work no doubt I'll get to watch Shaun emtpy it on paste as he has got rather good with the stuff. Rig wise shallow fishing is nice and easy, two rigs, one with a Korum polyball for fishing between 3-8in deep and a small loaded dibber for fishing from 8-14in deep. No point putting any up for deeper as it's only 3ft deep infront and if they won't come up very shallow in that depth your better off trying to catch on the deck in my opinion, especially as the temp was nearing 30 degrees C! Black hydro to .15 and a 16B911 finished it off.

On the whistle the very shallow rig goes out followed by the first pouch of pellets ( pilferd off a variety of people as in my hungover state I forgot to pick up a new bag of pellets from the shed and the 1pt that I had would just not be enough!), I think I had got to about pouch 3 before I could see Shauns elastic out, I guess it was going to be a paste day then! after nearly 2hrs I was getting stuffed by Shaun with only 4 fish in my net and a distinct feeling that it just wasn't working, with hardly any liners or fizzing in the swim. Shuan had about 10-12 , though he would have had more had Porno Pete not put the mockers on it by telling him not to get too excited on the hour mark as his swim was about to die, which it did! I must learn how to do that.......

Right, sod this, the fish blatently were not there or not going to come shallow so I decided to (try) to fish paste, I needed it to work like nothing else though as I could see one or two other people (including Ayrsie, as always) catching now. One line at 8m and one in the margin to my left near a scraggly bush. Whoppie, a fish first drop, maybe I will get the hang of this paste mullarky, TWANG! off it came, aaarrrggghhh!

The last 3 hours were a bit hit and miss for me, Shaun started to bag again in the last hour with some big lumps, and his pole stood up to it this week aswell! I had little spells of thinking I had it sussed before it would go pear shaped. Still, I did come away thinking I had learnt a little bit about it and am slightly more confident on paste, still need a lot of practice though! I actually didn't bother to weigh in as I had drawn the scales and could see a two people (Shaun and Ayrsie) who had alot more than me and one or two others apparently had caught well, that said there was a little more weight in my net than I thought, perhaps 32-33lb, I've just had a thought aswell, that's my second best match weight this year, it's really not going too well this year!

Shaun had just over 82lb and as I expected he won (two in a row mate, well done!), Ayrsie had 63lb I think for second and Waggy had 44lb for third. Other than that I never weighed in anyone who would have had more than I tipped back (don't know the weights from the other set of scales, but I did weigh in 1st, 2nd and 3rd places) so I did better than I thought, scant consolation when I had been battered of the next peg though!

Next week it's off to Atkins Water, a mixed fishery with just about everything apart from pike and chub in it. At least I won't get beat by 50lb off the next peg there!

2006-06-05T00:03:00.000-07:00

A quick update on last weeks match at Over as I didn't find enough time to write it last week. Firstly, Shaun rememberd that there is a toilet onsite and didn't pee infront of the camera!

This time we fished the big lake as there were too many people to get on the smaller match lake that we were on last time. Much talk centered around peg 1 on the lake as it looked awsome. Now, Porno Pete has a rather good hand in the draw bag and I confidently told people not to make plans on fishing it as Pete would draw it, his hand goes in the bag and what comes out? peg 1! Hate to say I told you so.... not!

My peg was in the middle of the lake in the shallow part, the deepest I could find was 3ft just down the marginal shelf so I put up a rig to fish at about 2.5ft on the slope which doubled up to fish at about 9m where the level bottom shelved up onto the bar running down the lake. Gear for this was a fairly hefty Preston 15h hollo to .15 pwerline and a 16B911 as there are some decent fish in the lake. I put up a tip rod to fish with a small pellet feeder just short of the middle of the lake (about 20m out) with a .17 hooklength and a 14 eyed Preston Pro Carp Barbless hook to hair rig meat or corn. Bait for the pole was to be meat, corn and pellet.

To cut a long story short not alot happened on the whole lake! I had a bit of a numtpy spell losing two fish on the tip in the first hour as I was not paying enough attention and they made the weed, I'm sure they keep a lookout for when you pick up the flask, though the second time I was just not paying attention, fool!. Onto the pole gave my only two bites I had on that, both at 9m which gave two small stocky carp. Back on the tip gave me my only other bite and a carp of about 6lb and that was it for me. Darren shlford next peg to me had only two bites, one on the pole which smashed him and one on tip which gave him 11lb exactly for second, My two pasties and one proper carp went 7-12 for third, the lost fish cost me at least second and probably first, the match was won by Dick the "lay by lover" with a carp similar size to Darren's and a tench. Dick did however manage to cause some controversy about 10 mins from the end when Pete Lusher hooked a carp on the pole next peg to him and he shouted to Dick about 3 times that it was in his peg. Dick ignored him and then struck into a bite and found himself attatched to Pete's fish, needless to say Mr Lusher was not amused and a few swear words were aimed his way, especially when it came off both rigs and left them both holding long poles out into the lake with their rigs attatched to each others! I did suggest that Dick should be disqualfied for un-sportsman like behaviour but he was allowed to weigh in!

This week was at Longpond at Clare in Essex. Mood before the draw allround was good, the lake looked superb, the weather was superb and England had stuffed Jamaica 6-0 in the footie!
Shaun had bought himself a new pole for carping, a Shimano Exage so everyone had a look at it and it has to be said for the money it's simply superb. As always there has to be one fool who grabs the elastic and pretends to be a carp by running around the car park, stand up Porno Pete!
The downside was that Plop Plop had turned up in shorts, not a nice sight when you've had a late night on the beer I can tell you!

I drew peg 2, which looked nice but not as nice as flier peg 1 next door which had not been drawn. I had a bed of lillies to my left in the margins which looked nice for a few crucians, pellet down there on .13 powerline and a 16B911 would do for them and give me a chance if any of the big carp decided to feed there. There was a little shade from a willow to my right so I decided to feed caster here for roach and hopefully a chub or two. A soft 13h Preston lakky to .11 and an 18B911 as the water has good colour would do, and again should a carp come along it might just find it's way to the net. A tip with a pellet feeder was set up to chuck the 30 yards to a gap between trees on an island with the same hefty .17 hooklength and a 14 Pro Carp hook again.

The day was quite eventfull, but not for the fishing! I had a small crucian, a 1lb skimmer and two small tench in the first hour on the tip with hair rigged corn. First drop to the lillies to my left gave a small crucian, then a gudgeon and then never had another bite there. Back on the tip gave another small tench but the silver fish had started to spawn and ton's of liners from the carp ensued, trouble is they were eating the spawn! the only carp I hooked picked up a branch in my right hand margins and come off, it wasn't that big mind at about 4lb but I'd have rather had it in my net! I had an odd roach on the caster line but it was by no means prolific. I didn't catch in the last hour as I sat on the tip hopeing (praying) for a carp.

Anyway, why was the day eventfull? the first carp that Shaun hooked on his new pole broke it, which led to Shaun having a swim to get his top kit back from the lillies! it broke clean as can be and I'm sure it will be replaced no problem and he had the last laugh winning the match with over 14lb, one carp about 9lb and some decent skimmers. About 20 mins or so from the end Bailarm hooked a carp on the pole, now I'm not suggesting the way he played is was responsible for it braking though I did think it when I could see it high in the air, and I'm not the only person who thought so! Anyway at the end of the match Shaun being the good samaritan (and already wet!) went in to get Bailarms pole for him. He did have to put up with Darren repeatedly asking him why he was paddling as his big head would keep him afloat!

