Welcome to my fishing blog… August 2023
August 6th – Alcove AC v Kingswood RBL AC – Whitehouse Farm – Late Carp Capers Saves The Day
This was the annual interclub match between Alcove AC and Kingswood RBL AC and as usual, we were outgunned 13 to 7. Nevertheless, our special task force had a serious job to do in silencing the opposition with our unique stealth tactics. Well, we did as much as we could to hold off our rivals but we were finally overwhelmed by sheer numbers. The result: Alcove 199lbs 7oz and the Legion 119lbs 7oz. However, the Alcove crew averaged just over 15 lbs per man and the Legion contingent averaged 17 lbs per man. So in a sense, it was a kind of victory for the boys in green.
At the draw, the talk was all about tactics and which pegs would produce the best weights. What we didn’t take into account is that both lakes are pretty much hammered through the week, with bucketloads of bait going in. After experiencing a great day on peg 6, Georges recently, I would have been more than happy to be drawn on this lake today but the hand of fate delivered me peg 6 on Margaret’s. Pegs 5,6,7,8 and 9 on Margaret’s Lake can all throw up some good weights especially if the chub put in an appearance, so I was relatively content with my draw. (Red dots in the photo indicate where I fished)
When I got to my peg I had John Dursley to my right on peg 5 who said he was going all-out for carp. Tony Welsby was to peg 7 to my left. I had to do some tree pruning first as the peg has a definite arch of greenery above it, which could hinder casting. However, there is only so much you can do with a landing net handle and a small curved blade. I’ve now ordered a small saw for future tree surgery duties. So, my plan was to first target the island for chub with a maggle feeder. My next line of attack was at 9 metres with a pole and worm offering. Then a shallow rig for fishing single maggle at 4 metres and both the left and right-hand margins.
On the all-in, I fed the 9-metre line with chopped worm and caster and also the 2 margins. I cupped in meat and micros to my right and then corn and micros to my left. Next, I lobbed out the maggle feeder to within a metre of the island and continued with this, recasting every 2-3 minutes initially. After about 20 minutes I slowed down and began to wait longer for bites and sure enough they began to come. However, a couple 1-ounce perch was not exactly what I had in mind. Then the chub moved in but unfortunately, it was the new small chub, which only weigh in at about 4 ounces. After catching 4 or 5 of these it was time for a change.
I baited up my full-depth rig with half a dendro and lowered it into the pre-fed swim. Another tiny perch was first to the offering followed by a tiny roach. I was hoping for a few big skimmers from here but there was no sign of skimmers, only some very small fish. I suppose I gave it 30 minutes on this line before I started loose-feeding maggles at 4 metres. Again only tiny fish obliged. So, with 2 hours gone already, I only had about a pound of small fish. It wasn’t looking very promising. Then John Dursley landed a carp, which prompted me to try my margin swims but there were no signs of life down the edges at this point.
Back out on the feeder rod again with maggle and then finally, I got a decent chub of 2.5 pounds. Here we go I thought but that was it. For the next 2 hours, I rang the changes but nothing was working and now John had caught another carp. Tony had one too from the island on the method feeder. I could feel this match was slowly slipping away from me so I decided to go for carp on my right-hand edge for the next 2 hours and hopefully get in on the action. I had been feeding meat and micros down here on and off all day with corn and micros on my left-hand margin but it was time to just focus on one swim and try to make something happen.
Instead of cupping in a large amount of feed in one go I started cupping in much smaller amounts every 5 minutes. This seemed to work because I was seeing movement next to some lilies, which were close to where I was feeding. A few minutes later and I was in. I always bring 2 poles to Whitehouse Farm. My regular Maver 16 metre and a Garbolino margin pole complete with 24 elastic. There are not many carp that can get the better of me on this gear. After about 5 minutes I slipped the net under a lovely double-figure common, which I reckoned was about 12 pounds.
I kept the feed trickling in and 10 minutes later I had another of about the same stamp. Tony had advised us that we could put carp up to 15lbs in our keepnets but not to have too many so I thought probably 3 of this size would be enough for one net. I missed the next few bites but then landed another common of about 10 pounds just before the hour was up. With 3 double-figure carp now in the net I was feeling a lot happier as I skipped off back to the car to grab another keepnet. I think John was getting a little concerned as I had 3 carp in an hour with another hour still to go. I reckoned if I could get another 3 in the last hour then the match would be mine.
With another net added to my toolbar, I was soon back out down the edge with a 10mm pellet of meat. A few minutes later, the float sailed away and I was in again. This one shot out towards the island and was obviously a very big fish. My elastic kept going as the fish ran down the side of the island and… away he went. He managed to break my 0.17 hooklength. This one might have been a twenty but I’ll never know. Well, I added some more feed, put on a new hook, and back down the edge again. I began missing bites now and with the clock ticking away faster than ever, I was becoming more frustrated with each passing second.
Finally, the float shot out of site and once again I had a real brute on the end of my now very stretched elastic. Straight away this one didn’t feel right as we parted company. This one did leave me a souvenir in the shape of a very big scale. First foul-hooker of the day but 2 fish lost in the space of 30 minutes was a real bummer. I had a few more quick bites, which were all missed until I latched onto another good double. I was sure I had this one as I played it for a few minutes and got him to the surface twice but then all of a sudden he was gone. The hook just pulled out and that was that.
So, as much as I tried, I couldn’t get another fish in the net in that vital last hour. Meanwhile, John had landed 3 in the same space of time to ensure a certain victory. In hindsight, which we all know is a wonderful thing, I should have perhaps focussed on carp for the entire match just as John did. I won’t let that happen again. John won the lake and had the top overall weight with 48-7-0. I was second on the lake and overall with 30-6-0. I thought I had more weight than that but the scales don’t lie… or do they? Well, that’s a few more welcome beer tokens added to the kitty. I’ll be facing some very familiar faces in the next match, which will be on the Clamp next Sunday… Keep you posted.
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13th – The Clamp, Henfield, Nr Westerleigh
20th – Gloucester Canal, Southfield Farm, Hardwicke
27th – Georges Lake, Whitehouse Farm
September 2023
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