Welcome to my fishing blog… August 2022

August 7th – RBL v Alcove Interclub Match, Whitehouse Farm

I’m a member of both clubs but always fish for the Kingwood RBL as I am the club’s chairman. So, this inter-club event almost always attracts more Alcove members than Legion members, simply because of the total number of members of each club. Alcove’s membership totals around 350, while the Legion has about 16 active match anglers. So, it’s always a bit of a David and Goliath affair. Alcove AC had 14 contestants in today’s match, while the Legion turned out with a section of just 9 hardy warriors.

Margaret’s and George’s lakes are so very different and you need to approach them in very different ways, so in his infinite wisdom, Tony, the Alcove match secretary, had decided to treat the event as if it were 2 separate matches. That meant the payouts would be similar for the framers on each lake with a bonus for the overall winner. You can’t get any fairer than that!

So, into the draw bag of dreams and nightmares, and out comes peg 14 on Margaret’s. (Some would say this peg is permanently stuck to my fingers). Well, I must have been a good boy all week and the lake gods must have thought I deserved a break. Peg 14 on Margaret’s is usually a flyer and I have won from this peg about 90% of the time when I’ve drawn it. But you can never take anything for granted in fishing, as I’m sure everyone knows only too well. That didn’t stop me from sprinting to my peg as fast as my little legs could carry me :).

It was a very hot day and I could see a few carp cruising around at about 20 metres, so I set up a pellet waggler. I also set up a rig for fishing on the deck at 11 metres in 8 feet of water and another for fishing at 7 metres at a similar depth. Both rigs were similar too, consisting of 0.4gm (4×14) Chianti floats, 0.15 mainline and 0.13 hooklengths. A size 16 Guru XS  barbless on the 11-metre line and a size 18 LWG barbless hook on the shorter line. The waggler setup was a size 14 Guru XS banded. I also had a feeder rod set up with 20gm maggot feeder and 16 Guru XS for casting to the island. The edge lines would be tackled with my Garbolino margin pole, 0.2gm (4×12) pencil float, 0.22 mainline and hooklength together with a size 16 Guru XS. (Phew! I can remember when fishing used to be so much less complicated than this).

So, right on the whistle, and just as expected, all the carp disappeared. I dropped a small ball of  Dynamite F1 Sweet groundbait, mixed with a few micros, over the 11-metre line and a small pot of micros on the 7-metre line. I then decided to lob out the maggot feeder close to the island and see if I could snare an early chub but after 30 minutes, all I had to show was one small skimmer. There were still no carp on the surface so the waggler, and now the feeder rod were virtually redundant. A quick look on the short line with maggot on the hook brought a small roach and a small skimmer but something didn’t feel quite right, like they didn’t really want to feed. I persevered for a little longer before trying the 11-metre line.

After a couple of put-ins and a change to a 4mm expander pellet, a small skimmer of about 8oz obliged, followed by another but then nothing. This was weird. Virtually nothing off the island, next to nothing on both pole lines and still no sign of carp on the surface. As I looked around I couldn’t see much else being caught either so it wasn’t just me. I tried fishing up in the water with a single maggot on a size 20 red maggot hook and started hitting few small roach but after about 6 or 7 they disappeared too. I was struggling again and needed to change tactics… as you do.

It was about halfway through the match now and all I had to show was about 2lb of small fish… pathetic! I visualized myself weighing in at the end and then quietly sloping off so nobody would notice or ask me how I had done 🙁 – Okay, a complete change of plan was needed and so I decided to feed both margins. I fed corn and micros to my right-hand side and meat and micros to my left-hand side. Then a quick cup of tea while I contemplated my next move. As I slowly lowered in a kernel of corn to my right margin, the float instantly sailed away and I had a decent skimmer of about a pound. I wasn’t really expecting that but it was about 10 minutes before I got another one about the same size. 

On the next put-in I had a goldfish of about 2lb but I couldn’t get another bite after that. So, it was onto my left-hand margin. I had been flicking in some 6mm pellets of meat while fishing the other margin so hopefully, it would now be fully primed. I lowered in my rig and there were no signs of any fish whatsoever. With less than an hour to go, panic was beginning to set in, especially as I had just witnessed John Dursley on the next peg slip his landing net under a large mirror. Well, when I get desperate I resort to desperate measures so I began balling in some groundbait, laced with casters and dead reds into the left-hand margin in the hope I could attract the attention of a carp or two. It was about 20 inches deep here and this groundbait approach has worked for me many times.

Less than 5 minutes later I could see the tell-tale signs of a carp in the swim. After a little swirl and a few nudges of the float, I was in. Carp on! Carp off! I had it on for all of 2 seconds so a foul-hooker I guess. Undeterred, I balled in more ammo and dropped a pellet of meat right over the top. A couple of minutes later I was in again and this one shot straight out into open water where I quickly subdued it and then netted it without too much fuss. That one was a small common of about 6lb. With about 15 minutes to go, I repeated the procedure and got into another one, a slightly heavier mirror, which took me for a tour of the undergrowth before finally surrendering. So, now with 2 carp in the net, I was feeling cock-a-hoop (whatever that means).

With just a few minutes to go before the “all-out” I was getting signs of another carp in the swim but unfortunately, time was called and I had to leave that one for another day. At the weigh-in I had 6lb 8oz of silvers and 13lb 8oz of carp for a total of 20lb. As it happens, George’s Lake had fished just as hard with similar stories of ‘hide and seek’. At this stage, I had no idea who had won or where I was going to finish up. So, back in the car park and the results were announced. Amazingly, I was first on Margaret’s and first overall, picking up the £10 bonus on top of my winnings. It was very close though. Alcove secretary, Tony Welsby, came second overall with his 19lb 14oz win on George’s Lake. It was a day when making the right decisions proved vital. Who dares wins!

Teamwise, Alcove won easily with a total of 132lb 9oz to the Legion’s 90lb-14oz. Well, we might have been out-fished but we were definitely not out-gunned. Vengeance will be ours on the return match, which will be held on the river later in October.

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January 2023

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June 2022

July 2022

August 2022

    7th – RBL AC v Alcove AC – Whitehouse Farm 

   14th – AwayDay – Warks Avon – Stratford

   21st – Riverfest Qualifier – Warks Avon – Stratford

   28th – Whitehouse Farm – Earthcott Green

September 2022

October 2022

November 2022

December 2022

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