All round the lake had not fished great and only two or three carp were caught and there was a couple of low double figure weights but most failed to get double figures and my few fish went 6-12.

Next week is back to Little Walden and now the carp have spawned so with a bit of luck the good weather will hold and a good day will be had by all!

2006-05-21T09:59:00.000-07:00

Been a bit busy this last week so didn't manage to update last week, not that there was a huge amount to report on! The carp in Little Walden had decided to spawn so needless to say it didn't fish to well. I drew the same peg as last time and had 9 carp for 22lb and about 4th or 5th. Cast around Ken won with 29lb so there was not alot between the weights and I beat the pegs both sides which is always nice. The carp were spawinng that manically that they were managing to splash water onto my bait tray!

Highlight of that day had to go to Shuan Smith though, biteless after 45mins he was either dozing off/ daydreaming or just not paying atetntion but a fish managed to hook it's self. Nothing new you might think, but it must have been a ferocious bite as it made him jump strait off his box into the water! I just heard a splash, looked across the lake and there was Shaun standing in the margins infront of his box with 5m of pole in his hand playing a carp! There were some comments about him getting a bit exited about the carp spawning and had decided to join them, something he denied!

Todays match at Leland had a touch of De Ja Vue (yes I know thats not how you spell it!) in the fact that it was raining at the draw. Normally I draw quite late but decided that I would draw early today so a bit of pushing in got me into the bag second, peg 8, yyyeeess!!!, it might not have won a match (yet) but it had been second in the last three so at least there were some fish there to be had, I practically ran to it!

The peg it's self is obvious in how you approach it, you are just to the right of an island and the area around it is shallow and weedy, with lillies and pondweed but it does hold alot of fish including the big carp that are resident. After about 20+ chucks with a lead a clear area was found, on the corner of some lillies about 35-40 yard out. Now when I got to the peg there were fish bow waving across the shallow water, mostly carp but bream do live there. I saw one common head and shoulder that dwarved my PB common of 19-4! No place for silly gear then, 8lb line amd two hooklenghts were tied up, one with a 15 B711 hook on .15 (.17 really) powerline for maggots and one on .17 to a 14 preston eyed pro carp barbless hook for hair rigging meat or corn. Feeder was a medium Drennan cage.

At 14m to my right at an angle were some lilles so I put a pole rig up for here, .15 direct with a 16B911 on a 14 lakky with a .3gr DC5 float in about 5ft of water. Bait was red maggot, caster, corn, punched meat (8mm) with 4mm pellets and a bag of Dynamite Baits green swim stim for the feeder. On the whistle a big pot of caster and pellet goes on the pole line and out with the feeder. I had got to my peg so quick I didn't really know who had drawn were but a look across the lake saw Pete Lusher set up on fancied peg 24, I think Pete has arguably the best record on the lake so I fancied him to do well.

Now I hate sitting under brollies and with a gusty cross wind it was awkward to cast accuratly and the first 35mins produced two liners and alot of weed. A quick rummage in the box produces a smaller Nisa pellet feeder with more weight (28gr) cheers for them Tom, I knew they would be usefull!!! Out from under the brolly to cast and this is much better, 2 mins later and the tip pulls round and shortly after a 2.5lb bream goes into the net. A near instant bite next chuck, also on maggot gives a lively tussle (a fair bit of which was in the lillies!) with a 4lb male tench. Now we are rolling! a quick top up of the pole swim and back on the tip gives nothing but an odd liner for the next hour, not rolling then....

On with a bit of punched meat, out with the tip and the rod is nearly removed from my hand within a second! a huge bow wave goes across the peg and the .17 hooklength parts like cotton! thats 3-0 to the carp in the last two trips then! I was never in with a chance of even unclipping it was that savage, and I don't carry anything heavier! a quick tie up of a new hooklength and suprisingly a quick bite gives a slab of 3lb+, two more follow quickly, each bite taking no more than 90 seconds. The following chuck takes longer to produce a bite and just as I'm about to pick up the rod after 6-7 mins the rod wrenches round savagely and a huge bow wave goes across the peg and the yard or so of line before the clip is gone in a flash and the .17 powerline again breaks before I can unclip, thats 4-0 to the carp then!

The next few chucks produce nothing so it's time to try the pole (which I had been topping up every 30-40min) , a biteless 15 mins and back on the tip with treble maggot gives a quick skimmer of 2lb (they ain't bream at that size, it was still silver!) and nowt again and it then biteless on the pole and tip, though an odd liner showed that one or two carp were still about, not that I needed reminding as an odd one would poke it's head out infront of me, I had nearly bought a carp rod with me aswell!

Two quick bream an hour before the end on meat gave hope of a swim revival but it was not to be as it went quiet again. 10 mins before the end and some rather savage liners began to develop and I was expecting to get smashed again but no, 60 seconds before the whistle the tip goes round steadily and a bream of near 4lb finds it's self in the net as the whistle goes.

The fact that the scales were at my peg in about 10mins gave me the indication that not alot had been caught, cast around Ken having top weight so far off end peg 2 with 8lb 5oz. My net of snotties and one tench goes one ounce less than 30lb which comfortably won the match. Richard "Ayrsie" was second with 11lb 6oz which included a cracking tench of 5lb 15oz and Ken was third. I was also suprised to find that Pete Lusher had only had 3-10 which gave him a tie for the section with Wayne Thomas. Tony "bailarm" had the other defulted section with 6-4 off (I think?) peg 10 to my left.

Next week is back to The Manderson Trust at Over, which lake depends on the attendance. Oh, and lastly, one for the Arse-nil fans who have been giving all the lasagne/ food poisoning jibes, What goes beep, beep, beep, beep, beep? Arse-nils open top bus reversing back into the garage!!!!

See ya next week!

2006-05-07T10:49:00.000-07:00

How do you know it's a Sunday? normally because it's raining! Typically the week has been nice and dry and then Sat evening it rains, and then rains some more!

Spending 5hrs sat under a brolly is not great (o.k, it's better than work!) but also means it's a rather quiet day. The draw was rather quiet, most of the talk was about the rain infact and with Eeky not in attendance there was nobody to talk to about Tottenham's prospects for the afternoon, and thats as much as I'm going to say about that!

The draw produced a peg that I was not overjoyed to have, peg 4 has not produced a great deal in the recent matches with peg 3 being the flier peg to draw as it's an end peg in the matches with a big bush in the margins. Shaun Smith had drawn it for the second time in a row (he didn't fish last week, and it won the match) so he got a bit of stick for it. Trouble is when he draws fliers they don't tend to fish! Porno Pete was on peg 6 (5 doesnt go in as they are very close)My peg had a little bush over hanging at 5m to my right in the margins with 6ft of water next to it so a rig was put up for that, no messing with the gear, .15 powerline direct to a 16B911 on a 14 lakky. To my left at about 9m and a little away from the bank there was a decent looking lilly bed with a little over 6ft of water next to it so a rig with the same line and hook was put up for there, lakky was 15h Preston hollo. As nobody in the recent matches has caught much from the deep water (it's about 10ft 9m straight out) I didn't bother to put up a pole or feeder to fish there, pinning my hopes on tench in the margins, hopeing that as it was dull (the good side to the rain!) that they would feed all day. Bait wise I opted for corn and caster to the bush and pellet and caster in little fishmeal crumb in the slightly deeper water to my left.

