Welcome to my fishing blog… November 2023
November 5th – Alcove Poppy Match, Whitehouse Farm – No Fireworks At Whitehouse As Chub Refuse To Play
This event was the annual Alcove AC Poppy Match Open, which attracted 23 anglers and raised £230 for the Poppy Appeal. A big thank you to the Alcove Angling Club for making a further contribution and increasing the donation to £300. As for the fishing, it turned out to be a bit of a damp squib instead of the expected fireworks display, especially as far as Margaret’s Lake was concerned, with no big chub showing from anywhere around the island pegs. Here’s how it panned out for me…
So, after all the banter had died down, most of it relating to my unfortunate dip at Windmill, it was time to get serious. It was draw time. Everyone seemed to want a draw with an island chuck on Margaret’s Lake, me included. My little prayer to the lake gods was heard but by the time I dived into the draw bag, peg 17 on Margaret’s Lake had already gone and so I got the next best thing… peg 18 on Margaret’s… whoopee! Tony Welsby had a cracking day from this peg last time around with big chub showing up in abundance.
In effect, peg 18 was an end peg as pegs 20, 1, 2 and 3 were not put in. The first thing I noticed when I arrived at my peg was a carp splashing about just off the platform on peg 2, which was well out of reach. So, my plan was to fish a maggle feeder to the island for the first hour to gauge response. If I was catching then I would just carry on with this method and if not then I had plan B. This was a line at 9 metres, fished hard on the deck due to a strong side wind. I would feed a small ball of Sensas Black Lake groundbait here with a few maggles and pinkles added.
Attacking the island swim first…
My other lines were just off the edge of an overhanging bush to my right, which was 4 feet deep. I would use this line for loose-feeding maggles up in the water for roach and perch. My other short line was to my left, under a bush, which was 3 feet deep and I would feed micros and corn here for any carp that might be about. On the all-in, I cupped out a golf ball size of soggy groundbait with a few maggles and pinkles on the 9-metre line. I didn’t put anything on the inside lines at this point, as I was waiting to see how the island swim performed. So, out went the maggle feeder to within 3 feet of the island.
It couldn’t have been more than a minute later when the tip went round and a small roach of about 3 ounces came to the net. A couple more casts later and another, better quality roach obliged. This one was about 6 ounces and was followed by another soon after. Then the chub got in on the action… but it was the new smaller ones that showed up, many of which are now 4-6 ounces in size. I had about 6 of these before it all went a bit quiet. I started searching around a bit, dropping shorter to about 6 feet off the island and trying closer at about 2 feet but there was no sign of the expected larger chub. I didn’t see any being caught from peg 17 either, so I reckoned they were all over the other side of the island.
Well, it was time to push the pole out over the groundbait and loose feed. For this line, my rig consisted of my favourite 0.4-gram pencil float, bulked at about 8 inches from the hook with 2 no. number 11 droppers below at 3 and 5 inches from the hook. I set the rig at about 4 inches over depth to counteract the strong side wind. The hook choice was a size 20 LWG Guru to a 0.8 hooklength. I put on a single red maggle and lowered it in. It was then quickly snaffled by a roach of about 6 ounces. I topped up the swim with a cadpot and lowered the rig in again. I had a string of small roach and perch before snaring a welcome skimmer of about a pound.
Ringing the changes…
Soon after, the swim stopped producing and I couldn’t get a bite so I had another quick look at the island swim. I gave it about 10-15 minutes but only had a small roach so back onto the pole line. Still nothing there so I decided to put in a large ball of groundbait together with a generous helping of maggles and pinkles. I thought as the line seemed dead already, the additional feed would either liven it up or make no difference. I had nothing to lose. Now it was time to focus on the short inside lines. First, I cupped in some micros and corn to the left-hand side swim. Then, I started loose-feeding maggles to the right-hand side, while fishing a single maggle on the hook with a strung-out 0.2 gram rig over the top.
After about 10 minutes I caught a tiny 1-ounce roach. It was about 5 minutes later when I pulled out a perch of the same stamp, so I gave up on this line for good. Next, I decided to drop a single kernel of corn to a size 16 Guru hook into the left-hand margin. I was just about to give up when I got a fast bite. I rebaited and the same thing happened but I think it might have been roach as there were no signs of carp here. Meanwhile, the brazen carp that was showing off on peg 2 continued to leap out every 15-20 minutes. I bet he was shouting something like, “Hey plonker, I’m over here… catch me if you can”. Forking cheeky little chappie. Anyway…
Time was fast fading away and I reckoned I had about 4 lbs of fish in the net so far, which was pitiful by Margaret’s standards and especially from this ‘flyer’ of a peg. As most of my fish came from the 9-metre line, I gave it another go. I half-filled a small cadpot with maggles and baited the hook. As I lowered the rig into the water, amongst a barrage of slowly sinking maggles, my float shot away and I was in… to a carp! This rig was set up with a number 5 elastic, 0.12 mainline and 0.8 hooklength, so what was going to give out first? Yes, the hooklength but only after about 5 minutes, so I nearly had him.
Intercepting the carp interceptor…
Now then, that carp took the bait on the drop so I reached for a stronger rig in the hope another one was nearby and eager to intercept my bait. This one had a number 12 elastic fitted, 0.18 mainline and a 0.15 hooklength. So, I baited up, half-filled a cadpot as before and repeated the process. I did this about 3 times before… bingo! Another carp WAS nearby and couldn’t resist the temptation of slowly falling maggles. Having lost one already, I decided to take my time with this one. I played it until it finally gave up and waved its white flag, which took about 15 minutes in all. It was so satisfying slipping the net under a 9lb plus common on such a hard day.
After that, I only had a couple of small roach before the all-out shout went out! I hadn’t heard about much being caught throughout the match so I figured it had been a pretty hard day all round. I thought I had about 14 lbs in total, which is probably half what I expected. The scalesman said I had 14-7-0 so I wasn’t far off the mark, finishing in third place on Margaret’s Lake and third overall. Norman Ferris was second from peg 13, with 15-4-0 and Kev Swanston skimmed off a win with 19-15-0 of silvers. Cunning Kev fished the feeder all day on unfancied peg 16, catching some quality skimmers on pellet. Well done to him. The top 3 rod slingers on George’s Lake were Mike Nicholls with 13-7-0, Tony Welsby with 12-11-0 and Antony Hole with 9-10-0.
I’ll probably fish the Silvers match at Bitterwell Lake on Tuesday along with the rest of the pools fodder but my next match of note is the RBL Poppy Appeal match on the river. With the river in flood and no sign of it receding anytime soon, it’ll be feeder rods at the ready! Keep you posted.
Join our Facebook group HERE
About me
January 2023
February 2023
March 2023
April 2023
May 2023
June 2023
July 2023
August 2023
September 2023
October 2023
November 2023
12th – RBL Poppy Appeal Open, River Avon
19th – Alcove Winter League #1, Margarets Lake
26th – River Avon, Riverside Dr, Chippenham
December 2023
…………………………………….
June 2022
July 2022
August 2022
September 2022
October 2022
November 2022
December 2022
