Welcome to my fishing blog… June 2023
June 11th – Margaret’s Lake, Whitehouse Farm – From Bad to Worse to Bad
With possible rain and thunderstorms forecast, I thought this match might be a little awkward today, plus, I don’t like the idea of trying to fish under a brolley so I left it at home. Instead, I packed a waterproof jacket, which I could put on should the rain come down a bit heavy, otherwise, I was prepared to sit it out and brave the showers. It was a muggy day and the air pressure was high, so I reckoned this might have some effect on the fish feeding. I was yet to find out…
Originally, there were 20 names down for this match, which would mean every peg would be in. However, 2 dropped out before the start, which meant at least 2 of the unfancied pegs could be left out but 18 anglers on this lake is still 3 too many in my view. Well, after last week’s disappointing ‘no bites’ experience at Windmill, I was absolutely certain there wouldn’t be a repeat performance this Sunday, especially as I drew peg 17. Now, for some mysteriously unknown reason, I have drawn this peg more than any other in all the matches I have fished on this lake.
Most of the time this peg has produced the goods for me, with chub coming from the island, skimmers out in front, and carp down the edges. Now, when I say ‘most of the time’, there have been occasions when I have also struggled on this peg, and for no apparent reason. So, I have to say this peg can be a little unpredictable but there are worse pegs on this lake and so I was quite happy with my draw. When I got to my peg I noticed a few carp cruising on the surface and so they would be targeted first.
I set up a mugging rig for the surface dwellers, an ‘up in the water rig’ for the smaller silvers, 2 edge rigs for fishing both margins, and a full depth rig for fishing on the deck at 11 metres. So, the mugging rig consisted of a short 0.2 gram Drennan Crystal Shallow float and a size 16 GPM banded hair rig. Elastic was a 15 Duraslip. At the all-in, I sat and waited for a carp to come cruising by. I spotted one at about 14 metres and dropped a pellet right in front of its nose. It saw the pellet and swam around it before flicking its tail and fleeing the scene.
For the next half hour, a targeted 4 or 5 cruisers but none of them were in the mood for a scrap. I spent about 10-15 minutes slapping the surface but no takers there either. Well, that was Plan A shelved. So, on to Plan B where I would target the island for chub. The last time I drew this peg I had 6 nice chub from the island on the maggle feeder. I selected a small 20-gram Kamasan maggle feeder and cast it out to within 2 feet of the island. I had not bites so tried getting closer to the island and then further away. After an hour of fishing from 12 inches to 5 feet from the island I gave up. It was so unusual to not get any bites at all from the island and so I was feeling a little apprehensive now.
Usually, a few fish off the island would steady the nerves so now the tension was building. With 2 hours gone already and nothing to show, my next plan of action was to at least get some fish in the net. I really didn’t want to carry the unenviable title of ‘Billy No Bites’ a minute longer so out came the casters and my ‘up in the water’ rig. This rig consists of a 0.2 gram Kev Murch Chianti style float with strung out number 10 stots and a size 20 Guru LWG hook to a 0.8 hooklength. The rig is set at 2 feet deep and I have 3 feet lash, which allows me to vary the depth by a foot or two.
I started throwing in loose casters at around 6-7 metres and then dropping in over the top. Within a few minutes, I had a small roach in the net… Phew! Saved! That was followed by a stream of small chub, a rudd and a couple of skimmers before it went quiet. I added another foot to the depth of the rig and instantly hooked into a nice big skimmer, only to lose it at the net. I spent an hour on this, fishing at a variety of depths, and had caught about 2-3lbs of silvers before they drifted off. Next, I cupped out some black milled expander groundbait laced with caster, maggle and a few micros onto the 11-metre line.
While I let this settle, I tried the feeder again out to the island but as before there were no signs of life there. Charlie Holmes, who was to my right, was catching silvers fairly steadily and I could see a few fish being caught on some of the other pegs but nobody was really bagging. So, I dropped in over the 11-metre line with caster on the hook and nothing. I had no bites on maggle either and I didn’t want to waste any more time on this. We were well into the third hour of the match now and I had no intention of targeting the silvers an longer. You can only win these matches with carp and so it was time to turn my attention to the margins.
My left-hand margin had some yellow flowering irises and so I opted for a yellow-tipped float, thinking it would blend in well with the background. There was also an overhanging bush, which can be a good holding area for carp. I cupped out some micros and meat here. My right-hand margin line didn’t have as much bankside cover but was the same depth as the left side and so I thought I would bait it up and see what happens. I dropped in some micros and corn here. I had a quick cup of tea while I waited for the swims to settle and I scanned the surface again for muggers.
Kev Murch to my left had landed a few carp and so the rest of my match would be dedicated to catching carp. With just over 2 and a half hours left to go, I knew I was slipping well down the table so it had to be carp or bust time. On my first put-in to the left-hand margin, I had a quick bite and missed it. A few minutes later I had another fast bite and missed that one too but as I struck, an almighty bow wave appeared as a huge carp vacated my swim. I cupped out some more meat and went onto the right-hand margin with corn on the hook.
There were fish there but the continuous tap-tap on the float indicated that it was probably small roach. I gave it a few minutes before rebaiting with more corn and micros. Another look on the left-hand line with meat brought a few more knocks and taps on the float but I’m sure this was small fish too. So, I continued trying both lines for the rest of the match and although I’m sure there was a carp or two in the left-hand margin, I couldn’t connect with them. Still, it’s a gamble you have to take as 2 carp could quite easily amount to 30lb or more on this lake… but not for me and not today.
I finished up with a small net of silvers weighing in at 3lb 1oz, which was basically an hour’s fishing. The match was won by John Dursley with 58lb 10oz, of which 52lb was carp caught from peg 6. This is the same peg that produced the winning weight last time and at this time of year, is probably the best peg on the lake. So, another disappointing session for me but at least I have a river match to look forward to next. It’s been a long 3 months and I’m gagging to get back on the river where I belong. Next week, I’ll be fishing the Crane section of the Bristol Avon but it’s low, clear and there isn’t much flow, so low weights are expected. As usual, good or bad, I’ll keep you posted.
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About me
January 2023
February 2023
March 2023
April 2023
May 2023
June 2023
11th – Margaret’s Lake, Whitehouse Farm
18th – River Avon, Crane, Keynsham
25th – The Lido, Fishponds, Bristol
28th – Fish-O Qualifier, Todber Manor
July 2023
August 2023
September 2023
October 2023
November 2023
December 2023
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June 2022
July 2022
August 2022
September 2022
October 2022
November 2022
December 2022
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