Bait was cupped in onto both swims on the whistle and two red maggots go on and out to the left and it didn't even get to the bottom as a 2oz rudd snaffled them on the drop. The first silver fish in over 10hrs of fishing there! next chuck and the same result and I was happy to be getting a few bites after the previous weeks on there. One small bumped fish next chuck before I was in the familiar territory of being biteless! On with a little toss-pot to dribble in some caster made no difference so on the 45mins mark it's time to try the other swim, double maggot gave a micro perch and a small roach so double caster goes on, down goes the float and the strike is met with about 12ft of 14 lakky comeing out of the end and 5 mins later and a tench of about 4.5lb is in the net and the day's prospects don't look too bad, however, rotating the lines after this produces only an odd micro perch to maggot with no other bait producing any sort of indication.

From where I was sat I could only see 2 anglers on the other bank, as I was tucked in the bankside bushes, and they were only getting the very occasional small fish so not alot to go on. I could only hear Shaun on the next peg when the rain was lighter else the drumming of rain on the brolly was louder so I can't tell you what was going on with the bankside banter as I couldn't hear it!

The most exciting point of the day came at about 12.30 when fishing the left hand swim the float burried with double maggot and I found my self attached to one of Lelands rather large resident carp! (38lb is the lake record I think?) not for long though as about 15 seconds later it bust me probably somewhere past Shaun on the next peg. Even on the heavy gear I was on once it realised it was hooked it was never comeing back. Top up the swim, tie a new hook on and try the other swim. No indications here so it's back to the left. Down goes the float and Gav's attatched to another dirty great carp! I managed to get some sections on this time as it didn't fly off out like the last one, instead doing a tour of Shaun's swim, and then Pete's before deciding to go across the lake. Now, when you are hanging onto 13m of pole and a huge swirl comes up nearly 40yards out into the lake you know your in trouble, I didn't even know the lakky would go that far! needless to say that after a few big kicks of it's tail on the bottomed out lakky the .15 powerline gives up the ghost and the rig comes flying back at great speed and the rig needs another hook.

Sadly thats about as exciting as the day got as I had only 2 more bites in the rest of the day which gave a couple of smallish perch after giving the swim a dose of choppy attempting to kick start it but to no avail. At least it stopped raining just before the end. Shuan had failed to catch a tench from his "flier" though he did manage a pike of a couple of pounds, trouble is it didn't count! Shaun and me had drawn one set of scales and decided to get our bit done as we could leave our gear to dry out a bit now it had stopped raining. His bit's went 2-6, my tench and bits went 5-13. Porno Pete didn't weigh and neither did Bailarm on peg 7. Ayrsie on peg 8 (which is a flier if Dick the lay-by lover can frame off it!) had 14-12 consisting of 3 bream and 2 cracking rudd of 2-3 and 2-7, next peg after that had one tench and some bit for just over 6lb. Waggy in the corner had one tench and bits for over 7lb, one weight of bits under a pound and the last person to weigh was Mr Diawa, Pete Lusher with two tench and some bits for a big 9lb+ weight after starting an hour late after breaking his Spectron freeing a stuck joint when cupping in he had to go home and get a section off his old 412 to use in it's place. Thats the weights I know as I scooted off rather quick to check the footie results ( I know, I know!)

It's Little Walden next week so a few more bites should be in order, and then back to Leland again! Anyway, it's time to take out the wet stuff and get it dry.

Tight lines!

2006-05-01T11:03:00.000-07:00

Not alot to write about today, I don't normally fish the venue I was on today. As per normal bank holiday Monday weather it spent much of the early hours, till just short of midday peeing it down! There was not a great deal going on before the draw what with the downpour though there was a slight feeling that non-regulars were not totally welcome??? Nevermind, drew a decent looking swim on the newer lake of the two, next to my tackle dealer who from now on will be known as 'duff info' LOL!. I asked three people about my peg and was told "it's a flier!", and "it's O.K" and lastly "it's shite!" encouraging then!

The island was about 18m away, with a bay of about a little over 20m away slightly to the left but still in my swim. I plumbed up at 16m and was reasonably happy to find a fishable shelf with about 4ft of water. Trouble is that nearly everyone else I could see could reach the island with a pole, with exception to the angler to my left who was in a corner peg with a fishy looking bay! I was going to chuck a method right into the slight bay in my peg but was then told not to bother by "duff info" as it is full of weed and being as he fishes the two lakes on site 40 odd times a year I decided to listen. I later wished I hadn't!!!!!!

On the whistle I cupped in some bait at 16m (pellet and caster) and at 10m down my left margin into about 3.5ft of water on the marginal shelf. I started on the long line with double maggot but as is typical the wind also blew on the whistle and after 10 mins of struggling biteless I loaded up the method feeder to chuck to the point of the bay. First chuck and a stonking drop back gave me a 10oz tench, not a bad start as the only other fish I'd seen was on the next peg catching plips. Nowt else had happend in my peg for another 90 mins apart from me topping up each swim every 30 mins. I decided to try the long swim again with double maggot, the float settled and burried and a perch that resembled a wasp whilst being swung in in the wind resulted! After 4 hours very little had happend, too my right had had a few bit's but his swim had died and the chap to my left had had 2-3 reasonable perch and lost two foulhooked carp. All I had managed to muster was about 8 micro perch off my two pole lines. This ain't good, the highlight of the day so far was watching a Spitfire from the nearby Duxford airfield doing acrobatices overhead! Sod this, feeder off, on with a bomb and chuck right into the bay spalshing the reeds, yes there was a little weed but not alot and certainly not enough to pose a problem when fishing a flat bed method with the bait burried, WHY DID I LISTEN??????

One feeder launched into the bay, liner first chuck, liner second chuck then nothing, 5 mins on the pole and nowt happening so the feeder finds its self launched into the bay again and whallop!, round goes the tip and a few mins later there is a 3lb common in the net! next chuck and a rather viscious liner results than nothing again. Both pole lines are tried and nowt and the method produces only the odd slight liner. With 15 mins to go and the feeder finds it's self near the reeds in the bay and round goes the tip whilst I'm tightening up! now this feels like a proper fish, 10 mins later a ghostie of around 9lb finds it's self in the net, not bad for a place where I'm not supposed to be able to fish! AAAARRRGGGGHHHH! (not fishing a peg as I've seen due to another persons information has cost me before, I should know better! what can I say? I'm a slow learner!!!!) A quick chuck then produces liner before the whistle. Why did I not fish how I thought would be best? right, never pay any attention to anyone else again! When the scales come round 17lb is top weight, Neil Adcock of Browning Hotrods but the next weight is 12lb, my bits net goes 2-5 and my two carp go 12-10 for a total weight of an once under 15lb which finishes comfortably second on my lake. All I need is for Pete to have done well on his lake.

