December
Decoy, Horseshoe Lake, Peg 15
Club's Fur & Feather match. Totally blew it on the day fishing the wrong bait.
I fished this peg April last year. Managed fourth that day but it was a struggle and I had only 28lb. The problem with this peg is that there are lilies that cover half the lake so you have no feeder chuck to the far bank. They also grow between peg 15 & 14 to the right so restricting how you can fish.
Adopted my standard Winter commercial tactics (see this month's blog on the subject). Pellet feeder to just short of the lilies, pole at six sections initially and a close line to be fed with meat for F1s. Last week on Pidley Magpie I discovered F1s close in on meat late in the match so thought they may be caught the same way on Horseshoe.
Cast the feeder and after fourteen minutes had my first fish, 6lb. Next cast a two pounder followed after twelve minutes. Eight pound in the first half hour put me on course for 80lb if I could keep that rate up for five hours. That would give me an easy win as I thought fifty would be a good weight on the day.
The next two hours were fishless and biteless. After another cast on the feeder I decided to have an early look on the pole lines. They were dead. I had fed these with micros at distance and meat close in. Middle of the match I added around three foot to the distance on the feeder and immediately picked up three quick fish. That was it for the feeder line. At the same time I added a section to the pole and fed the new distance with micros.
When the feeder line went dead again I dropped on the new pole line and within seconds the float buried and I had another six pounder. Last 90 minutes was dead as a dodo while Dave on 14 had a good run of fish on maggot fishing very close to the lilies.
Top was around 40lb. Apparently Kevin who had that had caught all day on the feeder on peg 3 or 4. I say all day but actually it was not. He got a call and had to pack up and go into work. He left his net and won. So he got first prize money and a crate of lager.
Back on the same lake next week. I'll make sure I have a pint of maggots this time.
Decoy, Horseshoe Lake, Peg 12
First round of our Winter pairs. The pint of maggots didn't help.
I think I had my confidence knocked last week as I was uncertain all through the match as to how I should be fishing and feeding.
Started on the pellet feeder while feeding a pole line at seven section, around 10m. Longer was going to be difficult due to the wind. Also fed a 2+2 line to my right under a willow tree. On the long line I fed two spots sparingly with maggot on one, micros on the other. No indications at all on the feeder so tried the pole lines and they were similarly dead with the exception of some tiny roach on maggot. Persisted with the maggot as my partner had caught the previous week on maggot. He put up with the roach and waited for a carp to arrive signalled by the roach disappearing. Didn't work for me.
It was around two hours in that I had a carp on maggot over the micros at 10m. By now the wind was making this line tricky and I made my one identifiable mistake. Instead of putting on a fresh rig with more line from pole to float I tried to persist with around 12 inches of line. 3 ft would have been better. But even when I could hold the pole steady I wasn't getting bites.
I think the battering of the previous week just made me lack confidence that I was going to catch. Around me lads were building weights on the pole and feeder. The only consolation was that Duncan to my immediate right had nothing until the last half hour when his tip went round for his one and only fish of the day. All credit to him for sticking at it.
With an hour to go I switched to the maggot feeder and immediately had a skimmer. That was it for the day.
Final weight just over two pound and second last in the match. Nightmare.
The Grebe, Wolvey (no permanent pegs)
Basically my first visit to this lake. Drew a peg facing a stiff wind and did well to come second on that bank with 13lb 4 ounce. Placed me nowhere overall as the opposite bank fished around 10lb per peg better. Mystery pairs match and my eventual partner and I were sixth I think, top five were paid out.
Decoy Willows, Peg 33
A calm cold day with frosts for a few nights before so it was going to be hard, and so it turned out.
I had a cast of around thirty yards to the opposite bank and was told that I should aim to get into the gap in the reeds that was around a metre wide. I also set up the pole to fish at around 11m and alongside the aerator moored the same distance close to the bank on my left.
The same depth rig would work for two spots in front and beside the scaffold pole to which the aerator was moored. Fed one pole line with micros, the other with dead reds and a mixture of the two by the aerator.
First half hour on the pellet feeder and nothing, not even a liner to spark my excitement. Tried the in front pole lines and only had a couple of small roach on maggot. Maggot next to the scaffold pole produced a crucian of around a pound.
The next three hours proved frustrating as I could not decide what swim would be best to fish. Kept swapping between feeder and three pole lines. I didn't have enough confidence in any one to fish it properly. Finally managed to get what looked like a perfect cast into the gap in the reeds and after around 15 minutes the tip pulled round and then fell back. That produced a mighty carp of possibly one pound.
Later another crucian fell to a 4 mil expander next to the scaffold pole and that was my day done. DNWd and helped with the weigh in. Winner came from peg 6 with forty pound. Caught fishing two dead reds under a float that was only kept from sinking by the addition of some bristle grease. Even then bites were apparently the merest of dips. Produced carp averaging 3-4 pound though. Second came from around peg 8/9.
Were the fish shoaled in one area? Or did I just not concentrate on the pole and fish a sensitive enough set-up?
On the drive home I realised that the recent run of poor results was probably down to my confidence in what I was doing faltering and so I didn't stick to one thing and fathom out how to make it work. The really annoying thing was that I love days when the water is flat calm and I can get the float dotted down and the bait just touching bottom. But my lack of confidence didn't allow me to put my faith in doing that this day. Time for some practice on a water that I know and should catch some fish. Next match should be back at Decoy in January on Elm lake, one of the strip lakes and where I normally hold my own. We'll see.
Planning to have a rare canal session before the year ends. Then start 2015 on my local club lake where I should be able to tempt a few carp. Nearing the end of a project on that lake that I will tell you about when complete, hopefully early next year.
Have a good New Year, tight lines throughout 2015.
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