Billy's Fishing Blog » Billys Fishing Blog May 21st

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Welcome to my fishing blog… May 2023

May 21st – Sedges Fishery, Bridgwater – Fishing On the Edge

With our Legion club secretary currently out of action, it was down to me to organise this match. The fishery owner had insisted on there being at least 14 anglers on Canal Lake, despite our booking and paying well in advance. I was only able to muster 9 regular anglers from the club so had to offer places to outside guests to make up the numbers. Even then, we still fell short by one and so had to carry on regardless. On arrival at Sedges, I learned that word had spread throughout Facebook that we were a man down and so one of the local anglers offered to step in. I had no choice but to accept his offer with the Fishery Manager standing right next to me.

So finally, we had a full contingent and were now able to proceed with the match without a guilty conscience. Jason legged it around the lake and put in 14 pegs while I collected everyone’s money. I fancied any of the end pegs but the hand of fate decided differently and gave me peg 10, which was in the middle. When I got to my peg I could see a lot of activity going on over on the far side as the carp were evidently spawning… not a good sign. Undeterred, I set up a rig for the far side at 13 metres, which was 2 feet deep. I also set up a rig for fishing down the middle at 7 metres and a rig for fishing both the left and right-hand margins.

Okay, so the cunning plan was to feed all the lines and start on the 7-metre line with a single red maggle to a size 18 hook. I had already dropped in a small ball of groundbait and micros together with a few 6mm expander pellets and some red maggles. After about 10 minutes I got my first bite from a 4-ounce skimmer. I added another maggle to the hook and caught a bigger skimmer on the next put-in. A change to expander pellet brought a crucian of about a pound, followed by a much bigger skimmer a few minutes later. The swim was fizzing now and so I began feeding at every put-in, catching the odd fish but missing a lot of bites too.

I could see that Jason on peg 13 was catching carp right over and so it was time to change my tactics. I had already primed the far bank with a few micros and a dozen hard 6mm pellets. My rig for this swim was a 0.1 gram margin float special made by Master Float Maker, Kev Murch. It was perfect for the job and had a highly visible tip, which made it really easy to see up against the reeds. I shipped out with a hair rigged 8mm hard pellet and dropped and lifted a few times next to the reeds. I had a carp right away. It was only about 3 pounds but scrapped all the way to the net and then some.

I hooked another one on the next put-in but it shot into the reeds and after a determined battle of wills it finally won, leaving me to pull for a break. I pinged a few more pellets over and then went back onto the 7-metre line for a while, catching another crucian on an expander pellet. I tried meat, caster and corn on this line too but there were no takers there. I had another skimmer of about 8 ounces but then the swim went quiet. I had just put the far bank rig top kit back on when I noticed a carp on the surface soaking up some rays. I gently lowered the pellet in front of its nose and it turned away. On the next try, it took it. At about 5 pounds, this was my biggest fish of the day.

I topped up all the lines and went back out to the far side, plopping the bait and gently tapping the surface. This tactic brought a couple more 3-pounders but I had to work hard for bites. I changed the hook bait to a meat pellet and hooked into a much better fish. This one really scrapped hard and I had it to the surface a couple of times before it managed to escape, somehow slipping the hook. That one was a six-pounder at least. Well, sh*t happens and you just have to get over it, so straight back out on meat again for another smaller specimen. I could see Andy Gard, who was pegged opposite, and he had landed a few good carp from down the edge.

So, now with about 2 hours to go, it was time to come inside to see if any big boys had arrived. To my right, there was a tree and I had fed hemp and corn here hoping for a carp, barbel or chub. The depth at the bottom of the slope was 3 feet. It was the same on the left-hand side, where I had fed micros, groundbait and meat. So, first a look over the hemp and corn with corn on the hook and apart from a few knocks there was nothing doing. A look to the left margin with meat on the hook brought an instant bite but I didn’t connect with anything. I kept trying both inside swims for at least 40 minutes but then had to concede defeat.

With nothing doing on the inside, I tried the 7-metre line again with double red maggle and had a skimmer of about a pound, which shot out the water like it had been fired from a cannon. That was it for this line so back across to the far side with meat again. After a few minutes, the float slid away and I was in. However, it turned out to be a small tench of about a pound. With just 40 minutes to go, I continued on this line and had one more small carp and lost one right at the end. I thought I had done okay, judging by those around me but if anyone had done better it would be Jason and probably Andy Gard.

When the scales got around to me, there was a 53lb weight (Paul Homewood), and a 43lb weight (Andy Gard). My lot went 34-9-0 and there were still 4 anglers to weigh. Jason finished up with 44-11-0 for second place leaving me and Andy with a section win apiece. The top silvers prize went to Charlie Holmes with 10-5-0. Overall it was a little disappointing but when the carp are spawning the fishing can be so unpredictable. As it happens, they weren’t all spawning at the same time so at least some carp were available to catch. Nice venue nevertheless despite the continuous buzz from the nearby motorway traffic.

My next match is at Whitehouse Farm, where I’ll be on Margaret’s Lake. It’s another full-house but I’m predicting a 50lb win for someone…

I hope it’s me 🙂

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