You what! Lost 5 lumps and had only had 3lb odd! Not sure where we finished overall but we were not far off the top 3 pairs from what I could gather but had Pete got out one fish of 5lb he would have been 4th on his lake which would have gave us first place by about 3 points! Oh well, I remember why I don't fish pairs matches (twice in a few months been let down!) and also why I don't fish Westside that often! Still I've got a few quid for lake second and my migrane is nearly gone, back to the delights of Leland Water next Sunday, deep joy!

2006-04-30T10:26:00.000-07:00

Sorry, not a great deal to talk about today, having a ripping migrane does not do anything a great deal of good!

There was a bit of banter (non optimism) about a couple of things pre draw, firstly Wayne Rooney's injury and secondly the lack of colour in the lake (Leland water) and the fact that we are back there next week, Groan!

Eeky was getting some attention over how nicely loaded and stable his new barrow looked (the one with casters to hold things on two weeks ago!), untill I pointed out, whilst skulking on my box waiting for the draw, that it might help if he put his nets on the barrow as they aint much use in his car! then in the process of putting them onto his trolly the lot tipped over, yes, very stable mate!

Dick "the lay-by lover" was trying to defend his actions on route to the coast when Waggy pointed out that was a program about dogging on the tele with Dick's (alledged!) favourite lay-by on it. Dick responded by saying he didn't see it to which someone replied "you wouldn't as it's hard to watch the tele whilst bent over, and anyway they don't have tele's in lay-bys!"

The draw was resonably kind to me giving me peg 10, better than I thought I'd get as I had the thing in my hand for a good 90 seconds before I dared look at it! The peg is in what is known as the channel. It's in between two islands which is very shallow and weedy and deeper to the left . I decided to put a bomb rod up to fish in the channel but wanted to do that as a last resort, three pole swims were lined up, 14m at 11 o'clock in 5ft of water just down a slight drop off, 13m at a 45 degree angle to the right in a hole in the weeds in about 4ft of water with the 14m rig doubling as a margin rig at 5m to my left. Both rigs were made on .15 line direct to 16 B911's with black hydro on the open water rig and a 14 vespe on the weedey area rig. The same line was used as a hook link on the lead rod. The sturdy gear was needed to subdue the big tench that tend to frequent the area, although not a match for the huge carp that tend to cruise in the channel. I decided to put groundbait with micro pellet and caster on the 14m line and hemp and caster at the 13m line with hemp, pellet and caster in the margins.

On the whistle one ball of groundbait (green swim stimm)was potted out with a quarter of a pot of loose feed on the others. Two red maggots were put on and out to 14m the rig went. At 10.15, just as I was thinking of trying the 13m line the float burried after settling from a lift and a few feet of hydro was out, hurrah I thought, before then skulling in said 10oz perch which fought harder than it's size suggested. Still, it was better than last time! I decided to stick on that line for a while and 10 mins later the float burried again and this time there was yards of elastic out, whoopie! after a good 5 min fight a male tench which was as near to 5lb as damn it was in the net, result! twenty mins later (just as I was sipping a cuppa, how often does that work!) exactly the same happend again and a 4lb tench found it's way into the net! the day was looking good....

Well, I suppose I should learn to curb my optimism as untill 5 mins before the end I never had another bite, I tried feeding maggot, going lighter, further out and every bait combination and it just didn't work. I had two liners on the bomb, both from rather large carp in the channel which made boils in the water bigger than I could upon spooking off the line! 5 mins before the end the float burried and a bumped fish resulted. The hook came up with a big lump of weed on it and I guess the fish, whatever it was, was foulhooked. The only other thing I can report on from the match was that lay-by Dick caught 5 bream in the last 90mins two pegs up for 16lb and second. I spent much of the day wearing polaroids to keep my head from hurting and trying not to make much noise. I couldn't even see my float properly with them on later but it didn't really matter as it did bugger all!

At the weigh in Pete Lusher (Mr Daiwa) won with 5 tench for for 19lb 15 oz from fancied peg 3, Mr lay-by's late run put him second and Fred Holliday (match organiser) was third with a couple of tench and some skimmers for 12lb 4oz. My two tench and a perch went 9lb 14oz and was good enough for fourth and the section dosh. No decent small fish weights made a few people wander, both around during the match and as to if cormorants have munched on them all. Oh, and Eeky could have left his nets in his car as he only had 3 or 4 plips!

I'm now off to sit in a dark room and hope my head stops hurting for tommorows pairs match at Westside Farm, and afters Spurs win over Bolten pray for Barcelona to win the Champions League!

Tight lines!

2006-04-23T11:44:00.000-07:00

Well, the weekend didn't start too badly with Spurs getting a draw (and outplaying) Arsenal at the Highbury library. O.K, it may have only been a draw but at least it leaves the race for 4th in the Premiership in out own hands.

As for the fishing, walking around Little Walden in the morning before the draw the water looked nice and a few fish were topping so things didn't look too bad! However, that should be a warning to me as my recent optimism has been unfounded!

With regards to pegs, I fancied a draw in the open water, pegs 3-5 and 9-12 as this gives you the option of feeder, pole long (inteneded to fish shallow if I drew there) aswell as short and in the margin. Much of the pre-draw banter centered around the football and with no Chelsea fans it came down to me and Eeky to wind up the resident gooners! there were also a few jokes being thrown around, however I don't think it's wise to put them up here...

The draw was fairly kind to me as I ended with peg 13 which has pretty good form. It has the lakes only island in it, although small, about the size of an estate car, it does hold a few fish. I'd guess it's only 20m from the bank so doesn't give you the same room as the open water swims but I've won from it on two of the last three occasions I've drawn it with weights of 130lb and 103lb. After the problems of last summer it was unlikely to produce that sort of weight but with a few fish moving round the island I was pretty confident. The plan of attack was to fish the method to the island using my trusty 12ft 6in CarbonActive tip rod. I gave myself two options for bait on tip with hair rigged corn and dead red maggot. Groundbait was green Dynamite baits swim stimm. I set up the pole with one rig to fish in the margin to my left to reeds which would also double up as my deepest shallow rig. Two proper shallow rigs were also put up with loaded tyson dibbers, though I didn't intend to use them from the off. Float for the margin was a .2gr Garbolino DC5 and hooks and line being a 16 B911 to .13 Powerline and black hydro on all. Bait for the margins was pellet and corn.

Next peg company for the day was Brian "Waggy" Chapman (a gooner!) too my left and Pete "the fifties pornstar" Edwards too my right. Just before the off Waggy showed be a rig that he had tied up the previous night, somehow he had managed to tie two hooks to the rig! honest truth he didn't realise he did it but they looked like one if you looked strait on on them, that did lead to a few comments about him being disqualified for the use of two hooks! Pete was saying before the off that I would be the first to catch given that a few fish were moving around the island and he was right, after cupping bait in the margins it took all of 30 seconds to catch on the tip with a carp of around 1.5lb falling to a single dead red maggot on the method. Tony "Bailarm" was also into a fish a few seconds later, maybe that would stop him moaning for a bit!

