Billy's Fishing Blog » Billys Fishing Blog May 14th

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Welcome to my fishing blog… May 2023

May 14th – Georges Lake, Whitehouse Farm – Just Another Day On Lottery Lake

There were 16 anglers booked in for this one and everyone arrived well before the draw, obviously all eager to get going. George’s Lake is a lovely peaceful place to fish but it doesn’t respond well under pressure and therefore can be too peaceful at times. Like everyone else, I was hoping for a draw amongst the carp today. Pegs 1, 18 and 6 round to peg 11 would be okay and peg 16 would be a good draw too. Most of the carp are double-figure specimens with many weighing in the high teens plus a few big mamas ranging from the low to mid-twenties. So, most of the time, you would only need 2 carp and you’re in the frame but TBH match fishing on this lake is pretty much a lottery.

Well, I drew peg 6, which I was quite happy with as there is a chance of a carp or two from this peg. I’ve fished this one 2 or 3 times before in matches and framed each time but that was when the fringe lilies were in full leaf around the tree to the left-hand side of the peg. When I arrived at the peg, the lilies were only just peeping through the surface and there weren’t many of them. That meant there was less cover for the carp to feed under and I thought this might affect the number of carp that would be willing to come in close.

For company, I had Kev Swanston to my right and Glynn Sage to my left and as expected, both anglers would fish the feeder on and off for most of the day. There was a lot of small fish topping all over the lake so I set up a shallow rig with a 4×10 (0.1 gram) Chanti style float and a size 20 hook for fishing caster. I also decided on a 4×14 (0.4 gram) rig for fishing at both 13 metres and 9 metres, which were both at the same depth of around 4.5 feet. This rig had a size 18 hook for maggles, caster, worm and expander pellets.

My only inside rig was set at 2 feet deep for fishing on my margin pole with 0.22 mainline and size 16 hair rig to a 0.20 hooklength. I would have to push this out and under the tree branches for any chance of a bite. The bait choice for this line was meat over micros. At the all-in, I cupped out a small ball of fishmeal groundbait laced with casters to my 9-metre line. Then a large ball of chopped worm, soil and casters to the 13-metre line. Some corn, meat and micros went in under the tree to my left.

While I was waiting for all the swims to settle down I chucked out a straight lead rig with an 8mm banded pellet on the hook to the island, hoping to snare an early carp or even a chub or two. For the next 30 minutes, I would ping out single 8mm pellets every few seconds to the island and then cast over them a few times. However, I had no takers on that method so next, I shipped out onto the 9-metre line with a single red maggle on the hook. The response was instant and a 6-ounce skimmer quickly came to the net followed by a couple more before it went quiet. So, out onto the 13-metre line with caster and again I had an instant response from a roach of about 4 ounces.

I topped up this line again with a cad pot and changed to worm on the hook. I was quickly rewarded with a nice big 2lb plus skimmer and thought I was going to be on a shed load. Sadly, that was the only big skimmer I had all day. The next visitor to the swim was a carp, which took my caster hookbait and bolted into the middle of the lake in the blink of an eye. So, I spent the next 2 hours working both the 9 and 13-metre lines with a variety of baits but only managed to catch a few small roach between them.

Kev to my right had landed a 16lb carp so was running away with it at this stage. Meanwhile, I could also see carp being hooked and lost on pegs 15 and 16. Julie Taylor was directly opposite me and she had just lost a carp too. I resisted the temptation to go for carp early as I knew I might only get one chance and I wanted to be sure that if there were any carp feeding in my edge swim then they would be feeding there confidently. I kept looking for signs but couldn’t see any movement although that didn’t mean there wasn’t anything there lurking beneath the surface.

So, apart from the odd carp being lost, I could see that everyone was now struggling for bites so a quick change of plan was needed. My right-hand margin was clear of any weed growth or overhanging bushes and I hadn’t intended to fish it but as nothing else was working, I began loose feeding caster here. Then I dropped in my shallow rig over the top and caught a nice rudd of about 6 ounces. I continued to feed and fish here for the next 30-40 minutes catching 3 or 4 good roach and few more rudd before that line too died completely.

With just 90 minutes to go, I reckoned I had about 3-4lbs of fish in the net, which was never going to be enough to make the frame so it was time to go for the big guns. It was biggies or bust time! I cupped out some more micros and meat under the tree and baited the bayonet hair rig with a 10mm pellet of meat. I had to shorten the length of the lash on the rig to about 4 inches so I could position the rig under the tree without catching on the branches. After about 10 minutes, I got a definite sign of some activity as the float briefly tilted slightly to one side. Then a few little dinks on the float signalled the arrival of a carp.

Trying not to strike at anything other than a proper bite meant I had to really concentrate hard on the float tip. Then suddenly it dived under and… I missed it… FFS! Well, there was still an hour to go so in went a few more pellets of meat and my rig was carefully placed over the top. A few minutes later I was getting some definite liners and I was now on the edge of my seat waiting for that ultimate signal… and there it was. I was now playing a carp at last but the question that always goes through my mind at this early stage of the fight is whether the fish has been hooked properly or whether it’s been foul-hooked.

After a few minutes of tussle, I managed to drag it to the surface and could clearly see it was hooked in the mouth, which was a relief at least. It was a full 10 minutes later before I safely netted it and had it weighed at 10lbs 13oz. Phew! I really needed that but I knew I would need another one to stand any chance of a win. So, out we go again. A little more feed and steady as she goes with the rig. Almost immediately I could see there were signs of another carp in the swim and I had about 30 minutes left to catch it. Well, the float bobbed and dipped before finally sliding away…

A hefty strike followed and I was in again but this one shot under the tree and kept on going. I had to dip the pole tip deep into the water to avoid getting my elastic caught on the tree branches. I just hung on for dear life until the inevitable happened and the pole elastic came streaming back to meet the pole tip. It was probably foul-hooked but would have been the decider on the day. I had no more signs after that and the last few minutes quietly slipped away without incident. Julie had already lost 2 carp but managed to net one on her third attempt to save her blushes. Bill Ferris who was next to her had been steadily catching silvers all day but finished his session with a carp of over 11lb to add to his tally. This helped bump up his total weight to just over 20lbs, which was enough to take pole position and a fist full of fivers.

Tony Welsby had been out of sight and out of mind for most of the day as he was on peg 10 behind the island, quietly catching chub to finish up in second place. Kev Swanston stepped up for third thanks to his 16-pounder and at least I managed to come away with a section win for all my efforts. Well done to all the framers, it was certainly hard work today. There’s no video for this one I’m afraid, due to an overwhelming lack of action 🙁

For my next match, on May 21^st, I’ll be on Canal Lake at Sedges in Bridgwater with my RBL club buddies and a few guests. This lake is so unpredictable and anything could happen… As usual, I’ll keep you posted.

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