The first hour was quite productive for a few anglers from what I could see, giving me 6-7 fish to the method, I could also see Shaun catching on paste in the open water, Pete Lusher next peg to him was also getting a few (pegs 10 and 11) and Eeky was getting a few fish in corner peg 15, which tends to produce bigger fish, whilst Ayrsie "the one handed bandit" was apperently catching although I couldn't see him. The fishing seemed to slow for everyone after one hour and it gave me another 4 fish on the method with single dead red being the best bait. I had been topping up the margin swim by hand but didn't really want to try it yet.

After a while it became very slow with nobody really catching, the main talking points being a dispute between those in the open water with regards to the casting of feeders beyond halfway. Dick Smith (now no longer Mr Pastry but the Lay-By Lover owing to the fact that he seems to mention the dogging lay-by in Brandon Creek alot when he goes to the coast sea fishing) was adding to the melle by chucking a feeder from peg 8 in the corner into everyones swims (allegedly!)
I decided to try the margins after a fishless 25 mins which produced indications but no proper bites, back on the tip gave one quick fish before going quiet. Back in the margins produced a 2lb carp but nothing else.

Hour 3-4 picked up a little, no real bagging but the fish in my swim on the tip seemed to have grown a bit with 3lb'ers being the stamp with an odd bigger fish, decent by Walden standards and with nobody really bagging more than welcome. I continued to top up the margins by hand but an odd quick drop produced nowt. Shaun and Lusher had also began to pick up the odd fish, Shaun managing to drop a fish into his net without un-hooking it and so had to play it back up his keepnet much to the amusement of everyone else and was then told he can't weigh it twice!

The last hour started well ,Alan "plop plop" Leonard was drawn the other side of the island and was getting proper wrap rounds and striking at them so not suprisingly was coming back with nothing and bemoaning "it flies round and there is nothing on the end?" to which Pete next to me replied, with reference to "plop plop" trying to yank the fishes heads of with "yes there is, there is a c*nt on one end"! which managed to get the whole lake laughing together! I managed 5 fish in as many chucks with them being a good 3-4lb average with one meybe knocking 5lb for what was probably the best spell of my match before my swim went deathly quiet. The margins produced nothing so I decided to try and force things as pegs 10 and 11 were catching fairly well, infact even "bailarm" was catching a few (must have been solid!!!!) so 4 hadfulls of pellet and 2 of corn went in down the edge hoping to fool a few carp into believeing the match had finished and have a feed. Back onto the tip was unproductive so I decided to have the last 20 mins in the margins hoping for a bonus lump. Two smaller carp after a few missed bites were the result before the effects of being able to drink a whole flask while on the tip needed to be countered! The margins had gone iffy anyway so I risked disturbing the swim to get up and then went back on the tip. Two quick bungs gave nowt so I quickly chucked the tip rod up the bank in the hope of nobbling a lump in the margins as Pete next door had started to catch late in the edge. First bung gave a 3lb common with 2 mins to go and getting in as quick as I could gave another bite which gave a rapidly subdued (mugged!) 4lber. However the whistle as I was rebaiting put paid to any more bagging. Those fish know what time to start feeding don't they!

Word just before the weigh in was that I'd done the best but I wasn't so sure as Shaun had caught on paste and they tend to be bigger stamp of fish. It also always looks like fish are bigger and more frequent when someone else gets them! Richard walks round after weighing and proves that Chinese whispers do happen as his 5hrs bagging gave 33lb just pipping Bailarm's 31lb. Shaun tells me he reckons I have 20lb more than him (if pushed I'd have admitted to about 60lb) before putting 40lb on the scales. Lusher nest to him weighs in around 30lb (alot less than I thought) and the Fifties Pornstar next to me tipped back after being battered by me off the next peg (if he reads this I'm walking next week!) Pulling my net out it becomes apparent I'm the only one who needs two weighs and for once the fish have got bigger in the net rather than shrinking in the net as they usually seem to! The two weighes gave me a total of 69lb 8oz for a comfortable win with Shaun being 2nd and Ayrsie being 3rd. I don't know what the other 3 after me weighed in as I still (as is usual) I wasn't properly packed up. The brown envolope was nice as during the day I'd managed to knock one catapult in and drop a quickstop needle in (things that sink, no suprise), trouble is when the cause is the tip going round you don't have a chance to have a scoop with the net to get it back!

Next week gives rise to the rare occasion of two matches in one weekend with it being a bank holiday. On Sunday I'm back at Leland (deep joy after a blank last week!) and on Monday I'm fishing a pairs match with Porno Pete at Westside Farm Fishery so I'll let you know how I get on then.

2006-04-16T09:42:00.000-07:00

Well, this weekend was definatly a tale of two halfs, so to speak!

I didn't fish a match on Saturday but pleasure fished at a local club lake and had a very enjoyable day. Fishing maggot or pellet over groundbait at 13m to a freshly growing lilly bed and fishing maggot and pellet in the margins I managed 9 tench, 3 crucians and some bit's for a big 20lb+ weight and an enjoyable days fishing. Just aswell I saw the float go under as it makes todays struggle not seem quite so bad!

As I said last week I was fishing an open on Leland water in Landbeach, near Cambridge.
The pre draw banter was good as usual, though someone must have been on a barrow sabotage! Brian "waggy" Chapman was struggling to pump his flat tryes up with a footpump and John Ekin was having some trouble with his. Cast around Ken observed that John's groundbait bucket was not very secure on his barrow and that he should put a bungee through the handle to hold it on, to which John replied "don't worry, I've got casters in there, they'll hold it on!" good answer and one which got a few laughs although slightly worrying if he believed it! Still, being a fellow Yid he has good taste in football teams anyway.

The lake it's self looked quite promising, carrying a nice tinge of colour and most were optimistic of a few fish, though as the lake hadn't been fished for a month (it's the syndicates close season) you're always a bit worried as to how it will respond to bait.

Draw time bought the usual un-organised que, despite Waggy's And Fred's plea's for an organised que, I've yet to see one though. I drew peg 35 which is on the north bank in the deep water, not really where I wanted to be as I had a feeling the shallows would be better. On getting to my peg things looked up a little as there was a nice ripple blowing right to left and it was overcast and destinctly breamy looking, I just hoped there were some there.

I settled on a two line attack with the feeder and pole in the margins to an overhanging bush hopeing for a tench or two. Casting around with the lead found a slightly shallower area about 45 yards out of around 7ft of water in an area of about 9ft. Groundbait for the feeder was to be 50/50 browncrumb and Dynamite baits green swimm-stimm, with casters and micro pellet in the feeder. I chose to go with fishmeal as it is predominanty a carp water so all the fish are used to it. Plumbing in the margins found near 6ft water next to the bush so I decided to feed a few pellets and casters here with an odd grain of corn on the whistle.

After feeding the margins I had 5 quick chucks with a feeder to put some bait out before settling down to wait for the action, I'm still waiting! The only indication I had was a slight tremble on the tip which produced a slightly chewed pinkie. The up side to the day was that I spent (apart from walking around as I was running out of tea in my flask at the halfway mark!) much of the last 2 hours making pole rigs for next week!

However, and I'm sure I'm not the only one to experiance this, the angler to my right fished like a complete plank and had a 3lb+ tench, a 1lb+ rudd and a similar size perch! I'm not kidding you, on his first chuck he cracked of his feeder, he threw groundbait out at irregular intervals, much of which didn't hit the water in a ball and it never went in the same place twice! Still, I wasn't the only blanker on the day and a few people only had a few bits and never weighed in. So much for the pre match optimism!

As I thought the shallow pegs produced the fish with 4 big tench off the end peg winning, not sure on the weight but it's possible to do 20lb+ with 4 tench there, there were also a few 10lb+ weights that were quite close together, with a few people catching a late bonus, either bream or tench.

Never mind anyway, I think I'll have another days pleasure fishing tommorow and hopefully nobble a few tench again! Next week is Home Farm at Little Walden again. The 5 day forecast looks good so hopefully it will fish, I've made all my rigs for it anyway and I'll take two nets just incase!

2006-04-09T12:42:00.000-07:00

Not a lot to report this week, corner pegs on carp dominated commercials are good, corner pegs on a mixed fishery in a silver fish match are not so!

Today I fished a club match on Waterbeach A.C's Atkins water, a small well stocked mixed fishery in Landbeach, just outside Cambridge. It's a venue I've done well on in the past and is one of those fisheries where when the float goes under you genuinely don't know whats on the other end. However, in the cooler months carp don't count in the matches as they tend to all shoal up in two or three pegs so it's silvers only, with double figures normally needed. The Lake it's self has 22 pegs (albeit rather close like many fisheries now!) with an island reachable from about 14 pegs, unless you're cast around Ken and can then fish it from most pegs!

I have to say I was quite optimistic as the venue has been fishing very well but upon getting up this morning there was a rather hard frost, they didn't predict that did they! (why do we still believe weather forcasts?) I was still fairly happy that it would fish as it still held good colour and the usuall pre-draw banter was mostly centred around the fact that or or two people had sneaked up mid-week and had caught well, as we all know matches are a different kettle of fish though, so to speak!

My draw of peg 7 bought mixed feelings being one of two corner swims around the bottom (old) end of the lake, the more favoured end. On one hand I could be in the less favourable areas, on the other if the cold had moved the fish away I'm a bit hemmed in (even though only one of the corner pegs are ever in) and unless I could get a few bonus tench or crucians out of the corner I was never going to compete with those on bream and skimmers. The peg is normally home to a few carp but they would be no good today!

For next peg company I had Alan "plop plop" Leonard on peg 6 ( a winter silver flier!) and Shaun Smith (with no secuirty camera if you read last week) on peg 9, a steady, if somewhat erratic peg. Cast around Ken was on peg 10 so at least we had someone to wind up! The plan of attck was quite simple, fish 11m into the corner to my right on fairly sturdy gear (12 lakky, 0.14 line) for tench and crucians, you need it as the tench go to 5lb+ and there was alway the chance of a carp which if I hooked I still wanted a chance of getting it out. The other line was at 11m infront where it was around 9ft compared to the little over 3ft in the corner. The plan here was to feed groundbait and caster for everything that swims and hope a few skimmers would wonder close. Bait for the margins was caster and pellet. Just before the off I noticed a few reeds to my left, away from the corner twitch so I plumbed there and found it near the same depth as the other margin and decided to trickle a few casters there and see what happend.

On the whistle two small balls of green swim-stimm groundbait containing a few casters and micro pellet were put out to 11m while some loose pellet and caster found it's way to the corner. a few casters were flicked loose to the other reeds. Then the waiting began! The more favoured pegs of 3,4 and 5 caught small skimmers quickly while my first bite was some 2o+ min's in and was bumped off. The next chuck bought a small perch to single red maggot over the groundbait. Well, at least I was off the mark!

I found that by moving the bulk up a little and spreading the droppers out I managed to get a run of roach to single maggot, not big fish but steadily in the 1-3oz range, caster took a long while to get a bite and then it was missed, regardless of depth and shotting. A single small skimmer also made it's way to the net on my only bite on a small expander pellet. All was not good though as those on the earlier mantioned pegs had started to get bigger skimmers up to the 1lb mark and it was was getting round that one or two crucians were getting caught in the pegs I couldn't see, coupled with the fact that my barely started swim had already began to slow it was time to try the margins.

I suppose I should be a little gratefull, Shaun was struggling on 9 having only 2 or 3 tiny rudd, while plop plop next door had 3-4 skimmers on pellet but little else. Out went the margin rig with a 4mm expander and I have to honest I was fully expecting bites with the few crucians showing, plop plop even caught one fishing long in the open water while I was swapping rigs! I was however to be dissapointed as the float never moved in either margin! On with a single red maggot and just as I was about to go out to the open water again the float edged under in the corner and yet another 2oz roach joined he mates in my net! 2 more followed before that died and my only bite of the day to the reeds gave me a 4oz perch, even though the reeds continued to twitch all day the float never moved again there! don't you just hate it when that happens........

The next period of the match was un-eventfull for me as it became a struggle to get a bite anywhere, even trying beyond my feed long didn't produce. The only good thing I can say was that I was glad to have a little radio to listen to the football. I'm not a Chelsea fan but I quite enjoyed 10 men Chelsea coming from a goal behind to beat West Ham 4-1, or was it because the Man Utd fans were getting all excited about Chelsea having had Maniche sent off and being a goal down and I enjoyed ruining that for them by telling them Chelsea were still not going to drop points for Man Utd to catch up! I think you know the answer! The only real thing of note in the few pegs near me in this time was that cast around Ken killed his peg by overfeeding (and suprised us by not fishing into someone else's!) Plop plop was getting as many bites as me (none!) and Shaun was getting rather annoyed at the ensuing pee taking over the fact his couple of plips meant he was last on the lake! My mate/ lift Pete Edwards (the fifties pornstar) had however bucked the trend by catching a few big roach in the margins on maggots pegged the other side of Ken, and they were proper roach from what I could see . That was in between keeping the next few pegs amused by farting so load that you just had to wonder if he had followed through. Anyone who match fishes regular will know what bankside humour is like so I needn't tell you the kind of comments flying around!

I have to say after a long period of biteless-ness I was on about plan Z when fishing in the margins the float did something rather strange in going under! for about 20 seconds the what felt foul hooked fish came off, the presence of snot up the line gave away what it was, were the fish going to move in in the last 30mins so I could empty it? a biteless 10 mins answered that before the float burried again and I missed it! the rig was dropped back in and the rig had just settled when it went again and a 2lb skimmer made it's way to the net. Was it a change of feeding maggots that made a difference or had they just moved in as the day went on? I'll never know and the only other bite I had I bumped off. Oh well, at least I had used my landing net!

When the scales came round the top weight was 16lb 4oz of mostly crucians, Pete managed to put a respectable 12lb 60z on the scales, the biggest roach in his net being 1lb 9oz and absolutly fin perfect. There were another 3 or 4 around the 1lb mark too so it wasn't suprising that he had managed double figures in a short time. Cast around Ken managed a reasonable 6lb 2oz while Sean tipped back less than 1lb! my fish totalled 6lb 4oz and with plop plop having just under 6lb I hadn't done that bad in the area. The favoured pegs produced an 8lb+ weight then Richard (the one handed bandit) Ayres put 16lb 4oz of skimmers in the net for joint 1st, though he was convinced Pete Holliday the next peg had beat him. Pete had alot more skimmers but they were smaller and he had a level 14lb for 3rd behind the tied leaders. Pete's (the other one!) 12lb+ net of roach got him 4th.

Next week Waterbeach have an open on Leland water next door, it's a carp syndicate which closes during the old close season but allows us to have 3-4 matches a year on it. Its a beautifull fishery with some cracking fish and the early matches usually require 30lb+ to frame and it's not uncommon for over 40lb to win. I won a match on there with nine tench and a rudd for 41lb 2 years ago, 3 tench were over 5lb and the rudd was 2lb 8oz! (my P.B) , rudd that size are not uncommon either, I can remember at least a dozen in matches the last 3 years with someone managing a trio of 2lb+ ones once. The biggest I've seen was a clonking 2lb 11oz! the water in there is still a bit clear at the moment so you'll probably want to draw the more open swims to chuck a feeder and the bream are more liable to play a part. Someone normally manages to hook a carp but they never come out! Either way I'm looking foward to it, lets just hope the frosts stay off to make it fairer for everyone.

Tight lines and I'll let you know how I get on next week.

2006-04-02T09:02:00.000-07:00

The cold seems to have gone only to be replaced by the wind, I can't remember the last time I fished and could hold the pole properly, still, had a better and more eventfull weekend than last week, read on......

I fished lake one at the Manderson Trust in Over near Cambridge today. The day started off amusingly, there is a toilet block but upon arriving Shaun Smith decided to relieve himself outside. Someone pointed out that he was only about 10 yards from the loo but Sean wasn't bothered, well, not till the same person pointed out the security camera on the side of the loo was pointing right at him! lot's of laughter followed but Shaun simply replied "I doubt it's powerfull enough to see anything!". I honestly don't believe he could have got any more central to where the camera was pointing if he tried!Dick Smith (Mr Pastry, after his love of paste fishing but no relation to Shaun) then turns up and announces he caught well during the week practicing only to find out they had changed the lake we were to fish, you had to laugh but that really is his luck!

I drew peg one on the lake which was the windward end peg on the lake and it has to be said it looked pretty inviting. It's quite narrow at around 11m wide with reed across to about 1m from the bank and similar in both margins, though by this point the wind had really started to pick up, typical, draw a flyer and can't fish it properly with the wind! Plumbing up found a little over 3ft pretty much all the way across and around the reeds which meant a lazy start with one rig for all 3 areas of the swim! I was told there were some big fish in the lake and, being as the peg looked as if it would hold some the rig was pretty hefty with .15 powerline direct to a 16 B911 to Preston 15h elastic. Yes, I know it's risking it a bit but I can't be arsed with plips now days and anyway, my beloved Super Legion hasn't got a lakky of less than a 10 in any of it's tops!

Walking round after being ready in good time some of the regulars mentioned amoungst themselfs about feeding very lightly or not at all so at the all in I decide to feed the left and right margins with just 3 grains of corn and about a dozen micros and start across on corn without feeding and see how it goes. Bait wise I had corn, micro pellet a few maggots and some expanders for the hook.

First chuck across and the float burries after about 2 mins, trouble was I was looking up the lake at someone who was netting a small skimmer so I missed it! still, at least having a bite on the pole so quick was a bit of change after the last few weeks. It didn't really matter as the float burried again not long later and a small carp of about 6oz made it's way to the net, followed by another of a similar size about 5 mins later. Nothing followed in the next 10 mins so I decided to introduce a tiny amount of fishmeal crumb with about 6 micros. Back across with a grain of corn produced some silly indications so I tried a pellet which burried strait away and produced a gudgeon! back to corn and a small tench of about 6oz and a similar size crucian follows. Not alot else was being caught from what I could see apart from a few tiny silvers so with 3/4hr gone and having had more bites on the pole than the last 3 weeks things are looking good though my rig was a bit overgunned for the stamp of fish I was getting! Time to get a lighter rig on .12 precision mono with an 18B911 to a very soft 10 lakky.

By this point the wind had also picked up (to about a gentle gale!) and, as the indications across had gone iffy I decided to leave the swim to rest and try the margins. On with a pellet on the heavy rig, down goes the float and a small crucian is swiftly followed by two of his brothers before the swim goes quiet. I top it up with just 6 micros and one grain of corn and try across and the float burried and a 4oz carp makes it way to the net but with a little over an hour gone and around 2lb in the net disaster strikes. Not anything I do to the swim but the fact that the angler ( I could think of some better names but I won't put them here!) two pegs up decides he is going to walk round and retrieve his lost rig from the other side. Now, I can tell for certain that he never walked round anywhere near as far away from the edge as he could have and I'm now definatly not amused, a situation made worse about 40mins later when I've not had another bite even on the light rig with single maggot. Double disaster then follows when a gust of wind (now about severe gale) sends my light rig into the far bank rushes. Now the swims at Over are high above the water, infact I couldn't get my hands into the water to pull for a break so when the float comes back it hits the wood on the front of the swim and promptly desintegrates. Rather peeved the top kit gets launched up the bank and it's time for a cup of tea and a walk to calm down. I have to admit I'm not normally like that but having somone ruin my swim for me was a bit much!

Sean was getting an odd small carp about 5 pegs up so 25mins and a cuppa later I feel calm enough to go back and fish again. Biteless over each swim prompts me to have a poke in the reeds at the end, halfway between both swims I'd guess. About 30 secs later the float burries and a small carp is on, not for long though as it came off half way in! aaarrrggghhh. Back out in the same place the float burried again followed by my lakky going into the reeds before the fish comes off. Being somewhat calmer than earlier I decide to get up and get out a top with a normal solid 12 to try and stop anything going back in the reeds, should I get anymore bites! I did change the hook down to an 18 B911 and scaled down slightly (having trashed the light rig I was on the heavy) to .13 powerline which I thought should cope with what I'd seen come out.

By this point it's gone midday and the wind was pretty severe to say the least but no more bites followed then the wind had a slight breather for about 60 seconds but it's long enough to get a grain of corn over to the far bank which was snaffled by a 12oz common, the trouble was the wind didn't allow me to get back over, down the edge it is then! Not much happend for about 20 mins before the float burried and something a little larger is on the end, after a rather hairy fight in the wind and around the weed a common of knocking 5lb was in the net which is then when I found out (to busy talking at the draw!) that carp over 3lb only count as 3lb! I wasn't to bothered as after returning it the float burries again and a small mirror makes it to the net, 2 bites in two chucks now we are going! wrong! no more bites again.

By the time we had about 90mins left I have to admit I was a tad concerned about the wind, not helped by the fact it had helped me go into the far bank rushes again (twice) and two more floats trashed! on the odd occassion I was getting a liner over the area I'd lost the two earlier but was biteless elsewhere in the swim, not helped by the fact the wind was making it impossible to get anywhere near good presentation. With 20 mins to go and an empty flask it's no good and a quick wonder to the loo is needed, on my way back I noticed Shaun digging around with his landing net in the margins. The wind had depostited the 13 and 14.5 sections of his pole in the drink (devine retribution for not using the loo?), though he did get them back! One last bite in the margins shortly before the whistle resulted in a tench of about 3oz and it's time to get my pole sections out of the way of the wind!

On the scales my fish in the net go a level 5lb and together with my lump counting as 3lb I thought 8lb wasn't bad from what I could see. Shaun managed 9lb 4oz of small carp for first and Richard (the one handed bandit) managed a level 9lb of small fish from the far end which was flat calm! Still 3rd wasn't bad though, above a big 7lb weight but I believe I could have won without the tw*t who walked round or had my carp counted as what it really weighed. Anyway, a few quid in my pocket mostly needed to replace broken floats and a few bites after recent weeks and things ain't that bad really. Things certainly could have been worse, someone further up the lake had their pole lifted clean off their roller smashing the 5th section of their Spectron, Ouch!

Not sure what next week holds but can we please, please, please can we not have a huge wind!

2006-03-26T08:21:00.000-08:00

Oh dear, I suppose the start of the day was an omen of what was to come for the rest of the day!

Clocks were changed as needed last night no problem, trouble is I slept through the alarm this morning and woke up 20 mins before I was due to be picked up! Luckily I had got nearly everything ready the night before and was just ready in time. I'd made myself my usual morning cup of tea and had put it into a thermal travel cup but in my haste to get everything ready to be loaded up I left it on the side. This was going to turn into one of those days.....

Arriving at the venue it looked good, the water was much more coloured than it had been and it was nice and mild although the predicted rather brisk south westerly wind has hacking down to the bottom of the lake.

Draw time didn't make the day any better, peg 6 is not a noted peg in winter or summer. I've drawn it on 4 or 5 previous occasions and have never done any good, apart from one time when I had 106lb off it two summers ago (and came 6th!) I've never had more than about 35lb off it.
It's one of the pegs around the corner at the narrow end of the lake and today had the afore mentioned brisk wind blowing into the corner to my left but right across me.

On the pegs either side if the left hand pegs cast a feeder it tend to cut your swim rather short and Richard (the one hand bandit!) preceded to clip up his tip rod after casting it into what could be diplomatically called rather close to my swim boundry! The peg to my right I was a little concerned about, not due to the quality of the angler but the fact that he is nicknamed "plop plop" due to his tendancy to throw in balls of groundbait whatever the venue, conditions or distance, and it is always two balls of it! not always whet you want when the water is cold.

With the wind being so strong it was nigh on impossible to hold 8m of pole infront so I settled for a feeder line and fishing the pole down the margins towards the corner with the wind, finding about 3ft of water about the same distance from the bank.

Anyway, being ready 10 mins before the whistle I pour myself a cup of tea and go for a wander to see what other people on the lake are deciding to do. I return to my peg just before the all in and promptly kick my pellet pump over whilst getting back on my box, this really is going to be one of those days! At the whistle my margin is fed (after picking up all the expanders off my swim!) with a few micros and some corn. Second chuck on the feeder produces a carp of about 2lb and things are looking up after the dodgy start to the day.

After an hour and a half I've only managed to add two tiny roach to the false dawn carp and it's time to try the margins. Corn, pellet no difference, biteless on both so on with two maggots, down goes the float and up comes a tiny rudd! still, it was my first fish on the pole for two weeks!
Going back on the tip produces a flurry of liners and then two quick carp and then nothing again! Meanwhile Richards dubious casting had started to nobble him an odd small carp, though my remarks that they should go in my net are not replied to!

To cut the rest of the day short the fact that the wind means everyone had batternd down the hatches kind of cut out the banter and I only had one more indication on the tip which gave me carp number four, no liners even after putting a bomb on and trying every bit of my swim and not one more indication in the margins. And to think I was optimistic in my last post!

Plop plop to my right never had a carp but the fancied pegs in the middle of the opposite bank had caught a few. I have to admit that I tipped back and was back at the car before the scales came round so I don't know what won, infact the highlight of my day was listening to Bolton lose on the radio so they have lost ground on Spurs in the race for fourth in the Premiership! That said it was nice to be packing up without cold hands for the first time in months!

I don't really know what to expect next week as I've never fished the lakes where I'll be at Over, though strangely the match will be split over two lakes which fish quite differently. One is certainly more coloured than the other when I walked round last week so it's going to be a take the kitchen sink effort to cover everything that might crop up. The lakes are quite narrow (parallel sausage shaped lakes) so I would think everything will be pole orientated. I just hope I get a few bites to be honest as the last 3 matches have given me less than 20 fish, seven being small carp and the rest being smaller silvers!

It's even raining now and my nets were nearly dry in the garden, not anymore. Aaaarrrrgggghhhh.

2006-03-23T00:14:00.000-08:00

Right, after having some fun with the links bit (which I still haven't got as I'd like) I'll let you know what I'm prepearing for at the weekend.

This Sunday I'll be fishing a small local commercial, Home Farm at Little Walden.
There are only sixteen proper pegs, plus two other useable ones on there, though most other commercials would have at least twenty, maybe more pegs on a lake that size.
I've been there twice this year and it's not fished particularly well, partially due to the weather (it's been freezing both times, having ice midweek before the Sunday I fished) and partially as some fish were lost there late last summer due to de-oxygenation. As ever, when this happens you hear a different story from everyone as to exactly how many fish died but I believe there are still alot of fish there, but I guess we will see in the summer.

Anyway, my first visit there this year and I drew what I'd say is the worst winter peg on there, peg 8. It's one of the shallowest pegs on the lake and tucked away right in the corner meaning it's pole only really (unless your cast around Ken and chuck into peg 9!) It's a real summer flier as warm westerlies blow into it , but the only other time I've drawn it was after a hard frost! Needless to say I was not amused when I drew it in the cold again. The day however was better than expected, six carp and a few bits was hardly bagging but it gave me just over 16lb and third, about 8lb behind second and 15lb behind first. I was very happy with the way I fished though, you know when you have a day when you really believe you couldn't have had one more ounce out of the peg and you fished really well? that was one of those days. I was gratefull the wind was off my back though as the only place there was much more than 2ft of water was at 15m+!

Next trip there was a complete reverse, I drew peg 10, normally a winter flier. Last time I drew that peg in the cold I won the match with 40 small carp on the tip for 67lb so needless to say I ran to the peg! I wasn't so enthusiastic at midday when I didn't have a fish in my net though!
I did eventually scrape out 6 carp for a little over 14lb but was left rather scratching my head after, there were alot of fish in the peg due to the amount of liners I was getting but casting shorter got less and less till they stopped. Some wally had left his pop-ups and plastic corn at home so I couldn't try a zig rig (popped up off the bottom) and as I was getting frustrated and it didn't occur to me to try a very long hooklength and at least have a chance of catching on the drop. My mate/lift Pete (the fifties pornstar as some have nicknamed him, due to a dubious moustache he sported for a while!) won the match on the waggler. Now, after the previous trip I'd said to him I bet you could catch on the wag and he did. Now guess who never put a waggler rod in his bag! correct! I did have a rather gusty cross wind that would have made it hard to loosefeed anyway (well,thats my excuse !)

Well, the weather is looking better for this weekend with double figure temperatures albeit with showers and a fairly strong south westerly wind which will blow strait down the lake. The air pressure is also dropping too as an added bonus so this weekends prospects are looking quite good. I'll let you know how I get on Sunday evening, and yes, I have already put a waggler rod in my bag!